“Percy says be talked to a Nereid in Charleston Harbor!”“Good for him!” Leo yelled back. “The Nereid said we should seek help from Chiron’s brothers.”“What does that mean? The Party Ponies?” Leo had never met Chiron’s crazy centaur relatives, but he’d heard rumors of Nerf sword-fights, root beer-chugging contests, and Super Soakers filled with pressurized whipped cream. “Not sure,” Annabeth said. “But I’ve got coordinates. Can you input latitude and longitude in this thing?”“I can input star charts and order you a smoothie, if you want. Of course I can do latitude and longitude!”

“You're alive!" Percy said to the others. "The giants said you were captured. What happened?" Leo shrugged. "Oh, just another brilliant plan by Leo Valdez. You'd be amazed what you can do with an Archimedes sphere, a girl who can sense stuff underground, and a weasel." "I was the weasel," Frank said glumly.”

“Annabeth gripped the hilt of her dagger. “A bounty on our heads . . . as if we didn’t attract enough monsters already.”“Do we get WANTED posters?” Leo asked. “And do they have our bounties, like, broken down on a price list?”Hazel wrinkled her nose. “What are you talking about?”“Just wondering how much I’m going for these days,” Leo said. “I mean, I can understand not being as pricey as Percy or Jason, maybe . . . but am I worth, like, two Franks, or three Franks?”

“Leo choked. "Your mom is a rainbow goddess?""Got a problem with that?" Butch said."No, no," Leo said. "Rainbows, very macho.""Butch is our best equestrian," Annabeth said. "He gets along great with the pegasi.""Rainbows, ponies," Leo muttered."I'm gonna toss you off this chariot," Butch warned.”

“Leo,” Jason said, “you’re weird.”“Yeah, you tell me that a lot.” Leo grinned. “But if you don’t remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes...!”

“We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in.""Yes!" Leo pumped his fist.* * * * *Jason gazed up at the dragon and shook his head in amazement. "Leo, what have you done?""Found a ride!" Leo beamed. "You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!”

“Leo. Jason said, you're wierd. Yeah, you tell me that a lot. Leo grinned. But if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes. Come on!”