“Relax," Chiron told me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history.""Relax," I said. "I'm very relaxed.”

“Thalia's shoulders relaxed. "I owe you one.""Two.""One and a half," Thalia said.She smiled, and for a second, I remembered that I actually liked her when she wasn't yelling at me.”

“I'm just a kid, Chiron," I said miserably. "What good is one lousy hero against something like Kronos?"Chiron managed a smile. '"What good is one lousy hero'? Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain said something like that to me once, just before he single-handedly changed the course of your Civil War.”

“What was I thinking?" Chiron cried. " I can't let you get away without this."He pulled a pen from his coat pocket. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably thirty cents.Gee," I said. "Thanks."Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the profecy is clear to me now. You are the one.I remembered the feild trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I'd vaporized Mrs. Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword. Could this be...?I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather=wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hands.The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me. "It's name is Anaklusmos."Riptide," I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily.Use it only for emergencies" Chiron said, "and only against monsters No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case.”

“If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm.""Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in."Nonsense," Dionysus said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father.”

“You both passed out,” Percy said. “I don’t know why, but Ella told me not to worry about it. She said you were…sharing?”“Sharing,” Ella agreed. She crouched in the stern, preening her wing feathers with her teeth, which didn’t look like a very effective form of personal hygiene. She spit out some red fluff. “Sharing is good. No more blackouts. Biggest American blackout, August 14, 2003. Hazel shared. No more blackouts.”Percy scratched his head. “Yeah…we’ve been having conversations like that all night. I still don’t know what she’s talking about.”

“You do know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously."I'm afraid not," I said."I'm afraid not, sir," he said."Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules.”