“You stood up to the dragon so Beckendorf would have his chance to jump - now that was brave.""Or pretty stupid.""Percy, you're a brave guy," she said. "Just take the compliment. I swear, is it so hard?”

“Percy, you're a brave guy," [Annabeth] said. "Just take the compliment. I swear, is it so hard?”

“Now, come over here so I can pat you down.""But you don't have-" Percy stopped. "Uh, sure."He stood next to the armless statue. Terminus conducted a rigorous mental pat down."You seem to be clean," Terminus decided. "Do you have anything to declare?""Yes," Percy said. "I declare that this is stupid.”

“So Beckendorf was pretty popular?" Leo asked. "I mean-before he blew up?”

“Reyna looked at Percy without much hope. “You do have a plan?”Percy wanted to step forward bravely and say, No, I don’t!”

“Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."She nodded. "And so...hypothetically, if these to people likes each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?""Oh..." I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows-slow, dumb, and bright red. "Um...”

“Hold up," Leo said. "You guys lost a dragon? A Real full size dragon?”