“You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say these days, Grover? Do the children say 'Well duh!'?"Y-yes, Mr. D."Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?" You're a god."Yes, child."A god. You.”

“Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.Yes, Lord Dionysus."Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on.”

“Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?”

“Mr. D, wearing his leopard-skin jogging suit and rummaging through the refrigerator.He looked up lazily. "Do you mind?"Where's Chiron!" I shouted.How rude." Mr. D took a swig from a jug of grape juice. "Is that how you say hello?"Hello," I amended. "We're about to die! Where's Chiron?”

“Um," Grover said. "Percy?""Yeah?""I thought you'd want to know.""Yeah?""Cerberus? He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice.After that...well...he's hungry.”

“God alert!" Blackjack yelled. "It's the wine dude!Mr. D sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!”

“The Council agrees," Zeus said. "Percy Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods."I hesitated. "Any gift?"Zeus nodded grimly. "I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Perseus Jackson-if you wish it-you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lieutenant for all time."I stared at him, stunned. "Um...a god?"Zeus rolled his eyes. "A dimwitted god, apparently. But yes. With the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you immortal. Then I will have to put up with you forever.""Hmm," Ares mused. "That means I can smash him to a pulp as often as I want, and he'll just keep coming back for more. I like this idea.”