Title: Книги and Half-Bloods
Rating: C (the characters snap at each other and have goes, but not much)
Type: Adventure, hopefully humour, a bit of romance…
Characters: Piper McLean, Jason and Талия Grace, Leo Valdez, Annabeth Chase, Connor and Travis Stoll, Chiron, Grover Underwood, Tyson and Clovis
Synopsis: What happens when the PJO characters get only a brief synopsis of the Son of Neptune and during the scramble for more, find out how much they can actually find a bizzare way of keeping connected?
Disclaimer: If I was RR these guys would be Чтение the whole thing, not chapter 1.
A/N: To all of us here, waiting together united by obsession and Internet Access.

Note: This fanfiction will be tops 3 chapters and I didn’t think we needed to create a new Форум here, and I wanted it to be on this spot really badly, so it will be in articles- which does not go against the rules of the spots.
Note 2: Yeah, I know these 'character reads book' things are everywhere (my Избранное is on this spot though- hi partypony) but I've got a twist on this one and I like to try various things, so here, read if Ты like, if not have a nice day!


There was a knock on the Aphrodite cabin, a few минуты before breakfast. They all turned towards it. Piper who was closest opened it to an overexcited Annabeth who was nearly bouncing up and down, her grey eyes rounded so she looked like her mom’s sacred animal. She grabbed her arm.
“Piper, Ты have got to come with me!” She said.
“Whoa- slow down, I’m helping clean-up- what’s wrong?” Annabeth raised a book with the picture of a guy in a winter wonderland, holding a golden eagle staff and letters spelling out ‘The Son of Neptune’.
“It just showed up at the Big House last night, Chiron told me and he wants the counsellors there! That’s got to be Percy, it even looks like him, and- oh just common!” Annabeth said. Piper had never seen her so excited- или anxious.
“Alright, alright, just let me explain to my siblings and I’ll be right there.” Piper promised.

    
    Everyone in the Big House seemed to be as excited as Annabeth. Well nearly... All the counsellors were there, as well as Rachel and Grover. Jason looked eager, with brighter eyes than usual, eyeing the book like a homeless man eyes a 100 dollar bill. Piper’s сердце twisted in her chest; something to Показать him Главная and the people there.
“Settle down, settle down! Yes, this is about Percy and how he’s doing at the Roman camp, we think.” Chiron said. “We’re going to read it, and you’re free to come and go. But we’re asking that only close Друзья of Percy stay, and whoever will be going on the Argo II.”
“Chiron- we’re all Percy’s friends!” Lou Ellen said. “It’s pretty much true.”
“Yeah, common, let’s go, start reading.” Travis said, rubbing his hands together. A few people drifted off, wanting to give some privacy to the closer friends, или just not willing to sit down for that amount of time. In the end, Jason, Leo, Piper, Thalia, Nico, Clarisse, Clovis (who didn’t catch the cue to leave), the Stolls, Rachel, Grover, Tyson and of course Annabeth were there, looking impatiently at big brown eyes.

Chiron opened the book.

I
Percy


The snake-haired ladies were_ starting to annoy Percy.
“No!” Annabeth gasped.
“How can they- еще than one- hun…” Grover said.
“Gorgons?” Jason guessed. Annabeth nodded.
“But we killed Medusa, and the two others are obliviated and I’m guessing whoever wrote this corrected any plural mistakes или whatnot that Percy can make…”
“We won’t know unless we keep reading.” Piper сказал(-а) kindly.

They should have died three days назад when he dropped
a клеть, ящик of bowling balls on them at the Napa Bargain Mart.

“Eh…” Rachel said, dropping her head.
“It’s like our problems!” Leo told Jason and Piper. “Wait a секунда that came out wrong…”
“Bowling balls, клеть, ящик of bowling balls, where the hell…” Piper said.
“At the Napa Bargain Mart, Ты heard him.” Annabeth said.
“You seem to be awfully unsurprised that Percy kills monsters with bowling balls.” Jason noticed.
“We didn’t tell Ты about the Nemean Lion in Washington, did we?” Талия grinned.
“What’s your problem with creative monster killing?” Connor сказал(-а) defensively. “If it weren’t for that I’d be hugging a backpack full of jerky and matches and sitting inside a-”
“O-kay…” Rachel interrupted.

They should have died two days назад when he ran over them with a police car in Martinez.
“You know what, I’m confused, I thought the camp was in San Francisco.” Travis said. падуб, holly, холли crud. The first thing Travis сказал(-а) the whole meeting and it made sense.
“It’s in the бухта, залив Area,” Jason confirmed. “But the волк House isn’t.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Travis asked.
“Dude, don’t go all cryptic on us!” Connor asked, “What did we ever do to you?”
“Okay well yesterday all my Еда kept turning to Caesar салат and I don’t know how Ты guys did it but- stop laughing, it was annoying.” Jason сказал(-а) as everyone chuckled except for Annabeth.

[b[They definitely should have died this morning when he cut off their heads in Tilden Park.[/b]
“Yeah; this time it’s a definite monster killing technique. Wimp probably didn’t thrust hard enough.” Clarisse said, kicking back, propping her feet on her table.
“Annabeth take your hand away from your knife.” Chiron said, not even looking up.

No matter how many times Percy killed them and watched them crumble to powder, they just kept re-forming like large evil dust bunnies.
“Like what now?” Leo said.

He couldn’t even seem to outrun them.

    He reached the вверх of the холм, хилл and caught his breath. How long since he’d last killed them? Maybe two hours.
“Two hours?”
“Of course. It just wasn’t hard enough to stay alive without the monsters coming back every two hours.”

They never seemed to stay dead longer than that. The past few days, he’d hardly slept. He’d eaten whatever he could scrounge —vending machine Gummi Bears, stale bagels, even a Jack in the Crack burrito, which was a new personal low.
“Oh my god it is…” Annabeth and Grover said.
The Stolls turned towards each other and yelled “I dare you!”
“The only good thing about those are the wrappers…” Grover winced.
“Dude, he’s living off gummy bears, life could be worst.” Nico said.

His clothes were torn, burned, and splattered with monster slime. He’d only survived this long because the two snake-haired ladies —gorgons, they called themselves —couldn’t seem to kill him either.
“Maybe we should all go pitch ourselves in the river Styx then.” Leo said.
“It’s not that simple Hammerhead,” Clarisse said. “If Ты pitch yourself in it, Ты blow up, die.”
“Well your chances of dying seem to be pretty high anyways.” He shrugged.
“Thank Ты Leo.” Annabeth said, her eyes shut.
“I mean- your chances of dying if you’re a monster…” Leo said.

Their claws didn’t cut his skin. Their teeth broke whenever they tried to bite him.
Tyson’s hand clamped to his mouth protectively.
“Ouch.”

But Percy couldn’t keep going much longer. Soon he’d collapse from exhaustion,
“I told him he’d sleep a lot.” Chiron mumbled.

and then—as hard as he was to kill, he was pretty sure the gorgons would find a way.
“Yeah, monsters are good at that.” Талия said.
“I know a kid who got chassed around a superglue factory for an час and the monster ended up pushing him into the holder and freezing him to death and then-”
    Travis was shut up when Annabeth took out her нож and staring down the blade as if measuring how sharp.


Where to run?
“The Caldecott tunnel, pass the road, пересекать, крест the river, talk the guards out of killing Ты and answer their Вопросы at the Principia.” Jason сказал(-а) automatically. He got a few looks.
“I’ve done this too- I’m Roman.” He said.
“That’s right- we forgot!” Connor сказал(-а) sarcastically. “Man, does that make Ты like Italian Еда или something?”
“Because we can totally make spaghetti.” Travis said.
“Jason don’t eat anything they give you.” Талия said.

He scanned his surroundings. Under different circumstances, he might’ve enjoyed the view.
“Demigods are never in ‘Frisco to enjoy the view. You’re either there because you’re lost, because you’re on some dangerous quest, или you’ve been kidnapped and forced to hold up the sky.” Grover said. Annabeth crinkled her nose, but she seemed way еще worried about Percy.

To his left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods, and a few herds of cows. To his right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched west —a vast checkerboard of neighbourhoods, with several million people who probably did not want their morning
interrupted by two monsters and a filthy demigod.
“Maybe Ты should ask them.”
“Remind me to introduce him to some worst ways to wake up when he comes back, will you?” Connor told Travis.

Farther west, San Francisco бухта, залив glittered under a silvery haze. Past that, a Стена of fog had swallowed most of San Francisco, leaving just the tops of skyscrapers and the towers
of the Golden Gate Bridge.

A vague sadness weighed on Percy’s chest. Something told him he’d been to San Francisco before. The city had some connection to Annabeth —the only person he could remember
from his past.
Annabeth made a slight noise between a shriek and a gasp, and covered her mouth and nose with her hand.
“Out of all things…” She said. Her eyes seemed so much еще distressed than she ever had, but her grey eyes shined with joy and worry and frustration and sadness and pride. Leo wondered how Annabeth wasn’t exploding.

His memory of her was frustratingly dim.
Annabeth moaned and both Piper and Талия put hands to her shoulders. Her eyes teared up a bit but she managed to shake it off quick enough, not wanting to let the others see her cry.

The волк had promised he would see her again
I promise Annabeth thought.

and regain his memory
“Oh I’d appreciate that.” Grover said.
“Except for our pranks- then we can do them all over again!” Connor said.

—if he succeeded in his journey.

Should he try to пересекать, крест the bay?
“No don’t do it!” Jason said.

It was tempting. He could feel the power of the ocean just over the horizon. Water always revived him. Salt water was the best.
“Oh good, he remembers so much…” Chiron mused.

He’d discovered that two days назад when he had strangled a sea monster in the Carquinez Strait. If he could reach the bay, he might be able to make a last stand.[/b¸]
Tyson frowned. “Last stand bad.”
“Yeah- why on earth would he want to do that?” Leo asked.
“Wimp- Ты keep going.” Clarisse snarled. A hand slapped the table;
“Clarisse, no offence, but you’ve never done it before, especially not while battling amnesia, so Ты have no right to any of the things you’re saying.” Jason сказал(-а) impatient. He had sympathy for Percy- he’d thought about it many times, but now he truly saw how much harsher his journey to camp was. It never was easy, it was one of the hardest things Jason knew he’d ever done, but amnesia made everything еще complex, especially with the monsters. It made crash landing seem like getting out of a luxury jet.
    Clarisse sniffed and snarled ‘punk’ but kept weapons low.

[b]Maybe he could even drown the gorgons. But the берег was at least two miles away. He’d have to пересекать, крест an entire city.
“Don’t do it…” Piper said, “Just get safe…” Annabeth’s tension and worry and stress and broken сердце were all things Piper could pick up from her friend.
    She was starting to think that they should have read the book before just in case something happened to Percy. How would Annabeth take it? Piper was guessing not too well.

He hesitated for another reason. The волк Lupa had taught him to sharpen his senses —to trust the instincts that had been guiding him south. His homing radar was tingling like crazy now. The end of his journey was close —almost right under his feet. But how could that be? There was nothing on the hilltop.
Jason propped his elbows on the таблица and rubbed his eyes.
“Everybody thinks that.”

The wind changed. Percy caught the кислый scent of reptile.
A hundred yards down the slope, something rustled through the woods —snapping branches, crunching leaves, hissing.
Gorgons.
Annabeth cringed but she was confident that Percy could do it. He was better trained, better protected than they had been the first time.
So why was she so worried?

For the millionth time, Percy wished their noses weren’t so good. They had always сказал(-а) they could smell him because he was a demigod —the half-blood son of some old Roman
god.
“The Roman gods won’t appreciate being called that.” Jason said.
“Nor would the Greeks actually. He should know better.” Chiron said.
“You know Percy, he tells it like it is. Doesn’t matter what it is, he just does.” Annabeth said. Her сердце tightened and squealed and a million other things. She missed him…

Percy had tried rolling in mud, splashing through creeks, even keeping air-freshener sticks in his pockets so he’d have that new car smell; but apparently demigod stink was hard
to mask.
“It is.” Grover said. Tyson nodded.
“Okay, so what do we smell like, in the end?” Leo asked.
“Depends on the half-blood and who your parents are, how strong and such. But there’s always that little half-blood trace mixed with whatever Ты smell like. It gets clearer when you’re claimed. Талия for example smells like gingerbread, Percy плавить, корюшка like salt water and Nico over here smells like…”
“Something dead?” Nico сказал(-а) in disgust.
“No, Ты smell like dust или an old house.” Grover said. Travis and Connor snorted.
“Gingerbread? Why on earth do I smell like gingerbread?” Талия said, visibly confused.
“Maybe Zeus bakes.” Travis said. Jason and Талия crinkled their noses and Annabeth and Leo grabbed their hands and hauled them down.
“Sort of doubt that.” Annabeth said.

He scrambled to the west side of the summit. It was too steep to descend. The slope plummeted eighty feet, straight to the roof of an apartment complex built into the side of the
hill. Fifty feet below that, a highway emerged from the base of the холм, хилл and wound its way toward Berkeley.
Jason relaxed; there we go, he got it.

Great. No other way off the hill. He’d managed to get himself cornered.
Okay, Jason thought, maybe not yet…

He stared at the stream of cars flowing west toward San Francisco and wished he were in one of them. Then he realized the highway must cut through the hill. There must be a tunnel . . . right under his feet.
“Oh…”
“That’s how it was under him…”
“I thought he was sensing the Underworld. There’s got to be Roman demigods there- sorry Jason.” Nico сказал(-а) when he saw Jason’s face darken.
“Yeah, there are.” Jason said. He couple name about 20 million, but they’d died with honour.

His internal radar went nuts. He was in the right place, just too high up. He had to check out that tunnel. He needed a way down to the highway —fast.
“Yeah, if the gorgons were so close last time he got hold of them…”


He slung off his backpack. He’d managed to grab a lot of supplies at the Napa Bargain Mart:[b]
“Oh my gods Percy went klepto!” Connor said. He and Travis high-fived.
“Our wisdom rubbed off!”
“Please,” Annabeth said, “My wisdom didn’t wear off on Seaweed brain, good luck with that.”
“And it was an emergency.” Piper said.
“Is that one of your excuses, Beauty Queen?” Leo asked. Piper shot him a death look.

[b]a portable GPS,
“Won’t help much unless Ты need to know mortal geography.

duct tape,
“Would’ve been useful.”

lighter,
“Should’ve stolen that.”

superglue,
“Jason don’t say anything.” Annabeth said, stressed to her limit.

water bottle, camping roll, a comfy panda подушка pet (as seen on TV), and a Swiss army нож —pretty much every tool a modern demigod could want.
“Okay, add a shield and I agree with that, but a comfy panda подушка pet?” Nico asked.
“Duh, he couldn’t take the cat one, it’s just ugly.” Clovis said. “A good подушка is the base of a good rest!”
“Go back to sleep Clovis.” Piper said. Even if she weren’t a charmspeaker she was pretty sure his head would have flopped back down.

But he had nothing that would serve as a parachute или a sled.
That left him two options: jump eighty feet to his death, или stand and fight.
“A) for the fun of it!” The Stolls cried.
“B) for the hell of it!” Clarisse said.
“B) for the honour.” Jason said.
“I say he comes up with a plan C because those both sound horrible.” Annabeth said.

Both options sounded pretty bad.
“Maybe some of your wisdom did rub off.” Талия said, “Let’s keep Чтение and see if he spouts out architectural trivia или gets urges to run into libraries.”

He cursed and pulled his pen from his pocket.

The pen didn’t look like much, just a regular cheap ballpoint, but when Percy uncapped it, it grew into a glowing bronze sword. The blade balanced perfectly. The leather grip fit his hand like it had been custom designed for him. Etched along the guard was an Ancient Greek word Percy somehow understood: Anaklusmos —Riptide.
They looked amused at Piper and Leo’s stunned faces. Jason didn’t Показать much expression because of his training, but his eyes were impressed.
“I will give Ты anything for those blueprints.” Leo said.

He’d woken up with this sword his first night at the волк House
“When was that? Couldn’t be at the same time as me because we were at the волк House around then and not even Lupa was there.” Jason said.
“Shame, that’d have been useful and very good at explaining things.” Piper said.
“Yeah, we got whinny Hera. A giant волк would’ve been useful right about them.” Leo said.

—two months ago? More?
They looked at Jason.
“You think things right before he says them.” Grover said.
“No!” Талия gasped in horror.

He’d Остаться в живых track.
“He’s not good with the whole time concept.” Annabeth sighed.

He’d found himself in the courtyard of a burned-out mansion in the middle
of the woods, wearing shorts, an оранжевый T-shirt, and a leather ожерелье with a bunch of strange clay beads. Riptide had been in his hand, but Percy had had no idea who he was
или how he’d gotten there. He’d been barefoot, freezing, and confused. And then the Волки came.. . .
“Common, that sounded harsh enough minus the wolves.” Nico complained.
“Wolves bad?” Tyson asked. “Wolves hurt Percy?” He worried.
“They won’t hurt him.” Jason said. “As long as he doesn’t Показать any fear.”
“Yeah, that’s not one of Percy’s strongpoints- hiding his emotions.”
“Lupa will teach him.” Chiron сказал(-а) softly.
“How well do Ты know Lupa?” Jason asked. Chiron ditched the Вопрос and started reading.

Right Далее to him, a familiar voice jolted him back to the present: “There Ты are!”
“Peak-a-boo!” Connor yelled. Annabeth threw her нож and it impaled herself in the ping-pong таблица just in front of him.
“Shut it Stoll.” She сказал(-а) menacingly.

Percy stumbled away from the gorgon, almost falling off the edge of the hill.
“Smooth… I mean, yes ma’am.” Travis сказал(-а) when he got one look from Annabeth.

It was the smiley one —Beano.
“Hun?”

Okay, her name wasn’t really Beano.
“Oh, okay…”
Annabeth shook her head.
“Only Percy…”

As near as Percy could figure, he was dyslexic, because words got twisted
around when he tried to read.
“Actually that means that it could be the rest of us too, minus Jason, Rachel, Grover, Tyson and Chiron.” Талия said.
“You don’t ask a monster’s name, Ты stab it and Ты find out after.” Clarisse said. She’d been awfully quiet since Jason had snapped at her, but she figured she was allowed to color-commentate like the rest of them now.

The first time he’d seen the gorgon, posing as a Bargain Mart greeter with a big green
button that read: welcome! my name is stheno, he’d thought it сказал(-а) beano.
She was still wearing her green Bargain Mart employee vest over a flower-print dress. If Ты just looked at her body, Ты might think she was somebody’s dumpy old grandmother—until Ты looked down and realized she had rooster feet. или Ты looked up and saw bronze боров, хряк, кабан tusks sticking out of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes glowed red, and her hair
was a writhing nest of bright green snakes.
“That’s not like Medusa…” Grover said.

The most horrible thing about her?[/b¸]
“Spits acid!”
“Generates lasers!”
“Burps time bombs!”
“Breathes fire!”
“Those aren’t gorgon powers!” Annabeth said.

[b]She was still holding her big silver блюдо of free samples: Crispy Cheese ’n’
Wieners.
There was a collective gasp of disgust and it was quiet until someone yelled ‘EWE!’

Her блюдо was all dented from all the times Percy had killed her, but those little samples looked perfectly fine.
Stheno just kept toting them across California so she could offer Percy a snack before she killed him.
“She wants to break his teeth before he dies.” Clarisse said.
“He’s invulnerable.” Annabeth reminded her.
“Apparently your mortals haven’t bought those things.” Clarisse said.
“I know a guy who-”
“You know way too many guys.” Rachel said.

Percy didn’t know why she kept doing that, but if he ever needed a suit of armor,
he was going to make it out of Crispy Cheese ’n’ Wieners.
That stuff was indestructible.
“Leo, I’m going to need your help.” Travis said.
“Dude, no, just stick to bronze and leather.” Clarisse said.

“Try one?” Stheno offered.
Percy fended her off with his sword. “Where’s your sister?”
“Why must they all have sisters!” Leo said. Талия and Jason shot him looks.
“I’d rather have a sister.” Connor said. Travis smacked the back of his head.
“That’s ‘cause you’re too lame to know what’s good for you.”

“Oh, put the sword away,” Stheno chided. “You know by now that even Celestial bronze can’t kill us for long. Have aCheese ’n’ Wiener! They’re on sale this week, and I’d hate to kill Ты on an empty stomach.”
“A monster with ethics, look at that.” Grover said.
“What’s ethics?” Tyson asked.
“I mean two monsters with ethics, look at that.” Grover said.

“Stheno!” The секунда gorgon appeared on Percy’s right so fast, he didn’t have time to react. Fortunately she was too busy glaring at her sister to pay him much attention.
“Which means Ты stab now.” Clarisse said.

“I told Ты to sneak up on him and kill him!” Stheno’s smile wavered.
“But, Euryale . . .” She сказал(-а) the name so it rhymed with Muriel.
5 people stared trying to say ‘Euryale’ in various tones.

“Can’t I give him a sample first?”
“Okay so stab now!” Clarisse said.

“No, Ты imbecile!” Euryale turned toward Percy and bared her fangs.
“See, what did I tell you.” Clarisse commentated.

Except for her hair, which was a nest of coral snakes instead of green vipers, she looked exactly like her sister. Her Bargain Mart vest, her flowery dress, even her tusks were decorated
with 50% off stickers. Her name badge read: Hello! My name is die, demigod scum!
“Subtle,” Connor said. “I’d have gone with something like ‘Joe Bob’, или ‘Skulleater’.”
“No stupid, those are Laestrogyan names, not gorgon.” Annabeth said. Connor laughed.
“Wait, is she serious?” Tyson sniffed.
“Bag Joe Bob.”

“You’ve led us quite a chase, Percy Jackson,” Euryale said.
“It’s not over yet.” Annabeth said, her nails basically unconsciously digging into the hand Талия had taken, and into the Ping-Pong таблица too.

“But now you’re trapped, and we’ll have our revenge!”
“The Cheese ’n’ Wieners are only $2.99,” Stheno added helpfully. “Grocery department, aisle three.”[/b]
“Oh my god they’re going to feed him Cheese’n’Wieners!” Connor shrieked.
“I should suggest that to Dad.” Nico said, “You know, for the fields of punishment…”
“Remind me to be good.” Travis told Connor.

Euryale snarled. “Stheno, the Bargain Mart was a front! You’re going native! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this demigod. или have Ты forgotten that he’s
the one who vaporized Medusa?”
Annabeth and Grover groaned in frustration.

Percy stepped back. Six еще inches, and he’d be tumbling through thin air.
“Don’t.” Annabeth whispered.

“Look, ladies, we’ve been over this. I don’t even remember killing Medusa. I don’t remember anything!
“Except for Annabeth remember? Let’s be consistent here…”
“No, because then they’ll go after every Annabeth in the United States if they’re smart.” Annabeth said.

Can’t we just call a truce and talk about your weekly specials?”
Stheno gave her sister a pouty look, which was hard to do
with giant bronze tusks. “Can we?”
“Yes!”

“No!” Euryale’s red eyes bored into Percy.
“Don’t Ты hate it when the older sibling always decided what to do and monopolises everything?” Connor said.

“I don’t care what Ты remember, son of the sea god. I can smell Medusa’s blood on you. It’s faint, yes, several years old, but Ты were the last one to defeat her. She still has not returned from Tartarus. It’s your fault!”
“Why us? Personally, I’d blame Tartarus.” Grover said. “Or Medusa. It’s not our fault that she’s just slow.”

Percy didn’t really get that. The whole “dying then returning from Tartarus” concept gave him a headache. Of course, so did the idea that a ballpoint pen could turn into a sword, или that monsters could disguise themselves with something called the Mist, или that Percy was the son of a barnacle encrusted god from five thousand years ago.
“I hear you.” Jason said.

But he did believe it. Even though his memory was erased, he knew he was a demigod the same way he knew his name was Percy Jackson.
From his very first conversation with Lupa the wolf, he’d accepted that this crazy messed-up world of gods and monsters was his reality. Which pretty much sucked.
“Yeah it does! Deny everything! Accept nothing!” Travis said.
“He was talking about the world sucking.” Annabeth said.

“How about we call it a draw?” he said. “I can’t kill you. Ты can’t kill me. If you’re Medusa’s sisters —like the Medusa who turned people to stone —shouldn’t I be petrified by now?”
“Don’t hit a soft spot.” Annabeth said.

“Heroes!” Euryale сказал(-а) with disgust. “They always bring that up, just like our mother! ‘Why can’t Ты turn people to stone? Your sister can turn people to stone.’ Well, I’m sorry
to disappoint you, boy! That was Medusa’s curse alone. She was the most hideous one in the family. She got all the luck!”
Stheno looked hurt. “Mother сказал(-а) I was the most hideous.”
“Quiet!” Euryale snapped. “As for you, Percy Jackson, it’s true Ты медведь the mark of Achilles. That makes Ты a little tougher to kill. But don’t worry. We’ll find a way.”
“He’s not worried about that.” Nico said. ZAP! “OWE! Thalia, what was that for?”
“You’re being insensible again.” She said.

“The mark of what?”
Annabeth dropped her head in her hands.
“When he remembers, he better remember every myth I’ve told him because I am not teaching him those and the Ancient Greek language again. He is a pain to teach.”
“A pain to teach anything involving sitting down to,” Chiron corrected. “And he has gotten better than since he’s 12.”
“Thanks the gods.”

“Achilles,” Stheno сказал(-а) cheerfully.
“You won’t be teaching that one again, at least.” Leo said.

“Oh, he was gorgeous!
“Is she trying to say something?”
“Yes Annabeth, she’s trying to steal your guy. Get to ‘Frisco and Показать a gorgon what a fist tastes like.” Annabeth rolled her eyes.
“I wish.”

Dipped in the River Styx as a child, Ты know, so he was invulnerable except for a tiny spot on his ankle. That’s what happened to you, dear. Someone must’ve dumped Ты in the
Styx and made your skin like iron.
“Who dumped him there?”
“Me.” Nico said, “And it probably saved us all in the end.”
“Yeah probably.” Those who’d fought in the titan war said.
“But the Cyclops busting out of the harbour was cool too, Tyson.” Rachel said.

But not to worry. Герои like Ты always have a weak spot.
Annabeth looked uncomfortable, paling.
I don’t know, Percy. I just had the feeling Ты were in danger, Where… where is the spot?
The small of my back.
Where? Here?
“Do Ты know where it is?” Grover asked.
“No.” She сказал(-а) a bit too quickly. “Why would he tell me?”
“Because Ты were his best friend, then Ты were his girlfriend except Ты were both in denial, and then Ты were dating.” Connor said. Annabeth shot him a look.
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t but it hardly matters because if I do know I would never tell any of you, and I’m stuck sitting here instead of making sure Seaweed Brain doesn’t get himself-”
“Annabeth, calm.” Chiron said, “Your time will come, child.”

We just have to find it, and then we can kill you. Won’t that be lovely? Have a Cheese
’n’ Wiener!”
“She has issues!” Clarisse groaned.
“What? I bet Ты were just like that when Ты were little. Going around ‘I wanna spear I wanna spear!’” There was some laugh.
“Look Travis, I do have a spear.” Clarisse сказал(-а) raising Maimer.

Percy tried to think. He didn’t remember any dip in the Styx. Then again, he didn’t remember much of anything. His skin didn’t feel like iron, but it would explain how he’d held out so long against the gorgons.
Maybe if he just fell down the mountain . . . would he survive?
“As long as Ты fall right.”
“When you’re falling Ты have no real control.” Piper said.
“Unless you’re Jason.” Leo said.
“Then Ты fall from a lot higher and it’s not cool.” Jason said.

He didn’t want to risk it —not without something to slow the fall, или a sled, или . . .
He looked at Stheno’s large silver блюдо of free samples.
Hmm . . .
“Oh god- he’s going for it.” Annabeth said. The Stolls cheered.

“Reconsidering?” Stheno asked. “Very wise, dear. I added some gorgon’s blood to these, so your death will be quick and painless.”
Percy’s throat constricted. “You added your blood to the Cheese ’n’ Wieners?”
“Just a little.” Stheno smiled. “A little nick on my arm, but you’re sweet to be concerned.
“Yeah, isn’t he sweet when he’s concerned, Annabeth?” Connor сказал(-а) in baby talk. Annabeth threw a перфоратор, удар, пунш and he ducked just in time.
“And yes; he is very cute when he’s worried.”

Blood from our right side can cure anything, Ты know, but blood from our left side is deadly—”
“You dimwit!” Euryale screeched. “You’re not supposed to tell him that! He won’t eat the wieners if Ты tell him they’re poisoned!”
Stheno looked stunned. “He won’t? But I сказал(-а) it would be quick and painless.”[/b]
“We demigods try to stay away from death in general.” Connor said.
“I’d rather have it quick and painless.” Rachel said.
“Or slow and agonising- depending on what Ты get in battle.” Jason said. Everyone looked at him weird.
“Jason, nobody gets your ‘die with honour’ stuff here.” Талия said. Jason nodded.
“Never mind.”

“Never mind!”
“OMG coincidence!” Travis said. “Jason are Ты half gorgon?”
Талия smacked the back of his head.
“What? His only family I know is you, and based on that-”
    The sky rumbled.
“Mm-hmm.” Талия said.

Euryale’s fingernails grew into claws.
“We’ll kill him the hard way —just keep slashing until we find the weak spot.
“See, that’s what I would have done, I can’t believe nobody’s ever tried that.” Clarisse said.
“That’s what Ты do to everyone anyways.”
“Wrong; that’s what I do to everyone I kill. Ты guys should be safe.”
“Speaking of безопасно, сейф или not, is Clovis dead?” Piper suddenly said. “He hasn’t moved in like… A while.” Nico poked him.
“He’s fine.”

Once we defeat Percy Jackson, we’ll be еще famous than Medusa! Our patron will reward us greatly!”
Percy gripped his sword. He’d have to time his Переместить perfectly —a few секунды of confusion, grab the блюдо with his left hand . . .
Keep them talking, he thought.
Annabeth smiled.

“Before Ты Слэш me to bits,” he said, “who’s this patron Ты mentioned?”
Euryale sneered. “The goddess Gaea, of course! The one who brought us back from oblivion!
“She can do that? That explains it…” Grover said.

You won’t live long enough to meet her, but your Друзья below will soon face her wrath. Even now, her armies are marching south. At the Feast of Fortune, she’ll awaken, and the demigods will be cut down like —like—”
“Like our low prices at Bargain Mart!” Stheno suggested.
“Issues!” Clarisse yelled again.
But Jason was on freak-out Roman mode.
“They’re going to crash the feast of fortune?” He сказал(-а) alert. “They can’t- if they stop the- they could- Hazel, Bobby, Gwendolyn, Reyna, Kota- oh…Gosh what will the legion do?” He said.
“Jason, calm down! They’ll be okay! Your Друзья will be fine!” Талия said.
“Even if we had no idea who Hazel, Bobby, Gwen, Reyna and Kota are.” Nico said.
Jason turned to Chiron, the only one who really understood what this meant and how it could end. Chiron nodded solemnly.
“Later, child.” He said.

“Gah!” Euryale stormed toward her sister.
Percy took the opening. He grabbed Stheno’s platter, scattering poisoned Cheese ’n’ Wieners,
“He’s wasting food! Think of the starving in Africa or…”
“Rachel, even they wouldn’t want the Cheese’n’Wieners and Ты just interrupted an action scene!”

and slashed Riptide across Euryale’s waist, cutting her in half.
“Yes!”

He raised the platter, and Stheno found herself facing her own greasy reflection.
“Medusa!” she screamed.
Someone coughed *genius* and they were half sure it was Chiron…

Her sister Euryale had crumbled to dust, but she was already starting to re-form, like a snowman un-melting.
“What? That wasn’t two hours!” Annabeth said.
“Wow, he really is bad with the whole time thing.” Leo said.

“Stheno, Ты fool!” she gurgled as her half-made face rose from the mound of dust. “That’s just your own reflection! Get him!”
Percy slammed the metal tray on вверх of Stheno’s head, and she passed out cold.
He put the блюдо behind his butt, сказал(-а) a silent prayer to whatever Roman god oversaw stupid катание на санях tricks,
“Mercury’s kids do stupid things, but then you’ve got the god of mountains…”

And jumped off the side of the hill.
“Chiron keep reading!” Annabeth сказал(-а) agitated.
“I can’t child.” He said.
“What do Ты mean, Ты can’t?” She demanded. Chiron showed her the following page.

The Son of Neptune
Coming out fall 2011

“That’s it?” Jason asked. “We get that and then we’re on our own? Waiting?”
“I’ll Поиск the Internet!” Rachel suggested. She ran off to the computer and Annabeth started pacing, her fingers digging into her skull.
“Annabeth,” Талия сказал(-а) getting up, “Relax, he’s fine, he got away. It’s all good.”
“How can Ты say that Талия Grace?” Annabeth said. “He just jumped off a холм, хилл with a блюдо of free samples as a sled! He’s done some stupid things but that definitely takes the вверх 10!”
“Yeah Percy!” Travis cheered.
“You- stop it!” She сказал(-а) turning towards the Stolls, one hand reaching for the handle of her knife- which was sadly still sticking out from the Ping-Pong table.
    Rachel raced back in the room, her face red.
“I got it!”
“The book?” Grover asked, getting up so fast he woke up Clovis.
“Reading makes me…” His head slammed back down.
“No- a piece of it… They’re just slowly but surely putting it on the Internet, certain excerpt of it, treating it like some, Фэнтези book.”
“So how did Ты find it?” Annabeth said.
“There’s this group of crazy people on the Internet- they’re obsessed about this stuff! I have no clue why but they`re diehards. They have games and stories and pictures and…” Rachel shook her head. “I thought Ты demigods were insane; I’m reconsidering now. I mean, all the Статьи and Письмо these people do- it cannot be healthy. But they gather up all this info and stick it there.”
“How do they know?” Travis asked.
“Are they stalking us?” Connor looked over his shoulder worried.
“They call themselves the Герои of Olympus spot on Fanpop,” Rachel said. “Whatever that it… I think as long as we stick with them, we’ll be okay and we’ll know about what Percy’s going through.”
“So we’ll keep reading?” Leo said.
“We’ve got to!” Annabeth said.
“Yeah, I need to find out what’s going on there.” Jason said, really on edge. “It doesn’t sound too good.”
“Yes, we will. Whenever these guys come up with something- we’ll print it out and read it.”
“And frame it for Annabeth.” Travis said. Annabeth shot him a look.
“How much do they have?”
“They have one other piece, a synopsis, and the transcription of a video. We’ll just read that, and by the time October swings around, we’ll have the book!” Rachel said.
“October? The book only сказал(-а) ‘fall’.” Piper said.
“These guys say October 4th. They are so obsessed with this- it cannot be healthy.”
“Who cares about their health!” Travis said.
“Yeah, go print up the synopsis!” Leo cheered.

So should they? или should this fic end at that?