THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.

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“Wait a second,” Annabeth protested. “What about ‘Whatwalks on four legs in the morning’?”
“I beg your pardon?” the Sphinx said, clearly annoyed now.
“The riddle about the man.He walks on four legs in the morning, like a baby, two legs in the afternoon,
like an adult, and three legs in the evening, as an old man with a cane. That’s the riddle you used to ask.”
“Exactly why we changed the test!” the Sphinx exclaimed. “You already knew the answer. Now second
question, what is the square root of sixteen?”
“Four,” Annabeth said, “but—”
“Correct! Which U.S. president signed the Emancipation Proclamation?”
“Abraham Lincoln, but—”
“Correct! Riddle number four. How much—”
“Hold up!” Annabeth shouted.
I wanted to tell her to stop complaining. She was doing great! She should just answer the questions so
we could leave.
“These aren’t riddles,” Annabeth said.
“What do you mean?” the sphinx snapped. “Of course they are. This test material is specially
designed—”
“It’s just a bunch of dumb, random facts,” Annabeth insisted. “Riddles are supposed to make you
think.”
“Think?” The Sphinx frowned. “How am I supposed to test whether you can think? That’s ridiculous!
Now, how much force is required—”
“Stop!”Annabeth insisted. “This is a stupid test.”
“Um, Annabeth,” Grover cut in nervously. “Maybe you should just, you know, finish first and complain
later?”
“I’m a child of Athena,” she insisted. “And this is an insult to my intelligence. I won’t answer these
questions.”
Part of mewsa impressed with her for standing up like that. But part of me thought her pride was going
to get us all killed.
The spotlights glared. The Sphinx’s eyes glittered pure black.
“Why then, my dear,” the monster said calmly. “If you won’t pass, you fail. And since we can’t allow
any children to be held back, you’ll be EATEN!”