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

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I noticed my other friends were kneeling. They had awed looks on their faces. I got to my knees.
“You have a humming dodo bird,” I said stupidly.
The god’s eyes twinkled. “Yes, that’sDede .My little actress.”
Dedethe dodo looked offended. She pecked at Pan’s knee and hummed something that sounded like a
funeral dirge.
“This is the most beautiful place!” Annabeth said. “It’s better than any building ever designed.”
“I am glad you like it, dear,” Pan said. “It is one of the last wild places. My realm above is gone, I’m
afraid. Only pockets remain.Tiny pieces of life. This one shall stay undisturbed…for a little longer.”
“My lord,” Grover said, “please, you must come back with me! The Elders will never believe it! They’ll
be overjoyed! You can save the wild!”
Pan placed his hand on Grover’s head and ruffled his curly hair. “You are so young, Grover.So good
and true. I think I chose well.”
“Chose?” Grover said. “I—I don’t understand.”
Pan’s image flickered, momentarily turning to smoke. The giant guinea pig scuttled under the bed with a
terrified squeal. The wooly mammoth grunted nervously.Dede stuck her head under her wing. Then Pan
re-formed.
“I have slept many eons,” the god said forlornly. “My dreams have been dark. I wake fitfully, and each
time my waking is shorter. Now we are near the end.”
“What?” Grover cried. “But no! You’re right here!”
“My dear satyr,” Pan said. “I tried to tell the world, two thousand years ago. I announced it toLysas , a
satyr very much like you.he lived inEphesos , and he tried to spread the word.”
Annabeth’s eyes widened.“The old story. A sailor passing by the coast ofEphesos heard a voice crying
from the shore, ‘Tell them the great god Pan is dead.’”
“But that wasn’t true!” Grover said.
“Your kind never believed it,” Pan said. “You sweet, stubborn satyrs refused to accept my passing. And
I love you for that, but you only delayed the inevitable. You only prolonged my long, painful passing, my
dark twilight sleep. It must end.”
“No!” Grover’s voice trembled.
“Dear Grover,” Pan said. “You must accept the truth. Your companion, Nico, he understands.”
Nico nodded slowly. “He’s dying. He should have died long ago. This…this is more like a memory.”
“But gods can’t die,” Grover said.