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

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“Who…who are you?” I asked.
“I am Hera.” The woman smiled.“Queen of Heaven.”
***
I’d seen Hera once before at a Council of the Gods, but I hadn’t paid much attention to her. At the time
I’d been surrounded by a bunch of other gods who were debating whether or not to kill me.
I didn’t remember her looking so normal. Of course, gods are usually twenty feet tall when they’re on
Olympus, so that makes them look a lot less normal. But now, Hera looked like a regular mom.
She served us sandwiches and poured lemonade.
“Grover, dear,” she said, “use your napkin. Don’t eat it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Grover said.
“Tyson, you’re wasting away. Would you like another peanut butter sandwich?”
Tyson stifled a belch. “Yes, nice lady.”
“Queen Hera,” Annabeth said. “I can’t believe it. What are you doing in the Labyrinth?”
Hera smiled. She flicked one finger and Annabeth’s hair combed itself. All the dirt and grime
disappeared from her face.
“I came to see you, naturally,” the goddess said.
Grover and I exchanged nervous looks. Usually when the gods come looking for you, it’s not out of the
goodness of their hearts. It’s because they want something.
Still, that didn’t keep me fromchowing down on turkey-and-Swiss sandwiches and chips and lemonade.
I hadn’t realized how hungry I was. Tyson was inhaling one peanut butter sandwich after another, and
Groverwas loving the lemonade, crunching the Styrofoam cup like an ice-cream cone.
“I didn’t think—” Annabeth faltered. “Well, I didn’t think you liked heroes.”
Hera smiled indulgently. “Because of that little spat I had with Hercules? Honestly, I got so much bad
press because of one disagreement.”
“Didn’t you try to kill him, like, a lot of times?” Annabeth asked.
Hera waved her hand dismissively. “Water under the bridge, my dear. Besides, he was one of my loving
husband’s children byanother woman. My patience wore thin, I’ll admit it. But Zeus and I have had
some excellent marriage counseling sessions since then. We’ve aired our feelings and come to an
understanding—especially after that last little incident.”
“You mean when he siredThalia ?” I guessed, but immediately wished I hadn’t. As soon as I said the
name of our friend, the half-blood daughter of Zeus,Hera’s eyes turned toward me frostily.