04 The Mark of Athena

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“No,” Percy said. “I want you with me because you’ve got the blood of Poseidon. Maybe you can help me figure out where to find salt water. Besides, you’re good in a fight.” That seemed to make Frank feel a little better. “Sure. I guess.” “Great,” Percy said. “We should take one more. Annabeth—” “Oh, no!” Coach Hedge barked. “Young lady, you are grounded.” Annabeth stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. “Excuse me?” “You and Jackson are not going anywhere together!” Hedge insisted. He glared at Percy, daring him to mouth off. “I’ll go with Frank and Mr. Sneaky Jackson. The rest of you guard the ship and make sure Annabeth doesn’t break any more rules!” Wonderful, Percy thought. A boys’ day out with Frank and a bloodthirsty satyr, to find salt water in a landlocked city. “This,” he said, “is going to be so much fun.”
PERCY CLIMBED OUT ON DECK AND SAID, “WOW.” They had landed near the summit of a forested hill. A complex of white buildings, like a museum or a university, nestled in a grove of pines to the left. Below them spread the city of Atlanta—a cluster of brown and silver downtown skyscrapers two miles away, rising from what looked like an endless flat sprawl of highways, railroad tracks, houses, and green swathes of forest. “Ah, lovely spot.” Coach Hedge inhaled the morning air. “Good choice, Valdez.” Leo shrugged. “I just picked a tall hill. That’s a presidential library or something over there. At least that’s what Festus says.” “I don’t know about that!” Hedge barked. “But do you realize what happened on this hill? Frank Zhang, you should know!” Frank flinched. “I should?” “A son of Ares stood here!” Hedge cried indignantly. “I’m Roman…so Mars, actually.” “Whatever! Famous spot in the American Civil War!” “I’m Canadian, actually.” “Whatever! General Sherman, Union leader. He stood on this hill watching the city of Atlanta burn. Cut a path of destruction all the way from here to the sea. Burning, looting, pillaging—now there was a demigod!” Frank inched away from the satyr. “Uh, okay.” Percy didn’t care much about history, but he wondered whether landing here was a bad omen. He’d heard that most human civil wars started as fights between Greek and Roman demigods. Now they were standing on the site of one such battle. The entire city below them had been leveled on orders of a child of Ares.
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A 1 E=mc 2 This eBook is provided b
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks to Seá
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• XL • XLI • XLII • XLIII
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The Argo II definitely did not look
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Must be her nerves. Even in a world
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“Ha!” snapped the statue. “Do
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Leo pulled out his controller and y
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In front of her, the demigods made
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He introduced Reyna to Piper, who l
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ANNABETH WISHED SHE HAD AN APPETITE
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ig leader dude we fought at the Wol
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The undertones in Reyna’s voice t
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“We’ll have to hurry,” Jason
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Now that she’d said her piece, th
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“Back soon,” he promised. “Th
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“Don’t be. I’m the daughter o
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Annabeth swallowed. Something about
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enough time with Circe to know char
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Reyna finished her cup of chocolate
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Down in the forum, chaos was spread
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The Argo II returned fire. Legionna
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There was no sign of Coach Hedge, b
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Leo wasn’t sure what to make of F
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Leo scowled. “What kind of questi
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“Yes. Yes, definitely. I’m sure
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“Hang on, Coach!” he shouted.
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Leo had made the lounge as nice as
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Percy still didn’t look happy abo
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Leo found that hard to believe. Haz
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“You don’t have a twin brother
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“Aunt Rosa?” he asked. It didn
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“But we’re not at war,” Leo i
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“But, um, what sort of price are
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“Long story,” he said. “She a
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“She’s the goddess of revenge,
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“So…you have to repeat everythi
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At any rate, Leo couldn’t miss th
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“I’m so glad Narcissus is alive
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The nymph fan club tried to shove H
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Hazel stabbed her sword in the sand
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“Yeah, baby, check me out!” “
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“He is funny,” a nymph ventured
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clubs wreathed in flowers. A few of
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Leo had thought she’d meant Narci
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She’d been prepared to hate Reyna
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“Not yet,” Piper said. Leo curs
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The others must’ve felt it too. T
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“They don’t really make sense,
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“Someplace close to a city,” An
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“Yeah, but still…you didn’t h
Page 104 and 105: “Sounds dangerous!” Leo agreed
Page 106 and 107: “Correct my math,” Percy said,
Page 108 and 109: Percy and Jason climbed on their re
Page 110 and 111: “It was discussed,” Percy assur
Page 112 and 113: she was scuba diving with her fathe
Page 114 and 115: Too late, said a sleepy voice, humm
Page 116 and 117: She rolled to the edge of the road
Page 118 and 119: “You have not chosen,” he said.
Page 120 and 121: “But…okay.” He hurried off. A
Page 122 and 123: “I could try,” she said halfhea
Page 124 and 125: Piper couldn’t shake the feeling
Page 126 and 127: “Right,” Piper said. “Bacchus
Page 128 and 129: Finally Hazel exhaled. “Piper is
Page 130 and 131: “Stop!” Piper ordered, but her
Page 132 and 133: The Argo II raced east, cruising se
Page 134 and 135: have hated us ever since. They’ve
Page 136 and 137: FORGET THE CHICKEN-NUGGET SMOKE SCR
Page 138 and 139: Otis grimaced. “I’m still not s
Page 140 and 141: On the inner wall of the jar, it lo
Page 142 and 143: They worked their way past the supp
Page 144 and 145: Percy wanted to tell her the same t
Page 146 and 147: Annabeth smirked, like she was plea
Page 148 and 149: PERCY HAD SEEN FRANK SURROUNDED by
Page 150 and 151: The meeting was like a war council
Page 152 and 153: “Don’t get me wrong, Hazel. It
Page 156 and 157: Percy could imagine some of the kid
Page 158 and 159: next. He started munching on the ce
Page 160 and 161: “I don’t know,” Percy said.
Page 162 and 163: “Oh, yes,” Kate said. “One of
Page 164 and 165: He wore a wet suit that was several
Page 166 and 167: The crab man sighed. “Five thousa
Page 168 and 169: “Of course. Don’t they, Frank?
Page 170 and 171: Frank laughed nervously. “Yeah. H
Page 172 and 173: assortment of weapons like tridents
Page 174 and 175: It’s just a stupid phobia, he ass
Page 176 and 177: It hit the glass with a thunk—not
Page 178 and 179: Alarms blared as they fled the exhi
Page 180 and 181: “What? What?” Leo cried, holdin
Page 182 and 183: “A map,” Piper said. “But a m
Page 184 and 185: “You did fine,” Percy assured h
Page 186 and 187: Piper leaned over the console. “A
Page 188 and 189: Percy passed out early, which left
Page 190 and 191: “Mom!” Annabeth said. “Athena
Page 192 and 193: Annabeth’s eyes stung. She though
Page 194 and 195: “Cutting-edge Ancient Greek techn
Page 196 and 197: THAT NIGHT, ANNABETH SLEPT without
Page 198 and 199: Mostly she breathed in the sea air
Page 200 and 201: away. By the time Annabeth and Haze
Page 202 and 203: The goddess sipped her tea. Her eye
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Annabeth’s tea was cold. She hadn
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following the Mark of Athena to its
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Octavian made a squeaking sound.
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irds. Soaring over the city, headin
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THE NEW CIVIL WAR HAD BEGUN. Leo ha
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the shadows. She yelled for her fat
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She forced herself to move. Still t
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Kill the Romans, she heard her moth
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A spear flew past her ear. The Argo
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“I can input star charts and orde
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She nodded, though she looked pale.
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The song didn’t seem to help Haze
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“Oh, right.” Leo glanced self-c
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Everything around him seemed solid
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Then another kid stumbled outside i
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Leo nodded in appreciation. Sammy w
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The schoolyard dissolved into a dif
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Somehow, Hazel’s power to revisit
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LEO DESERVED A DUNCE CAP. If he’d
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The ship tilted farther to starboar
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Leo caught them. Each was the size
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When Leo woke, he wondered if he wa
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“Oh, man,” Leo said when he had
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“Yeah,” Leo grumbled. “Thanks
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“Yes,” Bythos said with a dry s
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Finally the kelp forest opened up.
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By the time Leo had explained the e
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As Hazel talked, her hair floated a
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Leo thought about his least favorit
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I’ve given you a letter of introd
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Piper concentrated harder. She saw
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Annabeth swatted his arm. “Come o
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Percy took Annabeth’s hand. “I
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She didn’t finish, but the questi
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fine, but the way he acted so upbea
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“You’re beautiful and powerful,
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“No,” Leo said through a forced
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The Argo II was only a few hundred
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He did in fact have a club, which l
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He pointed at the pillars rising fr
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“Figure it out,” the god snappe
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Great, Piper thought. Jason finally
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would be so nice to jump in with Ja
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Achelous kept tipping his head to t
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“Yes,” Achelous said. “I coul
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Piper frowned. The river god sounde
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Achelous looked down at her through
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They didn’t slow down until they
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Hercules stared at her as if she we
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PERCY WAS NOT FEELING THE LOVE. Bad
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“What was that for?” the coach
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“They should land in Rome shortly
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Percy didn’t want to, but he woke
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They hadn’t been attacked since t
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The golden boy, Percy thought, reme
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Percy frowned. “I’m pretty sure
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“Dolphins,” Percy noted. Chrysa
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Chrysaor laughed easily. He wasn’
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“Fakes!” Chrysaor roared. “Sh
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It took them longer than Percy want
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They had a couple of hours before d
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through branches. Her hair was as b
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canopies. They reminded Percy of tr
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Piper drew her knife and set it on
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Finally they reached the Colosseum,
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They held hands across the table. P
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She seemed so stunned that Percy fi
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about to rise and destroy the world
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Rhea Silvia pointed out a large mod
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corner of that dilapidated mansion,
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into a bird. Jason could simply con
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Finally Annabeth made it to the bot
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At the far end of the room, the alt
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Finally the ghost with the pope hat
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“We do not need to kill you ourse
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“Bah!” the pater spat. “You c
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ANNABETH THOUGHT SHE KNEW PAIN. She
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with her dad at his place in San Fr
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gone. She pried it open and pulled
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She’d expected spiders. She knew
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She realized the beams weren’t me
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The goddess’s face was serene and
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Even Annabeth had to admit her thre
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The Forum was okay, but it was most
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On the bright side, there were no l
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They weren’t watching him. Leo wa
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“Both of you, be quiet,” Hazel
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Her fortune cookie was still in Leo
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Leo’s index finger blazed like a
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Hazel and Frank both stared at him
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Frank grunted agreement. “How do
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For the first time in days, Leo fel
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“You made me fire the ballista?
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Finally he got the last spring in p
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With trembling fingers, Leo turned
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“Stop that!” Wolf Head demanded
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She frowned, still looking a bit wo
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Leo couldn’t stand it. His hand g
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“Sixteen?” she asked. He nodded
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“You’re not allowed to say that
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Piper did not want to see that. She
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“Feel free to blast them,” Jaso
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than the Roman Empire, but Piper wa
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“For the owner,” Percy guessed.
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“When Rome rose to power, we were
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PIPER NEEDED A MIRACLE, not a bedti
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littering the ground—thousands of
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Percy jumped in the water. Jason an
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“Doesn’t matter! As long as it
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Piper’s vision went dark. She tho
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stream, perhaps, or a lake in a mea
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Several hundred feet later, they re
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Ephialtes smiled at the demigods li
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“Uh…my dad’s an actor.” “
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“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Ephi
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“Well, you can’t kill us.” Ep
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He rolled to one side as all eight
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Jason had fast reflexes. As Otis th
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PERCY HAD NEVER THOUGHT OF MR. D as
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Bacchus shrugged. “Oh, I apprecia
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PERCY HAD FOUGHT MANY BATTLES. He
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Jason understood immediately. He la
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Jason tried to take advantage. He s
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The ghosts cheered and threw spectr
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The demigods gathered around the he
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Piper must’ve been nervous, becau
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there alone with that creature for
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But could she use that weakness aga
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“I’m just telling you what Ares
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“Or you’ll kill me?” “Yes!
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“This would take a great deal of
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an Ancient Greek, walking into the
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eminder that there was always someo
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“Uh-huh.” Annabeth stepped back
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She realized her best efforts had n
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Annabeth wondered if Arachne had to
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Percy must have felt it too. He gui
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Percy had managed to grab a ledge a
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Everything had happened so quickly.
Page 482 and 483:
Nico and Hazel shared a look, maybe
Page 484 and 485:
They kidded him, calling him Admira
Page 486 and 487:
charmspeak a blessing bestowed by A
Page 488 and 489:
Hadrian a Roman Emperor who ruled f
Page 490 and 491:
Marcus Agrippa a Roman statesman an
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praetor an elected Roman magistrate
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Via Labicana an ancient road of Ita
Page 496 and 497:
The Red Pyramid “The first volume
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About the Author Rick Riordan is th
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04 The Mark of Athena

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