the_blood_of_olympus_-_rick_riordan

Chuck!’
The Aphrodite and Athena girls alike cooed over the feisty little satyr baby, who waved his pudgy
fists, kicked his tiny hooves and bleated, ‘Baaaa! Baaaa!’
Clarisse, who had been named the baby’s godmother, trailed behind the coach like a bodyguard
and occasionally muttered, ‘All right, all right. Give the kid some space.’
At announcement time, Chiron stepped forward and raised his goblet.
‘Out of every tragedy,’ he said, ‘comes new strength. Today, we thank the gods for this victory. To
the gods!’
The demigods all joined the toast, but their enthusiasm seemed muted. Nico understood the feeling:
We saved the gods again, and now we’re supposed to thank them?
Then Chiron said, ‘And to new friends!’
‘TO NEW FRIENDS!’
Hundreds of demigod voices echoed across the hills.
At the campfire, everyone kept looking at the stars, as if they expected Leo to come back in some
dramatic, last-minute surprise. Maybe he’d swoop in, jump off Festus’s back and launch into corny
jokes. It didn’t happen.
After a few songs, Reyna and Frank were called to the front. They got a thunderous round of
applause from both the Greeks and Romans. Up on Half-Blood Hill, the Athena Parthenos glowed
more brightly in moonlight, as if to signal: These kids are all right.
‘Tomorrow,’ Reyna said, ‘we Romans must return home. We appreciate your hospitality,
especially since we almost killed you –’
‘You almost got killed,’ Annabeth corrected.
‘Whatever, Chase.’
Oooooohhhhh! the crowd said as one. Then everybody started laughing and pushing each other
around. Even Nico had to smile.
‘Anyway,’ Frank took over, ‘Reyna and I agree this marks a new era of friendship between the
camps.’
Reyna clapped him on the back. ‘That’s right. For hundreds of years, the gods tried to separate us
to keep us from fighting. But there’s a better kind of peace – cooperation.’
Piper stood up from the audience. ‘Are you sure your mom is a war goddess?’
‘Yes, McLean,’ Reyna said. ‘I still intend to fight a lot of battles. But from now on we fight
together!’
That got a big cheer.
Zhang raised his hand for quiet. ‘You’ll all be welcome at Camp Jupiter. We’ve come to an
agreement with Chiron: a free exchange between the camps – weekend visits, training programmes
and, of course, emergency aid in times of need –’
‘And parties?’ asked Dakota.
‘Hear, hear!’ said Conner Stoll.
Reyna spread her arms. ‘That goes without saying. We Romans invented parties.’
Another big Oooohhhhhhhh!