BLOOD OF OLYMPUS

But Kekrops emerged alone.
‘The way is clear,’ he said. ‘But hurry. The ceremony is almost complete.’
Pushing through a curtain of mucus was almost as fun as Piper imagined.
She emerged feeling like she’d just rolled through a giant’s nostril. Fortunately, none of the gunk
stuck to her, but still her skin tingled with revulsion.
Percy, Annabeth and she found themselves in a cool, damp pit that seemed to be the basement level
of a temple. All around them, uneven ground stretched into darkness under a low ceiling of stone.
Directly above their heads, a rectangular gap was open to the sky. Piper could see the edges of walls
and the tops of columns, but no monsters … yet.
The camouflage membrane had closed behind them and blended into the ground. Piper pressed her
hand against it. The area seemed to be solid rock. They wouldn’t be leaving the way they’d come.
Annabeth ran her hand along some marks on the ground – a jagged crow’s-foot shape as long as a
human body. The area was lumpy and white, like stone scar tissue. ‘This is the place,’ she said.
‘Percy, these are the trident marks of Poseidon.’
Hesitantly, Percy touched the scars. ‘He must’ve been using his extra-extra-large trident.’
‘This is where he struck the earth,’ Annabeth said, ‘where he made a saltwater spring appear when
he had the contest with my mom to sponsor Athens.’
‘So this is where the rivalry started,’ Percy said.
‘Yeah.’
Percy pulled Annabeth close and kissed her … long enough for it to get really awkward for Piper,
though she said nothing. She thought about the old rule of Aphrodite’s cabin: that to be recognized as
a daughter of the love goddess, you had to break someone’s heart. Piper had long ago decided to
change that rule. Percy and Annabeth were a perfect example of why. You should have to make
someone’s heart whole; that was a much better test.
When Percy pulled away, Annabeth looked like a fish gasping for air.
‘The rivalry ends here,’ Percy said. ‘I love you, Wise Girl.’
Annabeth made a little sigh, like something in her ribcage had melted.
Percy glanced at Piper. ‘Sorry, I had to do that.’
Piper grinned. ‘How could a daughter of Aphrodite not approve? You’re a great boyfriend.’
Annabeth made another grunt-whimper. ‘Uh … anyway. We’re beneath the Erechtheion. It’s a
temple to both Athena and Poseidon. The Parthenon should be diagonally to the southeast of here.
We’ll need to sneak around the perimeter and disable as many siege weapons as we can, make an
approach path for the Argo II.’
‘It’s broad daylight,’ Piper said. ‘How will we go unnoticed?’
Annabeth scanned the sky. ‘That’s why I made a plan with Frank and Hazel. Hopefully … ah.
Look.’
A bee zipped overhead. Dozens more followed. They swarmed around a column, then hovered
over the opening of the pit.
‘Say hi to Frank, everybody,’ Annabeth said.