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To our friends at 20th TV and Disney+—we couldn’t imagine a crew better to sail with into the Sea of Monsters
The triple goddess thing did spark a memory somewhere in the back of my mind, but Greek Myth Land is full of triple goddesses: The Fates. The Gray Sisters. The Furies. Destiny’s Child. I couldn’t keep track of them all.
I remembered something my girlfriend, Annabeth, had once told me: Always count to five before saying something in anger to a divine being. This would theoretically reduce my chances of being turned into a smoldering heap of charcoal briquettes.
Maybe that sounds self-centered, but the idea of anybody writing a book about me makes me super paranoid.
Says te one who has a whole freaking book series DEDICATED to HIM!
Annabeth listened with the kind of intensity most people only give to their favorite songs—like she wanted to memorize every word, analyze the meaning of every line and how it made her feel. She is a natural problem solver.
The oversize Labrador would race a block, stop to smell a trash can, race another block, look back to see if Annabeth had been killed in traffic, sniff another trash can, and so on. Because life is short. You have to take time to stop and smell the trash cans.
Me, I stayed up for a while, staring at the speckled constellations on the ceiling. I thought about Grover’s comment—that things had to get easier. The problem was, in Percy World, things never got easier, only weirder.
“Have a good day at school, dear,” I told Annabeth.
Bro why am I gushingggg over this ;D
“We all mess up,” Annabeth consoled him. “Remember when Percy sent Medusa’s head to Mount Olympus? Or when he got a nosebleed and woke up Gaea? Or that time—” “Are you just running down a list of times I messed up?” I asked. Annabeth shrugged. “You’re cute when you mess up.”
“My mom is having a baby,” I told Hecuba. I’m not sure why that bubbled up in my mind, but it got Hecuba’s attention. She turned toward me, her eyes bearing down like heat lamps. “I grew up an only child,” I continued. “I was a lot of work for my mom. You know how it is. Demigods.” Those hellhound eyes were giving me a sunburn. “I can’t imagine how much courage it took for her to have another kid,” I said. “I’m worried for the baby. I mean, this kid won’t be a demigod, but still…I’ve seen how dangerous the world is. I’ve lost friends. One time I lost my mom—thought she was gone forever. That
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“Every time I lose someone,” I said, “I get so angry…I want revenge. But then I remember what my friends would want. The same thing my mom wants for me—to be happy. To find people who matter and hang on to them for as long as I can.”
STOPPP WHY AM I CRYINGGG??!!
“I can’t go back in time,” I said. “I can’t recover the people I’ve lost. So I have to concentrate on the family I’ve still got. Not just my mom and stepdad, or the new baby. But also Annabeth. Grover. All my friends at Camp Half-Blood.”
“You’ve got family, too,” I told Hecuba. “I know Hecate’s not perfect. It must get annoying the way she treats you like a pet. But I’ve also seen how she looks at you. You mean a lot to her. And Gale—I think she’d be really sad without you. And now there’s Nope.…
“But you can scare all the Greeks you want…It won’t heal the grief. It’s just chucking more wood into the fire. I think it’s better to find your pack and protect it.”
I have a friend whose dad once turned her into a tree.
Thaliaaaaa
Maybe Hecate saved you the only way she knew how. It’s not perfect, but it’s still love.”
She’d made me breakfast: a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich. If I hadn’t already been in love with her, that would’ve sealed the deal. Grover was also in love—with my sandwich—
“Except…maybe I am,” he said. “I was thinking Monday night, before everything went wrong…if you get this letter of recommendation, there’ll only be one more to go. Then you’ll be ready for college. And you and Annabeth will be gone. And I’ll…I’ll still be here.”
“Grover. Ah, man, we’d never leave you leave you. You can come out to stay anytime. And we’ll be back.” He sniffled. “I know. It’s just…I hate it. I’ll miss you two. And it’s selfish, so I haven’t said anything. I want to help. I really do. But part of me wonders…maybe that’s why I drank that strawberry potion. Subconsciously, maybe, but still…just to sabotage things. What if I did that? I couldn’t live with myself.”
He wiped a tear from his cheek. “It’s not your fault.” “Don’t do that,” I said, gently as I could. “Don’t brush it away.” “The tear?” “No, dude, the importance of what you’re telling me.
But I do know that nothing on earth is worth losing my best friend. We’ll figure this out. Just please, no more grounding yourself. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should have been thinking about how you felt rather than stressing about getting into college.”
“Okay. Annabeth is going to kill me, isn’t she?” We didn’t even discuss not telling her, because that was a recipe for disaster. “She might kill you a little,” I agreed. “But in a loving, caring way. And she’ll tell you the same thing I did. Nothing is worth losing you. You are always going to be with us, even if we’re temporarily living on different coasts.”
Grover seemed to enjoy being called Cloven Elder. My thoughts started rambling, as they do. I wondered if I should call him CE for short. Did that mean before he became a Cloven Elder he was Grover BCE? This is how my mind works. Welcome to the chaos.
The name of the place glittered in pearly white over the door: AEAEA. I guess they’d spent all their money on the storefront decorations and hadn’t been able to afford any consonants for their sign. “What is it?” Grover asked. “Not sure,” I said. “The name of that place mean anything to you?” Grover tried to pronounce it. “It looks like something Hephaestus might scream when he drops a hammer on his foot.”
Yelling Whatever! at my girlfriend and throwing a potion at her are two great ways to make me angry. And when I get angry, liquids explode. (That sounded more impressive in my head.)
From the neck up, my Wise Girl was a barn owl.
“Percy,” she said, “I don’t give you enough credit.” I blinked. “I’m sorry—can I get that in writing? Maybe on a billboard?” She laughed. “I’m serious. You’re good at understanding people, making them feel seen. And by people, I mean polecats and hellhounds, too.” “Thanks. I think.”
Scones had never excited me, though. They always tasted like dehydrated muffin bricks.
Couldn't agree more
“Like…focus on the people you love. They need you; you can’t afford to get overwhelmed, so you keep it together.”
“Hey, Wise Girl,” I said, trying to keep the panic out of my voice, “be wise. I don’t know much, but I do know we’re stronger together. Always.”
Then again…Annabeth and I were more than just two people. We were a pair, and when we stood at the crossroads, we did it together.
We sat in silence. It was nice to be able to do that with Annabeth. We never felt the need to be witty or cool with each other. We could just be ourselves. That was enough.
“Besides, I gotta believe we’re a good team because we make each other’s fatal flaws into slightly less fatal flaws. Like, maybe even fatal strengths.”
“None of us should. Grover’s fatal flaw is apparently strawberry milkshakes, right? But sometimes life gives you strawberry milkshakes. Then you gotta count on your friends to look out for you. We’re a team. How many times have you propped me up?” “I’ve lost count.” “Exactly.
“We’ll be here to help you!” Grover promised. “Even if it means that you two have to leave for California afterward.” “Hey, now,” said Juniper, squeezing Grover’s wrist. “I told you, don’t worry about that. Because no matter where you go, your roots are where you’re planted. And this right here”—she gestured around the table—“these are Percy’s and Annabeth’s roots.”
We all laughed, but Juniper was right. Looking around the table, I knew I was where I belonged, and even if we moved across the country, Annabeth and I would always have a home here. We wouldn’t be leaving anything behind. We’d just be spreading out our branches.
