The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo, #1)

by Rick Riordan

a girl I did not know for Aphrodite;

Pipes…?

“Jason and Piper are spending the school year in Los Angeles with Piper’s dad. They took Coach Hedge, Mellie, and Little Chuck with them.”

Awwww

“Well, Leo isn’t here. He died. Then he came back to life. And if I see him again, I’ll kill him.” Will elbowed him. “No, you won’t.”

:')

And vaya con queso…I believe he is admonishing us to go with cheese, which is always sound advice.”

Real i fear

I could not add my children. It didn’t seem right. These demigods were my protectors and my family, but for the present I could not think of myself as their father. A father should do more—a father should give more to his children than he takes. I have to admit that this was a novel idea for me. It made me feel even worse than before.

Oh.

“You’re staring,” Nico noted. “I am not,” Will said. “I am merely assessing how well Paolo’s arms are functioning after surgery.” “Hmph.”

I had a strange, uncharacteristic impulse to slide lower in my seat and pull my coat over my head.

Meg thrust out her hands and faint gold light flashed between her fingers. Suddenly young McCaffrey was holding two swords—each a curved blade in the old Thracian style, siccae made from Imperial gold.

ATE!!!

Peaches crouched at Meg’s side, snarling, as Meg fended off the confused and enraged demigods with her two swords.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said, my voice as bitter as Chiron’s tea, “please give it up for Meg McCaffrey, daughter of Demeter.”

I KNEW IT

“We’re all he’s got now.” I held back a sob. I couldn’t bear their concern. Not being able to reassure them, or even disagree with them, made me feel very small. A blanket was draped over me. Will said, “Sleep well, Apollo.”

You, Meg, are powerful.”

What sort of man—” “A good man,” she snapped.

Practice makes perfect Ha, ha, ha, I don’t think so Ignore my sobbing

Will Solace sighed. He was, of course, tied to Nico. He propped his elbow on Nico’s shoulder as if the son of Hades were a convenient shelf.

Cute

“I will turn Harley into a constellation called the Ankle Biter.

Not all monsters were three-ton reptiles with poisonous breath. Many wore human faces.

“That,” I told Meg, “is Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Ate.

She glanced to either side. “The Man, man. Big Brother. The suits. The imperators.”

“But you have willpower,” Rhea said. “You have mortal drive and urgency. Those are things the gods often lack.”

How cruel to see them—the flowers that I had created to honor my fallen love, with their plumes stained red like his blood or hued violet like his eyes. They bloomed so cheerfully in the window, reminding me of the joy I had lost.

Seeing them together, supporting each other, made my heart feel even heavier. During my delirium, both of my great loves had visited me. Now, once again, I was devastatingly alone.

The bitter irony appealed to me.

But my oath to save Meg McCaffrey had to come first.

This time I needed no ukulele. I needed no muse for my inspiration. I remembered Daphne’s face in the trees. I remembered Hyacinthus turning away, his death wound glistening on his scalp. My voice filled with anguish. I sang of heartbreak. Rather than collapsing under my own despair, I projected it outward.

:'(

But it was my fault.

True.

My golden life was a sham. My coolness was pretense. My heart was a lump of petrified wood.

I stroked the queen ant’s forehead. “May I call you Mama?”

Ew wth

You see, Apollo, Meg brought you here, just as I asked her to. Well done, my sweet.”

No.

“That’s right, my darling,” he said. “And you’ve done a wonderful job. Come to Papa.”

I stared at my beloved Dumpster waif. Yes, somehow over the past week she had become beloved to me. I could not imagine her as Imperial anything—definitely not as a part of Nero’s entourage.

Crying.

I began to hum softly “This Land Is Your Land.”

Everything about her was familiar: her ratty pageboy hair, her glittering cat-eye glasses, her runny nose and chewed cuticles and faint scent of apple pie.

If he flew into a rage…well then, he would hold Meg responsible.

Meg had been trained to regard her kindly stepfather Nero and the terrifying Beast as two separate people. I understood now why she preferred to spend her time in the alleys of New York. I understood why she had such quick mood changes, going from cartwheels to full shutdown in a matter of seconds.

She never knew what might unleas...

I could not stand the idea of being abandoned. Not again. Not by this ragamuffin Dumpster queen whom I’d learned to care about so much.

Noooo sad :'(

“Three times, if you count the day I let Thalia Grace drive,

My second instinct was to turn to Meg McCaffrey. How quickly I had grown used to her

“No, I’m not,” Nico complained, then passed out. Will caught him in a fireman’s carry and took him away.

I’m going to get the Lord of Darkness here some Gatorade!”

Lmaoooo

and astride his back was a young man with a glowing bronze sword. The weekend was here. Percy Jackson had arrived.

Ate.

(Three cheers for reacting appropriately!)

The dining pavilion was a total loss, but Nyssa and Harley were confident that Annabeth Chase could redesign the place next time she was here.

and avoid getting killed by my girlfriend.

Their descent was silent, but in my mind a joyous fanfare of Valdezinator music proclaimed the good news. Leo had returned.

RAHHHHHH LEO NATION WE R UP

THE DEMIGODS HAD TO TAKE NUMBERS. Nico commandeered a dispenser from the snack bar and carried it around, yelling, “The line starts to the left! Orderly queue, guys!”

…?

She punched Leo in the arm. “Ow,” said Leo. “You’re a jerk, and we all hate you,” said Miranda. Then she hugged him and kissed his cheek. “If you ever disappear like that again, we’ll line up to kill you.”

Love

When they first saw each other, Percy and Calypso had hugged awkwardly.

Tweaking

the story of Crotchkicker McCaffrey and the Demon Peach Baby,