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

by Rick Riordan

‘Is this really safe?’ she yelled. ‘Perfectly!’ I hoped I was right. ‘Perhaps even safer than the sun chariot!’

‘Didn’t the sun chariot almost destroy the world once?’ ‘Well, twice,’ I said. ‘Three times, if you count the day I let Thalia Grace drive, but –’ ‘Forget I asked!’

My first instinct was to order a seasoned demigod to take charge.

oh fuck! Who is the demigod in charge?!

Her absence felt like a Colossus stomping upon my heart.

‘and you look lovely today.’ That line always worked with Leto.

Malcolm Pace, a true child of Athena,

He and Nyssa had spread war maps across

‘IMPOSTER! I AM THE REAL APOLLO! YOU’RE UGLY!’

Oh, dear reader, it was hard to yell such words at my own handsome visage, but I did. Such was my courage.

‘Will, Kayla, Austin,’ I said, ‘come with me.’ ‘And Nico,’ said Nico. ‘I have a doctor’s note.’

chance codependientes, pero son niños...

I love me some plague When it’s on the right arrow Ka-bam! You dead, bro?

I was, after all, the most important and attractive target.

Hades used to love sneaking up on me that way and yelling, ‘HI!’ just as I shot an arrow of death. He found it amusing if I missed my target and accidentally wiped out the wrong city.

‘How do you know it will work?’ Kayla asked. ‘I don’t, but –’

clásico

It’s doubtful I’ll be able to cook up the Black Death or the Spanish Flu.

Fun Fact: la gripe española es influenza, lit la que nos da y nos vacuna... Así que le darás una flecha de gripesita?

and after that shadow-travel Nico is going to pass out any second.’ ‘No, I’m not,’ Nico complained, then passed out.

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

The arrow quivered. (Oh, dear. That was a horrible pun. My apologies.)

‘Shooting you is the whole point.’ (Ah, I really must watch those puns.)

No, and does hallucinating run in the family?

the sacred shrine of Hestia,

The valley would be cursed and uninhabitable for generations. Camp Half-Blood would cease to exist.

The weekend was here. Percy Jackson had arrived.

GRITÉ AL CIELO LA PUTA MADRE

Percy leaped heroically from his mount and slipped in hellhound pee. He nearly slid off the statue’s brow. ‘What the – Mrs O’Leary, jeez!’

but I had to admit Percy Jackson was moderately impressive.

Man... Percy es perfecto

Perhaps Percy’s arrival had given me new faith.

a todos amigo, a todos

I spoke of my own awesomeness

(Three cheers for reacting appropriately!)

‘But they are the Apollo cabin,’

‘From here? It’s impossible! Where is that flying boy, Jason Grace?’

amigo, ya vino Percy, tampoco pidas que vengan todos los Avengers/Jesucristo

nobody!’

Nooobody Noooobody

Besides, if you don’t, I will personally throw you off the top of the Empire State Building.’ This was exactly the pep talk I needed – just the sort of thing Zeus used to say to me before my football matches.

I saw myself – a monument to my own conceit. Nero’s pride was no more than a reflection of mine. I was the bigger fool.

Yet I aimed, exhaled and released the bowstring.

‘I’m afraid I – I summoned a rather benign illness. I believe I have given the Colossus a case of hay fever.’

You know that horrible pause when you’re waiting for someone to sneeze?

Hay fever could make a person cranky. I knew this because I invented hay fever.

te odio mmv

with extreme seasonal allergies.

Percy yelped a curse that would have made any Phoenician sailor proud.

Sherman Yang asked in a voice of childlike wonder: ‘What the Hades just happened?’ ‘I believe,’ I said, ‘the Colossus sneezed his head off.’

That was the price of our victory: a massive outbreak of hay fever.

Strangely enough, Damien White got sick right after he learned that Chiara was sick.

veo un enemies to lovers aquí

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.

of course she will

I wanted to flirt with Chiara and steal her away from Damien … or perhaps steal Damien away from Chiara,

bruuuh jajajaja yo sabía

‘You humans change and grow and mature. Gods do not.’ Percy faced me. ‘You sure about that? You seem pretty different.’

‘Whoa.’ Percy held up his hands. ‘Just to be clear, I’m not offering to go with you.

buuu

‘Things can turn out differently, Apollo. That’s the nice thing about being human. We only have one life, but we can choose what kind of story it’s going to be.’

Happiness approaches.

grin spread across his face. ‘Yep. Apollo, your escort is on the way.’

Leo had returned.

OH MY GOD