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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Rick Riordan
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October 30 - November 1, 2024
“There they are.” Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. “Bianca and Nico di Angelo.”
Annabeth had grown taller than me since last summer, which I found kind of disturbing.
“So…you’ll go back to living at camp or what?” “It’s more serious than that, Percy. I…I probably should tell you something.”
I still couldn’t see Annabeth, but I knew she’d be heading the other way, looking for Thalia and Grover. I almost ran after her, and then I thought, Wait. I remembered what Thalia had said to me in the entry hall, looking at me all puzzled when I asked about the finger-snap trick: Hasn’t Chiron shown you how to do that yet? I thought about the way Grover had turned to her, expecting her to save the day. Not that I resented Thalia. She was cool. It wasn’t her fault her dad was Zeus and she got all the attention.…Still, I didn’t need to run after her to solve every problem.
“Let me go!” I demanded. “Who do you think you are?” Zoë stepped forward as if to smack me. “No,” the other girl ordered. “I sense no disrespect, Zoë. He is simply distraught. He does not understand.” The young girl looked at me, her eyes colder and brighter than the winter moon. “I am Artemis,” she said. “Goddess of the Hunt.”
recognize. I figured an animal rights activist would’ve had a heart attack looking at all those rare skins, but maybe since Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, she could replenish whatever she shot.
“I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. This is the average age of my Hunters, and all young maidens for whom I am patron, before they go astray.” “Go astray?” I asked. “Grow up. Become smitten with boys. Become silly, preoccupied, insecure. Forget themselves.” “Oh.” Zoë sat down at Artemis’s right. She glared at me as if all the stuff Artemis had just said was my fault, like I’d invented the idea of being a guy.
“Bianca, this is crazy,” I said. “What about your brother? Nico can’t be a Hunter.” “Certainly not,” Artemis agreed. “He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that’s the best boys can do.” “Hey!” I protested.
“Remember your pledge,” Artemis said. “It is now your life.” I couldn’t speak. I felt like a trespasser. And a complete failure. I couldn’t believe I’d come all this way and suffered so much only to lose Bianca to some eternal girls’ club. “Do not despair, Percy Jackson,” Artemis said. “You will still get to show the di Angelos your camp. And if Nico so chooses, he can stay there.”
Bruh so much for family
Bianca sat off to one side, talking with Nico. I could tell from his gloomy face that she was explaining her decision to join the Hunt. I couldn’t help thinking how selfish it was of her, abandoning her brother like that.
MERCI
The Hunters piled into the van. They all crammed into the back so they’d be as far away as possible from Apollo and the rest of us highly infectious males. Bianca sat with them, leaving her little brother to hang in the front with us, which seemed cold to me, but Nico didn’t seem to mind.
As Bianca di Angelo was leaving, she leaned over and whispered something in her brother’s ear. She looked at him for an answer, but Nico just scowled and turned away.
Grover blushed. “I was sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin.” “What for?” “Just to be, you know, near them.” “You’re a stalker with hooves.”
“I found that in Annabeth’s backpack,” Grover said. I stared at him. “I don’t understand.” “Well, it seems to me…maybe Annabeth was thinking about joining.” I’d like to say I took the news well. The truth was, I wanted to strangle the Hunters of Artemis one eternal maiden at a time.
I waited longer. Then I got angry. I was being stonewalled by a corpse.
“Nico, this is serious. Real swords. These can hurt.” He stared at me, a little disappointed, and I realized that I’d just sounded like my mother. Whoa. Not a good sign.
“Argh!” Thalia pushed me, and a shock went through my body that blew me backward ten feet into the water. Some of the campers gasped. A couple of the Hunters stifled laughs. “Sorry!” Thalia said, turning pale. “I didn’t mean to—” Anger roared in my ears. A wave erupted from the creek, blasting into Thalia’s face and dousing her from head to toe. I stood up. “Yeah,” I growled. “I didn’t mean to, either.” Thalia was breathing heavily. “Enough!” Chiron ordered.
And one shall perish by a parent’s hand.
OUF
The least the Oracle could’ve done was walk back to the attic by herself.
Lmao
“Artemis must be present at the solstice,” Zoë said. “She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos’s minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations.” “Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?” Dionysus asked. “Yes, Lord Dionysus.” Mr. D nodded. “Just checking. You’re right, of course. Carry on.”
“And the Titan’s curse must one withstand,” Silena said. “What could that mean?” I saw Chiron and Zoë exchange a nervous look, but whatever they were thinking, they didn’t share it.
“One shall perish by a parent’s hand,” Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. “How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?”
Clarisse?
I didn’t show up for dinner that night, which was a mistake, because Chiron and Grover came looking for me.
I love angst
Chiron gazed at the saltwater spring gurgling in the corner of the room. “Thalia would not have been my first choice to go on this quest. She’s too impetuous. She acts without thinking. She is too sure of herself.” “Would you have chosen me?” “Frankly, no,” he said. “You and Thalia are much alike.” “Thanks a lot.”
When he saw the pen, Chiron grimaced. “It’s no wonder Zoë doesn’t want you along, I suppose. Not while you’re carrying that particular weapon.” I didn’t understand what he meant. Then I remembered something he’d told me a long time ago, when he first gave me the magic sword: It has a long and tragic history, which we need not go into.
And your time will come. I’m convinced of that. There’s no need to rush.”
I told her about Annabeth. The other stuff too, but mostly it boiled down to Annabeth. My mother’s eyes teared up. I could tell she was trying hard to keep it together for my sake. “Oh, Percy…” “Yeah. So they tell me there’s nothing I can do. I guess I’ll be coming home.” She turned her pencil around in her fingers. “Percy, as much as I want you to come home”—she sighed like she was mad at herself—“as much as I want you to be safe, I want you to understand something. You need to do whatever you think you have to.” I stared at her. “What do you mean?”
LET'S GO MAMA
I uncapped the blade, flung open the door, and found myself face-to-face with a black pegasus. Whoa, boss! Its voice spoke in my mind as it clopped away from the sword blade. I don’t wanna be a horse-ke-bob! Its black wings spread in alarm, and the wind buffeted me back a step. “Blackjack,” I said, relieved but a little irritated. “It’s the middle of the night!” Blackjack huffed. Ain’t either, boss. It’s five in the morning. What you still sleeping for? “How many times have I told you? Don’t call me boss.” Whatever you say, boss. You’re the man. You’re my number one.
“It’s cool. No sword. See? No sword. Calm thoughts. Sea grass. Mama cows. Vegetarianism.”
hit the top of Half-Blood Hill in time to see the camp’s van disappearing down the farm road, probably Argus taking the quest group into the city. After that they would be on their own. I felt a twinge of guilt, and stupidity, too. How was I supposed to keep up with them. Run? Then I heard the beating of huge wings. Blackjack landed next to me. He began casually nuzzling a few tufts of grass that stuck through the ice. If I was guessing, boss, I’d say you need a getaway horse. You interested? A lump of gratitude stuck in my throat, but I managed to say, “Yeah. Let’s fly.”
God alert! Blackjack yelled. It’s the wine dude! Mr. D sighed in exasperation. “The next person, or horse, who calls me the ‘wine dude’ will end up in a bottle of Merlot!” “Mr. D.” I tried to keep my voice calm as the grape vines continued to wrap around my legs. “What do you want?” “Oh, what do I want? You thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice you leaving without permission?” “Well…maybe.”
“I am Lord Kronos’s senior commander,” the General said.
And you, of course, will have a role to play—” I thought Luke turned paler when the General said that.
“Imbeciles,” muttered the General. “This is why I don’t use mortals,” Luke said. “They are unreliable.” “They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent,” the General said. “I love them.”
The snake lady released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General’s hand. As soon as he gave it to the warriors, they would hunt Zoë and the other hunters until they were extinct. I didn’t have time to think. I ran and jumped with all my might, plowing into the warriors and snatching the scarf out of the air. “What’s this?” bellowed the General. I landed at the feet of a skeleton warrior, who hissed. “An intruder,” the General growled. “One cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!” “It’s Percy Jackson!” Luke yelled. “It has to be.” I sprinted for the exit, but heard a ripping sound and
...more
Brave and stupid, 10/10!
Grover let out a sigh. “Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway.” Bianca looked pleased. “Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn’t here when we used to live in D.C.” Grover frowned. “New? But that station looked really old.” “I guess,” Bianca said. “But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway.” Thalia sat forward. “Wait a minute. No subway at all?” Bianca nodded.
“Bianca,” Zoë said. “How long ago…” Her voice faltered. The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again.
Ohhhhh hold up.....
She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he’d taken the flames with him.
Prometheus ?
“I almost joined them,” she admitted. “Luke, Annabeth, and I ran into them once, and Zoë tried to convince me. She almost did, but…” “But?” Thalia’s fingers gripped the wheel. “I would’ve had to leave Luke.” “Oh.” “Zoë and I got into a fight. She told me I was being stupid. She said I’d regret my choice. She said Luke would let me down someday.”
“She wasn’t right! Luke never let me down. Never.” “We’ll have to fight him,” I said. “There’s no way around it.” Thalia didn’t answer. “You haven’t seen him lately,” I warned. “I know it’s hard to believe, but—” “I’ll do what I have to.” “Even if that means killing him?” “Do me a favor,” she said. “Get out of my car.” I felt so bad for her I didn’t argue.
“Annabeth wanted to join the Hunters, too. Maybe you should think about why.”
“Apollo?” I guessed, because I figured nobody else could make a haiku that bad. He put his finger to his lips. “I’m incognito. Call me Fred.”
Gosh darn
I reached down and took the hairpin, and as I did, it grew longer and heavier in my hand, until I held a familiar bronze sword. “Well balanced,” I said. “Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?” “Anaklusmos,” the girl said sadly. “The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea.”
OH
All half-bloods had attention deficit problems because of our inborn battlefield reflexes.
“Nico didn’t understand my decision,” Bianca murmured. She looked at me like she wanted assurance it was okay.
Fuck off
“Don’t blame yourself, Percy. You risked your life to save my brother and me. I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were people like you there, Nico would be fine. You’re a good guy.”
us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school.” “Why?” She knit her eyebrows. “We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We traveled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks. And then…I don’t know. One day a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through D.C. Then up into Maine. And we started going to Westover.”
Hmm sus
I’ll admit I used to think it would be kind of cool to learn how to shoot a gun, but I changed my mind as soon as the skeleton warriors pointed theirs at me.
“It’s near,” Grover moaned. “It’s here,” I said. “No,” he insisted. “The gift. The gift from the Wild.”
The Nemean Lion’s fur! My coat was bulletproof.
Bro youre so lucky
