The Tower of Nero (The Trials of Apollo, #5)

by Rick Riordan

If we then chose to come down from our thrones and shrink to mortal size, so we could pull these visitors aside and have a confidential chat, or give them a pat on the back, it seemed like we were doing something really special for them, descending to their level. There was no reason the thrones couldn’t have

Ares cursed under his breath. “Athena won the pot.” Hermes rubbed his back pocket, as if his wallet were still hurting. “Really?” I asked. Athena shrugged. “Wisdom. It comes in handy.” It should have been a commercial. The camera zooms in on Athena, who smiles at the screen as the promotional slogan appears below her: Wisdom. It comes in handy.

did not feel that this was a warm-and-fuzzy reconciliation with my father. Let’s be honest: some fathers don’t deserve that. Some aren’t capable of it.

I suppose I could have raged at him and called him bad names. We were alone. He probably expected it. Given his awkward self-consciousness at the moment, he might even have let me get away with it unpunished. But it would not have changed him. It would not have made anything different between us. You cannot change a tyrant by trying to out-ugly him.