The Demigod Files (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

by Rick Riordan

was hard for anyone to look cute in combat armor, but Annabeth pulled it off.

Ooooo did she?

“She likes you, man.” “Sure,” I muttered. “She likes me for target practice.” “Nah, they always do that. A girl starts trying to kill you, you know she’s into you.” “Makes a lot of sense.”

Yes actually

“If I was going to pick one person in the world to reattach my head,” I said, “I’d pick you.” I just blurted it out—to give her confidence, I guess— but immediately I realized it sounded pretty stupid. “Awww. . .” Silena sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Percy, that is so sweet!” Annabeth blushed. “Shut up, Silena. Hand me your dagger.” I was afraid Annabeth was going to stab me with

Omg lol

“That’s just one room,” Annabeth said. “There are probably hundreds of nurseries down here, decorated with treasure.” “It’s not important,” Silena insisted. “We have to find Charlie!” Another first: a child of Aphrodite uninterested in jewelry.

“Yaaaah!” I charged. I brought Riptide down on the dragon’s foot and sliced off a talon. Its head creaked as it looked down at me. It seemed more confused than angry, like, Why did you cut off my toe?

Lol rude

Beckendorf wiped his forehead. Silena was still fussing over his cuts and bruises, and Beckendorf looked pretty distracted by the attention.

I bet

As she was heading back to the front line, she turned and winked. “See you at the fireworks?” She didn’t even wait for my answer before darting off into the woods. I looked at Beckendorf. “Did she just . . . ask me out?” He shrugged, completely disgusted. “Who knows with girls? Give me a haywire dragon, any day.” So we sat together and waited while the girls won the game.

Omg. Love that!

get misty-eyed every time I play it. So does Percy, but I think that’s because he’s laughing at me.

DANG LOL

Who would you least like to meet in a dark alley—a Cyclops or an angry Mr. D? Grover: Blah-hah-hah! What kind of question is that? Um—well... I’d much rather meet Mr. D, obviously, because he’s so . . . er, nice. Yes, kind and generous to all us satyrs. We all love him. And I’m not just saying that because he’s always listening, and he would blast me to pieces if I said anything different.

Omg lOL

And the dryads up there—wow! Oh, wait, can you edit that part out? Juniper will kill me.

MHM

Any advice for kids who suspect they may be demigods, too? Percy: Pray you are wrong. Seriously, this may sound fun to read about, but it is bad news. If you do think you’re a demigod, find a satyr fast. You can usually spot them at any school. They laugh weird, and they eat anything. They might walk funny because they’re trying to hide their hooves inside fake feet. Find your school satyr and get his help. You need to make it to Camp Half-Blood right away. But again, you do not want to be a demigod. Do not try this at home.

OKAYYYYYYYYY LOL

Her black hair was longer than I remembered, but I knew those bright blue eyes and the silver tiara that marked her as the first lieutenant of Artemis. “Thalia!” I said. “What are you doing here?”

patch of darkness passed over the clearing and a boy tumbled out of it like he’d been tossed, landing in the grass at our feet. “Ow,” he muttered. He brushed off his aviator’s jacket. He was about twelve years old, with dark hair, jeans, a black T-shirt, and a silver skull ring on his right hand. A sword hung at his side. “Nico?” I said.

“We were brought together. All three of us.” “What are you talking about?” Nico demanded. “The children of the Big Three,” I said. “Zeus, Poseidon, Hades.” Thalia took a sharp breath. “The prophecy. You don’t think Kronos . . .”

The ground rumbled. Nico drew his own sword—a black blade of Stygian iron. Mrs. O’Leary leaped backward and barked in alarm. Too late, I realized she was trying to warn me. The ground opened up under Thalia, Nico, and me, and we fell into darkness.

“My stepmother Persephone’s garden.” He made a sour face and dropped the fruit. “Don’t eat anything.” He didn’t need to tell me twice. One taste of Underworld food, and we’d never be able to leave.

“If this were spring, I would be able to greet you properly in the world above. Alas, in winter this is the best I can do.”

She gets weak in winter

“The keys of Hades?” “Wait,” Thalia said. “What are the keys of Hades?” Nico looked even paler than his stepmother. “Hades has a set of golden keys that can lock or unlock death.

“The wielder can raise the dead,” Persephone said, “or slay any living thing and send its soul to the Underworld with a mere touch of the blade.”

“He’s handy with zombie crowds,” Thalia admitted. “Think I’ll take him along next time I go to the mall.”

HA

She looked around, and I realized she was scanning the faces of the dead. “If you’re looking for Bianca,” I said quietly so Nico wouldn’t hear me, “she’d be in Elysium. She died a hero’s death.” “I know that,” Thalia snapped. Then she caught herself. “It’s not that, Percy. I was just . . . never mind.” A cold feeling washed over me. I remembered that Thalia’s mother had died in a car crash a few years ago. They’d never been close, but Thalia had never gotten to say good-bye. If her mother’s shade was wandering around down here—no wonder Thalia looked jumpy. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking.”

Damn

A loud grinding noise came from the other side of the hill, like somebody was dragging a washing machine. Then the hill shook with a BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! and a man yelled curses. Thalia looked at Nico. “Is that who I think it is?” “Afraid so,” Nico said. “The number-one expert on cheating death.”

???

“Sisyphus!” Nico called.

“Sisyphus cheated death,” Nico explained. “First he chained up Thanatos, the reaper of souls, so no one could die. Then when Thanatos got free and was about to kill him, Sisyphus told his wife to do incorrect funeral rites so he wouldn’t rest in peace. Sisy here—May I call you Sisy?” “No!” “Sisy tricked Persephone into letting him go back to the world to haunt his wife. And he didn’t come back.” The old man cackled. “I stayed alive another thirty years before they finally tracked me down!”

“I’ll bust out of here soon, and when I do, they’ll all be sorry!” “How would you get out of the Underworld?” Nico asked. “It’s locked down, you know.” Sisyphus grinned wickedly. “That’s what the other one asked.” My stomach tightened. “Someone else asked your advice?” “An angry young man,” Sisyphus recalled. “Not very polite. Held a sword to my throat. Didn’t offer to roll my boulder at all.”

!!!

“What did you tell him?” I demanded. “Can’t remember.” Nico drew his sword. The Stygian iron was so cold it steamed in the hot dry air of Punishment. “Try harder.” The old man winced. “What kind of person carries a sword like that?” “A son of Hades,” Nico said. “Now answer me!” The color drained from Sisyphus’s face. “I told him to talk to Melinoe! She always has a way out!”

And one eye and—” “One eye?” I

?!

“If this thief guy really has one eye,” I said, “that could be Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis. He’s the one who freed Kronos.”

“You okay?” I asked her. “I guess . . .” She hesitated. “Percy, the scary thing is, when I got to the top, I thought I had it. I thought, This isn’t so hard. I can get the rock to stay. And as it rolled down, I was almost tempted to try it again. I figured I could get it the second time.”

a trap

“Soon Hades will be defeated,” one of them snarled. “Our new master shall give us free rein!” Nico blinked. “New master?”

“Iapetus shall crush you!” one shouted. “Who?” I asked. Then I ran her through with my sword. Note to self: If you vaporize monsters, they can’t answer your questions.

Omg

“One of the daimones mentioned Iapetus. Am I remembering right? That’s a Titan?” Thalia nodded uneasily. “The brother of Kronos, father of Atlas. He was known as the Titan of the west. His name means ‘the Piercer’ because that’s what he likes to do to his enemies. He was cast into Tartarus along with his brothers. He’s supposed to still be down there.”

tried to think about positive things: my favorite basketball players, my last conversation with Annabeth,

Awww

“The River Lethe.” Nico cursed in Ancient Greek. “We’ll never make it across.”

River of forgetfulness

“This is the River of Forgetfulness. If one drop of that water gets on you, you’ll start to forget who you are.”

Souls come here if they choose to be reborn, so they totally forget their former lives.”

Reincarnation

You need me for this.” “For what?”Thalia asked. “You can barely stand.” “It’s water, isn’t it? I’ll have to control it. Maybe I can redirect the flow long enough to get us across.”

tall woman with disheveled blond hair. She wore a pink bathrobe and had a wineglass in her hand. Her face was stern and disapproving. I could see right through her, so I knew she was a spirit of some kind, but her voice sounded real enough. “Now you come back,” she growled. “Well, it’s too late!” I looked at Nico and whispered, “Melinoe?”

the spirit changed form and faced him. This ghost was harder to see. She was a woman in an old-fashioned black velvet dress with a matching hat. She wore a string of pearls and white gloves, and her dark hair was tied back. Nico stopped in his tracks. “No . . .” “My son,” the ghost said. “I died when you were so young. I haunt the world in grief, wondering about you and your sister.” “Mama?”

Melinoe

“You are too late, demigods,” Melinoe said. Another petal fell off my carnation, leaving only one. “The deal has been struck.” “What deal?” I demanded.

He held out his hand and a giant spear appeared. I remembered what Thalia had said about Iapetus: His name means “the Piercer” because that’s what he likes to do to his enemies.

They weren’t thrilled about lugging Bob the Titan too, but I didn’t have the heart to leave him behind, especially after he noticed my shoulder wound, said, “Owie,” and healed it with a touch.

Oh bob! <3

“Making the sword was your idea,” I realized. “That’s why Hades wasn’t there when you gave us the mission. Hades didn’t know the sword was missing. He didn’t even know it existed.” “Nonsense,” the goddess said. Nico clenched his fists. “Percy’s right. You wanted Hades to make a sword. He told you no. He knew it was too dangerous. The other gods would never trust him. It would undo the balance of power.” “Then it got stolen,” Thalia said. “You shut down the Underworld, not Hades. You couldn’t tell him what had happened. And you needed us to get the sword back before Hades found out. You used us.”