Percy Jackson and the Caucasus Mountains
1: I get an early birthday present from a pigeon
You know, I've always thought doing title pages in exercise books was a waste of paper… or trees, for that matter. My English teacher didn't think so. In fact, I got detention for not doing one. "My classes exist to extend your creativity, and to do so you have to start off with the little things," she had said when I tried to say that I had better things to do. I even came up with the idea that she must be a monster, she bored me to death! Speaking of monsters, I'd had loads of encounters with them this year. From sphinxes to manticores, and griffons to gigantes, I fought them all. It had been a pretty full on year for me, both at school and the monster killing department. But really… I mean, come on! Title pages are for elementary school kids! But it wasn't really big news to me. It was Dirkwood's academy for the challenged… which really meant Dirkwood's academy for the mentally challenged. Emphasis on the 'mentally'. So there I was, at home at seven o'clock at night, staring down at a blank page in my notebook. I must have sat there for at least half an hour and I still hadn't done a thing on it. Not to mention that we weren't allowed to use the computer for it. Breathing out a sigh of intense frustration I leaned back on my chair, rocking backwards and forwards on it. Why was I here doing this when I had more important things to do, like saving the world from the approaching tyranny of Lord Kronos who had somehow returned from Tartarus to unleash ultimate chaos into the world? Oh, and did I mention that he's using Luke's body as his own and is wielding an extremely dangerous weapon that can kill both gods and mortals? And here I am worrying about a title page.
"Percy? Do you want some chocolate chip cookies?" my mom called out to me from the kitchen and immediately I caught a whiff of the delicious scent.
"Yeah sure! Thanks!" I called back to her.
Then what I saw next freaked me out so much I leaned on my chair too much that I fell back on it. Groaning, I sat up. Instantly my fear melted away as I saw the cause for the huge shadow taking up the majority of my bedroom wall. There at the window was a blue pigeon, flecked with white spots. I raised an eyebrow at this. Oookaaay. Now that was something you don't see everyday. I picked myself off the floor and strode over to the window, shoving aside a number of things like my skateboard, basketball, radio and a bunch of other stuff. As I approached it, I noticed that the pigeon had something tied to its leg with red string. I cautiously opened the window (slowly so I wouldn't frighten the pigeon) and let it in. At once, in a flurry of wings it landed on top of my desk and… would you believe it? It pooped! That's what I got for letting it in? Great, an early birthday present, I thought irritably.
Disgruntled, I grabbed for the little envelope tied to its leg. As if sensing my mood, it dodged my hand.
"Come here, you!"
Unfortunately, we kept that up for a long time until my mom came in with the blue cookies. Distracted by the newcomer, the pigeon's attention turned to my mom and I finally caught it. Caught by surprise, it raked my arm with its feet and I dropped the envelope in pain.
"Ow!"
"What… Percy, what's going on? And is that… a blue pigeon with white spots?" my mom asked incredulously.
"Uh… yeah."
Trying to ignore the pain in my arm I picked up the envelope from the floor. It had my name and address on the front and a wax seal on the back. I stared at the seal. On it was the symbol of Athena: an owl. My hands shaking slightly (well, Athena had put me down on her 'possibly dangerous' list), I opened the envelope. In it was a piece of paper:
The greatest sin is to be foolish
The greatest evil is thought
And the greatest gift is wisdom
Remember that, Perseus Jackson
I don't know how long I stared at the message for; all I knew was that I didn't know what to feel. Should I feel angry? Annoyed? Grateful for the message?... maybe not that.
"Percy? Percy? Are you all right?"
My mom's voice brought me back to reality. I turned to face her.
"Huh? Oh… mom. Yeah, sorry, the pigeon just sent me a letter."
"Really? Is it from Camp Half-blood? What does it say?" she asked anxiously. Recently, my mom had gotten a little overprotective about me, ever since the number of monsters attacking me had reached its high peak.
I hesitated. It wasn't really important… the message I mean. But at the same time, I didn't really want her to know that Athena and I weren't on the best of terms. She had enough on her mind, what with her upcoming marriage to Paul Blofis, her boyfriend.
"Uh… yeah… it just says congrats on you and Paul's wedding and to watch out for monsters and stuff…" I lied.
My mom's mouth stretched into her smile and her eyes seemed to sparkle a bit as it always did when the subject of Paul came up. "Oh, really? That's kind of them. Well, as long as it's not something urgent, you should finish your homework before Paul gets here…" she said, and stopping at the door she continued with a mischievous smile. "… oh, and Annabeth's coming too."
"What?" I said, dropping the letter. "But… I thought she was in San Francisco!"
"Of course."
"She's coming all the way over here just to be at my birthday party?"
"Well, yeah," my mom answered, copying my words from last year when we were discussing my 'date' with Annabeth. "Why?"
"Never mind," I said, rolling my eyes. For some reason, my heart was pounding so hard that I could feel the pulse in my neck.
Then I stopped. "Wait… but isn't Rachel coming too?"
My mom nodded.
"Oh great."
She winked this time and exited my room, leaving me feeling pretty nervous about the whole thing.