Poseidon sighed in relief. This seemed like a harmless chapter.
"Poor Mrs. O' Leary." Beckendorf laughed
Percy grinned.
Mrs. O'Leary saw me before I saw her…Brillo pad tongue licking my face.
Everybody chuckled.
Aphrodite and Silena aww'ed.
"Ow!" I said. "Hey, girl. Good to see you too. Ow!"… I was pretty much drenched in dog drool.
Everybody snickered.
Poseidon was drenched in drool as well which he found disgusting but not too much.
The sea gang chuckled at him.
She wanted to play fetch, so I picked up a bronze shield…Next to me, Beckendorf had been her best friend.
Beckendorf smiled.
Thinking about that made me sad all over again…It had caused more than one unfortunate slip-and-slide accident
Everybody burst out laughing.
"Yeah couple of sprains." Will said
Everybody chuckled.
So I opened the gates of the arena…Council of Cloven Elders had once put Grover on trial.
"That's odd." Hermes said
The place didn't look so good…Nico di Angelo, and a very old, very fat satyr.
"What are you doing there?" Hades asked
"I wanted to talk to Percy." Nico replied
Nico was the only one who didn't seem freaked out by Mrs. O'Leary's appearance…He was only twelve, but he looked much older and sadder.
Thalia, Jason, Percy, Hades and Hazel grimaced.
"Well at least he's getting better, thanks to Will and the reading's great too." Percy said weakly
Nico nodded. Will smiled.
He nodded when he saw me, then went back to scratching…he'd probably been traveling in all sorts of hellhound-friendly places.
"Hmm I think the places I visited made an odd scent." Nico laughed
"Like?" Will asked
"The Underworld, then a few places like the one in Percy's dream, The River Styx." Nico shrugged
"I still can't believe you were spying on the titans." Will said
Nico shrugged.
The old satyr didn't look nearly so happy…his hooves as if the grass were hot.
"It's not just your forest. You don't own it." Castor frowned
"Being a member of the council, he just considered that." Grover said
"You there, Percy Jackson! Is this your beast?"
"Mrs. O' Leary is not a beast." Tyson frowned
"No she's not." Percy assured him.
"I'm just gonna ignore the technicalities here." Nico said
"Sorry, Leneus," I said. "That's your name, right?"… I will not help you under these circumstances!"
Everybody snickered.
Juniper turned toward me…I was hoping that Leneus—"
Grover sighed. He did miss Juniper and he felt bad about leaving her like that for so long but a god put him to sleep.
"I told you!" the satyr protested. "You are a better off without that traitor."
The Greek demigods growled.
Juniper stamped her foot. "He is not a traitor! He's the bravest satyr ever, and I want to know where he is!"
Grover smiled.
"WOOF!" Leneus' knees started knocking. "I…I won't answer questions with this hellhound sniffing my tail!"
Everybody snickered.
Nico looked like he was trying to not crack up…"Chiron and Dionysus stopped you."
Chiron, Dionysus, Hermes and Artemis nodded.
"Bah! They are honorary Council members…"I'll tell Dionysus you said that."
Everybody laughed.
"Well I'm going to be having a few words with the old satyrs." Dionysus said
"Oh no Mr.D, we know you and Chiron are proper members of the council." Grover placated the god
Dionysus nodded.
Leneus paled. "I only meant…Now see here, Jackson…It's been a very unsettling year."
"He's getting nervous and making excuses for himself." Travis said
"That's kind of depressing." Piper said
The demigods nodded.
"It's going to get a lot more unsettling," I promised…"Empathy links," Leneus said disdainfully. "Very unreliable."
"It saved Grover from the sea of monsters, the last thing I would call it would be unreliable." Reyna said
Percy and Grover nodded.
"Empathy links are even more reliable with Percy, considering his fatal flaw." Grover said
"Really?" Percy asked
Grover nodded.
"So ask around," I insisted. "Find him…"Without my permission! And it's not our war."
"It is everybody's war." Nico pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
"You know Percy was right in the last book." Connor said
"About what?" Nico asked, looking up
"You do look like your dad. I mean he mentioned only the eyes but I'm talking in general." Connor said
"Huh really?" Nico asked
The demigods nodded.
Hades and Nico grinned.
I grabbed him by the shirt, which seriously wasn't like me, but the stupid old goat was making me mad.
Everybody snickered.
"Listen, Leneus. When Kronos attacks, he's going to have packs of hellhounds…Find Grover and bring Juniper some news. Now, GO!"
"That was…intensely motivating." Thalia said
Percy chuckled.
"It was. You told him what he is supposed to be." Hermes said
"Oh." Percy said
I didn't push him very hard, but he was kind of top-heavy…"Grover will never be accepted! He will die an outcast!"
"Well Grover is accepted." Clarisse said
Grover smiled.
When he'd disappeared into the bushes, Juniper wiped her eyes…"I've got worse enemies than overweight satyrs."
"I swear. Way worse enemies than overweight satyrs." Triton said
Percy snickered and nodded.
Nico walked back to us. "Good job, Percy…"He scared us to death!" Juniper said
"Unintended pun." Travis grinned
Grover chuckled.
"Scared them to death." He laughed
"Oh well." Nico grinned sheepishly.
"Right out of the shadows. But, Nico, you are the son of Hades and all…"Uh, you bet. I'll keep my ears open."
"How awkward were you feeling Nico?" Jason laughed
"I was twelve. I was feeling super awkward." Nico laughed
Everybody chuckled.
"We'll find him, Juniper," I promised…simple reason why he hasn't contacted us."
"It wasn't exactly simple." Grover said
"Half and half." Nico said
She nodded glumly. "I hate not being able to leave the forest…I know about dogs and trees. I'm gone!"
Everybody chuckled.
She went poof into green mist…A lump formed in my throat. "How did you—" "I talked to his ghost."
Beckendorf chuckled.
"I think Percy forgot you could do that." He said
Percy grinned sheepishly.
"Oh…right." I'd never get used to the fact that this twelve-year-old kid…He figured you'd be beating yourself up, and he said you shouldn't."
"Exactly." Beckendorf said
"I know now." Percy assured him
Beckendorf smiled and nodded.
"Is he going to try for rebirth?"… Not sure what he meant, but he seems okay with death."
"You knew about Silena?" Pollux asked
"No, I just knew she was going to die someday. When I didn't know." Beckendorf said
"Oh okay." Pollux said
Silena smiled at Beckendorf.
It wasn't much comfort, but it was something…After Bianca died and left Nico alone, he'd been obsessed with finding answers.
"To be honest if I was in his place I'd be obsessed too." Jason said
The demigods nodded.
"So how did it go?" I asked. "Any luck?"… You know why I'm here."
"Oh quite a lead it was." Percy muttered
"Sorry Percy." Nico muttered
"It's fine." Percy said
A feeling of dread started to build in my chest…Maybe it's time to think extreme."
"He's right." Amphitrite said
I looked back toward the camp…Riptide had glanced right off his skin.
"You need to be able to match him at least a little to get some advantage." Reyna said
"I know." Percy said
"We can give you the same power," Nico urged…"No!" Nico snarled. "It has to be now!"
"Um dude are you okay?" Chris asked
"It'll come up." Nico said miserably
Chris nodded.
I stared at him. I hadn't seen his temper flare like that in a long time…Do whatever it takes to stay alive and defeat Kronos."
"Was that all the truth though?" Percy asked
"One part of it." Nico admitted
"That's a little bit of a relief." Percy sighed
I didn't like the idea…His cold creepy smile made me sorry I'd agreed
Nico looked sheepish.
"First we'll need to retrace Luke's steps…"Why do we need to know about that?"
"It's important to know about his family. Get to know a person better." Hestia said
Percy nodded.
I stared at him. I'd never thought much about Luke's mortal parent…What kind of horrible person could she be?
"She's not horrible, what happened to her is." Hermes said
Nico, Percy and Hades swallowed.
"No." Nico scowled. "Pegasi don't like me…creatures of the Underworld can use it as a road, or a door."
"Complicated." Travis said
"Yes but you are not taking her and using her for your tricks." Percy said
"Aww man." The Stolls pouted.
"I don't understand," I said…shadows as cold as the dark side of the moon.
"So that's what the title meant." Poseidon said
Percy nodded.
"Done." He said
"I'll read." Amphitrite said
Poseidon gave her the book.