SoftWare: Another meeting coming up.
Bianca: Who is it?
SoftWare: I can't tell you.
Bianca: Why not?
SoftWare: It's a spoiler.
Disclaimer: First chapter.
Chapter Eight
The Wonderful Wizard of Olympus
We found a bus headed for Los Angeles, so we paid, boarded, and found some seats near the back where we could
speak in private. Phoebe and Bianca were chatting like old friends, and Shelby was listening to an iPod. Thalia took a
nap, so I tried to stay silent. That was fairly easy, until some dirty blond woman took a seat across the row from mine.
The thing that got my attention about her was her gray eyes. I decided not to ask about them. But, she had to speak up
about ten minutes into the bus ride. "Hello, Shawn." Normally, if somebody knows my name, and I don't recognize
them, I get suspicious. But, after everything that had happened recently, I decided want to know and need to know
were the same thing in this case. "How do you know my name?" She looked at me. "Like Apollo and Artemis, I have
been watching you. I liked your theory regarding the volcano you made." That's when I figured out who it was.
"Athena?" She nodded. "Clever, and smart, like your mother. Now, a bit of wisdom wouldn't hurt." "You're telling me
not to go after the last Hunter?" "Oh, no. By all means, go ahead. But the monster guarding her is a manticore." "A
what?" "A third-lion, third-eagle, third-scorpion monster. The Hunter you are looking for is in a warehouse in Los
Angeles. The manticore is guarding her carefully, and it may be too great an opponent for you to face." "I beat the
hydra, didn't I?" "The hydra and manticores are different things, nephew. You would be wise to remember that." "And
you should remember that wise and right aren't always the same thing." "Granted. If you meet my daughter, Annabeth
Chase, you should speak with her." "I'll try to remember." "Good. Your mother knows I have spoken with you. Keep
your head up. You will have a hard battle soon. And I don't mean the manticore." With that happy thought, she
disappeared. I glanced at Thalia. Somehow, she was still asleep. I guess she was tired from all the walking we did to
the bus station.
A/N Thalia: I was not! I had just been up for four days straight.
SoftWare: And how was I supposed to know that?
Thalia: ...Good point.
Artemis: What did Athena mean by "hard battle"?
SoftWare: That will be in a later book.
Computer: SoftWare, offline.