Annabeth said, “I told you…”
“I’m fine,” I insisted. I didn’t want to lie in bed like an invalid while Luke was out there planning to destroy the Western world.
I managed a step forward. Then another, still leaning heavily on Annabeth. Argus followed us outside, but he kept his distance.
By the time we reached the porch, my face was beaded with sweat. My stomach had twisted into knots. But I had managed to make it all the way to the railing.
It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, the Long Island Sound glittered in the last light of the sun.
“What are you going to do?” Annabeth asked me.
“I don’t know.”
I told her I got the feeling Chiron wanted me to stay year-round, to put in more individual training time, but I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted. I admitted I’d feel bad about leaving her alone, though, with only Clarisse for company….
Annabeth pursed her lips, then said quietly, “I’m going home for the year, Percy.”
I stared at her. “You mean, to your dad’s?”
She pointed toward the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia’s pine tree, at the very edge of the camp’s magical boundaries, a family stood silhouetted—two little children, a woman, and a tall man with blond hair. They seemed to be waiting. The man was holding a backpack that looked like the one Annabeth had gotten from Waterland in Denver.
“I wrote him a letter when we got back,” Annabeth said. “Just like you suggested. I told him…I was sorry. I’d come home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided…we’d give it another try.”
“That took guts.”
She shrugged. “You won’t try anything stupid during the school year, will you? At least…not without sending me an Iris-message?”
I managed a smile. “I won’t go looking for trouble. I usually don’t have to.”
“When I get back next summer,” she said, “we’ll hunt down Luke. We’ll ask for a quest, but if we don’t get approval, we’ll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?”
“Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena.”
She held out her hand. I shook it.
“Take care, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth told me. “Keep your eyes open.”
I watched her walk up the hill and join her family. She gave her father an awkward hug and looked back at the valley one last time. She touched Thalia’s pine tree, then allowed herself to be led over the crest and into the mortal world.
For the first time at camp, I felt truly alone. I looked out at Long Island Sound and I remembered my father saying, The sea does not like to be restrained.
I made my decision.
I wondered, if Poseidon were watching, would he approve of my choice?
“I’ll be back next summer,” I promised him. “I’ll survive until then. After all, I am your son.” I asked Argus to take me down to cabin three, so I could pack my bags for home.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Without the assistance of numerous valiant helpers, I would have been slain by monsters many times over as I endeavored to bring this story to print. Thanks to my elder son, Haley Michael, who heard the story first; my younger son, Patrick John, who at the age of six is the level-headed one in the family; and my wife, Becky, who puts up with my many long hours at Camp Half-Blood. Thanks also to my cadre of middle-school beta testers: Travis Stoll, clever and quick as Hermes; C. C. Kellogg, beloved as Athena; Allison Bauer, clear-eyed as Artemis the Huntress; and Mrs. Margaret Floyd, the wise and kindly seer of middle-school English. My appreciation also to Professor Egbert J. Bakker, classicist extraordinaire; Nancy Gallt, agent summa cum laude; Jonathan Burnham, Jennifer Besser, Sarah Hughes, Stephanie Lurie, and the whole team at Disney Hyperion for believing in Percy. And last but not least, John Rocco, who brought Percy’s adventures to life with his unforgettable artwork.
Also by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
The Titan’s Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian
The Demigod Files
The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel
The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel
The Titan’s Curse: The Graphic Novel
Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes
The Percy Jackson Coloring Book
The Kane Chronicles
The Red Pyramid
The Throne of Fire
The Serpent’s Shadow
From the Kane Chronicles: Brooklyn House Magician’s Manual
The Red Pyramid: The Graphic Novel
The Throne of Fire: The Graphic Novel
The Serpent’s Shadow: The Graphic Novel
The Heroes of Olympus
The Lost Hero
The Son of Neptune
The Mark of Athena
The House of Hades
The Blood of Olympus
The Demigod Diaries
The Lost Hero: The Graphic Novel
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
The Sword of Summer
The Hammer of Thor
The Ship of the Dead
For Magnus Chase: Hotel Valhalla Guide to the Norse Worlds
The Trials of Apollo
The Hidden Oracle
The Dark Prophecy
The Burning Maze
From Percy Jackson: Camp Half-Blood Confidential
The artist would like to thank Lucas, Paloma, and Val for acting out the adventures of Grover, Annabeth, and Percy. The artwork in this book was created with pencil, watercolor, and digital paint.
RICK RIORDAN, dubbed “storyteller of the gods” by Publishers Weekly, is the author of five New York Times #1 best-selling middle grade series with millions of copies sold throughout the world: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Heroes of Olympus, and the Trials of Apollo, based on Greek and Roman mythology; the Kane Chronicles, based on ancient Egyptian mythology; and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, based on Norse mythology. Rick is also the publisher of an imprint at Disney Hyperion, Rick Riordan Presents, dedicated to finding other authors of highly entertaining fiction based on world mythologies. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter @camphalfblood.
JOHN ROCCO studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design and the School of Visual Arts. In addition to writing and illustrating several of his own picture books, including Blizzard and the Caldecott Honor–winning and New York Times best-selling Blackout, he has created the cover art for Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, and Trials of Apollo series. He collaborated with Rick on two New York Times #1 best-selling collections of Greek myths for the whole family: Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods and Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes. Before becoming a full-time children’s book creator, he worked as an art director on Shrek for DreamWorks, and for Disney Imagineering. He lives in Los Angeles. For more information, go to www.roccoart.com.