The Last Olympian

Page 17

The cord, a familiar voice said. Remember your lifeline, dummy!

Suddenly there was a tug in my lower back. The current pulled at me, but it wasnt carrying me away anymore. I imagined the string in my back keeping me tied to the shore.

"Hold on, Seaweed Brain. " It was Annabeths voice, much clearer now. "Youre not getting away from me that easily. "

The cord strengthened.

I could see Annabeth now—standing barefoot above me on the canoe lake pier. Id fallen out of my canoe. That was it. She was reaching out her hand to haul me up, and she was trying not to laugh. She wore her orange camp T-shirt and jeans. Her hair was tucked up in her Yankees cap, which was strange because that should have made her invisible.

"You are such an idiot sometimes. " She smiled. "Come on. Take my hand. "

Memories came flooding back to me—sharper and more colorful. I stopped dissolving. My name was Percy Jackson. I reached up and took Annabeths hand.

Suddenly I burst out of the river. I collapsed on the sand, and Nico scrambled back in surprise.

"Are you okay?" he stammered. "Your skin. Oh, gods. Youre hurt!"

My arms were bright red. I felt like every inch of my body had been broiled over a slow flame.

I looked around for Annabeth, though I knew she wasnt here. It had seemed so real.

"Im fine . . . I think. " The color of my skin turned back to normal. The pain subsided. Mrs. OLeary came up and sniffed me with concern. Apparently I smelled really interesting.

"Do you feel stronger?" Nico asked.

Before I could decide what I felt, a voice boomed, "THERE!"

An army of the dead marched toward us. A hundred skeletal Roman legionnaires led the way with shields and spears. Behind them came an equal number of British redcoats with bayonets fixed. In the middle of the host, Hades himself rode a black-and-gold chariot pulled by nightmare horses, their eyes and manes smoldering with fire.

"You will not escape me this time, Percy Jackson!" Hades bellowed. "Destroy him!"

"Father, no!" Nico shouted, but it was too late. The front line of Roman zombies lowered their spears and advanced.

Mrs. OLeary growled and got ready to pounce. Maybe thats what set me off. I didnt want them hurting my dog. Plus, I was tired of Hades being a big bully. If I was going to die, I might as well go down fighting.

I yelled, and the River Styx exploded. A black tidal wave smashed into the legionnaires. Spears and shields flew everywhere. Roman zombies began to dissolve, smoke coming off their bronze helmets.

The redcoats lowered their bayonets, but I didnt wait for them. I charged.

It was the stupidest thing Ive ever done. A hundred muskets fired at me, point blank. All of them missed. I crashed into their line and started hacking with Riptide. Bayonets jabbed. Swords slashed. Guns reloaded and fired. Nothing touched me.

I whirled through the ranks, slashing redcoats to dust, one after the other. My mind went on autopilot: stab, dodge, cut, deflect, roll. Riptide was no longer a sword. It was an arc of pure destruction.

I broke through the enemy line and leaped into the black chariot. Hades raised his staff. A bolt of dark energy shot toward me, but I deflected it off my blade and slammed into him. The god and I both tumbled out of the chariot.

The next thing I knew, my knee was planted on Hadess chest. I was holding the collar of his royal robes in one fist, and the tip of my sword was poised right over his face.

Silence. The army did nothing to defend their master. I glanced back and realized why. There was nothing left of them but weapons in the sand and piles of smoking, empty uniforms. I had destroyed them all.

Hades swallowed. "Now, Jackson, listen here. . . . "

He was immortal. There was no way I could kill him, but gods can be wounded. I knew that firsthand, and I figured a sword in the face wouldnt feel too good.

"Just because Im a nice person," I snarled, "Ill let you go. But first, tell me about that trap!"

Hades melted into nothing, leaving me holding empty black robes.

I cursed and got to my feet, breathing heavily. Now that the danger was over, I realized how tired I was. Every muscle in my body ached. I looked down at my clothes. They were slashed to pieces and full of bullet holes, but I was fine. Not a mark on me.

Nicos mouth hung open. "You just . . . with a sword . . . you just—"

"I think the river thing worked," I said.

"Oh gee," he said sarcastically. "You think?"

Mrs. OLeary barked happily and wagged her tail. She bounded around, sniffing empty uniforms and hunting for bones. I lifted Hadess robe. I could still see the tormented faces shimmering in the fabric.

I walked to the edge of the river. "Be free. "

I dropped the robe in the water and watched as it swirled away, dissolving in the current.

"Go back to your father," I told Nico. "Tell him he owes me for letting him go. Find out whats going to happen to Mount Olympus and convince him to help. "

Nico stared at me. "I . . . I cant. Hell hate me now. I mean . . . even more. "

"You have to," I said. "You owe me too. "

His ears turned red. "Percy, I told you I was sorry. Please . . . let me come with you. I want to fight. "

"Youll be more help down here. "

"You mean you dont trust me anymore," he said miserably.

I didnt answer. I didnt know what I meant. I was too stunned by what Id just done in battle to think clearly.

"Just go back to your father," I said, trying not to sound too harsh. "Work on him. Youre the only person who might be able to get him to listen. "

"Thats a depressing thought. " Nico sighed. "All right. Ill do my best. Besides, hes still hiding something from me about my mom. Maybe I can find out what. "

"Good luck. Now Mrs. OLeary and I have to go. "

"Where?" Nico said.

I looked at the cave entrance and thought about the long climb back to the world of the living. "To get this war started. Its time I found Luke. "

NINE

TWO SNAKES SAVE

MY LIFE

I love New York. You can pop out of the Underworld in Central Park, hail a taxi, head down Fifth Avenue with a giant hellhound loping along behind you, and nobody even looks at you funny.

Of course, the Mist helped. People probably couldnt see Mrs. OLeary, or maybe they thought she was a large, loud, very friendly truck.

I took the risk of using my moms cell phone to call Annabeth for the second time. Id called her once from the runnel but only reached her voice mail. Id gotten surprisingly good reception, seeing as I was at the mythological center of the world and all, but I didnt want to see what my moms roaming charges were going to be.

This time, Annabeth picked up.

"Hey," I said. "You get my message?"

"Percy, where have you been? Your message said almost nothing! Weve been worried sick!"

"Ill fill you in later," I said, though how I was going to do that I had no idea. "Where are you?"

"Were on our way like you asked, almost to the Queens—Midtown Tunnel. But, Percy, what are you planning? Weve left the camp virtually undefended, and theres no way the gods—"

"Trust me," I said. "Ill see you there. "

I hung up. My hands were trembling. I wasnt sure if it was a leftover reaction from my dip in the Styx, or anticipation of what I was about to do. If this didnt work, being invulnerable wasnt going to save me from getting blasted to bits.

It was late afternoon when the taxi dropped me at the Empire State Building. Mrs. OLeary bounded up and down Fifth Avenue, licking cabs and sniffing hot dog carts. Nobody seemed to notice her, although people did swerve away and look confused when she came close.

I whistled for her to heel as three white vans pulled up to the curb. They said Delphi Strawberry Service, which was the cover name for Camp Half-Blood. Id never seen all three vans in the same place at once, though I knew they shuttled our fresh produce into the city.

The first van was driven by Argus, our many-eyed security chief. The other two were driven by harpies, who are basically demonic human/chicken hybrids with bad attitudes. We used the harpies mostly for cleaning the camp, but they did pretty well in midtown traffic too.

The doors slid open. A bunch of campers climbed out, some of them looking a little green from the long drive. I was glad so many had come: Pollux, Silena Beauregard, the Stoll brothers, Michael Yew, Jake Mason, Katie Gardner, and Annabeth, along with most of their siblings. Chiron came out of the van last. His horse half was compacted into his magic wheelchair, so he used the handicap lift. The Ares cabin wasnt here, but I tried not to get too angry about that. Clarisse was a stubborn idiot. End of story.

I did a head count: forty campers in all.

Not many to fight a war, but it was still the largest group of half-bloods Id ever seen gathered in one place outside camp. Everyone looked nervous, and I understood why. We were probably sending out so much demigod aura that every monster in the northeastern United States knew we were here.

As I looked at their faces—all these campers Id known for so many summers—a nagging voice whispered in my mind: One of them is a spy.

But I couldnt dwell on that. They were my friends. I needed them.

Then I remembered Kronoss evil smile. You cant count on friends. They will always let you down.

Annabeth came up to me. She was dressed in black camouflage with her Celestial bronze knife strapped to her arm and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder—ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first.

She frowned. "What is it?"

"Whats what?" I asked.

"Youre looking at me funny. "

I realized I was thinking about my strange vision of Annabeth pulling me out of the Styx River. "Its, uh, nothing. " I turned to the rest of the group. "Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you. "

My old mentor shook his head. "I came to wish you luck, my boy. But I make it a point never to visit Olympus unless I am summoned. "

"But youre our leader. "

He smiled. "I am your trainer, your teacher. That is not the same as being your leader. I will go gather what allies I can. It may not be too late to convince my brother centaurs to help. Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are the leader. "

I wanted to protest, but everybody was looking at me expectantly, even Annabeth.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, like I told Annabeth on the phone, something bad is going to happen by tonight. Some kind of trap. Weve got to get an audience with Zeus and convince him to defend the city. Remember, we cant take no for an answer. "

I asked Argus to watch Mrs. OLeary, which neither of them looked happy about.

Chiron shook my hand. "Youll do well, Percy. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses. "

It sounded eerily close to what Achilles had told me. Then I remembered Chiron had taught Achilles. That didnt exactly reassure me, but I nodded and tried to give him a confident smile.

"Lets go," I told the campers.

A security guard was sitting behind the desk in the lobby, reading a big black book with a flower on the cover. He glanced up when we all filed in with our weapons and armor clanking. "School group? Were about to close up. "