One basketball to rule them all,” Leo muttered.

She led him past the engine room, which looked like a very dangerous, mechanized jungle gym, with pipes and pistons and tubes jutting from a central bronze sphere. Cables resembling giant metal noodles snaked across the floor and ran up the walls. “How does that thing even work?” Percy asked. “No idea,” Annabeth said. “And I’m the only one besides Leo who can operate it.” “That’s reassuring.” “It should be fine. It’s only threatened to blow up once.” “You’re kidding, I hope.” She smiled. “Come on.

I will not have a sea creature destroyed, if I can help it. And I can help it.

Grover and Nico came back from their walk, and Grover helped me fix up my wounded arm. "It's green!" Nico said with delight.

Curled up at the base of the scales, fast asleep, was the oddest monster I'd seen yet. It had the head of crocodile with a lion's mane. The front half of its body was a lion, but the back end was sleek, brown, and fat - a hippo, I decided. The odd bit was, the animal was tiny - I mean, no larger than an average poodle, which I suppose made him a hippodoodle.

Rachel: They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb. Annabeth: Was it hard?

But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword.