It's natural to feel fear. All great warriors are afraid. Only the stupid and the delusional are not.

Like water leaking through a dam," said Piper. "Yeah," smiled Percy. "We've got a dam hole." "What?" Piper asked. "Nothing," he said. "Inside joke.

At the Feast of Fortune, she'll awaken, and the demigods will be cut down like-- like---" "Like our low prices at Bargain Mart!" Stheno suggested.

You sure about this?" I asked Thalia. She turned to me. "Amaltheia leads me to good things. The last time she appeared, she led me to you." The compliment warmed me like a cup of hot chocolate. I'm a sucker that way. Thalia can flash those blue eyes, give me one kind word, and she can get me to do pretty much whatever.

For once, I didn't look back.

Great. I've made a friend.

She would always be my biggest what if.