I'm afraid not." Hades sighed. "My son here convinced me that perhaps I should prioritize my list of enemies." He glared at me with distaste. "As much as I dislike certain upstart demigods, it would not do for Olympus to fall. I would miss bickering with my siblings. And if there is one thing we agree on - it is that you were a TERRIBLE father.

'Are you guys busy?' Juniper asked. 'Well,' I said, 'we're in the middle of this game against a bunch of monsters and we're trying not to die.' 'We're not busy,' Annabeth said.

Hey Grover! Thorn's kidnapping us! He's a poisonous spike-throwing maniac! Help!

For once, I didn't look back.

Mythologically speaking, if there's anything I hate worse than trios of old ladies, it's bulls. Last summer, I fought the Minotaur on top of Half-Blood Hill. This time what I saw up there was even worse: two bulls. And not just regular bulls - bronze ones the size of elephants. And even that wasn't bad enough. Naturally they had to breathe fire, too.

The dead see what they believe they will see. So do the living. That is the secret.

I tried to smile like I wasn't about to die.