Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
107
107
Standing at the foot of Zeus's throne, looking up at the stars, was Rachel Elizabeth Dare.
She was holding a Greek ceramic vase.
"Rachel?" I said. "Um, what are you doing with that?"
She focused on me as if she were coming out of a dream. "I found it. It's Pandora's jar, isn't
it?"
Her eyes were brighter than usual, and I had a bad flashback of moldy sandwiches and
burned cookies.
"Please put down the jar," I said.
"I can see Hope inside it." Rachel ran her fingers over the ceramic designs. "So fragile."
"Rachel."
My voice seemed to bring her back to reality. She held out the jar, and I took it. The clay felt
as cold as ice.
"Grover," Annabeth mumbled. "Let's scout around the palace. Maybe we can find some extra
Greek fire or Hephaestus traps."
"But—"
Annabeth elbowed him.
"Right!" he yelped. "I love traps!"
She dragged him out of the throne room.
Over by the fire, Hestia was huddled in her robes, rocking back and forth.
"Come on," I told Rachel. "I want you to meet someone."
We sat next to the goddess.
"Lady Hestia," I said.
"Hello, Percy Jackson," the goddess murmured. "Getting colder. Harder to keep the fire
going."
"I know," I said. "The Titans are near."
Hestia focused on Rachel. "Hello, my dear. You've come to our hearth at last."
Rachel blinked. "You've been expecting me?"
Hestia held out her hands, and the coals glowed. I saw images in the fire: My mother, Paul,
and I eating Thanksgiving dinner at the kitchen table; my friends and me around the campfire at
Camp Half-Blood, singing songs and roasting marshmallows; Rachel and me driving along the
beach in Paul's Prius.
I didn't know if Rachel saw the same images, but the tension went out of her shoulders. The
warmth of the fire seemed to spread across her.
"To claim your place at the hearth," Hestia told her, "you must let go of your distractions. It is
the only way you will survive."
Rachel nodded. "I . . . I understand."
"Wait," I said. "What is she talking about?"
Rachel took a shaky breath. "Percy, when I came here . . . I thought I was coming for you.
But I wasn't. You and me . . ." She shook her head.
"Wait. Now I'm a distraction? Is this because I'm 'not the hero' or whatever?"
"I'm not sure I can put it into words," she said. "I was drawn to you because . . . because you
opened the door to all of this." She gestured at the throne room. "I needed to understand my true
sight. But you and me, that wasn't part of it. Our fates aren't intertwined. I think you've always
known that, deep down."
I stared at her. Maybe I wasn't the brightest guy in the world when it came to girls, but I was
pretty sure Rachel had just dumped me, which was lame considering we'd never even been
together.
"So . . . what," I said. '"Thanks for bringing me to Olympus. See ya.' Is that what you're
saying?"
Rachel stared at the fire.
"Percy Jackson," Hestia said. "Rachel has told you all she can. Her moment is coming, but
your decision approaches even more rapidly. Are you prepared?"
I wanted to complain that no, I wasn't even close to prepared.
I looked at Pandora's jar, and for the first time I had an urge to open it. Hope seemed pretty
useless to me right now. So many of my friends were dead. Rachel was cutting me off. Annabeth