Rick Riordan
The Last Olympian - 05
He smiled at me, but there was no friendliness in his eyes. "Hello, Perseus Jackson. Come to help
at last?"
He acted like I was late or lazy. If you can blush underwater, I probably did.
"Tell me what to do," I said.
Triton smiled like that was a cute suggestion—like I was a slightly amusing dog that had
barked for him or something. He turned to Poseidon. "I will see to the front line, Father. Don't worry.
I will not fail."
He nodded politely to Tyson. How come I didn't get that much respect? Then he shot off into
the water.
Poseidon sighed. He raised his staff, and it changed into his regular weapon—a huge three-
pointed trident. The tip glowed with blue light, and the water around it boiled with energy.
"I'm sorry about that," he told me.
A huge sea serpent appeared from above us and spiraled down toward the roof. It was bright
orange with a fanged mouth big enough to swallow a gymnasium.
Hardly looking up, Poseidon pointed his trident at the beast and zapped it with blue energy.
Ka-boom! The monster burst into a million goldfish, which all swam off in terror.
"My family is anxious," Poseidon continued as if nothing had happened. "The battle against
Oceanus is going poorly."
He pointed to the edge of the mosaic. With the butt of his trident he tapped the image of a
merman larger than the rest, with the horns of a bull. He appeared to be riding a chariot pulled by
crawfish, and instead of a sword he wielded a live serpent.
"Oceanus," I said, trying to remember. "The Titan of the sea?"
Poseidon nodded. "He was neutral in the first war of gods and Titans. But Kronos has
convinced him to fight. This is . . . well, it's not a good sign. Oceanus would not commit unless he
was sure he could pick the winning side."
"He looks stupid," I said, trying to sound upbeat. "I mean, who fights with a snake?"
"Daddy will tie it in knots," Tyson said firmly.
Poseidon smiled, but he looked weary. "I appreciate your faith. We have been at war almost
a year now. My powers are taxed. And still he finds new forces to throw at me—sea monsters so
ancient I had forgotten about them."
I heard an explosion in the distance. About half a mile away, a mountain of coral
disintegrated under the weight of two giant creatures. I could dimly make out their shapes. One was
a lobster. The other was a giant humanoid like a Cyclops, but he was surrounded by a flurry of
limbs. At first I thought he wearing a bunch of giant octopi. Then I realized they were his own arms—
a hundred flailing, fighting arms.
"Briares!" I said.
I was happy to see him, but he looked like he was fighting for his life. He was the last of his
kind—a Hundred-Handed One, cousin of the Cyclopes. We'd saved him from Kronos's prison last
summer, and I knew he'd come to help Poseidon, but I hadn't heard of him since.
"He fights well," Poseidon said. "I wish we had a whole army like him, but he is the only
one."
I watched as Briares bellowed in rage and picked up the lobster, which thrashed and
snapped its pincers. He threw it off the coral mountain, and the lobster disappeared into the
darkness. Briares swam after it, his hundred arms spinning like the blades of a motorboat.
"Percy, we may not have much time," my dad said. "Tell me of your mission. Did you see
Kronos?"
I told him everything, though my voice choked up when I explained about Beckendorf. I
looked down at the courtyards below and saw hundreds of wounded mermen lying on makeshift
cots. I saw rows of coral mounds that must've been hastily made graves. I realized Beckendorf
wasn't the first death. He was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands. I'd never felt so angry and
helpless.
Poseidon stroked his beard. "Percy, Beckendorf chose a heroic death. You bear no blame
for that. Kronos's army will be m disarray. Many were destroyed."
"But we didn't kill him, did we?"
As I said it, I knew it was a naive hope. We might blow up his ship and disintegrate his
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