Rick Riordan The Last Olympian - 05
" You should let him fight ," I told my father . " He hates being stuck in the armory . Can ' t you tell ?" Poseidon shook his head . " It is bad enough I must send you into danger . Tyson is too young .
I must protect him ." " You should trust him ," I said . " Not try to protect him ." Poseidon ' s eyes flared . I thought I ' d gone too far , but then he looked down at the mosaic and his shoulders sagged . On the tiles , the mermaid guy in the crawfish chariot was coming closer to the palace . " Oceanus approaches ," my father said . " I must meet him in battle ." I ' d never been scared for a god before , but I didn ' t see how my dad could face this Titan and win . " I will hold ," Poseidon promised . " I will not give up my domain . Just tell me , Percy , do you still have the birthday gift I gave you last summer ?"
I nodded and pulled out my camp necklace . It had a bead for every summer I ' d been at Camp Half-Blood , but since last year I ' d also kept a sand dollar on the cord . My father had given it to me for my fifteenth birthday . He ' d told me I would know when to " spend it ," but so far I hadn ' t figured out what he meant . All I knew was that it didn ' t fit the vending machines in the school cafeteria .
" The time is coming ," he promised . " With luck , I will see you for your birthday next week , and we will have a proper celebration ." He smiled , and for a moment I saw the old light in his eyes . Then the entire sea grew dark in front of us , like an inky storm was rolling in . Thunder crackled , which should ' ve been impossible underwater . A huge icy presence was approaching . I sensed a wave of fear roll through the armies below us . " I must assume my true godly form ," Poseidon said . " Go — and good luck , my son ." I wanted to encourage him , to hug him or something , but knew better than to stick around . When a god assumes his true form , the power is so great that any mortal looking on him will disintegrate . " Good-bye , Father ," I managed . Then I turned away . I willed the ocean currents to aid me . Water swirled around me , and I shot toward the surface at speeds that would ' ve caused any normal human to pop like a balloon . When I looked back , all I could see were flashes of green and blue as my father fought the
Titan , and the sea itself was torn apart by the two armies .
14
Chapter Three
I Get A Sneak Peek At My Death
If you want to be popular at Camp Half-Blood , don ' t come back from a mission with bad news .
Word of my arrival spread as soon as I walked out of the ocean . Our beach is on the North Shore of Long Island , and it ' s enchanted so most people can ' t even see it . People don ' t just appear on the beach unless they ' re demigods or gods or really , really lost pizza delivery guys . ( It ' s happened — but that ' s another story .)
Anyway , that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin . When he spotted me , he got so excited he fell out of his tree . Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp and ran to greet me .
Connor had a crooked smile that matched his crooked sense of humor . He ' s a pretty nice guy , but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he ' s around , and do not , under any circumstances , give him access to shaving cream unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it . He ' s got curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother , Travis , which is the only way I can tell them apart . They are both so unlike my old enemy Luke it ' s hard to believe they ' re all sons of Hermes .