Rick Riordan The Last Olympian - 05
the entire living room , but she ' d settled her head in the kitchen doorway so she could see us , which made her happy . My mom tossed her a ten-pound family-size tube of ground beef , which disappeared down her gullet . Paul poured lemonade for the rest of us while I explained about our visit to Connecticut .
" So it ' s true ." Paul stared at me like he ' d never seen me before . He was wearing his white bathrobe , now covered in hellhound fur , and his salt-and-pepper hair was sticking up in every direction . " All the talk about monsters , and being a demigod . . . it ' s really true ."
I nodded . Last fall I ' d explained to Paul who I was . My mom had backed me up . But until this moment , I don ' t think he really believed us . " Sorry about Mrs . O ' Leary ," I said , " destroying the living room and all ." Paul laughed like he was delighted . " Are you kidding ? This is awesome ! I mean , when I saw the hoofprints on the Prius , I thought maybe . But this !" He patted Mrs . O ' Leary ' s snout . The living room shook — BOOM , BOOM , BOOM — which either meant a SWAT team was breaking down the door or Mrs . O ' Leary was wagging her tail . I couldn ' t help but smile . Paul was a pretty cool guy , even if he was my English teacher as well as my stepdad . " Thanks for not freaking out ," I said . " Oh , I ' m freaking out ," he promised , his eyes wide . " I just think it ' s awesome !" " Yeah , well ," I said , " you may not be so excited when you hear what ' s happening ." I told Paul and my mom about Typhon , and the gods , and the battle that was sure to come .
Then I told them Nico ' s plan .
My mom laced her fingers around her lemonade glass . She was wearing her old blue flannel bathrobe , and her hair was tied back . Recently she ' d started writing a novel , like she ' d wanted to do for years , and I could tell she ' d been working on it late into the night , because the circles under her eyes were darker than usual .
Behind her at the kitchen window , silvery moon lace glowed in the flower box . I ' d brought the magical plant back from Calypso ' s island last summer , and it bloomed like crazy under my mother ' s care . The scent always calmed me down , but it also made me sad because it reminded me of lost friends . My mom took a deep breath , like she was thinking how to tell me no . " Percy , it ' s dangerous ," she said . " Even for you ." " Mom , I know . I could die . Nico explained that . But if we don ' t try —" " We ' ll all die ," Nico said . He hadn ' t touched his lemonade . " Ms . Jackson , we don ' t stand a chance against an invasion . And there will be an invasion ." " An invasion of New York ?" Paul said . " Is that even possible ? How could we not see the . . . the monsters ?" He said the word like he still couldn ' t believe this was real . " I don ' t know ," I admitted . " I don ' t see how Kronos could just march into Manhattan , but the Mist is strong . Typhon is trampling across the country right now , and mortals think he ' s a storm system ."
" Ms . Jackson ," Nico said , " Percy needs your blessing . The process has to start that way . I wasn ' t sure until we met Luke ' s mom , but now I ' m positive . This has only been done successfully twice before . Both times , the mother had to give her blessing . She had to be willing to let her son take the risk ." " You want me to bless this ?" She shook her head . " It ' s crazy . Percy , please —" " Mom , I can ' t do it without you ." " And if you survive this . . . this process ?" " Then I go to war ," I said . " Me against Kronos . And only one of us will survive ." I didn ' t tell her the whole prophecy — about the soul reaping and the end of my days . She didn ' t need to know that I was probably doomed . I could only hope I ' d stop Kronos and save the rest of the world before I died . " You ' re my son ," she said miserably . " I can ' t just . . ." I could tell I ' d have to push her harder if I wanted her to agree , but I didn ' t want to . I remembered poor Ms . Castellan in her kitchen , waiting for her son to come home . And I realized how lucky I was . My mom had always been there for me , always tried to make things normal for me ,
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