Rick Riordan
The Last Olympian - 05
games, silk shirts, black velvet paintings—all the things that make life worth living will disappear!"
"So why aren't the gods rushing back to help us?" I said. "We should combine forces at
Olympus. Forget Typhon."
He snapped his fingers impatiently. "You forgot my Diet Coke."
"Gods, you're annoying." I got the attention of a waitress and ordered the stupid soda. I put it
on Bobby Earl's tab.
Mr. D took a good long drink. His eyes never left the video game. "The truth is, Pierre—"
"Percy."
"—the other gods would never admit this, but we actually need you mortals to rescue
Olympus. You see, we are manifestations of your culture. If you don't care enough to save Olympus
yourselves—"
"Like Pan," I said, "depending on the satyrs to save the Wild."
"Yes, quite. I will deny I ever said this, of course, but the gods need heroes. They always
have. Otherwise we would not keep you annoying little brats around."
"I feel so wanted. Thanks."
"Use the training I have given you at camp."
"What training?"
"You know. All those hero techniques and . . . No!" Mr. D slapped the game console. "Na pari
i eychi! The last level!"
He looked at me, and purple fire flickered in his eyes. "As 1 recall, I once predicted you
would turn out to be as selfish as all the other human heroes. Well, here is your chance to prove me
wrong."
"Yeah, making you proud is real high on my list."
"You must save Olympus, Pedro! Leave Typhon to the Olympians and save our own seats of
power. It must be done!"
"Great. Nice little chat. Now, if you don't mind, my friends will be wondering—"
"There is more," Mr. D warned. "Kronos has not yet attained full power. The body of the
mortal was only a temporary measure."
"We kind of guessed that."
"And did you also guess that within a day at most, Kronos will burn away that mortal body
and take on the true form of a Titan king?"
"And that would mean . . ."
Dionysus inserted another quarter. "You know about the true forms of the gods."
"Yeah. You can't look at them without burning up."
"Kronos would be ten times more powerful. His very presence would incinerate you. And
once he achieves this, he will empower the other Titans. They are weak now, compared to what
they will soon become, unless you can stop them. The world will fall, the gods will die, and I will
never achieve a perfect score on this stupid machine."
Maybe I should've been terrified, but honestly, I was already about as scared as I could get.
"Can I go now?" I asked.
"One last thing. My son Pollux. Is he alive?"
I blinked. "Yeah, last I saw him."
"I would very much appreciate it if you could keep him that way. I lost his brother Castor last
year—"
"I remember." I stared at him, trying to wrap my mind around the idea that Dionysus could be
a caring father. I wondered how many other Olympians were thinking about their demigod children
right now. "I'll do my best."
"Your best," Dionysus muttered. "Well, isn't that reassuring. Go now. You have some nasty
surprises to deal with, and I must defeat Blinky!"
"Nasty surprises?"
He waved his hand, and the bar disappeared.
I was back on Fifth Avenue. Annabeth hadn't moved. She didn't give any sign that I'd been
gone or anything.
She caught me staring and frowned. "What?"
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