Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
31
31
"Yeah," I said. "That old movie with the clay skeletons."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh my gods, Percy! You are so hopeless."
"What?" I demanded.
"Just listen. The real story of the Fleece: there were these two children of Zeus, Cadmus and
Europa, okay? They were about to get offered up as human sacrifices, when they prayed to Zeus to
save them. So Zeus sent this magical flying ram with golden wool, which picked them up in Greece
and carried them all the way to Colchis in Asia Minor. Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell
off and died along the way, but that's not important."
"It was probably important to her."
"The point is, when Cadmus got to Colchis, he sacrificed the golden ram to the gods and
hung the Fleece in a tree in the middle of the kingdom. The Fleece brought prosperity to the land.
Animals stopped getting sick. Plants grew better. Farmers had bumper crops. Plagues never visited.
That's why Jason wanted the Fleece. It can revitalize any land where it's placed. It cures sickness,
strengthens nature, cleans up pollution—"
"It could cure Thalia's tree."
Annabeth nodded. "And it would totally strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood. But
Percy, the Fleece has been missing for centuries. Tons of heroes have searched for it with no luck."
"But Grover found it," I said. "He went looking for Pan and he found the Fleece instead
because they both radiate nature magic. It makes sense, Annabeth. We can rescue him and save
the camp at the same time. It's perfect!"
Annabeth hesitated.