Rick Riordan
The Sea Monsters - 02
be on a losing team ... with company like this?" Luke pointed at Tyson.
"Hey!" I said.
"Traveling with a Cyclops," Luke chided. "Talk about dishonoring Thalia's memory! I'm
surprised at you, Annabeth. You of all people—"
"Stop it!" she shouted.
I didn't know what Luke was talking about, but Annabeth buried her head in her hands like
she was about to cry.
"Leave her alone," I said. "And leave Tyson out th is."
Luke laughed. "Oh, yeah, I heard. Your father claimed him."
I must have looked surprised, because Luke smiled. "Yes, Percy, I know all about that. And
about your plan to find the Fleece. What were those coordinates, again ... 30, 31, 75, 12? You see, I
still have friends at camp who keep me posted."
"Spies, you mean."
He shrugged. "How many insults from your father can you stand, Percy? You think he's
grateful to you? You think Poseidon cares for you any more than he cares for this monster?"
Tyson clenched his fists and made a rumbling sound down in his throat.
Luke just chuckled. "The gods are so using you, Percy. Do you have any idea what's in store
for you if you reach your sixteenth birthday? Has Chiron even told you the prophecy?"
I wanted to get in Luke's face and tell him off, but as usual, he knew just how to throw me off
balance.
Sixteenth birthday?
I mean, I knew Chiron had received a prophecy from the Oracle many years ago. I knew part
of it was about me. But, if I reached my sixteenth birthday? I didn't like the sound of that.
"I know what I need to know," I managed. "Like, who my enemies are."
"Then you're a fool."
Tyson smashed the nearest dining chair to splinters. "Percy is not a fool!"
Before I could stop him, he charged Luke. His fists came down toward Luke's head—a
double overhead blow that would've knocked a hole in titanium—but the bear twins intercepted.
They each caught one of Tyson's arms and stopped him cold. They pushed him back and Tyson
stumbled. He fell to the carpet so hard the deck shook.
"Too bad, Cyclops," Luke said. "Looks like my grizzly friends together are more than a match
for your strength. Maybe I should let them—"
"Luke," I cut in. "Listen to me. Your father sent us."
His face turned the color of pepperoni. "Don't—even— mention him."
"He told us to take this boat. I thought it was just for a ride, but he sent us here to find you.
He told me he won't give up on you, no matter how angry you are."
"Angry?" Luke roared. "Give up on me? He abandoned me, Percy! I want Olympus
destroyed! Every throne crushed to rubble! You tell Hermes it's going to happen, too. Each time a
half-blood joins us, the Olympians grow weaker and we grow stronger. He grows stronger." Luke
pointed to the gold sarcophagus.
The box creeped me out, but I was determined not to show it. "So?" I demanded. "What's so
special ..."
Then it hit me, what might be inside the sarcophagus. The temperature in the room seemed
to drop twenty degrees. "Whoa, you don't mean—"
"He is re-forming," Luke said. "Little by little, we're calling his life force out of the pit. With
every recruit who pledges our cause, another small piece appears—"
"That's disgusting!" Annabeth said.
Luke sneered at her. "Your mother was born from Zeus's split skull, Annabeth. I wouldn't
talk. Soon there will be enough of the titan lord so that we can make him whole again. We will piece
together a new body for him, a work worthy of the forges of Hephaestus."
"You're insane," Annabeth said.
"Join us and you'll be rewarded. We have powerful friends, sponsors rich enough to buy this
cruise ship and much more. Percy, your mother will never have to work again. You can buy her a
mansion. You can have power, fame—whatever you want. Annabeth, you can realize your dream of
being an architect. You can build a monument to last a thousand years. A temple to the lords of the
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