Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
11
11
After seeing Dr. Thorn turn into a monster and plummet off the edge of a cliff with Annabeth,
you'd think nothing else could shock me. But when this twelve-year-old girl told me she was the
goddess Artemis, I said something real intelligent like, "Um… okay."
That was nothing compared to Grover. He gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started
yammering, "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so… you're so… Wow!"
"Get up, goat boy!" Thalia snapped. "We have other things to worry about. Annabeth is
gone!"
"Whoa," Bianca di Angelo said. "Hold up. Time out."
Everybody looked at her. She pointed her finger at all of us in turn, like she was trying to
connect the dots. "Who… who are you people?"
Artemis's expression softened."It might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are
you!Who are your parents?"
Bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at Artemis.
Our parents are dead," Bianca said. "We're orphans. There's a bank trust that pays for our
school, but…"
She faltered. I guess she could tell from our faces that we didn't believe her.
"What?" she demanded. "I'm telling the truth."
"You are a half-blood," Zoe Nightshade said. Her accent was hard to place. It sounded old-
fashioned, like she was reading from a really old book. "One of thy parents was mortal. The other
was an Olympian."
"An Olympian… athlete?"
"No," Zoe said. "One of the gods."
"Cool!" said Nico.
"No!" Bianca's voice quavered. "This is not cool!"
Nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. "Does Zeus really have lightning
bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for—"
"Nico, shut up!" Bianca put her hands to her face. "This is not your stupid Mythomagic game,
okay? There are no gods!"
As anxious as I felt about Annabeth—all I wanted to do was search for her—I couldn't help
feeling sorry for the di Angelos. I remembered what it was like for me when I first learned I was a
demigod.
Thalia must've been feeling something similar, because the anger in her eyes subsided a
little bit. "Bianca, I know it's hard to believe. But the gods are still around. Trust me. They're
immortal. And whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well… Our lives are
dangerous."
"Dangerous," Bianca said, "like the girl who fell."
Thalia turned away. Even Artemis looked pained.
"Do not despair for Annabeth," the goddess said. "She was a brave maiden. If she can be
found, I shall find her."
"Then why won't you let us go look for her?" I asked.
"She is gone. Can't you sense it, Son of Poseidon? Some magic is at work. I do not know
exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished."
I still wanted to jump off the cliff and search for her, but I had a feeling that Artemis was right.
Annabeth was gone. If she'd been down there in the sea, I thought, I'd be able to feel her presence.
"Oo!" Nico raised his hand. "What about Dr. Thorn? That was awesome how you shot him
with arrows! Is he dead?"
"He was a manticore," Artemis said. "Hopefully he is destroyed for now, but monsters never
truly die. They re-form over and over again, and they must be hunted whenever they reappear."
"Or they'll hunt us," Thalia said.
Bianca di Angelo shivered. "That explains… Nico, you remember last summer, those guys
who tried to attack us in the alley in DC?"
"And that bus driver," Nico said. "The one with the ram's horns. I told you that was real."
"That's why Grover has been watching you," I said. "To keep you safe, if you turned out to be
half-bloods."
"Grover?" Bianca stared at him. "You're a demigod?"