Rick Riordan The Titan ’ s Curse - 03
Chiron ' s brown beard was shaggier for the winter . His curly hair had grown a little longer . He wasn ' t posing as a teacher this year , so I guess he could afford to be casual . He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoofprint design on it , and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely . He smiled when he saw us . " Percy ! Thalia ! Ah , and this must be —" " Nico di Angelo ," I said . " He and his sister are half-bloods ." Chiron breathed a sigh of relief . " You succeeded , then ." " Well …" His smile melted . " What ' s wrong ? And where is Annabeth ?" " Oh , dear ," Mr . D said in a bored voice , " Not another one lost ." I ' d been trying not to pay attention to Mr . D , but he was kind of hard to ignore in his neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes . ( Like Mr . D had ever run a day in his immortal life .) A golden laurel wreath was tilted sideways on his curly black hair , which must ' ve meant he ' d won the last hand of cards . " What do you mean ?" Thalia asked . " Who else is lost ?" Just then , Grover trotted into the room , grinning like crazy . He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark . " The Hunters are all moved in !" Chiron frowned . " The Hunters , eh ? I see we have much to talk about ." He glanced at Nico .
" Grover , perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film ." " But … Oh , right . Yes , sir ." " Orientation film ?" Nico asked . " Is it G or PG ? ' Cause Bianca is kinda strict —" " It ' s PG-13 ," Grover said . " Cool !" Nico happily followed him out of the room . " Now ," Chiron said to Thalia and me , " perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story ."
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When we were done , Chiron turned to Mr . D . " We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately ." " I ' ll go ," Thalia and I said at the same time . Mr . D sniffed . " Certainly not !" Thalia and I both started complaining , but Mr . D held up his hand . He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if we didn ' t shut up .
" From what you have told me ," Mr . D said , " we have broken even on this escapade . We have , ah , regrettably lost Annie Bell —"
" Annabeth ," I snapped . She ' d gone to camp since she was seven , and still Mr . D pretended not to know her name .
" Yes , yes ," he said . " And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her . So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue . The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead ."
I wanted to strangle Mr . D . It wasn ' t fair Zeus had sent him here to dry out as camp director for a hundred years . It was meant to be a punishment for Mr . D ' s bad behavior on Olympus , but it ended up being a punishment for all of us .
" Annabeth may be alive ," Chiron said , but I could tell he was having trouble sounding upbeat . He ' d practically raised Annabeth all those years she was a year-round camper , before she ' d given living with her dad and stepmom a second try . " She ' s very bright . If … if our enemies have her , she will try to play for time . She may even pretend to cooperate ." " That ' s right ," Thalia said . " Luke would want her alive ." " In which case " said Mr . D , " I ' m afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own ." I got up from the table . " Percy ." Chiron ' s tone was full of warning . In the back of my mind , I knew Mr . D was not somebody to mess with . Even if you were an impulsive ADHD kid like me , he wouldn ' t give you any slack . But I was so angry I didn ' t care .
" You ' re glad to lose another camper ," I said . " You ' d like it if we all disappeared !"