Rick Riordan
The Titan’s Curse - 03
fire on the mountain. You will gain unlimited power. And for your sixteenth birthday, you will
overthrow Olympus."
No one spoke. It made terrible sense. Thalia was only two days away from turning sixteen.
She was a child of the Big Three. And here was a choice, a terrible choice that could mean the end
of the gods. It was just like the prophecy said. I wasn't sure if I felt relieved, horrified, or
disappointed. I wasn't the prophecy kid after all. Doomsday was happening right now.
I waited for Thalia to tell the manticore off, but she hesitated. She looked completely
stunned.
"You know it is the right choice," the manticore told her. "Your friend Luke recognized it. You
shall be reunited with him. You shall rule this world together under the auspices of the Titans. Your
father abandoned you, Thalia. He cares nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over him.
Crush the Olympians underfoot, as they deserve. Call the beast! It will come to you. Use your
spear."
"Thalia," I said, "snap out of it!"
She looked at me the same way she had the morning she woke up on Half-Blood Hill, dazed
and uncertain. It was almost like she didn't know me. "I… I don't—"
"Your father helped you," I said. "He sent the metal angels. He turned you into a tree to
preserve you."
Her hand tightened on the shaft of her spear.
I looked at Grover desperately. Thank the gods, he understood what I needed. He raised his
pipes to his mouth and played a quick riff.
The manticore yelled, "Stop him!"
The guards had been targeting Zoe, and before they could figure out that the kid with the
pipes was the bigger problem, the wooden planks at their feet sprouted new branches and tangled
their legs. Zoe let loose two quick arrows that exploded at their feet in clouds of sulfurous yellow
smoke. Fart arrows!
The guards started coughing. The manticore shot spines in our direction, but they ricocheted
off my lion's coat.
"Grover," I said, "tell Bessie to dive deep and stay down!"
"Moooooo!" Grover translated. I could only hope that Bessie got the message.
"The cow…" Thalia muttered, still in a daze.
"Come on!" I pulled her along as we ran up the stairs to the shopping center on the pier. We
dashed around the corner of the nearest store. I heard the manticore shouting at his minions, "Get
them!" Tourists screamed as the guards shot blindly into the air.
We scrambled to the end of the pier. We hid behind a little kiosk filled with souvenir
crystals—wind chimes and dream catchers and stuff like that, glittering in the sunlight. There was a
water fountain next to us. Down below, a bunch of sea lions were sunning themselves on the rocks.
The whole of San Francisco Bay spread out before us: the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and
the green hills and fog beyond that to the north. A picture-perfect moment, except for the fact that
we we