The Titan's Curse(77)

I do not approve of your friendship with my daughter.

"So," Annabeth said. "What did you want to tell me earlier?"

The music was playing. People were dancing in the streets. I said, "I, uh, was thinking we got interrupted at Westover Hall. And… I think I owe you a dance."

She smiled slowly. "All right, Seaweed Brain."

So I took her hand, and I don't know what everybody else heard, but to me it sounded like a slow dance: a little sad, but maybe a little hopeful, too.

TWENTY

I GET A NEW ENEMY FOR CHRISTMAS

Before I left Olympus, I decided to make a few calls. It wasn't easy, but I finally found a quiet fountain in a corner garden and sent an Iris-message to my brother, Tyson, under the sea. I told him about our adventures, and Bessie—he wanted to hear every detail about the cute baby cow serpent—and I assured him that Annabeth was safe. Finally I got around to explaining how the shield he'd made me last summer had been damaged in the manticore attack.

"Yay!" Tyson said. "That means it was good! It saved your life!"

"It sure did, big guy," I said. "But now it's ruined."

"Not ruined!" Tyson promised. "I will visit and fix it next summer."

The idea picked me up instantly. I guess I hadn't realized how much I missed having Tyson around.

"Seriously?" I asked. "They'll let you take time off?"

"Yes! I have made two thousand seven hundred and forty-one magic swords," Tyson said proudly, showing me the newest blade. "The boss says 'good work'! He will let me take the whole summer off. I will visit camp!"

We talked for a while about war preparations and our dad's fight with the old sea gods, and all the cool things we could do together next summer, but then Tyson's boss started yelling at him and he had to get back to work.

I dug out my last golden drachma and made one more Iris-message.

"Sally Jackson," I said. "Upper East Side, Manhattan."

The mist shimmered, and there was my mom at our kitchen table, laughing and holding hands with her friend Mr. Blowfish.

I felt so embarrassed, I was about to wave my hand through the mist and cut the connection, but before I could, my mom saw me.

Her eyes got wide. She let go of Mr. Blowfish's hand real quick. "Oh, Paul! You know what? I left my writing journal in the living room. Would you mind getting it for me?"

"Sure, Sally. No problem."

He left the room, and instantly my mom leaned toward the Iris-message. "Percy! Are you all right?"

"I'm, uh, fine. How's that writing seminar going?"

She pursed her lips. "It's fine. But that's not important. Tell me what's happened!"

I filled her in as quickly as I could. She sighed with relief when she heard that Annabeth was safe.

"I knew you could do it!" she said. "I'm so proud."

"Yeah, well, I'd better let you get back to your homework."

"Percy, I… Paul and I—"

"Mom, are you happy?"

The question seemed to take her by surprise. She thought for a moment. "Yes. I really am, Percy. Being around him makes me happy."

"Then it's cool. Seriously. Don't worry about me." The funny thing was, I meant it. Considering the quest I'd just had, maybe I should have been worried for my mom. I'd seen just how mean people could be to each other, like Hercules was to Zoe Nightshade, like Luke was to Thalia. I'd met Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, in person, and her powers had scared me worse than Ares. But seeing my mother laughing and smiling, after all the years she'd suffered with my nasty ex-stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, I couldn't help feeling happy for her.

"You promise not to call him Mr. Blowfish?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Well, maybe not to his face, anyway."

"Sally?" Mr. Blofis called from our living room. "You need the green binder or the red one?"

"I'd better go," she told me. "See you for Christmas?"

"Are you putting blue candy in my stocking?"

She smiled. "If you're not too old for that."

"I'm never too old for candy."

"I'll see you then."

She waved her hand across the mist. Her image disappeared, and I thought to myself that Thalia had been right, so many days ago at Westover Hall: my mom really was pretty cool.

Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Annabeth, Grover, and me at the Empire State Building and ferried us back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was almost deserted.

As we trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleece glittered, I half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for us. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure.

Chiron greeted us at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about our strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

Annabeth and I sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers. Even Clarisse from the Ares cabin was there, back from her secretive scouting mission. I knew she must've had a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to pulverize me. She had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blond hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.