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The veins on Hercules’s neck turned as purple as his robes "You would not be the first deod I’ve killed"
"Jason is better than you," Piper said "But don’t worry We’re not going to fight you We’re going to leave this island with the horn You don’t deserve it as a prize I’ to keep it, to reod, and to reod’s nostrils flared "Do not mention that name! You can’t seriously think I’er than er," Piper corrected "I said he’s better"
Piper pointed the o of the resent since Cas she’d shared with Jason Grace: soaring upward in the Grand Canyon, walking on the beach at Ca the stars, sitting by the strawberry fields together on lazy afternoons and listening to the satyrs play their pipes
She thought about a future when the giants had been defeated, Gaea was asleep, and they would live happily together--no jealousy, no hts, and she felt the cornucopia groarm
The horn blasted forth a flood of food as powerful as Achelous’s river A torrent of fresh fruit, baked goods, and smoked hams completely buried Hercules Piper didn’t understand how all that stuff could fit through the entrance of the horn, but she thought the hams were especially appropriate
When it had spewed out enough goodies to fill a house, the horn shut itself off Piper heard Hercules shrieking and struggling sood in the world could be caught off guard when buried under fresh produce
"Go!" she told Jason, who’d forgotten his part of the plan and was staring in arabbed Piper’s waist and summoned the wind They shot away froot whiplash; but it wasn’t a second too soon
As the island retreated frooodies Half a coconut was stuck on his noggin like a war helmet "Kill!" he bellowed, like he’d had a lot of practice saying it
Jason touched down on the deck of the Argo II Thankfully, Leo had done his part The ship’s oars were already in aerial , it pushed theainst the shore, knocking Hercules down a second time, in a cascade of seawater and pineapples
By the ti coconuts at theh the clouds above the Mediterranean
Chapter 29
Percy was not feeling the love
Bad enough he’d been run out of Atlanta by evil sea gods Then he had failed to stop a giant shrio II Then the ichthyocentaurs, Chiron’s brothers, hadn’t even wanted to meet him
After all that, they had arrived at the Pillars of Hercules, and Percy had to stay aboard ship while Jason the Big Shot visited his half brother Hercules, the et to meet him either
Okay, sure, from what Piper said afterward, Hercules was a jerk, but still…Percy was getting kind of tired of staying aboard ship and pacing the deck
The open sea was supposed to be his territory Percy was supposed to step up, take charge, and keep everybody safe Instead, all the way across the Atlantic, he’d done prettyexceptTV thes
To make matters worse, Annabeth had been distant ever since they had left Charleston She spentthe bronzeup information on Daedalus’s laptop
Whenever Percy stopped by to see her, she was so lost in thought that the conversation went so?"
Annabeth: "Uh, no thanks"
Percy: "Okay…have you eaten anything today?"
Annabeth: "I think Leo is on duty Ask him"
Percy: "So, my hair is on fire"
Annabeth: "Okay In a while"
She got like this soirl Still, Percy wondered what he had to do to get her attention He orried about her after her encounter with the spiders at Fort Sumter, and he didn’t kno to help her, especially if she shut hi the Pillars of Hercules--unscathed except for a few coconuts lodged in the hull’s bronze plating--the ship traveled by air for a few hundred miles
Percy hoped the ancient lands wouldn’t be as bad as they’d heard But it was almost like a commercial: You’ll notice the difference i attacked the ship A flock of flesh-eating Styht sky, and Festus torched them Storm spirits swirled around the e was having dinner on the foredeck, a wild pegasus appeared from nowhere, staain, leaving cheesy hoof prints all across the deck
"What was that for?" the coach deasus made Percy wish Blackjack were here He hadn’t seen his friend in days Tempest and Arion also hadn’t shown themselves Maybe they didn’t want to venture into the Mediterranean If so, Percy couldn’t blaht, after the ninth or tenth aerial attack, Jason turned to hi stuff out of the sky as long as I can Then we can go by sea for a while, and you can take point"