"Tyson, Frank is a descendant of Poseidon.""Brother!" Tyson crushed Frank in a hug.Percy stifled a laugh. "Actually he's more like a great-great-...Oh, never mind. Yeah, he's your brother.""Thanks." Frank mumbled through a mouthful of flannel."

"Humor was a good way to hide the pain."

"I tried to think of something to say. Excuse me? Hello? Marry me? Anything would have done."

"Nico didn't respond. He'd never had anyone talk to him this openly before, except maybe for Hazel. He felt like he was watching a flock of birds settle on a field. One loud sound might startle them away."

"When I got across, I looked back and saw Tyson giving Grover a piggyback ride (or was it a goatyback ride?)."

"I don't think about being famous, really. Being an author, I don't generally get stopped as I walk down the street. It's not like being a movie star."

"Yeah, well, Nico said, "not giving people a second thought that can be dangerous."

"Even strength must bow to wisdom sometimes."

"I'm gonna be percy Jackson when I grow up," she told Hazel solemnly.Hazel Smiled and ruffled her hair. "That's a good thing to be, Julia.""Although," Frank said. "Frank Zhang would be good too."

"The wine god sighed. 'Oh Hades if I know. But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword. As a mortal, I was never a great fighter or athlete or poet. I only made wine. The people in my village laughed at me. They said I would never amount to anything. Look at me now. Sometimes small things can become very large indeed.' He left me alone to think about that. And as I watched Clarisse and Chris singing a stupid campfire song together, holding hands in the darkness, where they thought nobody could see them, I had to smile."

"Annabeth looked at me. " We have to get out of here." " You think I want to be in the girls' restroom?" " I mean the ship, Percy! We have to get off the ship." " Smells bad," Tyson agreed. " And dogs eat all the eggs. Annabeth is right. We must leave the restroom and the ship."

"Nico's voice was like broken glass. "I- I wasn't in love with Annabeth.""You were jealous of her," Jason said. "That's why you didn't want to be around her. Especially why you don't want to be around... him. It makes total sense."

"I've been thinking.That snapped Piper back to the present. Coming from your boyfriend, I've been thinking was kind of a scary line."

"Don't decide yet," Hephaestus advised. "Wait until daybreak. Daybreak is a good time for decisions."

"She held up her calloused, grimy fingers. Leo couldn't help thinking there was nothing hotter than a girl who didn't mind getting her hands dirty. But of course, that was just a general comment. Didn't apply to Calypso. Obviously."

"Sugar and caffeine. My willpower crumbled."

"Poison!" Grover yelped. "Don't let those things touch you or...""Or we'll die?" I guessed."Well...after you shrivel slowly to dust, yes.""Let's avoid the swords," I decided."

"Nothing is more tragic than loving someone to the depths of your soul and knowing they cannot and will not ever love you back."

"I turned and faced the Olympians."We need a shroud," I announced, my voice cracking. "A shroud for the son of Hermes."

"You weren't able to talk sense into him?"Well, we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death."I see. You tried the diplomatic approach."

"It's not easy. I got lots of rejections when I first started out. If you want to write, you have to believe in yourself and not give up. You have to do your best to practice and get better."

"We were surrounded by thirty-foot-tall giants who were about to kill us. Then the sky opened up, and the gods descended.""Grandad," the kids said, "you are full of schist." "I'm not kidding!" he protested."

"You both passed out, Percy said. "I don't know why, but Ella told me not to worry about it. She said you were sharing?"Sharing, Ella agreed. She crouched in the stern, preening her wing feathers with her teeth, which didn't look like a very effective form of personal hygiene. She spit out some red fluff. "Sharing is good. No more blackouts. Biggest American blackout, August 14, 2003. Hazel shared. No more blackouts.Percy scratched his head. "Yeah, we've been having conversations like that all night. I still don't know what she's talking about."

"Getting something and having the wits to use it...those are two different things."

"She whirled when the monster was almost on top of her. I thought the thing in her hands was an umbrella until she cranked the pump and the shotgun blast blew the giant twenty feet backwards, right into Nico's sword. "Nice one," Paul said. "When did you learn to fire a shotgun?" I demanded. My mom blew the hair out of her face. "About two seconds ago. Percy, we'll be fine. Go!"

"Love is on every side, and no one's side. Don't ask what Love can do for you."

"I have lightning and wind powers," Jason reminded him. "Piper can turn beautiful and charm people into giving her BMWs. You're no more a freak than we are. And, hey, maybe you can fly, too. Like jump off a building and yell 'Flame on!'"Leo snorted. "If I did that, you would see a flaming kid falling to his death, and I would be yelling something a little stronger than 'Flame on!"

"I loved the idea of making history interesting for kids! When Scholastic approached me about 'The 39 Clues', I immediately started going through the 'greatest hits' from my years as a social studies teacher, and picked the historical characters and eras that most appealed to my students."

"Names have power."

"And please God, grant me the wisdom to remember that I am writing for children, not golden stickers."

"Percy'd heard stories about amputees who had phantom pains where their missing legsand arms used to be. That's how his mindfelt-like his missing memories were aching."

"I was pretty sure if I tried to sing, all I would cause was an avalanche."

"I know you'll do what's best for Annabeth.""How can you be sure?""Because she'd do the same for you."

"Unless you stop him. Perhaps next we meet.""You'll be just as annoying?" I guessed.He fixed my with those warm brown eyes. "Or perhaps you could bring me up to speed on those modern courtship rituals."I sat there stunned until he gave me a glimpse of a smile-just enough to let me know he was teasing. Then he disappeared."Oh, very funny!" I yelled."

"I couldn't miss Percy's fifteenth birthday, Poseidon said. "Why, if this were Sparta, Percy would be a man today!"That's true, Paul said. "I used to teach ancient history.Poseidon's eyes twinkled. "That's me. Ancient history."

"Nosoi? Percy planted his feet in a fighting stance. "You know, I keep thinking, I have now killed every single thing in Greek mythology. But the list never seems to end."You haven't killed me yet, I noted."Don't tempt me."

"I still don't understand what a sea god would be doing in Atlanta."Leo snorted. "What's a wine god doing in Kansas? Gods are weird."

"I don't feel that way anymore," Nico muttered. "I mean... I gave up on Percy. I was young and impressionable, and I- I don't..."His voice cracked, and Jason could tell the guy was about to get teary-eyed. Whether Nico had really given up on Percy or not, Jason couldn't imagine what it had been like for Nico all those years, keeping a secret that would've been unthinkable to share in the 1940s, denying who he was, feeling completely alone- even more isolated than other demigods."Nico," he said gently, "I've seen a lot of brave things. But what you did? That was maybe the bravest."

"You are not going to loot a candy shop in the middle of a war!"

"That's us," he said. "Those five nuts right there.""Which one is me?" I asked."The little deformed one," Zoe suggested."Oh, shut up."

"He looked like an evil male model, showing off what the fashionable college-age villain was wearing to Harvard this year."

"I have a great deal of sympathy for reluctant readers because I was one. I would do anything to avoid reading. In my case, it wasn't until I was 13 and discovered the 'Lord of the Rings' that I learned to love reading."

"Jason always tried to build a good relationship with his team. He'd learned the hard way that if somebody was going to have your back in a fight, it was better if you found some common ground and trusted each other. But Nico wasn't easy to figure out."

"But Grover's voice was already growing fainter. 'Sweet dreams. Don't let me die!"

"My point," Jason said, "is that blaming each other isn't going to solve anything. That's how the Romans and the Greeks got divided in the first place."

"Don't feel bad, I'm usually about to die."

"Even from far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music."

"What-what do you want?" Annabeth asked, trying to maintain a tone of confidence.The voice cackled maliciously.'To curse you, of course! To destroy you thousand times in the name of Mother Night!'"Only a thousand times?" Percy murmured. "Oh, good...I thought we were in trouble."

"You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear thorough the search."

"Percy and Reyna occupied matching praeters' chairs on the dais, which made Percy self-conscious. It wasn't easy looking dignified wearing a bedsheet and a purple cape. "The camp is safe," Octavian continued. " I'll be the first to congragulate our heroes for bringing back the legion's eagle and so much Imperial gold! Truly we have been blessed with good fortune. But why do more? Why tempt fate?" "I'm glad you asked." Percy stood, taking the question as an opening. Octavian stammered, " I wasn't--""--Part of the quest," Percy said. "Yes I know. And your'e wise to let me explain, since I was."