"I tell aspiring writers that you have to find what you MUST write. When you find it, you will know, because the subject matter won't let you go. It's not enough to write simply because you think it would be neat to be published. You have to be compelled to write. If you're not, nothing else that you do matters."

"Yeah, you bet Romani.' Percy bared his forearm and showed them the brand he'd got at Camp Jupiter- the SPQR mark, with the trident of Neptune. 'You mix Greek and Roman, and you know what you get? You get BAM!' He stomped his foot, and the empousai scrambled back. One fell off the boulder where she'd been perched."

"The wolf Lupa had told him that mortal minds could believe just about anything-except the truth."

"There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it."

"Water liked to be free. Given time, water could overcome any barrier, and it hated to be trapped, just like Percy."

"Before I could figure out how to apologize for being such an idiot, she tackled me with a hug, then pulled away just as quickly. "I'm glad you're not a guinea pig.""Me, too." I hoped my face wasn't as red as it felt."

"Now, if you have never been hit by a flying burrito, count yourself lucky. In terms of deadly projectiles, it's right up there with grenades and cannonballs."

"My name is Percy Jackson. I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.Am I a troubled kid?Yeah. You could say that."

"Nico knew something about ghosts. Letting them get inside your head was dangerous. He wanted to help Reyna, but since his own strategy was to deal with his problems alone, spurning anyone who tried to get close, he couldn't exactly criticize Reyna for doing the same thing."

"Lots of death, huh? Personally, I'm trying to avoid lots of death, but you guys have fun!"

"It's not mind-reading,' she said. 'Not even an empathy link. Just - a temporary wave of exhaustion. Primal emotions. Your pain washes over me. I take on some of your burden.'Nico's expression became guarded. He twisted the silver skull ring on his finger, the same way Reyna did with her silver ring when she was thinking. Sharing a habit with the son of Hades made her uneasy."

"It's more than that.' Reyna rested her hand on Nico's. 'While you were asleep, I did a lot ofthinking. What I told you about my father - I'd never shared that with anyone. I guess I knew youwere the right person to confide in. You lifted some of my burden. I trust you, Nico."

"Humans see what they want to see."

"I'd had years of practise looking dumb when people threw out Greek names I didn't know. It's a skill of mine. Annabeth keeps telling me to read a book of Greek myths, but I don't see the need. It's easier just to have folks explain stuff."

"Python opened his eyes. "What do you want?""To sing you songs about my awesomeness!""Oh, please. Just kill me now.""Okay!" Apollo drew his bow and shot the snake between the eyes. Then he sang a song about his awesomeness."

"Legion, cuneum formate!' Reyna yelled. 'Advance!' Another cheer on Jason's right as Percy and Annabeth reunited with the forces of Camp Half-Blood. 'Greeks!' Percy yelled. 'Let's, um, fight stuff!' They yelled like banshees and charged. Jason grinned. He loved the Greeks. They had no organization whatsoever, but they made up for it with enthusiasm."

"I see you like to study, I said. "Well done.Percy snorted. "I hate to study. I've been guaranteed admission with a full scholarship to New Rome University, but they're still requiring me to pass all my high school courses and score well on the SAT. Can you believe that? Not to mention I have to pass the DSTOMP."The what? Meg asked."An exam for Roman demigods, I told her. "The Demigod Standard Test of Mad Powers.Percy frowned. "That's what it stands for?"I should know. I wrote the music and poetry analysis sections."I will never forgive you for that, Percy said."

"Percy blinked. "So your brother is a winged horse. But you're also my half brother, which means all the flying horses in the world are my. You know what? Lets' forget it."

"I hoped I wasn't blushing. It was bad enough I had to depend on my mom to drive me to my battles."

"I was flying right toward him (the pig) at the speed of demigod-smashing."

"Their goal was in sight. They had a Titan with a very loud kitten on their side. That had to count for something."

"Like water leaking through a dam," said Piper."Yeah," smiled Percy. "We've got a dam hole.""What?" Piper asked."Nothing," he said. "Inside joke."

"He'd changed since the last summer. Instead of Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt, he wore a button-down shirt, khaki pants, and leather loafers. His sandy hair, which used to be so unruly, was now clipped short. He look like an evil male model, showing off what the fashionable college-age villain was wearing to Harvard this year."

"You must forge your own path for it to mean anything."

"Grover: It's a very sweet love story. I get misty-eyed every time I play it. So does Percy, but I think that's because he's laughing at me."

"Helios thought he looked pretty hot, and he had an annoying habit of calling the sun his "chick magnet."

"Oh no." I said panic rising in my chest. "No, no, no, Somebody get a can opener. I've got a god in my head!!"

"No," Frank said. "I'm only a centurion."Jason cursed in Latin. "He means he can't control a whole legion. He's not of high enough rank."Nico swung back his black sword at another gryphon. "Well, then, promote him!"

"Think long and hard about how you proceed, Nico di Angelo. You cannot lie to Cupid. If you let your anger rule you... well, your fate will be even sadder then mine."

"What I'm saying... I hate it when people let me down, when things are temporary."

"It was almost enough to make me turn vegetarian, except for the pesky fact that I loved cheeseburgers."

"The meeting was like a war council with donuts. Then again, back at Camp Half-Blood they used to have their most serious discussions around the Ping-Pong table in the rec room with crackers and Cheez Whiz, so Percy felt right at home."

"I past another telkhine, who was so startled he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I left him alive - partly because he had a cool lunch box..."

"Be careful of love. It'll twist your brain around and leave you thinking up is down and right is wrong."

"The real world is where the monsters are."

"She let the fear burn inside her like fuel, making her voice even stronger."

"Excercise is nothing more than a depressing reminder that one is not a god."

"A hero can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerve."

"Thanks for not freaking out," I said."Oh, I'm freaking out," Paul promised, his eyes wide. "I just think it's awesome!"

"Monkey bar," Annabeth said. "I'm great at these." She leaped onto to the first rung and start swinging her way across. She was scared of tiny spiders, but not of plummeting to her death from a set of monkey bars. Go figure."

"As I got closer to the fence, I held my shirt over my nose to block the smell. One stallion waded through the muck and whinnied angrily at me. He bared his teeth, which were pointed like a bear's.I tried to talk to him in my mind. I can do that with most horses.I'm going to clean your stables. Won't that be great?Come inside! Eat you! Tasty half-blood!Usually this gets me VIP treatment in the equestrian world, not this time.Poseidon can come in, too! We will eat you both! Seafood! The other horses chimed in as they waded through the field."

"Felix believed that the answer to every problem involved penguins; but it wasn't fair to birds, and I was getting tired of teleporting them back home. Somewhere in Antarctica, a whole flock of Magellanic penguins were undergoing psychotherapy."

"I held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts toward Cerberus- Alpo commercials, cute little puppies, fire hydrants."

"I pulled out Riptide."

"The main courtyard was filled with warriors - mermen with fish tails from the waist down and human bodies from the waist up, except their skin was blue, which I'd never known before.Some were tending the wounded. Some were sharpening spears and swords. One passed us, swimming in a hurry. His eyes were bright green, like that stuff they put in glo-sticks, and his teeth were shark teeth. They don't show you stuff like that in "The Little Mermaid."

"Two hundred Romans, and no one's got a pen? Never mind!" He slung his M16 onto his back and pulled out a hand grenade. There were many screaming Romans. Then the hand grenade morphed into a ballpoint pen, and Mars began to write. Frank looked at Percy with wide eyes. He mouthed: Can your sword do grenade form?Percy mouthed back, No. Shut up."

"That is correct," Zeus said. "The blood of Olympus was spilled. She is fully conscious.""Oh, come on!" Percy complained. "I get a little nosebleed and I wake up the entire earth? That's not fair!"

"If I had still been an immortal, I might have flirted with her myself. But I was now a sixteen-year-old boy. My mortal form was working its way upon my state of mind. I saw Sally Jackson as a mom-a fact that both consternated and embarrassed me. I thought about how long it had been since I had called my own mother. I should probably take her to lunch when I got back to Olympus."

"Twelve minutes. I can give you that."

"Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodite said, "Exquisitely painful isn't it? Not being sure who you love and who loves you? Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry!"