Crimson Rivers [1] - Percy jackson

Chapter 4:We Hail the Taxi of Eternal Torment

Annabeth was waiting for us in an alley down Church Street. She pulled Tyson, Percy, and me off the sidewalk just as a fire truck screamed past, heading for
Meriwether Prep. ‘Where’d you find him?’ she demanded, pointing at Tyson.

Now, under different circumstances, I would’ve been really happy to see her.
We’d made our peace last summer, despite the fact that her mom was Athena and didn’t get along with Percy's dad. I’d missed Annabeth probably more than I wanted to admit. But we’d just been attacked by cannibal giants, Tyson had saved our lives three or four times, and all Annabeth could do was glare at him like he was the problem. ‘He’s my friend,’ I told her.

‘Is he homeless?’

‘What does that have to do with anything? He can hear you, you know. Why don’t you ask him?’

She looked surprised. ‘He can talk?’

‘I talk,’ Tyson admitted. ‘You are pretty.'

‘Ah! Gross!’ Annabeth stepped away from him.

I couldn’t believe she was being so rude. I examined Tyson’s hands, which I
was sure must’ve been badly scorched by the flaming dodgeballs, but they
looked fine – grimy and scarred, with dirty fingernails the size of potato chips – but they always looked like that. ‘Tyson,’ Percy said in disbelief. ‘Your hands aren’t even burned.’

‘Of course not,’ Annabeth muttered. ‘I’m surprised the Laistrygonians had the
guts to attack you with him around.’

Tyson seemed fascinated by Annabeth’s blonde hair. He tried to touch it, but
she smacked his hand away. ‘Annabeth,’ Percy said, ‘what are you talking about? Laistry-what?’

‘Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They’re a race of giant cannibals
who live in the far north. Odysseus ran into them once, but I’ve never seen them as far south as New York before.’

‘Laistry – I can’t even say that. What would you call them in English?’

She thought about it for a moment. ‘Canadians,’ she decided. ‘Now come on, we have to get out of here.’

‘The police’ll be after us.’

‘That’s the least of our problems,’ she said. ‘Have you been having the
dreams?’

‘The dreams … about Grover?’

Her face turned pale. ‘Grover? No, what about Grover?’

We told her our dreams. ‘Why? What were you dreaming about?’

Her eyes looked stormy, like her mind was racing a million miles an hour.
‘Camp,’ she said at last. ‘Big trouble at camp.’

‘My mom was saying the same thing! But what kind of trouble?’

‘I don’t know exactly. Something’s wrong. We have to get there right away.
Monsters have been chasing me from Virginia, trying to stop me.
Have you had a lot of attacks?’

I shook my head. ‘None all year … until today.'

‘None? But how…’ Her eyes drifted to Tyson. ‘Oh.’

‘What do mean, “oh”?’

Tyson raised his hand like he was still in class. ‘Canadians in the gym called Percy something … Son of the Sea God?’ Annabeth, Percy, and I exchanged looks.

I didn’t know how I could explain, but I figured Tyson deserved the truth after
almost getting killed. ‘Big guy,’ I said, ‘you ever hear those old stories about the Greek gods? Like Zeus, Poseidon, Athena –’

‘Yes,’ Tyson said.

‘Well … those gods are still alive. They kind of follow Western Civilization
around, living in the strongest countries, so like now they’re in the U.S. And
sometimes they have kids with mortals. Kids called half-bloods.’

‘Yes,’ Tyson said like he was still waiting for me to get to the point.

‘Uh, well, Annabeth, Percy, and I are half-bloods,’ I said. ‘We’re like … heroes-in-training. And whenever monsters pick up our scent, they attack us. That’s what those giants were in the gym. Monsters.'

‘Yes.’

I stared at him. He didn’t seem surprised or confused by what I was telling
him, which surprised and confused me.

‘So … you believe us?’ Percy asked

Tyson nodded. ‘But you are … Son of the Sea God?’

‘Yeah,’ He admitted. ‘My dad is Poseidon.’

Tyson frowned. Now he looked confused. ‘But then…’