Object 1 7 6 5 4 3 2

Okay, I said. Just normal afternoon and two normal people.She nodded. And so . . . hypothetically, if these two peopleliked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss thegirl, huh?Oh . . . I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows- slow, dumb,and bright red. Um . . .I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so mucheasier to be around than . . . well, than some other girls I knew. Ididn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my braintrying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much.She let you know how she felt.I'm not sure that I would have done next- but I was sodistracted, I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down fromthe sky until four hooves landed on the hood of the Priuis with a WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!Hey,boss , a voice in my head said. Nice car! Blackjack the pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried notto get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put on the hood; but Ididn't think my stepdad would be a real stoked.Blackjack, I sighed. What are you-Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day wasabout to get more complicated.'Sup, Percy.Charles Beckendorf, senior counselor for the Hephaestus cabin,would make most monsters cry for their mommies. He was huge,with ripped muscles from working on the forges every summer, twoyears older than me, and one of the camp's best armorsmiths. Hemade some seriously ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before,he'd rigged a Greek firebomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that wascarrying a bunch of monsters across country. The explosion took outa whole legion of Krono's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went flush. Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore bronzebreastplate and war helm with black camo pants and a swordstrapped to his side. His explosives bag was slung over his shoulder.Time? I askedHe nodded grimly.A clump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'dbeen planning it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen.Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. Hi.Oh, hey. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me . . . uh, I meanhe mentioned you.Rachel raised an eyebrow. Really? Good. She glanced atBlackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of thePrius. So, I guess you guys have to go save the world now.Pretty much, Beckendorf agreed.I looked at Rachel helplessly. Would you tell my mom-I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paulabout the hood.I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paulloaned me his car.Good luck. Rachel kissed me before I could even react.Now, get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me.My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius,her arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher,carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachelwanted to talk to me about, and whether I'd live long enough to findout.So, Beckendorf said, I'm guessing you don't want me tomention that little scene to Annabeth.Oh, gods, I muttered. Don't even think about it.Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the

Atlantic.It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The PrincessAndromeda glowed on the horizon- a huge cruise ship lit up yellowand white. From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, notthe headquarters for the Titan lord. Then as you got closer, youmight notice the giant figurehead- a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if shecould smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced tocarry.Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost diedtwice on the Princess Andromeda

. Now it was heading straight for NewY ork.You know what to do? Beckendorf yelled over the wind.I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey,using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time wewould have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Krono'sinvasion before it ever started.Blackjack, I said, set us down on the lowest stern deck. Gotcha,boss , he said. Man, I hate seeing that boat. Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the PrincessAndromeda until he finally escaped with a little help from my friendsand me. I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My LittlePony than be back here again.Don't wait for us, I told him. But, bossTrust me, I said. We'll get out ourselves.Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsterspatrolling the upper decks of the shipdracaenae snake-woman,hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid seal-demons known astelkhines- but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm.We shot down the stern of the boat, and Blackjack spread his wings,lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feelingqueasy. Good luck,boss , Blackjack said. Don't let 'em turn you intohorse meat! With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my penout of my pocket and uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size-three feet of deadly celestial bronze glowing in the dusk.Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thoughtit was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. Hestared at it in the dim light- the smiling face of Silena Beauregard,daughter of Aphrodite. They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying Duh, you guys like each other! Evenwith all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier thissummer than I'd ever seen him.We'd make it back to camp, I promised.For a second I saw sorry in his eyes. Then he put on his oldconfident smile.You bet, he said. Let's go blow Kronos back into a million of pieces.Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to theservice stairwell, just like we'd practiced, but we froze when weheard noises above us.I don't care what your noses says! snarled a half-human, half-dog voice- a telkhine. The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meat loaf sandwich!Meat loaf sandwiches are good! a second voice snarled. Butthis is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!Bah, your brain isn't on board!They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs.We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voicesof the telkhines started to fade.Finally, we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed thewords engine room.It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churnedand hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined theopposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was soinvolved with his work, he didn't notice us. He was about five feettall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the headof a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. Hegrowled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he wasmessaging his friends on uglyface.com.I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling somethingwrong. He leaped sideways toward a big red alarm button, but Iblocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust.One down, Beckendorf said. About five thousand to go.He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid- Greek fire, one

of the mostdangerous magical substances in the world.The he threw me another essential tool of the demigod heros-duct tape.Slap that one on the console, he said. I'll get the turnbines.We went to work. The room was hot and humid, and in no timewe were drenched in sweat. The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon andall, I have perfect bearings at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could teller were at 40.l9 North, 7I.90 West, making eighteen knots, whichmeant the ship would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn. Thiswould be our only chance to stop it.I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the controlpanels when I heard the pounding of feet on metal steps- so manycreatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over theengines. Not a good sign.I locked eyes with Beckendorf. How much longer?Too long. He tapped his watch, which was our remote controldetonator. I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges.Ten more minutes at least.Judging from the sound of the footsteps, we had about tenseconds.I'll distract them, I said. Meet you at the rendezvous point.Percy-Wish me luck.He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been toget in and out without being spotted. But we were going to have toimprovise.Good luck, he said.I charged out the door.A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut throughthem with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing- pastanother telkhine, who was so started he dropped his Lil' Demonslunch box. I left him alive- partly because his lunch box was cool,partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends tofollow me rather than head towards the engine room stairwell.I didn't care- as long as I got the monsters away from the engineroom and gave Beckendorf more time.As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down.He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, Kronos! but he sounded morescared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve- aboutthe same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brain-washed-trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was hisenemy.No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this.I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it againstthe wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probablystupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.If you want to live, I told him, get off this ship now . Telltheother demigods. Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent himtumbling to the next door.I kept climbing.Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, myhalf brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years agoon my first visit.I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the skywas darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowedbetween two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks.The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could takethe staircase down to the helipad- our emergency rendezvous point.With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate thecharges from a quarter mile away.I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice mademe freeze. You're late, Percy.Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarredface. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just anormal college guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.We've been expecting you for days. At first he soundednormal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passedthrough his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty.His voice became heavier, ancient,and powerful- the voice of theTitan lord Kronos. The words scraped down my spine like a knifeblade. Come, bow before me.Yeah, that'll happen, I muttered.Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimmingpool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was eight feet tall withtattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archersappeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down fromthe opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I

wassurrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into positionso face unless they'd known I was coming.I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't knowif Luke's consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe,the way his voice had changed . . . or maybe it was just Kronosadapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke hadbeen twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him.A voice in my head said: I have to fight him eventually. Why not now? According to that big prophecy, I was suppose to make a choicethat saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was onlyseven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here bytaking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before.As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was Kronos. Ihad to remember that.Come forward, he said. If you dare.The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heartpounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but theylet me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncappedit, and Riptide grew into a sword.Krono's weapon appeared in his hands- a six-foot-long scythe, ahalf Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at it made myknees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged.Time slowed down. I mean literally slowed down, becauseKronos had that power. I felt like I was moving through syrup. Myarms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled,swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creeptoward my death.I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me-the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over theyear, but now nothing seemed to happen.I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered Dracaenae hissed with laughter. Hey, ocean , I pleaded. Any day would be good. Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boatlurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousandgallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing meand Kronos and everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me,breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistakeof looking at his faceLuke's face -a guy who was once my friend. Asmuch as I hated him, it was hard to kill him. Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with hisscythe. I leaped back, and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting agash in the deck right between my feet.I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but hewas heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking arefrigerator.Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, buthis strike was so powerful, my blade could only deflect it. The edgeof the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. Itshouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my bodyexploded with pain. I remembered what a sea demon had once saidabout Kronos's scythe: Careful, fool. One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body. Now I understood what he meant. Iwasn't just losing blood. I could feel my strength, my will, myidentity draining away.I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, andlunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but itdeflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid

marble. There wasno way he should've survived that.Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luketells me you were never his match at swordplay."My vision started to blur. I knew I didn't have much time."Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was his head.""A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the finalplan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when yourealize how I will destroy Olympus.""You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm wasthrobbing. Black spots danced in my vision."And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face-Luke's face-seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behindby some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend withthe explosives?"He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!"A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crowd.His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course:Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in theLabyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helpedKronos come back to life."Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as wewere told."He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward,dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almoststopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face andarms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off."No!" I yelled.Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he wastrying to tell me something. His watch. They hadn't taken it yet, andthat was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives were armed?Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away."We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying tosneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?""Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't setthe explosives?""He was going toward the engine room, my lord.""How do you know that?""Er . . ." Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in thatdirection. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."

Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them.When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make itlook like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn'tmade it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed!But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship anddetonate it.Kronos hesitated. Buy the story, I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now Icould barely stand."Open his bag," Kronos ordered.One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel fromBeckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned itupside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag reallyhad been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But whatfell out were a dozen cans of peaches.I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger."Did you, perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near thegalley?"Ethan turned pale. "Um-""And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THEENGINE ROOM?"Ethan scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels andran.I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombswere disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silentquestion, hoping he would understand: How long? He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. Zero. Therewas no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator

stairwell.I didn't care- as long as I got the monsters away from the engineroom and gave Beckendorf more time.As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down.He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, Kronos! but he sounded morescared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve- aboutthe same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brain-washed-trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was hisenemy.No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this.I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it againstthe wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probablystupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.If you want to live, I told him, get off this ship now . Telltheother demigods. Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent himtumbling to the next door.I kept climbing.Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, myhalf brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years agoon my first visit.I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the skywas darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowedbetween two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks.The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could takethe staircase down to the helipad- our emergency rendezvous point.With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the

sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate thecharges from a quarter mile away.I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice mademe freeze. You're late, Percy.Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarredface. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just anormal college guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.We've been expecting you for days. At first he soundednormal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passedthrough his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty.His voice became heavier, ancient,and powerful- the voice of theTitan lord Kronos. The words scraped down my spine like a knifeblade. Come, bow before me.Yeah, that'll happen, I muttered.Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimmingpool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was eight feet tall withtattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archersappeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down fromthe opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I wassurrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into positionso face unless they'd known I was coming.I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't knowif Luke's consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe,the way his voice had changed . . . or maybe it was just Kronosadapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke hadbeen twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him.A voice in my head said: I have to fight him eventually. Why not now? According to that big prophecy, I was suppose to make a choicethat saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was onlyseven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here bytaking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before.As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was Kronos. Ihad to remember that.Come forward, he said. If you dare.The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heartpounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but theylet me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncappedit, and Riptide grew into a sword.Krono's weapon appeared in his hands- a six-foot-long scythe, ahalf Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at it

made myknees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged.Time slowed down. I mean literally slowed down, becauseKronos had that power. I felt like I was moving through syrup. Myarms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled,swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creeptoward my death.I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me-the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over theyear, but now nothing seemed to happen.I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered Dracaenae hissed with laughter. Hey, ocean , I pleaded. Any day would be good. Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boatlurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousandgallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing meand Kronos and everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me,breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistakeof looking at his faceLuke's face -a guy who was once my friend. Asmuch as I hated him, it was hard to kill him