She gave them one last confident smile and climbed the steps.

 

Chiron and Hermes paced in silence. The baby squirmed.

 

A green glow lit the windows of the house. The campers stopped playing

volleyball and stared up at the attic. A cold wind rushed through the strawberry

fields.

 

Hermes must've felt it too. He cried, "No! NO!"

 

He shoved the baby into Chiron's arms and ran for the porch. Before he reached

the door, the sunny afternoon was shattered by May Castellan's terrified scream.

 

I got up so fast 1 banged my head on somebody's shield.

 

"Ow!"

 

"Sorry, Percy." Annabeth was standing over me. "I was just about to wake you."

 

I rubbed my head, trying to clear the disturbing visions. Suddenly a lot of

things made sense to me: May Castellan had tried to become the Oracle. She

hadn't known about Hades's curse preventing the spirit of Delphi from taking

another host. Neither had Chiron or Hermes. They hadn't realized that by trying

to take the job. May would be driven mad, plagued with fits in which her eyes

would glow green and she would have shattered glimpses of her child's future.