"You're the last Olympian," I said. "And the most important."

 

"And why is that, Percy Jackson?"

 

"Because Hope survives best at the hearth," I said. "Guard it for me, and I

won't be tempted to give up again."

 

The goddess smiled. She took the jar in her hands and it began to glow. The

hearth fire burned a little brighter.

 

"Well done, Percy Jackson," she said. "May the gods bless you."

 

"We're about to find out." 1 looked at Annabeth and Grover. "Come on, guys." 1

marched toward my father's throne.

 

The seat of Poseidon stood just to the right of Zeus's, but it wasn't nearly as

grand. The molded black leather seat was attached to a swivel pedestal, with a

couple of iron rings on the side for fastening a fishing pole (or a trident).

Basically it looked like a chair on a deep-sea boat, that you would sit in if

you wanted to hunt shark or marlin or sea monsters.

 

Gods in their natural state are about twenty feet tall, so I could just reach

the edge of the seat if I stretched my arms.