The Hidden Oracle

196 Pages·2017·2.28 MB·English

Also by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Book One: The Lightning Thief
Book Two: The Sea of Monsters
Book Three: The Titan’s Curse
Book Four: The Battle of the Labyrinth
Book Five: The Last Olympian
The Demigod Files
Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods, illustrated by John Rocco
Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes, illustrated by John Rocco
The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel
The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel
The Titan’s Curse: The Graphic Novel
The Kane Chronicles
Book One: The Red Pyramid
Book Two: The Throne of Fire
Book Three: The Serpent’s Shadow
The Red Pyramid: The Graphic Novel
The Throne of Fire: The Graphic Novel
The Heroes of Olympus
Book One: The Lost Hero
Book Two: The Son of Neptune
Book Three: The Mark of Athena
Book Four: The House of Hades
Book Five: The Blood of Olympus
The Demigod Diaries
The Lost Hero: The Graphic Novel
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard
Book One: The Sword of Summer
Copyright © 2016 by Rick Riordan
Cover design by SJI Associates, Inc.
Cover illustration © 2016 by John Rocco
All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Hyperion, 125 West End Avenue, New
York, New York 10023.
ISBN 978-1-4847-3667-8
Visit www.DisneyBooks.com
Contents
Title Page
Also by Rick Riordan
Copyright
Dedication
Map
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Guide to Apollo-Speak
About the Author
To the Muse Calliope
This is long overdue. Please don’t hurt me.

Hoodlums punch my face
I would smite them if I could
Mortality blows
MY NAME IS APOLLO. I used to be a god.
In my four thousand six hundred and twelve years, I have done many things. I inflicted a plague on
the Greeks who besieged Troy. I blessed Babe Ruth with three home runs in game four of the 1926
World Series. I visited my wrath upon Britney Spears at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.
But in all my immortal life, I never before crash-landed in a Dumpster.
I’m not even sure how it happened.
I simply woke up falling. Skyscrapers spiraled in and out of view. Flames streamed off my body. I
tried to fly. I tried to change into a cloud or teleport across the world or do a hundred other things that
should have been easy for me, but I just kept falling. I plunged into a narrow canyon between two
buildings and BAM!
Is anything sadder than the sound of a god hitting a pile of garbage bags?
I lay groaning and aching in the open Dumpster. My nostrils burned with the stench of rancid
bologna and used diapers. My ribs felt broken, though that shouldn’t have been possible.
My mind stewed in confusion, but one memory floated to the surface—the voice of my father,
Zeus: YOUR FAULT. YOUR PUNISHMENT.
I realized what had happened to me. And I sobbed in despair.
Even for a god of poetry such as myself, it is difficult to describe how I felt. How could you—a
mere mortal—possibly understand? Imagine being stripped of your clothes, then blasted with a fire
hose in front of a laughing crowd. Imagine the ice-cold water filling your mouth and lungs, the
pressure bruising your skin, turning your joints to putty. Imagine feeling helpless, ashamed,
completely vulnerable—publicly and brutally stripped of everything that makes you you. My
humiliation was worse than that.
YOUR FAULT, Zeus’s voice rang in my head.
“No!” I cried miserably. “No, it wasn’t! Please!”
Nobody answered. On either side of me, rusty fire escapes zigzagged up brick walls. Above, the
winter sky was gray and unforgiving.
I tried to remember the details of my sentencing. Had my father told me how long this punishment
would last? What was I supposed to do to regain his favor?