How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Leo fiddled with his copper wires. He felt like an intruder. He shouldn't be listening to this, but it also made him feel like he was getting to know Jason for the first time—like maybe being here now made up for those four months as Wilderness School, when Leo had just imagined they had a friendship. (35.50)
Leo's listening to Thalia tell Jason about his past. He's learning Jason's real story here, just like the reader. The false history he had with Jason—the backstory that never was because it happened before the book—is replaced with a "real" backstory. Jason is only as real as what we know about him.
Quote #5
"Is the fortress always hanging there?" Piper asked. "How can people not notice it sitting on top of Pikes Peak?"
"The Mist," Thalia said. "Still, mortals do notice it indirectly. Some days, Pikes Peak looks purple. People say it's a trick of the light, but actually it's the color of Aeolus's palace, reflecting off the mountain face." (36.35-36)
Pikes Peak does have a purple glow, and the book offers a fanciful explanation for why that is, giving us a kind of fairy tale version of reality. If you visit Pikes Peak in the future, you can carry this version in your head when you see the purple light.
Quote #6
"It wasn't real. It never even happened. So why do I remember it so vividly?"
Aphrodite smiled. "Because you are my daughter, Piper. You see possibilities much more vividly than others. You see what could be. And it still might be—don't give up." (39.30-31)
It's not clear why being Aphrodite's daughter should allow you to see possibilities. Maybe Aphrodite means it lets Piper see possibilities for romance in particular? Either way, it seems like being able to imagine a version of reality is one way to help bring it about. Though I doubt you'll get to ride a dragon no matter how hard you imagine Festus.