Stay Right Here

by caitatrophic

Summary:

she wants to win it all. that includes the boy's heart

Chapter 1: i - water boy crosses a river - i

Everything in Camp Jupiter was calm until a boy came charging through the Little Tiber while giving a homeless lady a piggyback ride.

It started when the horns blew. Hadley stopped mid-punch at a training dummy and looked in the direction of the sound. People had already begun running toward the commotion and Hadley was close on their tails. She saw Reyna, already clad in armor and her purple praetor cloak, and joined her at her side as they ran toward the River.

"What's going on?" Hadley asked.

"Not sure," Reyna answered. She quickened her pace, speeding ahead of the other girl.

They reached the gates where dozens of campers were already waiting with their weapons ready. Reyna and Hadley pushed to the front of the crowd, none one questioned the praetor but several sent Hadley a dirty look as she moved past them. Reyna called for the gates to be opened and all the kids poured out into the clearing.

Hazel -who had been guarding the entrance with Frank- and a boy Hadley had never seen before stood at the bank of the Little Tiber with an old lady who seemed entirely calm about the situation. Behind them, Frank was halfway across the river when two gorgons caught him. They swooped out of the sky and grabbed him by either arm. He screamed as their claws dug into his skin.

The sentries yelled and aimed their weapons, but there was no way to get a clean shot, not with Frank so close to the gorgons. Hadley was ready to charge into the river but the boy next to Hazel thrust out his hands. Reyna blocked Hadley with her arm, her eyes never leaving the scene in front of them. Suddenly, whirlpools formed on either side of Frank. Giant watery hands erupted from the stream, copying the boy's movements. The giant hands grabbed the gorgons, who dropped Frank in surprise. Then the hands lifted the squeaking monsters in a liquid vise grip.

Hadley watched in shock as he controlled the river. Behind her, several kids shouted and started backing away. If the boy heard them, he didn't show it. He made a smashing gesture with his fists, and the giant hands plunged the gorgons into the Tiber. The monsters hit the bottom and broke into dust. They tried to reform but the river pulled them apart and soon every trace of the gorgons was washed downstream. The whirlpools vanished and the current returned to normal.

Hazel rushed back into the river to help Frank- who looked perfectly fine- while the boy stood at the bank, his clothes and skin steaming, with a confused expression.

The boy had messy black hair with a small grey streak that was falling in front of his sea-green eyes that looked determined yet incredibly tired. With his muscular physique, Hadley could have mistaken him for a statue if he hadn't been moving. She could tell he'd been through a lot recently from the scratches and dirt covering him but could still tell he still had plenty of fight in him. As he stared at the Romans, Hadley could sense an aura of power stronger than most half-bloods. He almost could have been a Roman god.

"Well, that was a lovely trip," the old woman said. "Thank you, Percy Jackson, for bringing me to Camp Jupiter."

Reyna made a choking sound. "Percy... Jackson?"

She sounded as if she recognized the name. Hadley looked over at her curiously, and the boy- Percy- did the same. Reyna just stared as if she had seen him in her nightmares.

Percy stared at Reyna, then turned his gaze to the second girl, hoping she might have some idea of what was going on. Something felt oddly familiar about her like she was someone he was supposed to know. Her dirty blonde hair was tied into a messy braid with several pieces falling out around her face. Her hazel eyes had a certain intensity that looked like she was ready to fight anything that may come through the tunnel next (he wasn't positive she had ruled him out as a target) and even from where he stood, he could tell they had golden flecks in them. She crossed her arms and her toned muscles told him she could back up the confident look in her eyes at a moment's notice.

Percy was sure that if he had met her before, he couldn't have forgotten this girl- even with his case of amnesia.

The old woman laughed with delight. "Oh, yes. You'll have such fun together!"

Then, just because the day hadn't been weird enough, the old lady began to glow and change form. She grew until she was a shining, towering goddess in a blue dress, with a goatskin cloak over her shoulders. Her face was stern and stately. In her hand was a staff topped with a lotus flower.

Everyone stared in shock for a moment until Reyna knelt, then the others followed her lead.

Hazel was the first to speak. "Juno."

"Juno, huh?" Percy said. "If I passed your test can I have my memories and life back?"

Hadley pursed her lips and continued to stare at the ground. In all honesty, she wasn't sure if she was holding back a laugh or a gasp. She couldn't believe the idiocy of this boy to talk to the queen of the heavens that way. Although, she was impressed with his nerve, even if it was likely to get him disintegrated. Not just anyone would talk back to a goddess. Those who did, didn't have the chance to tell anyone about it.

The goddess smiled. "In time, Percy Jackson, if you succeed here at camp. You've done well today, which is a good start. Perhaps there's hope for you yet."

She turned to the other kids. "Romans, I present to you the son of Neptune. For months he has been slumbering but now he is awake. His fate is in your hands. The Feast of Fortuna comes quickly, and Death must be unleashed if you are to stand any hope in battle. Do not fail me!"

Juno shimmered and disappeared. As soon as she was gone Hadley was on her feet, she stared at Percy as he shared confused looks with Frank and Hazel. Reyna stepped forward, examining Percy warily.

"So," she said coldly, "a son of Neptune, who comes with the blessing of Juno."

"Look," Percy said, "my memory's a little fuzzy. Um, it's gone, actually. Do I know you?"

Reyna hesitated. "I am Reyna, praetor of the Twelfth Legion. And... no, I don't know you."

Hadley had a feeling that wasn't the truth.

"Hazel," Reyna said, "you and Frank bring him inside." She paused, staring at Percy as if she thought he might decide to attack them. With reluctance, she added, "Hadley, you come too. I want to question him at the Principia."

Hadley knew Reyna didn't really want her to come, the girls had never been close other than having a mutual friend. But the praetor was aware that after the display of power they all saw, they would need plenty of strength should the mystery boy turn out to be an enemy.

"Then we'll send him to Octavian," Reyna continued. "We must consult the auguries before we decide what to do with him."

"What do you mean," Percy asked, "'decide what to do with' me?"

Reyna's hand tightened on her dagger. Clearly, she was not as amused as Hadley about his backtalking a goddess and punching gorgons with a river. "Before we accept anyone into camp, we must interrogate them and read the auguries. Juno said your fate is in our hands. We have to know whether the goddess has brought us a new recruit..."

Reyna studied Percy as if she found that doubtful.

"Or," she said more hopefully, "if she's brought us an enemy to kill."

Hadley looked at Frank and Hazel and nodded in the direction they had to go as she and Reyna turned to leave. They quickly followed behind, bringing Percy with them.

Hadley glanced back at the three of them as Percy looked around in awe and confusion. There was something about him that drew her in, she was curious. She didn't miss the way he looked at her earlier.

"What do you think of him?" Hadley asked Reyna.

"We will find out." Her face could have been made of stone and have more emotion.

"Okay," Hadley chuckled. "Ominous."

Her eyes darted back to the newbie. There was something about him, maybe it was the power Hadley could sense behind his confused gaze or the way he came charging through the Tibre fighting gorgons as if he's done it for years. She wasn't sure what it was, but he was important. She wanted to know more, and she was pretty sure Reyna had information.

"Crazy that we've never seen him before and he was able to fight the gorgons by himself." Hadley watched the praetor carefully. "Not to mention being a son of Neptune. Those are very rare."

Reyna remained silent but glanced at her suspiciously.

"And Lady Juno made him sound important. I wonder what that's about."

Reyna returned her gaze to the horizon. "I know what you're doing. And I don't know anything about him."

"But earlier when Juno-"

"That's enough, Hadley," Reyna said, clearly getting annoyed.

"If he's important-"

"Hadley." She snapped, giving Hadley a look that told her not to push any further.

Hadley let out a dissatisfied sigh. "I'm going to talk to him."

Reyna said nothing, still not looking at the girl next to her. Her shoulders seemed to lose their tension slightly as Hadley slowed her pace to fall in step next to Hazel. Percy was awestruck by his surroundings. His eyes never stayed in one place for too long. That was until he started staring at a little ghost boy.

"Hi, Hadley," Frank greeted Hadley timidly. She gave him a wave and a crooked smile.

"Am I seeing things?" Percy asked. "Or are those-"

"Ghosts?" Hadley finished.

Hazel turned to him. "They're Lares. House gods."

"House gods," Percy said. "Like... smaller than real gods, but larger than apartment gods?"

Hadley snorted and covered her mouth with her hand.

"They're ancestral spirits," Frank explained. He'd removed his helmet, revealing a babyish face that didn't go with his military haircut or his big burly frame. "The Lares are kind of like mascots. Mostly they're harmless, but I've never seen them so agitated."

"They're staring at me," Percy said. "That ghost kid called me Greggus. My name isn't Greg."

"Graecus," Hadley chuckled. "It's Latin. Demigods have a natural sense for it, so the longer you're here the more you'll get it. Graecus means Greek."

"Is that bad?" Percy asked.

Frank cleared his throat. "Maybe not. You've got that type of complexion, the dark hair and all. Maybe they think you're actually Greek. Is your family from there?"

"Don't know. Like I said, my memory is gone."

"Or maybe..." Frank hesitated.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Probably nothing," Frank said. "Romans and Greeks have an old rivalry. Sometimes Romans use graecus as an insult for someone who's an outsider- an enemy."

"You don't have to worry about that. " Hadley waved off Frank's statement. "There was a short period of time the Lares called me names too. It's no biggie."

"Why were they calling you names?" Percy asked.

Hadley lifted her chin as she looked at him with a straight face. "It's no biggie."

They stopped at the center of camp, where two wide stone-paved roads met at a T.

A street sign labeled the road to the main gates as Via Praetoria. The other road, cutting across the middle of camp was labeled Via Principalis. Under those markers were hand-painted signs like Berkely 5 miles; New Rome 1 mile; Old Rome 7280 miles; Hades 2310 miles (pointing straight down); Reno 208 miles; and Certain Death: You are here!

The buildings were freshly whitewashed, laid out in neat grids. The barracks had shady porches, where camper lounged in hammocks or played cards and drank sodas. Each dorm had a different collection of banners out front displaying Roman numerals and various animals.

Along the Via Praetoria, rows of shops advertised food, armor, weapons, coffee, weapons, gladiator equipment, and toga rentals. A chariot dealership had a big advertisement out front: Caesar XLS w/antilock brakes, no denarii down!

At one corner of the crossroads stood the most impressive building- a two-story wedge of white marble columned portico like an old-fashioned bank. Roman guards stood out front. Over the doorway hung a big purple banner with the gold letters SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath.

"Your headquarters?" Percy asked.

Reyna faced him, her eyes still cold and hostile. "It's called the Principia."

She scanned the mob of curious campers who had followed them from the river. "Everyone back to your duties. I'll give you an update at evening muster. Remember, we have war games after dinner."

Hadley quietly pumped her fist, she couldn't wait for an excuse to fight (almost)everyone at camp. The crowd dispersed reluctantly. Some muttered comments about Percy's chances.

"He's dead," said one.

"Would be those two who found him," said another.

"Better be careful with Victoria's failure so close," muttered a third. "She has to be cursed."

"Yeah," the first one agreed. "Let him join the Fifth Cohort. Greeks, geeks, and jinxes."

Several kids laughed, Hadley took a step towards them and they all jumped back. She couldn't hold back a smile at their reaction.

"Hadley," Reyna scolded. Hadley rolled her eyes and glared at the retreating half-bloods. "Hazel. Come with us. I want your report on what happened at the gates. Hadley, you can come too."

"Me too?" Frank said. "Percy saved my life. We've got to let him-"

Reyna gave Frank such a harsh look that he stepped back.

"I'd remind you, Frank Zhang," she said, "you are on probation yourself. You've caused enough trouble this week."

Frank's ears turned red. He fiddled with his lead nametag.

"Go to the armory," Reyna told him. "Check our inventory. I'll call you if I need you."

"But-" Frank caught himself. "Yes, Reyna."

He hurried off. Reyna waved Hazel, Hadley, and Percy toward the headquarters. "Now, Percy Jackson, let's see if we can improve your memory."

The principia was even more impressive inside.

On the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under their adopted mama she-wolf. The floor was polished marble. The walls were draped in velvet. Along the back wall stood a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze metals- military symbols. In the center was one empty display stand.

In the back corner, a stairwell led down. It was blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door. In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans. Two life-sized greyhounds- one silver, one gold- flanked the table.

Reyna walked behind the table and sat in one of two high-backed chairs. The rest of them stood in a line on the other side of the table.

"So..." Percy started.

The dog statues bared their teeth and growled. Percy froze.

"Easy, guys," Reyna told the greyhounds.

They stopped growling but kept eyeing Percy as though they were imagining him in a doggie bag.

"They won't attack," Reyna said, "unless you try to steal something, or unless I tell them to. That's Argentum and Aurum."

"Silver and Gold," Percy said.

He watched as Reyna set her dagger on the table.

"We have met," he decided. "I don't remember when. Please, if you can tell me anything."

Hadley's eyes darted to Reyna, watching her expression closely.

"First things first," Reyna said. "I want to hear your story. What do you remember? How did you get here? And don't lie. My dogs don't like liars."

Argentum and Aurum snarled to emphasize the point.

Percy told his story- how he'd woken up at the ruined mansion in the woods of Sonoma. He described his time with Lupa and her pack, learning their language of gestures and expressions, learning to fight and survive.

Lupa had taught him about demigods, monsters, and gods. She'd explained that she was one of the guardian spirits of Ancient Rome. Demigods like them were responsible for carrying on Roman traditions in modern times- fighting monsters, serving the gods, protecting mortals, and upholding the memory of the empire. She'd spent weeks training him, until he was strong and tough and vicious as a wolf. When she was satisfied with his skills, she'd sent him south, telling him that if he'd survived the journey, he might find a new home and regain his memory.

Hadley thought fondly back to her time at the Wolf House, Lupa had always appreciated her desire for fighting. Although the She-wolf did mention something about her acting too rashly. Hadley hadn't listened during that part of her training. Nothing that Percy had explained was out of the ordinary- except for not having any memories.

"No memory at all?" Reyna asked. "You still remember nothing?"

"Fuzzy bits and pieces." Percy glanced at the greyhounds.

Reyna spun her dagger. "Most of what you're describing is normal for demigods. At a certain age, one way or another, we find our way to the Wolf House. We're tested and trained. If Lupa thinks we're worthy, she sends us south to join the legion. But I've never heard of someone losing his memory. How did you find Camp Jupiter?"

Percy told her about the last three days- the gorgons who wouldn't die, the old lady who turned out to be a goddess, and finally meeting Hazel and Frank at the tunnel in the hill.

Hazel took the story from there. She described Percy as brave and heroic.

Reyna studied him. "You're old for a recruit. You're what, sixteen?"

"I think so," Percy said.

"If you spent that many years on your own, without training or help, you should be dead. A son of Neptune? You'd have a powerful aura that would attract all kinds of monsters."

"Yeah," Percy said. "I've been told that I smell."

Hadley laughed but covered it with a cough and put a hand to her chest, feigning shock at her sudden coughing fit. Even Reyna almost cracked a smile.

"You must've been somewhere before the Wolf House," Reyna said.

Percy shrugged.

Reyna sighed. "Well, the dogs haven't eaten you, so I suppose you're telling the truth."

"Great," Percy said. "Next time, can I take a polygraph?"

Reyna stood. She paced in front of the banners. Her metal dogs watched her go back and forth.

"Even if I accept that you're not an enemy," she said, "you're not a typical recruit. The Queen of Olympus simply doesn't appear at camp, announcing a new demigod. The last time a major god visited us in person like that..." She shook her head. "I've only heard legends about such things. And a son of Neptune... that's not a good omen. Especially now."

"What's wrong with Neptune?" Percy asked. "And what do you mean especially now?"

Hazel shot him a warning look and Hadley shook her head.

Reyna kept pacing. "You've fought Medusa's sisters, who haven't been seen in thousands of years. You've agitated our Lares, who are calling you graecus. And you wear strange symbols- that shirt, the beads on your necklace. What do they mean?"

Percy looked down at his tattered orange T-shirt. It might have had words on it at one point, but they were too faded to read. Hadley wondered why he would choose such a bright color while on the run from monsters.

As for the necklace, the four clay beads were each decorated with a different symbol. One showed a trident. Another displayed a miniature Golden Fleece. The third was etched with the design of a maze, and the last had an image of a building with names engraved around it.

"I don't know," he said.

"And your sword?" Reyna asked.

Percy checked his pocket. He pulled out a pen and uncapped it. Hazel gasped, Hadley looked at the sword curiously and reached out as if she wanted to touch it. The greyhounds barked apprehensively.

"What is that?" Hazel asked. "I've never seen a sword like that."

"I have," Reyna said darkly. "It's very old- a Greek design. We used to have a few in the armory before..." She stopped herself. "The metal is called Celestial bronze. It's deadly to monsters, like Imperial gold, but even rarer."

"Imperial gold?" Percy asked.

Reyna unsheathed her dagger. Sure enough, the blade was gold. "The metal was consecrated in ancient times, at the Pantheon in Rome. Its existence was a closely guarded secret of the emperors- a way for their champions to slay monsters that threatened the empire. We used to have more weapons like this, but now... well, we scrape by. I use this dagger. Hazel has a spatha, cavalry sword. Most legionnaires use a shorter sword called a gladius, like Hadley."

Hadley twisted the golden laurel ring on her left pointer finger. When she took it off it would transform into an imperial gold sword. She resisted the urge to show off.

"But that weapon of yours is not Roman at all. It's another sign you're not a typical demigod. And your arm..."

"What about it?" Percy asked.

Reyna held up her own forearm. She showed him her tattoo: the letters SPQR, a crossed sword and torch, under that, four parallel lines.

Percy glanced at Hazel and Hadley.

"We all have them," Hazel confirmed, she and Hadley held up their arms.

"Every full member of the legion gets one." Hadley agreed.

Hazel's tattoo had the letters SPQR, but she had only one score mark, and her emblem was different: a black glyph like a cross with curved arms and a head.

Hadley had the same letters and the most score marks of the three of them- eight. Above the score marks her emblem depicted a laurel wreath.

Percy looked down at his own arms. A few scrapes, some mud, and a fleck of something that looked like food, but no tattoos.

"So you've never been a member of the legion," Reyna said. "These marks can't be removed. I thought perhaps..." She shook her head, as if dismissing the idea.

Hazel leaned forward. "If he's survived as a loner all this time, maybe he's seen Jason."

Hadley straightened. "Have you? A guy in a purple shirt like mine, with similar marks on his arm-"

"Guys." Reyna's voice tightened. "Percy's got enough to worry about."

Percy touched the point of his sword and it shrank back into a pen. "I haven't seen anyone like you guys before. Who's Jason?"

Reyna gave Hazel and Hadley an irritated look. "He is... he was my colleague." She waved her hand at the second empty chair. "The legion normally has two elected praetors. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, was our other praetor until he disappeared last October."

"You mean he's been gone eight months," Percy asked, "and you haven't replaced him?"

Reyna grimaced. "Elections happen in two ways. Either the legion raises someone on a shield after a major success on the battlefield- and we haven't had any major battles- or we hold a ballot on the evening of June 24, at the Feast of Fortuna. That's in five days."

Percy frowned. "You have a feast for tuna?"

"Fortuna," Hazel corrected. "She's the goddess of luck. Whatever happens on her feast day can affect the entire rest of the year. She can grant the camp good luck... or really bad luck."

"The Feast of Fortune... The gorgons mentioned that. So did Juno. They said the camp was going to be attacked on that day, something about a big bad goddess names Gaea, and an army, and Death being unleashed. You're telling me that day is this week?"

Reyna's fingers tightened around the hilt of her dagger. "You will say nothing about that outside this room," she ordered. "I will not have you spreading more panic in the camp."

"So it's true," Percy said. "Do you know what's going to happen? Can we stop it?"

"We've talked enough for now," Reyna said. "Hazel, Hadley, take him to Temple Hill. Find Octavian. On the way, you can answer Percy's questions. Tell him about the legion."

Hadley grimaced slightly while Hazel answered, "Yes, Reyna."

"And Hadley, no starting any fights."

"Verbal or physical?" Reyna gave her a stern look. "Fine."

"Good luck with the augury, Percy Jackson," Reyna said. "If Octavian lets you live, perhaps we can compare notes... about your past."

Chapter 2: ii - pillow murder was really uncalled for - ii

On the way out of camp, Hazel bought Percy an espresso drink and a cherry muffin from Bombilo the two-headed coffee merchant. Hadley had gotten a strawberry scone which she savored every bite of. Percy, on the other hand, inhaled the muffin.

He watched a bunch of kids in swimsuits and towels head into a building that had steam coming out of a row of chimneys. Laughter and watery sounds echoed from inside.

"Bath house," Hazel said. "We'll get you in there before dinner, hopefully. You haven't lived until you've had a Roman bath."

Percy sighed with anticipation. As they approached the front gate, the barracks got bigger and nicer. Even the ghosts looked better- with fancier armor and shinier auras.

"You guys are divided into different cabins?" Percy asked as he looked up at the banners.

"Kind of," Hazel said. "We have five cohorts with about forty kids each. Each cohort is split into barracks of ten- kind of like roommates."

"You're telling me there's two hundred kids at camp?"

"Maybe," Hadley shrugged. "I don't know, there's a lot of us."

"And all of them are children of the gods? The gods have been busy."

Hazel laughed. "Not all of them are children of major gods. There are hundreds of minor Roman gods. Plus, a lot of the campers are legacies- second or third-generation. Maybe their parents are demigods. Or their grandparents."

Percy blinked. "Children of demigods?"

"Why? Does that surprise you?"

Percy looked unsure. "These Legos-"

"Legacies," Hazel corrected.

"They have powers like a demigod?"

"Sometimes," Hadley said. "Sometimes not. But they all can be trained."

Hazel nodded. "All the best Roman emperors- you know, they all claimed to be descended from gods. Most of the time, they were telling the truth. The camp augur we're going to meet, Octavian, he's a legacy, descendant of Apollo. He's got the gift of prophecy."

"Supposedly," Hadley grumbled.

"Supposedly?" Percy asked.

Hazel made a sour face. "You'll see."

"So the divisions," Percy moved on, "the cohorts, whatever- you're divided into according to who your godly parent is?"

Hazel stared at him. "What a horrible idea! No, the officers decide where to assign recruits. if we were divided according to god, all the cohorts would be uneven. I'd be alone."

"Me too." Hadley shrugged.

"Why?" Percy asked. "What's your ancestry?"

"My mom's Victoria," Hadley said proudly.

"I don't know her. Must be one of her secrets."

"Haha," Hadley deadpanned. "She's the goddess of speed, strength, and victory."

"Like Nike."

"That's her Greek name," Hazel told him.

"Maybe she should be the goddess of major brands."

"I'm going to pummel you," Hadley said.

"Do you get free merchandise all the time? Could you hook me up with some new sneakers?" He raised his foot to show her his beat-up shoes.

"Shut up, you dumb little daisy chain."

Percy's smirk shifted to confusion. "What?"

"Hadley uses weird insults," Hazel said casually. "You get used to it."

"Oh," Percy turned back to Hadley. "Well, two can play at that game you- uh- Give me a second."

"Wait!" Someone behind them yelled before Percy could come up with a response. A ghost ran toward them- an old man with a medicine ball belly and a toga so long he kept tripping on it. He caught up to them and gasped for air, his purple aura flickering around him.

"This is him?" the ghost panted. "A new recruit for the Fifth, perhaps?"

"Vitellius," Hazel said, "we're sort of in a hurry."

The ghost scowled at Percy and walked around him, inspecting him like a used car. "I don't know," he grumbled. "We need only the best for the cohort. Does he have all his teeth? Can he fight? Does he clean stables?"

"Yes, yes, and no," Percy said. "Who are you?"

"Percy, this is Vitellius." Hazel's expression said: Just humor him. "He's one of our Lares; takes an interest in new recruits."

On a nearby porch, other ghosts snickered as Vitellius paced back and forth, tripping over his toga and hiking up his sword belt.

"Yes," Vitellius said, "back in Caesar's day- that's Julius Caesar, mind you- the Fifth Cohort was something! Twelfth Legion Fulminata, pride of Rome! But these days? Disgraceful what we've come to. Look at Hazel here, using a spatha. Ridiculous weapon for a Roman legionnaire- that's for cavalry! Don't even get me started on Hadley. And you, boy- you smell like a Greek sewer. Haven't you had a bath?"

"I've been a little busy fighting gorgons," Percy said.

"Why don't you get started on me?" Hadley challenged. If Vitellius wasn't already a ghost, the look she gave could have turned him into one instantly. "I want to hear the complaints."

"Why, you snarky-" the ghost started, but Hazel interrupted before he could go into full lecture mode.

"Vitellius, we've got to get Percy's augury before he can join. Why don't you check on Frank? He's in the armory doing inventory. You know how much he values your help."

The ghost's furry purple eyebrows shot up. "Mars Almighty!" They let the probatio check the armor? We'll be ruined!"

He stumbled off down the street, stopping every few feet to pick up his sword or rearrange his toga.

"O-h-h-kay," Percy said.

"Sorry," Hazel said. "He's eccentric, but he's one of the oldest Lares. Been around since the legion was founded."

"He called the legion... Fulminata?" Percy said.

"Armed with lightning," Hadley explained. "That's our motto. The twelfth legion was around for the entire Roman Empire. When Rome fell, a lot of legions just disappeared. We went underground, acting on secret orders from Jupiter himself: stay alive, recruit demigods and their children, keep Rome going."

"We've been doing that ever since," Hazel continued, "moving around to wherever Roman influence was strongest. The last few centuries, we've been in America."

"And you're in the Fifth Cohort," Percy guessed, "which maybe isn't the most popular?"

"Yeah," Hadley laughed to herself. "You should've seen the looks on the First Cohort's face when they found out I was a daughter of Victoria. They were like, 'what? The Fifth got her? Maybe we shouldn't judge the new recruits so much.' Hazel got here a few months ago."

Hazel scowled. "Yeah. I joined last September."

"So... just a few weeks before that guy Jason disappeared," Percy said.

Hazel averted her gaze to the ground. Hadley twisted her ring in silence, scowling at the horizon.

"Come on," Hazel said after a moment. "I'll show you my favorite view."

They stopped outside the main gates. The fort was situated on the highest point in the valley, so they could see pretty much everything.

The road led down to the river and divided. One path led south across a bridge, up to the hill with all the temples. The other road led north into the city, a miniature version of Ancient Rome. Unlike the military camp, the city looked, chaotic and colorful, with building crowded together at haphazard angles. Even from this far away, you could see people gathered in the plaza, shoppers milling around an open-air market, parents with kids playing in the parks.

"You've got families here?" Percy asked.

"In the city, absolutely," Hazel said. "When you're accepted into the legion, you do ten years of service. After that, you can muster out whenever you want."

Percy turned to Hadley. "You have two more years."

Yeah," Hadley smiled and crossed her arms. "But I made a bet with Jason that I would last longer than him so I gotta stick around for a while."

"Most demigods go into the mortal world." Hazel continued explaining. "But for some- well, it's pretty dangerous out there. This valley is a sanctuary. You can go to college in the city, get married, have kids, retire when you get old. It's the only safe place on earth for people like us. So yeah, a lot of veterans make their homes there, under the protection of the legion."

Percy looked as if he couldn't quite grasp the concept. "But if this valley is attacked?"

"We have defenses," Hadley said. "The borders are magical. But our strength isn't what it was. Lately, there have been more monster attacks."

Hazel pursed her lips. "What you said about the gorgons not dying... we've noticed that too, with other monsters."

"Do you know what's causing it?"

Hazel looked away.

"It's- it's complicated," Hazel said. "My brother says Death isn't-"

She was interrupted by an elephant.

Someone behind them shouted, "Make way!"

Hazel jumped back and Hadley dragged Percy out of the road as a demigod rode past on a full-grown pachyderm in black Kevlar armor. The word Elephant was printed on the side of his armor.

The elephant thundered down the road and turned north, heading toward a big open field where some fortifications were under construction.

Percy spit dust out of his mouth. "What the-?"

"Elephant," Hazel explained.

"Yeah, I read the sign. Why do you have an elephant in a bulletproof vest?"

"War games tonight," Hadley said excitedly. "That's Hannibal. If we didn't include him, he'd get upset."

"We can't have that."

Hazel and Hadley laughed. She liked Percy, he was fun. The others in the legion didn't trade sarcastic remarks with her- or when they did it was meant to insult her. After briefly seeing him fight the gorgons, she was excited to see his skills in that night's war games. After the last few minutes, she was excited to get to know him in general.

Hazel pointed across the river. Dark clouds were gathering over Temple Hill. Red flashes of lightning washed over the monuments in blood-colored light.

"Octavian is busy," Hazel said. "We'd better get over there."

Hadley groaned. "Why do we need him again?"

"He's an important part of the legion, Hadley," Hazel told her. "Who else has a head with enough hot air to reach the gods?"

Hadley barked out a laugh and patted the younger girl on the shoulder. She glanced over at Percy who looked like he didn't understand the joke. "Don't worry, you'll get it when you meet him."

Percy nodded and the trio continued their walk. On the way, they passed some fauns hanging out on the side of the road.

"Hazel!" one of them cried.

He trotted over with a big grin on his face. He wore a faded Hawaiian shirt and nothing for pants except thick brown goat fur. His massive afro jiggled. His eyes were hidden behind little round rainbow-tinted glasses. He held a cardboard sign that read: Will -work- -sing- -talk- go away for denarii.

"Hi, Don," Hazel said. "Sorry, we don't have time-"

"Oh, that's cool! That's cool!" Don trotted along with them. "Hey, this guy's new!" He grinned at Percy. "Do you have three denarii for the bus? Because I left my wallet at home, and I've got to get to work, and-"

"Don," Hazel chided. "Fauns don't have wallets."

"Or jobs," Hadley said. "Or homes. And we don't have buses."

"Right," he said cheerfully, "but do you have denarii?"

"Your name is Don the Faun?" Percy asked.

"Yeah. So?"

"Nothing." Percy looked like he was trying to keep a straight face. "Why don't fauns have jobs? Shouldn't they work for the camp?"

Don bleated. "Fauns! Work for the camp! Hilarious!"

"Fauns are, um, free spirits," Hazel explained. "They hang out here because, well, it's a safe place to hang out and beg. We tolerate them, but-"

"Oh, Hazel is awesome," Don said. "She's so nice! All the other campers are like, 'Go away, Don.' But she's like, 'Please go away, Don.' I love her!"

Percy looked over at Hadley as if he was asking: what about you?
She shrugged indifferently.

Don looked at the ground in front of them and gasped. "Score!"

He reached for something, but Hazel screamed, "Don, no!"

She pushed him out of the way and snatched up a small, shiny object then put it in her pocket.

"Come on, Hazel," Don complained. "I could've bought a year's worth of doughnuts with that!"

"Don, please," Hazel said. "Go away."

She sounded shaken, like she'd just saved Don from a charging bulletproof elephant. Percy looked at Hadley curiously but she avoided his gaze. Hadley had heard the rumors about Hazel, and she was sure Hazel had heard the ones about her. Both girls had a silent agreement not to discuss the other campers' whispers.

The faun sighed. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you. But I swear, it's like you're good luck. Every time I walk by-"

"Goodbye, Don," Hazel said quickly. "Let's go, guys."

She started jogging and Hadley quickly followed. Percy almost had to sprint to catch up to the girls.

"What was that about?" Percy asked. "That diamond in the road-"

Hadley elbowed him and shook her head. Hazel kept her gaze on the road in front of them.

"Please," she said. "Don't ask."

They walked in uneasy silence the rest of the way to Temple Hill. A crooked stone path led past a crazy assortment of tiny altars and massive domed vaults. Statues of gods towered above them.

Hazel pointed out the Temple of Bellona. "Goddess of war," she said. "That's Reyna's mom."

"Oh! There's my mom's." Hadley pointed at a white marble temple with gold detailing and a large golden laurel wreath in the entryway.

Percy squinted for a moment as if he couldn't see where she was pointing. "Oh, it's that one." He said sarcastically. "I didn't recognize it without the Nike branding."

Hadley punched his shoulder as Percy laughed, she couldn't help but crack a smile too. Then they passed a massive red crypt decorated with human skulls on iron spikes.

"Please tell me we're not going in there," Percy said.

Hazel shook her head. "That's the Temple of Mars Ultor."

"Mars... Ares, the war god?"

"That's his Greek name," Hadley said. "But, yeah, same dude. His name means 'the Avenger.' He's the second-most important god of Rome."

Percy pointed toward the summit. Clouds swirled over the largest temple, a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting a domed roof. "I'm guessing that's Zeus- uh, I mean, Jupiter's? That's where we're heading?"

"Yeah," Hazel sounded edgy. "Octavian reads auguries there- the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus."

Percy took a moment to translate. "Jupiter... the best and greatest?"

"That's the one," Hadley nodded.

"What's Neptune's title?" Percy asked. "The coolest and most awesome?"

"Most gnarly and radical?" Hadley offered. Percy shot her a crooked smile and shook his head in amusement.

"Um, not quite." Hazel gestured to a small blue building the size of a toolshed. A cobweb-covered trident was nailed above the door.

Percy peeked inside. On a small altar sat a bowl with three dried-up, moldy apples.

"Popular place."

"I'm sorry, Percy," Hazel said. "It's just... Romans were always scared of the sea. They only used ships if they had to. Even in modern times, having a child of Neptune around has always been a bad omen. The last time one joined a legion... well, it was 1906, when Camp Jupiter was across the bay in San Fransisco. There was this huge earthquake-"

"You're telling me a child of Neptune caused that?"

"So they say," Hazel looked apologetic.

"I don't believe it," Hadley said as she looked around the small temple. "The Romans like to make people they're scared of look bad. Makes them seem stronger."

That seemed to make Percy feel slightly better. He reached into his backpack and dug out the only food he had in there- a stale bagel- and set it on the altar.

"Hey... uh, Dad." He said quietly. "If you can hear me, help me out, okay? Give me my memory back. Tell me- tell me what to do."

His voice cracked. Hadley wasn't sure what to do to make him feel better.

Hazel put her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. You're here now. You're one of us."

Hadley awkwardly held her hand out and patted his other shoulder while attempting to give him a comforting smile. Above them, thunder rumbled. Red lightning lit up the hill.

"Octavian's almost done," Hazel said. "Let's go."

Compared to Neptune's toolshed, Jupiter's temple was definitely optimus and maximus.

The marble floor was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the domed ceiling sparkled gold. The whole temple was open to the wind.

In the center stood a marble altar, where a kid in a toga was doing a ritual in front of a massive golden statue of the king of the heavens himself: Jupiter the sky god, dressed in a silk XXXXL purple toga, holding a lightning bolt.

"It doesn't look like that," Percy muttered.

"What doesn't look like what?" Hadley asked.

"The master bolt," Percy said.

Hazel gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"I-" Percy frowned. "Nothing I guess."

The kid at the altar raised his hands. More red lighting flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from gray to white and broke apart.

"What is he doing?" Percy murmured.

"Petty magic," Hadley suggested. "Like pulling a rabbit out of a hat."

The guy in the toga turned. He had a crooked smile and a crazy look in his eyes, like he'd just been playing an intense video game. In one hand he held a knife. In the other hand was a stuffed animal that hung pathetically. Hadley could see the pleading look in its eyes, as if it was saying: please save me!

"Percy," Hazel said, "this is Octavian."

"The graecus!" Octavian announced. "How interesting."

"Uh, hi," Percy said. "Are you killing small animals?"

Octavian looked at the fuzzy thing in his hand and laughed. "No, no. Once upon a time, yes. We used to read the will of the gods by examining animal guts- chickens, goats, that sort of thing. Nowadays, we use these."

He tossed the fuzzy thing to Percy. It was a disemboweled teddy bear. Only then did Percy seem to notice the pile of stuffed animals at the foot of the statue.

"Seriously?" Percy asked.

Octavian stepped off the dais and narrowed his eyes. "You seem nervous."

"You remind me of someone," Percy said. "I can't remember who."

"A sickly possum," Hadley suggested under her breath.

Octavian ignored her. "Possibly my namesake, Octavian-Agustus Caesar. Everyone says I bear a remarkable resemblance.

"To the corpse maybe."

"Why did you call me 'the Greek'?" Percy asked.

"I saw it in the auguries." Octavian waved his knife at the pile of stuffing on the altar. "The message said: The Greek has arrived. Or possible: The goose has cried. I'm thinking the first interpretation is correct. You seek to join the legion?"

Hazel spoke for him. She told Octavian everything that had happened since they met at the tunnel- the gorgons, the fight at the river, the appearance of Juno, their conversation with Reyna.

When she mentioned Juno, Octavian looked surprised.

"Juno," he mused. "We call her Juno Moneta. Juno the Warner. She appears in times of crisis, to counsel Rome about great threats."

He glanced at Percy as if to say: like mysterious Greeks, for instance.

"I hear the Feast of Fortuna is this week," Percy said. "The gorgons warned there'd be an invasion on that day. Did you see that in your stuffing?"

"Sadly, no." Octavian sighed. "The will of the gods is hard to discern. And these days, my vision is even darker."

They don't want to talk to you," Hadley said flatly. "What a shock."

"Don't you have... I don't know," Percy said, "an oracle or something?"

"An oracle!" Octavian smiled. "What a cute idea. No, I'm afraid we're fresh out of oracles. Now, if we'd gone questing for the Sibylline books, like I recommended-"

"The Siba- what?" Percy asked.

"Books of prophecy," Hazel said, "which Octavian is obsessed with. Romans used to consult them when disasters happened. Most people believed they burned up when Rome fell."

"Some people believe that," Octavian corrected. "Unfortunately, our present leadership won't authorize a quest to look for them-"

"Because Reyna's not an idiot," Hadley grumbled.

"-so we only have a few remaining scraps from the books," Octavian continued. "A few mysterious predictions, like these."

He nodded to the inscriptions on the marble floor.

"That one" Percy pointed at one. "Eight half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall-"

"Yes, yes," Octavian finished without looking: "An oath to keep with a final breath and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

"I- I know that one." Percy was trembling. "That's important."

Octavian arched an eyebrow. "Of course it's important. We call it the prophecy of Eight, but it's several thousand years old. We don't know what it means. Every time someone tried to interpret it... Well, Hazel can tell you. Bad things happen."

Hazel glared at him. "Just read the augury for Percy. Can he join the legion or not?"

Octavian studied Percy for a moment then held out his hand for Percy's backpack. "That's a beautiful specimen. May I?"

He didn't wait for a response. He grabbed the panda pillow that was sticking out of the top of his backpack. Octavian turned toward the altar and raised his knife.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

Octavian slashed open the panda's belly and poured its stuffing over the altar. He tossed the pada carcass aside, muttered a few words over the fluff, and turned with a big smile on his face.

"Good news!" he said. "Percy may join the legion. We'll assign him a cohort at evening muster. Tell Reyna that I approve."

Hadley kept her scowl but Hazel's shoulders relaxed. "Uh.. great. Come on, Percy."

"Oh, and Hazel," Octavian said. "I'm happy to welcome Percy into the legion. But when the election for praetor comes up, hope you'll remember-"

"Jason's not dead," Hadley interrupted, taking a step forward and jabbing her finger into his chest. "And you're supposed to be looking for him."

"Oh, I am!" Octavian pointed at the pile of gutted stuffed animals. "I consult the gods every day! Alas, after eight months, I've found nothing. Of course, I'm still looking. but if Jason doesn't return by the Feast of Fortuna, we must act. We can't have a power vacuum any longer. I hope you can get past your petty feelings and support me for praetor. It would mean so much to me."

Hadley's face contorted with disgust. "Support you?"

Octavian took off his toga, setting it and his knife on the altar. "I could help you out, you know. Stop all the whispers. No matter how valid they may be."

He turned to Hazel.

"And Hazel, It would be a shame if those awful rumors about you kept circulating... or, gods forbid, if they turned out to be true."

Hadley tensed and started toward Octavian. She was used to him sending insults her way, but she wasn't about to let him blackmail Hazel. Percy grabbed her arms and pulled her back. As much as he would have loved to see Hadley beat up the augur, Reyna said she wasn't supposed to start any fights and Percy didn't think she should get on Reyna's bad side. Octavian smirked as Hadley wriggled in Percy's grasp.

Hazel took a deep breath. Her knuckles were white. "I'll think about it."

"Excellent," Octavian said. "By the way, your brother is here."

Hazel stiffened. "My brother? Why?"

Octavian shrugged. "Why does your brother do anything? He's waiting for you at your father's shrine. Just... ah, don't invite him to stay too long. He has a disturbing effect on the others. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to keep searching for our poor lost friend, Jason. Nice to meet you, Percy."

Hazel stormed out of the pavilion and Percy followed, dragging Hadley by her elbow.

As Hazel marched down the hill, she cursed in Latin. They weren't particularly harsh swears, things like: son of a gorgon, power-hungry snake, and a few choice suggestions about where Octavian could stick his knife.

"I hate that guy," she muttered in English. "If I had my way-"

"He won't get elected praetor, will he?" Percy asked.

"I wish I could be certain. Octavian has a lot of friends, most of them bought. The rest of the campers are afraid of him."

"Afraid of that skinny guy?"

"Don't be fooled by his dumb, scrawny... octopus face," Hadley scowled and kicked up a small cloud of dirt. "Reyna's a good leader but if Octavian shared her power... I don't know but I think the camp would burst into flames. You can let go of me now, by the way."

Percy looked down at where he was still holding onto her arm and let it drop to her side. "Sorry."

"Let's go see my brother," Hazel said. "He'll want to meet you."

Hazel led them to a black crypt built into the side of the hill. Standing in front was a teenage boy in black jeans and an aviator jacket.

"Hey," Hazel called. "I've brought some friends."

The son of Pluto turned and for a microsecond when he saw Percy, he seemed shocked- panicked even, like he'd been caught in a searchlight.

"This is Percy Jackson," Hazel said. "He's a good guy. Percy, this is my brother Nico, the son of Pluto."

Hazel's brother regained his composure and held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you," he said. "I'm Nico di Angelo."

Chapter 3: iii - and you though picking dodgeball teams was bad - iii

Putting Percy and Nico in the same place felt like two nuclear bombs colliding.

Hadley had known since Nico appeared at Camp Jupiter that he was an incredibly powerful demigod, maybe the most powerful one at camp. Then Percy had arrived, controlling the water of the Tiber, and destroying gorgons as if it was nothing. All while carrying a goddess in disguise on his back.

Percy and Nico shook hands. They studied each other warily, Hadley almost thought they would start fighting. Then Nico looked over at Hadley with a curt nod.

"Hadley."

"Hey, Nico." She gave him a small smile.

Percy scowled. "I- I know you."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do you?" He looked at Hazel for an explanation.

Hazel hesitated. "Um... Percy's lost his memory." She told her brother what had happened since Percy arrived at the gates.

"So, Nico..." she continued carefully, "I thought... you know, you travel all over. Maybe you've met demigods like Percy before, or..."

Nico's expression turned dark as Tartarus. Hadley wasn't sure why, but his message was clear: Drop it.

"This story about Gaea's army," Nico said. "You warned Reyna?"

Percy nodded. "Who is Gaea anyway?"

Hadley didn't always pay attention to the history lessons at Camp Jupiter, but she definitely remembered the big bag earth monster that was Gaea.

"She's the earth goddess." Nico glanced at the ground like she might be listening. "The oldest goddess of all. She's in a deep sleep most of the time, but she hates the gods and their children."

"Mother Earth... is evil?" Percy asked.

"Very," Nico said gravely. "She convinced her son, the Titan Kronos- um, I mean, Saturn- to kill his dad, Uranus, and take over the world. The Titans ruled for a long time. Then the Titans' children, the Olympian gods, overthrew them."

"That story seems familiar," Percy sounded surprised, like an old memory had partially surfaced. "But I don't think I ever heard the part about Gaea."

Nico shrugged. "She got mad when the gods took over. She took a new husband- Tartarus, the spirit of the abyss- and gave birth to a race of giants. They tried to destroy Mount Olympus, but the gods finally beat them. At least... the first time."

"The first time?" Percy repeated.

Nico glanced at Hazel, and she seemed to shrink under her brother's gaze.

"Last summer," Nico continued, "Saturn tried to make a comeback. There was a second Titan War. The Romans at Camp Jupiter stormed his headquarters on Mount Othrys, across the bay, and destroyed his throne."

Percy looked over at Hadley, surely she had been there for the battle. She wore an unreadable expression, standing tall as Nico spoke, like a soldier who was receiving orders. But there was tension in her shoulders as if she was being forced to endure something she would rather not think about.

"Saturn disappeared-" Nico hesitated, watching Percy's face. Hadley started to believe he was more worried that Percy's memory might come back.

"Um, anyway," Nico continued, "Saturn probably faded back to the abyss. We all thought the war was over. Now it looks like the Titans' defeat has stirred up Gaea. She's starting to wake. I've heard reports of giants being reborn. If they mean to challenge the gods again, they'll probably start by destroying the demigods..."

"You've told Reyna this?" Percy asked.

"Of course," Nico's jaw tensed. "The Romans don't trust me. That's why I was hoping she'd listen to you. Children of Pluto... well, no offense, but they think we're worse than children of Neptune. We're bad luck."

Hadley rolled her eyes. "Romans worry too much about 'bad luck'. This is ridiculous."

"They let Hazel stay here," Percy noted.

"That's different," Nico said.

"Why?"

"Percy," Hazel cut in, "look, the giants aren't the worst problem. Even... even Gaea isn't the worst problem. The thing you noticed about the gorgons, how they wouldn't die, that's our biggest worry." She looked at Nico nervously.

"Nico and I," she said carefully, "we think that what's happening is... Death isn't-"

Before she could finish, a shout came from the hill. Hadley turned around and held up her fists like she was ready for a fight, but lowered them once she saw who it was. Frank jogged up toward them, wearing his jeans, purple camp shirt, and denim jacket. His hands were covered with grease from cleaning weapons.

He reached the shrine. "Hey, Nico..."

"Frank." Nico smiled. He seemed to find Frank amusing, maybe because Frank was the only one other than Hadley who wasn't uneasy around children of Pluto. But Frank was different. Hadley didn't fear anything in the legion, especially not a thirteen-year-old kid. Frank genuinely wanted to be Nico's friend no matter what the legion thought.

"Reyna sent me to get Percy," Frank said. "Did Octavian accept you?"

"Yeah," Percy said. "He slaughtered my panda."

Hadley bowed her head. "May he rest in peace."

"He... Oh. The augury? Yeah, teddy bears must have nightmares about that guy. But you're in! We need you cleaned up before evening muster."

That's when Hadley noticed the sun beginning to lower past the horizon.

"You're right," Hazel said. "We'd better-"

"Frank," Nico interrupted, "why don't you and Hadley take Percy down? Hazel and I will be along soon."

"That's- that's a good idea," Hazel agreed, though she seemed nervous. "Go ahead, guys. We'll catch up."

Percy looked at Nico one more time, as though he was still trying to place a memory. "I'd like to talk with you some more. I can't shake the feeling-"

"Sure," Nico agreed. "Later. I'll be staying overnight."

"Cool," Hadley nodded.

"You will?" Hazel blurted at the same time.

"Go on, Percy," Nico said. "Settle in." He turned to Hazel. "My sister and I need to talk."

Hadley held back a laugh, that kid sure knew how to be ominous. She waved for Frank and Percy to follow her and they made their way toward the barracks. Percy kept glancing back at the children of Pluto until they were out of view. As they walked, Percy asked tons of questions about Hazel's brother. But neither Frank nor Hadley knew that much about him.

"He's okay," Frank said. "He's not like Hazel-"

"How do you mean?" Percy asked.

Hadley glanced over at him, curious to hear Frank's response.

"Oh, um..." Frank coughed. "Nico is kind of mysterious. He makes everyone else nervous, being the son of Pluto and, all."

"But not you guys?"

"Nico's a good kid," Hadley said. "Crazy powerful. But yeah, he's chill."

Percy's eyes widened slightly. "You've seen his powers?"

"No. But I can tell."

Percy turned to Frank who shrugged. "Pluto's cool. It's not his fault he runs the Underworld. He just got bad luck when the gods were dividing up the world, you know? Jupiter got the sky, Neptune got the sea, and Pluto got the shaft."

"Death doesn't scare you?" Percy asked, looking back and forth between them.

Hadley shrugged. She had never been afraid of dying, even when she was on a quest. At least, not for herself.

Frank was the one to break the silence. "Back in the old times, like the Greek times, when Pluto was called Hades, he was more of a death god. When he became Roman, he got more... I don't know, respectable. He became a god of wealth, too. Everything under the earth belongs to him. So I don't think of him as being real scary."

Percy scratched his head. "How does a god become Roman? If he's Greek, wouldn't he stay Greek?"

"The Romans believed they adopted the Greek stuff and made it perfect," Hadley explained.

Percy made a sour face. "Perfected it? Like there was something wrong with it?"

"I don't know," Frank admitted. "Rome was more successful than Greece. They made this huge empire."

Hadley nodded. "The gods became a bigger deal- more powerful and well-known. That's why they're still around. So many people have based their civilizations on Rome. The gods changed to Roman because that's where their power was."

"Jupiter was... well, more responsible as a Roman than he was as Zeus," Frank continued. "Mars became a lot more important and disciplined."

"And Juno became a hippie bag lady," Percy noted. "So you're saying the old Greek gods- they just changed permanently to Roman? There's nothing left of the Greek?"

"Uh..." Frank looked around nervously. "That's a sensitive topic."

"Some people say Greek influence is still around. That it's still a part of the gods' personalities," Hadley said with a hint of enthusiasm in her voice. "I've heard that some demigods left Camp Jupite, rejected Roman training for the Greek style. Fight on their own instead of with the legion. And back in the ancient days, when Rome fell, the eastern half of the empire survived."

"The Greek half," Frank spoke cautiously.

Percy stared at them. "I didn't know that."

"It was called the Byzantium," Frank explained. "The eastern empire lasted another thousand years, but it was always more Greek than Roman. For those of us who follow the Roman way, it's kind of a sore subject. That's why, whatever country we settle in, Camp Jupiter is always in the west- the Roman part of the territory. The east is considered bad luck."

"Huh." Percy frowned.

Hadley couldn't blame him for being confused. The whole Greek/Roman thing was convoluted and complicated. Thinking about it for too long gave her a headache. They reached the gates before Percy could ask any more questions.

"I'll take you to the baths to get you cleaned up," Frank told Percy.

"Yeah, you do that. I'll see you guys later," Hadley smiled. "I gotta go get ready to demolish everyone on the battlefield tonight." She punched her hand for effect.

"I don't think we've 'demolished' anyone in ages," Frank said, using air quotes around the word.

"Today's the day," She looked across the field with a mischievous spark in her eyes, then turned back to the boys with a wide smile as if she hadn't just been plotting the demise of the entire First Cohort. "See you later!"

 

🌊

 

The boys had to shout their goodbyes as Hadley dashed away, already a considerable distance from them by the time they started to speak. She gathered weapons and assembled her armor. Unlike Hadley, the others in her cohort moved like a child being forced to go to a family gathering. They halfheartedly strapped on their armor and trudged out of the barracks to assemble.

Hadley gathered with the rest of the Fifth Cohort in front of the barracks. Everyone was dressed and ready for war. Hadley wore her polished chain mail and greaves over her purple t-shirt and black leggings. She pulled her hair back into braid, small pieces stuck out and poked her neck under the helmet which was decorated with swords and spears. Her leather combat boots were scuffed and ready for whatever trials she would face during that night's war games.

Reyna cantered back and forth on her pegasus Scipio- who everyone called Skippy because he was the color of peanut butter. The metal dogs Arum and Argentum trotted at her side. Her purple officer's cape billowed behind her.

In front of the legionnaires, like a line of dominoes, stood their red and gold shields, watch the size of a refrigerator door. Every legionnaire carried a harpoon-like spear called a pilum, a gladius, and a dagger, and about a hundred pounds of other equipment. Hadley had taken to the armor rather easily, quickly being able to move about without it weighing her down.

As their centurion, Dakota, called roll, Hadley looked around for Hazel. She hadn't come back to the barracks since they had gone to talk to Nico and the last thing she needed was to be late. A few minutes later, she and Nico ran up just as her name was being called.

Nico joined Percy, who was standing off to one side with a couple of guards. Percy's hair was wet from the baths. He'd put on fresh clothes, but he still looked uncomfortable. Which was fair, he was about to be introduced to an army of heavily armed kids.

The Lares were the last ones to fall in. Their purple forms flickered as they jockeyed for places. They had an annoying habit of standing halfway inside living people, so that the ranks look like a blurry photo, but finally the centurions got them sorted out.

Octavian shouted, "Colors!"

The standard bearers stepped forward. They wore lion-skin capes and held poles decorated with each cohort's emblems. The last to present his standard was Jacob, the legion's eagle bearer. He held a long pole with absolutely nothing on top. The job was supposed to be a big honor but Jacob obviously hated it. Even though Reyna insisted on following tradition, embarrassment flooded the legion every time it was raised.

Reyna brought her pegasus to a halt.

"Romans!" she announced. "You've probably heard about the incursion today. Two gorgons were swept into the river by this newcomer, Percy Jackson. Juno herself guided him here, and proclaimed him a son of Neptune."

The kids in the back row craned their necks to see Percy. He raised his hand and said, "Hi."

Hadley couldn't hold back a smile.

"He seeks to join the legion," Reyna continued. "What do the auguries say?"

"I have read the entrails!" Octavian announced, as if he'd killed a lion with his bare hands rather than ripping up a stuffed panda pillow. "The auguries are favorable. He is qualified to serve!"

The campers gave a shout: "Ave! Hail!"

Frank was a little late to his "ave", so it came out as a high-pitched echo. The other legionnaires snickered.

Reyna motioned the senior officers forward- one from each cohort. Octavian, the most senior centurion, turned to Percy.

"Recruit," he asked, "do you have credentials? Letters of reference?"

Hadley remembered this moment from her own arrival at Camp. A lot of kids had letters from older demigods in the outside world, adults who were veterans of the camp. Some recruits had rich and famous sponsors. Some were third- or fourth-generation campers. A good letter could get you a position in the better cohorts, sometimes even special jobs like legion messenger which made you exempt from grunt work.

Hadley had no such luck when she arrived. Her father had brought her to the Wolf House and let Lupa take her away for training. She had recognized the she-wolf from her dreams, beckoning her to come and join her pack. Hadley's father had also seemed completely unphased by the pack of wolves watching them approach.

She remembered that day vividly. Thinking back, it would have looked very strange if anyone else had seen it. An eight-year-old standing between a pack of wolves and her father, a tall and athletic man that anyone could guess played basketball even if they hadn't seen him on tv.

Brayden Richards knelt down as his daughter turned back to him and put his hands on her shoulders. "Haddie, I know it's hard to understand. I don't really understand myself. But I want what's best for you, and the wolf can take you to a place with people like you."

"Like me?" Hadley looked into her father's eyes. A small part of her had always worried her father resented her talent for getting into trouble, maybe he had finally had enough.

"Fighters," He told her. "Strong people who can help you be the best you can be."

"People like mom?"

"Not quite," He said with a hint of sadness. "But this is what she wants for you. Because you're special and this is where special people thrive."

Hadley nodded and glanced back at the wolves. "Am I going to see you again?"

Her father chuckled. "I hope so. Nothing could stop you if you wanted to. When you set your mind on something you demolish anything in your way."

"Then I will," Hadley decided. "And when I do, I'm going to be the best fighter there."

"I don't doubt it," He smiled with pride, doing his best to hide the sadness in his eyes.

They fist-bumped and pretended to shoot a basket toward each other, Brayden quietly cheered for his daughter when her imaginary ball went into the basket. Hadley started towards the wolves, who had been watching the interaction. She paused after a few steps and rushed back to her father, throwing her arms around him.

"Bye, Dad," Hadley whispered.

"Bye, Haddie," He held her tightly. "Never be afraid to show them what you can do."

This time, when Hadley walked away from her father, she didn't look back. She stopped in front of Lupa without a hint of fear and allowed the pack to guide her away. A few months later the she-wolf deemed her training complete and led her to Camp Jupiter.

Hadley was brought out of her memory when Percy shifted. "Letters? Um, no."

Octavian wrinkled his nose.

This was completely unfair. Percy carried a goddess into camp while fighting off two gorgons. What else could they want?

But Octavian's family had been sending kids to camp for over a century. He loved reminding recruits that they were less important than he was.

"No letters," Octavian said regretfully. "Will any legionnaires stand for him?"

"I will!" Frank stepped forward. "He saved my life!"

Immediately, shouts of protest from the other cohorts. Reyna raised her hand for quiet and glared at Frank.

"Frank Zhang," she said, "for the second time today, I remind you that you are on probation. Your godly parent has not even claimed you yet. You're not eligible to stand for another camper until you've earned your first stripe."

Frank looked like he might die of embarrassment.

"I'll stand for him," Hadley called out, taking a step forward.

Frank gave her a grateful smile and she could see Hazel release a breath she was holding. The other campers started to mutter. Hadley didn't have the best reputation in the legion, most campers considered her a show-off and had thought she was bad luck since she came back from her first quest. That plus being a member of the disgraced Fifth Cohort, she wasn't doing Percy much of a favor.

Reyna wrinkled her nose, but she turned to Octavian. The augur smiled and shrugged like the idea amused him.

Hadley looked at the pair with a straight face, of course Octavian was fine with this option. Putting Percy in the Fifth would make him less of a threat, and Octavian liked keeping his enemies in one place.

"Very well," Reyna announced. "Hadley Richards, you may stand for the recruit. Does your cohort accept him?"

The other cohorts started coughing, trying not to laugh. They must have been thinking: Another loser for the Fifth.

Frank pounded his shield against the ground. The other members of the Fifth followed his lead, though they didn't seem very excited. Their centurions, Dakota and Gwen, changed pained looks, like: Here we go again.

"My cohort has spoken," Dakota said. "We accept the recruit."

Reyna looked at Percy with pity. "Congratulations, Percy Jackson. You stand on probatio. You will be given a tablet with your name and cohort. In one year's time, or as soon as you complete an act of valor, you will become a full member of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. Serve Rome, obey the rules of the legion, and defend the camp with honor. Senate Populusque Romanus!"

The rest of the legion echoed the cheer.

Reyna wheeled her pegasus away from Percy, like she was glad to be done with him.

"Centurions," Reyna said, "you and your troops have one hour for dinner. Then we will meet on the Field of Mars. The First and Second Cohorts will defend. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth will attack. Good fortune!"

A bigger cheer went up, for the war games and for dinner. The cohorts broke ranks and ran for the mess hall.

Percy made his way through the crowd to Hadley with a bashful smile. One of the guards had given him his probatio nameplate and he strung it on the leather necklace with the strange beads.

"Thanks, Hadley," he said. "Um, what exactly does it mean- your standing for me?"

"It means I teach you the rules, answer your questions, make sure you behave. Stuff like that," Hadley explained.

"And... if I do something wrong?"

Hadley shrugged with a smile. "Eh, how much more trouble can I get in? Come on, let's get some food."

Chapter 4: iv - we didn't lose the eagle we just don't know where it is - iv

Camp food was some of the best Hadley ever had. Not that it was much competition, her father was a professional basketball player and thus had chefs making his food most of the time. And when that wasn't the case, it was foods most six-year-olds wouldn't enjoy anyway. He had sort of forgotten how to cook for a child, especially one who was also a picky eater.

Invisible wind spirits- aurae- waited on the campers and seemed to know exactly what everyone wanted. They blew plates and cups around so quickly, the mess hall looked like a delicious hurricane. If you got up too fast, you were likely to get beaned by beans or potted by a pot roast.

Hadley had a bowl of pasta and a tall glass of strawberry lemonade. Percy got a cheeseburger and a strange-looking soda that was bright blue. Hadley was slightly confused, but Percy tried it and grinned.

"This makes me happy," he said. "I don't know why... but it does."

Just for a moment, one of the aurae became visible- an elfin girl in a white silk dress. She giggled as she topped off Percy's glass, then disappeared in a gust.

The mess hall seemed especially noisy tonight. Laughter echoed off the walls. War banners rustled from cedar ceiling beams as aurae blew back and forth, keeping everyone's plates full. The campers dined Roman style, sitting on couches around low tables. Kids were constantly getting up and trading places, spreading rumors about who liked whom and all the other gossip.

As usual, the Fifth Cohort took the place of least honor. Their tables were at the back of the dining hall next to the kitchen. Hadley's table had always been the least crowded, but became much less lonely since Hazel and Frank arrived. Tonight it was she, Hazel, and Frank, as usual, with Percy, plus Nico and their centurion Dakota, who sat there most likely because he felt obligated to welcome the new recruit.

Dakota reclined glumly on his couch, mixing sugar into his drink and chugging it. He was a beefy guy with curly black hair and eyes that didn't quite line up straight. It wasn't a good sign that he was drinking so much so early in the night.

"So." He burped, waving his goblet. "Welcome to the Percy, party." He frowned. "Party, Percy. Whatever."

"Um, thanks," Percy said, but his attention was focused on Nico. "I was wondering if we could talk, you know... about where I might have seen you before."

"Sure," Nico said a little too quickly. "The thing is, I spend most of my time in the Underworld. So unless I met you there somehow-"

Dakota belched. "Ambassador from Pluto, they call him. Reyna's never sure what to do with this guy when he visits. You should have seen her face when he showed up with Hazel, asking Reyna to take her in. Um, no offense."

"None taken." Nico seemed relieved to change the topic. "Dakota was really helpful, standing for Hazel."

Dakota blushed. "Yeah, well... She seemed like a good kid. Turned out I was right. Last month, when she saved me from, uh, you know."

"Oh, man!" Frank looked up from his fish and chips. "Percy, you should have seen her! That's how Hazel got her stripe. The unicorns decided to stampede-"

"It was nothing," Hazel said.

"Nothing?" Frank protested. "Dakota would've gotten trampled! You stood right in front of them, shooed them away, saved his hide. I've never seen anything like it."

Hazel bit her lip and looked away timidly.

"Did you and Nico grow up together?" Percy asked.

"No," Nico answered for her. "I found out that Hazel was my sister only recently. She's from New Orleans. There aren't many of us so we have to stick together. When I found Hazel-"

"You have other sisters?" Percy asked.

"One," Nico admitted. "But she died. I saw her spirit a few times in the Underworld, except the last time I went down there... she was gone." Nico's voice turned hoarse. "She used to be in Elysium- like, the Underworld paradise- but she chose to be reborn into a new life. Now I'll never see her again. I was just lucky to find Hazel... in New Orleans, I mean."

Dakota grunted. "Unless you believe the rumors."

Hadley picked a strawberry out of her drink and threw it at his forehead. Dakota simply closed his eyes and took the hit like he was used to it.

"Not saying that I do."

"Rumors?" Percy asked.

From across the room, Don the faun yelled, "Hazel!"

Fauns weren't technically allowed in camp but, he always managed to get in. It was kind of impressive. He was working his way toward their table, grinning at everybody, sneaking food off plates, and pointing at campers: "Hey! Call me!" A flying pizza smacked him in the head and he disappeared behind a couch. Then he popped up, still grinning, and made his way over.

"My favorite girl!" He smelled like a wet goat wrapped in old cheese. He leaned over the couches and checked out their food. "Say, new kid, are you going to eat that?"

Percy frowned. "Aren't fauns vegetarian?"

"Not the cheeseburger, man! The plate!" He sniffed Percy's hair. "Hey... what's that smell?"

"Don!" Hazel said. "Don't be rude."

"No, man I just-"

Their house god Ventilluis shimmered into existence, standing half-embedded in Frank's couch. "Fauns in the dining hall! What are we coming to? Centurion Dakota, do your duty!"

"I am," Dakota grumbled into his goblet. "I'm having dinner!"

Don was still sniffing around Percy. "Man, you've got an empathy link with a faun!"

Percy leaned away from him. "A what?"

"An empathy link! It's real faint, like somebody's suppressed it, but-"

"I know what!" Nico stood suddenly. "Hazel, how about we give you, Frank, and Hadley time to get Percy oriented? Dakota and I can visit the praetor's table. Don and Ventillius, you come too. We can discuss strategies for war games."

"Strategies for losing?" Dakota muttered.

"Well, yeah, with that attitude," Hadley said. "We're gonna win tonight. I can feel it!"

"You say that every time, Hadley." Dakota leaned his head back and mumbled, "For having a daughter of Victoria, we lose a lot."

Hadley bit the inside of her cheek and glared down at her food. Dakota hadn't meant any harm, he just didn't know when to be quiet. She didn't want to lose, everyone knew that. But no matter how hard she tried, nothing seemed to change their perspective of her. Luck had just never been on her side. She glanced up and noticed Percy watching her, his sea-green eyes looked stormy and concerned.

It's fine, she mouthed and went back to her food, doing her best to look unbothered.

"Death boy is right!" Vitellius said. "This legion fights worse than it did in Judea, and that was the first time we lost our eagle. Why, if I were in charge-"

"Could I just eat the silverware first?" Don asked.

"Let's go!" Nico stood and grabbed Don and Vitellius by the ears.

Nobody but Nico could actually touch the Lares. Vitellius spluttered with outrage as he was dragged off to the praetor's table.

"Ow!" Don protested. "Man, watch the 'fro!"

"Come on, Dakota!" Nico called over his shoulder.

The centurion got up reluctantly. He wiped his mouth- uselessly since it was permanently stained red. "Back soon."

He shook all over, like a dog trying to get dry. Then he staggered away, his goblet sloshing.

"What was that about?" Percy asked. "And what's wrong with Dakota?"

Frank sighed. "He's okay. He's a son of Bacchus, the wine god. He's got a drinking problem."

Percy's eyes widened. "You let him drink wine?"

Hadley barked out a laugh. "Can you imagine? That would be insane! He probably couldn't even stand if we did."

"He's addicted to red Kool-Aid," Hazel explained. "Drinks it with three times the normal sugar, and he's already ADHD- you know, attention-deficit/hyperactive. One of these days, his head is going to explode."

Percy looked over at the praetor's table. Most of the senior officers were in deep conversation with Reyna. Nico and his two captives, Don and Vitellius, stood on the periphery. Dakota was running back and forth along a line of stacked shields, banging his goblet on them like they were a xylophone.

"ADHD," Percy said. "You don't say."

Hadley stifled a laugh. "Most of us are."

"Or dyslexic," Hazel continued. "Just being a demigod means that our brains are wired differently. Like you- you said you had trouble reading."

"Are you guys that way too?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," Hazel admitted. "Maybe. Back in my day, they just called kids like us 'lazy.'"

Percy frowned. "Back in your day?"

Hazel tensed slightly. Hadley glanced at her and twirled her fork in her pasta.

"I might have it," she spoke up and Percy turned to look at her. "Honestly, my dad was more concerned with the 'she likes to tackle things' problem."

"Tackle things?" Percy raised his eyebrows at her.

Hadley shrugged. "I had a tendency to attack pretty much anything that moved. Birds. Vacuum cleaners. Sometimes other kids."

"You attacked other kids?"

"Only the ones that deserved it."

"I wish I was ADHD or dyslexic," Frank said. "All I got is lactose intolerance."

Percy grinned. "Seriously?"

His shoulders slumped. "And I love ice cream, too..."

Percy laughed, and the others couldn't help joining in. It was good to sit at dinner with friends.

"Okay, so tell me," Percy said, "why is it bad to be in the Fifth Cohort? You guys are great."

"We are, aren't we?" Hadley leaned back on her couch.

"It's... complicated," Hazel said. "Aside from being Pluto's kid, I want to ride horses."

"That's why you use a cavalry sword?"

She nodded. "It's stupid, I guess. Wishful thinking. There's only one pegasus at camp- Reyna's. The unicorns are just kept for medicine, because the shavings off their horns cure poison and stuff. Anyway, Roman fighting is always done on foot. Cavalry... they kinda look down on that. So they look down on me."

"Their loss," Percy said. "What about you Frank?"

"Archery," He muttered. "They don't like that either, unless you're a child of Apollo. Then you've got an excuse. I hope my dad is Apollo, but I don't know. I can't do poetry very well. And I'm not sure I want to be related to Octavian."

Hadley grimaced. "That's my worst nightmare."

"Can't blame you," Percy said. "But you're excellent with the bow- the way you pegged those gorgons? Forget what other people think."

Frank's face turned as red as Dakota's Kool-Aid. "Wish I could. They all think I should be a sword fighter because I'm big and bulky." He looked down at his body, like he couldn't quite believe it was his. "They say I'm too stocky for an archer. Maybe if my dad would ever claim me..."

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Percy turned to Hadley and looked at her curiously.

"Hadley, you good at anything?" Percy teased.

"Oh, is it time to brag about myself?" Hadley sat up like she was suddenly interested in the conversation. "Well, I am incredibly skilled with sword fighting, and spears, and daggers. Oh, don't forget hand-to-hand combat. I love a good fistfight. I was handling weapons as soon as I got here."

Percy chuckled. "I'll bet baby Hadley was a handful."

She gave him a cocky smile. "Well, when I first came to camp and mastered sword fighting faster than everybody, some of the senior campers thought I was a show-off. Then my mom claimed me, and they thought it was a good omen to have a daughter of Victoria, the First Cohort was so jealous that the Fifth got me." She laughed at the memory. The smile slowly tensed as more bitter memories surfaced. "But now they think it's bad luck to give me any significant task."

"Why would they think that?" Percy asked, but quickly realized from the look in her eyes that he must have pried too much. The spark in her eyes was still there but was dampened with sadness and regret. He could tell she desperately wanted to mend her reputation at camp and prove the legion wrong.

"You asked about the Fifth," Hazel said. "Why it's the worst cohort. That actually started way before us."

She pointed to the back wall, where the legion's standards were on display. "See the empty pole in the middle?"

"The eagle," Percy said.

Hazel was stunned. "How did you know?"

Percy shrugged. "Vitellius said the legion lost its eagle a long time ago- the first time, he said. He acted like it was a huge disgrace. I'm guessing that's what's missing. And from the way you guys and Reyna were talking earlier, I'm guessing your eagle got lost a second time, more recently, and it had something to do with the Fifth Cohort."

"You're right," she said. "That's exactly what happened."

"So what is the eagle anyway? Why is it a big deal?"

Frank looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "It's the symbol of the whole camp- a big eagle made of gold. It's supposed to protect us in battle and make our enemies afraid. Each legion's eagle gave it all sorts of power, and ours came from Jupiter himself. Supposedly Julius Ceaser nicknamed our legion 'Fulminata'- armed with lightning- because of what the eagle could do."

"I don't like lightning," Percy said.

"Yeah, well," Hazel said. "it didn't make us invincible. The Twelfth lost its eagle the first time way back in the ancient days, during the Jewish Rebellion."

"I think I saw a movie like that," Percy said.

Hadley shrugged. "Probably. There are lots of movies about legions losing their eagles. It's happened a few times. They're so important, archeologists have never recovered one. Each legion guarded theirs to the last man, because it was charged with powers from the gods. They'd rather hide it or melt it down than surrender it to an enemy. The Twelfth was lucky the first time. We got our eagle back. But the second time..."

"You guys were there?" Percy asked.

They shook their heads.

"I'm almost as new as you." Frank tapped his probatio plate. "Just got here last month. But everyone's heard the story. It's bad luck to even talk about this. There was this huge expedition to Alaska in the eighties..."

"That prophecy you noticed in the temple," Hazel continued, "the one about the eight demigods and the Doors of Death? Our senior praetor at the time was Micheal Varus, from the Fifth Cohort. Back then the Fifth was the best in the camp. He thought it would bring glory to the legion if he could figure out the prophecy and make it come true- save the world from the storm and fire and all that. He talked to the augur, and the augur said the answer was in Alaska. But he warned Micheal it wasn't time yet. The prophecy wasn't for him."

"But he went anyway," Percy guessed. "What happened?"

Frank lowered his voice. "Long, gruesome story. Almost the entire Fifth Cohort was wiped out. Most of the legion's Imperial gold weapons were lost, along with the eagle. The survivors went crazy or refused to talk about what had attacked them."

"Since the eagle was lost the camp has been getting weaker," Hadley explained. "Quests are more dangerous. Monsters attack the borders more often. Morale is lower. The last month or so, things have been getting much worse, much faster."

"And the Fifth Cohort took the blame," Percy guessed. "So now everyone thinks we're cursed."

Hazel took a sip of her gumbo. "We've been the outcasts of the legion since... well, since the Alaska disaster. Our reputation got better when Jason became praetor-"

"The kid who's missing?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Frank said. "I never met him. Before my time. But I hear he was a good leader."

Frank and Hazel looked over at Hadley, who nodded with a slight smile on her face. "He practically grew up in the Fifth Cohort. Didn't care what the others thought. Stood for me when I showed up. He started to rebuild our reputation. Then... he disappeared."

"Which put us back at square one," Hazel said bitterly. "Made us look cursed all over again. I'm sorry, Percy. Now you know what you've gotten yourself into."

Percy sipped his blue soda and gazed thoughtfully across the dining hall. "I don't even know where I come from... but I've got a feeling this isn't the first time I've been an underdog." He focused on Hadley and managed a smile. "Besides, joining the legion is better than being chased through the wilderness by monsters. I've got some new friends. Maybe together we can turn things around for the Fifth Cohort, huh?"

A horn blew at the end of the hall. The officers at the praetor's table got to their feet- even Dakota, his mouth vampire red from Kool-Aid.

"The games begin!" Reyna announced. The campers cheered and rushed to collect their equipment from the stacks along the walls.

"So we're the attacking team?" Percy asked over the noise. "Is that good?"

"It's the best!" Hadley cheered and put on her helmet. "I'm targeting Mason from the Second Cohort!"

"I get the sense you're a little biased in this situation," Percy said, turning to Hazel.

She shrugged. "Good news: we get the elephant. Bad news-"

"Let me guess," said Percy. "The Fifth Cohort always loses."

Frank slapped Percy on the shoulder. "I love this guy. Come on, new friend. Let's go chalk up my thirteenth defeat in a row!"

Hadley pumped her fists in the air as she walked slightly in front of them. "I'm going to dominate!"

Notes:

hadley's dad: what do you have there?
hadley: a knife!!
hadley's dad: nO!!!

Chapter 5: v - just stab the other guys it's fine - v

Once they got out of Camp, the Fifth Cohort formed two lines behind their centurions, Dakota and Gwen. They marched north, skirting the edge of the city, and headed to the Field of Mars- the largest, latest part of the valley. The grass was cropped short by all the unicorns, bulls, and homeless fauns that grazed there. The earth was pitted with explosion craters and scarred with trenches from past games. At the north end of the field stood their target. The engineers had built a stone fortress with an iron portcullis, guard towers, scorpion ballistae, water cannons, and now doubt many other surprises for the defenders to use.

"They did a good job today," Hazel noted. "That's bad for us."

"Wait," Percy said. "You're telling me that fortress was built today?"

Hazel grinned. "Legionnaires are trained to build. If we had to, we could break down the entire camp and rebuild it somewhere else. Take maybe three or four days, but we could do it."

"Let's not," Percy said. "So you attack a different fort every night?"

"Not every night," Frank said. "We have different training exercises. Sometimes deathball- um, which is like paintball, except with... you know, poison and acid and fireballs."

"Oh! And we do chariot races, gladiator competitions, war games." Hadley practically shook with excitement. "Those are my favorites."

"Which ones?" Percy asked with a laugh.

"Yes."

Hazel pointed at the fort. "Somewhere inside, the First and Second Cohorts are keeping their banners. Our job is to get inside and capture them without getting slaughtered. We do that, we win."

Percy's eyes lit up. "Like capture the flag. I think I like capture the flag."

"Like capture the flag," Hadley nodded. "But with more destroying your enemies."

Frank laughed. "Yeah, well... it's harder than Hadley makes it sound. We have to get past those scorpions and water cannons on the walls, and defeat the guards, all while protecting our own banners and troops from capture. And our cohort is in competition with the other two attacking cohorts. We sort of work together, but not really. The cohort that captures the banner gets the glory."

"Easy peasy."

Percy stumbled, trying to keep in time with the left-right marching rhythm. "So why are we doing this anyway? Do you guys spend a lot of time laying siege to fortified cities?"

"Teamwork," Hadley started counting on her fingers. "Quick thinking. Tactics. Battle skills. Where to stab when five guys charge at you."

Hazel adjusted a piece of armor on her arm. "You'd be surprised what you can learn in the war games."

"Like who will stab you in the back," Frank said.

"Especially that."

They marched to the center of the Field of Mars and formed ranks. The Third and Fourth Cohorts assembled as far as possible from the Fifth. The centurions for the attacking side gathered for conference. In the sky above them, Reyna circled on her pegasus, Scipio, ready to referee. Half a dozen giant eagles flew in formation behind her- prepared for ambulance airlift duty if necessary. The only person not participating in the game was Nico di Angelo, "Pluto's Ambassador," who had climbed an observation tower about a hundred yards from the fort and would be watching with binoculars.

Frank propped his pilum against his shield and checked Percy's armor. Every strap was correct. Every piece of armor was properly adjusted. Hadley nodded, impressed by how fast he had picked it up.

"You did it right," Frank said in amazement. "Percy, you must've done war games before."

"I don't know. Maybe."

The only thing that wasn't regulation was Percy's glowing bronze sword- not Imperial gold, and not a gladius. The blade was leaf-shaped, and the writing on the hilt was Greek. Percy glanced at Hadley, who was staring at the sword with incredible fixation. It was as if she couldn't take her eyes off it. Percy chuckled, "I think we found Hadley's true love."

Her gaze broke away from the weapon. "You're just jealous that your sword is prettier than you."

"It is not."

"You're the one who assumed I'm in love with a sword." Hadley tapped the blade with the shaft of her pilum.

Percy frowned and his sword. "Wait, we can use real weapons, right?"

"Yeah," Frank agreed. "For sure. We've just never seen a sword like that."

"What if I hurt somebody?"

"They'll be fine." Hadley waved off the question. "We have good medics."

"No one dies," Hazel said. "Well, not usually. And if they do-"

Frank imitated the voice of Vitellius: "They're wimps! Back in my day, we died all the time, and we liked it!"

Hazel laughed. "Just stay with us, Percy. Chances are we'll get the worst duty and get eliminated early. They'll throw us at the wall first to soften up the defenses. Then the Third and Fourth Cohorts will march in and get the honors, if they can even breach the fort. Well... once Hadley snuck off to charge in with the others. She got in a lot of trouble but took out more defenders than anyone."

"That was a good day," Hadley sighed dreamily.

As Percy looked over at Hadley, she seemed completely in her element. She stood tall and proud with a confident smile and seemed willing to take on the entire legion herself. Her weapon fit in her hand so naturally it was like she was born to wield it. Her armor shone in the sun, the spears and swords on her helmet nearly looked sharp enough to cut someone in the light. Percy only wished her helmet didn't hide so much of her face.

Horns blew. Dakota and Gwen walked back from the officers' conference, looking grim.

"All right, here's the plan!" Dakota took a quick swig of Kool-Aid from his travel flask. "They're throwing us at the walls first to soften up the defenses."

The whole cohort groaned.

"I know, I know," Gwen said. "But maybe this time we'll have some luck!"

Leave it to Gwen to be the optimist. Everybody liked her because she took care of her people and tried to keep spirits up. She could even control Dakota during his hyperactive bug-juice fits. Still, the campers grumbled and complained. Nobody believed in luck for the Fifth, except for Hadley, but that was more of a blind determination to win than belief in luck.

"First line with Dakota," Gwen said. "Lock shields and advance in turtle formation to the main gates. Try to stay in one piece. Draw their fire. Second line-" Gwen turned to Hadley's row without much enthusiasm. "You seventeen from Bobby take over, take charge of the elephant and the scaling ladders. Try a flanking attack on the western wall. Maybe we can spread the defenses too thin. Frank, Hazel, Percy... well, just do whatever. Hadley, go with them, show Percy the ropes. Try to keep him alive. Don't do anything stupid."

Hadley looked at Percy like she was thinking: Can you believe she thinks I'd be stupid?

Gwen turned back to the whole cohort. "If anybody gets over the wall first, I'll make sure you get the Mural Crown. Victory for the Fifth!"

The cohort cheered half-heartedly and broke ranks.

Percy frowned. "Do whatever?"

"Hey, it's better than 'don't do anything stupid.'" Hadley said.

"Yeah," Hazel sighed. "Big vote of confidence."

"What's the Mural Crown?" Percy asked.

"Military medal," Frank said. "Big honor for the first soldier to breach an enemy fort. You'll notice nobody in the Fifth is wearing one."

"I was this close to getting one once." Hadley held her fingers a fraction of an inch apart. "But someone hit me in the leg with an arrow. They're just lucky I haven't figured out who did it."

"You were hit with an arrow?" Percy's eyes widened in shock and concern. "What happened?"

"I walked it off."

Frank started at the ground. "Usually we don't even get into the fort because we're burning or drowning or..."

He faltered, and looked at Percy. "Water cannons."

"What?" Percy asked.

"The cannons on the walls," Frank said, "they draw water from the aqueduct. There's a pump system- heck, I don't know how they work, but they're under a lot of pressure. If you can control them, like you controlled the river-"

"Frank!" Hazel beamed. "That's brilliant!"

Frank looked over at Hadley hopefully, like he wanted her approval. She shrugged with a smile. "Hey, dude, I'm in. Just give me someone to hit."

Percy didn't look so sure. "I don't know how I did that at the river. I'm not sure I can control the cannons from this far away."

"We'll get closer," Frank pointed to the eastern wall of the fort, where the Fifth cohort wouldn't be attacking. "That's where the defense will be weakest. They'll never take four kids seriously. I think we can sneak up pretty close before they see us."

"Sneak up how?" Percy asked.

Frank turned to Hazel. "Can you do that thing again?"

She punched him in the chest. "You said you wouldn't tell anybody!"

Hazel muttered under her breath. "Never mind. It's fine. Percy, he talking about the trenches. The Field of Mars is riddled with tunnels from over the years. Some are collapsed, or buried deep, but a lot of them are still passable. I'm pretty good at finding and using them. I can even collapse them if I have to."

"Like you did with the gorgons," Percy said, "to slow them down."

Frank nodded approvingly. "I told you Pluto was cool. He's the god of everything under the earth. Hazel can find caves, tunnels, trapdoors-"

"And it was our secret," she grumbled.

Frank blushed. "Yeah, sorry. But if we can get close-"

"And if I can knock out the water cannons..." Percy nodded, like he was warming up to the idea. "What do we do then?"

Frank checked his quiver. "The rest is up to me. Let's go."

 

🌊

 

Hadley liked Frank's plan. It was smart, strategic, and gave them a better chance at winning than any previous plan. She just wished she had more of a chance to fight rather than sneaking around below the battlefield. Hadley held her pilum close, itching for a fight.

Hazel found them a tunnel no problem. Actually, it was almost as if she had created the tunnels for them. They crept along by the light of Percy's glowing sword, Riptide. He glanced back at Hadley as she fidgeted with her pilum.

"Having fun?" He asked with a smirk.

Hadley bounced on the balls of her feet. "I just wanna fight somebody already."

Percy laughed and Hadley couldn't help but smile as well.

Above, they heard the sounds of battle- kids shouting, Hannibal the elephant bellowing with glee, scorpion bolts exploding, and water cannons firing. The tunnel shook. Dirt rained down on them.

"There's an opening just ahead," Hazel announced. "We'll come up ten feet from the east wall."

"How can you tell?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," she said. "But I'm sure."

"Could we tunnel straight under the wall?" Frank wondered.

"No," Hazel said. "The engineers were smart. They built the walls on old foundations that go down to bedrock. And don't ask how I know. I just do."

"Doesn't really matter how you know," Hadley said casually. "As long as it gets the job done."

Hazel gave the older girl a small smile, then Frank stumbled over something and cursed. Percy brought his sword around for more light. The thing Frank had tripped on was gleaming silver. He crouched down to pick it up.

"Don't touch it!" Hazel said.

Frank's hand stopped a few inches from the chunk of metal. It looked like a giant Hersey's kiss, about the size of his fist.

"It's massive," he said. "Silver?"

"Platinum." Hazel sounded scared out of her wits. "It'll go away in a second. Please don't touch it. It's dangerous."

Hadley wasn't sure how a lump of metal could be dangerous, but she heeded Hazel's words. As they watched, the chunk of platinum sank into the ground.

Frank stared at Hazel. "How did you know?"

In the light of Percy's sword, Hazel looked as ghostly as a Lar. "I'll explain later," she promised.

Another explosion rocked the tunnel, and they forged ahead.

They popped out of a hole just where Hazel had predicted. In front of them, the fort's east wall loomed. Off to their left, Hadley could see the main line of the Fifth Cohort advancing in turtle formation, shields forming a shell over their heads and sides. They were trying to reach the main gates, but the defenders above them pelted them with rocks and shot flaming bolts from the scorpions, blasting craters around their feet. A water cannon discharged with a jaw-rattling THRUM, and a jet of liquid carved a trench in the dirt right in front of the cohort.

Percy whistled. "That's a lot of pressure all right."

The Third and Fourth Cohorts weren't even advancing. They stood back and laughed, watching their "allies" get beat up. The defenders clustered in the wall above the gates, yelling insults at the tortoise formation as it staggered back and forth. War games deteriorated into "beat up the Fifth." Hadley gripped her pilum angrily.

"Let's shake things up." Frank reached into his quiver and pulled out an iron-tipped arrow, the arrowhead was like the nose cone of a rocket.

"What does that do?" Percy asked. "Grappling hook?"

"It's called a hydra arrow," Frank said. "Can you knock out the water cannons?"

A defender appeared on the wall above them. "Hey!" he shouted to his buddies. "Check it out! More victims!"

Hadley glared up at him. "The only victims I see are the ones about to fall from that dumb wall!"

"Percy," Frank said, "now would be good."

More kids came across the battlements to laugh at them. A few ran to the nearest water cannon and swung the barrel toward Frank.

"Wow, Hadley." The defender leaned on the wall and smiled down at her. "You've really gone downhill. Then again, we've all realized by now that you're all bark, no bite."

"You're an awful lot of talk. Why don't you come down here and fight me, you useless flapjack!"

"Oh, your hurtful comments wound me!" He put a hand to his chest dramatically. "No wonder the Fifth sent you here to taunt us rather than mess up their attempt to approach the fortress. Maybe Victoria will bless them today, they may even get within twenty feet."

The other defenders laughed. Hadley threw her pilum at him and he had to duck as it soared over the wall and clattered behind him. He popped back up and sneered down at her.

"Nice try, but failed as always. Now I think we've had enough of the clown show."

Up on the wall, somebody yelled, "Open wide, losers!"

KA-BOOM!

Hadley had been so distracted yelling at the defenders that she hadn't realized Percy had figured out his part of the plan. The cannon exploded in a starburst of blue, green, and white. Defenders screamed as a watery shockwave flattened them against the battlements. Kids toppled over the walls but were snatched by giant eagles and carried to safety. Then the entire eastern wall shuddered as the explosion backed up through the pipelines. One after another, the water cannons on the battlements exploded. The scorpions' fires were doused. Defenders scattered in confusion or were tossed through the air, giving the rescue eagles quite a workout. At the main gates, the Fifth Cohort forgot about their formation. Mystified, they lowered their shields and stared at the chaos.

Frank shot his arrow. It streaked upward, carrying its glittering rope. When it reached the top, the metal point fractured into a dozen lines that lashed out and wrapped around anything they could find- parts of the wall, a scorpion, a broken water cannon, and a couple of defending campers, who yelped and found themselves slammed against the battlements as anchors. From the main rope, handholds extended at two-foot intervals, making a ladder.

"Go!" Frank said.

Percy grinned. "You first, Frank. This is your party."

"He's right," Hadley cheered. "Lead the way!"

Frank hesitated. Then he slung his bow on his back and began to climb. He was halfway up before the defenders recovered their senses enough to sound the alarm.

They looked back at the Fifth Cohort's main group. They were staring up at Frank, dumbfounded.

"Well?" Frank screamed. "Attack!"

Gwen was the first to unfreeze. She grinned and repeated the order. A cheer went up from the battlefield. Hannibal the elephant trumpeted with happiness. Frank kept climbing and Hazel followed after. Hadley shot Percy a cheeky smile and gestured for him to climb up next, following not too far behind. When they got to the top Hadley and Percy leaped onto the wall

Percy raised Riptide. "Fun."

"Definitely fun," Hadley agreed. She summoned her gladius and with a whoop of joy, she jumped off the wall and began attacking the defenders.

Together they cleared the defenders off the walls. Below them, the gates broke. Hannibal barreled into the fort, arrows, and rocks bouncing harmlessly off his Kevlar armor. The Fifth Cohort charged in behind the elephant, and the battle went hand-to-hand. Finally, from the edge of the Field of Mars, a battle cry went up. The Third and Fourth Cohorts ran to join the fight.

"A little late," Hazel grumbled.

"We can't let them get the banners," Frank said.

"No," Percy agreed. "Those are ours."

Hadley locked swords with a defender and pushed her off the wall, smiling as the rescue eagle dove down to catch her. She turned to the others and pumped her fists in the air. "Let's win this!"

No more talk was necessary. They moved like a team, as if the four of them had been working together for years. They rushed down the interior steps and into the enemy base.

Notes:

hadley 🤝 jack
having a crush on percy's sword

Chapter 6: vi - all kebabs lead to prophecies - vi

After that, the battle was mayhem.

Frank, Percy, Hazel, and Hadley waded through the enemy, plowing down anyone who stood in their way. The First and Second Cohorts- pride of Camp Jupiter, a well-oiled, highly disciplined war machine- fell apart under the assault and the sheer novelty of being on the losing side.

Part of their problem was Percy. He fought like a demon, whirling through the defenders' ranks in a completely unorthodox style, rolling under their feet, slashing with his sword instead of stabbing like a Roman would, whacking campers with the flat of his blade, and generally causing panic.

It was honestly pretty impressive but Hadley had other things to think about.

Octavian screamed in a shrill voice- maybe ordering the First Cohort to stand their ground, maybe trying to sing soprano- but Percy put a stop to it. He somersaulted over a line of shields and slammed the butt of his sword into Octavian's helmet. The centurion collapsed like a sock puppet.

Percy looked back at Hadley, silently wondering if she was impressed. She was trading blows with a defender and quickly disarmed him, tossing the weapon and the soldier in different directions. Her gaze met Percy's with a large smile, and his eyes widened as he saw someone charging her from behind.

"Hadley-" He started to shout, but she was ready. She spun around and side-stepped his attack. She was fast, it took the defender an extra effort to keep up with her strikes that were not only swift but powerful. They traded blows for a minute, Percy watched as she never backed down for a second. The defender would strike at her and she would stand firm, deflecting his sword and quickly responding with an attack of her own. Her confident smile didn't falter and her eyes shone with delight, she was enjoying every minute of this battle.

The defender lunged forward and nearly hit Hadley in the chest, causing her to stumble back a few steps.

"Careful, Hadley." He chided. "Wouldn't want to trip at the finish line again."

"Careful, Mason," Hadley mocked. "Wouldn't want a sword to the face."

She lunged and he blocked her attack, moving to return with a strike of his own. Hadley raised her sword to stop it. Suddenly, the gladius started to slip from her hand. Hadley felt like her fingers had fallen asleep, going numb, and losing whatever grip she might have had on her weapon. In what felt like slow motion, Hadley watched as her gladius hit the ground. Before she even had time to process, the point of Mason's sword stabbed her shoulder. Luckily her armor kept the damage to a minimum but she still recoiled in pain.

Mason laughed like a Disney villain. "There's that classic Victoria luck."

With a cry of rage, Hadley swung her fist. Flesh collided with the metal of his helmet and he stumbled backward. Before he could recover, Hadley grabbed his sword arm and ripped the blade from his hand. She tossed it to the side and Mason twisted so he was the one holding onto her arm. With his free hand, he struck Hadley's injured shoulder, she hissed in pain and tried to back away but his hold on her arm was firm.

Hadley dug her nails into the arm that held onto her and reached out to grab the collar of his armor. Mason's eyes widened in fear as Hadley pulled him toward her. She threw him over her shoulder, he pulled her down with him and the pair hit the ground.

Hadley grabbed her sword, which sat to their right, and stood up with a dry laugh. She placed her foot on his chest and hovered the point of her sword just above his nose. "Warned you."

Mason glared up at Hadley as she towered above him. She was about to continue gloating when she heard a laugh from behind and turned to see Percy coming in her direction.

"That was awesome," Percy said as he reached her side.

"Thanks," Hadley smiled. "Felt good."

"I bet."

Mason took advantage of Hadley's distraction and pushed her legs out from underneath her. In a move that almost resembled a dance, Percy caught Hadley and spun her around him to keep her on her feet. Mason gave the pair a cocky smile as he stood up and assumed a fighting stance. Before he had a chance to blink, Percy hit him with the flat of his sword. Percy was about to attack the defender again before he could regain his footing but Hadley beat him to it.

Hadley ripped off her helmet and swung it at Mason's head. Some people nearby stopped suddenly, turning toward them as the sound of metal clashing echoed across the base. Mason fell backward, his helmet flying off of his head with a new dent on the side, and he landed on the ground in a cloud of dust. Hadley tossed her helmet down, it bounced off Mason's chest before rolling a few feet away. He clutched his head in his hands and didn't try to get up again.

"Nice try, you plain bagel," Hadley taunted.

"Yeah, you bagel!" Percy laughed.

The pair high-fived and the sound of an elephant trumpeting rang through the base. Percy and Hadley looked up to see Hazel riding Hannibal as she smiled down at them. "Let's go, slowpokes!"

They ran to the center of the base. The inner keep was virtually unguarded. Obviously, the defenders never dreamed an assault would get this far. Hannibal busted down the huge doors. Inside, the First and Second Cohort standard-bearers were sitting around a table playing Mythomagic with cards and figurines. The cohort's emblems were propped carelessly against one wall.

Hazel and Hannibal rode straight into the room and the standard-bearers fell backward out of their chairs. Hannibal stepped on the table, and the game pieces scattered.

By the time the rest of the cohort caught up with them, Percy and Frank grabbed the banners while Hadley taunted the standard-bearers. Then they climbed onto Hannibal's back with Hazel. They marched out of the keep triumphantly with the enemy colors.

The Fifth Cohort formed ranks around them. Together they paraded out of the fort, past stunned enemies and lines of equally mystified allies.

Hadley grabbed Frank's hand and held it above his head. "Behold, Frank Zhang!" She exclaimed. "Master strategist and slayer of your hopes and dreams!"

"That's kinda intense," Frank chuckled, his face flushing red at all the attention.

"Well, yeah. Because this is an intensely awesome victory for you!"

Reyna circled low overhead on her pegasus. "The game is won!" She sounded as if she were trying not to laugh. "Assemble for honors!"

Slowly the campers regrouped on the Field of Mars. There were plenty of injuries- some burns, broken bones, black eyes, cuts, and gashes. Plus a lot of interesting hair-dos from fires and exploding water cannons.

They slid off the elephant and their comrades swarmed Frank, pounding him on the back and complimenting him. Hadley wrapped an arm around his shoulders and shook him excitedly, grimacing slightly as she moved her injured shoulder.

"Hadley, your arm," Frank said. "You should see a medic."

"I'll be fine," Hadley assured him. "Right now we're celebrating you."

"Yeah, but look at her hand," Percy grabbed her wrist to show their friends her knuckles which had already turned a dark shade of red. "Did you have to punch a helmet?"

Hadley looked at her hand the way someone would admire a manicure. "Yes, I did."

Hazel smiled. "I'll bet you gave Mason a concussion."

"Hazel, don't get my hopes up."

The group laughed but it was cut short by a sound of panic.

"Help!" somebody yelled. A couple of campers rushed out of the fortress, carrying a girl on a stretcher. They set her down, and other kids started running over. Even from a distance, Hadley could tell it was Gwen. She was in bad shape. She lay on her side on the stretcher with a pilum sticking out of her armor- almost like she was holding it between her chest and her arm, but there was so much blood.

Hadley sucked in a breath and ran over to Gwen.

"No, no, no..." Frank muttered and rushed to her side.

The medics barked at everyone to stand back and give her air. The whole legion fell silent as the healers worked- trying to get gauze and powdered unicorn horn under Gwen's armor to stop the bleeding, trying to force some nectar in her mouth. Gwen didn't move. Her face was ashen gray.

Finally, one of the medics looked up at Reyna and shook his head.

For a moment, there was no sound except water from the ruined cannons trickling down the walls of the fort. Hannibal nuzzled Gwen's hair with his trunk.

Reyna surveyed the campers from her pegasus. Her expression was hard and dark as iron. "There will be an investigation. Whoever did this, you cost the legion a good officer. Honorable death is one thing, but this..."

Murder. Casey thought. That's what it was. She looked at the marks engraved in the pilum: CHT I LEGIO XII F. The weapon belonged to the First Cohort, and the point was sticking out the front of her armor. Gwen had been speared from behind- possibly after the game had ended.

Hadley stared at the crowd of people and noticed Octavian. The centurion was watching with more interest than concern, as if he were examining one of his stuffed animal victims. He didn't have a pilum.

Hadley's vision went red. She was about to charge over and tackle him, but at that moment, Gwen gasped.

Everyone stepped back. Gwen opened her eyes. The color came back to her face.

"Wh- what is it?" She blinked. "What's everyone staring at?"

She didn't seem to notice the seven-foot harpoon sticking out through her chest.

A medic whispered. "There's no way. She was dead. She has to be dead."

Gwen tried to sit up, but couldn't. "There was a river, and a man asking... for a coin? I just left. I don't understand. What happened?"

Everyone stared at her in horror. Nobody tried to help.

"Gwen." Frank knelt next to her. "Don't try to get up. Just close your eyes for a second, okay?"

"Why? What-"

"Just trust me."

Gwen did what he asked.

Frank grabbed the shaft of the pilum below its tip, but his hands were shaking. "Hadley, Hazel- help me."

One of the medics realized what he was planning. "Don't!" he said. "You might-"

"What?" Hazel snapped. "Make it worse?"

Hadley knelt down and put her hands on Gwen's shoulders.

Frank took a deep breath. "Hold her steady. One, two, three!"

He pulled the pilum out from the front. Gwen didn't even wince. The blood stopped quickly.

Hazel bent down to examine the wound. "It's closing on its own," she said. "I don't know how, but-"

"I feel fine," Gwen protested. "What's everyone worried about?"

With Frank and Percy's help, she got to her feet.

"Gwen," Hazel said gently, "there's no easy way to say this. You were dead. Somehow you came back."

"I... what?" She stumbled against Frank. Her hand pressed against the ragged hole in her armor. "How- how?"

"Good question." Reyna turned to Nico, who was watching grimly from the edge of the crowd. "Is this some power of Pluto?"

Nico shook his head. "Pluto never lets people return from the dead."

He glanced at Hazel as if warning her to stay quiet. Hadley wondered what that was about, but decided to worry about it later.

A thunderous voice rolled across the field: Death loses its hold. This is only the beginning.

Campers drew weapons. Hannibal trumpeted nervously. Scipio reared, almost throwing Reyna.

"I know that voice," Percy said. He didn't sound pleased.

In the midst of the legion. a column of fire blasted into the air. Campers who had been soaked by the cannons found their clothes instantly steam-dried. Everyone scrambled backward as a huge soldier stepped out of the explosion.

The soldier was ten feet tall, dressed in camouflage. He radiated confidence and power. His black hair was cut in a flat-topped wedge like Frank's. His face was angular and brutal, marked with old knife scars. His eyes were covered with infrared goggles that glowed from inside. He wore a utility belt with a sidearm, a knife holster, and several grenades. In his hands was an oversized M16 rifle.

Frank was the first to sink to one knee. The other campers followed his example and knelt. Even Reyna dismounted.

"That's good," the soldier said. "Kneeling is good. It's been a long time since I visited Camp Jupiter."

Hadley glanced up and noticed Percy wasn't kneeling. His sword was still in his hand and he glared at the giant soldier.

"You're Ares," Percy said. "What do you want?"

A collective gasp went up from the two hundred campers and an elephant. Hadley looked at Percy in astonishment, already planning his funeral. It would be a simple event, honoring the utter stupidity of the densest Son of Neptune ever. She was sure the war god would blast him with the extra-large M16.

Instead, the god bared his brilliant white teeth.

"You've got spunk, demigod," he said. "Ares is my Greek form. But to these followers, to the children of Rome, I am Mars- patron of the empire, divine father of Romulus and Remus."

"We've met," Percy said. "We... we had a fight..."

The god scratched his chin, as if trying to recall. "I fight a lot of people. But I assure you- you've never fought me as Mars. If you had, you'd be dead. Now, kneel, as befits a child of Rome, before you try my patience."

Around Mars's feet, the ground boiled in a circle of flame.

"Percy," Frank said, "please."

Percy looked over at Hadley, knowing she would be the last person to want to bow down to anyone. She nodded her head toward the ground, silently telling him to do as the god said. Percy clearly didn't like it, but he knelt.

Mars scanned the crowd. "Romans, lend me your ears!"

He laughed- a good, hearty bellow, so infectious, Hadley almost cracked a smile.

"I've always wanted to say that. I come from Olympus with a message. Jupiter doesn't like us communicating directly with mortals, especially nowadays, but he had allowed this exception, as you Romans have always been my special people. I'm only permitted to speak for a few minutes, so listen up."

He pointed at Gwen. "This one should be dead, yet she's not. The monsters you fight no longer return to Tartarus when they are slain. Some mortals who died long ago are now walking the earth again."

Hadley almost thought the god glared at Nico.

"Thanatos has been chained," Mars announced. "The Doors of Death have been forced open, and no one is policing them- at least, not impartially. Gaea allows our enemies to pour forth into the world of mortals. Her sons the giants are mustering armies against you- armies you will not be able to kill. Unless Death is unleashed to return to his duties, you will be overrun. You must find Thanatos and free him from the giants. Only he can reverse the tide."

Mars looked around, and noticed that everyone was still kneeling. "Oh, you can get up now. Any questions?"

Reyna rose uneasily. She approached the god followed by Octavian, who was bowing and scraping like a champion groveler.

"Lord Mars," Reyna said, "we are honored."

"Beyond honored," said Octavian. "So far beyond honored-"

"Well?" Mars snapped.

"Well," Reyna said, "Thanatos is the god of death, the lieutenant of Pluto?"

"Right," the god said.

"And you're saying that he's been captured by giants."

"Right."

"And therefore people will stop dying?"

"Not all at once," Mars said. "But the barriers between life and death will continue to weaken. Those who know how to take advantage of this will exploit it. Monsters are already harder to dispatch. Soon they will be completely impossible to kill. Some demigods will also be able to find their way back from the Underworld- like your friend Centurion Shish kebab."

Gwen winced. "Centurion Sish kebab?"

"If left unchecked," Mars continued, "even mortals will eventually find it impossible to die. Can you imagine a world in which no one dies- ever?"

Octavian raised his hand. "But, ah, mighty all-powerful Lord Mars, if we can't die, isn't that a good thing? If we can stay alive indefinitely-"

"Don't be foolish, boy!" Mars bellowed. "Endless slaughter with no conclusion? Carnage without any point? Enemies that rise again and again and can never be killed? Is that what you want?"

"You're the god of war," Percy spoke up. "Don't you want endless carnage?"

Mar's infrared goggles glowed brighter. "Insolent, aren't you? Perhaps I have fought you before. I can understand why I'd want to kill you. I'm the god of Rome, child. I am the god of military might used for a righteous cause. I protect the legions. I am happy to crush my enemies underfoot, but I don't fight without reason. I don't want war without end. You will discover this. You will serve me."

"Not likely," Percy said.

Hadley wasn't sure if she should laugh or fear for Percy's life. But Mars grinned like they were two old buddies talking trash.

"I order a quest!" the god announced. "You will go north and find Thanatos in the land beyond the gods. You will free him and thwart the plans of the giants. Beware Gaea! Beware her son, the eldest giant!"

Next to Frank, Hazel made a squeaking sound. "The land beyond the gods?"

Mars stared down at her, his grip tightening on his M16. "That's right, Hazel Levesque. You know what I mean. Everyone here remembers the land where the legion lost its honor! Perhaps if the quest succeeds, and if you return by the Feast of Fortuna... perhaps then your honor will be restored. If you don't succeed, there won't be any camp left to return to. Rome will be overrun, its legacy lost forever. So my advice is: Don't fail."

Octavian somehow managed to bow even lower. "Um, Lord Mars, just one tiny thing. A quest requires a prophecy, a mystical poem to guide us! We used to get them from the Sybilline books, but now it's up to the augur to glean the will of the gods. So if I could run and get about seventy stuffed animals and possibly a knife-"

"You're the augur?" the god interrupted.

"Y-yes, my lord?"

Mars pulled a scroll from his utility belt. "Anyone got a pen?"

The legionaries stared at him.

Mars sighed. "Two hundred Romans, and no one's got a pen? Never mind!"

He slung his M16 onto his back and pulled out a hand grenade. There were many screaming Romans(whom Hadley rolled her eyes at). Then the grenade morphed into a ballpoint pen, and Mars began to write.

"There!" Mars finished writing and threw the scroll at Octavian. "A prophecy. You can add it to your books, engrave it on your floor, whatever."

Octavian read the scroll. "This says, 'Go to Alaska. Find Thanatos and free him. Come back by sundown on June twenty-fourth or die.'"

"Nice," Hadley whispered with a nod. She hated having to interpret prophecies just to find out it said they were assumably going to die.

"Yes," Mars said. "Is that not clear?"

"Well, my lord... usually prophecies are unclear. They're wrapped in riddles. They rhyme, and-"

"Octavian," Hadley spoke up.

Frank looked like he might pass out from fear as she took a step forward and respectfully acknowledged the god before returning her attention to Octavian.

"You asked Lord Mars for a prophecy and he gave you one. Are you really gonna tell the patron god of Rome his prophecy isn't good enough for you?"

Octavian stared at her with his mouth hanging open, Hadley raised a challenging eyebrow at him. He turned to Mars who casually popped another grenade off his belt. "Well, are you?"

"The prophecy is clear!" Octavian announced. "A quest!"

"Good answer" Mars tapped the grenade to his chin. "Now, what else. There was something else... Oh, yes."

He turned to Frank. "C'mere, kid."

Frank hesitantly stepped forward.

Mars grinned. "Nice job taking the wall, kid. Who's the ref for this game?"

Reyna raised her hand.

"You see that play, ref?" Mars demanded. "That was my kid. First over the wall, won the game for his team. Unless you're blind, that was an MVP play. You're not blind, are you?"

Reyna looked like she was trying to swallow a mouse. "No, Lord Mars."

"Then make sure he gets the Mural Crown," Mars demanded. "My kid, here!" he yelled at the legion, in case anyone hadn't heard.

Frank looked like he wanted to disappear.

"Emily Zhang's son," Mars continued. "She was a good soldier. Good woman. This kid Frank proved his stuff tonight. Happy late birthday, kid. Time you stepped up to a real man's weapon."

He tossed Frank his M16. The gun changed in midair, becoming smaller and thinner. When Frank caught it, the weapon was a spear. It had a shaft of Imperial gold and a strange point like a white bone, flickering with ghostly light.

"The tip is dragon's tooth," Mars said. "You haven't learned to use your mom's talents yet, have you? Well- that spear will give you some breathing room until you do. You get three charges out of it, so use it wisely."

Hadley had no idea what he was talking about, but Mars acted like the matter was closed. "Now, my kid Frank Zhang is gonna lead the quest to free Thanatos, unless there are any objections?"

Of course, no one said a word. But many of the campers glared at Frank with envy, jealousy, anger, and bitterness.

"You can take three companions," Mars said. "Those are the rules. One of them has to be this kid."

He pointed at Percy. "He's gonna learn some respect for Mars on this trip, or die trying." His eyes scanned the crowd before landing on Hadley again. "Victoria's girl. She should go too. As for the other, I don't care. Pick whomever you want. Have one of your senate debates. You all are good at those."

The god's image flickered. Lightning crackled across the sky.

"That's my cue," Mars said. "Until next time, Romans. Do not disappoint me!"

The god erupted in flames, and then he was gone.

Reyna turned toward Frank. Her expression was part amazement, part nausea, like she'd finally managed to swallow that mouse. She raised her arm in a Roman salute. Ave, Frank Zhang, son of Mars."

The whole legion followed her lead, but Hadley noticed the dread on his face. She couldn't even blame him.

Chapter 7: vii - statues don't particularly enjoy chatting - vii

That night, Hadley's dream took her to the middle of the woods. Trees stretched as far as she could see and stars shone through the breaks in the leaves. She looked around curiously, wondering where she was. It seemed familiar, like she had been there before. Through the trees, a light flickered in the distance. Every fiber of her being told her she needed to find the source of the light. She broke into a jog, pushing branches out of her way, and stopped short when she found a familiar scene.

Two girls, no more than thirteen, sat around a small fire near a makeshift tent made out of branches. One was a brunette with dark eyes that sparkled in the firelight. She used a stick from the woods to tend to the flames. The other, a girl with longer dirty blond hair, made sandwiches off to the side.

There was no sign either girl could see Hadley. It was as if she were a ghost, innocently watching a scene she had seen before.

The brunette set down her stick, satisfied with the fire in front of her, and turned to her friend. "Okay, let's go through the prophecy again."

"We've gone over it three times, Mia," the other girl giggled and handed her a sandwich. "And we sat through that whole senate meeting debating it. Remember, Octavian wouldn't shut up."

"That's normal for him. Come on, one more time. Please?"

"Okay, fine," she rolled her eyes playfully. "Only for you."

Mia nodded. "Traveling pair shall journey alone."

"That's us."

"Yes, Hadley, I know that."

She held up her hands defensively. "Just making sure we understand everything perfectly."

"Thank you, Haddie. You're as good at prophecy translating as you are at making sandwiches," Mia chuckled, taking a bite out of the sandwich with a smile. "Anyway, 'To a maze riddled with misery and stone.'"

"Maybe it's a corn maze."

"Corn mazes aren't made of stone."

"Maybe not, but there's always someone miserable inside. And have you ever seen a scarecrow?" Hadley held her arms out to her sides with a dramatic frown to mimic a scarecrow. "Nothing happy about that."

"Fine, it's a corn maze. We'll fight a scarecrow at the center of a corn maze."

"That's the spirit!" Hadley smiled and took a large bite of her sandwich. "That dumb 'ol scarecrow doesn't stand a chance!"

"He won't know what hit him," Mia agreed. "Answer the call of a desperate plea/Mercury's wings now caged must be freed."

Hadley swallowed and pointed at her friend. "That was your dad. I'll bet he was like, 'Mia, please! I am so lost without my shoes! Whatever am I to wear now? Adidas? Don't be absurd! How could you suggest such a thing?'"

Mia punched her shoulder. "He didn't sound like that."

"Talk about Mama Mia, 'cause here you go again." Hadley held the spot where Mia hit her.

Mia giggled. "But you're right."

"That your dad sounds like a whiny baby?"

"No. That we already know what that part means."

"Yes. Because your dad was being a whiny baby."

"Haddie," Mia chided. "If you're not careful he's gonna smite you."

"Bring it on. He doesn't scare-"

She was cut off as Mia covered her mouth with her hand. Hadley continued to talk as if nothing happened even though her words were completely unintelligible. It wasn't long before Mia erupted in giggles, freeing Hadley who wore a proud look on her face.

"Anyway, the next line is, 'Trials shall test the thief's righteous trait.' That's easy." Hadley smiled. "The thief is you and all you're traits are righteous."

"No, they're not," the girl paused. "Also, I'm not a thief."

Hadley pointed an accusing finger at her. "I know it's you stealing my hair ties, not Jason."

"It is him," She fiddled with her jacket sleeve, hiding the several bands decorating her wrist. "I promise."

"He doesn't even need them!"

"That's what makes it so diabolical!" Mia argued. "And how can my trait be righteous if it's thievery?"

"You have tons of awesome qualities! You're funny, smart, strong, pretty, a good soldier, Octavian hates you, you put lemon juice in Dakota's Kool-Aid-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Mia laughed. "You're pretty cool too, Haddie."

Mia's smile disappeared quickly and she looked down at her food.

"Bravery alone decides victory's fate."

"You don't need to look so upset. If we're brave, we win." Hadley shrugged. "Easy."

Mia looked at Hadley hesitantly. "It's about victory, Hadley. Victoria. Her child. You."

"No problem. I'm plenty brave."

"That makes one of us." She picked at her fingernails.

"Don't talk like that," Hadley told her. "You're a great person and a good fighter. You just need to trust yourself, that's all."

"It's not that easy."

"Sure it is! But until you figure it out, I'll be here to believe in you." She wrapped an arm around Mia's shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks, Haddie," she chuckled.

"We're gonna do great!" Hadley pumped her fist. "The legion will be so impressed, they'll make us both praetors."

"But we're both girls. That's not allowed."

"That's how good we'll be."

Hadley turned around to grab her water bottle from a backpack and her hair fell in front of her eyes. She groaned and ran a hand through it, effectively clearing her vision momentarily.

"Hey, Mia. Do you think you could braid my hair? It's getting in my face again."

"You really should learn how to do it yourself." She took a bite of her sandwich.

"But you're so much better than me."

"I thought you liked being the best."

"I also like it when you braid my hair."

Mia shook her head with a smile and motioned for Hadley to sit in front of her. She cheered quietly and sat down. Hadley closed her eyes and grinned as her friend ran her fingers through her hair.

Quests used to seem so easy as a child. You go, kill a few monsters, and come home. As Hadley watched the memory of her younger self, she began to dread waking up. Fighting inside camp was one thing. But nothing could prepare you for being in the real world, actually fighting for your life every day.

Hadley opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. She was back in the barracks, her hair tickled her shoulders at its normal length, and her bunkmates snored in their beds. Hadley stretched her (now healed) arm then got to her feet and quickly changed, tying her hair up in a ponytail, and exited the barracks. The sun had just begun to rise and stuck out halfway over the horizon.

Hadley took off in a sprint. She didn't care what direction she was going in, she just needed to run.

She wasn't sure how long she had been running when she finally took in her surroundings and realized she was at Temple Hill. In fact, she was in front of a very particular temple. The gold details in the tall white columns sparkled in the morning light. A golden wreath hung in the entryway and practically emitted its own light.

Hadley took a breath and walked through the entryway.

The ceiling was tall, with a large skylight at the top. Golden laurels wrapped around each of the columns inside. In the middle of the temple was a statue of Victoria, standing tall and proud. Laurels raised high in one hand and a spear in the other. She looked up toward the skylight as if the mortals didn't deserve to meet her gaze. A pair of golden wings were on her back, making her appear as if she were flying through the air.

Hadley stopped at the foot of the statue and looked up at its face.

"Hi, mom."

She stood there for a moment as if she was waiting for the statue to respond. But there was only silence.

"I, uh, I got another quest. I mean, it's technically Frank's, and the Senate still has to approve it. But Lord Mars said I should go with him, Percy, and Hazel."

Hadley imagined what her mother might say. Would she be proud that her daughter had gotten another chance? Maybe she would have something supportive to say. Or a confusing, riddle-like statement that would come in handy later.

"Percy's new," Hadley continued. "He showed up yesterday but he got a hang of things pretty quickly. You should have seen him at the war games, we couldn't have won without him. I've never seen anyone fight like that. I like him a lot."

Thinking about Percy lifted her spirits slightly. But staring at the statue of her mother reminded her of what she was dreading. She shifted her gaze to the ground and twisted her ring. With a shaky breath, she managed to look up at the statue again.

"It didn't go well before. And I know that I let you down. But I'm going to do better this time. I'll keep them safe. But, um, do you think you could help me out? I know you can't give out wins, everything must be earned. I- I just don't want anything to happen to them."

Once again she waited. What for, she didn't know. A sign maybe. That her mother was listening, that she cared at all. But the statue remained still, towering above Hadley, leaving her feeling like a speck on a window. Its eyes didn't even face down to give her the illusion that Victoria may have been listening. She knew her mother wouldn't help. That wasn't how it worked for any demigod. Especially not for a child of the goddess of victory. She never visited her children and rarely spoke to them.

Some said you were more likely to be hit by lightning than talk face-to-face with a god. Hadley would know, she had tried to get Jason to hit her with it multiple times in hopes to beat the odds.

The statue was all Hadley had ever seen of her mother. She only heard of her through the myths. It made sense. If your mother held your hand and let you win, it would mean nothing. It would mean you were incapable of fighting yourself. As much as it pained Hadley to be unable to talk to her parents, she'd never share that with anyone. She knew that gods didn't talk to their children, and most demigods didn't even have a mortal parent left.

It was then Hadley realized how long she had been gone. The others would be waking up and heading for breakfast before the senate meeting. She ran back towards the barracks, ignoring the looks the other cohorts gave her as she sprinted past.

Hadley saw Percy, Frank, and Hazel starting toward the mess hall. She put a smile on her face and ran over to them, Frank jumped as she appeared next to him. Hazel looked at her curiously and Percy gave Hadley a smile as she linked her arms with his and Hazel's.

"Where did you go?" Hazel asked. "You weren't in the barracks when I woke up."

"Woke up early, went for a run," she said casually. "You guys ready for a boring meeting with lots of arguing?"

"Food first," Percy said.

"Agreed."

At breakfast, everyone was staring at their table. Whispering about the previous night:

"Two gods in one day..."

"Un-Roman fighting..."

"Water cannon up my nose.."

Hadley didn't care much. She simply ate her pancakes topped with strawberries and a small mountain of whipped cream. Percy had piled up practically everything the mess hall was serving, he seemed far too focused on his food to notice the campers talking about him.

He only looked up from his plate once when Hadley stole a strip of bacon from him. She plastered an innocent look on her face and continued eating her breakfast. He took a whipped cream-covered strawberry from the top of her stack of pancakes and before Hadley had a chance to object, he threw the fruit at her. Hadley was taken aback for a moment, the attack had left a blob of whipped cream on her nose and under her eye.

"Oh, you are going to regret that, Jackson," she glared playfully at the boy. "I will have my revenge."

Percy smirked. "I just want it on the record that you started this."

"I did nothing. You're the one who assaulted me."

"You were a thief."

Reyna announced it was time for the senate to convene in the city, and all the folks in togas got up to leave.

"Here we go." Hazel fidgeted with a stone that looked like a two-carat ruby.

The ghost Vitellius appeared next to them in a purple shimmer. "Bona fortuna, you four! Ah, senate meeting. I remember the one where Ceasar was assassinated. Why, the amount of blood on his toga-"

"Thanks, Vitellius," Frank interrupted. "We should get going."

Hadley blinked and a clump of whipped cream stuck to her eyelashes. Percy and Hazel laughed and Frank was holding back a chuckle as he handed her a napkin. She quickly wiped off her face and they followed the mob of demigods out of the mess hall.

Reyna and Octavian led the procession of senators out of camp, with Reyna's metal greyhounds dashing back and forth along the road. Hazel, Frank, Hadley, and Percy trailed behind. Hadley saw Nico, wearing a black toga and talking to Gwen, who looked pale but surprisingly good considering she'd been dead the night before.

Dakota stumbled along in a red-speckled robe. A lot of other senators seemed to be having trouble with their togas, too- hiking up their hems, trying to keep the cloth from slipping off their shoulders. Hadley was glad she never had to wear one, she would happily stick to her purple t-shirt and leggings.

"How could the Romans move in those things?" Percy wondered.

"They were just for formal occasions," Hazel said. "Like tuxedos. I bet the ancient Romans hated togas as much as we do. By the way, you didn't bring any weapons, did you?"

Percy's hand went to his pocket. "Why? Are we not supposed to?"

"No weapons allowed inside the Pomerian Line," she said.

"The what line?"

"Pomerian," Frank said. "The city limits. Inside is a sacred 'safe zone.' Legions can't march through. No weapons allowed. That's so senate meetings don't get bloody."

"Like Julius Ceasar getting assassinated?" Percy asked.

Frank nodded. "Don't worry. Nothing like that has happened in months."

Hadley chuckled at the memory. "Yeah, that was funny."

"I'm not gonna ask." Percy looked at her hand. "You've got your weapon."

Hadley looked down where her ring still sat on her finger. "Whoops. Forgot to put it away before I left the barracks."

As they got closer to the city, Hadley smiled at the beauty of it. The tiled roofs and gold domes gleamed in the sun. Gardens bloomed with honeysuckle and roses. The central plaza was paved in white and gray stone, and decorated with statues, fountains, and gilded columns. In surrounding neighborhoods, cobblestone streets were lined with freshly painted tow houses, shops, cafes, and parks. In the distance rose the coliseum and the horse racing arena.

As they reached the city limits, the senators in front of them started slowing down. Percy almost ran into one and Hadley grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back a few steps.

"Oh, thanks."

Hadley cracked a smile. "No problem."

On the side of the road stood a white marble statue- a life-sized muscular man with curly hair, no arms, and an irritated expression. Below that, he was just a big block of marble.

"Single file, please!" the statue said. "Have your IDs ready."

Percy looked around and seemed to notice the other identical statues that ringed the city.

The senators passed through easily. The statue checked the tattoos on their forearms and called each senator by name. "Gwendolyn, senator, Fifth Cohort, yes. Nico di Angelo, ambassador of Pluto- very well. Reyna, praetor, of course. Hank, senator, Third Cohort- oh nice shoes, Hank! Ah, who do we have here?"

Hazel, Frank, Hadley, and Percy were the last ones.

"Terminus," Hazel said, "this is Percy Jackson. Percy, this is Terminus, the god of boundaries."

"New, eh?" said the god. "Yes, probatio tablet. Fine. Ah, weapon in your pocket? Take it out! Take it out!"

Percy took the pen out of his pocket with a slightly startled look on his face.

"Quite dangerous," Terminus said. "Leave it in the tray. Wait, where's my assistant? Julia!"

A little girl about six years old peeked out from behind the base of the statue. She had pigtails, a pink dress, and an impish grin with two missing teeth.

"Julia?" Terminus glanced behind him, and Julia scurried in the other direction. "Where did that girl go?"

Terminus looked the other way and caught sight of Julia before she could hide. The little girl squealed with delight.

"Oh, there you are," said the statue. "Front and center. Bring the tray."

Julia scrambled out and brushed off her dress. She picked up a tray and presented it to Percy. On it were several paring knives, a corkscrew, an oversized container of sun lotion, and a water bottle.

"You too, Hadley." Terminus turned to her. "Don't think I don't see that ring!"

"All right, all right. Hold your horses." She took the ring off her finger and put it on the tray. "I was just about to do that."

"You can pick up your weapons on the way out, "Terminus said. "Julia will take good care of them. She's a trained professional."

The little girl nodded. "Pro-fess-ion-al." She said each syllable carefully, like she'd been practicing.

"That's right, you are," Hadley smiled and high-fived the young girl.

Percy glanced at the others, like he wasn't sure wanted to leave his weapon behind.

"The thing is," he said, "the pen returns to my pocket automatically, so even if I give it up-"

"Not to worry," Terminus assured him. "We'll make sure it doesn't wander off. Won't we, Julia?"

"Yes, Mr. Terminus."

Reluctantly, Percy put his pen on the tray next to Hadley's ring.

"Now, a few rules, since your new," Terminus said. "You are entering the boundaries of the city proper. Keep the peace inside the line. Yield to chariot traffic while walking on the public roads. When you get to the Senate House, sit on the left-hand side. And, down there- do you see where I'm pointing?"

"Um," Percy said, "you don't have any hands."

Little did he know, that was a bit of a sore point for Terminus. His marble face turned a dark shade of gray. "A smart aleck, eh? Well, Mr. Rule Flouter, right down there in the forum- Julia, point for me, please-"

Julia dutifully set down the security tray and pointed toward the main plaza.

"The shop with the blue awning," Terminus continued, "that's the general store. They sell tape measures. Buy one! I want those pants exactly one inch above the ankles and that hair regulation cut. And tuck your shirt in."

Hazel said, "Thank you, Terminus. We need to get going."

"Fine, fine, you may pass," the god said testily. "But stay on the right side of the road! And that rock right there- No, Hazel, look where I'm pointing. That rock is entirely too close to that tree. Move it two inches to the left."

Hazel did what she was told, and they continued down the path, Terminus still shouting orders at them while Julia did cartwheels across the grass.

"Is he always like that?" Percy asked.

"No," Hazel admitted. "Today he was laid back. Usually, he's more obsessive/compulsive."

"He inhabits every boundary stone around the city," Frank said. "Kind of like our last line of defense if the city's attacked."

"Terminus isn't so bad," Hadley added. "But I have always wanted to see him go ballistic. Right now, if you get him mad he'll just make you measure every blade of grass in the valley."

Percy filed that information. "And the kid? Julia?"

Hazel grinned. "Yeah, she's a cutie. Her parents live in the city. Come on. We'd better catch up to the senators."

As they approached the forum. Percy seemed taken aback by the sheer number of people. College-aged kids were hanging out at the fountain. Several of them waved at the senators as they passed. One guy in his late twenties stood at a bakery counter, flirting with a young woman who was buying coffee. An older couple was watching a little boy in diapers and a miniature Camp Jupiter shirt toddle after seagulls. Merchants were opening their shops for the day putting out signs in Latin that advertised pottery, jewelry, and half-priced tickets for the Hippodrome.

"Are all these people demigods?"

"Or descended from demigods," Hazel said. "Like I told you, it's a good place to go to college or raise a family without worrying about monster attacks every day. Maybe two, three hundred people live here? The veterans act as, like, advisers and reserve forces if needed, but mostly they're just citizens living their lives."

Hadley thought about what it would be like to live in the city worry-free. Would the others forget the rumors about her? She didn't even know what she would do if she weren't in the legion. Go to college? Get a job? Would she start a family?

First things first they had to keep the camp from being destroyed. Her stomach tightened at the weight on her shoulders. She didn't want to let her mom or the camp down again.

The senators made their way to a big white-domed building on the west end of the forum. Percy paused in the doorway, and Hadley turned to look at him. Just seeing his face put some of her worries at ease.

"Hey," she held out her hand to him. "Don't worry. We're gonna do great."

His worried expression softened and he took her hand as they followed Frank and Hazel inside.

Chapter 8: viii - the senate will decide your fate - viii

The Senate House interior looked like a high school lecture hall. A semicircle of tiered seats faced a dais with a podium and two chairs. The chairs were empty, but one had a small, velvet package on the seat.

Percy and Hadley walked hand in hand to their seats, fingers intertwined as if they were meant to be together. Hadley, Percy, Hazel, and Frank sat on the left side of the semicircle, Percy's hand slipping from Hadley's as they took their seats. The ten senators and Nico di Angelo occupied the rest of the front row. The upper rows were filled with several dozen ghosts and a few older veterans from the city, all in formal togas. Octavian stood in front with a knife and a beenie baby lion, just in case anyone needed to consult the god of stuffing.

All of a sudden, Hadley missed the warmth of Percy's hand in hers. She wished she could reach over and grab it again. Instead, she went to twist her ring nervously, then remembered she had given it to Terminus.

Reyna walked to the podium and raised her hand for attention.

"Right, this is an emergency meeting," she said. "We won't stand on formalities."

"I love formalities!" a ghost complained.

Reyna shot him a cross look.

"First of all," she said, "we're not here to vote on the quest itself. The quest has been issued by Mars Ultor, patron of Rome. We will obey his wishes. Nor are we here to debate the choice of Frank Zhang's companions."

"All four from the Fifth Cohort?" called out Hank from the Third. "That's not fair."

"And not smart," Mason spoke up next to him, he still had a bump on his head from the previous night. "We know the Fifth will mess up. They should send somebody good."

Hadley didn't miss how his gaze landed directly on her for a moment. She held her breath and clenched her fists in her lap. She had learned a long time ago that only bad things came whenever she tried to speak up during senate meetings. Percy bumped his knee into hers to gain her attention. He looked at her with concern, as if he was saying: hey, you okay? Hadley managed a small nod.

Percy had never seen her like this. Usually, she radiated confidence, her mere presence could make you want to back out of her way. But now, she picked at her fingernails and avoided eye contact with everyone. Her shoulders drooped slightly and her eyes had nearly lost their spark. Percy almost grabbed her hand again but stopped short when Dakota stood up so fast, he spilled Kool-Aid from his flask. "We were plenty good last night when we whipped your podex, Larry!"

"Enough, Dakota," Reyna said. "Let's leave Larry's podex out of this. As quest leader, Frank has the right to choose his companions. He has chosen Percy Jackson, Hadley Richards, and Hazel Levesque."

A ghost stood from the second row and yelled, "Absurdus! Frank Zhang isn't even a full member of the legion! He's on probatio. A quest must be led by someone of centurion rank or higher. This is completely-"

"Cato," Reyna snapped. "We must obey the wishes of Mars Ultor. That means certain... adjustments."

Reyna clapped her hands, and Octavian came forward. He set down his knife and beanie baby and took the velvet package from the chair.

"Frank Zhang," he said, "come forward."

Frank glanced nervously at them. Then got to his feet and approached the augur.

"It is my pleasure," Octavian said, forcing out the last word, "to bestow upon you the Mural Crown for being first over the walls in siege warfare." Octavian handed him a bronze badge shaped like a laurel wreath. "Also, by order of Praetor Reyna, to promote you to the rank of centurion."

He handed Frank another badge, a bronze crescent, and the senate exploded in protest.

"He's still a probie!" one yelled.

"Impossible!" said another.

"Water up my nose!" yelled a third.

"Silence!" Octavian's voice sounded a lot more commanding than it had the previous night on the battlefield. "Our praetor recognizes that no one below the rank of centurion may lead a quest. For good or ill, Frank must lead this quest- so our praetor has decreed that Frank Zhang must be made centurion."

Hadley always hated it whenever Octavian spoke, but this was much worse. He carefully crafted his words to put all the responsibility on Reyna. If it went wrong, Reyna was to blame. Octavian was a loyal Roman soldier, and thus had to support the preator.

Reyna noticed it too. A look of irritation flashed across her face. "There is an opening for centurion," she said. "One of our officers, also a senator, has decided to step down. After ten years in the legion, she will retire to the city and attend college. Gwen of the Fifth Cohort, we thank you for your service."

Everyone turned to Gwen, who managed a brave smile. She looked tired from the previous night's ordeal, but also relieved. Even Hadley had to agree college sounded better than getting skewered with a pilum.

"As praetor," Reyna continued, "I have a right to replace officers. I admit it's unusual for a camper on probatio to rise directly to the rank of centurion, but I think we can agree... last night was unusual. Frank Zhang, your ID please."

Frank removed the lead tablet from around his neck and handed it to Octavian.

"Your arm," Octavian said.

Frank held up his forearm. Octavian raised his hands to the heavens. "We accept Frank Zhang, Son of Mars, to the Twelfth Legion Fulminata for his first year of service. Do you pledge your life to the senate and people of Rome?"

Frank muttered something like. "Ud-dud." Then cleared his throat and managed. "I do."

The senators shouted, "Senatus Populusque Romanus!"

Fire blazed on Frank's arm. For a moment his eyes filled with terror, Hadley worried he might pass out. The smoke and flame died, and new marks were seared onto Frank's skin: SPQR, an image of crossed spears, and a single stripe, representing the first year of service.

"You may sit down." Octavian glanced at the audience as if to say: This wasn't my idea, folks.

"Now," Reyna said, "we must discuss the quest."

The senators shifted and muttered as Frank returned to his seat.

"Did it hurt?" Percy whispered.

Frank looked at his forearm, which was still steaming. "Yeah. A lot." He seemed mystified by the badges in his hand- the centurion's mark and the Mural Crown- like he wasn't sure what to do with them.

"Here." Hazel's eyes shone with pride. "Let me."

She pinned the medals on Frank's shirt.

"You earned it, Frank," Hadley looked over at him with a small smile.

Frank scowled. "But centurion-"

"Centurion Zhang," called Octavian. "Did you hear the question?"

Frank blinked. "Um... sorry. What?"

Octavian turned to the senate and smirked, like, What did I tell you?

"I was asking," Octavian said like he was talking to a three-year-old, "if you have a plan for the quest. Do you even know where you're going?"

"Um..."

Hazel put her hand on Frank's shoulder and stood. "Weren't you listening last night, Octavian? Mars was pretty clear. We're going to the land beyond the gods- Alaska."

The senators squirmed in their togas. Some of the ghosts shimmered and disappeared. Even Reyna's metal dogs rolled over on their backs and whimpered.

Finally, Senator Larry stood. "I know what Mars said, but that's crazy. Alaska is cursed! They call it the land beyond the gods for a reason. It's so far north, the Roman gods have no power there. The place is swarming with monsters. No demigods have come back from there alive since-"

"Since you lost your eagle," Percy said.

Larry was so startled, he fell back on his podex.

"Look," Percy continued, "I know I'm new here. I know you guys don't like to mention that massacre in the nineteen-eighties-"

"He mentioned it!" one of the ghosts whimpered.

"-But don't you get it?" Percy continued. "The Fifth Cohort led that expedition. We failed, and we have to be responsible for making things right. That's why Mars is sending us. This giant, the son of Gaea- he's the one who defeated your forces thirty years ago. I'm sure of it. Now he's sitting up there in Alaska with a chained death god, and all your old equipment. He's mustering his armies and sending them south to attack this camp."

"Really?" Octavian said. "You seem to know a lot about our enemy's plans, Percy Jackson."

Hadley glared at Octavian, hoping if she stared hard enough that his head might explode. He was calling Percy a spy, a traitor. His shoulders tensed and for a moment he looked as if he might attack the augur. Hadley wished he did.

Percy took a deep breath.

"We're going to confront this son of Gaea," he said, managing to keep his composure. "We'll get back your eagle and unchain this god..." He glanced at Hazel. "Thanatos, right?"

She nodded. "Letus, in Roman. But his old Greek name is Thanatos. When it comes to Death... we're happy to let him stay in Greek."

Octavian sighed in exasperation. "Well, whatever you call him... how do you expect to do all this and get back by the Feast of Fortuna? That's the evening of the twenty-fourth. It's the twentieth now. Do you even know where to look? Do you even know who the son of Gaea is?"

"Yes," Hazel spoke with such certainty that even Hadley was surprised. "I don't know exactly where to look, but I have a pretty good idea. The giant's name is Alcyoneus."

The name seemed to lower the temperature of the room by fifty degrees. The senators shivered.

Reyna gripped her podium. "How do you know this, Hazel? Because you're a child of Pluto?"

Nico di Angelo had been so quiet, Hadley had almost forgotten he was there. Now he stood in his black toga.

"Praetor, if I may," he said. "Hazel and I... we learned a little about the giants from our father. Each giant was bred specifically to oppose one of the twelve Olympian gods- to usurp that god's domain. The king of the giants was Porphyrion, the anti-Jupiter. But the eldest giant was Alcyoneus. He was born to oppose Pluto. That's why we know of him in particular."

Nico picked at the edge of his toga. "Anyway... the giants were hard to kill. According to prophecy, they could only be killed by gods and demigods working together."

Dakota belched. "Sorry, did you say gods and demigods... like fighting side by side? That could never happen!"

"It has happened," Nico said. "In the first giant war, the gods called on heroes to join them, and they were victorious. Whether it could happen again, I don't know. But with Alcyoneus... he was different. He was completely immortal, impossible to kill by god or demigod, as long as he remained in his home territory- the place he was born."

Nico paused to let that sink in. "And if Alcyoneus has been reborn in Alaska-"

"Then he can't be defeated there," Hazel finished. "Ever. By any means. Which is why our nineteen-eighties expedition was doomed to fail."

Another round of arguing and shouting broke out.

"The quest is impossible!" shouted a senator.

"We're doomed!" cried a ghost.

"More Kool-Aid!" yelled Dakota.

"Silence!" Reyna called. "Senators, we must act like Romans. Mars has given us this quest, and we have to believe it is possible. These four demigods must travel to Alaska. They must free Thanatos and return before the Feast of Fortuna. If they can retrieve the lost eagle in the process, so much better. All we can do is advise them and make sure they have a plan."

Reyna looked at Percy without much hope. "You do have a plan?"

Percy looked around at the nervous senators. "First, I need to understand something." He turned toward Nico. "I thought Pluto was the god of the dead. Now I hear about this other guy, Thanatos, and the Doors of Death from that prophecy- the Prophecy of Eight. What does all that mean?"

Nico took a deep breath. "Okay. Pluto is the god of the Underworld, but the actual god of death, the one who's responsible for making sure souls go to the afterlife and stay there- that's Pluto's lieutenant, Thanatos. He's like... well, imagine Life and Death are two different countries. Everybody would like to be in Life, right? So there's a guarded border to keep people from crossing back over without permission. But it's a big border, with lots of holes in the fence. Pluto tries to seal up the branches, but new ones keep popping up all the time. That's why he depends on Thanatos, who's like the border patrol, the police."

"Thanatos watches souls," Percy said, "and reports them back to the Underworld."

"Exactly," Nico said. "But now Thanatos has been captured, chained up."

Frank raised his hand. "Uh... how do you chain Death?"

"It's been done before," Nico said. "In the old days, a guy named Sisyphus tricked Death and tied him up. Another time, Hercules wrestled him to the ground."

"And now a giant has captured him," Percy said. "So if we could free Thanatos, then the dead would stay dead?" He glanced at Gwen. "Um... no offense."

"It's more complicated than that," Nico said.

Octavian rolled his eyes. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"You mean the Doors of Death," Reyna said, ignoring Octavian. "They are mentioned in the Prophecy of Eight, which sent the first expedition to Alaska-"

Cato the ghost snorted. "We all know how that turned out! We Lares remember!"

The other ghosts grumbled in agreement.

Nico put his finger to his lips. Suddenly all the Lares went silent. Some looked alarmed, like their mouths had been glued together. Hadley wished he could use that power on real people... like Octavian.

"Thanatos is only part of the solution," Nico explained. "The Doors of Death... well, that's a concept even I don't completely understand. There are many ways into the Underworld- The River Styx, the Door of Orpheus- plus smaller escape routes that open up from time to time. With Thanatos imprisoned, all those exits will be easier to use. Sometimes it might work to our advantage and let friendly souls come back- like Gwen here. More often, it will benefit evil souls and monsters, the sneaky ones who are looking to escape. Now, the Doors of Death- those are the personal Doors of Thanatos, his fast lane between Life and Death. Only Thanatos is supposed to know where they are, and the location shifts over the ages. If I understand correctly, the Doors of Death have been forced open. Gaea's minions have seized control of them-"

"Which means Gaea gets to decide who comes back," Hadley guessed.

Nico nodded. "She can pick and choose who to let out- the worst monsters, the most evil souls. If we rescue Thanatos, that means at least he can catch souls again and send them below. Monsters will die when we kill them, like they used to, and we'll get a little breathing room. But unless we're able to retake the Doors of Death, our enemies won't stay down for long. They'll have an easy way back to the world of the living."

"So we can catch them and deport them," Percy summed up, "but they'll just keep coming back across."

"In a depressing nutshell, yes," Nico said.

Frank scratched his head. "But Thanatos knows where the doors are, right? If we free him, he can retake them."

"I don't think so," Nico said. "Not alone. He's no match for Gaea. That would take a massive quest... an army of the best demigods."

"Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death," Reyna said. "That's the Prophecy of Eight..." She looked at Percy and for a moment, Hadley could see the fear in her eyes. "If this begins the ancient prophecy, we don't have the resources to send an army to these Doors of Death and protect the camp. I can't imagine even sparing eight demigods-"

"First things first," Percy said. "I don't know who the eight are, or what that old prophecy means, exactly. But first, we have to free Thanatos. Mars told us we only need four people for the quest to Alaska. Let's concentrate on succeeding with that and getting back before the Feast of Fortuna. Then we can worry about the Doors of Death."

"Yeah," Frank said in a small voice. "That's probably enough for one week."

"So you do have a plan?" Octavian asked skeptically.

Percy looked at his teammates. "We got to Alaska as fast as possible..."

"Kill some monsters." Hadley tried to smile confidently.

"And we improvise," Hazel said.

"A lot," Frank added.

Reyna studied them. She looked like she was mentally writing her own obituary.

"Very well," she said. "Nothing remains except for us to vote what support we can give the quest- transportation, money, magic, weapons."

"Praetor, if I may," Octavian said.

"Oh, great," Percy muttered. "Here it comes."

"The camp is in grave danger," Octavian said. "Two gods have warned us we will be attacked four days from now. We must not spread out resources too thin, especially by funding projects that have a slim chance of success."

Octavian looked at the four of them with pity, as if to say, Poor little things. "Mars has clearly chosen the least likely candidates for this quest, one of whom has let us down before. Perhaps that is because he considered them the most expendable."

Hadley's whole body went rigid. Her knuckles were bone white on the arm of her chair. Several senators and ghosts looked over at her while she tried to keep a straight face. Percy, Hazel, and Frank glanced at her with concern and confusion but she avoided their gaze, choosing to keep her hard stare on Octavian. She wasn't sure she could look her friends in the eyes without breaking.

"Perhaps Mars is playing the long odds," Octavian continued. "Whatever the case, he wisely didn't order a massive expedition, nor did he ask us to fund their adventure. I say we keep our resources here and defend the camp. This is where the battle will be lost or won. If these four succeed, wonderful! But they should do so by their own ingenuity."

An uneasy murmur passed through the crowd. Frank jumped to his feet, seeming to take Hadley's place as the one ready to attack Octavian. Before he could start a fight, Percy said, "Fine! No problem. But at least give us transportation. Gaea is the earth goddess, right? Going overland, across the earth- I'm guessing we should avoid that. Plus, it'll be too slow."

Octavian laughed. "Would you like us to charter you an airplane?"

"No," Percy said quickly. "Air travel... I have a feeling that would be bad, too. But a boat. Can you at least give us a boat?"

Hazel made a grunting sound. Hadley glanced over. She shook her head and mouthed, Fine. I'm fine.

"A boat!" Octavian turned to the senators. "The son of Neptune wants a boat. Sea travel has never been the Roman way, but he isn't much of a Roman!"

"Octavian," Reyna said sternly, "a boat is little enough to ask. And providing no other aid seems very-"

"Traditional!" Octavian exclaimed. "It is very traditional. Let us see if these questers have the strength to survive without help, like true Romans!"

More muttering filled the chamber. The senators' eyes moved back and forth between Octavian and Reyna, watching the test of wills.

Reyna straightened in her chair. "Very well," she said tightly. "We'll put it to a vote. Senators, the motion is as follows: The quest shall go to Alaska. The senate shall provide full access to the Roman navy docked at Alameda. No other aid will be forthcoming. The four adventurers will survive or fail on their own merits. All in favor?"

Every senator's hand went up.

"The motion is passed." Reyna turned to Frank. "Centurion, your party is excused. The senate has other matters to discuss. And, Octavian, if I may confer with you for a moment."

 

🌊

 

As they exited the hall, Hadley took a deep breath and finally let her shoulders relax.

"You okay, Hadley?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Hadley nodded. "I'm just not a fan of senate meetings. Especially with Octavian making everything more difficult."

Hazel picked up a large emerald from the path and slipped it into her pocket. "So... we're pretty much toast?"

Frank nodded miserably. "If you guys want to back out, I wouldn't blame you."

"Are you kidding?" Hazel said. "And pull sentry duty for the rest of the week?"

Hadley did her best to smile. "No way I'm staying behind. I've got your back."

"I'm with you," Percy told him. "Besides, I want to check out the Roman navy."

They were only halfway across the forum when someone called, "Jackson!" Hadley turned and saw Octavian running toward them.

"What do you want?"Percy asked.

Octavian smiled. "Already decided I'm your enemy? That's a rash choice, Percy. I'm a loyal Roman."

Frank snarled. "You backstabbing, slimy-" Hadley had to grab his arms to restrain him.

"Oh, dear," Octavian said. "Hardly the right behavior for a new centurion. Seems Hadley isn't a very good role model. Do yourself a favor Zhang and don't follow her lead on this quest if you want to do well. But hey, maybe you'll get lucky and Victoria will bless your pitiful mission."

"Just tell us what you wanted," Percy snapped.

"I only followed you because Reyna charged me with a message. She wants you to report to the principia without your- ah- lackeys, here. Reyna will meet you there after the senate adjourns. She'd like a private word with you before you leave on your quest."

"What about?" Percy said.

"I'm sure I don't know." Octavian smiled wickedly. "The last person she had a private talk with was Jason Grace. And that was the last time I ever saw him. Good luck and goodbye, Percy Jackson."

Chapter 9: ix - the mighty roman rowboat - ix

Lunch felt like a funeral party. Everybody ate. People talked in hushed tones. Nobody seemed particularly happy. The other campers kept looking over at Hadley like they were waiting for her to make the smallest mistake.

Reyna made a brief speech wishing them luck. Octavian ripped open a Beanie Baby and pronounced grave omens and hard times ahead, but predicted the camp would be saved by an unexpected hero(whose initials were probably OCTAVIAN). Then the other campers went off to their afternoon classes- gladiator fighting, Latin lessons, paintball with ghosts, eagle training, and a dozen other activities that didn't fill Hadley with dread. Percy, Hazel, Frank, and Hadley headed back to the barracks to pack.

She didn't need much. A spare shirt and pants, extra hair ties, nectar, ambrosia, snacks, some mortal money, and basic camping supplies. Her ring had already been retrieved from Terminus and sat in its place on her finger.

She carelessly shoved her change of clothes into her bag, Hadley felt something bounce off her foot and land on the floor. The colorful beads of a handmade bracelet caught her eye and she picked it up with a delicate touch she saved for very few things.

When she was six, Hadley had heard her father and his teammates talking about an important game of theirs. One fit for the finale of a sports movie, rival teams clashing in their own final battle. Hadley made her father a bracelet, with his jersey number and her name spelled out in beads, and gave it to him for good luck. On the day of the game, her father surprised her with her own bracelet. Gold and green beads decorated a purple string, and lettered beads spelled "champion".

Hadley felt a pain in her heart but she shook her head, banishing the feeling. This was how it worked, mortal parents aren't safe in a demigod's world. Just like the gods, they couldn't be a part of their child's life. It was for the best.

Hadley told herself she believed that.

One of their roommates, Bobby, gave them a ride to the border of the valley on Hannibal the elephant. From the hilltops, Hadley could see everything below. The Little Tiber snaked across the golden pastures where unicorns were grazing. The temples and forums of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. On the Field of Mars, engineers were hard at work, pulling down the remains of last night's fort and setting up barricades for a game of deathball. A normal day for Camp Jupiter- but on the northern horizon, storm clouds were gathering.

They got off the elephant. Bobby wished them a safe journey. Hannibal wrapped the four questers with his trunk. Then the elephant taxi service headed back to the valley.

Percy sighed as they walked toward the border.

A familiar voice said, "IDs, please."

A statue of Terminus appeared at the summit of the hill. The god's marble face frowned irritably. "Well? Come along!"

"You again?" Percy asked. "I thought you just guarded the city."

Terminus huffed. "Glad to see you, too, Mr. Rule Flouter. Normally, yes, I guard the city, but for international departures, I like to provide extra security at the camp borders. You really should've allowed two hours before your planned departure time, you know. But we'll have to make do. Now, come over here so I can pat you down."

"But you don't have-" Percy was cut off as Hadley elbowed him. "Uh, sure."

He stood next to the armless statue. Terminus conducted a rigorous mental pat-down.

"You seem to be clean," Terminus decided. "Do you have anything to declare?"

"Yes," Percy said. "I declare this stupid."

Hadley snorted and covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled. Percy looked back at her and smiled to himself, glad she was getting back to normal.

"Hmph!" Terminus scoffed. "Probatio tablet: Percy Jackson, Fifth Cohort, son of Neptune. Fine, go. Hadley Richards, daughter of Victoria. Very well. Let's hope you have better luck this time."

"Thanks," Hadley mumbled with a scowl.

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto. Fine. Any foreign currency or, ahem, precious metals to declare?"

"No," she muttered.

"Are you sure?" Terminus asked.

"No!"

"Well, this is a grumpy bunch," said the god. "Quest travelers! Always in a rush. Now, let's see- Frank Zhang. Ah! Centurion? Well done, Frank. And that haircut is regulation perfect. I approve! Off you go, then, Centurion Zhang. Do you need any directions today?"

"No. No, I guess not."

"Just down to the BART station," Terminus said anyway. "Change trains at Twelfth Street in Oakland. You want Fruitvale Station. From there, you can walk or take the bus to Almeda."

"You guys don't have a magical BART train or something?" Percy asked.

"Magic trains!" Terminus scoffed. "You'll be wanting your own security lane and a pass to the executive lounge next. Just travel safely, and watch out for Polybotes. Talk about scofflaws- bah! I wish I could throttle him with my bare hands."

"Wait- who?" Percy asked.

Terminus made a straining expression, like he was flexing his nonexistent biceps. "Ah, well. Just be careful of him. I imagine he can smell a son of Neptune a mile away. Out you go, now. Good luck!"

An invisible force kicked them across the boundary. When they looked back, it was as if the whole camp had disappeared from the valley.

Percy looked at his friends. "Any idea what Terminus was talking about? Watch out for... Political something or other?"

"Poh-LIB-uh-tease?" Hazel sounded out the name carefully. "Never heard of him."

"Sounds Greek," Frank said.

"That narrows it down." Percy sighed. "Well, we probably just appeared on the smell radar for every monster within five miles."

Hadley nodded. "Let's get moving."

It took them two hours to reach the dock in Alameda. Although, anything was better than sitting in a senate meeting with Octavian. The farther they got from camp, the more the knots in Hadley's stomach calmed.

Frank had stored his spear, bow, and quiver in a long nag made for skis. Hazel's cavalry sword was wrapped in a bedroll slung on her back. Together the four of them looked like normal high schoolers on their way to an overnight trip. They walked to Rockridge Station, bought their tickets with mortal money, and hopped on the BART train.

They got off in Oakland, Hadley squinted in the sunlight as they walked through the city. They had to walk through some pretty rough neighborhoods, but nobody bothered them. Whenever anyone came close enough to look them in the eyes, Hadley and Percy would give them a look and they would quickly avert their gaze. He had clearly perfected his wolf stare that Lupa taught everyone.

In the late afternoon, they made it to the Alameda docks. Percy took a deep breath as they walked onto the docks.

Dozens of boats were moored at the docks- everything from fifty-foot yachts to ten-foot fishing boats. Hadley looked around for the Roman navy. Possibly a magic vessel, or a giant warship with an intimidating creature at the bow. One to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies.

"Um... you guys know what we're looking for?" Percy asked.

The others shook their heads.

"I didn't even know we had a navy." Hazel sounded as if she wished there wasn't one.

"Oh..." Frank pointed. "You don't think...?"

At the end of the dock was a tiny boat, like a dinghy, covered in a purple tarp. Embroidered in faded gold along the canvas was S.P.Q.R.

"No way," Percy said.

Hadley stared at the boat in dismay. "You can't be serious."

Percy uncovered the boat, his hands working the knots like he's been doing it his whole life. Under the tarp was an old steel rowboat with no oars. The boat had been painted dark blue at one point, but the hull was crusted with tar and salt it looked like one massive nautical bruise.

On the bow, the name Pax was still readable, lettered in gold. Painted eyes dropped sadly at the water level, as if the boat were about to fall asleep. On board were two benches, some steel wool, an old cooler, and a mound of frayed rope with one end tied to the mooring. At the bottom of the boat, a plastic bag and two empty Coke cans floated in several inches of scummy water.

"Behold," Frank said. "The mighty Roman navy."

"There's got to be a mistake," Hazel said. "This is a piece of junk."

Hadley nodded to herself. "I'm going back to murder Octavian."

She turned and started to leave but Percy reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back toward them. She didn't argue but scowled at the boat as Percy released her and jumped aboard. He gathered up the garbage in the cooler and put it on the dock. He willed the scummy water to flow over the sides and out of the boat. Then he pointed at the steel wool and it flew across the floor, scrubbing and polishing so fast, the steel began to smoke. When it was done, the boat was clean. Percy pointed at the rope, and it untied itself from the dock.

"This'll do," he said. "Hop in."

Hadley, Frank, and Hazel shared stunned looks for a moment. Then Hadley shrugged and stepped into the boat. However, she didn't account for how much it was going to rock as she came aboard and fell forward into Percy's chest. His hands went to her waist as he caught her, looking like he was holding back a laugh.

"Shut up," Hadley steadied herself and hoped she wasn't blushing. "But, thanks."

"No problem," Percy chuckled.

Hazel and Frank climbed aboard and they all settled on the seats. Percy concentrated, and the boat slipped away from the dock. They started out toward the water and the boat rocked slightly.

"Get off my ship," Percy growled.

"Uh, what?" Frank asked.

Percy didn't respond for a moment. "Nothing. Let's see what this rowboat can do."

He turned the boat to the north and in no time they were speeding along toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

Hadley took a deep breath. This was a new quest. A new chance. She instinctively fidgeted with the bracelet on her wrist, twisting the beads and feeling the indentation of each letter beneath her fingers. She told herself she wasn't scared. That she was a daughter of Victoria, and winning was in her blood.

Chapter 10: x - grass will steal your friends - x

Percy kept the boat at high speed as they sailed. They sped past a pack of sea lions lounging on the docks, and Hadley swore she saw a homeless man sitting among them. From across the water, the old man pointed a bony finger at them and mouthed something like Don't even think about it.

"Did you see that?" Hazel asked.

"The human form of a moldy gym sock?" Hadley asked. "Yeah."

Percy's face was red in the sunset. "Yeah. I've been here before. I... I don't know. I think I was looking for my friend."

"Annabeth," Frank said. "You mean on your way to Camp Jupiter?"

Percy frowned. "No, before that." He scanned the city like he was still looking for Annabeth until they passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and turned north.

Hadley looked over at Percy as he sped the boat through the water. He looked completely at home, the wind blew his messy hair out of his face, revealing his sea-green eyes. He stared across the horizon, looking as if he was in deep thought.

"You okay?" Frank asked Hazel. "You look queasy."

"Seasickness," she confessed. "I didn't think it would be this bad."

Frank pouted like it was somehow his fault. He started digging in his backpack. "I've got some nectar. And some crackers. Um, my grandmother says ginger helps... I don't have any of that, but-"

"It's okay." Hazel mustered a smile. "That's sweet of you, though."

Frank pulled out a saltine. It snapped in his big fingers. Cracker exploded everywhere.

Hazel laughed. "Gods, Frank... Sorry. I shouldn't laugh."

Percy wasn't paying much attention. He kept his eyes fixed on the shoreline. As they passed Stinson Beach, he pointed inland, where a single mountain rose above the green hills.

"That looks familiar," he said.

"Mount Tam," Hadley told him.

"Kids at camp are always talking about it," Frank said. "Big battle happened on the summit, at the old Titan base."

Percy frowned. "Were you guys there?"

"Not Frank and I," Hazel said. "That was back in August, before I- um, before I got to camp. Jason told me about it. The legion destroyed the enemy's palace and about a million monsters. Jason and Hadley went to battle Krios. He said he needed her as backup." She glanced nervously at the older girl.

Hadley pursed her lips. "The senate argued but he insisted." She gave a small shrug. "Hand-to-hand combat with a Titan, if you can imagine."

"I can imagine," Percy muttered.

Hadley wasn't sure what he meant. But she recognized the aura of power he and Jason shared. And a kind of sadness she was very familiar with, like they'd seen their destiny and knew it was only a matter of time before they met a monster they couldn't beat.

After a few minutes, Frank and Hazel drifted off to sleep. Hadley smiled as they leaned against each other while Frank snored softly.

"Did you really go to Mount Tam?" Percy asked after a moment of silence.

Hadley turned to him. "Yeah. Last summer."

"What was it like?" He leaned forward in anticipation. "I just- I feel like I've been there before."

"Um," Hadley paused. "It was swarming with monsters. I guess they figured we were coming. We must have been outnumbered five to one. Inside was a giant black throne, it was barely shorter than Krios. Does that sound familiar?"

"Krios... a titan." Percy shook his head. "No, not him. What happened?"

"Well, Jason had to fight Krios practically by himself. There was a group of monsters I was dealing with. I just kind of... lost it."

"Really?" Percy asked in disbelief.

"I don't know what happened. I was doing fine. Then everything just felt heavy all of a sudden it was like something was pushing me down. My vision got all blurry and the next thing I knew, Jason was pushing me out of the way. He saved my life and nearly died." Hadley scowled at the water. "Octavian certainly enjoyed that story. And making sure everyone knew it was my fault their new praetor almost died."

"That wasn't your fault, Hadley."

"I'm the one who couldn't hold my own while Jason was fighting a literal titan." She slapped the water where her reflection would have been. "Only the most powerful being in existence, and I can't even fight an empousa."

Percy watched as she glared at the waves below their boat. The wind blew the hair from her face so she couldn't hide her irritated expression. There was a saying that looks could kill, Percy was pretty sure that was about Hadley, her eyes could have been made of daggers.

"Well," Percy started, "if it means anything, you're the best fighter I've ever seen."

Her sharp eyes moved to his face and softened, no longer lethal weapons. She didn't say anything but Percy could see the quiet thanks in her eyes.

"Why don't you get some sleep, Hadley," Percy told her softly. "I think I'll be able to wrangle our navy for a while."

Hadley gave a small laugh and nodded. She leaned against the side of the boat, resting her head on her arm and allowing herself to drift away.

 

🌊

 

Hadley dreamt of Camp Jupiter's training ground. Stuffing littered the flattened grass along with cloth limbs from several training dummies that had already suffered the fate of being Hadley's foe. The one in front of her had a painted-on scowl like it was ready to avenge its fallen brothers. She stabbed at the dummy, severing its arm which dropped to the ground. She continued her attacks until the dummy was nothing but scraps and a painted expression of terror.

"Great job," said a voice behind her. "Now when Jason stands perfectly still, you'll be able to beat him."

Hadley turned to see a girl her age with long brunette hair braided over her shoulder. Her gladius hung at her side, swinging with her hips as she walked over to Hadley.

She rested her sword on her shoulder with a smirk. "I could beat him if he moved as fast as Hannibal at feeding time and he knows it, Mia."

Mia was different than Hadley remembered. She was taller and tanner, her muscles were more defined, and her face had more freckles. But her smile was the same, as well as the mischievous look in her eyes. The sound of her voice lifted Hadley's heart like she hadn't heard it in years.

The brunette put her hands on her hips. "Speaking of the sparkler, we promised to meet with him for lunch and battle strategy, remember?"

"I'm only going because he's buying," Hadley turned her sword back into a ring, slipping it onto her finger. "He can blabber on about formations if he wants but I will be basking in the sun with my strawberry lemonade."

Mia rolled her eyes playfully. "We're not going to win if we don't have a plan."

"Well then you two can plan away to your heart's content," Hadley smiled. "I'll still dominate the battlefield no matter what."

"Of course you will," Mia laughed. "But you know he'll get all cranky and zappy when you aren't paying attention."

"He'll live."

Hadley grabbed her hand and they rushed away. But something felt off. Mia's hand felt unnatural in hers. The sun shone down on them, but it didn't feel warm. Hadley knew this wasn't right. Hadley wasn't at home, neglecting to prepare for war games. Jason wasn't waiting in the city to eat lunch and complain about Hadley's lack of planning. Mia wasn't as old as her, running down the path with their fingers intertwined. She was gone.

This is what you want. Hadley slowed as a voice echoed in her mind, Mia's hand slipped from hers as she continued forward. I can give it to you.

"You can?" Hadley smiled as Mia looked over her shoulder at her.

"Getting tired already?" She teased, turning back to her with her hands on her hips. Hadley had a feeling she couldn't hear the voice.

You can have this and more. The voice said sweetly. All I need is your loyalty.

"Loyalty?"

Yes. Swear yourself to me, abandon your futile quest.

"Gaea," Hadley realized. "Why would I be loyal to you?"

I can protect your friends. Even the ones you think you have lost.

"Hadley, what's wrong?" Mia started toward her.

"This," Hadley said. "This is wrong!"

"What are you talking about?"

Tread carefully, Hadley. Gaea warned. The gods do not care for you. They keep secrets. I can tell you the truth.

"I don't want your bullshit truth. I will never abandon my friends or my quest!" Hadley told her. "Your giants will fall and you will be nothing but mud and rocks."

Very well then. Gaea said. In front of her, Mia clutched her chest, staggering backward. She managed to straighten, revealing several long gashes from her collarbone to her stomach. Hadley felt like the breath had been stolen from her lungs as Mia looked up at her from her bloody hand. Mia's knees buckled and she fell toward the earth.

"No!" Hadley cried. She rushed to her friend, managing to catch her before she hit the ground. "Mia! Not again!"

"Haddie-" she started but her voice died as her eyes became glassy.

Hadley cradled her friend in her arms, she felt tears forming. A breeze blew her hair out of her face and stung her eyes.

My offer remains. Gaea's voice began to quiet, like it was blowing away in the wind.

"Hadley!" A familiar voice called.

She looked up through her tears and saw a boy in an orange shirt on the horizon. He cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. His blonde hair blew in the wind, it seemed as if he was controlling it, trying to banish the goddess's voice.

"Jason?" Hadley's voice broke, barely above a whisper.

"Hadley!" He sounded far away, like the wind was trying to steal his voice. "Don't listen to her! We're coming, just hang on!"

Hadley thought he was getting farther away, like something was pulling him backward. The wind blew harder and Hadley felt Mia's body slipping through her fingers. It was like the girl was disappearing and everything around them was being pulled through a black hole.

"Hadley! Hadley!" Frank shook her awake.

Her eyes shot open and she put her hands on Frank's shoulders to stop him from shaking her. "Woah, hey, Frank, calm down."

"Thank the gods," he sighed and sat back. "You were muttering in your sleep and it looked like you were crying then I couldn't wake you up and-"

"Are you okay?" Percy interrupted.

"Yeah," Hadley rubbed her eyes. "Yeah. Why? What's happening?"

"Hazel won't wake up," Frank said, sounding panicked.

The girl in question was still fast asleep next to Frank. Her breathing seemed normal and her face looked almost peaceful except for the slight tension in her brows. Hadley leaned forward to examine the girl.

"How long has she been asleep?" Hadley asked.

"I don't know. A while."

"Maybe it's her seasickness," Percy said. "We should get her ashore."

"Do it fast."

Percy quickly turned the boat and brought it up on the beach. Hadley scooped Hazel up in her arms and carried her ashore. They trekked up the beach and away from the sand. Hadley laid Hazel down on the ground and everyone held their breath as they waited for her to improve.

Suddenly, she stirred, mumbling in her sleep.

"Hazel!" Frank exclaimed. He grabbed her arms and tried to shake her awake like he did with Hadley. "Hazel! Come on, please! Wake up!"

She opened her eyes and everyone sighed with relief. Hazel sat up slowly and took in their surroundings.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Frank exhaled. "Thank the gods you're awake. We're in Mendocino, about a hundred and fifty miles north of the Golden Gate."

"A hundred and fifty miles?" Hazel groaned. "I've been out that long?"

"Are you feeling okay?" Hadley asked urgently. "Not dizzy or anything?"

Percy looked over at the young girl with concern, the sea wind sweeping his hair. "We couldn't wake you. Finally, we decided to bring you ashore. We thought maybe the seasickness-"

"It wasn't seasickness." Hazel took a deep breath. "I- I haven't been honest with you. What happened was a blackout. I have them once in a while."

"A blackout?" Frank took Hazel's hand. "Is it medical? Why haven't I noticed before?"

"I try to hide it," she admitted. "I've been lucky so far, but it's getting worse. It's not medical.... not really. Nico says it's a side effect from my past, from where he found me."

Percy looked at Hazel with a nearly unreadable expression. "Where exactly did Nico find you?"

"I'll explain," she promised.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hadley insisted.

She nodded and clawed through her pack. "Is... is there anything to drink?"

"Yeah," Percy muttered a curse in Greek. "That was dumb. I left my supplies down at the boat."

Hazel picked up her pack and sword and slung them over her shoulder. "Never mind. I can walk..."

"Don't even think about it," Frank said. "Not until you've had some food and water. I'll get the supplies."

"No, I'll go." Percy glanced at Frank's hand on Hazel's.

Hadley followed his gaze. "I'll come. I left my stuff on the boat, too."

Percy nodded. Then he scanned the horizon as if he sensed trouble, but there was nothing to see- just the lighthouse and the field of grass stretching inland. He met Hadley's eyes, silently sharing his concern with her. Her eyes darted over the landscape, looking for the danger Percy felt coming.

"You two stay here," Percy said. "We'll be right back."

"You sure?" Hazel said feebly. "I don't want you to-"

"It's fine," Percy said. "Frank, just keep your eyes open. Something about this place... I don't know."

"I'll keep her safe," Frank promised.

"We'll be fast," Hadley told them.

Then she and Percy dashed off. Despite Percy's taller physique and slight head start, Hadley quickly passed him.

"Hey," Percy called after her, "slow down. This isn't a race."

Hadley turned so she was running backward. "You only say that because you're losing."

A smile crept up Percy's face. "Oh, it's on."

He picked up the pace and slowly gained on Hadley. At least, that was until she turned back around and continued her sprint toward the boat. She reached the shore and came to a stop, pumping her fists in the air.

"Victory is mine!" she turned to Percy, who had just caught up with her and rested his hands on his knees while he caught his breath. "Take that, slowpoke."

"How do you run so fast?" Percy asked breathlessly. "You're not even winded."

Hadley laughed. "I've been training since I was eight, dummy."

"Hey, you already won. No need to add insult to injury."

"What good is winning if you don't get bragging rights?"

"You had a head start," he dramatically gasped for breath. "Cheater."

Hadley put a hand to her chest, pretending to be offended. "How dare you suggest I would cheat. I would never tarnish my victory with such tactics."

"Okay, okay, I concede defeat." Percy straightened and held out his hand. "Good game."

Hadley gave him a smug look and went to shake his hand. But at the last second, Percy flicked his wrist, and a ball of water flew up and broke over Hadley's head. She gasped and froze in shock as the cold water ran down her back and dripped into her face. Percy laughed hysterically and held his sides as he nearly fell over.

"You should see your face!" Percy said between laughs.

"You absolute toaster!" Hadley exclaimed and started to wring out her hair.

"Yes, I am. Because you're toast."

Hadley stopped sharply at Percy's comment. The boy froze as she slowly turned to him with a dangerous look in her eyes. "Oh, you're gonna get it now."

"Hadley," Percy held up a hand and took a step back. "Hadley, Hadley, wait. Don't listen to Nike. Just don't do it!"

He yelped and turned to run away as Hadley charged at him. He tried to run toward the ocean in a serpentine-like manner to throw her off. But she lunged and wrapped her arms around his stomach, tackling him to the ground and pinning his arms to his sides. Percy landed face-first in the sand with Hadley right next to him, her hold on him still firm. Percy lifted his head and spat sand from his mouth.

"Admit defeat!" Hadley demanded.

Percy wriggled in her grasp, trying to escape. He managed to free one of his arms and covered Hadley's face with his hand in an attempt to blind her.

"I will strand you in the ocean."

"I hope sand gets in your socks and you can never get it out!"

Percy quickly rolled onto his back and pushed Hadley off of him. "That's the meanest thing you've ever said to me."

They both sat up and stared at each other. Percy's face was covered in sand, leaving him looking like some kind of sand monster. Laughter burst from Hadley's mouth at the sight of him. Unable to form words, she simply pointed at his face to explain the source of her outburst. Percy watched fondly as Hadley threw her head back with laughter. Her clothes and hair were still damp, causing the sand to stick to her skin and clothes in a thin layer. She ran a hand through her hair which only managed to get more sand in it.

"Here, let me help," Percy chuckled. He moved closer to her, brushed off his hands, and started picking sand out of her hair.

Hadley hadn't stopped giggling. "Thanks," She combed her fingers through her hair. "This is your fault anyway."

"Well, you didn't have to tackle me."

"Agree to disagree."

Once they had gotten most of the sand from her hair, Percy lifted the bottom of his shirt and used it to wipe the sand off his face. "Ugh, I think I swallowed sand."

"Good," Hadley tried to sound serious but her voice was shaking with laughter.

Percy dropped his shirt and Hadley turned away to make sure he couldn't see the pink tint on her face. He stood up and extended a hand toward Hadley, who gave him a smirk and crossed her arms.

"I don't know if I trust you anymore."

The corner of his mouth turned up. "Seriously?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "How do I know you won't drench me with water again?"

"I promise I won't," he reached out toward her. "Truce."

Hadley smiled and took his hand, Percy pulled her to her feet. Their faces were so close Hadley could see the depths of his sea-green eyes. She never got a chance to really see the ocean before, especially after she arrived at Camp Jupiter. They were always taught the ocean was bad luck. No Roman would dare set foot in the water unless told to by a god. But if the whole ocean looked like Percy's eyes the legion would surely change its stance on the water. Percy had ocean eyes that she would gladly let take her out to sea.

Percy stared back at her with the faintest hint of a smile that Hadley wasn't quite sure was real. She realized that she was still holding onto his hand. Her stomach twisted. A warm feeling filled her, an uncommon sensation for the girl. She must have been sick -which is absolutely unacceptable- Hadley would never let her immune system lose to something as stupid as a cold or flu. It was beneath her.

Suddenly, Hadley heard shouting in the distance. She whipped her head around to face where Frank and Hazel were waiting at the top of the hill.

"Was that Frank?" Percy asked.

"I think so," Hadley said. "Something's wrong."

They didn't waste another second before rushing back up the hill. When they reached the top they found Frank standing there, bow at the ready, with no Hazel in sight. Hadley cursed under her breath. How could she let this happen? She was supposed to protect her friends, but she had let herself get distracted and now Hazel was missing.

"Frank, what happened?" Percy asked, pulling his pen from his pocket.

"They took Hazel!" He cried.

"Who?" Hadley looked past him for any sign of the girl. "Took her where?"

"These little grain monster things- I don't know she's just gone!"

"Wait," Percy held a hand up, "do you hear that?"

The three of them stayed as quiet as possible for a moment. Over the sound of the wind, Hadley could make out the sound of a voice. She couldn't hear what they were saying but she knew it was Hazel.

"Over there," Percy pointed in the direction of her voice.

Hadley summoned her gladius. "Let's go find some grain monsters."

Notes:

you know, sometimes i write scenes
and then remember that real people
actually experience sexual attraction
but I'm ace and have no idea what it is

...anyway Hadley is asexual panromantic
i don't make the rules

Chapter 11: xi - giant army fights a rainbow - xi

Frank, Percy, and Hadley burst into the open and began to massacre every little creature they could find. Frank shot an arrow and turned the monster into seeds. Hadley stabbed one and spun around to quickly disintegrate another. Percy slashed Riptide and charged with Hadley toward the remaining creatures.

Within minutes, they had been reduced to piles of seeds and various breakfast cereals. Wheat started to re-form, but Percy pulled a lighter from his pack and sparked a flame.

"Try it," he warned, "and I'll set this whole field on fire. Stay dead. Stay away from us, or the grass gets it!"

Frank winced like the flame terrified him. Hadley didn't understand why but didn't have time to think about it as Hazel yelled, "He'll do it! He's crazy!"

"Yes, do it!" Hadley pointed her sword at the piles of grain. "Burn them to the ground!"

The remnants of the grain monsters scattered in the wind. Frank climbed the rock and watched them go.

Percy extinguished the lighter and grinned at Hazel. "Thanks for yelling. We wouldn't have found you otherwise. How'd you hold them off for so long?"

She pointed at the rock. "A big pile of schist."

"Excuse me?"

"Guys," Frank called from the top of the rock. "You need to see this."

Percy, Hadley, and Hazel climbed up to join him. Hadley's jaw dropped when she saw what he was looking at.

Hazel inhaled sharply. "Percy, no light! Put up your sword!"

"Schist." He touched the sword tip, and Riptide shrank back into a pen.

Down below them, an army was on the move.

The field dropped into a shallow ravine, where a country road wound north and south. On the opposite side of the road, grassy hills stretched to the horizon, empty of civilization except for one darkened convenience store at the top of the nearest rise.

The whole ravine was full of monsters- column after column marching south, so many and so close, Hadley was surprised they hadn't heard the fighting.

Hadley, Frank, Hazel, and Percy crouched against the rock. They watched in disbelief as several dozen large, hairy humanoids passed by, dressed in tattered bits of armor and animal fur. The creatures had six arms each, three sprouting on either side, so they looked like cavemen evolved from insects.

"Gegenes," Hazel whispered. "The Earthborn."

"You've fought them before?" Percy asked.

She shook her head. "Just heard about them in monster class at camp."

Hadley had never liked monster class- reading Pliny the Elder and those other authors who described legendary monsters. Hadley would sit in class and daydream about fighting the monsters rather than learning about them.

Fighting them sounded a lot easier when there wasn't an army marching by.

"The Earthborn fought the Argonauts," Hazel murmured. "And those things behind them-"

"Centaurs," Percy said. "But... that's not right. Centaurs are good guys."

Frank made a choking sound. "That's not what we were taught at camp. Centaurs are crazy, always getting drunk and killing heroes."

Hadley watched as the horsemen cantered past. They were human from the waist up, palomino from the waist down. They were dressed in barbarian armor of hide and bronze, armed with spears and slings. At first, it looked like they were wearing biking helmets. Then Hadley realized they had actual horns jutting from their shaggy hair.

"Are they supposed to have bull's horns?" Hazel asked.

"Maybe they're a special breed," Frank said. "Let's not ask them, okay?"

"Agreed."

Percy gazed farther down the road and his face went slack. "My gods... Cyclopes."

Sure enough, lumbering after the centaurs was a battalion of one-eyed ogres, both male and female, each about ten feet tall, wearing armor cobbled out of junkyard metal. Six of the monsters were yoked like oxen, pulling a two-story-tall siege tower fitted with a giant scorpion ballista.

Percy pressed the sides of his head. "Cyclopes. Centaurs. This is wrong. All wrong."

The monster army was enough to make anyone despair, but something else was going on with Percy. He looked pale and sickly in the moonlight, as if his memories were trying to come back, scrambling his mind in the process.

Hazel glanced at Frank. "We need to get him back to the boat. The sea will make him feel better."

"No argument," Frank said. "There are too many of them."

"We need to go. Now." Hadley agreed.

"The camp... we need to warn the camp."

"They know," Percy groaned. "Reyna knows."

A pit formed in Hadley's stomach. There was no way the legion could fight so many. And what was worse, she and her friends had barely started their quest and were already facing threats they couldn't possibly handle. Hadley wasn't sure if she would be able to protect her friends.

"Come on," Hazel urged. "Let's..."

Then she saw the giant.

When he appeared over the ridge, Hadley couldn't believe her eyes. He was taller than the siege tower- thirty feet, at least- with scaly reptilian legs like a Komodo dragon from the waist down and green-blue armor from the waist up. His breastplate was shaped like rows of hungry monstrous faces, their mouths open as if demanding food. His face was human, but his hair was wild and green, like a mop of seaweed. As he turned his head from side to side, snakes dropped from his dreadlocks. Viper dandruff- gross.

He was armed with a massive trident and a weighted net. Just the sight of those weapons filled Hadley's stomach with knots. She'd faced that type of fighter in gladiator training thousands of times. It was the trickiest, sneakiest, most evil combat style she knew. It was the hardest to beat and there was no honor in winning that way.

"Who is he?" Frank's voice quivered. "That's not-"

"Not Alcyoneus," Hazel said weakly. "One of his brothers, I think. The one Terminus mentioned. The grain spirit mentioned him, too. That's Polybotes."

Hadley could feel the giant's power. She knew they should leave. This giant was more powerful than anything she had ever seen and could see them clearly if it decided to look over at their hiding spot. She and her friends crept a little farther down the schist and kept watching.

As the giant got close, a Cyclops woman broke ranks and ran back to speak with him. She was enormous, fat, and horribly ugly, wearing a chain-mail dress like a muumuu- but next to the giant, she looked like a child.

She pointed to the closed-up convenience store on top of the nearest hill and muttered something about food. The giant snapped back an answer, as if he was annoyed. The female Cyclopes barked an order to her kindred, and three of them followed her up the hill.

When they were halfway to the store, a searing light turned night into day. Hadley was blinded. Below her, the enemy dissolved into chaos, monsters screaming in pain and outrage. Hadley squinted. She felt like she'd just stepped out of a dark theater into a sunny afternoon.

"Too pretty!" the Cyclopes shrieked. "Burns our eye!"

The store on the hill was encased in a rainbow, closer and brighter than any Hadley had ever seen. The light was anchored at the store, shooting up into the heavens, bathing the countryside in a weird kaleidoscopic glow.

The lady Cyclops hefted her club and charged at the store. As she hit the rainbow, her whole body began to steam. She wailed in agony and dropped her club, retreating with multicolored blisters all over her arms and face.

"Horrible goddess!" she bellowed at the store. "Give us snacks!"

The other monsters went crazy, charging at the convenience store, then running away as the rainbow light burned them. Some threw rocks, spears, swords, and even pieces of their armor, all of which burned up in flames of pretty colors.

Finally, the giant leader seemed to realize that his troops were throwing away perfectly good equipment.

"Stop!" he roared.

With some difficulty, he managed to shout and push and pummel his troops into submission. When they'd quieted down, he approached the rainbow-shielded store himself and stalked around the borders of the light.

"Goddess!" he shouted. "Come out and surrender!"

No answer from the store. The rainbow continued to shimmer.

The giant raised his trident and net. "I am Polybotes! Kneel before me so I may destroy you quickly."

Apparently, no one in the store was impressed. A tiny dark object came sailing out the window and landed at the giant's feet. Polybotes yelled, "Grenade!"

He covered his face. His troops hit the ground. Hadley put a hand on Percy and Frank's heads and pushed them down in case there was a large explosion.

When the thing did not explode, Hadley let Frank and Percy creep back up the rock. Polybotes bent down cautiously and picked it up.

He roared in outrage. "A Ding Dong? You dare insult me with a Ding Dong?" He threw the cake back at the shop, and it vaporized in the light.

The monsters got to their feet. Several muttered angrily. "Ding Dongs? Where Ding Dongs?"

"Let's attack," said the lady Cyclops. "I am hungry. My boys want snacks!"

"No!" Polybotes said. "We're already late. Alcyoneus wants us at camp in four days' time. You Cyclopes move inexcusably slowly. We have no time for minor goddesses!"

He aimed that last comment at the store, but got no response.

The lady Cyclops growled. "The camp, yes. Vengeance! The orange and purple ones destroyed my home! Now Ma Gasket will destroy theirs! Do you hear me, Leo? Jason? Piper? I come to annihilate you!"

The other Cyclopes bellowed in approval. The rest of the monsters joined in.

Hadley's whole body tensed. Ever since her dream, she had assumed Jason was dead. He had appeared after Mia, who Hadley knew was gone. She had thought he was just another illusion from Gaea in order to trick her.

Hazel glanced over at them.

"Jason," she whispered. "She fought Jason. He might still be alive."

"He's alive," Hadley said breathlessly.

Frank nodded. "Do those other names mean anything to you?"

Hazel and Hadley shook their heads. She didn't know any Leo and Piper in New Rome. Percy still looked sickly and dazed. If the names meant anything to him, he didn't show it.

Below them, the army began to march south again, but the giant Polybotes stood to one side, frowning and sniffing the air.

"Sea god," he muttered. Hadley almost thought her heart stopped. The giant turned in their direction. "I smell sea god."

Percy was shaking. Hadley put her hand on his shoulder and tried to press him flat against the rock.

The lady Cyclops Ma Gasket snarled. "Of course you smell sea god! The sea is right over there!"

"More than that," Polybotes insisted. "I was born to destroy Neptune. I can sense..." He frowned, turning his head and shaking out a few more snakes.

"Do we march or sniff the air?" Ma Gasket scolded. "I don't get Ding Dongs, you don't get sea god!"

Leave. Leave now. Hadley prayed.

Polybotes growled. "Very well. March! March!" He took one last at the rainbow-encased store, then raked his fingers through his hair. He brought out three snakes that seemed larger than the rest, with white markings around their necks. "A gift, goddess! My name, Polybotes, means 'Many-to-Feed!' Here are some hungry mouths for you. See if your store gets many customers with these sentries outside."

He laughed wickedly and threw the snakes into the tall grass on the hillside. Then he marched south, his massive Komodo legs shaking the earth. Gradually, the last column of monsters passed over the hills and disappeared into the night.

Once they were gone, the blinding rainbow shut off like a spotlight.

Hadley, Hazel, Frank, and Percy were left alone in the dark, staring across the road at a closed-up convenience store.

"That was different," Frank muttered.

Percy shuddered violently. Hadley knew he needed to get out of there. Seeing that army seemed to trigger some kind of memory, leaving him shell-shocked. They should get him back to the boat.

To her surprise, Hazel spoke up. "Let's go to the store. If there's a goddess inside, maybe she can help us."

Hadley's eyebrows furrowed with doubt but she didn't voice her concerns.

"Except a bunch of snake things are guarding the hill now," Frank said. "And that rainbow might come back."

"If we're careful we can avoid the snakes," Hadley said. "Or at least catch them off guard."

They all looked at Percy, who was shaking like he had hypothermia.

"We've got to try," Hazel said.

Frank nodded grimly. "Well... any goddess who throws a Ding Dong at a giant can't be all bad. Let's go."

Chapter 12: xii - rainbows are eco friendly - xii

As they walked, Hadley waited for the rainbow light to reappear. She figured it would probably wait until they got close and then vaporize all of them. But the building stayed dark. The snakes Polybotes had dropped seemed to have vanished. At least, Hadley had thought so. They were twenty yards from the porch when something hissed in the grass behind them.

"Go!" Frank yelled.

Hadley wanted to protest and tell Frank to go ahead while she dealt with the snake. But Percy stumbled and Hadley knew he was the one who needed help right now. She slung his arm over her shoulder, wrapping her other arm around his back. Hadley could hear Frank firing his arrows as she practically dragged Percy toward the store. Hazel reached the steps just before her and Percy.

"Frank!" Hazel yelled. "Come on!"

The snake sprang at him. Hadley released Percy, letting him stand on his own, and summoned her sword. But before she could leap in to save him, Frank swung his bow and smacked the monster down the hill. It spun out of sight, wailing, Screeeee!

Hadley almost let herself calm down. Then she heard an outraged hiss, answered by two more hisses farther downhill. A chill tan down her spine as she realized Frank was weaponless with two more snakes hiding in the grass.

"Frank! Get over here now!" Hadley ordered.

Frank dropped his disintegrating bow and ran for the porch. Hadley and Hazel pulled him up the steps and Hadley held up her sword as the snakes emerged. She started toward the stairs but Percy put a hand on her shoulder (actually, he nearly fell on her, but it stopped her from charging the snakes nonetheless). All three monsters circled in the grass, breathing fire and turning the hillside brown with their poisonous touch. They didn't seem to be willing to come closer to the store, which didn't make Hadley feel much better about it. She glared down at the snakes and lowered her sword, turning it back into a ring.

"We'll never get out of here," Frank said miserably.

"Then we'd better go in." Hazel pointed to the hand-painted sign over the door: Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles.

Hadley had no clue what that meant, but it was better than evil, poisonous snakes. At least she hoped so. She followed Hazel inside.

As they stepped through the door, lights came on. Flute music started up like they'd walked onto a stage. The wide aisles were lined with bins of nuts and dried fruit, baskets of apples, and clothing racks with tie-dyed shirts and gauzy Tinker Bell-type dresses. The ceiling was covered in wind chimes. Along the wall, glass cases displayed crystal balls, geodes, macramé dream catchers, and a bunch of other strange stuff. Incense must have been burning somewhere. It smelled like a bouquet of flowers was on fire.

"Fortune-teller's shop?" Frank wondered.

"I hope it's not," Hazel muttered.

"No," Hadley said casually. "Not enough velvet."

Frank gave her a confused look. "How do you know that?"

"I have my ways."

Percy leaned against Hadley. He looked worse than ever, like he'd been hit with a sudden case of the flu. His face glistened with sweat. "Sit down..." he muttered. "Maybe water."

"Yeah," Frank said. "Let's find you a place to rest."

The floorboards creaked under their feet. Frank navigated between two Neptune fountains.

A girl popped up from the granola bins. "Help you?"

Hadley held up her fists. Hazel jumped. Percy grabbed onto Hadley's arm. Frank lurched backward, knocking over one of the fountains. The sea god's head rolled off and water spewed out of his neck, spraying a rack of tie-dyed man satchels.

"Sorry!" Frank bent down to clean up the mess. He almost goosed the girl with his spear- which Hadley thought would have been fair since she had appeared out of nowhere.

"Eep!" she said. "Hold it! It's okay!"

Frank straightened slowly, clearly trying not to cause more damage. Hazel looked mortified. Percy turned a sickly shade of green as he stared at the decapitated statue of his dad. Hadley's eyes hadn't left the strange girl in front of them.

The girl clapped her hands. The fountain dissolved into mist. The water evaporated. She turned to Frank. "Really, it's no problem. Those Neptune fountains are so grumpy looking, they bum me out."

She reminded Hadley of the wife of one of her dad's teammates who would always give her bags of baby carrots. She was short and muscular, with lace-up boots, cargo shorts, and a bright yellow t-shirt that read R.O.F.L. Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles. She looked young, but her hair was frizzy white, sticking out on either side of her head like the white of a giant fried egg.

Her eyes were very distracting to look at. The irises changed color from gray to black to white.

"Uh... sorry about the fountain," Frank managed. "We were just-"

"Oh, I know!" The girl said. "You want to browse. It's all right. Demigods are welcome. Take your time. You're not like those awful monsters. They just want to use the restroom and never buy anything!'

"They said they wanted snacks," Hadley pointed out.

"None of those monsters would appreciate our healthy vegan alternatives."

"Fair enough."

She snorted. Her eyes flashed with lightning. Hadley glanced at the others to see if they noticed, they wore equally surprised faces.

From the back of the store, a woman's voice: "Fleecy? Don't scare the customers, now. Bring the here, will you?"

"Your name is Fleecy?" Hazel asked.

Fleecy giggled. "Well, in the language of the nebulae it's actually-" She made a series of crackling and blowing noises that sounded like a thunderstorm. "But you can call me Fleecy."

"Nebulae..." Percy muttered in a daze. "Cloud nymphs."

Fleecy beamed. "Oh, I like this one! Usually, no one knows about cloud nymphs. But dear me, he doesn't look so good."

"Yeah, can we get him some water or something?" Hadley asked.

"Come to the back. My boss wants to meet you. We'll get your friend fixed up."

Fleecy led them through the produce aisle, between rows of eggplants, kiwis, lotus fruit, and pomegranates- Hadley noticed a basket of the best-looking strawberries she had ever seen and would have grabbed had she not been making sure Percy didn't collapse. At the back of the store, behind a counter with an old-fashioned cash register, stood a middle-aged woman with olive skin, long black hair, rimless glasses, and a t-shirt that read: The Goddess Is Alive! She wore amber necklaces and turquoise rings. She smelled like rose petals.

She looked friendly enough, but Hadley was still wary. She had a warm look in her eyes that was uncommon for gods and left Hadley on edge.

"Hello!" She leaned over the counter, which was lined with dozens of little statues- waving Chinese cats, meditating Buddhas, Saint Francis bobbleheads, and novelty dippy drinking birds with top hats. "So glad you're here. I'm Iris!"

Hazel's eyes widened. "Not the Iris- the rainbow goddess?"

Iris made a face. "Well, that's my official job. In my spare time, I run this!" She gestured around her proudly. "The R.O.F.L. Co-op- an employee-run cooperative promoting healthy alternative lifestyle and organic foods."

Frank stared at her. "But you throw Ding Dongs at monsters."

Hadley hummed. "That was great. I did like that."

Iris looked horrified. "Oh, they're not Ding Dongs." She rummaged under the counter and brought out a package of chocolate-covered cakes that looked exactly like Ding Dongs. "These are gluten-free, no-sugar-added, vitamin-enriched, soy-free, goat-milk-and-seaweed-based cupcake simulations."

"All natural!" Fleecy chimed in.

"I stand corrected," Frank said.

Iris smiled. "You should try one, Frank. You're lactose intolerant, aren't you?"

"How did you-"

"I know these things. Being the messenger goddess... well, I do learn a lot, hearing all the communications from the gods and so on." She tossed the cakes on the counter. "Those monsters should be glad to have some healthy snacks. Always eating junk food and heroes. They're so unenlightened. I couldn't have them tromping through my store, tearing up things, and disturbing our feng shui."

Percy leaned against the counter with one hand still on Hadley's arm like he was worried she was going to walk away. He looked like he was going to throw up all over the goddess's feng shui. "Monsters marching south," he said with difficulty. "Going to destroy our camp. Couldn't you stop them?"

"Oh, I'm strictly non-violent," Iris said. "I can act in self-defense, but I won't be drawn into any more Olympian aggression, thank you very much. I've been reading about Buddhism. And Taoism. I haven't decided between them."

"But..." Hazel looked mystified. "Aren't you a Greek goddess?"

Iris crossed her arms. "Don't put me in a box, demigod! I am not defined by my past."

"Preach," Hadley said, raising her hand slightly.

"Um, okay," Hazel said. "Could you at least help our friend here? I think he's sick."

Percy let go of Hadley and reached across the counter. "Iris-message," he said. "Can you send one?"

Hadley gave him a confused look.

"Iris-message?" Frank asked.

"It's..." Percy faltered. "Isn't that something you do?"

Iris studied Percy more closely. "Interesting. You're from Camp Jupiter, and yet... Oh, I see. Juno is up to her tricks."

"What tricks?" Hadley asked.

Iris glanced at her assistant, Fleecy. They seemed to have a silent conversation. Then the goddess pulled a vial from behind the counter and sprayed some honeysuckle-smelling oil around Percy's face. He grimaced and stumbled back, Hadley grabbed onto his arms to steady him.

"There," Iris said, "that should balance your chakra. As for Iris-message- that's an ancient way of communication. The Greeks used it. The Romans never took to it- always relying on their road systems and giant eagles and whatnot. But yes, I imagine... Fleecy, could you give it a try?"

"Sure, boss!"

Iris winked at Frank. "Don't tell the other gods, but Fleecy handles most of my messages these days. She's wonderful at it, really, and I don't have time to answer all those requests personally. It messes up my wa."

"Is she speaking another language?" Hadley asked under her breath.

"Your wa?" Frank asked.

"Mmm. Fleecy, why don't you take Percy, Hazel, and Hadley into the back? You can get them something to eat while you arrange their messages. And for Percy... yes, memory sickness. I imagine that old Polybotes... well, meeting him in a state of amnesia can't be good for a child of P- that is to say, Neptune. Fleecy, give him a cup of green tea with organic honey and wheat germ and some of my medicinal powder number five. That should fix him up."

Percy shifted like he wasn't excited about the tea.

Hazel frowned. "What about Frank?"

"If you think we're leaving him behind, then you must be breathing in too much incense," Hadley said.

Iris turned to him. She tilted her head quizzically- as if Frank was the biggest question in the room.

"Oh, don't worry," Iris said. "Frank and I have a lot to talk about."

Chapter 13: xiii - goddesses have terrible cell service - xiii

Percy kept leaning on Hadley's shoulder as Fleecy led them into the back room. He already seemed to be improving, but Hadley wasn't about to complain. Once they passed through the beaded curtain, the cloud nymph handed the boy a cup of tea. Steam swirled into the air around his face as he stared at the golden liquid.

After a moment, Percy looked up to take in the room. The perimeter was framed with shelves of excess merchandise. A small chandelier hung in the center of the room above a fountain decorated with pegasi standing on their hind legs squirting water into the fountain.

The stone pegasi immediately gained Percy's attention. He stared at them as if they might come to life and start rampaging through the store. Without looking away from the fountain, Percy slowly lifted the mug he held to his lips. He took a sip of the tea, made a face, and straightened his posture, taking the weight off of Hadley's shoulder. Hadley raised an eyebrow and Percy subtly shook his head. He slipped the mug into her hands and she took a drink, making the same face Percy had. Hadley glanced between Percy and the mug for a moment before silently setting it on a nearby shelf.

"This is where we'll send the message," Fleecy turned to the group with a smile. "Do you have a coin?"

Hazel reached into her pocket and pulled out a golden coin. She turned it in her hand, examining the metal. After a moment, she held it out to Percy. "Why don't you do it, Percy? You're the one who knows what this is."

He delicately reached out and took the coin from Hazel. He took a step forward, fidgeting with the coin in his hand. With a deep breath, he glanced over his shoulder at the girls.

"Before we contact Reyna," Percy started, "do you mind if I try to... make a call?"

Hazel and Hadley glanced at each other.

"No. Go ahead, Percy." Hazel said.

Percy nodded to himself and turned back to Fleecy.

"Normally, you would toss a coin into the mist and say a specific incantation to Iris," Fleecy explained. "But I'll have you use my direct number this time. Go ahead and toss in the coin."

Percy flipped the coin and it disappeared in the rainbow.

Fleecy nodded. "Now, repeat after me: O Fleecy, do me a solid. Then say who you want to see and where they are."

Percy's face scrunched in confusion, then he repeated the incantation. "Show me Annabeth."

The rainbow swirled around the spot where Percy tossed the coin. There were several small flashes of light that vanished just as quickly as they appeared. It was as if the mist wanted to show them but something was stopping it.

"Why isn't it showing us anything?" Percy asked, somewhat desperately. "We should be able to see her."

Fleecy shook her head sadly. "It's like you're dialing somebody but you've forgotten the number. Or someone is jamming the signal. Sorry, dear. I just can't connect you."

Percy's face fell. Hazel put a hand on his shoulder as he took a step back. She peeked around Percy's back to meet Hadley's gaze. The older girl froze as she gave her a pointed look. Hazel nodded her head at Percy, silently telling Hadley to comfort him. The daughter of Victoria slowly reached her hand towards him and patted his shoulder, the rest of her body completely rigid. If the boy thought it was strange, he didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry, Percy," Hazel said. "But we need to warn Reyna now."

Percy nodded. Hadley dropped her hand from his shoulder and the tension in hers left. She wanted to help Percy feel better but emotions weren't her forte. He stood next to Hadley, keeping his gaze on the ground. His hand brushed against hers, the small act filled her stomach with butterflies, which confused the girl. Hadley moved slowly, linking her pinky with his.

Hazel turned back to the rainbow. She looked down at the golden coin in her hand and then tossed it into the mist. "Um. O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show Reyna at Camp Jupiter."

The air shimmered and this time the incantation seemed to work, an image of Reyna appeared in front of them. She was wrapped in a towel, walking through the bath house at Camp Jupiter. Reyna looked over and must have seen them because she jumped back with a shout.

"I'll leave you to it. Let me know if you need anything," Fleecy smiled and left the room.

"Reyna!" Percy called. "It's us. Can you hear me?"

"Hazel?" Reyna took a step closer. "Hadley? Percy? What is this? What's happening?"

"It's some kind of magic video call," Hazel explained. "But we have to tell you something."

"The giants have an army," Hadley stepped forward. "Cyclopes, Earthborn, Centaurs. They're marching toward camp."

"Polybotes is leading them," Hazel added.

"Yes," Reyna nodded solemnly. "Octavian saw as much in the auguries. I'm doing what I can to increase our defenses but unless you can get back our eagle and free Death..."

"We're going to be a giant's shoe scraper," Hadley finished.

Silence filled the room. The weight of the world settled comfortably on their shoulders. The camp depended on getting the eagle and the eagle depended on them. Hadley squared her shoulders and opened them to take the weight of the world so her friends wouldn't have to.

She looked back up at the praetor. "We won't let you down, Reyna."

Percy nodded. "We'll make it to Alaska and return the eagle to camp."

Reyna managed a small nod, she didn't seem like she entirely believed them. The image shimmered of her rippled and started to fade.

"Good luck!" Reyna called and her image faded away.

Silence settled over the room. None of them knew what to say. Footsteps sounded behind them as Iris walked into the room. She wore a warm smile, apparently, the messenger goddess wasn't listening to their call otherwise she would have known about the gloomy mood in the room. Or perhaps this was her way of lifting their spirits.

"Oh, good. You've given your message. And Percy, you seem to be doing better."

"Um, yeah."

"Wonderful."

Percy's brows furrowed. "Wait. Where's Frank?"

"Frank is just out front fighting the basilisks," Iris told them coolly.

"What?" The three of them exclaimed in unison.

"We have to help him!" Hazel panicked.

"Wait, before you go-" Iris started.

"There's no time to wait," Hadley snapped. "Frank's out there fighting monsters by himself!"

"I have a gift!" Iris spread her arms, ignoring Hadley.

She pulled out a rainbow tie-dyed bag with a peace symbol stitched in wooden beads and the slogan Hug the Whole World. She handed it to Percy who stared down at his new accessories in confusion. It definitely wasn't Percy's style- it wasn't anybody's but Hadley would rather have Percy be stuck with it than her. Besides, they couldn't exactly refuse a gift from a goddess.

"You're giving me... a purse?" Percy asked.

"Oh, it's not a purse." Iris laughed. "It's a masculine accessory bag. And I'm sure you'll find it very useful. Especially after I fill it with supplies, here you go."

Iris instructed him to hold open the bag. She quickly stuffed it with vitamin-enriched pastries, dried fruit leather, macrobiotic beef jerky, and a few crystals for good luck. Percy stared down at the bag for a moment then slung it over his shoulder and glanced at Hadley, who looked like she was resisting the urge to fight the goddess.

"Great," Hadley was clearly getting annoyed. "Thank you. Can we leave now?"

Iris smiled. "Oh, Hadley, I do love your determination. So like your mother, she never takes no for an answer either."

Hadley was taken aback by the mention of her mother. It seemed bizarre to her that the two goddesses would know each other. A non-violent rainbow messenger and the literal embodiment of victory? Iris seemed to be the opposite of her mother- or what Hadley imagined her to be.

Then Hadley noticed Percy and Hazel staring at her. She cleared her throat, "Right. Anyway, we need to help Frank."

Hazel and Percy nodded.

"Thank you for the gift," Hazel said.

"But we need to go," Percy added.

The three of them rushed past the goddess and through the store, shouting a quick goodbye to Fleecy who stood at the front counter. The cloud nymph happily waved, completely unphased by their urgency. They burst into the clearing, weapons raised, but the basilisks were already gone. Frank stood in front of the store holding the dragon-tooth spear his father gave him.

"Are you okay?" Hazel asked.

Percy turned in a circle, looking for enemies. "Iris told us you were battling the basilisks by yourself, and we were like, What? We came as fast as we could."

Hadley glared across the field. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Frank admitted.

Hazel crouched down. "I sense death. Either my brother had been here or... the basilisks are dead."

Hadley broke her gaze on the horizon and looked over at Frank.

Percy stared at him in awe. "You killed them all?"

"Frank, that's incredible," Hadley said.

Frank stared down at the dirt next to Hazel. He seemed lost in thought, like the dirt had personally offended him.

"Thanks a lot, Dad," he grumbled.

"What?" Hazel asked. "Frank, are you okay?"

"I'll explain later," he said. "Right now, there's a blind man in Portland we've got to see."

 

🌊

 

Hadley was somewhat relieved to get away from R.O.F.L.

Iris clearly hadn't meant them any harm, sure the goddess was powerful- duh, she's a goddess- but she undoubtedly wasn't a threat. Yet something about her set Hadley on edge. Maybe it was the off-brand organic Ding Dongs. Or the random mention of her mother.

Iris had said Hadley was like her. That both of them were stubborn. Hadley didn't know how she felt about the comparison. She had always idolized her mother, the warrior goddess who could guarantee either victory or failure for whoever she deemed fit. She should be delighted to be told she was similar to someone whose traits she desired to have. But Hadley had never met the goddess, and she had a hard time enjoying being like the mother she had never met.

The army in the clearing outside the R.O.F.L. didn't help to ease her nerves. They now had four days to find and free Death, find the legion's eagle, and make it back to camp. And the army had a significant head start.

Percy guided the boat through the strong currents off the other California coast. He seemed much more at ease now that he was back on the water. Yet he almost looked like he was glaring at the waves as he controlled the boat.

Meanwhile, Hazel and Frank traded stories about the events at Rainbow Organic Foods. Frank explained about the blind seer Phineas in Portland, and how Iris had said that he might be able to tell them where to find Thanatos. Frank wouldn't say how he managed to kill the basilisk, but Hadley had a feeling it had to do with his broken spear. Whatever happened, Frank seemed more scared of the weapon than the basilisks.

When he was done, Hazel and Hadley told Frank about their time with Fleecy. They explained how the Iris-message worked (leaving out Percy's failed call to Annabeth) and Reyna's shock to see a floating image of them in the bathhouse. They told him that Reyna already knew about the army like Percy said, and they needed to free Death and return the eagle quickly.

"The camp can't stand against that army," Frank finished. "Not without help."

After that, they sailed in silence.

Hadley's eyes wandered to Percy, he was deep in thought. His frown still pointed at the ocean in front of them. She wished her mind could come up with more options to help than "punch the source of the problem".

After a few hours, Percy looked ready to drop. Which would have been very inconvenient since he was the only one who could navigate and control the boat. Then a killer whale surfaced next to the boat, and everyone but Percy panicked. On instinct, Hadley summoned her sword and raised it above her head.

"Wait!" Percy said and grabbed her hands. "Let me talk to it."

"Talk to it?"

Percy nodded and kept a hand on hers as he mentally talked to the whale. It seemed to have agreed to help them because Percy started fashioning a makeshift rope harness and strapped it around the whale's upper body. They sped north under whale power, and at the others' insistence, Percy settled in for a nap.

None of them dared to mess with the boat while Percy was asleep. Hazel joined Percy a while after. Their whale guide slowed down once they reached the Columbia River, slipping out of its harness. Hadley had almost convinced Frank to try and communicate with it when the boat lurched forward again and they realized the whale had been replaced with several large sturgeons.

The three of them took turns sleeping. Eventually, the sturgeons left them as well but to their surprise, the boat kept going. Hadley wasn't sure if Percy's father was helping them or if the boat was still doing his bidding even while he was asleep, but she wasn't about to complain.

A few hours later, they reached the Oregon shoreline. Rain started to fall as the boat sailed toward the city and up an iron-black river. Hadley examined the surrounding city until Percy lurched awake.

"I thought I slept heavy," Hazel remarked.

"No kidding," Hadley laughed. "I was starting to think I'd have to throw him overboard before he woke up."

The corner of Hazel's mouth turned up. "Welcome to Portland."

Percy sat up and blinked, then rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "How did we get here?"

Frank gave him a look like, You won't believe this, then explained their journey. From the whale passing the reins to the sturgeons leaving them at the river.

"The Willamette," Hazel offered.

"Right," Frank said. "After that, the boat kind of took over and navigated us here all by itself. Sleep okay?"

Percy nodded and told them about his dream. A possibly helpful warship on the way to help Camp Jupiter. A friendly cyclops and a giant dog were looking for him. Hadley had a feeling he was trying to make it sound more positive than it really was. She wasn't sure how any of those things could be positive. Besides the opportunity to fight a cyclops with a giant dog. She had to admit she'd never done that before.

Maybe it was a good thing.

When Percy described the Roman fort on ice, Hazel looked troubled.

"So Alcyoneus is on a glacier," she said. "That doesn't narrow it down much. Alaska has hundreds of those."

"I think it would be pretty hard to miss a thousand-foot giant holding death captive," Hadley muttered.

"Probably," Percy nodded. "But maybe this seer dude Phineas can tell us which one."

The boat docked itself at a wharf. The four demigods stared up at the buildings of drizzly downtown Portland.

Frank whipped the rain off his flat-top hair. "So now we find a blind man in the rain."

"Easy peasy," Hadley mused.

Notes:

the song in the title and tags is a song about Peter
Parker and Gwen Stacy and if you
know anything about their story
you can probably guess why I
picked it 😈