BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

71.

"And where is this place?" Kaleidoscope asked.

"A town called Split."

"Split." She deadpanned. Eden snorted.

"Um, yeah." Perfect Jason pulled a small smile from out of his ass. "In fact, we should be getting close. Leo?"

Fire Boy punched the intercom button. "How's it going up there, buddy?"

Festus the figurehead creaked and steamed.

"He says maybe ten minutes to the harbor," Leo reported. "Though I still don't get why you want to go to Croatia, especially a town called Split. I mean, you name your city Split, you gotta figure it's a warning to, you know, split. Kind of like naming your city Get Out!"

"Wait," Hazel said. "Why are we going to Croatia?"

Leo pushed his chips and hot sauce aside. "Well, technically we've been in Croatian territory for the past day or so. All that coastline we've been sailing past is it, but I guess back in the Roman times it was called . . . what'd you say, Jason? Bodacious?"

"Dalmatia," Nico said, and Eden looked over to the corner closest to her, raising an eyebrow.

He stepped forward, his dark eyes fixed on Perfect Jason. Since they'd rescued him from the bronze jar in Rome, Nico had slept very little and eaten even less, as if he were still subsisting on those emergency pomegranate seeds from the Underworld. Eden hadn't tried to make him eat or sleep more. She knew how horrible you felt when someone tried to make you.

Except for Piper. But Nico wouldn't want her to charm him to sleep.

"Croatia used to be Dalmatia," Nico said. "A major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's Palace, don't you?"

Coach Hedge managed another heroic belch. "Whose palace? And is Dalmatia where those Dalmatian dogs come from? That 101 Dalmatians movie — I still have nightmares."

Eden snorted. "Why would you have nightmares about that? Dogs are adorable."

Coach Hedge looked like he was about to launch into a major speech about the evils of cartoon Dalmatians, but apparently Perfect Jason decided he didn't want to know. What a shame.

"Nico is right," he said. "I need to go to Diocletian's Palace. It's where Reyna will go first, because she knows I would go there."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "And why would Reyna think that? Because you've always had a mad fascination with Croatian culture?"

"Reyna and I used to talk about Diocletian," Perfect Jason said. "We both kind of idolized the guy as a leader. We talked about how we'd like to visit Diocletian's Palace. Of course we knew that was impossible. No one could travel to the ancient lands. But still, we made this pact that if we ever did, that's where we'd go."

"Diocletian . . ." Leo considered the name, then shook his head. "I got nothing. Why was he so important?"

Frank looked offended. "He was the last great pagan emperor!"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised you know that, Zhang?"

"Why wouldn't I? He was the last one who worshipped the Olympian gods, before Constantine came along and adopted Christianity."

Hazel nodded. "I remember something about that. The nuns at St. Agnes taught us that Diocletian was a huge villain, right along with Nero and Caligula." She looked askance at Perfect Jason. "Why would you idolize him?"

"He wasn't a total villain," Perfect Jason said. "Yeah, he persecuted Christians, but otherwise he was a good ruler. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. His parents were former slaves . . . or at least his mom was. Demigods know he was a son of Jupiter — the last demigod to rule Rome. He was also the first emperor ever to retire, like, peacefully, and give up his power. He was from Dalmatia, so he moved back there and built a retirement palace. The town of Split grew up around . . ."

He faltered when he looked at Leo, who was mimicking taking notes with an air pencil.

"Go on, Professor Grace!" he said, wide-eyed. "I wanna get an A on the test."

Eden wanted to laugh. Some kink they have.

"Shut up, Leo."

Piper sipped another spoonful of soup. "So why is Diocletian's Palace so special?"

Nico leaned over and grabbed the strawberry off of Eden's slice of cake. "It's said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian."

"Who was a son of Jupiter, like me," Perfect Jason said. "His tomb was destroyed centuries ago, but Reyna and I used to wonder if we could find Diocletian's ghost and ask where he was buried . . . well, according to the legends, his scepter was buried with him."

Nico gave him a thin smile. "Ah . . . that legend."

"What legend?" Hazel asked.

Nico turned to his sister. "Supposedly Diocletian's scepter could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods."

Leo whistled. "Okay, now I'm interested. Be nice to have a booty-kicking army of pagan zombies on our side when we enter the House of Hades."

"Not sure I would've put it that way," Perfect Jason muttered, "but yeah."

"We don't have much time," Frank warned. "It's already July ninth. We have to get to Epirus, close the Doors of Death—"

"Which are guarded," Hazel murmured, "by a smoky giant and a sorceress who wants . . ." She hesitated. "Well, I'm not sure. But according to Pluto, she plans to 'rebuild her domain.' Whatever that means, it's bad enough that my dad felt like warning me personally."

Frank grunted. "And if we survive all that, we still have to find out where the giants are waking Gaea and get there before the first of August. Besides, the longer Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus—"

"I know," Perfect Jason said. "We won't take long in Split. But looking for the scepter is worth a try. While we're at the palace, I can leave a message for Reyna, letting her know the route we're taking for Epirus."

Nico nodded. "The scepter of Diocletian could make a huge difference. You'll need my help."

Piper ran her finger over Eden's knuckles. "Hey, sounds fun. I'll go, too."

Nico shook his head. "You can't, Piper. It should only be Jason and me. Diocletian's ghost might appear for a son of Jupiter, but most other demigods would most likely . . . ah, spook him. And I'm the only one who can talk to his spirit. Even Hazel won't be able to do that."

Nico looked over at Eden. "Unless, you'd want to come."

"The Nico di Angelo is asking for my help?" Eden scoffed, sending him a smirk.

"Are you coming or not, Lover Girl?"

God, she "hated" that nickname. It was back from when she'd liked Silena. Nonetheless, she still let him call her that, because it was a sign of their friendship back then. When anyone else called her that when she was in love with Silena was a different story.

"Fine, Bone Boy," When Eden had made that nickname for him, she wasn't that dirty minded. And by that, she meant that nickname was intentional, but she didn't want to make his nickname Boner Boy, because. "I need to add a scepter to my collection, anyway."

The ship's bell sounded. Festus creaked and whirred over the loudspeaker.

"We've arrived," Leo announced. "Time to Split."

Frank groaned. "Can we leave Valdez in Croatia?"

"Fuck no," Eden smirked at Leo. "He's my best friend. No leave him here."

Perfect Jason stood. "Frank, you're in charge of defending the ship. Leo, you've got repairs to do. The rest of you, help out wherever you can. Eden, Nico and I . . ." He faced Eden, and she hated looking at him. "We have a ghost to find."