𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍; son of neptune

three greeks

PERCY AND NICO SHOOK HANDS. They studied each other warily. Jasper glanced at Hazel. Her face mirrored his own confusion.

Jasper could tell there was some kind of history between the two. It set the hair on the back of his neck on end. Something was forming in his head, and it made him nauseous.

Percy scowled. "I—I know you."

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

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

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

Nico's expression darkened so fast that it cut Hazel off on its own. He cleared his throat. "This story about Gaea's army. You warned Reyna?"

"'Course," Jasper said, trying to cut through the tension. "You know how Reyna and I are. Tight. In love. Married."

Nico just scowled.

"Uh, who is Gaea, anyway?" Percy asked awkwardly.

"She's the earth goddess." Nico glanced at the ground as if it 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." Jasper didn't miss the way Nico slipped and used Saturn's Greek name. He hadn't forgotten the way Erith spoke Greek like it was an old friend.

"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, then hastily continued. "Last summer, 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. Saturn disappeared—" He hesitated, watching Percy's face.

A very bad idea was forming in Jasper's head. Curse his clever brain.

"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 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 even worse than children of Neptune. We're bad luck."

"They let Hazel stay here," Percy pointed out.

"That's different," Nico said.

"How?"

"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. "Nico and I, we think that what's happening is... Death isn't—"