𝙩𝙪 𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨 - p. jackson [₂]

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊𝒊.

"𝐒𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐏𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍."

i rolled my eyes at jason's statement, "not kidnapped, but yeah. pretty much. and tibernius said we have less time to save nico than we think. that can't be good. hazel and the guys aren't back yet?"

piper checked the time on the helm control. "it's two in the afternoon. we said three o'clock for a rendezvous." 

"at the latest," jason added. 

percy pointed at piper's dagger. "tiberinus said you could find nico's location... you know, with that." 

piper bit her lip, radiating nervousness, "i've tried," she said. "the dagger doesn't always show what i want to see. in fact, it hardly ever does." 

"please," i said. "it's my child. try again." 

"fine," she sighed, and drew her dagger. 

"while you're at it," said coach hedge, "see if you can get the latest baseball scores. italians don't cover baseball worth beans." 

"shh." piper studied the bronze blade. the light shimmered. 

we saw a loft apartment filled with roman demigods. a dozen of them stood around a dining table as octavian talked and pointed to a big map. reyna paced next to the windows, gazing down at central park. 

"that's not good," jason muttered. "they've already set up a forward base in manhattan." 

"and that map shows long island," percy said. 

"they're scouting the territory," i guessed. "discussing invasion routes. i'll have to let clint know so he appoint agents accordingly." 

light rippled across the blade as the image changed. we saw ruins — a few crumbling walls, a single column, a stone floor covered with moss and dead vines — all clustered on a grassy hillside dotted with pine trees. 

"we were just there," percy said. "that's in the old forum." 

the view zoomed in. on one side of the stone floor, a set of stairs had been excavated, leading down to a modern iron gate with a padlock. the blade's image zoomed straight through the doorway, down a spiral stairwell, and into a dark, cylindrical chamber like the inside of a grain silo.

piper dropped the blade.

"what's wrong?" i asked. "it was showing us something." 

"we can't go there." 

i frowned. "piper, nico is dying. and i don't care who doesn't know him, or trust him, or want to do this. i'll go myself if i have to."

"you won't have to go alone," percy promised, his hand on my shoulder. "riley's right, we've got to find him. not to mention, rome is about to get destroyed."