Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 18

In an awkward moment, the two boys tried to sit in the same chair at the head of the table. Sparks literally flew from Jason's hands. After a brief silent standoff, like they were both thinking, Seriously, dude? Cressida got between them as she shoved the both of them away from the chair and then walked Annabeth to it before she took a seat on Annabeth's right. The boys sat on opposite sides of the table, Percy next to Cressida who refused to hold his hand after that ridiculous show with Jason as she dug into her pizza, and they began trading stories about what happened in Salt Lake City.

"So where to now?" Leo asked with a mouthful of pizza. "Annabeth and I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the Atlantic."

Percy was eating a piece of pie, which for some reason was completely blue—filling, crust, even the whipped cream. And despite Cressida not paying him any attention, he still let her steal bites from him every now and again.

"We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter," he said. "Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."

That didn't improve the mood around the table. Piper didn't want to say anything, but she felt obliged...and a little guilty. "I don't suppose we should go back and try to reason with the Romans? Maybe—maybe I didn't try hard enough with the charmspeak."

Jason took her hand. "It wasn't your fault, Pipes. Or Leo's," he added quickly. "Whatever happened, it was Gaia's doing, to drive the two camps apart."

Piper was grateful for his support, but she still felt uneasy. "Maybe if we could explain that, though—"

"With no proof?" Annabeth asked. "And no idea what really happened? I appreciate what you're saying, Piper. I don't want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaia's up to, going back is suicide. Even if Cress could magic them all into believing us."

"I could-"

"Not happening," Percy said and Annabeth agreed before Cressida could protest, effectively shutting the girl up.

"She's right," Hazel said. She still looked a little queasy from seasickness, but she was trying to eat a few saltine crackers. The rim of her plate was embedded with rubies, and Piper was pretty sure they hadn't been there at the beginning of the meal. The sound of her voice though, had Cressida realising her state as she got up and walked over to Hazel.

"Can I help?" she asked as she held out a hand, completely leaving the choice up to her. But after a supportive nod from Percy, Hazel took it as Cressida's hand glowed and her eyes flamed. "Balance," she said and suddenly the queasy look on Hazel's face faded, and the colour began returning to her skin.

"Wow," Hazel said as she let go of Cressida's hand. "That feels better. A lot better. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled back kindly before heading back to her seat, Percy kissing her cheek in thanks before he fed her a bit of pie and Hazel resumed talking.

"Reyna might listen, but Octavian won't. The Romans have honour to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions posthac."

Piper stared at her dinner, thinking about the visions she saw in her knife. "You're right," she decided. "We have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans. We have to hurry."

Hazel nodded. "Nemesis said we have only six days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed."

Jason frowned. "You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?"

"I think," Hazel said. "But if so, that's not much time."

"Why six days?" Percy wondered. "And how are they going to destroy Rome?"