Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 23

"How can you be sure?" she asked. "Why wouldn't they follow us?"

He shook his head. "You heard Reyna talking about the ancient lands. They're much too dangerous. Roman demigods have been forbidden to go there for generations. Even Octavian couldn't get around that rule."

Frank swallowed a bite of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his mouth. "So, if we go there..."

"We'll be outlaws as well as traitors," Jason confirmed. "Any Roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. But I wouldn't worry about that. If we get across the Atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us. They'll assume that we'll die in the Mediterranean—the Mare Nostrum."

Cressida rolled her eyes, this depressing talk not helping the fear she was trying to help her boyfriend overcome the way he'd helped her a hundred times before.

"You, Almighty Superman, are a ray of sunshine," she said, and Jason didn't argue as Cressida fed Percy some pizza, telling him that he if he starved himself it wouldn't help anyone and it would only put her in more danger. "But you are right. We should plan ahead. Starting with the giants Papa mentioned. Otis and Ephialtes."

"Twin giants, like Piper saw in her blade..." Annabeth ran her finger along the rim of her cup. "I remember a story about twin giants. They tried to reach Mount Olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains."

"And you would be remembering the right giant twins then, you know, because there are so many," Cressida said sarcastically and Annabeth glared at her.

Frank nearly choked. "Well, that's great. Giants who can use mountains like building blocks. And you say Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"

"Hey! For the record, I fought not one, but two giants with a pinecone on a stick," Cressida spoke up. "And Papa said he'd help stop them if we could give him a proper tribute. Not that he mentioned what it was."

Piper couldn't shake the feeling that Bacchus was meant to help them. The giant twins were in Rome. They were keeping something the demigods needed—something in that bronze jar. Whatever it was, she got the feeling it held the answer to sealing the Doors of Death—the key to endless death. She also felt sure they could never defeat the giants without Bacchus's help.

But as Piper went over everything in her head, something occurred to her.

"She wants two of us," she murmured, and everyone turned to look at her. "Today on the highway," she said, "Gaia told me that she needed the blood of only two demigods—one female, one male. She—she asked me to choose which boy would die with Cressida."

Jason squeezed her hand. "But none of us died. You saved us. You both saved us."

"I know. It's just...Why would she want that?"

Leo whistled softly. "Guys, remember at the Wolf House? Our favourite ice princess, Khione? She talked about spilling Jason's blood, how it would taint the place for generations. Maybe demigod blood has some kind of power."

"Oh..." Percy set down his third pizza slice as Cressida's head whirled to him.

"Percy?" Cressida asked worriedly before Annabeth repeated his name.

"Oh, bad," he muttered. "Bad. Bad." He surprised his girlfriend as he took her hand as if the need for support outweighed his fear of hurting her again as he looked at Frank and Hazel. "You guys remember Polybotes?"

"The giant who invaded Camp Jupiter," Hazel said. "The anti-Poseidon you whacked in the head with a Terminus statue. Yes, I think I remember."

"I had a dream," Percy said, "when we were flying to Alaska. Polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said—he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. He said: 'I want that one chained at my feet, so I can kill him when the time is ripe. His blood shall water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake Earth Mother!'"