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If weapons had been allowed in New Rome, Theo's friends would have been long gone by now.
The Roman demigods in the forum had coalesced into an angry mob. Some threw plates, food, and rocks at the hovering Argo II, which was pointless, as most of the stuff fell back into the crowd.
Several dozen Romans had surrounded Mayfair and Jason, who were trying to calm them without much luck. May's words were useless against so many screaming, angry demigods. Jason's forehead was bleeding. His purple cloak had been ripped to shreds. He kept pleading, "I'm on your side!" but his orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt didn't help matters—nor did the warship overhead, firing flaming spears into New Rome. One landed nearby and blasted a toga shop to rubble.
Theo cursed to herself. How could everything have gone so wrong? And what was Leo doing, up on the ship? Surely he knew better than this!
"Pluto's pauldrons," Reyna swore. She jerked her chin to the forum boundaries. "Look."
Armed legionnaires were hurrying toward them. Two artillery crews had set up catapults just outside the Pomerian Line and were preparing to fire at the Argo II.
"That'll just make things worse," Theo said. "You have to stop them, Reyna."
"I hate my job," Reyna growled. She rushed off toward the legionnaires, her dogs at her side.
Percy, Theo thought, scanning the forum desperately. Percy, where are you?
Two Romans tried to grab her. She ducked past them, plunging into the crowd. As if the angry Romans, burning couches, and exploding buildings weren't confusing enough, hundreds of purple ghosts drifted through the forum, passing straight through the demigods' bodies and wailing incoherently. Of course this place had ghosts—that was just the cherry on top, wasn't it?
A lime statue of what Theo assumed must be Terminus, the god of boundaries, materialized before her, looking furious. He shouted at her in Latin, no doubt calling her a liar and a rule-breaker; and though she was undoubtedly both of these things, she pushed the statue over and kept running.
Finally, she spotted Percy in the crowd, and she almost laughed, because why hadn't she looked to the fountain in the first place? He and his friends, Hazel and Frank, were standing in the middle of the water feature as Percy repelled the angry Romans with powerful splashes. Percy's toga was in tatters, but he looked unhurt.
Theo called out to him as another explosion rocked the forum. This time the flash of light was directly overhead. One of the Roman catapults had fired, and the Argo II groaned and tilted sideways, flames bubbling over its bronze-plated hull.
Theo noticed a figure clinging desperately to the rope ladder, trying to climb down. It was Octavian, his robes steaming and his face black with soot.
Over by the fountain, Percy blasted the Roman mob with more water. Theo ran toward him, ducking a Roman fist and a flying plate of sandwiches.
