~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

Eidolons

   "It was discussed," Percy assured him. "I think you were just too lazy to do it."

   Piper had been watching with horrified fascination, the way she might watch a car wreck in progress. Now she realized Percy was not making things better, and Annabeth wasn't around to rein him in. Piper figured her friend would never forgive her if she brought Percy back transformed into a sea mammal.

   "Lord Bacchus!" she interrupted, slipping off Tempest's back.

   "Piper, careful," Jason said.

   She shot him a warning glance: I've got this.

   "Sorry to trouble you, my lord," she told the god, "but actually we came here to get your advice. Please, we need your wisdom."

   She used her most agreeable tone, pouring respect into her charmspeak.

   The god frowned, but the purple glow faded in his eyes. "You're well-spoken, girl. Advice, eh? Very well. I would avoid karaoke. Really, theme parties in general are out. In these austere times, people are looking for a simple, low-key affair, with locally produced organic snacks and—"

   "Not about parties," Piper interrupted. "Although that's incredibly useful advice, Lord Bacchus. We were hoping you'd help us on our quest."

   She explained about the Argo II and their voyage to stop the giants from awakening Gaea. She told him what Nemesis had said: that in six days, Rome would be destroyed. She described the vision reflected in her knife, where Bacchus offered her a silver goblet.

   "Silver goblet?" The god didn't sound very excited. He grabbed a Diet Pepsi from nowhere and popped the top of the can.

   "You drink Diet Coke," Percy said.

   "I don't know what you're talking about," Bacchus snapped. "As to this vision of the goblet, young lady, I have nothing for you to drink unless you want a Pepsi. Jupiter has put me under strict orders to avoid giving wine to minors. Bothersome, but there you have it. As for the giants, I know them well. I fought in the first Giant War, you know."

   "You can fight?" Percy asked.

   Piper wished he hadn't sounded so incredulous. Dionysus snarled. His Diet Pepsi transformed into a five-foot staff wreathed in ivy, topped with a pinecone.

   "A thyrsus!" Piper said, hoping to distract the god before he whacked Percy on the head. She'd seen weapons like that before in the hands of crazy nymphs, and wasn't thrilled to see one again, but she tried to sound impressed. "Oh, what a mighty weapon!"

   "Indeed," Bacchus agreed. "I'm glad someone in your group is smart. The pinecone is a fearsome tool of destruction! I was a demigod myself in the first Giant War, you know. The son of Jupiter!"

   Jason flinched. Probably he wasn't thrilled to be reminded that the Wine Dude was technically his big brother.

   Bacchus swung his staff through the air, though his potbelly almost threw him off balance. "Of course that was long before I invented wine and became an immortal. I fought side by side with the gods and some other demigod... Harry Cleese, I think."

   "Heracles?" Piper suggested politely.

   "Whatever," Bacchus said. "Anyway, I killed the giant Ephialtes and his brother Otis. Horrible boors, those two. Pinecone in the face for both of them!"

   Piper held her breath. All at once, several ideas came together in her head—the visions in the knife, the lines of the prophecy they'd been discussing the night before. She felt like she used to when she was scuba diving with her father, and he would wipe her mask for her underwater. Suddenly, everything was clearer.