ABOVE THE GODS

FIFTY-ONE

VERONICA STOOD NEXT to Percy as he stared up at the Athena Parthenos.

She nudged Percy with her elbow lightly, shaking him out of whatever stupor he was in.

"What? Waiting for her to strike you down?" she joked.

Percy turned slightly and looked her dead in the eye. "Veronica, you are legally obligated to let me know if you were gifted with mind-reading powers while I was away."

Veronica shook her head and laughed. "No, I just know that look way too well."

Percy said nothing, slinging an arm over her shoulders and messing up her hair. She squirmed out of his grasp, laughing and screaming the whole way. She missed this, having someone to joke around with. Sure, Jason was her brother but they had never acted like this. Despite the differences between then, she wouldn't say that one would be a better brother than the other. They were both on equal ground, they each were equal in their strengths and weaknesses.

Leo's new mechanical hoist system had lowered the statue onto the hillside with surprising ease. Now the forty-foot-tall goddess gazed serenely over the River Acheron, her gold dress like molten metal in the sun.

"Incredible," Reyna admitted.

She was still red-eyed from crying. Soon after she'd landed on the Argo II, her pegasus Scipio had collapsed, overwhelmed by poisoned claw marks from a gryphon attack the night before. Reyna had put the horse out of his misery with her golden knife, turning the pegasus into dust that scattered in the sweet-smelling Greek air. Maybe not a bad end for a horse, but Reyna had lost a loyal friend.

The praetor circled the Athena Parthenos warily. "It looks newly made."

"Yeah," Leo said. "We brushed off the cobwebs and used a little Windex. It wasn't hard."

The Argo II hovered just overhead. With Festus keeping watch for threats on the radar, the entire crew had decided to eat lunch on the hillside while they discussed what to do. After the past few weeks, Veronica was content to seeing all of her friends all together once again.

"Hey, Reyna," Annabeth called. "Have some food. Join us."

The praetor glanced over, her dark eyebrows furrowed as if join us didn't quite compute. Veronica had only seen Reyna without her armor once before and it was a total accident. She had barged into Reyna's room without warning. Albeit Veronica was bleeding a lot more than she was now, but the way Reyna reacted without hesitation to assist her; that's what let Veronica know that Reyna was a good friend to have. And as it turned out, she was right.

Reyna had also been in her nightclothes the time that Veronica had just stumbled in, which was a shock for both of them. This time she wore a pair of jeans and a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt. Veronica would say that she looked almost like a normal teenager—save for the knife at her belt and that guarded expression she always wore like she was ready for an attack from any direction.

"All right," she said finally.

They scooted over to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged in between Annabeth and Veronica, picked up a cheese sandwich, and nibbled at the edge.

"So," Reyna said. "Frank Zhang... praetor."

Frank shifted, wiping crumbs from his chin. "Well, yeah. Field promotion."

"To lead a different legion," Reyna noted. "A legion of ghosts."

Hazel put her arm protectively through Frank's. After an hour in sickbay, they both looked a lot better; but Veronica could tell they weren't sure what to think about their old boss from Camp Jupiter dropping in for lunch. She was sure they had the same thoughts about her when she had showed up to join their quest. They had only seen Reyna in a position of power before now. They'd never considered her as a casual friend and that was completely fair.