When Annabeth's vision cleared, she realized she and Reyna sat on the median of the highway outside the Caldecott tunnel. Her stomach felt like it had been tied into a million knots. The Roman guards stationed outside the tunnel waved. Annabeth waved back when she recognized them as Frank and Hazel. They were back at Camp Jupiter.
~~~
Reyna was livid. She paced the length of the path in the Garden of Bacchus. "I can't believe that I endured an entire quest to find out why Camp Jupiter is in peril and the god who could fix it won't do anything!"
Annabeth rubbed her chin. She wanted to say, I can't believe that I talked to the Fates to overthrow the gods, causing Zeus to panic and conspire with Loki to stop me. Except Loki betrayed Zeus, stole my memories, and now has the information necessary to overthrow the gods.
Annabeth didn't, however, say anything because the heat wave was a more immediate problem. A black blanket of guilt had wrapped itself around her shoulders. It was a hot, weighted thing that made her feel sluggish, tired, and generally unmotivated.
They sat in shade in the garden, which was unbearably hot. All the plants had withered in the sun. "Maybe Ra can't do anything."
Reyna and Annabeth both drank iced tea. Percy had joined them with a mysterious, lightning blue beverage.
Reyna wandered to a corner of the garden to study a really interesting tree.
"Blue Coke?" Annabeth asked Percy.
"No, actually. I asked the spirits for a blue drink and this is what they gave me," said Percy. "It's pretty good."
Annabeth tried a sip. It had a sweet, slightly floral taste. It was good.
Reyna returned to their cafe table. Sweat beaded on her forehead. "Well, Annabeth? What should I do?"
Annabeth considered her words carefully. Bacchus's presence was invoked in the gardens. She had to assume that he heard everything that they were saying. Plus, the Romans had named their camp after Jupiter. Maybe he was listening too.
Reyna nodded, slowly. "Okay, Annabeth. We'll get an audience with Zeus. Do you think we should go to Camp Half-Blood?"
"Yeah. Right after midterm exam season."
"Wait," said Percy. "What's going on?"
"It's exam season, Seaweed Brain. Don't you pay attention? It happens every semester."
Percy flushed with embarrassment. Or maybe it was the heat wave. "No, I mean about the gods."
"The heatwave is caused by Ra, the Egyptian god of sun. You met an Egyptian magician, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember," said Percy. "So you...really want to confront Zeus about what Ra's up to?"
"After my exams," said Annabeth. "School's my priority. As an architecture major, I can't just retake classes without jeopardizing my graduation. So maybe we can meet with the other demigods a week from now? On Wednesday in the afternoon. I have a lot of studying to do because we met the Norse trickster god. He took my memories of Greco-Roman mythology from me."
It was a lie. School wasn't more important than saving the world. She had ditched school on multiple occasions to save Western civilization. It was obviously not true to someone who'd paid attention to her behavior, like Reyna and Percy, but she hoped that the eavesdropping Roman gods would buy it.
"Let's meet with a coalition of Greeks and Romans," said Annabeth. "Twelve of each. There's still diplomatic tension between our camps. I think we need to iron those out before we even think about talking to the gods about this heat wave."
Annabeth did not mention that the heat wave was actively destroying the camp.
"Agreed. I'll rally the Romans 'next week,'" Reyna said. She held her hand to her face and gave a thumbs up. In American Sign Language, it meant tomorrow. "We'll meet you at Camp Half-Blood, 'next week.'" Reyna made the sign for tomorrow again.
"Cool," said Annabeth. She nodded meaningfully at Percy.
Fleecy had told Annabeth that the contents of all Fleecy messages were completely private. Not even the messenger gods knew what the contents of the messages contained. Annabeth was counting on the privacy, as they would not be meeting at Camp Jupiter. Tomorrow, Greeks and Romans would talk to each other by Fleecy message. Maybe they could even speak with Fleecy herself. A plan formed in Annabeth's mind. If everything went right, the Fates would grant Annabeth her wish for a better world. If it didn't, she'd probably end up dead, like so many other tragic Greek heroes.
"A week from now in the early afternoon, right?" said Annabeth again, even though they all knew that the meeting would take place the next day. If the gods were spying on them, hopefully they wouldn't pay attention to what Percy, Annabeth, and Reyna were doing until it was too late.
"Agreed," said Percy. "A week from now on Wednesday, right?"
"Right," said Reyna. "Annabeth, send a Fleecy message to Camp Half-Blood. Tell them to meet us next week."
They dispersed. Their plan was in motion.
~~~
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