ᴾʰᵒᵇᵒᵖʰᵒᵇⁱᵃ [ᴶᵃˢᵒⁿ ᴳʳᵃᶜᵉ]

xvi.

Jason knew better than to argue with Aza as she approached him with a cup of water, filled to the brim. It splashed over the sides and onto the back of her hand as she bent towards where he sat, leaned against the mast. Percy sat beside him, and Aza passed a second cup of water to Annabeth, who held it against her boyfriend's mouth and helped his head tilt back. Jason took several grateful sips, and he blinked weakly, gathering enough energy to give Aza a grateful smile. Hazel and Frank bickered just out of earshot; she glanced at it every few seconds, but she had never been very good at reading lips. All she saw was lots of arm waving and head shaking.

"You okay, Boltboy?" Aza asked, forcing her eyes to tear from the couple so they could have privacy. She slid her gaze back to Jason and gave him a half-smile, "You spent a lot of effort making that storm." He gave her a shaky thumbs-up, and she laughed, glancing over at Annabeth. Percy didn't seem to be in much better shape. She almost felt tempted to give them a sip of nectar, but it would be a waste of resources; they would recover in time. The storm they had created through combining their powers was enormous. She couldn't imagine how much of their energy it had taken.

Aza glanced back at Hazel and Frank - they had both frozen and lowered their arms. She glanced at what they were staring at, turning to peak over her shoulder; Leo had come down from the wheel. The others came to gather around the mast. Frank shifted his weight from side-to-side, his eyebrows deeply furrowed. His voice came out in more of a grumble, "No sign of pursuit."

"Or land," Hazel added; she looked slightly green. Aza glanced out at the horizon to check herself, but there was nothing but the rolling ocean waves in every direction. If Hazel was prone to getting seasick, she was going to be miserable. They were practically sailing to No Man's Land - the Mare Nostrum, which seemed to frighten the Romans enough that she was reasonably confident they wouldn't follow. But that also meant that they couldn't rely on any help from camp.

Leo patted his toolbelt and turned to Annabeth, "Did you find the map you wanted?"

She nodded, but she looked painfully pale. Aza smelt sulfur and cinnamon mixed with old books, and she curiously studied the curly-haired blonde, whose knees shook. Her best friend tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and glanced at Aza, as if she could feel her gaze, "I'll have to study it. How far are we from those coordinates?"

"At top rowing speed, about an hour," Leo shrugged and shook his hand in a 'sort-of' motion, "Any idea what we're looking for?"

"No," Annabeth sighed, "Percy?"

He raised his head; his sea-green eyes were bloodshot and droopy, his voice wavering, as if it took all of his energy to speak, "The Nereid said Chiron's brothers were there, and they'd want to hear about the aquarium in Atlanta. I don't know what she meant, but she also warned me to be careful. Keto, the goddess at the aquarium: she's the mother of sea monsters. She might be stuck in Atlanta, but she can still send her children after us. The nereid said we should expect an attack."

"Wonderful," Frank muttered.

Jason tried to stand, but he collapsed nearly instantly and Aza quickly grabbed the sides of his arms, slowly lowering him so he sat with his back against the mast. His cheeks turned slightly red, but he did his best to gather his voice, "Can we get the ship aloft? It we could fly–"

"That'd be great," Leo swept a curl behind his ear, his voice slightly bitter, "Except Festus tells me the port aerial stabilizer got pulverized when the ship raked against the dock at Fort Sumter."

"We were in a hurry," Annabeth's eyes narrowed, and her teeth clenched together, "Trying to save you."

"And trying to save me is a very noble cause," Leo held his hands in the air, shaking his head slightly in placation, "I'm just saying, it'll take some time to fix. Until then, we're not flying anywhere."

"Fine with me," Percy rolled his shoulders and winced, pausing and slowly lowering them whilst sucking his teeth. "The sea is good."

"Speak for yourself," Hazel glanced at the sunset and shivered, "We need to go fast. We've burned another day, and Nico only has three more left."

"We'll make it," Aza said firmly, more so to comfort herself, and she gritted her teeth slightly. She glanced at her companions, "We just need to be hasty."

Frank grunted, "Is there any good news?"

"Actually, yes," Leo nodded, "According to Festus, our flying table, Buford, made it back safely while we were in Charleston, so those eagles didn't get him. Unfortunately, he lost the laundry bag with your pants."

"Dang it!" Frank snapped his fingers and said, "My pants!"

"We'll find pants for you," Annabeth said, but before she could continue her boyfriend doubled over and groaned, "Did the world just turn upside down?"

Aza placed a hand on Jason's bicep when he pressed his hands to his head, as if Percy's pain had made him remember his own. He squeaked slightly, "Yeah, and it's spinning. Everything is yellow. Is it supposed to be yellow?" For a moment, Aza couldn't tell if he was being dramatic, but when his glossy eyes stared right through her, she bit the inside of her cheek and felt his forehead, which was hotter than usual.

Aza knelt beside him and quietly asked, "You okay, Jase?"

When he didn't respond, she glanced at Annabeth and raised a brow, "Summoning that storm took all the energy out of you. You've got to rest."

Annabeth nodded, "Frank, can you help us get the guys below deck?"

Aza rolled Jason off her shoulders and onto the bed in the sickroom. He squirmed to get comfortable, giving her a small smile. As Frank and Annabeth entered, supporting Percy, he muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "I don't know how to feel about the fact that you can lift me like a sack of potatoes."

"Would you rather I have made you walk? I don't have to help you, Zappy." She offered him a mischievous smile, and he rolled his eyes. Annabeth handed her a wet washcloth, and after watching her best friend place it on Percy's forehead, Aza did the same. Jason chuckled, "The room is spinning like a top. That feels nice."

"You must be exhausted," She reached forward and brushed his hair away from his forehead. His eyes slowly closed, and he nodded, his lips curling - she thought he almost looked like a sleeping kitten. Aza flipped the washcloth once his body heat had warmed the side on his forehead. She was about to offer him more water when the ship's bell rang.

Her head snapped up, and she and Annabeth looked at each other, their faces mirroring each other: raised eyebrows, wide, owl-like eyes, slightly agape mouths. Frank coughed, "That sounds bad. Do you think–"

The ship lurched, and he stumbled against the wall. Aza's hands snapped to grip onto Jason's bed, and she reached an arm around his abdomen to lash him down like a seatbelt as the ship tilted to a violent angle, and then rocked back. He rolled slightly in her grasp, and she forced her arm tighter around his abdomen, trying her best to keep him from rolling off. The bell rang even louder.

"Annabeth, Frank," Aza stood to her feet, when the ship rocked back, holding her arms out to steady herself, "We have to get to the deck."

"Wait for me," Percy slowly forced himself up, leaning back on his forearms at first and then slowly pushing up to rest on his palms. Annabeth shook her head, mouthing silently, but he gently nudged her away and stood from the bed; she instantly had to hold him to balance him. Jason, of course, couldn't be outdone - he, too, pushed away Aza's attempt to keep him in bed and stood, and didn't allow her to carry him up the stairs. She cursed and called after him, "You're gonna trip and hurt yourself, you hard-headed little Roman!" Aza had to race after them, and she held her arms out behind her boyfriend in case he fell backwards.

"What's going," Percy yelled as they emerged from the stairs, "Gah! Shrimpzilla!"

Aza screamed. It had been a long time since she had screamed like that - it seemed foreign and shrill, and towards the end trailed off uncertainty, like there hadn't even been a threat. Heat flooded her cheeks, but she couldn't look away from the monster. It was the length of their ship; some monstrous cross of a giant shrimp and cockroach, with a pink shell, a flat tail like a crayfish, and millipede-like legs that hypnotically scraped against the hull of the Argo.

She nearly vomited when the head surfaced - the slimy pink face of a gigantic catfish, with dead glassy eyes, a toothless gaping maw and dozens of tentacles sprouting from each nostril. It rammed the ship again - she had to throw herself towards Jason to catch him before he stumbled to the starboard and almost pitched overboard.

"How did it get so close?" Annabeth had to shout to be heard, and she pulled herself up on one of the rails.

"I don't know," Gleeson snarled, and he passed the controls to Leo and prowled the quarterdeck for his bat. Leo slapped his forehead in frustration and the ship tilted further; they weren't far from capsizing. She hadn't heard what Leo said, but Gleeson yelled, "Sonar? Pan's pipes, Valdez! Maybe if you hadn't been staring into Hazel's eyes, holding hands for so long–"

"What?" Frank yelped. Aza's eyebrows rose and she looked between the three slowly, sucking her teeth. She was glad she wasn't involved in that. Hazel protested, "It wasn't like that."

"Who cares!" Aza shouted, "We have bigger issues! Who has ideas?"

"Jason," Piper shouted, "can you call some lightning?"

Aza shook her head, but Jason struggled to his feet and she reached to stabilize him. He concentrated for a moment, as best he could, but he shook his head and sighed after not too long. She wished he stayed below deck - he could barely stand on his own. Annabeth called, "Percy! Can you talk to that thing? Do you know what it is?"

Percy shook his head slowly, his expression mystified, "Maybe it's just curious about the ship. Maybe –" The monster's tendrils lashed across the deck as quick as lightning. One slammed Percy in the chest and sent him crashing down the steps. Another wrapped around Piper's legs and dragged her, screaming, towards the rail. Aza ran her fingers over the inscription on her cuff and raced towards the girl, slashing at the tendrils that came her way. Others snaked past her and curled around the masts, ripping down the rigging.

Aza grasped onto Piper's wrist with one hand, and the girl grasped onto hers, and with her free hand she slashed at the tendrils with her sword. Once Piper's ankle was free, she pulled forward and sliced another one just before it managed to fully encircle her calf, wrenching Piper away from its grasp.

Something slimy touched Aza's ankle, and she involuntarily twitched. She glanced down, and had just enough time to think: Oh, fuck. The tentacle fully encircled her ankle and calf, snaking its way up; before she could slice the flesh, Aza felt the ship get pulled from underneath her. Her arms flailed wildly in the air for a second as she tried to balance, but the monster pulled and she lost her footing, falling backwards and smacking her head against the deck.

Her vision blurred, and Aza's head lolled against the deck. She groaned, her eyes fluttering - her headache, and she cursed herself for not paying attention. As carefully as she could, she slid the flat of her blade between her leg and the tendril, pulling the tentacle a few inches away from her skin. Her arm shook from the effort, and she rotated her sword, placing the shap blade against the tendril and forcefully ripping upwards; the tendril squirted something nasty-smelling, whatever the shrimp's version of blood was, and collapsed to the floor.

As Aza groaned and pulled herself to her feet, the mast creaked and shuddered; Aza sliced at the tentacles as the monster pushed against the Argo II and the deck lurched to a forty-five degree angle.

"Gods of Olympus!" Aza shouted, as she accidentally sliced her thigh whilst cutting another tentacle that had grasped onto her, and nearly gave Piper an unwanted haircut to free her from yet another.

She heard Hazel's scream and turned, cursing loudly in Greek - she didn't know where Frank had gone, but a tentacle had wrapped Leo and the daughter of Pluto and raised them thirty feet in the air. She pressed forward to free them, but there were too many tentacles lashing at her, attempting to do the same.

Green light flashed, and something exploded. Aza turning and launching herself off the deck. She soared in the air for a moment, almost feeling like she was a bird, before she flying-tackled Piper and protected the girl's body with her own. When the debris and severed tentacles fell to the deck, she stood; the creature was wailing, green fire burning it from the inside out. Greek fire - Leo and Hazel must have thrown it in. She shuddered. It was dangerously close to the ship; if it caught fire, the ship would be ravaged. Greek fire was notoriously destructive, and could burn even on the surface of water. But the monster slunk back into the deep, bringing the acidic flames with it, and the ship righted.

Aza moved first, and she helped Jason to her feet, "Where are Leo, Hazel and Frank? Did they fall into the ocean?"

"I saw Frank get knocked overboard by a tentacle," Percy shakily stood, and he peered over the railing, "And Shrimpzilla got Hazel and Leo. I can search for them."

"Percy," Annabeth's eyebrows softly sewed together, her voice laced with warning, but her boyfriend cut her off and shook his head, his voice far firmer than his footing, "I can find them. The water heals me, after all. I'll be fine - you guys repair the ship, and keep an eye out for Shrimpzilla's friends."

He kissed Annabeth, winked at Aza and dove into the ocean. Annabeth huffed and glanced at Aza, "He always does that. Why does he always do that?"

"Because he's Percy," Aza waved a hand in the air and raised a brow, "My question is: why are you surprised?"

The three resurfaced the next day. Percy had searched and found nothing. Not long after Aza, Piper and Annabeth Iris-messaged Chiron to warn them of their tensions with New Rome, they waited on the deck. Three giant pink bubbles burst at the surface of the water by the starboard bow, ejecting Frank, Hazel and Leo. Piper dove straight into the water and paddled over to Leo, kissing him on the cheek. Aza laughed, and she looked at Jason, who suppressed a smile. He said, "Would you do that for me?"

"No," Aza smiled and batted her eyelashes in pseudo-innocence, "Would you for me?"

"Of course."

"Huh," Aza shrugged, "Well, now I feel like a bad girlfriend. Fine, yeah, I would."

Jason laughed, and he reached forward to tuck her curtain bangs behind her ears, "The last thing you are is a bad girlfriend."

The four got back on deck, and after they changed into dry clothes, they gathered on the quarterdeck for a celebratory breakfast - except for Gleeson, who grumbled to Aza that the atmosphere was getting to cuddly for his taste and asked if she wanted to go hammer out some dents in the hull with him. She promised to meet him later, after she had some food. Whilst Leo fixed the controls at the helm, Hazel and Frank told them about the fish-centaurs they met, the merpeople, and their training camp. Aza wished she could have gone.

"Incredible," Jason said, "These are really good brownies."

"That's your only comment?" Piper made a face and glanced at Aza as if to say that's who you choose?

Jason's eyebrows rose, "What? I heard the story. Fish-centaurs. Merpeople. Letter of intro to the Tiber River god. Got it. But these brownies –"

"I know," Frank said, his mouth wide open, giving them a view of his half-eaten food, "Try them with Esther's peach preserves."

"Ooh, pass it, Uncle Frankie," Aza held out her hand and reached across the picnic blanket they had spread out. He grimaced and leaned back, "Call me Frank."

"Uncle Frank." She motioned for him to pass him the jar. Hazel snickered from beside him, nibbling on a scone when he shot her a look, "Just Frank."

"Uncle Just Frank. I'm hungry, Uncle Just Frank - don't get between me and those peach preserves. That's a dangerous place to be."

Annabeth swallowed, "I'd listen to her, Frank. She and Clarisse usually fight over food in the dining pavilion. She will pull out her sword. Just give it to her, it's easier that way." Aza's lips curled into a satisfied smirk when he scowled, but leaned forward to give her the jar. She smeared the preserves on her brownies, turning to spread it on Jason's, too.

Percy seemed far-away, "They didn't want to meet me?"

"It wasn't that," Hazel shrugged, "Just... undersea politics, I guess. The merpeople are territorial. The good news is they're taking care of the aquarium in Atlanta. And they'll help protect the Argo II as we cross the Atlantic."

Percy nodded absentmindedly, "But they didn't want to meet me?"

Annabeth swatted his forearm and clicked her tongue, "Come on, Seaweed Brain! We've got other things to worry about."

"Nico has less than two days," Aza rubbed her forehead and sighed, "And you said the fish-centaurs said we have to rescue him; he's essential. And besides, he's Nico." Hazel met her eyes, and the two shared a small smile, but they knew they were thinking the same thing - he was slowly wasting away in that jar, with only two pomegranate seeds left to sustain him in his death-trance. Aza quickly pushed the thought away; it was too painful. It hit her with a wave of nausea and guilt.

"He must have information on the Doors of Death," Piper said, "We'll save him - we can make it in time. Right, Leo?"

"What?" Leo tore his eyes away from the controls only for a moment, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the panel, "Oh, yeah. We should reach the Mediterranean tomorrow morning. Then spend the rest of that day sailing to Rome, or flying, if I can get the stabilizer fixed by then–"

Jason's face soured and he cut in, "Which will put us in Rome on the last possible day for Nico. Twenty-four hours to find him - at most."

"We do always have tight deadlines," Aza shrugged, but Percy crossed his legs and made a face, leaning slightly closer to his girlfriend, "And that's only part of the problem. There's the Mark of Athena, too."

Annabeth's eye twitched. She rested her hand on her backpack for a moment, before pulling out a thin bronze disk the size of a donut, "This is the map I found at Fort Sumter. It's –" She stopped abruptly, staring at the smooth surface. "It's blank!"

Percy took it and examined both sides, "It wasn't like this earlier?"

"No! I was looking at it in my cabin and..." Annabeth muttered under her breath, "It must be like the Mark of Athena. I can only see it when I'm alone. It won't show itself to other demigods."

Frank scooted away from her, like the disc was about to explode. His voice was shaky, "What did it have on it? And what is the Mark of Athena? I still don't get it."

Annabeth took the disk from Percy and held it up in the sunlight, tilting it as though the reflection might reveal the map, "The map was hard to read, but it showed a spot on the Tiber River in Rome. I think that's where my quest starts - the path I've got to take to follow the Mark."

"Maybe that's where you meet Tiberinus, the river god," Aza suggested, "But what is the Mark?"

"The coin," her best friend murmured. Percy frowned, "What coin?"

Annabeth reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver drachma, "I've been carrying this around ever since I saw my mom at Grand Central. It's an Athenian coin." She passed it around, letting each of them examine it.

Leo fiddled with it, "An owl. Well, that makes sense. I guess the branch is an olive branch? But what's this inscription? AOE - Area of Effect?"

"Alpha, theta, epsilon," Annabeth said, "In Greek it stands for Of The Athenians - or you could read it as the children of Athena. It's sort of the Athenian motto."

"Like SPQR for the Romans," Piper guessed. Annabeth nodded and she continued, "Anyway, the Mark of Athena is an owl, just like that one. It appears in fiery red. I've seen it in my dreams. Then twice at Fort Sumter." She described what happened at the fort - Gaea speaking to her, the spiders in the garrison, the Mark burning them away.

Percy took Annabeth's hand, "I should have been there for you."

"But that's the point," Annabeth bit her lip, "No one can be there for me. When I get to Rome, I'll have to strike out on my own. Otherwise the Mark won't appear. I'll have to follow it to... to the source."

"Annabeth, that's crazy," Aza shook her head, blinking rapidly. "It's too dangerous."

Before Annabeth could answer, Frank took the coin from Leo and said, "The giant's bane stands gold and pale, won with pain from a woven jail. What is it - this thing at the source?"

"A statue. A statue of Athena - at least, that's my guess," Jason said. "There's only one artifact that could fit the legend," he turned to Annabeth, "I'm sorry. I should have told you everything I've heard much earlier. But honestly, I was scared. If this legend is true -"

"I know," Annabeth said. "I figured it out, Jason. I don't blame you. But if we manage to save the statue, Greek and Romans together, don't you see? It could heal the rift?"

"Hold on," Percy made a 't' with his hands, "What statue?"

Annabeth slipped the coin back into her pocket, "The Athena Parthenos. The most famous Greek statue of all time. It was forty feet tall, covered in ivory and gold. It stood in the middle of the Parthenon in Athens." The ship went silent.

"Okay, I'll bite," Leo said, after moments of silence, "What happened to it?"

"It disappeared."

Leo frowned, "How does a forty-foot-tall statue in the middle of the Parthenon just disappear?"

"Good question," Annabeth shrugged, "It's one of the biggest mysteries in history. Some people thought the statue was melted down for its gold, or destroyed by invaders. Athens was sacked a number of times. Some thought the statue was carried off–"

"By Romans," Jason finished, "At least, that's one theory, and it fits the legend I heard at Camp Jupiter. To break the Greeks' spirit, the Romans carted off the Athena Parthenos when they took over Athens. They hit it in an underground shrine in Rome, and the Roman demigods swore it would never see the light of day. They literally stole Athena, so she could no longer be the Greek military power. She became Minerva, a far tamer goddess."

"The children of Athena have been searching for the statue ever since," Annabeth continued, "Most don't know about the legend, but in every generation, a few are chosen by the goddess. They're given a coin like mine. They follow the Mark of Athena - a kind of magical trail that links them to the statue - hoping to find the resting place of the Athena Parthenos and get the statue back."

Aza and Percy exchanged a glance - she was surprised they so seamlessly wove the story, adding onto each other without judgment. Just a few days prior, she knew her best friend didn't trust Jason, and Jason was more than a little intimidated by Annabeth. But it seemed they were slowly coming together, just like all of them. She could tell Percy thought the same, "So if we - I mean you - find the statue, what would we do with it? Could we even move it?"

"I'm not sure," Annabeth sighed, and she shook her head slightly, "But if we could save it, somehow, it could unite the two camps. It could heal my mother of this hatred she's got, tearing her two aspects apart. And maybe... maybe the statue has some sort of power that could help us against the giants."

"This could change everything," Piper said slowly, "It could end thousands of years of hostility. It might be the key to defeating Gaea. But if we can't help you..."

Annabeth squared her shoulder, but Aza smelt sulfur and cinnamon. Her best friend simply said, "I have to succeed. The risk is worth it."

Hazel twirled her coils, "I don't like the idea of you risking your life alone, but you're right. We saw what recovering the golden eagle standard did for the Roman legion. If this statue is the most powerful symbol of Athena ever created–"

"It could kick some serious booty," Leo offered.

Hazel frowned, "That wasn't the way I'd put it, but yet."

"But," Aza hated herself for saying it, especially when Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand, "No child of Athena has ever found it. Annie, what do you think is down there? What's guarding it - something with spiders?"

"Won through pain from a woven jail," Frank recalled, "Woven, like webs?"

Annabeth's face turned white, and she held on tighter to Percy's hand. Aza reached forward, and she placed a hand on her best friend's knee, clutching it tightly, "We'll figure something out. Maybe I can give you a charm, or something. You're gonna kick some serious ass–"

"Booty," Leo interrupted. Aza corrected herself with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah," Percy nudged his girlfriend's side, "I learned a long time ago: Never bet against Annabeth."