Aza woke to a ship's horn blasting so loud it shook her out of bed. She smacked against the floor with a thud and groaned, rubbing her head with a scowl. She wondered if Leo was blowing the horn to wake them all, but then it boomed again - it was different then theirs, she was certain about that. She ran out of the room, pulling her oversized Green Day shirt to cover her legs.
She met the others at the deck; clearly, all of them had gotten ready in a similar rush. Frank's Vancouver Winter Olympics shirt was inside out, and Percy wore green flannel pajama pants and a bronze chestplate; Leo had accidentally set himself on fire. His t-shirt was in charred tatters, and his arms were smoking.
About a hundred yards to their left, a massive cruise ship glided past. Tourists waved at them from at least fifteen stories of balconies, smiling and taking pictures. She slowly waved back and glanced at Jason, wondering what the tourists were seeing. The cruise ship blew their horn again, and the Argo II shook. Gleeson plugged his ears, "Do they have to be so loud?"
"They're just saying hi," Frank suggested.
"WHAT?"
The ship edged past them and headed out to sea. Leo waved with his smoking hand to the last tourists on the back of the ship and called, "Bye!"
"Can I man the ballistae?" Gleeson asked, batting his eyelashes. Aza ran a tired hand over her face and shook her head. Her voice was raspier from sleep, though still firm, "No, Gleeson."
Hazel rubbed her eyes and looked across the water, "Where are – oh. Wow."
Aza followed her gaze, her jaw dropping open slightly. The cruise ship had been blocking a spectacular view of a mountain jutting out from the sea; a massive fist of blinding white rock with one side a sheer, startling drop a thousand feet to the sea below. On the other side of the water, a forest-covered green mountain.
"The Rock of Gibraltar," Annabeth said in awe, her eyes sparkling, "At the tip of Spain. And over there," She pointed south, to a distant stretch of red and tawny hills, "That must be Africa. We're at the mouth of the Mediterranean."
"What now," Piper shivered, and Aza felt the slow lap of waves at her ankle as nerves began to rise in the group, "Do we just sail in?"
"Why not?" Leo asked. "It's just a big shipping channel. Boats go in and out all the time."
"In the old days," Annabeth gazed at the Rock of Gibraltar, her eyes turning stormy, "they called this area the pillars of Heracles. The Rock was supposed to be one pillar. The other was one of the African mountains. Nobody is sure which one."
"Heracles, huh," Percy frowned, "That guy was like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece. Everywhere you turn - there he is." He glanced at Aza, and the two smirked at each other. Their smiles dropped when a thunderous boom shook the Argo II, and she looked around but Aza couldn't find the source. The skies were clear, and the water was relatively smooth.
Piper cleared her throat, fiddling with a strand of her hair, "So - these Pillars of Heracles. Are they dangerous?"
Annabeth stared at the white cliffs, "For Greeks, the pillars marked the end of the known world. The Romans said the pillars were inscribed with a Latin warning –"
"Non plus ultra." Percy said.
Annabeth's eyes widened, and she glanced at Aza, who blinked slowly, "Yeah. Nothing Further Beyond. How did you know?"
Percy pointed, "Because I'm looking at it."
Directly ahead of them, in the middle of the straits, an island shimmered into existence where Aza was certain there hadn't been one before. It was a small forested hill, ringed with white beaches. It was small, and at the front of the island, jutting about a hundred yards in from the shore were two white Grecian columns as tall as the Argo's masts. Between the columns, huge silver words glittered underwater almost like an illusion: NON PLUS ULTRA.
"Guys, do I turn around," Leo swept a curl away from his face, his eyes flicking around nervously, "Or..."
Nobody answered. Aza spotted the figure on the beach - a dark-haired man in purple robes, who stood with his arms crossed. He stared expectantly at their ship as if he was expecting them, his back rigid. A large bronze sword was sheathed to his side.
Frank inhaled sharply, "Could that be–"
"Heracles," Jason said, "The most powerful demigod of all time."
"I need an answer," Leo said urgently, as the Argo smoothly approached, "I can turn, or we can take off. The stabilizers are working again. But I need to know quick–"
"We have to keep going," Annabeth said. "I think he's guarding these straits. If that's really Heracles, sailing or flying away wouldn't do us any good. He'll want to talk to us."
"Just talk?" Aza said slowly, and her hand wandered to her bronze cuff, "Because – even if all of us had to take him..."
"Won't Heracles be on our side?" Piper asked hopefully. "I mean, he's one of us."
Jason made his way towards Aza, and he stood beside her, "He was a son of Zeus, but when he died, he became a god. You can never be sure with gods."
"Great," Percy said. "Eight of us against Heracles."
"And a satyr!" Gleeson added, "We can take him."
"I've got a better idea," Annabeth said. "We send ambassadors ashore. A small group - one or two at most. Try to talk with him.
Aza glanced at Jason and raised an eyebrow. His jaw clenched for a moment, and he nodded, "I'll go. He's a son of Zeus. I'm the son of Jupiter. Maybe he'll be friendlier with me."
"Or maybe he'll hate you," Percy rolled his eyes, "Half-brothers don't always get along."
Jason scowled, "Thank you, Mr. Optimism."
"It's worth a shot," Annabeth said quickly, her eyes narrowing to ensure that it was clear she was in charge, "At least Jason and Heracles have something in common. And we need our best diplomat. Somebody who's good with words." Aza looked at Piper, and she was unsurprised that the others did, too.
"Fine," Piper deflated after a moment of hesitation, "Just let me change my clothes."
Aza, Percy and Annabeth spread a white-and-red checkered blanket on the deck of the Argo II; Aza had stolen it long ago from Annabeth (who sniffed indignantly when the daughter of Phobos pulled it out of her bag), who had stolen it from Luke, who had, of course, stolen it from the Camp store with Connor and Travis. Percy and Annabeth carted over plates of food from the dining room, and set places for each of them.
Percy sat first, and he piled food on each of their plates - it reminded Aza of Aphrodite, who had poured their tea and given them scones and little cakes, but she didn't mention it for fear of wounding his ego.
It reminded her of their copious picnics on the beach at camp, as she leaned back and ate several slices of watermelon, watching the ocean in the view beyond them. Percy said, "Hey, Aza," he formed a fist, and mimed as if he were holding something to his mouth, "this is a microphone," Aza's lips slowly formed into a smile - she had almost forgotten about most of their inside jokes, and the little embellishments to their friendships. Percy continued slowly, "Thoughts on... the economy."
Annabeth rolled her eyes and let out a breathy laugh when Percy reached his fist towards Aza, bringing the pseudo-mic close to her face, "Bad. A jar of Medea's SPF five-thousand used to cost seven drachmas, but now it's ten. I've had to break open Ellis's piggybank a couple of times. And I know it's just because Mr. D now has an addiction to auction websites."
"He does?" Percy brought his hand to his face.
"Yes, he –" Annabeth paused when Percy brought his hand close to her, and she rolled her eyes but leaned close to the fake microphone either way, "It's bad. Apparently he got his hands on a computer. He bought this huge antique Coca-Cola refrigerator, and he was bidding on what was definitely an illegal stuffed leopard, but luckily Chiron deleted his account before that could happen."
"What a nutjob," Percy brought his hand back to his face, but he winced and clicked his tongue, glancing at Aza, dropping his hand, "Sorry, bad choice of words."
"It's okay," she shrugged, "You're not wrong."
They didn't have much longer to relax. Leo interrupted the e65 nd of their picnic, "Iris-message from Piper; Heracles is the worst! We gotta jet. Get ready for a pretty-peeved god!" He ran back for the helm and slapped the control panel wildly. Aza clambered to her feet and helped her friends, and the oars slid into aerial mode, the anchor slowly pulling up.
She waited impatiently, swinging her sword by the rail; she heard an outraged bellow, and then Jason and Piper flew towards them and landed on the deck. Jason summoned a wind so strong it pushed the Argo II into the sky, and as Aza helped to steady them Percy crashed a wave into Heracles, who stumbled back into what Aza thought was a giant pile of fruit. By time he recovered, the Argo was sailing through the waves, and even his godly strength couldn't hurl coconuts far enough to reach them.
She got a night of rest. A dinner with her friends, and though they hurtled towards certain danger, they could relax. There would be no more stops on the way to Rome. Before she went to bed, Jason stopped her in her doorway. He stood in the hallway and grasped her wrist to stop her, "Hey – I want to talk to you about Annabeth."
At first, she froze, her mouth opening slightly. She furrowed her brows, and shrugged her shoulders, leading him into her room, "Okay. What's wrong?"
The two sat on her bed, cross-legged and facing each other. He placed a hand on her knee, "I don't know what is guarding the Athena Parthenos, but I know it's the greatest fear of the children of Athena. No one has ever come back. But, I was thinking," he hesitated, his face scrunching together, "if it's their greatest fear, well, you could somehow help–"
"But I can't go," Aza interrupted, shaking her head, "the Mark of Athena won't appear in the presence of others. Maybe if we found another child of Athena, but–"
"That's not what I'm saying. What if, I don't know - is there any way you could help from afar? Like, you can take her fear away for a period of time, but what if that doesn't last long enough?"
"It depends on how distracted I am," Aza tucked her bangs behind her ears, "and how intense her emotions are. I can't say, for sure, how long I could dull her emotions. But - are you talking about some sort of... talisman?"
"I don't know," Jason shrugged, "I don't know how it would work, I just wanted to give you my thoughts. But maybe, you could put some of your... power into her dagger, or her necklace. Like I said, these are just my thoughts." His face lowered, and he looked almost dejected.
Aza instantly placed her hand over his, "Thank you – that's a good idea. I don't know, I'll think about it."
Jason leaned forward and kissed her softly. When he pulled away, her cheeks felt hot, and his had turned the same shade as her camp cabin's peeling painted walls. He squeezed her knee before gently pulling his hand away, "Goodnight, Aza. Sweet dreams."
"Hopefully," she chuckled lightly and smiled at him as he walked backwards towards her door, "Goodnight, Jason. Don't let the bedbugs bite."
Aza awoke to the alarm bells. She rolled over for a second, her eyes fluttering open and then back close. When the bell rang again, she cursed in Greek - why couldn't she have just one night of peaceful sleep? She leapt out of bed and ran her fingers over the inscription of the sword, swinging her sword reliably in the air.
Just as Aza reached for her doorknob, the door swung open and the edge hit her nose. She stumbled back, her left hand reaching to clutch at her face, "Ow! What in Hades?"
Three... things stood in her doorway; monstrous mixtures of dolphin and human. Two of them were more humanoid, with their swords held in stunted flippers. The third was certainly more dolphin than human - it only had human calves and feed, welded together into sickening flippers. She swallowed the bile in her throat, and did her best to look confident, curling a brow and curling her lips into a half-smirk, "It's okay. You can just turn around now, and we'll pretend this never happened."
Dolphin-Monster chattered and squeaked. She heard several thuds from the rooms near hers, and the sound of bronze clashing. Aza nearly threw up when the dolphin-man took a step closer; she had always hated dolphins, especially after Annabeth told her about the experiments with dolphins, where they had relations with their trainers. Aza swung her sword, and the two humanoid-dolphins lunged; she blocked their blows and ducked under a sword, rolling out of the way.
Aza yelped when one landed a blow, swatting her back with part of his spear. She stumbled, catching herself with the tip of her sword. In an instant, she twirled around and smacked away the spear, thrusting her blade up; he evaporated in a shower of gold. The other humanoid dolphin squeaked, and Aza used her moment of distraction to stumble out the room. She took hold of the doorknob and slammed the door shut, holding it tightly; the two dolphin-men pulled at it from inside her room, but she placed one foot on the wall beside the door and held a tight grip.
She heard more chatter. Aza slowly turned her head to see three more dolphin-men dragging a half-asleep Piper through the hallway. She instantly dropped her grip on the door and stepped to block their path, "Let her go, you weird little sea-demons."
The door to her room swung open, and she was nearly surrounded by five of them. Aza took a step backwards, stumbling into yet another. She heard Jason call out from somewhere far down the hallway, "Aza!" She heard a loud thud, and a harsh grunt.
She swung her sword and stepped back, closer towards the two in her room, who took a step into the hallway. She was surrounded. It took lots of flailing and effort, in which everyone, even Aza, was smacked with Mind-Cleaver, until finally three dolphins held onto her, and her sword was out of her grasp.
"Please," Piper struggled in her captor's grasp, her voice heavy with charmspeak, "You don't want to do this. Let us go, and leave our ship."
Aza felt the hands on her wrist loosen, for just a moment. Down the hallway, she heard Jason shout, and then Hazel scream; she glanced over and saw them pull from their captors' grip, turning back to fight. Aza's captors realized their mistake, and their grip tightened just an instant too late; she had already managed to twist her wrist enough, and she wrenched her arms out of their grasp, slamming her head back into one of their dolphin snouts. From behind her, Piper called again, "Stop fighting, lay down your swords and let us go–argh!"
Aza whipped her head around - the dolphin-men holding onto Piper had gagged her. One of the attackers punched her clean in the cheek, and her neck snapped. She growled and grabbed his arm, yanking it and twisting it behind his back; she lifted her knee and placed it on the small of his back, harshly shoving him down on the ground and slamming his head into the floor.
Something large and metal hit the back of her head, and she stumbled into the wall with a groan, clutching at her head. Hands wrapped around her waist, and she was flipped and slammed onto her back; the wind left her, and she gasped uselessly, staring up at the ceiling. Deformed dolphin-human monstrosities leaned over her and yanked her to her feet, wrapping her hands together.
Aza howled in rage, "You spineless little monsters! Untie me so I can rip your flippers off and beat you with them! I'm going to make you taste your fins – I'm going to–mmf!" She was gagged quickly and her ankles tied together. She was marched up the stairs by the dolphins.
Two dolphin-men brought her to stand in front of who she assumed was their leader - a man wearing a full face golden mask fashioned like a gorgon's head, with curved tusks, horrible pinched features, a vicious snarl and golden snakes curling around the face like baby hairs. Her friends were brought to stand beside her; she thrashed when Jason was held fully aloft by his two escorts, unconscious and thoroughly bruised. Piper and Hazel had been bound like her, and she could see Leo on the floor by the mast. Percy and Annabeth were surrounded.
"Excellent!" The man in the mask gloated, and he directed his men to drop Jason by the crossbows. He then strode over to inspect Aza, Piper, Hazel and Annabeth with a wicked grin, like he had just received the most spectacular presents, "The boy is of no use to me. But we have an understanding with the witch Circe. She will buy the women - either as slaves or trainees, depending on their skill. But not you, lovely Annabeth."
Aza thrashed in her captors' grasp, and Annabeth spat, "You are not taking me anywhere."
The man in the mask clicked his tongue, "Oh, sadly, Annabeth, you will not be staying with me. I would love that. But you and your friend Percy are spoken for. A certain goddess is paying a high bounty for your capture - alive if possible, though she didn't say you had to be unharmed.
Aza yelled indecipherable threats through her gag. Even she didn't quite know what she was saying; it was more indiscernible angry yells and half-threats woven together. The man glanced at her, and he tilted his head, "Ah, we have some arguments here. Ungag her, I'd like to hear what she's screaming."
One of the men holding her released a hand to take the gag out of her mouth, and she snapped her hand out of his grasp, reaching back to elbow him. Piper and Hazel pseudo-fainted back into their captor's grasp, and began to violently shake. The gag fell out of her mouth, "I'm going to fucking kill you," and Aza reached into the dolphin-man's scabbard, pulling out his sword. She whirled around, but another two of the monsters jumped on her and wrestled the blade from her grasp, pulling her into a far tighter hold. One of them wrapped their flippers around her neck, and she gasped out, "Ooh, I'm going to – argh! You're going to – I'm going to make you guys eat flipper! I hope you guys enjoy the view of your intestines, because I'm going to pummel your head so – I'm going to shove my foot so far up–"
"You can gag her again," he waved his hand, and she was once more muffled. It was the moment Percy needed - he whipped out Riptide and lashed out; the blade should have gone through the masked man's neck, but he moved as quickly as Aza could blink, dodging and parrying Percy's strikes. The dolphin warriors backed up, guarding the other captives and giving their leader room to battle, chattering and squawking to egg him on. Aza yelled, muffled by her gag.
Percy feinted and thrust at the man's gut, but he anticipated the move. The masked man knocked Percy's sword out of his hand, and Riptide flew into the sea - the man laughed and pressed the tip of his golden sword against Percy's sternum. Aza howled with outrage.
The man laughed, "A good try. But now you'll be chained and transported to Gaea's minions. They are quite eager to spill your blood and wake the goddess."
Percy stood there for a moment. Silence fell, and then Percy shouted, "Fine! Take us away, if our captain will let you."
Aza stopped yelling, and she tilted her head. Their captain? The masked man was similarly confused. He turned and examined Percy, "What captain? My men searched the ship. There is no one else."
Percy raised his hands dramatically, "The god appears only when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our camp for demigods. Doesn't he, Annabeth?"
Her best friend nodded quickly, "Yes! Mr. D! The great Dionysus!" The dolphin-men murmured uneasily, and Aza's nose burnt with sulfur mixed with what she could only describe as dolphin-scent (which she now knew all too well).
"Stand fast!" Their leader bellowed, when one of his soldiers even dropped his sword in nervousness, "There is no god on this ship. They are trying to scare you."
"You should be scared!" Percy glanced at Aza quickly, and she slowly focused on the slow swirl of fear, first like a soft spring breeze, and soon like a crisp autumn gale. She could practically feel it on her skin, and her fingertips began to glow a slight red as she increased the flow of emotion, amplifying the tide of fear. Percy continued, "Dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girls falling into the wine god's madness?"
Aza continued yelling, and when Percy shot her a harsh glance she raised a brow and dropped like a weight, falling back into her captors. She began to shake just as violently as Hazel and Piper - her captors scrambled to get away from her.
"Fakes!" The masked man roared, "Shut up, Percy Jackson! Your camp director is not here. He was recalled to Olympus. This is common knowledge."
"So you admit Dionysus is our camp director!" Percy said.
"He was," the man corrected, "Everyone knows that."
Percy gestured to the man and shook her head, "You see? We are doomed. If you don't believe me, let's check the ice chest!" He stormed over towards the magical cooler, and no one stopped him. He pulled out a small silver can and brandished it at the dolphin warriors, "Behold! The gods chosen beverages. Tremble before the horror of Diet Coke!"
Aza was going to kill Percy if he destroyed her last can of Diet Coke, but it worked - the dolphin-men's panic rose, and they skittered nervously. Percy warned, "The god will take your ship. He will finish your transformation into dolphins, or make you insane, or transform you into insane dolphins! Your only hope is to swim away now, quickly!"
"Ridiculous!" The masked man's voice had gone shrill.
"Save yourselves!" Percy glanced at Aza with sharp eyes, then motioned towards the mast, "It is too late for us! Oh no! Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!"
Frank stumbled out of nowhere, and Aza's fist clenched; glowing red grape vines began to grow up the side of the Argo, and up the mast. Frank made a big show of grabbing at his throat, "Oh, no. I am turning into a crazy dolphin."
The dolphin-men shoved each other over to avoid the growing vines, and Frank slowly began to change, his nose elongating into a snout, his skin becoming sleek and gray. He fell to the deck as a dolphin, his tail thumping against the boards.
The glowing grape vines chased the pirate crew off the ship as they disbanded in terror, dropping their weapons, ignoring the masked man's orders and jumping overboard. Annabeth slunk over towards Aza and cut her bonds, moving to do the same to Hazel, Piper and Gleeson, who was over in the far corner.
Within seconds, the masked man was alone and surrounded. Aza cracked her knuckles - only Annabeth had her weapon, but the looks on their faces alone was enough to back him towards the edge of the rail. The man growled, "This isn't over, Jackson. I will have my revenge–"
He was cut short by Frank, who raced forward as a ginormous grizzly bear and sideswiped the man, raking the golden mask off his helmet. Aza laughed incredulously and clapped, "Uncle Frankie!"
The man covered his face with his arms instantly and tumbled into the water. They ran to the rail, but he disappeared under the water. Annabeth ran towards Percy and kissed him, "That was brilliant!"
"It was desperate," Percy corrected, "And we need to get rid of this pirate trireme." Aza hadn't even considered that they had been attacked by pirates. By terrifying dolphin-man pirates.
Annabeth offered, "Burn it?"
Percy glanced at the Diet Coke in her hand, and Aza knew she wasn't going to get to drink it, "No. I've got another idea."
Aza popped a cube of ambrosia in Jason's mouth and forced him to chew, holding his head back and forcing him to swallow. He wasn't as hurt as he looked, but at the very least the extra energy would help power him through what was sure to be a long day. When Jason's eyes hazily fluttered open, she glanced around the deck to make sure no one was looking before swiftly kissing his forehead, scurrying towards Leo, whom she helped drink nectar.
She forced him to rest and pushed Piper to sit back down, moving around to return their supplies to the proper places and clean up after the invasion. Percy loaded the enemy's weapons back onto the pirate ship, and returned Mind-Cleaver to her from the pile of spoils. He said that the pirate ship's storeroom was full of treasure, but he insisted they touch none of it.
"I can sense about six million dollars' worth of gold aboard," Hazel said, "Plus diamonds, rubies–"
"Six m-million?" Frank blinked rapidly, "Canadian dollars of American?"
"Leave it," Percy said, "It's part of the tribute."
"Tribute?" Hazel asked.
Piper glanced at Aza, who smiled slowly, "Oh. Kansas." Jason grinned and let out a bark of laughter, "Crazy. But I like it."
Percy went aboard the pirate ship with Leo, and sabotaged it. When they came back, the crew of the Argo II assembled at the rail and cut the grappling lines. Piper brought out a cornucopia - a horn of plenty and, on Percy's command, willed it to spew Diet Coke with the strength of the fire house, dousing the enemy deck. The ship sank remarkably fast, filling with Diet Coke and seawater. If she couldn't die by sharks, Aza decided, drowning in Diet Coke was her second choice.
"Dionysus," Percy called, holding up the man's golden mask, "Or Bacchus - whatever. You made this victory possible, even if you weren't here. Your enemies trembled at your name... or your Diet Coke, or something. So, yeah, thank you. We give you this ship as tribute. We hope you like it."
"Six million in gold," Leo muttered bitterly, "He'd better like it."
Percy threw the golden mask aboard the almost fully-sunk ship, which spewed brown fizzy liquid out the triereme's oar slots. He summoned a wave, and the enemy ship was swamped. Before Piper put away her cornucopia, she angled the stream so Aza could catch some in her mouth, though she danced away when more than a bit sloshed down the front of her shirt.
After their run-in with pirates, they decided to fly the rest of the way to Rome. Aza showered and changed, sticky from Diet Coke, and Jason insisted he could take sentry duty with Gleeson.
After she had changed into fresh clothes, Aza paced around the center of her room. They were quickly approaching the Tiber, where Annabeth would depart on her own, and Jason was right. She had to do... something, so that her best friend didn't fall to the same fate as the rest of the children of Athena. She felt powerless - she didn't know what to do, over something she controlled. Fear was her wheelhouse; it was her ocean, her storm.
She glanced at the weapons rack on her left wall. A talisman, like Jason had suggested. Since Aza couldn't go with Annabeth, she would have to give her something she could carry, something Aza could try to imbue with some sort of power. Like a safety blanket.
She thought first about using Annabeth's dagger, but it felt wrong. It should be something new - something coming from Aza, something with connection. Her fingertips wandered over her array of swords, daggers and spears. After she had swung most of them through the air, something metallic clanged in the air. She whipped her head around, wondering if it was more pirates, before she realized it was the landing gear being lowered.
Someone knocked thrice at her door - clear and concise. She smiled when Jason poked his head in; the bruises had faded, and his blue eyes glimmered, "Come on out, Aza. We're descending over Rome."
She met the others on the deck. The sky was a bright, brilliant blue, and the sun had just risen over the distant hills so the city of Rome shimmered and sparkled. It spreads over a vast array of hills and valleys, sprawling over the Tiber with dozens of bridges. She spotted a cathedral next to a line of Roman columns, beside a modern soccer stadium. Ancient buildings wove with modern architecture seamlessly everywhere she looked.
"We're setting down in that park," Leo called, pointing to a wide green space dotted with palm trees. "Let's hope the Mist makes us look like a large pigeon or something."
She assumed they weren't a giant pigeon, but whatever the mortals saw was completely normal. They set down on a large grassy field, and the oars retracted. Aza's ears perked - she could hear traffic, and car horns honking, but the park itself was deserted and peaceful. In the north, she could see the top of the Colosseum rising about a mile in the distance, above the rooftops.
Jason pointed to the base of a long brick wall at the top of a hill, like an archers' wall, "I think I know where we are. That's the Tomb of the Scipios."
Percy frowned, "Scipio... Reyna's pegasus?"
"No," Annabeth shook her head, "They were a noble Roman family, and wow - this place is amazing."
Jason's face was wide in awe, "I've studied maps of Rome before. I've always wanted to come here, but..." Aza's lips curled into a smile - he was very cute when he was excited, she decided. She didn't know how she felt - nervous, definitely, and sort of... unreal. She knew she was in Rome, but it almost didn't feel like it had actually happened.
"Plans?" Hazel asked, "Nico has until sunset - at best. And this entire city is supposedly getting destroyed today."
Percy blinked, "You're right. Annabeth, did you zero in on that spot from your bronze map?"
Her grey eyes turned stormy, and she nodded slowly, her voice cautious, "Yes. It's on the Tiber River. I think I can find it, but I should–"
"Take me along," Percy finished, smiling sarcastically, "Yeah, you're right."
Annabeth's eyes narrowed, and Aza gulped nervously, "That's not–"
"Safe," Percy supplied, tilting his head, "One demigod walking through Rome alone. I'll go with you as far as the Tiber. We can use that letter of introduction, hopefully meet the river god Tiberinus. Maybe he can give you some help or advice. Then you can go on alone from there."
"Fine," Annabeth muttered, and Aza's heart began to beat faster - this was really happening. Her best friend turned to Hazel, "Now that we're in Rome, do you think you can pinpoint Nico's location?"
Hazel blinked slowly, "Um, hopefully, if I can get close enough. I'll have to walk around the city. Frank, would you come with me?"
Frank beamed, "Absolutely."
Hazel tentatively added, "And, uh, Leo. It might be a good idea if you came along too. The fish-centaurs said we'd need your help with something mechanical."
Aza was glad she wasn't any of those three - Frank's smile tightened, and his eye twitched when Leo slowly said, "Yeah. No problem."
"Jason, Piper and I will watch the ship," Aza decided, "Piper - can you keep an eye on Katoptris? And Hazel, if you figure out Nico's location, do not go in there by yourselves. Come back and get us, okay? We're gonna need everyone."
"Good idea," Percy said, "How about we plan to meet back here at... what?"
"Three this afternoon?" Jason suggested. "That's probably the latest we could rendezvous and still hope to fight the giants and save Nico. If something happens to change the plan, try to send an Iris-message."
Everyone nodded, and Aza glanced at Annabeth. She bit her lip nervously - her best friend might come back much later, or she might not come back. She was going to be on her own, away from the reach of help. Gleeson grunted, "That'll give me time to eat the coconuts - I mean dig the coconuts out of our hull. Percy, Annabeth... I don't like you two going off on your own. Aza, you're goin', cupcake. Make sure no funny business happens."
"Gleeson, no," Aza protested, shaking her head. Her voice was firm, "Let them go alone. But Annabeth, I have something for you."
It was hard, and her left hand trembled as she did so, but she pulled her bronze cuff off her wrist. It took several seconds of pulling, but finally it popped off, revealing deep indents in her skin. She handed the cuff to Annabeth, "Take my sword."
"Aza–" Annabeth hesitated, her eyebrows sewing together. She looked around the group for help, but Aza held up a hand to silence the beginning mumbles of everyone's protest and continued, "You are going to encounter the fear of every Athena child. I don't know what it's going to be, but I at least can do my best to help you. Please, take Mind-Cleaver. It will protect you, guide you, and help channel your fear," she passed the bronze cuff to her best friend, "Please, take it. You can do this, Annie - if anyone can, it's you."
"But, Aza," Annabeth shook her head, "it's your weapon. A demigod should never leave their weapon behind. You need it more than me, I have my dagger."
"Oh, Annabeth," Aza rolled her eyes and pushed the cuff into her friend's chest, "I could use a sandwich as a weapon. Remember me and my big-ass branch? Worst case scenario, I'll be okay."
The gangplank lowered, and Percy and Annabeth were the first two off the Argo II. Aza didn't even care that everyone saw her throw herself into Jason's outstretched arms, sniffling less than quietly.