Agoraphobia: Fear of Crowds & Open Space
Aurelia hated senate meetings.
Even though she technically wasn't a senator, Reyna insisted she wear a toga because of her Truthsayer position. So she put on a pair of black leggings, her purple v-neck Camp Jupiter dress, a pair of black boots and her white toga over it. She left her bands on her wrist.
Aurelia sat next to Frank, Hazel and Percy. Although her usual seat was at the praetor's table beside Reyna, after last night she felt like she needed to be with them more. Last night's victory had been overshadowed by Mars' announcement about the possible destruction of New Rome and them. So naturally, their fifteen minutes of popularity had quickly vanished, and Aurelia wanted to present a united front, especially since the four of them were most likely going on a quest together.
The decision of the quest was like an unsaid agreement. None of them really had to say to Frank that they had his back. Hazel giving him a bright smile in the morning, Percy walking with him to the mess hall, and Aurelia patting his back was enough to tell him that they weren't going to abandon him.
"Two gods in one day ..."
"Un-Roman fighting ..."
"Water cannon up my nose ..."
Percy seemed to ignore all the whispers about him. He had filled his plate to the brim with bacon, waffles, apples and several glasses of orange juice.
It was a big difference compared to Aurelia who merely ate a small bowl of yogurt filled with fresh strawberries and blueberries. In fact, Aurelia thought Percy may have kept filling himself if Reyna hadn't called for the senate to convene in the city.
"Here we go." Hazel was fidgeting with a stone that looked like a two-carat ruby.
The ghost Vitellius appeared next to them in a purple shimmer. "Bona fortuna, you four! Ah, senate meetings, I remember the one when Caesar was assassinated. Why, the amount of blood on his toga—"
"Thanks, Vitellius," Frank interrupted. "We should get going."
Reyna and Octavian led the procession of senators out of camp, with Reyna's metal greyhounds dashing back and forth along the road. Usually, Aurelia would walk right behind Reyna, but she chose to linger at the back of the group with Frank, Hazel and Percy.
She noticed Nico di Angelo in the group, wearing a black toga and talking with Gwen, who looked a little pale but surprisingly good considering she was just dead the night before. Dakota stumbled along in his red speckled robe. A lot of the senators seemed to be having trouble with their togas—hiking up their hems, trying to keep the cloth from slipping off their shoulders. Everyone except Reyna and Aurelia.
"How do you move in that?" Percy asked Aurelia, who was walking alongside him.
"I grew up fighting in floor-length dresses," Aurelia shrugged. "This is a piece of cake in comparison." She was telling the truth. On Circe's Island she learned how to fight with her sword and would always wear long, flowy gowns when doing so because that was the only type of clothing she was allowed to wear there. Even before that her mother dressed her in golden dresses (for Aurelia was Martina's golden girl) that she would often run around in. Aurelia loved dresses, and she loved dressing femininely.
"They are just for formal occasions," Hazel added. "Like tuxedos. I bet the ancient Romans hated toga as much as we do. By the way, did you bring any weapons?"
Percy's hand went to his pocket. "Why? Are we not supposed to?"
"No weapons inside the Pomerian Line," Hazel recited.
"The what line?"
"Pomerian," Frank said. "The city limits. Inside is a sacred 'safe zone.' Legions can't march through. No weapons allowed. That's so the senate meeting don't get bloody."
"Like Julius Caesar getting assassinated?"
Frank nodded. "Don't worry. Nothing like that has happened in months." He gave a quick nod to Aurelia who was shaking her head.
"Well, the stabbing did not work," she muttered. "Octavian is still alive, as you can see."
"You tried to stab him?" Percy laughed. "With what?"
"A pencil."
Percy laughed again, this time Frank Hazel joined in.
As they got closer to the city, Aurelia once again appreciated how beautiful it was. The tiled rods and gold domes gleamed in the sun. Gardens bloomed with honeysuckle and roses. The central plaza was paved in white and gray stone, decorated with statues, fountains and gilded columns. In the surrounding neighborhoods, cobblestone streets were lined with freshly painted town houses, shops, cafes, and parks. In the distance rose the coliseum and the horse racing arena.
As they reached the city limits the senators began to slow down. On the side of the road stood a white marble statue—life size muscular man with curly hair, no arms, and an irritated expression. Below his waist he was just a big block of marble.
"Have a single file, please!" the statue shrieked. "Have your ID's ready."
The senators passed through easily. The statue checked the tattoos on their forearms and called each senator by name. "Gwendolyn, senator, Fifth Cohort, yes. Nico di Angelo, ambassador of Pluto—very well. Reyna, praetor, of course. Hank, senator, Third Cohort—oh, nice shoes, Hank! Aurelia, Truthsayer, Fifth Cohort—please take off your necklace, you know the rules."
Aurelia began to unclasp her Imperial gold chain instead of yanking it like she would if she wanted it to turn to her sword.
"Ah, who do we have here?" Hazel, Frank and Percy were the last ones.
"Terminus," Aurelia said, "this is Percy Jackson. Percy, this is Terminus, the god of boundaries."
"New, eh?" Terminus said. "Yes, probation tablet. Fine. Ah, weapon in your pocket? Take it out!"
Percy looked surprised but he pulled out his pen.
"Quite dangerous," Terminus said. "Leave it in the tray. Wait, where's my assistant? Julia!"
A little girl about six years old peeked out from behind the base of the statue. She had pigtails, a pink dress, and an impish grin with two missing teeth. She waved at Aurelia with a bright smile and the daughter of Pavor gave her a nod of recognition, holding her necklace at the ready.
"Julia?" Terminus glanced behind him and Julia scurried in the other direction. "Where did that girl go?" Terminus looked the other way and caught sight of Julia before she could hide. The little girl squealed with delight. "Oh, there you are! Front and center. Bring the tray."
Julia scrambled out and brushed off her dress. She picked up a tray and presented it to Percy and Aurelia. On it were several paring knives, a corkscrew, an oversized container of sun lotion, and a water bottle.
"You can pick up your weapon on the way out," Terminus said. "Julia will take good care of it. She's a trained professional."
Julia nodded. "Pro-fess-ion-al." She said each syllable carefully, like she'd been practicing.
Percy looked at his friends, for confirmation. He thought this was a little bit odd. But he saw Aurelia place her necklace on the tray without even so much as a second glance.
"The thing is," Percy began, "the pen returns to my pocket automatically, so even if I give it up—"
Before he could finish, Aurelia snatched the pen from his hand and placed it on the tray. "My necklace is the same. Julia is amazing at making sure things do not wander off. Right, Julia?"
"Yes, Miss Ari."
"Now, a few rules," Terminus said. "You are entering the boundaries of the city proper. Keep the peace inside the line. Yield to chariot traffic while walking on the public roads. When you get to the Senate House, sit on the left-hand side. And down there—do you see where I'm pointing."
"Um ..." Percy was confused. "You don't have any hands."
This was a sore spot for Terminus. His marbled face turned a dark shade of gray. "A smart aleck, eh? Well, Mr. Rule Flouter, right down there in the forum—Julia point for me, please—"
Julia dutifully placed down the security tray and pointed toward the main plaza.
"The ship with the blue awning," Terminus continued, "that's the general store. They sell tape measures. Buy one! I want those pants exactly one inch above the ankles and that hair regulation cut. And tuck your shirt in."
Hazel said, "Thank you, Terminus. We need to get going."
"Fine, fine, you may all pass," the god said testily. "But stay on the right side of the road! And that rock right there—No, Hazel, look where I'm pointing. That rock is entirely too close to that tree. Move it two inches to the left."
Hazel did what she was told and they continued down the path, Terminus still shouting orders at them while Julia did cartwheels across the grass.
"Is he alway like that?" Percy asked.
"No," Hazel admitted. "Today he was laid back. Usually he's more obsessive/compulsive."
"He inhabits the boundary stone around the city," Frank added. "Kind of our last line of defense if the city's attacked."
"Terminus is not that bad," Aurelia muttered. "Just do not make him angry or he will force you to measure every blade of grass in the valley."
Percy blinked. "And the kid? Julia?"
Hazel grinned. "Yeah, she's a cutie. Her parents live in the city. Come. We'd better catch up to the senators."
"All these people are demigods?" Percy asked as they approached the forum. Aurelia looked around. College-age kids were hanging out at the fountain, several of them waving to the senators as they passed. One guy in his late twenties stood at a bakery counter flirting with a young woman who was buying coffee. An older couple was watching a little boy in diapers and a miniature Camp Jupiter shirt toddle after seagulls. Merchants were opening their shops for the day, putting out signs in Latin that advertised pottery, jewelry, and half priced tickets for the Hippodrome. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"Or descended from demigods," Hazel explained. "Like I told you, it's a good place to go to college or raise a family without worrying about monster attacks every day. Maybe two, three hundred people live here? The veterans act as, like, advisers and reserve forces as needed, but they're mostly just citizens living their lives.
Something gloomy was cast over Percy's emotions and Aurelia nudged his shoulder, asking a silent are you okay?
Percy nodded, but it didn't reach his eyes or change his emotions. Aurelia touched his shoulder as they reached the Senate House and sent a wave of relaxing feeling through Percy.
"Thanks," he muttered as they walked inside.
The Senate House Interior looked like a high school lecture hall. A semicircle of tiered seats faced a dais with a podium and two chairs. The chairs were empty, but one had a small velvet package on the seat. Percy, Hazel and Frank sat on the left side of the semi-circle. The ten senators and Nico di Angelo occupied the rest of the front row. The upper rows were filled with several dozen ghosts and a few older veterans from the city—all in formal togas. Octavian stood in front with a knife and a Beanie Baby lion, just in case anyone needed to consult the god of cutesy collectibles. Aurelia stood just below the podium, casually leaning on it and she surveyed everyone. Reyna walked on the podium and raised her hand for attention.
"Right, this is an emergency meeting," she began. "We won't stand on formalities."
"I love formalities!" a ghost complained.
Reyna shot him a cross look. "First of all," she said, "we're not here to vote on the quest itself. The quest has been issued by Mars Ultor, patron of Rome. We will obey his wishes. Nor are we to debate the choice of Frank Zhang's companions."
"All four from the Fifth cohort?" called out Hank from the Third. "It's not fair."
"And not smart," said the boy next to him. "We know the Fifth will mess up. They should take somebody good."
Dakota got up so fast, he spilled Kool-Aid from his flask. "We were plenty good last night when we whipped your podex, Larry!"
"Enough, Dakota," Reyna said. "Let's leave Larry's podex out of this. As quest leader, Frank has the right to choose his companions. He has chosen Percy Jackson, Aurelia Ramirez, and Hazel Levesque."
A ghost from the second row yelled, "Absurdus! Frank Zhang isn't even a full member of the legion! He is on probatio. A quest must be led by someone of centurion rank or higher. This is completely—"
"Cato," Reyna snapped. "We must obey the wishes of Mars Ultor. That means certain adjustments." Reyna clapped her hand and Octavian came forward. He set down his knife and Beanie Baby and took the velvet package from the chair.
"Frank Zhang, come forward," he said. Aurelia sent a small wave of comfort towards Frank as he got up and approached the augur. "It is my ... pleasure," Octavian had to force the last word out, "to bestow upon you the Mural Crown for being first over the walls in Siege warfare." Octavian handed him a bronze badge shaped like a laurel wreath. "Also, by order of Praetor Reyna, to promote you to the rank of centurion." He handed Frank another badge, a bronze crescent, and the senate exploded in protest.
"He's still a probie!" one yelled.
"Impossible!" said another.
"Water cannon up my nose!" yelled a third.
"Silence!" Octavian's voice was much more commanding than it had been last night. "Our praetor recognizes that no one below the rank of centurion may lead a quest. For good or ill, Frank must lead this quest—so our praetor has decreed that Frank Zhang must be made centurion."
Percy suddenly understood why Aurelia hated Octavian so much. He carefully crafted his words to put all the responsibility on Reyna. If it went wrong, Reyna was to blame. If only Octavian had been the one in charge, things would have been done more sensibly. But alas, he had no choice but to support Reyna, because Octavian was a loyal Roman soldier. He managed to convey all of that without saying it.
Both Aurelia and Reyna noticed and Aurelia was immediately on the defensive as both Reyna's Truthsayer and cousin.
"You are absolutely correct, Octavian," she added, her voice even and factual, "because if Reyna did not make this decision, we as legion would be directly disobeying the instructions our patron has set on us, and that level of disrespect toward our gods is contemptuous."
Percy noticed the way she crafted her words as well, pushing the blame even farther back to Mars himself. She seemed to be saying, Even if Reyna wasn't in charge the same decision would have to be made, so the fault would fall on Mars Ultor.
Aurelia and Octavian were both staring at each other, unblinking, in a battle of wills. Aurelia's job as Truthsayer wasn't just because of her ability to feel people's emotions. It was to keep people like Octavian from poisoning the legion against Reyna.
Reyna took the opening silence. "There is an opening for centurion," she explained. "One of our officers, also a senator, has decided to step down. After ten years in the legion, she will retire to the city and attend college. Gwen of the Fifth Cohort, we thank you for your service."
Everyone turned to Gwen, who managed a brave smile. She looked tired from the previous night's ordeal, but also relieved.
"As praetor," Reyna continued. "I have the right to replace officers. I admit it's rather unusual for a camper of probatio to rise directly to the rank of centurion, but Aurelia is right when she says by not doing so we would be going against our patron's commands. Frank Zhang, your ID, please."
Frank removed the lead tablet around his neck and handed it to Octavian.
"Your arm," the augur said. Frank held up his forearm. Octavian raised his hands to the heavens. "We accept Frank Zhang, Son of Mars, to the Twelfth Legion Fulminata for his first year of service. Do you pledge your life to the senate and the people of Rome?"
Frank muttered something before clearing his throat. "I do."
The senators shouted, "Senatus Populusque Romanus!"
Fire blazed on Frank's arm. For a moment his eyes filled with terror and he looked like he may pass out. Then the smoke and flame died, and new marks were seared on Frank's skin: SPQR, an image of crossed spears and a single stripe, representing the first year of service.
"You may sit down," Octavian dismissed him.
Frank returned to his seat as Reyna said, "Now, we must discuss the quest." The senators shifted and muttered as Frank returned to his seat.
Aurelia felt a small sense of pride towards Frank as Hazel pinned the centurion badge and mural crown to his shirt. She liked Frank—he was a good person and a good soldier, no matter how Octavian tried to spin it.
"Do you have a plan for your quest?" Octavian asked the first question. Frank didn't answer. He seemed to be whispering something to Percy and Hazel. Aurelia internally cringed.
"Centurion Zhang," Octavian called. "Did you hear the question?"
Frank blinked. "Um ... sorry. What?"
Octavian turned to the Senate and smirked, like What did I tell you? "I was asking," Octavian sounded like he was talking to a three year old, "if you have a plan for the quest. Do you even know where you are going?"
"Um ..."
Hazel put her hand on Frank's shoulder and stood. "Weren't you listening last night, Octavian? Mars was pretty clear. We're going to the land beyond the gods—Alaska."
The senators squirmed in their toga. Some of the ghosts shimmered and disappear. Even Aurum and Argentum rolled on their backs and whimpered.
Finally Senator Larry stood. "I know what Mars said, but that's crazy. Alaska is cursed! They call it the land beyond the gods for a reason. It's so far up north, the Roman gods have no power there. The place is swarming with monsters. No demigod has come back from there alive since—"
"Since you lost your eagle," Percy finished.
Larry was so startled, he fell back on his podex.
"Look," Percy continued, "I know I'm new here. I know you guys don't like to mention that massacre in the nineteen-eighties—"
"He mentioned it!" one of the ghosts whimpered.
"—But don't you get it?" Percy continued. "The Fifth Cohort led that expedition. We failed, and we have to be responsible for making things right. That's why Mars is sending us. This giant, the son of Gaea—he's the one who defeated your forces thirty years ago. I'm sure of it. Now he's sitting up there in Alaska with a chained death god, and all your old equipment. He's mustering his armies and sending them south to attack this camp."
"Really?" Octavian said. "You seem to know a lot about our enemy's plans, Percy Jackson."
Aurelia kept her expression level, but she couldn't help but be slightly swayed by Octavian's words. They know nothing about Percy's past (other than the fact that he blew up her old home). There was a large chance of Percy being an enemy.
"We are going to confront this son of Gaea," Percy decided. "We'll get back your eagle and unchain this god ..." He glanced at Hazel. "Thanatos, right?"
She nodded. "Letus, in Roman. But his old Greek name is Thanatos. When it comes to death ... we're happy to let him stay Greek."
Octavian sighed in exasperation. "Well, whatever you call him ... how do you expect to do all of this and get back by the Feast of Fortuna? That's the evening of the twenty-fourth. It's the twentieth now. Do you even know where to look? Do you even know who this son of Gaea is?"
"Yes." Hazel's certainty surprised many people but not Aurelia, who had seen Hazel's darkest fears. "I don't know exactly where to look, but I have a pretty good idea. The giant's name is Alcyoneus."
The name seemed to lower the temperature in the room by fifty degrees. The senators shivered. Reyna gripped her podium. "How do you know this, Hazel? Because you're a child of Pluto?"
Nico di Angelo stood in his black toga. "Praetor, if I may, Hazel and I ... we learned a little about the giants from our father. Each giant was bred to specifically oppose one of the twelve Olympian gods—to usurp that god's domain. The king of the giants was Porphyrion, the anti-Jupiter. But the eldest was Alcyoneus. He was born to oppose Pluto. That's why we know of him in particular."
Reyna frowned. "Indeed? You sound quite familiar with him."
Nico picked at the edge of his toga. "Anyway ... the giants were hard to kill. According to prophecy, they could only be killed by gods and demigods working together."
Dakota belched. "Sorry, did you say gods and demigods ... like fighting side by side? That could never happen!"
"It has happened," Nico said. "In the first giant war, the gods called on heroes to join them, and they were victorious. Whether it could happen again, I don't know. But with Alcyoneus ... he was different. He was completely immortal, impossible to kill by any god or demigod, as long as he remained in his home territory—the place where he was born." Nico paused to let that sink in. "And if Alcyoneus has been reborn in Alaska—"
"Then he can't be defeated there," Hazel finished. "Ever. By any means. Which is why our nineteen-eighties expedition was doomed to fail."
Another round of arguing and shouting broke out. When this happened, Aurelia truly hated senate meetings. She was never allowed to have her necklace so the only way to regulate people's fear and emotion was to allow her body to absorb it—more shadows appeared on her arms. And it was painful.
"The quest is impossible!" shouted a senator.
We're doomed!" a ghost cried.
"More Kool-Aid!" yelled Dakota.
"Silence!" Reyna called. "Senators, we must act like Romans. Mars has given us this quest, and we have to believe it is possible. These four demigods must travel to Alaska. They must free Thanatos and return before the Feast of Fortuna. If they can retrieve the lost eagle in the process, so much the better. All we can do is advise them and make sure they have a plan." Reyna looked at Percy without much hope. "You do have a plan?"
"First I need to understand something." Percy turned to Nico. "I thought Pluto was the god of the dead. Now I hear about this other guy, Thanatos, and the Doors of Death from that prophecy—the Prophecy of Eight. What does it all mean?"
Nico took a deep breath. "Okay. So Pluto is the god of the Underworld, but the actual god of death, the one who's responsible for making sure souls go to the afterlife and stay there—that's Pluto's lieutenant, Thanatos. He likes ... well, imagine Life and Death are two different countries. Everybody would like to be in Life, right? So there's a guarded border to keep people from crossing back and forth without permission. But it's a big border, with lots of holes in the fence. Pluto tries to seal up the breaches, but new ones keep popping up all the time. That's why he depends on Thanatos, who's like the border patrol, the police."
"Thanatos catches souls and deports them back to the Underworld," Percy summarized.
"Exactly," Nico said. "But now Thanatos has been captured, chained up."
Frank raised his hand. "Uh ... how do you chain Death?"
"It's been done before," Nico said. "In the old days, a guy named Sisyphus tricked Death and tied him up. Another time, Hercules wrestled him to the ground."
"And now the giants have captured him," Percy added. "So if we could free Thanatos, then would the dead stay dead?" He glanced at Gwen. "No offense."
"It's more complicated than that," Nico disagreed.
Octavian rolled his eyes. "Why does that not surprise me?"
"You mean the Doors of Death," Reyna said, ignoring Octavian. "They are mentioned in the Prophecy of Eight, which sent the expedition to Alaska—"
Cato the ghost snorted. "We all know how that turned out! We Lares remember!" The other ghosts grumbled in agreement.
Nico put his finger to his lips. Suddenly all the Lares went silent. They were alarmed—their mouths had been glued together. Aurelia wished she had that power over certain living people, like Octavian, just to give a name.
"Thanatos is only part of the equation," Nico explained. "The Doors of Death ... well, that's a concept even I don't completely understand. There are many ways into the Underworld: The River Styx, the Doors of Orpheus, plus smaller escape routes from time to time. With Thanatos imprisoned, all those exits will be easier to use. Sometimes it might work to our advantage and let a friendly soul come back, like Gwen. More often, it will benefit evil souls and monsters, the sneaky ones who are looking to escape. Now, the Doors of Death—those are the personal doors of Thanatos, his fast lane between Life and Death. Only Thanatos is supposed to know where they are, and the location shifts over the ages. If I understand correctly, the Doors of Death have been forced open. Gaea's minions have seized control of them—"
"Which means Gaea controls who can come back from the dead," Percy guessed.
Nico nodded. "She can pick and choose who to let out; the worst monsters, the most evil souls. If we rescue Thanatos, that means at least he can catch souls again and send them below. Monsters will die when we kill them, like they used to, and we'll get a little breathing room. But unless we're able to retake the Doors of Death, our enemies won't stay down for long. They'll have an easy way back to the living world."
"So we can catch them and deport them," Percy summed up, "but they'll just keep coming back."
"In a depressing nutshell, yes," Nico agreed.
Frank scratched his head. "But Thanatos knows where the doors are, right? If we free him, he can retake them."
"I don't think so," Nico said. "Not alone. He's no match for Gaea. That would take a massive quest ... an army of the best demigods."
"Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death," Reyna said. "That's the Prophecy of Eight ..." She looked at Aurelia and Aurelia felt her cousin's fear. She hid it well, but Reyna was terrified of what may happen. "If this begins the ancient prophecy, we don't have the resources to send an army to these Doors of Death and protect the camp. I can't imagine even sparing seven demigods—"
"First things first." Percy sounded confident but Aurelia could feel his underlying fear. "I don't know who the eight are, or what that old prophecy means, exactly. But first we have to free Thanatos. Mars told us we only need four people for the quest to Alaska. Let's concentrate on succeeding with that and getting back before the Feast of Fortuna. Then we can worry about the Doors of Death."
"Yeah," Frank said in a small voice. "That's probably enough for one week."
"So you do have a plan?" Octavian asked skeptically.
Percy looked at his teammates. "We go to Alaska as fast as possible ..."
"And we improvise," Hazel finished.
"A lot," Frank added.
Reyna studied them like she was mentally writing her own obituary. Finally she looked at Aurelia and sighed. "Very well. Nothing remains except for us to vote for what support we can give the quest—transportation, money, magic, weapons. Aurelia, you may speak."
Aurelia opened her mouth to speak but Octavian interrupted her before she could even begin. "Praetor, if I may. The camp is in great danger. Two gods have warned us we will be attacked four days from now. We must not spread out resources too thin, especially by funding projects that have a slim chance of success." He gave Aurelia a look of pity and it took a lot of effort for her not to grab his knife and stab him with it.
"Mars has clearly chosen the least likely candidates for the quest," Octavian continued. "Perhaps because he considered them the most expendable. Perhaps Mars is playing the long odds. Whatever the care, he wisely didn't order a massive expedition, nor did he ask us to fund our adventure. I say we keep our resources here and defend the camp. This is where the battle will be lost or won. If they succeed, wonderful! But they should do so by their own ingenuity."
An uneasy murmur passed through the crowd but the first person to speak was Aurelia. "I believe our praetor gave the floor to me, Octavian," she began, like she was reprimanding a misbehaving toddler for speaking out of turn. She turned to the senators. "I must say that I agree with Octavian when he says that the camp is in great danger. Our resources should remain here to defend our city. I do believe that we are capable with little to no funding, for we have our abilities and our personal weapons at our disposal. Which is why I propose that we are given at least transportation to start our quest because providing such little aid is very—"
"Traditional!" Octavian exclaimed. "It is very traditional. Let us see if these questers have the strength to survive without our help, like true Romans."
Another murmur passed and Aurelia's eyes glittered dangerously.
"Octavian," Reyna said, her voice hard. "I am advising you to refrain from interrupting Aurelia again. If you haven't noticed, she has access to a more volatile weapon besides a pencil, and we don't want a repeat of the last senate meeting because you couldn't let her speak."
Octavian paled slightly as Aurelia stared at him blankly and disapprovingly, almost belittling, before she turned back to the Senate. "I would like to bring to your attention that Mars also said that if our quest fails, we are dead." Everyone was absolutely silent as she spoke. "I can feel the fear radiating off of all of you because you all witnessed it as well. 'Endless slaughter with no conclusion? Carnage without any point?' He said unless Thanatos is freed to return to his duties, we will be overrun. The success of this quest will ensure success in our battle. I know that the unpopularity of the Fifth cohort is what causes you to hesitate. But Percy is correct when he says only we can fix the mistakes of the past. So allow us the chance, and a good foundation to prosper." Aurelia met Percy's eyes, who was in slight awe towards her calm words. "Percy, what mode of transportation will do you suggest?"
Percy thought. "We just need a boat."
Really? Out of all the options. "Then, Reyna—"
"A boat!" Octavian exclaimed, looking at the senators. "The son of Neptune wants a boat. Sea travel has never been Roman, but he isn't much of a Roman!"
Aurelia grabbed Octavian's knife and threw it so it narrowly missed his head. Several people jumped, but her face remained calm and placid. "You have spoken enough. We know where you stand. Shut up, please." She turned to Reyna. "A boat if all we request."
Reyna straightened in her chair. "Very well." Her voice was tight. "We'll put it to a vote. Senators, the motion is as follows: The quest shall go to Alaska. The senate shall provide full access to the Roman navy docked at Alameda. No other aid will be forthcoming. The four adventurers will survive or fail on their own merits. All in favor?"
Every senator raised their hands, including Aurelia and Octavian.
"The motion has passed." Reyna turned to Frank. "Centurion, your party is excused. The senate has other matters to discuss. Octavian and Aurelia, if I may confer with you two for a moment."
Percy, Frank and Hazel left the senate house and Aurelia went with Octavian and Reyna to confer in the back.
"Octavian, I do not appreciate the undertones of your words," Reyna began. Octavian opened his mouth to protest but Reyna's glare silenced him. "Tread lightly with your words—we do not want to cause an even bigger panic. Now, I need you to go tell Percy to meet me in the principia. I need to speak with him privately. Go."
Octavian was smart, and didn't say anything else before going. Aurelia scoped out her cousin. "What are you thinking about?"
"I think that Percy is meant to replace Jason," Reyna murmured, not looking at the flash of hurt that appeared in Aurelia's eyes. "When this is over. I think we need to tell him the truth."
"Yes, Reyna."
A/N: I think this may be my longest chapter so far.
And if you didn't notice ... I kinda hate Octavian. He is one of the few demigods that deserves zero redemption.