Sometimes, I wondered if I made the right decision in coming with Salina to this world. Despite my duty to fix the numerous mistakes Rick left behind and change my friends' fates, I couldn't help but to think from time to time that maybe things would've been better off had I stayed away.
In any case, staying in my world would've saved me from countless headaches...
...including the one I had to deal with now.
Whatever semblance of calm within the forum had long since vanished. Broken glass, food, and stones covered the streets. Legionnaires and Lares ran in a frantic sprint towards the Senate House. The eagles flew overhead in large, sweeping circles, clearly guarding the edges of the Pomerian line against any other potential enemies.
Instead of entering the Senate House guns blazing, I disguised myself as an adult legionnaire, the type usually held in reserves when things were truly dire.
Unlike the current legionnaires, the reserves sat in the nosebleed seats of the Senate. Despite the distance from the main stage, I could see everything from here. The chaos that existed outside died the moment people stepped through the doors as the legionnaires, centurions, and sole praetor took their places.
As for the augur, well, let's say I wasn't surprised to see Octavian storming around the stage, waving his arms so aggressively I thought they'd fall off.
"Those Greeks have gone too far!" Octavian exclaimed, slamming a fist against his palm to make his point. "They attacked an Olympian on that warship! And not just any Olympian, but Lord Apollo, my ancestor; and yours, too!"
The children and legacies of Apollo loudly booed. The other legionnaires shouted their anger and dissent, echoing off the domed roof. Among the reserves, I could feel their simmering rage, but any outcries of emotion were much more subdued.
"Attacking an Olympian is one of the highest forms of treason!" Octavian continued. The crowd cheered. "Is this the type of behavior those Greeks deem acceptable? They are barbarians, all of them, and we cannot let them stand!"
Reyna's eye twitched in annoyance. She set her jaw and clenched her fists. Aurum and Argentum, who were allowed in the Senate, growled at Octavian. Only Reyna's silent command to stay kept the metal dogs from tearing Octavian to shreds.
Amid the chaos, I watched as Gwen and Dakota raised their hands.
Octavian scowled. Still, for the sake of pretense, he allowed them to speak.
"How do we know that was Apollo that screamed?" Gwen asked.
"It could've been that scrawny kid accidentally burning himself in his engine," Dakota suggested. "Or someone slipping and falling. Or it could've been a prank that went wrong. Or-"
"Thank you, Gwen and Dakota," Octavian said through gritted teeth. "While your ideas are borderline sympathetic to those Greeks, I admire your desire for the truth. No, it was Apollo who was viciously attacked, something I know thanks to being his legacy."
Complete and utter bull.
If demigods couldn't feel the physical pain and suffering their parents underwent, legacies sure as hell couldn't. I guarantee you that if this were the case, children of Ares/Mars would wake up so sore that I doubted many of them would be able to get out of bed.
Any other attempt at reason died as some of the other Apollo children and legacies leaped at that faulty logic for all it was worth. Others looked skeptical and shook their heads but kept quiet, lest they suffer Octavian's wrath.
Okay, enough watching this train wreck. I needed to try and nip this in the bud if I could.
I appeared on the stage a little ways from Octavian – I didn't need one of his flailing arms to the face right now – and a sudden hush fell across the crowd.
I didn't pull any punches with my appearance this time.
Subtlety rarely worked on the Romans.
I wore a simple white dress underneath my gleaming armor. A purple cape flowed from my shoulders to my ankles. Gold vambraces and greaves patterned with hourglasses and clocks adorned my forearms and shins. Gold laurels wrapped around my head, elegantly braided between my hair before tumbling into tight curls. Epithymia glinted in the sunlight as I adjusted my grip on the hilt. The only non-traditional part of my outfit was my pair of white Converse. I still don't understand how the Ancient Greeks or Romans could fight in such flimsy sandals without spraining their ankles every other step.
Gasps of, "Bellona!" filled the crowd as the Romans scrambled onto their knees.
I turned to Reyna. I gave her a look that I hope silently conveyed: Do I look like your mother?
Reyna shook her head, the faintest of smiles on her lips.
"Children of Rome, I am Andromeda – the daughter of Saturn and goddess of time." At the sight of so many blank faces, I added, "Aka, I'm Andy. Hi, everyone."
Octavian wasted no time in charging me, a strangled war cry erupting from his lips as he ran. I sheathed Epithymia and lowered my stance. As Octavian went to tackle me, I grabbed him by the hips and flipped him over me so that he landed on his back, knocking the wind out of him.
"No violence in the Senate, Octavian. We don't want a repeat of Caesar on our hands." I clapped my hands together. "Well, now that that's taken care of, we have much to discuss."
0o0o
A three-hour Senate meeting and the repeated urge to smash my head into the nearest wall later, I arrived at the Great Salt Lake wanting nothing more than to throttle Apollo. Despite my best efforts to calm tensions at Camp Jupiter, the Romans' urge for justice was too strong. They'd conceded to a three-day stall to give Camp Half-Blood time to shore up its defenses, but then they would cross the country with guns blazing in the name of Apollo's honor.
Funny that Octavian and his supporters just so happened to forget his attack against me, which would've given Camp Half-Blood the right to march on Camp Jupiter by his logic.
I should've smacked him over the head with Epithymia.
Seeing that the meeting took longer than expected, I reached Utah just as the Argo II took off. I could sense the ticked off water nymphs around the boat and was glad I'd arrived later rather than sooner.
While Leo, Annabeth, Frank, and Percy worked in the engine room, I walked down to the sick bay. There I found Piper and Jason, sitting on an empty cot while watching Apollo. He was still sleeping, but someone had put an ice pack on his forehead and bandaged his hands.
"How is he?" I asked.
"He hasn't woken up," Jason said.
"He's said your name a few times, though," Piper added.
"Did he now?" I sighed. "Do you mind giving us the room? I think Leo's about to call a meeting in the lounge, anyway."
I made sure to lock the door once the pair left. I grabbed a stool and sat beside Apollo, actively suppressing my inner turmoil.
On one hand, I wanted to wring his neck. I wanted to yell at him for making such a rash and stupid decision. I wanted to berate him for bringing our personal issues into this and causing a civil war.
On the other hand, I wanted to help him. Clearly, something was on his mind other than the fact that the Oracle of Delphi's spirit had latched onto my soul. We – I – shouldn't have left things the way I did the last time we spoke on Olympus. Yes, I was angry and upset, but maybe if I had shoved those feelings aside and kept my wits about me, we wouldn't be in this situation. Apollo might've been more receptive to my decision to go on this quest and call him should this Oracle thing prove excessively cumbersome and dangerous should I have stayed a little longer.
All of this brought me back to the true root of the problem – none of this would've happened if I hadn't killed Luke.
I buried my head in my hands at the thought of the son of Hermes. The Mark of Athena prophecy had changed, but I hadn't had the time to think it over yet. A part of me found it too easy, the thieving angel's breath, according to the prophecy. Unless Nico managed to become a thief while suffocating in a golden jar, I dared to hope that maybe, just maybe, Luke's soul might be there too.
Finding his lost soul wouldn't bring Luke back to life, but it'd at least give him the chance to find peace in the Underworld.
"Hnng."
I looked up.
Apollo's eyebrows scrunched together. He grimaced. Then, he jerked awake, clutching at his chest like he'd been drowning. His eyes went wide, desperately scanning the room before landing on me and relaxing.
"Andy," he softly exhaled. "I don't...what did I...?"
"How much do you remember?"
"Not much. Did we...did we fight?"
I suppressed a scoff. I summoned my semi-scorched shirt from earlier and held it out for Apollo to see. He cringed at the missing circle in the fabric, the circumference tinged black and gray.
"I hurt you?"
"Among other things," I said, tossing my ruined shirt over my shoulder. "We've got a full blown civil war on our hands on top of everything else, and Octavian's leading it."
Apollo remained uncharacteristically quiet. I wondered if I should've kept my mouth shut. Yes, while I wasn't done being angry with Apollo any time soon, I didn't want to blame him for everything either. As much as I'd like to shift the blame to some higher power, I knew I'd caused some of this. That meant I needed to do what I could to fix it.
He curled his hands into fists. I almost left the infirmary when I saw his appearance shimmer before finally settling on his Roman aspect. What little empathy I had towards Apollo nearly vanished at the sight of my reflection in his polished shoes, and I grit my teeth to keep myself from saying something I'd later regret.
"Andromeda," he said, speaking softly.
"Apollo."
"I know we may have our differences, but it was never my attention to hurt you. You are my single greatest frustration-"
"Gee, thanks."
"-but also one of my closest, most capable friends. If you say you can handle the spirit of Delphi and mitigate any further complications, I believe you."
"That would've been nice to hear an hour ago."
"I don't know what got into me." Apollo shook his head. "My actions are unbecoming of a god toward another god."
"Or any other person," I added, earning a heated glare from the sun god.
Not wanting to instigate that particular point of contention at the moment, I filed away this conversation for our ongoing debate at a later time. We didn't need to set the Argo II on fire again this soon after repairs had been finished. Leo would have my head otherwise.
"In any case, know that I will be watching out for you should Delphi's spirit begin to adversely affect you. If you become too unstable-"
I waved off the rest of his threat. "You'll take me to Olympus kicking and screaming, I know. We've been through this enough times."
In one fluid movement, Apollo sat up, got out of his cot, and took my hands into his. He stared directly at me as if trying to look into my soul. I made out little golden flecks floating in the middle of his sky blue irises, as if trying to become miniature suns in the small space.
His eyes flicked to my lips, and I uncomfortably shifted in my seat, breaking him out of his reverie. Despite this, he didn't let go of my hands.
"I need you to promise me one thing, Andromeda."
"Yes?"
"Keep yourself safe."
"I'll do my best."
Apollo gave me a sad smile, sensing my half-truth. In any case, I thanked my lucky stars that he didn't pursue this topic anymore. He pressed a chaste kiss to the back of my hand in farewell and deeply bowed to me.
By the time I'd finished blinking, all that was left was shimmering gold dust slowly fluttering toward the floor.
0o0o
I took a seat in the mess hall in somewhat of a daze.
How was it possible that a little over five days ago I'd been in the Underworld with my mortal friends celebrating my return from Tartarus? I'd fought Polybotes and his army, talked to Bianca, Thalia, and Zoë, fought Octavian, and fought Apollo in the span of a day and a half.
The past thirty-six hours had been one hell of a whirlwind.
Aeolus should've taken notes.
I don't remember having gotten one of the enchanted Camp Half-Blood plates but was pleasantly surprised when the smell of cinnamon and icing pulled me out of my thoughts. I glanced down and saw one of Mrs. Silva's cinnamon buns in front of me. Of course, the entire thing was blue, which brought a smile to my and Percy's faces while the others stared at our blue desserts (Percy had a completely blue piece of pie – filling, crust, and whipped cream) in confusion.
I shrugged off any weird looks and took a bite of the cinnamon bun. It took me a moment to realize that my friends were expectantly staring at me.
"Do I have something on my face?" I asked, wiping any excess icing from my lips.
"What happened at Camp Jupiter, Andy, with Apollo?" Annabeth asked.
The piece of cinnamon bun in my mouth turned to cardboard. I swallowed hard, my stomach sinking to my feet.
I explained what happened to the best of my ability, fiddling with my charms all the while. It didn't matter that I'd known Annabeth since she was seven – being on the other side of her steely gray eyes when she was serious or upset was as unnerving as being forced to debate with Athena.
In addition to repeating the details of my fight with Apollo, I had to explain that I couldn't have simply teleported him away as Leo suggested.
"I can teleport you guys around since you're not gods. However, there's something that prevents gods from teleporting other gods around while they're conscious without permission, which is usually a good thing. It didn't work out that way this time, though, and for that, I'm sorry."
"Imagine if Mercury could do that," Frank said with a shudder.
"Exactly," I said. "There aren't tons of limits to a god's powers, but that's one of them."
"Thanks to Apollo's behavior, the legion is going to march on Camp Half-Blood," Hazel said, frowning. "Octavian's going to try to wipe them out."
"We might not have the manpower," Percy said, "but don't underestimate Camp Half-Blood."
"Has someone warned Chiron?" Piper asked. "They deserve to know what's heading their way."
"I did after my Senate meeting. Plus, I called in some other contacts that will do everything in their power to slow down the legion as best they can."
Leo perked up at that, knowing what I meant by contacts. I could already imagine Raina gathering the troops, communicating with other demigods in other safe houses across the country. Given that I already knew about the Triumvirate, I knew my orders to raise hell would be taken seriously. It helped that so many people already hated Nero, Commodus, and Caligula thanks to History Channel documentaries.
Anyway, the conversation turned away from Camp Jupiter's march to New York as Leo and Hazel recounted the events of their encounter with Nemesis, Narcissus, and Echo at the Great Salt Lake. Frank, Percy, and Annabeth described their fight with the tar monsters, which clearly hadn't been a pleasant experience seeing that little chunks of tar still resided within Annabeth's hair. Piper, Jason, and Coach Hedge had taken charge of reorganizing supplies that had fallen out of place before doing what repairs they could without the missing components.
"Onto other matters," Hazel said, half-heartedly nibbling on her saltine crackers to ease her seasickness. "Nemesis said we only have six days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed."
Jason frowned. "You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?"
"I think," Hazel said. "But if so, that's not much time."
"Why six days?" Percy wondered. "And how are they going to destroy Rome?"
"The twins want their spectacle to be on the Kalends of July," I said. "Their show will make Brazil's Carnival look like a kid's birthday party."
"The twins?" Jason asked.
"The twin giants born to oppose Dionysus. They're small for giants and have a horrible fashion sense, but their creativity for cruel and depraved entertainment is concerning. The streets of Rome could run red with blood, and they wouldn't care so long as they enjoyed it."
No one had anything to say about that. I didn't blame them. Those two freaks had Nico suffocating in a gold jar for schist and giggles, among other horrible things. I couldn't wait to see Bacchus hit them over the head with his thyrsus.
"There's more," Piper added. I could tell she felt bad about adding to the growing stack of bad news but wanted us to know what she knew. "I've been seeing some things in my knife."
Frank froze with a forkful of spaghetti halfway to his mouth. "Things such as...?"
"Things that are now starting to make a little more sense thanks to Andy. I saw garbled images of two giants dressed alike, probably the twins."
Annabeth stared at the magical video feed from Camp Half-Blood on the wall. Right now it showed the living room in the Big House: a cozy fire on the hearth and Seymour, the stuffed leopard head, snoring contentedly above the mantel.
"Twins, like in Ella and Andy's prophecy," Annabeth said. "If we could figure out those lines, it might help."
"Wisdom's daughter walks alone," Percy said. "The Mark of Athena burns through Rome. Annabeth, that's got to mean you. Juno told me...well, she said you had a hard task ahead of you in Rome. She said she doubted you could do it. But I know she's wrong."
Annabeth took a long breath. "Reyna was about to tell me something right before Apollo attacked. She said there was an old legend among the Roman praetors – something that had to do with Athena. She said it might be the reason Greeks and Romans could never get along."
Leo and Hazel exchanged nervous looks.
"Nemesis mentioned something similar," Leo said. "She talked about an old score that had to be settled-"
"The one thing that might bring the gods' two natures into harmony," Hazel recalled. "'An old wrong finally avenged.'"
Percy drew a frowny face in his whipped cream. "I was only a praetor for about two hours. Jason or Andy, you ever hear a legend like that?"
"I...uh, I'm not sure," Jason said. "I'll give it some thought."
Percy narrowed his eyes. "You're not sure?"
"I know about the legend," I quickly added, trying to take the heat off Jason. "I think it's best if I first talk about that with Annabeth alone. We'll fill you in later."
I watched as some of the tension vanished from Annabeth's posture. She mouthed a silent thanks and turned to try and grab Percy's hand.
Hazel broke the silence. "What about the other lines?" She turned her ruby-encrusted plate. "Twins snuff out the thieving angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death."
"Giants' bane stands gold and pale," Frank added, "Won through pain from a woven jail."
"Giants' bane," Leo said. "Anything that's a giant's bane is good for us, right? That's probably what we need to find. If it can help the gods get their schizophrenic act together, that's good."
Percy nodded. "We can't kill the giants without the help of the gods. That's why we have Andy with us."
Jason turned to Frank and Hazel. "I thought you guys killed that one giant in Alaska without a god's help, just the two of you."
"The Anti-Pluto was a special case," Frank said. "He was only immortal in the territory where he was reborn – Alaska. But not in Canada. I wish I could kill all giants by dragging them across the border from Alaska into Canada, but..." He shrugged. "Percy's right, we'll need Andy and the other gods."
"So..." Leo pushed his chair away from the table. "First things first, I guess. We'll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs."
"Someplace close to a city," Annabeth suggested, "in case we need supplies. But somewhere out of the way so those Roman eagles will have trouble finding us. Any ideas?"
No one spoke.
Then Piper said, "How do you guys feel about Kansas?"
With no objections, Leo said, "No place like home it is. I'll put it in the navigation system before we go to bed."
"There's one last order of business I'd like to discuss before we disperse," I said. I summoned my bag and reached into it, producing two plastic bags. One contained five cloud charms while the other contained seven identical bracelets with a single hourglass charm on it.
I made sure each demigod had one of the bracelets and then handed the cloud charms to everyone except for Percy and Leo, who already had them.
"I know from this point on there's going to be a lot of running around, so I'd like to have a way to communicate with each other without needing cell phones. These cloud charms are like walkie-talkies. We can all mentally talk to each other on one open channel, but you can create a private channel by only thinking about the one person you want to talk to," I explained.
"As for the bracelets," I continued, "I managed to imbue enough of my power into the charms to give all of you one fifteen-minute period with any and all of my powers. I really hope you won't need to use them, but I think it's best to have a last, last backup plan should things go horribly wrong. To activate them, you need to turn the hourglass around three times and let the sand drain to the bottom on the final turn."
"We'll even have power over time?" Hazel asked as she tightened the bracelet to her wrist.
"Yup."
"This can't have been easy to make," Annabeth said.
I winced. "It's best if you don't ask too many questions about the bracelets. Let's leave it at I won't be able to make more for the time being, so please be careful with them."
"Using the bracelets won't hurt you, right?" Frank asked.
"Nope. Nothing will happen to me should you activate my powers."
That was a lie. A big one. But not something that they needed to worry about for the time being.
"Got any other bombshells you wanna drop on us?" Jason said.
"In terms of other weapons or information? Not at the moment, no." I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "But, I do have plans for tomorrow. There are some loose ends I need to tie up before we cross the Atlantic. I'll be back by then, though, promise."
Percy clapped me on the shoulder. "Have a safe trip. We'll see you soon."
I bade everyone good night and safe travels, including Coach Hedge and Festus.
I then shadow-traveled to Camp Half-Blood, barely avoiding getting trampled by five Ares campers rushing toward the armory. Despite the late hour, it seemed that most of the camp remained wide awake. Older and senior campers huddled in thick groups around Hestia's hearth, dispersing when Athena's children gave them a job to do.
Chiron stood near Cabin Six in a deep conversation with Malcolm Pace, both of them hunched over a map of the valley. Kennedy Bryant and Iman Abbas, the eldest daughters of Athena excluding Annabeth, took charge of the other cabins and nature spirits as the war preparations kicked into high gear.
I made a mental note to help create battle plans later, but, shockingly, I had a more pressing matter to take care of at the moment.
No one stopped me as I entered the attached building at the back of cabin seven. It didn't surprise me that the infirmary ran on a skeleton staff, with a single son of Apollo (Cameron Leander, if I remembered correctly) checking inventory while quietly playing some country music.
Cameron glanced up from his clipboard when I opened the door, then said, "He's where you left him."
"Thanks."
Cameron walked into the storage closet, whether to give me privacy or because he'd gotten to that point in his list, I didn't know. Either way, I made my way to the last bed on the right-hand side, the one closest to the window.
I pulled up a chair as close to the bed as I could, ignoring the slight burst of pain as my knees banged against some of the metal machinery underneath. No physical pain could match the sudden ache in my chest as I gently took one of his hands, careful not to jostle the IV inserted there.
God, he was still so pale, so fragile, so unconscious.
"Oh, Will," I whispered. "Let's see what I can do."