I couldn't explain how I knew it, I just did.
Stories of phantoms and tortured souls had always freaked her out. My mom used to tell me a bunch when I was younger. I had gotten so scared of the dark because of it and I had to sleep in her room for weeks,
I had a gut sense they were still present, simply because no one had told them to go away.When I was done explaining, the others looked at her uncomfortably. Up on deck, Hedge sang something that sounded like "In the Navy" while Blackjack stomped his hooves, whinnying in protest.
Finally Hazel exhaled. "Eliana is right."
"How can you be sure?" Annabeth asked.
"I've met eidolons," Hazel said. "In the Underworld, when I was...you know."
Dead.
I had forgotten that Hazel was a second-timer. In her own way, Hazel too was a ghost reborn.
"So..." Frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp. "You think these things are lurking on the ship, or—"
"Possibly lurking inside some of us," Jasper said. "We don't know."
Jason clenched his fist. "If that's true—"
"We have to take steps," Piper said. "I think I can do this."
"Do what?" Percy asked.
"Just listen, okay?" Piper took a deep breath. "Everybody listen."
Piper met their eyes, one person at a time.
"Eidolons," she said, using her charmspeak, "raise your hands."
There was tense silence.
Leo laughed nervously. "Did you really think that was going to—?"
His voice died. His face went slack. He raised his hand.Jason and Percy did the same. Their eyes had turned glassy and gold. Hazel caught her breath.
Next to Leo, Frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back against the wall.
"Oh, gods." Annabeth looked at me imploringly. "Can you cure them?"
"I- um.." I stuttered not sure. I heal wounds not exorcise spirits.
"Are there more of you on this ship?" Piper asked looking at Leo as he looked the least threatening.
"No," Leo said in a hollow voice. "The Earth Mother sent three. The strongest, the best. We will live again."
"Not here, you won't," Piper growled. "All three of you, listen carefully."
Jason and Percy turned toward her. Those gold eyes were unnerving, but seeing all three boys like that seemed to fuel Piper's anger.
"You will leave those bodies," she commanded.
"No," Percy said.
Leo let out a soft hiss. "We must live."
Jasper stood up and gave a deadly look at them. "You heard her. Leave." His voice seemed to rumble through the room.
Leo turned toward him. "You cannot command us, child of war."
Frank fumbled for his bow. "Mars Almighty, that's creepy! Get out of here, spirits! Leave our friends alone!"
Leo turned toward him. "Your own life is fragile. Your soul could burn at any moment."
I wasn't sure what that meant, but Frank staggered like he'd been punched in the gut. He drew an arrow, his hands shaking.
"I—I've faced down worse things than you. If you want a fight—"
"Frank, don't." Hazel rose.
Next to Piper, Jason drew his sword.
I summoned my bow and pointed it straight at him. If it came to it I would hit him enough to knock him down but little enough to where I could heal him.
"Stop!" Piper ordered, but her voice quavered. She hadn't thought this far ahead.
"Listen to Piper." Hazel pointed at Jason's sword. The gold blade seemed to grow heavy in his hand. It clunked to the table and Jason sank back into his chair.
Percy growled in a very un-Percy-like way. "Daughter of Pluto, you may control gems and metals. You do not control the dead."
Annabeth reached toward him as if to restrain him, but Hazel waved her off.
"Listen, eidolons," Hazel said sternly, "you do not belong here. I may not command you, but Piper does. Obey her."
She turned toward Piper, her expression clear: Try again. You can do this.
Jasper placed a hand on my shoulder and looked down at my bow. I hesitated but I lowered it.
"You will leave those bodies," Piper repeated, even more forcefully.
Jason's face tightened. His forehead beaded with sweat. "We—we will leave these bodies."
"You will vow on the River Styx never to return to this ship," Piper continued, "and never to possess any member of this crew."
Leo and Percy both hissed in protest.
"You will promise on the River Styx," Piper insisted.
A moment of tension—I could feel their wills fighting against Pipers. Then all three eidolons spoke in unison: "We promise on the River Styx."
"You are dead," Piper said.
"We are dead," they agreed.
"Now, leave."
All three boys slumped forward. Percy fell face-first into his pizza.
"Percy!" Annabeth grabbed him.
Piper and Hazel caught Jason's arms as he slipped out of his chair.
Leo wasn't so lucky. He fell toward Frank, who made no attempt to intercept him. Leo hit the floor.
"Ow!" he groaned.
"Are you all right?" Hazel asked.
Leo pulled himself up. He had a piece of spaghetti in the shape of a 3 stuck to his forehead. "Did it work?"
"It worked," Piper said, sounding pretty sure. "I don't think they'll be back."
Jason blinked. "Does that mean I can stop getting head injuries now?"
Piper laughed, exhaling all her nervousness. "Come on, Lightning Boy. Let's get you some fresh air."
Jason and Piper headed up to the outside deck. Everyone else dispersed and left the mess hall. Today had been a lot and I was starting to get tired. Though I already I wouldn't sleep tonight. Not because I didn't want to, but because I dreaded the visions I could possibly see.
I stayed in the mess hall trying to enjoy the peace and quiet until someone sat next to me.
"Back to following me everywhere?" I said.
"I don't follow you." Jasper said defensively. I gave him a look that said: You so do.
We sat in silence.
"If you're going to just sit there at least give me a topic to argue about with you."
He scoffed. "Okay then..do you have any family back home?"
I gave him a look that said: That's not a arguable topic but I'll answer it anyway because it's better than silence.
"I have my dad-my stepdad." I clarified. "I had half-siblings back at Camp Half-Blood. They're good people. I miss them. Especially Will, I'm really close with him."
"You said your mom died when we spoke to Nemesis."
I nodded. "She died two years ago in a car crash. Nemesis took the form of the guy who crashed into her."
I remembered the day my mom died like yesterday. I was in the car with her and we had been driving home. Despite it being only 7:30pm it didn't stop him from driving drunk. He had crashed his car directly into my moms side and our car had flipped and rolled down the hill. I should've died but my healing abilities had saved my life. I didn't know it at the time and the doctors had presumed it was a miracle that I survived.
My mom wasn't as lucky. She had died almost instantly after getting hit. There was nothing like watching your mother die and staring at her lifeless body dangling by her seat belt as you cried and screamed for her to wake up. The only person who was there for me was my dad and Cyprian. But now Cyprian is gone too. I prayed that I wouldn't lose my new family in cabin 7 as well. Michael's death had been enough.
I realized I had zoned out lost in my thoughts. I sat up straight and looked at Jasper trying to forget the memory.
"What about you?"
"It's just me and my mom and my little sister." He said. For some reason I was surprised he had a sister.
"Is she a-"
"Demigod?" He finished for me. "Yeah." He didn't sound happy about it. "She's still my half-sister though."
"How old is she?" I asked.
"Thirteen." He said. "Since I was a kid my mom kept trying to get Mars attention again. She desperately missed him and I reminded her of him everyday. She just wanted his attention again." He paused. "She didn't manage to catch Mars'attention but she caught someone else's."
I listened intently as he told his story.
"She caught Victoria's attention. My mother caught the attention of the goddess because of her desire to conquer my father's affection. She wanted to win him over no matter what." He had a somber smile on his face. "When Arabelle was born I didn't matter. Who needs a child of the god of war when you can have a daughter of victory itself. Everything I did from that point became a competition." He sighed. "But Arabelle was always better. She won at everything. She was a better fighter than me, faster than me and always came first in everything. It didn't matter if she was twelve years old and I was fifteen she would still find a way to win."
Victoria was the roman equivalent of Nike. The Greek goddess of speed, strength and victory. I could understand what he meant. Cabin 17 was a new addition to camp and only had two occupants. Laurel and Holly Victor. Twins and co-counselors. They were the fastest kids in camp, even faster than the Hermes kids. And they never settled for a second or turned down a competition.
I should've been surprised by the fact that his mother and a female goddess had a child but I wasn't. My sister Kayla had no mother. Apollo had fallen in love with her father and Kayla was brought into existence. I assumed it was how Athena did it.
"Is Arabelle at camp?"
Jasper shook his head. "My mom was going to send her last summer but with the Titan war she kept her home. Then she was going to send her this summer but because of Jason's disappearance so was too scared. But she'll start attending next year." He didn't sound too thrilled about it. "The only time I impressed my mother was when I became Centurion of the first cohort but now that Ara's joining...she'll be in the first cohort as well and I doubt it will be long before she becomes a Centurion. She always has to be first with the highest ranking." He said bitterly.
But deep down I could tell he loved her. I could hear it in his voice. He was jealous but he cared and worried for her.
"I'll be surprised if she doesn't take over the camp and declare dictatorship by her second week." He said with a small affectionate smile. I had never seen him smile like that before and I felt my heart warm.
"The same happened at my camp." I said. "We have twins who belong to Nike's cabin but Chiron had to make them co-counselors so they would compete with each other instead of conquering the camp. They constantly fight over who's better. They once competed in a three legged death race together and tied. So they demanded that I count how many shrapnels were embedded on their skin to determine the sole victor."
Jasper snorted. "Sounds just like Arabelle."
"What about your Mar's siblings, are you close with them?" I asked. Jasper shrugged.
"I mean technically Frank is my brother but it's not the same as you describe it being at your camp. We live in cohorts with demigods of different parentage. They become our family." He said.
He looked at me and sincerely said. "Your camp sounds nice. I wish I could see it."
"After all this is over. I'll show it to you, I promise." I said. We made eye contact as we seemed to both think the same thing.
An oath to keep with a final breath.
***
The next morning everyone was in a frenzy searching for Percy and Annabeth. They were nowhere to be found and everyone had started to think they had been kidnapped. That was until Frank came back looking red and said they had fallen asleep together in the stables.
When everyone finally gathered in the mess hall, it wasn't quite as bad as I thought. Jason and Piper were mostly relieved. Leo couldn't stop grinning and muttering, "Classic. Classic." Only Hazel seemed scandalized, maybe because she was from the 1940s. She kept fanning her face and wouldn't meet Percy's eyes. Jasper could've cared less and I found the whole thing to be quite funny.
Naturally, Coach Hedge went ballistic; but to be honest Percy seemed to find it hard to take the satyr seriously since he was barely five feet tall.
"Never in my life!" Coach bellowed, waving his bat and knocking over a plate of apples. "Against the rules! Irresponsible!"
"Coach," Annabeth said, "it was an accident. We were talking, and we fell asleep."
"Besides," Percy said, "you're starting to sound like Terminus."
Hedge narrowed his eyes. "Is that an insult, Jackson? 'Cause I'll—I'll terminus you, buddy!"
Percy tried not to laugh. "It won't happen again, Coach. I promise. Now, don't we have other things to discuss?"
Hedge fumed. "Fine! But I'm watching you, Jackson. And you, Annabeth Chase, I thought you had more sense—"
Jason cleared his throat. "So grab some food, everybody. Let's get started."
The meeting was like a war council with donuts. Then again, back at Camp Half-Blood we used to have our most serious discussions around the Ping-Pong table in the rec room with crackers and Cheez Whiz, so I felt right at home.Percy told them about his dream—the twin giants planning a reception for them in an underground parking lot with rocket launchers; Nico di Angelo trapped in a bronze jar, slowly dying from asphyxiation with pomegranate seeds at his feet.
For once I was glad someone else got to experience a vision.
Hazel choked back a sob. "Nico... Oh, gods. The seeds."
"You know what they are?" Annabeth asked.
Hazel nodded. "He showed them to me once. They're from our stepmother's garden."
"Your step... oh," Percy said. "You mean Persephone."
"The seeds are a last-resort food," Hazel said. I could tell she was nervous, because all the silverware on the table was starting to move toward her. "Only children of Hades can eat them. Nico always kept some in case he got stuck somewhere. But if he's really imprisoned—"
"The giants are trying to lure us," Annabeth said. "They're assuming we'll try to rescue him."
"Well, they're right!" Hazel looked around the table, her confidence apparently crumbling. "Won't we?"
"Yes!" Coach Hedge yelled with a mouthful of napkins. "It'll involve fighting, right?"
"Hazel, of course we'll help him," Frank said. "But how long do we have before... uh, I mean, how long can Nico hold out?"
"One seed a day," Hazel said miserably. "That's if he puts himself in a death trance."
"A death trance?" Annabeth scowled. "That doesn't sound fun."
"It keeps him from consuming all his air," Hazel said. "Like hibernation, or a coma. One seed can sustain him one day, barely."
"And he has five seeds left," Percy said. "That's five days, including today. The giants must have planned it that way, so we'd have to arrive by July first. Assuming Nico is hidden somewhere in Rome—"
"That's not much time," I summed up.
Piper put her hand on Hazel's shoulder. "We'll find him. At least we know what the lines of the prophecy mean now. 'Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death.' Your brother's last name: di Angelo. Angelo is Italian for 'angel.'"
"Oh, gods," Hazel muttered. "Nico..."
I remembered Nico from the Titan war. He seemed like a good guy...dark but overall he seemed to side with the right people. And I couldn't stand to see poor sweet Hazel in pain.
"We'll rescue him," he promised her. "We have to. The prophecy says he holds the key to endless death."
"That's right," Piper said encouragingly. "Hazel, your brother went searching for the Doors of Death in the Underworld, right? He must've found them."
"He can tell us where the doors are," Percy said, "and how to close them."
Hazel took a deep breath. "Yes. Good."
"Uh..." Leo shifted in his chair. "One thing. The giants are expecting us to do this, right? So we're walking into a trap?"
Hazel looked at Leo like he'd made a rude gesture. "We have no choice!"
"Don't get me wrong, Hazel. It's just that your brother, Nico... he knew about both camps, right?"
"Well, yes," Hazel said.
"He's been going back and forth," Leo said, "and he didn't tell either side."
Jason sat forward, his expression grim. "You're wondering if we can trust the guy. So am I."
Hazel shot to her feet. "I don't believe this. He's my brother. He brought me back from the Underworld, and you don't want to help him?"
Frank put his hand on her shoulder. "Nobody's saying that." He glared at Leo. "Nobody had better be saying that."
Leo blinked. "Look, guys. All I mean is—"
"Hazel," Jason said. "Leo is raising a fair point. I remember Nico from Camp Jupiter. Now I find out he also visited Camp Half-Blood. That does strike me as... well, a little shady. Do we really know where his loyalties lie? We just have to be careful."
Hazel's arms shook. A silver platter zoomed toward her and hit the wall to her left, splattering scrambled eggs.
"You... the great Jason Grace... the praetor I looked up to. You were supposed to be so fair, such a good leader. And now you..." Hazel stomped her foot and stormed out of the mess hall.
"Hazel!" Leo called after her. "Ah, jeez. I should—"
"You've done enough," Frank growled. He got up to follow her, but Piper gestured for him to wait.
"Give her time," Piper advised. Then she frowned at Leo and Jason. "You guys, that was pretty cold."
Jason looked shocked. "Cold? I'm just being cautious!"
"Her brother is dying," Piper said.
"I'll go talk to her," Frank insisted.
"No," Piper said. "Let her cool down first. Trust me on this. I'll go check on her in a few minutes."
"But..." Frank huffed like an irritated bear. "Fine. I'll wait."
From up above came a whirring sound like a large drill.
"That's Festus," Leo said. "I've got him on autopilot, but we must be nearing Atlanta. I'll have to get up there... uh, assuming we know where to land."
Everyone turned to Percy.
Jason raised an eyebrow. "You're Captain Salt Water. Any ideas from the expert?" Almost sounded like resentment in his voice. I knew they both harbored a little grudge. You couldn't put two demigods in a fight and not have them wonder who was stronger.
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "Somewhere central, high up so we can get a good view of the city. Maybe a park with some woods? We don't want to land a warship in the middle of downtown. I doubt even the Mist could cover up something that huge."
Leo nodded. "On it." He raced for the stairs.
Frank settled back in his chair uneasily. Percy took notice.
"When we land, I'll scout around in Atlanta," Percy said. "Frank, I could use your help."
"You mean turn into a dragon again? Honestly, Percy, I don't want to spend the whole quest being everyone's flying taxi."
"No," Percy said. "I want you with me because you've got the blood of Poseidon. Maybe you can help me figure out where to find salt water. Besides, you're good in a fight."
That seemed to make Frank feel a little better. "Sure. I guess."
"Great," Percy said. "We should take one more. Annabeth—"
"Oh, no!" Coach Hedge barked. "Young lady, you are grounded."
Annabeth stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. "Excuse me?"
"You and Jackson are not going anywhere together!" Hedge insisted. He glared at Percy, daring him to mouth off.
"I'll go with Frank and Mr. Sneaky Jackson. The rest of you guard the ship and make sure Annabeth doesn't break any more rules!"
A boys' day out with Percy, Frank and a bloodthirsty satyr, to find salt water in a landlocked city.
"This," he said, "is going to be so much fun."