I didn't know much about the Mediterranean, but I was pretty sure it wasn't supposed tofreeze in July.
Two days out to sea from Split, grey clouds swallowed the sky. The waves turned choppy. Cold drizzle sprayed across the deck, forming ice on the rails and the ropes.
"It's the scepter," Nico murmured, hefting the ancient staff. "It has to be."
We hadn't told anyone what really happened in Diocletian's Palace.
It made sense that the scepter might have caused this weather change. The black orb on top seemed to leach the color right out of the air. The golden eagles at its base glinted coldly. The scepter could supposedly control the dead, and it definitely gave off bad vibes. Coach Hedge had taken one look at the thing, turned pale and announced that he was going to his room to console himself with Chuck Norris videos. (Although I suspected that he was actually making Iris-messages back home to his girlfriend Mellie; the coach had been acting very agitated about her lately, though he wouldn't tell anyone what was going on.)
So, yes ... maybe the scepter could cause a freak ice storm. But I didn't think that was it. I feared something else was happening – something even worse.
"We can't talk up here," Jason decided. "Let's postpone the meeting."We'd all gathered on the quarterdeck to discuss strategy as we got closer to Epirus. Now it wasclearly not a good place to hang out. Wind swept frost across the deck. The sea churned beneath them. I could tell Hazel wasn't doing well. The poor girl got seasick even in calm waters. She looked like she was trying to swallow a billiard ball.
"Need to –" Hazel gagged and pointed below.
"Yeah, go." Nico kissed her cheek, which I found surprising. He hardly ever made gestures of affection, even to his sister. He seemed to hate physical contact. Kissing Hazel ... it was almost like he was saying goodbye.
"I'll walk you down." Frank put his arm around Hazel's waist and helped her to the stairs.
Nico brushed some ice from his hair. He frowned at the scepter of Diocletian. "I should put this thing away. If it's really causing the weather, maybe taking it below deck will help ..."
"Sure,"Jason said.
Nico glanced at Piper and Leo, as if worried what they might say when he was gone. I felt his defenses going up, like he was curling into a psychological ball, the way he'd gone into a death trance in that bronze jar.
Jason and I gave him a worried glance.
Leo pulled a screwdriver from his belt. "So much for the big team meeting."
So much had changed in seven months ... I wondered how the gods could stand being alive for thousands of years. How much change had they seen? Maybe it wasn't surprising that the Olympians seemed a little crazy. If I had lived through three millennia, I would have gone loopy.
I gazed into the cold rain. I would have given anything to be back at Camp Half-Blood, where the weather was controlled even in the winter. Back in cabin 7, singing those stupid campfire songs and fighting with cabin 5.
The visions I had recently hadn't given me much to look forward to.
Jasper squeezed my shoulder. "Hey, it'll be fine. We're close to Epirus now. Another day or so, if Nico's directions are right."
"Yep." Leo tinkered with his sphere, tapping and nudging one of the jewels on its surface. "By tomorrow morning, we'll reach the western coast of Greece. Then another hour inland, and bang – House of Hades! I'ma get me the T-shirt!"
"Yay," I muttered.
I wasn't anxious to plunge into the darkness again. I still had nightmares about the nymphaeum and the hypogeum under Rome. In my visions, I'd seen weird images – a pale sorceress in a gold dress, her hands weaving golden light in the air like silk on a loom; a giant wrapped in shadows, marching down a long corridor lined with torches. As he passed each one, the flames died. I saw a huge cavern filled with monsters – Cyclopes, Earthborn and stranger things – surrounding me and my friends, hopelessly outnumbering us.
"Guys," I said, "I've been thinking about the Prophecy of Nine."
It took a lot to get Leo's attention away from his work, but that did the trick.
"What about it?" he asked. "Like ... good stuff, I hope?""In my visions," I started, "I keep seeing that giant Clytius – the guy who's wrapped in shadows. Iknow his weakness is fire, but in my visions he snuffs out flames wherever he goes. Any kind of light just gets sucked into his cloud of darkness."
"Sounds like Nico," Leo said. "You think they're related?"
Jason scowled. "Hey, man, cut Nico some slack. So, Eliana, what about this giant? What are you thinking?"
Piper and Leo exchanged a quizzical look, like: Since when does Jason defend Nico di Angelo?
Ever since our encounter with Cupid, Jason seemed to take the responsibility of defending him from the others comments.
"I keep thinking about fire," I said. "How we expect Leo to beat this giant because he's ..."
"Hot?" Leo suggested with a grin. Jasper gave him a dirty look.
"Um, let's go with flammable. Anyway, that line from the prophecy bothers me: To storm or fire the world must fall."
"Yeah, we know all about it," Leo promised. "You're gonna say I'm fire. And Jason here is storm."
I nodded reluctantly. I knew that none of them liked talking about this, but they all must have felt it was the truth.
The ship pitched to starboard. Jason grabbed the icy railing. "So you're worried one of us will endanger the quest, maybe accidentally destroy the world?"
"No," I said. "I think we've been reading that line the wrong way. The world ... the earth. In Greek, the word for that would be ..."
I hesitated, not wanting to say the name aloud, even at sea.
"Gaia." Jasper's eyes gleamed with sudden interest. "You mean, to storm or fire Gaia must fall?'
"Oh ..." Leo grinned even wider. 'You know, I like your version a lot better. 'Cause if Gaia falls tome, Mr Fire, that is absolutely copacetic."
"Or to me ... storm." Jason said. "Eliana, that's brilliant! If you're right, this is great news. We just have to figure out which of us destroys Gaia."
"Maybe." I felt uneasy getting their hopes up. "But, see, it's storm or fire ..." I looked at Piper who unsheathed Katoptris and set it on the console. Immediately, the blade flickered, showing the dark shape of the giant Clytius moving through a corridor, snuffing out torches.
"I'm worried about Leo and this fight with Clytius," I said. "That line in the prophecy makes it sound like only one of you can succeed. And if the storm or fire part is connected to the third line, an oath to keep with a final breath ..."
I didn't finish the thought, but from everyone's expressions I saw that they understood. If I was reading the prophecy right, either Leo or Jason would defeat Gaia. The other one would die. I knew from vision months ago that Jason would die months after defeating Gaia which meant it would be Leo who died.
Leo stared at the dagger.
"Okay ... so I don't like your idea as much as I thought. You think one ofus defeats Gaia and the other one dies? Or maybe one of us dies while defeating her? Or –"
"Guys," Piper said, "we'll drive ourselves crazy overthinking it. You know how prophecies are. Heroes always get into trouble trying to thwart them."
"Yeah," Leo muttered. "We'd hate to get into trouble. We've got it so good right now.""You know what I mean," Piper said.
"The final breath line might not be connected to the storm and fire part. For all we know, the two of us aren't even storm and fire. Percy can raise hurricanes." Jason said.
"And I could always set Coach Hedge on fire," Leo volunteered. "Then he can be fire." The thought of a blazing satyr screaming, 'Die, scumbag!' as he attacked Gaia was almost enough to make me laugh – almost.
"I hope I'm wrong," I said cautiously. "But the whole quest started with me having a vision and you three finding Hera and waking that giant king Porphyrion. I have a feeling the war will end with you three too. For better or worse.
"Hey," Jason said, "personally, I like us."
"Agreed," Leo said. "Us is my favorite people."
I managed a smile.
Unfortunately, it was hard to imagine a happy ending with all the dark thoughts in my head. I worried that the giant Clytius had been put in their path to eliminate Leo as a threat. If so, that meant Gaia would also try to eliminate Jason. Without storm or fire, their quest couldn't succeed.
And this wintry weather bothered me too ... I felt certain it was being caused by something more than just Diocletian's scepter. The cold wind, the mix of ice and rain seemed actively hostile.
"Do you smell that?" Jasper asked.
I smelled the air, the thick smell of impending snow.
I nodded. "Yeah, smells like snow."
Piper tensed up. "Leo, sound the alarm."
She was charmspeaking so Leo immediately dropped his screwdriver and punched the alarm button. He frowned when nothing happened.
"Uh, it's disconnected," he remembered. "Festus is shut down. Gimme a minute to get the system back online."
"We don't have a minute! Fires – we need vials of Greek fire. Jason, call the winds. Warm,southerly winds."
"Wait, what?" Jason stared at her in confusion. "Piper, what's wrong?"
"It's her!" Piper snatched up her dagger. "She's back! We have to –"
Before she could finish, the boat listed to port. The temperature dropped so fast that the sails crackled with ice. The bronze shields along the rails popped like over-pressurized soda cans.
Jason drew his sword, but it was too late. A wave of ice particles swept over him, coating him like a glazed doughnut and freezing him in place. Under a layer of ice, his eyes were wide with amazement.
Jasper pulled me away from the icy particles. I started to shiver. It was freezing.
"Leo! Flames! Now!" Piper yelled.
"Piper what's going on?" I asked urgently.
Leo's right hand blazed, but the wind swirled around him and doused the fire. Leo clutched his Archimedes sphere as a funnel cloud of sleet lifted him off his feet.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Hey! Let me go!"
Piper ran towards him, but a voice in the storm said, "Oh, yes, Leo Valdez. I will let you go permanently."
Leo shot skywards, like he'd been launched from a catapult. He disappeared into the clouds.
"No!" Piper shouted.
Jasper summoned his spear and I pulled my bow out. I didn't know what was happening but it wasn't good.
Standing amidships was a girl in a flowing dress of white silk, her mane of black hair pinned back with a circlet of diamonds. Her eyes were the color of coffee, but without the warmth.
Behind her stood her brothers – two young men with purple-feathered wings, stark white hair and jagged swords of Celestial bronze.
"So good to see you again, ma chère," said the goddess. "It's time we had a very cold reunion."
Ice began to spread across the lower deck. It covered the hatch trapping the rest of our friends below deck. Piper had run up the stairs and we had followed her hoping to escape the ice. But we weren't as lucky.
I ran from the ice spreading across the deck. I glanced behind me to make sure Jasper was following but when I turned and looked he wasn't. He was stuck in place as ice froze over his leg and up his body.
"Jasper!" I called turning around and running back for him.
"No!" He shouted. "Leave me!"
I shook my head. "We stick together, remember?"
Ice had covered his entire lower half and was up to his chest now. He outstretched his hand as ice climbed up his neck.
I reached out to grab it but my feet were stuck in place. I shivered as ice climbed up my own body keeping me in place. I stretched my arm out as far as I could. My fingers barely brushed Jasper's.
The ice had reached his face. His eyes stared into mine as he froze over. I prayed Piper could fix this. And then I was frozen in place.
But of course getting turned into an ice statue didn't stop me from having a vision.
I saw Clarisse La Rue from the Ares Cabin yelling orders at the campers,forming them into lines. I saw the campers from Cabin Nine hurried around, fitting everyone with armor and passing out weapons.Even Chiron the centaur was dressed for war. He trotted up and down the ranks, his plumed helmet gleaming, his legs decked in bronze greaves. His usual friendly smile was gone, replaced with a look of grim determination.In the distance, Greek triremes floated on Long Island Sound, prepped for war. Along the hills,catapults were being primed. Satyrs patrolled the fields, and riders on pegasi circled overhead, alert for aerial attacks.
I saw Will handing bows and quivers to my siblings in cabin 7 as well as loading up on medicine.
The scene changed. A phalanx of Roman demigods marched through a moonlit vineyard. An illuminated sign in the distance read: GOLDSMITH WINERY. That wasn't far from camp.
Suddenly the Roman ranks deteriorated into chaos. Demigods scattered. Shields fell. Javelins swung wildly, like the whole group had stepped in fire ants.
Darting through the moonlight were two small hairy shapes dressed in mismatched clothes and garish hats. They seemed to be everywhere at once – whacking Romans on the head, stealing their weapons, cutting their belts so their trousers fell around their ankles.
The scene shifted again. I saw Octavian – that no-good blond scarecrow of an augur. He stood in a gas-station parking lot, surrounded by black SUVs and Roman demigods. He held up a long pole wrapped in canvas. When he uncovered it, a golden eagle glimmered at the top. Percy had said that it shoots lightning.
The scene changed again. Now I saw a single rider – Reyna, the praetor from CampJupiter – flying through a storm on the back of a light-brown pegasus. Reyna's dark hair flew in the wind. Her purple cloak fluttered, revealing the glimmer of her armor. She was bleeding from cuts on her arms and face. Her pegasus's eyes were wild, his mouth slathering from hard riding, but Reyna peered steadfastly forward into the storm.
As I watched, a wild gryphon dived out of the clouds. It raked its claws across the horse's ribs, almost throwing Reyna. She drew her sword and slashed the monster down. Seconds later, three venti appeared – dark air spirits swirling like miniature tornadoes laced with lightning. Reyna charged them, yelling defiantly.
The vision disappeared and a bright light returned into front of me. I was no longer cold. I stumbled forward as the ice melted off me.
Piper had done it, she had defeated Khione.
***
We had spent five days at the palace of the lord of the South Wind.
I leaned against the balcony rail. The air was so hot and dry it sucked the moisture right out of my lungs. Over the last week, my skin has gotten darker. My hair had turned as bright as the sun.A hundred feet below, the bay glittered against a crescent of red sand beach. We were somewhere on the northern coast of Africa. That's as much as the wind spirits would tell Jason.
The palace itself stretched out on either side of me – a honeycomb of halls and tunnels, balconies, colonnades and cavernous rooms carved into the sandstone cliffs, all designed for the wind to blow through and make as much noise as possible. Normally winds were fast and quick, except here the winds seemed in no hurry.
Which was part of the problem.
On their best days, the southern venti were slow and lazy. On their worst days, they were gusty and angry. They'd initially welcomed the Argo II, since any enemy of Boreas was a friend of the South Wind, but they seemed to have forgotten that the demigods are their guests. The venti had quickly lost interest in helping to repair the ship. Their king's mood got worse every day.
Down at the dock, we were working on the Argo II. The main sail had been repaired, the rigging replaced. Now we were mending the oars. Without Leo, none of us knew how to repair the more complicated parts of the ship, even with the help of Buford the table and Festus (who was now permanently activated thanks to Piper's charmspeak – and none of us understood that). But we kept trying.
Hazel and Frank stood at the helm, tinkering with the controls. Piper relayed their commands to Coach Hedge, who was hanging over the side of the ship, banging out dents in the oars. Hedge was well suited for banging on things. Jasper helped lift the heavy items and I basically made sure no one was getting injured in the process, as well as being the errand boy.
We didn't seem to be making much progress, but, considering what we'd been through, it was amiracle the ship was in one piece.
I shivered when I thought about Khione's attack. I'd been rendered helpless – frozen solid, while Leo was blasted into the sky and Piper was forced to save them all single-handedly.
Thank the gods for Piper. She considered herself a failure for not having stopped the wind bomb from exploding, but the truth was she'd saved the entire crew from becoming ice sculptures in Quebec.
She'd also managed to direct the explosion of the icy sphere so, even though the ship had been pushed halfway across the Mediterranean, it had sustained relatively minor damage.
Down at the dock, Hedge yelled, "Try it now!"
Hazel and Frank pulled some the levers. The port oars went crazy, chopping up and down and doing the wave. Coach Hedge tried to dodge, but one smacked him in the rear and launched him into the air.
He came down screaming and splashed into the bay.
I sighed. At this rate, we'd never be able to sail, even if the southern venti allowed them to.
Somewhere in the north, Reyna was flying towards Epirus, assuming she'd got his note at Diocletian's Palace. Leo was lost and in trouble. Percy and Annabeth ... well, best-case scenario they were still alive, making their way to the Doors of Death. We couldn't let them down.
I saw Jason standing near the palace and I went to report to him our progress. Which was very little.
"How's it going?" He asked.
I tried to give a reassuring smile. "We're getting there."
"Any word from the king?" Nico asked. We both jumped a little.
Nico di Angelo stood in the shadow of the nearest column. He'd shed his jacket. Now he just wore his black T-shirt and black jeans. His sword and the scepter of Diocletian hung on either side of his belt.
Days in the hot sun hadn't tanned his skin. If anything, he looked paler. His dark hair fell over his eyes. His face was still gaunt, but he was definitely in better shape than when they'd left Croatia. He had regained enough weight not to look starved. His arms were surprisingly taut with muscles, as if he'd spent the past week sword fighting. For all I knew, he'd been slipping off to practice raising spirits with Diocletian's scepter, then sparring with them. After their expedition in Split, nothing would surprise me.
Jason shook his head. "Every day, he calls for me later and later."
"We need to leave," Nico said. "Soon."
I had been having the same feeling, but hearing Nico say it made me even edgier. "You sense something?"
"Percy is close to the Doors," Nico said. "He'll need us if he's going to make it through alive."
I noticed that he didn't mention Annabeth. I decided not to bring that up.
"All right," Jason said. "But if we can't repair the ship –"
"I promised I'd lead you to the House of Hades," Nico said. "One way or another, I will."
"You can't shadow-travel with all of us. And it will take all of us to reach the Doors of Death." I said.
The orb at the end of Diocletian's scepter glowed purple. Over the past week, it seemed to have aligned itself to Nico di Angelo's moods. I wasn't sure that was a good thing.
"Then you've got to convince the king of the South Wind to help." Nico's voice seethed with anger. "I didn't come all this way, suffer so many humiliations ..."
"Look, Nico," Jason said, "I'm here if you want to talk about, you know, what happened in Croatia. I get how difficult –"
"You don't get anything."
"Nobody's going to judge you."
Nico's mouth twisted in a sneer. "Really? That would be a first. I'm the son of Hades, Jason. I might as well be covered in blood or sewage, the way people treat me. I don't belong anywhere. I'm not even from this century. But even that's not enough to set me apart. I've got to be – to be –"
"Dude! It's not like you've got a choice. It's just who you are."
"Just who I am ..." The balcony trembled. Patterns shifted in the stone floor, like bones coming to the surface. "Easy for you to say. You're everybody's golden boy, the son of Jupiter. The only person who ever accepted me was Bianca, and she died! I didn't choose any of this. My father, my feelings ..."
I tried to think of something to say to break the tension.
Jason raised his hands in submission. "Yeah, okay. But, Nico, you do choose how to live your life. You want to trust somebody? Maybe take a risk that I'm really your friend and I'll accept you. It's better than hiding."
The floor cracked between them. The crevice hissed. The air around Nico shimmered with spectral light.
"Hiding?" Nico's voice was deadly quiet.
I didn't like where this was going.
Jason held Nico's gaze. "Yes, hiding. You've run away from both camps. You're so afraid you'll get rejected that you won't even try. Maybe it's time you came out of the shadows."
Just when the tension became unbearable, Nico dropped his eyes. The fissure closed in the balcony floor. The ghostly light faded.
"I'm going to honor my promise," Nico said, not much louder than a whisper. "I'll take you to Epirus. I'll help you close the Doors of Death. Then that's it. I'm leaving – forever."
Behind us, the doors of the throne room blasted open with a gust of scorching air. A disembodied voice said: Lord Auster will see you now.
Jason turned toward the voice. I saw Nico step back toward the dark.
"Bye." I said waving at Nico as he disappeared in the shadows. I wasn't sure he'd heard me but I thought I at least saw his eyes flicker my direction.