𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐘 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊.
they'd spent half of the time they had retrieving the tar, takning about hazel, frank, and leo.
hazel was a daughter of pluto. she died in the 1940s and been brought back to life only a few months ago.
sammy was her previous boyfriend, before frank, and sammy looked just like leo.
fortunately, even with their long gossip session, they'd made it back in time.
cherry and percy came running down the hall.
percy was toting a steaming five-gallon plastic bucket that smelled horrible, and his shirt was covered in black tar.
cherry looked perfect, though, as usual.
her clothes were perfectly cleaned, and not a single hair on her head was out of place.
"roofing tar?" piper guessed.
frank stumbled up behind them, which made the hallway pretty jam-packed with demigods.
frank had a big smear of the black sludge down his face.
"those tar monsters were disgusting." cherry made a face.
suddenly the entire ship listed to port.
the demigods stumbled. percy almost spilled his bucket of tar.
cherry held him upright.
"uh, what was that?" he demanded.
"oh.." hazel looked embarrassed. "we may have angered the nymphs who live in this lake. like.. all of them."
"great." percy handed the bucket of tar to frank and cherry. "you guys help leo. i'll hold off the water spirits as long as i can."
"on it!" frank promised.
the three of them ran off, leaving hazel at the cabin door.
the ship listed again, and hazel hugged her stomach like she was going to be sick.
"i'll just.." she swallowed, pointed weakly down the passageway, and ran off.
cherry and frank made their way to the the engine room below.
it sounded like leo and the others were doing an irish line dance with anvils tied to their feet.
"oh my god." cherry giggled at the sight of leo.
his shirt was rolled up, and his hair was slicked back.
his arms were completely covered in pen. they looked like a toddlers ideas of tattoos. cherry couldn't stop laughing.
"is it that funny?" leo laughed, too.
"team leo." cherry pointed. "i think i missed a twilight movie."
"edward and jacob have nothing on me."
"bad boy supreme?"
"all the ladies love leo."
after what seemed like hours, the engine began to hum.
the oars creaked and groaned, and the rocking and shaking stopped. the ship became quiet except for the drone of machinery.
finally, leo emerged from the engine room.
he was caked in sweat, lime dust, and tar. his t-shirt looked like it had been caught in an escalator and chewed to shreds.
the team leo on his chest now read: am leo.
but he grinned like a madman and announced that they were safely under way.
cherry and frank exited after him.
"meeting in the mess hall, one hour," leo said. "crazy day, huh?"
« ───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ───── »
after everyone had cleaned up, coach hedge took the helm and the demigods gathered below for dinner.
it was the first time they'd all sat down together. cherry was suddenly feeling a little nervous that the prophecy was really unfolding.
they had a bunch of angry romans behind them and the ancient lands ahead, the giants would be waiting, and gaea was rising.
unless they succeeded in this quest, the world would be destroyed.
the others must've felt it too.
the tension in the mess hall was like an electrical storm brewing, which was totally possible, considering percy's and jason's powers.
in an awkward moment, the two boys tried to sit in the same chair at the head of the table.
sparks literally flew from jason's hands.
after a brief silent standoff, like they were both thinking, 'seriously, dude?' they ceded the chair to annabeth and sat at opposite sides of the table.
cherry sat right beside percy.
the crew compared notes on what had happened in salt lake city, but even leo's ridiculous story about how he tricked narcissus wasn't enough to cheer up the group.
"so where to now?" leo asked with a mouthful of pizza. "i did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. we should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the atlantic."
percy was eating a piece of pie, which for some reason was completely blue. filling, crust, even the whipped cream.
"we need to put some distance between us and camp jupiter," he said. "frank spotted some eagles over salt lake city. we figure the romans aren't far behind us."
that didn't improve the mood around the table.
"i don't suppose we should go back and try to reason with the romans? maybe- maybe i didn't try hard enough with the charmspeak." piper pointed out.
jason took her hand. "it wasn't your fault, pipes. or leo's. whatever happened, it was gaea's doing, to drive the two camps apart."
piper was grateful for his support, but she still felt uneasy. "maybe if we could explain that, though-"
"with no proof?" annabeth asked. "and no idea what really happened? i appreciate what you're saying, piper. i don't want the romans on our bad side, but until we understand what gaea's up to, going back is suicide."
"she's right," hazel said.
she still looked a little queasy from seasickness.
"you should have saltine crackers." cherry suggested.
"i'll try that." hazel nodded.
the rim of her plate was embedded with rubies, and piper was pretty sure they hadn't been there at the beginning of the meal.
cherry admired the crystals, and looked back up to continue the conversation.
"reyna might listen, but octavian won't. the romans have honor to think about. they've been attacked. they'll shoot first and ask questions post hac." piper stared at her own dinner.
"you're right," hazel decided. "we have to keep going. not just because of the romans. we have to hurry. nemesis said we have only six days until nico dies and rome is destroyed."
cherry frowned at the thought of nico dying.
jason had the same expression. "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?"
no one answered.
"there's more," piper said. "i've been seeing some things in my knife."
frank froze with a forkful of spaghetti halfway to his mouth. "things such as.?"
"they don't really make sense," piper said, "just garbled images, but i saw two giants, dressed alike. maybe 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'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 the ship fired on us. 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.
lnemesis 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 blue whipped cream. "i was only a praetor for about two hours. jason, you ever hear a legend like that?"
jason was still holding piper's hand.
his fingers had turned clammy.
"i.. uh, i'm not sure," he said. "i'll give it some thought."
percy narrowed his eyes. "you're not sure?"
cherry placed her hand in her hands, wishing that she could pause the moment and skip through the awkward scene.
jason didn't respond.
piper wanted to ask him what was wrong.
she could tell he didn't want to discuss this old legend.
she caught his eye, and he pleaded silently, later.
hazel broke the silence. "what about the other lines? twins snuff out the 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 giants' bane is good for us, right? that's probably what we need to find. if it can help the gods get their act together, that's good."
"we need to the gods to kill the giants." cherry reminded, as she began to pick at her food.
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."
"alcyoneus 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 the giants by dragging them across the border from alaska into canada, but.."
"cherry's right, we'll need the gods." piper gazed at the walls.
"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 the romans will have trouble finding us. any ideas?"
no one spoke.
piper remembered her vision in the knife. the strange man in purple, holding out a goblet and beckoning to her. he'd been standing in front of a sign that read topeka 32.
"well," she ventured, "how do you guys feel about kansas?"
"like it's unknown and i don't want to step foot in there." cherry commented.
« ───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ───── »
coach hedge spent the first hour after curfew doing his nightly duty, walking up and down the passageway yelling, "lights out! settle down! try to sneak out, and i'll smack you back to long island!" and he banged his baseball bat against a cabin door whenever he heard a noise, shouting at everyone to go to sleep, which made it impossible for anyone to go to sleep.
at least the cabin was cute! it also adjusted to the occupant's preferred temperature, so it was never too cold or too hot.
a bronze lantern hung from the ceiling.
she'd been having a really nice time asleep, until she was very rudely awoken.
"wake up!" leo banged on the door.
"go away!" cherry had called back.
afterwards, cherry had a really nice shower, and changed into a cute outfit.
annabeth had given cherry advice on how to pack for quests; it helped, because cherry always packed cute outfits that were not at all suited for the adventures she was going on.
she always packed dresses anyways, and claimed she'd rather die in a cute outfit than be safe in an ugly one.
cherry made her way to the top of the deck as soon as she was ready.
the argo ii was settled in the middle of a field of sunflowers.
"good morning, strawberry." percy greeted, and handed her a muffin.
"good morning! i like the shirt." cherry spoke, taking a bite of the pastry.
"thank you." percy grinned.
he was wearing faded jeans and a fresh orange camp half-blood t-shirt, as if he'd never been away from the greek side.
the new clothes had probably helped his mood.
"good morning, piper!" cherry greeted.
"good morning." the girl smiled back.
annabeth snatched the bagel out of her hand, and took a bite. piper didn't mind.
"good morning, cher." annabeth greeted.
"good morning, annie." cherry smiled.
"here we are. what's the plan?" annabeth asked.
"i want to check out the highway," piper said. "find the sign that says topeka 32."
leo spun his wii controller in a circle, and the sails lowered themselves. "we shouldn't be far, festus and i calculated the landing as best we could. what do you expect to find at the mile marker?"
piper explained what she'd seen in the knife.
the man in purple with a goblet.
"purple shirt?" jason asked. "vines on his hat? sounds like bacchus."
"dionysus," percy muttered. "if we came all the way to kansas to see mr. d-"
"i love mr. d! he's so funny." cherry spoke.
"he hates us." percy reminded, as he landed against her.
"hates you guys. dionysus is my bestfriend."
"bacchus isn't so bad," jason agreed.
"i don't like his followers much " piper shuddered.
"but the god himself is okay," jason continued. "i did him a favor once up in the wine country."
percy looked appalled. "whatever, man. maybe he's better on the roman side. but why would he be hanging around in kansas? didn't zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?"
frank grunted. "the gods haven't been very good at following that order, besides, if the gods have gone crash like hazel said-"
"and leo said," added leo.
frank scowled at him. "then who knows what's going on with the olympians? could be some pretty bad stuff out there."
"sounds dangerous!" leo agreed cheerfully. "well.. you guys have fun. i've got to finish repairs on the hull. coach hedge is gonna work on the broken crossbows. and, uh, annabeth, i could really use your help. you're the only other person who even sort of understands engineering."
"sure." annabeth grinned.
cherry dramatically said goodbye to annabeth, and only annabeth. when questioned, she said her and leo weren't on speaking terms because he had no respect for other people's sleeping schedules.
frank slid his bow off his shoulder and propped it against the rail. "i think i should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for roman eagles."
"why a crow?" leo asked. "man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into a dragon every time? that's the coolest."
frank's face looked like it was being infused with cranberry juice. "that's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. because it's hard, and you'd hurt yourself. turning into a dragon isn't easy."
"oh." leo nodded. "i wouldn't know. i don't lift weights."
"yeah. well, maybe you should consider it, mr.-" frank began.
"ooh, frankie and bad boy supreme are fighting." cherry spoke, her tone sort of eager.
"please tell me you're team leo." leo put his hands together.
cherry laughed, and leo did, too.
percy looked between them.
he pulled her closer. what kind of inside joke was that?
hazel stepped between both boys, shooting leo an evil look. "i'll help you, frank. i can summon arion and scout around below."
"sure," frank said, still glaring at leo. "yeah, thanks."
cherry and piper shared a look.
they weren't the closest, but appreciated each-other more or less.
hazel and leo seemed so close. it was strange. what was going on with them? they'd let just yesterday.
hazel turned to percy. "just be careful when you go out there. lots of fields, lots of crops. could be karpoi on the loose."
"what's karpoi?" cherry asked.
"grain spirits," hazel said. "you don't want to meet them."
"that leaves four of us to check on the mile marker," percy said. "me, cherry jason, piper. i'm not psyched about seeing mr. d again. that guy is a pain. but, jason, if you're on better terms with him-"
"yeah," jason said. "if we find him, i'll talk to him. piper, it's your vision. you should take the lead."
piper shivered.
for some reason, she didn't want too.
she couldn't bear to meet cherry's eyes. cherry was too connected with others. she knew exactly how they felt with just one look. piper wondered, when they met, if cherry could tell that she hated her.
not out of a pure, genuine hate.
just jealousy.
aphrodite adored cherry, as if she were her own daughter.
"of course," piper said, trying to sound upbeat. "let's find the highway."
«───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
cherry huffed.
"leo needs to get a better fucking sense of direction." she complained.
"you'll be fine." percy reassured her.
she'd been trudging through hot fields full of mosquitoes and scratchy sunflowers. they finally reached the road, and spotted an old billboard for bubba's gas 'n' grub indicated they were still forty miles from the first topeka exit.
"correct my math," percy said, "but doesn't that mean we have eight miles to walk?"
"ugh!" cherry complained.
jason peered both ways down the deserted road.
he looked a lot better today, thanks to the magical healing of ambrosia and nectar. the new gladius that hera had given him last winter hung at his belt.
"no cars.." he said. "but i guess we wouldn't want to hitchhike."
"no," piper agreed, gazing nervously down the highway. "we've already spent too much time going overland. the earth is gaea's territory."
"hmm.." jason snapped his fingers. "i can call a friend for a ride."
percy raised his eyebrows. "oh, yeah? me too. let's see whose friend gets here first."
jason whistled.
percy simply closed his eyes and concentrated.
cherry shamelessly stared at her boyfriend.
piper had never really looked at percy; she thought he looked unimpressive, but assumed it was the personality that made cherry fall for him.
she then eyed the redhead, who'd taken a seat on the side of the road and inspected her nails.
"can i sit?" piper asked.
"sure! its not my road." cherry motioned to the spot next to her.
"so.. you and percy?"
"what about it?"
"you're super pretty. percy's super. average. in the kindest way possible."
"i think he's beautiful and perfect, but maybe that's just because he's my boyfriend. at camp half-blood, it's like you need to have a crush on him to be allowed in."
"that must suck."
"sometimes, but not really. people should appreciate beauty."
"yeah, and you don't have much to worry about, do you?"
"what do you mean?"
"that percy's head over heels in love with you and always will be."
"oh, yeah! but i am too."
the conversation continued, and the girls covered what must've been a million subjects in a couple short minutes.
piper thought the girl must've mastered charm speak, but no. cherry was just a really likable girl, most of the time.
thunder crackled in the clear sky.
cherry and piper both glanced up, and then stood.
jason smiled. "soon."
"too late." percy pointed east, where a black winged shape was spiraling toward them.
cherry smiled at the sight of blackjack.
the winged stallion came in for a landing. he trotted over to percy and nuzzled his face, then turned his head inquisitively toward piper and jason.
"blackjack," percy said, "this is piper and jason. they're friends."
"hi, blackjack!" cherry greeted, and turned to the two boys. "me and piper have an announcement to make. we're leaving you guys for each-other!"
"so glad to get this off my chest." piper high-fived her.
"thanks for saying that, we felt the same." percy spoke sarcastically, and jason stifled a laugh.
the horse made a noise.
"uh, maybe later," percy answered.
"what does blackjack want?" piper asked.
"donuts," percy said. "always donuts. he can carry all four of us if-"
suddenly the air turned cold.
piper's ears popped.
about fifty yards away, a miniature cyclone three stories tall tore across the tops of the sunflowers like a scene from the wizard of oz.
it touched down on the road next to jason and took the form of a horse. a misty steed with lightning flickering through its body.
"tempest," jason said, grinning broadly. "long time, my friend."
the storm spirit reared and whinnied.
blackjack backed up skittishly.
"easy, boy, he's a friend too." percy reassured, and gave jason an impressed look. "nice ride, grace."
jason shrugged. "i made friends with him during our fight at the wolf house. he's a free spirit, literally, but once in a while he agrees to help me."
percy and jason climbed on their respective horses.
piper didn't seem very comfortable, but got on anyways.
percy outstretched a hand to his girlfriend, and cherry took it with a grin. she climbed up.
tempest raced down the road with blackjack soaring overhead. fortunately, they didn't pass any cars, or they might have caused a wreck. in no time, they arrived at the thirty-two-mile marker, which looked exactly as piper had seen it in her vision.
blackjack landed.
both horses pawed the asphalt.
neither looked pleased to have stopped so suddenly, just when they'd found their stride.
blackjack whinnied.
"you're right," percy said. "no sign of the wine dude."
"i beg your pardon?" said a voice from the fields.
tempest turned so quickly, piper almost fell off.
the wheat parted, and the man from her vision stepped into view. he wore a wide-brimmed hat wreathed in grapevines, a purple short-sleeved shirt, khaki shorts, and birkenstocks with white socks.
he looked maybe thirty, snd like a frat boy who hadn't yet realized college was over. "did someone just call me the wine dude? it's bacchus, please. or mr. bacchus. or lord bacchus. or, sometimes, oh-my-gods-please-don't-kill-me, lord bacchus."
percy urged blackjack forward, though the pegasus didn't seem happy about it. "you look different. your hair is longer. and your shirt isn't so loud."
"what in blazes are you talking about? who are you, and where is ceres?"
"uh.. what series?"
cherry started thinking of all the shows she'd watched.
would they have to play charades to guess?
"i think he means ceres," jason said. "the goddess of agriculture. you'd call her demeter. lord bacchus, do you remember me? i helped you with that missing leopard in sonoma."
bacchus scratched his stubbly chin. "ah.. yes. john green."
"jason grace."
"whatever, did ceres send you, then?"
"no, lord bacchus, were you expecting to meet her here?"
"well, i didn't come to kansas to party, my boy. ceres asked me here for a council of war. what with gaea rising, the crops are withering. droughts are spreading. the karpoi are in revolt. even my grapes aren't safe. ceres wanted a united front in the plant war."
cherry made a face.
she looked confused, and a little upset.
percy knew his girlfriend hated thinking about the negative state that nature was in.
"the plant war," percy said. "you're going to arm all the little grapes with tiny assault rifles?"
the god narrowed his eyes. "have we met?"
"at camp half-blood. iknow you as mr. d — dionysus."
"agh!"
bacchus winced and pressed his hands to his temples.
for a moment, his image flickered.
cherry recognized dionysus, until the changed back.
"stop that!" bacchus demanded. "stop thinking about me in greek!"
percy blinked. "uh, but-"
"do you have any idea how hard it is to stay focused? splitting headaches all the time! i never know what i'm doing or where i'm going! constantly grumpy!"
"that sounds pretty normal for you,"
"if we know each other from that other camp, it's a wonder i haven't already turned you into a dolphin."
"it was discussed, i think you were just too lazy to do it."
cherry and piper looked at each-other.
percy and dionysus never got along, and cherry didn't know how she'd feel if her boyfriend suddenly became a sea mammal.
"d- bacchus." cherry called out, taking his attention. "please ignore him. he has no idea what he's talking about. we need some advice."
"hmm.. very well. i would avoid karaoke. really, theme parties in general are out. in these austere times, people are looking for a simple, low-key affair, with locally produced organic snacks and-" bacchus began.
"organic snacks? i don't timid if-" cherry became distracted.
"not about parties," piper interrupted. "although that's incredibly useful advice, lord bacchus. we were hoping you'd help us on our quest."
piper began explaining about the argo ii and their voyage to stop the giants from awakening gaea.
she told him what nemesis had said: that in six days, rome would be destroyed.
she described the vision reflected in her knife, where bacchus offered her a silver goblet.
"silver goblet?" the god didn't sound very excited. he grabbed a diet pepsi from nowhere and popped the top of the can.
"you drink diet coke," percy said.
"i don't know what you're talking about," bacchus snapped.
cherry made a strict face to percy.
the boy waited a second, and she immediately began to laugh.
"you're we,come for being so blessed with comedic skills." percy waved it off.
"as to this vision of the goblet, young lady, i have nothing for you to drink unless you want a pepsi. jupiter has put me under strict orders to avoid giving wine to minors. bothersome, but there you have it. as for the giants, i know them well. i fought in the first giant war, you know." bacchus looked over at piper.
"you can fight?" percy asked.
"percy, he's about to beat your ass." cherry warned.
piper wished he hadn't sounded so incredulous.
dionysus snarled. his diet pepsi transformed into a five-foot staff wreathed in ivy, topped with a pinecone.
"a thyrsus?' piper said, hoping to distract the god before he whacked percy on the head.
she'd seen weapons like that before in the hands of crazy nymphs, and wasn't thrilled to see one again, but she tried to sound impressed. "oh, what a mighty weapon!"
+indeed," bacchus agreed. "i'm glad someone in your group is smart. the pinecone is a fearsome tool of destruction! i was a demigod myself in the first giant war, you know. the son of jupiter!"
jason flinched.
probably he wasn't thrilled to be reminded that the wine dude was technically his big brother.
bacchus swung his staff through the air. "of course that was long before i invented wine and became an immortal. i fought side by side with the gods and some other demigod.. harry cleese, i think."
"heracles?" piper suggested politely.
"whatever, anyway, i killed the giant ephialtes and his brother otis. horrible boors, those two. pinecone in the face for both of them!"
"lord bacchus, those two giants, ephialtes and otis.. would they happen to be twins?"
"hmm? yes, twins. that's right."
piper turned to jason.
she could tell he was following her thoughts: twins snuff out the angel's breath.
in the blade of katoptris, she'd seen two giants in yellow robes, lifting ajar from a deep pit.
"that's why we're here," piper told the god. "you're part of our quest!"
bacchus frowned. "i'm sorry, my girl. i'm not a demigod anymore. i don't do quests."
"but giants can only be killed by heroes and gods working together. you're a god now, and the two giants we have to fight are ephialtes and otis. i think.. i think they're waiting for us in rome. they're going to destroy the city somehow. the silver goblet i saw in my vision.. maybe it's meant as a symbol for your help. you have to help us kill the giants!"
"my girl, i don't have to do anything. besides, i only help those who give me proper tribute, which no one has managed to do in many, many centuries."
blackjack whinnied uneasily.
piper couldn't blame him.
she didn't like the sound of tribute. cherry didn't, either. but what else could they do.
percy voiced the question that she was too scared to ask. "what kind of tribute?"
bacchus waved his hand dismissively. "nothing you could handle, insolent greek."
cherry had to look away stop herself from laughing.
"but i will give you some free advice, since this girl does have some manners. seek out gaea's son, phorcys. he always hated his mother, not that i can blame him. he didn't have much use for his siblings the twins, either. you'll find him in the city they named after that heroine.. atalanta."
piper hesitated. "you mean atlanta?"
"that's the one." bacchus nodded.
"but this phorcys," jason said. "is he a giant? a titan?"
bacchus laughed. "neither. seek out the salt water."
"salt water.." percy said. "in atlanta?"
"yes," bacchus said. "are you hard of hearing? if anyone can give you insight on gaea and the twins, it's phorcys. just watch out for him."
"what do you mean?" cherry asked.
the god glanced at the sun, which had climbed almost to high noon. "it's unlike ceres to be late, unless she sensed something dangerous in this area. or.. or a trap. well, i must be going! and if i were you, i'd do the same!"
"lord bacchus, wait!" jason protested.
the god shimmered and disappeared with a sound like a soda-can top being popped.
the wind rustled through the sunflowers.
the horses paced in agitation.
despite the dry, hot day, cherry shivered. a cold feeling.. annabeth and leo had both described a cold feeling.
she wondered if it was just because she was wearing a pair of shorts, and maybe her legs were cold.
"bacchus is right," piper said. "we need to leave-"
too late, said a sleepy voice, humming through the fields all around them and resonating in the ground at piper's feet.
percy and jason drew their swords.
piper stood on the road between them, frozen with fear.
the power of gaea was suddenly everywhere. the sunflowers turned to look at them. the wheat bent toward them like a million scythes.
welcome to my party, gaea murmured.
what did bacchus say? the goddess mocked. a simple, low-key affair with organic snacks? yes. for my snacks, i need only two: the blood of a female demigod, and the blood of a male. piper, my dear, choose which hero will die with you.
"gaea!" jason yelled. "stop hiding in the wheat. show yourself!"
such bravado, gaea hissed. but the other one, percy jackson, also has appeal. choose, piper mclean, or i will.
piper's heart raced. gaea meant to kill her.
it didn't make any sense. how could gaea only kill two, and let the rest go free?
cherry's hand found it'd way to percy's, like it usually did in any situation.
"piper, please." cherry looked up at the girl, and then at bith boys,
"you're insane!" piper shouted. "i'm not choosing anything for you!"
suddenly jason gasped. he
sat up straight in his saddle.
"jason!" piper cried. "what's wrong-"
he looked down at her, his expression deadly calm. his eyes were no longer blue. they glowed solid gold.
"percy, cherry, help!" piper stumbled back from tempest.
percy tore his hand from cherry's, and mounted pegasus. he galloped away from them. he stopped thirty feet down the road and wheeled his pegasus around.
he raised his sword and pointed the tip toward jason.
"one will die," percy said, but the voice wasn't his.
it was deep and hollow, like someone whispering from inside the barrel of a cannon.
"i will choose," jason answered, in the same hollow voice.
"no!" piper yelled.
all around her, the fields crackled and hissed, laughing in gaea's voice as percy and jason charged at each other, their weapons ready.
"holy shit." cherry glanced at piper.