"Annabeth III," Katie read.
"I can't believe there are four chapters..." Annabeth muttered under her breath. She brushed lose strands of hair away from her face. "Four chapters. Why four? Weren't two enough?"
"I know, right?" Leo agreed, he thoughtfully rocked his chair back. "You think there's a reason she chose your thoughts to be in the book?"
Annabeth mulled over his question.
"Nemesis is well-known for taking down powerful and prideful people," she began.
"Like Narcissus." Leo remembered.
"Right. Anyways, it's possible she decided to have my thoughts be read because she thinks I'm too prideful." the daughter of Athena scowled. "That's probably why my point of view is separated into four chapters."
She frowned at Leo. "Not sure why she would chose you though."
"Your guess is as good as mine." he shrugged. He wasn't as powerful as Jason or Percy and he definitely wouldn't consider himself to be an overly prideful person. He could only imagine why the goddess would chose this type of punishment for him.
He untied the shoelaces of his sneaker (hand-me-downs from his brother, Shane).
Annabeth wished she had an appetite, because the Romans knew how to eat.
...Romans lounged in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while wind spirits—aurae—swirled overhead, bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked cookies.
"Sounds kinda like our Mess Hall." Chris mused.
"But it doesn't sound like they're separated by godly parents." Katie noticed.
Leo pulled the shoelace out of his shoe. He wrapped the string around his arm.
Drifting through the crowd were purple ghosts—Lares—in togas and legionnaire armor. Around the edges of the feast, satyrs (no, fauns, Annabeth thought) trotted from table to table, panhandling for food and spare change.
"What?" Grover gasped, looking horrified by this revelation. "Why are they begging? Shouldn't they be searching for demigods?"
"No. There's no point in sending fauns when Flea Bag and her wolf pack are running around collecting brats." Dionysus said, flipping a page in his magazine.
"But can't they work at the stores or in their Senate House?" the satyr argued. "There are other things the Romans can be having them do instead of leaving them on the streets."
"Probably." the god of wine grunted. "But the fauns aren't interested in doing anything besides lazing around."
Grover looked stupefied. They can't really be okay with how things are.
...The whole scene was so familiar yet so completely alien that it gave Annabeth vertigo.
All she wanted to do was be with Percy—preferably alone.
"Ooooooo!" Aphrodite and the other demigods sang.
"That's not what I meant!" Annabeth snapped.
"How do you know? You haven't thought about this yet!...Or have you?" Connor wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Annabeth glared at him.
She knew she would have to wait.
Preferably when the chapter stops being in my point of view. the daughter of Athena silently added.
If their quest was going to succeed, they needed these Romans, which meant getting to know them and building some goodwill.
Annabeth nodded her head in approval.
Reyna and a few of her officers (including the blond kid Octavian, freshly back from burning a teddy bear for the gods)
Apollo grimaced. Oh joy. You shouldn't have... No really, you shouldn't have.
sat with Annabeth and her crew. Percy joined them with his two new friends, Frank and Hazel. As a tornado of food platters settled onto the table, Percy leaned over and whispered, "I want to show you around New Rome. Just you and me. The place is incredible."
Percy frowned. That's it? That's all I want to tell her? I mean, it'll be pretty cool to explore Camp Jupiter with Annabeth, but why didn't I ask how Grover's doing or my mom and Paul? Mom especially must be worried sick at this point.
Annabeth and the other demigods looked disappointed in his statement as well.
"You're not going to even ask how Camp's doing?" the daughter of Athena said softly.
Percy winced. "Sorry, I don't know why I didn't mention it. Maybe I didn't think now was the right time to ask?" At least, I hope so...
...She tried not to stare at the new marks on Percy's forearm—an SPQR tattoo like Jason's.
The demigods tensed.
Athena gave the son of Poseidon a look of disgust.
"I got a tattoo?" Percy paled. "My mom's going kill me!" First I vanish into thin air, then I come back with a tattoo? I'll be lucky if I'm allowed to leave the house by the time I turn forty-five!
Percy groaned and buried his face in his hands. Annabeth gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze.
"It's okay, Percy. We can get it removed as soon as you get back to Camp. I know a guy who knows a guy's girlfriend." Travis assured him.
"Wait... Are you talking about her?" Connor winced. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Dude, do you know how expensive it is to remove a tattoo? She's the only one who would be willing to do it for cheap." his brother argued.
Oh my gods, what am I getting myself into? Percy thought in growing dread. He didn't know what was worse, the fact that he's going to have a branding tattoo courtesy from the Romans or the fact that he would have to rely on one of Travis' shady friends to get the stupid thing removed before his mom found out.
At Camp Half-Blood, demigods got bead necklaces to commemorate years of training. Here, the Romans burned a tattoo into your flesh, as if to say: You belong to us. Permanently.
Annabeth and a few demigods winced.
"Not if Loco Coco's got anything to say about it." Travis nodded his head.
"Loco Coco?" Percy squeaked.
"I dunno man, I still don't think we should take the chance." Connor told Travis.
"He'll be fine." he assured the other Stoll. "The worst he'll get is a scar."
"You don't know that for sure." Connor replied.
The two went back and forth with the pros and cons. Unfortunately for the son of Poseidon, Connor was able to come up with more reasons not to than Travis was for doing it.
Percy bit his lip.
Is it bad that I'm still willing to do this so my mom doesn't find out? he wondered.
Seeing a look of acceptance on his face, Annabeth leaned over and hissed in his ear. "Don't even think about it."
Percy frowned. I guess it's back to the drawing board.
She swallowed back some biting comments. "Okay. Sure."
"I've been thinking," he said nervously. "I had this idea—"
Percy and Annabeth frowned in confusion.
He stopped as Reyna called a toast to friendship.
"What was that all about?" Percy wondered to himself.
After introductions all around, the Romans and Annabeth's crew began exchanging stories. Jason explained how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, and how he'd gone on a quest with Piper and Leo to rescue the goddess Hera (or Juno, take your pick—she was equally annoying in Greek or Roman)
Hera, who's form flickered, glared at Annabeth.
Hermes and Apollo snickered.
"No arguments here." Hephaestus said.
Leo swung the shoelace like a lasso.
..."Impossible!" Octavian broke in. "That's our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there—"
"They would've destroyed her," Piper said. "And blamed it on the Greeks, and started a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish."
Octavian opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"Thank you, Piper." Apollo smiled. "We've been trying to do that for ages now."
She noticed Reyna looking back and forth between Jason and Piper, her brow creased, as if just beginning to realize the two of them were a couple.
The Aphrodite Cabin shared a couple of smug smiles.
"So," Jason continued, "that's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters from Tartarus and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House: he said he was retreating to the ancient lands—Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea and destroying the gods by...what did he call it? Pulling up their roots."
The readers stiffened.
Percy nodded thoughtfully. "Gaea's been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face."
"Seriously?" Percy complained.
Percy recounted his side of the story.
Poseidon and the demigods leaned forward, eager to hear what happened to him.
He talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for one name—Annabeth.
Really? That's odd, that would've been the first memory I would've gotten rid of... Hera frowned.
"That's so cute!" Aphrodite squealed.
Her children cooed in agreement.
Percy felt his face heat up, but he shared a smile with Annabeth.
"See? I knew I wouldn't forget you." he said.
"You proved me wrong." Annabeth replied, holding back tears of happiness.
Sitting by her hearth, Hestia grinned at the goddess. "That was so kind of you to look past that your feelings towards Annabeth and allow Percy to remember her."
The goddess of marriage was still frowning in confusion but she slowly nodded in agreement. "...Yes. It was." She sat up straighter in her throne. "But that's not surprising, I can be a very merciful goddess."
Artemis and Apollo scowled.
"Yeah right." the god spat.
"So you're just going to forget what you did to our poor mother." the goddess pointedly said.
Hera pretended not to hear them as she gave Annabeth a meaningful look. "Maybe now you could finally start showing me some respect."
Annabeth half-heartedly rolled her eyes, she couldn't bring herself to feel fully annoyed. Not after hearing that Percy had always remembered her.
Can't believe he actually did that... She smiled softly to herself.
...Percy told them how he'd traveled to Alaska with Frank and Hazel—how they'd defeated the giant Alcyoneus,
"You fought Alcyoneus!" Poseidon gasped. "In Alaska!"
Hades/Pluto scowled. He didn't want Hazel anywhere near that monster.
"I'm guessing he's a big deal?" Percy said in a small voice.
"He was made to destroy me," Hades began, regaining his form. He ignored the pain in the back of his head as he explained: "He is the eldest of the giants and can summon an army of former warriors."
No doubt his army is growing now that Gaea is raising. the god of the dead thought. He probably promised them a second chance in life.
"So it's just like when Leo and the others fought Enceladus and the Earthborn? Except a bigger giant and in Alaska?" Percy guessed.
The gods exchanged looks.
"Not exactly..." Hermes trailed off.
"Alaska is known as the 'land beyond the gods' and is considered to be Alcyoneus' territory." Poseidon said with a pained expression. "When you go there to fight him, you'll be beyond our power and I won't be able to help you defeat the giant."
Percy's eyes widened. "Wait, how were we able to defeat Alcyoneus without the help of a god?"
"Frank and Arion were able to pull him into Canada," Leo remembered. He tied his shoelace into a knot. "From there, he and Hazel were able to take care of it."
Poseidon and Demeter perked up at the mention of their son.
freed the death god Thanatos,
Hades silently sighed with relief.
and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of the Roman camp to repel an attack by the giants' army.
"And that's how you became praetor." Leo told Percy.
"You deserve it after doing all that." Nico said. "Defeating Alcyoneus isn't an easy feat. Especially on his own territory."
"I guess." the son of Poseidon shrugged.
...Octavian snorted. "Which means we now have three praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!"
"But I don't want to be praetor." Percy frowned. "Can I just step down?"
"I don't see why not." Nico replied, not entirely surprised by his decision.
"But is it really that easy?" Annabeth asked.
"Sure, it solves the whole 'three praetors' thing." Leo said. He untied the knot on the shoelace.
"On the bright side," Percy said, "both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So we can both tell you to shut up."
A couple people laughed at this, even Apollo joined in.
"I wish I saw his face." the god smiled.
Octavian turned as purple as a Roman T-shirt. Jason gave Percy a fist bump.
Thalia grinned at that.
..."We'll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later," she said. "Right now we have more serious issues to deal with."
"I'll step aside for Jason," Percy said easily. "It's no biggie."
"No biggie?" Octavian choked. "The praetorship of Rome is no biggie?"
"It's not like I wanted it in the first place." Percy shrugged.
Percy ignored him and turned to Jason. "You're Thalia Grace's brother, huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike."
"Wow, really? Leave it to Percy to state the obvious." Thalia smiled and playfully rolled her eyes.
"What else was I supposed to say about that? 'You're Thalia Grace's brother? I know her!'" Percy said.
"I don't know, anything would've worked. I even would've accepted 'I didn't know she had a brother.'"
"Sorry, I keep that in mind when I meet him." Percy replied sarcastically.
"Yeah, I noticed," Jason said. "Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job."
"Back at you," Percy said.
Despite that awkward start to a conversation, it's nice to see them getting along. Thalia thought, smiling.
... [Annabeth] "We should talk about the Great Prophecy. It sounds like the Romans are aware of it too?"
...Octavian sighed. "Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"
"An oath to keep with a final breath," Annabeth continued. "And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."
The demigods gave her confused glances.
Connor frowned. "Um... Is there a reason you finished reciting the prophecy? What, did you just want to show off that you memorized the words?"
"I don't know. I haven't done this yet." Annabeth responded. She couldn't help but be reminded of when Jason interrupted Rachel in the middle of reciting the prophecy. Is that just something the Seven of the Great Prophecy do?
Everyone stared at her—except for Leo, who had constructed a pinwheel out of aluminum foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into passing wind spirits.
"I already heard it before." Leo simply said, kicking his legs back and forth.
...The big kid, Frank, sat forward, staring at her in fascination, as if she'd grown a third eye. "Is it true you're a child of Min—I mean, Athena?" Katie scowled disapprovingly.
Athena leaned forward, like she was waiting for Frank to say one wrong thing.
Di immortals! Really, Frank? You had to say that? Leo groaned. He slapped his forehead.
The demigods stiffened.
Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "So what if I am? What's the problem?"
"Nothing, he's just curious." Leo told her. "Sometimes he doesn't word things properly."
"Yes," she said, suddenly feeling defensive. "Why is that such a surprise?"
Octavian scoffed. "If you're truly a child of the wisdom goddess—"
"First they treat me like I'm a freak, now they think I'm lying about my godly parent?!" Annabeth exclaimed angrily. She glared at Leo. "I thought you said that the Romans weren't like Terminus?"
"You honestly believed him?" Athena said. "He lied to you! Just like the same miserable Romans he worships, he lies!"
"I'm not lying." Leo said, holding his hands up in surrender. "Frank was honestly curious and Octavian's a jerk to everyone. I wouldn't be surprised if he said it just to bother you."
"He has a point. Octavian is a jerk." Apollo mused. "And that's coming from his godly ancestor."
Annabeth gritted her teeth but she didn't say anything else. I can't wait until they stop making these stupid 'Child of Athena' comments. Questioning my godly heritage? How dare he! Who does he think he is?! I was claimed by Athena herself! If you're really curious why don't you ask her yourself? I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to hear from you.
Percy grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"Enough," Reyna snapped. "Annabeth is what she says.
"Thank you." Annabeth huffed. Maybe Reyna's not so bad.
She's here in peace. Besides..." She gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken highly of you."
Annabeth blinked at that.
The undertones in Reyna's voice took Annabeth a moment to decipher. Percy looked down, suddenly interested in his cheeseburger.
Annabeth's face felt hot. Oh, gods...Reyna had tried to make a move on Percy.
Then again... she scowled.
"Oh." Percy grimaced. He suddenly thought the ground was very interesting to look at. Why me though? I'm lucky I got Annabeth to like me. Reyna could honestly do better.
"Ooooo! I would've loved to see how that played out!" Aphrodite giggled. "How'd he turn her down? What was her reaction? What did they do afterwards? Was it awkward?" she giggled before answering her own question. "Who am I kidding? Of course it was awkward!"
"You can be so cold." Artemis stated. "Who'd want to watch a person be turned down by someone they liked?"
Percy guiltily winced
"Oh puh-lease! Don't act like you're not curious." the goddess of love said dismissively.
"I'm not." Artemis said flatly.
"-Breakups, rejections, heartbreak. It's all related to love. It's my job to see how things play out." Aphrodite said as if the other hadn't spoken. "And I'm actually interested to know what caused Reyna to like him."
"I'm not." Annabeth flatly.
"Well of course you're not." the goddess grinned.
That explained the tinge of bitterness, maybe even envy, in her words. Percy had turned her down for Annabeth.
"It's really romantic when you think about it." the goddess of love sighed happily.
At that moment, Annabeth forgave her ridiculous boyfriend for everything he'd ever done wrong.
She wanted to throw her arms around him, but she commanded herself to stay cool.
Shut up. Annabeth told herself.
"Go ahead! You haven't seen him in forever!" Aphrodite eagerly encouraged.
"Maybe later." she simply said. It'd be wrong to do that in front of Reyna. Especially after she said that.
She didn't like that Reyna attempted to get together with Percy, but she wasn't cruel.
"Uh, thanks," she told Reyna. "At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death...that means Romans and Greeks. We have to combine forces to find those doors."
Hazel...picked up something next to her plate. It looked like a large ruby;
"It was." Leo confirmed, putting his shoelace back in the sneaker. "She does that when she's nervous."
The Stolls' eyes widened.
"Dude..." Travis whispered to his brother.
"I heard him." Connor whispered back, a smile on his face. His mind was already working out the possibilities.
but before Annabeth could be sure, Hazel slipped it into the pocket of her denim shirt.
"My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors," she said. Katie froze. Her jaw dropped.
The room fell silent.
The demigods froze.
The teens slowly turned their attention to said boy, who shrank back at the hard expressions.
"You knew this whole time and you didn't tell us?!" Percy yelled, surprising the others by his tone of voice. Gods, he wanted to strangle the kid! He knew he shouldn't feel betrayed by the son of Hades, this isn't the first time he tricked him after all, but he couldn't help it. There had been a part of him that hoped Nico had learned his lesson. "Did you think it was funny?"
"No! I didn't! I wanted to say something! But I couldn't."
Percy snorted and rolled his eyes at that.
Nico winced. He had been hoping that after convincing his dad to join the battle against the Titans, he could have Percy's trust back and maybe even some respect, but now that's never going to happen. Not from him or anybody else at Camp Half-Blood.
"Yeah right! If you really wanted to say something, why didn't you?" the son of Poseidon said skeptically.
"Because I made him swear on the River of Styx not to tell any Greek demigod of the camp's existence." Hades butted in, glaring back at Percy. "Why? Is that a problem, nephew?"
"No, no problem at all..." Percy said before muttering sarcastically under his breath. "I just love it when my so-called friend stabs me in the back."
He gave Nico a heated glare.
Annabeth grabbed his hand and squeezed.
The room stayed quiet for a couple minutes, the demigods wanting to ask questions or say something to Nico and Hades silently daring them to do so, when someone finally had the courage to speak up.
"It sucks that he hid this, but maybe we can use Nico's ties with the Roman Camp to our advantage."
Everyone turned to Will in surprise.
Percy frowned. "What do you mean?"
"If he knows the Romans, he can vouch for us that we're trustworthy people. They might be more inclined to believe someone they already know as opposed to a group of strangers who say they're friendly."
"It could work. He'd be good for helping with introductions." Leo added. "And he could deliver that video scroll you guys were talking about earlier." He nodded to his siblings.
"Can we even trust him?" Percy asked grimly.
Nico winced as if he'd been slapped.
"Excuse me?" Hades challenged.
"It's okay, I deserved that." Nico miserably told his father. "I know I messed up a lot, Percy. But I promise I'll make it up to you." he glanced at the other campers. "And you guys too."
Percy didn't look impressed but he didn't say anything.
"You couldn't help it. You swore to your dad you wouldn't tell anyone." Will comforted.
Nico lowered his head. "Still could've done something."
After a few more minutes of silence passed, Katie kept reading.
"Wait," Annabeth said. "Nico di Angelo? He's your brother?"
Hazel nodded as if this were obvious. A dozen more questions crowded into Annabeth's head, but it was already spinning like Leo's pinwheel. She decided to let the matter go. "Okay. You were saying?"
Percy turned to Annabeth in shock. "How come you didn't tell her the truth?"
Annabeth shrugged. "Probably because there was no point. Octavian might think I was implying that he was a traitor, if I told them that Nico knew about both camps. Then who knows what would happen? It's better to just move forward and pretend it didn't bother me."
"He disappeared." Hazel moistened her lips.
Hades stiffened.
"What?" Will asked with a gasp.
Nico nervously gulped.
"I'm afraid...I'm not sure, but I think something's happened to him."
"We'll look for him," Percy promised.
Nico released a small sigh of relief. At least now I know Percy will eventually forgive me and be willing to save me.
"We have to find the Doors of Death anyway.
Never mind. Nico thought sadly.
Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome—like, the original Rome. That's on the way to Greece, right?"
"Thanatos told you this?" Annabeth tried to wrap her mind around that idea. "The death god?"
She'd met many gods. She'd even been to the Underworld; but Percy's story about freeing the incarnation of death itself really creeped her out. Percy took a bite of his burger.
"Glad it doesn't bother Percy enough to ruin his appetite." Hermes chuckled.
Annabeth playfully rolled her eyes. "Nothing can ruin Percy's appetite."
"Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they'll just keep coming back."
"Hopefully not as quick as they did in the last book." Will commented.
Piper twisted the feather in her hair. "Like water leaking through a dam," she suggested.
Despite his anger towards Nico, Percy couldn't help but share a smile with Grover and Thalia.
"Yeah." Percy smiled. "We've got a dam hole."
Katie jumped in surprise when the three burst out laughing.
"I can't believe you remembered that!" Thalia exclaimed. "Out of all the memories you could've lost, you somehow manage to keep that one?!"
"I know right!" Percy said, feeling better. He really needed a joke like that.
"What does that even mean?" Leo asked, sounding just as confused as the others.
"Inside joke." Grover explained with a grin.
... [Percy] "Inside joke. The point is we'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they stay defeated."
[Reyna]..."You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands—and the Mare Nostrum—are dangerous?"
"Mary who?" Leo asked.
"Mare Nostrum," Athena instantly corrected. "It means 'Our Sea'," she rolled her eyes, "it's what the Romans called the Mediterranean. As if they could possibly own something as large as the sea."
[Reyna]... "The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods. It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants...and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America, there it would be ten times worse."
"You said Alaska would be bad," Percy reminded her. "We survived that."
[Reyna]... "Percy, traveling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It's been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there."
"Then we're good!" Leo grinned over the top of his pinwheel. "Because we're all crazy, right?
"Well, when you put it like that..." Hermes chuckled.
Besides, the Argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. She'll get us through."
Nyssa and Jake nodded.
"We'll have to hurry," Jason added. "I don't know exactly what the giants are planning, but Gaea is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams,
How does he know that? Thalia thought with a concerned frown.
appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the giants before they can wake her up fully."
Annabeth shuddered. She'd had her own share of nightmares lately.
Percy gave her a worried glance.
"I'll be fine." she assured him.
... [Annabeth] "It needs to be a mix from both our camps. Jason, Piper, Leo, and me. That's four."
"And me," Percy said. "Along with Hazel and Frank. That's seven."
"What?" Octavian shot to his feet. "We're just supposed to accept that? Without a vote in the senate? Without a proper debate? Without—"
"We don't have time." Will sighed, silently wishing that Piper would charmspeak Octavian to shut up again. "It would take the senate forever to agree on people who should go. And I'm sure they wouldn't pick the ones who are supposed to go on the quest in the first place."
"They would probably only choose Romans to go on the quest." Clarisse said.
"Percy!" Tyson the Cyclops bounded toward them with Mrs. O'Leary at his heels.
Percy and Poseidon smiled warmly.
On the hellhound's back sat the skinniest harpy Annabeth had ever seen—a sickly-looking girl with stringy red hair, a sackcloth dress, and red-feathered wings.
Percy looked confused. "Who's that?"
"Ella. She's a harpy. Apparently she reads lot of books." Leo told him. The son of Hephaestus was searching through his tool belt when he added as an afterthought. "Oh yeah, she's also Tyson's girlfriend."
"His what?!" Percy choked. "My baby brother has a girlfriend?!"
Poseidon sputtered, he hunched over his throne like he'd been punched in the gut. Tyson?! My Tyson?! The same little boy who calls hippocampi 'fish ponies' is dating?!
"He can't stay a baby forever, Aquaman." Leo grinned, wagging a screwdriver at him.
"Aquaman?" Percy repeated distantly.
"They have to grow up sometime." Aphrodite agreed with a knowing smile.
"But not this quickly." Poseidon said. "I didn't think he'd be interested in dating until another few decades."
"Or never." Percy said, head still spinning. Oh gods! What if he asks me for advice on girls?! What if I give him advice? What if he actually does it?!
As if knowing what he was thinking, Annabeth smiled and gave him a comforting pat on the back.
Leo spun the screwdriver on its side.
...Tyson stopped by their couch and wrung his meaty hands. His big brown eye was full of concern.
"Ella is scared," he said.
"Don't know why, my ship is perfectly safe." Leo muttered.
"N-n-no more boats," the harpy muttered to herself, picking furiously at her feathers. "Titanic, Lusitania, Pax...boats are not for harpies."
Jake blinked before he turned to Leo.
"Did she just say that our boat was the Titanic?" he asked in disbelief. "What about the Argo II seems like it's a ship that would sink? Look at how it's made! It's practically unsinkable!"
"Isn't that what they also said about the Titanic too?" Katie asked with a frown. The brothers took no notice of her as Leo eagerly nodded his head.
"I know, right? She must hate boats or something because there's no way you can look at a ship like the Argo II and think 'Titanic'!"
Katie shook her head and went back to reading.
Leo squinted. He looked at Hazel, who was seated next to him. "Did that chicken girl just compare my ship to the Titanic?"
"She's not a chicken." Hazel averted her eyes, as if Leo made her nervous.
The readers looked at the son of Hephaestus.
"Looks like it was you." Connor said.
"Have you to met somewhere?" Annabeth asked.
"No, it's impossible." Nico told them. "I brought Hazel back from the dead and took her to Camp Jupiter." He ignored the shocked and fearful looks from the others as he continued.
"Leo and Hazel couldn't have met. He must have said or done something that triggered her to remember the past. Because she's resurrected in an unusual way, she has episodes that force her to relive her past."
"That would explain why she's nervous of him." Annabeth mused. "She could be scared of having an episode."
Leo didn't correct them. The real reason was too strange to tell them without context, even then, he would still hesitate to say anything. He was still getting used to being 'Sammy .2' and while he was more accepting of it than he had been before, he did not need any more people learning about their strange connection. It was too personal.
Which is why it might be in the book.
Leo grimaced at the thought.
Maybe not. he thought, trying to be hopeful. It doesn't have anything to do with the quest, so there would be no point in mentioning it. Besides, my point-of-view might not even be in here.
...You're not stupid enough to actually believe that.
"Shut up, me."
"What?" Travis frowned.
"Nothing." Leo told him. "I'm just exhausted and talking to myself, nothing to see here. I'm perfectly normal."
The look on the Stoll's face said otherwise.
"Ella's a harpy. She's just a little...high-strung."
"Ella is pretty," Tyson said.
"Aaaawww!" the goddess of love cooed.
Percy's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Fates give me strength..." Poseidon muttered under his breath. My boys are growing up too fast...
"And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship."
"No ships," Ella repeated. She looked straight at Annabeth. "Bad luck. There she is.
Annabeth grimaced. "Great. Even the harpy has something against children of Athena."
Wisdom's daughter walks alone—"
Annabeth paused at that.
"Ella!" Frank stood suddenly. "Maybe it's not the best time—"
"The Mark of Athena burns through Rome," Ella continued, cupping her hands over her ears and raising her voice. "Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail."
"...Did she just recite a prophecy?" Will said after a moment of silence.
His father slowly nodded.
"How could she figure out the prophecy without being an oracle?" Will wondered.
"I think she read it somewhere." Leo said.
"That would mean that this prophecy's been around for a while..." the son of Apollo said. "But where did Ella find it?"
"The only thing I could imagine a prophecy like that being recorded in is the Sibylline Books. They're a collection of prophecies that were used during Ancient Rome." Apollo explained. "But I thought they were shredded to pieces at this point... Where did she find it?" he mused.
The effect was like someone dropping a flash grenade on the table. Everyone stared at the harpy.
"Apparently harpies randomly stating prophecies of impending doom aren't common at the Roman camp." Percy said.
"Apparently." Annabeth agreed.
"I wish, Octavian's in charge of reading prophecies." Apollo rolled his eyes. My descendants have never turned out as perfect as Caesar Augustus did...
No one spoke. Annabeth's heart was pounding. The Mark of Athena...She resisted the urge to check her pocket, but she could feel the silver coin growing warmer—the cursed gift from her mother.
Annabeth's eyes widened in horror. Her breath hitched. She felt Percy stiffen beside her, but she didn't acknowledge it as the world around her became distant. She really cursed me...
Calm down. she snapped at herself. She willed her body to breathe but it was shallow and slow. Stop. Calm down. You knew this was going to happen. You knew she was going to do something irrational.
But it still hurt. She looked up to her mother. Even though the goddess couldn't always be there for her, their relationship had been very close up until this point. She had given her an invisible baseball cap for her birthday, guided her and her friends to Camp Half-Blood, she even made Annabeth the new architect of Olympus! How could she do something like this to her?! Did she honestly hate the Romans more than she loved her own daughter...?
The demigods stared at the book in shock.
"Wonderful." Hera said, rubbing her temple. "Out of all her children, she has to send the one from the Great Prophecy on a suicide mission? Brilliant plan Athena! It's not like saving the world might be more important or anything!"
"Suicide mission?!" Percy looked at Athena in alarm. "What did you do?!"
Sitting up straight in her throne, the goddess of wisdom looked down at the mortal as if he were a bug.
"I gave her the honor of a lifetime." Athena/Minerva huffed. "I don't give this opportunity to just anyone. I give the Mark of Athena to those I deem worthy and there is no one I can think of who is more worthy and capable for this mission than Annabeth."
"She always picks her favorites to go on these little missions and they've either died or came back insane." Apollo said, crossing his arms. He winced at the death glare Athena gave him but he continued on. "You're really pushing it with this one, 'Thena. We need these kids if we don't want to end up dead, and you chose to send Annabeth on this quest now?"
"It's a perfect opportunity." the goddess argued. "She will be traveling to our birthplace, she will finally be able to avenge me and retrieve what is mine."
"That's what you said about every child. 'He will finally avenge me!' 'She will finally avenge me!'" Demeter rolled her eyes. "You're going to get her killed!"
"I know what I'm doing!" the goddess snapped.
The gods around her collectively groaned and rolled their eyes.
Athena scowled.
"What was that?" she challenged.
"Annabeth?" Percy gently shook her. She had been unresponsive for a while. She didn't seem to register that the others were talking about her without including her in the conversation. "Annabeth? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." she stated. Her face expressionless. "Let's just keep reading."
She squared up her shoulders and set her face. Percy had seen her do this before she would race into the heat of a battle.
I can handle this. she told herself. Annabeth ignored the way the other demigods whispered to each other and gave her sideways glances. She nodded to Katie gesturing her to continue with the chapter.
I won't let Nemesis get to me. she swore to herself.
Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me.
Annabeth took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
Percy pulled her into an one-armed hug.
....Percy was the first to recover. He stood and took Tyson's arm.
"I know!" he said with feigned enthusiasm. "How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O'Leary—"
"Hold on." Octavian gripped one of his teddy bears, strangling it with shaking hands. His eyes fixed on Ella. "What was that she said? It sounded like—"
"It's none of your business." Apollo rolled his eyes. "The moment he even finds out Ella has memorized the Sibylline Books, her goose is cooked."
He grinned at his own little joke.
Spinning his screwdriver, Leo couldn't help but smile at that as well. That was so bad, I love it.
"Ella reads a lot," Frank blurted out. "We found her at a library."
"Yes!" Hazel said. "Probably just something she read in a book."
Annabeth gave Percy a curious glance. Obviously, he and Frank and Hazel were hiding something. Just as obviously, Ella had recited a prophecy—a prophecy that concerned her.
Percy's expression said, Help.
"That was a prophecy," Octavian insisted. "It sounded like a prophecy."
... [Annabeth] "Really, Octavian? Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?"
....The Roman officers laughed nervously. Some sized up Ella, then looked at Octavian and snorted. The idea of a chicken lady issuing prophecies was apparently just as ridiculous to Romans as it was to Greeks.
"I, uh..." Octavian dropped his teddy bear. "No, but—"
"She's just spouting lines from some book," Annabeth said, "like Hazel suggested. Besides, we already have a real prophecy to worry about."
She turned to Tyson. "Percy's right. Why don't you take Ella and Mrs. O'Leary and shadow-travel somewhere for a while. Is Ella okay with that?"
"'Large dogs are good,'" Ella said. "Old Yeller, 1957, screenplay by Fred Gipson and William Tunberg."
"Is that a yes?" Chris frowned.
"I guess. I mean, Old Yeller's a good book, right?" Percy turned to Annabeth.
Annabeth just toyed with the college ring on her necklace.
The son of Poseidon kissed her cheek and hugged her closer.
...The Romans looked at Reyna, waiting for her ruling. Annabeth held her breath.
..."Fine," the praetor said at last. "Go."
"Yay!" Tyson went around the couches and gave everyone a big hug—even Octavian, who didn't look happy about it.
"Tough luck. Tyson loves hugs." Percy smiled.
Then he climbed on Mrs. O'Leary's back with Ella, and the hellhound bounded out of the forum. They dove straight into a shadow on the Senate House wall and disappeared.
"Well." [Reyna]... "Octavian is right about one thing. We must gain the senate's approval before we let any of our legionnaires go on a quest—especially one as dangerous as you're suggesting."
"They don't have time for that. Are the Romans already forgetting that the giants are on their way to Greece and forming an army, as they speak?" Chris said.
"We don't have a choice, if we want to form an alliance with them, we'd have to follow their customs." Annabeth finally spoke up. Her eyes would occasionally glance up at the ceiling, before they finally focused on Chris.
"You're right, but still. You guys kinda have a time limit here." the son of Hermes frowned.
"This whole thing smells of treachery," Octavian grumbled. "That trireme is not a ship of peace!"
"I knew we should've added the smiley face!" Leo tried to joke, ignoring the sense of dread for what was to come. He picked up his screwdriver and put it back in his tool belt.
He relaxed a little when the Stoll brothers snickered at that.
"Would've really convinced them." Connor agreed.
"I would've taken it as a symbol of peace." Travis grinned. "Nothing can be more friendlier than a smile."
"Come aboard, man," Leo offered. "I'll give you a tour. You can steer the boat, and if you're really good I'll give you a little paper captain's hat to wear."
"I'm a professional when it comes to paper hats! It's one of my hidden talents!" Leo boasted as the Stolls, Apollo, and Hermes laughed.
Octavian's nostrils flared. "How dare you—"
"Don't be such a killjoy." Apollo sighed. He turned to Leo. "Make sure the hat looks as ridiculous as possible."
"Can do!" the son of Hephaestus replied. He rocked his chair back and forth.
"It's a good idea," Reyna said. "Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We'll convene a senate meeting in one hour."
"But..." Octavian stopped. Apparently he could tell from Reyna's expression that further arguing would not be good for his health. "Fine."
Leo got up. He turned to Annabeth, and his smile changed. It happened so quickly, Annabeth thought she'd imagined it; but just for a moment someone else seemed to be standing in Leo's place, smiling coldly with a cruel light in his eyes. Katie blinked in shock.
"What in the world?!" Hephaestus exclaimed, giving Leo a worried look.
"What was that you said earlier about smiles?" Connor asked his brother.
"When I said smiles, I meant ones that didn't look like whatever the heck that was." Travis responded. He turned to Leo, who looked like he was trying to fade into the background. "Seriously, what was that?"
Damn, there is nothing that can get past Annabeth. She notices everything. Leo thought, playing with the buttons on his jacket.
He didn't know what to do! Well... That wasn't true... He knew he should just come clean and tell them the truth. But now wasn't a good time! The demigods just got finished chewing out poor Nico. The gods were still heated from their latest back-and-forth (Athena looked ready to go for a few more rounds). Poor Annabeth had temporarily shut down. The moment he even admits to what he did(or what he was made to do), they'll jump on him like a pack of hungry wolves and Leo's seen enough on his quest to know that hungry wolves are something he didn't want to mess with.
But I have to say something! he told himself. They'll kill me if they find out before I tell them. Just like they did with Nico! But they'll kill me if I say something!
Leo silently weighed his pros and cons.
"It could just be my imagination." Annabeth said as Leo was internally debating.
Then Annabeth blinked, and Leo was just regular old Leo again, with his usual impish grin.
"See?" she said as the readers relaxed. While the others calmed down, Annabeth frowned at Leo.
The son of Hephaestus was squirming in his seat. His eyes were darting around the room, but he said nothing.
Why didn't he say something? Was he freaked out by what I saw? she thought.
"Back soon," he promised. "This is gonna be epic."
Yeah, an epic fail! Nice job, Valdez! Leo thought miserably.
A horrible chill settled over her.
The readers tensed.
"Again?" Annabeth grumbled.
As Leo and Octavian headed for the rope ladder, she thought about calling them back—
I wish she did. Leo thought, tugging the buttons on his jacket.
but how could she explain that? Tell everyone she was going crazy, seeing things and feeling cold?
..."Uh, Reyna," Jason said, "if you don't mind, I'd like to show Piper around before the senate meeting. She's never seen New Rome."
Despite being happy for Piper's relationship, Lacy couldn't help but wince in sympathy. "Why would he say that? Was he trying to hurt Reyna?"
"I don't think he meant it." Aphrodite said, shaking her head in disappointment. "Some boys can be so clueless." What was he thinking?
Reyna's expression hardened.
Annabeth wondered how Jason could be so dense. Was it possible he really didn't understand how much Reyna liked him? It was obvious enough to Annabeth. Asking to show his new girlfriend around Reyna's city was rubbing salt in a wound.
"Of course," Reyna said coldly.
Percy took Annabeth's hand. "Yeah, me, too. I'd like to show Annabeth—"
Aphrodite gave Percy an unimpressed look. "Really? I'm okay with rejections, but this is a bit much, don't you think?"
"Right after Jason too..." Lacy sighed. "That's so cold, Percy."
Said boy frowned. "I guess I wasn't thinking."
"I guess not." the goddess of love agreed.
"No," Reyna snapped.
"Saw that one coming from a mile away." Aphrodite said.
Percy knit his eyebrows. "Sorry?"
"Please don't be so surprised, we all knew this was coming." the goddess of love told him.
"I'd like a few words with Annabeth," Reyna said. "Alone. If you don't mind, my fellow praetor."
Her tone made it clear she wasn't really asking permission.
The chill spread down Annabeth's back.
"Is it Khione using her powers again?" Annabeth guessed. "What is that?" I'm going to need more details if I'm going to figure this out, future me.
She wondered what Reyna was up to. Maybe the praetor didn't like the idea of two guys who had rejected her giving their girlfriends tours of her city. Or maybe there was something she wanted to say in private. Either way, Annabeth was reluctant to be alone and unarmed with the Roman leader.
"Come, daughter of Athena." Reyna rose from her couch. "Walk with me."
"Finished with the chapter." Katie said.
Just one more and I'm done. Annabeth told herself. She leaned back in Percy's embrace. I can do this.
"I'll read next," Jake volunteered, taking the book from her.
"Annabeth IV,"