THE LAST THING Camilla expected after Mars disappeared and the legion broke apart for the night was for Frank to ask her to come on the quest. She was so surprised, in fact, that she looked behind her, as if to see if Hazel or Percy had snuck up behind her and they were who Frank was talking about.
When she saw no one behind her, she looked back at Frank. "M-Me?"
"Yeah," Frank said, wringing his hands nervously. "I mean, the four of us all made a pretty good team tonight, right? And I don't really... know anyone else I'd want to come. Plus, I mean, we're... we're friends. I don't really want anyone else but you guys watching my back."
Camilla hadn't felt so touched in... gods, who knew how long. But before she could answer, Frank's eyes widened as if something had dawned on him.
"Unless you hate me now," he said. "I mean, if you did, I'd—I'd get it. I've only been here for a month, and my godly parent claimed me, and I know you haven't—" He stopped himself. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry," she said softly. "I've accepted that my godly parent isn't going to claim me anytime soon. And... I'd love to come. If you're sure."
She knew there were dozens of better options, even just in the Fifth Cohort. She'd only ever been on one quest, and that was just to tag along with Jason to rescue one of Bacchus's sacred leopards in the wine country two years prior. She might have been in the legion longer, but she didn't have much more experience than Frank or Hazel.
Frank nodded, looking relieved. "I'm sure."
And just like that, Camilla was going on a quest.
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Camilla had only ever been to one senate meeting, and that was to get approval for hers and Jason's excursion to Sonoma Valley to find Bacchus's leopard. As she and her quest-companions followed the procession of senators out of camp, she couldn't help but bounce a little on her feet. She was a little excited, in all honesty—she knew the quest was going to be incredibly dangerous, and she was certainly terrified beyond belief, but it felt good to be doing something that wasn't apart of the monotonous routine of everyday camp life.
Dakota stumbled along in his stained toga. A lot of senators seemed to be having trouble with their togas, too—hiking up their hems, trying to keep the cloth from slipping off their shoulders. Camilla was glad she didn't have to wear one of those—she was happy in her jeans and SPQR t-shirt.
"How could Romans move in those things?" Percy wondered aloud.
"They were just for formal occasions," Hazel said. "Like tuxedos. I bet the ancient Romans hated togas as much we do. By the way, you didn't bring any weapons, did you?"
Percy's hand went to his pocket. "Why? Are we not supposed to?"
"No weapons allowed inside the Pomerian Line," Camilla explained.
"The what line?"
"Pomerian," Frank said. "The city limits. Inside is a sacred 'safe zone.' Legions can't march through. No weapons allowed. That's so senate meetings don't get bloody."
"Like Julius Caesar getting assassinated?" Percy asked.
Frank nodded. "Don't worry. Nothing like that has happened in months."
They reached the Pomerian Line and fell into place in the line of senators entering New Rome.
On the side of the road, Terminus stood with an irritated expression, which was normal for him. "Single file!" he said. "Have your IDs ready."
The senators passed through easily. Terminus checked the tattoos on their forearms and called each senator by name. "Gwendolyn, senator, Fifth Cohort, yes. Nico di Angelo, ambassador of Pluto—very well. Reyna, praetor, of course. Hank, senator, Third Cohort—oh, nice shoes, Hank! Ah, who have we here?"
Camilla and her friends were the last ones.
"Terminus," Hazel said, "this is Percy Jackson. Percy, this is Terminus, the god of boundaries."
"New, eh?" the god said. "Yes, probatio tablet. Fine. Ah, weapon in your pocket? Take it out! Take it out!"
Percy took out his pen.
"Quite dangerous," Terminus said. "Leave it in the tray. Wait, where's my assistant? Julia!"
Julia, Terminus's six-year-old assistant peeked out from behind the base of the statue.
"Julia?" Terminus glanced behind him, and Julia scurried in the other direction. Camilla stifled a giggle with her hand. "Where did that girl go?"
Terminus looked the other way and caught sight of Julia before she could hide. The little girl squealed with delight.
"Oh, there you are," the statue said. "Front and center. Bring the tray."
Julia scrambled out and brushed off her dress. She picked up a tray and presented it to Percy. On it were several paring knives, a corkscrew, an oversized container of sun lotion, and a water bottle.
"You can pick up your weapon on the way out," Terminus said. "Julia will take good care of it. She's a trained professional."
The little girl nodded. "Pro-fess-ion-al." She said each syllable carefully, like she'd been practicing.
Percy glanced at Camilla, Frank, and Hazel.
"The thing is," he said, "the pen returns to my pocket automatically, so even if I give it up—"
"Not to worry," Terminus assured him. "We'll make sure it doesn't wander off. Won't we, Julia?"
"Yes, Mr. Terminus."
Reluctantly, Percy put his pen on the tray.
"Now, a few rules, since you're new," Terminus said. "You are entering the boundaries of the city proper. Keep the peace inside the line. Yield to chariot traffic while walking on public roads. When you get to the Senate House, sit on the left-hand side. And, down there—do you see where I'm pointing?"
"Um," Percy said, "you don't have any hands."
Camilla winced as Terminus's marble face turned a dark shade of gray. "A smart aleck, eh? Well, Mr. Rule Flouter, right down there in the forum—Julia, point for me, please—"
Julia dutifully set down the security tray and pointed toward the main plaza.
"The shop with the blue awning," Terminus continued, "that's the general store. They sell tape measures. Buy one! I want those pants exactly one inch above the ankles and that hair regulation cut. And tuck your shirt in."
Camilla cleared her throat. "Thank you, Terminus. We need to get going."
"Fine, fine, you may pass," the god said testily. "But stay on the right side of the road! And that rock right there—no, Hazel, look where I'm pointing. That rock is entirely too close to that tree. Move it two inches to the left."
Hazel did what she was told, and they continued down the path, Terminus still shouting orders at them while Julia did cartwheels across the grass.
"Is he always like that?" Percy asked.
"No," Hazel admitted. "Today he was laid back. Usually he's more obsessive/compulsive."
"He inhabits every boundary stone around the city," Frank said. "Kind of our last line of defense if the city's attacked."
"Terminus isn't so bad," Camilla added. "Just don't make him angry, or he'll make you measure every blade of grass in the valley."
Percy nodded. "And the kid? Julia?"
Hazel grinned. "Yeah, she's a cutie. Her parents live in the city. Come on. We'd better catch up to the senators."
Like most days, New Rome was alive and bustling with activity. College kids hung out around the fountain. Several waved at the senators as they passed. One guy in his late twenties stood at a bakery counter, flirting with a young woman who was buying coffee. An older couple was watching a little boy in diapers and a miniature Camp Jupiter shirt toddle after seagulls. Merchants were opening their shops for the day, putting out signs in Latin that advertised pottery, jewelry, and half-price tickets for the Hippodrome.
"All these people are demigods?" Percy asked.
"Or descended from demigods," Camilla told him.
"It's a good place to go to college and raise a family without worrying about monster attacks every day," Hazel said. "Maybe two, three hundred people live here? The veterans act as, like, advisers and reserve forces as needed, but mostly they're just citizens living their lives."
The senators made their way to the Senate House. The quartet of questers followed the senators inside, sitting down right where they were meant to.
The ten senators and Nico di Angelo occupied the rest of the front row. The upper rows were filled with several dozen ghosts and a few older veterans from the city, all in formal togas. Octavian stood in front with a knife and a Beanie Baby lion. Reyna walked to the podium and raised her hand for attention.
"Right, this is an emergency meeting," Reyna said. "We won't stand on formalities."
"I love formalities!" a ghost complained.
Reyna shot him a cross look.
"First of all," the praetor said, "we're not here to vote on the quest itself. The quest has been issued by Mars Ultor, patron of Rome. We will obey his wishes. Nor are we here to debate the choice of Frank Zhang's companions."
"All four from the Fifth Cohort?" Hank from the Third called out. "That's not fair."
"And not smart," Larry from the Second said. "We know the Fifth will mess up. They should take somebody good."
Dakota stood up so fast he spilled Kool-Aid from his flask. "We were plenty good when we whipped your podex, Larry!"
"Enough, Dakota," Reyna said. "Let's leave Larry's podex out of this. As quest leader, Frank has the right to choose his companions. He has chosen Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque, and Camilla."
A ghost from the second row yelled, "Absurdus! Frank Zhang isn't even a full member of the legion! He's on probatio. A quest must be led by someone of centurion rank or higher. This is completely—"
"Cato," Reyna snapped. "We must obey the wishes of Mars Ultor. That means certain... adjustments."
Reyna clapped her hands, and Octavian came forward. He set down his knife and Beanie Baby and took a velvet package from the empty praetor's chair.
"Frank Zhang," he said, "come forward."
Frank looked pretty nervous, but he got to his feet and approached the augur.
"It is my... pleasure," Octavian said, forcing out the last word, "to bestow upon you the Mural Crown for being first over the walls in siege warfare." Octavian handed him the badge. "Also, by order of Praetor Reyna, to promote you to rank of centurion."
He handed Frank another badge, a bronze crescent, and the senate exploded in protest.
"He's still a probie!" one yelled.
"Impossible!" another yelled.
"Water cannon up my nose!"
"Silence!" Octavian called. "Our praetor recognizes that no one below the rank of centurion may lead a quest. For good or ill, Frank must lead this quest—so our praetor has decreed that Frank Zhang must be made centurion."
Camilla frowned at the way he worded that. He was pinning all of the responsibility on Reyna—if things went wrong, she'd be the one to blame, not Octavian.
A look of irritation flashed across Reyna's face. "There is an opening for centurion," she said. "One of our officers, also a senator, has decided to step down. After ten years in the legion, she will retire to the city and attend college. Gwen of the Fifth Cohort, we thank you for your service."
Everyone turned to Gwen, who managed a brave smile.
"As praetor," Reyna continued, "I have the right to replace officers. I admit it's unusual for a camper on probatio to rise directly to rank of centurion, but I think we can agree... last night was unusual. Frank Zhang, your ID, please."
Frank removed the lead tablet from around his neck and handed it to Octavian.
"Your arm," the augur said.
Frank held up his forearm. Octavian raised his hands to the heavens. "We accept Frank Zhang, son of Mars, to the Twelfth Legion Fulminata for his first year of service. Do you pledge your life to the senate and people of Rome?"
Frank muttered something like "Ud-dud." Then he cleared his throat and managed: "I do."
The senators shouted, "Senatus Populusque Romanus!"
Fire blazed on Frank's arm, and his tattoo was seared onto his skin: SPQR, an image of crossed spears, and a single stripe for his first year of service as a full member of the legion.
"You may sit down." Octavian glanced at the audience as if to say: This wasn't my idea, folks.
"Now," Reyna said, "we must discuss the quest."
The senators shifted and muttered as Frank returned to his seat.
"Did it hurt?" Percy whispered.
Frank looked down at his forearm, which was still steaming. "Yeah. A lot." He seemed mystified by the badges in his hand—the centurion's mark and the Mural Crown—like he wasn't sure what to do with them.
"Here." Hazel's eyes shone with pride. "Let me."
She pinned the medals to Frank's shirt.
Percy smiled. "You deserve it, man," he said. "What you did last night? Natural leadership."
Camilla nodded in agreement. "It was awesome."
Frank scowled. "But centurion—"
"Centurion Zhang," Octavian called. "Did you hear the question?"
Frank blinked. "Um... sorry. What?"
Octavian turned to the senate and smirked, like What did I tell you?
"I was asking," Octavian said, as if he was talking to a toddler, "if you have a plan for the quest. Do you even know where you are going?"
"Um..."
Hazel came to his rescue and stood. "Weren't you listening last night, Octavian? Mars was pretty clear. We're going to the land beyond the gods—Alaska."
The senators squirmed like ants had just invaded their togas. Some of the ghosts shimmered and disappeared. Even Argentum and Aurum rolled over on their backs and whimpered.
Finally, Larry stood. "I know what Mars said, but that's crazy. Alaska is cursed! They call it the land beyond the gods for a reason. It's so far north, the Roman gods have no power there. The place is swarming with monsters. No demigod has come back from there alive since—"
"Since you lost your eagle," Percy said.
Larry was so startled, he fell back on his podex.
"Look," Percy continued, "I know I'm new here. I know you guys don't like to mention that massacre in the nineteen-eighties—"
"He mentioned it!" one of the ghosts whimpered.
"—But don't you get it?" Percy continued. "The Fifth Cohort led that expedition. We failed, and we have to be responsible for making things right. That's why Mars is sending us. This giant, the son of Gaea—he's the one who defeated your forces thirty years ago. I'm sure of it. Now he's sitting up there in Alaska with a chained death god, and all your old equipment. He's mustering his armies and sending them south to attack this camp."
"Really?" Octavian said. "You seem to know a lot about our enemy's plans, Percy Jackson."
Percy's shoulders tensed, like he was seconds away from smacking Octavian in the face, but he seemed to recognize that Octavian was baiting him.
He took a deep breath.
"We're going to confront this son of Gaea," he said. "We'll get back your eagle and unchain this god..." He glanced at Hazel. "Thanatos, right?"
She nodded. "Letus, in Roman. But his old Greek name is Thanatos. When it comes to Death... we're happy to let him stay Greek."
Octavian sighed in exasperation. "Well, whatever you call him... how do you expect to do all this and get back by the Feast of Fortuna? That's the evening of the twenty-fourth. It's the twentieth now. Do you even know where to look? Do you even know who this son of Gaea is?"
"Yes." Hazel spoke with such certainty that Camilla raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I don't know exactly where to look, but I have a pretty good idea. The giant's name is Alcyoneus."
That name seemed to lower the temperature in the room by fifty degrees. The senators shivered.
Reyna gripped her podium. "How do you know this, Hazel? Because you're a child of Pluto?"
Nico di Angelo stood up. "Praetor, if I may," he said. "Hazel and I... we learned a little about the giants from our father. Each giant was bred specifically to oppose one of the twelve Olympian gods—to usurp that god's domain. The king of giants was Porphyrion, the anti-Jupiter. But the eldest giant was Alcyoneus. He was born to oppose Pluto. That's why we know of him in particular."
Reyna frowned. "Indeed? You sound quite familiar with him."
Nico picked nervously at the edge of his toga. "Anyway... the giants were hard to kill. According to prophecy, they could only be defeated by gods and demigods working together."
Dakota belched. "Sorry, did you say gods and demigods... like fighting side by side? That could never happen!"
"It has to happen," Nico said. "In the first giant war, the giants called on heroes to join them, and they were victorious. Whether it could happen again, I don't know. But with Alcyoneus... he was different. He was completely immortal, impossible to kill by god or demigod, as long as he remained in his home territory—the place where he was born."
Nico paused to let that sink in. "And if Alcyoneus has been reborn in Alaska—"
"Then he can't be defeated there," Hazel finished. "Ever. By any means. Which is why our nineteen-eighties expedition was doomed to fail."
Another round of arguing and shouting broke out.
"The quest is doomed!" a senator shouted.
"We're doomed!" one of the ghosts cried.
"More Kool-Aid!" Dakota yelled.
"Silence!" Reyna called. "Senators, we must act like Romans. Mars has given us this quest, and we have to believe it is possible. These four demigods must travel to Alaska. They must free Thanatos and return before the Feast of Fortuna. If they can retrieve the lost eagle in the process, so much the better. All we can do is advise them and make sure they have a plan."
Reyna looked at Percy without hope. "You do have a plan?"
"First, I need to understand something." He turned toward Nico. "I thought Pluto was the god of the dead. Now I hear about this other guy, Thanatos, and the Doors of Death from that prophecy—the Prophecy of Eight. What does it all mean?"
Nico took a deep breath. "Okay. Pluto is the god of the Underworld, but the actual god of death, the one who's responsible for making sure souls go to the afterlife and stay there—that's Pluto's lieutenant, Thanatos. He's like... well, imagine Life and Death are two different countries. Everybody would like to be in Life, right? So there's a guarded border to keep people from crossing back over without permission. But it's a big border, with lots of holes in the fence. Pluto tries to seal up the breaches, but new ones keep popping up all the time. That's why he depends on Thanatos, who's like the border patrol, the police."
"Thanatos catches souls," Percy said, "and deports them back to the Underworld."
"Exactly," Nico said. "But now Thanatos has been captured, chained up."
Frank raised his hand. "Uh... how do you chain Death?"
"It's been done before," Nico said. "In the old days, a guy named Sisyphus tricked Death and tied him up. Another time, Hercules wrestled him to the ground."
"And now a giant has captured him," Percy said. "So if we could free Thanatos, then the dead would stay dead?" He glanced at Gwen. "Um... no offense."
"It's more complicated than that," Nico said.
Octavian rolled his eyes. "Why does that not surprise me?"
"You mean the Doors of Death," Reyna said, ignoring Octavian. "They are mentioned in the Prophecy of Eight, which sent the first expedition to Alaska—"
Cato the ghost snorted. "We all know how that turned out! We Lares remember!"
The other ghosts grumbled in agreement.
Nico put his finger to his lips, silencing the Lares. Some looked alarmed, like their mouths had been glued shut.
"Thanatos is only part of the solution," Nico explained. "The Doors of Death... well, that's a concept even I don't completely understand. There are many ways into the Underworld—the River Styx, the Door of Orpheus—plus smaller escape routs that open up from time to time. With Thanatos imprisoned, all those exits will be easier to use. Sometimes it might work to our advantage, and let a friendly soul come back—like Gwen here. More often, it will benefit evil souls and monsters, the sneaky ones who are looking to escape. Now, the Doors of Death—those are the personal doors of Thanatos, his fast lane between Life and Death. Only Thanatos is supposed to know where they are, and the location shifts over the ages. If I understand correctly, the Doors of Death have been forced open. Gaea's minions have seized control of them—"
"Which means Gaea controls who can come back from the dead," Percy guessed.
Nico nodded. "She can pick and choose who to let out—the worst monsters, the most evil souls. If we rescue Thanatos, that means at least he can catch souls again and send them below. Monsters will die when we kill them, like they used to, and we'll get a little breathing room. But unless we're able to retake the Doors of Death, our enemies won't stay down for long. They'll have an easy way back to the world of the living."
"So we can catch them and deport them," Percy summed up, "but they'll just keep coming back across."
"In a depressing nutshell, yes," Nico said.
Frank scratched his head. "But Thanatos knows where the Doors are, right? If we free him, he can retake them."
"I don't think so," Nico said. "Not alone. He's no match for Gaea. That would take a massive quest... an army of the best demigods."
"Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death," Reyna said. "That's the Prophecy of Eight... If this begins the ancient prophecy, we don't have resources to send an army to these Doors of Death and protect the camp. I can't imagine even sparing eight demigods—"
"First things first," Percy said. "I don't know who the eight are, or what that old prophecy means, exactly. But first we have to free Thanatos. Mars told us we only needed four people for the quest to Alaska. Let's concentrate on succeeding with that and getting back before the Feast of Fortuna. Then we can worry about the Doors of Death."
"Yeah," Frank said in a small voice. "That's probably enough for one week."
"So you do have a plan?" Octavian asked skeptically.
Percy looked at his teammates. "We go to Alaska as fast as possible..."
"And we improvise," Hazel said.
"A lot," Frank added.
Camilla managed a nervous smile. "Piece of cake."
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i feel like these chapters leading up to the quest are super filler-y so i decided to do a double update to get closer to the actual quest lol.
hope you enjoyed! see you next week <3