THE WIND RUSTLED noisily through the sunflowers. Tempest and Blackjack paced in agitation. Despite the dry, hot day and the sweat covering her skin, Ophelia shivered.
A cold feeling... Just like Annabeth and Leo had described. Just like Ophelia had felt on the deck.
"Bacchus is right," Piper said, sounding nervous. "We need to leave—"
Too late, came a sleepy voice, humming through the fields all around them and resonating in the ground at their feet.
Percy, Jason, and Ophelia drew their swords. Ophelia dismounted from Tempest, moving to stand near Piper so she wasn't alone on the road. The boys remained on their respective steeds.
Welcome to my party, Gaea murmured. What did Bacchus say? 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 of the boys will die, and then we will see how you fare against Ophelia.
"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.
"You're insane!" Piper shouted. "I'm not choosing anything for you!"
Suddenly Jason gasped. He sat straight in his saddle, and Tempest reared back.
Before Ophelia could ask what was wrong, she felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on her. Her spine straightened, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her blade.
Without her permission, Ophelia's arm raised, the tip of her blade coming to rest against Piper's back. Ophelia watched helplessly as her best friend stiffened, horrified.
"Choose," Ophelia said, but it wasn't her voice—it was deep and hollow, nothing like her own. It was the same empty tone that Leo had spoken with, as if all signs of personality had been stripped away, leaving just a shell for whatever was possessing her to use as it saw fit.
She tried to bring her sword back down, to let go of the hilt, but her body wasn't hers to control anymore.
"Percy, help!" Piper yelled, but it was no use.
Percy 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.
No! Ophelia tried to scream. She felt as hopeless as she had when Medea had tried to charmspeak Leo and Jason into fighting each other six months ago. Now, it felt like history was repeating itself, and bringing her along with it.
"One will die," Percy said, his voice not his own. It was deep and hollow, just like Ophelia's.
"I will choose," Jason answered, in the same hollow voice.
"No!" Piper yelled.
All around them, the fields crackled and hissed, laughing in Gaea's voice as Percy and Jason charged at each other, their weapons ready.
Get out of me! Ophelia thought, grasping at any shred of control she could find as she tried to break the hold whatever was possessing her had. But despite her efforts, the thing in control of her body grabbed Piper by the shoulder, dragging her backward and placing the edge of her blade against Piper's throat.
Ophelia could feel the frantic beat of Piper's heart through her back. "Ophelia, please," she whispered, just loud enough for Ophelia to catch.
Jason and Percy charged at each other. They crossed swords, gold against bronze. Sparks flew. Their blades blurred—strike and parry, stab and block—and the pavement trembled. The first exchange took only a second, their sword fighting as fast as light itself. The horses pulled away from each other—Tempest thundering in protest, Blackjack flapping his wings.
"Stop it!" Piper yelled, brave even as Ophelia's sword was poised to end her life.
For a moment, Jason heeded Piper's charmspeak. His golden eyes turned toward them, and Percy charged, slamming his blade into Jason. Percy turned his sword—maybe on purpose, maybe accidentally—so the flat of hit Jason's chest. Still, the impact was still enough to knock Jason off his mount.
Blackjack cantered away as Tempest reared in confusion. The spirit horse charged into the sunflowers and dissipated into vapor.
Percy struggled to turn his pegasus around.
"Percy!" Piper yelled. "Jason's your friend. Drop your weapon!" Ophelia fought against her own hand, struggling to keep the sword steady even as the thing inside of her tried to press harder into Piper's throat.
This is my body, Ophelia thought desperately. Get out!
She heard a mocking laugh in the back of her mind.
Percy's sword arm dipped at Piper's charmspeak. She might have been able to bring him under control, but unfortunately, Jason got to his feet.
He roared. A bolt of lightning arced out of the clear blue sky. It ricocheted off his gladius and blasted Percy off his horse.
Blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. Jason charged at Percy, who was now on his back, his clothes smoking from the lightning blast.
"You must choose one," the thing possessing Ophelia whispered cruelly into Piper's ear. "Why not let Jason kill him?"
No! Ophelia tried to shout.
"No!" Piper screamed. "Jason, stop!"
He froze, his sword six inches from Percy's face. He turned, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly. "I cannot stop. One must die."
"Who are you?" Piper demanded.
Jason's mouth twisted in a gruesome smile. "We are the eidolons. We will live again."
"Eidolons...?" Piper repeated. "You're—you're some sort of ghost?"
"He must die." Jason turned his attention back to Percy, but Percy had recovered more than any of them realized. He swept out his leg and knocked Jason off his feet.
Jason's head hit the asphalt with a nauseating conk.
Percy rose.
JASON!
The sight of Jason moments from death was enough for Ophelia to overpower the spirit inside of her. She dropped her sword, forcefully dragging herself away from the fight. "Piper!" she croaked, having to fight just to get her voice to cooperate. "Stop them!"
She heard Piper speaking, commanding the eidolon possessing Percy with her charmspeak, but Ophelia focused on the eidolon inside of her.
"Get out of me," she commanded. "This is not your body."
I will live again, the eidolon hissed inside of her. This will be my vessel. Gaea has promised me this.
"It isn't hers to promise," Ophelia growled, putting every ounce of her power into the words. "This is my body. Now leave it."
She shuddered violently as the cold that had seeped into her bones faded into normal warmth, falling to her knees as a wave of exhaustion slammed into her. Still, she looked up, facing the shimmering image of the eidolon that had been forced out of her.
The creature looked different from the ghosts Ophelia was used to seeing. The eidolon's figure was entirely gold, and it was metallic as well as translucent. The angry face of a soldier stared down at her, a sneer on his face, but she could feel the creature's apprehension.
Good.
"You do not belong in the mortal world," Ophelia growled, her eyes looking into the eidolon's with unbridled rage. "You will return to the Underworld, and you will never possess a mortal again."
"You cannot order me to do this," the eidolon protested.
"Yes, I can," Ophelia said, forcing herself to believe it.
"You cannot escape us," the spirit hissed. "The Earth Mother will rise. Your quest is doomed to fail."
"Return to the Underworld where you belong," Ophelia ordered. "Now."
The eidolon's figure shimmered, flickering out of sight. She felt its presence seep into the earth and disappear, hopefully for good—or as long as eidolons usually stayed down, at least.
Ophelia looked up in time to see Blackjack rear up and bring his hoof down on Percy's head. The son of Poseidon crumpled to the pavement next to Jason.
Ophelia struggled to her feet, stumbling over to where the boys, Piper, and the pegasus were.
Piper looked up at her, momentary fear in her eyes before it disappeared, no doubt at the lack of gold in Ophelia's eyes.
"Ophelia!" She crushed her friend in a hug.
"I'm sorry," Ophelia croaked. "I'm so sorry."
"It wasn't you," Piper said, shaking her head. "The eidolon that was possessing you, what—what happened?"
"I sent it back to the Underworld," Ophelia told her. "It won't be back for a long time."
Piper nodded. She knelt down between the two unconscious boys, examining them both. Ophelia didn't see any blood, thank the gods, but they were both out cold.
"We have to get them back to the ship," Piper told Ophelia and Blackjack.
The pegasus bobbed his head in agreement. He knelt to the ground, and Piper and Ophelia draped Percy and Jason over his back. After quite a bit of hard work (unconscious boys were heavy, and Ophelia was exhausted), she and Piper got them reasonably secured, then they climbed onto Blackjack's back and flew back to the ship.
❖
The others were more than a little surprised when Piper and Ophelia came back on a pegasus with two unconscious demigods. While Frank and Hazel tended to Blackjack, Annabeth and Leo helped Piper and Ophelia get the boys down to the sickbay.
"At this rate, we're going to run out of ambrosia," Coach Hedge grumbled as he tended the boys' wounds. "How come I never get invited on these violent trips?"
Ophelia took the bottle of nectar Piper handed her, which paired surprisingly well with the espresso she'd grabbed from the mess hall. The exhaustion faded for the most part thanks to the combination.
She sat at Jason's side next to Piper. She still felt awful about holding her sword to Piper's throat, but her best friend reassured her she knew it wasn't actually Ophelia, and she certainly didn't blame her for getting possessed.
"Leo," Piper said, "are we ready to sail?"
"Yeah, but—"
"Set course for Atlanta. I'll explain later."
"But... okay." He hurried off.
Annabeth didn't argue with Piper either. She was too busy examining the horseshoe-shaped dent on the back of Percy's head.
"What hit him?" she demanded.
"Blackjack," Piper said.
"What?"
Piper tried to explained while Coach Hedge applied some healing paste to the boys' heads. Ophelia had never been particularly confident in Hedge's nursing skills, but he must have done something right. Either that, or the eidolons had made them extra resilient. They both groaned and opened their eyes.
Within a few minutes, Jason and Percy were sitting up in their berths and able to talk in complete sentences. Both had fuzzy memories of what had happened. When Piper described their duel on the highway, Jason winced.
"Knocked out twice in two days," he muttered. "Some demigod." He glanced sheepishly at Percy. "Sorry, man. I didn't mean to blast you."
Percy's shirt was peppered with burn holes. His hair was even more disheveled than normal. Despite that, he managed a weak laugh. "Not the first time. Your big sister got me good once at camp."
"Yeah, but... I could have killed you."
"Or I could have killed you," Percy said.
Jason shrugged. "If there'd been an ocean in Kansas, maybe."
"I don't need an ocean—"
"Boys," Annabeth interrupted, "I'm sure you both would've been wonderful at killing each other. But right now, you need some rest."
"Food first," Percy said. "Please? And we really need to talk. Bacchus said some things that don't—"
"Bacchus?" Annabeth raised her hand. "Okay, fine. We need to talk. Mess hall. Ten minutes. I'll tell the others. And please, Percy... change your clothes. You smell like you've been run over by an electric horse."
❖
The eight demigods gathered in the mess hall. Piper explained what had happened at the mile marker—their conversation with Bacchus, Gaea's trap, the eidolons that had possessed Percy, Ophelia, and Jason.
"Of course!" Hazel slapped the table, which startled Frank so much that he almost dropped his burrito. "That's what happened to Leo!"
"So it wasn't my fault." Leo exhaled. "I didn't start World War Three. I just got possessed by an evil spirit. That's a relief!"
"But the Romans don't know that," Annabeth said. "And why would they take our word for it?"
"We could contact Reyna," Jason suggested. "She would believe us." He looked at Piper. "You could convince her, Pipes. I know you could."
"I could try," Piper said. "But Octavian is the one we have to worry about. In my dagger blade, I saw him taking control of the Roman crowd. I'm not sure Reyna can stop him."
Ophelia scowled, cursing the stupid legacy of Apollo.
"She's right," Frank said. "This afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. They were a long way off, but closing fast. Octavian is on the warpath."
Hazel grimaced. "This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has always wanted. He'll try to seize power. If Reyna objects, he'll say she's soft on Greeks. As for those eagles... it's like they could smell us."
"They can," Jason said dejectedly. "Roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. This ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely—not from them."
Leo drummed his fingers. "Great. I should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell like a giant chicken nugget. Remind me to invent that, next time."
Hazel frowned. "What is a chicken nugget?"
"Oh man..." Leo shook his head in amazement. "That's right. You've missed the last like, seventy years. Well, my apprentice, a chicken nugget—"
"Doesn't matter," Annabeth interrupted. "The point is, we'll have a hard time explaining the truth to the Romans. Even if they believe us—"
"You're right." Jason leaned forward. "We should just keep going. Once we're over the Atlantic, we'll be safe—at least from the legion."
"How can you be sure?" Piper asked. "Why wouldn't they follow us?"
Jason shook his head. "You heard Reyna talking about the ancient lands. They're much too dangerous. Roman demigods have been forbidden to go there for generations. Even Octavian couldn't get around that rule."
"And here we are, breaking it," Ophelia muttered.
Frank swallowed a bite of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his mouth. "So, if we go there..."
"We'll be outlaws as well as traitors," Jason confirmed. "Any Roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. But I wouldn't worry about that. If we get across the Atlantic, they'll give up on chasing us. They'll assume that we'll die in the Mediterranean—the Mare Nostrum."
Percy pointed his slice of pizza at Jason. "You, sir, are a ray of sunshine."
Jason didn't argue.
"So, let's plan ahead," Percy suggested, "and make sure we don't die. Mr. D—Bacchus—ugh, do I have to call him Mr. B now? Anyway, he mentioned the twins in Ella's prophecy. Two giants. Otis and, uh, something that started with an F?"
"Ephialtes," Jason said.
"Twin giants, like Piper saw in her blade..." Annabeth ran her finger along the rim of her cup. "I remember a story about twin giants. They tried to reach Mount Olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains."
Frank nearly choked. "Well, that's great. Giants who can use mountains like building blocks. And you say Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"
"Something like that," Percy said. "I don't think we should count on his help this time. He wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn't handle."
Silence fell around the table. Up on the deck, Coach Hedge was singing something that he clearly didn't know the actual words to, because there was a lot of mumbling and clear ad-libbing involved.
After a few moments, Piper murmured, "She wants two of us."
Everyone turned to look at her.
"Today on the highway," Piper said, "Gaea told us that she needed the blood of only two demigods—one female, one male. She—she asked me to choose which boy would die."
"But neither of us died," Jason said reassuringly. "You saved us, Pipes."
"I know. It's just... Why would she want that?"
Leo whistled softly. "Guys, remember at the Wolf House? Our favorite ice princess, Khione? She talked about spilling Jason's blood, how it would taint the place for generations. Maybe demigod blood has some kind of power."
"Oh..." Percy set down his third slice of pizza, grimacing.
"Percy?" Annabeth gripped his arm.
"Oh, bad," he muttered. "Bad. Bad." He looked across the table at Frank and Hazel. "You guys remember Polybotes?"
"The giant who invaded Camp Jupiter," Hazel said. "The anti-Poseidon you whacked in the head with a Terminus statue. Yes, I think I remember."
"I had a dream," Percy said, "when we were flying to Alaska. Polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said—he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. He said: 'I want that one chained at my feet, so I can kill him when the time is ripe. His blood shall water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake the Earth Mother!'"
Piper shuddered in horror. "You think the giants would use our blood... the blood of two of us—"
"I don't know," Percy said. "But until we figure it out, I suggest we all try to avoid getting captured."
Jason grunted. "That I agree with."
"But how do we figure it out?" Hazel asked. "The Mark of Athena, the twins, Ella's prophecy... how does everything fit together?"
Annabeth pressed her hands against the edge of the table. "Piper, you told Leo to set our course for Atlanta."
"Right," Piper said. "Bacchus told us we should seek out... what was his name?"
"Phorcys," Percy said.
"You know him?" Annabeth asked.
Percy shrugged. "I didn't recognize the name at first. Then Bacchus mentioned salt water, and it rang a bell. Phorcys is an old sea god from before my dad's time. Never met him, but supposedly he's a son of Gaea. I still don't understand what a sea god would be doing in Atlanta."
Leo snorted. "What's a wine god doing in Kansas? Gods are weird. Anyway, we should reach Atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something else goes wrong."
"Don't even say that," Annabeth muttered. "It's getting late. We should all get some sleep."
"Wait," Ophelia said.
Everyone looked at her.
She could feel it—the chill of spirits, lingering, hiding, waiting. It wasn't like most ghosts felt. These spirits were malevolent, seeking power at any cost.
"Ophelia?" Jason asked. "What is it?"
"There's one last thing," she said. "The eidolons—they're still here."
❖