A/N: The heroes are back and ready to throw down. Of course it is a sequel, so any new readers who are royally confused check out The Blood of Olympus: The Sea Spawn and the Mutt. I know, I know, this one is better so just check out Chapter 3 for the confusing bits I made up. Please review!
Here We Go Again
The fall chill rolled off Long Island Sound was quickly chasing away the last bastion of summer. Dax took a deep breath of sharp September air. He pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders as he slipped out of the Poseidon cabin without waking his drooling brother, Percy Jackson. A light mist curled around his ankles as he walked towards the beach. The sun's rays were beginning to leak out over the horizon.
Skirting the woods, Dax walked through the empty dining pavilion. His last meal at Camp Half Blood for the foreseeable future was cheeseburgers, pancakes, and ice cream. In a few hours, Dax would embark on what was hopefully his last quest as an active pawn and defender of the Olympian gods. He was going to have a bombastic retirement party.
Dax took off his boots at the beach. The sand squished delightfully between his toes. The sand was cold, but the shock helped to wake him up – infinitely better than coffee. Waves lapped gently at the tips of his toes.
Since the war with Gaea ended, Camp Half Blood had been peaceful and calm, only punctuated by an Ares cabin swirly or Hermes haywire prank. It was slow and beautiful and a welcome change of pace to Dax's life. Camp Half Blood was his home as much as the Marathon was.
Tensions between Greeks and Romans were at an all-time low. With Leo's help, an Olympian speed subway was being built to connect the camps.
The Flotilla was slowly but surely assimilating into their society as well. The mysterious third faction of the gods' children kept mostly to itself, but remained anchored above Camp Half Blood most of the time. Some of the engineers volunteered to help with the railway.
The most inspiring part of the past month had been how quickly the Greeks opened their doors to the Marathon's crew. Within days, the Stolls were actively recruiting Jack and Keenan for pranks. The Aphrodite cabin welcomed Jenni with open arms. Skylar got along with everyone beautifully, even Clarisse, which according to Percy was a divine accomplishment. And as far as Dax was concerned, the campers overlooked his odd and intimidating heritage. That's the sort of thing that happens when you save the world.
Oh right, Dax is the son of Poseidon and Athena, in case you forgot. And in typical son-of-Poseidon fashion, refused his rightful immortality and godhood that was stolen from him at birth. Idiot.
Jack was banned from capture the flag after he was caught cheating with his super-speed for the sixth time. Keenan accidently burned down half of the Demeter cabin. Percy and Annabeth had declared their spot at the bottom of the canoe lake off-limits after they caught Dax and Jenni down there.
And yet, the Heroes of Olympus, as Chiron called them, were about to walk away from it all, right back into the heart of war.
Dax unsheathed his sword. The morning sun glinted harshly off of the two-toned blade, forged from both Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold. Dax reread the inscription on the blade for the thousandth time: In Memorium. Despite all the progress, there were still big holes left in the camp and its heroes. Holes that only time could fill, but every day was a little bit better. A little. Dax released a heavy breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"You ready to rock and roll, Wonder Boy?" A voice said behind him.
Dax didn't turn around. "Jack, I figured I was going to have to drag you out of bed."
"I can never sleep the night before a quest," Jack said. His eyes fixed on the horizon. "I still don't like this splitting up deal. Together nothing can beat us."
Dax sighed. "Maybe that's the point? The Fates want to make it harder on us."
"Well they do a bang-up job of it," Jack said. "Nico disappearing really worries me, man. It has to be connected to whatever we are doing right?"
"I don't know, but it's pretty hard to believe in coincidences in our line of work. Even with what I've heard of his track record, it's bizarre," Dax said, "We are totally in the dark on this one."
"It's kind of fun, isn't it?" Jack laughed, "I mean the gods are all freaking out because Gaea is supposed to be the 'final chapter,' or whatever. We have a totally new chunk of history to write."
"And if we aren't around to write it after its over? What then?"
"Someone will write it. Even if it's not you or me," Jack said, "Even if I live I won't be writing anything."
Dax blankly stared ahead, trying to conjure up new monsters they would encounter. He watched as a half-man, half-octopus leapt out of his mind's eye and charged across the waves. The beast collided with an enormous hermit crab wielding a spear and shield. Tentacles smashed through wood. The spear pierced octo-man's heart. A barbed appendage crushed the crab's shell, and both monsters slid beneath the waves.
"How are you doing, bro?" Jack asked. He was drawing something in the sand.
"What?" Dax asked.
"You know what I mean. We haven't talked about any of it."
"We've been busy, Jack."
Jack smirked. "Yeah, we've been doing a great job distracting ourselves, haven't we? Rebuilding this, playing a game of that."
Dax didn't respond. Jack was right, they had done a superb job ignoring the aftermath of the war. Dax didn't even talk to his girlfriend Jenni much about it. It was still sore, really sore. He wasn't sure he was ready to just talk about Ryder like it was normal, like it was okay.
"I don't know, Jack. I haven't had much time to really think. The mourning is over. I guess it's just up to time and filling the hole." Dax answered.
Jack stared down at his sand doodle. "I don't want to come to terms with it. It's not fair."
"It's not supposed to be," Dax paused. "We can't forget them. We can't forget any of it, even how unfair and painful it was. That's why we keep fighting. So nobody else has to feel that ever again. We're protecting little Harvey and Clarisse and even Chiron."
"That is an enormous burden for teenagers," Jack said. "You think our parents fully realize that?"
"Maybe," Dax said. "Maybe not. But we've been doing a good job so far, I'd say."
A whistle sounded behind them. Percy was grinning at them.
"Morning, Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum! We are trying to start the meeting and would love for the two of you to join us. But take your time. It's your world, dudes."
"Who are you calling dumb?" Jack asked. He sprinted at Percy and knocked the son of Poseidon on his butt before zipping off towards the Big House.
"I hope he knows he's going to pay for that," Percy said to Dax, who hadn't moved. "Come on, bro."
"Right behind you."
Dax slowly got to his feet. Looking down at Jack's sand sketch, Dax was impressed by the level of detail. Three boys stood on the bow of a ship as the sun rose in front of them. They appeared to be smoking cigars. Jack even included little puffs of smoke. A faint memory tugged at the back of Dax's mind, but he couldn't pull it forward.
After giving up on recalling the memory, Dax left the beach to join his friends. The waves tried to follow, again and again, slowly erasing Jack's drawing until there was nothing but unbroken, unblemished sand.
The war room was silent when Dax walked in. By war room, he meant the room in the Big House home to the ping pong table. Twelve pairs of eyes fixed on Dax. Across the table from him was Chiron, sitting in his magically fake wheelchair to make room for everyone. He was flanked by Rachel Dare and Percy. Annabeth Chase stood on Percy's other side. She managed a weak smile. The rest of the Heroes of Olympus took up the rest of the room. Jack was sitting in a rocking chair in a corner. Skylar yawned. Hazel and Frank were quiet and attentive. Keenan whispered to Piper, and Jason Chase watched Dax.
Dax squeezed between Jason and Jenni. "Everyone ready for our next vacation?"
Jenni grabbed his hand. She whispered, "You ready?"
"As always." Dax squeezed her hand.
Chiron cleared his throat. "Heroes, I am afraid I cannot offer you many words of wisdom. You have all achieved incredible feats. Only your experience can prepare you for what is to come, and you are all aware of how often that comes up short. I do have faith that you will succeed once again."
Dax had come to realize that Chiron's pep talks were anything but peppy. Of course, that didn't mean the old centaur was wrong. Chiron's words echoed Jack's idea of writing a new chunk of history. Dax elected to stick with Jack's optimism rather than the alternative.
"Someone refresh me on everything we know so far," Frank said.
"We're splitting up to find the son of the north and rescue the daughter of day in Brazil," Annabeth said, "And we only know a portion of the prophecy."
"We have to find and capture the best fighter the Titans had along the way," Jason said.
"There was something vague about hunting a fox where a giant was killed," Piper said.
"Panama," Dax said.
Everyone turned to look at him. The original crew of the Marathon, and Dax guessed a number of the others knew why Panama was important. Long story short, some of the giants did some really awful things to demigods, and Dax sent them all to Tartarus, painfully. Dax fought to keep the anger contained in the memory.
"Panama." Dax exhaled. "Where I killed my first giants. Specifically, Panama Viejo."
"The first European settlement on the Pacific coast of North America. The English attacked the Spanish there in 1671. The ruins there are a national landmark," Annabeth spouted.
"Sure," Dax said, "The battle happened in the ruins and surrounding area. Half of the town was destroyed."
"So we can expect a warm welcome," Frank said.
"And Nico's missing," Hazel said. Her eyes were moist.
"Which has to fit into this somehow. I just don't see where." Keenan said like he was wrestling with an evasive puzzle. Hazel glared at him, which he was oblivious to.
"We don't know enough yet," Jenni said. "Jumping the gun will just make us way more anxious when we can't afford to be. Or worse, get someone hurt."
"Jenni's right. We have to take this one step at a time," Percy said. He took a deep breath and looked at his shoes briefly. "There's one more tiny, little detail. Not all of the giants are dead. Alcyoneus survived the Battle of Olympus."
Most of the jaws in the room became unhinged.
"So he's still out there?" Hazel asked.
Jason narrowed his eyes. "When were you going to tell us this?"
Percy shrugged. "Uh, right now."
"Ah, that must be tied to Nico." Keenan said satisfactorily. Hazel's glare intensified. Keenan continued not to notice.
"Yeah, Keegs. My dad told me when we were on Olympus. I'm sorry I kept it a secret, but like Jenni said, we can't get freaked out about things outside of our control."
"Nico can have the giant. That guy must be royally ticked at us." Jack said.
Silence claimed the room. Dax scanned the other faces. The others looked weary. Maybe it was the short night sleep. Maybe it was still lingering from the last war. Or maybe each and every one of them knew they were going to be fighting for their lives again, and they were afraid.
"Okay," Dax said. "Let's get to work."
"Not so fast, brats," A new voice echoed.
Dionysus waddled into the room. Last night must have been wild, because Dax had never seen someone's eyes so red and bleary from a hangover. The pudgy god, wearing his usual purple Hawaiian shirt, wormed his way between Jason and Piper so he could stand in the spotlight.
"Yes, yes, you all performed so adequately on your previous quest. Really try to do better this time around. Anyway, I have a gift." Mr. D said.
"How generous," Percy said.
Mr. D glared at him, then searched the room until his eyes settled on Jack. "You, new John." Mr. D rummaged through his pocket until he found and produced a spool of white thread. A faint glow surrounded the string. He tossed it to Jack. "That is a gift from my wife. It will never run out, but don't be a fool and waste it, because you only have one use."
"Yarn? You think I can weave?" Jack asked.
"It's thread! Hades you're thick. Someone explain the significance of my wife's thread to him later. Good luck. Some of you headaches, please feel free to get skewered or maimed along the way." Mr. D glared at Percy.
The god snapped his fingers and he disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.
"On that happy note, let's get this show on the road." Jason said. He wore a lopsided grin.
The crowd shuffled out of the Big House. The Marathon and Hephaestus were floating right overhead.
Dax stopped and looked around, taking in his new home for what could the last time for a while. The two crews said a quick goodbye and shuffled to their respective ships. No one wanted to dwell on that goodbye, it was more like a see you later.
Percy threw an arm around Dax's shoulders. "Ready, bro?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Dax asked.
Percy shrugged. "When we get onboard, want to spar a round or two? My ADHD is killing me right now."
"I might need more than two rounds." Dax said.
"I like where your head's at. C'mon."
The final passengers boarded the Marathon, and both ships reeled in their anchors. With a final wave, the Marathon pointed her bow north and the Hephaestus began to drift south.
Here we go again.