Chapter 3
ATHENA GOES UP A HILL
Nico had finally finished telling Reyna the story. It was pretty difficult as Reyna hardly knew Nico or anything else about his old life but she was a good listener. He sat down at the statue's feet and said,"Phew...all this has made me really tired. I don't even think I can stand up."
Coach snickered,"Ya..hugging girls gets you tired.I can't even imagine what would happen if.."
He would have continued if Reyna wasn't staring at him in such a weird way. Ever since he left the Argo 2, that girl had been giving him that look like she didn't trust him. Who was she anyway to do that? She was a Roman and those people never really liked satyrs or fauns as they called them.
From the first day he saw her, Hedge had decided that he hated her and he knew the feeling was mutual. He only agreed to join her because Frank said that he could go home and see his sweetheart, Mellie and her baby. He would rather just use a few goat moves on her, but Jason took him aside the last moment while all the preparations were being done. Jason told him not to hurt her or trouble her too much and mentioned something about how hurt she already was.
Of course, Hedge had to listen to that son of big and mighty Zeus or Jupiter as Reyna said. Nico's face had turned an awkward shade of pink, well about as much pink as you could notice on pale skin. Hedge walked into the bushes again.
Reyna sat beside Nico telling him to rest for a while. Nico turned in the other direction and pretended to sleep. He couldn't really sleep. He would get such horrible dreams that simply force you to stay awake. Sometimes ,he would see Bianca, sometimes Hades and the army of the dead. He rarely had happy dreams and even doubted whether any demigod had happy dreams? Now he would even get visions of Tartarus and that could make him go without sleep for days together.
He couldn't tell Reyna that. He was her only hope of peace now besides that good-for-nothing statue. He shifted his head slightly away from Athena's toes.
Then Atalanta returned with a packet that spread a familiar essence in the air. Nico imagined himself around five years ago, as a little boy eating happy meals with his sister Bianca. The thought made the edges of his lips curl up almost ready to smile. He got up and took one brown packet from her. Reyna looked a bit stunned.
She asked,"Where did you get these from?"
Atalanta replied,"Mc D's is just a few minutes away from here. Not many people have this as lunch so I didn't have to stand in line."
Nico was eating his share but his mind was elsewhere. He didn't know exactly how it happened but soon the girls were just chatting away about boys and monsters like they were best friends. He now heard Reyna tell Atalanta how they got there. Atalanta looked straight into his face,"Shadow travel,huh? That's cool,but you look like you haven't slept in days."
Hedge said,"He is the son of the god of the underworld. He always looks like that."
Atalanta smiled at him but continued,in her voice, a tone of concern,"I think we should avoid it for now. Camp HalfBlood is quite close by..I wonder.." She walked up to the statue and knocked on Athena's toe. Then she took the sun-disc from a belt on her waist and tried to scratch the statue, but nothing happened to it. She turned and looked at us with an unsettling smirk,"Well, whatever we do to it,it will be safe.I might just have a plan."
The rest happened quite fast. They had tilted the statue and were using it as a sled. Nico, who was sheltered by Athena's sheild was busy apologizing and praying to the heavens that Athena doesn't blast them out of the sky. Coach Hedge stood with his hooves on Athena's ears and hair, holding her nose with one hand, his club in the other, yelling like he was fighting a war. Reyna looked worried but Atalanta was grinning like an evil scientist. And that was just the journey downhill. Uphill was much more difficult but somehow they made it.
They stood now over a giant statue in the lawn before the big house. Everybody was dead-beat except perhaps Coach Hedge who was jumping around saying,"Yeah baby, I'm home."
Reyna stood tall and proud as she spoke to the campers that had gathered to see the commotion."I am Reyna, the praetor of Rome.I have come with a message of peace.I am returning the great Athena Parthenos to all the Greeks on behalf of the Romans with a request to join forces."
She was interrupted by a camper from the Ares cabin,"Why is your army still preparing for war then?"
Reyna said,"Annabeth asked me to come here first.I told the Roman army not to attack. It must be Octavian... Why I am going to bash his head against a tree. Going against my orders."
A girl in a tie-die bandana came forward,"Reyna, has come in peace. You must believe her. Annabeth told me to tell her to do this."
Reyna nodded at her,"Rachel Dare...You were right. We have to do this together if we want to defeat the giants."
Chiron turned to the campers and said,"So, do we all accept this peace offering?"
Slowly all the campers started raising hands. Athena cabin looked doubtful but then agreed,"Yes, If Annabeth would do it...It must be okay. We accept the Athena Parthenos. But a peace treaty must be made at the earliest."
Then the statue started glowing and everyone felt was still hope and Nico knew it meant a fresh start. He yawned and sat down .Atalanta ran to him,"Are you okay?"
Nico started nodding,"With great power comes a great urge to take a nap." He closed his eyes and heard people running around him. He felt himself being lifted away. He was now prepared to face the nightmares. Atalanta had come back. Romans and Greeks were to make peace. It was all happening according to the plan. The last thing he heard was Atalanta's voice,"It's okay.I'll protect you."He smiled in his sleep.
