There are 78 chapters in this book! Holy Hera! I mean I never paid attention in the previous books regarding how many chapters we went through, but damn! I can read roman numerals, I just never really bothered to, and then I look up and I'm like "50, 60, 70…78?!"
First Person: Azrael
I almost felt bad for Clytius.
He was attacked from every direction - Leo shooting fire at his legs, Frank and Piper jabbing at his chest, Jason flying into the air and kicking him in the face, and Kaze simply sweeping across the battlefield with his speed, having recovered his weapon and his wits. Hazel was proud to see how well Piper remembered her sword-fighting lessons. Each time the giant's smoky veil started creeping around one of them, Nico was there, slashing through it, drinking in the darkness with his Stygian blade, and I could easily blow the fog in another direction if I just concentrated hard enough.
Percy and Annabeth were on their feet, looking weak and dazed, but their swords were drawn. When did Annabeth get a sword? And what was it made of - ivory? They looked like they wanted to help, but there was no need. The giant was surrounded.
Clytius snarled, turning back and forth as if he couldn't decide which one of them to kill first. "Wait! Hold still! No! Ouch!"
The darkness around him dispelled completely, leaving nothing to protect him except his battered armor. Ichor oozed from a dozen wounds. The damage healed almost as fast as it was inflicted, but I could tell the giant was tiring. One last time, Jason flew at him, kicking him in the chest. Kaze threw his weapon at his staggering speed with the force of a mini bomb and the giant's breastplate shattered. His sword was flung away from the impact and he fell to his knees as the demigods encircled him. I reached down and grabbed his weapon, causing it to shrink down to my proportions, and I joined the others with my weapon raised.
Just then, the entire room shook, but even Clytius didn't seem to know what was happening. Something exploded, busting through the rock walls and sending something flying straight towards Clytius. Everyone jumped back as Clytius was hit by a large falling object that smashed into him like a mini meteor. A battle cry rung out from the hole that the projectile had emerged from, and it took me a moment to realize it was Hannah. She dashed out from the hole in the wall, aimed right at where Clytius had been, but a body jumped away from where Clytius was and the giant himself narrowly missed getting crushed by Hannah's weapon, hardened into the shape of a sword.
There was a giggle from above, Hannah following her target as she launched after it.
"Not bad, blondie." I noticed Kaze tense at the sound of that voice. "But you're gonna have to do better than that."
Two women clashed in the air - Tsuchi and Hannah, two descendants of Hephaestus who lived in death. Both of them looked ragged, but at the same time, neither of them had ripped clothes or cuts or scratches. They were covered in dust and grime from their duel, but beyond that, neither of them seemed to be injured. Both of them were using their own gadgets as well as their pure strength and speed - which was almost blindingly fast that I couldn't keep up. From the hole that Tsuchi and Hannah came through, another person was chucked through and crashed down into the floor of the House of Hades. This time, it was Ithuriel, who groaned and sat up with his lance still in his grasp. Like Hanna and Tsuchi, he didn't have any cuts, but he was dirtied from a brawl. Out of the hole came Kandai, a blazing streak of light that Ithuriel barely managed to block and toss away, jumping after him to continue their fight - bow to lance.
"Uh oh," Jason muttered.
Hecate, ignoring the brawls going on around her, stepped forward to the fallen Clytius, her torches raised. Mist curled around the giant, hissing and bubbling as it touched his skin. "And so it ends," Hecate said.
"It does not end." Clytius's voice echoed from somewhere above, muffled and slurred. "My brethren have risen. Gaea waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?"
Laughter.
A high pitched cackle overtook the entire cavern, causing even the Reapers and the reanimations to pause and look around in confusion and horror. Clytius and Hecate alike looked up at the sound, their faces twisting with equal disdain and…fear.
"WHAT WILL WE DO, YOU ASK, POOR CLYTIUS?"
A light flashed. The Doors of Death returned, though they were not chained. The elevator doors hissed open, encased in pure light that blinded all of us. When the light finally faded, I saw two figures standing and two figures lying on the floor. The Doors vanished once more, and it finally processed who we were seeing.
"Onesan?" Kaze blurted.
"Big sister…" No. 1 had risen, her stuffed animal clutched tightly in her arms.
"Veon…" Nico muttered in disbelief.
"Emily! Audrey!" Piper called. The two girls were passed out at the feet of Veon and Rei.
The two standing…creatures emanated power that was so intense that I felt like my body would collapse from the pressure in the air alone. The first people to move were Kandai and Tsuchi, who dived for the rocky walls and disappeared within, melding with the walls as though they were some kind of goo that was absorbed into the rocky depths.
"No!" Hannah screamed. "Dammit!"
"After them!" Ithuriel shouted. Disappearing into the Veil. Hannah followed suit, ignoring the eyes of the demigods watching her.
"As I was saying," Rei said, her voice booming through the air louder than Clytius's by far.
While Clytius's voice was dark and consuming, Rei's was overall terrifyingly explosive, as though she was setting the very molecules in the air to explode with each syllable, but she was also the one barely keeping them from releasing their energy. It was like her very voice was holding them all at gunpoint, and at any moment she could let the air explode - which actually, I had no doubt was the case.
"Poor little Clytius, you have no idea what Gaea has done and what she will pay for. You preach the rising of my dear daughter-in-law? Let her arise, I welcome it! I will make every moment of her consciousness a waking nightmare. As for you, I was hoping for a nice show upon my return. Dear, would you like to do the honors?"
She looked over to Veon, whose blank gaze locked onto Clytius. If I had started feeling sorry for the giant before, now I outright pitied the day he was born. Veon stepped forward, hands in his jacket pockets, gaze black as onyx. He removed his hands from his pockets and cracked his fingers, clenching and unclenching his fists as though adjusting to having fingers. He grabbed the giant by his neck, and Clytius couldn't even beg he was so frightened.
"Devourer of the voice and soul, Clytius, allow me to show you what it means to devour that which you so desire. Allow me to strip away your illusions of grandeur. Allow me to show you your place in this vast cosmos, compared to something like me…"
He opened his mouth and his eyes widened. From both his mouth and eyes, streams of black smoke emerged and consumed Clytius. It took me a moment to realized that the dark smoke, laced with dark purple and red hues, was souls. Screaming souls of monsters so vile that they would be damned to Tartarus itself, condemned to never even be reborn in Tartarus and simply held within its infinite, darkest depths to suffer. Souls punished to eternal misery, unending wails of misery, a magic beyond that of anything in the mortal realm. Voices crying out so loud Clytius could never smother them; magic so great that even Clytius is overwhelmed. I couldn't tell if the Primordial intended for Clytius's death to be so ironic or not, but I had a feeling that both of them enjoyed toying with the giant.
The screaming souls were sucked back into Veon, wailing even louder in an attempt to hold their freedom a little longer, but ultimately they returned from whence they came. Good thing, too, because I doubt that any of us would've been able to stand up to a force that only Tartarus or the Primordials above could possibly contain. Hecate turned her torches upside down, thrusting them like daggers at Clytius's head. The giant's hair went up faster than dry tinder, spreading down his head and across his body. Clytius's lifeless body fell without a sound, face-first in the rubble of Hade's altar. His body crumbled to askes.
Rei sighed, her voice like a strong gust of wind within the still cavern. "Well, that was boring. I expected more. I suppose we'll have to wait until the true retribution begins." She brushed some invisible dust off her jacket. "I suppose we wait then. Even Tartarus was more entertaining than that puny child of his."
"Onesan…?" Kaze asked meekly.
She cast her gaze onto him. Heterochromatic eyes gazed at Kaze, her left pure black and her right pure white. Then, those eerie eyes faded to both be brown. When she spoke, her voice was small; but it was only small compared to the Primordial's because it was her voice. "Ototo…?"
She collapsed. Kaze quickly reached out to catch her despite her being a dangerous Primordial and all, but he failed to catch Veon, who collapsed where he stood at the same time as she did, and no one reached out to catch him.
"You should go now, Hazel Levesque," Hecate said, as though the scene before her wasn't even happening. "Lead your friends out of this place."
I wanted someone to ask, "What? No reactions to the eldest Primordials of creation appearing before your very eyes?" but at the same time, I knew that everyone was too afraid to do anything, too shell-shocked at the very least.
Hazel gritted her teeth, trying to hold in her anger. "Just like that? No 'thank you'? No 'good work'?"
The goddess tilted her head. Gale the weasel chittered - maybe a goodbye, maybe a warning - and disappeared in the folds of her mistress's skirts.
"You look in the wrong place for gratitude," Hecate said. "As for 'good work,' that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen - all of them, stronger than ever. Gaea is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her. Your friends may have defied the odds today, but no mortal can withstand such power for long. The creatures that your friends hold, they are far older, far greater than I. And far crueler. There may come a time when you long for my company in comparison to theirs. Do not, for a moment, believe they will act as you desire. Hasten to your destinies, but beware that you will face more crossroads, and your choices will lead to much tragedy."
The chamber rumbled. Another stela crashed to the floor and shattered.
"The House of Hades is unstable," Hecate said. "Leave now. We shall meet again."
The goddess dissolved; the Mist evaporated,
"She's friendly," Percy grumbled.
The others turned towards him and Annabeth, as if just realizing they were there.
"Dude." Jason gave Percy a bear hug,
"Back from Tartarus!" Leo whooped. "That's my peeps!"
Piper threw her arms around Annabeth and cried. I walked over to Emily and Audrey, placing my hands on them just to confirm they were alive. They were alive, yes, and in fact they seemed healthy as ever. I carefully poked them, trying to wake them. No. 1 scurried over to her big sister, her poodle jumping out of her arms to poke the older version of the girl resting in Kaze's arms. To the poodle's surprise, her eyes opened abruptly. The poodle squeaked "Do!" and clamored onto its owner, who grabbed the stuffed animal and squeezed it.
"Onesan?" Kaze asked.
Audrey and Emily slowly stirred in front of me, gathering their bearings and looking around.
"Where…?" Audrey muttered.
Piper rushed over to the two rising women and hugged then, checking for any injuries while the two assured her they were fine. Nico knelt by his brother's side, reaching out to touch him but thinking better of it a moment later. Veon assured Nico he was fine, and the two seemed content with silent nods of understanding.
"I'm fine, little brother," Rei said to Kaze, speaking their native tongue. "I told you I'd come back no matter what."
"Never doubted you," Kaze said, though his voice was close to breaking. "But what happened…?"
Frank ran to Hazel. He gently folded his arms around her. "You're hurt," he said.
"Ribs probably broken, leg dislocated," Hazel admitted. "But Frank…what happened to your arm?"
He managed a smile. "Long story. We're alive. That's what matters."
She was so giddy with relief it took her a moment to notice Nico and his sorrowful expression as he and Veon seemed to share a silent conversation. Nico's expression was full of pain and conflict.
"Hey," Hazel called to him, Frank helping her over to her brothers.
Nico hesitated a moment, but he tried to relax his body and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you're okay," he said. "The ghosts were right. Only one of us made it to the Doors of Death. You…you would have made Dad proud."
She smiled, cupping her hand gently to his face. "We couldn't have defeated Clytius without you."
He chuckled, but it was full of pain that betrayed his attempt at a lighthearted tone. "Oh, I don't know. You seemed to have been managing on your own."
"That's not true. Don't even think about saying that we could've managed to get this far without you."
She brushed her thumb under Nico's eye and wondered if he had been crying. She wanted so badly to understand what was going on with him, what had happened to him over the last few weeks. After all they'd just been through, Hazel was more grateful than ever to have brothers - family.
Before she could say that, the ceiling shuddered. Cracks appeared in the remaining tiles; columns of dust spilled down.
"We've got to get out of here," Jason announced. "Uh, Frank…?"
Frank shook his head. "I think one favor from the dead is all I can manage today."
"Wait, what?" Hazel asked.
Piper raised her eyebrows. "Your unbelievable boyfriend called in a favor as a child of Mars. He summoned the spirits of some dead warriors, made them lead us here through…um, well, I'm not sure, actually. The passages of the dead? All I know is that it was very, very dark."
To their left, a section of the wall split. Two ruby eyes from a carved stone skeleton popped out and rolled across the floor.
"Onesan?" Kaze asked.
She shook her head. "We've got no juice left for anything. Even if we did, we don't have full control over our power yet. We could end up blowing this whole place up - even faster than it's already coming down anyway."
"We'll have to shadow-travel," Veon announced. "Nico, we're going to have to use you as a catalyst, but the rest of us can feed you power to travel such a large group."
Nico nodded hesitantly. "Okay." 'If that's the only option,' he seemed to say.
"We can help you," Hazel agreed.
"We can feed power into you, Nico, don't worry, it'll be fine," Rei assured him.
An entire section of tiles peeled loose from the ceiling.
"Everyone, grab hands!" Nico yelled.
Everyone made a hasty circle – the seven of the prophecy, four in the Primordial squad, plus Kaze, Azrael, and No. 1. Envisioning the Greek countryside above, all of us fed what we could through a joined link as Nico focused the energy into shadow-traveling. The cavern collapsed, and I felt myself dissolving into shadow. It was like falling into the Veil, just a little more chaotic and dangerous and out of my control. I felt our souls traveling, clinging to Nico who was guiding us. I clung to the others and pulled everyone close as we finally emerged.
We appeared on the hillside overlooking the River Acheron. The sun was just rising, making the water glitter and the clouds glow orange. The cool morning air smelled of honeysuckle. I was holding Kaze's left hand in my right and some random person's hand in my left. We were all alive and mostly in one piece. The sunlight in the trees was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I wanted to live in that moment - free of monsters and gods and evil spirits. I would later learn that I wasn't the only one who just wanted a peaceful moment like that to last forever, without the burdens that had been placed upon our shoulders. Ever since escaping Ward K, I'd been admiring nature and the outside world like I never have before. There was once a time, not very long ago at all, when I never thought I'd have something like this.
Then, everyone began to come back to their senses. Nico realized he was holding Percy's hand and quickly let go.
Leo staggered backwards. "You know…I think I'll sit down now."
"I second that," Audrey said, collapsing without much grace.
Rei and Veon basically flopped like puppets whose strings had just been cut. The two of them had their hands interweaved and didn't let go even as they fell, but Rei was holding onto Kaze who was holding onto me, and Veon was holding Emily's hand who was also holding Audrey's, so we all collapsed in a chain reaction and broke out laughing with what energy we had left from the relief of surviving all of that. The other demigods weren't in any position to do resist, so they all collapsed together.
The Argo II still floated over the river a few hundred yards away. We should probably signal Coach Hedge and tell him we were alive. We must've been down there all night, maybe even several nights. I was used to time passing without me really paying any attention, but being underground gave a similar effect without the relaxation of using the Veil. But at the moment, the group was too tired to do anything except sit and relax and marvel at the fact that they were okay.
We began to exchange stories.
Frank explained what had happened with the ghostly legion and the army of monsters - how Nico had used the scepter of Diocletian, and how bravely Jason and Piper had fought. I explained what happened with me and my parents, while Kaze looked torn between hugging me to death and smacking me for throwing him down that tunnel. Luckily his attention was dividing doting over his sister as well, who was resting against Veon, the two looking like they were having to work very hard just to stay conscious and smiling so that they didn't look like zombies.
"Frank is being modest," Jason was saying. "He controlled the entire legion. You should've seen him. Oh, by the way…" Jason glanced at Percy. "I resigned my office, gave Frank a field promotion to praetor. Unless you wanna contest that ruling."
Percy grinned. "No argument here."
"Praetor?" Hazel repeated, staring at Frank.
He shrugged uncomfortably. "Well…yeah. I know it seems weird."
She tried to throw her arms around him, then winced as she remembered her busted ribs. She settled for kissing him. "It seems perfect."
Leo clapped Frank on the shoulder. "Way to go, Zhang. Now you can order Octavian to fall on his sword."
"I'd love nothing more than to make him fall on his sword," Rei sighed. "You know, just pull a rock into his path, make his sword fall just the right way." She waved her hand as though daydreaming about it.
"Tempting," Frank agreed. He turned apprehensively to Percy. "But you guys…Tartarus has to be the real story. A-And what about the Primordials? What happened?"
"The end of the world," Audrey said flatly. "But we stopped it."
I glanced at Nico and saw the pain in his eyes. I realized that through all that they must have gone through, all the nightmares of Tartarus and closing the Doors, Nico had once gone to Tartarus too. I had heard a loose version of the story of how he and Nico's souls were connected, how Veon had dreams that he had been with Nico, but the truth of it is, Nico had gone down there alone. He'd faced the horrors of Tartarus as a child of death, facing nightmares and terrors that his friends had probably been lucky enough to have been blind to. The Underworld, the Veil, the darkness…well, let's just say that things like the Mist helped hide things from mortal eyes for their own good, but for those who could see past it, it wasn't anything to brag around.
"We'll tell you the story," Percy promised. "But not yet, okay? I'm not ready to remember that place."
Rei and Veon stared off into space, and Emily glanced at them with a worrying gaze before intervening. "Yeah, we should probably have some time to…cool down," She said carefully. "A lot went on, guys, and…we need some time to recover."
No one protested, simply nodding in understanding. Though they could never know what happened down there and hopefully never would, they could understand that it was a harrowing experience.
"Right," Annabeth agreed. "Right now…" She gazed towards the river and faltered. "Uh, I think our ride is coming."
I turned in the direction of her gaze. The Argo II veered to port, its aerial oars in motion, its sails catching the wind. Festus's head glinted in the sunlight. Even from a distance, I could hear him creaking and clanking in jubilation.
"That's my boy!" Leo yelled.
Kaze turned at a small clicking from his shoulder, and I noticed that his little robotic cat had appeared on his shoulder. "Good boy, Neko."
I smiled as Kaze scratched his pet's head as the cat let out a mechanical purr.
As the ship got closer, I saw Coach Hedge standing at the prow. "About time!" The coach yelled down. He was doing his best scowl, but his eyes gleamed as if maybe, just maybe, he was happy to see us. "What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting!"
"Visitor?" Hazel murmured.
At the rail next to Coach Hedge, a dark-haired girl appeared wearing a purple cloak, her face so covered with soot and bloody scratches that she was almost unrecognizable.
"Reyna," Emily realized.
First Person: Zytaveon
I wasn't sure how I felt about the Athena Parthenos.
Percy looked like he was waiting for the giant statue to strike him down, Azrael was looking at the statue in awe (this being the first time he's seen the thing standing upright in its full glory) and Rei stared at it almost sadly. Then again, I think that was just her natural state of being now. She didn't release my hand, though I wasn't sure if it was for her sake or for mine. Leo's new mechanical hoist system had lowered the Athena Parthenos onto the hillside with surprising ease. Now the forty-foot tall goddess gazed serenely over the River Acheron, her gold dress like molten metal in the sun. Somehow, seeing the Primordials themselves didn't dampen how amazing Athena looked, even though now she seemed small compared to all we'd been through.
"Incredible," Reyna admitted.
She was still red-eyed from crying. Soon after she'd landed on the Argo II, her pegasus Scipio had collapsed, overwhelmed by poisoned claw marks from a gryphon attack the night before. Reyna had put the horse out of his misery with her golden knife, turning the pegasus into dust that scattered in the sweet-smelling Greek air. Maybe not a bad end for a flying horse, but Reyna had lost a loyal friend. I figured that she'd given up too much in her life already. If I'd had to do that to my horse, I know that it would've taken a great deal of strength, a battle for strength that I'd probably lose.
The praetor circled the Athena Parthenos warily. "It looks newly made."
"Yeah," Leo said. "We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn't hard."
The Argo II hovered just overhead. With Festus keeping watch for threats on the radar, the entire crew had decided to eat lunch on the hillside while they discussed what to do. After the last few weeks, everyone figured that we'd earned a good meal together - really anything that wasn't fire water or drakon meat soup. Oddly enough, I didn't feel hungry despite my exhaustion. I let Rei ly against me, which was a comforting feeling that ease the turmoil in my stomach that refused to fully settle. I had a feeling that if she lost contact with me…well, I didn't want that to happen.
"Hey, Reyna," Annabeth called. "Have some food. Join us."
The praetor glanced over, her dark eyebrows furrowed, as if 'join us' didn't quite compute. Most of us had never seen Reyna without her armor before. It was on board the ship, being repaired by Buford the Wonder Table. She wore a pair of jeans and a Camp Jupiter T-shirt and looked almost like a normal teenager - except for the knife at her belt and that guarded expression, like she was ready for an attack from any direction. That was a common look among this crew.
"All right," She said finally.
The others scooted over to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged next to Annabeth, picked up a cheese sandwich, and nibbled at the edge.
"So," Reyna said. "Frank Zhang…praetor."
Frank shifted, wiping crumbs from his chin. "Well, yeah. Field promotion."
"To lead a different legion," Reyna noted. "A legion of ghosts."
"Weirder shit has happened," Rei sighed, her eyes closed as she laid against my chest.
Hazel put her arm protectively through Frank's. After an hour in sick bay, they both looked a lot better, but I could tell they weren't sure what to think about their old boss from Camp Jupiter dropping in for lunch.
"Reyna," Jason said. "You should've seen him."
"He was amazing," Piper agreed.
"Frank is a leader," Hazel insisted. "He makes a great praetor."
Reyna's eyes stayed on Frank, like she was trying to guess his weight. "I believe you. I approve."
Frank blinked. "You do?"
Reyna smiled back dryly. "A son of Mars, the hero who helped to bring back the eagle of the legion…I can work with a demigod like that. I'm just wondering how to convince the Twelfth Fulminata."
Frank scowled. "Yeah. I've been wondering the same thing."
"I could come down and threaten to smite them," Rei suggested, still looking like she was asleep. "Or give you a godly blessing or something. Whatever makes you happy."
Percy was still staring at Frank, surprised by how much he'd changed. A 'growth spurt' was putting it mildly. He was at least three inches taller, less pudgy, and more bulky, like a linebacker. His face looked sturdier, his jawline more rugged. It was as if Frank had turned into a bull and then back to human, but he'd kept some of the bullishness.
"The legion will listen to you, Reyna," Frank said. "You made it here alone, across the ancient lands."
Reyna chewed her sandwich as if it were cardboard. "In doing so, I broke the laws of the legion."
"Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon. Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes."
She shook her head. "I'm not Caesar. After finding Jason's note in Diocletian's Palace, tracking you down was easy. I only did what I thought was necessary."
Percy couldn't help smiling. "Reyna, you're too modest. Flying halfway across the world by yourself to answer Annabeth's plea, because you knew it was our best chance for peace? That's pretty freaking heroic."
Reyna shrugged. "Says the demigod who fell into Tartarus and found his way back."
"He had help," Annabeth said.
"Oh, obviously. Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag."
"True."
"Hey!" Percy complained.
The others started laughing, but Percy didn't mind. It felt good to see them smile. Heck, just being in the mortal world felt good, breathing un-poisonous air, enjoying actual sunshine on his back. Suddenly I thought of Bob. 'Tell the sun and stars hello for me.' I squeezed Rei's hand, which was still clasped with my own as she laid against me, and she squeezed back without opening her eyes. In that motion, she told me she understood. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that Bob and Damasen had sacrificed their lives so that we could sit here now, enjoying the sunlight and laughing with our friends. And especially me. I should've never come back. I should've just stayed in Tartarus.
'You should've left me,' I whispered again through a telepathic link. We'd only been free for a few hours, and already I'd lost count of the amount of times I'd said that to her.
'I couldn't,' She responded. 'I couldn't let you go, and I won't. I won't regret it, either. I'm here for you.'
"In any case," Emily interrupted, "you came here in the best interests for your people, Reyna. Rules about not coming here, to the ancient lands? They're dumb. This is where Rome originated, right? Sure, it's dangerous, but I don't see why coming here would be so bad that you'd be stripped of your rank or anything, especially since you did this for the sake of your legion. You want peace, there's nothing wrong with that, and I'm sure saving the world will be a good way to prove that you did the right thing.
Leo pulled a tiny screwdriver from his tool belt. He stabbed a chocolate-covered strawberry and passed it to Coach Hedge. Then he pulled out another screwdriver and speared a second strawberry for himself.
"So, the twenty-million-peso question," Leo said. "We got this slightly-used forty-foot-tall statue of Athena. What do we do with it?"
Reyna squinted at the Athena Parthenos. "As fine as it looks on this hill, I didn't come all this way to admire it. According to Annabeth, it must be returned to Camp Half-Blood by a Roman leader. Do I understand correctly?"
Annabeth nodded. "I had a dream down in…you know, Tartarus. I was on Half-Blood Hill, and Athena's voice said, 'I must stand here. The Roman must bring me.'"
Percy studied the statue uneasily. He'd never had the best relationship with Annabeth's mom. He kept expecting Big Mama Statue to come alive and chew him out for getting her daughter into so much trouble - or maybe just step on him without a word.
"It makes sense," Nico said.
Percy flinched. It almost sounded like Nico had read his mind and was agreeing that Athena should step on him.
The son of Hades sat at the other end of the circle near me, eating nothing but half a pomegranate, the fruit of the underworld. I wondered if that was Nico's idea of a joke.
"The statue is a powerful symbol," Nico said. "A Roman returning it to the Greeks…that could heal the historic rift, maybe even heal the gods of their split personalities."
Coach Hedge swallowed his strawberry along with half the screwdriver. "Now, hold on. I like peace as much as the next satyr-"
"You hate peace," Leo said.
"The point is, Valdez, we're only - what? A few days from Athens? We got an army of giants waiting for us there. We went to all the trouble of saving this statue-"
"I went to most of the trouble," Annabeth reminded him.
"-because that prophecy called it the giants' bane," The coach continued. "So why aren't we taking it to Athens with us? It's obviously our secret weapon." He eyed the Athena Parthenos. "It looks like a ballistic missile to me. Maybe if Valdez strapped some engines to it-"
Piper cleared her throat. "Uh, great idea, Coach, but a lot of us have had dreams and visions of Gaea rising at Camp Half-Blood…" She unsheathed her dagger Katoptris and set it on her plate. At the moment, the blade showed nothing except sky, but looking at it still gave an uncomfortable vibe. "Since we got back to the ship, I've been seeing some bad stuff in the knife. The Roman legion is almost within striking distance of Camp Half-Blood. They're gathering reinforcements: spirits, eagles, wolves."
"Octavian," Reyna growled. "I told him to wait."
"When we take over command," Frank suggested, "our first order of business should be to load Octavian into the nearest catapult and fire him as far away as possible."
"Agreed," Reyna said. "For now-"
"He's intent on war," Annabeth put in. "He'll have it unless we stop him."
Piper turned the blade of her knife. "Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it. I saw images of a possible future - the camp in flames, Roman and Greek demigods lying dead. And Gaea…" Her voice failed her.
Percy remembered the god Tartarus in physical form, looming over him. He'd never felt such helplessness and terror. He still burned with shame, remembering how his sword had slipped out of his hand. 'You might as well try to kill the earth,' Tartarus had said. If Gaea was that powerful, and she had an army of giants at her side, it seemed impossible for a dozen demigods to stop her, especially when most of the gods were incapacitated. The giants had to be stopped before Gaea woke or it was game over.
"While it's tempting to use the Athena Parthenos as a missile to send Gaea up in a godly nuclear mushroom cloud," Audrey said, "I agree with Annabeth. The statue belongs back on Long Island, where it might be able to stop this war between the two camps."
"I will go to Athens," Rei announced, finally opening her eyes. "The Primordials want revenge against Gaea and her children for their actions. If you need a secret weapon against the giants…" She held her hand up and looked down as her hand closed into a fist. "I will be that secret weapon. I don't have full control now, but I will. When we get there, the giants will pay. Gaea will pay."
"So Reyna takes the statue," Percy agreed. "And we continue on to Athens."
Leo shrugged. "Cool with me. Having a Primordial kick some serious butt? Now that I'd pay to see. But, uh, a few pesky logistical problems. We got what? Two weeks until that Roman feast day when Gaea is supposed to rise?"
"The Feast of Spes," Jason said. "That's on the first of August. Today is-"
"July eighteenth," Frank offered. "So, yeah, from tomorrow, exactly fourteen days."
Hazel winced. "It took us eighteen days to get from Rome to here - a trip that should've only taken two or three days, max."
"So, given our usual luck," Leo said, "maybe we have enough time to get the Argo II to Athens, find the giants, and stop them from waking Gaea. I suppose having some Primordial firepower will help us. But how is Reyna supposed to get this massive statue back to Camp Half-Blood before the Greeks and Romans put each other through the blender? She doesn't even have her pegasus anymore. Uh, sorry-"
"Fine," Reyna snapped. She might be treating them like allies rather than enemies, but I could tell Reyna still had a not-so-soft spot for Leo, probably because he'd blown up half the Forum in New Rome. She took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, Leo is correct. I don't see how I can transport something so large. I was assuming…well, I was hoping you all would have an answer."
"The Labyrinth," Hazel said. "I…I mean, if Pasiphaë really has reopened it, and I think she has…" She looked at Percy apprehensively. "Well, you said the Labyrinth could take you anywhere. So maybe-"
"No." Percy and Annabeth spoke in unison.
"Not to shoot you down, Hazel," Percy said. "It's just…"
He struggled to find the right words. How could he describe the Labyrinth to someone who'd never explored it? Daedalus had created it to be a living, growing maze. Over the centuries it had spread like the roots of a tree under the entire surface of the world. Sure, it could take you anywhere, distance inside was meaningless - you could enter the maze in New York, walk ten feet, and exit the maze in Los Angeles, but only if you found a reliable way to navigate. Otherwise, the Labyrinth would trick you and trying to kill you at every turn. When the tunnel network collapsed after Daedalus died, Percy had been relieved. The idea that the maze was regenerating itself, honeycombing its way under the earth again and providing a spacious new home for monsters…that didn't make him happy. He had enough problems already.
"I'm already planning on ending Pasiphaë's reign," Rei announced. "Hazel trapped her within the Mist, but I can extract and end her once I regain my strength. Do not rely on that madwoman's creation."
"Also, even if we could find some way to use the Labyrinth, Hazel, how would we get it down there and through the passages?" Audrey pointed out. "There's no chance we could take it down there-"
"And we don't know what it might be like now," Annabeth continued. "It was dangerous enough before, under Daedalus's control, and he wasn't evil. If Pasiphaë has remade the Labyrinth the way she wanted…" She shook her head. "Hazel, maybe your underground senses could guide Reyna through, maybe Veon could help escort you with his new powers, but we've got no one else who would stand a chance. We need…uh, what are you going by now?"
"Rei," She answered flatly.
"We need Rei to come with us to Athens if we want to stand any chance against the giants when we get there, so sending Veon alone with you for backup when he hasn't gotten a proper handle on his powers…"
"I don't like that," I announced.
"And we need you here as a part of the seven."
"You're right," Hazel said glumly. "Nevermind."
Reyna cast her eyes around the group.
"Other ideas?"
"I could go," Frank offered, not sounding very happy about it. "If I'm a praetor, I should go. Maybe we could rig some sort of sled, or-"
"No, Frank Zhang." Reyna gave him a weary smile. "I hope we will work side by side in the future, but for now your place is with the crew of this ship. You are one of the seven of the prophecy."
"I'm not," Nico announced.
Everybody stopped eating. Percy stared across the circle at Nico, trying to decide if he was joking.
Hazel set down her fork. "Nico-"
"I'll go with Reyna," He said. "I can transport the statue with shadow-travel."
"That would be far faster than any regular means of travel…" Emily admitted.
"Uh…" Percy raised his hand. "I mean, I know you just got all eight of us to the surface, and that was awesome, but a year ago you said transporting just yourself was dangerous and unpredictable. A couple of times you ended up in China. Transporting a forty-foot statue and two people halfway across the world-"
"I've changed since I came back from Tartarus," Nico snapped. His eyes glittered with anger - more intensely than Percy understood. He wondered if he'd done something to offend the guy.
"Nico," Jason intervened, "we're not questioning your power. We just want to make sure you don't kill yourself trying."
"I can do it," He insisted. "I'll make short jumps - a few hundred miles each time. It's true, after each jump I won't be in any shape to fend off monsters. I'll need Reyna to defend me and the statue."
"Nico and I have been doing some training," I shrugged. "He's more than capable of handling himself alone so long as he gets a good meal in him, and if you have someone who can share energies with him, that'll make things even easier."
"Besides, a few hundred miles at a time is nothing to be ashamed of," Emily added.
Reyna had an excellent poker face. She studied the group, scanning their faces. "Any objections?"
No one spoke.
"Very well," She said, with the finality of a judge. If she had a gavel, I suspected she would have banged it. "I see no better option. But there will be many monster attacks. I would feel better taking a third person. That's the optimal number for a quest."
"Coach Hedge," Frank blurted.
Percy stared at him, not sure he'd heard correctly. "Uh, what, Frank?"
"The coach is the best choice," Frank insisted. "The only choice. He's a good fighter; he's a certified protector; he'll get the job done."
"A faun," Reyna said.
"Satyr!" Barked the coach. "And, yeah, I'll go. Besides, when you get to Camp Half-Blood, you'll need somebody with connections and diplomatic skills to keep the Greeks from attacking you. Just let me go make a call - er, I mean, get my baseball bat."
He got up and shot Frank an unspoken message. Despite the fact that he'd just been volunteered for a likely suicidal mission, the coach looked grateful. He jogged off towards the ship's ladder, tapping his hooves together like an excited kid. I suppose it made sense; his wife was at Camp Half-Blood, after all, pregnant with his child.
I blinked, trying to stop my train of thought. Semi-omnipotence could get overwhelming if I started to think too hard. Especially when I had urges to take that information and use it against him.
"I'd prefer to send someone with you as well," Rei said. "My team is large enough that we can spare one or two hands to assist you. While Veon and I have to go to Athens, if Gaea does awaken, we'll be joining you at Camp Half-Blood soon enough. Until then-"
"I'll go," A small voice announced, drawing all of their attention.
The smaller version of Rei had all but blended into the crowd better than even Nico in a dark, shadowy room. Her stuffed poodle was sitting on her shoulder, and she was wearing a large shirt as a dress with a blanket pulled around her. She might've looked like a girl at a slumber party if some of them didn't know any better. She had otherwise gone unnoticed by everyone, but she wasn't invisible, and her aura was thick even if she kept it from radiating dangerous levels.
"I don't believe we've been introduced," Reyna said.
The little girl stood, the blanket around her shoulders still touching the ground she was so short. "I am called No. 1, but if you'd prefer you can just call me One. I am a monster from Tartarus. Over a thousand times I have died, and over a thousand Remnants lie within me, ready to re-inflict those deaths, however horrific they may be. I hold the power of the Curse, a punishment from Styx herself that dictates my actions are unburdened by fate. I am a force of destruction; an army lies within me unbound by gods, and will be your best chance at surviving the army that might pursue you. And I have great reserves of energy that I can pass on to Nico should he require it. As a child of the Underworld, our energies should be compatible."
"She helped us fend off the army of monsters at the Doors," Annabeth added. "She even managed to hold off Tartarus himself."
"You saw him?" Piper muttered, before realizing that she shouldn't have spoken. "Nevermind, I know that must be a terrible experience for you to recall."
"You've wanted nothing more than to free yourself," Rei said. "But you didn't understand the meaning of freedom. At first, freedom from Tartarus was what you wanted. In reality, you want freedom from your fate."
"And I have it now, thanks to you, big sister," One said. "And now…I don't know what I am to do with this freedom. Right now, it sounds like the best thing I can do is help you stop this war. Right now, Curses have been released upon the Roman and Greek armies. They've been mostly docile, but I can use them to hold off the war between the camps as long as possible. I can stop Octavian, or at least delay him, or I can kill him. But that would hardly be advised, as he is the only force keeping the Roman army together. Without him, all of the creatures he has gathered will have no master. In being a pawn of Gaea, he is unintentionally buying us time. I can influence him, I can bolster the defenses at Camp Half-Blood and can organize the Romans to make them see reason. And I can send messages from the praetor to your people under the guise of whispers in the wind, dreams, and such. I am your best chance, Reyna, if you would trust me to guide your way."
"One," Kaze suddenly said, but he pronounced it in his Japanese accent so that it was two syllables; oh-nay, like the beginning of 'Onesan.'
"Ane," I suggested. "It means 'sister' in Japanese."
Kaze nodded. "Ane."
"Close to being spelled 'one' in English, meaning sister in Japanese," Audrey relayed. "Sounds better than just calling you 'No. 1' or 'One.' Fancier than 'Annie' too."
No. 1 nodded. "I've never had a name before, so I wouldn't know. I've always just been a number. Ane it is then."
Nico rose. "Then it's settled. Me, Reyna, Coach, and Ane. I should go and rest before the first passage. We'll meet at the statue at sunset."
He left abruptly, without giving Reyna any chance to counter the declaration. She stared at Ane, but there wasn't disapproval in her eyes, just curiosity.
Once Nico was gone, Hazel frowned. "He's acting strangely. I'm not sure he's thinking this through."
"He'll be okay," Jason said.
"I hope you're right." She passed her hand over the ground. Diamonds broke the surface - a glittering milky way of stones. "We're at another crossroads. The Athena Parthenos goes west, the Argo II goes east. I hope we chose correctly."
"I think it's fine, which is saying something," Rei said. "If my instincts are saying that we're going the right way, we shouldn't take that lightly."
Even so, the air was unsettled. Despite all we'd been through and all the battles we'd won, we still seemed no closer to defeating Gaea. Sure, we'd released Thanatos, closed the Doors of Death, and we had at least extracted the Primordials to some extent. At least now we could kill monsters and make them stay dead in Tartarus for a while and we had a fighting chance if we could ever get the Primordials' powers under control. But the giants were back - all the giants. Gaea was close to waking, and in trying to stop her we might just end up waking her fully, becoming the sacrifices that Pasiphaë and the other opponents we'd faced had constantly bragged about - needing a boy and a girl to spill the blood of Olympus. I had a feeling that the Primordials didn't want to stop Gaea's waking; they were like Saiyans in the sense that they wanted a powerful enemy so that they could have some entertainment. We'd have to learn their powers before Gaea awoke in order to stop her.
"One thing bothers me," Percy said. "If the Feast of Spes is in two weeks, and Gaea needs the blood of two demigods to wake - what did Clytius call it? The blood of Olympus? - then aren't we don't exactly what Gaea wants, heading to Athens? If we don't go, and she can't sacrifice any of us, doesn't that mean she can't wake up fully?"
I wanted to protest, but Annabeth beat me to the punch, taking Percy's hand. He seemed enchanted by the sight of her in the mortal world, without the Death Mist, her blonde hair catching the sunlight - even if she was still thin and wan, like him, and her eyes were stormy with thought.
"Percy, prophecies cut both ways," She said. "If we don't go, we may lose our best and only chance to stop her. Athens is where our battle lies. We can't avoid it. Besides, trying to thwart prophecies never works. Gaea could capture us somewhere else, or spill the blood of some other demigods. We aren't the only ones she can use, and we can't just run away forever."
"Yeah, you're right," Percy said. "I don't like it, but you're right."
The mood of the group became as gloomy as Tartarus air until Piper broke the tension. "Well!" She sheathed her blade and patted her cornucopia. "Good picnic. Who wants dessert?"
"Onesan?" Kaze asked.
He seemed to have been waiting for the chance to pull Rei away, and since everyone dispersed to regroup and prepare for the next journey, he finally got the chance.
"Can I speak with you?" He requested, looking around for anyone that would overhear him. Just in case, he spoke in Japanese.
She nodded. "Sure, Kaze. What's the matter?"
He pulled her away from the crew, heading over to the hill where the Athena Parthenos loomed. Rei had refused to let go of my hand - or maybe it was the other way around and I refused to let go of her. Either way, Kaze didn't seem to protest to me coming along as well. Almost hiding behind the statue, he brought us to a halt and gazed worryingly at his sister.
"Onesan…what happened when you found the Primordials? Are you both okay?"
She averted her gaze. "Kaze…I'd rather not talk about it."
"But-"
"No, just…please try and understand, all right? What happened isn't something I can explain."
"Onesan…are you in danger?"
"No, I'm fine, Kaze. I'm all right. I promise. I've still gotta learn how to control this power, but the worst of it is over."
"But you won't tell me what the worst was. When the worst is over, that is when you can speak of it, because it is in the past. You are hiding what happened because it is still affecting us."
She sighed. "Can't pull one over on you, can I, Ototo?" She held her free hand out and swept her hand across his face. Though it looked real, it was made of clay and held together by the earth's magic.
He took her hand, feeling its warmth - its life - on his cool skin. "I just want to know that you are safe. The gods have taken much. Please do not let them take more."
She sighed, and I could sense her resignation just from the way her hand relaxed within mine. "You can't tell anyone, all right?"
He quickly held his hand to his chest. "On my heart," He swore.
She still looked reluctant, but it was more like she was trying to find a place to start. "When we were down in Tartarus, we had to constantly fight Tartarus's control while we were gaining the favor of the Primordials. It was confusing, twisted, and even I don't remember it all. But…what I do know is that Veon got taken over by Tartarus while we were down there. It's a long story, but he won the favor of both the Primordials, but in doing so he acted as a negator, weakening both their powers and making them all vulnerable to Tartarus's control. We went in and tried to save all of them - me, Emily, and Audrey. We managed to stop the Primordials from inciting the end of the world, and I managed to win the favor of both of the Primordials as well."
"That sounds great. And you managed to make it back here wielding their powers, right?"
She nodded. "I made it back with both Chaos and Order within me."
"Both…?" I could see the gears spinning in Kaze's head. "But then…if you have both, what does Veon-san have?"
"I told you, he fell under Tartarus's control. And…we weren't able to free him."
Kaze's eyes darted to me and then back to Rei in disbelief and then utter panic. I had to admit, he was relatively calm for finding out that Tartarus had escaped into the Overworld - or at least a part of him, anyway. But Kaze had seen what I had done to Clytius, he knew that Tartarus was capable of summoning his powers up here, and who knows what else?
"Y-You…you're-?"
"He's in control!" Rei jumped in. "So long as I'm with him, Tartarus has been tamed by his parents. I just have to stay near him to keep him in control - physical contact is the most ideal."
"Why…?" Kaze asked gently, already suspecting the answer.
"Because I couldn't just leave him down there, and we couldn't both stay down there - not when we're both needed up here."
"You wouldn't be separated from him." Rei nodded. Kaze scratched his ear nervously, probably out of habit since I doubted his artificial body could feel itches. "I understand that. When I was separated from Azrael, I felt my world become unstable. I suppose it's because he's the only one who can keep me…me. But I was really worried about him. I can't imagine having to make a choice like that, whether or not to leave him at the mercy of Tartarus for who knows how long? That's no choice at all, is it?"
"That's what I keep saying. He doesn't believe so, but it's fine so long as we're together. I would've never just left him."
"I'm right here, you know," I muttered.
She turned and poked my temple lightly. "Yes, but you seem to be in another world every time I try and explain. At least Kaze understands. Which reminds me, you and Azrael?"
He shrugged; now it was his turn to avert his gaze. "I do not know. It is nothing official."
"Well have you asked him?"
"No! And you will not either!"
She laughed, and the air seemed to lighten and grow warm as the sunset began to turn the area orange. For now, we could pretend we had a sense of normalcy before the final trials ahead of us began.