radoddish-saying it's going to be okay definitely makes it not okay!
SEASBLU- hamilton!
Coach, Rosie had decided, was holding out on them. As soon as he pulled out a sleeve of Tagalongs, she made a mental note to barge into his room more often.
"Girl Scout cookies?" She asked in surprise, giving him a questioning look. Where on earth had he gotten Girl Scout cookies?
Coach huffed. "What's the problem, Reiger?"
She held her hands up in surrender. "Nothing- I'm just more of a thin mint girl myself."
Coach pulled out a box of thin mints, tossing them over to her. "So you're telling me your powers have gone AWOL."
She winced- hearing it out loud made it so much worse. She pulled a cookie out of the sleeve, biting into it. "Yeah. I mean, they're still there but...weaker."
Coach chewed loudly, bits of cookie flying everywhere. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Gotta be honest, cupcake- I've never heard of that happening. Did Jackson ever experience something like that?"
Rosie sighed. "I don't know," she admitted, once again cursing her stupidity for holding such a long grudge against Percy. If only she had accepted him sooner- she had questions, so many questions she wanted to ask him. Her stubbornness was more often than not her vice.
Coach hesitated, a worried look on his face. "And you said only Hazel knows about this?"
"Yeah," she replied, discarding the box of cookies to the side.
Coach sighed. "Let's keep this between the three of us, okay? No telling Valdez or McLean." Not like Leo and I talk anymore, she thought "I don't want this getting out to...anyone. We don't want someone using this to their advantage."
Rosie laughed humorlessly, glancing down at her clasped hands.
"Reiger? You okay?"
"I don't even like these stupid powers and yet...I'm useless without 'em." She couldn't be Percy- the closest thing she could do was use her powers to protect the crew and ship. Now, she didn't even have that ability.
Coach gave her a stern look. "Drop and give me twenty!"
"Coach-"
"None of that negativity, Reiger, do it!"
With a sigh, she threw herself down to the floor of Coach's cabin, completing twenty push-ups.
Coach wagged his finger at her menacingly when she was done. "I better not hear you say that again- I mean it, cupcake."
She rolled her eyes. "Okay, dad," she muttered under her breath.
Coach shot up from his desk chair, an angry look in his eyes. "What did you call me, Reiger?"
"Uh, sorry-"
"Who told you?!" He demanded. "Zhang blabbed, didn't he?"
Now she was really confused. "Coach, what?"
"Oh, I am going to flatten him-"
She didn't understand- why was he getting so fired up about being called a dad? And what did Frank have to do with it?
She thought of the tense conversation she caught Coach having. She was suddenly hit with a wave of realization, a gasp escaping her mouth.
"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "Mellie! Is Mellie pregnant?!"
Coach's eyes widened, as his eyebrows furrowed. "Uh...so you didn't know?" he said nervously.
"Oh my god, Mellie's pregnant!" Rosie jumped up with a laugh, clapping her hands together.
Coach huffed, looking extremely uncomfortable at Rosie's excitement. "Reiger, enough of that girly squealing!"
"You're going to be a dad!" She exclaimed, trying to wrap her mind around a mini Coach Hedge. "Oh, I totally call babysitting."
"Keep your voice down!" He demanded in a panicked zone.
Rosie paused. "Hold up, wait. Are you telling me you told Zhang before the rest of us?" She was slightly offended by this: after all, she and Coach went way back.
"Not intentionally!" He barked. "A mistake, just like me telling you-"
"You old goat, you're going to be a dad!" She grinned, swatting him on the arm.
Coach's face fell, as Rosie's words hit him. "Yeah," He said softly. "I'm going to be a dad."
The smile fell off Rosie's face as she realized what Coach was thinking. "Coach…" she started cautiously. "You're going to be fine-"
He waved her off violently. "You kids come first. I have a duty to protect-"
"Coach."
"I have to be prepared. We don't know what's coming-"
"You're going to have a kid," she insisted. "A little baby satyr that makes homemade nukes and is terrifying good with war terminology."
"Reiger-"
"You'll tell glory stories of the Argo II over dinners of tofu tacos. I, obviously, will be at the forefront of these stories."
Coach gave her a small smile. "I hope so."
She smiled back at him. "Congrats, Gleeson."
He shot her a stern look. "That's Coach to you, Reiger."
"Right. Sorry." She started towards the door. "Thanks for meeting with me, Coach."
"And Reiger?" He called out as she swung open the door. "Don't worry about Valdez. Those things tend to work themselves out."
She froze, panicking and blushing for a brief second.
"Coach, have you been reading my diary?" She joked, turning back towards him.
"I know things. You think it's fun for a satyr to be stuck on this ship with all the raging teenage hormones?"
She paused. "Touché," she admitted, shutting the door and sitting back on Coach's bed. "How...how long have you known?"
"I felt a shift after we lost Chase and Jackson. I...I've been feeling a lot," he finished with a shudder.
Rosie felt slightly selfish hearing these words. She had never considered how much of a toll the crew's emotions had on Coach, who was especially attuned to emotions as a satyr.
"I...I'm sorry, Coach."
"Don't be, Reiger. It comes with the job. I've gotten used to the pain."
She nodded tensely. "Right."
"So," He said after a pause, clasping his hands together. "What are we gonna do about this Valdez thing?"
Rosie let out a shocked laugh. "We?" Coach didn't exactly strike her as the lovey-dovey type.
"I'm a softie for young love; so what, Reiger?"
"I'm not doing anything about it, Coach." That was obviously the only plan that made sense: she couldn't risk it.
"How come?!" He barked.
"It's like a fire... I'm not going to kindle it. Eventually, it'll die." That was her hope. Eventually, her feelings for Leo would just fizzle out.
Coach looked confused. "Dumb analogy when he can conjure fire, Reiger."
"What are you, an English teacher?" She asked, exasperated and a little embarrassed to be having this conversation with Coach.
"You could try talking to him."
"Or I could do more of those pushups for fun."
"Watch it, Reiger."
Rosie paused, looking away. She couldn't look at Coach when she asked this question. "I...I don't suppose you know how he feels?" Morbid curiosity was going to be the death of her.
Coach let out a sympathetic cluck. "Emotions...are all wonky. I'll tell you that in my experience boys are much harder to read than girls. Maybe it's that toxic masculinity thing- I don't know. And honestly, Valdez's mind terrifies me; a lot of chaos in that kid."
"Right," she said, feeling even more embarrassed. "Forget I asked."
"I do know one thing: you're his best friend. I could sense then even back at Wilderness, even though the two of you were a pain in my ass."
Rosie grinned. "And one day I'll make up for that."
Coach scoffed. "I'm sure," he said sarcastically. "Now enough chitchat- you're late for duty, aren't you?"
She winced. "Yeah." She should've been on deck five minutes ago for duty with Frank and Piper. She closed her eyes briefly, aware of how long and sleepless the night had been.
"You been sleeping okay, Reiger?"
"Fine, Coach."
"Reiger-"
"HELP!"
Coach and Rosie both instinctively jumped up, heading for the door.
"That's Frank!" Rosie exclaimed to him as they bounded up the stairs. Behind her, she could hear Hazel's door opening, footsteps following them.
"What's going on here?!" Coach shouted, leaping across the deck to where a small crowd had formed: Frank, Piper, and Leo.
Rosie came to a stop as Piper whipped around, her face frozen in shock. "Jason's falling!" She shouted.
"What?" Hazel exclaimed, appearing by Rosie's shoulder.
"Look!" Leo pointed over the railing.
As Rosie peeked over it, her stomach dropped in dread, aware of the sight of Jason, quickly dwindling in size as he headed towards the water.
"What do we do?!" She asked in a panicked tone.
"Zhang, get down there!" Leo ordered.
"I'd never make it in time!" Frank argued.
"Sure, have flying powers but never use them-"
"Enough you two!" Coach barked at them.
"We're running out of time!" Hazel yelled urgently.
"What do we do?!" Rosie repeated.
Piper suddenly pushed Leo and Frank to the side, leaning over the railing.
"WAKE UP!" Piper screamed in her loudest charmspeak voice.
"So," Jason began by shooting a sheepish, embarrassed smile at all of them sitting around the Mess Hall table. "I want to first start off by emphasizing how sorry I am about falling asleep and almost falling to my death. Again, my bad."
Leo picked up his head from his pancakes briefly to snort. "Real Jason move," he teased, fidgeting with the astrolabe at his side. He went everywhere with that stupid thing- once those kids had wanted it for some reason, it became his most prized posession.
"Alright, Leo, spare me the old man jokes."
Leo pouted. "I gotta be real, bro, I've got a ton."
Piper rolled her eyes, sliding a napkin towards Leo. "Write them down, Leo," she said. "We're just glad you're okay, Jason."
"What kind of soldier falls asleep on duty?" Coach grumbled through a spoonful of oatmeal.
"Anyways," Jason spoke loudly over Coach. "As I was, er, falling...I had a dream. A few, actually." He took a sip of tea before continuing. "First off, those dwarves from Bologna...they actually messed with the Romans a bit, definitely delaying them from coming to camp- they've been stealing supplies and sabotaging them."
Rosie glanced at Piper across the table with a sly grin. "Roman Jerk pulled through," she said, remembering their plea with Grant to help them stall the Romans.
Piper smiled softly back at her. "He did."
Jason raised his eyebrows. "Grant did this?"
"Who's Grant?" Hazel asked, confused.
Jason reddened. "Er, nothing," he said, looking down. "My, um, dream changed after that...I saw Reyna and Octavian at Camp with Rachel and Grover Underwood."
She had never met Grover, but knew that Percy spoke highly of him- Grover was for Percy what Piper was for Rosie.
"Underwood!" Coach exclaimed. "Good satyr."
"What did Reyna and Octavian say?" Frank pressed, leaning forward in his seat.
"Here's the thing," Jason said, sighing and running a hand through his shaggy, blond hair. "I know this'll sound weird. I'm not even sure I believe it, but...Rachel had a note. From Annabeth...from Tartarus."
A silence fell among the mess hall, as the news Jason was telling them hit them.
A note from Annabeth. That could only mean one thing…Percy and Annabeth were alive.
"The note...the note said that Reyna had to be the one to get the statue and bring it to Camp Half-Blood. Something about it being the only way to unite Greeks and Romans."
Piper shook her head, letting out a laugh of disbelief. "A letter from Annabeth," she said in amazement. "I don't see how that's possible-"
"They're alive," Leo cut in, list of jokes aside. "Thank the gods and pass the syrup!"
Rosie rolled her eyes at Leo's obviously sentimental nature.
"What does it mean?" Frank asked, a worried look on his face.
"It means pass the syrup, Zhang," Leo quipped. "These pancakes could use some more."
Frank slided Leo the syrup, shaking his head. "Reyna would never risk coming to find us," he claimed. "You guys know it's forbidden for us to come to the ancient lands. She'd be stripped of her titles."
"We don't even know if she could survive," Hazel mentioned. "Think of how hard it was for all of us to get here."
Piper caught Rosie's eye, and she knew what they were both thinking: Grant had managed to do it.
"Well, duh," Coach said. "We do have the satyr advantage." This made Rosie smile to herself.
Jason sighed. "Crossing the Atlantic is a hard journey. But if anyone can make it...It'd be Reyna."
Piper looked up from her cereal, giving Jason a little smile. "Well, I'd love to see Reyna again," she said. "How is she supposed to find us, though?"
"Iris message?" Hazel suggested.
Coach waved her off. "Those aren't working well," he said. "Terrible reception! I swear, every night I could kick that rainbow goddess-"
He broke off suddenly, his face turning bright red. Rosie snapped her head up, realizing what he had done. She tried catching Frank's eye, who remained completely oblivious.
Leo shot Coach a shit-eating grin. "Coach? Who have you been calling every night, Coach? Hmm?"
"No one!" Coach snapped quickly. "I just mean- the thing is-"
"He means we've already tried," Rosie quickly cut in, Coach shooting her a grateful look. She noticed Leo's face scrunching up in confusion. "Gaea's probably interfering, anyway. Contacting the Romans is even harder. They're probably shielding themselves, right?"
Rosie looked down, avoiding the eyes of the crew members.
"Right," Jason said, sounding a little unconvinced. "Um-anyways. Reyna will find us. She mentioned that she's expecting me to go to a certain place on our way to the House of Hades. I forgot about it...but she's right. I need to go there."
"Where?" Piper asked.
"This place is called, um, Split. Uh, we should actually almost be there. Leo?"
Leo punched his intercom button, listening for Festus. "How's it going, Festus?"
Festus mechanically croaked.
"Ten minutes to the harbor," Leo translated. "Though I'm still not getting why we want to go to Croatia- especially a town called Split- kinda ominous, don't you think?"
"Wait," Hazel cut in. "Why are we going to Croatia?"
Ever since their encounter with Sciron, Rosie had sensed the uneasiness everyone had around Hazel. They were no doubt intimidated by her- Rosie, however, had no trouble looking her in the eyes. She knew what it was like to be avoided because of powers- it wasn't fun.
"Technically," Leo interjected. "We've been in Croatian territory for the past day or so- all that coastline we've been sailing past is Croatia. I guess back in the Roman days it was called...what'd you say, Professor Grace? Bodacious?"
"Dalmatia."
Rosie involuntarily jumped, dropping her fork to the table with a clatter. Piper turned to her, holding in a laugh. Rosie reddened, quickly picking up her fork again.
Freaking Nico DiAngelo- she always forgot that he was there, scaring the crap out of her whenever he spoke.
Nico ignored Rosie, staring straight ahead at Jason. "Croatia used to be Dalmatia- a major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's palace, don't you, Jason?"
"Whose palace?" Coach belched. "And is Dalmatia where those Dalmatian dogs come from? That 101 Dalmatians movie- man, I still have nightmares."
Rosie tilted her head in confusion at him. She loved that movie. "Coach, why the heck would you have nightmares about that movie?"
Coach took a deep breath, like he was planning to launch into a huge speech.
"Nico is right," Jason quickly interrupted. "I need to go to his palace. Reyna will go there, because she knows I will go there."
"How come?" Piper asked.
"Reyna and I used to talk about Diocletian," he admitted. "We both kind of idolized him as a leader. We talked about visiting his palace- we knew it would be impossible, though. Traveling to the ancient lands is forbidden, but..we made a pact to go there if we were ever able to."
"Diocletian," Leo pondered, shrugging. "I've got nothing. Why is he important?'
Frank let out a shocked gasp. "He was the last great pagan emperor!"
Leo rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised that you know that?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Frank screeched in a high-pitched tone. "He was the last one who worshipped the Olympian gods, before Constantine came along and adopted Christianity."
"I didn't realize we were in history class," Leo muttered, sagging in his seat. Rosie thought of their Wilderness days, how they spent history class doodling and trying to launch spit balls at Isabel and her cronies.
Hazel nodded. "I vaguely remember something like that, Frank," she agreed. "The nuns at my school taught us that Diocletian was a huge villain, right along with Nero and Caligula." She glanced at Jason, suddenly confused. "Um...why exactly do you idolize him?"
"He wasn't a total villain!" Jason quickly went into defending himself. His hands started gesturing wildly with excitement. "I mean, yeah, he persecuted Christians which...wasn't great. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. Demigods know he was son of Jupiter- the last demigod to rule Rome. He was also the first emperor ever to retire, like peacefully, and give up his power. He was from Dalmatia, so he moved back there and built a retirement place. The town of Split grew up around…"
Jason faltered as he saw Leo, who was using the pen Piper gave him to pretend to take notes.
"Go on, Professor Grace! I wanna get an A on the test!" Leo exclaimed.
Jason sighed wearily. "The abuse I take," he muttered under his breath.
"So why is Diocletian's Palace so special?" Piper asked.
Nico leaned forward, a creepy smile on his face. Rosie grimaced. "It's said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian."
"Who was a son of Jupiter," Jason said. "His tomb was destroyed centuries ago, but Reyna and I used to wonder if we could find Diocletian's ghost and ask where he was buried...well, according to legends, his scepter was buried there with him."
"Ah...that legend," Nico said with a smirk.
"What...what legend?" Rosie asked nervously, not loving how into this Nico was.
"Supposedly Diocletian's scepter could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods."
Rosie shuddered, thinking of the soldiers they encountered in Charleston.
Leo's eyes widened. "Whoa. Okay...I'm interested now. Might be nice to have an army of pagan zombies on our side when we go to the House of Hades."
"Not exactly how I would put, but yeah, sure, Leo," Jason said.
"We're running out of time," Frank reminded them "It's already July 9th. We have to get to Epirus, close the Doors of Death-"
"Which are guarded," Hazel interjected. "By a smoky giant and a sorceress who wants...well, I don't know what she wants. According to Pluto, she plans to 'rebuild her domain'. It's bad enough that my dad felt the need to come and warn me."
"We won't take long in Split," Jason reassured them. "But looking for the secepter is worth a try. When we get to the palace, I'll leave a message for Reyna, letting her know what route we're taking."
"You'll need my help," Nico quietly piped up.
Jason gulped, looking nervous. "Okay, Nico."
Piper nodded. "That sounds like fun- I'll come, too."
Nico shook his head. "No, Piper. It should only be me and Jason. His ghost might appear for a son of Jupiter, but it'll get spooked otherwise. I'm the only one who can talk to his spirit...not even Hazel can."
The ship's bell went off, Festus croaking loudly.
"We're here!" Leo announced. "Time to Split."
Rosie used her hand to muffle her laugh.
Frank groaned. "Can we possibly leave Valdez in Croatia?"
Jason stood. "Frank, you're in charge-"
"Frank's in charge?!" Leo exclaimed in disbelief.
"-in charge of defending the ship. You've got repairs to do, Leo. The rest of you, help out wherever you can. Nico and I…" Jason broke off with a sigh. "We've got a ghost to find."
i love hearing your guys' thoughts on the fic so far! any predictions of what's going to happen? favorite parts?
