Chapter 2 - Can UPS Take a 40-Foot Tall Statue of My Mom?

Frank and Hazel told their respective stories of what happened inside the House of Hades. I was content to sit in Percy's lap and lace my fingers through his. We weren't ghosts anymore. We were real again, and we were in the light of the early morning sun.

"Oh, by the way." Jason said, as they were exchanging tales. "I resigned my office and gave Frank a field promotion to praetor, unless you want to contest that ruling."

Percy grinned at Frank. "No argument here." And a tiny bit of worry left me. I had wondered if Percy would have felt a responsibility to return to Camp Jupiter and New Rome. Now, though, he was free. We could go home. Well, I thought we probably had to go save the world from an evil goddess and an army of giants, but yeah, home.

"Praetor?" Hazel looked at Frank in wonder.

"Yeah, well, I know it seems weird -"

"It seems perfect!" Hazel corrected. She tried to hug him and winced. I could tell she had a couple broken ribs. When we got back to the ship I'd help fix that. Frank's arm was also hurt.

"Way to go Zhang!" Leo said to Frank. I was glad to see them getting along better than when we had left. "Now you can order Octavian to fall on his sword."

I grinned at the thought and continued to absently run one of my hands through the grass.

"Tempting." Frank admitted. Then he turned to us. "But you guys. Tartarus has to be the real story. What happened down there? How did you -"

Percy laced his other hand through mine and tickled my palm. "We'll tell you the story." Percy assured the group. "But not yet, ok? I'm not ready to remember that place." I had to agree. This world still felt like a dream. Perhaps it was a dream and I'd wake up soon. But I wanted to live in it for as long as I possibly could.

"No. Not right now." I confirmed. Then I noticed the Argo II pulling up. "Uh, I think our ride is coming." I slid dejectedly out of Percy's lap. Coach Hedge was probably on board and I was having too nice a day to be yelled at about sitting in my boyfriend's lap.

"That's my boy!" Leo yelled to Festus.

Coach Hedge yelled down to us, "About time! What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting." Then I saw her. Reyna. She had gotten my message. She had flown here, just because I asked her to. She looked horribly beaten up, scratched, bruised, and bloody. I didn't know what she had been through but she had done it alone. I was in awe of her at that moment.

"Thank you." I mouthed to her. She gave me a slight nod.

Leo got on board the ship and lowered the Athena Parthenos down to the hillside. I wondered if the tourists could see it. As he did, I joined Coach Hedge, Frank and Hazel in the sick bay to tend to their wounds. Then we met on the hillside again. It was my first time seeing the Athena Parthenos not in that horrible cave. I had a crazy urge to hug it. I had done it. Even where generations of my siblings had failed, had died. I did it.

Reyna walked around the base of the statue, probably looking for a trap. "It looks newly made." was her only comment. She probably thought we had made it as a trick, as sort of a modern day Trojan horse.

"Yeah." Leo explained. "We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex, it wasn't hard."

Easy for him to say. I sat down on the picnic blanket, using Percy for support as I sat, looking forward to real, actual food. "Hey Reyna." I called to her. "Have some food with us. Join us." Perhaps if she got to know us better she'd stop wondering if everything was a trap. In truth, I liked Reyna. I wanted us to be friends. I wondered if we'd ever be able to close the gap between us to the point that it was possible to actually be friends.

Reyna looked at me, doubtless still thinking it was a trap. "Alright." She said finally. I scooted over to make room for her, and also so I could have an excuse to lean against Percy. I was weak and wobbly but also really enjoying all the sensations I was feeling again. Wind. The smell of the ocean in the distance. The sound of Percy's heart beating, his breath tickling the back of my neck.

We started to eat. Percy had a hamburger and I was nibbling some authentic NYC pizza. I loved those magic plates.

"So." Reyna said. "Frank Zhang, praetor?"

Frank shifted uncomfortably. That would have seemed normal in his old body, but now, it looked a little silly. "Uh, yeah. Field promotion."

"To a different legion. A legion of ghosts." I hadn't realized it until Reyna said it, but I guess she was right. Technically, Frank was the leader of an undead army. Hazel wrapped a protective arm around Frank's arm. They were both healed enough to do that now.

"Reyna." To my surprise, it was Jason who spoke up. "You should've seen him."

"He was amazing." Piper interjected.

"Frank is a leader. He makes a great praetor." Hazel insisted.

Reyna studied Frank like he was a new weapon. Something that could help her, or hurt her, and she needed to decide which. "I believe you. I approve." It was a small step, but it was a step in the right direction. Percy and I shared a small smile.

"You do?" Frank seemed surprised.

"A son of Mars, the hero who helped 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."

"Yeah. I've been wondering the same thing." Frank admitted. "The legion will listen to you, Reyna. You made it here alone, across the ancient lands."

"In doing so, I broke the laws of the Legion." I stayed silent. Percy and I had broken so many laws on our quests, it seemed a small price to pay. But I knew Roman custom and history - this was a serious offense to them. Percy was twirling one of my curls, mindlessly.

"Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon." Frank pointed out. "Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes."

I smiled. It was so much more than just his physical appearance that had changed. Before, if you told me that Frank was going to lead a couple hundred heavily armed kids, I would have grinned and shook my head in disbelief. Now, I thought he wouldn't just lead, he'd be a fabulous leader.

"I am not Caesar." Reyna pointed out. "After finding Jason's note in Diocletian's palace, tracking you down was easy. I only did what I thought was necessary."

Percy jumped in. "Reyna, you're too modest. Flying halfway around the world to answer Annabeth's plea, all because you knew it was our best chance for peace, that's pretty freakin' heroic." Percy was fiddling with the curls on the back of my head, enjoying making them go boing as he tugged each one.

I had to agree, but Reyna shrugged. "Says the demigod who fell into Tartarus and found his way back."

"He had help." I pointed out with a smirk.

"Oh, obviously." Reyna agreed with a smile. And I wondered if our future as friends was closer than I thought. "Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag."

"True." I agreed.

"Hey!" Percy gave my curl a little pull. Everyone started laughing. It felt so good, to sit here, in the sun with our friends. I saw his smile melt and knew he was thinking of Bob. I wondered if Percy held it against me that we left him there. I knew it was our best option. So much of strategy is choosing the best option, even if there isn't a good one. Even if it gets people you love killed. It was Percy's fatal flaw to try to save everyone, even if he couldn't. And I had forced him to leave Bob and Damasen behind. I wondered if he resented me.

"So -" Leo said, waving a chocolate-covered strawberry on a tiny screwdriver, "The twenty-million-peso-question, we got this slightly used forty-foot tall statue of Athena. What do we do with it?"

We turned to look at the statue. I still felt like this was all a dream.

"As fine as it looks on this hill," Reyna commented, "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?"

I nodded, still not believing that Reyna had come all this way, just because I asked her to. "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.'"

"It makes sense." Nico agreed. Percy flinched against me. I wasn't sure why - maybe he forgot Nico was there. Nico often stayed so quiet, so in the background, that people didn't notice him. I smiled at him. He was eating a pomegranate. Maybe Underworld kids really like those? Maybe it was his version of a joke. I didn't know. We'd offered him more food, but he'd declined.

"The statue is a powerful symbol." Nico continued. "A Roman returning it to the Greeks, that could heal the historic rift, maybe even heal the gods of their split personalities."

Coach Hedge ate a chocolate-covered strawberry, screwdriver and all. "Now, hold on. I like peace as much as the next satyr -"

"You hate peace," Leo reminded him.

"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 savings this statue -"

"I went to most of the trouble," I muttered.

"Because that prophecy called it the giants' bane. So why aren't we taking it to Athens with us? It's obviously our secret weapon." He looked at the Parthenos like it would start spouting lasers any second. "It looks like a ballistic missile to me. Maybe if Valdez strapped some engines to it -"

"Uh, great idea, Coach," Piper agreed, "but a lot of us have had dreams and visions of Gaea rising at Camp Half-Blood." She pulled out her dagger and set it on her plate. "Since we got back to the ship, I've been seeing some bad stuff in the knife. The Romans legion is almost within striking distance of Camp Half-Blood. They're gathering reinforcements: spirits, eagles, wolves."

"Octavian." Reyna growled like she was planning to kill him. "I told him to wait."

"When we take over command," Frank told Reyna, "our first order of business should be to load Octavian into the nearest catapult and fire him as far away as possibly."

"Agreed." Reyna smiled at him. "But for now -"

"He's intent on war," I muttered, glancing apprehensively at Piper's knife. "He'll have it, unless we stop him."

Piper turned the blade, as if checking for visions on the other side. "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 -" She looked too scared to speak.

"So Reyna takes the statue," Percy decided. "And we continue on to Athens."

"Cool with me." Leo said casually, "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 explained. "That's on the first of August. Today is -"

"July eighteenth," Frank said. "So, yeah, from tomorrow, exactly fourteen days."

Hazel flinched. "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 looked glum, "maybe we have enough time to get the Argo II to Athens, find the giants, and stop them from waking Gaea. Maybe. 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. Then she took a deep breath to try to calm down. "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."

I looked at the ground in embarrassment. I'd asked Reyna to come all this way but I hadn't really had a plan beyond that. I'd kinda…. Been fighting for my life down in Tartarus. I hadn't had time to do my usual amount of planning.

"The Labyrinth," Hazel offered. "I-I mean, if Pasiphae really has reopened it, and I think she has," she looked at Percy and I, "Well, you said the Labyrinth could take you anywhere. So maybe -"

"No!" Percy and I said at the same time. I could tell we were both tensing up just at the thought of the Labyrinth.

"Not to shoot you down, Hazel," Percy said, more gently. "It's just…." He thought about what to say for a moment. "For one thing, the passages in the Labyrinth are way too small for the Athena Parthenos. There's no chance you could take it down there -"

"And even if the maze is reopening," Which I desperately hoped it was not - Daedalus had given his life to close it. "We don't know what it might be like now. It was dangerous enough before, under Daedalus's control, and he wasn't evil. If Pasiphae has remade the Labyrinth the way she wanted -" I shook my head, trying to imagine an even worse Labyrinth. "Hazel, maybe your underground senses could guide Reyna through, but no one else would stand a chance. And we need you here. Besides, if you got lost down there -"

"You're right." Hazel agreed, looking disappointed. "Never mind."

"Other ideas?" Reyna asked.

"I could go." Frank offered. "If I'm a praetor, I should go. Maybe we could rig some sort of sled, or -"

"No, Frank Zhang." Reyna said, giving him a small 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 said quietly.

I stared at him. Was Nico really volunteering for what I thought he was?

"Nico -" Hazel began.

"I'll go with Reyna." Nico said simply. "I can transport the statue with shadow-travel."

"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 insisted. He looked like he was ready to challenge Percy to a duel to the death. I shifted, not sure what was going on. Did Nico still blame Percy for Bianca's death? I had heard the story, but I hadn't been involved on that quest. Not really - I'd been kidnapped by Luke's forces and held on Mount Tam. I had my own nightmares from that time, but I hadn't known Bianca. I'd only even seen her a couple of times - at the school we were rescuing them from and then when I helped save them from the manticore. I knew she and Nico were incredibly close, but I thought Nico had forgiven Percy for his role in Bianca's death. Now… something was going on, but I wasn't sure what.

"Nico," Jason broke in, trying to sound soothing. "We're not questioning your power. We just want to make sure you don't kill yourself trying."

"I can do it." Nico insisted, glaring around the circle as if daring us to argue. "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."

Silence followed. Reyna looked at all of us. "Any objections?" More silence. "Very well. 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 out.

Percy shifted behind me. "Uh, what, Frank?"

"The coach is the best choice. The only choice. He's a good fighter. He's a certified protector. He'll get the job done."

I looked between Frank and the Coach. Since when had they been close? What had happened while we were gone?

"A faun," Reyna said, looking skeptical.

"Satyr!" The coach insisted, like that was a deadly insult. "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."

"I should go, too." Nico said, standing up. "And rest before the first passage. We'll meet at the statue at sunset." He turned and walked to the boat.

"He's acting strangely." Hazel said quietly, staring after her brother. "I'm not sure he's thinking this through."

"He'll be okay." Jason assured her.

"I hope you're right." She waved her hand over the ground and diamonds shot through. "We're at another crossroads. The Athena Parthenos goes west. The Argo II goes east. I hope we chose correctly."

"One thing bothers me." Percy commented. "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 doing 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 reached over to take his hand. "Percy, prophecies cut both ways. 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."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't like it, but you're right." I smiled and leaned against him.

"Well!" Piper announced, sheathing her dagger. "Good picnic. Who wants dessert?"