Chapter 13 - A Victory Against Victory?

The next morning I woke up before the rest of the crew typically would. I had planned it that way and made sure to set my alarm half an hour ahead of everyone else. I slept in the sick bay again, wanting to make sure I was here if Jason took a turn for the worse. The others had all taken watches with him during the night as well. I looked at Jason, who was stirring to the alarm. I went to turn on the lights.

"Jason?" I said to him.

He blinked open his eyes. "Hey."

"Hey. We need to check you out. Then, if you want, I can see about getting you up to the mess hall for breakfast."

He grinned at me. "I'd like that. I don't like just being stuck here while decisions are made." I nodded - I had felt the same way whenever I was injured.

I checked Jason's vitals, which were still weak but surviving. I went to the medicine cupboard. "Ok. We can give you a small dose of nectar before breakfast. Then, let's try to get you upstairs. I want Piper's help with the bandages."

Jason nodded grimly. I carefully measured out a dose of nectar into a little medicine cup and handed it to Jason. He didn't drink it, instead, he sat looking at it. "What's the matter?" I asked him.

"I just -" He took a breath. "Ever since the House of Hades, this doesn't taste good anymore. It's like, when I gave up being praetor, my memories don't want me to like being Roman. Or I'm being something."

I nodded and sat on the doctor's stool so I could be eye level with him. . "Yeah. Nectar didn't taste good to me after Tartarus. I really can't explain why, Jason. Right now, I'm just grateful that it can still heal us. If you heal, you can make new memories, memories that aren't tied to being praetor. And maybe then it'll start to taste good again."

Jason looked at me gratefully and drank the little cup down. I put it in the sink and walked back to him. I helped Jason change into the clothes Piper had brought down last night - a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and loose jeans. Then, wrapping my arms around him and his around me, we managed to get him to the mess hall. Typically, I sat at the head of the table, but today I placed Jason there so Piper and I could both access him. I had brought up a bag of medical supplies. Frank and Hazel walked in holding hands. Hazel and I still avoided each others' eyes. I hated that. Hazel hadn't meant to hurt me, but she had. Even more than that, she scared me. If that was what she could show me when she wanted to be nice, what about if she actually wanted to hurt me? I'd need to get over my fear. Hazel had always been a good friend and I didn't want to treat her badly.

"Have you seen Piper?" I asked them. "I was hoping she could help with the bandages."

Frank shook his head and held up a map of Greece. "Hazel and I are going to try to figure out our best route." I nodded to him and Hazel brought over two magic bowls, which filled themselves with cereal. They spread the map on their end of the table and weighed it down with the cereal. Within moments they were deep in thought. Percy arrived next and gave me a tight hug and a kiss. When he pulled away he looked me in the eyes, clearly worried.

"I'm ok." I whispered to him. "Just… not sure what's going to happen next." Percy gave me a knowing smile. He knows how much I hate uncertainty.

He went to get us two plates and some cups. Piper arrived shortly after and looked relieved to see Jason there.

"Hey." I told her. "We need to change the bandages." She nodded. The other demigods were looking at us. "I think you all should probably focus on something else if you want to still be able to eat breakfast." I informed them. Hazel and Frank turned back to the map. Percy grabbed a magic syrup dispenser and began pouring it on his pancakes.

I rolled Jason's shirt above the wound and, with Piper murmuring words of encouragement in her charmspeak, I cut away the bandages with some surgical scissors. The wound was bad, but only barely bleeding today. It oozed blood sluggishly, but considering Jason had been run through like a shish-ka-bob, it wasn't bad. The wound on his back was still steaming, which probably wasn't a good sign for a wound. Jason looked like he was already in a lot of pain just from undoing the bandages. I poured first water, then nectar over the wound on his front. Jason's body stiffened each time and I could hear him grinding his teeth together. I pulled out a clean towel and held it to the wound. Piper placed one hand on the towel and helped Jason to lean forward. I tended the wound on his back and could tell Jason was fighting not to pass out. When I was done I nodded at Piper and handed her the clean bandages. I went to wash up and then sat down next to Percy, whose pancakes were coated with almost the entire bottle of syrup, which he was now finishing pouring on them.

"You're drowning them!" I complained.

"Hey, I'm a kid of Poseidon. I can't drown. And neither can my pancakes." I snorted with laughter and Percy grinned at me. Then he ate a huge bite of the pancakes. I rolled my eyes at him, but in truth, I loved that he could joke even when things got so serious. It wasn't that he didn't care - Percy cared about his friends more than anyone I knew, and I knew he was terrified of Jason dying - but he also knew it didn't help to be all doom-and-gloom when he couldn't do anything. I liked that. I needed that. It was hard for me, sometimes, to stay positive with all the bad in the world. Percy kept that going in me. If he hadn't shown up, sometimes I wonder if I would have made different choices. If I would have followed Luke.

"Hold still." Piper commanded Jason in charmspeak. "I know it hurts."

"It's just cold." Jason said, but I'm pretty sure everyone in the room knew he was lying.

I realized that Leo had walked in, but hadn't taken a seat yet. "What's up guys?" I could tell Leo was preparing for some top-notch Leo-style jokes today. "Ah, yes! Brownies!"

Leo had recently attached a tiny hologram of Coach Hedge onto his magic work table, Buford. I mention this only because Buford came over the loud speaker with Hedge's voice demanding that we all put some clothes on. All of us jumped, even Leo. Percy ended up spilling syrup into his orange juice, and I was just glad it wasn't on me. I was seriously running out of clean clothes. Frank had turned into a bulldog. Jason awkwardly pulled his shirt down - clearly taking Buford's message to heart.

"I thought you were getting rid of that stupid hologram." Piper demanded of Leo.

"Hey! Buford's just saying good morning. He loves his hologram. Besides, we all miss the coach. And Frank makes a cute bulldog."

Frank morphed back into his human form and glared at Leo. "Just sit down, Leo. We've got some stuff to talk about."

Leo sat down in between Hazel and Jason. I nudged Percy who scooted down a seat, then I took his, and Piper took mine so she could still be next to Jason. She smiled at me gratefully. I looked at my oatmeal. I wasn't in the mood for food - I had been looking at Jason's wound too long. Everything looked nasty. But I figured some oatmeal was the most likely to stay down.

"So," Jason began the meeting, "We're going to stay airborne and drop anchor as close as we can to Olympia. It's further inland than I'd like - about five miles - but we don't have much choice. According to Juno we have to find the goddess of victory and, um, subdue her."

Everyone was silent, thinking about the task ahead. Percy, to my disgust, tried out the syrup-infused orange juice. He shrugged and drank some more. When he glanced at me I mouthed "Gross!" and he mouthed back "Try it!".

"I'm cool with fighting the occasional goddess, but isn't Nike one of the good ones? I mean, personally, I like victory. I can't get enough of it." Percy said to the room.

I tapped my fingers on the table. Movement of any kind seems to help me think. I prefer to pace, or do combat combinations, but in this tight space tapping on the table was the best I could get. "It does seem strange." I admitted. "I understand why Nike would be in Olympia - home of the Olympics and all that. The contestants sacrificed to her. The Greeks and Romans worshipped her there for, like, twelve-hundred years, right?"

"Almost to the end of the Roman empire." Frank confirmed. "The Romans called her Victoria, but same difference. Everyone loved her. Who doesn't like to win? Not sure why we would have to subdue her."

Jason leaned forward, wincing in pain. "All I know... the ghoul Antinous said 'Victory runs rampant in Olympia.' Juno warned us that we could never heal the rift between the Greeks and Romans unless we defeated Victory." I could see beads of sweat form on his forehead. I hoped he wasn't running a fever.

"How do we defeat Victory? Sounds like one of those impossible riddles." Piper mused.

"Like making stones fly." Leo agreed. "Or eating only one Fonzi." He popped another handful of chips into his mouth. Was he seriously going to eat only chips and brownies for breakfast? I'd need to have a big-sister-ly chat with him about proper hero diet sometime, but it was pretty low on my list since I already had one person nearly dead and a deadline for the world to be destroyed. Percy continued to eat pancakes and drink his syrupy orange juice. I shook my head and took a few bites of oatmeal.

"That stuff is going to kill you." Hazel informed him.

"You kidding? So many preservatives in these things, I'll live forever." Leo joked. Percy grinned like he approved this plan. I noticed Hazel and I rolling our eyes at the boys and shared a smile with her. It felt good, like the rift between us was healing.

"But hey, about this Victory goddess being popular and great - Don't you remember what her kids are like at Camp Half-Blood?" Leo pointed out.

He had a point. "He's got a point." Percy said and I ducked my head to hide my smile. Percy and I had started to think way too much alike recently. "Those kids in Cabin Seventeen - they're super competitive. When it comes to capture the flag, they're almost worse than the Ares kids. Uh, no offence Frank."

Frank shrugged. He was the least war-like child of a war god I had ever met. "You're saying that Nike has a dark side?"

"Her kids sure do." I said, thinking aloud. "They never turn down a challenge. They have to be number one at everything. If their mom is that intense -"

"Woah." Piper said, putting her hands on the table as if to steady the room. "Guys, all the gods are split between their Greek and Roman aspects, right? If Nike's that way and she's the goddess of victory -"

"She'd be really conflicted." I summed up, thinking about what a bad state of mind my mom was in when I saw her in May. "She'd want one side or the other to win so she can declare a victor. She'd literally be fighting with herself."

Hazel fiddled with her cereal bowl and the map. "But we don't want one side or the other to win. We've got to get the Greeks and Romans on the same team."

"Maybe that's the problem." Jason commented. I could tell he was in a lot of pain and fading. He'd need to head back to the infirmary when we were done. "If the goddess of victory is running rampant, torn between Greek and Roman, she might make it impossible to bring the two camps together."

"How?" Leo asked, sounding confused. "Start a flame war on Twitter?"

Hazel looked confused at that. Maybe Piper hadn't explained the madness that was Twitter.

"Maybe she's like Ares. That guy can spark a fight just by walking into a crowded room." Percy mused while he stabbed another pancake and ate it. "If Nike radiates competitive vibes or something, she could aggravate the whole Greek-Roman rivalry, big-time."

Frank pointed at Percy, "You remember that old sea god in Atlanta, Phorcys? He said that Gaea's plans always have lots of layers. This could be part of the Giants' strategy - keep the two camps divided; keep the gods divided. If that's the case, we can't let Nike play us against each other. We should send a landing party of four - two Greeks, two Romans. The balance may help keep her balanced." Frank was smart and a good leader. I liked having another strategist on the team. We could work well in tandem.

"I think Frank's right." I agreed. "A party of four. We'll have to be careful who goes. We don't want to do anything that might make the goddess, um, more unstable." I didn't say it, but really didn't want to be a part of the team. Seeing my mom split between her two aspects was horrible. I knew seeing Nike split like that would bring back all those memories.

"I'll go." Piper offered. "I can try charmspeaking."

I shook my head. "Not this time, Piper. Nike's all about competition. Aphrodite… well, she is too, in her own way. I think Nike might see you as a threat." Thankfully, Piper seemed to understand. She nodded at me and began looking at the others.

"Who should go then?"

"Um, Jason and Percy should not go together." I said, working it out as I spoke. I wished Leo had installed a whiteboard in the mess hall so I could write this stuff out as I said it. "Jupiter and Poseidon - bad combination. Nike could start you two fighting easily."

Percy gave me a cute sideways smile full of mischief. "Yeah, we can't have another incident like in Kansas. I might kill my bro Jason."

"Or I might kill my bro Percy." Jason shot back.

"Which proves my point." I said, raising my eyebrows at the two of them. "We also shouldn't send Frank and me together. Mars and Athena? That would be just as bad."

"Ok…" Leo said, looking like he was trying to keep track of all of this. "So, Percy and me for the Greeks, Frank and Hazel for the Romans. Isn't that the ultimate non-competitive dream team or what?"

I looked at Frank for confirmation. I figured it was as good as we were going to get. Frank's expression seemed to say the same thing.

"It could work." Frank said. "I mean, no combination is going to be perfect, but Poseidon, Hephaestus, Pluto, Mars… I don't see any huge antagonism there."

Hazel was looking at the map. "I still wish we could've gone through the Gulf of Corinth. I was hoping we could visit Delphi, maybe get some advice. Plus, it's such a long way around the Peloponnese."

"Yeah." Leo agreed. "It's July 22nd already. Counting today, it's only ten days until -"

"I know." Jason interrupted. I could tell he was thinking that he may not even live the full ten days. "But Juno was clear. The shorter way would have to be suicide."

Piper thought aloud, "As for Delphi, what's going on there? If Apollo doesn't have his Oracle anymore -"

"Probably something to do with that creep, Octavian." Percy guessed. "Maybe he was so bad at telling the future he broke Apollo's powers."

Jason grinned at that. I had only met Octavian once but the guy was a menace. And the stories the others told about him? He was a complete bully and I hated bullies.

"Hopefully we can find Apollo and Artemis. Then you can ask him yourself." Jason decided. "Juno said the twins might be willing to help us."

"A lot of unanswered questions." Frank muttered. "A lot of miles to cover before we get to Athens." A lot of things that could go wrong, I finished in my head.

"First things first, you guys have to find Nike and figure out how to subdue her, whatever Juno meant by that. I still don't understand how to defeat a goddess who can control victory. Seems impossible." I said, trying to think of what Juno could have meant and how many ways it would come back to bite us in the end.

I noticed Leo grinning at me like a lunatic. "We'll see about that. Let me get my collection of grenades and I'll meet you guys on the deck." He got up and walked out of the room.