I guess the one saving grace for the day was that I wasn't the only one to pass out during the venti attack.
After I re-enacted my version of Ben Franklin's kite in a lightning storm experiment, Jason was left to deal with the rest of the storm spirits alone. He was doing well until he disintegrated the last one and forgot to hold his breath. When venti die, they create a vacuum of air which will cause you to faint.
Unfortunately for Jason, he was flying when he lost consciousness and almost fell to a watery grave. Thankfully, Piper's charmspeak worked to wake him just before Jason's face could become acquainted with the ocean. A bitter part of me wished she would've done the same for me before I saw Clytius's bone chilling grin.
Now we were all gathered in the mess hall for lunch, but the energy was polar opposite to last night's vibe. For one thing, I felt so ashamed for crying. I hadn't sobbed like that since Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, and even then I kept it to myself as much as I could. So when Jason told us all about the midair vision that he had, my heart didn't feel quite as heavy.
Jason said that he saw Reyna and Octavian among a group of Roman troops meet with the Oracle of Delphi and a Greek satyr from Camp Half-Blood. The Oracle apparently resides in a mortal girl named Rachel, and she received a message from Annabeth all the way in Tartarus. From what it sounds like, the Greeks and Romans could come to a peaceful agreement, but Octavian has other schemes.
Gods, I really hate that skinny blowhard.
It was quiet for a while after Jason finished speaking. The ship creaked as it sailed through the Adriatic, its remaining oars still out of alignment from the giant turtle attack. Every once in a while Festus the figurehead creaked and squeaked through the speakers, reporting the autopilot status.
"A note from Annabeth." Piper shook her head in amazement. "I don't see how that's possible, but if it is—"
"She's alive," Leo said. "Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce."
Frank frowned. "What does that mean?"
Leo wiped the chip crumbs off his face. "It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry."
Frank slid over a jar of salsa. "I can't believe Reyna would try to find us. It's taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She'll be stripped of her praetorship."
"If she lives," I said. "It was hard enough for us to make it this far with seven demigods and a warship."
"And me." Coach Hedge belched. "Don't forget, cupcake, you got the satyr advantage."
Despite everything, I had to smile. Coach could be pretty ridiculous, but I was glad that he was in this trip with us. His brazen attitude and violent disposition had always sat right with me. It inspired me when others were brave and confident no matter what. I realized then that it was my turn to be brave.
"I also had a vision today," I began, "and I think it's important that you all hear this."
Piper cocked her head to the side, her kaleidoscope eyes as mesmerizing as ever. "What did you see, Peri?"
I explained my dream the best way that I could, sparing no detail. When I talked about the scarring on my father's body and the bloodletting rituals, a few of the others pushed away their plates in distaste. At the mention of Arius, a couple of my friends' faces visibly paled. And when I described the giant Clytius, even the fearless Coach Hedge had eyes full of dread.
"So that's why I woke up screaming like that," I concluded softly. "Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize," Leo patted my thigh reassuringly, and the others nodded in agreement.
"As if there weren't enough giants for us to worry about already," Frank mumbled.
"Hazel and Nico?" I turned to the children of the Underworld. "I was wondering if you guys knew anything else about Stygian Iron or the blessing that your dad placed on mine?"
Hazel furrowed her brows and shook her head, but Nico didn't react. His dark eyes shifted from side to side as he stood off in the corner, and I couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something. I decided to drop it for now, but maybe I'd get more answers if I tried asking him when we were alone.
"Don't worry, Peri, we won't let anyone take your blood— whatever the hell that means." Jason touched the groove that Sciron the bandit had cut into his hair. "As for Reyna, I'm sure she's capable enough to make it across the Adriatic despite how dangerous it is. If anyone can do it, she can."
I glanced over at Piper who was circling her spoon through her soup. There was usually a tension when Jason brought up Reyna, but the daughter of Aphrodite gave him a dry smile that seemed more teasing than insecure.
"Well, I'd love to see Reyna again," she said. "But how is she supposed to find us?"
Frank raised his hand. "Can't you just send her an Iris-message?"
"They're not working very well," Coach Hedge put in. "Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could kick that rainbow goddess.…"
He faltered. His face turned bright red.
"Coach?" Leo grinned. "Who have you been calling every night, you old goat?"
"No one!" Hedge snapped. "Nothing! I just meant—"
"He means we've already tried," Hazel intervened, and the coach gave her a grateful look. "Some magic is interfering…maybe Gaea. Contacting the Romans is even harder. I think they're shielding themselves."
Frank drummed his fingers on the table. "I don't suppose Reyna has a cell phone…? Nah. Never mind. She'd probably have bad reception on a pegasus flying over the Atlantic."
I thought about the Argo II's journey across the ocean, the dozens of encounters that had nearly killed us. Thinking about Reyna making that journey alone—I couldn't decide whether it was terrifying or awe-inspiring.
"She'll find us," Jason said. "She mentioned something in the dream—she's expecting me to go to a certain place on our way to the House of Hades. I—I'd forgotten about it, actually, but she's right. It's a place I need to visit."
Piper leaned toward him, her caramel braid falling over her shoulder.
"And where is this place?" she asked.
"A…uh, a town called Split."
"Split."
"Um, yeah." Jason seemed distracted by her beauty, and it was pretty fun to watch. "In fact, we should be getting close. Leo?"
Leo punched the intercom button. "How's it going up there, buddy?"
Festus the figurehead creaked and steamed.
"He says maybe ten minutes to the harbor," I reported.
"Though I still don't get why you want to go to Croatia, especially a town called Split." Leo mused. "I mean, you name your city Split, you gotta figure it's a warning to, you know, split."
I hummed in agreement. "Kind of like naming your city Get Out!"
"Exactly!" Leo grinned, making my heart do double flips.
"Wait," Hazel said. "Why are we going to Croatia?"
I noticed that the others were reluctant to meet her eyes. Since her trick with the Mist against Sciron the bandit, everyone felt a little nervous around her. I knew that wasn't fair to Hazel. It was hard enough being a child of Pluto, but she'd pulled off some serious magic on that cliff. And afterward, according to Hazel, Pluto himself had appeared to her.
Leo pushed his chips and hot sauce aside. "Well, technically we've been in Croatian territory for the past day or so. All that coastline we've been sailing past is it, but I guess back in the Roman times it was called…what'd you say, Jason? Bodacious?"
"Dalmatia," Nico said, making Jason jump. "Croatia used to be Dalmatia, a major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's Palace, don't you?"
Coach Hedge managed another heroic belch. "Whose palace? And is Dalmatia where those Dalmatian dogs come from? That 101 Dalmatians movie—I still have nightmares."
Frank scratched his head. "Why would you have nightmares about that?"
Coach Hedge looked like he was about to launch into a major speech about the evils of cartoon Dalmatians, but Jason must've decided he didn't want to know.
"Nico is right," he said. "I need to go to Diocletian's Palace. It's where Reyna will go first, because she knows I would go there."
Piper raised an eyebrow. "And why would Reyna think that? Because you've always had a mad fascination with Croatian culture?"
"Reyna and I used to talk about Diocletian," he said. "We both kind of idolized the guy as a leader. We talked about how we'd like to visit Diocletian's Palace. Of course we knew that was impossible. No one could travel to the ancient lands. But still, we made this pact that if we ever did, that's where we'd go."
"Diocletian…" Leo considered the name, then shook his head. "I got nothing. Why was he so important?"
Frank looked offended. "He was the last great pagan emperor!"
Leo rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised you know that, Zhang?"
"Why wouldn't I? He was the last one who worshipped the Olympian gods, before Constantine came along and adopted Christianity."
I nodded. "I remember something about that. The nuns at St. Mary's taught us that Diocletian was a huge villain, right along with Nero and Caligula."
"The nuns at St. Agnes taught us the same thing," Hazel said before looking at Jason. "Why would you idolize him?"
"He wasn't a total villain," Jason said. "Yeah, he persecuted Christians, but otherwise he was a good ruler. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. His parents were former slaves…or at least his mom was. Demigods know he was a 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 palace. The town of Split grew up around…"
He faltered when he looked at Leo, who was mimicking taking notes with an air pencil. I tried and failed to hide my amusement.
"Go on, Professor Grace!" Leo said, wide-eyed. "I wanna get an A on the test."
"Shut up, Leo."
Piper sipped another spoonful of soup. "So why is Diocletian's Palace so special?"
Nico leaned over and plucked a grape. Probably that was the guy's entire diet for the day. "It's said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian."
"Who was a son of Jupiter, like me," 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 the legends, his scepter was buried with him."
Nico gave him a thin, creepy smile. "Ah…that legend."
"What legend?" Hazel asked.
Nico turned to his sister. "Supposedly Diocletian's scepter could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods."
My eyebrows rose. "Okay, now I'm interested."
Leo whistled. "Be nice to have a booty-kicking army of pagan zombies on our side when we enter the House of Hades."
"Not sure I would've put it that way," Jason muttered, "but yeah."
"We don't have much time," Frank warned. "It's already July ninth. We have to get to Epirus, close the Doors of Death—"
"Which are guarded," Hazel murmured, "by a smoky giant and a sorceress who wants…" She hesitated. "Well, I'm not sure. But according to Pluto, she plans to 'rebuild her domain.' Whatever that means, it's bad enough that my dad felt like warning me personally."
Frank grunted. "And if we survive all that, we still have to find out where the giants are waking Gaea and get there before the first of August."
"While also stopping the deathless giant Arius from coming to life in the first place," I stirred my ramen glumly. "Besides, the longer Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus—"
"I know," Jason said. "We won't take long in Split. But looking for the scepter is worth a try. While we're at the palace, I can leave a message for Reyna, letting her know the route we're taking for Epirus."
Nico nodded. "The scepter of Diocletian could make a huge difference. You'll need my help."
Jason looked utterly mortified at the very thought.
Piper squeezed his hand. "Hey, sounds fun. I'll go, too."
Jason sighed in relief.
But Nico shook his head. "You can't, Piper. It should only be Jason and me. Diocletian's ghost might appear for a son of Jupiter, but any other demigods would most likely…ah, spook him. And I'm the only one who can talk to his spirit. Even Hazel won't be able to do that."
Nico's eyes held a gleam of challenge. He seemed curious as to whether or not Jason would protest.
The ship's bell sounded. Festus creaked and whirred over the loudspeaker.
"We've arrived," Leo announced. "Time to Split."
Frank groaned. "Can we leave Valdez in Croatia?"
Jason stood. "Frank, you're in charge of defending the ship. Leo and Peri, you've got repairs to do. The rest of you, help out wherever you can. Nico and I…" He faced the son of Hades. "We have a ghost to find."