Chapter 6
Everyone Votes For Us To Get Killed
Hazel's P.O.V.
I woke up with a start, from horrible nightmares again. Nightmares are common for demigods, but since I came back from the underworld, they are twice as horrible for me. I looked around. Everybody was asleep. It must have been very early in the morning. I tried to sleep, but I couldn't. Finally, I decided that I better get ready for the senate meeting today. At least it was better than tossing and turning in your cot for hours.
And then the senate meeting….all the images from last night came rushing over in my mind. Gwen lying on a stretcher with a pilum sticking out of her abdomen, Mars visiting us and giving a quest, claiming Frank. I looked at Frank, he was sleeping, but he had dark circles below his eyes. It would have been difficult for him to sleep with all that happening in one day. I wanted to wake him up, comfort him, but he had a difficult day ahead, it was best that he gets some sleep. And then Percy's arrival. When I spotted him coming towards us with an old lady, I thought for sure he was a god. Even though he was exhausted and wearing ragged clothes, he had an aura of power. I told Frank not to shoot him. And Nico said he knew him too. He told Percy was trustable. I knew that he was a good person, but standing beside him felt like standing beside Jason.
If it was that hard for me, I couldn't even imagine how hard it would've been for Natalie. After everything she lost, she still seemed cool. Like she had accepted her life. She didn't want power, unlike any other legionnaire. I knew Reyna had offered her the Praetor's post many times, but she had always refused. I got up, and went to the baths. Coming back, I spotted Nico near the Principia. I walked up to him.
"Hey," he said as I approached.
"Hi," I said.
"Don't worry, everything will be alright. Frank is a good guy. He'll get through it," Nico said.
"Yeah, I know he will. But Nico, about Gwen–,"
"Pluto doesn't permit that, yes. Thanatos is really chained. That's exactly how I managed to bring you back. And what Mars said, it's true, I think."
We stayed silent for a while. So even I was among the escapees. Freeing Thanatos would mean–
"You'd have to go back to the underworld," Nico said, reading my thoughts.
"Look, Hazel, I'm really sorry," he said.
"For what?" I asked, perplexed. Nico didn't seem like a person who usually apologized.
"For bringing you back. I mean, I thought that perhaps I could get a sister. And I know I was selfish. And I brought a new hope inside you. I made you think you've got a second chance. A second life, and then everything just got messed up. And if Frank succeeds in his quest–,"
"Which he will, Nico. And I'm not worried about my death. I wasn't even supposed to get a second chance. But you brought me here, you introduced me into this new world. I didn't even know a thing like the internet existed. And the time I spent here, it was the best of my life, previous one included. Thank you, for everything you did. And if I have to go back, at least I know I've got a caring brother who will visit me from time to time. I'm a child of Pluto. I must understand the meaning of death."
Nico stayed silent. For once, I could see the sadness in his eyes. He'd lost his sister, Bianca, his mother, and when he got one family member…..
"Come on, let's go to the dining hall," I said.
While Nico sat at the table with Reyna, as an honorary guest, I sat with my old crowd. Percy looked sunken, as though he had chosen death instead of life. Frank wasn't eating anything. And Natalie was gripping her fork tightly and stealing furious glances at Octavian. People around were whispering about Percy and Frank.
"Have some breakfast, Frank. You're going to need some energy for the meeting," I said to Frank.
"I'm not hungry," he said, depressed. He was really looking bad. Everything had just come crashing upon him in one night. Being claimed, then getting a dangerous quest, it was enough to make someone upset. Octavian and Reyna sat up and started walking towards New Rome. Natalie immediately stood up and hurried off saying that she had some business to attend to, and that she'll be meeting us in the forum. After some time, the three of us got up and started walking towards the forum.
New Rome was a very beautiful place. Walking around the city always cheered me up. As I walked towards the forum, the god Terminus materialized. Terminus was the god of boundaries, and he guarded the Pomerian Line, the boundary of New Rome. We were the last to reach him.
"Who do we have here, now?" Terminus asked, examining Percy.
"Terminus, this is Percy. He's a new recruit."
"Oh, I see. Ah, yes you have your probatio tablet. And weapons? Take it out!" he said. Percy looked stunned. But he took out his pen and showed it to him.
"Very dangerous, yes. Julia! Where is she?Julia!" Terminus shouted. Julia, who was playfully hiding behind him, tried to hide but he spotted her. She bought a tray and looked at Percy.
"Well, you see, Terminal–,"
"Terminus."
"Yeah, my pen sort of reappears in my pocket after a while–,"
"Oh don't worry, we will take good care of it and make sure it doesn't wander off," Terminus replied. Percy reluctantly kept his pen in the tray. Terminus told him the basic rules, and we proceeded down the road.
"Is he always like this?" Percy asked.
"Oh no, he was better today," I assured him. We continued down to the Senate Hall. It was a huge dome shaped building, with seats for the legionnaires. As we entered, I spotted Natalie, who had saved us seats. The three of us sat down beside her.
"What work did you have, exactly?" Percy asked her.
"Pretty much nothing, it's done, anyways," she said, throwing a filthy look to Octavian. I wondered if her work somehow involved Octavian, because he was limping a bit, and had finger marks like bruises on his neck. After everyone had taken their seats, Reyna stood up.
"This is an emergency meeting, so we are not going to have formalities. As we all know, Juno warned us that there will be a battle on the Feast of Fortuna. Mars has ordered a quest. He's the patron of Rome, so we are not here to discuss whether the quest is going to happen or not. We're here to discuss the companions of Frank Zhang in this quest. He has chosen Hazel Levesque and Natalie Carter as his companions, along with Percy Jackson," she said, as everyone listened silently.
"All three from the fifth cohort? That's not fair," Larry from the second cohort complained.
"We did beat you yesterday, Larry. Very badly, I might add," Dakota said.
"Indeed, their performance was excellent. Therefore, it is decided. Percy, Natalie and Hazel will go for the quest, led by Frank Zhang," Reyna said.
"He's a probatio. The rules clearly state that only a centurion can lead a quest," someone shouted.
"Today, a centurion has decided to step down. Gwendolyn, of the fifth cohort, we thank you for your service in the legion. Gwen will be attending the college in New Rome," Reyna said, as Gwen stood up and offered her thanks. Reyna turned to Octavian, who stood up, and winced a bit, which I was sure had something to do with Natalie's 'work'.
"Our praetor, Reyna has thought about the situation. And on her orders, I promote Frank Zhang to centurion. Frank, come here and take your badge and mural crown," he announced. Frank looked stunned. Everyone started shouting frantically.
"But he was not even a full legionnaire–,"
"Arrow in my podex–,"
"Please maintain silence. These are our Praetor's orders. She has studied the situation, and ordered what she thinks is the best," Octavian said, the silver-tongued idiot. He was making all of this appear Reyna's fault. If anything went wrong, Reyna will be blamed. Frank approached Octavian. Octavian held Frank's arm and called to the heavens. Frank accepted and a tattoo burned on his forearm. He came back to us with the badge, which I was happy to pin in his T-Shirt.
"You deserve it, man," Percy said, grinning. Natalie nodded, giving Frank a thumbs up.
"Yeah, but a centurion–,"
"Frank Zhang, did you hear our question?" Octavian asked.
"Sorry, what?" Frank asked, looking sheepish. Octavian smirked.
"We were asking whether you have a plan to free Thanatos or not? Do you know what to do? Where to go?" he asked. Natalie stood up and kept a hand on Frank's shoulder.
"Weren't you paying attention last night, Octavian? Mars said that Thanatos is chained in Alaska. That's where we're gonna go," she said firmly.
"But Alaska is the land beyond gods," complained Larry. "It has always been forbidden for demigods. No demigod has returned from there. That's where–,"
"You lost your eagle," Percy said. Everybody started shouting again.
"Silence, legionnaires. Mars is our patron. He has ordered a quest to Alaska. We are not going to deny it. It has already been decided. We are here to see if our quest members have a plan, or not," Reyna said, looking at Percy.
"Okay, first, I get to hear Pluto is the god of death. And now this Thanatos guy comes up. First I need to know what's the exact thing," Percy said.
"Okay, so Pluto is the god of dead. Imagine there are two lands, life and death. So everyone would like to live in life, right? That's where Thanatos comed in. He keeps the souls in check. He's like the border patrol. The police," Nico explained, and Percy nodded.
"So we free Thanatos, and then all the monsters will stay dead, as they used to be?" Percy asked.
"This is more complicated than that," Nico said.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Octavian sighed.
"You're talking about the Doors of Death. About the Prophecy of the Seven," Reyna said, ignoring Octavian.
"The Doors of Death are something even I don't completely understand. There are many entrances to the underworld. The Hollywood, the Door of Orpheus, et cetera. But the Doors of Death are like Thanatos' personal entrance. Their location keeps changing. Only Thanatos knows where they are. But somehow, Gaea has captured them. Which means–,"
"She controls who comes back," Percy finished."So we kill monsters, and Gaea keeps bringing them back?"
"In a depressing nutshell, yes," Nico said, grimly.
"But if we free Thanatos, he will recapture the doors again, right?" Frank asked.
"Thanatos is no match for Gaea. The best he can do is recapture the returned souls and keep monsters coming back for a while. But they'll still reform faster than usual," Nico explained.
"But who is this giant? Who has captured Thanatos?" Reyna asked.
"Alyceoneus," I said, the horrible memories washing over me.
"How do you know that?" Octavian snapped. Before I could even make an excuse about the question, Nico stood up.
"Our father told us a bit about them. Giants are the offspring of Gaea and Tartarus. There were twelve giants, born to oppose the twelve Olympian gods. Porphyrion, the king of giants, was born to oppose Jupiter. But Alyceoneus was the eldest, born to oppose Pluto. That is why we know about him."
"Let's try to figure out the current problems first. We'll see what to do with the prophecy business after we survive the battle," Percy said, changing the topic. "So we go to Alaska, free Thanatos, kill Alyceoneus–,"
"But giants can only be killed by a god and demigod working together, isn't it? Then how do we kill him?" Frank asked.
"Alyceoneus is a special case. He is only immortal in the territory in which he was born, which is currently, and unfortunately Alaska," Nico explained.
"So we go to Alaska, free Thanatos, kill Alyceoneus, and come back, hopefully retrieving the standard," Percy said, looking at Reyna.
"So it is decided then. Now the question is - how do we help the members? What do we provide them with for the quest - weapons, resources–,"
"Praetor, if I may," said Octavian, stopping Reyna. Reyna's eyes flashed dangerously, but she waved her hand in approval.
"We must not spread our resources too thin. We already have one battle coming up. We should maintain our resources rather than spending them on a quest, which already has slim chances of success. Mars has chosen the least likely candidates for the quest. Perhaps he's playing the long odds. He didn't order a massive expedition. Which certainly means that he wanted us to be more prepared for the battle. So I do not think it wise to provide any help," he said, and I felt an urge to smack him in his face.
"But sending the quest members without any help seems very–,"
"Traditional. Let's see what they can do on their own, like true romans."
Now he was seriously inviting me to smack him.
"Then at least provide us transport. We should not go on land, since it's Gaea's territory. And it'll be too slow. Air travel - I don't think that would be good as well. Can you at least give us a boat?" Percy asked. My stomach did a backflip. Percy looked at me, but I muttered I'm fine. Going by a boat...
"The son of Neptune wants a boat. Water travel has never been very Roman, perhaps he's not too," Octavian smirked.
"Very well - the motion is as follows : The quest shall go to Alaska. The members shall be given full access to the Roman Navy docked at Alameda. No help will be forthcoming. The members will survive or fail on their merits. All in favour?" Reyna asked. Every senator's hand went up.
"Very well. The motion is passed. Centurion Zhang, you are excused with your party. The senate has other matters to discuss. Octavian, if I may confer with you for a moment," Reyna said, and the four of us were happy to come out of the senate hall.
"So," I said. "We're pretty much toast then?"
Frank nodded miserably. "If any of you wants to back out, I wouldn't blame you. It's my fault you all were dragged in this."
"Are you kidding?" I said, trying to cheer him up. "And pull sentry duty for a week. I'd rather choose the quest."
"Hey, Jackson!"
Oh good, Octavian again. That guy just won't leave us alone. He had to say something.
"What do you want?" Percy snapped.
"Already decided I'm your enemy? Reyna wants to see you, without your group of, ah, ragtags here," he said. Frank advanced towards him.
"You, backstabbing, slimy–," Natalie and I had to hold him to prevent him from punching Octavian. I really had to resist the urge to let Frank go.
"I'm a loyal Roman, Zhang. And on a higher post than you. Better take care of your choice of words," he said.
"Better take care of your leg, Octavian," Natalie shot him a dangerous look. Octavian's expression changed so suddenly, I resisted the urge to laugh.
"Well, good luck with your silly quest," he said, leaving.
"Go on Percy. I'm sure it will be fine," Natalie assured him. Percy rushed off towards the Principia.
"Does someone fancy a coffee at Bombilo's?" Frank asked.
"Yeah," I and Natalie said in unison. We had no chores till lunch, and then, we had a super dangerous quest to look forward too. Typical demigod day. We went to Bombilo's and bought some coffee and snacks. Then we went to the garden of Bacchus, and sat down to have a small picnic. It was a very beautiful place, but I doubted Bacchus would like us drinking coffee in his garden.
"What do you think Reyna called Percy for?" I asked, having a sip of my coffee.
"Must be something important," Frank said. Gods, he looked so glum.
"Don't worry, Frank. Everything will be alright. It's Octavian's nature to make matters worse. At least we got the Roman navy. If you'd call it a Navy," Natalie said.
"Why?"
"Let's leave that a surprise," Natalie answered.
"What's going on between you and Octavian?" I asked Natalie.
"Oh, nothing. I needed to have a talk with him," she said casually.
"Talk with him as in injure his leg?"
"I was going to cut his hands off - but we've got a battle coming up. We'll be needing as many people as we can," she replied.
"So you two have thought something about this quest?" Frank asked.
"Not yet. I guess we'll be surviving on improvisation," Natalie said. I nodded. We had our coffee, then went to the mess hall for lunch. We spotted Percy waiting for us outside, and he looked no better. In fact, he looked a bit more pressured.
"What happened–,"
"Later. I'll tell you later," he said. Lunch had never seemed so bad. Everyone kept glancing at us, as if we were going to drop dead any moment. Whispering was the normal affair, but today it seemed entirely focused on us only. Reyna looked glum too. Only Octavian was looking happy. Reyna called Percy when we were finished, and gave him a letter, which would probably be in handy if we met retired legionnaires on the way. We went to our barracks to get our packing done.
I didn't have pretty much to pack. Just a pair of jeans and two t-shirts. This would be my first quest. And probably last too, because if we didn't succeed, we were dead, and if we did, then Thanatos would take me back to the underworld. And the possibility of him not taking me back...No it was foolish.
"Hazel? Can I talk with you for a moment?"
I turned to see Nico standing behind me in the shadows. He led me outside to the field of Mars.
"I just wanted to wish you best of luck. Everything will be fine. Don't worry," he said. I felt so attached to him emotionally. He knew it was nearly impossible for me to return alive from this quest, yet he was here, assuring me.
"Yeah. I've got good people with me. So what will you do? Help Camp in the battle?" I asked.
"I'm leaving now. There's a crisis going on in the underworld. Dad needs all the help he can get. And if I get some time, I'll try to go after the Doors of Death," he said.
"Nico, that's very dangerous."
"Someone has to do it. And I don't think anyone else will be. Don't worry, I know the underworld. I'll be okay. You just take care of yourself," he said.
"Yeah, you too," I said, as Nico nodded. Then he did something he hadn't ever done before. He gave me a hug, then melted into the shadows. I stood stunned there. Nico was the only family I had. And we were both going on suicide missions. As the thoughts revolved around in my mind, I went to the barracks, slung my packed bag over my shoulder, and went outside to join my friends for our suicide quest. But there was a surprise waiting for us.
"Hop aboard, peeps," said Bobby, who was riding Hannibal, smiling. "You've just got yourselves a ride to the boundary on Hannibal."