It wasn't as easy as it seemed at first.
Before they even opened the book, hours went by filled with arguing, choosing places to sit, making arrangements and the likes. Octavian surely wasn't helping the case.
In all the chaos there was a second when something caught Percy's eye in the shadows not far away from the forum. Walking through the mess, he fortunately didn't attract any attention, so he quickly came to where he saw movement, in the woods.
"Hello?"
For a second there was no answer.
"It would be such a bad idea if I were a monster" said young, male voice at least.
He instantly recognized it.
"Nico? Come on, where are you?" he looked around. He heard a sigh and familiar dark posture came out of the shadows. "Why are you here?"
"I was informed about… it all" he gestured vaguely at the forum. "I'm supposed to be here, it seems."
"Then why won't you come there?"
"It's… not a good idea" he averted his gaze. "I'm better here. I'll hear everything just fine, Reyna and Annabeth can be trusted with that."
"I suppose so…" Percy frowned. "Still – "
"I'm fine."
He watched for a second Nico's brooding face.
"Okay" he sighed. "But I'll check on you."
"I'm not a child" he rolled his eyes.
"Thirteen-year-olds don't make it high on my 'mature people' list" he turned around, ignoring Nico's glare. "See ya later."
"Says the most mature person here, yeah?"
He chuckled quietly, glancing back briefly above his shoulder, and went back to Annabeth's side.
"What's up?"
"I'll tell you later."
He laced their fingers together.
"Can we just read?" groaned Leo, when they finally sat down at the forum, all on gathered there furniture. "Whoa, I didn't think I'd ever say it."
"There's first time for everything" muttered mindlessly Piper, focused on observing people.
"But he's right. Let's start reading" said Annabeth, the book neatly on her lap, Percy at her side. "May I start?"
"Of course" agreed Reyna before Octavian could cut in.
"MY COOKIES GET SCORCHED"
"What?"
Muttering and snorts went around the forum.
"What's that got with the war?" said irritably Octavian.
"That's the chapter's title" explained Annabeth. "It's from the first point of view."
I don't recommend shadow travel
Everyone seemed confused as to what this shadow travel is, but no one bothered to comment on it loudly.
if you're scared of:
a) The dark
b) Cold shivers up your spine
c) Strange noises
d) Going so fast you feel like your face is peeling off
"Oh my gods."
Nearly everyone winced, frowned or made a grossed out face at the mere thought.
In other words, I thought it was awesome.
Annabeth paused for a second to raise an eyebrow at sheepishly smiling Percy.
Others seemed to wonder who the Hades was it about.
"Gods, they're bonkers" said Hazel from beside Percy and he had to bit his lip.
One minute I couldn't see anything. I could only feel Mrs. O'Leary's fur and my fingers wrapped around the bronze links of her dog collar.
"Mrs. O'Leary…"
Everyone first turned to the big Hellhound at the back, then at Percy.
"I know nothing" he held up his hand. "Amnesia, remember?"
He didn't mention memories slowly flooding back to him.
"But don't you remember anything with Mrs. O'Leary?" pushed Reyna.
"Nope. It could be before I got her" he shrugged and Annabeth didn't bother to correct him, though she knew better.
The next minute the shadows melted into a new scene. We were on a cliff in the woods of Connecticut. At least, it looked like Connecticut from the few times I'd been there: lots of trees, low stone walls, big houses. Down one side of the cliff, a highway cut through a ravine. Down the other side was someone's backyard. The property was huge—more wilderness than lawn. The house was a two-story white Colonial. Despite the fact that it was right on the other side of the hill from a highway, it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. I could see a light glowing m the kitchen window. A rusty old swing set stood under an apple tree.
"Okay, that's nice and all, but it doesn't seem like a war story" said Reyna, furrowing her eyebrows.
Jason nodded, deep in thought.
"Maybe it's important for the later happenings?" suggested some Roman.
I couldn't imagine living in a house like this, with an actual yard and everything. I'd lived in a tiny apartment or a school dorm my whole life. If this was Luke's home, I wondered why he'd ever wanted to leave.
Annabeth took a breath before continuing.
"Who's Luke?" said Leo.
His friends just shrugged and no one else seemed to have an answer. Well, besides Percy, who pretended to not hear him.
Mrs. O'Leary staggered. I remembered what Nico
"Wait!"
Athena's daughter looked at Reyna quizzically.
The Romans moved at the name, looking at each other questioningly, as though asking "You're thinking what I am?"
"Shadow travel… Nico…" she glanced at Hazel. "Why do I have a feeling it's about Nico di Angelo?"
"You know him?" said Annabeth surprised.
"You do, too?"
"We took him to camp when he was ten" answered for her Percy, looking stunned at it himself. "That little…! Oh, when I see him next time…" he subconsciously glanced at the shadows.
"He was spying for them!" cried Octavian out of sudden.
You can imagine, it took a lot to shut him up then.
had said about shadow travel draining her, so I slipped off her back. She let out a huge toothy yawn that would've scared a T. rex, then turned in a circle and flopped down so hard the ground shook.
Nico appeared right next to me, as if the shadows had darkened and created him.
"That's definitely Nico."
He stumbled, but I caught his arm.
"I'm okay," he managed, rubbing his eyes.
"How did you do that?"
"Good question" mumbled Reyna.
"Practice. A few times running into walls. A few accidental trips to China."
A few demigods snorted and then caught themselves, shocked they laughed at something a son of Pluto said.
Mrs. O'Leary started snoring. If it hadn't been for the roar of traffic behind us, I'm sure she would've woken up the whole neighborhood.
Percy smiled at this.
"What?" whispered Hazel, but he just shook his head.
"Are you going to take a nap too?" I asked Nico.
He shook his head. "The first time I shadow traveled, I passed out for a week.
"Whoa, that's a long nap" said Leo.
Now it just makes me a little drowsy, but I can't do it more than once or twice a night. Mrs. O'Leary won't be going anywhere for a while."
"So we've got some quality time in Connecticut." I gazed at the white Colonial house. "What now?"
"We ring the doorbell," Nico said.
"Seriously" interrupted again a Roman. "Who's point of view it is?"
"Whoever it is, they seem like pretty good friends with di Angelo" said someone else.
"Exactly."
Percy, Hazel and Frank frowned at that.
If I were Luke's mom, I would not have opened my door at night for two strange kids. But I wasn't anything like Luke's mom.
"Oh, good, we can scratch that one" said Leo sarcastically.
I knew that even before we reached the front door. The sidewalk was lined with those little stuffed beanbag animals you see in gift shops. There were miniature lions, pigs, dragons, hydras, even a teeny Minotaur in a little Minotaur diaper.
"Nice" muttered Jason.
Judging from their sad shape, the beanbag creatures had been sitting out here a long time—since the snow melted last spring at least. One of the hydras had a tree sapling sprouting between its necks.
The children of Mars grinned at that.
The front porch was infested with wind chimes. Shiny bits of glass and metal clinked in the breeze. Brass ribbons tinkled like water and made me realize I needed to use the bathroom. I didn't know how Ms. Castellan could stand all the noise.
"Luke Castellan" said Piper. "Anyone knows that guy?"
Her only answer were 'nope's and shaking heads.
The front door was painted turquoise. The name CASTELLAN was written in English, and below in Greek: Διοικητής φρουρίου.
"So a Greek demigod" pointed out Reyna and Octavian narrowed his eyes at the Greeks.
Nico looked at me. "Ready?"
He'd barely tapped the door when it swung open.
"Bad omen" muttered Leo.
"Luke!" the old lady cried happily.
She looked like someone who enjoyed sticking her fingers in electrical sockets.
Everyone snorted with laugher in surprise at the comment.
Her white hair stuck out in tufts all over her head. Her pink housedress was covered in scorch marks and smears of ash. When she smiled, her face looked unnaturally stretched, and the high-voltage light in her eves made me wonder if she was blind.
"Made who wonder" asked Reyna quietly.
"Oh, my dear boy!" She hugged Nico.
"Okaay."
All the demigods looked slightly freaked out at this.
I was trying to figure out why she thought Nico was Luke
"You and me, bro" sighed a son of Mercury.
"It may be a girl" pointed out Reyna.
(they looked absolutely nothing alike), when she smiled at me and said, "Luke!"
"Okay, that's really creepy" said Leo.
The others nodded in agreement.
She forgot all about Nico and gave me a hug. She smelled like burned cookies. She was as thin as a scarecrow, but that didn't stop her from almost crushing me.
"Come in!" she insisted. "I have your lunch ready!"
"That's a bad idea" said a Roman girl.
"That's how people get killed in horror movies" Piper told Leo. He couldn't agree more.
She ushered us inside. The living room was even weirder than the front lawn. Mirrors and candles filled every available space. I couldn't look anywhere without seeing my own reflection.
No one bothered to comment on it, but their expressions spoke louder than any words could.
Above the mantel, a little bronze Hermes
"That's Mercury for you" put in Annabeth.
flew around the second hand of a ticking clock. I tried to imagine the god of messengers ever falling in love with this old woman, but the idea was too bizarre.
"They say it as though they actually met the god" noticed suspiciously a son of Bellona.
Then I noticed the framed picture on the mantel, and I froze. It was exactly like Rachel's sketch—
"Who's Rachel?" asked dramatically Leo, throwing his arms in the air.
Luke around nine years old, with blond hair and a big smile and two missing teeth. The lack of a scar on his face made him look like a different person—carefree and happy. How could Rachel have known about that picture?
"We're like two pages into the book and the level of creepiness is already beyond high. Can we rethink reading it?" Jason just rolled his eyes at Leo and motioned at Annabeth to read on.
"This way, my dear!" Ms. Castellan steered me toward the back of the house. "Oh, I told them you would come back. I knew it!"
She sat us down at the kitchen table. Stacked on the counter were hundreds—I mean hundreds—of Tupperware boxes with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches inside.
"Creepy" muttered Dakota.
"Oh, can you all stop with the 'creepy' comment?" said finally Annabeth.
The ones on the bottom were green and fuzzy, like they'd been there for a long time.
"Ewww!" came from the children of Venus and some other demigods whilst everyone made a face.
The smell reminded me of my sixth grade locker—and that's not a good thing.
On top of the oven was a stack of cookie sheets. Each one had a dozen burned cookies on it. In the sink was a mountain of empty plastic Kool-Aid pitchers. A beanbag Medusa sat by the faucet like she was guarding the mess.
Ms. Castellan started humming as she got out peanut butter and jelly and started making a new sandwich. Something was burning in the oven. I got the feeling more cookies were on the way.
Above the sink, taped all around the window, were dozens of little pictures cut from magazines and newspaper ads—pictures of Hermes from the FTD Flowers logo and Quickie Cleaners,
"If they recognized Hermes from the pictures, that means they did meet him" pointed out again Reyna.
The idea seemed mind-blowing to Romans.
pictures of the caduceus from medical ads.
My heart sank. I wanted to get out of that room, but Ms. Castellan kept smiling at me as she made the sandwich, like she was making sure I didn't bolt.
Nico coughed. "Urn, Ms. Castellan?"
"Mm?"
"We need to ask you about your son."
"Oh, yes! They told me he would never come back. But I knew better." She patted my cheek affectionately, giving me peanut butter racing stripes.
"Run" whispered Leo.
These, who heard him, gave him quiet chuckles.
"When did you last see him?" Nico asked.
Her eyes lost focus.
"Bad, bad, bad omen."
"He was so young when he left," she said wistfully. "Third grade. That's too young to run away! He said he'd be back for lunch. And I waited. He likes peanut butter sandwiches and cookies and Kool-Aid.
Dakota pushed his own Kool-Aid away from himself, earning a few smirks.
He'll be back for lunch very soon. . . ." Then she looked at me and smiled. "Why, Luke, there you are! You look so handsome. You have your father's eyes."
She turned toward the pictures of Hermes above the sink.
"Of course, a son of Hermes" nodded Piper to herself.
Percy and Annabeth shared a glance again, this time noticed by Reyna. They were quite amused by how everyone got so involved in trying to figure out who the book is about. Wasn't it quite obvious, really?
"Now, there's a good man. Yes, indeed. He comes to visit me, you know."
The clock kept ticking in the other room. I wiped the peanut butter off my face and looked at Nico pleadingly, like Can we get out of here now?
"Why am I not surprised it's Pluto's son's doing?" said some Roman quietly.
"Ma'am," Nico said. "What, uh . . . what happened to your eyes?"
Percy hoped no one noticed only he was unsurprised at the question.
Her gaze seemed fractured—like she was trying to focus on him through a kaleidoscope. "Why, Luke, you know the story. It was right before you were born, wasn't it? I'd always been special, able to see through the . . . whatever-they-call-it."
"The Mist?" I said.
"Yes, dear." She nodded encouragingly. "And they offered me an important job. That's how special I was!"
I glanced at Nico, but he looked as confused as I was.
"What's going on?" whispered someone.
"What sort of job?" I asked. "What happened?"
Ms. Castellan frowned. Her knife hovered over the sandwich bread. "Dear me, it didn't work out, did it? Your father warned me not to try. He said it was too dangerous. But I had to. It was my destiny! And now . . . I still can't get the images out of my head. They make everything seem so fuzzy. Would you like some cookies?"
"I'll pass – ouch."
She pulled a tray out of the oven and dumped a dozen lumps of chocolate chip charcoal on the table.
"Luke was so kind," Ms. Castellan murmured. "He left to protect me, you know. He said if he went away, the monsters wouldn't threaten me. But I told him the monsters are no threat! They sit outside on the sidewalk all day, and they never come in." She picked up the little stuffed Medusa from the windowsill.
"I think she needs a specialist."
"Do they, Mrs. Medusa? No, no threat at all." She beamed at me. "I'm so glad you came home. I knew you weren't ashamed of me!"
I shifted in my seat. I imagined being Luke sitting at this table, eight or nine years old, and just beginning to realize that my mother wasn't all there. "Ms. Castellan," I said.
"Mom," she corrected.
"Um, yeah. Have you seen Luke since he left home?"
"Well, of course!"
I didn't know if she was imagining that or not. For all I knew, every time the mailman came to the door he was Luke. But Nico sat forward expectantly.
Percy noticed that with every mention of Nico, the Romans seemed more weirded-out at his actions. Like they didn't expect him to act so normal.
He frowned at the thought, glancing once more at the shadows.
"When?" he asked. "When did Luke visit you last?"
"Well, it was . . . Oh goodness . . ." A shadow passed across her face. "The last time, he looked so different. A scar. A terrible scar, and his voice so full of pain . . ."
"His eyes," I said. "Were they gold?"
"Gold?" She blinked. "No. How silly. Luke has blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes!"
So Luke really had been here, and this had happened before last summer—before he'd turned into Kronos.
That did it.
"Come again?!"
A wave of questions spread around the whole forum. Demigods stared at Annabeth, probably waiting for her to call a bluff, some voicing loudly their disbelieve.
Athena's daughter had a hard time overcoming all the noise.
"Ms. Castellan?" Nico put his hand on the old woman's arm. "This is very important. Did he ask you for anything?"
She frowned as if trying to remember. "My—my blessing. Isn't that sweet?" She looked at us uncertainly. "He was going to a river, and he said he needed my blessing. I gave it to him. Of course I did."
Nico looked at me triumphantly.
"But why?" cried some Roman desperately.
Percy swallowed his laughter, insanely pleased at how everyone were getting irritated with not knowing who they were reading about.
And then he jumped when Annabeth pinched his leg. She gave him a warning look, nodding shortly towards Reyna before she turned back to the book. Percy turned his gaze to the Praetor to see her giving him a knowing look.
He winked.
"Thank you, ma'am. That's all the information we—"
Ms. Castellan gasped. She doubled over, and her cookie tray clattered to the floor. Nico and I jumped to our feet.
"Ms. Castellan?" I said.
"AHHHH," She straightened. I scrambled away and almost fell over the kitchen table, because her eyes—her eyes were glowing green.
"Told you to run!"
"My child," she rasped in a much deeper voice. "Must protect him! Hermes, help! Not my child! Not his fate—no!"
"The hell?"
Hazel flinched at the curse.
"What's going on?" groaned Frank and Percy almost felt bad about not telling them.
Almost, he smirked.
She grabbed Nico by the shoulders and began to shake him as if to make him understand. "Not his fate!"
Nico made a strangled scream
"He acts so human" whispered some Roman.
This time it was enough for Percy as he turned to the Roman.
"Oh, maybe because he is human?" he said angrily.
To say the least, these who hadn't heard the previous comment, were quite confused.
and pushed her away. He gripped the hilt of his sword. "Percy, we need to get out—"
"PERCY?" everyone turned to him.
"Surprise?"
"It's from your point of view?" asked Hazel.
"Unfortunately" he frowned.
"Then explain to us what is going on" said Reyna.
"Amnesia, remember? I'm sure you'll catch on" he waved her off, motioning Annabeth to continue.
Suddenly Ms. Castellan collapsed. I lurched forward and caught her before she could hit the edge of the table.
"Why?" mumbled someone, quiet enough so Percy wouldn't hear.
I managed to get her into a chair.
"Ms. C?" I asked.
She muttered something incomprehensible and shook her head. "Goodness. I . . . I dropped the cookies. How silly of me."
She blinked, and her eyes were back to normal—or at least, what they had been before. The green glow was gone.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Well, of course, dear. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
I glanced at Nico, who mouthed the word Leave.
"Ms. C, you were telling us something," I said. "Something about your son."
"Was I?" she said dreamily. "Yes, his blue eyes. We were talking about his blue eyes. Such a handsome boy!"
"We have to go," Nico said urgently. "We'll tell Luke . . . uh, we'll tell him you said hello."
"But you can't leave!" Ms. Castellan got shakily to her feet, and I backed away. I felt silly being scared of a frail old woman, but the way her voice had changed, the way she'd grabbed Nico . . .
"Don't worry, Aquaman, I'd be freaked out, too" said Leo.
"…Aquaman?"
"Hermes will be here soon," she promised. "He'll want to see his boy!"
"Maybe next time," I said. "Thank you for—" I looked down at the burned cookies scattered on the floor. "Thanks for everything."
Annabeth flashed Percy a smile.
She tried to stop us, to offer us Kool-Aid, but I had to get out of that house. On the front porch, she grabbed my wrist and I almost jumped out of my skin. "Luke, at least be safe. Promise me you'll be safe."
"I will . . . Mom."
That made her smile. She released my wrist, and as she closed the front door I could hear her talking to the candles: "You hear that? He will be safe. I told you he would be!"
"That's so…"
"Creepy?"
"Sad" finished a Venus girl, glaring at some other Roman boy.
As the door shut, Nico and I ran. The little beanbag animals on the sidewalk seemed to grin at us as we passed.
"When was that, anyways?" said out of blur Jason.
"Last summer."
Back at the cliff, Mrs. O'Leary had found a friend.
A cozy campfire crackled in a ring of stones. A girl about eight years old was sitting cross-legged next to Mrs. O'Leary, scratching the hellhound's ears.
"Cree – "
"Don't."
The girl had mousy brown hair and a simple brown dress. She wore a scarf over her head so she looked like a pioneer kid—like the ghost of Little House on the Prairie or something. She poked the fire with a stick, and it seemed to glow more richly red than a normal fire.
"Hello," she said.
My first thought was: monster.
"Good" nodded Reyna.
When you're a demigod and you find a sweet little girl alone in the woods—that's typically a good time to draw your sword and attack. Plus, the encounter with Ms. Castellan had rattled me pretty bad.
But Nico bowed to the little girl. "Hello again, Lady."
"Okay, who's that guy and what did he do to Nico di Angleo?"
"If you knew Nico, you wouldn't ask such a stupid question" Percy glared at a Roman.
He felt guilty then. He didn't like how people spoke about Nico at all, but he realized Hades' son probably had it all the time and he should've done something with it sooner. Yes, he wasn't exactly close to Nico and felt that the younger boy didn't like him much, but after everything they've been through, after the time they spend together, he considered him kind of a friend. Weird kind of a friend, but a friend nonetheless.
She studied me with eyes as red as the firelight. I decided it was safest to bow.
"Sit, Percy Jackson," she said. "Would you like some dinner?
"It's a goddess" explained Percy at the confused looks.
After staring at moldy peanut butter sandwiches and burned cookies, I didn't have much of an appetite, but the girl waved her hand and a picnic appeared at the edge of the fire. There were plates of roast beef, baked potatoes, buttered carrots, fresh bread,
More than a few stomachs rumbled.
and a whole bunch of other foods I hadn't had in a long time. My stomach started to rumble. It was the kind of home-cooked meal people are supposed to have but never do. The girl made a five-foot-long dog biscuit appear for Mrs. O'Leary, who happily began tearing it to shreds.
I sat next to Nico. We picked up our food, and I was about to dig in when I thought better of it.
I scraped part of my meal into the flames, the way we do at camp. "For the gods," I said.
"Smart move" commented briefly Annabeth, ignoring some of the looks.
The little girl smiled. "Thank you. As tender of the flame, I get a share of every sacrifice, you know."
"Oooh."
"Yeah."
"I recognize you now," I said. "The first time I came to camp, you were sitting by the fire, in the middle of the commons area."
"You did not stop to talk," the girl recalled sadly. "Alas, most never do. Nico talked to me. He was the first in many years.
After Percy's answer to the comment, no one dared to say anything this time, but they all clearly wondered about Nico.
Everyone rushes about. No time for visiting family."
"You're Hestia," I said. "Goddess of the Hearth."
She nodded.
Okay . . . so she looked eight years old. I didn't ask. I'd learned that gods could look any way they pleased.
"Oh, right" interrupted this time Piper. Annabeth was getting irritated with the interruptions. "About that, did you really meet Hermes?"
"Yeah."
She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Percy shook his head.
"Maybe later" said Annabeth, going back to the book.
"My lady," Nico asked, "why aren't you with the other Olympians, fighting Typhon?"
"Again, what?"
Percy and Annabeth sighed in unison.
It was getting tiring.
"Maybe we'll explain it all at once after the chapter?" he proposed.
"How long is it?" moaned Leo.
"Long."
"I'm not much for fighting." Her red eyes flickered. I realized they weren't just reflecting the flames.
They were filled with flames—but not like Ares's eyes.
"So you met Ares, too?"
"Yep."
"He mentioned it when Mars appeared before the quest" reminded Frank.
Hestia's eyes were warm and cozy.
"Besides," she said, "someone has to keep the home fires burning while the other gods are away."
"So you're guarding Mount Olympus?" I asked.
"'Guard' may be too strong a word. But if you ever need a warm place to sit and a home-cooked meal, you are welcome to visit. Now eat."
My plate was empty before I knew it. Nico scarfed his down just as fast.
"He eats?" a girl asked barely above a whisper.
"That was great," I said. "Thank you, Hestia."
She nodded. "Did you have a good visit with May Castellan?"
For a moment I'd almost forgotten the old lady with her bright eyes and her maniacal smile, the way she'd suddenly seemed possessed.
"What's wrong with her, exactly?" I asked.
"She was born with a gift," Hestia said. "She could see through the Mist."
"Like my mother,"
"She can see through the Mist?" said Hazel in surprise, to which he just nodded.
I said. And I was also thinking, Like Rachel
Annabeth threw him a wolf stare and he grinned innocently.
"But the glowing eyes thing—"
"Some bear the curse of sight better than others," the goddess said sadly. "For a while, May Castellan had many talents. She attracted the attention of Hermes himself. They had a beautiful baby boy. For a brief time, she was happy. And then she went too far."
I remembered what Ms. Castellan had said: They offered me an important job . . . It didn't work out. I wondered what kind of job left you like that.
"Godly, of course" he answered himself.
"One minute she was all happy," I said. "And then she was freaking out about her son's fate, like she knew he'd turned into Kronos. What happened to . . . to divide her like that?"
The goddess's face darkened. "That is a story I do not like to tell. But May Castellan saw too much. If you are to understand your enemy Luke, you must understand his family."
I thought about the sad little pictures of Hermes taped above May Castellan's sink. I wondered if Ms. Castellan had been so crazy when Luke was little. That green-eyed fit could've seriously scared a nine-year-old kid.
"Are you seriously pitying your enemy?" cut in a Roman guy.
Percy ignored him.
And if Hermes never visited, if he'd left Luke alone with his mom all those years . . .
"No wonder Luke ran away," I said. "I mean, it wasn't right to leave his mom like that, but still—he
was just a kid. Hermes shouldn't have abandoned them."
Hestia scratched behind Mrs. O'Leary's ears. The hellhound wagged her tail and accidentally knocked over a tree.
Slight laughter came around.
"It's easy to judge others," Hestia warned. "But will you follow Luke's path? Seek the same powers?"
"What powers?"
Nico set down his plate. "We have no choice, my lady. It's the only way Percy stands a chance."
"Percy, what powers?"
"Mmm." Hestia opened her hand and the fire roared. Flames shot thirty feet into the air. Heat slapped me in the face. Then the fire died back down to normal.
"Not all powers are spectacular."
"What. Powers."
"Oh, I'll tell you later!"
Hestia looked at me. "Sometimes the hardest power to master is the power of yielding. Do you believe me?"
"Uh-huh," I said. Anything to keep her from messing with her flame powers again.
A few demigods chuckled.
The goddess smiled. "You are a good hero, Percy Jackson. Not too proud. I like that.
"You have a goddess on your side" Reyna said impressed.
"Not only one" disagreed Annabeth. "Nearly every Olympian god got to know Percy enough to either like him or hate him"
"Not Demeter, she doesn't really care" put in quickly Percy.
"I said nearly" she rolled her eyes. "But yeah, it would be everyone besides Demeter. Plus Hades."
"And how many is on your side?"
"If I knew" he shrugged.
The Romans seemed to have mixed feelings about it.
But you have much to learn. When Dionysus was made a god, I gave up my throne for him. It was the only way to avoid a civil war among the gods."
"It unbalanced the Council," I remembered. "Suddenly there were seven guys and five girls."
Hestia shrugged. "It was the best solution, not a perfect one. Now I tend the fire. I fade slowly into the background. No one will ever write epic poems about the deeds of Hestia. Most demigods don't even stop to talk to me. But that is no matter.
"That's just sad" frowned Piper.
I keep the peace. I yield when necessary. Can you do this?"
"I don't know what you mean."
She studied me. "Perhaps not yet. But soon. Will you continue your quest?"
"Is that why you're here—to warn me against going?"
Hestia shook her head. "I am here because when all else fails, when all the other mighty gods have gone off to war, I am all that's left. Home. Hearth. I am the last Olympian. You must remember me when you face your final decision.
"What final decision?"
"Leo, later!"
I didn't like the way she said final.
I looked at Nico, then back at Hestia's warm glowing eyes. "I have to continue, my lady. I have to stop Luke . . . I mean Kronos."
Hestia nodded. "Very well. I cannot be of much assistance, beyond what I have already told you. But since you sacrificed to me, I can return you to your own hearth. I will see you again, Percy, on Olympus."
Her tone was ominous, as though our next meeting would not be happy.
"It wasn't."
"That's cheering."
The goddess waved her hand, and everything faded.
Suddenly I was home. Nico and I were sitting on the couch in my mom's apartment on the Upper East Side. That was the good news. The bad news was that the rest of the living room was occupied by Mrs. O'Leary.
Most of the Mercury kids laughed.
I heard a muffled yell from the bedroom. Paul's voice said, "Who put this wall of fur in the doorway?"
Nearly everyone bursted out laughing at this.
"Percy?" my mom called out. "Are you here? Are you all right?"
"I'm here!" I shouted back.
"WOOF!" Mrs. O'Leary tried to turn in a circle to find my mom, knocking all the pictures off the walls. She's only met my mom once before (long story), but she loves her.
"Aww" laughed Hazel.
It took a few minutes, but we finally got things worked out. After destroying most of the furniture in the living room and probably making our neighbors really mad, we got my parents out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where we sat around the kitchen table. Mrs. O'Leary still took up the entire living room, but she'd settled her head in the kitchen doorway so she could see us, which made her happy.
"Oh gods, that's so cute!" whispered a daughter of Venus.
My mom tossed her a ten-pound family-size tube of ground beef, which disappeared down her gullet. Paul poured lemonade for the rest of us while I explained about our visit to Connecticut.
"So it's true." Paul stared at me like he'd never seen me before. He was wearing his white bathrobe, now covered in hellhound fur, and his salt-and-pepper hair was sticking up in every direction. "All the talk about monsters, and being a demigod . . . it's really true."
"Ow, he didn't really know?" winced Frank.
"Nope" laughed Percy. "He was completely new."
I nodded. Last fall I'd explained to Paul who I was. My mom had backed me up. But until this moment, I don't think he really believed us.
"Sorry about Mrs. O'Leary," I said, "destroying the living room and all."
Paul laughed like he was delighted. "Are you kidding? This is awesome! I mean, when I saw the hoofprints on the Prius, I thought maybe. But this!"
"He's your step-father?" grinned Frank.
"Yeah."
"He's awesome" exclaimed Leo.
"Tell me about it."
He patted Mrs. O'Leary's snout. The living room shook—BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—which either meant a SWAT team was breaking down the door or Mrs. O'Leary was wagging her tail.
Everyone laughed.
I couldn't help but smile. Paul was a pretty cool guy, even if he was my English teacher as well as my stepdad.
"I wish I had teachers like that" sighed Piper.
"Thanks for not freaking out," I said.
"Oh, I'm freaking out," he promised, his eyes wide. "I just think it's awesome!"
"I'd like to meet him" snorted Jason.
"Yeah, well," I said, "you may not be so excited when you hear what's happening."
I told Paul and my mom about Typhon, and the gods, and the battle that was sure to come. Then I told them Nico's plan.
Leo looked like he wanted to bang his head against a wall (and he wasn't the only one), but this time didn't ask about the plan, thank the gods.
My mom laced her fingers around her lemonade glass. She was wearing her old blue flannel bathrobe, and her hair was tied back. Recently she'd started writing a novel, like she'd wanted to do for years, and I could tell she'd been working on it late into the night, because the circles under her eyes were darker than usual.
Behind her at the kitchen window, silvery moon lace glowed in the flower box. I'd brought the magical plant back from Calypso's island last summer,
Annabeth just raised an eyebrow at him.
"You've been to Calypso's island?" said a Roman guy.
He shrugged.
"As Annabeth just read…"
and it bloomed like crazy under my mother's care.
The scent always calmed me down, but it also made me sad because it reminded me of lost friends.
"Friends?" scoffed other Roman guy. "The legendary Calypso, a friend."
"Yes."
He once again ignored the looks, though if you looked hard enough, you could notice some looks of appreciation on girls' faces. And disbelieve, but who cares.
My mom took a deep breath, like she was thinking how to tell me no.
"Percy, it's dangerous," she said. "Even for you."
"And he has a different scale" put in Annabeth.
"Mom, I know. I could die. Nico explained that. But if we don't try—"
"Oh, yeah, that's totally going to work on her."
"We'll all die," Nico said.
"Oh, here is real Nico" snickered a Mars kid.
He hadn't touched his lemonade. "Ms. Jackson, we don't stand a chance against an invasion. And there will be an invasion."
"An invasion of New York?" Paul said. "Is that even possible? How could we not see the . . . the monsters?"
He said the word like he still couldn't believe this was real.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't see how Kronos could just march into Manhattan, but the Mist is strong. Typhon is trampling across the country right now, and mortals think he's a storm system."
"Ms. Jackson," Nico said, "Percy needs your blessing. The process has to start that way. I wasn't sure until we met Luke's mom, but now I'm positive. This has only been done successfully twice before. Both times, the mother had to give her blessing. She had to be willing to let her son take the risk."
"Okay, that sounds damn dangerous" Reyna glanced at Percy.
"It is" he ensured her.
"You want me to bless this?" She shook her head. "It's crazy. Percy, please—"
"Mom, I can't do it without you."
"And if you survive this . . . this process?"
"Then I go to war," I said. "Me against Kronos. And only one of us will survive."
"Wha – "
"Just listen."
I didn't tell her the whole prophecy—about the soul reaping and the end of my days. She didn't need to know that I was probably doomed. I could only hope I'd stop Kronos and save the rest of the world before I died.
Annabeth paused, like she knew they needed a while to absorb the information.
"Well, we know you got out of it alive, at least" said finally Leo.
"We'll talk about it later?" proposed again Percy, before anyone said something more.
"You're my son," she said miserably. "I can't just . . ."
I could tell I'd have to push her harder if I wanted her to agree, but I didn't want to. I remembered poor Ms. Castellan in her kitchen, waiting for her son to come home. And I realized how lucky I was. My mom had always been there for me, always tried to make things normal for me, even with the gods and monsters and stuff. She put up with me going off on adventures, but now I was asking her blessing to do something that would probably get me killed.
Pity appeared on more than one face.
I locked eyes with Paul, and some kind of understanding passed between us.
"Sally." He put his hand over my mother's hands. "I can't claim to know what you and Percy have
been going through all these years. But it sounds to me . . . it sounds like Percy is doing something noble. I wish I had that much courage."
Annabeth smiled whilst reading it.
I got a lump in my throat. I didn't get compliments like that too much.
"Well, you should" she said matter-of-factly.
My mom stared at her lemonade. She looked like she was trying not to cry. I thought about what Hestia had said, about how hard it was to yield, and I figured maybe my mom was finding that out.
"Percy," she said, "I give you my blessing."
I didn't feel any different. No magic glow lit the kitchen or anything.
I glanced at Nico.
He looked more anxious than ever, but he nodded. "It's time."
"That sounds so dramatic."
"It is."
"Shush!"
"Percy," my mom said. "One last thing. If you . . . if you survive this fight with Kronos, send me a sign." She rummaged through her purse and handed me her cell phone.
"Mom," I said, "you know demigods and phones—"
"I know," she said. "But just in case. If you're not able to call . . . maybe a sign that I could see from anywhere in Manhattan. To let me know you're okay."
"Like Theseus," Paul suggested. "He was supposed to raise white sails when he came home to Athens."
"Except he forgot," Nico muttered. "And his father jumped off the palace roof in despair. But other than that, it was a great idea."
A few people snickered, Percy the loudest of them all.
"What about a flag or a flare?" my mom said. "From Olympus—the Empire State Building."
"Something blue," I said.
We'd had a running joke for years about blue food. It was my favorite color, and my mom went out of her way to humor me. Every year my birthday cake, my Easter basket, my Christmas candy canes always had to be blue.
"Oh, now I get the blue food!" said Hazel pleased.
"Yes," my mom agreed. "I'll watch for a blue signal. And I'll try to avoid jumping off palace roofs."
She gave me one last hug. I tried not to feel like I was saying good-bye. I shook hands with Paul.
Then Nico and I walked to the kitchen doorway and looked at Mrs. O'Leary.
"Sorry, girl," I said. "Shadow travel time again."
She whimpered and crossed her paws over her snout.
Venus girls cooed again.
"Where now?" I asked Nico. "Los Angeles?"
"No need," he said. "There's a closer entrance to the Underworld."
"Underworld?" repeated Piper terrified.
"That's the end" Annabeth closed the book.
"Excellent" Reyna crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her armchair. "Now I'll gladly listen to what you have to say."
Percy and Annabeth shared a look.
"Soo…"
"Well, Percy?" Praetor Ramirez-Arellano looked at him expectantly.
"Maybe Annabeth should start" he said quickly, patting his girlfriend's shoulder.
She slowly turned to him.
"Bad move" coughed Leo.
"I have amnesia and all" said Percy hesitantly.
"Bullshit" Annabeth shook her head. "But fine. So, that summer Kronos was already in Luke's body. Luke was…"
Percy leaned back in his seat, sighing deeply. Story time, yay. He couldn't wait for the climax.
Hi again! It's the same day...
I am a weak, weak mind. I was supposed to update every two weeks... but, oh come on! For your lovely reviews, you have that one waaay quicker! But it's only one time thing, okay? The temptation is just too big when I have the chapter already written. I only hope I didn't disappoint you.
Just so you know, there aren't that many comments, because I figured they'd be all still unsure and confused, but with time, they get more talkative.
And I repeat, any suggestion or criticism is good! If you see any errors, do tell, too (hey, AncientTide, I see you and thank you), because I write a lot just from memory and English is my second language (and I'm seventeen, so I still learn), therefore there is a high possibility I mess up. Sorry!
That's it, folks, review please, it really motivates me :)
Ronnie's out (again) (and this time really)