"Out of curiosity, how was your journey up to the green wood?" Robin asked as he helped Andy limp away from the van.
"Well, nothing tried to kill us, so that's a first," Andy grinned. Robin gave a soft crow of laughter.
"We did run across something odd at a restaurant," Andy said. She fished Polydorus's note out of her pocket. Taking the paper, Robin read it quickly. He stopped and Andy stumbled to a halt beside him.
"What's up?" she asked.
O, spare the dead, nor let thy hold hands do sacrilege and sin! I, Trojan-born, was kin of thine. This blood is not of trees. Haste from this murderous shore, this land of greed. O, I am Polydorus! Haste away!
"Robin?" Andy asked, gripping his shoulder. "What's wrong? Did you know him?"
"When was this written?" he asked.
"Uh, about forty years ago," Andy said, biting her lip.
"Then I do not know him," Robin said, forcing a smile. "But may I keep it?"
"Sure. It doesn't mean anything to me," Andy shrugged. Robin carefully stowed the paper away in one of his pockets.
"How is your leg?" Robin asked. Andy tested it and winced.
"Better."
"Shall we?" Robin asked, offering her his arm. She smiled slightly and took it; Robin resolutely turned back towards the van, where Will was still watching them with jealous eyes.
Will stalked away as soon as they reached the van and Cletus nervously followed. Robin was far too preoccupied to notice, his fingers still brushing against the words tucked away in his pocket. Andy leaned against the side of the van, arms crossed. Robin carefully seated himself out of her line of sight before pulling out both the mysterious note and his magical wallet.
Opening the wallet, he took out the only non-Greek epic he had brought: the Aeneid. Flipping it open to book 3, line 22 Robin began to read.
He didn't really need to read. He knew the great epics by heart. But to see the similarities between the note and the epic written on paper was chilling.
- I, Polydorus, always knew history to repeat itself - So he had already guessed his fate.
- I have uncovered a great secret, something that may be the doom of us all. - Yes, if Calliope was right, then the secret Polydorus had discovered might indeed be their doom... or their salvation. It's funny how those two always seemed to cross, Robin thought wryly.
I should have listened when they told me to avoid the land south of Hudson Valley. I fear I shall never return home. They are coming for me.
- Haste from this murderous shore, this land of greed... Haste away! -
Robin shivered, as though a snake had slithered over his grave. He had not been there for the war his mother had told him of, but he had practically lived through the last Great War. The war that nearly destroyed the known world. The world the first Polydorus had known.
Robin looked around the stop with tired eyes. This world was too fast for him; it whirled around in a chaotic, blinding blue. This world was too bright for him; its harsh lights speared his eyes ruthlessly. He was used to the stillness of the green wood and the shadows that cloaked him from unfriendly eyes. Now he found that he'd waltzed into what was very likely another war.
And what made matters worse was that he had no idea where Oenone was, or even where she would go.
Will got them back to camp by mid-morning. His eyes were bloodshot and it made Robin wonder if the other boy had had nightmares last night, or if he'd slept at all. Robin himself was silent, pensive, but whenever someone spoke to him he smiled and nodded, the feather in his hair bobbing slightly.
By the time they got back to camp, the van was trashed with wrappers and crumbs. Andy jumped out of the car and skipped up the slope, tugging Robin along after her by the hand. He laughed and obligingly followed.
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!" Andy said as they crested the slope. The green fields were laid out below them, occasionally dotted by the occasional greek building and orange shirt. "The only safe place for demigods."
Robin gazed at Andy sadly, wondering if she knew how false that statement was. But Andy turned back quickly, and her brilliant smile faltered as she caught the look on Robin's face.
"Robin...?" she asked, but the boy interrupted her quickly
"Do my eyes deceive, or is that the golden fleece?" Robin asked, pointing at the shiny metallic skin draped on the tree. Andy blinked, and followed his line of sight.
"Yes, Percy brought it back a few years ago," Andy nodded.
"Perseus son of Poseidon again," Robin shook his head ruefully. "I wish I could have met him. Perhaps I still will."
"Who knows, maybe he's already back," Andy said, stepping down the slope. Cletus crossed the boundary as well and went down the slope towards the Big House, his empty food bag swinging lightly from his shoulder. Will followed after him, leaving Robin alone on the crest with his longbow Star-shooter.
"Come on, Robin, you have to meet Chiron," Andy said, beckoning him forward. Robin smiled broadly and stepped over the boundary. No thunder rumbled and the dragon coiled around the trunk of the tree did not attack, so Robin supposed he was as welcome in the camp as any of the others..
When they were halfway to the massive blue farmhouse that dominated the camp, Robin could see a white centaur on the porch looking towards them. Andy waved and the centaur raised a hand in greeting.
"That's Chiron," Andy told Robin. "The activities director." Cletus got to the porch first and said something to the centaur, who looked at Robin sharply.
Andy and Robin climbed the stairs and Chiron extended his hand to the boy.
"I must admit, I did not expect someone like you," Chrion said. "Where exactly have you been the past eighteen years?"
"The same place I've dwelled the last two hundred and fifty years," Robin answered, shaking his hand. Chiron stared at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Robin's home is special," Andy said. "It..."
"Perhaps we may speak separately," Robin suggested to Chiron. "Our friends are tired and in need of rest. What I have to tell you they have already heard."
As soon as Will, Cletus, and Andy left - stumbling off to their respective cabins - Robin nodded cordially to Chiron.
"I have lied," Robin admitted.
"And what lie have you told?" the centaur asked.
"That they have already heard what I have to tell you," he said. "For I must speak with you about Polydorus and the other Romani." Chiron stiffened and glared at Robin.
"How do you know about... I am not permitted to speak of that."
"Even to someone who knows all about them already?" Robin asked. "I have been gone for more years than I can fully comprehend, but my mother has seen fit to bestow this piece of information upon me. I can only wonder why?" Chiron did not answer and Robin nodded.
"You do not need tell me," he said agreeably.
"Is it true what she said?" Chiron asked abruptly. "You know the things that were and the things that will be and the things that have been before?"
"Who said that about me?" Robin inquired, leaning on Star-shooter.
"Kivese."
"She is quoting Homer," Robin smiled. "His Iliad. I am not a seer. But I think she hoped to reveal my nature to you. Epic poems: Calliope. Perhaps she sought to warn you, so that you would not be disappointed as Will Solace was."
"Why was Will disappointed?" Chiron asked.
"I think he was expecting someone who was a little more... well, more." Robin spread his arms out to indicate his entire self. "But please, can we not speak about the Romani?"
"There is nothing to say about them," Chiron insisted coldly.
"I think Polydorus would disagree," Robin said, pulling the note out of his pocket. Chiron took it and read over it.
"O, spare the dead, nor let thy hold hands do sacrilege and sin! I, Trojan-born, was kin of thine. This blood is not of trees. Haste from this murderous shore, this land of greed. O, I am Polydorus! Haste away!" Robin recited. Chiron looked up at him and frowned.
"You know where it is from, of course?" Robin asked. "Publius Vergilius Maro's Aeneid. A Roman epic." Robin picked up Star-shooter and strode to the edge of the porch. Looking out over the strawberry fields, Robin braced his arm against the rail and sighed.
"Olympus is closed. At first, it was because Zeus believed the gods to have grown to close to their half-blood children. He is also Jove, the Roman King of the Gods, and as such does not wish to have much contact with mortals. He has banned Iris-messages, visions, letters, dreams. But there is more: pride. Pride like that of Achilles, which is wrathful and terrible, the greatest flaw of gods and mortals."
Thunder rumbled, and Robin turn his face towards the clouds that were gathering on the edges of the camp.
"It started when the boy you all seek, Perseus Jackson, denied the gift of immortality. Perhaps that would have been allowed to pass by unnoticed, but first my cousin, Kivese, or as she was once known, Samantha Arlington, had also wished to deny immortality, which was not a gift but a born state. The gods were furious."
"What does this... I know all this," Chiron said.
"You wish to know what this has to do with the Romani," Robin said. "Just this: the gods may have forgiven these two grave insults in time, perhaps most already have. But now Hera of Argos has risked everything. An exchange: the Greek leader for the Roman. He is coming, very soon now. Olympus is holding its breath to see what will happen. That is all, my mother told me no more."
"How do you know all this, if Olympus is closed?" Chiron said. "If there are no dreams or Iris-messages or anything?"
"My mother inspires, which is not banned by Zeus," Robin said, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards. "There, you have said nothing about the Romani; I have done all the talking."
A/N: Footnotes:
Polydorus: yes, that is the line of the Aeneid he is mentioned in
Aenied: an epic poem written by Publius Vergilius Maro in the late 1st century. It discusses the journey of Aeneas, the father of Rome, from his homeland of Troy
Achilles's pride: "Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilleus", as the Iliad begins. Achilles's hurt pride almost made the Greeks lose the Trojan War