Surface Pressure

by kneeshee

Watch as she buckles and bends but never break

11. almost seventeen

WELCOME TO MONTAUK

SETTLED 1660

Livia wasn't sure why she decided to send someone ahead to rent out all the cabins on the south shore. But they had quickly commandeered the place. Every instinct she had was telling her that she was in enemy territory. That it was dangerous to be there. At that point, she didn't even care.

They parked their cars while others pitched tents. She already had the children of Trivia covering them deeply into mist. She almost wanted them to compel every mortal that was on the Island to decide to suddenly leave.

She didn't. That would let their enemies know that they were near.

Livia made her way down to the beach. Octavian and Mike Kahale walked with her. They were at war and she didn't know how many supporters that Jason still had that may try to kill her. (And that was not counting those that may still hate the idea of her as their leader.)

Not that she needed the protection but she still appreciated it.

Mike stepped away to give her some privacy as Octavian moved closer to her. She wondered what image that the Legion was seeing as she and Octavian weaved comfort and strength around one another. She also didn't really care to know.

"How long will it be before Reyna and her squadrons gets here," she questioned. They had split up after some of the Gigantes found them. Emphytos and Leôn, who Octavian had quickly deduced were trying to slow them down.

And they did. Constant taunts of how they should surrender to them as Gaea was going to wipe them out in one full blow. That it was apparently better for them as Romans to die with honor than without. A crater was left in the road after Daniele had cut Emphytos' tongue from his mouth.

The giants had been infuriated, forcing them to take different exits that only pushed back the inevitable. Still with a little help from one of the local river gods, Livia walked away with Leôn's skin as a new coat that she gifted to Daniele for the assistance and the giant's spear made of celestial bronze and imperial gold that she gave to the river-god.

"A few days. Emphytos chased them back to Oklahoma where his brother, Thoon, chased them down after his defeat."

"So the gods are helping," she hummed. She wondered where Mercury was. Octavian shrugged, eyes as bright as the sun above them. "The ones that aren't indisposed. I think it may be due to Lady Victoria and Lady Nike at war with each other."

Livia grimaced. She could easily assume why that would be. They were at war and each side would be trying to overtake the other even if Camp Half-Blood had not stepped foot into battle yet. "Have the fauns been called to battle?"

"Yes, but Livia," Octavian hesitated for just a moment. "Do you really think the fauns will be of any help?"

"Fauns and Satyrs may seem similar and as evolution has grown… they may even look similar but just like our gods… they are not. Satyrs may have more knowledge due to their travels with Dionysos and Pan. Our Fauns are known to be foolish. But the difference between them is that while the satyrs were off getting drunk at revelries and having orgies throughout the land… the Fauns learned to use the nature around them as a weapon. They learned to instil fear of travelling through the forests. The Satyrs may have gotten a little wiser, but the Fauns have a history of ancient magicks stapled into their blood. Even if they cannot win, they can keep the satyrs at a standstill."

Octavian was quiet and Livia breathed in the salty sea air.

"Liv," he finally said. She hummed. "Livia."

The child of the sea turned to him. Her friend stood before her with a seriousness to his expression that she had not ever seen even in the previous war. "Octavian?"

"You stand at the crossroads, Livia Jackson," he said ominously. "Annia was not truthful when she told you that you had a choice to make. She didn't tell you the entire thing, even Lord Janus and his doorways did not give you the full picture. He would have you believe that all choices are black or white, yes or no, in or out. In fact, it's not that simple. Whenever you reach the crossroads, there are always at least three ways to go ... four, if you count going backwards. You are at such a crossing now, Livia. This is the final choice."

She faced him head-on, never giving any indication to the terror that settled into her bones. For years, she had been plagued by a choice that had only one possible ending. She did not like that her choice was so wrapped up in this war. What was so special about it?

(Polus smiled once more, "Your choice will have to be made soon. The divine oikos do not allow any that are unworthy. You must prove your bloodline.")

There was nothing to prove but Rome's superiority. But she knew more than what Janus and Annia simplified it to be.

("The shorter path will lead to the deaths of hundreds. A civil war unstoppable that your wrath will only fuel until nothing is left but us deathless gods." He swiped his other thumb across her bottom lip, "The longer path will lead to those whose fate have already been set. And two more that will blind you to anything but your own pain.")

She had thought he meant Jason and Octavian at the time. They were the only two she held in such high regard. They still were even if Jason had been knocked from the pedestal she had placed him on.

She couldn't lose them.

(But what was two lives to the lives of hundreds?)

(Everything.)

"The results of the choice before me are bad," she admitted.

'All choices have risks,' he countered. The ground nearly shifted under her feet. She remembered— he said—

"You know," she muttered.

(Hands pressed against her cheeks. She looked up to see Octavian's eyes glowing, "Livia. Listen to me. There will be a day where Jason and I won't be here anymore. Don't try to follow us.")

He smiled sadly at her, "What's two lives to the lives of hundreds?"

Grief clawed at her. She shook her head fiercely. "No. You can't– no. I can't lose you too. I won't let you."

("Your friends are destined to die," Mercury told her and she stiffened. "There will be nothing you can do to stop that.")

"You have to let me go," he told her. "You already know your fate."

"You're going to die," she snapped. "I'm leading you to your death."

"Everybody dies. It's just the life of a demigod."

Realisation washed through her like a cold front. "You said–you said I know my fate. You know what is intended for me. For that to happen, Gaea will have to be defeated."

"To storm or fire the world must fall," he quoted as he gave her a look of disappointment. She was smarter than this. She knew that too. She was letting her emotions cloud her judgement instead of utilising them as a weapon and working alongside her mind. "In any case, Gaia has set the date of August first, the Feast of Spes, for her rise to power. By waking on the Day of Hope, she intends to destroy all hope forever."

Livia loathed to admit that it was a good plan. It was symbolic in nature, designed to give that extra amount of hurt. Though she would have aimed for the Panathenaea.

The most important festival for Athens and one of the grandest in the entire ancient Greek world. They were held in honour of Athena. It was celebrated into what was now roughly mid-August and well.. Her birthday was mid-August. And the Ancient greek noble girls led a procession carrying a veil they had weaved, embroidered with scenes from the Gigantomachy.

That would have been symbolic… a child of Neptune… the Roman equivalent to Poseidon leading an attack on Athens on such a sacred day? Honestly. Gaea should fire her strategist. Livia knew how to hit where it hurts.

Livia hummed, smiling to herself. She wasn't interested in helping Gaea at all but— "It fits. Prepare the legion for battle. We will attack on August 1st."

"You would attack the same day as she? You know how that would look," he argued. She shook her head, looking at him. "She can attack then all she wants, but I once heard something that has stuck with me for a while even if it were just in the depths of my mind."

"What is it?"

"Hope survives best at the hearth."

---

She was thankfully alone when she had collapsed. Her sinuses felt like they were filled with liquid flame. Her mouth felt like it was being deep-fried. Her eyes shed boiling tears, and every pore on her face popped. She collapsed, gagging and retching, her whole body shaking violently.

It was over as soon as it started.

Livia cursed the day Neptune met Sally Jackson.

---

Livia snarled.

Her caduceus charm had been stolen right from her bracelet. "When I get my hands on those dwarves, I'm going to make them beg for mercy."

"They're just pulling pranks," Octavian pointed out. He was hiding away in her cabin, binoculars held to his face as he "watched out for potential attacks". (Livia knew that he was really just watching Mike Kahale dip his toes in the surf.)

She scowled at him, "You know those greeks sent them. Their attempts to slow us down are pathetic. I will have their heads!"

Octavian sighed, putting down his binoculars. "This isn't like you, Via." She rolled her eyes, already sensing the incoming lecture. "I'm serious. You're being more emotional than ever. You're not thinking of this logically. Rome did not become the empire that it was just from wanting to be it alone. They were strategic about it."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to stop crying over a doomed relationship and do something about it!"

Livia jerked back, his words like a slap to the face. He didn't even look guilty. "Livia Jackson, since when have you let a relationship rule you? You're strong. You're powerful. You're smart. Why are you putting your mind on the backburner for your heart?"

"What's more powerful than love," she croaked.

Octavian scoffed, "Aphrodite did not win the Judgement of Paris just through love. She played upon Aléxandros' lust-riddled mind. Aphrodite did not bring upon a decade of war through just love. Her wrath had been ignited by Tyndareus and Menelaus. Her revenge had been carefully calculated, leading to the abduction of Helen. She ignited and smothered love in their hearts with a strategic mind. Do not forget, Livia, that Aphrodite is a war goddess in her own right. And is Venus not the mother of Rome? It was her son that led to the creation of Rome."

"I–"

"I [Venus] should find some favour with the sea, for in its holy depths in days gone by from sea-foam I was formed, and still from foam I take my name in Greece."

"Ovid, Metamorphoses 4"

"Who will you be, Livia? Will you be Troy fallen and disgraced by the Greeks or will you be like Lord Aeneas to rise up again and be cherished like Rome?"

Livia looked at him, breathing deeply. She felt as if she was being led into a trap and she was hating the idea of it. Octavian was good, but he had never been better than her at politics. Clearly, he learned something from her even if it was a little too well.

"Fine. You're right." She looked away, staring out into the sea.

Her brother in all but blood stepped closer to her. "The one who left you in storms can never gift you sunshine."

"The storms are me and even nature needs to scream."

She could sense his smile even if she could not see it, "Let it go."

Her eyes slipped closed, and she imagined the bond that was shared between her and Jason. The love that had grown between the two past the familiar connection that they had tried to foster. She could feel it weighing her down and restraining her mind. It was poisoning her.

The love was holding her back.

And she let it go.

What was more powerful than love?

Nothing.

Love existed in different forms.

And Livia had always loved herself the most.

Livia was praying at her altar when she blacked out.

She was Standing in the middle of ruins, next to a broken column the size of a redwood.

She scowled as she saw Jason's body coming into focus alongside Nico Di'Angelo. She should have never allowed that brat into her camp, damn the consequences of getting on the wrong side of the Chthonian gods.

'Yes, mortal bodies are terribly bulky,' a winged person said. They settled on a nearby wall with a basket of fruit and spread his russet wings in the sun. 'Honestly, I don't know how you stand it, day in and day out.'

Livia and Jason scanned their surroundings. The town must have been huge once. He could make out the shells of temples and bathhouses, a half-buried amphitheatre and empty pedestals that must have once held statues. Rows of columns marched off to nowhere. The old city walls weaved in and out of the hillside like stone thread through a green cloth.

Some areas looked like they'd been excavated, but most of the city just seemed abandoned, as if it had been left to the elements for the last two thousand years.

'Welcome to Salona,' the third-party said. 'Capital of Dalmatia! Birthplace of Diocletian! But before that, long before that, it was the home of Cupid.'

The name echoed, as if voices were whispering it through the ruins.

Livia had never thought much about Cupid, but after meeting Venus the first time, she could admit that she had some thoughts. He was her favored child after all. And like Livia, he found amusement in the cruelty that he bestowed upon others.

She never thought of Cupid as scary despite knowing the lengths that his wife went through to marry him. She knew all the tricks he had played on the gods, but she never gazed at his focus. She knew there was nothing more powerful than love, but her fear aimed for his mother first and foremost.

'Oh, he's not like that,' said the unnamed person. Livia was starting to think he was a god or a spirit.

Jason flinched. 'You can read my mind?'

'I don't need to.' He tossed his bronze hoop in the air. 'Everyone has the wrong impression of Cupid … until they meet him.'

Nico braced himself against a column, his legs trembling visibly.

'Hey, man ...' Jason stepped towards him, but Nico waved him off. Livia looked at him curiously. Was this some new blackmail?

At Nico's feet, the grass turned brown and wilted. The dead patch spread outwards, as if poison were seeping from the soles of his shoes.

'Ah ...' The spirit nodded sympathetically. 'I don't blame you for being nervous, Nico di Angelo. Do you know how I ended up serving Cupid?'

Livia tried to think of who served in Cupid's retinue.

'I don't serve anyone,' Nico muttered. 'Especially not Cupid.'

The spirit continued as if he hadn't heard. 'I fell in love with a mortal named Hyacinthus. He was quite extraordinary.'

Livia blinked then scowled. Oh, it was that bitch.

'He ...?' Jason seemingly short circuited. Livia raised a brow. Did the amnesia make him homophobic? She distinctively recalled him and Octavian kissing the summer after they found the treasure chest. She still had the picture to prove it. 'Oh ...'

'Yes, Jason Grace.' Favonius arched an eyebrow. 'I fell in love with a dude. Does that shock you?'

'I guess not. So ... Cupid struck you with his arrow, and you fell in love.'

Favonius snorted. 'You make it sound so simple. Alas, love is never simple. You see, the god Apollo also liked Hyacinthus. He claimed they were just friends. I don't know. But one day I came across them together, playing a game of quoits –'

'Quoits?'

'A game with those hoops,' Nico explained, though his voice was brittle. 'Like horseshoes.'

'Sort of,' Favonius said. 'At any rate, I was jealous. Instead of confronting them and finding out the truth, I shifted the wind and sent a heavy metal ring right at Hyacinthus's head and ... well.' The wind god sighed. 'As Hyacinthus died, Apollo turned him into a flower, the hyacinth. I'm sure Apollo would've taken horrible vengeance on me, but Cupid offered me his protection. I'd done a terrible thing, but I'd been driven mad by love, so he spared me, on the condition that I work for him forever.'

Livia didn't blame Apollo. She would have wrung his neck if he done the same to her.

CUPID.

The name echoed through the ruins.

'That would be my cue.' Favonius stood. 'Think long and hard about how you proceed, Nico di Angelo. You cannot lie to Cupid. If you let your anger rule you ... well, your fate will be even sadder than mine.'

The wind god disappeared in a swirl of red and gold. The summer air suddenly felt oppressive. The ground shook, and Jason and Nico drew their swords.

So.

The voice rushed past Livia's ear like a bullet. When she turned, no one was there.

You come to claim the sceptre.

Nico stood at Jason's back.

'Cupid,' Jason called, 'where are you?'

The voice laughed. It definitely didn't sound like a cute baby angel's. It sounded deep and rich, but also threatening – like a tremor before a major earthquake.

Where you least expect me, Cupid answered. As Love always is.

Something slammed into Jason and hurled him across the street. He toppled down a set of steps and sprawled on the floor of an excavated Roman basement.

I would think you'd know better, Jason Grace. Cupid's voice whirled around him. You've found true love, after all. Or do you still doubt yourself?

Nico scrambled down the steps. 'You okay?'

Jason accepted his hand and got to his feet. 'Yeah. Just sucker punched.'

Oh, did you expect me to play fair? Cupid laughed. I am the god of love. I am never fair.

Jason intercepted an arrow with his sword, deflecting it sideways as it raced towards Nico's chest. The arrow exploded against the nearest wall, peppering them with limestone shrapnel.

They ran up the steps. Jason pulled Nico to one side as another gust of wind toppled a column that would have crushed him flat.

'Is this guy Love or Death?' Jason growled.

Ask your friends, Cupid said. Frank, Hazel and Percy met my counterpart, Thanatos. We are not so different. Except Death is sometimes kinder.

'We just want the sceptre!' Nico shouted. 'We're trying to stop Gaia. Are you on the gods' side or not?'

A second arrow hit the ground between Nico's feet and glowed white-hot. Nico stumbled back as the arrow burst into a geyser of flame. Livia watched with wide eyes. Cupid was dangerous. He was really dangerous. He was nothing like the cute little babies in diapers.

This was a soldier of love.

Love is on every side, Cupid said. And no one's side. Don't ask what Love can do for you.

'Great,' Jason said. 'Now he's spouting greeting card messages.'

Jason spun, slicing his sword through the air. His blade bit into something solid. He heard a grunt and he swung again, but the invisible god was gone. On the paving stones, a trail of golden ichor shimmered – the blood of the gods.

Very good, Jason, Cupid said. At least you can sense my presence. Even a glancing hit at true love is more than most heroes manage.

'So now I get the sceptre?' Jason asked.

Cupid laughed. Unfortunately, you could not wield it. Only a child of the Underworld can summon the dead legions. And only an officer of Rome can lead them.

'But ...' Jason wavered. Livia smirked. She had thrown him out of his leadership. His little quest was over before it started. He deserved it for breaking her heart.

'Just leave that to us,' he said. 'Nico can summon –'

Livia scoffed. There was no one on their little quest that would be able to lead the dead legions. She wasn't fond of helping Gaea, but she would be damned before she let Jason get his happy ending with Piper. Not after they alongside the greeks destroyed her home.

The third arrow zipped by Jason's shoulder. He couldn't stop it in time. Nico gasped as it sank into his sword arm.

'Nico!'

The son of Hades stumbled. The arrow dissolved, leaving no blood and no visible wound, but Nico's face was tight with rage and pain.

'Enough games!' Nico shouted. 'Show yourself!'

It is a costly thing, Cupid said, looking on the true face of Love.

Another column toppled. Jason scrambled out of its way.

My wife Psyche learned that lesson, Cupid said. She was brought here aeons ago, when this was the site of my palace. We met only in the dark. She was warned never to look upon me, and yet she could not stand the mystery. She feared I was a monster. One night, she lit a candle, and beheld my face as I slept.

'Were you that ugly?' Livia had zeroed in on Cupid's voice – at the edge of the amphitheatre about twenty yards away. She wondered if Jason noticed.

The god laughed. I was too handsome, I'm afraid. A mortal cannot gaze upon the true appearance of a god without suffering consequences. My mother, Venus, cursed Psyche for her distrust. My poor lover was tormented, forced into exile, given horrible tasks to prove her worth. She was even sent to the Underworld on a quest to show her dedication. She earned her way back to my side, but she suffered greatly.

Jason thrust his sword in the sky and thunder shook the valley. Lightning blasted a crater where the voice had been speaking.

Silence.

Livia pursed her lips. Did he get him?

And then an invisible force knocked him to the ground. His sword skittered across the road.

A good try, Cupid said, his voice already distant. But Love cannot be pinned down so easily.

Next to him, a wall collapsed. Jason barely managed to roll aside.

'Stop it!' Nico yelled. 'It's me you want. Leave him alone!'

Poor Nico di Angelo. The god's voice was tinged with disappointment. Do you know what you want, much less what I want? My beloved Psyche risked everything in the name of Love. It was the only way to atone for her lack of faith. And you – what have you risked in my name?

'I've been to Tartarus and back,' Nico snarled. 'You don't scare me.'

I scare you very, very much. I scare Jason also. So, face me. Be honest.

Jason pulled himself up. Livia moved closer. All around Nico, the ground shifted. The grass withered, and the stones cracked as if something was moving in the earth beneath, trying to push its way through.

'Give us Diocletian's sceptre,' Nico said. 'We don't have time for games.'

Games? Cupid struck, slapping Nico sideways into a granite pedestal. Love is no game! It is no flowery softness! It is hard work – a quest that never ends. It demands everything from you – especially the truth. Only then does it yield rewards.

A quest that never ends that demands everything from you. Livia thought of Venus' words. Jason would have wanted more than what she could offer him. And the truth of it was— she could never love him as equally as she loved Mercury.

Jason retrieved his sword.

'Nico,' he called, 'what does this guy want from you?'

Tell him, Nico di Angelo, Cupid said. Tell him you are a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings. Tell him the real reason you ran from Camp Half-Blood, and why you are always alone. He could tell you the same of why he's running from Camp Jupiter.

Nico let loose a guttural scream. The ground at his feet split open and skeletons crawled forth – dead Romans with missing hands and caved-in skulls, cracked ribs and jaws unhinged. Some were dressed in the remnants of togas. Others had glinting pieces of armour hanging off their chests.

Her nose wrinkled in disgust.

Will you hide among the dead, as you always do? Cupid taunted.

Waves of darkness rolled off the son of Hades. When they hit Livia, she almost lost consciousness that she had become overwhelmed by hatred and fear and shame ...

Images flashed through her mind. She saw Nico and his sister on a snowy cliff in Maine, Percy Jackson protecting them from a manticore. Percy's sword gleamed in the dark. He'd been the first demigod Nico had ever seen in action.

Later, at Camp Half-Blood, Percy took Nico by the arm, promising to keep his sister Bianca safe. Nico had believed him. Nico had looked into his sea-green eyes and thought, How can he possibly fail? This is a real hero. He was Nico's favourite game, Mythomagic, brought to life.

Livia saw the moment when Percy returned and told Nico that Bianca was dead. Nico had screamed and called him a liar. He'd felt betrayed, but still ... when the skeleton warriors attacked, he couldn't let them harm Percy. Nico had called on the earth to swallow them up, and then he'd run away – terrified of his own powers, and his own emotions.

Livia saw a dozen more scenes like this from Nico's point of view ... And they left her stunned, unable to move or speak.

Great. Just great. No blackmail material. Now she actually felt bad about finding out someone's secret. Great.

Meanwhile, Nico's Roman skeletons surged forward and grappled with something invisible. The god struggled, flinging the dead aside, breaking off ribs and skulls, but the skeletons kept coming, pinning the god's arms.

Interesting! Cupid said. Do you have the strength, after all?

'I left Camp Half-Blood because of love,' Nico said. 'Annabeth ... she –'

Still hiding, Cupid said, smashing another skeleton to pieces. You do not have the strength.

'Nico,' Jason managed to say, 'it's okay. I get it.'

Nico glanced over, pain and misery washing across his face.

'No, you don't,' he said. 'There's no way you can understand.'

And so you run away again, Cupid chided. From your friends, from yourself.

'I don't have friends!' Nico yelled. 'I left Camp Half-Blood because I don't belong! I'll never belong!'

The skeletons had Cupid pinned now, but the invisible god laughed so cruelly that Livia wanted to smash his face in herself.

'Leave him alone, Cupid,' Jason croaked. 'This isn't ...'

Nico's voice was like broken glass. 'I – I wasn't in love with Annabeth.'

'You were jealous of her,' Jason said. 'That's why you didn't want to be around her. Especially why you didn't want to be around ... him. It makes total sense.'

All the fight and denial seemed to go out of Nico at once. The darkness subsided. The Roman dead collapsed into bones and crumbled to dust.

'I hated myself,' Nico said. 'I hated Percy Jackson.'

Cupid became visible – a lean, muscular young man with snowy white wings, straight black hair, a simple white frock and jeans. The bow and quiver slung over his shoulder were no toys – they were weapons of war. His eyes were as red as blood, as if every valentine in the world had been squeezed dry, distilled into one poisonous mixture. His face was handsome, but also harsh – as difficult to look at as a spotlight. He watched Nico with satisfaction, as if he'd identified the exact spot for his next arrow to make a clean kill.

Livia groaned because of course he was hot. She could understand why Psyche was willing to go through so much for him. Livia understood!

'I had a crush on Percy,' Nico spat. 'That's the truth. That's the big secret.' He glared at Cupid. 'Happy now?'

Cupid's gaze seemed sympathetic. 'Oh, I wouldn't say Love always makes you happy.' His voice sounded smaller, much more human. 'Sometimes it makes you incredibly sad. But at least you've faced it now. That's the only way to conquer me.' He turned to Jason. "Take this as a lesson, Jason. Only one of my sisters has had the courage to face me and it was not the one you're dating. Neither girl will wait for you.'

Cupid dissolved into the wind.

On the ground where he'd stood lay an ivory staff three feet long, topped with a dark globe of polished marble about the size of a baseball, nestled on the backs of three gold Roman eagles. The sceptre of Diocletian.

Nico knelt and picked it up. He regarded Jason, as if waiting for an attack. 'If the others found out–'

'If the others found out,' Jason said, 'you'd have that many more people to back you up and to unleash the fury of the gods on anybody who gives you trouble.'

Livia sniffed. She didn't care who bullied the little graecus.

Nico scowled. Livia still felt the resentment and anger rippling off him.

'But it's your call,' Jason added. 'Your decision to share or not. I can only tell you –'

'I don't feel that way any more,' Nico muttered. 'I mean ... I gave up on Percy. I was young and impressionable, and I – I don't ...'

His voice cracked, and Livia could tell the guy was about to get teary-eyed. Livia hoped he did give up on Percy. He could honestly do so much better. She paused, looking between the two before scowling. But he had better not crush on Jason next. She could only deal with one greek stealing him away at a time.

Not that she cared. She was letting him go.

'Nico,' he said gently, 'I've seen a lot of brave things. But what you just did? That was maybe the bravest.'

Nico looked up uncertainly. 'We should get back to the ship.'

'Yeah. I can fly us –'

'No,' Nico announced. 'This time we're shadow-travelling. I've had enough of the winds for a while.'

Livia opened her eyes, staring solemnly at the flame of Mercury's candle. Neither girl will wait for you. Damn right. She was done waiting. She was done with Jason and all his friends. She was done with people deciding that the daughter of Neptune wasn't worth anything.

Hatred brewed within her as if Styx cradled her in her arms. She was going to throw herself into avenging Rome and damn everyone. And she'd start by helping Octavian gain his revenge. 'O house of Pluto and Proserpina! O Mercury Khthonios and holy Arae and divine Furiae! You who watch over those dying unjustly and those being robbed of a marriage bed: Come! Help avenge the murder of the Verus, legacy of Apollo!'

She called a meeting not too long after.

Her eyes moved through the squadrons in front of her. "Dwarves, I'm not sure if you're in the crowd or not, but I swear on the divinity in my blood… if you don't leave this instance… when I catch you, I promise you will know a pain greater than Typhôeus taking the sinews from Zeus' hands and feet." Her glare sharpened. "And I keep my promises."

Two blurs yelped before rushing out away.

Livia rolled her eyes, looking over the squads "I've been told that you all may need some time to relax while we wait to attack." She huffed, just a smidge. "Since we oh so rarely venture to the east coast, I'm giving you all permission to tour the city for the weekend."

Delight and excitement shown in even the most stoic faces. Livia gave them a gentle smile before schooling her features, "This weekend's safety brief. Do not add to the population. Do not subtract from the population. Do not end up in the hospital, newspaper or jail. If you end up in jail, establish dominance quickly. Have a good weekend."

She turned back to her tent.

Livia snickered to herself when she saw Octavian leading Mike Kahale to one of the trucks. Looked like he found someone he actually wanted to be with. She continued down to the surf, a layer of water around her so thin that it was invisible to the naked eye. It may be the perfect shield for any trigger happy Romans.

She stripped herself of her clothes before diving into the water. She had not told anyone, but she was sure that Octavian and Pranjal knew that she was feeling the effects of Percy being in the ancient lands. She knew that they could see the bruises that she could not hide away.

Livia had been thankful that no one had been in the jeep with her when she had blacked out from Percy becoming intimately aware of what drowning felt like. She hated the feeling. The vehicle had only stayed on course by who she knew was her lover.

Since her talk with Octavian, Livia remembered who she was. She was the sea. Her Father and Poseidon had changeable personalities, like the sea. Their children reflected that. Percy was a child of Poseidon's better nature – powerful, but gentle and helpful, the kind of sea that sped ships safely to distant lands.

Livia could be like that– to the people that she liked.

But for her enemies… she was the child of Neptune's other side— the one that the Ancient Romans feared. The kind of sea that battered relentlessly at the coastline until it crumbled away, or carried the innocents from shore and let them drown, or smashed ships and killed entire crews without mercy.

She tried to remember the centuries of disrespect her Father suffered because the Ancient Romans were cowards. She tried to remember how it felt to walk into Camp Jupiter which was suppose to be a safe place for her and feeling as if she were in enemy territory.

(She was never more than happy when it finally started to feel like home. The people were happy to see her. They loved her. They were her family.)

(Percy technically was too, but sometimes blood was not thicker than water.)

Livia secreted that rage into her heart.

She swam back to the top, sitting calmly on the shoreline as she weaved the seafoam around her like clothes.

Livia oofed as it felt like she had a hot metal curtain rod sticking through her ribs. Her vision faded away.

Choose! A monster cried. Will you be crushed like Kampê? Or disintegrated like the young telkhines you slaughtered under Mount St Helens? You have spread so much death and suffering, Percy Jackson. Let us repay you!

It was a group of wrinkled hags with bat-like wings, brass talons and glowing red eyes. They wore tattered dresses of black silk, and their faces were twisted and ravenous, like demonic grandmothers in the mood to kill.

Percy and Annabeth stood cowering in front of them. Livia looked around trying to find— she stopped. There was no need to look for Jason. He was her enemy now.

Livia raised a brow at their words. He spread death and suffering? And he had the audacity to believe that he was on some higher moral ground than she?

The winged hags pressed in, their breath sour, their eyes burning with hatred. From their words, they remind her of the arae. She prayed that it was them.

One of the demons lunged at Annabeth. Instinctively, she dodged. She brought her rock down on the old lady's head and broke her into dust.

Livia loathed to admit that she would've done the same thing.

'I can't see!' She touched her face, looking around wildly. Her eyes were pure white. Percy ran to her side as the arai cackled.

Livia blinked, wondering if Octavian cursed the girl when she wasn't looking. That was his fate if he kept using his eyes so carelessly.

Polyphemus cursed you when you tricked him with your invisibility in the Sea of Monsters. You called yourself Nobody. He could not see you. Now you will not see your attackers.

'I've got you,' Percy promised. He put his arm around Annabeth.

A dozen demons leaped from every direction, but something yelled, 'SWEEP!'

A broom whooshed over Percy's head. The entire arai offensive line toppled backwards like bowling pins. More surged forward. Livia turned and paused in her tracks. The being in front of her reminded her very much of Lord Polus.

If Lord Polus was a janitor named– Bob? dipped in silver. Why was titan dressed a janitor with a nametag? Bob whacked one over the head and speared another, blasting them to dust.

The others backed away.

Livia scowled. Wasn't Bob a titan? Why was he not killing them?

'Bob, you okay?' Percy asked. 'No curses?'

'No curses for Bob!' Bob agreed.

The arai snarled and circled, eying the broom. The Titan is already cursed. Why should we torture him further? You, Percy Jackson, have already destroyed his memory.

Livia laughed bitterly. And he was supposed to be her better? This was the child of the sea that Jason gave his loyalty too. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Jason hadn't changed. Livia did not wipe the memories of her enemies. She just outright killed them.

It looked like Percy was cruller than she. Was it not monstrous to strip away their freewill and recreate them in our image?

Bob's spearhead dipped.

'Bob, don't listen to them,' Annabeth said. 'They're evil!'

Livia scoffed.

Bob turned. His wild white hair looked like an exploded halo. 'My memory ... It was you?'

Curse him, Titan! the arai urged, their red eyes gleaming. Add to our numbers!

'Bob, it's a long story. I didn't want you to be my enemy. I tried to make you a friend.'

Livia sneered. "You stripped him of everything that made him who he was! You're no better than he was when he was your enemy!"

By stealing your life, the arai said. Leaving you in the palace of Hades to scrub floors!

Livia laughed, mockingly. "Oh, now that is low, brother dearie. Even I would not turn an all powerful being into a janitor."

Annabeth gripped Percy's hand. 'Which way?' she whispered. 'If we have to run?'

'Bob, listen,' Percy tried again, 'the arai want you to get angry. They spawn from bitter thoughts. Don't give them what they want. We are your friends.'

"What was the saying?" Livia snapped her fingers. "Oh, I know. With friends like that, who needs enemies?"

You see his face? the arai growled. The boy cannot even convince himself. Did he visit you, after he stole your memory?

'No,' Bob murmured. His lower lip quivered. 'The other one did.'

'The other one?'

'Nico.' Bob scowled at him, his eyes full of hurt. 'Nico visited. Told me about Percy. Said Percy was good. Said he was a friend. That is why Bob helped.'

'But ...'

"KILL THEM," Livia roared.

The arai attacked, and this time Bob did not stop them.

'LEFT!' Percy dragged Annabeth, slicing through the arai to clear a path. Livia laughed, quite happily knowing he was only bringing more and more curses down onto himself as he kept running. He weaved between the trees, leading Annabeth at a full sprint despite her blindness.

Livia kept up easily in the dream. She wished she was there to cheer the arae on, but she had also killed a lot of monsters and demigods. She doubted she would be spared from any curses, but the sentiment was the same.

Leathery wings beat the air above them. Angry hissing and the scuttling of clawed feet told her the demons were at their backs. She clapped happily before catching a ride on Percy's shoulders.

As they ran past one of the black trees, he slashed his sword across the trunk. Livia watched it topple, followed by the crunch of several dozen arai as they were smashed flat.

If a tree falls in the forest and crushes a demon, does the tree get cursed?

Percy slashed down another trunk, then another. It bought them a few seconds, but not enough.

Suddenly the darkness in front of them became thicker. Percy grabbed Annabeth right before they both charged off the side of the cliff.

'What?' she cried. 'What is it?'

'Cliff,' he gasped. 'Big cliff.'

'Which way, then?'

Livia wondered if she could push them over? She had never been able to physically react with her dreams, but she and Octavian and Jason had run some tests.

Did you have a nice walk? asked the collective voice, echoing all around them.

Percy turned. The arai poured out of the woods, making a crescent around them. One grabbed Annabeth's arm. Annabeth wailed in rage, judo-flipping the monster and dropping on its neck, putting her whole body weight into an elbow strike that would've made any pro wrestler proud.

The demon dissolved, but when Annabeth got to her feet she looked stunned and afraid as well as blind.

'Percy?' she called, panic creeping into her voice. Livia leaned forward, excitement in her eyes. Now what was this curse?

'I'm right here.'

He tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but the girl just moved as if she had never been standing there.

'Percy!' Annabeth's voice cracked. 'Why did you leave me?'

Livia whistled. Someone had abandonment issues.

Livia did too, but this was not about her at the moment.

'I didn't!' He turned on the arai, his arms shaking with anger. 'What did you do to her?'

We did nothing, the demons said. Your beloved has unleashed a special curse – a bitter thought from someone you abandoned. You punished an innocent soul by leaving her in her solitude. Now her most hateful wish has come to pass: Annabeth feels her despair. She, too, will perish alone and abandoned.

'Percy?' Annabeth spread her arms, trying to find him. The arai backed up, letting her stumble blindly through their ranks.

"Lead her towards the cliffs," Livia called.

'Who did I abandon?' Percy demanded. 'I never –'

Livia raised a brow before her heart dropped to her stomach. It wasn't her, was it? Did she feel that abandon by her mortal family that it manifested within the arae? Could they give her a moment to find her egg donor to place it on her also? And maybe the blinding curse also, that would be good.

'She wouldn't,' he mumbled. 'She'd never curse me.'

Livia scoffed. If it was her, she most definitely would. Admittedly, she would have gone for something more painful.

Annabeth wandered among the demons, desperately calling his name. Percy clenched his jaw. He yelled in fury and attacked them all.

Livia stared, "I clearly got the brains in the family."

Percy's sword cut through the arai as though they were made of powdered sugar. One panicked and ran face-first into a tree. Another screeched and tried to fly away, but Percy sliced off her wings and sent her spiralling into the chasm.

"Ooo! Ooo! Give him a twitching eye," Livia cheered. "He's certainly made my eye twitch with the crap I had to suffer through over the years!"

But the arai just kept coming. For every one he cut down, six more seemed to appear. Livia ignored the way her body ached, and her vision blurred. She was going to enjoy this for all that she could. By the gods, she wished she had some pom poms. The arae were definitely going up her list of favored daemones.

Percy tried to make his way towards Annabeth, but she was just out of reach, calling his name as she wandered among the demons. As Percy blundered towards her, a demon pounced and sank its teeth into his thigh. Percy roared. He sliced the demon to dust, but immediately fell to his knees.

Livia's mouth burned, but she didn't even care. Percy doubled over, shuddering and retching, as a dozen fiery snakes seemed to work their way down his oesophagus.

You have chosen, said the voice of the arai, the curse of Phineas ... an excellent painful death.

Hazel did mention that in her mission report. Livia could recall that feeling.

Percy's knuckles started to steam. White smoke curled off his forearms. The arai clustered around him, snickering and hissing.

His head will erupt first, the voice speculated.

No, the voice answered itself from another direction. He will combust all at once.

Livia shook her head, "No. It should be slow going. Painful and tortuous."

They were placing bets on how he would die ... what sort of scorch mark he would leave on the ground.

'Bob,' he croaked. 'I need you.'

A hopeless plea. Livia certainly wouldn't come to his rescue even if he begged. Though, she supposed she should feel some type of pride. Her brother–even if she would only call him that in her head— was able to still talk nevermind that he was definitely suffering from a bunch of curses.

Livia sighed, sensing the pain that Percy was no doubt feeling take hold of her mind. She raised her eyes to the sky and felt something within her begin to rip open.

Horror gripped at her. Where in Tartarus—

Wait.

Percy was in Tartarus!?

Please say sike.

She had to be jumping to conclusions. There was no way her brother was in literal hell while Livia was forced to watch him die in a place that no demigod should ever be. She was dying right alongside him.

She could see the truth of the realm.

(Oh, she prayed that this was not true. That this was just her imagination and bloodlust playing tricks on her.)

The air was the breath of Tartarus. All these monsters were just blood cells circulating through his body. Everything Livia saw was a dream in the mind of the dark god of the pit.

You see the horror of the pit? the arai said soothingly. Give up, Percy Jackson. Isn't death better than enduring this place?

Livia turned to her brother, "Don't you dare give up! Get up! Get up!"

This was just a nightmare. Yes! Yeah, regular people have nightmares. There was no way that Percy was in hell. Absolutely not. She was jumping to conclusions.

'I'm sorry,' Percy murmured.

He apologizes! The arai shrieked with delight. He regrets his failed life, his crimes against the children of Tartarus!

Livia turned to the monsters, "Fuck you, demon ladies!"

'No,' Percy said. 'I'm sorry, Bob. I should've been honest with you. Please ... forgive me. Protect Annabeth.'

Livia felt tears brewing in her eyes as Percy got to his feet. Steam rose from his whole body. His legs shook. He raised Riptide.

But, before he could strike, all the arai in front of him exploded into dust.

And then Livia woke up.

---

She barely had time to deal with the fact that she was conscious before something knocked her back into the sea. The aching pain that she felt faded away as the water rejuvenated her.

(She inwardly hoped that it spread to Percy wherever he was because he was not in hell!)

Livia poked her head out of the water. She didn't even have time to scream before a giant hand was plucking her out of the water. She struggled as she raised to the eye level of another monster.

Livia sneered as she recognized that it was another giant. "Hmp. Talk about a face even a mother wouldn't love!"

The beast laughed lightly, and she just about gagged at the stench of its breath. "You are very funny, puny mortal. I see why Hippolytos is so attracted to you."

She scowled. "Sorry not sorry but I'm already spoken for. I'm not marrying that idiot!"

The giant nodded solemnly. "I agree. There is no need for you to marry that slowpoke, Livia Jackson. Instead, I will have you! The great Damysos! The fastest giant alive!"

Livia stopped struggling in his arms. "Be honest. Do I have 'desperate' written on my forehead?"

Damysos blinked, leaned in to get a closer look at her face before shaking his head. "No?"

"Then why do you think that if I wouldn't go for Eeyore that I would go for you?" Livia scoffed. "Think, twinkle toes. Think! I mean look at me now look at you! Do I look like someone that would go for you? Your snake feet aren't even polished and I just bet that athlete's feet is deadly!"

Damysos scowled. "That's mean!"

"Not meaner than you thinking that I would marry you. Have you seen Mercury? About 25 feet tall, brown almost blond hair, beautiful green eyes that shone so brightly that a highlighter couldn't even replicate it. Abs are as hard as rocks. Clean shaven. He always smells like he doused himself in strawberries. Absolutely no athlete's foot. One of Jove's most beautiful sons? Like seriously, why would I go for you when he's waiting for me in the Eternal City?"

"If I cannot have you," Damysos roared. Livia blinked away the tears his bad breath brought forward. "Then I shall kill you."

She smirked darkly, "You really are Hippolytos' brother. Why would you fight a child of the sea by the sea?"

He only had one second to say uh-oh before the water erupted around them. She slipped out of his grip, sailing down the wave she conjured as if it were a surfboard. Livia rode the waves as if she were a part of them.

What did Pochantos say?

"The rainstorm and the river are my brothers

The heron and the otter are my friends"

She conjured two massive fists behind her, solidifying them into ice before bringing them down onto Damysos' head.

"vae te! vae tibi!" she sang mockingly. Her features shifted into a scowl as she twirled around him on the water. "Pathice! Honestly, vappa ac nebulo! stercoreus! spurce! pessime et nequissime! How dare you think you're worthy of me! My Uncle is the King of the Roman gods! And you're nothing more than impudice! Impudens! homo putide with oraputide!"

The beast roared. Livia's eyes widened before she allowed herself to drop under the sea. Steam erupted from where the giant sped across trying to grab her.

"I'm here," a somewhat familiar voice called. Livia rolled her eyes, realizing it was the other brother now. And then fear settled into her stomach. She had sent the rest of the legion off into the city leaving herself vulnerable and alone.

Cacat.

"My darling, Livia. Come now, my love. Let's end this foolishness and go home."

Livia gagged.

"Your love?"

She froze.

"Little serpentine, is this beast bothering you?"

Livia peeked her head out of the water to see the only love of her life, standing on the banks of the water incredibly angry. An older version of him stood not too far away, weeping an UPS outfit. The salt and pepper hair curled with the wind, eyes bluer than sky glared at Hippolytos.

Hermes?

She burst out of the water in a geyser to throw herself into Mercury's arms. He caught her with ease, placing her protectively beside him. "Their persuasion to get me to marry them leaves much to be desired."

"Did someone speak of persuasion," a soft lited voice asked. A being appeared on the beach. They took on the appearance of a female. (Well, what was commonly presented as a female.) Dressed in an outfit made from twine to resemble the wings of a turtle dove, with hair the color of sea foam. Livia could taste the sea on her tongue in a way that had nothing to do with the ocean at her back.

The god that could only be Hermes held his hand out to her, "O sovereign Peitho, herald of Aphrodite. Their attempts pale in comparison to your skill."

Peitho laughed, delightedly and Livia could not help but to stare. She was gorgeous.

Mercury placed a hand on the small of her back and Livia turned to look at him smiling softly at her. "I have missed you, my love."

She was almost giddy. "I doubt you missed me as much as I missed you."

Hermes called out to them, "We are not getting into a I miss you more game!"

Mercury rolled his eyes playfully, turning to look at the other. Hermes waved his hand forward, and the other god turned his glare upon the giants that were trying to steal his intended away. Suadela was nice and all, but she and Mercury had never felt that way for each other.

He did not think he would ever feel this way about anyone until Livia threw denarii down into that lake just because she wanted the spirits to rest. (And she said she was not kind.)

"Well," Mercury demanded. "Do you still think you're worthy of my fiancée?"

Hippolytos and Damysos scowled, backing up deeper into the surf. "How are you here? You're supposed to be indisposed!"

Hermes' smile was cruel. "We got a one-way message from the pit. It was shocking enough that it got our minds straight."

"Father," Hippolytos whispered.

"Enough chit chat," Peitho stated. "They tried to steal away the champion of my dear cousin."

Peitho was the cousin of Amphitrite. She wasn't sure how that meant that Salacia was her cousin, but she had given up on trying to understand the family tree. They could do what they wanted. She knew that they were all separate beings.

"Now we're talking," the demigoddess stated. Livia summoned her caduceus as Mercury and Hermes pulled out their own. The twine in Peitho's hand shifted until she was holding her own herald wand.

Damysos and Hippolytos backed away slowly.

"Well. This does not seem like a fair fight," a voice called out behind them. Livia turned to see two more giants appearing.

"Mimas. Mimon. Oh, praise Gaea," Hippolytos whimpered.

Another familiar voice rang around them and Livia was starting to get a little irritated. "Yes, praise Gaea. Without her plan to castrate Father Ouranos, we would have never been born." She looked up to see Aphrodite was riding in her dainty chariot, winged by her swans, across the middle air above Damysos and Hippolytos. Behind them, bands of Tritoni sported here and there on the waters, one softly blowing on his echoing shell, another fending off with silk parasol the heat of the hostile sun, a third holding a mirror before Venus' face, while others, yoked in pairs to her chariot, swam below.

Aphrodite turned to Mimas and Mimon, "Hm. Didn't Hephaistos and Ares kill you easily. If I remember correctly, Mimas was slain by Hephaistos with a volley of molten iron." Venus laughed delightedly, "Oh yes. Mars always says he wished to be there to see Mimon being dispatched by Ares."

"Why are you here," Mercury questioned. Venus shrugged, "There is something romantic about history. It feels just like old times!"

Aphrodite nodded with sparkling eyes, "Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday. Dionysos was destined to ascend soon. All of the Olympian Major battling so fiercely! Even Hades had ventured from his realm to help! There was so much love in the air! Oh, how Zeus pummeled Porphyrion with lightning for trying to rape Hera and Herakles felled him with arrows."

"Didn't Herakles assist you in killing some giants?"

The other goddess smiled as she inclined her head. "Oh yes! At one of my favored temples, some giants tried to attack me there. I called on little Herakles for help, hid him inside a cave, and then one by one I led them in so that he could kill them."

Venus tilted her head to the side, "Hm. So it was one goddess, one demigod, and a group of Giants." She looked around them, taking in the four giants, one demigod, and five gods. "Ironic, isn't it."

Mimas sneered at Aphrodite, "Shouldn't you be watching over your daughter?" The goddess snickered, pointing at the camp on the other end of the island. "A cabin filled with my children is situated not too far from here. The Romans will level the camp to the ground. Livia will salt the earth with their blood. Should I not be watching over them?"

Venus smiled, cruel amusement in her eyes. "Be honest, 'Ditê. You prefer Livia over Piper."

Aphrodite shrugged, "Aside from my darling Drew and Mirajane and Mitchell… she is the only one to embody who we are in our entirety."

"And what's that," Hippolytos replied.

The goddesses turned to look at him, rings twisting until they resembled knives, "Beauty born from death."

The resulting battle would be heard for eons to come.

Aphrodite and Venus had sprung out of their chariots, fist extended punting Damysos and Hippolytos so far that they landed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Mercury and Hermes turned on Mimas and Mimon. They ran circles around the two, keeping them off footed.

Livia rode the waves, getting her hits in where she could. She ducked under the lazers coming from the caduceuses, jumped over the twine that Peitho was weaving around the giants' legs.

Mimon had reached for her, grabbing her right from the top of the waves, crushing her body in his fists. She could feel her bones breaking before a scream of rage sounded and Aphrodite appeared, blood decorating her neck like glitter. Her knuckle-knives sliced through his hand like butter. The goddess spun midair, piercing his eye with her heels.

Livia could see that the heel caps were what looked like celestial bronze. The giant roared in anger, stumbling back into an uppercut punch in the face from Mercury that was so viscous that the giant flew into the skies.

Livia sank back into the water, letting it heal her. She thought over Aphrodite's words.

(She is the only one to embody who we are in our entirety.)

Livia thought it over. She was beautiful. She knew that. she heard it often enough. She managed to catch Mercury's attention and she knew of the various requests for her hand in marriage at sea. She knew that she was lustful. She felt weak in the knees every time Mercury smiled at her. She knew that she invoked lust within people. She knew she was flirtatious. She was always playing coy with Mercury and Jason sometimes too. She knew that when she eventually married mercury that she would willingly consummate the marriage and knew that she would be overwhelmed with fertility. She knew that neither she nor Mercury ever suffered from sexual impotence. She knew her face and her dark eyes wafted such charm as comes from golden Venus. She weaved love poetry and sang songs to Mercury and Jason alike.

Livia knew that more than anything that it was she who could stay the hands of war and bring about peace between the two camps.

Livia swam back upwards, the sea at her command, intertwining with the twine that Peitho wrapped around Minon and Mimas. The sea reached out for Damysos and Hippolytos, wrapping around them like chains, yanking them back to her side.

The sea parted around her as if she were Moses crossing the Red Sea.

(She wouldn't notice, but it was at that moment the divinity in her blood shone brightly.)

Livia turned to look between Venus and Aphrodite, her staff made of imperial gold and embroiled with jewels found intimately within the sea was held in her hands. "Aphrodite, you who are the first mother of our race, defend us who are sprung from your blood. Venus, we come to you, crying out in prayers for your divine ears."

The red of the goddesses lips' were almost the color of the blood, "And so it shall be."

Mercury stood fast, holding Damysos' face down into the bank of the sea while Hermes rose almost to full height, feet pressed onto Hippolytos' head. Peitho kept Minon and Mimas chained down by twine.

Venus and Aphrodite appeared in front of Livia. "There is beauty in death," they echoed. The staff in her hand morphed into one end curved into a sharp blade. Livia climbed to the top of Hippolytos' downed body. The giant struggled, but Hermes only applied more pressure. "This isn't over," he blabbered. "Mother still controls the Doors of Death. We will only come back."

Her sword sliced through his neck and Livia stared into his eyes, "And there is death in beauty." The body dissolved under her feet. She turned to Damysos who was glaring hatefully at the goddesses of love. "You may have won here, but I will see you again at the final battle. I will rip you apart. I will crush you under my feet. And if I cannot have your little champion, I will make your daughter my bride. I will fill her to the brim with my children. I will plunge my penis within her over and over again until I have bred every egg within her body before letting my brothers have a taste."

Aphrodite snarled, face red with her wrath, "I will rip your heart out and wear it as a necklace." Damysos opened his mouth to reply, but Livia had already thrust her sword through his head.

The demigod turned to the other two giants who stared with wide eyes. She made her way over slowly, the weapon dragging behind her slowly as her lover and his counterpart followed behind her. The giants began to struggle, but Peitho only strengthened her threads, drawing ichor for the beasts.

Livia smiled darkly as she moved closer. The sea pulled the giants closer to her, dragging them into the water with her. She relished in the fear that she could see within him. She reached out, placing her hands on the closest body part—their arms— that she could reach.

And she poured the wrath of the sea into their bodies.

They thrashed, crying as the storms ripped into them inwardly. She imagined the power rushing through them, following the blood vessels of a mortal. Boils appeared on their skins, she concentrated so hard that something inside her cracked – as if a crystal ball had shattered in her stomach.

"Children of wide-bosomed Gaia, I stand before thee with Amor, fairest among the deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men within them, secreted away in my heart. I give thy life over to the hands of infinite laughter of the waves of Pontos where thee should stay until the end of times when the sea swallows the sun."

The giants stared, struggled and screamed within their bonds, but Livia had already sliced their heads off as Peitho squeezed her twined until ichor flowed as richly as the rivers of the earth. Otters swam up from the bay, dragging the decapitated bodies deeper and deeper into the sea where Livia could sense them being pulled to the ocean floor.

Livia fell to her knees, Mercury rushing forward to cradle her in his arms. She looked up at him drowsily. He pressed something sweet to her lips… an apple slice? Or was it a strawberry? She couldn't really tell. Peitho had swiped her hand over the sea, pulling away all the bacteria and germs, leaving only fresh salt water in its wake. Mercury dipped the treat into the water before pressing it to her lips once more. She ate it without hesitation, feeling strength pour into her veins.

"Come on, little serpentine," he muttered. He brushed her hair out of her face, smiling in relief as color began to flood back into her cheeks. Neither of them noticed the other gods flashing away. "Hello there, beautiful."

"Mercury," she whispered. He smiled once more, covering her lips with his own. "You scared me, seashine. You were glowing. Smoke was coming from your body."

(He did not say that she almost ascended. It was not time, but it will be soon.)

Livia tried not to wince, "I'm here. I'm okay."

He flashed the two of them away, to the cabin that she had been staying in since they started recon. "Yes. You are." Mercury stared at her, eyes tracing her form in reverence. Her charming, ambrosia-like unblemished complexion appeared naked and unclothed except for a thin silken garment veiling her entrancing lower parts. He kissed her once more, pouring all the love that he held within him for her into the kiss. Divinity flew through the air as he gave more and more and more. She never noticed how she was responding in kind.

He moved the garnet away from her, a little surprised to realize that it was nothing more than seafoam. "Your mind is clouded, Livia. Allow me to clear it. Please." She did not bother to reply, instead spreading her legs so that he may settle in between. Between one blink and the next, he was bare of his clothing. Pressing kisses into her skin, covering the phantom bruises that she received from her brother with his own.

His hands trailed over every inch of her skin that he could feel. "If I could, I would break you down into pieces until all traces of war were washed away from your mind, leaving only me to reside there. I would bury myself so deep in your thoughts that you could think of no other but me." He pressed himself against her, but did not enter. Still— a whine escaped from her that he swallowed down. "I do not have the time, seashine. It would not be long before the merging attempts once more as Victoria and Nike continue their endless battle."

Another kiss to her forehead before he pulled back. Lips tracing against her skin, she could feel the divinity burning against her. "Would you abandon this war?"

Livia shook her head, trying to clear away the fog. "I cannot," she croaked. "Rome longs for vengeance." Even now she could feel the ancient land demanding justice. She could hear Stormbringer, whispering sweet promises of vengeance and death.

Mercury nodded his head solemnly. "I can hear her too. I hear Greece also pleading for peace."

"There can never be peace until the blood of Olympus soaks the lands."

Mercury hummed before pushing himself inside of her. The stretch burned almost painfully but it felt just as good as always. A moan-like scream escaped her. Green eyes pierced her soul, staring so intimately at her. "I told you that you were mine, Livia." He leaned in closer so that she could see how his power flared within his eyes. "Two beasts tried to take you from me as if it were not obvious enough. I shall fix that."

Livia didn't even have time to process that before he was pulling out of her and thrusting right back in quick succession. She let herself sink into the sheets, giving the god above her full control of her body. One of his hands cupped her breasts while the other held her waist tightly. The bed under them creaked as he thrust faster and faster.

Mercury leaned down further until his body covered hers completely, lips and teeth pressing and nipping at whatever skin he could reach. Her eyes were so clouded with pressure, ears deaf to anything but the sound of her own whines and Mercury's low groans that she did not even notice the door opening.

A gasp sounded softly as Reyna took one second to take note of what was happening before rushing out of the cabin.

The god didn't even care, releasing Livia's breast and waist to wrap her legs around his own. He placed his hands on either side of her head, teeth gritted as he could feel Hermes' essence tugging at his own. He batted it away, irritated as this moment was between him and Livia alone. It was between him and his wife!

She was so love drunk off his divinity and it soothed the possessive nature within him. The part that had been churning dark and angrily ever since that twice-damned giant proposition his lover the first time! Oh, how he had long to venture from the heavens to rip the beast's head off. It had taken Apollon, Hermes, and Apollo all to keep him from descending to earth.

She and her sister had killed him too quickly the first time. Mercury had wanted him to suffer. And that damned Damysos! He grew angrier just thinking about it all. He wished that they had been the two that Livia dragged to the sea floor. He would have begged his uncle to visit his realm everyday if it meant that he would get the chance to rip them apart over and over again for daring to think of what was his.

Livia whined underneath him, shaking as her orgasm flowed through her. He did not slow the movements of his hips, instead kissing her just as deeply as he did once he realized that she was mid-ascent. Her arms came up to wrap around him, pulling him closer to her as if she were trying to merge the two of them together. He could hear her heart hammer against her chest in sync with the thrusting of his hips. He pulled back, pressing a finger to her chin to lift her head until they were staring in each other's eyes. "I am completely and utterly in love with you, Livia Jackson. And I will soak the earth in the blood of olympus before I allow anyone to take you from me."

Her eyes sharpened into focus as he painted her insides with his release. He wished he could say more, but Hermes' essence began to tug almost relentlessly. With one last kiss, he pulled himself out of her body, cleaned her body from their lust, and flashed back to the heavens.

Livia stared at the ceiling, still dazed but wishing that she had more time with him.

---

Octavian sat in front of her while she did some paperwork. He looked better, no longer giving googly eyes to Mike. She could have done without the bedroom eyes though and the secret smiles they were giving each other.

There was a pile of herbs sitting to the side as Octavian and the other Senate Members passed her more papers to sign. Livia figured that now was a good time to go through every sheet of paperwork that she had set to the side and the motions that Reyna had passed when Livia was not at the camp to counter them.

She should have known not to trust the other girl when she had come back to see her camp dolley gagging in the war games. Livia was leading a militia, not a daycare. She had even been trying to teach more fighting styles that she learned at sea into their repertoire. From the paper work in front of her, Reyna did not bother to enforce the teachings during training.

Livia just still could not believe that Reyna let them go.

Livia would not be there at that moment if she would have just killed Annabeth so long ago. They would not be at war. And Reyna had the audacity to tell her that she was out of control! Livia ordered her to oversee the handling of Fluttershy. She knew that her equine friend made the younger one nervous.

She paused as she looked over a sheet of paper. "Octavian," she called out. "What is this?"

This being a copy of his will that stated that everything — and she meant everything — in his Family would be passed onto her in the event that he died. She could feel tears gathering in her eyes as she read it. He was— he was basically adopting her into his family.

Reyna, Leila, Octavian, and Nico Di'Angelo had all signed off on it. And did that say—

"What," she breathed, looking at him. The blond shrugged from where he was mixing the herbs together. "After Jason had went missing, I knew that not a stone would be overturned looking for him. I figured that we would probably go to war to get him back. And well— I've been extremely lucky to not have died so far, but I don't know when the curse will activate for me." He shook his head, not turning to her. "Even with a surrogate, the child could die within the womb or die after its first breath and my Family's legacy would be just up in the wind."

"So you gave it to me? You're not even old enough to adopt me! You're one year older, not ten!"

The Senate was looking back and forth between them even though Leila had an amused smile on her face. "You should have seen him, Livia. He offered Nico some weird death sphere that the boy was basically falling over his feet to accept. Octavian, here, had Nico summon his parents, aunts and uncle, and grandparents just for them all to formally accept you into his family."

Octavian's ears were red, but he still would not face her.

Accept you into his family.

"You're my brother," she whispered in wonder. She willed her tears away as she cleared her throat. "So, I guess that I am now Livia Verus, adopted daughter of Aelia Verus and Ovidius and the daughter of Neptune."

(Livia knew that the Verus family curse now extended to her, but she suspected that since Octavian knew how her fate ended then there would be no need for the curse any longer. Can't kill her if she was going to be deathless.)

His ears grew a deeper shade of red. Livia laughed prettily, turning back to the paperwork in front of her, moving it into her pile of acceptance.

It was quiet for the next few minutes as she finished some more paperwork before Octavian placed the mixture in front of her. He waved Leila and Mik forward. "Okay, Liv. Just like last time, this will send you into your dreamscape. But this—" He held up another bottle, almost vomit green in color. "This will allow you to take someone in with you."

"You," she said immediately. Octavian turned shy and she smiled slyly. "It's a family recipe and we are family are we not?" The elder gave her a small smile, "You're going to bring that up every chance you get." She mimicked his expression, "I already saw you as family. You've only made it legal."

He shook his head, turning back to the others. "We will be under for however long the vision allows, but if you need us before then… this bottle–" A pretty blue shaded bottle was in his other hand. "Will allow us to come back quicker."

Mike and Leila nodded their heads as the other senate members came closer in curiosity. "What are you going to do?"

Livia tapped her pen against the desk she was at, "My dreams are more like visions. I'm able to see things, usually pertaining to Percy. But during the Labyrinth quest, I was able to see the past. Chasing after the ARGO II, I was able to see a scene from Annabeth's past. I was able to see Jason at the Wolf House. I was able to see a scene of him and Piper while they were escaping." She stared at the paste that Octavian placed in front of her. "The last time we did this… I was able to see Percy attempting to rescue his mother in the underworld."

"We've been practicing over the years," Octavian admitted. Livia nodded, "I still cannot physically interact with anything but–"

"But we're hoping to control the narrative to change into a scene that she wants to see. If she could see into the greeks' foothold—"

Mike stared at them, "We would be able to easy overcome them."

Livia nodded, "Arce provides good knowledge, but it will not be long before one of the greeks notice that she is watching. Seally cannot get into the camp due to the naiads blocking her. And I will not risk Fluttershy."

"What about Scipio?"

Livia shook her head, "No. He is loyal to Reyna but... Hmm. I believe that Spades would be good for spying. A lot of the tritones and nymphae marini tended to underestimate the hippocampi. If this does not work out, I will summon my friend to help."

"What else do you need us to do," Leila asked. Livia looked at Octavian. "Just protect our bodies. We would be able to come out if we're attacked, but the curse may stop that so, yeah."

Mike and Leila nodded, taking sentry positions in front of them easily. Daniele walked forward with the giants' invulnerable skin over them. Octavian rubbed the paste over each of their faces before he began muttering the words needed for the ritual. Her eyes grew heavy and the last thing that she saw was Octavian throwing back the elixir before they each gave in to the power.

The first thing that Livia and Octavian heard was a disembodied voice said: Lord Auster will see you now.

Auster, the Roman god of the South Wind, was holding court. The siblings looked between each other before following Jason. White and red marble columns lined the throne room. The rough sandstone floor smoked under their shoes. Steam hung in the air, like the bathhouse back at Camp Jupiter, except bathhouses usually didn't have thunderstorms crackling across the ceiling, lighting the room in disorienting flashes.

Southern venti swirled through the hall in clouds of red dust and superheated air. Livia pulled Octavian away from them. This wasn't what she asked for, but they'd make do.

At the end of the room was the strangest throne Livia had ever seen – made of equal parts fire and water. The dais was a bonfire. Flames and smoke curled up to form a seat. The back of the chair was a churning storm cloud. The armrests sizzled where moisture met fire. It didn't look very comfortable, but the god Auster lounged on it like he was ready for an easy afternoon of watching football.

Standing up, he would have been about ten feet tall. A crown of steam wreathed his shaggy white hair. His beard was made of clouds, constantly popping with lightning and raining down on the god's chest, soaking his sand-coloured toga. Octavian wondered if you could shave a thundercloud beard. He thought it might be annoying to rain on yourself all the time, but Auster didn't seem to care. He reminded Octvian of a soggy Santa Claus, but more lazy than jolly.

'So ...' The god's voice rumbled like an oncoming front. 'The son of Jupiter returns.'

'My lord,' he said. 'Have you received any news of my friend?'

'Friend?'

'Leo Valdez.' Livia narrowed her eyes. He was the one that attacked Rome. She will cut his head off fourth. Frank, Hazel, Piper, then Leo. And then, she would let Octavian kill Annabeth. She would kill Percy and she would smile as Jason watched each of his little friends meet the ax one by one until it was his turn. 'The one who was taken by the winds.'

'Oh ... yes. Or rather, no. We have had no word. He was not taken by my winds. No doubt this was the work of Boreas or his spawn.'

'Uh, yes. We knew that.'

'That is the only reason I took you in, of course.' Auster's eyebrows rose into his wreath of steam. 'Boreas must be opposed! The north winds must be driven back!'

'Yes, my lord. But to oppose Boreas we really need to get our ship out of the harbour.'

Octavian and Livia shared looks. So, they were stranded somewhere? Livia thought of her dream from earlier where it seemed that Percy was— No. She couldn't believe he was there. He had to be somewhere else being an inconvenience.

'Ship in the harbour!' The god leaned back and chuckled, rain pouring out of his beard. 'You know the last time mortal ships came into my harbour? A king of Libya ... Psyollos was his name. He blamed me for the scorching winds that burned his crops. Can you believe it?'

Jason gritted his teeth. 'And did you burn those crops, my lord?'

'Of course!' Auster smiled good-naturedly. Livia snorted. Octavian laughed also. 'But what did Psyollos expect, planting crops at the edge of the Sahara? The fool launched his entire fleet against me. He intended to destroy my stronghold so the south wind could never blow again. I destroyed his fleet, of course.'

'Of course.'

Auster narrowed his eyes. 'You aren't with Psyollos, are you?'

'No, Lord Auster. I'm Jason Grace, son of –'

'Jupiter! Yes, of course. I like sons of Jupiter. But why are you still in my harbour?'

Jason suppressed a sigh. 'We don't have your permission to leave, my lord. Also, our ship is damaged. We need our mechanic, Leo Valdez, to repair the engine, unless you know of another way.'

'Hmm.' Auster held up his fingers and let a dust devil swirl between them like a baton. 'You know, people accuse me of being fickle. Some days I am the scorching wind, the destroyer of crops, the sirocco from Africa! Other days I am gentle, heralding the warm summer rains and cooling fogs of the southern Mediterranean. And in the off-season I have a lovely place in Cancun! At any rate, in ancient times, mortals both feared me and loved me. For a god, unpredictability can be a strength.'

Livia knew that well. It was a good thing to be as ever changing as the sea.

'Then you are truly strong,' Jason said.

'Thank you! Yes! But the same is not true of demigods.' Auster leaned forward, close enough so that Jason could smell rain-soaked fields and hot sandy beaches. 'You remind me of my own children, Jason Grace. You have blown from place to place. You are undecided. You change day to day. If you could turn the windsock, which way would it blow?'

Livia and Octavian stiffened, eyes landing on the last of their trio. Livia thought of what Cupid said before. That neither girl was going to wait on Jason. Was Auster making him choose between them? She scoffed. He dumped her for a graecus. He made his choice already. She wouldn't accept him back even if he begged. He could die for all she cared.

'Excuse me?'

'You say you need a navigator. You need my permission. I say you need neither. It is time to choose a direction. A wind that blows aimlessly is of no use to anyone.'

'I don't ... I don't understand.'

Jason was quiet. And in that moment, their Jason shone through. They could read him as easily as they did almost a year ago.

He knew what Auster was suggesting.

And they did too.

Jason always chafed against the traditions of Camp Jupiter, the power plays, the infighting. But they could see that in his heart he wanted to be at Camp Half-Blood. He didn't want them anymore. He had a new version… a greek version of Livia and Octavian. Though, they left much to be desired. She wondered if the satyr that was traveling with them was supposed to replace Kalina?

Jason took a shaky breath. 'Yes. I know the direction I want to take.'

'Good! And?'

'Uh, we still need a way to fix the ship. Is there –?'

Octavian and Livia shook their heads. As much as Jason hated it, he was technically a prince, illegitimate as he may be. He was the son of the king. He did not ask for permission from his Father's servants.

Auster raised an index finger. 'Still expecting guidance from the wind lords? A son of Jupiter should know better.'

Jason hesitated. 'We're leaving, Lord Auster. Today.'

The wind god grinned and spread his hands. 'At last, you announce your purpose! Then you have my permission to go, though you do not need it. And how will you sail without your engineer, without your engines fixed?'

Livia and Octavian watched the south winds zip around Jason, whinnying in challenge like headstrong mustangs, testing his will. He had to control the winds, not the other way around.

'You're going to help us,' Jason said. 'Your venti can take the form of horses. You'll give us a team to pull the Argo II. They'll lead us to wherever Leo is.'

Octavian smirked, a little bitter but a lot proud. "Spoken like a true son of the Sky God."

'Wonderful!' Auster beamed, his beard flashing with electricity. 'Now ... can you make good on those bold words? Can you control what you ask for, or will you be torn apart?'

The god clapped his hands. Winds swirled around his throne and took the form of horses. The South Wind horses were made of fire, sand and hot thunderstorm. Four of them raced past, their heat singeing the hair off Jason's arms. They galloped around the marble columns, spitting flames, neighing with a sound like sandblasters. The more they ran, the wilder they became. They started to eye Jason.

Livia was almost giddy with the need to have one for herself.

Auster stroked his rainy beard. 'Do you know why the venti can appear as horses, my boy? Every so often, we wind gods travel the earth in equine form. On occasion, we've been known to sire the fastest of all horses.'

'Thanks,' Jason muttered. 'Too much information.' Livia blinked. Jason didn't want a history lesson. That brick must have done some real damage.

One of the venti charged at Jason. He ducked aside, his clothes smoking from the close call.

'Sometimes,' Auster continued cheerfully, 'mortals recognize our divine blood. They will say, That horse runs like the wind. And for good reason. Like the fastest stallions, the venti are our children!'

The wind horses began to circle Jason. The two of them stepped closer to Jason. Would he choose Rome or would he betray her completely?

'Like my friend Tempest,' he ventured.

'Oh, well ...' Auster scowled. 'I fear that one is a child of Boreas. How you tamed him, I will never know. These are my own offspring, a fine team of southern winds. Control them, Jason Grace, and they will pull your ship from the harbour.'

She wished that she was actually there so that she could hear what the horses were saying. She wished that she was there to tell them to never allow him control.

They ran back and forth, working up a frenzy. Like their master the South Wind, they were conflicted – half hot, dry sirocco, half stormy thunderhead. Livia loved them immediately.

Livia and Octavian could see the moment he chose Greek. The horses changed. The storm clouds inside burned away, leaving nothing but red dust and shimmering heat, like mirages on the Sahara.

'Well done,' said the god. They all turned to see someone else seated in the throne. A bronze-skinned old man in a fiery Greek chiton, his head crowned with a wreath of withered, smoking barley. This must be Notus, the greek god of the South Wind.

Lord Auster walked out of the throne room, now that he was no longer needed. Now that one of their own betrayed them so thoroughly!

'What are you waiting for?' the god prompted.

Jason turned towards the fiery wind steeds. He thrust out his hand. A swirl of dust shot towards the nearest horse. A lasso – a rope of wind, more tightly wound than any tornado – wrapped around the horse's neck. The wind formed a halter and brought the beast to a stop.

Jason summoned another wind rope. He lashed a second horse, binding it to his will. In less than a minute, he had tethered all four venti. He reined them in, still whinnying and bucking, but they couldn't break Jason's ropes. It felt like flying four kites in a strong wind – hard, yes, but not impossible.

"Very good, Jason Grace," Notus said. "You are a son of Jupiter, yet you have chosen your own path- as all the greatest demigods have done before you. You cannot control your parentage, but you can choose your legacy. Now, go. Lash your team to the prow and direct them towards Malta.'

'Malta?'

'Once you arrive in the city of Valletta,' Notus said, 'you will no longer need these horses.'

'You mean ... we'll find Leo there?'

The god shimmered, slowly fading into waves of heat. 'Your destiny grows clearer, Jason Grace. When the choice comes again – storm or fire – remember me. And do not despair.'

The doors of the throne room burst open. The horses, smelling freedom, bolted for the exit.

When Livia opened her eyes, she wasn't surprised to see that she was crying.

You promised me, Jason. You swore.

Arms wrapped around her. She turned to see tears streaming down Octavian's face also. It was like a gaping hole was in their souls. Livia clutched her head, feeling Rome cry in fury and betrayal within her.

(You have heartrending days ahead of you.)

"Consul?"

"Octavian?

("You are also destined to ascend. The age of the half-divine will soon be coming to an end. You will be the last to join the Dii Consentes. You and Jason both were given a choice to lead New Rome into a new era. While he may not have known it, his choices led to his mortality. And thus, the two of you are not meant to be. You cannot have him.")

Livia stood in a flurry of limbs, rage swimming through her eyes. Rome burned so brightly within her. She stormed out of the room, drawing exclaims from the legion members. They yelped as they recognized the expression on her face. Even Reyna paled as her power burned under her skin.

She walked down to the shoreline with determined steps, not caring of the people following after her in concern.

( "You are much like us, Livia. And you know us better than most demigods. You do not underestimate us.")

What did Cupid say? Love was no game! It was not flowery softness! It is hard work – a quest that never ends. It demands everything from you – especially the truth. Only then does it yield rewards.

And the truth of it was that Livia hated Jason with a burning passion. She loathed Piper.

Livia stepped into the water and it immediately began to boil as it reflected her rage. Storm clouds gathered overhead as the ground rumbled under her feet.

Her body was filled with hatred for Hera… for taking Jason from them… for forcing them to acknowledge the Greeks… for Gaea for being the reason that they needed to anyway.

("I am beauty and desire personified. Even outside Ares, Mars, Hephaistos and Vulcan… I am still war and a weapon. My sons are Love, Fear, and Terror themselves. I am from the sea also, Livia. Love exists in many forms. Let the world think on that before they turn their backs on me.")

Livia screamed as she crafted her love into weapons that resembled Formido and Pavor.

Livia stood before her legion, making eye contact with everyone and no one. Her body was still filled with enough rage that she could sink the entire north american continent under the sea with no regrets.

("A civil war unstoppable that your wrath will only fuel until nothing is left but us deathless gods.")

With the way she was feeling, she would leave nothing but the Roman gods if one of the greeks even breathed in her direction.

Octavian was looking at her in concern, but she waved it off. She pursed her lips before turning to look at Reyna and the rest of the Legion: "Former Consul Jason Grace has not only broken sacred law and travelled without permission to the ancient lands. But as the gods bear witness, I have witnessed him actively choosing Greeks over Rome. He made this promise in front of Lord Auster and Lord Notus. Your orders are to kill immediately on sight. No talking. No pleading. No explanations. Attack with extreme prejudice. Do not leave the battlefield until his body is torn into pieces. Jason Grace is now a priority enemy of the state."

Arce cawed above them. She raised a brow, images flashing in her mind as one of the patrolmen rushed forward. "It seems the greeks have a message for us," Livia scowled. She eyed the officer as he drew closer. "Let us see what they plead."

---

Livia eyed Octavian in confusion. He was acting strange. She resolved to ask him about it later as they stood on the roof across from the Empire State Building. Clouds gathered above the entrance to Mount Olympus itself. Lightning flashed. The air was metallic with the smell of oncoming rain. The top of the skyscraper was lit up as usual, but the lights seemed to be malfunctioning. They flickered from purple to orange as if the colours were fighting for dominance.

Livia fought at twitch as it felt like someone was watching them. She wrote it off, thinking it was one of the gods. She was joined by an array of demigods in combat armour, their Imperial gold weapons and shields glinting in the dark. Dakota and Nathan, Leila and Marcus. Octavian stood to one side, thin and pale, his eyes red-rimmed from sleeplessness. Livia inwardly winced, Pranjal had reported to her about cataracts beginning to form in Octavian's eyes.

Beside her in the centre of the line stood Reyna, her metal dogs Aurum and Argentum at her side. She looked tired. There was weariness in her eyes, the tightness in her shoulders under the straps of her armour. Her dark hair was wet, like she'd taken a hasty shower.

Livia felt guilty about that too but she wrote that off because they would not be there if the girl had never let them go.

Livia turned back the roof-access door.

When the door opened, two people emerged. The satyr walked towards them purposefully. He wore a green Nature Conservancy T-shirt with pictures of endangered whales and tigers and stuff. Nothing covered his shaggy legs and hooves. He had a bushy goatee, curly brown hair tucked into a Rasta-style cap and a set of reed pipes around his neck. His hands fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, but considering the way he studied the Romans, noting their positions and their weapons, Livia figured this satyr had been in combat before.

She wondered if he thought it would endear her to him that he was wearing a shirt for endangered whales. She wondered what he would say if he knew that whales were a delicacy at her Father's palace.

At his side was a red-headed girl with long frizzy hair, a plain white blouse and jeans covered with hand-drawn ink designs. She held a blue plastic hairbrush that she tapped nervously against her thigh like a good luck talisman.

Livia remembered her from her dreams. The one who called Percy a distraction. What was her name? It was after the character from that one sitcom that Meerholz had liked.

She stepped forward, her eyes fixed on Livia and Reyna. 'You got my message.'

Octavian snorted. 'That's the only reason you made it this far alive, Graecus. I hope you've come to discuss surrender terms.'

'Octavian ...' Reyna warned.

'At least search them!' Octavian protested.

'No need,' Livia said, studying Rachel. Water twirling around her arm threateningly. She let it seep across the ground to tap against their legs. She would have them throw off the building quicker than they would be able to pull out a weapon. 'Do you bring weapons?'

Rachel shrugged. 'I hit Kronos in the eye with this hairbrush once. Otherwise, no.'

Livia's mouth twitched.

'And your friend?' Reyna nodded to the satyr. 'I thought you were coming alone.'

'This is Grover Underwood,' Rachel said. 'He's a leader of the Council.'

'What council?' Octavian demanded.

'Cloven Elders, man.' Grover's voice was high and reedy, as if he were terrified, but Livia suspected the satyr had more steel than he let on. 'Seriously, don't you Romans have nature and trees and stuff? I've got some news you need to hear. Plus, I'm a card-carrying protector. I'm here to, you know, protect Rachel.'

"Must be a greek thing," Livia shrugged. "The only Cloven I would trust with nature would be led by Kalina."

Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile. 'But no weapons?'

'Just the pipes.' Grover's expression became wistful. 'Percy always said my cover of "Born to be Wild" should count as a dangerous weapon, but I don't think it's that bad.'

Livia scowled as Octavian sneered. 'Another friend of Percy Jackson. That's all I need to hear.'

Reyna held up her hand for silence. Livia raised a brow at the other's audacity. She knew that it was probably for the best. She and Octavian would have argued the other two down until they gave them a reason to attack. Her gold and silver dogs sniffed the air, but they remained calm and attentive at her side.

'So far, our guests speak the truth,' Reyna said. 'Be warned, Rachel and Grover, if you start to lie, this conversation will not go well for you. Say what you came to say.'

From her jeans pocket, Rachel dug out a piece of paper like a napkin. 'A message. From Annabeth.'

Livia felt a flash of fear overcome her, remembering the last place she saw Annabeth. It was a dream then. An actual dream brought on by stress and nerves. Some hope overcame her. Her brother was okay.

She breathed deeply to ignore the images that carved themselves into the recesses of her mind. The rivers that looked like blood. The ground that looked like patchy skin.

Livia could smell the storm. Lightning flickered over the Empire State Building, making the Romans' armour flash.

Reyna took the note. As she read it, her eyebrows crept higher. Her mouth parted in shock. Finally, she looked up at Rachel. 'Is this a joke?'

'I wish,' Rachel said. 'They're really in Tartarus.'

Livia flinched away. The Romans turned to her, but her eyes were on Rachel. "So the dreams were true?"

Octavian was at her side in a flash, a comforting hand on the small of her back. 'But how –'

'I don't know,' Rachel said. 'The note appeared in the sacrificial fire at our dining pavilion. That's Annabeth's handwriting. She asks for you by name.'

Octavian stirred, eyes locked onto the others as he tapped a soothing message into her armor. 'Tartarus? What do you mean?'

Reyna handed him the letter. Livia didn't look at it, taking deeper breaths so that she may taste the storm.

Octavian muttered as he read: 'Rome, Arachne, Athena – Athena Parthenos?' He looked around in outrage, as if waiting for someone to contradict what he was reading. 'A Greek trick! Greeks are infamous for their tricks!'

Livia took hold of his wrist as she took notice of his trembling. The curse on his family. It was coming to an end. Hopefully.

Reyna took back the note. "Why ask this of me?"

"She believes you can do this, Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano."

Livia felt like she had been slapped. Nobody ever used Reyna's full name. "Uh." the satyr interrupted. "You mean your initials are RA-RA?"

Reyna's hand drifted toward her dagger; Livia gripped her sword, and Octavian shifted on his feet. "We're on the verge of attacking them–destroying the stupid Greeks once and for all and they concoct this stupid errand to divert your attention. They want to send you to your death."

The other Romans muttered, glaring at their visitors. "You should take this more seriously. Even Romans respected your ancestor's Oracle of Delphi."

Livia stood to her feet and placed her hand on Octavian's shoulder. Just as Reyna's last name was off-limits… just as her connection to the infamous Percy Jackson and relationship with Jason Grace… Octavian's family was also especially to greeks. He had after all been nothing, but a child when his family home had been burned down with them in it. The Lares had whispered about it constantly when he arrived at Camp fuelling his rage at what they thought were long forgotten enemies.

And her brother has done nothing but confirm their existence, and had thrown Octavian into a whirlwind of pride and vengeance and grief.

(Or was that her? It was hard to tell now she knew he was planning to die.)

"Ha!" Octavian said. "You're the Oracle of Delphi? Right. And I'm Emperor Nero!"

"At least Nero could play music," Grover muttered.

Octavian balled his fists.

Livia turned her head to the satyr, "Quiet, little billy goat. I see through your devious ways; yours and those that have come before you. Stealing the magick from within our fauns. You are but an imposter." Grover began to look offended but she really didn't care anymore. "The faun is the god of scientific enlightenment and technology."

She sniffed disdainfully, as she looked at him down her nose, "Whereas you satyrs were nothing but monsters of drunkenness, lust and degradation. You are but heavy drinkers, womanizers, and traitors, incapable of self restraint. Always confidently and loudly voicing your demands, asking for changes according to your defective worldview–something that always leads to bad times. You were the one Pan, not Faunus, made the Lord of the Wild, yes? Despicable being. You satyrs who engage in all sorts of violent and disruptive behavior while drunk or on drugs. You have no right to speak my auger in such tone."

She could feel the stares on her. She had not defended anyone this strongly since Jason… not even her brother but… she was a child of Rome.

Suddenly the wind shifted. It swirled around the Romans with a hissing sound, like a nest of snakes.

Rachel Dare glowed in a green aura, as if hit by a soft emerald spotlight. Octavian scoffed, sneer melting from his face as the blue hue faded from his eyes to glow imperial gold.

The two stared at each other silently. One that held the power of Apollon's oracle and the other that held the power of Apollo himself.

The Romans rustled uneasily. Then the wind faded and the auras were gone.

'It's your decision,' Rachel said, as if nothing had happened. 'I have no specific prophecy to offer you, but I can see glimpses of the future. I see the Athena Parthenos on Half-Blood Hill. I see her bringing it.' She pointed at Reyna. She turned to Livia. 'But you I cannot see."

Livia remembered Octavian covering her from sight back in the Titan War. It felt like a lifetime ago even if it were nothing more than a year. Octavian's twisted his wrist until the two of them were holding hands, no doubt remembering the same thing

Livia allowed a smirk to dance on her face. "The tapestry isn't finished yet."

Rachel looked at her, "You will make or break everything. I cannot help you if I cannot see you."

She sneered, "I have my own fortune teller, Lilith Clay. Now if you don't have anything else worth saying, leave us or I'll make you leave. Trust me, it won't be down an elevator."

With a wave of her hand, Leila and Dakota advanced, their pila levelled. Grover brought his pipes to his lips, played a quick jig and their spears turned into Christmas trees. The guards dropped them in surprise.

"Enough!' Reyna shouted.

She didn't often raise her voice. When she did, everyone listened.

'We've strayed from the point,' she said. 'Rachel Dare, you're telling me that Annabeth is in Tartarus, yet she's found a way to send this message. She wants me to bring this statue from the ancient lands to your camp.'

Rachel nodded. 'Only a Roman can return it and restore peace.'

Livia wondered why Octavian was not the one being asked. If anything, that would definitely heal the tension.

'And why would the Romans want peace,' Livia asked, 'after your ship attacked our city?'

'You know why,' Rachel said. 'To avoid this war. To reconcile the gods' Greek and Roman sides. We have to work together to defeat Gaia.'

Octavian stepped forward to speak, but Reyna shot him a withering look.

'According to Perseus Jackson,' Livia said, 'the battle with Gaia will be fought in the ancient lands. In Greece.'

'That's where the giants are,' Rachel agreed. 'Whatever magic, whatever ritual the giants are planning to wake the Earth Mother, I sense it will happen in Greece. But ... well, our problems aren't limited to the ancient lands. That's why I brought Grover to talk to you.'

The satyr tugged his goatee. 'Yeah ... see, over the last few months, I've been talking to satyrs and nature spirits across the continent. They're all saying the same thing. Gaia is stirring – I mean, she's right on the edge of consciousness. She's whispering in the minds of naiads, trying to turn them. She's causing earthquakes, uprooting the dryads' trees. Last week alone, she appeared in human form in a dozen different places, scaring the horns off some of my friends. In Colorado, a giant stone fist rose out of a mountain and swatted some Party Ponies like flies.'

Reyna frowned. 'Party Ponies?'

'Long story,' Rachel said. 'The point is: Gaia will rise everywhere. She's already stirring. No place will be safe from the battle. And we know that her first targets are going to be the demigod camps. She wants us destroyed.'

'Speculation,' Octavian said. 'A distraction. The Greeks fear our attack. They're trying to confuse us. It's the Trojan Horse all over again!'

Livia squeeze his hand, eyes locked onto the praetor. If Reyna —

Reyna twisted the silver ring she always wore, with the sword and torch symbols of her mother, Bellona.

'Marcus,' she said, 'bring Scipio from the stables.'

'Reyna, no!' Octavian protested.

She faced the Greeks. 'I will do this for Annabeth, for the hope of peace between our camps, but do not think I have forgotten the insults to Camp Jupiter. Your ship fired on our city. You declared war – not us. Now, leave.'

Grover stamped his hoof, eyes flickering towards Livia. "Percy would never–"

She shot forward; Stormbringer pressed harshly to his throat. A snarl lined her face and her voice came in almost a growl, "I am not Percy."

'Grover,' Rachel said, 'we should go.'

Her tone said: Before it's too late.

The Satyr glanced down at her sword. She pressed it closer, drawing a bead of blood. He wouldn't be able to do anything faster than she would be able to slice his throat. He hadn't seen her move in the first place.

He nodded and she stepped back.

After they had retreated back down the stairs, Octavian wheeled on Reyna. 'Are you mad?'

'I am praetor of the legion,' Reyna said. 'I judge this to be in the best interest of Rome.'

'To get yourself killed? To break our oldest laws and travel to the ancient lands? How will you even find their ship, assuming you survive the journey?'

'I will find them,' Reyna said. 'If they are sailing for Greece, I know a place Jason will stop. To face the ghosts in the House of Hades, he will need an army. There is only one place where he can find that sort of help.'

Livia swallowed back the jealousy that brought her. Jason had never spoken about traveling the Ancient Lands with her.

'This is insanity,' Octavian muttered. 'We're already under attack. We must take the offensive! Those hairy dwarfs have been stealing our supplies, sabotaging our scouting parties – you know the Greeks sent them.'

Perhaps," Reyna said. "But you will not launch an attack without my orders. Continue scouting the enemy camp. Secure your positions" Livia turned to her, "Do not presume that you can order me around. I have been a praetor longer than you. You shared that seat with me, but I am consul now. I have more authority as you."

"I know." Reyna didn't sound happy about it. Livia inwardly smirked; she knew how much the girl had wanted to rule at Jason's side. "But you have my orders. You all heard them." She scanned the faces of the centurions, daring them to question her.

She stormed off, her purple cloak billowing and her dogs at her heels. Livia scoffed, making sure her voice to be heard over the wind, "There will be a few changes in the legions plans."

Livia moved closer to the edge, eyes locked onto the Empire State Building. "Make sure to spread the word that Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano is now an enemy of Rome. She is accused of high treason, dereliction of duty in a time of war, and the murder of Julian Ramírez-Arellano."

"Murder," Leila questioned as she recognized the last name.

Livia hummed, "Patricide of the highest degree."

The others shifted, tension stiffening their spines. Livia was almost sad that she could not see their expressions, but she figured the smile of cruel amusement on her face would not be something they wanted to see.

---

Livia was running a brush over Fluttershy. The horse's coat was covered in blood from the satyrs that had gotten too close to the Legion. The Fauns were on the lookout, some even dragging the greek counterparts over the horse.

She was glad that Fluttershy was getting a full course meal. The Fauns were even kind enough to give the animal some fruits and vegetables. They had brought word from Kalina that those left in New Rome were in the midst of rebuilding efforts that Terminus was personally overseeing. Kalina had admitted that the shrines had taken some hits. She was overseeing that Neptune's shrine was built to encompass the beauty of the sea with the naiads providing help by pulling up supplies from the ocean.

Livia was just glad to not have something to think about that had nothing to do with the war. It gave way to more pleasing thoughts.

That's why she wasn't surprised when her body began to fall as the familiar blackout sensation came over her. Fluttershy whined loudly, but there was nothing Livia could do to soothe her as she was transported somewhere else.

Livia felt her heart stopped when she saw Percy. He looked like a corpse. Was he– Did he— What? Was he a mania?

His arms looked like bleached leather pulled over sticks. His skeletal legs seemed to dissolve into smoke with every step. Annabeth looked just as bad, but Livia didn't really care about that abomination. Percy was more important.

She looked around them, but there was no safe direction to look. Under her feet, the ground glistened a nauseating purple, pulsing with webs of veins. Her chest ached.

Ahead of them was the most depressing view of all.

Spread to the horizon was an army of monsters – flocks of winged arai, tribes of lumbering Cyclopes, clusters of floating evil spirits. Thousands of baddies, maybe tens of thousands, all milling restlessly, pressing against one another, growling and fighting for space – like the locker area of an overcrowded school between classes, if all the students were 'roid-raging mutants who smelled really bad.

Livia felt fear claw at her as she recognized the Cadborosaurus. She tried to not think about the monster after she killed it to get that chest, but it had crept into her mind over the years.

Bob led them towards the edge of the army. He made no effort to hide, not that it would have done any good. Being ten feet tall and glowing silver, Bob didn't do stealth very well.

About thirty yards from the nearest monsters, Bob turned to face Percy.

'Stay quiet and stay behind me,' he advised. 'They will not notice you.'

'We hope,' Percy muttered.

Annabeth examined her own zombie hands. 'Bob, if we're invisible ... how can you see us? I mean, you're technically, you know ...'

Livia felt relief flood into her bones. So, they were invisible. Percy was not dead.

She hurriedly shrugged the relief off. He was not dead yet. He would have to face the ax for what he did to her home.

'Yes,' Bob said. 'But we are friends.'

'Nyx and her children could see us,' Annabeth said.

Bob shrugged. 'That was in Nyx's realm. That is different.'

Livia was going to ignore the fact that they met the primordial of Night for her peace of mind.

'Uh ... right.'

Percy stared at the swarm of vicious monsters. 'Well, at least we won't have to worry about bumping into any other friends in this crowd.'

Bob grinned. 'Yes, that is good news! Now, let's go. Death is close.'

'The Doors of Death are close,' Annabeth corrected. 'Let's watch the phrasing.'

Livia snorted. Bob was correct. Even if they managed to survive the pit, Death awaited them at Livia's hands. They plunged into the crowd. Livia tried to push her fear and horror down as she eyed the monsters around them. She'd seen large groups of monsters before. She'd fought an army of them during the Battle of Labyrinth, the Titan War, and once more when Polybotes attacked New Rome. But this was different.

Whenever she'd fought monsters, she knew she was defending her home. That gave her courage, no matter how bad the odds were. Here, no mortals belong there. Not even Percy and the abomination.

A few feet away, a group of empousai tore into the carcass of a gryphon while other gryphons flew around them, squawking in outrage. A six-armed Earthborn and a Laistrygonian giant pummelled each other with rocks, though Livia wasn't sure if they were fighting or just messing around. A dark wisp of smoke seeped into a Cyclops, made the monster hit himself in the face, then drifted off to possess another victim.

Annabeth whispered, 'Percy, look.'

Livia looked a stone's throw away to see a guy in a cowboy outfit cracking a whip at some fire-breathing horses. Livia growled in her throat. How dare he! The wrangler wore a Stetson hat on his greasy hair, an extra-large set of jeans and a pair of black leather boots. From the side, he might have passed for human – until he turned, and Livia saw that his upper body was split into three different chests, each one dressed in a different colour Western shirt.

Somewhere in front of them, a deep voice bellowed: 'IAPETUS!'

Livia turned to see a familiar titan strode towards them, casually kicking lesser monsters out of his way. He was roughly the same height as Bob, with elaborate stygian iron armour, a single diamond blazing in the centre of his breastplate. His eyes were blue-white, like core samples from a glacier and just as cold. His hair was the same colour, cut military style. a battle helmet shaped like a bear's head was tucked under his arm. From his belt hung a In his hand was a large staff with different constellations engraved into it.

Beside him, was an almost exact replica except instead of a staff, he had a sword the size of a surfboard at his waist. Despite his battle scars, the Titan's face was handsome. Lord Polus.

The Titans stopped in front of Bob. The one that must be his greek counterpart clapped him on the shoulder. 'Iapetus! Don't tell me you don't recognize your own brother!'

'No!' Bob agreed nervously. 'I won't tell you that.'

The other Titan threw back his head and laughed. 'I heard you were thrown into the Lethe. Must've been terrible! We all knew you would heal eventually. It's Koios! Koios! And this is Polus!'

'Of course,' Bob said. 'Koios and Polus, Titans of ...'

'The North!' Koios said.

'I know!' Bob shouted. They laughed together and took turns hitting each other in the arm. Apparently miffed by all the jostling, a cat crawled onto Bob's head and began making a nest in the Titan's silver hair.

'Poor old Iapetus,' said Koios. 'They must have laid you low indeed. Look at you! A broom? A servant's uniform? A cat in your hair? Truly, Hades must pay for these insults. Who was that demigod who took your memory? Bah! We must rip him to pieces, you and I, eh?'

'Ha-ha.' Bob swallowed. 'Yes, indeed. Rip him to pieces.'

Peace, Koios, Lord Polus said. Look at him. He seems settled in a way that I have never seen before. I wonder if Japetus is the same.

Livia took note of Percy's fingers closed around his pen.

'Ah, whatever. It's still good to see you ...' Koios drummed his fingers on his bear's-head helmet. 'You remember what fun we had in the old days?'

'Of course!' Bob chirped. 'When we, uh ...'

'Holding down our father Ouranos,' Koios said.

'Yes! We loved wrestling with Dad ...'

'We restrained him.'

'That's what I meant!'

'While Kronos cut him to pieces with his scythe.'

'Yes, ha-ha.' Bob looked mildly ill. 'What fun.'

'You grabbed Father's right foot, as I recall,' Koios said. 'And Ouranos kicked you in the face as he struggled. How we used to tease you about that!'

'Silly me,' Bob agreed.

'Sadly, our brother Kronos was dissolved by those impudent demigods.' Koios heaved a sigh. 'Bits and pieces of his essence remain, but nothing you could put together again. I suppose some injuries even Tartarus cannot heal.'

'Alas!'

'But the rest of us have another chance to shine, eh?' He leaned forward conspiratorially. 'These giants may think they will rule. Let them be our shock troops and destroy the Olympians – all well and good. But once the Earth Mother is awake she will remember that we are her eldest children. Mark my words. The Titans will yet rule the cosmos.'

'Hmm,' Bob said. 'The giants may not like that.'

Polus said nothing, gazing at Bob with an eye all too knowing. But nothing had surprised Livia more than when he glanced to the side and looked directly at her. He gave her an amused smile.

'Spit on what they like,' Koios said. 'They've already passed through the Doors of Death, anyway, back to the mortal world. Polybotes was the last one, not half an hour ago, still grumbling about missing his prey. Apparently some demigods he was after got swallowed by Nyx. Never see them again, I wager!'

Annabeth gripped Percy's wrist. Polus looked away from her to look at Percy and Annabeth cowering behind Bob. He still said nothing as he looked back at the brothers.

'Well!' Koios drew his massive sword. The blade radiated a cold deeper than the Hubbard Glacier. 'I must be off. Leto should have regenerated by now. I will convince her to fight. '

Polus rolled his eyes. "I have told you that she will not. She and Latona will not stand against their children. Its why I didn't even bother to rouse her anger during our war with the gods. No, I let Latona continue to help the little mortal women in their war torn countries."

'Of course,' Bob murmured. 'Leto and Latona.'

Koios laughed. 'You've forgotten our daughters, as well? I suppose it's been too long since you've seen them. The peaceful ones like them always take the longest to re-form. This time, though, I'm sure Leto will fight for vengeance. The way Zeus treated her, after she bore him those fine twins? Outrageous!'

She wondered how Percy felt to be faced with the grandfather of his boyfriend.

'Well! We'll see you in the mortal world!' Koios chest-bumped Bob, almost knocking the cat off his head. 'Oh, and our two other brothers are guarding this side of the Doors, so you'll see them soon enough!'

'I will?'

'Count on it!' Koios lumbered off, almost knocking over Percy and Annabeth as they scrambled out of his way.

Polus looked at Bob once more. "Do be careful, Iaep—Bob." He nodded his head to the demigods. "You take risks for those who will not do the same for you."

"They are friends."

Polus smiled sadly. "Friends do not last forever. They will eventually die. You risk the wrath of Mother and Tartarus."

"I–"

"Remember, when we were never good nor evil at the height of our power. We just were. Maybe you can be like that again." Polus gave him a small nod. He looked at Livia once more, mouthing: You must prove your bloodline.

He walked away.

Before the crowd of monsters could fill the empty space, Percy motioned for Bob to lean in.

'You okay, big guy?' Percy whispered.

Bob frowned. 'I do not know. In all this –' he gestured around them – 'what is the meaning of okay?'

Annabeth peered towards the Doors of Death, though the crowd of monsters blocked them from view. 'Did I hear correctly? Two more Titans guarding our exit? That's not good.'

'Do you remember Koios?' he asked gently. 'All that stuff he was talking about?'

Bob gripped his broom. 'When he told it, I remembered. He handed me my past like ... like a spear. But I do not know if I should take it. Is it still mine, if I do not want it?'

'No,' Annabeth said firmly. 'Bob, you're different now. You're better.'

The kitten jumped off Bob's head. He circled the Titan's feet, bumping his head against the Titan's trouser cuffs. Bob didn't seem to notice.

"Do you know how Polus was able to see us," Annabeth asked when the titan said nothing else.

Bob stared in the direction that his brother and counterpart had gone. "He must have a friend connected to you two."

Livia's eyes slipped closed. She did not understand how she managed to befriend titan through fighting at his own request. But she was not going to look a gifted horse in the mouth.

'I think you can choose, Bob,' Percy ventured. 'Take the parts of Iapetus's past that you want to keep. Leave the rest. Your future is what matters.'

'Future ...' Bob mused. 'That is a mortal concept. I am not meant to change, Percy Friend.' He gazed around him at the horde of monsters. 'We are the same ... forever.'

'If you were the same,' Percy said, 'Annabeth and I would be dead already. Maybe we weren't meant to be friends, but we are. You've been the best friend we could ask for.'

Bob's silver eyes looked darker than usual. He held out his hand, and the kitten jumped into it. The Titan rose to his full height. 'Let us go, then, friends. Not much further.'

Livia followed after them quietly. Mind aching the longer she was forced to view the pit. The mist of the immortals grew thinner the longer she looked and she was not liking what she was seeing.

The purplish ground was slippery and constantly pulsing. It looked flat from a distance, but up close it was made of folds and ridges that got harder to navigate the further they walked. Gnarled lumps of red arteries and blue veins gave them some footholds when they had to climb, but the going was slow. And, of course, the monsters were everywhere. Packs of hellhounds prowled the plains, baying and snarling and attacking any monster that dropped its guard. Arai wheeled overhead on leathery wings, making ghastly dark silhouettes in the poison clouds.

Percy stumbled. His hand touched a red artery, and a tingling sensation went up his arm. 'There's water in here,' he said. 'Actual water.'

Livia perked up, jumping down and moving closer. After Polus was able to see her, she didn't dare attempt to touch anything. Instead, she caught a ride alongside Bob's shoulder express.

Bob grunted. 'One of the five rivers. His blood.'

'His blood?' Annabeth stepped away from the nearest clump of veins. 'I knew the Underworld rivers all emptied into Tartarus, but –'

'Yes,' Bob agreed. 'They all flow through his heart.'

Percy traced his hand across a web of capillaries. Was the water of the Styx flowing beneath his fingers, or maybe the Lethe? If one of those veins popped when he stepped on it ... Livia shuddered. She scrambled back up Bob's shoulder when she realized she was taking a stroll across the most dangerous circulatory system in the universe.

She paused as she realized that Bob was helping her up. He could see her too.

'We should hurry,' Annabeth said. 'If we can't ...' Her voice trailed off.

Ahead of them, jagged streaks of darkness tore through the air – like lightning, except pure black.

'The Doors,' Bob said. 'Must be a large group going through.'

'Do all the monsters go through the House of Hades?' Percy asked. 'How big is that place?'

Bob shrugged. 'Perhaps they are sent elsewhere when they step through. The House of Hades is in the earth, yes? That is Gaia's realm. She could send her minions wherever she wishes.'

Livia's heart climbed to her throat. She could send them after the Legion. Monsters coming through the Doors of Death to threaten her people. Giants and other nasties anywhere Gaia wanted them to go – Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter or in the path of the Argo II before it could even reach Epirus.

'If Gaia has that much power,' Annabeth asked, 'couldn't she control where we end up?'

Bob scratched his chin. 'You are not monsters. It may be different for you.'

Bob helped them over the top of another ridge. Suddenly the Doors of Death were in plain view – a freestanding rectangle of darkness at the top of the next heart-muscle hill, about a quarter mile away, surrounded by a horde of monsters.

The Doors were still too far away to make out much detail, but the Titan flanking the right side was familiar enough. The one on the left though wore shining golden armour that shimmered with heat.

'Hyperion,' Percy muttered. 'That guy just won't stay dead.'

The one on the right wore dark-blue armour, with ram horns curling from the sides of his helmet. Crius, the Titan that Jason had killed in the battle for Mount Tam.

'Bob's other brothers,' Annabeth said. 'Bob, if you have to fight them, can you?'

Livia scowled. Did she not understand what she was asking? Polus already said that he was taking a risk for them! Bob hefted his broom, like he was ready for a messy cleaning job. 'We must hurry,' he said, which Livia noticed wasn't really an answer. 'Follow me.'

Fifty feet from the Doors of Death, Percy and Annabeth froze.

'Oh, gods,' Annabeth murmured. 'They're the same.'

Livia ignored her as she took in the details. Framed in Stygian iron, the magical portal was a set of elevator doors – two panels of silver and black etched with art deco designs. Frost spread from the base of the Doors, the purplish glow in the air around them and the chains that held them fast.

Cords of black iron ran down either side of the frame, like rigging lines on a suspension bridge. They were tethered to hooks embedded in the fleshy ground. The two Titans, Crius and Hyperion, stood guard at the anchor points.

As Livia watched, the entire frame shuddered. Black lightning flashed into the sky. The chains shook, and the Titans planted their feet on the hooks to keep them secure. The Doors slid open, revealing the gilded interior of an elevator car.

Bob planted a hand on Percy's shoulder. 'Wait,' he cautioned.

Hyperion yelled to the surrounding crowd: 'Group A-22! Hurry up, you sluggards!'

A dozen Cyclopes rushed forward, waving little red tickets and shouting excitedly. They shouldn't have been able to fit inside those human-sized doors, but as the Cyclopes got close their bodies distorted and shrank, the Doors of Death sucking them inside.

Crius jabbed his thumb against the UP button on the elevator's right side. The Doors slid closed. The frame shuddered again. Dark lightning faded.

'You must understand how it works,' Bob muttered. He addressed the kitten in his palm, maybe so the other monsters wouldn't wonder who he was talking to. 'Each time the Doors open, they try to teleport to a new location. Thanatos made them this way, so only he could find them. But now they are chained. The Doors cannot relocate.'

'Then we cut the chains,' Annabeth whispered.

'Our camouflage,' he said. 'Will it disappear if we do something aggressive, like cutting the chains?'

'I do not know,' Bob told his kitten.

'Mrow,' said the feline.

'Bob, you'll have to distract them,' Annabeth said. 'Percy and I will sneak around the two Titans and cut the chains from behind.'

'Yes, fine,' Bob said. 'But that is only one problem. Once you are inside the Doors, someone must stay outside to push the button and defend it.'

'Uh ... defend the button?'

Bob nodded, scratching his kitten under the chin. 'Someone must keep pressing the UP button for twelve minutes, or the journey will not finish.'

Livia glanced at the Doors. Sure enough, Crius still had his thumb jammed on the UP button. Twelve minutes ... Somehow, they would have to get the Titans away from those doors. Then Bob, Percy or Annabeth would have to keep that button pushed for twelve long minutes, in the middle of an army of monsters in the heart of Tartarus, while the other two rode to the mortal world. It was impossible.

She felt conflicted.

'Why twelve minutes?' Percy asked.

'I do not know,' Bob said. 'Why twelve Olympians or twelve Titans?'

'Fair enough,' Percy said.

'What do you mean the journey won't finish?' Annabeth asked. 'What happens to the passengers?'

Bob didn't answer.

'If we do push the button for twelve minutes,' Percy said, 'and the chains are cut –'

'The Doors should reset,' Bob said. 'That is what they are supposed to do. They will disappear from Tartarus. They will appear somewhere else, where Gaia cannot use them.'

'Thanatos can reclaim them,' Annabeth said. 'Death goes back to normal, and the monsters lose their shortcut to the mortal world.'

Percy exhaled. 'Easy-peasy. Except for ... well, everything.'

The kitten purred.

'I will push the button,' Bob volunteered. Livia looked at Percy. She would never admit aloud that she would love the chance to actually get to know her brother. But he will either die there or if by some miracle, he made it back to the mortal world and survived… he would die at her hands.

She would make herself physical enough to touch. She would thin out the monsters enough for them to get to the doors. She wouldn't—she will not help him again. She had a duty to Rome.

'Bob, we can't ask you to do that. You want to go through the Doors, too. You want to see the sky again and the stars and –'

'I would like that,' Bob agreed. 'But someone must push the button. And once the chains are cut ... my brethren will fight to stop your passage. They will not want the Doors to disappear.'

'Percy ...?' Annabeth stared at him, a suspicious edge to her voice.

'First things first,' he said. 'Let's cut those chains.'

They kept going. Livia wondered when this dream would end. She scrambled off Bob's shoulder, hands hovering over the, ew, veins of the Tartarus.

'Iapetus!' hyperion bellowed. 'Well, well. I thought you were hiding under a cleaning bucket somewhere.'

Bob lumbered forward, scowling. 'I was not hiding.'

Percy crept towards the right side of the Doors. Annabeth sneaked towards the left. The Titans gave no sign of noticing them. The lesser monsters kept a respectful distance from the Titans, so there was enough empty space to manoeuvre around the Doors, but Livia was keenly aware of the snarling mob at her back.

Annabeth had decided to take the side Hyperion was guarding, on the theory that Hyperion was more likely to sense Percy. After all, Percy was the last one to have killed him in the mortal world. Livia wanted the story about that. She thought Sol was the one to be defeated but— were the titans also trying to gaslight them into thinking they had only one form? Or did Hyperion devour Sol's essence and the roman titan-god was somewhere else reforming.

Actually, where was Krios also?

On Percy's side of the Doors, Crius stood dark and silent, his ram-horned helmet covering his face. He kept one foot planted on the chain's anchor and his thumb on the UP button.

Bob faced his brethren. He planted his spear and tried to look as fierce as possible with a kitten on his shoulder. 'Hyperion and Crius. I remember you both.'

'Do you, Iapetus?' The golden Titan laughed, glancing at Crius to share the joke. 'Well, that's good to know! I heard Percy Jackson turned you into a brainwashed scullery maid. What did he rename you ... Betty?'

'Bob,' snarled Bob.

'Well, it's about time you showed up, Bob. Crius and I have been stuck here for weeks –'

'Hours,' Crius corrected, his voice a deep rumble inside his helmet.

'Whatever!' Hyperion said. 'It's boring work, guarding these doors, shuffling monsters through at Gaia's orders. Crius, what's our next group, anyway?'

'Double Red,' said Crius.

Hyperion sighed. The flames glowed hotter across his shoulders. 'Double Red. Why do we go from A-22 to Double Red? What kind of system is that?' He glared at Bob. 'This is no job for me – the Lord of Light! Titan of the East! Master of Dawn! Why am I forced to wait in the darkness while the giants go into battle and get all the glory? Now, Crius, I can understand –'

'I get all the worst assignments,' Crius muttered, his thumb still on the button.

'But me?' Hyperion said. 'Ridiculous! This should be your job, Iapetus. Here, take my place for a while.'

Bob stared at the Doors, but his gaze was distant – lost in the past. 'The four of us held down our father, Ouranos,' he remembered. 'Koios and me and the two of you. Kronos promised us mastery of the four corners of the earth for helping with the murder.'

'Indeed,' Hyperion said. 'And I was happy to do it! I would've wielded the scythe myself if I'd had the chance! But you, Bob ... you were always conflicted about that killing, weren't you? The soft Titan of the West, soft as the sunset! Why our parents named you the Piercer, I will never know. More like the Whimper.'

Percy reached the anchor hook. He uncapped his pen and Riptide grew to full length. Crius didn't react. His attention was firmly fixed on Bob, who had just levelled the point of his spear at Hyperion's chest.

'I can still pierce,' Bob said, his voice low and even. 'You brag too much, Hyperion. You are bright and fiery, but Percy Jackson defeated you anyway. I hear you became a nice tree in Central Park.'

Hyperion's eyes smouldered. 'Careful, brother.'

'At least a janitor's work is honest,' Bob said. 'I clean up after others. I leave the palace better than I found it. But you ... you do not care what messes you make. You followed Kronos blindly. Now you take orders from Gaia.'

'She is our mother!' Hyperion bellowed.

'She did not wake for our war on Olympus,' Bob recalled. 'She favours her second brood, the giants.'

Crius grunted. 'That's true enough. The children of the pit.'

'Both of you hold your tongues!' Hyperion's voice was tinged with fear. 'You never know when he is listening.'

The elevator dinged. All three Titans jumped.

Had it been twelve minutes? Livia had lost track of time. Crius took his finger off the button and called out, 'Double Red! Where is Double Red?'

Hordes of monsters stirred and jostled one another, but none of them came forward.

Crius heaved a sigh. 'I told them to hang on to their tickets. Double Red! You'll lose your place in the queue!'

Annabeth was in position, right behind Hyperion. She raised her sword over the base of the chains. In the fiery light of the Titan's armour, she looked like a burning ghoul. She held up three fingers, ready to count down. They had to cut the chains before the next group tried to take the elevator, but they also had to make sure the Titans were as distracted as possible.

Hyperion muttered a curse. 'Just wonderful. This will completely mess up our schedule.' He sneered at Bob. 'Make your choice, brother. Fight us or help us. I don't have time for your lectures.'

Bob glanced at Annabeth and Percy. Percy thought he might start a fight, but instead he raised the point of his spear. 'Very well. I will take guard duty. Which of you wants a break first?'

'Me, of course,' Hyperion said.

'Me!' Crius snapped. 'I've been holding that button so long my thumb is going to fall off.'

'I've been standing here longer,' Hyperion grumbled. 'You two guard the Doors while I go up to the mortal world. I have some Greek heroes to wreak vengeance upon!'

'Oh, no!' Crius complained. 'That Roman boy is on his way to Epirus – the one who killed me on Mount Othrys. Got lucky, he did. Now it's my turn.'

Livia was pretty sure that Jason did not get lucky.

'Bah!' Hyperion drew his sword. 'I'll gut you first, Ram-head!'

Crius raised his own blade. 'You can try, but I won't be stuck in this stinking pit any longer!'

A high-pitched whine pierced his ears, like the sound of an incoming rocket. Livia just had time to think: Uh-oh. Then an explosion rocked the hillside. A wave of heat knocked Percy backwards. She rushed to his side. Dark shrapnel ripped through Crius and Hyperion, shredding them as easily as wood in a chipper.

STINKING PIT. A hollow voice rolled across the plains, shaking the warm fleshy ground.

Bob staggered to his feet. Somehow the explosion hadn't touched him. He swept his spear in front of him, trying to locate the source of the voice. The kitten crawled into his coveralls.

Annabeth had landed about twenty feet from the Doors. When she stood, it took Livia a moment to realize she looked like herself. She looked at Percy. His disguise was gone too.

But nothing prepared her for the fear that was crawling through her as she realized that she was starting to look a lot more solid beside him. And if she was becoming physical there, she hated what that meant for her body in the mortal world.

TITANS, said the voice disdainfully. LESSER BEINGS. IMPERFECT AND WEAK.

In front of the Doors of Death, the air darkened and solidified. The being who appeared was so massive, radiating such pure malevolence, that Livia wanted to crawl away and hide.

Instead, she forced her eyes to trace the god's form, starting with his black iron boots, each one as large as a coffin. His legs were covered in dark greaves; his flesh all thick purple muscle, like the ground. His armoured skirt was made from thousands of blackened, twisted bones, woven together like chain links and clasped in place by a belt of interlocking monstrous arms.

On the surface of the warrior's breastplate, murky faces appeared and submerged – giants, Cyclopes, gorgons and drakons – all pressing against the armour as if trying to get out. The warrior's arms were bare – muscular, purple and glistening – his hands as large as crane scoops.

Worst of all was his head: a helmet of twisted rock and metal with no particular shape – just jagged spikes and pulsing patches of magma. His entire face was a whirlpool – an inward spiral of darkness.

As Livia watched, the last particles of Titan essence from Hyperion and Crius were vacuumed into the warrior's maw.

Somehow Percy found his voice. 'Tartarus.'

The warrior made a sound like a mountain cracking in half: a roar or a laugh, Livia couldn't be sure.

This form is only a small manifestation of my power, said the god.

This was small? Livia thought hysterically. As much as she wanted to help her brother, she was very much content to go back to her mortal body.

But it is enough to deal with you. I do not interfere lightly, little demigod. It is beneath me to deal with gnats such as yourself.

'Uh ...' Percy's legs threatened to collapse under him. 'Don't ... you know ... go to any trouble.'

You have proven surprisingly resilient, Tartarus said. You have come too far. I can no longer stand by and watch your progress.

Tartarus spread his arms. Throughout the valley, thousands of monsters wailed and roared, clashing their weapons and bellowing in triumph. The Doors of Death shuddered in their chains.

Be honoured, little demigods, said the god of the pit. Even the Olympians were never worthy of my personal attention. But you will be destroyed by Tartarus himself!

---

Livia was thrown back into her body. She shot up with a gasp, eyes blinking open hazily.

"Livia!"

"Consul!"

"Liv!"

"Don't you dare die on me!"

The voices rang around her symphony. Water was being splashed on her. She flopped around like a fish out of the water. A voice was in her ear muttering hymns, but she just went right back under.

Livia was inside a cavern. Jason, Piper, Nico, and Frank were standing together. She didn't see Leo or Hazel and she knew where Percy and Annabeth were. She shivered just thinking about it.

She looked around her, but all she could see was the dead legionnaires. They clawed their way out of the pit, then milled about aimlessly, chest-bumping each other for no apparent reason, pushing one another back into the chasm, shooting arrows into the air as if trying to kill flies and occasionally, out of sheer luck, throwing a javelin, a sword or an ally in the direction of the enemy.

They behaved no differently than the living legionnaires that she was commanding. And Livia felt a shiver run through her as she saw the army of monsters which just got thicker and angrier. Earthborn threw volleys of stones that ploughed into the zombie legionnaires, crushing them like paper. Empousa gnashed their fangs and shouted orders at the other monsters. A dozen Cyclopes advanced on the crumbling bridges, telkhines lobbed vials of Greek fire across the chasm. There were even some wild centaurs in the mix, shooting flaming arrows and trampling their smaller allies underhoof. In fact, most of the enemy seemed to be armed with some kind of fiery weapon.

Frank pushed through the crowd of dead Romans, shooting down monsters until his arrows were spent, slowly making his way towards his friends. Livia watched as an arrow flew at him, piercing his left biceps. She stared because the boy looked a lot different from that pudgy mess that ran away from New Rome.

This one seemed like he might have the courage to face her. He would still die, but the sentiment was there.

Frank dropped his bow and picked up a sword from a fallen Dracaena Scythia. He slashed his way forward. About five metres ahead, Nico was swinging his black sword with one hand, holding the sceptre of Diocletian aloft with the other. He kept shouting orders at the legionnaires, but they paid him no attention.

Of course not, Livia sneered. He's Greek.

Jason and Piper stood at Nico's back. Jason summoned gusts of wind to blast aside javelins and arrows. He deflected a vial of Greek fire right up the throat of a gryphon, which burst into flames and spiralled into the pit. Piper put her new sword to good use, while spraying food from a cornucopia? in her other hand – using hams, chickens, apples and oranges as interceptor missiles. The air above the chasm turned into a fireworks show of flaming projectiles, exploding rocks and fresh produce.

Livia rolled her eyes.

Jason was shouting in Latin: 'Form ranks!' But the dead legionnaires wouldn't listen to him, either. Livia huffed. If he wanted Roman soldiers to listen to him, then he should have thought of that before choosing greeks.

Some of the zombies were helpful just by standing in the way, blocking monsters and taking fire. If they kept getting mowed down, though, there wouldn't be enough of them left to organize.

'Make way!' Frank shouted. To Livia's surprise, the dead legionnaires parted for him. The closest ones turned and stared at him with blank eyes, as if waiting for further orders.

'Oh, great ...' Frank mumbled.

Livia hummed. He did technically make the rank of centurion. The first blood of the war had not been spilled to cement his exile.

Frank made it to his friends as a wave of Cyclopes crashed into them. He lifted his sword to parry a cyclops's club, then stabbed the monster in the leg, sending him backwards into the pit. Another one charged. Frank managed to impale him, but blood loss was making him weak.

Livia hummed. Could she push him in?

She was dimly aware of Jason on his left flank, deflecting the incoming missiles with wind; Piper on his right, yelling charmspeak commands – encouraging the monsters to attack each other or take a refreshing jump into the chasm.

'It'll be fun!' she promised. Livia was going to rip her vocal cords out before she killed her.

A few listened, but across the pit the empousa were countering her orders. Apparently they had charmspeak too. The monsters crowded so thickly around Frank that he could barely use his sword. The stench of their breath and body odour was almost enough to knock Livia out and she wasn't even there.

'Stupid ghosts!' Nico shouted.

'They won't listen!' Jason agreed.

Frank yelled, 'Cohorts – lock shields!'

The zombies around him stirred. They lined up in front of Frank, putting their shields together in a ragged defensive formation. But they were moving too slowly, like sleepwalkers, and only a few had responded to his voice.

'Frank, how did you do that?' Jason yelled.

'I'm the ranking Roman officer,' he said. 'They – uh, they don't recognize you. Sorry.'

Livia giggled.

Jason grimaced. 'How can we help?'

A gryphon soared overhead, almost decapitating Frank with its talons. Nico smacked it with the sceptre of Diocletian, and the monster veered into a wall.

'Orbem formate!' Frank ordered.

About two dozen zombies obeyed, struggling to form a defensive ring around Frank and his friends. It was enough to give the demigods a little respite, but there were too many enemies pressing forward. Most of the ghostly legionnaires were still wandering around in a daze.

'My rank,' Frank realized.

'All these monsters are rank!' Piper yelled, stabbing a wild centaur.

'No,' Frank said. 'I'm only a centurion.'

'Merda. Futuo. He means he can't control a whole legion. He's not of high enough rank.'

Nico swung his black sword at another gryphon. 'Well, then, promote him!'

Jason shouted in his best drill-sergeant voice: 'Frank Zhang! I, Jason Grace, consul of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, give you my final order: I resign my post and give you emergency field promotion to praetor, with the full powers of that rank. Take command of this legion!'

Livia stiffened, eyes darkening in anger. No. No. This could not happen. She will not allow this to happen! Livia screamed. She hardly recognized Frank's voice when he yelled: 'Legion, agmen formate!'

Instantly, every dead legionnaire in the cavern drew his sword and raised his shield. They scrambled towards Frank's position, pushing and hacking monsters out of their way until they stood shoulder to shoulder with the comrades, arranging themselves in a square formation. Stones, javelins and fire rained down, but now Frank had a disciplined defensive line sheltering them behind a wall of bronze and leather.

She was burning with rage. She felt just as she did when Jason had chosen Greek over his family. Her breathing grew heavy as Rome roared within. Livia scoffed. "I think not! Legion, frontem allargate!"

To her surprise, those same legions scattered out of position. Her eyes widened in shock. No way.

"What's happening," Piper questioned.

"Futuo," Jason said. "Livia! I told you she could see things through her dreams. She must be here!"

"You didn't say that she could control things," Piper argued. "And I thought she only came near Percy?"

"And she outranks me as consul," Frank muttered. "What do we do?"

"Nothing," Livia cackled. She climbed to the top of a telkhines' shoulder, clapping her hands in delight"There is nothing you can do. Jason is no longer consul. He cannot promote you any further. Legion! Mandata Captate! They are scelus! They are filled with a kind of pure wickedness, an outrageous violation of the moral order. Kill the legirupa! They have betrayed Rome!"

Every dead legionnaire in the cavern drew his sword and raised his shield. They turned on Jason and the others, pushing and hacking monsters out of their way until they stood shoulder to shoulder with the comrades, arranging themselves in a square formation.

She smiled as she looked directly at Jason. Surprise colored his features. "Liv?"

She blinked, looking down and realizing that he must be able to see her. She glanced at Diocletian's spear, sensing the death magic flowing through it. She had one death experience too many already. She huffed, looking back at the others.

"Hello Jason," she said. The others' jaws dropped as they heard her voice.

"Liv, don't do this."

"My name is Livia," She scoffed, her body appearing more. She tilted her head to the side, taking in Frank as he made an effort to not cower under her glare. "Legion, mandata captate." The dead soldiers stood at attention as the hoard of monsters stopped their attacks. She wasn't surprised to see that they could see her also. Her voice was filled with the promise of blood as she gave her final order, sensing her body awakening. "Percute!"

The dead soldiers raised their swords and charged.

---

Livia awakened with a snarl. Hands gripped her, helping her sit up but she thought over what she had just witnessed. If Jason had the ability to promote someone, then that means there was just enough discontent within the legion that the banishment did not take hold.

Reyna.

She had still been a praetor. She could have easily reinstated Jason when Livia's back was turned. She didn't know that she would be fighting a civil war from both ends but Livia was not weak.

"Livia," someone asked from her side, but she was still very fatigue. She could feel herself being pulled back under. She allowed it.

---

Livia hissed as soon as she appeared. A hand was clamped tightly around her arm. She looked to see that Octavian was gripping onto her. "Tav?"

He glared at her with red eyes, "You are not dying on me!"

She gave him a weak smile before turning around. The siblings let out twin yelps.

"It's–that's—by the gods," Octavian stammered.

The Athena Parthenos.

Percy stood in front of it, but it was wow. It was actually found. Octavian fell to his knees as he looked at it. The bane of his entire family lineage.

"Tav, look," she muttered.

Reyna was circling the Athena Parthenos warily. 'It looks newly made.'

"She made it," Octavian said in awe. Livia scowled. "She still betrayed Rome. Forget Gaia. The essence of the Motherland will make her journeys horrible." She looked around, trying to find Scipio. She could probably spare the pegasus.

'Yeah,' Leo said. 'We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn't hard.'

'Hey, Reyna,' Annabeth called. 'Have some food. Join us.'

The praetor glanced over, her dark eyebrows furrowed, as if join us didn't quite compute. 'All right,' she said finally.

They scooted over to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged next to Annabeth, picked up a cheese sandwich and nibbled at the edge.

'So,' Reyna said. 'Frank Zhang ... praetor.'

Octavian looked at her in shock. She waved it off. "The first drop of Greek blood will cement the stripping of rank. Though how we managed to not wound them as we chased them over the United States… I don't know."

She sneered at Reyna. "Alongside the fact that Reyna could have quietly reinstated them without me knowing. Not that it matters anymore. I signed off on her exile myself. And I signed off on it with my own blood."

Pranjal had been pissed when he saw her cutting her hand so that she could use her blood as ink, but it definitely got the job done.

Frank shifted, wiping crumbs from his chin. 'Well, yeah. Field promotion.'

'To lead a different legion,' Reyna noted. 'A legion of ghosts.'

Hazel put her arm protectively through Frank's.

'Reyna,' Jason said, 'you should've seen him.'

'He was amazing,' Piper agreed.

'Frank is a leader,' Hazel insisted. 'He makes a great praetor.'

Reyna's eyes stayed on Frank, like she was trying to guess his weight. 'I believe you,' she said. 'I approve.'

Frank blinked. 'You do?'

Reyna smiled dryly. 'A son of Mars, the hero who helped to bring back the eagle of the legion ... I can work with a demigod like that. I'm just wondering how to convince the Twelfth Fulminata. Though I suppose Livia would not agree.'

Frank scowled. 'Yeah. She doesn't. She somehow appeared while we were done there and set the legion against us. We only managed to gain control after she left.'

Livia should have given them lasting orders to listen to no one but herself.

'The legion will listen to you, Reyna,' Frank said. 'You made it here alone, across the ancient lands.'

Reyna chewed her sandwich as if it were cardboard. 'In doing so, I broke the laws of the legion.'

'Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon,' Frank said. 'Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes.'

She shook her head. 'I'm not Caesar. After finding Jason's note in Diocletian's Palace, tracking you down was easy. I only did what I thought was necessary.'

Percy couldn't help smiling. 'Reyna, you're too modest. Flying halfway across the world by yourself to answer Annabeth's plea, because you knew it was our best chance for peace? That's pretty freaking heroic.'

Reyna shrugged. 'Says the demigod who fell into Tartarus and found his way back.'

'He had help,' Annabeth said.

'Oh, obviously,' Reyna said. 'Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag.'

'True,' Annabeth agreed.

'Hey!' Percy complained.

Livia scowled. Her brother was smart.

The others started laughing.

Leo pulled a tiny screwdriver from his tool belt. He stabbed a chocolate-covered strawberry and passed it to Coach Hedge. Then he pulled out another screwdriver and speared a second strawberry for himself.

'So, the twenty-million-peso question,' Leo said. 'We got this slightly used forty-foot-tall statue of Athena. What do we do with it?'

Reyna squinted at the Athena Parthenos. 'As fine as it looks on this hill, I didn't come all this way to admire it. According to Annabeth, it must be returned to Camp Half-Blood by a Roman leader. Do I understand correctly?'

Annabeth nodded. 'I had a dream down in ... you know, Tartarus. I was on Half-Blood Hill, and Athena's voice said, I must stand here. The Roman must bring me. And well she did not say leader exactly, but she took on your image'

'It makes sense,' Nico said.

'The statue is a powerful symbol,' Nico said. 'A Roman returning it to the Greeks ... that could heal the historic rift, maybe even heal the gods of their split personalities. It could stop them from merging.'

Coach Hedge swallowed his strawberry along with half the screwdriver. 'Now, hold on. I like peace as much as the next satyr –'

'You hate peace,' Leo said.

'The point is, Valdez, we're only – what, a few days from Athens? We've got an army of giants waiting for us there. We went to all the trouble of saving this statue –'

'I went to most of the trouble,' Annabeth reminded him.

'– because that prophecy called it the giants' bane,' the coach continued. 'So why aren't we taking it to Athens with us? It's obviously our secret weapon.' He eyed the Athena Parthenos. 'It looks like a ballistic missile to me. Maybe if Valdez strapped some engines to it –'

Piper cleared her throat. 'Uh, great idea, Coach, but a lot of us have had dreams and visions of Gaia rising at Camp Half-Blood ...'

"Gaia's been playing us," Octavian commented. "Waiting to attack gives her enough time to awaken and kill us all in one fell swoop."

Livia scowled. She did not like being outplayed.

'Since we got back to the ship,' Piper said, 'I've been seeing some bad stuff in the knife. The Roman legion is almost within striking distance of Camp Half-Blood. They're gathering reinforcements: spirits, eagles, wolves.'

'Octavian,' Reyna growled. 'I told him to wait.'

'When we take over command,' Frank suggested, 'our first order of business should be to load Octavian into the nearest catapult and fire him as far away as possible.'

The siblings scoffed. "I'd kill you first," Octavian commented. Livia allowed a smile. "Not if I get him first."

'Agreed,' Reyna said. 'But there's Livia also –'

'She's intent on war,' Annabeth put in. 'She'll have it, unless we stop her.'

Jason and Reyna shared looks, placing their food down. Jason looked at them, "You can't stop her. This isn't even talking about how strong she is exactly. She's beyond reasoning. But there were moments I overheard her and Mercury and–"

Reyna sighed, "There were times I would catch Octavian whispering about her Fate. And there were reports during the Titan War about Lord Polus telling her that the divine oikos do not allow any that are unworthy. Livia is destined to ascend. And if she becomes a goddess—"

"She won't stop until she destroys the world with her rage."

The group was silent and Livia stood there smugly. She ignored the fact that Octavian was aiming to let himself die for her ascension. And besides, the look of horror on their faces was too good to be true. It soothed something within her.

Piper turned the blade of her knife. 'Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it. I saw images of a possible future – the camp in flames, Roman and Greek demigods lying dead. And Gaia ...' Her voice failed her.

Livia remembered Tartarus in physical form, looming over her. She'd never felt such helplessness and terror.

If Gaia was that powerful, and she had an army of giants at her side, Livia didn't see how seven demigods could stop her, especially when most of the gods were incapacitated. They should just return and fall to her sword peacefully. She would make it as painful as possible while being somewhat quick about it.

'So Reyna takes the statue,' Percy said. 'And we continue on to Athens.'

Leo shrugged. 'Cool with me. But, uh, a few pesky logistical problems. We got what – two weeks until that Roman feast day when Gaia is supposed to rise?'

'The Feast of Spes,' Jason said. 'That's on the first of August. Today is –'

'July eighteenth,' Frank offered. 'So, yeah, from tomorrow, exactly fourteen days.'

Hazel winced. 'It took us eighteen days to get from Rome to here – a trip that should've only taken two or three days, max.'

'So, given our usual luck,' Leo said, 'maybe we have enough time to get the Argo II to Athens, find the giants and stop them from waking Gaia. Maybe. But how is Reyna supposed to get this massive statue back to Camp Half-Blood before the Greeks and Romans put each other through the blender? She doesn't even have her pegasus any more. Uh, sorry –'

"What happened to Scipio," Livia demanded.

'Fine,' Reyna snapped. She might be treating them like allies rather than enemies, but Livia could tell Reyna still had a not-so-soft spot for Leo, probably because he'd blown up half the Forum in New Rome.

Good. If she killed him, Livia would think about reinstating her. Though, of course, she would do nothing when the trial demands for her death considering her history of patricide.

Reyna took a deep breath. 'Unfortunately, Leo is correct. I don't see how I can transport something so large. I was assuming – well, I was hoping you all would have an answer.'

'The Labyrinth,' Hazel said. 'I – I mean, if Pasiphaë really has reopened it, and I think she has ...' She looked at Percy apprehensively. 'Well, you said the Labyrinth could take you anywhere. So maybe–'

'No.' Percy and Annabeth and Jason and Reyna spoke in unison.

'Not to shoot you down, Hazel,' Percy said. 'It's just ...'

'For one thing,' Jason said, 'the passages in the Labyrinth are way too small for the Athena Parthenos. There's no chance you could take it down there –'

'And even if the maze is reopening,' Annabeth continued, 'we don't know what it might be like now. It was dangerous enough before, under Daedalus's control, and he wasn't evil. If Pasiphaë has remade the Labyrinth the way she wanted ...' She shook her head. 'Hazel, maybe your underground senses could guide Reyna through, but no one else would stand a chance. And we need you here. Besides, if you got lost down there –'

"He wasn't evil," Octavian scoffed. "Anyone who could build a structure like that was evil enough for me!"

'You're right,' Hazel said glumly. 'Never mind.'

Reyna cast her eyes around the group. 'Other ideas?'

'I could go,' Frank offered, not sounding very happy about it. 'If I'm a praetor, I should go. Maybe we could rig some sort of sled, or –'

'No, Frank Zhang.' Reyna gave him a weary smile. 'I hope we will work side by side in the future, but for now your place is with the crew of this ship. You are one of the seven of the prophecy.'

'I'm not,' Nico said.

Everybody stopped eating. Percy stared across the circle at Nico, trying to decide if he was joking.

Hazel set down her fork. 'Nico –'

'I'll go with Reyna,' he said. 'I can transport the statue with shadow-travel.'

'Uh ...' Percy raised his hand. 'I mean, I know you just got all eight of us to the surface, and that was awesome. But a year ago you said transporting just yourself was dangerous and unpredictable. A couple of times you ended up in China. Transporting a forty-foot statue and two people halfway across the world –'

'I've changed since I came back from Tartarus.' Nico's eyes glittered with anger.

'Nico,' Jason intervened, 'we're not questioning your power. We just want to make sure you don't kill yourself trying.'

'I can do it,' he insisted. 'I'll make short jumps – a few hundred miles each time. It's true, after each jump I won't be in any shape to fend off monsters. I'll need Reyna to defend me and the statue.'

Reyna had an excellent poker face. She studied the group, scanning their faces, but betraying none of her own thoughts. 'Any objections?'

No one spoke.

'Very well,' she said, with the finality of a judge. 'Admittedly, to heal the rift between the Greeks and Romans, Octavian would have been a best choice for this, but he would not leave Livia's side. Not after he and his family essentially adopted her into his own. And well, I see no better option. But there will be many monster attacks. I would feel better taking a third person. That's the optimal number for a quest.'

'Coach Hedge,' Frank blurted.

'Uh, what, Frank?'

'The coach is the best choice,' Frank said. 'The only choice. He's a good fighter. He's a certified protector. He'll get the job done.'

'A faun,' Reyna said. Livia raised a brow, wondering how the girl could get the two mixed up.

'Satyr!' barked the coach. 'And, yeah, I'll go. Besides, when you get to Camp Half-Blood, you'll need somebody with connections and diplomatic skills to keep the Greeks from attacking you. Just let me go make a call – er, I mean, get my baseball bat.'

He got up and shot Frank an unspoken message that Livia couldn't quite read. Despite the fact that he'd just been volunteered for a hopefully suicide mission, the coach looked grateful. He jogged off towards the ship's ladder, tapping his hooves together like an excited kid.

Nico rose. 'I should go, too, and rest before the first passage. We'll meet at the statue at sunset.'

Once he was gone, Hazel frowned. 'He's acting strangely. I'm not sure he's thinking this through.'

'He'll be okay,' Jason said.

'I hope you're right.' She passed her hand over the ground. Diamonds broke the surface – a glittering milky way of stones. 'We're at another crossroads. The Athena Parthenos goes west. The Argo II goes east. I hope we chose correctly.'

Livia and Octavian shared looks. The statue was going west once more. From Greece to Rome, and now to a greek camp led by a roman.

Octavian looked at the statue, eyes glowing a faint gold color as if he could be viewing his death already. Livia reached for his hand.

'One thing bothers me,' he said. 'If the Feast of Spes is in two weeks, and Gaia needs the blood of two demigods to wake – what did Clytius call it? The blood of Olympus? – then aren't we doing exactly what Gaia wants, heading to Athens? If we don't go, and she can't sacrifice any of us, doesn't that mean she can't wake up fully?'

Annabeth took his hand.

'Percy, prophecies cut both ways,' she said. 'If we don't go, we may lose our best and only chance to stop her. Athens is where our battle lies. We can't avoid it. Besides, trying to thwart prophecies never works. Gaia could capture us somewhere else or spill the blood of some other demigods. Livia is certainly powerful enough to cause a problem and Octavian's blood would be symbolic enough.'

The two shared looks. Livia pursed her lips, "No more standing directly on the ground unless absolutely necessary."

"Full armour?"

"Not a strip of skin uncovered," she swore.

'Yeah, you're right,' Percy said. 'I don't like it, but you're right.'

The mood of the group became as gloomy as Tartarus' air, until Piper broke the tension.

'Well!' She sheathed her blade and patted her cornucopia. 'Good picnic. Who wants dessert?'

When Livia awakened that final time, she stood slowly, mindful of the hands holding onto her. She wiped the elixir from her face that Mike had poured on her and Octavian. "Prep the legion for war. Our attack date just moved up."

Fine. If that's how they wanted to play it, then the gloves were coming off.

Her fate was to become immortal. To become a deity. She would burn through her mortal body to become one with the universe. She would be reborn anew from the celestial dust within the air.

But before that—

She was going to show them exactly why it was her fate.

Everyone kept telling her to prove her bloodline.

Fine.

It was time to show them a goddess.