First Person: Zytaveon
After I explained that I'd mysteriously gotten the power to control and transform into tar from Gaea, I finally escaped from the others and promised we could discuss it at the meeting in half an hour. I headed down to Zy's room and knocked on the door. There was a moment of pause before the door opened, and Zy looked at me with a tired face that clearly said "What the hell do youwant?"
"Uh, hi. Can I come in?" She shrugged and backed away, allowing me inside.
"What's up?"
"Well, you're ticked off at me and…holy - why the heck is your room so big?" It was at least twice the size of the other rooms, and it even had a door that led to a bathroom. It most definitely should've taken up the space of the neighboring rooms.
"Magic. It's like a TARDIS, bigger on the inside. Back to the point please."
"Well if you're angry at me, I hope to resolve things somehow, but I'm not really sure how to do that. So…here." I passed her a bow and quiver that I got from my room before I came here. She might have seen it back when we were escaping New Rome, and I had planned for her not to, but you know, that didn't work out. I wanted to just shadow travel them onto the ship so I could surprise her on her birthday, but I was admittedly excited to give her the present, plus things were a bit hectic in New Rome and I climbed the rope ladder to protect Annabeth and Percy on their way up. When I handed the weapons to her, she suddenly took a step back, her hand moving to her gun. Well that wasn't the reaction I expected.
"Sorry." She relaxed and took the bow (if a bit reluctantly) and quiver. Her hand seemed to be trembling, as though the bow was poisonous, and she quickly set them down next to her nightstand.
"Uh, it's made of some gems and metals from the Underworld so it'll work with your lightning powers and stuff. I was planning it as a birthday gift, but you know, I couldn't wait and I know things are gonna be a bit hectic for the next few days and thought you could use it."
"Thanks. I'll think about it."
"Think about…?"
"I don't use a bow for a reason." She was staring at the thing longingly, as though she really wanted to use it, but something was stopping her. Her brother maybe. She didn't use a bow because of his death.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
"It's okay. Someday, I'll have to move on from the past." There was a weird silence, but a moment later I realized it wasn't silent, and a light song was playing throughout the room in the background, almost as though it was coming from everywhere, the walls, the floor, the ceiling. It was a tune played on a guitar, the notes flowing calmly and giving off a reminiscent feel.
"So, what's up with the T-shirt? Should I be worried?" She looked at her shirt in surprise and realized that it said I (heart) LEO. She chuckled nervously and snapped before it transformed back to her normal, blank, plum color.
"Long story. We had to distract this guy who was so full of himself, and the only way to do that was to pretend that Leo was way more awesome than him. Me and Emily had to play fangirls." She shuddered. "Never wanna do that again. I've got nothing against Leo, he's cool, but I'm not a fangirl and I will hopefully never have to squeal or say someone's hot ever again."
"So I'm not hot?"
"Ugh, don't say that. You're cute, handsome, but not "hot," and I don't want you to be. You are all mine, sir. If someone another girl, or boy for that matter, takes you from me, know that I will castrate you on the spot."
"Uh, did not need that visual, thank you very much." She quickly kissed me and then gave me a light shove.
"Get out, Death Head, I need a shower." I left her in peace. I cleaned off Percy, Annabeth and Frank with my new tar powers, and then let them clean up the rest on their own. Once everyone was good as new, Coach Hedge took the helm and the demigods gathered below for dinner. There was a clear tension in the mess hall, as though we'd all suddenly realized that the Prophecy of Seven was beginning. No more waiting for Leo to finish the Argo II, no more days waiting, pretending the future was a long way off. We were on our way, being chased by a bunch of angry Romans, and threatened with the task of facing the giants and Gaea.
The tension was like an electrical storm brewing, which was entirely possible considering Percy and Jason's powers. Audrey was just playing with a small snake of water, while Zy was spinning her ring and tapping her finger, no doubt playing a song in her head, but the boys were plenty enough to make a storm. In an awkward moment, the two boys tried to sit in the same chair at the head of the table. Sparks literally flew form Jason's hands, and the water in Audrey's bowl began to float without her consent. After a brief silent standoff, like they were both thinking, "Seriously, dude?!", they ceded the chair to Annabeth and sat at opposite sides of the table. Those two were clearly gonna get along great.
The crew compared notes on what had happened in Salt Lake City, but even Leo's ridiculous story about how he tricked Narcissus wasn't enough to cheer up the group. Half of us were tapping our feet or hands as a result of our ADHD, but otherwise, we were listening closely, the seriousness in the room pretty clear. I was careful to not mention what Gaea had said about Zy, only saying that she said something about me being important and some kind of tool. It was easily dismissed as something similar to Percy, how Gaea was an idiot for thinking we'd just be on her side, and why look a gift horse in the mouth when it came to her giving me a power. We agreed that I'd have to be careful with it, but otherwise, it might be useful.
"So where to now?" Leo asked with a mouthful of pizza. "I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the Atlantic." Percy was eating a piece of pie, which was completely blue - filling, crust, even the whipped cream. Audrey reached over and stole a bite, but still didn't understand what made blue food so much better. Percy looked a bit annoyed, but he accepted it, knowing he couldn't stop her. They were brother and sister already.
"We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter," He said. "Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren't far behind us."
"No doubt," Zy said. "I've stalled Octavian and his auguries all I can, but they know the general direction we went and our destination already. Put a few heads together, and they were bound to figure it out. The eagles were only a scouting party, and when they report back, the Romans will be on our tail full force."
"I don't suppose we should go back and try to reason with the Romans?" Piper suggested. "Maybe…maybe I didn't try hard enough with the charm speak." Jason took her hand.
"It wasn't your fault, Piper. Or Leo's," He added quickly. "Whatever happened, it was Gaea's doing, to drive the two camps apart."
"Maybe if we could explain that, though-"
"With no proof?" Annabeth asked. "And no idea what really happened? I appreciate what you're saying, Piper. I don't want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaea's up to, going back is suicide."
"Even I won't be able to gain much ground against them," Zy said. "They doubt my presence as a true goddess, and not some wannabe. I've planted some seeds of doubt, and given Reyna as much of an argument as I can, but the Romans believe what they see, and they won't take our word for it even if we do find a way to explain what happened. Words aren't enough, they need physical proof right in front of them, and Gaea will make sure they don't understand she's a real threat until it's too late. Besides, Octavian will spread lies. Just because he's a descendant of Apollo doesn't mean he knows when someone's lying, or that he'll believe anything that doesn't agree with his needs. It isn't hard to believe that Greeks are liars to the Romans. We're at a major disadvantage when it comes to talking and negotiating. If I have to, I might be able to release the goddess's full form and have her talk it out with the Romans, but that is a last resort. I wouldn't be able to sustain her power or form for more than a few minutes, and the act of doing so would most likely burn me up. She's powerful, but in return she has a hard time taking a physical form."
"She's right," Hazel said. She still looked a little queasy from seasickness, but she was trying to eat a few saltine crackers. She was better than she had been, but she still didn't trust herself to stomach a proper meal. The rim of her plate was embedded with rubies, and I don't know how they got there considering we were on a boat in the sky where no gems should've been, unless Leo put a secret stash of gems under the table. Maybe she was summoning them from the Underworld in her daze of sickness. The Argo II was much bigger than the Pax, and though it still rocked, I felt a lot better and not like the boat was gonna slip and slide too easily, so I wasn't very sick.
"Reyna might listen, but Octavian won't," She continued. "The Romans have honor to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions posthac." Piper stared at her vegetarian dinner, but she didn't seem to have much of an appetite. I wondered if she'd seen anything within her knife, Katoptris. That looking glass was just as good as a prophecy, showing things that could happen in the future and give us a path. Granted, bad things could also be seen, and it wouldn't be a surprise if this journey was gonna have a lot of challenges.
"You're right," She decided. "We have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans. We have to hurry." Hazel nodded.
"Nemesis said we have only six days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed." Jason frowned.
"You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?"
"I think. But if so, that's not a lot of time."
"Why six days?" Percy wondered. "And how are they going to destroy Rome?"
"As for Nico, I have a hunch," I said. "For those who don't know, Nico and I have accidently soul bonded. I'm not sure how it works, but if I'm assuming the dreams and visions I'm having are real, I believe that his captors made it so that Nico can only survive for six more days even with my interference. There was something back when Ella told that prophecy. I think Nico has something to do with it. Of course, I don't have enough proof or information to be certain, but I can say that I believe what Nemesis said about six more days. Has anyone else seen anything? If you have, you might be able to confirm a few things for me."
"I've been seeing some things in my knife," Piper admitted. Frank froze with a forkful of spaghetti half way to his mouth.
"Things such as…?"
"They don't really make sense, just garbled images, but I saw two giants, dressed alike. Maybe twins." Then my hunch was correct. Annabeth stared at the magical video feed from Camp Half-Blood on the wall. Right now it showed the living room in the Big House: a cozy fire on the hearth and Seymour, the stuffed leopard head, snoring contentedly above the mantel.
"Twins, like in Ella's prophecy," Annabeth said. "If we could figure out those lines, it might help."
"Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death," I muttered, gripping my glass tightly. "The twins are probably the ones Piper saw, and the angel who holds the key to endless death…Thanatos said I'd be able to somehow locate the Doors of Death, probably because of my dad, so that's most likely me or Nico, and considering Nico's last name is di Angelo…"
"We'll get him back, Ve," Zy promised. "Let's start from the beginning. Wisdom's daughter walks alone, The Mark of Athena burns through Rome."
"Annabeth, that's got to mean you," Percy said. "Juno told me…well, she said you had a hard task ahead of you in Rome. She said she doubted you could do it. But I know she's wrong."
"Annabeth's tough all right," Audrey said. "I think she can handle it." Annabeth took a long breath.
"Reyna was about to tell me something right before the ship fired. She said there was an old legend among the Roman praetors - something that had to do with Athena. She said it might be the reason Greeks and Romans could never get along."
"Nemesis mentioned something similar," Leo said. "She talked about an old score that needed to be settled-"
"The one thing that might bring the gods' two natures into harmony," Emily recalled. "'An old wrong finally avenged.'" Percy drew a frowny face in his blue whipped cream.
"I was only praetor for about two hours. Jason, you ever hear a legend like that?" Jason was still holding Piper's hand.
"I…uh, I'm not sure. I'll give it some thought." Percy narrowed his eyes.
"You're not sure?" Jason didn't respond, but he silently pleaded for it to be discussed later.
"There's a lot in Roman history," I said. "I can barely remember everything in Greek history, and then I have to consider everything in Roman terms. Considering you've been at this demigod thing longer than me, how many times have you been surprised by something? You think you know it all, and then hey presto, something else shows up."
"Let's consider the other lines," Emily said. "Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death."
"Giants' bane stands gold and pale," Frank added. "Won through pain from a woven jail."
"Giants' bane," Leo said. "Anything that's a giants' bane is good for us, right? That's probably what we need to find. If it can help the gods get their schizophrenic act together, that's good." Percy nodded.
"We can't kill the giants without the help of the gods."
"I thought you guys killed that one giant in Alaska without the gods' help," Jason said.
"Alcyoneus was a special case," Audrey said. "He was only immortal in the territory where he was reborn - Alaska. But not in Canada. Wish I could kill all giants by dragging them across the border from Alaska to Canada, but, you know." She shrugged. "Percy's right, we'll need the gods."
"Not to mention that even once we get them out of their confused states, Zeus/Jupiter is still not convinced that they need demigods in order to kill the giants," Zy said. "That or we're not worthy of it. We need to go to Rome and save it and all that stuff to prove it to him. Problem with a god like him, he's got more pride than the Romans, with all the gods looking to him as a leader." She spun her ring on the table. "Lots to do, so little time."
"First things first," Leo said, pushing his chair away from the table. "We'll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs."
"Someplace close to a city," Annabeth suggested. "In case we need supplies. But somewhere out of the way, so the Romans will have trouble finding us. Any ideas?"
"The middle of America has a good deal of countryside," Zy said. "We could just stop wherever we are in the morning in some acre of empty land. Unless anyone has some destination in mind."
"Well…" Piper ventured. "How do you guys feel about Kansas?"
First Person: Lucy
Falling asleep was easier than expected, even though Coach Hedge spent the first hour after curfew doing his nightly duty, walking up and down the passageway yelling "Lights out! Settle down! Try to sneak out, and I'll smack you back to Long Island!" He banged his baseball bat against a cabin door whenever he heard a noise, shouting at everyone to go to sleep, which made it impossible for anyone to go to sleep. I wasn't bothered by the noise, considering I'd had to fall asleep to worse in the past, but also because I sound-proofed the room, so, yeah.
Emily finally convinced him to go and get some rest himself, and then things were silent enough that I could open my windows and let the breeze flow in. There were barriers that kept the wind from freezing us at high altitudes and such, but I did allow in a nice cool breeze. The combination of the nice rocking of the boat and the drone of the aerial oars as they scooped through the sky was so peaceful, and that with the wind and the slight light from the moon outside made it all too easy for me to fall asleep, especially with the goddess's powers weakening me and causing me to need sleep again for the first time in ages.
I woke up to warmth. More warmth than usual. I shifted and tried to gather my bearings, and suddenly realized that someone was wrapped around me in a protective way. It was actually kinda nice. I'd usually just be able to sleep in back when I was on the streets, and practically became nocturnal. The orphanage sucked since I had to actually wake up at a reasonable time in the morning, and then when I ran away with Kaze, we just slept whenever, never on a cycle. I just wanted to stay here smothered in the warmth of my protector and go back to sleep. It had been so long since I'd slept, thanks to the goddess, and so I didn't know if I had to get up or not. I was voting for the latter.
Suddenly took in what was happening, my mind clearing from its sleepy state. There was someone in my freaking bed! I grabbed the gun I kept under my pillow and pulled away, but ended up falling off the edge of the bed with a girlish squeak of surprise I will definitely deny later. Just my luck, I ended up hitting the bow and quiver that I'd placed next to my nightstand yesterday, the contact with the bow causing a jolt to spike through me that said NO! and I scrambled away from it as well, still disoriented, and aiming my gun at any immediate threat. I'd had rude awakenings in the past that had me waking to either monsters or police, but I'd never fallen out of bed before. I remembered I was on the Argo II, and tried to think of what could've possibly gotten into the ship without detection, let alone my room while I was sleeping.
There was a shout of surprise that happened at the same time I jolted away from my intruder, and I suddenly realized I was pointing my weapon at…Zytaveon? He was on my bed, leaning against the wall with his hands up in surrender. He was dressed in his night clothes (just a gray T-shirt and black baggy sweatpants) and he looked just as surprised as I was.
"Why the hell are you in my freaking bed?!" I demanded.
"I don't know! You tell me! I swear I went to sleep in my bed after Hedge's nightly rounds, and suddenly I wake up to you screaming! And you sleep with an f-ing gun in your bed, woman?!"
"What the heck did you expect?! I'm always heavily armed in case of sudden intruders in my freaking BED!"
"Look, I don't know how I got here, so don't blame me, and please put the gun down." I sighed and clicked the safety on before tossing it on my nightstand next to my dagger before kneeling to collect the arrows scattered from the quiver I'd knocked over. They were weighted admittedly well, and looked the perfect length to be fired from the bow. I was picky about bows and arrows, and always went critical when it came to looking at things like this.
"You must've shadow traveled or something in your sleep. Were you having a nightmare?"
"Uh…well, I don't really know. I can't remember." He put his head in his hands. "I think there was screaming, I'm really drained…" The first night I try and leave him to have his nightmares and he ends up teleporting in his sleep into my room. "Anyway. What time is it?"
"Around five. Maybe four thirty. I usually wake up at first light, thank to the Apollo in me. I can go back to sleep afterwards, but I always have to wake up with the sun." I placed the quiver upright against the nightstand again and quickly placed the bow next to it. My oath to never use a bow and arrow made it so that any bow I touched gave off a warning signal, a kind of tingle that makes every part of me scream RUN! and doesn't allow me to hold it for very long before my hand literally spasms out and drops it even without my consent.
"That…that's cool."
"Not really. I'm a girl that likes to sleep in, bud. Wake an Apollo girl any earlier than the sun and we're really cranky."
"That explains why you're never happy in the mornings during winter but are cheery in the mornings during autumn, spring and summer, I guess."
"Yo, Zy, you okay?" I quickly threw the covers over him and walked to the door. I found Audrey, fully dressed in jeans, a purple T-shirt, and her normal blue jacket. She looked like she was wide awake, contrary to Ve who had looked tired as heck.
"Yeah, Dray. What's up?"
"I heard shouting and a thud. Did you and Ve fight again?"
"I woke up and fell out of bed. I thought I'd set my room to sound-proof mode, but apparently not. I ended up falling into a quiver, and falling on a bunch of arrow shafts was not on my bucket list. It hurts, even for a goddess."
"I swear I heard him in here."
"Why are you even up this early?"
"This isn't early. Most of us normal people wake up at four or five for school. Besides, I'm sleeping in water - awesome, by the way, thanks for doing that for me - so I'm more awake and energized than I would be with coffee."
"We aren't normal people, are we? And that thing is awesome, yeah. Wanna wake the others? Go check Ve's room, he's not here."
"Hey, I'm just checking for your sake. Hedge would kill you if two people of the opposite gender are in the same room together alone. Especially if it's a bedroom, and especially if they are dating."
"First off, ever heard of homosexuals? My little brother was homosexual, FYI. Second, how would you know we're dating?"
"I didn't. You just told me."
"Schist. I walked right into that, didn't I?"
"Yep," She said, popping the p.
"Well I'm awake as ever. I wake up with the sun thanks to Apollo. Wanna get breakfast in the dining hall?"
"Sure. Let's get Em and Ve too."
"Let me change."
I quickly changed into jeans, a blue dark blue T-shirt, slipped on my normal jacket and combat boots, along with my fingerless gloves. I clipped on my belt with my bag at my side, slipped my guns in the back, and then headed out with Audrey. We found Emily already up and just about to head out, burning an offering in her hearth like we did at meals back at Camp Half-Blood. She was in jeans, a sleeveless yellow shirt with a floral pattern, and boots. Her necklace with the Hearth of Hestia was showing, and her Dove of Aphrodite pin seemed to change to look perfect on her outfit. Veon came out of his room dressed and ready, with his normal dark attire: back shirt, jeans, combat boots, and an olive green jacket like mine, and half-brushed hair.
"I swear, you two look more like brother and sister with you always dressing the same," Audrey said.
"More like some deadly duo," Veon said.
"In my defense, I still change up my shirt," I said. "Plus, you guys have a distinct look too."
"It's just the life of a demigod," Emily said. "We dress simple because we have more things to worry about. Except the Aphrodite kids maybe."
"Not to mention the combination of armor and normal clothes that we take on in battle or during the games." The four of us grabbed a quick breakfast consisting of waffles, pancakes, and oddly enough gummy bears (because Veon's apparently been craving them since last night) before we headed up to the deck. The breakfast bell rang, signaling the others were up or about to get up.
"Thar she blows!" Hedge shouted. "Kansas, ahoy!"
"You might wanna work on that pirate talk, Coach," Ve said. Leo hurried above deck and found a field where he could land. Piper came above deck last just as the ship's landing gear extended and we set down in the middle of a field of sunflowers. The gangplank lowered itself. The morning air smelled of irrigation, warm plants, and fertilized earth, and it was kinda nice, but not the best in my opinion (bad experience with Demeter). Veon told me stories of being haunted by his step-mom Persephone, so I could tell he was in the same boat as me about agricultural things. It was hard to believe that that goddess was the queen of the Underworld, but then again, there were a lot of things about the gods that were hard to believe.
Percy smiled in greeting as Piper came up. He was wearing faded jeans and a fresh orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, as if he'd never been away from the Greek side. The new clothes had probably helped his mood - and of course the fact that he was standing at the rail with his arm around Annabeth. Annabeth had a sparkle in her eyes that none of us had ever seen. For months she'd been tormenting herself, her every waking moment consumed with the search for Percy. Now, despite the dangerous quest we were facing, at least she had her boyfriend back.
"So!" Annabeth said, plucking a bagel out of Piper's hands and taking a bite. Back at camp, the two of them, Audrey and I had a running joke about stealing each other's breakfasts. "Here we are. What's the plan?"
"I want to check out the highway," Piper said. "Find the sign that says Topeka 32." Leo spun his Wii controller in a circle, and the sails lowered themselves.
"We shouldn't be far," He said. "Festus and I calculated the landing as best we could. What do you expect to find at the mile marker?" She explained how she'd seen an empty highway cutting between fields of wheat and sunflowers in her knife, Katoptris. A mileage marker had read: TOPEKA 32 and on the shoulder of the road stood a man in khaki shorts and a purple camp shirt. She hadn't been able to see his face, as it had been lost in the shadow of a broad hat, the brim wreathed in leafy veins, but he'd held up a silver goblet and beckoned Piper, and she somehow knew it was some kind of gift - a cure, or antidote.
"Purple shirt?" Jason asked. "Vines on his hat? Sounds like Bacchus."
"Dionysus," Percy muttered. "If we came all the way to Kansas to see Mr. D-"
"Bacchus isn't so bad. I don't like his followers much…" Piper shuddered. Jason, Leo, her and my team had an encounter with the maenads a few months ago. "But the god himself is okay. I did him a favor once up in the wine country." Percy looked appalled.
"Whatever, man. Maybe he's better on the Roman side. But why would he be hanging around in Kansas? Didn't Zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?" Frank grunted. He was wearing a blue tracksuit this morning, like he was ready to go for a jog in the sunflowers.
"The gods haven't been very good at following that order. Besides, if the gods have gone schizophrenic like Hazel, Zy and Emily said-"
"And Leo said," Added Leo. Frank scowled at him.
"Then who knows what's going on with the Olympians? Could be some pretty bad stuff out there."
"Sounds dangerous!" Leo agreed cheerfully. "Well…you guys have fun. I've got to finish repairs on the hull."
"I'll help," I said. "I'm the one that can probably make the most repairs the fastest."
"I'm figuring out this whole tar thing," Veon said. "I can help patch things up too."
"Annabeth, you sort of understand engineering," Leo said. "I could use your help too." Annabeth looked apologetically at Percy.
"He's right. I should stay and help."
"I'll come back to you." He kissed her on the cheek. "Promise." Hm, they must be experts on this stuff. They made this whole relationship thing look easy. Frank slid his bow off his shoulder and propped it against the rail.
"I think I should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for Roman eagles."
"Why a crow?" Leo asked. "Man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don't you just turn into a dragon every time? That's the coolest." Frank's face looked like it was being infused with cranberry juice.
"That's like asking why you don't bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. Because it's hard, and you'd hurt yourself. Turning into a dragon isn't easy."
"Oh." Leo nodded. "I wouldn't know. I don't lift weights."
"Yeah. Well, maybe you should consider it, Mr.-" Emily stepped between them.
"Okay, we're all not morning people. Let's keep our heads on."
"To be fair, I don't lift weights either," Veon said.
"I can help you Frank," Hazel said, shooting Leo an evil look. "I can summon Arion and scout around below."
"Be careful if you do find something," I warned. "Frank might look inconspicuous to the passerby, but you'll still be noticeable on Arion. If you're seen, try not to lead anyone back to the ship."
"And you should be careful when you when you go out there," Audrey said to Percy. "Lots of fields, lots of crops. Could be karpoi on the loose."
"Karpoi?" Piper asked.
"Grain spirits. You don't want to meet them."
"That leaves me, Jason, Piper, Emily and Audrey," Percy said.
"I call going this time!" Audrey said. "Do you know how boring it was to sit on the ship doing nothing while you guys faced tar monsters and nymphs?"
"It's okay," Emily said. "I can keep troop morale up." Translation: she can keep Frank, Hazel and Leo from tearing each other to bits.
"Sounds like a plan," I said.
"I'm not psyched about seeing Mr. D again," Percy said. "That guy is a pain. But Jason, if you're on better terms with him…"
"Yeah," Jason said. "If we find him, I'll talk to him. Piper, it's your vision. You should take the lead." Piper seemed to shiver at some thought.
"Of course," She said, trying to sound upbeat. "Let's find the highway."
