Rue hated boats.

Not even the boats themselves, but moreso what they represented. Only children of Neptune were allowed at sea and Rue always got the feeling that the waves were welcoming ast with a one-way ticket to the Underworld. Rue didn't even like riding Charu's boat. Ast hadn't mentioned this to Percy. Rue didn't want to mess up the quest, but ast always had the feeling that ast could sink forever and never reach the bottom. It was terrifying especially since most people didn't know what was down there. Having an additional set of memories in aster's head didn't help either. Rue remembered how horrible Hazel's life had been when she and her mother had moved to Alaska—no roads. Everywhere they went, they'd had to take the train or a boat. Horrifying.

As soon as they left the dock, Rue's stomach started to churn as if Neptune was trying to pull all the blood from within Rue out of aster's body. By the time they passed the piers along the San Francisco Embarcadero, Rue felt so woozy ast thought ast was hallucinating. They sped by a pack of sea lions lounging on the docks, and Rue swore ast saw an old homeless guy sitting among them. From across the water, the old man pointed a bony finger at Percy and mouthed something like Don't even think about it.

"Did you see that?" Rue asked.

Percy's face was red in the sunset. "Yeah. I've been here before. I...I don't know. I think I was looking for my boyfriend's sister."

"Fred," Frank said. Rue remembered that name absently. "You mean, on your way to Camp Jupiter?"

Percy frowned. "No. Before that." He scanned the city like he was still looking for Fred until they passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and turned north.

Rue tried to settle aster's stomach by thinking of pleasant things—the euphoria ast'd felt last night when they'd won the war games, riding Hannibal into the enemy keep, Frank's sudden transformation into a leader. He'd looked like a different person when he'd scaled the walls, calling on the Fifth Cohort to attack. The way he'd swept the defenders off the battlements...Rue had never seen him like that before.

It was about time.

Then aster's thoughts turned to Nico. Before they had left and while ast was walking with Pranjal and Octavian, aster's brother had pulled ast aside to wish ast luck. Rue hoped he'd stay at Camp Jupiter to help defend it, but he said he'd be leaving today—heading back to the Underworld.

"Dad needs all the help he can get," he had said. "The Fields of Punishment look like a prison riot. The Furies can barely keep order. Besides...I'm going to try to track some of the escaping souls. Maybe I can find the Doors of Death from the other side."

"Be careful," Rue said, knowing that ast would have to help from aster's end also. "If Gaea is guarding those doors—"

"Don't worry." Nico smiled, taking aster's hand. "I know how to stay hidden. Just take care of yourself. The closer you get to Alaska...I'm not sure if it'll make the blackouts better or worse. I don't want to lose my sister."

Take care of myself, Rue thought bitterly. As if there was any way the quest would end well for Rue.

He didn't say the word again, but Rue knew that's what he was thinking. For once, ast felt jealous of Bianca di Angelo. How kind could she have been to have someone love her so?

"Good luck, Rue," he said. Then he melted into the shadows and Rue tried not to seethe in jealousy. Show off.

The boat shuddered, jolting Rue back to the present. They entered the Pacific currents and skirted the rocky coastline of Marin County.

Frank held his ski bag across his lap. It passed over Rue's knees like the safety bar on an amusement ride, which made ast think of the time that Father had taken ast to Waterland once. It had been the year before it closed and ast had just killed another foster family. Rue quickly pushed that memory aside. It was bad enough Rue got Hazel's memories; ast didn't want to face aster's own.

"You okay?" Frank asked. "You look queasy."

"Seasickness," Rue confessed. "I'm not... a child of Pluto isn't allowed at sea. I didn't think it would be this bad." Honestly, Rue thought it would be worse, but the longer they stayed, the effects seemed to manage themselves.

Frank pouted and started digging in his pack. "I've got some nectar. And some crackers. Um, my grandmother says ginger helps...I don't have any of that, but—"

"It's okay." Rue mustered a smile. "That's sweet of you, though."

Frank pulled out a saltine. It snapped in his big fingers. Cracker exploded everywhere.

Rue laughed. He was like a grenade in a pottery shop. "Gods, Frank...Sorry. I shouldn't laugh."

"Uh, no problem," he said sheepishly. "Guess you don't want that one."

Percy wasn't paying much attention. He kept his eyes fixed on the shoreline. As they passed Stinson Beach, he pointed inland, where a single mountain rose above the green hills.

"That looks familiar," he said.

"Mount Tam," Frank said. "Kids at camp are always talking about it. Big battle happened on the summit, at the old Titan base."

Percy frowned. "Were either of you there?"

"Yes," Rue said. "It was last year in August. The palace had been rebuilt there and the legion destroyed it back down to ashes alongside about a million monsters." Rue pulled ast's pants down just a bit to show their hips where a long-ragged scar sat. "I got this scar from fighting an empousa and another on my back from a traitor. I was there even as Jason battled Megamedes; Krios, titan of the south, in hand-to-hand combat with a Titan. Kicked his ass actually, if you can imagine."

"I can imagine," Percy muttered.

Rue wasn't sure what he meant, but Percy did remind ast of Jason, even though they looked nothing alike. They had the same aura of quiet power, plus a kind of sadness, like they'd seen their destiny and knew it was only a matter of time before they met a monster they couldn't beat. Rue knew that feeling intimately as ast watched the sun set in the ocean. What had Lord Indiges say?

"These upcoming times will lead to death, something you are intimately familiar with."

Whether or not their quest succeeded, aster's journey would be over by the Feast of Fortuna.

Ast thought about Hazel's death, and the months leading up to it—her house in Seward, the six months she'd spent in Alaska, taking that little boat into Resurrection Bay at night, visiting that cursed island. It was just about the same.

Rue realized ast mistake too late. Aster's vision went black, and ast slipped back in time.

Dammit.

Their rental house was a clapboard box suspended on pilings over the bay. When the train from Anchorage rolled by, the furniture shook, and the pictures rattled on the walls. At night, Hazel fell asleep to the sound of icy water lapping against the rocks under the floorboards. The wind made the building creak and groan.

They had one room, with a hot plate and an icebox for a kitchen. One corner was curtained off for Hazel, where she kept her mattress and storage chest. She'd pinned her drawings and old photos of New Orleans on the walls, but that only made her homesickness worse.

Her mother was rarely home. She didn't go by Queen Marie anymore. A good thing if you asked. Rue.

She was just Marie, the hired help. She'd cook and clean all day at the diner on Third Avenue for fishermen, railroad workers, and the occasional crew of navy men. She'd come home smelling like Pine-Sol and fried fish.

At night, Marie Levesque would transform. The Voice took over... Gaea took over, giving Hazel orders, putting her to work on their horrible project. Winter was the worst. Gaea stayed longer because of the constant darkness as time drew closer to the Winter Solstice. The cold was so intense, Hazel thought she would never be warm again. When summer came, Hazel couldn't get enough sun. Every day of summer vacation, she stayed away from home as long as she could, but she couldn't walk around town. It was a small community. The other kids spread rumors about her—the witch's child who lived in the old shack by the docks. If she came too close, the kids jeered at her or threw bottles and rocks. The adults weren't much better.

Hazel could've made their lives miserable. She could've given them diamonds, pearls, or gold. Up here in Alaska, gold was easy. There was so much in the hills, Hazel could've buried the town without half trying.

Rue would have. Ast was the regret that comes to all that forsake aster.

But Hazel didn't really hate the locals for pushing her away.

She spent the day walking the hills. She attracted ravens. They'd caw at her from the trees and wait for the shiny things that always appeared in her footsteps. The curse never seemed to bother them. She saw brown bears, too, but they kept their distance. When Hazel got thirsty, she'd find a snowmelt waterfall and drink cold, clean water until her throat hurt. She'd climb as high as she could and let the sunshine warm her face.

The simple happiness always made Rue's throat clogged. The simplicity to it was sweet and it made Rue uncomfortable of the things ast took for granted. Hazel found happiness in such little things and Rue... Rue was a bitter child.

Sometimes Hazel thought about their father. Hazel wished he'd come back and protect her from her mother, maybe use his powers to get rid of that awful Voice. If he was a god, he should be able to do that.

Rue sometimes wished he used his powers to help aster too. To be her Father before her King.

But Pluto had warned Marie about Alaska. It was a land beyond the gods. He couldn't protect them here. If he was watching Hazel, he didn't speak to her.

One day in midsummer, she stayed out later than usual, chasing a horse. Rue wrinkled aster's nose when ast saw it.

She'd seen it first when she had heard a crunching sound behind her.

She turned and saw a gorgeous tan roan stallion with a black mane—just like the one she'd ridden her last day in New Orleans, when Sammy had taken her to the stables. It could've been the same horse, though that was impossible. It was eating something off the path, and for a second, Hazel had the crazy impression it was munching one of the gold nuggets that always appeared in her wake.

"Hey, fella," she called.

The horse looked at her warily.

Hazel figured it must belong to someone. It was too well groomed, its coat too sleek for a wild horse. If she could get close enough...What? She could find its owner? Return it?

No, she thought. I just want to ride again.

Rue rolled aster's eyes as Hazel got within ten feet, and the horse bolted. She spent the rest of the afternoon trying to catch it—getting maddeningly close before it ran away again. Honestly, Hazel needed a better hobby! Rue was not interested in My Little Pony though in comparison to Hazel's other hobby, this one was much more preferable even if it did stink.

She lost track of time, which was easy to do with the summer sun staying up so long. Finally she stopped at a creek for a drink and looked at the sky, thinking it must be around three in the afternoon. Then she heard a train whistle from down in the valley. She realized it had to be the evening run to Anchorage, which meant it was ten at night.

She glared at the horse, grazing peacefully across the creek. "Are you trying to get me in trouble?"

The horse whinnied. Then...Hazel must've imagined it. The horse sped away in a blur of black and tan, faster than forked lightning—almost too quick for her eyes to register. Hazel didn't understand how, but the horse was definitely gone.

Hazel and Rue both stared at the spot where the horse had stood. A wisp of steam curled from the ground. Rue was definitely tripping.

The train whistle echoed through the hills again, and she realized how much trouble she was in. She ran for home.

Marie wasn't there. For a second Hazel felt relieved. Maybe her mom had had to work late. Maybe tonight they wouldn't have to make the journey.

Then Rue saw the wreckage. Hazel's curtain was pulled down. Her storage chest was open, and her few clothes strewn across the floor. Her mattress had been shredded as if a lion had attacked it. Worst of all, her drawing pad was ripped to pieces. Her colored pencils were all broken.

Pluto's birthday gift, Hazel's only luxury, had been destroyed. Pinned to the wall was a note in red on the last piece of drawing paper, in writing that was not her mother's: Wicked girl. I'm waiting at the island. Don't disappoint me.

Hazel sobbed in despair. She wanted to ignore the summons. She wanted to run away, but there was nowhere to go. Besides, her mother was trapped. Gaea had promised that they were almost done with their task. If Hazel kept helping, her mother would be freed. But listen, they lived in Amerikkka and even if they were in Alaska, they were not fear from the lasting effects of slavery and segregation.

They would never be free unless they died and well... Rue knew how it ended.

Hazel took the rowboat—a little skiff Marie had bought with a few gold nuggets from a fisherman, who had a tragic accident with his nets the next day. They had only one boat, but Hazel's mother seemed capable on occasion of reaching the island without any transportation. Hazel had learned not to ask about that. Rue wondered if it was shadow traveling or was she literally being pulled through the earth? Hazel wasn't asking the right questions, but she was scared so Rue didn't hold it against her.

Even in midsummer, chunks of ice swirled in Resurrection Bay. Seals glided by her boat, looking at Hazel hopefully, sniffing for fish scraps. In the middle of the bay, the glistening back of a whale raked the surface.

As always, the rocking of the boat made her stomach queasy. Hazel stopped once to be sick over the side. Rue knew the feeling. The sun was finally going down over the mountains, turning the sky blood red because that wasn't ominous at all.

She rowed toward the bay's mouth. After several minutes, she turned and looked ahead. Right in front of her, out of the fog, the island materialized—an acre of pine trees, boulders, and snow with a black sand beach.

If the island had a name, she didn't know it. Once Hazel had made the mistake of asking the townsfolk, but they had stared at her like she was crazy.

"Ain't no island there," said one old fisherman, "or my boat would've run into it a thousand times."

Hazel was about fifty yards from the shore when a raven landed on the boat's stern. It was a greasy black bird almost as large as an eagle, with a jagged beak like an obsidian knife. Rue remembered that ravens were associated with Lord Apollo, the God of prophecy. They are said to be a symbol of bad luck and were the gods' messengers in the mortal world. And in early Welsh mythology, ravens were associated with battles, bravery and death.

Its eyes glittered with intelligence.

"Tonight," it croaked. "The last night."

Hazel let the oars rest. Rue's eyes slipped closed.

"Are you from my father?" she asked.

The raven tilted its head. "The last night. Tonight."

It pecked at the boat's prow and flew toward the island.

The last night, Hazel told herself. She decided to take it as a promise. No matter what she tells me, I will make this the last night.

That gave her enough strength to row on. The boat slid ashore, cracking through a fine layer of ice and black silt.

Rue wanted to warn her, but aster didn't have the power to change the past.

Over the months, Hazel and her mother had worn a path from the beach into the woods. She hiked inland, careful to stick to the trail. The island was full of dangers, both natural and magical. Bears rustled in the undergrowth. Lars drifted through the trees, watching Hazel, hoping she'd stray into their clutches.

At the center of the island, two massive black boulders formed the entrance to a tunnel. Hazel made her way into the cavern she called the Heart of the Earth.

It was the only truly warm place Hazel had found since moving to Alaska. The air smelled of freshly turned soil. The sweet, moist heat made Hazel feel drowsy, but she fought to stay awake. She imagined that if she fell asleep here, her body would sink into the earthen floor and turn to mulch.

The cave was as large as a church sanctuary, like the St. Louis Cathedral back home on Jackson Square. The walls glowed with luminescent mosses—green, red, and purple. The whole chamber thrummed with energy, an echoing boom, boom, boom that reminded the siblings of a heartbeat. Perhaps it was just the sea's waves battering the island, but neither of them thought so. This place was alive. The earth was asleep, but it pulsated with power. Its dreams were so malicious, so fitful, that Hazel felt herself losing her grip on reality and Rue was finding the strength to push out of the memory.

Gaea wanted to consume her identity, just as she'd overwhelmed Hazel's mother. She wanted to consume every human, god, and demigod that dared to walk across her surface.

You all belong to me, Gaea murmured like a lullaby. Surrender. Return to the earth.

No, Hazel thought. I'm Hazel Levesque. You can't have me.

A foolish thought since Rue knew how this night would end.

Marie Levesque stood over the pit. In six months, her hair had turned as gray as lint. She'd lost weight. Her hands were gnarled from hard work.

She wore snow boots and waders and a stained white shirt from the diner.

She never would have been mistaken for a queen.

"It's too late." The woman's frail voice echoed through the cavern.

Hazel and Rue realized with a shock that it was her voice—not Gaea's.

"Mother?"

Marie turned. Her eyes were open. She was awake and conscious.

This should have made Hazel feel relieved, but it made her nervous. The Voice had never relinquished control while they were on the island.

"What have I done?" her mother asked helplessly. "Oh, Hazel, what did I do to you?" Rue scoffed. Regret always came too late.

She stared in horror at the thing in the pit.

For months they'd been coming here, four or five nights a week as the Voice required. Hazel had cried, she'd collapsed with exhaustion, she'd pleaded, she'd given in to despair. But the Voice that controlled her mother had urged her on relentlessly. Bring valuables from the earth. Use your powers, child. Bring my most valuable possession to me.

At first, her efforts had brought only scorn. The fissure in the earth had filled with gold and precious stones, bubbling in a thick soup of petroleum.

It looked like a dragon's treasure dumped in a tar pit. Then, slowly, a rock spire began to grow like a massive tulip bulb. It emerged so gradually, night after night, that Hazel had trouble judging its progress. Often, she concentrated all night on raising it, until her mind and soul were exhausted, but she didn't notice any difference. Yet the spire did grow. Now Rue could see how much aster's sister accomplished. The thing was two stories high, a swirl of rocky tendrils jutting like a spear tip from the oily morass. Inside, something glowed with heat. Hot like the pits of Hell.

Neither child of Pluto couldn't see it clearly, but they knew what was happening. A body was forming out of silver and gold, with oil for blood and raw diamonds for a heart. Hazel was resurrecting the son of Gaea. He was almost ready to wake.

Her mother fell to her knees and wept. "I'm sorry, Hazel. I'm so sorry."

She looked helpless and alone, horribly sad. Hazel should have been furious. Sorry? She'd lived in fear of her mother for years. She'd been scolded and blamed for her mother's unfortunate life. She'd been treated like a freak, dragged away from her home in New Orleans to this cold wilderness, and worked like a slave by a merciless evil goddess. Sorry didn't cut it. She should have despised her mother.

But she couldn't make herself feel angry. That was fine. Rue would just have to be angry enough for both of them.

Hazel knelt and put her arm around her mother. There was hardly anything left of her—just skin and bones and stained work clothes. Even in the warm cave, she was trembling.

"What can we do?" Hazel said. "Tell me how to stop it."

Her mother shook her head. "She let me go. She knows it's too late. There's nothing we can do."

"She...the Voice?" Hazel asked a bit hesitantly. Rue wished she chose something else to call her. The Voice was very superstious, but Rue could admit that it was better than drawing power from stating the goddess' name. "Is she gone?"

Her mother glanced fearfully around the cave. "No, she's here. There's only one more thing she needs from me. For that, she needs my free will."

Hazel didn't like the sound of that. Rue didn't either.

"Let's get out of here," she urged. "That thing in the rock...it's going to hatch."

"Soon," her mother agreed. She looked at Hazel so tenderly... Hazel couldn't remember the last time she'd seen that kind of affection in her mother's eyes. She felt a sob building in her chest.

"Pluto warned me," her mother said. "He told me my wish was too dangerous."

"Your—your wish?"

"All the wealth under the earth," she said. "He controlled it. I wanted it. I was so tired of being poor, Hazel. So tired. First, I summoned him...just to see if I could. I never thought the old gris-gris spell would work on a god. But he courted me, told me I was brave and beautiful..." She stared at her bent, calloused hands. "When you were born, he was so pleased and proud. He promised me anything. He swore on the River Styx. I asked for all the riches he had. He warned me the greediest wishes cause the greatest sorrows. But I insisted. I imagined living like a queen—the wife of a god! And you...you received the curse."

Hazel felt as if she were expanding to the breaking point, just like that spire in the pit. Her misery would soon become too great to hold inside, and her skin would shatter. It made Rue feel nauseous, but no more than the truth of what Marie was saying. Pride had always been the fatal flaw of humans no matter the century. "That's why I can find things under the earth?"

"And why they bring only sorrow." Her mother gestured listlessly around the cavern. "That's how she found me, how she was able to control me. I was angry with your father. I blamed him for my problems. I blamed you. I was so bitter, I listened to Gaea's voice. I was a fool."

"There's got to be something we can do," Hazel said. "Tell me how to stop her."

The ground trembled. Gaea's disembodied voice echoed through the cave.

My eldest rises, she said, the most precious thing in the earth —and you have brought him from the depths, Hazel Levesque. You have made him anew. His awakening cannot be stopped. Only one thing remains.

Hazel clenched her fists. She was terrified, but now that her mother was free, she felt like she could confront her enemy at last. This creature, this evil goddess, had ruined their lives. Hazel wasn't going to let her win.

But Rue knew that Hazel had already lost.

"I won't help you anymore!" she yelled.

But I am done with your help, girl. I brought you here for one reason only. Your mother required...incentive.

Hazel's throat constricted. "Mother?"

"I'm sorry, Hazel. If you can forgive me, please—know that it was only because I loved you. She promised to let you live if—"

"If you sacrifice yourself," Hazel said, realizing the truth. No, Rue thought. It wasn't just a sacrifice. It was a sacrifice of love. Love could unnerve the limbs and overcome the mind and wise counsel of all gods and all men within them. Love brought the gods to their knees. What was stronger than Love? "She needs you to give your life willingly to raise that—that thing."

Alcyoneus, Gaea said. Eldest of the giants. He must rise first, and this will be his new homeland—far from the gods. He will walk these icy mountains and forests. He will raise an army of monsters. While the gods are divided, fighting each other in this mortal World War, he will send forth his armies to destroy Olympus.

The earth goddess's dreams were so powerful, they cast shadows across the cave walls—ghastly shifting images of Nazi armies raging across Europe, Japanese planes destroying American cities. Hazel finally understood and Rue could see it happening in aster's own time. The gods were still weak from the Titan War. They closed themselves off to recover. And while they were doing that, Alcyoneus would be reviving his brother giants and send them forth to conquer the world. The weakened gods would fall. All civilization was swept away, and the earth goddess awakened fully. Gaea would rule forever.

Hazel bought them decades, but now it would be all gone in days.

All this, the goddess purred, because your mother was greedy and cursed you with the gift of finding riches. In my sleeping state, I would have needed decades more, perhaps even centuries, before I found the power to resurrect Alcyoneus myself. But now he will wake, and soon, so shall I!

With terrible certainty, Hazel knew what would happen next. The only thing Gaea needed was a willing sacrifice—a soul to be consumed for Alcyoneus to awaken. Her mother would step into the fissure and touch that horrible spire—and she would be absorbed.

"Hazel, go." Her mother rose unsteadily. "She'll let you live, but you must hurry."

Hazel believed it. That was the most horrible thing. Gaea would honor the bargain and let Hazel live. Rue... Rue didn't know if ast would have had Hazel's bravery. Because Rue knew this outcome. Rue knew what that Hazel ran from the knowledge that she would survive to see the end of the world, knowing that she'd caused it.

If Rue had to choose, would ast have chosen the right choice? Rue wanted to believe that ast would, but Rue didn't know if ast would have had the strength to make that choice. To sacrifice aster's life for people Rue didn't even know?

Rue... Rue was coward.

And look at that, even in the face of death, Rue still didn't belong. Rue couldn't even fit in with aster's sisters.

"No." Hazel made her decision. "I won't live. Not for that."

She reached deep into her soul. She called on her father, the Lord of the Underworld, and summoned all the riches that lay in his vast realm. The cavern shook.

Around the spire of Alcyoneus, oil bubbled, then churned and erupted like a boiling cauldron.

Don't be foolish, Gaea said, but Rue detected concern in her tone, maybe even fear. You will destroy yourself for nothing! Your mother will still die!

Hazel almost wavered. She remembered her father's promise: someday her curse would be washed away; a descendant of Neptune would bring her peace. He'd even said she might find a horse of her own. Maybe that strange stallion in the hills was meant for her. But none of that would happen if she died now. She'd never see Sammy again, or return to New Orleans. Her life would be thirteen short, bitter years with an unhappy ending.

She met her mother's eyes. For once, her mother didn't look sad or angry. Her eyes shone with pride.

"You were my gift, Hazel," she said. "My most precious gift. I was foolish to think I needed anything else."

She kissed Hazel's forehead and held her close. Her warmth gave Hazel the courage to continue. They would die, but not as sacrifices to Gaea. Instinctively Hazel knew that their final act would reject Gaea's power. Their souls would go to the Underworld, and Alcyoneus would not rise—at least not yet.

Hazel summoned the last of her willpower. The air turned searing hot.

The spire began to sink. Jewels and chunks of gold shot from the fissure with such force, they cracked the cavern walls and sent shrapnel flying, stinging Hazel's skin through her jacket.

Stop this! Gaea demanded. You cannot prevent his rise. At best, you will delay him—a few decades. Half a century. Would you trade your lives for that?

Hazel gave her an answer.

And Rue made a promise.

The last night, the raven had said.

The fissure exploded. The roof crumbled. Hazel sank into her mother's arms, into the darkness, as oil filled her lungs and the island collapsed into the bay.

"RUE!" Frank shook aster's arms, sounding panicked. "Come on, please! Wake up!"

Eyes opening to the stars dancing across the sky, Rue realized that the rocking of the boat was gone and aster was lying on solid ground. Ast gave a moment to imagine sinking into the ground until aster landed in ast's Father's kingdom before dispelling the thought as Rue sat up groggily.

They were on a cliff overlooking a beach. About a hundred feet away, the ocean glinted in the moonlight. The surf washed gently against the stern of their beached boat.

To aster's right, hugging the edge of the cliff, was a building like a small church with a search light in the steeple. A lighthouse, Rue guessed. Behind them, fields of tall grass rustled in the wind.

"Where are we?" Rue asked.

Frank exhaled. "Thank the gods you're awake! We're in Mendocino, about a hundred and fifty miles north of the Golden Gate."

"A hundred and fifty miles?" Rue groaned. "I've been out that long?"

Percy knelt beside ast, the sea wind sweeping his hair. He put his hand on aster's forehead as if checking for a fever. Rue didn't want to admit how much it reminded ast of Jason. "We couldn't wake you. Finally, we decided to bring you ashore. We thought maybe the seasickness—"

"It wasn't seasickness." Rue shrugged, looking out into the sea. "It was a blackout. A drawback to my powers. They're a little unstable right now."

"A blackout?" Frank took Rue's hand, which startled aster. "Is it medical? Why haven't I noticed before?"

"I try to hide it," ast admitted though Rue didn't know why he thought ast would tell him of all people. Pranjal couldn't even get that kind of information out of ast and he was aster's primary physician. "I've been lucky so far, but it's getting worse. It's not medical...not really. It's a side effect of my powers. I blackout and go and yeah..."

Percy's intense green eyes were hard to read. She couldn't tell whether he was concerned or wary.

"And what?" he asked. "Go where?"

Ast clenched aster's jaw. Rue knew that thinking or speaking on the past lives made ast go time traveling, but they needed to know. If Rue blacked on the quest, they needed to be prepared for that liability.

"I'll explain," ast promised. Rue's brows furrowed. Aster's water bottle was missing and ast knew that it had been packed. Pranjal wouldn't have let ast forget it. "Is...is there anything to drink? My water bottle is missing."

"Yeah." Percy muttered a curse in Greek. "That was dumb. I left my supplies down at the boat."

Rue shook aster's head. "Never mind. I can walk..."

"Don't even think about it," Frank said. "Not until you've had some food and water. I'll get the supplies."

"No, I'll go." Percy glanced at Frank's hand on Rue's. Then he scanned the horizon as if he sensed trouble, but there was nothing to see —just the lighthouse and the field of grass stretching inland. "You two stay here. I'll be right back."

"You sure?" Rue wanted to protest. He had better not be trying to play match maker. Rue was not interested. "I don't want you to—"

"It's fine," said Percy. "Frank, just keep your eyes open. Something about this place...I don't know."

"I'll keep Rue safe," Frank promised.

Percy dashed off.

Once they were alone, Frank seemed to realize he was still holding Rue's hand. He cleared his throat and let go. A good thing really. Rue could feel aster's power fluctuating.

"I, um...I think I understand your blackouts," he said. "And where you come from."

"You do?"

"You seem so different from other girls I've met." He blinked, then rushed on. "I mean, people. People. And not like...bad different. Just the way you talk sometimes. The things that surprise you—like songs, or TV shows, or slang people use. You talk about things like you lived them a long time ago. Are you... are you reliving your past lives or something? Or are you talking to spirits? Is that something Underworld kids can do?"

Rue gave a breathy laugh. "No. I mean, we can talk to spirits. I use to hold seances for $15 when I first go to camp, but no. I am reliving a past life, just not mine. My sister. The one that stopped Alcyoneus? Her past body snatches me from time to time and I'm stuck looking at the world from her life. Too much of it and I could get stuck there. I'd just be in a coma until the day I die constantly reliving her life over and over and over again."

"We'll figure it out," he promised. "This is your life and you belong here. We're going to keep you that way."

The grass rustled behind them. Rue stared with wide eyes.

"You're a good person, Frank, but I don't deserve a friend like you," ast said. "You don't know what I am...what I've done." The people Rue had killed no matter how accidental.

"Stop that." Frank scowled. "You're great! Besides, you're not the only one with secrets."

Rue raised a brow. "I'm not?"

Frank started to say something. Then he tensed.

"What?" Rue asked.

"The wind's stopped."

He was right. The air had become perfectly still.

Frank swallowed. "So why is the grass still moving?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Rue saw dark shapes ripple through the field.

"Rue!" Frank tried to grab ast arms, but it was too late.

Something knocked him backward. Then a force like a grassy hurricane wrapped around Rue and dragged ast into the fields. That was kind of a new experience. Getting kidnapped by a field of grass. Even her Stepmother hadn't done that the one time she tried to enforce a family dinner.

Rue lashed out as best as ast could. It was like walking through spider webs. Those real thick kind from the movies where it's like web after web and you have to be careful or some may get in your mouth. This was horrible. Ast felt like food on a conveyor belt and Rue really hoped ast wasn't about to be eaten. Rue would taste terrible.

Rue's waist bands slithered around ast's body, cutting through as much as they could, but it didn't do much good. The plants kept ast off balance, tossing ast around, slicing aster's face and arms. Rue could barely make out the stars through the tumble of green, yellow, and black.

Frank's shouting faded into the distance.

It was hard to think clearly, but Rue knew one thing: Ast was moving fast. Wherever ast was being taken, ast'd soon be too far away for the others to find.

Rue closed aster's eyes and tried to ignore the tumbling and tossing. Rue sent aster's thoughts into the earth below ast. Gold, silver—ast'd settle for anything that might disrupt aster's kidnappers.

Ast felt nothing. Riches under the earth—zero. Then again, that could just be aster's powers being unreliable.

Rue wanted to tear aster's hair out when a huge cold spot moved within ast. Rue locked onto it with all aster's concentration. Suddenly, the temperature dropped. The swirl of plants released ast and Rue was thrown upward like a catapult projectile. Rue twisted midair, combat training kicking in; Rue unwrapped aster's wasitbeads, letting them connect and extend into a staff. Rue slammed it into the ground as ast was competing in a pole vaulting event, feeling the vibration of rush through aster absently.

The staff dissolve into one long whip, hissing as the stygian iron fought with the snapdragon flowers drawing life from the petals.

A few yards to aster's left, deaden grass appeared through out it all. Rue turned in a slow circle and realize that it was all around ast. In an abstract way, Rue could sense how it formed a crop circle and had the underlying understanding that it was in the symbol of aster's Father.

Well, Rue did like making religious fanatics freak out, especially after one particular foster home where they tried to exorcise the "demon" within ast. Mrs. Shane, aster's old social worker had even came by for a few visits and approved of what they were doing. Rue had been incredibly happy when Father told ast that the woman was dead. Those damn idiots tried to drown Rue in holy water! And it was fake holy water at that! Rue knew holy water. It was the only kind that Cerberus drink.

The grass rippled around it. Angry voices hissed in dismay at the deadened grass around them especially once Rue realized that ast's powers were still seeping life out of the area around them. The grass swayed and rustled around ast like the tentacles of a gigantic undersea anemone. Rue could sense aster's kidnappers' frustration.

"Go away, you bunch of weeds," Rue sniffed. "Leave me alone! Or you're next!"

"Schist," said an angry voice from the grass.

Rue raised aster's eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Schist! Big pile of schist!"

Rue blinked. The kidnappers materialized from the grass and Rue immediately groaned. Great. Rue knew exactly what this was. There were a few in the asphodel fields and the Isle of the Blessed. A bunch of chubby, toddler like beings with green tinted skin. It reminded Rue a bit of the dryads at camp. They had dry, brittle wings like corn-husks, and tufts of white hair like corn silk. Their faces were haggard, pitted with kernels of grain. Their eyes were solid green, and their teeth were canine fangs.

They were a bunch of assholes especially those born from Mintha! The old nymph was still jealous of Prosperina and it only got worse whenever a child of Pluto came around.

The largest creature stepped forward. He wore a yellow loincloth, and his hair was spiky, like the bristles on a stalk of wheat. He hissed at Rue and waddled back and forth so quickly, ast was afraid his loincloth might fall off. Rue swung aster's whip and it backed off.

"Hate this schist!" the creature complained. "Wheat cannot grow!"

"Sorghum cannot grow!" another piped up.

"Barley!" yelled a third. "Barley cannot grow. Curse this schist!"

Rue chuckled a bit as aster noticed they were looking at the whip. Rue rarely ever paid attention to the gold, silver and other metals that appeared on aster's waist band. They changed every time Rue looked at them, so this was just as much as a surprise to Rue.

"Y-you mean the rock?" Rue asked, swinging the whip idly. "This rock is called schist?"

"Yes, greenstone! Schist!" the first creature yelled. "Nasty rock."

"I do not know," Rue mused. "I kind of like. It really brings out my eyes, you know. Bet it's valuable too." If Rue had any control of aster's power, Rue could probably summon enough to cover the crop circle.

"Bah!" said the one in the yellow loincloth. "Foolish native people made jewelry from it, yes. Valuable? Maybe. Not as good as wheat."

"Or sorghum!"

"Or barley!"

The others chimed in, calling out different types of grain. They circled the rock, making no effort to get closer—at least not yet. If they decided to swarm ast, there was no way ast could fend off all of them. Well, unless Rue kept up the killing the earth, but Rue was also kind of an eco-terrorist so maybe Rue should stop that.

"You're Gaea's servants," ast guessed, just to keep them talking. Rue's power spread further out.

The yellow-diapered Cupid snarled. "We are the karpoi, spirits of the grain. Children of the Earth Mother, yes! We have been her attendants since forever. Before nasty humans cultivated us, we were wild. We will be again. Wheat will destroy all!"

"No, sorghum will rule!"

"Barley shall dominate!"

The others joined in, each karpos cheering for his own variety.

"Right." Rue kind of wanted some chex mix now. "So you're Wheat, then—you in the yellow, um, britches."

"Hmmmm," said Wheat. "Put down from your schist, demigod. We must take you to our mistress's army. They will reward us. They will kill you slowly!"

"Tempting," Rue said, "but no thanks."

"I will give you wheat!" said Wheat, as if this were a very fine offer in exchange for ast life. "So much wheat!"

"I do like wheat bread," Rue mused. The karpoi were getting bolder, approaching Rue in twos and threes before hissing as Rue's power swiped out at them.

"Before I come closer..." Rue started, placing the hand not holding aster's whip on ast's waist. "Shouldn't you be on the gods' side? I mean there is Pomona, Vertumnus, Vervactor, Reparātor and like a couple more. Shouldn't you be helping the goddess of agriculture Ceres —"

"Evil names!" Barley wailed.

"Cultivates us!" Sorghum spat. "Makes us grow in disgusting rows. Lets humans harvest us. Pah! When Gaea is mistress of the world again, we will grow wild, yes!"

"Well, naturally," Rue said. "So this army of hers, where you're taking me in exchange for wheat—"

"Or barley," Barley offered.

"Yeah, I do love a good vegetable barley soup," Rue agreed. "This army is where, now?"

"Just over the ridge!" Sorghum clapped his hands excitedly. "The Earth Mother—oh, yes!—she told us: 'Look for the daughter of Pluto who lives again. Find her! Bring her alive! I have many tortures planned for her.' The giant Polybotes will reward us for your life! Then we will march south to destroy the Romans. We can't be killed, you know. But you can, yes."

"That's wonderful." Rue scowled at the misgendering. Rue could have sworn that gender wasn't a thing back in the old days. And it was kind of irritating to know that Gaea had some kind of plan for aster. Rue wasn't the one to delay her plan of world domination and unlike Hazel, Rue would nuke this entire planet before Rue gave ast life for it. "So you—you can't be killed because Alcyoneus has captured Death, is that it?"

"Exactly!" Barley said.

"And he's keeping him chained in Alaska," Rue said, "at...let's see, what's the name of that place again?"

Sorghum started to answer, but Wheat flew at him and knocked him down. The karpoi began to fight, dissolving into funnel clouds of grain.

Rue considered making a run for it, but this was a bit entertaining. And Rue had money on Wheat anyway. Then Wheat re-formed, holding Sorghum in a headlock. "Stop!" he yelled at the others. "Multigrain fighting is not allowed!"

The karpoi solidified into chubby Cupid piranhas again. Wheat pushed Sorghum away.

"Oh, clever demigod," he said. "Trying to trick us into giving secrets. No, you'll never find the lair of Alcyoneus."

"I already know where it is," Rue said with false confidence. "He's on the island in Resurrection Bay."

"Ha!" Wheat sneered. "That place sank beneath the waves long ago. You should know that! Gaea hates your sister for it. When she thwarted her plans, she was forced to sleep again. Decades and decades! Alcyoneus—not until the dark times was he able to rise."

"The nineteen-eighties," Barley agreed. "Horrible! Horrible!"

"Yes," Wheat said. "And our mistress still sleeps. Alcyoneus was forced to bide his time in the north, waiting, planning. Only now does Gaea begin to stir. Oh, but she remembers your sister, and so does her son! You look just like her."

Was he saying all black people looked alike? Was wheat being racist?

Sorghum cackled with glee. "You will never find the prison of Thanatos. All of Alaska is the giant's home. He could be keeping Death anywhere! Years it would take you to find him, and your poor camp has only days. Better you surrender. We will give you grain. So much grain."

Rue scoffed. "My Father is Pluto, god of the hidden wealth of the earth, from the fertile soil with nourished the seed-grain, to the mined wealth of gold, silver and other metals. My stepmother is the goddess queen of the underworld and the goddess of spring's bounty." Rue cast a nasty glare onto the karpoi. "She honored you Wheat and made you her Sacred Plant worshipped above all others. And me? I am the regret of all that comes to pass. If I have to destroy you all, I will and I swear."

The karpoi advanced.

"Now you will die," Wheat promised, gnashing his teeth. "You will feel the wrath of grain!"

Rue swung aster's whip, but—

Suddenly there was a whistling sound. Wheat's snarl froze. He looked down at the golden arrow that had just pierced his chest. Then he dissolved into pieces of Chex Mix.

Rue blinked. Ast was sure that the looks of shock on the karpoi's face reflected back on Rue's own. Then Frank and Percy burst into the open and began to massacre every source of fiber they could find. Frank shot an arrow through Barley, who crumbled into seeds. Percy slashed Riptide through Sorghum and charged toward Millet and Oats. Rue gave a savage grin, twirling the whip through the air before striking out. Within minutes, the karpoi had been reduced to piles of seeds and various breakfast cereals. Wheat started to re-form, but Percy pulled a lighter from his pack and sparked a flame.

"Try it," he warned, "and I'll set this whole field on fire. Stay dead. Stay away from us, or the grass gets it!"

Frank winced like the flame terrified him. Rue didn't understand why nor did ast particularly case, but ast shouted at the grain piles anyway: "He'll do it! He's crazy!"

The remnants of the karpoi scattered in the wind. They watched them go. Percy extinguished his lighter and grinned at Rue.

"Thanks for yelling. We wouldn't have found you otherwise. How'd you hold them off so long?"

"A clump of schist," Rue smirked.

"Excuse me?"

"Guys," Frank called a little further away where the field dropped into a shallow ravine, where a country road wound north and south. "You need to see this."

Percy and Rue moved over to to join him. As soon as Rue saw what he was looking at, ast inhaled sharply. "Percy, no light! Put up your sword!"

"Schist!" He touched the sword tip, and Riptide shrank back into a pen.

Down below them, an army was on the move.

On the opposite side of the road, grassy hills stretched to the horizon, empty of civilization except for one darkened convenience store at the top of the nearest rise.

The whole ravine was full of monsters—column after column marching south, so many and so close, Rue was kind of amazed they hadn't heard aster's shouting.

They watched in disbelief as several dozen large, hairy humanoids passed by, dressed in tattered bits of armor and animal fur. The creatures had six arms each, three sprouting on either side, so they looked like cavemen evolved from insects.

"Gegenes," Rue whispered. "The Earthborn."

"You've fought them before?" Percy asked.

"Once," Rue murmured. The one aster had fought against was like sinking into quicksand. "The Earthborn fought the Argonauts. And those things behind them—"

"Centaurs," Percy said. "But...that's not right. Centaurs are good guys."

Frank made a choking sound. "That's not what we were taught at camp. Centaurs are crazy, always getting drunk and killing heroes."

Rue shrugged, "They aren't any better than the fauns when they're playing up their acts. Centaurs and Fauns... they used to rape people. One was the reason Hercules died and another was the reason he ascended to godhood." Rue tilted aster's head, noting that they had actual horns jutting from their shaggy hair.

"Are they supposed to have bull's horns?" ast asked.

"Maybe they're a special breed," Frank said. "Let's not ask them, okay?"

Percy gazed farther down the road and his face went slack. "My gods ... Cyclopes."

Sure enough, lumbering after the centaurs was a battalion of one-eyed ogres, both male and female, each about ten feet tall, wearing armor cobbled out of junkyard metal. Six of the monsters were yoked like oxen, pulling a two-story-tall siege tower fitted with a giant scorpion ballista.

Percy pressed the sides of his head. "Cyclopes. Centaurs. This is wrong. All wrong."

The monster army was enough to make anyone despair, but Rue realized that something else was going on with Percy. He looked pale and sickly in the moonlight, as if his memories were trying to come back, scrambling his mind in the process.

Rue glanced at Frank. "We need to get him back to the boat. The sea will make him feel better."

"No argument," Frank said. "There are too many of them. The camp...we have to warn the camp."

"They know," Percy groaned. "Reyna knows."

A lump formed in Rue's throat. There was no way the legion could fight so many. If they were only a few hundred miles north of Camp Jupiter, their quest was already doomed. They could never make it to Alaska and back in time. Well unless Rue figured out how to safely shadow-travel.

"Come on," Rue urged. "Let's..."

Then ast saw the giant. When he appeared over the ridge, Rue almost couldn't believe what ast was seeing. He was taller than the siege tower—thirty feet, at least—with scaly reptilian legs like a Komodo dragon from the waist down and green-blue armor from the waist up. His breastplate was shaped like rows of hungry monstrous faces, their mouths open as if demanding food. His face was human, but his hair was wild and green, like a mop of seaweed. As he turned his head from side to side, snakes dropped from his dreadlocks. Viper dandruff—gross.

He was armed with a massive trident and a weighted net.

Just the sight of those weapons made Rue grit aster's teeth. stomach clench. Rue faced that type of fighter in gladiator training many times. It was the trickiest, sneakiest, combat style she knew. Only the children of Venus and surprisingly Octavian were good at it. Rue swore to beat them one day.

"Who is he?" Frank's voice quivered. "That's not—"

"Not Alcyoneus," Rue interrupted. "This must be Polybotes. The one Terminus mentioned. The karpoi mentioned him, too."

Rue could feel its aura of power even from so far away. If Rue was lesser person, Rue probably would have moved forward and swore fealty to it.

This giant was another child of Gaea—a creature of the earth so malevolent and powerful, he radiated his own gravitational field.

Rue couldn't force asterself to move. It was as if Rue's feet were stuck in place, and it took more concentration that ast would like to admit keeping aster's powers from sucking the life out of aster's companions. Rue pulled out the tarot cards that Octavian gifted ast, withdrawing the strength card and praying that the moon card meant turning day into night.

As the giant got close, a Cyclops woman broke ranks and ran back to speak with him. She was enormous, fat, and horribly ugly, wearing a chain- mail dress like a muumuu—but next to the giant she looked like a child.

She pointed to the closed-up convenience store on top of the nearest hill and muttered something about food. The giant snapped back an answer, as if he was annoyed. The female Cyclopes barked an order to her kindred, and three of them followed her up the hill. When they were halfway to the store, a searing light turned night into day. Rue was blinded. Below ast, the enemy army dissolved into chaos, monsters screaming in pain and outrage. Rue squinted. Ast felt like ast'd just stepped out of a dark theater into a sunny afternoon.

"Too pretty!" the Cyclopes shrieked. "Burns our eye!"

The store on the hill was encased in a rainbow, closer and brighter than any Rue had ever seen. The light was anchored at the store, shooting up into the heavens, bathing the countryside in a weird kaleidoscopic glow.

The lady Cyclops hefted her club and charged at the store. As she hit the rainbow, her whole body began to steam. She wailed in agony and dropped her club, retreating with multicolored blisters all over her arms and face.

"Horrible goddess!" she bellowed at the store. "Give us snacks!"

The other monsters went crazy, charging the convenience store, then running away as the rainbow light burned them. Some threw rocks, spears, swords, and even pieces of their armor, all of which burned up in flames of pretty colors.

Finally, the giant leader seemed to realize that his troops were throwing away perfectly good equipment.

"Stop!" he roared. With some difficulty, he managed to shout and push and pummel his troops into submission. When they'd quieted down, he approached the rainbow-shielded store himself and stalked around the borders of the light.

"No, no," Rue murmured. "Keep going."

"Goddess!" he shouted. "Come out and surrender!"

No answer from the store. The rainbow continued to shimmer.

The giant raised his trident and net. "I am Polybotes! Kneel before me so I may destroy you quickly."

Apparently, no one in the store was impressed. A tiny dark object came sailing out the window and landed at the giant's feet. Polybotes yelled, "Grenade!"

He covered his face. His troops hit the ground. When the thing did not explode, Polybotes bent down cautiously and picked it up.

He roared in outrage. "A Ding Dong? You dare insult me with a Ding Dong?" He threw the cake back at the shop, and it vaporized in the light.

The monsters got to their feet. Several muttered hungrily, "Ding Dongs? Where Ding Dongs?"

"Let's attack," said the lady Cyclops. "I am hungry. My boys want snacks!"

"No!" Polybotes said. "We're already late. Alcyoneus wants us at the camp in four days' time. You Cyclopes move inexcusably slowly. We have no time for minor goddesses!"

He aimed that last comment at the store, but got no response.

The lady Cyclops growled. "The camp, yes. Vengeance! The orange and purple ones destroyed my home. Now Ma Gasket will destroy theirs! Do you hear me, Leo? Jason? Piper? I come to annihilate you!"

The other Cyclopes bellowed in approval. The rest of the monsters joined in.

Rue's entire body spasmed and locked into place. "Jason," ast whispered, a bead of hope and happiness overcoming Rue. Sure, the tarot had stated that he was alive, but this was different... The tarot had told Rue and Octavian that he had undergone a change, but... Rue remembered seeing Jason take out three nests of empousa with one swing. He couldn't be too different. "She fought Jason. He's alive."

Frank nodded. "Do those other names mean anything to you?"

Rue shook ast head. Ast didn't know any Leo or Piper at camp.

Percy still looked sickly and dazed. If the names meant anything to him, he didn't show it.

Rue pondered what the Cyclops had said: Orange and purple ones.

Purple—obviously the color of Camp Jupiter. But orange...Percy had shown up in a tattered orange shirt. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Below them, the army began to march south again, but the giant Polybotes stood to one side, frowning and sniffing the air.

"Sea god," he muttered. To Rue's horror, he turned in their direction. "I smell sea god."

Percy was shaking. Rue slammed the Moon card onto the ground, praying to any god that would listen that they worked.

Ma Gasket snarled. "Of course you smell sea god! The sea is right over there!" She was right. Rue stared down at the card as heavy shadows crowded around the three and the sea started sloshing violently like... like the Moon was pulling the tides directly from the ocean floor.

"More than that," Polybotes insisted as he eyed the waves churning dangerously. If Rue squinted hard enough, Rue could see silvery-yellow eyes and a crescent moon a top long silvery hair that showed within the reflection. Thank you, Octavian and Annia and who Rue was pretty sure Luna. "I was born to destroy Neptune. I can sense..." He frowned, turning his head and shaking out a few more snakes.

"Do we march or sniff the air?" Ma Gasket scolded. "I don't get Ding Dongs, you don't get sea god!"

Polybotes growled. "Very well. March! March!" He took one last look at the rainbow-encased store, then raked his fingers through his hair. He brought out three snakes that seemed larger than the rest, with white markings around their necks. "A gift, goddess! My name, Polybotes, means 'Many- to-Feed!' Here are some hungry mouths for you. See if your store gets many customers with these sentries outside."

He laughed wickedly and threw the snakes into the tall grass on the hillside.

Then he marched south, his massive Komodo legs shaking the earth. Gradually, the last column of monsters passed over the hills and disappeared into the night.

Once they were gone, the blinding rainbow shut off like a spotlight.

Rue, Frank, and Percy were left alone in the dark, staring across the road at a closed-up convenience store.

"That was different," Frank muttered.

Yeah, real different, Rue thought, glancing at the tarot card in ast hand. It was empty as if it waiting for the artist to add the lunar sphere. Tarot cards didn't work like that, but... wow, Annia was kind of terrifying.

Percy shuddered violently and Rue's attention turned back to him. Seeing that army seemed to have triggered some kind of memory, leaving him shell-shocked. He needed help. If Fletch was here, the boy would say that he needed some good old fashion tender love and care. If Pranjal was here, he would give him saltwater to either bathe in or drink after. That was something that they had learned during one of the war games and Percy got blasted off one the walls by canon that sent him soaring so far that landed in the lake. It had been more than a little alarming to watch as his chest stitched itself making together after they burned metal fell away from his chest.

Rue reached for aster's bag, hoping that Pranjal had back away some seawater since he had taken over as Percy's doctor after that. If Rue didn't have any, which it looked like Rue didn't... they should take him back to the boat.

On the other hand, a huge stretch of grassland lay between them and the beach. Rue knew that the karpoi were probably going to go after them again and well, Rue knew that ast power to kill things just by touch would not help again. Rue didn't necessarily like the thought of going back to the boat in the middle of the night, but Rue glanced at the stack of tarot cards. The Moon card would be down for a couple of minutes, but Rue wondered if ast could utilized one of the others as a makeshift light.

Rue pursed aster's lips. Rue had the feeling that if it weren't for the schist and the creation of the crop circle just by aster's power, Rue would be held captive the giant. Probably to even finish what aster's sister had once started.

"Let's go to the store," Rue said. "If there's a goddess inside, maybe she can help us."

"Except a bunch of snake things are guarding the hill now," Frank said. "And that burning rainbow might comeback."

They both looked at Percy, who was shaking like he had hypothermia.

"We've got to try," Rue said.

Frank nodded grimly. "Well...any goddess who throws a Ding Dong at a giant can't be all bad. Let's go."

As they trudged up the hill, Rue held Percy up with one arm while aster's other was holding onto a staff. Rue had noted that the schist stones had switched out for rubies and iridescent opal with some sunstone & moonstone gems sprinkled within. Rue glanced Frank, wondering what the boy was thinking about. He was usually blabbering Rue's ear off if ast gave him the chance.

Rue tapped the staff on the ground, trying to make sure that it gave off an aura of death to ward off the basilisks.

They were twenty yards from the porch when something hissed in the grass behind them.

"Go!" Frank yelled.

Percy stumbled. While Rue helped him up, Frank turned and nocked an arrow. Rue helped Percy up the stairs as quickly as ast could, letting the staff morph back into waist beads as they wrapped around Rue's body. Rue could feel a burst of heat from behind them, like the sun decided pat them on the back before the moon finally came out.

Rue turned to see Frank playing the staring game with a basilisk. Rue darted aster's eyes away from its gaze focusing on its body. It was lime-colored short and thick as Rue's calf muscles. Its head was ringed with a mane of spiky white fins. The snake hissed, flames billowing from its mouth.

"Nice creepy reptile," Frank was saying. "Nice poisonous, fire-breathing reptile."

"Frank!" Rue yelled behind him. "Come on!"

The snake sprang at him. It sailed through the air so fast, there wasn't time to nock an arrow. Frank swung his bow and smacked the monster down the hill. It spun out of sight, wailing, "Screeeee!"

The bow crumbled to dust and Rue winced. Ast knew at least fifty people at camp that would have lost all inhibitions and went to square up with the snakes no matter the cost. Maybe sixty if it got to the quiver.

There was an outraged hiss, answered by two more hisses farther downhill.

Frank dropped his disintegrating bow and ran for the porch. Percy and Rue pulled him up the steps. They all turned back to see all three monsters circling in the grass, breathing fire and turning the hillside brown with their poisonous touch. They didn't seem able or willing to come closer to the store. A goddess with monster disintegrating light would do that.

"We'll never get out of here," Frank said miserably.

"Then we'd better go in." Rue pointed to the hand-painted sign over the door: RAINBOW ORGANIC FOODS & LIFESTYLES.

As they stepped through the door, lights came on. Flute music started up like they'd walked onto a stage. The wide aisles were lined with bins of nuts and dried fruit, baskets of apples, and clothing racks with tie-dyed shirts and gauzy Tinker Bell–type dresses. The ceiling was covered in wind chimes. Along the walls, glass cases displayed crystal balls, geodes, macramé dream catchers, and a bunch of other strange stuff. Incense must have been burning somewhere. It smelled like a bouquet of flowers was on fire.

Rue kind of wanted one of the dresses.

"Fortune-teller's shop?" Frank wondered.

"I don't have any money," Rue muttered. It would be a good gag gift for The College of Pontiffs. The ones in New Rome were legit, but Rue and Octavian usually laughed themselves sick going to the mortal world and seeing cheap imitators. And the crazy thing was that all of them tended to have something real, but the storeowners were calling them fake and cheap knockoffs.

Percy leaned against Rue. He looked worse than ever, like he'd been hit with a sudden flu. His face glistened with sweat. "Sit down..." he muttered. "Maybe water."

"Yeah," Frank said. "Let's find you a place to rest."

The floorboards creaked under their feet. Frank navigated between two Neptune statue fountains.

A girl popped up from behind the granola bins. "Help you?"

Frank lurched backward, knocking over one of the fountains. A stone Neptune crashed to the floor. The sea god's head rolled off and water spewed out of his neck, spraying a rack of tie-dyed man satchels.

"Sorry!" Frank bent down to clean up the mess. He almost goosed the girl with his spear.

"Eep!" she said. "Hold it! It's okay!"

Frank straightened slowly, trying not to cause any more damage.

Rue facepalmed. Percy turned a sickly shade of green as he stared at the decapitated statue of his dad.

The girl clapped her hands. The fountain dissolved into mist. The water evaporated. She turned to Frank. "Really, it's no problem. Those Neptune fountains are so grumpy-looking, they bum me out."

Rue sized her up. She was short and muscular, with lace-up boots, cargo shorts, and a bright yellow T-shirt that read R.O.F.L. Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles. She looked young, but her hair was frizzy white, sticking out on either side of her head like the white of a giant fried egg.

If it came down to it, Rue could take her.

"Uh...sorry about the fountain," he managed. Rue raised a brow, looking at him. He sounded as if he were trying to speak through a suction cup that Pranjal stuck down his throat because Daniele got a lucky hit in during training. The asshole. "We were just—"

Frank was blushing. Somebody ring the church bells! Rue really hoped he was getting over that crush of his. It was very inconvenient.

"Oh, I know!" the girl said. "You want to browse. It's all right. Demigods are welcome. Take your time. You're not like those awful monsters. They just want to use the restroom and never buy anything!"

She snorted. Her eyes flashed with lightning. Rue's staff slipped back into ast's grasp before anyone could even blink.

From the back of the store, a woman's voice called: "Fleecy? Don't scare the customers, now. Bring them here, will you?"

"Your name is Fleecy?" Rue asked. Not that Rue could talk. Rue was named after a flower in a bid to make ast's stepmother happy and also about lamenting and bemoaning like the spirits in the Underworld.

Fleecy giggled. "Well, in the language of the nebulae it's actually—" She made a series of crackling and blowing noises that reminded Rue of Jason. When he got angry enough that the sky darkened, then thunder and lightning danced in tune with his emotions until he calmed down—usually by Octavian appearing to provide as a distraction and lead him away. His lightning rod that joked. "But you can call me Fleecy."

"Nebulae. . ." Percy muttered in a daze. "Cloud nymphs."

Fleecy beamed. "Oh, I like this one! Usually no one knows about cloud nymphs. But dear me, he doesn't look so good. Come to the back. My boss wants to meet you. We'll get your friend fixed up."

Fleecy led them through the produce aisle, between rows of eggplants, kiwis, lotus fruit, and pomegranates. At the back of the store, behind a counter with an old-fashioned cash register, stood a middle-aged woman with olive skin, long black hair, rimless glasses, and a T-shirt that read: The Goddess Is Alive! She wore amber necklaces and turquoise rings. She smelled like rose petals.

"Hello!" She leaned over the counter, which was lined with dozens of little statues—waving Chinese cats, meditating Buddhas, Saint Francis bobble heads, and novelty dippy drinking birds with top hats. "So glad you're here. I'm Iris!"

Rue's eyes widened. "Not the Iris—the rainbow goddess?"

Iris made a face. "Well, that's my official job, yes. But I don't define myself by my corporate identity. In my spare time, I run this!" She gestured around her proudly. "The R.O.F.L. Co-op—an employee-run cooperative promoting healthy alternative lifestyles and organic foods."

Frank stared at her. "But you throw Ding Dongs at monsters."

Iris looked horrified. "Oh, they're not Ding Dongs." She rummaged under the counter and brought out a package of chocolate-covered cakes that looked exactly like Ding Dongs. "These are gluten-free, no-sugar-added, vitamin-enriched, soy-free, goat-milk-and-seaweed-based cupcake simulations."

"All natural!" Fleecy chimed in.

Rue grimaced. It was like being in the presence of Aunt Ceres.

"I stand corrected." Frank muttered.

Iris smiled. "You should try one, Frank. You're lactose intolerant, aren't you?"

"How did you—"

"I know these things. Being the messenger goddess...well, I do learn a lot, hearing all the communications from the gods and so on." She tossed the cakes on the counter. "Besides, those monsters should be glad to have some healthy snacks. Always eating junk food and heroes. They're so unenlightened. I couldn't have them tromping through my store, tearing up things and disturbing our feng shui."

Percy leaned against the counter. He looked like he was going to throw up all over the goddess's feng shui. "Monsters marching south," he said with difficulty. "Going to destroy our camp. Couldn't you stop them?"

"Oh, I'm strictly nonviolent," Iris said. "I can act in self-defense, but I won't be drawn into any more Olympian aggression, thank you very much. I've been reading about Buddhism. And Taoism. I haven't decided between them."

"But..." Rue looked mystified. "Aren't you a Greek goddess?"

Iris crossed her arms. "Don't try to put me in a box, demigod! I'm not defined by my past."

"Um, okay," Rue said. "Could you at least help our friend here? I think he's sick."

"Iris-message," Percy said as he reached across the counter. "Can you send one?"

Frank wasn't sure he'd heard right. "Iris-message?"

"It's..." Percy faltered. "Isn't that something you do?"

Iris studied Percy more closely. "Interesting. You're from Camp Jupiter, and yet...Oh, I see. Juno is up to her tricks."

"What?" Rue asked.

Iris glanced at her assistant, Fleecy. They seemed to have a silent conversation. Then the goddess pulled a vial from behind the counter and sprayed some honeysuckle-smelling oil around Percy's face. "There, that should balance your chakra. As for Iris-messages—that's an ancient way of communication. The Greeks used it. The Romans never took to it—always relying on their road systems and giant eagles and whatnot. But yes, I imagine...Fleecy, could you give it a try?"

"Sure, boss!"

Iris winked at Frank. "Don't tell the other gods, but Fleecy handles most of my messages these days. She's wonderful at it, really, and I don't have time to answer all those requests personally. It messes up mywa."

"Your wa?" Frank asked.

"Mmm. Fleecy, why don't you take Percy and Rue into the back? You can get them something to eat while you arrange their messages. And for Percy...yes, memory sickness. I imagine that old Polybotes...well, meeting him in a state of amnesia can't be good for a child of P—that is to say, Neptune. Fleecy, give him a cup of green tea with organic honey and wheat germ and some of my medicinal powder number five. That should fix him up."

Rue frowned. "What about Frank?"

Iris turned to him.

"Oh, don't worry," Iris said, tilting her head as she gazed at him. "Frank and I have a lot to talk about."

Iris roped her arm through his and led him to a café table at a bay window and Fleecy led them to the back. Rue had to swallow down the laughter that wanted to come up. Gods below, this was really like a fortune teller's shop. There was a crystal ball surrounded by tarot cards in the middle. Prisms littered the room alongside a plethora of crystals. There was some kelp jerky and Rue knew that Octavian had a fondness for it. Maybe that could be the gift Rue brought back for him.

Rue turned to look at the other two. "So, what are we supposed to do?"

Fleecy smiled leading them over to an indoor water fountain type of thing. It was very feng shui? Honestly, Rue saw better ones over in Chinatown of New Rome. The one in District Four that was like a block away from Aeneas Academia.

"Well normally," the cloud nymph said as she gave Percy this mixture of something that was very, very bright pink with purple and orange little beads in it. The boy looked at it as if it were a bomb and Rue didn't blame him. "You make a rainbow and throw a drachma into it. You'd say: O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." She gestured for Percy to drink it as she sent some of the prisms up around the fountain. "But since Lady Iris is on-call and a bit busy, I'm going to let you guys use my direct number. Sort of the same thing, but all of us cloud nymphs have one. This way we don't hog up the calling line, you know."

Percy said a quick prayer before tossing the drink back. He grimaced before blinking in shock and Rue was surprised to see his color coming back to him. Rue would have thought that knocked him on his ass and took him out the fight.

"Alrighty," Fleecy cheered. "Here we go. Just say, O Fleecy, do me a solid. And ask for whoever you want."

Percy stepped up first, moving so fast that Rue thought the drink from hell was going to come back up. He dug into his pockets, pulling out a denarii before throwing it into the mist. Rue watched as the same coin appeared in the fountain like the ones in the mortal malls. "O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Fred."

Nothing happened. The rainbow beeped like an error message and honestly, Rue didn't have high hopes for it.

"Can I... can I try again?"

Fleecy shrugged, waving him forward. "Try the usual way. Maybe it can't connect with mine."

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering," Percy stated, this time using two coins as if that made it better. "Show me Fred."

Nothing happened.

"Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon," Rue murmured with a slight grimace. "One out of five…"

They both looked at Rue blankly. Ast sighed. Fletch would have laughed.

Fleecy shook her head and turned back to the prisms. "It's like you're dialing somebody, but you've forgotten the number. Or someone is jamming the signal. Sorry, dear. I just can't connect you."

Rue bit back a smile as the only thing ast could think of was: We're sorry you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service.

But Percy was staring at the rainbow a little brokenly and that wiped any amusement that Rue felt away. Ast placed a hand on his shoulder offering the as much comfort that ast could, but well... Rue didn't make connections like that. Rue didn't fit in to make connections like that. People tried, but there was... there was always something unnerving about ast to them. There was an ever present cloud of sorrow that nipped at Rue's heels, raining grief upon upon Rue with every step while the chill of death lingering within aster's heart.

Like most demigods, Rue was a doorway between of the mundane and the supernatural, but Rue took it further by being a link between the living and the dead for each side.

Rue paused at that thought.

A link between each side.

Rue's eyes moved to Percy without any merit.

The graecus has arrived.

That was... that was impossible.

And yet...

Rue clutched ast's head, remembering the screeching. Filthy roman. Glory to Greece. The greek will come.

"Rue," Percy asked, placing a calming hand on aster's shoulder.

Aster bit back a scream. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. Father would have told Rue. He would've.

"I'm fine," Rue murmured, pushing those thoughts away. Rue couldn't focus on them now. It wouldn't help Rue at all. But they would linger in the back of aster's mind. An anger that spread down to the tips of aster's toes. Rue was the regret that comes to all that forsake them, and if Rue survived this, aster would spare no reprieve to people that could be possibly lying to Rue's face. "Can I give it a try?"

"You want to try," Percy asked in surprise before blinking in realization. Despite the fact that this was Frank's quest, Rue was the senior officer and it was aster's duty to inform ast's superiors about the army on its way. Percy stated that Reyna knew and Rue knew that if Reyna knew then there was a very big chance that Octavian knew — then again, Octavian had a way of known just about everything that happened in New Rome even without his foresight. "Oh, to tell Reyna about the... yeah, okay."

Fleecy looked between the two before creating another arrow and Rue accepted a denarii from Percy to toss in. "O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show Reyna at Camp Jupiter." Rue felt a bit stupid and then a lot surprised when the image in the rainbow shimmered until the familiar sight of the baths appeared before them. Reyna's hair was pulled back by a towel as she sank into the water. Percy gave a small yelp as he turned abruptly on his feet. Rue chanced a glance at him to catch the way his ears tinged red at the same moment Reyna heard him and shrieked.

Well...

This was much more fun than Rue's thoughts from before.

Reyna tried to sink behind the bubbles, spluttering out curses and confusion and desperately searching for a weapon. Rue had never seen her so frazzled. It was a bit disturbing but also kind of hilarious as she scooped up bubbles to throw at the image.

"What is happening," she demanded.

Rue could feel a smile appearing on aster's face. "3rd Centuria Princeps Prior of the Third Cohort Rue Harald status report."

Reyna looked shocked for another moment before spewing a long list of curses that would make Daniele blush.

Once it was all said and done, Fleecy led Rue and Percy back to the front of the shop. Iris was there, sitting atop the cashier in Lotus position as the goddess focused on her "mywa". She peeked an eye open at them. "Done already? That's good. Here, I packed a few supplies for you."

"Where's Frank," Percy asked as Rue took ahold of the tie-dyed purse thing. Rue snickered, passing it over to Percy. No way was Rue messing with that. It was going to mess with aster's mywa.

"Hm," the goddess asked, getting back comfortable. Rue moved off to the side, scanning the aisles. There were a couple bottles of Evil Eye oil, a Selenite Tower, and a huge candle that was molded to look like a statue of Lord Apollo. Rue was definitely getting that for Octavian, forget everything else. Rue picked up a copy of The Master Book Of Herbalism by Paul Beyerl for Pranjal. Lilith would love the Witches Brew Travel Mug. Rue knew that she convinced everyone that she was drinking some nasty green tea, but in reality it was Lilith's own special mix of herbs and topped off with a shot of absinthe when she wanted to boost her powers. There was even a Maiden Mother Crone Chalice Goblet that Rue could get for Terrel. "Oh, your friend is out there with those nasty little snakes."

Rue's head snapped over to the goddess as Fleecy bagged the items. Rue shared a look with Percy, sparing only a second to leave a tip and rushed out the doors. Rue threw the bags into Percy's mansatchel, making a mental note to place them in aster's own supplies as aster summoned one of aster's staff in one hand and ast's whip in the other.

Frank was examining his spear when Percy and Rue ran into the clearing. Percy looked better, except he was carrying a-tie-dyed man satchel from R.O.F.L.—definitely not his style. Riptide was in his hand.

"Are you okay?" Rue asked, tilting aster's head as the familiar chill of death danced within the air.

Percy turned in a circle, looking for enemies. "Iris told us you were out here battling the basilisks by yourself, and we were like, What? We came as fast as we could. What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Frank admitted.

Rue crouched next to the dirt where the sense of the Underworld was the strongest. Something had been here. Something that lived within Father's realm. It wasn't divine so that ruled out a lot of people actually. "I sense death. Either my brother has been here or...the basilisks are dead?"

Percy stared at him in awe. "You killed them all?" Rue eyed the boy in contemplation. There was something about Frank that wasn't fully roman. Rue just wished ast knew what it was.

"Thanks a lot, Dad," he grumbled under his breath.

"What?" Rue asked. "Frank, are you okay?"

"I'll explain later," he said. "Right now, there's a blind man in Portland we've got to see."

WORD COUNT: 13,176

THINGS TO KNOW:

1) Megamedes "the great lord" is presumably another name for Kriôs, so I utilized it as his Roman name because outside of Krónos and Rheia, none of the Elder Twelve Titans were romanized.

2) The College of Pontiffs - The highest-ranking priests of the state religion.

3) The Karpoi were not actually children of Gaia and Tartarus. In Roman mythology, they are considered the children of Favonius and Flora. The equivalents to Zephyros and Khlôris respectively. Their son was named Karpos who went on to have other little karpoi. In Greek mythology, Zephyros and Khlôris are not married. Never met. No child. And the Karpoi are still not the children of Gaia and Tartarus.

4) Nessos offers to help Dēáneira across a fast-flowing river while Hēraklēs swims it. He tried to rape her while Hēraklēs was still in the river. Hēraklēs saw this and shot him with an arrow dipped in Hydra blood. Thinking of revenge, Nessus gives Dēáneira his blood-soaked tunic before he dies, telling her it will "excite the love of her husband". Though, he knew that his blood was infected by the poison.

She believed him.

Sometime later, Hēraklēs was visiting Kheirôn where a bunch of other centaurs were trying to gang up on him. Hēraklēs shot them down, but one of the arrows flew threw a centaurs arm and landed in Kheirôn's leg. In horror Hēraklēs ran to him, pulled out the arrow and dressed the wound with a salve that Kheirôn handed him. The festering wound was incurable, however, and Kheirôn moved into his cave, where he yearned for death, but could not die because he was immortal. Prometheus thereupon proposed Hēraklēs to Ζεύς, to become immortal in place of Kheirôn: and so Kheirôn died and was transformed into the Sagattarius constellation.

Dēáneira then hears a rumor that she had a rival for Hēraklēs love. So, she gave him the bloodstained shirt thinking it would reignite his passion for her. Lichas, the herald, delivers the shirt to Hēraklēs. Of course, this poisons him, tearing his skin and exposing his bones. Before he dies, Hēraklēs throws Lichas into the sea, thinking he was the one who poisoned him. Hēraklēs then uproots several trees and builds a funeral pyre on Mount Oeta, which Poeas, father of Philoctetes, lights. As his body burns, only his immortal side is left. Through Ζεύς' apotheosis, Hēraklēs rises to Olympos as he dies where he then marries his fourth and final wife, Hebe.

The Roman Gods Named:

Charu - Kharôn

Mintha - Minthê

Pomona - the roman goddess of fruit trees, gardens and orchards. No greek equivalent. wife of Vertumnus

Vertumnus - Husband of Pomona. No greek equivalent. god of seasons, change and plant growth, as well as gardens and fruit trees

Vervactor - One of Ceres' helper gods. No greek equivalent. Minor god of Fields. God of ploughing. His name was invoked during the Cerealia, along with the other eleven helper gods of Ceres.

Reparātor - One of Ceres' helper gods. No greek equivalent. Minor god of Fields. God of preparing the land for crops. His name was invoked during the Cerealia, along with the other eleven helper gods of Ceres.

COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHOR:

1) But why does Rue have so many powers? Blah blah blah. Hazel could control the riches of the earth and she can sense death, then she gets magic with little to no effort, and then she learns how to shadow travel. This is me making it all make sense in a better way than Uncle Rick.

2) I'm a Tony Stark girly, so even though timeline-wise Avengers hadn't came out yet, I'm still going to use it.