make love, not war

by kneeshee

Drew never wanted to be a hero. That's what got Silena killed and yet-here she was one of the seven of the prophecy. Rue never fit in anywhere. She was stuck between life and death and yet-the seven of prophecy made her belong. Octavian didn't need a family. His first one got killed and yet-that's what the seven of the prophecy became.

13. RUE V

Airplanes or cannibals?

Rue was contemplating if driving Grandma Zhang's Cadillac all the way to Alaska with fireball-throwing ogres on their tail was better than sitting in a luxury Gulf stream.

Cons: Monsters.

Pros: Out the air that was trying to smack them out the air.

Cons: The cadillac got smushed.

Pros: Rue knew how to kill monsters. Rue couldn't kill the sky.

Every time the plane hit a spot of turbulence, Rue's heart raced, and ast was sure Jupiter was slapping them around.

I will never get on a plane again, Uncle. Not even if I had to choose between the sky or death. I kind of want to live full-time with Father anyway.

Rue tried to focus on Frank instead of the fact that ast was sure playing hot potato with the plane. The boy had everything he could for his grandmother.

"She's not dead," Rue told him. "She's dying, but aren't we all?" Rue shook aster's head. "If anything, you gave her soul peace. She held on for you and you gave her the best gift that she could ask. I wont tell you that it gets better or that it's going to be okay. you're going to want to scream and shout and tear your hair out. I can tell you that it will get easier. You'd be able to bear the grief better but it wont go away. It'll follow you until you join her. Look at Octavian. He's literally being haunted by the ghosts of his past."

Frank had saved them from the Laistrygonians and gotten them out of Vancouver.

He'd been incredibly brave.

Frank kept his head down like he was ashamed to have been crying, but Rue didn't blame him. Not really. Rue might not have been able to relate, but ast imagined that it was bit stressful and tears were more than appropriate in this kind of situation. He refused to explain exactly what his "family gift" was, but as they flew north, Frank did tell them about his conversation with Mars the night before.

"Frank," Percy said, "I'm proud to be related to you." Frank's ears turned red. With his head lowered, his military haircut made a sharp black arrow pointing down. "Juno has some sort of plan for us, about the Prophecy of Seven."

"Yeah," Percy grumbled. "I didn't like her as Hera. I don't like her any better as Juno." Rue tucked aster's feet underneath ast.

Rue studied Percy, reading into his aura. "You're a son of Poseidon, aren't you?" Rue asked. "You are a Greek demigod."

Percy gripped his leather necklace. "I started to remember in Portland, after the gorgon's blood. It's been coming back to me slowly since then. There's another camp—Camp Half-Blood."

Rue and Frank stared at him as though he'd slipped into another language.

"Another camp," Rue repeated. "A Greek camp? Gods, if Octavian found out—"

"He'd declare war," Frank said. "He's always been sure the Greeks were out there, plotting against us. He thought Percy was a spy."

"That's why Juno sent me," Percy said. "Uh, I mean, not to spy. I think it was some kind of exchange. Your friend Jason—I think he was sent to my camp. In my dreams, I saw a demigod that might have been him. He was working with some other demigods on this flying warship. I think they're coming to Camp Jupiter to help."

Frank tapped nervously on the back of his seat. "Mars said Juno wants to unite the Greeks and Romans to fight Gaea. But, jeez—Greeks and Romans have a long history of bad blood."

Rue thought back to the wraiths of aster's childhood. Looking at the marks on aster's arm from where the blood that the spirits had bleed stained Rue's skin. "That's probably why the gods have kept us apart this long. If a Greek warship appeared in the sky above Camp Jupiter, and Reyna didn't know it was friendly—"

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "We've got to be careful how we explain this when we get back."

Rue nodded. With one wrong word, Octavian could and honestly would declare war on the Greeks especially if he learned that Jason was there. Gods, if Jason was there without his memories? Yeah, Rue inwardly winced. They would have to be very careful.

"If we get back," Frank said.

Percy nodded reluctantly. "I mean, I trust you guys. I hope you trust me. I feel...well, I feel as close to you two as to any of my old friends at Camp Half-Blood. But with the other demigods, at both camps—there's going to be a lot of suspicion."

Rue did something he wasn't expecting or asterself for that matter. Rue leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. It was totally a sisterly—cousinly? kiss.

"Of course we trust you," Rue said. "We're a family now. Aren't we, Frank?" He with his distant relation to Percy and Rue was Percy's paternal cousin.

"Sure," he said. "Do I get a kiss?"

"No," Rue snorted, turning away dismissively. "Anyway, what do we do now?"

Percy took a deep breath. Rue could relate. Time was slipping away. They were almost halfway through June twenty-third, and tomorrow was the Feast of Fortuna. "I've got to contact a friend—to keep my promise to Ella."

"How?" Frank said. "One of those Iris-messages?"

"Still not working," Percy said sadly. "I tried it last night at your grandmother's house. No luck. Maybe it's because my memories are still jumbled. Or the gods aren't allowing a connection. I'm hoping I can contact my friend in my dreams."

Another bump of turbulence made Rue grab ast seat. Below them, snowcapped mountains broke through a blanket of clouds.

"I'm not sure I can sleep," Percy said. "But I need to try. We can't leave Ella by herself with those ogres around."

"Yeah," Frank said. "We've still got hours to fly. Take the couch, man."

Percy nodded. He stretched out and closed his eyes.

Yeah, fuck that.

Rue wasn't even going to try to sleep on the plane.

"Rue?"

Rue looked up at Frank who was staring at ast in worry. His eyes dropped down to the armrests where Rue was shocked to see was rotten over. Rue gaped. "My powers..." Rue hadn't seen that power since the karpoi and before that, it was rare. "I think... I think they're coming back. Coming back under control."

"What do you mean?"

"My powers leaned more so towards the death side of things with a few instances of flora." Rue licked aster's lips. "My Father was an agricultural god before he and his brothers pulled lots. It's why mortals try romantize his story with my stepmother. She had been an underworld goddess before her worship as a goddess of spring. They circled around each other and its also why Aunt Ceres and Līber are also so intertwined with their myths. You know the about the Mysteries?"

"Mysteries?"

"Yeah," Rue said, feeling a bit calmer now that ast had something to think about other than the speedbumps that they were flying over. "There were a large number of gods and demi-gods associated with the various Mystery-cults. However, descriptions of these are sparse due to the strict rules of secrecy surrounding these ancient religions. Even I don't know about any of them no matter how much time I used to spend in my Father's realm."

"So Ceres and Līber are the leaders?"

Rue shook aster's head. "No, actually. It's Aunt Ceres and my stepmother were the chief goddesses of the Eleusinian Mysteries whose initiates were promised the path to a blessed afterlife alongside Trivia who was associated with nocturnal rites and was depicted holding a pair of torches. And my Father whad a hand in it also. He was often depicted pouring fertility from a cornucopia, or horn of plenty, signifying his role in the Mysteries as the god of earth's fecundity. Lord Līber was the chief god of a humber of his own mystery cults, but in the Eleusinian mysteries he was a spring-time god closely associated with his sister, my stepmother."

"Do you know any other gods or are all of them a mystery?"

Rue snorted at the pun. "Well, there is my Uncle Jasius. He's role is a bit more obscure so I like think of him as just Aunt Ceres' trophy husband. My sister Naenia who is the goddess of a blessed death and a minion of her Father and more so connected with the passage of souls to the Islands of the Blessed. Oh! Percy has a sister connected to the mysteries also. Well, I know her as Domina, but he would know her as Despoina. She was similar to my stepmother, but was also a distinct goddess. She was worshipped in the mystery cult of Acacesium in Arcadia. She's Arion's twin sister."

"What?"

Rue snickered. "And um, there's Zagreus. I know him as Sabazius. He was the son of Zeus and Demeter who had been torn apart by the Titans when his Father placed him on the throne of heaven. Only his heart was recovered which the god fed to Semele who rebirthed the child as the god Dionysus."

"His heart?"

Rue nodded. "Its a few more but those are the members of Theoi Eleusinioi and Theoi Mystikoi that I can remember." If Rue was being honest, ast actually desperate wanted to join the mysteries. Mainly because those gods were a staple in the few good memories of Rue's childhood, but also because Rue wanted to prove asterself to ast's Stepmother. Rue was sure that ast had been wearing her down, but then the Titan War had kicked off and Rue felt like ast was back at square one or like fifty miles behind it.

To distract Rue especially since the plane tumbled again, Rue launched into stories about the things that Naenia and Sabazius had gotten into while Uncle Jasius cheered them on. Before they knew it, they were trading stories back and forth until the hours passed by quickly.

Percy woke with a jolt as the plane started its descent. Rue laid a hand on his shoulder while the other held on for dear life. "Sleep okay?"

Percy sat up groggily. "How long was I out?"

Frank stood in the aisle, wrapping his spear and new bow in his ski bag. "A few hours," he said. "We're almost there."

Percy looked out the window. A glittering inlet of the sea snaked between snowy mountains. In the distance, a city was carved out of the wilderness, surrounded by lush green forests on one side and icy black beaches on the other.

"Welcome to Alaska," Rue said. "We're beyond the help of the gods."

The pilot said the plane couldn't wait for them, but that was perfectly fine with Rue. A quick glance over at Percy showed that he felt the same. If they survived till the next day, he hoped they could find a different way back—anything but a plane. As they took a taxi into downtown Anchorage, Percy told Frank and Rue about his dreams.

He had seen an image of Polybotes's army about to invade Camp Jupiter which made Rue's heart squeeze. He'd learned that the giants planned to use him as some kind of blood sacrifice to awaken Gaea. Plus, tomorrow evening was the Feast of Fortuna.

Frank choked when he heard about Tyson. "You have a half-brother who's a Cyclops?"

"Sure," Percy said. "Which makes him your great-great-great—"

"Please." Frank covered his ears. "Enough."

Rue snorted, shaking aster's head. "As long as he can get Ella to camp. I'm worried about her."

Percy nodded.

The taxi turned on Highway One, which looked more like a small street to Percy, and took them north toward downtown. It was late afternoon, but the sun was still high in the sky.

"I can't believe how much this place has grown," Rue muttered.

The taxi driver grinned in the rearview mirror. "Been a long time since you visited, miss?"

Rue's facial features smoothed out. Hmph. "About seventy years," Rue smiled sharply.

The driver slid the glass partition closed and drove on in silence.

Rue pointed out a few features that ast could recognize from Hazel's memories: the vast forests ringing the city, the cold, gray waters of Cook Inlet tracing the north edge of town, and the Chugach Mountains rising grayish-blue in the distance, capped with snow even in June.

The town itself had a weather-beaten look to it, with closed stores, rusted-out cars, and worn apartment complexes lining the road, but it was still beautiful. Lakes and huge stretches of woods cut through the middle. The arctic sky was an amazing combination of turquoise and gold.

Then there were the giants. Dozens of bright-blue men, each thirty feet tall with gray frosty hair, were wading through the forests, fishing in the bay, and striding across the mountains. The mortals didn't seem to notice them.

The taxi passed within a few yards of one who was sitting at the edge of a lake washing his feet, but the driver didn't panic.

"Um..." Frank pointed at the blue guy.

"Hyperboreans," Percy said. "Northern giants. I fought some when Kronos invaded Manhattan."

"Wait," Frank said. "When who did what?"

"Long story. But these guys look...I don't know, peaceful."

"They usually are," Rue agreed. "They're everywhere in Alaska, like bears, but back to what you just said. In Manhattan?' Rue thought it over. It had been a bit suspicious that Kronos hadn't been there when they attacked Othrys and Jason toppled the Black Throne.

"Bears?" Frank said nervously.

"The giants are invisible to mortals," Rue said. "They never bothered Hazel, though one almost stepped on her by accident." She had terrible spatial awareness.

None of the giants paid them any attention. One stood right at the intersection of Northern Lights Road, straddling the highway, and they drove between his legs. The Hyperborean was cradling a Native American totem pole wrapped in furs, humming to it like a baby. If the guy hadn't been the size of a building, he would've been almost cute.

The taxi drove through downtown, past a bunch of tourists' shops advertising furs, Native American art, and gold.

As the driver turned and headed toward the seashore, Rue knocked on the glass partition. "Here is good. Can you let us out?"

They paid the driver and stepped onto Fourth Street. Compared to Vancouver, downtown Anchorage was tiny—more like a college campus than a city.

"That—that's where the Gitchell Hotel used to be. Hazel and her stayed there our first week in Alaska. And they've moved City Hall. It used to be there." Rue looked around them before they started walking around. They needed to come up with a plan and find the fastest way to the Hubbard Glacier.

She led them in a daze for a few blocks. They didn't really have a plan beyond finding the fastest way , but Percy smelled something cooking nearby—sausage, maybe? He realized he hadn't eaten since that morning at Grandma Zhang's.

"Food," Percy said which reminded Rue that they hadn't eaten since that morning at the Zhang mansion. "Come on."

They found a café right by the beach. It was bustling with people, but they scored a table at the window and perused the menus.

Frank whooped with delight. "Twenty-four-hour breakfast!"

"It's, like, dinnertime," Percy said, though he couldn't tell from looking outside. The sun was so high, it could've been noon.

"I love breakfast," Frank said. "I'd eat breakfast, breakfast, and breakfast if I could. Though, um, I'm sure the food here isn't as good as Rue's."

Rue rolled aster's eyes, elbowing him with a playful smile.

"You know," he said, "breakfast sounds great."

They all ordered massive plates of eggs, pancakes, and reindeer sausage, though Frank looked a little worried about the reindeer. "You think it's okay that we're eating Rudolph?"

"Dude," Percy said, "I could eat Prancer and Blitzen, too. I'm hungry."

The food was excellent. Rue had never seen anyone eat as fast as Frank. The red-nosed reindeer did not stand a chance.

Between bites of blueberry pancake, Rue drew a squiggly curve and an X on aster's napkin. "So this is what I'm thinking. We're here." Rue tapped "Anchorage."

"It looks like a seagull's face," Percy said. "And we're the eye."

Rue snorted. No one ever said Rue was an artist. "Anchorage is at the top of this sliver of ocean, Cook Inlet. There's a big peninsula of land below us, and Seward, is at the bottom of the peninsula, here." Rue drew another X at the base of the seagull's throat. "That's the closest town to the Hubbard Glacier. We could go around by sea, I guess, but it would take forever. We don't have that kind of time."

Frank polished off the last of his Rudolph. "But land is dangerous," he said. "Land means Gaea."

Rue nodded. "I don't see that we've got much choice, though. We could have asked our pilot to fly us down, but I don't know...his plane might be too big for the little Seward airport. And I can't do another plane—"

"Here, here," Percy said, holding his drink in the air.

"I think there's a train that goes from here to Seward. We might be able to catch one tonight. It only takes a couple of hours." Rue drew a dotted line between the two X's.

"You just cut off the seagull's head," Percy noted.

Rue snickered. "From Seward, the Hubbard Glacier is down here somewhere." Rue tapped the lower right corner of the napkin. "That's where Alcyoneus is."

"But you're not sure how far?" Frank asked.

Rue shook aster's head. "I'm going by Hazel's memories and they aren't that reliable from seventy years ago, but I'm pretty sure it's only accessible by boat or plane."

"Boat," Percy said immediately.

"Fine," Rue said, grimacing lightly. Rue was going to learn how to shadow travel and be sensible, dammit! "It shouldn't be too far from Seward. If we can get to Seward safely."

"Good breakfast," Frank said in the silence that followed. "Who's ready for a train ride?"

The station wasn't far. They were just in time to buy tickets for the last train south. As Rue and Frank climbed on board, Percy said, "Be with you in a sec," and ran back into the station.

"Do you know what that's about?" Frank asked. Rue shook aster's head. The train whistle sounded. The conductor shouted, "All aboard."

Percy made it just as they were pulling up the steps, then climbed to the top of the double-decker car and slid into his seat.

Rue frowned. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he croaked. "Just...made a call."

Oh... his memories coming back. Maybe he had family that was missing him. And his friends at his old camp and maybe even Fred.

Soon they were heading south along the coast, watching the landscape go by. Rue leaned aster's head back on ast seat and rested aster's eyes. Not that that lasted long. Rue turned aster's eyes onto the passing landscape and called out things ast knew from Hazel's memories like the big artillery guns to set off small avalanches and prevent uncontrolled ones. The train raced over bridges and along cliffs where glacial waterfalls tumbled thousands of feet down the rocks. They passed forests buried in snowdrifts, and lakes so clear, they reflected the mountains like mirrors, so the world looked upside down.

Brown bears lumbered through the meadows. Hyperborean giants kept appearing in the strangest places. One was lounging in a lake like it was a hot tub. Another was using a pine tree as a toothpick. A third sat in a snowdrift, playing with two live moose like they were action figures. The train was full of tourists ohhing and ahhing and snapping pictures.

Rue could relate and ast wished that ast knew how to draw or had a demigod-mist proof camera for the Hyperboreans. Those were some really good shots.

Meanwhile, Frank studied a map of Alaska that he'd found in the seat pocket. He located Hubbard Glacier, which looked discouragingly far away from Seward. He kept running his finger along the coastline, frowning with concentration.

"What are you thinking?" Percy asked.

"Just...possibilities," Frank said.

After about an hour, Rue felt relaxed enough to close aster's eyes again. They bought hot chocolate from the dining car. The seats were warm and comfortable and then a shadow passed overhead. Tourists murmured in excitement and started taking pictures.

"Eagle!" one yelled.

"Eagle?" said another.

"Huge eagle!" said a third.

"That's no eagle," Frank said.

Rue looked up just in time to see the creature make a second pass. It was definitely larger than an eagle, with a sleek black body the size of a Labrador retriever. Its wingspan was at least ten feet across. The monsters had glowing red eyes, sharp beaks,

and vicious talons. Shit. Gryphons. Rue hadn't tangled with them in so long. It had been so easy and relieving to ignore them back in Seattle.

"There's another one!" Frank pointed. "Strike that. Three, four. Okay, we're in trouble."

The creatures circled the train like vultures, delighting the tourists.

"Those things look familiar..." Percy said.

"Seattle," Rue said, feeling aster waist band slithering around aster's stomach. Rue made a mental note to get that replace. "The Amazons had one in a cage. They're—"

Then several things happened at once. The emergency brake screeched, pitching them forward. Tourists screamed and tumbled through the aisles. The monsters swooped down, shattering the glass roof of the car, and the entire train toppled off the rails.

Train wheels squealed and metal crashed. Glass shattered. Passengers screamed.

Before Rue could blink, claws grabbed at aster's arms but Rue concentrated, grabbing at its feet and smiled viscously when it shrieked as the leg began to rot and die away. Rue fell, swinging aster's whip towards a branch and swinging around to the ground like Tarzan.

"Rue!" Frank called out. "Percy!"

Rue glanced up.

Percy was being carried away by one of the gryphons. He was squirming, but Rue knew that it was futile. Those talons would be wrapped his arms like steel bands. Rue let the whip harden into a staff and kept the monsters that were flying towards ast back. Rue fought aster's way to Frank's side as he shot an arrow directly into the neck of the creature holding Percy. The creature shrieked and let go.

Percy fell, crashing through tree branches until he slammed into a snowbank. He groaned, looking up at a massive pine tree he'd just shredded.

He managed to stand. Nothing seemed broken. Frank stood to his left, shooting down the creatures as fast as he could. Rue turned sweeping ast staff towards any monster that came close, but there were too many swarming around them—at least a dozen.

Percy drew Riptide. He sliced the wing off one monster and sent it spiraling into a tree, then sliced through another that burst into dust. But the defeated ones began to re-form immediately.

"What are these things?" he yelled.

"Gryphons!" Rue said. "We have to get them away from the train!"

The train cars had fallen over, and their roofs had shattered. Tourists were stumbling around in shock and the gryphons were swooping toward anything that moved. The only thing keeping them away from the mortals was a glowing gray warrior in camouflage—Frank's pet spartus.

Percy glanced over and noticed Frank's spear was gone. "Used your last charge?"

"Yeah." Frank shot another gryphon out of the sky. "I had to help the mortals. The spear just dissolved."

Percy nodded.

"Let's move the fight!" Percy said. "Away from the tracks!"

"Get me as close as you can," Rue stated as they stumbled through the snow, smacking and slicing gryphons that re-formed from dust every time they were killed. Rue hated these goddamn flying hyenas!

About fifty yards from the tracks, the trees gave way to an open marsh. The ground was so spongy and icy, not that Rue paid much attention, swinging aster's whip to wrap around one of the gryphons' talon. Rue swung asterself into the air, swinging around until Rue landed on its back. Aster's eyes flashed milky white and the gryphon's shriek cut off as it plummeted to the ground dead. Rue jumped towards another one, utilizing aster's whip as best as ast always did.

Underneath Rue, ast could hear Percy yelling: "Back off, or I break it!" Rue looked down to see him holding his sword tip against a pumpkin-sized egg that looked like real gold. Rue blinked at the two of them. They were standing in a massive bird's nest that gave Rue war flashbacks.

Goddamn flying rats.

The gryphons squawked angrily. They buzzed around the nest and snapped their beaks, but they didn't attack. Frank stood back to back with Percy, their weapons ready.

"Gryphons collect gold," Rue called down. "They're crazy for it. Look—more nests over there." But if these were their nests, then where were they trying to take Percy? Rue doubted that they were working for Alcyoneus. But man, did Rue wish for some horses as much as ast hated those things too. They were like natural enemies which actually made a lot of sense considering Pegasus could fly and kick their asses.

Rue placed a flat palm onto the gryphon carrying ast before flipping off the monster as it fell to the ground. Rue landed beside aster's boys, easily slipping into the formation. "I wish Arion was here!"

The gryphons shrieked. They swirled around the nest with their red eyes glowing. Was it just Rue's imagination or was there a lot of killing intent coming from the demon birds towards ast?

"Guys," Frank said nervously, "I see legion relics in this nest."

"I know," Percy said.

"That means other demigods died here, or—"

"Frank, it'll be okay," Percy promised.

One of the gryphons dived in. Percy raised his sword, ready to stab the egg. The monster veered off, but the other gryphons were losing their patience. Rue let aster's sword turn into pure stygian iron, watching as the flowers fell away from it.

They couldn't keep this standoff going much longer.

"I've got an idea," Percy said. "Rue—all the gold in these nests. Do you think you can use it to cause a distraction?"

"I—I guess." That was not Rue's power!

"Just give us enough time for a head start. When I say go, run for that giant."

About a quarter mile away, a Hyperborean giant was sitting in the bog, peacefully picking mud from between his toes with a broken tree trunk.

Frank gaped at him. "You want us to run toward a giant?"

"Trust me," Percy said. "Ready? Go!"

Rue's eyes slipping closed, thinking of Hazel and then ast thrust aster's hand upward. From a dozen nests across the marsh, golden objects shot into the air—jewelry, weapons, coins, gold nuggets, and most importantly, gryphon eggs. The monsters shrieked and flew after their eggs, frantic to save them.

Fuckers.

Rue and aster's friends ran. Their feet splashed and crunched through the frozen marsh. Rue could hear the gryphons closing behind them, and now the monsters were really angry. The giant hadn't noticed the commotion yet. He was inspecting his toes for mud, his face sleepy and peaceful, his white whiskers glistening with ice crystals. Around his neck was a necklace of found objects—garbage cans, car doors, moose antlers, camping equipment, even a toilet. Apparently he'd been cleaning up the wilderness.

"Under!" Percy told them. Rue glared death at him! Rue had just washed aster's hair! "Crawl under!"

They scrambled between the massive blue legs and flattened themselves in the mud, crawling as close as they could to his loincloth. Oh! He was a dead man walking when Rue got out of this!

"What's the plan?" Frank hissed. "Get flattened by a blue rump?"

"Lay low," Percy said. "Only move if you have to."

The gryphons arrived in a wave of angry beaks, talons, and wings, swarming around the giant, trying to get under his legs.

The giant rumbled in surprise. He shifted. Rue had to roll to avoid getting crushed by his large hairy rear. Percy had better stop drafting his will! The Hyperborean grunted, a little more irritated. He swatted at the gryphons, but they squawked in outrage and began pecking at his legs and hands.

"Ruh?" the giant bellowed. "Ruh!"

He took a deep breath and blew out a wave of cold air. Even under the protection of the giant's legs, Rue could feel the temperature drop. The gryphons' shrieking stopped abruptly, replaced by the thunk, thunk, thunk of heavy objects hitting the mud.

"Come on," Percy told his friends. "Carefully."

They squirmed out from under the giant. All around the marsh, trees were glazed with frost. A huge swath of the bog was covered in fresh snow. Frozen gryphons stuck out of the ground like feathery Popsicle sticks, their wings still spread, beaks open, eyes wide with surprise. Good riddance. Hmp, Rue could go for a gryphon omelet.

They scrambled away, trying to keep out of the giant's vision, but the big guy was too busy to notice them. He was trying to figure out how to string a frozen gryphon onto his necklace.

"Percy..." Frank wiped the ice and mud from his face. "How did you know the giant could do that?"

"I almost got hit by Hyperborean breath once," he said. "We'd better move. The gryphons won't stay frozen forever."

They walked overland for about an hour, keeping the train tracks in sight but staying in the cover of the trees as much as possible. Once they heard a helicopter flying in the direction of the train wreck. Twice they heard the screech of gryphons, but they sounded a long way off.

It was about midnight when the sun finally set. It got cold in the woods. The stars were so thick and then the northern lights cranked up.

Rue's breath caught. They were... they were so beautiful.

"That's amazing," Frank said. Rue looked over to see him and Percy gawking at the sky. But not only that.

"Bears," Rue pointed. Sure enough, a couple of brown bears were lumbering in the meadow a few hundred feet away, their coats gleaming in the starlight. "They won't bother us. Just give them a wide berth." Rue remembered that from aster's wildness classes.

Percy and Frank didn't argue.

Rue took in the look of Alaska and in a way, Rue didn't understand why Hazel hated it so much. Rue could understand considering that moving here ended in her death and also ripped her away from Sammy and her life in Texas but...

Alaska was beautiful and Rue see why it was a land beyond the gods. Everything here was rough and untamed.

There were no rules, no prophecies, no destinies—just the harsh wilderness and a bunch of animals and monsters. Mortals and demigods came here at their own risk. Rue wondered if this was what Gaea wanted—for the whole world to be like this. Rue wondered if that would be such a bad thing.

Rue's thought then moved on. Because if Hyperboreans were here, then this was the equivalent to Pterophoros which was the beneath the southern slopes of the Rhipaion mountains in Hyperborea. Pterophoros was a desolate, snow-covered land cursed with eternal winter and it made sense why the griffins were there since they inhabited the peaks of the mountains, and its valley were guarded by the fierce, one-eyed Arimaspoi tribe thought thankfully they hadn't came across them.

Rue looked around with thought of where Hyperborea in itself would be. The land of eternal spring. Its people were a blessed, long-lived race untouched by war, hard toil and the ravages of old age and disease. The human tribe that came from there were born from Gaea and it was the favorite place of Lord Apollo.

Rue shook aster's head. There was no need for those thoughts.

After another couple of hours, they stumbled across a tiny village between the railroad tracks and a two-lane road. The city limit sign said: MOOSEPASS. Standing next to the sign was an actual moose that then bounded into the woods.

They passed a couple of houses, a post office, and some trailers.

Everything was dark and closed up. On the other end of town was a store with a picnic table and an old rusted petrol pump in front. The store had a hand-painted sign that read: MOOSE PASS GAS.

"That's just wrong," Frank said.

By silent agreement they collapsed around the picnic table. Rue immediately laid down and was out like light.

At dawn, the store opened up. The owner was a little surprised to find three teenagers crashed out on his picnic table, but when Percy explained that they had stumbled away from last night's train wreck, the guy felt sorry for them and treated them to breakfast. He called a friend of his, an Inuit native who had a cabin close to Seward. Soon they were rumbling along the road in a beat-up Ford.

Percy and Frank sat in back. Rue rode up front with the leathery old man, who smelled like smoked salmon. He told Rue stories about Bear and Raven, the Inuit gods, and Rue was admittedly interested. Being a child of the Underworld meant that ast was used to different cultures and beliefs. Rue had loved stumbling across different spirits within Elysium or the ones that worked around Father's palace and drawing out stories from when they were alive.

It also helped when Rue was still a small kid and well, the Underworld was no place for a child, but Father had been awfully busy. During those sparse moments, Rue would be left alone with whatever undead babysitter that he could find.

(Geesh, did Hazel's memories cause a block to Rue's own?)

The truck broke down a few miles outside Seward. The driver didn't seem surprised, as though this happened to him several times a day. He said they could wait for him to fix the engine, but since Seward was only a few miles away, they decided to walk it.

It was good exercise.

By midmorning, they climbed over a rise in the road and saw a small bay ringed with mountains. The town was a thin crescent on the right-hand shore, with wharves extending into the water and a cruise ship in the harbor.

"Seward," Rue said. Rue pursed aster's lips. Even seventy years later, Rue could still feel traces of Hazel's curse in the air.

The road curved around the hillside, but it looked like they could get to town faster going straight across the meadows.

Percy stepped off the road. "Come on."

Rue tilted aster's head. Something was wrong.

The ground was squishy and...

"Percy, no!"

His next step went straight through the ground. He sank like a stone until the earth closed over his head—and the earth swallowed him.

Shit.

Marshy silt and decomposed plants made a surface that looked completely solid, but it was even worse than quicksand. It could be twenty feet deep or more, and impossible to escape.

Naenia used to take Rue to them, and they'd slide all the way back to the Underworld. Father hated it, but it was a part of the few good memories that Rue had before being shipped off to another foster family.

"Your bow," Rue shouted to Frank. He didn't ask questions. He dropped his pack and slipped the bow off his shoulder.

Rue tried not to think what would happen if it were deeper than the length of the bow. Rue slipped tightened aster's waist beads around ast waist and a loose end around Frank's hands.

"Hold one end," ast told Frank. "Don't let go."

Rue grabbed the other end, took a deep breath, and jumped into the bog. The earth closed over aster's head.

Instantly, Rue was frozen in a memory.

Not now! ast wanted to scream. Ella said I was done with blackouts!

Oh, but my dear, said the voice of Gaea, this is not one of your blackouts. This is a gift from me.

Rue was in the Mississippi Delta. A beautiful woman with sparkling brown eyes was kneeling in the dirt, planting herbs that ast knew very well. The woman looked to be about seven months pregnant with a glow that you only saw in movies. Distantly, Rue could hear the sound of children laughing and chasing each other. Rue turned slowly, seeing a big sign hanging around Harald's Family Market. The sunrise turned the sky to red gold, and the warm steamy air smelled of magnolias and roses.

"You could stay here." The woman that could only be Rue's mother. Rue looked so much like her. Rue choked back a sob. Misty Harald smiled, but her eyes were blank white. The voice was Gaea's.

"This is fake," Rue said even though ast desperately wanted to. There were sunflowers woven into the woman's hair as if they had been braided in during the styling. Rue tried to get up, but the soft bed of grass made ast lazy and sleepy. The smell of baked bread and melting chocolate was intoxicating.

"What is real?" asked Gaea, speaking through Rue's mother's face. "Is your life real, Rue? You were only born because Hazel is dead. Is it real that you're sinking into a bog, suffocating?"

"Let me help my friend!" Rue tried to force asterself back to reality. Rue could imagine aster's hand clenched on the end of the bow, but even that was starting to feel fuzzy. Rue's grip was loosening. The smell of magnolias and roses was overpowering.

Misty Harald smiled down affectionately at her pregnant belly.

No, Rue thought. This isn't my mother. This is Gaea tricking me.

"You want the life you never had," Gaea said. "I can give you that. This moment can last for years. You can grow up in Mississippi, and your mother will adore you. You'll never have to deal with the burden of your powers."

"It's an illusion!" Rue said, choking on the sweet scent of flowers.

"You are an illusion, Rue Harald. You were only born because the gods have a task for you. I may have used you, but your Father used you and then had Nico lie about it. You should be glad I captured him."

"Captured?" A feeling of panic rose in Rue's chest, ignoring what she said about aster's father. Ast knew that Father loved Rue. "What do you mean?"

Gaea smiled, sipping her champagne. "The boy should have known better than to search for the Doors. But no matter—it's not really your concern. Once you release Mors, that dream of retrieving Hazel will be impossible. Or maybe he'd follow through on the idea of you going away and Hazel being raised from the dead. You'll be thrown into the Underworld to rot forever. Frank and Percy won't stop that from happening. Would real friends ask you to give up your life? Tell me who is lying, and who tells you the truth."

Rue started to cry. Rue was nobodies' understudy.

"That's right," Gaea purred. "Hazel was destined to marry Sammy. Do you know what happened to him after she died in Alaska? He grew up and moved to Texas. He married and had a family. But he never forgot her. He always wondered why she disappeared. He's dead now—a heart attack in the nineteen-sixties. The life they could've had together always haunted him."

"Stop it!" Rue screamed. "You took that from them, but I won't let you take my destiny away from me!"

"I have you in my embrace, Rue." Gaea said. "You'll die anyway. If you give up, at least I can make it pleasant for you. Forget saving Percy Jackson. He belongs to me. I'll keep him safe in the earth until I'm ready to use him. You can have an entire life in your final moments—you can grow up, meet the rest of the Haralds. They had always wondered what happened to the baby. They still search for you. All you have to do is let go."

Rue tightened aster's grip on the bow. Below ast, something grabbed aster's ankles, but Rue didn't panic. Rue knew it was Percy, suffocating, desperately grasping for a chance at life.

"Kiss my black ass!" Rue glared at the goddess. "I'll never cooperate with you! LET—US —GO!"

Her mother's face dissolved. The Mississippi morning melted into darkness. Rue's eyes turned milky white. Rue was drowning in mud, one hand on the bow, Percy's hands around aster's ankles, deep in the darkness.

Asphodel tree branches wrapped around their waists and Rue wiggled the end of the bow. Frank pulled them up and the asphodel trees threw the three of them off the ground. When Rue opened asters eyes, ast was sitting in a bulk of branches shaped like a nest, covered in muck. Percy was cradled by his own branches, coughing and spitting mud.

Frank climbed over to them, yelling, "Oh, gods! Oh, gods! Oh, gods!"

He yanked some extra clothes from his bag and started toweling off Rue's face, but it didn't do much good. He helped them down from the trees and dragged Percy farther from the muskeg.

"You were down there so long!" Frank cried. "I didn't think—oh, gods, don't ever do something like that again!"

He wrapped Rue in a bear hug.

"Can't—breathe," ast choked out.

"Sorry!" Frank went back to toweling and fussing over them. Finally he got them to the side of the road, where they sat and shivered and spit up mud clods.

Rue couldn't feel aster's hands. Rue wasn't sure if ast was cold or in shock, but Rue managed to explain about the muskeg, and the vision Rue'd seen while ast was under. Rue told them about Gaea's offer of a fake life, and the goddess' claim that she'd captured Nico. Rue didn't want to keep that to herself. She was afraid the despair would overwhelm ast.

Percy rubbed his shoulders. His lips were blue. "You—you saved me, Rue. We'll figure out what happened to Nico, I promise."

Rue squinted at the sun, which was now high in the sky.

The warmth felt good, but it didn't stop ast trembling. "Does it seem like Gaea let us go too easily?"

Percy plucked a mud clod from his hair. "Maybe she still wants us as pawns. Maybe she was just saying things to mess with your mind."

"She knew what to say," Rue agreed, feeling the desperate need to cry. Rue had a family that were looking for ast. "She knew how to get to me."

Frank put his jacket around her shoulders. "This is a real life. You know that, right? We're not going to let you die and we'll help you get Hazel too."

He sounded so determined. Rue didn't want to argue, but ast didn't see how Frank could stop Death. Rue pressed aster's coat pocket, where Frank's half-burned firewood was still securely wrapped. Rue wondered what would've happened to him if ast'd sunk in the mud forever or if Rue had passed it over to Percy since Gaea had said she would keep him safe. Maybe that would have saved Frank. Fire couldn't have gotten to the wood down there.

Rue would have made any sacrifice to keep Frank safe. Rue had never felt so strongly about that especially in regard to life. Rue had such an uncaring attitude towards death simply because everything had to die one day. But Frank had trust Rue with his life. No one had ever trusted Rue that much. He believed in Rue. Rue couldn't bear the thought of any harm coming to him.

Rue glanced at the rising sun... Time was running out.

Rue thought about Hylla, the Amazon Queen back in Seattle. Hylla would have dueled Otrera two nights in a row by now, assuming she had survived. She was counting on Rue to release Death.

Rue managed to stand. The wind coming off Resurrection Bay was just as cold as the Underworld. "We should get going. We're losing time."

Percy gazed down the road. His lips were returning to their normal color. "Any hotels or something where we could clean off? I mean...hotels that accept mud people?"

"I'm not sure," Rue admitted. Rue looked at the town below and ast could feel the full strength of Hazel's old curse. Rue placed a hand against the ground, eyes slipping close as ast concentrated. "But I think I might know a place we can freshen up."

When they got into town, Rue followed the same route that Hazel used seventy years ago—the last night of her life, when she'd come home from the hills and found her mother missing.

Rue led aster's friends along Third Avenue, feeling the way that the curse grew in strength. The railroad station was still there. The big white two-story Seward Hotel was still in business, though it had expanded to twice its old size. They thought about stopping there, but Rue didn't think it would be a good idea to traipse into the lobby covered in mud, nor was ast sure the hotel would give a room to three minors.

Instead, they turned toward the shoreline.

Rue paused, sensing the way clung to the place in front of ast.

Hazel's old home was still there, leaning over the water on barnacle-encrusted piers. The roof sagged. The walls were perforated with holes like buckshot. The door was boarded-up, and a hand-painted sign read: ROOMS—STORAGE—AVAILABLE.

"Come on," she said.

"Uh, you sure it's safe?" Frank asked.

Rue found an open window and climbed inside. The boys followed.

The room hadn't been used in a long time. Their feet kicked up dust that swirled in the buckshot beams of sunlight. Mouldering cardboard boxes were stacked along the walls. Their faded labels read: Greeting Cards, Assorted Seasonal. Why several hundred boxes of season's greetings had wound up crumbling to dust in a warehouse in Alaska, Rue had no idea, but it felt like a cruel joke: as if the cards were for all the holidays Hazel had never gotten to celebrate—decades of Christmases, Easters, birthdays, Valentine's Days.

"It's warmer in here, at least," Frank said. "Guess no running water? Maybe I can go shopping. I'm not as muddy as you guys. I could find us some clothes."

Rue only half heard him as ast climbed over a stack of boxes in the corner that used to be Hazel's sleeping area. An old sign was propped against the wall: GOLD PROSPECTING SUPPLIES. Rue thought ast'd find a bare wall behind it, but when ast moved the sign, most of Hazel's photos and drawings were still pinned there. The sign must have protected them from sunlight and the elements. They seemed not to have aged.

Marie stared out at Rue from one photograph, smiling in front of her business sign: QUEEN MARIE'S GRIS-GRIS—CHARMS SOLD, FORTUNES TOLD.

Next to that was a photo of Sammy at the carnival. He was frozen in time with his crazy grin, his curly black hair, and those beautiful eyes. If Gaea was telling the truth, Sammy had been dead for over forty years. Had he really remembered Hazel all that time? Or had he forgotten the peculiar girl he used to go riding with—the girl who shared one kiss and a birthday cupcake with him before disappearing forever?

Did he know that the girl he loved had been replaced by a sibling that was already one foot in the grave?

Frank's fingers hovered over the photo. "Who...?" He saw that she was crying and clamped back his question. "Sorry, Rue. This must be really hard. Do you want some time—"

"No," Rue croaked. "No, it's fine."

Rue was an imposter.

Talk about a double life syndrome.

"Is that her mother?" Percy pointed to the photo of Queen Marie. "She looks like Hazel. She's beautiful." Then Percy studied the picture of Sammy. "Who is that?"

Rue didn't understand why he looked so spooked. "That's...that's Sammy. He was her friend from New Orleans."

"I've seen him before," Percy said.

"You couldn't have," Rue said. "That was in 1941. He's...he's probably dead now."

Percy frowned. "I guess. Still..." He shook his head, like the thought was too uncomfortable.

Frank cleared his throat. "Look, we passed a store on the last block. We've got a little money left. Maybe I should go get you guys some food and clothes and—I don't know—a hundred boxes of wet wipes or something?"

"That would be great," Rue said, unpinning some of the mementos. Rue was going to find Nico and free him and then they were going to kick Gaea's ass and then Rue was going to free Hazel from the Underworld or die trying. "You're the best, Frank."

The floorboards creaked under his feet. "Well...I'm the only one not completely covered in mud, anyway. Be back soon."

Once he was gone, Percy and Rue made temporary camp. They took off their jackets and tried to scrape off the mud. They found some old blankets in a crate and used them to clean up. They discovered that boxes of greeting cards made pretty good places to rest if you arranged them like mattresses.

Percy set his sword on the floor where it glowed with a faint bronze light. Then he stretched out on a bed of Merry Christmas 1982. Rue pulled out aster's tarot cards, shuffling them in a familiar rhythm of calmness.

"Thank you for saving me," he said. "I should've told you that earlier."

Rue shrugged, pulling a reverse empress card. Ast grimaced, setting it to the side. "You would have done the same for me."

"Yes," he agreed. "But when I was down in the mud, I remembered that line from Ella's prophecy—about the son of Neptune drowning. I thought. 'This is what it means. I'm drowning in the earth.' I was sure I was dead."

His voice quavered like it had his first day at Camp Jupiter, when Rue saw him having around the shrine of Neptune. Back then Rue had wondered if Percy was the answer to Hazel's problems—the descendant of Neptune that Pluto had promised would take away Hazel's curse someday. Percy had seemed so intimidating and powerful, like a real hero.

Only now, Rue knew that Frank was a descendant of Neptune, too.

"Percy," Rue said, this time pulling the Devil, "that prophecy might not have been complete. Frank thought Ella was remembering a burned page, but even if it was..." Rue smiled softly. "You're alive. Who knows maybe the next line meant you'll drown someone else or maybe it was uhh the Son of Neptune drowns and has to walk around in clothes colored brown."

He snorted, but he still looked at Rue a little cautiously. "You think so?"

Rue felt strange reassuring him. It was honestly like talking to Jason when the expectations of being a child of the Big Three even one as hated as Rue's father got too much. But Rue nodded confidently. "You're going to make it back home. You're going to see your boyfriend Fred."

"You'll make it back, too, Rue," he insisted. "We're not going to let anything happen to you. You're too valuable to me, to the camp, and especially to Frank."

Rue really wondered what Frank had to do with anything. "Maybe." Rue looked at the two cards. No one liked to see the Devil appear in a reading, but with this combination, a warning is present. The Empress tarot card represents creativity and the Devil illustrates a 'block' or something that is stopping progress. Rue sighed softly. Knowing that Rue was stand in for Hazel would be a good mental block.

Rue shuffled the cards again.

"There's more to your destiny than being a replacement for Hazel," he said. "We're supposed to fight Gaea together. I'm going to need you at my side way longer than just today. And Frank—you can see the guy is crazy about you. This life is worth fighting for, Rue."

Rue closed aster's eyes. "I don't like him that way." And it's honestly about time that Rue let him know that instead of hoping he got the hint.

The window creaked open. Frank climbed in, triumphantly holding some shopping bags. "Success!"

He showed off his prizes. From a hunting store, he'd gotten a new quiver of arrows for himself, some rations, and a coil of rope.

"For the next time we run across muskeg," he said.

From a local tourist shop, he had bought three sets of fresh clothes, some towels, some soap, some bottled water, and, yes, a huge box of wet wipes. It wasn't exactly a hot shower, but Rue ducked behind a wall of greeting card boxes to clean up and change. Soon ast was feeling much better.

Rue fiddled with aster's tarots again, shuffling them back together. This time Rue pulled the High Priestess in the reversed position.

Slow down. Take time to reconnect with yourself. Repressing aster's feelings and finding it hard to listen to aster's own intuition. But what? Life wanted Rue to break down about the fact that Rue shouldn't even be alive? Rue knew that when ast was stillborn and aster's heart started beating hours later.

Dammit. This was what Rue got, huh. Letting someone else's opinions affect Rue as if that wasn't a problem that ast had worked to overcome for years. Rue had always known that ast didn't fit in and learning about Hazel shouldn't make it a surprise nor should it hurt so much.

Rue breathed deeply.

Rue had to be careful. Gaea was just trying to influence ast and make Rue doubt asterself. Rue did not need anyone's approval. Rue just needed to relax in the knowledge that the answers were within Rue.

And Percy wants Rue at his side and Frank trusted Rue with his life. Pranjal and Esra cared about Rue. Octavian saw Rue as a sort of protégé slash surrogate sibling. And Rue was Nico's sibling. Rue had to save him and Jason! Jason was alive out there.

Rue just needed to be confidant in asterself.

Percy said Rue's destiny wasn't to be Hazel's replacement.

Rue needed to believe that especially if they were going to free Mors.

The Feast of Fortuna—all the luck that happened today, good or bad, was supposed to be an omen of the entire year to come. One way or another, their quest would end this evening.

Rue passed the driftwood over to Percy and he slipped into his new coat pocket. The two of them made eye contact. Gaea wanted to keep him safe for whatever reason. If this ended with Mors taking Rue to the Underworld in replacement for Hazel, then they needed to keep him safe.

But Life and Death were two sides of the same coin. Rue planned to stay on the living side for as long as Rue was able.

"So," Rue said. "Now we find a boat to Hubbard Glacier."

Frank patted his stomach. "If we're going to battle to the death, I want lunch first. I found the perfect place."

Frank led them to a shopping plaza near the wharf, where an old railway car had been converted to a diner. The place didn't exist in Hazel's memories, but the food smelled amazing. While Frank and Percy ordered,

Rue wandered down to the docks and asked some questions. When ast came back, Rue needed cheering up. The pizza was a bit too greasy and had absolutely nothing on Percival's Pizzeria, but it made Rue feel better. Somewhat.

"We're in trouble," Rue said. "I tried to get a boat. But...I miscalculated."

"No boats?" Frank asked.

"Oh, I can get a boat," Hazel said. "But the glacier is farther than I thought. Even at top speed, we couldn't get there until tomorrow morning."

Percy turned pale. "Maybe I could make the boat go faster?"

"Even if you could," Rue said, "from what the captains tell me, it's treacherous—icebergs, mazes of channels to navigate. You'd have to know where you were going."

"A plane?" Frank asked.

Rue shook aster's head with a matching grimace that appeared on Percy's face. "I asked the boat captains about that. They said we could try, but it's a tiny airfield. You have to charter a plane two, three weeks in advance."

They ate in silence after that. A raven settled on the telephone pole above and began to croak at them.

Rue shivered. Rue was afraid it would speak to ast like the other raven spoke to Hazel, so many years ago: The last night. Tonight.

Rue wondered if ravens always appeared to children of Pluto when they were about to die.

Rue hoped Nico was still alive, and Gaea had just been lying to make ast unsettled, but Rue had a bad feeling that the goddess was telling the truth.

Nico had told Rue that he'd search for the Doors of Death from the other side. If he'd been captured by Gaea's forces, Rue might've lost the only family ast had.

(But that wasn't true, was it? The Haralds were looking for Rue.)

Suddenly, the raven's cawing changed to a strangled yelp.

Frank got up so fast that he almost toppled the picnic table. Percy drew his sword.

Rue followed their eyes. Perched on top of the pole where the raven had been, a fat ugly gryphon glared down at them. It burped, and raven feathers fluttered from its beak.

Rue stood and unsheathed aster's whip.

Frank nocked an arrow. He took aim, but the gryphon shrieked so loudly the sound echoed off the mountains. Frank flinched, and his shot went wide.

"I think that's a call for help," Percy warned. "We have to get out of here."

With no clear plan, they ran for the docks. The gryphon dove after them. Percy slashed at it with his sword, but the gryphon veered out of reach.

They took the steps to the nearest pier and raced to the end. The gryphon swooped after them, its front claws extended for the kill. Rue raised aster's whip, but an icy wall of water slammed sideways into the gryphon and washed it into the bay. The gryphon squawked and flapped its wings. It managed to scramble onto the pier, where it shook its black fur like a wet dog.

Frank grunted. "Nice one, Percy."

"Yeah," he said. "Didn't know if I could still do that in Alaska. But bad news—look over there." About a mile away, over the mountains, a black cloud was swirling—a whole flock of gryphons, dozens at least. There was no way they could fight that many, and no boat could take them away fast enough.

Frank nocked another arrow. "Not going down without a fight."

Percy raised Riptide. "I'm with you."

Then Rue heard a sound in the distance—like the whinnying of a horse. Rue must've been imagining it, but ast cried out desperately, "Arion! Over here!"

A tan blur came ripping down the street and onto the pier. The stallion materialized right behind the gryphon, brought down his front hooves, and smashed the monster to dust.

Rue had never been so happy to see a four-legged in aster's life. "Good horse! Really good horse!"

Frank backed up and almost fell off the pier. "How—?"

"He followed me!" Rue beamed. "Because he's the best—horse—EVER! Now, get on!"

"All three of us?" Percy said. "Can he handle it?"

Arion whinnied indignantly.

"All right, no need to be rude," Percy said.

"Be nicer to your brother," Rue scolded, both of them.

"Let's go." Percy grimaced.

They climbed on, Rue in front, Frank and Percy balancing precariously behind ast.

"Run, Arion!" Rue cried. "To Hubbard Glacier!"

The horse shot across the water, his hooves turning the top of the sea to steam.

Riding Arion, Rue felt powerful, unstoppable, absolutely in control—well, at least after Rue stopped inwardly cursing aster's decisions to get on the demon horse.

The boat captains in Seward had warned ast it was three hundred nautical miles to the Hubbard Glacier, a hard, dangerous journey, but Arion had no trouble. He raced over the water at the speed of sound, heating the air around them so that Rue didn't even feel the cold.

Hazel could have this freaking horse!

Frank and Percy looked just about as happy as Rue which was to say not at all. When Rue glanced back, their teeth were clenched and their eyeballs were bouncing around in their heads. Frank's cheeks jiggled from the g-force. Percy sat in back, hanging on tight, desperately trying not to slip off the horse's rear. Rue hoped that didn't happen. The way Arion was moving, ast might not notice he was gone for fifty or sixty miles.

They raced through icy straits, past blue fjords and cliffs with waterfalls spilling into the sea. Arion jumped over a breaching humpback whale and kept galloping, startling a pack of seals off an iceberg.

It seemed like only minutes before they zipped into a narrow bay. The water turned the consistency of shaved ice in blue sticky syrup. Arion came to a halt on a frozen turquoise slab.

A half a mile away stood Hubbard Glacier. Rue blinked. Even with Hazel's memories, Rue couldn't quite process what ast was looking at. Purple snowcapped mountains marched off in either direction, with clouds floating around their middles like fluffy belts. In a massive valley between two of the largest peaks, a ragged wall of ice rose out of the sea, filling the entire gorge. The glacier was blue and white with streaks of black, so that it looked like a hedge of dirty snow left behind on a sidewalk after a snowplow had gone by, only four million times as large.

As soon as Arion stopped, Rue felt the temperature drop. All that ice was sending off waves of cold, turning the bay into the world's largest refrigerator. The eeriest thing was a sound like thunder that rolled across the water.

"What is that?" Frank gazed at the clouds above the glacier. "A storm?"

"No," Rue said. "Ice cracking and shifting. Millions of tons of ice."

"You mean that thing is breaking up?" Frank asked.

As if on cue, a sheet of ice silently calved off the side of the glacier and crashed into the sea, spraying water and frozen shrapnel several stories high. A millisecond later the sound hit them—a BOOM almost as jarring as Arion hitting the sound barrier.

"We can't get close to that thing!" Frank said.

"We have to," Percy said. "The giant is at the top."

Arion nickered.

"Jeez, Rue," Percy said, "tell your horse to watch his language."

Rue tried not to laugh nor point out that Arion was his brother. "What did he say?"

"With the cussing removed? He said he can get us to the top."

Frank looked incredulous. "I thought the horse couldn't fly!"

This time Arion whinnied so angrily, even Rue could guess he was cursing.

"Dude," Percy told the horse, "I've gotten suspended for saying less than that. Rue, he promises you'll see what he can do as soon as you give the word."

"Um, hold on, then, you guys," Rue said nervously. "Arion, giddy up!"

Wait a minute. Rue's horse?

He had better not sneakily bonded with Rue like Pegasus and Bellerophon!

Arion shot toward the glacier like a runaway rocket, barreling straight across the slush like he wanted to play chicken with the mountain of ice.

The air grew colder. The crackling of the ice grew louder. As Arion closed the distance, the glacier loomed so large, Rue got vertigo just trying to take it all in. The side was riddled with crevices and caves, spiked with jagged ridges like ax blades. Pieces were constantly crumbling off—some no larger than snowballs, some the size of houses. When they were about fifty yards from the base, a thunderclap rattled Rue's bones, and a curtain of ice that would have covered Camp Jupiter

calved away and fell toward them.

"Look out!" Frank shouted, which seemed a little unnecessary to Rue.

Arion was way ahead of him. In a burst of speed, he zigzagged through the debris, leaping over chunks of ice and clambering up the face of the glacier.

Percy and Frank both cussed like horses and held on desperately while Rue wrapped her arms around Arion's neck. Somehow, they managed not to fall off as Arion scaled the cliffs, jumping from foothold to foothold with impossible speed and agility. It was like falling down a mountain in reverse.

Then it was over. Arion stood proudly at the top of a ridge of ice that loomed over the void. The sea was now three hundred feet below them.

Show off, Rue thought, smirking.

Arion whinnied a challenge that echoed off the mountains. Percy didn't translate, but Rue was pretty sure Arion was calling out to any other horses that might be in the bay: Beat that, ya punks!

Dammit. He was growing on Rue.

Then he turned and ran inland across the top of the glacier, leaping a chasm fifty feet across.

"There!" Percy pointed.

The horse stopped. Ahead of them stood a frozen Roman camp like a giant-sized ghastly replica of Camp Jupiter. The trenches bristled with ice spikes. The snow-brick ramparts glared blinding white. Hanging from the guard towers, banners of frozen blue cloth shimmered in the arctic sun.

There was no sign of life. The gates stood wide open. No sentries walked the walls. Still, Rue had an uneasy feeling in her gut and the stench of Hazel's curse in aster's nose and the familiar chill of Death in aster's bones.

There was an oppressive sense of malice and the constant boom, boom, boom, like Gaea's heartbeat. This place felt similar, as if the earth were trying to wake up and consume everything—as if the mountains on either side wanted to crush them and the entire glacier to pieces.

Arion trotted skittishly.

"Frank," Percy said, "how about we go on foot from here?"

Frank sighed with relief. "Thought you'd never ask."

They dismounted and took some tentative steps. The ice seemed stable, covered with a fine carpet of snow so that it wasn't too slippery.

Rue urged Arion forward like Hazel did the horses in her memories. Percy and Frank walked on either side, sword and bow ready. They approached the gates without being challenged. Rue was trained to spot pits, snares, trip lines, and all sorts of other traps Roman legions had faced for eons in enemy territory, but ast saw nothing—just the yawning icy gates and the frozen banners crackling in the wind.

Rue could see straight down the Via Praetoria. At the crossroads, in front of the snow-brick principia, a tall, dark- robed figure stood, bound in icy chains.

"Mors," Rue murmured.

It was Home.

Rue's vision went dark, flashes from brown eyes and flower crowns staring down at ast. My little sunflower, a voice murmured.

Rue almost fell of Arion, but Frank caught ast and propped aster up.

"We've got you," he promised. "Nobody's taking you away."

"I'm all right," ast lied, but Rue didn't release the death grip ast had on his hand.

Percy looked around uneasily. "No defenders? No giant? This has to be a trap."

"Obviously," Frank said. "But I don't think we have a choice."

Before Rue could change aster mind, she urged Arion through the gates. The layout was so familiar—cohort barracks, baths, armory. It was an exact replica of Camp Jupiter, except three times as big. Even on horseback, Rue felt tiny and insignificant, as if they were moving through a model city constructed by the gods.

They stopped ten feet from the robed figure.

Arion cantered back and forth, sensing ast disquiet.

"Hello?" Rue forced out the word. "Lord Mors?"

The hooded figure raised his head.

Instantly, the whole camp stirred to life. Figures in Roman armor emerged from the barracks, the principia, the armory, and the canteen, but they weren't human. They were shades—the chattering ghosts Hazel was living with in the Fields of Asphodel or like before Rue's power had gotten out of control and Rue used to summon spirits to spy on the Titans. Their bodies weren't much more than wisps of black vapor, but they managed to hold together sets of scale armor, greaves, and helmets. Frost-covered swords were strapped to their waists. Pila and dented shields floated in their smoky hands. The plumes on the centurions' helmets were frozen and ragged. Most of the shades were on foot, but two soldiers burst out of the stables in a golden chariot pulled by ghostly black steeds. When Arion saw the horses, he stamped the ground in outrage.

Frank gripped his bow. "Yep, here's the trap."

The ghosts formed ranks and circled the crossroads. There were about a hundred in all—not an entire legion, but more than a cohort. Some carried the tattered lightning bolt banners of the Twelfth Legion, Fifth Cohort—Michael Varus's doomed expedition from the 1980s. Others carried standards and insignia Rue didn't recognize, as if they'd died at different times, on different quests—maybe not even from Camp Jupiter.

Most were armed with Imperial gold weapons—more Imperial gold than the entire Twelfth Legion possessed.

Rue turned away from them even if ast could feel the combined power of all that gold humming around them, even scarier than the crackling of the glacier.

"Mors!" Rue turned to the robed figure. "We're here to rescue you." Rue's voice faltered. The god's hood fell away and his robes dropped off as he spread his wings, leaving him in only a sleeveless black tunic belted at the waist. He was the most beautiful man Rue had ever seen.

Damn him!

Father told him to stop doing that!

His skin was the color of teakwood, dark and glistening like Queen Marie's old séance table. His eyes were as honey gold. He was lean and muscular, with a regal face and black hair flowing down his shoulders. His wings glimmered in shades of blue, black, and purple.

Rue reminded asterself to breathe.

Beautiful was the right word for Mors—not handsome, or hot, or anything like that. He was beautiful the way an angel is beautiful—timeless, perfect, remote.

"Oh," Rue said in a small voice before biting down hard on ast's lips to regain some sense.

The god's wrists were shackled in icy manacles, with chains that ran straight into the glacier floor. His feet were bare, shackled around the ankles and also chained.

"It's Cupid," Frank said.

"A really buff Cupid," Percy agreed.

"You compliment me," Mors said. His voice was as gorgeous as he was—deep and melodious. "I am frequently mistaken for the god of love. Death has more in common with Love than you might imagine. But I am Death. I assure you."

"We're here to save you," Rue stated decisively. "Where's Alcyoneus?

"Save me...?" Mors narrowed his eyes. Rue meet his eyes evenly. "Do you understand what you are saying, Rue Harald? Do you understand what that will mean?"

Percy stepped forward. "We're wasting time."

He swung his sword at the god's chains.

"Don't," Rue called out, but ast was too late. Celestial bronze rang against the ice, but Riptide stuck to the chain like glue. Frost began creeping up the blade. Percy pulled frantically. Frank ran to help. Together, they just managed to yank Riptide free before the frost reached their hands.

"That won't work," Mors said simply. "As for the giant, he is close. These shades are not mine. They are his."

Mors's eyes scanned the ghost soldiers. They shifted uncomfortably, as if an arctic wind were rattling through their ranks.

"So how do we get you out?" Rue demanded.

Thanatos turned his attention back to Rue. "Daughter of Pluto, child of my master, you of all people should not wish me released."

Rue tilted aster's chin in defiance, waist beads changing into the form of a spear, and Arion reared in defiance.. Rue was a solider of Roma. Rue was a child of the Underworld. Rue was the Prinxe of Death. Rue's brother was the King of Ghosts.

Death did not scare them.

"Listen, Mors. I was born dead and I'm going to die alive. I don't belong here with the living anymore than I belong in my Father's realm with the Dead. And I did not travel thousands of miles to be told that I'm stupid for setting you free. If I die, I die. I'll fight this whole army if I have to. Just tell us how to break your chains."

Thanatos studied Rue for a heartbeat. "Interesting. You do understand that these shades were once demigods like you. They fought for Rome. They died without completing their heroic quests. Like you, they were sent to Asphodel. Now Gaea has promised them a second life if they fight for her today. Of course, if you release me and defeat them, they will have to return to the Underworld where they belong. For treason against the gods, they will face eternal punishment. They are not so different from you, Rue Harald. Are you sure you want to release me and damn these souls forever?"

Frank clenched his fists. "That's not fair! Do you want to be freed or not?"

"Quiet, Zhang Fai," Rue barked, sitting straighter a top of Arion. "This is way of the Dead." If Rue could see how ast look from the other's point of view, then Rue would like the royal being ast technically was.

"Fair..." Mors mused, turning to look at the son of Mars while he and Percy gaped at Rue. "You'd be amazed how often I hear that word, Frank Zhang, and how meaningless it is. Is it fair that your life will burn so short and bright? Was it fair when I guided your mother to the Underworld?"

Frank staggered like he'd been punched.

"No," Mors said sadly. "Not fair. And yet it was her time. There is no fairness in Death. If you free me, I will do my duty. But of course these shades will try to stop you."

"So if we let you go," Percy summed up, "we get mobbed by a bunch of black vapor dudes with gold swords. Fine. How do we break those chains?"

Mors smiled. "Only the fire of life can melt the chains of death."

"Without the riddles, please?" Percy asked.

Frank drew a shaky breath. "It isn't a riddle."

"Frank, no," Rue said weakly. Percy blanched as he realized just what Mors meant. "There's got to be another way."

Laughter boomed across the glacier. A rumbling voice said: "My friends. I've waited so long!"

Standing at the gates of the camp was Alcyoneus. He was even larger than the giant Polybotes they'd seen in California. He had metallic golden skin, armor made from platinum links, and an iron staff the size of a totem pole. His rust-red dragon legs pounded against the ice as he entered the camp. Precious stones glinted in his red braided hair.

Rue felt so small and held a new appreciation for Hazel to face him.

From Hazel's memories, Rue could almost feel like ast knew him personally even if neither of the siblings had seen him fully formed. They knew the diamonds he used for a heart. Rue knew the oil that ran in his veins instead of blood.

More than anything, Rue wanted to destroy him.

Rue will avenge Hazel.

The giant approached, grinning at Rue with his solid silver teeth.

"Ah, Rue Harald," he said, "your sister cost me dearly! If not for her, I would have risen decades ago, and this world would already be Gaea's. But no matter!"

He spread his hands, showing off the ranks of ghostly soldiers.

"Welcome, Percy Jackson! Welcome, Frank Zhang! I am Alcyoneus, the bane of Pluto, the new master of Death. And this is your new legion."

"Percy." Frank said. "That package you're keeping for me? I need it."

Percy glanced at him in dismay. "Frank, no. There has to be another way."

Rue kept quiet.

"Please. I—I know what I'm doing."

Mors smiled and lifted his manacled wrists. "You're right, Frank Zhang. Sacrifices must be made."

The giant Alcyoneus stepped forward, his reptilian feet shaking the ground. "What package do you speak of, Frank Zhang? Have you brought me a present?"

"Nothing for you, Golden Boy," Frank said. "Except a whole lot of pain."

The giant roared with laughter. "Spoken like a child of Mars! Too bad I have to kill you. And this one...my, my, I've been waiting to meet the famous Percy Jackson."

The giant grinned. His silver teeth made his mouth look like a car grille.

"I've followed your progress, son of Neptune," said Alcyoneus. "Your fight with Kronos? Well done. Gaea hates you above all others...except perhaps for that upstart Jason Grace. I'm sorry I can't kill you right away, but my brother Polybotes wishes to keep you as a pet. He thinks it will be amusing when he destroys Neptune to have the god's favorite son on a leash. After that, of course, Gaea has plans for you."

"Yeah, flattering." Percy raised Riptide. "But actually I'm the son of Poseidon. I'm from Camp Half-Blood."

The ghosts stirred. Some drew swords and lifted shields. Alcyoneus raised his hand, gesturing for them to wait.

"Greek, Roman, it doesn't matter," the giant said easily. "We will crush both camps underfoot. You see, the Titans didn't think big enough. They planned to destroy the gods in their new home of America. We giants know better! To kill a weed, you must pull up its roots. Even now, while my forces destroy your little Roman camp, my brother Porphyrion is preparing for the real battle in the ancient lands! We will destroy the gods at their source."

The ghosts pounded their swords against their shields. The sound echoed across the mountains.

"The source?" Frank asked. "You mean Greece?"

Alcyoneus chuckled. "No need to worry about that, son of Mars. You won't live long enough to see our ultimate victory. I will replace Pluto as lord of the Underworld. I already have Death in my custody. With Rue Harald in my service, I will have all the riches under the earth and her as my wife as well."

Rue scrunched aster's nose. "First of all, I don't used traditional based gender roles. Secondly, I would rather swallow glass and drink out the sewer. Thirdly, I don't do service."

"Oh, but your sister gave me life!" Alcyoneus said. "True, we hoped to awaken Gaea during World War II. That would've been glorious. But really, the world is in almost as bad a shape now. Soon, your civilization will be wiped out. The Doors of Death will stand open. Those who serve us will never perish. Alive or dead, you three will join my army."

Percy shook his head. "Fat chance, Golden Boy. You're going down."

"Wait." Rue spurred Arion toward the giant. "My sister raised this monster from the earth. And I am the child of Pluto. It's my place to kill him."

"Ah, little Rue." Alcyoneus planted his staff on the ice. His hair glittered with millions of dollars' worth of gems. "Are you sure you will not join us of your own free will? You could be quite ... precious to us. Why should another daughter of Pluto die?"

Rue's eyes flashed with anger. "Are you sure, Zhang?"

"Yeah," he said.

"You're one of my best friends, too, Frank. I should have told you that. Do what you have to. And Percy... can you protect him?"

Percy gazed at the ranks of ghostly Romans. "Against a small army?

Sure, no problem."

"Then I've got Golden Boy," Rue said.

Rue charged the giant.

Arion zoomed under Alcyoneus' arm and Rue slid aster's hand across his skin. The giant bellowed in pain. Arion whinny angrily.

"Arion, I'm going to jump. Hope you're there when I land," Rue murmured before swinging ast's whip around Alcyoneus' wrist. Rue went flying into the air before rushing up his arm. The flowers on aster's whip had grown back when Rue wasn't paying attention and now they spun like little blades.

Rue really needed to see how the damn thing worked.

Absently, Rue could hear Percy yelling in defiance as the ghosts closed in.

"Rue Harald, when I get my hands on—" Rue stabbed aster's spear through his nose before yanking it down as Rue fell back to the earth. Ast swung the whip once more, swinging around Alcyoneus like Spiderman.

"You want it back?" Rue could hear Percy shouting. "Come and get it!"

Alyconeus' hand reached for ast, but Rue reached a hand out and a chain of gold wrapped around it as Rue soared to the ground.

It was kind of admitrable how ast anaged to land comfortably on the back of Arion.

Rue pulled out the Verus Family tarot cards as Arion dodged Alyconeus' feet. Ast cursed when aster's own tarot cards fluttered to the ground.

And then something caught Rue's eyes.

The card of Judgement.

There were choices in life and vital changes and things that even Rue could not change. Things that happened in the past were having an effect on the present and Rue was facing the consequences for it.

And while Rue could do nothing about the past, Rue could do something about the present.

Rue meet Alyconeus' open palm like they were giving each other a high five and he cursed again as Rue's touch of death spread over the hand. Ast spurred Arion over to the fallen card before shuffling through the cards that Octavian gave Rue.

This wasn't Rue's fight.

Pulling out the King of Wands and the High Priestess, Rue's eyes flashed milky white. "Spirits below and above, spirits in between, caught in the fabric betwixt worlds, we ask that the veil be lifted and that you send forth the spirit of Hazel Levesque. Hazel, you're welcome to this house. If you're here, we ask that you make your presence known."

The upright King of Wands dominates his environment and earns respect and willing compliance. When he appears in the Upright position, he represents real power over any situation. An excellent sign if one was facing an unsolvable problem. The personality of the King of Wands upright suggests the answer one sought will be found only when they embraced their personal power and a sense of boldness.

Alyconeus stepped back a bit uneasily as a crack appeared in the ice. A small hand crawled out. A crown of brown curls appeared next. Illuminous golden eyes peeked from the shadows.

Rue's smiled was bloodthirsty as aster's sister stood to her feet looking just as she did the day that she died.

Rue cast a quick glance around. Frank had burned through the third shackle. Percy at the end of the Via Principalis, holding off the army of ghosts. He'd overturned the chariot and destroyed several buildings, but every time he threw off a wave of attackers in his hurricane, the ghosts simply got up and charged again. Every time Percy slashed one of them down with his sword, the ghost re-formed immediately. Percy had backed up almost as far as he could go. Behind him was the side gate of the camp, and about twenty feet beyond that, the edge of the glacier.

Somehow, Rue and Alcyoneus had managed to destroy most of the barracks in their battle. Now they were fighting in the wreckage at the main gate. Arion was playing a dangerous game of tag, charging around the giant while Alyconeus stared a bit fearfully at Hazel, holding his staff out at them.

"Sister," Rue smiled, holding a hand out to Hazel. "It's about time we finish him once and for all, yes?"

Hazel looked confused for only a moment before turning to look at the giant who was slowly getting over his fear. Hazel took Rue's hand and climb aboard. Arion reared triumphantly. A spatha flew through the air to land in Hazel's hand. Rue should be more worried about the fact that the girl absolutely did not know how to use that, but both of them were a little too pissed to care about.

"Percy!" Frank yelled from behind Rue. "They can die now!"

Arion charged.

Hazel rode a top of Arion as if there was no other place she would rather be while Rue swung aster's whip to soar back into the air. It wrapped around Alcyoneus' staff which Hazel was forcibly making heavier to hit the ground.

"I will end you!"

"Yeah, yeah," Rue snarked, landing feet first in his eyes. He roared and Rue's whip wrapped around his neck as he stumbled. Arion whipped around the giant and Hazel cut a long wound around the back of his knee.

"Curse you!"

"Our only curse," Rue sneered. "Is you!"

Below Rue, Hazel yelled in pain. Arion screamed as the giant got a lucky shot. His staff sent horse and rider tumbling over the ice, crashing into the ramparts. Rue screeched jumping a top of his red braided hair. Rue's hand cradled his skull as aster's touch of death only caused him wounds, but no actual damage! Damn him! Damn him! DAMN HIM!

"DIE, YOU ARROGANT SON OF A BITCH!" Rue roared, yanking so hard on his hair that one of the braids fell away. Hazel was half-buried in a collapsed pile of snow-bricks. Arion stood over her, trying to protect her, rearing and swatting at the giant with his front hooves. Rue was thankful when ast saw Frank rushing over to help her.

Rue glanced over at Percy. The son of Poseidon was about to be overwhelmed.

Fuck.

The giant laughed. "Hello, little pony. You want to play?" Alcyoneus raised his icy staff. Rue jumped down to land in his other eye before falling dramatically to the ground, swinging aster's whip around his leg and place a hand against the rust colored dragon legs as Rue went down.

And then the strangest thing happened.

Rue looked up just in time to see Frank's body became smaller and lighter. His arms stretched into wings.

Rue landed on the ground and stared doubly.

Did... did someone sneak Rue some drugs?

Was Rue already dead and this was some weird hallucination?

Why the fuck was Frank a bird?

Rue helped aster's sister up as Frank — that was the silly Chinese Canadian baby man? — soared upward, then dove at the giant with his talons extended, his razor-sharp claws raking across the giant's eyes.

Sheesh. He's gonna need glasses with how much they keep targeting his eyes.

Alcyoneus bellowed in pain. He staggered backward as Frank landed in front of the siblings and returned to his normal form.

"Frank..." Rue stared at him in amazement, a cap of snow dripping off aster's head. "What just...how did—?"

"Fool!" Alcyoneus shouted. His face was slashed, black oil dripping into his eyes instead of blood, but the wounds were already closing. "I am immortal in my homeland, Frank Zhang! And thanks to your friend Hazel, my new homeland is Alaska. You cannot kill me here!"

"We'll see," Frank said.

"Hazel, get back on the horse," Rue ordered. "Frank, take care of my sister. I'm going to help Percy."

The giant charged, and Frank charged to meet him.

Rue didn't dare look behind ast, instead asters whip elongated into a staff that was as black as a nightmare. The shades that saw Rue coming immediately backed away from the faintly glowing weapon. The dark purple light cast shadows across Rue's face making aster's snarling face even more intimidating. The staff seemed make shadows even gloomier, as if it soaked the light and heat out of the air.

"How about you back away from my cousin—" Rue swung it and immediately, the glow became brighter as it siphoned the souls within it. "And bow before me, the the Prinxe of Death!" The staff shifted into a spear and Rue stabbed into the icy floor. It cleaved through the ice like butter.

The ground rumbled. The ice cracked and shattered to pieces, letting in a blast of cool air. A fissure opened in the stone floor of the city ruins, and the shades surrounding Rue were sucked into the void with a horrible wail.

As for the rest of them that were out of the blast zone, well...Rue made aster's way through the shades. Some of them had the foolish thought to try break away from formation and fight against Rue or try to run away as they seen what happened to their brethren. The others... they continued to edge forward towards Percy, their weapons bristling.

Through the ruins of the camp, ast saw Percy with his back to the edge of the cliff. He held Riptide in one hand and the legion's golden eagle in the other.

"Percy!" Rue could hear Frank yell.

Percy glanced over. He saw the fallen giant and seemed to understand what was happening. He yelled something that was lost in the wind, probably: Go!

Then he slammed Riptide into the ice at his feet. The entire glacier shuddered. Ghosts fell to their knees. Behind Percy, a wave surged up from the bay—a wall of gray water even taller than the glacier. Water shot from the chasms and crevices in the ice. As the wave hit, the back half of the camp crumbled. The entire edge of the glacier peeled away, cascading into the void—carrying buildings, ghosts, and Percy Jackson over the edge.

Rue cursed, abandoning aster's fight to throw asterself off the cliff after him.

Most people would comment on the exhilaration from the fall—those would be adrenaline junkies or Jason who liked to climb a top of Aeneas Academy and bungee jump with no cord simply because he could fly.

There are those that would comment on the fear from the fall—people that had some goddamn sense because they could not fly (And Jason, Octavian might kill you if you try make him the Lois to your Clark Kent.)

The river raced toward Rue at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from aster's lungs. Rue cared nothing about that, swinging aster's whip towards some debris that was veering a little too close to Percy.

And then: Flaaa-boooom!

It hurt like hell and there were white spots in Rue's vision, but ast pushed passed it all. Rue could feel the shades blinking out, the souls finally greeting death after lingering so long in Alcyoneus' orbit.

The sea pulled at Rue, dragging ast deeper and deeper to the bottom. Rue's blood chilled and ast beating heart began to slow, but Rue could somewhat see an ankle floating in the water ahead of ast.

"Once you release Mors, that dream of retrieving Hazel will be impossible. Or maybe he'd follow through on the idea of you going away and Hazel being raised from the dead." came the voice of Gaea.

No, Rue thought. Not like this.

Rue was not going to die here and ast'd chain Mors back up before he even thought about taking away Hazel!

An arm wrapped around Rue and ast was so shock that aster's natural defense of killing anyone that touched ast didn't even activate. (Rue was glad that power was back. It would do very well against the army of monsters heading for Camp Jupiter!)

Through the haziness and bleariness of sight, ast could see a shock of black hair and familiar green eyes. Rue was pulled to the surface.

Percy placed Rue on top of the glacier and ast flopped down like a fish. His hands hovered over Rue, trying to figure out a way to save ast from the deadly chill in aster's veins. Though there was no need, behind him, Mors appeared and glided towards them on his black wings, his expression serene.

"Rue Harald," he murmured, a bit of reverence on his tongue. In his hands were some mint leaves, and absently, Rue grimaced before opening aster's mouth. The god placed it on aster's tongue before moving ast's jaw to help Rue chew. Immediately, Rue could feel a boost aster's immune system. It took a few minutes for Rue to gain back feeling in aster's body enough to sit up. "I believe this is for you."

In his hand was one of Alcyoneus' braids, the one that Rue had pulled off. The two demigods watched Mors unweave it to pass over one thick strand that was... that was just the right size to replace aster's waist bead. It wrapped around Rue's wrist in the same way that the original had wrapped around Rue's waist.

"Mors," Rue stated, looking at the god. The two of them stared at each other before he smiled softly and patted Rue on the head. Immediately, a crown of poppy flowers surrounded Rue's head.

"Thank you, Prinxette of Me."

Rue snorted softly.

"Our business is complete."

Rue raised a brow. "And what about me or Hazel?"

"This is not Hazel's fight, but..." the god hummed, turning to look out at the ice. "Pluto gives me specific orders for escaped souls, you see. For some reason, he has not issued a warrant for yours. Perhaps he feels your life is not finished, or it could be an oversight. But after her task is finished, I do have orders to place her somewhere safe until the end."

Rue smiled, place a hand on the ground. Thank you, Father.

"And as for you, it is nowhere near your time, my liege."

"What about the Doors of Death," Percy asked. The god scowled a bit in irritation. "I have already informed your friend, Frank Zhang about the Doors of Me."

"And what about my brother," Rue asked. "Is Nico alive?"

Thanatos gave her a strange look—possibly pity, though that didn't seem like an emotion Death would understand. "You will find the answer in Rome. And now I must fly south to your Camp Jupiter. I have a feeling there will be many souls to reap, very soon. Farewell, demigods, until we meet again."

Thanatos dissipated into black smoke.

Only a few seconds had passed before Hazel and Frank appeared in front of them on the back of Arion.

Percy stood at the edge of the glacier, leaning on the staff with the golden eagle, gazing down at the wreckage he'd caused: several hundred acres of newly open water dotted with icebergs and flotsam from the ruined camp.

The only remains on the glacier were the main gates, which listed sideways, and a tattered blue banner lying over a pile of snow-bricks. When they ran up to them, Percy said, "Hey," like they were just meeting for lunch or something.

"You're alive!" Frank marveled.

Percy frowned. "The fall? That was nothing. I fell twice that far from the St. Louis Arch."

Rue ignored that moving forward to wrap Hazel in a hug. "Hello, sister. I'm Rue Harald, a child of Pluto." The girl startled before smiling beautifully. "Hello, Rue. I saw you..."

"In the Underworld? Yeah, I found that out recently. You've been sending me messages."

"Oh, I didn't think that would work." The girl frowned. "I saw so many spirits leaving but I..."

"You couldn't unless you were led out," Rue nodded. Escapees caused major issues in the Underworld and made keeping Rue (and Nico) top priority. And that was without mentioning what would happen if they went after any of their divine siblings or gods' forbid, their Stepmother. "I'm sorry Nico and I left you there, but you're here now and you deserve another chance. I won't let them take you away and we'll turn the world upside down for you so you can have your happy ending."

Hazel looked like she wanted to cry, so Rue turned towards the horse. "Hey, Arion. You can have your pick of food if you want."

Rue wasn't even half way through the sentence before he was chopping down on a breast plate the size of four Rues.

Beside them, Percy shrugged, looking at Frank like he was miffed. "I got a bone to pick with you, Zhang. You can turn into an eagle? And a bear?"

"And an elephant," Hazel said proudly. Rue raised a brow and absently noting the way Hazel was blushing.

"An elephant." Percy shook his head in disbelief. "That's your family gift? You can change shape?"

Frank shuffled his feet. "Um...yeah. Periclymenus, my ancestor, the Argonaut—he could do that. He passed down the ability."

"And he got that gift from Poseidon," Percy said. "That's completely unfair. I can't turn into animals."

Frank stared at him. "Unfair? You can breathe underwater and blow up glaciers and summon freaking hurricanes—and it's unfair that I can be an elephant?"

Percy considered. "Okay. I guess you got a point. But next time I say you're totally beast—"

"Just shut up," Frank said. "Please."

Percy cracked a smile.

"If you guys are done," Rue said, "we need to go. Camp Jupiter is under attack. They could use that gold eagle."

"One thing first, though." Percy nodded, turning to Rue's sister with a gentle smile. "Hazel, there's about a ton of Imperial gold weapons and armor at the bottom of the bay now, plus a really nice chariot. I'm betting that stuff could come in handy..."

It took them a long time—too long—but they all knew those weapons could make the difference between victory and defeat if they got them back to camp in time.

Hazel used her abilities to levitate some items from the bottom of the sea and once she showed Rue a trick or two, ast helped out alongside summoning some poppy tree branches to pull more up. Percy swam down and brought up more. Even Frank helped by turning into a seal, which was kind of cool, though Percy claimed his breath smelled like fish.

It took all four of them to raise the chariot, but finally they'd managed to haul everything ashore to a black sand beach near the base of the glacier. They couldn't fit everything in the chariot, but they used Frank's rope to strap down most of the gold weapons and the best pieces of armor.

"It looks like Santa's sleigh," Frank said. "Can Arion even pull that much?"

Arion huffed.

"Rue," Percy said, "I am seriously going to wash your horse's mouth with soap. He says, yes, he can pull it, but he needs more food."

Hazel picked up an old Roman dagger, a pugio. It was bent and dull, so it wouldn't be much good in a fight, but it looked like solid Imperial gold.

"Here you go, Arion," she said. "High-performance fuel."

The horse took the dagger in his teeth and chewed it like an apple. Rue tilted aster's head, looking towards the rest of the gold that they could fit. "Hey, Hazel. Help me with this." The two of them managed shrink and warped it up to the size of a small boulder before flattening it out like the world's largest meat patty.

"Now, that's eating in luxury," Rue snorted as Arion chewed threw it like lawnmower over the landscape.

"I'm not doubting Arion's strength," Frank said carefully, "but will the chariot hold up? The last one—"

"This one has Imperial gold wheels and axle," Percy said. "It should hold."

"If not," Rue said, "this is going to be a short trip. But we're out of time. Come on!"

Frank and Percy climbed into the chariot. Rue swung up onto Arion's back and allowed Hazel to ride in front of ast.

"Giddy up!" she yelled.

The horse's sonic boom echoed across the bay. They sped south, avalanches tumbling down the mountains as they passed.

It took four hours for the fastest horse on the planet to get from Alaska to San Francisco Bay, heading straight over the water down the Northwest Coast.

Rue was seriously considering going to exposure therapy to get over ast's fear of horses or at least, this horse in particular. Rue wondered if Hazel wanted to go for shared custody.

The coastline began to look familiar. They raced past the Mendocino lighthouse. Shortly afterward, Mount Tam and the Marin headlands loomed out of the fog. Arion shot straight under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco Bay. They tore through Berkeley and into the Oakland Hills. When they reached the hilltop above the Caldecott Tunnel, Arion shuddered like a broken car and came to a stop, his chest heaving.

Hazel patted his sides lovingly. "You did great, Arion."

Rue gave him a some gold from the back of the chariot.

Percy and Frank jumped off the chariot. Frank hobbled to the top of the hill and peered down at the camp. "Guys...you need to see this." When Percy and Rue joined him, Rue's heart sank and Hazel meeped when she peered over next. The battle had begun, and it wasn't going well. The Twelfth Legion was arrayed on the Field of Mars, trying to protect the city. Scorpions fired into the ranks of the Earthborn. Hannibal the elephant plowed down monsters right and left, but the defenders were badly outnumbered.

On her pegasus Scipio, Reyna flew around the giant Polybotes, trying to keep him occupied. The Lares had formed shimmering purple lines against a mob of black, vaporous shades in ancient armor. Veteran demigods from the city had joined the battle, and were pushing their shield wall against an onslaught of wild centaurs. Giant eagles circled the battlefield, doing aerial combat with two snake-haired ladies in green Bargain Mart vests—Stheno and Euryale.

The legion itself was taking the brunt of the attack, but their formation was breaking. Each cohort was an island in a sea of enemies. Rue watched the Third and First Cohort do their best against a large pack of wolves and they looked nothing like Lupa's pack. The Cyclopes' siege tower shot glowing green cannonballs into the city, blasting craters in the forum, reducing houses to ruins. As Rue watched, a cannonball hit the Senate House and the dome partially collapsed.

"We're too late," Rue said.

"No," Percy said. "They're still fighting. We can do this."

"Where's Lupa?" Frank asked, desperation creeping into his voice. "She and the wolves...they should be here."

Rue shook aster's head. That wasn't how she operated. Her pack weren't front line fighters. They only attacked when they had vastly superior numbers, and usually under the cover of darkness. Besides, Lupa's first rule was self-sufficiency. She would help her children as much as she could, train them to fight—but in the end, they were either predator or prey.

Romans had to fight for themselves. They had to prove their worth or die.

That was Lupa's way.

(And also none of them were Jason who was her pup as much as Remus and Romulus had been.)

"She did what she could," Percy said. "She slowed down the army on its way south. Now it's up to us. We've got to get the gold eagle and these weapons to the legion."

"But Arion is out of steam!" Hazel said. "We can't haul this stuff ourselves."

"Maybe we don't have to." Percy scanned the hilltops. He whistled as loud as he could—a good New York cab whistle that would've been heard all the way from Times Square to Central Park.

Shadows rippled in the trees. A huge black shape bounded out of nowhere—a mastiff the size of an SUV, with a Cyclops and a harpy on her back.

"Hellhound!" Frank scrambled backward.

"Puppy," Rue cooed.

"It's okay!" Percy grinned. "These are friends."

"Brother!" Tyson climbed off and ran toward Percy. Rue blinked. The cyclops slammed into him and smothered him in a hug. Hazel looked as if she was about to faint. Then the cyclops let go and laughed with delight, looking Percy over with that massive baby brown eye.

"You are not dead!" he said. "I like it when you are not dead!"

Ella fluttered to the ground and began preening her feathers. "Ella found a dog," she announced. "A large dog. And a Cyclops." Was she blushing? Oh, that was just too cute. Lilith would love this.

The hellhound pounced on Percy, knocking him to the ground and barking so loudly that even Arion backed up.

"Hey, Mrs. O'Leary," Percy said. "Yeah, I love you too, girl. Good dog."

Hazel made a squeaking sound.

Rue snorted, "You have a hellhound named Mrs. O'Leary?"

"Long story." Percy managed to get to his feet and wipe off the dog slobber. "You can ask your brother..." His voice wavered when he saw whatever expression that was Rue was making and the look on Hazel's expression. Rue had told her about what Mors had told them about Nico while Hazel and Frank told Rue and Percy about what he had said about searching for the Doors of Death in Rome.

"Sorry," he said. "But yeah, this is my dog, Mrs. O'Leary. Tyson—these are my friends, Frank, Hazel, and Rue."

Percy turned to Ella, who was counting all the barbs in one of her feathers.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "We were worried about you."

"Ella is not strong," she said. "Cyclopes are strong. Tyson found Ella. Tyson took care of Ella."

Rue raised ast eyebrows. Ella was blushing.

"Tyson," he said, "you big charmer, you."

Tyson turned the same color as Ella's plumage. "Um...No." He leaned down and whispered nervously, loud enough for all the others to hear: "She is pretty."

Frank tapped his head like he was afraid his brain had short-circuited. "Anyway, there's this battle happening."

"Right," Percy agreed. "Tyson, where's Annabeth? Is any other help coming?"

Tyson pouted. His big brown eye got misty. "The big ship is not ready. Leo says tomorrow, maybe two days. Maybe next week. Dirty Lady being mean. Then they will come."

"We don't have two minutes," Percy said. "Okay, here's the plan."

As quickly as possible, he pointed out which were the good guys and the bad guys on the battlefield. Tyson was alarmed to learn that bad Cyclopes and bad centaurs were in the giant's army. "I have to hit pony men?"

"Just scare them away," Percy promised.

"Um, Percy?" Frank looked at Tyson with trepidation. "I just...don't want our friend here getting hurt. Is Tyson a fighter?"

Percy smiled. "Is he a fighter? Frank, you're looking at General Tyson of the Cyclops army. And by the way, Tyson, Frank is a descendant of Poseidon."

"Brother!" Tyson crushed Frank in a hug.

Percy stifled a laugh. "Actually he's more like a great-great-...Oh, never mind. Yeah, he's your brother."

"Thanks," Frank mumbled through a mouthful of flannel. "But if the legion mistakes Tyson for an enemy—"

"I've got it!" Rue dug around the chariot before pulling out the biggest Roman helmet that ast could find, plus an old Roman banner embroidered with SPQR. Ast handed them to Tyson. "Put those on, big guy. Then our friends will know you're on our team."

"Yay!" Tyson said. "I'm on your team!"

The helmet was ridiculously small, and he put the cape on backward, like a SPQR baby bib. Shit, that was adorable.

"It'll do," Percy said. "Ella, just stay here. Stay safe."

"Safe," Ella repeated. "Ella likes being safe. Safety in numbers. Safety deposit boxes. Ella will go with Tyson."

"What?" Percy said. "Oh...fine. Whatever. Just don't get hurt. And Mrs. O'Leary—"

"ROOOF!"

"How do you feel about pulling a chariot?"

They were, without a doubt, the strangest reinforcements in Roman military history. Rue rode Arion, who had recovered enough to carry one person at normal horse speed.

Frank transformed into a bald eagle—which Percy still found totally unfair as he loudly proclaimed—and soared above them. Tyson ran down the hill, waving his club and yelling, "Bad pony-men! BOO!" while Ella fluttered around him, reciting facts from the Old Farmer's Almanac.

As for Percy, he rode Mrs. O'Leary into battle with a chariot full of Imperial gold equipment clanking and clinking behind and Hazel levitating some in the air around them, the golden eagle standard of the Twelfth Legion raised high above him.

They skirted the perimeter of the camp and took the northernmost bridge over the Little Tiber, charging onto the Field of Mars at the western edge of the battle. A horde of Cyclopes was hammering away at the campers of the Fifth Cohort, who were trying to keep their shields locked just to stay alive.

Percy shouted, "Fifth Cohort!" and slammed into the nearest Cyclops.

The last things the poor monster saw were Mrs. O'Leary's teeth.

After the Cyclops disintegrated—and stayed disintegrated, thanks to Death—Percy leaped off his hellhound and slashed wildly through the other monsters.

Tyson charged at the Cyclops leader, Ma Gasket, her chain-mail dress spattered with mud and decorated with broken spears.

She gawked at Tyson and started to say, "Who—?"

Tyson hit her in the head so hard, she spun in a circle and landed on her rump.

"Bad Cyclops Lady!" he bellowed. "General Tyson says GO AWAY!"

He hit her again, and Ma Gasket broke into dust.

Hazel was swinging the gold around weapons with her hands along like she was genderbend version of Magneto.

Rue charged around on Arion, utilizing aster's whip to throw Cyclops into the air one after another where Frank blinded the enemies with his talons.

Once every Cyclops within fifty yards had been reduced to ashes, Frank landed in front of his troops and transformed into a human. His centurion's badge and Mural Crown gleamed on his winter jacket.

"Fifth Cohort!" he bellowed. "Get your Imperial gold weapons right here!"

The campers recovered from their shock and mobbed the chariot.

Percy did his best to hand out equipment quickly.

"Let's go, let's go!" Dakota urged, grinning like a madman as he swigged red Kool-Aid from his flask. "Our comrades need help!"

Soon the Fifth Cohort was equipped with new weapons and shields and helmets. They weren't exactly consistent. In fact they looked like they'd been shopping at a King Midas clearance sale. But they were suddenly the most powerful cohort in the legion.

"Follow the eagle!" Frank ordered. "To battle!"

The campers cheered. As Percy and Mrs. O'Leary charged onward, the entire cohort followed—forty extremely shiny gold-plated warriors screaming for blood.

They slammed into a herd of wild centaurs that were attacking the Third Cohort. When the campers of the Third saw the eagle standard, they shouted insanely and fought with renewed effort.

The centaurs didn't stand a chance. The two cohorts crushed them like a vise. Soon there was nothing left but piles of dust and assorted hooves and horns.

"Form ranks!" the centurions shouted. The two cohorts came together, their military training kicking in. Shields locked, they marched into battle against the Earthborn.

Frank shouted, "Pila!"

A hundred spears bristled. When Frank yelled, "Fire!" they sailed through the air—a wave of death cutting through the six-armed monsters.

The campers drew swords and advanced toward the center of the battle.

At the base of the aqueduct, the First and Second Cohorts were trying to encircle Polybotes, but they were taking a pounding. The remaining Earthborn threw barrage after barrage of stone and mud. Karpoi grain spirits—those horrible little piranha Cupids—were rushing through the tall grass abducting campers at random, pulling them away from the line. Rue's whip hardened into a javelin which ast through into the gran bundles, seeping life directly from the little monsters. Rue smiled. The Stygian iron will literally drain the life force of its target until there is nothing left, and it is absorbed into the metal.

Rue also saw the way that the First Cohort was also dodging attacks from the pack of wolves and they were nothing like Lupa's pack. Rue watched as Octavian danced around them, utilizing the silver dagger that he always kept up his sleeve to force them back. From Rue's peripheral, Hazel raised her hands and shot little silver nuggets into their eyes.

Rue was going to have so much fun training her!

In the yelps and retreat that followed, Octavian glided close to a russet colored wolf, lifted them into the air, and brought them down harshly onto his knee. Even from the distance between them and the yelling around them, Rue could hear the bone crack from that. The wolf shifted back into their—her mortal form. "Lina?" The blood drained from Octavian's face so fast that Rue would have thought he was dead if it weren't for the way that he spun on his foot, dagger sailing through the air and cutting off a paw from a lunging wolf.

The First Cohort immediately flanked him, snatching up the silver metal nuggets that Hazel had summoned and started to get in close enough to stone the wolves. Rue even saw one of Mars children manipulating the metal to look like a short knife before diving in head first. The crowds of monsters surrounded them once more and Rue lost sight of them.

The giant himself kept shaking basilisks out of his hair. Every time one landed, the Romans panicked and ran. Judging from their corroded shields and the smoking plumes on their helmets, they'd already learned about the basilisks' poison and fire. Reyna soared above the giant, diving in with her javelin whenever he turned his attention to the ground troops. Her purple cloak snapped in the wind. Her golden armor gleamed. Polybotes jabbed his trident and swung his weighted net, but Scipio was almost as nimble as Arion.

Then Reyna noticed the Fifth Cohort marching to their aid with the eagle. She was so stunned, the giant almost swatted her out of the air, but Scipio dodged. Reyna locked eyes with Percy and gave him a huge smile.

"Romans!" Her voice boomed across the fields. "Rally to the eagle!"

Demigods and monsters alike turned and gawked as Percy bounded forward on his hellhound and Rue appeared at his side atop of Arion.

"What is this?" Polybotes demanded. "What is this?"

Percy raised the eagle and shouted, "Twelfth Legion Fulminata!"

Thunder shook the valley. The eagle let loose a blinding flash, and a thousand tendrils of lightning exploded from its golden wings—arcing in front of Percy like the branches of an enormous deadly tree, connecting with the nearest monsters, leaping from one to another, completely ignoring the Roman forces. When the lightning stopped, the First and Second Cohorts were facing one surprised-looking giant and several hundred smoking piles of ash. The enemy's center line had been charred to oblivion.

The look on Octavian's face was priceless. The centurion stared at Percy with shock, then outrage (and Rue was unsurprised to see a bit of lust also). Then, when his own troops started to cheer, he had no choice except to join the shouting: "Rome! Rome!"

The giant Polybotes backed up uncertainly, but Percy knew the battle wasn't over.

The Fourth Cohort was still surrounded by Cyclopes. Even Hannibal the elephant was having a hard time wading through so many monsters.

His black Kevlar armor was ripped so that his label just said ant.

The veterans and Lares on the eastern flank were being pushed toward the city. The monsters' siege tower was still hurling explosive green fireballs into the streets. The gorgons had disabled the giant eagles and now flew unchallenged over the giant's remaining centaurs and the Earthborn, trying to rally them.

"Stand your ground!" Stheno yelled. "I've got free samples!"

Polybotes bellowed. A dozen fresh basilisks fell out of his hair, turning the grass to poison yellow. "You think this changes anything, Percy Jackson? I cannot be destroyed! Come forward, son of Neptune. I will break you!"

Percy dismounted. He handed Dakota the standard. "You are the cohort's senior centurion. Take care of this."

Dakota blinked, then he straightened with pride. He dropped his Kool-Aid flask and took the eagle. "I will carry it with honor."

"Frank, Rue, Hazel, Tyson," Percy said, "help the Fourth Cohort. I've got a giant to kill." He raised Riptide, but before he could advance, horns blew in the northern hills. Another army appeared on the ridge—hundreds of warriors in black-and-gray camouflage, armed with spears and shields. Interspersed among their ranks were a dozen battle forklifts, their sharpened tines gleaming in the sunset and flaming bolts nocked in their crossbows.

"Amazons," Frank said. "Great."

Polybotes laughed. "You, see? Our reinforcements have arrived! Rome will fall today!"

The Amazons lowered their spears and charged down the hill. Their forklifts barreled into battle. The giant's army cheered—until the Amazons changed course and headed straight for the monsters' intact eastern flank.

"Amazons, forward!" On the largest forklift stood a girl who looked like an older version of Reyna, in black combat armor with a glittering gold belt around her waist.

"Queen Hylla!" said Rue with a wide smile. "She survived!"

The Amazon queen shouted: "To my sister's aid! Destroy the monsters!"

"Destroy!" Her troops' cry echoed through the valley.

Reyna shouted, "Romans! Advance!"

The battlefield descended into absolute chaos. Amazon and Roman lines swung toward the enemy like the Doors of Death themselves.

Rue and Arion galloped across the battlefield, cutting down centaurs and karpoi. One grain spirit yelled, "Wheat! I'll give you wheat!" but Arion stomped him into a pile of breakfast cereal. Rue came up to a stop by Queen Hylla. "It's good to see you, your Highness," Rue said, swinging a few wolves around to land directly on the spears of a few amazons. The warriors tore into the beast and before long, there were a few women with blood on their faces and new capes made from their coats.

"And you too, Rue Harald," the Queen smiled before they were split up by the army. Rue rode passed Hazel, aster's sister slowly becoming overwhelm by the monsters and Rue would not lose aster's sister again. No way. Rue's whip wrapped around her waist and yanked her through the air to sit behind Rue.

Frank turned himself into an elephant and stomped through some Cyclopes, and Dakota held the golden eagle high, blasting lightning at any monsters that dared to challenge the Fifth Cohort.

Queen Hylla and Reyna joined forces, forklift and pegasus riding together, scattering the dark shades of fallen warriors. Rue's whip soared through the air to wrap around the forklift. Rue went swinging up ast was standing directly in the middle of the shades. "Spirits of the dead! To me!" Rue raised aster's hands and the air began to hum. Aster's eyes turned milky white. Rue stabbed aster's spear into the ground, and it cleaved through the earth like butter. The ground rumbled. Asphodel and poppy branches soared from the Underworld to wrap around the spirits. "I am the child of Dīs Pater. Serve me and be gone!"

Rue crumbled to aster's knees, but the exertion passed quickly.

A hand appeared in front of ast, and Rue traced it back upwards towards Pranjal who was smiling at Rue. He handed ast a nugget of ambrosia that Rue quickly ate. Rue clasped aster's hand in his and he yanked ast to aster's feet. There wasn't any more time for pleasantries as all around them, the battle was winding down.

As the last monsters were mopped up, the two of them joined the rest of the legion as they gathered closer to the city, forming a ring around Percy and the giant.

"I will take you prisoner, Percy Jackson," Polybotes snarled. "I will torture you under the sea. Every day the water will heal you, and every day I will bring you closer to death."

"Great offer," Percy said. "But I think I'll just kill you instead."

Polybotes bellowed in rage. He shook his head, and more basilisks flew from his hair.

"Get back!" Frank warned.

Fresh chaos spread through the ranks. Hazel spurred Arion and put herself between the basilisks and the campers. Rue snarled, moving forward. Rue was not losing Hazel! Frank changed form— shrinking into something lean and furry...a weasel? And when Frank charged the basilisks, they absolutely freaked out. They slithered away with Frank chasing after them in hot weasely pursuit.

Polybotes pointed his trident and ran toward Percy.

Rue could see Percy's plan a moment before it happened.

As the giant reached the Pomerian Line, Percy jumped aside like a bullfighter.

Polybotes barreled across the city limits.

"THAT'S IT!" Terminus cried. "That's AGAINST THE RULES!"

Polybotes frowned, obviously confused that he was being told off by a statue. "What are you?" he growled. "Shut up!" He pushed the statue over and turned back to Percy. A wave of anger pushed over the legion.

"Now I'm MAD!" Terminus shrieked. "I'm strangling you. Feel that? Those are my hands around your neck, you big bully. Get over here! I'm going to head-butt you so hard—"

"Enough!" The giant stepped on the statue and broke Terminus in three pieces—pedestal, body, and head. The growl that sounded from the army sounded more ferocious and fearsome than anything the opposing wolves could have done. How dare he!

"You DIDN'T!" shouted Terminus. "Percy Jackson, you've got yourself a deal! Let's kill this upstart."

The giant laughed so hard that he didn't realize Percy was charging until it was too late. Percy jumped up, vaulting off the giant's knee, and drove Riptide straight through one of the metal mouths on Polybotes's breastplate, sinking the Celestial bronze hilt-deep in his chest. The giant stumbled backward, tripping over Terminus's pedestal and crashing to the ground. While he was trying to get up, clawing at the sword in his chest, Percy hefted the head of the statue.

"You'll never win!" the giant groaned. "You cannot defeat me alone."

"I'm not alone." Percy raised the stone head above the giant's face.

"I'd like you to meet my friend Terminus. He's a god!"

Too late, awareness and fear dawned in the giant's face. Percy smashed the god's head as hard as he could into the Polybotes's nose, and the giant dissolved, crumbling into a steaming heap of seaweed, reptile skin, and poisonous muck.

Percy staggered away, completely exhausted.

"Ha!" said the head of Terminus. "That will teach him to obey the rules of Rome."

For a moment, the battlefield was silent except for a few fires burning, and a few retreating monsters screaming in panic. Rue smiled, moving closer to aster's cousin.

A ragged circle of Romans and Amazons stood around Percy. Tyson, Ella, and Mrs. O'Leary were there. Frank and Hazel were grinning at him with pride. Arion was nibbling contentedly on a golden shield.

"Percy," Rue cheered. "Percy!"

And then the Romans began to chant, "Percy! Percy!"

They mobbed him. Before he knew it, they were raising him on a shield. The cry changed to, "Praetor! Praetor!"

Rue snorted softly. Not a bad choice and someone would that work sensibly with Octavian (and also better protect him from the people that Rue knew were out to harm him).

Among the chanters was Reyna herself, who held up her hand and grasped Percy's in congratulation. Rue shook aster's head. The girl should be glad that Octavian was much too in love with Jason to care about her making a move on Percy also. Then the mob of cheering Romans carried him around the Pomerian Line, carefully avoiding Terminus's borders, and escorted him back home to Camp Jupiter.

---

Despite the exhausting battle, everyone was in good spirits.

Campers, Amazons and Lares crowded the mess hall for a lavish dinner. Even the fauns were invited, since they'd helped out by bandaging the wounded after the battle. Wind nymphs zipped around the room, delivering orders of pizza, burgers, steaks, salads, Chinese food, and burritos, all flying at terminal velocity.

Casualties had been light, and the few campers who'd previously died and come back to life, like Gwen, hadn't been taken to the Underworld. Maybe Mors had turned a blind eye. Or maybe Pluto had given those folks a pass, like he had for Hazel and Rue. Whatever the case, nobody complained.

Colorful Amazon and Roman banners hung side-by-side from the rafters. The restored golden eagle stood proudly behind the praetor's table, and the walls were decorated with cornucopias—magical horns of plenty that spilled out recycling waterfalls of fruit, chocolate, and fresh-baked cookies.

Rue had showered and got all the monster dust and mud and hyperborean booty juice out of aster's hair which was hanging freely around aster's head in a puff ball.

The cohorts mingled freely with the Amazons, jumping from couch to couch as they pleased, and for once the soldiers of the Fifth were welcome everywhere.

Rue learned how Hylla had defeated her challenger Otrera in two consecutive duels to the death, so that the Amazons were now calling their queen Hylla Twice-Kill. She had given Rue back the Death Card which had the queen's outrage and shocked face staring back at Rue with Erysichthon sprawled on the ground behind her.

The child of Pluto snorted, sliding it in aster's pocket. Those were going to be the ones that Rue personally deliver to Father.

There was a lot of flirting and arm-wrestling—which seemed to be the same thing for the Amazons.

Once everyone had eaten and the plates stopped flying, Reyna made a short speech. She formally welcomed the Amazons, thanking them for their help. Then she hugged her sister and everybody applauded.

Reyna raised her hands for quiet. "My sister and I haven't always seen eye to eye—"

Hylla laughed. "That's an understatement."

"She joined the Amazons," Reyna continued. "I joined Camp Jupiter. But looking around this room, I think we both made good choices. Strangely, our destinies were made possible by the hero you all just raised to praetor on the battlefield—Percy Jackson."

More cheering. The sisters raised their glasses to Percy and beckoned him forward.

Everybody asked for a speech, but Percy didn't know what to say. He protested that he really wasn't the best person for praetor, but the campers drowned him out with applause. Reyna took away his probatio neck plate. Octavian shot him a dirty look, then turned to the crowd and smiled like this was all his idea. He ripped open a teddy bear and pronounced good omens for the coming year—Fortuna would bless them!

Rue peeked over his shoulder to make sure that he wasn't just putting on a front.

He passed his hand over Percy's arm and shouted: "Percy Jackson, son of Neptune, first year of service!"

The Roman symbols burned onto Percy's arm: a trident, SPQR, and a single stripe

Octavian embraced him and whispered, "I hope it hurt."

Rue snorted softly because of course, he did.

Then Reyna gave him an eagle medal and purple cloak, symbols of the praetor. "You earned these, Percy."

Queen Hylla pounded him on the back. "And I've decided not to kill you."

"Um, thanks," Percy said.

"I demanded he join the Fifth Cohort!" Vitellius the Lar said proudly. "Spotted his talent right away!"

Rue snorted loudly at that.

Don the faun popped up in a nurse's hat, a stack of cookies in each hand. "Man, congrats and stuff! Awesome! Hey, do you have any spare change?"

There was talk about reinstating Frank's great-grandfather, Shen Lun, to the legion's roll of honor. Apparently he hadn't caused the 1906 earthquake after all.

Hazel was talking softly with a few members of the Fifth Cohort who were arguing over her with the Third Cohort about which one that she should join.

Rue sat with Pranjal and Octavian and Esra and Octavian's childhood friend, Lina. He wouldn't explain just how she ended up being a werewolf, but he fussed over her greatly and continuously apologized for breaking the right side of her ribs. Pranjal was splitting his time between her and Rue both, checking over their injuries while Esra kept an eye on Rue's plate so that ast was never without something to eat.

Everyone was calling the four of them the saviors of Rome, and they deserved it. Rue smiled at the way Hazel seemed flustered when some of the legionnaires appeared in front of her to congratulate her on facing her fears and killing her killer.

Percy sat for a while with Tyson and Ella, who were honored guests at Dakota's table. Tyson kept calling for peanut-butter sandwiches, eating them as fast as the nymphs could deliver. Ella perched at his shoulder on top of the couch and nibbled furiously on cinnamon rolls.

"Cinnamon rolls are good for harpies," she said. "June twenty-fourth is a good day. Roy Disney's birthday, and Fortuna's Feast, and Independence Day for Zanzibar. And Tyson."

She glanced at Tyson, then blushed and looked away.

After dinner, the entire legion got the night off.

Rue drifted alongside aster's friends down to the city, ast being carried on Octavian's back. The city wasn't quite recovered from the battle, but the fires were out, most of the debris had been swept up, and the citizens were determined to celebrate.

At the Pomerian Line, the statue of Terminus wore a paper party hat.

"Welcome, praetor!" he said. "You need any giants' faces smashed while you're in town, just let me know."

Rue and the others laughed joyfully.

"Thanks, Terminus," Percy said. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Yes, good. Your praetor's cape is an inch too low on the left. There—that's better. Where is my assistant? Julia!"

The little girl ran out from behind the pedestal. She was wearing a green dress tonight, and her hair was still in pigtails. When she smiled, Percy saw that her front teeth were starting to come in. She held up a box full of party hats.

"Ah, sure," Percy said when Julia gave him the big adoring eyes after he tried to decline. "I'll take the blue crown."

She offered Octavian a gold pirate hat. "I'm gonna be Percy Jackson when I grow up," she told Octavian solemnly.

Rue smiled, and reached down to ruffled her hair. "That's a good thing to be, Julia."

"Although," Frank said, picking out a hat shaped like a polar bear's head, "Frank Zhang would be good too."

"Frank!" Hazel said.

They put on their hats and continued to the forum, which was lit up with multicolored lanterns. The fountains glowed purple. The coffee shops were doing a brisk business, and street musicians filled the air with the sounds of guitar, lyre, panpipes, and armpit noises.

The goddess Iris must've been in a party mood too. As they strolled past the damaged Senate House, a dazzling rainbow appeared in the night sky. Unfortunately the goddess sent another blessing, too—a gentle rain of gluten-free R.O.F.L. cupcake simulations, which would either make cleaning up harder, or rebuilding easier. The cupcakes would make great bricks.

For a while, they all wandered the streets before everyone broke off into groups and Octavian led Rue a bit further out of the city to overlook the ocean.

"You know after you all left, I checked the auguries for a prophecy," he said. Rue hummed. "And what did it say?"

"To the North, beyond the gods, lies the legion's crown," he started.

"Okay, that's Alaska which is the land beyond the gods. It is also the most northern state in the United States and it's where the Eagle was located."

"Falling from ice, the Son of Neptune shall drown."

"Well that one could have a couple of meanings. Percy fell into some muskeg in Alaska and near drowned while within it. He then fell off a glacier while battling some shades, but apparently, as the son of the sea god, he cannot drown that way. But he did drown the enemies that he faced."

"It is a bit open ended," Octavian nodded. "The next line was: Life's Fire melts Death's Chains."

Rue's facial features shifted into a blank mask. "Well... that one I don't really know," ast lied. "All I know is that Frank nearly sacrificed himself."

"Well, the soul and mind are the main source of energy that control the physiological and spiritual processes of the human body in which the brain is regarded as microprocessor and worked together with mind. The soul is considered as super-controller and universal consciousness energy state in the body. And fire is a chemical reaction in which potential chemical energy in a fuel is converted to kinetic energy, principally heat. He could have possibly been literally given his soul to Mors." Octavian shook his head. "Do you just attract self-sacrifricing idiots into your orbit?"

"Well, you're here so what does that say about you?"

"Touché," he snorted. "But anyway, the last line was: Child of Pluto against their Father's Bane."

"Well, that could have been me or Hazel. Both of us are children of Pluto and both of us fought against him though Hazel was the one to make the killing blow."

"Maybe," he mused. "So. What comes next?"

"I don't know," Rue admitted glancing at him before turning to look back at the sea. "But I'm glad to have a good team at my side for it."

---

The next morning, Rue joined the others for an early breakfast before heading into the city before the senate was due to convene.

On the way, they passed the stables, where Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary were sleeping in. Tyson snored on a bed of hay next to the unicorns while Mrs. O'Leary had rolled on her back and covered her ears with her paws. On the stable roof, Ella roosted in a pile of old Roman scrolls, her head tucked under her wings. When they got to the forum, they sat by the fountains and watched the sun come up. The citizens were already busy sweeping up cupcake simulations, confetti, and party hats from last night's celebration. The engineer corps was working on a new arch that would commemorate the victory over Polybotes.

Rue said she'd even heard talk of a formal triumph for the three of them—a parade around the city followed by a week of games and celebrations—but Rue knew they'd never get the chance. They didn't have time.

Percy told them about his dream of Juno. Rue frowned.

"The gods were busy last night," Hazel stated meekly. "Show them, Frank."

Frank reached into his coat pocket. Rue thought he might bring out his piece of firewood, but instead he produced a thin paperback book and a note on red stationery.

"These were on my pillow this morning." He passed them to Percy. "Like the Tooth Fairy visited."

The book was The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

Esra liked to read it as if it were a bedtime story. The letter read: Good job, kid. A real man's best weapon is his mind. This was your mom's favorite book. Give it a read. P.S.—I hope your friend Percy has learned some respect for me.

"Wow." Percy handed back the book. "Maybe Mars is different than Ares. I don't think Ares can read."

Rue rolled ast's eyes.

Frank flipped through the pages. "There's a lot in here about sacrifice, knowing the cost of war. Back in Vancouver, Mars told me I'd have to put my duty ahead of my life or the entire war would go sideways. I thought he meant freeing Mors, but now...I don't know. I'm still alive, so maybe the worst is yet to come."

He glanced nervously at Percy, and Rue got the feeling Frank wasn't telling them everything.

"You risked your life," Percy said. "You were willing to burn up to save the quest. Mars can't expect more than that."

"Maybe," Frank said doubtfully.

Hazel squeezed Frank's hand. Rue raised a brow and wondered if ast was going to have to give a shovel talk. (Please let Rue have to give a shovel talk. That meant that Frank was over that ridiculous crush of his.)

"Rue, how about you two?" Percy asked. "Any word from Pluto?"

Hazel looked down. Several diamonds popped out of the ground at her feet. "No," she admitted. "In a way, I think he sent a message through Thanatos. My name wasn't on that list of escaped souls. It should have been."

"You think your dad is giving you a pass?" Percy asked.

Rue shrugged. "Pluto can't visit her or even talk to her without acknowledging that she's alive. Then he'd have to enforce the laws of death and have Mors bring me back to the Underworld. I think my dad is turning a blind eye. This is as much as he could do for his hand in her curse and well, as for me, I think he wants me to find Nico."

"We'll find your brother," Percy promised. "As soon as the ship gets here, we'll sail for Rome."

"Percy..." Frank said. "If you want us to come along, we're in. But are you sure? I mean...we know you've got tons of friends at the other camp. And you could pick anyone at Camp Jupiter now. If we're not part of the seven, we'd understand—"

"Are you kidding?" Percy said. "You think I'd leave my team behind? After surviving Fleecy's wheat germ, running from cannibals, and hiding under blue giant butts in Alaska? Come on!"

The tension broke. All three of them started cracking up, maybe a little too much, but it was a relief to be alive, with the warm sun shining, and not worrying—at least for the moment—about sinister faces appearing in the shadows of the hills. And it was all the better when Hazel joined in, not knowing everything that went down, but knowing enough to know that if they were laughing, then they were okay or as okay as they could be.

Rue took a deep breath. "The prophecy Ella gave us—about the child of wisdom, and the mark of Athena burning through Rome...do you know what that's about?"

"I'm not sure," Percy admitted. "I think there's more to the prophecy. Maybe Ella can remember the rest of it."

Frank slipped his book into his pocket. "We need to take her with us—I mean, for her own safety. If Octavian finds out Ella has the Sibylline Books memorized..."

Rue shook aster's head. "I know you like to think that he's next coming of the anti-christ, but out of everyone in the The College of Pontiffs, he's not the one you need to worry about." Octavian was charming with a smooth tongue that could talk a person out of their draws and leave them with nothing but the skin that they were born in. But in comparison to some of the others like Trent when he was alive or Dodie even now who believed and behaved as if he was the next coming of christ, well Octavian was a saint.

Percy shuddered. Octavian used prophecies to keep his power at camp. Now that Percy had taken away his chance at praetor, Octavian would be looking for other ways to exert influence. If he got hold of Ella...

"We've got to protect her." Percy said. " I just hope we can convince her—"

"Percy!" Tyson came running across the forum, Ella fluttering behind him with a scroll in her talons. When they reached the fountain, Ella dropped the scroll in Percy's lap.

"Special delivery," she said. "From an aura. A wind spirit. Yes, Ella got a special delivery."

"Good morning, brothers!" Tyson had hay in his hair and peanut butter in his teeth. "The scroll is from Leo. He is funny and small."

The scroll looked unremarkable, but when Percy spread it across his lap, a video recording flickered on the parchment. A kid in Greek armor grinned up at them. He had an impish face, curly black hair, and wild eyes, like he'd just had several cups of coffee. He was sitting in a dark room with timber walls like a ship's cabin. Oil lamps swung back and forth on the ceiling.

Hazel choked.

"What?" Frank asked. "What's wrong?"

Slowly, Rue realized the curly-haired kid looked familiar—and not just from aster's dreams.

"No way," Rue murmured.

"Hey!" said the guy in the video. "Greetings from your friends at Camp Half-Blood, et cetera. This is Leo. I'm the..." He looked off screen and yelled: "What's my title? Am I like admiral, or captain, or—"

A girl's voice yelled back, "Repair boy."

"Very funny, Drew," Leo grumbled. Percy jerked as if he recognized the name. He probably did. Leo turned back to the parchment screen. "So yeah, I'm ... ah ... supreme commander of the Argo II. Yeah, I like that! Anyway, we're gonna be sailing toward you in about, I dunno, a few days in this big mother warship. We'd appreciate it if you'd not, like, blow us out of the sky or anything. So okay! If you could tell the Romans that. See you soon. Yours in demigodishness, and all that. Peace out."

The parchment turned blank.

"It can't be," Hazel said.

"What?" Frank asked. "You know that guy?"

The siblings looked like they'd seen a ghost. The kid on the warship looked exactly like Hazel's old boyfriend.

"It's Sammy Valdez," Rue said. "But how...how—"

"It can't be," Percy said. "That guy's name is Leo. And it's been seventy-something years. It has to be a..."

They were interrupted by horns blowing in the distance. The senators came marching into the forum with Reyna at the lead.

"It's meeting time," Percy said. "Come on. We've got to warn them about the warship."

And as per usual, the meeting went to hell quickly.

Gotta love them and Rue desperately wished ast had some popcorn.

"Why should we trust these Greeks?" Dodie was saying because somehow he managed to get up before Octavian; the latter of which looked like he was deciding which way was would be the best to prolong Dodie's death and make it extra painful.

He'd been pacing the senate floor for five minutes, going on and on, trying to counter what Percy had told them about Juno's plan and the Prophecy of Seven. The senate shifted restlessly, but most of them were too afraid to interrupt Dodie while he was on a roll. Meanwhile the sun climbed in the sky, shining through the broken senate roof and giving Dodie a natural spotlight.

The Senate House was packed. Queen Hylla, Frank, and Rue sat in the front row with the senators. Veterans and ghosts filled the back rows.

Even Tyson and Ella and Hazel and Lina had been allowed to sit in the back.

Percy and Reyna occupied matching praetors' chairs on the dais. Octavian stood dutifully at their side with Rue on the other staring blankly at the auger below them.

"The camp is safe," Dodie continued. "I'll be the first to congratulate our heroes for bringing back the legion's eagle and so much Imperial gold! Truly we have been blessed with good fortune. But why do more? Why tempt fate?"

"I'm glad you asked." Percy stood, taking the question as an opening.

Dodie stammered, "I wasn't—"

"—part of the quest," Percy said. Octavian smirked. "Yes, I know. And you're wise to let me explain, since I was."

Some of the senators snickered. Dodie had no choice but to sit down and try not to look embarrassed.

"Gaea is waking," Percy said. "We've defeated two of her giants, but that's only the beginning. The real war will take place in the old land of the gods. The quest will take us to Rome, and eventually to Greece."

An uneasy ripple spread through the senate.

"I know, I know," Percy said. "You've always thought of the Greeks as your enemies. And there's a good reason for that. I think the gods have kept our two camps apart because whenever we meet, we fight. But that can change. It has to change if we're to defeat Gaea. That's what the Prophecy of Seven means. Seven demigods, Greek and Roman, will have to close the Doors of Death together."

"Ha!" shouted a Lar from the back row. "The last time a praetor tried to interpret the Prophecy of Seven, it was Michael Varus, who lost our eagle in Alaska! Why should we believe you now?"

Dodie smiled smugly. Some of his allies in the senate began nodding and grumbling. Even some of the veterans looked uncertain.

"I carried Juno across the Tiber," Percy reminded them, speaking as firmly as he could. "She told me that the Prophecy of Seven is coming to pass. Mars also appeared to you in person. Do you think two of your most important gods would appear at camp if the situation wasn't serious?"

"He's right," Gwen said from the second row. "I, for one, trust Percy's word. Greek or not, he restored the honor of the legion. You saw him on the battlefield last night. Would anyone here say he is not a true hero of Rome?"

Nobody argued. A few nodded in agreement even Octavian as reluctant as he was.

Reyna stood. Rue watched her impassively. Her opinion could change everything—for better or worse. And not just for the quest. The senate had allowed her to skate by her yearly mark back in January and it was due time to find her replacement since Percy filled the vacancy. If she chose wrong, it would just add onto the already admiral pile of information that Octavian had to get her out and far away from any political position.

"You claim this is a combined quest," she said. "You claim Juno intends for us to work with this—this other group, Camp Half-Blood. Yet the Greeks have been our enemies for eons. They are known for their deceptions."

"Maybe so," Percy said. "But enemies can become friends. A week ago, would you have thought Romans and Amazons would be fighting side by side?"

Queen Hylla laughed. "He's got a point."

"The demigods of Camp Half-Blood have already been working with Camp Jupiter," Percy said. "We just didn't realize it. During the Titan War last summer, while you were attacking Mount Othrys, we were defending Mount Olympus in Manhattan. I fought Kronos myself."

Reyna backed up, almost tripping over her toga. "You... what?"

"I know it's hard to believe," Percy said. "But I think I've earned your trust. I'm on your side. Rue and Frank—I'm sure they're meant to go with me on this quest. The other four are on their way from Camp Half-Blood right now. One of them is Jason Grace, your old praetor."

For the first time ever, Octavian broke decorum inside of the senate meeting. His eyes focused on Percy intently and he looked at him as if he was the answers to all his prayers.

"Oh, come on!" Dodie shouted, but even he chanced worried eyes onto Octavian. "He's making things up, now."

Octavian frowned. "It is a lot to believe. Jason is coming back with a bunch of Greek demigods? You say they're going to appear in the sky in a heavily armed warship, but we shouldn't be worried."

"Yes." Percy looked over the rows of nervous, doubtful spectators.

"Just let them land. Hear them out. Jason will backup everything I'm telling you. I swear it on my life."

"On your life?" Dodie looked meaningfully at the senate. "We will remember that, if this turns out to be a trick."

"Quiet," Octavian snapped, turning suddenly blazing eyes onto the boy. Once Dodie shrunk away from the pure murderous eyes, Octavian turned back to Reyna and inclined his head. "Praetor, if I may, this clearly a topic that will need a lot more discussion than a few hours. May haps we should adjourn for now?"

"Excellent decision," Reyna said, nodding her head sharply. "Senators, think over the details that you have heard. Percy states that we have a week at most before our... guests arrive. Utilize this time to come to a decision and we shall meet again in one weeks time to discuss it. In the meanwhile, I have served Twelfth Legion Fulminata dutifully and with honor. The senate granted me an extra six months of service and I thank them for their trust. As such, it is time for me to step away and thus on Kalendae Quintilis, I will be stepping down and a vote shall commence for the next co-leader of the Twelfth Legion."

---

|| END OF ARC II ||

|| The Son of Neptune||

---

WORD COUNT: 23889

WORDS TO KNOW:

1) Theoi Eleusinioi" (Eleusinian gods)

2) "Theoi Mystikoi" (gods of the Mysteries)

3) Kalendae Quintilis - July 1st

ROMAN GODS NAMED:

1) Jasius - Iasiôn: agricultural hero and the springtime consort of Demeter in the Samothracian Mysteries. Iasion lay with the goddess in a thrice-ploughed field during the wedding celebrations of Kadmos and Harmonia on the island of Samothrake. When Zeus learned of the affair he slew Iasion with a thunderbolt.

2) Makaria is Naenia: the goddess of a "blessed" death, a minion of her father Haides. Connected with the passage of souls to the Islands of the Blessed (Nesoi Makarioi).

3) Sabazios was a Phrygian god identified with Dionysos and the Orphic Zagreus. So, I'm using it as Zagreus' roman name.

---

THINGS TO KNOW:

1) Zagreus is considered to be the son of Zeus and Persephone, but researching that and his connection to Dionysos, some people have come to think of him moreso as a son of Zeus and Demeter especially once you look into the account of Zeus and Demeter being regarded as Dionysos parents instead of Semele and then, when you connect it to Roman mythology which I rarely ever do, but the connection is that Liber who was the original roman form of Dionysos before they got lazy and just used Bacchus as his roman name... Anyway, Liber was considered the twin of Libera. Ceres who is the roman form of Demeter has only two children. Liber and Libera. Proserpina came as a name after they hellenized Persephone. Liber and LIbera was considered twins so if we're going by this idea that the roman gods being the same as the greek gods which they are not then that means that the "first" Dionysos would be the son of Zeus and Demeter and not Zeus and Persephone.

2) In classical antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. Since Troy was also in Anatolia and then went on to be the Mother of Rome, I found it to be a good substitute for a roman name.

3) Stygian iron is much more dangerous than Imperial Gold or Celestial Bronze. While still able to harm monsters, demigods, and immortals, it can also harm mortals. It is also different in the way it destroys its targets. While most magical metals turn monsters to dust, Stygian iron will literally drain the life force of its target until there is nothing left, and it is absorbed into the blade. This makes it dangerous even to those that are already dead, such as ghosts and shades. Stygian iron also has the added benefit of being able to channel the power of the Underworld.

3A) Giving that Alcyoneus cannot be killed in his own territory, its shows why it didn't work on him. The gryphons, however, are strange.

---

COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHOR:

1) I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but Rue is younger than Percy by 5 months. Her birthday is January 1st, 1994. Octavian is older than Percy. His birthday being June 9th, 1992. (Not canon. But I have attachment issues and I now adore him so he has my birth month and day.)

2) It would've been so sick if someone from Alaska had recognized Hazel from the 40s.

3) Another reason as to why Jason was easily Percy's equal and I wish we knew more about him. Like "Gaea hates you above all others...except perhaps for that upstart Jason Grace." Like let's be fucking fr.

3A) Lmfaooo. Both of them stood up against the King of her children and won AND they both went up against what could be considered the second strongest and won. (Jason and Krios, Percy and Hyperion. Percy also had Iapetus and since it wasn't mentioned where he was, it came be assumed that Jason faced Koios also.)

4) Technically speaking, the wolves weren't said to be at the Siege of Camp Jupiter, but like I needed to add Lina in. And we'll learn more about her!

5) The second half of the prophecy which talks about Life's Fire and Child of Pluto is my own creation since that prophecy was incomplete.