Act I Chapter XXVIII: The Demigods Get Ahead

"What did you two do?!"

"Is that Terminus?"

"No time to explain. We need to-"

"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!"

"We have no choice but to run!"

"More running. Less questions!"

"STAY IN A SINGLE FILE LINE!"

The four demigods made it outside flanked by a centaur holding onto the head of a statue. Percy skidded to a halt and looked at his friends. Reyna stopped next to him and instantly turned away. She coughed miserably and rubbed her throat, still not recovered from being strangled by one of Mrs. Dodds' triplets.

"Guys, we can't stay here," Luke insisted breathlessly while motioning with his head. Percy followed his gesture to see mortals were already turning to them. Some were raising their phones like they were taking pictures or videos.

"Guess we're running again," Percy muttered, and he hated to run. Thanks to all of the training, he wasn't out of shape. But, who liked to run? Who looked at themselves in the mirror and said that running was fun? Especially after they just finished fighting monsters.

The four of them ran, and Chiron easily lead them as he raced ahead. They made it down a few blocks before Percy was forced to stop because his lungs were about to explode. Reyna looked like she was in the same boat as she doubled over and started to cough miserably.

"What happened?" Annabeth demanded as she slowly caught her breath. Her gaze moved between the two of them as Luke moved to Reyna's side. There were marks on Reyna's neck from where the monster had been strangling her. She tried to wave away Luke's concern, but he promptly ignored her and studied her neck.

"Got attacked by triplets," Percy gasped in between breaths. "Found Terminus."

"It's just a head," Annabeth began. She looked back at the statue head in question and scowled.

"I'll show you just a head," Terminus snapped. Chiron carefully placed the statue's head on the dumpster, so he was looking at them. Well, facing them. "I can smell Greek on all of you!"

"Because they are Greeks," Chiron said gently. "But, we can take you to Lupa."

"Then take me to her right now!" Terminus ordered. "And, I don't want a graecus to touch me. Romans only!"

"We could put him in a jacket," Percy suggested. He heard the sky rumbling as if it was about to rain again, and a frown twisted his lips.

"NO!" Terminus screeched. "Only the Roman can touch me!"

"Terminus," Reyna began. She turned to cough miserably before clearing her throat. "Aren't you supposed to have a body? Like a bust."

"Well of course I do," Terminus said, and Percy could have sworn the statue rolled his eyes, even if marble covered it. "But, my head was knocked clean off of my shoulders when Camp Jupiter was..."

Terminus fell silent. A scowl etched itself onto his face, and he didn't say another word. Luke spoke, "Is your body important?"

"Of course it is! Even a graecus should know that! Without my body, I have a limited amount of power," Terminus sneered.

"If we found your body, could we reattach you?" Annabeth questioned.

"I'll pop right back on," Terminus huffed. "I don't see how I can trust any of you to not desecrate the rest of me."

"Terminus, we will find your body and return it to you as we found it. I swear that on my honor," Reyna affirmed. Terminus frowned, but the rest of his face seemed to relax. "In return, we need you to help us protect a new camp just like you protected Camp Jupiter. The gods are dying, Terminus. Greek and Roman doesn't matter. Right now, we are just demigods trying to survive."

"If we can establish a camp for us to be safe, we can have a place for demigods to gather and train. We can raise an army to save the gods," Annabeth added.

"Lupa has been helping us," Percy chimed in. "She's the one who wanted us to find you, and if she wasn't watching over a few other demigods, she would be here."

"If you find my body, I will think about protecting this camp of yours," Terminus supplied. "And while you're at it, take this blindfold off of my eyes."

"It is not a blindfold," Chiron said gently. "Someone used marble to cover your eyes, probably so you couldn't see where you were and call for help. We will need tools to remove the marble."

"I want to see Lupa first," Terminus said.

"How are you going to see her if you're eyes are covered?" Percy asked. Annabeth gave him a look and shook her head. A small smile twitched on Luke's face. Terminus seemed like he was trying to turn his head, but without a neck, it was futile.

"I can hear you, graecus!" Terminus hissed. "You and your kind are nothing more than monsters!"

"Terminus, we're just trying to save this world," Reyna interrupted. "Chiron can take you back to Lupa. He'll be the fastest, and I know Lupa will take care of you. The four of us can find the rest of your body and return it to you."

"Wouldn't it be smarter to bring his head to the bust?" Annabeth questioned.

"Not until I see Lupa," Terminus countered.

"It will take longer to go to Lupa than look for his body. We'll save more time if we just head right for where the rest of Terminus is," Luke suggested, crossing his arms. "Do you know where the rest of your body is?"

Terminus puckered his lips and seemed to think about it. He finally spoke, "Maybe."

"Maybe," Annabeth repeated. She looked down and then closed her eyes tightly. "The prophecy... Reyna saw the bust that was Terminus but nothing else. I saw a museum, which was the one we were just in. So, does that mean Terminus' body is in that prison I found?"

"A prison. That sounds right," Terminus said softly. He frowned and seemed to be thinking hard. "I can sense things from my body. Voices. Almost like a tour guide. And hissing. Of a monster."

"Alcatraz!" Annabeth realized as her eyes snapped open. "That's the place the Oracle showed me!"

"Alcatraz," Luke repeated. He looked at Chiron. "Why would Terminus' body be there?"

"I'm not sure," Chiron admitted with a frown. "That is a far place to travel to. If Annabeth is wrong about this-"

"I'm not," Annabeth insisted. "Chiron, I know that I saw Alcatraz. I went there before with my... father. When I was younger. We went on a tour."

"That's in California," Reyna said as she crossed her arms and almost seemed to shiver.

"Near Camp Jupiter!" Terminus almost shouted. Percy jumped from the sudden scream. "I remember now. Some monster collected my head, gave it to someone else, and said that she would display the rest of me with her collections."

"Camp Jupiter was in California?" Annabeth asked softly. Terminus frowned at her remark; then, he sighed.

"Yes. It was in California. Though, I suspect there are only ruins now," Terminus said sadly. He sniffled. "I don't know what happened. How could I not tell the gifts were meant to kill us? And our praetor. Oh, that dear boy."

A tear slid down Terminus' cheek. Chiron wiped it away for him. Terminus slowly continued, "The other praetor promised vengeance. Swore it to the gods."

As Percy glanced to his left, he saw that Annabeth was visibly biting her tongue. It looked like she wanted to say something. Maybe even to argue with Terminus that this was all the fault of the Romans because they attacked the Greeks. There was no need to open that old wound, though. Not if they wanted Terminus to help them.

Luke had his arms crossed as he looked in between Chiron and Terminus. There was an inquisitive look on his face, and the fingers on his right hand kept lowering and raising like he was counting something. Percy glanced over at Reyna, who was just looking at Terminus intently.

"This praetor that swore vengeance," Annabeth began. "Who were they? Were they the ones that destroyed Camp Half-Blood?"

"Annabeth," Chiron said gently. "Now is not the time."

"Lupa knows about this praetor then, doesn't she? Did the praetor survive?" Annabeth questioned.

"Why would a graecus care?" Terminus demanded. "After all, this is all because of your kind!"

"The Greeks didn't do anything," Annabeth argued.

"You weren't even there, child. The Greeks- NO JAYWALKING!"

Percy jumped and put a hand to his heart. He turned his head and saw that someone in the middle of the street had that same look of terror. They quickly finished their illegal crossing of the street. But, Terminus wasn't done.

"STOP AT THE LINE!"

"Oh gods," Luke groaned. "Is he going to do this the whole time?"

"NO RIGHT TURNS ON THAT RED LIGHT!"

"I should take Terminus back to Lupa," Chiron stated. His gaze moved to Annabeth. "I know you are curious about what happened, Annabeth. But I do not think that Terminus knows. The one who knows the most is Lupa. Even then, she wasn't there. She doesn't know everything, and she will not want to talk about it."

Annabeth remained silent. Percy slowly spoke, "Should we head to Alcatraz then? How would we even get there? Fly? I've never flown in a plane before."

"A car would take too long," Annabeth said. "A train would take even longer. If we want to hurry, we need to fly."

"Do we even have money for that?" Luke questioned. He looked at Chiron. "What should we do?"

Chiron studied them and seemed to think about it. A sigh finally left him, "You should fly there. It will be the fastest route, and I'm sure I can use the mist to get you past any security. Come. Let's head to the airport."