XXXIV
Leo
‘A BARGAIN.’ Leo fingers twitched. ‘Yeah. Absolutely.’
His hands went to work before his mind knew what he was doing. He started pulling things out of the pockets of his magic tool belt – copper wire, some bolts, a brass funnel. For months he’d been stashing away bits and pieces of machinery, because he never knew what he might need. And the longer he used the belt, the more intuitive it became. He’d reach in and the right items would simply appear.
‘So the thing is,’ Leo said as his hands twisted wire, ‘Zeus is already P.O.’ed at you, right? If you help us defeat Gaia, you could make it up to him.’
Apollo wrinkled his nose. ‘I suppose that’s possible. But it would be easier to smite you.’
‘What kind of ballad would that make?’ Leo’s hands worked furiously, attaching levers, fastening the metal funnel to an old gear shaft. ‘You’re the god of music, right? Would you listen to a song called “Apollo Smites a Runty Little Demigod”? I wouldn’t. But “Apollo Defeats the Earth Mother and Saves the Freaking Universe” … that sounds like a Billboard chart-topper!’
Apollo gazed into the air, as if envisioning his name on a marquee. ‘What do you want exactly? And what do I get out of it?’
‘First thing I need: advice.’ Leo strung some wires across the mouth of the funnel. ‘I want to know if a plan of mine will work.’
Leo explained what he had in mind. He’d been chewing on the idea for days, ever since Jason came back from the bottom of the sea and Leo started talking with Nike.
A primordial god has been defeated once before, Kymopoleia had told Jason. You know of whom I speak.
Leo’s conversations with Nike had helped him fine-tune the plan, but he still wanted a second opinion from another god. Because, once Leo committed himself, there would be no going back.
He half hoped Apollo would laugh and tell him to forget it.
Instead, the god nodded thoughtfully. ‘I will give you this advice for free. You might be able to defeat Gaia in the way you describe, similar to the way Ouranos was defeated aeons ago. However, any mortal close by would be utterly …’ Apollo’s voice faltered. ‘What is that you have made?’
Leo looked down at the contraption in his hands. Layers of copper wires, like multiple sets of guitar strings, crisscrossed inside the funnel. Rows of striking pins were controlled by levers on the outside of the cone, which was fixed to a square metal base with a bunch of crank handles.
‘Oh, this … ?’ Leo’s mind raced furiously. The thing looked like a music box fused with an old-fashioned phonograph, but what was it?
A bargaining chip.
Artemis had told him to make a deal with Apollo.
Leo remembered a story the kids in Cabin Eleven used to brag about: how their father, Hermes, had avoided punishment for stealing Apollo’s sacred cows. When Hermes got caught, he made a musical instrument – the first lyre – and traded it to Apollo, who immediately forgave him.
A few days ago, Piper mentioned seeing the cave on Pylos where Hermes hid those cows. That must’ve triggered Leo’s subconscious. Without even meaning to, he’d built a musical instrument, which kind of surprised him, since he knew nothing about music.
‘Um, well,’ Leo said, ‘this is quite simply the most amazing instrument ever!’
‘How does it work?’ asked the god.
Good question, Leo thought.
He turned the crank handles, hoping the thing wouldn’t explode in his face. A few clear tones rang out – metallic yet warm. Leo manipulated the levers and gears. He recognized the song that sprang forth – the same wistful melody Calypso sang for him on Ogygia about homesickness and longing. But, through the strings of the brass cone, the tune sounded even sadder, like a machine with a broken heart – the way Festus might sound if he could sing.
Leo forgot Apollo was there. He played the song all the way through. When he was done, his eyes stung. He could almost smell the fresh-baked bread from Calypso’s kitchen. He could taste the only kiss she’d ever given him.
Apollo stared in awe at the instrument. ‘I must have it. What is it called? What do you want for it?’
Leo had a sudden instinct to hide the instrument and keep it for himself. But he swallowed his melancholy. He had a task to complete.
Calypso … Calypso needed him to succeed.
‘This is the Valdezinator, of course!’ He puffed out his chest. ‘It works by, um, translating your feelings into music as you manipulate the gears. It’s really meant for me, a child of Hephaestus, to use, though. I don’t know if you could –’
‘I am the god of music!’ Apollo cried. ‘I can certainly master the Valdezinator. I must! It is my duty!’
‘So let’s wheel and deal, Music Man,’ Leo said. ‘I give you this; you give me the physician’s cure.’
‘Oh …’ Apollo bit his godly lip. ‘Well, I don’t actually have the physician’s cure.’
‘I thought you were the god of medicine.’
‘Yes, but I’m the god of many things! Poetry, music, the Delphic Oracle –’ He broke into a sob and covered his mouth with his fist. ‘Sorry. I’m fine, I’m fine. As I was saying, I have many spheres of influence. Then, of course, I have the whole “sun god” gig, which I inherited from Helios. The point is, I’m rather like a general practitioner. For the physician’s cure, you would need to see a specialist – the only one who has ever successfully cured death: my son Asclepius, the god of healers.’
Leo’s heart sank into his socks. The last thing they needed was another quest to find another god who would probably demand his own commemorative T-shirt or Valdezinator.
‘That’s a shame, Apollo. I was hoping we could make a deal.’ Leo turned the levers on his Valdezinator, coaxing out an even sadder tune.
‘Stop!’ Apollo wailed. ‘It’s too beautiful! I’ll give you directions to Asclepius. He’s really very close!’
‘How do we know he’ll help us? We’ve only got two days until Gaia wakes.’
‘He’ll help!’ Apollo promised. ‘My son is very helpful. Just plead with him in my name. You’ll find him at his old temple in Epidaurus.’
‘What’s the catch?’
‘Ah … well, nothing. Except, of course, he’s guarded.’
‘Guarded by what?’
‘I don’t know!’ Apollo spread his hands helplessly. ‘I only know Zeus is keeping Asclepius under guard so he doesn’t go running around the world resurrecting people. The first time Asclepius raised the dead … well, he caused quite an uproar. It’s a long story. But I’m sure you can convince him to help.’
‘This isn’t sounding like much of a deal,’ Leo said. ‘What about the last ingredient – the curse of Delos. What is it?’
Apollo eyed the Valdezinator greedily. Leo worried the god might just take it, and how could Leo stop him? Blasting the sun god with fire probably wouldn’t do much good.
‘I can give the last ingredient to you,’ Apollo said. ‘Then you’ll have everything you need for Asclepius to brew the potion.’
Leo played another verse. ‘I dunno. Trading this beautiful Valdezinator for some Delos curse –’
‘It’s not actually a curse! Look …’ Apollo sprinted to the nearest patch of wildflowers and picked a yellow one from a crack between the stones. ‘This is the curse of Delos.’
Leo stared at it. ‘A cursed daisy?’
Apollo sighed in exasperation. ‘That’s just a nickname. When my mother, Leto, was ready to give birth to Artemis and me, Hera was angry, because Zeus had cheated on her again. So she went around to every single landmass on earth. She made the nature spirits in each place promise to turn my mother away so she couldn’t give birth anywhere.’
‘Sounds like something Hera would do.’
‘I know, right? Anyway, Hera exacted promises from every land that was rooted on the earth – but not from Delos, because back then Delos was a floating island. The nature spirits of Delos welcomed my mother. She gave birth to my sister and me, and the island was so happy to be our new sacred home it covered itself in these little yellow flowers. The flowers are a blessing, because we’re awesome. But they also symbolize a curse, because once we were born Delos got rooted in place and wasn’t able to drift around the sea any more. That’s why yellow daisies are called the curse of Delos.’
‘So I could have just picked a daisy myself and walked away.’
‘No, no! Not for the potion you have in mind. The flower would have to be picked by either my sister or me. So what do you say, demigod? Directions to Asclepius and your last magical ingredient in exchange for that new musical instrument – do we have a deal?’
Leo hated to give away a perfectly good Valdezinator for a wildflower, but he saw no other choice. ‘You drive a hard bargain, Music Man.’
They made the trade.
‘Excellent!’ Apollo turned the levers of the Valdezinator, which made a sound like a car engine on a cold morning. ‘Hmm … perhaps it’ll take some practice, but I’ll get it! Now let us find your friends. The sooner you leave, the better!’
Hazel and Frank waited at the Delos docks. Artemis was nowhere in sight.
When Leo turned to tell Apollo goodbye, the god was gone, too.
‘Man,’ Leo muttered, ‘he was really anxious to practice his Valdezinator.’
‘His what?’ Hazel asked.
Leo told them about his new hobby as a genius inventor of musical funnels.
Frank scratched his head. ‘And in exchange you got a daisy?’
‘It’s the final ingredient to cure death, Zhang. It’s a super daisy! How about you guys? Learn anything from Artemis?’
‘Unfortunately, yes.’ Hazel gazed across the water, where the Argo II bobbed at anchor. ‘Artemis knows a lot about missile weapons. She told us Octavian has ordered some … surprises for Camp Half-Blood. He’s used most of the legion’s treasure to purchase Cyclopes-built onagers.’
‘Oh, no, not onagers!’ Leo said. ‘Also, what’s an onager?’
Frank scowled. ‘You build machines. How can you not know what an onager is? It’s just the biggest, baddest catapult ever used by the Roman army.’
‘Fine,’ Leo said. ‘But onager is a stupid name. They should’ve called them Valdezapults.’
Hazel rolled her eyes. ‘Leo, this is serious. If Artemis is right, six of these machines will be rolling into Long Island tomorrow night. That’s what Octavian has been waiting for. At dawn on August first, he’ll have enough firepower to completely destroy Camp Half-Blood without a single Roman casualty. He thinks that’ll make him a hero.’
Frank muttered a Latin curse. ‘Except he’s also summoned so many monstrous “allies” that the legion is completely surrounded by wild centaurs, tribes of dog-headed cynocephali, and who knows what else. As soon as the legion destroys Camp Half-Blood, the monsters will turn on Octavian and destroy the legion.’
‘And then Gaia rises,’ Leo said. ‘And bad stuff happens.’
In his head, gears turned as the new information clicked into place. ‘All right … this just makes my plan even more important. Once we get this physician’s cure, I’m going to need your help. Both of you.’
Frank glanced nervously at the cursed yellow daisy. ‘What kind of help?’
Leo told them his plan. The more he talked, the more shocked they looked, but when he was done neither of them told him he was crazy. A tear glistened on Hazel’s cheek.
‘It has to be this way,’ Leo said. ‘Nike confirmed it. Apollo confirmed it. The others would never accept it, but you guys … you’re Romans. That’s why I wanted you to come to Delos with me. You get the whole sacrifice thing – doing your duty, jumping on your sword.’
Frank sniffled. ‘I think you mean falling on your sword.’
‘Whatever,’ Leo said. ‘You know this has to be the answer.’
‘Leo …’ Frank choked up.
Leo himself wanted to cry like a Valdezinator, but he kept his cool. ‘Hey, big guy, I’m counting on you. Remember you told me about that conversation with Mars? Your dad said you’d have to step up, right? You’d have to make the call nobody else was willing to make.’
‘Or the war would go sideways,’ Frank remembered. ‘But still –’
‘And Hazel,’ Leo said. ‘Crazy Mist-magicky Hazel, you’ve got to cover for me. You’re the only one who can. My great-granddad Sammy saw how special you were. He blessed me when I was a baby, because I think somehow he knew you were going to come back and help me. Our whole lives, mi amiga, they’ve been leading up to this.’
‘Oh, Leo …’ She really did burst into tears then. She grabbed him and hugged him, which was sweet until Frank started crying too and wrapped them both in his arms.
That got a little weird.
‘Okay, well …’ Leo gently extricated himself. ‘So we’re in agreement?’
‘I hate this plan,’ Frank said.
‘I despise it,’ Hazel said.
‘Think how I feel,’ Leo said. ‘But you know it’s our best shot.’
Neither of them argued. Leo kind of wished they had.
‘Let’s get back to the ship,’ he said. ‘We have a healer god to find.’