The House of Hades(Heroes of Olympus, Book 4)

HAZEL



HAZEL ALMOST FELT SORRY FOR CLYTIUS.

They attacked him from every direction – Leo shooting fire at his legs, Frank and Piper jabbing at his chest, Jason flying into the air and kicking him in the face. Hazel was proud to see how well Piper remembered her sword-fighting lessons.

Each time the giant’s smoky veil started creeping around one of them, Nico was there, slashing through it, drinking in the darkness with his Stygian blade.

Percy and Annabeth were on their feet, looking weak and dazed, but their swords were drawn. When did Annabeth get a sword? And what was it made of – ivory? They looked like they wanted to help, but there was no need. The giant was surrounded.

Clytius snarled, turning back and forth as if he couldn’t decide which of them to kill first. Wait! Hold still! No! Ouch!

The darkness around him dispelled completely, leaving nothing to protect him except his battered armour. Ichor oozed from a dozen wounds. The damage healed almost as fast as it was inflicted, but Hazel could tell the giant was tiring.

One last time Jason flew at him, kicking him in the chest, and the giant’s breastplate shattered. Clytius staggered backwards. His sword dropped to the floor. He fell to his knees, and the demigods encircled him.

Only then did Hecate step forward, her torches raised. Mist curled around the giant, hissing and bubbling as it touched his skin.

‘And so it ends,’ Hecate said.

It does not end. Clytius’s voice echoed from somewhere above, muffled and slurred. My brethren have risen. Gaia waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?

Hecate turned her torches upside down. She thrust them like daggers at Clytius’s head. The giant’s hair went up faster than dry tinder, spreading down his head and across his body until the heat of the bonfire made Hazel wince. Clytius fell without a sound, face-first into the rubble of Hades’s altar. His body crumbled to ashes.

For a moment, no one spoke. Hazel heard a ragged, painful noise and realized it was her own breathing. Her side felt like it had been kicked in with a battering ram.

The goddess Hecate faced her. ‘You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place.’

Hazel gritted her teeth, trying to hold in her anger. ‘Just like that? No “thank you”? No “good work”?’

The goddess tilted her head. Gale the weasel chittered – maybe a goodbye, maybe a warning – and disappeared in the folds of her mistress’s skirts.

‘You look in the wrong place for gratitude,’ Hecate said. ‘As for “good work”, that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen – all of them, stronger than ever. Gaia is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her.’

The chamber rumbled. Another stela crashed to the floor and shattered.

‘The House of Hades is unstable,’ Hecate said. ‘Leave now. We shall meet again.’

The goddess dissolved. The Mist evaporated.

‘She’s friendly,’ Percy grumbled.

The others turned towards him and Annabeth, as if just realizing they were there.

‘Dude.’ Jason gave Percy a bear hug.

‘Back from Tartarus!’ Leo whooped. ‘That’s my peeps!’

Piper threw her arms around Annabeth and cried.

Frank ran to Hazel. He gently folded her arms around her. ‘You’re hurt,’ he said.

‘Ribs probably broken,’ she admitted. ‘But, Frank – what happened to your arm?’

He managed a smile. ‘Long story. We’re alive. That’s what matters.’

She was so giddy with relief it took her a moment to notice Nico, standing by himself, his expression full of pain and conflict.

‘Hey,’ she called to him, beckoning with her good arm.

He hesitated, then came over and kissed her forehead. ‘I’m glad you’re okay,’ he said. ‘The ghosts were right. Only one of us made it to the Doors of Death. You … you would have made Dad proud.’

She smiled, cupping her hand gently to his face. ‘We couldn’t have defeated Clytius without you.’

She brushed her thumb under Nico’s eye and wondered if he had been crying. She wanted so badly to understand what was going on with him – what had happened to him over the last few weeks. After all they’d just been through, Hazel was more grateful than ever to have a brother.

Before she could say that, the ceiling shuddered. Cracks appeared in the remaining tiles. Columns of dust spilled down.

‘We’ve got to get out of here,’ Jason said. ‘Uh, Frank …?’

Frank shook his head. ‘I think one favour from the dead is all I can manage today.’

‘Wait, what?’ Hazel asked.

Piper raised her eyebrows. ‘Your unbelievable boyfriend called in a favour as a child of Mars. He summoned the spirits of some dead warriors, made them lead us here through … um, well, I’m not sure, actually. The passages of the dead? All I know is that it was very, very dark.’

To their left, a section of the wall split. Two ruby eyes from a carved stone skeleton popped out and rolled across the floor.

‘We’ll have to shadow-travel,’ Hazel said.

Nico winced. ‘Hazel, I can barely manage that with only myself. With seven more people –’

‘I’ll help you.’ She tried to sound confident. She’d never shadow-travelled before, had no idea if she could, but after working with the Mist, altering the Labyrinth – she had to believe it was possible.

An entire section of tiles peeled loose from the ceiling.

‘Everyone, grab hands!’ Nico yelled.

They made a hasty circle. Hazel envisioned the Greek countryside above them. The cavern collapsed, and she felt herself dissolving into shadow.

They appeared on the hillside overlooking the River Acheron. The sun was just rising, making the water glitter and the clouds glow orange. The cool morning air smelled of honeysuckle.

Hazel was holding hands with Frank on her left, Nico on her right. They were all alive and mostly whole. The sunlight in the trees was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. She wanted to live in that moment – free of monsters and gods and evil spirits.

Then her friends began to stir.

Nico realized that he was holding Percy’s hand and quickly let go.

Leo staggered backwards. ‘You know … I think I’ll sit down.’

He collapsed. The others joined him. The Argo II still floated over the river a few hundred yards away. Hazel knew that they should signal Coach Hedge and tell him they were alive. Had they been in the temple all night? Or several nights? But at the moment the group was too tired to do anything except sit and relax and marvel at the fact that they were okay.

They began to exchange stories.

Frank explained what had happened with the ghostly legion and the army of monsters – how Nico had used the sceptre of Diocletian and how bravely Jason and Piper had fought.

‘Frank is being modest,’ Jason said. ‘He controlled the entire legion. You should’ve seen him. Oh, by the way …’ Jason glanced at Percy. ‘I resigned my office, gave Frank a field promotion to praetor. Unless you want to contest that ruling.’

Percy grinned. ‘No argument here.’

‘Praetor?’ Hazel stared at Frank.

He shrugged uncomfortably. ‘Well … yeah. I know it seems weird.’

She tried to throw her arms around him, then winced as she remembered her busted ribs. She settled for kissing him. ‘It seems perfect.’

Leo clapped Frank on the shoulder. ‘Way to go, Zhang. Now you can order Octavian to fall on his sword.’

‘Tempting,’ Frank agreed. He turned apprehensively to Percy. ‘But you guys … Tartarus has to be the real story. What happened down there? How did you …?’

Percy laced his fingers through Annabeth’s.

Hazel happened to glance at Nico and saw pain in his eyes. She wasn’t sure, but maybe he was thinking how lucky Percy and Annabeth were to have each other. Nico had gone through Tartarus alone.

‘We’ll tell you the story,’ Percy promised. ‘But not yet, okay? I’m not ready to remember that place.’

‘No,’ Annabeth agreed. ‘Right now …’ She gazed towards the river and faltered. ‘Uh, I think our ride is coming.’

Hazel turned. The Argo II veered to port, its aerial oars in motion, its sails catching the wind. Festus’s head glinted in the sunlight. Even from a distance, Hazel could hear him creaking and clanking in jubilation.

‘That’s my boy!’ Leo yelled.

As the ship got closer, Hazel saw Coach Hedge standing at the prow.

‘About time!’ the coach yelled down. He was doing his best to scowl, but his eyes gleamed as if maybe, just maybe, he was happy to see them. ‘What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting!’

‘Visitor?’ Hazel murmured.

At the rail next to Coach Hedge, a dark-haired girl appeared wearing a purple cloak, her face so covered with soot and bloody scratches that Hazel almost didn’t recognize her.

Reyna had arrived.
LXXVII





PERCY



PERCY STARED AT THE ATHENA PARTHENOS, waiting for it to strike him down.

Leo’s new mechanical hoist system had lowered the statue onto the hillside with surprising ease. Now the forty-foot-tall goddess gazed serenely over the River Acheron, her gold dress like molten metal in the sun.

‘Incredible,’ Reyna admitted.

She was still red-eyed from crying. Soon after she’d landed on the Argo II, her pegasus Scipio had collapsed, overwhelmed by poisoned claw marks from a gryphon attack the night before. Reyna had put the horse out of his misery with her golden knife, turning the pegasus into dust that scattered in the sweet-smelling Greek air. Maybe not a bad end for a flying horse, but Reyna had lost a loyal friend. Percy figured that she’d given up too much in her life already.

The praetor circled the Athena Parthenos warily. ‘It looks newly made.’

‘Yeah,’ Leo said. ‘We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn’t hard.’

The Argo II hovered just overhead. With Festus keeping watch for threats on the radar, the entire crew had decided to eat lunch on the hillside while they discussed what to do. After the last few weeks, Percy figured they’d earned a good meal together – really anything that wasn’t fire water or drakon meat soup.

‘Hey, Reyna,’ Annabeth called. ‘Have some food. Join us.’

The praetor glanced over, her dark eyebrows furrowed, as if join us didn’t quite compute. Percy had never seen Reyna without her armour before. It was onboard the ship, being repaired by Buford the Wonder Table. She wore a pair of jeans and a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt and looked almost like a normal teenager – except for the knife at her belt and that guarded expression, like she was ready for an attack from any direction.

‘All right,’ she said finally.

They scooted over to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged next to Annabeth, picked up a cheese sandwich and nibbled at the edge.

‘So,’ Reyna said. ‘Frank Zhang … praetor.’

Frank shifted, wiping crumbs from his chin. ‘Well, yeah. Field promotion.’

‘To lead a different legion,’ Reyna noted. ‘A legion of ghosts.’

Hazel put her arm protectively through Frank’s. After an hour in sick bay, they both looked a lot better, but Percy could tell they weren’t sure what to think about their old boss from Camp Jupiter dropping in for lunch.

‘Reyna,’ Jason said, ‘you should’ve seen him.’

‘He was amazing,’ Piper agreed.

‘Frank is a leader,’ Hazel insisted. ‘He makes a great praetor.’

Reyna’s eyes stayed on Frank, like she was trying to guess his weight. ‘I believe you,’ she said. ‘I approve.’

Frank blinked. ‘You do?’

Reyna smiled dryly. ‘A son of Mars, the hero who helped to bring back the eagle of the legion … I can work with a demigod like that. I’m just wondering how to convince the Twelfth Fulminata.’

Frank scowled. ‘Yeah. I’ve been wondering the same thing.’

Percy still couldn’t get over how much Frank had changed. A ‘growth spurt’ was putting it mildly. He was at least three inches taller, less pudgy and more bulky, like a linebacker. His face looked sturdier, his jawline more rugged. It was as if Frank had turned into a bull and then back to human, but he’d kept some of the bullishness.

‘The legion will listen to you, Reyna,’ Frank said. ‘You made it here alone, across the ancient lands.’

Reyna chewed her sandwich as if it were cardboard. ‘In doing so, I broke the laws of the legion.’

‘Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon,’ Frank said. ‘Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes.’

She shook her head. ‘I’m not Caesar. After finding Jason’s note in Diocletian’s Palace, tracking you down was easy. I only did what I thought was necessary.’

Percy couldn’t help smiling. ‘Reyna, you’re too modest. Flying halfway across the world by yourself to answer Annabeth’s plea, because you knew it was our best chance for peace? That’s pretty freaking heroic.’

Reyna shrugged. ‘Says the demigod who fell into Tartarus and found his way back.’

‘He had help,’ Annabeth said.

‘Oh, obviously,’ Reyna said. ‘Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag.’

‘True,’ Annabeth agreed.

‘Hey!’ Percy complained.

The others started laughing, but Percy didn’t mind. It felt good to see them smile. Heck, just being in the mortal world felt good, breathing un-poisonous air, enjoying actual sunshine on his back.

Suddenly he thought of Bob. Tell the sun and stars hello for me.

Percy’s smile melted. Bob and Damasen had sacrificed their lives so that Percy and Annabeth could sit here now, enjoying the sunlight and laughing with their friends.

It wasn’t fair.

Leo pulled a tiny screwdriver from his tool belt. He stabbed a chocolate-covered strawberry and passed it to Coach Hedge. Then he pulled out another screwdriver and speared a second strawberry for himself.

‘So, the twenty-million-peso question,’ Leo said. ‘We got this slightly used forty-foot-tall statue of Athena. What do we do with it?’

Reyna squinted at the Athena Parthenos. ‘As fine as it looks on this hill, I didn’t come all this way to admire it. According to Annabeth, it must be returned to Camp Half-Blood by a Roman leader. Do I understand correctly?’

Annabeth nodded. ‘I had a dream down in … you know, Tartarus. I was on Half-Blood Hill, and Athena’s voice said, I must stand here. The Roman must bring me.’

Percy studied the statue uneasily. He’d never had the best relationship with Annabeth’s mom. He kept expecting Big Mama Statue to come alive and chew him out for getting her daughter into so much trouble – or maybe just step on him without a word.

‘It makes sense,’ Nico said.

Percy flinched. It almost sounded like Nico had read his mind and was agreeing that Athena should step on him.

The son of Hades sat at the other end of the circle, eating nothing but half a pomegranate, the fruit of the Underworld. Percy wondered if that was Nico’s idea of a joke.

‘The statue is a powerful symbol,’ Nico said. ‘A Roman returning it to the Greeks … that could heal the historic rift, maybe even heal the gods of their split personalities.’

Coach Hedge swallowed his strawberry along with half the screwdriver. ‘Now, hold on. I like peace as much as the next satyr –’

‘You hate peace,’ Leo said.

‘The point is, Valdez, we’re only – what, a few days from Athens? We’ve got an army of giants waiting for us there. We went to all the trouble of saving this statue –’

‘I went to most of the trouble,’ Annabeth reminded him.

‘– because that prophecy called it the giants’ bane,’ the coach continued. ‘So why aren’t we taking it to Athens with us? It’s obviously our secret weapon.’ He eyed the Athena Parthenos. ‘It looks like a ballistic missile to me. Maybe if Valdez strapped some engines to it –’

Piper cleared her throat. ‘Uh, great idea, Coach, but a lot of us have had dreams and visions of Gaia rising at Camp Half-Blood …’

She unsheathed her dagger Katoptris and set it on her plate. At the moment, the blade showed nothing except sky, but looking at it still made Percy uncomfortable.

‘Since we got back to the ship,’ Piper said, ‘I’ve been seeing some bad stuff in the knife. The Roman legion is almost within striking distance of Camp Half-Blood. They’re gathering reinforcements: spirits, eagles, wolves.’

‘Octavian,’ Reyna growled. ‘I told him to wait.’

‘When we take over command,’ Frank suggested, ‘our first order of business should be to load Octavian into the nearest catapult and fire him as far away as possible.’

‘Agreed,’ Reyna said. ‘But for now –’

‘He’s intent on war,’ Annabeth put in. ‘He’ll have it, unless we stop him.’

Piper turned the blade of her knife. ‘Unfortunately, that’s not the worst of it. I saw images of a possible future – the camp in flames, Roman and Greek demigods lying dead. And Gaia …’ Her voice failed her.

Percy remembered the god Tartarus in physical form, looming over him. He’d never felt such helplessness and terror. He still burned with shame, remembering how his sword had slipped out of his hand.

You might as well try to kill the earth, Tartarus had said.

If Gaia was that powerful, and she had an army of giants at her side, Percy didn’t see how seven demigods could stop her, especially when most of the gods were incapacitated. They had to stop the giants before Gaia woke, or it was game over.

If the Athena Parthenos was a secret weapon, taking it to Athens was pretty tempting. Heck, Percy kind of liked the coach’s idea of using it as a missile and sending Gaia up in a godly nuclear mushroom cloud.

Unfortunately, his gut told him that Annabeth was right. The statue belonged back on Long Island, where it might be able to stop the war between the two camps.

‘So Reyna takes the statue,’ Percy said. ‘And we continue on to Athens.’

Leo shrugged. ‘Cool with me. But, uh, a few pesky logistical problems. We got what – two weeks until that Roman feast day when Gaia is supposed to rise?’

‘The Feast of Spes,’ Jason said. ‘That’s on the first of August. Today is –’

‘July eighteenth,’ Frank offered. ‘So, yeah, from tomorrow, exactly fourteen days.’

Hazel winced. ‘It took us eighteen days to get from Rome to here – a trip that should’ve only taken two or three days, max.’

‘So, given our usual luck,’ Leo said, ‘maybe we have enough time to get the Argo II to Athens, find the giants and stop them from waking Gaia. Maybe. But how is Reyna supposed to get this massive statue back to Camp Half-Blood before the Greeks and Romans put each other through the blender? She doesn’t even have her pegasus any more. Uh, sorry –’

‘Fine,’ Reyna snapped. She might be treating them like allies rather than enemies, but Percy could tell Reyna still had a not-so-soft spot for Leo, probably because he’d blown up half the Forum in New Rome.

She took a deep breath. ‘Unfortunately, Leo is correct. I don’t see how I can transport something so large. I was assuming – well, I was hoping you all would have an answer.’

‘The Labyrinth,’ Hazel said. ‘I – I mean, if Pasipha? really has reopened it, and I think she has …’ She looked at Percy apprehensively. ‘Well, you said the Labyrinth could take you anywhere. So maybe –’

‘No.’ Percy and Annabeth spoke in unison.

‘Not to shoot you down, Hazel,’ Percy said. ‘It’s just …’

He struggled to find the right words. How could he describe the Labyrinth to someone who’d never explored it? Daedalus had created it to be a living, growing maze. Over the centuries it had spread like the roots of a tree under the entire surface of the world. Sure, it could take you anywhere. Distance inside was meaningless. You could enter the maze in New York, walk ten feet and exit the maze in Los Angeles – but only if you found a reliable way to navigate. Otherwise the Labyrinth would trick you and try to kill you at every turn. When the tunnel network had collapsed after Daedalus died, Percy had been relieved. The idea that the maze was regenerating itself, honeycombing its way under the earth again and providing a spacious new home for monsters … that didn’t make him happy. He had enough problems already.

‘For one thing,’ he said, ‘the passages in the Labyrinth are way too small for the Athena Parthenos. There’s no chance you could take it down there –’

‘And even if the maze is reopening,’ Annabeth continued, ‘we don’t know what it might be like now. It was dangerous enough before, under Daedalus’s control, and he wasn’t evil. If Pasipha? has remade the Labyrinth the way she wanted …’ She shook her head. ‘Hazel, maybe your underground senses could guide Reyna through, but no one else would stand a chance. And we need you here. Besides, if you got lost down there –’

‘You’re right,’ Hazel said glumly. ‘Never mind.’

Reyna cast her eyes around the group. ‘Other ideas?’

‘I could go,’ Frank offered, not sounding very happy about it. ‘If I’m a praetor, I should go. Maybe we could rig some sort of sled, or –’

‘No, Frank Zhang.’ Reyna gave him a weary smile. ‘I hope we will work side by side in the future, but for now your place is with the crew of this ship. You are one of the seven of the prophecy.’

‘I’m not,’ Nico said.

Everybody stopped eating. Percy stared across the circle at Nico, trying to decide if he was joking.

Hazel set down her fork. ‘Nico –’

‘I’ll go with Reyna,’ he said. ‘I can transport the statue with shadow-travel.’

‘Uh …’ Percy raised his hand. ‘I mean, I know you just got all eight of us to the surface, and that was awesome. But a year ago you said transporting just yourself was dangerous and unpredictable. A couple of times you ended up in China. Transporting a forty-foot statue and two people halfway across the world –’

‘I’ve changed since I came back from Tartarus.’ Nico’s eyes glittered with anger – more intensely than Percy understood. He wondered if he’d done something to offend the guy.

‘Nico,’ Jason intervened, ‘we’re not questioning your power. We just want to make sure you don’t kill yourself trying.’

‘I can do it,’ he insisted. ‘I’ll make short jumps – a few hundred miles each time. It’s true, after each jump I won’t be in any shape to fend off monsters. I’ll need Reyna to defend me and the statue.’

Reyna had an excellent poker face. She studied the group, scanning their faces, but betraying none of her own thoughts. ‘Any objections?’

No one spoke.

‘Very well,’ she said, with the finality of a judge. If she’d had a gavel, Percy suspected she would have banged it. ‘I see no better option. But there will be many monster attacks. I would feel better taking a third person. That’s the optimal number for a quest.’

‘Coach Hedge,’ Frank blurted.

Percy stared at him, not sure he’d heard correctly. ‘Uh, what, Frank?’

‘The coach is the best choice,’ Frank said. ‘The only choice. He’s a good fighter. He’s a certified protector. He’ll get the job done.’

‘A faun,’ Reyna said.

‘Satyr!’ barked the coach. ‘And, yeah, I’ll go. Besides, when you get to Camp Half-Blood, you’ll need somebody with connections and diplomatic skills to keep the Greeks from attacking you. Just let me go make a call – er, I mean, get my baseball bat.’

He got up and shot Frank an unspoken message that Percy couldn’t quite read. Despite the fact that he’d just been volunteered for a likely suicide mission, the coach looked grateful. He jogged off towards the ship’s ladder, tapping his hooves together like an excited kid.

Nico rose. ‘I should go, too, and rest before the first passage. We’ll meet at the statue at sunset.’

Once he was gone, Hazel frowned. ‘He’s acting strangely. I’m not sure he’s thinking this through.’

‘He’ll be okay,’ Jason said.

‘I hope you’re right.’ She passed her hand over the ground. Diamonds broke the surface – a glittering milky way of stones. ‘We’re at another crossroads. The Athena Parthenos goes west. The Argo II goes east. I hope we chose correctly.’

Percy wished he could say something encouraging, but he felt unsettled. Despite all they’d been through and all the battles they’d won, they still seemed no closer to defeating Gaia. Sure, they’d released Thanatos. They’d closed the Doors of Death. At least now they could kill monsters and make them stay in Tartarus for a while. But the giants were back – all the giants.

‘One thing bothers me,’ he said. ‘If the Feast of Spes is in two weeks, and Gaia needs the blood of two demigods to wake – what did Clytius call it? The blood of Olympus? – then aren’t we doing exactly what Gaia wants, heading to Athens? If we don’t go, and she can’t sacrifice any of us, doesn’t that mean she can’t wake up fully?’

Annabeth took his hand. He drank in the sight of her now that they were back in the mortal world, without the Death Mist, her blonde hair catching the sunlight – even if she was still thin and wan, like him, and her grey eyes were stormy with thought.

‘Percy, prophecies cut both ways,’ she said. ‘If we don’t go, we may lose our best and only chance to stop her. Athens is where our battle lies. We can’t avoid it. Besides, trying to thwart prophecies never works. Gaia could capture us somewhere else or spill the blood of some other demigods.’

‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Percy said. ‘I don’t like it, but you’re right.’

The mood of the group became as gloomy as Tartarus air, until Piper broke the tension.

‘Well!’ She sheathed her blade and patted her cornucopia. ‘Good picnic. Who wants dessert?’
LXXVIII





PERCY



AT SUNSET, PERCY FOUND NICO tying ropes around the pedestal of the Athena Parthenos.

‘Thank you,’ Percy said.

Nico frowned. ‘What for?’

‘You promised to lead the others to the House of Hades,’ Percy said. ‘You did it.’

Nico tied the ends of the ropes together, making a halter. ‘You got me out of that bronze jar in Rome. Saved my life yet again. It was the least I could do.’

His voice was steely, guarded. Percy wished he could figure out what made this guy tick, but he’d never been able to. Nico was no longer the geeky kid from Westover Hall with the Mythomagic cards. Nor was he the angry loner who’d followed the ghost of Minos through the Labyrinth. But who was he?

‘Also,’ Percy said, ‘you visited Bob …’

He told Nico about their trip through Tartarus. He figured if anyone could understand, Nico could. ‘You convinced Bob that I could be trusted, even though I never visited him. I never gave him a second thought. You probably saved our lives by being nice to him.’

‘Yeah, well,’ Nico said, ‘not giving people a second thought … that can be dangerous.’

‘Dude, I’m trying to say thank you.’

Nico laughed without humour. ‘I’m trying to say you don’t need to. Now I need to finish this, if you could give me some space?’

‘Yeah. Yeah, okay.’ Percy stepped back while Nico took up the slack on his ropes. He slipped them over his shoulders as if the Athena Parthenos were a giant backpack.

Percy couldn’t help feeling a little hurt, being told to take a hike. Then again, Nico had been through a lot. The guy had survived in Tartarus on his own. Percy understood firsthand just how much strength that must have taken.

Annabeth walked up the hill to join them. She took Percy’s hand, which made him feel better.

‘Good luck,’ she told Nico.

‘Yeah.’ He didn’t meet her eyes. ‘You, too.’

A minute later, Reyna and Coach Hedge arrived in full armour with packs over their shoulders. Reyna looked grim and ready for combat. Coach Hedge grinned like he was expecting a surprise party.

Reyna gave Annabeth a hug. ‘We will succeed,’ she promised.

‘I know you will,’ Annabeth said.

Coach Hedge shouldered his baseball bat. ‘Yeah, don’t worry. I’m going to get to camp and see my baby! Uh, I mean I’m going to get this baby to camp!’ He patted the leg of the Athena Parthenos.

‘All right,’ said Nico. ‘Grab the ropes, please. Here we go.’

Reyna and Hedge took hold. The air darkened. The Athena Parthenos collapsed into its own shadow and disappeared, along with its three escorts.

The Argo II sailed after nightfall.

They veered southwest until they reached the coast, then splashed down in the Ionian Sea. Percy was relieved to feel the waves beneath him again.

It would have been a shorter trip to Athens over land, but after the crew’s experience with mountain spirits in Italy, they’d decided not to fly over Gaia’s territory any more than they had to. They would sail around the Greek mainland, following the routes that Greek heroes had taken in the ancient times.

That was fine with Percy. He loved being back in his father’s element – with the fresh sea air in his lungs and the salty spray on his arms. He stood at the starboard rail and closed his eyes, sensing the currents beneath them. But images of Tartarus kept burning in his mind – the River Phlegethon, the blistered ground where monsters regenerated, the dark forest where arai circled overhead in the blood-mist clouds. Most of all, he thought about a hut in the swamp with a warm fire and racks of drying herbs and drakon jerky. He wondered if that hut was empty now.

Annabeth pressed next to him at the rail, her warmth reassuring.

‘I know,’ she murmured, reading his expression. ‘I can’t get that place out of my head, either.’

‘Damasen,’ Percy said. ‘And Bob …’

‘I know.’ Her voice was fragile. ‘We have to make their sacrifice worth it. We have to beat Gaia.’

Percy stared into the night sky. He wished they were looking at it from the beach on Long Island rather than from halfway around the world, sailing towards almost certain death.

He wondered where Nico, Reyna and Hedge were now, and how long it would take them to make it back – assuming they survived. He imagined the Romans drawing up battle lines right now, encircling Camp Half-Blood.

Fourteen days to reach Athens. Then one way or another, the war would be decided.

Over in the bow, Leo whistled happily as he tinkered with Festus’s mechanical brain, muttering something about a crystal and an astrolabe. Amidships, Piper and Hazel practised their swordplay, gold and bronze blades ringing in the night. Jason and Frank stood at the helm, talking in low tones – maybe telling stories of the legion or sharing thoughts on being praetor.

‘We’ve got a good crew,’ Percy said. ‘If I have to sail to my death –’

‘You’re not dying on me, Seaweed Brain,’ Annabeth said. ‘Remember? Never separated again. And after we get home …’

‘What?’ Percy asked.

She kissed him. ‘Ask me again, once we defeat Gaia.’

He smiled, happy to have something to look forward to. ‘Whatever you say.’

As they sailed further from the coast, the sky darkened and more stars came out.

Percy studied the constellations – the ones Annabeth had taught him so many years ago.

‘Bob says hello,’ he told the stars.

The Argo II sailed into the night.