โForget the chicken-nugget smoke screen.ย Percy wanted Leo to invent an anti-dream hat.โ
That night he had horrible nightmares. First he dreamed he was back in Alaska on the quest for the legionโs eagle. He was hiking along a mountain road, but as soon as he stepped off the shoulder he was swallowed by the bog
โmuskeg, Hazel had called it. He found himself choking in mud, unable to move or see or breathe. For the first time in his life, he understood what it was like to drown.
Itโs just a dream,ย he told himself.ย Iโll wake up.
But that didnโt make it any less terrifying.
Percy had never been scared of water. It was his fatherโs element. But since the muskeg experience, heโd developed a fear of suffocation. He could never admit this to anyone, but it had even made him nervous about going in the water. He knew that was silly. He couldnโt drown. But he also suspected that if he didnโt control the fear, it might start controlling him.
He thought about his friend Thalia, who was scared of heights even though she was the daughter of the sky god. Her brother, Jason, could fly by summoning the winds. Thalia couldnโt, maybe because she was too afraid to try. If Percy started to believe he could drownโฆ
The muskeg pressed against his chest. His lungs wanted to burst.
Stop panicking,ย he told himself.ย This isnโt real.
Just when he couldnโt hold his breath any longer, the dream changed.
He stood in a vast gloomy space like an underground parking garage. Rows of stone pillars marched off in every direction, holding up the ceiling about twenty feet above. Freestanding braziers cast a dim red glow over the floor.
Percy couldnโt see very far in the shadows, but hanging from the ceiling were pulley systems, sandbags, and rows of dark theater lights. Piled around the chamber, wooden crates were labeledย PROPS,ย WEAPONS, andย COSTUMES. One read:ย ASSORTED ROCKET LAUNCHERS.
Percy heard machinery creaking in the darkness, huge gears turning, and water rushing through pipes.
Then he saw the giantโฆor at least Percy guessed that he was a giant.
He was about twelve feet tallโa respectable height for a Cyclops, but only half as tall as other giants Percy had dealt with. He also looked more human than a typical giant, without the dragonlike legs of his larger kin. Nevertheless, his long purple hair was braided in a ponytail of dreadlocks, woven with gold and silver coins, which struck Percy as a giantish hairstyle. He had a ten-foot spear strapped to his backโa giantish weapon.
He wore the largest black turtleneck Percy had ever seen, black pants, and black leather shoes with points so long and curly, they might have been jester slippers. He paced back and forth in front of a raised platform, examining a bronze jar about the size of Percy.
โNo, no, no,โ the giant muttered to himself. โWhereโs the splash? Whereโs the value?โ He yelled into the darkness, โOtis!โ
Percy heard something shuffling in the distance. Another giant appeared out of the gloom. He wore exactly the same black outfit, right down to the curly shoes. The only difference between the two giants was that the second oneโs hair was green rather than purple.
The first giant cursed. โOtis, why do you do this to meย every day? I told youย I was wearing the black turtleneck today. You could wear anything but the black turtleneck!โ
Otis blinked as if heโd just woken up. โI thought you were wearing the yellow toga today.โ
โThat was yesterday! Whenย youย showed up in the yellow toga!โ โOh. Right. Sorry, Ephie.โ
His brother snarled. They had to be twins, because their faces were identically ugly.
โAnd donโt call me Ephie,โ Ephie demanded. โCall meย Ephialtes. Thatโs my name. Or you can use my stage name: The BIG F!โ
Otis grimaced. โIโm still not sure about that stage name.โ
โNonsense! Itโs perfect. Now, how are the preparations coming along?โ โFine.โ Otis didnโt sound very enthusiastic. โThe man-eating tigers, the
spinning bladesโฆBut I still think a few ballerinas would be nice.โ
โNo ballerinas!โ Ephialtes snapped. โAndย thisย thing.โ He waved at the bronze jar in disgust. โWhat does it do? Itโs not exciting.โ
โBut thatโs the whole point of the show. He dies unless the others rescue him. And if they arrive on scheduleโโ
โOh, theyโd better!โ Ephialtes said. โJuly First, the Kalends of July, sacred to Juno. Thatโs when Mother wants to destroy those stupid demigods andย reallyย rub it in Junoโs face. Besides, Iโm not paying overtime for those gladiator ghosts!โ
โWell, then, they all die,โ Otis said, โand we start the destruction of Rome. Just like Mother wants. Itโll be perfect. The crowd will love it. Roman ghosts adore this sort of thing.โ
Ephialtes looked unconvinced. โBut the jar justย standsย there. Couldnโt we suspend it above a fire, or dissolve it in a pool of acid or something?โ
โWe need him alive for a few more days,โ Otis reminded his brother. โOtherwise, the seven wonโt take the bait and rush to save him.โ
โHmm. I suppose. Iโd still like a little more screaming. This slow death is boring. Ah, well, what about our talented friend? Is she ready to receive her visitor?โ
Otis made a sour face. โIย reallyย donโt like talking to her. She makes me nervous.โ
โBut is she ready?โ
โYes,โ Otis said reluctantly. โSheโs been ready for centuries. No one will be removingย thatย statue.โ
โExcellent.โ Ephialtes rubbed his hands together in anticipation. โThis is
our big chance, my brother.โ
โThatโs what you said about our last stunt,โ Otis mumbled. โI was hanging in that block of ice suspended over the River Lethe for six months, and we didnโt even get any media attention.โ
โThis is different!โ Ephialtes insisted. โWe will set a new standard for entertainment! If Mother is pleased, we can write our own ticket to fame and fortune!โ
โIf you say so,โ Otis sighed. โThough I still think those ballerina costumes fromย Swan Lakeย would look lovelyโโ
โNo ballet!โ โSorry.โ
โCome,โ Ephialtes said. โLetโs examine the tigers. I want to be sure they are hungry!โ
The giants lumbered off into the gloom, and Percy turned toward the jar. I need to see inside, he thought.
He willed his dream forward, right to the surface of the jar. Then he passed through.
The air in the jar smelled of stale breath and tarnished metal. The only light came from the dim purple glow of a dark sword, its Stygian iron blade set against one side of the container. Huddled next to it was a dejected- looking boy in tattered jeans, a black shirt, and an old aviator jacket. On his right hand, a silver skull ring glittered.
โNico,โ Percy called. But the son of Hades couldnโt hear him.
The container was completely sealed. The air was turning poisonous. Nicoโs eyes were closed, his breathing shallow. He appeared to be meditating. His face was pale, and thinner than Percy remembered.
On the inner wall of the jar, it looked as though Nico had scratched three hash marks with his swordโmaybe it had been three days that heโd been imprisoned?
It didnโt seem possible he could have survived so long without suffocating. Even in a dream, Percy was already starting to feel panicky, struggling to get enough oxygen.
Then he noticed something between Nicoโs feetโa small collection of glistening objects no bigger than baby teeth.
Seeds, Percy realized. Pomegranate seeds. Three had been eaten and spit out. Five were still encased in dark red pulp.
โNico,โ Percy said, โwhere is this place? Weโll save you.โฆโ The image faded, and a girlโs voice whispered: โPercy.โ
At first, Percy thought he was still asleep. When heโd lost his memory, heโd spent weeks dreaming about Annabeth, the only person he remembered from his past. As his eyes opened and his vision cleared, he realized she was really there.
She was standing by his berth, smiling down at him.
Her blond hair fell across her shoulders. Her storm-gray eyes were bright with amusement. He remembered his first day at Camp Half-Blood, five years ago, when heโd woken from a daze and found Annabeth standing over him. She had said,ย You drool when you sleep.
She was sentimental that way.
โWhโwhatโs going on?โ he asked. โAre we there?โ
โNo,โ she said, her voice low. โItโs the middle of the night.โ
โYou meanโฆโ Percyโs heart started to race. He realized he was in his pajamas, in bed. He probablyย hadย been drooling, or at least making weird noises as he dreamed. No doubt he had a severe case of pillow hair and his breath didnโt smell great. โYou sneaked into my cabin?โ
Annabeth rolled her eyes. โPercy, youโll be seventeen in two months. You canโt seriously be worried about getting into trouble with Coach Hedge.โ
โUh, have you seen his baseball bat?โ
โBesides, Seaweed Brain, I just thought we could take a walk. We havenโt had any time to be together alone. I want to show you somethingโmy favorite place aboard the ship.โ
Percyโs pulse was still in overdrive, but it wasnโt from fear of getting into trouble. โCan I, you know, brush my teeth first?โ
โYouโd better,โ Annabeth said. โBecause Iโm not kissing you until you do.
And brush your hair while youโre at it.โ
For a trireme, the ship was huge, but it still felt cozy to Percyโlike his dorm building back at Yancy Academy, or any of the other boarding schools heโd gotten kicked out of. Annabeth and he crept downstairs to the second deck,
which Percy hadnโt explored except for sickbay.
She led him past the engine room, which looked like a very dangerous, mechanized jungle gym, with pipes and pistons and tubes jutting from a central bronze sphere. Cables resembling giant metal noodles snaked across the floor and ran up the walls.
โHow does that thing even work?โ Percy asked.
โNo idea,โ Annabeth said. โAnd Iโm the only one besides Leo who can operate it.โ
โThatโs reassuring.โ
โIt should be fine. Itโs only threatened to blow up once.โ โYouโre kidding, I hope.โ
She smiled. โCome on.โ
They worked their way past the supply rooms and the armory. Toward the stern of the ship, they reached a set of wooden double doors that opened into a large stable. The room smelled of fresh hay and wool blankets. Lining the left wall were three empty horse stalls like the ones they used for pegasi back at camp. The right wall had two empty cages big enough for large zoo animals.
In the center of the floor was a twenty-foot-square see-through panel. Far below, the night landscape whisked byโmiles of dark countryside crisscrossed with illuminated highways like the strands of a web.
โA glass-bottomed boat?โ Percy asked.
Annabeth grabbed a blanket from the nearest stable gate and spread it across part of the glass floor. โSit with me.โ
They relaxed on the blanket as if they were having a picnic, and watched the world go by below.
โLeo built the stables so pegasi could come and go easily,โ Annabeth said. โOnly he didnโt realize that pegasi prefer to roam free, so the stables are always empty.โ
Percy wondered where Blackjack wasโroaming the skies somewhere, hopefully following their progress. Percyโs head still throbbed from getting whopped by Blackjackโs hoof, but he didnโt hold that against the horse.
โWhat do you mean,ย come and go easily?โ he asked. โWouldnโt a pegasus have to make it down two flights of stairs?โ
Annabeth rapped her knuckles on the glass. โThese are bay doors, like on a bomber.โ
Percy gulped. โYou mean weโre sitting onย doors? What if they opened?โ โI suppose weโd fall to our deaths. But they wonโt open. Most likely.โ โGreat.โ
Annabeth laughed. โYou know why I like it here? Itโs not just the view.
What does this place remind you of?โ
Percy looked around: the cages and stables, the Celestial bronze lamp hanging from the beam, the smell of hay, and of course Annabeth sitting close to him, her face ghostly and beautiful in the soft amber light.
โThat zoo truck,โ Percy decided. โThe one we took to Las Vegas.โ Her smile told him heโd gotten the answer right.
โThat was so long ago,โ Percy said. โWe were in bad shape, struggling to get across the country to find that stupid lightning bolt, trapped in a truck with a bunch of mistreated animals. How can you be nostalgic for that?โ
โBecause, Seaweed Brain, itโs the first time we really talked, you and me. I told you about my family, andโฆโ She took out her camp necklace, strung with her dadโs college ring and a colorful clay bead for each year at Camp Half-Blood. Now there was something else on the leather cord: a red coral pendant Percy had given her when they had started dating. Heโd brought it from his fatherโs palace at the bottom of the sea.
โAnd,โ Annabeth continued, โit reminds me how long weโve known each other. We wereย twelve, Percy. Can you believe that?โ
โNo,โ he admitted. โSoโฆyou knew you liked me from that moment?โ
She smirked. โI hated you at first. You annoyed me. Then I tolerated you for a few years. Thenโโ
โOkay, fine.โ
She leaned over and kissed him: a good, proper kiss without anyone watchingโno Romans anywhere, no screaming satyr chaperones.
She pulled away. โI missed you, Percy.โ
Percy wanted to tell her the same thing, but it seemed too small a comment. While he had been on the Roman side, heโd kept himself alive almost solely by thinking of Annabeth.ย I missed youย didnโt really cover that.
He remembered earlier in the night, when Piper had forced the eidolon to
leave his mind. Percy hadnโt been aware of its presence until she had used her charmspeak. After the eidolon was gone, he felt as if a hot spike had been removed from his forehead. He hadnโt realized how much pain he had been in until the spirit left. Then his thoughts became clearer. His soul settled comfortably back into his body.
Sitting here with Annabeth made him feel the same way. The past few months could have been one of his strange dreams. The events at Camp Jupiter seemed as fuzzy and unreal as that fight with Jason, when they had both been controlled by the eidolons.
Yet he didnโt regret the time heโd spent at Camp Jupiter. It had opened his eyes in a lot of ways.
โAnnabeth,โ he said hesitantly, โin New Rome, demigods can live their whole lives in peace.โ
Her expression turned guarded. โReyna explained it to me. But, Percy, you belong at Camp Half-Blood. That other lifeโโ
โI know,โ Percy said. โBut while I was there, I saw so many demigods living without fear: kids going to college, couples getting married and raising families. Thereโs nothing like that at Camp Half-Blood. I kept thinking about you and meโฆand maybe someday when this war with the giants is overโฆโ
It was hard to tell in the golden light, but he thought Annabeth was blushing. โOh,โ she said.
Percy was afraid heโd said too much. Maybe heโd scared her with his big dreams of the future. She was usually the one with the plans. Percy cursed himself silently.
As long as heโd known Annabeth, he still felt like he understood so little about her. Even after theyโd been dating several months, their relationship had always felt new and delicate, like a glass sculpture. He was terrified of doing something wrong and breaking it.
โIโm sorry,โ he said. โI justโฆI had to think of that to keep going. To give me hope. Forget I mentionedโโ
โNo!โ she said. โNo, Percy. Gods, thatโs so sweet. Itโs justโฆwe may have burned that bridge. If we canโt repair things with the Romansโwell, the two sets of demigods haveย neverย gotten along. Thatโs why the gods kept us separate. I donโt know if we could ever belong there.โ
Percy didnโt want to argue, but he couldnโt let go of the hope. It felt importantโnot just for Annabeth and him, but for all the other demigods. Itย hadย to be possible to belong in two different worlds at once. After all, thatโs what being a demigod was all aboutโnot quite belonging in the mortal world or on Mount Olympus, but trying to make peace with both sides of their nature.
Unfortunately, that got him thinking about the gods, the war they were facing, and his dream about the twins Ephialtes and Otis.
โI was having a nightmare when you woke me up,โ he admitted. He told Annabeth what heโd seen.
Even the most troubling parts didnโt seem to surprise her. She shook her head sadly when he described Nicoโs imprisonment in the bronze jar. She got an angry glint in her eyes when he told her about the giants planning some sort of Rome-destroying extravaganza that would include their painful deaths as the opening event.
โNico is the bait,โ she murmured. โGaeaโs forces must have captured him somehow. But we donโt know exactly where theyโre holding him.โ
โSomewhere in Rome,โ Percy said. โSomewhere underground. They made it sound like Nico still had a few days to live, but I donโt see how he could hold out so long with no oxygen.โ
โFive more days, according to Nemesis,โ Annabeth said. โThe Kalends of July. At least the deadline makes sense now.โ
โWhatโs a Kalends?โ
Annabeth smirked, like she was pleased they were back in their old familiar patternโPercy being ignorant, she herself explaining stuff. โItโs just the Roman term for the first of the month. Thatโs where we get the wordย calendar. But how can Nico survive that long? We should talk to Hazel.โ
โNow?โ
She hesitated. โNo. It can wait until morning. I donโt want to hit her with this news in the middle of the night.โ
โThe giants mentioned a statue,โ Percy recalled. โAnd something about a talented friend who was guarding it. Whoever this friend was, she scared Otis. Anyone who can scare a giantโฆโ
Annabeth gazed down at a highway snaking through dark hills. โPercy,
have you seen Poseidon lately? Or had any kind of sign from him?โ
He shook his head. โNot sinceโฆWow. I guess I havenโt thought about it. Not since the end of the Titan War. I saw him at Camp Half-Blood, but that was last August.โ A sense of dread settled over him. โWhy? Have you seen Athena?โ
She didnโt meet his eyes.
โA few weeks ago,โ she admitted. โItโฆit wasnโt good. She didnโt seem like herself. Maybe itโs the Greek/Roman schizophrenia that Nemesis described. Iโm not sure. She said some hurtful things. She said I had failed her.โ
โFailed her?โ Percy wasnโt sure heโd heard her right. Annabeth was theย perfectย demigod child. She was everything a daughter of Athena should be. โHow could you everโ?โ
โI donโt know,โ she said miserably. โOn top of that, Iโve been having nightmares of my own. They donโt make as much sense as yours.โ
Percy waited, but Annabeth didnโt share any more details. He wanted to make her feel better and tell her it would be okay, but he knew he couldnโt. He wanted to fix everything for both of them so they could have a happy ending. After all these years, even the cruelest gods would have to admit they deserved it.
But he had a gut feeling that there was nothing he could do to help Annabeth this time, other than simplyย beย there.ย Wisdomโs daughter walks alone.
He felt as trapped and helpless as when heโd sunk into the muskeg.
Annabeth managed a faint smile. โSome romantic evening, huh? No more bad things until the morning.โ She kissed him again. โWeโll figure everything out. Iโve got you back. For now, thatโs all that matters.โ
โRight,โ Percy said. โNo more talk about Gaea rising, Nico being held hostage, the world ending, the giantsโโ
โShut up, Seaweed Brain,โ she ordered. โJust hold me for a while.โ
They sat together cuddling, enjoying each otherโs warmth. Before Percy knew it, the drone of the shipโs engine, the dim light, and the comfortable feeling of being with Annabeth made his eyes heavy, and he drifted to sleep.
When he woke, daylight was coming through the glass floor, and a boyโs
voice said, โOhโฆYou are inย soย much trouble.โ