From the rumble of her chariot wheels, Leo guessed she was circling the perimeter of the field – Victory taking a victory lap.
Another grenade exploded over Percy’s and Leo’s heads. They dived into a trench as the green starburst of Greek fire singed Leo’s hair. Fortunately, Frank had aimed high enough that the blast only looked impressive.
‘Better,’ Nike called out, ‘but where is your aim? Don’t you want this circlet of leaves?’
‘I wish the river was closer,’ Percy muttered. ‘I want to drown her.’
‘Be patient, water boy.’
‘Don’t call me water boy.’
Leo pointed across the field. The walls had shifted, revealing one of the Nikettes about thirty yards away, standing with her back to them. Hazel must be doing her thing – manipulating the maze to isolate their targets.
‘I distract,’ Leo said, ‘you attack. Ready?’
Percy nodded. ‘Go.’
He dashed to the left as Leo pulled a ball-peen hammer from his tool belt and yelled, ‘Hey, Bronze Butt!’
The Nikette turned as Leo threw. His hammer clanged harmlessly off the metal lady’s chest, but she must have been annoyed. She marched towards him, raising her barbed-wire laurel wreath.
‘Oops.’ Leo ducked as the metal circlet spun over his head. The wreath hit a wall behind him, punching a hole straight through the bricks, then arced backwards through the air like a boomerang. As the Nikette raised her hand to catch it, Percy emerged from the trench behind her and slashed with Riptide, cutting the Nikette in half at the waist. The metal wreath shot past him and embedded in a marble column.
‘Foul!’ the victory goddess cried. The walls shifted and Leo saw her barrelling towards them in her chariot. ‘You don’t attack the Nikai unless you wish to die!’
A trench appeared in the goddess’s path, causing her horses to balk. Leo and Percy ran for cover. Out of the corner of his eye, maybe fifty feet away, Leo saw Frank the grizzly bear jump from the top of a wall and flatten another Nikette. Two Bronze Butts down, two more to go.
‘No!’ Nike screamed in outrage. ‘No, no, no! Your lives are forfeit! Nikai, attack!’
Leo and Percy leaped behind a wall. They lay there for a second, trying to catch their breath.
Leo had trouble getting his bearings, but he guessed that was part of Hazel’s plan. She was causing the terrain to shift around them – opening new trenches, changing the slope of the land, throwing up new walls and columns. With luck, she would make it harder for the Nikettes to find them. Travelling just twenty feet might take them several minutes.
Still, Leo hated being disoriented. It reminded him of his helplessness in the House of Hades – the way Clytius had smothered him in darkness, snuffing out his fire, possessing his voice. It reminded him of Khione, plucking him off the deck of the Argo II with a gust of wind and shooting him halfway across the Mediterranean.
It was bad enough being scrawny and weak. If Leo couldn’t control his own senses, his own voice, his own body … that didn’t leave him much to rely on.
‘Hey,’ Percy said, ‘if we don’t make it out of this –’
‘Shut up, man. We’re going to make it.’
‘If we don’t, I want you to know – I feel bad about Calypso. I failed her.’
Leo stared at him, dumbfounded. ‘You know about me and –’
‘The Argo II is a small ship.’ Percy grimaced. ‘Word got around. I just … well, when I was in Tartarus, I was reminded that I hadn’t followed through on my promise to Calypso. I asked the gods to free her and then … I just assumed they would. With me getting amnesia and getting sent to Camp Jupiter and all, I didn’t think about Calypso much after that. I’m not making excuses. I should have made sure the gods kept their promise. Anyway, I’m glad you found her. You promised to find a way back to her, and I just wanted to say, if we do survive all this, I’ll do anything I can to help you. That’s a promise I will keep.’
Leo was speechless. Here they were, hiding behind a wall in the middle of a magical war zone, with grenades and grizzly bears and Bronze Butt Nikettes to worry about, and Percy pulls this on him.
‘Man, what is your problem?’ Leo grumbled.
Percy blinked. ‘So … I guess we’re not cool?’
‘Of course we’re not cool! You’re as bad as Jason! I’m trying to resent you for being all perfect and hero-y and whatnot. Then you go and act like a standup guy. How am I supposed to hate you if you apologize and promise to help and stuff?’
A smile tugged at the corner of Percy’s mouth. ‘Sorry about that.’
The ground rumbled as another grenade exploded, sending spirals of whipped cream into the sky. ‘That’s Hazel’s signal,’ Leo said. ‘They’ve taken down another Nikette.’
Percy peeked around the corner of the wall.
Until this moment, Leo hadn’t realized how much he’d resented Percy. The dude had always intimidated him. Knowing Calypso had had a crush on Percy had made the feeling ten times worse. But now the knot of anger in his gut started to unravel. Leo just couldn’t dislike the guy. Percy seemed sincere about being sorry and wanting to help.
Besides, Leo finally had confirmation that Percy Jackson was out of the picture with Calypso. The air was cleared. All Leo had to do was to find his way back to Ogygia. And he would, assuming he survived the next ten days.
‘One Nikette left,’ Percy said. ‘I wonder –’
Somewhere close by, Hazel cried out in pain.
Instantly, Leo was on his feet.
‘Dude, wait!’ Percy called, but Leo plunged through the maze, his heart pounding.
The walls fell away on either side. Leo found himself in an open stretch of field. Frank stood at the far end of the stadium, shooting flaming arrows at Nike’s chariot as the goddess bellowed insults and tried to find a path to him across the shifting network of trenches.
Hazel was closer – maybe sixty feet away. The fourth Nikette had obviously sneaked up on her. Hazel was limping away from her attacker, her jeans ripped, her left leg bleeding. She parried the metal lady’s spear with her huge cavalry sword, but she was about to be overpowered. All around her, the Mist flickered like a dying strobe light. She was losing control of the magic maze.
‘I’ll help her,’ Percy said. ‘You stick to the plan. Get Nike’s chariot.’
‘But the plan was to eliminate all four Nikettes first!’
‘So change the plan and then stick to it!’
‘That doesn’t even make sense, but go! Help her!’
Percy rushed to Hazel’s defence. Leo darted towards Nike, yelling, ‘Hey! I want a participation award!’
‘Gah!’ The goddess pulled the reins and turned her chariot in his direction. ‘I will destroy you!’
‘Good!’ Leo yelled. ‘Losing is way better than winning!’
‘WHAT?’ Nike threw her mighty spear, but her aim was off with the rocking of the chariot. Her weapon skittered into the grass. Sadly, a new one appeared in her hands.
She urged her horses to a full gallop. The trenches disappeared, leaving an open field, perfect for running down small Latino demigods.
‘Hey!’ Frank yelled from across the stadium. ‘I want a participation award, too! Everybody wins!’
He shot a well-aimed arrow that landed in the back of Nike’s chariot and began to burn. Nike ignored it. Her eyes were fixed on Leo.
‘Percy … ?’ Leo’s voice sounded like a hamster’s squeak. From his tool belt, he fished out an Archimedes sphere and set the concentric circles to arm the device.
Percy was still sparring with the last metal lady. Leo couldn’t wait.
He threw the sphere in the chariot’s path. It hit the ground and burrowed in, but he needed Percy to spring the trap. If Nike sensed any threat, she apparently didn’t think much of it. She kept charging at Leo.
The chariot was twenty feet from the grenade. Fifteen feet.
‘Percy!’ Leo yelled. ‘Operation Water Balloon!’
Unfortunately, Percy was a little busy getting smacked around. The Nikette thumped him backwards with the butt of her spear. She threw her wreath with such force it knocked Percy’s sword from his grip. Percy stumbled. The metallic lady moved in for the kill.
Leo howled. He knew the distance was too far. He knew that if he didn’t jump out of the way now Nike would run him over. But that didn’t matter. His friends were about to be skewered. He thrust out his hand and shot a white-hot bolt of fire straight at the Nikette.
It literally melted her face. The Nikette staggered, her spear still raised. Before she could regain her balance, Hazel thrust her spatha and impaled the metal lady through the chest. The Nikette crashed into the grass.
Percy turned towards the victory goddess’s chariot. Just as those huge white horses were about to turn Leo into roadkill, the carriage passed over Leo’s sunken grenade, which exploded in a high-pressure geyser. Water blasted upward, flipping the chariot – horses, carriage, goddess and all.
Back in Houston, Leo used to live with his mom in an apartment right off the Gulf Freeway. He heard car crashes at least once a week, but this sound was worse – Celestial bronze crumpling, wood splintering, stallions screaming and a goddess wailing in two distinct voices, both of them very surprised.
Hazel collapsed. Percy caught her. Frank ran towards them from across the field.
Leo was on his own as the goddess Nike disentangled herself from the wreckage and rose to face him. Her braided hairdo now resembled a stepped-on cow pat. A laurel wreath was stuck around her left ankle. Her horses got to their hooves and galloped away in a panic, dragging the soaked, half-burning wreckage of the chariot behind them.
‘YOU!’ Nike glared at Leo, her eyes hotter and brighter than her metal wings. ‘You dare?’
Leo didn’t feel very courageous, but he forced a smile. ‘I know, right? I’m awesome! Do I win a leaf hat now?’
‘You will die!’ The goddess raised her spear.
‘Hold that thought!’ Leo dug around in his tool belt. ‘You haven’t seen my best trick yet. I have a weapon guaranteed to win any contest!’
Nike hesitated. ‘What weapon? What do you mean?’
‘My ultimate zap-o-matic!’ He pulled out a second Archimedes sphere – the one he’d spent a whole thirty seconds modifying before they entered the stadium. ‘How many laurel wreaths have you got? Because I’m gonna win them all.’
He fiddled with dials, hoping he’d done his calculations right.
Leo had got better at making spheres, but they still weren’t completely reliable. More like twenty percent reliable.
It would’ve been nice to have Calypso’s help weaving the Celestial bronze filaments. She was an ace at weaving. Or Annabeth: she was no slouch. But Leo had done his best, rewiring the sphere to carry out two completely different functions.
‘Behold!’ Leo clicked the final dial. The sphere opened. One side elongated into a gun handle. The other side unfolded into a miniature radar dish made of Celestial bronze mirrors.
Nike frowned. ‘What is that supposed to be?’
‘An Archimedes death ray!’ Leo said. ‘I finally perfected it. Now give me all the prizes.’
‘Those things don’t work!’ Nike yelled. ‘They proved it on television! Besides, I’m an immortal goddess. You can’t destroy me!’
‘Watch closely,’ Leo said. ‘Are you watching?’
Nike could’ve zapped him into a grease spot or speared him like a cheese wedge, but her curiosity got the best of her. She stared straight into the dish as Leo flipped the switch. Leo knew to look away. Even so, the blazing beam of light left him seeing spots.
‘Gah!’ The goddess staggered. She dropped her spear and clutched at her eyes. ‘I’m blind! I’m blind!’
Leo hit another button on his death ray. It collapsed back into a sphere and began to hum. Leo counted silently to three, then tossed the sphere at the goddess’s feet.
FOOM! Metal filaments shot upward, wrapping Nike in a bronze net. She wailed, falling sideways as the net constricted, forcing her two forms – Greek and Roman – into a quivering, out-of-focus whole.
‘Trickery!’ Her doubled voices buzzed like muffled alarm clocks. ‘Your death ray did not even kill me!’
‘I don’t need to kill you,’ Leo said. ‘I vanquished you just fine.’
‘I will simply change form!’ she cried. ‘I will rip apart your silly net! I will destroy you!’
‘Yeah, see, you can’t.’ Leo hoped he was right. ‘That’s high-quality Celestial bronze netting, and I’m a son of Hephaestus. He’s kind of an expert on catching goddesses in nets.’
‘No. Nooooo!’
Leo left her thrashing and cursing, and went to check on his friends. Percy looked all right, just sore and bruised. Frank had propped Hazel up and was feeding her ambrosia. The cut on her leg had stopped bleeding, though her jeans were pretty much ruined.
‘I’m okay,’ she said. ‘Just too much magic.’
‘You were awesome, Levesque.’ Leo did his best Hazel imitation: ‘Popcorn! Our fatal weakness!’
She smiled wanly. Together the four of them walked over to Nike, who was still writhing and flapping her wings in the net like a golden chicken.
‘What do we do with her?’ Percy asked.
‘Take her aboard the Argo II,’ Leo said. ‘Chuck her in one of the horse stalls.’
Hazel’s eyes widened. ‘You’re going to keep the goddess of victory in the stable?’
‘Why not? Once we sort things out between Greeks and Romans, the gods should go back to their normal selves. Then we can free her and she can … you know … grant us victory.’
‘Grant you victory?’ the goddess cried. ‘Never! You will suffer for this outrage! Your blood shall be spilled! One of you here – one of you four – is fated to die battling Gaia!’
Leo’s intestines tied themselves into a slipknot. ‘How do you know that?’
‘I can foresee victories!’ Nike yelled. ‘You will have no success without death! Release me and fight each other! It is better you die here than face what is to come!’
Hazel stuck the point of her spatha under Nike’s chin. ‘Explain.’ Her voice was harder than Leo had ever heard. ‘Which of us will die? How do we stop it?’
‘Ah, child of Pluto! Your magic helped you cheat in this contest, but you cannot cheat destiny. One of you will die. One of you must die!’
‘No,’ Hazel insisted. ‘There’s another way. There is always another path.’
‘Hecate taught you this?’ Nike laughed. ‘You would hope for the physician’s cure, perhaps? But that is impossible. Too much stands in your way: the poison of Pylos, the chained god’s heartbeat in Sparta, the curse of Delos! No, you cannot cheat death.’
Frank knelt. He gathered up the net under Nike’s chin and raised her face to his. ‘What are you talking about? How do we find this cure?’
‘I will not help you,’ Nike growled. ‘I will curse you with my power, net or no!’
She began to mutter in Ancient Greek.
Frank looked up, scowling. ‘Can she really cast magic through this net?’
‘Heck if I know,’ Leo said.
Frank let go of the goddess. He took off one of his shoes, peeled off his sock and stuffed it in the goddess’s mouth.
‘Dude,’ Percy said, ‘that is disgusting.’
‘Mpppphhh!’ Nike complained. ‘Mppppphhh!’
‘Leo,’ Frank said grimly, ‘you got duct tape?’
‘Never leave home without it.’ He fished a roll from his tool belt, and in no time Frank had wrapped it around Nike’s head, securing the gag in her mouth.
‘Well, it’s not a laurel wreath,’ Frank said, ‘but it’s a new kind of victory circle: the gag of duct tape.’
‘Zhang,’ Leo said, ‘you got style.’
Nike thrashed and grunted until Percy nudged her with his toe. ‘Hey, shut up. You behave or we’ll get Arion back here and let him nibble your wings. He loves gold.’
Nike shrieked once, then became still and quiet.
‘So …’ Hazel sounded a little nervous. ‘We have one tied-up goddess. Now what?’
Frank folded his arms. ‘We go looking for this physician’s cure … whatever that is. Because, personally, I like cheating death.’
Leo grinned. ‘Poison in Pylos? A chained god’s heartbeat in Sparta? A curse in Delos? Oh, yeah. This is gonna be fun!’
XIII
Nico
THE LAST THING NICO HEARD was Coach Hedge grumbling, ‘Well, this isn’t good.’
He wondered what he’d done wrong this time. Maybe he’d teleported them into a den of Cyclopes, or a thousand feet above another volcano. There was nothing he could do about it. His vision was gone. His other senses were shutting down. His knees buckled and he passed out.
He tried to make the most of his unconsciousness.
Dreams and death were old friends of his. He knew how to navigate their dark borderland. He sent out his thoughts, searching for Thalia Grace.
He rushed past the usual fragments of painful memories – his mother smiling down at him, her face illuminated by the sunlight rippling off the Venetian Grand Canal; his sister Bianca laughing as she pulled him across the Mall in Washington, D.C., her green floppy hat shading her eyes and the splash of freckles across her nose. He saw Percy Jackson on a snowy cliff outside Westover Hall, shielding Nico and Bianca from the manticore as Nico clutched a Mythomagic figurine and whispered, I’m scared. He saw Minos, his old ghostly mentor, leading him through the Labyrinth. Minos’s smile was cold and cruel. Don’t worry, son of Hades. You will have your revenge.
Nico couldn’t stop the memories. They cluttered his dreams like the ghosts of Asphodel – an aimless, sorrowful mob pleading for attention. Save me, they seemed to whisper. Remember me. Help me. Comfort me.
He didn’t dare stop to dwell on them. They would only crush him with wants and regrets. The best he could do was to stay focused and push through.
I am the son of Hades, he thought. I go where I wish. The darkness is my birthright.
He forged ahead through a grey-and-black terrain, looking for the dreams of Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus. Instead, the ground dissolved at his feet and he fell into a familiar backwater – the Hypnos cabin at Camp Half-Blood.
Buried under piles of feather comforters, snoring demigods nestled in their bunks. Above the mantel, a dark tree branch dripped milky water from the River Lethe into a bowl. A cheerful fire crackled in the fireplace. In front of it, in a leather armchair, dozed the head counsellor for Cabin Fifteen – a pot-bellied guy with unruly blond hair and a gentle bovine face.
‘Clovis,’ Nico growled, ‘for the gods’ sake, stop dreaming so powerfully!’
Clovis’s eyes fluttered open. He turned and stared at Nico, though Nico knew this was simply part of Clovis’s own dreamscape. The actual Clovis would still be snoring in his armchair back at camp.
‘Oh, hi …’ Clovis yawned wide enough to swallow a minor god. ‘Sorry. Did I pull you off course again?’
Nico gritted his teeth. There was no point getting upset. The Hypnos cabin was like Grand Central Station for dream activity. You couldn’t travel anywhere without going through it once in a while.
‘As long as I’m here,’ Nico said, ‘pass along a message. Tell Chiron I’m on my way with a couple of friends. We’re bringing the Athena Parthenos.’
Clovis rubbed his eyes. ‘So it’s true? How are you bringing it? Did you rent a van or something?’
Nico explained as concisely as possible. Messages sent through dreams tended to get fuzzy around the edges, especially when you were dealing with Clovis. The simpler, the better.
‘We’re being followed by a hunter,’ Nico said. ‘One of Gaia’s giants, I think. Can you get that message to Thalia Grace? You’re better at finding people in dreams than I am. I need her advice.’