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"So it wasn’t my fault" Leo exhaled "I didn’t start World War Three I just got possessed by an evil spirit That’s a relief!"
"But the Romans don’t know that," Annabeth said "And ould they take our word for it?"
"We could contact Reyna," Jason suggested "She would believe us"
Hearing the way Jason said her name, like it was a lifeline to his past, made Piper’s heart sink
Jason turned to her with a hopeful gleam in his eyes "You could convince her, Pipes I know you could"
Piper felt like all the blood in her body was draining into her feet Annabeth looked at her sympathetically, as if to say: Boys are so clueless Even Hazel winced
"I could try," she said halfheartedly "But Octavian is the one we have to worry about Incontrol of the Roman crowd I’m not sure Reyna can stop hiet any pleasure fro his bubble, but the other Roreeht," Frank said "This afternoon ere scouting,eagles again They were a long way off, but closing fast Octavian is on the warpath"
Hazel grimaced "This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has alanted He’ll try to seize power If Reyna objects, he’ll say she’s soft on the Greeks As for those eagles…It’s like they could sles can hunt deical scent even better than ht conceal us somewhat, but not coers "Great I should have installed a sget Remind me to invent that, next tiet?"
"Oh, ht You’ve missed the last like, seventy years Well, et--"
"Doesn’t matter," Annabeth interrupted "The point is, we’ll have a hard ti the truth to the Roht" Jason leaned forward "We should just keep going Once we’re over the Atlantic, we’ll be safe--at least froion"
He sounded so depressed, Piper didn’t knohether to feel sorry for him or resentful "How can you be sure?" she asked "Why wouldn’t they follow us?"
He shook his head "You heard Reyna talking about the ancient lands They’re o there for generations Even Octavian couldn’t get around that rule"
Frank sed a bite of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his o there…"
"We’ll be outlaws as well as traitors," Jason confirht But I wouldn’t worry about that If we get across the Atlantic, they’ll give up on chasing us They’ll assume that we’ll die in the Mediterranean--the Mare Nostrum"
Percy pointed his pizza slice at Jason "You, sir, are a ray of sunshine"
Jason didn’t argue The other deods stared at their plates, except for Percy, who continued to enjoy his pizza Where he put all that food, Piper didn’t know The guy could eat like a satyr
"So let’s plan ahead," Percy suggested, "and h, do I have to call him Mr B now? Anyway, he iants Otis and, uh, so that started with an F?"
"Ephialtes," Jason said
"Twin giants, like Piper saw in her blade…" Annabeth ran her finger along the riiants They tried to reach Mount Oly up a bunch of reat Giants who can useblocks And you say Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?"
"So like that," Percy said "I don’t think we should count on his help this time He wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn’t handle"
Silence fell around the table Piper could hear Coach Hedge above deck singing "Blow the Man Down," except he didn’t know the lyrics, so he , "Blah-blah-hu that Bacchus was iant tere in Ro in that bronze jar Whatever it was, she got the feeling it held the answer to sealing the Doors of Death--the key to endless death She also felt sure they could never defeat the giants without Bacchus’s help And if they couldn’t do that in five days, Rome would be destroyed, and Hazel’s brother, Nico, would die
On the other hand, if the vision of Bacchus offering her a silver goblet was false, maybe the other visions didn’t have to come true either--especially the one of her, Percy, and Jason drowning Maybe that was just syod, Gaea had said, and the blood of a male Piper, my dear, choose which hero will die with you
"She wants two of us," Piper murmured
Everyone turned to look at her
Piper hated being the center of attention Maybe that was strange for a child of Aphrodite, but she’d watched her dad, the movie star, deal with fame for years She remembered when Aphrodite had clai her with a ic beauty-queenods, Piper felt exposed
They’re my friends, she told herself It’s okay
But she had a strange feeling…as ifher
"Today on the highway," she said, "Gaea told ods--one female, one male She--she asked me to choose which boy would die"
Jason squeezed her hand "But neither of us died You saved us"
"I know It’s just…Why would she want that?"
Leo whistled softly "Guys, remember at the Wolf House? Our favorite ice princess, Khione? She talked about spilling Jason’s blood, hoould taint the place for generations Maybe deod blood has some kind of power"
"Oh…" Percy set down his third pizza slice He leaned back and stared at nothing, as if the horse kick to his head had just now registered
"Percy?" Annabeth gripped his arm