✓ | The Crown of the Dead

I Cross Paths With Two Gods

We weren't waiting too long. The bus pulled up just as Blake pulled out his monster matching game, stating that it would be 'fun and educational for our adventures ahead.' That just made me feel more uneasy.

"Let's go team!" He announced, standing up from the bench and practically leaping into the bus.

The rest of us followed behind tentatively. I think I accidentally made eye contact with the bus driver for a few seconds too long.

We immediately congregated towards the back rows. Luke and Charlie took seats on opposite sides. From there, Essie sat next to Charlie, and Blake and I sat in front of them. Luke sulked, alone, across the aisle.

"Now this is the official start of our quest!" Blake said, situating his bag beside his feat. He pulled out a stack of cards, rubber banded together. "So. Wanna play monster matching?"

I sighed glumly. "Why not."

"It's super easy," he assured me, pulling off the band. "I'll read you monster descriptions, and you have to tell me what it is. Now, not all of these are monsters. Some are just, like, evil sorcerers or Ancient Greek celebrities. They're from the VIP expansion pack, and I didn't think to separate them—"

"Okay," I said, growing tired of his rambling. "Just start."

"One more thing! This is the updated version, edited by canon six! That means that it actually refers to several camp alumni when giving monster descriptions!"

"How exciting."

"Okay. We'll start easy. 'A beautiful maiden cursed by Athena to turn heroes to stone. Defeated by Perseus—'"

"Medusa," I answered. "Too easy."

"Alright then." Blake set down the card he had been holding. "'A Greek hero who fought in the Trojan War. Avenged his lover even after—'"

"Achilles."

Blake seemed surprised. "Wow. I didn't think you'd get that one so quickly."

"Blake," I said slowly. "Achilles and Patroclus were the Romeo and Juliet of my household."

"I didn't want to assume!"

"Frankly, if you aren't raising your children to believe that Achilles and Patroclus were Romeo and Juliet, what are you doing with your life?"

"Agreed."

I sighed dramatically. "The world just wasn't ready for Brad Pitt to avenge his male lover in a fit of rage in Troy."

"Exactly! Cousins? Really?"

"Okay, enough of that. Read the next one."

Blake shifted his position. "'A famous legacy of Helios and an accomplished sorceress— was defeated twice by Piper McLean."

"Oh, gosh..." I leaned back and winced. "Sorry. Can't imagine my aunt defeating any sorceresses."

He laughed in response. "She technically defeated her twice."

"Yeah..." I crinkled my nose. "What's up with that, anyway? Aren't all these monsters dead? Weren't they killed, like, thousands of years ago?"

"To put it plainly, they come back. They 'regenerate' in a sense. When monsters or evil entities are killed, they go to Tartarus. Then, after a tentative period of time, they eventually return. That could be one month to a decade. So, all of the old evil things from the myths you read in school are still around today."

"That's not frightening."

"We'll be fine. At least, we'll be safer than normal demigods. Legacies are just like... watered down demigods. The monsters won't be able to pick up our scent that easily. That's exactly why some demigods don't have to send their kids to camp," he explained.