LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . hoo

VI.

LUNCH FELT LIKE a funeral party. Everybody ate. People talked in hushed tones. Nobody seemed particularly happy. The other campers kept glancing over at Mia like she was the corpse of honor. Then again, they always looked like that to her.

Reyna made a brief speech wishing them luck. Octavian ripped open a Beanie Baby and pronounced grave omens and hard times ahead, but predicted the camp would be saved by an unexpected hero ( whose initials were probably OCTAVIAN ). Then the other campers went off to their afternoon classes — gladiator fighting, Latin lessons, paintball with ghosts, eagle training, and a dozen other activities that sounded better than a suicide quest, even to Mia. She led Nico to an empty apartment that they inhabited last night.

As if Mia even had to pack. She kept everything in her bottomless backpack that she'd gotten as a gift from Hecate — a shit ton of clothes, her makeup, some ambrosia, nectar, her wallet, and some other things that she'd kept for the memories like her Camp Half-Blood necklace, t-shirt, and a picture of her and Sophia. She hadn't really taken anything out. Her necklace that held Sirius and her Starfury ring were on her, as well as the identical skull ring Nico had bought her for her birthday.

"Where are you going while I'm gone?" Mia asked him, towel drying her hair after a shower.

"Help Dad. Track escaping souls. Find the Doors," he told her, sifting through the stuff in her backpack. "Don't reveal the t-shirt and necklace to anyone."

"Yes, father," she rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you wanna go alone?"

"Do I have a choice?" Nico countered.

Mia sighed, taking out a brush and starting to comb her hair into a straight, wet mess. "I wish you did."

"I know you'll be fine," he told her. "You're capable. You've learned a lot over these few months. More than I have."

"That's physically," she said. "Mentally? I'm still a mess. That's not a good mentality to have going into a quest."

He understood. "You'll have Hazel and Frank. It won't just be you two."

"He'll ask questions."

"Give him half truths."

You're good at that, was the unspoken message. Or maybe that was just one of the voices in her head.

"I think you're good," Nico offered Mia the blow dryer, and she took it and gave him her brush. "Just don't lose your wallet."

"I've lost too many of them over the years to even consider losing it again," she snorted, but she gave him a grateful look.

After she was done, he walked her to the barracks, where her questmates were waiting.

"I'll see you on the other side," Mia gave him a quick hug, out of sight from the others.

"Do not," Nico scrunched his nose. "Don't die."

"You'll feel it if I do," she huffed. "Love you."

As she walked toward her doom, she heard him say quietly, "love you too."

One of the legionnaires, Bobby, gave them a ride to the border of the valley on Hannibal the elephant. From the hilltops, Mia could see everything below. The Little Tiber snaked across golden pastures where the unicorns were grazing. The temples and forums of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. On the Field of Mars, engineers were hard at work, pulling down the remains of last night's fort and setting up barricades for a game of death ball. A normal day for Camp Jupiter — but on the northern horizon, storm clouds were gathering.

Looking down at the valley, Mia felt homesick for a place that wasn't hers anymore. It hurt, but now she didn't belong at any camp. She belonged to the Starfury company — if she was ever done with this demigod business. No, she had to be done, after the huge Eight quest. Or she would be dead, which, frankly, wouldn't be ideal.