LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE . . . hoo

XXIX.

BEING SLAPPED ACROSS the world fucked Mia up in five million ways.

She couldn't bring herself to function enough to get out of the Argo II, which seemed like it would fall apart at any moment. Luckily, Hazel and Frank had shoved the hatch open because Jason ( L ) Grace didn't open the hatch for them. Mia, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth followed Hazel and Frank out.

"Go!" Leo yelled. "Go, go, go!"

For once, his tone was deadly serious.

They'd talked through their evacuation plan, but that slap across the world had made Mia's mind sluggish. Judging from the others' expressions, they weren't in much better shape.

Buford the table saved them. He clattered across the deck with his holographic Hedge blaring, "LET'S GO! MOVE IT! CUT THAT OUT!"

Then his tabletop split into helicopter blades and Buford buzzed away.

Frank changed form. Instead of a dazed demigod, he was now a dazed grey dragon. Hazel climbed onto his neck. Frank grabbed Percy and Annabeth in his front claws, then spread his wings and soared away.

Jason held Piper by the waist, ready to fly. Mia gave them a mock salute, then she grinned at Leo and shadow traveled away.

The ground wasn't much less chaotic.

Mia reappeared on Half-Blood Hill, looking down at the battles below her. She saw a vast army of monsters spread across the hills — cynocephali, two-headed men, wild centaurs, ogres and others she forgot the names of — surrounding two tiny islands of demigods. At the crest of Half-Blood Hill, gathered at the feet of the Athena Parthenos, was the main force of Camp Half-Blood along with the First and Fifth Cohorts, rallied around the golden eagle of the legion. The other three Roman cohorts were in a defensive formation several hundred yards away and seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack.

Mia's heart lifted when she saw Nico on the front lines with the Greeks, slashing his way through a crowd of two-headed men. A few feet away, Reyna sat astride a new pegasus, her sword drawn. She shouted orders at the legion, and the Romans obeyed without question, as if she'd never been away.

Mia didn't see Octavian anywhere. Good. Neither did she see a colossal earth goddess laying waste to the world. Very good. Perhaps Gaia had risen, taken one look at the modern world and decided to go back to sleep. Mia wished they could be that lucky, but she doubted it.

Jason and Piper landed on the hill next to Mia, their swords drawn, and a cheer went up from the Greeks and the Romans, though their enthusiasm was muted when they saw Mia. Right. Traitor and all that.

"About time!" Reyna called. "Glad you could join us!"

Piper grinned. "We had some giants to kill!"

"Excellent!" Reyna returned the smile. "Help yourself to some barbarians."

"Why, thank you!"

The two girls launched into battle side by side.

Nico nodded to Jason, then let Mia hug him as he went back to turning two-headed men into no-headed corpses. "Good timing. Where's the ship?"

Jason pointed. The Argo II streaked across the sky in a ball of fire, shedding burning chunks of mast, hull and armament. Mia frowned when she saw it, but at least Leo was still alive.

"Gods," Nico said. "Is everyone okay?"

"Leo . . ." Jason's voice broke. "He said he had a plan."

The comet disappeared behind the western hills. Mia waited with dread for the sound of an explosion, but she heard nothing over the roar of battle. Leo had a plan. He always did.