𝐂œ𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬é𝐬 [Percy Jackson]

136

"You're saying Nike has a dark side?"

"Her kids sure do," Annabeth said. "They never turn down a challenge. They have to be number one at everything. If their mom is that intense..."

"Whoa." Hadrian's brain hurt from thinking too much, but a random thought had occurred— the occasional helpful kind, "Guys, all the gods are split between their Greek and Roman aspects, right? If Nike's that way and she's the goddess of victory–"

"She'd be really conflicted," Annabeth said. "She'd want one side or the other to win so she could declare a victor. She'd literally be fighting with herself."

Hazel nudged her cereal bowl across the map of Greece. "But we don't want one side or the other to win. We've got to get the Greeks and Romans on the same team."

"Maybe that's the problem," Jason said. "If the goddess of victory is running rampant, torn between Greek and Roman, she might make it impossible to bring the two camps together."

"How?" Leo asked. "Start a flame war on Twitter?"

Percy stabbed at his pancakes. "Maybe she's like Ares. That guy can spark a fight just by walking into a crowded room. If Nike radiates competitive vibes or something, she could aggravate the whole Greek–Roman rivalry big-time."

Frank pointed at Percy and Hadrian. "You remember that old sea god in Atlanta— Phorcys? He said that Gaia's plans always have lots of layers. This could be part of the giants' strategy— keep the two camps divided; keep the gods divided. If that's the case, we can't let Nike play us against each other. We should send a landing party of four— two Greeks, two Romans. The balance might help keep her balanced."

Listening to Frank, Hadrian had one of those double-take moments. He couldn't believe how much the guy had changed in the last few weeks.

Frank wasn't just taller and buffer. He was more confident now, more willing to take charge. Hadrian had trouble seeing him as the same klutzy dude who'd once iguanaed his way out of Chinese handcuffs or panicked and turned into a koi.

"I think Frank is right," Annabeth said. "A party of four. We'll have to be careful who goes. We don't want to do anything that might make the goddess, um, more unstable."

"I'll go," Hadrian said. "I can try charmspeaking"

Worry lines deepened around Annabeth's eyes. "Not this time, Hads. Nike is all about competition. Eros... well, I'm not sure your charmspeaking might help. I think Nike might see you as a threat."

Ever since Tartarus, he was ready to listen to anything Annabeth said. There was a reason she was the one with plans. He had no idea how they survived down there without her. For now, he was just glad to sit back and let someone else take the lead.

He shrugged. "Who should go, then?"

"Jason and Percy shouldn't go together," Annabeth said. "Jupiter and Poseidon— bad combination. Nike could start you two fighting easily."

Percy gave her a sideways smile, though there was something sharp and cold about it. His eyes found Hadrian's and he looked away just as quickly. "Yeah, we can't have another incident like in Kansas. I might kill my... bro Jason."

They still hadn't talked about the kiss in Tartarus, what it meant, what it might lead to. Was it really possible that Percy liked him? Was it possible he was jealous?

"Or I might kill my bro, Percy," Jason said amiably.

"Which proves my point," Annabeth said. "We also shouldn't send Frank and me together. Mars and Athena— that would be just as bad."

"Okay," Leo broke in. "So Percy, Frank, Hazel, and me. Is that the ultimate non-competitive dream team or what?"

Annabeth and Frank exchanged war-godly looks.

"It could work," Frank decided. "I mean, no combination is going to be perfect, but Poseidon, Hephaestus, Pluto, Mars... I don't see any huge antagonism there."

Hazel traced her finger along the map of Greece. "I still wish we could've gone through the Gulf of Corinth. I was hoping we could visit Delphi, maybe get some advice. Plus it's such a long way around the Peloponnese."

"Yeah." Hadrian's heart sank when he looked at how much coastline they still had to navigate. "It's July 14th already"

"I know," Jason said. "But Juno was clear. The shorter way would have been suicide."

"And as for Delphi..." Hadrian leaned towards the map. "What's going on there? If Apollo doesn't have his Oracle any more..."

Percy grunted. "Probably something to do with that creep Octavian. Maybe he was so bad at telling the future that he broke Apollo's powers."

Jason managed a smile, though his eyes were cloudy from pain. "Hopefully we can find Apollo and Artemis. Then you can ask him yourself. Juno said the twins might be willing to help us."

"A lot of unanswered questions," Frank muttered. "A lot of miles to cover before we get to Athens."

"First things first," Annabeth said. "You guys have to find Nike and figure out how to subdue her... whatever Juno meant by that. I still don't understand how you defeat a goddess who controls victory. Seems impossible."

Leo started to grin. Hadrian couldn't help the way his brain just said: Uh oh.

Leo hated being told something was impossible. He'd done so many miracles by now, what was one more?

"We'll see about that." He rose to his feet. "Let me get my collection of grenades and I'll meet you guys on deck!"

"Did he just say grenades?"

"He said collection of grenades, Zhang" Hadrian grinned just as wildly, "As in plural and multiple types of grenades"

Annabeth turned to Percy, "Keep Hadrian away from things that can blow up"