Nemesism

10)

THE GREEK LANDSCAPE BELOW WAS just as inhospitable. The hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air. The sun beat down as if trying to hammer the countryside into a Celestial bronze shield. Even from a hundred feet up, I could hear the drone of cicadas buzzing in the trees—a sleepy, otherworldly sound that made my eyes heavy.

    "Hot and steamy!" Leo grinned at the helm. "Makes me homesick for Houston! What do you say, Hazel? All we need now are some giant mosquitoes, and it'll feel just like the Gulf Coast!"

    "Thanks a lot, Leo," Hazel grumbled. "We'll probably get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters now."

    I studied the two of them, quietly marveling how the tension between them had disappeared. Whatever had happened to Leo during his five days of exile, it had changed him. He still joked around, but I sensed something different about him—like a ship with a new keel. Maybe you couldn't see the keel, but you could tell it was there by the way the ship cut through the waves.

Leo didn't seem so intent on teasing Frank. He chatted more easily with Hazel—not stealing those wistful, mooning glances that had always made Frank uncomfortable.

    Leo wouldn't talk to me or look at my direction. The hate I had for Calypso only grew more. First, Percy and now Leo. Great work, Calypso.

    I clenched my forearm harder. I stood next to Piper hoping her calming demeanor would calm me down. It didn't.

    "There!" Nico's voice shook me out of his thoughts. As usual, di Angelo was perched atop the foremast. He pointed toward a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometer away. "Maneuver us that way. We're close to the temple. Very close."

    As if to prove his point, black lightning ripped through the sky, leaving dark spots before my eyes and making the hairs on my arms stand up.

    Jason strapped on his sword belt. "Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, get us close, but don't land—no more contact with the ground than necessary. Piper, Hazel, get the mooring ropes."

    "On it!" Piper said.

    Hazel gave Frank a peck on the cheek and ran to help. "Frank," Jason called, "get below and find Coach Hedge."

    "Yep!"

    I stood watching the lighting. The House of Hades. I bit my lip. "I went to the underworld once."

    Jason turned to face me confused on the fact that I suddenly started a conversation. "Why?"

    "We were trying to return the lighting bolt to Zeus. We thought Hades had it. Well, he didn't and now I have a bad rep with him. And to save Percy's mom. We had these pearls to get us out. But we didn't have enough so Grover stayed behind until Zeus took him out." I notice Leo looking at me with the corner of my eyes. I went to face him and he immediately looked away. He then left leaving just Nico, Jason and I.

    My jaw clenched as I looked back at the lighting. What the actual fu-

    "He just needs time," Jason whispered.

    "He doesn't need me anymore," I responded with no emotion in my voice.

    Jason looked at me confused. "What do you—"

    I waved my hand around telling him to stop. "He found someone else, that's it. Its over. Just like with Percy, it happened with him."

    Jason's eyes widen. "Wait—"

    "Ohh look," I said pointing trying to divert the conversation. Guilt hit me because I knew that he was just asking to be nice.

    We had found the source of the dark lightning.

    The Argo II hovered directly over the river. A few hundred meters away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. They didn't look like much— just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings— but from somewhere within the ruins, tendrils of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave. As I watched, a bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape.

    "The Necromanteion," Nico said. "The House of Hades."

    I steadied myself at the rail. I saw nail marks on my forearm, yet I never felt the pain. I was now slowly losing it.

    Piper hugged her arms. "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"

    "I wouldn't," Hazel said. "That's the River Acheron."

    Jason squinted in the sunlight. "I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld."

    "It is," Hazel said. "But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto—er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship on those waters—"

    "Yeah, let's stay up here," Leo decided. "I don't want any zombie water on my hull."

    Half a kilometer downstream, some fishing boats were puttering along. I guessed they didn't know or care about the history of this river. Must be nice, being a regular mortal.

    Next to Frank, Nico di Angelo raised the scepter of Diocletian. Its orb glowed with purple light, as if in sympathy with the dark storm.

    "So, uh, Nico..." Frank gestured at the scepter. "Have you learned to use that thing?"

    "We'll find out." Nico stared at the tendrils of darkness undulating from the ruins. "I don't intend to try until I have to. The Doors of Death are already working overtime bringing in Gaea's monsters. Any more activity raising the dead, and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed."

    Coach Hedge grunted. "I hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads."

    Frank looked at the satyr's grim expression. Suddenly he had an idea. "Coach, you should stay on board, cover us with the ballistae."

    Hedge frowned. "Stay behind? Me? I'm your best soldier!"

    "We might need air support," Frank said. "Like we did in Rome. You saved our braccae."

    Hedge apparently got the message. His scowl relaxed. Relief showed in his eyes.

    "Well..." he grumbled, "I suppose somebody's got to save your braccae."

    Jason clapped the coach on the shoulder. Then he gave Frank an appreciative nod. "So that's settled. Everybody else—let's get to the ruins. Time to crash Gaea's party."

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