Umbra

Chapter 46

They had nearly reached Olympia.

The group congregated in the mess hall, loading their plates with breakfast. Emilia had fixed a plate for Hazel, the poor thing having been on guard all night. She'd made them both the same meal– peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with dried apple bites and banana slices inside, paired with a large glass of milk.

Festus was by himself on deck, happily navigating for them. Piper had somehow used charmspeak to keep him awake, which meant the dragon checked the radar each morning while also finding time to make Leo a blueberry smoothie to start the day.

Percy was eating a huge stack of blue pancakes while Annabeth chided him for pouring on too much syrup. Frank was downing a bowl of cereal the size of a medium saucepan, leaning over a flattened map of Greece with Hazel, who was eating her sandwich with one hand and using her other to caress Frank's palm.

At the head of the table, Jason flexed his arms a good few times until he felt that he could eat without Piper's help. He insisted he was just sore. Emilia hoped he wasn't trying to make her feel better about potentially butchering his healing.

"Leo!" said Emilia brightly, patting the seat beside her. He immediately sat down and piled his plate with brownies and this strange Italian junk food– Fonzies– which made her raise a slightly judgmental brow. He rolled his eyes as she served him a bowl of cereal and slid it over.

"So..." Jason leaned forward. "We're going to stay airborne and drop anchor as close as we can to Olympia. It's further inland than I'd like– about five miles– but we don't have much choice. According to Juno, we have to find the goddess of victory and, um... subdue her."

Uncomfortable silence descended around the table. Percy sipped from his orange juice. "I'm cool with fighting the occasional goddess, but isn't Nike one of the good ones? I mean, personally, I like victory. I can't get enough of it."

Annabeth drummed her fingers on the table. "It does seem strange. I understand why Nike would be in Olympia– home of the Olympics and all that. The contestants sacrificed to her. Greeks and Romans worshiped her there for, like, twelve hundred years, right?"

"Almost to the end of the Roman Empire," agreed Frank. "Romans called her Victoria, but same difference. Everybody loved her. Who doesn't like to win? Not sure why we would have to subdue her."

Jason frowned. "All I know... the ghoul Antinous said, Victory runs rampant in Olympia. Juno warned us that we could never heal the rift between the Greeks and Romans unless we defeated victory."

"Easier said than done," muttered Emilia, carefully slicing her sandwich into small squares. "The children in Nike's cabin at Camp are insanely competitive."

"Her kids seem to have a dark side," agreed Annabeth. "They never turn down a challenge. They have to be number one at everything. If their mom is that intense..."

"Whoa." Piper placed her palms on the table. "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," said Annabeth. "She'd want one side or the other to win so she could declare a victor. She'd literally be fighting with herself."

Hazel hummed. "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," said Jason. "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?" asked Leo. "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."