ONE LAST TIME . . . heroes of olympus

73

LIKE, THREE DAYS after those conversations ( listen, Kat didn't know the difference between the days, to be honest ), Jason forced her to wake up and sit into the meeting during breakfast.

Which, honestly, she pretty much did because he probably wouldn't even eat breakfast. She had to make sure he was functioning. Any other day Piper would be doing it during breakfast, but she was taking her turn at the helm with Hedge, so it was up to Kat.

Since they'd lost Annabeth, Jason had done his best to act as the group's leader. Having been praetor back at Camp Jupiter, he was probably used to that; but it had a toll on him physically. His eyes were more sunken than usual. His blond hair was uncharacteristically messy, like he'd forgotten to comb it. Kat would probably comb through it later, whether by her fingers or with a brush.

Surprisingly, Kat had felt energetic enough to make some avocado egg toast. Or, well, Frank had made it, she'd just toasted the bread and cut an avocado or two. They and Jason were splitting it.

"So," Jason said, "now that we're here . . ."

Speaking of Frank, he was dressed in black workout pants and a Roman tourist T-shirt that said CIAO!. When did he even buy that thing? Kat didn't have the time to do shit. Frank's old centurion badge was pinned to his shirt, despite the fact that the demigods of the Argo II were now Public Enemies Numbers 1 through 8 back at Camp Jupiter. His grim expression just reinforced his unfortunate resemblance to a sumo wrestler.

Next to him, Hazel was bleary-eyed, similarly to Jason, but of course she was since she'd been up all night guiding the ship through the mountains. Her curly cinnamon-colored hair was tied back in a bandana, which gave her a commando look that was lowkey sick. Kat had definitely done that look before. She thought so at least.

Then there was Hazel's half brother, Nico di Angelo. He sat back in his leather aviator jacket, his black T-shirt and jeans, that wicked silver skull ring on his finger, and the Stygian sword at his side. His tufts of black hair stuck up in curls like baby bat wings. His eyes were sad and kind of empty, as if he'd stared into the depths of Tartarus — which he had. Kat had never really thought about him before this quest, to be honest, though what he had done during the Second Titan War was sick.

Kat had zoned out so badly she didn't realize Jason was still talking. Oops. In her defense, she was still tired. And enjoying this toast, because it was so fucking good.

"—the House of Hades," he was saying. "Nico?"

Nico sat forward. "I communed with the dead last night."

He just tossed that line out there, like he was saying he got a text from a buddy. Then again, was Kat really that much better?

"I was able to learn more about what we'll face," Nico continued. "In ancient times, the House of Hades was a major site for Greek pilgrims. They would come to speak with the dead and honor their ancestors."

Leo frowned. "Sounds like Día de los Muertos. My Aunt Rosa took that stuff seriously."

Frank grunted. "Chinese have that, too — ancestor worship, sweeping the graves in the springtime." He glanced at Leo. "Your Aunt Rosa would've gotten along with my grandmother."

Kat let out a loud snort. She personally knew Grandma Zhang, and she heard bits and pieces about Leo's Aunt Rosa. Totally besties.

"Yeah," Leo said. "I'm sure they would've been best buds."

Nico cleared his throat. "A lot of cultures have seasonal traditions to honor the dead, but the House of Hades was open year-round. Pilgrims could actually speak to the ghosts. In Greek, the place was called the Necromanteion, the Oracle of Death. You'd work your way through different levels of tunnels, leaving offerings and drinking special potions—"