You'll Learn to Love Me

Chapter 58: Let's 'Split'

Laylana woke up a few days later after the whole event with Scrion and the turtle, to shouting on deck. When she rushed up the stairs, she just barely caught sight of Jason shooting upwards in the sky. She looked around, confused for a few moments before Piper explained that they had seen him, passed out midair. 

While they ate lunch, Jason reported on his midair vision to them. Laylana was seated next to him as usual when they had their meetings, her foot tapping along the ground with every word. Part of her was relieved that Annabeth was alive, and by extension Percy too. The ship creaked as it sailed through the Adriatic, its remaining oars still out of alignment from the giant turtle attack. Every once in a while Festus the figurehead creaked and squeaked through the speakers, reporting the autopilot status in morse code which only Leo and Laylana could understand.

"A note from Annabeth." Piper shook her head in amazement. "I don't see how that's possible, but if it is –"

"She's alive," Leo said. "Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce."

Frank frowned. "What does that mean?"

Leo swatted at Laylana's hands as she tried to wipe the chip crumbs off his face. "It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry. And Lana, leave me alone! You're not my mom!" 

"I might as well fucking be if you don't clean your damn face!" Laylana grabbed a napkin and grabbed his chin, holding his face steady. He whined in protest.

Frank slid over a jar of salsa, grinning at the couple "I can't believe Reyna would try to find us. It's taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She'll be stripped of her praetorship."

"If she lives," Hazel said. "It was hard enough for us to make it this far with eight demigods and a warship."

"And me." Gleeson belched. "Don't forget, cupcake, you got the satyr advantage."

Laylana caught Jason's smile, and grinned herself. She had worked with Gleeson for years, and was kind of glad he had come along, despite all the hardships he caused along the way. It brought a bit of entertainment value. 

"Jason?" Leo asked. "Argo II to Jason. Come in."

Jason looked up as he spaced out. Laylana lightly set her hand on his back in reassurance. 

"Yeah, sorry." He sighed. "Crossing the Atlantic is a hard journey, no doubt. But I'd never bet against Reyna. If anyone can make it, she will."

Piper circled her spoon through her soup, and for a second Laylana thought her friend would snap at him. She remembered the one night she and Piper had laid in her cabin, alone, and she complained about her jealousy for Reyna. Laylana understood, the two of them were close before Jason disappeared, probably had a history behind them. But then Piper surprised her when she looked up she gave him a dry smile that seemed more teasing than insecure.

"Well, I'd love to see Reyna again," Piper said. "But how is she supposed to find us?"

Frank raised his hand. "Can't you just send her an Iris-message?"

"They're not working very well," Coach Hedge put in. "Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could kick that rainbow goddess..."

He faltered. His face turned bright red. Laylana and Leo looked at one another and grinned. 

"Coach?" Laylana said with a teasing hint in her voice. "Who have you been calling every night, you old goat?"

"No one!" Hedge snapped. "Nothing! I just meant –"

"He means we've already tried," Hazel intervened, and the coach gave her a grateful look. "Some magic is interfering... maybe Gaea. Contacting the Romans is even harder. I think they're shielding themselves."

Laylana looked between the two of them, wondering what was going on. She chose not to dwell on it too much. They had bigger things on the table for now. She might grill Gleeson later if she found the time.

Frank drummed his fingers on the table. "I don't suppose Reyna has a cell phone..? Nah. Nevermind. She'd probably have bad reception on a pegasus flying over the Atlantic."

"She'll find us," Jason assured them. "She mentioned something in the dream – she's expecting me to go to a certain place on our way to the House of Hades. I – I'd forgotten about it, actually, but she's right. It's a place I need to visit."

Piper leaned towards him, her caramel braid falling over her shoulder. "And where is this place?"

"A... uh, a town called Split."

"Split." Piper asked.

"Um, yeah." Jason stuttered as he looked at his girlfriend. "In fact, we should begetting close. Leo?"

Leo punched the intercom button. "How's it going up there, buddy?"

Festus the figurehead creaked and steamed. Laylana managed to get the message through.

"He says maybe ten minutes to the harbour," Laylana reported before Leo could. He looked at her, an impressed look on his face.

"I still don't get why you want to go to Croatia, especially a town called Split. I mean, you name your city Split, you gotta figure it's a warning to, you know, split. Kind of like naming your city Get Out!" Leo said.

"Wait," Hazel said. "Why are we going to Croatia?"

Laylana noted that some of them were hesitant to meet the eye. Since her trick with the Mist against Sciron the bandit, a lot of people felt a little nervous around her. It was hard enough being a child of Pluto, but she'd pulled off some serious magic on that cliff. And afterwards, according to Hazel, Pluto himself had appeared to her. That was something Romans typically called a bad omen, according to Jason. Laylana tried to keep in her the loop, make her feel less left out. 

Leo pushed his chips and hot sauce aside. "Well, technically we've been in Croatian territory for the past day or so. All that coastline we've been sailing past is it, but I guess back in the Roman times it was called... what'd you say, Jason? Bodacious?"

"Dalmatia," Nico said, making Jason jump next to Laylana. She looked over at her brother as he stepped forward, fixing his eyes on Jason. "Croatia used to be Dalmatia. A major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's Palace, don't you?"

Coach Hedge managed another heroic belch. "Whose palace? And is Dalmatia where those Dalmatian dogs come from? That 101 Dalmatians movie – I still have nightmares."

Frank scratched his head. "Why would you have nightmares about that?"

Coach Hedge looked like he was about to launch into a major speech about the evils of cartoon Dalmatians, but apparently Jason decided he didn't want to know. 

"Nico is right," he said. "I need to go to Diocletian's Palace. It's where Reyna will go first, because she knows I would go there."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "And why would Reyna think that? Because you've always had a mad fascination with Croatian culture?"

Jason stared at his uneaten sandwich, a slight hint of hurt in his face. Laylana knew that talking about his life before being taken by Hera/Juno hurt Jason, a lot. He had opened up to her a few times about how it seemed like his years at Camp Jupiter felt like decades now that his memories had returned. Laylana tried to ignore the tension between her two friends. She could tell there was still some jealousy left in Piper's mind, but she was trying to let it go. 

"Reyna and I used to talk about Diocletian," he said. "We both kind of idolized the guy as a leader. We talked about how we'd like to visit Diocletian's Palace. Of course we knew that was impossible. No one could travel to the ancient lands. But still we made this pact that if we ever did that's where we'd go."

"Diocletian..." Leo considered the name, then shook his head. "I got nothing. Why was he so important?"

Frank looked offended. "He was the last great pagan emperor!"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised you know that, Zhang?"

"Why wouldn't I? He was the last one who worshipped the Olympian gods, before Constantine came along and adopted Christianity."

Hazel nodded. "I remember something about that. The nuns at St Agnes taught us that Diocletian was a huge villain, right along with Nero and Caligula." She looked askance at Jason. "Why would you idolize him?"

"He wasn't a total villain," Jason said. "Yeah, he persecuted Christians, but otherwise he was a good ruler. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. His parents were former slaves... or at least his mom was. Demigods know he was a son of Jupiter – the last demigod to rule Rome. He was also the first emperor ever to retire, like, peacefully, and give up his power. He was from Dalmatia, so he moved back there and built a retirement palace. The town of Split grew up around..."

He faltered when he looked at Leo, who was mimicking taking notes with an air pencil. "Go on, Professor Grace!" he said, wide-eyed. "I wanna get an A on the test."

"Dumbass." Laylana groaned as she pinched his cheek, Leo immediately stopping in his tracks and yelping at the sudden contact. 

"Thanks, Lana." Jason sighed.

Piper sipped another spoonful of soup. "So why is Diocletian's Palace so special?"

Nico leaned over and plucked a grape from Laylana's plate. Typically she would have glared at him, but considering he hadn't been eating a lot in the last few days, she wouldn't complain. "It's said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian."

"Who was a son of Jupiter, like me," Jason said. "His tomb was destroyed centuries ago, but Reyna and I used to wonder if we could find Diocletian's ghost and ask where he was buried ... well, according to the legends, his sceptre was buried with him."

Nico managed a weak smile. "Ah... that legend."

"What legend?" Hazel asked.

Nico turned to his sister. "Supposedly Diocletian's sceptre could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods."

Leo whistled. "Okay, now I'm interested. Be nice to have a booty-kicking army of pagan zombies on our side when we enter the House of Hades."

"Not sure I would've put it that way," Jason muttered, "but yeah."

"We don't have much time," Frank warned. "It's already July ninth. We have to get to Epirus, close the Doors of Death –"

"Which are guarded by a smoky giant and a sorceress who wants..." Hazel hesitated. 'Well, I'm not sure. But according to Pluto, she plans to "rebuild her domain". Whatever that means, it's bad enough that my dad felt like warning me personally."

Frank grunted. "And, if we survive all that, we still have to find out where the giants are waking Gaia and get there before the first of August. Besides, the longer Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus–"

"I know," Jason said. "We won't take long in Split. But looking for the sceptre is worth a try. While we're at the palace, I can leave a message for Reyna, letting her know the route we're taking for Epirus."

Nico nodded. "The sceptre of Diocletian could make a huge difference. You'll need my help."

Jason tried not to show his discomfort, but it was clear to Laylana with how he felt. She had shared stories about Nico, both good and... not so good. Like how he had lured Percy to the River Styx and unintentionally got him captured. But he also knew how Nico had saved her life last summer.

Piper interrupted her before she could speak. "Hey, sounds fun. I'll go, too."

Nico shook his head. "You can't, Piper. It should only be Jason and me. Diocletian's ghost
might appear for a son of Jupiter, but any other demigods would most likely... ah, spook him. And I'm the only one who can talk to his spirit."

"You might have some luck taking me with you guys." Laylana spoke up. "I've had luck with spirits before, remember? You've seen it first hand, Nico. Plus, the lucky number for demigod quests is three, right?" 

Nico considered her for a moment, hesitation in his eyes. "Are you sure?" 

"Hey, I haven't been off the ship in like... a week." Laylana huffed. Some part of her also said that she would be needed here. "Please, I can help."

"Fine," Nico sighed. Jason looked over at her, relief on his face. The ship's bell sounded. Festus creaked and whirred over the loudspeaker.

"We've arrived," Leo announced. "Time to Split."

Frank groaned. "Can we leave Valdez in Croatia?"

"I second that." Laylana shook her head in disappointment at the pun. 

"Hey!" 

Jason stood with Laylana at his side. "Frank, you're in charge of defending the ship. Leo, you've got repairs to do. The rest of you, help out wherever you can. Nico, Lana and I..." He faced Nico.
"We have a ghost to find."