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IF SHE THOUGHT THAT PERCY talking was bad, Percy not talking was worse. The guy just brooded on the other side of the small boat, like he was in some tragedy written by Shakespeare.
Frank and Hazel traded stories about the events at Rainbow Organic Foods. As it turned out, Aelia wasn't the only one who had an interesting experience in the organic store.
Frank explained about some blind guy who could see the future and past in Portland, and how Iris told him that this Phineas guy might be able to tell them where to find Thanatos. The Canadian wouldn't explain how he managed to kill the basilisks, but Aelia figured he really didn't even get hurt, so an apology wasn't necessary.
When he was done, Hazel told Frank about her and Percy's time with Fleecy.
"So this Iris-message worked?" Frank asked.
Hazel gave Percy a sympathetic look but Aelia didn't want an explanation.
"I got in touch with Reyna," Hazel said. "You're supposed to throw a coin into a rainbow and say this incantation, like O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Except Fleecy kind of changed it. She gave us her-what did she call it-her direct number? So I had to say, O Fleecy, do me a solid.Show Reyna at Camp Jupiter. I felt kind of stupid, but it worked. Reyna's image appeared in the rainbow, like in a two-way video call. She was in the baths. Scared her out of her mind."
"That I would've paid to see," Frank said, but quickly flushed a deep red at the look that everyone sent him. "I mean— her expression. Not, you know, the baths."
"Frank!" Hazel fanned her face like she needed air. It reminded Aelia of her grandmother. "Anyway, we told Reyna about the army, but like Percy said—" Percy not once uttered a single word. "—she pretty much already knew. It doesn't change anything. She's doing what she can to shore up the defenses. Unless we unleash Death, and get back with the eagle—"
"The camp won't be able to even meet that army's first defense barrier," Aelia finished. "Not without help."
There was a deafening silence after her words. She didn't feel like going to sleep, not when the nightmares seemed to catch up to her then. After her quest in the Labyrinth, Aelia had conditioned herself to stay awake for long periods of time, but she didn't condition herself for this awkwardness.
Frank and Hazel had long since gone to sleep when Percy decided to speak up. He looked absolutely exhausted in the pale moonlight. In a way, it accentuated his eye-bags. She wondered when was the last time he slept.
She almost mentioned it to him, maybe as a jab, she still hadn't decided— when he decided to open his mouth and speak.
