MΛЯK ӨF ΛƬΉΣПΛ

THINGS WENT WRONG IMMEDIATELY. The giants vanished in twin puffs of smoke. They reappeared halfway across the room, each in a different spot.

Percy sprinted toward Ephialtes, but slots in the floor opened under his feet, and metal walls shot up on either side, separating him from the rest.

The walls started closing in on him like the sides of a vise grip. Percy jumped up and grabbed the bottom of the hydra's cage.

Lucia was busy skipping across a hopscotch pattern of fiery pits, making her way towards Nico, who was dazed and weaponless and being stalked by a pair of leopards. She flashed a light in their direction, causing the wild cats to stagger at their loss of vision.

She was glad her powers were coming back to her, but she still didn't feel as strong as she did before they were submerged in the nymphaeum. The darkness of the water had a big impact on her.

"I'm coming, Nico!"

Meanwhile, Jason charged at Otis, who pulled his spear and heaved a great sigh, as if he would much rather dance Swan Lake than kill another demigod.

"Wonderful!" Ephialtes cried. He stood at his control panel about sixty feet to Percy's left. "We'll consider this a dress rehearsal. Shall I unleash the hydra onto the Spanish Steps now?"

He pulled a lever, and Lucia glanced behind her for a split second. The cage Percy had just been hanging from was now rising toward a hatch in the ceiling. In three seconds it would be gone. If Percy attacked the giant, the hydra would ravage the city.

"Shit!" He threw Riptide like a boomerang. The sword wasn't designed for that, but the Celestial bronze blade sliced through the chains suspending the hydra. The cage tumbled sideways. The door broke open, and the monster spilled out—right in front of Percy.

"Oh, you are a spoilsport, Jackson!" Ephialtes called. "Very well. Battle it here, if you must, but your death won't be nearly as good without the cheering crowds."

Lucia shook her head, trusting him to fend for himself. She ran faster towards Nico Di Angelo.

At the dais, Lucia stood guard over Nico as the leopards advanced. She aimed her bow hesitantly, not sure if she was capable of hurting the animals unless they attacked. Thankfully Piper was right behind her and came up with a better idea.

From her horn of plenty, she sent a pot roast over their heads. It must have smelled pretty good, because the leopards raced after it.

Lucia sighed in relief, crouching down in front of the boy. "Neeks. You're okay, You'll be okay. We're getting you out of here."

"Lucia?" Nico's voice was dry and crackly. He was still dazed and looked half asleep as his eyes struggled to stay open. "You came."

"Of course I did." Lucia smoothed his hair back. Revealing the sallow and fatigued face behind his bangs, She frowned at the sight. "Nico, I'll always be here for you—Now take care of yourself okay? Rest, Stay here with my friend Piper. What do you think about getting some Roman McDonalds after? I hear they sell Gelato." She grinned.

"Mm.." Nico squeezed his eyes shut tight, but the steady beat of his heart told Lucia that he was going to be alright. "...I like that, I guess,"

About eighty feet to their right, Jason battled Otis, sword against spear.

The giant insisted on doing a pirouette with every attack, which slowed him down.

"—Gotta go!" Lucia patted the boy's head. He grumbled but didn't argue against the gesture.

She entrusted Piper with Nico and sprinted forward. When she was close enough, she aimed an arrow at Otis, distracting him from his attempt to impale Jason after a lousy spin.

Otis' diamond tiara fell off and both of his feet pounded against the ground as he stumbled backward. He looked angry that someone interrupted his dance move, and even angrier when Lucia slid across the ground and placed his diamond tiara on her head.

"You little—"

"It looks better on me" She stuck her tongue out immaturely, running off further before his fist could strike down on her.

Ephilates was laughing as he pushed buttons on his control board, cranking the conveyor belts into high gear and opening random animal cages.

Lucia was left to fight off the rogue monsters that escaped the cages. She tried to avoid the innocent animals, disappearing into thin air whenever they advanced. She didn't have the heart to hurt those creatures and hoped that Piper could simply distract them with more non-demigod food if it came down to it.

Lucia knew Nico was safe with the daughter of Aphrodite. And the boys seemed to be handling their own. So she focused on Ephilates, who was completely distracted.

She tried to come up with a plan as she flung her throwing daggers at a Chimera. It pierced all four of its chest, vaporizing away with a bellowing roar, bleat, and hiss.

Lucia ran faster and collected her weapons. She looked up to see Ephilates, whom she now had a clear path towards. If she could simply destroy the control board...

"Duck and cover!" Percy yelled suddenly.

Lucia didn't have the time to question him, she dove for cover as an easel fired.

The sounds that went off were anything but pleasant. She covered her ears tightly as the room shook like an exploding gunpowder factory. Gods, how she hated it.

The hydra Percy was fighting died instantly. Unfortunately, the recoil knocked the easel sideways and sent more projectiles shooting all over the room.

A chunk of the ceiling collapsed and crushed a waterwheel. More cages snapped off their chains, unleashing two zebras and a pack of hyenas.

A grenade exploded over Ephialtes's head, but it only blasted him off his feet. The control board didn't even look damaged.

Across the room, sandbags rained down around Piper and Nico. Piper tried to pull Nico to safety, but one of the bags caught her shoulder and knocked her down.

"Piper!" Jason cried. He ran toward her, completely forgetting about Otis, who aimed his spear at Jason's back.

"Jay, look out!" Lucia yelled loud enough to make the room shake.

Jason had fast reflexes. As Otis threw, Jason rolled. The point sailed over him and Jason flicked his hand, summoning a gust of wind that changed the spear's direction. It flew across the room and skewered Ephialtes through his side just as he was getting to his feet.

"Otis!" Ephialtes stumbled away from his control board, clutching the spear as he began to crumble into monster dust. "Will you please stop killing me!"

"Not my fault!"

Otis had barely finished speaking when Percy's missile-launching contraption spit out one last sphere of Roman candle fire. The fiery pink ball of death hit the ceiling above Otis and exploded in a beautiful shower of light. Colorful sparks pirouetted gracefully around the giant. Then a ten-foot section of roof collapsed and crushed him flat.

Jason ran to Piper's side. She yelped when he touched her arm. Her shoulder looked unnaturally bent, but she muttered, "Fine. I'm fine." Next to her, Nico sat up, looking around him in bewilderment as if just realizing he'd missed a battle.

"Piper!" Lucia cried, "Just hold on!"

Sadly, the Giants weren't finished. Ephialtes was already re-forming, his head and shoulders rising from the mound of dust. He tugged his arms free and glowered at Percy and Lucia. The closest ones to him.

Across the room, the pile of rubble shifted, and Otis busted out. His head was slightly caved in. All the firecrackers in his hair had popped, and his braids were smoking. His leotard was in tatters, which was just about the only way it could've looked less attractive on him.

Jason shouted. "Guys, The controls!"

Percy uncapped riptide, and tried lunging for the switchboard. Ephilates blocked him from reaching it.

He swung his spear like a bat, smacking him across the chest. The green-eyed boy fell to his knees.

"Percy!" She hissed, her heart dropping to her stomach.

She took matters into her own hands. Lucia grabbed an arrow and emitted light into the golden point. In seconds she let it fly into the air like a shooting star. When it made contact, the controls blew up in a shower of golden sparks.

"No!" Ephialtes wailed. "You've ruined the spectacle!"

"Help Piper!" Jason begged Lucia as he ran to Percy's side, Otis lumbered after him. Percy managed to rise and found himself shoulder-to-shoulder with Jason. Over by the dais, Piper was still on the floor, unable to get up. Nico was barely conscious.

Lucia ran as fast as she could without getting caught by Otis' spear. Jason and Percy worked together to cover her. He seemed to be holding a grudge, yelling at her to give him his tiara back.

The giants were healed, getting stronger by the minute. Piper not so much.

"Hey," Lucia frowned, "It's okay...It's not—"  She wrinkled her nose, "Okay it's really bad."

"Lucia!" She whined, tears erupting from her eyes.

Ephialtes smiled apologetically. "Tired, Yet? As I said, you cannot kill us. So I guess we're at an impasse. Oh, wait...no we're not! Because we can kill you!"

"That," Otis grumbled,  "Is the first sensible thing you've said all day, brother."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm not exactly professional!" She panicked, slightly distracted by the fact the giants were now pointing their weapons towards the boys. "I-I have to do a close reduction." She recited as if Will were telling her the directions. "Only then can I take the pain away."

"We won't give up," Jason growled. "We'll cut you into pieces like Jupiter did to Saturn."

"That's right," Percy said. "You're both dead. I don't care if we have a god on our side or not."

"Well, that's a shame," said a new voice.

To their right, another platform was lowered from the ceiling. Leaning casually on a pinecone-topped staff was a man in a purple camp shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals with white socks.

He raised his broad-brimmed hat, and purple fire flickered in his eyes. "I'd hate to think I made a special trip for nothing."

༄

LUCIA HAD NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO SEE MR. D.

She never thought of him as a calming influence. Especially since the first time they met, he tried stabbing her with a grapevine. But suddenly everything got quiet and she couldn't be more grateful for his presence.

The machines ground to a halt. The wild animals stopped growling. The two leopards paced over—still licking their lips from Piper's pot roast—and butted their heads affectionately against the god's legs. Mr. D scratched their ears.

"Really, Ephialtes," he chided. "Killing demigods is one thing. But using leopards for your spectacle? That's over the line."

The giant made a squeaking sound. "This—this is impossible. D-D—"

"It's Bacchus, actually, my old friend," said the god. "And of course it's possible. Someone told me there was a party going on."

He looked the same as he had in Kansas, but there were still differences between Bacchus and Mr. D.

Bacchus was meaner and leaner, with less of a potbelly. He had longer hair, more spring in his step, and a lot more anger in his eyes. He even managed to make a pinecone on a stick look intimidating.

Ephialtes's spear quivered. "You—you gods are doomed! Be gone, in the name of Gaea!"

"Hmm." Bacchus sounded unimpressed. He strolled through the ruined props, platforms, and special effects.

"Tacky." He waved his hand at a painted wooden gladiator, then turned to a machine that looked like an oversized rolling pin studded with knives.

"Cheap. Boring. And this..." He inspected the rocket-launching contraption, which was still smoking. "Tacky, cheap, and boring. Honestly, Ephialtes. You have no sense of style."

"STYLE?" The giant's face flushed. "I have mountains of style. I define style. I—I—"

"My brother oozes style," Otis suggested.

"Thank you!" Ephialtes cried.

Bacchus stepped forward, and the giants stumbled back. "Have you two gotten shorter?" asked the god.

"Oh, that's low," Ephialtes growled. "I'm quite tall enough to destroy you, Bacchus! You gods, always hiding behind your mortal heroes, trusting the fate of Olympus to the likes of these."

He sneered at the duo.

Jason hefted his sword. "Lord Bacchus, are we going to kill these giants or what?"

"Well, I certainly hope so," Bacchus said. "Please, carry on."

Percy stared at him. "Didn't you come here to help?"

Bacchus shrugged. "Oh, I appreciated the sacrifice at sea. A whole ship full of Diet Coke. Very nice. Although I would've preferred Diet Pepsi."

"And six million in gold and jewels," Percy reminded.

"Yes," Bacchus said, "although with demigod parties of five or more the gratuity is included, so that wasn't necessary."

"What?"

"Never mind," Bacchus said. "At any rate, you got my attention. I'm here. Now I need to see if you're worthy of my help. Go ahead. Battle. If I'm impressed, I'll jump in for the grand finale."

"We speared one," Percy said. "Dropped the roof on the other. Blew up the control machines. What do you consider impressive?"

"Ah, a good question..." Bacchus tapped his thyrsus. Then he smiled in a way that made Percy think, Uh-oh. "Perhaps you need inspiration! The stage hasn't been properly set. You call this a spectacle, Ephialtes? Let me show you how it's done."

The god dissolved into purple mist.

Lucia felt her stomach turn as the world around her shifted.

Suddenly, she was no longer underground. Sunlight poured in and rejuvenated her. The roar of a crowd rang around her. She realized she was now in an emperor's box of a coliseum, one draped with silk, flanked by banners and golden eagles

She gasped, her heart somersaulted. This wasn't just any coliseum. It was the Colosseum.

The giants' special effects machines had gone into overtime, laying planks across ruined support beams so the arena had a proper floor again.

The bleachers repaired themselves until they were gleaming white.

A giant red-and-gold canopy extended overhead to provide shade from the afternoon sun. The roar of applause came from thousands of shimmering purple ghosts, the Lares of Rome brought back for an encore performance.

Vents opened on the floor and sprayed sand across the arena.

Huge props sprang up—garage-size mountains of plaster, stone columns, and (for some reason) life-size plastic barnyard animals.

A small lake appeared to one side. Ditches crisscrossed the arena floor in case anyone was in the mood for trench warfare.

Percy and Jason stood together facing the twin giants.

"This is a proper show!" boomed the voice of Bacchus. He sat in the emperor's box wearing purple robes and golden laurels. At his left was where Nico, Lucia, and Piper sat.

For some odd reason, Lucia looked down to find herself in a vintage nurse's uniform.

She blinked in confusion, not understanding why the change of clothes was necessary.

Her hand reached up to feel her head, a nurse cap had replaced her diamond tiara— She felt a little bitter about the downgrade.

Lucia disregarded it the moment Piper started groaning in agony. She went into autopilot, Will's instructions rang in her head.

Piper gritted her teeth, squeezing her thigh tightly as Lucia set her arm. The golden brunette stuffed the ambrosia she found in her pockets into Piper's mouth immediately, tending to her and her now properly set shoulder.

"I hate breaking bones." Piper groaned, trying to steady her breathing.

Lucia gulped, A memory flashed in her head of the last time she was in an arena similar to this. "Yeah, me too..."

"Doritos? Grapes?" At Bacchus's right crouched a satyr, offering up snacks.

The god raised a can of Diet Pepsi and the crowd went respectfully quiet.

Percy glared up at him. "You're just going to sit there?"

"The demigod is right!" Ephialtes bellowed. "Fight us yourself, coward! Um, without the demigods."

Bacchus smiled lazily. "Juno says she's assembled a worthy crew of demigods. Show me. Entertain me, Heroes of Olympus. Give me a reason to do more. Being a god has its privileges."

He popped his soda can top, and the crowd cheered.

༄

EPHIALTES AND OTIS ATTACKED AS A TEAM, while Percy and Jason tried to coordinate. The giants picked up a fake mountain as big as Percy's New York apartment and hurled it at the demigods.

Percy and Jason bolted. They dove together into the nearest trench and the mountain shattered above them, spraying them with plaster shrapnel.

The crowd jeered and shouted for blood. "Fight! Fight!"

Lucia stood from her seat, "Piper, you feeling okay enough for me to leave you?"

Piper furrowed her eyebrows together, she looked down at the arena and back toward Lucia, "Are you out of your mind?!"

She rolled her eyes, "Yes I am Beauty Queen, Now answer my question."

"Fine!—Yes, But—Be careful." She frowned.

"Erm—Sir. Bacchus? Sir. " Lucia stepped towards the god confidently. However she was smart enough to be respectful in her approach, "Let me into the Arena. You want entertainment? Well I'm the daughter of Apollo, I can make any show a thousand times better and brighter."

He sneered, "You're as haughty as your Father." A smile grew on the God's face, a mischievous glint in his eye. "But...I do love being entertained. And it'd be interesting to see how a nurse does on the battlefield."

"Doctor." Lucia corrected. A scowl grew on her face, "Now let me in—"

In a flash of light, Lucia felt her sandals hit the stone floor.  She landed right next to Jason and Percy in the trench. Both boys jumped back at her sudden appearance.

"Luz?" Percy asked, "How'd you get here?!"

"Two giants just flung a mountain at you and you're questioning how I magically appeared at your side?" Lucia raised an eyebrow,

"Fair Enough."

Jason frowned, "Is Piper—"

"Healing." Lucia nodded in reassurance.

"Can you fight in that?" Jason questioned, Looking down at the vintage scrub dress she was forced into wearing.

"I can fight in a potato sack if I have to Sparky—now what is our plan" 

"We attack together," Percy said. "Otis first, because he's weaker. Take him out quickly and move to Ephialtes. Bronze and gold together—maybe that'll keep them from re-forming a little longer."

Jason smiled dryly like he'd just found out he would die embarrassingly.

"Why not?" he agreed. "But Ephialtes isn't going to stand there and wait while we kill his brother. Unless—"

"Good wind today," Percy offered. "And some water pipes running under the arena."

Jason understood immediately. He laughed, and Lucia felt a spark of friendship between the two boys. She grinned, glad that the dumb competition between them was subsiding.

"Luz." Percy looked at her, "I need you to do what you best. Grab their attention."

She grinned, "Done."

"On three?" Jason said.

"Why wait?" Percy hummed

The three of them charged out of the trench. As Lucia suspected, the twins had lifted another plaster mountain and were waiting for a clear shot.

The giants raised it above their heads, preparing to throw, and Percy caused a water pipe to burst at their feet, shaking the floor. Jason sent a blast of wind against Ephialtes's chest.

The purple-haired giant toppled backward and Otis lost his grip on the mountain, which promptly collapsed on top of his brother.

Only Ephialtes's snake feet stuck out, darting their heads around as if wondering where the rest of their body had gone.

The crowd roared with approval, but Lucia knew Ephialtes was only stunned. They had a few seconds at best.

"Hey, Otis!" Lucia shouted, her voice booming through the arena like a megaphone. "You have terrible posture! And your pelvic alignment is atrocious!"

"Ahhhhh!" Otis snatched up his spear and threw it, but he was too angry to aim straight. Jason deflected it over Lucia's head and into the lake.

The demigods backed toward the water. Lucia may not have been an expert in dance. But she watched enough Dance Moms and met enough choreographers through Agatha to know how to make someone cry.

"You can't even do a proper En Pointe! Those legs are about as straight as Piper Mclean!"

"That was so uncalled for!" She cried from the stands.

"My favorite part of your dancing has to be the end pose! Because that means it's over!" Lucia teased further.

Otis barreled toward them empty-handed, before apparently realizing that a) he was empty-handed, and b) charging toward a large body of water to fight a son of Poseidon was maybe not a good idea.

He tried to stop too late. The demigods rolled to different sides, Lucia screamed, using the momentum of the sound waves to shove him into the water.

As Otis struggled to rise, Percy, Lucia, and Jason attacked as one. They launched themselves at the giant and brought their different blades down on Otis's head.

The poor guy didn't even have a chance to pirouette. He exploded into powder on the lake's surface like a huge packet of drink mix.

Percy churned the lake into a whirlpool. Otis's essence tried to re-form, but as his head appeared from the water, Jason called lightning and blasted him to dust again.

So far so good, but they couldn't keep Otis down forever. They were all already tired from their fight underground.

As if on cue, the plaster mountain exploded behind them.

Ephialtes rose, bellowing with anger. The trio waited as he lumbered toward them, his spear in hand.

Getting flattened under a plaster mountain had only energized him. His eyes danced with murderous light. The afternoon sun glinted in his coin-braided hair. Even his snake feet looked angry, baring their fangs and hissing.

Jason called down another lightning strike, but Ephialtes caught it on his spear and deflected the blast, melting a life-size plastic cow.

He slammed a stone column out of his way like a stack of building blocks.

Lucia told Percy to keep the lake churning. She didn't want Otis rising to join this fight.

Jason and her met the giant's charge. They lunged around Ephialtes, stabbing and blasting in a blur of gold and bronze, but the giant deflected every strike.

"I will not yield!" Ephialtes roared. "You may have ruined my spectacle, but Gaea will still destroy your world!"

Lucia lashed out, blasting the giant's spear into chunks. Ephialtes wasn't even fazed. The giant swept low with his large hand and knocked Lucia off her feet. She landed hard on her back, falling on top of her bow, which knocked the wind out of her. 

Jason tried to take advantage. He stepped inside the giant's guard and stabbed at his chest, but somehow Ephialtes parried the strike.

Using a large piece of shrapnel from his spear he sliced down Jason's chest, ripping his purple shirt into a vest. Jason stumbled, looking at the thin line of blood down his sternum. Ephialtes kicked him backward.

Up in the emperor's box, Piper cried out, but her voice was drowned in the roar of the crowd. Bacchus looked on with an amused smile, munching from a bag of Doritos.

Ephialtes towered over Lucia and Jason. Percy ran forward as a last attempt, switching his attention away from Otis.

That was a mistake, he was flung away by Ephilates and landed on his sword arm next to the duo. Jason's gladius had skittered across the arena floor.

Their plan had failed.

Lucia glanced up at Bacchus, deciding what final curse he would hurl at the useless wine god when she saw a shape in the sky above the Colosseum—a large dark oval descending rapidly.

From the lake, Otis yelled, trying to warn his brother, but his half-dissolved face could only manage: "Uh-umh-moooo!"

"Don't worry, brother!" Ephialtes said, his eyes still fixed on the demigods. "I will make them suffer!"

The Argo II turned in the sky, presenting its port side, and green fire blazed from the ballista.

"Actually," Percy said. "Look behind you."

The three of them rolled away as Ephialtes turned and bellowed in disbelief.

Lucia dropped into a trench just as the explosion rocked the Colosseum.

When she climbed out again, the Argo II was coming in for a landing.

Jason and Percy poked their heads out from behind an improvised bomb shelter of a plastic horse.

Ephialtes lay charred and groaning on the arena floor, the sand around him seared into a halo of glass by the heat of the Greek fire. Otis was floundering in the lake, trying to re-form, but from the arms down he looked like a puddle of burnt oatmeal.

Lucia staggered over to Jason and Percy, pulling them in for a quick group hug. The ghostly crowd gave them a standing ovation as the Argo II extended its landing gear and settled on the arena floor.

Leo stood at the helm, Hazel and Frank grinning at his side. Coach Hedge danced around the firing platform, pumping his fist in the air and yelling, "That's what I'm talking about!"

Percy turned to the emperor's box. "Well?" he yelled at Bacchus. "Was that entertaining enough for you, you wine-breathed little—"

"No need for that."

Suddenly the god was standing right next to them in the arena. He brushed orange Dorito dust off his purple robes. "I have decided you lot are worthy partners for this combat."

"Partners?" Jason growled. "You did nothing!"

Bacchus walked to the edge of the lake. The water instantly drained, leaving an Otis-headed pile of mush. Bacchus picked his way to the bottom and looked up at the crowd. He raised his thyrsus.

The crowd jeered and hollered and pointed their thumbs down. Lucia didn't know whether that meant to live or die.

Bacchus chose the more entertaining option. He smacked Otis's head with his pinecone staff, and the giant pile of Giant disintegrated completely.

The crowd went wild. Bacchus climbed out of the lake and strutted over to Ephialtes, who was still lying spread-eagled, overcooked, and smoking.

Again, Bacchus raised his thyrsus.

"DO IT!" the crowd roared.

"DON'T DO IT!" Ephialtes wailed.

Bacchus tapped the giant on the nose, and Ephialtes crumbled to ashes.

"Wow, he sure did allll the heavy lifting." Lucia rolled her eyes. She helped Percy and Jason to some leftover ambrosia from her pockets. It wasn't enough for much but to ease the pain.

The ghosts cheered and threw spectral confetti as Bacchus strode around the stadium with his arms raised triumphantly, exulting in the worship.

He grinned at the demigods. "That, my friends, is a show! And of course, I did something. I killed two giants!"

As Lucia's friends disembarked from the ship, the crowd of ghosts shimmered and disappeared. Piper and Nico struggled down from the emperor's box as the Colosseum's magical renovations began to turn into mist.

The arena floor remained solid, but otherwise, the stadium looked as if it hadn't hosted a good giant killing for eons.

"Well," Bacchus said. "That was fun. You have my permission to continue your voyage."

"Your permission?" Lucia scoffed

"Yes." Bacchus raised an eyebrow. "Although your voyage may be a little harder than you expect, daughter of Apollo."

Lucia gulped "What do you mean by my voyage?"

"You might try the parking lot behind the Emmanuel Building,"

Bacchus said. "Best place to break through. Now, goodbye, my friends. And, ah, good luck with that other little matter."

The god vaporized in a cloud of mist that smelled faintly of wine.

Jason ran to meet Piper and Nico.

Coach Hedge trotted up to Percy and Lucia, with Hazel, Frank, and Leo close behind.

"Was that Dionysus?" Hedge asked. "I love that guy!"

"Why am I not surprised." Lucia hummed,

"You're alive!" Percy said to the others. "The giants said you were captured. What happened?"

Leo shrugged. "Oh, just another brilliant plan by Leo Valdez. You'd be amazed what you can do with an Archimedes sphere, a girl who can sense stuff underground, and a weasel."

"I was the weasel," Frank said glumly.

"A very useful one." Lucia patted his shoulder in reassurance.

"Basically," Leo explained, "I activated a hydraulic screw with the Archimedes device—which is going to be awesome once I install it in the ship, by the way. Hazel sensed the easiest path to drill to the surface. We made a tunnel big enough for a weasel, and Frank climbed up with a simple transmitter that I slapped together. After that, it was just a matter of hacking into Coach Hedge's favorite satellite channels and telling him to bring the ship around to rescue us. After he got us, finding you was easy, thanks to that godly light show at the Colosseum."

Lucia had a more pressing question. "Where's Annabeth?"

Leo winced. "Yeah, about that...she's still in trouble, we think. Hurt, broken leg, maybe—at least according to this vision Gaea showed us. Rescuing her is our next stop."

A surge of adrenaline coursed through Lucia's body.

Lucy!

"Tell me about the vision," She said. "Tell me everything."

The floor shook. The wooden planks began to disappear, spilling sand into the pits of the hypogeum below.

"Let's talk on board," Hazel suggested. "We'd better take off while we still can."

༄

THEY SAILED OUT OF THE COLOSSEUM AND VEERED SOUTH OVER THE ROOFTOPS OF ROME.

All around the Piazza del Colosseo, traffic had come to a standstill.

A crowd of mortals had gathered, probably wondering about the strange lights and sounds that had come from the ruins.

As far as Lucia could see, none of the giants' spectacular plans for destruction had come off successfully. The city looked the same as before. No one seemed to notice the huge Greek trireme rising into the sky.

The demigods gathered around the helm. Lucia collected her supplies from the sick bay and continued bandaging Piper's now sprained shoulder. She passed Hazel some ambrosia to feed Nico with. The son of Hades could barely lift his head. His voice was so quiet, that Hazel had to lean in whenever he spoke.

Hazel looked at him inquisitively, "Gelato?"

Frank and Leo recounted what had happened in the room with the Archimedes spheres, and the visions Gaea had shown them in the bronze mirror.

They quickly decided that their best lead for finding Annabeth was the cryptic advice Bacchus had provided: the Emmanuel Building, whatever that was.

Frank started typing at the helm's computer while Leo tapped furiously at his controls, muttering, "Emmanuel Building. Emmanuel Building."

Coach Hedge tried to help by wrestling with an upside-down street map of Rome.

Percy knelt next to Lucia and Piper. "How's the shoulder?"

Piper smiled. "It'll heal thanks to Lucia. You three did great."

Jason appeared next to them and elbowed Percy. "Not a bad team, you and me."

"Better than jousting in a Kansas cornfield," Percy agreed.

"Hey, don't go forgetting about me now that you're all buddy-buddy." Lucia teased,

"We wouldn't dare." Jason played along,

Percy snorted. "I've already failed at that."

"There it is!" Leo cried, pointing to his monitor. "Frank, you're amazing! I'm setting course."

Frank hunched his shoulders. "I just read the name off the screen. Some Chinese tourists marked it on Google Maps."

Leo grinned at the others. "He reads Chinese."

"Just a tiny bit," Frank said.

"How cool is that?"

Lucia grinned, "Aw look, a new bromance is budding."

Hazel broke in. "I hate to interrupt your admiration session, but you should hear this."

She helped Nico to his feet. He'd always been pale, but now his skin looked like powdered milk. His dark sunken eyes reminded Lucia of photos she'd seen of liberated prisoners of war, which she guessed Nico was.

"Thank you," Nico rasped. His eyes darted nervously around the group. He looked frail and sad. "I'd given up hope."

Lucia's face softened, she wanted to reach out and squeeze him into her embrace. But she had a feeling he wouldn't have appreciated it, especially in front of everyone.

"You knew about the two camps all along," Percy said. "You could have told me who I was the first day I arrived at Camp Jupiter, but you didn't."

Nico slumped against the helm. "Percy, I'm sorry. I discovered Camp Jupiter last year. My dad led me there, though I wasn't sure why. He told me the gods had kept the camps separate for centuries and that I couldn't tell anyone. The time wasn't right. But he said it would be important for me to know..." He doubled over in a coughing fit.

Hazel held his shoulders until he could stand again. Lucia made her way towards him with some water, She didn't let him say no, lecturing him on the need to stay hydrated.

She stubbornly brought the bottle to his lips and slapped his hands away when he tried protesting.

"T-Thanks.." He muttered in annoyance but Lucia knew he wasn't annoyed with her. "I—I thought Dad meant because of Hazel," Nico continued. "I'd need a safe place to take her. But now...I think he wanted me to know about both camps so I'd understand how important your quest was, and so I'd search for the Doors of Death."

The air turned electric—literally, as Jason started throwing off sparks.

"Did you find the doors?" Percy asked.

Nico nodded. "I was a fool. I thought I could go anywhere in the Underworld, but I walked right into Gaea's trap. I might as well have tried running from a black hole."

"Um..." Frank chewed his lip. "What kind of black hole are you talking about?"

Nico started to speak, but whatever he needed to say must have been too terrifying. He turned to Hazel.

She put her hand on her brother's arm. "Nico told me that the Doors of Death have two sides— one in the mortal world, one in the Underworld. The mortal side of the portal is in Greece. It's heavily guarded by Gaea's forces. That's where they brought Nico back into the upper world. Then they transported him to Rome."

Piper must've been nervous because the cornucopia spit out a cheeseburger. "Where exactly in Greece is this doorway?"

Nico took a rattling breath. "The House of Hades. It's an underground temple in Epirus. I can mark it on a map, but—but the mortal side of the portal isn't the problem. In the Underworld, the Doors of Death are in...in..."

A cold pair of hands clasped Lucia's throat.

A black hole. An inescapable part of the Underworld where even Nico di Angelo couldn't go. A place that snuffed out all light...

"Tartarus," Percy guessed. "The deepest part of the Underworld."

Nico nodded. "They pulled me into the pit, Percy. The things I saw down there..."

His voice broke and Lucia felt an ache in her heart.

Hazel pursed her lips. "No mortal has ever been to Tartarus," she explained. "At least, no one has ever gone in and returned alive. It's the maximum-security prison of Hades, where the old Titans and the other enemies of the gods are bound. It's where all monsters go when they die on the earth. It's...well, no one knows exactly what it's like."

Her eyes drifted to her brother. The rest of her thought didn't need to be spoken: No one except Nico.

Hazel handed him his black sword.

Nico leaned on it like it was an old man's cane. "Now I understand why Hades hasn't been able to close the doors," he said. "Even the gods don't go into Tartarus. Even the god of death, Thanatos himself, wouldn't go near that place."

Leo glanced over from the wheel. "So let me guess. We'll have to go there."

"Please say no." Lucia panicked. "Please."

Nico shook his head. "It's impossible. I'm the son of Hades, and even I barely survived. Gaea's forces overwhelmed me instantly. They're so powerful down there...no demigod would stand a chance. I almost went insane."

Nico's eyes looked like shattered glass. Lucia knew something inside him had broken permanently. She couldn't imagine what he had experienced...

A shiver went up Lucia's spine. Her hands started to shake.

Annabeth sobbed as she hit the edge of a pit. Her legs went over the side. She was tangled in something. The entire floor around her was covered in cobwebs, one of the strands was wrapped around the blonde's foot—and the other end went straight into the pit. It was attached to something heavy down in the darkness, something that was pulling her in. She slipped over the edge. Her body slammed into something. She'd fallen partway into the pit and was dangling over the void.

there has never been a time when a hero could choose like you can now...So what will it be Daughter of the Sun...What is your choice?

No...No I can't let Annabeth fall... I said I'd make sure of it. And I will... No one, No one will fall!

"Then we'll sail for Epirus," Percy said. "We'll just close the gates on this side."

"I wish it were that easy," Nico said. "The doors would have to be controlled on both sides to be closed. It's like a double seal. Maybe, just maybe, all seven of you working together could defeat Gaea's forces on the mortal side, at the House of Hades. But unless you had a team fighting simultaneously on the Tartarus side, a team powerful enough to defeat a legion of monsters in their home territory—"

"There has to be a way," Jason said.

Nobody volunteered any brilliant ideas.

Lucia thought it was just her stomach sinking. Then she realized the entire ship was descending toward a big building like a palace.

Annabeth. Nico's news was so horrible Lucia had momentarily forgotten she was still in danger, which made her feel incredibly guilty.

"We'll figure out the Tartarus problem later. Annabeth, she needs us," She demanded. "Is that the Emmanuel Building?"

Leo nodded. "Bacchus said something about the parking lot in the back? Well, there it is. What now?"

"We have to get her out," Percy said.

"Well, yeah," Leo agreed. "But, uh..."

He looked like he wanted to say, What if we're too late?
Wisely, he said something else. "There's a parking lot in the way."

Lucia looked at Coach Hedge. "Bacchus said something about breaking through. Coach, you still have ammo for those ballistae?"

The satyr grinned like a wild goat. "I thought you'd never ask."