10.     MAYFAIR

In case it wasn't already clear, Mayfair Alvarez was a Greek, not a Roman.

Which was why she was perhaps the most confused she'd ever found herself to be when she awoke in her dream to be standing smack-dab in the middle of a Roman camp.

But not Camp Jupiter. Something else. A camp on the outskirts of what seemed to be the beginnings of a battleground. A line of Roman demigods in combat armor, their Imperial gold weapons glinting in the darkness of the night. Clearly they were waiting for something.

Their base was in New York, which May only knew because they stood at the base of Mount Olympus—also known as the Empire State Building. Lightning flashed above them like Zeus could tell they were on his home turf with violent intentions.

In the centre of the line stood Reyna, her metal dogs Aurum and Argentum at her side. Her dark hair was wet like she'd just come from a hasty shower.

The Romans stared at the roof-access door as if they were waiting for someone.

When the door opened, two people emerged. One was a satyr. Not just any satyr, May realized—she recognized the green Nature Conservancy T-shirt he was wearing as one the satyrs usually wore at Camp Half-Blood. He was Greek. There was a set of reed pipes hanging around his neck.  His hands fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, but considering the way he studied the Romans, noting their positions and their weapons, May figured this satyr had been in combat before.

At his side was a red-headed girl May actually recognized from camp: their Oracle, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She had long frizzy hair, a plain white blouse and jeans covered with hand-drawn ink designs. She held a blue plastic hairbrush that she tapped nervously against her thigh like a good luck talisman.

May remembered her at the campfire, reciting lines of prophecy that sent May, Jason, and Leo on their first quest together. She was a regular mortal teenager—not a demigod—but, for reasons May never tried to understand, the spirit of Delphi had chosen her as its host.

The real question: What was she doing with the Romans?

She stepped forward, her eyes fixed on Reyna. "You got my message."

The skinny kid May remembered to be Octavian—the one that didn't get along with Percy, or Theo, or anyone—snorted. "That's the only reason you made it this far alive, Graecus. I hope you've come to discuss surrender terms."

"Octavian..." Reyna warned.

"At least search them!" Octavian protested. He had a belt around his waist with a bunch of stuffed animals hanging off it.

"No need," Reyna said, studying Rachel Dare. "Do you bring weapons?"

Rachel shrugged. "I hit Kronos in the eye with this hairbrush once. Otherwise, no."

The Romans didn't seem to know what to make of that. Rachel didn't sound like she was kidding.

"And your friend?" Reyna nodded to the satyr. "I thought you were coming alone."

"This is Grover Underwood," Rachel said. "He's a leader of the Council."

"What council?" Octavian demanded. "What authority?"

"Cloven Elders, man." Grover's voice was high and reedy, as if he were terrified, but May suspected the satyr had more steel than he let on. "Seriously, don't you Romans have nature and trees and stuff? I've got some news you need to hear. Plus, I'm a card-carrying protector. I'm here to, you know, protect Rachel."

Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile. "But no weapons?"

"Just the pipes." Grover's expression became wistful. "Percy always said my cover of "Born to be Wild" should count as a dangerous weapon, but Theo told me he was being crazy, so you can take that as you will."

Octavian sneered. "Another friend of Percy Jackson and his idiot girlfriend. That's all I need to hear. Romans—!"

Reyna held up her hand for silence. Her gold and silver dogs sniffed the air, but they remained calm and attentive at her side.

"So far, our guests speak the truth," Reyna said. "Be warned, Rachel and Grover, if you start to lie, this conversation will not go well for you. Say what you came to say."

From her jeans pocket, Rachel dug out a piece of paper like a napkin. "A message. From Theo—or Percy's idiot girlfriend, as apparently you know her to be."

May wasn't sure he'd heard her right. Theo was in Tartarus. She couldn't send anyone a note on a napkin. And the contempt with which she delivered the second half of the comment made May think Rachel was fonder of Theo than she let on.

Something about the dream felt like May should have realized she was in a trap, or something. Like she was being foolish. But, then again, the dream did feel undeniably real. May could feel the wind sweeping down New York's byways.

Reyna took the note. As she read it, her eyebrows crept higher. Her mouth parted in shock. Finally, she looked up at Rachel. "Is this a joke?"

"I wish," Rachel said. "They're really in Tartarus."

"But how—"

"I don't know," Rachel said. "The note appeared in the sacrificial fire at our dining pavilion. That's Theo's handwriting. She asks for you by name."

Octavian stirred. "Tartarus? What do you mean?"

Reyna handed him the letter.

Octavian muttered as he read: "Rome, Python, Apollo—Apollo Belvedere?" He looked around in outrage, as if waiting for someone to contradict what he was reading. "A Greek trick! Greeks are infamous for their tricks!"

Reyna took back the note. "Why ask this of me?"

Rachel smiled. "Because Theo knows what she's doing. She believes you can do this, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano."

May blinked. She had never heard Reyna's full name. Actually... she never really thought Reyna had a full name.

Reyna scowled. "How did you—?"

"Uh," Grover interrupted. "You mean your initials are RARA?"

Reyna's hand drifted towards her dagger.

"But that's not important!" the satyr amended quickly. "Look, we wouldn't have risked coming here if we didn't trust Theo. If she says statue has been destroyed, you must all understand that she's telling the truth."

"This isn't a trick," Rachel added. "We're not lying. Ask your dogs."

The metallic greyhounds didn't react. Reyna stroked Aurum's head thoughtfully. "The Apollo Belvedere... so the legend is true."

"Reyna!" Octavian cried. "You can't seriously be considering this! Even if this Theo is really speaking from the pit of Tartarus, you see what they're doing. We're on the verge of attacking them—destroying the stupid Greeks once and for all—and they concoct this stupid diversion to take away your attention. They want to send you to your death!"

The other Romans muttered, glaring at their visitors. May could recognize someone with the power of persuasion on their side, and Octavian was winning the officers to his side.

Rachel Dare faced the augur. "Octavian, son of Apollo, you should take this more seriously. Even Romans respected your father's Oracle of Delphi."

"Ha!" Octavian said. "You're the Oracle of Delphi? Right. And I'm the Emperor Nero!"

"At least Nero could play music," Grover muttered.

Octavian balled his fists.

Suddenly the wind shifted. It swirled around the Romans with a hissing sound, like a nest of snakes. Rachel Dare glowed in a green aura, as if hit by a soft emerald spotlight. Then the wind faded and the aura was gone.

The sneer melted from Octavian's face. The Romans rustled uneasily.

"It's your decision," Rachel said, as if nothing had happened. "I have no specific prophecy to offer you, but I can see glimpses. I see the Apollo Belvedere in ruins. I see her. She is with us." She pointed at Reyna. "Also, Ella has been murmuring lines from your Sibylline Books—"

"What?" Reyna interrupted. "The Sibylline Books were destroyed centuries ago."

"I knew it!" Octavian pounded his fist into his palm. "That harpy they brought back from the quest—Ella. I knew she was spouting prophecies! Now I understand. She—she somehow memorized a copy of the Sibylline Books."

Reyna shook her head in disbelief. "How is that possible?"

"We don't know," Rachel admitted. "But, yes, that seems to be the case. Ella has a perfect memory. She loves books. Somewhere, somehow, she read your Roman book of prophecies. Now she's the only source for them."

"Your friends lied," Octavian said. "They told us the harpy was just muttering gibberish. They stole her!"

Grover huffed indignantly. "Ella isn't your property! She's a free creature. Besides, she wants to be at Camp Half-Blood. She's dating one of my friends, Tyson."

"The Cyclops," Reyna remembered. "A harpy dating a Cyclops..."

"That's not relevant!" Octavian said. "The harpy has valuable Roman prophecies. If the Greeks won't return her, we should take their Oracle hostage! Guards!"

Two centurions advanced, their pila levelled. Grover brought his pipes to his lips, played a quick jig and their spears turned into Christmas trees. The guards dropped them in surprise.

"Enough!" Reyna shouted. She didn't often raise her voice. When she did, everyone listened.

"We've strayed from the point," she said. "Rachel Dare, you're telling me that Theodosia is in Tartarus, yet she's found a way to send this message. She wants me to recover the ruins of the Apollo Belvedere and bring them to Camp Half-Blood."

Rachel nodded. "Only a Roman can return it and restore peace."

"And why would the Romans want peace," Reyna asked, "after your ship attacked our city?"

"You know why," Rachel said. "To avoid this war. To reconcile the gods' Greek and Roman sides. We have to work together to defeat Gaea."

Reyna paused for a moment, her eyes swimming with something May recognized as deliberation. She lifted her chin slightly. "If I am to return the ruins of the statue to your camp," she said, very cautiously, "how could I recover them? If, as you say, Theodosia destroyed it while she was in Tartarus, how could I ever find the ruins without sentencing myself to death?"

"That is what they want!" Octavian screeched. "Theodosia is setting you up for a trap! Remember the Trojan Horse!"

Grover stamped his hoof. "Theo would never—"

"Marcus," Reyna interrupted, turning only slightly over her shoulder, "bring me Scipio from the stables. I will do this for Theodosia, for the hope of peace between our camps, but do not think I have forgotten the insults to Camp Jupiter."

Rachel hid a smile of victory, nodding. "Of course. Thank you. Grover, we should go."

After they had retreated back the way they came, Octavian wheeled on Reyna. "Are you mad?"

"I am praetor of the legion," Reyna said. "I judge this to be in the best interest of Rome."

"To get yourself killed? To break our oldest laws and travel to the ancient lands? How will you even find their ship, assuming you survive the journey?"

"I will find them," Reyna said. "If they are sailing for Greece, I know a place Jason will stop. To face the ghosts in the House of Hades, he will need an army. There is only one place where he can find that sort of help."

May had been so deep in her rest that she had to be shaken awake by Hazel the next morning. Now, sitting with her friends in the mess hall, she felt so awake she doubted she would sleep for a week.

Her hands were jittery. She couldn't stop tapping her feet. She guessed that this was how Leo felt all the time, except that Leo had a sense of humour.

After what May had seen in her dream, she didn't feel much like joking.

While they ate lunch, May reported on her midnight vision. Her friends were quiet long enough for Coach Hedge to finish a peanut butter and banana sandwich, along with the ceramic plate.

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 that weird machine language that only Leo could understand.

"A note from Theo." Frank shook his 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 wiped the chip crumbs off his face. "It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry."

Frank slid over a jar of salsa. "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 seven demigods and a warship."

The table fell silent for a moment. Nobody wanted to mention that two of the seven demigods hadn't even made it that far.

Then Jason cleared his throat. "Uh, Leo, how far are we? We should be getting close. Are we in Split yet?"

May furrowed her brow. "Is this the place Reyna said she knew you'd stop? Where?"

Leo pushed his chips and hot sauce aside. "Split is upon us. 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 the entire table jump.

Holy Hera... May wished she could put a bell around Nico di Angelo's neck to remind her the guy was there. Nico had this disturbing habit of standing silently in the corner, blending into the shadows.

He stepped forward, his dark eyes fixed on Jason. Since they'd rescued him from the bronze jar in Rome, Nico had slept very little and eaten even less, as if he were still subsisting on those emergency pomegranate seeds from the Underworld.

"Croatia used to be Dalmatia," Nico said. "A major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's Palace, don't you?"

Jason nodded, an unreadable expression on his face. "I need to go to Diocletian's Palace. It's where Reyna will go first, because she knows I would go there."

"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?"

May shot him a look. "Don't be a dick, Leo. Why wouldn't he? Diocletian 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."

"Shut up, Leo."

He did, but May didn't take her eyes off him. She watched him sink back into his chair and fall completely still and silent—very unlike Leo.

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

Nico leaned over and plucked a grape. "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 gave him a thin, creepy 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," Hazel murmured, "by a smoky giant and a sorceress who wants..." She 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 Gaea 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."

May watched Jason's response carefully, but he did well at not letting his discomfort show. She could tell by the stiffening in his jaw that he was, though.

She shot him a smile. "Hey, sounds like a blast. I'll go, too."

But Nico shook his head. "You can't, May. 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. Even Hazel won't be able to do that."

Nico's eyes held a gleam of challenge. He seemed curious as to whether or not Jason would protest. But it wasn't Jason he had to worry about.

"Well, that's not true," said May. "Diocletian may have been a son of Jupiter, but he ruled a government single-handedly for nearly half a century. He had a military presence larger than most emperors in his time period. I'm positive he would appreciate Athena—Minerva, I guess—and what she stands for. And I guarantee you'll have to talk your way into somewhere, which isn't exactly Jason's forte. Plus, three is the best number for quests. I'm coming."

The ship's bell sounded. Festus creaked and whirred over the loudspeaker. Nico glared at May and she was afraid she'd just burned a very dangerous bridge.

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

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

Jason stood. "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. The three of us... we've got a ghost to find."

Via Chatter

Me writing this entire chapter: don't care don't care don't care don't care don't care don't care where's Pertheo