CHAPTER    TWELVE
PERSEUS JACKSON

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Lunch felt like a funeral party. Everybody ate. Finley drank copious amounts of wine. Nobody seemed particularly happy. The other campers kept glancing over at Percy like he was the corpse of honor.

Reyna made a brief speech wishing them luck. Octavian ripped open a Beanie Baby and pronounced grave omens and hard times ahead, but predicted the camp would be saved by an unexpected hero (whose initials were probably OCTAVIAN). Then the other campers went off to their afternoon classes—gladiator fighting, Latin lessons, paintball with ghosts, eagle training, and a dozen other activities that sounded better than a suicide quest. Percy followed Finley, Hazel, and Frank to the barracks to pack.

Percy didn't have much. He'd cleaned up his backpack from his trip south and had kept most of his Bargain Mart supplies.

He had a fresh pair of jeans and an extra purple T-shirt from the camp quartermaster, plus some nectar, ambrosia, snacks, a little mortal money, and campaigning supplies. At lunch, Reyna had handed him a scroll of introduction from the praetor and camp senate. Supposedly, any retired legionnaires they met on the trip would help them if shown the letter. He also kept his leather necklace with the beads, the two rings, and the probatio tablet, and of course he had Riptide in his pocket.

He folded his tattered orange T-shirt and left it on his bunk.

"I'll be back," he said. He felt pretty stupid talking to a T-shirt, but he was really thinking of Sylvie, and his old life. "I'm not leaving for good. But I have to help these guys. They took me in. They deserve to survive."

The T-shirt didn't answer, thankfully.

One of their roommates, Bobby, gave them a ride to the border of the valley on top of Hannibal the elephant. Finley groaned the whole time about the world spinning, but it really wasn't that bad. From the hilltops, Percy could see everything below. The Little Tiber snaked across golden pastures where the unicorns were grazing. The templed and forums of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. On the Field of Mars, engineers were hard at work, pulling down the remains of last night's fort and setting up barricades for a game of death ball. A normal day for Camp Jupiter—but on the northern horizon, storm clouds were gathering. Shadows moved across the hills, and Percy imagined the face of Gaea getting closer and closer.

Work with me for the future, Reyna had said. I intend to save this camp.

Looking down at the valley, Percy understood why she cared so much. Even though he was new to Camp Jupiter, he felt a fierce desire to protect this place. A safe haven where demigods could build their lives—he wanted that to be part of his future. Maybe not the way Reyna imagined, but if he could share this place with Sylvie...

They got off the elephant, some more graciously than others. Finley fell off, then immediately bent over a bush and started hurling into it. Hazel, Frank, and Bobby let out noises of disgust, and only Percy seemed to be worried. He hesitantly walked forward to help her. The moment he was about to put a hand on her back—Finley snapped up and raised a pointed finger in the air.

"M'fine," she declared, wiping off the remnants of throw-up with her other hand. "Onwards and upwards!"

So Bobby wished them a safe journey. Hannibal wrapped the four questers with his trunk. Then the elephant taxi service headed back into the valley.

Percy sighed. He turned to Finley, Hazel, and Frank and tried to think of something upbeat to say.

A familiar voice said, "IDs, please."

A statue of Terminus appeared at the summit of the hill. The god's marble face frowned irritably. "Well? Come along!"

"You again?" Percy asked. "I thought you just guarded the city."

Terminus huffed. "Glad to see you too, Mr. Rule Flouter. Normally, yes, I guard the city, but for international departures, I like to provide extra security at the camp borders. You really should've allowed two hours before your planned departure time, you know. But we'll have to make do. Now, come over here so I can pat you down."

"But you don't have—" Percy stopped himself. "Uh, sure."

He stood next to the armless statue. Terminus conducted a rigorous mental pad down.

"You seem to be clean," Terminus decided. "Do you have anything to declare?"

"Yes," Percy said. "I declare this stupid."

Finley started cackling so madly that she stumbled over, and would've fallen if Frank hadn't steadied her. Even then, she clutched Frank's shoulder and pointed at Terminus as she laughed.

"Hmph! Finley, I will get to you in a second—stop laughing!" Terminus demanded. Then to Percy, "Probatio tablet: Percy Jackson, Fifth Cohort, son of Neptune. Fine, go. Now: Finley Briggs, Fifth Cohort, daughter of Bacchus. Eh. Any flasks of wine, or flasks that can potentially be filled with wine to declare?"

Finley didn't seem that jovial anymore. Instantly, a scowl twisted on her face. "I wish," she grumbled.

"No, you most certainly do not, young girl! Not if you want to stay in this legion!"

"And what if I don't want to?" Finley crossed her arms. It seemed the thought of forced sobriety made her extremely cranky.

"Oh, why am I acting like I care?" Terminus mumbled to himself. "Hazel Levesque, Fifth Cohort, daughter of Pluto. Fine. Any foreign currency or, ahem, precious metals to declare?"

"No," she muttered.

"Are you sure?" Terminus asked. "Because last time—"

"No!"

"Well, this is a grumpy bunch," said the god. "Quest travelers! Always in a rush. Now, let's see—Frank Zhang. Ah! Centurion? Well done, Frank. And that haircut is regulation perfect. I approve! Off you go then, Centurion Zhang. Do you need any directions today?"

"No. No, I guess not."

"Just down to the BART station," Terminus said anyway. "Change trains at Twelfth Street in Oakland. You want Fruitvale Station. From there, you can walk or take the bus to Alameda."

"You guys don't have a magical BART train or something?" Percy asked.

"Magic trains!" Terminus scoffed. "You'll be wanting your own security lane and a pass to the executive lounge next. Just travel safely, and watch out for Polybotes. Talk about scofflaws—bah! I wish I could throttle him with my bare hands."

"Wait—who?" Percy asked.

Terminus made a straining expression, like he was flexing his nonexistent biceps. "Ah, well. Just be careful of him. I imagine he can smell a son of Neptune a mile away. Out you go, now. Good luck!"

An invisible force kicked them across the boundary. When Percy looked back, Terminus was gone. In fact, the entire valley was gone. The Berkely Hills seemed to be free of any Roman camp.

Percy looked at his friends. "Any idea what Terminus was talking about? Watch out for... Political something or other?"

"Poh-lib-uh-tease?" Hazel sounded out the name carefully. "Never heard of him."

"Sounds Greek," Frank said.

"That narrows it down," Finley muttered.

"Well," Percy sighed, "we probably just appeared on the smell radar for every monster within five miles. We'd better get moving."

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It took them two hours to reach the docks in Alameda. Compared to Percy's last few months, the trip was easy. No monsters attacked. Nobody looked at Percy like he was a homeless wild child.

Frank had stored his spear, bow, and quiver in a long bag made for skis. Hazel's cavalry sword was wrapped in a bedroll slung on her back. Finley kept her gun tucked inside of her shorts, covered by her shirt. Together the four of them looked like normal high schoolers on their way to an overnight trip. They walked to Rockridge Station, bought their tickets with mortal money, and hopped on the BART train.

They got off in Oakland. They had to walk through some rough neighborhoods, but nobody bothered them. Whenever the local gang members came close enough to look in Percy's eyes, they quickly veered away. He'd perfected his wolf stare over the last few months—a look that said: However bad you think you are, I'm worse. After strangling sea monsters and running over gorgons in a police car, Percy wasn't scared of gangs. Pretty much nothing in the mortal world scared him anymore.

In the late afternoon, they made it to the Alameda docks. Percy looked out over San Francisco Bay and breathed in the salty sea air. Immediately he felt better. This was his father's domain. Whatever they faced, he'd have the upper hand as long as they were at sea.

"Am I safe now?" Finley asked suddenly. For a moment, Percy felt confused at the assumption Finley was also comforted by the surrounding water. However, that wasn't what she meant at all.

She reached into her nose—Is she seriously picking a booger right now?—and twisted something with her fingers. Percy blinked, and there was suddenly a thin, gold nose ring on the left side of her nostril.

"Finley!" Hazel tried to yell, but it was a weak whisper. She fanned her face, as if she were scandalized.

"What?"

"You have a nose ring?" Frank said incredulously.

"Alright, I thought this was a safe space, guys," Finley grumbled. She probably wasn't expecting the two of them to act so outraged.

Percy blinked. "How did you get a nose ring at Camp Jupiter?"

Despite how cool Percy thought it looked, he couldn't help himself from asking. Percy knew that if the Romans found out Finley had a face piercing, she could most definitely end up dead meat. He didn't even want to imagine Terminus's reaction if he ever saw.

"I did it myself a few years ago," Finley shrugged, crossing her arms. "And if any of you tell one of the officers back at camp, I can find a way for death to be permanent before we even free Thanatos."

Percy flinched back unconsciously. It suddenly hit him how terrifying it would be to have Finley as an enemy—Crazy? Check. Not a single care for adhering to rules? Check. A gleam in her eye so insane that people cowered away before she even got the chance to fight? Check.

"Roger that, Finnegan," Percy saluted.

Finley paused in her threat. Confusion took over. "Finne—what? Oh, no. You don't get to go around calling me that."

"I just did," Percy smiled, to be an asshole. If Finley got to be one, it was only fair Percy could do the same.

On the outside, Percy pretended not to be afraid Finley would whip out her gun and shoot him right in the head. He stood his ground, meeting Finley's gaze for longer than he preferred.

Then the corner of her mouth quirked up.

"Fuck yourself," she said, though with no malice. "Come on."

Hazel was still trying to fan herself from fainting, and Frank was still jaw-dropped with his wide eyes on Finley's nose ring, but Percy resumed their journey with Finley. Eventually, Hazel and Frank forced themselves to do the same.

Dozens of boats were moored at the docks—everything from fifty-foot yachts to ten-foot fishing boats. Percy scanned the slips for some sort of magic vessel—a trireme, maybe, or a dragon-headed warship like he'd seen in his dreams.

"Um... you guys know what we're looking for?"

Finley, Hazel, and Frank shook their heads.

"I didn't even know we had a navy." Hazel sounded as if she wished there wasn't one.

"Oh..." Frank pointed. "You don't think...?"

At the end of the dock was a tiny boat, like a dinghy, covered in a purple tarp. Embroidered in faded gold along the canvas was S.P.Q.R.

Percy's confidence wavered. "No way."

He uncovered the boat, his hands working the knots like he'd been doing it his whole life. Under the tarp was an old steel rowboat with no oars. The boat had been painted dark blue at one point, but the hull was so crusted with tar and salt it looked like one massive nautical bruise.

On the bow, the name Pax was still readable, lettered in gold. Painted eyes drooped sadly at the water level, as if the boat were about to fall asleep. On board were two benches, some steel wool, an old cooler, and a mound of frayed rope with one end tied to the mooring. At the bottom of the boat, a plastic bag and two empty Coke cans floated in several inches of scummy water.

"Behold," Finley said, unhelpfully. "The mighty Roman navy."

"There's got to be a mistake," Hazel said. "This is a piece of junk."

Percy imagined Octavian laughing at them, but he decided not to let it get him down. The Pax was still a boat. He jumped aboard, and the hull hummed under his feet, responding to his presence. He gathered up the garbage in the cooler and put it on the dock. He willed the scummy water to flow over the sides and out of the boat. Then he pointed at the steel wool and it flew across the floor, scrubbing and polishing so fast, the steel began to smoke. Percy pointed at the rope, and it untied itself from the dock.

No oars, but that didn't matter. Percy could tell that the boat was ready to move, just awaiting his command.

"This'll do," he said. "Hop in."

Finley, Hazel, and Frank looked a little stunned, but it was Finley who recovered first. Now it was her turn to messily salute at him.

"Aye-aye, skipper," Finley nodded. She climbed aboard.

"Skipper?" Percy questioned.

"It means captain of the ship," she informed, shocking Percy with her knowledge. "Be grateful that's the name I landed on."

Percy shrugged in surrender. "Better than Peter Johnson."

"Better than Finnegan," she shot back—which, fair.

Hazel and Frank followed Finley into the boat. Hazel seemed especially nervous. When they had settled on the seats, Percy concentrated, and the boat slipped away from the dock.

Juno was right, you know. The sleepy voice of Gaea whispered in Percy's mind, startling him so badly the boat rocked. You could have chosen a new life in the sea. You would have been safe from me there. Now it's too late. You chose pain and misery. You're part of my plan, now—my important little pawn.

"Get off my ship," Percy growled.

"Uh, what?" Frank asked.

"Bet he's drunk," Finley mumbled dejectedly. "Wish I could get more drunk."

Although that was certainly not the case for Percy. He waited, but the voice of Gaea was silent.

"I'm not. It's nothing," he said. "Let's see what this rowboat can do."

He turned the boat to the north, and in no time they were speeding along at fifteen knots, heading for the Golden Gate Bridge.

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BAILEY YAPS...

Finncy Penley Waterwine Jiggs Finnegan&Skipper bestfriendship ended wars. Saved humanity. Solved crimes. This is a duo I would burn the world for.

Thought I couldn't love Finley Briggs more then found out she has a nose ring!!! Help!!! I love her too much!!!! The doctors are saying I'm crazy!!!!

Percy in his own POV being lalala but described by others as dangerous and intimidating 🤝 Finley in her own POV being lalala but described by Percy as dangerous and intimidating