“Special delivery,” she said. “From an aura. A wind spirit.
Yes, Ella got a special delivery. ”
“Good morning, brothers!” Tyson had hay in his hair and peanut butter in his teeth. “The scroll is from Leo. He is funny and small. ”
The scroll looked unremarkable, but when Percy spread it across his lap, a video recording flickered on the parchment. A kid in Greek armor grinned up at them. He had an impish face, curly black hair, and wild eyes, like he’d just had several cups of coffee. He was sitting in a dark room with timber walls like a ship’s cabin. Oil lamps swung back and forth on the ceiling.
Hazel stifled a scream.
“What?” Frank asked. “What’s wrong?”
Slowly, Percy realized the curly-haired kid looked familiar—and not just from his dreams. He’d seen that face in an old photo.
“Hey!” said the guy in the video. “Greetings from your friends at Camp Half-Blood, et cetera. This is Leo. I’m the…” He looked off screen and yelled: “What’s my title? Am I like admiral, or captain, or—”
A girl’s voice yelled back, “Repair boy. ”
“Very funny, Piper,” Leo grumbled. He turned back to the parchment screen. “So yeah, I’m . . . ah . . . supreme commander of the Argo II. Yeah, I like that! Anyway, we’re gonna be sailing toward you in about, I dunno, an hour in this big mother warship. We’d appreciate it if you’d not, like, blow us out of the sky or anything. So okay! If you could tell the Romans that. See you soon. Yours in demigodishness, and all that. Peace out. ”
The parchment turned blank.
“It can’t be,” Hazel said.
“What?” Frank asked. “You know that guy?”
Hazel looked like she’d seen a ghost. Percy understood why. He remembered the photo in Hazel’s abandoned house in Seward. The kid on the warship looked exactly like Hazel’s old boyfriend.
“It’s Sammy Valdez,” she said. “But how…how—”
“It can’t be,” Percy said. “That guy’s name is Leo. And it’s been seventy-something years. It has to be a…”
He wanted to say a coincidence, but he couldn’t make himself believe that. Over the past few years he’d seen a lot of things: destiny, prophecy, magic, monsters, fate. But he’d never yet
run across a coincidence.
They were interrupted by horns blowing in the distance. The senators came marching into the forum with Reyna at the lead.
“It’s meeting time,” Percy said. “Come on. We’ve got to warn them about the warship. ”
“Why should we trust these Greeks?” Octavian was saying.
He’d been pacing the senate floor for five minutes, going on and on, trying to counter what Percy had told them about Juno’s plan and the Prophecy of Seven.
The senate shifted restlessly, but most of them were too afraid to interrupt Octavian while he was on a roll. Meanwhile the sun climbed in the sky, shining through the broken senate roof and giving Octavian a natural spotlight.
The Senate House was packed. Queen Hylla, Frank, and Hazel sat in the front row with the senators. Veterans and ghosts filled the back rows. Even Tyson and Ella had been allowed to sit in the back. Tyson kept waving and grinning at Percy.
Percy and Reyna occupied matching praetors’ chairs on the dais, which made Percy self-conscious. It wasn’t easy looking dignified wearing a bed sheet and a purple cape.
“The camp is safe,” Octavian continued. “I’ll be the first to congratulate our heroes for bringing back the legion’s eagle and so much Imperial gold! Truly we have been blessed with good fortune. But why do more? Why tempt fate?”
“I’m glad you asked. ” Percy stood, taking the question as an opening.
Octavian stammered, “I wasn’t—”
“—part of the quest,” Percy said. “Yes, I know. And you’re wise to let me explain, since I was. ”
Some of the senators snickered. Octavian had no choice but to sit down and try not to look embarrassed.
“Gaea is waking,” Percy said. “We’ve defeated two of her giants, but that’s only the beginning. The real war will take place in the old land of the gods. The quest will take us to Rome, and eventually to Greece. ”
An uneasy ripple spread through the senate.
“I know, I know,” Percy said. “You’ve always thought of the Greeks as your enemies. And there’s a good reason for that. I think the gods have kept our two camps apart because whenever we meet, we fight. But that can change. It has to change if we’re to defeat Gaea. That’s what the Prophecy of Seven means. Seven demigods, Greek and Roman, will have to close the Doors of Death together. ”
“Ha!” shouted a Lar from the back row. “The last time a praetor tried to interpret the Prophecy of Seven, it was Michael Varus, who lost our eagle in Alaska! Why should we believe you now?”
Octavian smiled smugly. Some of his allies in the senate began nodding and grumbling. Even some of the veterans looked uncertain.
“I carried Juno across the Tiber,” Percy reminded them, speaking as firmly as he could. “She told me that the Prophecy of Seven is coming to pass. Mars also appeared to you in person. Do you think two of your most important gods would appear at camp if the situation wasn’t serious?”