Leo fiddled with the bronze Archimedes sphere that he’d installed on the console—his newest and most dangerous toy. Every time Hazel looked at the thing, her mouth went dry. She worried that Leo would turn the wrong combination on the sphere and accidentally eject them all from the deck, or blow up the ship, or turn the Argo II into a giant toaster.
Fortunately, they got lucky. The sphere grew a camera lens and projected a 3D image of the Apennine Mountains above the console.
“I dunno. ” Leo examined the holograph. “I don’t see any good passes to the north. But I like that idea better than backtracking south. I’m done with Rome. ”
No one argued with that. Rome had not been a good experience.
“Whatever we do,” Nico said, “
we have to hurry. Every day that Annabeth and Percy are in Tartarus…”
He didn’t need to finish. They had to hope Percy and Annabeth could survive long enough to find the Tartarus side of the Doors of Death. Then, assuming the Argo II could reach the House of Hades, they might be able to open the doors on the mortal side, save their friends, and seal the entrance, stopping Gaea’s forces from being reincarnated in the mortal world, over and over.
Yes…nothing could go wrong with that plan.
Nico scowled at the Italian countryside below them. “Maybe we should wake the others. This decision affects us all. ”
“No,” Hazel said. “We can find a solution. ”
She wasn’t sure why she felt so strongly about it, but since leaving Rome, the crew had started to lose its cohesion. They’d been learning to work as a team. Then bam…their two most important members fell into Tartarus. Percy had been their backbone. He’d given them confidence as they sailed across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean. As for Annabeth—she’d been the de facto leader of the quest. She’d recovered the Athena Parthenos single-handedly. She was the smartest of the seven, the one with the answers.
If Hazel woke up the rest of the crew every time they had a problem, they’d just start arguing again, feeling more and more hopeless.
She had to make Percy and Annabeth proud of her. She had to take the initiative. She couldn’t believe her only role in this quest would be what Nico had warned her of—removing the obstacle waiting for them in the House of Hades. She pushed the thought aside.
“We need some creative thinking,” she said. “Another way to cross those mountains, or a way to hide ourselves from the numina. ”
Nico sighed. “If I was on my own, I could shadow-travel. But that won’t work for an entire ship. And honestly, I’m not sure I have the strength to even transport myself anymore. ”
“I could maybe rig some kind of camouflage,” Leo said, “like a smoke screen to hide us in the clouds. ” He didn’t sound very enthusiastic.
Hazel stared down at the rolling farmland, thinking about what lay beneath it—the realm of her father, lord of the Underworld. She’d only met Pluto once, and she hadn’t even realized who he was. She certainly had never expected help from him—not when she was alive the first time, not during her time as a spirit in the Underworld, not since Nico had brought her back to the world of the living.
Her dad’s servant Thanatos, god of death, had suggested that Pluto might be doing Hazel a favor by ignoring her. After all, she wasn’t supposed to be alive. If Pluto took notice of her, he might have to return her to the land of the dead.
Which meant calling on Pluto would be a very bad idea. And yet…
Please, Dad, she found herself praying. I have to find a way to your temple in Greece—the House of Hades. If you’re down there, show me what to do.
At the edge of the horizon, a flicker of movement caught her eye—something small and beige racing across the fields at incredible speed, leaving a vapor trail like a plane’s.
Hazel couldn’t believe it. She didn’t dare hope, but it had to be…“Arion. ”
“What?” Nico asked.
Leo let out a happy whoop as the dust cloud got closer. “It’s her horse, man! You missed that whole part. We haven’t seen him since Kansas!”
Hazel laughed—the first time she’d laughed in days. It felt so good to see her old friend.
About a mile to the north, the small beige dot circled a hill and stopped at the summit. He was difficult to make out, but when the horse reared and whinnied, the sound carried all the way to the Argo II. Hazel had no doubt—it was Arion.
“We have to meet him,” she said. “He’s here to help. ”
“Yeah, okay. ” Leo scratched his head. “But, uh, we talked about not landing the ship on the ground anymore, remember? You know, with Gaea wanting to destroy us, and all. ”
“Just get me close, and I’ll use the rope ladder. ” Hazel’s heart was pounding. “I think Arion wants to tell me something. ”