The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus Book 4) (44 page)

‘Coach Hedge,’ Frank blurted.

Percy stared at him, not sure he’d heard correctly. ‘Uh, what, Frank?’

‘The coach is the best choice,’ Frank said. ‘The
only
choice. He’s a good fighter. He’s a certified protector. He’ll get the job done.’

‘A faun,’ Reyna said.

‘Satyr!’ barked the coach. ‘And, yeah, I’ll go. Besides,
when you get to Camp Half-Blood, you’ll need somebody with connections and diplomatic skills to keep the Greeks from attacking you. Just let me go make a call – er, I mean, get my baseball bat.’

He got up and shot Frank an unspoken message that Percy couldn’t quite read. Despite the fact that he’d just been volunteered for a likely suicide mission, the coach looked
grateful
. He jogged off towards the ship’s ladder, tapping his hooves together like an excited kid.

Nico rose. ‘I should go, too, and rest before the first passage. We’ll meet at the statue at sunset.’

Once he was gone, Hazel frowned. ‘He’s acting strangely. I’m not sure he’s thinking this through.’

‘He’ll be okay,’ Jason said.

‘I hope you’re right.’ She passed her hand over the ground. Diamonds broke the surface – a glittering milky way of stones. ‘We’re at another crossroads. The Athena Parthenos goes west. The
Argo II
goes east. I hope we chose correctly.’

Percy wished he could say something encouraging, but he felt unsettled. Despite all they’d been through and all the battles they’d won, they still seemed no closer to defeating Gaia. Sure, they’d released Thanatos. They’d closed the Doors of Death. At least now they could kill monsters and make them
stay
in Tartarus for a while. But the giants were back –
all
the giants.

‘One thing bothers me,’ he said. ‘If the Feast of Spes is in two weeks, and Gaia needs the blood of two demigods to wake – what did Clytius call it? The blood of Olympus? – then
aren’t we doing exactly what Gaia wants, heading to Athens? If we don’t go, and she can’t sacrifice any of us, doesn’t that mean she can’t wake up fully?’

Annabeth took his hand. He drank in the sight of her now that they were back in the mortal world, without the Death Mist, her blonde hair catching the sunlight – even if she was still thin and wan, like him, and her grey eyes were stormy with thought.

‘Percy, prophecies cut both ways,’ she said. ‘If we
don’t
go, we may lose our best and only chance to stop her. Athens is where our battle lies. We can’t avoid it. Besides, trying to thwart prophecies never works. Gaia could capture us somewhere else or spill the blood of some other demigods.’

‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Percy said. ‘I don’t like it, but you’re right.’

The mood of the group became as gloomy as Tartarus air, until Piper broke the tension.

‘Well!’ She sheathed her blade and patted her cornucopia. ‘Good picnic. Who wants dessert?’

A
T SUNSET,
P
ERCY FOUND
N
ICO
tying ropes around the pedestal of the Athena Parthenos.

‘Thank you,’ Percy said.

Nico frowned. ‘What for?’

‘You promised to lead the others to the House of Hades,’ Percy said. ‘You did it.’

Nico tied the ends of the ropes together, making a halter. ‘You got me out of that bronze jar in Rome. Saved my life yet again. It was the least I could do.’

His voice was steely, guarded. Percy wished he could figure out what made this guy tick, but he’d never been able to. Nico was no longer the geeky kid from Westover Hall with the Mythomagic cards. Nor was he the angry loner who’d followed the ghost of Minos through the Labyrinth. But who was he?

‘Also,’ Percy said, ‘you visited Bob …’

He told Nico about their trip through Tartarus. He figured
if anyone could understand, Nico could. ‘You convinced Bob that I could be trusted, even though
I
never visited him. I never gave him a second thought. You probably saved our lives by being nice to him.’

‘Yeah, well,’ Nico said, ‘not giving people a second thought … that can be dangerous.’

‘Dude, I’m trying to say thank you.’

Nico laughed without humour. ‘I’m trying to say you don’t need to. Now I need to finish this, if you could give me some space?’

‘Yeah. Yeah, okay.’ Percy stepped back while Nico took up the slack on his ropes. He slipped them over his shoulders as if the Athena Parthenos were a giant backpack.

Percy couldn’t help feeling a little hurt, being told to take a hike. Then again, Nico had been through a lot. The guy had survived in Tartarus on his own. Percy understood firsthand just how much strength that must have taken.

Annabeth walked up the hill to join them. She took Percy’s hand, which made him feel better.

‘Good luck,’ she told Nico.

‘Yeah.’ He didn’t meet her eyes. ‘You, too.’

A minute later, Reyna and Coach Hedge arrived in full armour with packs over their shoulders. Reyna looked grim and ready for combat. Coach Hedge grinned like he was expecting a surprise party.

Reyna gave Annabeth a hug. ‘We will succeed,’ she promised.

‘I know you will,’ Annabeth said.

Coach Hedge shouldered his baseball bat. ‘Yeah, don’t
worry. I’m going to get to camp and see my baby! Uh, I mean I’m going to get this baby to camp!’ He patted the leg of the Athena Parthenos.

‘All right,’ said Nico. ‘Grab the ropes, please. Here we go.’

Reyna and Hedge took hold. The air darkened. The Athena Parthenos collapsed into its own shadow and disappeared, along with its three escorts.

The
Argo II
sailed after nightfall.

They veered southwest until they reached the coast, then splashed down in the Ionian Sea. Percy was relieved to feel the waves beneath him again.

It would have been a shorter trip to Athens over land, but after the crew’s experience with mountain spirits in Italy, they’d decided not to fly over Gaia’s territory any more than they had to. They would sail around the Greek mainland, following the routes that Greek heroes had taken in the ancient times.

That was fine with Percy. He loved being back in his father’s element – with the fresh sea air in his lungs and the salty spray on his arms. He stood at the starboard rail and closed his eyes, sensing the currents beneath them. But images of Tartarus kept burning in his mind – the River Phlegethon, the blistered ground where monsters regenerated, the dark forest where
arai
circled overhead in the blood-mist clouds. Most of all, he thought about a hut in the swamp with a warm fire and racks of drying herbs and drakon jerky. He wondered if that hut was empty now.

Annabeth pressed next to him at the rail, her warmth reassuring.

‘I know,’ she murmured, reading his expression. ‘I can’t get that place out of my head, either.’

‘Damasen,’ Percy said. ‘And Bob …’

‘I know.’ Her voice was fragile. ‘We have to make their sacrifice worth it. We have to beat Gaia.’

Percy stared into the night sky. He wished they were looking at it from the beach on Long Island rather than from halfway around the world, sailing towards almost certain death.

He wondered where Nico, Reyna and Hedge were now, and how long it would take them to make it back – assuming they survived. He imagined the Romans drawing up battle lines right now, encircling Camp Half-Blood.

Fourteen days to reach Athens. Then one way or another, the war would be decided.

Over in the bow, Leo whistled happily as he tinkered with Festus’s mechanical brain, muttering something about a crystal and an astrolabe. Amidships, Piper and Hazel practised their swordplay, gold and bronze blades ringing in the night. Jason and Frank stood at the helm, talking in low tones – maybe telling stories of the legion or sharing thoughts on being praetor.

‘We’ve got a good crew,’ Percy said. ‘If I have to sail to my death –’

‘You’re not dying on me, Seaweed Brain,’ Annabeth said. ‘Remember? Never separated again. And after we get home …’

‘What?’ Percy asked.

She kissed him. ‘Ask me again, once we defeat Gaia.’

He smiled, happy to have something to look forward to. ‘Whatever you say.’

As they sailed further from the coast, the sky darkened and more stars came out.

Percy studied the constellations – the ones Annabeth had taught him so many years ago.

‘Bob says hello,’ he told the stars.

The
Argo II
sailed into the night.

Achelous
a
potamus
, or river god

Aegis
Thalia Grace’s terror-inducing shield

Aeolus
god of all winds

Akhlys
Greek goddess of misery; goddess of poisons; controller of the Death Mist; daughter of Chaos and Night

Alcyoneus
the eldest of the giants born to Gaia, destined to fight Pluto

Alodai
twin giants who attempted to storm Mount Olympus by piling three Greek mountains on top of each other. Ares tried to stop them, but he was defeated and imprisoned in a bronze urn, until Hermes rescued him. Artemis later brought about the giants’ destruction when she raced between them in the form of a deer. They both took aim with their spears, but missed and instead struck each other.

Aphrodite
the Greek goddess of love and beauty. She was married to Hephaestus, but she loved Ares, the god of war. Roman form: Venus

Aquilo
Roman god of the North Wind. Greek form: Boreas

Arachne
a weaver who claimed to have skills superior to Athena’s. This angered the goddess, who destroyed Arachne’s tapestry and loom. Arachne hung herself, and Athena brought her back to life as a spider.

arai
female spirits of curses; wrinkled hags with bat-like wings, brass talons and glowing red eyes; daughters of Nyx (Night)

Archimedes
a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor and astronomer who lived between 287–212
BCE
and is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity; he discovered how to determine the volume of a sphere

Ares
the Greek god of war; the son of Zeus and Hera, and half-brother to Athena. Roman form: Mars

argentum
silver; the name of one of Reyna’s two metallic greyhounds that can detect lies

Argo II
the fantastical ship built by Leo, which can both sail and fly and has Festus the bronze dragon as its figurehead. The ship was named after the
Argo
, the vessel used by a band of Greek heroes who accompanied Jason on his quest to find the Golden Fleece.

Argonauts
in Greek mythology, a band of heroes who sailed with Jason on the
Argo
, in search of the Golden Fleece

Ariadne
a daughter of Minos who helped Theseus escape from the Labyrinth

Arion
an incredibly fast magical horse that runs wild and free, but occasionally answers Hazel’s summons; his favourite snack is gold nuggets

astrolabe
an instrument used to navigate based on the position of planets and stars

Athena
the Greek goddess of wisdom. Roman form: Minerva

Athena Parthenos
a giant statue of Athena, the most famous Greek statue of all time

augury
a sign of something coming, an omen; the practice of divining the future

aurum
gold; the name of one of Reyna’s two metallic greyhounds that can detect lies

Auster
Roman god of the South Wind. Greek form: Notus

Bacchus
the Roman god of wine and revelry. Greek form: Dionysus

ballista
(ballistae, pl.) a Roman missile siege weapon that launched a large projectile at a distant target (
see also
scorpion ballista
)

barracks
the living quarters of Roman soldiers

Bellona
a Roman goddess of war

Boreads
Calais and Zethes, sons of Boreas, god of the North Wind

Boreas
god of the North Wind. Roman form: Aquilo

braccae
Latin for
trousers

Bunker Nine
a hidden workshop Leo discovered at Camp Half-Blood, filled with tools and weapons. It is at least two hundred years old and was used during the Demigod Civil War.

Cadmus
a demigod whom Ares turned into a snake when Cadmus killed his dragon son

Calypso
the goddess nymph of the mythical island of Ogygia; a daughter of the Titan Atlas. She detained the hero Odysseus for many years.

Camp Half-Blood
the training ground for Greek demigods, located on Long Island, New York

Camp Jupiter
the training ground for Roman demigods, located between the Oakland Hills and the Berkeley Hills, in California

catapult
a military machine used to hurl objects

Celestial bronze
a rare metal deadly to monsters

centaur
a race of creatures that is half human, half horse

centurion
an officer of the Roman army

Ceres
the Roman goddess of agriculture. Greek form: Demeter

charmspeak
a blessing bestowed by Aphrodite on her children that enables them to persuade others with their voice

chiton
a Greek garment; a sleeveless piece of linen or wool secured at the shoulders by brooches and at the waist by a belt

Circe
a Greek goddess of magic

Clytius
a giant created by Gaia to absorb and defeat all of Hecate’s magic

Cocytus
the River of Lamentation in Tartarus, made of pure misery

cohort
one of ten divisions in a Roman legion, a group of soldiers

Colosseum
an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of Rome, Italy. Capable of seating fifty thousand spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles and dramas.

cornucopia
a large horn-shaped container overflowing with edibles or wealth in some form. The cornucopia was created when Heracles (Roman: Hercules) wrestled with the river god Achelous and wrenched off one of his horns.

Cupid
Roman god of love. Greek form: Eros

Cyclops
a member of a primordial race of giants (
Cyclopes
, pl.), each with a single eye in the middle of his or her forehead

Daedalus
in Greek mythology, a skilled craftsman who created the Labyrinth on Crete in which the Minotaur (part man, part bull) was kept

Damasen
giant son of Tartarus and Gaia; created to oppose Ares; condemned to Tartarus for slaying a drakon that was ravaging the land

Demeter
the Greek goddess of agriculture, a daughter of the Titans Rhea and Kronos. Roman form: Ceres

denarius
(
denarii
, pl.) the most common coin in the Roman currency system

Diocletian
the last great pagan emperor, and the first to retire peacefully; a demigod (son of Jupiter). According to legend, his sceptre could raise a ghost army.

Diomedes
a principal Greek hero in the Trojan War

Dionysus
the Greek god of wine and revelry, a son of Zeus. Roman form: Bacchus

Doors of Death
the doorway to the House of Hades, located in Tartarus. The Doors have two sides – one in the mortal world, and one in the Underworld.

drachma
the silver coin of Ancient Greece

drakon
a gigantic yellow and green serpent-like monster, with frills around its neck, reptilian eyes and huge talons; it spits poison

dryads
tree nymphs

Earthborn
Gegenees
in Greek; monsters with six arms that wear only a loincloth

eidolons
possessing spirits

Elysium
the section of the Underworld where those who are blessed by the gods are sent to rest in eternal peace after death

empousa
a vampire with fangs, claws, a bronze left leg, a donkey right leg, hair made of fire and skin as white as bone.
Empousai
[pl.] have the ability to manipulate the Mist, change shape and charmspeak in order to attract their mortal victims.

Epirus
a region presently in northwestern Greece and southern Albania

Eris
goddess of strife

Eros
Greek god of love. Roman form: Cupid

faun
a Roman forest god, part goat and part man. Greek form: satyr

Favonius
Roman god of the West Wind. Greek form: Zephyros

Fields of Asphodel
the section of the Underworld where people who lived neither a good nor a bad life are sent after death

Fields of Punishment
the section of the Underworld where people who were evil during their lives are sent after death to face eternal punishment for their crimes

Furies
Roman goddesses of vengeance; usually characterized as three sisters – Alecto, Tisiphone and Megaera; the children of Gaia and Uranus. They reside in the Underworld, tormenting evildoers and sinners. Greek form: the Erinyes

Gaia
the Greek earth goddess; mother of Titans, giants, Cyclopes and other monsters. Roman form: Terra

Geras
god of old age

Geryon
a monster with three bodies that was slain by Heracles/Hercules

gladius
a short sword

Graecus
the word Romans used for
Greek

greaves
shin armour

Greek fire
an incendiary weapon used in naval battles because it can continue burning in water

gris-gris
In this New Orleans Voodoo practice named after the French word for grey (
gris
), special herbs and other ingredients are combined and put into a small red flannel bag that is worn or stored to restore the balance between the black and white aspects of a person’s life.

gryphon
a creature with the forequarters (including talons) and wings of an eagle and the hindquarters of a lion

Hades
the Greek god of death and riches. Roman form: Pluto

Hannibal
a Carthaginian commander who lived between 247–183/182
BCE
and is generally considered to be one of the greatest military strategists in history. One of his most famous achievements was marching an army, which included war elephants, from Iberia over the Pyrenees and the Alps into northern Italy.

harpy
a winged female creature that snatches things

Hecate
goddess of magic and crossroads; controls the Mist; daughter of Titans Perses and Asteria

Hemera
goddess of day, daughter of Night

Hephaestus
the Greek god of fire and crafts and of blacksmiths; the son of Zeus and Hera, and married to Aphrodite. Roman form: Vulcan

Hera
the Greek goddess of marriage; Zeus’s wife and sister. Roman form: Juno

Heracles
the Greek equivalent of Hercules; the son of Zeus and Alcmene; the strongest of all mortals

Hercules
the Roman equivalent of Heracles; the son of Jupiter and Alcmene, who was born with great strength

Hermes
Greek god of travellers; guide to spirits of the dead; god of communication. Roman form: Mercury

Hesiod
a Greek poet who speculated that it would take nine days to fall to the bottom of Tartarus

Horatius
a Roman general who single-handedly held off a horde of invaders, sacrificing himself on a bridge to keep the barbarians from crossing the Tiber River. By giving his fellow Romans time to finish their defences, he saved the Republic.

House of Hades
a place in the Underworld where Hades, the Greek god of death, and his wife Persephone rule over the souls of the departed; an old temple in Epirus in Greece

Hyperion
one of the twelve Titans; Titan lord of the east

Hypnos
Greek god of sleep. Roman form: Somnus

hypogeum
the area under a coliseum that housed set pieces and machinery used for special effects

Iapetus
one of the twelve Titans; lord of the west; his name means
the Piercer
. When Percy fought him in Hades’s realm, Iapetus fell into the River Lethe and lost his memory; Percy renamed him Bob.

ichor
the golden fluid that is the blood of gods and immortals

Imperial gold
a rare metal deadly to monsters, consecrated at the Pantheon; its existence was a closely guarded secret of the emperors

Janus
Roman god of doorways, beginnings and transitions; depicted as having two faces, because he looks to the future and to the past

Juno
the Roman goddess of women, marriage and fertility; sister and wife of Jupiter; mother of Mars. Greek form: Hera