Page 16 of The Sun and the Star

Nico bit back an angry comment. ‘A repeating prophecy isn’t exactly ashow.’

Mr D’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, there’s a repeatingprophecy? Perfect!’ He walked over to Nico’s bed and plopped down at the foot. ‘And here I thought it was going to be a boring autumn at camp. I was even thinking about staging a cage match for the dryads.’

Chiron glared at the camp director. ‘We’ve talked about that, Mr D.’

‘You can participate if you like, Chiron,’ the god said cheerfully. ‘I’d love to see you go hoof-on-fist with a few feisty mulberry bushes.’

Chiron sighed. ‘Could we please focus on the problem at hand?’

‘Absolutely!’ Mr D shovelled popcorn into his mouth with glee. ‘Tell me about this repeating prophecy. Is it about me? Do I finally gain my freedom from this miserable camp and once more become the toast of the gods, preferably with a bottle of 1945 Château Mouton Rothschild?’

‘Dionysus, please,’ said Chiron. ‘I don’t think this is a joking matter.’

‘I’m not sure about that,’ grumbled Nico, ‘given that Rachel has been more or less forced to become a prophecy voicemail system.’

‘Nico …’ said Will in a warning tone.

‘Well, he isn’t wrong,’ said Rachel. ‘It’s like all those annoying calls my dad gets about renewing his car warranties.’

‘Except … this is Bob,’ said Nico, finally saying his name out loud. ‘That’s who the prophecy is about.’

‘You mean the Titan Iapetus?’ asked Chiron. ‘I thought he was still in Tartarus.’

‘Tartarus, eh?’ Mr D grabbed another fistful of popcorn. ‘This is getting better by the second.’

Chiron ignored that. ‘Do you think Iapetus has become a threat again? A rogue Titan would certainly be cause for concern.’

‘Bob isn’t like that any more,’ said Nico. ‘Hechangedafter his dip in the River Lethe. He’s nice now. Considerate. He wants to be helpful.’

The others regarded him in silence. The scent of their scepticism was almost as pungent as Mr D’s popcorn.

Nico wanted to believe what he was saying, but doubts gnawed at him. What if Bob had died helping Percy and Annabeth? If he’d regenerated from the primordial landscape of Tartarus, the way monsters did, would he be Iapetus again?

The prophecy had called him the onewho suffers and despairs for refusing to remain.Could this be some sort of trick, luring Nico down to the worst place in the cosmos only to help a hostile Titan escape?

‘He’s my friend,’ he said, mostly to himself. ‘I’ve been hearing his voice for months, even before the prophecy. He needs my help.’

‘Or it could be a trap,’ suggested Mr D. ‘Which would be very exciting. By which I mean it would be terrible, of course.’

Chiron frowned. ‘Must you be so negative, Dionysus?’

‘Must you ignore the obvious?’ the god shot back. ‘I’m not saying it’s the only explanation, but we have to consider the possibility.’ He turned a kernel of popcorn in his fingertips as if it might hold the answer. ‘Nico and I have been talking about some things he’s been experiencing: dreams, waking visions, a voice calling out to him from Tartarus. Now I learn there is a repeating prophecy? I haven’t even heard it yet, and I’m already sceptical. I don’t want to see him get hurt, Chiron.’

Nico felt an unexpected surge of gratitude. He’d never heard Mr D come so close to admitting that he cared about another person.

‘Does that mean I can share your popcorn?’ Nico ventured.

‘Absolutely not.’

‘Aren’t we ignoring the bigger issue?’ Will asked. ‘Because I feel like we’re ignoring it.’

‘You mean me going to Tartarus,’ said Nico. ‘You’ve already made your feelings about that clear many times.’

Will stared at the ceiling as if wondering why he had to be the voice of reason. ‘Whether or not it’s a trap,’ he said, ‘it’s still a trip toTartarus.And I’m not a fan of those lines in the prophecy:There leave something of equal value behind / Or your body and soul no one will ever find.’

‘Bit of a forced rhyme structure there,’ Mr D noted between crunching.

Chiron shot him a dirty look. ‘I’m not ignoring that part,’ he said to Will. ‘And I agree: without more information, we could never sanction such a dangerous quest.’

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