Page 104 of The Court of the Dead
“We will see,” he said. “But for now, I must return to court. So many cases on the afternoon’s docket!” He turned to go and then hesitated. “By the way, I heard the tail end of your conversation. Thereisa top to this prison. Can’t have anyone flying out, can we? And I suppose you could try convincing a mortal to move one of the dodecahedrons….” He smiled at Arielle. “If, for instance, you had someone who could charmspeak. But I don’t think that would end well for the mortal. These devices carry quite a charge when they are generating a perimeter of this size….”
Then Pirithous disappeared in a burst of flame and ash…which was not nearly as satisfying to watch as Hazel would’ve hoped.
Arielle swore under her breath. “I hate that man. We have to get out of here.”
“I know,” said Hazel. “Even if we don’t run out of food or water, we have another problem. Because if Pirithous is telling the truth about this prison, we’re in a sealed box with limited vegetation and more mythics arriving all the time.”
“Meaning?” asked Arielle.
“Eventually,” Hazel said, “we’re going to run out of oxygen.”
Will put his hands on his hips and sighed. “I’m never going to complain about another training session at Camp Half-Blood again.”
Nico wanted to sayYou’re cute when you’re annoyed, but he recognized that their situation was deeply, deeply frustrating. Turned out you couldsayyou wanted to train the demigods to work with the Cocoa Puffs, but that didn’t mean the Cocoa Puffs would actually cooperate.
Nico, Frank, and Will stood on the Field of Mars alongside the griffin Orcus. They were watching legionnaires attempt to chase down and catch the Puffs in butterfly nets. Nico had tried to get the cacodemons to stay in one spot, but they seemed to think that being pursued was a game.
“They were better behaved in the principia,” Frank said. “What happened?”
Nico shrugged. “They have minds of their own. The longer they stay with me, the more independent they seem to act. They don’t do anything they don’t want to.”
“Clearly they take after you,” Will deadpanned.
Orcus grunted. “Well, I respect any creature who makes demigods work harder.”
“Are you on our side or not?” asked Frank.
“I’m on the side of getting my friends back,” said the griffin. “But I also enjoy a good game of keep-away.”
A few yards away, Lavinia Asimov face-planted as she tried to capture Defiance in her net. “I’m fine!” she called. “I meant to do that!”
Orcus squawked. “Enough of this. I’m going to help.” The griffin flew off and began dive-bombing cacodemons.
Nico turned to Frank. “Did you get the harnesses?”
The praetor knelt and opened a large duffel bag at his feet. Then he pulled out a few tangles of leather. “Tyson made them. Different sizes, too.”
Frank handed one to Nico. It was almost like a baby carrier—a set of straps and buckles on the back, and an adjustable pouch on the front to secure a Puff against the wearer’s chest.
“And he made a custom one for you, Will,” he said.
Will took the offered harness, and Nico quickly saw how it was a custom job: it had a leather quiver on the back, as well as a couple of leather straps to hold a bow.
“No way,” said Will. He practically glowed with excitement as he put it on. “Man, that’s so cool.”
“Smart design,” Nico said. “Not that I expected any less of Tyson.”
Guilt weighed on him—the internal kind, not the Puff—when he thought about the Cyclops. He hadn’t even visited New Rome since his arrival, much less taken time to see his friends there. It had been that kind of week.
“Well, it would be nice if we could actuallyusethe harnesses,” said Frank, fixing Nico with a determined glare.
“All right, all right. I’ll do something.” He held out his hand to Will. “Snack me.”
Will grinned, then dug into his cargo pockets and produced a small bounty of extra-dark chocolate bars—the preferred choice of cacodemons everywhere.
Nico walked out onto the field just as Deion ran by yelling some sort of war cry, pursuing Loneliness with his net raised high. Nico held back a laugh. He put two fingers in his mouth and let loose a loud, sharp whistle. “Cocoa Puffs!” he cried. “Treat-treats!” He had no idea if this would work.
The cacodemons immediately turned to look his way. Then they came rolling and stumbling over, as any sensible creature would when offered treat-treats.
