Page 148 of The Court of the Dead
Nico glanced at his friends. By now, he realized Hecate had no intention of rewarding Pirithous. Judging from his friends’ faces, they knew it too. The only one who seemed to believe in Pirithous’s well-deserved reward was Pirithous.
“Thank you, great goddess!” He groveled some more, and Nico realized he was a natural at it. Then the disgraced judge crawled to the boulder, which he seemed to think was an actual throne. With a great deal of effort and whimpering, he managed to climb on top of it. He lay back, facing the sky, and began to sink into the stone until his back half was stuck. He had a blissful expression on his face.
“Bring forth the accused,” he muttered dreamily. Then he closed his eyes and started to snore.
Dolus laughed. “So much for him. Great job, Lady Hecate!”
“Silence, Dolus.”
“Yes, Lady Hecate!”
The goddess rolled her eyes. “Well then. I will return our new king of the Underworld to Asphodel, unless anyone would like to keep him.” She paused. “He would make an excellent doorstop, or paperweight.”
“Hold on.” Nico suspected it might not be wise of him to speak up, but he was too exhausted to care. “Are you telling me he’s getting his old punishment, but hethinkshe’s being rewarded? Is that…? Doallpunishments and rewards in the Underworld work that way? It’s just a matter of what you believe?”
Hecate’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “I never said that, son of Hades. Nor would I ever give away your father’s trade secrets.”
That wasn’t a no. And it didn’t make Nico feel any better.
“Last call for a Pirithous paperweight?” the goddess said. “No? Very well.”
She snapped her fingers again, and the boulder sank into the earth, taking with it the worst judge ever.
Relief flooded Nico’s body. Unfortunately, his body decided that meant its work was done. His knees buckled.
“Whoa there.” Will grabbed his arm, struggling to keep him upright.
It is time, Nico, said Semele.I must vacate your mind.
Hecate focused on him with renewed interest. “Semele? Is thatyou? Get out of that poor boy!”
All the air was sucked out of Nico’s body, and he dropped to the ground. Suddenly, there was so muchspacein his mind, like his thoughts finally had room to swim around in. The Kit Kat bar he’d just eaten threatened to come up, but he managed to swallow back his nausea.
“I’ve got you.” Will’s gentle voice kept him from slipping into unconsciousness. Nico didn’t think he could stand again, but he managed to sit cross-legged, hoping Hecate would excuse his bad manners. At least he didn’t throw up on her.
When his vision cleared, he saw Semele hovering before him. Once again, she was a faint swirl of gray. Immediately, Nico felt a pang of loss. As difficult as it had been, he missed her voice in his mind, her comforting strength. But most of all, he missed seeing her true form as a woman made of smoke and stars.
Hecate regarded the eidolon with a sad smile. “It has been too long, Semele Thyone. When you faded from Olympus, I wondered what had happened to you. But aneidolon? That is far below your station.”
“I made the best of it,” said Semele. “I found friends whom I would not trade for all the thrones on Mount Olympus.”
Nico’s head was still spinning. The memories he had absorbed from Semele, tiny glimpses of her past, started to stitch together and form a picture.
“Wait…” His jaw dropped open. “You’re a goddess?”
Apate laughed. “You didn’tknow? This is Semele Thyone, the goddess of frenzy! The mother—”
“Iwas.” Semele cut her off. “I am no longer.”
“Anothergod?” exclaimed Deion. “That’s four in one day!”
“It’s way more than that,” remarked Hazel as Deion’s eyes widened. “There were tons of them here.”
Hecate approached the eidolon. “I commend your dedication to these demigods and mythics. I know what it is like to be forgotten, shut out of Olympus, and my choices were not as noble as yours.”
Her dark eyes suddenly seemed sad. “I allied myself with Kronos. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but now I know it was a decision based on pain and bitterness. I am thankful I had another opportunity to choose differently, much like the opportunity you and these demigods have given the mythics.”
She ran her fingers through the wisps of smoke as if caressing Semele’s hair. “It seems only fair that you have another chance as well. If you would allow me…You have been incorporeal for too long.”
