Page 52 of The Court of the Dead
Asterion grunted. “I suppose we did not mention them for much the same reason. In our dreams, it is difficult to know what is real and what is”—he searched for the right word—“noise.”
Hazel looked troubled. “But if you’re all having similar dreams…”
“That’s what I said!” Johan leaned forward until his sternum-nose touched the table. “I’ve been doing some reading. There’s a remarkable bookstore in New Rome run by a Cyclops and a harpy—lovely people! Anyway, I found some old stories, accounts of something like this happening before to other mythics.”
Asterion placed his meaty fists on the tabletop. He lowered his voice. “When we first met, Nico, I told you there had been rare exceptions among the denizens of Tartarus before—mythics who did not want to be monsters.”
“Exactly,” said Johan. “And it appears that things did not end well for them.”
“What does that mean?” Frank asked.
“I’m not sure,” said Johan. “They werejudged. Punished. Never seen again.”
Nico suddenly felt as cold as his hamburger. “Who would do that? Whose voice are we hearing?”
Johan shrugged, which looked very strange on a guy with no head. “Honestly, Nico di Angelo, my first thought was your father. Pluto—er, Hades—is the king of the Underworld.”
“No,” Nico said. “I know Hades’s voice. I know the way he works. This isn’t him.”
“Agreed,” Hazel said. “Could it have been another god or Titan? Lots of possibilities down in Tartarus.”
Nico and Will locked eyes. They’d had plenty of firsthand experience with cranky primordials in the abyss. But that didn’t feel like the right answer to Nico.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
Johan turned up his palms. “Well, we don’tknowthat someone is hunting us. This voice could be some sort of echo from Tartarus itself, warning us to return home. And who knows what happened to those previous mythics who tried to flee? Even with the Mist hiding our presence, the mortal world will never be safe for us.”
“But…” Asterion left that thought unfinished.
“But the voice has become harsher,” Johan said. “More insistent the longer we stay in the upper world. The dreams have been worst for Arielle and Semele. I don’t know why. The last one Semele had…the voice warned her that she should come out from Camp Jupiter and surrender. If she didn’t do so willingly…she would be forced.”
Frank’s expression hardened. “That settles it.”
Asterion lowered his snout. “If you wish us to leave, we shall.”
“What? No!” Frank slapped the table. “You have to stay. Until we figure out what’s going on, we need to keep you safe. You’re guests of the legion.Nobodythreatens our guests!”
Hazel put her hand on Frank’s. “I agree.”
Asterion’s shoulder muscles unknotted. “Again, we are in your debt. Orcus will be especially relieved. He enjoyed making friends today with those two sentries.”
“And I still havelotsof filing to do in the archives!” Johan added.
Nico couldn’t help but smile. Maybe it wasn’t much of a victory. The challenge of settling the mythics at Camp Jupiter seemed more difficult and dangerous than ever. But he felt a little hope, both at Johan’s excitement and at Frank’s epiphany.
“A lot to think about,” said Hazel. “Maybe we should sleep on it and pick up this conversation tomorrow?”
“Agreed,” said Asterion. “And thank you, Praetors. I am honored to call you my friends.”
With that, he and Johan left the mess hall, ignoring the frowns and muttered comments from the legionnaires.
Will pressed his fingers against his temples. “Remember when we thought this was only going to take a couple of days?”
Nico chuckled. “Yeah. Good job, Hazel. This somehow feels harder than an actual quest.”
She smiled sheepishly. “I definitely know how to pick ’em.”
“Hey.” Frank leaned over and kissed her cheek. “We’re learning—I’mlearning. And we know that the right choice is never easy.”
