DON'T BLAME ME! (p. jackson) (#2) (ON HOLD)

- twenty four

ROSE GAVE HERSELF FIVE MINUTES TO CRY.

once those five minutes were gone, she caught a taxi back to the park. her eyes were red, and she kept sniffling. the driver probably thought she was high.

"hey," percy said as she climbed onto the deck. his smile faded when he noticed she'd been crying. "what's wrong?"

"i miss annabeth," she said. "it's only been like, twenty minutes, but—"

"hey," he said gently. he wiped away a tear with his thumb. "you and i both know she's coming back. if anyone can finish this quest, it's annabeth."

rose nodded. "you're right. she was just so scared..."

"she'll be okay. she's annabeth. remember when she flew a helicopter?"

rose smiled at the memory. then she noticed piper and jason standing off to the side.

"hey," she smiled. "happy birthday, jason."

he frowned. "how'd you know that? i didn't tell anyone."

"...you know it's on your wikipedia, right?"

"my what?"

she pulled out her phone as he walked over, googled "jason grace wiki", and showed him the page. "you know you've been considered missing for like, thirteen years, right?"

"no," he said, "i didn't. no wonder i get weird looks in public."

rose pointed at piper's dagger. "tiberinus said you could find nico's location... you know, with that."

"i've tried," she said. "the dagger doesn't always show what i want to see. in fact, it hardly ever does."

"please," percy said. "try again."

he pleaded with those sea-green eyes, like a cute baby seal that needed help.

"fine," she sighed, and drew her dagger.

"while you're at it," said hedge, "see if you can get the latest baseball scores. italians don't cover baseball worth shit."

"shh." piper studied the bronze blade as everyone gathered around her. the light shimmered. they saw a loft apartment filled with roman demigods. a dozen of them stood around a dining table as octavian talked and pointed to a big map. reyna paced next to the windows, gazing down at central park.

"that's not good," jason muttered. "they've already set up a forward base in manhattan."

"and that map shows long island," percy said.

"they're scouting the territory," jason guessed. "discussing invasion routes."

light rippled across the blade. they saw ruins—a few crumbling walls, a single column, a stone floor covered with moss and dead vines—all clustered on a grassy hillside dotted with pine trees.

"i was just there," rose said. "that's in the old forum."

the view zoomed in. on one side of the stone floor, a set of stairs had been excavated, leading down to a modern iron gate with a padlock. the blade's image zoomed straight through the doorway, down a spiral stairwell, and into a dark, cylindrical chamber like the inside of a grain silo.

piper dropped the blade.

"what's wrong?" jason asked. "it was showing us something."

"we can't go there."

percy frowned. "piper, nico is dying. we've got to find him. not to mention, rome is about to get destroyed."

piper picked up the blade. they saw two giants in gladiator armor sitting on oversized praetors' chairs. the giants toasted each other with golden goblets as if they'd just won an important fight. between them stood a large bronze jar.

the vision zoomed in again. inside the jar, nico di angelo was curled in a ball, no longer moving, all the pomegranate seeds eaten.

"we're too late," jason said.

"no," rose said. "no, i can't believe that. maybe he's gone into a deeper trance to buy time. we have to hurry."

the blade's surface went dark. piper slipped it back into its sheath.

"we should wait for the others," she said. "hazel, frank, and leo should be back soon."

"we can't wait," percy insisted.

coach hedge grunted. "it's just two giants. if you guys want, i can take them."

"uh, coach," jason said, "that's a great offer, but we need you to man the ship—or goat the ship. whatever."

hedge scowled. "and let you four have all the fun?"

percy gripped the satyr's arm. "hazel and the others need you here. when they get back, they'll need your leadership. you're their rock."

"yeah." jason managed to keep a straight face. "leo always says you're his rock. you can tell them where we've gone and bring the ship around to meet us at the forum."

"and here." piper unstrapped katoptris and put it in hedge's hands.

the satyr's eyes widened. a demigod was never supposed to leave her weapon behind.

"keep an eye on us with the blade," she suggested. "and you can check the baseball scores."

that sealed the deal. hedge nodded grimly, prepared to do his part for the quest.

"alright," he said. "but if any giants come this way—"

"feel free to blast them," jason said.

"what about annoying tourists?"

"no," they all said in unison.

"bah. fine. just don't take too long, or i'm coming after you with ballistae blazing."