Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 48

They sailed out of the Colosseum and veered south over the rooftops of Rome. All around the Piazza del Colosseo, traffic had come to a standstill. A crowd of mortals had gathered, probably wondering about the strange lights and sounds that had come from the ruins. As far as Percy could see, none of the giants' spectacular plans for destruction had come off successfully. The city looked the same as before. No one seemed to notice the huge Greek trireme rising into the sky.

The demigods gathered around the helm. Jason bandaged Piper's sprained shoulder while Hazel sat at the stern, feeding Nico ambrosia. The son of Hades could barely lift his head. His voice was so quiet, Hazel had to lean in whenever he spoke.

Cressida and Percy had also been fed some godly food, Frank offering them vials of Solace Solution but they waved it off in favour of the weaker stuff, pocketing the vials for later. They were seriously running low on the stuff with everything they'd done so far.

Frank and Leo recounted what had happened in the room with the Archimedes spheres, and the visions Gaia had shown them in the bronze mirror. They quickly decided that their best lead for finding Annabeth was the cryptic advice Bacchus had provided: the Emmanuel Building, whatever that was. Frank started typing at the helm's computer while Leo tapped furiously at his controls, muttering, "Emmanuel Building. Emmanuel Building."

Coach Hedge tried to help by wrestling with an upside-down street map of Rome.

Percy knelt next to Jason and Piper. "How's the shoulder?"

Piper smiled. "It'll heal. All of you did great."

Jason elbowed Percy. "Not a bad team, you and me."

"Better than jousting in a Kansas cornfield," Percy agreed.

"Oh, are you sure it's not you two that should be getting married instead?" Cressida teased and Piper had to laugh.

"Could we be bridesmaids?" she asked, and Cressida beamed.

"Oh, I think we'd both look good in blue. It's kinda the neutral colour of the sea and sky."

"And they're those simple silk ones that are really form-fitted and have pockets and -"

"Are you two seriously getting a kick out of planning a wedding for Percy and me?" Jason asked, still quite confused and Percy wore a similar expression.

"Yep," both girls answered in unison and Percy and Jason didn't know how to feel about that.

"There it is!" Leo cried, pointing to his monitor. "Frank, you're amazing! I'm setting course."

Frank hunched his shoulders. "I just read the name off the screen. Some Chinese tourist marked it on Google Maps."

Leo grinned at the others. "He reads Chinese."

"Just a tiny bit," Frank said.

"How cool is that?"

"Guys," Hazel broke in. "I hate to interrupt your admiration session, but you should hear this."

She helped Nico to his feet. He'd always been pale, but now his skin looked like powdered milk. His dark sunken eyes reminded Percy of photos he'd seen of liberated prisoners-of-war, which Percy guessed Nico basically was.

"Thank you," Nico rasped. His eyes darted nervously around the group. "I'd given up hope."

Cressida moved forward first as she bent down to kiss his cheek. "Nico, no matter what happened, you're my friend. I don't leave friends behind."

Nico might've blushed had his skin not seemed so pale. "Thank you," he repeated again, and she gave him a small smile.

"You knew about the two camps all along," Percy said. "You could have told me who I was the first day I arrived at Camp Jupiter, but you didn't."