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Honestly, Theo figured they were done for.
Dealing with the tar monsters was one thing—it took her an hour just to get the first layer out of her hair. Next was trying to fix the engine with Leo and Frank, which Theo was useless at, and ended up scorching the palm of her hand in the process. Then, during the team meeting, not a lot of good took place, unless you counted the fact that Jason and Percy devoted the seat at the head of the table to Theo. Frank announced he spotted some Roman eagles flying a little ways behind them at the lake; Hazel said the goddess Nemesis, whom she and Leo had met along their time gathering Celestial bronze, informed them that there was only six days until Nico died and Rome was destroyed; and Mayfair reluctantly brought up her dreaming visions of sugarplums and fairies. (Obviously, much darker and more ominous things than those specifically, but along the same lines: Violent deaths and drowning in wells. The usual.)
Theo had tried her best to explain the lines in the prophecy Ella spoke, but she'd never been able to vocalize the meanings in ways other people could understand. At least, not the people at Camp Half-Blood. And she hadn't had any time to think on it as much as she wanted to.
Percy also chipped in for the first bit, about Prophecy's daughter walking alone, and the Promise of Apollo flying through Rome—he told the rest of them that he saw Juno in a dream, and she said that Theo had a hard task ahead of her. She said she doubted Theo could do it.
"I know she's wrong, though," he had added, with a squeeze to Theo's hand.
Theo took a long breath at that. If Juno was anything like Hera, Theo could guess this discouragement was not out of character.
"Reyna was about to tell me something right before the ship fired on us," she began, glad she had hold of Percy's hand ro ground her. "She said there was an old legend among the Roman praetors—something that had to do with Apollo. She said it might be the reason Greeks and Romans could never get along."
"Nemesis mentioned something similar," Leo said. "She talked about an old score that had to be settled—"
"The one thing that might bring the gods' two natures into harmony," Hazel recalled. "'An old wrong finally avenged.'"
Theo frowned—she'd experienced her fair share of unstable gods fighting for dominance, and it was not a pretty sight. Maybe an old wrong being avenged would be a good thing.
Percy drew a frowny face in the whipped cream of his blue pancakes. "I was only a praetor for about two hours. Jason, you ever hear a legend like that?"
Jason glanced to Mayfair, and she nodded slightly. He was still too pale. Theo wondered if her own diagnosis—that he would live—was wrong. She was never any good at the healing aspect of things...
"I...uh, I'm not sure," Jason said. "I'll give it some thought."
