𝐁𝐄𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐃 ━━ jason grace

04. the prophecy of eight

[ ACT TWO , CHAPTER FOUR ]
THE PROPHECY OF EIGHT.

‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° ｡˚𓆛˚｡ °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊

Once everyone had cleaned up after a long day, Coach Hedge took the helm and the demigods gathered below deck for dinner. It was the first time they had all sat down together, just the eight of them. In an awkward moment, Jason and Percy tried to sit in the same chair at the head of the table. Sparks literally flew from Jason's hands. After a brief standoff, they ceded the chair to Annabeth and sat at opposite sides of the table.

Everyone at the table seemed super uncomfortable. Maybe it was because they've all embarked on a quest with a bunch of strangers, or because it had finally dawned on them that the prophecy of eight was unfolding – and that they were a part of it. For Cassie, it was a mix of both.

The mess hall a.k.a. the lounge had a long dining table, with eight fancy chairs that have built-in cup holders and seat warmers. The cupboards lining the walls were loaded with magical plates and glasses from Camp Half-Blood that filled it with literally whatever food or drink you wanted. Seriously, Percy was drinking some sort of sparkling Windex concoction. Instead of windows, natural light was provided from a floor-to-ceiling live feed of Camp Half-Blood.

They compared notes on their afternoon expeditions in Salt Lake City. But the mood around the table remained gloomy. The ridiculous story of how Leo and Hazel tricked Narcissus wasn't enough to cheer up the group.

"So where to now?" Leo asked, his mouth full of pizza. "I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there's still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things before we head across the Atlantic."

Percy was eating a piece of pie, that, for some reason was entirely blue – the filling, the crust, even the whipped cream. "We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter," he said, "Frank saw some eagles flying over Salt Lake City. We figure that they aren't too far behind us."

Piper looked guilty. "I don't suppose we should go back and try to reason with the Romans? Maybe... maybe I didn't try hard enough with the charmspeak."

Jason shook his head. "It wasn't your fault, Pipes. Or Leo's," he added quickly. "Whatever happened, it was Gaea's doing, to drive the two camps apart."

"Maybe if we could explain that, though–"

"No," Cassie cut in. "We still don't know exactly what happened. And the Romans won't believe anything without proof."

"Exactly." Annabeth smiled. "I appreciate what you're saying, Piper. I don't want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaea is up to, going back is suicide."

"She's right," Hazel added. "Reyna might listen, but Octavian won't. The Romans have honor to think about. They've been attacked. They'll shoot first and ask questions post-hoc."

"We have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans." Cassie said. "If Gaea's planning to destroy the world, there must be a doomsday or something. We're probably going to be pressed for time later. Quests are always like that."

Hazel nodded. "Well, Nemesis said we only have six days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed."

"You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?" Jason frowned.

"I think," Hazel replied. "But if so, that's not much time."

"Why six days?" Percy wondered. "And how are they going to destroy Rome?"

"There's more," Piper added quickly. "I've been seeing things in my knife."

Frank froze with a forkful of spaghetti halfway to his mouth. "Things such as?"

"They don't really make sense," Piper said, "just garbled images, but I saw two giants, dressed alike. Maybe they were twins."

Annabeth stared wistfully at the magical video feed from Camp Half-Blood. "Twins, like in Ella's prophecy, if we could figure out those lines, it might help."

"Wisdom's daughter walks alone," Percy recited. "The Mark of Athena burns through Rome. Annabeth, that's gotta be you. Juno told me... well, she said you have a hard task ahead of you in Rome. She doubted you could do it. But I know she's wrong."

Annabeth took a long breath. "Reyna was about to tell me something right before the ship fired on us. She said there was an old legend among Roman praetors – something that had to do with Athena. She said it might be the reason why the Greeks and Romans could never get along."

Leo and Hazel exchanged a nervous look. "Nemesis mentioned something similar," Leo recalled. "She talked about an old score that had to be settled–"

"The one thing that might bring the gods' two natures into harmony," Hazel continued. "An old wrong finally avenged."

Percy drew a frowny face in his whipped cream. "Well, I was only a praetor for like, two hours. Jason, you ever heard of a legend like that?"

"I, uh, I'm not sure. I'll give it some thought." Jason didn't sound very convincing.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "You aren't sure?"

Jason didn't reply.

Hazel broke the silence. "What about the other lines? Twins snuff out angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands gold and pale, won through pain from a woven jail."

"Giants' bane," Leo repeated. "Anything that's a giants' bane is good for us, right? That's probably what we need to find. If it can help the gods get their act together."

Percy nodded. "And we can't kill the giants without the help of the gods."

"Wait," Cassie turned to Frank and Hazel. "I thought you guys killed that one giant in Alaska without a god's help, just you two."

"Alcyoneus was a speacial case. He was only immortal in the territory where he was reborn – Alaska. But not in Canada." Frank sighed. "I wish I could kill all the giants by dragging them across the border from Alaska to Canada, but ... Percy's right, we'll need the gods."

"So," Leo pushed his chair away from the table. "First things first, I guess. We'll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs."

"How about some place close to a city?" Annabeth suggested. "Just in case we need supplies. But somewhere out of the way, so the Romans will have trouble finding us. Any ideas?"

After a brief silence, Piper spoke up, "Well, how do you guys feel about Kansas?"