Chapter Text
Percy leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, trying to tamp down the annoyed ticking of his eyebrow. The auras of a hundred people— both adults and children— brushed over his senses in a dizzying overlap of smells, phantom feelings, sounds and tastes, only serving to exacerbate his irritation.
The Roman Senate meeting was going about as well as he had hoped— which was to say, he had been ready to strangle Octavian to death before the guy had even opened his mouth. The previous night's incident with Gwen was still as fresh as a recently bloomed rose on his mind, and it was only on Amphitrite-mevisi teachings and his own self control that he hadn't yet wrapped his claws around the swine's neck.
Ghuksal.
Presently, Frank dropped into his seat beside him, hand still clenched tight around his new medals. He looked like he couldn't believe he had received them, and that just made Percy want to strangle Octavian even more. Frank did deserve those medals, fuck anybody who said otherwise. He had proven his leadership skills and intelligence with the battle plan in the War Games, and Percy said as much to him.
"You did great, you know that right?" He grinned at Frank. "Really. The whole plan was awesome, and foolproof. Ignore Octavian, he's an idiot."
The younger boy gave him a wobbly smile, opening his mouth to reply, but was cut off.
"Centurion Zhang," called Octavian. "Did you hear the question?"
Frank blinked. "Um…sorry. What?"
Octavian turned to the Senate and smirked, in a very obvious way of saying what did I tell you? "I was asking," he said, enunciating every word like he was talking to a three-year-old, "if you have a plan for the quest. Do you even know where you are going?"
Percy felt his blood boil, and he pulled his lips back in a snarl. He was about to speak, tell Octavian where he could shove his questions, when Hazel placed a hand on Frank's shoulder and rose to her feet. She levelled a poisonous glare at the augur, golden eyes flashing bright with warning. Percy pushed down the shiver that wracked his body at the haunting sight— her eyes were so familiar, had played a terrifying role in his so many of his nightmares over the years, had been the bane of his existence since he was twelve.
She had Kronos' eyes.
"Obviously, we are going to Alaska, the land beyond the Gods," she answered, using the same tone Octavian had used against Frank, except her voice was cold and steely. "Didn't you pay attention to Lord Mars last night, Octavian?"
She spat out the name like someone might say chewing gum stuck to my heel, and Octavian quailed under her stare. The senators squirmed in their seats, and a few of the ghosts wavered and vanished. Even Reyna's dogs whimpered and rolled over to expose their metal bellies.
Percy leaned back, a satisfied smile curling the corners of his lips even as the phantom chill settled into the cores of his bones. Hazel Levesque was terrifying when she wanted to be, and he wanted to believe that she was a good person. So far, she had done nothing to break that belief.
One of the senators finally gathered his wits and stood up, and he recognised the adult man as Anton, twenty-four year old third generation descendant of Bacchus.
"This is absurd," Anton cried, clutching a sugary caffeinated drink that smelled positively poisonous to Percy. "Alaska is cursed— it's called the land beyond the Gods for a reason. No demigod has come back alive since—"
"The Fifth Cohort lost your eagle," Percy interrupted, his low voice echoing through the Senate House. Everyone fell silent. He breathed out through his nose, trying his best to ignore the several gazes boring into him. He felt tens of auras flicker over his skin, ranging from earthy smells to the clash of weapons to the ghost feeling of plucking a berry. It would have been dizzying, had he not been used to the sensations Camp Half Blood and Atlantis.
"I know I'm new here," he said into the quiet, "But it's obvious. The Fifth Cohort lost the eagle, and we will bring it back. It's why Mars is sending us. This giant, he's Gaia's son, and I'm positive he's the one that slaughtered your forces all those decades ago."
Now comes the difficult part.
"Gaia is," Percy began, choosing his words carefully, "gathering her forces. Sending them south. In a few days, they will attack New Rome."
Octavian seemed to have gained back his stupidity, because he raised an eyebrow at him. "You seem to know a lot about our enemy, Perseus."
His tone was smooth and level when he spoke, and the implications of his statement had Percy bristling. Most insults, he would let slide; they didn't bother him, because usually anyone who insulted him did not know him well. Octavian didn't know him either, but to dare to call him a spy, a traitor—
He's baiting you.
Percy closed his eyes for a second at the voice that sounded an awful lot like Amphie-mevi, willing himself not to crush Octavian's pathetic trachea under his heel. When he spoke, he internally fist bumped Triton-dau that his voice came out level and unfazed. "We'll bring back your eagle, and unchain the God. Thanatos, wasn't it?"
He looked towards Reyna, trying to maintain the 'no memories' shtick. It was a pain, but none of them knew he had his memories back. Better be safe than sorry, especially in front of the absolute prick that was Octavian.
Reyna nodded. "We Romans call him Letus."
Octavian let out an exasperated sigh, and Percy barely stopped himself from throttling him. How someone could be so annoying, he had no idea, but that little shit managed to push every single one of Percy's buttons. He had to wrangle all of Triton-dausi and Amphie-mevisi lessons to the forefront of his mind so that he didn't commit manslaughter.
"How, exactly," the augur asked, skepticism dripping from every syllable, "are you gonna do that and be back before the Feast of Fortuna? It's four days away. Do you even know where to look, or who this son of Gaia is?"
Admittedly, Percy did not know. Before he could say anything, however, Hazel pinned Octavian with an unimpressed look, eyes darkening to a burnished gold shade. "Of course we do."
Percy had the feeling that she had narrowly held off of insulting the jusak, and bit down on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from letting out a snort.
"And as for the giant, well," she pursed her lips. "It's Alkyoneus."
Percy watched the temperature of the room drop as every senator shivered. The presences of the demigods and descendants skittered nervously over his skin, leaving behind heavy feelings of disturbance and tension. He himself pressed his mouth into a straight line and turned to Reyna, who had gripped the edge of the podium tight enough to turn her knuckles white. Her eyes flashed deep red for a second, and she turned towards the young teen.
"Do you know that because you're a child of Pluto, Hazel?" she asked, voice perfectly even and neutral.
"Our father told us about him."
All heads turned towards the "Ambassador of Pluto", who was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed. It was clear from his tone that he did not want to be asked any questions, and Percy felt his lips twitch despite the seriousness of the situation. Nico had learnt well how to use his status as a Child of the Underworld to his advantage.
"The Giants," he continued, "are hard to kill. It takes deities and demigods working together to kill them."
Several senators gasped. Murmurs rose in volume, and a particularly loud one stated that it had never happened, and it was unheard of for the Gods to have worked with their mortal children.
Nico raked a threatening stare over everyone, and the senators promptly shut up, the sound of several jaws snapping closed echoing around the hall. "It's not unheard of," he bit out. "It's happened before. What's more worrisome is the fact that Alkyoneus can't be defeated in his homeland— where he was born."
Percy pushed himself into a straight posture, lips parting in realisation. "Hang on. So you're saying," he said, "is that Alkyoneus can't be killed in Alaska. Because he was reformed there."
Nico nodded tersely, still looking uncomfortable at being the subject of Percy's focus. "Yeah. Which means—"
"The nineteen-eighties expedition was a suicide mission," the older boy completed, and Nico pressed his lips into a straight line, the answer clear in his expression.
The room burst out in arguments and shouts. Everyone talked over each other, yelled and gripped at their hair, glared at Nico or Percy. Both boys simply sat back in their seats and crossed their arms over their chests, waiting for the chaos to die down. It didn't look like they would calm down anytime soon.
Their auras bounced off of each other, amplifying with every shout that echoed around the Senate chamber, and Percy bit down the urge to hiss at the overstimulation. His skin crackled and sparked, his tongue felt like he had eaten something particularly spicy, and his ears rang.
"SILENCE!"
Reyna's voice echoed louder than anyone else's, and the senators snapped their mouths shut and sat down in their seats. Percy sighed in relief when the sensations simmered down to a bearable level. The Praetor waited two seconds, then glared at the senators.
"Mars has issued a quest. I doubt he gave us an unconquerable one. These three demigods—" she gestured towards Percy, Frank and Hazel— "will leave for Alaska. They will free Thanatos, and if they bring our eagle back with them, all the better. We must support them, and ensure that they have a plan."
She turned to Percy, and by the look in her eyes, he could tell that she did not have much hope. Honestly, he didn't blame her, his own hope was down in the dumps. "You do have a plan, yes?"
He so desperately wanted to say no, that he didn't have a plan, that he had no idea what the fuck he was doing. A glance at the faces in the room and the memory of Amphitrite-mevisi stern face when she had piled three humongous books on politics on his desk, however, told him that saying that would be... stupid. He pursed his lips.
"Let me understand something, first."
He turned to Nico. "Hades is the God of the Dead."
Nico nodded, and Percy plowed ahead. "And Thanatos is the personification of Death, right? He works for Hades. So how do the Doors of Death tie into all this?"
The son of Hades breathed in, a calculating twist to his mouth. "Thanatos guards the Doors. He makes sure no dead person leaves the underworld. But now he's locked up."
Frank raised his hand. "Yeah, uh, question: how do you chain literal Death?"
"It’s possible," Nico said, eyebrows furrowed. "The first time, a guy named Sisyphus tricked Death and tied him up. And another, Hercules wrestled him to the ground."
"And now," Percy picked up, "Alkyoneus has him. So if we free him, the dead would stay dead?"
Nico's expression twisted into something that made Percy's gut drop in dread. He let out a long sigh, raising a hand to rub his temple. He was too tired for this shit. "It's not as simple as that, is it?"
The younger boy winced at the resignation in Percy's tone, but have a slow nod. "No," he agreed, "it's not that simple."
Octavian snorted. "Why does that not surprise me?"
Percy clenched his fist, feeling his nailbeds ripple with the urge to let his claws burst out. Don't punch him, don't punch him, do not punch him—
"You mean the Doors of Death," Reyna said, ignoring Octavian. "They are mentioned in the Prophecy of Seven, which sent the first expedition to Alaska—"
One of the ghosts snorted, such derision painted on his translucent face that Percy was surprised he didn't burst. "We all know how that turned out! We Lares remember!"
The other ghosts groused in agreement, murmuring over each other.
Nico put a finger to his lips. Immediately, all the Lares went silent. Some gave the boy looks of dismay, like their lips had been glued together. Percy wished he had that power over certain living people.
Yes, he was thinking about Octavian, sue him. The dude was annoying as fuck.
"The Doors of Death," Nico said, pulling Percy out of his fantasies of pummelling Octavian into the ground, "are a concept that even I don't completely understand. There are several other entrances to the Underworld— River Styx, Orpheus' door, and smaller routes that fall open from time to time. Thanatos' absence means these paths are easier to use."
Percy nodded and leaned forward. "So dead spirits might find their way back to life, right?"
Nico made a sound of agreement, snapping his fingers at him. "Yeah. Sometimes someone friendly might wander back, like Gwen last night—"
Hazel interrupted him. "But more often than not, it's the monsters that come up."
"Exactly," her brother conceded. "The Doors of Death, on the other hand, are Thanatos' personal gateway between Life and Death. Nobody knows where they are, and they keep changing places. But now, the God is down and Gaia's minions have forced the Door open—"
"Which means Gaia controls who can come back from the dead," Percy finished, raking a hand through his own wild hair, lip twitching at the disapproving looks he gets from the people with the regulation haircuts. "Fuck."
Nico grimaced. "Quite."
Frank scratched his head. "But Letus knows where the doors are, right? If we free him, he can retake control over them."
"I don’t think so," Nico said. "Not alone. He’s no match for Gaia. That would take a massive quest… an army of the best demigods."
"Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death," Reyna recited, voice lacking emotion. Percy met her eyes, and the utter terror she hid behind her gaze was palpable even from across the podium. Maybe not to anyone else, but he saw it— she wanted to keep Camp Jupiter safe, and this was a huge threat, something nobody was sure they could overcome. Percy wondered if she’d had nightmares about Gaia too, if she’d seen visions of what would happen when the camp was invaded by monsters that couldn’t be killed.
"If this announces the beginning of the ancient prophecy," she spoke louder, "We don’t have resources to send an army to these Doors of Death and protect the camp. I can’t imagine even sparing seven demigods—"
"Let's go by urgency," Percy interrupted, voice steadier and more confident than he felt. "We have to free Thanatos. Mars asked for Frank and me, and we have to take one other. Concentrate on that, and returning before Fortuna. We'll worry about everything else after this is dealt with."
"Yeah," Frank said, voice faint. "That's more than enough for one week, I think."
Percy mentally agreed.
"So you do have a plan, Perseus," Octavian said, eyebrow rising in an obvious show of scepticism.
Percy blinked at him once, twice. "No, I don't. I'm just going in blind, without any regard for anyone or anything." His face dropped into a deadpan look. "What do you think, ghuksal?"
Reyna managed to turn her snicker into a passable cough, but Nico and Hazel had no such reservations. Both of them snorted, followed by the other senators laughing quietly, and Percy's lip twitched up into a smirk for a second, which faded when he registered his own words. What he had said was true— he did not, in fact, have a plan.
Octavian doesn't need to know that, though, Triton-dausi voice whispered in his ear, sly and vicious.
Percy bit down a malefic smile of his own. He would figure out what exactly they were supposed to do for the quest soon enough. Right now, he needed to get this idiot to shut the fuck up.
"Very well," Reyna said. "Nothing remains except for us to vote what support we can give the quest— transportation, money, magic, weapons."
"Praetor, if I may," Octavian said, and Percy grimaced, gripping his bead necklace.
"Oh, fuck, here it comes," he muttered under his breath, "Triton-dau give me patience or I might just rip out his throat."
"The camp is in grave danger," Octavian continued, and the expression on his face made Percy want to claw his eyes out. "Two gods have warned us we will be attacked four days from now. We must not spread our resources too thin, especially by funding projects that have a slim chance of success."
Oh, no. Oh, no no no.
This bitch had to be stopped, fast. Percy stood up, brain working furiously, fingertips aching with the sheer willpower he used to keep his claws away. "There's a flaw in your logic, Octavius."
"My name—" Octavian began with a huff, but Percy cut him off. "Do I look like I care, paayu?"
That drew another round of snickering from everyone, and Octavian opened his mouth in indignation, ready to say something that was undoubtedly going to be stupid. Percy shot him a glare, putting a bit of both Triton's and Lupa's training into it. He smirked when the other boy clicked his jaw shut, lips pressing into a wary line.
"As I was saying, there's a flaw in Octavius' logic." Yes, he was doing it on purpose, and no, he was definitely not enjoying it why would you say that? Nico let out a loud snicker, and Percy barely stopped his own from leaving his mouth.
"And what would that be, Perseus?" Reyna asked. Her eyes gleamed with barely hidden mirth, but her voice was level. Percy had to give it to her: she was good.
"Well, obviously, if Mars thought this had a slim chance of success, he wouldn't have given the quest, and definitely not to just three kids. Second, we have three days. At the most. If we don't free Thanatos before that, we won't be able to handle the army headed our way, because the monsters will just respawn."
Reyna hummed in consideration, but Percy could see the victorious glint in her eyes. She was just as annoyed by Octavian as he was. He hid his smirk and continued speaking.
"Letting us go without resources will make our job way harder than it needs to be, and that would mean a higher chance of failure. If we fail, the army takes over camp, razes it to the ground."
The senators started murmuring among themselves, and Percy resisted the urge to look at Octavian's expression.
"So what do you propose, then?"
He met Reyna's question with an unwavering gaze and voice, vicious triumph gleaming in his eyes. "Give us three horses, nectar, and a little bit of money. We won't need anything else."
The senators' eyes moved back and forth between Percy and Reyna, watching the test of wills. The Praetor straightened in her chair, lips pressed together. To anyone else, it might look like she was serious, but Percy knew better. He had seen the satisfaction of getting to see Octavian get shut down.
"Alright," she said. “We’ll put it to a vote. Senators, the motion is as follows: The quest shall go to Alaska. The senate shall provide horses, nectar and five hundred dollars. All in favour?"
Most of the hands went up. Percy suppressed a grin of victory, and flicked a glance at Octavian. The boy was very clearly holding back a scream of frustration, and his fists were clenched tight enough that Percy could smell traces of blood.
Before Reyna could pass the motion, however, a woman stood up. She was in her late twenties, and had her black hair chopped into an undercut. Her eyes gleamed bright blue— daughter of Apollon.
"Praetor, if you would be so kind as to listen to me," she began, and Reyna nodded her assent. "I think it only logical that an adult be sent on the quest with Frank and Perseus. We can't very well keep them here, seeing as Lord Mars himself ordered that they be part of it, but there is no reason to let children go alone."
Percy breathed out through his nose. The argument was solid, and they could do with one of the actual, adult Legionnaires on the quest. He wasn't opposed to the idea.
No.
He blinked. No? What—
Hazel, a feeling more than a voice whispered in the back of his mind, and he recognised it as his own intuition making his gut twist. Hazel.
He pushed down the urge to groan. This was the worst time his intuition could have picked to go against his conscious mind.
"No," he called out loud, drawing the attention of everyone. "I agree that we are only trainees and not actual soldiers, but it is not necessary. Hazel, Frank and I will be enough. However, thank you for the offer, Apollonashani."
Reyna pinned him with a piercing gaze, but he simply gave her a beatific smile.
"Listen to him."
Nico. He was staring at Percy out of the corner of his eyes, arms crossed and a contemplative twist to his thin lips. He turned to Reyna.
"If Hazel is okay with going, and Perseus says that it won't be necessary for an adult to accompany them, then let them go," he said, looking the Praetor dead in the eyes. Reyna twisted her lips, then turned to Frank with a decisive nod.
"This is your quest, Centurion Zhang," she announced, "and ergo you will decide whether you want an adult or you want Hazel."
Frank didn't even take a second to think about it.
"Hazel, if she's alright with it," he said politely, turning a questioning gaze towards the mentioned girl. She gave him a grin, leaning forward in her chair with her hands clasped under her chin. Her gold eyes flashed, and Percy felt his hackles rise involuntarily before he pushed down the aggression.
Kronos is gone, Percy.
"Oh, I'm completely fine with it," she answered, and Frank grinned back.
A murmur passed through the Senate chamber, but Reyna rapped her knuckles on her desk.
"The motion is passed," she called out. "Centurion Frank Zhang, and Probatios Perseus Jackson and Hazel Levesque will go on a quest to Alaska."
She took a breath, then raised her voice. "Meeting adjourned. Everyone is excused. And, Octavian, if I may confer with you for a moment."
Percy was incredibly relieved to feel the sunlight rest on his skin. All those eyes on him had made him feel like the world was riding on his shoulders— something he was quite familiar with. He had not liked it then, and he did not like it now. Not to mention the grating of the auras on his senses that made him feel like every inch of his skin was being pricked with needles.
"That," came Frank's voice from his left, filled with utter, unholy glee and barely controlled laughter, "was beautiful."
Hazel let out a cackle from his other side, a noise so unlike her soft and petite appearance that it startled a laugh out of him. "Oh, Octavian had that coming. I hate his guts. Perseus, you do the work of the Gods."
"Well, now I won't say that it wasn't satisfying," Percy drawled, clasping his hands behind his head, allowing a smirk to slip through. His new friends let out matching snorts, and all three of them burst out laughing.
"His.. his face, oh Gods," Frank gasped out, and Hazel laughed louder.
A voice in his head, sounding suspiciously like Annabeth's, whispered, bet it would have looked better if his nose was broken.
He snorted, and opened his mouth to say exactly that, but a flash of black caught his eye. He stopped laughing, thoughts whirring, and made a split second decision.
"Guys," he said, and the two of them looked at him. "You go on, I'll meet you for lunch."
Neither of them asked any questions, and Percy felt a wave of gratitude for them as he jogged to catch up to the mop of black hair that had just disappeared around a corner.
He needed to talk to Nico.