Percy would’ve preferred driving Grandma Zhang’s
Cadillac all the way to Alaska with fireball-throwing ogres
on his tail rather than sitting in a luxury Gulfstream.
He’d flown before. The details were hazy, but he
remembered a pegasus named Blackjack. He’d even
been in a plane once or twice. But a son of Neptune
(Poseidon, whatever) didn’t belong in the air. Every time
the plane hit a spot of turbulence, Percy’s heart raced, and
he was sure Jupiter was slapping them around.
He tried to focus as Frank and Hazel talked. Hazel was
reassuring Frank that he’d done everything he could for
his grandmother. Frank had saved them from the
Laistrygonians and got them out of Vancouver. He’d been
incredibly brave.
Frank kept his head down like he was ashamed to have
been crying, but Percy didn’t blame him. The poor guy
had just lost his grandmother and seen his house go up
in flames. As far as Percy was concerned, shedding a few
tears about something like that didn’t make you any less
of a man, especially when you had just fended off an army
of ogres that wanted to eat you for breakfast.
Percy still couldn’t get over the fact that Frank was a
distant relative. Frank would be his … what? Great-timesa-
thousand nephew? Too weird for words.
Frank refused to explain exactly what his ‘family gift’
was, but as they flew north, Frank did tell them about his
conversation with Mars the night before. He explained the
prophecy Juno had issued when he was a baby – about
his life being tied to a piece of firewood, and how he had
asked Hazel to keep it for him.
Some of that, Percy had already figured out. Hazel and
Frank had obviously shared some crazy experiences
when they had blacked out together, and they’d made
some sort of deal. It also explained why even now, out of
habit, Frank kept checking his coat pocket, and why he
was so nervous around fire. Still, Percy couldn’t imagine
what kind of courage it had taken for Frank to embark on a
quest, knowing that one small flame could snuff out his
life.
‘Frank,’ he said, ‘I’m proud to be related to you.’
Frank’s ears turned red. With his head lowered, his
military haircut made a sharp black arrow pointing down.
‘Juno has some sort of plan for us, about the Prophecy of
Seven.’
‘Yeah,’ Percy grumbled. ‘I didn’t like her as Hera. I don’t
like her any better as Juno.’
Hazel tucked her feet underneath her. She studied
Percy with her luminescent golden eyes, and he
wondered how she could be so calm. She was the
youngest one on the quest, but she was always holding
them together and comforting them. Now they were flying
to Alaska, where she had died once before. They would try
to free Thanatos, who might take her back to the
Underworld. Yet she didn’t show any fear. It made Percy
feel silly for being scared of aeroplane turbulence.
‘You’re a son of Poseidon, aren’t you?’ she asked. ‘You
are a Greek demigod.’
Percy gripped his leather necklace. ‘I started to
remember in Portland, after the gorgon’s blood. It’s been
coming back to me slowly since then. There’s another
camp – Camp Half-Blood.’
Just saying the name made Percy feel warm inside.
Good memories washed over him: the smell of strawberry
fields in the warm summer sun, fireworks lighting up the
beach on the Fourth of July, satyrs playing panpipes at
the nightly campfire and a kiss at the bottom of the canoe
lake.
Hazel and Frank stared at him as though he’d slipped
into another language.
‘Another camp,’ Hazel repeated. ‘A Greek camp? Gods,
if Octavian found out –’
‘He’d declare war,’ Frank said. ‘He’s always been sure
the Greeks were out there, plotting against us. He thought
Percy was a spy.’
‘That’s why Juno sent me,’ Percy said. ‘Uh, I mean, not
to spy. I think it was some kind of exchange. Your friend
Jason – I think he was sent to my camp. In my dreams, I
saw a demigod that might have been him. He was working
with some other demigods on this flying warship. I think
they’re coming to Camp Jupiter to help.’
Frank tapped nervously on the back of his seat. ‘Mars
said Juno wants to unite the Greeks and Romans to fight
Gaia. But, jeez – Greeks and Romans have a long history
of bad blood.’
Hazel took a deep breath. ‘That’s probably why the gods
have kept us apart this long. If a Greek warship appeared
in the sky above Camp Jupiter, and Reyna didn’t know it
was friendly –’
‘Yeah,’ Percy agreed. ‘We’ve got to be careful how we
explain this when we get back.’
‘If we get back,’ Frank said.
Percy nodded reluctantly. ‘I mean, I trust you guys. I
hope you trust me. I feel … well, I feel as close to you two
as to any of my old friends at Camp Half-Blood. But with
the other demigods, at both camps – there’s going to be a
lot of suspicion.’
Hazel did something he wasn’t expecting. She leaned
over and kissed him on the cheek. It was totally a sisterly
kiss. But she smiled with such affection that it warmed
Percy right down to his feet.
‘Of course we trust you,’ she said. ‘We’re a family now.
Aren’t we, Frank?’
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Do I get a kiss?’
Hazel laughed, but there was nervous tension in it.
‘Anyway, what do we do now?’
Percy took a deep breath. Time was slipping away.
They were almost halfway through June twenty-third, and
tomorrow was the Feast of Fortuna. ‘I’ve got to contact a
friend – to keep my promise to Ella.’
‘How?’ Frank said. ‘One of those Iris-messages?’
‘Still not working,’ Percy said sadly. ‘I tried it last night at
your grandmother’s house. No luck. Maybe it’s because
my memories are still jumbled. Or the gods aren’t allowing
a connection. I’m hoping I can contact my friend in my
dreams.’
Another bump of turbulence made him grab his seat.
Below them, snowcapped mountains broke through a
blanket of clouds.
‘I’m not sure I can sleep,’ Percy said. ‘But I need to try.
We can’t leave Ella by herself with those ogres around.’
‘Yeah,’ Frank said. ‘We’ve still got hours to fly. Take the
couch, man.’
Percy nodded. He felt lucky to have Hazel and Frank
watching out for him. What he’d said to them was true – he
trusted them. In the weird, terrifying, horrible experience of
losing his memory and getting ripped out of his old life –
Hazel and Frank were the bright spots.
He stretched out, closed his eyes and dreamed he was
falling from a mountain of ice towards a cold sea.
The dream shifted. He was back in Vancouver, standing
in front of the ruins of the Zhang mansion. The
Laistrygonians were gone. The mansion was reduced to a
burnt-out shell. A crew of firefighters was packing up their
equipment, getting ready to move out. The lawn looked
like a war zone, with smoking craters and trenches from
the blown-out irrigation pipes.
At the edge of the forest, a giant shaggy black dog was
bounding around, sniffing the trees. The firefighters
completely ignored him.
Beside one of the craters knelt a Cyclops in oversized
jeans, boots and a massive flannel shirt. His messy brown
hair was spattered with rain and mud. When he raised his
head, his big brown eye was red from crying.
‘Close!’ he moaned. ‘So close, but gone!’
It broke Percy’s heart to hear the pain and worry in the
big guy’s voice, but he knew they only had a few seconds
to talk. The edges of the vision were already dissolving. If
Alaska was the land beyond the gods, Percy figured the
further north he went, the harder it would be to
communicate with his friends, even in his dreams.
‘Tyson!’ he called.
The Cyclops looked around frantically. ‘Percy?
Brother?’
‘Tyson, I’m okay. I’m here – well, not really.’
Tyson grabbed the air like he was trying to catch
butterflies. ‘Can’t see you! Where is my brother?’
‘Tyson, I’m flying to Alaska. I’m okay. I’ll be back. Just
find Ella. She’s a harpy with red feathers. She’s hiding in
the woods around the house.’
‘Find a harpy? A red harpy?’
‘Yes! Protect her, okay? She’s my friend. Get her back
to California. There’s a demigod camp in the Oakland
Hills – Camp Jupiter. Meet me above the Caldecott
Tunnel.’
‘Oakland Hills … California … Caldecott Tunnel.’ He
shouted to the dog: ‘Mrs O’Leary! We must find a harpy!’
‘WOOF!’ said the dog.
Tyson’s face started to dissolve. ‘My brother is okay?
My brother is coming back? I miss you!’
‘I miss you, too.’ Percy tried to keep his voice from
cracking. ‘I’ll see you soon. Just be careful! There’s a
giant’s army marching south. Tell Annabeth –’
The dream shifted.
Percy found himself standing in the hills north of Camp
Jupiter, looking down at the Field of Mars and New Rome.
At the legion’s fort, horns were blowing. Campers
scrambled to muster.
The giant’s army was arrayed to Percy’s left and right –
centaurs with bull’s horns, the six-armed Earthborn and
evil Cyclopes in scrap-metal armour. The Cyclopes’ siege
tower cast a shadow across the feet of the giant Polybotes,
who grinned down at the Roman camp. He paced eagerly
across the hill, snakes dropping from his green
dreadlocks, his dragon legs stomping down small trees.
On his green-blue armour, the decorative faces of hungry
monsters seemed to blink in the shadows.
‘Yes,’ he chuckled, planting his trident in the ground.
‘Blow your little horns, Romans. I’ve come to destroy you!
Stheno!’
The gorgon scrambled out of the bushes. Her lime
green viper hair and Bargain Mart vest clashed horribly
with the giant’s colour scheme.
‘Yes, master!’ she said. ‘Would you like a Puppy-in-a-
Blanket?’
She held up a tray of free samples.
‘Hmm,’ Polybotes said. ‘What sort of puppy?’
‘Ah, they’re not actually puppies. They’re tiny hot dogs
in crescent rolls, but they’re on sale this week –’
‘Bah! Never mind, then! Are our forces ready to attack?’
‘Oh –’ Stheno stepped back quickly to avoid getting
flattened by the giant’s foot. ‘Almost, great one. Ma Gasket
and half her Cyclopes stopped in Napa. Something about
a winery tour? They promised to be here by tomorrow
evening.’
‘What?’ The giant looked around, as if just noticing that
a big portion of his army was missing. ‘Gah! That Cyclops
woman will give me an ulcer. Winery tour?’
‘I think there was cheese and crackers, too,’ Stheno said
helpfully. ‘Though Bargain Mart has a much better deal.’
Polybotes ripped an oak tree out of the ground and
threw it into the valley. ‘Cyclopes! I tell you, Stheno, when I
destroy Neptune and take over the oceans, we will
renegotiate the Cyclopes’ labour contract. Ma Gasket will
learn her place! Now, what news from the north?’
‘The demigods have left for Alaska,’ Stheno said. ‘They
fly straight to their death. Ah, small “d” death, I mean. Not
our prisoner Death. Although, I suppose they’re flying to
him, too.’
Polybotes growled. ‘Alcyoneus had better spare the son
of Neptune as he promised. I want that one chained at my
feet, so I can kill him when the time is ripe. His blood shall
water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake the Earth
Mother! What word from the Amazons?’
‘Only silence,’ Stheno said. ‘We do not yet know the
winner of last night’s duel, but it is only a matter of time
before Otrera prevails and comes to our aid.’
‘Hmm.’ Polybotes absently scratched some vipers out
of his hair. ‘Perhaps it’s just as well we wait, then.
Tomorrow at sundown is Fortuna’s Feast. By then, we
must invade – Amazons or no. In the meantime, dig in!
We set up camp here, on high ground.’
‘Yes, great one!’ Stheno announced to the troops:
‘Puppies-in-Blankets for everyone!’
The monsters cheered.
Polybotes spread his hands in front of him, taking in the
valley like a panoramic picture. ‘Yes, blow your little
horns, demigods. Soon, the legacy of Rome will be
destroyed for the last time!’
The dream faded.
Percy woke with a jolt as the plane started its descent.
Hazel laid her hand on his shoulder. ‘Sleep okay?’
Percy sat up groggily. ‘How long was I out?’
Frank stood in the aisle, wrapping his spear and new
bow in his ski bag. ‘A few hours,’ he said. ‘We’re almost
there.’
Percy looked out of the window. A glittering inlet of the
sea snaked between snowy mountains. In the distance, a
city was carved out of the wilderness, surrounded by lush
green forests on one side and icy black beaches on the
other.
‘Welcome to Alaska,’ Hazel said. ‘We’re beyond the
help of the gods.’
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