The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5)(113)

‘I don’t get it,’ Piper said. ‘What’s the point of being gods if you have to rely on puny mortals to do your bidding?’

All the gods exchanged dark looks. Aphrodite, however, laughed gently and kissed her daughter. ‘My dear Piper, don’t you think we’ve been asking ourselves that question for thousands of years? But it is what binds us together, keeps us eternal. We need you mortals as much as you need us. Annoying as that may be, it’s the truth.’

Frank shuffled uncomfortably, like he missed being an elephant. ‘So how can we possibly get to Camp Half-Blood in time to save it? It took us months to reach Greece.’

‘The winds,’ Jason said. ‘Father, can’t you unleash the winds to send our ship back?’

Zeus glowered. ‘I could slap you back to Long Island.’

‘Um, was that a joke, or a threat, or –’

‘No,’ Zeus said, ‘I mean it quite literally. I could slap your ship back to Camp Half-Blood, but the force involved …’

Over by the ruined giant throne, the grungy god in the mechanic’s uniform shook his head. ‘My boy Leo built a good ship, but it won’t sustain that kind of stress. It would break apart as soon as it arrived, maybe sooner.’

Leo straightened his tool belt. ‘The Argo II can make it. It only has to stay in one piece long enough to get us back home. Once there, we can abandon ship.’

‘Dangerous,’ warned Hephaestus. ‘Perhaps fatal.’

The goddess Nike twirled a laurel wreath on her finger. ‘Victory is always dangerous. And it often requires sacrifice. Leo Valdez and I have discussed this.’ She stared pointedly at Leo.

Jason didn’t like that at all. He remembered Asclepius’s grim expression when the doctor had examined Leo. Oh, my. Oh, I see … Jason knew what they had to do to defeat Gaia. He knew the risks. But he wanted to take those risks himself, not put them on Leo.

Piper will have the physician’s cure, he told himself. She’ll keep us both covered.

‘Leo,’ Annabeth said, ‘what is Nike talking about?’

Leo waved off the question. ‘The usual. Victory. Sacrifice. Blah, blah, blah. Doesn’t matter. We can do this, guys. We have to do this.’

A feeling of dread settled over Jason. Zeus was correct about one thing: the worst was yet to come.

When the choice comes, Notus the South Wind had told him, storm or fire, do not despair.

Jason made the choice. ‘Leo’s right. All aboard for one last trip.’

LI

Jason

SO MUCH FOR A TENDER FAREWELL.

The last Jason saw of his dad, Zeus was a hundred feet tall, holding the Argo II by its prow. He boomed, ‘HOLD ON!’

Then he tossed the ship up and spiked it overhand like a volleyball.

If Jason hadn’t been strapped to the mast with one of Leo’s twenty-point safety harnesses, he would have disintegrated. As it was, his stomach tried to stay behind in Greece and all the air was sucked out of his lungs.

The sky turned black. The ship rattled and creaked. The deck cracked like thin ice under Jason’s legs and, with a sonic boom, the Argo II hurtled out of the clouds.

‘Jason!’ Leo shouted. ‘Hurry!’

His fingers felt like melted plastic, but Jason managed to undo the straps.

Leo was lashed to the control console, desperately trying to right the ship as they spiralled downward in free fall. The sails were on fire. Festus creaked in alarm. A catapult peeled away and lifted into the air. Centrifugal force sent the shields flying off the railings like metal Frisbees.

Wider cracks opened in the deck as Jason staggered towards the hold, using the winds to keep himself anchored.

If he couldn’t make it to the others …

Then the hatch burst open. Frank and Hazel stumbled through, pulling on the guide rope they’d attached to the mast. Piper, Annabeth and Percy followed, all of them looking disoriented.

‘Go!’ Leo yelled. ‘Go, go, go!’

For once, Leo’s tone was deadly serious.

They’d talked through their evacuation plan, but that slap across the world had made Jason’s mind sluggish. Judging from the others’ expressions, they weren’t in much better shape.

Buford the table saved them. He clattered across the deck with his holographic Hedge blaring, ‘LET’S GO! MOVE IT! CUT THAT OUT!’

Then his tabletop split into helicopter blades and Buford buzzed away.

Frank changed form. Instead of a dazed demigod, he was now a dazed grey dragon. Hazel climbed onto his neck. Frank grabbed Percy and Annabeth in his front claws, then spread his wings and soared away.

Jason held Piper by the waist, ready to fly, but he made the mistake of glancing down. The view was a spinning kaleidoscope of sky, earth, sky, earth. The ground was getting awfully close.

‘Leo, you won’t make it!’ Jason shouted. ‘Come with us!’

‘No! Get out of here!’

‘Leo!’ Piper tried. ‘Please –’

‘Save your charmspeak, Pipes! I told you, I’ve got a plan. Now shoo!’

Jason took a last look at the splintering ship.

The Argo II had been their home for so long. Now they were abandoning it for good – and leaving Leo behind.

Jason hated it, but he saw the determination in Leo’s eyes. Just like the visit with his father, Zeus, there was no time for a proper goodbye.