The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus #5)(69)

Jason’s insides started swirling faster than the ventus. ‘Ouranos, the first god of the sky. But that means –’

‘Yes.’ Kym’s alien features took on an expression that almost resembled sympathy. ‘Let us hope it does not come to that. If Gaia does wake … well, your task will not be easy. But, if you win, remember your promise, Pontifex.’

Jason took a moment to process her words. ‘I’m not a priest.’

‘No?’ Kym’s white eyes gleamed. ‘By the way, your ventus servant says he wishes to be freed. Since he has helped you, he hopes you will let him go when you reach the surface. He promises he will not bother you a third time.’

‘A third time?’

Kym paused, as if listening. ‘He says he joined the storm above to take revenge on you, but had he known how strong you’ve become since the Grand Canyon he never would’ve approached your ship.’

‘The Grand Canyon …’ Jason recalled that day on the Skywalk, when one of his jerk classmates turned out to be a wind spirit. ‘Dylan? Are you kidding me? I’m breathing Dylan?’

‘Yes,’ Kym said. ‘That seems to be his name.’

Jason shuddered. ‘I’ll let him go as soon as I reach the surface. No worries.’

‘Farewell, then,’ said the goddess. ‘And may the Fates smile upon you … assuming the Fates survive.’

They needed to leave.

Jason was running out of air (Dylan air – gross) and everyone on the Argo II would be worried about them.

But Percy was still woozy from the poison, so they sat on the edge of the ruined golden dome for a few minutes to let Percy catch his breath … or catch his water, whatever a son of Poseidon catches when he’s at the bottom of the ocean.

‘Thanks, man,’ Percy said. ‘You saved my life.’

‘Hey, that’s what we do for our friends.’

‘But, uh, the Jupiter guy saving the Poseidon guy at the bottom of the ocean … maybe we can keep the details to ourselves? Otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it.’

Jason grinned. ‘You got it. How you feeling?’

‘Better. I … I have to admit, when I was choking on that poison, I kept thinking about Akhlys, the misery goddess in Tartarus. I almost destroyed her with poison.’ He shivered. ‘It felt good, but in a bad way. If Annabeth hadn’t stopped me –’

‘But she did,’ Jason said. ‘That’s another thing friends have to do for each other.’

‘Yeah … Thing is, as I was choking just now, I kept thinking: this is payback for Akhlys. The Fates are letting me die the same way I tried to kill that goddess. And … honestly, a part of me felt I deserved it. That’s why I didn’t try to control the giant’s poison and move it away from me. That probably sounds crazy.’

Jason thought back to Ithaca, when he was despairing over the visit from his mom’s spirit. ‘No. I think I get it.’

Percy studied his face. When Jason didn’t say any more, Percy changed the subject. ‘What did Kym mean about defeating Gaia? You mentioned Ouranos …’

Jason stared at the silt swirling between the columns of the old palace. ‘The sky god … the Titans defeated him by calling him down to the earth. They got him away from his home territory, ambushed him, held him down and cut him up.’

Percy looked like his nausea was coming back. ‘How would we do that with Gaia?’

Jason recalled a line from the prophecy: To storm or fire the world must fall. He had an idea what that meant now … but, if he was right, Percy wouldn’t be able to help. In fact, he might unintentionally make things harder.

I don’t run when my friends need me, Percy had said.

And there is your flaw, Kym had warned, being unable to step away.

Today was 27 July. In five days, Jason would know if he was right.

‘Let’s get to Delos first,’ he said. ‘Apollo and Artemis might have some advice.’

Percy nodded, though he didn’t seem satisfied with that answer. ‘Why did Kymopoleia call you a Pontiac?’

Jason’s laugh literally cleared the air. ‘Pontifex. It means priest.’

‘Oh.’ Percy frowned. ‘Still sounds like a kind of car. “The new Pontifex XLS.” Will you have to wear a collar and bless people?’

‘Nah. Romans used to have a Pontifex Maximus, who oversaw all the proper sacrifices and whatnot, to make sure none of the gods got mad. Which I offered to do … I guess it does sound like a pontifex’s job.’

‘So you meant it?’ Percy asked. ‘You’re really going to try building shrines for all the minor gods?’

‘Yeah. I never really thought about it before, but I like the idea of going back and forth between the two camps – assuming, you know, we make it through next week and the two camps still exist. What you did last year on Olympus, turning down immortality and asking the gods to play nice instead – that was noble, man.’

Percy grunted. ‘Believe me, some days I regret the choice. Oh, you want to turn down our offer? Okay, fine! ZAP! Lose your memory! Go to Tartarus!’

‘You did what a hero should do. I admire you for that. The least I can do, if we survive, is continue that work – make sure all the gods get some recognition. Who knows? If the gods get along better, maybe we can stop more of these wars from breaking out.’