A Quest of Eight; A Heroes of Olympus Fanfiction

Off to Croatia

Y/n's POV

The night that came shortly after we dealt with Sciron was unusually peaceful. We hadn't encountered a monster attack, which meant I knew one would be coming in the morning when I was on watch. And I was right. Early in the morning, a group of storm spirits attacked the ship. Jason and Frank fought those flying in the air, and I battled any that came too close to the ship. Everything was going well until Jason destroyed the last storm spirit. When delivering a final blow to the creature, you had to make sure you held your breath because the storm spirits disappeared in a vacuum of air. Jason obviously hadn't done that, and I watched as he fell unconsciousness and plummeted into the water.

"Jason!" I shout and run to the edge of the ship to search for him. Since he was unconscious, he hadn't floated to the surface, meaning he was submerged under the choppy waves of the Adriatic sea. Without even thinking, I tugged off the light windbreaker I was wearing, and after tossing my shoes and socks aside, I dove into the cold water. The good news was, I spotted Jason almost immediately. The bad news, he was sinking pretty quickly. I swam over to him, hooking my arms under his armpits, and using all of my strength, I kicked us to the surface. Frank spotted us first, and he hauled Jason overboard before helping me up.

"He's not breathing," Piper cried out. I collapsed onto the deck next to Jason, and when I placed my hand on his chest, I could feel the water in his lungs. It took all of the energy I had left, but I was able to draw the water out of him, and as soon as I did, Jason coughed up all of the liquid he had in him.

"Oh gods," Jason wheezed and sat up. "That is not fun. Thanks, Y/n."

I waved him off. "No problem."

"Leo, I need you to change course," Jason directed. Once Jason had spoken to Leo, we all began to head down to the mess hall. However, before I could descend the stairs, Leo stopped me.

"So," Leo started. "Are we gonna talk about what just happened there?"

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You've got practically no clothes on," Leo told me. I looked down, and that's when I saw that I was only wearing an undershirt and some shorter jean shirts. The fact that I was sopping wet didn't help either. When I dove into the water, my only focus was on Jason, so I hadn't thought about being dry.

"Don't worry," I assure Leo. "I'll put my windbreaker back on in a second. And if it makes you feel better, I'll go put on some different pants."

"No," Leo opposed. "That's okay. You look cute, anyways."

"Are you done being cheesy? Or do I have to shut you up?" I question jokingly.

Leo shrugged. "I mean, I think a kiss would shut me up."

"Go away!" I order playfully and shove him towards the stairs. "I'll meet you in the mess hall in a minute." Once I joined the others, Jason recounted a dream he had while he was unconscious. Apparently, Annabeth had gotten a note all the way to Camp Half Blood. And, Reyna and the Romans were already in Manhattan planning an attack on the Greek camp.

"A note from Annabeth? I don't see how that's possible," Piper pointed out.

"They're alive. That's all that matters," I claim.

"Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce," Leo agreed.

"What does that mean?" Frank asked.

Leo wiped chip crumbs off of his face. "It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry." Frank slid the salsa jar in Leo's direction before turning his attention back to Jason. A few us of were snacking on chips and such, but most of us were paying attention to Jason. I, for one, was not in the mood to eat anything.

"Reyna also mentioned something in the dream. She's expecting me to go to a certain place on our way to the House of Hades. I'd forgotten about it, but she's right. It's a place I need to visit," Jason insisted.

"And where is this place?" Piper pushed.

"A town called Split," Jason answered. "In fact, we should be getting close. Leo?"

"It's maybe ten minutes to the harbor," Leo estimated. "Though I still don't get why you want to go to Croatia, especially a town called Split."

"Wait," Hazel interjected. "Why are we going to Croatia?"

"Well, technically we've been in Croatian territory for the past day or so," Leo informed her. "All that coastline we've been sailing past is it, but I guess back in the Roman times it was called...what'd you say, Jason? Bodacious?"

"Dalmatia," Nico corrected. "Croatia used to be Dalmatia, a major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's Palace, don't you?"

"Whose palace? And is Dalmatia where those Dalmatian dogs come from? That 101 Dalmatians movie..." Coach Hedge trailed off. "I still have nightmares."

"Coach, that movie is meant for kids," I remind him. "How does it scare you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Hedge grumbled.

"Anyways, Nico is right," Jason declared. "I need to go to Diocletian's Palace. It's where Reyna will go first because she knows I would go there. We used to talk about Diocletian, both us of kind of idolizing the guy as a leader. We talked about how we'd like to visit Diocletian's Palace, but it was near impossible. No one could travel to the ancient lands. Still, we made this pact that if we ever did, that's where we'd go."

"Diocletian, why was he so important?" Leo quizzed.

"He was the last great pagan emperor!" Frank replied. "He was the last one who worshipped the Olympian gods before Constantine came along and adopted Christianity."

"Right," Jason confirmed. "And he wasn't a total villain like most people believe. Yeah, he persecuted Christians, but otherwise he was a good ruler. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. His parents were former slaves, or at least his mom was. Demigods know he was a son of Jupiter and the last demigod to rule Rome. He was also the first emperor ever to retire peacefully, and give up his power. He was from Dalmatia, so he moved back there and built a retirement palace. The palace is said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian. His tomb was destroyed centuries ago, but Reyna and I used to wonder if we could find Diocletian's ghost and ask where he was buried. According to the legends, his scepter was buried with him."

Nico smiled. "Ah, so that's what you want to find? I had a feeling. Supposedly Diocletian's scepter could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods."

"Okay, now I'm interested," Leo confessed. "It'd be nice to have an army of pagan zombies on our side when we enter the House of Hades."

"We don't have much time though," Frank warned. "It's already July 9th. We have to get to Epirus, close the Doors of Death, which are guarded by a smoky giant and a sorceress, and if we survive all that, we still have to find out where the giants are waking Gaea and get there before the first of August."

"We won't take long in Split," Jason reassured him. "But looking for the scepter is worth a try. While we're at the palace, I can leave a message for Reyna letting her know the route we're taking for Epirus."

"The scepter of Diocletian could make a huge difference," Nico noted. "You'll need my help."

"And mine," I add. "Diocletian's ghost will most likely only appear to the most powerful demigods. So who better to send than the children of the Big Three."

"Y/n's right," Nico agreed. "I'm the only one who can talk to his spirit, and any other demigods might spook him."

"We've arrived," Leo announced after Festus creaked through the speakers. "Time to Split."

Frank groaned. "Can we leave Valdez in Croatia?"

"We're not leaving Leo in Croatia," I argue. "Sure, he can be annoying at times, but we need him for repairs."

"Wow," Leo uttered and placed a hand over his heart. "I'm offended, Y/n."

"Oh shut up," I retort and lean over to peck his cheek. "You know I love you."

"Okay. Frank, you're in charge of defending the ship. Leo, you've got repairs to do. The rest of you, help out wherever you can," Jason instructed and turned to Nico and I. "And the three of us, well, we have a ghost to find."