𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ! [jason grace]¹

𝐯𝐢. a trip to the aquarium !

Immediately, Malia noticed that the meeting was a lot like Camp Half-Blood war councils . . . but with donuts instead of Cheez Whiz and ping pong balls.

Percy told the group about his dream—the twin giants planning a reception for them in an underground parking lot with rocket launchers; Nico di Angelo trapped in a bronze jar, slowly dying from asphyxiation with pomegranate seeds at his feet.

Hazel choked back a sob. "Nico . . . Oh, gods. The seeds."

"You know what they are?" Annabeth asked.

Hazel nodded. "He showed them to me once. They're from our stepmother's garden."

"Your step . . . oh." Malia rolled her eyes at her brother. "You mean Persephone."

Malia knew her brother could be dense at times, but seriously? How could he forget about Persephone? The two had met her once. While she hadn't exactly been all sunny and warm, she had been nice to Malia and very sweet. She'd shown Malia around her garden, explaining the crystal-like trees and the flowers that bloomed bloodred and ghost white.

"The seeds are a last-resort food," Hazel said. The silverware on the table was slowly starting to move toward her. "Only children of Hades can eat them. Nico always kept some in case he got stuck somewhere. But if he's really imprisoned—"

"The giants are trying to lure us," Malia said. "They're assuming we'll try to rescue him."

"Well. they're right!" Hazel looked around the table, her confidence apparently crumbling. "Won't we?"

"Yes!" Coach Hedge yelled with a mouthful of napkins. "It'll involve fighting, right?"

Malia rolled her eyes and shoved Coach Hedge back into his seat, silencing him for the moment. Frank gave Hazel a sincere look. "Hazel, of course we'll help him. But how long do we have before . . . uh, I mean, how long can Nico hold out?"

Nice save, genius, Malia thought, giving Frank a look.

"One seed a day," Hazel said.

Malia hummed softly. "But that's only if he puts himself in a death trance, right?" Everyone at the table, excluding Piper, gave her looks of astoundment. "What? I know stuff."

Annabeth nodded slowly. "Um, a death trance? That doesn't exactly sound fun."

"It keeps him from consuming all his air," Hazel said. "Like hibernation, or a coma. One seed can sustain him one day, barely."

"And he has five seeds left," Percy said. "That's five days, including today. The giants must have planned it that way, so we'd have to arrive by July first. Assuming Nico is hidden somewhere in Rome—"

"That's not much time," Piper summed up. She put her hand on Hazel's shoulder. "We'll find him. At least now we know what the lines of the prophecy mean now. 'Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death.' Your brother's last name: di Angelo. Angelo is Italian for 'angel.'"

"Oh, gods," Hazel muttered. "Nico . . ."

Malia swallowed thickly. She and Nico had a bit of a bumpy history with each other. For one, his sister had died while on a quest trying to save her and Artemis, so immediately Malia blamed herself. And then Nico lured her brother to Hades's palace and placed him in a cell that nearly killed him. And let's not forget the time that Nico nearly impaled her during the Battle of the Labyrinth. Sure, it had been accidental, but Malia's life had flashed before her eyes.

Disappointing, to say the least.

But besides all of that, Nico sided with the good guys most of the time. He certainly didn't deserve to die by slow suffocation in a bronze jar, being held captive and acting as bait. And Malia couldn't imagine seeing someone as sweet as Hazel in so much pain. She'd only known the girl for a short amount of time—no more than a week, if Malia was counting her days right—but she liked to consider the curly-haired girl a friend.