Percy was happy for her.

This reaction also could've been to the fact they were in the dining hall. Leo had outdone himself designing it. The cupboard was lined with magic cups and plates from Camp Half-Blood, which would fill up with whatever food or drink a person wanted on command. There was a magical ice chest with canned drinks, the chairs were cushy recliners with thousand-finger massage, built-in headphones, and sword and drink holders.

There were no windows, but the walls were enchanted to show real-time footage from Camp Half-Blood– the beach, the forest, the strawberry fields. Percy had fixated on those immediately, almost to the point where Emilia wasn't sure he was listening.

But even if he hadn't been happy for her– and it was Percy they were talking about, of course he was happy– it wouldn't have changed how she felt about herself. Emilia felt accomplished and most importantly, satisfied. Still, it was nice to have him smile and nod as she explained her quest, learning to be part of a team, learning to trust, fighting all sorts of monsters and ultimately reuniting with her family and meeting Hylla.

Percy had seen her recently. She was doing perfectly fine, having killed Otrera twice, just as Emilia said she could. Her new nickname was Hylla Twice-Kill. Emilia couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"So I guess," she finished, "I want to say thank you."

He blinked. "Thank you?"

"Yes. To you. You vouched for me, a year ago. You were the only one patient enough to deal with me when I was still having tantrums and breaking the ground open with dark energy I didn't fully know how to control. You told me your weaknesses so I could recognize mine and be prepared for someone to do... what Gaea is trying to do. Exploiting them. Thanks to you I taught myself to trust. I didn't know it at the time but I trusted you first. Then Annabeth. Then Pollux. Now Leo, Piper, and Jason. Soon Hazel and Frank. We're still working on Coach Hedge."

"And Hylla," added Percy with a gentle smile. "And your family. That's... it's really great news, Emilia. I always knew you were good. I never doubted that. You just needed the right environment to help you see it for yourself."

How could someone be so sweet? Less than an hour ago, she thought he was about to kill Leo. Emilia could only hope to do for Hylla what Percy would do for Annabeth.

"And now the task is to convince my mother of that," said Emilia, wincing. She paused as Leo announced their arrival at the Great Salt Lake over the speaker– they needed to prepare themselves for a rough landing in the next few minutes. "Rhea spoke to me."

She told him about Rhea invading her dream and the task she'd given. Percy narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, just the way Annabeth had when she found out. The two of them were some of the smartest people Emilia knew when it came to deciphering dreams. Percy may not have thought himself intelligent, but the way he split the cabins during the Battle of Manhattan had been one of the heaviest hints that he was brilliant. Emilia figured that maybe he'd heard Kronos say something to him in this manner, or maybe Rhea had reached out in some bizarre form to warn him about her husband.

"The way you describe it, it sounds... familiar," said Percy. "The whole cat café, I mean. I feel like I remember images of that... just before my dreams would turn to you."

"To me?"

"Yes. I'd see you in my dreams and I never understood why. I didn't seek it out, I mean, I didn't know who you were in the first place. Somehow you just started appearing. I think Rhea made you appear in my dreams, she made me recognize you. Helping your friends where you're weakest or strongest... It sounds literal. And I don't think that bodes well."

"Me neither," said Emilia. There came a rough thud, vibrations spreading through the dining hall as they landed in the lake. The All clear bell rang overhead, letting them know they could move around again. "Anyway, I have to get my mother to retreat to the Mansion of Night before this happens. I have a bad feeling it has to do with the Doors of Death, after speaking with the others at Camp Jupiter. Maybe she has to be on the other side of those doors before we close them or discord will remain on the giants' side permanently. Ugh. It makes me sick."

Annabeth and Frank joined them after Emilia and Percy had gone to check on Jason. He was still unconscious, but overall seemed fine. Piper was holding his hand while he snored with an ice pack on his head. She motioned for quiet, beckoning them to give him space.

The four of them sat together in the dining hall, waiting for Leo to tell them what the next step was in acquiring supplies. Hazel was with him when he arrived, her horse– Arion– roaming around on his own. Hazel was even smaller up close. Emilia would've been the shortest if not for her.

"So we've landed," said Percy. "What now?"

Frank plucked on his bowstring. "Figure out the prophecy? I mean... that was a prophecy Ella spoke, right? From the Sibylline Books?"

"The what?" asked Leo.

Frank explained that Ella, their harpy friend, was freakishly good at memorizing books. At some point in the past, she'd inhaled a collection of ancient prophecies that had supposedly been destroyed around the fall of Rome.

"Octavian would've had a field day with that," muttered Emilia.

Percy nodded slowly. "Ella's sensitive. She was a captive when we found her. I just didn't want..." He made a fist. "It doesn't matter now. I sent Tyson an Iris-message, told him to take Ella to Camp Half-Blood. They'll be safe there."

Annabeth laced her fingers. "Let me think about the prophecy– but right now we have more immediate problems. We have to get this ship fixed. Leo, what do we need?"

"The easiest thing is tar," said Leo. "We can get that in the city, at a roofing supply store or someplace like that. Also, Celestial Bronze and lime. According to Festus, we can find both of those on an island in the lake, just west of here."

"We'll have to hurry," warned Hazel. "If I know Octavian, he's searching for us with his auguries. The Romans will send a strike force after us. It's a matter of honor."

"I can try to veil us in darkness," offered Emilia. "The Mist already hides us from mortals but perhaps with dark energy around the ship, Octavian won't be able to find us. I've never tried it on other beings but it's what my mother and I can do, disappearing in the shadows... like partial shadow-traveling. Or I could go into Octavian's dreams and convince him we're somewhere completely different."

Leo suggested, "Until then, we should use the buddy system. Nobody goes anywhere alone. We can leave Piper and Coach Hedge on board with Jason. Send one team into town to get tar. Another team can go after the bronze and the lime."

"Split up?" said Percy. "That sounds like a really bad idea."

"It'll be quicker," offered Hazel. "Besides, there's a reason a quest is usually limited to three demigods, right?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in agreement. "You're right. The same reason we need the Argo II... outside camp, eight demigods in one place will attract way too much monstrous attention. The ship is designed to conceal and protect us. We should be safe enough on board, but if we go on expeditions, we shouldn't travel in groups larger than three or four. No sense in alerting more of Gaea's minions than we have to."

Percy didn't look happy about it, but he took Annabeth's hand. "As long as you're my buddy, I'm good."

Hazel smiled. "Oh, that's easy. Frank, you were amazing, turning into a dragon! Could you do it again to fly Annabeth and Percy into town for the tar?"

Frank opened his mouth like he wanted to protest. "I... I suppose. But what about you?"

"I'll ride Arion with Emilia and Sa– Leo here." She fidgeted with her sword hilt. "We'll get the bronze and the lime. We can all meet back here by dark."

Though Frank seemed hesitant, he seemed to be put at ease knowing Emilia would be there, too. How anyone could come to this conclusion after knowing her for less than a few hours, she wasn't sure. Maybe she really had toned down her serial-killer look by now.

"Leo," said Annabeth, "if we get the supplies, how long to fix the ship?"

"With luck, just a few hours," he replied.

"Fine," she decided. "We'll meet you back here as soon as possible, but stay safe. We could use some good luck. That doesn't mean we'll get it."

Percy instructed Frank and Hazel to help Annabeth prepare some supplies to gather the tar. As soon as they were gone, he turned around and spoke so fast, Emilia wondered again how it was that he didn't understand his own deadliness.

He told them about Hazel, who was a daughter of Pluto who died in the 1940s and was brought back to life a few months ago. The undertones in Percy's voice were clear– don't hurt Hazel.

Neither of them had the intention of doing that. As such, Emilia held her tongue and agreed to ride Arion even though she would've preferred to shadow-travel them to the island. She didn't have much experience riding horses and she didn't particularly care for it, especially not with how fast Arion was going. It had the same vacuuming sensation of shadow-traveling only slower, so she could be more aware of the sensation like her face was peeling off.

Ahead of them lay an island– a line of sand so white, it might have been pure table salt. Behind that rose an expanse of grassy dunes and weathered boulders. Emilia was wedged between Leo and Hazel, and hardly had room to breathe.

Arion thundered onto the beach, hooves having turned the surface of the lake to salty mist. He stomped his hooves and whinnied triumphantly, pawing at the sand once they dismounted. "He needs to eat," explained Hazel. "He likes gold, but–"

"Gold?" interrupted Leo.

"He'll settle for grass," said Hazel. "Go on, Arion. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you." Just like that, the horse was gone– nothing left but a steaming trail across the lake.

"Fast horse," observed Leo. "And expensive to feed."

"Not really," said Hazel. "Gold is easy for me."

Leo glanced at Emilia then raised his eyebrows. "How is gold easy? Please tell me you're not related to King Midas. I don't like that guy."

Seeing Hazel pursing her lips, Emilia blurted out, "What are we looking for here? I don't see anything."

Leo knelt and cupid a handful of white sand. "Well... one problem solved, anyway. This is lime. The granules are perfectly round. It's not really sand. It's calcium carbonate." He pulled a Ziploc bag out of his tool belt and dug his hand into the lime.

He suddenly froze, tense and motionless. "Leo?" asked Hazel worriedly. Emilia knelt beside him, carefully poking his shoulder, "You still with us?"

He took a shaky breath. "Yeah. Yeah, fine." He motioned for them to help him fill some bags. Leo and Hazel tried to cup the sand into the bag, but Emilia simply turned it around and started to drag it down the beach, forming a line and moving further away until the bag couldn't even close from how full it was. She emptied out enough to shut it.

She could hear Leo and Hazel murmuring to each other– what were they on about? Why did the name 'Sammy' keep getting thrown around?

Leo reached his hand out to Emilia, offering to take the bag. He tucked it in his tool belt, the Ziploc disappearing instantly. "Festus said there was Celestial bronze close by, but I'm not sure where–"

"This way." Hazel pointed up the beach, over bleach-white dunes, blankets of grass, and boulders encrusted with salt. "About five hundred yards."

"How do you–?"

"Precious metals," said Hazel. "It's a Pluto thing."

"Handy talent," said Leo. "Lead the way, Miss Metal Detector."

The sun began to set. The sky turned a bizarre mix of purple and yellow. They were getting further and further from the Argo II and Emilia couldn't stand the awkwardness between Leo and Hazel. She didn't understand it (she wasn't even sure either of them fully did) and she wanted no part in it. She just wanted to curl up in her cabin and try for an Iris-message with Hylla and then Pollux.

"Who is that?" asked Emilia, when, just over the dunes, she saw a woman.

She sat on a boulder in the middle of a grassy field. A black-and-chrome motorcycle was parked nearby, but each of the wheels had a big pie slice removed from the spokes and rim, so that they resembled Pac-Men.

The woman had curly black hair and a bony frame. She wore black leather biker's pants, tall leather boots, and a blood red leather jacket. Around her feet, the ground was littered with what looked like broken shells. She hunched over, pulling new ones out of a sack and cracking them open.

The closer they got, the more they were able to see. Attached to the woman's belt was a curled whip. Her red leather jacket had a subtle design to it— twisted branches of an apple tree populated with skeletal birds.

The shells were fortune cookies. A pile of broken cookies lay ankle deep around her. She kept pulling new ones from her sack, cracking them open, and reading the fortunes. Most she tossed aside. A few made her mutter unhappily. She would swipe her finger over the slip of paper like she was smudging it, then magically reseal the cookie and toss it into a nearby basket.

"What are you doing?" blurted out Leo. As the woman looked up, he gasped. "Aunt Rosa?!"

The woman grinned. "Is that what you see? Interesting. And you, Hazel dear?"

"How did you—?" Hazel stepped back in alarm. "You— you look like Mrs. Leer. My third grade teacher. I hated you."

The woman cackled. "Excellent. You resented her, eh? She judged you unfairly?"

"You— she taped my hands to the desk for misbehaving," said Hazel. "She called my mother a witch. She blamed me for everything I didn't do and— No. She has to be dead. Who are you?"

She glanced at Emilia, who saw no one she recognized. "Little niece," said the woman. "It seems you've settled all your scores... I can find no one you truly seek to get revenge on. Not even my cousin Kronos. And even then, my closest brethren are most often the only ones who can see my true face at all times. Oh, but you're nothing like your mother, are you?"

"Nemesis," said Emilia carefully. "You and my mother used to be... the closest. You're known as Nemesis in both Greek and Roman mythology... you're not in conflict like the other gods. You're as sane as my mother. Except she's turned the other way."

"Eris always did adore imbalance much more than I did," said Nemesis. "The gods are in terrible shape and she's lapping it up. It always happens when a civil war is brewing between you Romans and Greeks. The Olympians are torn between their two natures, called on by both sides. They become quite schizophrenic, I'm afraid. Splitting headaches. Disorientation."

"But we're not at war," said Leo.

"Um, Leo..." Hazel winced. "Except for the fact that you recently blew up large sections of New Rome."

Leo stared at her. "Not on purpose!"

"I know..." said Hazel, "but the Romans don't realize that. And they'll be pursuing us in retaliation."

Nemesis cackled. "Leo, listen to the girl. War is coming. Gaea has seen to it, with your help. And can you guess whom the gods blame for their predicament?"

"Me," said Leo in a small voice.

"There's no way," said Emilia quickly. She didn't want him to believe that. As Nemesis glared at her, she realized, "Hera... Juno. She's the one that started all this in the first place."

"Indeed," said Nemesis. "You are all pawns on the chessboard and she was the player who set this ridiculous quest in motion. The queen of the heavens has fled Olympus to escape the wrath of her family. Don't expect any more help from your patron."

"We never expected anything," said Emilia. "We're used to doing things alone. Are you here to get in our way or to help us?"

Nemesis tilted her head. "Fortunately for you, I still care for my sister a great deal. I took a great interest in you from the moment you were created and even more recently when you chose to face your demons to prevent... well, this imbalance in yourself. I also enjoy tearing down the proud and powerful, and there are none who deserve tearing down like Gaea and her giants. Still, I must warn you that I will not suffer undeserved success. Good luck is a sham. The wheel of fortune is a Ponzi scheme. True success requires sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Hazel's voice was tight. "I lost my mother. I died and came back. Now my brother is missing. Isn't that enough sacrifice for you?"

Emilia could feel her pain, and she could see Leo's, too. "Just tell us what we have to do," she said firmly. "Let us enact our revenge on Gaea and the giants in your name."

Nemesis popped a cookie in her mouth and swallowed it, fortune and all. "You'll find your Celestial Bronze with the sweethearts. Perhaps they will teach you a lesson, Hazel Levesque. Most heroes cannot escape their nature, even when given a second chance at life." She smiled. "And speaking of your brother Nico, you don't have much time. Let's see... It's June twenty fifth? Yes, after today, six more days. Then he dies, along with the entire city of Rome."

Hazel's eyes widened. "How...what—?"

"You, child of fire." She turned to Leo. "Your worst hardships are yet to come. You will always be the outsider, the eighth wheel. You will not find a place among your brethren. Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve, though I could help you for a price."

"As for the price you must pay..." Nemesis's lips curled as she considered Emilia. "It will be high. You will feel you made the wrong choice either way, when the time comes. But the one you choose will bring you strength like never before. Only then will your mother see what you've been trying to tell her all along."

Emilia smelled smoke. She looked at Leo, one of his hands ablaze. He shoved his hands in his pockets to extinguish the flames. "I like to solve my own problems," he said coldly. "But um, what sort of price are we talking about?"

The goddess shrugged. "One of my children recently traded an eye for the ability to make a real difference in the world."

Her expression dropped, thinking of poor Ethan. Leo choked, "You want an eye?"

"In your case, perhaps another sacrifice would do. But something just as painful. Here." She handed him an unbroken fortune cookie. "If you need an answer, break this. It will solve your problem."

"What problem?" Leo asked, looking suspicious.

"You'll know when the time comes."

"No thanks," said Leo firmly. But he slipped the cookie into his tool belt.

Nemesis picked another cookie from her bag, running it between her fingers. "Very few gods will be able to help you on this quest. Most are already incapacitated and their confusion will only grow worse. One thing might bring unity to Olympus again— an old wrong finally avenged. Oh, that would be sweet indeed, the scales finally balanced! But it will not happen unless you accept my help."

"I suppose you won't tell us what you're talking about," muttered Hazel. "Or why my brother Nico has only six days to live. Or why Rome is going to be destroyed."

Nemesis chuckled. She rose and slung her sack of cookies over her shoulder. "Oh, it's all tied together, Hazel Levesque. As for my offer, Leo Valdez, give it some thought. You're a good child. A hard worker. We could do business. But I have detained you too long. You should visit the reflecting pool before the light fades. My poor cursed boy gets quite... Agitated when the darkness comes. Even little Emilia might not be able to hold him off."

They looked at each other, concerned, while Nemesis climbed onto her motorcycle without a care in the world. Despite the Pac-Man shaped wheels, Nemesis revved her engine and disappeared in a mushroom cloud of black smoke.

Hazel bent down. All the broken cookies and fortunes had disappeared except for one crumpled slip of paper. She picked it up and read, "You will see yourself reflected, and you will have reason to despair."

"Fantastic," grumbled Leo as Emilia summoned her spear, watchin the black cloud dissipate. "Let's go see what that means."