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I

Jason

JASON HATED BEING OLD

His joints hurt His legs shook As he tried to clis rattled like a box of rocks

He couldn’t see his face, thank goodness, but his fingers were gnarled and bony Bulging blue veins webbed the backs of his hands

He even had that old-man smell – one from sixteen to seventy-five in a matter of seconds, but the old-ratulations! You stink!

‘Alreat’

Easy for her to say Piper and Annabeth were disguised as lovely Greek serving owns and laced sandals, they had no trouble navigating the rocky path

Piper’s any hair was pinned up in a braided spiral Silver bracelets adorned her arms She resembled an ancient statue of her

Dating a beautiful girl was nerve-racking enough Dating a girl whose oddess of love … well, Jason was always afraid he’d do so unromantic and Piper’s e hi

Jason glanced uphill The summit was still a hundred yards above

‘Worst idea ever’ He leaned against a cedar tree and wiped his forehead ‘Hazel’s ht, I’ll be useless’

‘It won’t come to that,’ Annabeth pro- her shoulders to keep the dress fro Her pinned-up blonde bun had co spider legs Knowing her hatred of spiders, Jason decided not to mention that

‘We infiltrate the palace,’ she said ‘We get the inforet out’

Piper set down her amphora, the tall ceramic wine jar in which her sas hidden ‘We can rest for a second Catch your breath, Jason’

Froic horn of plenty Tucked somewhere in the folds of her dress was her knife, Katoptris Piper didn’t look dangerous, but if the need arose she could dual-wield Celestial bronze blades or shoot her eneoes

Annabeth slung her own amphora off her shoulder She, too, had a concealed sword, but even without a visible weapon she looked deadly Her stors, alert for any threat If any dude asked Annabeth for a drink, Jason figured she was uy in the bifurcum

He tried to steady his breathing

Below theht’ve been dyed with food colouring A few hundred yards offshore, the Argo II rested at anchor Its white sails looked no bigger than postage stained his friends on deck following his progress, taking turns with Leo’s spyglass, trying not to laugh as they watched Grandpa Jason hobble uphill

‘Stupid Ithaca,’ he muttered

He supposed the island was pretty enough A spine of forested hills twisted down its centre Chalky white slopes plunged into the sea Inlets formed rocky beaches and harbours where red-roofed houses and white stucco churches nestled against the shoreline

The hills were dotted with poppies, crocuses and wild cherry trees The breeze s myrtle All very nice – except the terees The air was as steamy as a Roman bathhouse

It would’ve been easy for Jason to control the winds and fly to the top of the hill, but nooo For the sake of stealth, he had to struggle along as an old dude with bad knees and chicken-soup stink

He thought about his last clio, when Hazel and he had faced the bandit Sciron on the cliffs of Croatia At least then Jason had been at full strength What they were about to face would be much worse than a bandit

‘You sure this is the right hill?’ he asked ‘Seems kind of – I don’t know – quiet’

Piper studied the ridgeline Braided in her hair was a bright blue harpy feather – a souvenir froo with her disguise, but Piper had earned it, defeating an entire flock of demon chicken ladies by herself while she was on duty She downplayed the accoood about it The feather was a reirl she’d been last winter, when they’d first arrived at Camp Half-Blood

‘The ruins are up there,’ she promised ‘I saw them in Katoptris’s blade And you heard what Hazel said “The biggest –” ’

‘ “The biggest gathering of evil spirits I’ve ever sensed,” ’ Jason recalled ‘Yeah, sounds awesome’

After battling through the underground te Jason wanted was to deal with more evil spirits But the fate of the quest was at stake The crew of the Argo II had a big decision to , they would fail, and the entire world would be destroyed

Piper’s blade, Hazel’s reed – the answer lay here in Ithaca, at the ancient palace of Odysseus, where a horde of evil spirits had gathered to await Gaia’s orders The plan was to sneak a on and decide the best course of action Then get out, preferably alive

Annabeth re-adjusted her golden belt ‘I hope our disguises hold up The suitors were nasty custoods –’

‘Hazel’s ic ork,’ Piper said

Jason tried to believe that

The suitors: a hundred of the greediest, evilest cut-throats who’d ever lived When Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, wentafter the Trojan War, this mob of B-list princes had invaded his palace and refused to leave, each one hoping to ed to return in secret and slaughter the But, if Piper’s visions were right, the suitors were now back, haunting the place where they’d died

Jason couldn’t believe he was about to visit the actual palace of Odysseus – one of the ain, this whole quest had been oneevent after another Annabeth herself had just come back from the eternal abyss of Tartarus Given that, Jason decidedan old man

‘Well …’ He steadied hi stick ‘If I look as old as I feel, ’

As they climbed, sweat trickled down his neck His calves ached Despite the heat, he began to shiver And, try as heabout his recent dreams

Ever since the House of Hades, they’d become more vivid

Soiant Clytius loo in a chorus of diseether to defeat me What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?

Other times Jason found himself at the crest of Half-Blood Hill Gaia the Earth Mother rose froure of soil, leaves and stones

Poor child Her voice resonated across the landscape, shaking the bedrock under Jason’s feet Your father is first aods, yet you are always second best – to your Roman comrades, to your Greek friends, even to your family Hoill you prove yourself?

His worst dream started in the courtyard of the Sonoma Wolf House Before him stood t

he goddess Juno, gloith the radiance of molten silver

Your life belongs to me, her voice thundered An appeasement from Zeus

Jason knew he shouldn’t look, but he couldn’t close his eyes as Juno went supernova, revealing her true godly form Pain seared Jason’s mind His body burned away in layers like an onion

Then the scene changed Jason was still at the Wolf House, but noas a little boy – no more than two years old A woman knelt before him, her lemony scent so familiar Her features atery and indistinct, but he knew her voice: bright and brittle, like the thinnest layer of ice over a fast stream

I will be back for you, dearest, she said I will see you soon

Every tiht with tears

Nico di Angelo had warned them: the House of Hades would stir their worst s frohosts would become restless

Jason had hoped that particular ghost would stay away, but every night the drea to the ruins of a palace where an arathered

That doesn’t mean she’ll be there, Jason told himself

But his hands wouldn’t stop tre Every step seemed harder than the last

‘Almost there,’ Annabeth said ‘Let’s –’

BOOM! The hillside rue, a crowd roared in approval, like spectators in a coliseuo, he’d fought for his life in the Rohostly audience He wasn’t anxious to repeat the experience

‘What was that explosion?’ he wondered

‘Don’t know,’ Piper said ‘But it sounds like they’re having fun Let’s go make some dead friends’

II

Jason

NATURALLY, the situation orse than Jason expected

It wouldn’t have been any fun otherwise

Peering through the olive bushes at the top of the rise, he sahat looked like an out-of-control zombie frat party