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It was strange being in Percy’s home without him. Sally set Estelle in her playpen and then headed for the kitchen. She returned with a plate of blue sugar cookies. ‘You know,’ she said, setting them down on the dining-room table, ‘Icouldmake cookies in any other colour. But it’s mostly habit at this point.’
‘Thank you, but we don’t want to put you to any trouble,’ said Will. He glanced at Nico. ‘Do we?’
‘No …’ said Nico, though he considered Sally’s cookies a really great kind of trouble. ‘I just wanted to contact Percy and Annabeth, and I thought, well, this might be the best place to do it from.’
‘Contact him?’ asked Sally, taking the empty chair across from them. ‘About what?’
As best as he could, Nico briefly summarized the story of Bob and the prophecy.
Sally turned down a corner of her mouth. ‘You’re not thinking of asking Percy to go with you, are you? Because he’s just got settled at college, and this is the closest thing to normal he’s –’
‘Not at all,’ Nico cut her off. ‘I promise.’
‘Good.’ Sally crossed her arms over her chest. ‘Because I wouldneverwant Percy or Annabeth to have to face that place again. You shouldn’t go either, dear, no matter who is in danger.’
‘It’s different for me,’ Nico assured her. ‘As the son of Hades, I know my way around. But Will …’
Will leaned back, understanding dawning on his face. ‘Oh, I get it. You wantmeto talk to Percy. So he can discourage me from going?’
‘No,’ Nico protested, though maybe that thought had been in the back of his mind. ‘But I know you’re nervous about it. And you worry I’m underselling the danger. So I thought it might help to hear from someone who isn’t related to Hadesandwho still survived Tartarus.’
‘Barely,’ Sally murmured. ‘Percy doesn’t tell me the details of everything he’s been through. I think he believes he’s protecting me. But Idoknow that his worst nightmares are about Tartarus.’
Will gulped. ‘Wow, this is already helping so much …’
Nico tried to push down his rising frustration. ‘Will, justtalkto Percy, okay?’
Will managed a smile. ‘Yeah, of course. It’ll be nice to see him.And Annabeth, too, if we can … Wait, how exactly are we contacting them – Iris-message?’
Nico turned to Sally. ‘I was hoping you might know their schedules? I don’t want to send them a glowing hologram when they’re in the middle of a lecture or something.’
Sally smirked. ‘I’m not saying I have their college schedules memorized, but this time of day, West Coast time, I imagine they’re both at Percy’s dorm … hopefully studying for their English exam.’
‘Perfect.’ Nico pulled a golden drachma out of his pocket. ‘Next question, Ms. Jackson. Do you have a standard way of sending him Iris-messages? Like, so I don’t have to spray water all over your apartment?’
‘Very thoughtful,’ said Sally. ‘I have just the thing. Come on.’
She gathered up Estelle and led them down the hallway, Nico and Will both grabbing some cookies on the way.
They ended up in Percy’s old bedroom, which again Nico found very strange. He remembered years ago, coming in through that fire escape window and, to his surprise, being offered some of Percy’s birthday cake. It had been one the first glimmers Nico had ever felt of true friendship.
‘Here we are,’ said Sally, gesturing to a contraption on Percy’s dresser.
Will laughed with delight. ‘That’s actually kind of brilliant.’
Nico had to agree. Percy had rigged a humidifier next to a desk lamp, so when Sally turned it on a veil of steam bloomed upward, the water droplets breaking the light into shards of colour – just what you needed to ask a favour of Iris, the rainbow goddess.
Nico held up his gold drachma. ‘O goddess, accept our offering,’ he prayed. Then he tossed the coin into the steam, where it promptly disappeared. ‘Show me Percy Jackson at New Rome University.’
Seconds later, a familiar face took up most of the image of the Iris-message. Percy’s green eyes looked like blotches of algae floating in the steam. ‘Nico?’ he asked. Then he stepped back and took in more of the scene. ‘Mom?Is everything okay?’
Estelle squealed with delight at the sound of her brother’s voice.
Sally laughed. ‘Yes, Percy, everything’s fine. Your friends just stopped by for a visit!’
From what little Nico could see in the background, Percy was indeed in his dorm room. There was a small unmade bed to the left and a desk covered in books and papers. Percy himself looked somewhat dishevelled, too.
‘Nico!’ said Percy. ‘Oh, man, it’s so good to see you!’
