Well, duh, Nico replied.
No need to be rude, said Semele.Just because I am in your mind does not mean I can read everything in it.
They crashed into a line of dog-headed cynocephalus warriors who had been facing the other direction, thinking the main threat was from Hazel’s friends in the plaza. They were not expecting eight angry demigods, a blemmyae, and the world’s tiniest griffin to attack them from behind.
One dog-man ran away yipping and whining with Orcus clamped to his head, pecking at his left eye. Another staggered off, clutching Deion’s spear, which was lodged in his gut. Will loosed multiple arrows, and pride filled Nico’s heart as all of them found their targets. Each of the warriors burst into dust, and the rest scattered when a full-size male lion jumped into their midst, roaring and baring his fangs.
Where did the lion come from?Semele wondered.
That would be Frank, Nico guessed.
I have questions, said Semele.
Later!said Nico.
They continued their push forward, wading through the temporarily confused ranks of Team Pirithous. Down in the plaza, the situation looked like the most violent Black Friday sale ever. Imprisoned mythics rushed in every direction, trying to overrun the circle of guards. Harpies fought harpies above the cypress trees. Giants threw park benches at other giants. A giant crab—why was there a giant crab?—scuttled sideways through the bedlam, holding a screaming telkhine in either claw. Once the armies of prisoners and captors clashed, things got even more confusing, as nobody seemed to know which side anyone was on.
“Nico!”
Hazel rushed toward him, grinning as she sliced down an enemy donkey satyr—the same strange courier they’d followed into the Court of the Dead days ago. Asterion and Arielle were on either side of her, the karpos Quinoa flying around them like an avenging grain angel.
Hazel threw herself into Nico’s arms. “You made it!”
Nico blinked back tears. He’d never been so happy to see his sister, even if she smelled like she’d been hanging out in a monster’s dirty-laundry hamper.
Johan sobbed as he embraced Arielle. Quinoa and Orcus collided in midair trying to hug each other. Semele made Nico’s body pull Asterion into the group hug, and then she used his voice to shout, “I love you, you big, beautiful cow!”
Asterion seemed a bit startled, but he accepted the hug. “Is that—Semele?”
“Yes, it’s me!” Nico grinned. Then he regained control of himself. “I mean, yes, it’s her. She’s possessing me. Kind of. Long story.”
The other mythics looked at him dumbfounded.
Hazel shook her head in amazement. “Well, I guess it’s not the weirdest thing I’ve heard in the past couple of days.” Then she spotted the lion padding toward her, his fangs bloody from biting the butt of many a retreating dog-man.
“Frank!” she squealed. “What a good kitty!”
The lion morphed back into Frank just as Hazel flew into his arms and kissed him. “I’msohappy to see you!”
“Friends, we must be quick!” Asterion warned, grabbing an enemy harpy out of the air and throwing her into the nearest parked car. “Pirithous has imprisoned two gods. We must free them before they can pledge to his cause!”
That jolted Nico out of his temporary euphoria. “What? How?”
“Also a long story,” Hazel said, but she did her best to explain as quickly as possible.
Even with two minds inside his brain, Nico wasn’t sure he understood it all: twin gods of trickery, chains of Prometheus, oaths and traps, and trading up to capture Hades himself.
Meanwhile, Pirithous’s forces were overcoming their initial panic. The judge himself, now protected by two Cyclopes and the red-robed skeletal guards from the court, had rediscovered his courage. He climbed onto the pedestal of a cement sphinx about fifty yards away and started barking orders—“Kill them! Kill them!”—while imperiously waving his gavel.
Now that Nico knew about the chains of Prometheus, he understood why so many minor gods had pledged to serve this self-important chief justice. He also understood why those gods had not yet jumped into battle. They probably didn’t like Pirithous any better than Nico did. But with Pirithous giving them direct orders, they had no choice but to obey.
Things were about to get dicey for Team Hazel and the Mythics.
“Perhaps freeing those gods should not be the first priority right now,” said Arielle, her expression anguished. “We need to get our fellow mythics out of here safely!”
“Also,” said Quinoa, “did we mention that the twins are gods oftrickery? Before they got chained up, they exploded two judges and Laverna. There was talk of explodingmorepeople, and the only choice they were offering was Cajun spice or extra crispy!”
Nico had to admit that didn’t sound good.
