They swarmed the First Cohort’s table, sniffing at shoes and bouncing on sofas as the legionnaires backed away, terrified.
“Oh, no,” said Nico, rising. “Puffs! I’m over here!”
Everyone in the mess hall turned in Nico’s direction. Years ago, his greatest fear was being noticed, or seeming to be the odd one out. That didn’t bother him as much anymore. Wasn’t the whole world full of odd ones out? Besides, the Puffs were basically like his kids, even if Nyx had called them that in a derogatory way.
“Sorry, everyone!” he said to the diners. “They’re harmless, I promise. Just, uh, try not to touch them.”
For some reason, this did not seem to reassure the legionnaires.
The Puffs bounced over to him, gathering around his feet like a pack of caffeinated rats.
“Nico…” Frank’s voice was carefully controlled. “Did you bringmoremonsters to Camp Jupiter?”
Nico scowled. “We’re not calling themmonsters, remember?”
Frank looked like he was counting to five, trying to regain his composure. “Right,” he said at last. “So…what did you call them,pugs?”
“Puffs,”corrected Will. “Short for Cocoa Puffs. Which is a nickname for cacodemons.”
“Cacodemons,” Frank said. “As in evil spirits.”
“Frank, please,” Hazel said. “I know you’ve been on edge lately, but—”
“No, it’s fine.” He kept his eyes fixed on Nico. “I’m sorry. I was surprised, is all.”
Nico could sense that things definitely werenotfine, but Frank was trying.
“My bad,” Nico said. “I keep forgetting to tell people that I have a little battalion of dark emotions following me around.”
Nico briefly explained what Nyx had done to him months earlier when they went to Tartarus to rescue Bob. He did his best to name each of the cacodemons for Frank, but before he could finish, half of them split off and started wandering the mess hall. Defiance scuttled over to the Second Cohort table and began to yap, demanding table scraps. Loneliness rolled onto the top of a girl’s sneaker and decided to take a nap there, while the girl stared down at it in horror.
“Uh, you’ll have to excuse them,” Nico said. “I’m learning that each has a mind of its own. Even though they were created from my memories and feelings, they’re independent living beings.”
“And if you touch them?” asked Frank.
Hazel cleared her throat. “They make you feel whatever emotion they represent.”
“They don’t do it maliciously,” Will added. “We think that’s how they try to communicate. It’s actually kind of exciting.”
“Exciting,” Frank repeated.
“I like them,” rumbled a deep voice.
Nico looked to his right—and up andup—to find Asterion standing over him. How a seven-foot-tall Minotaur had managed to sneak up on them, Nico wasn’t sure, especially since Asterion was wearing the loudest cable-knit hooded cardigan that had ever been created—a fever dream of turquoise, yellow, and chartreuse wool. The cacodemon Sadness had fallen asleep in the crook of the bull-man’s arm.
“This one is my favorite,” said Asterion. Tears streaked the fur of his left cheek. “Though holding it fills me with a terrible longing.”
“It does that sometimes,” Nico said.
“Join us?” Will asked the bull-man.
Hazel and Frank exchanged an uncomfortable look, perhaps worrying about the optics of Asterion sitting at the officers’ table, but Asterion bowed his head in gratitude. “Thank you, yes.”
The bench groaned under Asterion’s weight.
“Praetor Zhang,” he began, “I enjoyed our time together today, remodeling the Temple of Mars.”
Frank nodded. “Yes, me, too. Thanks for all your help. And you can just call me Frank.”
