Arielle clicked her tongue. “Don’t pat yourself on the back too hard,” she grumbled.
Johan frowned. “I cannot reach my back with my arms. I am not anatomically designed for that.”
“Arielle,” chided Asterion, “I do not see why you need to be so antagonistic.”
“And I don’t see why you need to bend and shape yourself to others’ whims.”
“No one is bending or shaping,” said the bull-man. “No one is forcing you to do anything.”
“Oh, no?” the empousa growled.
Will tried to intervene. “Arielle, what doyouwant to do?”
“I want to be left alone,” she said matter-of-factly. Then she sized up Will in his Roman armor. “Although I supposeyoucould stay.”
Nico fought down his irritation. “Then what’s keeping you here?” he asked. “You can go anywhere, can’t you?”
“Of course we can’t,” she snapped. “They’d eventually find us and—” She stopped herself.
“And what?” Nico pressed. “Who isthey?”
Arielle shook her head in disgust. The mythics looked glum. Maybe she’d been talking in general about the gods and other immortals who summoned creatures from Tartarus to do their bidding, but Nico got the sense she’d had a more specifictheyin mind.
“The important thing,” Asterion said, “is that here we are safe. We have a chance to build something new.”
“Butarewe safe?” Arielle demanded. “How long will it be until demigods attack us? Weeks? Days?”
“No one is attacking anyone!” Hazel said desperately.
Will and Nico exchanged a concerned look of agreement.This is already way more complicated than we expected.
“Okay,” said Will. “Just for the sake of discussion, whatwouldyou like to do if you stayed at Camp Jupiter? Other supernatural beings have made it work. The Lares. The wind spirits in the mess hall—”
“You want me toserve foodto mortals?” Arielle’s eyes flashed like lightning. “That’s your idea?”
Will held his hands up. “No. I just thought—”
“We empousai were forced to serve Kronos, you know,” she continued. “And after that, Gaea. We weren’t given much of a choice in their terrible wars. Either we fought for them and caused untold devastation, or we would be snuffed out. I have no interest in serving anyone. Not a Titan or a god, and certainly not a mortal. I don’t want to be forced to do anything ever again!”
“You won’t be,” said Hazel.
“How can I trust you?”
“Because Gaea manipulatedme, too!”
The group fell silent. The pain in Hazel’s voice made Nico’s heart ache.
The anger in Arielle’s eyes dimmed. “I did not know.”
“I don’t talk about it much,” said Hazel. “I lost my motherandmy life because of Gaea. If it wasn’t for Nico here, I’d still be wandering the Fields of Asphodel.”
Orcus lifted his beak, sniffing the air around Hazel. “Youdied? You smell very alive to me.”
“She is,” said Nico. “I found her down there and brought her back, gave her another chance at life. That’s what you all are looking for too, right?”
The mythics were silent, apparently pondering that idea.
Arielle’s expression softened. “I’m not promising anything, but I suppose I could help with combat training….” She talked like she was dipping a toe into a pool.
