Nico held Orcus tighter as his own head spun from the shadow-travel. He felt fiercely protective of this tiny, farting cat-bird. He wanted to wrap Orcus in one of Asterion’s warmest, fuzziest cable-knit sweaters and insulate him from all harm.
“What happened?” Nico asked him. “How did you end up in the middle of the highway?”
The griffin blinked. “Is—is that what the accursed path of loud death beasts is called?”
Yazan and Deion looked at each other.
“You’ve never seen ahighwaybefore?” asked Yazan. “Or a car?”
“How is that possible?” asked Deion. “They’reeverywhere.”
Nico glared at the guards, hoping they’d understand and lay off the criticism. But Orcus just ruffled his feathers, readjusting himself in Nico’s arms.
“I am newly regenerated from Tartarus after many centuries,” he told the sentries. “I saw very little except green hills as Asterion led us to New Rome.Thatmortal world I recognized.This. . .”
The griffin stared down at the roaring highway, the sprawl of lights and houses and noise that was the Bay Area. “What have youdoneto the place? I came over the hill, thinking I would make a simple reconnaissance flight, and—it all hit me at once. The smell alone!” He farted for emphasis. “I shut down, dropped from the sky like seagull poop. I truly am useless.”
“Hey, now,” Yazan said. “You’renotuseless.”
Deion nodded agreement. “First time seeing all this? That would turn anybody into seagull poop. You’re a brave little dude.”
Orcus puffed his feathers. “Do you think so?”
Just then, Hazel came trudging up the hill, sweaty and out of breath from her boxing match with the Mist. “Oh, thank the gods,” she said. “What happened…?”
Her voice trailed off as she caught Nico’s eye. She got the message.Something important is going on here. Let it play out.
“The last time I was in the mortal world,” Orcus continued, clearly happy to have a sympathetic audience, “I could not even fly freely. I spent most of my life in a private zoo. In acage. A man of great power kept me there.”
“I’m sorry,” said Deion. “That’s terrible.”
Yazan shuddered. “I hate cages. All animals deserve better. And mythics, of course.”
A tingle went up Nico’s spine. This was the first time he’d heard a rank-and-file legionnaire use the termmythicwithout even thinking about it.
“Thank you,” said Orcus. “There is not much of the mortal world I understand, but I am trying.”
Cuddled in Nico’s arms, the griffin’s body was shivering in a different way now, almost like…purring.
Before Nico could process that, an Iris-message flashed into existence at his side. It was like the one Nico had gotten at the Camp Half-Blood dining hall—a perfect oval, with brighter colors and a clearer picture than Nico was used to. Had the Romans invented high-definition Iris-messages? HDIM?
Will’s face stared out at them. He looked worried.
“Nico!” he said. “Sorry if I’m interrupting, but could you…uh…meet me at the principia?”
Hazel leaned over so Will could see her, too. “Is everything okay?”
“Oh!” Will’s next words came out in a torrent. “Hi, Hazel. Hello. Howareyou? Ihopeyou’regoodbecauseeverythingisfinehere.”
Nico held back a laugh. “Uh…sure, I’m on my way.”
“Do you need me, too?” Hazel asked.
“Oh, definitely not!” Will squeaked. “Not at all! We’re all good! Thank you!”
The Iris-message disappeared.
Hazel frowned at Nico. “I’m coming with you for sure now.”
