With that, she led them toward the Rockridge BART station.
Half an hour later, the three of them boarded a Yellow Line train for San Francisco. Late-morning commuters took up most of the seats, so the demigods stood next to the doors, holding on to the overhead hand straps.
As they passed through the Oakland stations, Nico was struck by the strangeness of it all. He’d felt the same way months ago when he and Will had ridden the train into New York. All these humans around them…none of them knew what he was on his way to do. They didn’t know a thing about monsters or gods or spirits. They had no idea of the constant battles and conflicts unfolding in the world of the demigods. This time, though, Nico didn’t feel envious of their ignorance. He didn’t want to live in a world without mythical chaos. He washappyto be a demigod.
I’m happy with myself, he thought.Wow. That’s new.
He wondered how Mr. D would react to that. The god would probably take all the credit and saySee?I told you so.Nico decided he should just keep his happiness to himself.
The train lurched as it came into MacArthur Station, and Hazel crashed into Will.
“Sorry,” she said. “I guess I don’t have my train legs yet.”
“Yeah, it takes time.” Will anchored himself with his feet apart, his knees slightly bent. “The trick to interior subway and train surfing is anticipating the motion.”
“Train surfing?” asked Hazel, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s actually pretty similar to catching a wave. Like, for instance, you have to pick your wave carefully. You should also pick your car carefully.”
“Will…” Nico warned. He could see the gears turning in his boyfriend’s mind. He knew exactly where this was heading.
“One summer,” Will forged on, “my mom and I were leaving the Met, and we got in this one subway car that was totally empty—”
“Will,” Nico said more forcefully. “Don’t do it.”
“Oops,” Will said. “Sorry. It just slips out sometimes!”
“What’s happening here?” Hazel said.
“He was going to tell you the Poop Story, and I won’t allow it.”
“Free speech, bro,” said Will.
“I’m not the government! That’s not how it works!”
Hazel shook her head. “Are Frank and I this annoying?”
“Probably more so,” said Nico.
She stuck her tongue out at him. “Okay, Will. Now I need to hear the Poop Story. Please continue.”
By the time the train left West Oakland, Will had satisfied her curiosity, Nico felt queasy, and the car was packed with passengers. Nico squeezed closer to Will, who reached down and grabbed his hand.
“You doing okay?”
“Despite your story, yes,” said Nico. “I just wish I knew what we’re going to find.”
Will and Hazel both nodded.
“Who are these judges?” Hazel wondered. “What do they want with Asterion and his friends? And me?”
Neither Will nor Nico had an answer. Soon their conversation was drowned out by the shrill sound of the train’s wheels on the track as it entered the tunnel under the San Francisco Bay. Nico covered his ears to block out the banshee screeching. It sounded like some sort of incursion fromhisworld—something straight out of Hades’s Fields of Punishment.
When they arrived at City Center Station and climbed the stairs to street level, Nico was actually relieved to escape the underground. They stepped into a bright and brisk morning in downtown San Francisco.
As they crossed the wide expanse of Civic Center Plaza, Nico could almost believe they were back in New Rome. Classical-style buildings lined the park: the public library with its tall windows; the Asian Art Museum with its columned portico and colorful banners; the massive white edifice of City Hall, its central dome gleaming with gold filigree.
The green space itself was big enough to house a playground and several sports fields. Along the central promenade stood rows of stunted sycamore trees with pale gray trunks, their leafless branches cut back so severely they weren’t much more than warty lumps. The trees reminded Nico a bit too much of the ones on the Fields of Asphodel, where he’d found Hazel wandering in the Afterlife. Maybe Hazel had the same impression. She steered well clear of the trees.
