The name echoed, as if voices were whispering it through the ruins.
Something about this place seemed even creepier than the palace bas.e.m.e.nt in Split. Jason had never thought much about Cupid. He"d certainly never thought of Cupid as scary. Even for Roman demiG.o.ds, the name conjured up an image of a silly winged baby with a toy bow and arrow, flying around in his diapers on Valentine"s Day.
"Oh, he"s not like that," said Favonius.
Jason flinched. "You can read my mind?"
"I don"t need to." Favonius tossed his bronze hoop in the air. "Everyone has the wrong impression of Cupid ... until they meet him."
Nico braced himself against a column, his legs trembling visibly.
"Hey, man ..." Jason stepped towards him, but Nico waved him off.
At Nico"s feet, the gra.s.s turned brown and wilted. The dead patch spread outwards, as if poison were seeping from the soles of his shoes.
"Ah ..." Favonius nodded sympathetically. "I don"t blame you for being nervous, Nico di Angelo. Do you know how I ended up serving Cupid?"
"I don"t serve anyone," Nico muttered. "Especially not Cupid."
Favonius continued as if he hadn"t heard. "I fell in love with a mortal named Hyacinthus. He was quite extraordinary."
"He ...?" Jason"s brain was still fuzzy from his wind trip, so it took him a second to process that. "Oh ..."
"Yes, Jason Grace." Favonius arched an eyebrow. "I fell in love with a dude. Does that shock you?"
Honestly, Jason wasn"t sure. He tried not to think about the details of G.o.dly love lives, no matter who they fell in love with. After all, his dad, Jupiter, wasn"t exactly a model of good behaviour. Compared to some of the Olympian love scandals he"d heard about, the West Wind falling in love with a mortal guy didn"t seem very shocking. "I guess not. So ... Cupid struck you with his arrow, and you fell in love."
Favonius snorted. "You make it sound so simple. Alas, love is never simple. You see, the G.o.d Apollo also liked Hyacinthus. He claimed they were just friends. I don"t know. But one day I came across them together, playing a game of quoits "
There was that weird word again. "Quoits?"
"A game with those hoops," Nico explained, though his voice was brittle. "Like horseshoes."
"Sort of," Favonius said. "At any rate, I was jealous. Instead of confronting them and finding out the truth, I shifted the wind and sent a heavy metal ring right at Hyacinthus"s head and ... well." The wind G.o.d sighed. "As Hyacinthus died, Apollo turned him into a flower, the hyacinth. I"m sure Apollo would"ve taken horrible vengeance on me, but Cupid offered me his protection. I"d done a terrible thing, but I"d been driven mad by love, so he spared me, on the condition that I work for him forever."
CUPID.
The name echoed through the ruins again.
"That would be my cue." Favonius stood. "Think long and hard about how you proceed, Nico di Angelo. You cannot lie to Cupid. If you let your anger rule you ... well, your fate will be even sadder than mine."
Jason felt like his brain was turning back into wind. He didn"t understand what Favonius was talking about or why Nico seemed so shaken, but he had no time to think about it. The wind G.o.d disappeared in a swirl of red and gold. The summer air suddenly felt oppressive. The ground shook, and Jason and Nico drew their swords.
So.
The voice rushed past Jason"s ear like a bullet. When he turned, no one was there.
You come to claim the sceptre.
Nico stood at his back, and for once Jason was glad to have the guy"s company.
"Cupid," Jason called, "where are you?"
The voice laughed. It definitely didn"t sound like a cute baby angel"s. It sounded deep and rich, but also threatening like a tremor before a major earthquake.
Where you least expect me, Cupid answered. As Love always is.
Something slammed into Jason and hurled him across the street. He toppled down a set of steps and sprawled on the floor of an excavated Roman bas.e.m.e.nt.
I would think you"d know better, Jason Grace. Cupid"s voice whirled around him. You"ve found true love, after all. Or do you still doubt yourself?
Nico scrambled down the steps. "You okay?"
Jason accepted his hand and got to his feet. "Yeah. Just sucker punched."
Oh, did you expect me to play fair? Cupid laughed. I am the G.o.d of love. I am never fair.
This time, Jason"s senses were on high alert. He felt the air ripple just as an arrow materialized, racing towards Nico"s chest.
Jason intercepted it with his sword and deflected it sideways. The arrow exploded against the nearest wall, peppering them with limestone shrapnel.
They ran up the steps. Jason pulled Nico to one side as another gust of wind toppled a column that would have crushed him flat.
"Is this guy Love or Death?" Jason growled.
Ask your friends, Cupid said. Frank, Hazel and Percy met my counterpart, Thanatos. We are not so different. Except Death is sometimes kinder.
"We just want the sceptre!" Nico shouted. "We"re trying to stop Gaia. Are you on the G.o.ds" side or not?"
A second arrow hit the ground between Nico"s feet and glowed white-hot. Nico stumbled back as the arrow burst into a geyser of flame.
Love is on every side, Cupid said. And no one"s side. Don"t ask what Love can do for you.
"Great," Jason said. "Now he"s spouting greeting card messages."
Movement behind him: Jason spun, slicing his sword through the air. His blade bit into something solid. He heard a grunt and he swung again, but the invisible G.o.d was gone. On the paving stones, a trail of golden ichor shimmered the blood of the G.o.ds.
Very good, Jason, Cupid said. At least you can sense my presence. Even a glancing hit at true love is more than most heroes manage.
"So now I get the sceptre?" Jason asked.
Cupid laughed. Unfortunately, you could not wield it. Only a child of the Underworld can summon the dead legions. And only an officer of Rome can lead them.
"But ..." Jason wavered. He was an officer. He was praetor. Then he remembered all his second thoughts about where he belonged. In New Rome, he"d offered to give up his position to Percy Jackson. Did that make him unworthy to lead a legion of Roman ghosts?
He decided to face that problem when the time came.
"Just leave that to us," he said. "Nico can summon "
The third arrow zipped by Jason"s shoulder. He couldn"t stop it in time. Nico gasped as it sank into his sword arm.
"Nico!"
The son of Hades stumbled. The arrow dissolved, leaving no blood and no visible wound, but Nico"s face was tight with rage and pain.
"Enough games!" Nico shouted. "Show yourself!"
It is a costly thing, Cupid said, looking on the true face of Love.
Another column toppled. Jason scrambled out of its way.
My wife Psyche learned that lesson, Cupid said. She was brought here aeons ago, when this was the site of my palace. We met only in the dark. She was warned never to look upon me, and yet she could not stand the mystery. She feared I was a monster. One night, she lit a candle, and beheld my face as I slept.
"Were you that ugly?" Jason thought he had zeroed in on Cupid"s voice at the edge of the amphitheatre about twenty yards away but he wanted to make sure.
The G.o.d laughed. I was too handsome, I"m afraid. A mortal cannot gaze upon the true appearance of a G.o.d without suffering consequences. My mother, Aphrodite, cursed Psyche for her distrust. My poor lover was tormented, forced into exile, given horrible tasks to prove her worth. She was even sent to the Underworld on a quest to show her dedication. She earned her way back to my side, but she suffered greatly.
Now I"ve got you, Jason thought.
He thrust his sword in the sky and thunder shook the valley. Lightning blasted a crater where the voice had been speaking.
Silence. Jason was just thinking, Dang, it actually worked, when an invisible force knocked him to the ground. His sword skittered across the road.
A good try, Cupid said, his voice already distant. But Love cannot be pinned down so easily.
Next to him, a wall collapsed. Jason barely managed to roll aside.
"Stop it!" Nico yelled. "It"s me you want. Leave him alone!"
Jason"s ears rang. He was dizzy from getting smacked around. His mouth tasted like limestone dust. He didn"t understand why Nico would think of himself as the main target, but Cupid seemed to agree.
Poor Nico di Angelo. The G.o.d"s voice was tinged with disappointment. Do you know what you want, much less what I want? My beloved Psyche risked everything in the name of Love. It was the only way to atone for her lack of faith. And you what have you risked in my name?
"I"ve been to Tartarus and back," Nico snarled. "You don"t scare me."
I scare you very, very much. Face me. Be honest.
Jason pulled himself up.
All around Nico, the ground shifted. The gra.s.s withered, and the stones cracked as if something was moving in the earth beneath, trying to push its way through.
"Give us Diocletian"s sceptre," Nico said. "We don"t have time for games."
Games? Cupid struck, slapping Nico sideways into a granite pedestal. Love is no game! It is no flowery softness! It is hard work a quest that never ends. It demands everything from you especially the truth. Only then does it yield rewards.
Jason retrieved his sword. If this invisible guy was Love, Jason was beginning to think Love was overrated. He liked Piper"s version better considerate, kind and beautiful. Aphrodite he could understand. Cupid seemed more like a thug, an enforcer.
"Nico," he called, "what does this guy want from you?"
Tell him, Nico di Angelo, Cupid said. Tell him you are a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings. Tell him the real reason you ran from Camp Half-Blood, and why you are always alone.
Nico let loose a guttural scream. The ground at his feet split open and skeletons crawled forth dead Romans with missing hands and caved-in skulls, cracked ribs and jaws unhinged. Some were dressed in the remnants of togas. Others had glinting pieces of armour hanging off their chests.
Will you hide among the dead, as you always do? Cupid taunted.
Waves of darkness rolled off the son of Hades. When they hit Jason, he almost lost consciousness overwhelmed by hatred and fear and shame ...
Images flashed through his mind. He saw Nico and his sister on a snowy cliff in Maine, Percy Jackson protecting them from a manticore. Percy"s sword gleamed in the dark. He"d been the first demiG.o.d Nico had ever seen in action.
Later, at Camp Half-Blood, Percy took Nico by the arm, promising to keep his sister Bianca safe. Nico had believed him. Nico had looked into his sea-green eyes and thought, How can he possibly fail? This is a real hero. He was Nico"s favourite game, Mythomagic, brought to life.
Jason saw the moment when Percy returned and told Nico that Bianca was dead. Nico had screamed and called him a liar. He"d felt betrayed, but still ... when the skeleton warriors attacked, he couldn"t let them harm Percy. Nico had called on the earth to swallow them up, and then he"d run away terrified of his own powers, and his own emotions.
Jason saw a dozen more scenes like this from Nico"s point of view ... And they left him stunned, unable to move or speak.
Meanwhile, Nico"s Roman skeletons surged forward and grappled with something invisible. The G.o.d struggled, flinging the dead aside, breaking off ribs and skulls, but the skeletons kept coming, pinning the G.o.d"s arms.
Interesting! Cupid said. Do you have the strength, after all?
"I left Camp Half-Blood because of love," Nico said. "Annabeth ... she "
Still hiding, Cupid said, smashing another skeleton to pieces. You do not have the strength.
"Nico," Jason managed to say, "it"s okay. I get it."
Nico glanced over, pain and misery washing across his face.
"No, you don"t," he said. "There"s no way you can understand."
And so you run away again, Cupid chided. From your friends, from yourself.
"I don"t have friends!" Nico yelled. "I left Camp Half-Blood because I don"t belong! I"ll never belong!"
The skeletons had Cupid pinned now, but the invisible G.o.d laughed so cruelly that Jason wanted to summon another bolt of lightning. Unfortunately, he doubted he had the strength.
"Leave him alone, Cupid," Jason croaked. "This isn"t ..."
His voice failed. He wanted to say it wasn"t Cupid"s business, but he realized this was exactly Cupid"s business. Something Favonius said kept buzzing in his ears: Are you shocked?
The story of Psyche finally made sense to him why a mortal girl would be so afraid. Why she would risk breaking the rules to look the G.o.d of love in the face, because she feared he might be a monster.
Psyche had been right. Cupid was a monster. Love was the most savage monster of all.
Nico"s voice was like broken gla.s.s. "I I wasn"t in love with Annabeth."
"You were jealous of her," Jason said. "That"s why you didn"t want to be around her. Especially why you didn"t want to be around ... him. It makes total sense."
All the fight and denial seemed to go out of Nico at once. The darkness subsided. The Roman dead collapsed into bones and crumbled to dust.