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‘Like your zodiac sign?’ Percy asked. ‘I’m a Leo.’<br />
‘No, stupid,’ Leo said. ‘I’m a Leo. You’re a Percy.’<br />
‘Will you two stop it?’ Hazel chided. ‘I think he means gemini like doubled – half man, half snake.<br />
That’s what his people are called. He’s a geminus, singular.’<br />
‘Yes …’ Kekrops leaned away from Hazel as if she somehow <strong>of</strong>fended him. ‘Millennia ago, we<br />
were driven underground by <strong>the</strong> two-legged humans, but I know <strong>the</strong> ways <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> city better than any. I<br />
came to warn you. If you try to approach <strong>the</strong> Acropolis aboveground, you will be destroyed.’<br />
Jason stopped nibbling his cake. ‘You mean … by you?’<br />
‘By Porphyrion’s armies,’ said <strong>the</strong> snake king. ‘The Acropolis is ringed with great siege weapons<br />
– onagers.’<br />
‘More onagers?’ Frank protested. ‘Did <strong>the</strong>y have a sale on <strong>the</strong>m or something?’<br />
‘The Cyclopes,’ Hazel guessed. ‘They’re supplying both Octavian and <strong>the</strong> giants.’<br />
Percy grunted. ‘Like we needed more pro<strong>of</strong> that Octavian is on <strong>the</strong> wrong side.’<br />
‘That is not <strong>the</strong> only threat,’ Kekrops warned. ‘The air is filled with storm spirits and gryphons.<br />
All roads to <strong>the</strong> Acropolis are patrolled by <strong>the</strong> Earthborn.’<br />
Frank drummed his fingers on <strong>the</strong> Bundt cake cover. ‘So, what, we should just give up? We’ve<br />
come too far for that.’<br />
‘I <strong>of</strong>fer you an alternative,’ said Kekrops. ‘Underground passage to <strong>the</strong> Acropolis. For <strong>the</strong> sake <strong>of</strong><br />
A<strong>the</strong>na, for <strong>the</strong> sake <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> gods, I will help you.’<br />
The back <strong>of</strong> Piper’s neck tingled. She remembered what <strong>the</strong> giantess Periboia had said in her<br />
dream: that <strong>the</strong> demigods would find friends in A<strong>the</strong>ns as well as enemies. Perhaps <strong>the</strong> giantess had<br />
meant Kekrops and his snake people. But <strong>the</strong>re was something in Kekrops’s voice that Piper didn’t<br />
like – that razor-against-strop tone, as if he were preparing to make a sharp cut.<br />
‘What’s <strong>the</strong> catch?’ she asked.<br />
Kekrops turned those inscrutable dark eyes on her. ‘Only a small party <strong>of</strong> demigods – no more than<br />
three – could pass undetected by <strong>the</strong> giants. O<strong>the</strong>rwise your scent would give you away. But our<br />
underground passages could lead you straight into <strong>the</strong> ruins <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Acropolis. Once <strong>the</strong>re, you could<br />
disable <strong>the</strong> siege weapons by stealth and allow <strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong> your crew to approach. With luck, you<br />
could take <strong>the</strong> giants by surprise. You might be able to disrupt <strong>the</strong>ir ceremony.’<br />
‘Ceremony?’ Leo asked. ‘Oh … like, to wake Gaia.’<br />
‘Even now it has begun,’ Kekrops warned. ‘Can you not feel <strong>the</strong> earth trembling? We, <strong>the</strong> gemini,<br />
are your best chance.’<br />
Piper heard eagerness in his voice – almost hunger.<br />
Percy looked around <strong>the</strong> table. ‘Any objections?’<br />
‘Just a few,’ Jason said. ‘We’re on <strong>the</strong> enemy’s doorstep. We’re being asked to split up. Isn’t that<br />
how people get killed in horror movies?’<br />
‘Also,’ Percy said, ‘Gaia wants us to reach <strong>the</strong> Par<strong>the</strong>non. She wants our <strong>blood</strong> to water <strong>the</strong> stones<br />
and all that o<strong>the</strong>r psycho garbage. Won’t we be playing right into her hands?’<br />
Annabeth caught Piper’s eye. She asked a silent question: What’s your feeling?<br />
Piper still wasn’t used to that – <strong>the</strong> way Annabeth looked to her for advice now. Ever since Sparta,