the_blood_of_olympus_-_rick_riordan

xlviii
Nico
NICO WANTED TO YELL: Time out! Hold it! Freeze!
But he knew it wouldn’t do any good. After weeks of waiting, agonizing and steaming, the Greeks
and Romans wanted blood. Trying to stop the battle now would be like trying to push back a flood
after the dam broke.
Will Solace saved the day.
He put his fingers in his mouth and did a taxicab whistle even more horrible than the last. Several
Greeks dropped their swords. A ripple went through the Roman line like the entire First Cohort was
shuddering.
‘DON’T BE STUPID!’ Will yelled. ‘LOOK!’
He pointed to the north, and Nico grinned from ear to ear. He decided there was something more
beautiful than an off-course projectile: the Athena Parthenos gleaming in the sunrise, flying in from the
coast, suspended from the tethers of six winged horses. Roman eagles circled but did not attack. A
few of them even swooped in, grabbed the cables and helped carry the statue.
Nico didn’t see Blackjack, which worried him, but Reyna Ramírez-Arellano rode on Guido’s
back. Her sword was held high. Her purple cloak glittered strangely, catching the sunlight.
Both armies stared, dumbfounded, as the forty-foot-tall gold and ivory statue came in for a landing.
‘GREEK DEMIGODS!’ Reyna’s voice boomed as if projected from the statue itself, like the
Athena Parthenos had become a stack of concert speakers. ‘Behold your most sacred statue, the
Athena Parthenos, wrongly taken by the Romans. I return it to you now as a gesture of peace!’
The statue settled on the crest of the hill, about twenty feet away from Thalia’s pine tree. Instantly
gold light rippled across the ground, into the valley of Camp Half-Blood and down the opposite side
through the Roman ranks. Warmth seeped into Nico’s bones – a comforting, peaceful sensation he
hadn’t had since … he couldn’t even remember. A voice inside him seemed to whisper: You are not
alone. You are part of the Olympian family. The gods have not abandoned you.
‘Romans!’ Reyna yelled. ‘I do this for the good of the legion, for the good of Rome. We must stand
together with our Greek brethren!’
‘Listen to her!’ Nico marched forward.
He wasn’t even sure why he did it. Why would either side listen to him? He was the worst speaker,
the worst ambassador ever.
Yet he strode between the battle lines, his black sword in his hand. ‘Reyna risked her life for all of
you! We brought this statue halfway across the world, Roman and Greek working together, because
we must join forces. Gaia is rising. If we don’t work together –’