IX

Leo spends a sleepless night climbing over the Athena Parthenos, convinced it must do more than radiate magic. Frustrated by the statue’s lack of moving parts and uneasy with pure sorcery, he finally crashes in the engine room, vowing to uncover its secrets while the ship follows Hazel’s northern detour.

Leo dreams he is chased through his late mother’s workshop. Gaea appears in a veil of dust, promising his death and unleashing a colossal, shadow-wreathed “favorite son” who consumes fire, magic, and speech. Leo flees into a vision of Camp Half-Blood in ruins, where entranced Octavian speaks in Gaea’s voice, foretelling Romans advancing east from New York.

At the shattered pine on Half-Blood Hill, Leo confronts a regal, hate-filled woman wearing a bronze-and-emerald labyrinth pendant. She forces a choice between a deadly plunge off a cliff or entering a reeking cave—the House of Hades—promising he will be the first to die in her maze. Her burning grip sears him as the shadow giant closes in.

Jason wakes Leo in the engine room, finding him clutching the statue of Nike. Jason reports they have cleared the mountains and are nearing Bologna, and that Nico has new information, pushing the crew toward their next decision.