LUNCH FELT LIKE a funeral party. Everybody ate. People talked in hushed tones. Nobody seemed particularly happy. The other campers kept glancing over at Mia like she was the corpse of honor. Then again, they always looked like that to her.

Reyna made a brief speech wishing them luck. Octavian ripped open a Beanie Baby and pronounced grave omens and hard times ahead, but predicted the camp would be saved by an unexpected hero ( whose initials were probably OCTAVIAN ). Then the other campers went off to their afternoon classes — gladiator fighting, Latin lessons, paintball with ghosts, eagle training, and a dozen other activities that sounded better than a suicide quest, even to Mia. She led Nico to an empty apartment that they inhabited last night.

As if Mia even had to pack. She kept everything in her bottomless backpack that she'd gotten as a gift from Hecate — a shit ton of clothes, her makeup, some ambrosia, nectar, her wallet, and some other things that she'd kept for the memories like her Camp Half-Blood necklace, t-shirt, and a picture of her and Sophia. She hadn't really taken anything out. Her necklace that held Sirius and her Starfury ring were on her, as well as the identical skull ring Nico had bought her for her birthday.

"Where are you going while I'm gone?" Mia asked him, towel drying her hair after a shower.

"Help Dad. Track escaping souls. Find the Doors," he told her, sifting through the stuff in her backpack. "Don't reveal the t-shirt and necklace to anyone."

"Yes, father," she rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you wanna go alone?"

"Do I have a choice?" Nico countered.

Mia sighed, taking out a brush and starting to comb her hair into a straight, wet mess. "I wish you did."

"I know you'll be fine," he told her. "You're capable. You've learned a lot over these few months. More than I have."

"That's physically," she said. "Mentally? I'm still a mess. That's not a good mentality to have going into a quest."

He understood. "You'll have Hazel and Frank. It won't just be you two."

"He'll ask questions."

"Give him half truths."

You're good at that, was the unspoken message. Or maybe that was just one of the voices in her head.

"I think you're good," Nico offered Mia the blow dryer, and she took it and gave him her brush. "Just don't lose your wallet."

"I've lost too many of them over the years to even consider losing it again," she snorted, but she gave him a grateful look.

After she was done, he walked her to the barracks, where her questmates were waiting.

"I'll see you on the other side," Mia gave him a quick hug, out of sight from the others.

"Do not," Nico scrunched his nose. "Don't die."

"You'll feel it if I do," she huffed. "Love you."

As she walked toward her doom, she heard him say quietly, "love you too."

One of the legionnaires, Bobby, gave them a ride to the border of the valley on Hannibal the elephant. From the hilltops, Mia could see everything below. The Little Tiber snaked across golden pastures where the unicorns were grazing. The temples and forums of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. On the Field of Mars, engineers were hard at work, pulling down the remains of last night's fort and setting up barricades for a game of death ball. A normal day for Camp Jupiter — but on the northern horizon, storm clouds were gathering.

Looking down at the valley, Mia felt homesick for a place that wasn't hers anymore. It hurt, but now she didn't belong at any camp. She belonged to the Starfury company — if she was ever done with this demigod business. No, she had to be done, after the huge Eight quest. Or she would be dead, which, frankly, wouldn't be ideal.

They got off the elephant. Bobby wished them a safe journey. Hannibal wrapped the four questers with his trunk. Then the elephant taxi service headed back into the valley.

Percy sighed. He turned to Mia, Hazel, and Frank and opened his mouth to say something when a familiar voice said, "IDs, please."

A statue of Terminus appeared at the summit of the hill. The god's marble face frowned irritably. "Well? Come along!"

"You again?" Percy asked. "I thought you just guarded the city."

Terminus huffed. "Glad to see you, too, Mr. Rule Flouter. Normally, yes, I guard the city, but for international departures, I like to provide extra security at the camp borders. You really should've allowed two hours before your planned departure time, you know. But we'll have to make do. Now, come over here so I can pat you down."

"But you don't have—" Percy stopped himself. "Uh, sure."

He stood next to the armless statue. Terminus conducted a rigorous mental pat down.

"You seem to be clean," Terminus decided. "Do you have anything to declare?"

"Yes," Percy said. "I declare this is stupid."

"Hmph! Probatio tablet: Percy Jackson, Fifth Cohort, son of Neptune. Fine, go. Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto. Fine. Any foreign currency or, ahem, precious metals to declare?"

"No," she muttered.

"Are you sure?" Terminus asked. "Because last time—"

"No!"

"Well, this is a grumpy bunch," said the god. "Quest travelers! Always in a rush. Amelia Starfury, daughter of Proserpina, Ambassador of the Underworld — where's the son of Pluto?"

"He's not coming with, unfortunately," Mia put her charming smile on. "But I think he'll be leaving soon, if you want to send him warm wishes."

"Fine. Now, let's see — Frank Zhang. Ah! Centurion? Well done, Frank. And that haircut is regulation perfect. I approve! Off you go, then, Centurion Zhang. Do you need any directions today?"

"No. No, I guess not."

"Just down to the BART station," Terminus said anyway. "Change trains at Twelfth Street in Oakland. You want Fruitvale Station. From there, you can walk or take the bus to Alameda."

"You guys don't have a magical BART train or some thing?" Percy asked.

"Magic trains!" Terminus scoffed. "You'll be wanting your own security lane and a pass to the executive lounge next. Just travel safely, and watch out for Polybotes. Talk about scofflaws — bah! I wish I could throttle him with my bare hands."

"Wait — who?" Percy asked.

Terminus made a straining expression, like he was flexing his nonexistent biceps. "Ah, well. Just be careful of him. I imagine he can smell a son of Neptune a mile away. Out you go, now. Good luck!"

An invisible force kicked them across the boundary. When Mia looked back, Terminus was gone. In fact, the entire valley was gone. The Berkeley Hills seemed to be free of any Roman camp. Just like every other time she and Nico would leave. Except for the fact that he wasn't with her.

Percy looked at them. "Any idea what Terminus was talking about? Watch out for . . . Political something or other?"

"Poh-LIB-uh-tease?" Hazel sounded out the name carefully. "Never heard of him."

"Sounds Greek," Frank said.

Mia's eyes darted around. "I know a little," she said. "But we should keep moving. We just appeared on the smell radar for every monster within five miles. Come on."

It took them two hours to reach the docks in Alameda. Compared to some of Nico and Mia's adventures, the trip was easy. No monsters attacked. Nobody looked at Mia all that closely, but no one ever did. Not with her new hair and new makeup style, which she had been doing while she was walking.

Frank had stored his spear, bow, and quiver in a long bag made for skis. Hazel's cavalry sword was wrapped in a bedroll slung on her back. Riptide was probably in pen form in Percy's pocket. Together the four of them looked like normal high schoolers on their way to an overnight trip. They walked to Rockridge Station, bought their tickets with mortal money, and hopped on the BART train.

They got off in Oakland. They had to walk through some rough neighborhoods, but nobody bothered them. Percy's glare led them away, which would've made Mia think that it was hot if not for the fact that she was constantly on edge from him asking about where she came from and of how she'd met Nico. She managed to dodge most of his questions using pure skill.

In the late afternoon, they made it to the Alameda docks. Dozens of boats were moored at the docks — everything from fifty-foot yachts to ten-foot fishing boats. Mia's eyes stayed on the yacht, and she would've wanted it if not for the memories of the Princess Andromeda.

"Um . . . you guys know what we're looking for?" Percy asked.

Mia, Hazel, and Frank shook their heads.

"I didn't even know we had a navy." Hazel sounded as if she wished there wasn't one. Mia knew why she didn't, and she winced.

"Oh . . ." Frank pointed. "You don't think . . .?"

At the end of the dock was a tiny boat, like a dinghy, covered in a purple tarp. Embroidered in faded gold along the canvas was S.P.Q.R.

Percy's face fell. "No way."

He uncovered the boat, his hands working the knots like he'd been doing it his whole life. Mia had watched him do it multiple times in the years that they'd known each other, then again. Under the tarp was an old steel rowboat with no oars. The boat had been painted dark blue at one point, but the hull was so crusted with tar and salt it looked like one massive nautical bruise.

On the bow, the name Pax was still readable, lettered in gold. Painted eyes drooped sadly at the water level, as if the boat were about to fall asleep. On board were two benches, some steel wool, an old cooler, and a mound of frayed rope with one end tied to the mooring. At the bottom of the boat, aplastic bag and two empty Coke cans floated in several inches of scummy water.

"Behold," Mia said, because she couldn't resist it. "The mighty Roman navy."

"There's got to be a mistake," Hazel said. "This is a piece of junk."

Percy jumped aboard, and the hull hummed under his feet, responding to his presence. He gathered up the garbage in the cooler and put it on the dock. He willed the scummy water to flow over the sides and out of the boat. Then he pointed at the steel wool and it flew across the floor, scrubbing and polishing so fast, the steel began to smoke. When it was done, the boat was clean. Percy pointed at the rope, and it untied itself from the dock.

"This'll do," he said. "Hop in."

Hazel and Frank looked a little stunned, but they climbed aboard, and Mia gingerly followed them. Hazel was especially nervous. When they had settled on the seats, Percy concentrated, and the boat slipped away from the dock, rocking dangerously.

"Get off my ship," he growled.

"Uh, what?" Frank asked.

"Nothing," Percy said after a moment. "Let's see what this rowboat can do."

He turned the boat to the north, and in no time they were speeding along, heading for the Golden Gate Bridge.