Despite his battle scars, the Titan’s face was handsome and strangely familiar. Percy was pretty sure he’d never seen the guy before, but his eyes and his smile reminded Percy of someone. …
The Titan stopped in front of Bob. He clapped him on the shoulder. “Iapetus! Don’t tell me you don’t recognize your own brother!”
“No!” Bob agreed nervously. “I won’t tell you that. ”
The other Titan threw back his head and laughed. “I heard you were thrown into the Lethe. Must’ve been terrible! We all knew you would heal eventually. It’s Koios! Koios!”
“Of course,” Bob said. “Koios, Titan of…”
“The North!” Koios said.
“I know!” Bob shouted.
They laughed together and took turns hitting each other in the arm.
Apparently miffed by all the jostling, Small Bob crawled onto Bob’s head and began making a nest in the Titan’s silver hair.
“Poor old Iapetus,” said Koios. “They must have laid you low indeed. Look at you! A broom? A servant’s uniform? A cat in your hair? Truly, Hades must pay for these insults. Who was that demigod who took your memory? Bah! We must rip him to pieces, you and I, eh?”
“Ha-ha. ” Bob swallowed. “Yes, indeed. Rip him to pieces. ”
Percy’s fingers closed around his pen. He didn’t think much of Bob’s brother, even without the rip-him-to-pieces threat. Compared to Bob’s simple way of speaking, Koios sounded like he was reciting Shakespeare. That alone was enough to make Percy irritated.
He was ready to uncap Riptide if he had to, but so far Koios didn’t seem to notice him. And Bob hadn’t betrayed them yet, though he’d had plenty of opportunities.
“Ah, it’s good to see you. …” Koios drummed his fingers on his bear’s-head helmet. “You remember what fun we had in the old days?”
“Of course!” Bob chirped. “When we, uh…”
“Holding down our father, Ouranos,” Koios said.
“Yes! We loved wrestling with Dad. …”
“We restrained him. ”
“That’s what I meant!”
“While Kronos cut him to pieces with his scythe. ”
“Yes, ha-ha. ” Bob looked mildly ill. “What fun. ”
“You grabbed Father’s right foot, as I recall,” Koios said. “And Ouranos kicked you in the face as he struggled. How we used to tease you about that!”
“Silly me,” Bob agreed.
“Sadly, our brother Kronos was dissolved by those impudent demigods. ” Koios heaved a sigh. “Bits and pieces of his essence remain, but nothing you could put together again. I suppose some injuries even Tartarus cannot heal. ”
“Alas!”
“But the rest of us have another chance to shine, eh?” He leaned forward conspiratorially. “These giants may think they will rule. Let them be our shock troops and destroy the Olympians—all well and good. But once the Earth Mother is awake, she will remember that we are her eldest children. Mark my words. The Titans will yet rule the cosmos. ”
“Hmm,” Bob said. “The giants may not like that. ”
“Spit on what they like,” Koios said. “They’ve already passed through the Doors of Death, anyway, back to the mortal world. Polybotes was the last one, not half an hour ago, still grumbling about missing his prey. Apparently some demigods he was after got swallowed by Nyx. Never see them again, I wager!”
Annabeth gripped Percy’s wrist. Through the Death Mist, he couldn’t read her expression very well, but he saw the alarm in her eyes.
If the giants had already passed through the Doors, then at least they wouldn’t be hunting through Tartarus for Percy and Annabeth. Unfortunately, that also meant their friends in the mortal world were in even greater danger. All of the earlier fights with the giants had been in vain. Their enemies would be reborn as strong as ever.
“Well!” Koios drew his massive sword. The blade radiated a cold deeper than the Hubbard Glacier. “I must be off. Leto should have regenerated by now. I will convince her to fight. ”
“Of course,” Bob murmured. “Leto. ”
Koios laughed. “You’ve forgotten my daughter, as well? I suppose it’s been too long since you’ve seen her. The peaceful ones like her always take the longest to re-form. This time, though, I’m sure Leto will fight for vengeance. The way Zeus treated her, after she bore him those fine twins? Outrageous!”
Percy almost grunted out loud.
The twins.
He remembered the name Leto: the mother of Apollo and Artemis. This guy Koios looked vaguely familiar because he had Artemis’s cold eyes and Apollo’s smile. The Titan was their grandfather, Leto’s father. The idea gave Percy a migraine.
“Well! I’ll see you in the mortal world!” Koios chest-bumped Bob, almost knocking the cat off his head. “Oh, and our two other brothers are guarding this side of the Doors, so you’ll see them soon enough!”
“I will?”
“Count on it!” Koios lumbered off, almost knocking over Percy and Annabeth as they scrambled out of his way.
Before the crowd of monsters could fill the empty space, Percy motioned for Bob to lean in.