Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HOO.
"You must admit that it's quite an ingenious plan," Akantha said idly to Hades as they watched Thalia take advantage of the dolphin warriors' fear of Dionysus and start to babble on about how Dionysus was their captain, and he was now infuriated by the Argo II being invaded.
Her lie was reinforced by her crewmates, Frank making a huge spectacle of turning himself into a dolphin while Lena and Hazel began acting as if they were insane. Lena started petting the dolphin warrior holding her, and it gave her the delphine equivalent of a disturbed look as she cooed about what a 'pretty little rainbow cat' it was. Hazel meanwhile, started faking some sort of fit and shrieking hysterically about rainbows, of all things. The others were all lying (badly) and adding support to the act. Despite their unconvincing performances, the monsters followed the typical pattern of immortal stupidity by believing the demigods' show completely.
Still, it was an excellent idea. Akantha had done something similar during her own time as a member of the original Argonauts, back in Ancient Greece. Of course, her own crew hadn't gone along half as well as the New Argonauts did. Akantha smirked as she remembered how she and Atalanta had teamed up against Heracles after one too many derogatory comments about their gender and abilities. To this day, the arrogant man still cowered in fear at the sight of her.
"I suppose so," Hades reluctantly agreed, breaking her from her musings.
Her smirk widened at the distaste in his expression. No doubt complimenting any child of Zeus caused him near-physical pain. Still, even Hades had reluctantly acknowledged that Thalia and Jason Grace were far less arrogant and entitled than the majority of their other half-siblings, mortal and immortal alike.
"Careful, Uncle," Hermes forced a chuckle, his expression strained as he did some work on his phone, George and Martha hissing softly to each other about one thing or another. "People might start to get the impression that you don't hate everyone anymore."
Hades fixed the Messenger of the Gods with an icy look. "You-"
"Hush!" Akantha cried. "They're arriving!"
Time worked differently in heavily magical places. Frankly, it was a necessary precaution, because otherwise the immortals would all become dreadfully bored, and when a selfish being with the power to bend reality to their will became bored, things such as tsunamis, volcano eruptions and other types of natural disasters tended to occur.
At any rate, because of the time distortion in Olympus, what was several hours for the Seven was only moments for the group of gods watching the quest.
"This is it, then," Demeter murmured, clenching her hands into her flowing green skirt. "They've arrived in the Ancient Lands. Oh Chaos, may the Fates be on our side, for surely we need their favour now more than we ever have needed it before."
"Indeed," Akantha agreed breathlessly. "Where are Apollo and Artemis? They must prepare for battle immediately."
Jason swallowed as he wandered along the River Tiber, wishing that Reyna were with him. He had said goodbye to his friends already, the six of them having been forced to rush off and get to Nico and the giants. And this was his quest, and his quest alone. He had to be alone. But he still wished that Reyna were there. Her steady companionship, and graceful ease at fighting, not to mention her mere presence, would have been a great help in boosting his own self-confidence at what he was about to do.
The thought of how, if he failed, the gods would be split in two forever, and the two camps would never achieve a proper peace between them, hovered at the back of his mind as he found himself wandering into a restaurant and ordering a pizza. After ordering, he sat down at an outside table and started fiddling with Ivlivs for comfort.
The view was beautiful, he thought as he munched on the pizza, which seemed strangely tasteless in his mouth as he chewed and swallowed, staring out over the river. At least if he died, he could go knowing he'd seen the original Rome, and made peace with his sister. Though, the new knowledge of his mother was distinctly unwelcome. He couldn't remember her at all, and what he'd learned was not what he had hoped to discover.
The sound of a Vespa broke him from his thoughts, and he looked up from the table he had been unconsciously staring at just in time to see an old-fashioned, baby blue motor scooter pull up in front of him. Seated on it were two people who looked almost identical to Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn (Lena had a surprising fondness for black and white romantic movies, and Lou Ellen Blackstone had organized a camp-wide movie night to mark her birthday a few months ago.)
His mouth dropped open in surprise, but the woman spoke before he could.
"We've just had the most wonderful day!"
"You're Audrey Hepburn," he replied blankly. Wasn't she dead?
She frowned in bemusement. "Oh, I think that you've mistaken me for someone else. I'm Rhea Silvia. I was the mother of Romulus and Remus, back just before the founding of Rome."
"But aren't you supposed to be dead?" Jason protested. Whether she was Rhea Silvia or Audrey Hepburn, she was not supposed to be alive and prancing around Ancient Rome on a baby blue Vespa. Then his insides went cold in horror as he realized what must have happened. Rhea Silvia was not the first undead person he had met recently after all. "You're with Gaia!"
"No I most certainly am not!" she snapped back, looking offended.
"She isn't," the man (not Gregory Peck, obviously). "I am Tiberinus, god of the River Tiber. Given the current situation, I do understand your assumption, but I assure you that it is incorrect. Please, allow me to explain. You see, long ago I saved Rhea's children, Romulus and Remus, and brought them to the wolf goddess Lupa to be raised and trained by her, as the first of many. Later, when King Numen tried to kill her, I took pity and made her my wife. She has been ruling the river kingdom at my side ever since. (Rhea Silvia smiled fondly and clasped his hand in her hers as Tiberinus continued.)
Right now, however, we are here to help you."
"Help me? How?"
"My naiads told me that you were here." Tiberinus cast his dark eyes over Jason, as if he was judging whether or not Jason was worthy of the task he had received. "You have the map, my boy? And your letter of introduction?"
"Uh…" Jason bit his lip as he handed Tiberinus the letter and the disk of bronze.
The god looked them over quickly. "Well, all of your documents seem in order," he declared. "We should get going. The Mark of Athena awaits!"
Jason summoned his courage, stubbornly reminding himself that he had faced a Titan in single combat, as well as two giants, and he had survived. He could do this. "Alright," he agreed. "So, what do-?"
"Come, Jason, my boy," Rhea Silvia chirruped cheerfully. Jason thought bitterly that, despite having once been a mortal and borne two half-blood children, she didn't seem remotely upset or concerned at his likely fate. Sometimes he really hated gods. "We will show you where your path starts. After that though, you're on your own."
As they sped through Rome on a scooter, Tiberinus and Rhea Silvia gave Jason a miniature tour of the ancient city, pointing out spots of battle, a building that had been a church, temple, palace, and was now an apartment block, and the spot where Romulus and Remus had washed ashore. Jason had to admit, he was fascinated by it all.
"There's so history," he breathed, not he even realizing that he had spoken aloud until Rhea Silvia laughed lightly.
"Oh, my dear child," she smiled at him. He knew that she was beautiful, but she was too delicate and sweet for his tastes. Like most demigods that he knew, he preferred his partner to be strong, and capable of taking care of herself in a fight, instead of being a liability like Rhea Silvia seemed as if she would be. Reyna could never be considered a liability in a fight, only an asset.
Gods, he missed her. Those few minutes they'd managed to spend together at Camp Jupiter before he'd left again hadn't been close to enough. Neither had the nightly conversations that they had shared over IM.
"Rome has a lot of history," Rhea Silvia told him. "But compared to Greece, its' just a baby. You'll see when you get there. If you get there, of course."
"Of course," he replied dryly.
"Here we are," Tiberinus announced suddenly as he pulled over in front of a large marble building, the façade covered in city grime but still beautiful. Ornate carvings of Roman gods decorated the roofline. The massive entrance was barred with iron gates, heavily padlocked.
"I'm going in there?" Jason suddenly wished that he had brought Leo and his toolkit for help. Or maybe Luke, with his ability to manipulate any lock that he came across.
Rhea Silvia covered her mouth and giggled again. "No, my dear. Not in it. Under it."
Tiberinus pointed to a set of stone steps on the side of the building—the sort that would have led to a basement apartment if this place were in Manhattan.
"Rome is chaotic aboveground," he said, "but that's nothing compared to below ground. You must descend into the buried city, Jason Grace. Find the altar of the foreign god. The failures of your predecessors will guide you. After that…I do not know."
Jason's backpack felt heavy on his shoulders. He had been studying the bronze map for days now, scouring the little library of mythological books from both camps for any hint of information. Unfortunately, the few things he had managed to discover had only made this quest seem even more impossible. "My predecessors…none of them made it all the way to the shrine, did they." It was a statement, not a question.
Tiberinus shook his head. "But you know what prize awaits, if you can liberate it."
"Yes," Jason nodded. He steeled himself. He was a Roman, a former Centurion and Praetor of the Twelfth Legion. The son of Jupiter and Defeater of the Titan Krios. He had fought two giants, and killed one. He could do this. He would do this.
"Thank you, my lord and lady, for your help," he said formerly, climbing off the scooter and bowing to them.
Rhea Silvia finally turned solemn, both of the gods giving him serious looks.
"If you succeed, it could bring peace to the children of Greece and Rome and unite the two forms of the gods in a way never before believed possible," Rhea Silvia told him. Her ditzy attitude had disappeared, and the weight of a dozen centuries of life bored into him from her dark brown eyes. "If you are successful in finding it, it could change the whole course of the coming war."
"If I live," Jason reminded her stoically. After all, if he found it, but died fighting the Parthenos' current guardian, as hundreds before him had done, then it would all be useless. Perhaps his failure would even be enough to break the fragile peace between the Romans and the Greeks, and cause them to defy Valeria's orders and start another Civil War. Maybe it was a bit arrogant to think of himself as being so important, but the possibility was there.
Tiberinus nodded sadly at his words. "Because you also understand the guardian that you must face?"
Jason recalled the spiders at Fort Sumter, the children of Athena's collective worst fear, and the dream that Frank had described—an ancient and powerful voice, hissing in the dark.
"I understand."
Rhea Silvia looked at her husband. "He is brave," she murmured to him. "And, unlike the others, he is neither a child of the traitor Athena, nor a Greek on Roman ground, hindered by such things. Perhaps he will succeed where the others have all failed."
"I certainly hope so," the river god replied, patting her hand gently. "We shall see soon enough, I suppose. Good-bye, Jason Grace. And good luck."
Rhea Silvia beamed at him, her bright mood restored once again. "Oh, we have such a lovely afternoon planned! Off to shop!"
The Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn lookalikes sped off on their baby-blue motorbike. Jason stared after them for a moment, his heart heavy in his chest. Then Jason turned and descended the steps alone.