It took a good couple of hours for the crew to fully comprehend that the danger had passed. The fighting had been intense enough to where the alertness and adrenaline that came with it lingered. Within a few minutes of them submerging, after they'd made the shore become the horizon, they emerged back above the surface. Festus' head spat up a large amount of salt water, and Percy came back aboard looking like he just ran a marathon. Sweat drenched his forehead, his eyes bloodshot and his image, surprisingly, unrefined.

Jason looked around at the crew. All things considered, they got off light. One of Piper's arms was pretty badly cut up, but Grover was already working on it. Leo took a nasty hit in the back, but it would only cause a big bruise at worst. Grover and Luke seemed to get off fine, and all Jason felt was fatigue. He'd gone nonstop flying for over three hours once the fighting started, along with exerting his aerokinetic abilities, it left him drained. He saw Percy all but collapse against the railing, dropping to sit, wheezing. Jason had never seen him so tired.

Instantly, the son of Jupiter felt a pang of guilt; he'd hesitated in going to help him, being bogged down by his irrational hostility toward the Greek. Still, an apology would have to wait until later. He turned to Annabeth, who was similarly sitting leaning against the side of the ship, arms wrapped around knees which were brought up to her chest. "Where are we heading?" he asked. She didn't respond, just stared straight ahead. "Annabeth," he said, snapping his fingers in front of her, using his powers to make absolutely sure that she heard it. She started, and then looked up at him. "Where are we going?"

"…Rome," she said curtly. Jason nodded, and looked to Leo.

"You get that?" he asked. The boy gave him a thumbs up, stretching after Grover used his nature magic to ease the probable ache in his back.

"ETA, like…four days?" he guessed. "We're slower than a plane, but way faster than a normal ship. We'd make it there faster, but it'd burn through fuel a lot quicker."

The quest leader nodded, and gave Annabeth a weary look before going to see about Piper's injury. The daughter of Athena had gone back to staring straight ahead.

Percy took notice of the behavior. He'd seen it before, in a person right on the brink of insanity. He wanted to just sit down for a while, but he forced his feet under him to shuffle over to her. He sat next to her, shoulder to shoulder. She didn't seem to notice his touch.

"…Don't keep it all in," he warned, his voice quiet. It, unlike Jason's, was heard immediately.

"…You wouldn't get it," was her answer.

"Try me."

"…It…it…"

"Broke you?" Percy guessed. The woman nodded. "You can't break what was already broken," he noted.

The slightest hint of a smile crept onto her lips. Percy didn't know whether it was from humor or relief, but either way it made him hopeful, and either way, it faded quickly. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again, deciding against it.

He took her hand comfortingly. "…You wanna talk about it?"

"…" she didn't answer in words, not at first. She only curled her fingers into his, and brought them up to her chest.

Percy's gaze moved to the ocean. "We made a promise, you know. That we wouldn't keep secrets from each other."

"…"

"We didn't keep that promise, because we were stupid teenagers who never kept promises," he recalled the summer after Atlas. "But we've been going pretty strong with it after a slight, uh…mishap," he shook her hand a bit. "I'd like to keep it, even if you don't remember."

"…So do I, but…not now," she said, more like begged actually. She looked at him with her beautiful silver eyes, pleading for him to drop the subject for now. He nodded, and kissed her.

"…Alright. If you ever need to talk about it, please don't hesitate."

"I won't," she claimed.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

After a couple of minutes of talking, Percy convinced Annabeth go get what sleep she could, figuring it wouldn't be much. Percy figured her should check up on everyone. Luke was fine; Percy knew he didn't need to worry about the Titan Lord's host.

That left Jason and Piper, who were together, along with Grover. Jason had wrapped up her arm, while Grover was busy with his nature magic, easing the pain. "Hey, princess," he walked over. "You still good to fight?"

She scoffed at the nickname, but nodded. She took out her pen. 'I'm as ready as ever,' she claimed.

"Don't push it," Percy warned, trying to temper her sense of confidence, to keep it from turning to arrogance; he knew where it got a fighter, rubbing his neck as he thought about it. "And how are you two holding up?" he asked the guys.

"I'm good, man," Grover answered.

"Tired, but that's to be expected," Jason agreed. Percy nodded, and left toward Leo. Jason frowned. "He doesn't need to check up on everyone; I already-"

Piper lightly slapped his arm so he'd look at her sign language. 'He's still in 'leader' mode, from back at camp,' she figured. Jason returned the gestures.

'He should be focused on recovering his strength,' the son of Jupiter returned. Grover looked between them, looking to try and decipher the code, so to speak.

"Did I miss the memo?" he wondered. Piper giggled, and Jason scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry; it's habit to return it at this point," he said. "Just thinking is all."

"Whatever, man," Grover stood, trying to stay positive. "I'ma go see about Annabeth. You gotta take it easy, the both of you," he nodded to them, and then took his leave.

'Yeah, you should,' Piper agreed, smirking. 'You've been working yourself too hard. You weren't like this on our quest.'

'No, I was just getting up in everyone's business,' Jason recalled their disdain for that part of him. Piper grimaced at the gestured comment, but shook her head and offered a smile nonetheless.

'I'm here for you,' she reminded him, putting a hand on the bandana he wore on his arm. 'Always.'

'I know. Thank you.'

"Velaira to you too," she said back, her voice full of warmth and comfort. Jason smiled, and stood.

xxxXXXxxx

"Alright, get some sleep, Leo," Jason said as he walked out onto the deck. The smaller boy yawned and waved goodnight without saying anything; he'd been at the helm for over 36 hours by then, and had only an hour of break before that, from which he used to eat after the escape from Fort Sumter.

They'd been over the ocean for two days, that meant. Two more days of travel meant that they'd be in Rome, with any luck. One more day until they get back onto land.

Truth be told, they didn't need a night watch. Festus and his scanners would warn them if anything remotely monster-shaped came within a hundred meters of the Argo II, but Jason's brain wouldn't let him sleep if nobody was out here. For the two nights they'd been over open ocean, he'd taken that shift, which meant he got roughly three hours of sleep, since Percy woke up, generally, around four, and Jason's alarm, or rather the one Leo had built into their rooms, went off at seven.

Piper usually slept for another two hours after that, popping in earbuds to drown out the alarm. Luke, Leo, and Grover got up as scheduled, as did Jason despite how little rest he received, and they went about their daily routines. The mess hall automatically prepared cooked food, using some of Hephaestus' own magic devices to basically read the eater's thoughts to serve what they wanted. Percy wasn't usually at breakfast, claiming he was taking morning watch. When he was around, blue food came out for him. He stared at it for a few moments, and then pushed it away, not eating any of it. Luke or Annabeth usually offered some of their food instead.

Speaking of the latter…

Jason sighed upon seeing the sitting figure. "We've talked about this," he said to the daughter of Athena. "You need sleep."

She stared up at him blankly. She was holding Tempus' notebook, open to one of the earlier pages. "She thought you liked her, at one point or another," she mentioned of Tempus.

"Tammy was like a sister; attractive or not, hormones or not," he put a hand on his hip. "And you need sleep."

"Shut up," she said quietly, burying her face into the book. "It's not that easy."

"You're exhausted; just go to your bed and-"

"The covers feel like spiders," she interrupted. "The way it is against my skin. I can't stand it!"

Jason blinked. "…Does this have to do with Fort Sumter?"

"No, I've just always had a phobia of sheets," she lowered her eyes. Jason raised an eyebrow.

He sighed again. "A few days ago, you'd barely speak. At least now you have your wit back; how I've missed the silver tongue of a Greek."

"Better than the jaded cynicism of an Aduro," she snapped back. The two glared at each other; the two candidates for quest leader. One was nearly broken, the other stood over her.

"It's Roman," he warned, the wind picking up around him. She didn't seem frightened by the display or the warning, despite her obvious lack of strength, and thus her form didn't tense; she wasn't preparing for a fight. It was like she knew she'd lose, but figured he couldn't do anything of note to her.

Jason was seriously considering just throwing her overboard, sending her flying a mile or two away, to plummet several hundred feet down into the ocean below, where she'd hopefully drown. Thankfully, he caught himself.

His form relaxed, and he took several deep breaths. "…I hope whatever you find in Rome is worth it," he said finally. "Because constantly thinking of killing you is getting really old."

Annabeth wasn't so aware. "Maybe it's because Greeks aren't so barbarous, but I don't have that urge."

"Maybe not consciously," he argued. "And besides, don't forget that Greece split apart into civil war, where the barbarous Spartans won out."

"Why should I have to defend my ancestors? And besides," he narrowed her eyes. "Rome had a habit of butchering its emperors."

"Most of them were tyrants, just like Sparta. Only we didn't allow them to win in the end," The two had come to another standstill. This time, in a battle of the mind and of the world, both of them tensed. "…We both need sleep, it seems. Apologies, I usually don't let myself partake in things like petty squabbles," he said trying to soften. Annabeth, finally, seemed to do the same.

"…It's a bad habit of mine," she admitted. "I get…territorial…"

"I've noticed. But, we all have our faults. I get too personal with people, apparently."

"Apparently?"

"I…also have some difficulty admitting faults…" he turned away, embarrassed. Annabeth giggled a bit, and stood. "Please, I don't mean this in harm, but I really think you should get some rest, at least to try. If we want that artifact, we'll need everyone on their toes."

She nodded. "…Alright, I'll try. But you should, too. Let someone else take night watch, if there has to be one."

Jason shrugged. "Consider it considered."

She lightly smiled, and then entered the main of the ship, leaving Jason alone. Her lips curled back down quickly, as the prospect of feeling something crawling against her skin absolutely terrifying her in a way that she didn't think was possible. It was this primal fear, beyond all logic and even any emotion. It was fear.

She recalled Tempus' advice. "Find a nice body or two to sleep next to instead, like a dog, or a partner. And avoid high places as well."

The daughter of Athena tried to cope without following it. She found that she couldn't when it came to the sheets, and if she couldn't with that, she figured she'd try to with a newfound fear of heights, by being out against the railing while they were flying high up. She couldn't do that either; she'd nearly thrown up, so she crouched down to where she couldn't see over the edge, and buried herself into the notebook to try and stop thinking about it. Then Jason came, of course.

"Find a nice body…"

Percy was a pretty heavy sleeper, which is why he found it surprising when he woke up to the sound of his door opening. Granted, he didn't wake up much; just enough to be annoyed. He grumbled irritably at the creaking of the door.

"Um, can I come in?" he heard a small voice outside. He was too tired to recognize it, and all he heard was 'come in'. He grumbled again, muttering something close to 'fine', and then heard muffled footsteps approach his bed.

Nothing happened then. Confused, partly thinking he was dreaming, Percy rolled over to see blonde locks shimmering in the moonlight from the open window. Percy blinked tiredness from his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Annabeth smiled sheepishly.

"I was told to find a body," she said. The Titan Slayer, in his half-asleep state, still thought he might be dreaming, and that she might draw her knife to make him a body, as in a corpse. Instead, she shuffled on her feet. "Can I, um…sleep with you tonight?"

Percy nodded sluggishly and lazily moved as far as he could to the wall. It was only a twin bed, so there wasn't much room. She shuffled in, shivering when he brought the covers over her. She felt a chill run down her spine, and her heartrate pick up. At first, she couldn't tell if it was because she felt the covers, or because she was embarrassed. The latter was confirmed when she felt heat rush to her cheeks as he pulled her closer.

She hardly felt the sheets, instead mostly feeling Percy's body; he slept shirtless. His head was near the end of the bed at the top of the pillow, while Annabeth's was at the bottom of the pillow, eyes roughly at his Adam's apple.

Within a few minutes, he was fully asleep again, not thinking anything of having her in bed with him. "Were we so close?" she wondered, and then immediately thinking that it was a stupid question, given how she was pregnant with their child. "Does it always feel like this, with the heat and embarrassment? Or is that because of my amnesia?" were more apposite questions.

Eventually, Annabeth's own drowsiness and fatigue took over, and she stopped asking herself questions that she didn't know the answer to. Instead, she snuggled even closer to Percy, burying her face into his chest, feeling its warmth, and then slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

xxxXXXxxx

Percy saw the light again as he awoke. It called to him, and yet, this time, he felt something weigh him down, hold him back from grasping toward it. Overhead, as he awoke, the light was off and thus the longing for it quickly dissipated from the dream.

He didn't remember waking up half-asleep the previous night. Instead, he woke up with a warm body next to his. He'd be lying if he said he never sleep-walked before, sometimes into the wrong cabin, where he'd try and force himself onto someone, not even necessarily a woman, thinking it was Annabeth from his dream. He was particularly afraid that it might've been like that. The best case would've been Luke, as he'd probably understand. Worst case would either be Jason or Piper. Piper, because that'd just be really weird for the both of them, and Jason because…because fuck Jason. Not literally.

Hypothetical aside, Percy was relieved to smell Annabeth's familiar scent; of forget-me-nots. She saw her sleeping against him, having crawled in next to him. She told him the previous day that she had trouble sleeping, but looking at her now, it was difficult to believe.

"It's because she's with you, dumbass," Riptide claimed.

"I wasn't planning on assuming," Percy returned. He tried to shift to ease her into the bed so he could get up, but she wasn't having any of it. Instead, she wrapped her arms more tightly around him. He let out a light sigh; she did this sometimes after a particularly tough day or night. And while it was super adorable, it was also a pain in the ass when he couldn't get up and move around; he didn't do well when he was just sitting around somewhere.

He instead settled on a more comfortable position. He looked around, seeing his book and his flashlight on the nightstand. He slowly reached for them both, but his arms weren't nearly long enough. He'd need a jerk of the wrist and body to produce enough water to whip it toward him, and then it might wake Annabeth up, if the jerking didn't before that, so that was out.

He tried reaching again, taking it one step at a time. Unfortunately, he reached just a bit too far, upon finally being able to touch it. He yelped as he fell off the bed, dragging Annabeth along with him. She let out a cry of surprise as she jolted awake from the slight fall, and then to see Percy over her, looking like he was about to take advantage.

Her face went red, but she said nothing. "I, uh…s-sorry," the son of Poseidon pushed himself up to his knees. "I kind of fell," he turned away, his own face going red.

Annabeth's lip quivered as she tried holding in a laugh and a squeal of exasperation at the same time, but she just sat up and tried to remember what'd happened the previous night. It quickly came back to her. "Thank you," she said bashfully. "For letting me stay with you."

"Mm," Percy shrugged as he stood, not thinking much of it. He reached up, stretching, before touching his toes, and then bending backward to do a bridge. "Man, but I am sore…" he complained. "Even after a couple days…hasn't happened in a while."

"So you don't call tidal waves on a regular basis?"

He chuckled. "No, can't say that I do," he claimed. The two were quiet for a moment, with Percy lowering himself to lay on the floor, and Annabeth sitting, leaning against the bed. "…You want to talk about it?" Percy asked finally. The daughter of Athena tensed, her form unnaturally still to the point where he wasn't sure if she was breathing. "You don't have to, but if you're curious, I think it'd be the right thing to do."

She nodded, taking several deep breaths, her stillness replaced by restlessness as she fidgeted with her clothes. To her, even their texture was beginning to feel like the spiders. "…Tempus warned me," she said. "She said that it what I was going to find wasn't supposed to be a puzzle, but it was supposed to be torture."

"And? Was it?"

She nodded. "I was forced to lay on the ground. Hundreds of millions of…s…sp…sp-spiders…" her stomach turned as she said it. "They crawled all over me, up my shirt, all over my legs and arms and face…into my mouth…" another twist of the stomach. "…Was I always so scared of them?"

"Yeah, you were," he relayed. "On our first quest, we ran into one of Hephaestus' traps meant for Ares and Aphrodite. He had mechanical spiders swarm you on a water park ride, I think. You froze up completely."

She nodded, though she didn't remember. She wished she could; having such an irrational fear wasn't in her best interest. "After that, it had me fall, or be attacked by spiders again. It was a hallucination, I think. When I 'landed', it was like I hit the ground without feeling the painful part of it. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move. I was…helpless…" she shook her head, feeling tears well up and drip down her face from the memory. "But…everything worked out…we got away…we have a goal…right?"

Percy didn't answer with words, just brought her into a hug. She eased into it, welcoming his warmth. "Everything will be fine," he assured. "I'm here for you, always."

xxxXXXxxx

Jason noticed clouds forming to the east in the early morning, but wasn't expecting them to come so quickly after that. The rain didn't bother him; it was life and energy from his father, but he couldn't say the same for the others. Percy said that he didn't 'trust' the rain, after he'd used it forcibly on a few occasions and expected Jason's father to use it against him in some way. Granted, when it came to gods, he probably had good reason, given that the immortals basically see what element they control as their property in a way. The others, similarly, didn't want to stay out.

Thankfully, Leo installed basic steering in the mess hall for this very reason. He especially didn't like the rain; it was much more difficult for him to start a fire with it after all. Jason was flipping his coin up and down, restless. Despite his lack of sleep, he couldn't help but be a bit twitchy. Something bad was coming in Rome; he could feel it. He closed his eyes, catching his Regalius as he did, and took a deep, calming breath. "Focus on getting there first," he reminded himself, figuring they'd reach the Mediterranean sometime close to the end of the day.

He continued flipping the coin in the air anyway. Soon, someone caught it; Luke. He was smirking. "Feeling lucky?" he wondered, opening his palm to show that it was heads. Jason tensed.

"Give. That. Back," he ordered, voice icy cold. Luke didn't seem deterred by the tone, and casually tossed him the coin. "No one holds this but me. Period."

"Ooh, touchy," Jason didn't dignify that with a response. Luke grabbed a goblet and set it down, with it magically filling with a soda. "Oh man, I missed these. I got a lot from the Titans, but they couldn't replicate this kind of magic."

"The useless kind?"

"Exactly," he said, taking a swig and then smacking his lips. "So, you look like you've got a lot on your mind."

Jason wanted to say, "Of course I do," but he refrained. He shook his head. "No, just…bad feelings."

"If demigods get those, they're usually right."

"Then it doesn't bode well for us…"

"Everything will work out," Luke claimed.

"How can you be so sure?"

"How can you not be sure, if you're supposed to lead us?"

The son of Jupiter sighed. "I mean, I've tried to be confident, tried to push everyone to do this, but…I just don't know. I want to believe we can beat them, that we can really beat the Giants, you know? I just…don't see how yet."

Luke shrugged. "Eh, they're tough, sure. But so are we. Let me tell you something; the Titans were way stronger than the Olympians could've predicted, and they still won. Now, they're expecting it. They have an advantage."

"That's not what I'd call an advantage," he said, and the subject kind of fizzled out after that. Jason had a whole lot of other things to say, but he didn't have the words to say them. It was as if all of his thoughts had melded together into a big ball of anxiety and doubt. There wasn't a word in the English language to describe that feeling. Instead, he focused on something he saw.

Percy and Annabeth walked into the room for lunch. They'd mostly stayed in their rooms, but Jason would bet they came out at the same time, likely an internal clock within them both to eat at a certain time. Or maybe he was reading too much into it.

Either way, they sat down together, Annabeth holding Tempus' notebook in one hand, and started eating. They talked with hushed voices as they both stared at Tempus' writing. The mess hall was big enough to where it was difficult to hear someone from the other end, where they were.

Luke noticed Jason's staring, figuring it to be jealousy or longing. "You miss her?" he wondered. "The praetor?"

Jason scoffed. "Of course I do," he said.

"…Have you Iris-Messaged her yet?"

"No. I doubt it'd go through anyway. Iris doesn't like Romans like us, according to Annabeth."

"Well, she did make it so Reyna couldn't even see her when we were summoned. But hey, it's the thought that counts; maybe you should try anyway."

Jason nodded. Despite himself, he found that he enjoyed having Luke around. The man seemed amiable enough, not bothered talking with anybody, and willing to help whenever he was needed. Jason would have liked to have said that about everybody on the Argo II, but that simply wasn't the case. "…What do you think of her?"

"Hm?"

"Of Reyna? What was your impression?"

"Why?"

"Because…" Jason sighed. "Because she's what a Roman should be. I was wondering how that came off to you."

Luke considered the question for a moment, crossing his arms and closing his arms to think. "…She's difficult to work with, on account of her superior attitude. It was pretty obvious that she was just barely holding things together without you and Tempus and is pretty weak-willed by nature."

"O-oh…" Jason looked away. "I don't know what I was expecting from a Greek…"

"But…how to put this…? It was clear from the start that she deeply, deeply cares about the Legion, and, I think, would gladly give her life to protect it. She acts completely on instinct in the most crucial of moments. While that causes problems for us sometimes, there is a certain comfort in being able to predict what she'll do, and a definite comfort in knowing that she acts so sure of herself."

Jason blinked, not expecting that kind of response. "…"

"So…what do you think of her?"

"…She's the bravest person I've ever met, and the most reliable person I know," he relayed, trying to be short with his explanation for fear of rambling, as he did when he described her to Piper. "I feel like she can do anything and everything she puts her mind to. She's incredible; perfect."

"Good. That's what her boyfriend is supposed to say," the older man said with a smirk. "But alas, you're wrong, at least in part," Jason raised an eyebrow. "She can't do anything and everything…at least not alone."

Jason turned away. "She doesn't need me," he claimed. "Why would she need someone who can't even control their own powers?"

"Maybe because she doesn't like you for your powers."

"Still…"

"…Alright, if you're gonna be so mopey about it, then I'm going to have to help you out."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I'm a teacher, Jason," he claimed. "Taught Percy how to fight, helped your sister figure out her powers. I'm sure I could kick your ass into shape."

"…"

"What? Not biting?"

"…All due respect…but no. I don't have the time. I have to lead this group to get that artifact back to camp. Maybe…maybe after that, though."

Luke frowned. "…You know, Percy never stopped training as he was fighting the Titans. You think you shouldn't even try when we're going up against the Giants?"

"That's even more reason to postpone. Maybe he would've been more successful if he'd been more focused on outplaying you. I'm not going to be like Percy."

With that, Jason stood, and walked away, leaving Luke to wonder just how deep their distrust, borderline hatred, toward each other went.

Meanwhile, Percy and Annabeth continued leaning into Tempus' notebook, watching intently as the words formed through golden etching; the next message was here.

"To the child of wisdom,

If you're reading this, then I can assume you're nearing the Mare Nostrum. Assuming you're alone, I'll tell you once again that you aren't. I experienced the same thing that you did, and while I am sympathetic and which I could offer you comfort, alas, I must urge you to press on to further danger.

With that said, the Mare Nostrum, or Our Sea, a Roman term for the Mediterranean, was the most dangerous portion of the trip for me and my compatriots. Technically, this isn't part of the trial; it's just happenstance that the paths of these two incredible dangers crosses within the Mare Nostrum. Thus, I'm able to describe this in detail.

First, to even enter Our Sea, you must pass the gatekeeper. He wasn't particularly fond of us, as we were Roman, but given you should be Greek, a child of Athena, he would let you pass without hesitation. With any luck. Honestly, I have no advice other than to not provoke him, as I highly doubt you'd have the strength or skill necessary to best him in combat.

Once you are within the Mar Nostrum, you will inevitably be attacked by pirates. Not just any pirates, but those of possibly the most unknown, skilled swordsman in all of myth; Chrysaor, brother of Pegasus. If at all possible, I would recommend travelling by air; Lord Jupiter, or I suppose he would be Zeus to you, will likely watch over you far better, though admittedly, he could have made like the sea god and moved onto greener pastures; Lord Neptune (Poseidon) has long since given up the reigns on the Mare Nostrum, just as the gods as a whole have given up on the Ancient Lands.

For that reason, I wouldn't travel by land either; the sea is bad, but the land would be at least a hundred times worse. Trust me; I was forced to after a spell, literally.

Unfortunately, should you encounter Chrysaor, it's likely your quest will be over. Mine nearly ended there. His pirates slaughtered us, save for my fellow praetor, whom I told to escape, in the slim hope he could return to the Legion and continue leading it in my stead. The pirate took me as a prisoner, with intent to eventually sell me off to the witch Circe.

Eventually.

Until then, he had his way with me. I find no shame in admitting that I enjoyed the experience, as he was no stranger to a invoking a "good time" within me, though I might have had some reservations about admitting such should I not have escaped. I was defiant when in captivity, though perhaps I shouldn't have been. He found it fun, to break me each night.

Still, this is not where my journey ended, but it was not by my own hand that I was freed. They ran into a god, one of the few gods who still reside here; Hecate, goddess of the Mist. She happened to free me and train me, even granted me a power exclusive to children of Minerva, and then sent me on my way, overland, to Rome, the final destination. There, I happened to run into my fellow praetor, who'd been sent a vision that I would return from captivity. From there, we both entered the final trial.

All in all, it took me nearly three months after entering the Mare Nostrum, to reach Rome. With any luck, it should take you a day or so by sea or less than half of that by air.

My next message, my final message, will be revealed after you enter the final trial within Rome. I look forward to your arrival.

Your fellow child of wisdom"

Author's Note:

And now we're watching season 2. He said he would stop after the Wan episodes, but no. He's going to ruin his body when he has to get up at the butt-crack of yesterday. Sigh.

Anyway, why don't you let me know what you think? I'll see you tomorrow!