Hey! I'm back. Yeah, yeah, I suck at updating. Shut up and read the chapter lol.

Fayden's POV

"So. What brings you to New Rome? Especially from Olympus."

Fayden glanced at his partners, confused. Then it hit him. They'd said they were ambassadors from Olympus. He coughed, and answered,

"Um. Right. Yeah. We're actually on a quest…"

Reyna stared. She just by the entrance of the Principia, the velvet cloth walls behind her. Just behind her, the gold logo SPQR glittered. The area gave off a whole 'glamping' vibe, and Fayden was kinda going with it.

"A quest?" Reyna asked.

Thalia nodded. "Yep."

There was a brief awkward silence, where Reyna glanced at the ceiling as if showing off the mosaics printed against the surface. But then she strode forward, and said,

"A quest. So, you're ambassadors from Olympus. You are aware 'ambassador' is a messenger, right? And going on a quest is not what an 'ambassador' does. I like using air quotes."

The three of them stared at each other as the praetor continued,

"What, did you think you could just pile on as many fancy words as possible and hope I'd believe the lie?"

Fayden coughed. "Well…kind of."

Reyna blanched, sweeping her cloak away and behind her. "Excuse me? You come into my camp and call me an idiot?"

Fayden's eyes widened, but even Artemis could read his expression. "No! No, that's not what we did! We came into your camp and assumed you were an idiot. Your words. We never specifically said 'idiot'. You know what, you're right. Air quotes are 'fun'."

Reyna stared, and her face went slightly red. Fayden could see the glare…she was pissed. Then she breathed in, and said,

"You used air quotes incorrectly. You called…I'm sorry…assumed I was an idiot whereas you can't even properly articulate irony in a serious conversation."

Fayden hid a grin. Walking past a black wall decorated with battle medals, we stopped on the marble floor. That had just been to hear how it 'clacked'. It was a wicked noise. But he went with it and continued.

"Ah, yes. Unfortunately for you, we have come bearing news first-hand from the Olympians. Your disbelief in the matter has little consequence, and so, I can misuse 'air quotes' as many times as I 'want'. Cause I'm on a 'quest' and superior to 'you'."

Reyna flushed hard this time. "Superior? You? You look like you've just walked out of Dakota's Kool-Aid adverts. Silly grin, over-the-top clothing… I mean armour? Really?"

Fayden tutted. Reyna was blatantly wearing armour under her coat. Such an obvious ruse to side-line an argument. He shrugged, before looking back at his partners.

Thalia seemed to have caught on to what was happening and was glaring at Fayden – stop flirting with the Roman, Fayden. That was an obvious look. Artemis, however, was completely oblivious to the fake fight, and almost seemed to be enjoying the trash-talking.

Fayden decided he'd go with his girlfriend, and just skip to business. "Sorry Reyna, but the flirting's over. Jupiter sent us, and Juno personally escorted us to your gates. This is serious business."

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "You were flirting?"

Fayden frowned at the Latina. "You weren't?"

Reyna laughed. "Ha! When I flirt there are a lot more knives involved. I was trashing you."

Fayden paused. "Huh. Well, you insult like a flirt."

Reyna grinned, not at Fayden, but behind him, at Thalia. "Aggressive girlfriend for that standard, huh?"

Thalia took this as a compliment and stopped glaring temporarily, smiling at Reyna. However, the third in their trio had lost patience. Artemis stepped forward, and snapped,

"Okay, you've had fun establishing dominance. Honestly. Mortals. I mean…mortals…we all suck. Yeah. Ugh. Anyway…prophecy, this camp…where's Terminus?"

Reyna stared shortly as if trying to take in everything that had just been said, before frowning. "Why would you want Terminus?"

Fayden shrugged. "Prophecy. Apparently, he'll provide advice."

Reyna walked towards the entrance of the Principia, pushing open the fabric flap. "Keyword being apparently. Synonyms for his help include potentially, hopefully, probably not, useless statue and measuring grass.

"Uh…what?" Thalia said.

"Nothing," Reyna said. "Have fun."

But Artemis frowned. "That's it? I remembered the Romans being a lot more uptight. It's why I liked you."

Reyna frowned slightly at this. "Um, okay…Diana, was it? My dogs were listening outside the Principia the whole time. They know liars when they hear them."

"Seriously?" Fayden said, peering at the fabric. "That's so cool. My real name's Derek."

A faint growl emanated from a shadow that illuminated the ground under the velvet. Fayden grinned, while Reyna rolled her eyes, clapping her hands.

"Aurum, Argentum," she called. "You can come out."

Bounding around the Principia came two metal dogs, both with ruby eyes and panting madly. One was completely gold, except for the red eyes, obviously, while the other was the opposite, total silver. Fayden was about to ask which was which, before realising their names. Stupid question.

"And the second reason I'm letting you do your own thing is that since you were telling the truth, you really are on a mission from Jupiter Optimus Maximus and Juno Moneta. If I was to interfere, even after discovering how irritating you are…"

Artemis coughed, and it sounded very much like a concealed 'damn right' to Fayden.

"…it means you are on a sacred mission. I cannot intervene."

With a swish of her praetor's cloak, she had taken down the hill, her dogs by her hills. Fayden watched her go, before whistling.

"Okay, damn. She's intense."

Fayden didn't know how else to describe her. Intense worked.

"Hey," Thalia warned.

"What!" Fayden laughed. "You think I'd just run off with the next Roman chick who threatens me with vicious dogs?"

"That is exactly your type," Thalia retorted, but she was smiling. She knew as well as he did that when you go through the Tartarus level shit the two had been through and not form a serious bond.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Can you two stop? We get it. Star-crossed psychos. I have a quest to complete."

Fayden eyed Thalia, before nodding and turning to Artemis. "Yeah, okay. Let's go.

It didn't take long to reach where Reyna had pointed. As Fayden walked, oblivious to how close he was to Terminus, he stared ahead at the looming city. It seemed to stretch beyond his vision, although he knew he was looking up at it. All old-style marble and red brick – for a modern New Yorker, Fayden thought he'd find it horrible, but there was an eerie beauty to the entire camp. That feeling, as though he wasn't sure whether to charge or make peace was still in the back of his mind.

He didn't notice the other two stop behind him. He didn't notice the statue.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

"What the…!" he yelled. Swivelling, his hand was on his waist instantly. The sword expanded as Thalia yelled,

"Wait!"

A loud POP and sparks shocked his sword to the ground. Not even blinking, his siccae was swirling in his hand as he stared at the…oh crap.

An armless roman statue was glaring at him from two metres away. Silence. The statue sniffed the air, his stone nose wrinkling.

"More graecus. And you tried to attack me?"

Fayden paused. "Um…I…you scared me!"

Terminus, for it was obviously Terminus, glared harder. "Are you saying it's my fault?"

Fayden went into Defcon. Talking To God mode – piss-take. "Well…yeah."

His trademark smirk slipped out before he could stop it. Terminus' expression changed from a smirk to downright murderous. Fayden's body stiffened slightly before he realised he couldn't breathe. His sword was back in chain form and wrapping itself around his neck.

Thalia cried out, rushing forward before sparks on her feet caused a yelp as she fell.

"You…dare. I am a god!"

Fayden clutched at the chain. He focused hard, his eyes burning. But as he tried to activate his powers, Terminus released him.

"Your power failing you? You're on Roman ground, graecus scum."

Thalia rushed forward, Artemis following behind. As Artemis turned to face Terminus, Thalia rushed to Fayden, fussing over his throat.

"Is it bruising? What the hell did you do? Goddamn it, Fay…"

Fayden managed a smile at her version of comfort, before glancing over at Artemis.

"So?"

Terminus was looking down at an angry ex-goddess.

"So?" she yelled. "You're supposed to be able to help me!"

Terminus opened his mouth again. "Do I need to remind you too, young lady? I am a god!"

His eyes flashed, and Artemis flinched before both frowned. Sparks flickered against Artemis' arms, but nothing happened. They danced across her elbow, before dissipating. Confused, Artemis played it off as she glared back at Terminus.

"If you're such an amazing god, why are you never on Olympus?"

Terminus' face looked flustered, 'umm-ing' and 'ahh-ing' for a minute before replying,

"And how would you know? Hmm? I've been there loads of times!"

Fayden stormed forward. "Right. Now that's a lie. I've been there loads of times. And she…" he pointed at Artemis, whose eyes widened. "Used to live there!"

Terminus stared, glancing between the three of them, before settling on Artemis. It was only then his eyes widened. His face slackened, and in its frozen state, he looked like a Medusa victim, still in fear.

"You…Diana?!"

Artemis nodded, suddenly…not shy, or abashed, rather… not wanting the attention.

"But…but…"

Fayden nodded. "Yes. Your…well…Zeus did this to his daughter."

"Zeus…not Jupiter?"

Fayden frowned but nodded. Terminus' faced resolutely changed. It was clear he did not like Fayden, and would probably dislike him for a while, but the fact that his king, counterpart or not, would do that, seemed to have sparked something.

"I…I can convince Jupiter to help."

They stared. "What?" Artemis said, completely blanked. "Are you mad?"

"Partially, but not now," was the statue's reply. "If Zeus did this, trust me…Jupiter would never touch Diana."

Thalia gasped. "Oh! Zeus would, but with Roman influence, he becomes more disciplined, sure, but more loyal, more familial. Right?"

Terminus seemed to squint, before sighing. "I was nodding. Nod. Nod. You're right."

Artemis was still shocked. "But…he…he got me into this!" she ended with a shriek.

Thalia turned to prepare for something, and Fayden had his hand back on his sword. Artemis' right arm had a very faint green glow around it, and everyone saw it. Fayden felt it – his forehead throbbed in memory.

"Artemis… if you don't want father's help, we won't ask for it. Okay? We don't need him."

Fayden opened his mouth before Thalia shot a glare at him. Artemis glared, breathing heavily, her arm lowering. Fayden watched as she stopped glowering. Taking a deep breath, Artemis said,

"No. No. Whatever help Terminus said he can procure… it might be necessary."

Fayden didn't want to remove his hand from his keychain. This is usually where Artemis likes to attack. Had she calmed down? He stared at her facial expressions, but he could no longer read her. He'd noticed that recently – he'd been unable to truly tell her emotions…which led him to believe she was perpetually angry and chose to hide it more in certain situations.

Terminus paused for a second, before nodding, and popping into nothing. No one spoke for an entire three minutes. Then a large thunderclap broke the sky. The hair on Fayden's neck pricked, but nothing more happened. The cloud passed, with nothing more than a short shower of rain.

Another two minutes of silence, before a short electric pop marked Terminus' return. His face was…well it was literally stone but he wasn't showing any expressions either.

"He…was rather…it was actually rather funny in hindsight," Terminus smiled slightly. "He is rather mad at his Greek self."

"What?" Fayden cracked a grin. Instantly, the image of Zeus repeatedly slapping himself in the face, yelling 'Stupid!', clothes switching from white toga to praetor cloak was glued to his brain.

"Yes. Not much he can do to punish his cultural bipolarism though, so…the help."

They waited. Terminus looked at them.

"Well?!" Artemis demanded.

"Oh yes!" Terminus started. "Sorry, I thought being the key moment in a quest where critical information is delivered was supposed to be more dramatic. Disappointing. Anyway, the statue you must seek is the most obvious one."

"Olympia?" Thalia asked.

"No, the budget ones you can buy for 50 cents on Amazon. The little guy spews forth prophetic wisdom for quite cheap."

"Sarcastic statue…now I've seen everything," Fayden remarked.

"No, you haven't. Not even close."

The sincerity in which Artemis snapped back made Fayden stop short. The sentence would bug him for the next few days, although he didn't know it yet. Six words and he suddenly got shot into the understanding that he was in his mid-20s. Artemis was going through her mid 'who knows' millennium. Only her fellow gods know what she's seen, and they have a habit of being narcissistic, uncooperative, and unsupportive. Brilliant triple combo for a dozen immortals who need all three desperately.

"Yes…it's the one in Olympia."

Fayden vaguely knew what they were talking about. "Which one are we talking about?"

Thalia stared bemused at her boyfriend. "The Wonder of the Ancient World? Statue of Zeus in Olympia?"

Fayden stared. The only Wonder of the World he knew was the Pyramids. "Okay, sure. Where's Olympia?"

Terminus grunted. "I take it he's the fighter?"

Artemis cracked a rare smirk. "Not really. All three of us can fight. He's Thalia's boyfriend."

Terminus sighed at Fayden. "What a reputation you have."

Fayden mock-glared. To Terminus, he whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "They laugh, but both love me."

Thalia was shrugging, and Artemis was back to glaring. Terminus arched an eyebrow. "You really? think so. Poor taste, extroverted Graecus."

Fayden scowled, before turning to the other two. "So. Where is Olympia?"

"It's in Greece, Messenia," said Artemis.

Thalia frowned. "That's ancient, right? It's near Sparta."

Artemis groaned. "Mortals. Sparta is Lakonia. Messenia is neighbouring it."

"So, it's Greece!" Fayden interrupted.

There was silence.

"How in Hades do we get to Greece?"

I don't care that it's short! I feel like a shitty person for not updating in ages, so I just wanted to do something! Even if the chapter length is like a 14th of the size of my longest chapter – I don't care – my satisfaction is irrational and I'm happy cause I don't feel lazy. :)

Hope you like it. Cause if you don't my job here is pointless and my dream of being an author has failed and what are we all doing here what's the point of living. -_-.