A Simple stay at the Garden of the Gods ended up with a skirmish with a demigod from the Titan Army. However, that hasn't put their original quest at a stop, and now the heroes will continue nonstop to Charleston

All story characters belong to Rick Riordan and Haley Riordan. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, only my own characters.

Chapter 11: Welcome to Charleston

Reyna bandaged Jason's arms to stem the bleeding. "What the hell what were you thinking?" she asked worryingly, "Getting in a fight that could have been avoided if you hadn't wandered off!"

"I think it was worth it. We've managed to get a famous Roman sword lost to history back and come out without losing a member," Jason assured.

"Is a sword more valuable than a son of Jupiter?! You're Centurion of the Fifth Cohort. What if camp loses you?! What if I lost you?!" Reyna tensed up when she realized she spoke too much, and Jason picked up on it.

"Reyna…" Jason comforted her, "I never want to make you worry. What's bugging you?"

"It's just… Sullivan's going to step down this summer and I have to meet the new praetor. But you're a contender for the next praetor and what better person to be one than someone I know? Besides, we're supposed to set a good example to our other part members" Reyna fumbled a bit. She didn't want to say out loud, but Reyna wish that Jason would be praetor this summer. Sully was a bit too old for her and he was retiring. Most likely, he'll run for a seat on the Senate.

"Can we talk more on the way to Charleston?" Jason asked.

Reyna treated Jason's arms and gave him a thermos full of ambrosia to drink. Jason took a sip and flipped the lid back on. Amber wanted to give Cary something to treat that jolt he felt when holding Crocea Mors. He didn't get any serious injuries, but it had made him feel jittery. "Here, Cary, you should take a sip too," she offered him the thermos.

"Thanks," but before he could take the lid, Reyna snatched the thermos out of her hand.

"STOP! Are you crazy? You can't drink that!" Reyna lashed out. Cary was taken aback from her outburst.

"What? Why?" Cary asked.

"Amber, don't you know that ambrosia can only heal demigods and legacies. If a pure mortal drink that, they'll burn up instantly," Jason explained. The outburst had left Amber reeling in shame for having done a stupid error on her part. If Cary had drank it, she would have killed him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know about that. I thought it was safe to eat like in the nurse office," Amber had her share of ambrosia for a while. Getting a basilisk bite on her leg, getting cut up, and spraining her ankle had resulted in many visits and prescriptions of ambrosia.

"Barely safe, ambrosia can only be consumed in small doses. You can't eat too much in an instant," explained Jason. "So how do I recover if I can't eat ambrosia?" Cary asked.

"Well, we do have water and a first-aid…ohh." Reyna reached for the first aid kit to open the case. Inside, were only a couple of kids bandages, a half-used gauze wrap, an almost empty bottle of alcohol, and some eyedrops, "Guess I should have inspected it before heading out," Cary cursed himself.

"It's fine. Why don't you lay down in the wagon then?" Jason went to change the subject. "So Amber, thanks for saving our butts down there."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, you helped fend off that demigod and those empousai with that magic you used. And if you asked me, I think you helped beat that Laistrygonian back in the Sierras," Jason deduced.

"How did you…"

"He picks up on things. There's a reason he's centurion," Reyna answered for him.

Amber relented, "Yeah, that was me. I've been having conversations in my head with this woman. Telling me to reach deep into my mind to awaken my powers."

"Powers that include summoning the dead, summoning fire, and dispelling the Mist. It seems your godly heritage is powerful. Pluto?" Jason snapped his finger.

"That only explains the spirit summoning, but not the fire or mist? Trivia?" Reyna suggested.

"Maybe, but something feels off. That demigod the empousai you fought against… did they say anything about your mother?" Jason asked.

"No why?" Amber asked.

"Empousi are creations of Trivia. They hunt down demigods, but they hesitate hurting her children. That wasn't the case down there." Jason answered. "Maybe we should get on the road. Next Stop: Charleston. We should get there by afternoon."

Charleston, South Carolina

Luck was in the party's favor when they arrive there without any emergency stops. The party were over the suburban area and prepared to elaborate on their plans.

"So how are we doing this?" Cary asked.

"Pretty much just looking for Imperial Gold caches. The prophecy said the place where the nation's strife first began, so we'll ride to Fort Sumter," Reyna commanded the pegasi to fly into Charleston Harbor to the national monument. Once again, the Mist prevented any visiting mortals from noticing a flying wagon running across the water allowing the party to reach the fort without raising suspicion.

Reyna rode the wagon up the landing docks and towards the entrance. Once the horses came to a stop, the party disembarked. "Okay, Reyna and I are going to check out the fort, while you and Amber stay with the pegasi," Jason told Cary.

"Actually, I like to bring Amber along. After what she did in Colorado, I think she'll help with us in case we face some uncooperative ghosts," Reyna suggested without a sense of hesitation. Amber was surprised to come along, but worried about leaving Cary alone.

"That's fair, are you okay with that Cary?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, sure," The party went off to check out the fort while Cary stayed behind on the wagon. However, he didn't wait too long. After half hour, they returned quickly to report a snag with the quest.

"They're not here, the caches are not here," Reyna fumed.

"What, what do you mean? This is what the prophecy said, where the nation's strife first began," Cary asked.

"That part is true, but what if the location refers to the whole city of Charleston, not just the fort," Jason said aloud. When discussing with the Senate, he had assumed that part of the prophecy referred to Fort Sumter. It was so obvious, which made this lead a little too easy.

The party realized their grave mistake from their assumption and started to rethink other leads.

"We can't just search the whole city," Amber lamented, "So where do we go now?"

"Let's go back to the mainland and talk this out. The longer we stay here, the more attention we'll get," Jason suggested.

The party rode away from Fort Sumter and towards a park called the Battery to take a break. Summer in the south was very unforgiving. Summer would have been a dry heat back home, but the weather in Charleston was like sitting in a sauna. Cary and Jason pondered the goals of this quest while lining up for some ice cream for the girls, who took a seat at the picnic tables. Sulla and Scipio were released from the harnesses and taking a break under some trees.

"Any ideas?" Cary asked. "Hmmmmm," Jason was still thinking about other leads, "I've got nothing. We shouldn't go back home empty handed, not without those weapon caches."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Even though this quest wasn't important to Cary, it was important to the Romans, and thus important for Amber. Without those caches, Amber and the Fifth Cohort might enter battle short-handed and her reputation might plummet.

"Well it's hard to notice for mortals like you," Jason winced at the insensitive comment he made, "Sorry, I thought…"

"It's fine. You were saying," Cary dismissed the comment and urged him to continue.

"Right, we're looking for crates of Imperial Gold artillery shells, torpedoes, sabres, and rifles. They can be recycled down in our forge into spears, swords, and ballista," Jason listed off the top off his head.

Their turn in line came, and Cary paid the vendor for six cones. Jason suggested they use all the money funded by the Senate and it would be a good idea to be generous to Reyna. She was in the gutters over the situation, but Jason also wanted to treat her to some extra sweets. He also suggested Cary to buy more cones to share with Amber.

The boys returned to the girls at the picnic tables to discuss the situation. "You bought this much ice cream?" Reyna asked in disbelief. "Why not?" Jason asked. Reyna knew better though. It was July 1st, Jason's birthday. She kept silent about it since she didn't want to guilt-trip their other two companions, "Fine, but you're helping me finish all of this," Reyna teased. Reyna took the almond praline and strawberry cones, while Jason took the chocolate and peanut butter cones. Cary took the mint chip and Amber took the sea salt caramel. Jason and Reyna shared bites out of each other cones halfway through their break. It was a charming scene. Amber was about to finish, until Sulla barged in to start licking it up. Amber tried to push the pegasus away to no avail. It was an amusing scene that distracted Jason from protecting his peanut butter cone from Scipio.

Eventually, they change the subject again, they needed another lead. They were about to continue when they noticed they were being watched. In the distance was a woman in Antebellum fashion. The party approached her, but she disappeared from their sight. However, she reappeared a few meters from where she once stood. "Is that a ghost?" Cary asked. Amber drew Crocea Mors out, but Jason stopped her, "Hold on, I think this ghost only talks to female demigods." Jason gestured Reyna and Amber to follow her. while Jason and Cary continued the subject of the hidden weapons caches. Cary decided to ask something.

'Torpedoes…'

"Hang on, Jason. Where are we supposed to find torpedoes? I don't remember anything about torpedoes in my history class on the Civil War," Cary asked

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"Well, the American Civil War was mostly overland, naval battles were restricted due to the blockade by the Union. And even then, ships didn't have the means to shoot torpedoes. And forts don't shoot torpedoes," Cary listed.

A thought popped up in Jason's head like a lightbulb, "Wait a second, torpedoes…, I know where we can find them." Jason shared his eureka moment to him, "There's a museum here showcasing the CSS Hunley. It's one of the earliest examples of battle submarines and it used torpedoes."

"How do you know that?" Cary asked.

"Some of the leading designers on the Hunley were Romans. They implemented weapons that used Imperial Gold," Jason answered.

"I see…" Cary decided to bite his tongue after Jason had unknowingly brought up the issue of the fact that the Romans were around building weapons for the South. Cary's eyes wandered around the statues that stood around the area. 'Are all these confederate statues those of Romans demigods?' he wondered vehemently.

"We should tell the girls when they come back," Jason answered.

A while Later

The girls returned from their conversations with the ghosts a little later after. Cary didn't say anything, but he did notice a change in attitude from Reyna and Amber. The praetor was tense and gave Jason a cold shoulder. It was a total 180 from the ice cream flirting earlier. Amber was more stressed than usual and wanted to finish this quest pronto. It was uncomforting for Cary to see Amber so nervous, but he did worry for Reyna, "Ummm, Praetor. Jason wanted to share his idea." Jason explained that the caches might be in the Warren Lasch Conservation Center. Immediately, the party hooked the horses backed on the wagon and rolled down the streets of downtown Charleston.

The party was waiting at a traffic light with Reyna in the drivers' reins. The conversation that she and Amber had under the pavilion was unsettling. The ghost was actually Venus, Sullivan's ancestor. The goddess of love had warned her no demigod will heal her heart, and she will not find love where she wished or hoped. It crushed her emotionally, knowing that all her efforts to be closer to Jason might be a moot point. Amber was next to her wearing a concerned look. Venus had told her that Amber reminded of her godly self in the days of Alexander the Great. She hinted that Amber would find her heritage by today. It was strange of the gods visiting Jason and Cary on better terms than she and Amber ever had on this trip. The other thing was that Venus hinted where her family was from. Amber's skin tone was ambiguous and could belong to several origins: Middle East, Central America, India, Eastern Europe.

"How far to go?" Cary asked. "Just a few blocks," Jason answered. They pulled over down the street from the center, "Here we are guys, let's move on," Reyna tacitly ordered.

"Hold on, take a look over there," Jason gestured to the front of the Museum to point out the guards. They weren't human. "Empousai? Here?" Reyna asked.

"Must be that demigod we stole the sword from. Are they after the same thing we are?" Amber asked.

"I don't know, but we need to another way in," Jason answered.

"How about the back entrance?" Cary suggested.

They looked around the building on foot. They found a door in the back and proceeded to form a plan.

"Alright. This is what we're going to do. Reyna, Amber, and I are going to enter through here and look for the caches. If we find them here, we will open the garage doors in the front to let the wagon in and load up. Cary, you drive the wagon in while we keep the path clear," Jason deliberated.

"And what about the empousa and the ghosts?" Cary asked.

"We'll take care of it when we get in. With our secret weapon we should be fine. Just stay out here, Cary," Jason assured.

"Oh sure," Cary said despondently. Jason picked up on his tone, but decided to ask about it after the museum.

The three sneaked through the back as Cary walked back to take charge of the wagon for the first time. He didn't want the responsibility of riding the horses for the whole trip since he wasn't good with animals. Back in Donner Pass, he bruised his hips with that hard landing on Scipio.

When the wagon was in sight, he noticed the horses weren't alone. There was petite brunette woman petting them. She was wearing a brown shirt with pants that shimmered like glowing coals.

"Excuse me, miss. Can I help you with…" The woman turned her head around with the same brown eyes of that goddess from Temple Hill. 'Is that…" Cary thought.

"Yes, Cary Chang. It is I, Vesta," the goddess of the hearth answered with a premade sandwich in her hand.

"Hey. I thought you were supposed to be at camp protecting its borders," Cary wondered.

"I am. I am also attending to the hearth on Mount Olympus. I am also visiting you as well," she answered, "Unlike the mortals, gods are not bound by concept of space. We can present ourselves in different areas simultaneously."

"Oh. What can I do for you?" Cary asked.

"Unlike my family members, I don't ask too much of heroes to do quests nor do I interfere, but this is an exception. First off, I simply wanted to ask how you are doing," Vesta answered. She handed the sandwich to him.

"Oh, it's good. Jason and Amber are great leaders, making sure we stay on task and keeping morale up," he answered while withholding some reservations.

"You seems troubled, Cary. What's wrong?" she warmly asked.

"It's just, Jason has these awesome powers, Reyna put herself on the lines when lives are on stake, and Amber getting strong enough to use magic. I haven't done anything of worth on this trip. I just give suggestions here and there, but I think I just make them worry with me being 'squishier' than the others," Cary lamented. He was bothered by the lack of sword in his gear. Jason had Ivlivs, Reyna had Caivs, and Amber had Crocea Mors. Back in Donner Pass, he was the only one without any kills. In fact, he thought he would have been able to kill at least one with his knife, but Reyna finished for him.

"You shouldn't put yourself down simply because you can't measure up to your colleagues, you should believe that you're doing the best that you have ever done since," Vesta comforted. Cary had always pushed himself in schoolwork, which resulted in some rather perfectionist streaks that resulted in poor time management and frequent exhaustion. It had left him respected with classmates, but also perceived as someone that was hard to work with.

"Changing the subject, can you tell me how Amber is doing? You said her powers were growing," she answered.

"She's doing fine. She's capable of fighting off monsters with her magic. She has yet to impress Reyna with her swordsmanship and combat. We've been discussing which god she is related to. You wouldn't happen to know who her real parents are or who that god is," he asked as he took a bite.

'No one in her circle knows, except me. Shame she doesn't remember me,' the goddess thought.

"Is everything alright?" Cary asked. Vesta hesitated to explain, but finally relented.

"Amber's biological parents were citizens of Camp Jupiter, having descended from citizens subjugated by the Romans. They were underground worshippers and descendants of her ladyship, who was unrecognized by the camps' beliefs. When they were exposed, the Senate declared them criminals for idolatry. Amber's parents were forced to flee but were forced to leave their only daughter behind. They left her at the footsteps of my shrine, begging me to find her a home. I brought her to an orphanage, where her adoptive parents found her and picked her up. At the time, I believed it was best that she was raised far from camp, but it seems Lupa and her wolves sensed her godly ancestry and brought her back."

"Amber never knew her parents. I didn't pry into it. Should I tell her?"

"No, I fear that she will learn eventually, and it will shrink further if the camp learns about her heritage. If Amber's lineage is revealed, she will need you and her friends more than ever," Vesta warned.

"That's not fair, who's the lady goddess they worship?" Cary asked.

"I can't say much, except that she's not Greco-Roman," before Cary could ask more, security alarms from the center blared out.

"I think that's my cue," he saw the garage door open, "I have to go now,"

"Very well, and please keep this conversation to ourselves," she dematerialized.

"Sulla, Scipio, ride on," however, the horses didn't follow his commands. 'Oh boy, what do I do?'

Sneaking through the back wasn't a problem. Reyna picked the lock rather easily. 'It's a strange skill for a praetor to possess,' Amber pondered.

They strolled down the hallways past labs and rooms with specialist at work who had no idea about the intruders. They reached the room where the CSS Hunley was. It was in a workroom where staff was busy with restoration. Tools were scattered on the bench and artifacts were kept in protective wraps or covers. Some of those artifacts had a familiarly gold luster: Imperial Gold.

'This is it. These are gold caches we're looking for,' "Is that it?" Amber wondered at the artifacts on displayed.

"Excuse me, we're not taking visitors on weekdays!" a security guard took notice of the intruders and drew everyone's attention in the room to them.

"Oh, we're not visitors, we're…." "Interns! To assist you. We're going to take inventory!" Reyna fibbed. As unprofessional as lying was, Reyna had gotten used to improvising cover stories when she and her sister lived on the streets in order to survive. She snapped her fingers to manipulate the Mist and changed their minds, though magic wasn't really her strongest suit.

"Oh, really, thanks. Take these artifacts on to the trolley. They've been catalogued, just place them next to the torpedoes in the next room," said a staff worker.

The party rolled the trolley in to the room. It was a shame that they were basically committing a heist. Once in the room, they found the torpedoes. They loaded up the torpedoes on a heavy-duty trolley available in the room and moved out.

Once loaded up, they immediately heading to the loading bay near the entrance, but their luck ran out when they met a familiar face: Alabaster.

"There you are, I was wondering when you would show up," said Alabaster.

"You were waiting for us? How did you know we were here?" Jason asked.

"An ally of mine pointed the location where you would be. Lord Kronos was furious when I lost the sword, but he gave me the chance to redeem myself. Now, surrender and give me back Crocea Mors, and maybe we'll spare you and keep the weapons caches.

"We're not going to let you have it," Jason defied him.

"I don't believe we've met. Name's Alabaster," he gestured toward Reyna.

"I've heard. And I will not tolerate a demigod serving the Titans. Stand down now," she growled

"Then it's a good thing, I'm not alone." Alabaster snapped his finger. Ghosts materialized in intangible form. They were all wearing Confederate soldier uniforms and fierce looks.

"Soldiers, take them down.

"Stand down, soldiers," Reyna yelled back. The ghosts faltered for a little bit, but Alabaster pushed them forward.

"As undead souls, they belong to my mother's domain. Their pasts of soldiers mean nothing to me. Seize them, and retrieve the sword," Alabaster ordered.

The ghosts attacked. Jason blasted gusts of wind to keep them at bay. Lightning was useless on incorporeal figures, but ghosts are easily disrupted if the air isn't still. Reyna, meanwhile, resorted to staying at a distance. Ghosts can't be hit easily, but they can easily hit back. Caivs was a bad matchup.

'If only I paid more attention back in Circe's Spa. Then I could have used some stronger magic,' the memory brought a wave of sadness to Reyna, and it distracted her long enough for a phantom grabbed her by the arm. "Hang on, Reyna," Amber waved her sword, which connected with the ghost and caused it to stagger, before it could drain Reyna of her spirit.

"Thanks, fend off those ghosts," Reyna ordered Amber to watch her back, while Reyna back to the caches, 'We traveled across the country to find these caches, we're not losing them.'

Amber was holding her sword in stance. Since it was Imperial gold, her hits did nothing. "Stay back, now!" her yells seemed to have staggered the ghosts as they bend the knee at her feet.

"What are you doing get up!" Alabaster ordered. The ghosts complied with much struggle.

Amber yelled again and the ghosts complied. Alabaster quickly realized something. 'The sword itself allows her to command armies. Despite Imperial Gold being ineffective, Crocea Mors status as a legendary sword can bring monsters, including the undead, to the wielder's command.' Alabaster gave up commanding the ghosts and instead went after Crocea Mors.

One of the ghosts reached for Reyna's body; she somersaulted over the cache, letting the ghost make contact. Reyna heard a sizzling sound as the ghost screamed in pain. The ghost retracted its arm, as Reyna peaked inside the cache and noticed its content: Confederate silver coins. 'Wait a minute, silver reacts with the undead,' Reyna realized.

She stuck her hand inside to grab some coins and begin tossing them at the phantom horde. The ghosts shrieked in pain. Reyna went for the front desk and grabbed some scotch tape from it. None of the ghosts went near the dropped coins, which gave Reyna some respite to craft some new tools: a silver coated Caivs and fistful of silver. "Jason, Amber, grab some silver from the caches and use them," Reyna ordered.

Jason took the next chance to reach for the coins, but Amber was occupied with Alabaster. They exchanged swings at each other with Crocea Mors with Alabaster's temporary sword. Alabaster sent magic against her, while tempting Amber with promises of glory, "You can be much more, if you join Kronos, change sides and rebel against the gods. What have they ever done for you?" Amber didn't answer verbally. Instead, she swung at him, but he faded into thin air when she made contact. Amber felt a sharp pain on her right side as Alabaster sliced her at the hip. He then grabbed her sword wrist as he mentally demanded that she return the sword to him. His hand glowed as he cast a spell that compelled her to submit to him. Amber resisted less and less as her grip weakened.

"Amber, shoot. Jason, go help her," Reyna called out.

The son of Jupiter blasted a ghost back and ran for the brunette. He ducked under the swing of a ghost and then bodychecked the rogue demigod.

"Amber are you okay?" Jason saw that she was weaponless and tired out. He was forced to drag her away from the fight.

"Looks like Crocea Mors is in my hands again, puppets. Now, then let's finish you off," Alabaster mocked.

The party was backed against the wall, but Jason looked to his left and saw that they had been cornered at an opportune spot. The fire alarm lever was there. He pulled the switch and immediately drew the attention of everyone in the building.

The workers immediately began evacuating the room, either not taking notice of the ghosts or believing they were other workers as well. The workers rushed through the hallway obstructing the party from Alabaster and the ghosts. With the chaos sown, the party took the advantage to open the loading bay to let the wagon in.

As soon as the doors opened, they were intercepted by the empousai that were waiting outside the entrance. The monsters didn't get a chance to attack as they were stomped over by the horses. The horses didn't answer to Cary's urging to load until the door opened; they sprinted after the party even with the empousai blocking their way. After committing involuntary vehicular assault, Cary disembarked from the wagon.

"Are we good? Are we loading…what the hell happened?!" Cary asked.

"Yeah, go ahead while we clear out all of the ghosts," Jason answered. Cary looked over his shoulder to see a bunch of angry confederate phantoms behind them. Immediately, Cary went to work to loading the caches onto the trailer. It was tough work for a teen to drag crates of imperial gold weapons into the trailer, but he somehow did it. After the 3rd trip from the ghostly horde to the trailer, Alabaster went after him once he got his bearings again.

He swung his new sword at him to no avail as contact had no effect on Cary, who didn't flinch in the chaos as he kept loading things up on the wagon. "What the… this sword is Celestial bronze, you're supposed to…" He immediately realized that the guy wasn't a demigod at all. Alabaster decided to switch to Crocea Mors and slashed Cary across his back. The sword sliced through his shirt and broke the skin.

"Ahhh!" Cary dropped to the ground in pain. 'I shouldn't be hurt by Imperial Gold,' Those were his last thoughts as he blacked out from the pain.

"CARY!" Amber ran toward her friend to save him from Alabaster's follow up attack, but the demigod simply turns his attention and blasted her into the wagon, knocking her out.

"Amber!" Reyna ran to the wagon as Jason followed and began to get the horses ready. But the ghosts overran them and pinned the pegasi down.

"This ends here." Albaster started to chant in Greek until his voice was drowned out, by another female voice.

Amber crawled out of the driver's seat and began chanting. The room darkened as she casted spells that froze the spectres and exorcised them from the building. The ground shook as fissures erupted and the son of Hecate began to fear for his lives.

"Not this time, you brat," He ran Crocea Mors through the air to stab Amber, but she grabbed it by the blade. The sword was locked in her grip just inches away from her sternum. As her hand bled on the blade, symbols glowed on the blade itself. Runes began appearing on her arm as a knot-shaped mark glowed on her forearm.

The son of Hecate twisted the sword of Caesar, but the girl did not release her hold. "You will not succeed here today!" The same disembodied voice from Colorado cried out. She released an energy wave that knocked Alabaster away, forcing him to release his hold on Crocea Mors, and sending him through several walls. The lighting in the room returned to normal as Amber collapsed on her knees.

"Amber. Hey easy there," Jason helped her up, as Reyna treated Cary's wounds. Even though the sword was Imperial Gold, Crocea Mors was designed to be the exception, and wounds inflicted on mortals were intended to never heal. Even Reyna's abilities couldn't heal them.

"I'm sorry, Miss Autumne. I can't heal him in this state. At this rate… he'll," Reyna didn't finish as tears started to form. A simple quest turned to a disaster.

However, Amber placed her hands on Cary's back and began chanting. Her hands glowed bright and illuminated the whole room. As she healed him, Reyna took notice of the knot-shaped mark on Amber's right forearm. She immediately recognized the god it belonged to, and it wasn't a Roman god. 'Not good, if it is her, I can't let Octavian know about her lineage.'

Cary's facial features softened up as his wound closed. After finishing the process, Amber dropped into the wagon and was knocked out cold.

"We should… load up and get out of here," Jason interrupted. With Alabaster and the ghosts out of commission -and all the staff having evacuated- they could actually load the rest of the caches before emergency services could come in to ask questions. The staff would return into the building a few hours later to find artifacts missing, but no demigods around.

The news report would describe the events of today as a robbery committed by unknown individuals. As a result, several artifacts, including some Civil War torpedoes were stolen during an emergency evacuation of the museum. The evacuation was triggered by malfunctioning equipment that caught fire and damaged several rooms in the buildings.

From a distance. Alabaster fumed at his failure to reacquire the sword. He had Iris-message back to his allies mentioning his failure. As a result, he was recalled back attend to his allies on the Princess Andromeda to await his next mission. He would not be allowed to arrange another mission to retrieve the sword.

'Damn demigods. Who were they anyways? They don't wear the same clothes as those in camp. In fact, that guy who told me where they were going wore their shirt color as well,' he wondered.

The cruise ship Princess Andromeda finally showed up at the harbor to pick him up and he never touch the subject again for a while under Kronos's order.

With their bounty in tow, the party now turn back home. But these new revelations have shaken the party's confidence. Amber's ancestry may shake her already-fragile roots at camp even further. And bad news is inbound.