To RandomFanAuthor- maybe he has a nice ass! And now you've said it, I need Scottish-Lou, just for a sec. Dammit! :P And I was going to send Lou instead of Percy, but I couldn't decide on which idea I wanted to use on her antagonising Nike just for the hell of it. I'm considering one-shotting all the ideas that didn't make the final cut with this, maybe I'll do that after the series has finished, remind me!

To JasonGraceIsDead- Thank you for noticing! ^_^


Tourists swarmed the ruins, weaving about the villas, tromping up and down the cobblestone path, gawking at colourful frescoes and mosaics. They didn't seem to notice the forty-foot-tall statue of Athena. Each time a group approached, they would stop at the edge of the courtyard and stare in disappointment at the statue. One British tour guide announced, "Ah, scaffolding. It appears this area is undergoing restoration. Pity, let's move along."

Reyna recalled what Annabeth had told her about the Athena Parthenos- its magical aura was a beacon to monsters as well as a deterrent. Every so often, she saw glowing white spirits in her peripheral, Roman ghosts milling about the ruins and frowning at the statue.

"Those lemures are everywhere." Coach muttered. "Keeping their distance for now, but come nightfall, we'd best move on. Ghosts are always worse at night." A sour taste settled on Reyna's tongue. She didn't need the reminder.

The morning was warm, but she still shivered. Camp Jupiter's impending doom played over and over in her mind, broken by random interjections of Octavian poisoning the legion from within. Your quest is a fool's errand.

Camp Jupiter needed her. The Twelfth Legion needed her. She felt useless, halfway across the world, watching a satyr toast blueberry waffles on a stick over an open fire. She wanted to share her nightmares, but figured it was best to wait until Nico woke up. Her twisting stomach wouldn't let her explain twice.

Nico kept snoring. Reyna was amazed about how heavily he slept once he was actually asleep. She didn't think even Louisa could wake him up right now.

Reyna rubbed at her face. Seeing Louisa in her dream had sent aches through her chest. She couldn't explain what she felt for the wayward daughter of Poseidon- as a praetor, Louisa was the biggest pain in the podex she had ever encountered. But, at the same time, she was one of Reyna's most loyal friends. Any Roman that stepped out of line, like Bryce… if Louisa got there first, it took all of Reyna's strength to get her away again.

And seeing her, immediately taking Nico under her wing as he cried about people she did not know, Reyna felt an inkling of understanding somewhere in the recess of her mind. Louisa's trust was hard to win. Once broken, it was never repaired, but to have… she was a guaranteed support, for any situation. Romans loved and feared her- a daughter of Neptune whose powers grew exponentially, who kept them all on their toes and would fight to her last breath for her friends. Reyna had won her trust. Louisa had won Reyna's. It was a shame her unpredictability kept her from praetorship.

"You'll see her again." Coach said. Reyna lowered her hands. The satyr offered her a plate of flame-grilled waffles with fresh sliced kiwi and pineapple.

"Where are you getting these supplies?" Reyna marvelled.

"Hey, I'm a satyr. We're very efficient packers. And we also know how to live off the land." He took a bite of waffle. "But you will see her again."

"How-?"

"Satyrs are very good with emotions too."

"Huh." Reyna added that to her list of faun-satyr differences. "What… what makes you so sure?"

"Louisa is the most annoying demigod I've had the displeasure to meet. She causes trouble wherever she goes and revels in it. Generally, I'd love that trouble, I don't mind bashing in a few heads, don't know if you haven't noticed or what, but I do. But she gives me a migraine." Reyna's brow furrowed. Coach shook his head. "What I'm trying to say… is that… I don't know how long you've known her, I don't know the whole story and that's fine, I don't need to know. But you really think she'd give up so easily as to not ever see you again?"

"No." Reyna looked down at her breakfast. "She is rather stubborn."

"That's putting it nicely." Coach scoffed. Reyna ate quietly. He took out a notepad and started to write. When he was finished, he folded the paper into an aeroplane and tossed it into the air. A breeze carted it off.

"To your wife?" Reyna guessed.

"Mellie's a cloud nymph. Air spirits send stuff by paper aeroplane all the time. Hopefully, her cousins will keep it going across the ocean until it finds her. It's not as fast as an IM, but well… I want our kid to have some record of me, in case, you know…" He trailed off.

"We'll get you home." Reyna promised. "You will see your kid." Hedge clenched his jaw. His wife was close to giving birth at Camp Half-Blood. Reyna couldn't imagine him as a father, but she understood a childhood without parents. She wasn't going to let that happen to his child.

Coach bit some more waffle, including the stick he had toasted it on.

"I just wish we could move faster." He pointed at Nico with the remnant of his stick. "I don't see how this kid is going to last one more jump. How many more until we get home?" Reyna bit her lip, glancing worriedly at Nico.

She finished breakfast as a group of Chinese tourists shuffled past the courtyard. Reyna had been awake for less than an hour and was already restless.

"Thanks for breakfast, Coach." She got to her feet and stretched. "If you'll excuse me, I need to use the little praetors' room."

"Go ahead." He jangled the whistle hung around his neck. "If anything happens, I'll blow." Reyna nodded. She left her dogs on guard duty and wandered off. It took her a while of squeezing through crowds before she found the visitors' centre with restrooms. She did her best to clean up, a little peeved that she was in an actual Roman city and couldn't enjoy a nice hot Roman bath.

On her return, she passed a small museum with a window display. Behind the glass lay a row of plaster figures, captured in the throes of death. A young girl was curled in the foetal position. A woman lay twisted in agony, her mouth open to scream, her arms over her head. A man knelt with his head bowed, accepting the inevitable. Horror and revulsion swirled up in Reyna's chest. These were creepy replicas of Ancient Romans, caught in volcanic ash that had buried their city when Vesuvius erupted.

Reyna had dreamt of coming to Italy for as long as she could remember. She wanted to see the Tiber River, where Lupa had rescued Romulus and Remus. She had wanted to visit Diocletian's Palace, but that had hardly gone to plan. She used to envision going to the palace with Jason. Instead, she had arrived in Croatia with a dozen angry wind spirits. She had fought through ghosts in the palace. On her way out, gryphons had mortally wounded Scipio. The closest she had got to Jason was a measly note left under a bust of Diocletian.

But Pompeii? Reyna would never have come here under better circumstances, under any circumstances. Home to Rome's most infamous disaster, an entire city lost to the earth. After her dreams, it was another reminder she didn't need.

She wrenched herself away from the window, scowling at some tourists clamouring around her. They backed up sharpish and she began her walk back.


The rest of the afternoon was unnervingly silent. Reyna kept watch while Coach slept. Tourists came and went. A few harpies and wind spirits flew overhead. Aurum and Argentum snarled in warning, but the monsters didn't linger anyway. Ghosts hovered at the edges of the courtyard, too intimidated by the statue to come any closer. Reyna understood that sentiment- the longer they were in Pompeii, the angrier the statue seemed. It radiated hatred in waves that made Reyna's skin itchy and fried her nerves.

Nico awoke just after sunset. He wolfed down an avocado and cheese sandwich. She finally told them about her dreams, minus the one of him and Louisa. Nico stared at his empty plate as she spoke, as if wondering where his food went.

"This hunter," he said once she had finished, "a giant, maybe?"

"I'd rather not find out." Coach grunted. "I say we keep moving." Nico's mouth twitched.

"You are suggesting we avoid a fight?"

"Listen, cupcake, I like a smackdown as much as the next guy-"

"Particularly if the next guy is Lou."

"-but we've got enough monsters to worry about without some bounty-hunter giant tracking us across the world. I don't like the sounds of those arrows either." Nico unfolded his jacket, wiggling his finger through an arrow hole in his sleeve.

"I could ask for advice…" He sound reluctant. "Thalia Grace-"

"Jason's sister." Reyna remembered. Nico nodded.

"The Hunters of Artemis are… well, hunters. If anybody knew this giant hunter guy, Thalia would. I could try sending her an IM."

"You don't sound very happy about that. Are you two… on bad terms?"

"We're fine." Nico insisted. Aurum snarled quietly. Nico ignored him. Reyna decided not to pry.

"I'll try and contact my sister, Hylla. Camp Jupiter is lightly defended; perhaps the Amazons would be willing to offer some assistance."

"Uh, no offence, Reyna, but how's an army of Amazons going to fight a wave of dirt?" Coach scowled. Reyna swallowed back a swell of dread. Coach was right. Their only good defence against the earthen destruction was to stop the giants from waking Gaia. For that, however, she had to put her trust in the crew of the Argo II.

The sun was getting low.

"We can talk more after the next jump." Reyna decided. Hundreds of glowing Roman ghosts were forming a mob around the courtyard, carrying spectral clubs or stones. "We need to get out of here."

"Give me a few seconds to harness up," Nico said, standing, "I think we can reach Spain this time, if we're lucky. Just let me-" The ghosts vanished, like a mass of birthday candles blown out in one go. "Uh, where did they go?" Reyna's hand gripped her dagger.

Coach rose to his hooves.

"A few seconds you do not have." Reyna's stomach shrivelled. He spoke with a woman's voice. The same voice from her nightmare. She drew her knife. Coach turned towards her, his face blank. His eyes were solid black. "Be glad, Reyna Ramírez-Arellano. You will die as a Roman. You will join the ghosts of Pompeii." The ground rumbled. Spirals of ash danced in the air all around them. They crashed together into crude human shapes, like the earthen shells in the museum. They stared at Reyna, ragged holes for eyes in their faces of rock. "The earth will swallow you," Coach said in the voice of Gaia, "just as it swallowed them."

"Oh, for the love of… there are too many of them!" Her greyhounds stood either side of her. Nico fumbled with the harness. She counted twenty of the earthen shells, closing in from every direction.

"The dead always outnumber the living." Coach said. "These spirits have waited centuries, unable to express their anger. Now I have given them bodies of earth."

"I can't control them!" Nico swore. "I think the rock shells are blocking me! I need a couple of seconds to concentrate on making the jump!" Reyna cursed quietly. She couldn't fight them all on her own, especially with Coach amongst their numbers.

"Use the sceptre, get me some zombies."

"It will not help." Coach intoned. "Stand aside, praetor. Let the ghosts of Pompeii destroy this Greek statue. A true Roman would not resist." The earthen ghosts shuffled forward. The ground cracked under their weight. One put its foot through one of Coach's traps, smashing it to pieces.

"Nico, zombies!"

"But what if they join them?"

"I am a praetor, they will do as I say!"

"You shall perish." Coach said. "You shall never-" Reyna smacked him on the head with the butt of her knife. He crumpled.

"Sorry, Coach, that was annoying. Nico, zombies! Then concentrate on getting us out of here!" Nico raised the sceptre. The ground shook. The earthen mob chose that moment to charge. Aurum launched himself as the closest one, nearly biting its head off. The rock shell toppled backwards and shattered. Argentum was not so lucky. He sprang at another, which swung its heavy arm and bashed the greyhound in the face. The dog went flying. Reyna cried out.

Argentum staggered to his feet. His head was twisted forty-five degrees to the right. One of his ruby eyes was missing. Anger blasted through Reyna. She had already lost her pegasus. She was not going to lose her dogs too. She sliced her knife through the ghost's chest, drew her gladius. It wasn't a very Roman fighting style, but she had spent time with pirates and Louisa. She knew a fair amount of tricks.

The shells crumbled easily, but they hit like sledgehammers. She couldn't afford to take a single blow. "Nico!" She called, ducking between two of the ghosts. "Any time now!"

The ground split down the centre of the courtyard. Dozens of skeletal soldiers yanked themselves to the surface. Their shields were like giant, corroded pennies. Their blades were more rust than metal. Reyna was happy to see them. "Legion! Ad aciem!" The zombies responded, pushing through the ghosts to form a battle line. Some fell, crushed by stone fists. The others closed ranks and raised their shields.

Nico cursed. Reyna glanced round. The sceptre was smoking in his hands.

"It's fighting me! I don't think it likes me summoning Romans to fight Romans!"

"Just secure Coach Hedge. Get ready to shadow travel, I'll-" Nico yelped. The sceptre of Diocletian exploded into tiny pieces. He didn't look hurt, but stared at Reyna in shock.

"I… I don't know what happened. But you've got a few minutes before your zombies disappear."

"Legion!" Reyna shouted. "Orbem formate! Gladium signe!"

Reyna fought alongside them, lending her strength to the ranks as best she could. But for every ghost they took down, more rose from swirls of ash. When they took down a zombie, there was no replacement. She slashed her gladius at a ghost, stabbed another in the chest with her knife. All around her, zombies fell. Some disintegrated of their own accord, disappearing as the sceptre's power faded.

"Reyna!" Nico yelled. The shadows flickered around him. He held Coach by the arm, his other hand extended to her. "Reyna, come on! We're leaving!" Her dogs had disappeared. Reyna stumbled. A rock fist gave her a glancing blow to her ribcage and her side erupted in pain. Her head swam. She tried to breathe, but it was like inhaling fiery knives. "Reyna!" Nico shouted again. The statue began to flicker, on the verge of disappearing. An earthen ghost swung at her head. She ducked, but the pain in her ribs almost made her black out. Nico flourished his hand as he slipped into the shadows. With what little strength she could muster, Reyna leaped towards him.