"So... Hephaestus is asking me to break into his forge and shut down his own workers?" This question was the finishing touch of an fifteen-minute-long conversation between the Goddess of the Hearth, Hestia, and a young man who was starting to become known as 'Apollyon', Perseus Jackson.

"Yes," affirmed Hestia, who had already seen how this conversation was going to go.

"Why can't he do it himself? Is he that prideful?"

Hestia sighed. "That pride is something that you can use to gain your immortality," she reminded him. Perseus sighed as well in response.

"So, in order to basically make sure nobody else knows about him screwing up his automatons, I'm doing his dirty work for him?" Hestia nodded reluctantly. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully.

"You see..." She started, then reconsidered. "No, I won't try to shimmy past it. If the other gods knew that Hephaestus had some faulty automatons, they might start to doubt his forging skills. I personally believe that some of their circuitry melted since they are literally working inside an active volcano, but it doesn't matter. I think this is perfect for you since it will allow you to gain some more fighting experience against non-monsters..." The words, 'and non-humans' were left unsaid. The Greek warrior slowly nodded.

"I... think I understand, my Lady. I apologize for doubting you." Hestia let a relieved smile show on her face. She truly didn't want to force Perseus into doing anything he didn't honestly want to do.

"It is not a problem, my Gladiator. I understand your incredulity - and I appreciate it. Mindless force can easily be turned in the wrong direction." This time, Perseus had a confused expression on his face.

"I... don't know what that means, but whatever it does, my Lady, I will not disappoint." The goddess laughed before she nodded seriously, and then flashed away, giving Perseus plenty of time to cover his eyes. Perseus turned southwards towards his destination, around the middle of the Italian peninsula - Hephaestus' fourth-biggest forge on the continent, Mount Vesuvius.


To get to his destination, Perseus was forced to travel through the city of his enslavement - Rome. He scoffed. 'I guess all roads truly do lead to Rome,' he thought scornfully. The city had been rebuilt in the 12 months he had been gone, grander than before. Perseus nodded. He had heard all about Tiberius - who seemed to be quite the opposite of Augustus.

Tiberius seemed to push for a more democratic type of government - he hardly wanted to be a dictator. Perseus sincerely doubted that, but was determined to try and not kill Augustus' stepson.

As it turned out, however, Tiberius wasn't even in the city while Perseus visited. 'An absentee landlord, eh?' The former slave thought as he took in this information at a pub. He had been buying drinks all night, but the alcohol wasn't even coming close to inebriating him. Paying his tab, Perseus made his way out of the small business, but only made it about twenty feet before someone jumped out at him from a dark side-alley, almost invisible in the night. Almost.

Perseus' sword flashed, knocking his would-be assailant's dagger to the ground behind him, shocking the cloaked figure. "Did you really think I didn't notice you?" The cloaked figure started to stutter, but the gladiator interrupted him. "I wasn't talking to you." He kicked his right foot back, launching the dagger into a second mugger's arm, who staggered back into the wall in shock before slumping to the ground, cradling his arm.

"Wicked..." The first assailant murmured, making Perseus turn back to him. "I had heard rumors that 'Apollyon' was coming to Rome, but I wasn't sure..." Perseus shook his head.

"You heard that a trained warrior was coming through, and your first thought to attack him?" Perseus heard a cough from the downed man behind him.

"We din' know that ye' were he'," he spoke through coughs. "We jus' knew dat ye' had sil'ur." The boy said, referring to the coin that Perseus had paid for his drinks with.

"Mighty hard to come by, innit'?" The first boy asked, smiling conspiratorially. Perseus narrowed his eyes, his head darting around, looking for more onlookers.

"Do you always talk this much?"

"I got a mouth, don't I?" Perseus considered it.

"You're lucky I don't feel like killing anyone tonight, or else you wouldn't have a mouth, or a head for that matter, in about five seconds." The bluntness of the statement shut the kid up, and Perseus threw him to the ground, noting another dagger falling out of the boy's pant leg. He knelt down and picked it up, then crossed the street and picked up the other knife out of the other boy's shoulder, making him groan in pain and whimper.

Perseus examined the two blades closely, noting two small insignias, one at the base of each blade. One was a sickle and the other was a blade. "What do these mean?" Perseus turned to the first attacker, who was now catching his breath against the opposing wall.

"Pluto if I know. They're my father's only gift to me. He was a farmer, but joined the Roman Legion before I was born, according to mi mama. Theys' the only things mama ever forbid me from selling at the market. I think they're pure bronze, which would solve all of our problems, but something stops me." Apollyon scoffed.

"Your father's only gift to you, and you use it to mug people?" He twirled around, throwing both knives at the boy, one embedding itself on each side of the boy's head. "Honor your father. Use them better." He started to walk off, but stopped for a moment, digging a silver coin out of his pocket and it behind him. "Congrats," He spoke as he heard it 'plink' against the ground. He moved on, and didn't look back.

A few minutes later, as he neared the edge of Rome, he felt another warmth envelop him, although this was different than Hestia's or Apollo's, but still felt godly. He had somehow managed to appease another god or goddess, but was unsure how. Artemis, perhaps? Even as he walked out of the city, continuing southward, he still failed to come up with an answer.


Very late, but I finished this chapter! Just over 1,000 words unfortunately, but I felt that this little bit of his time through Rome works best as its own chapter. I'd love to hear your guys' guesses on the god that he appeased! I hinted it very heavily towards the end.

This chapter was more to show his prowess as a fighter, but also the fact that he isn't just some badass warrior who thinks he is better than everyone else. Hephaestus' favor will be probably the next two or three chapters, not just a small blerp like Apollo's. Also, note the time passage - it takes a long time to get around in this day and age!

Thanks for reading, and until next week, see ya!

- PJO Fan Power