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Chapter forty-three: Rome and Relatives
~Penelope's POV~

After a spectacular escape from Hercules's island (apparently Piper and Jason had angered the ex-demigod pretty much), and almost being taken hostage by some weird pirates who had a phobia of Dionysus, Penelope's head felt like it was going to explode.
The pirate leader, the one who called himself Chrysaor, had said some unsettling things, before Percy had made him and his awful crew go away.
One of his remarks simply wouldn't leave her head:
We have an understanding with the witch Circe. She will buy the women – either as slaves or trainees, depending on their skill. But not you, lovely Annabeth. And you, whatever you call yourself now Here Chrysaor had looked directly at Penelope you she specifically wanted to be taken to her place in Rome. What she wants with you know I have no idea. Family matters, I suppose.
The pirate had sneered, a sneer which had made Penelope's blood boil, yet she hadn't been able to do anything as her hands and feet had been tightly bound.
Thankfully, Percy had managed to trick the pirates into leaving the Argo II, and given a tribute to Bacchus/ Mr D at the same time. Yet as they now sailed every closer to Rome, beating off monsters along the way, Penelope couldn't help but think back to what Chrysaor had said. Circe was in Rome, and she had wanted Penelope to be taken to her. Why? To kill her? But the pirate had said
family matters. Was it possible Circe knew something about Penelope? It was a slim hope, and probably a stupid idea, but Pen's mind was made up. Now all that was left to do was convince the others to let her go.
Sometime later, Annabeth appeared in her room. "We're there!" she said, her eyes shining with excitement but also, Pen noticed, fear.
She got up and walked over to her friend, laying a hand on her arm. "You can do this." Pen said, and she meant it. If anyone could follow the Mark of Athena and find the Athena Parthenos, it was Annabeth Chase. The blonde girl smiled a little. "Thanks. You too."
Penelope was a little taken aback at this, but then she remembered that this was a daughter of Athena she was talking to, the most intelligent girl at camp, who had probably realised what Pen's plan was before she'd even fully formed it herself. Penelope nodded, and together they walked up onto the deck.
The view was simply amazing. Beneath them, Rome spread out for a what looked like a thousand miles, more beautiful and impressive than anything Penelope had ever seen.
They touched down in a park, weird southern trees surrounding them, and talked through their plan.

Percy would accompany Annabeth to the Tiber, from where she would go on her epic solo quest on her own. Piper, Jason and Coach Hedge would guard the ship which left Leo, Hazel, Frank and Penelope to go looking for Nico di Angelo. But here, Penelope cleared her throat.
"Er, guys?" she said, making the others look at her. "What is it?" Frank asked.
"I think...I think I need to go look for Circe."
This statement was followed by silence, before Percy and Leo started to protest.
"No way! Just because Chrysaor said?!" Percy said indignantly, and Leo added "That's way too dangerous Pen."
"I know it's dangerous, Leo." Penelope's voice sounded firmer now. "But Circe is a daughter of Hecate as well. She wanted to meet me. Maybe, maybe she'll be able to tell me why I'm here."
No one could argue with this argument, though no one looked exactly happy at the prospect of letting another one of them go on a solo mission.
Penelope tried to smile "I'll be back for three. That's when we meet here. Really, it'll be okay."
"She should go" Annabeth backed her up, and Pen silently thanked her friend. This was going to be difficult enough anyway, without the others worrying themselves sick about not only Annabeth, but her as well.
"Fine." Percy said, grudgingly. Penelope felt a twinge of guilt as she looked at his face. He was already facing the prospect of Annabeth going on a possibly fatal solo quest, and now he had another one of his friends to worry about. She could tell he didn't like it, but he would simply have to understand. As she looked at the son of Poseidon, she felt that weird connection between them flare up again. She hadn't felt it as intensely since the encounter with Talos, but now it was back, and made her uneasy. The truth was it made her feel like she shouldn't be leaving Percy's side, which was a weird feeling, but it was strong. Nevertheless, she had to go, had to find out about her reason to exist.
The other matter was Leo. He wasn't meeting her eyes, and his face was set in a hard way, one she recognized he wore when he wanted to hide his emotions.
The others started packing provisions and such, and before Leo could follow, Penelope took his hand.
"Hey" she said, searching his face "I don't want to leave you guys alone. But do you understand why I have to do this?"
"Yeah" Leo sighed to her surprise, the hardness in his face disappearing. "Yeah, I do. Doesn't mean I like it, though."
Pen laughed, then kissed him. "I would be worried if you did." she said, then went to pack her own backpack. There really wasn't a lot to take, except some ambrosia, her stylet, and the Amazonite as a good luck charm. Before she left her room, on an impulse, she took the snake skin off her wall and stuffed that in the bag as well. Who knew if it might come in handy.
Five minutes later they had all gathered on deck once again, and Percy and Annabeth were the first to leave. There weren't any long goodbyes, cause that would feel like setting a bad omen, but Penelope hugged both of them anyway. "Take care." she said, and watched them walk the plank and disappear into the streets of Rome.
It was her next. All of the others wished her good luck, Jason reminded her not to forget their rendezvous point at three, and Leo pulled her into a hug, kissing her before she got off the ship.
"See you soon." he whispered, worry in his chocolatey brown eyes.
"You will."
With that, she walked into the park, not looking back.
After about fifteen minutes walking, Penelope arrived at a piazza (or whatever they called a square here in Italy) and stopped.
Where to now? All around her, there were little restaurants and cafés, armies of pigeons and enough tourists to fill Camp Half-Blood. But sadly, there was no sign saying This way to Circe's place folks!.
After a moment of helplessness, Penelope remembered something Chleo had told her in one of their first lessons. A child of Hecate is never truly lost. Our mother is the goddess of crossroads, and we can almost always find our way. Penelope wasn't sure that this would help, but she didn't really have any other option. So, right there in the middle of the piazza, she closed her eyes and tried to picture herself standing at a crossroads. The image came to her easily, so she next tried to imagine a light illuminating the way which would lead her to Circe. Come on, magic, she thought. Show me what you've got.

When she opened her eyes again, there was a faint glowing line on the ground before her, one only she seemed to be able to see. It had actually worked! A warm feeling spread inside Penelope, and she started to follow the glowing line with new gusto.
After an hour of walking through the seemingly endless streets, that gusto had worn off however. Just as she was about to give up on her plan, the glowing line ended, and Penelope looked up to see that she was standing in front of an old Roman villa, made of dark grey stones with a poisonous green coloured door.
Well doesn't that look inviting she thought drily and walked up onto the porch. There was no door bell, but Penelope was sure Circe already knew she was there.
Sure enough, after only a few seconds, the door creaked open of its own accord and Penelope stepped into the gloom behind it.
The inside of the villa was even more impressive than the outside, with a huge entrance hall lined with collums and draped in purple hangings, embroidered gold canapés, and a spiralling staircase in the middle of the room, dominating the scene.
There was no one there, but Penelope had the feeling she was being watched. Cautiously, she stepped forward, and the door swung shut behind her, not the most comforting thing.
"Hello?" she called, trying to keep the shaking out of her voice. It almost worked.
At first, no one answered, but then a figure melted from the shadows. It was a young girl, her auburn hair in ringlets around her shoulder, wearing a deep purple robe embroidered with two golden C's and a falcon, Circe's mark. The girl didn't speak, but regarded Penelope without any sign of emotion. "Hi" Penelope said, unsure of what to do "Er, I am here to talk to Circe. Please."
The girl showed no sign that she had understood what Penelope had said, but after another moment turned around and walked off into a dark corridor Penelope hadn't noticed before.
Nervously she looked around, wondering how many other things were hiding in the shadows surrounding her.
Suddenly, the girl was back, and motioned for Penelope to follow her, who did so with some trepidation.
They walked down the corridor, turned left into another one and finally stopped before a set of
bronze doors. Here, the girl nodded once at Pen, gave her what might have been a pitiful look and then melted back into the shadows, leaving her alone in front of the bronze doors.
"Hey!" Penelope called after the girl. Was she supposed to enter the room on her own? Would Circe be waiting for her or was it a trap? Unsure what to do, Penelope contemplated simply returning to the entrance hall, but at that moment the double doors swung inwards, revealing a new, lighter room.
In the middle of it on a cream carpet, was a simple coffee table, along with two silk armchairs.
On one of them, wearing a beautiful purple silk dress, was a woman who radiated power so intense, that Penelope could almost see the magic coming of her in waves. Circe.
She smiled when she saw Pen standing there, and beckoned for her to come in. Penelope did so, though she couldn't help noticing that Circe's smile did not reach her dark eyes.
When she was inside the room, the doors swung shut again, locking her in.
Before she could say or do anything, Circe rose and walked over to her, speaking in a clear, cold voice.
"Penelope Rider. You have come at last."