LEO'S POV

One problem solved: the hatch above us closed automatically, cutting off our pursuers.

It also cut off all light, but we could deal with that. I just hoped we didn't need to get out the same way we came in. I wasn't sure I could open the tile from underneath.

At least the possessed manatee dudes were on the other side. Over our heads, the marble floor shuddered, like fat touristy feet were kicking it.

Frank must have turned back to human form. I could hear him wheezing in the dark. Peri must've been close by too, because she was cursing up a storm.

Great. Everything as it should be.

"What now?" Frank asked.

"Okay, don't freak," I said. "I'm going to summon a little fire, just so we can see."

"Thanks for the warning."

My index finger blazed like a birthday candle. In front of us stretched a stone tunnel with a low ceiling. Just as Hazel had predicted, it slanted down, then leveled out and went south.

"Well," Leo said. "It only goes in one direction."

"Are you kidding me?" Peri cried. I noticed she was clamping her nose shut tightly and holding her breath whenever possible. "You guys don't smell that utterly revolting shi—"

"Language!" Frank scolded. "You've been cursing like a sailor since we got down here."

"Frank, did you pass some gas from out of your ass?" I accused with a grin, holding my flaming finger beneath my face to cast an eerie glow.

Even in this low light, his red face was evident. "No I did not!"

"Oh gods!" Peri leaned against the stone tunnel walls for support, still holding her nose tightly. "Oh, gods. Oh gods, it's bad. It's really fucking bad."

I started to think this wasn't a joke.

"Hey, Peri, are you alright?" I asked.

"How can you guys not smell that?" The blonde's voice was muffled behind her hands.

Frank and I exchanged a worried look, but the girl managed to stand on her own. Her eyes appeared to be watering. Was there some kind of gas leak down here? I didn't smell anything, and judging by the confusion written on his face neither did Frank.

"Leo, can you pull some nose plugs or something out of your tool belt for me?" Peri asked.

"Yeah, no problem, mamacíta," I reached into my tool belt and produced a pair of rubber plugs and handed them over. She shoved them up her nose immediately. Despite how silly she looked, I inquired, "Better?"

"A little," she said, but I figured she was just being polite. Before I could say anything else, the daughter of Anastasios charged ahead. "Ugh, come on let's find Hazel and get the fuck out of here."

Frank and I exchanged one more concerned look (since when do I look to Frank for reassurance anyway?) before continuing after her. We made our way down the corridor. I led the group with the fire, Peri held the middle, and Frank brought up the rear.

I was glad to have Frank at the back, big and strong and able to turn into scary animals in case those possessed tourists somehow broke through the hatch, squeezed inside, and followed us. I wondered if the eidolons might just leave those bodies behind, seep underground, and possess one of them instead.

Oh, there's my happy thought for the day!

After a hundred feet or so, we turned a corner and found Hazel. In the light of her golden cavalry sword, she was examining a door. She was so engrossed, she didn't notice us until I said, "Hi."

Hazel whirled, trying to swing her spatha. Fortunately for my face, the blade was too long to wield in the corridor.

"What are you doing here?" Hazel demanded.

I gulped. "Sorry. We ran into some angry tourists." I told her what had happened.

She hissed in frustration. "I hate eidolons. I thought Piper made them promise to stay away."

"Oh…" Frank said, like he'd just had his own daily happy thought. "Piper made them promise to stay off the ship and not possess any of us..."

"But if they followed us, and used other bodies to attack us," Peri continued, "then they're not technically breaking their vow.… Yay."

"Yeah, just great," Leo muttered. "Eidolons who are also fucking lawyers. Now I really want to kill them."

"Um what's with the..." Hazel gestured to her nose, and Peri punched the stone wall in frustration which must've hurt by the whimper she made.

"Why am I the only one who thinks it smells like shit in here?!" She cried before kissing her injured knuckle.

"Hmm, have you considered that it may just be you?" Frank offered.

"What are you trying to infer, Frank?" Peri balled her fists, her voice growing tighter with each word.

"Actually, he was implying," I said with a grin, loving to add to the chaos, "you were inferring when you said—"

"Enough already!" Hazel exclaimed. "Forget about the eidolons and forget about the smell. This door is giving me fits. Leo, can you try your skill with the lock?"

I cracked his knuckles. "Stand aside for the master, please."

The door was interesting, much more complicated than the Roman numeral combination lock above. The entire door was coated in Imperial gold. A mechanical sphere about the size of a bowling ball was embedded in the center. The sphere was constructed from five concentric rings, each inscribed with zodiac symbols—the bull, the scorpion, et cetera—and seemingly random numbers and letters.

"These letters are Greek," I said in surprise.

"Well, lots of Romans spoke Greek," Hazel said.

"I guess," I said. "But this workmanship…no offense to you Camp Jupiter types, but this is too complicated to be Roman."

Frank snorted. "Whereas you Greeks just love making things complicated."

"Hey," I protested. "All I'm saying is this machinery is delicate, sophisticated. It reminds me of…" I stared at the sphere, trying to recall where he'd read or heard about a similar ancient machine. "It's a more advanced sort of lock," I decided. "You line up the symbols on the different rings in the right order, and that opens the door."

"Okay," Peri mused, "But what's the right order?"

"Good question. Greek spheres…astronomy, geometry…" I got a warm feeling inside. "Oh, no way. I wonder…What's the value of pi?"

"Ooh, pie!" Peri sounded interested all of a sudden.

Frank frowned. "What kind of pie?"

"He means the number," Hazel guessed. "I learned that in math class once, but—"

"It's used to measure circles," I said. "This sphere, if it's made by the guy I'm thinking of…"

The trio stared at me blankly.

"Never mind," I said. "I'm pretty sure pi is, uh, 3.1415 blah blah blah. The number goes on forever, but the sphere has only five rings, so that should be enough, if I'm right."

"And if you're not?" Frank asked.

"Well, then, Leo fall down, go boom. Let's find out!"

I turned the rings, starting on the outside and moving in. I ignored the zodiac signs and letters, lining up the correct numbers so they made the value of pi. Nothing happened.

"I'm stupid," I mumbled. "Pi would expand outward, because it's infinite."

I reversed the order of the numbers, starting in the center and working toward the edge. When I aligned the last ring, something inside the sphere clicked. The door swung open.

I beamed at my friends. "That, good people, is how we do things in Leo World. Come on in!"

"I hate Leo World," Frank muttered, and the girls erupted in giggles.