LEO'S POV

I agreed with Nemesis about one thing: good luck was a sham.

At least when it came to my luck.

Last winter I had watched in horror while a family of Cyclopes prepared to roast Jason and Piper with hot sauce. I'd schemed my way out of that one and saved my friends all by myself, but at least I'd had time to think.

Now, not so much. Hazel and Frank had been knocked out by the tendrils of a possessed steampunk bowling ball. Two suits of armor with bad attitudes were about to kill me. And a queasy Peri was slowly approaching the pair, armed only with a bronze sword and an incredibly impaired sense of balance, but knowing her she definitely didn't have a plan.

Wonderful.

I couldn't blast them with fire. Suits of armor wouldn't be hurt by that. Besides, Hazel and Frank were too close. I didn't want to burn them, or accidentally hit the piece of firewood that controlled Frank's life.

The gears in my mind began working overtime.

My eyes darted to Peri who was sneaking behind the two possessed manikins, and I noticed her usual glowing brown skin was tinted a sickly green. Now that I think about it, she's been different ever since we stepped foot in this tunnel. She was complaining nonstop about an unbearable odor and now it's so bad that she's visibly ill whereas the rest of us were completely fine.

On my right, the suit of armor with a lion's head helmet creaked its wiry neck and regarded Hazel and Frank, who were still lying unconscious.

"A male and female demigod," said Lion Head. "These will do, if the others die." Its hollow face mask turned back to me, sending a chill up my spine. "We do not need you, Leo Valdez."

"Oh, hey!" I tried for a winning smile. "You always need Leo Valdez!"

I spread my hands and hoped I looked confident and useful, not desperate and terrified. I wondered if it was too late to write TEAM LEO on my shirt.

Sadly, the suits of armor were not as easily swayed as the Narcissus Fan Club had been.

The one with the wolf-headed helmet snarled, "I have been in your mind, Leo. I helped you start the war."

My smile crumbled. I took a step back, and my voice came out barely above a whisper. "That was you?"

Now I understood why those tourists had bothered me right away, and why this thing's voice sounded so familiar. I'd heard it in my mind.

"You made me fire the ballista?" I demanded. "You call that helping?"

"I know how you think," said Wolf Head. "I know your limits. You are small and alone. You need friends to protect you. Without them, you are unable to withstand me. I vowed not to possess you again, but I can still kill you."

The armored dudes stepped forward. The points of their swords hovered a few inches from my face.

My fear suddenly made way for a whole lot of anger. This eidolon in the wolf helmet had shamed me, controlled me, and made me attack New Rome. It had endangered my friends and royally botched our quest. It hurt Peri when possessing Frank on the ship.

I glanced at the dormant spheres on the worktables. I considered my tool belt. I thought about the loft behind me—the area that looked like a sound booth. I locked eyes with Peri who was right behind Wolf Head now, poised to attack despite her wobbly knees, determination blazing in her eyes.

It's up to me and her. But mostly me.

Presto: Operation Junk Pile was born.

"First: you don't know me," I told Wolf Head. "And second: Bye Felicia."

With an impressive warrior cry, Peri impaled Wolf Head with her sword, sending him crashing into his eidolon companion with a tremendous clanging of metal. She immediately doubled over, groaning in discomfort and dry heaving, narrowly avoiding a blade swung at her head.

"Omega-Blood!" Lion Head roared, raising its mechanical arm to prepare another decapitation attempt. "We will bring your lifeless body to Gaea!"

"Peri, up here," I cried, lunging for the stairs and bounding to the top.

The suits of armor were scary, but they were not fast. As I suspected, the loft had doors on either side—folding metal gates. The operators would've wanted protection in case their creations went haywire…like now.

With a groan, Peri rolled to evade the manakins' reach, bumping her hip on a table's edge as she scrambled up the steps after me. It was almost jarring to see her move without her usual grace and fluidity. I slammed both gates shut and summoned fire to my hands, fusing the locks once we were both safely inside.

The suits of armor closed in on either side. They rattled the gates, hacking at them with their swords.

"This is foolish," said Lion Head. "You only delay your death."

"Delaying death is one of my favorite hobbies." I muttered as I scanned our new home.

Overlooking the workshop was a single table like a control board. It was crowded with junk, but most of it I dismissed immediately: a diagram for a human catapult that would never work; a strange black sword (I'm no good with swords); a large bronze mirror (my reflection looked terrible); and a set of tools that someone had broken, either in frustration or clumsiness.

My eyes met a pair of familiar chocolate orbs, and I swallowed thickly at the stress and weariness that overflowed from them. She looked like she had just gorged herself on old clams and was about to pay the price for such a foolish mistake.

"Are you okay, Leo?"

My heart squeezed. "I should be asking you that! You look green and sick like you've got food poisoning. What's wrong?"

She shook her head even though she was clutching her side. "I'm fine... just got one helluva bad stomach ache. But we got bigger things to worry about." As if on cue, Lion Head slashes at the gate, doing little damage but rattling the cage around us frighteningly. "There's gotta be something in this junk pile that can help us. Come on, Leo, use that big fat brain of yours!"

"I-I dunno. I'll try!" Suddenly, there was a series of fireworks going off in my brain. "I'll get us out of this."

I focused on the main project. In the center of the table, someone had disassembled an Archimedes sphere. Gears, springs, levers, and rods were littered around it. All the bronze cables to the room below were connected to a metal plate under the sphere. I could sense the Celestial bronze running through the workshop like arteries from a heart—ready to conduct magical energy from this spot.

"One basketball to rule them all," I muttered.

This sphere was a master regulator. I was standing at Ancient Roman mission control.

"Leo Valdez!" the spirit howled. "Open this gate or I will kill you!"

"A fair and generous offer!" I said, my eyes still on the sphere. "Just let me finish this. A last request, all right?"

That must have confused the spirits, because they momentarily stopped hacking at the bars.

My hands flew over the sphere, reassembling its missing pieces. Why did the stupid Romans have to take apart such a beautiful machine? They had killed Archimedes, stolen his stuff, then messed with a piece of equipment they could never understand. On the other hand, at least they'd had the sense to lock it away for two thousand years so that I could retrieve it.

The eidolons started pounding on the gates again.

"Who is it?" I called.

"Valdez!" Wolf Head bellowed.

"Valdez who?" I asked.

Eventually the eidolons would realize they couldn't get in. Then, if Wolf Head truly knew my mind, he would decide there were other ways to force my cooperation. I had to work faster.

I connected the gears, got one wrong, and had to start again. Hephaestus's Hand Grenades, this was hard!

Finally I got the last spring in place. The ham-fisted Romans had almost ruined the tension adjuster, but I pulled a set of watchmaker's tools from my belt and did some final calibrations. Archimedes was a genius—assuming this thing actually worked.

I wound the starter coil. The gears began to turn. I closed the top of the sphere and studied its concentric circles—similar to the ones on the workshop door.

"Valdez!" Wolf Head pounded on the gate, somehow looking even more terrifying with that bronze sword still stuck in its chest. "Our third comrade will kill your friends!"

Peri and I locked eyes. I noticed she had picked up the jet black sword that was discarded on the work table. What's she gonna do with that?

I cursed under my breath. Our third comrade. I glanced down at the spindly-legged Taser ball that had knocked out Hazel and Frank. I had figured eidolon number three was hiding inside that thing. I still had to deduce the right sequence to activate this control sphere.

"Yeah, okay," I called, mouth suddenly dry. "You got me. Just…just a sec."

"No more seconds!" Wolf Head shouted. "Open this gate now, or they die."

The possessed Taser ball lashed out with its tendrils and sent another shock through Hazel and Frank. Their unconscious bodies flinched. That kind of electricity might have stopped their hearts.

"No! Stop!" Peri screamed desperately.

I held back tears. This was too hard. I couldn't do it.

"I'll open the gate!" Peri cried suddenly. "Just leave my friends alone."

"Peri, no!"

PERI'S POV

Leo fused the locks shut and was trying his best to decipher that weird sphere thingy on the desk, but by his frantic muttering I could tell it wasn't going well. Meanwhile, these creepy suits of armor were hacking and slashing in attempts to break in here and kill us real good and dead.

So no, this Roman vacation was not exactly screaming Hot Girl Summer.

Another wave of nausea hit me like a dump truck, and I leaned against the back wall dizzily, struggling to get my bearings. It started as a slow, smelly nuisance, but the longer I stay down here the more intense my vertigo and queasiness becomes. Now, it felt like my insides were a bubbling volcano and I could barely stand up properly. My lungs were burning and every breath was a strain. Even the slightest movement threatened to make me blow chunks, and now was just not the time to be a puking mess.

The worst part was that ungodly smell that never went away. It seemed to permeate every cell and cloud my brain in a foggy, jumbled mess. But through that stink cloud, I managed to recognize the smell that felt like it was quite literally killing me. I've smelled it before.

The stink of the earth.

One of my many, many fatal flaws.

It explained why I felt so suffocated and confined walking down that tunnel, deeper and deeper underneath the earth's surface. It felt like the dream I had many nights ago when I was sinking into the earth and drowning in the muck and mud and scum had come true.

Why? Why did the earth hate me so? Something my father did perhaps? Another crime of his that I'm paying for?

"Leo Valdez, open this gate or I will kill you!"

"A fair and generous offer!"

Leo and the eidolon sounded far away. Was I slipping into unconsciousness? Was being down here draining me of my energy? Maybe I should take a quick nap to rejuvenate— No! I can't! I have to stay awake.

With a strangled groan I pushed myself to my feet. Leo was still messing with that weird sphere, its sweet Celestial Bronze scent cutting through the earthly odor, but only slightly.

There's gotta be something I can do to help.

That's when I spotted the blackest blade I've ever laid eyes on glinting menacingly in the dim light. An intimidating violet aura surrounded the sword. I was drawn to it instantly. There was something so familiar about the black metal that it was forged from, yet I couldn't place where I'd seen it before. When my fingertips found the hilt, a cooling relief washed over me almost immediately. It was like chewing a fresh stick of mint gum after eating onion rings and your breath is rank as hell

Basically, I really needed it just then.

Miraculously, wielding the black blade helped to steady the wobble in my knees and slow the spinning of the room around me. I felt a slight renewal of energy, like my second wind was kicking in. A strength filled me, compelling me to fight for what I believed in.

This was so crazy. I never got this kind of feeling from any Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold weapon.

Just what was this blade?

Incessant, violent banging on the gates drew my attention from the shadowy sword in my grip. "Valdez! Our third companion will kill your friends!" Lion Head roared.

My blood ran ice cold and I locked eyes with Leo who looked just as fearful as I felt. I watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard.

"Yeah okay," he called weakly. "You got me. Just... just a sec."

"No more seconds!" Wolf Head shouted. "Open the gate now or they die!"

The possessed Taser ball lashed out with its tendrils and sent another shock through Hazel and Frank. Their unconscious bodies flinched, and I rushed to the gate.

"No! Stop!" I screamed so hard my throat was raw. My heart was twisting in knots, competing against my stomach for most fucked up organ of the year award. I couldn't watch my friends die in front of me. I refused to allow that. My new friends, my new family... I couldn't bear to lose anyone else.

"I'll open the gate!" I gripped the ebony blade in my hand even tighter. "Just leave my friends alone."

"Peri, no!"

Leo's hand gripped my wrist, whirling me around to face him. His moist eyes looked right through me, seeing into my very core. "Don't go out there, they'll kill you. I can't... I c-can't.."

"I can't just sit here and watch them die, Leo," I croaked out. "I'm going to buy you some time, okay? I know you can get that basketball thingy working, but I'm no use in here. All I'm good at is swinging a sword—"

"That's not true!" His voice on the verge of cracking, eyes pleading, his grip on my wrist like a vice. "Please, don't go. I can't do this without you... I need you."

Gods above, how do three little words have the strength to take my breath away and threaten the stability of my legs once more? My breath hitches in my throat and I know that he must be just as scared as I am, that death is a real possibility today. For all of us.

It hits me like a train as I'm staring into his eyes, the realization of just how strong my feelings for this boy are. Since the first time he made me laugh, there was a spark of passion that only grew and grew until it was as hot and unbridled as the flames that bent to his will. And maybe, as an extension, I bent to his will too. I'd do anything to see him smile, to protect him, to keep from seeing this kind of fear and despair in his eyes ever again.

Didn't he understand? That's why I have to go out there. To protect him. To protect them. My friends. My family. All that I have. Whether I die or not.

And if I'm going to die today, then I don't want any regrets. So with my heart pounding in my chest, I did something scarier than facing any monster or Roman or angry earth goddess.

I grabbed a fistful of Leo's shirt and pulled, crashing his lips to my own. His lips were even softer than I had fantasized what seems like countless times. When did I grow so fond of the smell of motor oil? I wanted to show him the fire that burned within me just for him; because of him. I felt his body go rigid as a board while I did my best to put all my emotions and all the words I couldn't say into this kiss.

My first and possibly my last.

It felt like forever, but it was probably only a few seconds long before I pulled back to take a gasp of air. Leo looked like he had totally short circuited. Error 404. Malfunction. System: shut down.

I bit my lips, now a bit swollen from the kiss I stole. He hadn't reciprocated at all. Even now, his eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and his mouth was agape like a fish. Rejection? My heart took an arrow right to the knee.

I couldn't bring myself to meet his eyes, embarrassment and hurt slapping me harshly in the face. Before he could say anything, I sliced at the fused lock on the gates, two clean slashes. It was like cutting through butter with the superior black blade.

Time to kill stuff or die trying.

"I'll hold them off for as long as I can."

Then I opened the gate, immediately being greeted with my old pal Wolfie. Even in my weakened, nauseated state I'm able to parry the slow, mechanical movements as it attempts to slice me apart. I use my momentum to hack off its sword arm and deliver a swift kick to the chest, sending the lumbering machine tumbling down the steps. It lands with a crash against Lion Head at the foot of the stairs.

"Peri, please!" Leo's pleading eyes meet mine on the other side of the gate.

"Focus on cracking that sphere, Valdez!" I jam the severed metal arm into the gate as a makeshift door bar. I'm not sure how effective it will be, but hopefully it at least slows the eidolons down in case... well, in case I fail.

"On this day, Omega-Blood shall spill!" The suits of armor boomed wickedly. "The Earth Mother will drink every drop!"

"You want a piece of the Omega-Blood?" I twirled the blade of darkness in my grasp skillfully, then teetered off balance for a second before recovering. "Come get some."