LEO'S POV
If I thought my brain was going to explode before, then I figure the whole planet is going to combust right about now.
Peri was kissing me.
Her lips, like soft, sweet cushions on mine; her eyes squeezed shut so tightly, and her small fist that had pulled me to her— it was all so electrifying. The aroma of her shampoo washed over me like an intoxicating cloud, making me feel drunk and giddy on her scent. I was utterly and completely blindsided, and my heart skipped two whole beats. I couldn't believe this was happening.
Then just as quickly, too quickly, it was over.
As much as I'd imagined it happening— I never thought that it ever would! By the time I had recovered from shock, she had pulled away and was already making a dash out the door. A shaky hand touched my lips, still feeling her warmth and what was that, strawberry lip balm?
She actually kissed me I'm losing my mind—
The crash of metal against metal made me jump, and all of a sudden I remembered oh yea we're all about to fucking die.
"Peri!" Our eyes met on either side of the gate. I didn't even know what to say. I just didn't want this to be our last moment. "Please."
She looked down at her feet quickly, and my mind reeled. I hadn't kissed her back. That's not how I wanted it to happen. In my shock and daze, I hadn't responded so she must think— but no, how could she think that I don't... that I'm not head over heels...
Wasn't it so obvious?
"Focus on cracking that sphere, Valdez!"
Then she was diving into battle.
And once again I was alone.
I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. My mind couldn't help but feel that things are this way because of me; countless scenarios buzz around in my head asking what could I have done differently. Even if I managed to drown out my own thoughts, the violence and carnage going on around me practically demanded my attention. But I had to find a way to focus. My friends were counting on me. My girl was counting on me. Okay, maybe she's not my girl but she did kiss me and there's a lot of unresolved tension— dammit focus!
I stared at the face of the sphere—seven rings, each one covered with tiny Greek letters, numbers, and zodiac signs. The answer wouldn't be pi. Archimedes would never do the same thing twice. Besides, just by putting my hand on the sphere I could feel that the sequence had been generated randomly. It was something only Archimedes would know.
Supposedly, Archimedes's last words had been: Don't disturb my circles.
No one knew what that meant, but I could apply it to this sphere. The lock was much too complicated. Maybe if I had a few years, I could decipher the markings and figure out the right combination, but I didn't even have a few seconds.
I was out of time. Out of luck. And my friends were going to die.
"Take that and that and—oof!"
My head snapped up in horror, and I caught sight of Peri being disarmed and flung into the wall. The black sword clattered helplessly to the ground. She doubled over, dry heaving and releasing strangled groans as the eidolons approached her. She struggled and tried to wrestle against them, but it was like her body was drained of all energy. Lion Head grabbed the blonde by her ponytail and dragged her literally kicking and screaming.
"Ow, ow, ow! Oi, fucker, my edges—"
"Valdez!" Lion Head slowly turned to face me while Peri squirmed in its grasp. "Open the gates or watch as we kill the Omega-Blood."
A problem you cannot solve, said a voice in my mind, taunting me.
Nemesis…she'd told me to expect this moment. I thrust my hand in my pocket and brought out the fortune cookie. The goddess had warned me of a great price for her help—as great as losing an eye.
But if I didn't try, my friends would die.
Peri would die.
"I need the access code for this sphere," I said.
I broke open the cookie.
I unfurled the little strip of paper. It read:
THAT'S YOUR REQUEST? SERIOUSLY? (OVER)
On the back, the paper said:
YOUR LUCKY NUMBERS ARE: TWELVE, JUPITER, ORION, DELTA, THREE, THETA, OMEGA. (WREAK VENGEANCE UPON GAEA, LEO VALDEZ.)
With trembling fingers, I turned the rings.
Outside the gates, Wolf Head growled in frustration. "Fine! Prepare to die, Omega-Blood!"
"G' off me!" Her muffled protests filled the air. "I'm gonna puke all over you ghost bastards!"
The last ring clicked into place. The sphere hummed with power. I ran my hands along the surface, sensing tiny buttons and levers awaiting my commands.
Magical and electrical pulses coursed via the Celestial bronze cables, and surged through the entire room.
I had never played a musical instrument, but I imagined it must be like this—knowing each key or note so well that you didn't really think about what your hands were doing. You just concentrated on the kind of sound you wanted to create.
"Hang on, Peri!" I hoped I sounded confident and not as nervous as I felt.
"No, no, take your time," She called out as the eidolons pointed their swords at her throat.
I started small.
I focused on one reasonably intact gold sphere down in the main room. The gold sphere shuddered. It grew a tripod of legs and clattered over to the Taser ball. A tiny circular saw popped out of the gold sphere's head, and it began cutting into Taser ball's brain.
I tried to activate another orb. This one burst in a small mushroom cloud of bronze dust and smoke.
"Oops," I muttered. "Sorry, Archimedes."
"What are you doing?" Wolf Head demanded, releasing Peri from his gasp as he looked around the room in confusion. "Stop your foolishness and surrender!"
"Oh, yes, I surrender!" I said. "I'm totally surrendering!"
I tried to take control of a third orb. That one broke too. I was starting to feel bad about ruining all these ancient inventions, but this was life or death. Frank had accused me of caring more for machines than people, but if it came down to saving old spheres or my friends, there was no comparison.
The fourth try went better. A ruby-encrusted orb popped its top and helicopter blades unfolded. I was glad Buford the table wasn't here—he would've fallen in love. The ruby orb spun into the air and sailed straight for the cubbyholes. Thin golden arms extended from its middle and snapped up the precious scroll cases.
"Enough!" Wolf Head yelled. "I will destroy—"
He turned in time to see the ruby sphere take off with the scrolls. It zipped across the room and hovered in the far corner.
"What?!" Wolf Head cried. "Kill the prisoners!"
He must have been talking to the Taser ball. Unfortunately, Taser ball was in no shape to comply. My gold sphere was sitting on top of its sawed-open head, picking through its gears and wires like it was scooping out a pumpkin.
During the confusion, Peri managed to crawl undetected to where Hazel and Frank had collapsed. Thank the gods, she was able to stir them back into consciousness.
"Bah!" Wolf Head gestured to Lion Head. "Come! We will destroy the demigods ourselves."
"I don't think so, guys." I turned toward Lion Head. My hands worked the control sphere, and I felt a shock travel through the floor.
Lion Head shuddered and lowered his sword.
I grinned. "You're in Leo World, now."
Lion Head shoved Wolf Head roughly like a middle schooler trying to start a fight.
"What are you doing?" Wolf Head demanded. "We have to—"
BLONG!
Lion Head slammed his shield into Wolf Head's chest. He smashed the pommel of his sword into his comrade's helmet, so Wolf Head became Flat, Deformed, Not Very Happy Wolf Head.
"Stop that!" Wolf Head demanded.
"I cannot!" Lion Head wailed.
I snickered. I was getting the hang of it now. I commanded both suits of armor to drop their swords and shields and slap each other repeatedly. Peri's eyes widened, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as Hazel and Frank began to sit up.
"Valdez!" called Wolf Head in a warbling voice. "You will die for this!"
"Yeah," I called out. "Who's possessing who now, Casper?"
I forced the machine men to jitterbug like 1920s flappers. The manakin's joints began smoking. The other spheres around the room began to pop. Too much energy was surging through the ancient system. The control sphere in my hand grew uncomfortably warm.
"Everybody!" I shouted. "Take cover!"
Our friends were still dazed, staring in amazement at the jitterbugging metal guys, but they got my warning. Frank pulled the girls under the nearest table and shielded them with his big fat body.
One last twist of the sphere, and I sent a massive jolt through the system. The armored warriors blew apart. Rods, pistons, and bronze shards flew everywhere. On all the tables, spheres popped like hot soda cans. My gold sphere froze. The flying ruby orb dropped to the floor with the scroll cases.
The room was suddenly quiet except for a few random sparks and sizzles. The air smelled like burning car engines.
I placed my palms on the gate and willed a burst of heat to melt a hole right through it. I raced down the stairs and found the trio safe under their table. I never thought I'd be so happy to see Peri in Frank's arms.
"You're alive!" I exclaimed, relief flooding my system.
Hazel's hair was all puffed up like a cat, and her left eye twitched because of the electricity. "Um what exactly just happened?"
"Archimedes came through!" I said triumphantly. "Just enough power left in those old machines for one final show. Once I had the access code, it was easy."
I patted the control sphere, which was steaming in a bad way. I didn't know if it could be fixed, but at the moment I was too relieved to care.
"The eidolons," Frank said. "Are they gone?"
I grinned. "My last command overloaded their kill switches—basically locked down all their circuits and melted their cores."
"In English?" Frank asked.
"I trapped the eidolons inside the wiring," I said. "Then I melted them. They won't be bothering anyone again."
I helped Hazel to her feet as Frank helped support a slumped and shivering daughter of Anastasios. She looked exhausted and was leaning most of her weight against his strong frame, but managed to give me a thumbs up and a smile. That's it? After you kiss me? It was hard not to be confused and more than a little bit jealous right now.
"You saved us," Frank said.
"Don't sound so surprised." I glanced around the destroyed workshop. "Too bad all this stuff got wrecked, but at least I salvaged the scrolls. If I can get them back to Camp Half-Blood, maybe I can learn how to recreate Archimedes's inventions."
Hazel rubbed the side of her head. "But I don't understand. Where is Nico? That tunnel was supposed to lead us to Nico."
I had almost forgotten why we'd come down here in the first place. Nico obviously wasn't here. The place was a dead end. So why… ?
"Oh." I felt like there was a buzz-saw sphere on my own head, pulling out my wires and gears. "Hazel, how exactly were you tracking Nico? I mean, could you just sense him nearby because he was your brother?"
She frowned, still looking a bit wobbly from her electric shock treatment. "Not—not totally. Sometimes I can tell when he's close, but, like I said, Rome is so confusing, so much interference because of all the tunnels and caves—"
"You tracked him with your metal-finding senses," I guessed. "His sword?"
She blinked. "How did you know?"
At the mention of a sword, Peri perked up slightly. "Sword? Need..."
I went and picked up the black sword from where it was discarded after Peri was disarmed. The blonde pushed herself off of Frank, her movements slow and deliberate, but obviously off balance as she made her way to me. She kept mumbling "sword" and "need" like a weird zombie. I allowed her to take the black blade from my hand, and she sighed in relief when it was in her grip once more.
"Oh. Oh, no." Hazel would've collapsed if Frank hadn't caught her. "But that's impossible! Nico's sword was with him in the bronze jar. Percy saw it in his dream!"
"Either the dream was wrong," I said, "or the giants moved the sword here as a decoy."
"So this was a trap," Peri said quietly, her first full sentence in a while. "We were lured here."
"But why?" Hazel cried. "Where's my brother?"
A hissing sound filled the control booth. At first, I thought the eidolons were back. Then I realized the bronze mirror on the table was steaming. We all crowded around to see and gasped in shock.
Ah, my poor demigods. The sleeping face of Gaea appeared in the mirror. As usual, she spoke without moving her mouth, which could only have been creepier if she'd had a ventriloquism puppet. I hated those things.
You had your choice, Gaea said. Her voice echoed through the room. It seemed to be coming not just from the mirror, but from the stone walls as well.
I realized she was all around us. Of course. We were in the earth. We'd gone to all the trouble of building the Argo II so we could travel by sea and air, and we'd ended up in the earth anyway.
I spared a glance at Peri. She was gripping that sword so tightly that her knuckles were going pale. Her eyes were wide and darted around fearfully. The only other time I had seen her like this...
I offered salvation to all of you, Gaea said. You could have turned back. Now it is too late. You've come to the ancient lands where I am strongest—where I will wake.
I pulled a hammer from my tool belt and whacked the mirror. Being metal, it just quivered like a tea tray, but it felt good to smash Gaea in the nose.
"In case you haven't noticed, Dirt Face," I said, "your little ambush failed. Your three eidolons got melted in bronze, and we're fine."
Gaea laughed softly. Oh, my sweet Leo. You four have been separated from your friends. That was the whole point.
The workshop door slammed shut.
"Oh no, oh no, oh hell no," Peri started to freak out and walk around the room, rubbing her hands along the walls, searching desperately for a crack or a seam.
Give it up, Omega-Blood. You are trapped in my embrace, Gaea said wickedly. Meanwhile, Annabeth Chase faces her death alone, terrified and crippled, at the hands of her mother's greatest enemy.
The image in the mirror changed. I saw Annabeth sprawled on the floor of a dark cavern, holding up her bronze knife as if warding off a monster. Her face was gaunt. Her leg was wrapped up in some sort of splint. I couldn't see what she was looking at, but it was obviously something horrible. I wanted to believe the image was a lie, but I had a bad feeling it was real, and it was happening right now.
The others, Gaea said, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, and my dear friend Percy Jackson—they will perish within minutes.
The scene changed again. Percy was holding Riptide, leading Jason and Piper down a spiral staircase into the darkness.
Their powers will betray them, Gaea said. They will die in their own elements. I almost hoped they would survive. They would have made a better sacrifice. But alas, Hazel and Frank, you will have to do. My minions will collect you shortly and bring you to the ancient place. Your blood will awaken me at last.
Dearest Periwinkle is suffocating as we speak. Silly Omega-Blood... you've no business being underground for this long. Storm will be buried by the earth from the inside out any minute now. But how brave you were to try and be strong for your little demigod friends. Please… enjoy this last glimpse of your failed quest.
Wait, Peri was dying? All three of us looked to the Omega-Blood, who looked guilty as sin. She was suffocating this whole time, slowly being killed, and still she said nothing! How could she— why?! Why didn't she tell me?
I couldn't stand it. My hand glowed white hot. Hazel and Frank scrambled back as I pressed my palm against the mirror and melted it into a puddle of bronze goo.
The voice of Gaea went silent. I could only hear the roar of blood in my ears. I took a shaky breath.
"Sorry," I told my friends. "She was getting annoying."
"What do we do?" Frank asked. "We have to get out and help the others."
"Yes, we have to get out of here." Peri said quickly. She was clutching that sword like it was her very lifeline.
Hazel rushed to her side, simultaneously fussing over her condition and scolding her for withholding this critical information from the rest of us. When our eyes met, Peri looked away quickly. The vibe was super weird after... everything that had happened. I hoped I hadn't ruined our friendship... or the possibility of something more. Ugh, I couldn't focus on that right now. I had to think of a way to get us out of this mess— as usual!
I scanned the workshop, now littered with smoking pieces of broken spheres. My friends still needed me. This was still my show. As long as I had my tool belt, Leo Valdez wasn't going to sit around helplessly watching the Demigod Death Channel.
"I've got an idea," I said. "But it's going to take all four of us."
I started telling them the plan.