The great warship disguised by the Mist hovered over Vatican City. It was about midday when the sun was highest in the sky. The massive city of Rome sprawled beneath the ship and it's passengers while it fully encompassed the minuscule Catholic capital of the world, Vatican City. The giant domed Basilica was a mountain that shaded the circular forum below it. The obelisk in the center of the piazza protruded out of the ground like an arrow. The Italian City that surrounded it was mostly urban sprawl with a few Ancient monuments popping out of the ground. If one were to look east they would see the Colosseum.
Percy whistled in awe.
"It's beautiful," Annabeth trailed off in amazement as she complimented the elegance of the architecture. "I've always wanted to come here since I was a kid."
"If only it was under better circumstances," Percy put in and she nodded her agreement.
The ship floated over the city as the Argonauts deliberated on their next course of action.
"Who's going then?" Octavian asked.
"Ten Argonauts will go down to the city and retrieve the key!" Achilles said from the center of the deck with the Argonauts gathered around him
"The ten I have picked will be the six heroes from the Prophecy of Seven, Chase, Underwood due to his ability to smell monsters, Theseus, and Perseus. You will take pegasi down to the ground, you will retrieve the key, signal for pick up, and comeback."
The ten chosen nodded and replied, "Aye, sir!"
"Dismissed!" Achilles said. "Hopefully the Mist will transform Theseus and Perseus's clothing into a more modern style. Actually, could someone be generous and lend them some clothing." Achilles said as he studied Perseus's and Theseus's tunics.
"I made t-shirts!" A daughter from the Aphrodite Cabin shouted ecstatically. "I want them to wear it."
The group inspected the t-shirts that the girl had made. It was dark black t-shirts with a dragon's head imprinted on the front that was similar to the Festus emblem imprinted on their armor.
Achilles rolled his eyes, "Fine, they'll wear them."
The ten landed their pegasi in a dark alley a few blocks away from the Vatican. When everybody was ready to move on, they sent their pegasi back to the ship.
"Black Jack, when you hear me whistle, come get us," Percy told his black pegasi.
Okie dokie boss!
"Right, lets go," Jason said as he lead them out of the alley out into the street.
For most of them, this was their first time on foreign soil. None of them had ever been outside of North America and this his the furthest they had been away from the Gods. Theseus and Perseus, they both had lived in Ancient Greece and ever since they were brought back to life they didn't spend much time in the cities of the modern world. The others all lived in different parts of America or Canada and had never been anywhere else. For them, walking into the Roman streets was...different. Compared to the wide busy New York streets Percy was used to; he now walked into a narrow, cobblestone roads. Percy accidentally mistook the road for another alleyway. Kiosks, art galleries, mopeds, and compact cars littered the street. The group had to overcome their minor culture shock before they proceeded.
As they walked past by pedestrians and tourist, they each prayed that their clothes, which felt disguises, would hide them from the local officials. They feared their uniformity would draw attention to them. The only mortal clothes that they had were their matching Argonaut t-shirts which all had the face of Festus on them. They wore blue jeans and the weapons that they carried were concealed in guitar cases. There wasn't much difference between what they all wore except the stray rasta cap or windbreaker. The locals didn't pay any mind to them though. They only assumed they were any other American music school touring the city of Rome like any other American school on a field trip.
The group passed by many gilato vendors, people speaking loudly and joking in Italian, and restaurants as they ventured through the streets.
"Do you think we'll find the seventh half-blood here?" Piper asked while studying each face she passed by.
"Maybe," Jason said while his eye scanned the crowd. "I just hope they speak English."
"Or maybe Nico?" Hazel suggested.
"Yeah but that also means monsters?" Frank told her. "He was captured by Gaea's forces, remember?"
"Speaking of monsters, how are we doing Grover?" Percy asked.
Grover sniffed the air and skeptically said, "So far so good. I don't smell anything...yet."
"Theres always a 'yet,' always," Leo gesticulated.
"Gaea has a great number of spies and lookouts. She knows we're here. They'll be waiting for us," Theseus assured them.
"Its cause they're attracted to my good looks," Leo tried to joke but he couldn't hide the fact of how uneasy he was. Leo forced a grin as the other rolled their eyes at him; then he chanced a quick peek over his shoulder.
After several minutes of walking, the urban city buildings began to mix with classical renaissance and Ancient Roman architecture. The apartments where replaced by arches and columns, and the kiosks were substituted with domes, sautés, and fountains. The assembly was continuously pausing because Annabeth had to take a few moments to analyze everything.
After another several more minutes of walking and enjoying the scenery, they entered Vatican City which then lead into St. Peter's Square. The square was in fact a circle and was surrounded by a round awning that was supported by marble columns. On the edges of the awnings were stone statues of saints who took the role of guardians that watched over the holy place and it's sacred grounds. What stood out the most though was the giant obelisk that towered exactly in the middle of the square. On either side of the obelisk were two fountains. Behind it stood St. Peter's Basilica with it's massive dome piercing the sky.
Annabeth inhaled sharply as she absorbed the beauty around her. She wanted to jump up and down like a school girl but being the daughter of Athena prevented her from doing so.
"It's just how imagined and dreamed it would be like," she whispered.
Everyone looked at her. Percy answered, "She really loves architecture."
"It's been a dream of mine ever since I was little," Annabeth informed them.
"Sorry to interrupt happy memories but...I smell monsters," Grover said.
"Well, enjoy this while you can Wise Girl because I have a feeling that things are going to get ugly quick," Percy told her plainly.
"Monsters, where?" Jason asked. "How many?"
"They're close and they're hiding. I can't know for sure," Grover informed them.
"Do you think we could find them? I can take them out with a few shots," Frank said.
"Are you kidding me?" Leo exclaimed. "Do you see how many people there are?" He gestured to the hundreds of people who were jam-packed within square.
It was summer vacation and many schools and summer camps were on field trips and they too were dressed in matching t-shirts just like the Argonauts. Not mention there were tons of families on vacation and devout Catholics there for mass. These people were taking pictures, going on tours, studying the architecture; and many were traversing in and out of the Basilica, across the quad, up and down the various stair cases, lounging on stoops, and simply getting in the way of everything.
"It doesn't matter," said Theseus. "We'll deal with them when we have too-" He was cut off when young, blond girl with grey eyes who looked about fifteen years old ran into him and knocked him over.
"Sorry," she said quickly to Theseus on the ground. She hesitated momentarily as she debated upon helping him up but dropped the idea in her urgency and ran on.
"Julia!" A boy yelled behind her. "Julia wait up!"
The boy looked about seventeen, he had long black shaggy hair and wore a United States Marine Corps t-shirt and leather jacket with a denim vest over it. The girl, named Julia, was either being chased by the boy or she was leading him somewhere. The tone in the boy's voice as he called after her could have meant both.
Theseus got to his feet in irritation but after he wiped himself off he ignored the event like nothing happened. "As I was saying, we'll deal with the monsters when they show themselves but for now we'll pay attention to that key."
"You know what doesn't make sense?" Percy implied. "Even if the monsters do stop us and take the key from us, couldn't Thanatos make a new one."
"He could," Grover answered.
"Then why couldn't he just give us one to begin with instead of sending us here?"
"Because that's against Olympian law."
"That doesn't make any sense!"
Grover opened his mouth to say respond but paused from lack of knowledge. "I don't know, it's complicated but it's just something we have to do."
"It's a lot simpler if you don't think about it Percy," Annabeth said as politely as possible.
"What ever you say," Percy sighed.
"Forget about being confused about that, how the Hades are we even going to get it? Is there like a secret compartment its in or like a lever..." Frank calculated.
"No sense in talking about it when we can do it, let's go." Perseus said leading them forward.
The group had to fight their way through the crowd. It was like walking through a human sweat-forrest with humans as the trees and the arms the branches. They managed to make it through the horde of people and reached the eighty-three foot high obelisk.
"I hope we don't have to fly up there?" Jason said looking to tip of the obelisks point.
"I don't think so," Annabeth said. "Its at the base, look for Thanatos's symbol, a butterfly."
"A butterfly?" Leo asked with a smirk on his face.
"Butterflies represents one's soul in Greek Literature. Thanatos, being the God of Death deals a lot with souls." Annabeth explained.
"It's ironic that something as harmless as a butterfly can be so closely related to death," Leo said almost laughing.
"Shut up and look," Annabeth said rolling her eyes.
Without saying anymore; the group stepped forward and began searching around the base of the obelisk. They pushed tourist out of the way who protested angrily.
"Hey, you're in our picture" A plump American lady whined as she held up digital camera to her face that was directed at her equally as plump family who were taking a photo in front of the obelisk.
Theseus responded wit dagger eyes which was enough to make the lady almost drop her camera from the sheer terror that trickled down her spine.
"Come on kids, stay away from that man," the lady said herding her children to safe distance away from him, the fat off of her arms jiggling with each step. Theseus smirked and he continued his search.
They continued their investigation a while longer till Perseus came across a weird marking etched in the stone. He recognized the wings, the abdomen, and the antenna. The butterfly!
"Found it," he called to the others.
The rest abandoned the sections they were analyzing and quickly and jumped over to Perseus. Their faces lit up when they recognized the symbol.
"Okay, now what?" Percy asked.
"Maybe we have to carve it out, someone got a knife can..." Leo called. Maybe I can get one from my tool-"
Perseus ignored Leo and pressed his thumb down directly in the center of butterfly's body. A piece of the stone plopped open like a mini-drawbridge and a tray slid out of the obelisk like a disk tray for a computer monitor. On the tray was a tiny, copper, everyday household Schlage brand key. As soon as Perseus picked up the key and placed it in his pocket, the tray slid back into the obelisk.
"It responds by the touch of demigods?" Piper suggested.
"Dead demigods who were once dead and brought back to life," Hazel corrected.
Everyone looked at her with cocked eyebrows.
"What? It is the God of Death were dealing with here! I don't think he would wan't any demigod taking the key to his doors. This key was meant was meant for his children who probably posses a death-like touch."
Before they could question the notion any further; there was a loud of explosion and the sound of crumbling rubble and cascading rock. The tourist began screaming their heads off as they ran mindless circles from panic and mass hysteria.
Percy sighed, he noticed it was becoming a habit in these past few days.
"…And queue the monsters," Grove sang nervously.
"They were waiting till we found key for them," Annabeth snarled.
"Lazy bastards!" Frank shouted to no monster in particular.
"Make sure that key is safe," Jason ordered Perseus. Jason didn't know if he could order him around like that but he needed to let Perseus know how serious this was.
"Obviously," Perseus responded.
The heroes drew their weapons. Percy uncapped riptide and activated his shield, Annabeth drew her knife, Piper pulled out Katoptris, Leo grabbed a hammer from his tool belt, and Jason flipped his coin in the air catching it as a gladius. Frank reached in his guitar case and strung his bow, Oriens. Hazel drew her spatha. Perseus pulled out his shield, his invisibility helm, and his adamantine sword. He activated his Hermes boots by clicking his heels together, took off into the air, and then went invisible with his helm. Theseus and Grover both drew their cudgels and prepared for battle.
After the crowd escaped and thinned, the Argonauts realized what enemies they were actually dealing with. The statues lined along the ledges of the awning that circled the square began bursting one by one; causing stone to scatter everywhere. The Vatican police showed up with their guns drawn but when they saw what they crowd was fleeing from, they ran too.
"The mist must be showing them something really freaky," Piper commented.
"At least the mortals are getting out of the way," said Jason as one ran past him frantically.
When the dust finally cleared from the obliterated statues; clay giants with six arms dropped down onto the ground cracking the floor they landed on. They're was about fifty of them in all and they started marching toward them.
"The Pope is going to be pissed!" Leo screamed as he looked at the cracked floor.
"The Pope is going to be pissed?" Annabeth repeated incredulously. "I AM pissed that they're destroying this place."
"Earthborn," Piper cursed.
"Were they the statues this whole time?" Percy questioned, feeling guilty that he was unaware of their presence to begin with.
"They were probably disguising themselves as them. Earhtborn are born from the Earth, they can take many shapes made of stone-like materials for short periods of time," Annabeth explained.
"Yay-son!" The Earthborn moaned as they surrounded and marched toward them.
"It doesn't matter where they're from or how they got here, kill them!" Theseus shouted.
"What's the plan?" Grover asked.
"Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, and Perseus take the right while me, Grover, Leo, Piper, and Theseus left?" Jason suggested.
"Doesn't matter, kill!" Theseus yelled.
Perseus didn't need an invitation. He was already getting busy with his sword as he whirled through three of the muddy giants. The others joined in and started battling the Earthborn. Percy rushed forward, held up his shield to protect his face from thrown rocks, rolled under one Earthborn, rose to his feet while hacking, blocked with his shield, then bashed with it, stabbed to his left, and spun in a circle with his sword arm outstretched. He was no longer surrounded by six armed giants but puddles of mud where they once stood.
Annabeth ran forward, slid on her knees between two Earthborns and cut at both their legs. The giants fell to the ground. When Annabeth slid to a stop, she got to her feet, backtracked to the downed Earthborn, and finished them off.
Leo summoned fire into his hands and used his arm like a flamethrower. He sprayed the Earthborn with his hose-arm of fire. They reeled back in pain while patting themselves to put their fires out, Leo rushed forward and with his hammer and hit a giant directly in the loincloth. It hunched over in pain as cupped it's groin in gingerly. Ella was right, Earthborns' groins where extremely sensitive. Leo smiled and then continued to beat back his aggressors.
Piper charm spoke two giants into fighting each other and then forced another two too their knees. While they were incapacitated she went in and cut them down. Grover used his pan flute to melt some of the Earthborn back into clay puddles. When the Earthborn got too close, Grover put his flute away and commenced to beat with his club.
Jason shot lighting out of the tip of his spear causing two of the mud giants to combust instantly. Jason had to take on the majority of the clay giants because they were out for blood when it came to people named Jason. Jason whirled, hacked, and called down rain storms in hopes that the water would melt the giants. It only slowed them down. When three where about to grab him, Jason stuck out his hand and sent them flying by manipulating the wind currents. The giants flew through the air perfectly aligned, allowing Frank to take them out with a single energy arrow.
Frank directed his bow to rest of the Earthborn and fired five arrows in rapid succession. They all hit their mark. Frank loved his new baby. He never had to reach into a quiver to reload and he didn't have to stress out about running out of arrows. He continued to pick off the giants one by one. He almost hit Perseus and realized friendly fire was imminent. He slung his bow over his shoulder and turned into a rhino. Like his clothes, the bow transformed with him. He charged forward aiding his friends in melee combat. Hazel held her spatha high and brought it down on a giant, slicing it in two. She whirled quickly and cut down another before it grabbed her. Meanwhile, Theseus weaved through his opponents like a dancer as he dropped them with his cudgel.
The Argonauts seemed to be handling themselves pretty well. The five days of intense training had paid off. Everything was going well until Percy was knocked off his feet as an Earthborn rammed into him and sent him flying toward one of the twin fountains on either side of the obelisk. Percy landed on his stomach. He was about to climb to his knees to retaliate but as soon as he lifted his head, something made him shut his eyes and look downward. It was a single noise that caused him to remain looking at the ground. The sound was of hissing snakes.
"Percy Jackson," a feminine voice hissed. "Long time," the familiar voice breathed.
"MEDUSA!" Percy screamed to his friends making them aware that the gorgon was present and letting them know to steer clear from his position and not look in their direction.
"All you have to do Son of Poseidon is to look up and we can spend eternity together! I can torture you forever!" The Gorgon cackled. "I can torture you for what you DID!"
Percy continued to look down, "Gaea's must be pretty desperate to recruit the likes of you."
"Fine, this is how it's going to be then, you will pay Percy Jackson," she hissed and lunged forward.
Percy closed his eyes and felt a tug in his gut. He heard the fountain explode, felt the moisture flow over his head, and the crashing sound of a wave against the shore. Percy leapt to his feet and blindly swung his sword in the direction he presumed where Medusa's voice was coming from. His blade struck a metal shield with a loud clang.
"Not me Jackson!" Perseus yelled angrily.
"Sorry," Percy apologized.
Medusa cackled, "Both Perseus's in one place! My revenge will be so sweet!"
Medusa ran at the two and they both jumped out of the way randomly while they held their eyes shut. Percy opened his eyes carefully to figure out where he was. He was back at the fountain again. Percy looked into the reflection of the water and saw the face of Medusa in it. Percy flinched at the sight. Her face somehow managed to beam even more horrible since their last encounter. In the reflection, Percy witnessed Medusa swatting at Jason who was flying circles around her as he hung upside down, turned away from her, while looking through the reflection of his shield. Even upside down and backwards, Perseus was amazingly able to counter and doge all Medusa's attacks. When she got close to landing a blow he wold disappear and reappear above her.
"Enough of this coward, fight like a hero!" Medusa screeched.
Perseus may have been able to defend himself but there was no opportunity for him to go on the offensive. There was no way he could spin around fast enough without getting turned to stone. Percy and Perseus's eyes met in each others reflections and they nodded. Percy sent a stream of water from the fountain into Medusa's face. She screamed and put her hands to her face to wipe the water from her eyes, big mistake. Perseus gently lowered himself to the ground. He raised his sword and brought it down on Medusa's neck. At the last second she uncovered her face but Perseus was prepared for that. He shut his eyes right before she lowered her hands, preventing him from turning into a statue forever. He felt his blade hit flesh and pass through spinal cord. Her body disintegrated into bronze dust and the head hit the ground with a solid thump. Without looking down Perseus stomped down on the decapitated head causing it too burst into bronze dust as well.
"Let's go help the others," Perseus said to Percy as he gestured to their fellow Argonauts.
They currently had their hands tied. Not only where they fighting large amounts of Earthborn but somehow Venti showed up while they were busy fighting Medusa. Soon their friends would be overwhelmed and most likely killed. Percy and Perseus rushed to their friends' aid. Their arrival and their swords seemed to turn the tide of the fight. Their assailants were finally but slowly backing off.
Before one of the Earthborn could escape, Leo threw his hammer at it's soft spot. Leo found it quite affective and amusing to aim for their lower region.
"I'm declaring a war on all genitals!" Leo cackled as he punched an Earthborn in the groin.
The Argonauts weren't the only ones getting in last-minute strikes. An Earthborn tackled Annabeth to the ground while she was distracted with killing two venti. Annabeth landed on her head which knocked her unconscious. She laid face down on the floor limply. The Earthborn created a boulder in his hands and prepared to drop it on her unprotected skull.
"ANNABETH!" Percy screamed as he cut down two Earthborn. He threw his body into five others and cut his way through an other ten in a frantic rage. "ANNABETH!" He screamed again. "FRANK SHOOT IT! SHOOT IT!" Percy screamed referring to the giant about to kill his girlfriend. Frank couldn't get a clear shot and he was already occupied with a couple Venti as it was.
Percy was too late. The mud giant was just about to drop the rock, but out of nowhere a blonde blur streaked through the air and collided with the giant. The giant dropped the boulder inches a way from Annabeth's face which rolled harmlessly out of the way. The blonde blur actually turned out to be a blonde girl with grey eyes. Percy rubbed his eyes in confusion. Was he seeing double Annabeth? No, this one was a few years younger.
"JULIA, WHAT THE HELL!" A shaggy haired boy with a leather jacket and denim vest screamed. He grabbed the girl by the shoulder.
"I'm just trying to help these people!"
"But you don't even know them!"
"SO?" Julia fired back defiantly. "I'm sure they would've helped us!"
"Shit!" The boy yelped as the Earthborn that Julia just tackled began to get up. The boy pulled out a viscous looking World War II trench knife from his jacket. The blade was a good seven and a half inches long with a gold and bronze tint, the hilt of the knife had a brass-knuckles or knuckle-duster meant to protect the knuckles of the wielder or meant for punching enemies, and at the bottom of the hilt was a spiked pommel probably used for bashing and hammering.
The boy held the knife with a reverse grip and stabbed down on the giants face causing it to instantly turn to brown goo. The boy wheeled around just in time to stop an Earthborn from picking him up. The boy slashed it's throat and then stabbed the knife downward into another giants chest. He flipped the knife back around into normal grip and stabbed upward into another Earthborn's stomach. He kicked down behind an Earthborn's kneecap causing it to fall. The boy used the brass knuckles to punch it's face in and then brought the pommel down it's temple for the killing blow.
Percy stopped in his tracks and looked upon the scene in awe. This kid knew how to fight, there was no doubt about that. Percy didn't know where he learned to fight like that our how his knife seemed to harm, no not harm, KILL the Earthborn. He also wondered how these two kids could see through the mist and identify the mud giants. Finally obviousness struck him in the face. These kids weren't your regular tourist or mortals, they were demigods! A scream brought him away from his thoughts and back to reality. Percy cursed his ADHD.
"TYLER!" The Annabeth look-a-like screamed. She was picked up by one of the Venti and was carried off into the air. "TYLER!" She screamed again.
"JULIA!" The boy wielding the trench knife screamed back. "JULIA! DON'T WORRY, I'LL GET YOU!" The boy threw his knife like a throwing knife at the Venti. He missed and the knife hit the ground with a depressing clang. The boy ran forward and picked it up.
"TYLER, HELP ME!"
A storm spirit swooped to grab the Tyler kid but Percy jumped in and stabbed with Riptide before the wind spirt could grab him. Another Venti tried to snatch Annabeth on the ground but Percy stopped that one as well. Tyler ignored the entire event and ran off in the direction of the retreating Venti and looking up at the sky the entire time, tracking a single Venti. It was the one who kidnapped his friend. Tyler cut through two Earthborn with ease and dodged the next one. Nothing was going to stop or slow him down. Everything in his path would be destroyed. Everything except Theseus. Theseus stuck out his arm and close-lined the shaggy haired boy causing him to land on his back. Theseus grabbed the boys knife and pinned his arms to the ground before he could get up.
"GET OFF OF ME! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" The boy screamed at Theseus and then spit in his eyes.
"Listen to me!" Theseus ordered. Tyler refused to listen. "HEAR ME BOY! If you go after her now, you will surely be killed! Then you wouldn't be able to rescue her and that means you and her both die! What good will that do? Let her go... for now."
Tyler ignored him. He looked straight into Theseus's eye with his cold dark ones. Only raged filled his pupils. "I'LL KILL YOU TOO IF HAVE TO! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"
The Venti and the Earthborn were making their full retreat but they wouldn't be gone for long. They would come back with reinforcements. This was the group's opportunity to escape.
"Percy, we need to get out of here, NOW!" Jason screamed.
Percy didn't hesitate. He put his fingers into his mouth and whistled his best New York cab whistle. They waited a few moments and then the silhouette of ten pegasi appeared in the sky. They swooped down and landed in front of them. Percy picked up Annabeth and gently placed her on Blackjack and then climbed on after.
Oh snap boss! I don't know about this, Black Jack protested in response to the extra weight.
Percy ignored him as he waited for everyone got onto their Pegasi and prepared to take off.
You're luck she's pretty, boss.
"Got the key?" Jason asked Perseus, making sure.
Perseus nodded as he mounted his pegasi.
"JULIA!" screamed the shaggy haired boy again. He tried shoving Theseus off one last time but Theseus was too strong. The boy slammed his head backward into the ground in frustration. He began to sob. His best friend was kidnapped and he couldn't do anything about it. "JULIA...I'll find you...I promise."
"What about him?" Hazel asked gesturing to the crying boy under Theseus.
"Bring him," Percy said.
"NO! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE ME!" Tyler stopped crying and screamed. He began to fight with all his might, searching for freedom. Theseus knocked him out with a swift punch, picked him up, and placed him onto his pegasi.
"Okay, let's get out of here, please, NOW, thank you!" Grover yelled in distress.
"Don't worry, I always hated church," said Leo.
"You don't need to tell me twice," Percy agreed and they took off into the clouds returning to the Argo II.
Review please and if you haven't already hit that favorite button, you can do so bellow, and it's much appreciated. Constructive criticism is welcomed and questions and comments will be answered. If you add the story or review you also get a high-five. Note that I just gave you one for incentive.