So much fluff. I thought about splitting this up into two chapters, but I was too lazy and was just like "Naaaaahhhhh~!"
Enjoy! Review! All that stuff!
First Person: Emily
I fiddled with my Hearth of Hestia necklace while we walked through the city. I've felt so helpless this entire quest. I couldn't protect Jason back in New Rome and he got clobbered with a brick. I've basically done nothing on any of the excursions that I've been a part of, merely running from Narcissus, and at best, talking Eidolons to go away, and even that I wasn't able to do without Zy's singing and Piper's more potent charm speak. At Charleston, the others handled most of the work, and Annabeth could've handled the locating of the map without me. Sure, I talked to Reyna, but I had a feeling that Annabeth would've still been able to talk Reyna into retreating even had I not been there. I was useless during the Shrimpzilla fight, and when our friends were dragged under the sea, all I could do was stand around and hope things would be all right. Chrysaor? All I did was add to the acting. The others could've managed fine without me there.
I've helped with figuring out, getting the others to spill their secrets to me so that I could put the pieces together, but most of the time, I wasn't able to tell anyone my results, and eventually the others found out anyway. Not to sound jealous, but Piper's charm speak is so much more powerful compared to mine, and now she's also got a cornucopia that can spew a houseful of food to go along with it. Zy got her own bow and new magic powers to use. Audrey got a new sonar power, and Veon's now got an army of Kako and power over tar.
So far, the most the Dove of Aphrodite has done is blend in with my outfit perfectly, like magic. It doesn't change colors or anything, but somehow the silver pin seemed to go with anything. Sometimes, when I'm in front of my hearth back on the Argo II, I think my Hearth of Hestia warms up, but it might just be my imagination. I mean, I am sitting in front of a fireplace. Other than that, nothing really happens.
I'm beginning to get the feeling that my usefulness on Zy's team…
No, I couldn't think like that. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and it's my job to keep troop morale up. If a battle seems hopeless, it's my job to make sure that we all stay positive and we don't give up. The will to go on is the most important part of this quest. Despite the odds and all the challenges, we need to keep going, but with so many obstacles, troop morale is bound to fall. Maybe I'm not an offensive player in this game, but I hold one of the most important jobs there is to any fight.
Hazel, Leo, Frank and I were off to try and find Nico in Rome, and it seemed to be a situation where I was needed. Hazel continued to lead us around the city, getting dizzy and doubling back.
"Sorry," She said. "It's just…there's so much underground here, so many layers, it's overwhelming. Like standing in the middle of an orchestra and trying to concentrate on a single instrument. I'm going deaf."
"Don't strain yourself Hazel, and don't feel bad," I said. "This was never meant to be an easy task. As long as you stay determined, we can find your brother. I have to admit, I can feel so many emotions from so many people all around us at once, so I can understand how you feel. It's so noisy, and it's giving me a bit of a headache. But we can do this, right? For Nico's sake." Hazel nodded, her face turning determined as we continued our tour of Rome.
Frank seemed happy to walk around, but Leo was clearly getting impatient. I could feel all his discomfort, his feet being sore, the day being sunny and hot, and the streets being choked with tourists. And it wasn't only him. I could feel a lot of discomfort - mainly from the heat, the crowds, and aching feet - all around us, so it was hard to say whether Leo had any other concerns on his mind, as those three things were overpowering in the city.
The forum was okay, but it was mostly ruins overgrown with bushes and trees. It took a lot of imagination to see it as the bustling center of Ancient Rome. The only reason I could get a proper image was because I'd seen New Rome, back in California. We passed big churches, freestanding arches, clothing stores, and fast-food restaurants. Once statue of some ancient Roman dude seemed to be pointing to a nearby McDonald's. On the wider streets, the car traffic was absolutely nuts, but we spent most of our time weaving through small alleys, coming across fountains and little cafés where we were not allowed to rest.
"I never thought I'd get to see Rome," Hazel said. "When I was alive, I mean the first time, Mussolini was in charge. We were at war."
"Mussolini?" Leo asked, frowning. "Wasn't he, like, BFFs with Hitler?" Hazel stared at him like he was an alien.
"BFFs?" She repeated.
"Nevermind."
"I'd love to see the Trevi Fountain."
"There's a fountain on every block," Leo grumbled.
"Or the Spanish Steps."
"Why would you come to Italy to see Spanish steps? That's like going to China for Mexican food, isn't it?" I laughed while Hazel frowned.
"You're hopeless," She complained.
"So I've been told." She turned to Frank and grabbed his hand, as if Leo had ceased to exist.
"Come on. I think we should go this way." Frank gave Leo a confused smile - like he couldn't decide whether to gloat or to thank Leo for being a doofus - but he cheerfully let Hazel drag him along. I took Leo's hand (platonically, of course) and hurried behind Frank and Hazel before he could complain and his mood could drop any further. After another long time of walking, Hazel stopped in front of a church. At least, it looked like a church, what with the main section having a big domed roof. The entrance had a triangular roof, typical Roman columns, and an inscription across the top: M. AGRIPPA something or other.
"Latin for 'Get a grip?'" Leo speculated.
"This is our best bet," Hazel said, sounding more certain than she had all day. "There should be a secret passage somewhere inside."
Tour groups milled around the steps, guides holding up colored placards with different numbers and lecturing in dozens of languages like they were playing some international bingo. It made me remember that I didn't have Veon's infinite language abilities. I wondered if all the tour guides would be speaking in English if he was listening to them all, or he actually had to concentrate on a language to be able to speak it, and until he did, everyone still sounded like gibberish. One thing was for sure: those three years he'd complained about Spanish class have now all been put to waste. I could hear him complaining now about how if only he'd waited a few more years to take Spanish, and he would've had no problem getting an A now. I smiled at the thought. It would be just like him, and Zy for that matter.
Zy was already bilingual - no, wait, trilingual? Quad-lingual, if her sort-of Russian counted? - to begin with, which was awesome enough. As for me, I could still speak French thanks to Aphrodite, and I could still read Ancient Greek. Not to mention that my Latin seemed to be getting better ever since I'd gone to Camp Jupiter and was made a centurion. Special circumstances centurion, but a centurion nonetheless. There seemed to be one guide that was speaking French, and another that was speaking Spanish. I had only made it to my second year in Spanish back at high school, and left for CHB before my third year had begun, and so the French option seemed the easiest to follow.
"This is the Parthenon," I reported from the guides that I could understand. "It was originally built by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to the gods."
"After it burned down, Emperor Hadrian rebuilt it, and it's been standing for two thousand years," Leo continued, listening to the Spanish tour guide. "It's one of the best-preserved Roman buildings in the world." Frank and Hazel stared in surprise.
"How did you guys know that?" Hazel asked.
"I'm naturally brilliant," Leo proclaimed.
"Centaur poop," Frank said. "He eavesdropped on a tour group." Leo grinned.
"Maybe. Come on. Let's go find that secret passage. I hope this place has air conditioning." Leo was disappointed to find that no, there wasn't AC. On the bright side, there were no lines, and no admission fee, so I just asked the crowds to part for us, and it worked well enough. Tourists did have a very crazy amount of emotions though, and weird ones at that. It was a bit challenging to override so many confusing and crazy emotions at once, but I managed. Besides, it was good practice. We were able to walk right in with ease.
The interior was impressive, considering it had been constructed two thousand years ago. The marble floor was patterned with squares and circles like Roman tic-tac-toe game; the main space was one huge chamber with a circular rotunda, sort of like a capitol building back in the States; lining the walls were different shrines and statues and tombs, plus more, but the real eye-catcher was the dome overhead. All the light in the building came from one circular opening right at the top. A beam of sunlight slanted into the rotunda and glowed on the floor, like Zeus was up there with a magnifying glass, trying to fry puny humans (Leo's suggestion, not mine).
I wasn't as good an architect as Annabeth, but I'd learned a few things, and could appreciate the engineering. The Romans had made the dome out of big stone panels, but they'd hollowed out each panel in a square-within-square pattern. Not only did it looked cool, but it also had to have made the dome lighter and easier to support. It was amazing how people in the past could make such amazing architecture.
I knew that if Annabeth were here, she'd spend the whole day talking about it. It made me think about her, wondering how she was doing on her Mark of Athena expedition. I was worried about her, but I knew that if anyone could follow that Mark, it would be Annabeth. She'd been through so much, and I knew that she'd be able to think outside the box, succeeding where other's have failed. It's basically our generation's job to fight the odds and do what others have said are impossible.
"This is amazing," Hazel said, stopping in the middle of the room and turning in a circle to admire the room. "In the old days, the children of Vulcan would come here in secret to consecrate demigod weapons. This is where Imperial gold was enchanted."
"Well, if Vulcan's kids hung out here, then Leo should feel right at home," I said. "Right? We're looking for some kind of entrance to a tunnel, right? It should like something that a mechanical person would make." Hazel nodded.
"I can sense it nearby - a tunnel that will lead us toward Nico - but I'm not exactly sure where it is." Frank grunted.
"If this building is two thousand years old, it makes sense there could be some kind of secret passage left over from the Roman days," He admitted. I knew that Leo would be useful in that aspect, as he'd always managed to figure out how machines worked just by touching them with his hands. Back when we were all new at the whole demigod thing, he still managed to do amazing things with any gadgets he got his hands on, including working with Festus before he'd crashed - and I had no doubt that he'd get Festus back up in running one day when he got the time. He'd once even reprogrammed the electronic billboards in Time Square to read: ALL DA LADIES LUV LEO, though he claimed it was purely accidental.
So now, he tried to sense the workings of this ancient building. I, myself, tried to be helpful, searching around for anything that stuck out as mechanical. With Leo beside me, I sensed what he was sensing, and was able to search around with the same effectiveness as him. At the same time, both of us turned toward a red marble altar-looking thing with a statue of the Virgin Mary on the top.
"Over there," We both said. The two of us hurried over, both of us feeling confident that we'd found the right place. The shrine was shaped sort of like a fireplace, with an arched recess at the bottom, and the mantel was inscribed with a name, like a tomb.
"The passage is around here," Leo said. "This guy's final resting place is in the way. Raphael somebody?"
"Famous painter, I think," Hazel said.
"Emily, can you make sure no one's watching us?" Leo requested.
"Sure." I opened my senses to all the people around us. Most of the tour groups were focusing on the dome, but there was one group that made me uneasy. About fifty feet away, some overweight middle-aged guys with American accents were conversing loudly, complaining to each other about the heat. They looked like manatees stuffed into beach clothes - sandals, walking shorts, touristy T-shirts and floppy hats. Their legs were big, pasty, and covered in spider veins. The guys acted extremely bored, and I wondered why they were just hanging around in place for no reason. There was a weird vibe I was getting from them, but it just seemed like they were thinking about normal things, the heat, where they'd be going next, where they could get some food, etc.
While I kept anyone from noticing us, Leo slipped around the side of the tomb. He ran his hand down the back of a Roman column, all the way to the base. Right at the bottom, a series of lines had been etched into the marble - Roman numerals. I could feel the zone he got into as the gears began turning in his head - like when you got into a task that you enjoyed and seemed to forget about the rest of the world while you worked.
"Heh, not very elegant, but effective," Leo commented.
"What is?" Frank asked. I sensed a bit of annoyance at having to explain something. It wasn't just the Frank bit, either. It was just the fact that Leo had to break out of his comfort zone of thinking to explain things that he already knew himself.
"The combination for the lock," He said simply. He felt around the back of the column some more and discovered a square hole about the size of an electrical socket. "The lock face itself has been ripped out - probably vandalized sometime in the last few centuries - but I should be able to control the mechanism inside." He placed his hand on the marble floor, sensing the bronze gears under the surface of the stone. Regular bronze would have corroded and become unstable a long time ago, but these were Celestial bronze - the handiwork of a demigod. I sensed as he urged them to move with a little willpower, the Roman numerals guiding him. We'd discovered previously, that with a little of Zy's help, Leo could even pick locks from distances just by staring at them. He had been practicing on his own for some time, and now he could at least pick locks on his own if he was touching them.
The cylinders turned - click, click, click. Then click, click. On the floor next to the wall, one section of marble tile slid under another, revealing a dark square opening barely large enough to wiggle through. Leo might've been able to fit, and I was pretty small, so it wouldn't be too hard to get at least the two of us down there. Hazel didn't look like she'd have too much trouble, but Frank…
"Romans must've been small," Leo commented, looking to Frank appraisingly. "You'll need to change into something thinner to get through here."
"That's not nice!" Hazel chided.
"But it's the truth," I said, putting my hand on Hazel's shoulder to calm her. "Leo didn't mean any offense by it, but Frank is gonna have to transform into something if he wants to fit down the small opening. We should count our blessings that Frank has that option in the first place."
"Don't worry about it," Frank agreed. "We should go get the others before we explore. That's what we were told to do, right?"
"They're halfway across the city," Leo reminded him. "If this is where Nico is, then Veon should be closing in on our location anyway, and he can just teleport to the others to get them when he arrives. Besides, uh, I'm not sure I can close this hatch again. The gears are pretty old."
"Great," Frank mumbled. "How do we know it's safe down there?" Hazel knelt, putting her hand over the opening, as if checking the temperature. I felt as she sensed her way under the ground. Veon had been learning to do that as well, and so I was familiar with the ability.
"There's nothing alive…at least not for several hundred feet," Hazel reported.
"The tunnel slants down, then levels out and goes sound, more or less," I continued. "And there don't seem to be any traps, at least within what's in range."
"How did you-?" I shrugged.
"I can sense emotions, but I guess I can also sense when people are using their powers."
"So what?" Leo asked. "You can imitate other people's powers? That would be so broken!"
"I've never tried to imitate someone's power before. Like Frank's transforming, for example. I've only ever been able to connect with more subtle powers, like being able to sense certain things, based on the person's demigod powers. It works the same as you picking locks, I guess. It just seems to happen when you're either focusing hard enough or just letting your powers come to you."
"Glad you're not into robbing banks," Hazel commented.
"Oh…bank vaults," Leo murmured in interest. "Never thought about that."
"Forget I said anything," Hazel sighed. "Look, it's not three o'clock yet. We can at least do a little exploring, try to pinpoint Nico's location before we contact the others. You three stay here until I call for you. I want to check things out, make sure the tunnel is structurally sound. I'll be able to tell more once I'm underground." Frank scowled.
"We can't let you go by yourself. You could get hurt."
"Frank, I can take care of myself. Underground is my specialty. It's safest for all of us if I go first."
"She has a point," I said. "If Veon's anything to go by, Hazel's probably safest if she goes alone and checks out the scene. If something goes wrong, she's the safest underground."
"Unless Frank wants to turn into a mole," Leo suggested. "Or a prairie dog. Those things are awesome."
"Shut up," Frank mumbled.
"Or a badger." Frank jabbed a finger at Leo's face.
"Valdez, I swear-"
"Okay, let's all keep calm," I interrupted.
"I'll be back soon," Hazel said. "Give me ten minutes. If you don't hear from me by then…nevermind. I'll be fine. Emily, please try and keep them from killing each other while I'm down there."
"Aye-aye." She nodded and dropped down the hole. I made sure that tourists walked past us without interest, though the three American manatees were still hanging out in the middle of the room. One of them wore a T-shirt that said ROMA, as if he'd forget what city he was in if he didn't wear it. Every once in a while, despite my attempts to make a kind of perception-filter and keep people from noticing us (like in Doctor Who) he would glance over at us like he found our presence distasteful. I tried going into his thoughts, but they were still swarming with regular old tourist thoughts, as though his brain and his body weren't connecting and going off to do their own things separately. His mind seemed normal, and he didn't even seem to be aware he was occasionally scowling towards us.
"She talked to me earlier," Frank said abruptly, breaking my thoughts. "Hazel told me you figured out about my lifeline." Leo stirred, and he seemed to have noticed the three American guys as well, forgetting Frank was even there.
"Your lifeline…oh, the burning stick. Right." I sensed Leo resisting the urge to set his hand ablaze and yelling "Bwah, ha, ha!" but though Leo was a humorous guy, even he wasn't cruel like that. I had done some research on the person in the past that had his life tied to a stick of firewood like Frank. Apparently, he was a friend of Atalanta, and after a big hunt and such, he suggested that she would get the glory. His brothers protested, saying that a woman shouldn't best him, and so he basically killed them, not meaning to, but losing his temper because he knew Atalanta didn't deserve to be discredited just because she was a woman, or something along those lines. Outraged, his mother, who held his stick of firewood in her possession in a box or some such, took it and lit it, resulting in his death. Appalled by what she'd done, she hung herself afterward.
I'd read a book all about myths and legends in Greek mythology, and it was almost painful to read. The gods always went and made things extremely confusing, not to mention the time period when most of these events happened. Sometimes people felt bad about things, sometimes people went mad and then regretted what they'd done even if it was a god's fault, this god went to Zeus and asked for something, but then this other god went to Zeus and asked for something, and then this god wanted one thing, but this other god wanted another thing, and then suddenly the first god is now on the other side of the argument, and then this god can't refuse this god, or this god made a promise to this guy, or this goddess made these goddesses fight so they made this guy choose something and then he caused the Trojan war…honestly, it was just insane. And that was mostly just the gods' participation. There were also things about this guy going off to fight this thing, or this human girl running from this person, or pining after this guy, and this person being given for a sacrifice, and this guy being overthrown as a king, and this guy being nice but also really bad at judging things, rinse and repeat.
I did read a bit about Ephialtes and Otis, or at least how the two died. Long story short, one of the brothers decided to go after Artemis, and so she led them to this forested place and then got them to follow after this animal. They split up to try and catch it, and when they finally caught it, they both threw their spears, unaware that their brother was hidden in the trees just beyond, and they ended up killing each other. "Such was Artemis's revenge," or something like that. At least, that's what the history book I read stated. Maybe the true story was different, as real life has taught me, since things were rarely ever as humans guessed.
"Look man, it's cool," Leo said. "I'd never do anything to put you in danger. We're on the same team." Frank fiddled with his centurion badge. Audrey, Veon and I still had our badges, but Veon kept his on his toga, and Audrey and I had ours in our bags. Technically, we were special-case centurions, and besides, it might not be a good idea to boast about it, since we were outlaws and all.
"I always knew fire could kill me, but since my grandmother's mansion burned down in Vancouver…it seems a lot more real." Leo and I nodded. How could you not sympathize? In this demigod life, more often than not, everyone had a story. Someone could make a story book detailing every one of our histories, our pasts that twist and turn so often, filled with so much pain yet also strength and determination to keep going.
"Your grandmother…did she die in that fire?" Leo asked. "You didn't say."
"I…I don't know. She was sick, and pretty old. She said she would die in her own time, in her own way. But I think she made it out of the fire. I saw this bird flying up from the flames."
"So your whole family has the shape-changing thing?"
"I guess. My mom did. Grandmother thought that's what got her killed in Afghanistan, in the war. Mom tried to help some of her buddies, and…I don't know exactly what happened. There was a firebomb." Leo winced in sympathy.
"So we both lost our moms to fire." Though Leo hadn't planned it, he told Frank the whole story of the night at the workshop when Gaea had appeared to him, and his mother had died. The worst part about Leo's story wasn't even the fire, but the fact that it might have been Leo's fire that set the workshop ablaze. We all knew that it was Gaea who killed his mother, but despite all our efforts, there was a lingering doubt and fear in the back of Leo's mind that he had killed his mother with his fire.
"I never like it when people tell me, 'Sorry about your mom,'" Frank said, his eyes watering.
"It never feels genuine," Leo agreed.
"But I'm sorry about your mom."
"Thanks."
"There's no way to properly say, "I'm sorry," about someone, is there?" I asked. "But we're demigods, right? We're all family. You wanna know what I think? Saying sorry doesn't do a lot. It's just a couple words. It's the meaning behind them that matters the most, and I can say that we all sympathize with you both. We can't bring back the dead, and we can't change the past, but what we can do is keep moving forward. Death isn't fair. Isn't that what Thanatos told us? And it isn't. It probably never will be. We can either get angry at the world and reality, or we can power through it. Those are our only options, as sad as it sounds, but as long as we don't forget the past, we can move forward without fear."
There was still no sign of Hazel, and I noticed that the American tourists were still milling around the Pantheon. They seemed to be circling closer, like they were trying to sneak up on Raphael's tomb without it noticing. I tried to sense their thoughts, and now they did seem to feel a lot more distorted. It almost felt like their thoughts were becoming a second conscience within them…
"Back at Camp Jupiter, our cabin Lar, Reticulus, told me I have more power than most demigods, being a son of Mars, plus having the shape-changing ability from my mom's side. He said that's why my life is tied to a burning stick. It's such a huge weakness that it kind of balances things out."
"Like the Achilles curse," I suggested. "In return for being basically invincible, given amazing fighting prowess with the ability to fight the gods, there has to be one small spot on them that, if even pierced just slightly, will kill them. All of their weakness is squeezed into a small space. Sometimes I wonder if Veon, Audrey, Zy or I have a weakness like that. Zy said we were the most powerful demigods she'd seen in ages, and I worry what cost comes because of it."
"We've all got weaknesses," Leo said. "Me, for instance. I'm tragically funny and good-looking." Frank snorted.
"At least your life doesn't depend on a piece of firewood."
"We've all got the curse of a demigod, Frank," I said. "Maybe we don't have a stick of wood, but none of us can live normal lives in return for having any of our god blood. But you know something? I'm going to make the most of what I have. None of us chose the way we were born, what weaknesses we have, but we can still choose how we live, and how we perceive our lives. Life's hard, but we'll live through it, and show it we can be happy, we can succeed." Leo seemed to be in deep thought, going into his inventor-mode and thinking about ways to solve Frank's problem. There was always a solution, after all. There was always something to be done, especially in Leo's case.
"I wonder…" He muttered.
"Uh, guys?" I realized that the three American tourists were coming our way; no more circling or sneaking. They were making a straight line for Raphael's tomb, staring straight towards us. And now, I finally sensed the second consciousness that had been hidden from me before. "Has it been ten minutes yet?" Frank followed my gaze. The American's faces were angry and confused, like they were sleepwalking through a very annoying nightmare.
"Leo Valdez, Emily Hezesto," Called the guy in the ROMA T-shirt. His voice had changed to be more hollow and metallic, speaking as though English was his second language. "We meet again." All three tourists blinked, their eyes turning solid gold and their auras coming out completely.
"Eidolons!" Frank yelped. The manatees clenched their beefy fists. Though they didn't look that threatening, I knew that the eidolons would be dangerous in any bodies, especially since these spirits wouldn't care whether their hosts survived or not.
"Eidolons, stop!" I ordered, trying to take control of their wills. Without Zy's hymn to keep them docile, the three of them were all fighting back, but I managed to make them pause and hesitate. They had stronger wills than humans, more power behind their souls. If Piper were here, she might have a better time with her charm speak, but I could do this. I didn't need to rely on others to help me with everything. I was strong!
"Can you hold them?" Frank asked.
"Not indefinitely," I managed to say without breaking my concentration. Three wills all against you was like trying to play Sudoku, do AP calculus homework, singing the catchiest and most addictive song in existence, and writing a college essay in another language under a five minute time limit all at once. I had to juggle the three of their fighting souls all at the same time, and they were pretty strong. I guess they did say that Gaea had sent the three strongest eidolons of the bunch, after all.
"They can't fit down the hole," Leo said.
"Right," Frank agreed. "Underground is sounding really good." He transformed into a snake and slithered over the edge.
"Come on, Emily!" Leo said before jumping down after him. I turned from my battle of wills and hopped in behind Leo as the spirits began to wail above.
"Hezesto! Valdez! Kill Valdez!" The moment I was through, the hatch above closed automatically, cutting off our pursuers. It also cut off all light, but my Hearth of Hestia glowed with an orange light where the fire would be in the hearth, bright as a real fire but also soft and comforting. I hoped that we didn't need to get out the same way that we came in, as Leo most likely would have troubles opening that hatch again, and the eidolons could just wait it out for us above. They pounded on the marble floor above us, but they didn't seem capable of getting through. Frank had returned to human form, wheezing from the strain of having to transform so quickly while he was panicked.
"What now?" Frank asked.
"You okay?" I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder. The moment I made contact, I felt a surge of energy pass through me into him and he gasped, standing straight and no longer breathing heavily.
"Whoa," Leo muttered. "Emily, have you always been able to do that?"
"What?"
"Well, first off, you're glowing." I looked at my hand and saw that he was right. The orange light was no longer just coming from my necklace, but from my entire body. All of my skin was glowing with a light orange glow, similar to when Leo lit himself on fire, just without the actual flames.
"And the healing, or energizing, or whatever you did to me," Frank added.
"I don't know," I said. "I've never done this before. At least, not without realizing it."
"Well, what are we supposed to do now?" In front of us stretched a stone tunnel with a low ceiling. Just as I'd predicted, it slanted down, then leveled out and went south.
"Well, it only goes in one direction."
"Let's find Hazel," Frank said. Neither of us argued, making our way down the corridor and me going first with the light and my invincibility in case something came from in front of us. Leo wasn't much of a fighter, yet he was also one of the most important, as this place obviously required mechanical expertise, so he came in second, with Frank at the back to cover him from both sides. We'd made the eidolons promise never to possess any of the Argo II's crew, but if there was someone or something they could possess up ahead, I had no doubt that they would try and ambush us.
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 in her task, she didn't notice us until Leo walked up and said, "Hi." Hazel whirled, trying to swing her spatha. Fortunately for Leo's face, the blade was too long to wield in the corridor.
"What are you doing here?" Hazel demanded. Leo gulped.
"Sorry. We ran into some angry tourists." He explained what had happened, and she hissed in frustration.
"I hate eidolons. I thought you guys made them promise to stay away."
"We made them promise to stay off the ship and not possess any of us," I clarified.
"But if they followed us, and used other bodies to attack us, then they're not technically breaking their vow…" Frank finished.
"Great," Leo muttered. "Eidolons who are also lawyers. Now I really want to kill them."
"Forget them for now," I said. "Let's focus on what we have in front of us. What's up with this door?"
"I can't get it open," Hazel reported. "It's giving me fits. Leo, can you try your skill with the lock?" Leo cracked his knuckles.
"Stand aside for the master, please." He examined the lock. Remembering what had happened with Hazel before, I connected to Leo and began to think his thoughts with his processing power. 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 constructed from five concentric rings, each inscribed with zodiac symbols - the bull, the scorpion, etc - and seemingly random numbers and letters.
"These letters are Greek," Leo said in surprise.
"Well, lots of Romans spoke Greek," Hazel said.
"I guess, 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."
"Greeks are unpredictable, thinking outside the box, while Romans have more planned out smarts and organized thoughts," I said. "Both unique in their own way, and both useful. This is definitely Greek though. The machinery is delicate, sophisticated."
"You know, it kinda reminds me of…" Leo began, staring at the sphere and trying to recall where he'd read or heard about a similar ancient machine. "It's a more advanced sort of lock," He decided. "You line up the symbols on the different rings in the right order, and that opens the door."
"But what's the right order?" Hazel asked.
"Good question. Greek spheres…astronomy…"
"Geometry," I added. Leo's face lit up.
"Oh, no way. Emily, you're a genius! I wonder…what's the value of pi?" Frank frowned.
"What kind of pi?"
"He means the number," Hazel guessed. "I learned that in math class once, but-"
"It's used to measure circles," Leo said. "This sphere, if it's made by the guy I'm thinking of…" Hazel and Frank both stared at him blankly.
"Nevermind," I said. "Pi is 3.14159265 blah, blah, blah. The number goes on forever, but the sphere only has five rings, so 3.1415 should be enough, if we're right."
"And if you're not?" Frank asked.
"Well, then, Leo fall down, go boom," Leo said. "Let's find out!" He turned the rings, starting on the outside and moving them in. He ignored the zodiac signs and letters, lining up the correct numbers so they made the value of pi. Nothing happened.
"Hm, pi would expand outwards since it's infinite, right?" I guessed, still using Leo's mind through my powers.
"Right," Leo mumbled. The two of us reversed the order of the numbers. Once Leo aligned the last ring, something inside the sphere clicked and the door swung open. Leo beamed at his friends.
"Ha! It worked! Emily, you are amazing! That, good people, is how we do things in Leo World! Come on in!"
"I hate Leo World," Frank muttered. Hazel and I laughed as we followed Leo in.
All around was enough cool stuff to keep Leo busy for years, and I didn't even need to tap into Leo's mind for that. The room was about the size of the forge back at Camp Half-Blood, with bronze-topped worktables along the walls, baskets full of ancient metalworking tools, dozens of bronze and gold spheres like steampunk basketballs sitting around in various stages of assembly, and loose gears and wiring littering the floor. Thick metal cables ran from each table toward the back of the room, where there was an enclosed loft like a theater's sound booth, stairs leading up to the booth on either side and all the cables seeming to run into it. Next to the stairs on the left, a row of cubbyholes was filled with leather cylinders - probably ancient scrolls.
I was still connected to Leo's mind, and so I was just as excited as he was to see all the goodies in this room. The two of us were about to head toward the tables when Leo glanced to his left and nearly jumped out of his shoes, consequently filling me with a burst of surprise and fear even though I hadn't looked to what he'd seen. Flanking the doorway were two armored manikins - like skeletal scarecrows made from bronze pipes, outfitted with full suits of Roman armor, shield and sword.
"Dude," Leo muttered, walking up to one. "These would be awesome if they worked." Frank edged away from the manikins.
"Those things are going to come alive and attack us, aren't they?" Leo laughed.
"Not a chance. They aren't complete." He tapped the nearest manikin's neck, where loose copper wires sprouted from underneath its breastplate. "Look, the head's wiring has been disconnected."
"And here," I said pointing. "At the elbow. The pulley system for this joint is out of alignment. And these circuits here are in no condition to function properly. If you were to try and fire this thing up, it'd most likely explode or just short-circuit within a few seconds, letting off some deadly sparks in the process. Even if it didn't instantly fall apart, it wouldn't be able to move without failing. Of course, if we just got some replacement parts, fixed and insulated these wires here, replaced these pulley systems and then this…" I rambled off a bunch of mechanical terms, not knowing what I was really saying as the worlds spilled out of my mouth. I got into a comfortable zone where my mind just flew off without me.
"I don't know how you are doing this, but I think I might be in love with you, Em." Ignoring the comment, I put my hand to my chin and tried to concentrate. There was something nagging at the back of my mind, something important, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It seemed like there was something dangerous that I should be remembering, but my mind was still swirling with Leo's thoughts, emotions, and personality, making it hard to concentrate.
"The Romans must've been trying to duplicate a Greek design," I said, trying to let my thoughts wander freely so that I could try and clear my head enough to remember what was so important.
"But they didn't have the skill," Leo continued. Hazel arched her eyebrows.
"The Romans weren't good enough at being complicated, I suppose."
"Or delicate," Frank added. "Or sophisticated."
"Now, now," I said. "Romans are obviously different than Greeks, and the Greeks have more creative minds, though more rash and impulsive thought processes as well. They don't like being as organized as you Romans are, but at the same time, that allows them diversity and innovation. Both have their advantages and their flaws, so no bias, all right? We're all perfectly imperfect." Leo jiggled the manikin's head, making it nod like it was agreeing with me.
"Still…an impressive try," He said. "I've heard legends that the Romans confiscated the writings of Archimedes, but-"
"Archimedes?" Hazel repeated, looking baffled. "Wasn't he an ancient mathematician or something?" Leo laughed.
"He was a lot more than that. He was only the most famous son of Hephaestus who ever lived." Frank scratched his ear.
"I've heard his name before, but how can you be sure this manikin is his design?"
"It has to be! Look, I've read all about Archimedes. He's a hero to Cabin Nine. The dude was Greek, right? He lived in one of the Greek colonies in southern Italy, back before Rome moved in a took over. Finally the Romans moved in and destroyed his city. The Roman general wanted to spare Archimedes, because he was so valuable - sort of like the Einstein of the ancient world - but some stupid Roman soldier killed him."
"There you go again," Hazel muttered. "Stupid and Roman don't always go together, Leo."
"It was just a coincidence," I said. "If a Greek had killed Archimedes, they would've been stupid too. Anyone who would go and kill that guy would be idiotic. He was a genius, and if he'd been spared, I wonder what the Roman empire might have become because of his creations and knowledge. There was so much he could've done in the world had his time not been cut short. Leo doesn't mean to say that all Romans are stupid just because that one guy killed Archimedes. Heck, if you read a couple mythology books, you'll call tons of people from that time stupid by our current standards."
"Thank you," Leo said.
"How do you know all this anyway?" Frank demanded. "Is there a Spanish tour guide around here?"
"No, man. You can't be a demigod who's into building stuff and not know about Archimedes. The guy was seriously elite. He calculated the value of pi; he did all this math stuff we still use for engineering; he invented a hydraulic screw that could move water through pipes." Hazel scowled.
"A hydraulic screw. Excuse me for not knowing about that awesome achievement."
"Hey, a hydraulic screw that can move water through pipes can be useful," I said. "And considering that he lived in a time where technology was scarce, if not completely absent - and anything that was considered "technology" was nowhere near today's standards - he was amazing for coming up with what he did. Oh, and of course he also built that death ray made of mirrors that could burn enemy ships."
"I saw something about that on TV," Frank admitted. "They proved it didn't work."
"That's just because modern mortals don't know how to use Celestial bronze. That's the key. Archimedes also invented a massive claw that could swing on a crane and pluck enemy ships out of the water. That was one of my favorites."
"Definitely in love with you," Leo said.
"Okay, that's cool," Frank admitted. "I love the grabber-arm games. Even though they're totally rigged."
"Well, there you go," Leo said. "Anyway, all his inventions weren't enough. The Romans destroyed his city. Archimedes was killed. According to legends, the Roman general was a big fan of his work, so he raided Archimedes's workshop and carted a bunch of souvenirs back to Rome. They disappeared from history, except…" Leo waved his hands at the stuff on the tables. "Here they are."
"Metal basketballs?" Hazel asked.
"Archimedes constructed spheres," I said, feeling Leo's irritation at their lack of appreciation for Archimedes's genius. "The Romans couldn't figure them out. They thought they were just for telling time or following constellations, because they were covered with pictures of stars and planets."
"But that's like finding a rifle and thinking it's a walking stick!" Leo stated.
"Leo, the Romans were top-notch engineers," Hazel reminded him. "They built aqueducts, roads-"
"Siege weapons," Frank added. "Public sanitation."
"Yeah, fine," Leo said. "But Archimedes was in a class by himself."
"He's right," I said. "Archimedes invented things that weren't likely to be mass-produced, and they were only for those at his level of thinking. His spheres could do all sorts of things, only nobody is sure…" Leo looked to me, seemingly having the same thought as me (considering I was still tapping into his thoughts) and he got so excited that his nose burst into flames. I laughed as he patted it out as quickly as possible before running to the row of cubbyholes with me and examining the markings on the scroll cases.
"Oh, gods. This is it!" He gingerly lifted out one of the scrolls. He wasn't great at Ancient Greek, but he could tell the inscription on the case read, 'On Building Spheres.' His hands were shaking in excitement and disbelief. "Guys, this is the lost book! Archimedes wrote this, describing his construction methods, but all the copies were lost in ancient times. If I can translate this…" The possibilities were endless. For Leo, the quest had now totally taken on a new dimension. We had to get the spheres and the scrolls to safety out of here. He had to protect this stuff until he could get it back to Bunker 9 and study it.
"The secrets of Archimedes," He mused. "Guys, this is bigger than Daedalus's laptop. If there's a Roman attack on Camp Half-Blood, these secrets could save the camp. They might even give us an edge over Gaea and the giants!" Hazel and Frank glanced at each other skeptically.
"Okay," Hazel said. "We didn't come here for a scroll, but I guess we can take it with us."
"Assuming that you don't mind sharing its secrets with us stupid uncomplicated Romans," Frank added.
"What?" Leo stared at him blankly. "No. Look, how many times must it be said that I didn't mean to insult…ah, nevermind. The point is this is good news!" For the first time in days, Leo felt really hopeful. Naturally, that's when everything went wrong. On the table next to Hazel and Frank, one of the orbs clicked and whirred. A row of spindly legs extended from its equator, the orb stood, and two bronze cables shot out of the top, hitting Hazel and Frank like taser wires before I could move an inch towards them. The two crumpled to the floor.
Leo and I lunged to help them, but the two armored manikins that couldn't possibly move, did move. They drew their swords and stepped towards Leo and I. The one on the left turned its crooked helmet, which was shaped like a wolf's head. Despite the fact that it had no face or mouth, a familiar hollow voice spoke from behind its visor.
"You cannot escape us, Leo Valdez," It said. "We do not like possessing machines, but they are better than tourists. You will not leave here alive. And Emily Hezesto, you shall be delivered to the Earth Mother. She has wonderful plans for you and your friends."
In case anyone was wondering, Leo meant his comments towards Emily to be friendly and joking, as he finally has a person that understand his mechanical quirkiness. There will still be Caleo in this story, all you Calypso fans.
