MΛЯK ӨF ΛƬΉΣПΛ

LUCIAS NIGHTS OF PEACE SEEMED TO BE OVER, in the first time in a while she had her own dream—No—her own nightmare, the rumble of thunder became the laughter of the earth goddess Gaea.

She dreamed she was standing on the front porch of the Big House at Camp Half-Blood. The sleeping face of Gaea appeared on the side of Half-Blood Hill—her massive features formed from the shadows on the grassy slopes. Her lips didn't move, but her voice echoed across the valley.

So this is your home, Gaea murmured. Take a last look, Lucia. You should have stayed here. At least then you could have died with your comrades when the Romans invaded. Now your blood will be spilled far from home, on the ancient stones, and I will rise.

The ground shook. At the top of Half-Blood Hill, Thalia's pine tree burst into flames. Disruption rolled across the valley—grass turning to sand, forest crumbling to dust. The river and the canoe lake dried up. The cabins and the Big House burned to ashes.

When the tremor stopped, Camp Half-Blood looked like a wasteland after an atomic blast. The only thing left was the porch where Lucia stood.

Next to her, the dust swirled and solidified into the figure of a woman. Her eyes were closed, as if she were sleepwalking. Her robes were forest green, dappled with gold and white like sunlight shifting

through branches. Her hair was as black as tilled soil. Her face was beautiful, but even with a dreamy smile on her lips, she seemed cold and distant. Lucia got the feeling she could watch demigods die or cities burn, and that smile wouldn't waver.

"When I reclaim my earth," Gaea said, "I will leave this spot barren forever, to remind me of your kind and how utterly cruel they were to me. Yet how powerless you were to stop me. It doesn't matter when you fall, my sweet little pawn—to the water or my dear twins or your own flesh and blood. You will fall, and I will be there to devour you. Come to me willingly. Perhaps I will spare this place you love. Otherwise..."

Gaea opened her eyes. They swirled in green and black, as deep as the crust of the earth. Gaea saw everything. Her patience was infinite. She was slow to wake, but once she arose, her power was unstoppable.

Lucia's skin tingled. Her hands went numb. She coughed and coughed like a sick woman, she realized that blood began to seep from her now burning chest, and she was slowly rotting away like a corpse, until she started to fade into dust...

It reminded her of all the monsters she'd ever defeated.

"Enjoy the darkness," Gaea purred. "They made sure, that you would have no choice but to be consumed by it.."

A metallic clang jolted Lucia out of her dream. Her eyes shot open.

She realized she only heard the landing gear being lowered. Her heartbeat slammed against her ribcage. She felt a spike in anxiety. Her gut churned.

There was quickly a knock on her door, and Hazel poked her head in. Her gold eyes glittered with excitement.

"Hey, Lu!" She excitedly greeted her. "We're descending over Rome. Come see it!"

༄

AFTER LUCIA GOT CHANGED, AND CONVINCED PERCY TO GET UP WITH A FEW KISSES. They finally made their way up deck. In an instant, the sheer beauty of Rome grabbed Lucia by the throat and made it difficult to breathe.

The sky was a brilliant blue, as if the stormy weather had never happened. The sun rose over the distant hills, so everything below them shone and sparkled like the entire city of Rome had just come out of the car wash.

The city seemed to have no regard for the limits of geography. It spread through hills and valleys, jumped over the Tiber with dozens of bridges, and just kept sprawling to the horizon

Streets and alleys zigzagged with no rhyme or reason through quilts of neighborhoods. Glass office buildings stood next to excavation sites.

A cathedral stood next to a line of Roman columns, which stood next to a modern soccer stadium. In some neighborhoods, old stucco villas with red-tiled roofs crowded the cobblestone streets, so that if Lucia concentrated just on those areas, she could imagine she was back in ancient times.

Everywhere she looked, there were wide piazzas and traffic-clogged streets. Parks cut across the city with a crazy collection of palm trees, pines, junipers, and olive trees, as if Rome couldn't decide what part of the world it belonged to—or maybe it just believed all the world still belonged to Rome.

"We're sitting down in that park," Leo announced, pointing to a wide green space dotted with palm trees. "Let's hope the Mist makes us look like a large pigeon or something."

Lucia didn't know what the mist could do to prevent the Romans from noticing the giant bronze trireme descending on their city in the middle of the morning rush hour.

But It seemed to work. She didn't notice any cars veering off the road or Romans pointing to the sky and screaming. The Argo II set down in the grassy field and the oars retracted.

The noise of traffic was all around them, but the park itself was peaceful and deserted. To their left, a green lawn sloped toward a line of woods. An old villa nestled in the shade of some weird-looking pine trees with thin curvy trunks that shot up thirty or forty feet, then sprouted into puffy canopies.

To their right, snaking along the top of a hill, was a long brick wall with notches at the top for archers—maybe a medieval defensive line, maybe Ancient Roman.

To the north, about a mile away through the folds of the city, the top of the Colosseum rose above the rooftops, looking just like it did in travel photos. That's when Lucias's hands started shaking. She was actually here. She was in the heart of the old Roman Empire, the enemy territory of a Greek demigod. In a way, this place had shaped her life as much as New York.

Jason pointed to the base of the archers' wall, where steps led down into some kind of tunnel.

"I think I know where we are," he said. "That's the Tomb of the Scipios."

Percy frowned. "Scipio...Reyna's pegasus?"

"No," Annabeth put in. "They were a noble Roman family, and...wow, this place is amazing."

Lucia agreed, but a part of her wanted them to sail the Argo away from the mesmerizing city. The other knew that wasn't possible. Even if the world wasn't depending on her. She would never turn her back on Nico. And she would always put her faith in Annabeth.

She only wished she could enjoy all its beauty in the way the others could... Without the ticking time bomb in her head that told her things were about to explode..or implode.

Jason nodded. "I've studied maps of Rome before. I've always wanted to come here, but..."

Nobody bothered finishing that sentence. Looking at her friends' faces, Lucia could tell they were just as much in awe as she was.

They'd made it. They'd landed in Rome—the Rome.

"Plans?" Hazel asked. "Nico has until sunset—at best. And this entire city is supposedly getting destroyed today."

Lucia shook herself out of her daze. "You're right. We need to get to Nico... Beth, you zeroed in on that spot from your bronze map, right?"

Her gray eyes turned extra thunderstorm dark, which Lucia could interpret just fine: Remember what I said,  Keep that dream to yourself.

"Yes," she said carefully. "It's on the Tiber River. I think I can find it, but I should—"

"Take me along," Lucia finished. She beamed. "Yeah, that is exactly what I was thinking."

Annabeth glared daggers at her. "That's not—"

"Safe? Yeah well, neither is one Greek demigod walking around Rome now is it?" She countered. "I'll go with you as far as the Tiber. We can use that letter of introduction and, hopefully, meet the river god Tiberinus. Maybe he can give you some help or advice. Then you can go on alone from there."

"And Piper can come with us," Lucia decided. "That okay with you Pipes?"

Piper nodded, "Yeah, Yeah...Of course."

"It's a good idea." Percy agreed.

"No, it's not." Annabeth hissed

"Yes, it is." Lucia challenged.

The two girls had a silent staring contest, but Lucia didn't back down.

"Fine," Annabeth muttered. "Hazel, now that we're in Rome, do you think you can pinpoint Nico's location?"

Hazel blinked, "Um...hopefully, if I get close enough. I'll have to walk around the city. Frank, would you come with me?"

Frank beamed. "Absolutely."

"And, uh...Leo," Hazel added. "It might be a good idea if you came along too. The fish centaurs said we'd need your help with something mechanical."

"Yeah," Leo said, "No problem."

Frank's smile turned into something more like Chrysaor's mask.

Lucia could feel the tension among those three. Ever since Frank got knocked into the Atlantic, they hadn't acted quite the same. It wasn't just the two guys competing for Hazel. It was like the three of them were locked together, acting out some kind of murder mystery, but they hadn't yet discovered which of them was the victim.

Percy sighed. "Then I guess Jason and I can watch the ship for now. But, Hazel, if you guys get a fix on Nico's location, don't go in there by yourselves. Come back and get us. It'll take all of us to fight the giants."

He didn't say the obvious: even all of them together wouldn't be enough, unless they had a god on their side. Lucia decided not to bring that up.

"Good idea," Piper said. "How about we plan to meet back here at...what?"

"Three this afternoon?" Jason suggested. "That's probably the latest we could rendezvous and still hope to fight the giants and save Nico. If something happens to change the plan, try to send an Iris- message."

The others nodded in agreement, but Lucia noticed several of them glancing at Annabeth. Another thing no one wanted to say: Annabeth would be on a different schedule.

She might be back at three, or much later, or never.

No, Lucia couldn't afford to think like that.

The facts were simply that her friend would be on her own, searching for the Athena Parthenos...

Coach Hedge grunted. "That'll give me time to eat the coconuts—I mean dig the coconuts out of our hull."

"Good luck, everyone," Percy told them.

He walked over to Annabeth, and without a second thought, he pulled her into a hug.

"Wise girl..." He began, "You be careful..I—I-"

Annabeth wrapped her arms around him. "I know, Me too."

Lucia smiled at the interaction. As they pulled away, she walked forward. Percy reached for her hand and squeezed it. He sent Annabeth some more encouraging comments before he focused on her.

"We'll be back soon," She promised.

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her softly. "You better, Or I'll go find you."

Lucia laughed. "I know." She squeezed his hand.

Leo lowered the gangplank, and Lucia, Piper, and Annabeth were first off the ship.