"Leo XXXVII," Apollo read.
The demigods grumbled and whispered complaints to each other about the last chapter's cliff-hanger.
"Guys, relax. This chapter is just as important as Annabeth's." Will chastised. After all, Leo, Hazel, and Frank were the ones who were supposed to scout ahead and look for Nico.
"Yeah, but I wish that the book had just wrapped things up before moving on to Leo's point-of-view," Percy frowned. "It's so annoying that we have to wait."
"It'll be over before you know it," the son of Apollo tried to comfort.
"Easy for you to say," Leo grumbled, looking just as happy as the other demigods. He flipped a penny he found in his pocket.
LEO WISHED HE WASN'T SO GOOD. Apollo's eyebrows furrowed.
The demigods stopped complaining and blinked. It was jarring to see such a sentence after the last scene they read.
"It's a blessing and a curse." Leo agreed, dramatically placing a hand over his chest.
Really, sometimes it was just embarrassing. If he hadn't had such an eye for mechanical stuff, they might never have found the secret chute, gotten lost in the underground, and been attacked by metal dudes. But he just couldn't help himself.
"Attacked?" Hephaestus picked up.
"What's going on?" Poseidon worriedly said, thinking about Frank.
"I feel like I just blacked out and missed the whole chapter," Nico said, grimacing as he wondered what dangers his friends were in. "What's happening?"
Part of it was Hazel's fault. For a girl with super underground senses, she wasn't much good in Rome. She kept leading them around and around the city, getting dizzy, and doubling back.
Will frowned in concern. "Is she alright?"
"She should be fine," Nico reassured. "It must be hard for her to sense me with all the tunnels underground."
"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."
"It's giving me a headache just thinking about it," Chris said, holding his forehead.
As a result, they got a tour of Rome. Frank seemed happy to plod along like a big sheepdog (hmm, Leo wondered if he could turn into one of those, or even better: a horse that Leo could ride).
Ares/Mars glared at Leo.
Said boy rolled his eyes at his remark. Great, more of my 'funny' jokes.
But Leo started to get impatient. His feet were sore, the day was sunny and hot, and the streets were choked with tourists.
"Sounds like a typical day in Rome," Hermes said. "That place is always crowded."
...They passed big churches, freestanding arches, clothing stores, and fast-food restaurants. One statue of some Ancient Roman dude seemed to be pointing to a nearby McDonald's.
"How convenient," Travis snickering
..."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."
The gods grimaced.
Some of the demigods winced at the reminder.
"Yeah, I can't imagine there were a lot of Americans who would travel to Italy at that time," Katie said, frowning slightly.
"They were more likely drafted for the war," Annabeth said.
Thinking of World War II, Percy, Thalia, and Nico couldn't help but be reminded of the Pact of the Big Three.
"Mussolini?" Leo frowned. "Wasn't he like BFFs with Hitler?"
His remark earned weirded out looks from the others.
"BFFs?" Hestia repeated, tilting her head.
"Best Friends Forever," Hermes explained to her.
"Oh," the goddess said, now frowning along with the others.
"I guess that's one way to put it..." Annabeth slowly admitted.
...[Hazel] "I'd love to see the Trevi Fountain,"
Annabeth perked up. "Me too! I hear it's beautiful!"
"There's a fountain on every block," Leo grumbled.
"Each with their own sets of history," the daughter of Athena pointed out. "Besides, this is not just a fountain. The Trevi Fountain is one of the oldest water sources in Rome. It's made out of travertine stone, the same material used to make the Colosseum."
"Eh," Leo shrugged. The others had similar disinterest to Annabeth's lecture and began to have their own side-conversations.
"I hear that if you throw two coins in the fountain, you'll fall in love with an Italian," an Aphrodite girl giggled. "Throw in three, and you'll marry that person."
"Isn't there a movie based off that?" Hestia mused. "What was it called...?Three Coins in the Fountain?"
"That's the one," Aphrodite confirmed.
"How many coins do you think are in there?" Connor muttered to his brother.
"Enough to make us millionaires," Travis grinned. "Think we could fish them out without getting caught?"
"In my sleep," Connor smirked.
"Or the Spanish Steps," Hazel said.
Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Yeah!"
"Why would you come to Italy to see Spanish steps?" Leo asked. "That's like going to China for Mexican food, isn't it?"
"Not even close," Annabeth said. She crossed her arms and gave Leo a disapproving frown.
"But they're just stairs. You could find ones like those anywhere." the son of Hephaestus argued, earning a look of pure disbelief from Annabeth. "Doesn't New York have something like that too?"
"You mean the Bronx Staircase?" Percy cringed. "Dude, you definitely don't want tourists taking pictures around there."
"You can't compare the two," Annabeth vehemently stated. "The Spanish Stairs is an unique architectural landmark. The Bronx Staircase..." she made a face. "Let's just say that that place is infested with monsters."
"And muggers," Percy added.
"Stairs are stairs," Leo said dismissively. "I mean, I could understand if they were something like the first escalator or teleportation device. That'd be cool, I'd pay money to see that."
"You're hopeless," the daughter of Athena sighed.
...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.
"Please don't tell me this is going to be the whole chapter..." Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Sorry," was all Leo said, the hunters groaned in response.
After walking forever, Hazel stopped in front of a church. At least, Leo assumed it was a church. The main section had 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.
Nico face-palmed.
"What?" Annabeth frowned as the Stolls snickered. "No. From the description, it sounds like you're at the Pantheon. It was built by an architect named Marcus Agrippa."
"I know that now," Leo smirked.
"This is our best bet." Hazel sounded more certain than she had all day. "There should be a secret passage somewhere inside."
"Thank gods," Will muttered.
Tour groups milled around the steps. Guides held up colored placards with different numbers and lectured in dozens of languages like they were playing some kind of international bingo.
Leo listened to the Spanish tour guide for a few seconds, and then he reported to his friends, "This is the Pantheon. 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. It's one of the best-preserved Roman buildings in the world."
Annabeth playfully rolled her eyes. "Nice listening skills,"
"At least I'm learning something." Leo smirked.
Frank and Hazel stared at him.
"How did you know that?" Hazel asked.
"What can I say? I'm a genius." Leo said smoothly.
"Didn't you just butcher Agrippa's name?" Nico pointed out.
"But I corrected myself. A true genius always learns from their mistakes," he said in mock seriousness.
"And pays attention to tour guides," Apollo cheerfully added.
..."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."
Of course, no AC.
"Not surprising, this building was made two-thousand years ago," Annabeth said with a nod.
"They could've at least brought a fan in there, it was so hot," Leo grumbled under his breath. He took out a cooper wire and began to bend and twist it.
...The marble floor was patterned with squares and circles like a 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 and stuff. 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.
The gods snorted and smiled with amusement.
Zeus rolled his eyes.
Annabeth took in the description like a sponge, committing each detail into memory. She began to excitedly share information she knew about the Pantheon.
"Did you know this dome is the largest unsupported dorm in the world?" she said to no one in particular.
That got Leo's interest, he looked up from his wire. "I didn't know that. Is it because of the hollowed-out panels?"
Annabeth beamed at him. "Exactly! The dome is made out of concrete, but engineers made the thickness of material progressively thinner as they made their way to the top, making the concrete near the oculus is of lighter than normal density, while that near the base is heavier. The Roman engineers did this by using variously lightweight volcanic stones, and heavy granite stones, as the aggregate in the concrete."
"They still do that to make lightweight concrete!" Leo mentioned with enthusiasm of his own. Fountains and stairs, those were just every-day things. At least with buildings like the Pantheon, you could appreciate the careful consideration of construction and materials done to make it.
"Yes! Speaking of the oculus, the purpose of it was to not only light up the room, but to let those inside contemplate the heavens."
"That sounds cool, but it's gotta suck when it starts to rain. Guess they weren't worried about flooding."
"They weren't because they designed the floor of the Pantheon to be slanted, which would allow rainwater to drain from the building." Annabeth said smugly, as if she designed that feature herself.
Leo's eyes widened in realization. "Ooooh!"
"I know, right?!"
"Nerds," Clarisse pretended to cough.
Percy could only watch the back and forth, not able to fully engage in the conversation. Architecture was completely out of his element, but he was glad that Annabeth was able to enjoy herself after the last chapter.
Leo was no architect like Annabeth, but he could appreciate the engineering.
Annabeth and Leo shared a smile.
The Romans had made the dome out of big stone panels, but they'd hollowed out each panel in a square-within-square pattern. It looked cool. Leo figured it also made the dome lighter and easier to support.
He didn't mention that to his friends. He doubted they would care, but if Annabeth were here, she would've spent the whole day talking about it.
"You know me so well," Annabeth joked.
Thinking about that made Leo wonder how she was doing on her Mark of Athena expedition. Leo never thought he'd feel this way, but he was worried about that scary blond girl.
Annabeth's expression softened a bit. "Thanks,"
"You'd do the same for me," Leo shrugged.
[Hazel]... "This is amazing. In the old days, the children of Vulcan would come here in secret to consecrate demigod weapons. This is where Imperial gold was enchanted."
Hephaetus winced as his form flickered.
Jake, Nyssa, and Annabeth's faces lit up with interest.
"Really?" the daughter of Athena muttered to herself.
"Wonder how they did that," Nyssa mused.
"But we're not here because of that," he guessed.
"No," Hazel said. "There's an entrance—a tunnel that will lead us toward Nico. I can sense it close by. I'm not sure where."
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."
"Secret cults, secret passages, is there anything these guys had that was public information?" Travis wondered.
"The Colosseum?" Katie suggested.
That's when Leo made his mistake of simply being too good.
He scanned the temple's interior, thinking: If I were designing a secret passage, where would I put it?
He could sometimes figure out how a machine worked by putting his hand on it. He'd learned to fly a helicopter that way. He'd fixed Festus the dragon that way (before Festus crashed and burned).
Hephaestus, Nyssa, and Jake winced.
Leo glared at the book.
"Thanks for reminding us, because I'm sure everyone forgot that." he said sarcastically.
Once he'd even reprogrammed the electronic billboards in Times Square to read: ALL DA LADIES LUV LEO...accidentally, of course.
Hermes and his sons snickered.
"Right, 'accidentally'." Connor agreed.
"Purely not on purpose," Travis said with a definitive nod.
Now he tried to sense the workings of this ancient building. He turned toward a red marble altar- looking thing with a statue of the Virgin Mary on the top. "Over there," he said.
He marched confidently to the shrine. It was shaped sort of like a fireplace, with an arched recess at the bottom. The mantel was inscribed with a name, like a tomb.
Annabeth gasped. "Raphael's resting place!"
"The passage is around here," he said. "This guy's final resting place is in the way. Raphael somebody?" Apollo's jaw dropped.
The readers turned to Leo and stared at him as if he grew a second head.
"Raphael somebody?" Apollo repeated in astonishment. "You seriously don't know who that is?"
"Hazel told me he was a painter or something," Leo responded carelessly.
"He was a famous painter! An architect of the High Renaissance," Annabeth stressed, as if that would jog his memory. Seeing his blank expression, she inwardly groaned.
"He painted that painting, the one with a guy and God trying to touch fingers," Percy said, Leo's face lit up.
"Oh! The E.T. pose! I've seen pictures of that."
"You mean The Creation of Adam?" Apollo said flatly, suddenly feeling tired. He rubbed his temples. "That painting wasn't done by Raphael, it was done by his rival, Michelangelo." he heaved a sad, long, heavy sigh. "What are they teaching you in school? Don't you have art classes?"
"We do, but it's mostly just time we use to goof off." Percy said, with a shrug. "I suck at art anyways."
Apollo sniffed. "You don't need to be perfect at art to appreciate the work. Anyways, Raphael created paintings such as, The Three Graces, Transfiguration, The School of Athens, and more. Personally, I think he should've done made paintings based off yours truly, but his work was great because it conveyed a sense of humanism that changed how people viewed art in the Renaissance."
"Thank you, Professor Apollo," Artemis said with a grin.
"Hey, if the school board isn't going to provide these kids some education, then I will." the god huffed before grumbling under his breath. "Raphael somebody, I can't believe it..." He picked up the book from his lap and continued reading.
""Famous painter, I think," Hazel said. Excuse me?! You think?! Oh dear Fates! Someone please educate these children!" Apollo covered his eyes with the back of his hand and turned his head away from the page.
Artemis rolled her eyes, but consoling patted her bother's shoulder. It took a while for the god to compose himself, still holding his dramatic position, but after Hera and Zeus told him to "Get on with it!", the god took a deep breath and continued reading.
Leo shrugged. He had a cousin named Raphael, and he didn't think much of the name.
"Don't remind me," Hephaestus scowled, thinking of Raphael's mother.
He wondered if he could produce a stick of dynamite from his tool belt and do a little discreet demolition...
"You can't!" Annabeth scolded.
Leo held out his hands in surrender. "I won't, I won't, promise."
"Hold on..." Leo looked around to make sure they weren't being watched.
Not considering that, the demigods froze.
...Most of the tour groups were gawking at the dome, but one trio made Leo uneasy. About fifty feet away, some overweight middle-aged dudes 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 and pasty and covered with spider veins...
"I see what you mean..." Katie said. "They sound so American, it's suspicious."
"Too American," Chris agreed. "Like, they fit every stereotype to the 'T'."
"You'd think that monsters would pick a disguise less obvious than that." Travis said, tilting his head.
"I know right? Overweight and beach clothes! How obvious can you get?" Connor snickered.
"All they're missing is the Hawaiian shirts." Clarisse said.
...Forget them, Leo told himself.
"I don't think that's a good idea..." Lacy said nervously.
He 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.
Jake blinked.
"That's it?" he asked. He was expecting something more intricate, maybe like a hidden button that must be pressed or some sort of Indiana Jones puzzle, but a lock.
"That's it. Basic but gets the job done, I mean, nobody's been in there for centuries." Leo reminded. His brother frowned at the truth of his words.
"Can you open it?" Katie asked.
"Yup, no problem." Leo grinned.
..."The combination for a lock." 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, if I can..."
Leo placed his hand on the marble floor. He could sense old bronze gears under the surface of the stone. Regular bronze would have corroded and become unusable long ago, but these were Celestial bronze—the handiwork of a demigod. With a little willpower, Leo urged them to move, using the Roman numerals to guide him. 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.
Hephaestus smiled proudly.
Travis and Connor's eyes lit up.
"Can you do that with bank vaults?" Connor asked.
"That's not important," Katie said, glaring at the Stoll.
"But a good question," Travis said, earning a glare from her as well.
"Romans must've been small." Leo looked at Frank appraisingly. "You'll need to change into something thinner to get through here."
Ares gritted his teeth.
The demigods grimaced.
"A fat joke, how original and clever." Leo said sarcastically, feeling a wave of embarrassment. He glared at the book.
"That's not nice!" Hazel chided.
"It was lame." Leo agreed.
"What? Just saying—"
"And now you can just shut up." Leo grumbled, playing with the buttons on his jacket.
"Don't worry about it," Frank mumbled. "We should go get the others before we explore. That's what Piper said."
"They're halfway across the city," Leo reminded him. "Besides, uh, I'm not sure I can close this hatch again. The gears are pretty old."
"Then what are we going to do?" Percy frowned.
"I guess you'll have to find another way to get to Nico and the giants." Annabeth frowned along with him.
"How can we do that without running out of time?" he said worriedly.
"Don't worry, we figured it out." Leo assured.
"Great," Frank said. "How do we know it's safe down there?"
Hazel knelt. She put her hand over the opening as if checking the temperature. "There's nothing alive...at least not for several hundred feet. The tunnel slants down, then levels out and goes south, more or less. I don't sense any traps..."
Proud, Hades gave the faintest of smiles.
"How can you tell all that?" Leo asked.
She shrugged. "Same way you can pick locks on marble columns, I guess. I'm glad you're not into robbing banks."
"See? Even she thought of it?" Travis pointed out.
"But she didn't mean it the same way you did," Katie said.
"Oh...bank vaults," Leo said. "Never thought about that."
"Forget I said anything." Hazel sighed.
Katie gestured to the book at the Stolls, as if to say 'You see?'.
"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.
Thinking that's what Leo's earlier remark meant, Percy relaxed. "Yeah, that's a good idea."
"But don't all go in at once," Annabeth said frowning. "I wouldn't with those American tourists still around."
"Right," her boyfriend agreed.
You two 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."
Annabeth nodded her head in agreement.
Frank scowled. "We can't let you go by yourself. You could get hurt."
"You don't have a choice," Annabeth said. "You don't want to leave the tunnel unguarded, and what if those tourists follow you? You'll be ambushed."
"Besides, it's better that Hazel goes than anyone else." Nico mentioned. "It's her element."
..."Unless Frank wants to turn into a mole," Leo suggested. "Or a prairie dog. Those things are awesome."
"Shut up," Frank mumbled.
"Please." Leo pleaded.
"Or a badger."
Frank jabbed a finger at Leo's face. "Valdez, I swear—"
"Punch him." Ares demanded, and Leo silently agreed. If he had just gotten one quick punch in the nose, he would've been quiet or at least learned not to mess with Frank. Either one was fine with the son of Hephaestus.
"Both of you, be quiet," Hazel scolded. "I'll be back soon. Give me ten minutes. If you don't hear from me by then...
Nico winced.
Hades grimaced at the idea.
Never mind. I'll be fine. Just try not to kill each other while I'm down there."
Mars, form wavering, snorted. Him kill Frank. Funny.
The god winced before turning back to his Greek form.
She dropped down the hole. Leo and Frank blocked her from view as best they could. They stood shoulder to shoulder, trying to look casual, like it was completely natural for two teenaged guys to hang around Raphael's tomb.
"This would've been the perfect time to have cell phones," Leo mused to no one in particular. "At least us on our phones would've looked less suspicious, and we would've been able to text the others about what happened."
Tour groups came and went. Most ignored Leo and Frank. A few people glanced at them apprehensively and kept walking. Maybe the tourists thought they would ask for tips. For some reason, Leo could unnerve people when he grinned.
"Can't imagine why," Nico said sarcastically.
"I'm overwhelming, my good looks can do that." Leo said, placing a hand over his chest and giving a solemn nod.
The Stolls snickered.
Nico could help but snort and grin. "Yeah right."
"Are the Americans still there?" Annabeth wondered, paying attention to the reading.
The three American manatees were still hanging out in the middle of the room.
"Of course," she grumbled.
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.
Hermes and Apollo chuckled.
Every once in a while, he would glance over at Leo and Frank like he found their presence distasteful.
"What are they waiting for?" Mitchell wondered. "Hazel's gone, now they outnumber Leo and Frank."
"I don't know..." Annabeth said, eyebrows furrowed.
Something about that dude bothered Leo. He wished Hazel would hurry up.
So did the readers.
"She talked to me earlier," Frank said abruptly. "Hazel told me you figured out about my lifeline."
Leo stirred. He'd almost forgotten Frank was standing next to him.
"Your lifeline...oh, the burning stick. Right." Leo resisted the urge to set his hand ablaze and yell: Bwah ha ha! The idea was sort of funny, but he wasn't that cruel.
The readers cringed.
Leo's face fell, his foot stopping in mid-tapping. He silently sat upright in his chair, staring at the book with a blank expression.
"...That's not funny. That's not even sort of funny!" he exclaimed, face flushing with anger. What the Hades was wrong with him?! Fire was not a toy, not a joke, it was a dangerous thing. Frank had every right to be afraid of it. "Why would I even say something like that? Am I seriously going to forget that I was afraid of fire too? And my mom! With what happened to her? iAy Dios mío! What's wrong with me?!"
Leo wished he had time-traveled to this moment, just so he could punch himself in the face.
"Leo," Nyssa said awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "Don't beat yourself up over it. We know you didn't mean it."
He shook his head, feeling disgusted in himself. He knew he didn't mean it, he would've never thought of something like that if he hadn't felt jealous towards Frank.
Jealousy, people really think that's cute? he thought to himself. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. With nothing better to do (it's not like he could build Slap-Leo-in-the-Face machine now), he continued listening to Apollo read.
"Look, man," he said. "It's cool. I'd never do anything to put you in danger.
"Really? You wouldn't?" Leo grumbled. Hard to tell after that last paragraph.
We're on the same team."
So act like it. Leo thought angrily. He sucked his teeth and went back to fiddling with his cooper wire.
Frank fiddled with his centurion badge. "I always knew fire could kill me, but since my grandmother's mansion burned down in Vancouver...it seems a lot more real."
The Stolls perked up.
"A mansion?" Travis said.
"Frank's rich?" Connor said.
Leo helplessly shrugged. "I guess."
Leo nodded. He felt sympathy for Frank, but the guy didn't make it easy when he talked about his family mansion. Sort of like saying, I crashed my Lamborghini, and waiting for people to say, Oh, you poor baby!
Leo rolled his eyes. Will the chapter please end already?
Of course Leo didn't tell him that. "Your grandmother—did she die in that fire? 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 can shape shift?" Annabeth asked.
..."I guess," Frank said. "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."
Everyone winced.
Ares was quiet, stiller than usual.
And I wanted to make that stupid 'joke'. Leo thought bitterly.
Leo winced with sympathy. "So we both lost our moms to fire."
Hephaestus grimaced.
He hadn't been planning on it, but he told Frank the whole story of the night at the workshop when Gaea had appeared to him, and his mother had died.
Frank's eyes got watery. "I never like it when people tell me, Sorry about your mom."
"It never feels genuine," Leo agreed.
"But I'm sorry about your mom."
"Thanks." Leo muttered, sighing. He cracked his knuckles.
No sign of Hazel. 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.
The readers tensed.
"Back at Camp Jupiter," Frank said,
"Wait, we're just going to ignore that?" Will yelped in disbelief.
"You've got to be kidding me," Mitchell muttered, fidgeting.
"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."
"Wow," Percy said with a wince. At least he chose to have his Achilles Heel, poor Frank had it since birth.
"That's terrible..." Will said sympathetically. I really have to talk to Lou Ellen about this...
Leo remembered his conversation with Nemesis... She'd said something similar about wanting the scales to balance. Good luck is a sham. True success requires sacrifice.
"She was right about that," Leo muttered.
Her fortune cookie was still in Leo's tool belt, waiting to be opened. Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve, though I could help you...for a price.
"Don't let it get to you, just ignore it." Annabeth said.
"I'll try, but I open it eventually." Leo replied. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't."
Leo wished he could pluck that memory out of his head and shove it in his tool belt. It was taking up too much space. "We've all got weaknesses," he said. "Me, for instance. I'm tragically funny and good-looking." Apollo chuckled.
"No kidding? That's my weakness too." he said brightly. "That and being terribly talented in all forms of arts."
"We don't need a demonstration," Artemis hurriedly said.
Frank snorted. "You might have weaknesses. But your life doesn't depend on a piece of firewood."
"No," Leo admitted. He started thinking: if Frank's problem were his problem, how would he solve it? Almost every design flaw could be fixed. "I wonder..."
He looked across the room and faltered. The three American tourists were coming their way; no more circling or sneaking. They were making a straight line for Raphael's tomb, and all three were glaring at Leo.
Percy cursed under his breath.
"Where's Hazel?" Nico said worriedly. "What's taking her so long?"
"Uh, Frank?" Leo asked. "Has it been ten minutes yet?"
Frank followed his gaze. The Americans' faces were angry and confused, like they were sleepwalking through a very annoying nightmare.
The demigods briefly looked confused.
"What's wrong with them?" Mitchell asked cautiously.
"It... sounds like they're in a trance..." Annabeth said, bewildered.
"But that be it, aren't they the monsters?" Katie said.
"Leo Valdez," called the guy in the ROMA shirt. His voice had changed. It was hollow and metallic. He spoke English as if it was a second language. "We meet again."
"Huh?" Connor said, eyes wide in both alarm and surprise.
All three tourists blinked, and their eyes turned solid gold.
Lacy yelped. "Eidolons!"
"They don't know when to give up, do they?" Clarisse scowled.
"I was afraid this was going to happen," Athena sighed.
"Wait, so those tourists were actually Americans and not monsters in disguise?" Travis blinked. "Oh wow. Now I feel like a jerk."
"Now's not the time." Hephaestus said, face paling.
The manatees clenched their beefy fists. Normally, Leo wouldn't have worried about getting murdered by overweight guys in floppy hats, but he suspected the eidolons were dangerous even in those bodies, especially since the spirits wouldn't care whether their hosts survived or not.
"Get in the tunnel, quickly!" Hephaestus said urgently.
"They can't fit down the hole," Leo said.
"Maybe the tourists can't but the eidolons can," Annabeth unhappily pointed out.
"Right," Frank said. "Underground is sounding really good."
He turned into a snake and slithered over the edge. Leo jumped in after him while the spirits began to wail above, "Valdez! Kill Valdez!"
"If I had a dollar for every time I heard that..." Leo trailed off.
Hephaestus winced.
"That's the end of the chapter," Apollo said. His statement earned eye rolls and grumbles from the demigods.
"Again?" Percy said impatiently.
"Why are these chapters ending at the worst parts?" Connor complained.
"At least we're not getting a change in point-of-view," Katie sighed before saying. "I'll read next."
Quickly taking the book, she read as if there hadn't been a pause.
"Leo XXXVIII,"