Roman's POV

Before we got on our way, Apollo told Logan and I to sit still while he healed the little injuries we acquired from the Laistrygonian battle so we wouldn't have to use up our Nectar and Ambrosia.

I didn't think I was hurt at all, not including a couple scrapes and bruises, but as soon as Apollo worked his healing magic I felt lighter. As if I had been covered in a weighted blanket and didn't even realize it until he took it off, like an enchantment. Maybe Aletheia had done something to me? I remembered everything clearly until we got to the ranger's station- no wait, I remembered goofing off with Logan and Virgil while putting our backpacks away. Then I grabbed a drachma, walked out the door and...?

I couldn't remember. Or rather, I knew what happened but only when someone reminded me. Like when Logan mentioned something about an Iris-Message with Remus, and I remembered sitting on the wooden steps and throwing a coin into the glimmering mist. Or how from the way Logan was acting a bit colder towards me and Virgil had drawn back into his shell, I knew I had royally messed something up, I just couldn't remember what. It was like I had a jigsaw puzzle in front of me, but I couldn't put it together until I was given the pieces.

One thing I did know was that we were headed to Miami, where hopefully our quest would end. What were the odds the one place our quest led up happened to be the place my family just happened to have a vacation home in? That had to be the best coincidence ever.

So when my friends and I climbed back into Apollo's sun chariot, I gave the god my Miami address. Logan, who was sitting in the front seat at Apollo's insistence, looked at me oddly.

"What?" I asked him as I fell back into my seat behind the god. "Would you rather stay in another hotel or a beach house on the ocean?"

Logan rolled his eyes but before he could say anything, Apollo flicked the golden van into drive.

"You know what Apollo I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this method of transportation-" Logan started to protest but got interrupted by the sun god.

"Seatbelts everyone!" He called.

Next to me, I saw Virgil slide a hand over his mouth to hide a smile.

"Please let this be a normal field trip." I heard him whisper under his breath as he was looking out the window. I realized that that was a reference I actually understood.

"With the Frizz? No way." I tossed back at the purple eyed beauty. Despite his efforts to stay quiet, Virgil burst into surprised laughter that had me smiling in a matter of seconds.

His laughter turned into a yelp of surprise when Apollo pulled the sun-chariot-in-disguise off the ground and shot it into the the air. With my heart hammering, I scrambled to do up my seatbelt. I glanced out the window to see us still going up, rocketing above fluffy white clouds into a smooth blue skies. It would've been gorgeous if I wasn't so freaked out.

I think I might be afraid of heights.

I'd been on a plane before, but almost never the window seat. Remus would always battle me over it and I usually didn't care all that much so I hadn't known I was scared of heights until the moment I realized there wasn't anything but a couple scraps of metal between me and certain death. I nearly choked myself with my seatbelt trying to push myself away from the window as fast as possible.

"Woo hoo! Isn't this fun?" Apollo yelled over the roar of wind that somehow seeped through the glass of the window.

"No." I said in unison with Logan, who was in the front seat. I looked up to see the son of Athena's hands clamped hard on the dashboard, knuckles white, and I remembered that he's also afraid of heights.

Virgil apparently didn't know that, so when the two of us replied to Apollo he looked up in surprise.

"Hold up," Virgil began, looking more relaxed than I would've expected him to be. "Logan are you-"

"Yes." Logan interrupted before he could finish.

"And Roman you're also-"

"Yep." I said shortly, looking anywhere but the windows. And how very, very far we were from the ground.

Virgil covered his mouth with his hand to hide his laugh, but it really didn't work.

"Quit it Virgil." Logan turned half around to try to give him a stern look but Virgil didn't pay attention to it.

"I'm sorry, Lo," The purple haired demigod said with an adorable smile that looked ready to burst into laughter. "But this is like the first time you guys are scared of something that I'm not."

I reached over and flicked him on the side of the head. He didn't seem too bothered when he started to laugh again.

"Don't tell me you two are afraid of heights!" Apollo asked us. Neither of us responded. "What's to be scared about? You scared you're gonna die or something?"

Logan and I just stared at him in silence for a second.

"...Yes!"

"That's precisely what I'm afraid of!"

"Ha, weak." Virgil said as he propped his elbow on his armrest. "Death's gonna happen whether you fear it or not, so why should you?"

"There we go brother!" Apollo reached back and extended a fist towards Virgil. The demigod hesitated for a second then slowly fist bumped the god.

"I...don't understand what just happened." Logan said slowly.

"I'm just gonna close my eyes and try to be anywhere but here." I muttered and did just that.

I'd only met Apollo once before, when he had visited camp one day for seemingly no reason.

The god had only stayed for a day, but he taught the daily archery classes and lead the campfire that night and it was great. I asked Patton about it once his dad left but, just like the son of Hades sat next to me, he had never been very big on talking about feelings.

Logan had mentioned that it had something to do with Patton's mortal parents, so I didn't push.

It was only a minute or two later when Apollo called out "We're coming in for a landing!" and there was a bump of solid ground under the wheels of the chariot-in-disguise.

"Hey, Roman?" Virgil said as he nudged my arm. "You can open your eyes now."

"What? Oh, right." I opened my eyes when I registered what he was saying and squinted at the much brighter light that was flooding through the glass windows.

The golden brightness outside filled me with an air of familiarity. Apollo's Sun Chariot was settled on a hill overlooking the city of Miami, the grass was bright green and dotted with tall palm trees.

"Oh thank the gods." Logan muttered as he undid his seatbelt and stumbled out of the van's door. I followed suit, flooding with relief when my feet settled on solid ground.

Virgil and Logan came around from their side of the van to stand next to me and look down at the city below. Streets crowded with cars and bikes winded through buildings and towards the white sandy beach paired with the glimmering crystal coastline.

"Wow," Virgil whistled, the warm Florida breeze tousling his gorgeous purple hair like a movie. The zipper of his hoodie jingled against his thigh as he slid his hands into his back pockets. "Not bad for my first time out of New York."

"Yes I must admit," Logan said as he flattened the front of his black shirt. "It's quite impressive."

Apollo opened his door and pushed it open, while staying seated.

"Miami is a particular favourite locale of mine, other than Los Angeles of course." The sun god said, flipping his sunglasses from his forehead to in front of his eyes.

"Well you can't get much better than L.A.," I told no one in particular, leaning against the side of the van. It was warm to the touch. "It's called the City of Angels for a reason."

Virgil gave out a huff of laughter and Logan shook his head with a smile.

"I've gotta say, I prefer the song." Virgil drawled.

"I swear I've never met a demigod so intent on mentioning pop culture so often." Logan observed. Virgil shrugged and I chuckled. 

"This is where I leave you, godlings!" Apollo said brightly. "Before I take my leave, I need to talk to Roman."

"Okay, what about?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Ah, I meant alone. Here," Apollo rummaged in the glove box for a second, then came away with two bottles of sunscreen. He tossed one at Virgil and the other at Logan, who both caught them. They looked down at the bottles then back up at Apollo, thoroughly confused. "Trust me, you two are gonna need those. Now go talk about that, away from here for a bit."

Glancing at me, my friends hesitantly walked out of earshot. I slowly looked at the sun god.

"So...what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked him. I couldn't help but notice his resemblance to Patton.

"Look Roman, I noticed something odd when I first healed you." Apollo said solemnly.

"Really?" I felt my heart-rate speed up. Maybe I wasn't imagining it at all? "What was it?"

"I couldn't really tell, not definitively. But my best guess is that you've been under an enchantment." He told me. "Most likely? Charmspeak."

I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise. Charmspeak was an ability unique to some children of Aphrodite and, for lack of a better term, it was almost a form of mind control. I couldn't do it myself, other than small charms like I did to that mortal woman on the Cyclops-Disaster-Express.  

"You think someone charmspoke me?" I was surprised and thought for a second that he was messing with me, but then I remembered how weird I was feeling earlier. I knew something was off! "Do you know why?"

"Theres no way to tell. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone involved in the disappearance of my son." When Apollo mentioned Patton, his youthful face showed a bit of his many years. "I'm just not sure what they possibly could've wanted from you. Are there any gaps in your memory?"

"Well..." I trailed off. From what Logan's mentioned, I argued with Virgil about something, then argued with Logan, then I stormed inside and did...something. I couldn't remember. Honestly I couldn't remember any of the things I pieced together from Logan. "Yes. I can't remember anything after getting to the ranger's station."

Apollo leaned back in his seat.

"Well it couldn't have been Aletheia or Aphrodite. Any idea who it could've been?" He asked, his sunglasses displaying a reflection of me with my normally delicate curls dangling and near unruly. 

I thought for a moment. If it wasn't my mother or Aletheia, who else could it be? I'd only been in contact with Logan and Virgil and neither had even a possibility of having a charmspeak ability. I didn't even know anybody who could-

I felt blood run cold as I realized; there was only one person I knew who was a charmspeaker.

My mind was reeling, but I didn't want to tell the sun god anything until I knew for sure.

"Uh...no. No, not that I can think of." I lied, trying to keep eye contact.

Apollo was silent for a second with a considering look, then nodded and swung around so he could drive off at any moment.

"Well stay on your toes alright? Be ready for anything." He was about to close his door on me when he stopped suddenly. "Oh, you wouldn't mind relying some messages for me would you?"

"Um, sure." I agreed. I stuck my hands in the pockets of my letterman jacket.

"When you find my son, tell him to summon me. He'll know how and where. Tell Logan to protect Patton with everything he can." Apollo said with a seriousness I never expected from the frat-boy-looking god. 

"And as for Virgil," He looked out the window to Virgil and Logan. Virge seemed to be arguing with Logan about why he should keep his hoodie on. Apollo then looked back to me with sympathy that wasn't directed at me. "Tell him good luck."

"Yeah," I promised, albeit confused. "Yeah I will."

"Good man!" He ruffled my hair, much to my annoyance, then swung his door shut. He rolled down his window a bit so he could say cheerfully: "Oh by the way, you might want to look away unless you want your eyeballs melted."

I turned my head to the side and closed my eyes. I felt a growing warmth on the back of my neck, but then it disappeared and when I opened my eyes, the sun chariot/van had gone along with it.

*********

I lead the three of us through the busy Miami streets, creeping closer to the coast.

"Where is your house located exactly? Not to complain, but these conditions aren't exactly ideal." Logan said, dodging a fast walking man in a three-piece suit.

"Miami Beach." I said with a cheerfulness I wasn't feeling. "And to me these 'conditions' just make it feel like home."

"Summertime in Miami is much more glamorous than in Queens." Virgil expressed, looking up at the windows of the condo building we were passing. "You don't even have to dodge any dripping water from A.C. units."

"Nothing wrong with a little glamour." I replied absently over honking car horns. Virgil gave a little snort of laughter. The three of us turned a familiar corner and I stopped on the sidewalk to smile up at the building across the street from us. "Now may I introduce you, to el resort de playa Garcia!"

"Woah..." Logan and Virgil were speechless as they saw the Garcia family vacation house. Honestly it looked surreal with it's tall walls painted pure white and a light orange terra-cotta roof, the huge windows glimmering in the Florida sun. It had wooden steps leading around tall green leafed palm trees and up to a light brown door. The salty scent of the ocean floated around our little group from the ocean front on the other side of the house. The house number gleamed silver on the wall next to it. "It's beautiful."

"Damn Roman, you've got it good." Virgil said as he lifted a hand to shade his eyes from the sunlight. After admiring the building for a little bit longer, he turned to me with raised eyebrows. "I didn't know you spoke Spanish?"

I smiled a little bit. 

"Spanish is actually my first language, my dad grew up in Valencia in Spain so when he moved to America he made sure Remus and I grew up speaking Spanish like him." I told my friends, motioning for them to follow me as I pressed the crossing button. I leaned up against the post, thinking about how Remus and I had always talked in Spanish to each other during class to gossip about the people around us. "Plus, children of Aphrodite naturally know all of the Romance languages. Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Romanian."

"Not a bad deal." Virgil said thoughtfully. "Now I kinda wish I was an Aphrodite kid."

I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to clue him into how I would rather be eaten by lava monsters than be related to Virgil. Since, well, falling for someone in other cabins is fine but falling for a demigod in your own cabin? Massive no no. It would suck for both of us.

"Roman, what does your father do for a living? Surely Miami real estate, coupled with your Los Angelas real estate, would be quite expensive?" Logan asked me as we walked across the road and began to climb the front steps. I saw Virgil reach out to brush his hand on the palm trees as  he passed.

"He's a lawyer." I answered, trying not to sound too proud of my dad. "Covers a lot of big names. He's even worked with Beyonce and Justin Bieber before."

"Holy shit." Virgil sounded impressed and I couldn't fight back the fuzzy feeling in my chest. "Next you're gonna tell me you were invited to Taylor Swift's birthday party or something."

I bit my lip.

"No way. You're joking." The son of Hades' jaw dropped open. Logan pushed it closed.

"She was quite nice." I said absently as I reached over to the keypad attached to the door to punch in the password. Since my family's usually not at this house for most of the year, we figured that if we left a key out someone would just steal it and break in or something, so my dad installed a keypad with a password that only he, Remus, and I knew. Just in case.

Over Virgil's incomprehensible sputtering, I put in the passcode and the door unlocked. I pushed it open and felt the welcoming cold air of the air conditioning. I walked in and hung up my letterman jacket, leaving me in my grey t-shirt, only to turn around to see Virgil and Logan still standing in the doorway, staring.

Directly in front of the door was the living room with a light grey rug over the white and grey marble floor, two leather couches, a flat screen, and large windows looking out onto the sapphire blue water. On the walls hung framed photos of me and Remus, me, Remus and our dad, and ones of either me and our dad or Remus and our dad.

"Make yourselves at home guys!" I waved them in. "Here, sit down. I'll get us some food then I need to tell you guys something."

The two demigods wandered in, looking like they were in a trance. I sighed and pushed them to the couches until they sat down, still staring. 

"I mean if you ever wanted some roommates I certainly wouldn't say no." Logan stated. Virgil nodded in agreement as I turned to go to the kitchen. 

"We're not joking!" He called after me, and I laughed to myself as I opened the fridge.

About twenty minutes and a couple sandwiches later, I decided to tell my friends what Apollo told me.

"Alright, so this gonna sound crazy, and you're probably not gonna believe me, but you remember how I...I guess, yelled at you back in North Carolina?" I started with. They exchanged a look, then looked at me warily.

"Uh, yeah. I remember." Virgil said slowly.

"Well that's the thing," I ran a hand through my hair. "I don't."

"What?" Logan asked, sounding as confused as Virge looked.

"I don't remember it." I repeated, fully aware of how I probably sounded insane. "I know bits and pieces of what happened from what you've told me, but other than that I only remember going outside to call someone, I think my brother. And I sort of recall the battle with the Giants but other than that, my next memory is being healed by Apollo."

"How is that possible?" Virgil asked. I could tell he was still a bit skeptical.

"Well-" I explained everything I felt when Apollo had healed me, and then what the god himself had told me when we landed: I was somehow under the effects of charmspeak.

The room was silent. Logan stared intently at me, looking for a trace of lying, and Virgil just slumped against the back of the couch.

"So yeah." I finished slightly awkwardly, not sure if they'd believe me. "And even though I'm not entirely sure what I did, I can tell I was probably an asshole. So I'm really sorry."

Logan glanced at Virgil who was quiet. Then he leaned forward.

"You don't need to be sorry." The purple haired demigod said. Logan's eyebrows went up. "I knew something was off. You weren't in control of yourself."

I smiled a small bit. I tried to say something but Virgil did before I could.

"But how wack is it that literal mind control is a thing? Like what the hell?"

That got me to laugh, and Logan to crack a smile. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders as if my subconscious knew I had done something bad and needed to be forgiven.

"But the question remains, how were you under the effects of charmspeak?" Logan asked, all business as usual. "We haven't met any other demigods since we left camp."

"Well I do have a theory." I stood up and motioned for them to as well. "Come on, we'll see if I'm right."

I led them down a hallway and towards a room that I used often whenever my family and I came down.

"When our dad found out about us being demigods, he set a room aside for me and Remus." I twisted the doorknob to one of the doors and pushed it open. I went in, followed by my friends. "A room where we could have Iris-Messages. I usually just used it to talk to Patton and you, Logan. Remus didn't use it all that much."

The room was painted light pink, mostly empty other than a little couch and a side table with a drawer. There was a bright light and a water nozzle on one wall with a drain in the floor under it.

"Pretty cool." Virgil observed, leaning on the back of the couch. "So why are we here."

"I have an idea." I said as I slid open the drawer and took out a gold drachma. "And while I hope to every god out there that I'm wrong, it's the only idea I've got. Can you turn on the water, Logan?"

the son of Athena nodded and dutifully walked over to the nozzle and turned it, releasing a spray of water into the air. As the light hit the spray, I saw the glimmer of a rainbow.

"Wait Roman what do you mean-" Virgil protested, standing up straight.

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." I called out to the rainbow, tossing my drachma into it. "Show me Remus Garcia at Camp Half-Blood."

The coloured light wavered like an image breaking through static, but didn't show my brother.

My drachma was spat back out and landed at my feet.

No. No no no no no no.

My hand trembled as I reached down to pick up my coin again.

"I take it that's not supposed to happen?" Virgil asked quietly, breaking the silence that had settled over the room.

"O Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Show me Remus Garcia." I said more firmly, tossing the coin into the mist again. Once again, the rainbow shimmered then threw the coin back at me.

No no no. Come on Remus!

"I've never heard of something like this happening before." Logan seemed stunned. I could tell that he had come to the same conclusion as I had.

"No. No this isn't supposed to happen..." I mumbled, picking up the drachma.

I repeated the prayer again, to no avail.

No no please.

I just kept picking up the coin and trying again and again, each time with the exact same result. My brain felt like it was full of static.

Remus. Come on. 

I vaguely heard Logan saying something but I didn't hear it.

"Maybe it's the coin. I just need to try another one." I decided. I reached out for Virgil to toss me one.

"Roman-" He tried, but I cut him off.

"Come on!" I demanded, a loose feeling of panic filling my body. Virgil reached into the drawer and threw me a different drachma and I caught it as a dropped the other one.

I repeated the prayer and threw the new coin into the mist. It wavered. The coin came back out.

No. Remus no...

"Dammit." I stumbled back and sat on the little couch. I felt numb, like I had just woken up. "Goddammit."

"Roman? Are you alright?" Logan asked, sitting next to me. Virgil hurried over and turned off the water, then resumed his position against the back of the couch.

Remus. Why?

"That absolute prick." I suddenly felt angry. Angry at my twin, who was supposed to always be on my side. Who was never supposed to be so... treacherous.

"Ro?" Virgil waved a hand in front of my face. "What does it mean?"

"It means that my brother...he..." I couldn't quite choke out the words.

"He what?" Logan pushed, sweeping his hair back.

I took a deep breath.

"The thing about my brother-" I tried to say, but was cut off by a sound. The sound of the doorbell, echoing through the house.

"Who could that possibly be?" Logan asked, exasperated.

Virgil shrugged.

"Might as well go find out. Cmon." He said, resting a hand on my shoulder in comfort as I stood up.

The three of us walked down the hall and through the living room, the doorbell still being rung the whole time and the loud roar of my rushing blood fading from my ears.

"Damn this guy needs to chill." Virgil said in true Virgil fashion. As he stood in front of me and reached for the doorknob I suddenly had an overwhelming feeling that something terrible was about to happen. 

Virgil had already opened the door.

Standing on the doorstep was a tall middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair and eyes so grey they looked black. The smile on his face was a little bit too wide, his eyes a little bit too bright. There was a woman standing behind him with bleach blonde hair and a pound of makeup like she was going on a doomed-to-fail first date. She also had the too bright eyes, too bright to be genuinely happy.

"Oh Virgil we've been looking all over for you! Thank god we found you!" The man said loudly and moved forward, lifting his heavy arms as if to give Virgil a hug.

Virgil scrambled back until he bumped into my chest, but he didn't seem to notice. His face had gone completely pale, all the blood drained as he stared in disbelief and horror at the man and woman. He looked like he saw a ghost.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Logan asked, subtly moving a bit in front of me and Virgil. I wrapped one arm around Virgil's shoulders. He was shaking so hard it felt like he was sobbing.

"Oh where are my manners?" The mystery man asked rhetorically.

Apollo's words came back to me.

"And as for Virgil... tell him good luck"

"I'm Sebastian Morgenstern and this is my wife." The man introduced himself with a smile that somehow unsettled me. "We're here to take Virgil home."

All comments are read and appreciated <3

Ah, the moment you've all been waiting for. This'll be fun.

What are your predictions for the rest of this story or the next chapter? Theories? I wanna see who's closest.

Anyway, its 1am here so imma dip but I hope this was worth the wait!

Fun Fact: Virgil's favorite TV show is a tie between The Good Place and The Arrow

Hope you enjoyed :)