Seriously, what is this? Indiana Jones? One moment you're exploring a secret chamber and come across what is probably a magic rock, then suddenly you discover surprise! this is actually a trap and the ghost inhabiting the area wants to kill you.

Thaddeus pulled a leaver and a door slammed shut over the only visible escape. Rebecca screamed, gripping my arm. Cassius raised a hand to his head, saying something about how this was totally what his father would do. I just sighed, wondering what I'd done in a past life to keep getting caught up in this BS.

"All you have to do is give me the stone and I will let you leave," Thaddeus said.

"Just give it to him!" Rebecca hissed.

I turned to Cassius, giving him a pointed look. He took the hint, disappearing through one of the walls. I turned back to Thaddeus. "So, this stone. What's so important about it?" I asked. "It's just a rock."

The spirit became outraged. "That stone has more power than you could ever imagine!" he all but screamed. "It was passed through my family since we were visited by a Goddess!"

I made a show of picking at my nails. "Yeah, me and Xix go back. Met her in another multiverse. Long story."

"You what?"

"But what's so special about the stone?"

Thaddeus's confusion became anger again. "The Goddess said it held the power of an exploding star, plucked straight from the Heavens! It was a gift to my family. We were chosen by the Goddess to hold its immense power, chosen to be the Emperors of the Roman Empire, of the entire world!"

Honestly, you give someone a magic stone and tell them it has magic powers, and suddenly they want to rule the world. What is it with people and doing that? [It was a rhetorical question, Arthur. Wait your turn].

"How'd that go for you?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

He froze. "It, uh--"

"Got a bit disrupted because of the volcano exploding, huh?"

"Vol what?"

"The mountain that exploded." I heard a rumbling sound from behind and grasped Rebecca's hand tightly. "This has been an enlightening conversation," I said with my sweetest smile, "but we must be going now."

"There is no way for you to escape," Thaddeus laughed.

I grinned. "You think."

I spun on the spot, running to the new passage, dragging the terrified Rebecca along with me. Thaddeus's angered roar echoed behind us.

* * * * * * * *

Rebecca and I ran through the dark passage, only having the light of our torches to light the way. Cassius flew ahead, disappearing through walls and the ceiling to try and find us a way out. He'd closed the passage behind us, as though thinking that would stop Thaddeus from chasing us. Since the spirit hadn't come after us, it was looking possible, though it was more likely he couldn't leave the room because he was bound to it.

The passaged angle down, weaving this way and that. We were under the ruins of Pompeii, running though a hidden passage that could have let out anywhere. Or nowhere.

The passageway shook, pebbles raining down on us. They were small so did little damage. I had a feeling Thaddeus was to blame. I also had a feeling that the longer we stayed in here, the longer we had of the entire passage coming down on our heads or, at the very least, trapping us underground.

"Up here!" Cassius called from ahead.

We ran to him, stopping and looking ahead. The passage was sloping up. There was some form of light in the distance. It kind of reminded me of the first time I visited the Afterlife, but I figured that was a bad thing to mention.

The passageway shook again, Rebecca and I falling over from the suddenness. Bec was pale and shaking in the dim torchlight. Poor girl was terrified. Sure, she'd agreed to help us find Livia, but she probably didn't think we'd be stuck in death traps or running for our lives while trying to escape from a crumbling passage.

I took her hand, pulling her to her feet. "Stay with me, Bec. We're almost out."

"R . . . right," she stuttered. "Let's go."

I nodded. "Cass, lead the way."

He flew ahead. We gave chase.

* * * * * * * *

Ten minutes later, Rebecca and I lay on the grass, panting our hearts out. I doubted either of us had ever run that fast. Rebecca was coping with almost dying the best way she knew how: shaking dust from her hair. Once we'd existed the passage, it collapsed behind us and we were covered with a layer of dust. Bec muttered in Italian about how her shower this morning was ruined.

I pulled the round stone from my pocket, holding it up to the sun. It was incredible. Sunlight was almost being absorbed by the stone, drawing it in like a black hole. What had Thaddeus said about it? It was a star trapped inside a stone? An exploding star? Something that would give them the power to rule the world? I sighed, pocketing it.

If this was my day, I could only imagine what was happening with Arthur.