Another attack had arrived.

Out of nowhere, she heard Percy yelling for Leo to stop. She leapt out of her bed at the worst moment. There came a collision, leaving her skidding into the far wall and sinking down to the floor. She could hear Festus blowing fire on the deck, a faint clicking and scraping sounding all around the edge of the Argo II.

The alarm bell began to sound. Emilia scrambled to her feet, rushing out into the hall. By then, the stairs were flooded with strange warriors– both human and dolphin. Some of the warriors had gray dolphin snouts, others held swords in stunted flippers, a few waddled on legs partially fused togethers while a handful had flippers for feet.

Human-dolphins (whatever they were) should not have been able to move as fast as these did. In an instant, they were swarmed. A group of them began breaking down cabin doors and ripping the other demigods out of their beds. The dolphin warriors made a series of whistling and popping noises as they converged on them, flashing a set of vicious-looking teeth.

Emilia had nowhere to run. She'd reached for her spear just as a group of three of them surged forward and tackled her into the wall, ripping Incubo away before she could send it back into the shadows. She could hear loud cracks from Jason's room– he was trying to fight them off. Then, there came a loud thud! followed by triumphant-sounding dolphin clicks.

"Let us go!" she could hear Piper crying out, her charmspeak as forceful as she could muster. "Let us–" Her words were cut off. Emilia gave a yelp as one of the dolphins tied her arms painfully behind her back, the other two binding her legs together. She was carried out along with the others– Jason was unconscious, Hazel was bound like her, and Piper had been gagged. The dolphins had sensed her charmspeak. Frank was the only one missing... and the dolphins that'd gone into his cabin had bee stings covering their faces.

When they were brought to the deck, she saw Percy and Annabeth already surrounded. The ship that'd rammed into them was another trireme with black sails that had a gorgon's head painted on them. The dolphins were answering to some strange man dressed in Greek combat armor— sandals, kilt, and greaves, a breastplate decorated with elaborate sea monster designs—and everything he wore was gold.

Even his sword, a Greek blade, was gold instead of bronze. His helmet was a full face mask fashioned like a gorgon's head—curved tusks, horrible features pinched into a snarl, and golden snake hair curling around the face. She remembered a story, but she wasn't sure of his name.

This leader and his dolphins had already made a pile of loot– crates of food, extra weapons, the magical ice chest from the mess hall. They'd left nothing behind. Even Coach Hedge was part of the pile, with a greasy wad of canvas in his mouth so he couldn't shout threats. Emilia wouldn't miss him if he was taken, but she felt sort of bad seeing him piled there with all these other random things. That anger rose when the dolphins threw Incubo into the pile, its tip pointed to where Leo was laid half-conscious on top of a pile of ropes.

"Excellent!" gloated the strange golden man. He directed his warriors to dump Jason by the crossbows, then examined the three girls like they were Christmas presents. "The boy is no use to me. But we have an understanding with the witch Circe. She will buy the women– either as slaves or trainees, depending on their skill. But this one–"

He reached out to grab Emilia's face. She almost managed to bite his fingers, but he seized her chin so roughly, her eyes watered involuntarily. "No, this one we will send elsewhere, along with you, lovely Annabeth–"

Annabeth recoiled before he could grab her. Emilia spat at the golden man as he withdrew his hand. "You're not taking us anywhere," said Annabeth sharply.

The golden warrior tutted. "Oh, sadly, Annabeth, you will not be staying with me. I would love that. But you and your friend Percy are spoken for. A certain goddess is paying a high bounty for your capture—alive, if possible, though she didn't say you had to be unharmed."

At that moment, Piper caused the disturbance they needed. She wailed so loudly it could be heard through her gag. Then she fainted against the nearest guard, knocking him over. Hazel got the idea and crumpled to the deck, kicking her legs and thrashing like she was having a fit.

Emilia was the last to add in (she had no idea what their plan was) and decided to fling herself down to the ground as hard as she could, tilting her neck down to clasp her necklace between her teeth. She ripped out the stem of the apple and blew into the whistle as hard as she could, the horrible screeching filling the deck.

Percy drew Riptide and lashed out. The blade should have gone straight through the man's neck, but the golden warrior was unbelievably fast. He dodged and parried as the dolphin warriors backed up, guarding the other captives while giving their captain room to battle. They chattered and squeaked, egging him on as if not worried that their leader would fall– they made a sound that sounded like 'cry,' 'say,' and 'oar.' Chrysaor, father of Geryon– yes, she remembered Kronos mentioning him.

One of the dolphin men grabbed Annabeth, holding a knife to her throat as Percy and the leader battled back and forth, thrusting and parrying. He feinted and thrust at Chrysaor's gut, but Chrysaor anticipated the move. He knocked Percy's sword out of his hand again, and flung Riptide into the sea.

The pirate laughed easily. He wasn't even winded. He pressed the tip of his golden sword against Percy's sternum. "A good try. But now you'll be chained and transported to Gaea's minions. They are quite eager to spill your blood and wake the goddess."

Emilia looked over at Percy, wishing that it were possible to communicate telepathically. Leo and Jason were unconscious, the girls were bound too tight to be useful, and Chrysaor clearly couldn't be beaten in single combat. He was a pirate and the son of Medusa. He wouldn't be gentle with them. They had to catch him by surprise.

"Fine!" yelled Percy suddenly. "Take us away, if our captain will let you."

Chrysaor turned his golden mask. "What captain? My men searched the ship. There is no one else."

Percy raised his hands dramatically. "The god appears only when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our camp for demigods. Doesn't he, Annabeth?"

Annabeth was quick. "Yes!" She nodded enthusiastically. "Mr. D! The great Dionysus!"

This sent a ripple of uneasiness through the dolphin-men. One dropped his sword. Emilia could sort of see where this was going. "Stand fast!" bellowed Chrysaor. "There is no god on this ship. They are trying to scare you."

"You should be scared!" Percy looked at the pirate crew with sympathy. "Dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girls falling into the wine god's madness?"

This time, Emilia responded first, crying out, "The madness, it's taking over again!" She wailed and began to flail again, crying out curses in Spanish and Italian for fun. When Hazel and Piper joined in, the dolphin-men fell over themselves trying to get away from them.

"Fakes!" roared Chrysaor. "Shut up, Percy Jackson. Your camp director is not here. He was recalled to Olympus. This is common knowledge."

"So you admit Dionysus is our director!" said Percy.

"He was," corrected Chrysaor. "Everyone knows that."

Percy gestured at the golden warrior like he'd just betrayed himself. "You see? We are doomed. If you don't believe me, let's check the ice chest!" He stormed over to the magical cooler. No one tried to stop him. He knocked open the lid and rummaged through the ice, withdrawing a can of soda and brandishing it at the dolphin warriors.

"Behold!" shouted Percy. "The god's chosen beverage. Tremble before the horror of Diet Coke!"

It was stupid, but the dolphin-men began to panic. Percy continued, "The god will take your ship. He will finish your transformation into dolphins, or make you insane, or transform you into insane dolphins! Your only hope is to swim away now, quickly!"

"Ridiculous!" Chrysaor's voice turned shrill. He didn't seem sure where to level his sword—at Percy or his own crew.

"Save yourselves!" warned Percy. "It is too late for us!" He pointed toward the ballista. "Oh, no! Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!" He repeated, "I said, Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!"

Frank stumbled out of nowhere, making a big show of grabbing his throat. "Oh, no," he said, like he was reading from a teleprompter. "I am turning into a crazy dolphin." He began to change, his nose elongating into a snout, his skin becoming sleek and gray. He fell to the deck as a dolphin, his tail thumping against the boards.

The pirate crew disbanded in terror, chattering and clicking as they dropped their weapons, forgot the captives, ignored Chrysaor's orders, and jumped overboard. In the confusion, Annabeth moved quickly to cut the bonds on Hazel, Piper, Emilia, and Coach Hedge.

Emilia reached through the air, Incubo flying back into her hand. She pointed it toward Chrysaor, who'd been backed into the railing by her and Annabeth, also brandishing her knife. Percy, Hazel, Piper, and Coach Hedge closed in, all with murderous expressions directed toward the golden pirate.

"This isn't over, Jackson," growled Chrysaor. "I will have my revenge–"

His words were cut short by Frank, who had changed form again, into an eight-hundred-pound grizzly bear that sideswiped Chrysaor and raked the golden mask off his helmet. Chrysaor screamed, instantly covering his face with his arms and tumbling into the water.

They ran to the rail. Chrysaor had disappeared. There was no sense in following him through an unfamiliar sea where he'd have the advantage. Emilia wished she'd just thrust her spear into his face when he'd still been standing in front of her.

"That was brilliant!" Annabeth kissed Percy proudly.

"It was desperate," corrected Percy. "And we need to get rid of this pirate trireme."

"Burn it?"

Percy looked at the Diet Coke in his hand. "No. I've got another idea."

Chrysaor didn't return in the time it took to arrange everything. By then, Emilia and Piper had dripped nectar into Leo and Jason's mouths until they were able to stand on their own again.

They returned all their own supplies to the proper places and tidied up from the invasion while Coach Hedge had a field day on the enemy ship, breaking everything he could find with his baseball bat. When he was done, Percy loaded the enemy's weapons back on the pirate ship. Their storeroom was full of treasure, but Percy insisted that they touch none of it.

"I can sense about six million dollars' worth of gold aboard," said Hazel. "Plus diamonds, rubies—"

"Six m-million?" stammered Frank. "Canadian dollars or American?"

"Leave it," said Percy. "It's part of the tribute."

"Tribute?" asked Hazel.

"Oh." Piper nodded. "Kansas."

"He does not deserve this," said Emilia under her breath. "But... I suppose. Only because he's Pollux's dad."

"Crazy," Jason agreed with a grin. "But I like it."

Finally Percy went aboard the pirate ship and opened the flood valves. He asked Leo to drill a few extra holes in the bottom of the hull with his power tools, and Leo was happy to oblige.

The crew of the Argo II assembled at the rail and cut the grappling lines. Piper brought out her new horn of plenty and, on Percy's direction, willed it to spew Diet Coke, which came out with the strength of a fire hose, dousing the enemy deck. The ship sank remarkably fast, filling with Diet Coke and seawater.

"Dionysus," called Percy, holding up Chrysaor's golden mask. "Or Bacchus —whatever. You made this victory possible, even if you weren't here. Your enemies trembled at your name... or your Diet Coke, or something. So, yeah, thank you. We give this ship to you as tribute. We hope you like it."

"Six million in gold," muttered Leo. "He'd better like it."

Hazel shushed him in a scolding tone. "Precious metal isn't all that great. Believe me."

She watched as Percy threw the golden mask aboard the vessel, which was now sinking even faster, brown fizzy liquid spewing out the trireme's oar slots and bubbling from the cargo hold, turning the sea frothy brown. Percy summoned a wave, and the enemy ship was swamped. Leo steered the Argo II away as the pirate vessel disappeared underwater.

"Isn't that polluting?" asked Piper.

"I wouldn't worry," Jason told her. "If Bacchus likes it, the ship should vanish."

Emilia wasn't sure how they'd be able to tell if that happened, but she thought silently of Lucia and Pollux, even of Castor. She didn't think of herself as praying to them, exactly, rather bringing positive thoughts to the surface in the hopes Dionysus would stir in the same way.

After their bout with the pirates, they decided to fly the rest of the way to Rome. Jason insisted he was well enough to take sentry duty– Emilia hadn't slept after being up almost all night.

She only got a few hours of rest. Soon, a series of metallic clangs jolted her back awake. She could hear the landing gear being lowered– they must be there. She got dressed quickly and stumbled up the stairs, rubbing her eyes before she saw the beauty that was Rome.

The sky was brilliant blue, as if the stormy weather had never happened. The sun rose over the distant hills, so everything below them shone and sparkled over the entire city. 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. Everywhere they 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 setting down in that park," announced Leo, pointing to a wide green space dotted with palm trees. "Let's hope the Mist makes us look like a large pigeon or something."

It seemed to work. 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. 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.

Emilia wished so badly to bring her aunt here. Oh, she'd love it here. She'd want to visit every church and walk through every neighborhood. And Hylla– gods, a picture of Hylla on the Colosseum would be a perfect screensaver if Emilia ever got to have a phone.

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. That's the Tomb of the Scipios."

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

"No," said Emilia. "Sepolcro degli Scipioni. They were a noble Roman family. Gods, this place is wondrous. And... it might be destroyed today."

"Plans?" asked Hazel. "Nico has until sunset—at best."

Percy shook himself out of his daze. "You're right. Annabeth... did you zero in on that spot from your bronze map?"

Her gray eyes darkened. "Yes. It's on the Tiber River. I think I can find it, but I should—"

"Take me along," Percy finished. "Yeah, you're right."

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

"Safe," he supplied. "One demigod walking through Rome alone. I'll go with you as far as the Tiber. We can use that letter of introduction, hopefully meet the river god Tiberinus. Maybe he can give you some help or advice. Then you can go on alone from there."

They had a silent staring contest, the others holding their breath. "Fine," muttered Annabeth at last. "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," added Hazel. "It might be a good idea if you came along too. The fish-centaurs said we'd need your help with something mechanical."

"Yeah," said Leo, "no problem. Emilia speaks Italian. We should bring her along."

Piper drew her knife and set it on the rail. "Jason and I can watch the ship for now. I'll see what Katoptris can show me. 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."

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

"Three this afternoon?" suggested Jason. "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, though all of them seemed to want to look at Annabeth. She might come back before three, after, or never. Emilia offered her an encouraging smile, "Yes, we'll keep each other updated. We'll accomplish everything we need to today."

Coach Hedge grunted. "That'll give me time to eat the coconuts— I mean dig the coconuts out of our hull. Percy, Annabeth... I don't like you two going off on your own. Just remember: behave. If I hear about any funny business, I will ground you until the Styx freezes over."

Percy smiled. "We'll be back soon. Good luck, everyone."

Emilia nodded. "In bocca al lupo," she said, then filling in the response no one would know how to give, "Crepi il lupo."(T: Into the wolf's mouth. May the wolf die. [Basically means good luck.])

She debated Iris-messaging Hylla as they walked off the gangplank, following Percy and Annabeth, who headed in a different direction. She figured it was best not to worry her before they actually found anything. Besides, she'd need to keep up with Hazel as she led the way.

Two things became apparent very quickly. One, Emilia was not as good at Italian as she liked to think. Both of her Italian teachers had been from Northern Italy and what she learned had not fully prepared her for the way people spoke in Rome. Everything was too fast and no one came with captions. At best, she could order them food... or at least she could have if they had any money with them. She tried not to be too hard on herself– some native Italians couldn't really understand each other from region to region. It wasn't easy to suddenly be thrown into Rome after studying Italian for so little time.

Two, Hazel had no idea where she was going. She kept leading them around and around the city, getting dizzy, and doubling back. The underground was too vast, there were too many layers. Not to mention the streets were flooded with tourists and the day was sunny and way too hot. Emilia felt like she was melting as they made no progress.

On the bright side, they got to tour Rome. She tried to think happy thoughts as she admired different churches, arches, stores, and even the way people drove here. After walking forever, Hazel stopped in front of a building with a large domed roof. The entrance had a triangular roof, typical Roman columns, and an inscription across the top: M. AGRIPPA. L. F. COS. TERTIVM. FECIT.

"What does that say?" asked Leo, pointing at the letters. "You, Miss Italy."

"Marcus Agrippa," said Emilia, unsure if her Latin was good enough to understand this. "Son of Lucius, three times consul, built this." She snapped her fingers at Leo, beckoning them to listen to a Spanish-speaking tour guide that was on the steps with a group of Latinos.

Leo translated, "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."

"This is our best bet," said Hazel. "There should be a secret passage somewhere inside."

Leo whistled. "I hope this place has air conditioning."

It didn't have AC, but there were also no lines and no admission fee, which Emilia was thankful for. The interior was impressive, 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. 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.

"You know, I'm no architect like Annabeth," said Leo as they walked, heads all tilted up, "but the engineering here is amazing. Look, that dome is made out of big stone panels, right, but they hollowed out each panel in a square-within-square pattern."

"What does that mean?" asked Emilia blankly.

"Oh, it looks cool, but I bet it also makes the dome lighter and easier to support."

"Masterminds," she murmured, craning her neck as far back as it would go. "You can tell that just from looking up?"

He blushed. "Yeah."

"You scare me just a bit."

"Because of that?"

"Yes. You are wicked smart."

He smiled appreciatively, skidding to a halt as Hazel stopped in the middle of the room, turning in a circle. "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."

"That sounds culty," said Emilia. "I'm assuming that something about that makes it important enough to where we have to go?"

She nodded. "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."

Leo looked around, spinning on his heels. He turned toward a red marble altar-looking thing with a statue of the Virgin Mary on the top. "Over there." 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.

"The passage is around here," said Leo. "This guy's final resting place is in the way. Raphael somebody?"

"The Ninja Turtle," mumbled Emilia, knowing very well who Raphael had actually been. It was just funnier to think of the Ninja Turtles. "Leo, what do you sense–?"

"Hold on..." Leo looked around as if to make sure they weren't being watched. Most of the tour groups were gawking at the dome, but Leo seemed to be eying one trio uneasily. About fifty feet away, some overweight middle-aged dudes with American accents were conversing loudly, complaining to each other about the heat. They wore sandals, walking shorts, touristy T-shirts and floppy hats. Their legs were big and pasty and covered with spider veins.

Leo decided not to comment on them. 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.

"Heh," said Leo, motioning for Emilia to feel. "Not very elegant, but effective."

"What is?" asked Frank.

"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 concentrated, then out of nowhere, the cylinders began to 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.

"Romans must've been small." Leo leaned away as Emilia ruffled his hair proudly.

"We should go get the others before we explore," suggested Hazel. "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."

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..."

"How can you tell all that?" asked Leo.

She shrugged. "Same way you can pick locks on marble columns, I guess. I'm glad you're not into robbing banks."

"Oh...bank vaults," said Leo. "Never thought about that." He wiggled his eyebrows at Emilia. "What if we committed crimes?"

She narrowed her eyes. "As good as we'd be at that, I don't think we should make that a long-term career goal."

"Forget I said anything," sighed Hazel, deciding that maybe going back to the Argo II wasn't necessary. "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."

"Hazel, I can go with you," insisted Emilia. "I can see in the dark, I can watch your back."

"But you don't know how to maneuver underground," said Hazel. "I can, it's my specialty. It's safest for all of us if I go first."

"Unless Frank wants to turn into a mole," suggested Leo. "Or a prairie dog. Those things are awesome."

"Leo," sighed Emilia, coiling her wrists at the boys before Frank could respond.

"Both of you, be quiet," Hazel scolded in agreement. "I'll be back soon. Give me ten minutes. If you don't hear from me by then... Never mind. I'll be fine."

She dropped down the hole, disappearing into the darkness.