━━ chapter five
sam's secret talents

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

    AROUND Sam, it was chaotic. The others were still recovering from the flash bombs, Jason had managed to push himself into a run to check on Piper and Coach Hedge, Frank had transformed into a bear, but before he could have wreaked havoc on the thieving Kerkopes, the flash-bomb disorientated him and now he was slowly morphing back to normal. Annabeth rubbed her eyes, blinking━she looked a mix of furious and guilty, and Sam could tell she thought she should have somehow prevented this. She turned to Frank, placing a hand on his shoulder. Leo was still on the ground, unable to believe how much destruction had happened in a matter of seconds.

    Jason pulled the gag out of Piper's mouth and immediately, she shouted, "Don't waste your time on me! Go after them!"

    At the mast, Coach Hedge struggled through his gag and screamed a muffled curse. Sam think he meant something along the lines of: KILL THEM!

     Sam staggered to the edge of the boat, looking down at the city of Bologna━a jigsaw puzzle of red-tiled buildings in a valley hemmed in by green hills. Fiona's dagger was in there somewhere, as was Leo's Archimedes's Spheres and toolbelt. He tried to think of a plan, breath uneven and blinking light still from his eyes. Come on, think, Sam! He told himself. You're a son of Athena, think! 

      He had the start of one ...

      Sam glanced back at Leo and Jason. The others were too dazed to be able to follow him. "Jason," he spoke up and the blonde Superman turned to him. "You all right to control the winds?"

    He frowned, "Sure, but━"

     "Good," he glared back down a the maze below them, his cheery diposition far from gone at this point. Not until he got that pugio back. "Because you, me and Leo have some Kerkopes to catch."

     Jason nodded. It didn't take long to get into the air. Sam felt his hair fly and his stomach lurch at feeling the wind wrap around them like a blanket of pressure. Jason strained to hold him and Leo, but pushed forward to touch down in a big piazza lined with white marble government buildings and outdoor cafés. Bikes and Vespas clogged the surrounding streets, but the square itself was empty except for pigeons and a few people drinking expressos. 

     None seemed to notice the huge Greek warship hovering over the piazza, nor the fact that they had just floated down━Jason weilding his gold sword and Sam and Leo ... well, empty-handed. At least Leo had his fire. At the moment, all Sam had was his head. He didn't have special powers, but he did have a well-oiled mind. He had to have one to survive. 

     "Where to?" Jason asked.

     Leo stared at him. "Wow, sure. Let me just pull out my dwarf-tracing GPS out of my tool belt ... Oh, wait! I don't have a dwarf-tracking GPS━or my tool belt!"

     Sam peered around them, then pointed across the piazza. "The ballista fired the Kerkope in that direction. They're this way."

     "You sound really sure of that, Sammy."

     Sam wasn't in the mood. But, he took a deep breath and let himself calm down to reply smartly. "Well, in consideration to an estimation of a Kerkope's weight, the power of the ballista and the trajectory, I've come to an educated guess━"

     "So, you have no idea."

     He had to remind himself Leo was just as desperate and annoyed over this situation as he was. But as a child of Athena, Sam always had a problem with his pride. "I am right. Let's go."

     Together, the three of them waded through a lake of pigeons, then manoeuvred down a side street of cothing stores and gelato shops. Sam wanted to fiddle with the pugio hilt, but without it, he started to tug at the loose fabric of his hood, making sure it was as baggy as possible. It was an old habit to make him feel better, but something he still found himself doing. He glanced at the sidewalks lined with white columns and was annoyed to see them covered in grafitti. No one had an appreciation for history and architecture these days. 

     Leo didn't seem any better. He kept patting his waist, as if hoping his tool belt would just reappear. Sam pursed his lips but didn't say anything. He just kept on going, leading them through the streets towards where he had guessed the Kerkopes to be ... because in reality, he didn't know, at all. He could just hope and try and keep a positive mindset. 

     "We'll find them," Jason promised out of nowhere. 

     Sam knew what he meant, and he sent him a simple smile as a thanks. He was as Roman as a Roman could be; level-headed, disciplined, a leader. But recently, he seemed as lost as the rest of them. 

     They walked a few more twists and turns when all of a sudden━

    Sam held his arms out, stopping Leo in his spot━he hadn't been paying attention, at all. "Look━" he pointed.

     They had arrived in a smaller piazza. Looming over them was a huge bronze statue of naked Neptune. Leo covered his eyes, "Ah, jeez," he let out. "Why would you make me look at that?"

     Sam closed his eyes slightly, stay calm. He imagined himself sitting on the grass back at Camp reading his favourite books. He turned to Leo and stated, "It could be something. We're in Italy, and Jason can tell me if I'm wrong, but you don't just see statues of one of their least favourite gods just standing around. If it was Jupiter, it'd make sense."

    "Or it could just be a statue."

     "Just check it out, Leo," Jason murmured. "There's no harm in it."

     The son of Hephaestus pursed his lips but stepped into the dry fountain under the shadow of Neptune and his trident. He put his hand on the pedestal, and his eyes widened in shock. "It's mechanical," he stated, surprised. "Maybe a doorway to the dwarfs' secret lair?"

    "Oooo!" shrieked a nearby voice. "Secret lair?"

    "I want a secret lair!" yelled another voice from above. 

    Jason stepped back, his sword ready. Sam spun around, trying to see the Kerkopes. He had no weapon, and so he awkwardly held up his fists. Leo jumped, jerking around so fast he could've gotten whiplash. Both Kerkopes were here. Sam had once heard the story, and remembered something about two brothers getting cursed by Zeus after thieving so much. Also something about them stealing from Heracles. One sat about thirty feet away at the nearest café table, sipping an expresso held by his foot under the brim of a cowboy hat. His brother, brown-furred in comparison to his red, donned his green bowler right over Leo's hand, perched on the marble pedestal at Neptune's feet.

    "If we had a secret lair," said the Kerkope with the cowboy hat, "I would want a firehouse pole."

     "And a waterslide!" said his brother in the green bowler, pulling out random tools from Leo's belt, tossing aside wrenches, hammers and staple guns. Sam's heart jolted to see Fiona's pugio's hilt poking out of one of his mis-matched pockets. 

     "Stop that!" Leo snapped, trying to reach for the Kerkope's feet, but he couldn't reach the top of the pedestal.

    "Too short?" the thief sympathised.

    Leo usually could keep his cool, but since Fiona and Percy fell into Tartarus, he was a short fuse burning away on a thin thred to dynamite. "You're calling me short?!" he looked around for something to throw, but there was nothing but pigeons. "Give me my belt, you stupid━"

    "Now, now!" the theif casually picked at the toolbelt, then turned his attention to the kife. Sam clenched his hands, trying to think of a way to get them back. His head swapped dozens of scenarios, but so far, none of them looked like they would work. "We haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Akmon. And my brother over there━"

    "━is the handsome one!" the red-furred Kerkope lifted his expresso. "Passalos! Singer of songs! Drinker of coffee! Stealer of shiny stuff!"

     "Please!" shrieked Akmon. "I steal much better than you."

     Passalos snorted. "Stealing naps, maybe!" He took out another knife━Piper's knife━and started picking his teeth with it.

    "Hey!" Jason yelled. "That's my girlfriend's knife!" 

     He lunged for it, but Passalos was too quick. He sprang from his chair, bounced off Jason's head, did a flip and landed next to Leo, his hairy arms wrapped around Leo's waist. 

    "Save me?" he pleaded.

     "Get off!" Leo tried to shove him away, but Passalos did a backwards somersault and landed out of reach. Leo's trousers promptly fell around his knees. He staggered to pull them back up. But they fell down again. His eyes were wide as he realised what he had stolen━the zipper to Leo's trousers. He waggled it at him with a mischievous grin. 

     "Give━stupid━zipper!" Leo stuttered, trying to shake his fist and hoist up his trousers at the same time. 

    "Eh, not shiny enough," Passalos tossed it away.

    Jason tried to attack again, but Passalos only launched hmself straight up and was suddenly sitting on the statue's pedestal with his brother. Sam watched on, still trying to figure something out. Come on, come on, come on, he thought to himself. Think, think, think!

    "Tell me I don't have moves," Passalos boasted.

     "Okay," said Akmon. "You don't have moves."

    "Bah!" Passalos said. "Give me the tool belt at the knife! I want to see."

    "No!" his brother elbowed him away. "You already have a knife and the shiny ball!"

     "Yes, the shiny ball is nice," Passalos took off his cowboy hat and pulled out the Archimedes sphere. He began to tinker with the dials.

     "No! Stop!" Leo yelled, still holding up his pants. "That's a delicate machine."

     Jason reached his friend's side, ready to shout again. That would only make things worse, and so, Sam stopped thinking and blurted out the first instinct he had━

     "I know who you guys are!" he cried out. Both brothers glanced at him, curious. Yes, Sam thought. You have vanity. "You're the Kerkopes, the most famous thieving brothers in all of history!"

      They perked up a little at that. They shared a glance. Passalos stopped playing with the sphere. "Really?" he asked.

      "Yeah, definitely," nodded Sam, heart racing as he thought on his toes. What did he remember about these guys? Heracles━something about Heracles━ "I mean, only the best of the best could steal from Heracles!"

     "Ha!" let out Passalos. "Remember him?" he laughed with his brother. 

     "Oh, yes!" grinned Akmon. "He used to go around without clothes. He got so tanned that his backside━"

     "At least he had a sense of humour!" Passalos said. "He was going to kill us when we stole from him, but he let us go because he liked our jokes. Not like you lot. Grumpy, grumpy!"

     "What?" Sam stepped forward, feigning a gasp. "I love your jokes! Seriously, I am a big fan. I personally think the best attribute and talent to thieving is joking about it. You need to quip your victim, embarass them."

      "Hmmm," Passalos thought about this. "You do have a point. Yes, yes, it is quite the talent! I like you━you are better than these two."

      "Yeah, yeah, those two are really really grumpy," Jason and Leo gapped at Sam, very offended. "I mean━they don't have an appreciation for trickery and jokes like we do. A son of Athena has to give credit to the smarts required to achieve such a thing you have. How about━what if you tell me some jokes? I would love to hear them! And then once your done, I could tell you some of my jokes! If it's to your approval, we can have back the things you stole, and we'll let you go. Seems like a fair game, right?"

     For a second, Sam thought he had it. The brothers glanced at each other, but they were smarter than Sam had given them credit for. They saw right through him.

     "Nice try," said Akmon, twisting Fiona's knife carelessly in his fingers. "Oh!" he peered at the intricate designs on the hilt. "Very nice! I'm definitely keeping this!"

      Leo had had enough. "All right━that's it!" he shouted. "My stuff. Now. Or I'll show you how funny a flaming Kerkope is!" his hands caught fire.

     "Now we're talking," Jason thrust his sword into the sky. Dark clouds began to gather over the piazza. Thunder boombed. Sam sighed, frustrated at them but got to their side anyway, ready to fight with his fists. 

     "Oh, scary!" Akmon shrieked.

    "Yes," Passalos agreed. "If we only had a secret lair to hide in!"

    "Alas, this statue isn't the doorway to a secret lair," Akmon sighed. "It has a different purpose."

     Sam's gut suddenly twisted. Oh, how could be so stupid! (Some child of Athena, he thought bitterly) He had played them right into the Kerkopes's hands. "Trap!" he yelled. He pushed Leo out of the way as golden cords shot from the statue's fingers. Leo rolled onto his back, free, but Sam and Jason had been caught up. 

     He struggled in the tight chords constricting around him, yanking him and Jason upside down. A bolt of lightning blasted the tines of Neptune's trident, sending arcs of electricity up and down the statue, but the Kerkopes had already disappeared. 

      Sam tried to yank himself free ... but he was trapped. He had been tricked. A son of Athena, had been tricked by Kerkopes. 

     Perhaps he didn't have such a well-oiled mind as he thought.

    "Bravo!" Akmon applauded from a nearby café table. "You'll make wonderful piñatas, sons of Athena and Jupiter!"

     "Yes!" agreed his brother. "Heracles hung us upside down once, you know. Oh, revenge is sweet!"

     Leo summoned fire. With a twist of his fingers, he threw it straight at Passalos who was trying to juggle two pigeons and the Archimedes sphere.

     He shrieked, jumping free of the explosion. He dropped the sphere and let the pigeons fly. 

     "Time to leave!" decided Akmon.

     He tipped his bowler hat and sprang away, jumping from table to table. Passalos glanced at the Archimedes sphere, which had rolled between Leo's feet.

     The son of Hephaestus's eyes glintered dangerously. White-hot flames danced along his fingertips as he glared at the Kerkope. "Try me," he snarled. 

     "Bye!" Passalos did a backflip and ran after his brother. 

     Leo let the flames extinguish. He picked up the sphere and ran to Sam and Jason. The son of Jupiter still had his sword arm free, and he was trying to hack the ropes. 

     "No! Don't!" Sam was shouting, struggling. "You're going to cut my face!"

     "Hold on," Leo said. "If I can find a release switch━"

    "Just go!" Sam shook his head. "We'll follow you━I'll figure something to get us out."

     "But━"

     "Just don't lose them!"

     Leo was hesitant, but he nodded. Breaking out into a run, Sam and Jason were left there hanging like disorientated bats. Sam watched him go, hoping to all the gods he would get the knife back ... but also realising the one thing he held close to him as a demigod, the one thing he had pride over ... had failed him. 

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

     a/n: writing this gave me memories to the first chapter of claire's story in the battle of the labyrinth ... ah, good times ...

     also sAM YOU ARE SMART STAPH!      

    (i'm sorry if there are mistakes, because even after editing, there's gonna be some weird spelling and grammar mistakes, as always ahahah).

     also i keep on getting reminders of how angsty house of hades is like ... *sobs*