What would've been a quiet summer turns into a globe-trotting adventure when an incident in Olympian High's campus garden gets the attention of resident Chosens Amelia Kingston and Zeus Olympian. To their surprise, the culprit is none other than the...
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The mask clattered soundlessly on the floor. Amelia fell onto her knees, the belt of Aphrodite sliding from her grasp.
His eyes. The only thing she could see clearly was his eyes. It was only a glimpse, but they were both downturned and full of despair. She shouldn't know him at all, but something nagged her mind, telling her that she knew him from somewhere. Only that she couldn't put a finger on who he was or where she saw him.
A million questions popped in her head, overtaking the functions of her whole brain. What did his warning mean? Why did he give her the Artifact when he got it for himself and the Titans? Did he even work for the Titans?
Who was he?
Why did he look. . . so desperate?
Save me.
Those two words were the ones she heard him whisper before he disappeared into thin air. From the way he stood and the way his voice sounded, it could only mean that he was being held against his will.
"Amelia!"
Amelia turned to the source of the call. Behind her, Eloise was running towards her direction. The Chosen of Artemis' looked visibly tired and shaken at the same time. She also noticed that the skeletons from the tunnel disappeared.
"Eloise." Amelia gathered her staff and the Artifact before standing straight. "What's wrong?"
Eloise looked around the tunnel's dead end. "What happened to you?" Then she glanced down at the objects she held. "The Artifact. How did you find it?"
"Z-Zeus found it first, but we lost it for a while." Amelia shook her head. "I'll tell the rest later. Were you attacked by the dead, by any chance?"
Eloise nodded grimly. "So we weren't the only ones then. Come, we'll meet the others outside. The Titans sent us a message—they want to. . . negotiate."
Amelia shot her a quizzical look. When Eloise didn't care to elaborate, Amelia followed her through the tunnels. The main attraction of the catacombs were no longer like they used to be. The remains of the dead were scattered on the ground, the bones crunching under their feet as they ran over them. Amelia felt guilty that they just ruined a famous national landmark, even if they weren't the main reason why. These were the times when she wondered if the Artifacts were worth looking for if she and the others would end up bringing destruction in their wake. The catacombs were bad enough, and the incident—no, catastrophe that happened in Naples was even worse. People she never knew died because of one person's doing. Now that she thought about it. . . did Alistair even feel guilty of what he caused?
They stopped at a metal ladder that led to an open manhole above. Eloise climbed up with ease, taking only several seconds.
"Let's go," Eloise called, peering over Amelia.
"But why here?" Amelia asked, even though it sounded like a stupid question. "Aren't we supposed to exit the normal way?"
"There's less questions from Parisians this way," she said before her head disappeared.
