Starcrossed: A Leo and Calypso Fanfic

Chapter Twelve: Poison?

3rd Person's P.O.V

After the crowds in Rome, Frank had stopped worrying too much about getting noticed. If they could fly their warship into the Roman Colosseum with ballistae blazing and not even cause a traffic, he figured they could get away with anything.

Nico led the way. At the top of the hill, they climbed over an old retaining wall and down into an excavated trench. Finally they arrived at a stone doorway leading straight into the side of the hill. The death storm seemed to originate right above their heads. Looking up at the swirling tentacles of darkness, it felt like they were stuck at the bottom of a flushing toilet bowl.

Nico faced the group. "From here, it gets tough."

"Sweet," Leo said. "'Cause so far I've totally been pulling my punches."

Nico glared at him. "We'll see how long you keep your sense of humor. Remember, this is where pilgrims came to commune with dead ancestors. Underground, you may see things that are hard to look at, or hear voices trying to lead you astray in the tunnels. Frank, do you have the barley cakes?"

"What?" Frank had been thinking about his grandmother and his mom, wondering if they might appear to him. For the first time in days, the voices og Ares and Mars had started to argue again in the back of Frank's mind, debating their favorite forms of violent death.

"I've got the cakes," Hazel said. She pulled out the magical barley crackers they'd made from the grain Triptolemus had given them in Venice.

"Eat up, and enjoy." Nico advised.

Frank chewed his cracker of death and tried not to gag. It reminded him of a cookie made of sawdust.

"Yum," Even the daughter of Aphrodite couldn't avoid making a face.

"Ugh. I think we'd all rather fight monsters than eat this thingy and go down the creepy tunnels." Leo said.

Nico choked the last of his barley crackers. "That should protect us from the poison."

"Did I miss the poison? Cause I love poison, and you could so note the sarcasm."

"Soon enough," Nico promised. "Just stick close together and maybe we can avoid getting lost and going insane."