Ghost King's Torch

Hades' Lose of Souls

Reyna and Frank led us to a building who looked a little like the Big House. But I always thought the Big House is much better. Frank, who is absolutely nicer than Reyna, told me I'm going to sleep in the hidden bunker at the back of the house. But Nico invited me to sleep with the Fifth Cohort. I had no idea about what is Fifth Cohort. Nico walked toward a cabin-like place. I like Hephaestus' cabin better. "Dakota, Hazel, Frank, Jason, Piper, Gwendolyn, and Bobby lived here. But now Frank slept at that previous building," Nico whispered "We are going to curl up in Frank's bed,". "But I thought you are a senator," I protested "You don't deserve a bunk bed!". "I sleep where I want to," Nico sneered, resting his head on the pillow.

We drifted off to sleep that night, waking up early in the morning. I saw a blonde boy sheathing his... drachma? Is that a coin? He wore a purple shirt and jeans. Nico is still sleeping soundly next to me. "Who are you?" the boy asked. By his accent, I knew he is Jason Grace, Nico's friend. "Jose Valdez," I answered. Jason's sky blue eyes bulged "You are Leo's sister? But how come?". "The ugliest moron on Earth didn't tell you?" I groaned. Then, a really beautiful girl woke up. She is a little bit shorter than me. Her eyes is like... rainbow. "Who are you?" she echoed. "She's Leo's sister," Jason replied. The girl blinked a few times "Oh. That's noticable by the way you dress. I'm Piper McLeahn, Jason's girl...friend,". I cleared my throat. "Are you Nico's girlfriend?" suddenly, a girl with dark skin and golden eyes sat up. My jaws dropped open "Mortal Hephaestus- of course no! He's just my friend!". She chuckled "I'm Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, or Hades, as you graecus might say,". I shot her a 'do-you-dare' look. I nodded. Whatever you guys said. Next, three other person sat up. From the charisma in their eyes, I could tell that they are centurions. "This is Dakota, Bobby, and Gwendolyn. They are the seniors in this cohort," Jason introduced. But personally, I had a feeling Jason is their leader.

Nico woke up the last. When he woke, all of the Romans had leaved for breakfast, leaving me there to wait for him. Nico's hair is perfectly tangled. "Hey, you're awake," he smiled. "Yes, diAngelo. Everybody is having breakfast already! By now they must have already in the Field of Mars, practicing their orthodox ritual on stabbing," I moaned. "Calm down. We are not going to have breakfast here, Valdez. We are going to New Rome. The Senate House is there," Nico smirked. "Good then,".

Without taking a bath, we rode Horizon toward New Rome. But as we passed a tall statue, somehow I heard a voice "STOP,". I almost fall off, shocked "Where does that voice came from?". Nico snickered "I'm sorry, Terminus!". It was the statue of Terminus, the god of borderlines. "DROP YOUR WEAPONS, PLEASE," Terminus commanded. Nico slipped his Stygian iron sword and dropped it to the ground. From nowhere, a little girl with piggytails rushed to pick up the sword. Then she dissapeared behind Terminus' statue. When I was about to drift off, Terminus shouted again "YOU SHALL NOT PASS,". I was confused. Nico pointed to my toolbelt. "Oh seriously, Mr. Terminus! I can't do anything with my tool belt! But it can give your child taco," I smiled. "Put it down. Last time Leo brought his toolbelt inside New Rome, he almost set Circus Maximus on fire," Nico adviced. I shrugged and dropped my belt to the ground. The little girl grabbed it and hurried behind Terminus. "Don't you dare touch it. I'll kill you," I growled. The little girl nodded.

We landed in a park in New Rome. I chained Horizon to a big oak tree. Then I heard shoutings. It was an old man protesting why am I chaining Horizon there. Nico told me this is the Garden of Bacchus, a sacred garden. I unchained her and tied her on an ordinary elk tree. Got no protest. Nico said the Senate House was not far from here. The whole city is peaceful and in harmony, exactly not like Camp Half-Blood. I'm starting to miss Thania and Eliza. And also Leo. But tell him I miss him that and I'll kill you.

While Nico is inside the house, I waited outside. I was fiddling fire when I met a boy who is riding a skateboard. He is a typical 'cute-boy-next-door' , with his cute charming looks. But it didn't attract me at all. He had dark brown hair and red eyes. He wore a black shirt and black shorts. He stopped not far and waved. I waved back. Since he had red eyes, I thought he was Hephaestus' son. I spend the next few seconds trying to memorize the Roman name of my father. Oh! "You son of Vulcan?" I asked, bursting a small puff of fire from my palm. He snickered "Nah. My grandfather is Ares,". "Oh... So why aren't you at the Field of Mars right now?" I frowned. "My grandfather gave me a holiday," he smiled "What are you doing here?". "My friend Nico is helding a meeting here," I explained. "Oh. Better go now," he waved a little and sped away. As he went far, he shouted "By the way, my name's Prodotis!". Prodotis? Nice name.

As the day ticked away, I began to feel strange. Why is that Prodotis saying he is the grandson of Ares? I am pretty sure I had said Vulcan instead of Hephaestus. Before I could hesitate, Nico came out, weary. Sweat trickled down his neck, as he sat next to me at the park bench. "What's wrong?" I asked. "W-we need to go t-to the Underworld, right now," he stammered. "Something wrong?" I continued, "You look pale,". "I'm always pale," Nico grunted. I rolled my eyes. "It looks like the dead souls had been escaping from Underworld lately. I must talk to my father. Thanatos had reported to my father, but he took no notice. Now the problem is getting more worser, since many monster sightings by demigods living a normal life had been reported. All of them is heading to Mount Othrys. And that's not a good sign. I think I need to talk personally to him," Nico explained "You come with me. I got no time to talk to Reyna. If I told her, she would gave me thousands of demigods for sacrifice. I don't want that to happen. We need to hurry,". "I get your point,".