A few hours later, Zeus woke me up from my deep sleep and told me that our plane just landed at Naples International Airport.

We didn't waste a second and immediately went out of the airport. Outside, a person in shades was already waiting for us holding a large sign that said 'Poseidon Olympian'. Other than his sunglasses, he wore a plain white shirt and khaki shorts.

"There's our ride." Poseidon waved to him, and the man waved back. "Let's go."

With our bags at hand, the four of us headed to the man in sunglasses, who gave us a wide enthusiastic smile.

"Salve, my friends. Welcome to Naples!" he said in a thick Italian accent. "I'm Giovanni Mazza, your tour guide." He turned to Poseidon and shook his hand. "You must be Poseidon. We have talked on the phone, yes?"

"Yes, we have," he said, then gestured at us. "Giovanni, these are my younger siblings, Zeus and Athena, and our friend, Amelia. We're here to visit Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius for group research in our class."

Group research? Is that what he got as an excuse?

"Of course, of course! Very nice!" He shook hands with Athena and Zeus, his cheerful attitude never wavering. When he got to me, his face faltered for a second before smiling again and continued to shake my hand, this grip a little tighter than it's supposed to be.

It hurt a bit, but other than that, it felt weird.

Giovanni motioned us to follow him. "There was no close parking space, so I parked my van a bit far away from here. Mi scusi for the inconvenience."

"It's okay. We can handle it," Zeus said, who was holding a heavy bag filled with our weapons, including my retractable staff.

How we were able to carry them to the airport was quite easy. Since we rode a private plane here, we didn't have to pass through the normal security measures of the airport, which was very convenient and kinda relieving. I don't know what we will do if we got caught smuggling real weaponry.

Anyway, we walked behind Giovanni and Poseidon, who were talking about our upcoming 'tour'. It was already afternoon when we got there, the hot sun shining above our heads as we walked.

I began to sweat, but we eventually got to Giovanni's black van which thankfully had air conditioning just like in the plane. I sighed in relief on my seat as I let the cool refreshing air hit my sweaty face.

Giovanni sat in the driver's seat. "Okay. Which one of you has not come here before?"

All of us raised our hands.

"Ah, then it is my honor to be the first one to show you around my beautiful city!" he said. "I have a list of good places for you to see. First will be the—"

"Your plan sounds fantastic, Giovanni, but no," Athena interrupted, lowering her hand. "We have an important agenda, so it'll be wonderful if you save the tour for later."

"Are you sure you don't want to go sightseeing first?" he asked. "You will miss out on the nice scenery of Naples."

"Yeah, we're pretty sure, Giovanni," I said politely. "We're just very excited to see the volcano, that's all."

Instead of looking upset, Giovanni beamed. "Va bene. I suppose no one can really resist the beauty of Vesuvius. If that is the case, then let me take you there right away!"

Zeus still had his hand raised. The rest of us looked at him curiously.

"What is it?" Giovanni asked.

"Um, since we're in the pizza capital, can we get some pizza?" he asked, grinning like a weirdo. "I'm really hungry."

The drive to Vesuvius was a bit long, which was an hour or two at most, but thankfully Giovanni took the scenic route. We passed by many interesting places, if you considered bustling shops and stores, and bars and cafes interesting. It was just everything looked so different and new to me that I never removed my face from the car window the whole way.

It was my first time to travel to a foreign country, especially a European one, so I'll definitely cross this off my nonexistent bucket list. Though maybe I should make a bucket list since we'll be traveling a lot and I'll experience new stuff.

Not long after, we arrived at the Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio, which Giovanni later told us was the name of the area around Vesuvius. Based on what I deduced from what he said during our ride, it's basically a national park like Yosemite and other parks back home where tourists visit and take pictures and do other things.

Giovanni pulled the van to a stop on the almost empty parking lot. We all went out and began looking around. Inhaling the fresh air, I stood still as my eyes set on the majestic figure of Mount Vesuvius, admiring its shape. It was a clear sunny day, which meant no clouds covered its peak.

"It's. . . amazing," I said.

Zeus stood beside me. "This is actually cool."

A light feeling grew inside my chest. "I still can't believe I'm actually here. It feels. . . surreal."

The real thing is better than the pictures I've seen.

"Wait until we actually get there," Giovanni told me. "The view from the top"—he made a chef's kiss—"Bellissimo. You will get the best view of the whole city from above."

I looked around once more the vast plain, my eyebrows knitting as I noticed something strange.

"Giovanni?"

"Yes, amica?"

"Why are there no ruins around?" I asked. "Isn't there supposed to be the ruins of Pompeii somewhere around here?"

"Ah, the ruins. You are mistaken, my friend," he said. "Pompeii and other cities like Herculaneum have their own parks. Pompeii's ruins are several kilometers from here, so you will have to drive some more to get there. I can take you there later if you like."

"That'll be great," Athena said, her eyes on the phone. She then put it in her pocket. "Let's go hike. We're already losing daylight, and we've got no time to lose."

"Feeling excited already?" Giovanni laughed. "Okay, okay. You leave your bags in the van and we will get going."

We did as he told, placing our travel bags back at the van, except for Zeus, who stood in his place carrying our bag of weapons.

Giovanni noticed Zeus's baggage still with him. "Are you not going to put that away, my friend?"

Gripped the duffle bag's sling tighter, Zeus shook his head. "No. I can't leave it. What's inside this bag is too important to be left behind."

And dangerous.

"Are you sure you want to carry that all the way to the top?" he questioned, glancing at the bag in concern. "It looks quite heavy, and climbing the mountain with that will make you tired fast."

Poseidon stepped in before Zeus could speak. "It's fine, Giovanni. Zeus and I will take turns carrying it while hiking."

"If that's what you wish." Giovanni shrugged. "Just tell me if you get tired, okay? I will help you carry it for you anytime."

"You don't have to worry about that," Zeus reassured him. "You'll only help us by guiding us on our way."

"Okay, if you say so." Giovanni closed the van's doors. "Let us hike!"

He marched forward and the four of us followed him suit, walking long the meandering stone trail.

"Okay, everyone. I want you to make a single line behind me," Giovanni said to us. "The path is narrow, and you don't want to stray away from the road."

Hearing that, the four of us immediately walked behind each other to create one line. Behind Giovanni was Poseidon, and Athena strode behind him with me and Zeus at the back.

A couple of minutes have passed since we began our hike to the peak. Stones and pebbles covered the path we were walking on, but the area was mostly filled with all kinds of greenery from trees to bushes.

Giovanni turned his head to us. "Do you want to hear some interesting things about Vesuvius? "

"Sure, why not?" Athena said. "We'd love to know something new."

"Excellent." He pointed at the top of the mountain. "You see the peak up there? There are actually two mountains sitting next to each other."

"Two?" I echoed, then squinted my eyes at the mountain. "But it looks like one."

"Yes, that's the 'main' crater that you see, the one we call Vesuvius," he said. "There's another crater attached just beside it named Monte Somma, and Vesuvius grew out of the top of it."

"Wow, that sounds awesome."

"I agree as I am still amazed by this fact," he said. "And did you know that the people living in Pompeii didn't know that they were next to a volcano?"

Zeus, who had his attention on his feet, suddenly perked up in interest. "Were the people back then more stupid?"

Frowning, I slapped Zeus on his arm. "Hey."

Giovanni laughed. "Well, not exactly, amico. You see, before the great eruption that destroyed Pompeii, the volcano had been asleep for almost 2,000 years, so the people thought that it was just a normal mountain. They were proved wrong the hard way, unfortunately."

Our Italian tour guide continued sharing more facts and figures about the mountain we were climbing. My legs were feeling sore right at that moment, but his calm but engaging tone kept my thoughts of stopping and taking a break distracted.

We were almost halfway to the top when I thought of checking on Zeus behind me. Sweat trickled on his forehead and his eyes were half open and were threatening to close. His limbs acted sloppily as he walked, his grip on the weapon bag barely holding on.

"Oh my god. Zeus, are you okay?" I asked, even though I knew he wasn't okay.

"I'm. . . fine." He panted.

"You're obviously not fine! Why didn't you say anything?" I stopped walking, which also made him stop. "Let me take the bag. I'll give it to Poseidon."

He quickly stood straight and forced a smile. "No, it's fine. Really. I got it."

"The mission didn't even start, but you looked like you just fought someone," I muttered.

"What's happening here?" Athena, Poseidon and Giovanni approached us in concern.

Poseidon's expression looked like something hit him. "I forgot to— Zeus, why didn't you remind me to take the bag from you? You clearly knew it was too heavy for you to carry all the way."

"No, it wasn't. I was just sweating because of the heat." He pointed at the sun. "I just need some water to freshen up."

"Here, take this." Athena tossed a water bottle at him.

Zeus caught it with both of his hands, making him accidentally let go of the bag. The duffle bag dropped on the rocky floor, creating a bunch of clanging metal noises.

The four of us froze in our places. We then slowly turned to Giovanni, who looked at us with a baffled face. He stared at the bag like it was a bomb.

Uh oh.

"What's in the bag?" he asked. "It sounded like a battle just happened in there."

I inhaled sharply.

"It's nothing," Poseidon answered quickly. "It was only our. . . things."

"Yep, our very metallic things." Zeus drank from the bottle with his shaking hands, probably trying to keep himself calm.

I wanted to say something too, but I doubt that it would help anyone at the moment.

"Oh, then what are you waiting for?" he said. "You wouldn't leave your belongings behind, yes? I will just help you bring it if you're too tired to carry."

We blocked him from going any further. "No!"

Poseidon jogged to the bag and carried it without a hitch. "I'll take it from here. Let's continue."

Shrugging, Giovanni trudged forward with Zeus and Athena, who started scolding him, in tow, leaving me and Poseidon a little bit behind.

I turned to Poseidon. "Give me my staff."

He looked up. "Why? Giovanni will see it."

"No, he won't," I said. "I'll strap it on my belt. If we ever lose the bag, it's better that one of us is armed than none."

"Good idea, Amelia." He zipped the bag open and handed me the baton. I slid it in two of the belt loops of my pants behind me and hid it under my shirt.

I tilted my head to the direction of the mountain peak, gesturing at the others who were already far away from us.

"Let's catch up with the others."