Poseidon and I began walking once more. Many exhausting steps later, we finally arrived at the top of Mount Vesuvius.

Unlike the vegetation-filled base where we started our climb, Vesuvius's peak was mostly dry and covered with rock. A wide, round-like crater filled with more rocks gaped at us. Down below, steep slopes descended all the way to one place: a huge, dark hole.

I hope the Artifact isn't somewhere inside that gap. I wouldn't dare go down and possibly cause an eruption.

Shrugging the dark-as-the-hole thought off my head, I then turned my gaze to the scenery beyond.

Giovanni wasn't kidding when he said we'll get the best view of Naples from here. I could really see the whole city in all directions. The buildings, the roads. I swear I could even spot the ocean from the horizon!

"The view's. . . breathtaking!" I exclaimed as the dry but cool wind breeze blew my hair. "I'll definitely take a lot of pictures! You never get to visit a mountain every day. In Italy at that!"

Giovanni chuckled. "Take as much as you like."

I took out my phone and began snapping photos of the mountain from different angles and views, mostly which were panoramas and zoom shots.

Then, I took some selfies with cute poses and gestures. I looked weird in most of them, but I didn't care. I was at the top of the world!

I turned to the others, who were just standing around idly. "Hey, guys. Let's take a group photo!"

"No," Athena said. "Be serious right now. We should be looking fo—"

"Of course, Amelia." Poseidon smiled. "Take a picture and it'll last longer."

"But, Posei—"

Zeus nudged at his sister. "Come on, Athena. It's Amelia's first time traveling, so don't be such a killjoy."

"Fine." Athena exhaled. "Just one photo, and that's it."

"Yay!"

The four of us gathered in one place with the mountain's crater behind us. As if in queue, Giovanni came in front and motioned to give him my phone, which I did.

"You can join us if you like, Giovanni."

He shook his head, smiling. "It's okay, amica. I will just be a stranger in your picture, but let me do the honor of capturing your moment, okay?"

He took a few steps back and adjusted his hold on my phone.

"Ready. . ." He gave us a thumbs up. "One. . . Two. . . Three!"

Click!

I skipped to Giovanni and swiped my phone from him to check the photo.

Standing at the front was me with a wide grin plastered on my face and arms spread wide at my friends. Poseidon was on my right, his lip slightly curved up on one side. Meanwhile, Zeus and Athena stood on my left, with Zeus's hand on my shoulder and his other hand making two horns behind Athena, who had her arms on her hips.

It was perfect.

"Thanks, Giovanni!" I said. "The picture looks like a professional photographer took it. "

"Well, what can I say?" He lifted his chin proudly. "Being a tour guide helps you gain some skills."

I continued taking pictures, this time taking candid shots of the others, excluding Giovanni. It didn't get long until I got bored, so I decided to look around through my camera lenses and pretended that I was holding some binoculars.

Panning the phone slowly, my gaze set on my friends who were doing their own thing. Giovanni was busy with something on his phone, Zeus was walking around while kicking rocks and dirt, and Poseidon and Athena both had their eyes darting all over the place.

Oh, right. The Artifact. We're supposed to be looking around for it. That was what Athena was trying to say earlier.

With my phone in hand, I headed to Athena and Poseidon. They looked up when they saw me approach.

"So you finally decide to help." Athena turned away, resuming her search.

"Sorry I got distracted." I smiled sheepishly. "The place was just great and I couldn't help myself."

Poseidon nodded. "It's fine. Try to look around without looking suspicious to Giovanni. He might start questioning us, and we don't want to add more problems."

"Okay."

I began racking up my brain for an idea to act natural while searching for any strange objects, but none came to me. Glancing mindlessly on my phone, I finally got it.

Once again, I turned on my camera and acted that I was taking videos. I pointed my phone here and there while checking at Giovanni if he was looking, which he thankfully wasn't.

After almost an eternity, I still couldn't find anything. The Olympian siblings had the same luck as me. Our tour guide was now getting restless, tapping his foot impatiently and looking at his phone every other minute. When we didn't say a thing, he couldn't take it anymore and clapped his hands to get our attention.

"That is it. The tour is done," he said, frowning. "Don't you know what time it is?"

We didn't have to. The sun was almost gone in the sky and some of the city lights were already on below us.

We took way too much time.

If we don't find the Artifact now, the Rogues will do soon and we might not be able to take it from them.

"But we're not done yet," Poseidon reasoned. "Just give us a couple more minutes, please."

"No no, I cannot do that," Giovanni said. "I'm sorry, but I already gave you a lot of time."

"But. . . But I still haven't taken a picture of the crater yet!" I blurted, which was, by the way, the truth. "Just let me take some."

He sighed heavily. "Okay, but you must do it quickly."

Nodding, I ran to the edge of the crater and turned on the flashlight of my phone. I panned my phone around and pretended to snap some shots.

And that's when I saw it.

Deep down the slope, a small, metallic object, which was almost the size of my phone, shone below, reflecting the light like a mirror. Some of it was concealed under dirt and stones, creating a pretty good camouflage. It was covered well that we didn't see it until I beamed a flashlight on it.

The thing that made me sure it was the Artifact we were looking for was as I zoomed at it with my camera, I noticed a straight, continuous bulge a few feet away from it, like some handle of a hammer, but much bigger and longer.

There was just one, tiny problem.

It was far down the crater, and we couldn't just jump in and grab it like it was out of nowhere. After all, Giovanni was still with us, and he'll report us to the authorities if he sees us stealing some priceless Italian artifact from the volcano.

Zeus, who was standing next to me and saw what I saw, gave me a meaningful glance.

It's the Item. We have to tell the others, but not here.

I silently nodded. We turned around to meet the gazes of our companions. Athena and Poseidon had looks of anticipation upon their faces while an agitated Giovanni stood with his arms crossed.

Did she find it? Athena thought.

"Are you done?" Giovanni said at the same time.

"Yeah, I got it," I told them.

"Then let us go." Giovanni began walking away. Poseidon gave me a subtle nod before following our tour guide's lead.

Athena started. "Were you able to—"

I handed her my phone containing a picture and walked past her. "This will answer your question."

Giovanni dropped us at a hotel several blocks from Mount Vesuvius. Poseidon already booked for us when we were still on the plane, so we only have to check-in. Giovanni assisted us with carrying some of our stuff, except the bag of weapons of course, up to the reception area. Outside, he also talked to us for a bit until it was time for him to go.

"Thank you for the tour, Giovanni." He and Poseidon shook hands. "It was a pleasure meeting you."

Giovanni smiled. "The pleasure is all mine, my friends. I hope I gave you a good experience in Naples, if not the best."

"It was fine," Athena muttered.

Zeus elbowed his sister, which she returned with a glare. "What she meant was that it was great."

"And sorry if we took too much of your time waiting for us to finish," I added. "We just very much liked the scenery and all."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Nonsense. My time for tourists comes first. It's part of my job."

"Well, then." I sighed. "I guess this is goodbye."

Giovanni's eyes gleamed. "Don't say that, amica. We'll see each other soon."

Before I could even ask what he meant, he already got to his van and drove off.

The four of us continued to the hotel reception. Poseidon did most of the talking with the receptionist and soon, we were heading to our rooms. As we walked along the carpet-covered floor with a bellhop pushing a gold luggage carrier with our stuff behind us, Poseidon handed me a key card and informed us that Athena and I will share a room, while he and his brother will be on another just beside it.

I didn't have a problem with the arrangement, since I'm used to having Athena as my roommate, but Athena had something to say.

"If we could afford the private jet, why can't we get me a separate room?" She huffed.

Poseidon gave her a side glance. "We'll have to stick together and leave nobody behind. You know that."

She only rolled her eyes and carried on.

Soon after, we arrived at our respective rooms. I slid the key card Poseidon gave me to the slot beside the door. It let out a small beep and the golden door opened, revealing a luxurious hotel room.

"This is awesome!" I breathed.

Two large beds, which were covered with white pillows and comforters, stood across the room with nightstands beside them. On one side of the room were a wide flat-screen TV and a table under it. A sofa and a couple of leather chairs faced the TV. Another door on the other side stood ajar, which I assumed was the bathroom.

I ran over the carpet floor and jumped onto the bouncy mattress of one of the beds. I sighed in delight as I embraced the soft comforter.

"I'll be sleeping well tonight," I mumbled. "I'm feeling jet-lagged already."

"Sorry to break it up to you, but there won't be any sleeping tonight." I heard some thump landing on the floor. "Here's the tip."

"Grazie, madam," an unfamiliar voice said.

Shuffling footsteps came after, and then silence.

"Why not?" I asked a second later, looking up from the bed, then it hit me. "Oh, I almost forgot. The Artifact in the mountain."

Athena went to our bags that the bellhop placed near the door and began rummaging through them. "We'll go back to the peak and get it, just like we've discussed in the plane."

"But how are we going to go back there?" I asked. "There might be guards and other people in the mountain, and they'll see us."

A few knocks cut off our conversation. The door opened and the two boys came inside the room.

"Hey, ladies," Zeus said. "Were we interrupting something?"

"No, you're just in time," Athena replied. "We're just talking about the Artifact and the plan."

Poseidon walked to one of the chairs and sat. "Speaking of which, did you really see a sign of the Item?"

I took out my phone from my pocket and tossed it to him. "I'm not really sure what it is, but I'm positive that it's the thing we're looking for."

As he scrutinized the photo, Athena placed a suitcase above her bed and zipped it open. Inside, a variety of devices that I'm unfamiliar with were neatly arranged. She took four coin-sized circles and gave us one each.

"We'll communicate using these earpieces." She put hers inside her right ear, then took some pairs of goggles. "And we'll wear these night vision goggles in case we can't see our opponents. If they ever come."

"I feel like I'm one of those secret spies in the movies," I said as I placed the tiny earbud on my ear and wore the goggles, which made me see everything in green. "Where did you get all of this stuff anyway?"

"I didn't get them, I made them." Athena smirked. "Impressive, right?"

"Uhuh," I said dryly.

"She likes bragging about her fancy gizmos every time," Zeus muttered. "Just don't mind her."

Poseidon handed me back my phone. "Alright, I've seen the image, and I think it looked like a hammer."

"That's what I thought so too," I said. "I saw some kind of long handle down the volcano, and the exposed metal? I think it's the head."

He nodded. "It also looked quite big, so it's possible that we'll have a hard time transporting the Artifact."

Athena crossed her arms. "Regardless of that setback, we will still stick to the plan."

We nodded in agreement.

Excitement and nervousness bubbled up inside me as thick energy in the room surrounded us. Tension and determination settled on my friends' faces.

This is it. My first mission ever. I'll do whatever it takes to help us succeed, and also get my payback from Artemis for hurting them and Uncle Ben.

"It's four of us against three of the enemy. We'll get them," Zeus said, his tone firm. "Because we're Chosens. We don't let people step on us that easily and get away with it."