A couple of rides and some climbing later, we arrived once more at the summit of Mount Vesuvius. Unlike from our visit earlier, we took more time trekking to the top than before because of our dark surroundings. Even with the amount of city lights around the mountain, it was hard to see where we were stepping at, especially with the rocky terrain. I got myself tripping on the path several times, which earned me some light scratches and bruises.

When I whined about using some flashlights to light our way, Poseidon told me that the beams might expose us and we couldn't risk ourselves getting caught. With that in mind, I tried using the night vision goggles Athena gave us. It took a while before I got used to the green colors and it helped me see my steps a bit better.

At the top, the crater, which almost resembled a black hole, stood in front of us. The silhouette of Athena rested at the very edge. Her head turned to the three of us standing around her.

"Alright. You all remember the plan," she said. "Poseidon and Amelia, find a place to hide and keep yourselves low while Zeus and I will jump down the crater to retrieve the Artifact. If you see anyone or anything suspicious, give us a heads-up. Don't make a move unless necessary."

Poseidon and I nodded.

"If there's nothing else to add, then let's get started." Athena took out a long, thick rope from a bag she was carrying earlier and began tying it around a nearby rock. She clipped a part of the rope on her belt with a carabiner. Zeus also did the same.

"Good luck."

Athena adjusted Aegis which was strapped behind her back. "We'll need more than luck to get this mission done."

She took a couple of steps back before jumping into the crater.

"Man, I hope the Artifact isn't as heavy as it looks." I heard Zeus mutter before descending down the crater with his sister.

When the two siblings were out of my line of sight, I turned to Poseidon. "So. . . What are we going to do now?"

He looked around and pointed at a boulder. "Let's standby there."

"Sure."

We made our way to the huge stone and sat down behind it. A second later, a buzzing sound filled one side of my ear.

"This is Athena from the retrieval team," a familiar voice said. "Do you copy?"

Poseidon put a hand to his ear. "Yes, we can hear you loud and clear."

"Good. I thought these wouldn't work properly like the last time because of a certain someone," Athena said, her tone hinting displeasure.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault you didn't put them somewhere I can't sit at," Zeus retorted.

"Well, at least you could've checked where you were going to sit!" Athena almost yelled. "As I was going to say, we're now halfway down the volcano's caldera. What's your status?"

"We're on the lookout," Poseidon replied. "Nothing strange as of yet."

"Okay. Just update us if something goes south."

"I hope you go south," Zeus said in a child-like voice.

Athena groaned. "What does that even mean, idiot?"

A static sound took over and the line went silent. Poseidon just shook his head.

"Kids," he said, chuckling. "There's not a second where they can be at a truce with themselves."

I laughed. "True. I wonder how you handle their arguments."

"Hm. I just do." He tilted his head at me. "So, do you sense anything?"

I blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, sorry. My bad." He smiled sheepishly. "What I meant was, other than me and my siblings, do you hear anyone else's mind from afar?"

"Um, well. . . no. But I'm going to try," I said.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and opened up my mind. Poseidon's mental voice was as clear as day in my head, while the thoughts of Athena and Zeus, who were thinking of retorts to say to the other, were not as clear.

I opened my eyes. "There's no one I could hear."

"That's a relief. For now," Poseidon said. "Since there's nothing that we can do as of the moment, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah. Go ahead."

"Did you think about what I said during our flight?" he asked. "You know, about your motivation?"

I shrugged. "Well, I still don't know what, uh, motivates me. Not sure what I should even think."

"That's fine, Amelia," he said. "I hope I'm not pressuring you about it."

"No, no! It's fine, really." I smiled. "I'm actually glad you're trying to help me, even if I'm not sure how to help myself."

A buzz suddenly sounded in my ear, taking me aback for a second.

"Hey, this is Zeus. Does anyone hear me?"

"Zeus, we can hear you," I said. "What's up?"

I heard him take a breath. "Yeah, well, we're now down the crater."

"That's good," Poseidon said beside me.

"There's one problem though," Zeus hesitated.

"We're listening. . ."

"The Item's buried deep on the ground, which is quite inconvenient," Athena grunted. "Why does the blasted Artifact have to be in a blasted volcano?"

A string of grumbles and foreign curses followed shortly after.

"Don't mind her, she's overreacting," Zeus said.

"Whatever. We better start working on getting it out," Athena muttered before she resumed grumbling to herself.

"Don't worry, guys," Zeus reassured us. "It's not that much, just a few feet deep, but it'll take us a while to dig it out."

"Okay. We'll stay put," I said.

"But you have to hurry up," Poseidon told them. "We don't want to spend more time here than necessary."

"Sure, bro. You two just sit tight, but don't get too cozy becaus—"

He was cut off by a high-pitched screech coming out of nowhere. As it pierced through my ears, I grimaced and quickly took off the earpiece.

My ears were ringing when I turned to Poseidon, who also experienced the same thing. "What was that?"

"I don't know." He winced as he touched his ear. "The earpieces must have malfunctioned."

Weird. Did Zeus accidentally sat on them like befo—

"Where is it?"

I perked up and narrowed my eyes. Not able to see a thing, I took out the night vision goggles and scanned around the area, and from a distance, I spotted someone approaching.

"Amelia, what's wro—"

I pressed my hand to his mouth. "Someone's coming. Get down!"

We both pressed ourselves behind the rock, holding our breaths. Several moments later, a series of footsteps came close to our direction.

"I sure hope this is the place," a male voice said. "I don't want us climbing here for nothing."

"Of course it is the location," another person, this time a female, said. "His assumptions are never wrong. Besides, he has seen the hammer himself not so long ago."

I suppressed a gasp.

It's them. They're here and know about the Artifact's location too.

Poseidon dared to take a peek from our hiding place. He sat back down and looked at me, his lips pressed into a thin line.

He thought. They're coming towards the crater armed with their bows and arrows.

Oh no. Zeus and Athena. They'll get ambushed!

"Should we attack now?" I asked, whispering as quietly as I could. "We have the element of surprise on our side."

He shook his head. Not now, Amelia. We'll wait for the right moment.

"But Zeus and Athena. . ."

I shifted myself a bit and stepped on a pebble, sending it down on a roll.

I inhaled sharply.

Shoot.

The footsteps paused. "Who's there?"

I glanced at Poseidon nervously. He put a finger to his lips while he slowly drew his sword from the scabbard hanging on his side.

"I said who's there?" Artemis yelled. "Show yourself!"

"Get ready. If they spot us, we'll go for it."

Nodding, I took my staff from behind me and grasped it tightly, preparing to swing it to its full height.

Their footsteps resumed, but this time they were coming to our direction.

Other than their steps, I heard some odd shuffling, like objects being moved around, and they stopped.

Through her head, I saw Artemis, who held what looked like Argentum, gesture to Apollo to head to my side while she went to Poseidon's. "On the count of three, we'll jump to them on both sides."

"Got it." Apollo nodded, loading his bow with a golden arrow.

I looked at Poseidon and motioned him to go on his left side while I kept to my right side.

"On three," I mouthed, raising a fist. Poseidon gave me a subtle nod.

Artemis started counting, "One."

I pulled up my pinky.

"Two."

Then my ring finger.

"Three!"

With a jerk of my hand, my staff turned four times its height and I swung it to an incoming Apollo, knocking the bow and arrow out of his hands.

"What the—"

While he was still distracted, I began hitting him with all I got, not giving him a chance to recover. This was a little something that Zeus taught me during my weaponry training.

"Take that!" I shouted as I hit Apollo in the abdomen, making him grunt.

I got him stepping back for a few seconds before he was able to catch up with me. Soon enough, he took out his daggers and fought back. He slashed them at me in all directions, but I dodged all of his attacks as I read his moves like an open book.

Slowly but surely, Apollo eventually exhausted himself. He already had a lot of bruises from me, but he still persisted and charged at me sluggishly. I smoothly stepped out of his way.

"How are you able to. . . Fight me like that?" he panted. "Are you. . . reading my mind?"

With a last blow on his head, I took the wind out of him and he fell on the ground.

"Well, you can say that," I said before I turned away from him.

My eyes landed on Poseidon and Artemis fighting. Both of their weapons were down and they were engaged in a fistfight. No one had the upper hand over the other, so they were completely matched.

I was about to step in and help Poseidon when suddenly, a crackling noise buzzed through my ear where the so-called broken earpiece was.

"Poseidon, Amelia. Does anyone copy?" Athena said. "If you hear me, please answer—"

I pressed a finger to my ear. "Yeah, yeah. I can hear you, Athena."

"Finally." I heard her breathe a sigh of relief. "What happened back there? We could hear some noises all the way from here."

"It's Artemis and Apollo," I said as I still watched Poseidon and Artemis fight. "I've already taken down Apollo, but Poseidon's still busy with Artemis. I'm going to help him."

"Let them be," Athena said. "Zeus and I will need help with the hammer."

"What? But Poseidon needs help! I could just—"

"You don't have to worry about my elder brother, Amelia," she told me. "Trust me. If there's anything Poseidon's good at, it's hand-to-hand combat."

"But I. . . He—" I paused, staring at Poseidon who was still fighting Artemis. Flashbacks of him failing to stop her from running away with the Bow because of water loss filled my head.

No, he lost because I couldn't help him. I was useless and helpless. But now that I can fight, I'll help him win against Artemis. I can easily sneak up and bash her in the head. She'll get knocked out just like her partner Apollo.

Artemis pushed Poseidon a few steps back. Panting, I saw him glance at me before smiling and charging back to Artemis.

Don't worry. I can do this. His thoughts told me. I will be fine.

He ran up to his opponent and punched her square on the jaw. Artemis stumbled.

I sighed. I guess I should trust him. . .

Taking a deep breath, I pressed my earpiece. "Fine, Athena. I'm coming."

I took one last glance at them before jogging towards the crater.