"Mt. Vesuvius, one of Italy's famous volcanoes, erupted early Thursday morning. A 20-mile tower of ash and smoke burst out of the crater and was shortly followed by a flow of lava. This series of events triggered a mass evacuation of 3 million people, forcing authorities to declare a state of calamity.

"The vicinity of Naples is engulfed in dense layers of ash and pumice. Buildings and infrastructure were destroyed by rushing lava. 5,000 people were killed, most of whom were residing near the volcano's danger zone, and the damages caused by the eruption were estimated to reach up to $25 million.

"The volcano's unexpected eruption has baffled local and international volcanologists alike. The local seismologists detected no signs of major seismic or volcanic activities before the eruption, which added up to the mystery of why—"

Zeus pointed his finger at the wide TV and a shot of lightning came out his fingertip. The electricity flew to the flat screen, emanating a weird buzz. The video playing on the screen glitched for a few moments before turning pitch black.

"What the hell, Zeus!" I stared at the fried TV. "I had the remote with me the whole time. If you didn't want to watch the news, you could've just said so!"

Zeus blew his finger as if it was a gun. "Don't sweat it, Amelia. Mother can easily pay for the damage."

"That's not—" I sighed. "I. . . I still can't believe we were just there several hours ago."

The minute Vesuvius erupted in front of us, the next thing I knew, Zeus was dragging me along to a cab that Poseidon personally contacted. He ordered the oblivious but frightened driver to step on the gas to the airport. As soon as we got there, we rushed to the terminal where our plane was waiting and took flight before the whole Italian sky was covered with thick ash.

"He was out of his mind," Athena muttered.

"Who?"

"I meant Vulcan," she said, rubbing her temples. "That. . . bastard really lacked wisdom just like he said. He didn't think of the consequences, and now look at the horrible damage that he created."

Zeus whistled. "This is the first time we're hearing you say a bad word, sis. Did Vulcan suddenly catch your cold heart?"

"Wha—Are you kidding me?" Athena glared at him. "I would never fall for anyone, especially one of our enemies. Who do you think I am? Some naive high schooler who got a puppy crush on a guy I barely know?"

Zeus and I glanced at each other before shrugging halfheartedly.

"Maybe," we said at the same time.

"It's love at first sight," Zeus snickered.

Athena huffed. "But seriously, look at what he did. Are you not getting this inside your heads?"

"Athena's right," Poseidon said. "There's no more time for jokes. No more room for mistakes. We can't let them steal another Artifact right in front of our noses. We must anticipate all of their surprises the next time we cross paths with them."

I groaned, covering my face with my palms. "This is all my fault."

"What are you talking about?" Zeus said. "You didn't do anything bad like erupting Vesuvius or whatever."

"Yeah, I didn't, but I'm the reason why that happened in the first place," I said, looking at the three siblings. "If I didn't activate my barrier, Vulcan wouldn't have shown off Ignis's eruptive power. And maybe if I paid more attention, I could've just read all of their thoughts just like Athena planned so we would beat them easily and get the Artifacts in their possession."

The three of them shot each other knowing looks before turning back to me.

"Come on, Ames. It's not your fault." Zeus patted my shoulder. "Stop blaming yourself for something you didn't do. You did your absolute best, and that's what matters to us."

"Even if you did read their heads, you couldn't anticipate everything that has already happened," Athena said. "Planning ahead doesn't guarantee easy success, I can tell you from past experience. It's just one way of preparing yourself for possible outcomes, and the outcome in Naples? What can I say. . . I'm just as shocked as you are."

"And even if you had something to do with what happened, you're not the only one to blame." Poseidon closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "I shouldn't have let my emotions take the best of me. I'm the eldest of us four. I should be the one who's composed even in the direst situations. You were right, Amelia. Apollo didn't deserve to die like that."

Tears started to form in my eyes. I wiped them off with the back of my hand.

"Guys. . ." I took a deep breath. "I don't know what to say. . ."

Athena smiled. "Just shut up and stop pitying yourself, alright? It won't help you or us with anything in the present."

I slowly nodded. Zeus winked at me while Poseidon relaxed on his seat, smiling.

For the first time in a while. . . I was glad I had good friends like them.

"Oh, dears! I'm very glad you're alright!" Rhea exclaimed.

It was in the middle of the night when we arrived at Olympian High. I got a bit confused at first since when we left Italy the sun was about to rise, but Athena reminded me of the time difference, so I just shut my mouth up after that before she could give me a long, long explanation on how the timezones work.

With our misadventure in Italy, I was so ready to go to my fluffy bed and sleep till late afternoon, but Rhea was waiting for us at the school gates, and as much as I wanted to excuse myself, she was too worried she wanted to talk to us first. Or specifically, to her children.

She went over to Poseidon and hugged him tightly. "I was so worried about you all!"

Poseidon hugged her back, sighing. "We're fine, Mother. Nothing to worry about."

"Are you serious? I-I should be worried!" Rhea embraced Zeus next, who awkwardly gave back the favor. "When I heard about Vesuvius erupting, I thought I'd lost my precious children forever. I'd never forgiven myself!"

"You're overreacting, Mother," Zeus said. "We called you on the plane and told you we were okay, remember?"

"Well, I didn't believe a word!" Rhea let go of him and put her hands to her hips. "I wanted to see you in the flesh and in one piece before believing what you said."

Poseidon chuckled.

Rhea was about to head to Athena when she crossed her arms and frowned, making Rhea pause.

"I don't like hugs," Athena said. "You know that."

"Oh." Rhea's cheery smile faltered a little. "Come on, dear. I just want to have a nice moment with you. Won't you want your mother to have that little favor?"

Athena rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just this once."

Rhea opened her arms wide and Athena gave in to her embrace. As her mother showed her genuine affection, she only stood there like a mannequin, lifeless and stiff.

My eyes narrowed at her strange behavior.

What's wrong with her all of a sudden? She should be happy and grateful that she has a mother that loves and smiles at her.

Rhea let go of Athena then turned to me with a wider smile.

"Amelia, dear. Come here too!"

"What?" I took a step back, stunned.

She eagerly gestured at me to come over. "Well, don't leave me hanging. . ."

"B-but I'm not your child or something," I stammered.

"Yes, that's true, but so what?" she said. "You've done me and my children quite a favor in trying to help us find the Artifacts. Giving you my thanks is the least I could do."

I hesitated, unsure of what to do.

"Come on, Ames," Zeus coaxed. "You better not reject the Principal's request or else. . ."

"Zeus, dear!" Rhea hit him lightly on the arm. "Amelia, it's okay if you're uncomfortable and—"

"No, no!" I blurted. "I was just. . . Well— never mind."

I shuffled towards her and pulled her into an embrace, which she returned with enthusiasm.

"Even though I did help you find the Artifacts, we still failed," I said. "I think I was more of a burden than a help."

Rhea held me on my shoulders. "Nonsense, dear! I know you did what you could do, and that is already enough for me. And about the hammer, I don't care that you lost it today. You barely escaped a volcanic eruption for goodness' sake, and I care about you and my children's safety more than anything else."

I smiled. "Thank you, Rhea. I think I needed to hear that."

"You are very welcome, dear." She smiled back. "Speaking of escaping volcanic eruptions, I guess you all are very tired from your flight. Off you go to your dorms. You have classes later in the morning, and you've already missed more classes than you should in one semester."

Zeus groaned. "Can we not take a day off? You said it yourself, Mother! We almost died!"

"Definitely not." Rhea shook her head. "Your teachers have been talking, and they told me you were skipping quite a lot of classes than usual."

"Than usual?" I echoed. Athena snickered.

Zeus gaped. "I-I'm not! They're lying!"

Rhea raised a brow. "Young man, even if you're the principal's son, my son, you're not supposed to act like a spoiled brat. You're to act as a role model for the other students, like Athena."

"You heard her, Zeus." Athena smirked. "Act like me."

Zeus glared at his sister. "Shut up."

"Come on, Zeus." Poseidon nudged his brother. "Let's go to our room and get some rest."

"Fine."

Poseidon dragged a sagging Zeus by the hand and they walked away to the boys' dormitories.

"We should go too, Amelia," Athena said.

"Yeah. . . I'm feeling sleepy and jet-lagged." I yawned, then turned to Rhea. "We'll be going to our dorm too."

"Yes, yes, of course," she said. "Have a good night, girls."