"Here's your beverage, ma'am." She handed me my order. "Would you like anything else?"

I gave her a smile. "No, thank you. This will do."

Nodding, the flight attendant left, pushing the cart of treats along. I sipped my mango shake and sighed in delight.

Ah, this is life.

As soon as we solved the scroll's riddle, the Olympian siblings dragged me along to the airport and to a private jet, which completely got me by surprise. Everything happened so quickly that I didn't have time to question a thing.

Athena and Poseidon were busy studying a map of Naples and reading tourist guides about Mount Vesuvius while Zeus and I idled on our comfy leather seats with drinks at hand.

I set aside my drink. "This is so cool. Do you always ride in luxury whenever you get a mission?"

Zeus smirked. "Pretty much. One of the things we get to enjoy before the mission actually starts."

"Tell me," I began, "are your missions that hard to accomplish?"

Zeus shrugged. "I guess so. You just never really know what to expect since there might be something surprising that might come your way." He glanced at the window. "Like that time when—"

"We're getting a call from Mother," Poseidon said, interrupting Zeus's thought. "I'll transfer it to the plane's main screen."

He began swiping and tapping something on his tablet and the image of Rhea appeared on the wide TV screen. She was sitting at her office in Olympian High.

"Greetings, young Chosens." She smiled, then turned to me. "Hello, Amelia dear. I apologize that I wasn't able to see you for these past couple of weeks. My schedule didn't allow me to have a single break to foresee your training."

"It's alright, ma'am—I mean Rhea. I completely understand," I said. "Zeus and Athena already did a good job in teaching me what they know."

"I'm glad to hear that," she said. "Alright, since you all have solved the scroll riddle by yourselves this time, I'd like to hear your plan when you reach Naples."

Athena took a deep breath. "We have already talked about it, and we decided to go to Mount Vesuvius as soon as we land at the airport. Poseidon has already booked us a private tour guide to help us get there."

"We'll search around the area for possible spots where the Artifact might be until the tourist hours end," Poseidon said. "But if we don't find it before that time, we'll just stick around a little longer."

"And what if your tour guide doesn't let you?" Rhea asked.

"Well, we'll just have to trick him somehow," Zeus replied. "Which won't be much of a problem."

Rhea nodded in approval. "Excellent. I won't ask any further as I trust that you'll be able to handle this on your own. I hope you won't fail this time. If you do, the enemy is one Artifact closer to. . . doing something horrible."

I nodded, her statement settling in my stomach like a stone. I can't imagine if the Rogues get another Item twice. . . no, three times in a row.

"As for the Artifact, the riddle, unfortunately, didn't give you a description of what it looks like," she said. "But I'm certain that it'll be one of Hephaestus's symbols."

I racked my mind for some ideas about the volcano god. "If I'm not mistaken, his symbols included donkeys, anvils, and hammers."

"A magic donkey?" Zeus joked. "Now that would be an interesting Artifact for us to get, wouldn't it?"

Athena snorted. "Yeah, right. If that thing existed, it couldn't possibly be able to survive a Plinian eruption and live for more than two millennia. Besides, it would be difficult to carry it around if we were ever to use it."

"You mean, it would be a huge pain in the ass?" Zeus laughed. "Get it? Because 'ass' is also the same as 'donkey'."

I put a hand on my face while Rhea visibly cringed. Athena rolled their eyes while Poseidon just shook his head.

"No one? Really?" Zeus looked at us innocently. "Oh, come on! It was good!"

"I sometimes wonder why I live with a brother like him." I heard Athena mutter.

Poseidon sighed. "I feel the same way, sister. I feel the same way. . ."

"Back to the topic at hand." Rhea cleared her throat. "That leaves you with the anvil or the hammer. Search every possible place it could be. It might be in the ruins of Pompeii, it might be somewhere near the volcano. Trust no one but yourselves, not everything is as it seems. Good luck on your mission, and may the spirits of the gods guide you on your journey."

Rhea gave us one last look before she switched the call off, the wide TV screen turning black.

"Okay, everyone. Here's the plan." Athena laid out a map of Mount Vesuvius. "The four of us will get to the tour as I said earlier, so that means we'll visit the ruins and hike the mountain for a while. When we're done at it but we still don't find the Artifact, Zeus and I will come back to the site after tourist hours and search again."

"Hey, but what about me and Poseidon?" I asked.

"You'll both wait," she said. "Poseidon's powers aren't much of a use in a place like Vesuvius, and you, on the other hand, should stay put. The Rogues probably expected that you didn't make it from Artemis's attack in the museum, so let's keep it that way."

"B-but I don't want to be useless!"

"No, you won't be." Athena shook her head. "If Zeus and I get into a fight with the Rogues, you'll be nearby and read and inform us of our opponents' moves. Poseidon will be near you, but if things get too difficult to handle, you and Poseidon will come to our aid with a surprise attack."

I nodded slowly. "Okay, got it."

"Good." She leaned back in her seat. "We still have several hours before the plane lands, so let's get some rest before everything else."

I went back to my seat and continued sipping my drink until the last drop. When I got bored, I turned to my window and gazed at the scenery, the clouds slowly rolling across the sky like waves in the ocean. The setting sun painted the sky with splashes of orange and red.

That and the constant blowing of the cool air conditioning made the overall surrounding a nice place to sleep, but before I could even close my eyes to doze off, Poseidon came and stood over me.

"Amelia, can sit here with you for a bit?" he asked. "If you don't mind, that is."

"Sure." I motioned at the seat in front of me. "It's all yours."

He mumbled a small 'thank you' and sat. He glanced at the window before he spoke.

"How are you feeling?"

My lips parted and closed, not sure what to answer.

"Well, um, I'm fine. I think?" I replied, hesitant. "Everything's just happening so fast. One second you're in school and then the next thing you know you're in a plane heading to Italy."

He chuckled. "That's normal, don't worry. I felt the same way when we just left school and went to Athens to retrieve Aegis."

I let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god. I can't keep up the calm act for too long."

"Yeah, that's true. Though, I'm just glad that you're not feeling airsick or something because of all that's happening," he teased. "Now that would be a problem."

I laughed. At least someone has a good sense of humor.

"Anyway. . . I wanted to talk to you about your training."

I tilted my head. "Oh. I almost forgot about that. What about it?"

"Since I didn't have ample time to even meet you because of the scroll's interruption," he began. "I wanted to give you some advice on using your powers. I was supposed to give you some training concerning your abilities, but there's not really much time for that as you can see."

"Okay, so what's your advice?"

"So far, we've only known about your telepathy and. . . telekinesis abilities," he said. "Other than that one time in the museum, did you use it somewhere else?"

I shook my head. "It was the first time I did it. And I don't even know how I did it."

"I see." He nodded. "Do you remember what happened before you passed out? Perhaps you had some unusual thoughts or something?"

"Well. . . I-I'm not sure." I shrugged. "I just remember feeling. . . I don't know, desperate? We were about to die at that time, so maybe my emotions got to the extreme and just like that, I activated my telekinesis power or whatever."

His forehead creased. "What you said. . . somewhat makes sense. Alright, let's start with your mind."

"My mind?"

"Yes, your mind. Your way of thinking," Poseidon said. "The only way of unlocking your power's full potential is to harness your thoughts and emotions. From what I observed, your inherited powers depend on them, just like me."

"Okay. . ."

"And I suspect your 'shockwave', as Zeus nicknamed it, only activates when you experience extreme emotions," he said. "At the museum, you managed to use your power because of sudden distress."

"I guess that's a bad thing, right?"

"Yes. Depending on those extreme emotions, especially negative ones, is a very bad idea. It will not only be unreliable but also constantly experiencing them will damage your psyche."

"So what do you suggest I do?"

"Instead of using negative thoughts or emotions, think of happy ones," he said. "Think of something that keeps you motivated. Something that gives your life. . . meaning."

"Something that gives my life meaning?" I repeated. "I'm not really sure about that. . ."

He smiled. "It's okay if you don't get it at first. You'll know it at the right time."

"What gives your life meaning?"

"Let's just say it's something worth fighting for." He winked at me.

"Come on, tell me! I'm curiou—" I paused, then grinned. "You know. . . I could just read your head and see what's going on in your—"

"Amelia." He gave me a pointed but amused look.

I raised my arms in surrender. "Alright, alright. I was just kidding."

Poseidon stood up from his seat and gave me a pat on the shoulder. "Take a nap, and maybe think about what I told you, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

He looked at the window, the sun already gone on the horizon. "Good night, Amelia."

"Good night, Poseidon."