"H-hey, Duke. Uh. . ." I glanced around nervously to see if anyone was looking. "I'm. . . Amelia."

"Nice to meet you, Amelia! Your name sounds very pretty, by the way," he said. "Are you new here? Can we be friends so we could play together? Pretty please?"

I couldn't help but smile at the boy's words. "Aw. . . That'll be nice, Duke but, um, listen. Can you help me find a way out of the mansion? I got a bit lost while looking for the exit."

"Why do you wanna go out?" he asked. "This place is awesome!"

I knelt beside him, putting my hand on his little shoulder. "Well yes, the house is nice, but you see, I. . . didn't want to be here, and my friends are going to be worried if I don't get to them soon."

His mouth formed an O. "Ohhh. . . So you really are new! I knew it! Do you have cool superpowers like Eloise and the others?"

I tilted my head. "Eloise? Who's Eloise?"

"You've probably seen her. She's the one with the gray hair," he replied. "She likes bows and arrows for some reason. And those big dogs she keeps as pets." He shivered. "I hate them. Their sharp teeth are so scary."

Is she talking about Artemis?

Wait a minute, he knows about the Rogues? That's interesting. . .

"Yeah, I can't imagine." I nodded in agreement. "Can tell me more about your, uh, friends?"

"Sure!" He grinned. "Eloise has a brother and his name is Elijah. They're both twins but they don't really look like twins. I'm not really sure what his power is, but he's great at healing his sister's boo-boos."

I grimaced. He was talking about Apollo, and he sounded like he didn't know that he was already gone.

"There's, uh, Raymond who can turn into different animals. He can be a fish, a bird, and all that stuff. It's amazing!"

That sounds something like Hermes could do.

"And then there's Alistair," he continued. "He can shoot really, really hot fireballs. He can set things on fire and explode, which is so cool!"

I get that controlling fire was a great power, but blowing up Vesuvius awake and destroying half of Naples was not cool.

"Thanks for telling me about them, Duke." I ruffled his hair. "Is there anyone else who has powers you would like to share?"

His tiny eyebrows knitted together. "No. I don't think so."

"Okay then." I pushed myself up. "Can you show me the way out now?"

He shook his head. "You didn't tell me what your powers are yet!"

"Well, I. . . It's complicated." I rubbed my elbow. "I can't use it right now."

Duke frowned. "Why not? Is it because it's not an amazing power?"

"No, no. It's not that." I looked down at the collar around my neck. "It's because of this stupid thing they made me wear so that I couldn't use my powers."

"Why would they do that?" he asked.

My hands fidgeted around, growing impatient with the boy's never-ending questions. "Because. . . like I said, they've kidnapped and brought me here. You've got to help me get out so I can go back to my friends."

"They didn't kidnap you." His nose wrinkled. "They helped you get to a safe place."

I raised a brow, confused. "W-what? What are you talking about?"

He began walking forward. "Come on! I'll show you-"

"Where do you think you two are going?"

With my breath hitched, I slowly looked up to the source of the foreign voice. Just a few feet behind me was a man sitting on what looked like a black wheelchair. No, it looked more like one of those motor-like vehicles old people drove so they could go to places by themselves.

My mouth dropped. "Vulcan?"

"First of all, stop calling me by my code name." Vulcan scowled. "Second of all, what are you doing here? I heard from the maids that you were supposed to be in your room." He then turned to Duke. "And that applies to you too."

He opened his hand upward, and a ball of flame emerged from his palm. Duke shuffled behind me in fright.

"A-Al, p-please don't tell Nanny Beroe I sneaked out of my room," Duke said in a tiny voice. "I just didn't want a nap because I wasn't sleepy. I promise I won't do it next time."

Taking a step forward, I clenched my fists. "Don't you dare lay a finger on him."

"Don't worry about him," he said smugly. "I'm not allowed to hurt him, but no one said anything about you."

In a blink of an eye, he hurled the fire in my direction. I ducked, clutching little Duke down to shield him. The fire landed on the curtains of the window beside me, setting it on fire.

I looked at Duke in concern. "Are you okay?"

The boy nodded, his lips quivering.

I glared at Hephaestus's Chosen. "Are you crazy? You were going to hurt the kid!"

He flicked his wrists and fire covered his palms. "Well, I suggest you start fleeing then."

As soon as he raised his hands to shoot, I scrambled to my feet and ran.

Balls of flame flew past me as I sprinted away from danger. After a few moments of running, I dared to look behind me and saw Vulcan wheeling towards me at full speed. There was some distance between us but that didn't stop him from throwing a bunch of fireballs all at once.

Instinctively, I reached out a hand and willed my power to show up and shield me, but nothing happened. The fiery projectiles closed in and I had no choice but to take a sharp left turn.

Shoot. I forgot I still had the collar the Rogues put on my neck. If I could just create a barrier and shield myself, I won't have to run for my life like this.

Our chase of cat and mouse continued, with me running while dodging Vulcan's incoming fireballs. While I ran, I noticed that wherever the fire landed, mostly on the carpeted ground, the flames dissipated into thin air before it could make any damage.

"Give it up, Amelia!" Vulcan called. "You know you can't outrun me forever! I know every corner of this mansion better than you do!"

"I don't care!" I looked over my shoulder. "There's no way a coward on a wheelchair will make me give up!"

He growled. "You take that back this instant!"

He raised both of his hands and a huge ball of fire five times the size of his small fireballs appeared above him. My eyes bulged out of their sockets, and he threw the large ball towards me.

I screamed as the fire flew towards me. Just when I turned to the right, the boulder-sized fireball hit the wall and set it on flames. I paused for a moment as the fire consumed the crisp wallpaper and the paintings near it.

Vulcan was almost at me, making me run once more. From a distance, a wall with a painting of a man that covered it whole blocked my path.

Shoot. A dead end.

As I slowed down to a halt, Vulcan rolled in towards me, his eyes tight in anger. I stepped behind with my back pressed on the wall.

"H-hey. . . We should probably talk this out, y-you know," I stammered. "Artemis and Hermes said that your master, whoever he is, wanted me alive."

He scoffed. "Excuses. I'm quite sure I heard him say alive or dead. I prefer the latter."

Crimson fire spread through his arms. From the fire he created emerged rod-like flames all pointed at me. I felt warmth radiating from Vulcan as he slowly approached.

My heart raced under my chest. "W-why are you so hellbent on killing me?"

"I am not. You simply did this to yourself," he said. "When I saw you with the kid earlier, I thought you were going to hurt him-"

I gritted my teeth. "Liar! You know I wasn't!"

"-so I chased you away, but then you insulted me. By doing so, you will have to pay the price."

I held my collar and tried to pull it off. A mild shock coursed through my neck, making me yelp in pain. Shaking off the fuzzy feeling, I continued tugging the restraint to get rid of it before Vulcan could burn me to death.

"Come on, come on. . ."

Vulcan moved his arms forward and the fire javelins shot through the air.

Just when I was about to accept my fate, a strange, heavy weight passed over me. I didn't know what it was, but it felt like chills shivering inside me. Time around me seemed to stop. Literally.

The incoming missiles paused mid-flight just a few feet above me. But that didn't end there. Vulcan also froze from his place, his confident look paused like in a photo. The flames on his arms and the fire rods stopped flickering.

What in the world is happening?

I wanted to sigh in relief, but my body was frozen in its place. I couldn't move or feel anything at all, let alone blink my eyes close. It was like. . . being a statue.

We were in that state for what seemed like forever until a tall man strode into the hallway. He wore an outfit that made him look like he came from the 1900s or something; a black three-piece suit, a tie, a top hat and lace-up shoes. With the weird choice of clothes, an even weirder energy surrounded him, but it was something words couldn't describe enough.

He paused beside a frozen Vulcan and began waving his left hand in a slow, circular motion. I felt my whole body move about like a wind-up toy, doing movements I've already done before. The rods of fire above me flew back to Vulcan, who also moved backward. As the fire on his arms dissipated, his lips closed and opened constantly until the man in the suit put his hand down.

Vulcan scoffed. "Excuses. I'm quite sure I heard him say alive or dead-"

The man cleared his throat. "As far as I can remember Vulcan, I never said such a thing."

Vulcan almost jumped out of his wheelchair. "D-Demetrius! I-I didn't see you there!"

"Of course you didn't," the man, Demetrius, said. He then looked at me, who was staring at Vulcan nervously. "I see that you have given our guest. . . quite a warm welcome. You may go now, I will take it from here."

"B-but Master-"

"Say no more, young man," he interrupted. "I do not want to have another argument for today."

Without a word, Vulcan drove off, leaving me and his master alone in the hallway.

Demetrius turned to me, his eyebrows knitted. He looked like someone who could turn ocean tides down with just a few words. As we stared at each other, he remained silent, but I felt that he wanted to say something. On the other hand, I was completely speechless about what he did just now.

He had abilities, just me and the Rogues. Is he another Chosen? And if he was, which god gave him his power?

He took out something from his pocket and pressed it lightly. A small click sounded from my collar and it fell off.

I touched my bare neck. "I. . . T-thank you. For saving me just now."

"My grand-nephew Duke warned me of what occurred. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't even know what happened," he said. "I should apologize for Alistair's behavior. I promise I won't let him or anyone else try to hurt you again."

I blinked. Why do I feel like he's. . . meaning something more?

"Who. . . are you?" I asked. "How did you do that?"

He tilted his head. "Do what exactly, young lady?"

I was about to say something when he continued. "Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself." He smiled sheepishly, then tipped his hat, showing his dark hair. "I am Demetrius Kingston, master and owner of this humble mansion. And you, dear guest?"

"I-I am. . . My name's Amelia," I said, swallowing. "Amelia Kingston."

"Oh. What a coincidence." He chuckled. "Hello, Amelia. I suppose you're very puzzled as to why you're brought here."

I pursed my lips. "You have no idea."

Demetrius nodded his head to the direction where I came from. "Come along then. Let's hear those questions you want answers to."

Reluctantly, I followed behind him right after he disappeared in the corner, taking light steps along the carpet-covered floor. As I did, my mind shifted its mental gears as a small but important question popped in my head.

Why does his name sound eerily familiar?