Daughter of Wine

Callida

We've found the source of the dark lightning. 

The Argo II hovers directly over the river. A few hundred meters away at the top of the nearest hill stands a cluster of ruins. They don't look like anything fancy, just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings, but from somewhere within the ruins, tendrils of black ether curl into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave. As we watch, a bolt of dark energy rips through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape. 

"The Necromanteion." Nico says. "The House of Hades." 

"Is it too late to suggest we turn back?" I ask. "I miss Rome." That's not a lie. I'd love to deal with hourly monster attacks and annoying dwarves right now. I'd love to do anything besides get any closer to the source of that black mystery-substance.

Piper hugs her arms. "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"

"I wouldn't." Hazel says. "That's the river Acheron." 

Jason squints in the sunlight. "I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld."

"It is." Hazel says. "But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto-er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship on those waters-"

"Yeah, let's stay up here." I decide, the river suddenly giving me chills. 

"Agreed." Leo nods from beside me. He brushes my shoulder with his own, sending involuntary tingles across my skin. "I don't want any zombie water on my hull." 

Half a kilometer downstream, some fishing boats are puttering along. I guess they don't know or care about the history of the river. Must be nice, being a regular mortal. 

Nico di Angelo raises the scepter of Diocletian. Its orb glows with purple light, as if in sympathy with the dark storm. That scepter gives me the heebie-jeebies. If it really has the power to summon a legion of the dead... well, I'm not a huge fan of the dead. 

"So, uh, Nico..." Frank gestures at the scepter. "Have you learned to use that thing?"

"We'll find out." Nico stares at the tendrils of darkness undulating from the ruins. "I don't intend to try until I have to. The Doors of Death are already working overtime bringing in Gaea's monsters. Any more activity raising the dead, and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed." 

Coach Hedge grunts. "I hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads." 

Frank stares at Hedge for a few moments before speaking. "Coach, you should stay on board, cover us with the ballistae." 

Hedge frowns. "Stay behind? me? I'm your best soldier!"

Frank gives me a look. A trust me, go with it look. He's never given me a look like that before, but I trust Frank's judgement. Whatever his reasoning is, it must be good. 

"We might need air support." I tell the satyr. "Like we did in Rome. You saved our kólos."

Gratitude flashes across the coach's face. "Well, I suppose somebody's got to save your kólos."

I clap the coach on the shoulder and give Frank an appreciative nod. "So that's settled. Everybody else, let's get to the ruins. Time to crash Gaea's party. You guys know how seriously I take parties."