Daughter of Wine

Frank

Despite the midday heat and the raging storm of death energy, a group of tourists is climbing over the ruins. Fortunately there aren't many, and they don't give us a second look. 

After the crowds in Rome, I've stopped worrying about getting noticed. If we can fly our warship into the Roman colosseum with ballistae blazing and not even cause a traffic slowdown, I figure we can get away with anything. 

Nico leads the way. At the top of the hill, we climb over an old retaining wall and down into an excavated trench. 

Finally we arrive at a stone archway leading straight into the side of the hill. The death storm seems to originate right above our heads. Looking up at the swirling tentacles of darkness, I feel like I'm trapped at the bottom of a flushing toilet bowl. That really doesn't calm my nerves. 

Nico faces the rest of us. "From here it gets tough."

"Sweet." Leo says. "'Cause so far I've been pulling my punches."

"I eat tough for breakfast." Calli nods thoughtfully, flexing her tiny bicep. 

Despite the situation we're in, I'm glad they're back to joking around. 

Nico glares at them. "We'll see how long you keep your sense of humor. Remember, this is where pilgrims came to commune with dead ancestors. Underground, you may see things that are hard to look at, or hear voices trying to lead you astray in the tunnels. Frank, do you have the barley cakes?"

"What?" I'd been thinking about my grandmother and my mom, wondering if they might appear to me. For the first time in days, the voices of Ares and Mars have started to argue again in the back of my mind, debating their favorite forms of violent death.

"I've got the cakes." Hazel says. She pulls out the magical barley crackers we made from the grain Triptolemus gave us in Venice. 

"Eat up." Nico advises. 

I chew my cracker of death and try not to gag. It reminds me of a cookie made with sawdust instead of sugar. 

"Yum." Piper says. Even the daughter of Aphrodite can't avoid making a face. 

Calli summons a goblet of wine and takes a few big gulps, her eyes watering as the barley cake sticks in her throat. Leo takes the goblet from her hand and takes a big sip to wash down his own death-cookie. He grimaces into the goblet, as if just realizing he does not like the taste of wine.

"Okay." Nico chokes down the last of his barley. "That should protect us from the poison." 

"That felt like poison." Calli grimaces. 

"Poison?" Leo asks. "Did I miss poison? 'Cause I love poison." 

"Soon enough." Nico promises. "Just stick close together, and maybe we can avoid getting lost or going insane." 

"We should've brought a rope." Calli says thoughtfully. 

Nico frowns. "This isn't like the labyrinth-"

"Gods no." Calli pales. "No, not like the labyrinth. I mean, we all tie ourselves together. That way no one gets lost."

"Probably best if we're not all stuck together." Jason notes. "Besides, how are we going to fight an army of monsters if we're all tied up in a clump?"

Calli shrugs, and on that happy note, Nico leads us underground. 

The tunnel spirals gently downward, the ceiling supported by white stone arches that remind me of a whale's rib cage. 

As we walk, Hazel runs her hands along the masonry. "This wasn't part of a temple." She whispers. "This was... the basement for a manor house, built in later Greek times."