Chapter One: Eddie. All Smoke Leads To Rome

Here is Chapter One of Unities: Myths Brought Together.

All Smoke Leads To Rome
"Nothing, you?" my sister, Annabeth, asked.

"Nada," I said. "How is it that we found two New Level heroes in Mexico with this thing but the last four are just... gone?"

Percy and Tara came into the Athena cabin.

"Any luck finding the others?" Percy asked.

"We haven't found anything," Annabeth said. "Tell the others that we'll let you all know when they're found."

"We were just checking in, since it's getting late," Tara said. Before she'd said that, I hadn't even noticed how dark it was getting.

Someone else knocked on the door of the Athena cabin.

"Look, we haven't found anything yet," I called out.

"I know," came the familiar voice of the camp Oracle, Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Percy opened the door. Rachel was looking at us hard, waiting for us to ask a question - a prerequisite for getting a prophecy.

"Alright, that makes things a bit easier," I admitted. "Oh, Oracle. Where can we find the Other Four?"

Rachel rose into the air, accompanied by green billowing smoke. When she spoke, it was as though three Rachels spoke at once.

"The transmitter temple has been destroyed

The sea beasts rescued from the void

Once by four, the other by four

Now the eight must quest once more

The home of Romulus, Augustus, Nero

Here unite the New Level heroes."

I grinned. "The home of Romulus, Augustus, and Nero. That's got to be Rome."

"And that's where the Other Four are," Annabeth finished. "Why didn't we think of asking Rachel before?"

Jealousy? I wanted to say. Personally, being someone who prides himself on intelligence, the fact that Rachel could know things before they even happened irritated me. With Annabeth, it was probably more, since Rachel used to have a thing for Annabeth's boyfriend, Percy.

"I'll get Raymond and Natalie and the others," Tara said. "If we take the Argo II, we can be at Rome in no time."

Rachel came down, the special effects stopped. "So we know where we're going?"

"To Rome," I said.