There's Fire // L.Valdez

Persephone turned to see a statue, sitting in the middle of the deck, sulphurous smoke rolling off his shoulders and cinders popped around his curly hair. From the waist down, he was nothing but a square marble pedestal. From the waist up, he was a muscular human figure in a carved toga. Oh, and he didn't seem to be in the best of moods.

"I will not have weapons inside the Pomerian Line!" he announced in a fussy teacher voice. "I certainly will not have Greeks."

"Pomerian? Like... the dog?" Persephone asked him.

"That's Pomeranian, Persephone." Jason told her, stepping forward towards the statue. "Terminus, it's me. Jason Grace." 

"Oh, I remember you, Jason!" Terminus grumbled. "I thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of Rome!"

"But they're not enemies-"

"That's right," Piper jumped in. "We just want to talk. If we could-" 

"Ha!" Snapped the statue. "Don't try that charmspeak o me, young lady. And put down that dagger before I slap it out of your hands!"

Persephone raised a brow, confused as to what the limbless statue meant. Piper glanced at her bronze dagger, "Um... okay. But how would you slap it? You don't have any arms."

"Impertinence!" There was a sharp pop and a flash of yellow, causing Persephone to jump. Piper yelped and dropped her dagger, which was now smoking and sparking.

"Lucky for you, I've just been through a battle," Terminus announced. "If I were at full strength, I would've blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!"

Persephone raised a brow and opened her mouth to argue back, when Leo interrupted. "Hold up," He stepped forward, wagging his Wii controller. "Did you just call my ship a monstrosity? I know you didn't do that."

Persephone almost laughed out loud from his sass towards the statue, but decided in that moment it would probably be inappropriate.

"Let's all calm down," Annabeth spoke up, raising her hands to show she held no weapons. "I take it you're Terminus, the god of boundaries. Jason told me you protect the city of New Rome, right? I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of-"

"Oh, I know who you are!" The statue glared at the blonde girl, with his blank white eyes. "A child of Athena, Minerva's Greek form. Scandalous! You Greeks have no sense of decency. We Romans know the proper place for that goddess."

"What exactly do you mean, 'that goddess'? And what's so scandalous about-"

"Right!" Jason cut her off. Persephone sighed in relief. An angry Annabeth was never easy to calm down. "Anyway, Terminus, we're here on a mission of peace. We'd love permission to land so we can-"

"Impossible!" The god squeaked. "Lay down your weapons and surrender! Leave the city immediately!"

"Which is it?" Leo rose a brow. "Surrender or leave?"

"Both!" Terminus said. "Surrender, then leave. I am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! Do you feel that?"

"Wow," Leo studied Terminus, eyes slightly narrowed with concentration. "You're wound up pretty tight. You got any gears in there that need loosening? I could take a look."

The son of Hephaestus switched out his Wii controller for a screwdriver from his magic tool belt and tapped the statue's pedestal. 

"Stop that!" Terminus demanded. Another small explosion, and Leo dropped his screwdriver. "Weapons are not allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerian Line."

"The what?" Piper asked. 

"The city limits." Jason cleared up.

"And this entire ship is a weapon!" Terminus said. "You cannot land!"

Persephone tilted her head; she couldn't exactly argue with him, their ship was a weapon... It was called a warship, after all. But they needed to land. They still had another three demigods to pick up for their quest, one of whom was Percy Jackson. And she doubted they could just jump or fly aboard from this height.

"Leo, stop the ship," Annabeth ordered. Persephone looked at the blonde, shocked.

"What?"

"You heard me. Keep us right where we are."

Leo pulled his controller out and yanked it upwards. Every oar ceased working, and the ship stopped descending.

"Terminus," Annabeth began. "There's no rule against hovering over New Rome, is there?"

The statue frowned. "Well, no..." 

"We can keep the ship aloft," Annabeth said. "We'll use a rope ladder to reach the forum. That way, the ship won’t be on Roman soil. Not technically."

The statue hesitated, and Persephone could almost see his invisible hands stroking his chin in deep thought.

"I like technicalities," He confessed. "Still..." 

"All our weapons will stay aboard the ship," Annabeth bargained. "I assume the Romans- even those reinforcements marching towards us- will also have to honour your rules inside the Pomerian Line if you tell them to?" Persephone smirked at the blonde's words. Annabeth sure knew how to talk rules. Though, being the daughter of Athena, it didn't really surprise the younger all that much. 

"Of course!" Terminus agreed, almost offended. "Do I look like I tolerate rule breakers?"

"Uh, Annabeth..." Leo began. "You sure this is a good idea?"

Persephone noticed the slight tremble in the girl's form, and the slight head tilt she made, as though trying to hear something stood directly behind her. A small twitch in Persephone's abdomen came, a feeling all too familiar with being the daughter of the Lord of the Underworld. Her eyes narrowed at the space behind Annabeth, almost like she was forcing herself to see something that wasn't visible to the eye. Her skin tingled with goose-bumps at the distant sound of laughing. And it didn't sound like the type of laughter an ally would make.

Annabeth gazed over to the side of the ship, her nervous expression shifting to one of longing. They'd come this far, they couldn't back out now. The blonde met the brunette's eyes, their expression mirroring each other’s. Something wasn't right, something they couldn't just put down to nerves. Surely, the daughter of Hades would know if something undead was lingering around the group; that's what Annabeth convinced herself- to keep herself sane. 

"It'll be fine." Annabeth replied to Leo's question. "No one will be armed. We can talk in peace. Terminus will make sure each side obeys the rules." She looked at the marble statue. "Do we have an agreement?"

Terminus sniffed, causing Persephone to raise an eyebrow. "I suppose. For now. You may climb down your ladder to New Rome, daughter of Athena. Please try not to destroy my town."

"No promises." Persephone grumbled. Demigods never had that much luck; something was bound to go wrong.