The warm glow of the Turkish sun did nothing to dispel Lucas's growing tension. He stood frozen in the crowded street, eyes fixed on a distant rooftop. His instincts alerted him to the killing intent, but he hadn't discovered the one who released it.
Ethan and Annabeth stopped instantly, sensing Lucas's shift in posture. Ethan's hand drifted instinctively to the hilt of his sword, lowering his voice in caution.
"Lucas, what is it?"
Lucas didn't look away, his voice taut. "Someone was watching us, and whoever it was, released killing intent."
Annabeth glanced around nervously, fingers tightening around the map and handle of her dagger. They hadn't been in Istanbul for long, and already they had people in the shadows not only tracking them, but possibly wanting to kill them.
Lucas nodded grimly, eyes narrowing. "Keep alert. We don't know who they are or what they want, but it's best to be careful from hereon out."
Ethan gave a tense nod, stepping closer to Annabeth as they moved forward. The trio no longer took the time to enjoy the city's culture, keeping themselves tense and on the lookout for anything suspicious.
...
After winding through Istanbul's bustling streets, getting lost and receiving the help of some strangers, they eventually found the location the map guided them to, an ancient Byzantine excavation half-hidden by centuries of neglect and overgrowth. It had been found decades ago, but after digging it up and finding nothing of historical value, the authorities left it open as a tourist attraction.
Moss-covered marble columns rose from the ground, rubble and collapsed stone telling of the age of the ruin, but even time couldn't take away how impressive it was. They moved towards the entrance when they sensed three presences gaining on them from behind.
The three spun, tension rising with the expectation of an ambush, only to see three familiar faces emerging into the ruins' clearing:
Clarisse La Rue strode ahead, fierce and confident. Beside her, Malcolm Pace followed, eyes drifting to Annabeth, while Silena Beauregard trailed hesitantly, with an anxious look on her face.
Clarisse eyed Lucas's trio, arms crossed. "Chase. Fancy meeting you here." She looked over Lucas and Annabeth, but seeing Ethan caused her to pause, not knowing who he was.
Clarisse scoffed, looking back at Lucas, "Where's thunder-thighs? She too scared to face me? Is that why you resorted to bringing a nobody?"
It was well known that Clarisse and Thalia had a rivalry, stemming not only from Clarisse's desire to be the strongest at camp but also from being the only powerful female campers, which often led to comparisons between them, fueling the rivalry. However, this was only a concern for Clarisse; Thalia simply ignored it all as she never lost to Clarisse.
Annabeth stepped forward, as the leader of the three, it was her job to handle communications like now.
She gave a respectful nod to Clarisse. "We weren't expecting you either, Clarisse. However," Annabeth lost her respectful tone, her eyes narrowing in distaste at what Clarisse said. "Don't rudely swing insults at others, or it won't be Thalia putting you down, it will be me."
Unexpectedly, Annabeth's stance didn't anger Clarrise; instead, she gave an appreciative look at who she thought was just a young girl following Thalia's coattail, now she earned her respect.
Malcolm's lips, however, twitched into a faint frown. "Annabeth. Did mother send you here, too?"
As much as Malcolm cared for his younger siblings, he would soon be too old to stay at camp and would have to leave, this quest was an opportunity to leave a legacy, to become a hero; he had thought he ws chosen by his mother due to his talent but seeing Annabeth here made him believe they were there just to improve the odds, making him feel inadiquit.
Before Annabeth could reply, Clarisse's sharp voice cut in immediately. "It doesn't matter. We'll handle the Parthenos ourselves, just don't get in our way."
Silena broke in gently. "Maybe we should cooperate, after all, the statue must be brought back to Athena in the end, working together would be beneficial. As for the credit, that can be considered if we find it at all."
Clarisee retrained some of her edge. Not only was there some friendship between the Ares cabin and the Aphrodite Cabin due to their parents, but Selena was one of Clarisse's few true friends; she didn't want to go against her.
Annabeth glanced at Lucas, who nodded quietly. Anyway, their goal was simply to discover the statue and return it to Athena; they didn't need their names officially attached to the quest. Hence, they had no problem working with the campers and would have no problem allowing the three to return on their own, especially since they cannot enter Olympus without the possibility of trouble.
Clarisse reluctantly agreed to work together after hearing how they didn't care for the credit, just the outcome. So the six demigods split up into pairs to investigate the ruins together, wary of the other party yet cooperating in hopes of finding anything that can lead them to the parthenos.
It was just a dozen moments into the search, when everyone had let their guard down and focused their efforts on investigating the ruin, that a gunshot rang out and blood decorated the floor.