[pecunia]

Artemis' bow was cold in Tessa's hands as she landed on the other side of the portal. The silver metal stung her hands, the hum of the weapons powers reverberating from within. Tessa still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she was holding a goddess' sphere of power, and that if they didn't return it to its era quickly, they could change the timeline of history.

"Tess?" Kaden's voice shook the daughter of Poseidon out of her reverie. She glanced over and saw that her boyfriend was watching her in concern, his green eyes flickering in the dim light of the room they were in. "Everything alright?"

Tessa swallowed her nerves but shook her head. "Vinny saw us jump through the portal?"

"What?" Imogen's head swiveled around, her short blonde hair whipping at the motion. "But—"

"I don't know how he knew we were here," Tessa interjected. "But he didn't even try to stop us."

Reese took a step forward, and that's when Tessa noticed that their clothing had already changed to match the era they were in. The son of Apollo's sweater and slacks had changed into a red blazer and white pants with a black bowtie around his neck. Eli and Kaden had changed as well, with the former in a tweed and blue suit and the latter in a simple black tuxedo.

Imogen's red day dress had changed into a rose-shaded dress that was bunched up with a flower above her knee, as well as donning a red headband and pearled necklace. Tessa glanced down at herself and saw that her blue dress of the Forties had transformed into a black loose dress, the fabric puffing out until it dropped into a pleated layer. She had a silver headband on and a necklace of the same material.

They'd been dropped in the Roaring Twenties.

"Well," Reese clapped his hands together. "We should get moving if that's the case. The portal took us inside whatever this is, and judging by the sound of the music, I'd say someone's throwing a party."

Tessa blinked the haze from her eyes, taking a deep breath of the air, then instantly recoiled. They were at a party in the Twenties, alright; the smell of cigarette smoke was highly prominent in the air.

"I agree, but what're we gonna do about that?" Eli wiggled a finger towards the silver bow in Tessa's hands.

As if on cue, the bow began to emanate a bright flare of silvery light. Tessa felt the bow shrinking in her hands, and when the light faded, it had turned into a pin the shape of a crescent moon no bigger than Tempest in its own dormant form.

"That's what," Tessa decided, pinning the bow to her dress. "Now let's get moving."

~~

Tessa had never personally seen or read The Great Gatsby, but she had a good feeling that she'd somehow been transported within it at the sight of the party.

Everywhere she looked, she saw people dancing to the beat of the music. Glittering bits of confetti rained down into the courtyard, matching the glitz and glamour of the outfits of the partygoers. High heels, shimmering flapper dresses, and jewels of every kind added to the event, and Tessa couldn't help but be amazed.

"And I thought the dance hall from before was packed," Eli noted, watching as people passed in a cloud of laughter and cigarette smoke.

"How are we gonna find the relic in a place like this?" Imogen asked, eyes wide as she gaped at the mansion illuminated in light.

Tessa fiddled with her long silvery necklace, eyeing the masses of people dancing and chatting and laughing. She'd been through her fair share of parties, but never in the middle of time. However, if customs hadn't changed, the relic of this era would be hidden like the last.

"We've gotta split up," Tessa decided, turning to face her friends. "Kaden, Reese; take the courtyard. Imogen, Eli; second floor. I'll take the first. If you see Vinny, hurry the other way and tell the others."

Her friends nodded and began to split off, but Kaden watched Tessa carefully. "Promise me you'll be careful on your own?" He asked.

Tessa smirked impishly. "A little party never killed nobody," She winked, then turned on her heel, weaving through the crowd of partygoers.

~~

The interior of the mansion was just as expansive as it had looked from the outside. Massive hallways and rooms filled with lush carpeting and gilded walls spanned every corner, frequented by the flappers and men of the era. Confetti dotted the floors, and Tessa had to bite back a curse from the amount of times she'd nearly slipped because of it.

In exasperation, Tessa snatched a flute of something bubbly from one of the waiters permeating the house, raising it to her lips. Instantly, she made a face: alcohol. Obviously. This was the Twenties, after all; the decade of prohibition. Aside from the underground speakeasies and clubs of the time, massive parties like this were the only places that people could actually distribute and consume things like the champagne Tessa had just tried.

Tessa continued on her way through the interior of the house, entering one of the larger ballrooms. Just like outside, people danced to the swing music radiating through the air, becoming blurs of pearls and glitter and feathers. A large dual staircase sat in the center of the room, leading up into the other floors.

And yet, still no relic.

Tessa's turquoise eyes scanned the room in frustration as she raised the flute of champagne to her lips once again. However, she froze when she saw someone across the dancefloor.

A girl about her age stood near one of the large windows in the room. A black headband sat in her short wavy brown hair, with a single black feather pluming from the band. The girl wore a bedazzled black dress similar to Tessa's, except there was a labyrinthine golden belt around her waist rather than a pin and a silver necklace. Similarly, to Tessa, she held a flute of champagne and scanned the room.

Then Tessa's heart stopped as the girl's sea-green eyes met her own from across the room.

Tessa's flute of champagne hit the ground, shattering into a million shiny pieces like the confetti already littering the ground.

"Tessa?" Imogen's voice tore Tessa's focus from the girl whose red lips had quirked into a sly smirk before disappearing into the crowd.

The daughter of Poseidon took a shaky breath, her hands slightly trembling as she faced Imogen and Eli. Both of her friends watched her carefully, like they were about to spook her.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Eli noted, knitting his eyebrows together.

Tessa licked her lips. "I'm okay," She breathed. "I just...I saw someone who looked ridiculously like my twin."

Imogen made a face. "That's weird," Her gemlike eyes scanned the dancefloor, but shook her head. "I don't see anyone."

Tessa glanced back up at the dancefloor, but sure enough, the girl with the golden belt and green eyes was gone. Maybe she'd imagined it; maybe the alcohol in her system and the haze of time travel had messed with her mind. At least, she hoped so.

"Never mind," Tessa said quickly. "Did you guys find something?"

Eli shook his head, running his hand through his platinum hair. "Nothing upstairs aside from several couples that we had the misfortune of walking in on." He grimaced.

"Maybe Kaden and Reese found it?" Imogen tried.

Tessa shook her head. "They would have found us by now. No, it's gotta be down here then."

"But where?" Imogen waved a hand at the masses of people before them. "It'd take too long to look and we have to save time."

Tessa cursed herself mentally, forcing herself to think. The relic was somewhere on this floor, it had to be. If it followed any sort of pattern as Artemis' bow, it'd be locked up somewhere to prevent it from being stolen. Someplace old, abandoned, the last place the partygoers would think to find something worth stealing...

Tessa started moving through the hallway behind her before she could process why. Her friends hurried after her, but Tessa knew that they must have been thoroughly confused as to why she'd started to move.

"Where exactly are we going?" Eli asked, swerving past a table in the hall.

"The last place someone would think to go in during a party," Tessa reasoned, turning a corner. "A mansion this big has got to have some sort of library or study."

Tessa, Imogen, and Eli continued on their way through the mansion's first floor, and after a few more minutes of searching, came across two large wooden double doors. Like the rest of the doors and walls in the house, it was gilded gold, but as Tessa pushed them open, she smiled in satisfaction.

A large library stood before her, with bookshelves as high as the ceiling. Rolling sets of ladders were attached to each wall, and in the center of the room sat a gilded wooden desk, with paper strewn across it. Antique objects punctuated each bookshelf and table throughout the room, and thankfully, it seemed that Vinny hadn't found the library yet.

"Hurry," Tessa said, shuffling towards the desk. "We don't have much time."

She and her friends split up, with Eli taking the left side of the room and Imogen taking the right. Tessa took the center, and investigated every end table, drawer, and box she could find. She'd just approached the large desk in the center of the room when the doors to the library swung open.

"There you are," Kaden exhaled in relief, surging forward. Reese hurried in his wake, closing the doors behind them. "Find anything?"

Tessa shook her head. "Not yet," She responded. "But it's gotta be in here. The place practically screams old."

"Well, let's hope it is," Reese chimed, keeping a careful watch by the door. "Because we saw our least favorite Roman walking around the courtyard."

"Wonderful," Eli announced, walking away from his side of the room. "How long do we have?"

Kaden shook his head. "A couple minutes, tops."

Tessa cursed under her breath and returned to her search. The desk had six drawers, three on one side and three on the other, but all of which were only filled with files and books. She was about to stand up in defeat when she noticed the edge of the desk. A thin drawer the span of the desk sat beneath its platform, a keyhole dotting the center of the wood.

"Could it really be that simple?" Tessa murmured, running her hand across the keyhole. A faint click sounded, and the drawer jerked forward a bit. She pulled the drawer out entirely, and her breath caught in her throat at seeing what was inside.

A Roman gladius stared back at her, atop the green plush lining of the drawer. Its hilt was decorated with red jewels and Tessa got the feeling that this blade had seen many battles, given the power it seemed to radiate.

"Found it!" Tessa called. She reached for the sword, but recoiled with a hiss as the metal stung her skin.

"What is it?" Imogen asked, walking forward.

"The sword," Tessa nodded. "It burned me, or something. I can't touch it."

Kaden's eyes brightened in realization, and he swerved around to Tessa's side. With a quick smile, he pressed a kiss to Tessa's hand—to which she gave him a sarcastic look—but the son of Venus only eyed the sword. "That's Crocea Mars, then. The sword of Julius Caesar."

"Then let's grab it and go!" Eli clapped his hands together rapidly, looking from the group around the desk to Reese at the door.

"It can't be picked up by just anyone. It's like the sword in the stone, it can only be touched by someone in Caesar's bloodline." Imogen explained.

Tessa knit her eyebrows, racking her brain. Amelie and Sophia had mentioned something at their debriefing before they'd left, something about Caesar being a legacy of Venus...

"Kaden," Tessa exclaimed. "You pick it up."

"Why me?" Kaden asked incredulously.

"Because Caesar was a legacy of Venus!" Tessa said.

"Hurry!" Reese exclaimed from the door, drawing his bow. "Something wicked this way comes."

Kaden bit his lip and reached for the sword, but where Tessa had recoiled in pain, his hand wrapped around the hilt with ease. He drew the ancient relic from the drawer, its blade glimmering in the dim light of the library.

"Where's the portal?" Imogen asked frantically. She cursed under her breath and drew her own bow as the doors swung open, and a child of Victoria sauntered in.

"Well," Vinny smiled. "The gang's all here then."

Tessa felt the rage begin to collect within her veins. She and Vinny had unfinished business, a bloodbath that had yet to engage. She drew Tempest out of her hair, and gripped its blade tightly when it changed out of its dormant form.

Vinny caught her movement and made a face. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," He chided. "No one wants to find a dead body at a party."

"Then we'll hide yours in a closet somewhere," Tessa barked.

Vinny chuckled, sticking his hands in his pockets as he started forward. He stopped in his tracks at seeing the group before him draw their weapons, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

"I'm willing to be rational about this," He said. "Just give me Crocea Mars and we can all go on our merry way."

"Yeah, that'll happen." Imogen snapped, an arrow drawn and ready to fire.

Vinny arched an eyebrow. "Imogen, how are you? It's been a while." He smirked, until his eyes fell upon Kaden. "And all hail the mighty praetor."

Kaden's jaw tensed, his hand wrapped tightly around Crocea Mars' hilt. "Back off, Vinny. You're on the losing end of this."

Vinny grinned. "Except I'm not, Kaden. I'm the son of Victoria, remember? I always win." His gaze fell upon Reese, and the dark look in his eyes only strengthened. "How've you been Hale? That Achilles curse must not run in the family, huh?"

Reese allowed his arrow to fire, his blue eyes blazing. However, the son of Victoria only sidestepped, the arrow piercing the wall behind him.

"You've lost your touch, huh?" Vinny taunted. He took a step towards Reese, but stopped in his tracks as the portal burst into existence in the corner of the room. He eyed the group carefully, and Tessa could feel the tension escalate.

Vinny started for the portal, but face went slack for a moment. He crumbled to the ground, beginning to writhe and groan and scream. Tessa and the others watched in horror, frozen on their way to the portal, but as Vinny continued to scream, Eli emerged from the shadows of where he'd been standing.

His hand was outstretched towards the son of Victoria, and Eli hid no remorse in his face as he continued to approach his friends. That's when Tessa registered what he was doing. Eli was the son of the goddess of misery; he was using his powers to distract and disable their enemy so he and their friends could get away.

"Let's go!" Eli commanded, dropping his hand and surging forward.

Tessa watched Vinny begin to stagger to his feet, still breathing heavily from Eli's wrath. However, before Tessa could decide to skewer the traitor in his true moment of weakness, a hand wrapped around hers and she plunged into the portal, the din of traveling through time nearly as loud as her roaring heartbeat.