Jɪɴx ➪ 𝙡. 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙯

Worst Nightmare

"Don't waste your time on me!" she said. "Go after them!"

At the mast, Coach Hedge mumbled, "HHHmmmmm-hmmm!"

Jinx ran to ungag him, but he refused. He kept nodding his head violently to the railing, signaling that he wanted her to chase after them.

She was hesitant to do so. Her time control was being glitchy and she was never too confident in herself to begin with.

Leo turned to Jason. "You feeling good enough to control the winds? I need a lift."

Jason frowned. "Sure, but—"

"Good," Leo said. "We've got some monkey dudes to catch."

Jinx rubbed her hands together, looking down. "Catch me if you see I'm not in control." She told Jason - who looked at her in confusion- and then she climbed the railing and jumped off.

She focused on slowing down the pace she was falling at and managed to land on her feet, a small breeze of air touching her ankles and she knew that Jason had helped her down.

Jason and Leo touched down in a big piazza lined with white marble government buildings and outdoor cafés. Bikes and Vespas clogged the surrounding streets, but the square itself was empty except for pigeons and a few old men drinking espresso.

None of the locals seemed to notice the huge Greek warship hovering over the piazza, or the fact that Jason and Leo had just flown down, Jason wielding a gold sword, and the other two.

"Where to?" Jason asked.

Leo stared at him. "Well, I dunno. Let me pull my dwarf-tracking GPS out of my tool belt.... Oh, wait! I don't have a dwarf-tracking GPS—or my tool belt!"

"Fine," Jason grumbled, glancing at Jinx. She only shrugged.

He glanced up at the ship as if to get his bearings, then pointed across the piazza. "The ballista fired the first dwarf in that direction, I think. Come on."

They waded through a lake of pigeons, then maneuvered down a side street of clothing stores and gelato shops - many that Jinx wanted to stop at. The sidewalks were lined with white columns covered in graffiti. A few panhandlers asked for change and Jinx's little knowledge of Italian kicked in as she apologized to them in poor Italian.

"We'll find it," Jason promised, referring to Leo's stolen tool belt.

They kept walking for what felt like forever when Jason put an arm out to stop them from walking any further. "Check it out."

They looked up. They'd arrived in a smaller piazza. Looming over them was a huge bronze statue of a buck-naked Neptune.

Blood rushed to Jinx's cheeks as she took off her already spotless glasses to clean.

"Ah, jeez." Leo averted his eyes.

The sea god stood on a big marble column in the middle of a fountain that wasn't working (which seemed kind of ironic). On either side of Neptune, little winged Cupid dudes were sitting, kind of chillin', like, What's up? Neptune himself (avoid the groin) was throwing his hip to one side in an Elvis Presley move. He gripped his trident loosely in his right hand and stretched his left hand out.

"Some kind of clue?" Leo wondered.

Jason frowned. "Maybe, maybe not. There are statues of the gods all over the place in Italy. I'd just feel better if we ran across Jupiter. Or Minerva. Anybody but Neptune, really."

"Is it because of the little fights Neptune and Jupiter have?" Jinx asked.

Jason looked at her, acknowledging her question, but didn't share an answer.