YOU ARE IN LOVE ↬ leo valdez x reader, book 2

3. meant just for you

"Piper!" Jason cried.
"Monkey!" Frank yelled.
"Not monkeys," Hazel grumbled. "I think those are dwarfs."
"Gods, that's unfortunate." I said through gritted teeth.
"Stealing my stuff!" Leo yelled, and he ran for the stairs.

Leo bounded up the steps, with Jason, Frank and I behind him.
Coach Hedge and Piper were struggling against their duct tape bonds while one of the demon monkey dwarfs danced around the deck, picking up whatever wasn't tied down and sticking it in his bag. He was maybe four feet tall, even shorter than Coach Hedge, with bowed legs and chimp-like feet.

 His green-plaid pants were pinned at the cuffs, and held up with bright-red suspenders over a striped pink-and-black woman's blouse. His fashion taste was not one that I admired all too well, but that probably wasn't the subject I should've been dwelling on.
He wore half a dozen gold watches on each arm, and a zebra-patterned cowboy hat with a price tag dangling from the brim. His skin was covered with patches of scraggly red fur, though ninety percent of his body hair seemed to be concentrated in his magnificent eyebrows.
A click came from behind us before Leo yelled "Duck!" and I was slammed onto the deck by Jason who's arm dragged me alongside him.

Jason grabbed my arm and lifted me up to observe the scene. Leo was still on the floor though I presumed he'd be back on his feet eventually. Frank had turned into a silverback gorilla, sprawled on the deck with his tongue hanging out and his eyes rolled up in his head.
"Piper!" Jason staggered to the helm and carefully pulled the gag out of her mouth.
"Don't waste your time on me!" she said. "Go after them!"
At the mast, Coach Hedge mumbled, "HHHmmmmm-hmmm!"

I glanced after where the dwarves disappeared to, somewhere below in the city of Bologna – a jigsaw puzzle of red-tiled buildings in a valley hemmed by green hills.
"You feeling good enough to control the winds? I need a lift." Leo said.
Jason frowned. "Sure, but—" 

"Good," Leo said. "Y/N, you conscious enough to help? We've got some monkey dudes to catch."
Jason swooped us down to 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 we had just flown down, Jason wielding a gold sword.
"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. 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."

We waded through a lake of pigeons, then maneuvered down a side street of clothing stores and gelato shops. I really wanted to go get some lemon sorbet but 'we have more important matters.'
The sidewalks were lined with white columns covered in graffiti. A few panhandlers asked for change. I would've, except nothing on me was worth any value, courtesy of the dwarves. Leo kept patting his waist, I guess in an attempt to summon the toolbelt back.
"We'll find it," Jason promised. After a few more steps we found ourselves in a smaller piazza with a butt-naked Posiedon (or Neptune here). Leo must've been real deep in thought to have not noticed.
"Ah." I exhaled.
Jason grabbed his arm. "Check it out."
Leo looked up. "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 like he was blessing us, or possibly attempting to levitate us.
"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."