𝐓𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 ━ 𝐣𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐒 | 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐄, 𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐘

( this is angelique looking at jason )

( i can practically hear "lovesick" by laufey playing... )

( when the gold rays fell on your skin
and my hair got caught in the wind
the choir sang a melancholic hymn ! )

ME 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 we had just flown down, that I was wielding a gold sword, and that Leo... well, Leo was pretty much empty-handed.

"Where to?" I asked.

Leo stared at me. "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," I grumbled. I glanced up at the ship to get my 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. The sidewalks were lined with white columns covered in graffiti and a few panhandlers asked for change.

I noticed how Leo kept patting his waist as if he was hoping it'd magically appear.

"We'll find it," I said, promising.

Leo nodded, although he didn't look reassured. He looked so worried, I doubted it was just the fact that we had to catch a couple of meddlesome dwarfs that was making him look that way.

It seemed Leo was so absorbed with whatever he was thinking that I had to grab his arm to get his attention. "Check it out."

He looked up. We'd arrived in a smaller piazza. Looming over us was a huge bronze statue of a buck-naked Neptune. A.K.A., the Roman version of Angelique's dad.