DIVINE » l. valdez

xxvii

"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!"

Hina shot both of the boys a glare before turning to study the streets.

"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."

They waddled through a sea of pigeons, then passed through a side street littered with clothing stores and gelato shops. The sidewalks were lined with white columns covered in graffiti. A few panhandlers tried to stop the demigods asking for change and Hina wasn't sure how to tell the Italians they didn't have anything to give.

 Beside her, Leo kept patting at his waist as if trying to summon his tool belt back. He looked stressed, more so than usual. Hina realized how dependent Leo thought he was on his tool belt even if he didn't realize how much he could do on his own.

"We'll find it," Jason promised.

Hina grabbed onto Leo's hand, stopping him from continuing to pat his waist. They walked in silence, following Jason. The son of Jupiter had his usual calm demeanor, trying to keep everyone reassured, but today it wasn't working. Hina found herself lost in the words her father told her: you must face the ones who cursed you.

She'd heard a few stories about the Fates at Camp Half-Blood, mainly that the three sisters were not as meek as they appeared. They were in charge of birth, life, and death. The Fates designed prophecies, because they saw the future and no one could defy them without consequence. 

A chill ran down Hina's spine. The very fact that she was alive defied the sisters.

Hina didn't realize where they were until Jason stopped the group, grabbing Leo's arm. "Check it out."

Hina looked up only to be met with the full view of a butt-naked bronze statue of Neptune. "Oh, gods."

"Ah, jeez." Leo averted his eyes, raising his hand to cover Hina's face.

The sea god stood on a giant marble pedestal in the middle of a broken fountain. No water filled the pool, seeming ironic. On either side of Neptune, small cherubs were posed. Ignoring the hip region, Neptune was leaned on one side, clutching his trident in his hand loosely. 

"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."

Leo dropped his hand from Hina's face and climbed into the fountain. He place a hand on the base of the statue concentrating. 

"It's mechanical," he said. "Maybe a doorway to the dwarfs' secret lair?"

"Ooooo!" shrieked a nearby voice. "Secret lair?"

"I want a secret lair!" yelled another voice from above.

Jason jumped back, his sword ready. Hina whipped her head around trying to find the voice while Leo swung his head around wildly. 

The red-furred dwarf in the cowboy hat was sitting about thirty feet away at the nearest café table, sipping an espresso held by his monkey-like foot. The brown-furred dwarf in the green bowler was perched on the marble pedestal at Neptune's feet, just above Leo's head.

"If we had a secret lair," said Red Fur, "I would want a firehouse pole."

"And a waterslide!" said Brown Fur, who was pulling random tools out of Leo's belt, tossing aside wrenches, hammers, and staple guns.

"Stop that!" Leo tried to grab the dwarf's feet, but he couldn't reach the top of the pedestal.

"Too short?" Brown Fur sympathized.

"You're calling me short?" Leo looked around like he was trying to find something to launch at the dwarf.