ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ʙɪᴛᴇꜱ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴀʙᴇᴛʜ/ꜱᴏʟᴀɴɢᴇʟᴏ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ

xxxɪᴠ ᴡɪʟʟ | ᴡɪʟʟ ʀɪᴅᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ʀᴏʟʟᴇʀ ᴄᴏᴀꜱᴛᴇʀ

"Okay, passing the bar where we played cornhole," Will repeats the directions to himself. He wishes that Nico wrote them down or something, but he's at least thankful that Nico gave him landmarks to go off of. Gods, the minute someone drops a street name, Will's a goner, lost forever trying to figure out what 34th street should look like.

Reyna and Calypso wave from a picnic table. Baby Jason is underneath playing with his toy train in the sand.

Will wants to warn them that the baby is dangerously close to hitting his head, but he figures it's best not to overstep his boundaries. He's just Nico's ex-boyfriend to them anyway.

"Not back for another beating, are you?" Reyna jokes.

Will waves back, wiggling his fingers. "Nah, I don't think I can take another beanbag to the face," he says.

"Or to the balls!" Calypso snorts and then eats the maraschino cherry from her Shirley Temple.

Will keeps walking, sort of wishing that Leo hadn't mentioned that detail to his wife... or was it Reyna that shared that?

"You should also see a volleyball court on your way. Take another right at the Jupiter statue," Nico's voice says in Will's head.

"Volleyball court." Will throws a runaway ball back to its owner and then wipes his hand on his jean shorts. He was not ready for it to be covered in slobber, but he's happy to have helped; it's a cute dog, after all, grey and scruffy. Will loves dogs.

"And... There's the Jupiter statue."

The Jupiter statue has seen better days. It's been vandalized with statements like "JASON GRACE WAS A HERO" and "JUSTICE FOR JASON". Some of the writing is fresh, with paint still dripping. Some of it looks like it's been there for years, and is decaying beyond legibility.

Will pauses to gaze up at Jupiter's eyes, which are blackened with spray paint. How could something like this happen? He hates Jupiter as much as the next demigod, but to deface a statue? Well, Will doesn't understand what good it could do for Jason. If anything, it'll just anger Jupiter, and everyone will pay the price.

Purple and white flowers sit at Jupiter's feet. Some are still alive, bright with vibrant colors, and others are dead, shriveled up and dropping various kinds of petals onto the concrete. Are they offerings to the king of the gods, or to his deceased son?

Will says a quick little prayer for Jason in his head, despite having not known the guy very long, and decides to take that next right.

Needless to say, his post-sex afterglow has been obscured by grief.

And then, by all things holy, there's the Starbucks. Will unfolds his wallet and retrieves the gift card that his mom sent for his birthday.

The familiar smell of pastries and roasting coffee beans could never in a million years overwhelm him.

He could get used to the New Rome Resort cafe. They can add nectar into his drink! Bring it on!

"Hi," Will says when he gets to the front of the line. "Can I get a, uh, an iced vanilla latte with a shot of nectar in it?" Despite the long line, he didn't properly rehearse his order in his head, so now he's stumbling to recite it to the barista, a college-aged girl with a beanie.

"What size?" asks the barista.

"Oh, it's been a long day. Get me a Venti please, will ya?"

"Coming right up!"

"Thanks."

Will steps to the back of the cafe, where several other people are waiting for their drinks. It's just like the Starbucks back at home in L.A. Everyone's wearing earbuds or AirPods or what have you, heads buried deep in their phones. It's nice, having no pressure to talk to anyone. Everyone's here buying liquid willpower to not punch the next person who dares speak to them. They call that 'coffee'.