𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ! [jason grace]¹

C H A P T E R ⬩ T W O

O C E A N U S

C H A P T E R   T W O

( dine like a roman )

⟶⬩⬥⬩⟵

          MALIA WAS IN food heaven. If there was one thing she loved about the Romans after just meeting them, it was the way they dined. 

Sets of couches and low tables were carted into the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom. Romans lounged in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while wind spirits—aurae—swirled overhead, bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked cookies. Drifting through the crowd were purple ghosts—Lares—in togas and legionnaire armor. Around the edges of the feast, satyrs (no, fauns, Malia thought) trotted from table to table, panhandling for food and spare change. In the nearby fields, the war elephant frolicked with Mrs. O'Leary, and children played tag around the statues of Terminus.

When Malia had caught sight of the war elephant—Hannibal—she'd squealed loudly and turned to Jason with a bright smile, exclaiming, "You have an elephant?" to which Jason laughed and explained how Hannibal was their war elephant.

Now she sat between Jason and Piper at one of the tables with the other members from Camp Half-Blood, her brother, the two friends Percy had somehow managed to gain, and Reyna and a few of her officers (including the blond kid Octavian, freshly back from burning a teddy bear for the gods). 

She was studying everything with interest. If she was honest with herself, the whole scene seemed so familiar yet so completely different that it made her feel as though she was suspended in the air. A feeling she didn't exactly love, but one that wasn't too bad. 

She could see that Annabeth was struggling with something across the table. When the blonde met Malia's worried gaze, she smiled, but Malia could see straight through it. She was worried about something, but she knew that they needed the Romans to help out on their quest otherwise it wouldn't end well. 

As a tornado of food platters settled onto the table, Jason squeezed Malia's hand and leaned closer to her. "After all this is done, I want to show you around New Rome."

Malia looked up at him with shining eyes. "Really?" He nodded. She grinned and nudged his arm. "I'd love that. With how much you talked about it, it must be something."

"Trust me, it is," he said. "The place is incredible."

Malia believed that. Just by how the forum looked, she knew everything about the camp would be insane. Don't get her wrong, she loved Camp Half-Blood—it was her home, and she would never leave it—but something about the Roman camp had a different air. A safer air. One that camp didn't have, even with the barrier around it.