𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

snarlspit

JASPER ELIANO
"I THINK I PREFER THE LAND OF THE DEAD TO THIS PLACE," Nico commented, examining the snacks in the aisle with distaste.

Jasper snorted, although it still hurt to laugh. They were in the Buford Zippy Market, with a population of one cashier, and food that looked like it was about a hundred years old.

Still, he grabbed a cylinder of powdered donuts and shrugged. "Can't hurt." He threw them into Nico's basket, which made Nico scowl.

They bought a first-aid kit, some more junk food and soda (since the banquet table in Reyna's fancy new magic tent only provided healthy food and fresh water), and some miscellaneous supplies that might come in handy if they had to deal with werewolves or other creatures again.

Nico was clearly anxious to find some fresh clothes, which Jasper thought was an insult to his sense of style. The kid looked great. Fortunately for Jasper, the only shirts in the store were ones with Confederate flags and corny sayings like Keep Calm And Follow The Redneck. Nico took one look at them, wrinkled his nose, and went to the front of the store to pay.

They walked back to the campsite down a two-lane road under the blazing sun. This part of South Carolina seemed to consist mostly of overgrown fields, punctuated by telephone poles and trees covered in kudzu vines. The town of Buford itself was a collection of six or seven portable metal sheds.

Jasper hated the sun. He hated his wounds. He hated South Carolina. He hated how Nico was becoming less and less solid by the day, and he especially hated how closed-off Reyna had become since they had seen the ghosts in that house. 

Overall, he was just thriving.

Nico and Jasper had no trouble finding their way back to camp. The Athena Parthenos was the tallest landmark for miles around. In its new camouflage netting, it glittered silver like an extremely flashy forty-foot-tall ghost. 

Apparently, the Athena Parthenos had wanted them to visit a place with educational value, because she'd landed right next to a historical marker that read Massacre of Buford, on a gravel turnout at the intersection of Nowhere and Nothing.

Reyna's tent sat in a grove of trees about thirty yards back from the road. Nearby lay a rectangular cairn―hundreds of stones piled in the shape of an oversized grave with a granite obelisk for a headstone. Scattered around it were faded wreathes and crushed bouquets of plastic flowers. Real festive.

Aurum and Argentum were playing keep-away in the woods with a ball Jasper had bought a few days earlier. Ever since getting repaired by the Amazons, the metal dogs had been frisky and full of energy―unlike their owner.

Reyna sat cross-legged at the entrance of the tent, staring at the memorial obelisk. She hadn't said much since they fled San Juan two days ago. They'd also encountered no monsters, which made Jasper both tense and uneasy. They'd had no further word from the Hunters or the Amazons. They didn't know what had happened to Hylla, or Thalia, or the giant Orion.

Which sucked a pretty big amount.

Still, Jasper knew a few things about ghosts, and he didn't have to be a genius to guess that Nico did, too. 

Reyna glanced up as they approached. "I figured it out."

"Genius," Jasper said immediately, even though he had no idea what she was talking about. He plopped down next to her and tore open his donuts.