SANITY; heroes of olympus

03.11

[act three; chapter eleven     -     as though all happiness had gone from the world]

Under different circumstances, wandering through Rome with his two best friends would have been pretty awesome. Percy had become the designated third-wheel as the two girls held hands as they navigated the winding streets, dodging cars and crazy Vespa drivers, squeezing through mobs of tourists, and wading through oceans of pigeons. Although he felt a little left out without Grover here (the whole thing was like a deja vu almost, bringing up memories), he was glad to see the two of them sticking together. They needed that, each other.

The day warmed up quickly. Once they got away from the car exhaust on the main roads, the air smelled of baking bread and freshly cut flowers.

They aimed for the Colosseum because that was an easy landmark, but getting there proved harder than Percy anticipated. As big and confusing as the city had looked from above, it was even more so on the ground. Several times they got lost on dead-end streets. They found beautiful fountains and huge monuments by accident and even wandered across a small garden where Andy ended up talking with vines for several minutes, mocking every word Percy and Annabeth said as they attempted to pull her away.

The daughter of Athena commented on the architecture and the redhead went on and on about how vines were gossips, but Percy kept his eyes open for other things. Once he spotted a glowing purple ghost—a Lar—glaring at them from the window of an apartment building. Another time he saw a white-robed woman—maybe a nymph or a goddess—holding a wicked- looking knife, slipping between ruined columns in a public park. Nothing attacked them, but he felt like they were being watched, and the watchers were not friendly.

Somewhere along the way, he felt a soft yet calloused hand on his back, Andy curling an arm around his waist. He knew she could feel his anxiety as it radiated off of him and he felt bad of course, because he knew what he and so many others felt, she felt, too. But she didn't say anything, not as she steered him in the same direction that Annabeth walked, a small, content smile on her face. Gods, she was stunning. He wanted to say something, tell her she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen, but he knew she appreciated his silence much more. She had always been better with emotions, they were easier for her to understand in comparison to words.