━━━━GREAT GODS!
❝ but do you feel like
a young god? ❞
( the blood of olympus )
( multiple characters x ocs! )
( "heroes of old" book three )
( heroes of...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
━chapter four, ❝coach hedge gets possessed! (reyna wishes she was kidding)❞ 『R E Y N A』
☆
━━━Hordes of tourists have arrived. In groups of twenty or thirty, they swarm through the ruins, milling around the villas, wandering the cobblestone path, gawking at the colorful frescoes and mosaics. Reyna wonders how the tourists would react to a forty-foot-tall statue of Athena in the middle of the courtyard, but the Mist must have been working overtime to obscure their vision.
Each time a group approached, they would stop at the edge of the courtyard and stare in disappointment at the statue. One British tour guide announces, "Ah, scaffolding. It appears this area is undergoing restoration. Pity. Let's move on."
And off they go.
At least the statue doesn't rumble, "DIE, UNBELIEVERS!" and zap the mortals to dust. (She had dealt with a statue of Diana like that with Valentina. It hadn't been her most relaxing day).
She recalls what Annabeth had told her about the Athena Parthenos: it both attracts monsters and keeps them at bay. Sure enough, every so often, out of the corner of her eye, she would spot glowing white spirits in Roman clothes flitting among the ruins, frowning at the statue.
"Those lemures are everywhere," mutters Gleeson. "Keeping their distance for now━but come nightfall we'd better be ready to move. Ghosts are always worse at night."
Reyna does not need to be reminded of that.
She finds Ajax sitting near a flame, roasting waffles Coach Hedge had brought. Reyna sits beside him. He practically radiates warmth.
"How did you sleep?" asks Ajax.
Reyna shivers, despite the warm morning. She shakes her head. She can't decide which is more terrifying ━ the impending destruction of New Rome, or the way Octavian had brought back Bryce Lawrence and gods knows who else.
Your quest is a fool's errand. Camp Jupiter needs her. The Twelfth Legion needs her. Yet Reyna is halfway across the world, watching her sunshine of a boyfriend (is he her boyfriend? It's complicated) roast blueberry waffles on a stick over an open fire.
Ajax puts a hand on her shoulder. Warmth floods through her at his touch. When she turns to look at him, he gives her that soft, comforting smile of his that makes Reyna feel like a melting marshmallow. The tension in her shoulders eases a little.
