𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 [Jason Grace]

81

𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭 the ruins, letting Percy and Leo to search the museum.

Dante regretted his decision immediately. For one thing, the ruins were spread out over a huge chunk of land. And for another, Frank refused to turn into a horse or a dragon and take Dante with him as he scouted from above which naturally left Dante on foot, trudging through the ruins alone.

After what seemed like hours, Frank— in crow form— landed in front of Dante and turned back into a human Chinese-Canadian dude.

"It's huge—" Frank was breathing hard, probably because using his powers a lot drained him. "And don't make a dirty joke."

Dante bit the inside of his cheek, "I wasn't going to!" He lied.

"We should group back with the others," Frank scanned their surroundings. "There's no way the two of us can go through all of it."

"Smart call, Praetor," Dante grinned.

"Still feels weird," he admitted.

"You deserve it though."

Frank looked like he didn't know what to say in response.

"Just say thank you," Dante instructed.

"Thank you."

Dante hummed in satisfaction. "So, there's no way you'll turn into a dragon and take me to the others?"

Dante was hoping Frank would say the word ride so he could turn it into something vulgar. Frank disappointed him.

"It's a nice day out, let's walk."

The walk back took them longer than Dante would have liked. After walking everywhere in Tartarus, he wasn't fond of just strolling any more. He would have preferred jogging or even running. He liked keeping a steady pace, trying to push himself to his fastest limit. He liked the burn in his legs and lungs. It was comforting.

Instead, they walked.

"Well," Dante began, "This is romantic."

Frank snorted. "Thanks, I'll try harder for Hazel."

They talked about a lot of stuff, mostly irrelevant things. A few childhood anecdotes, stories from Camp Jupiter and past quests. Dante could tell Frank was avoiding the subject of Tartarus like the plague. In fact everyone on board was.

They treated Jason and Dante like fragile dolls, which wasn't being helped by the fact that Jason literally got stabbed like two minutes earlier.

They didn't know how to approach the topic, or even if they should. Dante was glad for it. He didn't really feel like talking about it anyway. He'd rather live with the awkwardness.

The longer they walked and talked, the more he began to wonder if him being there wasn't a wise idea. Ever since Tartarus, he had noticed a severe increase in his anger. He had known about his fatal flaw, but if Nike somehow managed to take advantage of it and pit him against his friends, he didn't know if he could calm himself down.

He was starting to regret separating from Jason. Realistically, he knew he couldn't be glued t o Jason's side forever. But without Jason in his direct line of sight, Dante sometimes went a little crazy.

He'd been too slow at Ithaca. And now he'd left Jason on board. Dante realized he'd begun to think of himself as responsible for Jason. If something happened to him now, if Jason got hurt now, it would be his fault.