𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 [Jason Grace]

99

𝐀𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐤𝐞 when they arrived.

When Dante was told they had a king boarding the ship, he expected someone human. They had only just docked the Argo II in Piraeus, on the outskirts of Athens. Dante was surprisingly calm, or at least he pretended to be.

He pushed all the anxiety deep, deep inside and focused on what needed to be done. He polished his daggers, made sure he was stocked with ambrosia and nectar. Last of all, he made sure he'd given the physician's cure to Leo who put it wherever he needed it to be.

The snake people guards were left on the deck with Buford, at least that's what Dante was told when they gathered in the mess hall for a 'get to know you meeting' with the king of Athens.

At first Dante had mistook him for a Dracanae, these nasty monsters the Romans fought to topple the throne of Saturn. But unlike the dracanae, the king had only one serpent trunk for legs.

The snake man held his head high. His face was chiselled and bronze, his eyes black as basalt, his curly dark hair glistening with oil. His upper body rippled with muscles, covered only by a Greek chlamys— a white wool cloak loosely wrapped and pinned at the shoulder. From the waist down, his body was one giant serpent trunk— about eight feet of green tail undulating behind him as he moved.

In one hand he carried a staff topped with a glowing green jewel. In his other, he carried a platter covered with a silver dome.

"Please take a seat," Jason offered.

Kekrops wrinkled his nose. "Snake people do not sit."

"Please remain standing," Leo said. He cut the cake and stuffed a piece in his mouth before Dante could warn him it might be poisoned, or inedible for mortals, or just plain bad.

"Dang!" He grinned. "Snake people know how to make Bundt cake. Kind of orangey, with a hint of honey. Needs a glass of milk."

"Snake people do not drink milk," Kekrops said. "We are lactose-intolerant reptiles."

"Me, too!" Frank said. "I mean... lactose intolerant. Not a reptile. Though I can be a reptile sometimes—"

"Anyway," Dante interrupted, "King Kekrops, what brings you here? How did you know we'd arrived?"

"I know everything that happens in Athens," Kekrops said. "I was the city's founder, its first king, born of the earth. I am the one who judged the dispute between Athena and Poseidon, and chose Athena to be the patron of the city."

"No hard feelings, though," Percy muttered.

Annabeth elbowed him. "I've heard of you, Kekrops. You were the first to offer sacrifices to Athena. You built her first shrine on the Acropolis."

"Correct." Kekrops sounded bitter, like he regretted his decision. "My people were the original Athenians— the gemini."

"Like your zodiac sign?" Percy asked. "I'm a Leo."

"No, stupid," Leo said. "I'm a Leo. You're a Percy."

"Jason and I are cancers," Dante mused aloud.

"Well, if I figure out a cure soon, I'll let you know unless the American government has me assassinated." Leo patted him on the back.

"Will you guys stop it?" Hazel chided. "I think he means gemini like doubled— half man, half snake. That's what his people are called. He's a geminus, singular."