✧˖° "what? afraid I'll steal your heart?" ✧˖°
↳ Percy Jackson liked to think he was over the idea that all children of Hermes were the same. They wouldn't all turn out like Luke Castellan.
Turns out he definitely wasn't over it.
What happens whe...
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THE NEW CIVIL WAR HAD BEGUN.
Leo had somehow escaped his fall un-harmed. Rio saw him ducking from portico to portico, blasting fire at the giant eagles swooping down on him. Roman demigods tried to chase him, tripping over piles of cannonballs and dodging tourists, who screamed and ran in circles.
Tour guides kept yelling, "It's just a reenactment!"
Though they didn't sound sure.
The Mist could only do so much to change what mortals saw.
In the middle of the courtyard, a full-grown elephant-could that be Frank?— rampaged around the flagpoles, scattering Roman warriors. Jason stood about fifty yards away, sword-fighting with a stocky centurion whose lips were stained cherry red, like blood. A wannabe vampire, or maybe a Kool-Aid freak?
As Rio watched, Jason yelled, "Sorry about this, Dakota!"
He vaulted straight over the centurion's head like an acrobat and slammed the hilt of his gladis into the back of the Roman's head. Dakota crumpled.
I guess Rio wouldn't be returning those rings anytime soon.
"Rio!" Annabeth called. She pointed to where the Argo Il was docked. "Get the others aboard! Retreat!"
"What about you?" he called.
"Don't wait for me!" Annabeth bolted off before he could protest.
Rio had a hard time maneuvering through the mobs of tourists to get back to the ship. Why did so many people want to see fort Sumter on a sweltering summer day? But he quickly realized the crowds had saved their lives. Without the chaos of all these panicked mortals, the Romans would have already surrounded their outnumbered crew.
After a series of shoving and pushing through tourists, Rio finally made it back aboard the ship, along with everyone else besides Annabeth.
Roman demigods had formed ranks and were advancing toward the Argo Il, but a miniature storm had gathered over their heads. Though the day was clear all around them, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed above the Romans. Rain and wind pushed them back.
Rio adored the rain. He remembers back in Chicago, when he used to lay in his clothes on the sidewalk under the rain, letting the silver liquid drops pound on his skin and soak his clothes. He remembers how his brother would sit on the porch, cigarette in hand, laughing at his brother's foolishness, because he could never truly understand. He remembers his mother yelling at him to scurry back inside before he catches a cold, and Rio would ignore her because under the rain was truly the only time he felt like everything would be okay. He just closed his eyes and wished all his problems away. Because the only thing he could hear was the sound of the water splattering on the rooftop. And the only thing he could feel was the hovering humid shadows weeping its rainy tears.
