²𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃𝐘✸ percy jackson

XLIII.

ΉӨЦƧΣ ӨF ΉΛDΣƧ

LUCIA STARED AT THE ATHENA PARTHENOS, waiting for it to shoot lasers out its eyes or smash her down into goop with its humongous fist. She almost expected the thing to wake up, glare at her, and lecture her on how awfully unwise she was.

Lucia didn't mean to question the ancient Greeks' artistic abilities, but the thing was kinda creepy behind all the grandness.

Leo's new mechanical hoist system had lowered the statue onto the hillside with surprising ease. Now the forty-foot-tall goddess gazed serenely over the River Acheron, her gold dress like molten metal in the sun.

"Incredible," Reyna admitted.

She was still red-eyed from crying. Her cheeks were puffy and her face pale despite the composed look she bore.

Soon after she'd landed on the Argo II, her pegasus Scipio had collapsed, overwhelmed by poisoned claw marks from a gryphon attack the night before.

Reyna had to put the horse out of his misery with her golden knife, turning Scipio into dust that scattered in the sweet-smelling Greek air.

Maybe not a bad end for a flying horse, but Reyna had lost a loyal friend and was obviously grieving.

Lucia deeply felt for her, she figured that the Praetor had given up too much in her life already. She was hardly any older than Lucia. Yet she had years of sacrifices, deaths, and monsters under her belt. It was no surprise to Lucia when Annabeth admitted to admiring her resilience and courage.

The boricua circled the Athena Parthenos warily. "It looks newly made."

"Yeah," Leo said. "We brushed off the cobwebs and used a little Windex. It wasn't hard. Lucia recently suggested polishing it with fabuloso, which is why it smells like lavender."

"My Mom hates lavender," Annabeth commented

"Well shit, she's definitely adding that to the list of reasons to hate me," Lucia grumbled before taking a sip of the refreshing bubbly lemonade Annabeth handed to her.

Annabeth had also given Lucia a gray hoodie to comfortably wear over her tattered nurse dress, which she was definitely excited to change out of once she got back to the ship.

"It'll be fine." The blonde shrugged. Her mom's opinion was usually sacred to her but when it came to her friendship with Lucia, she didn't care about what her mom had to say.

The Argo II hovered just overhead. With Festus keeping watch for threats on the radar, the entire crew had decided to eat lunch on the hillside while they discussed what to do.

Lucia couldn't explain how much she missed having a good meal—she could eat anything as long as it wasn't fire water or drakon meat soup.

"Hey, Reyna," Annabeth called. "Have some food. Join us."

The praetor glanced over, her dark eyebrows furrowed, as if join them didn't quite compute.

Her cheeks flushed slightly as she silently decided what to do.

Lucia had never seen Reyna without any armor before, including any emotional one.

Her actual praetor chest plate was on board the ship, being repaired by Buford the Wonder Table.

She wore a pair of jeans and a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt and looked almost like a normal teenager—if it wasn't for the knife at her belt and that guarded expression like she anticipated an attack from any direction and was prepared for anything.