sky blue ● jason grace

without

 "Nico has until sunset, at the most," Hazel spoke first. She didn't look hostily in Jason and Leo's directions anymore and Daria couldn't help but wonder what exactly Jason and Hazel had talked about earlier.

Of course, Frank still glared at Leo constantly. She would've thought that now, Frank and Leo were united in their hatred of her, but Frank had just expanded his capacity to hate two people at once. Daria tried to remain pacifistic and bring up Gaea as little as possible, but it surely didn't help that Jason would scowl at Frank as soon as he even thought about criticizing either Daria or Leo.

Leo respected the hell out of Jason, which was why any comments he made to Daria were done outside of his presence. Frank had no such qualms, and he was the one that hurt Daria more. She couldn't look at him without feeling the guilt crawl up and into her throat.

Which left Hazel in an odd spot. The poor girl thought it was all her fault, even though Daria had repeatedly told her that she shouldn't feel guilty at all, and that if it didn't happen then, she would've never confessed. So essentially, Daria should be thanking her.

Hazel didn't look like she believed this for one second, but she compensated by praising Daria whenever Frank was around, as if she could somehow reinforce the idea that Daria wouldn't kill him in his sleep.

That left Percy. Daria watched him from across the table. She desperately wanted to ask him about her dad, but her cousin had made it very clear he didn't want to be in the same space as her, so Daria was content to leave him alone. She could ask her questions when this was all over, assuming nothing went too badly.

Besides, Annabeth was more important than anything else. Daria could see the worry etched into the blonde's face, even though they hadn't known each other for very long. She couldn't imagine how stressed out she seemed to those who knew her better.

Percy looked just as lost in thought as she was, but he shook himself out of it. "You're right. Annabeth...did you zero in on that spot from your bronze map?"

Her gray eyes turned unnaturally dark-something that only Percy was meant to interpret. "Yes," she said carefully. "It's on the Tiber River. I think I can find it, but I should—"

"Take me along," Percy finished. "Yeah, you're right."

Annabeth glared daggers at him. "That's not—"

"Safe," Percy supplied. "One demigod walking through Rome alone. I'll go with you as far as the Tiber. We can use that letter of introduction, hopefully meet the river god Tiberinus. Maybe he can give you some help or advice. Then you can go on alone from there."

They had a silent staring contest, one that Daria was hoping Percy would win. She heard Jason sigh impatiently beside her and was brought back to Annabeth's thoughts. She was right, Daria realized. She and Jason were almost nothing like Annabeth and Percy, those two knew each other like the backs of their hands. But at the same time, Daria liked to believe they were drifting towards it. Jason was becoming more what she was used to, albeit a newer model.

"Fine," Annabeth muttered. "Hazel, now that we're in Rome, do you think you can pinpoint Nico's location?"

Hazel blinked, as if coming out of a trance from watching the Percy/Annabeth Show. "Um...hopefully, if I get close enough. I'll have to walk around the city. Frank, would you come with me?"

Frank beamed. "Absolutely."

"And, uh...Leo," Hazel added. "It might be a good idea if you came along too. The fish-centaurs said we'd need your help with something mechanical."

"Yeah," Leo said, "no problem."

Frank's face turned into something along the lines of Okeanos's scowl.