ARUNA

~•♡•~

leo scanned the temple, squinting his eyes at everything like it'd done something wrong. aruna was still having immense trouble placing his emotions- it wasn't embarrassment, but it was close to it. it wasn't shame at all, however; leo had no sign of any sort of guilt or remorse, almost like he didn't care what he was feeling. it was bothering aruna that she could only place negative emotions, and rarely neutral or positive ones.

she knew, however, that leo was trying to figure out where something mechanical was. it was one of his demigod powers. he'd mentioned being a little envious of other kids- apollo's children were miraculously perfect at shooting bows; ares's children could fight perfectly with any weapon they pleased; he even mentioned being a little envious that aruna could teleport and even use a moonblast. he admitted his fire seeming a little weak in comparison.

aruna preferred leo's abilities. she liked that he wasn't a "front line fighter" like she and so many other people were. she liked that leo was a little awkward when he'd tried to learn to use a sword. she liked that leo's talents were in the background. leo could build and program just about anything he'd wanted to. at fifteen years old, he learned how to fly a helicopter just by putting his hand on it. the same quest, when he had just learned he was a demigod, he rebuilt a bronze dragon. once, he'd reprogrammed the billboards in times square to read; ALL DA LADIES LUV LEO... accidentally, of course.

the only thing she didn't like was how overlooked he was. so many people praised children like jason or clarisse for their fighting skills. they preferred appreciating the bloodshed of capture the flag over leo and his siblings helping to build their cabins, or fix the training areas after the battles were over, or literally build an entire warship.

but she would be there. she was always the first person to appreciate the little things leo could do, even though they weren't little.

leo turned toward a red marble altar with a statue of the virgin mary on top. "over there." he said.

he marched confidently to the shrine, like he just knew. it was shaped sort of like a fireplace, with an arched recess at the bottom. the mantel was inscribed with a name, like a tomb.

"the passage is around here." he said. "this guy's final resting place is in the way. raphael somebody?"

"famous painter, i think." hazel said. she looked at aruna like she had the answer.

"raffaello sanzio da urbino." aruna answered with a nod. "one of my favorite paintings of his was the school of athens."

"nerd." leo snickered.

"open the damn passage, repair boy."

leo shrugged. he looked around frantically, trying to see if they were being watched.

"hold on..." he mumbled.

most of the tour groups were gawking at the dome, but one particular group made aruna feel uneasy. about fifty feet away, some middle-aged american dudes were conversing loudly, complaining about how hot it was. they looked like manatees stuffed into beach clothes- sandals, walking shorts (which were way too tight), touristy t-shirts and floppy hats. the guys acted extremely bored, but something about their emotions seemed... false.

aruna wanted them gone.

they weren't watching them at all. really, they probably couldn't do it discreetly- their necks were so fat, they would have to turn their whole body to watch. aruna felt some comfort in knowing that it wouldn't be a secret, but something was wrong.

leo suddenly slipped around the side of the tomb. aruna followed, standing in front of him and picking at her nails to look nonchalant as she guarded him. she could hear leo running his hands around the tomb, looking for... something. aruna didn't know what. she wasn't very smart with that stuff.

"heh." leo suddenly snickered. "not very elegant, but effective." he paused, and aruna looked at him.

"nice ass." leo said in a frat-dude tone, even biting his lips, rubbing his chin, squinting his eyes, and raising his eyebrows.

"oh my gosh, thaaaankssss." aruna put on her best sorority tone.

"excuse me?" frank asked. aruna and leo snickered before clearing their throats and returning to normal. "what did you find?"

"the combination for the lock." leo explained. he ran his hands down the tomb again before stopping. "the lock face itself has been ripped out- probably vandalized some time in the last few centuries. but i should be able to control the mechanism inside, if i can..."

aruna turned her head over her shoulder and watched leo, her eyes wide and curious. he placed his hand on the marble floor, his face serious as if studying something. he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, and with a low hum, aruna could hear gears beneath them start moving on their own.

no- not on their own. it was leo.

she turned around as soon as the marble squares opened. she smoothed her shirt and fixed her hair before turning back around and looking at the small space in the floor that had opened up- a space so small, it was barely big enough for her to wiggle through.

"romans must have been small." leo commented before looking at frank. "you'll need to change into something thinner to get through here."

"that's not nice!" hazel chided. aruna smacked leo chest with the back of her hand and glared at him.

"what? just saying-"

"don't worry about it." frank mumbled. aruna could see he was embarrassed and she instantly side-eyed leo, not even bothering to hide it. leo felt ashamed and hung his head.

"not everyone is as small as you." she remarked. leo flushed red and mumbled a small apology.

"we should go get the others before we explore." frank went on, his flush disappearing as he thankfully looked at aruna. "that's what piper said."

"they're halfway across the city." leo reminded him. "besides, uh, i'm not sure i can close this hatch again. the gears are pretty old."

"great." frank huffed. "how do we know it's safe down there?"

hazel knelt. she put her hand over the opening as if checking the temperature. "there's nothing alive... at least not for several hundred feet. the tunnel slants down, then levels out and goes south, more or less. i don't sense any traps..."

"how can you tell all that?" leo asked.

she shrugged. "same way you can pic locks on marble columns, or the same way runa knows when somebody gets dumped from halfway across a clearing. i'm glad you guys aren't into robbing banks."

"oh..." leo and aruna's eyes lit up as they looked at each other. "bank vaults." leo went on. "i never thought of that."

"that's a lot better than making me pickpocket when you want a deli sandwich!" aruna scoffed.

"forget i said anything." hazel sighed. "look, it's not three o' clock yet. we can at least do a little exploring, try to pinpoint nico's location before we contact the others. you three stay here until i call for you. i want to check things out, make sure the tunnel is structurally sound. i'll be able to tell more once i'm underground."

frank scowled. "we can't let you go by yourself. you could get hurt."

"frank, i can take care of myself." she said. "underground is my specialty. it's safest for all of us if i go first."

"i can latch onto her emotions." aruna offered. "make sure she's okay."

"or frank can turn into a mole." leo suggested. aruna kinda liked that idea. "or a prairie dog. those things are awesome."

"shut up." frank mumbled.

"don't badgers go underground, too?" aruna grinned. "dude, if you could become a rabid badger-"

frank waved a finger an inch from her nose. "rodrigo, i swear-"

"careful. she bites."

leo's warning didn't come in time. aruna bit frank's hand and he yelped slightly before pulling his hand away and holding it.

"what are you, a dog?"

"technically, you are." aruna pointed out.

"all of you, quiet." hazel scolded. "i'll be back soon, give me ten minutes. if you don't hear from me by then, or runa feels something... never mind. i'll be fine. just try not to kill each other while i'm down here."

hazel dropped down the hole. leo, frank, and aruna stood in front of it, exclusively in that order as they tried to shield her. they tried to make it seem casual for two sixteen year old asians and their little mexican friend to crowd around raphael's tomb.

tour groups came and went. most ignored frank and leo, though one woman seemed to take an interest in aruna at one point.

she started speaking in korean, like she knew.

"oh, hello! what brings you to italy?"

aruna saw leo and frank's eyes widen. aruna frowned slightly, not caring to engage in conversation.

"a funeral."

the woman pouted. "i'm very sorry to hear that. say, do you know who that statue is of- that one there?" she asked, pointing to a statue of mars.

"the old roman god of war." aruna answered. the woman marveled at it for a minute. "he enjoyed having an affair with his brother's wife, the goddess of love. he also enjoyed murdering people."

"how interesting. i hear there are statues here of all sorts of gods. can you imagine believing in gods?" she laughed casually. aruna thought it would have been funny if she was smited for that, but the gods didn't seem to care.

"it's no different than buddhism." aruna remarked. "you believe in something to keep you going despite knowing that everything sucks and you'll just die anyways."

the woman frowned, taken slightly aback. "well... that's one way to think of things. what are you doing by a tomb anyway?" then, she pointed to frank, who looked exceedingly confused as he had no idea what was going on. "is this one your boyfriend?"

aruna shook her head and pointed to leo.

"that one is."

leo had no idea what was going on, but he grinned and waved. the woman jumped a bit, stared at him, and turned back to aruna.

"such unruly hair. what would your children look like?"

"probably better than yours."

at that, the woman walked off. aruna smirked to herself and went back to remaining neutral.

"what was that about?" leo asked. "why did you point at us?"

"she asked if frank was my brother, and i said no. then she asked who you were, and i said we were returning you to the pound."

"hey!" leo complained. frank snickered a little bit, and the three went back to looking neutral.

after that, they were left alone. a few people glanced apprehensively and then kept walking. maybe the tourists thought they would ask for tips. aruna said if she danced like shakira, maybe they could make a buck or two. frank said no, and that it would probably result in being banned from the momument.

and, of course, for some reason, leo was able to really unnerve people when he grinned. probably because he looked like he was going to offer them bath salts, but aruna brushed it off.

the three american men were still hanging around in the middle of the room. one of them wore a t-shirt that said ROMA like he'd forget where he was if he didn't wear it. every once in a while, he would glance at aruna, frank, and leo like their presence was distasteful.

aruna was immensely bothered.

"is there a bathroom?" she suddenly blurted out.

"you need to pee?" leo snorted. "we haven't had anything to drink these past few hours."

"actually, no." aruna shook her head. "it's um... lady things."

"oh dear." frank choked. "i-i think there are some public bathrooms a little down the block."

"that's kind of far to go alone." leo admitted. "dammit, why can't hazel be here to take you? it'd be better anyway."

"i can take care of myself." aruna said. "i'm still able to feel hazel, but..."

she walked over to leo, and placed her wrist next to his. her silver bracelet linked onto his wrist, clasping gently around him. aruna's scar was revealed now, and she set her hands by her side.

"there. if anything happens, flick your wrist, and i'll know. even if you don't use the weapon, just hold onto it and i'll be able to find you. be right back. don't be a dick to frank."

"no promises."

"frank, if he's a dick, let me know."

frank smiled. "will do."

"ugh, snitch."

~•♡•~

it was not lady things, thank the gods. aruna was mostly relieved it wasn't, but also a bit annoyed considering she left frank and leo. quickly, she washed her hands at the sink, then looked in the mirror.

she was met with... dissatisfaction. she stared at herself, mindlessly turning the water off.

she wasn't ever a huge fan of how she looked, but after meeting aphrodite... it was different, somehow. like all of a sudden, she truly realized everything she lacked. she didn't like she way her nose was wider than other's, and curved out. she thought her eyes made her look weird, like some sort of bug. her skin was sickly pale, the color of a porcelain jar, which was a huge problem in the sun. her lips looked weirdly pink, plump in the wrong way. her hair was lazily done and the white strip in the front looked stupid.

she thought about that. about how the root was starting to turn black- to turn normal. part of her liked that. the other part of her thought it was important to remember what it was like to fall down the grand canyon- how it made her realize what living was.

it wasn't like she wanted to be pretty to appease the beauty standard. but part of her wondered what it was like to love yourself.

she shook her head. it wasn't the time to bother with her appearance now. she had to get back to her friends.

she walked hurriedly across the street, her eyes set on the temple. she gently rubbed at the ugly scar on her wrist, remembering how she'd saved leo.

part of her liked remembering that. but part of her hated how unclean it made her seem. again, she pushed those thoughts aside as she walked up the steps of the temple.

she froze. she could hear wails of leo's name, and her hairpin twitched.

leo had activated the weapon.

~•♡•~

i just finished writing through the house of hades and i want to cry

ALSO ONE OF MY READERS IS IN POLAND THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING TO MY POLISH READER I LOVE YOU

i just very much like poland :)