ARUNA

~•♡•~

the sky was a brilliant blue, the same color as jason's eyes. the sun rose over the distant hills, so everything below them shone and sparkled like the entire city of rome had just come out of the car wash.

aruna had seen big cities before; new york, dallas, quebec city, L.A.- but the sheer expanse of rome completely threw her for a loop. the architecture seemingly made it bigger; all the houses seemed to be piled on top of each other, with red roofs spanning across the horizon. some of them were stained limestone, worn and cracked over the years, while some of the buildings were newer, with boxy, modern builds. even still, the entire city looked homey. there seemed to be no order whatsoever. alleys and streets curved and zigzagged with no cause. there were random water passages filled with boats, and those boats were full of tourists. it looked like the place you'd see in dreams.

"we're setting down in that park." leo announced, pointing to a wide green space dotted with palm trees. "let's hope the mist makes us look like a giant pidgeon or something."

as the ship descended, nobody really seemed to take any notice. none of the cars veered off the road. they didn't even slow down. nobody screamed and pointed. it was very simple; the ship landed in the middle of rome.

the disgusting sounds of car engines and people were all around, but the park was mostly serene. a green lawn sloped towards a forest, full of thin pine trees that shot up thirty or forty feet, then sprouted into canopies, like the truffula trees of the lorax. on the opposite side, a long brick wall snaked along the hill. based on the history of rome, it was either roman, or it was medieval. naturally, annabeth would know, but the top of the colosseum shocked aruna out of asking.

aruna's arms trembled. she was here. for six months now, they'd talked about sailing to the ancient lands. for a week, they had pinpointed rome specifically. now, the ruins of the colosseum were screaming in aruna's face, a taunt almost to her endeavors that led up to this point.

and we aren't anywhere near done. she felt panicky. they still had to locate the doors of death, close them, and then magically defeat gaea.

she felt like she didn't deserve this. she was sixteen. she hadn't even been given the opportunity to get a driver's liscense, and yet she was expected to save the world with a band of equally disqualified teenagers and a psychotic satyr with an attitude.

the world is a cruel and unforgiving place, she remembered. she'd been telling herself that for so many years now, it had lost its meaning. everything that had happened seemed so slow in the moment, and yet, it was a blur. forever she had spent waiting for leo, hazel, and frank to resurface from the ocean; except it wasn't forever. it was probably less than six hours.

not even half a day.

it occured to her that she'd only know jason for six months. her mist memories of him had gone away, but he was such a close friend, she didn't have to think about that. same with piper and leo; she'd known them for less than a year, and only really been friends with leo for the same length as jason. it was all a mystery to her.

six months.

she frowned. she felt like she had wasted half her life on... on what? she didn't even know. none of it seemed to make sense. she could barely remember anything that had happened before the wilderness school. it was all a blur, with little fragmented memories between; stealing a dog, learning how to draw from... who was her mentor? she knew it was someone. someone that'd had an impact of some sort on her, because she drew all the time now. she found it interesting how some of the more impactful people in our lives have no face, and no name.

i believe it was a woman.

she could faintly remember graduating elementary school in the fifth grade, how her grandmother forced her to wear a hanbok, a traditional korean dress. she remembered how she'd hated it, how other kids laughed at her. she faintly remembered grabbing a cheap, cardstock diploma, and looking to the audience for support.

grandma wasn't there.

she faintly remembered getting in a fight in the eighth grade. someone had made fun of her father, having seen a picture of him from the year 2000. the other girl had laughed at his slanted eyes, his crooked teeth, his short stature. she knew hyeon had been dead for about five years, and still, she laughed. aruna remembered blinking, and she was suddenly being pulled away from the bloody lump of flesh and bones she'd been on top of.

grandma got mad.

she remembered first arriving to the wilderness school. in fact, she did not remember the first time she'd met piper. she knew it was a simple introduction, a quiet one, followed by a period of silence. she did not remember if piper had done or said something specific that made aruna think, i want her as a friend. once again, aruna had blinked, and suddenly, she was able to laugh and crack jokes in the dorm, late at night, while hiding under the blankets with piper.

the headmaster didn't like that.

aruna remembered the first time she'd spent a night with leo, though. she remembered sitting in the room of midas's mansion, everything covered in gold. she remembered watching intently as leo's nimble hands produced a new tool every few seconds, working away at the lock of medea's canary cage that held coach hedge. she remembered the way his body had felt when he hugged her, how unusually warm he was. she remembered how he'd discussed feelings with her, even though neither of them were very good at that. she remembered faintly, now, even though she hadn't before, how leo had finally told her to go to sleep, and he guided her to the couch, where he'd tucked her in, his face kind and thoughtful as he smiled down at her.

he was always so kind.

she remembered the first time she'd managed to last longer than five minutes in a duel against clarisse. clarisse had been using her electric spear, maimer, though everyone called it lamer instead. she remembered how neither of them opted to use any armor, just one weapon. aruna had used one of her swords, and gave the other to piper so the girl could practice crochet, a hobby she never ended up returning to. she remembered how, at the five and a half minute mark, clarisse had pinned her to the floor, electricity crackling just inches from sparking aruna.

she had laughed and said she was proud.

she remembered things now. most of her fondest memories came from the past six months, and the four years of basic consciousness she had before her father died. even that was so short, so little. the mind of a child has less ability to commit things to memory. a child disregards so much, not realizing the important things, and regretting forgetting it years in the future. put together, aruna only had about four years of committed memory.

the thought made her want to cry.

"i think i know where we are." jason said as he pointed to the base of the brick wall. "that's the tomb of the scipio's."

percy frowned. "scipio... reyna's pegasus?"

"no." annabeth shook her head. "they were a noble roman family, and... wow, this place is amazing."

jason nodded. "i've studied maps of rome before. i've always wanted to come here, but..."

nobody finished the sentence. nobody needed to. it hung in the air the way the smell of gas does at the pump. they'd made it. they were as much in rome as the people on the street, the people in the boats, the people taking naps in their little roman villas.

"plans?" hazel asked, her throat tight. "nico has until sunset- at best. and this entire city is supposedly getting destroyed today."

percy shook his head, almost like he was snapping himself out of his thoughts. "you're right. annabeth... did you zero in on that spot from your bronze map?"

her gray eyes stormed with the force of a tornado, both inciting fear and reflecting her own. "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 aimed her tornadoes at him. "that's not-"

"safe." he 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. every demigod on board went still, all inclining slightly to look at the death match between the daughter of athena and the son of poseidon. in a fraction of a second, aruna almost felt like she was looking right at the two gods; their rivalry continuing even into the present day. one of them hardened with wisdom, her eyes always ready for a fight. the other always appearing as a sea breeze, hair gently tousled to the side, unless you looked at a different angle; then, he could be as violent as a sea storm, the merciless tides of the seven seas all wrapped into one person.

then, it changed. aruna no longer saw athena and poseidon, rivals ever since athens was formed. it went back to annabeth and percy, both just sixteen years old, both still with the appearance of an average child- not a god.

aruna looked at leo, who had appeared by her side. his eyes were wide and anticipatory as he waited for the contest to end.

"fine." annabeth muttered as she turned away. everyone both looked relaxed and shocked. annabeth never lost staring contests. aruna saw leo looking at percy in complete shock, and percy winked confidently.

"hazel, now that we're in rome, do you think you can pinpoint nico's location?" annabeth asked.

hazel blinked, as if coming out of a trance from watching the percabeth showdown. "um... hopefully, if i can 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 on. "it might be a good idea if you came along, too. the fish-centaurs said we'd need your help with something mechanical."

frank's smile dropped. his face almost looked soured, like instead of walking around a romantic city with his girlfriend, he'd been forced into community service by picking up all the trash being littered.

"sure, cool, whatever." leo breathed in. "only if aru comes."

aruna looked at him. "huh?"

"we need you to find nico." leo shrugged with a grin. "he's traumatized and stuff, right? won't you be able to feel his emotions? and besides, you're a pretty good fighter. if we get fucked, you can unfuck us!"

hazel looked almost offended by that statement, but she'd been getting used to the fact that leo and aruna traded curse words like playing cards.

"i will most likely be the one to fuck us first, as we mentioned previously." aruna pointed out. "and also- isn't frank literally a son of a war god?"

"that he is." leo agreed. "but i am what you may call a double fucker, and frank is only one man! he can only unfuck so much that is fucked!"

"are we disregarding hazel?" frank questioned.

"definitely not." leo assured. "but she'll be caught up with looking for nico and whatever."

"you want me for the quest to find nico, too. how will i not be caught up in that?"

"because you will be working with frank to unfuck my fuck ups." leo reasoned. "why is this confusing? it's very simple, really."

"let me get this straight." aruna made a time-out sign with her hands. "you say hazel will be preoccupied only looking for nico. you want me to look for nico and unfuck the things you fuck up, yet somehow, i will not be occupied looking for nico. you are also gladly choosing to ignore the fact that i, too, fuck things up. so, combining our respective forces, we- you, leo valdez, and i- will triple fuck things up, with only frank and i- two people- to unfuck the triple fuck ups. all the while hazel will be entirely enamored with looking for the wee italian boy. is that right?"

everyone went silent as leo furtively nodded.

"yes, that is right. i will say, you are grossly oversimplifying things. and besides, if you weren't gonna join us, who were you gonna join?" leo pressed as he waved to his comrades. "you can third-wheel along the tiber with percy and annabeth, then bid farewell and walk back alone with percy. you can... i dunno what we're doing with jason and piper yet, but you'll third wheel there. or, you can watch chuck norris movies with coach hedge and discuss the politics of the death sentence." leo went on with a confident smile. "or, you can join frank, hazel, and i, and work with hazel to look for the wee italian boy, work with frank to unfuck things, and work with me to fuck things!"

"you want me to fuck things with you?"

percy and piper bursted out laughing as leo groaned.

"fuck up things." leo corrected. percy continued to laugh and piper was crying. "whatever! so, take your pick."

aruna squinted. "none."

"and... what do you plan to do?" leo grinned as he leaned in.

"you know what i'm gonna do?"

"what?"

"i am going to find myself a hot," aruna spat. "foreign, sexy italian individual, and i will bring them aboard my ship, and i will have a hot and heavy makeout session in front of you, and they will feed me chocolate and grapes and play with my hair. that is what i will do."

"and was that supposed to affect me?" leo deadpanned.

"fine." aruna turned on her heel and made for the gangplank. "then i guess you won't stop me-"

leo yanked her back by the collar of her shirt. "nope. you're coming with us!"

aruna groaned as she now stood in front of leo, his hand still on her collar. "i guess i'm going with them." she grunted.

"great!" piper smiled. "now you can work with hazel to find the wee italian, work with frank to unfuck things, and work with leo to fuck up things!"

"i am so lost." annabeth sighed.

leo let go of aruna shirt. instead, he threw an arm around her shoulder, letting his hand  closer to her collarbone. aruna felt her breath hitch and she crossed her arms as leo crossed his legs, his gaze now settled on frank.

"that cool, bro?"

frank's eyes glinted, almost like he was surprised. his features seemed to ease up and his shoulder's lowered as his eyes landed on leo's hand around aruna's shoulders, and it seemed like a thought was occuring to him.

"pipes, what are you doing?" aruna asked as she turned away.

piper drew her knife and set it on a rail. "jason and i can watch the ship for now. i'll see what katoptris can show me. but, hazel, if you guys get a fix on nico's location, don't go in there by yourselves. come back and get us. it'll take all of us to fight the giants." then, she smiled, starting to lighten the mood.

"especially with the triple fuck duo over here."

aruna gave a sarcastic grin, her eyes still dark and arms still crossed. leo gave a playful grin and gave a thumbs up before pushing his cheek against aruna's.

"that's us!"

"good idea." percy said as he waved a hand to aruna and leo. "how about we plan to meet back here at... what?"

"three this afternoon?" jason suggested. "that's probably the latest we could get rendezvous and still hope to find the giants and save nico. if something happens to change the plan, try to send an iris-message."

the others nodded in agreement, but aruna couldn't get her gaze off annabeth. the girl suddenly seemed so childlike, more than ever before. her eyebrows were tilted down and her eyes were glassy, her lips pouty the way a child's is. everyone knew what it was; she would be on her own time. annabeth would be alone in rome. she might be back at three, or never. she would be utterly alone on her own quest for the athena parthenos.

coach hedge grunted. "that'll give me time to eat the coconuts- i mean dig the coconuts out of our hull. percy, annabeth... i don't like you two going off on your own. just remember; behave. if i hear about any funny business, i will ground you until the styx freezes."

aruna and leo snickered, and coach whipped around on them.

"same goes for you two!"

"huh?!" leo yelled, shrinking his head back.

"i don't know what is going on there." hedge waved a finger at them, and aruna wrinkled her nose. "but if i get word of any sinning-"

"sinning?" frank asked.

"coach," aruna interrupted. "isn't killing a sin?"

"you know what kind of sinning i'm talkin' about!" hedge yelled as he marched forward. he pointed his finger at aruna's chin, and she barely tilted her head up to get away from him.

"if i hear anything," hedge smacked leo's arm, and aruna felt his lack of presence behind her as he moved away. "anything," he said, slower this time. "i will personally drag you to the gates of the underworld! is that clear?" he said lowly.

"sure thing, buddy." aruna nodded.

"crystal." leo gave the 'okay' sign with his hand.

the idea of getting grounded was ridiculous. aruna locked eyes with leo, and percy with annabeth, and they couldn't help but smile. they might not even make it back to the ship alive, but hedge was ready to ground them at the idea of funny business and sinning.

"we'll be back soon." percy said. aruna turned back to everyone, and slowly, her mind started to fade at the feeling in the air.

grief.

nobody was dead, yet there was grief.

percy raised his hands and dropped them until they smacked his sides. "good luck, everyone."

"and may the odds be ever your favor." aruna muttered. she nodded at leo, and he gave one last look before lowering the gangplank. slowly, aruna watched.

percy and annabeth were the first ones gone.

~•♡•~

me: *writes about have aruna has literally trauma blocked 75% of her life*
also me: lol lets make fun of jason in title