ARUNA

~•♡•~

"what are they?" hazel asked.

the argo II was docked at a busy wharf. on one side stretched a shipping channel about half a mile wide. on the other spread the city of venice- red-tiled roofs, metal church domes, steepled towers, and sun-bleached buildings in all the colors of valentines candy hearts- red, white, ochre, pink, and orange.

everywhere, there were statues of lions- on top of pedestals, over doorways, on the porticoes of the largest buildings. there were so many, aruna figured it was the city's mascot.

where streets should have been, green canals etched their way through the neighborhoods, each one jammed with motorboats. along the docks, the sidewalks were mobbed with tourists shopping at t-shirt kiosks, overflowing from stores, and lounging across acres of outdoor cafe tables, like pods of sea lions.

much too busy, it was.

however, nobody was looking at that. the demigods had gathered at the starboard rail to stare at the dozens of weird shaggy monsters milling about the crowds.

each monster was about the size of a cow, with a bowed back like a broken-down horse, matted gray fur, skinny legs, and black cloven hooves. the creatures' heads seemed much too heavy for their necks. their long, anteater-like snouts drooped to the ground. their overgrown gray manes completely covered their eyes.

aruna watched as one of the creatures lumbered across the promenade, snuffling and licking the pavement with its long tongue. the tourists parted around it, unconcerned. a few even petted it. aruna wondered what the mist was tricking mortals into seeing, and suddenly, the image flickered. for a moment, it turned into an old, fat beagle.

jason grunted. "the mortals think they're stray dogs."

"or pets roaming around." piper said. "my dad shot a film once in venice. i remember him telling me there were dogs everywhere. venetians love dogs."

aruna yawned and stretched her back. "it's too damn early for this." she grumbled.

"lighten up, sweetheart!" leo snickered. from beside her, his arms crossed on the rail. aruna glared at him.

"i only got like, two hours of sleep last night." aruna muttered. leo nudged her and kept his eyes trained below.

"and whose fault is that?"

yours, asshole.

"but what are they?" frank asked, repeating hazel's question. "they look like... starving, shaggy cows with sheepdog hair."

aruna shook her head. "that ain't no cow."

frank blinked. "you just used a double negative."

aruna furrowed her eyebrows. "i bet you're fun at parties."

"maybe they're harmless." leo suggested as he pulled his shirt collar up. "they're ignoring the mortals."

"harmless!" hedge laughed. the satyr wore his usual gym shorts, sports shirt, and coach's whistle. his expression was gruff as ever, but he still had one pink rubber band stuck in his hair from the prankster dwarfs in bologna. aruna wanted to see how long it would take for him to realize. "valdez, how many harmless monsters have we met? we should just aim the ballistae and see what happens!"

"uh, no." leo said.

"we'll have to walk through them and hope they're peaceful." frank said, already hating the idea. "it's the only way we're going to track down the owner of that book."

leo pulled the leather-bound book from underneath his arm. he'd slapped a sticky note on the cover with the address the dwarfs in bologna had provided.

"la casa nera." he read. "calle frezzeria."

"the black house." nico di angelo translated. "calle frezzeria is the street."

frank suddenly looked startled at nico being behind his shoulder.

"you speak italian?" frank asked.

nico shot him a warning look, but he spoke calmly. "frank is right, we have to find that address. the only way to do it is to walk the city. venice is a maze. we'll have to risk the crowds and those... whatever they are."

thunder rumbled in the clear sky. aruna frowned as she looked up, the air thick around her.

jason frowned at the horizon. "maybe i should stay on board. lots of venti in that storm last night. if they decide to attack the ship again..."

aruna quickly looked to leo with a raised eyebrow. he flushed red and shook his head, his eyes indicating that he, too, had literally no recollection of this.

coach hedge grunted and leo and aruna looked away from each other. "well, i'm out, too. if you softhearted cupcakes are going to stroll through venice without even whacking those furry animals on the head, forget it. i don't like boring expeditions."

"it's okay, coach." leo grinned. "we still have to repair the foremast. then i need your help in the engine room. i've got an idea for a new installation."

"if you blow shit up, i will literally fucking murder you." aruna threatened.

"if i blow shit up, i won't be alive to be murdered."

"i will literally reincarnate, and even if it takes another 16 years, i'll kill you."

leo rolled his eyes. "okay, fine."

"well..." piper shifted on her feet. "whoever goes should be good with animals. i, uh... i'll admit, i'm not great with cows."

damn you hera.

suddenly, all eyes turned to aruna. she stared at everyone with a raised eyebrow. "what? you want me to go?"

"you can communicate with cows." piper reasoned.

"yeah, cows." aruna sneered. "that ain't a fuckin' cow, pipes."

"you can speak to cows?" frank questioned.

"courtesy of selene." aruna grimaced. "you can shapeshift and use any weapon at your disposal, and i can talk to heifers."

frank nodded and sighed.

"i'll go." he said.

aruna could feel his spike in anxiety, but she didn't say anything. she stared at him and he looked down at her, nodding softly as if to say: i can do this.

aruna nodded back and looked away.

leo patted frank on the shoulder and handed him the leather-bound book. "awesome. if you pass a hardware store, could you get me some two-by-fours and a gallon tar?"

"leo," hazel chided. "it's not a shopping trip."

"i'll go with frank." nico offered.

aruna held back a cackle as frank's eye started twitching. she turned to leo, who was already looking at her and struggling not to laugh. she covered her mouth with her hand and leo gripped her shoulder as he tried to steady himself.

"uh... you're good with animals?" frank asked.

nico smiled without humor. "actually, most animals hate me. they can sense death. but there's something about this city..." his expression turned grim. "lots of death. restless spirits. if i go, i may be able to keep them at bay. besides, as you noticed, i speak italian."

leo scratched his head. "lots of death, huh? personally, i'm trying to avoid lots of death, but you guys have fun!"

"what'll you do?" hazel asked aruna and leo.

"leo's gonna work on the engine and mast with coach." aruna said. "i'll either watch my adam sandler collection, or eat my pickles... maybe both."

"productive." nico grunted.

aruna walked off. "have fun communing with the dead, bro!"

~•♡•~

"so!"

piper sat next to aruna at the table. aruna had a large plate of sushi in front of her, with the wedding singer playing loudly on the TV. in the lower deck, leo was screaming at coach hedge for screwing something up again, and there was a sound like a hammer banging on metal.

"we haven't been able to hang out lately." piper admitted as she grabbed a pair of chopsticks. aruna shared the plate with her, though she ate the sushi with her bare hands.

"had a lot of shit happen." aruna admitted. piper smiled softly and watched the movie curiously.

"i always thought she was super cute." piper admitted as she pointed to drew barrymore.

"who didn't?" aruna scoffed. "it's crazy to me how she was such a sex symbol of hollywood. she never really looked like the other popular actresses."

"yeah." piper said as she analyzed drew. "i mean, she's got the blonde hair and pale skin-"

"but she kind of looks mousy in the face." aruna finished. "all those other girls have high cheekbones and shit, and drew looks... human."

"i hate the beauty standard." piper said, shaking her head. "it's ridiculous."

"does your mom control that?" aruna asked curiously as she happily ate a piece of sushi. "like, is that in her department?"

"honestly, i have no idea." piper admitted. "my mom has a lot more influence than most gods, but she also has, like, literally none. it's weird."

aruna sighed. "i'm so glad my mom nearly faded away and has literally nothing to do with whacky shit anymore. i cannot imagine being the child of an olympian. like, how cringe."

piper laughed as she grabbed another piece. "am i too mainstream for you?"

"yeah, you and literally everyone else on this ship." aruna snickered. "pluto, mars, jupiter for fucks sake, aphrodite, hephaestus. how basic even are you?"

"i know, right." piper deadpanned. "you are just too elite. titan-spawn level elite."

"like, literally. i'm so much better than everyone else." aruna snickered. piper laughed with her. aruna felt happy, suddenly, to be able to bask in the presence of a friend.

"we should paint our nails." piper suggested.

"girl, go get the polish."

piper ran off, and came back with a massive tub of nail polish. aruna snickered as piper pulled out all of the colors and brushes, color-coding them carefully.

"what color should i do?" she asked, holding out her nails to aruna.

"mmm..." aruna picked through the colors and settled on one- a soft orange, like the sunset. "this one."

"only if i can do yours bright red."

"but red isn't my color, piperrrr." aruna whined.

"uh, yes it is." piper grinned as she grabbed the bright red. "bright red makes you look so cool and deadly."

"okay, compromise." aruna said as she nudged the sushi plate away. "i do one hand red, and so do you. then, our other hands be soft orange."

piper grinned. "yes." she hissed. over the course of thirty minutes, piper and aruna painted each other's nails, happily talking about random things, such as the political state of cuba, how shoulder pads were the worst fashion choice possible, and how the prohibition was an extremely comical time period.

"FUCKING SHIT!"

aruna and piper went silent as leo appeared from below. his white tanktop was covered in grime and grease, as were his arms. he wiped his sweaty cheeks with his shoulder and pulled goggles off of his eyes. he slammed down a dirty, yellow rag and looked down to piper and aruna.

both girls blinked at him.

"hey." he said with a calm wave.

"you good?" piper asked.

"do he look good?" aruna snickered, followed by blowing her nails. piper shrugged and went on blowing hers, as well.

"hedge is a fucking moron." leo grunted as he stomped over. "but, what are you girls doing?"

"painting our nails." piper said as she and aruna held up their hands. aruna's right hand was orange, and left was red, while piper's was the exact opposite. "i think we look good." piper nodded confidently.

"no, we're literally so hot."

"like, we're the next vogue cover."

"y'all are humble, too." leo snorted.

"you stink, leo." piper waved her hand in front of her face. aruna laughed as leo took a seat adjacent to aruna. immediately, he summoned a cheeseburger in the plate and started chowing away.

"been workin' my ass off." he replied. "so that you can sit here all calmly and paint your nails."

"jealous, much?" piper grinned.

"yeah. coach is-" leo sighed and ran a hand through his greasy hair. "for the love of fuck, he's so stupid."

aruna thought leo might tear up.

"we still have to do the mast, but at least jason will be able to help with that." leo said. his eyes lit up and he turned to aruna to say something, but she shook her head.

"hell to the no."

leo looked at her pleadingly. "but... but why? we can get it done so much faster!"

"I did my part." aruna said as she helped piper put away the nail polishes. "a lot. so, i'm gonna have some fun."

aruna kicked leo before he said anything else.

"fine." leo shut his mouth and continued to eat his cheeseburger. "so, what are you doing after this?"

"are you trying to ask her on a date?" piper snickered. leo shrugged and piper went silent.

"after this?" aruna looked to her movie, which was nearing the end. "i dunno. probably watching click, or maybe anger management."

"oh." leo seemed disappointed. aruna went on acting normal as she continued to put up the nail polish. leo continued to hungrily eat his cheeseburger, his stench starting to fill up the room. piper sighed and shook her head.

"take a shower before you ask a girl out." she rolled her eyes. "i'm gonna go see what jason's doing."

she took her tub of nail polish, and retreated to her room. aruna picked at some leftover sushi as piper went back above deck, her conversation with jason ensuing.

"so." leo started, his cheeks practically bleeding they were so red.

"hm." aruna raised her eyebrows but her eyes looked uninterested as she chewed on the sushi, her eyes turning up to the TV.

"did..." leo struggled for words. "was last night... okay?"

aruna felt her cheeks flush as she stared at the movie. "it... was fine."

leo frowned. "fine? not... not good?"

aruna scratched her head awkwardly. "i mean, i have a pretty fuckin' low standard already, so i don't-"

leo choked violently and reached for his drink. quickly, he chugged the entire goblet down, his eyes teary as he looked at aruna, who was smiling wickedly and laughing gently.

"it was good." she finally said.

"okay- so i didn't need to do all of that." leo grunted, his voice rocky. aruna snickered and gently combed her hair with her fingers. leo finally seemed to revert back to normal (his cheeks were still red, however) and he leaned back in his chair.

"this is awkward." he muttered. "why is it awkward?"

aruna shrugged. "only needs to be awkward if we make it awkward. i mean..." she shrugged. "i had fun. so..."

"yeah- yeah, me too."

then why was it still awkward?

"aruna?" piper called.

"oh, thank the gods." aruna shot up and ran above deck.

i can never look at him again.

~•♡•~