𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

44

Underground was not Ajax's favorite place.

After ending up in the Underworld, most of his nightmares had been about caves and the underground. So you could imagine the duress he was under.

Having Nico along was reassuring, but Ajax still wished he hadn't said yes to coming. Nico's Stygian iron blade seemed to make the shadows even gloomier, as if the infernal metal was drawing the light and heat out of the air.

Ajax licked his ice cream, trying not to look at either of the boys.

They crept through a vast cellar with thick support columns holding up a vaulted ceiling. The limestone blocks were so old, they had fused together from centuries of moisture, making the place look almost like a naturally formed cave.

None of the tourists had ventured down here. Obviously, they were smarter than demigods.

Jason drew his gladius. They made their way under the low archways, their steps echoing on the stone floor. Barred windows lined the top of one wall, facing the street level, but that just made the cellar feel more claustrophobic. The shafts of sunlight looked like slanted prison bars, swirling with ancient dust.

Ajax bit the cone.

Jason and Nico stared back at him.

"Dude" Jason said, "Gravity of the situation and all that"

"Oh I'm sorry, do you want me to dump my half eaten ice cream?"

Jason shook his head, Ajax reminded him a lot of Leo, but also of Nico. It wasn't a good mental image.

Ajax passed a support beam, looked to his left, and almost had a heart attack. Staring right at him was a marble bust of Diocletian, his limestone face glowering with disapproval.

"Fuck!"

Nico probably would've teased him, but he looked alarmed as well. Guess no one was above a little jumpscare.

Ajax steadied his breathing.

Jason slipped a note between the bust and its pedestal and stepped back.

"Hello!"

Before Ajax realised what had happened, Jason sliced off the emperor's head. The bust toppled and shattered against the floor.

"That wasn't very nice," said the voice behind them.

Ajax turned. His ice cream was in his left hand, his sword in his right, The winged man from the ice cream stand was leaning against a nearby column, casually tossing a small bronze hoop in the air. At his feet sat a wicker picnic basket full of fruit.

"I mean," the man said, "what did Diocletian ever do to you?"

The air swirled around Jason's feet. The shards of marble gathered into a miniature tornado, spiraled back to the pedestal, and reassembled into a complete bust, the note still tucked underneath.

"Uh—" Jason lowered his sword. "It was an accident. You startled me."

The winged dude chuckled. "Jason Grace, the West Wind has been called many things...warm, gentle, life-giving, and devilishly handsome-" Ajax shrugged as if to say, its true, "But I have never been called startling. I leave that crass behavior to my gusty brethren in the north."

Nico inched backward. "The West Wind? You mean you're—"

"Favonius," Jason realized. "God of the West Wind."

Ajax simply put away his sword and licked his ice cream.

Favonius smiled and bowed, obviously pleased to be recognized. "You can call me by my Roman name, certainly, or Zephyros, if you're Greek. I'm not hung up about it."