𝙩𝙪 𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨 - p. jackson [₂]

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒙𝒍𝒗𝒊.

―✧―

𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐀.

we'd already scouted the modern city, which was just a bunch of low, boxy, whitewashed buildings sprawled across a plain at the foot of some purplish mountains. the two of us checked out the archaeology museum, then the giant metal statue of the spartan warrior in the public square, then the mational museum of olives and olive oil (yes, that was a real thing).

i had learned more about olive oil than i ever wanted to know, but at least no giants attacked us. we found no statues of chained gods either though.

i was a little reluctant to check the ruins on the edge of town, but finally we ran out of other places to look.

there wasn't much to see. according to what annabeth had told me over the years, the hill we stood on had once been sparta's acropolis — its highest point and main fortress — but it was nothing like the massive athenian acropolis.

the weathered slope was covered with dead grass, rocks and stunted olive trees. below, ruins stretched out for maybe a quarter of a mile: limestone blocks, a few broken walls and some tiled holes in the ground like wells.

i thought of the old stories and how the spartans were portrayed as invincible supermen. it was a little sad that their legacy had been reduced to a field of rubble and a small modern town with an olive-oil museum.

i wiped the sweat from my forehead. 

piper sighed, "you'd think if there was a thirty-foot-tall giant around we'd see him."

i hummed in agreement, lost it thought as i stared at the argo ii floating above land. i'd seen a lot of scary things in tartarus, but percy facing akhlys was one that i couldn't always get out of my head.

the look on his face, i know if i hadn't intervened, he would've choked the goddess of misery to her death.

"you're thinking about percy," my sister guessed.

i nodded. i hadn't told her about my trip in tartarus, but annabeth had shared some stories. she was out of it when percy was going against akhlys, and neither of us had ended up filling her in. i would. i know i would.

i just wasn't ready yet.

whenever i thought of the memories from tartarus, i wanted to shove myself in a room and start a new project. despite being able to read emotions, i didn't like dealing with them very much.

"he seems to be adjusting," piper said. "he's smiling more often. you know he cares about you more than ever."

i sat down, trying to force the images out of my head. "i — i don't know why everything's hitting me so hard. it's — the entire journey, when we were at the edge of chaos... it's — i can't stop thinking about it."