𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

80

They appeared ten feet in the air, hovering over a restaurant courtyard. He and Nico dropped onto a large birdcage, which promptly broke, dumping them into a cluster of potted ferns along with three very alarmed parrots. Coach Hedge hit the canopy over a bar. Reyna unfortunately landed on a table, though she didn't complain a bit. The Athena Parthenos landed on her feet with a THUMP, flattening a patio table and flipping a dark green umbrella, which settled onto the Nike statue in Athena's hand, so the goddess of wisdom looked like she was holding a tropical drink.

"Gah!" Coach Hedge yelled. The canopy ripped and he fell behind the bar with a crash of bottles and glasses. The satyr recovered well. He popped up with a dozen miniature plastic swords in his hair, grabbed the soda gun and served himself a drink.

"I like it!" He tossed a wedge of pineapple into his mouth. "But next time, kids, can we land on the floor and not ten feet above it?"

Nico dragged himself out of the ferns. He collapsed into the nearest chair and waved off a blue parrot that was trying to land on his head. After the fight with Lycaon, Nico had discarded his shredded aviator jacket. His black skull-pattern T-shirt wasn't in much better shape. Ajax performed a few healing spells he knew, but it always worked best if a child of apollo accompanied the spells.

Reyna had stitched up the gashes on his biceps, which gave Nico a slightly creepy Frankenstein look, but the cuts were still swollen and red. Unlike bites, werewolf claw marks wouldn't transmit lycanthropy, but apparently they hurt a lot.

"I've gotta sleep." Nico looked up in a daze. "Are we safe?"

Ajax scanned the courtyard. The place seemed deserted, though he didn't understand why. It looked like a place that should've been packed. Above them, the evening sky glowed a murky terracotta, the same color as the building's walls. Ringing the atrium, the second-storey balconies were empty except for potted azaleas hanging from the white metal railings. Behind a wall of glass doors, the restaurant's interior was dark. The only sound was the fountain gurgling forlornly and the occasional squawk of a disgruntled parrot.

"This is Barrachina," Reyna said.

"What kind of bear?" Hedge opened a jar of maraschino cherries and chugged them down.

"It's a famous restaurant," Reyna said, "in the middle of Old San Juan. They invented the piña colada here, back in the 1960s, I think."

Nico pitched out of his chair, curled up on the floor and started snoring. Ajax watched him fondly. He let his fingers brush over his wound, but Nico winced in his sleep, so he drew back his hand.

Ajax wasn't as tired as he had been last time. Nico had borne most of the shadow travel price this time. Ajax had helped, but only a little.

Coach Hedge belched. "Well, it looks like we're staying for a while. If they haven't invented any new drinks since the sixties, they're overdue. I'll get to work!"

While Hedge rummaged behind the bar, Reyna whistled for Aurum and Argentum. After their fight with the werewolves, the dogs looked a little worse for wear, but Reyna placed them on guard duty.

Ajax checked the street entrance to the atrium upon Reyna's orders. The decorative ironwork gates were locked. A sign in Spanish and English announced that the restaurant was closed for a private party. That seemed odd, since the place was deserted. At the bottom of the sign were embossed initials: HTK. These seemed to bother Reyna.

She peered through the gates. Calle Fortaleza was unusually quiet. The blue cobblestone pavement was free of traffic and pedestrians. The pastel-coloured shop fronts were closed and dark. Was it Sunday? Or some sort of holiday?

"I'm guessing it shouldn't be this quiet and deserted"

"Its not" she confirmed. "There's something.."

Behind them, Coach Hedge whistled happily as he set up a row of blenders. The parrots roosted on the shoulders of the Athena Parthenos. Ajax tried to imagine how camp Halfblood would feel if their beloved Athena statue arrived with a crown of bird poop.

"This place has history" Ajax sensed, "-for you. You used to live here?"

Reyna glared like she was going to stab him, but sighed. "Yes"

He could feel her unease and agitation. Even her dogs picked up on it. They prowled the courtyard, snarling at shadows. Poor Argentum turned in circles, trying to aim his sideways head so he could see out of his one ruby eye.

"Home is complicated" Ajax breathed out, "I get it. You can talk about it if you want"
He was restless, nothing to do without Nico. He wanted to keep his mind off his friends from the Argo II, the fact that he would never see one of them again-

"My dad used to love mangoes" Ajax breathed out, he didn't know how to do this whole feeling-sharing thing with anyone except Nico, "A few years ago, he died. So I cant imagine smelling mangoes or even going back anywhere we had history. I don't know what you've been  through, but I get it."

Reyna looked at him briefly, but offered no information. Okay.

She glanced at Nico next . Despite the warm night, he shivered on the tile floor. She watched Ajax leave her side and pull a blanket out of his pack and cover him up.

Nico was devastatingly alone. He'd lost his big sister Bianca. He'd pushed away all other demigods who'd tried to get close to him. His experiences at Camp Half-Blood, in the Labyrinth and in Tartarus had left him scarred, afraid to trust anyone. But Ajax seemed to be the exception.
It felt creepy to watch him sleep, but Ajax felt like he was losing his mind. The entire world was crumbling around him and Nico was the only constant.