safe || leo valdez x oc

seventy-two: piper and aruna, the humble beauties

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!"