Don bleated. "Fauns! Work for the camp! Hilarious!"
"Fauns are, um, free spirits," Hazel explained. "They hang out here because, well, it's a safe place to hang out and beg. We tolerate them, but—"
"Oh, Hazel is awesome," Don said. "She's so nice! All the other campers are like, 'Go away, Don. ' But she's like, 'Please go away, Don.' I love her!"
Fauns should be more than just homeless guys begging for denarii. Right? RIGHT?
Don looked at the ground in front of them and gasped. "Score!"
He reached for something, but Hazel screamed, "Don, no!"
She pushed him out of the way and snatched up a small shiny object. I caught a glimpse of it before Hazel slipped it into her pocket. It was a diamond.
"Come on, Hazel," Don complained. "I could've bought a year's worth of doughnuts with that!"
"Don, please," Hazel said. "Go away."
She sounded shaken, like she'd just saved Don from a charging bulletproof elephant.
The faun sighed. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you. But I swear, it's like you're good luck. Every time you walk by—"
"Good-bye, Don," Hazel said quickly. "Let's go, Percy. Alexandra."
She started jogging. I had to sprint to catch up.
"What was that about?" Percy asked. "That diamond in the road—"
"Please," she said. "Don't ask."
"Right."
A crooked stone path led past a crazy assortment of tiny altars and massive domed vaults. Statues of gods seemed to follow us with their eyes.
Hazel pointed out the Temple of Bellona. "Goddess of war," she said. "That's Reyna's mom." Then we passed a massive red crypt decorated with human skulls on iron spikes.
"Yeesh," I said, waving my hand away from the temple.
"Please tell me we're not going in there," Percy said.
Hazel shook her head. "That's the Temple of Mars Ultor."
"Mars..." Percy began.
"Ares, the war god?" we both finished.
"That's his Greek name," Hazel said. "But, yeah, same guy. Ultor means 'the Avenger.' He's the second-most important god of Rome."
Percy pointed toward the summit. Clouds swirled over the largest temple, a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting a domed roof. "I'm guessing that's Zeus—uh, I mean, Jupiter's? That's where we're heading?"
"Yeah." Hazel sounded edgy. "Octavian reads auguries there—the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus."
"Jupiter...the best and the greatest?"
"Right."
"What's Neptune's title?" I asked. "The coolest and most awesome?"
YOU ARE READING
The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine
Fanfiction#2 IN HARRY POTTER CHANGED THE COVER AGAIN Water, water, everywhere, as I open my eyes and the moonlight, so striking, so beautiful, shines brightly over the lake, as I rise, feeling dazed and tired. "My daughter. Alexandra Marine. Thank you." That'...
