Daughter of Wine

Jason

I've ridden the wind many times. Being the wind is not the same. 

I feel out of control, my thoughts scattered, no boundaries between my body and the rest of the world. I wonder if this is how monsters feel when they're defeated, bursting into dust, helpless and formless. 

I can sense Calli and Nico's presences nearby. The West Wind carries us into the sky above Split. Together we race over the hills, past Roman aqueducts, highways, and vineyards. As we approach the mountains, I see the ruins of a Roman town spread out in a valley below. Crumbling walls, square foundations, and cracked roads, all overgrown with grass, so it looks like a giant, mossy game board. 

Favonius sets us down in the ruins, next to a broken column the size of a redwood. 

My body reforms. For a moment it feels even worse than being the wind, like I've suddenly been wrapped in a lead overcoat. 

"Yes, mortal bodies are terribly bulky." Favonius says, as if reading my thoughts. The wind god settles on a nearby wall with his basket of fruit and spreads his russet wings in the sun. "Honestly, I don't know how you stand it, day in and day out."

I scan our surroundings. The town must have been huge once. I can make out the shells of temples and bathhouses, a half-buried amphitheater, and empty pedestals that must have once held statues. Rows of columns march off to nowhere. The old city walls weave in and out of the hillside like stone threat through a green cloth. 

Some areas look like they've been excavated, but most of the city just seems abandoned, as if it has been left to the elements for the last two thousand years. 

"Welcome to Salona." Favonius says. "Capital of Dalmatia! Birthplace of Diocletian! But before that, long before that, it was the home of Cupid."

The name echoes, as if voices are whispering it through the ruins. Calli inches beside me, her thyrsus reappearing in her hands. I'm glad she's back on edge. 

Something about this place seems even creepier than the palace basement in Split. I never really thought much about Cupid. I certainly never thought of him as scary. Even for Roman demigods, the name conjures images of a silly winged baby with a toy bow and arrow, flying around in his diaper on Valentines day. 

"Oh, he's not like that." says Favonius. 

I flinch. "You can read my mind?"

"I don't need to." Favonius tosses his bronze hoop in the air. "Everyone has the wrong impression of Cupid... until they meet him." 

Nico braces himself against a column, his knees trembling visibly. 

"Nico..." Calli and I step toward him, but Nico waves us off.

At Nico's feet, the grass turns brown and wilted. The dead patch spreads outward, as if poison is seeping from the soles of his shoes.

"Ah..." Favonius nods sympathetically. "I don't blame you for being nervous, Nico di Angelo. Do you know how I ended up serving Cupid?"

"I don't serve anyone." Nico muttters. "Especially not Cupid."

Favonius continues as if he hasn't heard. "I fell in love with a mortal named Hyacinthus. He was quite extraordinary." 

"He...?" My brain is still fuzzy from the wind trip, so it takes me a second to process that. "Oh..."

Calli elbows me, giving me a look of disbelief. 

"Yes, Jason Grace." Favonius arches an eyebrow. "I fell in love with a dude. Does that shock you?"

Honestly I'm not sure. I try not to think about the details of godly love lives, no matter who they fall in love with. After all, my dad Jupiter isn't exactly a model of good behavior. Compared to some of the Olympian love scandals I've heard about, the West Wind falling in love with a mortal guy doesn't seem very shocking. "I guess not. So... Cupid struck you with his arrow, and you fell in love."