apple
from his basket and frowned at it. 'Oh, bluster. I keep forgetting my symbol is a basket of unripe fruit.
"That's pretty useless" said Leo
Why doesn't the spring wind get more credit? Summer has all the fun.'
'That's okay,' Nico said quickly. 'Just take us to Cupid.'
Favonius spun the hoop on his finger, and Jason's body dissolved into HAD RIDDEN THE WIND MANY TIMES. Being the wind was not the same.
He felt out of control, his thoughts scattered, no boundaries between his body and the rest of the
world. He wondered if this was how monsters felt when they were defeated – bursting into dust,
helpless and formless.
"When you put it like that we seem like the villains" said Leo and Frank at the same time Leo started to blush and Frank looked at him fondly Hazel looked at both of them like they were the cutest thing
Jason could sense Nico's presence nearby. The West Wind carried them into the sky above Split.
Together they raced over the hills, past Roman aqueducts, highways and vineyards. As they
approached the mountains, Jason saw 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 looked like
a giant, mossy game board.
"Like a chess board game" Annabeth said
Favonius set them down in the middle of the ruins, next to a broken column the size of a redwood.
Jason's body re-formed. For a moment it felt even worse than being the wind, like he'd suddenly
been wrapped in a lead overcoat.
"I am a little disturbed that you know what that feels like" said Percy
'Yes, mortal bodies are terribly bulky,' Favonius said, as if reading his thoughts. The wind god
settled on a nearby wall with his basket of fruit and spread his russet wings in the sun. 'Honestly, I
don't know how you stand it, day in and day out.'
"Why do The gods always comment on that" asked Percy no one answered
Jason scanned their surroundings. The town must have been huge once. He could make out the
shells of temples and bathhouses, a half-buried amphitheatre and empty pedestals that must have once
held statues. Rows of columns marched off to nowhere. The old city walls weaved in and out of the
hillside like stone thread through a green cloth.
Some areas looked like they'd been excavated, but most of the city just seemed abandoned, as if it
had been left to the elements for the last two thousand years.
"When they first built it it must have been amazing" said Annabeth in an excited voice that Piper thought was the cutest thing she had ever heard
'Welcome to Salona,' Favonius said. 'Capital of Dalmatia! Birthplace of Diocletian! But before
that, long before that, it was the home of Cupid.'
The name echoed, as if voices were whispering it through the ruins.
Something about this place seemed even creepier than the palace basement in Split. Jason had
never thought much about Cupid. He'd certainly never thought of Cupid as scary. Even for Roman
demigods, the name conjured up an image of a silly winged baby with a toy bow and arrow, flying
around in his diapers on Valentine's Day.
'Oh, he's not like that,' said Favonius.
Jason flinched. 'You can read my mind?'
'I don't need to.' Favonius tossed his bronze hoop in the air. 'Everyone has the wrong impression
of Cupid ... until they meet him.'
"Because that's not ommenus at all" said Frank
Nico braced himself against a column, his legs trembling visibly.
'Hey, man ...' Jason stepped towards him, but Nico waved him off.
At Nico's feet, the grass turned brown and wilted. The dead patch spread outwards, as if poison
were seeping from the soles of his shoes.
Wow he is so powerful thought the seven
'Ah ...' Favonius nodded 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 muttered. 'Especially not Cupid.'
"I wish" muttered Nico
Favonius continued as if he hadn't heard. 'I fell in love with a mortal named Hyacinthus. He was
quite extraordinary.''He ...?' Jason's brain was still fuzzy from his wind trip, so it took him a second to process that.
'Oh ...'
'Yes, Jason Grace.' Favonius arched an eyebrow. 'I fell in love with a dude. Does that shock
You?'
"Damn I sound like such a jerk" said Jason
Honestly, Jason wasn't sure. He tried not to think about the details of godly love lives, no matter
who they fell in love with. After all, his dad, Jupiter, wasn't exactly a model of good behaviour.
"You could say that again" said Percy
Compared to some of the Olympian love scandals he'd heard about, the West Wind falling in love
with a mortal guy didn't seem very shocking. 'I guess not. So ... Cupid struck you with his arrow, and
you fell in love.'
Favonius snorted. 'You make it sound so simple. Alas, love is never simple. You see, the god
Apollo also liked Hyacinthus. He claimed they were just friends. I don't know. But one day I came
across them together, playing a game of quoits –'
"We already explained this Jason" Percy said in a joking tone
There was that weird word again. 'Quoits?'
'A game with those hoops,' Nico explained, though his voice was brittle. 'Like horseshoes.'
'Sort of,' Favonius said. 'At any rate, I was jealous. Instead of confronting them and finding out the
truth, I shifted the wind and sent a heavy metal ring right at Hyacinthus head and ... well.'
"Gods are not very good at love" said Leo
The wind god sighed. 'As Hyacinthus died, Apollo turned him into a flower, the hyacinth. I'm sure Apollo
would've taken horrible vengeance on me, but Cupid offered me his protection. I'd done a terrible
thing, but I'd been driven mad by love, so he spared me, on the condition that I work for him forever.'
CUPID.
The name echoed through the ruins again.
'That would be my cue.' Favonius stood. 'Think long and hard about how you proceed, Nico di
Angelo. You cannot lie to Cupid. If you let your anger rule you ... well, your fate will be even sadder
than mine.'
Please don't get hurt Percy thought
Jason felt like his brain was turning back into wind. He didn't understand what Favonius was
talking about or why Nico seemed so shaken, but he had no time to think about it. The wind god
disappeared in a swirl of red and gold. The summer air suddenly felt oppressive. The ground shook,
and Jason and Nico drew their swords.
"I wonder how damaged the average half-bloods head is" said Percy
AN hello my amazing readers please comment and I am thinking of writing a collection of oneshots please comment ideas