Quests were supposed to be dangerous, unpredictable, maybe even a little chaotic but not… this.

You had the map. Which, in theory, should’ve made things easier.

“Left here,” you had said earlier, confident enough that neither Percy nor Annabeth questioned it.

And now.. well..

The three of you stepped through a narrow stone street, buildings pressing close on either side, your footsteps echoing softly against the ground. The air felt different here, warmer, heavier.

Then you turned the corner.

…and froze.

Towering in front of you stood the unmistakable structure of the Colosseum.

Not Greece.

Not even close.

Italy.

There was a long, painful silence.

Slowly, very slowly, Percy turned his head toward you. Annabeth followed. You could practically feel the sigh coming before it even happened.

“…We were supposed to be in Greece,” Annabeth said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Percy let out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah… this is definitely not Greece.”

You tightened your hold on your goose plushie, Jeremy Ferdinand the 2nd, like he might somehow defend you from the consequences of this.

Another pause.

“…The map was upside down, wasn’t it?” Percy asked.

Annabeth glanced at you again, clearly trying to stay serious and failing just a little.

“…Or you read it wrong.”

There was a beat.

Then Percy huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head. “Y’know what? It’s fine. We’ve dealt with worse.”

Annabeth sighed again, but this time it was softer, her expression easing. “…We’ll figure it out.”

Neither of them sounded mad. Not really.

Because no matter how much you messed up directions they weren’t going to stay angry.

Percy reached out, lightly flicking your forehead. “Next time, I’m double-checking the map.”