LEO
"This place stinks."
"Well, stop smelling yourself, then," Calypso mutters dryly from behind my back. She has her arms around my waist, hugging me loosely, and boy, let me just say that I'm slowing Festus down a lot if that means I get to be near her. "Are we there?"
"Yeah. Festus's navigator says we're just offshore Manhattan now - basically, the Athens of today, where Mount Olympus is. We should be getting to camp soon," I reply.
For the rest of the ride, we're silent, which is unusual - the whole way here, through the tornados, storms, out of the Bermuda triangle, it's been hard for us to stop talking. Calypso wants to catch up with life here, and me, I'm all too happy to tell her. But now. I can't stop thinking about finally getting home, and dozens of questions keep running through my head. Will they still remember me? How much time has passed?
That one makes me laugh a little - what if Jason and Piper are old and crusty with a billion grandkids? And if Frank is wearing an old-man diaper, boy, is he going to get it bad from me. Frank in a diaper.
But what if they're gone?
That sobers me up.
Festus creaks, and I look down. We've emerged from the clouds, and Long Island is directly below us. We soar over the land, and I squint through the wind to see camp - the strawberry fields, the cabins, the amphitheatre.
It's not there.
I see the creek, Long Island Sound, I see the exact place where I first landed on Festus, scaring the living daylights out of everyone at camp. All the natural landmarks are there... But nothing else. Not even a rotting ruin to suggest that a bustling camp had been here once.
Something drops in my stomach.
"Great," I mutter, and quickly tell Festus to land us on the beach, where the docks used to be. There's a small stand there, a fishing shack, and Festus waits outside while Calypso and I stroll inside.
A teenage guy is standing behind the counter, arranging fishing rods. He does a double take when he sees me, like he can't believe that Calypso is with me (I should probably get used to that). Right now I look like I just walked out of a hurricane, which is technically true, but I won't mention that.
"Hi," I lean over the counter, and the guy raises a suspicious eyebrow. "I was wondering if you could tell us the day?"
He looks at me strangely. "Wednesday," and goes back to polishing the handle of a fishing rod.
"Ah, uhmm... I meant the date," I force a laugh.
An even stranger look now. "February the fourth."
"Heh. The year?"
Now he looks really creeped out. "Dude, is this a joke? Because this is just weird."
I sigh. "Can you just tell met the year already? Man, you're taking a longer time than a sloth with constipation!"
"Okaaay..." He mutters and backs away. "It's twenty-fifteen."
A bunch of swear words come to mind, but I don't let loose. "Th-thanks, man. Uh... Gotta go," I drag Calypso out with me. "I left camp five years ago. Do you see anything different about me!? I can't believe it. I missed out my golden years! I'm twenty. Gods, do I look like I'm fifteen or twen - "
She smiles sadly. "Five years - time doesn't mean anything to me anymore. And you look the same as when I first met you."
Immediately, I soften. "Hey. I'm sorry. It's just..." I sigh and give her a boost up onto Festus. "I hope they're still here. We should probably check out Camp Jupiter. Maybe they've merged."
As I climb onto Festus, I am unconvinced. But hopeful.
Boy, do I hope.