To RandomFanAuthor- I LIKE CLIFFHANGERS AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!
To BethnPercy- welcome back! Hope you and your family are OK, staying safe! Love that you're screeching at your friend! ^_^ As for endgame ships... I don't know. Can't tell you. Lips are sealed. :P
To luv7- lots of reviews! You may not see these just yet, don't know, don't know how far you've got! But thank you! ^_^ (Chapter 1) Thank you very much! (Chapter 4) Lou's accent is a headache to write but she wouldn't sound right any other way (at least I think so :P) (Chapter 6) Thank you thank you! (Chapter 7) Thank you again! (Most of these are probably thank you's!) (Chapter 11) Heheheh (Chapter 13) YA'LL GONNA CRY, MWHAHAHA
To HoO Fan- hello again! How have you been? And yes. Cliffhangers are my jam. I WILL NEVER CHANGE.
Festus came to their rescue. He scooped Calypso onto his back, launching from the debris. He caught Glaucus in his claws, weaving through the rain of boulders. Leo's screaming helped pinpoint him. Festus swooped beneath him, Calypso held her hands out, bundling him in her arms. Leo continued to scream while the world spun around him in a mix of sky, sea and cascading rocks.
"Leo! Stop it!"
"AAAARRRRRGGHHHHHhhhwaaaaaiiitttt, I'm not dead?"
"No!"
"Oh thank gods!" He laughed. Laughter turned into panic and then into sobs and then he passed out on her shoulder. Calypso held onto him tightly, hand in his hair. He was warm, he was alive. She had him back. They had succeeded.
Festus manoeuvred them through the chaos, rising above it all into the blue mid-morning sky.
"Where's your friend?" Glaucus called up. Calypso peered past Festus's beating wings. The sea was churning white and thunderous under Charybdis, teeming with rocks as big as houses. The cliff Scylla had nested on had been eradicated right down to the foundations. Screeching drew Calypso's attention to the vortex. She saw Scylla's necks waving like little weeds in a storm, swallowed a moment later by her monstrous companion. Glaucus sobbed. "It's fine!" He croaked with disbelief. "She'll regenerate!"
"It's Lou I'm worried about!" Calypso snapped. Charybdis closed her mouth, the sea began to glass over. "Festus, move!" She cried. The dragon spat streams of fire, rocketing upward at an angle. The blast skimmed by them, losing its momentum and showering down on them.
The whirlpool roared into life. Calypso's stomach held just as much force.
Scylla had fell victim to Charybdis. Had Louisa?
Festus shivered, emitting a drilling sound loud enough to temporarily block out the rush of water. His head swivelled to the left and he snorted, a single wisp of a flame dancing from his nose. "What?" Calypso asked, facing that way too. A beam of sunlight struck her eye, made her flinch. With a pinch of her heels, Festus dived to investigate, hovering over the reflection.
It was Louisa's sword. Now clean, bobbing in the waves caused by the demolition. Festus lowered his head, biting the hilt between his front teeth to gather it.
Calypso dragged her sleeve across her face, taking a breath. She lay Leo down carefully on the dragon's back, shifting into a crouch. "I'm going to look for her." She said, shuffling out on Festus' neck. "Stay here. Send a signal if you find her first." Festus snorted in agreement. Calypso inhaled deeply and dived.
The sea was bitterly cold. She could feel the pull of Charybdis' currents. Cliff wreckage milled around her, spinning gently, succumbing to the whirlpool or just drifting about. She used the rocks to propel herself around, looking every which way she could. She rose for breath. Festus crooned at her, fifteen metres away. Leo was still lying on his back. She waited until she could see the rise and fall of his breathing before diving again.
She did not find Louisa.
Louisa found her.
She appeared from the darkness of the waters with a cheeky grin. A bubble formed around them, Calypso fell to sit at the bottom, catching her breath.
"Where were you?" She demanded between gasps.
"Sorry. I kinda got blasted that way." She gestured vaguely behind her.
"What happened to staying out of the sea?"
"I did my best! I know I'm cool, Callie, but gravity's still a bitch." Louisa huffed. She sat next to her. "Is Leo OK?"
"He's fine. He had a little freak out and is now asleep. Festus has him." Calypso rubbed at her chest, sighing. "Are you hurt?"
"No. Please don't slap me again!" Louisa hurriedly covered her face with her arms. "We all know I don't have good ideas!"
"You're damn right you don't!" Calypso could not slap her, settling for Minoan swears. "Let's get back to Leo and find somewhere to recuperate." Louisa peeked at her warily between her forearms. "If you behave, I won't slap you."
"Yes ma'am."
Leo awoke on an island, staring up at the sky. He could hear Louisa laughing and swearing, followed by Calypso's swearing and threats. Their voices chased each other around, he could hear their footsteps racing on sand. "This island has magic on it, stop playing around!"
"Na-na, can't catch me!"
"Louisa!"
He lost sight of the sky to a bronze snout snuffling his face. Festus bared his teeth in a grin, stomping his feet in a little happy dance and roaring at the girls. "Leo!" Calypso called, relief swimming over to him. He sat up in time for her to hug-tackle him back into the sand. "By the gods, are you OK? Do you need anything?"
"Bath." Leo croaked, spitting out sand. Another burst of weight and then Louisa was in their huddle, squishing them both. "What did we say about stupid?"
"You're stupid." She retorted, messing his hair.
It was only when Glaucus tried joining the hug did they disband, kicking the god away. "No." Louisa said. "I still don't trust you."
"You had my girlfriend eaten by her friend, your sister."
"You'll be next." Louisa warned. "'N' she ain't ya girlfriend, dude. Chick ran away, let it go."
"But-"
"If you don't want to be castrated," Leo advised, "let it go."
"You can't castrate a god." Glaucus scoffed with an eye roll. Cold metal pressed to his throat, Louisa staring him down.
"Try me."
"It would solve so many problems." Calypso agreed, brushing sand from Leo's hair.
"I think the word you're looking for is 'demigods'." Leo corrected.
"Yes, my bad." She nodded.
So Glaucus kept his distance, about twenty feet. They cleaned down in the surf, had a bit to eat. Calypso threw the god a granola bar and a bottle of water, despite Louisa's protests. "As much as you want to castrate him, Lou, he did help get Leo back. The least we can do is feed him."
"Fine." Louisa grumbled. "But he has ta stay over there."
"That's fine!" Glaucus assured with a smile. "This is a good example of an ideal casting distance! Mostly lake fishing, mind, possibly river fishing. If you're fishing out at sea-"
"I don't eat fish." Louisa shushed him.
"I could teach you knots, how to make bait, how to cast-" He did not get the message, so they let him prattle on about fishing techniques and demonstrations. Leo looked around as he ate, letting the god's words wash over him like white noise.
It was a funny island, rising up and up like a mountain, but nothing so natural. An amalgamation of buildings, once white, but now spurned by nature's progress, parts that belonged to sea vessels old and new, a strange mishmash of structures he could not place.
"Cal." He said around his mouthful. "Did you say there was magic here?"
"Yes. We did a bit of exploring while you were resting. We left Festus with you, don't worry."
"This place is a spa!" Louisa grinned. "'N' I found a pirate ship, 'cept it's all broken 'n' burnt." She pouted. "I love a good pirate ship."
"I know you do." Leo smiled.
"It's abandoned." Calypso continued. "Maybe a few years, but the magic is still strong here."
"We found a cage."
"Yes, it stunk to high Olympus."
"I bet it was rabbits."
"No, no, the poo wasn't shaped right."
"It's several years old, the shape could have changed."
"Oh." Leo said, halting their bickering. A story had flicked into his mind, something Louisa had told him about and Percy loathed him knowing. The girls were looking at him curiously. "I know this place."
"Ya been here?"
"No. Percy has."
"What?"
"He got turned into a guinea pig."
"What?" Louisa cackled. "Holy shit, no way!"
"Yeah, you told me. And didn't let him live it down."
"As soon as we get back, I have a tonne of jokes."
"Leo." Calypso prompted. "What else?"
"Annabeth said this place was a sorceress's island. It was a spa place, it was nice at first and she got given a makeover. But when she came back to find Percy…" He shook his head. "The sorceress, she turned any male visitors into guinea pigs." Louisa snorted, stifling laughter. Leo shook his head at her. "We did tease him about it." He assured. "Relentlessly." She gave a wicked little giggle, rubbing her hands together maliciously. "Oh gods, it's starting again."
"Circe." Calypso said. "She used to turn men into pigs."
"Yes." Leo remembered, nodding. "That's her. Uh… this place is definitely abandoned, right? I'm not in the mood for sorceresses right now."
"Um, as an ex-sorceress, I am deeply offended."
"Sorry, Cal. Love you."
"Mm. Love you too."
"Awww." Louisa cooed, pinching their cheeks. "So mushy. But yeah, no, didn't see anyone."
"Good." Leo nodded again, smacking her hand away. "So… what's the plan?"
"Well, I think Glaucus is planning a fishing trip."
"I'm gonna drown him."
"No, you're not."
"Funsponge."
"But we should press on." Calypso persisted. "Leo, before… all that," she waved at the sea, "you had your map. Were we on route?"
"Yes." He said, pulling his map from his belt. "Buuut we'll have to carry on through the Sea of Monsters. And I will need some way to connect with Camp."
"Communications are down."
"I know, I didn't mean that. I mean our GPS is kind of…" He motioned to Festus. The dragon was pushing his head through the sand, dragging his tail, wings as extended as he could and drilling out something that sounded like Humpty Dumpty. "Yeah, that." Leo settled with. Louisa part-chuckled, part-snickered at the dragon's antics. Calypso elbowed her into quiet. "We'll figure that out later." Leo decided. "Where to next?"
"I'm guessing something bound to try and kill us."
"I bet Lou's pissed them off."
"I ain't even gonna argue with that."
Stay safe, love to all!
