Sorry for not updating last night, everything was a bit hectic here!

To RandomFanAuthor- it's the juxtaposition. *chef's kiss*

To BethnPercy- Mum's not diagnosed with OCD, but I really reckon it's there. Like, all cereal boxes must be in height order and tin cans must always face the front and you can never ever put her cup away as it's always in one place for the next cup of tea :P My siblings are... an adventure. I am one of six. Older sister just had a prem baby, do NOT get me started on her, she made life absolute hell growing up. Then there's me and I'm lovely. Alcoholic asshole brother who thinks coronavirus is just a bunch of numbers. Then another brother who has autism, ADHD, Tourette's and tics and hypermobility (he's six foot something and can stick both legs behind his head!) And then there's ANOTHER brother, who is colour deficient- he can see colours, but they're all wrong. For example, Spider-Man is not red and blue, he's brown and orange. The sky is pink. Grass is purple. The only colour he can really see is yellow. And then one more- my youngest sister, she is a MADAM. And steals my food. And onto the chapter- thank you! ^_^ For the P.S- no, she doesn't NEED her memories back. Amnesia Lou is fun :D The benefits probably don't outweigh the 'traumatising and demented things' she's gone through- poor girl's gonna have severe PTSD at this rate! But no. No memories. Not ever. Mwhaha. Suffer. (And I know it's for Leoisa, ya'll want Leoisa!)

To HoO Fan- Chaotic and interesting is my life style. And you feel that way because I am. And I will. Multiple times. *devil grin*


Had it not been for Louisa, they would have slammed into a cliff and broken every bone in their bodies. She yelled out, thrusting her hands into the sky. A wave shot up, mirroring the rockface. It engulfed them, cocooning them and abruptly stilling their momentum. Leo looked back at her, brow knitting. She blinked at him, hair swirling in the current. He motioned to his chest and she started, swearing. Clapping her hands, the wave produced a bubble for them. Festus dropped to the bottom of it, plating creaking, wings splaying.

"Sorry." Louisa smiled apologetically.

"We're not fish, Lou."

"Should be." She nodded seriously. "Callie, you OK?"

"Fantastic." Calypso coughed, wringing her hair out. Louisa laughed nervously. She raised her hands over her head, palms facing the top of her wave. Slowly, she brought them down, turning her hands and lowering them at a level. The water followed her movements, alighting them on a beach and shrinking back into the sea like nothing had happened.

Leo leaned over Festus, popping open the panel to access his brain. "What happened to him?" Calypso asked. Leo shook his head, grimacing. Calypso looked to Louisa, arching an eyebrow. With mutual nods, they left him to it. They both patted him on the back in a futile attempt to comfort him, walking a little way along the beach.

Louisa kept an eye on the water. The sirens had skedaddled within view of the island, but she wasn't going to relax just yet. She reached over her shoulder, toying with a lock from her ponytail anxiously.

"The mermaid lady said about this dude." She said. Calypso nodded in agreement. "D'ya reckon she had somethin' ta do with Festus?"

"It's probable." Calypso sighed, hugging herself for warmth. Louisa touched her shoulder, willing her dry. "We're so close, but… our luck is running true to form."

"Yep." They looked up the cliff. Louisa scratched at her neck, closing one eye in thought. "Do we have ta climb that?"

"Probably. He's your brother. And we've yet to not have some dealings with your siblings."

"I didn't ask for 'em."

"I know."

"Dad needs ta keep it in his pants."

"Very nice, Lou. Subtle."

"I'm gonna tell him. Strongly worded letter."

"By 'strongly worded', you mean rude and full of vulgarities, right?"

"Duh."

"Duh." Calypso agreed. She looked back at Leo. He was cleaning a disc, sat side-saddle on Festus's neck, patting the comatose dragon's head every so often. "We're not leaving him on his own." Louisa nodded. "What do we do?"

"Wait, I thought I was banned from ideas?"

"You are. But we're also stuck on an island with flesh-eating sheep your brother owns and sirens out there and your sister even further out who just ate her best friend because you blew up her cliff. And not to mention the god you want to castrate."

"I will do it."

"Mm-hm, great, still doesn't answer my question."

"I can… blow up another cliff?"

"And have aforementioned flesh-eating sheep rain down on us?"

"I can try for the grass eatin' ones."

"No."

"Uh… arson?"

"No."

"Arm wrestle."

"No."

"That's it, I'm out."

"You're a goldmine of inspiration."


Louisa did start a fire, but only for their camp. Calypso would not even consider arson, which was very inconsiderate of her. Even when warned with a strongly worded letter, she would not budge. Leo was still working on Festus, grumbling to himself. The girls had helped clean the dragon's plating down, Calypso even tied his rainbow flag bracelet around his ankle.

"Hey, Lou?" She said, searching their packs.

"Yeah?"

"Where's my sword?"

"Uh… oh shit, I think it's still in Scylla." Louisa smiled nervously. Calypso dropped her hands in her lap in disbelief. "Oh gods, that's such a mom look." Louisa hid behind Festus, peering over his shoulder warily. "I'll… get you a new one?"

"And?"

"Um… no strongly worded letter?"

"Good. You might get one of your own though."

"Fuck." Louisa hid. Calypso shook her head, sighing. She delegated herself the task of lunch. Louisa shuffled around the dragon, making sure she kept him between her and Calypso. It amused Leo a little; he sat watching her antics for a moment, waving his oil rag on her head once he could reach.

"The great Louisa." He smirked.

"Hey." She jabbed him in the leg. "She scares you too."

"Yeah, but that's on me. I have a type."

"You're so weird."

"Says the girl with all the power of the sea, hiding from Calypso and her cooking pot."

"I owe her one of those as well, gods dammit." Louisa ducked. Leo laughed, only to get hit in the leg again. "Hurry up 'n' fix Festus."

"I'm nearly done. Nothing seemed wrong, it's like he just shut down. I gave him a tune up, bit of a clean. Hopefully he'll reboot and we can leave." Louisa nodded. Leo narrowed his eyes at her. "You're still thinking about arson, aren't you?"

"Give me somethin' better than arson ta think about."

"Me."

"Nah."

"I am fully capable of spontaneously combusting, I'm practically key to arson."

"Yeah. But ya don't combust when I want ya to. 'N' I can arson on my own." She stuck her tongue out, hiding again when Calypso frowned over at them.

"No arson!" She ordered. Leo let flames trickle into his hair and grinned.


Leo put Festus's brain back together after lunch. Calypso had cobbled together a basic vegetable soup from foraging and their supplies. They had a little bit of bread left to dip in it. A seagull landed on Louisa's knee as she was about to bite into hers, clicking its beak and staring at her.

"No." She said. "It's mine." It shuffled its wings, patted its foot on her leg. She shoved the bread in her mouth, shooing at it. "Go 'way." She instructed around her mouthful. It didn't like that, squawking. It launched at her face, wings flapping, upending her bowl into the sand and pulling at her hair. She fell back in the sand, grappling with the bird, flailing her arms to get it off.

Leo threw some bread and it soared after that, giving Louisa the stink-eye. She sat up, furious and sandy, her hair a wild nest of tangles.

"Why do birds not like you?" Leo laughed. "Also, can you talk to seagulls?"

"No."

"Huh. Bummer." She poked her bowl upright, but her soup was an orange stain on the sand, gradually fading. Leo reached over, cleaning her bowl with his hand. He and Calypso both volunteered some of their portions. She brightened and then stopped, looking around for her new foe.

The seagull remained where Leo's bread had landed. It still stared at her. She retrieved her bowl, holding it close to her body and curling protectively around it. The seagull snapped its beak, blinked.

"Fuck off." She challenged. It shook itself, looking behind it. "I swear, if it's got back-up-"

"No arson."

"Bird pie?"

"That's probably why they don't like you."

"Bird pie it is."

The seagull spread its wings, kicking Louisa in the head on the way past and then soaring away across the water. She drew her bow, knocked back from shooting by Calypso's foot in her shin.

They finished their meal in silence, Leo and Calypso quite contented, Louisa fuming and plotting revenge. Calypso tidied, added a bit of driftwood to the fire. Then they huddled together to watch Leo's attempt to reboot Festus. "Come on, dragon." Louisa encouraged. "Wake up or I'm gonna kick ya ass."

"Leave him alone, he's been through enough." Leo chided, swatting at her. She elbowed him in retaliation. Calypso pulled on her arm and swapped places with her, firing a sidelong warning look at her. Leo snorted, ducking his head when he got a similar look.

Leo put the last few pieces back into place, wiped the inside of the panel and closed it. Louisa bounced on the soles of her feet eagerly, clenching her fists.

He didn't get to reboot. They all froze under a voice, booming over crashing of the surf, shaking the sand with its ferocity;

"SMOKE!"

"Oh, what now?" Louisa hissed, drawing her sword.

"I SMELL SMOKE!" The voice continued, getting closer. As one, they all looked to the campfire. With a wave of her hand, Louisa had a wave extinguish it. Too late.

The voice's owner came into view, from around a corner they had not noticed before. Staggering, guiding himself along with walking stick made of bones tied haphazardly together with grey wool, came the sheep-owner. Fifteen feet tall, wearing only a loin cloth of sheepskin. His skin was mottled grey and tanned, his face bulbous and misshapen. He sniffed the air with a nose that looked to have been broken several times. His one eye was scarred and burnt, squinting as if that helped. Louisa shifted at the colour of it- flecks of sea green behind milky blindness.

He grinned lopsidedly, showing off browning teeth. "SOMEONE ON MY ISLAND!" He boomed. "IS THAT NOBODY? TEAR NOBODY APART!"


Stay inside! Stay safe! Love ya!