LEO'S POV
I dabbed away some of the sweat that had collected on my forehead with a cloth and exhaled, tossing the rag over my shoulder. After examining the hardware before me, I nodded to myself. The final repair touches were complete, so now all that was left was to conduct a test run.
"Alright, Peri," I called up to her. "Fire up the oars!"
There was no response, and I had to crane my neck to see around all the machinery that made the oars and ballista operate. When I looked passed the spiderweb of wooden beams and bronze pipes, I spotted Peri with her eyes glazed over.
This wasn't the first time that I'd caught her lost in thought as we worked on repairs today. Peri was usually energetic and talkative, but I could barely get two words out of her. I couldn't help but feel that it was due to the vision she had when she passed out from the venti attack. I remembered running on deck after hearing the alarm bells, and the way my world stopped when I saw her unconscious form crumpled on the floor. One would think that after seeing her in such a state so many times that I'd be used to it by now, but no. Subconsciously, I shook the memory from the forefront of my brain. I didn't want to think about that nightmarish sight.
"Peri!" I called her name again, firmer this time.
The blond jumped slightly before remembering what she was doing. "Whoops!"
She made deliberate cranking motions with her hands, and the Celestial Bronze mechanisms groaned to life. I watched their movements carefully, and sure enough the oars extended and retracted smoothly. Grinning proudly, I climbed out of the maze of levers and pulleys back into the main part of the Engine Room.
"Nice! The oars are fully functional again," I beamed. "Thanks for your help."
"Yeah, sure," Peri replied distantly, chewing her bottom lip. "No worries."
I frowned then grabbed her chin gently, forcing her to look at me. "Hey. What's on your mind?"
"It's nothing—"
"Talk to me."
She sighed deeply before the corners of her lips upturned just the slightest, and she looked up at me from beneath her long lashes. "Jeez, you really see right through me."
"Of course." I smiled and led her to a worktable to sit down. "You've been distracted for the past few hours. What is it?"
Peri's brown eyes shined sadly. "I can't stop seeing my dad in my mind... bleeding out, dying slowly all alone. It's an awful way to go."
"Hey, don't talk like that! We're gonna save him."
"But how?" Peri's voice cracked, and her miserable expression pierced my heart. "Any day now, Gaea will have enough of my father's blood to birth an unkillable super giant whose sole purpose is to murk my old man."
A single tear threatened to spill over her honey brown eyes, but she blinked it away quickly before it could fall. Seeing Peri so miserable was absolute torture. It made me realize how strong she's been since the very first moment I saw her. But her dad's situation was breaking her spirit, and I worried about her mental state. I pondered everything that I had learned about Peri, her dad, and the prophecies before speaking again.
"So I've been thinking... Anastasios is the god unknown, but what does that mean exactly?"
Peri rolled her eyes. "I think it means that nobody knows..."
"No, like, remember the story?" I tried to put my jumbled thoughts together cohesively. "Octavian's book said that Juno named your dad Anastasios because it means resurrection, right? So what if—"
"You think my dad is supposed to die?" She guessed.
"Well, not supposed to, but..." I trailed off and gauged her reaction, hoping she didn't take offense.
Although she didn't seem angry, I could see the gears turning in her pretty little head. A hopeful glint sparked in her eyes, but then it died just as suddenly. "I'm not sure that the book Octavian read to us was what really happened all those years ago. I think there's more to the story... and I get the feeling that di Angelo knows."
"Nico?" I cocked my head to the side. "What makes you think that?"
"I don't have any proof, but I just have this gut feeling... He knows so much about history, and he's a child of the Underworld. I feel like our fates are intertwined somehow."
"Intertwined fates, huh?" I repeated with just the right amount of teasing. "Don't tell me you're gonna dump me for the son of Hades."
Peri laughed, the sound somehow still making my heartbeat flutter with delight. "I dunno, Valdez, maybe the Prince of Darkness could really rock my world."
I scoffed, "What, like I don't?"
She grinned and shrugged her shoulders, feigning innocence.
"You weren't saying any of that last night." I spoke in a high pitched voice to imitate her. "Oh, Leo! Fuuuck! Yes, gods, don't stop—"
"Shut up!" Peri shoved me roughly, a dark blush forming on her cheeks as she giggled. "You're so annoying!"
"You love it," I managed between bits of laughter.
"Yeah, lucky you," she replied with the cutest little shy smile.
Lucky me indeed.
I laid back on the worktable and gazed at the elaborate structure of beams and pipes above. "So how do you plan on getting Nico to spill the beans? Assuming that he does know the truth about your dad, of course."
Peri hummed in thought, lying back on the worktable as well. "My strategy in life has always been to provoke someone into swinging first, then beat the crap out of them. After that, people will generally tell you anything you want!"
"Huh. I'm pretty good at provoking people, but I was never too good at the whole beating the crap out of them part. I'm built for speed so I usually ran away."
She chuckled. "Well, you're smart so you can beat people up with that big brain of yours. A meathead like me has to rely on thunder and lightning."
I arched a brow in her direction curiously. "Thunder and lightning?"
Peri grinned and held up her fists, gesturing to her left and right biceps. "This is thunder, and this is lightning."
I shook my head and laughed. "Well, I'm not sure Hazel would appreciate you knocking out her brother who we just rescued from giants not too long ago."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. He has been through a lot," she lamented, face falling. "It just feels wrong sitting here doing nothing, ya know?"
"Yeah, I know, mamas."
Peri sighed again and snuggled up to me, laying her head on my chest. It hurt me to see her so upset, especially when it felt like we were completely helpless to the situation. At times like this, it was easy to give up. But then again, I was never really one to take the easy way out. No, I'd come up with a plan. She was right— I'm smart and capable. There had to be a way. I promised her that I'd fix everything, and I intended to keep my promise.
Somewhere along the way of brainstorming a number of solutions to a number of problems, I fell asleep. I dreamt of a fiery demon that consumed everything in its path until the entire world was a charred, blackened husk. I chose not to analyze that too much. When I woke up, the Engine Room was dark and quiet except for the subtle hum of the ship's machinery. At first I thought that I was alone, but I soon picked up on another warm body nearby.
A few feet away, Peri sat cross legged on a worktable with her eyes closed. She seemed to be in a meditative state and didn't move a muscle. Instead, her Celestial Bronze sword gravitated around her still body rapidly as if fighting off an invisible assailant. The blade twirled and parried with such speed and skill that I wondered if she really was under attack.
I hopped up and called her name in concern, rushing to her side. Peri opened her eyes in surprise, and the sword fell to the floor with a clatter of metal.
"You broke my concentration," she scowled.
My eyes widened, and I swiped my thumb at the bright red droplet under her nose. "Peri, your nose is bleeding! How long have you been doing this for?"
"Bleeding?" She repeated in disbelief, and held my hand to examine the drop of blood. Without warning, she stuck my thumb in her mouth and sucked the blood off.
I stared at her in shock. "I don't know whether to be turned on or weirded out right now."
Peri flushed with embarrassment. "It's just... I can't let anyone have my blood, ya know?"
"I guess, but—"
My words were cut off by the alarm bells ringing out. Festus whirred something about sea nymphs over the intercom just as the ship rocked dangerously side to side.
Peri muttered something akin to a curse in Japanese and extended her arm, allowing her Celestial Bronze sword to fly into her hand. She started to dash off, but I grabbed her hand before she could climb over the Athena Parthenos.
"Wait!" I urged. "Don't you think you should sit this one out? Especially after everything that's happened today. Plus you're not the best when it comes to the ocean."
The blond didn't appreciate my concern for her, though. She narrowed her eyes and snapped, "Fighting is what I do best. Maybe you should try it instead of running away all the time."
"Okay, rude. I'm just trying to look out for you-"
"Well I don't need you to babysit me, alright? I'm not weak."
"I know that—"
The Argo rocked haphazardly, and I nearly lost my balance completely. When I had regained my footing, Peri was already halfway out the Engine Room door. I grumbled to myself about women and their mood swings as I rushed after her. I didn't know what to expect when I made it up the stairs, but this certainly wasn't it.
It was absolute chaos.
Everywhere I looked, there were water nymphs. They soaked the control console, raided our food, and attacked our friends in large groups. There was so much saltwater sloshing around on the deck that I feared the Argo had sprung a leak. Peri wasted no time jumping into the fray, but each nymph she sliced with her sword dispersed into a puddle of water and reformed just a few seconds later. Frank had transformed into a dolphin and was leaping in and out of the ocean, in an effort to disrupt the nymphs that were trying to capsize the ship. Hazel was green with seasickness and utterly helpless as Piper did her best to defend the two of them.
I tried to make my way over to the pair of girls, but I caught the attention of a few water nymphs who had grown bored with ransacking our stuff.
"Ooh!" one of the nymphs grinned, showcasing her rows of sharp teeth. "He's hot! I want that one!"
"Hot, huh?" My fist burst into flame, causing them to jump back in surprise. "You've got no idea. Now stay back unless you want to turn from a liquid to a gaseous state."
"Too wordy!" Peri called as she sliced the head off of a nymph. "Just call them sea sluts or wet skanks. It really pisses them off!"
"Really?" I pondered. "I liked it. Maybe it was just a bit too high brow for you."
"Too high brow?" She scoffed and stomped on the nymph puddle to prevent it from reforming. "If anything, it was lacking that usual Valdez pizzazz—"
"Would you two stop flirting and get us the hell out of here?!" Piper screeched, bashing a sea nymph with the hilt of her dagger.
"Oi, Pipes, you're supposed to use the pointy end," Peri replied sarcastically.
"What about Jason and Nico?" I asked Piper, blasting fire at a group of nymphs, creating a blanket of steam. "They're not back yet."
"We can't stay in this water!" Piper cried. "If we fly above the city then they should be able to find us."
Frank landed on deck just as I reached the controls. Most of the tech was waterlogged, but I could still manage to get the ship airborne. Thankfully we had fixed the oars before this ambush, and the engine roared to life. The remaining nymphs panicked as the Argo gained altitude, screaming and diving into the harbor below for safety. In just a few moments, we were hovering above Split. Other than Hazel vomiting over the side of the ship onto an unsuspecting pedestrian's head, the crew was fine. All that was left now was to dry off the equipment while we wait for Nico and Jason to return.