"Just breathe!" Jason shouted at me over the roar of the wind.

"Easy for you to say!" I yelled back. He wasn't the one stuck in a mini tornado. Clearly the last three months of training hadn't improved my powers.

"You can't show weakness. Show the venti who's in control!"

I grit my teeth and threw my hands out again, desperately trying to reign in the storm spirits. They only spiraled faster. "Pretty sure it's not me!"

The blur of him I could see through the raging winds came closer, a glint of gold in his hands. "Hold your breath!"

I sucked in a breath as he slashed through the swirling wind. I felt the air pressure drop as my ears popped, but the vacuum didn't suck the air from my lungs.

The silence was blissful, but I couldn't enjoy it with Jason glaring at me. "You need to have better control."

"Why?"

"So you don't accidentally start another forest fire."

"It wasn't my fault!""

"Are you going to blame it on Hestia? Are you going to blame your failure with the venti on Zeus? That's not how this works Celeste. You have these powers because of your dad. Just because you share some powers with his other kids doesn't mean it's their fault when you fail.

"Then I blame my dad." I grabbed my water bottle and headed towards the arena. I didn't have time for another lecture. We were leaving in less than twenty-four hours.

"You can't blame him for everything!"

I ignored him, but before I could make it very far, I ran into Piper. "Bunker Nine in five," she called out as she jogged past. "Leo says the ship's ready!"

She was gone before I could respond. Not that I would've. Sure I had volunteered for this quest, but that didn't mean I had to look forward to it. Sailing in a warship towards a camp of hostile Romans? Not my idea of fun.

I tried not to think about it as I wove through the trees in a well-known path. Spending most of my time in the bunker meant I memorized it pretty quickly.

I made it to the clearing and headed inside the open doorway. Annabeth was already there, along with most of the Hephaestus cabin. Piper and Jason walked in hand-in-hand, completing the group.

"Alright," Leo said, loud enough to silence the quiet conversations. "The engine is finally fixed, so we can leave tomorrow."

"Why not today?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, I still have to finish the furnishing, make the holographic scroll, and—"

"Got it."

"Cool. So get packed and get ready, the Argo II leaves tomorrow!"

Everyone else filed out, even the other Hephaestus kids. I stuck around. Just because I had nothing better to do. No other reason.

"So, Princess—"

"Don't call me that."

"Fine, Sunshine. So, wanna help? I could use an extra pair of hands. For, you know, passing tools and stuff."

"Don't you have a magic toolbelt?"

"Well—"

"I'm kidding! Of course I'll help."

"Great! Uh…I mean grab a—"

"I know where everything is." I pulled my hair back and grabbed a wrench from a table.

He led me down to the ship's engine room, and almost immediately began banging on stuff with a hammer. I still didn't fully understand the ship, but I knew enough to keep it from blowing up. At least the Argo II made some sense, unlike my powers.

"Hey!" Leo's voice called from behind the engine. "Wrench?"

"Again, magic toolbelt. No reason to talk to me." I passed him the wrench anyway.

"You had on your thinking face. Things tend to go wrong when you start thinking."

"Hey! I don't have a thinking face!"

"Sure you do. Your eyebrows get all scrunched up and you purse your lips. You do it a lot."

I tried to un-scrunch my brows and relax my lips.

"So…what were you thinking about?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the deadly quest I'm going on tomorrow."

"The deadly quest we're going on tomorrow."

"Okay, Mr. Technicalities."

"But why are you nervous? We're only sailing into a camp of probably hostile Romans, then sailing to Greece to defeat the literal earth. Easy peasy."

"Easy for people who know how to use their powers."

"Hey, I offered to teach you!"

"I know. Just…fire."

"Yeah. Fire." His tone had turned somber.

"And after the 'warning' Hestia gave me, I'm not super eager to use her powers."

"They're not hers, they're yours."

"You know what I mean. I have Poseidon's and Zeus' too. What else?"

"Hey, I'm nervous too. I just try not to think about it."

"You mean you throw yourself at your work to distract yourself?"

"Okay, so neither of us are good at relaxing. So what?"

Before I could respond, the dinner horn sounded. "So, it's time for dinner."

Leo didn't move.

"Are you coming?"

"Nah. I gotta finish the ship."

"The ships practically finished. Besides, you can't go on the quest if you die of starvation."

His face popped up from behind the engine. "Hey, I eat!"

I crossed my arms. "When?"

"Yesterday!" I gave him a glare. "Morning."

"Yeah, okay you're coming." He tried to protest but fell silent when I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the engine room.

He stopped struggling, but I didn't let go until we were well into the woods. I laughed at his dazed look. "What?"

"Nothing."

I didn't believe him for a second, but I let it slide. We made it to the dining pavilion, and he headed towards table nine. I got to sit at the head table, where everyone could whisper and stare. Great.

I ended up watching Leo for most of the meal, to make sure he ate something. He did but tinkered with something in his lap the whole time. You could lead a horse to water, I guess.

Dinner ended, and announcements passed, but I couldn't focus on them. Who cared when the next game of capture the flag was when I'd be halfway across the world this time tomorrow?

Campers stood up to go to campfire, but I stayed right where I was. I could've stayed there forever, lost in my own worries if I hadn't spotted Leo slinking back towards the woods.

"Where are you going?"

He jumped and turned around, facing where I had appeared. "Back to the bunker. I have work to do."

"The furnishing's practically done, and people can survive without perfect walls for a while. The engine is totally fine—don't look at me like that, you know I'm right—and knowing you, you've already made the holographic scroll."

"Well then what do you suggest I do?"

"Relax?"

"Haven't we established we're both terrible at that?"

"We can try. Have you even been to the campfire once?" He looked at the ground. "Hey, there's a first time for everything. Come on!"

I heard him chuckle as he followed me. I smiled to myself before breaking into a run, hearing him laughing behind me.

We made it to the amphitheater, and he headed towards the Hephaestus section. "Nu-uh." I shook my head. "You're sitting with me."

"What? Why?"

"How else am I supposed to make sure you're relaxing?"

He let out a dramatically long sigh. "Fine."

He sat down on the bench, fake pouting, but soon enough he was laughing and singing with everyone else. I kept glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, to make sure he wasn't building something again.

Every time I looked, he was smiling, especially when he saw I was watching him. I forced myself to sing along. This was my last chance. Besides, Leo was trying, so I could too.

The song ended and campers went crazy to grab smore's supplies. "After you." Leo said with a bow, moving so I could get out of the row of benches.

"Why thank you kind sir."

I giggled, at myself or Leo I wasn't sure, but I took his offer anyway, bounding towards the graham crackers.

I grabbed a stick and settled over the fire, pushing my fear of the flames below the surface. I was going to enjoy this marshmallow, no matter what.

Thud.

Something had hit me in the back. I whirled around to see Leo standing by the table of sweets, his arm still outstretched with a bag of marshmallows in his hands.

"How's that for fun?" he called over the crowd.

"Oh, it is so on." I grabbed the white dessert off the edge of my stick and chucked it, knowing it wouldn't burn him.

Then all Hades broke loose. Blurs of white and brown were flying everywhere, while Chiron tried frantically to stop it. He stopped when a graham cracker hit him in the face.

Laughter echoed all throughout the theater, and I let myself join in too. It was my last chance, after all.

I had gooey sugar in my hair by the end of it, but I didn't care. My stomach hurt from laughing too much, and Leo was grinning too.

It took forever, but Chiron finally got it all under control. Campers walked back to their cabins, still laughing, and covered in smores supplies.

I pulled a marshmallow out of my hair and stared at the Big House. It was where I'd been sleeping the last three months, but it never felt like home.

Though, neither did the giant warship I'd be sleeping on tomorrow, so I couldn't really complain.

"Hey."

I whirled around with my hand on my necklace before I could even recognize the voice. "Sorry."

Leo just laughed. "Even after all that fun, you still can't relax?"

"I'm terrible at it!"

"We both are." His smile seemed even sweeter bathed in the torchlight.

"So, what brings you here? Aren't you worried about the harpies?" I couldn't really complain that he was here though. I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.

"I wanted to show you something."

"What is it?"

"A surprise."

He turned around without another word, heading straight for the woods. I followed him without question. My interest had been peaked.

He wove through the trees in the familiar path to Bunker Nine, but when we made it to the clearing, he didn't head for the door.

He led me around the back of the cave, to where his 'thinking spot' was. "What are we doing here?" I asked as he led me up the stairs.

"You said it would be the perfect place to stargaze, right?" We made it to the top, revealing blankets and pillows covering the roof.

I froze. "You did this for me?"

"Well, yeah." He looked down in embarrassment. "I mean, I figure it's probably pretty confusing for you right now, with your memories and stuff. So, I thought if you could do something you wanted to do, it might help."

"Leo—"

"If you don't like it, we can go back down and forget this ever happened, I just thought with the quest tomorrow—"

"I love it."

He stopped in his tracks, a grin slowly appearing on his face. "Then shall we?"

"Shall we? Is this old England?"

"Hey, we deal in ancient stuff!"

I covered my laugh with my hand. "Alright then, Repair Boy. Shall we?"

"We shall."

He led me to a pile of blankets, placed in the exact spot I'd set the forest of fire months ago. I stared out at the forest. Some of the branches were still burnt.

"Are we stargazing or tree gazing?"

"Sorry." I leaned against the blanket he'd set out. "I just wish I knew how I started that fire. Or knew anything about my life."

"What's your name?"

"What?"

"Do you know your name?"

"Yes?"

"Then you know something about your life."

I smiled at that. "You're ridiculous," I said, rolling over to face him.

"Hey, it pays to be ridiculous. People always underestimate you."

"Then those people are idiots."

Now he was smiling too. "Thanks. Anyone who underestimates you is an idiot too."

"I don't know about that."

"Why?"

I turned back to face the stars. It was easier when I didn't have to look at him. I could pretend I was telling the stars my problems. The stars always listened.

"Well, I don't know how to use my powers. Or why I have them. I can barely use a sword. And I know nothing about quests. And—"

"And you can fly the Argo II. And you can beat an Ares camper in a fight without trying. You're better than me. I'm not much of a fighter."

"Are you kidding me? You practically built an entire warship by yourself. If that's not amazing, I don't know what is."

"Really?"

"Really."

"But if I get to be amazing then you get to be amazing."

I laughed. "Deal."

We fell silent, staring at the stars. My mind went to the quest as my fingers twitched with nervous energy, bumping into Leo's hand.

I went rigid. Neither of us moved. I glanced around, making sure I hadn't destroyed anything. There were no flames. I felt no panic. There was nothing. It was fine. I was fine.

"I'm fine." And for once I meant it. Leo would be on the quest. Piper would be on the quest. It would be okay.

I settled into the pillow, no longer caring about what tomorrow held. I let that feeling guide me to sleep for my last night at camp.