AN: Hi, everyone. i know I haven't updated in a long time, but I'm going to let you know that I am not abandoning this story. I've just been really busy lately and will most likely be busy throughout December. I promise I will get some updates throughout the month. You can expect MULTIPLE updates around Christmastime, which is when my schedule clears up a bit more. Thanks for staying with this fanfic! Don't forget to review, favorite, and follow for more updates! Keep checking back because I will be working on getting this story up and running again! Enjoy this chapter!
NICO'S POV
The sun set hours ago and our faces are only illuminated by the bonfire we surround.
"Look at that raft!" One of the boys on the beach shout. The bonfire is at its peak height with our recent campfire songs and enthusiasm.
"Where?" Percy asks. The smoky air is blocking the view.
I look past the thick air and look at the raft. Two people are lying down on it. It's still very far away, but visible to us.
"They're coming toward us. Do you think it's some major monster trap with them as bait?" A girl from the Aphrodite cabin asks worriedly.
Everyone scrambles to grab their weapons and other gear as the raft comes closer.
"It could just be some random shipwrecked people," Piper suggests as she grips her dagger.
Suddenly, one of the people sit up. The person starts to wave at us, shouting something.
"What did he say?" Will whispers from next to me.
"I don't know," I mutter back, still trying to hear.
"Maybe you should speed them along, Percy!" Annabeth suggests. A genius plan from the genius herself.
Without a word, Percy moves to the front of the crowd and the raft starts to speed up rapidly. It almost capsizes and throws the passengers off.
Then we all hear it. "Percy! SLOW DOWN!"
Startled, Percy stops the waves from propelling it forward.
"Did he say Percy?"
"Did you hear that?"
"Who could it be?"
The whispers are all around me.
Suddenly, a huge flame erupts off the boat and into the sky. That's when everyone starts to panic.
"It's probably a monster tricking us in a human form!"
"It shoots fire. How can we defend ourselves against something like that?!"
The archers start to knock their arrows.
"STOP!" Piper shouts. Her eyes dart to multiple people and they falter. "Can't you see? That's Leo!"
The raft reaches a close distance and he punches another flame. In the light, we can all make out his mass of curly hair. Festus lay behind him in pieces. An unknown girl sat beside Leo with two bags beside her.
As they floated ashore, people swarmed them.
"Leo! How is this- "
"But you were- "
"We saw you- "
"All that matters is that I'm back, party people!" Leo shouts happily.
Will runs back toward the sand for a first aid kit. As he passes me running back to the water, he shouts, "The doctor is needed!"
When he reaches the mob, he commands people to get out of the way.
"That's my boyfriend," I mumble jokingly as I watch the crowd moving back quickly to allow Will to pass.
I edge closer so I can hear the conversation.
"You're a little dehydrated and a little hungry," Will informs the girl.
"I haven't had any real food in forever. Got anything good?" Leo asks. "I'm starving."
"You still need a little more medical treatment, Leo. You still have some scrapes from the explosion," Will tells him sternly. "You can eat later, Leo."
Leo nods dejectedly. "At least you can eat if you want," he grumbles to the girl.
She stands up from their sitting position in the sand and I finally get a full view of her. She has light brown hair, although it's all tangled and rugged from the sea journey. She looks familiar, but no one's mentioned her name yet. Who is she?
Then she catches sight of Percy. "Percy Jackson?"
All of Percy's attention had been placed on Leo, but he looks up at the girl and a wide smile forms. Of course he knows her. Percy seems to know everybody.
"Calypso," he breathes. Finally, a name: the goddess in the myths that trapped Odysseus on her island for years. Percy must have been trapped there at some time, too. He splutters, "B-but how?!"
"A boy found Ogygia twice," she says, beaming at Leo.
Percy walks over and gives her a hug. She wipes tears from her eyes when she pulls away. Even Annabeth grins at this reunion.
For a full minute, they stand there hugging, but Percy breaks the connection.
"Well, I better get some food for Leo, then," Calypso tells him, still smiling.
The other campers welcome her in a way they never truly welcomed me.
"Just lie here and rest, okay, Leo?" I hear Will say to Leo. He gets up and walks to me with a smile.
"How's the recovery going?" I ask him.
"Pretty well, if not a little irritating. Leo's very..."
"Stubborn? Aggravating?" I supply. "He can be like that, yeah. Luckily, his mind turns that impulsiveness into something he can use."
Will looks over at Leo who is currently high-fiving a few campers as they pass by, or slapping their legs when they don't offer a hand. "I guess that quest made you see another side to him?"
"Yeah. He was an essential part of the team. That quest changed me a lot, though," I reply.
"Well, in that time, I realized I cared about what happened to you and you worried me. I guess that quest changed me, too."
He pecks my cheek lightly and I think about how this relationship is almost the best outcome of the quest.
AN: Hi, everyone. i know I haven't updated in a long time, but I'm going to let you know that I am not abandoning this story. I've just been really busy lately and will most likely be busy throughout December. I promise I will get some updates throughout the month. You can expect MULTIPLE updates around Christmastime, which is when my schedule clears up a bit more. Thanks for staying with this fanfic! Don't forget to review, favorite, and follow for more updates! Keep checking back because I will be working on getting this story up and running again!