Daughter of Wine

Piper

"Hey." Jason croaks. 

I'm so startled, I drop my knife. "You're awake!" 

"Don't sound so surprised." Jason touches his bandaged head and frowns. "What... what happened? I remember the explosions, and-"

"You remember who I am?" I ask desperately. I've been so worried that he'll forget me again. 

Jason tries to laugh, but it turns into a painful wince. "Last I checked, you were my awesome girlfriend Piper. Unless something changed while I was out?"

I'm so relieved I almost sob. I help him sit up and give him some nectar while I bring him up to speed. I'm just explaining Leo's plan to fix the ship when I hear horse hooves clomping across the deck over our heads. 

Moments later, Leo, Hazel, and Calli stumble to a stop in the doorway, carrying a large sheet of hammered bronze between them. 

"Gods of Olympus." I stare at Leo and Calli. "What happened to you?"

Leo's hair is greased back. He has welding goggles on his forehead, a lipstick mark on his cheek, tattoos all over his arms, and a T-shirt that reads HOT STUFF, BAD BOY, and TEAM LEO. Calli doesn't look much better. Her arms are covered in phrases like "Mrs. Valdez," "I love Leo," and "LV + CR". She has lipstick on now, and her hair is a wild mess, probably from riding on Arion. Her eyes look crazy, the same way they did when she threw the Maenads a party.

"Long story." Leo says. "Others back?"

"Not yet." I tell him. 

Leo curses. Then he notices Jason sitting up and his face brightens. "Hey, man! Glad you're better. We'll be in the engine room." 

He and Calli run off with the bronze, leaving Hazel in the doorway, watching them run off with a frown. 

I raise an eyebrow at her. "Team Leo?"

"We met Narcissus." Hazel says. "Calli had a crazy plan." She frowns. "Also Nemesis, the revenge goddess."

Jason sighs. "I miss all the fun."

On the deck above, something goes THUMP, as if a heavy creature has landed. Annabeth and Percy come running down the hall. Percy is toting a steaming five-gallon plastic bucket that smells horrible. Annabeth has a patch of black sticky stuff in her hair. Percy's shirt is covered in it. 

"Roofing tar?" I guess. 

Frank stumbles up behind them, which makes the hallway pretty jam-packed with demigods. Frank has a big smear of the black sludge down his face. 

"Ran into some tar monsters." Annabeth says. "Hey, Jason, glad you're awake. Hazel, where's Leo and Calli?"

As if on cue, I hear Calli yell something in Spanish from down below. ACDC begins to blast from the engine room. 

"Engine room." Hazel says, rather unnecessarily. 

Suddenly, the entire ship lists to port. The demigods stumble. Percy almost spills his bucket of tar. 

"Uh, what was that?" He demands. 

"Oh..." Hazel looks embarrassed. "We may have angered the nymphs who live in the lake. Like... all of them." 

"Great." Percy hands the bucket of tar to Frank and Annabeth. "You guys help Leo. I'll hold off the water spirits as long as I can." 

"On it!" Frank promises. 

The three of them run off, leaving Hazel at the cabin door. The ship lists again, and Hazel hugs her stomach like she's going to be sick. 

"I'll just..." She swallows, points weakly down the passageway, and runs off. 

Jason and I stay below as the ship rocks back and forth. For a hero, I feel pretty useless. Waves crash against the hull as angry voices come from above deck. Percy shouting, Coach Hedge yelling at the lake. Festus the figurehead breathes fire several times. Down the hall, Hazel moans miserably in her cabin. In the engine room below, it sounds like Leo and the others are doing an Irish line dance with anvils tied to their feet. I hear lots of yelling, Calli and Leo yelling in Spanish while Annabeth and Frank yell back in English. At one point, I hear Frank, very loudly. "I don't speak that language!" After what seems like hours, the engine begins to hum. The oars creak and groan, and I feel the ship lift into the air. 

The rocking and shaking stops. The ship becomes quiet except for the drone of machinery. Finally, Leo and Calli emerge from the engine room, looking like they've just been through battle. They're caked in sweat, lime dust, and tar. Leo's T-shirt looks like it has been caught in an escalator and chewed to shreds. The TEAM LEO on his chest now reads AM LEO. Calli's shirt is missing a huge chunk at the bottom, revealing a muscular abdomen and a crazy scar. But they grin like madmen and announce that we're safely underway. 

"Meeting in the mess hall, one hour." Leo says. "Crazy day, huh?"