Daughter of Wine

Jason

Back on the ship with the wind spirits given to me by Notus, I find Hazel, Coach Hedge, Frank, and Piper sitting and screwing small pieces together. They don't look happy. 

"What's going on?"

Calli pulls herself up from the side of the ship and onto the rail. 

"Apparently, we don't know how to use a protractor." Piper says, raising her eyebrows in a help me gesture. "So we've been assigned to check that none of these screws are stripped before Calli reinstalls them."

"If the rotor blades had been at exactly forty five degrees, they wouldn't have spun out of control like that." Calli says quietly in her new, deep, dry voice. She has enormous bags under her eyes. "Look." She nods her head for everyone to come to the side of the ship. She pushes a button at the helm, and the half of the oars closest to the aft begin to move simultaneously, as if they were never broken. 

Piper grumbles something about broken protractors, and sits back down with her pile of screws. 

"I just need to do the rest of the oars." Calli says. "Fix a few things on the control panel, and the engine... maybe a day or two more for that..." She's looking in my direction, but she looks like she's looking past me, at something behind my head. And her voice is so quiet, I can't tell if she's speaking to me or herself. 

"Well, I have good news!" I say loudly, making Calli jump. 

Hazel springs to her feet. "We have permission to leave?"

I nod. "And, we don't need to fix the engine. I've got a way to get us where we need to go."

Calli furrows her brow. "But- just, one more night, and the engine, I can do it. I'm almost there... I-"

"Calli." I grab her shoulders, and she tenses up quickly, as if physical contact is foreign to her. Her eyes look lost, quickly examining everything around her, like she might need an escape plan. "Calli, Notus told me that Leo would be in Malta." 

She blinks as if I've just poked her between the eyes, then frowns as if she's insulted I did. Her frown quickly turns into a scowl. "Why would you say that? Khione said he couldn't come back." She brushes my hands off of her shoulders. "Don't get my hopes up, Jason. Give me another night, and the engine will be good to go." 

"I'm saying we don't need the engine, Calli!" I insist. 

"What exactly did he say, Jason?" Calli raises her eyebrow at me, her voice stronger than I've heard it in days, despite the anger behind it. "Did he say Leo Valdez will be in Malta?"

I hesitate. "Well, no. But he hinted at it." 

She rolls her eyes. "Since when are gods honest?"

"If gods are such liars, why do you believe Khione?"

She whips around, her eyes flickering from their usual honey-green color to a deep purple. "Because every god who has threatened to kill us has at least been honest. The gods that are supposedly on our side knew this was going to happen. Remember the warning Dionysus gave? And Aphrodite said my love life was going to be interesting. And Cupid... Cupid said that crap about a glancing blow at love. They all knew, and they didn't tell us. And they didn't do anything to prevent it. So why would I trust a single thing they say?"

I'm at a loss for words. She's not wrong. But at least she's finally talking. I raise my hands in surrender. "Alright. You're right. But can we at least get to Malta? And if Leo's not there, you can finish fixing the ship there. It'll at least be less hot."

Everyone is staring at us, as if it's a cage match that they've all placed bets on. 

Calli looks like she wants to keep fighting, but she doesn't seem to have the energy. "Okay. Okay, fine." She slumps down in place, as if just speaking drained her, which it probably did.