Daughter of Wine

Callida

Calypso.

I remember what Percy told me about being on her island. I remember every word. I had forgotten completely about her, until Frank said her name, and the color drained from Leo's face. Sure, I'm happy he's alive. I'd been feeling so guilty, so sad, so lonely. But if he was really on Calypso's island...

"Gods, Calli." Leo whistles, looking at the engine. "I thought there'd be more damage in here after what you told me. This should be a quick fix!"

"I only needed another day." I mumble, standing in the doorway of the engine room, my arms crossed against my chest tightly. 

Jason pokes his head in the doorway behind me. "How's it look?"

Leo flashes us a grin. "Calli has this thing mostly fixed. I just need to make a couple tune-ups and it should be good to go." 

"I told you." I tell Jason, glaring at him from the corner of my eye. "One more day." I can't help the frustration that rises in my throat as I push past him to go back upstairs. Jason hadn't believed I could do what I said I could. It hurts me more than it should. Of course, a child of Dionysus wouldn't normally know how to fix something as complex as the engine or control console of the Argo II, but I told him I did. He doubted me, after everything I've done. That hurts a lot. 

I try and clear my mind up in the sunshine that beams down on the deck. We're about to be flying towards Epirus, to the House of Hades, which is doing something that Jason, Nico, and Hazel can see from hundreds of miles away. Now is not the time to be angry at Jason, or jealous of Calypso, or... whatever it is I feel towards Leo right now. Now is the time to be a strong, united front. 

I turn to the control console. I might not have had time to fix the engine. But maybe I can get this thing fixed while Leo works on the engine. I just need to calibrate a couple computers and resolder a few chips, reset the directionality on our onboard GPS, and change the batteries on a Wii controller. Easy peasy. 

I sit down to work, trying to let my mind go blank. If I don't think about it too hard, my hands kind of just work on their own. I wonder if I'm still being blessed by Hephaestus. I have way more skill with this kind of stuff than I did before. It's either that, or I learned more than I thought from Leo. Either way, if I think too hard about what I'm doing, I start to doubt myself and question what I'm doing. 

I change the batteries first, because that's well within my skills. It feels good to be doing something useful. I can just let my mind go blank, and not think about the burning question in my mind. I'm not sure if I should ask Leo or not. A part of me doesn't want to hear what I'm pretty sure is the truth, but another part of me thinks that I might be inventing it, and asking would give me relief. But my gut tells me I'm not inventing it. I can sense emotions. Leo feels guilty. Guilty and worried. He was happy to see me, no doubt about it, but he spiked hard when Frank said her name. Calypso. And he wasn't being his usual self. It's almost too obvious. 

I stop and shake out my hands, which are shaking. I need to go get the solder, which means going down to the engine room where Leo is. I take a deep, calming breath. In and out, real quick. If he's focused on the engine, he might not even notice me. 

I walk quietly down both sets of stairs, trying not to alert him to my incoming presence. 

I don't find him working on the engine. Instead, I see him inspecting the astrolabe he found in Bologna. I don't say anything, I just walk past and grab the soldering iron.

I'm about to escape with the tool when he speaks. "Calli, wait."

I freeze and take another deep breath, calming myself before I turn around. "Yeah?"