Daughter of Wine

Leo

I toss and turn in my makeshift bed in the engine room. Percy's advice keeps replaying in my head. I should tell Calli about my plans. But I don't know how she's going to take it. And right now, I'm still worried she's mad at me for the whole death ray thing. Telling her I want to go rescue Calypso probably won't help. 

But if she hears from someone else, I'm toast. Percy already knows. How long until someone tells her? News spreads like wildfire on this ship. Someone could be telling her right now. 

I push myself up and head upstairs to the bunks. I quietly knock on her door, but there's no answer. I let myself in instead. 

Calli is laying sprawled out over the mattress. Her hair is in a messy bun, but judging from how much it's falling out, she's been tossing and turning. I hear her mumble something about stupid goats, then she rolls onto her side.

I'm about to wake her up when she mumbles again. "Leo."

I freeze. I can't tell if she's dreaming, or if she somehow knows I'm thinking of waking her, and she doesn't want me to. She tenses, her brow furrowing. "No, it's me." 

She's having a nightmare. A part of me wants to wake her up, to rescue her from those awful dreams that invade all of our nights, but another part of me knows those dreams are important. If I wake her, she might miss something important. 

I'm wrestling with what to do for only a moment. 

Calli shoots up in bed, and the air in the room grows incredibly heavy. I usually love the smell of her grapes but this is different. It's sickly sweet, and it makes me feel like I can't breathe. Images flash across my mind that I'd rather not see. My vision clouds a deep-red color, and I feel like I'm falling. 

"Leo!" Calli's loud whisper pulls me back to the room. "What are you doing here? Were you watching me sleep?"

"No!" I promise. "Well, just for a minute. You were talking in your sleep."

Here face pales. "Did I say anything interesting?"

"You said my name." I wiggle my eyebrows at her. "You dreaming about me, mamacita?"

She doesn't answer my question. "What's up?"

I suddenly remember why I'm here, and my stomach twists. "Uh, yeah, I just wanted to talk to you about something."

She sits up, grabbing her glasses from her nightstand and putting them on. They were the quickest glasses I could make, but they look so good on her. They make her gorgeous eyes look even bigger, and her nose look like a pixie's nose. She pats her bed. "Come, sit with me."

I climb into bed with her, resting my head on her shoulder. Her fingers automatically find my hair, winding through my curls. 

"You know I love you, right?" I ask. 

"Of course, boludo. What kind of question is that?"

"I've been... I've been keeping a secret from you." 

"I know." She admits. 

"You know?" I suddenly get very worried. Who told her? Is she mad?

"I know you've been keeping a secret." She explains. "I don't know what it is."

"Oh." I feel a ball in my throat. "And you didn't ask me about it?"

"I trust you, Leo. I figured, if it's important, you'll tell me."

"Right." I feel so nervous I could explode. "Well, see, here's the thing." I struggle to find the right words. "I'm sort of trying to find a way to go back to Ogygia." 

Her fingers freeze in my hair. She says nothing, but I can feel her muscles tense. 

"I swore on the River Styx that I'd rescue her." I add. 

"You swore...." Her voice trails off. "Why?" Her voice cracks, making my heart hurt. 

"It's not right." I tell her. "I felt bad. I mean, the gods were supposed to let her leave, but they forgot about her. She's stuck there alone."

"She fell in love with you. She kissed you." Calli remembers. "And you want to go and risk your life to save her. No one finds Ogygia twice."

"It's the right thing to do." I insist. "Percy said he'd help me-"

"You told Percy and not me?"

"No, I told Hazel, but you know how fast people talk on this ship-"

"So everyone knows except for me." 

"Well..." This conversation is getting out of my control. "I don't know if everyone knows."

"Leo, get out."

"What?" My heart shatters, and I finally look up at her. 

Her glimmering eyes are fractured with tears, which are magnified by the glasses. She looks absolutely devastated. "Get. Out."

"No." I decide. "No, I'm going to stay here and we're going to talk about it."

Her brow furrows in frustration. I get the feeling she's not used to people telling her "No." Not that she's a very demanding or spoiled person, but she doesn't ask for much, and she's scary. People usually do as she says. She clenches her jaw. "What's there to talk about?"

"I love you." I insist. "Go ahead, touch me, make me tell the truth." I put her hand on my arm. "I'm not doing this because I love Calypso. I'm doing this because it's right."

She's quiet for so long that I wonder if she's fallen asleep. But her hand grips my arm tightly, as if questioning whether or not to force the truth out of me. 

Finally, she lets go of my arm. Her voice sounds deflated, but not angry. "So how do we save her?"

We. She said, "how do we save her."

My heart swells. "I don't know yet."

Her fingers return to their intimate dance through my curls. "I don't like it, but if it were me, I'd do the same thing."

"I know you would." It's true. Calli wouldn't leave someone alone to suffer forever either. "And I promise I won't keep secrets from you. I swear it on-"

Her hand covers my mouth. "What's with you and swearing on the River Styx? Knock it off!"

I smile under her hand. "Whatever you say, mamacita."

She takes off her glasses, setting them back down on the nightstand. Wordlessly, she curls up next to me, laying her head on my shoulder. 

"Are you still mad at me?" I ask quietly. 

"I'm mad you told Hazel and not me." She mutters into my shoulder. 

"I'm sorry." I kiss her forehead. "I knew you'd be mad. You can be scary when you're mad." 

She sits up quickly. "You're scared of me?"

"No." I shake my head, wide-eyed. 

Her expression drops. "You don't have to be scared of me, Leo. I wouldn't ever do anything to hurt you."

"I know." I sit up and wrap my arms around her. "I know you wouldn't."

She looks up at me, her big eyes reminding me of a puppy dog. She doesn't look scary. Looking at her, it's hard to imagine her with glowing purple eyes, driving people crazy and turning them into dolphins, or spouting curses. She looks like a normal teenage girl. A crazy-hot normal teenage girl. 

"Wow." I blurt out. 

"What?" She asks, her brows furrowing adorably. 

"My girlfriend is so pretty." 

She blushes, looking down. "Shut up, boludo."

She curls back up next to me, effectively ending our conversation. I make the decision to stay, wrapping my arms around her. Instead of falling asleep to the hum of the engine room, I fall asleep to the rhythmic sound of her breathing and the jasmine scent of her hair.