Daughter of Wine

Callida

Leo being gone is the perfect time for me to work on my project. As much as I love him, it's hard to have a secret conversation with the victory goddess when he's in the engine room right down the hall. And he's always in the engine room. 

I stand in the doorway, wondering if I've lost my mind. She hasn't seen me yet. I could just turn around, walk away, and forget this whole thing. 

"Who's there?" Nike asks, a lot more subdued than usual. 

I step into her line of sight, and she sighs. "What do you want?"

I sit down criss-cross-applesauce in front of her, and she sits up to face me, the golden net adjusting for her. 

"I have a plan." I tell her. "And I need to know if it will work."

Nike rolls her eyes. "What is with all of you demigods? You capture me, keep me in a horse's stable, and expect me to give you advice?"

"Hey, we won. You lost. Time to pay the piper." I frown. "Who else has been coming down here?"

She waves away the question. "Let me hear this plan of yours."

I tell her my idea. The sea storm lady told Jason about how another primordial god had been defeated once before. Ouranos had been called down from the sky, and since he wasn't in his domain, the Titans were able to chop him up into pieces.  

Which means that if we can get Gaea off of the earth, she can be defeated too. 

To storm or fire the world must fall. 

Jason can fly. He could easily lift her up. But how would he defeat her? A lightning strike? Maybe. But it would kill him. Killing a being with as much power as Gaea, that would create an enormous blast-zone.  And I've already decided. If anyone dies, it's me. 

I can't fly like Jason can, but I can levitate. I could get Gaea off of the ground. And with this grenade I stole from Leo's stash, I can blow her up. Sure, I'll get blown up too, which will suck, but it should work. 

Nike nods as I tell her. Her eyes glimmer strangely, making me uneasy. 

"So, you demigods are smarter than I thought." She narrows her eyes. "Your plan will work, if you are able to execute it."

"What do you mean?" I ask. 

She sighs. "I refuse to speak more on the subject. If you are able to get a hold of Gaea, lift her off of her turf, and detonate your grenade, she will be defeated, but any mortal nearby will be killed as well."

"I have to get her away from everyone." I nod. "If I can lift her high enough-"

"Yes." Nike cuts me off. "Are we done here?" 

I hear voices abovedeck. Distinctly, I hear Leo's. They're back from Delos. 

"Yeah, we're done here." My heart sinks into my chest. 

"Do not despair." Nike tells me. "You have not been victorious yet. Plans can change. People may surprise you."

"What's that mean?" I ask. 

"Calli." Frank is in the doorway. 

I quickly adjust my face, smiling at him. "Hey, Frank! What's up?"

His eyes flit between me and Nike. "What's going on?"

"Calli?" Hazel is in the doorway now too. "What are you doing in here?"

I bite my cheek. "Look, um, if I tell you guys a secret, can you keep it from the rest of the crew?"

They look nervously at each other, seeming to have some sort of private conversation. 

"Yeah, sure." Frank decides, though he doesn't sound sure. 

I tell them my plan. The longer I speak, the more downcast their expressions get. 

"Um, Calli-" Hazel starts to speak, but Frank grabs her arm. 

"You can't sacrifice yourself like that." He says. "You'll get blasted to pieces."

"Oh, I'll be fine." I try, waving him off. "Besides, if you guys can find the bit of me with a mouth, you can feed me the physician's cure, and I'll be good to go. But if someone is going to die, it has to be me."

"Why?" Hazel's voice cracks as she takes. my hand. "Why does it have to be you? Why can't it be no one?"

"Because." I offer a half-hearted smile. "It's my destiny. I've known I'm meant to do this since I was eight years old."

I pull out the crumpled note I keep tucked in my shirt and hand it to them. 

A tear traces down Frank's cheek as he reads it. 

"I need you guys to help me." I insist. "Make sure that it's me that dies, no one else."

There's that look again, some secret they refuse to share with me. 

Hazel nods. "Yeah, okay." 

Frank sniffles and wraps his arms around me. "I've always liked you, Calli. Even if you are pretty scary sometimes."

"Hey, thanks big guy." I try not to burst into tears. 

Hazel squeezes my hand comfortingly. "I'm going to miss you."

"Hey." I try. "If you guys can get me that Physician's Cure, you won't have to miss me."

"Right." Hazel sniffs. "If you aren't blown up into tiny bits."

My gut wrenches. "And, um, guys? Really, if you could please not tell anyone, especially Leo. I'd appreciate it."

Their shoulders tense. "Yeah, sure."

I narrow my eyes at them. "You're hiding something from me." 

"No!" Frank insists. "We're not."

"Frank-" I start to speak, but Annabeth calls us from up above. "Guys! Come on!"

"Saved by the bell, Zhang." I tell him, though I'm incredibly tempted to make the crew wait while I push Frank to spill.