Daughter of Wine

Callida

I dream I'm back on the Argo II. I'm teaching Leo how to throw axes on the quarter deck, aiming for the mast. This never actually happened, but I allow myself to enjoy my dream for once.

I adjust his form, moving his abdomen to be aligned with the target.

"You just want an excuse to get your hands on me, don't you mamasita?"

I smile. "You wish, boludo."

He sighs, putting down the axe. He runs his hands through my hair. I know it's just a dream, but it feels so real. I close my eyes to enjoy the feeling.

When I open them, he's a ball of flame, glowing from the inside out.

Naturally, I jump back in shock.

"What, you don't like hot guys?" He asks, raising his arms.

"Leo, cut that out!" I scold, my voice shaking.

His fire spreads, engulfing the deck of the ship. I'm surrounded by flames, watching the ship crumble to charred pieces.

When the fire goes out, Leo is gone. I'm back in the Parthenon, the crumbling remains of the Argo II still at my feet.

"Take that physician's cure." My dad's voice comes from behind me. I whirl around and see him picking over pieces of the ship. He kicks a board away with his foot. "Otherwise, I'll have to go down to the Underworld myself, and I don't know if Hades will let me resurrect another soul."

"What?" I ask.

"Ariadne." He explains. "I pulled her out of the Underworld myself. Some of my more powerful children have that ability too."

"But I didn't die." My mind is racing. "What are you saying?"

He speaks again, but his voice comes out garbled. He frowns and tries again, but it doesn't work again.

The dream becomes fuzzy and grainy, like there's interference.

Another dream seems to be trying to push in, like it's hacking my video feed. I'm suddenly not in the Parthenon anymore. I'm in a forge. Staring down at me is the all-too-familiar Hephaestus.

"Oh." My voice comes out as a squeak. "Lord Hephaestus, I-"

He puts a hand on my shoulder, which sucks the words right out of my mouth. I do something I wouldn't dare do in front of anyone else. I break down in tears. From the tears, I start to sob uncontrollably.

Poor Hephaestus looks so uncomfortable, he doesn't know what to do besides pull Kleenex out of his toolbelt, which only makes me cry harder.

"Girl." He tries. "Please, I don't have much time, and I... I'm not good with..." He waves his hands around at me. "With this."

"Sorry." I choke out, trying to calm down. The simple gesture of his hand on my shoulder had unleashed the flood I'd been holding back for days. Once I calm down, I speak again. "Look, I wanted to apologize to you."

"What for?" He asks, his hands working as if separated from his body. He strings together wires, gears, nuts, bolts, without even looking.

"For Leo." I manage to say his name without breaking down again. "It should have been me who died. I should have shoved him off of Festus first. I should have stayed on the ship with him. There are so many things I could have done to stop him-"

Hephaestus smiles down at me awkwardly. "My dear, when Leo Valdez sets... set his mind to something... well, you know you can't-couldn't stop him. I place no blame on you."

I feel a small weight lifted from my shoulders.

"What I want to know now, is what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

He shrugs. "My son gave you a second chance at life. What are you going to do with it?"

The question makes me uncomfortable. "I'm not sure." I admit. "I hadn't really thought about it. I've just been trying to get through each day, one at a time."

"Well, that's all fine and good." Hephaestus shrugs. "But building a project without a plan, that's a recipe for failure. Now, when you have a blueprint, or a schematic, that helps you figure out each step you need to take."

"I was never really the schematic person. That was Leo. I'm more of a figure it out as I go person."

Hephaestus smiles again. "Of course you are. You're a child of Dionysus. You live your life on feeling. I have to admit, it's hard for me to understand. I guess what I'm trying to say is, when you have a goal, it helps keep you focused. And I think someone like you needs a big project. Any ideas?"

Surprisingly, I do have an idea. Something that could fix a lot of my problems. It'll be hard, and I very well might die, but if I succeed? Man, that could change everything.

"You've been quiet for a long time." Hephaestus says. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." I shake my head. "I was thinking." I smile up at him. "I do have an idea."

"Well, what is it?"

"I feel really bad about this, but I'm not going to tell you." I admit. "I don't know how I'm going to do this yet, but I need to talk to my dad, and Percy, and Nico and-"

"That's fine, dear." Hephaestus smiles. "I hope to see your plan come to fruition."

Yeah, he's going to love it if it actually works.

"Well," He leans back on his workbench. "You have a lot of people to talk to. Better get moving. But before you go-" He hands me the little project he was working on. It's a little mechanical lion. When I press a button on it's back, a small flame comes out of the mouth like a butane lighter.

"Thought it might help out at some point." He shrugs. "Always good to have a lighter."

I hold up my pinky, lighting it with a purple flame.

"Ah, right." He grimaces. "Well, I forgot about that."

"It's okay, though." I clutch the little lion to my chest. "I love it. Leo used to make me little gifts all the time."

"Yes," Hephaestus nods. "I know. And it's a lion, because, well, the name Leo is always associated with lions, and I thought-"

"It's perfect." My voice cracks. "I should go, before I start crying again."

"Oh, yes." He nods enthusiastically. "Good luck with your project, Callida Rivera."

"Thank you, Lord Hephaestus."

He waves his hand, and I wake up.