Caliginosity [ Leo Valdez ]

The Doomed Ones

Livana survived- barely.

Later, her friends explained that they hadn't seen her falling from the foremast until the last second. There was no time for Frank to turn into an eagle and catch her; no time to formulate a rescue plan.

Only Piper's quick thinking and charmspeak had saved her life. She'd yelled WAKE UP! with so much force that Livana felt like she'd been hit with defibrillator paddles. With a millisecond to spare, she'd summoned the shadows to catch her and avoided becoming a patch of demigod grease on the surface of the deck.

Once settled, she had pulled Jason aside and immediately told him her dream. Jason seemed to understand what Reyna was talking about. He told Leo to change the course directions.

"Weird vacation spot." Leo grinned. "But, hey, you're the boss!"

Now, sitting with her friends in the mess hall, Livana felt so awake, she doubted she would sleep for a week. Her hands were jittery. She couldn't stop tapping her feet. She guessed that this was how Leo felt all the time, except that Leo had a sense of humor.

After what Livana had seen in her dream, she didn't feel much like joking.

While they ate lunch, Livana reported on her sleepwalking dream. Her friends were quiet long enough for Coach Hedge to finish a peanut butter and banana sandwich, along with the ceramic plate.

The ship creaked as it sailed through the Adriatic, its remaining oars still out of alignment from the giant turtle attack. Every once in a while Festus the figurehead creaked and squeaked through the speakers, reporting the autopilot status in that weird machine language that only Leo could understand.

"A note from Annabeth." Piper shook her head in amazement. "I don't see how that's possible, but if it is—"

"She's alive," Leo said. "Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce."

Frank frowned. "What does that mean?"

Leo wiped the chip crumbs off his face. "It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang. I'm still hungry."

Frank slid over a bottle of Valentina. "I can't believe Reyna would try to find us. It's taboo, coming to the ancient lands. She'll be stripped of her praetorship."

"If she lives," Hazel said. "It was hard enough for us to make it this far with eight demigods and a warship."

"And me." Coach Hedge belched. "Don't forget, cupcake, you got the satyr advantage."

Livana had to smile. Coach Hedge could be pretty ridiculous, but Livana was glad he'd come along. She thought about the satyr she'd seen in her dream—Grover Underwood. She couldn't imagine a satyr more different from Coach Hedge, but they both seemed brave in their own way.

"Jason?" Leo asked. "Argo II to Jason. Come in."

Livana realized her friends were looking at Jason expectantly. They needed reassurance.

"Yeah, sorry." He touched the groove that Sciron the bandit had cut in his hair. "Crossing the Atlantic is a hard journey, no doubt. But I'd never bet against Reyna. If anyone can make it, she will."

Piper circled her spoon through her soup. Jason was still a little nervous about her getting jealous of Reyna, but when she looked up, she gave him a dry smile that seemed more teasing than insecure.

"Well, I'd love to see Reyna again," she said. "But how is she supposed to find us?"

Frank raised his hand. "Can't you just send her an Iris-message?"

"They're not working very well," Coach Hedge put in. "Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could kick that rainbow goddess...."

He faltered. His face turned bright red.