madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-the palace of spotty dogs-

While they ate lunch, Jason reported the details of his latest terror inducing horrifically traumatising nightmare over sandwiches and [really good] nachos.

Leo picked out little bits of pickle from between his front teeth with a toothpick from his toolbelt and tried to figure out what it all meant. If Racheal had got a letter from Annabeth, and taken it to Reyna, who was now going to attempt to catch up with the Argo II... well, at least they knew their friends were alive, or they were when they sent the napkin letter.

There was a thoughtful and sort of stunned silence between the demigods, in which Coach Hedge managed 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 battle Hazel and Jason had managed to win. Every once in a while, Festus creaked and squeaked through the speakers, reporting the autopilot status in that weird machine language that somehow Leo could understand. He still didn't know how that really worked, but he'd learnt not to question things.

"A note from Annabeth." Piper shook her head in amazement, a drop of pumpkin sauce on her chin that Hazel leant over and wiped off with a napkin. "I don't see how that's possible, but if it is—"

"She's alive," Frank muttered. "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."

Jason chuckled, and stared out at the horizon, his scar twitching as he gazed into the sky, looking very deep in thought for someone with lettuce on the collar of his purple shirt. Leo left him be, turning back to his console and checking the radar again, just in case a monster had appeared in the three minutes since he'd last checked it.

He knew it wasn't good, the niggling in the back of his mind, lists of jobs and scenarios and thoughts that really should stay un-thought, the solid heavy feeling right in the centre of his chest that only got tighter.

Still, now wasn't the time to sort out his mental health, so Leo just glanced at the radar again one more time, and then turned back to where everyone was waiting expectantly for Jason to snap out of it. "Jason?" Leo asked. "Argo II to Jason. Come in."

"Yeah, sorry." He touched the groove that Sciron the bandit had cut in his hair, a sharp defined strip along the side of his head. "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 thick orange soup and then set it down with a gulp. And she had the nerve to nag Leo about eating enough. "Well, I'd love to see Reyna again, but how exactly is she supposed to find us?"

Frank shrugged. "Can't you just send her an Iris-message?"

"They're not working very well," Coach Hedge put in with a sigh, kicking yet another dent in the side of the banister Leo would have to fix later. He held back sharp words. "Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could kick that rainbow goddess...."

"Some magic is interfering...maybe Gaea. Contacting the Romans is even harder. I think they're shielding themselves." Hazel pondered.

Frank drummed his fingers on the table. "I don't suppose Reyna has a cell phone...? Nah. Never mind. She'd probably have bad reception on a pegasus flying over the Atlantic anyway."