𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

xv ━━ he was chaos, he was revelry (bedroom eyes like a remedy)

02. chapter fifteen

━━━━━━━━ ( 💫 ) ━━━━━━━━

WHEN I FOUND MYSELF OUT OF THE forest after a brief walk, i was blinded by the sunlight and my hair blew into my face from the wind. camp half-blood normally had perfect weather, but the wind was more powerful than usual which struck me as odd.

could it be a good omen since we were supposed to set sail on the argo II soon? or was it bad like during the trojan war when the greeks upset artemis and she stopped the winds so they couldn't sail? i hoped we wouldn't need any maiden sacrifices.

when my eyes adjusted to the violent light of the sun, i realized i had emerged by the forges.

my sight was overtaken by the warship, and my future temporary home, the argo II. the ship was twice as big as a regular trireme, making me feel small standing in front of it. the ship was made of enchanted timber and celestial bronze, giving it a demanding presence. fortunately, the argo ii was a flying ship, so we could travel over the land (without risking gaea's tricks) and water. it had one sail and a few banks of oars. the mast head of the ship was festus, the bronze dragon that leo, piper, jason, and i flew all over the continent on. when festus "died", that was the saddest i had ever seen leo. i thought about that moment a lot and it usually made me pretty upset.

i heard the sounds of people working inside the ship. pangs of moral, clattering of wood, loud footsteps. a figure stepped onto the mast. i had to put a hand above my eyes to shield the sun.

i was able to make out a skinny boy with curly brown hair. leo valdez. his hair was a mess, he had soot streaked across his face, and he was holding a power tool. that was leo.

he waved an arm dramatically, a grin plastered on his dirty face. he cupped his mouth with his hands in an attempt to project his voice and called out, "where've you been, ghost girl?"

"all over!" i yelled back.

all the thoughts about the doors of death, percy jackson, secrets, lies, prophecies, quests, i seemed to forget. i laughed, but when leo replied, concern twinged his voice.

"you said you'd be a gone a few hours, chica. it's been like over a day."

"i was with my brother," i told him.

leo shrugged and grinned. "well, at least you're back. get up here!"

i obliged and climbed the latter along the side of the ship. i found myself on the main deck and made my way onto the mast where leo was looking out in the direction of the sea.

"so the ship is ready to sail?" i asked when i found myself on the mast.

leo looked about ready to start skipping and throwing flowers in the air. "yup. this sucker is ready for take off." he patted the railing, beaming. "you all packed? we're leaving bright and early tomorrow."

i nearly fell at that information. leo actually had to catch and steady me. i felt the blood rush into my face as she sputtered, "tomorrow morning?"

"yeah." leo rocked his weight back and forth between his toes and heels, his arms swinging by his sides. "aren't you excited?"