as we fall ✤ octavian ✓

nine

No one said anything. For the longest time, it was pure, utter silence between the three, the only sound being the crashing of the gentle waves against the side of the boat as they slid through the water.

Octavian insisted on continuing to sail, pushing Logan off of the seat the moment the sirens were out of earshot. Laoise went to protest this, but one look from him had her closing her mouth, and leaning back against the bench in an attempt to drift off to sleep.

Sleep never came to her. She spent hours tossing and turning, her mind going too fast to even consider drifting off into an oblivion. After all, what if the sirens came back, and she wasn't there to stop Octavian from leaping off the edge of the boat this time around? How was she supposed to manage on this quest without him?

Something awful jolted in her stomach, a reminder of what had almost occurred. Of what she had somehow, someway, been able to stop. How was it that she was able to break Octavian's trance, she wondered to herself as she rolled over onto her side, squeezing her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to get some rest in before it was her turn to drive the boat.

Then, another, more pressing question slammed into her; what were sirens doing in the middle of the Rio Grande? They were native to the Atlantic Ocean, to areas near Greece and the Mediterranean Sea, never Mexico.

Brigid must've sent them, Laoise realized with an unsettling lurch of her stomach - or maybe that was the boat. Octavian wasn't a very good driver, after all. That little bitch knew they were on their way to fight her, to defeat her.

And the sirens, those monsters wouldn't be the only thing that came up in their path. Brigid had always been feisty, back at Camp Jupiter. She never played by the rules, letting her own harsh judgment get in the way of what was at stake.

"Get up," she felt a hand on her side begin to vigorously shake her, after how much time went past, she hadn't a clue. "Laoise, get up."

She groaned, opening her eyes and allowing the sun to sink into her, the harsh rays momentarily blinding her. When her vision cleared enough, she glanced at Octavian, to find he had already turned away from her and was waking up Logan from the ball he was curled up in, teddy bear clutched in his hands.

"Logan, you need to wake up," he said, much more softly than he had been to her. "We've got to get breakfast."

He slowly lifted his head, eyes opening and settling on Octavian. "Can we get donuts?"

"If they have them," he smiled at the boy, and Laoise found herself grinning as well. "Come on, both of you. I don't want to stay away from the boat for very long."

"We need fuel, too," Laoise commented as they stepped off of the boat and onto the harbor Octavian had pulled into. The town he had discovered was miniature, with only a few various buildings scattered across what was otherwise a mixture of sand and dry, dead grass, alongside the occasional tree.

"Right," Octavian inhaled through his nose, though she noticed when she looked over at him, that he would not meet her eye. "They should have some up at that gas station," his finger aimed towards an oddly shaped building at the top of the hill, with a sandy path twisting into it. "Logan, you can help me with the gas, since it might need more than one of us to carry. Laoise, you get the food."

"What should I get?"

"Whatever's fine," he waved a dismissive hand, once again refusing to look at her.

Something in her heart tightened. "Fine," she exhaled, reaching into the pocket of her jeans and fidgeting to confirm she had some cash on her. When her fingers met the paper, she shot Octavian a glare, "Fine. You boys have fun."