You'll Learn to Love Me

Chapter 63: Laylana Becomes a Mechanic

The sun beat down on Laylana as she stood at the helm, relaying any commands to Piper, Hazel, and Frank who would then relay her messages to Gleeson who was banging out dents in the oars. A hundred feet below, the bay glittered against a crescent of red sand beach. By now, they were somewhere on the northern coast of Africa. The palace of the Lord of the South Wind itself stretched out along the ship. 

On their best days, the southern venti were slow and lazy. On their worst days, they were gusty and angry, much to Laylana's displeasure. They'd initially welcomed the Argo II, since any enemy of Boreas was a friend of the South Wind, but they seemed to have forgotten that the demigods were their guests. 

Laylana had tried her best with the most complicated parts of the ship, but some things she couldn't fix. Without Leo, it was difficult to create any new parts that needed replacing, even with the help of Buford the table and Festus. But she stayed headstrong, and kept guiding her friends the best she could. If she could repair the oars and they could find out where Leo was, she had hope that the ship would make it until then.

Hazel came up to join Laylana at the helm, asking her what she could help with. They didn't seem to be making much progress, but, considering what they'd been through, it was a miracle the ship was in one piece.

Down at the dock, Gleeson finally yelled, "Try it now!"

Laylana and Hazel pulled some the levers to activate the oars. The port oars went crazy, chopping up and down and doing the wave. Gleeson tried to dodge, but one smacked him in the rear and launched him into the air. He came down screaming and splashed into the bay.

"Son of a bitch." Laylana groaned as she smacked her head into the railing. "I need a break... just give me like five, ten minutes?" 

"Yeah, go. It's okay." Hazel smiled at her as Laylana walked down the stairs towards Nico, who was watching over the edge. Her brother had shed his jacket, now just wearing his black T-shirt and black jeans. His sword and the sceptre of Diocletian hung on either side of his belt. She spotted Jason on the balcony in the palace. 

"I was going to go talk to Jason, you coming with?" Nico offered his hand out to her.

"I need a minute away from this bullshit." Laylana sighed and took his hand. The two stepped into the shadow of the mast and melted into it, picturing the area behind Jason.

Jason turned around as their feet touched the stone. He had gained a slight tan, as Laylana had as well since being out in the sun, unlike Nico who was still paler than ever. At least he was definitely in better shape than when they'd left Croatia. He had regained some weight (courtesy or Laylana forcing him to at least eat one-two small meals a day). His arms were surprisingly taut with muscles again, having been practicing his sword fighting skills over the last week with her, Hazel, and Piper.

"Any word from the king?" Nico asked.

Jason shook his head. "Every day, he calls for me later and later."

"We need to leave," Nico said. "Soon."

Laylana's senses had been off as of late, and hearing Nico say that made her even more worried as Jason spoke. "You sense something?"

"Percy is close to the Doors," Nico said. "He'll need us if he's going to make it through alive."

"All right," Jason said. "But if we can't repair the ship –"

"But we will," Laylana crossed her arms over her chest.

"I promised I'd lead you to the House of Hades," Nico said. "One way or another, I will."

"You can't shadow-travel with all of us. And it will take all of us to reach the Doors of Death."

"No but..." Laylana sighed. "With the two of us working together, we could. It would just mean our powers aren't... going to be as strong. Hell, Nico might be out of commission with this many of us."