You'll Learn to Love Me

Chapter 77: Overworked, Overstressed... not gonna finish that sentence

Chaos rang through the ship after the incident in Sparta. Between her brother and Jason disappearing for a bit to the sea during a massive storm, and nearly dying fighting, she was not having a good time. After the storm, she spent a majority of the time on deck repairing parts of the rigging and the oars that had broken off. Doing so while they were racing across the waves or over the sky was not fun. She trusted that Percy could save her if she fell in the water, but she didn't know if Jason was strong enough yet to save her if she fell from the oars while repairing them mid air.

Her friends thought she was crazy. And maybe she was slowly going insane as the deadline approached them. If Nike was right, one of the four of them - Frank, Hazel, Leo, and herself - would die. And according to the prophecy, if Piper was right with her deductions, storm, darkness or fire. Only two people intersected on those lists. Leo and Laylana.

Laylana was prepared for her death. She came close last summer, then actually died in December. Part of her was hesitant, but in the end she still cared for her friends. And she would consider Leo to still be apart of that. She didn't want to see him hurt, or die. She continued to train, to figure out a way she could kill Gaea with her darkness.

Her father told her back in December that she would face many hardships. Loses and pain. She had lost enough already during the quest. She wasn't ready to lose anymore. If that meant a hopefully temporary death, then so be it. If her body survived whatever the hell was going to happen, then her friends could bring her back anyway with this Physician's Cure. But just in case they couldn't, she kept her ideas to herself.

In the meantime, she tried her best to help Leo in the engine room without ripping his head off. They stayed civil, ignoring any conversations that didn't have to do with the repairs. It pained Leo especially to see his ex-girlfriend changing so much since they broke up. He promised himself, and Piper, that after the war was over, he would explain everything. Whether she forgave him or not, he wouldn't know. Over the course of three long days, the two finally got the ship more or less back to working order just as they made port at the island of Mykonos, which probably meant it was time for them to get bashed to pieces again.

Percy and Annabeth went ashore to scout while the others stayed back. Laylana took to the bow of the boat and worked her magic, eventually bringing Frank over to help her with more shadow-shifting. The two were so engrossed in their training that they didn't even notice Percy and Annabeth coming back, until Percy said "Hey, Layla? Gelato."

Instantly, her day got better. The whole crew sat on deck, without a storm or a monster attack to worry about for the first time in days, and ate ice cream. Well, except for Frank, who was lactose intolerant. He got an apple. The day was hot and windy. The sea glittered with chop, but they stayed relatively stable after Leo and Laylana fixed the stabilizers. Curving off to their starboard side was the town of Mykonos – a collection of white stucco buildings with blue roofs, blue windows and blue doors.

"We saw these pelicans walking around town," Percy reported. "Like, just going through the shops, stopping at the bars."

Hazel frowned. "Monsters in disguise?"

"No," Annabeth said, laughing, "just regular old pelicans. They're the town mascots or something. And there's a "Little Italy" section of town. That's why the gelato is so good."

"Europe is messed up." Leo shook his head. "First we go to Rome for Spanish steps. Then we go to Greece for Italian ice cream."

"Man I don't give a fuck. This is delicious." Laylana took another spoonful of her gelato. It was July 30th, she might as well enjoy the peace while she could. In less than forty-eight hours, Gaea was said to awaken. She would try and possess Laylana's body as a last step to take the world down. The strange thing was, the closer they got to the 1st of August, the more upbeat everyone would get. They seemed to be pulling together for the final lap – aware that the next two days would make or break them. There was no point moping around when you faced imminent death. Laylana was no longer being a mediator between groups, which she had to be thankful for.