ENTRAPPED ₂

110

AFTER THEIR ENCOUNTER WITH KYMOPOLEIA, THE ARGO II LIMPED THROUGH THE AEGEAN, TOO DAMAGED TO FLY, TOO SLOW TO OUTRUN MONSTERS. They fought hungry sea serpents about every hour. They attracted schools of curious fish. At one point they got stuck on a rock, and Percy and Jason had to get out and push, which Madeleine found far too funny.

Madeleine figured that Leo would be more upset about the state of his ship had it not been for Jason. Since returning from the middle of the ocean, completely healed, the two had been attached at the hip. They were spending more time in Jason's cabin than anywhere else, a fact that Madeleine was happy about when she couldn't hear what they were doing. It was almost enough to make her hope that Leo wouldn't go after Calypso with her... almost. She still saw the stubborn glint in his eyes, and she also knew that if he didn't go with her, then his oath on the Styx would kill him slowly and miserably.

Luckily, though, the tension between Madeleine and Leo had eased. They hadn't talked about it, but Leo had been quietly passing her Fonzies, and in return, she had been quietly herding Frank and Hazel away from Jason's cabin, with help from Piper.

Leo and Jason weren't the only couple back on track. Percy and Annabeth were acting the way they had used to, when they had first started dating. The tension between them had dissolved completely. In the same vein, Madeleine felt comfortable with the both of them again. She had slept in Percy's bed last night, Percy on one side of her and Annabeth on the other, and she had felt so at peace that she wasn't sure she wanted to sleep anywhere else ever again. Having those two back on her side made Madeleine want to cry. They were only missing Grover now.

Over the course of three long days, between sleeping with their respective boyfriends, Leo and Annabeth finally managed to get the ship more or less back into working order just as they made port at the island of Mykonos. This, of course, probably meant that it was time for them to get bashed to pieces again.

Percy and Annabeth went ashore to scout while the others lingered on the deck. Half an hour later they returned with gelato, which made everyone's day consecutively 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, which Madeleine found grossly unfair. She vowed to find him some dairy free gelato when they weren't all in imminent danger of dying, though she did see Hazel slip Frank a spoonful of her own ice cream.

The day was hot and windy. The sea glittered with chop, but Leo had fixed the stabilizers well enough that Hazel didn't look too seasick.

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."

"Hey, I'll eat your ice cream if you don't want it," Jason offered. He had a smear of vanilla on his face, and he looked absolutely delighted to be back in Leo's good graces. Madeleine couldn't get over the fact that he was healthy.

"Absolutely not," Leo replied, wiping the ice cream off of Jason's face. "Focus on your own dessert, Sparky."

Madeleine ate her own triple-berry gelato with hopefully less messiness than Jason. She couldn't help thinking of how much better she would feel if Ethan were here with her. She wondered how he was doing. She thought she would know if he died, but she still worried nonetheless.