Wildfires, Heroes of Olympus ₂

043, her vibe at the function...

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
SILVIANA              DUVALL

Sylvie had been through so many panic attacks recently that she was starting to forget what it was like when she wasn't having them. At this rate, her whole life was beginning to feel like one, huge anxious spiral.

That didn't get any better when Shrimpzilla had sunk into the deep and disappeared along with three of her friends.

Sylvie was powerless to help them. She still had to control the ship in Leo's absence, despite having no clue what she was doing. Sylvie told him that she'd done it once when she was fourteen, but now, she couldn't remember why she'd said that. When had she captained a ship at fourteen?

It was too irrelevant to think about when Leo, Hazel, and Frank were in danger. Annabeth and that satyr guy rushed around repairing things so that the ship wouldn't sink. Percy, despite being exhausted, searched the ocean for their missing friends. Jason, also exhausted, flew around the rigging like the blond Peter Pan, putting out fires from the Greek fire explosion that had lit up the sky just above the mainmast. Piper stared at her knife Katoptris, trying to locate them. Finley scouted the dark seas with her gun, ready to fire if another threat popped up again. Hopefully, if Leo, Hazel, and Frank reappeared, she wouldn't shoot them.

By the time the sun rose, none of them had slept. Percy had scoured the seafloor and found nothing. The Argo II was no longer in danger of sinking, though without Leo, they couldn't do full repairs. The ship was capable of sailing, but Sylvie refused to leave the area—not without her missing friends.

Sylvie and Piper sent a dream vision to Camp Half-Blood, warning Chiron of what had happened with the Romans at Fort Sumter. Sylvie explained her exchange with Reyna. Piper relayed a vision from her knife about Roman SUVs racing north. The kindly centaurs' face seemed to age thirty years during the course of their conversation, but he assured them he would see to defenses of the camp. Tyson, Mrs. O'Leary, and Ella had arrived safely. If necessary, Tyson could summon an army of Cyclopes to the camp's defense, and Ella and Rachel Elizabeth Dare were already comparing prophecies, trying to learn more about what the future held. The job of the nine demigods aboard the Argo II, Chiron reminded them, was to finish the quest and come back safely.

After the Iris-message, the demigods paced the deck in silence, staring at the water and hoping for a miracle.

When it finally came—three giant pink bubbles were spat out from the surface. Frank, Hazel, and Leo. They landed right onto the ship's deck, soaking wet, spluttering, coughing, and panting.

"LEONIDAS ANTONIO VALDEZ!" Sylvie shouted.

She stormed over to him and shoved Leo as hard as she could. But she was also so relieved that she forced him into a bone-crushing hug that made Leo wheeze.

"Miss me?" Leo laughed.

Sylvie was furious again. She shoved him away a second time. "Where were you? How are y'all alive?"