Starcrossed: A Leo and Calypso Fanfic

Chapter Eight: Coach Hedge? A Dad?

Frank

I was hoping for some fireworks or at least some welcoming party or a big sign that read: Welcome Home!

More than three thousand years ago, my Greek ancestor--good old Periclymenus the shape-shifter--had sailed east with the Argonauts. Centuries later, Periclymenus's descendants had served in the eastern Roman legions. Then, through a series of misadventures, the family had ended up in China, finally emigrating to Canada in the twentieth century. Now Frank was here back in Greec, which meant the Zhang family had completely circled the globe.

That seemed like cause for celebration, but the only welcoming committee was a flock of wild, hungry harpies who attacked the ship. I felt kind of bad as I shot them down with my bow. I kept thinking about Ella, their freakishly smart harpy friend from Portland. But these harpies weren't Ella. They gladly would have chewed my face off. So I blasted them into clouds of dust and feathers.

The Greek landscape below was just as inhospitable. The hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air. The sun beat down as if trying to hammer the countryside into a Celestial bronze shield. Even from a hundred feet up, I could hear the drone of cicadas buzzing in the trees--a sleepy, otherworldly sound that made his eyes heavy. Even the dueling voices of the war god inside his head seemed to have dozed off. They had hardly bothered me at all since the crew had crossed into Greece.

Sweat trickled down my neck. After being frozen below deck by that crazy snow goddess, I had thought he would never feel warm again; but now the back of my shirt was soaked,

"Hot and steamy!" Leo grinned at the helm. "Makes me homesick for Houston! What do you say, Hazel? All we need now are some giant mosquitoes, and it'll feel just like the Gulf Coast!"

"Thanks a lot, Leo," Hazel grumbled. "We'll probably get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters now."

I studied the two of them, quietly marveling how the tension between them had disappeared. Whatever had happened to Leo during his five days of exile, it had changed him. He still joked around, but I sensed something different about him.

Leo didn't seem so intent on teasing Frank. He chatted more easily with Hazel--not stealing those wistful, mooning glance that had always made me uncomfortable.

Hazel had diagnosed the problem privately with me: "He met someone."

I was incredulous. "How? Where? How could you possibly know?"

Hazel smiled.

"I just do."

As if she was a daughter of Venus rather than Pluto. Frank didn't get it.

"It's something that girls are always able to tell." Hazel said.

Of course he was relieved that Leo wasn't hitting on my girl, but I was also kind of worried about Leo. Sure they'd had their differences; but after all they'd been through together, I didn't want to see Leo get his heart broken.

"There!" Nico's voice shook me out of my thoughts.

As usual, di Angelo was perched atop the foremast. He pointed toward a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometer away.

"Maneuver us that way. We're close to the temple. Very close."

As if to prove his point, black lightning ripped through the sky, leaving dark spots before my eyes and making the hairs on my arms stand up.

Jason strapped on his sword belt.

"Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, get us close, but don't land--no more contact with the ground than necessary. Piper, Hazel, get mooring ropes."