Caleo - Finding Calypso

14 / Desision Time

Make sure you've read ch 13 / What More Do You Want first. Leo and Annabeth meet an old friend from the Sea of Monsters.

I appeared to be at another cross-roads. Only this time, the stakes are even higher.

As I saw it, I had two options:

I could fly Festus back to Long Island ASAP with Annabeth.

I cradle Annabeth's head on my knee.

It's not like that between us, we'd never be together or anything. I could never leave Calypso. Not now. And Annabeth loves Percy more than anything else in the world.

But we're friends. Close friends. We'll always be close now, you can't go through what we've been through together without forming some kind of special bond.

It's weird to remember how much she used to scare me. But not anymore, I feel like I've grown up a lot recently.

The bleeding's almost stopped at least. Her orange camp t-shirt's soaked in the stuff.

I feel myself flush slightly at the thought that I should probably try to take off her t-shirt so I can clean the wound a bit.

Then there's my second option - continue on to mount Tam and try to rescue Calypso.

Part if me screams at me to go, now, immediately! We've been apart so long, I can't bare it any more!

But the rest of me fights back and argues that Annabeth needs help from the Apollo campers.

A small part of my unwilling reminds me that she will probably die if I don't het her to camp VERY soon. I'm not a doctor, but I reckon she's bleeding inside as well as out, which I think is very bad. And what if she's damaged one of those organ things? They're all pretty essential.

One thing's for sure though, I wouldn't achieve anything sitting here.

I managed to scoop her up and carry her bridle style towards our camp.

Festus raised his head and creaked at me questioningly as I stumbled through the ring of bushes that hid our camp. I shakily managed to set Annabeth down in the ground.

Her face has gone very pale, and her breathing is coming out more shakily by the minute.

Think Leo THINK!

"What do I do?" I ask Festus out loud. "I can't waste time taking her back to camp, I don't think they'd let me leave again if I did anyway."

Festus creaks comfortingly but it doesn't help.

Brainwave! My brain snapped into action and I leapt to my feet.

I got it!

"Festus, I need you to take her to camp."

The dragon doesn't reply, just stares at me like I was mad, which is probably true.

"Come on!" I yell at him, stripping off my army jacket and wrapping it round Annabeth, "You'll have to carry her. Festus, she is going to die if you don't get her to camp."

He creaks in protest.

"I'll be fine!" I lie, "Just get your bronze backside over here!"

Festus reluctantly stands up and comes over, lowering his head to nudge Annabeth's unconscious body with the end of his bronze nose.

As a final touch, I grab a pencil and scrap of paper out of my belt and scribble a message.

Percy, don't come after me. Searching for Cal. Ask Abeth. Hope she's ok. I'm sorry.

I fold up the note and tuck it into my arm jacket before standing back.

"Get her to camp as fast as you can and make sure Percy get's the note." I tell Festus, "Don't try to come back for me, I'll be fine."

Festus looks at me sadly with his big bronze eyes before carefully closing a golden claw around Annabeth and launching himself into the sky.

I watch him fly away from me, holding Anbabeth. Hopefully he'd be at camp in 2 days. I suddenly feel very alone.