Heroes of Olympus: The Aftermath of War

CALYPSO

*Rick Riordan owns all of the characters*

CALYPSO WASN'T A 'SCREAMING TEEN S1' CANDIDATE BUT that's what she did when Festus flapped his wings a little too fast. She screamed (duh). Much to her chagrin, a particularly annoying boyfriend had encouraged the metal dragon to speed up and gain a mountain filled with Tabasco sauce [and all his favorite treats] in return for winning some demigod game. Talk about an 'unbreakable friendship', really. Sometimes, she couldn't even distinguish the two from each other. Ever since Calypso had started to learn Morse Code, she caught glimpses of Leo and Happy the dragon's roleplays, which had exactly went something like:

LEO: O thou art a beauty, my wondrous piece of art!

FESTUS: For how noble is man, to make such a complicated piece like me!

LEO: Dude, you messed up your lines!

FESTUS: Fie! 'Tis no such thing as that!

LEO: Okay, this is boring. Want to grab some snacks?

FESTUS: Now you're talking.

Seriously, everytime she'd try to sleep for a change, Leo and Festus would start cracking up as if they absolutely didn't care about the whole world. (You know that the metal dragon laughs when his engine steams and wires start crackling loudly.) I mean, now they were roleplaying about some typical RPG game. Actually, scratch that, she didn't know why those two'd do it. Maybe for fun? Or because it peculiarly resembled the currently ongoing race? What RPG game was it again? Huh. Calypso shook her head.

"Festus, Arion's gaining on us!" Leo shouted, seeing Hazel and Frank aboard the ridiculously good horse. She noticed the son of Mars's expression, which was now sadly resembling the 'I-am-now-ready-to-puke-so-brace-yourself' face. "I sympathize with you." Calypso wanted to say, but she heaved a huge sigh when Festus flew even faster.

"Mighty Hephaestus, she's already next to Rachel now!" Leo moaned, his eyes widening in surpise. "When this game's over, I'm going to upgrade you, boy."

"Leo, you can't win over Arion," Calypso reasoned. "He's amazingly swift. And, I mean, Hazel---you know what? Never mind."

"Oh, come on!" Leo complained as Percy and Jason appeared beside them, waving. "I don't want to be in last place!"

"We should really start worrying about the quest!" Annabeth screamed, shaking her head when Blackjack sped up.

"Fun now, quest later!" Percy shouted back, grinning. "We don't get opportunities like these often!"

"I agree with the Aquaman!" Jason smirked, laughing as Percy glared at him.

"Too much talk!" the son of Hephaestus said between his own laughs. "See you in the finish line, 'Big-Three babies'!"

Festus zoomed off, leaving the two other demigods stunned. Calypso prayed to her father, Atlas, to help her survive and avoid getting too dizzy during the remains of their 'fabulous' trip.

"Did he just call us that?" Percy asked, seeing Jason nod grimly. "Game on, Repair Boy!"

-----------------

Enough said; Hazel won.

The daughter of Pluto was standing triumphantly on the sidewalk, casually feeding Arion huge chunks of pure gold as Frank excused himself for a while, possibly running to find the nearest comfort room. Percy, Jason, and Leo came in second place, each equally ties, when they started to argue about who had really gotten next to Hazel first. She rolled her eyes. Boys. Sometimes they could be so ridiculous.

Rachel Dare led them towards an empty alleyway surrounded with large, molded cement on the floor, leaving Calypso and the others to guess that there were certain workers present at the time. Where were they, though, off to lunch break? See, it's funny how someone could imagine scenarios so easily when jumping to conclusions.

"What's over that thing?" she asked, pointing at the strong, brick-made wall in front of them.

"Watch and learn," Rachel grinned.

The mortal host of the spirit of Delphi touched the firm walls and muttered a series of words (preferably enchantments) which concerned Terminus, the Roman god of boundaries. Nothing happened momentarily, but Calypso swore that she had just witnessed the bricks shake, revealing a cozy wooden cottage before them. Piper whistled.

"Great Olympus," Leo murmured, his eyes widening. "Is this the entrance to Diagon Alley or what?"

"Leo, that's Harry Potter," Piper laughed. "I know that much, even though I just mastered the Cherokee fables."

"Rachel, how---" Hazel said, seeing Rachel flush with embarrassment. "This is serious magic."

"Terminus taught me a few tricks," she confessed, grinning as Frank's mouth opened wide. "An offering for telling a particular group of demigods off from 'sliding in' a few weapons into the public territory of New Rome."

"Ah, that's exactly what Terminus would do." Percy shook his head. "This is awesome, either way."

"I know," Rachel replied quietly. "So! Talk. Where do we begin?"

"Might as well get comfortable," Annabeth shrugged, positioning herself at the garden to sit on one of the wooden chairs. The demigods and their friends copied the daughter of Athena, and soon enough they were all packed up like a very large group. Vines and flowers bloomed everywhere, appearing on the front steps, sticking on the walls, and occupying the backyard. Calypso remembered her own patches of flowers back in Ogygia, but she was too happy to wish herself back there at the moment. She hated being trapped on her own island.

Apollo stayed close to Tyson and Ella the harpy, bowing his head and continuously cursing his father for everything that had happened. Actually, there was nothing he could do to reverse the punishment. Calypso took pity on him, even though she really despised the Olympians.

"Now, we discuss the issue," Annabeth announced, looking at Apollo. "Care to begin the conversation, god of poetry?"

"My pleasure," Apollo replied sarcastically. "Listen well, because I'm not going to repeat that part about Lester."