Seeing his hometown again was a little odd. It brought back memories; most of which he loved, but some (the strongest ones) that he would rather not have remembered so vividly. He’d put the past to rest some time ago, but it still ached.
Luckily he had a mental image of Frank the Baboon right now that helped keep the smile on his face.
They found a hotel rather easily. Somehow, Hestia had left a pouch of mortal money in the pockets of Frank’s jacket, which they were more than thankful for. Not long after, they sat in their hotel room. It had one single and two bunk beds. Leo immediately announced he’d be taking the top one of the bunk and dropped his backpack on it. They had a quick dinner during which they discussed plans.
“So, either Gaea or Hazel of both, how are we going to find them?”
“Hazel’s smart. She must’ve left a sign of some sort, for us to follow.”
“I checked the road we walked, there was nothing.”
“Well, I bet you that there’s something odd around here. We hardly ever get to a place where there isn’t.”
Frank’s face disappeared behind his hands. “This is hopeless, we have nothing to go on.”
“We do!” Leo said, bumping his shoulder. “Hestia said to look for home and then left us in this place – if that’s just a coincidence, I’ll eat Coach Hedge’s undies.”
“If Hazel’s here, we need to hurry. Whoever took her will know we’ve arrived. Who knows what they’ll do to her.”
“Rachel said we’d find her. Prophecies don’t lie.” Frank sounded determined enough, but his shaking fingers betrayed him.
In bad choice shall meet and lose a friend, Leo thought. He chose to believe they’d meet Hazel, but he was worried about the second part. What kind of ‘losing’ was that supposed to be? And the lover’s bond that was supposed to break? What if they found Hazel but lost Frank? He shuddered.
The worst part of travelling with Nico and Frank – apart from the lack of humor – was the silence. Nico never talked much, he knew, and Frank and he didn’t exactly have life stories they wanted to trade, so when they returned to their hotel room after dinner it was uncomfortably quiet.
He’d tried to start a conversation a few times, but never got much response. So he was left with his thoughts. He felt disappointed with himself when looking back at the day. Fainting in the middle of battle? Great going, Valdez. He hadn’t even been supposed to pass out; manticore poison should only cause a hell lot of pain. Instead, he’d slipped away, completely useless, once again getting lost at Ogygia. And for what? A bad dream? It could hardly be true that Gaea had invaded Ogygia. The island was impossible to find unless you crashed into it (literally) and Calypso had banished Mother Earth from it already.
Just a bad dream.
And an embarrassing fail in battle for Leo. It’s not like he’d never felt this way. He’d faced quite some disappointment once he’d gotten back to Camp Half Blood. There was the lost chariot races, the lack of creativity and skills to build stuff like he used to, and the disinterest of the people around him. He’d hoped all those things would pass once he went on a quest again. (Not that that was the only reason he’d insisted on going. No, he cared very much for Hazel and wanted to see her safe. Not that he cared for her in that way – nope, Frank would kill him. Those days were gone.)
He also found himself thinking about Little Annabeth. The girl had been terrified. Was she back home now? Was she safe? Or had they made a mistake to leave Hestia to take care of her?
