He kept his lips together as he soared through the air, amazed at how long it took for him to get back down. His knuckles ached at the need to punch that storm spirit in the face and get him back for all of this. However, other things needed his attention more urgently, for example the fact that he was now starting to fall down with increasing speed. He shot back towards the earth’s surface and could already see the waves like white stripes on the blue of the ocean.
Hold up – ocean?! Where had the forest gone?
He closed his eyes and tried to shadow travel back to the meadow, but the void wouldn’t open and his body didn’t obey.
Now he started screaming.
He saw a tiny speck of green among the water’s blue and felt a bit of relief. At least there was some land he’d be able to reach. If he didn’t flatten himself like a coin by landing face-first on the island. Trying to think of a possible way to slow himself down, he made himself tall and spread his arms, like a flying squirrel. None of the plans that came to him would work, he realised, as he didn’t have anything with him except his dagger and needed his father’s element, the earth, to perform any kind of useful demigod trick.
The water was far too near far too quickly, and all Nico could do was make himself small at the last moment, curling into a ball and taking a final breath before plashing into the deeps. He slowed down immediately, the water making it harder for him to fall through, and finally he felt the soft touch of beach sand underneath his feet. He kicked his way back up again and coughed and inhaled loudly when he reached the surface.
With considerable difficulty – the tides really are a struggle – he swam to the beach and dropped himself sprawled on the dry sand. He had a huge headache from the drop, his clothes were soaked and sticky, his nose and mouth hurt due to the salt water, but he was alive. And that was more than he hoped for during any quest.
“Oh, COME ON!” A female voice yelled, and Nico lifted his head. A young woman with caramel hair that was a gigantic mess and a white dress that was half-torn at several places clenched her fist and shook it at the sky as her tall legs carried her to him with great strides. She held a wooden weapon in her hand that resembled a Japanese katana and from her hips hung a belt with several pieces of scrap metal and one wrench.
“Who are you?” Nico asked, and the girl looked at him, unbelieving.
She shook her head slowly before responding. “I can’t believe this,” she muttered. “I literally cannot believe this!” She was yelling at the sky again and Nico began to wonder about her mental health. “Okay, you know what? I’m sorry for complaining about that last one, maybe he wasn’t that scrawny after all. But, really? This is, without question the worst.” She hit the sand with her katana. “Possible.” She hit it again. “Timing. EVER!” She dropped the wooden blade in the sand and sat down herself as well. “So, don’t tell me. You are a nice demigod with a very important task at hand and you somehow got flung this way but need to get back as soon as possible. Of course, you are sort of handsome and probably have a girlfriend somewhere that needs love and affection. Am I right?”
Nico was baffled. He took the silence to try and get the water out of his ears. Maybe he’d just heard it wrong.
She sighed. “What’s your name?”
“Nico di Angelo,” he answered almost automatically. “What about yours?
“Calypso,” she said, and she held out a hand. He shook it politely. “I hope you like it here, boy, because you’re not gonna get away any time soon.” The earth shook and a screech echoed through the woods. “I’ve got a little bit of a problem that is kind of urgent, so, whatever your quest is, it’s got to wait.”
