His bag bumped against his back with every step. It was full, but not heavy, as Leo had crumbled every paper idea for a boat, ship, plane, aircraft and raft to a ball and had pushed them all in the main compartment of the bag. He was closer to going off on his own and saving Calypso than ever. And he would’ve gone off, really, had Hazel not spent most of the travel to the coast talking to him. It was nonsense talk, mostly, basically what they would’ve talked about if Hazel had arrived at Half-Blood as she’d meant to.
“So, how’s your camp? Has much changed?”
Leo shook his head. “No, it’s more of the same. Chariot races, campfires, chores – only the acceptance of the Roman gods and camp is different. We can offer parts of our dinner to the Roman counterparts of our gods if we want to.”
“Have you done so?”
Leo smiled. “Are you kidding me? Having to give part of my food away to both Hephaestus and Vulcan would leave close to no dinner for me!”
Hazel laughed and Leo noticed the beauty in that laugh that he’d loved before. Now, he thought it was pretty, but he had other things on his mind.
“It’s gonna be okay, you know,” Hazel said when she noticed Leo’s silence. “We’ll get to the island and save Calypso.”
Leo nodded without agreeing.
They took a bus – Leo really wondered whether Grover had some sort of Drachma tree growing in his pocket, where else did he get all that money from? – and after a short walk the sea appeared ahead of them.
“Okay,” Percy said as they stood next to the water. “Frank?”
Frank shrugged. “Mars said it’d be here.” Leo had noticed a new axe tied around the quiver on his back and wondered how it’d gotten there.
“Ask him?” Hazel proposed. She stepped back and pulled Leo and Percy with her. When they looked at her quizzically, she explained, “Mars doesn’t particularly like you two, so it might be best to keep you at a distance when he’s willing to do us a favour.”
“Great,” Leo said. “We’re the only two who even have a clue what Calypso is like and now we can’t go on Mars’ stupid ship?!”
“I’m not saying that, I just mean that –”
They’d never know what Hazel meant, exactly. A high tide came in out of nowhere, and a noise like a cannon being fired echoed over the beach. Percy glanced at his hands, and shook his hand. “Wasn’t me,” he concluded smartly.
The water rose even higher and they ran back up the dunes.
“Surprisingly,” Leo yelled. “We didn’t think it was!”
Hazel gave a cry, and Leo followed her panicked stare back to the water. Annabeth and Grover had took off running as well, but Frank hadn’t moved, his face oddly calm. As they watched, a wave drenched him and pulled him back, his dark hair disappearing underwater.
“FRANK!” Hazel yelled. Leo grabbed her arm in case she thought it smart to dive after her boyfriend, but she didn’t. Instead, she turned away and squinted her eyes. “He’s okay,” she muttered. “His dad promised. He’s not hurt.” He admired her strong minded calm, but Percy obviously didn’t agree. The son of the sea god ran back down and dived into the water.
“IDIOT!” Annabeth yelled. Well, that surely describes the differences in relationships, Leo thought.
Everyone held their breaths as the waves became higher, but never reached their feet. At one point, Leo could see something dark inside the wave, like a beam sticking out. The water rained down and a small raft-like construction appeared – with Frank and Percy sitting on top of it talking like they were happy campers.
