Resurrected

Charlie's POV

Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long for an answer. A muffled scream came from the cave, and all three of us sprinted towards the sound.

When we reached the cave, I was expecting the worst. But luckily for Leo, she wasn’t that bad. Calypso, as Percy had described her, was sitting on a bed, tied up and gagged, cut in several places but very obviously alive. Percy and I released her, and the first thing she asked was,

“Is it dead?”

“Yes,” Percy answered, “Calypso, are you okay?”

She looked into his eyes, and for a dangerous moment, I thought they were going to kiss. But then, Calypso said,

“Where’s Leo? He said…he said he would come back for me.”

“He’s—he’s…” Percy was stammering at this point. What had gotten into him?

“He’s right here,” a voice said from the cavemouth.

“Leo!” Calypso screamed in joy, but Leo responded,

“Woman, stay still!"

He looked at me and Percy, or rather, looked at spots in space where he thought we were, and asked,

"Guys, is this the real one?”

“Yeah,” Percy responded, still staring at where Calypso would’ve been. But she had already leaped up and was kissing Leo passionately.

“Leo, your—”

“Yeah, I know, my eyes,” Leo responded in between kisses and breaths.

But his eyes were already clearing. Calypso saw that, and just kept on kissing him. He didn’t mind. After twenty seconds, the old brown color had returned. Leo seemed to be blinded by all the new light, and he started crumpling to the floor, clutching at his face. Even though she was cut and bruised, Calypso caught him, her strong arms flexing to the edge of her pretty gold armband.

“Too bright!” Leo exclaimed, “Light is not my friend right now!”

Calypso laughed and brought him upright again. Leo had trouble at first, but then he looked into Calypso’s eyes and said,

“Yeah, that’s the real one.”

They kissed again, and Percy and I walked out of the cave, leaving the lovebirds to themselves. I looked at him pointedly, and he said,

“What?”

“Don’t you ‘what?’ me!” I responded, “Annabeth, remember? You looked like you were about to make out with Calypso.”

“I was not!” Percy responded indignantly.

“You totally were, dude. But that doesn’t matter. She has Leo, eh?”

“Yeah,” He responded without much enthusiasm. We were silent after that. After another twenty minutes, Calypso and Leo came out of the cave holding hands. Percy and I had been wondering what they had been doing in the cave for that long.

“Leo,” Calypso was arguing, “you know I can’t leave his island! It’s impossible!”

“I don’t care!” Leo shouted, pleading with her and trying to keep calm, “I came back for you, didn’t I? That was supposed to be impossible too!”

“Yes, but that was different!” She responded, “I helped you with the astrolabe so you wouldn’t die on the way over here. I can’t come back with you, Leo.”

He looked into her eyes, pleading with her, but she wouldn’t budge. They were obviously in love. Then, something in Leo’s eyes steeled, and he took a deep breath.

“Guys,” He said, in a barely controlled rage, “get on the ship.”

Percy and I knew better than to argue. We clicked a button on an RC controller Leo had made, unfolding a set of metal stairs leading onto the deck.

“And guys,” Leo called, a different tone to his voice, “bring out the chair for me, will ya?”

“The chair?” I asked, but Percy seemed to understand. He sprinted up the stairs, into the cabins’ area, and brought out a simple wooden chair inscribed with the word Buford on it. I had no idea what was going on at this point, but Leo called up, still holding one of Calypso’s hands,

“Is it ready?”

“Yep!” Percy responded.

“Good!” Leo responded, and then, turning to Calypso, he said, “Look, baby, I know you don’t want to leave here, and I understand that. But can I say two words that might sway your opinion?”

“What?” Calypso asked, confused.

“Too bad.” Leo responded.

He then swiped his forearm across her legs, tripping her. She fell to the ground and Leo picked her up, sprinting up the stairs. Percy clicked two buttons on Leo’s RC controller as they reached the deck, Calypso fighting Leo as he carried her onto the deck. He dropped her, quite roughly, onto Buford. Pressing the first button, shackles snapped out from the legs and armrests, clamping Calypso to the chair. With the second button, the stairs retracted, but Leo didn’t care. He was already at the helm, grinning like a madman. By the time Calypso had stopped screaming, we were already two and a half miles away from Ogygia.

“Leo!” I shouted at him, “what? What’s happening?”

“We are currently whisking Calypso away,” Leo said, waving his arms in a ‘whisking away’ motion.

“This is crazy!” I protested.

“Exactly!” Calypso agreed from her chair on the foredeck.

“I know!” Leo laughed, “I love crazy!”

Even in my immense bewilderment, I had to smile. This was too much of a botched plan to have come from anyone but a certain son of Poseidon.

“Percy,” I asked, “you come up with this plan for Leo?”

“Yep,” Percy said, “it was only fortunate that you blinded him to give him an excuse to go to Ogygia. It all worked out…perfectly.”

I laughed again. Then, after Calypso had calmed down, and we all could breathe easily, we went to bed, Calypso sleeping in a separate cabin. We didn’t want this trip to get too awkward.

Unfortunately, I had one of the worst nightmares I’d had since being resurrected.

I was sitting in a pitch-black room, and I was shackled with black rope, cutting and chafing into my wrists, to a cold metal chair. In front of me, like part of a neon sign, was the glass shape of the number 3. It was just sitting there, not doing anything, humming quietly from its neon lights, glowing dimly red in the darkness of the room.

“What are you here for?” I murmured to myself, thinking.

Three, why three?

Then the thought occurred to me.

Three. Three people per quest. Percy, Leo and I. Only three would return. Oh, Gods. Someone’s going to die before we get to Camp Half-Blood. I have to warn them!

But I couldn’t wake. I was shackled to the chair, waiting, begging to wake up to warn them, still staring at the buzzing number 3. But I couldn’t warn them. I could only sleep.

Notes

So this one's a bit shorter, but I had a lot of fun with it.
Also, this one's cute enough to be dedicated to Echo, Nala and Frost.

Enjoy,
Grafon