Resurrected

Charlie's POV

August 28th. Not including the 28th, I had three more days to live. Luckily, the plan with Ethan had gone over pretty well. But Ethan was so scared from yesterday that he refused to do anything tonight, and he was iffy about anything on the 29th. I wanted to scream at him, but the guy seemed a bit shaken up. I didn’t want to push it. If he wanted to cut the plan for redeeming our souls this tight, I would let him.

Besides, I had other things to worry about. I was in the forges, minding my own business, when the last guy I expect to walk in does.

“Beckendorf,” I heard Leo call from the workshop door, “what’s up, my man? How’s life?”

“Not bad,” I say, my voice almost cracking with nervousness. I had wanted to be alone, to finish my project in privacy, but I had now been interrupted.

“What’cha working on, dude?” He asked, that white smile on his face, “Can I help or…is it more private?”

“Let’s go with the latter,” I told him, my hands shaking behind my back as I held the thing that I had been just heating up. He kept staring at me, knowing I couldn’t take the pain. I knew he wasn’t trying to butt in, but it was kind of rude.

Then, a hot spot on the metal I had been working on caught a cut in my finger.

“Ow, STYX!” I cursed, dropping the Celestial bronze and squeezing my now bloody finger to stop the bleeding.

“Whoa, what happened?” Leo asked, and he pounced. But once his eye caught what had dropped to the floor, he stood back with the stupidest grin on his face.

“I knew it!” He exclaimed with a toothy grin, “I knew you would, especially after the special gift from Calypso! I saw her slip something into your pocket, don’t lie!”

I confessed to having received a certain gift from Calypso, but he just laughed it off. Then, he gasped like a teenage girl at a boy-band concert.

“Please, please, please, can I help you with…the project? It’ll make the entire quest worthwhile! Oh, please, Beckendorf!”

“No way!” I said, picking up the metal part and placing it back on the fire, trying to get it perfect.

Leo looked at me, frown on my face, and realized that he was being kinda weird.

“Sorry, dude. My fault. I shouldn’t have been so pushy.”

I knew he was groping for a grudging acceptance of apology, but I was kind of pissed that he would sneak up on me in my own forge.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have,” I responded bitterly, Kronos’ anger rising up in my chest.

Leo, for a second, looked genuinely hurt. Then, he realized what was going on, and instantly went from annoying to amazing.

“Whoa, whoa, breathe, big guy! Breathe! Think of Silena!" He said, now soothing, "Think of walks on the beach, you’re holding her hand, and there’s nothing else on Planet Earth. There’s no Titans, no Gaea, not even Gods. Just you two.”

As he spoke, I visualized the scene he was creating. I could see Silena’s beautiful blue eyes, and I swear I could hear the waves on Long Island Sound, smell the salty water in the air, feel her soft brown hair, feel the cool sea breeze on my face. I felt softly jealous of Percy, being so close to the water through his father, and I stopped feeling angry.

“There we go,” Leo soothed, “Look, obviously this particular project is getting you worked up, and in my opinion, for no good reason. It's obviously for an unbelievably awesome cause. That’s what I’ve learned since getting my sight back, you know.”

“Sorry about that,” I said, and he waved his hand dismissively, like it was nothing.

“But that’s what I’ve learned. I’ve learned that there’s nothing more special than the ones you love in your life. Did you know I moved Calypso into an apartment in Manhattan?”

“What?” I asked, partly astonished and partly really happy for the guy, “No way!”

“That’s not the best part,” He said, a sly grin on his face, “guess what apartment building?”

When Silena and I had been going strong in our…first lives, we had thought about moving into Manhattan, just in case Olympus needed us. Silena had heard of a daughter of Aphrodite who had just acquired a very specific apartment building for a very large sum of money.

“NO. WAY!” I shouted, smiling wider than I had in a long time, “You two moved into 15 Central Park West?”

“Yep,” Leo laughed, “got something like 90% off of the asking price, too.”

“Leo Valdez,” I asked, now truly astonished, “How in Hades did you manage to do that?”

“Well,” he explained simply, “I made a few artifact donations to the Greek Mythology and Art Exhibit at the MoMA. They gave me a lot of money for it. And, with our demigod connection in the apartment complex, it all worked out.”

“Wait,” I said confused, “you don’t have any Greek art. What did you donate?”

“The Archimedes Sphere, man!” He said, like it should be obvious. He had told me about the Sphere when we had been working on his astrolabe. I was amazed that he had parted with it.

“Wow,” I said, and Leo said,

“Mind the fire, man, the, uh…project is about to melt.”

I cursed under my breath and fished out the small piece of metal, beginning to refine its shape with a small hammer, tapping very lightly to make the curvature even more perfect. While I was tapping, Leo kept on his point about loved ones.

“So yeah, I guess now I’m a settled man.”

We both laughed at that, and he said,

“No, but really. It’s the most fun, teaching Calypso. She asks about everything, and I have to answer. You wouldn’t believe how confused she was about the cars on the street. Good things us demigods can’t use technology, or I’d have a coronary just explaining Facebook.”

“But you guys are okay?” I asked, dipping the metal into a bath of ice water with a satisfying hiss!

“Yeah,” He said wistfully, “But all I can ever think about is this conversation we had on Ogygia.”

“What about?” I asked, and he launched into the story of starting a mechanic’s shop/kitchen with Calypso. He sounded really eager, and even went into detailed tangents about some of the stuff he was really excited about.

“But,” He said when he was finished with the story, “I don’t know if I should ask her whether she’s still up to do that. I mean, we’re in the nicest building in Manhattan, we’re safe, and leading the good life. Why start a stupid mechanic’s shop?”

“Are you kidding?” I asked, grinning, “The question is not why, my friend, but why not. You have to understand that. Go for it. I mean, you have a lifetime to live. I have three stinking days!”

“Hey!” He scolded, “Don’t talk like that! You’ll find a way, I know you guys will!”

We were both silent after that, though. We didn’t have anything cheery to say to keep my hopes up. I turned my attention back to my project, and slipped my hand into my pocket. Finally, I brought out my gift from Calypso.

“Beautiful,” Leo murmured.

“Yeah,” I agreed, "but I don’t nearly hard enough tools to crack it, much less form it and shape it. How in Hades am I supposed to go through that with bronze tools?”

“Leave that to me,” Leo said, a devilish grin on his face. Then, he said,

“Give me a diamond-tipped cutter, newly sharpened.”

“Dude,” I said, confused, “I wish I could.”

“No, not you!” He waved dismissively, “the belt!”

Then, he reached down to about his pocket, and pulled out the exact tool.

“I don’t even want to know,” I said, looking at the seemingly normal tool belt, “but that’s awesome.”

I took the tool and got to work, whistling as I cut through Calypso’s gift.

“All I can say,” Leo said, “is that like me, you definitely chose the right person. I’ll catch you let, okay? Don’t show that thing to anyone, you hear?”

“Not in a million years,” I agreed nervously.

After a couple hours, my secret project that I had hidden in my pocket since Ogygia was done. I smiled like a maniac on pain drugs. I was suddenly the happiest man in the world, just looking at the object in my hands.

Notes

Hope you enjoy a little break from the drama. By the way, I kept this chapter, and the descriptions of Charlie's project, particularly vague. Hint: It will be used if, and I mean if Ethan's plan goes through to have Kronos possess Luke again.

Enjoy,
Grafon