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xii. blind dudes and harpies don't mix well
the trek back to the boat wasn't long. as they made their way back, gale held the cloud mist tightly in his hand, pondering on what iris had said to him back at her convenience store. what did she mean by "you'll need it, especially for what's to come for you, gale grace,"? part of him thought it was all connected. everything that had happened in such a short span of time was so odd, and he had a gut feeling something more dangerous than any of them would've thought were waiting for them, somewhere.
i mean, it had to be connected. not only did percy show up at camp carrying a goddess, then gwen dies-but-not-dies, then mars shows up, and then— safe to say, gale's mind was doing laps trying to process everything.
they soon reached the boat, and as they sat down and left the area, frank, hazel and arcana traded stories about what had happened, but gale tuned out of the conversation and into his own thoughts. he had been feeling... somewhat better after their visit to r.o.f.l. maybe it was because he knew his brother was safe. maybe it was because of the tea that stopped the somewhat constant waves of nausea. he didn't know, he just felt better, though his mind felt almost different, like there was a dark presence in the back of it, in a way.
he shook it off, tuning back into the conversation his questmates were having.
"we got in touch with reyna," hazel said. "you're supposed to throw this coin and say this incantation, like o iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. except fleecy kind of changed it. she gave us her — what did she call it — her direct number? so i had to say, o fleecy, do me a solid. show reyna at camp jupiter. i felt kind of stupid, but it worked. reyna's image appeared in the rainbow, like in a two-way video call. she was in the baths. scared her out of her mind."
"that i would've paid to see," frank said, and gale lips parted in shock. "i mean, her expression — her expression. not, you know, the baths."
arcana snorted, and hazel fanned her face. "frank! anyway, we told reyna about the army, but like percy said, she pretty much already knew. it doesn't change anything. she's doing what we she can to shore up the defenses. unless we unleash death, and get back with the eagle—"
"the camp can't stand against that army," frank finished. "not without help."
they sailed in silence after that.
percy strapped a makeshift harness around a killer whale he seemed to be having a mental conversation with, and at the other's insistence, he settled in for a nap as the whale took control of the boat.
gale always liked the rain, whether that be the feeling of the droplets falling on his face, or the peaceful feeling of staying inside, listening to the rain splash onto and dampen the windows. maybe it was a son of jupiter thing, because arcana was the exact opposite. she hated rain with everything in her, so safe to say, she wasn't having the greatest time right now.
