Daughter of Wine

Piper

The boat captain drops Frank and I off at the Argo II, anchored a quarter mile out to sea. Frank only allowed me to come with him, thinking my charmspeak might be useful if we run into some of his shapeshifting relatives. We found the poison, a metallic vial no bigger than an eyedropper. Pylosian mint, Frank said it's called. 

I press a wad of euros into the boat captain's hand. 

I'm not above using charmspeak on mortals, but I've decided to be as fair and careful as possible. My days of stealing BMWs from car dealerships are over. 

"Thank you." I tell him. "If anyone asks, you took us around the island and showed us the sights. You dropped us at the docks in Pylos. You never saw the giant warship."

"No warship." The captain agrees. "Thank you, nice American tourists!"

We climb aboard the Argo II and Frank smiles at me awkwardly. "Well, nice killing giant warthogs with you."

I laugh. "You too, Mr. Zhang." 

I give him a hug, which seems to fluster him, but I can't help liking Frank. Not only is he a kind and considerate boyfriend to Hazel, but whenever I see him wearing Jason's old praetor badge, I feel grateful to him for stepping up and accepting that job. He took a huge responsibility off Jason's shoulders and left him free (I hope) to pursue a new path at Camp Half-Blood... assuming, of course, that we all live through the next eight days. 

The crew gathers for a hurried meeting on the foredeck, mostly because Percy is keeping an eye on a giant red sea serpent swimming off the port side. 

"That thing is really red." Percy mutters. "I wonder if it's cherry-flavored."

"Why don't you swim over and find out?" Annabeth asks. 

"How about no." 

"Anyway," Frank says, "according to my Pylos cousins, the chained god we're looking for in Sparta is my dad...uh, I mean Ares, not Mars. Apparently the Spartans kept a statue of him chained up in the city so the spirit of war would never leave them."

"Oo-kay," Leo says. "The Spartans were freaks."

"Yeah, but we've got Victory tied up downstairs." Calli points out. "We can't really talk." 

They lean side by side against the rail, Leo's arm casually around Calli. She has that happy sparkle back in her eye that she'd been slowly losing over the past few weeks, and her new big round glasses only make her eyes seem to sparkle more, and also make her look a little bit like an owl. I know she and Leo slept in her bunk last night. I wonder if there's more going on with that than they let on. They haven't been acting any different, but would they? 

Jason leans against the forward ballista. "On to Sparta, then. But how does a chained god's heartbeat help us find a cure for dying?"

From the tightness in his face, I can tell he's still in pain. I remember what Aphrodite told me: It's not just his sword wound, my dear. It's the ugly truth he saw in Ithaca. If the poor boy doesn't stay strong,  that truth will eat right through him.

"Piper?" Hazel asks. 

I stir. "Sorry, what?"

"I was asking you about the visions." Hazel prompts. "You told me you'd seen some stuff in your dagger blade?"

"Uh... right." I reluctantly unsheathe Katropis. "I, um..." I try to clear my thoughts. "I don't see anything right now. But one vision kept popping up. Annabeth, Calli, and I are exploring some ruins-"

"Ruins!" Leo rubs his hands. "Now we're talking. How many ruins can there be in Greece?"

Calli elbows him. "Piper, do you think it was Sparta?"

"Maybe." I say. "Anyway... suddenly we're in this dark place like a cave. We're standing at this bronze warrior statue. In the vision I touch the statue's face and flames start swirling around us. That's all I saw."

"Flames." Frank scowls. "I don't like that vision." 

"Me neither." Percy keeps one eye on the red sea serpent, which is still slithering through the waves about a hundred yards to port. "If the statue engulfs people in fire, we should send Leo." 

"I love you too, man." 

"You know what I mean. You're immune. Or, heck, give me some of those nice water grenades and I'll go. Ares and I have tangled before." 

Calli turns, staring out at the coastline of Pylos, now retreating in the distance. "If Piper saw the three of us going after the statue, then that's who should go. We'll be alright. I'm fireproof too, you know. There's always a way to survive." 

"Not always." Hazel warns. 

Since she's the only one in the group who has actually died and come back to life, her observation sort of kills the mood. 

Leo whistles. "Gotta say, Cal, I'm not a huge fan of this either. You're immune, but not as much as I am."

"Oh there's levels of fire immunity?" She asks, crossing her arms. "I think there's only two levels. Burn and not burn." 

"Okay." Leo holds up his hands. "I'm just saying-"

"That I'll be fine." Calli finishes for him. "Yes, I know." 

"Jeez." Leo raises his eyebrows. "A guy can't worry about his girlfriend anymore?"

Calli's expression softens, and she kisses him on the cheek. 

Frank holds out the vial of Pylosian mint. "What about this stuff? After the House of Hades, I kind of hoped we were done drinking poison." 

"Store it securely in the hold." Calli says. "For now, that's all we can do. Once we figure out this chained god situation, we'll head to the island of Delos." 

"The curse of Delos." Hazel remembers. "That sounds fun." 

"Hopefully Apollo will be there." Annabeth says. "Delos was his home island. He's the god of medicine. He should be able to advise us."

Aphrodite's words come back to me: You must bridge the gap between Roman and Greek, my child. Neither storm nor fire can survive without you.

Aphrodite warned me of what's to come, told me what I will have to do to stop Gaea. Whether or not I'll have the courage... I don't know. 

Off the port bow, the cherry-flavored sea serpent spews steam. 

"Yeah, it's definitely checking us out." Percy decides. "Maybe we should take to the air for a while." 

"Airborne it is!" Leo announces. "Festus, do the honors!"

The bronze dragon figurehead creaks and clacks. The ship's engine hums. The oars lift, expanding into aerial blades with a sound like ninety umbrellas opening at once, and the Argo II rises into the sky. 

"We should reach Sparta by morning." Leo announces. "And remember to come by the mess hall tonight, folks, 'cause Chef Leo is making his famous three-alarm tofu tacos!"