Daughter of Wine

Callida

It feels good to see all my friends together. For a little bit, on the island with Silenus, I thought I'd be stuck there forever. We're sitting in the mess hall, enjoying dinner. 

"Basically, I had to forgive my dad for the whole Colosseum Dorito fiasco." I sum up. 

"You... you had to make wine to forgive your dad...?" Percy's brow furrows. "With a drunk satyr." 

"Yep." I nod, though I keep looking at the palm of my hand. The lines and creases look blurry. In fact, everything looks blurry.

Gods, I'd gone blind. That had been one of the most terrifying moments of my life. Sure, I've fought giants and monster armies and I'm sailing to certain death, but being blind? I'd say that tops the charts. 

I don't blame Leo. He was doing what he had to do. I hadn't looked away. I stared straight into the light from his death ray. Just one moment of confusion, and I almost lost my sight forever. It's that easy. 

"And... the dress?" Piper asks, nodding her head to my blood-red gown. 

"Oh, yeah, my jeans and shirt were covered in grapes." I tell her. "Like, I looked like I should be walking around with a chainsaw and ski mask. This stupid thing is all Silenus had for me."

"GIVE ME TWENTY PUSH-UPS!" Buford rubs my leg affectionately. 

"I missed you too, buddy." 

"Yeah, about that." Piper glances distastefully at the table. "Can we please turn that off?"

"No!" I insist. "Are you kidding? I'm a daughter of Dionysus and I made that! That's a miracle right there. That is my Vatican ceiling, my statue of David, my-"

"Okay, okay." Piper raises her hands, but she still glares at the Mini-Hedge. 

"What's in the bag?" Frank asks me, nodding his head to my leather wine satchel. 

"My wine." I frown. I thought that would be obvious. I pull the bottle out carefully. 

Everyone sits forward to look. 

"Hey, you're on the label!" Leo points at the little sketch of me. "Rivera Wines. Ooh, fancy." 

"Yes, very fancy." I put the bottle away. 

"So, let's talk about what Nike said." Annabeth says, her eyes clouding over with worry. "One of you five is going to die?"

My heart sinks. I don't want to talk about this. It's been decided. Not by everyone else, but by me. I'm the one that dies. I know I am. I'm reminded every day when I put that note in my pocket. It's my responsibility. A cure to that would be lovely, but Nike made it sound nearly impossible. 

"There's another way" Hazel says "if we can find the physician's cure."

"I've never heard of that." Annabeth mumbles. "Poison in Pylos, chained god's heartbeat in Sparta, curse of Delos?"

"Yep!" Leo nods. "Cheery, right?"

"YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!" Nike yells from the stables. "YOU CANNOT CONTAIN VICTORY!"

"Look who's up." I mutter. 

"Delos is where we need to go to find Apollo and Artemis." Hazel says. "Two birds with one stone."

"And I need to go to Pylos." Frank admits. "When I was in the House of Hades, one of my ancestors spoke to me. He said, 'I await you in Pylos.'" 

"Okay, so we'll set sail for Pylos." Leo says, getting up. "I'll go tell Festus."

"Do we have time?" Jason asks. 

"We have to try and find this thing." Hazel insists. "Otherwise, either me, Calli, Frank, Percy, or Leo will die. I don't know about you, but I don't like that idea."

"Yeah." Jason nods. "You're right." 

"Well, kids," I push my chair out from the table. "I love or talks, but I spent my day stomping grapes, fighting victory, and going blind. I'm fried." 

"Me too." Percy admits. "See you guys in Pylos."

Walking out the door, I bump into the frame. It's not a huge deal, and I'm sure no one noticed, but it's a reminder. I can't see as well as I used to. I don't know if that's going to have an effect on my abilities, but I really hope not. I mean, as long as I have a line of sight, I should be good, right? 

"Calli." Leo catches up to me in the hall. "I saw that."

"Saw what?" I try. 

"Your eyes aren't fixed, are they?" 

Despite the blurriness of my vision, I can see his concern. "Just a little blurry. I'm fine."

His shoulders slump. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. Gods, I suck." 

"No you don't." I smile, taking his hand. "It's not your fault."

"But maybe I can fix it!" His eyes light up again. "Come here." 

He takes me down to the engine room and starts fiddling with something I can't make out. 

"Look here." He directs me over to what looks like a pair of binoculars. 

"Is this an eye test?" I laugh, sitting down. 

"Doctor Leo is in for business!" He tells me. "Maybe I can't heal Jason or do stitches, but I think I can fix this for you."

He runs me through a series of tests, then sits down to fiddle at his workbench. I sit down in front of the engine, remembering how worried I was about fixing it. I was obsessed. And I'd almost done it, too. A part of me wishes I'd had that one extra day, just to prove to myself that I could do it. 

I remember what Silenus said, that Hephaestus is still blessing me. That I might have that blessing forever. All I had asked for was help with the mechanical arm, but he gave me a permanent gift. I wonder if he did that on purpose. I wonder if he knows something I don't. 

"Ta-da!" Leo holds up a pair of glasses. They're big and round, with thin gold frames. 

My stomach does a flip-flop. "You... you made me glasses?"

"Yeah!" His smile turns into a frown. "I thought you'd like to be able to see normal." 

I smile halfheartedly and take them. "No, yeah, I do. I just... I never thought I'd have to wear glasses to see. I've always had perfect vision."

I put them on, and the engine room comes into clear view. 

"Do they work?" Leo asks me. I want to cry at the sight of his face. I can see his curls, his warm brown eyes, the streak of grease across his forehead. 

"Yeah." I manage. "They work." 

"And they're temporary." He insists. "We have to go find Apollo in Delos, yeah? Maybe he can fix your eyes."

"Maybe." I like the thought of that. "But, Leo, thanks." 

"Anything for you, mamacita." There's that look again. That look in his eyes that he's hiding something. That secret he won't share. 

"Well." I stand. "I wasn't lying when I said I was tired. "I'll see you in the morning." I give him a quick peck on the forehead and head back to my bunk.