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"i am so, so sorry"
AFTER THEIR ENCOUNTER with Kympo-what's-her-name, the Argo II limped through the Aegean, too damaged to fly, too slow to outrun monsters. They fought hungry sea serpents about every hour. They attracted schools of curious fish. At one point they got stuck on a rock, and Percy and Jason had to get out and push.
When the engine wheezed Leo almost cried. Over the course of three long days, he finally got the ship more or less back to working order just as they made port at the island of Mykonos, which probably meant it was time for them to get bashed to pieces again.
The original quest quartet (Ariadne, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover) went ashore to scout while the others stayed back. Leo had been so engrossed in the writing that he hadn't noticed the landing party was back until Percy said, "Hey, man. Gelato."
The whole crew sat on deck, without a storm or a monster attack to worry about for the first time in days, and ate ice cream. Well, except for Frank, who was lactose intolerant. He got an apple.
Ariadne sat on the railing of the deck, resting against Percy's arm that supported behind her. They were sharing a cup of gelato--blue, go figure--and she was forced to feed the boy or else he would start complaining that she didn't care about him after he fought off a vicious storm spirt. Truthfully, she almost shoved his face into the ice cream but decided against. it. The day was hot and windy. The sea glittered with chop, but Leo had fixed the stabilizers well enough that Hazel didn't look too seasick.
Curving off to their starboard side was the town of Mykonos--a collection of white stucco buildings with blue roofs, blue windows and blue doors.
"We saw these pelicans walking around town," Percy reported. "Like, just going through the shops, stopping at the bars."
Hazel frowned. "Monsters in disguise?"
"No," Annabeth said, laughing, "just regular old pelicans. They're the two mascots or something. And there's a "Little Italy" section of town. That's why the gelato is so good."
"They weren't the nicest birds," Grover commented. He ate his coffee ice cream. "Kept complaining about tourists."
"Europe is messed up." Leo shook his head. "First we go to Rome for Spanish steps. Then we go to Greece for Italian ice cream."
Ariadne almost wished this was just a vacation with friends, and not another war. But it was July thirtieth. Less than forty-eight hours until G-Day, when Gaia would awaken in all her dirt-faced glory. The strange thing was, the closer they got to August first, the more upbeat they acted. Pulling together for the final lap--aware that the next two days would make or break them. There was no point moping around when you faced imminent death. The end of the world made gelato taste better.
