𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

xxi ━━ looking backwards might be the only way to move forward

05. chapter twenty-one

━━━━━━━━ ( 💫 ) ━━━━━━━━

IT WAS LIKE LAST WINTER ALL OVER AGAIN.

Flying around the world on the back of Festus was something I was familiar with.

It was just Leo and I for a  few months. I got to know Leo better than I ever did all that time we spent searching for Ogygia.

Despite missing my friends and camp more than anything, I was happy.

Leo found away to alert our friends that we were alive. That way was a magical scroll. I had a feeling my friends would be mad at me for leaving without a trace, but I also knew they would find it more than worth it to have Leo back.

We couldn't return to Camp Half-Blood before going out on Festus in search of Ogygia. We knew we would be stopped—whether by Chiron, our friends, or the gods themselves.

I was relieved to watch Leo return back to his normal (extremely not normal) self. Death had completely lost its grip on his soul and he was just as alive as he was before the explosion.

Movies quickly became Leo and I's thing. Whenever we needed time to rest, we'd stop and see a movie. It was a nice way for me to catch up on the past 75 years while Leo just enjoyed them as long as there was action or drama.

I was anxious about meeting the immortal nymph-goddess Calypso. I heard multiple stories of her beauty and charm. I knew she had feelings for Leo and here I was, bringing Leo straight to her island. I knew it was a stupid move, but I also knew what it was like to be trapped and want nothing but companionship. I didn't know if I'd be able to live with myself if I didn't at least try to help Calypso.

There was also another issue: would Ogygia even show itself to me? We didn't know what was possible with the magic of the island. We weren't even sure if Leo would be able to find it again.

So as Leo and I were sitting on the back of Festus, I was lost in my thoughts.

Leo opened the access panel in Festus's neck. The astrolabe Leo had told me to keep safe when he died was in there. Leo checked his compass and GPS, and a grin spread across his face.

"Good news!" Leo said. "Our navigation readings are completely messed up!"

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?" I said.

"Yeah!" Leo said. "You think the navigation will work when we are near a magical island?"

"I have no clue, Bronze Brain. If I can't open an iPhone, do you think I'd be able to understand a GPS?"

"I guess not," Leo said. "Festus, descend! Get us below the clouds and maybe—"

The dragon plummeted so fast that the breath was sucked out of my lungs.

We broke through the blanket of white and there, below us, was a single green island in a vast blue sea.

"It's Ogygia!" I shouted. "You did it!"

"WE DID IT!" Leo corrected so loudly I wouldn't have been surprised if people in China could hear it. "WHO BROUGHT ME BACK TO LIFE? WHO SAVED US FROM TARTARUS? WHO'S CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST? WOOOO!"