A Tale of Romans and Slaves | PJO/HOO

Chapter 17: Leo

It had started simply.

I could hear her shriek from the forge, and I couldn't help but feel happy. I peeked out the door, and I saw her, standing there completely drenched with her fists clenched, staring right at me. Lady Bianca was standing next to her with her hands over her mouth.

I had put a bucket of water over the door to the courtyard and tied it to the door handle. Seeing as Calypso and Lady Bianca were the only people that came out of that door at this time, and seeing how Calypso always walked out first, my plan had worked perfectly.

But I should've known that she would get me back. And that was how I ended up dangling from a tree by my foot at water break.

But of course, I retaliated. I tossed a bag of rotten eggs into the girl's cell block that night.

And then it was like someone opened the gates of hell.

It was war. We were pranking each other left and right. She painted all of my tools bright-pink. I stole all of her dresses from her cell during water break. She tied my hands together while I slept. I cut the straps off her sandals. She put a spider in my bowl at water break (don't even ask me how she did that one).

This kept going on for days. It had become all of the slave's official entertainment.

Eventually, Lord Hades was informed. And that was how we got a guard telling us to knock it off at water break. They didn't know that it was Calypso and I who were doing it, all they knew was that someone was doing it.

But did we listen? Oh no. Because about a minute after he finished speaking, I tripped over a line of rope Calypso had tied between two trees.

Eventually, I decided that we had to stop. We would get caught, and then whipped. Possibly even killed. Will had told me that Lord Hade's wasn't very kind with his slaves. Then he told me a fun story about a kid named Sammy getting whipped to death.

I visited Calypso in her cell block that night.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed when I approached her cell. "If you're going to prank me, at least do it while I'm asleep."

"I'm not here to pull a prank," I said truthfully. "I'm here to call a truce."

"Why?" She mocked. "You scared?"

"No," I said. "You're about as scary as a puppy, Sunshine."

She glared at me. "Don't call me Sunshine."

I smiled at her. "Okay, Sunshine. No, I'm calling a truce because I'm worried that we might get caught and whipped."

"So," She mocked. "You're scared."

I sighed. "Sure."

She smiled, making her look even more beautiful. God, I thought. Could you tone down the attractiveness a bit? It was very hard to hate someone when they looked like a goddess.

"Also," I said. "I think we'd work better as a team."

She tilted her head at me. "Do you now?"

"Yeah," I replied. I slipped my hand through the bars of the cell, so she could take the sack that it was holding.

"What's this?" She asked as she took it from me.

"It's a bag," I explained. "You put stuff in it."

She glared at me.

"It'll come in handy," I said. "It'll hold more things than your arms."

She looked surprised. "Why are you giving me this?"

"Consider it like a bargain," I said. 

"And what do I give you in this deal?" She asked.

"You consider my offer," I replied. "I do think we'd make a great team."

She looked at me. "Deal."

We shook hands. Then I left, returning to my cell. Once I got there, I ate a bit of the bread I had stolen yesterday night.

Did I think that she'd take my offer? No. I didn't. But I did know that she'd think about it.

Because I knew she didn't hate me, just like how I didn't hate her. In fact, we actually had a mutual respect for each other, even though neither of us would ever admit it.