Born Again

[4: hasta luego ]

"That's it!" Leo and Beckendorf jumped away from the pearl, excitement written on their faces.

"You finished?" Silena looked at the pearl, a small smile appearin kn her face.

"Heck yeah we are." Leo cheered himself. Cracking the code of that pearl was the same difficulty of Archimedes sphere, but the two most powerful sons of Hespheatus had found a way. Only it took two days.

Two days in the underworld they worked nonstop. Bianca spent the time reading and re-reading the books, occasionally piping up with a funny story of Nico. She really missed him. Silena spent the time cheering Beckendorf on with supportive comments, and she also chimed in with comments about the rest of her siblings and Clarisse. Luke stayed silent for most of it, but he would sometimes crack a dry joke that would leave everyone laughing. He, on the other hand, didn't say anything about his loved ones.

Of course Leo and Beckendorf spent their time working nonstop-- literally. When they finished, you could imagine their relief. The more time spent in the underworld, the harder it is for humans to leave. That's why Leo needed to leave as soon as possible.

"Now," Bianca looked at Luke. "We're going to need some tricks up our sleeves to get you Ogygia."

Leo froze. "What does that mean?"

"Well you know how I said the pearls can take you anywhere touching the ocean." Bianca paused, waiting for Leo to nod. "Well, Ogygia is touching the ocean, it's an island, so of course it does. But, technically it doesn't exist. We can hope it takes you where you need to be, but we can't be exactly sure. Incase something goes wrong, we need a backup plan."

Leo nodded. He had a plan to escape the underworld to begin with, but that was flushed down the drain when he was on his way to the Fields of Punishment. Now that was a horrible experience.

"If you don't make it to the island and end up in the middle of the ocean, our backup plan is pretty simple." Luke spoke up.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Well, if you land in the water, I'm going to pull some strings." Bianca explained. "Antaeus, he's a dead son of Poseidon, killed by Heracles. I have some fancy gifts I can use to bribe him to manipulate the water from the underworld and
make sure you don't drown and make your way to Ogygia. Just make sure no one mentions that you killed Gaia, that's his mom."

"So we're going to bribe some dead half-giant to make sure I don't drown despite that I killed his mom." Leo said sarcastically, raising his eyebrows for effect.

Silena laughed. "Basically."

"Well okay. Let's hope I land on Ogygia."

"Be careful. When you get to Ogygia, we have to plan to make sure you escape from there, but we need to sort a bit of the details out. Remember that you're not alone, Leo." She stared at him pointedly. "Good luck, Leo."

Bianca handed Leo the pearl. It was now a dark purple color to the bright blue it was originally. The shine seemed more brighter, however, and as Leo held it in his grip he could feel the power radiating off of it. Silena hugged him tightly and said goodbye. Beckendorf patted him on the back and whispered something about their bed (once Beckendorf's, now Leo's) that Leo was definitely going to use later on. Luke shook his hand and told him to keep an eye on everyone for him, especially Annabeth. Bianca hugged him farewell and told him to help understand Nico, since he needs a friend.

"Thank you." Leo gave a small smile. "For everything. Helping me escape the Fields of Punishment, helping me get to Ogygia-- thanks."

With those last words in the air, he threw the pearl at his feet and watched the glass break apart until he was transported somewhere else.