━━━rainy days
.・゜゜・───・゜゜・
The horizon was beautiful, though Cal's eyes weren't really seeing. She couldn't get her mind off of the headache she had early, the one that was still there, only not as bad. And then there was Percy, who had a nervous breakdown and looked sick to his stomach the whole way to R.O.F.L. She had a ton of questions, too many to count. The first one, and the most important, was why did affect Percy more than her? Neither of them had their memories, Juno had made that clear, but was it worse for Percy?
Percy was staring holes into the back of Cal's skull, she could feel it. She ignored it though, because she already had too many questions to deal with, and she didn't want to deal with his. Hazel was sitting next to her. Cal sighed, and leaned her head on Hazel's shoulder. She turned and looked at her, whispering
"You okay?" into Cal's ear. Cal looked up at her and nodded.
"I'm fine."
Hazel hummed. "You sure?"
Cal laughed softly and shrugged, pulling her head off of Hazel's shoulder.
"I don't know. I think so." She stared out. "The horizon's pretty."
Hazel smiled, "yeah it is...you wanna talk about it?"
Callahan shrugged again.
"Well, if you do, there's someone who wants to talk to you" Hazel gestured behind them, and Cal nodded. She turned around and made eye contact with Percy's sea-green eyes. They were dark.
"Hey, Barnacles." She smiled softly, "you doing ok?"
Percy shrugged.
"Yeah, me too." She leaned forward and rested her hands on Percy's knees. "I-- what was that earlier."
"I don't know. It was like my brain just started to scramble, and.." He dropped off.
"Hey, what is it?" She shook his knee softly.
"She's starting to fade." He shook his head, "Annabeth, her face, my only memory of the two of you, is starting to leave."
Cal shook her head lightly, "she'll never leave. Not really. Get some sleep, ok? I'll wake you when we're there."
While Percy slept Cal's mind whirled with activity. She had so many questions, no answers, and a throbbing headache. A coil of tension snapped taught across her shoulders, and she kept rolling them, trying to get the coil to go away. She was useless, and this just confirmed it. The thought had wormed itself into her head during the days running from the Gorgons. Now, sitting across from Percy, she couldn't keep her mind off of it. Why had she been unaffected by the same things that drove Percy into a nervous breakdown? Her headache still hadn't left either. It hung there, in the back of her head, beating against her skull in a rhythmic pattern. She sighed and shook her head, wincing when her brain thumped around inside.
"How close are we?" Frank turned back and asked. Cal shrugged in response. He nodded and turned back to Hazel. Percy snored a little behind her. Cal turned and looked him over, smiling lightly at his slumped position. But when she got to his face and noticed the drool leaking out of the corner of his mouth, her head burned. She pressed her fingers to her temples and turned away from Percy. Her mouth was dry. Someone touched her shoulder, and when she looked back she met Hazel's concerned gaze.
Cal shook her head, "I'm fine."
Hazel didn't look like she believed her, but she nodded and turned away anyways.
When they got to Portland, Cal leaned over Percy and shook his shoulder.
"We're here." She told him as she helped him up, "you okay?"
"I could ask you the same thing." He cocked an eyebrow. Cal shrugged in response and looked off to the city surrounding them. Portland was very grey, she could say that much. Grey, and bleak.
"How'd we get here?" Percy asked, and Frank explained as Cal gathered their supplies, ready to get off.
After Frank had told Percy how they got there, Percy told them about another dream he had. Cal inched closer to him in response.
He tried to focus on the positive: a warship might be on the way to help Camp Jupiter. A friendly Cyclops and a giant dog were looking for him. He didn't mention what Gaea had said: Your friends will die.
When Percy described the Roman fort on the ice, Hazel looked troubled.
"So Alcyoneus is on a glacier," she said. "That doesn't narrow it down much. Alaska has hundreds of those."
Percy nodded. "Maybe this seer dude Phineas can tell us which one."
The boat docked itself at a wharf. They stared up at the gloomy grey city looming above them.
"We have to find them in this?" Cal asked. Her hair was already growing damp.
"Yep"
━━━rainy days
.・゜゜・───・゜゜・