Well, this is a Percy Jackson fanfiction, and just to make it clear, I do ship Percabeth… a lot, but I thought it would be interesting to try a Calypso/Percy one. The characters are all owned by Rick Riordan and he is a sheer genius for giving them life.
My head hurt. A lot. The fall from Mt. Saint Helen's was enough to kill me, even as a demigod. Thank the gods I didn't. I don't know what would've even happened to me at this point, and I'm pretty sure the judges of the Underworld wouldn't know either. I was in so much agonizing pain it was almost ridiculous, and it was up there on the amount of pain I've dealt with in the past few years; I could barely comprehend anything, none the less where I was. Where was I in the first place? In the water, that's what. With a couple strokes, I swam to land and collapsed in an uncomfortable state.
I managed to lean up and look around, wincing in pain the whole way as I rolled my, most likely, fractured shoulders to see my surroundings. It was absolutely beautiful; a well-kept island covered in flowers, plants, and trees that reminded me of a paradise version of Camp Half-Blood. It smelt of junipers and roses that was one of the most intoxicating smells I've ever encountered. Suddenly, in the midst of my smelling heaven, a girl appeared above me.
She seemed about fifteen, my age, with caramel-brown hair that flowed down to her shoulders and stopped at about the middle of her back, tied back with a piece of blue lace. Her eyes stared down at me with an interesting sort of kindness for gray eyes. They almost reminded me of Annabeth's, but softer and more delicate. Annabeth! Oh gods, what happened to her?!
"An… An… Annabeth…" The girl placed her soft, powdery, white index finger on my bruised lips and shushed.
"Shh, brave one. You're hurt. Come, rest." Her voice flowed with a sweetness and sincerity that just persuaded me and helped me stand up. As she smiled, I grabbed her hands and pulled myself up, one pain-stricken leg at a time. I don't know if I was just that weak or if she was that strong, but she pulled me up and practically pulled me to her home, or at least I thought it was her home. The cave was cool and inviting, having separate areas of living. She placed me on a bed, which I swear is still the softest, most pleasurable bed I've ever slept on to date, and with a closing of my eyelids, I fell asleep.
Later, I awoke. The girl was placing some of her flowers in a pottery bowl, adding some color to a table she had set up outside of the cave. I looked over at her and yawned. She found the sound of my yawn and turned around to stare me in the face. She smiled and fluffed her flowers.
"I'm glad to see you wake, Percy Jackson." Her voice was joyful and easy to the ears, but it held a sort of sorrow behind all of its attributes. I stared at her, the idiot by nature in me showing its true colors.
"How do you know my name… uh…?"
"Calypso. Call me Calypso." Her eyes turned sorrowful when she spoke her name.
"Like as in the story? With Perseus and all of that?" She sighed and continued to add to her already full bowl of flowers, probably doing so out of nerves.
"Yes, if you want to call it that. A story." I shouldn't have said that to her. "This is my island, Ogygia." I looked outside the door past her and at the island, which seemed to be relatively alone, just being surrounded by the reflections of the clearest water I've seen in a while.
I didn't really know what to think about Calypso or her island. Every time I met or encountered or even came in contact with a mysterious and pretty girl, I almost always get hurt or tried to be killed. It just happens with the nature of being a demigod, and it turned me very skeptical. Calypso was a really vague but familiar name. Somebody told me about her, that she was very powerful and a talented sorceress.
I sighed and turned back to her.
"How can I trust you?" She came to the door, her sky blue dress flowing behind her.
"Not to be mean, but I did nurse you back to health, or at least mostly healthy. You have a while to go." Slightly doubtful (like always), I pushed myself up and wobbled as I stood up. I was still shaky, but from what I was however long ago it was, I was doing much better. But soon enough, right as she said I have 'a while to go', I fell down onto the bed and sighed in disgust with myself. Calypso came to my aid and sat next to me and helped me readjust on the bed. She placed a cool compress on my head and it gave off a helpful cooling and tingling sensation on my forehead.
"How long was I asleep, Calypso?"
"About a day or two. Don't worry, soon you'll be up and going." She sighed sorrowfully and quickly looked out the window, as if she was averting my face. All of sudden, something dawned on me.
"Aren't you the daughter of someone?" She chuckled at my odd remark and smiled, her pearly white teeth glowing.
"Well, everyone is the daughter of someone, per say, but if you mean someone famous…" She gulped nervously. "Well, you got that right."
Calypso almost looked like she was going to cry next to me on that bed. I reached up from my laying stated and lightly brushed her face.
"Don't worry… you can trust me. At least, you can if I'm not passing out on you." She giggled with a girlish charm and turned herself to face me better.
"I'm the daughter of Atlas, if that's what you call 'famous', Percy Jackson." I remember Atlas fairly well, and I looked back at Calypso and examined her face. She shared a couple of his attributes, the same ridged nose and powerful eyes, but she seemed to soften them. She and her sister, Zoë Nightshade, looked nothing like each other, well, saying since they had the same father.
"You know Zoë, right?" Immediately her face slide into a frown and she sighed sadly.
"Let's let you rest. If you're well enough to walk, you can walk around the island. I'll come as well if you wish. Get sleep, my hero."
I screw up too much.
A day later, I was up, hobbling around, but able to walk. Calypso and I began to take walks around the island, staring at her different plants, listening to her calm voice about lilies, daffodils, and her multiple types of trees, including juniper, pine, and even exotic breeds like the coconut palm and acacia. She looked absolutely beautiful around the island, and she didn't even intend to look that way. For once, I felt calm and at peace, not worrying about other things, but only about me, the island, and Calypso. We became close and very connected rather quickly, me telling her about the Camp and about my previous quests and Annabeth, and sometimes she'd utter a little about her past.
The only thing that confused me was when she'd begin to talk to me in depth or even have the courage to hold my hand as we walked around the island, she'd grow almost distant to a degree and sometimes she'd even stop talking to me all together. I felt sad for her. Something was harboring inside of her, this pain. I wanted to help her. Talk to her, just the two of us. Well, even though there were only the two of us on her island.
A few nights later, before dinner, I decided to go over to her and talk to her. She looked as beautiful as ever, her hair in her eyes, the way she always had it, and a white summer dress that sparkled in the dark. She was planting a new type of flower. I never saw anything like it before, a bright silvery-white flower that was the shape of a sunflower, but wasn't even close to sharing any other attribute. As she held a new silvery sprout in dirt in her hand, it began to grow up when the moonlight beamed on it.
"Moonlace." She commented while carefully placing the now flowering plant and dirt into a small hole in the ground. "Beautiful, isn't it? It just catches your eye right when you see it. That's what I love about it. Grows in the moonlight." I smiled and crouched next to her, my knee still slightly in pain.
"That's not the only thing that can catch someone's eye." I playfully chuckled and smiled, finding her hand and grabbing it. She smiled along with me for a moment, looking into my sea-green eyes and I into her gray ones, until she turned away and faced her Moonlace.
"Percy… I can't." I sighed and put my arm around her shoulders and came close to her.
"Why not, Calypso?" She looked woefully at the ground where her still-growing Moonlace was planted and dripped a single tear off the bridge of her nose. I don't know I was just uncomfortable around girl's crying or just the whole sadness thing, but it touched me in a way I've never felt before.
"Percy," She sighed. "I need to tell you something. The whole story." I stared back at her, slightly confused, but eager to listen.
"Talk to me. I'm listening." Calypso pushed her hair out of her way before talking. I wiped away a tear as she began to talk, making her smile, even if it were for just a couple seconds.
"I didn't just find you here…" She started out.
"What do you mean?" I replied, curious about her rather vague statement.
"The Fates…" She breathed heavily for a few seconds before continuing. "They bring people here. People who I'll… grow very attached to and love."
"Like me?" Calypso nodded, looking at me like it broke her heart into a million pieces, shattering her even more. "So?"
"So, if someone comes and stays with me on the island, they become immortal with me, and I, well, I wouldn't be so lonely. But, the people who come, they never stay. They want to… and I guess they need to leave me. That's what. I didn't want you to get attached to me. Or me to you." I sighed and almost forgot I was holding both of her hands now. Tears streamed down her face.
"I guess that was a hard choice for both of us now, isn't it?" I leaned close to her. "Because I've fallen for you too." That's when stupid Percy turned on.
I came close to her, turned my head, and kissed her. Not an extremely long kiss, not a short peck, but the kind of kiss that means something special. The kind that just sort of… mean something. She let go of one of my hands as I stopped and she blushed.
"I can't do this, Percy. It'll just hurt me more." Calypso pouted, turning away from me and facing the lake. It had the most brilliant reflection of the moon and all of the stars, most I've never seen before, even from camp.
"What if I won't leave?" It was a slightly irrational statement, but at this point, I had seriously grown attached to this immortal girl who had captured my heart with her nature knowledge and kindness. I couldn't leave her. Calypso perked up her face and turned back to me.
"Percy… that's a big decision to make. Would you?" She asked me, grabbing onto my hands again. I smiled, but something came into my head. I suddenly wasn't sure I should. I didn't like when the Fates played with my thoughts.
"I'll let you know in the morning. I promise I will." She smiled and lunged onto me, knocking me down in a hug.
"Oh, Percy!" With her still in my embrace, she firmly kissed me and rushed up to the cave, giddier than what I've ever seen her on my entire time on the island, almost clicking her heels together as she ran. It was about a month of being on the island, but it was enough time to be connected.
I decided to walk around the island before I returned to the cave with Calypso and look at the scenery. About a mile into my walk, I came across a familiar face.
Hephaestus.
He looked the same as I always remember him by, his damaged face, smoldering and fiery beard, sooty body, and slightly muscular frame. He appeared in his mortal height dressed in a blacksmith's attire, complete with a thick apron and a set of ripped, burned denim jeans.
"Hello, Percy." He said, nodded his head.
"Hephaestus." I nodded back, trying not to tick off a god, much like how I normally do. I always wonder how my father, Poseidon could deal with me. "Did you say your tidings to the owner of this island?"
"Calypso? Of course. She was surprised to see another person on the island. She doesn't get many visitors, you know."
"I've heard…" I replied, trying to not appear snotty. Hephaestus intimidated me probably the most out of many of the gods. He turned to me, a fire in his eyes, much like Ares had.
"Annabeth and the group are worried about you, you know?"
"They are?" I asked, sounded a bit stupid, even to myself.
"Of course they are!" Hephaestus boomed with his deep voice. "Your mother thinks you're dead! Annabeth is worried sick, and Grover's about to send out a search party for your existence. He's always the faithful one to think everyone is still alive." I laughed. As soon as he mentioned Annabeth and Grover, I felt empty. I missed my friends, especially Grover's sense of humor, and Annabeth. I just missed her. All of her; her personality, her Athena-like eyes, smartness, well… I missed her. I looked up to him and frowned, almost becoming even more ashamed as I thought. "Do you really want this, boy? Calypso is a wonderful girl."
"I should go back… shouldn't I, sir?" He chuckled and patted me on the shoulder of my bright white shirt, turning it black with soot.
"Ha! Boy, that's not my decision, isn't it? I just hope you choose right. I have a feeling I'll be seeing you sometime soon." I averted my eyes as he grew into his true form, becoming bright and solar-like before disappearing and heading back to Olympus.
As I headed back to the cave, Calypso greeted me with a bright smile and kissed me on my cheek. I immediately grabbed her hand and sighed. She turned into a sorrowful person again and sent me to bed.
"Goodnight, my hero." I could tell she was about to cry as she left for her room and left me to sleep, trying to make my decision.
In the morning, Calypso was sitting on the floor, trimming Moonlace into a bowl and placing it in between buds of roses and tulips. She turned up to me and smiled.
"Morning, Percy."
"Good morning." I murmured quietly. Over the night, I couldn't sleep at all, but I had discovered my decision.
I needed to go home. Home to New York. My family and friends needed me. I felt so bad to hurt Calypso, but I needed to go back.
"Did you come up with a decision? Oh! I was thinking! If you stay, you could escape the prophecy that everyone is talking about and-"
"Calypso…" I whispered as I walked over to her and crouched down next to her. She frowned in a sad tone and looked up at me, touching the side of my face.
"You need to go, don't you?" She asked. I nodded, trying not to cry myself.
"Calypso, it was a hard decision, it really was. Do you think it's easy for me to leave you? You've changed me. You really have." She began to sob and wrapped her arms around me and cried into my white shirt. I almost started crying with her as I stroked her caramel hair and smelt her juniper-scented skin for the last time. She looked up at me, her eyes watery and bright scarlet from her sobs, and kissed my nose. Before I could say anything, she handed me three Moonlace seeds and folded my fingers over the seeds.
"Plant a garden for me, in New York?" I smiled and nodded, placing the seeds into my shirt pocket. I could almost feel them radiate their luminous selves against my skin. It would always remind me of her.
"Of course I will." She wiped away a few more tears from her eyes, and then one from mine before she said, "I have a boat waiting for you, down by the shore. I'll walk you down."
It honestly hurt for me to say goodbye, none the less for me to admit I was nearly crying like a baby from this immortal girl. I almost never cry, especially over a girl. A GIRL. I'm pretty sure this changed my view on the gender for the rest of my life.
As we walked down the path to the shore, I could almost see the plants behind us wilt; the way Calypso's emotions were wilting from heartbreak. It pained me to see her like this, sighing in pain and nearly breaking into tears every time she looked into my eyes. I gathered myself into the boat as Calypso waded into the water next to me to tell me goodbye. I didn't want to leave, not yet. But, alas, I had to. Sometimes all good things have to come to an end.
"I'll never forget you." I said, brushing my hand against her cheek, wet from more tears. She giggled and put her arms around my neck.
"I'll never forget you, either." She replied, placing her head on my shoulder. We sat there for a few minutes, just calmly hugging and exchanging a few last-minute kisses before I needed to paddle away. After a few strokes, she backed away onto the shore and waved a sorrow-filled goodbye. As the island became more and more surrounded by mist and fog, I could hear her yell "I love you". I tried to yell it back, but it was too late. The island was disappearing and I never got to tell her the truth.
For the rest of the trip, I sat back and quietly cried to myself before reaching the familiar sights of New York. I would never forget Ogygia or Calypso, or the memories we had there. Even though I love Annabeth even more than what I ever could, Calypso would always be my biggest and most unconfirmed "what if".
This was really short, I know. But there's nothing wrong with short stories, is there? Be free to leave what you think in reviews and follow! Thanks!