Optional titles: Ethereal; angels like you deserve to go to hell
[when this idea came to me, it was four in the morning yesterday, why i am actually publishing this terrible thing i did when i was sleep deprived]
Disclaimer: I don't own any thing remotely related to the Percy Jackson series(es).
"Reports have shown that this asteroid is being assessed immediately, and no one was in the field at the time. The FBI are searching the area behind us, as I speak-"
"You didn't have to turn off the TV, you know."
Piper shrugs. "I wanted to."
Calypso nods. "It's fine. I just wanted to see if anyone got any pictures of me."
Piper pours another cup of tea. "No one saw you leave there. They all think you're an asteroid anyway."
"It's better that way." Calypso states, accepting the cup of tea. The cup is chipped, but that doesn't matter, just as how it's not apart of a set.
Piper snorts. "Well, how would you react if someone told you an angel fell from the sky."
"I would laugh and say, 'Yeah I know, that was me.'" Calypso says, and Piper laughs.
Piper braids Calypso's hair quietly.
"It's raining pretty hard, right now." She whispers.
Calypso turns her head. "Is that rain? I've never seen rain before."
"Is that so?"
Calypso nods, and hands Piper a hair tie. There's a flower on it, as Piper came to realize Calypso likes flowers in her hair.
"I've always been on the other side of it. Where I came from, we're above the clouds." Calypso says.
"Huh."
The rain pauses for a moment, as if to hear their conversation. When the rhythmic thumping is heard again, Piper breaks a cookie in half. She offers Calypso half, and she doesn't accept it.
"Do you want to go out in the rain?" Piper asks, swallowing.
Calypso stares out the window. "Is it safe?"
Piper simply smiles. "Maybe. Depends on how the weather is going to be. "
"Oh."
Piper continues. "I mean, we could get electrocuted, or something. Or get sick."
"Oh." Calypso turns away from the window.
Piper wipes her hands on her sweatpants. "Come on, I think the rain is going to stop in an hour, let's enjoy it while it lasts."
Calypso smiles. "Okay."
Inviting Leo over was a mistake.
"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven, babe?" Leo wiggles his eyebrows, when Calypso comes down the stairs.
Piper punches Leo arm, and he rubs it like it actually hurts.
"Yes actually. It was very painful, and my halo got torn off by a star." Calypso deadpans, and Leo blinks.
"Uh, okay?" Leo gives a look towards Piper, saying can you believe this girl?
Piper swirls her spoon around in a red cup of hot chocolate. "So Leo, how've you been?"
Leo begins rambling, and Piper doesn't really listen. Her thoughts fill with little girls with halos, dancing around stars.
"That's great. More coffee?" Piper interrupts, trying to create an excuse to go leave and clear her head.
"Sure."
"What about you Calypso?" Piper asks sweetly.
Calypso looks confused, as she had been wrapped up in Leo's story. "Yes, please. Oh, please do continue Leo."
Leo looks smug, as Piper leaves into the kitchen to pour some coffee. She pretends to ignore the laughter coming from the other room.
Her grip on the coffee pot tightens, and Piper nearly spills hot coffee on her hand.
"Here ya go." Piper says, placing the cups on the coffee table.
Leo shoots Piper a grin. "So, sunshine? Where are you from?"
"New Zealand." Comes Calypso's automatic response. Pride fills Piper's chest as she hears the other girl say what Piper taught her to.
Leo nods. "Cool," he says, and Piper doubts he even knows where New Zealand is. "How long are you staying here?"
Calypso looks at Piper, who stares back. "I don't know. A while."
Piper is oddly pleased with that answer.
"Can I see them?" Piper asks one day.
Calypso closes her book, and puts in on the bed next to her. "See what?"
Piper doesn't say anything, but somehow Calypso understood.
"Oh. Those." Calypso mutters, unbuttoning her shirt.
Her shirt falls limply to the sheets, and a familiar and unwanted feeling coils in Piper's chest. Calypso closes her eyes, concentrating.
"Close your eyes, you can't see this part." Piper does as advised, and closes her eyes. A bright light shines, so bright it feels like the sun was burning through her eyelids straight into her retinas. It dims, quickly afterward.
"You can open them now." Calypso says, and Piper does.
"Whoa." Is all Piper can say. "Can I touch them?"
Calypso's wings flutter. "Yeah."
Piper reaches out with one hand, and places her hand at the stem of the wings that were connecting with Calypso's back. She could feel a pulse, and she immediately removed her hand.
"It's alive?"
Calypso flaps her wings together, causing Piper's hair to fly in her face. "They're apart of me."
"Oh." Piper says, reaching out touch them again. It feels like touching bottled up heaven among clouds of cotton candy. Piper isn't sure why, but that's how she felt.
"They're pretty though. Freaking huge, but pretty." Piper watches as the appendages closed around Calypso, sealing her off from the world for a brief minute.
"I know." Calypso says, and Piper can't help but to think her voice seemed distant.
The fire in the fireplace gives off a cozy warmth, that Piper loves.
Calypso sits next to her, snuggling up with the blankets. Her wings are out, and surrounding the two girls, as Piper holds two graham crackers.
"What is it that you're making again?" Calypso questions again, French braiding Piper's hair. Piper was proud to teach her how to do that.
"S'mores. A human delicacy."
Calypso rolls her eyes, and points to the chocolate wrappers. "I know what s'mores are, it's just that I though you ate them with chocolate."
"You do. I just happened to eat it all." Piper grins, stabbing a marshmallow with a stick.
Calypso doesn't say much else, and only the crackling off the fire is heard. Piper glances at the clock on top of the mantle. 12:01.
"Merry Christmas." Piper mutters to herself, but Calypso hears her.
"It's Christmas, already? I thought tomorrow was Christmas." Calypso gasps, letting go of Piper's braid. It unravels in Calypso's finger's absence.
Piper shrugs. "Today is tomorrow." She sits on her knees, and waddles away.
Piper returns back, with a two boxes in hand. "Merry Christmas." She repeats.
Calypso flushes red, and accepts the presents. She opens the bigger one first.
"Clothes, with holes in them?" Calypso raises and eyebrow, as she flips the shirts and sweaters from front to back.
"It's for your wings. You won't have to take off your shirt to display them now. I know you feel more comfortable with them out, anyway." Piper explains, causing a smile to light up Calypso's face.
"Thank you." She says, as she opens the second, and much more smaller box.
Piper likes the way Calypso's eyes light up. "Can you put it on?"
Piper scoots behind Calypso, to put on the piece of jewellery. It was only a necklace, it's charm was just a silver and pink tropical flower. A hibiscus as Piper learned.
Calypso smiles, creating weird movements in Piper's chest, and reaches to touch the charm.
"Thank you." Calypso kisses Piper's cheek.
Piper relies on instinct, and surges forward to return the kiss, but to Calypso's lips.
It was entirely possible that Calypso is the embodiment of heaven, and her lips are a gift sent from God, himself.
"What does it feel like to fly?" Piper asks, flipping through channels.
Calypso cocks her head. "I'm not sure if I entirely remember. Tasted like freedom, I guess. Like no one holding me back, and I could do whatever I wanted, whenever."
"Do you want to go flying again?"
Calypso hesitates. " Sometimes I miss it. But it's winter right now, right?"
Piper wonders if it's really the weather holding Calypso back, or was it Piper herself.
Sometime in January, Leo returns to catch up with Piper. Calypso doesn't mind at all.
"You two are girlfriends now? That's hot." Leo comments, and Piper rolls her eyes.
"Shut up, Mr. Single."
Leo places his hands over his heart like he's wounded. "Ouch, Pipes, and to think I thought you loved me."
"It is not you, but my dazzling Calypso, who I love more." Piper says, kissing Calypso's hand. Calypso giggles.
"Great. Now, I'm the only one who's single." Leo whines, and Piper perks up.
"Really? How are the others?" Piper asks, sitting up in her chair. She hadn't been in contact with any of her friends since- well, when she found Calypso out in that field, which was practically half a year ago. Not that anyone tried contacting Piper back, and simply driving to Piper's house was a struggle. One of the cons of living in quite literally the middle of nowhere.
"Everyone's great. Annie and Percy had their kid. She's a devious one, and that's coming from me." Leo says. "Hazel's trying for a baby, so that's that. Frank said he wants to have a boy, and I told him to name it Leo Jr. He then ignored me for a few days, so I'm going to see them on Sunday."
"And Jason?" Piper asks.
To Piper's surprise, Leo scowls. "On and off relationship. We're going through some stuff." Leo didn't seem like he wants to talk about it, so Piper doesn't ask.
Calypso turns on the radio, to avoid the awkward silence.
"How'd you end up here in the first place, anyway." Piper said, combing her fingers through Calypso's hair.
Calypso rolls on her stomach, exhausted. "I don't want to talk about it."
Piper furrows her eyebrows, concerned. "Why, what happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Calypso glares at Piper.
Piper backs off. "Sheesh, sheesh, alright, I was just asking."
Calypso closes her eyes, and falls asleep shortly after, leaving Piper to dream about fallen angels.
Piper screams into her pillow.
The phone rings twice, before Annabeth picks up.
"Hello?" She says.
Piper bits her lip. "Hi Annie."
Annabeth gasps and begins yelling at Piper for not calling, who took it all in meekly. She croaks out a simple "Sorry.", and Annabeth calms down.
"How are you, Piper?" Annabeth asks.
Piper isn't sure how to answer, as she curls her finger around and around the curly cord connected to the phone. "Fine. How are you?"
Annabeth gives a tasteless laugh. "I just had a baby, what do you think? It's been forever since I've slept."
"Heh. What's his name?" Piper leans on the kitchen wall, toying the cord.
"Her. It's Annabelle." Annabeth says, and Piper frowns. Has it really been so long since she's talked to Annabeth, that she doesn't even know her child's gender?
"Oh. Is Percy around?"
Annabeth laughs."No. The idiot had to go to the dry cleaners to get suit washed. I told him not to wear it while feeding the baby, but he said it would save time."
Piper laughs too, feeling more and more comfortable with the conversation. They begin talking about random topics, like how old they were getting, how's the weather, how much Percy is a dolt, etc. Piper was about ready to say goodbye to her friend, when she remembered.
"Oh, hey Annie? I met someone." Piper says, and then she hears a thud. Not a second later, Annabeth's voice comes back on.
Annabeth sounds happy. "Sorry, Annabelle knocked something over. And really, did you? What's he like?"
Piper makes a noise from the back of her throat. " She. Her name is Calypso."
"Calypso. huh? What's she like? Is she better than-you know- Jason? Is that why you haven't called?" Annabeth shoots question after question.
"She's really nice and sweet and beautiful and just amazing. Calypso's like a celestial being from space." Piper laughs inwardly, and her voice came down to a whisper. "I think she's the one."
"Really? That's great Piper." Annabeth says, and it makes Piper happy.
"Yeah."
Annabeth's quiet for a moment, and Piper can hear someone crying in the background.
"Listen Piper, I need to go, the baby went off again. Take care in yourself, you hear me?"
"Of course, Annie. Bye."
"Bye."
Calypso likes to garden.
Piper thinks it's a great hobby, but knows nothing about it, so she leaves to go into to town for an hour. When she arrives back home, she had how-to books on how to garden, and new supplies.
"I know it's only April now, but here." Piper says, handing the items to Calypso.
Calypso swings on Piper's tire swing in response.
Piper puts the items on the ground. "Why do you want to garden?"
Calypso looks up at the sky. The sky is blue, with only a few fluffy clouds. "I want to stay connected to the Earth down here."
"Is that so?" Piper teases. "Am I not enough to keep you down here?"
Calypso doesn't answer, but keeps swinging.
A motorcycle stops in front of Piper's driveway, and Piper looks out the kitchen window.
She recognizes it, and comes running outside. "Jason?"
Jason takes off his helmet, and waves. Behind him, Leo takes off his own helmet and gasps.
"What, no hello to Leo?" Leo says.
"Oh no, Jason, why'd you have to bring him?" Piper says in a playful tone, and Leo sticks his tongue out at her.
Jason speaks."Hey Piper."
"Hey." Piper responds, and opens the front door.
Both Jason and Leo walk in, and Piper curses. In the living room, was Calypso sleeping, her wings covering her like a blanket.
Jason blinks, and Leo's jaw cracks open. "Is that Calypso?" Leo asks, already knowing the answer.
"I swear I can explain." Piper says quickly, as Leo moves to touch Calypso.
"I don't think Canadians have wings, Pipes."
"New Zealand." Piper automatically corrects, causing Leo to shrug, and Jason to look at her.
Jason points to the girl. "Who is she, and why does she have wings?" He places his helmet on the coffee table.
Piper winces. "My girlfriend. She's ,uh, an angel?"
"What?" Jason scrunches up his face, and Leo laughs.
"Piper went crazy, when she was alone in this house. I don't know why she lives in the middle of nowhere- are those cookies?" Leo somehow trails off into the kitchen, returning with a package of chocolate chip cookies.
"Leo, stop eating other people's food." Jason scolded, not that it stopped Leo from opening it.
Leo rolls his eyes, and sits in an arm chair. "So Piper, explain."
So Piper explains everything. Everything.
"Can I call you Callie?"
"Sure."
Piper finds Calypso laying on a grassy hill, not too far from the house.
Calypso's wearing a white dress, and she looks like she's glowing. Piper sits next to her.
"Hey." Calypso says.
"Hey." Piper returns.
They sit in silence, finding nothing wrong with it. Calypso's staring at the sky, while Piper stares at the sunset. Fireflies float around them, and Piper lies down next to her.
"There's the Big Dipper." Piper points, and Calypso follows her finger.
"Huh." is what Calypso says.
Piper pints, not too far away from where she was originally pointing. "That's the little Dipper."
Calypso doesn't say anything this time, but squints at the stars.
"And that's the North Star." Piper points again.
"Human's are so weird, coming up with names for a bunch of stars. It's all pointless, really." Calypso admits.
"Really? Then what are stars to you?" Piper teases.
Calypso points." The North Star, is heaven. Actually, it's a landmark for heaven. It's the best way to locate it, from far away."
Piper doesn't say anything, but only listens.
"That one, over there? That's my friend. Her name's Zoe, do you guys have a story on her?"
Piper shakes her head. She figures if angels are real, so can living stars.
"Pity. You see that tiny one? That's a pizza shop, for angels. He has really great pizza." Calypso says.
Piper snorts."Now you're just messing with me."
Calypso glances at Piper. "Nah, I'm serious. His name is Tony, and his food is literally heaven."
Piper laughs softly. She turns onto her stomach, and rests her chin in her hand.
"Don't you wish you could go back?" Piper asks, her voice floating into the night.
Calypso sighs, and closes her eyes. "Sometimes. But I can't."
Piper sits up. "Why? What did you do, why you came down here?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"I won't understand if you don't tell me."
Calypso opens her eyes, and sits up. "You know how when people die, they go to heaven?"
Piper nods. "They become angels right?"
Calypso shakes her head, and her hair hangs over her face, shielding it from view. "No. Angel's are born angels. Two of them have an angel baby. Humans just mill around heaven being happy. It's our job to make sure they are."
"Can an angel and a human have a child? What happens if a two people have a child on heaven?"
Calypso shakes her head again. "If a human and an angel have a child, it's sin. Two people can't have a child, it's against the rules."
Piper rubs a hand on Calypso's back, right in the middle of her shoulder blades, where she new two secrets were hiding. "Did you have a child?" Piper asks softly, afraid to hear much the answer.
"No."
The answer takes Piper by surprise. "What'd you do then?"
Calypso's voice cracks. "I fell in love."
Piper feels something in her heart crack, as she asks her next row of questions. "With who, a human? What's so bad about falling in love? I did-" Piper stops herself, and waits for answers.
"Of course it was a human, who else would it be?" Calypso lifts her head, and Piper makes no mention of her wet eyes. "His name was Odysseus, and I loved him for years, and he said he loved me back."
"How long did you love him?"
"Seven years." Calypso balled up her hands into fists. "He had a wife and child, but they were still alive, and perfectly healthy. Then he asked me to-" Her voice cracks.
Piper hugs Calypso. She doesn't hug back, but she wails like a broken hearted child. Piper doesn't comment on the fact that she is a broken hearted child."
"What'd he ask you?" Piper asks softly.
Calypso sniffs. "To send him back to Earth, to be with his family. And I did. I fucking did. And you know what the worse part is?"
Piper is afraid to ask, but asks anyway. "What?"
"I still love the bastard." Calypso says, and Piper feels her heart clench tighter and tighter.
Piper hugs her tighter, and doesn't say a thing as Calypso cries.
Leo remembers something from a while back.
"Is it true your halo did get caught on a star?" Leo asks, dealing out a pack of cards.
Piper doesn't know how or why Leo was still taking the fact that Calypso was a banished angel so calmly. It makes Piper wonder if Leo isn't telling her something, and a part of her screams that he isn't, but she doesn't say anything.
Calypso stirs her iced tea. "Yes. As I fell, it got ripped off."
Leo plays with the deck in his hands. "Did it hurt?"
"My halo was my soul." Calypso sips her drink.
"Oh. Does that mean you don't have a soul?"
"Basically."
"Oh."
"How old are you?" Piper asked one day.
Calypso set down her shovel, and patted dirt. "A few hundreds. I lost count a while back."
Piper paused her gardening. "Wait, what?"
The other female tended to the flowers next to her. "A few hundred. Heaven is timeless, and angels age differently. How old do I look?"
"24. Like me, right?" Piper asked.
Calypso tilted her head up, eyes glinting in the sunlight. "I'm around 24 hundred then. Not too old then, I guess."
Piper blinked before nodding slowly. "Okay."
It starts to feel like Leo travels down nearly every week. His every three month's visit begin to evolve to every week.
Piper starts to worry, when she realizes that Calypso doesn't mind in the slightest. Calypso adapts to Leo quickly, and vice versa. Piper begins to notice their secret conversations, and giggling, and one day she calls Leo out on it.
"Leo? Can I talk to you, outside?" Piper gasps out, her fists clenching by her sides.
Leo shrugs, and finishes braiding Calypso's hair. It's surprisingly better than what Piper could do, but she understands it's from all the practice Leo must've had years before, when Leo braided Piper's hair to pass time.
Piper pulls Leo, by the elbow. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"What?" Leo's confusion is clear on his face.
Piper scowls. "Stop hitting on my girlfriend. I'm not blind, I can see your secret conversations, and hidden jokes."
Leo looks at Piper strangely, and to her annoyance, bursts out laughing. He clutches his stomach, and Piper folds her arms.
"You think that's what I'm doing?" Leo wipes away an imaginary tear. "Heh. No way, I'm with Jay-Jay. Jason's just visiting his sister this month. Come on Pipes, I would never do that to you."
Piper raises an eyebrow. "What about the conversations? What do you guys talk about, that I can't know?"
Leo stops laughing, and his spine straightens."You sure you want to know?"
Piper nods. "Of course. Don't keep secrets from me."
Leo shrugs, and places his hands in his jacket pockets. "Alright. I have a demon in my basement, named Nico, and he eats souls."
"What?!"
Leo shrugs again. "He's like a vampire. With souls." He wiggles his index fingers in front of his teeth, like they're fangs.
Piper stares at Leo with disbelief. "How long?"
"How long what?"
Piper tugs on the bottom her shirt. "Have you had him in your basement?"
"A few weeks after I met Calypso."
Piper punches him in the arm. "Why didn't you tell me!?"
"Hey, to be fair, I was scared he was going to eat my soul. Dude's freaking creepy. He eats souls, Piper. Souls. You know what he said when I met him? Guess what he said, Piper, guess."
"What did he say Leo?"
Leo grabs her by the shoulders. "He said, 'You smell really good. I bet you taste like cinnamon.' Cinnamon, Piper! Cinnamon." Leo shakes her furiously.
Piper pushes him off. "So, to be clear, you're not hooking up with my girlfriend?"
Leo walks off back into the house. "Cinnamon, Piper. Cinnamon!" Leo repeats, throwing his hands in the air.
Piper doesn't want to accept it, but she knows she should.
Calypso was getting more and more distant, and more and more homesick.
Piper couldn't remember when in the past week, they had a conversation that wasn't about something mundane like the weather.
Calypso's one year anniversary of falling down was a pitiful one. Piper bakes a cake, even though her baking skills are terrible. It's vanilla, and it had strawberry frosting, because she knows Calypso likes fruity things. They also fall into bed together, for the first time, but it hurts.
It hurts Piper's heart, because somewhere inside, she knows that Calypso can't let go of the past- can't let go of him.
It hurts.
"Piper! Didn't actually expect you to come, even with this weather." Percy opens the door wide, and allows the girl to come into the apartment.
Piper smiles, and gives Percy a hug. "Nice to see too."
They part, and Piper turns towards the door. "This is my girlfriend, Calypso."
Percy holds out a hand to Calypso. "The pleasure is mine." He says, goofy smile on his face.
Calypso shakes it, and smiles.
Percy leads the two, towards the living room, where Piper's friends are all gathered. Leo and Jason were laughing, as they chatted with an unfamiliar dark-dressed male. The friendly and adorable couple, known as Frank and Hazel, were sitting next to each other on the sofa, drinking hot cocoa. Piper blinked, noticing Hazel was heavily pregnant, and winced realizing how long it has been since she's seen them. Percy disappears into the kitchen, to where Piper assumes Annabeth is.
"What's up, Beauty Queen?" Leo asks from where he's sitting on the floor, and Piper makes a face.
"Nice sweater." Piper says, and Leo grins.
"What better way to get into the Christmas season, than an ugly sweater?" He presses the nose of Rudolph on his sweater. "The nose lights up too." Leo winks.
"Ooh, Valdez, you're definitely going to get laid with that masterpiece." Piper teases, and waves hello to the rest of the group.
"Fuck yeah I am, right Jay?" Leo nudged Jason with his elbow.
Hazel gasps. "Language, Leo!" Piper feels Calypso pulling on her sleeve, but ignores it.
Leo just laughs, as Hazel turns towards Piper. "Hi, Piper. Nice to see you again." she says, sweetly.
Behind her, Frank smiles.
Piper smiles too. "Of course, same towards the both of you. Congratulations on your pregnancy! When are you expecting?"
"Any day now." Hazel beams, placing her hand on her swollen belly. "Hopefully soon, this one's a kicker."
Next to Piper, Calypso shifts nervously. Piper decides to introduce Calypso to everyone at once. "Guys, this is my girlfriend, Calypso."
The dark haired young adult sitting near Leo, lifts his head. "Calypso, huh?"
Calypso squints at the boy. "You must be Nico then. Leo has told me, a lot about you."
Nico nods in her direction. "The same could be said about you."
Piper clears her throat, and takes off her coat. "Nice to meet you, Nico."
"Same to you." Comes his response.
"Piper? Is that really you?" Annabeth peeks her head into the living room. The Christmas tree's lights reflect against her face, but Piper can see her perfectly. She's the same old Annie, but she looks more weathered down, and tired. Nevertheless, a wide smile graces her face.
"Bye-bye!" A little girl-baby- screams, running into the room. Piper blinks, as Percy chases her around the room.
Annabeth gives Piper a hug. "That's Annabelle. A bit of a handful, isn't she? Turned one a week ago, and she thinks she's the queen." Annabeth laughs, shaking her head. "Percy, treats her like one, and she has the greatest grandmother in the world."
Piper nods. "She's beautiful. But why did she scream 'bye-bye'?"
"Oh, that." Annabeth scowls. "Percy taught her bye first. So now, when she meets someone she says bye, and whenever someone leaves, she says hi."
Piper laughs, and directs Annabeth to her girlfriend. "Annabeth, this is Calypso. Calypso, Annabeth."
Annabeth shakes Calypso's hand, and gives her a welcoming smile. "Enjoy yourself, there's enough eggnog to go around. Welcome to our crazy family."
Calypso gives a small tight-lipped smile.
Piper decides for the rest of the holidays, to stay at Leo's house. Leo lives not too far from Piper's home in California, so it isn't much of a problem. Leo, Jason, Nico, Calypso and Piper had to take a plane to leave Annabeth and Percy's Bostonian home. They say goodbye to the couple, and Frank and Hazel,wishing them luck with the pregnancy. Piper realized how uncomfortable Calypso felt around Hazel, and brushed if off as Calypso didn't know what a human pregnancy was.
Piper was wrong. Calypso tells her the truth, as they unpack their bags in one of the various guest rooms, Leo has.
"That baby is going to die." Calypso says, unfolding a shirt.
Piper glances up in confusion. "What baby?"
"The pregnant one. Her baby's going to die a few days after it's born." Calypso states, as if the subject was normal.
Piper gasps. "How do you know?"
"It's an angel thing. I can tell when and how everyone dies." Calypso sits down on the bed, peeling off her shirt. Her wings unfold, and she breathes a sigh of relief. Due to both Jason and Leo knowing what she was, and Nico being a demon, she doesn't have to worry about anyone seeing the wings.
"I need to tell Hazel." Piper makes a move to grab her phone, when a hand closes around her wrist.
"Don't. How would you feel if you were trying to conceive for months, and you knew it was going to die, without you stopping it? It's better to pretend, you don't know."
Piper twitches, but listens to Calypso's advise.
"Even me? Can you see when I die?" Piper finally asks, ignoring how her voice cracks.
"Even you."
As it turns out, Nico isn't as weird as Piper imagined him to be.
"You're a piece of candy. Sweet, but like a cracked jawbreaker. Who damaged you?" Nico says on the first day, of Piper and Calypso staying with them. Piper assumes the question was rhetorical.
"Excuse me?" Piper says more than asks, as she dips her spoon into a bowl of cereal.
Jason pours out coffee. He's only in his boxers but no one cares enough to comment. "Kid's talking about your soul. He does it with everyone."
Piper raises an eyebrow. "What's your soul like?"
Jason makes a face. "My soul tastes like dirty socks and sour lemons, apparently." Jason disappears into the kitchen, leaving Piper and Nico alone. Calypso was outside, doing who knows what, and Leo was never one to wake up early. Nevermind the fact that it's 11:30.
"He's not." Nico whispers over the table. "I only said that, because he threatened to exorcise me when Leo found me. He actually smells great. Probably tastes like power, if that makes sense. Think energy drink, I guess."
Piper nods, clearing her throat. "What's it like? Eating and sensing souls, I mean."
Nico sips a cup of orange juice. "In hell, there aren't too many delicious souls. Here, there are plenty. Imagine how I felt, when I was overwhelmed by Leo and Jason's smell."
Piper actually understands. "Yeah, Calypso felt the same way. When I found her, I was expecting a meteoroid, not a fallen angel. She screamed bloody murder, when she saw me."
"Yeah. I had to promise, I wouldn't eat any human souls, or at least anyone who doesn't deserve it. It's great that there's a woods nearby, where I can hunt for animal souls." Nico grimaces. "Those usually taste like carrots, or leaves, but it keeps me alive. Or as alive as I can be."
Piper leans in, balancing her head in her palms. "When you eat souls, what happens to the person? They die, right?"
Nico shakes his head. "No, they remain alive. They just can't go to heaven."
"Oh."
Nico gives a crooked grin. "If it helps, I won't eat your soul. I'm not much of a jawbreaker person. Besides, your soul looks really fragile, and broken down. A few cracks, from heartbreak, I'm assuming. Hey, do you want my bacon? I'm not going to eat it."
"Thanks?"
"I think I'm going to go flying." Calypso says.
Piper gives her a look. "Really? But it's March, and it's cold."
Calypso spreads her wings out. "It'll be fine. I'm just going for a quick flight."
"Alright." Piper says, unsure. "If you really want to-"
Calypso blasts off, leaving Piper with messed up hair, and confusion.
"Piper, guess what?" Hazel calls, on the phone.
"What?" Piper asks, looking out the window, half paying attention to the conversation. Calypso had taken to flying, practically everyday, except she began staying out later and later. She was usually home by this time.
"I'm pregnant again. Frank is scared the baby might get sick again."
"That's wonderful news, I'm sure the baby would be fine. When are you expecting?"
Hazel hums happily. "You really think it's great? I'm only a month or so in, so around December again."
"Well, I wish you the best. I'm sorry about what happened to your son. Leo told me about it. Did you ever get the chance to name him?"
"Ethan. His name was Ethan." Hazel chokes out.
"Good luck, and congratulations, on this one."
"Thanks, Piper."
Piper regrets ever mentioning it, but she still did it.
"Do you want to come with me to Europe? I'm going to visit Ithaca." Piper says, washing a plate.
Calypso dries the plate with a paper towel. "What's in Ithaca?"
"Well your name is Calypso, right? Your famous in a Greek legend, that one about Odysseus." Piper says, scrubbing.
Calypso nearly drops the plate, before catching it. "Odysseus? As in my Odysseus?"
Piper winces at the name, remembering the story of Calypso's fall. "No, probably not. Maybe you guys were reincarnated? That'll be cool."
Calypso nods.
"Anyway, I'm going to see if maybe you can find him. That way, you can give him a final goodbye, and get him off your mind."
"He's… not on my mind."
Piper turns off the water, handing Calypso a bowl. "Of course he is. I can tell. That's why you go out and fly everyday, right? I know you think about him." Piper places her hand on Calypso's arm. "It's okay."
Piper wishes she could shut up. It wasn't okay, because Calypso was her girlfriend, not Odysseus's. It wasn't fair, that Piper watched as who she love, yearned for another. She hopes the trip would make Calypso see that Odysseus was perfectly fine with his wife and children, and forget about him.
"Thank you." Calypso squeaks out.
They find him after a week. Piper finds out that Odysseus's wife didn't take to kindly to a dead man being alive again, and left him a year ago.
Piper hated Odysseus, and hated that he fell in love with Calypso too. She hated that Calypso still wanted him back.
Piper hates everyone, and everything.
"Hello?"
"Leo?" Piper croaked out.
"Oh, hey Pipes, what's shakin? Guess what? Me and JJ have decided to take things more seriously. We both said, that we'll stop being on and off, and just stay together. Don't you feel proud of me? I know I do."
"Can you pick me up?" Piper coughs.
Piper can hear voices in the background of Leo's side of the phone conversation. "Sure, where are -hehe, stop it Jase, I'm on the phone- you?"
"Ithaca."
"Heh, Jaaay- Ithaca, as in New York? Or in Europe?"
"Europe. I already ordered plane tickets for you."
"Oh, alright, guess I'll just pack some stuff. You okay? You sound a little weird. My best friend senses are tingling, were you crying?"
Piper laughs, but it comes out bitter. "You don't have best friend senses. I only bought one ticket for you to come here."
"Of course. Care to tell me what's happening, why you need me to pick you up?" Leo's voice came out concerned.
"I need you, best bro. I need you right now, but you're a continent away." Is all Piper says.
"Where's Calypso?"
"Gone."
"Gone?"
"Gone."
Leo's hesitates. "Sorry, dude. She managed to get back to heaven?"
"No. But she's happy now." Piper sniffs, wiping her eyes.
Leo makes a noise. "I'm coming for you Piper. Just- just don't cry, okay? Tell me everything, when I get there."
"I'm trying Leo. I really am." Piper whispers into the phone.
"I know." Leo says. "I'm proud of you. I'll get there as quick as I can. Love you, Piper."
"Love you too."
L'ange is French for The Angel, I believe.
What a crap ending, I could do so much better. I probably am going to write another (and final) chapter sometime in the next month or two, but it's about Leo and Jason, and how they deal with Nico. Since I don't go in depth how piper found calypso, i might actually do that if i do make another chapter
Happy New Years (although in my time zone it's 3 AM on the 31st of December).
