Hello, my username is snowflake45 and this is my first fanfiction. I am sorry that this story has to be published on my friend's account, but regrettably, I cannot get an account of my own yet (*sobs*). Only 4 more months to go! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story! Please read and review!
Disclaimer: By the way, I do not own PJO and/or HOO. They belong to Rick Riordan, and Rick Riordan only.
Now that's settled, on with the story.
Percy's POV
"You're going down, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth announced, looking me straight in the eyes. Her lips curved into a mocking smile and she stared at me, grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh, yeah?" I challenged, staring back at her. The sun was setting and it was nearly dark. I looked into her gray eyes. They were gradually turning darker the father the sun set. They glittered with amusement, and each part of her iris was a different shade of gray.
"A daughter of Athena always, always, has a plan," she said slyly, repeating the words she had told me at the beginning and end of my first game of capture-the-flag at Camp Half-Blood.
We were headed down to the woods to play a heated game of capture-the-flag. It had been three months since the war with Gaea. Everyone had basically recovered (more or less), from the battle at Camp Half-Blood and the Greek demigods were on friendly terms with the Romans. In fact, many of the campers including Rachel Dare, the oracle, had gone to the Roman camp. I was grateful that the two camps were getting along together and no longer trying to kill each other. Although, most our our problems probably disappeared in a huge screaming fireball (*cough, Octavian, cough*).
Annabeth and I were walking through the strawberry fields, hand-in-hand down to the forest. Behind us, the Demeter kids were yelling at us not to trample the strawberries, but we ignored them. We gradually made our way down to the undergrowth. I was really eager for the game of capture-the-flag. This time, it was the Athena, Aphrodite, Nike, Demeter, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus, and Nemesis cabins against me, Jason, Nico, the Apollo cabin, the Hephaestus cabin, the Iris, Hecate, and Hypnos cabins. It was going to be a great game, but I was sure that Annabeth had something nasty up her sleeve, probably just for me. She was a very fierce fighter and a brilliant strategist. I had no doubt that this was going to be one of the trickiest games of capture-the-flag I had ever played.
"Do you remember the time when I first came to camp?" I asked, the memories returning to me.
Annabeth smirked. "Yeah. You were so annoying, ignorant, and you drooled in your sleep."
I laughed at the last one. "But you had a crush on me the moment I arrived."
"I did not!" Annabeth protested, blushing a deep shade of red. Behind us, I heard an Aphrodite camper squeal. Might have been Piper. She would probably kill me if I said this aloud, especially in front of the whole camp, but she was a daughter of Aphrodite. She had inherited a few traits from her mom, even if she tried her best to deny it.
"Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes.
Annabeth punched me, and I rubbed my arm. She scowled. "It doesn't matter now, Seaweed Brain. We're together and that's all that counts." She sounded a little miffed when she said it.
"That's all that counts," I agreed. I leaned in to give Annabeth a sweet, compassionate kiss and I could hear the Aphrodite campers stop walking behind us and catch their breaths excitedly. The whole world seemed to have stopped: it was just me and Annabeth, together in our own little world. My lips had just begun to brush hers and she had just thrown her arms around me, when something interrupted us.
A high pitched scream sounded in the air, followed by a chorus of shouts, and some more screaming. Annabeth and I immediately broke apart and started to run back up the hill, towards the yelling's source. As I ran, I uncapped Riptide and Annabeth unsheathed her drakon bone sword from the scabbard around her waist. As we bolted past the huddled group of Aphrodite campers, I could hear disappointed mumblings about how they hadn't witnessed a kiss, but I was too preoccupied at the moment to be be annoyed.
While I ran, thoughts flew through my brain. What kind of monster is it this time? Hellhounds, empousai, scythian dracanae? Giants, stymphalian birds, minotaurs or gorgons? Or maybe it's humongous spiders. Annabeth would really hate that. Although, I'm not really sure if there is such a thing, but if Arachne was real... well, I really don't want to think about that right at the moment.
I crested the top of the hill with Annabeth right on my heels, and Thalia's pine tree slowly came into view. As I sprinted up to the headland as fast as I could, I mentally prepared myself for what I might find ahead (and hoped it wasn't the giant spiders). But nothing could have prepared me for this. I stopped, dead in my tracks and Annabeth bumped into me from behind. She quickly maneuvered from around me, as she could tell I would not be moving anytime soon, and looked up into the dusky sky at what I was staring at. Her jaw dropped.
Hovering up in the air, on a slightly dented but still perfectly flyable bronze dragon, sat a flaming Leo Valdez.
Everyone had thought Leo was dead. Both Nico and Hazel had felt his death. All of the campers of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter had thought both Leo and Octavian had perished in the huge explosion that had dispersed Gaea. But apparently, they were wrong. Leo was seated, perfectly fine and very much alive, on Festus; an overly overenthusiastic grin plastered on his face. But that wasn't all. Sitting behind him, with her hands clasped tightly around his waist, sat a teenage girl in a silver and white Greek chiton. Her auburn colored hair was woven in a braid that hung over one shoulder, and she had the most beautiful almond eyes. The scents of honeysuckle, cinnamon, and the fragrance of baking bread wreathed around her, swirling and dancing in the slight breeze.
Leo had returned and he had brought Calypso with him.
Leo's POV
It was all so funny watching the other campers' reactions as we swooped down from the sky. I watched from atop Festus as Percy and Annabeth sprinted up the hill, and watched as their jaws dropped. They looked as if they had been smacked completely senseless. My smile grew even wider. Seeing Percy looking dumbfounded was an ordinary thing. He looked like a fish, gaping, his mouth wide open and his eyes wide in disbelief. However, seeing Annabeth that flabbergasted was a rare thing, and I was enjoying every bit of it. She looked completely overwhelmed, and she kept gasping every few seconds like she couldn't get enough oxygen or something.
I could feel Calypso's smooth, strong hands hanging onto my waist and as I gradually stood up, I could feel them try to stay there. "What are you doing?" She hissed in my ear. "You're going the fall off and break your neck!"
I turned around and grinned at her. "Watch and learn, Sunshine," I said.
I heard her groan and could almost feel her roll eyes as I turned back around towards my spectacular audience. A small crowd had started to gather and all of them looked as confused and bewildered as Percy, some even more so. I rubbed my hands together gleefully, and a wicked smile spread across my face. This was going to be fun.
When the group of people surrounding us became a moderate number, I stepped forward on Festus. It was kind of hard to balance since the bronze dragon was in constant motion: flapping his wings, shifting to hit just the right air currents to stay flying, or just plain vibrating because, of course, he was a machine; but somehow I managed it. I spread my arms wide and said in a loud voice. "Fellow demigods! Fear no more! Leo Valdez, Supreme Commander of the Argo II, Super Sized McShizzle Man, and Bad Boy Supreme is back! Everything is under control!"
In response to my little speech, I nearly got my brain punctured by an arrow.
I yelped and jumped back as the gold tipped arrow whistled over my head, and fell somewhere onto the hill behind me. Calypso didn't even flinch. I collapsed into a sitting position, and looked down at the crowd of campers in annoyance. I saw Annabeth, looking very smug, standing next to Will Solace. Will had his bow out and he had obviously been the one who had shot at me. I took a second to catch my breath and calm my nerves, and then stood back up on Festus' back.
"Annabeth!" I yelled. "What in Hades was that for?"
"Oh, sorry Leo," she said, barely hiding a smile. "We didn't see you there. I just asked Will to shoot at an irritating little pest."
"Oh, okay," I said. I was about to move on with the conversation when I heard Calypso snort from behind me. I looked down at the demigods below me, and saw that were all laughing. Percy was guffawing into his shirt and Annabeth was giggling into her hand. Clarisse was chortling and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Loser," under her breath, and Drew and the rest of her posse were whispering to each other (probably spreading rumors of now I was an idiot), and sending disgusted glances my way. Will was literally on the floor laughing, clutching his bow, and even Nico cracked a small, subtle smile. I ignored them all.
"Oh, very funny, Annabeth! Laugh it up! Aren't you guys happy to see me?"
Annabeth immediately stopped snickering. "Why, yes, Leo, we are happy to see you," she said, with an evil gleam in her eyes. She smiled, and Percy looked over at her worriedly. He knew she had something on her mind.
"What are you planning, Annabeth?" Percy leaned towards her, looking her in the eyes.
"Oh, nothing," Annabeth said quietly. She grinned.
"Oh, really? Wise Girl, I've known you for five years now. I know when you have something up your sleeve."
Annabeth promptly ignored him, and turned back to deal with me.
"Where have you, been, Leo?" She asked, this time looking serious.
"Well, I after I died and got resurrected, I went back to get somebody," I said, smiling. Turning around behind me, I grabbed Calypso's hand, and made a move to help her stand up. She pulled her hand back, and stayed seated. "What are you doing?" She said incredulously. "I am not going to stand up on a flying automation!"
"Come on, Sunshine," I said. "Festus is perfectly safe! He not going to fall out of the sky! Trust me!"
Calypso rolled her eyes. "Says the scrawny demigod who blew up my dining table!"
I grinned. "It was an accident!" I protested, trying to defend himself.
Calypso smiled. "Alright, but if I fall, you are the one who is going to catch me."
"Fine." I agreed. Calypso grasped my outstretched hand, and I helped her up. She got to her feet, wobbling slightly on Festus' back, but she quickly regained her balance. I carefully helped her to the front of my flying bronze dragon. She stood next to me as I addressed the crowd of demigods below us.
"This is Calypso," I told them, gently taking her hand. "She's my girlfriend. I rescued her from Ogygia." Calypso turned to me, and smiled. I grinned back. Her dark eyes sparkled and she looked happier than I had ever seen her. I wanted to kiss her so badly, but I held myself back. This isn't the time, I instructed myself. Later.
We turned back to the crowd of campers assembled below us. They all stood around in shock, and whispers flew through the air at the speed of light, especially from the Aphrodite kids. I supposed that it had never crossed their minds that I might have had a girlfriend. I smirked, enjoying their confusion. This really was ending up to be a great day.
Calypso's POV
I was scanning the faces of the demigods that were milling below us, searching for any familiar faces, when I suddenly saw him. Percy Jackson. He was standing down there in the crowd, his arm around the blond haired girl called eyes locked onto him and my face went white. I stood stock still, remembering the day when he fell from the sky, into the waters around my island. I didn't move a muscle. Leo must have noticed that I looked a little pale, because he asked me, "Are you alright?"
I turned to him with a weak smile on my face. "Yes," I said, although it wasn't true. To be honest, I kind of felt like I was going to faint. It had never crossed my mind when Leo suggested that we go to Camp Half-Blood that I would see Percy again. I mean, I already knew he was one of the Seven: Leo had told me that while he was stuck on Ogygia. I just never thought I would meet him here.
Leo probably wasn't convinced because his face took on the peculiar expression it got when he was trying to figure something mechanical out. I had seen that look many times while he was on my island, and it was very familiar to me. I also knew Leo was smart and particularly clever. He would find out what was troubling me soon enough, if he hadn't yet already.
My theory was proved correct when about thirty seconds after he started pondering the problem, his face took on an understanding expression. He followed my gaze, and his eyes landed on Percy. Leo's smile faded a little, like he was regretting his offer to bring me to camp Camp Half-Blood. He probably thought that I was going to dump him for Percy. I must admit, I did love him once, however that was a long time ago. Percy Jackson had a girlfriend now, and I had Leo. That was all I needed. I loved Leo now. And I wanted him to know that he was the only one in my heart and on my mind.
I gently leaned over towards him, threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him in front of all those demigods. In any other circumstance, I would have felt highly embarrassed, but this was an exception. I wanted Leo to know he was the only one I loved. At first, he seemed surprised when I just reached over and kissed him like that, but he quickly recovered. He kissed me back, and after about a minute, we separated from our embrace, each of us sporting huge, idiotic smiles on our faces. Someone below us in the crowd whistled and the continued whispers grew louder and circulated faster than ever. My face was flushed a little, but I still stood there on Festus, head high and chin up.
Leo looked a little dumbstruck, like he didn't know what had just happened. "You chose me," he said. The way he spoke sounded like he was in some kind of a daze.
"Of course I did!" I said.
"But why?" He asked me.
It took a while for me to contemplate that. What had I chosen him over Percy? It wasn't because he was more heroic or brave. Both of them seemed to be at the same level in the courage department. It wasn't that Leo was more handsome than Percy. In fact, he kind of looked like an elf. And it wasn't that he was funnier than Percy because they seemed to crack the same kind of jokes and use the same type of stupid humor. I racked my brain. I didn't know what it was exactly. I suppose it was partly the way Leo got on my nerves, but there was something else...
I suddenly realized it with flash. It was because Leo came back for me on Ogygia. All of the other heroes that had ever shown up on my island had only stayed for a limited amount of time, and then they disappeared from my life , Drake, Percy. They all left me for their real girlfriends, and they broke my heart each time. The only one that had ever come back for me was Leo. He had broken the curse, and had rescued me from that island. He had kept his promise to come back for me, and even swore it on the River Styx.
I turned to him and smiled. "Because you kept your word," I said. "You came back for me like none of the others did. You truly cared for me."
Leo seemed a little uncomfortable, and shifted his feet. "Well, that's me, Sunshine," he said, spreading his arms wide. I laughed at his pathetic attempt at a joke, then leaned over and kissed him again. It was a shorter kiss, and I was sad when Leo broke it off.
"Well, ready to meet the others?" He asked. I nodded, and he slowly steered Festus down to the ground.
Annabeth's POV
I watched as Leo and Calypso kissed with a little smile on my face. They were such a cute couple together and I was glad Leo had gone back to Ogygia to get her before he came back here. I was also glad for another thing, but that was my business. I had seen the way that Calypso had looked at Percy and gone pale. I had also heard the whole conversation between Calypso and Leo, and was just glad that she had chosen Leo. From Percy's stories about the time he was stuck on Ogygia, Calypso had seemed like a nice person, but if she started flirting with Percy... well, let's just say it's not a pleasant thing to have a daughter of Athena as an enemy.
Leo and Calypso sat down on Festus, and Leo slowly and carefully guided Festus down towards the ground. They landed with a huge thump, and as soon as they were on the grass of the hill, they were swarmed with demigods. Percy and I pushed our way up from the back of the crowd to the front. I grabbed Leo and and gave him a hug while Percy slapped him on the back. Calypso stood a little off to the side, and watched our reunion with a slight smile on her face, although she looked uncomfortable. She kept sneaking glances at Percy, and furrowing her forehead. She looked nervous.
I finally let Leo out of of the bone-crushing hug I was giving him and punched him hard in the arm. "Ow?" He exclaimed. "What was that for?"
"Do you think I'm an idiot?" I hissed at him. "Rescuing Calypso from Ogygia doesn't take three whole months! Where on Gaea have you been this whole time?"
Leo rubbed his shoulder. "Yeah, well, after I took the physician's cure, I arrived at Calypso's island. I think it took Festus about a week to actually find it though, right buddy?" Leo looked at Festus for an answer and got a chorus of squeaks, creaks, and groans back. Leo was the only one that could actually understand Festus and it drove me crazy. I had been trying to learn the bronze dragon's mechanical language on the Argo II, but it was hard to pick up, even for me. And of course, I couldn't practice it since then because Festus had been with Leo, out crusading gods know where.
Leo nodded his head at every sound Festus made. When he was done with their dialogue, Leo turned to us. "Right. So, it took about a week to get to Ogygia and just before we arrived there, Festus gave me the physician's cure and resurrected me. Then, after we picked up Calypso"-Leo sent Calypso a huge grin, and she smiled shyly back.-"We returned to civilization. I showed Calypso around the modern world and explained what things like iPods, computers, the Internet, tablets, technology, and Google were. It took a while since she has been trapped on that island for about a millennia. I'm surprised that she even caught on this fast. Hazel's been alive for more than a year and even she doesn't get all the concepts of the modern world yet."
Calypso smiled. "I adapt to things very easily, though I must admit, there are still some things about this world that I do not yet understand. Leo has shown me so many incredible things, and some of them are so extreme, that I can't quite quite believe them. He's taken me to so many places." Her dark eyes shone, reminiscing all the wonderful places she has been.
"Where exactly have you gone?" I asked, curious.
"Well," Calypso thought about it for a minute. "I don't remember all of the places we've been, but I do have some favorites. I loved the Eiffel Tower, because it was so romantic at night and the Great Pyramid of Giza because it showed how hard the ancient people worked to build it. I also loved the Taj Mahal and the Colosseum. The replica of the Parthenon in Tennessee was also quite nice, however, it was nothing compared to the real thing in Athens; even if it was in ruins when we visited it. Leo also showed me around San Francisco, Phoenix, Boston, Rome, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Athens, Shanghai, Madrid, Paris, Cairo, and New York. We got lost several times. They were all so spectacular, I almost fainted when I saw them. The world has progressed quite a lot since I had last been here."
At every single word Calypso uttered, my mouth dropped open more and more until I almost thought it would touch the ground. Finally, when she was finished with her speech, I asked in downright disbelief. "You saw all of those things and went to all of those famous places? Really?"
Calypso laughed at my expression. "Yes," she said, smiling as little.
"Wow," Percy said in amazement. I tried to speak, but I couldn't say anything. I was in complete shock. I've always wanted to go to all those places, especially to Athens to see the Parthenon because it was the place where my mother's statue, the Athena Parthenos, used to stand before the Romans carried it off. It had always been my dream to travel to Greece, and I must admit, I was kind of jealous that Calypso and Leo had gotten to see it.
I found my voice and asked Calypso, "What was the most interesting monument you've seen so far?"
"Well." She thought about it for a while. "I'm not really sure. I've been to all kinds of places and seen all kinds of things in the last three months, most of the cities just seem to blend together in my memory. I really liked the Parthenon, of course, and the Colosseum. The pyramids were also quite fascinating and the Great Wall of China amazed me. However, I also admired the Hoover Dam very much."
"Wait," Percy said, making the timeout gesture with his hands. "You went to Hoover Dam? When did you you do that?"
"Dude, we were just there about a week ago. Why?" Leo asked.
"Did you find the dam snack bar?" He asked, smiling. Everyone else around him looked baffled and confused, including me. I had no idea what he was talking about, and this wasn't the first time he had mentioned something like this. If memory served me correctly, which it I, he had also said something similar in New Rome right before Leo had blown up half the city while possessed by an eidolon.
"Percy, what on Gaea are you talking about?" I asked, completely bewildered.
"What?" He looked around at everyone standing next to him. Everybody looked lost, and his face took on an understanding expression as he came to the realization that nobody had any clue what he was talking about. "Oh. You guys wouldn't get it."
I ground my teeth together. I hated not knowing something. "Fine," I growled. I turned to Leo and Calypso. "We should bring you guys to to the Big House. We were just going to go play a game of capture-the-flag before you guys made your dramatic entrance, but I supposed we will have to postpone it for a little while."
"Wait," Leo said, starting to look excited. "Can Calypso and I play? Please?"
"Yeah!" Percy exclaimed. "You can be on my team, Leo! Your cabin is!" They high fived, both grinning from ear to ear.
"Fine," I said, a little begrudgingly. "If that's the case, then Calypso will be on my team."
"Is she even allowed to play?" Someone from the crowd asked, stirring up a few mumbles, and puzzled looks.
"I'll have to ask Chiron about that," I said, addressing the crowd. "In the mean time, why don't you head down to the woods?"
There were a few complaints, but of course, nobody argued with me. All of the campers headed down to the forest. I turned to Calypso and Leo.
"Let's go find Chiron," I said, and we headed towards the Big House.
