ALL THE TIMES SHE HAD IMAGINED LEAVING OGYGIA, a flying bronze dragon had not been Calypso's choice of transportation.
But now, as Festus gained altitude, Calypso thought that she wouldn't want anything besides this marvel of a creature built by the hands of Leo Valdez. Knowing Leo, she'd been certain that his way of coming back – if he was coming back, she had reminded herself – would be unique. But this – this was beyond her imagination.
Calypso tightened her grasp around Leo as Festus's speed accelerated.
"Last chance to see your island, Sunshine," Leo said as he fiddled with the GPS. "It's fading fast."
"I know," Calypso said.
She didn't look back.
As they broke through the first layer of clouds, Calypso felt like a tether was breaking. The curse that had tied her to Ogygia for so long had finally ended.
She was free.
The wind blew Leo's curly black hair into Calypso's face. It smelled like smoke. Right now, it was the best scent in the whole world. She leaned forward and put her chin on his shoulder. His warmth made it feel like sparks of fire were shooting through her body.
"So," she said, trying not to let her voice shake from the emotions swirling inside her. "How is it that you were dead, and now you're not?"
Leo laughed. "Long story," he said.
"I'm listening."
And she did. Calypso listened as Leo told her about the battle at the House of Hades, about searching for the cure for death, about all of his plans. She listened as Leo explained about the fight with the giants and how the gods burst from the sky, how Zeus blasted the Argo II to Camp Half-Blood and how Leo, Jason and Piper defeated Gaea.
And then, of course, how Leo had died and come back to life.
All the while, white puffy clouds floated beneath them. Festus creaked and groaned, but he kept pressing on. Once in a while Leo would lean down and tinker with the compass or the GPS, without missing a beat in his story.
When Leo had finished, Calypso sighed. "That is amazing," she said. "You are amazing."
"That's me," Leo replied. He turned and winked.
Calypso laughed. "All these adventures, Leo – this life of yours, it's so exciting. I don't know if I'll be able to fit in. Things have changed so much since..."
"You'll do fine," Leo reassured her. "My friends – they'll like you."
"Do they know?" Calypso asked.
"Yeah," Leo replied. "They know about you. But they don't know that I'm not dead. I hope fifty years haven't passed and I'll return to find Jason all white-haired or a bunch of Zhang grandkids running all over the place."
Calypso knit her brow. She didn't know much about the time difference between Ogygia and the mortal world. Time had blurred together on her island – a conglomeration of days that turned into one long forever, marked only by the heroes that came and went, never to return.
Except Leo.
Calypso rested her head in the curve of his neck. "Leo," she said, savoring his name. "My impossible hero. We can only hope for the best."
"How many freakin' clouds can there be in the world?" Leo asked an hour or so later. Nothing much had changed about their surroundings. Festus was creaking more often, and Leo relayed messages to Calypso that the dragon was getting worn out.
"We'll need to come in for a landing soon," Leo said.
"Where?" Calypso asked.
"I set the coordinates for Camp Half-Blood, but it doesn't look like we're that close yet. The GPS is still kinda wacky from Ogygia."
Calypso leaned forward and looked at the small, complex machines in the control panel by Festus's neck. "You'll have to show me how that works," she said. "That, and all the other things you've made."
"Oh, I will," Leo said. He snapped the control panel shut. "But right now, we're heading down. Hang on tight, Sunshine."
Calypso hung on, and Festus headed down towards the clouds. Calypso squeezed her eyes tight shut. For the longest moment, all that existed in the world was her heartbeat and Leo's, her breathing and his. The warmth of their bodies pressed together, the smooth bronze of Festus's back, and the wind, the intense wind blowing their hair and clothes up, up, as they fell, down, down through the clouds.
And then, Calypso opened her eyes.
