Anti: Hello readers! I've been writing fanfiction for a while and have decided to post it for your, hopeful, entertainment. Firstly I want to explain at what time this takes place in the Percy Jackson universe. The quick answer is none/all. My story will have nothing to do with Percy or the other main character of the original series, though they might make brief appearances. So don't bother trying to place where it takes place, it's all over the place. With that said, I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks of my story so please leave your reviews, thanks in advance!
Dreams of a Goddess
It was the first day of summer and the other campers had finally gotten here. On a special monster-repelling bus driven by Argus, the camp's hundred eyed head of security, most of the part-time campers had arrived. I watch from the entrance of my cabin as they spill off the bus, greeted by our activities director, and resident centaur, Chiron. Nymphs melt out of their trees and satyrs skip out of the forest to welcome the returning campers, reed panpipe music following in their wake. I wipe the sweat out of my eyes and continue cleaning, inspection was tonight and Silena, the head of my cabin, was very picky about cleanliness. I was outside making sure the walls of our cabin are spotless. I was so focused on my task that I didn't notice someone sneaking up on me.
"Boo!" A voice yells as someone jumps onto my back. From the flowery scent in the air and the softness pressed against my back, I can easily tell who it was.
"Nice try Heather." I tell my friend as she hugs my back. Heather is a tree nymph, or dryad, and my oldest friend; I've known her ever since I first came to camp. Dressed like all the other dryads, in a green chiton and laced up sandals, her heather colored hair is blowing in the soft summer breeze. Like all nymphs, she has elfish features and is very attractive.
"Aww and I even used magic to keep quiet." She whines, snuggling into my back. "I know I say this a lot, but your nothing like those cabin mates of yours, they're all soft and smooth. Your back and arms are super muscley." She says with a giggle, rubbing my arms. With a quick twist I grab her arms and set her down in front of me.
"How many times have I told you not to do that? I've known you since I was a kid, you're like my sister and it's weird." I tell her. Heather jumps up and sits on the railing of the porch and watches me, her feet swinging back and forth.
"I know, but you're not a little kid anymore." She says, eyeing the wet shirt clinging to my body. I just sigh and go back to my work, ignoring her prickling stare.
I guess I should explain a little. You see, I'm a son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. I have black hair that just covers my ears and black eyes. Usually Aphrodite's kids are focused on their looks and don't like to work at all, too busy checking themselves, or others, out. I'm not like that and I thank the gods for it. I guess I still look kind of like my siblings, I have been told that many times, mostly by dryads and naiads in the camp, and I've never had a pimple in my life, despite being sixteen. Unlike my brothers and sisters, I'm not obsessed with my looks, I would much rather be in the practice arena with a spear than in front of a mirror. Because of that, compared to the others, I'm in much better shape. I'm defiantly not a typical child of Aphrodite. I like to think I take heavily after my mortal father. I don't know much about him, he died when I was five and I've lived at Camp Half-Blood ever since. He was a soldier in the mortal army, which is where I think I get most of my traits from.
"So is there any particular reason you're here?" I ask Heather when my work is done.
"No, not really, I just heard you were working and decided to watch." She says with a giggle.
"Well, I'm done now and it's almost time for dinner. I'm going to go get Zeke, you coming?" I ask her. She nods eagerly and we make our way to the Hephaestus cabin. When we step through the front door the heat immediately hits us. It's almost unbearably hot.
"I think I'm going to wait out here so I don't dry up." Heather says and she lies down in the grass, plucking a blade and putting it between her lips. "Wake me when you leave." So, alone, I make my way through the clutter that is the Hephaestus cabin. Everywhere there are heaps of metal, some piles of scraps, others half finished projects. There are even pieces of scrap metal on the bunks. I follow the sounds of metal ringing on metal and soon find my friend, Zeke. In the light of his forge, his wild red hair looks like it's made of fire. His muscles ripple with every down swing of his celestial bronze hammer, in the flashes of his strikes I see a small bronze form flitting around his head. I have no idea what he is making; right now it's just a mass of heated metal. I clear my throat to let him know I'm here and wait. As I'm waiting, the small shape settles onto my shoulder.
"Hey there, Hugo." The small bronze owl makes a whirling, clicking, hooting sound in greeting. Hugo is one of Zeke's invention, modeled after Bubo the owl that accompanied the original Perseus, although much smaller. He usually takes up residence on top of or inside of Zeke's wild mane of hair or his shoulder. Wherever one is, the other is usually very close. With a few more mechanical hoots, we settle in to wait for Zeke. After a few more strikes with his hammer he puts it down and drops the metal into a pool of shimmering blue liquid. He wipes his forehead off with a rag then turns to face me. The guy is huge, a few inches over six feet, and his arms are as big around as my head and one of the older campers at seventeen. No one would mistake him for anything other than a son of Hephaestus. Hugo flits onto Zeke's shoulder.
"Hey Mike, what's up?" He says in a deep voice, scratching the scruff on his chin.
"It's almost time for dinner, I thought I'd come by and pry you away from you work." I tell him trying to see what he dropped in the pool of liquid. He reaches into the blue pool and pulls out a Greek helmet, minus the plume.
"It a magic helmet, go ahead, try it on." He holds it out. Cautiously, the thing was glowing hot a few seconds ago, I take it from him and put it on, it's a perfect fit.
"So, what's so special about it?" I ask him. In answer he picks up a bolt from his work bench and throws it at my head. I'm so surprised I don't have time to duck but the helmet takes care of that. I feel a slight tingle and the bolt changes direction at a right angle and zips away from me, right out the cabin door.
"OWW, what are you two doing in there!" Heather yells from outside. I look at Zeke and we both burst out laughing. When we calm down I take Zeke's helmet off and, after he tosses it onto his bed, we make our way outside.
"Hey Heather, you awake?" I ask her, grinning. She is sitting up rubbing her forehead.
"How can anyone sleep with you two throwing things?" She says loudly.
"I was just testing my new helmet." Zeke says with a smile.
"Well if it's supposed to attack sleeping nymphs, then it works perfectly!" she exclaims.
"We're sorry, Heather. We didn't mean to hurt you." I apologize while Zeke nods.
"Yeah, yeah, as punishment you have to give me a ride." She says and jumps onto my back without waiting for an answer. With that settled we head to the open air dining hall for supper, while I do my best to ignore Heather's wandering hands. She jumps down when we reach the dining hall. Zeke leaves us to sit at his cabin's table, it's an old camp rule, cabins have to eat with their own, and Heather and I sit down at the Aphrodite table. Heather is exempted from the rule because she's a dryad and she sits beside me. The rest of my cabin are flipping their hair and straightening their clothes and I just shake my head. Silena sees me and sits down on my other side.
"I don't know why you won't let me fix your hair, Michael." She says with a sigh, brushing my bangs out of my eyes. "I could make you look so much hotter."
"I like my hair the way it is, thank you." I tell her for the thousandth time.
"Sigh... you're so difficult, oh well. Anyway, how are the walls looking?" She asks twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
"Don't worry, they're perfect." I assure her, cleanliness a trait we both share. Before we can say anything else, Chiron calls for quite. I look toward the camp leader's table and am surprised that I don't see Mr. D.
"Welcome back campers I hope you all had a good year. As you can see our esteemed Mr. D will not be joining us this summer." Chiron has to pause until the cheers died down. "Yes, yes, he has some business to attend to on Mt. Olympus. I would like to inform you that in three days time our monthly capture the flag game will take place." More cheering. "I urge you to use the following days to train as there will be an added difficulty to the game. Those of you taking part must be sure you are ready to fight or you may be seriously injured. I believe that is everything, now, everyone, enjoy your meal." With that said naiads and dryads appeared carrying platters heaped with food. I make a heaping plate of food and, after burning an offering to Aphrodite, dig in. After a few minute I notice Silena watching me.
"What?" I ask her.
"I just don't know how you can eat that much. Aren't you worried about getting fat?"
"Don't worry, he works out enough to burn it all off." Heather says leaning around me.
"Oh yeah, him and that spear of his, he should spend more time out of the sun, his skin is going to get blotchy." She says looking closely at my arm as if she could see the damage.
"I don't think it possible for a child of Aphrodite to have bad skin, Silena." I assure her.
"Well you'll be the first to find out, I'm sure. I'll talk to you later." She gets up and joins the rest of our cabin. Heather and I make small talk while we eat and are soon done. With the arrival of the part time campers, a celebratory bonfire is being held, along with a sing-along. As usual, the Apollo cabin leads and soon the fires are fifteen feet high and bright white. After everyone is sung out we make out way to our cabins. I say goodnight to Heather and Zeke and head to my bed. One good thing I can say about the Aphrodite cabin, it's always spotless. I lay down and as soon as I close my eyes start to dream.
I'm flying across the sea; I can tell it's the ocean because I can taste the salt in the air. I don't feel afraid of suddenly being hurtled across the ocean and eventually settle into my fate. Soon I can make out an island coming into view. It's a medium sized island with a small mountain in the center of it. Around the base of the mountain is a huge garden that stretches right to the beach. The sugar-like sand is dotted with seashells, though you wouldn't see shells like these on a normal beach, some are big enough for me to crawl inside and most are in crazy shapes. I slow down and silently land on the beach. With nothing better to do I make my way toward the garden, smelling the scent of many different flowers in the night air. I reach the edge of the garden and start walking down a stone pathway. Soon I come to a split in the path and stop. Just when I start wondering which way I should take I hear a soft sound, like singing, coming from the left. I take that path.
The farther I go the louder the singing gets. I can tell the words are in Ancient Greek but I can't make out what they are saying, only that it's the most enchanting, and lonely, song I have ever heard. Following the sound the path soon opens into a clearing. I immediately see the owner of the beautiful voice. Sitting on the edge of a fountain in the middle of the clearing, bathed in silvery moonlight, is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. She looks to be around my age, fifteen or sixteen, her almond-shaped eyes are closed and her beautiful face is tilted toward the full moon, causing her skin to shimmer. It's hard to tell what color her hair is because of the bright moonlight but it looks like it is the color of caramel, it would reach the small of her back if it wasn't braided and draped over her shoulder, resting on her chest. She is wearing a white, sleeveless Greek dress with a low circular neckline; the dress looks like liquid silver in the moonlight. I don't want to disturb her but she must have sensed my presents because she stops singing and looks directly at me, her eyes a soft, deep brown.
"Hello young hero, what brings you to my lonely island?" The girl asks softly.
"I don't know, I fell asleep and found myself drawn here. I followed your beautiful singing until I found you." I answer.
"What is your name, young hero?" She asks.
"Michael, my lady." For some reason I feel like I must be formal. She smiles when I call her "my lady".
"There is no need to be formal, my name is Calypso." She tells me.
"Can I ask, why are you here all alone Calypso?" I ask her, her name almost taste sweet as I say it and I shiver a little.
"I guess you could say I live here, though it more like I can't leave." She says sadly and I immediately feel the urge to help her. She stops me before I can say anything, "Don't worry about me, would you like to walk the garden with me?"
"I would like nothing more." I tell her. She stands gracefully and steps onto the path, her bare feet hardly touching the ground as she makes her way toward me. She takes my hand, her skin soft and silky, and leads me around the clearing. We stop at a glowing silver plant.
"This is one of my favorites, it is called Moonlace." She tells me.
"It's beautiful, almost as beautiful as you." She looks away quickly but I saw a slight blush. We continue around the clearing as she describes each new plant we come across. I try to listen as much as I can but I cannot take my eyes off her. Every move she makes is graceful and her eyes light up as she talks about her plants. After a couple of hours pass I feel a tug in my chest.
"I'm sorry Calypso; I think my time is almost up." I tell her.
"I'm not surprised; no one is ever allowed to stay very long." She says softly, her voice filled with sadness. The tug gets harder and I start to slip away from her.
"I will be back." I tell her as I slide away.
"No, you won't. No one has ever come to my island a second time. Goodbye my young hero. I ask only that you do not forget me." She says softly, her voice breaking slightly.
"Don't say that, I will come back, I promise you!" I exclaim. Before she slips out of sight the last thing is see is a small smile on her lips. Silently, I vow to find this beautiful, lonely girl again, no matter what I have to do.