I really missed Silena. This was probably the longest we'd been apart since I'd met her – I wasn't sure how long it had been, exactly, but it felt like ages. I also missed my brothers, sisters and friends, but mostly I really missed my girlfriend, and it killed me a little that she thought I was dead. Was she crying? Had she cried? Had she moved on to someone better? Obviously I wanted her to be happy, but the thought of her with someone else…

I heard footsteps, and saw Calypso walking over to me with a tray of food. I felt mildly guilty that she kept bringing me food in bed, but not guilty enough not to eat it. Who can you turn down a succulent steak, the creamiest, most buttery mashed potatoes ever, with a delicious slice of cheesecake – and I don't even like cheesecake – for dessert?

While I was wolfing down my meal, Calypso took a seat next to my bed and watched me. It was kind of unnerving, having someone – and not just anyone, a really pretty girl who looked about your age only you're not sure – watch you while you're eating. Did she expect me to make conversation? Surely not, or else she wouldn't have given me all this delicious food that you can't possibly wait to eat.

So I ate.

Once I swallowed the last bite of cheesecake, I steeled myself and asked,

"So, uh, do you, erm, get a lot of visitors here?"

"No," she said sadly, "Not many."

"Oh… am I the first?"

Calypso laughed lightly. "No, no. You're not quite the first." I felt disappointed somehow. The fact that there'd been others made me… well, less special. "I had a young man by the name of Percy a while ago," she continued. My ears did a double take.

"Wait… Percy Jackson?" No way, I thought.

So that's where our dear son of Poseidon was that whole time. He didn't lie; he had been on an island… just not exactly your average desert island in the middle of the Pacific.

"You know him?"

"He's… a friend of mine." I wasn't quite sure what to call Percy. He wasn't quite my best friend, but we'd been in a handful of near-death situations together, so I couldn't just stick him in there next to Clarisse. All of this social stuff is way too complicated; it would be so much easier if it were obvious what people were, like a setting, or a nametag, like, "Hello, my name is Percy. I am your good friend."

"I was going to say, you two would have gotten along." I smiled weekly as an invisible servant lifted my tray into the air, over Calyso's head.

We sat in silence for a while before she asked,

"How is Percy?"

"He was fine, last I saw him. Swimming to shore." Calypso nodded absently and stared into space. It was clear Percy had meant a lot to her. Shaking herself, she turned back to me and smiled sheepishly. Not everyone could pull off that smile, but Calypso isn't everyone.

I was just wondering why she was sheepish when it hit me: Calypso had loved Percy, and maybe still did. It was really sad for her, obviously, but I couldn't help but laugh. The idea of a beautiful goddess like the one right across from me falling in love with a demigod – no matter how powerful – was preposterous.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"No, it's just…" I said in an extreme effort to compose myself, "Percy!" This pitiful sentence resulted in more unintentional laughter on my part. Calypso raised an eyebrow, then started cracking up herself.

It really wasn't funny. But I hadn't laughed in ages, and for a second there when I hit my stopwatch I thought I never would again.

So we laughed.