Happy Holidays! Probably won't post again before New Year, so here is to a better 2017! Please review
Old News
The reunion was heartfelt. There was so much that had happened to them since they last saw each other.
Hazel was married.
Calypso was healthy.
Piper had lost a child.
They had no shortage of things to talk about, bot to mention the war and Annabeth's disappearance. After many tears and a few hours of talking, the girls finally pulled themselves together.
"We have to bring her home. She needs us now more than ever," Piper told her friends. Of the trio, she was the only to know that Annabeth was possibly pregnant. The others knew it was of the upmost importance to bring her back to Atlantis, but they only know what was on the surface. If they knew, hell, if Percy knew, an army would descend on Francisco to get the Princess back.
"You're right. She just lost her mother," Hazel replied, Calypso nodding along. Piper couldn't tell them it was so much more than grief.
"I have an idea on how to get in," Calypso started. "Since Terminus can no longer help us, I'm thinking we can get in by plain sight."
Piper and Hazel exchanged a look.
"What do you mean?"
"I have some gypsy friends who helped me get to the wall easily. If we could join a group like that, we could walk right in. I'm sure Hylla could help us again."
"It could work," Hazel wondered aloud. "The kingdom is in chaos anyway, so that alone is a distraction as well."
An hour later, Calypso returned to the house with Hylla. The gypsy had agreed to help them, getting them as far as the wall with the rest of the Amazons as well as lending them some clothes to blend in. The group announced that they would leave at dawn.
All three girls had trouble sleeping that night. Calypso always had nightmares, but she was especially worried about returning to the kingdom. She hadn't really had time to think about it earlier, but she hadn't walked the streets since that night that they escaped the prison. Faces flashed in front of her as she closed her eyes. So many people, so many ghosts from her past that haunted her. She could still feel the cold of the cells, the hard ground under her back, the feeling of dirt all over her skin, and the darkness that her eyes had adjusted to. She could still feel how weak she had been, the hunger she felt every day she sat in there. Her desperation scared her more than anything else in that prison. She was desperate for food, a blanket, some sort of information about the outside world. She would do anything for just happiness that only last a moment. Anything. The guards were willing to cooperate with her, making her grovel at their feet for just crumbs. Sometimes they were harsh. A couple in particular asked for the unspeakable and her desperation gave in to it. Her cellmates did the same, gaining their pleasure through her pain.
Calypso tried to push out these memories as she lay in the dark. Her breathing became raspy and she could no longer stand it. She through open a window and looked out into the night sky. Thankfully, it was a clear sky that night. The stars dotting the space helped her breathe easier. The moonlight on the buildings in the village reassured her that she was not in that forsaken place any longer. She was safe, as long as everything went well the next day.
Piper had nightmares since she lost her son. There was no way around it. She would dream of saving her child, hearing his screams, or even of how he used to play with Jason. She didn't know if she could face the man that ordered the attack against Atlantis.
Hazel even had terrible sleep that night. Her dreams were about her mother. She hadn't dreamed of her in so long. She hoped to the gods that it wasn't a bad sign.
The three woke up extremely exhausted, but ready to go.
Hylla led the way as they marched to the kingdom. It was as it was the day before. Troops lined up everywhere. The gates were closed, but the iron bars would open at times to let troops in or out.
"This is were we leave you," Hylla announced to the trip. "Good luck."
Calypso kissed both her cheeks as she bid the gypsy farewell. They were on their own.
"Excuse me, sir. We're here to help with the war effort." Hazel told a troop stationed by the gate. Her voice dripped with the charm of a girl from the southern farms.
"Of course. You can head on in." Hazel giggled as the men opened the gate behind him.
The trio rushed through, each terrified that the men would think they were acting weird. They didn't stop them. Everything was going right until they reached an open square. Citizens rushed back and forth, supplies in their arms as they loaded wagons.
"Oh, miss! Mind watching my little one?" A man placed a baby in Piper's arms. She immediately looked uncomfortable and tried to find the man, who ran off into the crowd. She soon disappeared from her friends.
"Ma'am, I need your help. I'm not sure if their food is rotten." An older woman grabbed Hazel's arm and dragged her into the chaos.
Calypso was left alone in an instant. Everyone seemed to be working. It was no wonder that the troop let them in. They obviously needed the help. She tried to search the crowds for her friends, but was unsuccessful.
"Calypso?" She heard her named before someone dragged her off as well. Only, she knew this voice. And it had haunted her for nearly three years.
"Wait," She tried to say, but her word was lost in the noise. The iron grip on her arm kept her moving along, squeezing past people until she was finally stopped in an alley.
"Calypso. I thought I'd never see you again.' She was enveloped in a hug.
The man that hugged her smiled happily down at her. She wished she could do the same. A year ago, she would have.
"I thought you were dead."
"I thought you were in prison," He countered.
"I escaped. What about you?"
"The real killer confessed."
The man was tall, his hair dark and wavy just past his ears. He looked just as he did three years before.
"Look, Calypso. I have some things to say." The man looked down at his toes. "I still love you." He reached for her arms, but Calypso pulled away, memories from her time in prison returning to her again for the millionth time.
"You were my first love," She replied. And it was true. He was the first man thrown into her cell. He was the first to give her food, to show her kindness. The first kindness she ever had for her father had never shown any real love towards her. This man was the first to give it to her.
"I missed you so much. I always planned to get you out somehow, but with the war and the music ban, things got complicated."
She felt like she couldn't breathe. For two years, Calypso had imagined a scenario like that. She imagined this man breaking into the prison to rescue her from the demons that lived there. From the countless men who became her nightmares. What terrified her was the fact that he too had been a nightmare. He was the first man that touched her. He kept her warm and in his arms. He kept her fed and out of sight of the terrible guards. He left a whole in her heart when he left. He was meant to die for murdering his wife and children. Well, he was accused of killing his family. Instead, it turned out that he had murdered the man who had actually done it. Regardless, he had blood on his hands. Calypso knew, but she was desperate for love. When he left, the memory of his touch burned her skin. His words turned sour and his features in the darkness of the cell became twisted. The next man to touch her was rough. He meant to hurt her when he forced himself on her. It was at that moment that the first man became her savior. Her nightmares flipped and she saw that man saving her from the pain. And yet, he was the one that scarred her the most.
"I know the names of every single man that came into my cell." Her words were quiet, but she knew he was hanging onto her every word, just as he did in that damned cell. "Yours was the only one I never knew."
"Well, let me introduce myself. I'm-"
"No." Calypso interrupted him. "I don't want to know."
He looked confused. "But I thought I was your love."
She laughed a little at that. "I don't think I can call it that. You were just kind and generous compared to the others. I know what love is now and it definitely wasn't that." She met his eye. "Plus, I've moved on. I'm different from that weak girl preyed on in that prison. I have people whom I love and they love me as well. I have a purpose in life."
"Please, Calypso. Know that you never left my mind in three years," The man pleaded. His plea confirmed it all. If he truly loved her, he would have let her go in pursuit of what was best for her.
"And neither did you, but it is well past my time to look ahead instead of back. It's better that I didn't know your name because you're not the hero I thought you were." Calypso gave him one last kiss before turning and disappearing into the crowd. She had to find her friends before it got dark.