Percy
We both plunged into the deep purple river. As I fell towards it, I saw images and clips of people doing bad things; stealing, violence, jeering, bullying, lying, divorces, and I couldn't help but think of Annabeth.
Time stopped. Like literally stopped. A hooded figure stood before me, which didn't give me any more faith than it did when I was alive. Thanatos. He took off his hood, and spoke in that raspy voice. He looked me in my eyes as if I was a pet that he was releasing into the wild for the first time.
"Percy…you are on your own. This is your last chance to back out. Once you bathe in one of these rivers, you must bathe in the other three. You've already bathed in the Styx, so you'll be fine. You have no friends to lead into battle this time. The rivers will exploit your mental and physical weaknesses. For now, you will be given a flesh and blood body. This is the case because the masters of these rivers want the pain to be as severe as possible. Back out, Percy Jackson. Quit. And live to fight another day. If you lose the mental battle in all 3, your essence will burn out. This…will hurt."
Great. That's encouraging. "This is the only way to beat him?"
Thanatos hesitated. "Yes, half-blood."
"Then I'm sure. If Death says that it's going to hurt, it's probably going to hurt. But even in death, I'm still a hero. Who doesn't back down to any challenge."
Thanatos bowed his head as if he expected the answer. He raised his hand in a farewell gesture, which didn't strike confidence into me once more.
We fell into it, and instantly, we let go of each other because our will was broken. I want you to think. Think of the coldest place you've ever been in. Now take that and multiply that by 100. You have a fraction of how bad that the river felt like. It was cold. It was freezing, must've been like 1000 degrees below zero. My body, even though it was a ghostly form, was frozen and it took a great deal of effort to even raise my arm. I had a hunch that if I had done this in my mortal body, I would've died instantly. I couldn't think. I couldn't see where Perseus was. I was frozen. I could actually see Annabeth's form run over to the edge of the river.
Then, I heard her voice in my head. Seaweed Brain! I don't know if you can hear me or not! I had Grover establish an empathy link with you when Poseidon told us that Perseus was the wrong one. So hopefully you can listen! It's probably not feeling good right now-
I almost had the energy to laugh in my head. My response was like, You….don't….AAAAGHHHHH SO COLD SO COLD SO COLD SO COLD.
Annabeth continued, but I could sense the concern in her voice. Look, Perseus is going through the same thing. Now, do you know how each river has a lingering effect if you actually make it out? Just as the Styx makes you invulnerable, the Phelgethon or whatever makes you stronger. The Kokytos, the river of Wailing and lamentation, increases your power if you make it out by yourself. If you don't, it will freeze you, and will sweep you up. You're going to flow through all four of the rivers in one big circle.
Her voice faded along with my consciousness. Now, along with the cold, I opened my eyes and saw several clips of my life playing out in front of me at the same time. It wasn't unlike the prison that I climbed out of. I saw one of them was on the bus when I was 11 years old. I saw the familiar faces of my 6th grade class; Grover and Nancy Bobofit especially out of all them. I saw my back to the little camera. It showed Nancy Bobofit looking at me in a….shy way? Oh gods…she liked me. It showed Nancy flicking Grover's hair, and when I turned to look at her to yell at her, she turned red. She had a crush on me….and I pretty much was mean to her.
I felt a punch in my jaw. Perseus. For some reason, he isn't affected…oh…because he doesn't have a conscience! He doesn't regret any bad thing, so he's just focused on overcoming the cold by attacking me. I tried to hit him, but another vision blocked my way; it showed me and Tyson. It showed a time when Tyson and I were at Camp for the first time and everyone was staring at him and making faces. I didn't do anything…in fact it showed me covering my face in shame and running to the cabin. Tyson. My half-brother that I'm now proud of.
Percy! If you don't fight Perseus, he'll kill you! Get over your regrets and come on! Fight back!
Sure enough, I could feel hands around my neck. Perseus was winning. I struggled to kick him away, but my body wouldn't respond to my mental commands. I was frozen. It was a mental battle to resist having the visions take hold again. Perseus kicked me in the stomach; slow, but still just as forceful. I doubled over, and I could feel Perseus pushing off me and swimming towards the water.
PERCY! DON'T LET THE VISIONS TAKE HOLD AGAIN!
But it was too late. Another vision came, and it showed Calypso and I on the island. I was back on the island of Ogygia. The way Calypso looked at me…there was love evident in her face. The closest thing to a regret that I had. Calypso.
I brought my eyes back to earth. However amazing the stars were, Calypso was twice as brilliant. I mean, I've seen the goddess of love herself, Aphrodite, and I would never say this out loud or she'd blast me to ashes, but for my money, Calypso was a lot more beautiful, because she just seemed so natural, like she wasn't trying to be beautiful and didn't even care about that. She just was. With her braided hair and white dress, she seemed to glow in the moonlight. She was holding a tiny plant in her hands. Its flowers were silver and delicate.
"I was just looking at…" I found myself staring at her face. "Uh…I forgot."
I got punched in the stomach, and threw farther into the river. It was unfair that he didn't feel any regrets. True, Calypso would always be my biggest what-if, and what Perseus did with Calypso, I feel guilt…regrets about it.
She would look at me and we'd share a smile, but almost immediately she'd get that sad expression again and turn away. I didn't understand what was bothering her.One night we were eating dinner together at the beach. Invisible servants had set up a table with beef stew and apple cider, which may not sound all that exciting, but that's because you haven't tasted it. I hadn't even noticed the invisible servants when I first got to the island, but after a while I became aware of the beds making themselves, meals cooking on their own, clothes being washed and folded by unseen hands.Anyway, Calypso and I were sitting at dinner, and she looked beautiful in the candlelight. I was telling her about New York and Camp Half-Blood, and then I started telling her about the time Grover had eaten an apple while we were playing Hacky Sack with it. She laughed, showing off her amazing smile, and our eyes met. Then she dropped her gaze."There it is again," I said."What?""You keep pulling away, like you're trying not to enjoy yourself."She kept her eyes on her glass of cider. "As I told you, Percy, I have been punished. Cursed, you might say.""How? Tell me. I want to help.""Don't say that. Please don't say that.""Tell me what the punishment is."She covered her half-finished stew with a napkin, and immediately an invisible servant whisked the bowl away. "Percy, this island, Ogygia, is my home, my birthplace. But it is also my prison. I am under…house arrest, I guess you would call it. I will never visit this Manhattan of yours. Or anywhere else. I am alone here.""Because your father was Atlas."She nodded. "The gods do not trust their enemies. And rightly so. I should not complain. Some of the prisons are not nearly as nice as mine.""But that's not fair," I said. "Just because you're related doesn't mean you support him. This other daughter I knew, Zoë, Nightshade—she fought against him. She wasn't imprisoned.""But, Percy," Calypso said gently, "I did support him in the first war. He is my father.""What? But the Titans are evil!""Are they? All of them? All the time?" She pursed her lips. "Tell me, Percy. I have no wish to argue with you. but do you support the gods because they are good, or because they are your family?"I didn't answer. She had a point. Last winter, after Annabeth and I had saved Olympus, the gods had had a debate about whether or not they should kill me. That hadn't been exactly good. But still, I felt like I supported them because Poseidon was my dad."Perhaps I was wrong in the war," Calypso said. "And in fairness, the gods have treated me well. They visit me from time to time. They bring me word of the outside world. But they can leave. And I cannot.""You don't have any friends?" I asked. "I mean…wouldn't anyone else live here with you? it's a nice place."A tear trickled down her cheek. "I…I promised myself I wouldn't speak of this. But—"She was interrupted by a rumbling sound somewhere out on the lake. A glow appeared on the horizon. It got brighter and brighter, until I could see a column of fire moving across the surface of the water, coming toward us.I stood and reached for my sword. "What is that?"Calypso sighed. "A visitor."
I couldn't move. I was frozen. My thinking went out the window. It was just as if someone had put me into a vegetative state and sat me in a movie theater and forced me to watch a movie of my own life. I tried to make a noise, but I couldn't.
I walked along the beach for several hours. When I finally came back to the meadow, it was very late, maybe four or five in the morning, but Calypso was still in her garden, tending the flowers by starlight. Her moonlace glowed silver, and the other plants responded to the magic, glowing red and yellow and blue."He has ordered you to return," Calypso guessed."Well, not ordered. He gave me a choice."Her eyes met mine. "I promised I would not offer.""Offer what?""For you to stay.""Stay," I said. "Like…forever?""You would be immortal on this island," she said quietly. "You would never age or die. You could leave the fight to others, Percy Jackson. You could escape your prophecy."I stared at her, stunned. "Just like that?"She nodded. "Just like that.""But…my friends."
And there I was again. Not thinking about her, thinking about my feelings and how I would feel. I didn't give a thought about the fact that she was in love with me and the only way it took me to show her some affection was when my evil clone had to be made and slept with her to spite Annabeth. I tried to move my arms, but I couldn't. I didn't know if souls could contract hypothermia, but I felt like I was dying from the cold.
Seaweed Brain! If you don't get out soon, you'll be a nice fish popsicle! Go! NOW! PERSEUS is trying to escape, and you'll be trapped down there!
I thought, Annabeth-
Calypso rose and took my hand. Her touch sent a warm current through my body. "You asked about my curse, Percy. I did not want to tell you. The truth is the gods send me companionship from time to time. Every thousand years or so, they allow a hero to wash up on my shores, someone who needs my help. I tend to him and befriend him, but it is never random. The Fates make sure that the sort of hero they send…" Her voice trembled, and she had to stop. I squeezed her hand tighter. "What? What have I done to make you sad?" "They send a person who can never stay," she whispered. "Who can never accept my offer of companionship for more than a little while. They send me a hero I can't help…just the sort of person I can't help falling in love with." The night was quiet except for the gurgle of the fountains and waves lapping on the shore. It took me a long time to realize what she was saying. "Me?" I asked. "If you could see your face." She suppressed a smile, though her eyes were still teary. "Of course, you." "That's why you've been pulling away all this time?" "I tried very hard. But I can't help it. The Fates are cruel. They sent you to me, my brave one, knowing that you would break my heart."
I broke her heart. That was me. Percy Jackson. Proven to be no different than all the other famous cocky heroes who seemed to wash up on her island, take her hospitality for granted, and leave her heartbroken.
PERCY! IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP, I'M JUMPING IN AFTER YOU!
I tried to breathe. Spots were dancing in my vision. I used all my willpower, Don't…Annabeth….don't….
I screamed mentally. I saw Perseus swimming up; slowly, but making progress. I sank to the bottom of the sea, destined to stay there in a frozen state of suspended animation. It was so cold, it hurt.
"But…I'm just…I mean, I'm just me." "That is enough," Calypso promised. "I told myself I would not even speak of this. I would let you go without even offering. But I can't. I suppose the Fates knew that, too. You could stay with me, Percy. I'm afraid that is the only way you could help me." I stared at the horizon. The first red streaks of dawn were lightening the sky. I could stay here forever, disappear from the earth. I could live with Calypso, with invisible servants tending to my every need. We could grow flowers in the garden and talk to songbirds and walk on the beach under perfect blue skies. No war. No prophecy. No more taking sides. "I can't," I told her. She looked down sadly. "I would never do anything to hurt you," I said, "but my friends need me. I know how to help them now. I have to get back." She picked a flower from her garden—a sprig of silver moonlace. Its glow faded as the sunrise came up. Daybreak is a good time for decisions, Hephaestus had said. Calypso tucked the flower into my T-shirt pocket. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the forehead, like a blessing. "Then come to the beach, my hero. And we will send you on your way." The raft was a ten-foot square of logs lashed together with a pole for a mast and a simple white linen sail. It didn't look like it would be very seaworthy, or lakeworthy. "This will take you wherever you desire," Calypso promised. "It is quite safe." I took her hand, but she let it slip out of mine. "Maybe I can visit you," I said. She shook her head. "No man ever finds Ogygia twice, Percy. When you leave, I will never see you again."
There were regrets on both sides. She asked me if I could stay on her island and keep her company; she only has visitors once every couple centuries. That must've been heartbreaking to see another hero leave her. I…was a heartbreaker. The fact that I didn't think about Annabeth not one time during that, and the fact that I left Calypso anyway, is my biggest regret.
I heard a splash, even though my senses were shutting down. I saw…no….ANNABETH jump in and kick Perseus down. I could see her body go rigid as the cold and the shock hit her. Her voice and thoughts left my mind. She was probably thinking about Luke...he always was better than me….
The Sea, my son. The Sea. Use the Sea.
Stop. I am Percy Jackson. I have freed Calypso from her punishment and Annabeth Chase is my girlfriend. I felt an intense tugging sensation in my gut. The power of the sea. I built up all my energy and yelled at the top of my lungs.
I could move again. I swam, and ignored the cold, freezing, deathly temperatures and the video clips playing around me. I swam faster and faster; I missed a physical body. I felt strong and quick. I swam up, caught Annabeth, kicked Perseus away, and threw Annabeth with all my might out the river and onto the deathly shore.
I caught hold of Perseus, and maintained a death grip on him as a strong wind passed through and blew us through the Kokytos, and into the next river. He struggled against me, but I held on. Perseus apparently had an advantage over me in this one, but I had a feeling that the advantage won't apply in these next rivers. If this one was so hard that I almost froze to death and it took Annabeth and my father to jump in and inspire me, I'm going to have fun with these next rivers.
I get it. There's a reason why that river is also called the River of Wailing. Because the best way to beat the river is to scream or yell out loud and focus on that rather than your regrets. I'm lucky I was a generally good guy in life, or else I might've lost the battle.
