Atalanta POV:

I woke up feeling like I was still on fire. My skin stung numbly beneath a soft cooling sensation. My throat felt dry, like it was lined with sand.

I blinked uncomprehendingly up at the blue sky and trees above me. The volcanic blast... should've killed me. Was I dead then?

No. I heard a fountain gurgling, and smelled juniper and cedar and a bunch of other sweet-scented plants. I heard waves, too, gently lapping on a rocky shore. Unless I had somehow been transported to Elysium, I didn't think had died. Which... didn't make any sense whatsoever to my braindead self.

"Ugh," I rubbed my head, trying to summon water to heal myself. It was impossible, my muscles felt like they were melting inside me.

"Stay still," a girl's voice said. "You're too weak to rise."

"Stay down, Atti," another voice said, this one familiar. "You're badly hurt."

One of them laid a cool cloth across my forehead. A bronze spoon hovered over me and liquid was dribbled into my mouth. The drink soothed my throat and left a warm chocolaty aftertaste. Nectar of the gods. Then the girl's face appeared above me once my vision cleared a bit.

She had almond eyes and caramel-colored hair braided over one shoulder. She was fifteen... maybe sixteen? It was hard to tell. She looked like how most gods looked: timeless. The girl began singing, and my pain lessened. She was working magic, that much I could figure out. Her music sank into my skin, healing and repairing my burns. Beside her stood Zoe, who stared at me worriedly as I healed. I wanted to say something but couldn't, my brain still unable to function properly.

The singing girl pushed me down gently. "Shhh, don't rush yourself. Rest and heal. No harm will come to you here. I am Calypso."

§§§§§

The next time I woke I was in a cave, but as far as caves go, I'd been in a lot worse (Mostly thinking of Polyphemus' cave... moving on). The ceiling glittered with different-color crystal formations - white and purple and green, like I was inside one of those cut geodes in souvenir shops. I was lying on a comfortable bed with feather pillows and white cotton sheets. The cave was divided into sections by white silk curtains. Against one wall stood a large loom and a harp. Against the other wall were shelves neatly stacked with jars of fruit preserves. Dried herbs hung from the ceiling: rosemary, thyme, among many others I'm sure my mom could've named them all.

There was a fireplace built into the cave wall, and a pot bubbling over the flames. It smelled great, like beef stew.

I sat up with difficulty, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my head. I looked at my arms, expecting to see them baked to a crisp, only to be surprised at how fine they looked. A little pinker than usual, but not bloody charred as I had imagined. I was wearing a white cotton T-shirt and cotton drawstring pants that weren't mine. My feet were bare. I also felt the two lumps in my pocket, and after checking, knew the identity of the two to be Riptide and the Stygian ice whistle Quintus had given me. Somehow, the whistle had followed me. I didn't know what to think, so decided not to dwell on the thought further.

With even more difficulty, I stood. The stone floor was freezing under my feet. I turned and found myself staring into a polished bronze mirror.

"Shit," I muttered. "What on earth happened to me?" I answered myself moments later. "Ah, I got blasted out of a volcano..." I looked starved for one. My hair was completely messed up, singed at the ends like Hephaestus' beard. If I saw that face on somebody walking down the highway intersection asking for money, I'd lock the car doors and step on the gas, far away from that person. I looked horrendous.

I turned away from the mirror. The cave entrance was to my left. I headed towards the daylight.

The cave opened onto a green meadow. On the left was a grove of cedar trees and on the right was a huge flower garden. Four fountains gurgled in the meadow, each shooting water from the pipes of stone satyrs. Straight ahead, the grass sloped down to a rocky beach. The waves of a lake lapped against the stones. I could tell it was a lake, because I could sense the water was freshwater, not salt. The sun sparkled on the water, and the sky was pure blue. It seemed like a paradise, which immediately made me nervous. Paradise-like places were very deceiving in the demigod world after all.

The girl with the braided hair who had fed me nectar was standing at the beach, talking to someone. Calypso, I think she said her name was. I tried to remember any Greek myths about that name, but couldn't.

"Atti!" A familiar voice made me turn my head, recognizing Zoe instantly. "You're alive!"

I laughed feebly, wanting to make some sort of sarcastic comment about my weak body, only to fall forward, straight into Zoe's arms.

"Hey!" Zoe cried, catching Calypso's attention from the call, making the caramel haired girl cut the message off quickly and run towards us.

"Well, the sleeper finally awakes," Calypso noticed, wiping her eyes like she'd been crying.

"Ugh... sorry," I apologized for my sorry state, even though Calypso had probably seen me worst.

"Don't fret," Calypso smiled softly. "You're alive, that's what count."

I gave my best grin. "How long have I been out?"

Zoe stared into the sky. "Time is difficult here. But I'd guess... about a week or so."

"A WEEK?!" I nearly recovered instantly, from shock. "Huh?"

Zoe facepalmed. "You shot out of a volcano, flying into the sky like a burning comet, after summoning the ocean from within said volcano, and you're surprised that you've passed out for a week?"

I wiggled my head side to side. "Well... yah?" I looked around. "So where am I?"

Calypso reached me and ran a finger through my hair, making me blink nervously. "I'm sorry," the girl said. "I've just grown used to caring for you. As for where you are, you are in Ogygia."

She pronounced it like oh-jee-jee-ah.

"Right," I managed. "Is that anywhere near Mount St. Helens?"

Calypso laughed. "It isn't near anything, Atalanta. Ogygia is my phantom island. It exists by itself, anywhere and everywhere."

"Huh," I responded. "That's new."

Zoe smirked. "Looks like you're almost entirely back to normal."

"Not yet, sister," Calypso warned, right as my knees buckled. "There's still quite a bit of harm done on your body. Now rest, Atalanta. Your eyes are already closing."

She was right. No sooner had she finished talking, I had pretty much lost consciousness. "Rest." Calypso ordered.

§§§§§

The next time I awoke it was night, but I wasn't sure on which day of night it was. There was a tapping sound near me, an inconsistent rhythm that slowly brought me back to my senses.

I sat up and noticed that I was on the bed from before. "Eh?"

"Feel better now?" Zoe asked, stopping her tapping, which turned out to be her foot on the side of my bed.

I stared out the cave into the night, making out the constellations the huntress beside me had taught me about during one of the many training trips Perseus brought us on. "Hey Zoe, that's Capricorn, isn't it?"

The past lieutenant of the Hunters nodded. "You remembered. You're right of course."

I chuckled. "According to Percy, you would've been up there too, had he not come for you."

Zoe frowned. "Good thing he did. Although it might've been a great honor, I prefer not living the rest of my life as a grouping of stars."

I raised an eyebrow. "Now that you've said that, actually, isn't a constellation made up of a coincidentally grouped set of stars that form an imaginary shape?"

"Yes," Zoe nodded. "So?"

"So, if Artemis put you up in the sky as a constellation in Percy's universe," I said. "Doesn't that mean that gods have the power to create celestial objects out of thin air in the middle of space instantaneously?"

Zoe cocked her head to the side. "Try not to dwell too much on the literal-ness of what the gods can do. It will drive you insane."

I ignored her. "I wonder how many stars a god could create, and at what distance?"

The huntress facepalmed. "First thing out of a coma and you immediately start talking like Perseus."

"We're like... the same person," I replied with a duh tone. "So maybe that's why?"

Zoe merely grinned in amusement. "How could I have forgotten?"

"Oh yah," I said. "How is Percy doing on his secret mission?"

Zoe kept grinning in amusement, except with a more sadistic edge outlining her lips. "Hmm? Oh, everything is going fantastic."

I eyed her curiously. "Mind telling me anything about it?"

"I wish," Zoe said, almost moaning in pleasure as memories of the brutal beatdown she gave the Romans flooded her mind. "But Percy insists that leaking this mission's contents as of current times isn't the best of ideas."

I pouted. "Hai, what's the point of keeping it all from me now? He's already told me so much."

Zoe shrugged. "Percy said that what he was working with could potentially unbalance the gods, so that's most likely why he's keeping... a low profile as of now."

"Do I even need to ask why you're smiling like that?" I asked.

"You could," Zoe smirked. "Although, I'm sure you can guess why."

I stared out once more, this time towards Calypso. A tiny memory tugged at the back of my head, something Calypso said before I passed out. "Did... did Calypso call you 'sister'?"

Zoe nodded, her face suddenly serious. "She did."

"Are you sisters?"

"Half-sisters," Zoe confirmed. "We had the same father, different mother."

"Same father..." I thought for a moment, back during when we went hunting for Artemis and Athena last winter. "She's also a daughter of Atlas?"

Zoe nodded.

"Zoe, Atalanta," Calypso walked up to us, holding a clump of glowing white flowers in her hand. She tilted her head and stared at me. "You must be feeling a lot better now."

"Yah, thanks," I said. It was while I gazed at Calypso that I realized how pretty this girl was. Like Zoe, both girls seemed to have inherited the good looks in their family.

Calypso smiled. "If you two aren't too busy, would you mind helping me plant these?"

She handed me the clump of flowers in her hands, then another to Zoe, who seemed to have already done so before, heading to a patch of empty ground near the edge of the garden where a hole had already been dug.

"What is this stuff?" I asked, glancing down closely at the flower. The petals were definitely glowing, like a nightlight.

"That's moonlace," Calypso explained. "It can only be planted at night."

"Does it do anything?"

"Do?" Calypso mused. "It doesn't really do anything, I suppose. It lives, gives light, and provides beauty. Does is have to do anything else?"

"I suppose not," I said sheepishly. I gazed across the whole field of various flora in the meadow. "This is amazing."

"It's beautiful," Zoe agreed, pushing herself up from the ground. "I was rather surprised at first to see such a well cared garden."

"Back home," I said. "Mom always wanted a garden."

"Why didn't she plant one?" Calypso asked, following our still gazes towards her garden.

"Well, we live in Manhattan. In an apartment." I then realized the stupidity of myself. "Hang on, you don't actually know what I'm saying right?"

Calypso took a quick glance at the ground, her fingers twitching. "No. I haven't left Ogygia... in a long time."

"Well, Manhattan's a big city, with not so much gardening space," I simplified. "We could merely have a flower growing on the windowsill, but that's about it."

Calypso frowned. "Zoe's told me a bit about the outside world, as have the few gods that visit me from time to time. It's hard to imagine that the world is so different now that even gardens cannot be had."

"Why haven't you left your island to go see for yourself?" I asked, confused.

"This is my punishment," Calypso said simply.

I wracked my head again. What was the story behind this beauty on a paradise-like island? I decided not to ask why, keeping silent instead. "I suppose leaving is a part of the things you can't do?"

"Yes," Calypso concluded. She looked as if she wanted to say more, but pulled back. "I'll go prepare dinner."

When the girl left, I looked at Zoe in question, wondering if the huntress knew any better than I did. I was unsurprised when Zoe opened her mouth and said, "You remember how how father is also Atlas correct?"

"Yah. But what does that have to do with anything?" I asked. "Look at you, aren't you the same."

"Not so," Zoe said. "You see, Calypso supported Atlas during the First Titan War, back during the time of the gods."

I narrowed my eyes. "So this punishment... is because of her siding with Atlas?"

"Yes," Zoe explained.

I didn't know what else to say after that, and instead, switched topics. "Luke is starting a formal investigation on Percy, by the way."

Zoe snickered. "It took them that long to identify him as a threat?" Her tone then turned serious. "I'll relay that information to Percy. He's undefeatable, which makes him an even more massive obstacle to pass. The Titans wouldn't mind using extreme measures against him."

"Yah," I nodded, thinking of how powerful my alt self was. "They'd need an armada of battleships, or an ancient beast to come even close to beating Percy."

Zoe stared up into the sky. "I feel like, he has yet to show off his true power. All of these fights must be easy pickings for a guy like him. I wonder, though I'm partially scared of as well, I wonder how Percy looks at his peak ability?"

"Hopefully we'll never have to see it," I said. "He'd probably have enough power to sink the United States."

Zoe laughed. "You're definitely right on that note." She glanced closely at me. "Atti, I think the fatigue is coming back again."

I widened my eyes and realized my legs had become stiff, as well as the dizziness in my head that I hadn't noticed previously. "Yup, back to bed again."

"Don't be too surprised," Zoe said, holding me up as support. "You drained all your magical power in one go without a source of replenishment, the fact that you're alive is already miracle enough."

"I feel bad," I muttered. "Calypso cooked so well, and I'm just about to pass out."

"Silly girl," Zoe smiled. "Calypso wants you to get well fast just as much as I do. And the stew doesn't have legs here. It won't run away."

With that amusing thought, I dropped limply in her arms, my eyes closing to sleep before I could say anything else.

§§§§§

I'm not sure how much time has passed. Like Zoe and Calypso both said, time is pretty hard to tell on this island. I slept and lived like a constantly jetlagged person, eating without a consistent schedule, and waking up in god awful times in the morning, so early that even the sun had yet to wake. And during it all, I felt weak, like I barely had any control of my own limbs to do anything other than feeding myself and dragging myself back to bed. Zoe had returned back to the real world a while ago, saying that she had some business to take care of. I thought about asking when I could leave, but couldn't bring myself to say the words. Something about Calypso having never left this paradise was really bothering me, and I couldn't help but want to stay and comfort the girl.

The thing was, I didn't feel like a prisoner or anything. Calypso really was doing her best to make sure I wasn't faceplanting on the soil after standing for too long, and Zoe had insisted several times before her departure that me staying here to heal was the safest and most efficient. I mean, I had been to worse paradises, the Lotus Hotel namely, which trapped me and my friends in time with video games tailored to our personal interests and sort of blurred our memories in the process. But here, even as weak as I was, I could remember my task for the maze, as well as the fact that Grover and Tyson were still in there, searching for Pan. I knew that as soon as I was back to normal, I'd have to leave and head back.

All this thinking led me back to thinking about what Calypso was here for. Something nagged the back of my mind, but I couldn't quite grasp it. The girl looked happy enough: be it tending her garden, chatting with the birds that flew in and out of the trees, or staring into the night. But I could see in her face a sort of sadness, as if she'd been here for forever with no hope of ever seeing beyond the endless ocean that surrounded the land. What had she said before? That the island exists everywhere and anywhere at once? Did that mean... Ogygia was an uncharted island in the middle of a pocket dimension or something?

And though Calypso felt like a close friend, she also seemed to keep herself distant. Sometimes, when I felt stronger, I'd stay up at night to regal her with the tales of me and my friends, because she'd most likely never heard of the stuff I was usually familiar with. It was relaxing to just talk, without having to be wary of my back.

"You know," I said after we finished laughing about Grover eating the apple during our Hacky Sack game. "You're not too bad for a girl who supported her father in the war."

Calypso gave a restrained smile. "Well, that's one of the better sides about myself. To be honest, you're the first female patient I've ever had."

"Huh?" I asked. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

The caramel haired titaness laid back on the beach, staring high into the sky as if the position would make it easier for her to explain. "Atalanta, do you know how you arrived?"

"No," I said.

"A man with a similar appearance to yourself brought you here," Calypso said. "You were in his arms, bloody and charred. He requested I heal you, as I usually do with heroes."

My eyes widened. "Was his name Perseus?"

"You know him?" Calypso asked.

"He's my brother."

Calypso nodded. "I wasn't aware that another Olympian had been elected."

"My brother isn't an Olympian." I said confusedly.

"No? Then how did he find my island at will?" Calypso asked. "No mortal man can find my island on purpose, nor can they find this place more than once if they do. If so, your brother must be immortal, and have knowledge of me."

I cocked my head to the side. "Oh, he definitely would know who you are. As for his supposed immortality, I'd have to ask him about that. He's powerful as hell, but I don't think he's immortal." I turned back to the girl. "So how come I'm your first female patient?"

Calypso sighed. "I guess, to begin, you must know that this island is my home, my birthplace, and my prison. I am under... house arrest in a sense. I will never be able to leave this island, nor will I ever be able to see this Manhattan your live in. I am destined to be alone forever."

Her words reminded me of a scene in my favorite anime, and I winced at the likeness of the situation, except, without the massive burning down of Ohara in the background. "But I'm here with you, and so is Zoe. We can visit you anytime, right?"

"Perhaps with the help of Perseus you can," Calypso said. "But I don't know if he would find your constant need to see me annoying or bothersome in any way."

I stood up, despite a bout of fatigue about to hit me. "Percy would never think that. He would understand whatever issue you have."

"Gods tend not to worry about us that much," Calypso said. "They do live forever, after all. Also, because I supported my father, Atlas, I'm still an enemy to the gods. Despite my kind actions, I'm still treated as such." She gestured to the whole island. "Trapped forever in timeless peace, cursed with the fate of love."

"Love?"

Calypso closed her eyes. "The Fates are cruel. My island became a place for heroes in dire need of healing to come an heal. Always big names, always handsome men and boys. They float onto my beaches and await me to find them and heal them." The girl's voice clenched, as if she were about to cry. "They always send a person who can't stay, someone who already has a lover back home, or a quest to finish, or a prophecy to fulfill. They send a person that I can't help but fall in love with."

Calypso turned towards me. "That's why you're the first. The first I can treat and become friends with, that I don't have to worry about my aching heart for. But it still feels the same..."

I didn't say a word before I wrapped the girl in a tight hug. I knew the Fates could be cruel, but this was stupid. While Calypso had talked, I had remembered the myth about her. And I knew that this titaness had indeed been seeing one male hero after another, tending to them like she did me, and having her heart ripped apart each time the hero had to leave.

"Hey," I said. "Don't you worry. I know who you are, and I know that I can return. And I'm sure Zoe won't ignore you either. We'll keep you company from time to time from now on."

A cough broke us apart. I turned back and saw a grinning man, his eyes warm as he stared at the two of us. He chuckled and brushed his hair back. "Hey Atti, you seem to be doing well."

"Percy!" I laughed, running up to hug him as well.

Percy smirked. "So, how's the last week and a half been?"

"I'm doing a lot better, but still weak," I said honestly. "Since when did you have time to come visit me?"

"Who said I came here for you?" Percy teased. "Calypso, sorry to have troubled you."

The girl looked shocked that Percy was even talking to her. "No, no it's fine Lord Perseus."

I giggled, patting Calypso on the shoulder. "Don't worry about formalities. This dimwit insists you just call him Percy."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Dimwit? You're becoming sharp-tongued, Atti."

"Oh yah," I put my hands on my hips. "Calypso thinks you're immortal."

Percy glanced at the titaness, who seemed to have caught on with the light-hearted environment between us, and smirked at Percy. "No man can find my island willingly, and come and go unless you're a god right?"

Percy chuckled nervously. "Haha, you're a perceptive one, aren't you?"

"WAIT, SO YOU ARE?!" I asked.

"Um... no?" Percy said stupidly.

"He is," Calypso chuckled, her uneasiness seemed to have dissolved.

"You are," I muttered. "Why didn't you say so?"

"I'm starving!" Percy suddenly said. "Calypso, can I have some stew?"

"Go ahead." Calypso said, laughing. After Percy left towards her cave without the titaness telling him, she said, "He seems to already know this place well."

"Erm..." I sighed. "That idiot can't be any more obvious can he?"

"Is there something that I should know?"

I facepalmed. "Well, if he screws up worse than he already has, I'll tell you myself. Then we'll see if we can make Percy feel extremely uncomfortable." I didn't say this aloud, but if our timelines were the same, that means that Percy washed up here, and Calypso in his timeline had fallen for him, which might explain why Percy is already so friendly with the titaness.

§§§§§

"Damn, I haven't had this in a long time," Percy commented, already on his third bowl of stew. "Calypso, do you have a recipe for this or something?"

"Sure?" The girl said, holding her hand out like she was summoning something, only for a piece of paper with writing on it to appear out of nowhere. Probably came from her invisible servants somewhere. "Does this work?"

Percy took a quick glance at the cursive writing on the paper and gasped. "I can read this!"

"Of course you can," I said. "It's in English, is it not?"

"Well, it's cursive," Percy explained. "And usually cursive + dyslexia = reading hell."

"But you're immortal," Calypso said. "Immortality takes care of any deficiencies that you may have."

"Huh." Percy said. "Well, that's helpful."

"So, when did you become a god, bro?" I asked. "I feel like this is kinda something that either Zoe or I should know."

Percy scratched his head. "Uh..." He stared at Calypso uneasily, like it was something she shouldn't be around to here. Thankfully, Calypso seemed to get it, and stood up, nodding in understanding as she left us in private.

"Start talking, Perce." I said.

"Hai," Percy sighed. "It was after the fight last winter, when I'd just finished ensuring Artemis' and Zoe's arrival in Apollo's infirmary, that the Fates came and told me I'd changed the original course of the timeline far too much, and thus would be unable to return." Percy's voice was tinged with a hint of bitterness. "As compensation for using me, they gifted me immortality."

"And you're sure... well, you are?" I asked.

"Got a bloody nose seconds later to prove it," Percy said dryly. "My hand was dripping gold, I'm pretty sure that it was blood, not paint."

"So, what are you here for?" I asked. "Surely it couldn't have just been to see me heal... and eat some beef stew."

Percy nodded. "You're right. First off, even though I knew I survived, it was still scary seeing you go through the same thing." He took a deep breath. "You caused quite an explosion."

I shivered. "I figured. I tried using the techniques you taught me, on how to protect myself in case of shortage of water. But with all the lava and..." I faltered. "I needed the ocean. There was nothing else I could think of doing."

"I get it," Percy said. "In fact, most demigods would've died right then and there. Well, the good thing is that no one was seriously hurt. But, you may have displaced a few hundred thousand people. As well as injured and destroyed pretty much everything within a hundred mile radius of Mount St. Helens. The explosion also caused Typhon to stir in his sleep, which is just... absolutely fantastic."

I wanted to say something about how impossible that sounded, but I knew better. Poseidon was known as the Earthshaker alongside his title of the King of the Sea. I'd be surprised if my self combusted explosion didn't trigger any negative side effects besides injuring a ton of mortals. I didn't want to think further about the damaged I caused, and decided to change my line of thought.

"I dunno if Zoe told you already, but Luke is starting to investigate you," I said to Percy.

"That could be bothersome," Percy sighed. "But expected. Luke isn't stupid, after all. He's put so much effort into this fight against the gods, he'd be really annoyed if some stranger were to come midway and screw everything up."

"We also have spies in camp," I remembered. "I have my suspicions but..."

Percy closed his eyes like he was recalling a particularly difficult memory. "You might be surprised who is the spy at Camp later on. Just remember that Luke knows the camp very well, as well as the campers inside of it. He knows much of our weaknesses and uses that as leverage. So be careful with who you trust, even if you've known them for years."

I nodded. "Of course. I'll be careful. Like you and Zoe always do."

We sat in silence for a bit, before Percy spoke again. "Do you have a plan for when you get back?"

I sighed. "Honestly, I'm at a dead end. I have no means of navigation through the maze, and no real goal either. Grover is following a path towards Pan, while I'm just looking for a workshop that gives no clues of where it is in the damn thing."

"I could just straight up tell you," Percy mused. "But gods always tend to be unclear when–"

"Perseus!" I stood up, glaring at him. "Don't you dare."

"Okay, okay," Percy chuckled. "I was just kidding. Anyways, like everyone keeps saying, Ariadne's String works perfectly, but most likely, the Titans already have it. However, according to my memory, the string isn't really why navigation through the maze is easy. Do you remember how Theseus originally got through the maze?"

I frowned. "He had the Princess' help right, Ariadne?"

"Ariadne was a mortal, 100%. But she had a unique ability, which allowed her to see very clearly through things that usually are hidden from mortals." Percy laid out.

I thought for a little longer on his words. "Hang on... like, the ability to see through the Mist?" It made sense. "I get it now. But the only person who has that ability is..."

"Exactly." Percy smirked. "It's high time you use that phone number, eh?"

"You knew it already!" I fumed. "Why couldn't you just tell me straight up?"

"It takes all the fun away!"

"What fun?! You're just wasting time."

"Like you're paying attention to time."

"Hey Percy," I said suddenly. "Assuming everything is the same right, did Calypso fall in love with you in your timeline?"

Percy winced. "She did. And it hurt me to leave her behind after I'd realized her reason for pulling away. I requested that she be pardoned later in my world, but the gods seemed to have ignored that and left her here. Later on, another friend of mine saves her from this cursed island, by somehow committing suicide then rebirthing himself in order to return forcefully to Ogygia." He stopped. "I dunno if I can bring her back to camp so early yet, so I decided to at least let her see someone else as a friend, instead of another hero that would hurt her poor heart. So I brought you here personally, thinking that perhaps it was impossible otherwise given that you aren't a male hero."

"Who knew you could be so nice?" I said.

"I failed to see her happy the first time I promised her peace from this prison," Percy said simply. "I've already changed so many people's lives here for the better, why not hers?"

I nodded. "So now I have to decide right?"

Percy stood and dusted off his pants. "Yup. But do it at daybreak." He paused, smiling. "Daybreak is a good time for decisions."

I snorted. "You took that from someone huh? That's way too wise a statement for you."

Percy rolled his eyes. "It was good advice." He chuckled. "Anyways, I gotta head back, check on a few things. War is brewing just over the horizon, so it's best to get everyone prepared properly. And here, something for you... and Calypso."

He pulled out two bags of blue cookies, making my mouth instantly water. "You were hiding those on you the whole time?"

Percy shrugged. "Look, I could've just left with them, okay? Give her a bag and this." He handed me a pot that looked like something Tyson had taken from the bottom of the sea, a small transparent bowl with a beautiful bit of coral swirling inside. "A gift from her new friends, courtesy of dear ol' dad. We'll come back to see her from time to time, give her a break from all this Fated nonsense."

For the second time that night, Percy found himself wrapped in another bear hug from me.

§§§§§

"Did he order you to return?" Calypso asked when Percy left.

"Well, not ordered." I chuckled. "Percy simply told me that it was necessary. The quest I'm on is quite important after all." I turned to her, seeing the forlorn look on her face. "Don't be sad. I'll come back, like I said I would."

I handed her the things Percy gave me, seeing the look of surprise on her face. "In case you've never had those, those are cookies," I said. "My mom's recipe. That's why they're blue. And the coral decoration symbolizes our promise to visit you, like friends do."

Calypso laughed, her tone clear of bindings for once. "I wasn't expecting this at all! Thank you, Atalanta."

I smiled. "It's pretty stupid that you're trapped here for no reason. Percy thinks so too. So don't be so afraid of him. He's not like the others."

The titaness smiled back. "I'll be looking forward to future visits then." She looked out towards the ocean. "Perhaps one day... I can see this Manhattan of yours."

"One day," I said resolutely. "It'll happen. Just wait a little longer, kay?"

"I'm a pro at waiting," Calypso smirked. "Done it for several millennia."

I gave the girl a hug. "Thanks for healing me up all that time."

"It's my job," Calypso said warmly. "Now, it's time isn't it?"

As the rosy streaks of the sun made its appearance across the blue surface of the water, Calypso led me across the beach towards a raft on the shore. the raft wasn't particularly special, just a ten-foot square of logs lashed together with a pole for a mast and a simple white linen sail. But I knew Calypso was honest, and would never send me to sea on some rickety seacraft.

"This will take you wherever you desire." Calypso promised. "It is quite safe. And given your parentage, I don't think you can drown."

I chuckled. "Downright impossible, you mean."

"Go on," Calypso said. "Oh right, here." She handed me a small woolen bag. "I know you said it's difficult, but see... see if you can plant me a garden in Manhattan?"

"Sure." I stepped on the raft, which immediately began to sail away from shore. "See you then."

Calypso remained smiling, waving until she disappeared entirely from my field of view. I thought about where to go. And I knew. Back to a place where I could properly prepare myself again, before heading back into the maze.

"Camp Half-Blood," I said, feeling the raft shift direction. "Sail me home."

A/N: I could not for the life of me figure out how to start this chapter. I made so many drafts that I almost wanted to quit writing the story temporarily because I couldn't figure out anything. But eventually, my brain worked, and here's the chapter.

I wanted to write this scene for a long time however. Probably why I insisted the beginning to be perfect and made so many bad starts.

And I've decided, this story will most likely stop only at the end of the HoO section of the PJO series, mainly because one) I haven't read the Trials of Apollo (I'm sorry) and two) I've already too much of the plot planned out to include 5? more books worth of information and plot.

Hope you guys weren't too bothered by the long wait, I'm trying to be more consistent with updating.

Peace out, you legends.

~ Zayden Shade