RAGING SEAS Chapter 26
A/N:- So, New Chapter, let's go!
When Percy woke up, he felt like he was on fire. His skin stung and his throat felt dry.
There were blue skies and trees above him.
He heard a fountain gurgling and smelled juniper and cedar and a bunch of other sweet-scented plants.
He tried to sit up, but he couldn't.
"Stay still," a girl's voice said. "You're too weak to rise."
She laid a cool cloth across his forehead. Taking a bronze spoon, she dribbled some type of liquid in Percy's mouth. The drink soothed his throat and left a warm chocolaty aftertaste. Nectar of the gods.
She had almond eyes and caramel-color hair braided over one shoulder. She looked 15, but it was hard to tell.
The mystery girl began singing, and Percy's pain dissolved. She was working magic, healing and repairing his brain.
"Who, where?" Percy croaked.
"Shhh, brave one," she said. "Rest and heal. No harm will come to you here. I am Calypso."
The next time Percy woke up, he was in a cave, and it was nighttime. The ceiling glittered with different-color crystal formations- white and purple and green.
He was lying on a comfortable bed with feather pillows and 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.
There was a fireplace built into the cave wall, and a pot bubbling over the flames. It smelled like beef stew.
Percy sat up and looked at his arms. His skin was a little pinker than usual, but not bad. He was wearing a white cotton T-shirt and cotton drawstring pants.
With difficulty, Percy stood. The stone floor was freezing under my feet. He turned and looked into a polished bronze mirror.
"Holy Poseidon," He muttered. He looked like he had lost 20 pounds. His hairs looked like a bird's nest. There were a few scars and cuts and bruises here and there, but nothing that couldn't be treated.
Percy turned away from the mirror and headed toward the exit.
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. The moonlight sparkled on the water, and the sky was dark blue, leaning towards the black side.
The girl with the braided caramel hair, the one who'd called herself Calypso, was standing at the beach, talking to someone. They seemed to be arguing.
Percy walked toward her slowly because his legs were still stiff. When the grass changed to gravel, he looked down to keep himself balanced, and when he looked up again, the girl was alone. She wore a white sleeveless Greek dress with a low circular neckline trimmed in gold. She brushed at her eyes like she'd been crying.
"Well," she said, trying for a smile, "the sleeper finally wakes."
"Who were you talking to?" Percy said.
"Oh...just a messenger," she said. "How do you feel?"
"How long have I been out?"
"Time," Calypso mused. "Time is always difficult here. I honestly don't know, Percy."
"You know my name?"
"You talk in your sleep."
"Yeah. I've been...uh, told that before."
"Yes. Who are Annabeth and Hector?"
"Oh, uh. They're friends. We were together when-wait, how did I get here? Where am I?"
Calypso reached up and ran her fingers through Percy's mangled hair.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I've just grown used to caring for you. as to how you got here, you fell from the sky. You landed in the water, just there." She pointed across the beach. "I do not know how you survived. The water seemed to cushion your fall. As to where you are, you are in Ogygia."
"Is that near Mount St. Helens?" Percy asked.
Calypso laughed. It was a small restrained laugh.
"It isn't near anything, brave one," she said. "Ogygia is my phantom island. It exists by itself, anywhere and nowhere. You can heal here in safety. Never fear."
"But my friends-"
"Annabeth, Hector," she said. "And Grover and Tyson?"
"Yes!" Percy said. "I have to get back to them. They're in danger."
Percy tried to shadow travel out, but he couldn't and fell face-first on the sand.
She touched his face. "Rest first. You are no good to your friends until you heal. As for going out from here, you can't shadow travel away…"
The stars were brilliant-thousands of them. There were various constellations, Capricorn, Pegasus, Sagittarius, and the Huntress.
"Percy, what do you see?"
Calypso, with her braided hair and white dress, 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... Uh...I forgot."
She laughed gently. "Well, as long as you're up, you can help me plant these."
She handed Percy a plant, which had a clump of dirt and roots at the base. The flowers glowed as he held them. Calypso picked up her gardening spade and directed him to the edge of the garden, where she began to dig.
"That's moonlace," Calypso explained. "It can only be planted at night."
"What does it do?"
"Do?" Calypso mused. "It doesn't really do anything, I suppose. It lives, it gives light, it provides beauty. Does it have to do anything else?"
"I suppose not," Percy said.
She took the plant and their hands met. Her fingers were warm. She planted the moonlace and stepped back, surveying her work. "I love my garden."
"It's awesome," He agreed.
Calypso's garden consisted of six different colors of roses, lattices filled with honeysuckle, rows of grapevines bursting with red and purple grapes.
"Back home, my mom used to want a garden,"
"Then why didn't she plant one?"
"Well, one thing is that we used to live in an apartment in Manhattan with not much gardening space. Plus, she… she died when I was young, so yeah… nothing could be done about it,"
Calypso frowned. "That is sad. Hermes visits from time to time. He tells me the world outside has changed greatly. I did not realize it had changed so much you cannot have gardens. Also, sorry about your mother."
"Don't worry, why haven't you left your island?"
She looked down. "It is my punishment."
"Why? What did you do?"
"I? Nothing. But I'm afraid my father did a great deal. His name is Atlas."
"Still," Percy said hesitantly, "it's not fair to punish you for what your father's done. I knew another daughter of Atlas. Her name was Zoe. She was one of the bravest people I've ever met."
"Don't worry… When you are facing people, they tell you that you are the greatest, but when you turn around, they hate you. I was like that. I used to play with the Hesperides, they were really happy with me and all that. But then when my father fought the gods and got imprisoned, the Hesperides denied to take me in their garden as the fifth Hesperide, just because my mother was someone else. Only Zoe fought for me, but alas, the majority won and the gods thus banished me to Ogygia, where I have to live forever and spend my immortal life here until I fade away." Calypso's tone was sad.
"Oh, that's sad… I'm sorry for that, I will… I'll free you from this place."
"What? You can't do that, it's impossible, it's permanent," Calypso said.
"But, I can always try, right? If I can't then please forgive me, but if I can, then you can come with me on a tour of Manhattan?"
"… that would be nice…" Calypso said, staring at Percy sadly.
"What is it?" Percy asked.
"Are-are you healed yet, my brave one? Do you think you'll be ready to leave soon?"
"What?" Percy said, checking himself. "Yeah, I think so… You want me to go?"
"I..." Her voice broke. "Come on, let's have dinner." Calypso clapped her hands and invisible servants quickly set up a table with beef stew and apple cider.
Anyway, Calypso and Percy were sitting at dinner. He was telling her about New York and Camp Half-Blood.
After Percy was finished, Calypso asked, "Tell me, Percy, do you support the gods because they are good, or because they are your family?"
Percy was silent for a few moments.
"You don't have any friends?" Percy 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 there was a column of fire moving across the surface of the water, coming toward them.
Percy asked. "What is that?"
Calypso sighed. "A visitor."
As the column of fire reached the beach. Calypso stood and bowed to it formally. The flames dissipated, and standing before us was a tall man in gray overalls and a metal leg brace, his beard and hair smoldering with fire.
"Lord Hephaestus," Calypso said. "This is a rare honor."
The fire god grunted. "Calypso. Beautiful as always. Would you excuse us, please, my dear? I need to have a word with our young Perseus."
Hephaestus sat down clumsily at the dinner table and ordered a Pepsi. The invisible servant brought him one, opened it too suddenly, and sprayed soda all over the gods work clothes. Hephaestus roared and spat a few curses and swatted the can away.
"Stupid servants," he muttered. "Good automatons are what she needs. They never act up!"
"Hephaestus," Percy said, "what's going on? Are Annabeth and Hector-"
"They're fine," he said. "Found them way back, she told me the whole story. He's worried sick, you know."
"You haven't told them I'm okay?"
"That's not for me to say," Hephaestus said. "Everyone thinks you're dead. I had to be sure you were coming back before I started telling everyone where you were."
"What do you mean?" Percy said. "Of course, I'm coming back!"
Hephaestus studied him skeptically. He fished something out of his pocket-a metal disk the size of an iPod. He clicked a button and it expanded into a miniature bronze TV. On the screen was news footage of Mount St. Helens, a huge plume of fire and ash trailing into the sky.
"Still uncertain about further eruptions," the newscaster was saying. "Authorities have ordered the evacuation of almost half a million people as a precaution. Meanwhile, ash has fallen as far away as Lake Tahoe and Vancouver, and the entire Mount St. Helens area is closed to traffic within a hundred-mile radius. While no deaths have been reported, minor injuries and illnesses include-"
Hephaestus switched it off. "You caused quite an explosion."
"The telekhines were scattered," the god said. "Some vaporized. Some got away, no doubt. I don't think they'll be using my forge any time soon. On the other hand, neither will I. the explosion caused Typon to stir in his sleep. We'll have to wait and see-"
"I couldn't release him, could I? I mean, I'm not that powerful!"
The god grunted. "Not that powerful, eh? Could have fooled me. You're the son of the Earthshaker and Death, lad. You don't know your own strength."
"What about Grover and Tyson?" Percy asked.
Hephaestus shook his head. "No word, I'm afraid. I suppose the labyrinth has them."
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"If you decide to leave this place, I promised you an answer to your quest. I promised you the way to Daedalus. Well now, here's the thing. It has nothing to do with Ariadne's string. Not really. Sure, the string works. That's what the Titan's army will be after. But the best way through the maze...Theseus had the princess's help. And the princess was a regular mortal. Not a drop of god blood in her. But she was clever, and she could see, lad. She could see very clearly. So what I'm saying is I think you know how to navigate the maze. But on the other hand, if you don't, then you could stay here, immortal, living forever with Calypso. Poor girl she is… I had voted against her banishment but of course, nothing worked. So anyway lad, you could stay here, with no worry of the titans and all that… and your brother Hector will become the child of the prophecy." Hephaestus said.
"Oh…"
"You know, lad you have a great history…"
"Yeah, I know that… Apollo told me…"
"No, more than that… do you know your grandfather on your mother's side was a son of mine?"
"What?" Percy choked on his diet Pepsi.
"He was rare, one in a kind. He could use fire and was a great inventor. He created several machines that helped the people in the factories. I myself use them. He was Carl Einar. Then he married Martha Jonner, a daughter of Athena. They had a child, Gabriella Einar, your mother. She could see through the mist, and then ofcourse you know what happened… Poseidon came, then you came, then came Hades, and here you are right now, talking to me,"
"So what does that have to do with me?" Percy asked.
"I'm saying that you have a family gift, lad. You can use fire. The power to do that runs deep in your veins, your blood. It's faint, and you can't do that right now… but with my blessing… you will be able to unlock that potential to a greater extent." Saying that Hephaestus placed his hand on Percy's head, chanted a few words in ancient Greek and a bright orange glow covered Percy and then died out. "There, now, I am doing this only because I want us to win the war, don't ask for more favors from me,"
Percy was astounded, not knowing what to say, he just bowed down and muttered thanks.
"Oh, I have a few more things for you, I almost forgot…" Hephaestus said and brought out a golden bag and zipped it open.
From inside, he brought out two medieval-style gauntlets made out of celestial bronze and gave it to Percy.
"Here, I saw that you like using your fists more than using swords, so I thought these were fitting for you,"
"Thank you… these are nice." Percy said, wearing them on and testing it out to see if it fits well or not.
"And then this," Hephaestus said, holding a black stygian iron sword. "I noticed that you broke your previous sword, so I made you another. It's similar to the other sword, but it contains stygian iron on one side and celestial bronze on the other…"
"Thank you Hephaestus," Percy said taking the sword and it immediately collapsed to a skull ring.
"Ay… anyway, you must make your decision soon, Perseus, till then farewell."
A/N:- Here you have it! Hope you liked it!