A/N: Hey all! Thanks for reading! This chapter will be from Leo's point of view. I've already started on the next one, which will also be told from his point of view. Hopefully, it'll be up by the end of the week. I tried keeping a little bit of that Valdez humor in here, so let me know what you think :)
When Leo woke up, he was flying.
He had no idea where on earth he was, or what in the hell he was doing sitting on the back of a giant metal dragon thousands of feet in the air. Actually, he had no idea who the hell he was.
He might have panicked, a bit. In a manly way. That strange squealing sound most definitely did not come out of his throat when he looked down and saw nothing but ocean stretching out in every direction.
"Oh shit, shit, shit, shit…where am I? How do I fly this thing?" he muttered to himself frantically, looking down to the bright panels of buttons sitting in front of him. He had absolutely no idea what any of the buttons meant, and there wasn't any kind of steering wheel or joystick on this dragon; so naturally he did the only thing that seemed logical. He pushed the big red button.
And yes, he regretted it instantly.
All of a sudden, the lights emanating out of the panels shut off and the dragon's head drooped down. The wings went slack and the entire dragon tilted downwards, accelerating rapidly.
"AAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!" he frantically tried hitting all the buttons in front of him, trying to not fall off at the same time, but to no avail. He was going to die not knowing who he was or what he was doing. Awesome.
As the dragon continued to lose altitude, he saw them pierce a strange layer of mist, and realized they were headed straight for a small little island. 'Well,' he thought, 'maybe someone will see my epic death and tell the media all about it.' He could see it now, the pretty reporter standing in front of the impact site, a big headline reading "Comet Boy Crashes and Burns" flashing right below it. His body would probably be mangled beyond recognition, so no one would ever figure out who he was or come claim his body. It would be a great story; maybe people would think he was an alien or something!
The dragon was about 100 yards from impact and he shut his eyes to prepare for his death, 'Goodbye, cruel world!' he thought dramatically as he felt the dragon crash and burn below him.
Then, he ate sand. 'Unghhhhh…' He opened his eyes and spit out all the sand from his mouth, all around him the dragon was engulfed in flames—he was engulfed in flames. And yet, strangely, it didn't burn him. He felt warm, almost comforted, almost like…As he stood up, the flames on his body went out, and he stepped out of the wreckage, wiping his hands on his jeans absentmindedly as he took in his surroundings. He couldn't believe he wasn't dead….
That's when he first laid eyes on her.
Standing not 15 feet in front of him was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life. Sure, he had no memory of any women he'd ever seen before, but he was sure that no one could ever be as beautiful as this one. She looked like an ancient Greek goddess, wearing a red Greek-style dress that showed off her sun-tanned skin, her long caramel colored hair blowing freely in the wind, her feet were bare, and those beautiful almond eyes were trained on his.
She smiled right at him, and Leo felt the air rush out of his lungs, 'Gods above, she's gorgeous!' he thought.
And then, as if this situation couldn't be any more surreal, she ran straight at him and threw her arms around him. He froze, not quite knowing how to react. He barely had time to notice the scent of cinnamon hanging about her before she pulled back, grabbed his face, and kissed him.
A warm sensation ran through his body as he felt her lips on his. After a moment, he realized he should probably do something—I mean here he was, the most drop dead gorgeous girl in the world kissing him, and he was just standing there! So naturally, he kissed her back.
Gods, that was some kiss.
As he deepened the kiss, he wove his hands through her long locks, his other hand going about her small waist. He wasn't sure what kind of experience he'd had with kissing, but he was pretty sure this was the best kiss he'd ever had in his life. Whoever this girl was, she must really dig him. He couldn't believe he was this lucky, there he was, thinking he was about to die, and instead he gets this. He would willingly lose his memory every day of his life if it meant he'd get a girl like this to kiss him.
'This is wrong,' the thought, unwelcome, ran through his mind, 'I have no idea who she is.'
And so with a bit more force than he intended, he broke off the kiss and pushed her away from him. She looked up at him, confusion and just a bit of hurt in her eyes, "Leo?"
Had he mentioned how beautiful she was? Because with her swollen lips and her messy hair, she looked even more amazing—if that was even possible. He was pretty sure he was gaping at her like an idiot.
'Leo…is that me? Does this girl really know me? Does she….care for me?'
"Look lady, you're like, incredibly hot and all," he told her, "and I'm all for sharing the love but umm…who the hell are you and why are you kissing me?"
She took a step back, as if she'd been struck, and he winced. He hadn't meant for it to come out so harsh, but he'd been awake for less than ten minutes and he was incredibly confused. Questions rushed through his mind at lightning speed and he was starting to get a migraine.
"Leo…you don't," she looked shell-shocked, like she really couldn't believe he'd just said that, "you don't remember me?"
He felt bad, really bad, "I'm sorry, but I don't. I don't even know who I am…" The migraine intensified, he was starting to hear a high pitched ringing in his ears.
She squeezed her eyes shut, as if willing her tears away. For some reason, his heart clenched at the thought of causing her pain, "Your name," she said softly, "is Leo Valdez. You're a demigod, son of Hephaestus. You're…a hero, Leo."
He supposed a normal person would have been shocked at being told they were half god, but something felt right about her words…like he'd heard them before. "And who are you? Do you know how I got here or why I'm here?" That migraine was really getting bad, maybe she had some Excedrin…?
"My name is Calypso," she said slowly, "as to why you're here…you made me a promise a long time ago. You promised you'd come back for me," a lone tear streaked down her face, "you said you'd take me away."
At her words, Leo felt a strange chill run down his spine, 'An oath to keep with a final breath.' And then the migraine intensified and he blacked out.
The second time Leo woke up, it was to a constellation of brilliant crystals hanging above his head. He lay there, trying to remember what exactly had happened to him. Then, he groaned. How completely embarrassing! There he was, with that gorgeous girl, hugging him and kissing him and telling him he was a hero, and then he goes and faints.
He could picture it now, him fainting like a damsel in distress and the girl saying something like, "Oh, wow, yeah this guy's definitely not a hero. I was obviously confused, see ya!" And them some tall, handsome dude with golden hair and biceps the size of tree trunks would swoop in and be all "Hey babe, I'm back—let's go!" and then he'd pick her up like she weighed nothing and carry her out to the sunset as she called out "See ya, loser!" He probably had some scary looking tattoos too. Great. Fan-freaking-tastic.
"Leo? Are you awake?" it was Calypso's voice, soft, worried.
Leo snapped his head to the right, but the movement caused a wave of pain to course through his body, "You—arghhh!" he groaned again, that really hurt.
"You shouldn't move too much, I'm not sure if it was the fall or some previous injuries, but you were pretty beaten up," she said, coming up to his bed and rearranging the blanket over him, once again bringing that cinnamon scent with her, "you should probably take it easy for a while."
Her voice was soft, her touch gentle, affectionate. 'She really does care for me…she must have been really important to me. She had to be…'
He cleared his throat, and tried to speak softly, "How long was I out?"
"Only a few hours, I brought you here after I realized you wouldn't wake for some time."
"Where are we?" he looked around, moving slowly this time to not hurt himself.
She smiled softly, "This is my home, I suppose. We're in the cave I live in."
"It's beautiful," he said, looking back to the bright crystals above him, "thank you for bringing me here, and for taking care of me."
"Of course, hero," her smile looked slightly forced now, "it's the least I could do for you." She paused and took a breath, "Do you…still not remember?"
Again, he felt terribly guilty, "Look Calypso…I'm sorry. I really wish I could. I don't remember anything. I'm so sorry."
She swallowed, "It's not your fault, Leo. We'll figure out a way to get your memory back; for now, just concentrate on feeling better. Go back to sleep, your body still needs rest." With that, she stood up and walked out of the cave.
Now, Leo felt really terrible. He wondered what their story was, what kind of guy was he that he could somehow get a girl like Calypso to care for him? He wished more than anything that he could be that guy now, that he could be the kind of guy who'd make her smile, and laugh. But there was nothing.
He sighed deeply, frustrated, and was back asleep before he even realized it.
The next time he woke up, he was alone in the cave and sunshine was pouring in from the cave entrance. He tried moving and found that whatever pain was ailing him before was all but gone. As he sat up, his muscles were a little sore, but nothing he couldn't deal with.
He stood slowly and looked about the cave. Aside from the bed, there was a loom in one corner of the room, a harp in another, and one wall was lined with shelves filled with all kinds of jars and flasks. As he turned, he caught sight of a mirror and approached it, realizing that he had no idea what he looked like.
Staring back at him was a young man; Leo would guess that he was about 17 or 18. He had curly dark brown hair (that looked so messy he had to run his hands through it several times to get it to look somewhat presentable) and thick brows. His face was somewhat angular, his ears somewhat pointed, and his eyes a deep chocolate brown. He definitely wasn't buff, but he wasn't entirely disappointed with the state of his muscles, he had a lean cut, like an acrobat.
He noticed a scar coming out of his collar—a battle scar, perhaps? But as he yanked his collar down to look at it, he noticed another. He furrowed his brow, confused, and raised his shirt up to look at his chest closer. There was a multitude of scars criss-crossing over his chest, some of them looked pretty shallow, some deep, some looked pretty painful. Where the hell did he get these?
Sighing and annoyed once more at his lack of memory, he yanked his shirt down and resolved to find Calypso. It was a beautiful day outside, the sun was still rising, it was probably early morning. As he exited the cave, his eyes were immediately drawn to a beautiful garden on his right, and in the midst of it he saw Calypso.
She was wearing a normal pair of jeans and a white t-shirt, her hair up in a messy ponytail, and there was mud all over her. With the look of determination on her face as she labored in her task, Leo thought she had never looked more gorgeous, if that was even possible. She was so focused on her task that she failed to notice Leo until he was standing right in front of her.
She squinted up at him and shielded her eyes from the sun as she met his gaze, "Good morning Leo," she said amicably, "how are you feeling?"
"Hey," he said, happy that for once she didn't look completely heartbroken, "I'm feeling a lot better, thanks for taking care of me."
She stood up and wiped her muddied hands off on her jeans, "You must be starving, let's eat."
He followed her to a table sitting just outside her garden, already laden with different fruits and glasses of orange juice. She went to wash her hands on a basin nearby, and he stood there awkwardly as he waited for her to finish. Then, because it was never too early for an awkward encounter with Leo Valdez, she turned and bumped into him.
Immediately his hands went about her waist to steady her, and she looked up at him with wide eyes, "Sorry…" her voice sounded breathy, it was almost a whisper.
There was a spot of mud just above her jawline, and Leo stared at it, mesmerized. Without even thinking about it, he reached up to her face and wiped it off—and all of a sudden her eyes seemed to darken, "You had some…mud," he said, slowly.
She stared at him for another moment, then cleared her throat and stepped back, "Right, thanks." She grabbed a seat, "Let's eat?"
He couldn't help but feel disappointed and stupid, 'Get ahold of yourself, Valdez!' He shook his head and sat down at the table, digging into the delicious meal Calypso had prepared.
"So," Calypso said after a short pause, "what's your plan now, hero?"
"Plan?" he looked at her, confused, how the hell was he supposed to know? "I guess I'll try to figure out a way to get us out of here…that is what I promised you, isn't it?"
She nodded, seeming satisfied with his answer, "Yes, it is. Do you know how you're going to go about it?"
"Ummm…" he trailed off. She was looking at him expectantly, almost as if she was testing him, "I suppose I'll take a look at that dragon again," he said slowly, "maybe I can figure out a way to re-build it or something."
This time she smiled at him, as if this was exactly what she'd wanted him to say, "Good, that sounds more like the Leo I remember. What will you need to get started?"
Again, Leo faltered, how the hell was he supposed to know what he needed? "I should probably take a look at it first, see what state it's in. I don't even know if I can re-build it."
Calypso stood up, "The dragon's name is Festus. You built it yourself, and I'm confident that you can re-build him once more." She walked to the cave and returned holding a toolbelt, "This belongs to you, you used it to get out of this island last time. You were somehow able to retrieve tools from it."
The second Calypso had pulled out that toolbelt, Leo knew it belonged to him. He swiftly picked it out of her hands and strapped it around his waist, almost sighing with relief at how right it felt to have that with him once more, "Thanks, I think this was very important to me once."
She smiled once more, "Yes," her eyes danced, "I think it was."
When Leo approached his crash site and witnessed wreckage that Festus had left behind, he almost gave up. There were pieces of metal scattered about everywhere, and thanks to his awesome memory, he had no idea where to even begin.
He sighed, disappointed in himself, and turned to Calypso, "I don't even know where to start," he said, "I don't remember how I built this…I don't know if it's possible."
For once, Calypso looked angry, "What are you talking about? You're Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus!" She gestured at him, "You're the one hero that actually tried to figure out a way out of this island. You're the one that worked for weeks trying to do the impossible. I don't care if your memory is gone, you're still Leo and you will find a way out of here! You promised!"
Leo took a step back, surprised at her anger, "Well what the hell am I supposed to do?" he asked, annoyed that she'd made him feel guilty once more, "Like I said, Sunshine, I DON'T REMEMBER!"
Calypso whirled her head around to him, and looked at him in shock. "What?" he huffed, 'why the hell is she acting so strange?' Then, solidifying Leo's belief that perhaps she was truly crazy, she started laughing. "What?!"
"What-" she laughed at him, "What did you just call me?"
"Sunshine?" She laughed softly and stepped forward to hug him, 'Figures, the pretty ones are always crazy…' Once more, Leo neglected to put his arms around her in his confusion.
She stepped back, "You used to call me that," she said gently, "at first you called me that when you were annoyed with me, but then you called me that all the time…"
"Oh." Well, perhaps she wasn't that crazy, "I didn't remember that…at least I don't think I did…"
She smiled, "It doesn't matter. Your memories must be buried in there somewhere, and I will do anything I can to help you remember."
She looked so determined that Leo felt a spark of hope rise in his chest, maybe those memories were still there, leaking out slowly. Maybe she'd cure him. "Yeah, I'm sure you're right," he looked over the wreckage once more, "maybe there is a way to fix this. I'm sure I can figure it out."
"That's more like it," she nodded, "Take the rest of the day, think about it. Then, tomorrow, we start working."
There was a gleam in her eyes, like she couldn't wait to get started.
"Sounds like a plan."