A/N: Hey all! Sorry this one took some time to get out there. I was having some writer's block and decided I wanted to re-read the series for some inspiration. I was also struggling with how exactly I wanted to portray Calypso's backstory, but I think I'm happy with the way it turned out…Anyways, please enjoy!
Calypso didn't quite know what to make of the modern world. She and Leo had arrived in Malta about two hours ago and she still wasn't over her shock.
She winced as she remembered her first reaction upon seeing the busy streets filled with "cars." The second she saw one of those gigantic things coming right at her she screamed bloody murder—after all, now that she was mortal she had a bit more concern for her wellbeing. After calming down the crowds and explaining to everyone that he wasn't a criminal or trying to murder her, Leo had assured her that the "cars" were not monsters but rather a method of transportation, like an upgraded chariot. Calypso decided that the less time she spent inside those speeding contraptions, the better.
They had proceeded to wander the streets of Malta, staying as far away from the roads as they could. Calypso was hoping to find something resembling her birthplace, but so far nothing looked like it once used to. She tried not to let the disappointment show on her face, but she had a feeling Leo had picked up on it already.
"Hey why don't we stop at that café over there and get some lunch?" he pointed at a semi-secluded café at the top of a hill, it had a nice outdoor patio overlooking the port.
"Yes, of course, that would be nice," she tried for a smile, but she wasn't sure how genuine it was.
They were seated promptly and Leo took the liberty of ordering for them, as she had no familiarity with modern foods, "Huh," he said as he looked down at the port, "that's weird, it almost feels like…aaargh!"
Calypso shot up in alarm and put her arms around Leo, who had halfway collapsed off his chair, "Leo, what's wrong?!"
He shuddered and took a deep breath, "Nothing, I'm fine. It's just a headache."
"You're not fine! What happened?" she ran her hand over his face, over his neck, over his arms, making sure that he was okay.
"I said I'm fine!" he pushed her hands off him and sat up fully, "I just had this weird dejavu feeling but it's gone now…" he winced and pressed his hands to his temples, "Well, mostly."
She frowned at him in worry, "Maybe we should get out of here, if you're in pain…"
"No, I'm sure it will pass soon," his smile looked more like a wince, "It's nothing a pretty girl like you can't distract me from."
"Ha-Ha." She deadpanned, still looking over him worriedly.
The waitress brought their food and Leo dug in with gusto, so Calypso decided to dismiss her worry and tried to enjoy her meal—she tasted none of it.
After they were done eating Leo sat back and looked over her, "So, what do you think so far?"
"Of what, Malta?" he nodded, "It's so different…I mean I knew it would be different but I had hoped that I would recognize some small things, but there's nothing at all."
"I'm sorry that you're disappointed," he said emphatically.
She shook her head, "No, It's fine. It's been so long that I really shouldn't be so surprised. It just doesn't feel like home anymore…"
She trailed off, looking down at the port and the city below them, "There's one more place I'd like to check out, there used to be a lot of power there, maybe…it could be the one thing that survived from my time."
Leo nodded and sat up quickly, swooning lightly and clutching his head, "Uhh is it nearby or can we take Festus?"
In all honestly Calypso would have preferred to make the climb up there by foot, but she was worried for Leo's wellbeing, "It's a bit of a climb, we can take Festus up there."
Leo nodded appreciatively and walked off to a secluded patch of woods, he pulled out a large whistle from his toolbelt and blew into it, Calypso winced at the shrill sound, but no one else seemed to hear it. No one else seemed to notice the giant bronze dragon that settled down right in front of Leo either; it had been a while since she experienced first-hand just how powerful the Mist was against mortals.
After directing Leo from atop Festus, they swooped down at the base of an abandoned hillside on the western end of the island. "Up there," she pointed at the top of the hill, Festus had been too large to settle down on top of it, and Calypso was glad for it. It wouldn't feel right to let Festus disturb the land up there, "Are you feeling well enough to make the climb?"
"Yeah," Leo nodded, "whatever that was earlier is gone." He took her hand, "Let's go."
Calypso smiled at him and this time it was genuine, she was glad for his company on this trek especially. The two began to make their way up the hill, which proved to be more difficult than she expected since the path that had previously led up to it had vanished completely. She supposed that no one had been here in a while, and she was glad for it.
When they finally reached the top Calypso pulled up short, overlooking the summit before her. Leo stopped right beside her and looked back and forth between her and the space in front of them.
"Not to be anti-climactic or anything," he said, "but was there supposed to be anything up here?"
She kept her eyes fixed on the summit and spoke softly, "Not something you'd recognize."
She stepped forward lightly, almost afraid of disturbing anything. To the naked eye she supposed the summit looked pretty average—just a field of barren landscape and shrubbery like any other Greek hill. But this one was special, because it was on this hill that Calypso was born. It was on this hill that Calypso had spent countless days and nights, sometimes playing with her siblings, or sitting at the edge of the hill while her mother brushed her hair and sang to her, where she would run to when she needed to escape from her father. Some of the best moments of Calypso's life were lived on this hill…but also some of the worse.
She hadn't realized she'd been crying until she felt Leo's hand around her own, "Hey, are you okay?" he was peering closely at her—she'd been so caught up in the past she had momentarily forgotten he was even here.
"This hillside is my birthplace," she said softly, "I spent most of my life here, before I was imprisoned in Ogygia…"
"Oh," he looked around once more, "so this place must have a lot of memories for you." He looked down at his feet, and Calypso had an inkling that he was thinking of his own missing memory.
"Yes," she pointed to the edge of the hill, "over there is where I would often sit to think...the moon would look so big at night…"
She remembered the last time she sat in that very spot, with the full moon looming above her. The last time she had been here was the night that sealed her fate; it was the night she resolved to support her father in the first Titan War.
"I was never close to my father, you know. I always preferred my mother, she was kind, understanding, peaceful…I often wondered why she loved my father so much. I never thought they complemented each other. He was never nice to her, or loyal, or anything. But she loved him nonetheless."
She waited for Leo to say something, but he merely nodded, letting her vent.
"Growing up under my father's rule was harsh. He was the General of the Titan army, and he expected all his children to excel at fighting and war tactics. He believed that all his children should love battle and bloodshed as much as he did. To be honest I wasn't bad at fighting, but I always loved healing more. I can't tell you how angry he would get; he'd start beating me senseless, yelling all the while that I was too much like my mother…
"The last time I was on this hill my father gathered all his children and all his wives and told us there was a war coming. He told us about Zeus and his gods rallying together to take the Titans' power away. Finally my father's skills were needed, and he required the support of all his children to fight against these upstart gods. A few of my weaker siblings were able to talk themselves out of fighting, but most were eager to join in the fight and serve father. By the end of the day, it was just him, my mother and myself left on this hillside.
"I fully expected my mother to deny his plea to join his army, she wasn't the type of person I could ever picture taking part of a war. But when my father asked for her help she didn't even hesitate, she was ready to die for him, just like that. And then…then he turned to me, his most troublesome, rebellious daughter…"
She shut her eyes tightly and swallowed down the sob that was beginning to rise up her throat, "The way he looked at me that night—I always wanted him to look at me like that. He told me that it didn't matter that I resisted him all those years, it didn't matter that I let my skills go to waste. He said the reason he pushed me so hard is because he saw so much potential in me and that no matter what I decided, he was proud to call me his daughter. Then he put his arms around me and planted a kiss on my forehead for the first time in my life…he told me to take my time to make a decision. He said he would ride to war the next morning with or without me…but that it was his biggest hope that his favorite daughter would ride beside him."
She stopped, her chest felt tight and it was hard to breathe. "Calypso," spoke Leo, "You don't have to—"
"No," she cut him off, "I do. I need you to understand, Leo. I just need someone to understand."
He sighed and gave her one of his half-grins, "Okay."
"After my father left I tried asking my mother why she would support him when she was so peaceful and he'd been so terrible to her…she said that she loved him and that he's my father and had always done what he thought was best for me. And then she left. And I went over to that ledge and I sat down staring at the moon for hours, trying to decide…
"All I ever wanted was for him to accept me, and finally he had…despite how horrid our relationship was, he was still my father and I believed that he loved me. And just like my mother, I still loved him somehow…A daughter's duty is to serve her father, I told myself. So the next morning I rode into battle with him against the Olympians."
Suddenly, she felt Leo's arms around her, and she allowed herself to enjoy his embrace for just a moment before she pulled away, "Calypso, it's okay. You did it because you loved your father…I would never hold that against you."
A laugh, bitter, escaped her; "How about the fact that I was such a fool?" she shook her head, bitter tears welling up in her eyes, "I was a fool to believe he meant anything he said to me that night. He lied to me, he manipulated me and I fell right for it. He never loved me, he cared nothing for me. When the Titans were defeated he sold me out for a lesser punishment for himself. There was no way the gods could have bound me to that island without my father's help—I was too strong for them. He encouraged the gods to channel my mother's own power to bind me to the island—after all, there's no bond stronger than blood. They bound me by spilling her blood on Ogygia's soil and cast that wretched curse on me with its power. If I hadn't been such a fool then perhaps my mother could have been spared, but I fell for my father's trickery so easily!"
"Hey!" Leo waved his hands in her face, "That's not fair, how were you supposed to know? Calypso it's been millennia, you can't blame yourself for this. If anything, blame Atlas for what he did to you! You weren't a fool, you were just trying to make the best out of a shit situation…I mean…Luke, he was your father!"
"Luke?" had she heard him right?
His eyes widened in shock and then he grimaced in embarrassment, "Oh gods, I'm sorry, that slipped out. It was a really, really, really, bad joke that you won't understand until I educate you in modern references, but I'm so sorry, this is the wrong time to be telling jokes."
She couldn't help it, she laughed. This was why she needed Leo in her life. Only he could make such a ridiculous joke out of such a serious conversation, even if she didn't fully understand it, "Only you, Hot Head."
He laughed along with her, "You bet, Sunshine!"
Still shaking her head at Leo's antics she reached down and placed both her hands down on the soil, feeling the ancient magic still humming under the surface. "There's still so much power left over here, I wonder if—"
She gasped, suddenly feeling an influx of power. It seemed that the strange magics recognized her somehow, and she felt some of it channel its way into her. The power felt familiar, safe, almost like…
"What is it?" Leo crouched down in front of her, peering at her closely.
"It's…me," she murmured softly, "I used to practice my sorcery here. I never thought that I had left so much of myself behind…"
"Uhh, how about we pretend I know nothing of ancient magic and have no idea what you're saying?"
"Like I said, I had too much power to be contained in Ogygia. The gods took most of it away when they imprisoned me…it seems some of it found its way back here, since I was so tied to this land. It's really not much, but I suppose it's better than nothing." She willed the power to continue flooding through her and took stock.
Leo hesitated, and took a shallow breath before he spoke, "Is it enough to restore your immortality?" There was a guilty look in his eyes that nearly broke her heart.
"No, nothing close to that," she said, "and even if it was I wouldn't use it. I've already told you Leo, I want to be mortal with you. I won't change my mind about it."
He sighed, as if he expected that answer, "Well then how much is it?"
She smiled at him and stood up straight, "It's more than enough. Now come on, I think this is all I want to see of Malta, where do you want to go next?"
He grinned at her and pulled out his whistle to call for Festus, "Oh I have a few ideas."
A/N: Woooooo the adventure continues! The next chapter will be in Calypso's POV…I've had the idea for this chapter for a while so I hope it comes out the way I originally envisioned it…but I might have to split it into two chapters, we'll see!
Anyways, let me know what you think, I really get inspired to write faster when I get plenty of feedback :D
As always, thanks for reading, and leave a review!