Trigger warning: (Spoiler alert) Calypso spirals into depression and then bursts into pieces
Calypso felt a lot of emotions. Emotions she hadn't felt in a long time. Happiness, worry, adoration for another being. For once, she did not feel hate towards the gods for trapping her on this island.
Admittedly, she did throw a little tantrum when Persephone was first brought to her island, thinking about how the gods kept dumping their problems on her – they did. It made her feel like a useless toy when she was an immortal Titaness. It made her ichor churn with violent rage. But when little Persephone turned up, Calypso's entire world turned upside down. For those first fleeting years, it had been her high.
But one thing kept worrying her. 'When would the gods find out about this?' she asked herself almost every day. 'When would the gods find out about this and take her away from me?'
So, she enjoyed whatever time she had with Persephone. She found out that Persephone never knew her real mother, and she lived in the water her whole life, so, for the first few days, she would sit at the bottom of the ocean surrounding Ogygia because 'Air was funny and vacant'. She was also extremely malnourished, causing Calypso to bring out her inner mother, and feed Persephone until she was groveling at her feet to stop.
They could talk for hours on end, about Greek myths, the gods, and Percy's extended family. And, after a year or so, Persephone had called Calypso 'Mother', and Calypso was elated. She flew with the help of her air spirits. It was established now, that Calypso was Percy's adoptive mother.
She'd also had a lot of firsts with her. Her first nickname, which was Percy. Her first Greek-styled ice cream, when Hephaestus had given her the ice cream maker and Apollo had given her the recipe.
Her first sword-fighting lesson (though it was quickly discarded), her first knitting lesson, her first chiton, everything.
But that all changed on Percy's seventh birthday. She was woken up by Percy shaking her violently.
"Mother, mother, wake up, some random person is on Ogygia."
And that could only mean one thing. So, she bolted right outside the door, an intrigued and slightly put-off Percy in tow.
Sure enough, a bald person with a rainbow on his arm. A son of Iris, most probably. Even bald, he was handsome. And Calypso felt herself being smitten yet again at the sight of him, staring into that little tattoo.
She was brought back to consciousness by Percy tugging on her arm, as she strode forward to meet the male. Funny, no male who had ever stepped foot on her island was ever conscious when reaching. She suddenly had this bizarre tugging feeling inside where her gut was supposed to be – like something bad was about to happen. And just now, she noticed the billows of thick, dark smoke rising behind the man.
She took the man's hand and kissed it. She was aware, that the greeting style had changed in the 'modern world' but going back to her roots sometimes was nice. Also, she just wanted to kiss it. This was the fastest she'd fallen for someone in her entire life.
"Get me out of here! Where am I? And who are you?" the boy yelled, jerking his soft, warm hands away.
"Why you are on Ogygia, and I am Calypso." She said, barely even aware of the little wonder named Percy on her hand, until she tugged her arm again.
"Mother, I'm scared." She said, earning an incredulous look from the demigod, as his eyebrows shot up to his hairline. It seemed as if he had heard about her in some way. It was kind of offensive, though – are immortals not supposed to have children?
She picked Percy up, who was now getting kind of heavy and ushered the Iris-spawn into her home. But, just then, a familiar whoosh filled the heavy silence, alerting her, as a dreaded feeling escaped from her heart. The raft had come. She'd loved him too soon. The worst part was, she didn't even know when that had happened.
A heavy weight settled on her heart, making her chest tighten. Her heart ached so bad, she just wanted to wrench it out of her chest. She was exhausted now, of that same crushing feeling, the same dull ache that meant heartbreak.
But still, she turned, staggering as she let Percy down.
"How do I go?" the demigod repeated. That was the only question anybody ever asked. Never how she felt, always, 'how do I go?' To say it saddened her to no extent was an understatement. Did her mental health not matter to anyone at all? Was she that expendable, and worthless, and utterly revolting that people always wanted to get away from her?
"The raft", she said, shakily, and pointed over his shoulder. He turned to it.
"It will take you wherever you want to go." She exhaled shakily, engaged in an internal argument, about whether to ask him to stay, even though she knew her attempts were futile. But impulse overcame her.
"Will you stay?" she asked, staring right into his sharp eyes.
"But mother, didn't you tell me, that when the raft comes, the people go?" Percy said, looking at her with the most innocent look she could muster. She knew that - she did, but it broke her entire system to hear it from another being.
Looking back up, the demigod had now turned to her with a pitiful expression – one she hated, but coming from somebody she was supposed to 'love'? She was drowning in her emotions by this point.
"I-I can't stay, I'm sorry-" The demigod started, almost ashamed, as he was interrupted by a blinding, white light, which drowned them and seared into her brain for minutes on end.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that the light had been caused by a man, a god to be specific, a god in a pinstriped suit and a grey, straggly beard.
Zeus.
She saw him only once, in different attire, back when she'd gotten punished. It was a little fuzzy, but it couldn't be mistaken. You really can't forget the face of the man who tortured you for eons on end, the very man who'd spoilt Percy's life.
Her voice spitting venom, she said, albeit reluctantly, "May I help you, my lord?"
He simply said, "Give me Persephone."
And with this simple sentence, Calypso's brain started working so fast, it was hard to keep track of all her thoughts. But she knew that Zeus wanted to kill Persephone.
"No?" she said meekly, almost like it was a question. But her decision had been final from the day she saw Percy – no one would ever take her away from her.
"Give me Persephone, and I'll let you live. It is for the betterment of the world, Calypso, and you know this." He raised his voice a little more this time, intimidating her. Behind her, Percy whimpered a little, hugging her legs, apparently having sat down.
"No, you mosquito!" she said, mustering all her hatred towards the so-called 'god'. . "I'm immortal, don't you know that? Or are you just as forgetful as those market women? You'll never get Persephone, Zeus! Never!" She was quite appalled at herself to be rude to a god, but he was threatening Persephone. And the audacity to tell her that he would kill her?
"Calypso, you forget. I have complete control over you, since your father, is banished." Zeus stepped dangerously closer, sneering. Percy was sobbing behind her, wrenching noises out of her throat. She must have realized that this was a threat. Even the demigod stayed to watch.
"You forget, I can do this." Zeus snapped his fingers. And when he did, Calypso screamed in pure agony, because she felt like each, and every cell of her body was being ripped apart and set to fire individually. Each of her organs felt full of acid and other foul substances, and it hurt. It was like all the pain in the world had accumulated and had been put upon her.
When the pain had subsided a little, her vision blurred and hearing swam in and out, like somebody was trying to kill her and her life was scudding across her eyes.
She saw Percy shaking her, and Zeus finally got a hold of Percy, burning her with his lightning. She saw the demigod, who, surprisingly, had not left Ogygia. He was trying to get Percy to safety. And she was forever thankful to him for that.
That was when the pain hit her again, coming in full force, like a wave on a full moon night, a high tide, a cyclone. The pain was like a second-degree burn – too painful to handle, but not so much as to numb it out and burn her nerves. She'd never felt this kind of pain before. She kept screaming until her voice turned hoarse, her face full of sand for she fell on the beach.
When the pain finally subsided, heavily panting, she got up, her hair sticking to her face. She staggered to stand on her noodle-like legs, limp and unfeeling. A dull ache had spread through her body, as if the tentacles of an octopus had settled on her, capturing every part of her body, starting from the core – her heart, which seemed to flutter its way up her throat, threatening to come out in bile. She could feel it thudding hard against her chest, working overtime to provide her with ichor.
"What did you do to me?" she asked, boring holes into Zeus' face, her stare as hard as steel, and unrelenting. She didn't care that she was disrespecting the king of gods, all she cared about was Persephone.
"I only did what I ever do to any other immortal who defies me, Calypso," Zeus said, with an infuriatingly calm voice. Oh, how she wanted to rip his face out. 'That must be a lot then', she thought. But was she really at fault for being born – did she ask for it? Why was she punished here on this island because of that? From the corner of her eye, she could see Percy standing with the demigod, who'd thankfully secured the raft into position with a rope. At least she would be safe.
But a sense of dread had settled over her, like a dark storm cloud that had taken over the bright, sunny day, suddenly appearing to dread faces, thoughts, and minds.
He had turned her mortal. He had turned her mortal and was going to kill her.
Sure enough, she felt the grainy sand poking into her bare feet, the static weather beating down upon her, and making her sweaty. The crab holes poked and pinched into her toes, which were now as weak as wet paper. Stabbing pains passed through her head as she tried to make sense of this new revelation, while Zeus stood smirking evilly. Oh, how she wished she could rip his stupid head off his shoulders, suck all his blood out – avenge all the nonsensical, sadistic, masochistic things he did to everyone.
She never sweated. Nor did she feel pain.
She barely had time to shout a request at the demigod, to take Percy away, before the smell of ozone hit her lungs, and the same agonizing pain was forced upon her, splitting her head apart with a headache. It was worse than being burned alive. In the end, she couldn't even feel anything except the numbing pain that seemed to set every cell of hers on fire.
And, just as fast as it had come, it went, leaving her in complete tenebrosity, slipping into the hands of death.
-x-
Hey guys! How are ya'll doing? My exams have started now, so I may not be able to update on schedule (this one being an example), but I will update once a week, no matter how busy I am. And, as always, I appreciate you taking the time to read my story and review it!
Also, just a clarification - Thalia, being born on 22nd December, is not yet born (since in the last chapter it was 18th of August). So, even though it is 4 years after Percy's birth, Thalia is still not born.
Thank you!
