A/N: Thanks for everything. This means reading, reviewing, favouriting, following . . . and if you did any of these by accident, or hated this story, hey, thanks. Still cool you came upon this. Now, you can read or ignore the following note, because it is long. And yes, it's relevant - sort of. I could make a condensed version, but I think you get the point(s).

1. Quick thing to explain the two ships—I do ship Caleo. But I feel that there's not enough moments to make it cute, you know? And Jason and Piper portrayed were great—but what disappointed me was that Jason didn't have a scene that showed his personal flaws. I know he was Praetor, past was hard, and he had to act a certain way and be all 'perfect', but I think it could deeper in his perspective. The moment when he and Piper watched the stars and Jason was breaking the rules was an adorable moment, so I found lots of respect for him. It was like moving on, and I like to think that he was bold at that moment because Leo was gone (so you can twist it into a Valgrace moment).

2. The titles for each chapters don't actually relate to what's inside the chapter—once the story is complete, it'll show a couple of sentences that form dialogue. I was inspired by 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World', by Calla Mae which in fact hers is way more awesome. If anybody is a fan of The Maze Runner, you should go check her story out.

3. Somebody was worried that this will also have Pernico in it. Um, don't worry—this WON'T be a Pernico story. Strictly Valgrace only. If I write my two favourite ships, this story may be crazy :) Contrary to belief, I do ship Percabeth. Who wouldn't especially after their Underwater Kiss and Falling Into Tartarus? I suppose that's why most Pernico stories are AU or Annabeth dies.

4. After that being said (yeah, I'm on a roll for a long author's note) this story may be fast-paced. I was thinking of having the process go slowly, but I don't have the patience. So obviously I will add time skips. If this were a slow story, you'll have to suffer through long conversations, Jason acting strange, Leo developing the feelings, and Calypso drifting away.

5. Reviews -

HashtagMC: I thought you were gone or something, because I haven't heard from you lately. Happy to know you're still here. By 'here', I mean on FanFiction. And that you're alive, of course :p

Zunifex: Thanks for the review, kudos to you! (That was bad rhyming, I know...)

Oh, and I forgot to say thank you to TooLazyToLogin/TooLazyToSignIn. Your reviews were amazing! I am pretty sure you're the same person, and I'm glad that you weren't too lazy to review. Couldn't help but smile and ohmygods, I love them. Whoever you are, I'm giving you a virtual cookie (although that doesn't make sense)

SPOILER ALERT: In The Trials of Apollo, I was disappointed of how Leo returned because first: Jason and Piper weren't there. Off to some school or whatever in Los Angeles? I forgot. Second: The reunion sounded kind of fake. I mean, random demigods were just going up to Leo and crying and punching him. Oh, wait, some of those were his cabin siblings, sorry. I actually skimmed through the book, so I am not sure if Jason/Piper/Leo reunited or not yet. Speaking of which, I should probably read it again for Solangelo. In total, Apollo is an awesome character! I felt like his characterization was a bit off. He didn't sound like he was eons years old, but maybe his speech changes since he's a teenager.


Chapter Four: LEO

could you accept me for the way I am?

So what does a demigod who has just been unconscious for three whole days do? Good question.

Normal people would probably chat with their friends and stuff, maybe act like it's all okay and reassure, but by now you should know I wasn't exactly, erm, normal. I blame my complete awesomeness, so you can see how it can be a curse. People don't exactly get me, seeing some scrawny boy acting like a lunatic. In my eyes . . . I see a scrawny yet hot guy acting cool (which both cancel each other out into the version of that awesomeness). We all have our perspectives.

I found Calypso in the Dining Pavilion, the sight amazing me because first: she blended in with her jeans and white blouse, and second: she was laughing with Percy and Annabeth. I couldn't help but feel kind of irritated, because yes, Percy did leave her in Ogygia but now they were acting like the best of buddies.

Whoa, she likes you, I reminded myself. There's no reason to be jealous. "Guess who's not dead, Sunshine!" I announced, walking over to the Poseidon table.

Her eyes brightened. "Leo," the former Titaness said slowly, "I suppose you do have a death wish. How can one person be so stupid?"

I knew it was her way of saying she loved me, glad you're not dead, and so I grinned. "Beats me."

"Hey, man," Percy greeted happily. He was eating pizza, but it laid forgotten when he noticed me. "We had many theories of when you were going to come back. First, you were a ghost going to haunt us. Second —"

"Percy," Annabeth warned. "I swear, Nico would probably come kill you if you keep mentioning that."

"It's not implausible!"

"Wow, I always wanted to be a ghost," I said, but Percy and Annabeth were already bickering about the theory. "You guys do know that Calypso and me flew on a dragon, traveled around the world, and came here, right?"

"I think we should leave this old married couple alone," Calypso teased. "Are there any places you wish to show me?"

"Yeah!" I suspected it was a girl's dream to go to the forge—I mean, come on, who doesn't like the smell of oil and hammer noises that sound like someone boxing against a vehicle? Fun times. Hm, that came out wrong. She followed alongside me, but was biting her lip. "Something wrong, Sunshine?"

"When we left the island, I—"

"Lost your powers," I finished.

"Yes. Are you okay with that?"

"I'm okay if you are."

She studied me for a moment before smiling. "Of course I'm okay. When I was on the island, I worried that nobody could ever rescue me off. Sometimes I was so close to freedom, but then they will leave me behind. It was part of my curse. It was you who made me believe that I will get off the island. You brought hope, not sadness. It's what I needed."

Was this the right moment to kiss? I didn't know. Gods, what if she expected me to say something intelligible back? My internal thinking must have been too long, though, because Calypso looked away. Yeah, I messed-up. Such a bad boyfriend. "I always wondered about the meaning of life." Okay, good. I struck a deep conversation.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean, is . . ." I grabbed her hand, a spree of bravery in me, and continued, "If each person had a purpose in life, that sounds depressing. I mean, the mortals work, demigods fight—that's it. And the bad guys apparently kill because they have nothing better to do." Calypso let go of my hand, and I realised I hit a sore subject. Right, her father was a Titan. "Um, what I meant was . . ." What did I mean?

"Good night," she said, and then quickly went away. I didn't know where because I was too busy chastising myself.

Stupid. I should have stopped right there. What was wrong with me? My mind dimly echoed to me, Everything. And then I registered her words 'good night'. I looked up at the clear, blue sky and the sun beating down at my face.

Having a ex-Titaness being pissed off at me was not on my checklist.


I figured spending hours inside the Bunker 9 was reasonable. Calypso needed time to think whether I was even worth it, given that I screwed-up on an offending topic.

I fiddled with the bolt on an automaton. I've decided to make an android just for fun. That sounds crazy, I know, but it was a good pastime. I could actually move, and let myself pour my thoughts into building. Lying confined in one space really affected my ADHD.

"Voila," I said. "C'est fini!" I hold the remote in my right hand, commanding the machinery to move to the left. Instead, it took steps toward me. Its feet made a CLUNK, CLUNK sound, and panicking, I threw the controllers at its head. The android paused, and then continued walking.

"HELP! I have created a monster!" I shouted, leaping out into the woods. Maybe I could have crushed it with my foot, or whatever, but I wasn't thinking straight. What freaked me out was that it was following me.

A couple of campers stared at me, giving the usual okay-he's-a-weirdo before continuing to their schedule.

I spotted Piper walking, chatting to a small girl with braces. "Hey, Beauty Queen, you need to help me!"

"What's wrong?" Her eyes widened at me, and I reminded myself that we haven't talked in a while.

"That!" The cyborg, instead of tripping over the ground, hopped over the roots and rocks. "Remind me never to insert a chip containing IQ of a dolphin."

"I don't see what's wrong."

"Make it stop following me creepily!" I hid behind the daughter of Aphrodite's back, which may have been pointless, because she was shorter.

The girl with braces rolled her eyes at me. "Get a grip."

"Oh, please! You're only eight—you won't understand what the word 'stalker' means."

"From what I gathered, you created the walking contraption. And I am not eight; I am ten years old and very mature for my age."

I figured she was either the daughter of Athena or Demeter, and flicked Piper's arm.

Piper had an amused look, but it disappeared when the cyborg advanced forwards, and went over her sneakers. "Ahh!" she yelped. "Get off!" The automaton froze for a moment, and Piper shook her foot, flinging it feet away into a tree. "What in the Hades was that, Leo?"

"One of my inventions." She gave me a Look, and then tackled me into a hug that was suffocating. Sometimes I underestimated her strength.

And then we had a friendly conversation, bringing back to the Gaea War—when I died—which kind of sounded repetitive to me.

Piper: Gods, Leo! You are so stupid!

Me: Yeah.

Piper: You gave me a heart attack!

Me: Yeah.

Piper: You nearly ruined my life!

Me: Yeah.

While she was running out of things, I added, "I missed you."

She dissolved into tears. "Stupid," she mumbled.


Five hours later, figuring I was pathetic to stand outside the Hermes cabin, waiting for Calypso to come out, I went in. It wasn't the smartest move, naturally. Since there was no Atlas cabin, Calypso had to survive in Cabin Eleven.

The many Hermes campers were yelling, punching, stealing each other's things, and one guy was just sitting on his bed eating Doritos. I found the former Titaness sitting in an empty corner, drawing in a notebook.

"I thought gardening was your thing?" I questioned.

She slowly looked up, the corners of her mouth twitching. "I picked up more hobbies, too."

"So, can we talk?"

Standing up, Calypso wisely kept her sketchbook in her hand. I think she was doodling a cow, but it was hard to see with the angle. "Let's go to some place quieter."

We walked out, and ducked just in time when a shoe was flung out the door. I felt sorry for the chaos. If I had that many siblings who were annoying, I'll disown them. In a technical mater, of course.

Appropriate enough, it was sunset and most people outside were going indoors. A group of demigods were playing a volleyball game, the last moments of it. One side cheered as the ball hit the net.

"There is so much," Calypso said in awe. I could tell she was amazed about everything. If we were an ordinary couple, I'll introduce her to the world of Doctor Who, or Adventure Time. But I did notice that nothing was ordinary.

"Do you regret leaving Ogygia with me?" I asked, which was blunt of me. Should I have been less serious? Nah, seriousness was Jason's thing.

"No . . ." She cautiously approached closer, like I was about to go psycho on her. "I'm glad that you rescued me. But now that I'm a mortal, I think I need to focus on adjusting to this life. It wasn't easy waiting for eons. Our relationship is just going to be temporarily off, and the thing is . . . if we see other people, it may change what we feel about each other."

"That's true." I nodded mechanically, my throat running dry. It's over. She's saying we're not right for each other, but over-layering it with excuses. I decided to test this. "I guess it wouldn't have worked out anyway."

"Yes."

"After all," I added, "I'm not one of those fairy-tale princes. I'm not chivalrous—I'm sarcastic. I'm not strong—but I can face the truth. I-I'm not even close to being perfect—but I try."

"Leo . . ." Calypso looked sad, and my heart broke.

"Sorry I'm not good enough for you."

"Leo—"

"Hey, it's okay. We're still friends, right?" It was going to be painful if we were, but it was a polite thing to say.

She wrapped her arms around me, and I tried with difficulty not to cry—I really did.