CALYPSO found it hard to breathe, the silence that now fell upon Ogygia a harsh hand that found its way around her throat.
"Per— Percy…" He was still shaking, his eyes still rimmed red from tears that were already wept.
Calypso shakily tried to reach out to the wine-dark sea, to feel for the raft that had crossed the horizon, but the golden magic that was freely emanating from her body was too hectic, too confused to be controlled or managed.
"Percy you… You need to—" She surged towards her hero and grasped his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. His body gave no protest at her movement, and his eyes looked past Calypso with a glass-like expression, as if she was not even present. Calypso shook him, hard.
The wine-dark sea began to grow violent as Calypso reached out with unsteady magic once more, as currents began to churn against the surface of the once serene mirror. Percy shifted at the feeling. His eyes slowly refocused upon her almond eyes.
"…Need to do what?" Gone was the boisterous tone with which Calypso associated her hero with, instead replaced with something so soft and airy Calypso could barely hear his question.
"You need to… You need to leave, Percy!" Gone too was the measured, ethereal cadence of Calypso, as panic began to show within her speech.
"Leave, Calypso?" Percy breathed, voice louder now. "Why?"
Send him forth now. "Because you must!"
"Well, I kind of made sure that I couldn't." He released a shaky breath, followed by the pangs of something that could only be tangentially related to laughter.
Calypso's eyes widened. "What did you do?"
"I—" his breath hitched, Percy's throat bobbing as his eyes fought against a new onslaught of saltwater.
"Call it back!" She shook his shoulders once more.
Percy's eyes lost their war, and tears once more poured free down his face.
"Call it back!" Calypso roared.
"I—"
Her fists began to pound against his chest. "Call i—"
"I can't!" Percy screamed, or rather, choked out. He fell to his knees. "I can't call it back…" He took a deep breath, the disgusting sound of snot clogging his throat as he choked back more tears. "It's at the bottom of this godsforsaken sea."
Calypso's knees buckled, crashing into the cool sand beneath her. Her hands clung to the fabric of Percy's shirt, instinctively pulling him closer to her body. Ogygia's time of peace and tranquility was over. Athena bade Zeus to smite Calypso to the depths of Tartarus over Odysseus, and he was not even a child of divinity. What would Zeus or, gods above, Poseidon, do if a child of divine blood and prophecy stayed happy and together with Calypso?
"We can…" Calypso shakily pulled herself up, almost ripping the fabric of Percy's shirt as she strained to stand on her feet once more. "We can build you a new one!" Hastily taking note of Apollo's position in the sky, Calypso rapidly turned around and quickly began walking to the border of her tall trees, leaving Percy standing dazed and confused upon the white beach.
"Eos has only just arrived!" She laughed. "There is still time, my hero!"
"Calypso?" Her hero raced to follow Calypso's steps, as she sped down the dirt pathway that led to her grove of bountiful cedar trees. Percy had finally caught up, out of breath, once more asking her name.
"Calypso, stop!" Percy's hand grasped her wrist, and Calypso momentarily found herself surprised at the force and strength he employed. Golden magic began to radiate from Calypso and her wrist, and Percy seethed in pain, releasing his hand from the burning sensation that was now surrounding her body. She spun around, slamming Percy against a nearby tree with a gust of wind. Percy gasped for breath as he smashed into the bark.
"Do not touch me!" She snarled.
"What did I do, Calypso?" He cried, wincing in pain. "He told me I could stay!"
Calypso scoffed, glaring deep into Percy's eyes. "Oh, of course they gave you a choice, Percy!" The sound of waves crashing against the shoreline began to build as Calypso's anger began to encapsulate the island. She could feel Percy try to subtly reach out, to try and subdue the turmoil within the freshwater sea, an act only sending Calypso further into her rage.
"They never gave Odysseus a choice, did they? No!" Calypso was shouting now, magic flowing freely from her and bathing Percy in a golden light. "Drake was never given the option either! So, what makes you different, Percy? Surely you cannot even be allowed to think about staying with me! 'Send him forth now, or beware the wrath of Zeus!'" Calypso spat.
Percy had recovered admirably and had stood back up with his hands raised in a defensive gesture. "I don't know what to tell you, Calypso, but Hephaestus said I could stay here. You said I could stay here!"
Calypso could feel tears begin to form in the corners of her eyes. "Because I love you, Percy! I do not wish for you to leave, yet I am cursed for you to be gone!"
Percy, in young recklessness, took a step towards Calypso, unaware of the danger an enraged titaness held. "Then why am I still here, Calypso? Why hasn't Zeus come here himself after I sent the raft away? After I sunk it?"
Calypso matched Percy's advance. "Zeus?" She scoffed, "come here? Oh no, he sends others to do his dirty work."
"You didn't answer my question, Calypso."
"You being here will be rectified soon."
Percy had stopped his advance, now within arm's reach of Calypso. The hand of his sword arm rested closely against his body, clutching that same cylindrical object from before. "By who? You?"
"Yes, if it does indeed come to that."
Percy's hand slowly relaxed, moving to deposit the cylinder within the pocket of his trousers. He took a deep breath. "You don't deserve this, Calypso, no one does. Why do you think I chose to stay?"
Calypso scoffed. "You, a mortal, feel pity for me, a titaness?"
Percy's eyes lit up at her comment. "As long as I stay on this island, in your own words may I add, I'm also immortal. I think, all things considered, you and I are fairly equal right now. But—"
"Equal?"
Percy ignored her, plowing through her interruption. "...beside the point. I think the bigger question here is: why are you now so dead set on me leaving when you literally just offered for me to stay?"
"Because I am curs—"
"I don't want to hear about your curse, Calypso!" Percy was seething, the waves of the wine-dark sea a cacophony of rage now fully under his control. "Why are you pushing away? Why do you always push away?"
"Because…" Calypso started strong. "Because I…"
Did she not achieve what she had wanted to? Prove to Hermes that a hero would choose to stay here of their own free will, and one whom she has now freely admitted to loving at that.
Percy began after Calypso could not respond. "Do you know what I think, Calypso? I think you're too used to the pattern you were expecting."
The waves behind him calmed, and Calypso's anger-induced magic began to recede.
"You kept pulling away the entire time I was here, healing, treating me like some forbidden fruit, too scared to open Pandora's box. Well, guess what? It's been opened." Percy moved slowly, hesitantly reaching for Calypso's hands. "I don't think it's fair of the gods to keep you here alone, your heart breaking every time someone like me shows up. You deserve a friend."
Calypso gave a sad laugh. "Oh, Percy…. There has been no one quite like you."
"I get that a lot," Percy smirked. "But, Calypso, if you really want me to leave, I will. You have just as much a say in this as I do. Just don't tell me to leave because you think I'm needed out there. The answer to our question was… well it's beyond obvious. I have faith in Annabeth to figure it out. I have faith in Thalia to keep up the fight." Percy chuckled, "I have faith in Grover to keep everyone in one piece."
"But your mother—"
"Mom will…" He sighed deeply. "I think she's accepted I might never come home one of these days. Die on a quest or in a battle, especially after last December."
Accepting Percy's hold on her hands, she pulled her hero to her body and encased him in a strong hug, tears now freely flowing from her now golden eyes. Percy's eyes widened at the movement, but quickly returned the hug once he felt her arms around his back.
"Besides… maybe this will give Mom and Paul the ability to have a normal relationship." Percy let out a sigh against her neck. "Maybe they can have a normal life with normal kids as well."
Calypso's eyes closed shut as she tightened her grip around her hero. The warmth of her magic encased the pair in a soft, golden light. She could feel Percy take in a breath at the feeling. She took in a breath too; he smelled so strongly of the sea.
The waves behind them had now fully calmed, and the freshwater, wine-dark sea was once more the placid mirror she had seen an infinite number of times.
Maybe I can have a normal life now, too.
/ / /
"Where is father going?" Nausinous asked.
She could hardly keep her composure around their— her twins. "Father has… gone home, my darlings."
"But his home is here!"
/ / /
Calypso's eyes shot open to the pale moonlight that cascaded through her rocky window. Her hand moved to the side of her bed, grasping for a body she knew was not there. Even though Percy had made his choice to stay, Calypso still longed for the warmth of his body. The feeling was perhaps the most enjoyable feature her curse brought, the companionship and intimacy of sleeping together. But now, even though she was now accompanied on her isle, Calypso still felt a twinge of abandonment from her hero.
A white sheet floated through the air towards Calypso as she moved to stand. An orb of golden light formed in the palm of her hand as she searched for her leather sandals next to her dresser. Finding them, Calypso left her bedroom and slowly wandered through her caves, left only with her thoughts.
A normal life. The absurdity of such a statement finally came to Calypso after the excitement and anxiety had worn down from Percy's choice. Nothing about such a situation could allow for Calypso's life to be normal. The gods could still come at any moment, smite Calypso to the depths of Tartarus, or be chained with her father for the transgressions of her companion, yet the small promise of friendship and love kept those fears at bay. In the worst-case scenario, Calypso could prepare for at least seven years of happiness.
A normal life. Perhaps she had that, once upon a time. She had indeed borne two children with Odysseus, having the first and only family upon her isle. For six years Ogygia was filled with the joyous laughter of her babes, Odysseus taking his role as father reluctantly yet with great ease. Ogygia had been content with the family, and Odysseus himself had, for a time, lost his sense of sadness after their twins came into being. But then he left, and any hope of that normalcy was shattered.
A normal life. One could have been had with Francis Drake, perhaps. Their flame burned too brightly to ever last, Calypso could admit, but the intensity and mutual love and respect felt made it more depressing to ever think back on. For less than a year Calypso had been at the peak of her life, the most happy and free she had ever felt in her long, immortal life. The introduction of so many new foods and fashions, history and literature, kept her enraptured, her imagination blooming. But no, Francis Drake had obligations that not even Calypso could fault him for, and the novelty of their short flame was anything but normal.
A normal life. Percy was the youngest to have ever reached her shores, a fact that assuredly denied any eventual passion between the two. If she let him go, he would become the epitome of a hero. Instead, Percy denied himself the glory such a title would grant him and wanted to stay on Ogygia as… friends. The word stung as it rattled through Calypso's mind. The irony was palpable, her first resident to make the conscious choice to stay wishes only to give Calypso the company of friendship. Percy had not yet even spent the night in Calypso's bed since he first became conscious. Instead, her servants had cleared a space within her cave for Percy to reside, a surprise that left her enraged upon her learning. Perhaps it was why Calypso was not surprised as she found herself staring at the white sheet that hung in the makeshift doorway of Percy's room.
Slowly, Calypso grabbed the sheet and began to step inside Percy's room. The golden glow from her hands was now almost completely gone, a hand that now sent a small wave of magic towards her sleeping hero to ensure good dreams, while also keeping her presence completely unknown. Calypso had missed seeing her hero in this state. She missed hearing his soft breathing that would ever so occasionally turn into a quiet snore. She missed the warmth his body gave under the covers of her bed for them to share. She missed the rhythmic noise of his mortal heart against her ear.
And yet, as Calypso softly looked down upon her hero, she was reminded of why her heart was taken by him. Perhaps Percy would not have Calypso as a partner, or perhaps he eventually will. But for the first time, Calypso had been given a hero who chose to stay. So maybe for the first time ever, Calypso could have her normal life, with or without Percy's heart.
Hi.