I really love you guys. Like, seriously, that doesn't even cover it. You're all great, encouraging, supportive, beautiful people. Even if you are also annoying, stubborn, and completely insane. That just means we're a lot alike, right? And without your nagging, I never would've made it this far on this fanfic, so thanks, guys. Thanks a thousand times. Especially for the 2000 reviews. And, yes, that means you get your double update. Geesh.
I would've updated sooner, but I was at the movies seeing The Fault In Our Stars. So now I'm all emotional and touchy-feely and crap, and I really want a hug, but my family doesn't really do the whole hugging-for-emotional-support thing. We hug when we see each other after a long time, and when we say goodbye, and sometimes when we're super hyper. But not often when it's actually normal to give hugs.
Yeah, so anyway. I got all dressed up to go-it was my sister and I's date. Yes, date. Neither of us have boyfriends, and even when she has a boyfriend (I've never had one), they don't often do date-ish things with each other, like going to the movies. So when we go somewhere together, we pretend that we're actually going on a real date, like with a boyfriend and everything, and dress up for the occasion. It's nice, even if it might seem weird. But, yeah, it feels kind of strange to be sitting at the computer in a dress.
Albert25Einstein: I shall do better than updating tomorrow-I shall double update today! (I don't know who I'm channeling there...but I think it's some weird old British professor or something.)
The GoldenGroups (guest): Brason is a little something our fandom (the weirdest fandom of them all) came up with. It's a ship name...for Jason and a brick. Yes. A brick. It's a legit thing, though, something we all laugh about together-look it up on google images or something. There's a particular funny picture of Jason and the brick on a Ferris Wheel you'll probably enjoy. But, yeah, it's because he's constantly getting hit in the head with bricks.
Mythology Girl (guest): It shouldn't be that agonizing. I mean, you don't have to wait as long for mine, do you?
Percy Underwood (guest): You are forgiven...as long as you continue reviewing. :) And thank you.
warisk8: I live in Indiana. Go Hoosiers! *whoop whoop*
Rosile Jackson: Wow. You love a lot of things about this story. But I'm glad; it brings me happiness.
alwaysreadbooks: A bit strange that she hasn't read the other books yet...*shrug* but whatevs. I'm glad she likes it-hey, tell her I say hi and then tell me what her reaction is. 'Kay?
1questingdreamer: Soon, my impatient grasshopper. Soon...
Flyawayfree (guest): I believe that Thalia and Octavian are currently at the top of the list. I'll probably do three of the POVs-that's two of them. I'm not sure who the third one is going to be yet, but I'll figure it out soon, hopefully.
Brittany (guest): Nice to see you again, Brittany! You've been missed. What about just three of the POVs? That shouldn't slow it down too much, and I could post them all in the same day or some such thing like that-then it should hardly slow us down at all, right?
persasssssaaayyy (guest): Thank you for admiring the cuteness. See, as long as people don't call me cute, I have no problem with that word. It's a very nice adjective.
bahghee: Well, here's your Leo chapter. Hope you like it...
Carrot Seven: I wish to hang out with you now. See, I don't ever get a chance to do stuff like that. It'd be so cool, though. I'm all jealous now.
wisdomdaughter: Just wait a little longer. You'll ship them even harder later.
drinkingthestarswithbob: Yes, us wankers, as you call us (I'm not entirely sure whether I should be offended by that or not), deserve compensation for the many hours of disappointment we have suffered at your hands when the computer screen shows that you haven't yet updated.
lol (guest): Okay, are you messing with me? Please be messing with me. Because I literally spit out my drink all over the place when I read your review and then spent the next five minutes coughing up a lung. YOUR IMPROPRIETY IS NOT APPRECIATED.
Rajell Cellar (guest): Nah, I don't mind the quote thing. It's super cool, actually. And that one...gods, it's been bothering me so much. I know it, I just can't remember...it's on the tip of my tongue...gods, this is irritating.
RMS Titanic (guest): Sorry, no Annabeth, but it's Leo, so, you know. That's cool, right? And it also features Percy, so that makes it better, I think.
HoOisawesome (guest): Nah. Read this chapter and you'll find out why...
Oi opakio: Isn't that a good thing? It gives you awesome fluff and action to read.
persassy43 (guest): Awww, thanks! Your support means a lot-gods, that sounds so cliche. Um, how's this? Your support means as much as a bag of blue candy does when I'm feeling sad. Better?
nightrain (guest): Next chapter explains it, I promise. And since this is a double update, you'll get that one today too!
Wild-at-Heart14: You are very welcome. And thank you very much. Next chap has Percabeth, I swear.
Aliana (guest): The couples are all unique, aren't they? I like them better that way-they're don't have some cliched, over-used, over-romanticized love story-none of them. It makes them better.
seaweedbrain's sister: They need to come up with more ways to say that things are sad, because all of the ones I know don't seem to cover it. Even 'ocean of tears.' It's just so...sad. Tearful. Heart-rending. All of the above.
Cheers, my lovelies!
Chapter LXXXIV
Leo
Leo wakes up maybe an hour after Piper helped him to the bunk. Surprisingly, he didn't have any nightmares-but he can't get back to sleep once he wakes up, no matter how tired he is.
So he gets up and sits back down at his desk, shuffling his blueprints of Festus' new body to the front and picking up his pencil.
He wants Festus to have all the special features he had before, plus a few extras-but he's unsure how to recreate most of them, including the way Festus could fold himself into a metal box like a suitcase.
He taps the page with his pencil's eraser and sighs in frustration, then drops the pencil onto his desk and opens the drawer, taking out the crystal from Calypso's cave and setting it on top of his drawing of her.
For some reason, it reassures him, helps him push his frustration to the back of his mind and continue working. So he turns back to his blueprints, leaving the crystal where it is, and starts sketching out different features.
"Where'd you get that?" Percy's voice surprises Leo so much that he almost falls out of his chair. The son of Poseidon is standing in the doorway, one hand on the door frame, a stony expression on his face.
That in itself is scary enough, but then Leo sees where Percy is looking, and his heart creeps into his throat-he's staring directly at the crystal from Calypso's cave.
Leo snatches it off the table, but that only uncovers his drawing of Calypso, which had been mostly hidden underneath the crystal. He tries to cover it up, but it's too late.
"You met her, didn't you." It isn't a question.
Percy walks the rest of the way into the room and stands beside the table, looking down at the drawing.
"That's a really good likeness." He mutters. "Almost like a photograph."
"I wanted to take her with me," Leo says abruptly, "but she said that I wouldn't be able to leave if she tried to come with me."
Percy doesn't look up from the drawing, but Leo can tell he's listening.
"Why did you abandon her? How could you abandon her?" Leo bursts out, hearing the anger in his own voice and not caring. "What you did, it broke her heart."
Percy finally looks up, and his eyes are filled with so much pain that Leo almost regrets his words. Then he remembers how fragile Calypso had been whenever Percy was mentioned.
"Trust me Leo, I know. I know! I didn't want to leave, all those years ago when I landed there. I knew it would hurt her. But I couldn't stay. I had people who were counting on me, and Annabeth..." His voice falters and trails off.
Leo's anger lessens, but it doesn't disappear-not in the least.
"Still, what about later, when you asked the gods to make that promise? Why didn't you make sure she was freed?"
"She was one of the main people I was thinking of when I made my wish. I even mentioned her, specifically, when I told the gods my request. But after...I didn't really give her a second thought.
Leo's anger flares again, but Percy continues before he has the chance to say anything.
"I should have, I know that...not giving people a second thought can be dangerous. But I guess I just took it for granted that the gods would keep their promise." He laughs a little-a sound without amusement. "Look how wrong I was-they couldn't even keep their promise for a year.
"But that's not the point." Percy continues. "The point is that I didn't give Calypso a second thought-I trusted the gods, and I knew that she probably wouldn't want to see me if she was freed. So I forgot about it. And I had Annabeth, then, so it didn't seem to matter as much...
"We'd just won a war. Rachel had survived the transfer of the Oracle's spirit-the second Great Prophecy was issued, but we thought we had years before we'd have to worry about it. The whole camp was celebrating-we finally had a chance to be happy. In the midst of that, it was easy-too easy-to forget about a girl thousands of miles away that I'd most likely never talk to again. I regret that-you have no idea how much.
His expression hardens again, and when he talks, his tone is bitter, with a hard edge of cold, calm anger that kind of freaks Leo out a little. "What she did, though...Annabeth didn't deserve that. It was my fault, I know that-trust me, I know-and I may have deserved it, but Annabeth didn't. She didn't."
"Wait, what? What did she do to you? How could she have done anything? She's still trapped on Ogygia." His last sentence has a slightly accusatory tone to it, but he can't help it.
Percy's stony mask wavers, and Leo sees that shattered look in his eyes-the look he gets whenever he thinks of Tartarus. He looks away from Leo, and can't seem to look back. He's quiet for so long that Leo wonders if he's even going to answer the question, but then, slowly, haltingly, he starts telling Leo what happened.
"In Tartarus...Annabeth and I...we ran into the arai. The curses. They look kind of like Furies...except that when you kill one, you get a curse-something your enemies wished upon you." He takes a shuddering breath. "The first time Annabeth killed one, the curse she got was from Polyphemus. It made her completely blind.
"The second...the second curse...it was from Calypso. It...it made her think...that I-that I abandoned her.
"She couldn't see me, couldn't hear me, couldn't feel me." Percy's voice cracks. "It was awful. And she was crying, and calling my name, and she kept asking why I'd left her.
"Calypso cursed the one I loved to feel like she did-abandoned, alone, forgotten. She was bitter, and I don't blame her. I know it was my fault-I deserved it. But Annabeth didn't."
Leo is stunned. He can hardly believe it. Calypso, curse someone? It doesn't seem believable.
And yet...when Leo first got there, she was so bitter, so resentful, so angry. He can kind of imagine that Calypso cursing someone. Even someone she was in love with.
"No one deserves to be trapped the way she is, imprisoned for thousands of years just because she supported her family." Percy finally lifts his head to look Leo in the eyes, and now his eyes are fierce, with a steely, determined glint not unlike the one Annabeth often has in her eyes.
"I'm getting her back." Leo says, glaring, daring Percy to argue, to tell him it's impossible. Surprisingly, he does neither of those things. Instead, he manages a wavery half-grin in Leo's direction.
"I figured you'd say that." He replies. Then his smile disappears, and he looks directly into Leo's eyes, his face more serious than Leo's ever seen it. "And I'll help you. I'll help you get her back. I swear ito n the River Styx."
Even without the binding oath, Leo would have believed him.
"Why, though? Why would you help me, if Calypso cursed you?" He asks.
He's genuinely curious-he wants to know why Percy would even consider it. It had to be hard, going through what he did when Annabeth thought he'd abandoned her-Leo can't even imagine. So why?
"Because I regret not giving her a second thought." Percy answers simply. "I almost died in Tartarus, numerous times-but I came closest when I faced the arai, and I was alone, watching Annabeth stumble blindly around. And I realized how sorry I was, then-for not giving people second thoughts. I've done it more times than I want to admit, and I regret every time that I did. I wish I could apologize to all of those people-and Calypso is one of them. She deserves an apology, and the only way I can give it to her is if she's free. So I'll help you-in any and every way I can."
Leo feels the last of his anger drain away-it's obvious that Percy means every word he says.
"Hey, Percy," He starts hesitantly, still wondering one other thing, "Annabeth said you suspected where I went. Was she right?"
Percy laughs a little and smiles, his eyes far away. "She knows me way too well. Although I'm not surprised she found out before me-she is a daughter of Athena, after all. And she went through the same thing when I came back-I told her I got marooned on an island, and pretty much as soon as I said it, she suspected Ogygia. It's funny, because one of the only reasons I didn't tell her right out was because I had a weird feeling she'd be upset about it, and I wanted to keep that from happening-it happened anyway." He shakes his head at the memory, and then continues. "But, yeah, she was right. I suspected Ogygia, mostly when I first heard your story-it was so similar to mine, how could I not? But I pushed it away, because I figured you'd tell people when you were ready-and because I figured I wouldn't exactly be your first choice to talk to about Calypso."
Leo grins sheepishly. "You were right. I told Annabeth not to tell you when she found out-she actually guessed, when she came down here after you left with Frank and Jason. She saw my drawing of Calypso-and even though she's never seen Calypso, I guess it just added to her suspicions, because she confronted me about it."
"I can imagine that." Percy says. "Is she helping you with the blueprints?"
Leo glances at Percy incredulously-it's creeping him out how well he knows Annabeth, and vice versa. "Yeah, she is. The first time I ever saw her get frustrated about dyslexia was when I showed her the blueprints for Festus' new control disk. The circuits are pretty complicated, and she said it was giving her a headache just trying to look at them."
"It's kind of easy to forget she's dyslexic, isn't it?" Percy asks.
Leo just nods in reply, glad that he's not the only one.
"I probably won't be able to help much with the blueprints." Percy tells him. "But if Annabeth's already helping you with that, you'll probably get all the help you need from her. I can help with other things, though-I might be able to help locate Calypso's island if we get close enough."
Leo nods thoughtfully and then opens the top drawer of his desk, taking out the astrolabe. "This is something I picked up in Bologna-Odysseus supposedly made it, and kept muttering about a crystal in his sleep."
Percy's eyes fall on the crystal from Calypso's cave, and his eyes light up. "Let me guess-this'll lead you to Calypso's island?"
"Well, yeah-it should, anyway, if I can get it fixed." Leo replies. "Right now, it's like it's resisting me-like it doesn't want to be fixed. And I can't figure out what's wrong with it. But I can't exactly use it until after we defeat Gaea, anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter until then."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out, Leo." Percy assures him, and he sounds so sure about it that Leo really wants to ask him how he knows. "In the meantime, if there's anything you need help with, I'll be here."
"Thanks." Leo says.
"And after, when you're rebuilding Festus," here Percy hesitates for a moment, his eyes faltering and getting a strange look in them before he continues, "I'll help with that. You'll have to tell me what to do, no doubt, since I don't know the first thing about mechanics, but I'll help."
Leo wonders about the look he had in his eyes-it was almost...scared. He's never seen Percy look that way. But he pushes it away and nods gratefully instead.
"Now, though," Percy continues, knocking on the desk twice before standing, "you really should try to get some sleep. Being awake is kind of important to the whole thought process. And I find that it's much easier to come up with a decent plan when you're not exhausted."
Leo opens his mouth to protest, and then closes it again-Percy has a very good point. Then he thinks something else, and narrows his eyes in suspicion.
"Why are you awake, then? If sleep is so important, shouldn't you be sleeping right now?" He asks.
Percy's smile wavers, and Leo's kind of sorry he asked. "Yeah. Probably." He looks away, at the wall, his eyes far away. Then he looks back. "It gets hard to sleep sometimes, though, with nightmares."
"Oh-right." Leo says, shifting uncomfortably. "Sorry."
"It's okay. Oh, and Leo-don't tell Annabeth that I'm not sleeping, okay? She doesn't need anything else to worry about." Percy asks, his eyes pleading.
Leo hesitates, and then nods-Percy's right, after all. Annabeth is already worrying way too much.
"Good night, Leo. And seriously, man-get some sleep. You deserve it." Percy reminds him one last time, before turning and heading out the door.
Leo listens to his soft footsteps on the stairs until they fade into silence, and then sighs. He looks one last time at his drawing of Calypso, brushing her face with his fingertips, and then switches off his desk light.
He climbs back into the bunk, turning his face to the wall, and closes his eyes.
I'm coming back for you, Calypso. He thinks, echoing his oath. I'm coming back for you.
I've ended a chapter similarly to this before, but hey, don't mess with perfection, right?
Next chapter is coming up! In like, two minutes.