CALYPSO woke up to the soft rustling of her silk curtains as a soft breeze blew throughout her room, the soft morning light bathing her room in a multitude of colors. She was glad to still feel the soft and warm body of the boy beneath her cheek and hand. His skin had healed enough so that she felt comfortable allowing herself to remain in contact with him. She slowly lifted her head and shifted her body so that she was sitting up, glad to see a silver tray atop her nightstand which presented to her a silver chalice of water and a warm loaf of bread, steam still emanating from its body. Calypso stroked her hero's arm and kissed his cheek.
"Good morning, Percy."
Standing to get dressed, Calypso moved with a skip in her step, glad to see that Percy was still here after a plethora of sunrises. She hoped dearly he would wake soon.
And so, after dressing herself in a white chiton and slipping on her leather sandals, she once more grabbed the loaf of bread and set out to start her day. She fastened her golden belt around her waist whilst she walked, dropping the loaf of bread in the air for a servant to hold in her stead.
She reached her daytime gardens when she felt a disturbance that brought her out of her trance. It was the presence of another divine being. Turning around, she found him, floating upon winged sandals and holding that dreaded golden staff.
"Good morning, Calypso. Walk with me?"
/ / /
Calypso found him on the northern shore, a flash of dark color starkly juxtaposed against the soft white beaches of Ogygia. He sat perched atop one of the few scattered boulders that marred the otherwise perfect coast, yet remained untouched by the forces of erosion, as the waves never did achieve the height nor the range to touch the dark grey rocks. Their children were running playfully, chasing each other, to which her lover watched with deadened eyes, sparing only glances towards the glee which Nausithous and Nausinous held.
How had she been so blind to his sadness? She loved him and cared for him since that fateful day — nursed him and fed him to his full strength, and gave him the affection that he rightfully deserved. Due to him, for the first time in centuries, Calypso had begun to keep track of days once more. Just over seven years did he and Calypso lead a wonderful, love-filled life together, even if he was hesitant at first due to his previous occupations in Ithaca.
"Even so, send him forth now, or beware the wrath of Zeus."
The words of Argeiphontes echoed in her mind. So it was with bated breath and small steps that Calypso made her way to her lover, lest she provoke the cloud-gatherer any further than she had. Two heads of rich and dark locks of dirt ran to greet her. They were so young, so full of innocence.
"Mother!" they shouted in unison, joy radiating around them much like Calypso's aura of magic.
Steeling her nerves, Calypso put on a brave smile and hugged her twins. "Hello Nausithous, Nausinous. How are you two doing?"
"Wonderful!" exclaimed Nausinous, the more gleeful of the two. "We tried to get father to join us, but he so rarely ever decides to play."
"I think he needs a friend."
"But he has Mother!" Nausinous gave a playful punch to his twin's upper arm. "'Sithous doesn't understand, mother. Father just isn't that kind of person, right?"
Calypso's breath hitched, and Nausithous grew a concerned look on his face; he was so much more like his father.
"Mother? What's the matter?"
"No… Nothing, my child." Calypso paused to take a deep breath, and reset her face with as happy a face as she could muster, and made sure to speak with a tone of joy to not worry her children any longer. "Why don't you and your brother head inside and see what wine our friends have left for us to enjoy, hmm? I think I know just what your father needs."
"Okay! Race you to the kitchens, 'Sithous!"
"Gladly!"
"Be safe! And please bring me some dates if there are any there!" She called out to their retreating forms, thankful they didn't pick up on the dismissal for what it was. Meanwhile, atop the boulder a few dozen podes away, Calypso could see him looking at her. He, however, was not fooled by the display.
Even from the distance, Calypso could see his shoulders moving in jerked motions, tears that she could not yet see but were obviously being shed from his form. But within that sadness came a wave of raw and visceral anger that Calypso had never felt from him before, an intense stare much like a predator was fixed on her person. Never in her immortal life had Calypso felt so much like the deer, he the hunter. Before she knew it, Calypso had crossed the distance, and she stood below a man with puffy red eyes, who yearned for something Calypso could no longer provide for him.
"Be sad no longer, Odysseus, please. I beg of you, do not waste your life in pining. I am… ready and willing to send you towards your home. I shall lead you to a grove of bountiful cedar trees with which we can use to craft for you a raft in which you shall be able to cross the misty sea. And I will provide for you bread and water and red wine to your heart's content so that hunger and thirst may never reach you. And I will provide with you the best clothing I can weave. And…" Calypso paused to take a breath, her speech had gotten more rapid as she rambled on to her lover.
Odysseus had stopped his crying, and stared at her intently, with intrigue and confusion. He had come down from his perch and now stood in front of her. She looked at him in the eyes, remembering the joyous moments they had together, their moments of love and passion, the birth of their children, the many dinners they shared. Her voice cracked as she continued.
"And I will send with you and your raft a wind to ensure a safe voyage to your home in Ithaca, if that is the will of the gods in the sky… for they are mightier and more powerful than I to fulfill this duty."
At this revelation, Odysseus shuddered, before replying with winged words. "Surely, goddess," he spat the false title at her, "you must mean something other, suggesting that I cross on a raft this dreadful and grievous gulf of a sea — which not even the finest and fastest of ships may pass, even with the wind of Zeus in their sails. I will not set a single foot on any raft when you obviously do not wish for me to leave, unless you, goddess, give to me your solemn word that you are not nor will not be plotting against me in my journey home, away from this prison."
Calypso sadly smiled at her lover, for even if he rejected her she would always view him as hers, and reached a hesitant hand to stroke his arm in a display of compassion and sympathy. He flinched from the touch but allowed it.
"You truly are a scoundrel, Odysseus, and quite brave that you would even think to speak such words." Calypso's voice trailed off, and she laughed softly. "Nonetheless, let Earth be my witness, with Olympus above, and may the waters of the Styx bind this greatest and most dreadful oath, that I will not plot against you anything new to cause you harm." Thunder rolled overhead, and they both knew the pact was made, causing Odysseus to sigh a breath of relief. "No, my thoughts and counsel are what I would have for myself if I had any use for them, but you do have such use and can leave this island, truly. My intentions are honest ones, as they have always been, and the heart that rests inside me is not made of iron as you may think. It too can feel pity."
Odysseus moved to sit atop the white sand and leaned against the dark rock that had once been his perch. She took place beside him and set her head to rest upon his shoulder. He let loose a long and shaky breath.
"I thank you for your… hospitality, misguided as it may have been. Nausithous and Nausinous should stay here with you, if the gods will it."
"But they care deeply for you, Odysseus. The boys will need their father."
"But they also need a mother, and Penelope is not nor shall she ever be their mother." His face grew angry as he pondered his next words. "And as much as I do care for and love for those two, as they are indeed my own flesh and blood, they share with that too your own blood, and I wish to forever put these years behind me upon my exit."
Calypso's resolve cracked and she began to cry, much like Odysseus had done nigh daily for seven years. "I understand." And Odysseus, even wrought with frustration and anger, embraced her as she cried, for his heart too could feel pity.
/ / /
The waves raged. The skies raged. She raged.
For long nights and even longer days, Calypso's terrible cries of agony and shouts of anger echoed across all of Ogygia, frightening the young and peaceful animals that inhabited her prison with her, their peace long disrupted. Her servants, annoying creatures, learned quickly to leave her alone: food and wine incinerated or fed to the thirsty ground below her.
Her pristine oak table where Calypso would spend her time covering her scrolls of papyrus with ink now stood bare, the scrolls scattered and torn throughout her once immaculate dwelling. The wooden nightstand lay in the entrance to the door, a feeble attempt at a barricade against Hera's gifts which only served as a greater annoyance for when Calypso decided to spread her ire elsewhere. She had long since burnt to ash the scrolls which contained writings of her life with him, refusing to ever look at them. The ashes stood proudly in a corner Calypso refused to look at. Perhaps she would regret the decision in a few centuries.
Her bed was the only thing truly left untouched in her rage, spending most of her time within the confines of the comfort of linen, cotton, and feathers. An empty bottle of wine lay across the bundled comforter, a dripping blood-red stain adorning the mess, adding to the already depressing state of her room.
She cried out to her audience of stone. "A thousand curses upon you! Zeus Xenios, ha!" She listened for the clap of thunder that never came.
"What, oh great cloud-gatherer, are you too weak to even seek vengeance on me for such a curse? Or am I so little to you that you equate my cries to that of an infant? I am a titan! You should fear me!" The bottle of wine smashed against the wall, shattering and sending bloody trails of liquid down from the zone of impact.
"You were too weak to even force me to send him home yourself! No, instead you send your great messenger Argeiphontes to do your dirty work! I loved him! I pity that horrible goddess Hera, as you would fail to know such an emotion." Calypso's rant slowly lost tempo and with it, her voice became more hoarse and needier; tears slowly began to pour from her eyes for the first time since he left. Her anger was gone.
"I loved him… and he loved me. I did everything right, but he had to have someone awaiting him on the other side. I thought… I thought he had forgotten her… I thought I had made him forget her." The bed creaked under the pressure of Calypso crashing against the soft cotton surface, no longer having the energy to madly pace her room. No longer having the energy to even stand.
"I loved him… And you took him away…"
/ / /
"Come then, I will show you to your raft, Francis Drake." Her voice was stilted and pained, for again a lover was leaving. She flinched away from his hand that caressed her cheek and set her spine straight.
"Send him forth now, or beware the wrath of Zeus."
"Calypso, please—"
"No! Do not console me, I am a proud titaness. You have made your choice, and I understand and respect that. As much as I would love for us to spend as much time together as we could, you have a matter of great urgency that requires you to leave as soon as possible." She would not show weakness to him, he deserved that much. "You have told me enough of King Philip and the navy that will besiege your homeland. I do not wish to keep you here so that those in England will suffer due to the loss of their Vice Admiral."
Francis Drake looked to Calypso, eyes both saddened and stunned. His mouth hung open the slightest amount, and his hands slowly constricted and expanded. "Yes… Yes, you are correct, Calypso. I apologize. I do indeed need to protect my fair Queen and country." A sad smile came across his lips, allowing for Calypso to have her last few moments with Francis Drake be spent in some amount of happiness. "Come, show me my great warship, oh goddess."
A laugh betrayed Calypso, and she was happy that he was such a gentleman. "Oh, do follow me. I am sure you will find it capable of sinking anything that dare stand in your way."
"Truly? Tell me, how much power do her guns possess?"
/ / /
Calypso watched as Francis Drake became nothing more than a small dot on the horizon, before disappearing altogether. She stood straight, hands at her sides clenched into deep fists. Her eyes were swollen and tinged gold, as salt-water tears rapidly fell from her face, crashing to the sand beneath her feet.
If only this one had no war he was responsible for. Calypso had learned from the mistakes she made with Odysseus, and Francis Drake had taken an instant liking to her. Their love had come naturally, and while he had a woman that awaited him in his homeland, that did nothing to stop the roaring flame of passion that ignited betwixt the two. His admission and ensuing oath upon the Styx that he truly wanted to stay with her on Ogygia, for eternity, made the situation even more maddening and depressing.
They were friends that had quickly become lovers, and the naturalness of it made it all the more romantic. But Francis Drake had duties that he had to answer the call of, and while Calypso understood, it did not ease the pain.
"Ananke. Gods. Zeus. Moirai. Whoever is listening, hear this. The next traveler, adventurer, or hero that finds themselves on these very shores due to your intervention, I will listen to my heart no longer. But no longer will I listen to you, either. My life, and my fate, are my own now due to your placement of me and my prison." She took a confident breath, her head and mind clear for the first time in millennia.
"My life, in sadness and joy and love and rage, is to be your plaything no longer. And while you may ignore this and place upon me a compulsion to act as I do, I will resist and fight and enforce upon myself my own free will as best I can. And the next hero to wash upon my island, if he will have me, will stay with me in happiness and love. This I swear." And with a deep, true smile, Calypso sent a slow, silent wave goodbye to the ocean where Francis Drake had just been and walked to her moonlace, a jump in her step.
/ / /
The messenger Argeiphontes sat upon a bright shining chair across Calypso, the table that separated them holding plates of gold ambrosia and silver chalices of nectar. Calypso herself slowly drank from a silver chalice containing wine, and the messenger sat holding his wand, staring at the display below. She feigned ignorance in her words, but she knew that they were both aware of his purpose here: Odysseus.
"Hermes of the golden wand, an honorable and welcome guest. Pray, why have you come? You have not been wont to come before. Speak whatever it is that is in your mind; my heart says to do it if I can indeed do it, and if it can be done. But please, enjoy my offer of refreshment whilst we discuss." Calypso beckoned to the plate of golden ambrosia, which Hermes slowly reached to take. He broke it in two and placed one half in his mouth before speaking.
"You, a titaness, do question me, a god, upon my reasons for being here?" A soft chuckle escaped his lips, and he sipped nectar from a silver chalice. "I will speak my message clearly since you asked. It was Zeus who sent me here against my will. For who of his own free will would choose to fly over such a great space as this vast wine-dark sea that surrounds you so? For there is not even any city, nor are there any mortals who offer to us gods private and public sacrifice. But it is unwise, or rather impossible, to evade the will of Zeus, the aegis bearer. He states that there is here with you a man, the most unfortunate of all those warriors who for nine years fought around the city of Priam, sacking it in the tenth year, and leaving then for their home. But on their journey home, they offended Athena deeply, and so she sent upon them an evil wind and large waves, leaving him the only survivor, while the waves brought him here."
He paused to consume the second half of the square of ambrosia in his hand, staring intently at Calypso. She trembled in fear and rage.
"Zeus now commands you to send him swiftly on his way, for it is not his fate to live here far from his friends: he is instead destined to see those friends again, and to reach his vaulted house and his native land." Calypso's stomach dropped, and her heart clenched.
She stood up quickly and slammed her hands on the table beneath her, toppling her chalice of wine and sending a lonesome square of ambrosia to the floor.
"Cruel are ye…"
/ / /
"You gods, and so quick are you to envy!"
Hermes glared at Calypso, the overbearing aura of an unrestrained god dominating the presence of an imprisoned titan. Calypso had rarely felt so small.
"Even so, send him forth now, or beware the wrath of Zeus."
"Be that as it may, Calypso, the boy must return to his home. For all the fear that he may place in Zeus, he is fully aware of the power he holds and his place in the great prophecy is all but cemented."
"He... is a child of prophecy?"
"Indeed, he is. Others had the potential, but current events have all but confirmed his role as a prophecy child. Perseus is to be either our savior or our destroyer." Percy. Perseus. The name was familiar because it was indeed a name of her language.
"A befitting namesake." Calypso gave a dead laugh.
Hermes set his jaw. "We are aware of the irony."
"Be that as it may, Hermes," Calypso spat his own words back at him. "Ogygia falls outside the realm of time and fate. Even if he has so far been your child of prophecy and subject to fate to this point, he now sadly exists in a place wherein he can exert his own free will. If he chooses to stay, then your prophecy is no more."
"And you are so sure of this fact, goddess?" Hermes spat the false title that Odysseus and others gave her that she so hated. "For as far as all us gods can tell, you are subject to no such thing. Free will, how amusing! You are to hopelessly fall in love with all who find their way here, and they are to leave no matter if their feelings are reciprocated or not."
"Odysseus left because Zeus bade you to make me send him on his way. Francis Drake loved me, and he swore upon the Styx that he had a desire to make this island his home, and I his wife. He simply had a matter of great importance that he could not ignore without it eating him alive. England was to be sieged by Spain's forces, and he had to lead his country to victory to ensure the safety of all."
"And those things are not the result of fate? How naïve you are."
"Zeus has placed me in a prison that exists outside of time, and time and fate are one! I will take my chances, oh great Argeiphontes. I will not send him back."
Hermes raised his golden wand in the air, seething with anger and eyes literally glowing in rage before he calmed himself and adopted a neutral face.
"Fine, I will take your message back to Zeus, that you will not obey his commands." His lips formed into a sly smile. "We will watch you with great interest, Calypso. Good luck with Perseus." Hermes' eyes flickered to something behind her, before chuckling to himself and taking off on his winged sandals, leaving the island once more.
Calypso felt a disturbance behind her. What had Hermes looked at? And so turning around, she discovered his cruel prank. Percy was awake and stumbling towards her location on the white sandy beach. She slowly walked towards him to close the distance, whilst rubbing away the remains of tears in her eyes.
"Well, the sleeper finally awakes," she said with a twinge of sadness. Calypso spoke in her tongue to ensure she could understand him and tried to place a smile on her face for his comfort.
"Who were you talking to?" The primer worked, and she could understand him completely. His voice was rough and extremely hoarse, the burn damage must have extended to his insides where she could not target with her magic.
"Oh... just a messenger."
And we're back! Life got interesting, to say the least, and I took a rather long break from the internet to focus on work plans for college and other personal things. But you don't care about me, you care about the story.
Argeiphontes is, if you couldn't tell, Hermes. It's his title, as the slayer of Argus.
Dialogue between Calypso and Odysseus and Calypso and Hermes (the moments in flashback) is taken from A.T. Murray's translation of The Odyssey (my favorite version which is written in prose instead of verse). It is however written in Early Modern English (Shakespearean English) which I had to translate into Modern English, a rather annoyingly hard task.
Calypso and Odysseus having two children together is not a very famous inclusion to the myth, but one I have always liked, and I feel that them having children adds to the angst.
Finally, we are now up to canon! I had wanted to go more in-depth with Calypso caring for Percy and coming to care for him while he remained unconscious, but I felt that it would have dragged on too long having Calypso care for a bedridden Percy, and I could not find the inspiration to write about banal activities such as Calypso cuddling next to Percy whilst she slept.