I feel like I should say this at the start but I don't ship Caleo. That being said, I tried my absolute best with this chapter and like how it turned out. It takes place during HoH.

This chapter is another sneak peek for a new fic. More info will be at the end.

Story #29: Here on Calypso's Island, There's Nothing But Leo

Leo thought that since they were both stranded on Ogygia, they could try to bond or at least be accepting of the other's presence even if it was silently. Calypso was doing a great job at forgetting Leo ever showed up. Leo, on the other hand, is barely trying. How could he even think of ignoring her? There's only so much one's attention can do when it's so short and there's something so interesting to look at when on a beautiful island that doesn't have much going for it … at least in comparison to its much more beautiful inhabitant.

And they were doing a great job at keeping their distance and minding their own business on opposite ends of the islands … until a terrible (or wonderful, according to Leo) twist of events occurred.

Storm clouds wrap overhead Ogygia, enveloping them inside like a dome. Before either Leo or Calypso could react from their respective ends of the island, rain pours as lightning strikes and thunder rumble.

All to draw them to seeking shelter under the same slab of rock that was in the middle of their areas. They didn't notice the other was here until their backs hit when they were both underneath the rock canopy. She scoots back a bit but can't go that far or else she'll be out in the rain.

Leo greets her with a nod and she scowls, bunching her damp braid and squeezing it out on the other side. He takes as a compliment that she didn't wring it out on his lap or in the slim space between them to increase it. It also had to mean something for her not to kick him out in the storm and make him take cover somewhere else.

"Guess you're the only Sunshine here now," Leo says with a cheeky grin as he leans back against the rock wall. It's a winning line, in his opinion.

"How long did it take you to come up with that one?" She asks.

"I'll count the minutes next time I try to charm you."

Calypso forced a small laugh out as she plays with the end of her damp braid. "I don't even remember the last time it rained here. It probably followed you here or whatever you were making over there."

Leo sighs. "Nothing like a total failure to generate great ideas."

Calypso glances at him. "What were you building? A weather machine? Doesn't look like it's working."

Leo mocks her again before they both fall back into silence. They watch the rain continue to fall on Ogygia. Rain soaks the sand and patters on the rock keeping them dry, dripping over the edges once it rolls down. If his feet didn't reach outside the cave when his legs were stretched out and get wet with the rain, he would've been lying down. Instead, his knees are up. A cold breeze passes them and Leo looks over at Calypso as she runs her hands over her arms and holds her knees up to her chest, slightly shivering.

Leo can't help but think that if Jason was here instead of him, the rain would've never come or he could make it leave by batting his lashes. Even if Percy somehow came back, rain is water which is his element. He could send it all back to the sky just by snapping his fingers. Even Frank could probably get Calypso to swoon.

Leo believes the storm is his fault. It has to be. Calypso said herself that she doesn't even remember the last time she had one here if she ever had one. What are the odds Ogygia encountered rain the moment he showed up? To think that he, someone who can burn a flame, could cause a storm. Considering that he's the only Hephaestus kid who could become a fire if they want, he isn't surprised bad luck is in his cards. It must be the only cards in the hand he was dealt.

At least a deck of cards has a wildcard. Jason and Percy can't do this — Leo opens his palm between them and cups a small flame like a mini campfire. Calypso lowers her hands from her arms, lowers her legs to cross them, and circles them above the tips of the flames. Her body slightly turns towards him as she rubs her hands together.

"What were you tapping?" Calypso asks.

"What?" Leo wonders.

"You were tapping something with your other hand. I thought it was a mindless tick but it had a rhythm as if you were doing something purposeful like a song or something."

"Oh…" Leo mutters. He didn't even realize he was doing it because it's become so habitual for him. Muscle memory. "Morse code. My mom and I used to do it all the time."

"What are you saying now?"

Leo clears his throat. He was probably tapping I love you, which Calypso doesn't need to know.

"Gibberish, mostly," Leo tells her. "A language only hot people can understand."

Calypso pushes her braid back. "No wonder it's gibberish to you. You don't get it. You don't think you're hot enough to get it, do you?"

Leo snorts a laugh which cracks a smile out of her. He's hot ... literally. He can be a fire on command. But he's no Jason or Percy, or even Frank, who made baby fat look cute (somehow). When he looks at Calypso, the embers of his fire flicker, highlighting gold specks in her eyes. It makes her look like she has freckles littered all over her cheeks and nose as if she has the night sky on her face. Strands of her hair are out of place in her braid, some sticking on her cheeks and temple.

The beautiful face of someone whose heart has been broken repeatedly, never being anyone's choice because they always leave and never come back. The beautiful face of a woman cursed to this island only to watch other people leave and free themselves.

Maybe they both have a hand of unlucky cards.

"I like myself; at least I think, but I don't love me back," Leo mutters, closing his palm so the flame goes out. As much as he loved looking at Calypso all beautiful like that, it only reminds him of how she could never like him back let alone love him.

"The kind of love you accept depends on how much you love yourself," Calypso whispers, not meeting his eyes. Her voice is pained, softened by the rain outside. "Feeling guilt makes you do bad things because you already think you're a bad person."

Leo shrugs. "Must suck to be here with me then."

Calypso grins a little, taking a breath. "Oh, you're just realizing that? There's nothing here but you."

"It's not like you've been a welcoming host either."

Calypso narrows her eyes. "I've been a wonderful hostess to guests in the past. A man without options can't afford to have standards."

"The bar is set lower than Tartarus."

"You'll be out of here soon," her voice sharpens, "everyone leaves."

"Everyone also didn't bring a storm with them, Sunshine. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Calypso smirks. "A girl a try."

And now for my fic (it's a Barbie fic, leave me alone):

Here on Her Island - Instead of discovering Ro's island, Antonio wounded up on it after falling into the sea during a storm (Barbie: The Island Princess AU)