Summary: On good days, Calypso liked to lie down on the beach and stare up at the clouds, dreaming of a world where her knight in shining armour comes to rescue her from her prison. Of course, she knows that dreams aren't reality. Then one day the magical raft came to bring her to Manhattan. And so Calypso set out in search of the hero that made her dreams reality.

Notes: Some dialogue might be anachronistic, but I did not think that trying to stay true to speech patterns of various eras in history was worth the headache.

oOo

Contemplating Clouds

The brightness of the sun shining through Calypso's eyelids woke her up. She must've fallen asleep staring at the stars again.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up slowly and yawned, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the bright light. The beautiful aquamarine of the ocean stretched out before her. She gently brushed the sand of the beach off of herself, although she was sure that there were more than a few grains still stuck within the folds of her dress.

A light breeze blew through the air, causing her hair to gently blow into her face. She ran her hands through it and grimaced as she inadvertently pulled at some knots matted with sand. She would need to take a bath once she got back.

The beach had been less comfortable than her dwelling, but despite the discomfort she'd found that sleeping outside of her little cave was somehow more peaceful to her recently.

Sighing softly, she stood up and slowly walked back towards the garden. A couple of cuckoos landed on her shoulders as she approached, and she favored them with a smile and a few words of greeting.

When she arrived she carefully finished trimming the roses, the task she'd taken a break from the night before to go on her little walk. Normally, her servants would have taken care of such trivial tasks for her, but she had long ago ordered them to not interfere with her gardening.

It made the beauty of her garden more authentic and rewarding when it was her garden. Most of the island was maintained by her servants, but the garden was her own work. It was her most proud accomplishment across the millennia on Ogygia after all. But even here, in her most treasured haven, she could still see them. She could still see the heroes in her memories.

"You could stay with me, Percy Jackson. You would be immortal on this island. You would never age or die. That is the only way to help me. It's the only way to break my curse."

He'd hesitated. Affixed his eyes to something far off in the distance. She could see the turmoil on his face, in his eyes. And despite knowing better, she allowed herself to dream, if only for a moment, that she'd found her hero. That she'd convinced someone to stay with her, and keep the loneliness at bay.

"I can't," he said softly.

She'd told herself over and over again that she wouldn't care. That she wouldn't offer. That she wouldn't get hurt.

But promises and reassurances were ultimately useless in the face of reality.

It hurt. She looked away in a vain attempt to hide the tears that sprang to her eyes without warning. Why did it hurt so much? This wasn't the first time. Nor the second. Nor the third. Tens… no hundreds of heroes had passed by her shores, their answers firm and unyielding despite her best efforts. They said that even a soul in Tartarus would eventually adapt to the torture after thousands of years. And yet for her, it still hurt just the same.

Percy was saying something, but she could no longer hear his words. He'd made his decision and she had learned long ago to respect it. So now all that was left was to treasure their final moments together, before she'd have to say goodbye.

She looked down. The moonlace that they'd planted together only a few nights ago was glowing brightly; beautiful under the waning light of the moon. It was as if it were mocking her, reminding her of a happier time.

She bent down and quickly picked the sprig, stuffing it into his shirt pocket, before standing up on her tiptoes in order to press a gentle kiss to his forehead. It was all she could muster up as she tried to keep her voice as steady as possible.

"Then come to the beach, my hero. And we will send you on your way."

She paused with her trimming and blinked rapidly. The world had become blurry for a moment there, and she wanted to make sure that she didn't snip a rose by accident.

After everything had been taken care of within the garden, she headed back to the cave and stripped out of her clothes quickly. A servant immediately whisked them away and she turned her attention to the hot spring pool that occupied a small corner of her cave. It had been a gift from Poseidon, on one of his rare visits to the island, and was one of her more appreciated gifts.

She carefully slipped into the hot water and breathed out a sigh of contentment.

It was Day 214, right?

Two hundred and fourteen days since Percy Jackson had left her island. Or at least, she was pretty sure it was two hundred and fourteen days. She counted them each morning. Of course, for all she knew, centuries could have passed in the real world. But to her, it had still been less than a year since the son of Poseidon had sailed off into the sunrise without looking back.

She hated that she had expectations, that some part of her still believed that it was possible for her to be happy. It made her feel stupid, and it made her feel weak. Perhaps that was why her curse was the way it was. Perhaps she was cursed precisely because she would always cling to hope the moment a hero arrived on her island. It wasn't as if Percy Jackson's actions were anything but the norm for the heroes who visited her. Those brief visits always followed the same pattern, and yet she never could help herself.

Spend a few days bringing them back from the brink of death, healing their wounds and easing their worries. Then, after they had recovered enough to hold a conversation and spend time with her, draw away to protect herself; to stop herself from getting hurt.

And then, be drawn back in by their compassion, their charisma, their personality, and even their appearance.

Fall in love.

And finally, when the time came for them to depart, she would offer for them to stay with her.

She'd tried everything she could to make Ogygia as appealing as possible. The island was a veritable paradise, but it was only so beautiful because she had carefully tended to every inch of the island.

Immortality was a big draw for some, especially those who lived with a fear of death.

And of course, she'd tried using herself.

She was not ugly, after all.

But despite Aphrodite's protests on the contrary, love was never enough to make someone stay.

"Calypso?" The ruggedly handsome man spoke up as he worked on tying together the last few logs.

She didn't respond, preferring to remain silent. After seven years together, this would be the last time that she ever saw him.

"I'm sorry that things turned out the way they did. But I must leave. My home needs me. Ithaca has been without its rightful king for too long."

He paused, but still she did not deign him with a response.

"Say something. You know that I hate silence. If there's anything I've learned as the leader of men, there's nothing worse than refusing to communicate."

"What is there to say?" she asked softly. "I've given you everything. If your decision remains firm, then I can only provide you with the means of transportation and wish you the best of luck on your voyage."

One of her servants was carefully folding a different dress by the side of the bath, distracting her from her thoughts. She began scrubbing herself vigorously with a block of pumice, enjoying the roughness of the volcanic rock as it broke apart on her skin.

After finishing her bath, she rose out of the water and padded her way over to the bench. Her servants carefully placed a towel on her lower body before anointing her with scented oils. As they massaged the oil into her body and began scraping away with strigils, her thoughts returned to Percy Jackson.

The latest in her long line of lost loves. What was he doing? He must have been quite impressive for someone as disgruntled and introverted as Hephaestus to visit her island. She liked to think that she had some effect on the world with her actions; that she gave the heroes who spent those short few weeks on her island some newfound strength.

Maybe he was saving Olympus, defending the gods from their enemies while they sat back on their thrones as spectators.

Being a hero was a cursed profession. Even from what little news that Hermes occasionally brought she knew that many of them died young, never to find the happy ending that they believed in when they left her. The odds stated that she was more likely to be correct if she assumed that Percy was already dead. The dark part of her, the one that she always tried but failed to stamp out, would feel vindicated. But that feeling of vindication would almost always be proceeded by guilt and self-loathing.

The thought of his death itself surprisingly didn't hurt nearly as much as his departure had. Then again, it wasn't as if she could see him ever again. To her, the moment that Percy Jackson had disappeared beyond the horizon was the moment that he became a ghost.

And while ghosts could still haunt her dreams, they could never hurt her as much as they did when they were still standing in front of her. When she could still touch them, hug them, kiss them, and dream about a future together with them.

She blinked rapidly and shook her head. She didn't want to spend the rest of her day feeling sorry for herself. Even Hermes had commented on how she'd been more listless than usual after Percy's departure. She needed to start distracting herself, and soon.

And for Calypso, the best way to do that was always to appreciate the beauty of her island. That was the only thing that distinguished her prison from the more unpleasant ones that entrapped the other Titans, including her Father.

So in that vein, she decided to take a longer morning walk than usual, heading off to the far side of her island that she rarely ventured without company. She couldn't really explain why she wanted to go, but she felt her spirits lift as she strolled along the path that cut through the cypress trees. Watching the birds all come flocking down from the trees to say hello never failed to bring a smile to her lips and chase away the clouds that would always plague her.

It was as she was nearing the edge of the grove, singing softly to her avian audience, that she saw it.

It initially appeared as only an innocuous blob on the shoreline; a dark object that stood out like a sore thumb on the otherwise pristine beach. But despite its appearance, her singing still paused and her audience, as if sensing her surprise and agitation, tried to distract her with their own song. However, she only offered a whispered apology and took off running towards the beach. The various birds squawked in protest and took off in a whirl of feathers and wings around her, but she paid them no more attention.

She knew what that dark object could mean. Her heartbeat quickened, and she could feel her breathing quicken. That dark blob was a foreign object, and a foreign object always meant visitors. And visitors, mortal or immortal, almost always required her immediate attention.

The thought hit her just as she was tossing aside her sandals at the edge of the beach, feeling the coarse grains of sand slip between her toes.

Did she really want visitors at this moment?

Visitors were a break from the monotony. But they were also a curse. She had still been thinking of Percy Jackson, even that very morning. Was she really ready to move on from him?

Yes, she decided. A visitor could be a nice change of pace.

It hadn't been too long since Percy Jackson had left her island, so she would appreciate a distraction, even if she would have to say goodbye in the end. Even if she knew that she was just replacing one lost lover with another.

But to her disappointment, there was no unconscious hero lying on the beach. Nor were there any signs of a God or Goddess that had decided to visit. Her beach remained devoid of human contact; she could still hear the birds chirping away.

She continued onwards to the foreign object itself. And what she found gave her nothing but confusion. She bent over to catch her breath from her sprint, and then walked the rest of the way until she was standing right next to it.

It was a raft. And not just any raft.

It was the very same raft that Odysseus had built millennia ago. The magical raft that returned to the island over and over again across the ages. And each time, it ferried away a piece of her heart.

So why was it here? The raft only showed up after her lovers made their decisions to leave her. But as far as she could tell, her island did not have a new visitor.

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked, raising her eyes to the sky.

Only silence greeted her.

She frowned. It didn't make sense. The raft would never appear unless it was intended to ferry someone away from Ogygia back to the world.

Maybe it meant that a hero was bound to show up soon.

She sighed. At least the raft came early. There was no way she'd fall in love with some hero quickly enough if the choice for him to leave was already presented right at the very start, right?

Right?

Oh, who was she kidding?

That night, she found it rather difficult to fall asleep, for she was too busy watching and waiting for a hero that never came.

oOo

It was on the third day of restless pacing around by the beach that her patience wore thin.

"What is the meaning of this? Why did you send this here? Is someone coming?" She yelled up at the sky.

Of course, there was no answer. The Gods almost never answered her, and even when they did, their answers were always cryptic, never straightforward.

She gave the beached raft a frustrated shove, and it slowly floated its way out onto the water.

"Ugh, that was a mistake." she muttered as she watched it slowly float away from her. The tide was running out, and if she didn't grab ahold of the stupid wooden contraption fast enough it'd float away from her island.

Grimacing, she hiked up her dress and splashed her way over to the raft. Grabbing onto the edge, she hauled herself onto the thing and picked up one of the oars that always came tied on the side, before beginning to paddle her way to shore.

Or that had been her plan, at any rate. But the raft seemed to refuse to compromise, and instead began to move of its own accord, in the opposite direction of her home.

"W-wait!" Panicking, she rowed as hard as she could, but to no avail. Finally realizing that it had no intention of returning her to shore, she leapt off of the raft, closing her eyes tightly to prepare herself for the water.

It never came.

Instead, warm, strong arms wrapped themselves around her torso. She could feel herself being lifted up to the sky. When she opened her eyes, she found Hermes by her side, holding onto her carefully as his winged shoes gently lowered them onto Ogygia.

"Lord Hermes," she bowed. "It has been a while."

"Calypso. I didn't realize you were so desperate to stay."

"To stay? What do you mean?"

Hermes frowned. "Did you not board the raft to leave Ogygia?"

"Leave… Ogygia?"

"Ah, right. I suppose nobody informed you of this. But… well… you're free to go."

"What? I'm…- what exactly are you saying, Lord Hermes? Could you please start at the very beginning?"

Hermes gave an annoyed sigh, but obliged all the same.

"I suppose it all started with young Percy Jackson," he said, rubbing his chin in thought.

Calypso's heart skipped a beat.

"Percy Jackson?"

"Yes. Percy Jackson. Perseus Jackson. The son of Poseidon. I believe he visited your island for some time."

"I'm well aware of who he is, milord."

Hermes frowned, but let the rather uncharacteristically rude remark slide.

"Well, he's been quite busy since he left."

"...Does he still live?"

Hermes was silent.

"You can tell me the truth, milord. After all, I never expected to see him again, after his departure."

She could handle it. She could handle his death. After all, Percy Jackson was a mortal. And he was a hero. A deadly combination.

"He has not perished," Hermes finally spoke. "Or at the very least, he has not shown up to be judged in Hades's realm."

"Then-is he doing well?"

"That… is a different question. I cannot say."

Calypso frowned.

"Is it some sort of secret?"

"It is more that we don't know. Ever since the War, and what happened to his girlfriend… he hasn't ever been the same."

"His… girlfriend?"

"Yes. The young daughter of Athena. She perished in the final moments of the fighting, when the heroes were making their final stand against Kronos on Olympus. Athena was distraught for weeks. Even Poseidon was going out of his way to be nice to her in order to cheer her up."

"Then… what about Percy?"

"He's disappeared." Hermes said simply.

"Disappeared?"

"We haven't had contact with him for months. Only Poseidon knows of his whereabouts, but he keeps his lips sealed. Quite a few Gods have attempted to find him to no avail, myself included. It seems as though we all still have some unfinished business with him." Lord Hermes trailed off, as if lost in thought.

"What is it that you need from him?"

Hermes raised his eyebrows in surprise. He opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out. For Hermes to be speechless… she must've touched on something quite sensitive indeed.

"I… I made a mistake," he responded quietly. "And he corrected it. For that I'm indebted to him, and I dislike being indebted to anyone."

"What-?"

Hermes cut her off brusquely.

"At any rate, his whereabouts do not concern the issue at hand.. What you should know is that young Percy Jackson led the defence of Olympus against the Titan army. He stood toe-to-toe with Kronos and saved Olympus while we were tied up fighting Typhon. And as a reward, we offered him immortality.

"So he is immortal now…" Calypso mused quietly to herself. She couldn't help but wonder if that would change things. If perhaps his immortality would change the rules. If it would allow him to come back. That would be nice. It would be nice to see those sea green eyes and messy black hair again. To hear the rough timbre of his voice. To smile at his poor sense of humour and to plant moonlace in the garden with him at night. To hold his hand as they walked around the beach.

For a moment, Calypso allowed herself to dream.

"We offered him immortality, but he turned it down." Hermes's voice cut through her reverie.

"He did what?"

"We were as shocked as anyone, but Percy Jackson turned down our offer, and requested instead that we grant him a wish. An unconditional wish and Father agreed, albeit reluctantly."

"So what did he wish for? What could he have possibly wanted more than immortality?"

Despite her incredulity , Calypso could not say that she was surprised by his decision. Immortality had never been the draw for Percy Jackson. After all, he could have had it here on Ogygia with her.

"His 'wish' was, in reality, a multitude of small wishes, all aimed at bringing us immortals closer together. Part of it concerned you."

"Me?"

It was as if she forgot to breathe as she hung onto his every word.

"Yes, you. You must have been quite important to him. He named you specifically, and requested your release."

"My… release? But why? Why would he do that? He… I… I'm just… I mean, I'm just me. Why would he waste his wish on me?"

The world was shrinking. Hermes' voice became faint and unintelligible. Release. The word echoed inside her head, over and over again. Percy Jackson had freed her.

She felt her heart swell, even as her eyes filled with tears.

He'd given up immortality for her. She had thought that he'd forgotten her, just like all of the heroes that had gone before him. But he had remembered. And he'd sacrificed eternal life to save her from her punishment.

"-Calypso? Hey! Calypso! Are you alright?" Hermes was shaking her shoulder worriedly.

"Ah. Yes I'm alright. I'm sorry for my distraction. I just-"

Hermes waved her off. "Father sent me here to inform you that your release has been granted. Hence, when you are ready, you may pack your belongings and sail from Ogygia. He left the timing and the choice of leaving up to you. Should you choose to leave, as you well know, the raft will take you anywhere you wish to go.

Hermes paused, and then said, "I will forewarn you Calypso. The outside world has changed greatly since you last saw it. It may not be so easy to leave here and adjust to it. So-"

"I don't care," she cut him off. "After all this time, I'm finally free. I would like to see the world. I would like to see how much things have changed."

Hermes gave her a long look, before he sighed. "Very well. Do you have any idea where you'll go?"

Calypso paused, and then smiled.

"I think I'd like to go to Manhattan."

oOo

Hermes left not long after their conversation, leaving her to her preparations. She rushed back to the cave and packed her belongings. It took very little time, for there wasn't much she wished to bring with her; only a couple changes of clothing and a few of her more treasured personal belongings. It wasn't until she was finished, and had started to exit the cave that the reality of the situation began to set in.

She was leaving Ogygia. She was leaving the only place she'd known for millennia. She took a look around the cave. The fruit jars holding the dried fruit preserves were still neatly lined up on a shelf. The fire was still being carefully tended to by her servants, despite her imminent departure.

This was home and despite the fact that she had yearned for an eternity to have an opportunity to escape, now that the moment had presented itself before her it became very difficult for her to leave. She chuckled bitterly at her own indecision.

If only the heroes that left her had felt the same.

Maybe she should stay one more night? It was sunset, and she wasn't entirely sure if Manhattan was a populated area, or how hospitable the people there would be. She didn't really fancy wandering around an unfamiliar place at night. Maybe things would be better in the morning.

No.

That was an excuse. She knew that she was stalling, that saying "one more night" was just putting off the moment of departure.

She needed to leave. The world was waiting for her. Percy Jackson was waiting for her; he didn't give up immortality for her to hide away forever on Ogygia. If she couldn't work up the courage to leave, then she didn't deserve his kindness in the first place.

She picked up her suitcase and marched outside, only to be confronted with her garden.

It looked gorgeous in the dimming light. The sun had just disappeared beneath the horizon, and the moonlace was in full bloom, lighting up the whole place with an ethereal, silver glow. She could see the carefully trimmed roses blooming as well, their sweet scent filling the air.

There would be nobody to tend to it now. If she left, her garden would fall to ruin with time.

This was far more difficult to let go.

"Plant a garden in Manhattan for me, will you?"

"I promise."

She remembered his words back then, and they hardened her resolve. She'd plant a bigger, better garden in Manhattan, to replace this one. Even if there were things that could never be replaced in her heart.

She turned her back to the garden and headed down to the beach, treading the well-worn path one final time. The raft was waiting for her and with only a moment's hesitation, she boarded it.

It immediately began to move, but she couldn't resist the urge to look back at Ogygia. She turned and watched the only place she'd known for millennia slowly shrink away. Before long, mist covered her surroundings and she couldn't see home anymore.

She knew she was crying. But somehow, everything felt lighter. She was sailing towards a brighter future. She was sailing towards her love.

"Manhattan." she told the raft. "Take me to Percy Jackson."

oOo