If you're watching this, I'm sorry

If you're watching this, I'm not coming back

If you're watching this, you can help

If you're watching this, it's not your fault

If you're watching this, I'm dead

If you're watching this, this is my last chance

If you're watching this, I'll never see you again

And I'm sorry

Basically a really sad AU idea that's been marinating in my mind for a while. So, in BoO, there was never even talk of a physician's cure, and they just go straight to that place where Percy got his nose bleed (haven't read the books in a while so i forgot where it was), and that stuff still all happens, but when Zeus blows them back to CHB, the ship doesn't break apart and then they continue to fight the war with Gaea. Idk what happens exactly, but all you really need to know is there is no physician's cure, Leo makes recordings for all his friends the night before he dies, and the Argo II is docked at CHB temporarily while making the videos. I think that deals with most non-canon plot holes, but if not…. Sorry, I don't feel like fixing this and this thing is just for fun.

CALYPSO

Time had always worked differently on Ogygia.

An hour could be a century, a week could be a minute, a year could be a day. Calypso had no idea how long it had been, but she knew it had been far too long.

Leo had told her she was coming back. She had received promises like that before, and nobody had fulfilled them. Why did Leo's words feel so different to her? It wasn't like the guy had given her totally honest vibes. He had actually given her troublemaker, untrustworthy vibes when she had first met him.

Maybe that was it. Leo had been so drastically different from other heroes who had visited her. Everyone had been noble, brave, strong and tall, solemn. Leo had been small, sassy, and annoying.

He's not coming back.

That was what she told herself each night. And yet, each night, she found herself scanning the horizon, looking for anything that might indicate Leo's impossible return. Because if anyone might have been able to achieve the impossible and return to Ogygia, it would have been him.

And so, Calypso was both surprised and triumphant when she saw the glitter of Celestial Bronze in the sky, which soon revealed itself to be a dragon. A massive, mechanical dragon made entirely of metal.

She leapt from her dining table (which she had fixed since Leo had broken it), and ran out to the beach to meet Leo, for she knew it was Leo. Nobody else could have made and ridden a dragon like that.

She knew something was wrong as soon as the dragon got closer. It was far too quiet. The only sounds were the beating of the dragon's wings. If Leo had been there, he would have been yelling and whooping triumphantly. She should have been able to hear him from miles away.

Then the dragon landed, and her fear was confirmed. Leo was not sitting on the back of the beast, grinning at her, and about to give her a hug and call her Sunshine.

Calypso eyed the dragon, unsure whether it was hostile or not. It didn't attack her, but it seemed anxious about something. It was pawing the ground, scanning the island. It's glowing eyes landed on her, and she froze. It couldn't kill her. Could it?

She summoned her bravery and stepped up to it. "Where have you come from? Who is your master?"

The dragon didn't incinerate her. Instead, it made a grinding, clicking sound. Was that… Morse? The language had been invented after her captivity started, but some of her visitors had taught her a bit of it. Leo had constantly been tapping away, too fast for her to understand.

Leo. Hadn't he mentioned something about a dragon?

She wasn't sure. The whole time he'd been there was a blur of work and joy.

"Are you Leo's?" She asked hesitantly.

The dragon clicked again, and it's… shoulders? drooped. Okay…

"Did he send you?"

In response, the dragon bent down and held out a leg for her. As if it wanted her to climb on.

"You want me to get on?"

The dragon snorted as if to say yeah, hurry up, wouldn't you?

Right. Okay. She was wearing pants, fortunately, so climbing up the dragon was realatively easy. Like mounting a horse. A really tall, fire-breathing horse with metal scales instead of fur. So really, nothing like mounting a horse.

Once she was on top of the dragon, something rattled within the great machine's chest, and a moment later a panel slid open by it's neck, revealing a metal compartment. Calypso pulled it out.

There was a thin black sheet of something, that reflected the light off of it's black, shiny exterior. Calypso examined it, but wasn't sure what it was, so she turned her attention to other thing. It was a box, full of small, rectangular metal devices. Each device had a name on it, printed in large but messy letters.

One was labeled with her name.

She pulled it out and held it up, staring at it. Did Leo think she would know what this was?

On one end of the device was a smaller, shinier metal bit sticking out. It matched an opening on the black sheet. She hesitantly inserted the metal bit into the opening. It clicked in perfectly.

For a moment, nothing happened. Calypso slumped, disappointed.

Then the black sheet started to glow, and an image appeared there.

"Leo!" She cried.

But the image couldn't seem to hear her, and continued talking over her.

Okay, then.

Calypso frowned, but settled in to listen.

RECORDING- CALYPSO

Leo is crouching in front of the camera, the engine room of the Argo II behind him. The camera is propped against something not visible, and Leo seems more anxious than usual.

LEO: Hi, Caly. If you're watching this, I'm sorry I wasn't able to come back for you in person. But Festus will get you where you need to go. All you've got to do is tell him a location. I promise he won't try to kill you or anything. Probably. There's still some coding issues…

LEO: So. I know you're really confused about what's happening right now, and why I'm not there, and what the heck this video is about. So here's the deal. …. There's not really an easy way to say this, I don't know how to… what's the phrase? Let you down easy.

LEO: But if you're watching this, it means I'm dead.

LEO: I'm not going to go into the details right here. Partly because I don't want to think about it longer than I have to, and partly because I don't have a lot of time, and explaining everything that's been going on with the war will be difficult.

Leo leans forward, looking tired and sad, not a trace of his usual smirk on his face.

LEO: Even though I'm going to… well, I made a promise to you, and I'm going to keep it. Festus will get you off of Ogygia. I want you to take him, travel everywhere you want to go. Explore, just like you've been dreaming. But before you do, stop by Camp Half Blood real quick. It's in Long Island, New York.

LEO: My friends there will help clear up any questions you have. I need you to deliver the rest of these flash drives to the people named on them. Make sure they know it wasn't their fault.

LEO: I'm gonna miss you a lot, but I hope you're happy with what you find in the real world. It can be a total bitch sometimes, but there are some awesome things that have happened since you got locked up. Ask Nico about McDonald's sometime, you'll make his day.

LEO: So. Just to wrap everything up. Take Festus back to Long Island and give my friends their recordings. Then do whatever you want. You're free now.

LEO: I'm sorry again. For ditching you. For not being able to be there in person. For… for everything. Bye.

Leo reaches forward, presses something on the camera, and the screen goes dark.