Percy was starting to get really sick of this whole "dying on quests" thing. It certainly wasn't setting a good precedent for the Great Prophecy.

Of course, he wasn't really, actually dead. Probably. He thought.

The last time he'd died, Thanatos had whisked away his soul before Hades could cotton on to his death, and he'd had this whole intense dream sequence with his soul. This time, that hadn't happened. It hurt a lot worse this time around, which was probably a good sign.

His heart was racing, and then it would stop for a solid five seconds, and then it would pick right back up at a million beats per second. His skin was flaking off like he was a really good rotisserie chicken. His vision faded between black and technicolor and he could feel magic coursing through his veins, only to dump itself into trying to keep him alive. When his eyes did decide to work, what he saw was so deeply disconcerting that he simply squeezed them shut again - the sky around him was nearly black, and a long trail of soot and smoke trailed behind him while lightning flashed through the ash and magma billowing into the air.

While he soared through the air and struggled to cling to life, he couldn't help but wonder why he was such a dumbass to repeatedly get himself into these situations over and over. Recklessly summoning all his magic and power with only the desire to escape his current circumstances in a place where he had to pull his strength from the walls around him was not a good idea, and yet he kept doing it. He could only hope that Thalia had made it out before he'd detonated the mountain.

That was a problem for later. For now, the bigger problem was the rapidly-approaching sea.

When he crashed down to the ocean, it swaddled him in its depths like a baby, pulling him under the pitching surface to be lulled to sleep by the deep-sea currents. A pod of sperm whales milled around, clicking and diving alongside him, and Percy allowed his consciousness to fade while the saltwater's loving embrace went to work on his many injuries.

Strangely enough, it seemed that the sea managed to shield him somewhat from demigod dreams as well, or perhaps it was his complete and total energy deprivation. Regardless, the only visions which came to him as he drifted unconsciously through the sea were fleeting ones. The briefest vision of Thalia at a dead sprint, tunnels collapsing behind her - Grover and Tyson back-to-back, fighting off a horde of creatures in synergy while two mountainous creatures clashed behind them - Deinos, bursting out of an entrance to the Labyrinth and tearing across beautiful mountain pastures - Annabeth, working out with Clarisse - Chiron, picking up Quintus from where the swordsman had collapsed to the floor.

None of it made sense. They kept coming, fragments of what could have been helpful dreams. Annabeth and Thalia, watching the sun set over Long Island Sound. Luke, conferring quietly with a hooded figure. An enormous storm, looming over the West Coast. A team of heavily-armed demigods in purple, marching in formation into a well-laid trap.

Blue skies. Soft sand. A girl, sobbing, alone.

That one stuck around until Percy finally woke up and opened his eyes.

The first thing that he noticed was the smell of the place he'd washed up. Juniper berry, pinyon nut, and sea breeze mingled with old world scents like hyacinth, lavender, and olive. The second thing he noticed was the brutal thirst, his mouth so far beyond dry that he could scarcely comprehend or describe it.

He lay flat on his back and couldn't find the strength to move, but lolled his head over to one side. He was on a small beach, sheltered from the waves by a natural harbor carved into a cliff face. Cliff roses bloomed amongst a variety of shrubs atop the stone walls which surrounded him, and the side opposite the ocean's gentle waves was a gently sloping hill atop which sat a beautiful Mediterranean villa. A waterfall plunged from the air behind the villa, its waters trickling through a courtyard in a beautiful stream. In the courtyard bubbled a small freshwater fountain. And down the hill, slowly, a beautiful woman drifted.

"Lay still, hero," she called. "You are in no shape to be moving yet."

Percy tried and failed to call back, instead only managing to gawp awkwardly at the beauty as she approached him. She moved with a grace that he'd never really seen in a woman before, flowing almost like water as her silk gown trailed behind her. Percy couldn't comprehend it - he felt like he'd never seen a woman before.

She walked like she weighed nothing. She could have been a ballroom dancer, floating around the floor, or maybe a hummingbird hovering under a chain of flowers. It didn't make sense. Her dress was loose, smooth, simple white, and yet Percy felt his breath disappearing as though she was wearing nothing at all. Her face was kind, her eyes soft. He was a stuttering simpleton as she knelt next to him with a gentle smile.

While Percy was having this internal crisis, the woman spooned nectar and ambrosia into his mouth. She was maybe in her twenties, a few years older than Percy, but her face was ageless. Hazel eyes smiled down onto him, and she began singing something Percy couldn't recognize. With each word, the pain faded from Percy's aching body, until he was left blissfully freehand could manage words again.

"Who?" He croaked. "Where?"

But the vision before him simply smiled and shook her head. "Rest, hero. I will answer your questions when you awake."

And Percy faded off to sleep again.

When he awoke, he found himself in the villa he'd seen on the hill. He was on a massive bed, swathed in linen and silk, and sitting nearby was the goddess. She might not have been immortal, of course, but Percy couldn't think of any way such beauty would be tolerated in a mortal. As she watched him sleep, she was weaving something on a loom, singing another gentle song - but now that he awoke, she stopped.

"Welcome, handsome. I am Calypso." She gestured to a table next to him, where a plate of food was prepared - cheese, a warm bowl of soup, bread and fresh fruits aplenty. "Eat, if you are hungry. Rest, if you are weary. No harm nor hardship will come to you here."

Normally Percy had a policy about accepting food from strangers, especially ethereally beautiful ones on strange, mystical islands. After all, the last time he'd done so, he'd been turned into a guinea pig, and before that he'd lost days of vital time in a Vegas hotel. Realistically, he should know better by now. But when he looked at Calypso, her face was guileless and honest. She hummed a gentle tune to herself and returned to her weaving, unbothered. Cautiously, he tested a piece of garlic bread.

It was, by far, the best thing he had ever put into his mouth - he muttered a quick apology to his mom's chocolate chip cookies - and within minutes the entire platter was reduced to a few crumbs and empty dishes. The strawberries the woman had provided were incredibly sweet. The lemonade was just the right mix of tart, savory, and sugar. The beef of the stew was impossibly tender and the broth reminded Percy of cold nights on Montauk with warm soup, bad TV, and laughter with his mother.

When the beauty looked up again, she laughed, and Percy would have rent the earth in two to hear that sound again. "You like my cooking, then," she said. Percy nodded breathlessly. "Well, then I'll have to make some more. You just wait here, hero."

When she left, Percy let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and ran his hand through his hair nervously. Slowly, he sat up and pulled aside the sheets. Looking down at himself he expected to find charred flesh, burns scars, bandages, all manner of damage from his brief but painful fight with the telekhines.

Instead, he just looked like he hadn't eaten in a week - which certainly felt about right. Calypso had dressed him in a pair of linen pants, but they were far too short for his frame, and the few button-up shirts spread around the room clearly wouldn't fit either - several were missing buttons where Calypso might have tried. In fact, on the loom now was the frame for a shirt that looked like it would actually fit quite well. A pair of properly-sized pants were folded neatly on a stool next to the bed, and he pulled them on quickly. His muscles protested weakly - he was standing, moving, but only barely, and he collapsed back onto the bed once he had finished dressing himself in the new pants.

Just in time, too, as Calypso backed through the doorway carrying another tray laden with food - this time, everything in double portions, stacked high. Seeing that he'd changed into clothes that actually fit, or at least pants that did, she had the decency to blush with embarrassment. "Sorry," she laughed, "I really only had clothes for me. We're not quite the same size."

Percy nodded and gratefully took the second plate of food. As he began eating, the woman sat on the bed next to him. "So, Percy," she began. "Who's Thalia?"

Percy choked on a mouthful of bread and coughed for a few seconds before he managed to swallow. "Uh," he said eloquently.

"You talk in your sleep," Calypso said with a faint hint of red in her cheeks. "You said her name a lot."

"Oh." Percy wanted to stab himself - this was the best he was capable of? He cleared his throat. "How do you know my name?"

Calypso stared at him for a second. "You talk in your sleep."

Percy flushed. Scrambling for something, he managed to ask a useful question. "Where am I? How did I get here?" Then, before he could embarrass himself any further than he somehow already had, he began working on the delicious feast she'd provided.

"I went out one day and found you naked in the surf," Calypso said. "I imagine you remember… you were awake, briefly. I gave you nectar and ambrosia, and brought you up to my home. You slept for days, almost a week." She ran her hand through Percy's hair, and he flinched backwards - she winced and apologized. "Sorry - I got used to taking care of you like that. As for where you are… this is my island, Ogygia. It is paradise, in a sense, and also a prison." Her eyes were filled with sadness as she watched Percy finish off the plate - it felt like she was weighing his soul with her gaze, deciding whether he, like her island, was paradise or prison.

He searched for a way to respond to that, but found none.

"Thalia is… a friend. She was with me on a quest - it's a long story," he said abashedly.

"And Annabeth? Grover, Tyson?" Calypso prompted gently.

"My friends," Percy responded. "In danger, also. Grover and Tyson were on the quest with Thalia and I - Annabeth wasn't, but she… I don't know. I just have a bad feeling. Bad dreams." A thought occurred to him, as though beaten into his head with a frying pan. "I need to get to them. I need to leave."

A wistful smile. "Rest, hero. You are in no shape to run off and save the world today. Maybe tomorrow." Those hazel eyes met his gaze, but couldn't seem to hold it for long, flitting down to the floor before they slowly made their way back up to his eyes again. "You are still weak, still injured. Bravery is commendable, but foolishness is not."

Begrudgingly, Percy took her point. He shrugged and gave her a small smile - the best he could muster. "Thank you for the food. It was delicious."

She nodded graciously. "I am glad you liked it. Now, Percy - you should rest. You are growing weary, I can tell." Percy wanted to protest, but he felt his eyes closing almost against his will. He slumped backwards onto the bed pillows. "Close your eyes, brave one. Sleep."

Blackness returned.

When Percy awoke, it was sunrise. The sky above was richly hued, oranges layering over themselves with the hope of a new day bleeding through as they banished the night's blackness. Outside, far away, Calypso was singing something soft and happy.

Percy fought his way to his feet. She'd finished his shirt, and he gratefully pulled it on - it was patterned strangely, unusual compared to the rest of the garments he'd seen on the island so far which had been simple linens with scarcely even a secondary color. This shirt was embroidered with a scene - Percy, washed ashore in heroic pose, before an epic sunset. In his hand was Riptide, held aloft. Mercifully, in this version he was at least wearing pants.

Pulling the shirt on and buttoning it up, Percy padded outside. He was barefoot, as Calypso had been, but the ground was soft and forgiving. The day was brisk but pleasantly so - the sea breeze stole breath from his lungs and sent fire into his heart. His muscles quivered in protest but he knew that his sanity demanded that something be done, accomplished, achieved. He needed to make progress towards returning to where he belonged, to the people that needed him.

He needed a shower.

He made his way slowly, painfully, to the waterfall. It was a strange sight - crystal clear freshwater gushing from the air as though some invisible giant had left the sink running. Its waters pooled in an idyllic lake, lined on every side by beautiful fruit trees woven into a dense thicket to create a verdant but shaded paradise. The water then made its way to the ocean through a hand-laid stone channel, each block carefully hewn to fit perfectly together.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, what remained of the Percy that once had been noted that it would be a nice place to fly fish.

Percy staggered into the water, feeling its magic wash over him. He shucked off his clothing quickly and scrubbed himself clean, sore muscles easing their way into relaxation as the water bore his weight. He shuffled under the waterfall and cast his head back, letting the water pummel his torso and head - he laughed at the feeling of being alive, aware, even if everything hurt and nothing was going right.

Eventually he collapsed onto his back in the water, allowing it to consume him and engulf his body. It was cool, refreshing. He felt awake, finally, for the first time in forever. It had been so long since he'd even been asleep, really, since he'd managed more than a few hours of continuous not-being-awake. He could feel the ache in his muscles and bones, the fatigue of his brain, but he could feel his emotions again. He could remember places he'd been, things he'd seen and heard. It was a strange feeling, to come back from a period where you were alive, but nothing more.

He twisted and turned under the water, playing with small fish, a little swimming turtle, a diving duck. The pond had one shallow end but the other end was stunningly deep, and Percy poked around for a few minutes in a cave in the depths, but eventually he found himself drifting on his back, staring up at the clear blues of the sky through the surface of the pond and the ripples sent up by the waterfall.

And then Calypso appeared in his vision, smiling, upside down to his eyes as she leaned out over the lake. "There you are," she said, her voice garbled only slightly by the water. "I've been looking for you." Percy blinked. He was naked, floating under the reflections of the surface. Calypso was just inches above the surface of the water, and he was just inches below. He met her eyes and swallowed.

Her braided hair dangled off one shoulder and into the water. Percy met her eyes and conscious thought stopped.

Eventually she broke eye contact with a giggle, and Percy's higher function resumed. He sat up, facing away from Calypso, and reached behind him to collect his clothes from the shore. "Hey, you're not, like, some sort of ancient evil witch, right?" He began, dressing himself under cover of the water's surface. "Because the last time I was on a beautiful island with a beautiful woman who offered to take care of me, she turned me into a guinea pig. I really don't want to be a guinea pig again."

Calypso's tinkling laugh filled the air, and when Percy turned to face her, his breath hitched. She was laying on her side, propped up by one arm, watching him as he pulled on the shirt she'd made. "No, handsome, I am not a witch, sorceress, she-devil, monster, or otherwise beguiling. I certainly have no wish to see you turned into a guinea pig." A teasing glint came into her eyes. "But I didn't realize you thought I was beautiful."

He blushed, stammered, hesitated - and that laugh again. "Relax," she said. "I know what you meant." She stood up and offered Percy her hand to help him out of the pond. He accepted it with a deep bow and sardonic flourish of his hand, as though he were a star actor on stage, and Calypso giggled despite herself. Percy counted that as a victory.

"So why were you looking for me?"

"Breakfast," she explained. "And then afterwards, I was thinking of perhaps a swim."

They ate sitting on a small cliff overlooking the open ocean. The island was tiny, in all honesty - barely the size of two city blocks - but every inch was truly closer to paradise than Percy had ever been before. There was no angle that was not stunningly beautiful, no location that was uncomfortable or inhospitable or in any way imperfect. Here, a dozen feet above a gentle surf, Percy felt like he could have spent the rest of his life watching seabirds soar along the wave crests.

"So," Percy said. "What did you mean, earlier? About Ogygia being a prison?" He stumbled slightly on the pronunciation of the island's name, but Calypso didn't seem to particularly mind. She dangled her feet over the edge, and swung them aimlessly in the breeze. Percy's mind flashed again - blonde hair plunging towards clashing rocks and waves - and he leaned back slightly, as though the cliff wasn't real when he couldn't see over it.

"The island… it is my punishment. From long ago. My father committed great crimes against the gods, and for this, I was punished." She toyed with her braided caramel hair for a moment, eyes locked on the horizon. "The gods decided that his descendants might be loyal to him, follow his course - and this was too great of a risk for them to take. So I was banished here, cursed… but there is nothing to be done. It is not so bad, in the end," she finished, turning to Percy. "Occasionally heroes like you will visit, and I get to speak with Hermes from time to time, bringing messages of the outside world. I am in a beautiful place, and I have my gardens. What more could I ask?"

"Freedom," Percy pointed out. "I couldn't imagine being trapped in one place for years, decades…" He paused for a moment. "Who was your father?"

Calypso bit her lip, then shrugged. "Atlas."

Percy blinked. "That's not fair at all - I know another daughter of Atlas, and she isn't imprisoned. She's a Huntress of Artemis."

The brunette nodded. "And to be free in that way, she had to foreswear her family, vow servitude to Olympus and its gods forever. I… was unwilling. Not because I agreed with my father, but because I could not abandon my kin so easily, could not be bound by such servitude." Her smile turned bitter, twisted slightly. "And so the gods bound me far away, so that I could never pose a threat. They have their reasons, of course. But do not be fooled into thinking they are benevolent, nor wise, my brave hero. They are fools just the same."

Percy nodded silently. The gods hadn't really treated him very well either. Obviously they'd never banished him to a deserted island, but they had certainly tried to kill him plenty of times. Still…

"Where is this island actually located? Do you know?"

"Far from anywhere, handsome. That is the truth of my punishment - I have been alone for more than two thousand years. The truth of my punishment - to be separated from everything, everywhere, to be haunted by the heroes that visit me."

Percy reached out to squeeze her hand in support. He didn't really know why, but he trusted Calypso - and he couldn't help but feel bad for her. To be separated from your family, from the world, for doing nothing but wanting to maintain some level of freedom, was a terrible fate. Even in as beautiful a place as this.

Calypso shook her head. "Enough of these topics. Are you feeling strong enough for a swim?"

Percy stretched, tested his muscles. They burned and protested, his joints shrieking and protesting with every movement. Evidently his morning bath hadn't fixed everything.

"Yeah, I'm down," he said.

"Great," Calypso said. Then, without any further preamble, she stood up, pulled her dress off over her head to show a simple linen swimsuit, and stepped forwards off the cliff. Once Percy's brain had rebooted, he leaned forwards to look over the edge of the rock face. There, treading water in the gentle surf, was Calypso, her light brown hair plastered back over her face. "Come in, the water's lovely," she called. "It's thirty feet deep here."

Percy's head was pounding. He inched forwards towards the edge - and froze. Something in his brain refused to cooperate. Calypso's hair glinted in the sunlight and turned blonde. The gentle pitching of the sea grew to a rollicking surf a dozen feet high. The small seaside cliff rose ever higher into the air, shrinking backwards towards Percy simultaneously, until he was three hundred feet in the air and beneath him were the same sharp rocks amongst which Luke had landed, and nearly Annabeth also.

And he blinked, and the world was normal again, except he was panting, and Calypso was frowning as she bobbed in the surf. "You okay?" All he could do was nod speechlessly, backing up a step from the edge and taking a deep breath. The world was normal. The cliff was barely a dozen feet high. He'd jumped off of higher diving boards. Calypso was bobbing in the sea, not crushed on sharp rocks. She was worried. But alive.

Exhale.

A running, flying leap. Arms windmill. He floats. Muscles scream and ache in protest of the motion, his mind freezes - but he's done it, he's free and in the air.

He plunged into the crystal blue-green of the ocean, scaring up a school of small tropical fish, and let out a deep breath. For a minute, he stayed under there, watching as an octopus scurried about along the sea floor. He was okay. He was alive. He was healing. He would get home. Help his friends again.

Slowly he made his way to the surface, popping up right next to Calypso. She smiled and splashed some water on him playfully. In return, he summoned a small wave to crash over her head, drenching her. She gasped, spluttered, splashed him back, but he dove under the surface before the water could hit him and grabbed Calypso's ankle to drag her down under the water. Her shriek was cut off as her head dipped below the surface, but she was smiling as she wrestled Percy for an advantage beneath the surf.

They raced a lap around the island, frolicked in the surf, explored the coral under the surface. With every passing minute Percy relaxed, his mind drifting further and further away from the home he'd left behind. It was so easy to forget his troubles here. The food was good. The land was incredible. Calypso was charming and funny and so beautiful that Percy could scarcely believe she was real and she played a mean game of poker.

It really was paradise.

So why did he still ache?

One evening, Percy walked out early, hoping to exercise some in the evening stillness and cool. He was still weak - without being in water, he could last for scarcely more than minutes before he was exhausted and scarcely able to walk. But that grew longer each day - and he tested himself each morning with a lap around the island. Initially, he'd made it to the beach from the villa before collapsing to his knees. Recently he'd been able to walk around with only two stops. Today, he was hoping for no stops whatsoever.

When he left the villa, however, he froze in his tracks.

There, under the waterfall, was Calypso. She was rinsing her hair, head thrown back, glistening in the orange glow of the sunset. He knew he should look away, give her some privacy and modesty, but his brain simply refused to function. She was a work of art, carved from marble by some ancient master. Water flowed down her smoothly, hugging every gentle curve.

Percy couldn't take his eyes away. Calypso awakened something almost primordial in his brain. She wasn't built like any other woman he'd ever thought of like this - none of Thalia's powerful musculature and deadly grace, not Annabeth's petite figure and quiet confidence, nor Rachel's elegant curves and flirtatious smiles. She was simply and impossibly beautiful.

Calypso turned to face him and caught his eyes. He expected a fight, or surprise, but Calypso just gave him the same soft, teasing smile from before and continued her shower. Finally, Percy managed to win the fight with his hormones and rip his eyes away. "Uh, sorry," he called over his shoulder. "I didn't think you'd be up yet."

"That's okay, hero," she responded. "It's only fair - I saw you just the same when I cared for you after your arrival. We have nothing to be embarrassed of."

Percy coughed. "I'm gonna go for a lap," he said. "If I'm not back in an hour or two, I'm probably passed out on the beach if you want to rescue me." Then, he bravely ran away.

It was another beautiful sunset on Ogygia as Percy staggered his way around the tiny island. The sun hung low over the waves, orange and heavy. Scattered clouds glowed with reflected and refracted light, seabirds frolicked, and a column of fire roared into being on the beach.

Man, this place was weird.

Percy stumbled back from the pillar of flame, tripping over his own feet, but before he could hit the ground a strong hand reached out and caught him by the shoulder. "Careful, demigod. You are yet weak." Hephaestus steadied Percy with surprising gentleness given that his calloused hands were almost the size of the demigod's head.

"Lord Hephaestus," Percy said. "What's going on? Is Thalia-"

"She's fine, my boy," the God of the Forge interrupted. "Resourceful girl, that one. Found her way back, told me the story. You two make a good pair."

Percy blushed despite himself. "Oh, no, we're not - it's not - Thalia - I -"

Hephaestus continued on, ignoring Percy's stammers. "She's worried sick about you. She, and everyone else, thinks you're dead. You blew the top off a mountain, kid." He shook his head. "I cannot decide whether to be angry or impressed about that. That was my favorite forge. But that's not what I'm here for."

"Wait, you haven't told them I'm alive?" Percy asked. "Why not?"

The god looked at Percy with no small amount of pity. "I guess she hasn't told you, then." He gestured for Percy to walk with him down the beach. "In any case - it's not my place to say. I figured it best not to tell anyone until I was certain you were coming back."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Hephaestus stopped, pulled a phone from his pocket. On the screen was news coverage, from the god's own TV network, of a volcanic eruption. Plumes of smoke and ash towered thousands of feet into the air, magma spilling down the mountainside in an enormous pyroclastic flow. An announcer described death and destruction, the evacuation of hundreds of thousands, widespread ash coverage, and half a dozen other maladies. An earthquake had shaken the West Coast from southern California to well into the southern end of Alaska.

"I caused that?" Percy asked, astonished.

"Aye, lad. And collapsed hundreds of miles of the Labyrinth besides. Quite the explosion. The telekhines are scattered to the wind, and they sure won't be using that forge again… though of course, neither will I. As for whatever they were forging, they took it with them. Worst of all, the blast stirred Typhon from his sleep - he was imprisoned beneath the mountain."

Percy just stared at the god. "I mean… He won't wake up, will he? I'm not that powerful - I couldn't…"

"You certainly could, boy. You're the son of the Earthshaker, and champion of the goddess of magic besides. You've escaped death, fought gods, beaten Titans. You don't know your own strength." Hephaestus shook his head.

"What about Grover and Tyson?" Percy asked, desperate to distract himself from the realization that he might have awakened one of the oldest and deadliest monsters in history.

Unfortunately, that line of questioning didn't provide him any relief either. "Nobody has heard from them. I suppose they're still in the maze."

"I still don't understand," Percy said. "Why wouldn't I go back? What am I supposed to do now?"

"I can't answer that. But you remember my wife, yes? I believe you've… made her acquaintance. Be careful of her domain, boy. Love can tie your head up in knots, leave you lost and confused. Just… be careful about where it leads you. It isn't always a force for good, believe me."

Percy remembered Aphrodite's threats in the desert. Had he pissed her off, made an enemy of love? He sure hoped not.

"Anyways. If you should decide to leave this place, and I can't honestly tell you whether you should or shouldn't, I did promise you that I'd tell you how to find Daedalus. I keep my word when I give it." The god shrugged. "So, here's the deal. I'm sure you remember Theseus and Ariadne. Ariadne's string." At Percy's nod, Hephaestus continued. "The string was never really what mattered. Sure, it works - that's what Luke is searching for, even now. He wants a way through the maze. But what made the string work, what was really important after all, was Ariadne herself. Just a mortal girl, but smart like a whip, that one. Clever. And boy, she could see. I'm sure you catch my drift."

Percy did.

"Then there's only one thing left," Hephaestus said with a sigh. "You need to decide if you're going to stay, or go home. Don't decide now," he said, cutting across Percy, who had just opened his mouth. "Think on it. Give it time. Decide in the morning. Sunrise is a time for decisions."

"What should I do?" Percy asked. "I mean… would Daedalus even help us? I've had dreams, and he seems… not likely to be empathetic."

Hephaestus shrugged. "It's not an easy life, being a genius. He's been alone now for thousands of years. He tried to do good, once, helping Theseus and Ariadne. And because of that, he lost everything he ever loved." The god could only shake his head. "I don't know if he'll help you, son. It's easy to turn bitter, when you're like him. Like me. But try not to judge a man until you've used his tools, eh?"

Percy could only nod.

"Good lad. I'll remember what you did for me. You did well. Good bye."

That sounded like a very final goodbye. With it, the god turned and walked a few feet further away. Without any further warning, he erupted into another pillar of flame, and then was gone.

Percy sat down on the beach and watched the sunset.

The tide had finished going out, and it was slack water by the time Calypso sat down next to Percy on the beach. For a while, neither said anything, and they simply watched the faint glow of bioluminescent algae in the gentle beach surf. Eventually, though, she broke the silence.

"You don't really seem like you need rescuing, handsome."

Percy shrugged. "Sometimes it feels like I do."

The beautiful woman stood up, brushed sand off the skirt she was wearing, and offered Percy a hand. He took it gratefully and staggered to his feet. "Come, let us eat dinner. Then you can help me in my garden," she declared. He couldn't bring himself to say no to that.

Dinner was solemn, quiet. Somehow he got the sense that Calypso knew what was on his mind - there was no flirtation, little in the way of conversation, just a quiet dinner shared by two people who were ever so slightly broken.

After dinner, the moon sat low on the horizon, but Calypso still made her way out to her small garden plot. Percy didn't entirely understand the logic behind the small garden box by the window, considering the villa and courtyard were essentially gardens unto themselves, resplendent in greenery and draped with vines, flowers, fruit trees, shrubs, and all manner of plants besides. But if he'd been trapped her for as long as Calypso had, he probably wouldn't make any sense either.

The daughter of Atlas knelt down in the simple square plot and began tending to a small patch of delicate flowers, whose fragile petals glowed gently silver in the moonlight. The plants around them swayed closer, each glowing their own color as the silver light hit them, and the same light shone through Calypso's loose, swaying hair and only served to take Percy's breath away all over again. "This is moonlace," she said. "It can only be planted at night, and it only flowers for the full moon." Percy nodded, like he'd known that all along.

"What does it do?" he asked. Previously, Calypso had shown him flowers that provided antibiotics, or pain-healing salves, or even simply tasted good.

"Do?" Calypso laughed at the question. "It doesn't do anything, brave hero. It simply exists. It survives, and it is beautiful. It adds to the beauty of the world. Is that not enough, not sufficient?"

Percy took her point.

"I've never really been… in a garden like this before," he said, in an attempt to continue the conversation. "My mother always wanted one, but in Manhattan… she couldn't ever afford one. Plants, space, time…"

"This is a tragedy," Calypso said. "A place with no garden, a heart without one… nobody deserves to suffer so."

Percy nodded. "She would agree with you, I think. But she needed to do it. To keep me alive."

Calypso considered that for a long time, then nodded. "The love of a mother is a wonderful thing. The sacrifices they make even more so."

The pair let that thought linger. She guided Percy's hands to help her dig a hole for a new purple flower, showed him how to trim the bushes which lined one edge of the box.

"So," the beautiful woman began, conversationally, but Percy could hear something ugly and sad hiding in her tone. "Hephaestus visited."

He couldn't think of any reason to hide it from her. "Yup."

When Calypso looked up at him from her moonlace, tears shining in the soft light even though her eyes were mostly hidden behind dangling hair, suddenly he wished he had lied. "He has ordered you to leave. To return home and save the world once more, as you so often do."

"Actually," Percy said, choking the word out. "He gave me a choice."

A few drops of water hit the moonlace's soil. Percy supposed it was raining a little - the sky was perfectly clear, but it was raining. "I promised myself I would not offer. I told myself I would allow you to make the decision without pressure." Calypso busied herself with gently pruning a silver flower.

"Offer me what?"

"To stay." Calypso's voice quavered. Her back was shaking as she diligently worked at the flowers, but Percy knew it wasn't from the exertion. Eventually, she looked up and met Percy's eyes. He looked away, down at the silver flowers. "To love me."

He opened his mouth, searched for words. They didn't come. No sarcastic remark, no insults, no funny quip or solemn remark. He couldn't find a single word. His head was blank, sea waves echoing in the emptiness.

"You would not age or die here, handsome. You could leave the fight to others. Let the gods and Titans fight amongst themselves - you deserve happiness, freedom." Her eyes were brimming with tears, and he could see the faint lines where several had already fallen. In the soft moonlight, they shimmered and twisted, like scars he himself had carved into her soul. "You would be immortal, escape your prophecy. We could spend forever together."

Percy said nothing. He couldn't. It turned out that was answer enough for Calypso, apparently. Her face turned ashen, and she looked down at her plants again, but she couldn't keep up the pretense of gardening.

"This is the truth of my curse," she said finally. "I am alone here, it is true. But from time to time, the gods send a hero to visit me. To taunt me with what I could never have." She stood up, took his hand. Her voice was firm now, strong. "The hero always needs help. They wash up on my shores, weak, decrepit, broken. I tend to your wounds. I feed you. I clothe you, care for you. In so doing… I fall in love."

Percy's hand burnt where she was holding it. "Me?"

Despite the tears streaming freely down her face now, Calypso laughed. "Yes, you, hero. Of course you. You most of all, even." She took a deep, shuddering breath, and swallowed. "I knew the second I saw you that you would break my heart. It is the truth of my curse… but just as much, it is the truth of who you are. Were we not here, were I not cursed, I think I would still feel the same. The Fates are cruel. But who you are… that is enough to fall in love with, no matter the circumstance."

Percy shook his head. He felt like he was crying too, possibly. On the horizon, the first red streaks of dawn tinged the air. The thought was beyond tempting. Spending the rest of his life, the rest of eternity, here. A beautiful woman deeply in love with him, glorious food, impossibly perfect landscape. No nine-to-five, no high school. No prophecy. The fate of the world squarely on someone else's shoulders, and Percy left free to breathe and relax, to be a (relatively) normal human. Free of the existential dread of a guaranteed early death, the fear of missing out on life. Percy's hormones suggested other perks, also, thinking back to Calypso's evening shower.

Electric blue eyes and jet black hair.

"I can't."

Calypso nodded. "I knew it would be so. If you were the sort of man to say yes, I do not think I would love you." She turned away, scooping up something in her garden.

"It's not that… It's not that I haven't enjoyed this. Or even that I don't want to. But, my friends need me. Now that I know how to help them, I… have to. I couldn't abandon them." Prometheus's words from what felt like so long ago echoed in his head. He could save his friends, if he chose right. If he chose wrong, of course, everyone he knew and loved would die. But he would not choose wrong. "I have to go back, Calypso. I wish I could stay. I wish I could be the man to make you happy. Maybe, someday, I can come back. When it's all over." Daylight was hitting the moonlace now, their enchanting glow fading. The world tinged in the sunlight, orange and beautiful.

She shook her head with a smile. "No man finds paradise twice, Perseus, and the same is true of Ogygia. When you leave, I will never see you again. But that is okay." A tear traced down her face, but her smile never faltered. "I will always remember you. All I ask is that you remember me."

Percy nodded. "I don't think I could forget you if I wanted to."

"Then come, my hero. Let us send you on your way to save the world." Her hazel eyes were sad but she stood bravely. "Perhaps you can challenge fate in the future. But for now you must fulfill yours." She pulled him into a deep, slow kiss, but it wasn't like in the movies. This was simple feeling. Then, all too soon, she pulled back and took his hand. "Follow me to the beach, my love. And the raft will take you home."

She led him down to the beach slowly. Percy was okay with that. On the beach, a small wooden raft, little more than logs lashed together in a rectangle. A square sail luffed gently in the breeze as it hung from the mast's yard. Percy didn't think he'd trust it on a lake in City Park, much less the Pacific, but it didn't appear that he had a choice.

"This will take you where you need to go," she said quietly. Her sundress was ruffled by the wind, and she placed a small kiss on his cheek. "And this will remind me of you when you get there." From the pocket of her sundress, she pulled a single flower, growing slowly from a clump of soil. Moonlace. "Plant a garden in Manhattan for me, hero. Remember me."

Percy nodded. "I promise."

Well. That was a long one. 7,084 words, in actual point of fact - second longest chapter so far.

I hope you enjoyed it. I know it will be controversial, at least a little bit - it's not really a Percy/Thalia chapter much. But Calypso was also always interesting to me, and it seems like a good place for Percy's emotional development that I think I've been mostly delaying or at least making secondary to larger plot lines.

I was also very sorely tempted to write this chapter with Thalia on Ogygia instead of Percy. That was a really fun idea and it would have allowed me to explore Thalia's romance a bit more, which has also been kind of lacking. I just couldn't think of a way to make it work - she'd have to, like, lightning strike the mountain with super reduced powers, and then she wouldn't have the sea to protect her like Percy did here, and she also would have to not let Percy execute the plan - all of which would be in character, but I don't know if I'd be able to write it convincingly. I tried a bit and it didn't work so I went the easy route. Don't worry - I'm going to give Thalia her own badass moment eventually.

Probably gonna be a while again before the next update - another big chunk of 'busy as hell' coming my way, sorry about that. As always, I hope you enjoyed - and thanks for all the support. See you when I see you, and I hope the new year treats you all well.