(A/N: Alrighty, timeline time! So, for anyone's a little confuzzled:
Chapters 1-5: set after Gaea's defeat*
Chapter 6: dialogue with Apollo set during the time of Ancient Greece. Dialogue with Hermes set before Gaea begins to wake up in modern times.
Chapter 7-14: Calypso's POV during House of Hades/ set during Gaea's sucktastic awakening
Chapters 15-17: set after Leo has left Ogygia, during the Quest of the Seven
Chapters 18-on: set after Gaea's defeat (*so basically, we're back at the beginning)
Hope this helps! This should cover the rest of the story too, I hope. If you have any questions, PM me or review me with them and I'll try to explain tomorrow (more on the different schedule down the bottom) :D
Much love,
Shy x.)
CHAPTER EIGHT
The first time she admitted that the demigod might not be a total waste of space, it had been a week since he'd crash-landed on her island and she was beginning to get used to the fact that he would be here to stay.
His name was Leo Valdez, she'd discovered with a small burst of magic. Fifteen years old (a young man by ancient standards). An insufferable son of Hephaestus. Greek. Perhaps not necessarily hideous with his angular features and dark, smooth complexion, but he was hardly her usual type. Scrawny, rude, sarcastic and unimaginably irritating. (They were her own observations.)
He took up camp on the dunes, using the cloth she'd offered from her stores and made campfires to keep warm. She didn't like thinking about what he used as kindling. The first two days he spent exploring the island though even she could have told him there was nothing to be seen. She watched him toss nuts and bolts from his tool belt into the sea spray with growingly sarcastic prayers to the messenger goddess Iris and rolled her eyes. What part of disconnected from the outside world did this stupid half-blood not understand?
Leo appeared in her garden a few times but he simply managed to leave her more upset than when he'd entered so he stopped after the third day. Somewhere he found a cache of metal on the island and it was as though he'd been given a Feast of the Gods, the way he carried on about it.
She cursed him finding it. Instead of bothering her with questions about rafts or locations or something called GPS, Leo began to frustrate her with his constant tinkering and banging and building. His muttering about gears and wires and things called helicopters and yachts and submarines drove her to exasperation. He went on at length as to how he would go about building any one of these strangely named machines if he had the supplies, but, woe was he, he was stuck on a desert island with a grouchy, unhelpful goddess for company and limited supplies and etcetera, etcetera.
His chatter and fidgeting and banging never paused and gods forbid he should let that ridiculous old sphere out of his sight. Most days Calypso could peek out of her garden and see him bobbing around the dunes, his hands picking at the sphere or his tool belt or a piece of copper wiring, usually craned over it so all she could see was the top of his head.
(Calypso didn't care that his mussed dark hair made her want to comb it out for him with her fingers. She wanted to shave it off with her dagger when he started up with that obnoxious banging at dawn the next morning.)
She had to admit however, that he was nothing if not stubborn. He set up camp in the foothills, dragged driftwood and cedar branches from across the island to create his workstation, his face set with resolve. She caught a glimpse of his hands wreathed in crackling flames as he started moulding clay bricks from the mud on the east side of the island. A fire-starter, she deduced, recalling the old stories about Hephaestus' sons and daughters who had been particularly blessed by the iron god. He was favoured by her old friend then.
"No matter," she told herself, angrily on the second day as she tended to the upkeep of her harp. She hated the instrument, had only learned as a favour to her father who liked the sound but it usually consumed her attention. Usually. "It's not as though I care. For gods' sakes, he shouldn't even be here."
As soon as she said the words, her stomach flipped and the strings she had been tending to snapped under her strong fingers. After that, Calypso decided to ignore her chores for the time being. On the evening of the second night, she ate her usual dinner in her garden. The pretty marble-topped table was always set for two (she had once decided it was a horrible joke from the gods) and there was enough stew for several people, although Leo never appeared to eat. She wondered if he could smell the food. If he even knew there was food to be had.
"He's going to freeze down on the beach," she murmured, glancing to the distant campfire light which flickered in the strong cold sea breezes. The thought only increased the flipping of her stomach and she went to sleep disturbed and restless.
She held out for another day, trying to hold her ground. She was sick of going along with the Olympians' latest prank. She wouldn't engage with it. She wouldn't. Calypso tried to think like a young, angry, vengeful Titaness but she'd never been good at emulating her parents. Their ruthlessness escaped her, replaced by defeat and resignation. By the end of the third day, she had decided that if he was stuck on Ogygia, he was as much a prisoner as she was. It wasn't his fault the gods had seen fit to spite her. Calypso let go of the fury that had been eating her alive and decided that if Leo was a fellow prisoner, irritating though he may be, he deserved similar treatment.
Also, she was slightly embarrassed that she had called him a mistake to his face.
She sent the air spirits to work, cooking up beef stew and pouring her homemade lemonade into neat meals for him to leave at the edge of her garden. Seeing how burnt and torn his old clothes were, Calypso wove for the first time in several years, the strands bending to her will as she created trousers and shirts.
(She tried not to analyse the fact that she didn't have to think over what size or style to make; she knew in her head exactly how it would sit on him when it was finished. Leo Valdez had obviously been her head too often since he'd arrived.)
The longer she avoided him, the more shame she began to feel.
She'd only ever helped the heroes who appeared on her shores. She gave them rest, recovery, supplies and care. Things a decent person would do for another though she was the first to admit, her motives were often tangled with the immediate affection for the brave heroes who came to her. But not Leo. And why? What was her reason for disliking Leo? Because he'd broken her dining table? Because that elfish face, mischievous smile and quick wit didn't match the other handsome, strong heroes who'd appeared for her? Because he irritated her? Calypso was several millennia old. She should be able to handle a few stupid retorts.
He was just as worthy, Calypso began to realise the longer he stayed, shamefully. Possibly more worthy. Those heroes had waited for an opportunity to present itself to leave. Leo Valdez was making himself an opportunity (granted, she didn't know how successful he might be). He was making bricks and benches and a forge out of materials found on a phantom island.
Even Calypso admitted to being a tiny bit impressed with the sarcastic, insolent little demigod brat.
The guilt made her do not-so-sane things like throw pots at his head when he came to thank her for the food and sneakily spy on him to make sure she wasn't around when he came to collect his food. She wasn't quite ready to admit to being wrong.
After a five days of successfully evading the insufferable son of Hephaestus, Calypso began to notice that the meals were piling up and the goblets sat undrunk by her garden. At first she felt irritated that he was ignoring her gifts but then realised that since that gods forsaken banging and smoke had started up from his camp, Leo hadn't stopped to eat.
Her attempts to silence her worry failed miserably and so she collected one of her woven baskets and filled it with a warm loaf of fluffy bread and little bunches of grapes (she may or may not have noticed Leo ate those first when he collected his dinner each night) before making her way down to the beach.
Even had she not known Ogygia like the back of her hand, the sound of metal on metal disrupting the peace of the island was unmistakable. The sounds made her head ache and turned her mood foul. "Smoke and fire, clanging on metal all day long." She snapped as she reached the camp with a scowl. "You're scaring away the birds!"
"Oh no, not the birds!" he muttered under his breath but he didn't even turn to so much as glance at her. He seemed so…unaffected by her. Bored even.
It was maddening.
"What do you hope to accomplish?" she asked, testily.
Finally he glanced up at her. Calypso was only slightly disappointed that he didn't study her with admiration in his gaze. She told herself to stop being ridiculous. Hadn't she grown sick of the empty praises with little action to back them up?
It was different with Leo Valdez. She didn't know how but it was.
"I'm hoping to get off this island." He replied, equally impatient. "That is what you want, right?"
Out of habit, her eyes flitted to the shoreline where a raft would have normally appeared at his wish to leave but no such vessel appeared. Instead she set the basket of food down by his rolled of bed with a deep frown. It wasn't right that she slept on a comfortable fluffy mattress and her fellow prisoner (for now) slept on the sand with just a few blankets she'd silently added after the third evening. Brushing away the concern, she stood, calling upon her previous objective. "You haven't eaten in two days." She pointed out primly. "Take a break and eat."
He looked skinnier than when he arrived and it bothered her.
"Two days?" he echoed, bewildered. Some part of her felt slightly eased when she realised he hadn't been ignoring his stomach on purpose. The feeling irritated her. What did she care if the stubborn demigod ate? "Thanks. I'll, uh, try to hammer more quietly." He drew her attention back to him and Calypso studied the bronze in his grip that seemed to be slowly taking its on master's intended shape.
With a small huff, she forced herself around and back up to her cave, trying not to focus on how confusingly attractive the smudges of soot brushed across Leo's face were. He was certainly not like her usual heroes.
But perhaps, she admitted to herself as she entered her cave with a lonely sensation. Perhaps he was not all bad.
(A/N: This is a bit of a short one and so is the next one, so I figured, what the hell, I'll update them closer together because a) they're ready and b) all you lovely readers, reviewers, followers and favouriters! Now, on to reviews!:
The Invisible Pretender: Don't listen to logic, it's boring. Instead, just think of how wonderful it'll be when they finally get back together! (I know it's a little while off still but fingers crossed you like it :D) Glad you enjoyed last chapter, how do you like Calypso's thoughts on Leo so far? ;)
Tenneyshoes: Hello again! Leo's POV in Malta was tragic to write, I just kept thinking about that description in HoH of how his energy was just gone :( BUT! Morse code tapping must be explained and I think Calypso will get a kick out of it. Hope you enjoyed chapter eight!
PJO-Blue-Cookies (haha! Blue food kicks ass): Thank you so much for reviewing, I'm really happy you've enjoyed it so far. Updates are Mondays and Fridays, although some chapters are a lot longer than others. The sizes are a little uneven, I'll admit but here's hoping they get longer :D Thanks for reading!
Totalbooknerd13: Isn't she adorable? I just love their dynamic, the whole picking on each other because they like each other. It's like they've gone back to being 6 six year olds. If immortal goddess can go back to being six years old…thanks for reviewing!
Randomosity4arty: Me too, it bugged me all the way through HoH. I couldn't resist writing out the scenes on my own ;) Hope you liked this chapter too!
Dragonrider2345: ALL THE CALEO FEELS :D! I don't speak Greek fluently but I speak Italian, French, English (obviously) and I know some super basic Greek phrases. The good news is that I can arrange the sentences the way I think they should sound according to how they would be translated in French or Italian (the language structures between all three are similar, I think) and I'm usually pretty accurate. Bad news? There is also a reasonable chance I'm saying 'I'd like to buy your mother' when I want to say 'Oh Leo, you're such an idiot'. *shrugs* It is a fine line. Also, very glad I could make your day, you should know I get huge grins whenever my phone chirps out email notifications too. Hope you liked chapter eight, it's a bit small I know ;)
PJoHoOFan: HOLY ZEUS, THANK YOU! My sister legitimately just poked her head in my room to make sure I wasn't 'doing that weird thing where you freak out over your email notifications and twitch in your chair with that lunatic grin on your face'. (I was of course, but I made sure to look normal for a few minutes to prove her wrong) So, point is, we can fangirl together! Welcome aboard the SS Caleo, where we impatiently wait for Rick Riordan to get his act together and write a happy ending for these two! Thanks for reviewing, hope you liked this chapter too!
The Oz Meister and Jen Baas: HA! Even as I was writing this chapter, I kept rolling my eyes and thinking: Guys, stop picking at each other and make out already! But I really do love their dynamic :D *VIOLENTLY SENDING OUT MENTAL HUGS FOR REVIEWING* Thanks for reading, it's not quite a punch in the face but I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!
Mila-is-a-bookworm-101: Hello. Again. Glad. You. Enjoyed. Last. Chapter. Hope. This. One. Was. Good. Too. Hee. Hee. Thanks. For. Reviewing! It. Means. The. World. To. Me. :D.
Callmemisstayla: Oh my gods, don't even get me started on how badly I will react if the gods don't grant these two a happy ending in Blood Of Olympus! I'm so happy you liked the last few chapters, I hope the timeline of them wasn't too confusing? I got a couple of reviewers who were a bit befuddled. Also, Calypso/Percy/Annabeth reaction chapter? Oooh…I have great plans for you ;) Thanks for the review!
Carrot-Bunny: Regrettably, I do not know Greek fluently, just a couple of teeny tiny phrases I picked up on a holiday (although thanks for the compliment!). However, I know French and Italian and the language structure between the three is similar, I think. I'm arranging the sentences the way I would in French/Italian and adding in nouns and phrases from Greek I gathered from which is my go-to for foreign phrases, I'll admit. Usually, I'm reasonably accurate. Sometimes I suck. 'Leo, you're awesome' turns into 'Leo, you might be a turtle-fish'. But it seems to be doing okay here :D Also, shame on you! I spent three hours last night writing the first couple of pages of a Pirates/PJO fic starring Caleo and woke up at noon! (seriously, kidding) You can't just give me these ideas, wonderful reader! They torment me! Torment me, I say! Anyway, glad you enjoyed it, I hope you liked this (unfortunately short) chapter too!
Laslus: Awww, don't worry, I'm just glad you chose to review this chapter! I'm so glad you're enjoying Calypso's POV, her characterisation was the one part I worried about when writing these chapters :D Hope you liked chapter eight, it's the runt of the litter so I'm supplementing with chapter nine a little early ;)
Guest: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and the characters so far. I'm moving at a bit of a slower pace than I usually am but I hope it contributes to the build up you were talking about :D It also means chapter sizes are a little uneven, sorry. This chapter's a bit small but I finished the next one early so I'll post chapter nine tomorrow! Hope you like it :)
Gods above, I've written some super long replies this Monday, haven't I? Anyway!
Sorry this chapter is a little shorter but I managed to finish chapter nine immediately after and it's going through editing now so I'll post it on Tuesday and then back to normal scheduling next Friday, promise!
HOPE YOU LIKED IT, YOU BRILLIANT READERS, YOU!
Shy x.