(A/N: LOOK AN UPDATE THAT'S NOT AT NINE O'CLOCK AT NIGHT? MY GODS, IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE?! (Ihaveadoctorsappointmentsothisisgoingupearliertha nusual)
Anyway, we've got about five chapters (approximately) until the end of HoH in Calypso's point of view. Originally, I wasn't even going to include but it's kind of a big deal for them, right? I don't really cover the last fight against Gaea mainly because:
a) I don't think I could possibly do it justice and
b) it calls for some kind of sacrifice and I would much prefer to gloss right over any potential character deaths, straight back to the Caleo feels.
Sorry guys but it is fanfiction. Happily Ever Afters (or thereabouts) will reign supreme in this particular fic.
That being said, THANK YOU TO THE BRILLIANT PEOPLE WHO READ, FAVOURITE, FOLLOW OR REVIEW THIS STORY you guys make my day for like a week before I update :D Thanks for all the feedback, I'm really enjoying talking with you guys at the end of each chapter!
Much love,
Shy x.)
CHAPTER TEN
The first time she realised Leo might have his own great love waiting for him back home was also the day she first made him laugh. It was also the first time she admitted to herself that Leo Valdez was a danger to her carefully crafted defences.
She patted down her hair (for reasons she didn't care to acknowledge) and made her way down the beach, toward Leo's camp. He wasn't banging away on his anvil miraculously, instead poised at the driftwood workbench with a handful of bronze and copper wires.
He didn't seem to notice her until she was already inside the camp, his new clothes draped over her arm. "I brought you-" she began gently, but from his reaction, she may as well have thrown Zeus' master bolt at him.
He leapt from his seat with a startled glance, the wires in his gripping falling to the bench. "Bronze bulls, girl! Don't sneak up on me like that!" he said. Calypso wondered if he realised how alike he was to his father at times.
"I wasn't sneaking," Calypso replied, indignantly. "I was bringing you these." She showed him the clothes and his expression lit up with recognition and confusion.
"How?" He seemed stupefied by the garments and for a moment, she worried she got them wrong. Perhaps in the modern world, remaking clothes was considered offensive?
"I do have a little magic, you know." She explained, dropping the garments in a neat pile at his feet like a food offering for a wild bear. She stepped away, picking at her bright red dress as she did. "You keep burning through the clothes I give you, so I thought I would weave something less flammable."
"These won't burn?" he felt the coarse rough 'denim' she had spent time perfecting.
"They are completely fireproof." She assured, pleased that he seemed to like them. "They'll stay clean and expand to fit you, should you ever become less scrawny." She added, in case he was getting any ideas.
"Thanks." He sounded pleased by them at least. "So…you made an exact replica of my favourite outfit. Did you, like, google me or something?"
The phrase perplexed her. "I don't know that word."
"You looked me up," he clarified though that was still an odd way of putting it. "Almost like you had some interest in me."
Calypso felt her nose wrinkle at the idea. Her? Having interest in such an infuriating demigod? Hardly. "I have an interest in not making you a new set of clothes every other day. I have an interest in you not smelling so bad and walking around my island in smouldering rags." She covered, neatly.
"Oh yeah." That grin made her heart skip a beat with how similar it looked to the beautiful little boy she'd seen in her fountain. "You're really warming up to me."
Unable to help herself, Calypso flushed. "You are the most insufferable person I have ever met!" she snapped. "I was only returning the favour. You fixed my fountain." She added, accusingly.
"That?" he snickered as though he had forgotten it already. "That was no big deal. I don't like it when things don't work right." Calypso felt a slight twinge in her stomach that he had fixed her home so absentmindedly but continued on, nevertheless.
"And the curtains across the cave entrance?"
"The rod wasn't level." He shrugged, picking up the fallen wires and twirling them between his fingers.
"And my gardening tools?"
"Look I just sharpened the shears. Cutting vines with a dull blade is dangerous. And the pruners need to be oiled at the hinges-" he rambled on, passionately and it warmed her heart. Not much. Just a little bit.
"Oh yeah," she retorted in a low voice. "You're really warming up to me."
He paused as though struck stupid and she let her mouth twitch into a smile at his lack of retort. "What are you building?" she asked, gesturing to the workbench.
"Oh," he exclaimed as though he'd forgotten his single-minded purpose from the past few days. "Uh, it's a seeing device. We found one like this in Rome, in the workshop of Archimedes. If I can make it work, maybe I can find out what's going on with my friends."
"That's impossible," Calypso shook her head, sympathetic but certain. "This island is hidden, cut off from the world by strong magic. Time doesn't even flow the same here."
"Well, you've got to have some kind of outside contact." Leo pointed out with a raised brow. "How did you find out that I used to wear an army jacket?"
Her magic was something she kept close to her chest, knowing that if the gods discovered it they might see her as more threatening, might want to take the last remaining shreds of it away from her. She had not even mentioned it to Percy. "Seeing the past is simple magic," she explained, hesitantly as she twisted a lock of hair around her finger. "Seeing the present or the future- that is not."
"Yeah, well, watch and learn Sunshine." He muttered, turning back to his machine before she could comment on her dislike of that ridiculous nickname. "I just connect these last two wires and-"
A bright spark rippled across the plate and a thick plume of smoke spewed from the bronze sphere he was so attached to. The spark caught on Leo's sleeve and suddenly it burst into flames, which consumed the shirt greedily until he yanked it off and stomped out the fire.
She supressed the laughter but it bubbled over into her eyes and smile as Leo turned to her with a sharp look. "Not a word."
The action drew her attention to his bare, thin chest though the raised white scars and rising muscles of his arms and shoulders set her cheeks aflame. Oh but I have so many words for you, Leo… a small voice at the back of her head purred. Sheer surprise shut the voice up immediately, locking it to the very back of her head.
"Nothing worth commenting on," she covered, turning to the problem at hand. "If you want that device to work, perhaps you should try a musical invocation." She suggested, recalling how her mother had once used nothing but her voice to create a mighty storm.
"Right," he muttered, sardonically. "Whenever my engine malfunctions, I like to tap-dance around it. Works every time."
Ignoring his snark, Calypso tried to find the right words that might help the machinery and began to sing, the words in an Ancient Greek spell dialect that encouraged harmony and growth, a spell she usually wove for her garden.
When she paused, she realised Leo's eyes were locked on her, a sort of stunned expression over his face that reminded her of her past heroes when they told her she was beautiful and perfect and heavenly. It buoyed her confidence slightly that the demigod didn't think she was completely repulsive at least but somehow the earned admiration meant more coming from Leo than it ever had from Odysseus or Drake. She tried to clear her mind of the heady sensation.
"Any luck?" she prodded and Leo snapped out of it, returning focus to the mirror.
"Uh…nothing. Wait…!" the reflection glowed brightly and suddenly an image appeared above it, projected into mid air like magic.
There was no sound and Calypso did not recognise any of the scenes or people that flitted past but Leo obviously did. His whole face was rapt as the pictures changed much like her fountain looking glass between ferocious looking Greek warriors, a centaur dressed in armour, a group of strong demigods handing out weapons, pegasi circling in the distance.
"Your friends?" she asked, both curious and suddenly confused. What in Hades could provoke such a response from the typically calm, steady Greeks?
"They're preparing for war." Leo nodded, looking a little paler than normal.
"Against whom?"
"Look," Leo muttered as the picture flickered into another legion of demigods though Calypso felt her eyebrow raise decisively at them. Romans, she noted, disapprovingly. "I've seen that sign before. That's not far from Camp Half-Blood." He gestured to a brightly lit sign in the distance.
In a split second, the Roman half-bloods split apart, shields falling and weapons swinging out at the air aimlessly. Against the night sky, Calypso watched as a pair of small, thick-bodied creatures darted around the group, impossibly fast and twice as destructive.
"Those beautiful little troublemakers!" Leo whooped. "They kept their promise!"
"Cousins of yours?" Calypso asked, dryly considering the utter destruction they wrought on the army. It wouldn't have surprised her.
"Ha, ha, ha, no. Couple of dwarves I met in Bologna." Leo corrected, snarkily. "I sent them to slow down the Romans and they're doing it."
"But for how long?" she muttered in response, watching as the scene rotated and disappeared to reveal a thin blonde boy with an ugly glint in his eyes uncovering a long pole topped by a glistening golden eagle.
"Oh that's not good." Leo noted, apprehensively.
Calypso had never seen such items before personally but she knew of them through Mercury and the other gods during the time of Ancient Rome. "A Roman standard."
"Yeah. And this one shoots lightning, according to Percy." Leo muttered. The mention of her previous hero made her heart thump unevenly and she struggled to keep the emotions from invading her appearance. Taking a deep breath, she looked back to Leo and caught the edge of his expression. He almost looked…upset.
At Percy? A small voice whispered. Anger…for me?
For his friends, she deduced before her heart could make any other assumptions. For the oncoming attack.
But perhaps a little for me? the small voice added.
Hush. She told herself sternly.
When she looked to the mechanic looking glass, she felt her stomach drop. A single Pegasus rider (also Roman, Calypso noted, flatly) flew through a wild storm, her face set in concentration as her dark hair exploded out behind her, nearly blending with the deep purple of her cloak. She was dressed in well-loved armour and looked as though she was under attack.
A huge gryphon burst out from above, attacking the Pegasus but the Roman girl dispatched it in a single neat swing of her sword. Mere moments passed and venti appeared as twirling cyclones crackling with bright veins of lightning though the girl looked unafraid as she charged ahead-
The image died in a single flash.
"No!" Leo shouted, clutching the mirror in his hands. "No, not now. Show me what happens!" he banged it on the table and Calypso felt the absurd seeds of hope that had snuck through her guard begin to crumble.
Recalling the Roman girl, her sharp angular face and fearless, flashing eyes, Calypso narrowed her eyes at the demigod before her. She had been so sure that one such as Leo Valdez would never breach her defences that she had neglected to realise that he had already started to burrow through them without meaning to. You are a fool Calypso. "I suppose that is your girlfriend?" she accused, shaking slightly. "Your Penelope? Your Elizabeth? Your Annabeth?"
A complete and utter fool.
"What?" Leo's face was bewildered and impatient. "That's Reyna-!"
Ah. The name carved out a section of her spirit, a place where it joined the other absent women Calypso had always competed with and always lost to: Annabeth. Elizabeth. Penelope. Nylla. Selphina. Reyna the Roman.
"She's not my girlfriend!" Leo was saying. The words made her stomach twist. Not his girlfriend? She wondered, doubtfully. Although it doesn't matter. It's not as though it should matter. Leo Valdez is an insufferable plague upon my home.
"I need to see more!" Leo huffed. "I need-"
NEED? Calypso heard the Earth Mother's voice grumble from the ground beneath them and felt her presence before the dirt encrusted human figure appeared, erupting from Ogygia's sandy beach. NEED is an overused word.
(A/N: GAEA WHO THE HELL INVITED YOU- oh right. The Almighty Riordan. Alright, I'll let it slide. Oh and Calypso, sweetie, break into I Won't Say I'm In Love from Hercules already!
Nylla and Selphina are the respective imaginary partners or two heroes who came before Odysseus, in my mind. Guys, she'd been stuck there for a while before Odysseus showed up. I refuse to believe he was the first so I made…filler heroes, I suppose you could say. ANYWAY!
Thank you for reading guys, I hope you enjoyed chapter ten, much love to you marvellous readers for spending time in this little corner of cyberspace ;) ! Next update is Monday!
Review time!
MEleeSmasher: I'll admit, I feel that way writing it occasion. But the way I get through it all is knowing there is a lot of chapters from Post-Gaea still to come. If you really are sick of Calypso's POV, I'd probably suggest waiting until chapter fifteen/sixteen or thereabouts. That's when I start writing outside of HoH. Until then, I'll try putting a few scenes from the time period on Ogygia that weren't written in the book and see how they are? I'd you're your feedback on them! Thank you for reading!
The Invisible Pretender: IT'S FRIDAY! BE HAPPYYY! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far although I'm getting a little sick of internal Calypso angst. The banter/Caleo flirting/insulting each other must go on! Hope you enjoyed this chapter friend!
Fearless Noodle: You. Are. Perfect. I'm so glad you're enjoying Calypso's character- I subconsciously tend to do that with a lot of my fanfics, like, take a secondary character or someone you only read about a few times and bring them into being central to my fic's plot. I like giving them stories :D Also, Leo in Olympus is based off my baby cousin (alright, he's fifteen but he's still a baby to me) who is incredibly intelligent but seriously, the kid could be distracted by his own breath. He really would make an appointment to see someone super important and never make it inside the door because he was too busy looking at something on the way in. So, definitely agree: WHEN IN OLYMPUS, PAY ATTENTION TO THE GODS DECIDING YOUR FATE! I'm so happy it's fun to read. I always feel like 'kids book' or not, Riordan's novels are fun to read so I'm trying to incorporate that a lot. Geez, this is a long response. Alright, last points in one big sentence: I'm a big softy so HEAs will reign supreme in this world, updates are Mondays and Fridays and lastly but not least, THANKS FOR READING, YOU MADE MY DAY ;) !
Kiki-DaughterofApollo14: That's great! I'm trying not to write in languages I don't speak fluently but when I get stuck, it's great to have someone to ask :D Also, NAWWWW YOU'RE MAKING ME BLUSH STAHP IT ^^ But seriously, it's great that you're enjoying Calypso's point of view and I'm glad I could do it justice. Thanks for reading and reviewing, here's hoping you enjoyed chapter ten!
House3-Of3-Hades3: Hhhhhhereeeee it isssssss! Hoooope yoooou liiiikeeee ittttt!
Totalbooknerd13: Agreed. Absolutely. "Hate" away, guys, I'll just sit back smugly and watch the show.
TheNatattack: YAY! I'm SO happy you're liking it so far! I'm trying to keep to Riordan's style as much as possible because I think it's just plain fun to read. But seriously, the naked Apollo scene was just too good to pass up. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, they get longer soon I think. I hope. Thank you so much for reviewing even without an account!
PJoHoOFan: Hello again! The story is incredible Caleo-centric, I'll admit ;) Also, take it as a good thing! ALL ABOARD THE SS CALEO, enjoy the complimentary feels from the snack bar! Hope you liked chapter ten, thank you so much for reading, it really does make my day :D
Mila-is-a-bookworm-101: Reviews like that one make my day when my phone notifications chirp :D Hope you liked chapter ten! Next update is Calypso's POV of Gaea's offer. Thanks for reading!
Randomosity4arty: Well, I wouldn't (caleocaleocaleo) want to influence you (caleocaleocaleo) in any way towards either (caleocaleocaleo) but you can clearly see (caleocaleocaleo) my preference ;) Enjoy chapter ten and thank you for reading :D!
Forever sibuna: You're awesome! Thanks for reading :D
Ravenwolf24: I hope that was a good scream ;) Thanks, reviews like this make me grin madly when I get them on my phone :D Hope you liked this chapter, next update is Friday!
Guest: I am a proud through and through Aussie from the west coast :D And I try to post in the early evening because a) it's usually when I'm on my computer and it's a good time to post for my fellow Australians, and b) a lot of my readers are American and I like giving them something to wake up to. I haven't actually thought of everywhere else but I hope it's not too bad of a time schedule for everyone living north, south, east or west of me. I'm glad you're enjoying Calypso's thoughts on Leo. I liked her a lot more when she's insulting Leo than when she's fawning over Percy, that's for sure. Thanks! Hope you liked chapter ten and thanks for reviewing!
Dommyisawesome: Thanks for reading and I'll definitely continue writing these two. I usually update on Mondays or Fridays although I might skip a Friday every now and then. Hope you liked chapter ten!
Guest: I KNOW AREN'T THEY ADORABLE!? Next chapter is actually Calypso's perspective on Gaea's offer so that should be fun right? Glad you're enjoying it so far, thank you for reviewing!
Carrot-Bunny: Hello again! I am in a lot of fandoms but perhaps none more so than Harry Potter. So I see your Butterbeer and raise you a Fire Whiskey :D Many fandoms makes for a well balanced fangirl I always find :D Also, I get a little carried away with my responses (I'm trying to shave them down. Unsuccessfully but I'm trying!). Eventually I'll probably end up giving away the whole damn plot in one I think. And it's perfectly logical to get happy about seeing your name written by someone else or in someone else's memo. To the CALEO fluff! Next chapter is Gaea's offer and Calypso's reaction to it so I hope you enjoy!
Guest: I don't know how but my favourite OTPs are the ones where one is immortal and the other isn't. It's like setting yourself up for failure. DAMN YOU RIORDAN! Anyway, glad you're liking it and naww, shucks, those kind of compliments make me blush. Hope you liked chapter ten and thank you for reviewing!
Music lover bwg: I'm glad people aren't finding it too OOC. As to your problem…See, this Leo is my Leo, Shy's Leo, if you will. And Shy's Leo is Calypso's. Your Leo? He is all yours ;) Enjoy him! Also, Shy's Nico belongs to someone as well but they come in later. Maybe :) Hee hee hee. Glad you're liking it so far, hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading!