(A/N: Happy Monday! Hope you've had a great weekend! Not really much to say except that you're all amazing and fantastic and all those other adjectives of praise ;) Hope you like Chapter Eleven!
Much love, Shy One)
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The first time Mother Gaea appeared to Calypso, she could scarcely believe that the infamous, ancient, powerful but ultimately buried entity her father had spoken so highly of could possibly be so…corporeal. Her power felt like hot gritty dirt on a howling wind, bathing Calypso's entire body with its force.
"It cannot be…" she breathed to herself, stunned. The Earth Mother could not truly be here on Ogygia.
Thrown with surprise, Calypso watched as Leo tossed a pair of pliers at her face but they passed straight through. On the one hand, Calypso felt relief that Gaea was not physically present and yet the power and strength radiating from her was unnerving.
You want to live. You want to join your friends. Gaea said, her voice rough like boulders crushing together. But you do not need this, my poor boy. It would make no difference. Your friends will die, regardless.
Leo looked struck but his face held emotions Calypso had never seen on him before. A mix of terror and burning rage. This is the reason his eyes grew dark, she realised, recalling the change in the boy she'd witnessed through her looking glass. Somehow Gaea is the reason.
"What I don't need is more lies from you, Dirt Face." He growled, menacingly. Calypso blinked at the name. Dirt Face? "You told me my great-granddad died in the 1960s. Wrong! You told me I couldn't save my friends in Rome. Wrong! You told me a lot of things."
The ancient goddess' laughter was deceptively soft. I tried to help you make better choices. You could have saved yourself. But you defied me at every step. You built your ship. You joined that foolish quest. Now you are trapped here, helpless, while the mortal world dies.
Calypso did not realise the rushing heat was coming from Leo until she glanced down and found his fists encased in wildfire. He could not injure Gaea from here but he seemed ready to try. She let a gentle hand rest on his shoulder and met Gaea's closed but no less seeing gaze.
"Gaea." She let the sound of the waves, the call of the birds, the wind in the trees steady her, let them fill her with power. Ogygia was her home. This place was hers. "You are not welcome."
Leo still twitched but seemed to calm a fraction as Gaea lifted her arms toward her, as though hoping to embrace her. Ah Calypso. Still here, I see, despite the gods' promises. Why do you think that is, my dear grandchild? Are the Olympians being spiteful, leaving you with no company except this undergrown fool?
Calypso's teeth clenched. She was the only one allowed to call Leo 'undergrown'.
Or have they simply forgotten you, because you are not worth their time? Gaea continued, thoughtfully.
Her mouth dried as the Earth Mother vocalised all her fears. Yes, the Earth Mother breathed, sadly. The Olympians are faithless. They do not give second chances. Why do you hold out hope? You supported your father, Atlas, in his great war.
Calypso's mind was filled with images of her father, his broad tall body draped in dark robes as he hefted his sword in front of an army of Titans and monsters. She remembered her half-sisters, Erytheia, Aegle, Hesperia, Arethusa and her father's greatest disappointment, Zoe. She remembered, for a moment, what it was like to be a young goddess who simply wanted to honour her father, to keep life as it was, to suffocate the Olympian's change before it overtook her world.
You knew that the gods must be destroyed, Gaea continued. Why do you hesitate now? I offer you a chance that Zeus would never give you.
"Where were you these last three thousand years?" Calypso asked, embittered. "If you are so concerned with my fate, why do you visit me only now?"
The earth is slow to wake. Gaea lifted her hands in supplication. War comes in its own time. But do not think it will pass you by on Ogygia. When I remake the world, this prison will be destroyed as well.
The words seemed confounding, like a dialect of some far off place she had never before heard. "Ogygia destroyed?"
You do not have to be here when that happens. Gaea promised. Join me now. Kill this boy. Spill his blood upon the earth and help me to wake. I will free you and grant you any wish. The idea of Leo's bright crimson blood dripping out over the sandy beach made her ill and yet, the idea of escape had never been as close as it was now. Freedom. Revenge against the gods. Gaea added. Even a prize. Would you still have the demigod Percy Jackson? I will spare him for you. I will raise him from Tartarus. He will be yours to punish or to love as you choose. Only kill this trespassing boy. Show your loyalty.
For so long, Calypso had dreamt of keeping one of her heroes but none, perhaps, so much as Percy. She had only loved him such a brief time but the thought of him, even now, made her tongue-tied. She could have him. She could have freedom, escape, love. All at once. A younger Calypso who had raged against the Olympians for decades would not have thought twice.
A breeze suddenly picked up from the ocean, carrying the smell of smoke from the camp to her nostrils and it killed any sort of desire she might've had for Percy Jackson and the murder of Leo Valdez. As if Percy could love her after costing him the world. As if she could live with herself knowing the blood of the infuriating brave demigod beside her was on her hands. As if she would earn her freedom through bloodshed and hatred.
Summoning the latent magic around Ogygia, she thrust her hand toward Gaea in the ancient banishing ward against evil. "This is not just my prison, Grandmother. It is my home." And he is…different. "And you are the trespasser."
Hearing its mistress call the Earth Mother a trespasser was obviously enough for Ogygia. The slight breeze became a raging wind that tore Gaea's apparition to shreds.
There was a brief pause and Leo spoke, confused. "Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but you didn't kill me. Are you crazy?"
The anger that had built over the conversation felt like lava through her veins. How dare the Earth Mother speak to her like that? How dare she try to coerce her after being punished once for blindly supporting her family? How dare Gaea treat her like some kind of lovesick, distressed nymph? Once, she'd been a sorceress under Tethys, not to be trifled with lightly. Her name was held in the same breath as Medea and Circe! That the gods thought she could be so easily manipulated was embarrassing but from Gaea, it was insulting.
"Your friends must need you, or else Gaea would not ask for your death." She told Leo.
"I- uh yeah. I guess." He stumbled over the words.
"Then we have work to do," Calypso decided, stiffening the walls around her heart until they felt like a weight of iron in her chest. "We must get you back to your ship."
They worked quickly and efficiently, Gaea's gravelly voice in her head. The Earth Mother would not take the time to find the island and put in the strength to appear if Leo were not important. He was needed by his friends, by the world. His staying on Ogygia was no longer an option.
The day was still new when she began collecting the supplies he'd need for his journey. Since the raft was not functioning, Calypso gathered water, food, medicines, anything she could think of that the raft might have provided.
"What is your plan?" she asked once she'd gathered her things. Most of Leo's time had gone into fixing up the looking device and that odd bronze sphere he carried about but she knew from his rambling that he was still getting around to getting off the island.
"I'm making a boat." He replied, evenly, sketching out a diagram in the wet sand.
"From bronze? I'm afraid wherever you found your hidden cache, it is the only amount on Ogygia." She replied, casting a glance at the scrap metal on the workbench doubtfully.
"Ye of little faith," Leo muttered, cracking his knuckles. "The boat is going to be wooden. There are a few good sized trees further up the island, they'll do."
"You're going to knock down my island?" Calypso asked, tiredly. Would his destruction never cease?
"Yep," he replied, unapologetically. "Look, I'll try not to get the saplings so they'll grow back. It'll be fine." Leo added in an uncomfortable tone when he took a glance at her expression.
"And how will you be steering this noble vessel?" Calypso asked, dryly though his promise not to kill the saplings was quite kind. She loved to settle in the canopy some days and she would miss the sensation if it were lost from her forever.
Leo looked offended. "This is a boat, Sunshine. Now, the Argo II, that was a vessel. As for steering it, that's where I'm gonna need help. I need a sail. And rope." He explained the diameters and Calypso was surprised to find little hesitance in his tone. He knew she could do this. He had…confidence in her.
It was not an unpleasant feeling.
Calypso spent the rest of the day and much of the evening at her loom, strong, gentle hands arranging the threads until the sail began to appear, thick white canvas embedded with enough magic to weather proof and strengthen it against tearing. The rope would be trickier, but she decided that could wait until tomorrow.
It felt good to be working towards a goal again. She'd forgotten what that was like, forgotten what truly contributing was like. Of course, she'd always nurtured her heroes, helped them, healed them, befriended them. But that was support. This was involvement. It was like being on a team, picking a side again.
When she finished for the evening, Calypso stood, a content smile on her lips. She made her way to the neat stacks of clothes on the shelves of her cave and unlooped her gold threaded belt from her waist, unpinned the gold and jewel broaches from her shoulders and let the crimson silky dress fall to the floor.
She had just donned a lighter sleeping gown when the loom caught her eye again. Calypso thought of the clothes she'd made Leo and with some unwillingness, her thoughts drifted to how much better this bizarre cotton 'denim' fabric looked on him, how comfortable and confident he'd appeared in his own clothes, how the hot day's sweat had soaked through his shirt, pasting it against his arms and stomach…
Calypso snapped herself out of it, scowling. So the infuriating demigod wasn't a complete weakling. What did it matter? Nothing, that's what.
And it would continue not to matter for as long as Leo was on Ogygia.
Big thankyou to everyone who reads, follows, favourites, reviews or spends a moment in this wonderful corner of fanfiction! And now, REVIEW TIME:
Iaslus: YOU'RE SO SWEET! I'm glad it comes across as being canon, I'm trying to stick to Riordan's style as much as possible. I'll definitely keep posting, updates are Mondays and Fridays. Also, just because you reviewed, here's a heads up: Caleo first kiss comes up in chapter fourteen! GAH! Hope you enjoyed chapter eleven!
Mila-is-a-bookworm-101: I'm glad you liked my A/N and I will repeat it as often as possible to reassure all you wonderful readers, HEA are my choice of ending :D Also, Gaea is kind of a jerk but we haven't seen the last of her in this story. Yet. Hope you liked this chapter and thanks for reading!
Randomosity4arty: Alright I confess, but only because I would want you to make an informed decision. Also, Reyna will pop up in later chapters, promise. At the moment, we'll just let Calypso stew for a little while hmm? Glad you're enjoying it so far, hope you liked chapter eleven too :D
Music lover bwg: Yep, you get to keep your very on Leo and Nico pair! Anyway, glad you liked last chapter, hope you liked this one too
The Oz Meister and Jen Baas: Gaea. Again. I know right? It's not the last of her, I think. Hope you liked this chapter and thank you for reaaaadinggg!
Athena'sOwl36: Agreed, she's swimming in denial. Also, wonderful use of adjectives and I'm glad you like Calypso's POV :D Updates are Mondays and Fridays so I hope you liked chapter eleven!
Dragonstorm24: Mondays and Fridays are all I can handle, unfortunately, if I'm going to write, reread, edit, write, add, subtract and do whatever else needs to be done to publish it. If you're looking for Caleo stories (though I'm flattered that you follow mine :D), there are some great one-shots, I particularly like I'm a Damsel (I Can Handle This) by DeathMeetsLife on Archive of Our Own. It's just a single-chapter but I really liked her version of Calypso. So happy to hear you're liking it so far, it makes me grin crazily when I get email notifications on my phone! I hope you liked chapter eleven :)
The Invisible Pretender: Hercules is one of my all time favourite movies and that song feels like they should be singing it to each other while also arguing and bickering in between the choruses. Also, save the cats! Punch a pillow whilst pretending it's Leo's head, far more satisfying. Torture will be continuing for a while yet, including some particular angsty chapters coming up soon. Apologies but there's always light at the end of the tunnel! Hope you liked chapter eleven!
Magpiefeather: Oh gods, me too! I thought of that song nonstop! Glad you're enjoying Calypso's character (I figure she's a thousand year old goddess, she's got plenty of character to be used :D) and the story so far. Also, the part with Leo's partially burned shirt was just too good of an opportunity to waste but I'm glad you didn't think it was too OCC, it was my only worry about the chapter. Hope you liked chapter eleven and thank you for reviewing
Fluff-is-awesome: Hello again, and I love you too! Also, naww, shucks, you'll make me blush and if I could write this forever I would. Except that I have an adorable ending planned for these guys! Anyway, Calypso is definitely pulling a Meg but seriously, how can she resist the adorableness that is Leo Valdez? The opportunity was too good to pass up with the shirt thing but I'm glad you liked it, it was the only part I worried about for this chapter. I love this couple too, Caleo is just too cute and being called the canon of them is such a compliment, I'm bright red! I'm glad you like the story so far, I'm trying to keep to Riordan's style for this fic. Hope you liked chapter eleven!
Rodo272: NEXT UPDATE IS…WELL, NOW BUT USUALLY IT'S MONDAYS AND FRIDAYS! GLAD YOU LIKED IT :D HOPE YOU LIKED CHAPTER ELEVEN TOO!
PJoHoOFan: Hi! Enjoy the Dam snack bar, the Dam feels are just Dam delicious :) Awww, thanks for reading mine first, it makes me so happyyyyyy! Glad you're enjoying it, hope you liked this chapter too!
Totalbooknerd13: Agreed. Calypso, hurry the hell up and kiss the ever living daylights outta that boy! (It so didn't surprise me that she made the first move in HoH because Calypso's is so much older than Leo, I figure she's had a lot more experience than Leo) Hope you liked chapter eleven too!
House3-0f3-Hades3: FEEL THE LOVE, FRIEND! I'LL CHECK YOU PROFILE OUT WHEN I GET A MOMENT TO BREATHE THIS WEEK!
Themadkatter98: The feels are like exercise, the only way to handle it is to SAVOUR THE BURN! *coughs* anyway. I'm so glad you like it, this review made me grin like a loon for an hour when I read it. Also, if I could figure out how to transfer skills, I'd be chasing down a dozen artists on Tumblr so they can lend me some ;) Hope you liked chapter eleven and thank you for reading!
Forever sibuna: Unfortunately, I don't think we've seen the end of her in this fic or in Blood of Olympus but HEA will prevail! Glad you liked it, hope you liked chapter eleven too! Thank you for reviewing!
Tenneyshoes: Hi! Don't even worry, thanks for taking the time to review this chapter at all! Hope you like this chapter too and also, I'm working on the Morse code chapter as we speak. It won't be posted anytime soon but eventually, I hope. THANKS FOR READING!
Ravenwolf24: ENJOY YOUR QUEST and THANKS FOR REVIEWING! Next chapter is on Friday :D
Carrot-Bunny: Oh well, enjoy the Butterbeer then! Also, I love the fact that most of Percy's modern adaptations were stories Riordan told his own kids (who have both dyslexia and ADHD if I remember correctly) but you're right, it does give us mortals hope. Also, the Seven will be making it out alive. No ifs. No buts. It will be happening and that is the end. Hope you liked this chapter!
Fearless Noodle: I really really liked your review :D I have a similar opinion on the shelf-life of fanfics, there's nothing I hate more than reading something that should be wonderful but can't match up to the book it's trying to predict. I might include details of Gaea's inevitable defeat but in all likeliness, I won't be describing it in full chapters, I don't think but I hope I don't disappoint too many people :( Anyway. Hope you liked this chapter too and I'm glad my replies make you happy and giggly because you should see the grin on my face when I get a review notification :D
TeamLe0: I LOVE you and you are AMAZING! If Riordan doesn't hook those two up in Blood of Olympus, heads will roll, I'm sure. Thanks for reading!
Girl-On-Fire-Forever: UPDATING NOW! (PS. Updates are every Monday and Friday)
Bkaddictjk: I love you. Your review made my day :D
Guest: ALL HAIL THE GODDESS OF SHINY THINGS AND DOORKNOBS! PLEASE ACCEPT MY MOST GRACIOUS OFFERING OF CHAPTER ELEVEN! (PS. THANKS FOR READING :D)
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter is: The first time Calypso actively helped one of her heroes' escape Ogygia.