(A/N: You all knew this was coming. Don't hate me *flinches*
On happier news: GUYYSSSSsssSSSssssSsss! You awesome readers have made this story the most popular Caleo story on ff. net !
DO YOU KNOW HOW HAPPY I AM RIGHT NOW?! YOU GUYS ARE SO WONDERFUL I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO THANK YOU! VIRTUAL HUGS FOR ALL!
Also, who watched Catching Fire and who else thought it was flipping awesome?
Lots and lots and lots of love,
Shy. )
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The first time Calypso knew for absolute certain that coincidence was never coincidence in the eyes of the Fates, she was sitting on her beach, watching the waves.
Beside her, Leo was polishing off his bowl of stew and the campfire burnt with flickers of green and blue amongst the orange flames from the salt in the small pieces of driftwood kindling. Behind them, the crater he'd made over her dining table loomed, a dark scoop cut out of her island. Calypso secretly admitted that the dining table fit for twelve people was perhaps a little ridiculous for an island of one, occasionally two people. But she wasn't about to tell him that.
"All we need now is a boat," she said, glancing back at the supplies arranged at the edge of the crater, right beside Leo's camp.
Leo nodded in agreement but he looked pensive. "I can start chopping wood into boards tomorrow. Few days, we'll have enough for a small hull."
She privately wondered if Leo knew the trees on Ogygia were much sturdier than he gave them credit but resolved to help him with her goddess strength if he needed it. "You've made a ship before." She noted. "Your Argo II."
She could remember stories Hermes had told her in passing of the Argo I and her famous crew but couldn't help but think the crew of Leo's ship sounded much kinder of heart and braver. After all, the first Jason had never been asked to defeat a primordial entity like the earth mother. He nodded again but remained quiet, only his knee bouncing absently as he sat. "So," she changed the subject with a forcefully light tone. "How long until you sail?"
It seemed to startle him from his thoughts. "Uh, not sure. Another week?" the bouncing stopped as he said the words. A small sensation of relief unfurled in her belly, despite her attempts to crush it. Another week with Leo. Another week of company.
Forcing her mind from the feeling, she stroked the mechanical mapping system they'd created. "This took so long to make."
"You can't rush perfection." He defended, idly.
She let out a small smile. "Yes, but will it work?" Calypso smothered the part of her that was praying for it not to work.
"Getting out, no problem." Leo said, shrugging. "But to get back I'll need Festus and-"
To get back, I'll need Festus.
To get back.
To get back?
"What?" the shock permeated her voice as she stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Festus." He repeated, blinking with confusion. "My bronze dragon. Once I figure out how to rebuild him, I'll-"
"You told me about Festus." She cut him off, stunned. Something in her chest twisted sharply. "But what do you mean get back?"
He sent her a nervous grin. "Well…to get back here, duh. I'm sure I said that."
"You most definitely did not." She stated, sharply. Calypso remembered those kinds of promises. She remembered them all, from every single man.
Percy. How? Tell me. I want to help. Maybe I can visit you?
Drake. Once I've reclaimed my ship, I will find you again, my lady.
Odysseus. You will release me, oh radiant Calypso? Some day I shall return this kindness and release thee from thy curse.
Clyro. Will you not wait for me, precious one?
Theleonius. I must do my duty, lovely goddess. But when that is done, nothing can stop my voyage back to thee.
All the promises and pretty praises that sliced clean strips of flesh from her heart. And now, Leo's to add to the list.
"I'm not gonna leave you here! After you helped me and everything? Of course I'm coming back. Once I rebuild Festus, he'll be able to handle an improved guidance system. There's this astrolabe that I, uh…that I found in Bologna. Anyway, I think with that crystal you gave me-"
She couldn't bear to hear him continue. "You can't come back."
"Because I'm not welcome?" his voice sounded low and disheartened and she wanted to say yes, dispel his idea of return and reunion now before they grew into the whipping pain of the other promises.
"Because you can't." she said, miserably. "It's impossible. No man finds Ogygia twice. That is the rule."
She'd heard fanciful, poetic protests before. Rules have no place against love! Rules could not stop me from kissing you again! Rules mean nothing to me!
But of course, no pretty poetry from Leo, oh no, not Leo Valdez.
No, Leo rolled his eyes and snorted instead. "Yeah, well, you might've noticed I'm not good at following rules. I'm coming back here with my dragon, and we'll spring you. Take you wherever you want to go. It's only fair."
"Fair…" she echoed in a whisper. Oh Leo, her heart wheezed, suddenly struggling under the weight of an emotion she'd felt many times before but never quite as intensely. He wanted to free her because it was fair. Not because she was beautiful. Not because he was trying to be a hero. Not because he said he loved her.
Because it was fair.
Oh gods, not again. Please not again. The ache in her chest intensified even as he continued talking. "You didn't really think I could start Leo and Calypso's Auto Repair without Calypso, did you? I can't make lemonade and stew and I sure can't sing." He teased.
She didn't look at him but she could feel his discomfort at her silence.
"Well anyway, tomorrow I'll start on the lumber. And in a few days…" he began to say. She knew the precise moment he saw the raft appear because it was also the same moment she felt love burning in her chest.
Love. Oh, how she had come to love this infuriating demigod. Calypso allowed herself one deep breath.
Then she rose to her feet in the blink of an eye, racing across the beach to the supplies. "Hurry!" she called out to him, grabbing several bags and loading them onto the raft. "I don't know how long it will stay!"
She could see his confusion. "That's the magic raft?"
Using an expression she'd gleaned from his own mouth, Calypso yelled back at him as she quickly loaded up. "Duh! It might work like it's supposed to and take you where you want to go but we can't be sure. The island's magic is obvious unstable. You must rig up your guidance device to navigate!"
As soon as she grabbed the navigation system, he followed her, quickly connecting the various parts to the raft. His hands overlapped hers, showing her how to clip the running wires and the tiny brush of skin sent electrical jolts running up her spine. She moved in perfect unison with him, quickly, efficiently. It was so smooth, Calypso nearly likened it to dancing but the comparison didn't quite fit. This was building together. Helping each other. Gods, she thought she would have another week before her ridiculous heart and his stupid mouth brought the raft to shore.
She knew when it was ready because the raft suddenly tensed, ropes tight, sail taunt, sphere and guidance mechanism humming with power. She had not offered Leo Valdez the same haven on Ogygia that she had suggested to the others because she knew he would not, could not take it. And the pain of that rejection would have been fierce indeed.
Oh the Fates are cold, she mused, bitterly. Even now, every cell of her immortal body was straining, wishing she could tear him off that ridiculous raft and back to the beach with her. To have him. To keep him. Let me keep you, Leo, just stay here with me. A part of her murmured in a voice as light and frantic as hummingbird wings.
But instead, she stood on the sand beside him and lifted her head high. "Go."
He turned to her and she remembered how she'd clutched his arms for balance on the first day they'd met, right here, at this exact spot. She remembered how she'd thought of all the other heroes she'd said goodbye to at the same spot, how she'd never dreamed Leo would become one of them. But there he was, his face conflicted even as he took in the straining raft. She didn't move away this time. She stood right where she was, close enough that she could smell the smoke from their campfire curling off his clothes and hair.
"The raft finally got here." He stated, uncertainly.
"You just noticed?" she snorted, her breaths coming just a little unevenly. Go now, Leo Valdez. Please just go so I can get over you. Just like the rest.
"But if it only shows up for guys you like-" he began.
Calypso cut him off. "Don't push your luck, Leo Valdez. I still hate you." She snapped. Please go. Please stay. Gods, I think I love you, you stupid, stupid demigod. Why did it have to be you?
"Okay."
"And you are not coming back here." She added, sternly. "So don't give me any empty promises." Don't say it, Valdez. Don't even think it.
"How about a full promise?" he proposed, stubbornly. "Because I'm definitely-"
But Calypso couldn't bear to hear the words any more than she could stop herself from grabbing his face in both hands and tugging him to her, his mouth warm but dry and surprised beneath hers. His lips moved hesitantly, slowly against hers and the chaste brush of his mouth was enough to send explosions running across her skin, down her spine, all the way to the tips of her toes. It was an ending just as much as it was a beginning. A hello just as it was a goodbye.
When she pulled away, Leo's eyes sprung open in utter shock. "That didn't happen." She stated, pushing him into the boat.
"Okay." His voice was strangled and high.
"Get out of here." She demanded.
He gulped. "Okay."
With that, she stormed back to the campfire, and sat down, not looking back at him even as the wind suddenly caught the sail- his sail, her sail- and the raft shot away from the island. She extended one arm without looking and the waves became strong and even, carrying him away and past the bounds of Ogygia with her magic.
Sitting on the beach, staring out at the waves as Leo disappeared from sight, Calypso let the tears run from her eyes, her hands clutching the sand beneath her. She understood now that she had always been destined to love Leo Valdez. His appearance was not a joke from the gods, not an accident or a coincidence. The Fates had woven him into her path before he'd even been born. There were no such things as coincidences, not to the three spinners.
She was destined to love Leo Valdez, just like he had been destined to break her heart.
(A/N: Ouch. But don't worry, all will end well. Hopefully. Also, Clyro and Theleonius are 100% imaginary. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed, favourited and read this chapter, you're all amazing!
Guest Review Time:
TimTamDaFish: I accept your wonderous offering of cookies, shiny things and awesome doorknobs and in exchange, I bestow upon you…the saddest chapter this story so far. Hm. Alright, I'll come up with something better for next time :D Thanks for reading!
TaraLunaApple: Hello again! That chapter was actually one of my favourites so far to write so I'm glad you liked it :D This chapter gets sad though, apologies but we all knew it was coming. I really like replying to reviews and messages, it's like having a conversation with all you lovely readers. Thankyou for taking a sec to write them and thanks for reading!
Geekmaster13: This chapter and the next are going to be according to the book and then I start straying. Slowly. Thanks for reading.
Gabsters (aww, cute name): Man, I love you! Thank you for reading! Also, Leo calling her Sunshine was too adorable to leave out. Now I just have to come up with a name for him…Anyway. I see your Hunger Games reference and I raise you a Star Wars reference: May the force be with you.
P.S. If you're a THG fan, did you see Catching Fire? Wasn't it amazing? I love it. O.O
Guest: These two are just too cute, I loved them the second I read them in House of Hades. Glad you like it and thank you so, so, so much for reading!
Z (mysterious name): I'm so glad you like it! Calypso's character was one of the parts I worried about but I did a bit of research before I tried and her background was just too interesting to leave alone. I mean, Hera being fostered by her mother Tethys to be Queen of the Gods, her father being Kronos' right-hand general, her sorcery considered in the same league as Circe's and Medea's? I couldn't let her go, she's too interesting! But I'm glad that came across in how I wrote her. Also, Leo is Leo, I had to do him justice. Thanks for picking up my typos, it doesn't happen often but when it does, I like to know. Thanks for reading!
P.S. Agreed, perhaps just a bit. (She totally likes him.)
Guest: They like each other in that way ten year olds like each other: I think you're cute so I'm gonna put worms down the back of your dress type of like. Aren't they cute? Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter!
Sad chapter this week I know but upside is- well, actually Monday's update is kind of sad too I think. In fact, warning: sad times ahead. Hope you liked it guys :D