(A/N: Happy Friday guys! Long-ish chapter today, are we all excited? I am BUT MAINLY BECAUSE I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER I THINK YOU'RE GONNA TO LIKE IT IN THAT WAY WHERE YOU HATE IT BUT STILL LIKE IT. I THINK.

Now that that's out of the way-

Did anyone else realise that Drake was an actual pirate from the sixteenth century? For a history major, I'm so disappointed in myself for not piecing it together earlier *sighs*

Anyway, hope you like this chapter and thanks for reading, following, favouriting and reviewing guys, you're amazing :D

Love,

Shy.)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The first few times she imagined the island was telling her that Leo Valdez would come back for her, she worried that she was finally losing her sanity.

She'd had near misses before. Usually right before another hero washed up on her shores like flotsam after a shipwreck. In a way, they were like reminders from the gods. No, you aren't mad. Just cursed and pathetic. The worst time was probably after the pirate Francis Drake had left her- he was the last hero for nearly five hundred years before Percy. In a way, she told herself she was being ungrateful.

"You got two wonderful heroes inside the space of ten years." Calypso muttered under her breath the morning after Leo's departure. She had woken in her bed to the sound of rolling waves and a smooth summery breeze, the same sounds that always greeted her. Once, long ago, she used to wake up the morning after and forget that she'd been abandoned for just a few moments. Those sleepy seconds were always gloriously sweet: she used to think of her guest fondly, maybe wonder what they'd talk about or what he might describe to her that day. If she might brush against his hand, if he'd smile at her. Then reality would slip in and the drowsiness would fade from Calypso's eyes entirely, revealing an empty island and a cold bed. As always.

But as heroes came and left, the seconds grew shorter until she woke the morning after Leo's departure and did not have even an instant of forgetfulness before his absence made itself known.

"Come on, stupid girl." She told herself sternly as she combed out her hair and washed her face and hands in her basin. "You know what has to happen now."

There was a plan, a routine, a guide to dealing with these horrible feelings. You don't get to be over three thousand years old and perpetually grief-stricken without having some kind of coping method.

She always allowed herself the evening after the hero in question left to drown herself in her silly tears (which she had, on the beach, beside their campfire and half-finished picnic which now tasted bitter in her mouth and heavy in her stomach). But after that, it wasn't right to keep weeping like her sobs could bring him back.

Calypso had to pull herself together.

The first step was to carry on as if the hero had never arrived at all: her solo routine each morning had to be carried out as normally as possible.

So she fixed her bed, ate her breakfast, rinsed her hands. But when Calypso tried tugging on her old dresses instead of her new clothes, the sight of them laying limp in the corner of her cave was too much of a temptation. Eventually, she submitted and pulled on her torn jeans and t-shirt, simultaneously finding comfort in the soft fabric and feeling bitter from the memories that came with them.

For the first week, her mornings started with the insignificant struggle of trying to wear her old dresses and failing until she finally gave up.

The second step was to destroy all the immediate signs of his presence in her life. She always missed a few things but by the time she found them, they usually lost their pointedness and ability to pierce her and leave her gasping. For the most part, destroying those signs was always the most effective part of her plan. For her injured heroes, this meant their medicines, bandages, things like the crutch she'd made for Odysseus's broken foot, the splint she'd fashioned for Drake's arm, their clothes, leftover weapons or any other possessions left behind.

For Leo, it meant his workshop and all the scrap metal and junk he'd left lying around.

Calypso really had intended to go down to the campsite that morning but one of her herb jars fell over and she decided that refilling it was probably more important anyway. And while she was there, she decided she might as well refill the rest of the jars and reorder them to her liking. The next day, she made it to the edge of her garden when suddenly the satyr statue on her fountain caught her eye and the image of Leo's quick fingers mending the spout for her rudely invaded her thoughts. She decided to give herself another day before trying to destroy the camp, just to make sure she wouldn't be distracted again.

The third morning, Calypso spent most of the morning mustering her strength and this time she made it all the way down to the edge of the camp before her feet refused to move any further. The driftwood workbench sat in the afternoon sun, the array of scraps and tools glittering across it. It looked like a careless child had spilled a jewellery box across the bench, letting the scraps shine in a fine blend of gold, copper and bronze. "He's not here, foolish girl." She said through gritted teeth when her traitorous eyes scanned the area.

She reached one arm out to the shoreline and the waves began to grow stronger, crawling further and further up the beach. Her jaw locked and her fist tightened with strain as she summoned the magic nestled at the centre of her chest. This was a necessary step, Calypso decided. Leo's campsite and everything it reminded her of had to disappear- she was going to let the ocean swirl forth and claim it all, sweeping it into the waters so she'd never have to see it again. His things, clothes and tools would all leave Ogygia for good and they'd take every memory of him with them.

All the days she spent along side him- fiddling with metal wires and raising her brows at his silly grin, the image in her head of him glancing up at her with an unimpressed roll of his eyes or a tiny quirked smile- would be completely and utterly gone, she promised herself. Calypso channelled her grief into a tight, throbbing weight inside her, letting it give her strength. Difficult thought it was, the waves obeyed her power and eventually the foam brushed the very edge of the campsite, greedily stretching out to snatch it away-

And leave her with nothing. She gasped, envisioning that very image of her own stupid demigod standing at the bench and knowing in every corner of her soul that she couldn't destroy this place which had come to meaning everything to her. Without really intending to, her hand dropped and the sea retreated, leaving the empty camp untouched. Her fists shook, pressed against her flipping stomach as she turned away, ignoring the campsite entirely and sprinting back to the safety of her cave.

(She didn't come out of her garden for three days and when she did, she made herself a bargain that the camp could stay but she could never go near it. It didn't stop her from hearing the phantom sound of the forge or smelling a faint wisp of smoke on the breeze.)

So far it had been just over a week and she was utterly failing at the third step of her plan. The third step was to keep busy and start thinking about the next hero who might arrive. The best way to forget a man is to think of another man, her sisters had once told her, many years ago. He could be tall (but she wanted short) or strong (but she'd much rather quick) or charming (but she wanted argumentative and wickedly clever instead). He might wash up on the beach or stumble across Ogygia in a lifeboat (but Calypso thought she preferred 'falling out of the sky and destroying her dining table' much better). Daydreaming had suddenly become incredibly difficult for her.

"You just had to like him didn't you?" she muttered to herself one evening, wearily as she collected berries and apples and grapes from her plants. Gathering them was simple, mindless work which left so much time for thinking that Calypso was nearly prepared to toss all her harvest into the ocean out of spite. "You couldn't just hate him. No, you had to notice that ridiculous mop of hair and that infuriating grin and his eyes and- and-"

At that point Calypso would stop herself from thinking of Leo Valdez's mouth or that absurdly stunned look on his face when she kissed him or that certainty he held in the line of his shoulders when he mentioned coming back.

Because he wouldn't be coming back. No man came back. It was foolish to ignore her curse and Calypso was hardly a fool. Not anymore.

It wouldn't have been so bad, she mused, if he hadn't changed so many things while he'd been there. The little things he'd fixed for her were almost nothing compared to how time began to pass for her again. Not in the aimless, disconnected way she usually associated with Ogygia but as though her heart were recording each night spent without his company for her. She was suddenly aware of the days and it made her even more lonely.

Which was ridiculous. Because he wasn't returning.

Since daydreaming wasn't working out very well, she filled her day with as much as possible to keep busy and active. Calypso walked across the island over and over, around the beach, up the hills, to the highest peak and the lowest bay, aimless and yet called to check every crevice. She avoided Leo's camp of course but visited the rock pools nearby where she could keep both her cave and his camp in sight. She studied the anemones and tiny striped fish that flitted around her feet, undisturbed by her presence.

She had been a sea goddess before the First Titan War. Her mother was Tethys, titan-queen of the ocean and her father Atlas, he who carried the world. Calypso caught herself repeating the words under her breath as if to reassure herself that she was real, that she had a past if not a future. Once upon a time, she could have made tidal waves and dried up lakes in the blink of an eye but much of her powers had been stripped since she was cursed.

And yet the ocean didn't repel her, merely accepted her as it always had. "Can you bring him back to me, my friends?" she bent down low, having turned up the cuffs of her…what had Leo called them again?...ah yes, jeans. She spoke to the school of colourful fish that circled her ankles and nibbled her toes.

The strange visions and sounds that invaded her thoughts alongside the loneliness obviously never intended to leave her alone because the gentle lapping of water on rocks took on a rushing sound that almost seemed like the word yes.

Which was not true. Because Leo Valdez was not coming back.

At the end of the second week, she'd all but given up on the third step and the fourth was failing rather spectacularly as well.

Illuminated by the noon sunlight, Calypso climbed the tallest tree on the highest peak of Ogygia, digging her fingers into the smooth trunk until she had scaled it up to the canopy. All to get away from the smell of smoke that permeated her cave.

It was her own fault really. She had been thinking over the crystal Leo had asked for while weaving and carelessly let the garment slip from her fingers into the open flames that cooked her midday meal. Within seconds, the fabric had caught alight, consumed by the rich golden fire and emitting plumes of charcoal smoke that filled her cave in mere moments.

Her air spirits fixed the problem immediately but the smoke was everywhere still, sinking into everything around her and all it reminded her of was an infuriating, stupid demigod.

She left without another word, the smell still following her in tiny traces on her shirt and hair even with the fresh sea breeze tussling her braid. Calypso realised she was crying slightly about half way up the tree and cursed herself for it. Step four was to accept and forgive her heroes who were just as bound by the rules of her curse as she was and couldn't be blamed for leaving.

But thinking about Leo didn't make her want to forgive him or accept his departure. It made her want to be angry. No, not angry. It made her want to be furious again. It made her want to feel so utterly enraged and lively. It made her want to scream and yell and destroy things. He made her want to hope for more for herself. She wanted to hold him to a higher standard, she wanted to believe he was capable of more than the others.

The thought only agitated the bitterness lying in her heart. How pathetic, to cry over a hero, this hero in particular? "He was no better than any of the rest," she snapped at herself, letting her voice rise until the whole island could have heard her. "He was no different!"

(That was a lie.)

"He shouldn't have promised me anything!" she yelled again, furiously. "He shouldn't have made me hope!" The wind picked up, bending the tree but Calypso was unafraid. If she should fall, what was the worst that could happen? She wouldn't die certainly, probably just hurt herself and waste time recovering from a broken wrist or fractured knee.

"He is not coming back!" she bellowed out to sea, smoke in her nose, tears in her eyes and the wind howling through her hair. Everything made her think of him, everything made her lonely. She hated feeling lonely- it invited in more of those odd thoughts and strange imaginings. Even the wails of the wind were twisted in her head, as though roaring NO in her ears. She was going mad, Calypso mused.

She stayed up there for a long time and when she came down, the air spirits had successfully rid the cave of any scent. Calypso laughed at herself when she felt saddened by its absence.

By the time the birds returned to Ogygia, she'd practically tossed her 'steps' from her mind. Like every other kind of conventional rule, Leo seemed determined not to fit with them so Calypso resigned herself to just ignoring the problem until it went away (no, she didn't believe it would be that easy either). The birds had come back since Leo's departure, drawn by the sweetness of her voice and the food she offered them. In a way, she wished they hadn't- Leo's insufferable banging and noise was the reason they'd left in the first place.

Now they clambered for her attention, even the big sea eagles who behaved more like attention-starved puppies than fearsome avian predators. There was one bird in particular however that refused to draw near to her. It was a small black crow with liquid-dark eyes, not native to the tropics she thought but then again, Ogygia appeared everywhere and nowhere.

While she enjoyed the company, small thought it may be, Calypso was curious about the little bird that refused to come too close, content to merely watch from afar as she spoke with the others, listened to their chirping, sang along with them at times.

It had been over two weeks since Leo had left. Calypso decided she was doing much better at keeping him from invading her thoughts. It helped to remind herself of who she was, a Titan's daughter, a former sea goddess. She would not allow herself to wallow like a wayward mortal princess she decided with a huff. Oh how she used to despise that sort of woman who would allow a man to become the centre of her universe. It was ridiculous that she should do the same to Leo, no matter how much she missed him. Better to just ignore it for the time being. After all, she had eternity to sort through the grief and anger and sorrow.

"Maybe it'll be easier when so many years have passed he can only be dead?" she said in a dull tone. But the idea made her stomach twist so she abandoned it.

They chirped back like the innocent, entirely cheerful creatures they were. Thoroughly unconcerned with her problems, she thought wistfully. "I should strive to be more like you, little ones." Calypso whispered, stroking a particularly eager seagull. "You simply forget the things that cause you pain. I should do the same."

Never.

The words came unbidden to her mind and she froze, whirling around to look for the perpetrator. "Who is there?" she demanded, shaken.

Never forgets.

"Forgets? Forgets who?" Calypso repeated, her eyes studying the horizons for any sign of a godly visitor, watching for the origin of the voice-

She suddenly met the gaze of the black crow and paused, curiously. Surely not…

The Styx never forgets.

"The Styx…?" Calypso echoed, brow furrowed as she moved closer to the bird. The others had flown, startled by her movements but the black bird merely cocked its head, let out a single croaky call and took off, soaring up and over the sea.

Later she decided it must have been a final brief slip into madness- the culmination of all those odd sounds and visions she'd been having. The birds had never spoken to her before, certainly never mentioned the infamous river of the Underworld. Obviously her loneliness had finally consumed her, swallowing her whole. The ocean lapping at the shore, the wind howling through the canopy, the bird chirping on about the Styx- it was her imagination ruining her reality. She set it aside and moved on.

(But she still wondered about it sometimes.)

(A/N: Alright, so hands up how many people think Calypso gone loopy and how many think Ogygia knows exactly what's going on?

Anyway, Guest review time!

Z: Hello again! I have been trying to keep to Riordan's style on purpose but I'm so flattered that you liked it that much! Also, I'm really pleased the pacing isn't too slow. I'm still getting used to it but I like to think I'm getting there. And if you ever feel like you missed something, send me a message and I was seriously spend like a page and a half outlining every thought that went through my head as I was writing the chapter haha. Anyway, glad you liked it and I hope you like chapter sixteen as well!

Winonabcd: Awww thank you for reviewing twice haha. I did the same thing when I was writing this chapter- I was trying to think about why Leo would say something and then realise there were some really funny lines in Malta. Glad you liked Leo's POV, I was a bit worried it might sound too much like a reread. Anyway, no, not Uncle Rick in disguise but oh my gods, I'm so flattered to hear that, I might actually explode from blushing. GET AS EXCITED AS YOU WANT, I'M ALREADY FANGIRLING AWAY AT MY COMPUTER TOO! Hope you liked chapter sixteen too :D

Ilovethisfanfic: I LOVE YOU, YOU WONDERFUL WONDERFUL READER! Seriously, I'm sending you virtual hugs for such a sweet review ^^ Also, for future reference, updates are Mondays and Fridays- hope that makes the wait easier! THANK YOU FOR READING!

V: Hi! I'm glad you appreciate the characterisation and the grammar, I'm kind of picky about it and I really enjoy fleshing out the characters more where I can. Do you have a favourite character so far? Anyway. Thanks for reading it so far, hope you enjoy chapter sixteen too!

Guest: You are wonderful, seriously, thank you for reading and taking a minute to write me a review :D I'm glad you like the characters, I spent a bit of time researching Calypso's mythology in particular because I'm a history major at heart and hers was just too much fun to leave alone. Anyway, HAPPY FRIDAY I HOPE YOUR WEEKEND IS FULL OF WONDERFUL THINGS and I hope you like chapter sixteen!

TaraLuna Apple: Hello again! Glad you liked fifteen, here is sixteen (which is sad) and next is seventeen (which is also sort of sad) and then eighteen (which is much less sad). Hope you like 16 and thanks for taking a second to review :D

Eon: Wow. Such review. So thanks. Many nice. Very blushing. Anyway, glad your fluff meter is in overdrive, so is mine- and if Caleo doesn't happen in Blood of Olympus, I'm gonna- well, really I'm just going to write fanfiction that I like better but I was gonna do that anyway. Hm. I'll work on a better response should BoO not have a worthy Caleo reunion. Glad you like it and I hope you like chapter sixteen too!

Next update is Monday (which is also my first day of induction training for my new job so wish me luck!)

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO READS, REVIEWS, FOLLOWS AND FAVOURITES THIS STORY, YOU ARE WONDERFUL AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A MARVELLOUS WEEKEND!