A/N: Happy Monday everyone!
Okay, let's cut to the chase! Ladies and gentlemen, the chapter (I hope) you have all been waiting for: PERCYPERCYPERCYPERCYGAH
Shy
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The first time Calypso met one of her past heroes again, he'd come home several days early with Annabeth from New Rome and Leo was still in Illinois with Coach Hedge. She was not prepared.
Leo had IM'd her in one of Rachel's outdoor fountains that morning, complaining that Coach Hedge wouldn't let him have a slice of awesome famous Chicagoan meat pizza because he called it inhumane. "Just because he's a vegetarian, I'm suddenly eating rabbit food." Leo bemoaned through the rainbow-tinted mist when Calypso laughed. "It's not funny! The smell of sweet, meaty pizza is everywhere."
He said they thought they'd found the kids at a homeless shelter and Coach Hedge was gaining entry to be a volunteer, to check it out. He'd told Leo he would have to blend in with the rest of the kids and Leo confessed that at least they served stew for dinner most nights. "It's not exactly Ogygia-quality but then again, I've gotten pickier over the years." He told her, grinning.
"Are the demigods okay?" she asked, idly.
Leo suddenly looked troubled. "Chiron said they'd be older but they're not teenagers. I mean, they act like they're older but the way they talk? They're kids."
"Any idea who their parents are?" she continued.
Leo shrugged, his face blurring slightly in the water. "Not really. The boy could be a Hermes kid, he's skinny and fast but they don't like talking to others if they can help it. The girl can get pretty intimidating."
"Are you scared of a little girl, hero?" she crooned, giggling despite herself.
"She made a knife out of corrugated scrap steel!" he defended himself. "If she's not an Ares kid, I'm not fireproof."
"You'll be fine." She said, concealing her laughter.
"We should be back soon. Maybe." Leo sighed and then added in a small voice: "I love you."
Her smile softened. "I love you too, hero. Come back soon."
With that, Calypso said goodbye and made her way to the Dining Pavilion for breakfast. She was just at the edges of the camp, having walked through the forest when Rachel appeared, looking tense.
"Where are you going?" she asked, her voice high strung.
"To breakfast." Calypso said, slowly. "Why?"
"Oh, no reason, it's just maybe we could, you know, skip breakfast today? We could go into the city, instead! I know a great place that serves mushroom omelettes!" Rachel babbled, tugging on her arm. She and Rachel had become closer friends over her stay at Camp Half Blood but the suggestion was surprising.
Calypso pulled away. "We can't leave without Chiron's permission." She stated, incredulously as she walked forward toward the horseshoe of cabins. The idea of visiting the Pavilion without Leo was scary but she was determined to do so.
After all, she thought she might have made friends with Cabin 9 yesterday- maybe she would be distracted enough not to notice the speculative looks and murmured gossip? The thought made her wonder for a split second if she should take Rachel up on her offer to get away from it. But the idea of visiting the enormous city with its gigantic population that lay outside the camp borders was utterly bewildering and terrifying too.
"He'll never know!" Rachel said with a tight smile. "I'll get Apollo to write us a note!"
"What's going on?" Calypso asked as the redhead followed her towards the Pavilion.
"Nothing's going on, it's just…" Rachel sighed, defeatedly. "Look, I didn't want you to have to see him first thing…I mean, I kind of found out how things went down with you and him when I became Oracle…"
The former goddess' eyes narrowed. "Rachel…?"
"They came back early." she rushed to say when Calypso caught a familiar tall figure with dark hair and sea green eyes pause in front of the dining pavilion, staring back at her like he'd seen a ghost. Beside him, a pretty, athletic looking demigod with blonde curls followed his struck gaze.
"Percy." Calypso said, sounding a little strangled.
"Calypso. Hi." He said, his voice deeper than she remembered, his body taller, his face leaner. He looked like an adult, not the young almost-man he'd been when he washed up on her beaches. Her chest twisted violently.
"Sorry." Rachel muttered to her, wincing slightly.
"I heard Leo brought you back." Percy said, sounding horribly stiff. It was nothing like how he used to speak to her, the tales he used to spin about his camp, his family, his home, his Annabeth and Grover. "I'm- I'm really glad." He didn't sound glad- he sounded wary and unsure and unprepared. Much like how she felt in that moment.
"Yes," she felt like her joints were welded in place, unable to move more than her jaw. Even her eyes were widened permanently. "Yes, as am I."
"Seaweed Brain, are you going to introduce us any time soon?" the girl at his side asked dryly, her expression half amused, half scrutinising.
"Yeah, sorry I-I guess." Percy mumbled, gesturing to her and then back to Calypso. "Calypso, this is-"
Even though they'd never before met, Calypso knew her name without having to think. It was scribbled on the inner walls of her heart, along with all the other names. Penelope. Elizabeth. Nylla-
"Annabeth." Calypso cut in with a small, weak smile as the blonde daughter of Athena reached out her hand. She managed to shake it firmly with her own. Where she'd been comforted by the sight of Hephaestus in the faces of her Cain 9 friends, Annabeth looked unnervingly like her mother- beautiful, cool eyed and still, ready to engage at any time. "Percy spoke of you often." Calypso tried to continue.
"I'm sure he did." Her tone was neither disbelieving nor entirely sincere but she didn't sound malicious.
"So I'm up for some eggs!" Rachel broke in, forcedly. "What about you?"
Calypso swallowed deeply and turned to the Oracle with a small smile. "Nyssa invited me to eat with her this morning. Is that alright?" Please, please, please let me just leave, people are starting to stare again.
"It's fine, I'll eat with these troublemakers." She said, jerking a thumb at Percy and Annabeth with a hint of sympathy in her eyes.
"Hey!" he protested. "I don't cause trouble!"
"And I can't see the future." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Come on."
Calypso sat down at the Hephaestus table beside Nyssa who was in the midst of a fearsome argument as to the benefits of bronze wiring over copper. The mechanics didn't seem to notice how quiet she had became which suited her just fine. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Percy being greeted by Jason and Piper. Annabeth was saying hello to her half-siblings who seemed pleased to see her again.
She'd known that in the end, Camp Half Blood was Percy Jackson's home. She'd known that he would be back, that she would eventually have to face him. Calypso had simply hoped they might be able to treat each other as friends somehow and that she would be able to say more than a sentence at a time.
She retreated to the forges for most of the day and threw herself into making Damocles shoot lasers. Nyssa didn't seem to notice that she was more focused or determined than usual, though Shane did shoot her an odd look one or twice.
When Jake Mason regrettably kicked her out in the afternoon, saying that his best workers were now more focused on coming up with mechanical warrior toys than their work (among them a creature called a dinosaur, a bear and a tarantula), Calypso accepted it with a small grin and promised Shane that they would have a rematch at the dining table that evening.
"Here," Nyssa said before she left, shoving a bunch of copper-coloured metal rods into her arms. "For that garden you were talking about."
"Thanks," she said, studying the thin rods with surprise. She'd only mentioned the garden once but she knew immediately what the metal was for.
"Don't mention it." Nyssa grunted back before turning to her project in a clear but not unkind dismissal.
Calypso made her way out of camp as quickly as possible, pretending not to hear Piper who called out to her as she edged around the horseshoe of cabins. To avoid as many campers as possible, she tried not to walk straight through the courtyard usually but the camp was busy preparing for tomorrow night's Capture The Flag anyway so no one bothered her too much. Calypso even ignored the steady, thoughtful gaze of a certain blonde at Piper's side as she entered the forest, walking quickly towards her garden.
She'd been working on it with the cuttings she'd brought from Ogygia but with the cold weather, they were taking their time to grow. She had hope for them though and as she tended to them, gently clearing away the earth surrounding the Oracle Cave and plucking out rocks from her potential garden beds, Calypso began to feel a little less tense.
Here, the repetitive motions set her at ease and she carefully began to weave a climbing frame with the rods with her hands, creating a strong grid for her grapes and vines to crawl up. She hadn't even realised how nerve-wracking the idea of facing Percy was until she'd come across it.
Why was it so hard? She'd known he wasn't coming back. She'd only loved him for such a short time, just long enough for him to break her heart and sail away from her forever. After that, she'd never thought she'd see him again.
Then there was Leo and after that, well, there might as well have been no Percy at all.
She wondered if she should be angrier. To be honest, there was a thick black cloud resting in the very bottom of her heart which still held most of her anger for the gods, for her father, her family, her mother and Percy had his own place there. Part of her wanted to tear him to shreds and scream and yell. Since meeting Leo, since knowing how being put first, being prioritised felt, it was difficult not to want to rip his throat out for withholding that feeling from her.
Then again, Percy wasn't Leo Valdez and he never would be. The fact cooled her ire somewhat.
Calypso hands trailed through the soil as she worked, her thoughts swirling away from her. Had she been meeting Theleonius or Clyro or even Odysseys, she probably would've drowned them in a rage. But she wasn't young anymore- she was no longer the impetuous Titan child who'd railed against the gods under the banner of her father. Calypso had overcame the anger of being left behind sometime around Drake the pirate. For Percy, parts of it lingered, mean and bloodthirsty when she thought of the false hope he'd inadvertently offered her, how it hurt much worse than leaving in the first place. It had been smothering at first and it was like being reborn, like she suddenly became her father's daughter again, who would sooner slit her own throat than forgive; her mother's child who had been taught ruthlessness from the cradle.
But it could not fester forever and eventually faded, as did everything. When she now thought of Percy, it was predominantly bitterness, regret, perhaps a sense of injustice and curiosity. Talking to him made her want to ask him questions like why did you ask the gods to release me? and why did you ask them to release me and then forget about me when they didn't follow through?
But she knew questions like that weren't fair. He wasn't her champion; he'd done what he could but Percy had made the gods swear an oath on the Styx and in his naivety, he'd thought that was the end of it. Her pain was his fault, only indirectly. All he was really guilty of was being a absentminded fool. She wanted to tell him it was all right. She wanted to say she didn't blame him anymore (even if that wasn't entirely true). She wanted-
The snap of twigs behind her made her spin with her trowel in hand, the miniature shovel held out before her like a weapon. "Er…hi?" Percy muttered, raising a brow at the 'weapon'.
Speak of Hades and he shall appear.
"Percy." Calypso greeted, confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Rachel sent me out this way." He explained, wincing. "She told me I owed you an apology."
She crossed her arms, ire stirring in her gaze. "She told you?"
His bright green eyes widened marginally as he caught his mistake. "No! I mean, of course I owe you an apology, she was just more forceful about it." He coughed as though this cool, firmer Calypso wasn't one he was familiar with. Which, she supposed, he wasn't. "I-I wanted you to know that I'm sorry I didn't try harder to help you. You- you helped me. Saved my life. Even though you could've chosen not to, you did because it was right. And I thought of you once in front of the gods and I figured it was done. I didn't check up on you or make sure you were released. I just forgot about it. I kind of realised I do that a lot."
"You didn't." she agreed, quietly. "But then again, you were rather busy. I hear defeating Kronos was quite the battle." She forced her small proud smile to be sincere.
But Percy didn't smile. He ran a hand through his hair and looked down. "It's more than that though. The only thing you ever asked me, even after you saved my life, was to remember you and I didn't. Everything else became more important than one promise I made you. That's not what I want to be remembered for, if that makes sense."
Calypso stayed silent, recalling the last time she'd seen him watching as that hated raft sailed out of sight and she stayed on the beach, tired and lost. She'd made excuses for her heroes before- it was part of the curse, they had others waiting for them, worlds to save, duties and responsibilities- but she could never deny the parts of her that were bruised and tender from all the promises and feelings and disappointment, a part that wanted to both reach out for the apology and scorn it.
"But there's something- there's something I want to say." He said, his voice growing darker.
She swallowed but nodded, her stomach ill with cool clinging dread.
"When Annabeth and I were in Tartarus," Percy began, meeting her eyes with a gaze that seemed nearly as old as her. Bad things had happened to Perseus Jackson in the pit of demons and darkness. When the gods had been about to punish her, the one thing she pleaded for, the only thing she sacrificed her pride for, was a singe plea: do not send me to Tartarus. Please do not send me to Tartarus. "Annabeth and I, we passed a…a forest, I guess you could call it. It was filled with these things called arai-"
"The curses." Calypso felt ill when she remembered how the arai attacked their prey.
"Yeah." Percy finallt smiled but it was hard and without humour. "I swear, some monsters get way too creative with their dying breaths."
"What happened?" she asked, setting the trowel down by her side.
"I got my ass kicked." Percy admitted with a shrug. "Stabbed, trampled, poisoned. It occurred to me I had been pretty creative myself over the years with killing monsters and the arai punished me for it."
"Gods above." Calypso breathed, shaking her head.
"That's not the point though." Percy took in a deep breath and his next words were accusing and hard to hear. "Annabeth unleashed a curse. The arai said it was a bitter thought from someone I'd abandoned. Someone I'd punished by leaving her alone."
It felt like the bottom of Calypso's world had been upturned and she suddenly recalled her exact thoughts as Hermes told her once again that the gods had ignored their promise. She remembered exactly how it felt to stand on that beach every day and wonder if today was the day, all the while watching as her mind played out visions of Percy sailing away on the tide, home to the one named Annabeth. She remembered how suffocating the darkness filling her was.
"Oh Percy-" she choked, trembling now.
"I think it hit me then," Percy continued. "Because Annabeth was crying out for me and I couldn't help her. She needed me and because of what you did, I couldn't help her."
"I-" but there were no words.
"I need to know why." He said, his voice nearly raspy when he looked at her, his face carved with a kind of wet anger that reeked of regret and sorrow. "Why you cursed Annabeth, why you hurt her-"
"Percy I didn't curse Annabeth." Calypso interrupted, her nails digging crescent moons into the palms of her hands as she recalled the beach, the waves, the feeling of being entirely alone and forgotten.
"Don't lie to me," Percy growled, angrily. He was a man now, she thought with a jolt. This wasn't the boy she'd known, this was a battle-hardened man who looked utterly furious with her. It didn't frighten her so much as surprise her. Part of her wanted to unleash her own rage. She wanted to ask who he thought he was, that he could speak to her as such, that he could accuse her of lying when he'd betrayed her first. But that would take them nowhere.
"I saw what happened, I can't stop seeing it-!" Percy continued, his voice rough and agonised.
"That's not what I meant," she replied, hastily but the next words were even harder to say. "I didn't curse Annabeth, Percy. I-I- gods, I cursed you."
That seemed to take the wind out of his sails, figuratively speaking, leaving only blank confusion. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"
Calypso took a deep breath and forcibly unclenched her fists. "Percy, I didn't know Annabeth, I couldn't have cursed her if I tried. And curses- they're not what they sound like, they're- it's the power of an immortal soul that gives them their strength but they happen in seconds. They're like moments. Hateful, horrible moments that catch you completely unaware and before you know it, the words are in your mouth and- and Percy, I am so sorry but I- I cursed you without even thinking about it."
"I don't…understand," he let out a deep, controlled breath but he still looked caught between furious and confused.
She tried to think of a way to explain what she'd done but it all boiled down to the same point. "When I heard that you'd tried to release me and when it never came- I tried not to be angry but it was impossible. I'm just not that strong." Calypso raised her hands at her sides, helplessly.
"So what? If you cursed me, why did Annabeth suffer for it?" Percy demanded, brow furrowed. He looked more like his father, the god who had cast out her mother from their ocean palace and stripped them of their titles, than she'd ever seen and for a moment, she felt a confusing surge of fear and anger that had no place in the conversation.
With a deep breath, she began again. "'Punished by leaving her alone'- that's a good way of putting it because it was a punishment for me. At the time, I wanted you to love me and it only made the pain worse. And that night, on the beach when I realised you had really forgotten me, that the one thing I'd begged for hadn't come true, I-I wanted you to feel the viciousness of love." Calypso said, slowly. "My curse- it wasn't meant to torture Annabeth, not really."
"But it did." Percy pressed but Calypso cut him off, gazes locked. She could see the dark, tenuous rage that lingered at the very back of his eyes, just like she was certain he could see the dearly remembered misery and fury in hers.
"Do you know what the most painful thing in the world is, Percy?" she said, her voice slow and cold. "Watching someone you love suffer and not being able to do a damn thing about it."
Curse you, Percy Jackson. Curse you to feel a suffering of this measure, to feel this helplessness, to feel this pain until it is a part of your very soul. May you to hear your love's cries for help and know that for what you did not do for me, you cannot aid her.
"It was for me," Percy breathed, eyes wide and a little stunned at the sheer maliciousness of such a curse.
"You yourself admitted you can't stop thinking about it." Calypso said, squeezing her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to look at the accusation painted across his face. "That you can never un-see it or forget it. Now imagine thousands of years of never forgetting being helpless and alone and scared, never being able to…lose those kinds of memories or reverse the sort of scars that love leaves across your soul. For that moment when it…happened, I wanted to hurt you so badly, as badly as I could. I wanted someone to feel the way I did. And I wanted you to feel the weight of those scars on your mind the same way they weigh on mine every day."
"Di immortales," Percy whispered, face drawn. "I-I didn't- it wasn't- it was for me. Not Annabeth?"
"But I swear Percy, I'm sorry." She continued, pleadingly. "It was one hateful thought that consumed me for a single moment and I am so sorry you and Annabeth suffered for it. I-I never thought you'd feel it. How could I? Even gods do not trespass into Tartarus."
"It was because of me," he muttered, as though he hadn't even heard her. "It was my fault."
"Of course it wasn't," she gasped, astonished by the conclusion. "Percy, you listen to me, it is no one's fault but my own. I can explain and reason it a thousand times and in the end, it all boils down to the same point: I should have known better."
Percy shook his head as if in shock. "The arai said Annabeth was feeling your despair, like she was going to die alone and abandoned. I did that. I made you feel all of that- and then Annabeth-"
"Percy, it was Fate." She snapped, her temper heating wildly as she watched him piece together his own guilt. "Every man who wanders on to Ogygia has to break my heart at some point. It wasn't as though you did it intentionally, it was always going to happen."
"But-" he began again but she took a step forward as though to hush him and out of habit, he moved back.
She froze, trying not to feel injured. "I am far older than you, Percy Jackson." She said, quietly but sharply. "I have seen civilisations grow old and turn to dust. I was raised to respect magic and vows and oaths and I should have known better than to let my guard down and even think the words, let alone say them because I'm a better person than that and I know the consequences."
"Annabeth-"
Calypso ground her teeth. She was sick of people underestimating her, of being brushed off. The gods had done it for far too long. "Listen to me. It is not your fault I fell in love with you. It's not your fault you didn't love me back. It's not your fault you chose Annabeth and it sure as Hades not your fault that she suffered because she happened to love you too."
"It's just like Bob." Percy muttered, rubbing the heels of his palms into his eye sockets as if trying to press the memory out of his head.
Calypso couldn't understand what the words meant but she didn't entirely care. "I can only accept your apology if you can accept mine. Truly, it was a lapse in judgement, I never intended- I never should have even thought it." She swore.
"I-I don't know." He said, his voice cracking slightly as he sat back against the rocks littering the forest around the Oracle Cave. "I don't know if I can."
She breathed deeply, trying not to feel the slicing pain in her stomach. "That's understandable." She said, slowly.
There was a long pause that seemed to wind around her like spider silk but eventually Percy looked at her again and that fury was long faded, leaving only weariness behind. "I mean- I'm sorry I made you feel like that ever. Not just because of the arai but because I never wanted anyone to feel like that because of me. But I didn't do it on purpose and you did." He said, looking overwhelmed and betrayed.
"It was one horrible, bitter, hateful thought for a boy who once hurt me and a girl I'd never met." Calypso murmured. "At the time, I just wanted someone else to feel as wretched as I did. I didn't think, I just acted. It was stupid and thoughtless. Blame the Titan in me I suppose."
She didn't expect him to laugh at her but it seemed as though Percy Jackson was just full of surprises. "Act first, think later," he repeated, his face old and haunted but comprehending at least, like he had answers even if he didn't like them much. "That's pretty much my battle strategy."
"I remember." She said, thinking back to his story of how he'd arrived at Ogygia in the first place- something to do with a volcano, she thought and then there were all the stories after that. "But it served you well. It always did. I've never known a demigod strong enough to pass through Tartarus, let alone two."
"If Annabeth hadn't been there, I would've died." Percy said, shrugging. "She's- we're both still kind of getting over the things we saw down there."
"I can only imagine Percy. Tartarus is no place for heroes." She murmured.
"It's getting better." He replied, haltingly. "We're getting used to being around people again."
The words were so familiar, she wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry or ask if he ever 'got used to it' because she didn't think she ever would. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life angry with you Percy." She confessed first, trying to be brave. "I don't have endless time now. It would be a waste."
He paused but eventually he let out a shaky breath. "I don't want to either. I-I accept your apology Calypso."
"But…" she prompted, hearing the silent word.
"But maybe we can just stay away from each other for a while?" he proposed, gritting his teeth. "I'm still kind of hacked off."
"I've been far angrier for far longer than you Percy." She retorted immediately, eyes flashing but she cooled her temper. "But maybe that would be best."
"Besides, I'd really have to hate to explain to Chiron why my cabin burned down if I offend Leo's girl." Percy added, trying to lighten the conversation.
"I don't need Leo to fight my battles." She said, wryly. "But I suppose I'd rather not suffer the wrath of Annabeth Chase should I injure her boyfriend. Rachel tells fearsome tales."
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the red-headed nightmare," Percy sighed, wearily.
"It was unfair of her to make you come here." She added, struggling to hold her composure. She was glad they'd moved away from the accusations that could've filled Aegean Sea by themselves but this conversation felt thin, like they were trying to mask all the bitterness underneath. "Leo tells me the adjustment takes time."
"No, I'm glad she did. Even if she did threaten me with another Great Prophecy if I didn't." he let out a small, uncomfortable smile but it didn't reach his eyes, not really, not like it used to. She wondered if he was always going to have a part of him that hated her and if there would always be a part of her that hated him too.
Calypso understood, unclenching her hands. "She's an interesting Oracle, that's for sure."
"Formidable girl she is." he nodded, quite seriously. "Then again so are you."
Calypso narrowed her eyes but decided to keep the conversation light. "I'm choosing to take that as a high compliment, Perseus Jackson." She said, archly.
"Leo knows what he's getting into right?" he checked, warily.
Calypso retrieved her trowel from the ground and eyed it thoughtfully. "I could probably throw this quite far…" she said, innocently.
Percy staggered back, holding his hands up in supplication. He chuckled and watched her, a little surprised. "You're different. I always thought you were a lot more…"
"Nice? Sweet? Helpful?" she said, recalling Leo's words from the day he landed on Ogygia.
"Peaceful." Percy finished, raising a brow.
She shrugged, smiling fondly even as the ache from her nails embedded in her palms began to subside. "Leo brings out the worst in me. And the best. Nothing like the others, he was. Insufferably rude and sarcastic and irritating, all the time. I nearly smothered him in the first week he was on Ogygia." She rolled her eyes but the affection was plain in her voice.
"That soundslike him." Percy agreed. "But he was wrecked when he came back to camp. Practically the second he was back on the ground, he was working on fixing Festus. I thought he was gonna punch me when he told us it was for you."
"He was?" she whispered, shyly. The idea was…charming. In a stupid Wonder Boy kind of way.
"Annabeth bullied him into telling us what was wrong and even when she told him no man finds Ogygia twice, he wouldn't believe it." Percy recounted watching as Calypso's face turned a pretty shade of rose pink. "He's a really lucky guy, Calypso."
"I'm luckier, to have him." She told him in a disagreeing tone. "At the risk of sounding terribly sentimental, Leo is my hero."
"Well, he's coming in a few days," he replied, awkward now that he'd said his piece. "Leo IM'd Chiron from the fountain outside the Big House in front of everyone."
"Oh?" she said. Percy watched her whole face light up and, despite his own anger, wondered privately if Leo really did know what he was getting into. Or how lucky he was to get the chance.
"Said something about how the waitress in the pizzeria betrayed them," he squinted, trying to remember. "To be honest, he sounded more upset about not getting to eat his pizza. But they've got the kids at least."
"Is it…normal to take so long to travel in America?" she asked, unsurely. "Leo mentioned something called a train but it was…difficult to understand."
Percy let out a shaky grin. "When Hazel comes back from New Rome, you should talk to her about it. You guys can exchange notes. And yeah, Leo mentioned something about making their ride home angry so they've got to find another way back. But it's pretty normal."
Calypso didn't quite understand how one could 'exchange notes' but the confirmation was reassuring at least. She found herself smiling faintly at the thought of having Leo back at camp. She'd show him Damocles and all the upgrades Nyssa had helped her with, her garden which was growing slowly and hopefully, when next he arrived, he'd be able to greet his returning friends like he should. Not with a punch to the face like Percy had mentioned.
"Well, I better get going, Annabeth wants my help to demonstrate this new move she learnt in New Rome to Piper." He excused himself, stiltedly and began to leave.
"Percy?" she called out softly.
He turned, enquiringly. A thousand questions and words flew through her mind (would you have come back eventually? Does Annabeth know I never meant it? Does she know it was my curse? Do you know I waited on the beach for you? I couldn't believe you asked for my amnesty. That city without gardens you mentioned was always the saddest place I could have thought of before I actually came here. I think I always knew you weren't meant to be mine) but in the end, there was only one thing she wanted to say.
"Thank you." She said simply and he sent her a half-smile as he left.
A/N: So…? Perhaps not over entirely but at least the confrontation is done. Phew.
THANKYOU VERY MUCH AS ALWAYS TO MY LOVELY READERS!
Reviews:
Artemis Daughter: I'm glad, I just really enjoyed the mental image of Dionysus and Calypso bickering like disgruntled siblings, you know? As for Leo, well, next chapter will probably be from his perspective, hope you enjoy it :) As for killing Mr D, you are certainly welcome to try, may I suggest a frying pan, it seems to be a popular weapon of choice for a lot of you? ;)
Caro: Thanks, I was SO EXCITED to see it tick over to 1000! Glad you liked last chapter and hope you enjoy this one too :)
Red: Caleo is actually adorable, I love writing them :) Thankyou for such lovely compliments, I really appreciate them and I'm glad you're loving it so far! Enjoy the new chapter!
Starry: Hmm, better put the ass kicking on hold for now but there are still so many chapters in which to piss off Mr D ;) Enjoy the new chapter!
Tara Luna Apple: I'll try it out when Leo gets back to camp ;) Enjoy the new chapter!
Guest: NAWW THANKYOU! And yeah, Damocles was actually a doodle I saw on the notebook on a guy sitting next to me in a lecture last year and he was so cute, I felt like he'd be a perfect companion for Calypso. I just added the arrows ;) As for the sibling interaction, yeah, I'm trying to work up to Calypso engaging with other campers because to be honest, she's terrified of it but as you mentioned, it's important that Leo and Calypso develop away from each other as well as together. She's a strong, wonderful character, I'd hate to have her set up a brand new identity for herself composed solely of her relationship. Anyway, I haven't scheduled a rematch…yet. Who do you think would win, King Kong or Damocles?
Hannah (1): Not yet but next chapter is probably his POV. Hope that helps and he'll be back soon!
Hannah (2): I wouldn't call it a problem per se… ;)
Tori: NAWWWW THANKYOU LIKE SERIOUSLY THAT IS SUCH A HUGE COMPLIMENT EEEK . And I am very glad it makes you happy. I am telepathically sending bear hugs and good things for you this week. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thankyou very much for reading :)
Bandgeek103: Aw, thanks ^^ I'm trying to keep to Riordan's style as an experiment and it's really fun so I'm glad you enjoy it. As for the characters, yeah, they're little cuties and I enjoy developing them but I'm glad I'm keeping to their main traits :) Happy Monday and thankyou very much for reading, I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER!
Alright, that's it for this week. Have a delightful week guys, thankyou very much to everyone who reviewed, followed, read or favourited this fic and I'll see you on Friday!