A/N: Hello everyone!
Couple of notes before we get started, firstly: OH MY GOSH GUYS, THIRTY SEVEN CHAPTERS, WOW THIS IS SO MUCH LONGER THAN I ORIGINALLY INTENDED AND I'M NOT EVEN HALF WAY THROUGH GAH.
Secondly, thankyou to every single person who reads, reviews, favourites or follows my little story and for the really wonderful support and unending patience you've all been showing over the past month. I can't even describe how great you guys make me feel about this fic and sharing it with you so thankyou very much :)
Next, I promise I would not end this story without telling you guys. Since I have not mentioned anything about it, I am not ending this story, so everyone can calm down and relax, I hate stressing you guys out!
Lastly, I love your reviews, I do but there are so many of them, I have like 85 PMs in my inbox and hundreds of reviews to reply back to. You all deserve answers and replies but I'm afraid I'm going to miss a lot of them :( Please don't take it personally, I am trying to get back to all of you and I really appreciate you guys taking the time to comment but it's a work in progress, I'm afraid.
With all that said and done, welcome to chapter thirty seven! No Caleo this time but next chapter WILL BE THE REUNION :D which I whole-heartedly hope you all enjoy.
*ahem*
ENJOY!
Xoxoxox
Shy
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
The first time Rachel told her she needed more friends, Calypso's gut reaction was that she wanted to jump in the lake and stay at the bottom for- oh, say- a couple of centuries.
It began two days after Percy came back to Camp Half-Blood when Rachel found Calypso knee-deep in her garden, vehemently ripping up weeds and clearing out her future garden beds. "You know when I said roommate, I didn't think that would mean watching you mutilate the forest." She said idly.
Calypso glanced up at her and blinked, as if coming back to her own thoughts. "I always liked gardening." She mumbled, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be a problem."
The redhead raised a brow, quizzically. "It's not but the dryads might take offence." She gestured to the cave. "Come on, I brought back macaroons from a little café on thirty-ninth."
Calypso wiped off the soil from her hands and placed her trowel gently by the entry to the cave. "I asked the nymphs before I started," the former goddess assured, following her friend inside. "Iancha said it was fine and she'd tell me if any of them had a problem."
"Iancha?" Rachel echoed, setting her bag down. She'd mentioned briefly to Calypso that she had to go into the city every week or so to oversee the children's art project she was helping; she had even invited her new roommate along but Calypso found that flying over New York on a mechanical dragon with Leo alongside her was very different to actually considering visiting the enormous urban centre on foot.
Calypso nodded, rinsing her hands off in the bathroom sink. "She lives in the maple tree at the bottom of the hill."
"Calypso…" Rachel sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I think we need to talk."
She frowned. "Are we not talking now?"
"Yes but-" the heiress paused and opened the plain white box she'd brought with her. "Here have a macaroon."
The former goddess took a peek in the box and her eyes widened. "Is modern food meant to be coloured like that?" she asked, warily. The bright hues of red, green, pink and speckled blue was a little disconcerting to her.
"Sure. They're pretty good, try one." Rachel coaxed.
Calypso's eyes narrowed at her tone. "Are these a bribe?"
"Of course not, why would you think that?"
"I'm feeling trapped."
"Would I try to trap you Calypso?"
"Certainly." She agreed, instantly. "Like the time you asked me to pose for you for a moment and I ended up being your model for six hours."
"Wasn't it worth it though? My teachers loved that sketch!"
"It wasn't even of me, you erased me from the middle and left the woods instead."
"It was supposed to be a commentary on the ability to see the forest for the trees!"
She let out a long sigh. "I don't know what that means but you used that tone then as well. What is wrong, Rachel?"
Rachel frowned. "I was hoping the macaroons might soften this conversation but they're not necessary."
"Soften the conversation?" Calypso echoed, bewildered. "What for?"
"Look, Calypso, I know Leo's gone." Rachel took a seat at her desk, inviting Calypso to sit on the spare seat she usually used as a footrest. Calypso did so warily. "And I know it's scary but you haven't spoken to anyone since he left."
"I speak to you." She pointed out, quickly.
"I don't count." Rachel replied, knowingly. "We may live together but I'm barely ever here."
Calypso bit her lip, a nervous habit she'd developed since becoming mortal. "I speak to Iancha and the other dryads."
The oracle rolled her bright green eyes. "Exactly. You're talking to trees."
"They can talk back!" Calypso argued, feeling cornered.
"Do they?" Rachel countered. "Because most of the nymphs are going into hibernation for the winter. I doubt they're feeling particularly chatty."
Calypso felt her shoulders hunch defensively. "I like talking to them. It's like having the air nymphs on Ogygia again."
Rachel sighed, exasperated. "You're not on Ogygia any more, you're free. And part of that freedom means adjusting to the fact that you're going to have to talk to people."
The sea goddess stood instead, wandering to the cave exit which overlooked the forest and just a little further, the camp. "I don't want to."
"Why?" the heiress challenged. "Because they whisper about you? Calypso, I like you. But you're stronger than that."
Taking a deep breath, Calypso sighed. "I told Leo I was bad at change. I haven't had friends in more than three millennia. I don't even know how any more."
"Hey, we're friends, right?" Rachel pointed out, indignantly.
"You don't count." Calypso waved her hand, mimicking her earlier words. "It's easier with you, you're the Oracle, it's more comfortable around you."
"That's a first." Rachel rolled her eyes. "I normally give people the creeps."
"It's hard to explain." Calypso mumbled back, wishing she could put the jumbled anxiety into words.
The redhead shrugged, undisturbed. "Then don't explain it to me. But it doesn't change the fact that you need to socialise more. Which is plain hysterical coming from me, I know but it's true."
"I spent time with Cabin 9 the other day." Calypso said, a last ditch effort to deter her friend. Rachel didn't take the bait.
"And that's great but most of them wouldn't pay too much attention to you if you didn't have an engine or a circuit board." Rachel replied, evenly.
"We talked!" her voice turned strained and high pitched.
"About what?" she challenged.
"…Damocles?" Calypso winced.
Rachel's face was blank as she continued. "Anything else? Did they ask how you liked camp? Did you talk about your trip from Ogygia? Did you ask about their other projects?"
"Not exactly."
"See?" the oracle said, triumphantly. "You need to start making friends with people. People who can talk back." The idea of actually talking to the campers, trying to find common ground with these strange new creatures of the twenty-first century when she was so hopelessly behind and out of practise, was enough to make her want to go into hibernation with the naiads in the lake. She could probably do it- she hadn't tried to breathe underwater since she left Ogygia but maybe she'd kept that skill?
"I'm not saying we go crazy," Rachel proposed, gently. "Let's start with talking to Piper."
"Piper?" Calypso echoed warily.
"Yeah, we hung out a couple of times when they got back from their quest. Her dad knows my dad from somewhere I think. Who knows? She's really nice and she's not going to make you feel bad about being here." Rachel explained, neatly.
"Do I have to?" Calypso mumbled, weakly. "Iancha is really quite nice."
Rachel picked up the box of macaroons and followed her friend to the entrance of the cavern. "You'll get better at it, Calypso. It's new now but you'll get over it and everything will settle down."
"I told Leo that Titans don't know how to adapt." She grumbled, taking another glance inside the box. "But I suppose I can't depend on him for everything. I don't want him to have to take care of me."
"Exactly." Rachel grinned widely, holding up the box.
Calypso selected a bright lime green coloured treat, warily. She took a bite and the sugary flavour spread across her tongue immediately. "You're sure these are edible?" she winced, unused to the sweetness.
"Knew you'd love 'em." Rachel laughed. "Now come on, I said we'd meet Piper for lunch."
"You knew I was going to say yes?" Calypso checked, confused. Her roommate shrugged and jerked a hand to her easel where a series of canvases lay at the feet, depicting all manner of scenes: Romans in purple shirts on the backs of enormous golden eagles, Greek demigods racing against a figure in white clothes and a group of beautiful but sinister women dancing with their heads tossed back in a bright red and gold room, mouths opened wide like they might try swallowing the viewer whole.
But on the easel itself was a much smaller canvas with a rendition of three young female demigods eating together on the Dining Pavilion. The bright red curls topping one of the girls were a dead giveaway.
"I really must learn to stop doubting you." Calypso murmured as Rachel dragged her out of the cave, macaroons still in her grip.
As they approached the Pavilion, Calypso was eased to see it was mainly empty but the girl waiting for them on the opposite side of the space set her nerves alight again.
So far, no one had really noticed her but when Piper caught Rachel's friendly wave and smiled back, the few people sitting at the tables turned and displayed a variety of expressions upon spotting her: interest or curiosity, bewilderment, a glance of disapproval and mistrust.
"You are certain I can't just keep speaking with Iancha?" she breathed to Rachel who rolled her eyes and crossed the Pavilion fearlessly.
"Hey Piper," she greeted, sitting down. "I come bearing gifts."
"Oh man, if you got what I think you got, I'll dump Jason and we can run away together." Piper laughed, glancing at the box.
"Sorry Beauty Queen," Rachel scoffed, tugging Calypso into the seat beside her. "The Oracle and I are a one-woman show."
"Hey Calypso." Piper smiled at the nervous goddess who nodded back, forcing a small smile in reply.
"Hello." She said, trying to emulate the ease she'd felt back on Ogygia but all she could hear was the boy two tables over: "Isn't that the Titan Valdez brought back?"
"So what did you bring me, ginger?" Piper interrogated, grabbing a trio of glasses from a passing wood nymph. The demigod wore plain jeans and a usual camp t-shirt, a single bead on the leather thong around her neck, nothing out of the ordinary except for the natural beauty evident across her features. But she didn't wear her beauty proudly or even tried to hide it- instead, she seemed comfortable. Calypso envied how content she seemed.
Rachel wordlessly exchanged the pastry box for a glass and grabbed one for Calypso while she was at it. "Seulement les meilleurs, mon ami." She said, smilingly.
(Meanwhile, the girl sitting beside the boy two tables replied back: "I think so. What in all of Greece is she doing out here with them? I thought she was meant to stay in the Oracle Cave, away from everyone else.")
The Aphrodite's child let out a dreamy sigh as she lifted the lid. She took a chocolate brown macaroon and moaned a little when she ate it. "Oh merci les dieux, vous êtes une etoile, Rachel- I'm sorry, we're being rude, talking in French like that." She suddenly said, frowning to Calypso.
(The boy shrugged: "Mr D doesn't trust her. You should've heard the shouting when she got here.")
"It's not a problem." Calypso murmured, her fist tightening a fraction around the stem of her glass. The words didn't exactly bother her. She was used to much worse from much better but their constant presence along with the scrutinising watching made her feel like she was suddenly in the centre of attention for everyone around her. She tried to distract herself, lifting the glass in her grip. She only had to think of the lemonade she used to have on Ogygia for her glass to fill.
(A pair of girls three tables away sent her sideways looks and her hearing was good enough to pick up on their whispered conversation: "She didn't say anything to the glass, did she just use magic? Only Hecate kids are allowed to do that, right?"
The other girl cast another glance her way. "She's a Titan, Chloe, I think she can do whatever she wants.")
"Can you understand it?" Rachel asked, intrigued. "I mean, Apollo's always going on about how he can understand any language he hears. Is it a god thing?"
"In a matter of speaking," Calypso replied, stiltedly. Her head was buzzing. "I can understand it better than I can speak it, I'm afraid."
("What if she's a spy?" The boy from behind her murmured. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time. Remember Silena?")
"Man, I would've killed for that ability during my French final at St Agnes'." Piper sighed, wistfully. "I got all tied-up. I think I called the orator a turkey and asked if I could borrow his left leg."
("Silena was a hero," the girl countered under her breath. "That girl is a Titan, there's a difference.")
"Don't even get me started." Rachel rolled her eyes, taking a pink macaroon for herself. "I had to explain to my dad how I barely passed French but can somehow now speak fluent Greek. Piper's been helping me learn it in her off-time."
("Is she safe to be around?" Another boy, broad chested with a thin scar wrapped around his bicep.)
Piper snorted. "Yeah, talk about the blind leading the blind. I nearly flunked out of the class last time I studied it at school." Her face suddenly lit up in a sneaky smile. "But I'm getting better at Greek- it drives Jason nuts because he's so used to Latin. It sounds like gibberish to him."
"Ah yes, how is Superman?" Rachel asked, her eyes practically glowing with mischief.
"Superman?" Calypso echoed, remembering the term from somewhere. She tried to focus on the conversation, to block out the whispers around her. There was only a couple of tables. It wasn't so bad, she told herself. It could be worse. The whole camp could be having lunch at the same time. Piper and Rachel didn't seem to notice, she thought pointedly.
"He's a superhero, like a character from a comic book." Piper explained with a shrug and a small, pleased smile. "He can fly, like Jason can, so Percy and Leo like teasing the hell out of him. I'm just glad they moved on- it's better than Peter Pan, at least."
(From her left, two tables over, a curly haired girl with thick brows: "Mr D said she was powerless but I don't know. Atlas is her dad.")
"What, Frank doesn't join in on the fun?" Rachel grimaced. "How Roman of him."
"Hey, Jason's a Roman too, remember." Piper cautioned, obviously aware of Rachel's generally low opinion of the Roman camp. "And Frank's too nice for his own good, he doesn't like mocking his friends."
Piper and Rachel didn't seem to notice the whispering, she thought pointedly to herself. But then according to Rachel, both of the girls were rather famous in the mortal realm. They'd had plenty of time to get used to it. She nearly crushed the stem of her goblet, irritated with herself. Just ignore them, girl!
"Well that's no fun." Rachel said, mock-pouting. "But whatever, how're things going with you two, Lois Lane?"
"Lois Lane? Please, I'm Wonder Woman." Piper snorted. "She's another character." She added to Calypso who nodded. Piper had a nice way of explaining things, she decided. She said it like it was just another fact rather than something obvious even a child would know.
"He's decided to move here for most of the time." Piper continued, happily. "One of his friends offered to help send his stuff over but there's not much. So he's basically staying at Camp Half-Blood now."
Calypso studied the girls, trying hard to emulate the natural relaxation they both exuded, as if the murmuring and glances had vanished entirely from their hearing. Alongside someone like Piper, most girls would come up short but the frenetic energy of Rachel's gleaming red curls, angular face and sharp gaze gave her a sort of unique, harsh beauty which was mellowed out by her splattered, loose clothes and easy smile.
The two of them together seemed unlikely friends at first but side by side, it was impossible not to see the similarities between them. In her head, Calypso tried to picture a third girl with them, a tall, athletic demigod with golden curls and a steel gaze. She'd heard both Piper and Rachel were good friends with the mysterious Annabeth Chase. The idea that she might show up made Calypso want to throw up a little but she calmed herself, thinking of Rachel's painting with three girls. Not four. Settle down, girl, you're going mad, she told herself, snappily.
"That's great news! I mean, ick Romans but seriously, I like Jason best out of the whole bunch." Rachel replied, cheerfully.
"You never did tell me why you dislike the Roman camp so much." Calypso interjected, the distraction working against the murmuring inside her skull and behind her. They'd have something else to discuss eventually…right? "What have they done to offend the Great Oracle of Delphi?"
Piper snickered. "Usually I tell the Greek campers with problems to get over themselves," she said to the former goddess, mirth in her eyes. "But Rachel's problems are kind of justified."
"Kind of?" Rachel echoed, her gaze flat and unimpressed by the memory. "He's lucky I didn't let the Oracle kick his ass to Nantucket with his attitude."
Before Calypso could ask further, the boy with the protruding eyes from two tables over stopped whispering and began speaking in a regular tone, as if forgetting she was even there at all. "Valdez is a moron. What's he thinking, bringing the enemy to camp? And besides, I heard she had a crush on Percy once so it probably doesn't even mean anything anyway…"
The bubbling nerves of her gut suddenly went still and hardened and her spine straightened like it was coated in cooling steel. As though all her worry had suddenly been transformed into anger, Calypso could feel the irritation seeping from her skin in waves.
It was one thing to mutter on about her. She was strong, she was capable…she was somewhat terrified but determined not to let their murmurings bring her down. She had heard much worse by far better after all.
But to insult Leo and to use Percy Jackson to do so, as though the two were utterly incomparable- Calypso refused to let the comment slide.
She stood abruptly and turned, eyes finding the plain, average looking demigod easily. "If you have something to say to me," she said, her voice slow and precise like a rumbling storm. "I'm right here. But only cowards gossip in the absence of greater heroes."
At the words, the pavilion became silent, the boy turning red under all the attention but indignant nonetheless. Figures. "Who cares what you think? You're a Titan." He spat.
"Titan's child actually, but I wouldn't expect you to know the difference." Calypso used a stare she had once perfected in her father's court, an unimpressed glance-over that just reeked with Titan superiority she'd learned to imitate. It was certainly effective but she could feel the eyes of every demigod around watching her in utter silence, even a few wary hands placed on the weapons at their sides.
She began to realise she was behaving exactly how they expected her to: haughty, above them…a Titan. "Both Leo and Percy deserve more respect than your petty chatter." She said, evenly. "Remember that next time you open your mouth."
Without another word to Rachel or Piper, she turned on her heel and left the Pavilion with her head held high and her heart absolutely thrumming.
"How could you be so stupid?" Calypso snarled, clenching her hands into fists. As she walked, she could feel the eyes of several naiads and dryads watching but she ignored them, far too used to her air servants to really care.
The grey sandy bank of the river was carved with her pacing footprints. "You're a completely oaf, you foolish girl!"
With an angry sigh, she stooped low and grabbed a handful of loose pebbles from the water's edge. "You looked absolutely ridiculous. I mean, honestly, you're trying to make friends!"
Taking care not to hit any of the peering naiads, she launched one of the pebbles across the river, satisfied by the wet plop! it made. "And all you did was show them you're exactly what they think," Calypso added, angrily. "Some stuck up-" plop! "-rude-" plop! "-conceited-" plop! "TITAN!"
The last stone hit the water with a particularly loud splash.
"What an idiot." She mumbled, her energy spent as she sat down on the bank, staring balefully into the water. "You are exactly what Dionysus says about you."
She'd kept a lid on what she'd truly wanted to say- the words that came to mind were hardly complimentary but every time she thought about the stupid gossiping demigod in the pavilion, she wanted to shout at him, at all of them.
Calypso could hear the whispering and the conversations and the stares. She was welcomed into Camp Half-Blood by Leo's friends and some of the campers but for most of them, she feared the balance between following the heroes' welcoming lead and being wary of a possible enemy was tipped against her.
If it hadn't been for the fact that she'd found a home at camp, Calypso would not have wasted a minute on any of them at all. But she cared about what they thought of her. She wanted friends, she wanted to belong amongst people again, so, so desperately but she had no clue where to start. The friends she had made- Rachel, the kids at Cabin 9- seemed like they'd done so on accident. How was she supposed to recreate that?!
As she traced lines in the sand, Calypso admitted that Leo was part of the reason why she cared so much. After all, outcasts were difficult to be with, especially when Leo had already found his place at camp. She wanted to make things easier with him, for him. For herself.
But more than that, she was afraid and sick of being so. "I'm not a child." She muttered to herself, tiredly. "I shouldn't be so terrified of just…talking."
But she was. Being removed from people for so long had left her skewed and uncertain around them. Calypso was always nervous, always anxious. She fretted about seeing people and not knowing what to say, she worried about what kind of impression she was giving off at any given moment. Leo and Rachel told her it would take time but she feared if she couldn't shake this fear soon, she would ruin any chance of keeping her new home at Camp Half-Blood.
The keening desire to know and befriend others was smothered in a thick cloud of worry and doubt as to how to interact with them and it was driving her insane.
How did mortals cope with this kind of stress? It seemed sure that their tiny hearts should collapse long before this point but they were resilient creatures evidently.
"You are a complete fool, you silly child." She chided herself, wearily as she pressed her palms into her eyes.
"Ouch. And here I was, coming to see if you were okay." A familiar voice replied with slight amusement in her tone.
Calypso's spine straightened automatically as she turned her head. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean you."
"I know." Piper shrugged, sitting beside the former goddess. "I'm just kidding around."
"Kidding?" she echoed, unsure about the precise definition of the word. Hermes and Hades, when had language become so complex?
The beautiful demigod's mouth twitched. "Never mind."
There was a long silence which stretched between the two but even Piper, kind, brave Piper was nerve-wracking. But she had to try, especially after what had happened in the dining pavilion. She cleared her throat. "I apologise for leaving like I did."
"Why?" the girl replied, unfazed. "Dylan was being an ass."
Calypso paused and took another deep breath. "So how much did you hear?" she asked in a small voice.
Piper glanced at her. "Most of it. You're kind of loud."
"I know." She cringed.
"It's not a bad thing to be," the demigod added. "I think you have to be loud to keep up with Leo."
She let a small smile escape her for a moment. "I don't mean to seem ungrateful, thankyou for eating with me."
"You don't have to thank me, Calypso." Piper sighed. "Look, we're friends, right? Or kind of? This is the kind of things friends do."
Her fingers twitched without meaning to. She'd spent too much time around Leo obviously. "I'm apparently incredibly bad at being friends." Calypso muttered.
"You're not all that bad." Piper told her, reassuringly. "You're just…tense."
"I'm s-"
"And you apologise too much." She added, making Calypso forcibly bit her lip and wonder what Piper would think if she told her how she used to be punished for apologising. Oh how the mighty have fallen…she thought ruefully.
"Do you want to, you know, talk about it?" Piper continued, tentatively. "Rachel said she might've come on a bit strong this morning."
Calypso took a deep breath. "She wasn't, I'm being ridiculous."
"Ridiculous?" her beautiful colour-shifting eyes focused on Calypso intently. "What do you mean?"
She wanted to explain how the whispers and looks and eyes were beginning to cling to her skin, entwined with her hair, tangled in her clothes but the words eluded her just as they had this morning. How was she supposed to speak with her tongue weighed down and tongue-tied? "I'm just not used to being around so many people." She said instead, gritting her teeth. "I'll get better, I'll figure it out-"
"You know, you kind of suck at lying." Piper cut in, looking distinctly amused.
"Excuse me?"
"There is obviously more going on here, Calypso." The demigod pointed out with a shrug. "So tell me about it."
"What? Why?" she retorted, bewildered. She couldn't help but bristle a little. I'm a bad liar? I am not. I'm a fantastic li- well, I was a fantastic liar.
"I'm a good listener." She replied, dryly. "And seriously, you look like you're gonna break your teeth trying to keep smiling like nothing's wrong."
Calypso paused, distracted by the thought. "I suppose I could actually break my teeth in this body now."
"You even change the subject like he does." Piper sighed, shaking her head. "For gods' sakes, how do either of you even talk to each other?"
She didn't really need to clarify who she was talking about but the mention of Leo made her stomach twist unpleasantly. Missing Leo seemed so stupid- it had been days after all. The last time she waited for him, he'd taken months! She really shouldn't complain lest the gods see fit to keep him from her for longer. But she desperately wanted to feel his arm around her shoulder, the heat seeping from his skin and that stupid grin lighting up his face- she wanted to feel his mouth surrendering to hers with that tiny little sigh he always made right before they kissed, the one she wasn't even certain he knew about. She hated the idea of waiting yet again for a man but this wasn't some far off, unattainable hero, this was Leo, the boy who came back.
"I'm not changing the subject." She argued, simply. "It's just complicated."
"Well, why is it complicated?" Piper continued to press, gently. "Why don't you start there?"
"Because I never cared before." Calypso blurted out, unable to help herself. Something about Piper's voice loosened her tongue in the worst way but she decided after her outburst, she owed the girl some kind of explanation, right? "I never cared about what people thought of me. When your mother is queen of magic itself and your father is Kronos' right hand and your family claim all of heaven and earth, you tend to ignore the opinions of ants."
Piper noticeably stiffened. "Ants, huh?"
She wanted to tear her hair out in frustration. "No one really understands what it was like back then, not even the Olympians, because they were on the other side of it all. Being a Titan- it meant being so above the beliefs of mortals." Calypso sighed, glaring at her hands as though she could still see the godly blood pulsing beneath her flesh. The godly blood now encased in the tiny vial at her throat. "And then we lost the war and I spent so long removed from everything. The mortals I once scorned entirely were the only goodthing about my life. I resented it at first, that I was sent such 'meagre' companions who were destined to leave me againand again."
"Is that what's wrong now?" the pretty-eyed demigod asked, confused. "You don't…care about mortals?"
"I wish it were that simple." She laughed, bitterly. "I actually grew to like you ridiculous creatures. Mortals are so strange. Your lives are so bizarrely short and you do the most outrageous things with them. Marry him, kill her, sack this town, rescue that ship, barely dodge this, lose a limb doing that. So much danger, I have no idea how any of you actually survive past infancy." Calypso added, thoughtfully.
"Gee, thanks." Piper replied, dryly with a roll of her eyes. The former goddess could see she was unimpressed with her analysis of mortal life so far.
"Ugh, this isn't coming out right." She complained, sitting down in a huff. She felt like a child, like her tongue wasn't mature enough to explain what she wanted. "Piper, the idea of a Titan's child like me being afraid of mortals is ridiculous." She said slowly. "The idea of me caring about the thoughts of all those people back there is ridiculous too. I shouldn't care but I do. And it's driving me crazy being scared of something I shouldn't be."
"Well I wouldn't say you shouldn't be a bit scared." Piper retorted, idly. "Demigods are a lot more dangerous than the rest of the population."
The former goddess wrenched the hem of her shirt between her fingers anxiously. "Being mortal means caring about the opinions of ants because now I am an ant. I understand that. I-I like it even. But it doesn't feel natural and it's frightening. I don't like being scared of everyone. Does that make sense?"
The long speckled feather in Piper's hair twitched as the girl twisted to look directly at Calypso with a deeply scrutinising stare. "This is really getting to you isn't it?" she mused, thoughtfully.
"When Leo's here, I can ignore it." Calypso muttered. "I know how I feel about him. I know how he feels about me. I-I love him, I know it's normal to care about him. I can focus on that. It doesn't feel normal to care so much about what everyone else thinks."
Finally, Piper asked the simple question, the one Calypso hated thinking over even when it taunted her at the very edge of her mind. "Then seriously, why do you care?"
"I don't like being an outcast." It felt like admitting to a weakness when she said the words aloud. "I don't like being alone."
"Well you know, it's not as though we haven't been trying, Calypso." Piper stated pointedly, her voice frustrated. "You've kind of been hiding in Rachel's cave for the best few days since Leo left. If you'd just talk with us-"
As if some of that agitation had slipped under her skin, the next words came flooding out without any kind of filter. "But what if I'd screwed up?" she cried, nervously. "What if I had said something or done something bad? I'm still getting the hang of being human, it's not as easy as you lot make it look. What if I'd said something and made everyone hate me? What if Leo had come home and found his girlfriend had irrevocably offended his friends, his family? I mean, I already did it once today at lunch- I can't control my temper, it just came out! I could see their faces, all of them looking at me like I was some kind of- of- monster! Dionysus fills their ears with poison about how I'm a traitor, a spy, that I want to recreate the age of the Titans when I know perfectly well that the world is much better off without my family in control of it but who wants to listen to me over an Olympian? All I want is to have a place here! I want friends, I want to get to know people. I'm not immortal now, I don't have all the time in the world, I could die at any second, I'm already getting older-"
"Whoa, slow down." Piper ordered, eyes slightly wide with surprise at the veritable flood of words.
Without meaning to, she took a deep breath and the garbled nerves came to a halt with frightening ease. In fact…with suspicious ease…
Calypso paused, narrowing her eyes at Piper, piecing together their conversation in her head. "Oh for heavens' sakes!" she suddenly exploded, irritably. "Charmspeak? Really? That's just poor manners!"
"I haven't been using it!" Piper immediately protested, her shoulders raising defensively.
"Not intentionally I'm sure." Calypso snapped, testily as she stood. "Damn Aphrodite and her pretty mouth. That silly twit has had it in for me since Hyas told her he wasn't interested!"
"Hang on a minute, my mother has nothing to do with this!" Piper exclaimed, hotly. "Now sit back down!"
Calypso legs gave out the moment she tried to walk and she landed straight back on the forest floor with Piper. "Now that's plain rude." She muttered.
"Are you going to try walking away again before we've finished this conversation?" Piper demanded, meaningfully. "Because this is kind of the first time you've really spoken to someone who wasn't Leo or Rachel since you got here. You really want to put an end to it now?"
"Charmspeak is trickery and misleading." Calypso argued, crossing her arms defiantly.
Piper chewed her lip, thinking hard. "Okay, I probably should've kept a closer eye on it. Sorry about that, it does just slip out sometimes. But come on, it helped didn't it?"
"Marginally." Calypso admitted in a begrudging tone.
"Besides, at least now I know what the problem is." She added, enticingly, sitting back down beside the irritated former goddess.
"Oh do you? How delightful for you." She snapped, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment about how much she'd revealed. "How about letting me leave then?"
Ignoring the backchat, the beautiful demigod raised her brows, unimpressed with the retort. "Calypso, not everyone at camp is going to like you. But that's not going to mean anything to Leo or any of his friends. We just want to get to know you, okay?"
"And if you decide you don't like me afterwards?" Calypso challenged, exasperated. "Percy already hates the sight of me and I don't think I've ever seen Annabeth look at me without that curious expression like she either wants to talk to me or disembowel me. I'm not sure I can handle more of Leo's family detesting me."
"Annabeth looks at everyone like that and you don't exactly look jazzed at the sight of Percy either." Piper retorted, pointedly.
"I'm well acquainted with what it's like to be an outcast." She said, stonily. "I don't have an eternity to find myself a home and I don't want to make one without Leo. If his place is here, I want my place to be here is as well. I can't do that if everyone hates me and calls me a Titan."
"You're worrying about stuff that might not even happen." She challenged. "But it will happen if you keep ignoring camp and playing into what Mr D says about you thinking you're better than everyone else."
Calypso let out a furious groan. "I'm going to strangle that little grape seed in his bed." She grunted.
"As amusing as that would be for everyone involved, I think the gods might have a problem with it." Piper snorted. "And even if you do somehow screw up irreparably, the world does not end with Camp Half Blood and you have the rest of your 'bizarrely short' mortal life to find a place. As for Leo, oh my gods." Piper rolled her eyes suddenly. "Trust me, he's not going anywhere. If he did, he'd be following you or you'd be following him. I don't think I've ever seen a more stubborn pair of people. Stop worrying about it already."
"You're far pushier than Leo first described." The sea goddess noted, idly although she'd loosened her stance a little.
"So are you, once you stop apologising for everything and hiding in the Oracle Cave." She shot back, unconcerned. "And yet, I still like you. And so does Rachel. And so does Nyssa and Jake and Shane. You're so worried about people not liking you, you haven't even realised the people that already do."
Calypso narrowed her eyes at the demigod. "You also make being angry with you very difficult." She complained, stiffly.
"It's a gift." Piper smiled, charmingly.
"I still don't like being around crowds." She warned, although when she tested her feet and found herself able to stand, she didn't storm off to the safety of the cave like she was used to.
"You're agoraphobic." The demigod stated with a shrug as she stood, wiping her palms off on her denim shorts. "There are worse things to work on so come on, we don't bite."
"I don't know what that means." She admitted but she followed when Piper turned back towards camp, although she was still reluctant. "But you're certain they won't attack me for my…outburst?" she asked, warily.
Piper snickered. "Trust me, Calypso, people would be more upset about someone insulting Percy and Leo than Dylan getting called out on being a moron."
"Really?" Despite herself, she perked up a little at the words.
"Sure. Although next time, you might want to look a little less like you have the ability to turn campers into frogs. Dylan practically flinched when you walked away." She added, off-handedly.
The former goddess snorted, without thinking. "Where on earth did people get that idea? I hardly have enough power for that."
Piper paused, thoughtfully, although the smirk on her face grew devious. "No? Hm. In which case, I'd keep that to yourself. It's kind of funny watching some people squirm when you walk past."
Calypso glanced up, uncertainly. "It's not funny to me."
"Oh lighten up." Piper murmured, pushing through the bushes ahead.
"Suddenly, your friendship with Leo makes so much more sense." Calypso muttered back, raising a brow.
"We met at a Wilderness Camp for a reason I guess." Piper acknowledged with a light shrug. It was surprising, Calypso realised, that Piper would make jokes like that, like Leo. She'd always pictured his friends the way he talked about them, the way the gods themselves talked about them. The Seven Greatest Demigods of The Age. The title was so lofty and mighty- Calypso knew Leo was hardly as haughty or flawless as the words suggested but it made her feel a little better to know the rest of his friends were rather normal also.
She would admit to avoiding Leo's friends because she'd been terrified of making them hate her, with her strangeness, her Titan magic, her history with Percy and Annabeth and the whole curse. Calypso had always figured her past to be a little more…chequered than the others.
It hadn't really occurred to her that she'd have things in common with them outside Leo or that she'd actually genuinely come to like them.
They made it back to the pavilion quickly and she felt all the more shamed for having made such a scene of leaving. She was no better than a spoiled child having a tantrum. And yet when she climbed the steps, the pavilion was slightly emptier. Most of the campers readily chatted amongst themselves even if the most glaring absence was that irritating bug eyed demigod Dylan. Back at her table sat Rachel, calmly polishing off another of those weirdly coloured biscuits with a smug, cat-like smile.
"A goddess, an Oracle and a demigod sit down for lunch." She greeted them, unaffected by the whole affair. "It sounds like a bad joke."
Calypso didn't understand the reference (surprise, surprise) but she cast her eyes to the boy's empty seat pointedly. "So what did you do, gas him with Oracle smoke?" she mocked, her tone embarrassed as she took in her friend's work.
"Me? Oh no, that was all you." Green eyes flashing, the heiress crossed her legs and selected another peachy coloured macaroon.
"I told you, Dylan probably thought you were gonna turn him into an ant." Piper said with a meaningful glance and mischief in her gaze.
Calypso rolled her eyes. "I can't do that kind of thing anymore."
"I know that. You know that. Piper knows that." Rachel sighed, relishing the last bite of her sweet. "But Dylan? Well, Dylan's going to have to learn not to run his mouth off about Percy and Leo at some point. The lesson might as well come from you."
"By the way, the whole 'only cowards gossip about greater heroes' bit sounded awesome." Piper added with a smirk. "Jason's gonna laugh his head off."
"I suppose laughter is better than whispering." Calypso muttered, both unsettled and strangely buoyed by the ease of the conversation. No, she hadn't really considered they would grow to like each other outside of being Leo's mutual friends.
But, she supposed, there was a first time for everything.
A/N: What did the Romans do to piss Rachel off? Will the campers ever realise Calypso can't turn people into frogsCa-Le-O! Ca-Le-O! I can practically hear the demands you guys are chanting and I promise, next chapter will reunite the two :) Until then, thankyou everyone for your support and wonderful comments. I'm still trying to get to all your PMs and Reviews but I will likely miss some so I'll take the opportunity to say here: THANKYOU, YOU ARE DELIGHTFUL AND I AM GLAD YOU LIKE MY STORY :3
As for the French: So I remember reading a headcannon on tumblr about how as the language of lurve, Piper had a natural affinity for French and since Rachel was canonically taught at a bunch of super fancy private schools, I figured the leap to both of them speaking French wasn't too odd. Hope you agree ;)
TRANSLATIONS:
Seulement la mieux, mon ami
Only the best, my friend
Oh merci les dieux, vous êtes une etoile, Rachel
Oh thank the gods, you are a star, Rachel
So that's all for now, NEXT CHAPTER CALEO REUNION and until then, thank you yet again to everyone for your unending patience and have a wonderful week!
Shy