I sat on one of the cliffs of Ogygia, looking out over the water, my eyes stained with tears. I particularly hated this specific cliff. Why, you ask? Well, then I’ll tell you.
My name is Calypso. My father is Atlas, the Titan general. My home is Ogygia. My prison? Yeah, that’s also Ogygia. You see, I decided to side with my father in the first Titan War. Therefore, the gods trapped me on an island for all eternity. Cruel, right? Oh that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is the guests.
You see, every few hundred years, the gods send someone to my island. I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, that’s really nice of them!”
Wrong.
The guests they send are always men. Not only that, but the most charming, most amazing men on the planet. At least they are to me. You see, my curse, my weakness, my fatal flaw, is falling in love too easily. Therefore I spend time with my guests, fall for them, and then they leave me. Heartbroken.
That’s where my terrible cliff comes in. Every time one of my loves leaves, I have sat on this cliff, overlooking the ocean and usually crying. I’ll break it down.
When Odysseus left, I immediately went here because that’s where we spent most of our time together. So I went here to grieve.
Then Francis Drake came next, a couple hundred years later. When he left, I didn’t even think to come to this cliff. But after hours of sobbing your eyes out in an isolated cave, you kinda like getting out and running free. So I drifted to that cliff and cried there instead.
And then Percy came. After him, I cried the most. On the cliff. I immediately fled there, knowing I would make it there anyway.
Actually, in this book, that’s where I’m starting the story. Crying on that cliff, the first day there after Percy left.
So there I sat, sobbing my mind out.
Percy’s departure had been the hardest. The most painful, for sure. Imagine someone stabbed you with a wrench. (Yes, a wrench). Then imagine that they took wool and rubbed it on the wound. Not only does that hurt, but you’re allergic to wool. Then they trapped you in a giant glass bottle that rained salt in it and proceeded to hit you with a spiked baseball bat. Yeah, that’s how painful it was to say goodbye to him.
I still remember that first day. I had watched that wretched magic raft sail away from Ogygia. I had watched as Percy left me behind willingly. I had watched as all my hopes and dreams were crushed by all the people that I probably still cared for. (That’s the sad thing about being trapped on an island that the people you love keep coming to. When you move on from your exes, it literally just means heartbreak again).
At that moment, as I watched Percy go away, I thought about Francis Drake. Yes, you heard me right. I didn’t think about Percy. I thought about the one I had supposedly moved on from. Francis Drake had given me a lot of advice while he was here. But I only held onto a few pieces of advice he gave me:
First of all: hate your enemies, don’t love them. That was what he had basically lived off of, and I thought this was ridiculous, because that was what got me imprisoned on Ogygia in the first place.
Second: loyalty matters. If the world existed without loyalty, it would fall apart. I thought this was ridiculous, and I still do. I was loyal to my father, and then I got imprisoned for it. When people finally came to my island, they were definitely not being loyal.
Third: the most important one. Anger is easier than grief. It’s so much simpler to be angry at people than to grieve for them. It’s not healthy, but it’s certainly easy.
I thought about that last piece of advice as I sat on that cliff. Anger is easier than grief. Percy’s boat was a small speck in the distance.
All my feelings suddenly came crashing down on me at the same time. All my pent-up sadness and heartbreak hit me like a wave crashing on the shore. I thought about Odysseus. I thought about Drake. Then I thought about Percy.
I thought about Circe. Percy had told me about her. She was a witch who was also imprisoned on an island. She got visitors, too. She had also fallen for Odysseus. But she was bitter and hateful, and she turned men into pigs, unlike me. I wasn’t bitter then. Not yet.
I suddenly felt bitter, though. Why did the gods have the authority to trap me here and break me over and over and over and over again? And so many men should not have broken my heart! Why did they get to leave and she didn’t? They were the ones doing the breaking. I was the one being broken. I didn’t deserve that!
Full of my life, I ran from the cliff, though I had fled to it in the first place. That cliff was by far the worst one on the island, though, so it was fine I guess.
I sat in my cave, staring at the ceiling. Bitter. Hateful. Anger is easier than grief. Instead of spending my time crying and thinking about my exes, could I do something else with my meaningless life? Heck yeah, nothing was holding me back.
Therefore I started my scheme.
I spent a very short time planning for the next time a guest washed up on my shores. I would not allow another heartbreak. I wouldn’t allow anyone to control my life. Not again.
What is strange though, is that no one visited me during those few weeks. Not humans, of course, but I usually get one or two godly visitors a week. Though they usually stay away for about a week when someone leaves me to let me grieve, no one had visited Ogygia since Hephaestus had to talk to Percy.
I noticed this, of course, but I truthfully didn’t care. Like I said, I was feeling bitter, and I wouldn’t let those stupid gods control me. In fact, it was probably best that they keep their distance. If they dared to show their faces here, I would pummel them to the next island.
I came up with a brilliant plan to save myself from heartbreak. So brilliant, in fact, that it was perhaps the shortest, easiest to remember plan.
After all, it was only one word.
Barriers.
I figured if the dudes couldn’t “get to me” in the first place, I couldn’t fall in love with them. Barriers. If they didn’t get to know me, and if I didn’t get to know them, no harm would be done.
Right?
Wrong. You’ll see eventually.
It was maybe a year before something miraculous happened. (I wouldn't know, but someone told me it was about a year on Ogygia before this “miraculous” thing happened. Time was different there).
I woke up a different age than I was before.
I’m generally used to this. When Odysseus came, I woke up in my twenties, then I discovered that Odysseus was in the beach. Then I woke up yet again in my twenties a bit before Francis Drake came. I was still fourteen from when Percy came. But this time I woke up as fifteen or sixteen years old.
Now this didn’t make sense. It was usually what felt like forever before I age-changed. I was expecting another century before it happened. And age-changing usually meant…
I bolted out of bed and got dressed, braided my hair, and said “Barriers” three times to the crystals on the wall of my cave. I then waited. And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Then I heard a GIANT explosion from the beach.
That wasn’t what I was expecting. Usually I find the boys, not the other way around. And usually I care and tend for them before they notice me, or in some cases, wake up. But this time was different.
I knew it from the moment Leo Valdez blew up my dining table.
(Now, I want you to understand how offensive blowing up someone’s dining table is. Especially my dining table. You see, I had to build that. With my own hands and my own materials. I ate there every night. Now, what was I supposed to do?)
I stormed to the beach the moment I heard the explosion. I knew something was up, and I thought it might be another “guest” for me to take care of.
I am not a hotel and I won’t take care of no boy, the stupid creatures. I was planning on getting rid of this boy immediately. I figured the magic raft would show up for them, even if I was in love with them or not. It had to. Right?
Wrong.
I hated him the moment I saw him, and anger surged through my veins when I saw my freaking dead dining table.
“What are you doing?” I asked. (Well, yelled, really, but that’s not important). “You blew up my dining table!”
I glared at the wimp of a boy in the crater below me. (And man, that crater was deep). He had raggedy clothes that looked mostly ripped and ruined. They consisted of cargo pants, a white shirt, suspenders, and…a tool belt. Son of Hephaestus, for sure. He had dark skin and ruffled hair. The ugliest boy I had ever seen. Too scrawny. That was good, I guessed. I would never fall for him then.
But then a thought occurred to me. If the gods were sending me ugly kids, they must think that I could possibly handle taking care of boys for eternity, like Circe, perhaps. I AM NO CIRCE. (Except for the fact that I considered turning the boy in the crater into a pig at that moment).
The boy glared up at me from the crater, and I could feel my hands naturally turn to fists. “Oh, I’m sorry!” he said. “I just fell out of the sky. I constructed a helicopter in midair, burst into flames halfway down, crash landed, and barely survived. But by all means—let’s talk about your dining table!”
Hephaestus kid. Ugh, the worst kind.
“Who puts a dining table on the beach where innocent demigods can crash into it? Who does that?”
Ah, still ranting. Idiot. I could feel my fists get tighter. I couldn’t handle this kid. Not only was he ugly, but he was also sassy to the core. I supposed I could relate to that, though. Man, the gods hadn’t sent someone like this since Francis Drake.
The gods.
How dare they? I supposed they were mocking me, of course. Deciding to leave me alone for a while, no visitors, then drop another, runty, boy here to mock me. “REALLY?” I screamed at the sky. (Welcome to Ogygia, where our schedule consists of screaming at things and being bitter and heartbroken). “You want to make my curse even worse? Zeus! Hephaestus! Hermes! Have you no shame?”
The boy was muttering in the crater below. I didn’t care, though. “Show yourself!” I was still yelling at the distant clouds. “It’s not bad enough I am exiled? It’s not bad enough you take away the few good heroes I’m allowed to meet? You think it’s funny to send me this charbroiled runt of a boy to ruin my tranquility? This is NOT FUNNY! TAKE HIM BACK!”
“Hey, Sunshine,” the boy muttered, throwing his arms up in frustration. “I’m right here, you know.”
I growled. This was a lot for me, and it hadn’t been that much time since…since Percy had come. Barriers. I thought. Barriers, Calypso. Come on.
“Do not call me Sunshine! Get out of that hole and come with me so you can leave!”
“Well, since you asked me so nicely…”
As I said, I’d been planning for a while. To save myself from heartbreak. Barriers. I also figured that if the magic raft would show up for Francis, Odysseus, and….Percy, then I figured that it would show up for any and everyone else. Right?
Wrong.
I stomped away from the crater as the boy climbed out of the crater. Unfortunately, he had the wits to catch up to me.
I gestured in disgust at the burning wreckage. “This was a pristine beach! Look at it now!”
“Yeah, my bad. I should’ve crashed on one of the other islands. Oh wait—there aren’t any!”
I scoffed and continued walking. He did bring up a good point, though. He didn’t have any choice but to crash here. It wasn’t his fault.
Calypso, I scolded myself, stop. Barriers, remember? I stopped. We were at my cliff. My least favorite cliff. That wretched magic raft would definitely show up here. It always—
“Gah!” I said. The boy had run into me. I flipped around and grabbed his shoulders to steady him. He glanced at my hands on his shoulders, almost surprised. We were a couple inches away from each other.
Barriers! I pushed him away and looked over the water. “Alright. This spot is good. Now tell me you want to leave.”
“What?”
Man, his hearing was like a hundred-year-old man without hearing aids.
“Do you want to leave? Surely you’ve got somewhere to go!”
“Uh,” the boy said, “yeah. My friends are in trouble. I need to get back to my ship and—“
“Fine,” I snapped. I didn’t need another long explanation about why someone needed to leave Ogygia. Not that I cared. Obviously. “Just say, I want to leave Ogygia.”
“Uh, okay.”
The boy’s eyes looked kind of hurt, and I felt a bit guilty, but then I shoved the feeling down. Barriers.
“I want to leave—whatever you said,” the boy said, shrugging.
“Oh-gee-gee-ah.”
“I want to leave Oh-gee-gee-ah.”
I exhaled. At least he had been able to pronounce it correctly. I looked at the ocean and said, “Good. In a moment, a magic raft will spear. It will take you wherever you want to go.”
“Who are you?”
I realized I hadn’t told him my name. I was about to tell him, but then I figured it wouldn’t matter. Also, barriers. “It doesn’t matter. You’ll be gone soon. You’re obviously a mistake.”
He looked a bit hurt again, but he seemed to shove it down. I could see why, though. Then he got an expression on his face as though he recognized me, but that was ridiculous. His expression vanished.
“Any moment now,” I stared expectantly at the water.
No magic raft appeared.
“Maybe it got stuck in traffic,” the boy said. I rolled my eyes.
“This is wrong,” I said. The gods couldn’t be that cruel, right?
Wrong.
“This is completely wrong!” I said, glaring at the empty sky.
“So…plan b?” the boy asked. “You got a phone—’’
“Agh!” I said, stomping over to the trees and running as far away from him as possible. I was fighting tears back. If the magic raft didn’t show… I couldn’t stand this. It was so unfair. I thought surely… The tears came in floods.
Barriers.
I finally made it to my garden. I snatched a small shovel and started stabbing the ground. (I did this a lot to deal with my “anger issues.”)
Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me. “Holy Hephaestus,” the boy said, admiring my garden. Of course it had to be him. I cursed under my breath. “I think you’ve punished that dirt enough,” he said. “My name is Leo, by the way. In case you were, you know, wondering.”
“Just go away,” I said, desperately hoping he wouldn’t notice my tear-streaked face.
Wrong. He noticed.
“You’re crying,” he said bluntly. As much as I hated him, I appreciated that he had sympathy in his voice.
“None of your business. It’s a big island. Just go find your own place.”
“So, no magic raft,” Leo said, ignoring her. “No other way off the island?”
“Apparently not!”
“What am I supposed to do then? Sit in the sand dunes until I die?”
“That would be fine…” then a thought occurred to me and I threw down the trowel. “Except I suppose he can’t die here, can he? Zeus! This is not funny!”
“Hold up,” Leo said. “I’m going to need some more information here. You don’t want me in your face, that’s cool. I don’t wanna be here either. But I’m not gonna die in a corner. I have to get off this island. There’s gotta be a way. Every problem has a fix.”
I laughed bitterly. “You haven’t lived very long if you still believe that.”
Leo took on a strange look. “You said something about a curse,” he prompted.
Gods, this kid was annoying.
“Yes. I cannot leave Ogygia. My father, Atlas, fought against the Titans. I supported him.”
“Atlas…as in the titan atlas?”
I rolled my eyes. This guy was really good at stating the obvious. “Yes, you impossible little… I was imprisoned here, where I could cause the Olympians no trouble. About a year ago, after the Second Titan War, the gods vowed to forgive their enemies and offer amnesty. Supposedly Percy made them promise—’’
No. NO. Painful. Painful memories. Barriers falling. Please, please rebuild, I told my barriers. Come on, rebuild.
“Percy,” Leo said slowly. “Percy Jackson?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to handle my emotions. I failed and a tear came loose. How did he even know Percy?
“Percy came here,” Leo said. Jeez, did he have to make it more painful?
“I—I thought I would be released. I dared to hope…but I am still here,” I said. Bitterness. Told ya.
Leo looked as though all the pieces finally came into place, as though he finally understood.
“You’re that lady,” he said. “The one who was named after Caribbean music.”
I glared at him. “Caribbean music,” I confirmed.
“Yeah,” Leo said, and I could tell he was turning his brain gears, if he had any. “Reggae?Merengue? Hold on, I’ll get it.”
He snapped his fingers and I raised an eyebrow. “Calypso! But Percy said you were awesome. He said you were all sweet and helpful, not, um…”
I shot to my feet, eyes glinting murderously. “Yes?”
“Uh, nothing.”
“Would you be sweet,” I said threateningly, “if the gods forgot their promise to let you go? Would you be sweet if they ignored you for a long time? Would you be sweet if they laughed at you by sending you another hero so soon, but a hero who looked like—like you?”
“Is that a trick question?”
“Di Immortales!” I turned and marched into my cave.
“Hey!” Leo ran after me.
I stomped over to the washbasin and furiously washed my hands. Leo came in and stopped in wonder and awe. I glared at him and he looked at me with a blank look. He cleared his throat.
“So…” he said, probably trying for a conversation, “I get why you’re angry.”
No you don’t, buddy. No one does.
“You probably never want to see another demigod again. I guess that didn’t sit right when, uh, Percy left you—’’
“He was only the latest,” I growled. This guy was getting on my nerves. But still, it was good of him to actually come talk to her. “Before him, it was the pirate Drake. And before him, Odysseus. They were all the same! The gods send me the greatest heroes, the ones I can’t help but…”
“You fall in love with them,” Leo guessed. “And then they leave you.”
My chin trembled. Leo looked nearly horrified, like he couldn’t imagine something so terrible. “That is my curse,” I said. “I had hoped to be free of it by now, but here I am, still stuck in Ogygia, after three thousand years.”
“Three thousand,” Leo looked uncomfortable. “Uh, you look good for three thousand.”
But I wasn’t listening. “And now…the worst insult of all,” I gestured to him. “The gods mock me by sending you.”
We glared at each other for a split second. I could tell he was sizing me up. I quickly built barriers again. I could tell that he still didn’t understand the endless limbo that we were in. I would clearly never fall for him, and if he fell for me, I truthfully didn’t care. He would still be stuck here. I still wouldn’t care. My biggest problem was being forever stuck on an island with an idiot.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll leave you alone. I’ll build something myself and get off this stupid island without your help.”
I sighed and shook my head. “You don’t understand, do you? The gods are laughing at both of us. If the raft will not appear, that means they’ve closed Ogygia. You’re stuck here the same as me. You can never leave.”
Leo’s eyes widened and he looked at me quizzically, then angrily. “No, you’re wrong. I’ll get off of here, I know I can.”
I shook my head and he threw his hands up in frustration. I rolled my eyes and left him near the entrance of the cave as I proceeded deeper in.
I think he eventually left, but I can’t tell when. I retreated to my room in the back of the cave and sat on my bed in the wall. On my nightstand was a photo album.
I picked it up. Hephaestus had made it for me awhile back and a new picture of each of my guests showed up in it every time one of them showed up. No matter the century, the pictures were always high-quality and very clear.
I looked at this photo album a lot. It helped me grieve, focus, and control my emotions. I looked at Odysseus, Drake, and…Percy. Mostly Percy, actually.
This time new photos magically showed up, just like they did when Percy came. These were of Leo.
Naturally, I ripped them out and threw them across the room.
Leo wasn’t of much help as the days progressed.
I would walk around most of my time, or tend to my garden, or weave. I knew Leo would soon need new clothes, so I made him some. No duh. But I knew Leo’s exact size from my “sight.”
I am not a sorceress. I want you to understand that right now. Sometimes I just…know things. Things I’m sure I didn’t know before. I’ve always assumed that it was part of one of my “godly qualities”.
Leo would occasionally visit me. Usually to ask me questions. I didn’t really care and treated him with indifference. I did answer his questions, though. I’m not that cruel.
I was actually a bit kinder to him than I intended to be originally. I made him clothes and sent him food and water. Afterwards, I realized how much attention I paid to Leo. I would sometimes go sit on a cliff, bored out of my mind, and I would catch glimpses of him walking around aimlessly and cursing into the open air.
Looks like he was getting settled in.
I didn’t like seeing Leo, though. It annoyed me quite a bit. Can’t a girl be cursed on a solitary island in peace? In the end, I will admit I threw pots and pans at him a little bit.
Ok, a little more than a little bit.
Eventually, Leo found a place to camp out, which I was happy about. As much as I hated him, I was glad he could rest for a little while without being completely exposed to the rest of the wildlife on the island.
I had a suspicion that Leo was making things in the little camp he had set up. Probably trying to get off the island. Too bad, buddy.
Yeah, my suspicions were soon confirmed.
Leo soon started to make fires, and along with that, he used hammers and nails. Metal against metal. That ticked me off, because animals didn’t come to see me any more with all the noise.
Now, at this point in the story, I think you should understand something. I am not one of those weird “fairy-tale princess things”. Sure, I talk to animals. Sure, I wear dresses and live in a cave and am a beautiful singer. But I am also vicious, bitter, and hateful. The animal thing: that’s different. Imagine yourself in my situation. At least I had animals on my island. They’re good, and they wouldn’t break my heart.
“Smoke and fire!” I told him. “Clanging on metal all day long. You’re scaring away the birds!”
“Oh, no, not the birds!” Leo said mockingly.
“What do you even hope to accomplish?” I asked, incredulous that he was still attempting escape.
He looked up and made a weird jerking movement when he saw me. He gasped and then knitted his eyebrows together. “I’m hoping to get off this island. That is what you want, right?”
I rolled my eyes. I set a basket of food that I had brought with me on the floor. “You have not eaten in two days. Take a break and eat.”
“Two days?” Leo looked surprised. I blushed, realizing he hadn’t noticed, when I had. “Thanks,” he muttered. “I’ll, uh, try to hammer more quietly.”
“Huh.”
The next time I visited, it was a while afterward and I wondered how invested Leo could become in projects. I may have accidentally scared him to death.
“I brought you—’’
Leo jumped, dropping his wires. “Bronze bulls, girl! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
I raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t sneaking. I was bringing you these.” I thrust out the pair of clothes I made for him. Again, I knew he would like these the best. I just knew.
His eyes widened as he saw them, and I knew I had made him clothes that used to be precious to him.
“How?” he asked. He looked awed, astonished, grateful even.
I set the clothes at his feet and stepped back. Barriers. “I do have a little magic, you know. You keep burning through the clothes I give you, so I thought I would weave something less flammable.”
“These won’t burn?” Leo asked, picking up the clothes.
“They’re completely fireproof,” I promised. “They’ll stay clean and expand to fit you, should you ever become less scrawny,”
“Thanks…” Leo said. He seemed to be attempting and failing at scorn. “So…you made an exact replica of my favorite outfit. Did you like, google me or something?”
I frowned, confused. “I don’t know that word.”
“You looked me up,” he said, still not making any sense, “almost like you had interest in me.”
I blushed and wrinkled my nose. “I have an interest in not making you a new set of clothes every other day. I have an interest in your not smelling so bad and walking around my island in smoldering rags.”
I’ll be honest with you. Leo smelled pretty good, no matter what I said or not. I got tired of the constant smells of the island nature around me. Motor oil and fire smells were good for a change. He also looked different from when I last saw him. He was more chiseled, and his dark eyes made him actually look dangerous.
A grin spread across Leo’s face, making me nervous. “Oh yeah, you’re really warming up to me.”
My blush got deeper and I glared at him. “You are the most insufferable person I have ever met!"
That wasn’t saying much, but whatever.
“I was only returning a favor,” I continued. “You fixed my fountain!”
“That?” Leo laughed, making my heart do weird cartwheels. (I told it to stop doing gymnastics. Barriers). My fountain was broken, and Leo saw it. Being a son of Hephaestus, he decided to fix it. “That was no big deal. I don’t like it when things don’t work right,” he said.
“And the curtain across the cave entrance?”
“The rod wasn’t level.”
“And my gardening tools?”
“Look, I just sharpened the shears. Cutting vines with a dull blade is dangerous. And the pruners needed to be oiled at the hinge, and—’’
“Oh yeah,” I said, mocking him. Two could play at this game. “You’re really warming up to me.”
Leo was speechless. We held eye contact for just a moment too long, so I gestured to his work table. “What are you building?”
“Oh.” Behind him there was a large series of bronze metals, all connected in one way or another. I was impressed that he managed to make something. I also wondered where he got the metal to make something.
“Uh, it’s a seeing device,” he said. “We found one like this in Rome, the workshop of Archimedes. If I can make it work, maybe I can figure out what’s going on with my friends.”
I shook my head. “That’s impossible. This island is hidden, cut off from the world by strong magic. Time doesn’t even flow the same here.”
“Well, you’ve got to have some kind of outside contact. How did you find out that I used to wear an army jacket?”
I twisted my hair. Magic. One of the things that made no sense whatsoever. “Seeing the past is simple magic. Seeing the present or the future—that is not.”
“Yeah, well,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Watch and learn, Sunshine. I just connect these last two wires, and—’’
The bronze plate sparked. Smoke billowed from the sphere. A flash of fire raced up Leo’s sleeve. He pulled off his shirt, threw it down, and stomped on it.
The whole thing was so funny that I couldn’t help but laugh. I desperately tried to hold back, but I was shaking with the effort.
“Not a word,” Leo warned.
I glanced at his bare chest, but quickly looked away. “Nothing worth commenting on. If you want that device to work, perhaps you should try a musical invocation.”
“Right,” Leo said, rolling his eyes. “Whenever an engine malfunctions, I like to tap dance around it. Works every time.”
Just to prove him wrong, I took a breath and began to sing.
I watched as Leo’s eyes widened at my voice. His expression seemed to have all the emotions at once. I couldn’t help but feel glad that my voice made him feel something, made him notice things.
I stopped. Leo’s mouth was hanging open, and he was staring at me in awe.
“Any luck?” I asked.
“Uh…” it seemed painful for him to stop looking at me and back at the machine-thing. “Nothing. Wait…”
The screen glowed. In the air above it, holographic pictures shimmered to life.
There was no sound, but a large, tough girl that I immediately recognized as an Ares kid barked orders at some other kids. All demigods?
There was a centaur that was among the half-bloods, along with many satyrs. They were all dressed for battle. They looked grim.
In the distance, Greek triremes floated in the harbor in the background. Along the hills, catapults were being primed. Satyrs patrolled the fields, and riders on pegasi circled overhead, alert for aerial attacks.
“Your friends?” I asked.
Leo nodded, though he looked as grim as those in the vision. “They’re preparing for war.”
“Against whom?”
“Look."
The scene changed. A phalanx of Roman demigods marched through a moonlight vineyard. An illuminated sign in the distance read: GOLDSMITH WINERY.
“I’ve seen that sign before,” Leo said. “That’s not far from Camp Half-Blood.”
Suddenly the Roman ranks deteriorated into chaos. Demigods scattered. Shields fell. Javelins swung wildly, like the whole group had stepped in fire ants.
Darting in the moonlight were two small hairy shapes dressed in mismatched clothes and garish hats. They seemed to be everywhere all at once—whacking Romans on the head, stealing their weapons, cutting their belts so that their pants fell around their ankles.
Leo grinned from ear to ear. “Those beautiful little trouble makers! They kept their promise.”
“Cousins of yours?” I asked.
“Ha, ha, ha, no,” Leo said. “Couple of dwarfs I met in Bologna. I sent them to slow down the Roman’s, and they’re doing it.”
“But for how long?”
I looked at him expectantly, but he just grimaced and looked back at the screen. I tried to look at it too, but for some reason, I found it hard to tear my eyes away from Leo’s face. But I did it anyway. Barriers.
A blonde male Roman held up a long pole wrapped in canvas. When he uncovered it, a golden eagle glimmered at the top.
“Oh, that’s not good.”
“A Roman standard,” I said.
“Yeah and this one shoots lightning, according to Percy.”
My inner world crumbled at the mention of his name. I could feel a lump in my throat threaten to rise, but I shoved it down, swearing that I would not be seen crying again in front of Leo Valdez.
I zoned out just long enough to miss out on a small scene in the metal. I glanced at the metal again just in time to see a dark haired, dark skinned girl flying on a Pegasus and surrounded by venti.
Oh no. This part.
This part was my least favorite of “the process.” Every time someone washed up on my shores, there was always some girl that the someone would have to return to. I, of course, assumed that this dark girl was that girl. So I did the only thing possible. I turned the screen off with my magic.
“No!” Leo yelled. “No, not now. Show me what happens!” He banged on the mirror.
Yep, that’s the girl. Definitely.
“Calypso, can you sing again or something?”
I glared at him. “I suppose that’s your girlfriend? Your Penelope? Your Elizabeth? Your Annabeth?”
“What?” Leo said, a confused, flustered expression on his face. “That’s Reyna. She’s not my girlfriend! I need to see more! I need—’’
NEED, a voice rumbled in the ground beneath our feet. Leo stumbled back, but I stood straight, directing my glare at the ground instead. It was Gaea, and I knew it.
Need is an overused word. A swirling human figure erupted from the sand. Leo threw a pair of pliers at her. Unfortunately, she wasn't solid, and they passed right through. Her eyes were closed, but she didn’t look asleep.
You want to live, Gaea said. You want to join your friends. But you do not need this, my poor boy. It would make no difference. Your friends will die, regardless.
As much hate that was in Leo’s eyes, I could see pain and fear below them. He was terrified of Gaea, and I could see that while most others couldn’t see past his hateful facade.
“What I don’t need,” he growled, “is more lies from you, Dirt Face. You told me my great-granddad died in the 1960s. Wrong! You told me I couldn’t save my friends in Rome. Wrong! You told me a lot of things.”
Gaea laughed, sending chills down my spine. I tried to help you make better choices. You could have saved yourself. But you defied me at every step. You built your ship. You joined that foolish quest. Now you are trapped here, helpless, while the mortal world dies.
I could sense a fight. Leo’s hands lit on fire. But I knew that he could definitely not take Gaea in a fight. I put my hand on his shoulder reassuringly. My fingers stung where they touched his shoulder, sending bolts of electricity through my body.
“Gaea,” I said. “You are not welcome here.”
Ah, Calypso. Still here, I see, despite the gods’ promises. Why do you think that is, my dear grandchild? Are the Olympians being spiteful, leaving you with no company except this undergrown fool? Or have they simply forgotten you, because you are not worth their time?
Gaea brought up a good point. As much as I hated the swirling earth goddess, she was good at making points like this. She was good with words, I’ll give her that.
Yes. The Olympians are faithless. They do not give second chances. Why do you hold out hope? You supported your father, Atlas, in his Great War. You knew that the gods must be destroyed. Why do you hesitate now? I offer you a chance that Zeus would never give you.
“Where were you these last three thousand years?” I asked, surprising myself at how deep and steady my voice was. “If you are so concerned with my fate, why do you visit me only now?”
The earth is slow to wake. War comes in its own time. But do not think it will pass you by on Ogygia. When I remake the world, this prison will be destroyed as well.
“Ogygia? Destroyed?” As much as I hated being trapped there, Ogygia was my home. I did enjoy it, just not the prison part of my home.
You do not have to be here when that happens. Join me now. Kill this boy. Spill his blood upon the earth and help me to wake. I will free you and grant you any wish. Freedom. Revenge against the gods. Even a prize. Would you still have the demigod, Percy Jackson? I will spare him for you. I will raise him from Tartarus. He will be yours to punish or to love, as you choose. Only kill this trespassing boy. Show your loyalty.
Now it was the slimy dirt goddess that was getting on my nerves. Destroy my home, then give me Percy?
I’ll admit, I still liked Percy at the time. His smile, his eyes, his hair… But I would never want him to be…well, mine. I knew fully well that…that him and Annabeth were…well, I didn’t want to torture him by forcing him into a love that he wasn’t fully into. I’ve lived to long to know that that would be pretty bad torture. And kill Leo? As much as I hate that runt, I would never kill him.
I did a three-fingered gesture I remembered from my early days off Ogygia. “This is not just my prison, Grandmother. It is my home. And you are the trespasser.”
Gaea let the wind scatter her into nothingness, leaving Leo and I alone in the forge again.
Leo swallowed. “Uh, don’t take this the wrong way, but you didn’t kill me. Are you crazy?”
I glared at him, but for once, I seemed to be glaring past Leo, not at him. “Your friends must need you, or else Gaea would not ask for your death.”
“I—uh, yeah. I guess.”
“Then we have work to do. We must get you back to your ship.”
Leo’s eyes widened, then settled down again. He nodded. “So… uh, do you want me to give you a list of things to do, or…?”
I nodded, still glaring determinedly.
After he gave me a list, I departed to my cave, thinking rapidly. I thought about the clothes I had made for Leo, compared to mine. His were much easier to move in, and they seemed more practical.
“You can make some for yourself after you finish the things needed for Leo’s escape,” I decided.
Within a few hours, I gathered the amount of food Leo would need to sail away. The weaving he requested was also simple, a sail and rope. If he thought that the amount of work he had given me was too much, he was far off. I finished it all and made myself new clothes within a day.
On the second day, I visited Leo again to ask if he needed any help.
He looked up when I asked. In front of him, there was a circuit board that looked like it was slowly coming together. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were anxious to get rid of me.”
“That’s a bonus.”
“I see that you changed your wardrobe.”
I shrugged. “After making some for you, I realized that these are more practical than simple tunics.”
Leo was staring intently at me. I felt a bit embarrassed at first, but I soon got lost in his eyes as well. He was cuter than he was when he first crash-landed. Now his expression was easier to read, and his eyes were a bit more meaningful and less stupid and misunderstanding. His dark hair was more ruffled than usual and it fell casual but wild around his equally dark face.
I suddenly realized that we were both staring at each other and I cleared my throat. Barriers.
“So?” I prompted.
“So…what?”
I nodded at the circuitry. “So can I help? How is it coming?”
“Oh, uh, I’m good here. If I can wire this thing up to the boat., I should be able to navigate back to the world.”
“Now all you need now is…a boat.”
He looked at me, a strange expression on his face. “What Gaea said,” he hesitated, shrugging. “About you getting off this island. Would you want to try it?"
I scowled. No one had offered this before, in all my years. Barriers, still. “What do you mean?”
“Well…I’m not saying it would be fun having you along, always complaining and glaring at me and stuff. But I suppose I could stand it, if you wanted to try.”
My expression softened, and I could feel a barrier falling as he spoke the words. Unlike last time, my brain couldn’t scramble to rebuild it on time. “How noble,” I muttered. “But no, Leo. If I tried to come with you, your tiny chance of escape would be no chance at all. The gods have placed ancient magic on this island to keep me here. A hero can leave. I cannot. The most important thing is getting you free so you can stop Gaea. Not that I care what happens to you,” I added quickly, still attempting to rebuild for the barriers Leo had somehow broken through. “But the world’s fate is at stake.”
“Why would you care about that? I mean, after being away from the world so long?”
I arched my eyebrows. He brought up a good point. Why did I care? “I suppose I don’t like being told what to do—by Gaea or anyone else. As much as I hate the gods sometimes, over the past three millennia I’ve come to see that they’re better than the Titans. They’re definitely better than the giants. At least the gods kept in touch. Hermes has always been kind to me. And your father, Hephaestus, has often visited. He is a good person.”
I thought about that. Hephaestus was the best god I knew, of course. But what about Leo?
Leo’s mouth was hanging open, and he was staring at her again. I reached out and closed his mouth. “Now,” I said. “How can I help?”
“Oh.”
Leo looked down at his project and then back at me. “You know that flameproof cloth? You think you could make me a little bag of that?”
I looked at him quizzically, but waved my hand impatiently. “That will only take minutes. Will it help you on your quest?”
“Yeah, it might save a life,” Leo said. I thought that was peculiar, but Leo’s expression told me he was serious. “And, um, could you chip off a little piece of crystal from your cave? I don’t need much.”
I frowned. That was more strange. Odysseus has asked for the same thing, though I had refused to give it to him. “That’s an odd request.”
“Humor me.”
“Alright,” I said, deciding that Leo was not like Odysseus. “Consider it done. I’ll make the fireproof pouch tonight at the low, when I’ve cleaned up. But what can I do now, while my hands are dirty?”
I held up my calloused, grimy hands. Leo looked at them, then back at me. He seemed to be awed that I had dirty hands.
“Well,” he said, “you could twist some more bronze coils. But that’s kind of specialized—’’
I pushed in next to him on the bench, cutting him off. For a split second, I registered how close I was sitting to him. But then I got to work, braiding the coils in front of me. “Just like weaving. This isn’t so hard.”
“Huh,” Leo said, watching her with respect. “Well, if you ever get off this island and want a job, let me know. You’re not a total klutz.”
I smirked. Even though I should’ve been furious at him for mentioning getting off the island, the idea appealed to me. “A job, eh? Making things in your forge?”
“Naw, we could start our own shop. Leo and Calypso’s Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters.”
“Fresh fruits and vegetables.”
“Cider and stew,” Leo said, grinning. I tried not to ponder on the fact that we were legit finishing each other’s sentences. “We could even provide entertainment. You could sing and I could, like, randomly burst into flames.”
I laughed, betraying myself. A barrier fell, but I didn’t really care at that moment.
“See? I’m funny.”
Barriers. I killed my smile. “You are not funny. Now, get back to work, or no cider and stew.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. We worked in silence, side by side, for the rest of the afternoon.
Two nights later, the guidance console was finished.
I sat with Leo on the beach, near the crater where he crash-landed into my dining table. We ate a picnic dinner together. We had a campfire, though I didn’t know why. The full moon was so bright, we could’ve gone without it. We had finished all the supplies, and they were behind us on the sand dunes.
“All we need now is a boat,” I said.
Leo nodded. “I’ll start chopping wood into boards tomorrow. Few days, we’ll have enough for a small hull.”
“You’ve made a ship before. Your Argo ll.”
Leo nodded again. I dropped my eyes to the ocean. I tried not to linger on the fact that Leo would soon be gone. “So, how long until you sail?”
“Uh, not sure. Another week?” Leo looked glad at that statement, and even I couldn’t help but feel grateful that he wasn’t leaving that soon as well.
I ran my hands across the completed circuit board. “This took so long to make.”
“You can’t rush perfection."
I nearly smiled, because he sounded so much like Hephaestus when he said that. Leo was more like his father than he realized. “Yes, but will it work?”
“Getting out, no problem,” Leo said. “But to get back I’ll need Festus and—’’
“What?” I said. He wasn’t really suggesting that he come back for me? They…always did. I knew that Odysseus died. Drake did, too. Percy didn’t, but he hadn’t come back for me. They had all given me empty promises.
Leo blinked. “Festus. My bronze dragon. Once I figure out how to rebuild him, I’ll—’’
“You told me about Festus. But what do you mean get back?”
Leo grinned nervously. “Well…to get back here, duh. I’m sure I said that.”
“You most definitely did not,” I said, trying not to shake. This whole time, I told myself to keep my barriers up, but I could feel my barriers start to crumble as he spoke the words.
Leo was still talking, but I didn’t hear a single word. This whole time, I was convincing myself that Leo was different from the rest of them. That there was no way I would fall for him. That he would leave with my help, and I wouldn’t have cared.
But at that moment, as Leo rambled on about why he had to come back to me, I could feel something inside me break. My barriers came crashing down.
You see, I had a flaw in my “barriers” plan. If you’re a city with strong, sturdy walls, and then you become besieged, the city who's besieging you can probably knock down your walls. And when they do, that other city comes flooding into your city. It was the same with me. Leo had broken my barriers, and he would soon come flooding in. I couldn’t let that happen.
“You can’t come back,” I interrupted.
Leo looked hurt, but hid it. “Because I’m not welcome?”
“Because you can’t. It’s impossible. No man finds Ogygia twice. That is the rule.”
Leo rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, you might’ve noticed I’m not good at following rules. I’m coming back here with my dragon, and we’ll spring you. Take you wherever you want to go. It’s only fair.”
“Fair…” I whispered. I didn’t want Leo to do this to me. Although he wasn’t leaving me until a week, my heart broke at that moment. I didn’t like Leo, though. Duh. No matter what you say, I didn’t love him. At all. Ever.
“You didn’t think I could start Leo and Calypso’s Auto Repair without Calypso, did you? I can’t make cider and stew, and I sure can’t sing.”
I stared at the sand.
“Well, anyway,” Leo said. “Tommorow I’ll start on the lumber. And in a few days…”
He trailed off, making me look at what he was looking at. Then I saw it.
Something was bobbing on the waves. A large wooden raft floated in on the tide and slid to a stop on the beach.
Leo was too dazed to move, but I jumped up and sprinted to the raft. “Hurry! I don’t know how long it will stay!”
“But…” Leo stood, looking at the raft in disbelief and disappointment. “That’s the magic raft?”
“Duh!” I yelled, bringing back some of my old flare. It was hard to, though, because tears still stung. I pushed them back. “It might work like it’s supposed to and take you where you want to go. But we can’t be sure. The island’s magic is obviously unstable. You must rig up your guidance device to navigate.”
I snatched up the console and ran toward the raft. Leo seemed to come out of his trance and came over to help me. We fastened it to the raft and ran wires to the rudder.
We worked in harmony, always knowing what the other was doing. Soon the sail was in place and Leo’s gadgets were set in place. The raft soon began scraping against the sand, straining to reach the waves.
“Go,” I said, still holding back tears.
Leo turned. I noted how close we were, and I couldn’t stand it. His brown eyes glimmered in the moonlight.
“The raft finally got here,” Leo said, a strange, sad look on his face.
I snorted. “You just noticed?”
“But if it only shows up for guys you like—’’
“Don’t push your luck, Leo Valdez,” I said, trying to convince myself as well. “I still hate you.”
“Okay.”
“And you are not coming back here. So don’t give me any empty promises.”
“How about a full promise?” he said. “Because I’m definitely—“
I wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, shutting him up.
Though I wouldn't have admitted it at the time, it felt so good, so sadly good, that I wouldn’t trade that moment for anything, even freedom from Ogygia.
This was how Leo got past my barriers. This was when his army besieged my palace and invaded when my walls fell. But this didn’t feel like war. It felt like…like freedom. I felt like I had finally moved on from the rest of my suitors.
And it felt so, so right.
It wasn’t until I felt Leo’s arms hesitantly wrap around me that I remembered our situation. I remembered the raft that was behind Leo. I remembered that he was about to leave, not stay. I remembered my curse, that no matter how right it felt, he would leave. I remembered barriers.
Barriers.
I pushed him away. “That didn’t happen.”
“Okay,” his voice sounded an octave higher than usual.
“Get out of here.”
“Okay.”
I turned. I definitely was crying now. I was speed-walking. I didn’t dare look back, it was too painful for me. When I heard the sail catch wind behind me, I sobbed.
When I made it to the woods, I started to run. I ran toward the cliff I hated. I sat down at the cliff, crying silently, as I watched Leo Valdez’s boat sail away from Ogygia.
It was all so cruel, so terribly cruel, that I actually laughed. I laughed again in disbelief and looked up at the sky, scoffing.
“Well,” I said to the sky, my face streaked with tears, “you finally got what you wanted. I do suppose you guys have broken what’s left of me. You’ve punished me for three thousand years, haven’t you? Will you ever get enough? I suppose not."
I sighed and turned my attention back to the ocean, where Leo’s boat was a speck in the distance. “Goodbye, Leo Valdez. I suppose I’ll find someone like you again eventually.”
It was probably just my imagination, but I could’ve sworn I heard him say my name, his voice carried to me by the wind. I seriously doubt it, though.
I don’t remember falling asleep, but I do suppose I eventually did, because I woke up in the morning, eyes red and puffy, still on the cliff. It was maybe midday, and I could still see Leo’s old camp down below me.
The silence of the island was nice, but I didn’t notice how disturbed it made me. The sound of metal against metal had been soothing to my ears, and I didn’t notice how much I had gotten used to it.
I made straight for my cave. I figured I could probably hold the tears back long enough to eat food. However, when I reached the cave entrance, I found an unexpected visitor standing there.
“Hephaestus!” I exclaimed, eyes shooting up at him. “Oh! Um, I wasn’t expecting any visitors, so—’’
Hephaestus regarded me with hard eyes. “Calypso, I’m afraid I don’t have enough time to tell you this. I’m sorry for not visiting you in that time period between Percy and Leo. I couldn’t, my Roman form is fighting.”
“Then what are you doing here now?”
“Look, I managed to calm it down for just enough time to tell you this. Listen. Do you know the Prophecy of Seven?”
“Uh…”
“Calypso!”
“Sorry!” I said. I was a bit flustered that someone had finally come to visit me. “Uh, yes. Leo told me about it. Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, to storm or fire the world must fall, an oath—’’
“—to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the doors of death,” Hephaestus continued. “Yes, yes. Now you need to understand. My son is one of those seven, correct?”
"Correct.”
“I can’t tell you directly, but I can give you a hint as to what you need to understand about that prophecy. We weren’t mocking you when we sent Leo.”
That shocked me and I looked at him, confused. “What?”
“There’s a reason for the things we do. We weren’t mocking you, Calypso. And there’s something else you should understand. The first line of the prophecy applies to Leo, very vaguely, though. The second one does as well. The third one, though, that one applies to him directly.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“You will see,” Hephaestus said. He looked as though he was about to say something, but he suddenly clutched his head in pain and fell to the ground.
“Hephaestus?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
But he didn’t answer and suddenly disappeared, gone from Ogygia. I cursed under my breath and ran into my cave, contemplating what he told me.
I ran inside the cave. I sat down on my bed and pulled out paper. I hurriedly scratched down the Prophecy of Seven.
I thought about the first line. Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. Well, no duh Leo was one of the Seven. To storm or fire the world must fall. It could either be to Leo, the one who could control fire, or his friend, who was a son of Zeus, that the world will fall. And finally, the third line. An oath to keep with a final breath.
This one didn’t make as much sense. As far as I was concerned, Leo hadn’t made any special oaths that I knew about. But he must’ve, otherwise this line of the prophecy would be useless.
I spent a lot of time pondering on this, but after about a week of this, I quickly gave up. I shoved aside what Hephaestus had said and passed it off as lies. Surely it couldn’t be anything, right?
Wrong.
I was determined not to go to certain places.
First of all: I was determined not to go to that cliff I hated. I already spent a night there, and I wouldn’t be spending any more time there.
Second of all: the camp that Leo was living at when he stayed here. I was saving myself from the tears by cutting myself off from all these places. Anger is easier than grief.
Third of all: the crater that Leo had originally crashed into, along with the remnants of my dining table. I couldn’t bring myself there to grieve either.
Leo Valdez was by far one of my better guests, and I refused to believe that he was coming back. Why? Two words: hope sucks.
Hope sucks. If you hope for something, and then it doesn’t come, heartbreak just happens again. Believe me, I speak from experience.
Now I’m going to use a quote that most mortals will know, while maybe some demigods will. If you expect disappointment, you’ll never be disappointed. - Zendaya, Spider-Man: No Way Home.
(Now, for those who don’t know who Zendaya is or what Spider-Man is, I’ll tell you. Zendaya is a daughter of Apollo who decided her real name wasn’t enough for the world. Therefore, she shortened it to Zendaya. We’ll never know why. But that wasn’t enough for her, so she became an actress, so she would have a new name for every movie she acted in. And Spider-Man is a very long ad for a hospital, experimenting with what happens to you when you breathe through spandex for far too long.)
Anywho, I really love that quote, because it’s so true. Therefore I took it to heart and decided to give up on all hope, expecting disappointment, as I always did.
It wasn’t until a long way later that I gave up on it.
It had been a while since Leo left when I was walking along the beach of Ogygia. I was still pondering on what Hephaestus told me, because all unsolved mysteries will probably haunt you for eternity.
I also thought about Leo. What he said about coming back for me. Like I said, I wasn’t buying it.
And Hephaestus had said that Leo hadn’t been sent here to mock me. He wasn’t an accident.
Seven half bloods shall answer the call.
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath.
And foes bear arms to the doors of death.
The first two lines of the prophecy were pretty clear to me. It was the third one that stumped me. From what Hephaestus told me, that line applied directly to Leo. But how?
I sat down, glaring at the ocean sprawled before me. Nothing made sense anymore. Words swirled in my head. Oath…not an accident… “How about a full promise?”….final breath….fire……
And then I knew.
I jumped up, running back to my cave. I commanded the invisible servants to pack my bags. I muttered a thanks to Hephaestus and ran to my room in the back of the cave.
I sat on my bed, picking up my photo album and flipping to the pictures of Leo. (Yes, of course I put them back in).
I studied each of the pictures skeptically. There was a picture of him in the Hephaestus cabin at Camp Half-Blood. There was a picture of him in a large bunker. There was a picture of him on a school bus. Him building the Argo ll. Him with a dark-skinned girl with chestnut brown hair. (I felt a twinge of annoyance and maybe even a bit of jealousy when I saw that one). Him with Piper and Jason. Him manning the Argo ll. Him, looking startled at something behind the camera. Him flying his bronze dragon, festus, with a small island in the background. Him, with his—
Wait.
A small island in the background?
I stared at that photo. Sure enough, there was a small, green island in the background.
I would know that island anywhere.
My suspicions were confirmed. I tried to hold it back, I really did, but I couldn’t help but grin. I stuffed the photo album into one of the bags the invisible servants were packing.
Leo was coming back. To Ogygia. To me, Calypso.
I was overjoyed. I had a feeling it was going to be hard sleeping that night with this new, refined idea. My world, which was destroyed slowly after so many centuries, was beginning to rebuild. A glimmer of hope was rare for me, like finding a giant castle that you’re actually the ruler of in the middle of a stroll in the woods.
Then a thought struck me. (Wretched things, thoughts are.)
An oath to keep with a final breath.
I knew Leo had made an oath to come back for me. That was the voice I had heard on the wind the day he left. But if he had to keep it with a final breath, did that mean that he would—?
I pushed the thought aside, telling myself everything would be okay. I tried desperately to return to the glimmer-of-hope feeling, but I failed miserably.
I spent the rest of the day pouring over my picture album, trying to distract myself from my thoughts. But they kept returning, as thoughts always do. (Again, wretched things. Like they ever gave me anything.)
Thoughts or no thoughts, I actually slept well that night. No dreams on Ogygia, so I guess that was good.
When I woke up, I did my usual routine (no duh) and then went to the beach. I had a feeling that I would be spending a lot of time there ever since my discovery of Leo’s return.
I was right.
I spent days on that beach, waiting for Leo. Eventually, I weaved a small bedroll for myself, since I was spending a lot of nights there as well.
I was about to give up hope when he finally came.
It was midday and I was bored out of my mind. I figured that maybe I was wrong. That Leo wasn’t coming back, and that that wasn’t what Hephaestus wanted me to know.
I was lying on my back, staring at the endless blue above me. The gods hadn’t visited me since Hephaestus. I nearly told my servants to unpack my bags. I was seriously doubting Leo’s reappearance. The idiot wouldn’t have been able to make it here, anyway. No matter how hard he tried, I was still pretty sure no man found Ogygia twice.
This was so freaking annoying. I had camped out there for days! Surely he would show, though. Just maybe not then. Maybe it was too soon.
Yeah, this guy wasn’t coming that day. I knew it, and once I decided so, I nearly went back to the cave. Then I heard it. Yelling.
It made no sense whatsoever. I turned around and looked at the sky, where, sure enough, there was a giant bronze dragon. I thought I could barely see a small figure on its back.
How did I know it was Leo? Good question. I’m assuming it’s because the figure was yelling, “YEAH! WHO DIED? WHO CAME BACK? WHO' S YOUR FREAKIN’ SUPERSIZED McSHIZZLE NOW, BABY? Wooooooooo!”
Yeah, that kind of gave it away.
The dragon was heading toward Ogygia at an alarming speed. I stepped back slightly as the dragon stumbled clumsily about ten feet away and catapulted Leo Valdez into the sand in front of me. I crossed my arms.
Leo groaned and spat out a piece of seaweed. I raised my eyebrows. He grinned. The dragon was dragging himself down the beach. The dragon’s legs seemed hurt.
I turned my attention directly to Leo. “You’re late.”
“Sorry, Sunshine,” Leo said. “Traffic was murder.”
I studied him. “You are covered with soot. And you managed to ruin the clothes I made for you, which were impossible to ruin.”
“Well, you know,” Leo shrugged. My heart was beating so fast I was afraid that it might explode. “I’m all about doing the impossible.”
I offered him my hand and he stood up with my help. He really was messy. There was a thick layer of soot inhabiting all of his body. But I truthfully didn’t care. We stood nose-to-nose as I looked him over.
I wrinkled my nose. “You smell—’’
“I know. Like I’ve been dead. Probably because I have been. Oath to keep with a final breath and all, but I’m better now—’’
I pressed my lips against his, cutting him off.
A sort of warmth spread throughout my body. I had that feeling that I had before, that feeling of pure happiness, except that there were no rafts to interrupt it. It felt right. His hands automatically slid around me. I don’t really know how to describe exactly how it felt, but let’s just say it was pretty awesome.
I let him go, my thumb tracing his cheekbone. “Leo Valdez,” I said. That was the name of the one who would free me. That was the name of the one who actually, for real, loved me. And believe me, after you’ve suffered heartbreaks like mine, that was pretty freaking rare and absolutely amazing.
“That’s me,” he said. “So, um, you wanna get off this island?”
I stepped back just enough that I could snap my finger. Invisible servants brought two suitcases and set them by my feet. “What gave you that idea?”
Leo grinned. I liked it when he did that. “Packed for a long trip, huh?”
“I don’t plan on coming back,” I said, looking back at the rest of Ogygia. It was time to say goodbye to my home and prison. I didn’t know if I would miss it. “Where will you take me, Leo?”
“Somewhere to fix my dragon first. And then…wherever you want. How long was I gone, seriously?”
“Time is difficult on Ogygia,” I said. “It felt like forever, though.”
It was hard to read his expression. “So once you leave Ogygia,” he said, “do you stay immortal or what?”
“I have no idea.”
“And you’re okay with that?"
“More than okay,” I said. I wanted to kiss him again so badly, but I held back.
“Well, then!” Leo turned to his dragon. “Buddy, you up for another flight to nowhere in particular?”
It blew fire and limped around, which Leo apparently took as a yes.
“So,” I said, getting my facts straight, “we take off with no plan. No idea where we’ll go or what problems await beyond this island. Many questions, and no tidy answers?”
Leo turned up his palms. “That’s how I fly, Sunshine. Can I get your bags?”
“Sure.”
I watched as he grabbed them and strapped them to his dragon. He looked back at me and grinned. “Come on, Sunshine, I’ll show you how to properly get on a dragon.”
I walked over to him as he hoisted himself on the dragon’s back. I copied him and smoothly pulled myself up behind him. He tapped my arms and they automatically slipped around his waist as he spurred the dragon into flight.
And then I said my final goodbyes to Ogygia as we sailed into the unknown.
But I’ll tell you this.
I never looked back.
