Begin Again

Calypso stood on the deck of the Argo II, staring over the starboard side at the water below. The ocean always made her feel more relaxed—it was soothing in its rhythmic certainty—but now it was only making her a little queasy. Come to think of it, it had been doing that for a while. She had a nasty habit of associating a certain someone with the ocean.

  She bit her lip and shut her eyes, trying to push thoughts of him away. But how could she? He was right below her feet in the sickbay.

  The waves roiled beneath the ship and Calypso suddenly had a bad feeling that the sickbay was exactly where she herself would end up soon if she didn’t find some distraction.

  She turned her thoughts to home—her prison… her island… Ogygia. She didn’t know what to call it anymore. Was it still somewhere, anywhere? Did it cease to exist now that she’d left? The thought made her chest constrict. Though she hadn’t left it in hundreds of years, the thought of all the birds and beautiful flowers and invisible servants fading to dust was painful.

  She blinked back tears and turned to the helm, where Leo was running around like a madman. He kept tapping things on what he’d told her was something called the control panel, and waving a white stick in the air that seemed to work the oars. He’d called it a “wee controller” or something like that.

  The whole idea that that little white stick could control part of this massive ship was mind-boggling to Calypso. It would have made some sense to her if it had been magic, but Leo insisted that it wasn’t. He said it was… technology. Whatever that meant.

  He grinned, his black curls flattened by the wind, and gestured emphatically with his “wee controller” to Jason, the son of Zeus.

  Jupiter, she corrected herself. Gods, what a headache that whole concept gave her. She was grateful she’d been locked away, out of touch with the world when the gods were going through their personality changes. She might have had to go through it herself. The thought made her shudder.

  In fact, it seemed she’d been released just in time. According to Leo, the gods were going “schizoid” again. If they’d kept their promise to Percy to release her… well things would have been a lot different. For one, she wouldn’t have Leo to explain all the complicated things of this new world that left her crying in corners for hours, confused and scared.

  For another, it would have meant that Percy had actually kept his word.

  Did it honestly never occur to him to make sure the gods had followed through when it came to her release?

  She was about to let a wave of bitterness collapse over her, when Leo turned her way and grinned even wider. Now, it looked like his smile was about to leap off his face and fly.

  Calypso couldn’t help but feel warmer when he smiled at her. But at the same time, a small doubt lingered in the back of her mind. He never really clarified how he got her off the island in the first place, though he mentioned something in passing about a sextant and a crystal. Calypso still couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made a deal, somehow…

  He waved her over, and her feet carried her to him before her brain could talk her out of it. Jason smiled vaguely and walked away, clearly wanting to give the two some space. He joined his girlfriend Piper, the daughter of Aphrodite, on deck and they disappeared below, laughing.

  Calypso really liked Piper. The two had bonded over a lengthy discussion about haircare, of all things. Piper was sweet, and brave, and easy to talk to. She felt like she had a real friend in the daughter of Aphrodite.

  Three days and she had yet to even meet Annabeth.

  “Come here!” Leo said, taking her hand.

  She noticed he still turned a bit red when they touched.

  He dragged her over to the control panel, and his energy was so contagious that Calypso couldn’t help but laugh.

  He turned to her and his face became a little serious. “I’m going to introduce you to one of my best friends.” He pointed to something on the… the screen. “Touch that.”

  “Your friend is… in the control panel?”

  “No, no, that’s just how you wake him up.”

  “Leo, that makes no sense.”

  “Just push it!”

  She touched the screen, expecting some give or resistance, but it only felt like touching glass. Up at the bow, there was a whirring sound and something moved—the figurehead? The bronze dragon swiveled around completely and stared at her. Calypso caught her breath. She could have sworn it was smiling at her.

  “Calypso, meet Festus. Festus, Calypso.”

  The dragon—Festus¬—opened its glimmering mouth, revealing razor-sharp teeth and made some of the strangest noises Calypso had ever heard.

  “No, she’s the one we just rescued,” Leo said.

  More strange, metallic sounds.

  “I know she’s a Titan, but she’s cool, don’t worry.”

  “Did you just…” Calypso was at a loss for words. “How can you understand it?”

  Leo leaned against the railing by the helm, clearly at ease and proud. “I speak fluent machine. I’m, uh…” The smug expression faded. “I’m usually not as good with people.”

  But she wasn’t particularly listening. She glanced back and forth between the dragon and the control panel, strands of fine hair falling loose from her braid as she swung her head. She couldn’t see a connection. How did that button… that piece of glass… wires...?

  She fell to her knees on the deck and held her face in her hands, holding back sobs. Everything was so different, so much bigger.

  Leo knelt next to her, taking her hands in his. His fingers were rough from working with machines all day, every day. “Hey, we talked about this,” he said softly. “Just don’t think about it too much, right? It’ll make a little more sense once you get used to it. I mean, Hazel and Nico went through the same thing.”

  “But they know what a car is!” Calypso cried in desperation, tears blurring her vision as she looked up at Leo. “You’ve told me at least three times and it doesn’t make sense. How does a chariot move without horses? How?”

  Leo laughed a little and his smile melted her. “Okay, when we open our machine shop, first thing I’ll do is find a car for you and explain how the entire thing works. I might even teach you how to drive.”

  Calypso wiped a hand across her eye. “I already know how to drive a chariot.”

  “A horseless chariot?”

  She shook her head sadly.

  “Then we’ve got lots to work on.”

  He stood and held out his hand, but Calypso couldn’t bring herself to stand up. There was something else bothering her, something she’d barely even been able to admit to herself. It was tearing her apart.

  Percy.

  He was here. He was alive, and fine, and he’d even tried to rescue her, as if that could somehow make up for the fact that he left her for some girl named Annabeth. Calypso was happy with Leo, she really was. In fact, she was happier than she had been in centuries. For once, one of the men who’d dropped onto her island loved her back.

  But she was still choking on her feelings for Percy.

  “There’s something I have to do.” She kept her eyes on her lap, staring at her hands folded still before her.

  She knew him well enough to know when he was furrowing his brows. She imagined that was what he was doing now as he looked down at her. “What is it?” he asked.

  With his help, she got to her feet. “Something I should have done the minute I got on this ship.” She met his eyes. “I need to talk to Percy and Annabeth.”

  Leo’s expression darkened like a storm had rolled in. He laced his fingers through hers, and though it was a normal gesture, it held a message: don’t forget, you’re with me. “He hurt you, Calypso…”

  “I know, but I need to… I have to move on. I need to let him go so I can be with you completely.”

  As quickly as the clouds had come, they disappeared. He let go of her hand and smiled, a little sadly. “Do what you need to do, then.”

*

  She stood outside the doors of the sickbay. Gods, she couldn’t breathe. He was right there, on the other side. What would he think when she walked in? Would he be happy? Surprised? Nervous?

  Conscious?

  She’d heard that he and Annabeth had only recently been rescued from some barbaric bloodletting sacrifice Gaea had concocted, after just surviving Tartarus. They were both wounded and had both lost a lot of blood, no doubt both very weak—

  She pushed open the door and her breath lodged in her throat.

  He was lying on a clean white bed on the other side of the room, pale and gaunt and wrapped in bandages. But it wasn’t his condition that surprised her.

  It was… he looked exactly as he had when he’d fallen out of the sky, the day he landed on Ogygia.

  Her feet propelled her forward. She had no idea what she was doing, but her hand was reaching toward him, healing songs were running through her mind as if she might sing one now, if only she could find her voice—

  “Calypso?”

  She froze, startled, and her heart pounded in her ears. Lying in the bed next to Percy’s was a very thin girl with golden curls and shocking gray eyes. She had such a riveting expression that Calypso had to wonder how she’d ever missed the girl in the first place.

  She found her voice. “Are… are you Annabeth?”

  The blond girl with the terrifying eyes tried to sit up, but it was clearly too much for her. She sagged against the pillow. “Yes.” Her voice was quiet and weak, raspy like it hadn’t been used in a while.

  Calypso could think of nothing to say besides, “You must hate me.”

  Annabeth looked like she wanted to laugh. The corners of her mouth twitched up. “I won’t pretend like it hasn’t crossed my mind, but I…” She sighed, and her eyes took on a distant look. “You saved Percy when I couldn’t help him that day. I could never hate you for that.” A cough wracked her small frame and Calypso took a step toward her, but Annabeth held up a hand. “I’m fine. Though I must admit, I was jealous for a while.”

  Any anger Calypso had had toward Annabeth or Percy melted instantly into guilt. Tears sprang to her eyes and spilled out onto her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, breathless. “I did an awful thing to you…”

  “The curse? I know.”

  “How…?

  “It’s a long story.”

  Calypso shook her head, tears flowing in earnest now. “I… it was all so wrong of me. I know I can’t control who shows up at my island, but I wanted him to stay so much.” She swallowed hard. “I asked him if he wanted to stay. He… he knew what he was going back to. War. Bloodshed. A life of monster attacks and fear. But he left anyway. I never understood why until…”

  “Until?”

  Calypso shrank down onto the nearest bed and her shoulders fell. “Until I realized it was you. He knew how hard his life would be. He must love you a lot if he suffered all that. And… held the sky for you, like he told me. And falling into Tartarus with you? That was so brave and…” she shook her head. “So typical of him.”

  Annabeth heaved several breaths like it hurt to inhale. She didn’t speak.

  Calypso said, so soft she wasn’t sure if Annabeth heard her, “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize that.”

  “I understand.”

  Her heartbeat faltered. That wasn’t at all what she’d been expecting. She’d heard from the other demigods aboard that Annabeth was very possessive, especially when it came to Percy. And what Annabeth said next practically floored her.

  “I can’t imagine what it must have been like for you, alone on that island for hundreds of years. Forced to fall in love with…” She grimaced, and Calypso couldn’t tell if it was from physical pain or mental. “I hope that… Percy helped, maybe a little. He’s good at making people happy.”

  “He is.”

  “But let’s get one thing clear: you’re with Leo.”

  Calypso couldn’t help but smile. That was the Annabeth she’d been expecting. “I’m with Leo.”

  “And Percy’s mine.”

  “He’s yours.”

  Annabeth cleared her throat. “So long as we understand each other.”

  Calypso stood to leave, tears drying on her cheeks. “I could never stand in the way of what you have, and I want you to tell Percy that when he wakes up. Before I talk to him, at least.” She glanced at his bed where he was resting peacefully, white bandages blending with white skin. Her chest tightened painfully, but she was leaving him in good hands. “Like I said, he must love you a lot to do what he’s done in order to be with you.”

  Annabeth sighed, tears forming in her stormcloud eyes. “He does. He was willing to give his life for me the other day, when Gaea was going to…” She bit her lip and breathed, “Thank you, Calypso.”

  “For what?”

  “For saving him. For sending him back to me in one piece. It’s a little difficult to keep him that way, though.”

  Calypso smiled. “He seems to get into trouble a lot.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.”

  As Annabeth fell back against her pillows, eyes slipping closed, Calypso walked silently back to the hall. Tears were in her eyes again, but more tears of relief than anything else. Letting him go, watching him leave last year had hurt like someone had torn our her heart. But she was secure in the knowledge now that she’d done the right thing. Annabeth was happy. Percy was happy. Leo was happy with her.

  She walked out into the sunlight that bathed the deck of the ship, rays of warmth alighting on her skin like a caress. Leo smiled at her reassuringly, and she knew he would always be there for her. For the first time in a long time, Calypso realized she was happy, too.

  She was finally ready to begin again.