The last thing Reyna remembered before blacking out was the gryphon’s claws sinking into the back of her shoulder. It took all of her will power to keep a hold on Scipio’s reins as the poison ate away at her flesh. Her vision began to go fuzzy and her grip began to slip on her gladius, but the gryphon wasn’t giving up just yet. It dove in for another attack, this one aimed at her pegasus. Scipio reared when its talons tore into his hide. The sound made Reyna’s stomach flip with nausea. Holding tight to her steed, she pressed her face into his rain soaked mane. A sob bubbled up in her chest, causing her ribs to flare with white hot pain. Tears burned her eyes as she squeezed them shut.
“I’m sorry,” Reyna gasped into Scipio’s neck. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.”
The gryphon screeched as it came in for another attack. Reyna’s grip on consciousness slipped as she fell into blackness.
Reyna dreamt of New Rome. Of a time before she had learned of the Greeks. Of a time just before Jason had gone missing. Subconsciously, she briefly wondered if her brain was replaying her happiest moments before she died. Jason sat in his chair beside her, retelling a joke that Dakota had told him earlier. It was a silly joke, and Reyna didn’t fully understand it, but she smiled anyway. It wasn’t often that she saw Jason so relaxed and carefree. His blue eyes sparkled with delight as he recalled exactly how Dakota had set up for the punchline. Reyna shook her head at how ridiculous he was, and told him just as much. A sound so abrupt and animalistic erupted from him that it took Reyna a moment to realizing that Jason was laughing. Really laughing. Uncontrollably.
“What’s gotten into you?” Reyna questioned, her own smile growing in response to Jason’s contagious joy.
“What do you mean?” He asked breathlessly as he calmed down. “I’m just… happy, I don’t know.”
Reyna’s heart betrayed her as it beat giddily in her chest. It was just her and Jason and he was happy. Yet she tried to squash that thought as quickly as it had come up. After knowing and working together for so long, Reyna had never been able to get a read on Jason’s feelings. She thought she had been clear about how she felt about him, but Reyna could never tell if it was reciprocated. She was about to ask about his newfound ease when he spoke again. Except this time Jason’s voice wasn’t his own.
“What a lovely little memory. Give up the fight, praetor, and you could stay here forever.”
Reyna stumbled out of her chair, reaching for her gladius only to find that it wasn’t at her side.
“Gaea,” She hissed.“This is not your fight, young one,” Gaea spoke through Jason. His sky blue eyes had turned a solid shade of swirling green, the whites completely swallowed.
“They do not respect your talents, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano,” The goddess’s sleepy voice seemed to seep into her bones, weighing her body down. “Both Jason Grace and Percy Jackson left you to lead an entire legion on your own. Why should you help them? They have never done anything but bring you pain.”
Reyna wanted to reach out and strangle Gaea/Jason, but the goddess seemed to have locked her in place. “Give up now, and you could have them both,” She whispered.
For a selfish moment, Reyna thought about it. All she wanted was to be able to live out her life in New Rome peacefully. Attend college with Jason and find that happiness that he had shared with her that day. But the moment quickly passed and her chest flared with anger. “I am a daughter of Bellona,” Reyna squared her shoulders and tried not to let her fear choke her. “I never back down from a worthy fight.”
In her sleepy state, Gaea used Jason’s face to sneer. It was an ugly and foreign expression on him. The look of it made Reyna sick. “Then you will be forcefully removed from the playing field,” Gaea moved toward her. Reyna fought to step back but she was still stuck in place.
“You will be exiled to a place you can never return from, little Roman,” Jason’s face spread into a sinister smile, the scar on his lip pulled tight. Pain from the gryphon attack blazed in her shoulder, causing her to fall to her knees gasping.
Reyna woke with a scream. Scipio had stopped flying and she was now about to fall to her death in the middle of the Mediterranean. It seemed unfair that she wouldn’t get a more heroic death after all she had been through. There wasn’t a cloud in the clear blue sky and the sea sparkled in the sun as she continued to hurtle toward it. Just as she was about to accept her miserable fate, she noticed a small island not too far ahead. It was just a small blob of green, but if she could get Scipio to keep going for just a little longer they may make it. Scrambling, Reyna tugged on Scipio’s reins in a desperate attempt to save them both. The pegasus jolted and threw his head back.
“Hey, hey, I know,” Reyna tried to calm him. “I know you’re in pain, me too. But just a little longer, I promise.”
His wings began to beat just as his hooves scraped the water. Reyna was so relieved she could have laughed if she were not still fighting to stay alive. Salt water sprayed her face as Scipio stumbled his way to the island, his shuddering breaths reverberating up into Reyna’s own body. Her ribs ached and her back still burned from the gryphon poison, but she forged on. She would not let Annabeth down. If the daughter of Athena could send her a message all the way from Tartarus, Reyna could find her way to Epirus on time.
Too late did Reyna realize that Scipio was loosing speed. They weren’t going to make it. Just a little farther, just a little more. Please. She squeezed her eyes shut as Scipio struggled to stay just above the water. They were close enough to the island now that Reyna could make out the sandy landscape dotted with green hills and lush trees. Then they tumbled into the sea. The warmth of the water surprised Reyna, but not as much as the shallowness. Standing on her flat feet, Reyna was only covered up to her shoulders. She turned to her shivering pegasus.
Scipio was panicking in the water, flapping his wings and crying out in pain. Reyna choked back a cry of her own and made her way over to her friend. She reached out and tried to calm him, tears welling up in her eyes. They spilled over her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. The last thing she wanted to do was lose her companion, but there was no way she could get them both to shore in either of their sorry states. She would only be causing him more pain and prolonging his inevitable death. Reyna pressed her face into his mane and willed herself to be calm for him, lending him all the strength she had left to give. Scipio panted heavily and whined.
Reaching for her knife, Reyna whispered a blessing for her friend and put him out of his misery. As he crumbled to dust in her arms she wept. The sea carried his remnants away, leaving Reyna alone in her mourning. Choking back her tears, Reyna sheathed her knife and struggled toward shore. The journey took longer than she wished as she was slowed by pain and the weight of her wet armour. When she finally reached the beach Reyna crumpled to her knees, heaving with exhaustion. With her luck, Reyna had just stranded herself on a deserted island in the middle of the Mediterranean with no way to get herself back to the mainland. She wanted to stomp her feet and wail; throw a real tempter tantrum and ask the gods Why me? After all she had done, this is what she got. She had come so far only to be thwarted by a gryphon off the coast of Croatia. It wasn’t fair. Yet she knew if she gave up now she would never be able to forgive herself. Annabeth had promised that the Athena Parthenos was the only thing that could stop the Greeks and Romans from killing each other. Reyna unsheathed her gladius and stuck the point in the sand, using the pommel to support her weight and hoist herself to her feet. With shaking legs and a lot of pained grunting, she managed to get herself upright. At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anyone else on the island, but she couldn’t be sure unless she took a good look around. Unfortunately, she was in no shape for that at the moment. Great. She was stranded on a strange island with no food, multiple severe injuries (she definitely had at least two broken ribs) and no help coming. But she was Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. She had survived pirates and found her way to Camp Jupiter. She was a praetor of the Twelfth Legion. She was… not alone.
Despite her body crying out in protest, she grabbed her sword out of the sand and wheeled around on her attacker. As she did so, her hair slapped her face with a heavy, wet thwack, making her feel less than intimidating.
“Ah!” The girl jumped back in surprise, dropping the basket of fruit she had been carrying. Reyna tilted the girl’s head back with the tip of her sword and held her ground. The girl seemed harmless, but Reyna knew better than to judge a person by their exterior. She had spent enough time on Circe’s island to know just how deceiving looks could be.
“What is your name?” Reyna demanded in the steadiest voice she could muster. “Who do you serve?”
The girl simply stared back at Reyna, her warm brown eyes wide with shock. She had long hair, the colour of brown sugar, spilling over her shoulders. She wore a white, sleeveless peplos embroidered with golden thread. Everything about her elegant agelessness screamed DANGER! to Reyna. If sorceresses had a scent, this girl would reek of it.
“I beg your pardon?” The girl balked. “I could very well ask you the same question!”
“I am Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona. Praetor of the Twelfth Legion,” Reyna recited in what she hoped was an intimidating tone. “I will ask you once more. What is your name? Who do you serve?”
The girl regarded her carefully. Her surprise quickly melted into something harder as she looked Reyna up and down in a way that made her uncomfortable. Reyna’s skin prickled under the gaze of this unfamiliar girl. She noticed that the girl’s feet were bare and that her skin was peppered with the light freckles one gets from spending too much time in the sun.
“You’re injured,” She reached out for Reyna’s shoulder, but Reyna jerked her blade in warning. The girl took a step back in surrender. Her expression guarded and impossible to read.
“I am Calypso. I serve no one,” The girl said after pressing her lips into a thin line for a long moment. Reyna’s grip tightened on the sword hilt as her mind raced for every bit of information she knew about Calypso. When she found the stories she was looking for her stomach lurched.
“Then… Then this is Ogygia,” It was less of a question and more of a statement. “You held Odysseus captive here for seven years and refused to let him return to his wife Penelope until the gods forced you to release him.”
Calypso’s eyes went wide once again, this time brimming with tears, “What?” she breathed in disbelief.
“I do not know what you plan to do with me, but I once lived with Circe,” Reyna warned, advancing with her drawn sword once again. “I will not be easily tricked.”
“I did not hold Odysseus captive!” Calypso have shrieked, knocking Reyna’s gladius to the sand with surprising strength and agility. “I took care of him when he washed up on my shores, injured and malnourished. He stayed and left on his own accord!”
Reyna stood shocked, her should throbbing after being knocked so aggressively. Her mind reeled at being disarmed so quickly while having her knowledge of ancient history flipped on its head. Reyna was swimming so deeply in her own thoughts that it took her a moment to realize that Calypso held the expression of a person fighting back tears. Reyna stared, unsure of what to do. She was at a loss for words, but it seemed like that was okay because Calypso began to speak.
“But I’m sure he told Penelope that fictitious version that you know,” She sniffed, holding her strong gaze on Reyna’s. “But that is besides the point, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. Now I ask the questions.”Calypso squared her shoulders and raised her chin. She crossed her arms over her chest and fixed Reyna with what she figured was the most menacing stare the girl could muster with puffy red eyes and a sniffly nose. She cleared her throat and demanded, “What are you doing here? How did you find my island?”
Reyna frowned and shook her head, “Find it? My pegasus and I were knocked out of the sky by a gryphon and—”
Suddenly Reyna remembered her dream and Gaea’s wicked promise: “Then you will be forcefully removed from the playing field. You will be exiled to a place you can never return from, little Roman.”
Reyna sucked in a painful breath that caused black spots to cloud her vision. She brought a shaking hand to her forehead. Reyna’s vision swam and the earth tilted beneath her feet as she began to fit the pieces together. How cruel a trick this was. A loud ringing filled her aching head as she muttered no, no. Vaguely she could make out Calypso worriedly asking if she was alright. She numbly felt gentle hands grip her arms, but she was slipping away. Her panic and exhaustion was consuming her. Just before she blacked out (for the second time that day, how humiliating) she briefly caught a glimpse of the white sand get closer as she collapsed.
Considering the last time Reyna blacked out she was visited by an evil earth goddess who was currently trying to destroy the world, Reyna could not complain this time. She didn’t dream for what seemed like the first time since she’d left Circe’s island. When she woke up, she even felt well rested. Reyna couldn’t even remember the last time she woke up without feeling tired. A deep pulsing pain in her back and shoulder was the first thing to welcome her back to the land of the living. Then she noticed the ceiling soaring above her; it was covered in beautiful multicoloured crystals that sparkled like a kaleidoscope in the flickering firelight. Panic burned in her chest as she realized she was no longer in her armour and her weapons were nowhere in sight. With a racing heart, Reyna muttered a curse to herself under her breath. She attempted to climb out of the foreign bed she had been sleeping in, but the moment she stood her vision went double as another wave of pain washed over her. Reyna stumbled and fell toward the wall of the cave, knocking over a table stacked with copper pots and pans. They crashed to the floor, the sound echoing shrilly in Reyna’s head. Clutching her forehead, she fell to her knees, gasping in pain. She fought off the nausea that rumbled in the pit of her stomach, trying to steady herself. A set of warm, calloused hands cupped her face and tilted it back. Reyna’s vision was still swimming, but she was able to make out the face of a young girl; Calypso. Her soft hair tickled Reyna’s face as she checked her temperature with the back of her hand. Reyna instinctively flinched away from the touch, but Calypso held her tightly. The girl’s eyes were hard and filled with worry, her eyebrows pinched together. Reyna resisted the urge to reach out and smooth the crease out with her thumb, just as Hylla had done for her when she was young.
“Let… go,” Reyna grumbled, trying to swat the sorceress away. She never should have let her guard down. She was weak and defenceless, trapped in this cave on an island that shouldn’t have even existed. Reyna barely had the capacity for embarrassment as she recalled how she told Calypso she would not be easily tricked before collapsing like a ridiculous caricature of a damsel in distress. Now she was blubbering on the floor of a cavern made of multicoloured crystals, fighting back the bile that was forcing its way up her throat.
“You’re too weak,” Calypso’s voice sounded far away and muffled, like she was speaking into a pillow. “I need to treat your wounds. You’ve broken your ribs and have untreated gryphon poison making its way through your system.”
Reyna tried to scoff, but the effort turned her vision green and made her sides scream. The next thing she knew Calypso was holding a wooden bowl filled with warm liquid up to her lips. She tilted the contents into Reyna’s mouth, coating her senses with the aromas of honey, lavender and something else Reyna couldn’t quite place. The bowl disappeared from her cloudy vision and Calypso sat back on her heels, examining Reyna. Reyna spit as much of the liquid as she could back in Calypso’s face, leaving the rest to dribble down her chin. Reyna stared at the girl in challenge, trying to prepare for a fight that she knew she was in no shape to take part of. Still, she would rather go down fighting than be slowly poisoned by an evil nymph and left to rot in a cave.
“You are insufferable!” Calypso grunted. Reyna allowed herself a smug smile, curling her lip at the other girl.
“If that’s how you want to act, then so be it,” Calypso looped her arms under Reyna’s and lifted her back up onto the bed despite Reyna’s adamant yet weak protests. “But if you don’t at least rest, you will die. And that will be your fault.”
“I will not be defeated by you, witch,” Reyna sneered.
“Oh, yes,” Calypso dismissed. “I am shaking in fear of the great Roman praetor. However will I defend myself against a girl who can barely sit up in bed without getting sick?” She’d picked up a linen cloth and had begun to wipe the mixture that Reyna had spat at her off her face, although Reyna had managed to get some on her dress as well. Reyna hoped it would stain.
“I do not… give in to magic… tricks…” Try as she might to fight it, Reyna felt the exhaustion hitting her once more after her attempt to get up. “You cannot… cannot fool me.”
“Mmm hmm,” Calypso barely looked at her as Reyna’s head hit the pillow and began to lose focus on her surroundings once more. “You are very astute, daughter of Bellona.”
And then Reyna lost consciousness. Again.
She was getting really annoyed with constantly passing out. It was not very Roman-like of her. This time she promised herself that she would stay conscious. Taking her time and being as careful as possible, Reyna sat herself up in the bed and took a real scan of her surroundings. There was a loom over on the other side of the cave with a half finished garment left hanging over it. In nearly every corner of the space, there were chores magically doing themselves. By the mouth of the cave a wash basin scrubbed dishes on its own. At the foot of the bed, laundry was folding and stacking itself neatly in a cupboard. Reyna brought her hands up to rest her head in them, only to realize that her right one was bandaged. Had that been like that the last time she’d woken up? She didn’t think so… She quickly began to search the rest of her body for medical attention when she realized she was not in her own clothes. Someone had dressed her in a pair of white linen pants and a matching shirt. She hoped the invisible spirits had changed her and not Calypso. Upon discovering the wardrobe change, she also found that wounds on her legs, ribs and her shoulder had been attended to. The sting in her shoulder was still present, but it had faded to a dull ache. Reyna managed to scoot herself to sit at the edge of the bed and began to unravel the wrapping on her hand. Just as she was almost done, Calypso entered the cave carrying an armful of vegetables and humming a gentle tune to herself. Momentarily forgetting her own task, Reyna watched her hair, now pulled into a single braid, swing down her back as she moved. Reyna found that she couldn’t pull her gaze away from her. Calypso turned to the cupboard of linens and finally noticed that Reyna was no longer sleeping. Then she noticed that Reyna had been messing with her dressings.
“What are you doing?” The girl cried, swiftly reaching for Reyna’s hands. “You are so stubborn, aren’t you? Why won’t you accept any help?” Calypso pulled out a new strip of gauze and rummaged through the bedside table while muttering something under her breath about hard headed Romans. She pulled out a small tin and popped the lid open. It was filled with a goopy substance that smelled of rosemary and eucalyptus.
“No,” Reyna snatched her hand away from the girl kneeling at her bedside. Calypso looked up at her, a flash of hurt passing across her face. Something in Reyna tugged at the expression, but she didn’t let herself dwell on it. She couldn’t trust this girl. Calypso was known to trap men on her island in an attempt to keep them as her immortal husband, but Reyna had never heard stories of women washing up on the shores of Ogygia.
“I won’t hurt you, Reyna,” Calypso pleaded, her eyes shining. “I just want to help you.”
Reyna regarded her cautiously. She prided herself on being able to read other people well, but she was not like Aurum and Argentum. Reyna would never really know if a person was being honest. She needed to trust her weariness of this girl. Reyna shook her head in lieu of a response.
“The gods are cruel, are they not, Reyna?” Calypso moved from her spot kneeling on the floor and took a place beside Reyna on the edge of the bed.
Reyna didn’t reply. She kept her gaze focused on the half healed wound etched into the palm of her hand. Calypso continued speaking as if Reyna had replied anyway. “I was punished for supporting my father, Atlas, in the first Titan war, as I’m sure you know. The gods sent me here and locked me away. I cannot leave, but I would occasionally be gifted a visitor,” Calypso began to unravel her braid as she spoke, gazing at the far side of the cave. “Part of my curse is that the visitor would be a hero I could not help but fall in love with, yet he would never be able to stay.”
Calypso combed her fingers through her hair and looked over at Reyna. Reyna pursed her lips and kept her eyes fixed on her hand, tracing the jagged red cut with her thumb.
“I did not trap Odysseus here,” Calypso forged on. “I asked if he would stay, but he had a wife back home, so he left.”
“Then why am I still here? If you don’t keep prisoners,” Reyna’s voice was rough as sandpaper and hurt just as much from misuse.
“I do not know,” Calypso admitted. She reached out for Reyna’s injured hand once more and this time Reyna let her. She redressed and wrapped the hand as she continued to tell Reyna her story. The salve was cool to the touch and made Reyna’s fingertips tingle.
“I have never had a female visitor before, so I assume the magic of Ogygia has broken. During the last Titan war, a hero named Percy Jackson—”
Reyna turned to look at Calypso so fast she almost gave herself whiplash, “Percy Jackson?”
“Yes,” Calypso’s brows furrowed. “You’ve heard of him?”
“I… yes, I know him,” Reyna frowned. She didn’t consider Percy a friend, really. She had only known him for a short while when he was at Camp Jupiter and before that she had blamed him for ruining her life. “We work together.” She settled.
“Well…” Calypso sniffed and went back to her work, blinking more than she had been previously, “Percy was supposed to ask the gods to free me from my prison. But, I am still here, as you can see. The gods no longer visit me as they once used to and now… you arrive.”
A million thoughts swirled through Reyna’s head. Percy had been on Ogygia? Suddenly a realization hit her that was almost too painful to acknowledge. Had she been sent here to share Calypso’s curse as some sort of cruel joke? To love people who would never love her back, for the rest of eternity? Calypso’s story was like listening to her own told back to her. The thought made her ill.
“How can I leave? I just tell you and you let me go?” Reyna gulped down the bitter taste of bile that settled sourly on her tongue. Calypso shook her head sadly.
“The raft that carries my visitors away only shows up once I have fallen in love with the hero that has found his way into my care,” Calypso neatly tied off the end of the gauze and closed the lid of salve. “As I said, Ogygia’s magic has broken. I’m afraid we are both stuck here.”
“No, no! I need to get to Epirus!” Panic squeezed Reyna’s throat, making her eyes water. “My legion is going to wage war on the Greeks if I don’t deliver the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood. There must be a way!”
“I am sorry, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, but I am afraid there is none,” Calypso stood and placed a warm hand on Reyna’s left biceps. “Unfortunately, I think the gods have cursed us both.”
As much as she hated crying, Reyna let her tears flow freely once Calypso left her alone. She had said something about gathering ingredients for dinner, but Reyna found she didn’t have much of an appetite at the moment. Reyna wasn’t one to dwell on the negatives and feel bad for herself, but she was having a really difficult time seeing the positives of the situation. She had worked her pegasus to death trying to make the journey and it had all been for nothing. Now she had no way off of this ridiculous island. Guilt was a beast eating its way though her stomach. If she had any less dignity, she would have thrown herself onto the floor kicking and screaming, cursing the gods for being so callous. That being said, Reyna pulled together the last strands of her self respect and wiped her tears roughly with the heels of her hands. She pulled her knees to her chest and forced herself to think. Reyna was a clever demigod. She had often relied on her wits to get herself out of seemingly impossible situations in the past. In this world of gods and goddesses, giants and titans, Reyna couldn’t believe that anything was hopeless. You could achieve anything if you set your mind to it; if she didn’t trust that then she never would have made it as praetor.
And yet, for the first time in her life, Reyna was at a loss. If what Calypso had said was true, that the magic had broken, there would be no way for her to get off this cursed island. Gods, Reyna wanted to scream! She wanted to pull her hair out and yell until her mother heard her, but she knew that would do no good. At the very least, it might make her feel a little bit better for a short while. Ugh, even Reyna was getting tired of her own whining. She pushed herself out of the bed and stood for the first time in… jumping Jupiter, how long had she been here for? Her empty stomach lurched and the acrid taste of a deep sleep bite at her tongue. Grounding herself, Reyna took a deep breath and pressed her bare feet into the cold stone floor. The earth, solid beneath her feet, was a comfort to keep her tethered to reality. Shakily, Reyna made her way over to a wash basin in the corner. She felt weak and disoriented from spending so much time unconscious. She cupped some of the cool water in her hands and began to wash her face. The temperature shock cleared some of her residual cloudiness and fatigue. With a deep breath, she scrubbed at her eyes and finally met her own dark, shattered gaze in the gilded bronze mirror hanging in front of her. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen from crying. Despite all her sleep, she had eye bags so purple she looked as if she had been punched in both eyes. Her cheeks were sunken and it looked like a harpy had made a nest out of Reyna’s dark hair. The reflection staring back at Reyna couldn’t be her. The girl was far too frail. At this point she had faced so many shocks she wouldn’t be surprised if she found out she had grown dracaenae snake legs and developed the ability to spit hydra poison. Steadying herself against the basin, Reyna began to unravel her bandages, muttering words of self encouragement. Most of her wounds had healed to angry raised scars. She ran trembling fingers over three parallel welts on her right forearm.
“Oh, you’re up,” Reyna turned and saw Calypso standing at the mouth of the cave holding a bowl of something that smelled really good. Reyna’s stomach grumbled in response.
“I was just-”
Calypso set down the steaming bowl by Reyna’s empty bed. She stepped toward Reyna and batted her hands away from the bandages.
“Here, allow me.” Calypso set her nimble hands to untying the gauze covering Reyna’s worst injury: the one from the gryphon attack that had nearly killed her. Reyna watched Calypso work in the mirror. The nymph was wearing plain linen pants identical to Reyna’s. Her shoulders were bare and whenever she reached up to examine Reyna’s shoulder, her linen wrap shirt would bunch up and expose a sliver of her smooth abdomen. A warm blush rose in Reyna’s cheeks when she realized she had been staring.
“Most of these scars will go away over time,” Calypso was so close and spoke so softly that her breath tickled the back of Reyna’s neck, sending a shiver down her spine.“Uhm,” Reyna cleared her throat, hoping her voice sounded steadier than her racing heart. “Most?”
“Some of them were rather deep and already a few days old when you arrived,” She replied. “And this one on your shoulder,” Calypso traced the lines of the jagged claw marks that were sunken deep into her scapula. It was nowhere near as painful as it had once been, but it still prickled. However, Calypso’s touch was gentle and soothing.
“The poison had already been eating away for quite awhile by the time you allowed me to treat you,” Calypso’s tone was light, but Reyna got the sense that the other girl was chastising her. Reyna pulled her sleeve back over her shoulder and stepped away from the sorceress. When Reyna turned to look at her, Calypso had folded her hands to her chest.
“Why are you helping me?” Reyna demanded. The question seemed to catch Calypso by surprise. Her eyebrows shot up and she opened her mouth to respond, yet no words came out. Instead she just shook her head and dropped her arms to her sides. She fiddled with the fraying end of the golden cord that hung from the waist of her pants.
“When I first heard you come up onto the island, I had been prepared to be angry,” Calypso brushed past Reyna and began to scrub her hands in the wash basin. “Angry at you. Angry with the gods for sending you… But then I saw that you were…”
“A girl?”
“Yes,” with her hands still wet, Calypso ran her fingers through her long hair. It smelled of warm cinnamon and honey, reminding Reyna of the bakeries back in New Rome. The thought made her heart heavy with longing. “I’m not sure why or how you were sent here,” Calypso admitted.
“It was Gaea.”
“What?”
“I… I think Gaea sent me here to get rid of me,” Reyna twisted the ring on her finger nervously. “It’s a very long, complicated story.”
“Well, I like stories,” Calypso gestured back toward the bowl of food on the bedside table. “You could tell me while we eat, if you don’t mind.”
So, they sat on the bed— Reyna against the headboard and Calypso cross legged at the foot, and ate stew while Reyna explained everything from the very beginning. She started with the day Jason went missing and how a few months later Percy Jackson had showed up carrying the goddess Juno across the Tiber. Calypso was a good listener. She would nod and reacted with small hmm’s and I see’s at the appropriate moments. While Reyna spoke, Calypso’s eyes almost never left her face. Under her gaze, Reyna felt somewhat flustered, but she couldn’t understand why. Perhaps it was the idea that she was divulging her deepest worries to an immortal daughter of a titan whom only appeared to be Reyna’s own age. When Reyna reached the end of her story, Calypso just sat quietly for a moment. Then she took Reyna’s empty bowl from her grasp and climbed off the bed. Silently, she made her way to the wash bin and began to clean the dishes. She didn’t speak until she was done.
“You are a brave leader, Reyna,” Calypso turned back to look at her, her expression unreadable. “We must have faith in your friends.”
Despite her low spirits, Reyna feigned agreement and nodded. Annabeth had been so certain that Reyna had to be the one to bridge the rift between the two camps. Perhaps they would be able to formulate another plan. Maybe Jason could be able to find his way back to Long Island with the Athena Parthenos in time.
“I’m tired,” Reyna said flatly.
“Oh, yes,” Calypso chewed her bottom lip as if she were anxious “That must have been very exhausting for you. I’ll let you sleep now… Good night.”
“Good night,” Reyna watched Calypso disappear out into the darkness of the night. As she wiggled her way down into the bedsheets. She pulled the blanket up to her chin and curled up on her side. Reyna had never felt so useless in her entire life. Percy and Annabeth were forging their way through Tartarus, meanwhile Reyna was cooped up at some mythological five-star resort. The thought left a sour taste on her tongue. As more self depreciating thoughts swarmed her brain, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Eventually her thoughts drifted to the long hours she used to spend in the stables with the horses at Camp Jupiter and her eyelids began to grow heavy.
Golden sunlight trickled over Reyna’s face the next morning. A warm breeze carried the smells of the salty sea mixed with sweet fruits baking in the hot sun. Before Reyna even opened her eyes she knew that it was going to be another beautiful day. Part of her wished she had washed up on some miserable rock that only knew raging storms and that she were forced to eat mossy grasses to stay alive. Maybe that way she would feel less guilty for getting knocked out of the sky. And yet, here Reyna was, waking up in the comfiest bed she’d ever had the pleasure to sleep in on a perfectly beautiful island with kind and generous hospitality. Stretching out and groaning, Reyna rolled over and noticed that there was a neatly folded pile of fresh clothes on the bedside table. A small bar of soap sat atop the clean linens.
After her shallow bath in a tin tub that had been hiding behind a folding screen, Reyna felt truly refreshed for the first time in days. Unlike the smell of cinnamon that always seemed to cling to Calypso, Reyna now smelled of jasmine and lavender. The chiton that had been left by her bedside was lightweight and fell just above her ankles. Although Reyna had worn (bedsheet) togas during senate meetings in New Rome, she had always had jeans and her purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt on underneath. Without them, standing in front of the mirror in only the dress, Reyna felt exposed. A small part of her cried to put the linen pants and shirt back on, but they were in dire need of a good wash. With a heavy sigh Reyna met her own gaze in her reflection. The view was less shocking than the last time, but Reyna was still as thin as a rake. With trembling hands, she reached out for a bronze comb and began to brush through her long dark hair. It hung wet and limp down her back when she finally exited the cave for the first time since being stranded. After spending so much time indoors, the harsh light of the sun reflecting off the white sand almost blinded her. Shielding her eyes with one arm and hiking up her long skirts with the other, Reyna began to trudge her way down to the beach. Gentle waves lapped at the shoreline where Calypso knelt over shining lengths of metal. As Reyna got closer, she realized with a start that Calypso was cleaning Reyna’s weapons and armour. Reyna knelt in the hot sand beside the other girl and regarded her own reflection in her imperial gold dagger.
“Good morning, praetor,” Calypso said.
“Thank you for the, uhm, soap and clothes,” Reyna replied in lieu of a greeting.
Calypso laughed. “Well I couldn’t let you go and stink in those pants and shirt.” Reyna blushed furiously. Had she smelled that awful? When was the last time she was able to bathe before this morning?
“Still, thank you,” Reyna reached out for her gold breast plate and set to work on scrubbing it clean of dried blood. Calypso hummed in response as she continued to wipe down Reyna’s gladius. She had braided her warm brown hair into an intricate yet casual crown around her head. Little wispy strands had escaped around her ears and at the base of her neck, curling in the humidity. Unlike Reyna’s own complex wrapped chiton, Calypso herself wore a simple calf length frock. The two worked in silence for the most part. Every so often Calypso would hum a tune to herself and Reyna would find herself staring at her while she carried out the task at hand. Finally, just as they were finishing up and Calypso began to stand, Reyna asked the question that had been gnawing at her since the first time she woke up.
“How long have I been here?”
Calypso considered Reyna for a moment before answering. “Time on Ogygia… it is not like out there,” she fixed her gaze on the endlessly blue horizon. “I can’t know for sure, Reyna. I’m sorry.”
Reyna nodded. “Right. I figured…”
Reyna understood the strange magic that effected the passing of time on sorceress’s islands. Circe’s own had been just the same. The new knowledge did not comfort her.
“Well,” Calypso reached out and tugged at Reyna’s handing in a silent request for her to stand. “Let’s go eat something. It’s about time for lunch, and you haven’t even had breakfast.”
The next afternoon, Reyna found herself helping Calypso tend to her garden while telling stories of Camp Jupiter and New Rome. Reyna told Calypso of the battle at Mount Tamalpais and how the Twelfth Legion fought bravely against the titans. She shared some of her happiest memories from Camp Jupiter. And Calypso returned the favour. When recalling her life before the prophecy of seven began to be too much, Calypso would sing in an ancient language. Reyna didn’t understand the words, but the melancholy story was all too familiar. They spent all day planting and harvesting. Occasionally Reyna would get distracted by Calypso’s striking profile or her shy smile. In the warm glow of the setting sun, Calypso’s hair looked like amber honey pouring over her bare shoulders. Before Reyna even thought about what she was doing, she reached out and ran her fingers through the silky strands. Surprised by the sudden touch, Calypso’s soft melody trailed off halfway through a somber note. Reyna’s cheeks grew warm as she snatched her hand away, quickly going back to attend to the fig sapling. Reyna dug her hands into the warm soil, fixing the little green sprout with an intense gaze. Calypso shifted to Reyna’s left and set her trowel atop the dirt. The other girl stood, wiping her dirty hands on her olive coloured skirt.
“I’ll be right back,” Calypso said with a kind smile. “Don’t kill my figs while I’m gone.”
“Can’t make any promises,” Reyna laughed thinly.
As Calypso walked up the path toward the cave entrance Reyna watched her trim flowers from low hanging trees with her pruning sheers. She tucked each blossom into her skirts pockets with such care it made Reyna’s heart squeeze. Reyna sat back on her heels and looked down at her grimy hands. The crescents of her nails were stained black from digging in the garden. A short while later, Calypso came back down the winding stone path and tucked one of the delicate flowers behind Reyna’s ear. A bronze handled brush rested in her other hand.
“May I?” She asked, holding up the brush.
Reyan stared. “What?” She asked rather densely.
“Brush and braid your hair, silly,” Calypso reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a handful of glittering bronze hairpins.
“Oh…” Reyna scrunched her eyebrows together and pressed her lips into a thin line. The only person who had ever done Reyna’s hair, aside from herself, had been her sister. Reyna found the act strangely intimate and instructively touched the dark hair that hung over her shoulder.
Calypso gave a weak, sheepish smile and began to stuff the pins back in her pocket. “Sorry, forget I asked. It’s been a long time since I’ve had female company and I admit that I’ve forgotten myself.”
“No!” Reyna reached out for Calypso’s hand. “It’s just… well I’m not really used to…” Reyna shook her head, at a loss for words. Were they friends? That didn’t seem like the right word for the strange relationship Calypso and her had formed.
“You can braid my hair so long as you don’t make it look like a beehive.” When she looked up at the other girl again, Calypso’s eyes shone with something Reyna couldn’t quite place. Nobody had ever looked at Reyna like that before, whatever that look was was, but it made her heart flutter curiously in her chest.
Calypso’s hands were gentle in her hair as she brushed through it. Reyna leaned back and closed her eyes while Calypso told her of her own sisters, the Hesperides. The sun painted everything in a glowing copper hue as it began to disappear over the horizon. As the sky turned the colour of a ripe plum, the moonlace in the gardens blossomed and glowed silver. Reyna brushed her finger tips over the delicate petals. Calypso worked a pin into Reyna’s hair so gingerly, Reyna hardly even noticed she was doing it.
“We were known as the daughters of the evening,” Calypso rested her soft hands on Reyna’s shoulders when she was done with her hair. Her gaze fell on the silver moonlace that Reyna had been admiring. Washed with the light of the sunset, Reyna understood the nickname for the Hesperides. Calypso looked ethereal in the soft remnants of daylight.
“You look very noble with your hair up like that,” Calypso commented, once again managing to make Reyna blush. She hoped it wasn’t noticeable in the red of the sunset.
“Then I suppose you’ll need to do my hair everyday,” Reyna teased.
Calypso simply laughed as gentle as a summer breeze and stood up from the place where she had been lounging beside Reyna in the grass. “I’m going to have dinner.” Once again, Reyna watched as Calypso made her way up the path until she disappeared in the foliage before she got up to follow.
The passing days were filled with ochre sunsets, the sweet smell of sun ripened peaches and Calypso’s saccharine melodies. Whenever Reyna wasn’t training to rebuild her strength she spent her time at Calypso’s side in the garden or laying by her side in the grass telling each other stories. Reyna retold her countless adventures with Jason and how she made her way up to praetor.
“Jason,” Calypso hummed one sunny afternoon. Reyna was stretched out in the grass with her head in Calypso’s lap. She had just finished telling Calypso about one of her favourite war games at camp and how she had absolutely destroyed Jason. “You talk about him a lot.”
Reyna opened her eyes, squinting in the sun as she looked up at Calypso. Her long hair was free and spilling down her shoulders like a waterfall of liquid caramel. For the past little while Calypso had been playing with Reyna’s hair; braiding small strands only to comb them out with her fingers and begin all over again. “He was my closest friend…” Reyna said slowly.
“Was?”
Reyna pursed her lips and lifted herself onto one forearm. “Things were different when he returned to Camp Jupiter after having his memories taken. I only spoke to him briefly while he was there but… he has new friends; a new life.”
Calypso reached out and ran a soft thumb along one of Reyna’s cheekbones. The touch sent an electric spark down Reyna’s spine. “You loved him?” Calypso asked gently.
Reyna shook her head. “No… I thought I did, but I think that was only because I felt that I should. Most praetors that work that closely together end up in a romantic relationship so I guess I figured we would as well. Regardless if my feelings were true or not, he obviously never felt that way about me.”
“He seems like a fool to me.” Calypso smiled. Then she fell back in the grass and closed her eyes. Reyna let her head return to its spot on Calypso’s lap.
With the sun warm on her face and her head resting comfortably in Calypso’s lay, Reyna began to look back on all the emotions she had harboured for Jason and even Percy, at one point. Calypso had asked her if she’d loved Jason. Before landing on Ogygia Reyna might have said yes, but now she wasn’t so sure. All of those feelings that she’d heard the children of Venus talk about, the butterflies and feelings of lightheadedness; Reyna had never experienced those. Not until recently. Her life was seemingly flipped on its head causing her to rethink everything. Reyna thought about Annabeth and Piper and how when she first met them she understood right away what their boyfriends saw in them. It was not a jealousy of the girls, but rather of their partners. Nothing was as she had previously thought, but now it all felt so clear. So right.
Reyna tilted her head up slightly to look up at Calypso. Her chest rose and fell in the even breaths of sleep. Reyna’s heart pitter-pattered fondly in her chest. Idly, she thought that this should scare her, but all she felt was peace.
Training without an arena or a partner was proving to be more difficult than Reyna first thought. Spending so many days out of commission had left her arms weak and sore, yet she pushed herself to hold her gladius high. On the beach, baking under the hot sun, Reyna practiced her footwork. After an hour of sweating and stumbling in the sand, Calypso came down to meet Reyna with a picnic lunch. Reyna wiped her sweaty hands on her pants and went to join Calypso in the grassy hills. The two sat shoulder to shoulder and ate fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden.
“You are a dedicated soldier,” Calypso said.
Reyna rolled a plump purple grape over in the palm of her hand before setting it down. “If there is any chance I find my way off this island, I need to be prepared.”
Calypso picked idly at the edge of the blanket they were sitting on. Today she was wearing a loose peplos similar to the one she had on the day Reyna crash landed on the island. A belt of golden interlocking leaves cinched the deep purple fabric at the waist. Reyna studied Calypso’s regal features while the girl basked in the sun.
“It must be hard training on you own,” she said.
“It’s definitely not ideal,” Reyna agreed.
Calypso sat up and grabbed Reyna’s hands in her own. “Then train with me!”
“Uh… What?” Reyna stared at the other girl.
“A long while ago a pirate was here and he left his sword,” Calypso’s smile was so wide, Reyna’s own cheeks hurt just looking at her. “You can use your gladius and I will use his sword! It will be so much fun!” Calypso looked so thrilled with the idea, Reyna couldn’t find it within herself to turn her down. It was such a sweet and genuine offer. So, Reyna prepared herself to spend the rest of the afternoon teaching Calypso how to spar while she went back into the cave to find the sword. Soon after Calypso returned, Reyna realized her mistake. Calypso was a quick learner and had apparently been trained before. Reyna had underestimated the girl and found herself in over her head. While Reyna had been recovering from her injuries, Calypso had remained working hard in her garden as well as at her loom. She was faster in her dress than Reyna anticipated. The sand made it difficult for Reyna to maintain her footing, but Calypso seemed to have no troubles with it. She danced around Reyna to the clashing music of their blades meeting. Soon, the harmless sparring match became more competitive as they both refused to back down. When Calypso attempted another flashy spin, Reyna caught her off guard and pulled her knife from where it was strapped to her hip. In one swift motion Reyna parried Calypso’s next strike, effectively disarming her. Reyna wrapped one arm around Calypso’s middle, pinning her arms to her sides, and pressed her imperial gold dagger to the side of Calypso’s neck. The blade glinted in the sunlight, casting a warm glow over Calypso’s already pink face.
“I win,” Reyna breathed heavily. They were so close Reyna could feel Calypso’s own racing heart beating in her chest.
“You cheated,” Calypso spoke in between her own ragged breaths. Sweat plastered stray hairs in a frame around her flushed face.
“No such thing as cheating in a battle,” Reyna sheathed her dagger and released Calypso from her grasp. She bent down to retrieve Calypso’s fallen weapon from the sand.
“Your weapon, my lady,” She held out the sword for Calypso in a mock bow, pleased with the snort of laughter she received from the other girl. When Reyna stood up straight, Calypso cupped Reyna’s face in her small hands, causing Reyna to blush more than she thought possible.
“I suppose you make a formidable opponent, praetor,” Calypso smiled.
Reyna scoffed and nervously pulled away from Calypso’s grasp. “I’m a formidable opponent?”
Calypso pouted and said, “You only won because you pulled out your knife. Not very Roman of you.”
“I was held captive on a pirate ship before I was trained by Romans,” Reyna replied.
“And they trained you?”
“No, I fought for my respect,” Reyna didn’t bother to add that she had to do that all again once she got to Camp Jupiter.
“There is a bright fire in you, praetor,” Calypso tucked a dark strand of hair behind Reyna’s ear. Calypso’s eyes were filled with such a deep sadness, Reyna wanted nothing more than reach into her and pull it all out. Too often, especially in times like these, Reyna wished she knew what Calypso was thinking. There was something about her that made Calypso so unreadable. Maybe it was the fact that she was an immortal daughter of a titan. Reyna found that most immortal beings were hard to read, but Calypso was so different from all the others she’d met during her times of questing. When Reyna met Venus in Charleston, the goddess had regarded Reyna as a child would their dolls; toys to be used to entertain and thrown aside when they were no longer interesting. Venus was kind, but she also seemed to view Reyna’s life as something so miniscule. While Venus had been distant, Calypso was humble and inviting. And yet, there was something about Calypso that unnerved Reyna. Nobody had ever had the ability to make Reyna feel so exposed with only their gaze. Little bolts of electricity shot up and down Reyna’s arms whenever Calypso looked at her for any sort of prolonged period of time. Whenever their hands brushed Reyna wanted to reach out for Calypso and never let go. Was Reyna as hard to read for Calypso as Calypso was for her? She feared that all her desires were plainly written across her face whenever Calypso smiled and Reyna blushed.
“What are you thinking?” Reyna blurted.
Calypso turned toward her, eyes wide. “Oh… I just…” She laughed and looked down at her feet half buried in the white sand. “I’ve just realized that you have to go.” Reyna couldn’t quite comprehend what Calypso had just said. It was such an awful thing to say after spending so many wonderful days together. Unwelcome tears stung the corners of Reyna’s eyes at that. She took a step back from Calypso, but she reached out for Reyna’s face.
“That’s not what I meant, Reyna,” She said hastily. “I truly enjoy your company. Reyna, you will forever hold a sacred place in my heart, it’s just that… you do not belong here, my praetor.”
“I don’t understand—” Calypso now placed both hands firmly on either side of Reyna’s face and brought their foreheads together. Dull nails bit into Reyna’s jaw. She had to cross her eyes in order to see Calypso clearly.
“I do not want you to leave, Reyna,” Calypso whispered. “You mean too much to me, but you do not belong here. Your place it out there. Saving the world.”
“You talk as if I have a choice,” Reyna laughed bitterly. “I can’t do anything, Calypso.”
Calypso squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her lips into a thin line. She took a deep breath and said, “You are going to get on that raft and sail to Epirus. You are going to take the Athena Parthenos back to the Greek camp and save the world from falling into chaos.”Reyna tried to pull back. “The raft? You said it wouldn’t—” And then Calypso kissed her, firm and desperate. For a moment, Reyna stood stunned in Calypso’s embrace while her brain tried to catch up with what was happening. When she finally got her wits back, Reyna brought a hand up to cup the back of Calypso’s head, deepening the kiss. Her heart hammered so hard in her chest she was sure it would burst. Calypso pulled away, leaving Reyna gasping. Reyna stared at her for a second and then pulled her in again. When their lips met Reyna could have sworn that the world stopped spinning. She felt weightless in her own body; the only thing keeping her grounded were Calypso’s arms around her. Then Calypso stepped away again, this time putting a hand out to keep Reyna at a distance. Calypso’s eyes glistened with tears that she didn’t bother to wipe away.
“You have to go before it’s too late, Reyna,” She said, her voice thick.
“I—” With wide eyes Reyna noticed the simple bound raft bumping up against the shore and her stomach flipped uneasily. “But you said…”
“The gods are so cruel, my praetor,” Calypso’s voice shook with the effort of holding back a sob. “After you’re done saving the world, promise me you won’t forget your time here.”
“Calypso…” Reyna looked from Calypso, to the raft and back again. “I don’t…”
“That’s okay, you don’t have to say anything,” Calypso’s cheeks were now streaked with salty tears. She pushed Reyna toward the raft at the edge of the beach. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled something out, stuffing it into Reyna’s hand. The object was cool and rough against her palm. Reyna held it so tightly that the edges cut into her skin. Reyna had never felt so conflicted in her entire life. Logically, she knew her duty was to the Twelfth Legion and that she had to be the one to return the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood, yet a large part of her screamed to stay. It would be so easy to let the raft float away without her and to stay here with Calypso forever. But she knew that wasn’t right. She couldn’t be selfish, Annabeth was counting on her. Reyna reached out and squeezed Calypso’s hand.
“I will never forget you,” Reyna choked out. Calypso eased Reyna onto the raft, holding onto her just as tightly. “What if… maybe you could come—”
Calypso kissed the back of Reyna’s hand and sent her a watery smile. “You and I both know the gods would not allow that.”
“But—”
“Be brave, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona. My praetor.”
The waves began to tug at the small raft, pulling it away from the shore. Too soon did Calypso’s fingers slip from Reyna’s. She pressed a hand to her chest and tried to understand it all. Just when Reyna finally began to understand herself and her own emotions, the rug was pulled from under her feet and it was all taken way. Tears burned her eyes and Reyna welcomed them. As Ogygia slowly became a small line on the disappearing horizon, Reyna uncurled her fingers and looked at the gift Calypso had pressed into her hand before pushing her away. A small crystal winked at her in the sunlight. The white rock was sanded into a small, rough pendant and strung onto a thin cord of bronze. Looking at the necklace, the words of Venus echoed through Reyna’s head: no demigod will heal your heart.
How could her heart heal after this? Reyna didn’t think it was possible. Calypso was right, the gods were cruel.
Reyna closed her eyes and whispered, “Take me to Epirus.” She rested her back against the mast and willed herself to remember every detail of Calypso’s face. Reyna never wanted to forget the way Calypso’s eyes would go wide and a surprised laugh would escape her whenever Reyna caught her off guard.
She wasn’t sure how long she was on the raft, but when Reyna opened her eyes, Ogygia was gone. It was replaced by the green landscape of Epirus looming in the distance. Dark clouds churned above the sloping hills. Flashes of purple light shot into the sky as thunder rumbled low and deep. Rocking in the air at the edges of the storm the Argo II was docked. It’s celestial bronze hull reflected amaranthine. Reyna strung the necklace around her neck and pressed the crystal to her chest. She gripped the hilt of her dagger and willed the raft to dock below the giant trireme in the sky.