A/N:- Yeah I will probably be getting a lot of flak for this. But the last few months have been hellish to say the least. When I wasn't writing tests I was preparing for them and I just couldn't bring myself to come back to my stories no matter how much I wanted. But good news is I am back and intend to be more regular now. Not just with this one but my other stories as well. Anyway enjoy.
Divided We Stand
Percy checked his reflection in the mirror. The steam from the hot shower had fogged it up hiding his numerous scars. It was something he was grateful for. Like everything else in his life, his body too now served as a bitter reminder of the things he had gone through…. The things he had lost and sacrificed.
The events of the past few days wore heavily on him. He had made some tough decisions in the past few days. Decisions he was still questioning the wisdom of. He had been doing a lot of that lately and it wasn't something he felt entirely comfortable with. Even during his darkest times he had always been aware of what he had to do.
He never questioned his judgement, he only acted.
But then again in those days the consequences of not acting were always going to be more dire.
That's where he got his strength and convictions from and the belief that no matter what sacrifices he made, the results will always be worth it.
These days he wasn't so sure.
His life had now been reduced to two points.
Cause and effect.
Action and consequences.
Simple enough it seemed then why the hell wasn't it? He came to help but the beneficiaries of his help were hardly better off than they were before he came to help them. One of them was incapacitated and the rest were hardly any better. In fact if it weren't for Calypso he doubted any of them would be alive right now.
With that thought his focus now turned to their host for the night.
Calypso.
He felt ashamed that over the years he failed to give her any thought, so immersed he was in his own misery. He had been selfish and yet she came to him in his hour of greatest need….. again.
When he exited the bathroom he found the subject of his thoughts sitting on his bed.
His throat went dry.
Dressed in blue denim shorts and a white sleeveless top she would have resembled a regular teenager except she was anything but. She had let her hair loose which fell past her shoulders. She wore no make-up and only a small melancholic smile graced her face. That's when Percy realized that time hadn't made him immune to her beauty and grace.
"Hey." She said after what felt like an eternity.
"Hey." Percy replied his voice feeling a little hoarse. "Hey" he repeated after clearing his throat.
"I brought you some clothes to sleep in." She gestured to a set of white pjs placed next to her.
"Yeah, thanks." Percy nodded before realizing that at the moment the only thing protecting his modesty was a towel wrapped around his waist.
His embarrassment must have been evident on his face, because Calypso was now laughing at him. It wasn't a loud laugh, just a small chuckle as if she was trying not to embarrass him any further, just the way he remembered.
"Can you just turn around?" He requested the giggling titan.
For a moment Calypso looked like she was going to argue, her eyes shining playfully with mirth, but then decided against it as she dutifully faced away from him.
"No peeking." Percy warned as he hurriedly pulled on the clothes, which were similar to the ones he wore during his time in Ogygia.
"I have changed your clothes before you know." Calypso said with a hint of tease in her voice.
"Not while I was conscious." Percy grumbled. "I am done you can turn around now."
Calypso faced him again and both of them stood around awkwardly all playfulness gone.
Calypso seemed to be struggling too. It was as if something was on her mind but she wasn't sure how to address it.
"I owe you an apology." Percy finally broke the awkward silence.
"What?" Calypso asked completely nonplussed. "Why would you apologize?"
"For not making sure that you were okay." He said. "I failed…."
Calypso rushed forward and placed her fingers over his lips interrupting him.
"Don't you dare?" She gasped as if choking back a sob. "Why would you ever feel sorry?"
"I left you at the mercy of the gods." Percy grasped her fingers and gently removed them, he needed to say this, if only to atone for some of the wrongs he had committed. "I didn't ensure that they kept their word."
"Stop…. Please stop apologizing." Calypso was openly crying now, holding on to his shirt, her tears saturating his shirt. "Don't you get it if anyone should be apologizing, it should be me."
"What are you talking about?" Percy asked more than a little mystified. He didn't know what happened. One moment she was smiling playfully and now this?
Calypso wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and then led him by the arm to the bed and then sitting beside him.
"A few days after the Titan war, I was granted amnesty and finally freed from my prison." She began, not facing Percy but looking ahead as if lost in her own world. "Imagine my joy and surprise when I realized you were the one who were responsible for my freedom. My elation knew no bounds. So much so that the first thing I did after receiving my freedom was to look for you."
Percy hung on to her every word waiting to see where she was going with this.
"That's when I saw you with her." Her tone held just a hint of bitterness. "You were having a picnic in Central Park and you looked so happy." She took a deep breath as if steeling herself. "I was so sure that you wanted me freed so that you could be with me, that when reality hit me I felt my heart shatter again."
She took another shuddering breath.
"I resented you and….. and I resented her. You had found your happy ending and I was left with nothing. I left with bitterness in my heart, intent on forgetting you. The fact that I owed my life and freedom to you now meant little. But the fates, it seemed, weren't done with me or you."
"You lost her in the Giant war, and selfish as I am I thought of it as the fates having answered my prayers. You were free to be mine…. Free to be loved by me…. Free to love me."
Meanwhile Percy was going blank. He could hardly believe what he was hearing and yet as it was all coming out he couldn't bring himself to react.
"Then I saw you again and I saw what her loss had done to you and at that moment I hated myself more than I have hated anyone else in my immortal life." The bitter self-loathing in her words snapped Percy out of his trance.
"I felt like a monster." She continued. "A monster who deserved to be imprisoned in the deepest pits of Tartarus. After all this time cursing the Gods for my harsh punishment I realized I deserved so much worse. I was unworthy of the freedom you bargained for me and as much as I wanted I could never deserve you. And worse, because of my selfishness I couldn't be there for you when you needed me the most."
She broke into sobs, big heartbreaking ones and Percy sat their frozen, his arms rigid against his sides as he watched Calypso's breakdown he realized the amount of hurt he had caused all his loved ones.
He spent too much time grieving things outside his control. It was now time to make amends.
Slowly and a little hesitantly he put his arms around Calypso who froze at the unexpected touch. Slowly she lifted her gaze to meet his. A look full of self-loathing but also of hope. Percy cupped her cheeks between his hands and wiped away her tears with his fingers.
Calypso lunged throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his collar-bone.
Percy's senses went into over-drive. She smelt of cinnamon and a combination of a lot of flowers. The places where her bare arms met his skin burned with a fire he hadn't felt in a long time. Her hair tickled his nose, but he just buried his face deeper into her curls and taking in her scent wishing he could take away her pain.
Calypso had never been to Elysium, but being in Percy's strong embrace she wondered if this is what it felt like. He wasn't angry with her despite everything she had just said. She realized how much she had been dreading her confession and his reaction to it and yet she couldn't bring herself to hide it from him.
She placed a tentative kiss on his collar bone tracing her lips along his neck she reached his cheeks, before finally seeking his lips. After a few seconds of hesitation he responded. Her immortal heart raced as his hands wrapped themselves around her waist. She buried her fingers in his scalp as the kiss deepened. Breaking away from the kiss Percy found her neck and her breath hitched in her throat. She lost all sense of time. It might have been hours or it might have been a second, before she found herself off his lap where she had inadvertently moved.
They were both on their feet now and both of them were breathing hard face bent downwards holding on to her shoulders for support as if trying to recover from a grueling marathon.
Calypso silently cursed herself. She wanted to say something. To apologize again. But before she could Percy lifted his face. His eyes burning with passion and indecision.
"I can't." He gasped. "You want something which I can't give no matter how much I wish I could."
His declaration should have broken her heart all over again. But to her surprise as much as it hurt it didn't. In that moment she realized that while their paths would occasionally cross each other, they were walking on different roads. He had chosen his path a long time back and he wouldn't change it half-way for better or for worse. That was one of the things she loved most about him and she wouldn't if he wasn't who he was. The irony of the situation didn't escape her. She loved him precisely because he couldn't be with her. She brought her hand to his cheek and gazed into his eyes.
"Its okay." She said. "I understand."
Turning around she retreated from the room.
A full night of uninterrupted sleep did wonders for Alex. It was also the first time in a long time that she didn't have any nightmares. It must be something to do with the magic of the place for which she was extremely grateful. Not only that, to her pleasant surprise she also found a set of clean clothes resembling her Camp Half-Blood uniform folded next to her bed once she was done freshening up. Courtesy of their generous host undoubtedly. Once she was dressed in her fresh new clothes she made her way to the living room and was somewhat surprised to find all the boys already there munching on toast and eggs deep in conversation though she didn't see Calypso.
Leo was the first to notice her and greeted her with a smile. Alex tentatively returned it. She was grateful to Leo for having talked her out of her funk last night. Especially since after her outburst at Percy she felt she may have done some damage to the team morale.
Sam pulled out a chair next to him and Percy too acknowledged her presence with a nod.
As soon as she was seated a pitcher flew towards her and poured out a glass of orange juice for her, which she graciously accepted. Somewhere in the back of her mind it registered just how weird all of this was and yet thinking on it she realized that being served by invisible servants was one of the least strange things in her life.
"We were just talking about what to do next." Percy said giving her an update.
"Guys I have been thinking" Alex said while buttering her toast.
"Yeah and what is that?" Percy said.
Alex took a deep breath. What she was about to say was not going to be pleasant. It might even seem downright cold, but she had to say it.
"I think kidnapping Rachel was a diversion." She got out the words in a rush before she lost her nerve.
A pin-drop silence followed her proclamation, as she waited for them to tear into her theory.
"Makes sense." Percy said after what felt like an eternity.
Alex stared dumbfounded at Percy expecting him to be the last person to support her theory if not outright reject it.
"What do you mean?" She couldn't help asking. Leo too looked somber as he casually followed the conversation his fingers fiddling with his gauntlet.
Instead of answering Percy just reached into his jeans' pocket and threw what looked like a brown handkerchief on the table.
Alex stared at it mystified.
"Open it." Percy said rolling his eyes at the collective indecision in the group. Alex reached for the cloth like she would for a stick of lighted dynamite and opened it.
The handkerchief was actually a piece of canvas. Like the ones used by artists for paintings.
It was a painting of what looked like a battlefield. It was an extremely vivid image of a battle depicting one between demigods and monsters. She didn't recognize the scene, but it was evident that Leo did.
"Its Camp Jupiter." He said.
Percy nodded grimly.
"Wait is that…" Samuel decided to join the conversation.
"A vision of the future? Yes." Percy finished his incomplete thought. "I don't know exactly when and how but Camp Jupiter will be attacked and soon."
"They kidnapped Rachel to keep us occupied with this, so that Camp Half-Blood won't be ready to help Camp Jupiter." Alex said, confident now that they were all on the same page. "If they got a captured a demigod or two in the process all the better."
Percy nodded grimly confirming her worst suspicions.
"Someone has to warn them." Leo said. "And someone has to rescue Rachel."
Alex was thinking the same thing but she doubted if they could do one of those tasks let alone both of them. As far as the situation went they were barely keeping their heads above the water. A somber silence descended on them as the gravity of their situation hit them hard. Percy was sitting with his arms folded and eyes closed and Alex realized knowingly or unknowingly they were waiting on Percy to make a decision. Instinctively all of them had chosen him as the leader and she was just beginning to understand the reverence everyone held for him.
"Leo." He shot out a little unexpectedly making Leo flinch causing him to nearly knock the table over. He looked embarrassed but faced Percy nevertheless and Percy for his part ignored the little accident. "Is the Argo II ready for battle?"
Leo looked as if he had just been hit by a stampeding rhino on hearing those words. But his face broke into a devilish smile.
"She is docked for now but I can have her up and running in a three days."
"Can you do it in two?"
"Sure. Why not!" Leo said after a few seconds of consideration.
"Ummm…. Guys!" Samuel interjected. "May not be the best time to mention this, but the Argo II is in the camp, considering the problems we have had so far, how are we supposed to get there in one piece and make it to Camp Jupiter in time?"
"You can leave that to me." Percy assured him.
"And what about Rachel?" Alex posed the question which had been on the back of everyone's mind. Rescuing her had been the original purpose of this ill-fated quest and the fact that they were blowing it off somehow wasn't sitting well with her.
Percy looked pained for a moment as if trying to make a hard decision but then his eyes hardened.
"Rachel left that message for a reason." He said grimly. "She probably saw this coming and if I know her at all this is exactly what she wants us to do."
"So are we just leaving her to her fate?" Alex had never heard Leo sound so subdued.
"She is a mortal, I doubt they are hurting her." Percy said. "And once we have dealt with this I am tracking down the one person who I know for sure will have the answer."
"So the three of us go to Camp Jupiter while Leo goes to Camp Half-Blood?" Samuel tried to sum it all up.
"I am sorry Samuel but I am afraid you will have to go with Leo." Percy said.
"What?" Samuel exclaimed. "If this is about me being hurt, I can still fight, you guys can use an extra pair of hands."
Percy got up from his chair and Alex was afraid he was going to deck Samuel and he thought so too it seemed as he shrank back within himself. But to their surprise Percy merely placed one of his hands on his shoulders causing Samuel to blush.
"You're a son of Hermes right?" He queried getting a nod in return. "You have been very brave, but right now I need you to do something else. I need you to debrief Chiron and the rest of the Camp to what is happening." Samuel looked like he wanted to argue but Percy cut him off knowing what he wanted to say. "Leo will have his hands full with trying to get the ship ready and he is lacking in communication skills."
"Way to inspire confidence dude." Leo commented dryly, and Percy chose to ignore him.
"I need you to make everyone understand the direness of our situation." Percy continued. "I need you to make sure that the Camp is ready for battle. Can you do that for me?"
The uncertainty faded from Samuel's eyed and he nodded.
Alex could hardly believe what just happened. Samuel was one of the most stubborn guys she knew, while overall great he also had a tendency to argue a lot, especially if he believed he needed to do something. To see Percy convince him so effortlessly was incredible to say the least.
"Close your mouth Walker or soon you will be catching flies."
Alex realized she had been gaping at him and his off-hand comment just embarrassed her further. Leo and Samuel snickered but one violent look from her and they promptly shut up, feeling vindictive she couldn't suppress her smirk.
Fifteen minutes later they were done with their breakfast and ready to go again, standing on the porch outside Calypso's house. All of them decked in travel clothes provided by Calypso and matching satchels containing ambrosia, nectar and other knick-knacks, a text-book demigod survival kit.
Their hostess stood a little distance away from them, having taken the time off from her gardening chores to see them off, looking rather wistfully at Percy. Sometimes she wondered if that's how she looked at Percy, before banishing that thought out of her mind. She couldn't afford to get distracted right now.
Percy joined his thumb and index fingers together before placing them in his mouth and whistled so loud that it left Alex's ears ringing.
"Ummm…. Are we taking a cab?" Samuel couldn't help asking.
"Something like that." Percy answered cryptically. It was still a relatively early morning so the shadows were long. Alex was probably the first of her companions to see it, but only because she was looking for it. The shadow of the building in front of them seemed to warp within itself and out jumped the biggest mastiff any of them had ever seen with a loud…
"WOOF!"
In a single leap she pounced on Percy. Samuel reached for his sword but Alex stopped him.
"Holy mother of Gods what the hell is that?" Samuel said having finally found his voice as he saw the hellhound give Percy a face-wash while he tried in vain to calm the excited dog.
"This is your ride home." Percy said having finally extracted himself from the tender affections of Mrs. O'Leary.
"A hellhound?" Samuel was on the edge of panicking.
"Don't worry she is friendly." Leo reassured him as he went and patted the dog on her head and she gave another loud bark.
"Ummm…" Samuel looked more uncertain than ever.
"She is harmless." Alex squeezed his arm in reassurance. This seemed to give him some courage and he nodded an air of determination.
It lasted till he was seated securely on her back behind Leo. Percy patted Mrs. O'leary once to get her going. After a final lick to his face she bounded forward with Samuel screaming his head off.
"Oh my Gods! This is CRAAA…." His scream was cut short once the hellhound jumped into the shadow, teleporting them away.
"Well that's that!" Percy said nonchalantly. He turned to Calypso who smiled at him.
"Thank you." He told her. "For everything."
Calypso approached him and stepping on her toes placed a kiss on his forehead. It was chaste but something about it felt so intimate that Alex felt like a voyeur witnessing it.
"May your journey end well and may you find what you need." She blessed him, then to her surprise she addressed her.
"Take care of him for me."
Alex didn't know why but she replied almost immediately.
"I will."
Soon they were on the road again. Alex knew this was just the beginning of her ordeals and it will only get harder. But she also felt surer than she had before. She knew what had to be done and she will see this through.
If it was the last thing she did.
And we are done. Boy this one was sort of draining to right due to the high emotional content. I am not sure if I did justice to it, but then that's neither here nor there. So… you know the drill.
Until next time