The Boy On Fire (A Caleo Short Story)

Chapter 8 (Tagged Again)

               Leo woke to the sound of someone pounding on the door of Bunker 9. What do they want now? He thought as he groggily inched his way out of bed. Leo turned and looked at his alarm clock. It was only 6:30! Unfortunately it might be important. He passed by Calypso's door and could hear the sound of her snoring away in peace. At least she could get her sleep. Just as he opened the door to Chiron, Leo realized that he was only wearing a t-shirt that was way too large and a pair of Batman themed boxer shorts. He turned red and hoped that Chiron wouldn't notice.

               It seemed that Chiron apparently didn't notice, or just didn't care. "Leo, you should get ready. The council starts today at 10:00 and we want to be there on time as to not disrespect the gods."

               Leo had completely forgotten about that! "Oh, yeah! I'll be ready. Let me go wake Calypso."

               "I will wait for you at the Big House." Chiron replied but as he turned around to head back to the Big House to wait, he said, "Oh, and Batman is my favorite DC hero too."

               Leo's face turned an even darker shade of red and he quickly closed the door and headed back to his room to change into something much more suitable for the Godly Council.

               After Leo had dressed himself up in some slightly faded blue jeans and his favorite army jacket that Calypso had remade for him after the first one was burned up, he crept up to Calypso's door and knocked softly a few times but then stopped. Leo heard a noise coming from inside the room. It sounded like... Crying? Leo slowly and quietly opened the door and found Calypso sitting on the side of her bed, sobbing. Tears dripped from her eyes and landed with a splash on the floor. She was dressed in a plain white t-shirt that went all the way down below her waist, covering up everything in that area.

               As Leo entered the room, a lose board in the wooden floor creaked and Calypso looked up. Her eyes were red from crying. She didn't seem bothered that she was under dressed as Leo sat down on the bed next to her and draped his arm over her shoulders. "What's wrong, Calypso?" Leo put his hand to her face, wiping away a new tear.

               "It's just that..." She choked up but still managed to continue. "Last night, when you told me those things about my immortality, well, I guess I didn't grasp the whole idea. I don't know what to do!" Calypso buried her face in Leo's shoulder and continued sobbing.

               Leo supposed that it was his turn to comfort her. "Don't worry Calypso. Like you told me last night," Leo cleared his throat and quoted Calypso's exact words, "We'll make it work. Just you see. I will always love you."

               Calypso put on a smile and wiped away the last of her tears. "Thank you for being here, Leo. I love you too." She kissed him on the lips and wiped away some of the tears that still lingered on her face.

               "Well, now that we've cleared that up, Chiron just told me that I had to leave for that godly council thing soon. I told you about that, right?"

               "Yes, you did, Leo. Yesterday."

               "Good, well, I was wondering if you would like to come with me? To go see the gods?"

               Calypso's smile grew even larger as the last of her tears dried away. "I would love that, Leo. Thank you."

               "Well, you better get dressed then! We depart to the Big House in half-an-hour!"

               Only twenty minutes later, they were ready. Leo had been working on a quick project in his room when he heard a knock on the door. He looked up. "Come in!"