Calypso's Curse ✓

Epilogue

After everything that had happened I decided that I couldn't stay on the island. Tom understood and Maud was having her own troubles of mind. There was no reason for me to stay. I wouldn't waste my life on a place that didn't make me happy. 

I started working and earning my own money. My father would never support my plans nor finance them. A few years later, I finally managed to purchase a ship. A small one, but a decent and strong one. Together with Abby I searched for a crew. One night, both Lock and Castor came and wanted to join. So it began.

I called my ship, the Calypso, because after all I had been through, the ocean and Paulina were one and the same to me. Exactly like she would've wanted it.

We searched the waters for ancient treasures and relics, both from mankind as other species. The years passed and we had fun and adventures. We escaped death, balanced on the edge between goals and insanity and spend more than one night drunk over multiple bottles of rum. One night however, we docked into a harbor familiar to us all. As the others went over to the Blue Bay Saloon, I sat down on my ship, overlooking the promenade. Lights occasionally showed the citizens dancing and drinking. Music waved over me as I recalled Paulina's figure balancing on the beach, her fury leashed out on me. The last years I had thought about her a lot. I knew I had loved her, although I couldn't bring my mind to the reasons why. I just did. Simple as that.

I had decided to believe Absolom. Paulina, a young lonely child, had given herself a purpose in life, dictated by a story once told. She had truly believed in her cause, had killed men to reach it. She didn't change her course. How could I feel sorry for a girl who had done what she believed was right, and had to pay for it with her life?

The music slowly died and a cold breeze made me pull my coat tighter. A lonely seagull called me from the rocks. The night was dark and the moon was full. Here and there a star glimpsed through the clouds before disappearing again. Nothing seemed to be out of place...

"Hello handsome."

I froze. That voice... My mind must be playing tricks with me.


I turned around, my hand at the grip of my sword. There she stood, leaning against the railing as if she was comparing my Calypso to her Serena. She was no longer dressed in a tight pair of trousers and a loose shirt. Instead she was wearing a thin vaguely blue dress that reminded me of one night where she was all mine.

"It's good to see you too." She grinned but her eyes did not laugh. She hadn't aged it seemed whilst more than five years had passed. She released herself from the railing, her bare feet inching closer to me.

"Felix..." She said but I could not respond. I had seen her being washed away by the ocean... The cave had given in behind us. She could not have survived that and even if she had, she would've been stuck in the middle of the ocean, again with no further hopes on saving.

I pulled away when her hand tried to caress my cheek. "You are dead. Gone. I've seen it." I stuttered. The last bits of a smile dropped from her face. Her wild hair was tugged at by the wind. She swallowed, looked at her bare feet and seemed to decide something.

"I should not have come." She said and turned around, heading for the front of my ship. I watched her hips sway to the edge, her fists clenched at her sides. This was all a dream, this could not be true. It was simply a trick of my mind because I think about her every single day. Finally she looked back at me, over her shoulder. I noticed the dark ink constructing a constellation underneath her chin. Tears were shining in her dark eyes and made them look even more vivid than when she was alive.

"Paulina!" I said, but I didn't realize it came out as a scream. "I never told you I loved you." If this was a dream, there was no harm in saying the truth. She stopped, turned around and faced me completely.

"Felix, I love you still. That's why I came back to you. But I can't stay for I have duties now."

I frowned and watched her come closer "So you're only here to torment me again?" I asked. She grinned, looking self assured as always, before the sea took her away from me.

"I had always known I was different. I had no memories, even adopted the name my governance chose for me. I had never thought that this..." she pointed at the ocean around us "this would be my fate. But you..." she glanced mischievously "you almost ruined everything I had lived for. And I was almost grateful you did. But you know me... I have to finish what I started." She was now so close, the ocean scent nearly knocked me out.

"So it is true... You are Calypso?"

"I believe so."

It was silent for a while. "So... that means... I'm desirable to a goddess... I guess today's my lucky day." She laughed and my heart stopped beating. She gave me quick peck on the cheek. "I have to go now, Felix. I just wanted to see you again and tell you how I feel..."

She backed away but I grabbed her hand again. "I know I can't claim you. You are the ocean. You're wild and free. But is there any chance I'll see you again?" She smiled at my fingers intertwined with hers. "I'll see what I can do."

Before I could register it, her lips touched mine. I tasted the salt of adventure, a life I'd always chase. "Until then, handsome."

And then she was gone.