An Oath To Keep With A Final Breath

Leo licked his dry, cracked lips slowly. He wished he had Percy's power over water creatures and could summon a dolphin to drag him to land. Instead, he was alone, and floating in the middle of the ocean on a piece of driftwood about half the size of his bed in Cabin 9.

After his small rowboat had been ripped to shreds by a sea serpent, Leo had barely been able to grab onto this tiny lifeline. Now, three days later, he was exhausted, thirsty, and so hungry he felt like gorgon's blood was coating his stomach. He was ready to give up and die here, quest unfinished, never having said goodbye to anyone he loved.

Through a haze of pain and misery he thought about everything that had transpired over the past year. Meeting Jason and Piper, fixing Festus, his metal dragon, building the Argo II, journeying through Rome with the 7, and... Calypso.

Her name rang in his mind. Leo squinted into the sun, trying desperately not to think of her. 'Your life is over, so let go of her. She'll never be yours,' he thought to himself.

"Dad?" he said loudly, wincing as his hoarse, unused voice cracked. "Uh... If you're listening, well, it would be great if you could, you know, help me survive this. If you aren't allowed to do that, please just tell my friends I love all of them. Even Frank. I never would have been able to do this quest without them." Leo swallowed hard. "Tell-tell Calypso I loved her, too. Tell her I tried to get back to her. Tell her I didn't want to let her go."

His vision began to grow black at the edges. His breaths became shallower. Leo Valdez waited patiently for Death to enfold him in his icy grasp.

Gradually, a small line of black grew on the horizon. 'I'm hallucinating,' thought Leo distantly. The small line became larger and larger, until it swelled to the size of an island. A small figure paced along the shoreline. Leo strained to focus his eyes on the familiar-looking figure.

"Calypso?" he muttered hoarsely. "Leo?!" shrieked the pacing figure. Leo smiled as he floated towards Ogygia and into unconsciousness.

*****

When he woke three days later, he was lying on a soft bed in a cave. Leo blinked his eyes, trying to adjust to the dim light the cave provided. Crystals hung from the ceiling, making the whole cave shimmer.

A glass of water sat on his bedside table, and he gulped it down almost without thinking and instantly wished for another. Staggering out of his bed, Leo walked uncertainly around the cave. Herbs hung on the walls, and in the back of the room were about twenty paint canvases.

Too curious to resist, Leo lifted the cover off one of the canvases and was shocked to find his own face staring back at him. After searching through most of the pictures, he realized they were all of him and Calypso, or more often, just his face, looking merrily out at the world around him.

"Leo?" a soft voice called. Leo slowly turned around to find Calypso standing there, uncertainty plain on her face. Just seeing her face felt so right to him. Sighing, he gazed at her. Neither one of them wanted to look away, but Calypso broke the silence by rushing towards him, frantically calling his name as she vaulted over a chair and her paintings to reach him.

They collided and fell to the floor, breathing hard, wrapped in each other's arms. "You're the only one who's ever come back, Leo," she breathed. "I wasn't sure you would." He drew in a deep breath and slowly, carefully, leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. "I'll always come back for you, Calypso," Leo promised against her soft lips. "Always." The word rang throughout the room as they kissed passionately.

Calypso suddenly drew back. "When do you have to leave this time?" she questioned in a dull voice, so unlike her happiness before. Leo pulled Calypso's head closer, breathing in her sweet, flowery scent. "I'm not leaving until you can come with me," he whispered. "I swear it."

"I swear it on the River Styx."

*****

Should I do a whole one-shot book like this? Vote, comment, all that good stuff.

Peace out, Megan