Son of the Moon

45

-Calypso-

Humming softly, the daughter of Atlas walked through the shallows of her prison's lake, the waves gently lapping at her ankles and the fish darting around her legs. Noticing the sky begin to darken she looked up confused, it shouldn't be anywhere close to night time, but as she looked up the earth bellow her began to shake. Letting out a startled yelp she fell into the water, landing on her hands and knees as she got a view of a massive ball of fire and lightning hurtling towards her lake. It would seem that the fates have chosen now to once more play their cruel games with her and that this one would be strong.

Despite it all, Calypso felt a twinge of hope, maybe this one would be different, maybe he would stay. The man sent by the Fates entered her lake with a boom, water flying everywhere, soaking her to the bone. Grabbing the hem of her dress she does her best to run through the water to the fallen man who is slowly drifting over to her, covered in burns and gashes which, to her surprise, were closing before her eyes.

Wrapping her arms around him, and feeling how powerfully built he was, she began dragging him back to her home, wondering about his story and what caused him to arrive in the fashion he had. Getting him to her cave she carefully placed him on the bed, treating the injuries that hadn't fully healed before cleaning him off, the manner of his arrival having burned off his clothing and left him covered with soot and blood, only a few weapons and pouches landing with him.

While putting on some clothes to preserve his modesty she heard him mutter something faintly, his voice weak and strained. "Bi-anca." He breathed softly under his breath when she put her ear near his lips, her heart sinking at that name even as she held on hope that she was just a friend or a sibling. Just once, just once she wanted someone she fell in love with to love her back, she wanted to be happy.

Finished with dressing him she sat by the fire, starring into the crackling embers and the dancing light. He was strong, she could feel the raw godly power rolling off him to the point she almost thought he was a full divine if not for the lack of ichor. It had been a few years since any of the gods had taken the time to visit her but even without news of the outside world she could feel change coming, the brewing of the storm of war. She felt the pang of loss in her heart that could only be from the death of her father, her mother having faded long ago.

A pulse of magic rippled through the room, originating from the unconscious man lying in her bed, so faint she only recognized it as the power was familiar. Cautiously, she walked over to him, reaching into the pocket of the pants she had put on him, finding a small metal cylinder that Hermes had shown her before, something he had called a pen. Confused on why the magic coming from it would feel familiar Calypso hesitantly pushed the button atop the pen as it morphed into a sword that coursed with the power of her beloved baby sister Zoe.

Dropping the sword in shock Calypso staggered back, her hand covering her mouth as she choked back a screaming sob. The amount of Zoe's power in the sword could only mean Zoe, her precious baby sister, was dead. Seeing the man stir she scooped up the sword once more and shakily pointed it at him as he blinked awake.

Groaning he sat up before noticing the shaking sword point aimed between his eyes which grew cold "If you aim to kill me," his voice is cold "you had best be sure to do it on your first try." As he spoke, the man clenched his fist, his knuckles cracking loudly while the tattoos that adorned his body glowed faintly with power.

"W-why do you have my baby sister's sword?" she demanded, trying to appear intimidating as she took a step forward "Answer me!"

"Baby sister?" the man seemed more thrown by that statement than the threat to his life. Slowly he rose as she took a step back, nervously raising the sword point as he stood over a head taller than her. He looked past the sword that shook like a branch in a gale and studied her eyes, her hair, her face. He took in the shape of her body and every detail with a raptor's gaze as she blushed under the scrutiny. "You are Calypso." His voice is soft, tinted with sympathy and grief "She talked about you often."

"She…Zoe?" she asked as the man walked over to one of the pouches that landed with him and pulled out a locket. Silently he set it on a table before sitting back on the bed, letting her get it on her own. Never lowering the sword, she inched over to it and undid the clasp as it opened to reveal a picture of her little sister laughing as she hugged a small black hair child that she assumed was the man before her. The second picture was clearly of the same man she was threatening but older, arm in arm with Zoe and another girl, all of them wearing silver.

"She was my sister too." He breathed softly, "When I was a baby my mother was killed by a cyclops," she couldn't tear her eyes away from the pictures in the locket as he spoke "sent by the bastard who had slept with her, Poseidon. Artemis was nearby and saw me use my powers to kill the cyclops, she took me in, raised me as her son…and Zoe became my big sister. Or one of them anyway."

"…Who killed her." She demanded as she listened "I can feel her power in this blade, this much of her energy would only be here if she had…if she was…"

"A bastard son of Hermes by the name of Luke Castellan." The man's voice was so cold she shivered "His Death was painful, I made sure of it and saw him cast into the pit myself."

"Good." She found herself nodding and wishing pain on someone for the first time in centuries. "Who…who are you? You said Zoe mentioned me?"

"I am Perseus, son of Artemis and bearer of far too many titles." He nodded to her "All I have said is true and I mean you no harm. I swear this upon the River Styx." The cave boomed with thunder from nowhere as she handed back the sword and locket.

"What did my baby sister tell you?" she sat next to Perseus, her leg pressed against his knee.

"I was a little kid and I couldn't sleep the first time she mentioned you." Perseus stared into the fire without seeing it, his gaze directed towards memories long since passed. "Zoe sat next to me, she gently stroked my hair as she stared into the distance and told me stories of her precious sister Calypso. Told me of how you looked after her when she was young, how you taught her to read, to write. How you played with her in the surf and the sand and how you made sure she knew right from wrong. Story after story she told me till I fell asleep. And again, the next night, and the night after that, and the one after that. Whenever I couldn't sleep she'd tell me stories about you from her own childhood. She always loved you and always missed you."

Tears fell from her eyes, mingling with the water still on her dress from Perseus' landing. "She never forgot me." She choked out, touched at the thought.

"She approached my grandfather to have you released." He continued "He…he swore to consider it after the war ended."

"War?" she asked confused, wondering if that was the ominous feeling she had sensed.

"The titans are trying to make a comeback and Gaea has risen…through the sacrifice of Zoe and two of my friends." She saw his fist clench around the hilt of Zoe's sword to the point his knuckles turned white "Given your…allegiance during the last war Grandfather decided to wait until the war ended before looking at parole for you and other peaceful immortals who supported the Titans in the first war."

She couldn't help the wince at that statement, it was blunt but there was no way around that. "I…I see. Where is Zoe now?" grunting from the fact that his muscles were likely screaming in protest, Perseus limped outside, gesturing for her to follow.

"She's there." He said, pointing to the sky as the clouds overhead cleared at his command, the stars whining down as Perseus pointed out a constellation she had never noticed before, a huntress with drawn bow. "Forever watching over us from the stars, riding through the night sky with our mother."

"H-hi Zoe." She choked out, staring at the constellation that had once been her baby sister. She never heard Perseus walking back into the cave as she stayed there, catching up with her sister.