Everyone Deserves to be Happy (Solangelo)

The Beginning of the End

It was strange to feel relaxed.

Leo wasn't quite used to the feeling.

There was no one chasing them.

No quest to complete, no foster home to escape, no problems to solve.

Just smooth flying. A bronze dragon, a beautiful girl and Leo. He looked around at his surroundings, staring at the sapphire waters and curling his toes into the white sands, letting the breeze play across his face. Festus was in briefcase form, at his feet.

Wait...what was that? Leo's eye had just caught a glimpse of a shadow in the water. But there was nothing overhead. Probably nothing.

Calypso was sitting next to him, thinking about...something. She was very complicated. But he understood. Being alone on that island for so long...he didn't know how she was still sane. But, he guessed she wasn't completely alone. Percy, and so many others had met her before him.

He shook his head, dispelling thoughts of Calypso's past. He and Percy were chill. Calypso was happy. But a small voice inside his head still had doubts. About what, he wasn't quite sure.

"Crete is beautiful, isn't it?" Calypso's voice startled him, a sound foreign in this untouched beach.

"A lot nicer than some pf the places I've stayed." He made a face. "Beach beats sewer any day. No matter how nice the sewer is."

She looked at him, puzzled.

"Long story."

"We have time."

Leo was about to crack a joke, saying they had things to do, people to see, but instead he smiled. Settling into the sand like it was a bed, he launched into the story of his first quest. He didn't have to tell her the whole thing, but she was the first person in a long time who made him feel like he wanted to share.

He was so intent on telling the story, so animated, that he didn't notice how when Calypso smiled, her face held the shadow of sorrow.

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It had been years since Calypso had to make plans. Had to think about the future and what she'd be doing, where she'd be, who she'd be with. The first two were always the same. And the latter she had no control over.

So until now, she had just been letting Leo lead her. And exploring with Leo, that was the best experience since...well anything she could remember.

But she noticed Leo was talking about things he had done with his friends more and more. He spoke with such reverence of Piper and Jason and...her lip curled a little...Annabeth and Hazel. She still held a little (well, not so little) grudge against Annabeth that had been seeming to get larger and larger since the time she had spent on Crete. And

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Will didn't really know how to help Nico. There were some things that people had to get through themselves. He knew that. But he'd thought Nico was living in the present. He'd thought Nico was happy.

But shadow travel...it was taking more out of him than it should. Nico was a powerful demigod, more powerful than he had been before.

It's like the darkness was eating him up.

Something was wrong.

He got up from the couch where he was supposed to be sleeping, sneezing a little on the dust he disturbed.