Born Again

[6: together we broke the sky ]

Four weeks. Leo had spent four weeks on Ogygia, but time was weird here, and he didn't know how long he was in the underworld. For all he knew, everyone he knew and loved-- Piper, Jason, and the rest of the seven-- could be dead. Maybe Rachel would still be alive, and Jason's sister Thalia, but that's be it. They could have spent the rest of their lives thinking their best friend died.

Leo tried to ignore those thoughts.

"Okay, is everything packed?" Leo didn't look up as he asked his question. He was making sure everything with Festus was perfect. No lose screws, Leo had enough of those.

"Yeah. What's it like in the real world?" Calypso kept asking that question. With everything falling apart on Ogygia, she was excited to leave. She wanted to go sight seeing from Paris to New York City. She wanted to try every dish she could get her hands on and see how different politics had gotten. She was so ready to start living her life.

"It's... life. Some parts are beautiful, some parts are ugly. Don't worry, I'll take you to the biggest and brightest places. I'm thinking of hitting Tokyo first, then Paris, London, then we cross the waters and stop at Camp Half Blood for a break. While we're there, I'll show you New York City, then we'll go to Los Vegas, and Houston, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. All the best cities in America."

"I can't wait." Calypso smiled.

They grabbed their bags and boarded Festus. Leo only died every five or six days, so they made sure that they'll take a break before then. Just in case, Leo made sure they were both buckled tightly to the dragon, and Calypso knew how to put it in auto-flight in case.

As they took off from the island, the sky turned red. Yes, end of the days sort of red. They both covered themselves with protective blankets Calypso made. Fireproof with a protective repelling charm. It was good that they had the repelling charm since the sky decided to start raining poison again. The blankets helped, but their skin still sizzled and burned from spare rain drops that found a way in.

Leo saw the barrier. It was transparent, but on the other side skies were clear and oceans were calm. Calypso grabbed his hand and squeezed. She was smiling more then she ever knew possible. She forgot what civilization looked like, and she'd been so lonely for so long. She'll meet Leo's friends and she'll be able to talk to people. Not just one person every century. Calypso was ready to finally live, and for the first time in her life she felt optimistic.

They crossed through the barrier and immediately they knew something was wrong. Calypso gasped in shock and pain, and started clutching her chest. Leo turned around put Festus on auto flight. Calypso was turning to dust, her true age being revealed. They hadn't thought of that. The forgot to think of what would happen to her when they left. They were naive and stupid and now Calypso was dying instead of living.

Leo tried to grab her. He tried to hold her while she faded into dust. But when he tried to touch her his fingers only met dust.

Suddenly, Leo was dead. Before him was Bianca, Silena, Beckendorf, and Luke. They were relaxing, playing a game of ghost poker, until they saw Leo. They put down their cards when they saw him standing there, hyperventilating and shaking.

"She's dead." He held up hair shaking hands. "She turned to dust. She's dead. She wanted to live, she wanted to travel. Her eyes-- her eyes were so happy. She didn't know she was going to die."

Beckendorf put an arm around his brother and forced him to sit down while Silena hushed him gently.

"Oh god," Leo out his face in his hands. "I've messed up. My friends are probably all dead, I've probably been on Ogygia too long. And now Calypso is dead, and her eyes and smile. She was smiling so much, she was finally escaping." He continued his hysterical rant until he was forced to breathe again.

It made him wish he'd just stop breathing all together.

a/n: sorry not sorry. i can literally only write sad things. things are also going to have to get a little bit sadder before happiness can truly be achieved. also i just found out leo's full name is leonidas??? hOW. i was on his fandom wiki page and i'm laughing so much what kind of name