Changing the Future

Chapter 37

While Percy was still comatose, I spoke with Calypso like we were old friends, the two of us swapping stories as we waited for the son of Poseidon to wake up. And luckily for me, I could still keep track of time on Ogygia even though this place technically didn't exist on any map.

Apparently, I was out for eighteen hours, thirty-eight minutes, and forty-four seconds, which, according to Calypso, was the fastest that anyone's ever regained consciousness after landing on her island. It made me wonder the state that her other visitors had been in when they had arrived.

Currently, I was with Calypso in her garden, tending to the myriad of magical plants as Percy snored on the beach. I could hear him mumbling while he slept, occasionally calling out for Annabeth, Grover, or Tyson. One time, he even called out for his mom.

I'd stopped weed pulling, frowning as I watched Percy writhe in the sand. He wasn't in any pain, as far as I could tell, but I had no idea what was going on inside his mind. Honestly, it was a miracle he hadn't died from the sudden geyser he created from the earth. And to think that he had done this by himself last time? It blew my mind at how powerful he was.

"You care for him?" Calypso asked, failing to hide the jealousy in her voice. She aggressively shoved her shovel into the dirt.

"Of course," I answered, jolting back to reality. "In a little brother sort of way. We're practically family, him and I."

"Oh, I see." The jealousy had faded from her voice. She paused for a moment, tossing her braid back over her shoulder and out of her way. Calypso could've passed off for a Demeter kid from how much she loved her garden, not to mention that her plants seemed to thrive by simply being in her presence. "Is that how you ended up here, then? Protecting him?"

"Basically." I told her of what had happened inside of Mount St. Helens. Calypso stilled, pursing her lips together as she watched Percy, who'd finally stilled while he rested. "Now, we're here."

"Which shouldn't be possible. I do not mean to offend you, but a girl has never landed on my island before. It is strange, to say the least."

I shrugged, setting down the weeds I'd pulled off to the side, where magical servants whisked them away to gods-knows-where. "It wasn't my intention to be there when the volcano erupted," I said, brushing some dirt off my knees and hands. "But Hephaestus sent me to help, so I did."

Calypso went silent, tending to her moonlace as she mulled over the information I'd gave her.

I stood up and washed off the rest of the dirt from my hands in the fountain. Calypso's garden was truly a sight to behold, something I knew Rebecca and Jade would've been overjoyed to see.

Crystals hung from the ceiling of the cave, refracting the sunlight in a way that made the whole place shimmer like sequins. Little stone statues surrounded the gold fountain in the middle of the garden (Calypso assured me these statues didn't come from Aunty Em). Most of her plants were magical, like the moonlace that shone silver in the dark, or her hyacinths that changed color depending on how much sunlight reached their petals.

"I'm going to check on Percy," I said, untying my hair tie from the end of my braid. There were still pieces of hardened lava and a ton of sand in my hair, so after checking on Percy, I'd go for a swim. Not like I could go that far, anyways.

I summoned my bag as I sat down next to Percy, running a hand through his matted hair. His burns had gotten significantly better from Calypso's treatment of nectar and salt water therapy, which was dragging him into the ocean until his skin wasn't redder than Apollo's sacred cows.

Despite the fact that it was easily eighty-five degrees, he was shivering, a cold sweat breaking out across his face. I reached into my bag and pulled out a fluffy blanket that Leah had shoved in there one day after the four of us had gone to watch a movie in the park. Of course, Pete and Joe wanted to go watch a movie in the park in the freaking winter, so Leah and I brought the blanket to keep us warm as well as prevent our friends from turning into popsicles. I then draped the blanket over Percy, watching as he slowly ceased shivering.