The Glory That Is Rome (a Percy Jackson AU)

A Woman's Wiles

       After three days of living with him, Calypso finally told Leo the truth. She was afraid that he would be disgusted by her and throw her out, but she had to be honest to him. It was the only fair thing to do after all the kindness he had shown her.

     Calypso told him during dinner. She had taken up the cooking most nights because it didn't seem fair to have Leo do it after a long, hard day in the forge. She had rubbed fish with spices and roasted them. They also drank watered-down wine and ate roasted peas. They weren't quite as good as the ones she could buy on the street, but they were decent.

     "Leo, I need to tell you something," Calypso said as he swallowed a chunk of the spiced fish.

     "Well, what?" Leo asked. "The fish is great, by the way, sunshine."

     Calypso didn't even bother to grumble about his nickname for her. This worried Leo. Leo's voice held no hint of jest when he asked her what was wrong.

    "Me," she said.

    "Calypso," Leo said hesitantly. "Don't take this wrong, but are you pregnant by any chance?"

    Calypso shook her head and told Leo her story. She told Leo of how she had met Odysseus at the theater. His wife had been absent and the two had hit off immediately. They met the next day at a thermopolium. By the end of the month, Odysseus had opened her eyes in the fornices of the Circus Maximus.

     Then Calypso found out he had a wife. At first, she had told him to forget it, but he won her over with gifts and gentle words. He told her that the gods cheated, so it was no surprise that mortals did too. Calypso let herself be swayed by his words. As her fondness of him grew, she hoped he would divorce Penelope and marry her, but he met her less and seemed less infatuated with each meeting. 

    Calypso told Leo of how Odysseus had broken up with her and how her father had driven her from her home. She had survived on the streets of Rome by earning money with her voice. One day, she was visiting a well for fresh water when she heard a cry and ran towards it. She tore the cloth belt from her waist and threw it down the well. She then helped pull the kid up. Once the kid was safe, Calypso realized she had saved Telemachus and unable to receive Penelope's thanks, she had run away.

    "Then, I crashed into you," she concluded. "I understand if you want me to leave for I have given you nothing, but things to complain about."

   "Why should I be complaining?" Leo asked. "I have a sweet dog and the beautiful former mistress of one of the richest men in Rome in my house. The emperor should be jealous of me!"

   "Leo, don't joke around," Calypso said. "I did great wrong to Penelope."

    "Odysseus did too," Leo said. "You are not the only one at fault. All you can do now is try to make amends and do your best with the rest of your life."

   Calypso nodded. She had committed a grave sin and now she needed to listen to Leo's advice. For all of his flirting and joking, Leo was a wise man. The next day, she sent her pearl necklace, which she had been unable to part with even when hungry, to Penelope with a note of apology. Then, she visited the temple of Vesta and prayed to the goddess for forgiveness.