A/N: I'm finding it very likely that I'll rewrite like the first 50-60 chaps of this story, it would be mostly to the same but it would be to flesh out relationships (mainly Thalia and Ozzy) since this was like my first fic and I was really bad at the time lol (I still am but I'm not as bad).
{Ogygia, 21st of June 2006}
"What are you?"
Calypso's question hung in the air like one of Zeus's thunderbolts, ready to strike at any moment. I opened my mouth (or whatever passed for a mouth in my current shadowy state) to answer.
"I'm-"
Whoa. Bad idea. My voice came out sounding primordial just like my dad's just like what I sounded when I fought Tartarus. The girl in front of me, shook like she was caught in a mini-earthquake, her entire being shivering.
And then things got weird. Well, weirder.
Suddenly, I could see into her soul. I know, I know, it sounds like the tagline for a cheesy romance novel. "He could see into her very soul!" But I'm being literal here. Her soul was mostly green and blue, with a slight tinge of purple and another color I hadn't seen before, turquoise.
Now, I'm not usually the type to go around reading people's souls. It was different from what I saw in auras. When looked at the auras I never really knew what they meant, but now... Green for joy, blue for trust, purple for fear, and turquoise for loneliness.
These weren't just her feelings towards me (thank the gods, because that would've been awkward). No, this was like looking at a colorful map of her entire emotional history. I could see a few other colors too, like red for rage, but they were so small they barely registered.
Realizing that my voice was probably not helping the situation (unless I was going for "terrify the nice island girl"), I concentrated on toning it down. I sank deeper into... whatever I was now. Shadow? Soul? Living ink blot?
"I'm Odysseus..." I tried again, this time managing to sound less like I was narrating the apocalypse.
"That's impossible," Calypso interrupted, her eyes wide.
Oh great. I'd been conscious for all of five minutes and I was already getting the "you can't be you" treatment. Story of my life.
"Can you let me finish, for the love of Hades?" I grumbled. "I'm Odysseus Atonal, son of Erebus. Not the other guy. Different Odysseus. It's a long story involving prophecies, primordial beings, and a lot of really bad luck. You know, typical demigod stuff."
Calypso knelt in front of me, her eyes fixed on the ground where my... body? form? shadowiness? was spread out. Then she did something I wasn't expecting. She reached out and touched me.
Let me tell you, having someone touch your shadow-self is an experience I hope I never have to repeat. It felt like someone was tickling my essence with a feather made of static electricity. My form rippled like I was a pond and she'd just tossed in a stone.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I yelped. "Lady, stop touching me! This is assault! I'm being assaulted! Is there a shadow police I can call? A woman is assaulting me!"
Calypso jerked back so fast you'd think I'd just told her I was actually Kronos in disguise. Her head shook from side to side like one of those bobblehead dolls you see in car windows.
"I'm sorry!" she stammered. "I didn't mean to... I just... I've never seen anything like you before."
A wisp of lime green appeared in her soul-colors. Embarrassment, I realized. Her cheeks flushed redder than Apollo's sacred cows. As she backed away, I felt myself... grow? Expand? It was hard to tell, but suddenly I was bigger, stretching out as the sun hit Calypso's back.
"Okay, new rule," I said. "Three feet of personal space, please. Or whatever the ancient Greek equivalent of feet is. Podes? Yeah podes. Let's go with three podes."
Calypso nodded so vigorously I was worried her head might fall off. She raised her hands like I was a cop who'd just caught her stealing ambrosia.
"Now," I said, trying to sound in control (which is harder than you'd think when you're essentially a talking inkblot), "let's get down to business. Where am I? And who are you?"
"I'm Calypso," she repeated, her voice steadier now as she smoothed down her dress. "Daughter of Atlas. And you're in Ogygia, my... home."
"Well, isn't that just peachy," I sighed. Atlas's daughter, the only one I hadn't yet met. An island known for trapping heroes. Kronos outside and dandy. "Okay, one more question, and I promise it's not a weird one. What exactly do I look like to you? Because from my perspective, things are a little... shadowy."
Calypso blinked, like she was surprised I didn't know what I looked like. Join the club, sister.
"You're a colored shadow," she said, scratching her cheek in a way that was, I had to admit, kind of adorable. "Shadow-Odysseus."
I sighed again. A shadow. Because why not? I'd already been a demigod, a primordial, and a cosmic bookmark. Might as well add 'sentient shadow' to my resume. Being a primordial was turning out to be a real pain in the... well, I didn't have an ass anymore, but you get the idea.
Then a thought hit me. Wait a second. I'm a primordial now. Primordials embody the concepts they rule over. So when I got divided, was I occupying every shadow and soul in existence? Is that why I couldn't handle it? And if so, why am I attached to Calypso's shadow specifically?
"Think, Ozzy, think," I muttered to myself.
"Ozzy?"
Calypso's voice snapped me out of my internal monologue. Great. I'd been talking to myself out loud. Again.
"Did I say that out loud?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
She nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Please forget I said that," I groaned. The last thing I needed was a cutesy nickname when I was trying to figure out a way to go back and defeat Kronos, I couldn't wait here.
But Calypso just knelt beside me again (maintaining the three-podes rule, I noticed), tilting her head to the side. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and I saw that wisp of lime green in her soul grow a little.
"I think it's cute," she said softly.
Oh boy. I'd been on this island for all of ten minutes, and Atlas's daughter was already calling me cute. This was not how I'd planned for my day to go when I woke up this morning. Then again, I also hadn't planned on being turned into a shadow, so really, all bets were off at this point.
"Right," I said, trying to steer the conversation back to something resembling normalcy. "So, do you have any clue what day it is?"
Calypso's smile faltered, and I saw the turquoise in her soul pulse stronger. "No," she said quietly. "I only know what time it is, because of people that come here. You're the first... well, anything that's washed up here in decades."
"Okay," I said, deciding to tread carefully. "So, I don't know what day it is, Kronos is out, the war of the Big 3 is about to start or has already started, think Ozzy think. First point regain my body, second get out of here, and third save demigod kind."
I looked back up to Calypso's a dark blue spreading across her soul, sadness. Yeah it might have been a bit insensitive to say that aloud, to the woman who was stuck here for millenia.
"Hey, I'm sorry but-"
Calypso interrupted, shaking her head. "Don't worry, I'm used to it, sorry I can't help you regain your body."
I looked at her soul trying to gauge if she was lying (something I wasn't sure I could actually do, but it didn't hurt to try out), her soul remained the same, so I released a sigh of disappointment again.
Calypso stood up, brushing off her dress. "Come on," she said, gesturing for me to follow her. Which, given my current state, was easier said than done. "Let's go back to my abode. Maybe we can figure out what's happened to you, try to fix you, and why you're here."
As Calypso started walking, I felt myself being pulled along with her, like I was attached to her feet. Which, I realized with a start, I was. I was her shadow now, literally following in her footsteps.
"Hey, uh, Calypso?" I called out as we (she) walked.
"Yes, Ozzy?" she replied, and I could hear the smile in her voice.
"Two things. One, please don't call me Ozzy. And two... try not to step in any puddles, okay? I have no idea what happens to shadows when they get wet, and I really don't want to find out."
Calypso's laugh rang out across the island, which weirdly reminded me of Melinoe, I wondered what had happened to her, had she been able to survive, if not would she even reform?
More and more what ifs began to gather in my head, I couldn't stop thinking, constantly thinking.
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