The gossamer-like, gold sail flapped and shimmered in the breeze. Calypso spotted it on the horizon when she was walking along the beach, gathering shellfish for dinner. She wondered how the ship got that close. Her mother's protection spell should have prevented them from getting closer than the rocks at the mouth of the harbor.
The ship dropped its anchor in a small cove outside of the limestone caves. Calypso swam up to the ship. When she got close, she took a deep breath and swam the last few feet under water.
"Welcome to Ogygia," she said when she popped up above the surface.
The crew rushed over to the side of the ship to look at her.
"Calypso," one of the sailors replied.
Leo looked down at her and smiled.
"Pull her up onto the deck."
Two of his crew mates extended their arms and lifted her on board the ship.
"May the God of the Seas bless every fisherman with so fair a catch," one of the crewmen, a wiry, dark-haired youth, said. "What type of fish is this?"
Calypso quickly became aware of how her wet chiton clung indecently to the curves of her body. She covered her chest with her arms and hair.

"My lord," Leo answered. "This is Calypso, our hostess."
A dainty, dark-skinned girl put an arm around Leo.
"I can see why you were so anxious to return here," she said.
Leo swatted her away.
"Shhh, Hazel."
Hazel was lovely, with her sweet, baby face, large, golden-brown eyes, and shy smile. Her hair was twisted back and head in place by a head scarf tied with a ribbon. Wispy auburn curls framed her face.

Calypso could see why Leo was so taken with her.
"Hazel, Calypso. Calypso, Hazel."
Hazel greeted Calypso with a slight bow.
"You've met Prince Perseus of Crete."
Prince Perseus, the wiry, dark-haired youth, also bowed to Calypso.
"And this is Frank."
Frank, a giant of a man with massive arms, broad shoulders, and a bull neck, was the second sailor who had lifted Calypso onto the ship. In contrast to his bulky, imposing physique, he had a soft, friendly face.
"Please to meet you all," Calypso said. "What brings you to Ogygia?"
"We're here because of my betrothed, Princess Annabeth," Prince Perseus said. "Leo says you had some information about where she is."
Calypso noticed Glauce, the owl, swoop down over the ship.
"Come back tonight," she said. "After sunset. I'll be able to sneak her out then and bring her to you. We'll wait for you on the beach."
Prince Perseus looked up and saw Glauce flying overhead.
"An owl," he said. "A sign that that the Goddess of War and Wisdom has blessed our endeavor."

Leo surprised Calypso by showing her a wooden raft which stood on the deck of the ship. Calypso recognized it as the one they had built together.
"The Argo II," she said.
"The very same," Leo replied.
The golden sail she gave him now flapped in the breeze, hanging from the ship's shortest mast. The Argo II had to make due with a plainer woolen sail.
"You kept the sail."
"It brought my safely back to Athens on a swift wind and gentle sea. I now consider it a sort of good luck charm."
Calypso smiled, knowing that her spells had worked. She noticed that the nautilus she'll necklace, her last gift to him, hung around his neck.
"Did you ever hold that shell to ear and listen to the sound of the ocean?"
"Sometimes, when I was bored. The sound is just like the waves here in Ogygia. I always thought all waves sounded the shame but the ones on Ogygia are softer and pleasanter than the ones on the Athenian coast. They sound like a gentle voice, beckoning you away."
Calypso lay down on the deck of the ship so the sun could dry her hair and chiton. Leo tried to be a gentleman and not stare at her breasts through the thin, damp, fabric of the one-shouldered dress.
"Hazel is lovely. She's every bit as pretty you said she was."
"Yes. Frank's a lucky man."
"When she saw me, she said she could see why you were so anxious to come back here."
Leo gulped and pushed his mop of curls away from his face.
"When we bring Princess Annabeth back home to her parents, the King is going to give me a hundred silver drachmas. That's half of what I earn in a whole year. Some wise investments, and I'll be set for life."

A/N a Greek drachma was worth roughly a bushel of crops. 100 drachmas would be about the annual income of a thete, the lowest class of Athenian citizen, who made 200 drachmas/bushels or less.

A man and two girls came up from one of the ship's cabins. The man was tall, tan, and muscular with short, blond hair. The girls wore short, one-shouldered chitons and leather buskins, similar to the ones the men were wearing.

The talker of the two had a bow and a quiver of arrows strapped to her back. Her dark hair was pulled back into a twist and bound with a simple fillet.

The shorter one was armed with a triangular bronze dagger that hung from her dagger. A cloth band, which her rich, brown hair had been tucked and wrapped around, circled her head.

"Who's our guest?" the blond man said to Leo.
Leo presented Calypso with a flourish.
"Calypso," he replied. "The sorceress nymph of Ogygia."
"Thank you for your hospitality, My Lady," the blond man greeted her. "I'm Prince Jason of Macedonia."
"A princess and two princes, I've met more royals than most people meet in a lifetime."
"And now you'll meet one more," the tall, dark-haired young woman added. "I'm his sister, Princess Thalia."
"Where's Annabeth?" The girl with the rich brown hair cut in. Her arms were crossed over her chest.
Calypso told them what she had said to Prince Perseus: that she was going to bring Annabeth to the beach after nightfall.
"Try to keep your ship," she said to them, "If my mother finds out you're here, who knows what she'll do to you."
Prince Jason drew his sword.
"I think we can handle her."

As she walked back to her cave, Calypso thought about how she was going to break the curse on Princess Annabeth and help her escape without her mother finding out. Nothing came to mind. Aunt Hecate was the most powerful of their coven and she could not, or would not, do anything to help.
As much as she needed to keep her guests away from her family, she also needed to keep her family away from her guests. Prince Perseus or Prince Jason might threaten her mother and aunt in retaliation for what happened to Annabeth.
The last thing Calypso wanted was for anyone to get hurt.
"You're late with the shellfish," her mother said when entered the cave. "I hope they haven't gone bad."
Circe sat at her loom, dressed in a bright red chiton with a colorful, woven girdle.

Calypso had left her bucket of shellfish in the sun while she swam out to the ship and perhaps they were spoiled.
"I'll check them over," she replied.
The shellfish sat in a shallow layer of water. They smelt, but not any worse than they had when she had gathered them.
"They're fine."
"Put them in the pot."
Calypso dumped the shellfish into a terra-cotta cooking vessel which stood over the fire. She threw some chopped rosemary in after them along with some white wine. They smelt fantastic as they cooked.
"I have some ground olives," Hecate said as she carried a heavy stone bowl into the cave. Her thick, curly hair was held back by a large hair net.

She scraped the ground olives into the cooking vessel and the sizzled along with the shellfish. Calypso stirred them about before they could stick to the bottom of the pot.
"I see you've greeted our guests already," Hecate said, looking over at Circe, who was busy with her weaving, to see if she was listening in on their conversation.
"Yes," Calypso replied. "They're here about Princess Annabeth. Are you sure you can't do anything to lift the curse."
"It's beyond my powers. I can see what's going to happen but I can't change what's going to happen or stop it from happening."
"But that doesn't make any sense when you were the one who cursed her."
"Prophecies never do until after they've come to pass."

Calypso pulled a bolt of pink fabric from one of the storage baskets before sneaking out of the cave, leaving her mother and aunt asleep on the piles of skins, fleeces, and woven mats.
Hecate snored softly while Circe convulsed and whimpered in the grip of a nightmare.
"Patír," she said. "Stop! You're hurting me!"
Calypso ran down to the beach and found Annabeth sitting on a rock, her long hair covering her naked body.
"Is Percy coming?" She said.
"I told him to come here after nightfall," Calypso replied. "Now we have to get you ready for him."
She dressed the princess in the pink chiton and pulled her back and tied it in a knot. Curly tendrils cascaded over Annabeth's head.

Annabeth's body was tense with impatience and anticipation. It was difficult for Calypso to dress her hair because she kept turning her head, owl-like, from one side to another to see if Percy was coming.
The young man entered the beach from the caves. He caught sight of Annabeth, the moonlight shining on her skin and hair and through the fabric of her chiton, and gasped.
Percy fell to the ground.
"The gods are merciful," he said.
Annabeth ran to him and cradled his body in her arms. She brushed his hair back from his forehead and covered it in kisses.
"I can hear your heart beat, Annabeth. I can feel your breathing. You're flesh and blood."
"Yes, I am," she replied.
"I hear your heart; I feel you breathing, everywhere."
He pulled her close to him and kissed her.
"Come with me. My ship is near by. We can be back in Athens by tomorrow afternoon."
"I can't leave. At least, not yet."
"Why?"
"A witch put a curse on my me."
"I don't understand you."
"I don't know how to explain it... stay with me until sun rise, then you'll understand."
"Alright wise girl."
Percy lay his cloak down on the sand and two lovers sat there, arm-in-arm, nodding off on each other's shoulders.

Calypso looked up at the sky as she returned to her cave. The moon had thickened into not quite a semi-circle; she was about half-way through her cycle.