{Ogygia, 1000 B.C.E}
It had been about two hundred years since the other Odysseus (yeah, I know, confusing right?) had sailed off into the sunset, leaving Calypso alone on her island paradise-slash-prison. And me? I was still stuck in the back of her mind, more than alone than even Calypso itself was.
I'd gotten to know every soul on this island intimately. The plants, the invisible servants, even the rocks seemed to have personalities. Yet I couldn't interact with them, I reached out to them, to will them to respond just like I did when I had used my shadows, but they seemed to always go against me, leading to nothing.
Calypso was perched on the edge of a rock, her feet dangling over the water. In her hands was that leather-bound diary she and Odysseus had written together. A book I was glad she had kept as each time she read I fermented my own identity.
As she read, I did what I always do - I dove deeper into her soul. It's not as cool as it sounds, trust me. Imagine being stuck in an emotional washing machine set to "angst" and you're pretty close.
"Odysseus," she whispered.
For a second, I thought she might be talking to me. But nope, of course not. She was thinking about the other guy. You know, the one who actually got to leave this island? Yeah, him.
I wished I could talk to her, tell her she wasn't alone. But wishing in Calypso's head is about as effective as trying to deal with Tartarus. Trust me, I've done both.
But then, something happened that made me wish I could go back to being bored out of my non-existent skull.
"My child."
The voice was like the Earth itself decided to take up public speaking. Calypso spun around so fast I got mental whiplash, and we came face-to-face with... to a person I had never seen before.
Standing there was a woman who looked like she'd just come from a "Mother Nature's Revenge" costume party. She wore a cloak made of churning black dirt (very eco-friendly) and a veil of dust that would make any allergy sufferer run for the hills.
Behind the veil was a face that seemed to be permanently set to "snooze," though her eyes kept fluttering open like she was trying to stay awake.
I peered into her soul, because apparently, I hadn't learned my lesson about poking my non-existent nose where it doesn't belong. What I saw made me wish I could whistle appreciatively. Immediately I realized who it was - the ancestral mother of all life, the primordial goddess of the Earth.
Gaia.
Her soul was like nothing I had ever seen before, more complex than even Tartarus' aura had been, colors swirling and changing beneath her earthy skin.
Loving pink, resentful red, joyful green and cunning gold. They kept changing one for the other in patterns, in stripes in anyway you could possibly imagine.
"Who are you?" Calypso asked, a stripe of purple appearing on her soul, fear.
"Don't worry so, my child," Gaia said, her voice sounded just like how Nyx and my mom talked to me. "You'll be freed from this soon. However, there is something you must help me with."
Calypso backed away as Gaia approached. With each step, the beach turned to stone beneath Gaia's feet. Talk about leaving your mark, huh?
"I'm your great-grandmother, Calypso," Gaia continued.
"What do you want?" Calypso asked, her voice shaking more than even when she had faced Zeus himself after being accused of treason.
"It's simple, Calypso," Gaia said, her voice sweeter than a gallon of nectar. "A boy, a demigod, will one day come to this island. One who will finish what Odysseus started. You must do one thing if you wish to meet this demigod: keep him here, on your island, in Ogygia."
I wanted to yell "Stranger danger!" but, you know, no mouth and all that.
Calypso's brow furrowed. "But the gods said that anyone who came here was destined to leave."
Gaia laughed, sounding like a controlled landslide had just taken place near us. "And are the words of the gods law? They sin much more than even the humans they rule over. Don't worry about them, Calypso. I, and I alone, am the one who can grant you the freedom you so desire. But you must keep the boy here. Don't let him leave, don't let him grow, or you shall be forever alone. Do you understand, my dear?"
I felt Calypso's soul do a little hope-filled jig. Freedom is a pretty enticing carrot when you've been stuck on an island for a few millennia.
"Good," Gaia said, sounding like a kindergarten teacher praising a kid for not eating glue.
"How will I know who this boy is?" Calypso asked.
"Of that, even I don't know," Gaia admitted. "So just try to keep every man that comes here."
Great advice, Gaia. Honestly I wondered if I was the demigod they were talking about but I didn't think so after all I wasn't even a demigod anymore.
"Then how will I know when I gain my freedom?"
"Once I wake, you will know, my dear."
"Okay," Calypso nodded, looking more determined than a kid trying to lick their own elbow.
"You're such a kind soul, Calypso," Gaia said, her voice dripping with more honey than a bear's dream picnic.
Then Gaia did something that made me wish I could run away screaming. She reached out with a hand made of earth (talk about dirty fingernails) and touched Calypso's trembling cheek.
In that moment, I felt Gaia's soul in its entirety, and let me tell you, it was more than my poor, bodiless brain could handle.
It was... beyond comprehension. Enormous doesn't begin to describe it. I looked down at her base and saw her soul stretching below her, into the very foundations of the island. But it didn't stop there.
It plunged deeper, to the ends of the oceans, across other islands and continents. It permeated the crust, seeped into the mantle, and embraced the very core of the Earth.
It was magnificent. Terrifying, yes, but undeniably awe-inspiring. This was true power, the essence of the world itself given form.
But then, something changed. Gaia withdrew her hand as if burned, a look of horror marring her serene features. For a moment, she looked... afraid. Her eyes, usually heavy-lidded and dreamy, were now wide open, staring intently at Calypso's face.
But here's the kicker - she wasn't looking at Calypso. She was looking at me, I didn't know how I knew or how she could even see me, but she could.
I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the island breeze. She could see me, she could see past whatever constituted a nymph's physiology and see me, no Titan, god, cyclops or giant had ever noticed my presence in Calypso's soul.
Gaia's next words made me wish I could sink into the ground and disappear. Which, you know, is kind of ironic given who she is.
"You're there, aren't you?"
Well, Styx.