93 Wrath of the Gods (1/2)
The Island of Ogygia 6th century BC
\”You must release him by order of Zeus, Calypso. This isn't negotiable.\” Hermes fought to maintain his composer while standing before daughter of Atlas, goddess nymph of Ogygia. The goddess had no rival for beauty not even Aphrodite herself, which lead to Calypso's banishment to the isolated island.
Calypso's eyes fell to her large belly as she stroked it. \”He is my husband now. I bare his children and will continue after this one.\” She smiled up at Hermes. \”It shall be our first daughter.\”
Hermes let out a sad, frustrated sigh. \”Calypso, he already has a wife and son's and mourn their separation.\”
Her angry eyes raised, boring into him. \”He is mine now! Poseidon brought him to my shores and keeps him in place.\”
\”Zeus orders his release along with many of the other Gods on Olympus. Poseidon doesn't dare stand against them all, not for a vendetta involving that damn cyclops! Not when the well being of his other sons could be at stake!\” Hermes tried to hide the effects her pain was having on him. He huffed out a heavy sigh. \”The human has earned Zeus's praise. You must release him, and if by chance he decides later to come back to you he will not be stopped.\”
Tears steamed down her cheeks as she turned away, wrapping her arms around her full pregnant stomach. \”If he leaves, he will not be back.\”
Hermes walked slowly and cautiously to her until he was fully behind her. He place a light hand on her shoulder. \”That may be so, Calypso, but you can't hold him here like a pet.\” She turned to face him, sad tears streaming down her face. He brushed a few tears away with a large thumb before resting his palm over her stomach. \”He has a strong bond with his offspring. There may be reason for him to come back... if you let him leave now, before she is born.\” He frowned, \”There is no doubt he will take your son's with him, and the Gods will not stop it.\” He held her gaze. \”Let him go now and make things easier for yourself.\”
Her angry, tearful eyes fell to the floor. \”Fine, do as you must. I'll not have any part in it.\” She pushed out of his arms and walked toward the open doors swiftly as the flowing fabrics of her gown danced in the breeze stirred up by her retreat.
***
Calypso ran as fast as her swollen feet could carry her toward the cliffs over hanging the sea. Tattered weathered sails were hoisted against the bright glimmer of the setting sun. \”No!\” She called out reaching outward over the cliffs toward the ship in the distance. \”I didn't get to say goodbye!\” She feel to her knees in the cool sands, her face falling into her hands. \”My sons... I didn't get to kiss them goodbye even...\” She let out a loud cry as she watched the sails disappear on the horizon. She cried out to the Gods for some kind of comfort, any show of kindness; but her cries were ignored. \”You turn your backs on me now? Now that I give in to your foolish demands!\” She yelled at the heavens above.
Calypso pushed herself up on shaky legs a cruel glare tented her eyes. \”Fine! Then no one shall ever reach these shores again! Less that shall ever hurt me in the future!\” She lifted her hands above her head and watched as the tides raised in response. Dark clouds rolled across the sky and swirled above her. The waves splashed up over the ledge she stood on, threatening to swallow he along with the shores below. \”I give all that I am, all that I have to see no sails on the horizons of my island again!\” She began to chant as the waves rose more violently and the heavens above began to swirl over head. Her eyes rolled back as the chants became more guttural. The sea began to lash out at her legs like the icy hands of a thousand demons of the pits of the underworld. Even as her footing slipped and the waves engulfed her, the chanting continued, a powerful curse that would lure in any man who neared the shores of Ogygia and consume them before they would ever chance to step on land.
As the last words of the chanted curse was completed, the tides receded and the clouds parted to a clear star filled sky. Calypso washed up on the shore in a sputter of water as she coughed up the harsh seawater from her lungs. As she pushed herself up on her hands and knees in the now gentle wash of the waves, a sharp pain shot through her abdomen. She fell over onto her side gripping the bump of her growing baby tight as another sharp pain coursed through her stomach. \”No...\” She huffed between coughs of salt water still scraping her lungs and the pains of contractions. \”Not my child... anything but my child...\” A harsher wave hit her body as to answer pushing her flat onto her back. She cried out loudly as contraction after contraction riveted her body, drawing the attention of a few sirens who'd been swimming by.
Three beautiful sirens washed up on the shore beside her crawling toward her with their hands, their long fish-like tales dragging behind. Calypso reached out for them with one hand as she grasped her middle with the other. \”My children, help me... Help your mother...\”
The creatures nodded to one another before circling around her, two took her hands from each side as the other drug its body down between her legs lifting her soaked white skirts.