A/N: This chapter is 99% exposition/filler. I'm getting close to the 'main problem' in the story and there is quite a bit of information I still need to fit in before I can get to that. Again with my over-complicated world-building. Still, I personally don't think this chapter is as boring as the last filler-chapter, so there's that... Also, this is basically two chapters in one, but the part with the baby wasn't long enough to make a full chapter and I couldn't find a good place to cut off the part about the powers, so I just left it all in one chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but once again I don't think there's anything really ownable in this chapter.
11. Goddess of intuition
Me and Dio are walking to his car, arguing about whether or not is was okay for him to threaten my mother or not – shockingly, he's the one that thinks is wasn't okay. He says he didn't intend to threaten her like that, but he just snapped when he saw her attacking me – when I see Puck running towards us, looking red in the face and when he stops, he takes a few seconds to catch his breath.
Now, keep in mind that this guy is not only a god, he's the son of the god of war.
It takes a lot to get someone like that out of breath.
He must've ran the whole way here, a good twenty miles. What could possibly make him do that?
"Denyse..." he says and then he stops, taking a few deep breaths again.
"oh, I am never doing that again. Next time I'll just wait for the damn bus," he mumbles.
"I need you to come to Olympus right now," he says, pushing me and Dio towards the car – as if we weren't already going that way.
"we're going, we're going. What is happening that you felt the need to run all the way here?" Dio asks, the same thing I was about to ask.
"there is this servant at our house and she was pregnant and nobody knew whose baby it was and now she's about to give birth and suddenly she's saying the kid is mine, which doesn't make sense because I never even talked to her, let alone sleep with her. And my dad got angry, because apparently the kid might be his, because he did sleep with her. And Olympian gods are allowed to raise their children alone, completely refusing to allow the other parent to even see the kid, so he suspects she says the kid is mine because I'm not an Olympian god and that way she'll get to keep the baby." He's babbling, but I think I get what he's saying.
"okay, so the lady is having your father's baby – your brother or sister – but she says it's your baby so she won't have to give it up, because she can keep the baby unless it's the child of an Olympian god like your dad," I say and he nods, crawling into the backseat and asking Dio to please hurry.
"so why do you need me?" I ask and he sighs.
...
"because, if it is my dad's baby, it's my brother or sister," he says. "and she's getting my dad so riled up with those lies that he might hurt her, or even kill her. While the baby is still inside her! She's close to giving birth, but she's not quite there yet. It'll be another five hours at least. Artemis is trying to calm him down, to stop him from hurting the baby, but the lady just keeps antagonizing him and he keeps getting angrier and angrier and that just makes the lady angrier too. He won't listen to me, but he adores you, so I was hoping you might be able to calm him down a bit. At the very least, you'll be able to talk to him rationally. With his emotions all over the place everyone within two miles was getting aggressive, including myself and Artemis, so all we could do is fight him down, not talk to him. But you've never been affected by him before and I was thinking, since you can't see my aura, maybe you can't 'see' his either."
"you know, if there hadn't been a child's life at stake, I would find it hilarious that you, the god of fear, are currently panicking," I say, shaking my head and sinking down in the backseat next to him.
It's a fifteen minute trip, so there's no reason for me to already get riled up. We'll save that for when we get there.
"I am not panicking," he says, affronted. "I made the rational decision to come find the one person who might be able to save what could very well be my sibling."
I laugh and shake my head.
"yeah, and then you ran twenty miles to come find that person, when it would've probably been much faster if you'd taken the bus or had asked someone to drive you here. And you're babbling, saying the same thing several times. You're not thinking rationally, you're babbling, you're talking faster than usual,… All signs of panic," I say.
"fine, have it your way. I'm panicking. You'll help me, right?" he asks, sounding as if he really wants an answer.
I just look at him, confused.
"why would I say no to that? Even if I didn't like you, there's a baby in danger. Do you really think I'd just ignore that?" I ask and he shrugs.
"you might...if you see my dad like that, you could easily decide it's not worth the risk."
...
"whoa! Did you just shoot him?" I ask, running into Ares' house and seeing him lying on the floor with an arrow sticking out of his chest.
Artemis – at least, I think that's her, this is the first time we've actually met – has her bow up, breathing heavily.
"he keeps getting back up!" she yells angrily and right at that time Ares' hand comes up, snapping the arrow in half.
He gets up, not bothering to take the part of the arrow that's still in his chest out, and starts charging a very pregnant, very scared-looking woman. I'm guessing that's the servant Puck was talking about.
Artemis raises her bow and takes aim, but I rip the arrow from her hands as I run forward, dropping it to the floor as I go.
She gets the point, I guess, because she doesn't reload even though she has six more arrows in her quiver.
I stop in front of Ares, putting my hands on his chest, hoping with all my heart he doesn't just throw me aside and keeps moving.
He seems to start doing just that, but then stops suddenly.
He still looks pissed off, but more in control at least.
"Denyse, move," he says through clenched teeth.
I shake my head. "give me ten minutes, I can fix this," I say, hoping I'm right.
He makes fists with his hands and his jaws clench even harder, but he nods and takes a step back, glaring at the servant-girl.
"you, what's your name?" I ask rudely.
I have no sympathy for that lying woman, only for the child she's endangering.
"my name is Linda. I'm..." she starts, but I interrupt her.
"whose child it that?" I ask, pointing at her big belly.
She raises her hand and points at Puck, who is standing in the doorway, probably too scared of his dad to come inside.
Behind me Ares growls and I can hear his fast footsteps, meaning he's charging again, but I don't turn around.
"Ares, you promised me ten minutes," I just say calmly.
The last thing anyone needs right now is more anger or panic. Puck brought me here because I'm the only person he knows that can handle this calmly.
I'll think about how super-awesome that is, that I can do this when we're surrounded by freaking gods who are apparently helpless, later.
...
Ares suddenly stops and chuckles, though the sound seems strained.
"what, no more Twix?" he asks, sounding much calmer than before and no longer charging the lady.
Damn! When did I stop thinking of him as Twix?
Even Puck is still Puck to me, but Ares isn't Twix anymore?
I sigh. I'll figure it out later.
"fine! Twix, Snickers, Balisto, fucking Milky Way, whatever you want me to call you, you promised me ten minutes and unless I'm losing my perception of time because of some delayed time-travel side-effect that I've never heard of before, you did not give me ten minutes!" I say, starting to get annoyed.
Not angry, annoyed. And the emotion is all mine, I can tell, Ares has nothing to do with it.
I just don't like the fact that for some reason Ares managed to get rid of his nickname and I don't know how he did it.
"time-travel?" he asks, sounding confused and then I suddenly realize how to keep him calm so I can fix this. I just need to distract him.
I turn around, turning my back to the pregnant lady who is now crying, even though she's been in this exact situation for over forty minutes and her eyes were completely dry when I walked in.
Sympathy whore. What, now that there's someone who is sane enough to notice you, suddenly you're a victim here? Bitch.
Okay, so now I am getting angry, but still, the feelings are all mine.
I know. I'm not sure how I know, but I'm sure Ares' aura has nothing to do with it.
Maybe it's just arrogance. Puck and Dio both said Ares' aura couldn't affect me, so I'm just explaining away the anger caused by his aura.
Possible, but I don't think that's it.
"ask Dio, he can explain that one to you," I say, pointing at Dio, who came in with me and is now hiding behind Artemis. Coward.
That makes me smile and just like that I'm not angry anymore.
I turn back around. "you say the child is Puck's – uh, I mean Phobos' – right? This is your last chance to change that statement," I say and the woman shakes her head.
"the baby is his, I know it is," she says.
"very well," I say, turning around to face Puck.
"do you accept that child as your own?" I ask Puck in my most official-sounding voice, trying my damnedest not to laugh as he just looks at me, obviously confused.
'say yes,' I mouth to him, making him even more confused, but he shrugs and says 'uh, yes?'.
It sounds like a question, not a statement, but it's good enough for me. I turn back to the woman.
...
"You said he was the father and he has accepted the responsibilities that come with being the father of that child. So now we have a man and a woman with legal custody over the child. In a case like this the mother and father are joint natural guardians of their minor children and are equally charged with the welfare and education of their minor children and the care and management of the estates of their minor children. Equal rights, equal power, equal duties and neither parent shall forcibly take a child from the guardianship of the other parent legally entitled to custody of the child. That is the law. However..." I say.
I say it very clearly, making sure she understands exactly what that one word means for her, if only because I like watching the woman cringe.
"I have no doubt that Puck would want nothing but the best – and most expensive – education, toys, clothes and such for his child. You, as the mother, are legally obligated to take exactly half of the costs. If you are unable to do so, you will have to file for bankruptcy, giving every single penny you own to pay for that half of the cost that is your responsibility. If it is not enough, you may – and will – lose custody of the child. However, you will still be required to pay a monthly allowance to the child's father for the care-taking of the child, covering no less than 25% of the costs of the care-taking. If you are unable to do so, you may – and probably will – face some hard time in prison. So says the law," I say, taking a deep breath.
Damn, that was a lot of talking.
"of course, that is just your crappy luck. If the child was actually Ares' or something, all you'd have to do is hand it over and be done with it. No costs, no prison-time,..." I scratch my head and shrug as if it's just too damn bad the kid isn't actually Ares' and then I turn around, pretending my work here is done and walking away.
"wait!" the woman yells and I smile, knowing she can't see it, because I have my back turned.
"I...I lied, it's actually Ares' baby. I've never even been with Phobos. I didn't think he'd say the child was his, I thought he'd keep denying it," she admits.
"well then, let's get that baby out of you and hand it over to its father. And after that, I'm pretty sure you can go look for a new job far, far away, because Ares still looks angry," I say, shrugging again.
...
"that...was the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard in my entire life," Artemis says, chuckling, when we're outside, enjoying some cool lemonade.
It was my idea. Sunshine and lemonade always manage to unwind me.
I laugh. "yeah, well, it worked, didn't it?" I ask.
"I mean, that 'law' would find every woman with a rich husband in prison," she says and I laugh again.
"I repeat: it worked, didn't it? All I wanted was for her to admit the baby was Ares' and she did. Problem solved," I say.
"yeah, but how stupid is she for actually buying that crap?"
"wait, that was all a lie?" Dio says, making Artemis look at him as if he's lost his mind and making me laugh even harder.
"what? I don't know the law that well and she sounded pretty sure of herself. What with the 'you may – and will' stuff and the 'so says the law'," he says, shrugging.
"I was sold when she started talking about the 'monthly allowance, covering no less than 25% of the costs'," Ares admits. "it sounded reasonable. I mean, I know that if, for example, a child has divorced parents, there is alimony and such things to consider."
"it was a very convincing bluff," Puck agrees and Artemis sighs.
"well, yes, it was, but it made absolutely no sense whatsoever. That law couldn't possibly have been real. She started out saying 'both parents have equal rights to the child' and then went on to say Puck would be allowed to choose everything, from what school the child goes to to what clothes he or she wears, with Linda having absolutely no say in the matter. She would just have to pay up and shut up, basically," she says and again I laugh.
"but it worked, dammit!" I yell, making everyone laugh.
"thank you," Ares says and it just makes me grit my teeth. "why are you suddenly 'Ares'? What in Hades happened to Twix? Puck is still Puck, Polly Pocket is still Polly Pocket and I'm trying to come up with a nickname for Artemis as we speak, but you are all of a sudden Ares. Nobody has ever gotten rid of their nickname before, not even my own sisters," I say annoyedly, making him laugh.
"how would I know? I was as surprised as you were when you suddenly called me by my real name," he says. "I thought that was exactly your intention. Surprise me enough that I get distracted."
"well, it worked, but I still don't like it," I say, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting, making him laugh again.
...
"but either way, I am truly grateful for your help," he says and I shrug.
"whatever. It's not like I did it for you. I did it for the baby. She doesn't deserve being murdered by her own father before she even has the chance to live," I say.
"she?" Puck asks and I smile.
"I don't know why, but I get the feeling it's a girl. And usually, when I get a gut-feeling like that, I'm right. I knew that my mom was pregnant with a girl – Trisha – before she even knew she was pregnant at all," I say. "I had this friend once, Sandra, she said I'm either psychic or I just have this special power that I can always see the truth. She said I always know just from looking at someone what kind of person they are and I'm always right about stuff like guessing what gender a baby is going to be. I never really saw that, I figured I just had a good intuition or something, but she was convinced I was magical or something."
"right, and who was it again that said 'oh, I'm not dense, I just never had any powers that might've clued me in on my being something more than human'?" Dio asks, laughing.
"okay, sure. Maybe I have been a bit dense, but still...a good intuition is hardly a superpower," I say, frowning.
"well, perhaps not, but always guessing a baby's gender right; knowing your mom was pregnant before she did; seeing straight through our aura's as if it isn't even there, seeing us for what lies underneath instead; always knowing from a single glance what kind of person someone is,... That isn't exactly 'intuition' anymore, it's obviously something much more powerful than that," Ares says.
"sure, but isn't Polly Pocket the one with the truth-obsession-thingy?" I ask. "that's not Dio, right? So why would I have a power that focuses on 'truth' like that?"
"well, sometimes we have powers that are completely different from that of our parents," Puck says. "my dad is the god of war, I'm the god of fear. Sure, there is some fear involved in a war, but it's not exactly the same thing."
"ugh, Polly Pocket is going to have a field day with this," I sigh, making everyone laugh again.
...
"so it's entirely possible you have more powers and you just haven't realized it," Polly Pocket says.
We're back in the big house, sitting in the kitchen – my mom and sisters are upstairs packing – and he decided to come down as well, just so he can torment me about the truth-thing, like I'd suspected.
"well, I guess the intuition/truth thingy is easy to miss, but I highly doubt I wouldn't realize it if I had any more noticeable powers than that," I say. "like, 'oh, I suddenly became invisible. Well, I guess there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for that'."
"maybe, but we thought your dad locking your mom's crazy up crippled you magically and that is obviously not true – though it still might have something to do with the fainting-spells – and most demi-gods have at least three minor powers and one 'central' power, same as us, although their powers are usually weaker than those of a full god. I have the ability to play any musical instrument immediately, from the first time I see it, I can see the future of any human or demi-god I've ever met, I always know when someone's lying, I can force people to tell the truth, and I have the ability to control the sunlight to some extent. But my central power is my ability to heal any and every wound, illness and disorder someone might have, as long as I know what exactly it is I'm healing," he explains.
"well yeah, but...wait, did you say you always know when someone's lying?" I ask and he nods, looking confused by the sudden subject-change.
"do you have any half-mortal daughters?" I ask.
"uh, well, yes, I do. I have two living demi-god daughters, but both of them live with their mortal parents, because I'm not exactly the best father. Despite me being considered to be 'the embodiment of reason and responsibility' I myself like to be free of responsibilities and raising a kid really limits that," he says, looking uncomfortable, like he's waiting for me to scold him, but I just smile.
"so it's possible miss Harolds is yours?" I ask. "because that woman always knows when someone is lying and when they're telling the truth. No doubt, no 'what if', she knows. She's the first person I'd told about Cindy stalking me and even though it was such an outlandish story I'd figured I would need to give her some hard evidence to make her believe me, she told me right from the start that she knew I was telling the truth. And she never suspected I was faking the fainting-thing even though every person in that school and even my own mother had at some point thought 'I bet she's just doing this for attention'."
...
"when Zeus sent his daughter to your school, because Dion had told him to in a dream, he asked me to send one of my daughters to that school as well, to make sure Lynn would be taken care of properly. To make sure she wouldn't be bullied and that she'd always be in good health. I sent my oldest daughter, but her name isn't 'miss Harolds'," he says.
"I know, I know. Her name is Melissa Andrews, but I just always called her miss Harolds. You do know I have nicknames for almost everyone, right? But really, it makes sense. She's a school nurse, so she 'heals' people, and she always knows when someone's lying. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out why you always reminded me of her," I say.
"but you are changing the subject," he says, smiling widely. "if I didn't know any better, I'd say all this talk about your powers is making you uncomfortable, because it proves that you are seriously dense."
I sigh and glare at him, but that just makes him laugh.
"no, I'm changing the subject because I suddenly realized miss Harolds is a demi-god like me. As for the 'powers'-thing, I'm not sure what else there is to say. So I have the ability to drink until pass out without it having any negative effect on my body and I can always see the truth – though I can't always tell when someone is telling the truth, so I guess it only works with 'sight' or something – and I'm supposed to have at least two more powers. But I have no idea what those powers would be. I attract the crazies, but I can't fix them, so I don't think that counts," I say. "and I guess the truth-thing is my 'central power' or whatever you called it, because it's obviously the strongest one. It's strong enough to handle the aura's of you guys and I'm guessing that's pretty big, considering you guys are full gods and I'm just a demi-god."
...
"you know, maybe you're looking at the 'Cindy and Peter'-thing wrong," Dio says, coming to sit down next to Polly Pocket.
Puck sits down next to me, but he doesn't say anything.
I guess his mind is still on the baby that is about to be born.
"what do you mean?" I ask when Dio doesn't explain his odd statement.
"think about it: when did Peter start treating people badly?" he asks.
I shrug. "I guess the day he was born. He mistreated me from the very second I agreed to go out with him," I say.
"yeah, but what if, just maybe, it's actually the other way around. You didn't attract him because he was crazy, you attracted him because he was 'normal' and being around you made him crazy? And the same goes for Cindy. You never bothered to check what she was like before she started stalking you, so it's possible that the more time she spent around you – even just being in the same class as you – the crazier she got, causing her to stalk you and be around you even more, eventually leaving her completely insane. It would definitely explain why your mother is still crazy, even though I took all her insanity away. You simple made her go insane again. So instead of taking their insanity to feed your magic, like I do, you do the exact opposite. You take away their normalcy, leaving them with nothing but insanity. And that would also explain why Ares suddenly stopped being angry as soon as you touched him. Your aura would be the exact opposite of mine, because it consists of the exact opposite kind of energy. When I'm around people they act more crazy, but when you're around they'll act more normal or, like in Ares' case, more rational."
"great, I have truth and rationality. Sure I'm your child and not Polly Pocket's?" I ask, making everyone laugh. "never mind, back on topic, I guess it's possible, but that still leaves one power that I'm supposed to have. Three minor powers and one central power, that's what Polly Pocket said. Making people go crazy is the first minor power. Drinking until I pass out without it having any negative effects on my body is the second. Always seeing the truth, let's call it my 'truth-eyes', is my central power. I'm still missing one minor power."
...
"whatever it is, it might have something to do with the nicknaming or the passing out," Polly Pocket says.
"I highly doubt my hyper vagus nerve could be considered a 'power' and the nicknaming has little to do with anything. It's just something I've always done. I enjoy making weird connections to things like people's names and for some reason I always end up calling those people by whatever weird connection I came up with," I say. "that's just the way my brain works. I make stupid connections to things. Whenever I eat French fries, I start thinking about sailboats."
I laugh when everyone looks confused.
"French fries are good with fish sticks. Fish sticks are made of whitefish. Whitefish are caught by fishermen. Fishermen use boats. A sailboat is a kind of boat," I explain.
"French fries, sailboats. Makes sense," Puck mumbles and I laugh.
"well, as far as I'm concerned, the ability to go from French fries to sailboats and actually finding a somewhat reasonable connection there is a superpower in itself," Polly Pocket says, laughing as well.
"yeah, but I don't think that one counts," I say.
Dio shrugs, smiling. "maybe not, but Athena's children are all very smart and that is considered to be one of their minor powers, even though it's not technically a power," he says.
"well, we'll figure it out eventually," I say, shrugging. "I personally think having two or three superpowers is enough. It's more than I had yesterday."
...
"so tell me again why we're doing this?" I ask when Polly Pocket lines up seven small cardboard boxes in front of me.
"we want to know how strong your truth-eyes are," Xena – Artemis, because they're both warrior-princesses, in a way – says.
"I don't see why that matters. There are dozens of demi-gods out there, do you 'test' them all like this?" I ask and she shrugs.
"no, but most demi-gods just have a weaker version of their divine parent's powers," she says. "or, in the rare occasion that they develop a power of their own, it's usually something common like super-speed or prophetic dreams or something like that. These truth-eyes like yours are something we've never encountered before. Even my brother, who is known for being the god of truth – among other things, of course – isn't able to see through people's aura's and know when someone is pregnant just from looking at them. So we want to know all there is to know about this strange power."
I sigh and shrug. "fine, so you just want me to tell you whatever is in those boxes, right?" I ask and she nods.
I shake my head and sigh again, but I just stare at the boxes as if I'll somehow develop X-ray vision or something like that.
"I have absolutely no clue what's in those boxes," I admit.
"just guess, then," Polly Pocket says.
"fine. Uh... a teddy bear, a teacup, a pillow, a lava-lamp, a book, an apple and four pencils. There, I guessed. Can I go now?" I ask, but no-one answers. They just stare at me in shock.
"what?" I ask, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the attention.
"you just guessed each and every one of them, right down to the number of pencils in the last one," Polly Pocket says, sounding a bit dazed.
"are you sure you were just guessing and you didn't somehow see it?" Xena asks and I shrug.
"I don't 'see' things. I just call it my truth-eyes because I don't know what else to call it, seeing as it only works on sight of whatever it is I'm guessing. And because my eyes are apparently unable to 'see' the aura surrounding you guys. But, like I said, I had no idea what was in those boxes, so I just guessed," I say.
"maybe we should do that test the humans do when they suspect someone is psychic," Polly Pocket says. "the one where one person has a deck of cards and the other person has to guess which card he's drawing until there are no more cards left."
I sigh and shake my head. I have a feeling this stupid test is going to last for hours.
...
"I'll be damned," Polly Pocket says, putting down the deck of cards for the seventh time. "you're guessing them all correctly."
I sigh. "yeah, the first three times you made me do this stupid test should've told you that," I say.
"relax, Denyse. I know this isn't very fun for you, but they're just curious," Dio says, putting a glass of wine in front of me, probably hoping it'll get me in a better mood.
"besides, they'll owe you for this and it's never a bad thing to have an Olympian god or two owe you a favor."
I laugh and nod. "true, I could have a lot of fun with that," I say and I laugh again when Polly Pocket suddenly looks a bit worried.
I just sip my wine and look at him with my most intense stare, making him look even more uncomfortable.
"okay, so next is the aura-thing," Xena says, obviously not all that worried about the favor she now owes me.
"I was wondering if it was just the natural, incontrollable aura that doesn't affect you or if your emotions can't be affected at all," she says.
"well, if my 'power' is my truth-eyes then my emotions have nothing to do with it, right? I'm just unaffected by Puck's aura because it causes people to not see the truth about him and I'm good at dealing with Ares – uh, I mean Twix – because I have a lot of practice in keeping my emotions in check. I did get more easily pissed off with the whole 'baby-thing', possibly because his aura was stronger than usual," I admit.
"possibly, but not definitely. You could've just been in a bad mood, what with that stuff with your mother and Dio fighting and all. We can just use Pol for this test. I'll ask you some questions and you have to lie about the answers," she says, nodding at Polly Pocket.
I guess he's going to use his ability to force people to tell the truth on me.
"alright, let's start," Xena says, sitting down and staring at me. "what is your name?" she asks. "Julia," I say, rolling my eyes.
Polly Pocket's eyes go big and then he squints, either he's trying to concentrate really hard or he's constipated, I'm not sure which.
"how old are you?"
"you know, you should ask questions that don't have more than one answer," I say. "my name: Denyse or Leila. My age: twenty-two or fifteen. There is no real lie or truth there, because there is no definite answer."
"alright then, what color is my hair?" she asks.
"purple with little green dots," I say, sipping my wine and laughing when both Polly Pocket and Xena look at me as though I've lost my mind completely.
"what? You told me to lie, right?" I ask, smiling.
"I guess you really are completely immune to our auras," Polly Pocket says eventually, sighing deeply.
...
"yeah, and to our conscious powers. That's a bit odd. Maybe this has little to do with your truth-eyes. Maybe your immunity to our powers is another power altogether," Xena muses.
"well, that could be connected to my passing out all the time," I say. "because I tend to lock my emotions up, not showing them, but eventually that gets to be so stressing that I pass out. Well, the doctors say that doesn't make sense, but that's what I always thought. If your powers affect my emotions, it's possible I just lock the emotions caused by your powers up like I do all other emotions that I don't want to deal with or show."
"hmm, so you have complete control over your emotions – but you 'control' them too much, which causes you to pass out –, you have a ridiculously good intuition, always guessing correctly and seeing things for what they are, no matter how hard anyone tries to hide the truth of it, you can drink without it negatively affecting your body and you might be causing people's insanity, like Cindy's, Peter's and your mother's. I think we just figured out all of your powers, or at least the strong ones," Dio says, smiling widely.
"quite an impressive lot it is too," Polly Pocket says.
"I think you just might be as powerful as any minor deity out there, not like a normal demi-god," Xena agrees.
"yeah, just call me the goddess of intuition," I mumble jokingly.
"hey, that would work, we don't have one of those yet," Puck says, sounding totally serious.
"Hecate, goddess of crossroads. Also known as the goddess of mature intuition," I say, shrugging.
"yeah, but she's more a goddess of choices than of intuition," Xena says, apparently also going along with this.
"and since your truth-eyes still seem to be your central power, the name fits. 'Denyse, goddess of intuition'. I like it," Dio says, smiling widely, making me sigh and take another gulp of wine.
These people have lost their minds, apparently.
"yeah, except I'm no goddess. No immortality or anything like that, remember?" I ask and then all just shrug in perfect synchronism.
"that could be easily fixed," Puck says. "whenever Olympian gods have a half-mortal child that they especially favor, they can give that child a piece of their own life-force and make them immortal. I was half-mortal once, you know? But the immortality really isn't all that important. It's about whether or not you have something that makes you unique, some power that no other god on Olympus has, that determines whether or not you may be called 'a goddess'. and you do have a power no other god has, so..."
I just sigh and shake my head. Yeah, they've definitely lost their collective minds.