Okay, lovely readers! Welcome back to Ms. Hecate's Academy! DISCLAIMER: NOTHING SHALL EVER BE OWNED BY ME…AW! At any rate, sorry for not updating for a long time. Icy had tests, holiday stuff, and New Year's stuff…but now Icy has returned.
I got some of this stuff from Mayo Clinic, so they get credit, too! I STILL OWN NOTHING!
CHAPTER 20
It was the day before Halloween (which fell on a Friday that year). For their elective today, the kids were all going to their Greek mythology class in their old classroom.
"When you're done coloring the letter L," said Ms. Leto, "you can give it to me and then put your coats on so we can go play outside."
"I hate coloring," said Phaethon, who was having attitude problems lately. In fact, he was just as bad as Theseus when Theseus' medicine wasn't working.
"Phaethon, remember our rules?" asked Ms. Rhea sternly. "If you don't behave, I'm going to call your mother."
Phaethon finished coloring his blue L, then gave it to Ms. Rhea. Then he ran to his cubby to get his coat on.
"Ms. Rhea," said Hebe, "can you help me zip up my coat?"
"Sweetheart, how about you try it?" said Ms. Rhea.
As Ms. Rhea expected, Hebe threw a horrible temper tantrum, one that the dead people on Pluto could hear! Everybody in the class stopped what they were doing and stared at the goddess of youth.
Andromeda and Perseus looked at each other. Atalanta and Theseus (who were now madly in love with each other) ran to each other. And poor Fructus had to watch his girlfriend's meltdown because he had no idea what to do about it.
"Hebe," Ms. Rhea said loudly so Hebe could hear her, "honey, I just asked you to try it. If you can't do it, I will help you, but I'd like you to try it by yourself first."
Here's the thing: Hebe had been spoiled rotten by Hera, because if Hebe asked Hera for something, Hera would oblige. So, Hebe wasn't used to this whole "try it yourself like a big girl first" type of thing.
"NO!" yelled Hebe.
"Oh," said Ms. Leto, snapping her fingers, "did she take her anxiety meds this morning?"
"Not sure," said Ms. Rhea, clearly getting frustrated with Hebe. "Hebe, knock it off right now!"
Hebe hit Ms. Rhea on the arm.
"Ms. Leto, call Ms. Gaea down here and take the kids outside," Ms. Rhea ordered her assistant.
So, Ms. Gaea was sitting in her office, bored as hell, when her phone rang. "Hello?" she said sleepily.
"Gaea, it's Leto. Hebe's having a horrible meltdown, so can you come down here and help?"
"Absolutely," said Gaea. "I'll be right there."
When Ms. Gaea came into the classroom, she saw Ms. Rhea looking down at Hebe as Hebe threw a temper tantrum. Ms. Leto, on the other hand, had just put a hat on Eurydice's head, and was attempting to lead the kids outside for recess.
"Ms. Rhea, I've got this," said Ms. Gaea. She went to Hebe and stood her up. "Hebe, honey, why are you throwing a temper tantrum?"
"Ms. Rhea won't help me zip up my coat!" Hebe yelled.
"I think she'd love to help you, dear," said Ms. Gaea, "but I think you should try it by yourself first. What do you think?"
"No!"
Ms. Gaea looked at Ms. Rhea. "Hebe," she said, turning back to the youth goddess, "if you don't zip up your coat, then you can go sit in the corner for five minutes."
Hebe finally tried to zip her coat, but she couldn't do it. "I can't do it," she sobbed.
"It's okay, honey," said Ms. Gaea. "That's why you're in school, right? You're going to be learning this stuff."
"But how come Fructus can do it?" Hebe snarled.
"Because Fructus probably learned how to do it already," said Ms. Rhea, helping Hebe zip up her coat. "See? All better!"
Once Hebe got outside, she ran to Fructus and started crying on him. Fructus was hanging out with Theseus and Atalanta while they had fun on the tire swing.
"Rhea," said Ms. Leto, "I think we'll have to discuss Hebe's tantrums during parent-teacher conferences."
"I agree," Ms. Rhea said.
Ms. Leto's phone beeped. "Okay, guys! Please line up for lunchtime!"
All the kids knew that Ms. Leto would be pissed if they didn't line up right away. So, the kids all ran to their teachers…except for Orpheus.
"Orpheus," Ms. Leto sang, "c'mere, honey!"
Orpheus put the stick he was holding down in the sandbox, then ran into the back of the line, right behind Jason.
"Hey, Orifice," Jason said, giggling happily.
"After lunch, we'll have naptime," said Ms. Rhea. "And then, we'll be going to mythology."
"Wanna hear a deep, dark secret?" asked Phaethon.
"Sure," said Bellerophon.
"Mythology sucks. When's this stuff ever gonna apply to us in real life?"
After naptime was over, Ms. Leto asked the kids to line up. "I spy with my Titan eye someone wearing yellow."
Orpheus raised his hand.
"Orpheus, you're going to lead us to mythology today," said Ms. Leto.
Orpheus took Ms. Leto's hand and led the class down to the mythology classroom.
"Hi, class," said Ms. Persephone. "Come on in!"
Ms. Leto led the class to the carpet, where everyone sat down. "See you guys in an hour," she said.
Hebe started to cry again.
"Hebe, don't cry, honey," said Ms. Persephone. "We've got a lot to do today."
"Ms. Persephone," said Fructus, raising his little godly hand, "are we doing something fun today?"
"Yes, dear," said Ms. Persephone. "Today, we'll be doing a scary story, since it'll be Halloween tomorrow."
"Yay!" the class cheered.
"So, we'll be doing a little play," said Ms. Persephone. "Does everyone know where Ms. Athena is today?"
The kids shook their heads.
"Ms. Athena has a really bad headache today, so she won't be here," said Ms. Persephone. "Anyway, let's start the play. I need two boys. Perfect! Phaethon and Bellerophon! Come on up!"
Phaethon and Bellerophon came up and stood by Ms. Persephone.
"Now, I'll need another boy and a girl. Excellent! Eurydice and Triton!"
Eurydice and Triton walked over to Ms. Persephone.
"Okay, does anyone know the story of Tantalus?" said Ms. P.
The kids shook their heads.
"Good," Ms. P said. "Now, kids, while I'm telling the story, you're going to do what I'm saying, okay?"
"Okay," said the kids.
"Good. Phaethon, you'll be Tantalus. Bellerophon, you'll be Pelops. Triton, you'll be Zeus. And Eurydice, you'll be Demeter.
"Once there was a king named Tantalus, and the gods loved him very much."
Phaethon stood in front of Triton and Eurydice, who patted him on the head.
"One day, Tantalus was invited to a party on Mount Olympus. During the party, Tantalus ate some yummy food. Then, he asked Zeus if he could take some of the food home with him, but Zeus said no."
Triton shook his head and Phaethon walked sadly back next to Bellerophon.
"Well, Tantalus was very sad about this, so he thought he would get back at the gods."
Phaethon put his finger to his chin, then looked at Bellerophon.
"Tantalus decided he would chop up his son Pelops, and serve him in a stew—yes, Perseus?"
"My Uncle P's an evil dude," said Perseus, "and he says he'll bake me in pies."
"Well, that's mean," said Ms. P. "At any rate, Tantalus cooked up Pelops and put him into a yummy stew. Demeter ate some and felt sick."
Eurydice mimed throwing up.
"Zeus was mad at Tantalus for cutting up his son," said Ms. P, "so he put Tantalus in the Underworld in a river, and he could no longer eat or drink. And that's where we get the word tantalize from."
"Ms. P," said Perseus, "I gots a question."
"Yes, honey?"
"Ms. P, was Pelops okay?"
"Yes. The gods made Pelops all better and brought him back to life."
"Wow," said Phaethon. "Badass."
"Phaethon, can you think of a nicer way to say cool?" asked Ms. P.
"No," snapped Phaethon.
Ms. P clucked disapprovingly, and wrote down some notes on Phaethon's behavior. "Okay," she said, turning on the SmartBoard. "Now we'll be watching a movie on Sisyphus." So, she put on a video for the kids to watch.
After mythology, it was reflection time yet again. So, Ms. Leto handed the kids their journals, where they drew pictures of what they did that day. A lot of kids drew a big letter L on their paper, then drew some stuff that started with an L. A lot of kids drew Ms. Leto.
When the parents finally came, Ms. Rhea was telling the class there wouldn't be reflection time tomorrow because it would be taken by the Halloween parade.
"Hera," said Ms. Rhea as she led Hebe over to her mother, "Hebe had a little meltdown."
"Oh, my little baby," said Hera soothingly while Hebe cried on her. "Why were you having a meltdown?"
"I CAN'T ZIP STUFF!" Hebe screamed at her mother.
"Well, it looks like we'll have to learn," said Hera, pulling Hebe away from her classmates.
"Don't forget to wear your costumes tomorrow for the parade!" called Ms. Leto.
While everyone was at home making sure their costumes fit, Phaethon was out with Clymene, trying to figure out what the hell he was going to be.
"Hon, don't you want to be a dragon this year?" asked Clymene.
Phaethon shook his head. "I wanna be a cookie!"
Clymene stopped an employee. "Hi, Piper," she said, looking at the nametag. "Do you have any costumes that look like cookies?"
"Uh…maybe," Piper said uncertainly. "Honestly, the entire store's almost out of stuff."
Clymene folded her arms and looked at her son, who looked like he was on the verge of a fit. "We'll take the dragon costume, Piper."
"Okay. Sorry about that."
After Clymene bought the costume, she looked at her son. "Sorry, honey. But that's what happens when you put off going costume-hunting till the night before."
Phaethon took Clymene's hand as they headed back to the car. He was looking at the ground.
"Tell you what," said Clymene. "Let's go buy some Halloween candy."
The following morning, all the kids were sitting on the carpet in front of Ms. Rhea. Ms. Rhea was in a butterfly costume, while Ms. Leto was in a bumblebee costume.
Phaethon looked at Bellerophon and Jason. "Guys, I couldn't find a cookie costume last night. So now I have to wear this silly dragon costume."
"Phaethon, your costume looks lovely," said Ms. Leto. "Who wants to share what they are?"
Atalanta raised her hand. "I'm a pizza slice!"
"I'm a princess!" said Andromeda proudly.
"You were a princess last year," Theseus said.
"Theseus, instead of being mean about Andromeda's costume, what are you?" asked Ms. Rhea.
"I'm a vampire," said Theseus. "I vant to suck your blood."
Ms. Rhea laughed nervously. "Thank you for sharing, Theseus. Perseus, how about you?"
"I'm Uncle P!"
"Great! Orpheus—Orpheus, honey! Don't cry. I'm sure your costume is wonderful," said Ms. Leto.
"I'm…I'm a skeleton," said Orpheus, wiping his nose on his sleeve.
"That's a nice costume," said Ms. Rhea. "Well, here's our schedule today." She flipped over a big piece of paper with a pumpkin on it that said that day's schedule. "Since it's Friday, we'll be doing Game Day, but it'll be earlier. We'll be doing the parade today, so no naptime."
"And for lunch," said Ms. Leto, "we're eating pumpkin-shaped chicken tenders with bat-shaped fries."
"Mm," said Jason. "Orifice, that's my favorite food ever! Fries!"
"My name's Orpheus," Orpheus stressed.
"Oh…right," Jason said nervously. "Sorry. I forgotted."
"Eurydice, what are you?" asked Ms. Leto.
"I'm a singer," Eurydice said sadly. "And my daddy hates me, so I was brutally forced into this itchy costume."
"Honey, Daddy doesn't hate you," Ms. Leto said.
"Yeah he does. He never plays with me at home."
"Well, I'll talk to him after school today," said Ms. Leto.
"He's not coming, so Mrs. Calliope is taking me back to Orpheus' house so we gets to trick-or-treat together," said Eurydice.
"Well," said Ms. Rhea quickly, "it's time for the read-aloud. And…Triton, you can help me turn the pages."
Triton, who was a Cyclops that year, ran up to Ms. Rhea.
Later that afternoon, kids all ran down to the gym for Game Day. Ms. Maia and Ms. Demeter greeted them with the usual, "How's everyone's week?" thing. Once all the kids answered, "Good", Ms. Maia and Ms. Demeter began to play Pumpkin Tag with the kids. It was a complicated game, but the kids understood it just fine.
Andromeda, while she was it, started to get itchy on her hands. So, while someone else was it, she told Perseus. "I'm all itchy." She showed him her hands.
Perseus examined them, then looked at Andromeda. "You have bumps there. See? The red ones."
Andromeda's mind quickly ran from her hands to her face, where even more spots were forming.
"Are you allergy-ic to anything?" asked Perseus.
"I don't think so," said Andromeda. She started scratching her face. "What do I do? It's so annoying!"
"Kids!" yelled Ms. Demeter. "Come to the circle in the middle of the gym, please!" As usual, Ms. Demeter was holding Fructus by the hand as he tried to escape. Fructus was dressed as a farmer for Halloween this year. Phaethon must've approved, because he didn't make fun of Fructus' costume this year.
Perseus and Andromeda came to the circle, where Ms. Maia told them that Ms. Rhea was here to get them.
"Who needs help with costume stuff?" Ms. Leto yelled over the noise of the classroom.
"Ms. Leto," called Andromeda, running to Ms. Leto, "I'm all itchy."
"Where?"
"On my face," said Andromeda.
Ms. Leto looked at Andromeda's face, which was covered in little, red bumps. "Ms. Rhea! Could you come over here for a minute?"
Ms. Rhea, who was putting some blush on Hedone's face (Hedone was Aphrodite this year), came over to the pair of them. "Holy Hera," she breathed as she looked at Andromeda's face. "Did you fall on the playground?"
Andromeda shook her head.
"No? Well, then, I think I know what it is," said Ms. Rhea. "C'mon, hon. Let's go see Ms. Gaea."
Parents had started to arrive for the parade.
"Where's Dromie?" asked Cassiopeia.
"I have no idea," said Cepheus. "Maybe she had to go to the little princess' room."
"Hi," said Ms. Leto. "You looking for Andromeda?"
They nodded.
"She just went to see Gaea. She's got some bumps on her face."
Cepheus and Cassiopeia exchanged dark looks. "I see," said Cepheus. "Well, Cass, I think I'll go check up on her."
Cepheus headed down to the nurse's office. When he opened the door, he saw Andromeda sitting on one of the couches, drinking juice and eating a cookie. Then he spotted Ms. Gaea on the phone.
"Oh," said Ms. Gaea, standing up. "I was just trying to call Cassiopeia at work. Andromeda has chickenpox."
Andromeda was happily sitting on the couch, listening to Ms. Gaea tell her father what was going on.
"I'll call Cassiopeia down here and you guys can take her home," said Ms. Gaea.
"Daddy," said Andromeda. "Daddy, when I'm in the parade, I'm going to wave my magic wand!"
"I'm afraid there won't be a parade for you, princess," said Cepheus.
Andromeda looked puzzled. "Why not?"
"You've got chickenpox," said Cepheus, kneeling in front of her. "So, we need to go home because you're sick."
Cepheus could always tell when his little princess was on the verge of crying. Her face got all scrunched up and she started to sniffle. And that's exactly what Andromeda did, too.
Cepheus picked her up as soon as Cassiopeia walked into the room with Andromeda's things. "You two ready?" she asked.
Cepheus nodded. "How long should we keep her out of school, Ms. Gaea?"
"I'd say about a week," said Ms. Gaea. "Don't scratch, honey," she said as Andromeda scratched her nose. "Feel better. Call me or Asclepius if you've got questions."
When Andromeda got home, Cassiopeia put her in an oatmeal bath right away while Cepheus ran to get a few things.
Meanwhile, the parade had just begun. The class paraded around the classroom and part of the playground, showing off their costumes to the other adults.
"Triton!" yelled Poseidon. "Look like you wanna kick some ass and not like you're having fun! This shall be your future photo on Facebook, and I want it to be good and evil at the same time!"
Meanwhile, Phaethon and Bellerophon were walking around, giving everyone the finger.
"Boys, that's enough!" Ms. Leto yelled at them. She gave Clymene and Eurynome dirty looks.
"Oh, yeah. Bellerophon, hon, let's not do that," Eurynome said absentmindedly.
Clymene, on the other hand, decided to completely embarrass her son by pulling him out of the parade and yelling her voice box out at him. Then, she spanked him a few times, which resulted in Phaethon biting her. We could go on about what they were doing, but let's just fast-forward and say that Clymene took Phaethon home right after the parade, and said he had to give her and Helios half his candy that night.
Meanwhile, Perseus was getting ready to go trick-or-treating. "Mommy, when we get to Andromeda's house, can I see her new princess poster?"
Danaë looked at her son. "Honey, Andromeda's not going tonight."
"How come?"
"Because she's sick with the chickenpox."
"Did she throwed up?"
"Nah. You don't really throw up with this kind of thing, dear," said Danaë. "C'mon, baby. Let's go get Theseus."
So, Theseus, Atalanta, Andromeda, and Perseus were all supposed to go trick-or-treating together. Andromeda was sick, so Atalanta—naturally—felt like the third wheel. Aethra had offered to take her so Iasus could hand out candy and stuff.
Ding, dong! The doorbell rang at Ares' house, revealing Hedone and Psyche. "Hey," said Ares. "Are you supposed to be Aphro?"
"Yeah," said Hedone.
"Great costume," said Ares. He turned around and yelled up the stairs: "GET DOWN HERE, DAMMIT!"
"Mr. Ares," said Hedone, raising her hand. "Are you coming, too?"
"No, hon. I have to stay here and give out cheap candy. We were going to make candied apples, but then Aphro turned on the news this morning and now we can't do that."
"Why?"
"'Cause everyone's freaking out because there could be poison or knives or something in the apples."
"I'm back!" Aphrodite squawked, running into the house, carrying a bag full of candy.
"Where's the other one?" snarled Ares.
"You wanted me to get one," snapped Aphrodite.
"No, Aphrodite. I said two."
"Your twos look like ones," she snapped back. "Oh, and my day just got worse because Psycho's here."
"My name is Psyche, Aphrodite," said Psyche in a little-kid voice. "Are we all ready to go?"
"Ms. Psyche," Phobos said, pulling on her arm, "we should throw Mommy off a bridge."
"Believe me, hon, I would love to do that," said Psyche. "But I can't because that's not very nice."
So, after they got Makaria from the Underworld, all the kids headed to Andromeda's house to get some candy.
As soon as Cassiopeia answered the door, the kids yelled, "Trick-or-treat!"
"Hi, kiddos," Cassiopeia said quietly. "I'm trying to be quiet."
"Oh," said Psyche. "Someone sick?"
"Yeah," said Cassiopeia, distributing some candy amongst the kids. "Andromeda's got chickenpox."
"Ooh," said Aphrodite. "I'll come over with my makeup stuff so I can powder her face and—"
"Mommy!"
Andromeda came down the stairs in her pink pajamas. "Can I have some ice cream?"
Cassiopeia turned around, then looked back at the kids. "Well, Happy Halloween!" And she closed the door quickly. "Are you itching again?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. I'm a big girl and I'm not scratching."
"Good girl," said Cassiopeia, feeling her daughter's forehead. "Yeah, you're really warm."
Just then, Cepheus came into the kitchen with some groceries. Andromeda ran to him and gave him a hug around the legs. "Daddy, what did you get?"
"Well, Dromie, I got you some ice cream and some candy," said Cepheus.
"Yay!" Andromeda cried. "Now, I won't be left out! Thanks, Daddy!"
Well, anyway, everyone was still happily trick-or-treating.
During class that day, Hebe told everyone where Ms. Rhea lived, so everyone was constantly pounding on her door to get candy out of her.
Rhea was sitting on her couch, waiting for a pizza, when the doorbell rang. "Hi, guys!" she said sweetly, opening the door and holding out the candy bowl.
"Trick-or-treat, Ms. Rhea!" said Orpheus and Eurydice.
"Well, you kids can each have five pieces," said Ms. Rhea. And they were big pieces, too!
"What do we tell Ms. Rhea?" Calliope asked.
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome. I'll see you guys on Monday!"
Rhea was closing her door again when Hebe rang the bell. Sure enough, she was with Fructus the farmer. Zeus was standing with them, looking like he wanted to kill himself.
"Zeusy," Rhea cooed, giving the kids their candy, "aren't you having fun?"
"Mommy, kill me," said Zeus.
Let's leave Ms. Rhea alone for a while and talk about Phaethon, Bellerophon, and Jason, shall we?
The boys were trick-or-treating with their fathers, when they came upon a haunted house building thingy.
"Cool," said Phaethon. "Let's go inside, guys!"
"Yeah," Bellerophon breathed. "Let's go inside!"
"I don't wanna," said Jason, going behind Helios' legs.
"Dudes, Jason doesn't want to go in," said Helios. "So, we're not going to go in."
"I hope you burn in the fiery pits of Tartarus," Phaethon muttered.
"I know you think I didn't hear that," said Helios angrily. "But I did."
After everyone had gone trick-or-treating, it was time to go back to Phaethon's house to see him throw a fit about his candy.
"And we didn't get to have candy at Mr. Ares' house because Mr. Ares only bought one bag of candy," Phaethon griped as Helios rummaged through his bag for his portion of the candy.
"Well, maybe we should've gone out earlier," said Helios. "Okay, let's see here…I'll take the Butterfingers, the Twix bars, and the M&Ms."
"But…but they're my favorite," said Phaethon.
"Too bad, so sad," said Helios. "Clymene! I got the candy!"
Hedone, Phobos, Deimos, and Makaria all headed back to the Underworld, where Hades was supposed to entertain them. Hades, though, ran into his study like the antisocial fool he was, leaving the kids to raid the pantry for more candy.
Persephone, Psyche, and Aphrodite all walked into the kitchen to get some booze, when they found their children sitting on the floor with a bag of Kisses in front of them.
"Oh," said Psyche, "Hedone, we should probably ask Ms. Persephone if we can have some before we take any."
"Oh." Hedone swallowed some more chocolate. "Sorry, Ms. Persephone. Makaria told me to."
"That's all right, honey," said Persephone.
MONDAY MORNING AT ANDROMEDA'S HOUSE
By now, as you can imagine, Andromeda was bored out of her mind. She couldn't go outside and play, and she couldn't go to school to play with her friends. All she could do all day was sit in her playroom and watch all the princess movies she owned…and had memorized by this point.
This morning, Cepheus and Cassiopeia were going out to do some early Thanksgiving shopping, so Uncle Phineas was asked to watch his sick niece. So, during his visit, he gave Andromeda an oatmeal bath, played dolls with her, and made her no less than three sundaes.
MS. HECATE'S ACADEMY
Ms. Rhea and Ms. Leto were enjoying the quiet classroom as the kids went to PE for their special that day. Ms. Rhea was taking notes on Hebe's behavior that day (for data collection at the parent-teacher conferences coming up), when the door opened and Ms. Aethra walked in.
"Hey," said Ms. Aethra. "Eurydice's got dots on her face."
"She does," said Ms. Leto. "How about you get her to Ms. Gaea's office before all the kids come back. I have to take her home because Apollo's at a music conference or something."
Ms. Aethra nodded, taking Eurydice over to the nurse's office.
"Ms. Aethra, do I have to stay home tomorrow?" asked Eurydice.
"Yes, you do."
After school, Ms. Leto took Eurydice home, where Apollo was on the couch, waiting for her to return.
"Apollo," Ms. Leto snapped.
"Hmm?"
"If you were gonna be home, you should've picked up your sick daughter."
"What's on her face?"
"Chickenpox is going around the school," said Ms. Leto.
"Wasn't that part of their physical this year? They all had to be vaccinated."
"Doesn't work like that. Now, since I'm your mother and you have to do what I say, you'll be taking care of your daughter from now on." Ms. Leto turned to Eurydice. "Bye, honey. Hope you feel better soon."
"Thanks, Grandma Leto," said Eurydice, hugging Ms. Leto.
After Ms. Leto left, Apollo gave Eurydice a bath and put some lotion on her.
"Wanna hear a haiku?" asked Apollo.
"No," said Eurydice.
"This is an ass-pain
Giving you all this oatmeal.
What a waste of food!"
"I said no, Daddy," snapped Eurydice. "You must not have heard the no part."
ORPHEUS' HOUSE
Across the street at Orpheus' house, Orpheus was doing karaoke with Calliope while Oeagrus wrote poetry. Now, Orpheus couldn't read yet, but he knew all the songs by heart because his parents were both music majors in college.
As Calliope was getting her son ready for bed, she pulled the towel back from Orpheus as she was drying him off. "Orpheus, what's on your belly?"
"Maybe I gotted a rash from Jason," said Orpheus.
Calliope pulled out the thermometer and stuck it in Orpheus' ear. "Yep. Fever," she said. "You're staying home tomorrow with Mommy."
Orpheus folded his arms. "Thanks a lot, Eurydice. She wented home today, too."
And let's go back to check on Andromeda.
Andromeda was in and out of sleep while she watched a show called Demeter's Magical Memories about Cereal (don't watch it; it sucks). Cepheus came into the room to check up on her.
"Princess," he said, tapping her on the head.
Andromeda looked up at him. "Daddy!"
"Did you have a nice day with Uncle Phineas?"
"Yeah. I ated three ice cream sundaes…with hot fudge! It was awesome!"
"Mm…sounds yummy. What would you like for dinner? We got you some chicken soup."
"Can I have some, please?"
"Of course you can," Cepheus replied, and he walked out of the playroom.
Uncle Phineas and Cassiopeia were talking about Andromeda as Cepheus walked out of the playroom.
"How was she today?" asked Cassiopeia.
"She was fine. She slept, but she's totally bored," said Uncle Phineas.
"We got her some coloring books," said Cassiopeia, holding up one about princesses and another one about butterflies. She ran into the playroom to give the books to Andromeda.
The next morning, Andromeda was up before her parents (which never, ever happened). So, when Cassiopeia and Cepheus came downstairs to eat breakfast, they found her coloring in her coloring book at the table.
"Just couldn't wait, huh?" Cepheus said, kissing her on the head.
"Daddy, can I go back to school today?" Andromeda begged. "Please?"
"No, princess."
Andromeda started to cry. "But…but…I'm so bored here."
"I know, honey," Cassiopeia said. "But guess who's coming over today to watch you?"
"Ms. Danaë?"
"Nope. Ms. Aethra's coming over to watch you! Maybe you can bake cookies with her."
Andromeda wanted to respond with, Screw cookies, I'm dying! But, since Theseus was one of her friends now, she liked Ms. Aethra.
MUSIC CLASS
"Okay, everyone," said Ms. Mnemosyne, "when I turn on the 'Turkey Song', you're going to walk like a turkey, but you're going to do it to the beat."
The "Turkey Song" came on. All the kids walked around like turkeys until the song had ended.
"Ms. Psyche," said Theseus, coughing violently, "can I go home? I don't feel good."
"Let's go see Ms. Gaea."
"I don't feel good either," Perseus announced, scratching his nose.
"Come with me, boys," said Ms. Psyche.
So, while Ms. Rhea led the class back to the classroom, both boys were sitting on a bed in Ms. Gaea's office. Ms. Gaea sat in her chair, examining the boys' skin. "Are you both itchy?" she said.
"Yes," said Perseus.
"Okay. Let's take your temps."
Ms. Gaea first looked at Theseus' temperature. This thermometer went under the tongue, so even after Ms. Gaea sterilized it again, Perseus fought her. "That gots Theseus slobber on it!"
"Honey, let me put this under your tongue!" Ms. Gaea said, clearly losing it. When the thermometer beeped, Ms. Gaea had both boys stay in her office while she ran to go make copies of something.
"I'm bored," said Theseus. Then, he spotted a jar of lollipops on Ms. Gaea's desk. Ms. Gaea was a mean nurse and didn't give them out often. But when Miss Hestia was there, she gave them out all the time.
Meanwhile, Perseus spotted the jar of peppermints near the bathroom. He didn't know much about peppermints, only that they tasted good and they made your stomach feel better.
Theseus was swinging his feet on the bed. "I'm still bored," he said.
"Look," Perseus exclaimed. "A flashlight!"
Perseus ran to get it. He turned it on and shined it into Theseus' eyes. "Look at me. I have to make sure your eyes aren't sick, too."
"Stop it," snapped Theseus. "My eyes don't hurt."
Ms. Leto walked into the office. "Boys, what are you doing?"
"We're bored," said Theseus. "And now my eyes hurt, Ms. Leto."
"Well, here. Jason's not feeling well either. Where's Ms. Gaea?"
"She ditched us," said Perseus.
"Why are you kids playing with my stuff?" Ms. Gaea barked, rushing into the office again.
"Because we're bored," Theseus replied. "Can we have a sucker?"
"No," snapped Ms. Gaea. "Besides, your mother's here to get you from school."
"Hi, honey," Aethra cooed, stepping into the office and taking her son's hand. "Are you sick, too?"
"Yeah, Mommy. And I'm also really bored and stuff," Theseus said bitterly. "Ms. Gaea won't give us any suckers."
"Gods, I'm glad you're going home," snarled Ms. Gaea.
"I hope you get fired," said Aethra, picking up Theseus. "Miss Hestia was much nicer."
Perseus still had the flashlight in his hand. "Hmm…" he said. "Jason, it seems you're sick, too."
"I know I'm sick," said Jason.
"Can I look in your ears?" asked Perseus.
"No," said Jason.
"You're no fun," said Perseus, turning off the flashlight.
Danaë walked into the room. "Sweetie," she said to Perseus, "let's go home so you can sleep."
"Okay," said Perseus.
Once all the kids and staff had gone home, Ms. Hecate's Academy was officially closed.
ORPHEUS' HOUSE
Orpheus was very upset that day because he couldn't go to school, which meant that he missed music class.
"Hon," Calliope said, "I know you're angry because you missed music class today. But you'll have more music classes."
"Mommy," Orpheus sobbed, "I wanna go sing and dance with my friend Jason."
"I know, honey. Do you wanna do some karaoke with Mommy?"
"Yes," Orpheus said quietly.
"Okay. What should we sing?"
"ABCs!"
"Okay. We'll sing the ABCs."
JASON'S HOUSE
At Jason's house, Aeson was making his kid some soup when Jason came running down the stairs. "Daddy, I'm all itchy again."
"Hang on, buddy. We'll get you into the tub when I'm done with this soup."
After Aeson finished what he was doing with the soup, he dragged Jason upstairs for his daily dose of oatmeal in the tub.
Jason played with his toy boat while he sat in the tub. "Daddy," he said, "I'm sleepy now."
"I know. Baths make people feel tired," Aeson said.
PERSEUS' HOUSE
Dictys came home from work to find a poke-a-dotted creature running through the house…naked.
Dictys set his keys down and looked for Danaë. Realizing he had no idea where the hell she was, he picked up Perseus. "Kiddo, where's Mommy?"
"Getting a bath ready for me," Perseus said. "Put me down!"
"Dude, why're you running through the house naked?" Dictys said firmly.
"Because I can," Perseus replied.
"Perseus!" called Danaë. "Bath time!"
Dictys carried his nude son upstairs. "Danaë, he was running through the house naked."
"Perseus," Danaë scolded, "we don't run through the house naked."
"Listen, we have work tomorrow," said Dictys. "We have to get a babysitter."
"I wanna see Andromeda," snarled Perseus, splashing the water.
"If you splash again, you're done," Dictys said firmly.
"Grandpa A could watch him," Danaë suggested.
"He's not Uncle P," said Dictys. "Okay."
Danaë went to go call her father. "Daddy, can you watch Perseus tomorrow? He's got the chickenpox."
"Ew!" Acrisius said. "Uh…okay. When should I be there?"
"Eight forty-five," she replied. "I'll be at school, but Dictys will be here for a bit."
Meanwhile, Dictys dragged Perseus out of the tub and put some lotion on his spots. "Okay, buddy. How about some dinner?"
"Yeah!"
"What would you like?"
"I want cheese fries!"
And so, Dictys went into the car and went through the drive-thru with Perseus sitting in his car seat behind him.
"Kiddo, is that all you want? You want a milkshake, too?" Dictys said.
"Yeah," Perseus said, playing with a stuffed fish toy.
"Hello, and welcome to the Cheese Fry Factory. What do you want?" barked the window person.
"A nicer chick taking my order," Dictys snarled at the menu. "I want three orders of cheese fries, three orders of chicken nuggets, and three large vanilla shakes with chocolate shavings on them!"
"Okay, sir," said the cashier. "That'll be eighteen forty-two!"
Dictys pulled around, paid for the food, and drove home.
"What did you do in school today, buddy?" asked Dictys as they were sitting behind a car that couldn't decide whether it wanted to move or not.
"We had show-and-tell today," said Perseus. "I brought in my picture of you and Mommy."
"Did they like it?"
"Yeah. Ms. Rhea said I look just like you."
"What's your letter of the week?" asked Dictys.
"M," said Perseus. "I know almost all the letters!"
"I think you only know half of them," said Dictys, pulling into the garage. "Okay, dude. Go inside and I'll be right there."
THESEUS' HOUSE
For once, Theseus wasn't running around his playset outside because he was feeling like crap.
"Theseus, when you're sick, you can't run around Mommy's legs," Aethra scolded. "How about you watch a movie."
"Can't," Theseus said.
"Then, how about you do your writing homework."
Ms. Rhea was now giving the class weekly "writing practice" to reinforce printing skills. So, ever since week…whenever the hell school started, Ms. Rhea and Ms. Leto would give the kids a sheet of letters to write once a week. If they did it, they would get candy, and Theseus LOVED his candy!
Theseus glumly went to his backpack, pulled out his take-home folder, and opened it. Inside, there was a letters sheet on the letter M. The directions were to circle everything that started with the letter M. So, the words were muffin, mitten, and milkshake. Then, Theseus was told to circle the word that didn't start with the letter M. His new words were ball, mother, and meatball.
When Theseus was done, Aethra looked it over. "Good job, sweetie," she told him. "Now, why don't we watch a movie together?"
"I wanna color," Theseus said, itching his face.
"No scratching, dear," said Aethra firmly. "Let me go get the lotion. Pick out a movie."
So, Theseus rummaged through his movie box and pulled out Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. When Aethra came back downstairs, she put some lotion on Theseus' chickenpox, then put the movie in. Then, she and Theseus made a fort of pillows and blankets in front of the TV.
When Aegeus got home from lawyer stuff, he found Theseus sleeping in Aethra's lap as she watched the rest of the movie.
"He sick, too?" asked Aegeus.
"Uh-huh," said Aethra.
"Mommy?" Theseus said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "I'm itchy again!"
"Is it your back or your tummy?" asked Aethra.
"My tummy," said Theseus.
Aethra put some lotion on Theseus' belly, then she gave him a cookie after he took his drugs for his ADHD.
PHAETHON'S HOUSE
"Boys!" called Clymene. "Time for dinner!"
Helios and Phaethon were spending some father-son bonding time in their basement. Helios had just introduced Phaethon to some video games, so now Phaethon was addicted.
"Boys!" screamed Clymene. "Dinner!"
"C'mon, dude," said Helios. "Let's go up there before Mommy loses it."
"Loses what?" asked Phaethon.
"Loses her patience," said Helios as they ran up the stairs together.
As the family was eating turkey and potatoes for dinner, Clymene turned to Phaethon. "So, honey, did you learn anything at school today?"
"Yep. I learneded what M was," said Phaethon. "'Member, Mommy? You helped me with my worksheet."
"That's right. I did." Clymene poured some more gravy on her turkey and potatoes. "Do you want to tell Daddy what happened today?"
"I didn't get my stoplight moved at all," said Phaethon.
"Good job, buddy! See? School isn't so bad!" Helios said, clapping for his son's big achievement. "Now, do you wanna play more Journey to the Center of the Underworld, or do you want me to read to you?"
"Read to me," Phaethon said, yawning. "My head hurts."
"Do you have a headache, baby?" asked Clymene.
"Yes," said Phaethon.
"Yeah, you look red in the face," said Helios. "Clymene, he's burning up."
Clymene took her son's temperature. "Yep, he's got a fever. Phaethon, how about you go to bed."
Phaethon, who was feeling too sick to even cop an attitude with his mother, walked up the stairs with his head in his hands, and with Helios following him.
"Daddy," Phaethon groaned, "I feel like crap."
"I know, dude. Maybe you should stay home tomorrow and sleep," Helios suggested. "Which jammies do you want?"
Phaethon, whose fever was making him feel warm, declined the offer for pajamas. "I'll just sleep in my underwear."
Helios shrugged. "Um…okay, kid."
After Helios put Phaethon in bed, he headed downstairs to find Clymene on her phone.
"Just told Hecate and Rhea that Phaethon's sick," said Clymene. "I hope this'll just be a one-day thing and not the chickenpox."
Around midnight, Phaethon got up and stood in front of his mirror. Balls, he thought.
Phaethon ran into his parents' room. "Mommy!" he screamed. "I'm really sick!"
Clymene jumped and looked at her son. "Oh, no," she hissed. "Well, hon, go back to bed and I'll get the lotion."
PERSEUS' HOUSE
It was the first day of hell for Perseus. He sat on the couch in the living room watching a movie, trying to distract himself from this horrible itching. He knew Grandpa A would be there soon to take care of him, and he wasn't looking forward to it. At least it wasn't Uncle P!
Perseus heard the doorbell ring, and his mother ran to get it. "Uh…I said Acrisius."
"Danaë," said a voice that reminded Perseus painfully of Uncle P's, "your father is coughing up blood."
"For real?" Danaë asked, mildly concerned.
"No. Not really. But it sounded good, right?" Polydectes chuckled. "Anyway, he asked me to watch the kiddo. And where's Dick?"
"Danaë!" called Dictys, running down the stairs in his usual fishing gear. "Did Acrisius—oh. You're not Acrisius."
"Nope," Polydectes smirked. "My name is Polydectes."
"Really? I had no idea," snapped Dictys.
"Acrisius actually didn't want to come because he said he didn't want to get this thingy," Polydectes explained. "So…I'm filling in for him."
"I see," said Dictys. "Well, I'm off to work. Danaë, when are you heading out?"
"Right now." Danaë gave Polydectes the bottle of lotion. "Put this on Perseus' chickenpox. It'll soothe the itching."
"Okay," said Polydectes.
As soon as Danaë left, Uncle P sat down on the couch next to Perseus. "Hey, dude."
Perseus was curled up on the couch under a blanket. "Hey," he said glumly.
"Not feeling good today, huh?"
"Not really."
"I'm Dr. Uncle P, just like when you got that nasty flu last year," said Dr. Uncle P, holding out the bottle of lotion.
"Uncle Ass-Face, I don't like that game too much."
"Aw…I liked it a lot when we played it last year," snapped Uncle P. "But I guess nothing lasts forever."
ASCLEPIUS' WAITING ROOM
"Now, Phaethon," said Clymene as she picked out a picture book for her kid to look at, "if Dr. Asclepius touches your skin, don't jump off the table and kick him in the groin like you did at your checkup, okay?"
Phaethon gave his mother a hard look, which Clymene casually ignored.
"Phaethon," said Nurse Hygiea, "you're up, dear!"
Clymene carried her son into the office, and placed him on the exam table.
Asclepius turned around and smiled warmly at Phaethon. "Hey, dude," he said.
"Hey, dude," Phaethon said. Apparently, he was a copycat today.
"So…what's going on today?" asked Asclepius.
"He's got chickenpox, and I just want to make sure he's not lying. He tends to do that," said Clymene.
"Well," said Asclepius, "he definitely has chickenpox, Clymene. There's not much I can tell you."
"It's not the mumps, right?"
"Nope," said Asclepius. "Definitely chickenpox. Make sure he gets plenty of rest, lots of fluids, and no school for a week."
All right! No stupid school for a whole stupid week…STUPID, Phaethon's brain told him.
"I'm glad you brought him in, though," said Asclepius. "He's overdue for his flu vaccine."
"What?" Phaethon groaned.
"Dude, it's just a pinch," said Asclepius, readying the needle. "Want to watch?"
"Okay," said Phaethon. So, Asclepius gave him the shot and sent Phaethon and Clymene on their way.
THESEUS' HOUSE
Theseus and Aethra were, once again, watching a movie. Today, they were watching A Christmas Carol. Aegeus had already left for work, and Aethra had already given Theseus his drugs for his ADHD.
After the movie was over, Aethra asked her son if he wanted her to read to him. So, Theseus got a book called The Murder Most Foul, a book about murder. The book was actually one of Aegeus' lawyer books with a stupid title, but Theseus thought there'd be some action in here, so he asked Aethra to read it to him.
Aethra sat in the armchair in the living room and had Theseus sit on her lap while she read to him. "A premeditated murder is a murder that is thought about prior to the killing of the victim," Aethra read.
"What does that mean?" asked Theseus.
"How about you get another book," said Aethra.
Theseus bolted up to his parents' room, where he found another book.
"Where Do Babies Come From? All the Questions Kids Ask to Make Conversations at the Dinner Table Totally Awkward. I don't know if this is a good idea either, hon." She picked up a book. "Kronos Goes to Jail. This should be good." So, they read until the book ended. By that point, Theseus was sleeping.
ANDROMEDA'S HOUSE
Today, it was Cassiopeia's turn to watch Andromeda. She was nice to her, but she didn't spoil her daughter like Phineas did. Cassiopeia only gave Andromeda one sundae, not three.
Since it was Wednesday, Cassiopeia was supposed to work later than usual that night. But after calling in sick, she got the whole day to herself.
When it was time for Andromeda's nap, Andromeda asked her mother for a story…with princesses in it.
"Okay, honey," Cassiopeia said. "Once upon a time, there was a princess—"
"And her name was Andromeda," said Andromeda.
"Yes, her name was Andromeda," Cassiopeia agreed. "So, one day, Princess Andromeda was picking flowers in the enchanted forest, when she met Prince Perseus. They got married. The end."
Yeah, it wasn't her best work, but Andromeda could only listen to so much of a story before she got bored by it. So, instead, Cassiopeia put on some sleepy-time music for her, and Andromeda fell into a deep sleep.
PERSEUS' HOUSE
Across the street, Polydectes was texting Acrisius (because Perseus was taking his nap, too).
Uncle P had just sent a smiley face to Grandpa A, when a loud fart interrupted his texting time. "Who the hell was that?" he yelled.
"That was me," said Perseus, running into the living room.
"Dude, don't come over here!" yelled Polydectes.
"Too late, Uncle Poop-Sniffer!" screamed Perseus. "I'm trying to stink up the whole house so you'll leave us alone…forever."
"Stupid," snapped Uncle P, "go back upstairs. Your nap's not over yet."
"I can make myself burp," Perseus bragged. "Watch!" He swallowed some air, burped, and threw up on Uncle P's pants. "Mission 'complished," he said cheerfully.
But Uncle P wouldn't leave the house. "Kiddo, go upstairs and sleep, dammit!"
"Make me," Perseus said casually.
Uncle P was getting angry, so he picked up his nephew and carried him upstairs. Perseus was blowing raspberries in his face the whole time.
TRITON'S HOUSE
Poseidon pulled into his underwater palace's garage and dragged Triton inside the palace. "Kiddo," he said, "while I make dinner or something, you can do your homework. And if it's not perfect, I shall deny that you're my son."
"Okay," Triton said.
Amphitrite was standing near the oven, making chocolate-chip cookies. "Hi, baby," she cooed, giving Triton a hug. "How was school today?"
"Good," said Triton. "We did stuff with writing." And he pulled a folder out of his backpack. The class was now working on handwriting skills (it was Wednesday, which meant that it was handwriting skills time until Friday afternoon). Triton pulled out his packet of everything involving the letter M, from the pictures to the handwriting. Amphitrite smiled at her son's effort on writing an M for the first time.
"Good work, honey," said Amphitrite. "Who gave you the sticker?"
"Ms. Leto gave us a sticker if we did our homework from last night," said Triton, scratching his face.
"Triton, honey," said Amphitrite, "it looks like you've got bumps on your face. Are you itchy?"
"Yeah," Triton said, beginning to cry. "It's really bad, Mommy. Make it go away!"
"Honey, shh," Amphitrite said soothingly. "Don't cry. We'll take care of it. Let me call Ms. Hecate and tell her you've got chickenpox. Then, I think you get to take a nice, warm oatmeal bath."
Triton tried oatmeal once…and threw it up all over the table.
Amphitrite dragged him upstairs to take his oatmeal bath. Triton hesitated at first, since he became nauseated by oatmeal.
"Hon, you're not going to eat it. You're just taking a bath in it. It'll make you feel a lot better," Amphitrite promised. "Here. Play with your toy dolphin."
HERA'S CAR
"Are you ready for therapy?" asked Hera, pulling into the parking lot of Eros' therapy clinic.
"Yeah," said Hebe.
"I'm going to come with you," said Hera.
"Okay," said Hebe.
"Something wrong?" asked Hera.
"My throat hurts," said Hebe.
"Well, maybe you can have a mint when we get inside," Hera suggested.
Harmonia, the receptionist, was on the phone. "Okay, Hades. We'll see you and Persephone tomorrow. Please get here a few minutes early so she can fill out an intake form." She looked at the girls. "Hi, girls."
"Hi, Harmonia," said Hera.
"Hi, Hebe," Harmonia said gently. "Are you ready to see Mr. Eros?"
"Uh-huh," said Hebe nervously.
"Okay. Take a seat and he'll be right out."
Hera and Hebe had just sat down, when Eros came out of the office. "Hey, guys," he said. "Hebe, are you ready?"
Hebe nodded, then buried her face into Hera's shirt and began to cry.
"Hera, why don't you come back, too," Eros said. "We can talk about Hebe's progress."
"Sounds good," Hera replied, pulling Hebe by the hand and following Eros into the office.
Eros took his comfortable armchair (where he would sit to interrogate people), while Hera sat—with Hebe on her lap—on the couch across from him.
"So," said Eros, "how's everything going at home, Hera?"
"She's much happier at home than she is at school," Hera replied. "She gets really anxious when someone won't do something for her at school, and they ask her to do it herself."
"Mm-hmm," said Eros. "Could this have something to do with self-advocacy?"
"Yeah," said Hera.
"Okay. Any examples?"
"Hebe asked Rhea to zip up her coat for her, but Rhea asked Hebe to try it by herself first. So, they had to get Gaea into the room to stop the tantrum."
Eros thought for a minute, then looked at the youth goddess. "Hebe, sweetie, does trying new things make you feel sad?"
"Yeah," Hebe said, scratching her face. "It makes me sad, Mr. Eros."
"Hera, I think if we tell Hebe what to expect from something new," said Eros, "that might help her feel better about starting new things. What do you think, Hebe?"
"Yeah," Hebe said, scratching her arms.
"So," said Eros, "I can sort of see she's losing interest because she's itching."
Hera gasped. "Hebe, you've got dots all over you face."
"I do?"
"Yes, dear. We'll put you into a bath when we get home."
Eros cleared his throat and stood up. "Well, I'll see you two in a couple of weeks to discuss more progress."
Hera pulled into the garage and got Hebe into the bath right away. Hera was just about to wash Hebe's hair, when Zeus walked in without his shirt on. "Ew," he hissed. "What is this creature in my house?"
"That creature," Hera snapped, "is your daughter."
"How was therapy?" asked Zeus.
"Fine," said Hera.
"That's nice. I signed Ares up for theater camp, but don't tell him. It'll be funnier if he doesn't know."
Hera rolled her eyes and took Hebe out of the tub, wrapping a towel around her. "Baby," she cooed to Hebe, "would you like some…hot chocolate?"
"Yes," Hebe sniffled. "I don't feel good, Mommy."
"I know, sweetheart," Hera said soothingly. "Do you want Mommy to rub your back?"
"No," said Hebe. "Rub my belly, Mommy."
HEDONE'S HOUSE
Eros drove into the garage, got out of the car, and whistled as he walked into the kitchen. He found Psyche at the kitchen table, doing a crossword puzzle.
"What does Ares call Aphrodite all the time?" Psyche asked herself.
"Bitch," Eros replied.
"Excuse me?" Psyche snarled.
"That's the answer, baby doll," Eros replied. "How was your day?"
Psyche and he made out at the table.
"Fine," said Psyche. "I finally got the laundry done, so now you have clean underwear."
"Are my heart ones in my drawer?"
"Yes, darling."
"Good. Good." Eros looked around the room. "Where's Hedone?"
"She's upstairs in her room. Not sure what she's doing," said Psyche. "What should we eat for dinner?"
"How about some chicken with potatoes?" Eros said.
Psyche agreed, so Eros and she began to make dinner together.
Meanwhile, Hedone was playing with her dollhouse up in her room. "Miss Otrera, would you like some more tea?" She picked up another doll. "Sure, Mrs. Hippolyta. I would love some more tea!"
"Hey, sweetie," Eros said, walking into the room.
"Hi, Daddy. Wanna play?"
"Sure. Are we playing tea party?"
"No. Now we're going to play school. I'll be Ms. Rhea. You can be me. Let's start class now!" Hedone ran to her CD player and the song "Make New Friends" came on. "Clap to the beat, everyone!"
Eros started to clap.
"Very good, Daddy," said Hedone, scratching her chin.
Eros, who loved playing with his daughter, was sad now because they had to stop playing school early. "Sweetie," he told her, "are you itchy?"
"A little," said Hedone, scratching her arms.
"Do you want to take a nice, warm bath?" asked Eros.
"Yeah. Can you tell me a story, too?" asked Hedone.
"Of course I can," said Eros.
Meanwhile, Psyche came upstairs because she heard the water running in the tub. "What's up?"
"She's got chickenpox," said Eros, helping his daughter into the tub.
"Is it bad, Hedone?" said Psyche.
"Yeah."
Psyche felt her forehead. "Well, I'll text Hecate and tell her you'll be home from school tomorrow."
While normal children would love a day off from school, Hedone was heartbroken; she loved school.
NEXT MONDAY
So, because the author of this FanFiction couldn't keep track of the days of the week since everything started, let us now fast-forward to the next week.
Andromeda was back in school, but she was very lonely. The class was now missing Fructus, Atalanta, Hercules, and Iphicles. Plus, Perseus wasn't back in school yet, so that was another reason Andromeda felt lonely.
"Ms. Rhea," said Bellerophon, "when will everyone be back at school?"
"I think Theseus is coming tomorrow," said Ms. Rhea. "And I'm not sure about everyone else. Maybe during playtime, we can make everyone get-well cards and give them to Mr. Hermes."
"Yay!" the class cheered.
Ms. Leto, who was on her laptop (probably doing some sort of school thingy), looked up and smiled at the few kids on the carpet today.
"Let's do the weather, shall we?" said Ms. Rhea. She held up a pointer and looked around the room. "I spy with my Titan eye…someone wearing a pink dress with very cute black shoes."
Makaria stood up. "It was Daddy's first day ever dressing me," she told Ms. Rhea. "He doesn't like doing that because he doesn't like spending time with me and stuff."
"Oh, hon, don't say that. Your father loves you very much," said Ms. Leto, coming over to the carpet and pulling Bellerophon's thumb out of his mouth. "Bellerophon, let's not suck our thumb, okay?"
"Why?" he asked her, wiping his spit on his jeans.
"Because there are germs on the carpet," Ms. Leto replied sweetly. "Do you want to sit on my lap?"
"Sure," said Bellerophon, crawling into Ms. Leto's lap. They both looked up at Ms. Rhea.
"Makaria, can you tell us what the weather's like today?"
"Yes. It's rainy and yucky outside," she replied.
"Good girl," Ms. Rhea cooed. "Is it sunny?"
"Nope. My daddy doesn't like the sun…or happiness…or the color lellow."
"I think that's yellow, sweetie," said Ms. Rhea. "Good girl. Here's your sticker today."
Just then, Ms. Hecate walked into the room. "Good morning, kids."
"Hi, Ms. Hecate," the class said sleepily.
"Aphrodite wanted me to tell you that Deimos is constipated, so if he goes to the bathroom for ten minutes and doesn't come back, you'll know why. And she wanted to make sure I told the whole class so no one worries about it. That is all."
Everyone stared at her as she awkwardly walked out of the room.
"At any rate," said Ms. Rhea quickly, "it's story time!"
"Ms. Rhea, I think it's show-and-tell day," said Ms. Leto.
"Sorry, class, my brain's a bit foggy today."
"Have you been drinking?" asked Cyrene.
"No," said Ms. Rhea, and that's where it ended. "Now, Makaria, I think—since you did the weather—you should go first."
Makaria stood up and clapped her hands. Next to her, a girl appeared with dark, curly hair. "This is my half-sister Hazel," said Makaria. "She's nice to me. She gives me treats and buys me cool stuff, because Daddy is a cheap-ass and acts like a scrooge all the damn time."
"Hi, everyone," said Hazel, waving to all the kids.
"Your hair looks like Cinnamon's fur," Bellerophon observed out loud.
"I don't know what that means," said Hazel, "but thanks."
Makaria clapped her hands again and an Asian kid appeared next to Hazel. "Wha—where am I?" the kid said.
"And this is Hazel's boyfriend Frank," said Makaria proudly. "Ms. Aphrodite follows them a lot and giggles when she sees them."
FRUCTUS' HOUSE
"Mommy! Stop!"
"Fructus, be quiet or you won't get cereal for dessert tonight!"
Fructus squealed as Demeter put more lotion on his spots.
Fructus' story about chickenpox was boring, so let's check on Phaethon.
PHAETHON'S HOUSE – WHICH IS NOT BORING
Phaethon, who was chilling at home with Clymene, was riding his trike around the kitchen while Clymene made him some lunch.
"Mommy, I'm bored," said Phaethon. "Wanna play drive-thru?"
"Honey, it's lunchtime. And then it'll be naptime."
Phaethon coughed all over his trike. Then, he rode it to his mother and ran it into her ankles a bunch of times (he thought it was funny when she got pissed).
Clymene put a knife into the sink, put a slice of bread on top of the PB&J, then put it on the table. Then, she got out a bag of potato chips and gave some to Phaethon. Then, she poured him a small glass of milk, then sat down with him, eating her own lunch.
Phaethon looked at his mother, who seemed mildly interested in her salad. She was watching him closely. "What?"
"Don't you what me, Mister," snapped Clymene. "Eat all of your lunch. You know the rule."
"No lunch, no dessert," Phaethon said bitterly.
ARES' HOUSE
Aphrodite was having her usual once-a-month rant about Psyche.
"She's too pretty to be a goddess. I'm the goddess of beauty, so I'm supposed to be beautiful."
Ares was drinking in hopes to forget this conversation later.
"Are you listening to me?" barked Aphrodite.
Ares burped. "Uh-huh," he replied.
"Mommy," came a voice from the staircase.
"What?" Aphrodite snapped.
Phobos and Deimos were standing on the stairs, both their faces covered in spots.
"Ew," Aphrodite squealed, "you're infected with something nasty! Get out of my house!"
"Aphro, it's just chickenpox," said Ares. "Be nice to them." Ares went to his sons and put one hand on each of their foreheads. "Yeah, you two aren't heading to school tomorrow. I'll call Ms. Hecate. In the meantime, Aphrodite, give them a bath."
"I'm not your personal slave, Ares," snarled Aphrodite.
"YOU WILL DO AS I SAY!" yelled Ares, making Aphrodite's hair fly out of her face.
"YOU RUINED MY HAIR!"
Aphrodite pulled the boys upstairs, and gave them baths. Then, she let them run around the house naked because Aphrodite's an idiot.
TWO WEEKS LATER AT MS. HECATE'S ACADEMY
It turned out that everyone had gotten the chickenpox. Some kids were still coughing, but in general, everyone looked healthy and happy to be sitting on the carpet for circle time.
"Since it's almost Thanksgiving," said Ms. Rhea, "it's time to talk about the Thanksgiving lunch! Did everyone bring their permission forms back?"
The class nodded.
"Excellent! So, your parents will be coming in on Friday for lunch, and we'll all be eating in the gym. The classroom's too little for all of us to fit. On that note, let's review our sight-words from last time." Ms. Rhea held up a card with the word LOVE on it. Then, she held up a card with the word CAT on it. The class did very well with the sight-words.
That afternoon, when Helios came to get Phaethon, Phaethon got mad because he found out that Perseus, Andromeda, and Theseus were going to Disney World for Christmas break, and he couldn't go.
"It's okay, buddy," said Helios as he drove home with his kid. "We'll have fun because we're going to…Magic Sprinkles Waterpark!"
Phaethon whooped with joy; he'd never been there, but he was excited to go!
Okay…there was my mini novel. Hope you all like it!