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CHAPTER 27

Everyone was adjusting very well to first-grade. Hazel and Piper were getting used to teaching small children how to spell, read, write, and do math stuff.

It was the week before winter break, and the teachers were in a meeting that morning. It was Monday, which was why Piper walked in with two cups of coffee from Olympian Starbucks.

"Morning, Piper," said Hazel, writing something on the board.

"Morning, Hazel," said Piper, yawning widely.

"How was your weekend?"

"Good. Jason and I went Christmas shopping, so that was nice. Yourself?"

"It was good, thanks. Frank and I also went Christmas shopping."

"I sure hope Hecate doesn't make the kids wait outside this morning," Piper said, staring at the window. Snow covered the ground, and Ms. Hecate hadn't swept it up yet. "Well…you know how kids are. They'll probably pelt each other with snowballs."

As if Hecate had super-sonic hearing, she came into the classroom. "Could you two make sure that the kids come inside right away? I don't want them to get frostbite. And recess will be inside today."

Hazel and Piper nodded, and Hecate went back to her office.

Once the bell rang for the teachers to get their classes, Piper and Hazel made sure all the kids were safe and sound in the hallway. Then, they led them to their classrooms.

In Hazel's classroom, Phaedra and Theseus were talking to each other about the snow they saw outside.

Theseus put his take-home folder into the folder box, then headed off to the carpet for the morning meeting.

"Theseus," said Phaedra, "that was a fun weekend, huh?"

"Yeah! Sure was!" Theseus said.

"What'd you guys do?" asked Bellerophon, accidentally stepping on Andromeda's hand. "Sorry. It was an accident."

"We made snow angels in my backyard," said Phaedra. "Then, we came inside and watched A Christmas Carol. We got scared, though, so we watched something else."

Bellerophon and Phaethon had apparently had a playdate that weekend, too. They had gone sledding with Helios and Glaucus, while Clymene and Eurynome had stayed home and did Christmas-related stuff.

"Good morning, everyone!" Hazel said happily. "I hope everyone had a nice weekend! Let's all stand up and say the Pledge together."

The class stood up, said the Pledge, then sat back down.

Hazel sat in her rocking chair, picked up a clipboard, and began to read the announcements from Ms. Hecate. "So, since it's snowing like crazy outside, we'll be having recess inside today. We've done this before, and all the toys and games are back by the art center, just where you all left them."

In Piper's classroom, Piper was going over the same stuff. "And since it's Monday," she said, "we'll be going to see Ms. Persephone for mythology class."

"Miss McLean?" asked Telemachus. "Your skirt's so pretty!"

"Thank you, Telemachus," said Piper, giving him a smile.

"Now, let's get started with our book for today," said Hazel to her class. She held up a book called Godly Santa's Too Skinny!

During math that morning, Hazel was reviewing how to tell time with her class. "Let's work on Problem 5 with our partners," she said.

Hedone, who was working with Hebe, tapped her on the shoulder. "You're my partner," said Hedone.

"But I'm working with Fructus," Hebe said.

"No," said Hedone. "He's working with Bellerophon."

Hebe looked at the fruits god. Sure enough, he was working with Bellerophon, who kept accidentally drawing on Fructus' hand with his pencil.

Hebe shrugged. "I think it's ten-thirty."

"I think it's eleven-thirty," said Hedone.

"My grandma Rhea says I'm the smartest goddess, dammit," said Hebe, "so that means I'm the smart one, you little bitch."

"But…but…THAT'S NOT NICE!" Hedone said, sobbing as she ran over to Hazel. "Miss Levesque, Hebe called me a bitch."

"Hebe, come here, please," said Hazel.

Hebe glumly walked up to Hazel and looked up at her. "Yes?" she asked, giving Hazel the famous PLEASE DON'T PUNISH ME BECAUSE I'M SO CUTE face.

"Did you say something mean to Hedone?" asked Hazel.

Hebe looked at her. "Um…no?"

"Are you lying to me, Hebe?"

"Yes," Hebe said, lowering her head out of embarrassment.

"Hebe," Hazel said, using her stern voice (which she rarely used), "I'm very disappointed in you. Now…go see Ms. Hecate."

Hebe stomped on her way to the office, where she and Hecate had a long talk about her goals for that year.

Meanwhile, in Piper's class, it was time for reading. So, Piper split the kids into pairs, and told them to read either their poetry books or their books about the solar system.

"Orpheus, look!" Jason said happily, pointing to the window. "It's really coming down now!"

"Yeah, it sure is," said Orpheus, who'd just pulled out his book about poetry. "Wanna take turns or read together?"

"Let's take turns," said Jason. "Popcorn Orpheus!"

They were playing a game Piper had taught them called Popcorn. Basically, when the kids wanted to give up reading and wanted someone else to read, they'd yell "Popcorn!" and call out their friend's name.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way," Orpheus read, "oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!"

"How'd you know that word?" asked Jason.

"Because Mommy taught me the song last night when I was practicing my reading," said Orpheus. "Popcorn Jason!"

All throughout the classroom, Piper could hear: "Popcorn!" followed by the kids' names. She smiled to herself, knowing that she'd done well so far as a teacher.

Meanwhile, in Hazel's classroom, the kids were putting their workbooks away, so they could have recess. Again, it was snowing like crazy outside, so the kids would be inside for the entire day…which made some kids upset.

"Miss Levesque," said Hedone as she put her workbook back in her desk, "who's the goddess of snow so Daddy can shoot her with a hate arrow?"

"That's Khione, Hedone," said Hazel.

Hedone smiled, nodded, then headed off to the carpet and got out a board game. Hebe, who'd apologized to her for calling her a bitch, came over to see if she could play, too. Naturally, Fructus followed Hebe around everywhere, so he was in on this, too.

"Sure," said Hedone. "You guys can play with me. Playing a game by yourself is never fun."

"I play with Mr. Stuffing all the time," said Hebe proudly. "We play family together."

"Unless I come over," said Fructus. "Then, Hebe pretends she's pregnant and has a baby in her tummy, and then we play house."

Hedone stared at them. "You guys should just get married."

"We're too little," said Fructus. "And…Mommy won't let me marry Hebe unless she gets a job in the food business."

"Mommy says I should become a big girl first," said Hebe.

When recess was over, Hazel asked the kids to take out their spelling workbooks so they could practice their words this week. Hazel ran through the spelling list (using words with double letters in them), then asked the kids to work independently until it was lunchtime.

In Piper's class, Piper was doing the same thing, but she thought the kids would be more interested in spelling if she taught it through a game.

Lunchtime was finally here, so the teachers took their classes to the gym for lunch. Today, Miss Hestia had made tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and gooey chocolate-chip cookies for dessert. And—because Ms. Hecate's Academy was on the GoHealthyKids Program (created, of course, by Demeter)—Miss Hestia also put together fruit cups for the kids to enjoy, too (though she doubted they'd eat them).

During lunchtime, the kids ate in silence, until Phaethon burped really loud, causing his table to laugh. Hazel had to scold him, and Phaethon changed his behavior quickly.

Finally, lunchtime was over, so the kids headed back to their classrooms, all in food comas.

Piper was making the kids write something of little importance, while Hazel was also making her class write something of little importance.

Phaethon, when he was sure Miss Levesque wasn't looking, looked around the classroom, bored out of his mind. Today's writing topic was: Write about something you do in the winter. Phaethon did lots of fun stuff in the winter, but he couldn't think of any at the time.

Finally, he nudged Theseus. "Dude, what fun things do I do during the winter?"

Theseus shrugged. "Go sledding?"

"No. I don't do that anymore," Phaethon whispered back.

"Don't you play outside?" asked Triton.

"I hate playing outside in winter. It's cold out."

"Well," said Perseus, whispering from the neighboring table. "Maybe…make snow angels?"

Phaethon could vividly recall making snow angels with Clymene one time. "Okay. Thanks, guys." And he continued to write about making snow angels.

After writing, the kids had science and social studies before they finally went to Mythology for the day.

Ms. Persephone was standing in the doorway to the preschool classroom (as she usually did).

"Hi, guys," she said cheerfully, allowing the classes to sit on the carpet. "Today, we'll be learning about the myth of Athena and Arachne—yes, Phaedra?"

"Ms. Arachne said she'd eat me last year if I didn't color good enough," Phaedra told her timidly.

"Don't worry," said Ms. Persephone. "Ms. Arachne and Ms. Medusa are gone and won't bother you anymore. So, has anyone ever gotten into a contest before?"

Bellerophon raised his hand. "Ms. Persephone, I was in a contest for who could burp the loudest."

"Who were you with, Bellerophon?" asked Persephone.

"I was with my good friend Phaethon," Bellerophon said. "And, Ms. P, Phaethon won."

"And how did that make you feel?"

"Well, Ms. P, Phaethon bragged a lot and said he was better."

"Well, that's not very nice," said Ms. Persephone. "Now, class, that's a perfect example of what happened between Athena and Arachne."

After Persephone went over the myth, she had the class divide into pairs. One person would be Athena, and the other would be Arachne. The person who was Arachne would have to brag that they were better, and "Athena" would curse them to become a spider.

"That's where we get spiders from," said Persephone as she walked around the room. "And it looks like your teachers are back."

Hazel and Piper, who looked exhausted from the long school day, got their kids and headed back to the classrooms.

"Everyone," called Hazel, "please make sure to be safe when you're outside!"

Theseus, who'd gotten his boots on, rushed out the door to Aethra's car. "Mommy! Can we get some hot chocolate?"

"Sure, honey," said Aethra.

Two days later, the kids were in Ms. Athena's art class, where Ms. Athena was teaching them how to make ornaments.

"When you're done with your glitter glues," said Athena as she walked around the classroom, modeling her ornament, "please bring it up to me and I'll make sure you get it back before Friday."

Telemachus looked at his blank ornament. He nudged Icarus. "Do we just…ya know…put glitter glue and stuff on here?"

"Yeah," said Icarus. "Like this." Icarus was good at crafts, because his father was the great inventor Daedalus. Telemachus…not so much. While Icarus was doing a phenomenal job with his ornament, Telemachus was making a sloppy ornament that he wasn't too happy with. Finally, he gave up, just in time to go back to class and go home.

"Mommy," Telemachus said as he and Penelope walked through Olympus-Mart, "I suck at arts and crafts."

"No you don't, honey," said Penelope, turning into the baking aisle and picking up a box of brownie mix. "Why would you think that?"

"Because in art class today, we were making ornaments, and Icarus is real good at it, and I'm not," Telemachus bitched.

"Well, honey, you're probably good at other things that Icarus isn't good at," said Penelope. "Like…you're really good at sharing," she said.

"Now, Theseus," Aethra said as she handed her son his hot chocolate, "you can't drink it right away because it's hot—THESEUS!"

Theseus had just taken a huge swig of hot chocolate, swallowed, and burned everything from his tongue to his stomach.

"Wow…" said Theseus, letting his tongue hang out of his mouth like a puppy, "that's spicy."

"Hot chocolate's not spicy," said a voice behind him. They had run into Fructus and Demeter, who were getting smoothies.

"It's kinda cold out for a smoothie," said Theseus to Fructus.

"Mommy says I can't have hot chocolate…ever," said Fructus. "It's not healthy for you."

"Well, screw that," Theseus said while Aethra and Demeter were talking to each other. "Hey, dude, does your mommy feed you?"

Fructus—who was so thin he could've passed off as a scarecrow—nodded. "But not a lot of food. She doesn't want me too chubby, she says."

"When are you allowed to eat junk food?" asked Theseus.

"When it's Halloween and Christmastime," said Fructus.

Demeter handed Fructus a strawberry smoothie. Then, she gave Theseus a look. "Aethra, your son shouldn't be drinking hot chocolate. You should, instead, feed him wheat and barley drinks."

Aethra rolled her eyes, then looked at Demeter. "Thank you, Demeter. I'll take that into consideration."

"Good," said Demeter. "Fructus, let's head home. But first we need to pick up Daddy's Tums."

"What are Tums?" asked Theseus.

"It's stuff that makes you stop crying about how bad your tummy hurts," said Fructus. "My daddy's a big wuss."

"I hate your mommy, though," said Theseus. "Never met your daddy."

"You don't want to," said Fructus, taking Demeter's hand.

"Goodbye, you two," said Demeter. "Stay healthy!"

"I hate you, Miss Demeter!" yelled Theseus happily. "Feed Fructus some Burger King and McDonald's once in a while!"

After Aethra regained her composure because she was laughing so hard, she and Theseus headed home so he could do his homework.

"Theseus, maybe we shouldn't tell Miss Demeter we hate her," said Aethra as she and Theseus headed home. "I mean, she's a goddess."

"Okay," said Theseus, wiping his mouth. "But she's mean to me."

"She's not mean to you, honey. She just doesn't have a filter sometimes."

Everyone was now either doing their homework or playing in their houses. Hedone had already finished her math homework and was busy learning the piano while Psyche and Eros thought about dinner.

"I'm starving my ass off," said Eros, making Hedone laugh her ass off.

"Hedone, play 'Jingle Bells,'" said Psyche.

"Okay, Mommy!"

While Hedone epically failed at "Jingle Bells", Psyche looked at the love god. "Maybe we should go out to dinner. There's that new burger place I've been dying to go to."

"Okay. I wanna hear the weather first."

Eros flipped on the TV and went to Aeolus' News Network.

"Good evening, everyone," said Aeolus, who was dressed as a snowflake. "The reason I'm wearing this snowflake is because there's gonna be lots and lots of snow tonight—oh, THIS JUST IN! Ms. Hecate's Academy will be closed tomorrow due to inclement weather!"

"HEDONE!" Eros yelled. "NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!"

"Yay!" Hedone yelled, running to her father. "Let's build a snow castle or something!"

The next day, Zeus woke up and found he couldn't even talk. This made him sad because his voice was taken away from him…and he needed that to function.

Hera woke up with a sore throat and a headache, so she texted Rhea to see if she could take care of Hebe today.

So, when Hebe came downstairs for breakfast, she found Grandma Rhea making chocolate-chip pancakes, fresh syrup, and chocolate milk.

"Good morning, Hebe," said Rhea, flipping the pancakes.

"Morning," said Hebe. "I don't have school today." She climbed onto a chair and looked at her empty placemat that had snowflakes on it.

"I know. Mommy and Daddy aren't feeling well, so I'll be taking care of—Zeus, honey! Go back to bed!"

Zeus stomped downstairs glumly, pointed to his neck, then went over to the cabinet to take some medicine. He walked over to Hebe and slapped her gently on the head.

Hebe glared at her father. "What did I do?"

Zeus took out a piece of paper and scribbled a note.

Hebe looked it over. "I can't read that, Daddy."

Rhea came over. "Shut up, Hebe, before I blast your youthful brain to a different planet! Zeus, that wasn't nice."

Zeus rolled his eyes.

Rhea put her hand on his forehead. "Hmm…I think you're running a fever, dear. Go upstairs and I'll take care of Hebe today."

Zeus stomped back upstairs before Mommy Rhea could nag him more.

"Hebe," Rhea said, looking at her granddaughter, "would you like some chocolate milk?"

"Yes, please," Hebe said.

Rhea handed Hebe her favorite cup in the winter (a cup with the Frozen characters on them). Then, Rhea and Hebe ate pancakes and syrup together, until Hebe asked Rhea if they could go outside and play.

Meanwhile, at Fructus' house, Demeter was forcing Fructus to eat an extra helping of oatmeal this morning. Fructus forced the yucky oatmeal down, then ran upstairs to get dressed. Five minutes later, he came downstairs in jeans and an ugly sweatshirt.

Demeter smiled. "Fructus, I love that sweatshirt!"

"It itches, though," Fructus complained.

"Oh, stop that. You know Athena took all that time to make that for you!" Demeter shouted. "Now, go outside and play in the yard."

When Fructus walked outside, he found Hebe on the other side of the fence with Rhea. They were making snow angels together.

"Hi, guys!" Fructus called as he caught snowflakes on his mittens.

"Hi!" Hebe yelled, pelting Rhea with a small snowball. "Wanna come over and play?"

"Sure!" yelled Fructus. He looked behind him. Once he found Demeter wasn't there (or Trip), he climbed over the fence and landed in front of his relatives.

"I've got an idea," said Rhea. "I think we should make a snowman."

"Okay!" the kids yelled happily.

"FRUCTUS!"

Fructus put his hands over his ears. "Uh-oh…"

"Yeah," Trip barked, "uh-oh is right! Mommy looked outside and she had no idea where you were! Explain yourself!"

"Triptolemus," Rhea said calmly, "he's just fine. He's having a playdate with Hebe."

"Well…okay. But he needs to be home by four-thirty. We're going to Aunt Persephone's house for dinner." Trip ran off.

"Grandma R," said Fructus, "can I live with you instead? My parents suck."

"Don't say that, dear," said Rhea, rolling a huge snowball because the other two gods were too puny. "Your parents love you."

Fructus shrugged. "Okay, maybe I love them, too."

"Of course you do."

They finished the snowman and Rhea led the kids inside for hot chocolate.

At Ares and Aphrodite's palace, Phobos and Deimos were getting ready to play outside, too. Ares was getting his snow gear on, while Aphrodite was busy filing her nails at the kitchen table.

"Could you file them somewhere else?" Ares grumbled. "We eat here."

"Uh…no," Aphrodite snarled at him. "In case you forgot, Ares, I can't file them somewhere else because my makeup station in the bathroom is full of old nail polish bottles!"

"Then, go clean it," Ares barked at her.

"Oh, screw you, Ares," Aphrodite said bossily. "Technically, I'm older than you, so I don't gotta do what you tell me!"

"Mommy," said Phobos timidly, "uh…wanna come outside and play in the snow?"

"No," said Aphrodite heatedly. "I'll be upstairs taking a nap."

Aphrodite eventually got bored with her nap because her kids were screaming their heads off outside. So, she quickly put her stuff on and ran out to play with her family.

Ares was helping his kids make a gigantic snow fort when he spotted Aphrodite. "Hey," he said, "the boys want to have a snowball fight. It's us against you!"

"Will it ruin my hair?" asked Aphrodite.

"No," snapped Ares. "Go make your fort."

Aphrodite didn't know crap about making a fort, so she hid behind the bushes and waited for the fight to begin.

Ares and his sons had made a dozen large snowballs each, so they began throwing them at Aphrodite. Aphrodite, who also didn't know how to make snowballs, screamed and ran around the yard, squealing her head off.

"Okay, babe! I'm sorry," said Ares. "C'mere and lie down in the snow!"

Aphrodite—who was also an idiot—lied down in the snow.

"We're going to play Egyptian Mummy," said Ares. "This sled will represent the sarcophagus—"

"The what?"

"The casket thing," snarled Ares. "When I put this on you, I'm going to bury it with snow. Now…you'll have to stay still until I say you can break out."

Aphrodite nodded, giggled, then put her hands over her chest.

"Okay, boys. Help me start burying the sled!" Ares ordered.

Phobos and Deimos began helping Ares bury the sled. When they were done, Ares wiped the imaginary sweat from his brow. "Okay," he said. "Let's go inside. I'm cold now."

"Dad, shouldn't we get Mom out of there?" asked Deimos.

"No."

Ares took his kids inside while Aphrodite developed horrible frostbite under the sled.

Phaethon, Bellerophon, and Jason were all getting their snow things on when Cinnamon came up and licked Phaethon's hand.

"Oh. Hi, Cinnamon Roll," said Phaethon.

"It's just Cinnamon," Bellerophon said, putting a hat on. "Let's go, guys! Wanna come, too, Cinnamon?"

Cinnamon barked and pawed at Bellerophon's snow pants.

"Okay. You can come, too."

Cinnamon was now dressed in a coat, and everyone was ready to go play outside. When they first got outside, Cinnamon ran around as the boys played Passwords on the playset.

"Is it a day of the week?" asked Bellerophon.

"Nope," said Jason. "It's a season."

"What's a season?" asked Phaethon.

"Like…when we don't have school, it's summertime," said Jason.

"Oh…" said Bellerophon. "Winter?"

"Yep! Good job!"

"My turn!" Phaethon got in front of the slide for his turn at Passwords. "I'm thinking of a puppy whose name starts with a /s/ sound."

"Cinnamon!" yelled Jason.

"Yep! That's right!"

"My turn," said Bellerophon. "I'm thinking of a god whose name starts with a Z."

"Zeus?" said Jason.

"Yep."

Jason, Phaethon, and Bellerophon got bored with Passwords, so they decided to make Cinnamon go down the slide.

"C'mon, Cinnamon!" yelled Phaethon. "You can slide down now!"

Cinnamon was on top of the fort, while the boys were jumping up and down at the bottom. Cinnamon wagged his tail, then slid down the slide. He landed on his face in the snow, which made the boys laugh and applaud.

"Guys, I'm freezing," said Bellerophon. "Let's go inside for hot chocolate."

Meanwhile at Phaedra's house, Andromeda, Perseus, Phaedra, and Theseus were all preparing to slide down the large hill at the end of the backyard.

"Who lives next to you?" asked Andromeda.

"Some creep named Apollo," said Phaedra. "I don't like him much. I guess he used to be Eurydice's daddy, but now she lives with Ms. Leto."

"I didn't like Ms. Leto on the first day of school," said Theseus. "I felt like she was always yelling at us."

"Maybe she didn't sleep that much," said Perseus. "I mean, she probably isn't a morning person."

"Andromeda!" yelled Cassiopeia's voice. "C'mere and put your hat on!"

Once Andromeda had put her hat on, everyone got ready to sled.

"If someone wins," said Phaedra, "they have to write their full name in the snow."

"I don't know how to spell Aegeus," said Theseus.

"Don't worry, guys," said Perseus. "My mommy's smart. She'll help us spell. I don't know how to spell Dictys either."

"I can't even spell Cassiopeia," Andromeda complained.

"I can't spell Pasiphaë," said Phaedra. "Oh…just write your first name, then."

"GO!" yelled Theseus, whose meds were wearing off again.

The kids slid down the hill, and Theseus won. "Okay. T-H-E-S-E-U-S," he spelled.

"Guys, it's too cold out here now," said Andromeda. She was right—the sky was getting dark, which meant that the air was getting colder. Andromeda's nose was completely red, so she was the first one to clamber inside.

"Guys!" called Minos (Phaedra's dad). "It's time to come back inside now! It's snowing heavily again!"

All the kids ate Christmas cookies and drank chocolate milk at the kitchen table.

"Ms. Danaë," said Phaedra, "can you tell us a snowman story?"

"Sure, sweetie," said Danaë.

The four of them listened as Danaë told a pathetic story about a snowman (the moral was something about friendship).

Minos turned on the TV to the news station.

"This just in!" yelled Aeolus. "Ms. Hecate's Academy will be closed tomorrow. All you kids out there, enjoy your extra days of break!"

"Groovy," said Theseus.

"Don't turn into Ms. Rhea!" yelled the rest of the kids.

Back at Hebe's house, Hebe and Rhea were playing dolls together and trying to stay quiet because Zeus and Hera were sleeping.

There was a knock on Hebe's bedroom door and Hera walked in. "Hi, girls," she said in a raspy voice. "Did you have a nice time playing together?"

"Yeah, Mommy! We had Fructus over and we played in the snow for a long time…then he had to go home to see Auntie Sephie," said Hebe.

"Well, it sounds like you had a fun day," said Hera. "Zeus is sleeping, and I was going to make some soup."

Rhea stood up. "I'll make it for you, honey. You go back to bed."

The following morning, Hercules and Iphicles woke up to find a blanket of fresh snow covering the ground outside their window. They looked at each other.

"What should we do today?" asked Hercules.

"We could have friends over to play," said Iphicles.

"Boys!" Alcmene called. "Breakfast is ready!"

The boys rushed to the kitchen, where their mother was placing waffles and eggs onto the table. As usual, Hercules ate five of the waffles, while Iphicles only got two.

"Mommy," said Iphicles, "can we have Tyson and Triton over to play?"

"Sure, honey. I suppose you can have them over if the snow isn't too bad."

Amphitryon came into the kitchen, poured himself some coffee, kissed his wife on the head, high-fived the boys, then went into his study to write books and whatnot.

"And what will you four be doing?" asked Alcmene as she placed some clean laundry into the boys' dressers.

"We like to sled, Mommy," Iphicles said, choosing a pair of socks and putting them on his little feet.

"Sounds like fun," said Alcmene as the doorbell rang.

Hercules ran to get it, knocking Iphicles down to the floor. Then, Iphicles pulled him to the floor. So when Triton and Tyson opened the door, they were greeted by kicking, screaming, and punching.

"This isn't awkward at all," Poseidon said. "Thanks for watching these two. Anything to get them out of the damn house. Bye. I'll pick you guys up at two or something!"

After everyone saw Hercules and Iphicles kicking and punching each other, they all headed outside to sled.

In the house across the way, Atalanta, Otrera, and Cyrene were getting ready to sled, too.

"On your mark, get set, go!" yelled Otrera, who was dressed in a Wonder Woman coat with matching snow pants and boots.

After Atalanta kicked Cyrene's ass at sledding, they decided to make snow angels because they were getting slightly bored.

"Do you guys think we'll go to school on Monday?" asked Otrera, admiring her snow angel.

"No. It's that time of the year that we don't have to go to school," said Atalanta. "It's Christmas soon. Secret Godly Santa's coming and he's going to eat all the cookies I made last night."

"What kind did you make him?" asked Cyrene.

"Gingerbread," said Atalanta. "And I'm also leaving a carrot out for Rudolph and the other reindeer."

"Girls!" called Iasus. "Come inside! The weather's getting really bad!"

Meanwhile, at Hedone's house, Hedone, Makaria, Eros, and Hades were all playing in the backyard together (at least, the three former gods were; the later was trying to make a good-sized snowball to hit Demeter's house).

Even though it was approaching winter (and Hades loved winter), he still felt severely depressed. As he tried to create the massive snowball, he wondered what it would be like if he were the King of the Gods.

"Don't dwell on what could've been," said Eros, who could read minds because he's creepy like that, "but embrace what you have."

"I don't need your therapy blah, blah, blah," snapped Hades, chucking the snowball at Demeter's house. It shattered the window on the second floor, which happened to be Fructus' room.

"Hades, remember what we do when we break something?" asked Eros.

"We have to say sorry to Demeter," snapped Hades.

"Go," Eros ordered.

Hades picked up a smaller snowball and headed across the street to Demeter's house. When he got there, he knocked on the door.

To his dismay, Triptolemus answered it. "Hades?" he asked. "What can I do for you?"

"Tell me how this snowball feels in your face!" And Hades slammed the snowball in Trip's face, causing Trip to break his nose (there was ice in there, too), and fall to the floor, golden ichor getting all over their new carpet.

Hades laughed like a maniac, then ran back to Eros' house, where the god of love yelled at him (something he rarely did).

Meanwhile, Hedone and Makaria were playing Ice Princess. They were now fighting over who was the Ice Princess last time.

"It was me," snapped Makaria. "But I'm freezing my ass off anyway. Let's go inside. Maybe if we beg Ms. Psyche, she'll make us hot chocolate."

"…And you can write Demeter a two-page letter telling her what you did wrong," Eros was telling Hades. "That wasn't polite, Hades. I believe that was one of your goals for therapy."

"Screw you, Dr. Love-God!" Hades roared. "Makaria, we have to go home! Daddy's getting angry again."

While Eros bitched to Psyche about the episode he'd witnessed involving Hades, Orpheus and Eurydice were playing at Leto's house. These two decided not to go outside for some reason, so they messed with Leto's karaoke machine.

"What should we sing?" Eurydice asked, scrolling through the children's songs on the machine.

"Let's sing 'The Itsy, Bitsy Spider,'" said Orpheus.

"Okay," Eurydice said, pressing PLAY. The two of them started singing "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider", which showed a picture of a spider crawling up the waterspout (probably to help the kids remember the words, even though the words were printed at the bottom of the screen).

When they'd sung through that song, they moved on to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to "London Bridge is Falling Down" to their last song, which was "The Muffin Man".

Meanwhile, Leto and Calliope were sitting on the couch, watching them.

"Very good, you two," said Calliope. "You're both excellent singers!"

"Thanks, Mrs. C," said Eurydice. She and Orpheus took a huge bow.

"Well," said Leto, "what should we do now?"

"Can we go get some food, please?" asked Orpheus. "I'm starving."

So, the four of them piled into Leto's car to grab some food, and they decided to go to Hermes' Playhouse (which was like McDonald's Playland…with a bigger play area).

"Hey!" yelled Icarus. "Telemachus, don't go in the ball pit without me!"

"We're not going into the ball pit," said Telemachus. "I thought we were going to go down the purple slide!"

"But it's my turn to choose, idiot!" yelled Icarus. "Dad, tell Telemachus he chose the last game. It's my turn now."

"Boys, boys, calm down," said Daedalus. "How about you go in the play thingy for ten minutes, then go into the ball pit for ten minutes."

The boys looked at each other. "Okay," said Telemachus. "C'mon. I think I see other kids up there, too."

Orpheus, Eurydice, and the two boys played Damsel in Distress for a while. This was a game involving Eurydice being "in distress", and Telemachus was the bad guy, trying to capture her. Then, Icarus and Orpheus would have to try and save her before it was "too late" (meaning, before Telemachus got to her). The game lasted for a while, till Leto and Calliope brought the kids their food.

"Now, don't eat too fast," said Leto, "or you'll get a bellyache and won't be able to play with your friends."

The two kids shrugged then gobbled their food.

Leto rolled her eyes and turned to Calliope. "I swear, no kid listens to me."

"Orpheus doesn't listen to me, either," Calliope said sadly. "He'll learn one day…I hope."

After a few hours at Hermes' Playhouse, the kids were exhausted and full from lunch. So, the four of them parted ways and went back to their own houses. When Eurydice and Orpheus got home, they looked at Leto and Calliope.

"I'm sleepy," said Eurydice.

"Me, too," said Orpheus.

"Well," said Calliope, "I guess we'll have to go home and take a nap, Orpheus. What do we say to Ms. Leto?"

"Thanks, Ms. Leto, for having us over," said Orpheus, putting on his coat and hat.

"Anytime, sweetie-pie," said Leto. "I'm glad you had a good time. Merry Christmas!"

"You, too," said Calliope.

When everyone left, Leto turned to Eurydice. "How does a nap sound, honey?"

"Good, Grandma Leto," said Eurydice, yawning widely and rubbing her eyes.

"Well," said Leto, "I think that can be arranged. Where would you like to sleep? Do you want to sleep in your room or in the playroom?"

"Playroom," said Eurydice.

"Sounds like a plan," said Leto. "Want a movie, too?"

"Yes, please," said Eurydice.

So, Leto put on Elf and put Eurydice on the couch, covered her up with her fuzzy blanket, then went off to make some dinner for the two of them.

The kids at Ms. Hecate's Academy had never actually had two snow days (much less one), but they all had a wonderful time. Sure, they got bored outside because it was so damn cold out, but they all had fun playing with their friends. Now, it was time to get ready for Christmas!

Okay, what a crappy and pathetic ending that was, huh? Sorry I didn't update for a long time. Happy New Year and all that!