Rose
Why I'm Getting Zeus a Frappuccino
March 17th
11:14 am
"Yeah, so can I have a Strawberry Frappuccino with double cream, coconut milk, and an extra shot of strawberry syrup? My uh- half brother is pretty picky, I'm sorry. Thank you." As I pressed on the car's gas pedal, I fumbled for my wallet in my pocket as I careened forward violently. I pulled up to the window, unrolling my window again to an unpleasant draft. I grabbed the drink from the employee's crusty hands, without saying thank you, and drove away into an empty parking lot. I parked my car in a corner and hopped out to run to the back of the car. I opened the trunk, wincing with the awkward creak of the hinges. I reached for the large silver Hydroflask in the corner of the trunk and opened it up. I took the Frappuccino and opened the domed lid, putting it down on the concrete parking floor. I tipped the Hydroflask into the Frappuccino, expecting for the heavenly golden-orange liquid to tumble out. Nothing, not even a drop. I'd forgotten to fill the canteen at the hotel. I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity and began to roll my head around. I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head, and a violent wind hit me.
BANG.
I stood in the parking lot of the Starbucks, the sun just barely peeking above the horizon. I breathed hard and looked around. I opened the door to my car and turned my keys to drive back to the Empire State Building. After a long elevator ride back up, I was back at the breakfast buffet on Olympus. My Hydroflask sat on my table, presumably empty. I saw myself eating a plate of Ambrosia Scrambled Eggs ravenously. She turned and smiled, handing my water bottle back to me.
"Hey. Zeus doesn't like it when you do this."
"Thanks."
Having a conversation with myself was something that was hard to get used to. I used to not be able to sustain a trip this long. Suddenly, I came to a stop in my tracks as a memory suddenly appeared in my mind. It was the conversation we just had, except from my past's view. Time Travel was trippy. I grabbed the cool Hydroflask and spun around to walk over to the large container of apple-juice like fluid and unscrewed my water bottle. I flipped the tab up, and the liquid began to flow, except for every bit I took out, the container would magically fill back up. I flipped the tab back down and screwed the water bottle back up. I slipped it in my bag and walked back to the doors.
"Rose, you have to stop doing this. It's not good for you. If you forget the Ambrosia, you forget it. So what if Zeus is gonna flip? You know I can manage him." Hermes turned to wink at me. He'd always been pretty close to me. I guess he felt guilty for letting Luke and Kronos- you know. I offered a friendly smile to him, occupied with the task at hand. I closed my eyes, rolling my head around again, focusing on my sensation in my palms, and waited.
BANG.
I was back in my parking lot, this time with a full water bottle. I poured some of the Liquid Ambrosia into the drink and hopped in my car. My gods, Zeus was demanding. I pulled out of the parking lot and turned a few corners. Tourists decked out in dumb outfits roamed the streets. As I drove back to the Empire State Building, for the 2nd time today, I turned into yet another parking garage and went up a few stories. "Empire State Building Parking: $20/hr". The scams that humans had to suffer through. Wouldn't matter for me anyways. I pulled into a tight parking spot and jumped out of the car. The sky was beginning to grey over with clouds. I walked over to the dirty elevators down to street levels. A man stood by, also waiting for the elevators. His eyes were oddly misplaced on his face, and I recognized him instantly.
"Hey Devin." I looked down at my feet upon opening my mouth.
"Rose! What are you doing down here? I thought that you lived in Olympus? Or helping in Tartarus? You're not over me, are you? Can we still be friends?"
"This is why I never wanted to be friends with you, Dev. Have a nice life, and do me a favor and don't talk to me ever again. You know what'll happen if you do."
The elevator dinged and I walked in, leaving a sulky Devin behind. As I walked into the Empire State Building and waited for yet another elevator, I thought about Devin. He was a neutral Cyclops I'd met while I was visiting my dad in Tartarus. He'd come up to New York a few months ago and had been looking for me ever since. We'd dated for about a year before I dumped him when I discovered his friends were plotting to kill me. Like most other people, I wasn't a big fan of plots to murder me, even though I did have a title of "Olympus's Assasin".
I have… kind of a complicated life, to say the least. When I was 4 years old, I was found by Apollo when he was leaving his latest fling's house. I was zipping around time like it was no one's business, appearing and disappearing and trampling all over his memory. But it was obviously unnerving for him, so he took me back with him. I lived on Olympus for about a year until I was claimed. I remember that day very vividly.
Aphrodite had been dressing me up and playing make-believe with me while she oversaw some of her children down on Earth. I was often passed god-to-god, like a "here you manage this" kind of thing. She'd made me a snack, when all of the sudden I popped back to the past, by accident. Aphrodite laid on the couch in sweats, makeup all off, no bra on, watching Vanderpump Rules, still looking gorgeous. She turned around, shocked and confused, but before she could say anything, I popped back to my present. I had been staring into the distance, confused, as Aphrodite looked at me, then all of a sudden I'd started glowing a pastel yellow, all over. A floating silver image floated over my head, a sickle and scythe. I remember Aphrodite's perfect face paleing. She had whisked me to the Olympians Court, and I had to sit for a trial. I could tell it was hard for them. They'd all become so attached to me over that year and plus, it was hard to prosecute a 5-year-old for being a traitor, especially when they don't remember anything about their past. I'd prompted a memory extraction from Hestia, which resulted in a blank, a threat from Ares, which I'm told only made me cry, and a brief stint in the Empire State Building waiting room while they discussed.
It had been decided that I was to stay on Olympus, since I was now considered dangerous. It was a few years before they decided I needed something to do. So they assigned me to the duty of Olympus's assassin. It was simple, really. I had daily training with the 12 Olympians, rotating daily, and every so often I would get a text from Olympus on my next target. It would usually give me their address and their identification (mortal, demigod, etc) so I could prepare. Every time I completed a job, I got free time in the city. It didn't seem like much to most, but it meant a lot to me, since I was pretty much stuck in Olympus most of the time.
"Hey! Rose, thanks for grabbing that for me. Strawberry Frap-" I snapped out of my memories at Zeus's booming voice.
"Strawberry Frappuccino, extra shot of Ambrosia. No problem, sir."
"You are free to go get some lunch in the city for that, Rosalyn." My eyes widened. Zeus never let me go down just for lunch.
"You have to be back by 2:30 for your Seduction class with Aphrodite." He said, lightning crackling between his fingers. I nodded, my mind racing about what I could do. I had 90 minutes to do whatever I wanted, in New York City.