Chapter 13.
Melissa turns into corn
I blinked.
The lady in front of me said, 'kicked out of Olympus' with the same tone I used when I told mom I was kicked out of school. Which meant:
A. It had happened before
B. It was annoying, but nothing serious
C. It would probably happen again
D. I actually didn't do anything wrong this time!
None of these should have applied to being kicked out of Olympus, but the lady spoke like they did.
"Whaaa-" Haniel trailed off, and I had to cover up my laugh with a cough. He glared at me, before continuing.
"What the hell is-"
"What he means is," Eleanor cut in before Haniel could speak further. I could tell she knew something we didn't, because she looked a little scared. "Could you please clarify what you mean, Lady P."
I frowned. That didn't exactly make sense. The woman in front of me looked like one of the early American pilgrims. She had green eyes, fiery orange hair and wore an orange dress with frills at at the top. A light spray of freckles crossed her face, and she had a pleasant smile. She looked more like an ancient history cosplayer than a lady. Not that I knew a lot of ladies, but didn't they have to, like, wear a crown or expensive clothes or something?
Either way, Aunt P smiled. "You are discerning, child. That will take you far, as long as you choose the right side," she added, her voice growing darker. Eleanor paled, but didn't say anything.
I still didn't know what was going on. But before I could ask how Eleanor knew this lady, further conversation was halted by a loud Uff I heard to my right.
Melissa had eaten one of the corn cobs. I don't know why- ADHD probably. It makes you do random things when you're bored.
But instead of swallowing the bite she had taken, she fell, face down, and I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not, but one of her arms was turning green.
Aunt P swore. But strangely enough, she didn't cuss like someone from America. Or from the modern world even. She said something like I'd read in a Shakespearean play Lupa had forced me to read once (Julius Ceaser, obviously. I had to point out how many obvious mistakes were present in the play). But Eleanor later told me it was, 'The damnest fools of Hades curse thy impertinent curiosity' . If someone cursed at me like that I honestly wouldn't know how to respond either.
Rob just grunted and rolled his eyes in an I told you so way.
"Oh my!"
Mel quickly rushed down the steps and rolled Melissa over so that she was lying on her back.
I wasn't imagining it- her skin was turning green. Her hair was slowly turning yellow, and she seemed to be singing the It's Corn! song, in a dazed manner. Her eyes were glassy behind her…er…glasses. And they were slowly closing. Her fingers and toes were green, and beginning to curl inwards.
"What's going on?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from trembling.
"She's turning into corn," Mel answered, without looking up. Her voice was turning hysterical.
Aunt P shivered. "That's one less demigod. And she looked like she could help too!" she moaned.
Rob grunted.
"I hate Ceres," Mel muttered, and we gazed at her in shock.
I didn't know if there was an Olympian Family Feud going on, but I could tell these three farmers didn't like Ceres for some reason.
Then I realized that we were talking about Melissa turning into corn.
"What do you mean that's one less demigod?" I asked, my stomach turning uneasy because I had a sinking suspicion related to the curse.
Rob snorted. "She will be turned into corn, of course! Did you not hear the first time?"
"But-that-how-NO!"
"Look around you, son."
I looked around me.
I was surrounded by fields of corn.
Just then it clicked. The corn was magical. And too good to last at this time of the year. I began to wonder how much of the corn in the field really was magical corn. How much of that was actual people-
"Oh it's not too many," Aunt P interjected, as if reading my mind. "Maybe 30-40 percent?"
"What?" She rolled her eyes. "The corn, child. Only 30-40 percent of it is living, the rest is actual corn. Well, enchanted corn, anyway. We can't help it if random beings eat the corn. Most of the living corn is field mice, though there are a few dogs as well in between- I told Rob not to let them near the corn," she added with a glare, which the man shrugged off. "There are a few coyotes as well. And one or two demigods. There's also an TV salesman- he was really annoying so we made him popcorn."
Eleanor frowned. "That's not right, will they always be corn?"
I bit down my anger. "Yeah! I hope not- because if Melissa…if Melissa-"
I couldn't finish my sentence, because it was a horrible idea. Melissa, one of the demigods that had grown to be my friend, was now turning into corn. Haniel was trying to shake Melissa, but that didn't really help. Caroline was trying to sing a healing hymn, while Nike was looking at the corn fields like he wanted to burn all of them. I didn't blame him. I would do that too, if it wasn't for the fact that if I did, turning into corn would be the least of my worries.
Caleb was gripping a knife in his hand so hard his knuckles had turned white. I took in a deep breath to force down the panic. Panicking would not help Melissa.
She's turned into corn! My brain yelped. CORN!
Not helping, I replied.
How could I stop her?
Well yeah, that was a good question, but the more pressing question, to me at least, was how the heck were they turning people into corn?
Only gods could do that. Or really, really good magicians.
Wait.
My throat turned dry as I realized what was going on.
It was the only explanation that made logical sense.
Lupa had told me about it, and there were definitely times it had happened in the past, usually as punishment. It was never a good thing, and certainly an extraordinary one. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.
Mel, Rob and Aunt P weren't mortals. That's why Eleanor called her a lady.
They were banished gods.
Rob sniggered, and I turned to look towards him. "Look at your face, son. You look like you've just swallowed a fish whole!"
He slapped his thigh and burst out laughing, cupping his cowboy hat in one hand. "But by the looks of it, you've come might close to figuring out what's going on."
"I…urm…you're….gods?" I mumbled.
"Ding ding ding!" Aunt P announced, chuckling. Mel burst into tears again.
"Wait, what?" Caleb interjected. "What do you mean you're gods? You don't look like gods."
"Well, child, let me explain," she said, sighing. "Some time back, the Titans stole Ceres symbol of power, the everlasting sickle-"
"I thought it was a cereal box" Nike interjected, and Aunt P glared at him. Even though she was a mortal, Aunt P still had a patented death stare, and Nike paled. "Not that I meant to interrupt-"
"As I was saying," she stressed, "the sickle was stolen. Ceres blew a fuse, and because she couldn't unleash her anger on anyone around her, she decided to let it out on the first three gods of her domain that she came across, which was us," she added, with a humourless chuckle. "That's how you get banished gods. It's either a pissed off Olympian, a form of punishment by the elder gods, a practical joke, or in some cases, a god under Jupiter's domain that accidentally chased a wood nymph."
"But how is it a sickle?" Nike persisted. "And if they could steal any of the weapons, why steal the sickle? Why not go for, I don't know, Jupiter's Master Bolt or something?"
Mel paled at that, while Aunt P suddenly stopped talking. She muttered something along the lines of 'the Greek version being lost is enough', and I wasn't sure what she meant, unless she was implying that the Titan's had also stolen Zeus' Master Bolt, maybe some time back? Of course, they couldn't tell us that, because demigods didn't know Zeus existed.
Well, other than me, I mean.
"IN ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION," Rob spoke up suddenly, "Ceres sickle has multiple forms. And yes, most commonly it is a cereal box because she loves to forcefully encourage everyone around her to eat their cereal. And don't mistake it for being less powerful," he added with a chuckle. "It too was fashioned by the Telekhines, the makers of godly weapons. If a demigod wielded it, they would be able to create winter storms, cause plant life to go haywire, and wreck havoc all around them."
I suddenly was surrounded by vision of powerful winter storms sweeping across the continent. Freezing cold blizzards. Death to all plants and any form of plant life. Dry, barren lands, with skeletal remains of humans, scattered between thorny bushes. Only the Titans remained, the last of their kind. They could survive the cold- the winter was their friend. But no mortal- demigod or otherwise- could.
That was if a demigod had the sickle.
"And…what if a Titan wielded it?" Eleanor asked in a small voice.
"It would be disaster," Rob lowered his voice menacingly. "Imagine a winter storm so powerful it covered half the continent. More and more of the United States would grow colder and colder, trapping demigods and weakening the gods. The reach of Alaska- the land beyond the gods- would increase, and Alcyoneus would rise in power. More than that, the monsters would be fine- most of them, since they're cold blooded. So picture that- nearly all demigods dead. The gods incredibly weakened. Monsters and Titans more powerful than ever. The few demigods and gods surviving would be in hiding, how do you think that would be?"
"Bad. Very bad," Mel muttered as she looked over Melissa. She was slowly growing thinner and thinner. Her arms and legs had melded together to a green stalky-form, and her head and hair were bright yellow.
Aunt P nodded. "Which is why we are in charge of regaining the weapon. As soon as the weapon lands goes back to Ceres, we will return to our godly form, these fields will disappear, and these people will return to their normal form."
"Are you sure?" Haniel asked, and I nodded. I'd suffered too much under gods who lied to blindly believe them.
Aunt P nodded. "I swear it- on my godhood. She will turn back to normal once we return the sickle to Ceres."
"Then there's only one thing we can do."
We all turned to Caleb, who was looking grim.
"We get that weapon."
Eleanor screamed. I was about to tell her that wasn't the most awe inspiring war cry, till I saw why she had screamed in the first place.
Melissa had disappeared. In her place, was a single stalk of corn, growing straight up from the ground. It was a bit out of place, because it was surrounded by pebbles and scattered magazines instead of being in the maize fields, but Mel muttered a blessing over it to prevent anyone from trampling it- or the cows from eating it. I'd hate if Melissa ended up inside a cow's stomach.
I shuddered. "We have to. For Melissa. But anyways," I turned to the three farmers, "Who are you all? I mean, we know your gods, but, like, gods of what?"
I knew it was something to do with farming. Or agriculture of some sort. Because they were under Ceres domain, after all.
Mel sighed. "I am Mellona. Goddess of honey. Pomona is the goddess of fruit trees and orchards, while Robigo is the god of rust."
"Rust? Like the iron nails thing?" Nike asked, confused. "How does Ceres control that?"
Rob swore. He seemed to like swearing a lot. "Ceres does not control me- but either way, no, you fool! Not that rust. Rust is a disease that affects corn. Primarily by Puccinia Sorghi."
"The hell is a pucks in a sore guy?"
"Puccina Sorghi," Pomona corrected. "It's a fungus that causes rust."
"Wait," Caleb frowned. "Why is there a god for rust then? Shouldn't you be the god that prevents rust?"
"Obviously."
"Ah."
I sighed, and looked around at the team. We were a bunch of tired teens, out of supplies, who'd lost the only team member that could come close to actually using the cereal box to our benefit, and that to some gods that weren't even powerful. I mean, what could they do? Shoot honey and apples and that puck sore fungus? Koios was the Titan of the North, the Titan of Farsight and Intellect. He was surrounded by a Camp of monsters that were eager to taste our blood. We were not match for them- if we reached the camp in the first place.
In other words, we were doomed.
"Do we even have to take these gods with us?" I grumbled. "We would do just the same without them. I mean, they're mortals right now-"
"I'll have you know I resent that," Rob snapped. "Just wait till we turn immortal."
Aunt P scoffed, while Mel rolled her eyes. "So dramatic. You do have a point though, boy. It would be better if we stayed here and waited for you to return the weapon. Then, once we assumed our godly forms, we would be able to help you battle Koios."
Caleb shook his head. "Nope. Can't risk that. Either you come with us or we don't go at all."
"Caleb-" Eleanor began to argue, but the son of Mars shook his head. "Nope. No compromises. I'm tired of gods not taking responsibility for their actions- so they damn might as well start now!"
Mel blinked. Rob scowled. Aunt P snorted. They were silent for a few minutes, as if arguing with each other mentally (I'm not sure if they could still do that) before they seemed to reach an agreement.
"Fine. But don't blame us if the cows eat Melissa."
Eleanor shrugged. "That's a risk we'd rather not take- but before that, we need to plan."
"Come inside, then," Aunt P waved us over, and we followed her into the house.
I hated the fact that I had to leave Melissa outside. I really wanted her…err…it…to be safe. After what had happened, it made sense that no one wanted to abandon one another, especially considering what the gods had done recently (read: nothing really helpful).
Either way, I bit down my anxiety and walked past the corn stalk that was Melissa. I felt weird talking to it, but I couldn't help but whisper, "We'll free you, I promise," as I passed by.
The inside of the house smelt like burnt Levis.
It was pretty evident that grown ups lived in the house, given by, well, how clean it was. No house with kids in it would ever be this clean- trust me, I know. The living room had granite flooring, with three white leather couches around a white rug. And not a single stain- not even one smear of ketchup or drop of tea or anything. It was so clean I got anxiety just by looking at it.
They all faced a flat-screen TV which was playing an episode from Hephaestus daily. A box at the bottom told me it was Season 3, Episode 21, and it was called Unicorn Feet! The good, the bad, and the smelly!
The living room lead into a tall white arch, which led to a larger area. Two gargoyle figures made in marble held up the arch, and I couldn't help the shiver that went past me as I walked between them. A small dining table was right inside the arch, which was surrounded by four chairs. There was no food on the table, but there was a set of Jenga. Beyond the dining space was a long wooden table, with several plates and a single sink on top of it. Past that, there was a long, black staircase that led upstairs. I didn't really see much past the stairs, but it looked like it led to a few bedrooms.
To the right of the dining table was a large window. Several small potted plants lined the window sill. When I looked into the window, I could see a few hang gliders leaning against a silo, surrounded on all sides by fields of corn. I wasn't sure why they were there, because I doubted Rob, Aunt P or Mel were into hang gliding. Baking maybe. Or even skiing. But not hang gliding.
I thought a saw the shadow of a large, hulking figure in the far side of the silo. It was huge, taller than any man I'd ever seen, and the head was curiously misshapen. Like a large egg. But when I blinked and looked again, it had disappeared.
"Ahem!" Lady P clapped her hands once to get our attention, before she made us sit around the dining table. Or at least, the three gods and Caleb sat. The rest of us stood in between Caleb and Mel.
"As you know, we must retrieve Ceres' sickle, and these demigods are here to help us. It is a critical mission,"Rob began, "especially because we must regain our godhood."
"And to turn Melissa back to a person," I added.
Rob waved it off. "Yes, sure, whatever. As I was saying, the best bet is to have these demigods sneak into the Camp and steal the sickle, and give it to us gods, so that we can return it."
Caleb frowned at that. I wasn't a child of Mars, but even I knew that was a dumb plan.
"What do you mean? Sneak it? And just get you the sickle? No thanks. We need to take down Koios, for one, and besides, we can't take him down without your help, he's a titan!"
Mel sighed. "That is true, but I don't know how much we can help either way. Koios is an elder Titan, and we are but minor gods."
"Still," Eleanor argued. "We would need all the help we could get. Anything."
"And that doesn't even cover how we're going to reach the encampment!"
That was Nike. "We can't go there by sea or land, because it's well guarded. That only leaves air, and none of us knows how to fly a plane, even if we stole one."
Aunt P frowned. "That is true. You cannot storm in- the monsters are too numerous for that. However, should we be able to regain our godly powers, the monsters should be easier to handle. But that still does answer how you are to enter the camp."
Personally, I wasn't a big fan of how all the gods kept saying 'you' and 'your' as if we were supposed to do everything (I mean, we were, but I didn't have to like it) but I knew I wasn't the best at battle strategy, so I kept quiet till I was able to say something other than corn and hang gliders are cool.
"What if…" Eleanor mused. "We asked Percy for an idea."
That was random. Hang gliders it is, then.
The whole table went 'WHY PERCY' except for Caleb who just facepalmed. Even Mel laughed.
I felt my face burn. "Hey! I'm not that bad at plans!"
Nike smiled. "Sure, er, Percy. It's just…well,,uh….Eleanor?" He looked at the older demigod.
"Think about it," she argued, "The prophecy says that the son of the sea would lead the lost gods to Olympus' behest. Doesn't that mean Percy should lead?"
"Well, it also says the Titan is to be slain by no man's hand or whatever, so are we supposed to think that means we can't kill it?"
Eleanor shrugged. "Well, Percy is a boy, so maybe he's not a man so he kills it?"
I frowned. "I don't think that's how the prophecy works."
Nike snorted. "You're just pissed she called you a boy and not a man."
"Shut up!"
"Okay, my BOY!"
"Children!"
We all turned to Aunt P, who glared at us. "We are running out of time. Koios will not camp here forever. We have received reports that over a hundred dracaenae are marching towards Half Moon Bay as we speak. Once this last legion of monsters joins him, Koios will march to Alaska to join forces with Alcyoneus. Should the two of them manage to consolidate their forces, it would spell terrible disaster, as you are well aware. Besides weakening Olympus, many of the northern winter gods have aligned with the Titans-"
"I don't blame them," Rub grunted.
"- and the winter would make them even more powerful. They would thus be able to control all air travel, meaning gods would not be able to travel anywhere without being stopped."
"But can't gods teleport?" Caleb argued. "What do the wind gods do then?"
"Teleportation, as you call it, is still a form of air travel," Mel explained. "And while the gods are fast, the wind gods are faster. They will be able to control travel and monopolising the travel means the Titans would gain a very dangerous advantage over the Olympians."
I frowned. "But most of the wind gods right now support Olympus, right?"
Mel nodded.
I looked at the table, thinking hard. A plan was beginning to form in my mind, and I remembered what Lupa had said about not overcommitting and under thinking. Still, I figured this was as good as plan as any.
"And are you still in contact with them?"
Rob frowned. "Of course not! We invited them for a game of chess once. Do you know how inconsiderate they were? Notus refused to resign even after I had checkmated his king three times!"
I turned towards Haniel. "Isn't Notus-"
"Yes," he interjected, "But that's not important. Why do we need to meet the wind gods anyway?"
I pointed towards the window. "I saw a few hang gliders there. If we can get the wind gods to give us a life, we could head in, approach at night, sneak into the camp and get the cereal box-"
"Sickle!"
"-er, sickle. That's the best option."
"While that's the best idea yet, for a surprise, I don't think so, Percy," Caleb frowned. "First of all, you're a son of Neptune. Flying in Jupiter's territory isn't something you would want to do. Besides, this covers getting in to the monster camp, but what about the more important part? Getting back out?"
"Ideally, we should be able to sneak in and get back out the same way. That's why we need a wind god. If he could do some wind power-thingy, so that the gliders went back airborne from the ground, we should be able to retrieve the weapon either way."
Nike frowned. "Stealing is fun and all, but what about the Titan? I don't think man's going to let us just get away with that."
I looked at the gods. Well, the former gods. "We're only going to do this if you swear on the Jupiter Stone to help us once you resume godly form. You know we can't take the Titan by ourselves."
"But child," Aunt P interjected, "Koios is an elder Titan! We are but minor gods!"
"You wont' be alone," I assured them. "We'll work together. Maybe one of you will be the one to slay the Titan- because the prophecy does say he will be slain by no man's hand. So maybe it's a gods? Besides, I'm sure Lord Jupiter will handsomely reward you for your work, right?"
Aunt P frowned. Rob scratched his head. Mel was busy knitting a portrait of Tom Brady on an old sock.
There was a moment of silence, and the three of them did that mental communication thing again. They seemed to be arguing back and forth, judging by their expressions, but after a few minutes they finally made up their minds.
I was nervous the whole time. I went to the living room to catch up on what was going on in the TV, but one of the gargoyles reached out an arm and tripped me. I fell down, my hand hit a jar of jam lying on the table, and suddenly the white couch had a set of purple blobs lining it.
Shit. It was the gargoyles, I swear.
Luckily, no one had followed me, so I walked back to the dining room where the gods were still arguing, acting like nothing had happened. Eleanor gave me her I saw what you did look, and I stuck my tongue out.
"Deal. We swear on the Jupiter Stone to abide by your terms."
Thunder shook the building, and I swallowed hard to quell the rising sense of fear in my gut. I didn't actually expect them to agree so easily, so that fact that we were getting along so well in the quest so fast made me nervous.
"Now, how do we get the wind gods to come here? At least one of them?"
"There is a way…to convince….one of them," Rob spoke with what my mom would call the cat-that-caught-the-canary voice. "Favonius, to be precise."
Aunt P shook her head, while the rest of us just stared at Rob.
"How is a faun going to help-" Caleb begin.
"Favonius is no faun!" Rob snarled. "Have some respect for the god of the west wind!"
"Ah….right. How could we get him to agree?"
Mel blushed. "Favonius has…an…attraction to me."
I lost my balance on the chair I was leaning against and fell to the floor. But no one even looked at me, they were all staring at Mel.
"C-come again?" Eleanor stuttered.
Mel frowned. "What? Don't you think gods can have a thing for each other as well?"
Aunt p sighed. "It's true. That young scoundrel wants to court Mellona. Mellona! And without even asking me-"
"I'm sure he will ask you once he really wants to," Mel cut in, trying to pacify Aunt P.
"He has the impertinence to just ask you out in front of me? Especially after such a short duration of time- he only met you three hundred years back! It's merely an infatuation, nothing else! I remember hang overs that lasted longer!"
"While that may be true," I cut in, "it would still help us. Do you think you can get him to help us? And set up a..urm..date with Mel in return- that is, if she doesn't mind."
Mel blushed. "Oh, I don't mind." Rob rolled his eyes. "I see how this is going. Fine, I'll talk to Aeolus, though I doubt he'd like it. One of his star wind workers taking a day off would really blow off his fuse."
I nodded like I understood what he said. I didn't, but I was good at nodding at things I didn't understand so I think I fooled Rob.
"Either way, please…er…talk to him. We'll do the other stuff."
"Other stuff, Percy?" Caleb asked, raising a brow.
"You know," I gestured with my hands. "Getting the hang gliders ready to fly. Checking the weights. Readying our weapons. Going through maps. And, urm…" I blushed, "…Setting up a dating spot."
A/N: Updates will be less frequent than before for a while. College work to catch up on.
Reviews appreciated!
