*braces for spears, stones, and lightning bolts*
Okay, guys, I'm really sorry, but I have a good reason for the delay! Long story short: surgery, then recovery, then vacation planning, then actual vacation, and now getting ready for a possible second surgery to fix a different problem. Oh, and, yeah. School coming up.
Yay. (Please note the sarcasm)
August is flying by, and when I looked at the calendar today after getting back from the doctor's I realized that it was about time for an update, and an extra-long one at that. So, here 'tis! Hope you enjoy and please stick with us – the story will be wrapping up soon!
Note: This was my favorite chapter ever to write – it was just so much fun. I really wanted to take a stab at the way Riordan wrote the gods and the encounters with their children, so I hope this is good! I did research what Iris's place looks like from Son of Neptune, and her appearance, so that's why this took a little longer. Also Hermes is here because reasons (Come on, who doesn't love George and Martha?)
Disclaimer: We don't own PJO, because if we owned PJO I would trade my portion of the rights for the rights to Wicked. But I don't own Wicked, so we don't own PJO. (Went to New York this past weekend. Saw Wicked. New obsession. HELP.)
Chelsea's POV:
After Reece got done in the bathroom, Roxie took a turn showering and changing and trying to forget the events of the day. I went last and after I showered I changed into a comfortable tank top and shorts and re-dyed the streaks in my hair. The stuff I used wasn't permanent, so I had to re-dye my hair every few months. I planned on permanently dyeing it later on, probably when I turned eighteen.
When I left the bathroom I found Reece and Roxie sitting in the living room area of the suite, watching the news and talking. Our little escapade with the airport security dogs was still being talked about – wow, talk about a slow news day – and at the moment the lady on-screen was blathering on about what three "kids" were doing at an airport alone. Seriously, is everyone under eighteen a kid to adults in general? I ignored the news report and instead looked at the clock – it was about noon. I turned to Reece and Roxie, who looked at me.
"So, what do we do now?" I asked.
"What'd you mean?" Reece asked.
"I mean, do we take a few hours to sleep, or do we go straight out and look for the dragon? It's somewhere on the streets here in the city," I replied.
Reece shrugged and Roxie interjected with: "After the events of last night, I doubt a couple hours of sleep would hurt."
Reece shut off his TV and Roxie and I went to our separate rooms. I was so tired that I didn't even need music – I just hit the sheets and I was out.
If waking up in a dream convenience store was a normal thing for demigods, I would've rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. Of course when you're a demigod, there is no such thing as normal.
I sat up and looked at my surroundings. To the untrained eye it seemed to be a normal convenience store with posters in the window and goods stacked on the shelves, but it was the details that stuck out at me that made me suspicious. Upon closer investigation I noticed that the posters were written in ancient Greek, with English translations on the bottom. There was a stack of fake Drachmas on the counter, tied together by string with a tag on it that read, "Fool your friends!" I turned over the tag and saw the disclaimer: "We are not responsible if you are stabbed, burned, speared, maimed, thrown off a cliff, or struck by godly wrath when using our product. Please use wisely – gods do not have good senses of humor." I carefully put the fake coins back down and backed away when a voice over the loudspeaker nearly blew my eardrums out.
"ATTENTION, SHOPPERS!" The voice screamed. I fell to my knees and covered my ears from the sheer volume. "TAKE NOTE OF OUR SPECIALS TODAY: POTIONS AND POISONS ARE ON SALE IN AISLE 230 – TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE. ALL WEAPONS IN AISLE 731 ARE BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE, AND PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BAKERY IS CURRENTLY SOLD OUT OF DING DONGS. THANK YOU, AND HAVE A NICE DAY!" I shakily stood and started to look around for the exit when the voice returned. "OH! ONE MORE THING!" This time there was a pause and the volume was lowered significantly. "Sorry about that," the voice said, now in a much less ear-splitting volume. "Anyways, one last thing – Chelsea Mills, please report to customer service. Once again, Chelsea Mills, please report to customer service." I raised my eyebrow at the fact that they knew my name, but made my way to the customer service desk anyways.
A girl that looked about college age was sitting behind the counter, but her egg-white hair ruined the image. Besides that she looked like some kiddie-camp counselor, especially after she stood and I got a good look at her outfit. She was shorter than me, but muscular, and wore lace-up boots, a pair of cargo shorts and an almost blinding bright yellow t-shirt that read R.O.F.L. Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles. I did a double-take at that. Rainbow Organic?
"Hi!" she said cheerfully. She had the same voice as the one from the loudspeaker. "Are you Chelsea Mills?" I nodded warily. "Excellent! My name's –" She made a series of crackling and blowing noises that sounded a bit like a hurricane to me.
"Fleecy," I somehow translated.
"That's right! Good for you! Not many know the language of the Nebulae."
"I don't," I replied, shaking my head. "I don't know how I did that."
Fleecy seemed to contemplate me silently for a moment, before shrugging and saying, "Oh, well. New talents are always nice. Speaking of which, my boss wants to me you."
"Your boss?" I repeated.
"Yup! I think you'll find her… stimulating."
Needless to say, I didn't find that exactly encouraging. However, I found myself following Fleecy through the store, past displays lined with crystal balls, glass figurines, and dream catchers. I pushed past a rack of dresses that looked like a cosplay for Tinkerbelle, and we walked through the produce isle. There were tons of organic fruits and vegetables there, and I felt at peace for the first time in ages.
Fleecy led me to the back of the store, where a middle-aged woman sat with a series of books piled up next to her. She had olive skin, long, braided black hair, rimless glasses, and a purple t-shirt. She didn't notice us as we walked up, and scarcely glanced at me before finally putting a bookmark in and setting the book down.
"Chelsea," she said with a smile. "It's certainly been a while."
"Um… I'm sorry, who are you?" I asked.
"I suppose you were too young to remember," the mystery woman mused. She grabbed a plate of burning incense from off of the desk and waved her hand through it, making an image appear. The image was of a double rainbow, the same thing that appeared in the sky on the night that I was claimed.
"Mom?" I asked. Iris smiled.
"Hello, dear," she replied. "You've certainly grown."
"Is… Is that all you have to say? 'Wow, I'm meeting you for the first time! Forget about your brother that's dead or the parent you had to leave behind – I'm just going to talk about how you've grown!' Are you kidding me?!" I demanded.
"What else do you want me to say?" Iris asked, surprisingly calm.
"Well, you can start with explaining where the hell you've been!"
"You know that gods can't –"
"I KNOW!" I yelled. "You can't interfere directly! But what, no satyr? No nothing?"
Iris sighed. "I wanted to. But that was before the end of the war. I didn't want to shove more of my children into the Hermes cabin to think they were unappreciated. Don't you see? I managed to find my own way here –" She spread her arms to gesture at the store around her "- and I wanted that for my children. Now you have a cabin, and a family together!"
"Not a complete family," I insisted. "Sebastian didn't have to die."
"I can't control that. It's not my place to step in."
I sat down on the stool. "Fine. Whatever. I don't care. Just tell me why I'm here."
"Well, I –" Iris started to say, but she was interrupted by voices from outside. She rolled her eyes and opened the window and stuck her head out. "WILL YOU BE QUIET?!" she screamed.
"Horrible goddess! Give us snacks!" various voices chorused. I got up and stuck my head out of another window and saw a group of about twenty various monsters. They all chanted: "Vile Iris! Give us treats!" I looked back inside to see Fleecy stockpiling packages of Ding Dongs.
Iris pulled her head back inside and closed the window. "Ugh! Those horrible creatures! Ever since Polybotes's army came through here during the last Giant war, monsters have been coming here, demanding snacks! And they don't even buy anything!"
"Very rude," Fleecy added. I looked out the window and saw why the monsters weren't getting any closer – a giant rainbow that encased the store and kept the ravenous crowd at bay. Anytime one of them got too close and the rainbow light touched them, it started to burn their skin and they ran back to their rank, howling in pain with blistering burn marks wherever the rainbow light touched them.
"So… what do we do?" I asked. Iris thought for a moment.
"Well… I'm strictly nonviolent. I can only act in self-defense. But you…" She turned to look at me. "You could get rid of them!"
"Me? Up against all of those monsters? By myself? Are you out of your mind?"
My mother shook her head. "No! It's a perfect plan! Besides, you won't be by yourself!"
"I won't?"
"Of course not! Fleecy will help you!" Fleecy beamed and grabbed a Ding Dong, arching her arm like she was going to throw it.
"Um… okay." I looked down at my clothes and found that I was somehow dressed in my Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and high-waisted shorts, except that I had on combat boots and a black leather jacket, which I had left at Camp. My dagger was strapped to my belt. "I don't think this is gonna be enough for all those monsters."
"I suppose that's true," Iris said. She rummaged around the desk in the boxes around the room before pulling out a silver whip with a black handle. "Try this." She handed it to me.
"A whip?" I touched the base of the handle and the whip turned into a chunky black bracelet.
"It suits you," my mother said. I couldn't argue with her. I touched the bracelet and it uncoiled back into a whip.
"Wait… what do I get out of this?" I asked.
"What do you mean?"
"You're a goddess. Nonviolent or not, you have power. If I do this, you help me and my friends on my quest. Deal?"
There was a chuckle from the corner and I turned to see a man that wasn't there before. He had an athletic figure with salt-and-pepper hair and was wearing nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon t-shirt. He looked like a normal jogger and held a phone in one hand.
"Hello, Hermes," Iris said, as if it was normal for him to appear out of nowhere.
"You're Hermes?" I asked. He nodded.
"I'm not surprised that you don't recognize me," he said, looking down at his outfit in disdain. "This is more for the mortals than anything else." He snapped his fingers and his form flickered before changing. Now he wore a suit, but the phone glowed a brilliant blue color. It stretched and grew into a three-foot-long wooden staff with dove wings sprouting out of the top. Two green snakes coiled around the staff and came together at the middle. "Ah, yes. Much better."
"Whoa…" I muttered. I heard a male voice echo through the air, though there was no one else in the room.
Pretty nice, huh? Though I think we complete the look. Hey, kid, you got any rats? A female voice berated him.
George! Stop asking people for rats! That's not something demigods just carry in their pockets, you know?
Well, they should! George replied. I realized that the voices were coming from the snakes on Hermes's staff.
"Yes," Hermes sighed, like he knew what I was thinking. "They do take some getting used to. George, Martha," he said, and the snakes stopped their squabbling. "Remember why we're here."
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"I'll make you a deal," Hermes said. "You get rid of those monsters for your mother, and I'll help you on your quest."
I raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care about my quest?"
"Well, I'm the god of travelers. And you kids have had it pretty rough, so –"
"You want something from my mom's store, don't you?" He gave me that I'm-trying-so-hard-not-to-strangle-you look that I get from a lot of adults.
"You know, you interrupt a lot." I shrugged.
"Yes, I do."
"What I need is impossible to get anywhere else, so if we could hurry this up a bit?"
I gripped the bracelet on my forearm. "Well, it's now or never."
Fleecy shot me an enthusiastic grin as she took her place by the window with a bunch of unwrapped Ding Dongs piled up next to her. I hope I didn't grimace. I walked to the door and stepped outside, but inside the rainbow barrier. I was hoping that if I agitated them enough, the monsters would charge at me and get disintegrated in the rainbow light.
They stopped their chanting when they saw me and one of them stepped forward, though wary of the light.
"Look, the goddess appeases us!" it yelled back to its cohorts. "She sent us a demigod snack!" The others started chanting: "Demigod snack! Demigod snack!"
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm not on the menu," I said. I kept a hand on the bracelet.
"Menu? What menu?" They started looking around for a menu that didn't exist. I rolled my eyes.
"Just leave! Iris doesn't have any snacks for you!"
"Lies!" the lead monster bellowed. "She sent us a snack! One that needs to learn to be seen and not heard!" My eyes narrowed and I gripped the bracelet, despite my original plan.
"Oh, yeah? You want a snack, come get one!" I heard the window open behind me and watched the monsters scream in alarm as Fleecy started pelting them with Ding Dongs.
"HORRIBLE SNACKS! NOT EVEN SUGAR IN THEM! GET AWAY!" they screamed. A few of the voices were muffled because the Ding Dongs had been launched into their mouths. I almost felt bad for them.
Almost.
The bracelet unfurled into a whip and I stepped closer to the edge of the barrier. For some reason it didn't burn me. A few of the monsters ran towards me but with a snap of the wrist, they disintegrated. This time, I felt braver and stepped outside of the barrier's protection. Fleecy had stopped throwing Ding Dongs but that didn't matter – I was slaughtering the enemies left and right with my new weapon. Pretty soon there were none left and I went back inside.
"Well? How was that?" I asked, sitting back on the stool.
Impressive, dear, Martha said. I smiled and Hermes nodded.
"I agree. Oh, George, can you get that package we talked about?" George unhinged his jaw and coughed up a fairly good sized package, wrapped in brown paper and tied off with string. I picked it up warily.
"What's this?"
"That," Hermes said, "is my aid to you for your quest. Which, I daresay, you're going to need in a moment or two. But don't unwrap it yet. Give it to your friend, Roxie. She'll be the one that uses it."
I tilted my head. "How do you know?"
"Let's just say that a little birdie told me," he said.
Persephone is on Line 4, Martha said from his staff. Hermes sighed.
"Oh, all right." Iris handed him a package and he gave me one last look before disappearing.
I turned to Iris. Fleecy was nowhere to be seen.
"Well… Thanks, I guess," I said, rubbing the back of my neck.
She smiled, and got up and walked over to me, placing a quick kiss on my forehead like a blessing. "Just remember, Chelsea. Rainbows stand for hope."
At that moment everything faded to black.
I woke with a start, back in the hotel room. I was in my clothes from the dream and the bracelet was on my arm. I got up and was about to open the door when Roxie opened it suddenly, almost hitting me in the face. I only avoided it by lurching backwards.
"Chelsea!" she squeaked, covering her mouth. "I'm so, so sorry!"
"It's fine," I said. "Really, it's fine. Where's the fire?" I noticed her expression, which was a mix of terrified and worried. "Wait, where's Reece?"
"I don't know! We heard a huge roar from outside and Reece went to check it out and he hasn't come back yet!"
I blew some hair out of my face and handed Roxie the package. "Take this, open it when you need it. Just trust me. Now, let's go find him."
OH. MY. GOD. THREE THOUSAND WORDS AND 7 PAGES IN A WORD DOCUMENT *collapses*
All I can say is:
"I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY NOOWWWWW!"