HEMERA
Things couldn't be more confusing.
One moment she was walking... gliding... whatever, she was moving peacefully among the clouds, wondering why the Sun Chariot was starting up by itself every morning.
The next, she felt a darkness coming from a random place in Greece that she hadn't felt since that disgusting afternoon so many millennia ago. Surely it couldn't be possible for her to come back.
When she flashed herself to the source of the darkness, there was her mother, with three demigods.
Maybe her hatred was not justified, but for a while, she didn't care, and it almost cost Nyx her "life". Immortals, as the name says, cannot die, much less primordials, but they can be restricted from having a physical form. When the sword pierced her mother's stomach, Hemera almost felt remorse. The feeling didn't last long, and if she wasn't in good terms with Nyx now, she would have cursed herself for not leaving as soon as she finished what she had to do.
But she didn't leave. Hemera learned her lesson not to oppose her mother. She really seemed changed, and that lit up the memories in Day's head. Maybe, just maybe, her mother was not lost. Since then, her and her mother's relationship had been improving. Hemera remembered the last conversation the two had before she landed in Olympia.
"Hem."
Hemera blinked once. Twice.
"You haven't called me that in eons." she replied confused, and Nyx smiled.
"Maybe old habits aren't so bad. Anyway, don't you think your look is a little... too divine?"
Hemera looked down. Her blue and gold dress was still flawless. Even with her moderately human form, her clothes still seemed to glow in the sunlight.
"Uh... yes?"
Nyx rolled her eyes and waved her hand. A dark aura enveloped Hemera, who shuddered. She was not used to darkness touching her. When that aura was gone, Nyx had a big smile on her face.
"You look perfect!" Nyx said conjuring a mirror. Hemera looked at herself in it, and she had to agree that the look wasn't so bad. She was now wearing a navy blue shirt with yellow details, along with blue jeans, and white and blue Adidas sneakers. Her golden hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she now had a bracelet. When she inspected it, the words "Mommy's Girl" were stenciled on it with cursive handwriting.
Hemera could not prevent the blushing that claimed her cheeks. She hugged her mother, without saying a word, and walked down toward Olympia. However, she couldn't hide the little smile that formed on her lips.
And that was the reason that now she, a son of Hephaestus, and a son of Poseidon were all resting after searching for the goddess of victory at a museum. Something about healing the divine bipolarity that the Olympians were suffering thanks to her psycho aunt having set up a conflict between the Roman and Greek heroes.
Fun.
"Smart call back there," Percy said, "choosing the air-conditioning."
Now they were sitting on a bridge that spanned the Kladeos River, their feet dangling over the water as they waited for Frank and Hazel to finish scouting the ruins. To their left, the Olympic valley shimmered in the afternoon heat. To their right, the visitors' lot was crammed with tour buses. Good thing the Argo II was moored a hundred feet in the air, becausethey never would've found parking.
"Indeed." Hemera agreed, and looked around at their surroundings. It had suddendly became warmer, even if it was a sunny summer day. She looked at Leo and understood. He was glaring with rage at Percy for some reason.
"What?" Percy asked Leo, also noticing the change.
Leo stirred. "What, what?"
"You were staring at me, like, angry."
"Was I?"
"Yes." commented Day.
Leo seemed to think for a bit.
"Um, sorry."
Percy gazed at the river. "I suppose we need to talk." He opened his hand and the stone Leo had skipped flew out of the stream, right into Percy's palm.
"Is this personal?" pondered Hemera.
"You could say so." Percy responded and Hemera got up.
"Maybe we should talk." Leo started. "But not -"
"Guys!" Frank stood at the far end of the parking lot, waving at them to come over. Next to him,Hazel sat astride her horse Arion, who had appeared unannounced as soon as they'd three of them jogged over to meet the Romans.
...
"This place is huge." Frank reported. "The ruins stretch from the river to the base of that mountain over there, about half a kilometre."
"How far is that in regular measurements?" Percy asked.
Frank rolled his eyes.
"That is a regular measurement in Canada and the rest of the world. Only you Americans -"
"Roughly 3 stadia, give or take. A little bit less than that." calculated Hemera, which left the demigods confused.
"What? Aren't you both greek?" pondered Day to Percy and Leo.
"About five or six football fields." Hazel interceded, feeding Arion a big chunk of gold. Percy spread his hands.
"That's all you needed to say. And while I am greek, I don't think they teach us ancient measurements at camp."
"Anyway," Frank continued, "from overhead, I didn't see anything suspicious."
"Neither did I," Hazel said. "Arion took me on a complete loop around the perimeter. A lot of tourists, but no crazy goddess." The big stallion nickered and tossed his head, his neck muscles rippling under his butterscotch coat.
"Man, your horse can cuss." Percy shook his head. "He doesn't think much of Olympia."
That seemed fair. Like Nyx said, in the old days it was spectacular. While the Olympics were surely violent, that just made Hemera's mother love it even more. She remembered going there to watch mortals and demigods alike fight and compete against each other with Nyx and... Aither. And... Thalassa.
Oh gods.
She didn't like the parallel between her and her mother. Both of them had a missing husband. Kind of. Hemera didn't feel like she was married. Usually godly marriages aren't broken but her relationship with Aither after some time became like a sibling thing. Specially after Thalassa left. She wondered where her stupid airhead husband would be. She was sure he was still around somewhere, unlike uncle Erebos who was not anywhere to be seem.
And Thalassa... the thought really did hurt her. She knew their daughter wouldn't be like the rest of the family. She was bound to go into the deep oceans, to live with the love of her life. That's what she called Oceanus, and that creeped Hemera out, considering how old he was compared to her.
She was married to her brother, though, so she couldn't say much.
Frank found a tourist pamphlet and gave them a running commentary on what was what. 'This is the Propylon.' He waved towards a stone path lined with crumbling columns. 'One of the main gates into the Olympic valley.'
"Rubble!" said Leo.
"And over there, -" Frank pointed to a square foundation that looked like the patio for a Mexican restaurant - "is the Temple of Hera, one of the oldest structures here."
"More rubble!" Leo said.
"And that round bandstand-looking thing – that's the Philipeon, dedicated to Philip of Macedonia."
"Even more rubble! First-rate rubble!"
Hazel, who was still riding Arion, kicked Leo in the arm. "Doesn't anything impress you?"
Hemera saw the two glancing at each other, and by the way Leo looked at Hazel, she wondered if the two liked each other. However, by the way Leo was talking to Percy earlier, she assumed the son of Hepheastus' heart was elsewhere, and it had to do with Percy.
Frank continued his guided tour. "And over there … oh." He glanced at Percy. "Uh, that semicircular depression in the hill, with the niches... that's a nymphaeum, built in Roman times."
Percy's face turned the colour of limeade. "Here's an idea: let's not go there."
Leo nodded to that. "I love that idea."
Hemera wondered what happened at a nymphaeum that made Percy uncomfortable but decided not to ask, so they kept walking until they came into some stones in the ground.
"This is the Pelopion," Frank said, pointing to the stones.
"Come on, Zhang," Leo said. "Pelopion isn't even a word. What was it - a sacred spot for plopping?"
Frank looked offended. "It's the burial site of Pelops. This whole part of Greece, the Peloponnese, was named after him."
For one second Hemera thought Leo was taking his hand to a grenade. 'I suppose I should know who Pelops was?"
"He was a prince, won his wife in a chariot race. Supposedly he started the Olympic games in honour of that."
Hazel sniffed. "How romantic. "Nice wife you have, Prince Pelops." "Thanks. I won her in a chariot race." "
"I was there. You could say women were all drooling over him". Day said, and Hazel looked like she was a bit sick. They went even further through the ruins Hemera sensed the group getting uneasy at those ruins. Surely there was something there...
They stopped at some wide steps leading to another ruined building – the Temple of Zeus, according to Frank.
"Used to be a huge gold-and-ivory statue of Zeus inside." the son of Mars said. "One of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Made by the same dude who did the Athena Parthenos."
"Please tell me we don't have to find it." Percy said. "I've had enough huge magic statues for one trip."
"Agreed." Hazel patted Arion's flank, as the stallion was acting skittish.
"Hey, Percy," Leo suddenly said, "remember that statue of Nike in the museum? The one that was all in pieces?"
"Yeah?"
"Didn't it used to stand here, at the Temple of Zeus? Feel free to tell me I'm wrong. I'd love to be wrong."
Percy's hand went to his pocket. He slipped a pen. Nyx told Hemera that when uncapped it would turn into a celestial bronze sword. "You're right. So if Nike was anywhere... this would be a good spot."
Frank scanned their surroundings. "I don't see anything."
"What if we promoted, like, Adidas shoes?" Percy wondered and looked at the sneakers Hemera was wearing. "Would that make Nike mad enough to show up?"
Leo smiled nervously and also looked at Day's shoes. "Yeah, I bet that would totally be against her sponsorship deal. THOSE ARE NOT THE OFFICIAL SHOES OF THE OLYMPICS! YOU WILL DIE NOW!"
Hazel rolled her eyes. "You're both impossible."
Conveniently, at this exact time, a thunderous voice shook the ruins and scared all of the five. "YOU WILL DIE NOW". In a golden chariot, pointing a spear at Leo's heart was the goddess Nike.
She had a crazy look on her face, with unnerving widened eyes, and incredible golden wings that made the already hot summer day feel more like an exagerated sauna. They were making everyone but Hemera extremely uncomfortable.
"Lady," Leo said, "could you fold your flappers, please? You're giving me a sunburn."
"What?" Nike's head jerked towards him like a startled chicken's. "Oh … my brilliant plumage. Very well. I suppose you can't die in glory if you are blinded and burned." She tucked in her wings. The temperature dropped to a normal hundred-and-twenty-degree summer afternoon.
Hemera gave a quick look at her companions. Frank stood very still, sizing up the goddess. His backpack still was a backpack and not a bow and quiver. Seriously, what's with objects morphing into weapons? Considering the incident earlier that day, Hemera thought it was best if he did not freak out. Hazel was having trouble with Arion. The roan stallion nickered and bucked, avoiding eye contact with the white horses pulling Nike's chariot. As for Percy, he held his pen firmly, ready to uncap it at any point.
Hemera assumed that no one present usually did the talking when facing foes, so she decided to step forward.
"So, Victory, huh?" she asked, trying to be as nice as possible. Nike narrowed her eyes a bit.
"Victory indeed! We must have victory!" the goddess shrieked. "The contest must be decided! You have come here to determine the winner, yes?"
Frank cleared his throat. "Are you Nike or Victoria?"
"Argghh!" The goddess clutched the side of her head. Her horses reared, causing Arion to do the same. Hemera resisted the urge to curse the son of Mars. So much for keeping Nike stable.
The goddess shuddered and split into two separate images. On the left was the first version: glittery sleeveless dress, dark hair circled with laurels, golden wings folded behind her. On the right was a different version, dressed for war in a Roman breastplate and greaves. Short auburn hair peeked out from the rim of a tall helmet. Her wings were feathery white, her dress purple, and the shaft of her spear was fixed with a plate-sized Roman insignia – a golden SPQR in a laurel wreath.
"I am Nike!" cried the image on the left.
"I am Victoria!" cried the one on the right.
"I am the decider of victory!" Nike screamed. "Once I stood here at the corner of Zeus's temple, venerated by all! I oversaw the games of Olympia. Offerings from every city-state were piled at my feet!"
"Games are irrelevant!" yelled Victoria. 'I am the goddess of success in battle! Roman generals worshipped me! Augustus himself erected my altar in the Senate House!"
"Ahhhh!" both voices screamed in agony. "We must decide! We must have victory!"
Arion bucked so violently that Hazel had to slide off his back to avoid getting thrown. Before she could calm him down, the horse disappeared, leaving a vapour trail through the ruins.
"Nike," Hazel said, stepping forward slowly, "you're confused, like all the gods. The Greeks and Romans are on the verge of war. It's causing your two aspects to clash."
"I know that!" The goddess shook her spear, the tip rubber-banding into two points. "I cannot abide unresolved conflict! Who is stronger? Who is the winner?"
"Lady, nobody's the winner." Leo said. "If that war happens, everybody loses."
"No winner?" Nike looked absolutely shocked. "There is always a winner! One winner. Everyone else is a loser! Otherwise victory is meaningless. I suppose you want me to give certificates to all the contestants? Little plastic trophies to every single athlete or soldier for participation? Should we all line up and shake hands and tell each other, Good game? No! Victory must be real. It must be earned. That means it must be rare and difficult, against steep odds, and defeat must be the other possibility." The goddess's two horses nipped at each other, as if getting into the spirit.
"Well, there will be one who will prevail." said Day.
"Who?" said both Nike and Victoria in unison. Even the horses seemed to calm down a bit but still looked at one another with suspicion.
"Gaea. The Earth Mother. The one to blame for the demigod civil war. She will be the one to take all of the spoils.
"She's right." Hazel said. "Nike, you were Zeus's charioteer in the last war with the giants, weren't you?"
"Of course!"
"Then you know Gaia is the real enemy. We need your help to defeat her. The war isn't between the Greeks and Romans."
Victoria roared, "The Greeks must perish!"
"Victory or death!" Nike wailed. 'One side must prevail!"
Frank grunted. "I get enough of this from my dad screaming in my head."
Victoria glared down at him. "A child of Mars, are you? A praetor of Rome? No true Roman would spare the Greeks. I cannot abide to be split and confused - I cannot think straight! Kill them! Win!"
"Not happening." Frank said, though he did not said it with much conviction. Actually, Hemera, noticed, all of the demigods were very tense. Leo looked at Frank with a sudden rage, and Percy seemed about to uncap his pen.
"Look, Miss Victory..." the son of Poseidon tried for a smile. "We don't want to interrupt your crazy time. Maybe you can just finish this conversation with yourself and we'll come back later, with, um, some bigger weapons and possibly some sedatives."
The goddess brandished her spear. "You will determine the matter once and for all! Today, now, you will decide the victor! Four of you demigods? Excellent! We will have teams. Perhaps girls versus boys!"
Hazel said, "Uh … no."
"Shirts versus skins!"
"Definitely no." said Hazel.
"Greeks versus Romans!" Nike cried. "Yes, of course! Two and two. The last demigod standing wins. The others will die gloriously."
Even being a primordial did not prevent Hemera from becoming uneasy by the cries of victory. She looked around and saw the group at their limit. She could only imagine if it was her mother here instead of her. The world would probably go into nuclear winter in two seconds.
Leo forced his fists to unclench. "Look, lady, we're not going to go all Hunger Games on each other. Isn't going to happen."
"But you will win a fabulous honour!" Nike reached into a basket at her side and produced a wreath of thick green laurels.
"This crown of leaves could be yours! You can wear it on your head! Think of the glory!"
"Leo's right." Frank said, though his eyes were fixed on the wreath. His expression was a little too greedy for Leo's taste. 'We don't fight each other. We fight the giants. You should help us."
"Very well!" The goddess raised the laurel wreath in one hand and her spear in the other.
Percy and Leo exchanged looks.
"Uh... does that mean you'll join us?" Percy asked. "You'll help us fight the giants?"
"That will be part of the prize." Nike said. "Whoever wins, I will consider you an ally. We will fight the giants together, and I will bestow victory upon you. But there can only be one winner. The others must be defeated, killed, destroyed utterly. So what will it be, demigods? Will you succeed in your quest, or will you cling to your namby-pamby ideas of friendship and everybody wins participation awards?"
Percy uncapped his pen. Riptide grew into a Celestial bronze sword. Hemera took a step, worried that he might attack Frank and Hazel. Instead, Percy pointed his blade at Nike. "What if we fight you instead?"
"I will do it." intervened Day.
Victory, both sides of it, blinked for a second and burst out laughing.
"Them fighting will not bring any victory to anyone. But how about we make a deal? If you win, they will fight to their death, no catches." proposed Hemera.
"You are joking." Nike replied.
"I'm not. But if I win, you are under our custody. Surely Victory wouldn't be afraid in beating a minor goddess of light, right?"
Nike's image flickered for a second, and once again the Greek counterpart was the one dominating.
"Of course not. And if that's the task to decide once and for all whose side is superior, I accept your terms. On the Styx." Thunder boomed, and Hemera smiled on the inside. "No catches when I win, right?"
"No catches. They will have to fight to their death. And then we shall see who is the strongest. But before that, may I have a talk with them while you prepare, Lady Victory?"
Nike once again blinked, but nodded. Hemera pulled all of the demigods closer.
"Are you sure about this, Lady Hemera?" asked Hazel.
"It's gonna be fine. She's too confused to think that I of all people would be here. She's kinda of a relative, but it's gonna be fine."
"Good luck then." said Percy.
Hemera conjured her white sword. To be completely honest she was not sure about what it was made off. She thought about solid cloud. That made sense, since that was a thing. She decided not to wear armor, not to create suspicions withing Nike, she could not take the risk. Victory was herself wearing a golden, greek style armor now. She brandished her spear and yelled, charging into Day.
The demigods quickly ran off. Fighting against an opponent that had a spear was tricky, but Hemera had eons of experience on her bag. Even if she wasn't as bloodthirsty as Nyx, she couldn't really say no to a fight. Nike tried to stab Hemera in the head, but she easily deflected it. It really looked like the conflict was overpowering the abilities of even the goddess of victory.
"I expected more from you, Victory. Maybe you are going to be called Defeat after today?" Hemera teased, hoping that would not make Nike go even more insane.
"I will NEVER lose, I cannot lose, I simply can't!" her form flickered, showing Victoria for a moment, driving the spear in the direction of Day's chest, who dodged with ease.
"Doesn't seem like it." Hemera slashed her sword like when she fought with her mother, and Nike wasn't lucky. The sword hit her in the right shoulder, which made Nike cry in pain. Ichor dropped from the wound. She fell to the ground. "You really are a weak bastard. Praising yourself like "Victory", but being overpowered by a minor goddess. Who are you, soldier? Simply a lie." Hemera provoked, and Nike looked at her with hate.
"I-I..."
"You can't even see the bigger picture! Keeping this conflict between the Greeks and Romans alight, adding gasoline to the fire! When in reality, both are gonna be the losers and Gaea will be the one with the laurels on her head. Tell me, who are you really? Aren't you the triumph of the gods? Or are you simply a pawn of the Earth Mother?!" continued Day, praying to the creator that this would work.
"I-I am... the triumph of the g-gods." Nike said, getting up. "I'm a servant of Olympus. Greek or Roman!" Her form flickered once more, but this time it wasn't unstable at all. When she stopped flickering, she was still Nike, but wearing Victoria's armor.
"I'm not simply Victoria or Nike. I'm Victory itself, and I WILL bring victory to Olympus." she got up, her wound healing, and prepared to attack. Hemera decided not to bother resisting too much. Her plan had worked for the most part. Only one part remained, letting Victory be victorious.
Nike charged with all her strenght, attacking Hemera with all that she had. Hemera dodged, deflected, but she let Nike get the upper hand. With a movement of her spear, she disarmed Hemera, and pointed the tip of the spear right at Day's heart.
"Yield!" demanded Victory.
"If I do it, what will you do?!" Hemera said, with a smirk.
"I will decide the winner!" vociferated Nike.
"But haven't you done this already?" Hemera simply said, which made Nike lower the spear. She looked confused but realization soon came to her eyes.
"Welcome to reality again, Lady Victory." Nike looked Day in the eyes, and she could see the gratitude in them. Nike dropped to her knees.
"Thank you. I... this conflict was killing me." Nike said softly. Her eyes no more were wide open and she looked more focused.
"I know it was. You guys can come out now!" Hemera shouted, and soon the four half-bloods were with them.
"That was..." Hazel started
"Awesome?" Leo tried.
"Yeah. Actually." the daughter of Pluto agreed. Percy and Frank nodded. For some reason Leo and Percy looked friendlier to one another. Hemera wondered why.
"Who are you actually?" Nike asked to Day, who smiled.
"Oh, Lady Victory, your vision is clouded no more, just look closely."
Once again Nike's eyes widened, but this time in shock.
"Hemera?!" she exclaimed.
"Who else? Don't tell me you actually thought I was Eos." that made Nike nervous, and Hemera sighed, why did that always happen?
"Well..." Frank said. "How can you help us, Lady Nike?"
Nike once again got up. She definitely looked more sane now.
"You could say that what you have achieved here is... more focused on the long term, son of Mars. While I'm not... rampant anymore, I can't give you too much help, but it's not like you really need divine assistance." she nodded in the direction of Hemera.
"We also have Night on our side." said Leo with a smile.
Nike stared at him, with disbelief. She looked at Hemera, who simply nodded.
"I'm not even gonna question it. What I can say is... one of you is fated to die battling Gaea."
Hemera tensed, and she felt all of the four demigods having similar reactions.
Leo took the upper hand. "How do you know that?"
"I can foresee victories." Nike said calmly. "You will have no success without death, I'm afraid. At least one of you is going to die."
"Explain." Hazel demanded. Her voice was hardened. "Which of us will die? How do we stop it?"
"You cannot cheat destiny. And I can't say who, but I know that someone will die."
"No." Hazel insisted. "There's another way. There is always another path."
"Hecate taught you this, I assume. I can sense the magic in you." Nike looked directly at Hazel. "You would hope for the physician's cure, perhaps? I'm afraid that much stands in your way. Achieving the poison of Pylos, the chained god's heartbeat in Sparta, the curse of Delos. Cheating death will be tricky, perhaps impossible."
"How do we find this cure, what are you talking about?" questioned Frank.
"Haven't you heard the story of Hippolytos, praetor?"
"That one guy who was accepted into the Hunt of Artemis, got killed, and Asclepius, son of Apollo, revived him?" Percy suggested.
"Precisely, Perseus Jackson." agreed Nike. "Of course, Asclepius was blasted by Zeus, but he reformed in a few years. Again, this will be almost impossible, even with two primordials by your side, which I won't even try to understand."
"So... I think we are gonna have a vacation throughout Greece." said Leo. "Thank you and all, Nike."
Nike nodded, and turned once more to Hemera.
"You know what are you doing, right?" Victory asked.
"I am. Kind of. It was my mother's idea.
Nike laughed.
"It sure looks like a Nyx thing. From the old days."
"She is really changed."
"Good. My mind is not fully healed, only the peace between the camps can fully heal me and the rest of the gods. Let's hope the Athena Parthenos is safely brought to Camp Half-Blood. I will try to go to Olympus. Maybe I can bring some sense into Lord Zeus' mind." Hemera nodded. Nike turned to the four demigods. "Be careful in your journey. But be sure that when the time comes, victory will be by your side." with difficulty, Nike flashed out, leaving the five alone.
"So." Hazel sounded a little nervous. "We have healed Victory's mind. Kind of. Now what?"
Frank folded his arms. "We go looking for this physician's cure... whatever that is. Because, personally, I like cheating death."
Leo grinned. "Poison in Pylos? A chained god's heartbeat in Sparta? A curse in Delos? Oh, yeah. This is gonna be fun!"