Hermês peeked into the Third Cabin of Camp Half-Blood.
"You will go anyway?" Tyson asked Percy while Leaneíras sat fuming in her bed. Her brothers had tried talking to her, but she had rolled over and closed her eyes even if she didn't actually go to sleep.
"I don't know," Perseus was saying. "It would be hard. Very hard."
"I will help."
"No. I-uh, I couldn't ask you to do that, big guy. Too dangerous."
The conversation paused for a moment and Hermês turned his attention back to his blessing as Hypnos beating his shady wing sent her rest within his embrace. He spared her siblings one more look before descending into the demos oneiron, where the tribe of Oneiroi attended to him.
Leaneíras laid flat against the dark plains, eyes unseeing as Morpheus fluttered around her. The lime color of her eyes shifted as she moved about restless while Morpheus flickered at the shades that crowned her. Hermês waved the daimon away, moving closer to his blessing. He could kill Tántalos again for sending her on such a dangerous quest if he didn't ask the same of her or know that this was the path that she was to walk to the future.
The god brushed her bangs from her face as she frowned at whatever the shades were showing her. He peeked back towards the upper world to see her brothers still talking. He moved between the two planes, casually grabbing some of the crystals that Alabaster and Lou Ellen had gifted her. An amethyst, rose quartz, lepidote, smoky quartz, blue kyanite and moonstone. He summoned a white candle, one that was lavender scented. This should protect her and her sleep space for when he was unable to visit her or see her as quickly as he'd like. It took little thought for it to set alight with greek fire and waved the smoke over her form.
The Oneiroi hovered alongside the edges as the shades wavered around her. Hermês placed his intent for healthy boundaries around her and her subconscious, empowering the boundaries that she had set herself. The smoke worked through her energy field and he was proud to note that it was facing resistance as she refused to allow herself to be vulnerable even in her sleep. It made it through eventually though with his help using their shared mark to guide it through. All of it wrapped around her a cocoon of protection, clearing any negative energy that was stuck to her and balancing her as she slumbered.
Was he also using the rose quartz to foster unconditional love and open her heart? He was doing his best as her oath against Kairos was holding steady, but alas, these were her crystals so hopefully, Lady Styx would turn a blind eye.
Her body relaxed into itself, her eyelids slipping over her pupils casting away her beautiful emerald-color eyes. He summoned a few more stones to them, specifically fluorite and hematite, rubbing them together.
It was somewhat strange to use this power of his. It was incredibly rare that he was called upon for his skill in goeteia.
The fluorite was to stabilize and protect her aura while deflecting stress and the hematite strengthens her aura and repels negativity. It was to also give clarity and allow organization. He placed them over her eyes knowing how much her beautiful brain needed it with all the information she was retaining as she got used to their "fantasy land". As she sank deeper into sleep, he called forth some of his children from his Roman form, the Lares Permarini, who protected seafarers, and the Lares Familiares, who of the family. They stood guard around her form and he gave them a threatening glance to make sure that no harm came to her as he ascended back to the surface plane.
Selênê was coming into view in her fullness, the Astrothesiae alongside Astraios, the Titan god of stars and planets skated across the sky alongside Nýx.
He peeked into Cabin Three, a glance showed Leaneíras resting as easy as she was within the demos oneiron. The god turned to Perseus, placing a feeling of unease into his heart and redirecting the attention of the Harpyiai as the boy ventured out of the cabin.
The god gave the boy a few moments to himself before manifesting at his side in his preferred elder form. "Beautiful, aren't they?"
His Mother's stars twinkled at him in adoration.
The boy spluttered over his soda. Hermês refrained from patting on the back from choking. Leaneíras was very big on not touching people without permission. The boy stared at him in silence and a bit of judgment if he was being honest. Hermês looked down at himself. He was wearing his usual nylon running shorts and a New York City Marathon T-shirt. There weren't any stains on this one!
Aphroditê had been on his case about always looking presentable even when he was relaxing and then she stole all of his clothes to wash and got rid of food, grain, and sweat stains. Peithô and the rest of Aphroditê's retinue had laughed when he returned back to his home to find that they color coded all of his gloves and his gym equipment.
Being the God of contests, athletics, gymnasiums and the games, he knew that he was in good shape. Slim and fit. This form allowed for a more salt-and-pepper and he bore the same smile that made his parents and Apollôn deem him their favorite little trickster.
"May I join you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "I haven't sat down in ages."
"Uh, sure."
Inwardly, the god shook his head. It was a good thing that Leaneíras was distrusting enough for the both of them.
He smiled. "Your hospitality does you credit. Oh, and Coca-Cola! May I?" He sat at the other end of the blanket, popped a soda and took a drink. "Ah ... that hits the spot. Peace and quiet at-"
And then his phone went off. Sighing, he pulled it out and extended the antenna, Mártha and Geōrgios writhed around it.
TARTARUS-EXT. 954. Flashed across the LCD Display. Cursing, he held a finger up at Perseus. "I've got to take this. Just a sec ..." Then into the phone: "Hello?"
He listened. The mini-snakes writhed up and down the antenna right next to his ear.
Arkê's familiar voice began to speak. "Lord Hermês. Tityos is complaining of not receiving his package. He claims that with the vultures pecking at him that he cannot see if it had been delivered elsewhere in Tartara and he lost his tracking number."
Oh, great. It was one of those spiels. As if Hermês would do anything outside of his job purview to help free the giant that his very own best friend slayed. Please. Apollôn would be angry with him for at least four millennia.
"Naí," Hermês said. "Listen-I know, but... I don't care if he is chained to a rock with vultures pecking at his liver, if he doesn't have a tracking number, we can't locate his package..."
"He believes himself to be the next Promêtheus. He claims that it's a gift to humankind."
The god inwardly snorted. "A gift to humankind, great... You know how many of those we deliver–Oh, never mind. Listen, just refer him to Éris in customer service. I gotta go."
The goddess of discord loved tormenting those within Tartara with knowledge of the upper levels of the Afterworld and the Surface World. He wouldn't be surprised if she had stolen the package or the tracking number.
He hung up. Maybe he should consider expanding the customer service gig. Make it more complex so that he didn't have to answer such calls. He could put one of his kids in charge of it— maybe Angelia. She was the daimona of messages, tidings and proclamations. It'd be right up her alley and she did want to be more hands on in the business. "Sorry. The overnight express business is just booming. Now, as I was saying–"
"You have snakes on your phone."
"What? Oh, they don't bite." What was the modern version of their names? "Say hello, George and Martha."
Hello, George and Martha, Geōrgios rasped.
Don't be sarcastic, Mártha scolded.
Why not? Geōrgios demanded. I do all the real work.
"Oh, let's not go into that again!" He placed his phone back in his pocket, turning back to his khaos-blessing's brother. "Now, where were we ... Ah, ναί. Peace and quiet." He crossed his ankles and stared up at the stars. "Been a long time since I've gotten to relax. Ever since the telegraph–-rush, rush, rush. Do you have a favorite constellation, Percy?"
That's the name he liked to be called, right? A little inverse of Leaneíras.
"Uh, I like Hercules."
Huh, Leaneíras preferred the Kyôn Lailaps because "all dogs go to heaven" and she liked the Leon Nemeios because her zodiac sign was a Leo and the Andromédē constellation because she loved the story about the black queen being so beautiful that "the racist white fucks of history white-washed her because they didn't want to believe that a son of Zeus could fall in love with a black woman". It was also because the Andromédē galaxy resided within it and she was sure that that's where the gods resided because clearly they were aliens. Clearly.
"Why?"
And which one? A lot of his labours were represented amongst the stars of heaven. There was the Leon Nemeios, the Hydra Lernaia and Karkinos, the Ornithes Stymphalides, the Tauros Kretaios, the Drakôn Hesperios, Herakles wrestling Apollôn, Promêtheus and the Aetos Kaukasios, Kheirôn before he was returned as the immortal teacher of heroes; et. al.
Hermês personal favorites were the Pleiades, the triangle that was placed amongst the stars that he placed there as a memorial of his invention of the alphabet and to commemorate the division of the universe amongst his Father and Uncles; he chose the Greek letter Delta because D was for Dios which was the Hellēnikḗ way to pronounce his Father's name. There was also one of his hares that he placed amongst the stars in honour of the species' bountiful fertility and the lyre that he first carved out of the shell of a tortoise and with Apollôn for the kērū́keion , who set it amongst the stars as memorial.
"Well ... because he had rotten luck. Even worse than mine. It makes me feel better."
Hermês chuckled. Oh, how Hêrê would adorn the boy in affection if she heard that for all that she reconciled with the younger god... she still disliked him just a bit even if he has remained faithful to Hêbê these past millennia. "Not because he was strong and famous and all that?"
"No."
"You're an interesting young man. And so, what now?"
Mártha's muffled voice came from his pocket: I have Dêmêtêr on line two.
"Not now," he said. "Tell her to leave a message."
She's not going to like that. The last time you put her off, all the flowers in the floral delivery division wilted.
"Just tell her I'm in a meeting!" Hermês rolled his eyes, though he inwardly winced. No matter how much he had begged and offered to pay Chlōrís... none of his flowers grew back until he managed to appease Dêmêtêr which was hard because his go to gift for her was flowers. "Sorry again, Percy. You were saying ..."
"Um ... who are you, exactly?"
"Haven't you guessed by now, a smart boy like you?"
Show him! Mártha pleaded. I haven't been full-size for months.
Don't listen to her! Geōrgios said. She just wants to show off!
Hermês inwardly laughed as he took out his phone again. He did so like to show off. "Original form, please."
The phone glowed a brilliant blue. It stretched into a three-foot-long wooden staff with dove wings sprouting out the top and carvings of the other gods – his beloved family engraved over it. Geōrgios and Mártha, now full-sized green snakes, coiled together around the middle. His beloved kērū́keion with the same snakes that had been with him since Apollôn had traded it.
"You're Luke's father," Perseus said. The god bit back a wince at the mention of his beloved son. "Hermes."
The god pursed his lips, sticking the kērū́keion into the sand like his Uncle did with his trident when he went fishing. "'Luke's father.' Normally, that's not the first way people introduce me. God of thieves, ναί. God of messengers and travelers, if they wish to be kind."
God of thieves works, Geōrgios said.
Oh, don't mind Geōrgios. Mártha flicked her tongue. He's just bitter because Hermês likes me best.
He does not!
Does too!
"Behave, you two," Hermês warned, "or I'll turn you back into a cell phone and set you on vibrate!"
"You're Lea's soulmate," Perseus deadpanned, looking about as approving as his Father which was to say not at all.
Not that he needed their approval, especially not the mortals, but he would rather hope that it would not end similarly to how his affair with Apemosyne had.
"Now, now, Percy, you still haven't answered my question. What do you intend to do about the quest?"
"I-I don't have permission to go."
"Όχι, indeed. Will that stop you?"
"I want to go. I have to save Grover."
Hermês smiled. "I knew a boy once ... oh, younger than you by far. A mere baby, really."
Here we go again, Geōrgios said. Always talking about himself.
Quiet! Mártha snapped. Do you want to get set on vibrate?
Hermês ignored them. "One night, when this boy's mother wasn't watching, he sneaked out of their cave and stole some cattle that belonged to Apollôn."
"Did he get blasted to tiny pieces?"
Ha! Apollôn had wished he could have ridden him so easily, but alas, he was the arkhos pheleteon; the prince of robbers, a title that his Brother bestowed upon him personally.
"Hmm ... όχι. Actually, everything turned out quite well. To make up for his theft, the boy gave Apollôn an instrument he'd invented-a lyre. Apollôn was so enchanted with the music that he forgot all about being angry."
Hermês could remember it all as if it were yesterday. In fact, he should go sneak away some of his other cattle for old times' sake since the original cattle had been given to Hermês and were safely hidden away in his own pastures.
"So, what's the moral?"
"The moral?" Hermês asked. "Goodness, you act like it's a fable. It's a true story. Does truth have a moral?"
"Um ..."
"How about this: stealing is not always bad?"
"I don't think my mom would like that moral."
Oh, that was too bad for his sister had already stolen his heart.
Rats are delicious, suggested Geōrgios.
What does that have to do with the story? Mártha demanded.
Nothing, Geōrgios said. But I'm hungry.
"I've got it," Hermês said. "Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. How's that?"
"You're saying I should go anyway," Perseus said, "even without permission."
Hermês knew he had a little troublemaker in him. Just like his sister who he had only just barely managed to keep from dragging Drew over to underground fighter clubs throughout the school year; ones that they were much too young to attend and much too dangerous for her— them... too dangerous for them to be attending.
Hermês' eyes twinkled. "Mártha, may I have the first package, please?"
Mártha opened her mouth and belched out a stainless steel canister–an old-fashioned lunch box thermos with a black plastic top. The sides of the thermos were enameled with red and yellow Hellēnikḗ scenes—Herakles killing the Charadraios leōn; the hero lifting up Kerberos.
"That's Hercules," Perseus said. "But how-"
"Never question a gift," Hermês chided. He would have to make sure that Dionysos was teaching them about xenia accurately. It was, after all, one of his favored things that he shared with Father. Ha! Mortals attended athletic games with their fathers while Hermês played a better, more respectable version of ding-dong-ditch with his Father. "This is a collector's item from Herakles Busts Heads. The first season."
"Herakles Busts Heads?"
"Great show." Hermês sighed. "Back before Hêphaistos-TV was all reality programming." Though, the Real Housewives of Urbs Aeterna was entertaining! And he did not know that the Real Housewives of Poseiria were so catty. "Of course, the thermos would be worth much more if I had the whole lunch box-"
He could steal it. He knew exactly where Herakles hid it, but he was not in a mood for a lecture from Father about not being mean to his younger brothers.
Or if it hadn't been in Mártha's mouth, Geōrgios added.
I'll get you for that. Mártha began chasing him around the kērū́keion. He was not untangling them again!
"Wait a minute," Perseus said. "This is a gift?"
"One of two," Hermês said. "Go on, pick it up."
"It's a compass!" The mortal said.
Hermês looked surprised. Oh, was it? Considering that he was the god of travellers and roads, he had no need for a compass. "Very clever. I never thought of that. But its intended use is a bit more dramatic. Uncap it, and you will release the winds from the four corners of the earth to speed you on your way. Not now!" The boy slowly removed his hand from the cup. "And please, when the time comes, only unscrew the lid a tiny bit. The winds are a bit like me–always restless. Should all four escape at once ... ah, but I'm sure you'll be careful. And now my second gift. Geōrgios?"
She's touching me, Geōrgios complained as he and Mártha slithered around the pole.
"She's always touching you," Hermês replied patiently. "You're intertwined. And if you don't stop that, you'll get knotted... again!"
The snakes stopped wrestling.
Geōrgios unhinged his jaw and coughed up a little plastic bottle filled with chewable vitamins.
"You're kidding. Are those Minotaur-shaped?"
Hermês picked up the bottle and rattled it. "The lemon ones, yes. The grape ones are Erinyes, I think. Or are they hydras? At any rate, these are potent. Don't take one unless you really, really need it."
"How will I know if I really, really need it?"
"You'll know, believe me. Nine essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids ... oh, everything you need to feel yourself again."
"Um, thanks," Perseus said. "But Lord Hermês, why are you helping me?"
He gave me a melancholy smile. "Perhaps because I hope that you can save many people on this quest, Percy. Not just your friend Grover."
"You don't mean ... Luke?"
Hermês didn't answer. It was quite obvious. Leaneíras would go after Cristóbal and Perseus would go after Lucas.
"Look," Perseus said. "Lord Hermês, I mean, thanks and everything, but you might as well take back your gifts. Luke can't be saved. Even if I could find him ... he told me he wanted to tear down Olympos stone by stone. He betrayed everybody he knew. He-he hates you especially."
Hermês gazed up at the stars. "My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet-"
"You invented the Internet?"
It was my idea, Mártha said.
It was not.
Rats are delicious, Geōrgios said.
"It was my idea!" Hermês said. "I mean the Internet, not the rats. But that's not the point. Percy, do you understand what I'm saying about family?"
"I-I'm not sure."
"You will some day." Hermês got up and brushed the sand off his legs. "In the meantime, I must be going."
You have sixty calls to return, Mártha said.
And one thousand-thirty-eight e-mails, Geōrgios added. Not counting the offers for online discount ambrosia.
"And you, Percy," Hermês said, "have a shorter deadline than you realize to complete your quest. Your friends should be coming right about ... now. I hope I packed well for you," Hermês said. "I do have some experience with travel." Snapping his fingers, three yellow duffel bags appeared at my feet. "Waterproof, of course. If you ask nicely, your father should be able to help you reach the ship."
"Ship?"
Hermês pointed. Sure enough, a big cruise ship was cutting across Long Island Sound, its white-and-gold lights glowing against the dark water. Even from this distance, he could sense his sons upon it with a very strong barrier that was keeping him from just appearing and taking his children away himself.
"Wait," Perseus said. "I don't understand any of this. I haven't even agreed to go!"
"I'd make up your mind in the next five minutes, if I were you," Hermês advised though inwardly he blinked. He could have sworn he did like ten minutes ago. "That's when the Harpyiai will come to eat you. Now, good night, cousin, and dare I say it? May the gods go with you."
He opened his hand and the kērū́keion flew into it.
Good luck, Mártha told him.
Bring me back a rat, Geōrgios said.
The kērū́keion changed into a cell phone and Hermês slipped it into his pocket.
He jogged off down the beach. Twenty paces away, he shimmered and vanished, reappearing back on Olympos, grimacing when he realized that Peithô was waiting for him at home.
Her eyes found his within the vanity before turning away stubbornly. "Making nice with the in-laws, are you," she stated sarcastically. A small area of the mirror glimmered showing Perseus meeting with Tyson and Annabeth on the beach. Considering who Peithô served, twas no surprise that she managed to make a snort sound lovely. "How chivalrous of you."
"Peithô," he started, but she waved his words away as she applied some mascara. That's when he realized that she was dressed in a form-fitting gold dress with blood -red accents like an inverted female Iron Man — Iron Maiden? — Leaneíras' favorite superhero.
"Pháris is on shift now so at least your job will be handled while you chase the skirts of that… hmm," she cut herself off, dabbing at her lipstick before standing to her feet. She turned to leave when he reached out for her.
"Peithô, I do love you," he stated strongly. He had to make sure she understood that. "Truly. I love you."
Her gaze met him once more. "When you took me as your bride, I was happy. I was so excited. I was ready to spend the rest of our lives together. And then you took on that lover and this lover and that one over there, and I realized that I could only be happy with a piece of you. I tried, you know."
A sheen of tears glimmered in her eyes. "For the past centuries, I have tried to show you more of who I really am. I wanted to make you love every hidden side of me. I wanted to be the only person you thought about, but if there was one thing that I have learned while working with Aphroditê is that no matter how much I love you, I cannot force you to feel a certain way towards me even when I'm wearing your ring. It pales in comparison to your name."
"You have taken other lovers, too, beloved."
"And just as Kalypsô said so long ago is that you men were always jealous when we women took lovers for ourselves. How come all my lovers have been ill-fated, my love?"
"I'm sorry."
"But you are not sorrowful enough to give her up," the goddess muttered. "Twas hard enough when I thought you would follow in Apollôn's steps and the Moirai raise Krókos to the heavens and to dwell with deities. Oh, how Pasiphae's daughter and I bemoaned such a fate as she too believed that Dionysos would raise Ampelos to the heavens to live with his betters."
Hermês said nothing for how could he tell her that he and Dionysos did raise them to godhood when Father granted them permission. Ampelos and Krókos tended to spend time with Huákinthos, Mḗkо̄n, and Adonis as lovers of gods that had been changed into floral. They even spent time with Klutíē from whom Heliotropium grant their existence to - though Hêlios still did not return her love after she was transformed back. Sometimes Dáphnē joined them, more amicable since Apollôn much preferred Huákinthos to her though she mainly found herself in the company of Artemis, safe and protected from any male for the goddess and Apollôn would not hesitate to cause harm on any that displease her. The seven of them were normally identified by wearing crowns of their respective floral counterparts woven into their hair.
"And you will bring her here into our marriage home and expect us to get along when you can rightly assume that the relationship between, she and I would be like chernobyl and a nuclear power plant. " She paused before turning to look at him suspiciously. "Unless you plan to leave and have my Father give you back all the betrothal gifts you bestowed on him."
That was not the plan. He had honestly not thought that far ahead, but a divorce worked out well for Aphroditê and Hêphaistos. They even have double dates now with Arês and Aglaiê.
"And you're actually contemplating it," she scoffed. Her eyes were red, filled with anger and murderous intent. "I would rather go blind than to see you walk away from me."
He shifted on his feet. He really didn't want to make her any angrier. Her temper could go from zero to prison very fast.
"Do not worry, my love," she stated, saccharine sweet. "I will not go after your little blessing. Though, I fear you shall start calling me a lollipop with how I'm going to get my lick back."
Before anything else could be said, Peithô flashed from the room with nothing but the scent of jasmine lingering in place.
WORD COUNT: 4,508
NOTES: Poseiria: my name for Poseidôn's kingdom. In my head, the sea is split into seven territories. The Four the Old Men of the Sea, Pontos, Poseidôn, and Ôkeanos. Poseidôn is the All-Father of the Sea. He has alliances with Ôkeanos (which is somewhat flimsy) and Nêreus through his marriage to Amphitritê who is a Nêreis and a daughter of an Ôkeanis. His children with Amphitritê are the ones officially in the line of succession and rule over different provinces while his children from his affairs usually work within the government or the army.
The Plant Gang is new and it's now one of my favorite things ever. Dáphnē is the leader. Krókos and Huákinthos are the second in commands. Klutíē is treated as the baby of the group even though she's older than all of them. Ampelos, Mḗkо̄n, and Adonis are there to look pretty. Period.
