The only parties Mari had been to were at camp, and Chiron made them all go to bed before 11pm, so those didn't count.
This was on a whole other level.
There was an all-you-can-eat buffet, of every food or drink Mari could imagine - platters of Spanakopita, Dolmathakia me kima, overflowing fountains of Nectar and holy shit were those jaffa cakes?!
The muses were hosting a concert off to the side, and Mari had been confused for a second before realising that they weren't playing any specific song; they were playing whatever the person listening wanted to hear at that moment. Annabeth could enjoy a musical version of the art of war, and Percy was probably listening to Baby Shark (okay, maybe not, but Mari didn't actually know what kind of music he was into). As someone with taste, Mari was jamming out to Fearless by Taylor Swift.
Thalia wrinkled her nose when Mari told her that. "Oh, no, Mari. We have to get you into Social Distortion or Green Day, or something."
"I'll listen to your music if you listen to Speak Now," Mari told her.
"Bleh." Thalia made a face. "I actually did want to talk to you."
"About what?"
"Do you want to join the Hunt?"
"Wha...?" Mari trailed off. That had come out of nowhere.
"Look," Thalia told her. "I remember that day you asked about your age. I didn't tell you then, but since the fleece healed me I've felt like things were out of place. I was out of place, and things were either too fast or too slow. I don't think I'm cut out for a mortal lifespan. Maybe I was once, I don't know, but I feel better now. Calmer, more settled. I think that if you joined, you might have the chance to feel that way, too."
Mari gulped. She'd hoped, all that time ago when Thalia had first woken up, that she'd have a friend to confide in about what it was like, not even knowing what age you were meant to be. Because truthfully, she got it. She felt exactly the same way, but...
"I don't think I'd suit an immortal lifespan, Thalia."
"Why not?"
"I don't know." Mari shrugged. "Living for hundreds of years? I've been around for fifteen, nearly sixteen now I guess, and most of them have been exhausting. And I like the idea of growing old. I want a family."
Mari understood how Thalia felt out of place, and she still felt like she didn't quite fit either, but... she didn't feel quite like the broken puzzle piece that had left Circe's island. She was just a little bent. And if it could change a little, what was to stop that feeling from changing a lot? She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she didn't at least try. But there were other reasons, too. Namely, she'd never be able to leave her siblings behind.
Thalia frowned. "Please don't tell me it's because of a boy."
Mari thought that Thalia had done an awfully quick one-eighty on that, but after everything she'd seen her say to Luke, she could understand.
"Trust me," Mari told Thalia. "That is not ever going to be an issue for me."
"I am delighted to hear such news," said Artemis, appearing behind her new lieutenant and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Although it is disheartening that you do not wish to join the Hunt. I hope you understand that there will be a place for you always amongst my hunters, at least until you are no longer a maiden. Would you give us a minute, Thalia? I wish to speak with my niece privately."
Thalia nodded, giving Mari a smile and walking away, Mari guessed to find Annabeth.
"I take no offence, Marion," Artemis began. "But there is something you're holding back."
Mari shuffled, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. Artemis gave her an encouraging smile. "Little niece," she told her. "I give you permission to speak freely. I spend my time around eternal maidens, so I promise you I have heard worse."
Mari gulped. "It isn't the main reason, but... I suppose last time I was around a group of all-girls who turned men into animals, it didn't exactly go well."
Artemis's lips thinned. "Circe. Curse that infernal creature."
Mari hadn't thought she would see the day when Artemis willingly insulted a woman, but she supposed that even the eternal protector of maidens had her limits.
"I also don't want to leave my family behind," Mari told her.
Artemis nodded. "I suppose that is acceptable. I still wish for you to have this." She handed Mari a silver pamphlet, with the words HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS: A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE! printed in bold. It was picture-heavy, with images of hunters shooting arrows, chasing monsters and playing with huge wolves - perfect for a dyslexic demigoddess. Still, there were a few captions, with stuff like THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF IMMORTALITY and ALL GIRLS ARE WELCOME - THE HUNT SUPPORTS TRANS RIGHTS in shimmering silver letters.
"If you change your mind, this will tell you what to do," Artemis told her, tapping the paper twice. "Simply tap-"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"
Mari jumped at the voice (Artemis was unfazed, but looked very annoyed at the interruption) and turned around, only for her jaw to drop.
Ariadne was walking over, with another goddess who was just... well, she was gorgeous, but not in a way that Mari could possibly describe. Her features kept changing. Her eyes seemed to flitter between every colour of the rainbow, and her hair did the same. The hair of a woman on the cover of a magazine Mari had once stolen from her foster sister and stared at for two hours? This goddess's hair was prettier. The freckles of of a girl in Mari's primary school? This goddess had them, but better. Though, for some reason, her hair seemed to frequently settle on a familiar glossy dark texture, and her eyes on a warm, welcoming brown.
"Aphrodite. Ariadne." Artemis said the second name with slightly more enthusiasm, before turning back to the love goddess. "I think I am speaking with my niece."
"Don't think I don't know what's really going on here! You're trying to get that poor girl to throw her life away!" Aphrodite snatched the pamphlet from Mari's hand, pinching the corners as if it were infested with fleas. "Really, you think it's best for her to spend the next few hundred years chasing monsters? Talk about wasted potential. Don't you agree, dear?" Aphrodite phrased the last part to Mari.
"Uh... dwa..." Mari couldn't managed much more; she was caught up in staring at the goddess's eyes. They were a rich brown again. So, so pretty...
"Oh, darling! You flatter me," Aphrodite giggled. The sound was like a thousand fluttering dove wings. She lifted a perfectly manicured hand and snapped Mari's jaw closed with one finger. Mari felt her cheeks flare with colour. "Now close your mouth. Tell me, do you really want to spend all of eternity with her?"
"Ah... huh?!"
"Aphrodite," Ariadne sighed. "I just asked you if you'd seen her, you didn't need to follow."
Artemis took the pamphlet back from Aphrodite, and handed it back to Mari. "My new lieutenant is waving me over. I know you're a smart girl, Marion. I advise you not to listen to Aphrodite." She jutted her chin at Aphrodite, who glared back, the glow around her flaring in annoyance. "We will speak again." Artemis walked off with a final pointed glance in Aphrodite's direction, leaving the love goddess, Mari and Ariadne alone.
"Well!" Aphrodite clapped her hands together. "Now that she's gone, you can answer my question!"
"Aphrodite." Ariadne frowned.
"Oh, hush!" Aphrodite told the other goddess. "I'll just be a minute. Oh, look at what you're wearing, Marion! No, no, that simply won't do."
Mari had to agree there. She hadn't changed clothes since Will had let her stay at his house. That felt like forever ago now. Aphrodite waved her hand, and Mari's ratty orange shirt and trousers changed into a long, pale yellow chiton, held in place by two bronze pins, one at each shoulder. Even her hair wasn't in a shambling approximation of a plait anymore, but fell loose against her back, nothing holding it in place.
"Hm." Aphrodite smiled, pleased with her work. "Much better. The colour suits you nicely, much more than those awful knockoffs Circe gives her attendants."
"Um." Mari blushed again. "Thank you."
"Well, I couldn't leave you like that." Aphrodite shuddered. "It would be simply criminal. Anyway, before I got sidetracked, I wanted to commend you, for making the right decision about those infernal hunters."
"I - what?!"
"Oh, my sweet Drew would be devastated to lose such a dear friend. And I do hate it when your aunt interferes with my plans."
"Your plans?"
"Forget I said anything! I want it to be a surprise." Aphrodite took Mari's hand, the one that wasn't clutching the pamphlet, and spun her in a circle. "On a completely unrelated topic, what do you think of Adela?"
"What-" Mari gulped. "What do you... mean... by... that?"
"Wonderful!" Aphrodite clapped her hands. "You have no idea. It's simply adorable! Such emotion, such drama!"
"No idea about what?" Mari asked.
"Nothing!" Aphrodite clamped her hands over her own mouth, as if trying to hold in a really exciting piece of gossip. In that moment, Mari could see how she was related to Drew. "Nothing. I must be going now. I've taken up a lot of Ariadne's time already, which I'm sure she'd rather be spending with her husband before he has to leave. Now, that's a good old tragic love story, if I've ever seen-"
"Aphrodite!" Ariadne snapped.
"Yes! I shall take my leave now. Oh, and Marion, tell Drew to tune in to my fashion show on Hephaestus TV at nine pm tomorrow or she's grounded."
With that, Aphrodite glided away, and was gone. Mari gulped. Was she meant to ask about whether the quest was authorised by Zeus or not? A large part of her thought no. This was Olympus, after all. If the king of the gods was to overhear, what would he do to them? Strip Ariadne of her godhood? Incinerate Mari?
Ariadne turned towards her with a soft smile, and Mari knew she'd made the right choice not to talk about Zeus's uninvolvement. "My string, Marion Carter. Give it to me."
Mari's heart sank. "I- about that, Lady Ariadne. I had it, I swear I did, and I tried, but I lost it."
Ariadne's lips twitched, and Mari's heart sank. She must have been mad, oh, shit, Mari had made a goddess mad, this was bad, hey, that kind of rhymed-
"Is that what you think happened?" Ariadne asked.
"Uh... yes?"
Ariadne laughed, the same awkward, hiccuping laugh she'd given Mari back in the big house. "Oh, Marion Carter. You really are funny, intentional or not. Well, I find you funny. I have been told that my sense of humour is... odd."
Ariadne grabbed Mari's shoulder, turning her around, and and pulled something from the hem of Mari's chiton, rolling the familiar-looking red string around her fingers.
Mari's heart practically stood still. "How?!"
Ariadne pursed her lips. "It seems, I suppose, that your traitor brother was good for something after all. He did not report it's presence to Luke Castellan when he had the chance. He even made sure it was tucked into your pocket. I was watching. Don't worry, I still think you're much better."
Mari was floored. Mason had... helped her? But he had spent the entire time telling her he was going to give the string to Luke! Well, between telling her about Frankie, and- no. Mari shuddered. She wasn't going to think about Frankie right now. Later. When she was in her cabin, she could break down about it all she wanted. She wasn't in her cabin right now.
"Please." Ariadne grasped her shoulders again. "Do not cry. I would hate to see you upset after you've just done me a great service."
"What - why would it bother you?"
Ariadne sighed. "You forget. You all forget. I was once mortal. I remember what it is, to not be a goddess. And I may not have slain the minotaur, but that big oaf certainly couldn't have done it without my help. It is not easy, seeing innocents die in my maze. I understand the hardships of a hero. Why do you think I never had any half-blood children?"
"I guess I thought you were just waiting for Dionysus to come back," Mari admitted. These words had surprised her. Mari had assumed that since it had been so long ago, Ariadne would have forgotten how scary mortality could be. Apparently this was the wrong assumption. It was something she was more than happy to be wrong about.
"Well, yes," Ariadne admitted. "But my husband and I both know how taxing eternity can be. Neither of us holds it against the other when we decide to have a little... fun with somebody else. Why do you think I have supported him through his exile, despite the reason for the sentence? I came over here to thank you for the string."
"Does this mean Luke won't be able to navigate the maze?"
"Well." Ariadne frowned. "No. This is just a part of my string. Not the whole thing. And it shall be staying with me. Lord Zeus does not allow us to use our power in excess when helping demigods, and I would not be permitted to use this to aid anybody. I'm afraid that I will be keeping this with me, as the source of my power - my symbol. Do you think that Hades would lend a demigod his helm? Zeus, his bolt?"
"I think that last one might still be a touchy subject, actually," Mari told her.
Ariadne burst out laughing. "Oh, Marion! Do not let him hear you say that. He'll destroy you!" She chortled. "But... you are not entirely wrong."
"Aha! Daughter of me! I've been looking for you, sunshine!" A bright voice rang from behind them both, and a second later an arm was slung over Mari's shoulder.
"Ariadne," Apollo said to her. "It's been a while! Do you think you could let me talk with my daughter privately?"
Her Dad. Her Dad was there. Well, he'd been there the whole time, but he was right next to her now. Mari gulped again. She'd honestly never thought she'd meet one of her actual parents, but she had daydreamed about it. In her daydreams, it had always been easier. Her palms hadn't been sweating in her daydreams, and she'd always known exactly what to say. Then again, her daydreams hadn't included her father as the Ancient Greek sun god, either, so she supposed that this was never going to be normal.
He'd called her his daughter.
"I shall take my leave, then," Ariadne told Mari. "I mean it. You've done me a great service. I owe you a favour."
A favour. From a goddess. That was definitely a big deal.
"Yes, yes, goodbye, Ariadne." Apollo waved a dismissive hand at her. "Enjoy the party."
Ariadne narrowed her eyes at Apollo and left.
"Oh, Mari - can I call you Mari?" Apollo asked. Mari nodded. He continued. "How do you feel?"
"Uh, a little nervous. I've never met you before, Dad - can I call you Dad? I mean, you are my Dad but like I said I've never met you and-"
Apollo frowned. "Have you not? Hm, that's strange, I visited camp... three years ago now, I think? Surely I would have talked with you then. Oh, and of course you can call me Dad!"
"I wasn't at camp three years ago..." Mari trailed off.
"Oh?" Apollo frowned. "Ah, I remember! Of course I do, I know all. You were on a quest!"
"I wasn't on a quest," Mari told him.
"Ahem... where were you, then?"
"I was on Circe's island." Mari was getting a little uneasy now. "You know, being tortu-"
"Oh, yes! Yes, that was it!" Apollo clapped his hands. "My daughter, the only demigoddess with the ability to physically control the mist. That time with Circe must have really paid off. You know that when I was merely four days old, I slew Python with a single arrow? Learn by doing, I always say. And, well, I was clearly right! You did, and you learned! Mari, you haven't the faintest idea how proud you've made me. Look at you - you're a shining example of how awesome I am." Apollo pulled her into a hug, and, gods, Mari had daydreamed about that, too. Somehow, it all felt a little hollow.
"You- she- she tortured-"
"Hm. I expect she was a little strict, yes. To be perfectly honest I wasn't paying attention. I am a very busy god, after all, sunshine. Things to do, people to see."
Mari didn't know how she was supposed to respond. He wasn't even paying attention? Circe had tortured her for years and her own father didn't even care enough to check? To make sure she was okay? Why not? Had she done something, to make him not want to see her? Did he just hate her because she was broken, somehow? What had she done wrong? Luke's voice, from the night he'd kidnapped her rang through her head for the first time in years.
"They don't care, Marion. They. Do. Not. Care."
Mari swallowed down bile. No. No, she wasn't going to think like that. Mari could think about this later. This wasn't the time.
"You mentioned the- the big scary s... sn..." Mari trailed off.
"Snake?" Apollo asked. Mari nodded.
"Yes, I suppose that would be an issue for you. Python's brothers and sisters have always been more antagonistic towards my prophecy-bearing children. They are under the impression that I 'stole' something from their eldest brother." Apollo scoffed. "Something he did not deserve, anyway. I am afraid they will continue taking it out on you until you take your last dying breath."
"But I don't have prophecy," Mari said. "I just have my instin-"
"Your instincts, that's what you called them. I hate to admit it, sunshine, but that name is a little boring. You can do better. Anyway, I'm afraid you're mistaken there. You have the power of prophecy, but you won't ever be able to use it. I locked it away from you when you were still the size of my fist. That's why you get those 'instincts'. I mean, honestly, sunshine, why do you think Hermes's traitor son kidnapped you? If there were other children of mine who could do what you can do, then he wouldn't have batted an eye. You should be smart enough to figure that out. Anyway..." Apollo squeezed her shoulder, grinning. "It was all for the best, believe me. I did not need the drama from my father about it."
"Can you give it back?" Mari asked.
"Absolutely not!" Apollo snapped at her. "I just said, Marion. It's not worth the argument with my father. Trust me. Look what happened with Hal."
"Hal?"
"Oh, that's right. I haven't told you about him, have I? Halcyon Green." Apollo's normally sunny expression seared into a scorching glare at nothing. "I guess you could call him your much older brother, thought I don't consider him a son. Not anymore. He was the last child to be born with prophecy, before you. Zeus was not pleased with the idea of that kind of power in the hands of anybody but my oracle, so, like any good father would, I warned that boy. I warned him, you know? You'd really think that would be enough, but apparently his arrogance knew no bounds. He forgot - he was not an oracle. I would know, I am the god of oracles."
There was a dark, dangerous tone in Apollo's voice. If he ever talked to her that way, Mari was fairly certain she would just shrivel up and die.
"What did he do?" Mari's voice was timid.
"What? Oh, he just saved some little girl's life. You're missing the point. He disobeyed me. So, naturally, I punished him by taking his voice, making him wear the skin of Python and trapping him in his childhood home with a monster that lured demigods to their death whilst he could do nothing but watch and eat the scraps of food they left behind."
"...Naturally?!" Mari choked.
"Yes, naturally. You've got it!" Apollo grinned at her, either wilfully ignoring or genuinely not noticing the horror on her face (Mari wasn't sure which option was worse). "My father, however, said any child of mine born with prophecy until my oracle was... fixed must have their power removed. He didn't want anybody to believe they could replace an oracle, not with the danger that prophecies already pose. So, when you were born and I realised what you were, I fixed the problem."
Problem.
Oh. She got it now. That was what she was. Just a problem. It wasn't the first time somebody had called her that, not by a long shot, but for some reason, hearing it from her own Dad hurt a lot more than any other adult's words ever could.
"Are you alright? You're looking a little pale, sunshine." Her Dad led her away to a wide balcony overlooking Olympus, the city practically glowing in the early morning. "Look, I get it. I am amazing. Sometimes being in my presence can be a little... overwhelming. You just need to sit down for a minute."
"What about after?" Mari asked. "If the oracle is ever fixed, then..."
"Hm." Apollo frowned. "You know, I don't see a problem with the idea. Oh, you are smart, Mari! You really take after me. I'm so glad."
Mari felt a little better at that.
"Oh," Apollo continued. "Slight snag. There would probably be some side effects."
"Side effects?"
"Don't worry, just the regular stuff," Apollo reassured her. "You know, acne, uncontrollable bleeding from the ears, a permanent irreversible coma, a rash on the neck, that kind of thing."
"Is that, like, a hundred percent?"
"Oh, definitely. Really depressing stuff, actually. Shall we talk about something else?"
"Mari! I've been looking for you!" Annabeth came out from behind a column, a relieved expression on her face. "Oh, Lord Apollo! I'm so sorry for interrupting-"
"Think nothing of it, sweetheart."
Annabeth's expression twitched into annoyance for a second, the change so subtle that anybody who didn't know her well wouldn't ever be able to notice it. Apollo was certainly none the wiser.
"Well, Percy is calling some people, and then we have to go," Annabeth told her. "He should only be a few minutes."
Now, Mari wouldn't tell anybody this, but Annabeth was a very, very good liar when she needed to be. The fact that she was excellent at lying was also the reason that Mari wouldn't reveal said information to anybody, no matter how many drachmas she was offered. Annabeth could definitely poison Mari and successfully feign ignorance to Chiron. Hades, she'd probably have a prepared alibi before she even procured the poison. Point was, Apollo was once again fooled, and Mari only knew what was going on because she'd seen the way Annabeth stepped out from behind the column. From the side, not the front. She could only naturally step in that direction if she'd been hiding behind it; Annabeth had heard everything.
"Well." Apollo turned towards Mari again, brushing her hair out of her face. "I hate to leave so soon, sunshine, but if the party's over, then I really should get going. It's past sunrise, after all. I'm late."
With a flick of his wrist, a set of solid gold car keys appeared in Apollo's hand. He twirled them around once, then grinned at Mari one last time.
"Oh, both of you, close your eyes," Apollo reminded them. "If I accidentally killed you, Mari, I'd be bummed for like, a whole week. Yeah, that would really suck for me."
Mari squeezed her eyes shut. That didn't stop a few tears from leaking out of them.
"Goodbye, Sunshine! Make me proud!" Apollo called. There was a flash behind her closed eyes, like when Mari was little and used to stared at lightbulbs for hours. It never hurt her eyes the way it did everybody else's, but she did still see the imprint of the filament when her eyes were shut.
"He's gone, Mari."
"How much did you hear?"
In lieu of a response, Annabeth wrapped her arms around Mari. The hug was warm, and close in a way her Dad's simply hadn't been. That almost made Mari cry again, but she managed to hold the tears in. She was on Olympus, for fuck's sake. She had to hold it together while she was still here.
"Can you... not tell Percy, or anybody else about this?" Mari asked.
"About what?"
"Thanks."
Annabeth nodded. "What are you wearing?"
Mari frowned. "I think it's pretty. It's a yellow chiton, and I don't have anything in my hair but I prefer it down. I have since Circe's island-"
"No, I meant, you were wearing a camp half-blood t-shirt when I last saw you. What happened?"
"Oh." Mari shrugged. "Aphrodite found me."
Percy arrived a few minutes after that, a sheepish-looking Grover in tow. It was then that Mari found out that Thalia was already gone, off on some adventure with Artemis and the hunt. She didn't expect to be so sad. She hadn't known Thalia long, but the girl had become somewhat of a friend to her. She hoped Thalia was happy, at least. She deserved happiness after everything she'd been through. Mari thought of Zoë, up in the stars, and that other poor girl who died in the junkyard. She hoped they were both happy, too. At peace. Also, apparently, Grover had begged Artemis to let him follow her and Thalia back to the hunter's camp, and nearly been turned into a wild animal in retaliation. Mari didn't quite understand why Satyrs were obsessed with the hunt, but she thought it was more than a little creepy.
"Are you really going to keep that?" Percy asked her, gesturing at the pamphlet in her hand.
"Yeah. I don't want to offend Artemis, she's my aunt." It was the complete truth. She'd been confident about one thing that night, and it was her response to Thalia's and Artemis's offer. She would miss Thalia, but Mari would never join the hunt.
Their departure from Olympus was a quiet affair, with no gods around to see them off.
Argus was waiting for them outside the empire state building with a closed-mouthed grin, leaning against the camp van. His various eyes were lazily blinking in the morning sun. Mari clambered in after Annabeth, glancing out of the window as the van began rumbling along.
Even without the mist, it would have been too cloudy to get a proper glimpse of Olympus, but Mari still knew it was there. Maybe she could paint it. That would be nice. If Mari really peeked through the clouds, she could see her father, the sun, just rising in the sky. She wasn't sure that looking gave her the same comfort it used to.