Lea stared blankly at the alien that was lounging across her dorm room bed.
"It has been exactly 87 days, 4hrs, 33 minutes and five seconds of nowhere and no sign of Leaneíras." Hermes said, sprawled across the sheets.
Lea scoffed, throwing her back at his stomach. "And it's been 87 days, 4hrs, 33 minutes and five seconds of you enchanting my notebook to talk to me while in class, I see you in the land of dreams, and do not get me started on you appearing in my bathroom mirror while I was brushing my teeth!" The alien snickered, placing the bag beside him as she took a seat on Drew's bed, the girl was in archery practice since the season was getting ready to start.
"You need a break, Lea," Hermes told her. "You have been working hard and I do not want to see you burn out."
Lea shrugged. On top of her regular schoolwork, which was being affected by the war at sea, Lea was being trained to near death by Kírkē and Alabaster and despite his complaints, her training didn't stop when she went to sleep considering he was there giving her lessons also. Her weekends were filled with her hardly ever being home instead she was regularly going on excursions to take down titan bases though sometimes they had bad intel because they'd get there to find that some bases had already been wiped out.
And then there was Percy also who decided to take over her sword training and did everyone forget how much she hated that? She had never been the best swordsman though she could hold her own, if need be, but in her humble opinion, Percy should have never been gifted a sword if only for the simple fact that she wouldn't have to worry about it. The lessons were only made worse of course due to the fact that Kírkē decided it was the best time to test her and questioned her greatly on potions and spell components and invocations all the while she had to dodge Percy's attacks; Annabeth and Diomedes and Eurythion and Drew's too when they came to join in. She was a bit thankful that Magnus was getting the same treatment as her also though his training was a bit fiercer considering his cousin and her Father were war gods.
(Truthfully, it made all the more fun when they were able to reverse regime and soon, they were dodging her attacks with mageia as she and Alabaster and Magnus took part.)
"Come with me," Hermes was saying. "Father has allowed us a few days of peace as there had been no further movement from Typhôeus. Tempers are being frayed and tis all he can do to keep fighting from happening within the pantheon."
Lea blinked then tilted her head. "Are you... are you asking me to meet your family?" She knew that she implied that she had wanted to try dating people, but she hadn't included dating him in that equation. It would also invalidate every argument that she made about not dating him.
Hermes blushed. "You won't be meeting anyone that you don't already know. I think the Mousai and a few others will join us, but for the most part, you will be around the ones that you have already met. But it's just a small get together to relax our minds before we dived back fully into the war preparations. Some of the minor gods have been coming out and causing chaos as distractions."
"I take it that they have been properly punished?"
He gave her a wicked grin.
She laughed before shrugging. "Fine, but I'm bringing Drew... she's been..." Lea trailed off thinking over her best friend. The girl may have seemed confidant to the rest of the school, but Lea had to go collect her during one of the archery team's practice session. She had been incredibly aware of how sharp those arrows were when she heard all of them swear vengeance against Ethan for daring to break her heart.
It made Lea feel a bit guilty talking to Hermes even if it had given her awake call that she had sorely forgotten. She just wished Drew started to feel better. She was so quiet now and Lea wanted her to try yelling at the sun for once. Bring back her spark or Lea could create a spark and light Ethan on fire. She was fine with either if it meant seeing her genuinely smile again though she knew that had to let everything not be okay at first.
No matter how much Lea loved Drew, she couldn't force her to feel a certain way. It wasn't fair to Drew.
(And Alabaster was always going on about how she didn't use to solve everything with murder. Hmp. He needed to stop romanticizing the past. She had seen the look in his eyes when Drew threw herself into his arms to cry.)
Hermes nodded his head, "Of course. Of course." Lea gave him a small smile as she fiddled with the bracelet on her wrists. "And here," he said. Lea furrowed her brow as he passed her a small pair of earphones.
"What?"
"Your ADHD, yeah? It's so you can play background music in class to help you focus to stimulate your brain, so your attention won't drift. Apóllōn and Athḗnē suggested delivering them to all the demigods that we have still regularly attending school. And Artemis and the Mousai have been attending school board meeting across the continent to help against your dyslexia. Focus groups have been put together to change fonts that makes it easier for you all to read."
"Why are you all putting in all this effort now and not before?"
Hermes shrugged, a bit guiltily. "At first we cared not, but now... you are all going to war. Tis clear to see. You are all stressed because of that, and we gods do not want to see you thus. We do care, Lea even if we are not the best at showing it in mortal standards."
Lea sighed. "Fine. When is it?"
"Tomorrow."
Wonderful.
He then leaned closer to her, pressing two fingers to his lips then touch them to her cheeks. "Buona notte, angela mia." He lifted his fingers to his lips again, then pressed them to her other cheek; "bonne nuit, mon amour." He touched his lips a third time, and then touched them gently to her forehead; "beaunas noches, mi vida."
Lea sat tensed, eyes gazing into his own going cross eyed as he leaned in to press a kiss to her nose. "Goodnight, my Leaneíras."
Though the next night was filled with Lea having to ignore the sight of her own scowling face and Peitho refused to get her own.
(Though it had been worth it when she called her "Lady Pterodactyl" and Drew had laughed herself sick.)
Looking at Drew as her Mother and Apóllōn doted on her, Lea felt just a bit of peace. Her brown eyes standing in the full glory of their grace were like pools of honey. The girl was shining, slipping between japanese, french, and english with ease alongside a bit of ellinika for flavor.
She had been a bit terrifying when they started playing card games. "Place another draw four," Drew had said to her brother, Érōs, the one that she hated and unfortunately for Lea, looked so much like Robert Downey Jr. "They'll be drawing four arrows of your chest." Her Mother had laughed and smiled proudly.
Lea didn't know why they chose karaoke as part of their game night because Apóllōn and the Mousai killed it. She was sure that the other patrons of the establishment were crying real tears, and she was suddenly thankful that she had went amongst the first group. How was anyone going to top that?
(And she would absolutely deny her blushing when Hermes cheered and clapped the loudest and declaring that she had a voice so clear the angels shut their mouths.)
(She would also deny the bright smile on her face as she mockingly sang Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne to him while Pterodactyl fumed in the corner.)
At some point they played truth or dare, and she was sure that Hermes was targeting her (and it was Aphrodite's glare that kept Pterodactyl from bothering her).
"Would you push me down the stairs for $4 million dollars?" Hermes asked her. Lea had snorted, leaning into Drew who was snickering. "I would push you down for 4 cents."
"Hey," Hermes protested. "You promised to be nice to me."
Lea scoffed, "I would never make that kind of promise." Apóllōn and their sister, Alêtheia, laughed aloud as he pouted. When Drew and Lea looked confused, Artemis took the moment to explain that the three of them could sense lies especially Alêtheia as the goddess of truth, and sincerity.
And as the days continued on, she was able to learn more about Lady Aphrodite as the woman came around to dote on her daughters and help them plan the Jackson-Blofis wedding. She had shown up to a few of Drew's archery tournaments, getting caught by the paparazzi who were delighted to see the Mother of the Heiress to Tanaka Enterprises. She had sat with David, Silena, Sally, Lea, Percy, Eliza, and Annabeth as they watched her.
(Lea was still not comfortable with all the cameras following them, but hopefully, the interest would wane soon. Though she did laugh when immediately after leaving a tournament, another article would come up about her — though in a different form — appearing at an orchestra.)
(Lea had been sure that she seen Ethan in the crowd, but she figured that it was her imagination. He wouldn't have been dumb enough to show his face around them.)
And the wedding between Sally and Paul had been so beautiful. A few of their coworkers had come to witness it (and a few of them got kicked out when they made a comment about how Poseidon should have funded it and made implications about Sally and the twins). Percy walked her down the aisle while Lea was the maid of honor. The twins received a new pair of grandparents and Lea was pleased to note that their new grandfather was not a psychopath.
When there was lull between everything and Lea was able to pull them both to the side, she had smiled sweetly at her mother before letting her powers pool around her: "Hear these words, hear my cry, Spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee, Cross now the great divide." Estelle and Jim Jackson appeared with bright, watery eyes to see their little girl all grown up. Lea had been quick to leave at that, the emotions almost enough to give her hives.
She had sensed when they crossed back over and made the mental note to bring them back around more often so that the twins could at least get to know them.
She had managed to dodge quite a bit amount of Paul's distant cousins with their irritating flirting though she had heard Drew lay into one of them after they had come onto her a bit too strongly: "I will chew cyanide and foam at the mouth before I ever!" and then hit him in the face with her bouquet.
Lea had snickered and then gasped as a hand grasped her own, spinning her around to pull her into their arms.
Hermes.
"Someone pinch me. I feel like I'm dreaming."
"Well, I am dreamy, but please contain yourself," Hermes smiled smugly, "I am the man of your dreams."
"More like nightmares," she scoffed.
"Either way, you're thinking of me." he winked.
"What are you doing here?"
"I had to see you once last time," he murmured, drawing her closer into his embrace as they swayed to the music in the background. Absently, she could see some of Paul's distant relatives frowning at the sight of them.
"What do you mean?"
"Typhôeus has broken free of his bonds," he told her. "He makes his way towards Olympos. We must answer this call to war." He then blinked and looked down at her. "Are you wearing heels?"
"That's not important!" She hissed, catching the eye of Percy and their friends to cover for her. Quickly, she pulled him to an unoccupied room and locked the door. "What do you mean that monster is free? Since when?"
"Early this morn. The Nā Moku o Hawai'i-"
"English, please."
"The Hawaiian Islands herald his arrival."
"Mount Saint Helens isn't even near there!"
Hermes shrugged. "Tis still what happened. He will draw strength directly from the earth until he gets to Olympos. Your attack on the Eastern Seaboard this past summer will seem like a light rain compared to what he will do if he arrives."
She looked him up and down. "Tell me about him?"
"Well, in his true form, he's at least three times taller than our Fathers and Uncle."
She furrowed her brow. "How tall is that? How tall are you?"
Hermes hummed. "Let's see, in true form, Father, Poseidón, and Háidēs are just a bit taller than the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai. Hḗrē, Dēmḗtēr, and Hestia are the same height as the Burj Khalifa building. Árēs and Athḗnē are about the same height as the Shanghai Tower. Apóllōn and Artemis are the same height as the Abraj Al-Bait Clock Tower. Aphrodítē and I are near the height of the Ping An International Finance Centre. That's about 1,966 ft. When Dionysos ascended, he grew to be about Lotte World Tower in Seoul. Hḗphaistos is that height also due to his injuries."
And Typhôeus in his true form is taller than that? Terrifying.
His hand tilted her head so she could look at him in the eyes. "Smile, my Leaneíras. Everything will be well. This I swear."
"Promise?"
"Of course, to you, I shall not lie," he murmured, brushing his thumb against his cheek until a small smile appeared on her face. "Ah, see there it is. A beautiful smile for a beautiful person. Your facial features are proof that your features have been loved for centuries."
Lea's face turned as red as the punch she had been drinking earlier. She cleared her throat and turned away. "Does this mean that I won't see you for the New Year?"
"I know not," he said, with a small furrow. "If there is a lull in the fighting, yes, but if not, I suppose I shall you give you your new year's kiss now, eh?"
Lea scoffed, somehow turning even more red. She could feel the heat of her cheeks. "You know, I heard a conspiracy that new year's is not January 1st."
"Well, tis true," he hummed, tapping a finger against his chin. "The new year's day is actually the first day of spring or in some cases, the spring equinox. The new year is accounted for by the rebirth of the season. Its why Aries is the first zodiac and why Pisces is the last. And that's only accounting for the solar new year though the lunar new year is somewhat similar. This all changed with the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar, but Ethiopia utilizes the Ge'ez calendar which is closer to ancient times."
"Fascinating. Why does the rest of the world not use it?"
Hermes shrugged. "You humans come up with all your own little ideas. It's too much a chore to change it. And you all lead yourselves to your own destruction. Why should knowing that date change anything?"
She stared at him. "That... that sounds unnervingly similar to Hesiod's Five Ages of Men when in the what? Iron Age." She nodded her head sharply. "Yeah, in the Iron Age, humans are just going to be horrible, and you all abandon them."
Hermes pursed his lips. "Well, that's plausible, but tis also how we know that this war should not be happening. We may not be the best of parents but do not wish to see you all die either."
The days continued on by. Drew's birthday was a somber affair especially once a beautiful painting of her was mailed to camp (which reminded Lea of the water painting that she had gotten done at Pterophoros). It had taken just about the entire camp to keep her siblings from tearing it apart, but they managed. Instead, they turned the attention to the fact it was both Drew and Eliza's birthday and The Winter Solstice and Dionysos' birthday month.
Lea had found the present that she had gotten the girl. It had taken quite a bit more effort than she had originally thought and now she was sure that it was going to make the girl cry. She got her a terracotta plate that been pieced back together using gold. Hermes had told her it was called Kintsugi. Ever broken piece had things that people loved and cherished about her on them from Lea, from the Tenth Cabin, from their Archery Club at BAG, Percy and Alabaster and Annabeth and Medea and Magnus, somehow Rachel Elizabeth Dare ended in there too, a few of the other cabins like Clarisse and Beckendorf and Lee, even Nico when he showed his face, and the Eleventh Cabin too. Hermes and Apóllōn and Huákinthos wrote something, and she had been surprised to return to the dorm to see one of the pieces an entirely different color as Aphrodite wrote to her daughter and Lord Ares left her a message alongside David Beaugard and Drew's foster father, Magnus, and her three foster brothers.
The girl had cried and ruined her makeup in a way that shown off her eyes and Lea was a bit impressed by that. She didn't know what Percy and Annabeth had gotten Eliza, but she agreed to take things slow with them and if they survived this war, she would be happy to become their khaos-mate.
Somewhere along the way, Percy told her about some mission with Thalia and Nico and some sword of Hades and keys. He spoke to her about Ethan and some titan that they had to fight, but she hadn't been able to concentrate on that apart from he had seen Ethan.
Christmas saw to a jewelry box addressed to her under the tree. When she opened it, her eyes had widened to see a vial in the shape of a heart filled with ichor. A card fell from within alongside a small painting of she and Hermes when she awakened that day at Camp and her life changed forever. The two of them were looking into each other's eyes as if there was no one else around.
How interesting that something so huge and life-changing should happen so early in your life and so late in mine.
He snuck her away for dinner and she was a bit confused.
"I thought you said we weren't able to spend time with each other because of the fighting?"
"I am not fully here," he told her. "My form is currently somewhere in a crater around Vegas. Apóllōn shall be coming to rescue me soon or mayhap Asklēpiós will come to heal me."
She frowned in concern, but he only pressed a kiss to her hand. "I promise I will be fine, Lea. Now, how about we enjoy this dinner before I am pulled away once more?" Lea nodded and he waved down a waiter.
"Perhaps a salad for the lady," the waiter said after Hermes ordered the food, he was going to feed to Salome who was sitting beside them in the booth. Lea snorted, as she put down her menu. "To quote one of my favorite movies: perhaps not! I'll have the steak, SMOTHERED in onions. A RACK of ribs. Pasta with EXTRA garlic. French fries with LOTS of vinegar and a side of onion rings with LOTS AND LOTS of sauerkraut." When the waiter didn't write anything down, Lea furrowed her brows. "I am serious, and I am hungry."
Down in the Underworld while the two of them were dining… a familiar soul is over by a pit to tartarus, smoky mist emerged from the ground: Emergo dormio, Libertas caeles dicio.
WORD COUNT: 3443
WORDS TO KNOW:
1) Buona notte, angela mia - goodnight, my angel
2) beaunas noches, mi vida - goodnight, my love
3) bonne nuit, mon amour. - goodnight, my love
4) Emergo dormio, Libertas caeles dicio. - Emerge from sleep, free from heaven's dictates!
4A) This spell was used to Free The Titans in OG CHARMED.
COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHOR:
1) You all know that extended scene in Harry Potter and the Half Blood prince where the students are singing and the professor is leading them? The little one.
1A) I haven't watched or read Harry Potter so i dont know any names but it came across my timeline.
2) Just think of that scene and its ominous singing for the TLO arc