Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez

4 - Net Lady Nets Our Dad (With a Net)

Via decided that if she was going to be stuck in the kitchen after releasing a ball of emotions, she should do something to  keep her hands busy so she wouldn't have to look at Pat being concerned for her. She hated it. She was seven minutes older; she was supposed to be the one who was concerned for him.

Therefore, she started collecting all the dishes so she could clean them. Pat, Leo, and Calypso eventually got up to help her (the latter two scowled at Apollo until he got up to help, too), and they formed an efficient dish-cleaning line. Apollo scrubbed. Calypso rinsed. Leo dried, and the twins put the dishes away.

"So," Calypso said, "what's this throne Emmie mentioned?"

Via dropped the plate she'd been holding, causing it to shatter.

"Vee!" Pat exclaimed in alarm.

"Gods! Fuck it!" Via hissed, stomping to the broom closet to find something to sweep up the broken pieces of porcelain.

"You want me to do what to the dish?" Apollo asked incredulously.

"Sorry," she said, starting to sweep up the past-tense plate. "I wasn't really expecting more questions after that session of emotional vulnerability, you know what I mean? I'm fine with talking about it, especially if it'll help get Georgie back and save the world and stuff, but it's kind of hard."

"I get it," Leo reassured her. "I mean, I literally died. It's incredibly hard thinking about it now. You have no idea how much it hurts to die."

"Haha, that's where you're wrong," Pat said.

Via scowled at him. "Pat."

"Wait, you've died, too?" Leo asked.

"Oh, no, not me," Pat said hurriedly. "No... Via has."

"I did not die, Patrick." Via rolled her eyes as she emptied the dustpan into the trash. "It was a — "

"Your heart literally stopped. You died."

"In this country, you're not legally dead until your lungs stop functioning," Via said. "So, no, I was not dead. I was just really, really close. Now, can you please stop oversharing so we can get back on topic? We were talking about the Throne of Memory."

Apollo scowled at his foamy stack of bread pans. "The Throne of Memory. It's a chair carved by the goddess Mnemosyne herself. I can't believe I forgot about it."

Leo grinned at him over the top of a steaming salad plate. "You forgot the Throne of Memory? Isn't that a mortal sin or something?"

"The only mortal sin," Apollo said, "would be failing to incinerate you as soon as I become a god again."

"You could try," Leo said. "But then how would you learn those secret scales on the Valdezinator?"

Apollo accidentally sprayed himself in the face. "What secret scales?"

"What's a Valdezinator?" Pat asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing much. Just this awesome invention of mine that —"

"Guys, stop," Calypso ordered. "Apollo, why is this Throne of Memory important?"

Via decided she liked Calypso. She was very straightforward, good at staying on topic.

Apollo wiped the water off his face. "Before a petitioner went into the Cave of Trophonius, he or she was supposed to drink from two magical springs."

"Forgetfulness and Memory," Via said, nodding. "So far, so accurate."

Leo picked up another plate. Steam curled from the porcelain. "Wouldn't the two springs, like, cancel each other out?"

Via shook her head. "Assuming the experience didn't kill you, it would prepare your mind for the Oracle. You would then descend into the cave and experience... untold horrors."