Charmolypi

Chapter 96

"I-I don't have permission to go."

"Since when does permission stop someone from doing something?" James asked, genuinely confused.

Lily rolls her eyes at his careless behavior. The Marauders always caused trouble and discarded the rules, but she later on learned that Sirius was the main influence when it came to discarding rules.

"No, indeed. Will that stop you?"

"I want to go. I have to save Grover."

Hermes smiled. "I knew a boy once ... oh, younger than you by far. A mere baby, really."

"Here we go again," George said. "Always talking about himself."

"Quiet!" Martha snapped. "Do you want to get set on vibrate?"

Hermes 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 Apollo."

"Did he get blasted to tiny pieces?" Percy asked, knowing how the Gods tended to react. Theas chuckled at the statement, before she went back to petting the snakes.

Many laughed, knowing that there was a truth to the boy's words.

"Hmm ... no. Actually, everything turned out quite well. To make up for his theft, the boy gave Apollo an instrument he'd invented-a lyre. Apollo was so enchanted with the music that he forgot all about being angry."

"So what's the moral?"

"The moral?" Hermes 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?"

"In some cases, that's true," James said.

"Is he trying to justify what Luke did? Because it's not the same thing as what he means by the saying," Andromeda quickly added.

"I don't think my mom would like that moral."

"Rats are delicious," suggested George.

"What does that have to do with the story?" Martha demanded.

"Nothing," George said. "But I'm hungry."

"I've got it," Hermes 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," the son of Poseidon said, "even without permission."

There was an awkward vibe in the hall after Perc's words. Some people were questioning the fact that Percy wouldn't drop everything and find a way to save Grover and the home of many demigods, not to mention Thalia.

Hermes's eyes twinkled and he looked to Thea with a sly smirk, which she reciprocated. "Martha, may I have the first package, please?"

Martha opened her mouth and kept opening it until it was a meter wide. She 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 Ancient Greek scenes-a hero killing a lion; a hero lifting up Cerberus, the three-headed dog.

"That's both wicked and absolutely disgusting," Peter said once the snake spat out the container.

"That's Hercules," Percy said. "But how-"

"Never question a gift," Hermes chided. "This is a collector's item from Hercules Busts Heads. The first season."

"Hercules Busts Heads?"