XIII; quickly told

1.9K 130 6
                                    




━━━quickly told

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・


Cal had to admit, a goddess that threw gluten-free, no-sugar-added, vitamin-enriched, soy-free, goat-milk-and seaweed-based cupcake simulations at giants with poisonous hair and reptile legs had gotta be pretty fucking cool. She was right.

    Cal stood beside Percy, him leaning against her legs, while Frank and Hazel talked to Iris, the rainbow messenger goddess. She absent-mindedly smoothed his hair.

    "There are monsters moving south," Cal said, "why didn't you stop them?"

    Iris shrugged. "I'm strictly nonviolent. I can act in self-defense, but I won't be drawn into any more Olympian aggression, thank you very much. I've been reading about Buddhism. And Taoism. I haven't decided between them."

    Cal glared at the goddess.

     "But..." Hazel looked mystified. "Aren't you a Greek goddess?"

Iris crossed her arms. "Don't try to put me in a box, demigod! I'm not defined by my past."

"Um, okay," Hazel said. "Could you at least help our friend here? I think he's sick."

Percy reached across the counter. For a second Frank was afraid he wanted the cupcakes. "Iris-message," he said. "Can you send one?"

Frank wasn't sure he'd heard right. "Iris-message?"

"It's..." Cal muttered, nodding. "Isn't that something you do?"

Iris studied both of them more closely. "Interesting. You're from Camp Jupiter, and yet...Oh, I see. Juno is up to her tricks."

"What?" Hazel asked.

Iris glanced at her assistant, Fleecy. They seemed to have a silent conversation. Then the goddess pulled a vial from behind the counter and sprayed some honeysuckle-smelling oil around Percy's face. "There, that should balance your chakra. As for Iris-messages— that's an ancient way of communication. The Greeks used it. The Romans never took to it —always relying on their road systems and giant eagles and whatnot. But yes, I imagine... Fleecy, could you give it a try?"

"Sure, boss!" Iris winked at Frank. "Don't tell the other gods, but Fleecy handles most of my messages these days. She's wonderful at it, really, and I don't have time to answer all those requests personally. It messes up my wa."

"Your wa?" Frank asked.

"Mmm. Fleecy, why don't you take Percy, Cal, and Hazel into the back? You can get them something to eat while you arrange their messages. And for Percy...yes, memory sickness. I imagine that old Polybotes...well, meeting him in a state of amnesia can't be good for a child of P—that is to say, Neptune. Fleecy, give him a cup of green tea with organic honey and wheat germ and some of my medicinal powder number five. That should fix him up." Iris looked Cal over, "and give her a cup as well. They both need a nudge in the right direction."

Hazel frowned. "What about Frank?"

Iris turned to him. She tilted her head quizzically, just the way his mother used to—as if Frank were the biggest question in the room.

"Oh, don't worry," Iris said. "Frank and I have a lot to talk about."

Cal couldn't stop giggling. Percy was grumpy about it.

"I like your man-satchel." She smiled. They were standing at the front of R.O.F.L. "it suits you"

"Shut up." Percy grumbled, crossing his arms. The goddess Iris waved them off, and they left the co-op, jogging down the hill to Frank. When they got there, Frank stood in the middle of a patch of acid-fried grass. Percy was clutching Riptide, and Cal only one of hers. Hazel held her spatha.

"Where?" Cal couldn't stop staring at the ground.

"Are you okay?" Hazel asked.

Percy turned in a circle, looking for enemies. "Iris told us you were out here battling the basilisks by yourself, and we were like, What? We came as fast as we could. What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Frank admitted.

Hazel crouched next to the dirt where Gray disappeared. "I sense death. Either my brother has been here or...the basilisks are dead?"

Percy stared at him in awe. "You killed them all?"

Frank swallowed. "I'll explain later. There's a blind dude in Portland we gotta go see"





━━━quickly told

.・゜゜・───・゜゜・

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓!    [pjo]Where stories live. Discover now