The Next Generation

Chapter 29 - Kas

I was honestly fed up with Hermes at this point. As Ethan, being the magnificent idiot he was, begged for help, I pursed my lips and made eye contact with Sammy.

'What's up?' He mouthed. I blinked, not knowing he could read lips, and replied in the same silent manor,

'Should I intimidate him or be nice?' He pointed to his lips subtly.

'I can't read lips,' He mouthed. I facepalmed. Intimidating it was. Ignoring Zara's smirk, the little homophobic who probably thought I was just going to be nice and polite, I walked up to Hermes and slammed my fist on the desk, making everyone, including him, jump. I smiled sweetly.

"Hi sir, would you mind actually giving us a gods dang second here? I haven't come to Colorado with eight other teens who I barely know, had a horrible first kiss, gotten possessed, and found the courage to come out of the closet as bi to be ignored by a lowlife, turtle-gutting, cow-stealer who won't even give us a second to talk and explain our situation. So, as much as I love music, if you don't listen to us, I would be more than happy to fry the wires in your head phones and use them to choke you, along with turning them in a ninety degree angle, in line with your head, and shoving your phone down your throat," The teen looked slightly amused now as I stepped back.

"My, my Ms. Greenberg, your caretakers were right. You are a feisty little one," I blinked. Feisty? I wasn't feisty... was I? And how did he know Hope? I intended to ask him about it.

"How-" Unfortunately, he cut me off.

"Yes, they've been so worried about you lately, all of the music and art on Olympus has been down," His words only confused me more. Olympus? Music? Art? What? He continued. "Since I know now, that at least one of you has the guts to stand up to a god, which is good, I will be willing to negotiate for what you want, with three of you," Everyone immediately started offering themselves up. Hermes held up a finger, and everyone went quiet, either with magic, or just intimidation. "I shall choose the three," He declared. He scanned us all, looking each and every demigod up and down, before pointing at myself, Emmi, and Charlie. I blinked, slightly surprised. Why me? He beckoned us to follow him. I glanced back at Sammy, who gave me an encouraging thumbs up.

The back was surprisingly clean, letters and boxes stacked neatly in corners and slots, making room for the couch, armchairs, and a desk that lay in the middle. Hermes sat behind the oaken desk, gesturing for us to sit. Stiffly, we did as he asked, squeezing onto the couch together. The god clasped his hands.

"Now girls, what do you need from me?" I let Emmi talk, seeing as I had already had a little outburst. Emmi sat forward.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, but you wouldn't mind helping us on our quest, would you? With travel, or items, or-" Hermes interrupted her with a wave of his hand. Gods, he was interrupting so many people in the last 30 minutes. He sat forward in his chair, hands clasped.

"Why should I help you?" He asked, squinting at us. I was at a loss of words, but Charlie saved me.

"We could promote your-" She waved her hands around the room. "Well, this, while we fight! Like, I don't know, wear personalized jerseys while we fight, or something?" I sighed in relief. It was a good offer, even if I didn't really want to wear jerseys in battle. It was just impractical. Nevertheless, our smiles widened as Hermes pointed at Charlie.

"That is a good idea. Have you ever considered being an ambassador?" Charlie shook her head slowly.

"Uh, not really," He shook her hand.

"When the time comes for you to find a job, you're welcome here," Charlie squinted at the man, seeming to try to figure out if this were a joke or not.