Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Olivera sighed as she disconnected the call with her older sister, Annabeth, swiping the mountains of almost illegible notes in the process. She leaned back slightly in her swivel chair, flexing her hand to try and get the sticky remnants of condensation off of her skin. When that failed, she wiped the back of her hand on her paint-stained jean shorts, and then flapped her hand a few times as if to shake off the water molecules. It helped a bit, but she could still feel the crawling of water droplets on the back of her hand.

She pulled her knees up to her chest, and pressed her forehead into the bony part of her knees in an attempt to slow down the onslaught of emotions. She knew it wouldn’t work—she was beginning to shut down—but she had things to figure out. She couldn’t shut down now. Her body and brain didn’t agree though. This was too much.

Gods, she hated this. 

She grabbed her noise canceling headphones and slammed them over her ears and hugged her legs as tightly as she could, hoping the pressure would stop her from breaking. Even though Cabin 6 was empty barring her—Malcolm, her counselor and older brother, had taken the rest of the cabin to the washhouse to get ready for bed—it was as if she could hear the room itself breathing too loudly, adding to her pain. 

With a shaky hand, she managed to grab her phone and type out the plan to Alice and Jerry before her brain wiped clean. She hoped that her boyfriend and Alice wouldn’t be able to see how crazed she felt. She hoped that they couldn’t tell her heart was beating a million miles an hours and that if she tried to speak no words would be able to form.

There was a slight draft as the cabin door opened and her dozen half-siblings scrambled inside at their normal loud and obnoxious level. Malcolm was scolding Claire for refusing to take her favorite pair of Mary Janes off, Amara was practically dancing as she tried to avoid the half-finished Lego sets on the floor that Alden, Cornelius, and Hermia were building. Outside, those stupid little cicadas loudly sang as they did every August, and she could hear a few campers outside screaming as they made their way to the washhouse. 

She tossed her phone into the pile of parchment and blueprints and quickly stood up, her hands pressing against the ears of her headphones to try and minimize everything. Her eyes started to prickle with tears.

She caught Malcolm’s eyes, her brother slightly blurry. He made an L with his right hand, making a circular motion twice clockwise, and raised his eyebrows. It took a minute for Olivera to translate the sign, library? 

Olivera nodded vigorously and, as shaky as a newborn giraffe, made her way to the Athena cabin’s hidden library. 

The library was nice—soundproof walls and dim lights—entered through a hatch in the back of Cabin 6. Pretty much only the Athena kids knew about it, which made it the perfect place for Olivera to go when she was on the edge of a meltdown. If she, or anyone in the cabin, really, though she used it most often, needed to decompress, they’d just sign the word ‘library’ and escape.

As soon as the hatch shut, the floodgates opened. She pressed her back against the nearest bookshelf—the picture book shelf—and slid down, hugging her knees as tightly as she could. It hurt a bit, but if she didn’t do that then she’d end up kicking or punching something. 

She wasn’t sure how long she was down there, rocking silently and clutching her calves in the hope of not lashing out, but after a bit the hatch opened back up, and a figure dropped down.

With her eyes so clouded with tears, Olivera couldn’t tell who was there, and with her voice sewed shut she couldn’t question it, so she let out a strangled cry.

Suddenly, something cold was pressed against her arm. Unlike the condensation, it didn’t feel sticky, but rather a bit metallic and small; unnaturally rectangular. She’d felt something like that before, but where? It hadn’t hurt her last time, though, she was certain. Trying to wipe her tears, she managed to look down to see an upside down pin pressed against her skin. 

It was Jerry’s Hadestown pin.

She glanced up, and sure enough, her boyfriend was crouched beside her, balancing precariously on the balls of his feet while he pressed the pin against her arm, his fingers carefully around the pin part as if afraid to accidentally touch her. That’s where she knew the feeling from—sometimes she’d press the cold enamel against her hand to feel something solid, something Jerry must’ve picked up on.

Jerry smiled softly when he noticed her looking, and held out the pin, letting Olivera take it and turn it in her hands. He didn’t talk, and neither did she, he just sat down beside her as she spun the pin in her hand.

Olivera took a few shaky breaths. “Jay?” she managed to ask.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

Jerry pressed down on his knees, almost like he was doing yoga in his criss cross position. “Don’t apologize, love.”

“I won’t be useless,” Olivera insisted. 

“You’re not.” Jerry said.

“On the quest? I won’t have a meltdown.”

“You don’t control—”

“I won’t,” Olivera practically hissed. She loosened her grip on her legs and stretched them out. “Annabeth told me that plans go array, that sometimes monsters will mess up my meticulous schedule. I won’t cry over that, I’ll just make a new plan. This is my quest.”

Olivera knew Jerry didn’t believe her, or at least had doubts, but thankfully he didn’t comment on it.

She passed the pin back over. “I’m going to pack, we leave early.” Her knees popped as she stood.

Jerry scrambled to stand up too, “I’ll help. And Alice and Julia too, they're upstairs, talking to Malcolm.”

Olivera hummed acknowledgement before she reached up to reopen the hatch.

***

Packing wasn’t too bad. Annabeth had given her a questing essential list, and she, Alice, Julia, and Jerry scrambled around Cabin 6 to grab what they needed. Julia was abnormally silent, and guilt gnawed at Olivera, but she couldn’t bring herself to talk to the daughter of Hermes. She was certain she’d end up crying if she did.

Alice, Julia, and Jerry made a run for it after they finished packing, hoping to avoid the harpies. Jerry managed to sneak a quick peck on the lips while Malcolm was reading Alden his nightly bedtime story, which made her feel slightly better.

After text confirmation from the three confirming no one had been eaten, Olivera changed into her pajamas and sat on the edge of her bed, fiddling with the ears of her favorite stuffed rabbit her step-mom had given her.

“Hey.”

Olivera looked up for a second, her fingers still fiddling with the rabbit’s ears as Malcolm sat beside her.

“Big day tomorrow, huh?”

She nodded.

“I’m proud of you, you know?”

“I couldn’t let Hayden take a quest,” she whispered, “I don’t know why Urania thought that could happen. He’s eight!”

“I know,” Malcolm sighed. “Hug?”

Olivera scooched over so Malcolm could wrap his arms around her.

“The gods don’t always remember how old we are,” Malcolm admitted. “If it were up to me, you’d also be too young for a quest.”

“Will’s mad at Jerry,” Olivera glanced at the window towards Cabin 7, “But Jerry insisted on coming.”

“He’s a good kid,” Malcolm said, “Even if he did sneak a kiss when I was reading to Alden, don’t think I didn’t see that.”

Olivera’s cheeks reddened, and she tried to hide it in the rabbit’s fur. “Shut up.”

Malcolm chuckled, unwrapping his arms from around Olivera to press a kiss to the crown of her head. “You should go to sleep now, you’ve gotta get up early.”

“Read?” She whispered.

“‘Course.” Malcolm went to go find a book, but Olivera was out before he even returned.

***

All of Olivera’s siblings woke up to say goodbye to her, even Cornelius, who was notorious for not being able to wake up until the breakfast bell rang. They wished her luck one at a time, so as to not overwhelm her, and Amara even did two intricate French braids in her hair.

“Plaits will be the easiest to take care of,” Amara had said. “You won’t get as many knots that way.”

After the goodbyes—some a bit tearful—with her siblings, Malcolm walked her over to Half-Blood Hill. The morning sun was blistering, and it would only get worse as the day progressed, she knew. 

She and Malcolm were the first to arrive, and they sat beneath Thalia’s tree. Olivera pulled out a pencil and doodled on the mini sketch pad she had brought. It wasn’t painting, but it was pretty fun.

“You’ll take good care of Bunny, right?” Olivera asked.

She could feel Malcolm’s gray eyes, deep and owl-like from behind his spectacles, on her. “Yeah. You sure you don’t want to bring him?”

“I don’t want him to get dirty or lost.” She almost had brought her bunny, but she wouldn’t know what she’d do if he went missing, so decided against it. “Make sure Hermia doesn’t change his clothes again.”

“Promise.” Malcolm shifted enough that she could hear the pines rustling. “There’s Will and Jerry!”

Olivera glanced up, and sure enough, her boyfriend and his oldest brother were walking towards the tree. Malcolm helped her stand up to greet them.

Jerry had a small pack with his spare change of clothes thrown over his shoulder, as well as one of the first aid fanny packs on his waist. It was a bit ironic, seeing as Jerry knew next to nothing about first aid.

“Hey,” Will called as he walked over. “Olivera, I’ve given Jay some simple first aid stuff, but you know him.”

Jerry rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky I’m not throwing this bumbag out the window.”

“You better not,” Will scolded.

“Yeah, Jerry.”

Olivera turned quickly at the sound of the new voice. She didn’t recognize it, nor did she recognize the man in front of her. He had long blond hair, braided down his back, skin so tan it looked almost unnatural, and bright blue eyes, the exact same shade as Jerry's, she noted.

“Dad,” Jerry complained, and Olivera’s eyes widened, and she stumbled a bit away from the man, or god, who had just appeared. 

“You actually came,” Will whispered, a bit in awe. Olivera could understand that, she would probably keel over if Athena came over. “You can’t interrupt quests.”

“I’m not going to,” Apollo said. He walked over to Jerry and pulled him into a hug. “Just wishing him good luck.”

Soon, the god’s eyes were turning towards her, and Olivera hid behind Malcolm. “You must be my darling Jerry’s girlfriend, Olivera!”

“Dad,” Jerry hissed. 

“I’m just saying hello and wishing her a good quest,” Apollo countered. “I wasn’t going to say anything about the thousand times you gushed about her to me.”

“Dad!”

Olivera felt her face heat up, but she didn’t even peek out from behind her brother. She felt like a toddler again, playing in an intense game of hide and seek. 

“What?” Apollo questioned. “You don’t have to be scared of me, Olivera, I really am just here to wish you a good quest. Trust me, after last year I know all about quests.”

Malcolm sidestepped enough so that Olivera was visible, and with a squeak she jumped behind him again. 

“Ollie, thank Apollo.” Malcolm scolded. “He came all the way from Olympus to wish you a good quest.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, but she still hid. Sure, Apollo said she didn’t have to fear him, but not only was he a deity, but also his boyfriend’s father. They may have fought side by side when he was mortal, but Apollo had looked human then, and younger than Malcolm, rather than the god-like parent age he appeared now (which based on the copious amounts of myths she’s read, was a bit abnormal for him. Maybe it was to appear more fatherly to Jerry, she wasn’t sure).

“Holy Hermes, Apollo’s back.”

Olivera hadn’t noticed, but Connor and Alice had arrived, and both stared at the god a bit confused.

“Came to wish you guys good questing!” Apollo repeated, giving his younger son a second hug. “I can’t say long, but I promised Jerry I’d come and say hello before you left since I can’t interrupt quests.”

Olivera could see Alice twitching slightly, though she wasn’t sure why. “Well, thanks Apollo. Did my dad say anything?”

“Oh, I nearly forgot!” Apollo snapped his fingers, and Olivera peeked to see two letters appear in his hands. “I talked to Hermes and Athena, but they both had prior engagements, so they wrote you guys a letter each.”

Apollo reached over to hand Olivera hers first, almost like a kid feeding a skittish farm animal for the first time. Olivera snatched it, mumbled thank you, before clutching it to her chest. Her mom had never written to her before.

Alice must’ve felt similar, because she grabbed the letter and wrapped the sun god in a hug, which he gladly reciprocated.

“Thank you!”

“‘Course!” Apollo grinned. “Now, I’ve really gotta skedaddle myself, I have this poetry lecture I just can’t miss, but I’ll be watching your progress!”

He gave Jerry a kiss on his hair, and Will a quick hug. 

He glanced towards Alice, “Though, I’d like my wallet back, Miyazawa, before I leave.”

Olivera stared in awe as Alice produced a slick black wallet and tossed it back a bit guilty. When had she even grabbed that?

“Hermes would be proud,” Apollo said, pocketing his wallet. “See you!”

Will turned to Alice as soon as Apollo was left. “You tried to pickpocket a god?”

She shrugged. “We could use the extra cash.”

Her older brother high fived her, “I can’t wait to tell Travis about this when I get back to the cabin.”

Alice smiled, but before she could reply, Chiron clopped over, announcing Argus was ready to leave. He gave the three questers time to say goodbye to their counselors before scurrying them off to the camp van to begin their quest.

Chapter Text

Alice made sure her letter from her father was securely in her grasp as she followed Chiron down the hill to where Argus was parked. While her father often left her and her siblings little trinkets from his travels, as well as plenty of blank postcards with Hermes’s seal (a caduceus), this was the first time she received something with physical writing on it.

Alice had caught a glimpse of the front of the envelope as they were walking, and blinked back surprise. There, in large katakana was her name: アリス. Sure, she took a lot of pride in her heritage as a Japanese-American, and most of her letters to her family were done in Japanese because her dyslexia was far worse in English, and her mortal family didn’t know Ancient Greek (or any of the other languages she’d quickly picked up as the daughter of the traveler god), but she hadn’t realized her father had known that. 

If she was being honest, she was a little surprised he even knew her name.

When they reached the van, Alice hopped on first, slithering her way to the back row and plopping down, impatient to get this show on the road. Her questmates, on the other hand, weren’t as impatient, and stayed outside to chat with Chiron for a bit. 

Soon enough, Chiron handed Olivera a ziplock and called, “Good luck!” loudly enough that Alice could hear and galloped off, most likely to teach an archery class or play cards with Mr D.

Jerry held out his hand to help Olivera into the van, and Alice, being the mature fourteen year old she was, made sure she fake vomited long enough for the two to see. Olivera’s cheeks darkened, which made the birthmark on her right cheek melt away for a moment before she hid her face behind the sketchbook and letter from Athena in her arms, flopping herself down in the same row as Alice, but by the other window. 

Jerry, given the fact that he too was a mature fourteen year old, gave her a crude gesture, before he sat between them.

The group was uncharacteristically quiet as Argus started the van, and it revved to life, bouncing down the unpaved hills as Camp Half-Blood slowly was eaten by the horizon. 

Alice waited until she could no longer see the pine tree before ripping open the letter from her father, not caring if it destroyed the careful wax seal with the caduceus she’d grown accustomed to seeing. 

Inside there was a letter, and a pin in the shape of a caduceus. Leaving the pin in the envelope, she pulled out the letter first.

Just like her name on the front, the letter was in Japanese:

Alice,

I hope this letter finds you well. When Apollo came to me and said one of my children had been chosen to accompany an Athena girl on a quest, I must admit I had my fears. No child of mine has been on a quest since—well, you’ve probably heard the stories. But, I will say I am very proud of you, it takes a lot of guts to accept a quest, even if you’re not a leader. 

Gods cannot interfere with mortal affairs, including quests, as I’m sure you know, but that doesn’t negate presents! It’s a pin that can shut off any alarm system. Pretend it is a half-birthday gift (which I believe it actually is? Your birthday is February 8th, is it not?) if another person questions it. You cannot undermine the sacredness of the half-birthday!

When you return back to camp in due time, tell your siblings hello for me. I wish I could visit more, but even without my father’s strict ban (that I know Apollo has been pushing) I am unfortunately required to work nearly 24/7 sending mail. I will try to stop by next time I drop a package off though.

I love you, never forget that.

Your father,

Hermes

God of boundaries, roads, travelers, merchants, thieves, athletes, shepherds, commerce, speed, cunning, language, oratory, wit, and messages

Next to Alice, Jerry was leaning over, probably in an attempt to read her letter, but since it wasn’t in any language he could speak, Alice didn’t move it away.

“He wrote the letter in Japanese?” Jerry questioned.

“I’m just as surprised as you are,” Alice stated, her eyes scanning over the letter again and falling on the phrase I love you. “I didn’t even think my father knew my name.”

Jerry awkwardly twisted in his spot, and Alice looked at him. It dawned on her that he had no idea how she felt—he’d only been at camp a month and a bit last summer during the war, and then, this summer, Apollo was breaking rules left and right to be with his siblings and him. He was even in a group chat with his father; something Alice couldn’t even fathom. 

“Hey, you guys wouldn’t mind if I play a song, right?” Jerry said abruptly, but Alice didn’t comment on the topic change. 

“Don’t care,” Alice said, reaching in the envelope to pull out the caduceus pin. It looked like it was made of bronze, or some other alloy.

“Ol?”

Olivera looked up from her own letter. “Hm?”

“Music; yes or no?”

“Go ahead,” she gestured. 

Jerry pulled out his phone and started going through it, and Olivera glanced at Alice. 

“What’s that?”

Alice held up the pin. “A gift from my dad, he says can shut off alarms.”

“The prophecy said that a thief will set off the alarm,” quoted Olivera. “Not shut it off.”

To be honest, Alice had promptly forgotten the prophecy, again. She stared at it though, hoping it would give her answers. It didn’t.

Her ponderings were interrupted by Jerry’s music: My mom’s gone from this world, but if she’s anywhere she’s in the Underworld.

Alice cracked a small smile, as Olivera raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. “Really? Killer Quest!?”

“I promised Austin,” he admitted, before he hummed a few bars. “Even if we’re not marching straight down to the gates of hell.”

“The Underworld,” Alice corrected.

“Whatever,” Jerry grinned, returning to the music, though this time he actually sang the words, albeit quietly.

Alice let the song finish before she looked back over at Olivera. She was still reading over the letter from her mother, mouthing the words as she went, seemingly unaware of her boyfriend singing the next song in his playlist—a musical, no doubt, but Alice didn’t recognize it. 

“Olivera?” 

Olivera jolted, and glanced up at the daughter of Hermes. Her eyes were wide and undeniably owl-like. “Hm?”

“Did your mom say anything important about the quest?”

“Oh, um,” her eyes glanced over the words again, “Not really?”

Alice wasn’t sure she fully believed her, but she let it slide, instead listening to the music. 

The rest of their drive was uneventful, and soon enough Argus was pulling into a parking spot just outside the train station. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for the three to clamber their way outside of the van. 

As Alice was shouldering her backpack, Argus waved, the eye on his hand winking (or maybe blinking) at them before he put the van in reverse and sped off, leaving the three stranded in a parking lot. 

“And thus the quest begins,” lamented Jerry, looking around, “Stranded in a car park.”

Ever the daughter of Athena and quest leader, Olivera ignored him and started walking towards the entrance kiosk, not looking back to see if she were being followed.

“Parking lot,” Alice corrected as she and Jerry sped up so they wouldn’t fall behind Olivera’s brisk pace. “The cars aren’t playing.”

“I don’t care about your American vernacular.”

Alice rolled her eyes, but said nothing as they got to the kiosk, and Olivera swiftly and efficiently bought them train tickets and led them through the turnstile. Alice’s mind was spinning with questions, but Olivera was on a roll and she wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with knocking the daughter of Athena out of her groove. Jerry seemed to have a similar thought process, because he said nothing either. It wasn’t until they were standing in the tunnel, waiting for the train that Olivera spoke, rocking slightly in her spot.

“We’re taking this train to Jamaica, which takes about three hours, swapping to get to Grand Central, which is only twenty minutes, then there we go to Yonkers, which is half an hour. Here are your tickets.”

Alice took her ticket. “Do you do this a lot?”

Olivera shrugged, “Sometimes my moms don’t want to deal with driving through Manhattan to get to camp, so we take the train. It’s pretty much this exact route, except instead of Yonkers, we go to New Rochelle.”

“This might be a stupid question,” Jerry ventured, sticking his ticket into the pocket of his jeans, “But isn’t Jamaica an island?”

“Jamaica, Queens,” Olivera told him. “But, yes, the country of Jamaica is an island in the Caribbean.” Not giving her boyfriend any time to reply, she pulled out her headphones and situated them on her ears just in time so she didn’t hear the full extent of the train whistle as it pulled into the station.

Alice had ridden plenty of trains in Los Angeles, and the Long Island Railroad seemed to be similar enough. There were rows of two or three seats, each padded, with an aisle between. It was nice enough.

Olivera led them to the back row with three seats and made her way to the window, barely sitting down before opening her sketchbook. Jerry gave Alice a what can you do about it? shrug before sitting in the middle seat, leaving Alice to sit in the aisle. 

“This isn’t like the Tube at all,” Jerry commented, touching the upholstery skeptically. 

“That’s because this is the train, not the subway,” Olivera said, not looking up from her sketch. Alice didn’t even realize she could hear them. 

“This is similar to what we have in L.A.” said Alice, “Julia and I would take the train around the city all the time, it was pretty much our safe haven.”

Call her codependent, but Alice was already starting to miss Julia. The two have been practically inseparable since kindergarten, and this quest will probably be the longest she’s gone without seeing her sister. She wasn’t going to bring it up, though, since she was grateful Olivera had at least tried to get Julia to come on the quest.

Instead, she elbowed Jerry. “Wake me up when we’re close to Jamaica, I’m taking a nap.” 

It didn’t take long for the train to lull her to sleep.

Chapter Text

Jerry had one earbud in, Livin’ It Up On Top from Hadestown playing as he hummed and drummed his fingers on his knee as discreetly as he could, given the fact that Alice had managed to fall fast asleep on his shoulder, soft puffs of breaths intermingling with his music. 

How she managed to fall asleep so promptly; and stay asleep when every so often the train would lurch to a stop and the doors would fling open only for no one to enter their train car was beyond him.

Another thing he didn’t understand—how Olivera was sketching without the train’s movement messing her up. As his soundtrack spun through songs, he watched as her picture came to life—him, Alice, and her, just living. 

“What?” 

Jerry hadn’t even realized she’d glanced up. “Nothing, just watching.”

She raised an eyebrow, but turned back to her drawing. 

In all honesty, what had scared Jerry the most about the quest was the journey there and back; sure, he took the Tube to school, and from school to the theater his mum worked at, but he’d always have school work to do. But, he realized he was content with just watching Olivera draw. Call him a simp, overly whipped, or whatever other synonym Austin and Gracie would come up with.

The train rolled to a stop, and Jerry glanced up to see a woman enter their train car. Her hair, which was dark and coily, was tied up in an effortless bun, and her floor length dress seemed to billow around her as she moved with a sense of eloquence Jerry had never seen in a person before, and he was raised around some of the best West End actors and actresses. 

The woman noticed him looking, and waved softly. Jerry looked away quickly, his eyes dancing around the train car. He could still feel the woman’s eyes on him, and his hand found the throwing knife he kept inside that stupid bumbag Will was making him wear. Alice didn’t move, and Olivera didn’t look up from her drawing.

Jerry heard a soft chuckle from the aisle, and looked up, knife clutched between his hands. The music in his earbud shut off during My Shot, though he did not pause it himself.

“I mean you no harm, Jeremiah,” the woman said. Her voice matched her appearance; eloquent and ethereal. “I am not a monster.”

Jerry knew it was stupid, but he still awkwardly adjusted Alice so she was laying against the seat and stood up, scooching past her scrunched up legs. 

Olivera glanced up, “Where are you going?”

“You don’t—”

“I’ve appeared only to you,” the woman said, “Do not be frightened.”

Her words did not assure him at all, but he leaned over to press a kiss to his girlfriend’s cheek. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to find the loo.”

She shrugged and started sketching again.

He followed the woman down to the front of the cart, where she sat down, patting the seat beside her. His knuckles white from how tight he was clutching his knife, he sat down.

“Darling, you’ll lose circulation in your fingers if you do that,” she tutted, but that only made him grip it tighter. 

“Who are you?”

Her eyes flickered down to his shirt, “You know who I am.”

He glanced down at his shirt—it was from Disney’s Hercules, and had five of the muses on it. Even though Urania is not in that movie, he thought it was sort of fitting—before looking back up. “You’re a muse?”

“My name’s Calliope,” She smiled. “Your father speaks highly of you, Jeremiah.”

“Jerry, please,” he corrected, his grip finally loosening. “Not to offend you, my lady, but why exactly are you here? Gods cannot interfere with quests.”

Calliope smiled, “It is not a crime to talk, especially when one is as minor as me. My father does not have the same restrictions on us as he does on the Olympians.”

Jerry hadn’t realized that Zeus was Calliope’s father, but he wasn’t that surprised by the revelation. “That must be nice.”

“In a way,” Calliope hummed, “Sometimes, it is rather sad, as he does not appreciate mine, or my sisters’, domains.”

“Oh.”

Calliope shook her head, her hair staying perfectly in place. “That said, we are not here to speak about myself, but rather your quest.”

“This quest isn’t mine,” Jerry reminded the muse, “It’s Olivera’s.”

“Yes, I know,” said Calliope, “Your father told me all about yours and his other son, William’s, debacle last night.”

He tried to cling on Calliope’s earlier statement, that Apollo had spoken highly of him, but he still had a bad feeling. “Yeah?”

“You know, your quest is for one of my younger siblings?”

Jerry nodded. He remembered something a daughter of Calliope had told him when cussing him out for a prank on their cabin, that her mom was the eldest of the Muses.

“William does not mean you harm, he is just worried. It is something us older siblings tend to do. I know Apollo spoke to you both a bit, but he is a younger child, even if he denies it so, he does not fully understand.”

“Did you just come to give me sibling advice?” Jerry blurted out. He didn’t mean to, really he didn’t, but he couldn’t stop once the thought entered his head. 

Calliope laughed, not the soft chuckle from early, but a hearty, musical laugh that was fit for a muse. “Not just,” she breathed out.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It is not a problem in the slightest, darling.” She twirled her fingers in her dress. “But I do have some words on your—your girlfriend's—quest.”

“Can you help us decode the prophecy? It is a poem.”

She shook her head, her smile wavering for a second. “I reside over epic poetry, child, and I know not about the intricacies of prophecies.”

“Oh.”

“Fear not, darling, for I believe the prophecy will make sense to you in due time, but I cannot be the one to decode it.”

“It doesn’t have anything about who stole the rod and globe,” Jerry said, “Unless the thief were to be talking about them, rather than Alice.”

Calliope patted his arm. “It will make sense in due time.”

Jerry just flipped his knife over in his hands, waiting for the muse to reply.

“My sister has many enemies.”

That caught Jerry’s attention. “Enemies? Who’d want to fight a muse?”

“My sister’s domain encapsulates many others’ domains in our pantheon, your father included.”

Jerry thought about that. It did make sense; astronomy included the sun, the planets, other stars, galaxies, and so much more. “Okay, so another astronomical god is trying to get back at Urania?”

Calliope shrugged. “I know not who stole my sister’s symbols, only that I wish to see them returned promptly. She has been moping for eons!”

“Okay?”

Calliope stood up, and pressed a kiss to the crown of Jerry’s head. “I wish you well.”

“Wait, my lady—”

Calliope was gone in a flash, and Jerry could swear, for a moment, he heard Zero to Hero before his earbud started playing Hamilton again.

Chapter Text

“Is your stomach okay?”

Jerry slid back into his seat, moving Alice slightly, who barely even flinched. Honestly, if Olivera hadn’t heard the soft snores from the daughter of Hermes, she’d be checking her pulse every minute. “Huh?”

“You spent a long time in the bathroom,” Olivera pointed out. “Is your stomach okay?”

“Oh.” Jerry adjusted the hem of his shirt, “I’m fine. Just needed a moment away from Alice’s snores, y’know?”

“Right.” Olivera furrowed her brows in thought. Jerry was omitting something, she was certain of it, she just couldn’t pinpoint what. “So, you’re not train sick?”

Jerry shook his head, “I feel fine, love, promise.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “How’s your drawing coming?”

Olivera shrugged. “I can’t get Alice’s smirk right, but the rest is going fine.” Once again she erased the slight draw of Alice’s lip and tried again. Hermes' kids have such distinct smirks—that slightly impish smirk that alluded that nothing good will come from their plans—that she was struggling to capture it. Unfortunately, Alice was knocked out, though, so she didn’t have a reference.

“That looks right,” Jerry said. Olivera’s eyes narrowed at what she’d just sketched; the draw a bit too low and a bit too tight to be Alice’s.

Olivera frowned at her boyfriend. “I think you need your eyes checked, Jay.”

“Oh, shut it.” He shoved her lightly, which made her giggle. “My eyes are fine, thank you very much.”

Olivera giggled again, “If you say so.”

Jerry, in a very over the top and dramatic way that made it obvious he was an Apollo kid, threw his arms up.

Olivera chucked before returning to her sketch. 

The rest of the train ride went smoothly; Olivera drew, Jerry hummed along to his soundtracks, and Alice slept. When the next stop was Jamaica, Olivera elbowed her boyfriend.

“Next stop is ours, get Alice up.”

Instead of being normal and lightly trying to shake Alice awake, Jerry shoved Alice hard enough that she fell out of her seat.

Alice cussed as she scrambled to get back to her seat. “I hate you.”

Jerry smiled, “You said to wake you up.”

“Not like that, you—!”

Alice was interrupted by the intercom, echoing through the train car, stating they made it to Jamaica, Queens.

Olivera once again took charge, she didn’t glance back to see if she was being followed as she expertly weaved through the station. Athena almighty, she hated train stations, but she had made a promise to not crack and she will keep that. Luckily, they didn’t have to wait long for the connecting train to pull into the station, and she jumped on, finally turning back around to see Alice and Jerry doing the same.

Unlike the last ride, this cart had other people. But fortunately the ride was only twenty or so minutes. It went without a hitch, shockingly, and soon Olivera was dragging Alice and Jerry through Grand Central. 

Physically.

She grabbed Jerry’s hand and Alice’s wrist as soon as the train stopped and started to weave her way through the terminal. 

“Olivera, girlie,” Alice whined, “I know how to walk.”

“The station’s big,” Olivera said, looking both ways before bolting down one corridor. “You’ll both get lost.”

“Where was this energy in Montauk and Jamaica?” Jerry mumbled under his breath. 

“If you get lost there, that’s on you,” Olivera told them. “Now, hurry up, or we’ll miss the train.”

Fortunately, they made it just in time to jump on the last carriage.

The only people in this train car were three girls in the front row. They had wild eyes and bright grins, and were giggling as they checked the one phone the middle girl held. 

The one on the right glanced up, and met Olivera’s eyes with eyes the color of the amber that captures beetles. Her grin was the color of blood. Olivera’s grip tightened on both Jerry and Alice as she pulled them to the back.

“Olivera!” Alice yelped, trying to yank her wrist free. “That hurts!”

She shoved them down into the last row and put her fingers to her lips as she sat in the aisle seat. “I think those are empusae.”

“Again?” Jerry whisper-screamed. “We fought empousa last time we were out. Don’t they have a life?”

“Their life’s probably making ours miserable,” Alice grumbled. “But, asking in a completely hypothetical way, what are empusae again?”

Olivera raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you play attention to Malcolm when he teaches Greek Monsters?” 

Alice shrugged, “I said hypothetically.”

Olivera could hear Jerry grumble, “Hypothetically, my arse,” under his breath.

“Empusae lure and eat young men.”

“Funzies,” Alice commented. “Why would they be here, only Jerry is a boy, and it’s not even his quest?”

“They might not even be here for us,” Jerry commented. “Maybe they’re just on holiday in Yonkers?”

“Why exactly would three Greek monsters be on holiday in Yonkers, Hughes?” Alice mocked. Olivera could tell she was trying to sound as British as she possibly could. 

“Maybe they’re tired of eating men?” 

“Oh, yeah?—”

Olivera ignored the two chattering around, looking up to see the three empusae staring at them. She stiffened, pulling off her headphones.

“Alice, you’re into girls, right?”

Alice jolted out of her conversation with Jerry. “What was that, da Silva?”

Olivera frowned, unsure of why Alice was being so defensive. If you’d talk to Alice for more than five minutes, you have no doubts that girl was anything but queer. “You’re into girls, like, romantically, right?”

“Yeah…” Alice drew out. “Why?”

“Empusae’s charmspeak works best on those attracted to their own gender. Obviously more powerful charmspeak can work on people not attracted to women, but it’s still easier to avoid if you’re not into girls.” Olivera drummed her fingers on the earpiece of her headphones, taking a few deep breaths before pulling them off. The train clacked loudly on the rails and people chatted in the nearby cars, and it was a lot, but she had to stay strong. “I have my noise canceling headphones and a set of sensory earplugs, so you two should take them.”

Jerry pushed the headphones away. “Ollie, you need them. I have my earbuds, I’ll be fine.”

A baby cried, and Olivera had to take a deep breath. “No, those won’t work, Jay. You guys need them more. It’s not a perfect solution, but I’m not attracted to girls. If anyone has a chance of going against charmspeak without any type of sound filter, it’s me.”

She flipped the noise cancellation switch on the headphones and pressed them onto Jerry’s ears. She then dug into her backpack, pulled out her ear plugs, as well as an alcohol wipe. She quickly wiped them down before passing them to Alice. 

“Girlie, are you—”

“Put them in,” Olivera snapped.

Alice put them in just in time, and just in time, because Olivera heard a—very loud—throat clearing, and looked up to find herself staring at one of the empusa. It was the girl from the right; her long hair dyed a dull green to match her eyeshadow. “Excuse me?”

Olivera flinched at the sickly sweet tone the empusa was using. She glanced towards the front of the train to see the other two trying to inconspicuously listen in. She glanced back at the green-haired empusa and gave her a blank stare instead of responding. 

“I was wondering if you happened to know where the Hudson River Museum is in relation to the train station?”

Jerry’s hand slipped into hers, and he squeezed it once. Olivera wasn’t sure how the headphones were working, but noise cancellation wasn’t an exact science. He and Alice could definitely hear the empusa, she just hoped that it would block the hum of magic. Jerry had only been near the empusa for a few seconds before he killed it last time, so how well they’d work over a longer period of time was yet to be discovered.

Until now, she supposed.

Olivera shook her head. The train wheels screeched loudly and the whistle had a high pitched note to it that sent a shiver down her spine. 

“Oh.” The empusa licked her sharp teeth. “Well, I’ll borrow your phone to search it up.”

“What about your friend’s phone?” Alice asked. 

“Her phone died, I need to use yours.”

Olivera could feel a tingle of magic in her words. “We don’t have any.”

She leaned on the chair right in front of them, her hair falling almost to Ollie’s lap. “Is that so?” Her eyes flickered towards Jerry. “Give me your phone, boy.”

Jerry squeezed Ollie’s hand once more. “I don’t have one.”

The empusa’s fingers—with long, green nails—tightened on the chair. “Then what’s with your headphones?”

Alice leaned forward, “Whatcha need to find this museum for anyway?”

“None of your business.”

“But it is,” Alice insisted. “If you want to borrow something of mine.”

Footsteps echoed, and soon the other two empusa were by her side; one with her auburn hair and bloody lips, the other with her pink hair and matching blush. 

“Just pass the phone, godling,” the redhead hissed at Alice, her charmspeak even stronger than the other’s.

Olivera glanced at the daughter of Hermes. Alice’s eyes were slightly glassy, and Olivera nearly broke Jerry’s fingers with how hard she was squeezing his hand. 

“Okay,” Alice said.

Olivera wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. She only watched in horror as Alice reached in her bag and—pulled out a dagger which she stabbed into the green-haired girl’s hand with blinding speed.

A row of train seats was not a convenient fighting spot. Olivera stumbled back into Jerry, who was trying to reach for his throwing knife as the empusa screamed a gut wrenching scream. Alice, fortunately, was both small and incredibly agile, so she managed to jump over the seat into the row in front of them, yanking out her dagger to jam into the green-haired empusa, turning her to dust.

“Mary!” screeched the redhead. “You killed—!”

Praise Apollo and his children’s aim, because even with Olivera practically on top of him, Jerry managed to free his knife and throw it right into the redhead’s side, causing her to crumble as well.

The lavender-haired empusa stared in horror at the dust of her friends, and didn’t even have time to step back before a second throwing knife of Jerry’s embedded itself into her ribcage. She fell to her knees before her body disintegrated, leaving only a phone with a pink, bedazzled phone case. 

Jerry didn’t waste any time taking off the headphones and putting them back on Olivera’s ears, which marginally helped with the way her ears were ringing. She took a few deliberate breaths to try and regulate her heart rate, but she wasn’t sure how well that was working.

She shut her eyes and curled back up into her seat. Jerry’s arms tightened around her, and she felt a soft kiss on the crown of her head, and Jerry mumbling soft nothings in her ear all the way until the Yonkers’ station was called over the intercom.

Chapter Text

“Why can’t we call an Uber,” whined Alice as she trudged behind Olivera and Jerry—holding hands, the nerve of them. “This is far too long.”

Olivera sighed. “We left the station two minutes ago.”

“Exactly,” Alice cried. The walk wasn’t even scenic; unless you counted a few trees and cracked sidewalks as such. And the glimpses of sea-green water ever so often. “Did the empusae link their credit cards to their phone? We can just use their bank account, they’re not using it.”

Olivera paused at a crosswalk, glancing at Alice over her shoulder before crossing. “We are not using a monster's credit card account.”

“Why not?” Alice complained. “They’re dead.”

A car honked in the distance, and Alice took that as a sign. “See, the cars agree with me.”

“I think they’re honking at the lad who crossed the zebra crossing at the wrong time.” Jerry said.

“A zebra crossing?” Alice said, the word ‘zebra’ feeling off without the ‘zee’. Complaints about walking can wait, this was suddenly more pressing.

“Wait, what do you call it?”

“A crosswalk,” Alice practically screamed. Olivera said it at the same time, but far more calmly and understanding. “You know, since you walk across it?”

“It looks like a zebra!” 

“Not everything striped looks like a zebra.” Alice countered. 

Olivera glanced between them, and Alice thought for sure they were going to get scolded, but instead she just said. “Jay, what are we walking on?”

“The pavement?”

Alice threw her hands up, “It’s a sidewalk! Because it’s on the side of the road, and you walk on it!”

“That’s a stupid name.”

Alice and Jerry argued about the names of different things in the British and American dialects of English until Olivera stopped, yanking Jerry back, and Alice barely stopped herself from running into them.

They stood at the top of a parking lot (not car park!) that overlooked the river and seemed to be a bit dipped in the ground.

"This is it,” Olivera said.

Oh, she managed to get Alice so distracted she didn’t even notice they’d been walking for half an hour. Clever. “Oh.”

The three made their way down through the parking lot, and the bustle of people, to the door. A father was adjusting a baby carrier on his chest. A mother was trying to get a toddler buckled into their stroller. Two teenagers were swinging a kid between them.

“Why would whoever hide the staff here,” Alice asked as they made it to the stairs by the entrance. “Literally three quarters of people here are babies.”

Jerry shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m not the thief.”

By the entrance was a small gift shop, as well as a desk to buy tickets with a few families—all with children no older than six—already on line.

Alice glanced around; a few children glared at her when she met their gaze, trying to take in the lay-out. Mostly, she saw rowdy kids.

It took a few minutes until it was their turn, and the three demigods made it to the ticket counter. The person had a name tag saying, “Nora” and the most bored look on her face possible.

“Afternoon!” Alice grinned.

Nora sighed. “What tickets do you want?”

Alice glanced at Olivera, who pulled the envelope from Athena out of her bag and produced a thin I.D.-like card, and placed it on the desk. 

“Membership,” Olivera said. “Next planetarium show.”

Nora’s eyes flickered to the card and back. “The next planetarium show is One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure.”

“Like from Sesame Street?” Jerry asked.

“That’s fine,” Olivera said. “We’ll go to that one.”

Nora was clearly judging them. “Why would three teenagers want to go to a Sesame Street show? There’s another show targeted for 12 and up at 3:30.”

Olivera’s fingers tapped on the card, her nails making the plastic glow as the sun hit the dips. She was getting stressed, Alice could tell.

“Your job is to sell us our ticket, not judge our choice in planetarium shows,” Alice spat.

Nora sighed, like she didn’t get paid enough to deal with Alice. Good. That’s what she gets for judging three neurodivergent teens' choices in shows. “Fine, here’s the tickets. Free for members. Do you want to get tickets to the new art exhibit as well? It's free with the membership.”

Olivera lit up. “New art exhibit?”

Alice and Jerry glanced at each other. Alice didn’t think Olivera’s plan—the one she meticulously created yesterday—involved an art gallery, but Olivera’s special interest was art. If anything could deviate her from her carefully constructed plan, it’s an art gallery. Alice would have said no, but Olivera wanted to, and Alice knew Jerry was far too whipped to say no to Olivera.

Just as she suspected, Jerry sighed. “Alright.”

Olivera picked back up the membership card while Nora passed them their tickets as well as a map. “Show starts at two, doors open at 1:50. It’s 1:40, so I’d head over now, but you do you, I guess.”

“Thanks,” Alice said, taking her two tickets and tucking them safely in the pockets of the vest (not gilet) she wore just because of its enormous pockets, before turning to follow Olivera through the museum labyrinth. 

“Where’d the membership come from?” Alice asked Olivera as they made their way across a catwalk like hallway. 

“It’s my moms’.”

“Athena has a membership?” Jerry slipped his hand back into Olivera’s, regiving Alice her title as official third-wheel. 

“No, my mortal moms,” Olivera reiterated. 

“The rocket scientists?” Alice asked.

“The astrophysicists.” Olivera rolled her eyes. “We have memberships to all the planetariums near us. Mamãe likes to mix up which ones we visit.”

“How’d the card get to you?”

“Mother,” Olivera yanked Jerry’s arm as they turned down a starry hallway, filled with families waiting in line near a door. “Athena. She got it from Mamãe and gave it to me in the letter. Saved us thirty nine dollars. Just have to give it back when the quest is over.”

“Slay,” Alice smiled. She glanced around a few times, and switched to Ancient Greek, but still kept her voice a whisper. “Now, game plan?”

“The prophecy said what was stolen is stored below,” Olivera pointed out in the same language. “There’s got to be a secret passageway inside the planetarium. Obviously, like I planned, we scope out the planetarium today during the show as best we can, to help us with our break-in tomorrow.”

“How come we can’t break in tonight after closing?” Jerry asked.

Alice thought that was a valid point. She and Julia would’ve done that.

“Planning.” Olivera fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I can make a better, in depth plan when we figure out the exact location of the passageway.”

“But we don’t know how large the passage is?”

“Leave that to me,” Olivera said. She glanced ahead, and Alice followed her gaze. An employee was opening the doors. “Doors are opening,” she swapped back to English. “It’s go time.”

***

As the daughter of the god of thieves, Alice was extremely good at finding secret passageways. Maybe not as good as a Hephaestus kid finding a trap, but if something could easily conceal a thief, chances are Alice could find it. 

She actually didn’t even realize how good she was until she walked into the planetarium and noticed something slightly off near the base of the projector. 

It was as if the mist was working overtime in that one spot. Alice elbowed Olivera. “There,” she said.

Olivera followed her eyesight, squinted a bit before her eyes widened. “Alice, you’re amazing!” 

A little boy in a Big Bird hat shushed her, and Olivera gave a guilty smile before sitting and pulling out her phone typing something vigorously.

“Ollie?” Jerry asked.

Olivera didn’t answer until the lights of the room dimmed and she stuck her phone back in her pocket. “Show’s started, Jay, pay attention.”

Jerry, in typical Jerry fashion, just shrugged and leaned back in his chair, beckoning Alice, who was watching him, to do the same.

Chapter Text

Jerry couldn’t wait to brag to Yan about the fact that the planetarium show had Hu Hu Zhu visiting from China in it. If he was being honest, the second the blue, pig-like monster came on the 360° screen, he forgot about the quest and focused on the show to report back to Yan his thoughts on their all time favorite character.

When the show finished, they were the last out of the planetarium, Olivera insisting on letting the little kids run out first to not get bombarded by the stampede. When they made it to the projector, Jerry watched as Olivera glanced quickly in both directions before snatching something off the floor.

“What was that?” Jerry asked once they were out of the planetarium and on their way to the art exhibit.

Alice turned around. “What was what?”

“Ollie picked something up near the projector,” Jerry said. “Was it a penny?”

Olivera’s cheeks darkened. “No, it was mine.”

“Huh?” Alice raised an eyebrow. “You dropped it?”

Olivera shook her head once, a bit violently, her hand going into her pocket to fiddle with what she had picked up. “It’s a prototype,” she said in Ancient Greek. “The Hephaestus and my cabins have been working on it for a while and I thought we could try it. I set it up before the show started.”

She pulled her hand out and dropped something in Jerry’s hands. It looked a bit like a Hexbug he had played with as a kid, but even smaller, and malleable. It had the same little legs and rectangular body, but was squishy.

“What’s it do?” Jerry asked, before passing it over to Alice. 

“It maps out the perimeter of a room, as well as any unknown objects in its center. It squishes down to fit into crevices so it was able to slip inside the secret passageway Allie found.”

“Wait,” Alice passed the little bot back to Olivera. “So you have the dimensions of the tunnel?”

Olivera’s cheeks darkened again as she put the bot away and grabbed her phone, typing something quickly before passing it over to Jerry. Alice peeked over his shoulder.

On the screen was a virtual blueprint, with the dimensions of a room. There was a small chute—thin and short but that should be just wide enough for them to fit through—that opened up into a large circular room that had a mysterious mass in the center, almost identical to the actual planetarium but without the seats.

“Ollie,” Jerry said, switching back to English, “This is bloody brilliant!”

She snatched her phone back and shoved it in her pocket. “Not really.”

“You’re selling yourself short, girlie,” Alice said. “You’re the quest leader for a reason.”

Olivera shifted awkwardly before grabbing Jerry’s hand. “Can we go see the art now?”

Jerry noted the topic change, but didn’t comment. He just squeezed her hand once. “Yeah.”

***

Alice was a good friend. The second they arrived at the art gallery, she made up an excuse about needing to zoom around the gallery, “It’s a Hermes thing,” she claimed.

Jerry knew she was just leaving them alone. He was grateful for that.

He wasn’t sure if Olivera got Alice’s not so subtle message, though, since she just stared at her oddly before deciding to just ignore the daughter of Hermes’ quirks, he didn’t think so.

Jerry swung their hands as Olivera rambled about the techniques used in each of the paintings and the eras they’re from. Jerry didn’t understand half of the words she said, but he listened anyway. After half an hour—or more, Jerry wasn’t good with time—she pulled him over to a bench and sat down. Jerry followed, and glanced around the gallery for a bit. Alice was wandering on the other side, a bit lackadaisical, not really looking at the art anymore.

“Jay?”

Jerry squeezed her hand once, “Yeah?”

“Do you think we’re gonna succeed?”

Jerry frowned. “‘Course we are, why?”

“It’s just—well, I’m nervous.”

Jerry drew circles on the back of her hand, “About what?”

She shrugged.

“Do you want to talk?”

She shrugged again. 

Jerry’s mind wandered back to the train, to his talk with Calliope. “Can I tell you something?”

A nod.

“On the train, I might’ve omitted something that happened.”

Olivera's eyes narrowed and she stared at him.

“The muse, Calliope, appeared to me.”

Olivera pulled her hand back and pulled her knees to her chest as Jerry dove into the story about her sibling advice and the astronomical gods.

“Why didn’t you say that on the train?” she asked softly.

Jerry honestly wasn’t sure. He was mulling over the muse’s words and trying to comprehend what was happening, that he didn’t even consider telling her what happened right away. But then again, Olivera hadn’t told them what was in Athena’s letter until they arrived. 

“I don’t know.”

Olivera picked at the loose fabric on her shorts. “I did research on the astronomy gods when I came to camp, but there isn’t a lot of information on them.”

“What do you know?”

Olivera drew circles around her knees. “Each planet that’s visible to the naked eye has its own god—’cept Venus, which has two ‘cause it’s visible at two times. The morning star and the evening star, they’re called, but later they were combined into one deity.”

“I didn’t know that,” Jerry mumbled.

“Mhm,” Olivera flattened her legs so she was sitting criss-crossed on the bench. “Some of the constellations also have gods, or a group of gods, that represent them, as do the zodiac signs, and a ton of myths end with people being commemorated in the stars. Annabeth told me about a girl that became a constellation the summer before I started at camp named Zoë Nightshade.”

“Wow.”

“And that’s not mentioning the titans like Astreaus.”

“So, basically we have a shite tonne of possible thieves.”

Olivera gave him a pointed look, “We could’ve narrowed it if I knew this hours ago.”

Jerry glanced down, “Sorry, Ol.”

She sighed, stretching to put her shoes on the ground. “Can we explore the exhibit a bit more? We can stop at the library we passed by the train station to do some more research. I thought—” she trailed off, “Well, the thief isn’t who I originally thought, so I want to be prepared.”

“Who did you—?”

Olivera stood up, and flipped down the hem of her shorts she’d rolled up. “Doesn’t matter. That piece over there is a Jackson Pollock, and I want to see it again.”

She walked away, leaving Jerry on the bench, until he decided to follow.

Chapter Text

The library shut down at five p.m. on weekends, which meant that by the time Olivera, Jerry, and Alice arrived there after the art exhibit, they only had about half an hour to find what they needed.

Fortunately, though, Olivera’s library card from her library at home worked due to a contract between the Westchester libraries, which meant that they were able to borrow a few books on Greek Gods and Astronomical Gods and take them with them.

Which was how they ended up at a playground with five different books spread out between them.

A few kids on the swings were looking at them oddly, but Olivera was used to weird stares, so she ignored them.

Alice was beside her, flipping through a picture book, humming along to the song Jerry had put on his phone and placed between them. It was a random shuffle of different musicals, Olivera had noticed. At that moment, it was something from Les Mis. 

Speaking of her boyfriend, when she looked up at him, he wasn’t even pretending to read the book open on his lap, instead staring off at the waves of the Hudson.

“Jerry, focus.”

His head snapped back towards her. “Sorry,” he mumbled before glancing back down at his book.

It was silent for a few moments until Alice cleared her throat loudly, and Olivera glanced at her.

“Alrighty,” Alice began, putting her book down in front of her. It was open to Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec god. That wouldn’t help them much as Greek demigods. “Something happened at the museum when I left you two alone, and I dunno what it was, but it’s throwing the whole vibe of this quest off.”

Jerry glanced at her, and Olivera turned away, drumming her fingers on her ear defenders. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure what she felt. She’s pretty sure she’s a bit angry—at Jerry for keeping quiet about Calliope, at herself for missing the fact that other astronomical Greek gods could resent Urania, at the library for closing at five when she just wanted to sit there for a bit leaving her under the condescending eyes of the six year olds on swings—but also she felt something else, she just wasn’t sure what. Maybe fear? Discomfort? Malcontent?

“Quetzalcoatl’s Aztec,” she said instead.

Alice looked down at the feathered serpent picture, before shutting it. “Whatever. Can you just tell me what’s wrong?”

“Everything’s dandy,” Jerry said, “Spiffing, really.”

Alice’s eyes wandered back to Olivera, who tried to hold her gaze for a minute, but found it too difficult, so she just shut her eyes tightly. “Good.”

Alice sighed loudly. “You’re both terrible liars. Especially Jerry.”

Olivera kept her eyes closed and hugged her knees to her chest. “Apollo’s a god of truth,” she muttered.

“And Hermes is a god of lying,” Alice added. “So, can I be in the know or not?”

Olivera opened her left eye to look at Jerry, her right one against her knee. He had put his book aside and was staring almost directly at the sun—something only an Apollo kid could do. 

“Er,” He tugged a curl at the nape of his neck. “We just talked about the quest, Allie. Honest. I told her what I told you when walking towards the library, about Calliope?”

Alice caught Olivera’s sight, and she quickly closed her eyes again. 

“Ol?”

“Hm?”

“Is that all that happened?”

She nodded against her knees. 

“Okay,” Alice held out the second syllable and picked up the book again. “So, we’re mad at each other or—?”

“I fucked up,” Jerry said quickly. “I don’t even know why I didn’t tell you both right away. Though—”

Olivera peaked again, staring scrutinizingly at the son of Apollo. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing, it’s just—” he leaned back against the grass, his head resting against his forearms. “Well, Ollie didn’t say what Lady Athena sent her until we arrived. Or about the Hexbug nanobot invention.”

Olivera pushed her legs down so she was sitting in a butterfly stretch. “Wait, what?”

Jerry shut his eyes, basking almost like a sunflower. “You didn’t say what was in the letter,” he repeated. “You could’ve known what Calliope told me already.”

Olivera looked down at the stack of books they had borrowed, to her satchel with her sketchbook and her letter from her godly mother. 

“I told you Mother said nothing really important,” she argued. “Calliope saying who the possible thief is kind of important, Jerry.”

“Yeah, but,” he sat up and caught her gaze, which she averted immediately. “How am I to know that? You could be keeping something pretty significant under the guise of not important.”

“I’m in charge of the quest!” Olivera pulled her legs together, rocking slightly. “If I thought you needed to know something, I would’ve told you! You didn’t think I needed to know that information?”

Jerry sat up, shifting awkwardly in his spot. “Ollie, look, I’m sorry. I didn’t really think things through, today’s been going by way too fast and I can’t keep up. I’m sorry that I messed up your plans and made you upset, and didn’t give you the time you needed to adjust. I should’ve realized that you probably already had theories and that not telling you something could throw you off.”

“Olivera?” Alice said softly, “Can you speak right now?”

She clicked her tongue and hummed once, before nodding. “I—” she stopped, trying to collect her thoughts. Gods, why were emotions so difficult? “I’m sorry I blew up at you, after proceeding to ignore you since the exhibit. And for not being transparent with my plans.”

Alice grinned. “Great, so now can we do things properly without failing the vibe check?”

Olivera glanced down at her book, which was opened to the index, and flipped to the Greek section. “Originally, I was operating under the assumption that the thief had something to do with silence, given the last line has to do with losing someone’s voice if I don’t make the proper choice—I know you said that Harpocrates faded in front of your father, which only left Hesychia, the goddess of tranquility, which didn’t sound right, but you can never be sure with immortals.” 

“Hesychia could be working with an astronomy god?”

“What good does a goddess of tranquility have with stealing?” Alice asked. “Take it from a diagnosed kleptomaniac, there is absolutely nothing tranquil about stealing.”

“Just throwing things out there,” Jerry grumbled.

“It’s possible,” Olivera mumbled. “Aha, I found it.”

“What?” Alice asked, leaning over.

“The gods that represent each classical planet,” Olivera dragged her finger under the words. “The Astra Planeta, the five Greek gods of the planets, which at the time were known as wandering stars.”

“Who are they?” Alice asked.

“Stilbon, who’s the planet Mercury; Pyroeis, Mars; Phaethon, Jupiter; and Phainon, Saturn.”

“You skipped Venus,” Alice pointed out.

“Venus is a little complex,” Olivera continued, “Says here that they started out as two separate deities, Eosphorus, or the morning star, and Hesperors, the evening star, though at some point in history the two star gods combined.”

“Do you think they’re combined now?” Jerry questioned.

Olivera glanced over at him. “I’m not sure, though I wouldn’t see why they wouldn’t be.”

“I’d put them on our radar,” Alice said abruptly, causing Olivera to glance at her. “What? Look, if one of them faded and the other didn’t, that’s gotta leave some resentment towards the overall goddess of astronomy. Right?”

“That’s a good point,” Jerry said, “What about their parents? Are they astronomy gods?”

“Titans,” amended Olivera, “But, yeah. Eos and Astraeus.”

“The dawn and the stars,” Jerry said.

“If we have to fight a Titan I think I might actually just kick the bucket here,” Alice lamented. “So, for my sake, it better not be Eos or Astraeus.”

Olivera gave her a look that she hoped conveyed displeasure. “No one’s kicking the bucket.”

“I have no doubt Will would send Nico to resurrect us just to murder us again if we died,” Jerry said. “But, honestly, I think if a deity as powerful as a Titan were to be behind the thief, we wouldn’t have been sent on the quest as just three. My dad’s the god of prophecy, if he foretold our deaths, he would’ve made us stay behind. I know it.”

Olivera glanced down at the book. “Maybe it’s the empousa,” she muttered under her breath. 

Both her questmates stared at her.

“The voice stealing! Charmspeak!” Olivera reiterated. “We know whoever’s behind the theft is working with empousai, since the train, but it didn’t even cross my mind till now.”

“It makes sense,” Alice said.

“But prophecies never make sense,” Jerry rebutted. “Maybe that makes a bit too much sense.”

“It’s an idea,” Olivera said. “I’m not going to get myself excited because I’ll only break down if I’m wrong, but I have a feeling empousai are involved somehow.”

“Maybe we should just text them with our spoil,” Alice said. “You have the phone, right?”

Jerry scrunched his nose. “That’s a terrible idea.”

“I’m sorry for throwing ideas out there.”

Olivera took out her sketchbook and flipped to the back, jotting down everything they’d said so far—about the Astra Planeta, the empousai, the monsters—while Jerry and Alice continued chatting. They examined the diagram her nanobot had drawn, and worked until the kids in the park left and the sun set, which made for the perfect time to set up camp; another Athena cabin prototype—the mistified tent that Malcolm had shown them all how to set up the night before while packing. They rolled out their sleeping bags and laid down, despite the fact it was no later than nine, because the next day was going to be long.

Olivera didn’t need Jerry’s father’s prophecy powers to know that.

Chapter Text

After a few granola bars, Alice almost breaking down the door to the bathroom as she yelled at Jerry to hurry up, man, we’re in a time crunch here!, and shoving a bucket load of library books in Olivera’s bag that Alice was pretty positive was a bag of holding, the three managed to make it to the Hudson River Museum locked entrance.

Olivera rocked beside her, her fingers drumming against a paint splatter on the legs of her overall shorts, her eyes firmly keeping watch on the few cars driving down Warburton Avenue. 

Jerry stood beside her, fiddling with the wire of his earbuds that hung out of his short pockets ready to shove into his ears just in case. It wasn’t as good as the noise canceling headphones or earplugs, but Jerry refused to take either when both Olivera and Alice needed them too. Alice had told him she hoped he was enough of a simp to ignore the charmspeak, and almost got thrown into the river. Fun times.

Her father’s caduceus pin was pinned onto her vest; Alice prayed to all the gods of every pantheon and religion that it worked how her father detailed because once this started, there was no going back. Alice had spent a long time in juvie for similar crimes to the one she was about to commit, and didn’t plan to go back.

“You should hurry up, Alice,” Jerry said, glancing back over his shoulder. 

Alice cracked her fingers. “This’ll only take a sec.” She sent one more prayer to her father that the pin works before putting her hands on the door.

As the daughter of the god of thieves, and someone who was diagnosed a kleptomaniac at the age of seven by her school counselor back in L.A., Alice had a lot of practice with opening locked doors with her powers. There was barely a click before the door flung open and the alarm started to blare.

Alice quickly tapped the pin, and the alarm system shut down immediately, allowing Alice to breathe a prayer and a sigh of relief.

The entrance was just as it was yesterday, just minus the kids and judgy employees, so Alice thought it was an upgrade. She turned to gesture for Jerry and Olivera to follow, but they had already entered and Olivera locked the door behind them.

“Can you do firefly mode, Jay?” Alice asked as they made their way toward the planetarium. 

Jerry stopped abruptly, yanking Olivera’s arm back. Alice turned at her yelp. “What?”

“You know,” Alice gestured wildly, “Firefly mode? I know some Apollo kids glow.”

Jerry scrunched his nose. “No, I don’t have firefly mode. I think right now in our cabin only Will and Gracie glow.”

“No need to be offended,” Alice rolled her eyes. “It was just a question.”

“I’m not offended,” Jerry said.

“Even if he did glow,” Olivera said, her voice quiet. “We don’t want a beacon of light when we’re trying to sneak.”

Alice shrugged. “I’ve broken into places with a flashlight. Us Hermes kids are naturals.”

Olivera adjusted her headphones. “If you say so. We’re getting close, so no loud noises or talking.”

Alice nodded, and the three walked in silence, only stopping at the planetarium entrance for Alice to open the lock, before making it over to the trap door.

Alice crouched down, putting her hands on the door to feel for the lock, and just as she willed it, it quietly clicked open. Alice let out a shaky breath as she slowly lifted it, praying to her father that the chains didn’t squeak.

As she let go and glanced down, she could see a drop, about ten feet, leading into a hallway; with a light shining on the right side, which, if the nanobot’s diagram was right, led to the circular room. Except the diagram said nothing about the drop to get into the chute.

Someone tapped her shoulder, and looked up to see Jerry, who pointed to his girlfriend. Alice glanced over to see Olivera pull out a ball of yarn from her bag. Seriously, Alice was convinced that her little rucksack was something straight out of the Hermes Cabin’s dnd game, because there was no way everything they shoved in there should fit.

“Where did you get that?” Alice mouthed, but Olivera was too focused on her work to mouth a reply. 

Alice had never seen Olivera weave before, which wasn’t that surprising since the daughter of Athena usually spent her arts and crafts time painting or reading books about the different art movements, but it shouldn’t have surprised Alice as much as it did that she knew how. Athena was the goddess of handicrafts. It was like being surprised that Alice was top of her school’s cross country team when she wasn’t on probation. 

It only took a minute or two for there to be a stable rope ladder, with some of Olivera’s larger, stabler paintbrushes as rungs. She passed the end to Jerry, who tied it to the closest chair, while she slowly lowered it down.

Olivera pointed to Alice, and then Jerry, and then shrugged, her nonverbal question clear.

Alice pointed to herself and made it towards the ladder, grabbing the paintbrush and lowering herself down. The ladder was a lot stabler than she thought, which she was grateful for. However, right before she reached the bottom, she heard a high-pitched voice ring out.

“Uhg, I don’t know why Mary hasn’t answered my Snap yet.” 

An empousa. She quietly stepped off the final rung, and glanced up.

Olivera leaned over, and gave a thumbs up, her face scrunched up in question. Alice replied by pulling the earplugs and sticking them in her ears. She hoped the others got her message before they made it down.

Even with the earplugs in, she could still hear, it was just muffled, and hopefully magicless unless the train ride was a fluke. 

“I mean, it’s so not like her,” the empousa went on. “We have a thirteen hundred day Snap streak, she cannot let that go to waste! I did not survive an entire war just so she can not answer me. Like, who does she even think she is?”

“I don’t know.” That voice was deeper and more masculine. Not an empousa.

Jerry stepped beside her, and Alice put her hands over his mouth just to be safe. She gestured with her head towards the open room. 

“What’s so important about that anyway?” A second masculine voice replied.

Jerry grabbed her wrist and lowered her hand as the empousa replied. “It just is! My Snap score is so important!”

Jerry made the universal kill gesture, and Alice nodded. Whoops. That thirteen hundred day Snap streak was up. Besides, her and Julia had a two thousand day streak just because a girl at juvie said they couldn’t, so she didn’t feel too bad.

Olivera stepped down just as a third voice talked. “Not as important as why we’re here.” There was the sound of something banging against someone’s hand. “How does this thing work?”

The first masculine voice chuckled. “I told you we should have kidnapped Urania too, Eosphorus.”

“We can’t kidnap a muse,” Eosphorus grumbled.

Alice noticed Olivera give herself a fist bump at the realization Eosphorus was here. That means the other masculine voices were probably the other Astra Planeta. Alice had to admit she was kind of surprised. Turns out research can help out sometimes, who knew?

“Why can’t—”

“Hecate’s torch!” The empousa cut off. “I just checked the Snap Map and it says Mary’s here! Jane and Joselyn probs are too!”

Alice’s eyes almost popped out of the socket. No way did they forget to turn off the location on their spoil. She looked at her quest partners, and from their surprised expressions, it seemed they did exactly that.

There was a clank of metal as the empousa walked in their direction, saying. “Mary, I know you’re here, answer my snap, girlie.”

It happened so fast Alice nearly missed it. Jerry stepped out and threw one of his throwing knives just as the empousa came into view. It embedded itself in her sundress, and she barely had time to yelp a profanity as she collapsed into a pile of dust.

“What the Hades was that?” Alice screamed. That wasn’t her smartest idea, but also tossing a knife into broad light wasn’t either. See, it wouldn’t have mattered if Jerry glowed, he made himself known anyway.

Jerry frowned, “Sorry, force of habit!”

Gods damn it. 

Alice suddenly felt arms wrap around her waist and she screamed, trying to yank herself free, but whatever held her was holding on tight. Her feet were off the ground and she kicked as hard as she could as she was dragged to the center of the room.

It was almost exactly like the nanobots transcribed; the mysterious mass in the center was a glass case with Urania’s globe. Beside it, a young man, probably in his late teens or early twenties in appearance, stood beside it, a large pair of brilliant white wings on his back. Eosphorus.

Alice tried to move her arms again, and tried to kick back and hit her captor in a sensitive area, but the arms around her didn’t loosen.

To her right, Jerry was struggling against a man with skin tinged red; Pyroeis, her brain supplied. He seemed almost a bit tired, like restraining a teenage demigod was nothing at all. It did make sense, especially since Pyroeis was associated with Mars and fire, but that didn’t ease Alice’s worries at all.

To her other side, Olivera was being held by a deity that looked like a young man, but he didn’t have wings like Eosphorus did. Alice wasn’t sure who he was specifically, but she had the inkling it was either Phaethon, Jupiter or Phainon, Saturn. The one who wasn’t restraining Olivera, however, did rush to their side to grab Olivera’s legs.

If Alice and Jerry were struggling, which they were, Olivera was somehow doing infinitely worse. Through the earplugs, Alice could hear the muffled version of her screaming, and she could see her tears ricocheting off the wall as she flailed around. Even with two deities holding her, they seemed to be struggling to placate her.

Through the process of elimination, that meant Stilbon was holding her hostage. Great. She wasn’t sure if it was intentional—with Stilbon being the god of Mercury and his own planet being named after her father—but since Stilbon had such little surviving information on him, she was definitely screwed.

She glanced back at Jerry, hoping to convey a message to him, preferably one that meant stay calm since Olivera was probably down for the count for a bit, but even though he wasn’t struggling as much, his eyes were firmly on Olivera. 

Alice had a bad feeling that Jerry was about to make things ten times worse.

Chapter Text

Jerry didn’t know his voice could go that loud. Sure, his siblings had an array of musical based talents—ranging from Austin’s innate ability to read sheet music and play instruments, to Will’s supersonic whistle he liked to use to wake them up way too early in the morning, to Gracie’s whistle note that Chiron banned after it triggered at least five kids into having panic attacks—but he already had the ability to recall a song or tune after one listen, so he thought he was set in the music category. 

Which is why when he screamed, “Let! Her! Go!” so loudly that the Astra Planeta dropped them to put their hands over their ears, Jerry stood frozen for a second, unsure of what just happened.

“Dude,” Alice yelled. “Warning next time.”

“I didn’t know I could do that,” Jerry mumbled. There was a slight tickle in his throat, but he did his best to ignore it. He had bigger things to worry about.

He glanced towards Olivera, who, in the hullabaloo, had managed to escape the grasp of the Astra Planeta and was scurrying back against the wall. Her nose was cherried, and she had streaks of tears racing down her cheeks, but at least she was no longer hyperventilating. In fact, Jerry could tell she was deliberately steadying her breathing and working towards calming herself down. He went to take a step towards her to help, when a hand clasped his wrist.

He tried to yank, but his wrist didn’t budge. He turned to find Pyroeis was holding him, tutting quietly. Shite. He rotated as far as he could without dislocating his shoulder to face where one of the Astra Planeta were shaking off the remnants of his scream and beginning to make their way towards Olivera.

“Phainon,” Eosphorus said, “Leave her. She’s more trouble than she’s worth.”

Phainon—Saturn, Jerry’s brain helpfully supplied when he saw the array of ring-like bangles adorning his wrists and ankles—glanced between the daughter of Athena and Eosphorus, puzzled. “Are you sure?”

“Do you want the boy to scream again?” One of the Astra Planeta, who had a large red mark on his face resembling Jupiter’s storm, scoffed. 

“No,” muttered Phainon. 

“I will,” Jerry said, twisting his wrist again to try and loosen Pyroeis’ grasp. “Don’t touch her.”

Jerry heard Alice snort, and turned to scold her when he noticed her predicament. Alice was extremely quick, something Jerry knew already, but apparently Stilbon was as well, because the two were engaged in the highest stakes cat and mouse chase that he’d ever seen. The room was definitely not big enough for it, that was for sure. Alice ducked and shimmied and ran in circles, backtracking and turning around so many times Jerry could physically see her shadow. Stilbon was barely behind her, his fingers almost grasping her so many times before Alice inevitably slipped away.

Eosphorus sighed dramatically, and extended his right wing just as Alice passed, tripping her for long enough that Stilbon could grab her wrist. 

“There,” Eosphorus sighed, banging the bottom of the staff on the floor. “Don’t let go of her again.”

Stilbon scrunched his nose, but nodded.

“Good.” Eosphorus tapped the edge of the staff on the glass that encased the globe, though it did nothing. “You know,” he didn’t look at Jerry, Alice, or Olivera, instead seemingly speaking just to the air, “I was hoping Urania would send one of her kids on the quest. Maybe they’d figure this damn thing out.”

“Well, you should’ve timed your burglary better,” Alice scoffed. Jerry tried to send her a stop look, but she either couldn’t see him, or didn’t care. “I mean, are you an amateur or something?.”

Eosphorus glanced towards Alice’s direction, and Jerry could see the slight crackle of heat flowing through his wings. “Hermes kid, Stilbon?”

Stilbon nodded. “Got his caduceus on her vest and everything.” 

“I bite,” Alice hissed. “Just like George and Martha.”

Jerry frowned, stopping his gymnastics of trying to escape. “Hermes’ snakes are named George and Martha?” Why?”

“I didn’t name them,” Alice attempted to shrug, but failed pretty miserably. 

“And your father didn’t tell you?

“Why would we talk about—”

“Are you two done yet?” Eosphorus was tapping his foot at the same impatient pace his wings were flapping. 

Jerry was tempted to say no just to mess with him, but given the fact that he was still a captive, decided against it.

“Good.” Eosphorus banged the staff against his hand. “Now, obviously I can’t just return this because I need it, and I also can’t let you go so that leaves us at a stand still.”

“I mean, nothing’s stopping you from letting us go,” Jerry pointed out.

Eosphorus gave Jerry the biggest look of disappointment he’d ever seen; which was saying a lot, since Will liked to glance at all of them with a similar look when they did something stupid. “You’d attack us?” He said slowly, like Jerry was a baby. “And take the staff and globe?”

Damn, when did the gods get common sense?

“Excuse me,” Alice spoke up. Jerry tried to give a similar disappointed look to Alice that he received, but he must have failed because she continued to talk. “Can I just ask one teensy weensy question.” 

Eosphorus’ eyes narrowed. “And what is that?”

“The fuck do you need the rod and globe for?”

Jerry sighed, loudly, deciding that if he were to get out of her, Alice would be banned from being seen in public with him.

Phainon turned away from where he’d been monitoring Olivera on the ground, his bangles ringing together. “What did you say?” Phaethon gave her a similar bewuthered look.

All the Astra Planeta were facing her, and Alice just gave a shrug. “I mean, you guys are such bad stealers, I figured this is your first go and crime. And everyone’s first crime is something of importance.”

“You’re really high and mighty when it comes to crime, aren’t you?” Pyroeis spat, and Jerry flinched as spittle hit the nape of his neck. Gross. “What do you know?”

“A lot,” Alice grinned. “I don’t even need to move to steal something.”

Eosphorus frowned. “That’s not possible. Is it?”

Alice shrugged. “‘Course it is.”

Jerry figured out what was happening the second before it did; maybe he also had secret prophecy powers his father didn’t tell him about? Alice must’ve noticed Olivera had steadied her breathing enough that, if Alice took Phainon and Phaethon’s attention off of her, she could slip by and snatch the globe from its case before reaching out and snatching the staff straight from Eosphorus’ hand.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice soft like it normally was when she first talks after having a meltdown, before bolting towards the makeshift ladder. Gods, she was so adorable. And Jerry couldn’t have been more proud at the way she was handling herself.

Phainon was the first to react, shouting, “I told you she was a problem!” before going to chase after her.

Since during the commotion, Pyroeis let go of Jerry’s wrist, Jerry managed to intercept Phainon by pushing Pyroeis as hard as he could and toppling the two like dominos.

In a similar vein, Jerry could see Alice doing the same, making Eosphorus, Stilbon, and Phaethon land in a dog pile by her feet.

“You should stick to being good,” Alice said, “The life of crime isn’t for you.”

“I’m just trying to bring him back!” cried Eosphorus, one of his wings attempting to flap underneath Stilbon. “Is that too much to ask?”

Olivera, who had just begun to climb the ladder stopped, the staff hitting into the globe she hastily shoved in her satchel. “Hesperus?”

“I was so right!” Alice screeched. “Who’s a genius? I’m a genius!”

Jerry turned to her with a look of desperation, “Ollie, go! We’ll follow!” His voice cracked on the word go, sending a shiver of pain down his throat. It wasn’t like the normal voice cracks he thought were almost over as his voice dropped, but he couldn’t ponder on it now. 

Instead of listening , she hopped off the bottom rung. “Can you even bring him back with these?”

“Ollie,” Jerry repeated. “Climb the ladder.”

Olivera gave him a blank stare that seemed expressionless, but Jerry understood exactly what it meant.

“I don’t know.”

“The reason gods fade is because of lost faith,” Olivera said softly, looking between the staff and the pile of gods on the floor who were trying to get up, but Alice wasn’t letting them. “Urania’s staff and globe hold the world’s knowledge and belief in her domain, which encompasses yours.” 

She marched right back towards the center and beside Jerry. 

“Ol—” he tried one last time, but Olivera passed him the staff and gave him these wide owl eyes. They were still rimmed red, and he could see a loose tear on her cheek she forgot to wipe away, but otherwise, she was pretty collected for having just had a meltdown ten minutes before. 

“The celestial globe adapts as the world learns more about astronomy,” Olivera began again, pulling out the globe and turning it until she found what she was looking for. “Like how your domain is no longer the morning star, but rather the planet Venus, and why Hesperus’ domain of the evening star disappeared along with him.”

“But that happened thousands of years ago,” Jerry said, “At least I think I did.”

“We’ve tried before,” Stilbon said as he tried to roll out from beneath Phaethon, which resulted in a swift kick from Alice. “But this is the farthest we’ve gotten. Urania’s never been far enough from her objects that we could snatch them.”

“Explains a lot,” Alice said.

“But gods can share domains as long as it varies slightly,” Olivera said, “Like how all the muses, and your dad, have different subsections of poetry.”

“So what?” Jerry cleared his throat as he smacked Phainon with his heel. 

“So, Jay,” Olivera said slowly, “It should be possible to get Hesperus back and make everyone happy.”

Chapter Text

Olivera kept her eyes on the celestial globe in her hand, attempting to ignore all the bewildered stares of everyone in the room around her. 

“What?” Jerry asked, a slight crack in his voice that wasn’t usually there. “We can?”

Eosphorus managed to sit up without Alice kicking him back down. His wings flapped a few times as they stretched out. “You can?”

“You think you can bring a god back from unfadiness?” Alice stared down at Stilbon and Phaethon, but didn’t kick them as they moved to sit up. “That seems a bit hard?”

“I don’t think ‘unfadiness’ is a word,” Jerry mumbled.

“Whatever,” Alice dismissed, “But really, how would we do that?”

“If we split Eosphorus’ domain back into two parts,” Olivera explained, “Then Hesperus should come back, because there’s a need for his domain again.” She glanced over to her boyfriend, “That makes sense, right Jay?”

Jerry drummed his fingers on the staff. “In theory,” he agreed, “But, I don’t think it’s ever been done. This seems different than, say, Grandma Leto or Kronos reforming, and even those took time.”

“Is it really, though?” Alice countered, “And it’s been like a bajillion years since humanity discovered Venus was a planet and not a star, so I doubt that time’s gonna be an issue.”

“We haven’t been around for a bajillion years,” Phainon said, his bangles clanging as he sat up.

Alice grumbled something about exaggeration under her breath, before looking down at Eosphorus, who was still sitting criss-crossed on the ground by her feet. “Will Hesperus just, like, poof in here or something? Or like, reform somewhere else?”

Olivera hadn’t really thought about that—about where Hesperus would return if this plan succeeded. “Um—” She turned to the five Astra Planeta on the ground, in their different stages of sitting and laying. “I’m not sure.”

Jerry smacked the staff on the ground once, and Olivera turned to him. “The Hudson River.”

“What?” 

“Hesperus was a god of Venus,” Jerry repeated softly. “Venus is Aphrodite, and how was Aphrodite born?”

“Through seafoam,” Olivera breathed out. “Jay, you’re a genius!”

Jerry’s cheeks darkened, and he used his free hand to tug at a curl. “I have my moments.”

Eosphorus put a hand on Stilbon’s head, and stood, one of his wings smacking Phaethon right in his birthmark. “So, you three really are going to help us bring Hesperus back?”

Alice shrugged, “Why not? You guys are such bad criminals anyway, might as well take pity on you.”

There were grumbles of protest from the Astra Planeta.

“We’re also all here for similar reasons,” Olivera said softly to herself, but she must have spoken loud enough that everyone could hear her.

“What?” Pyroeis asked.

Olivera felt herself becoming a similar color to the god of Mars in front of her. “Well, the reason I took this quest was so my baby brother, a son of Urania, wouldn’t have to.”

“And we’re here to bring back Hesperus,” Phaethon acknowledged, “A brother of ours.”

“Exactly,” Olivera grinned, “So, let’s get your brother back.”

Luckily, the museum and planetarium still weren’t open when they climbed back out of the basement area with five gods in tow. Olivera didn’t even want to begin to think about how the mist would try and explain Eosphorus’s large white wings or Pyroeis’s vibrant red skin. Alice held the globe as they walked so Olivera could disassemble their makeshift ladder—she was not leaving any paintbrushes behind.

“Do any of you know how exactly we’re splitting Eosphorus’s domain?” Phaethon asked as they reached the shore. 

“Absolutely no idea,” Alice admitted. She spun the globe around a few times, looking for Venus, Olivera assumed. “But I’m not the thinker of the group. Those two probably thunked something up.”

“I don’t think that’s a word either,” Jerry mumbled. 

“Would you stop gatekeeping the dictionary?” Alice said, “Not all of us adhere to the unspoken rules of the English lexicon.”

Jerry lifted his hands in mock defeat, the staff nearly smacking Pyroeis beside him. “I’m just saying.”

Eosphorus stepped forward so his sandals were in the water, “Do you guys have an idea or not, because I will knock you back out and take back the staff.”

“You mean Pyroeis and I will,” Stilbon corrected.

Olivera moved towards the water too, near where Eosphorus stood, but not where her sneakers would get wet. “Well, I remember Mamãe telling me about how Venus is associated with things like love, beauty, and romance—like Aphrodite.”

“That makes sense,” Alice said, sitting herself on the ground. She reached over and started undoing the zippers of her combat boots. “I mean, they did name the planet after her.”

“In the 13th century,” Eosphorus grumbled.

Olivera frowned, and she didn’t have to look back at the other two demigods to know they were too.

“Really?” Jerry frowned, “Even in English?”

“Oh, I remember that,” Phaethon said. Olivera turned to look at him. “In Old English Eosphorus here was called Morgensteorra, and Hespherus was Æfensteorra.”

“Wait, so Hespherus didn’t fade thousands of years ago?” Jerry asked, “I thought you said he did?”

“No, he faded in the 1200s,” Eosphorus said. “But Stilbon didn’t lie that we have tried quite a few times in the last 800 years.”

“So many times,” Stilbon muttered.

“But, by the Hellenistic period, people knew Venus was one planet,” Olivera argued, “Mamãe told me that.”

Phainon swung his hands, dangling his bangles. “They still used two words for the planet depending on its location till the 1200s. Which is why Hesperus didn’t fade till then.”

“Wait, so they had two words for when Venus was in different spots, but knew it was one thing?”

Eosphorus nodded, bending down to scoop up some sand in his hand, his wings flapping from the breeze. “Right.”

She turned back to Jerry, who, like Alice, had taken his shoes off and buried his feet in the sand. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Jay, but doesn’t that mean that in order to bring him back we just need his label?”

Jerry thought for a moment, before nodding. “That sounds right. And that’ll be so much easier than creating a new domain from thin air.”

“One question though, Ol,” Alice piped up as she tossed a pile of sand at Jerry, who shrieked and scurried away from her. “We’re three people, how can we make the word strong enough that it literally brings a guy back from the ether?”

Jerry shook his head in disappointment, “Come on, Allie, think about it, you’ll get there.”

Olivera reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone, and started to dial.

Alice scoffed, tossing a second handful of sand. “Don’t patronize me, Hughes.”

“I’m—”

“You’re moms!” Alice screamed, kicking sand up as she flattened her legs. “You’re going to call your moms!”

Olivera pressed the phone to her ear just as her mother answered.

“Alô?”

“Mamâe,” Olivera said.

“Olivera,” her mother sighed, almost in relief, before calling, “Vida, it’s Olivera!”

“Thank the gods,” Olivera heard Mom call from behind Mamãe.

“Are you okay?” Mamãe asked, “Chiron called and said you went on a quest for Urania so Hayden wouldn’t have to. That was very brave of you, filhinha, I’m proud.”

“Obrigada, Mamãe,” she felt her face heat. “Jay, Alice, and I are still on the quest, but I need you and Mom to help with something.”

“What?” Mom asked.

She explained her quest; about her promise to Eosphorus to help bring Hesperus back, to how English adapting one word for the planet made the god disappear.

Mamãe sighed, “You want us to propose words to differentiate different aspects of Venus?”

“It could work, Ana,” Mom said softly. “It sounds like the phases of the moon.”

“Exactly!” Olivera screeched, “Think of it like that, Mamãe. And it doesn’t even have to be a new word, just something to differentiate it.”

She heard her mothers whispering but couldn’t make out the words until she heard Mom say, “Rising could work for when Venus is on the east, and Setting for the west.”

“That sounds good,” Olivera cut in.

Mamãe gave a soft chuckle. “I’ll make a post on every social media platform I have, and your mom will start writing a scientific paper on it before doing the same on her social media. We’re respected enough in our field that we should be able to get most of the elites in the area of astrophysics and astronomy in general to see at least the idea within the hour. So, I think if it works your god should appear soon.”

“You’re the best,” Olivera smiled. “Eu amo vocês.”

“I love you too!” Mom called.

“Eu também te amo,” Mamãe said.

Olivera slid her phone back into her overall’s pockets and looked back at the five gods and two demigods. “And now, we wait.”

Chapter Text

Waiting was never something Jerry found easy—a byproduct of his ADHD, no doubt—so Jerry decided to do the first thing he could think of; dump a bunch of sand on Alice.

She screeched, scurrying across the sand like a hermit crab as she shook the sand out of her hair. “Jerry Edward Hughes,” she squealed. “I’m going to chop your head off and serve it to the next empousa we meet. I hate you!”

Jerry chuckled, moving himself next across the sand to where his girlfriend stood, her eyes still planted on her phone as she continuously scrolled through whatever social media—probably trying to catch her mothers’ posts so she could repost them herself. “You can’t kill me. Ollie would be very sad. Right, Ol?”

Olivera glanced up for a second, her nose scrunched. “Don’t get sand on me.”

Jerry pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Wasn’t planning on it.” He quickly dusted off his shorts away from Olivera. “Though, I think I’ll stay right here with you.”

Olivera’s lips curled slightly into a frown, before she turned back to her phone and refreshed again.

“Coward!” Alice declared, an accusatory finger pointed at Jerry. “I declare thee a coward! Thy hideth behind thy lady liketh the coward thou art!”

Jerry gasped. “But it is not so, m’lady. I hath merely stoodeth by my love, as thou wouldst stand by thine, if thee couldst findeth thyself a lady!”

“Heresy!” Alice squealed, “Thou speaketh heresy! Dame, thou’st shalt condemn thy lover to the grave!”

“Are they always like this?”

Jerry had honestly forgotten about the Astra Planeta; but he turned so see Eosphorus tapping his foot, arms crossed, disappointment filling the air with every flap of his wings.

“Oh, Mom posted it!” Olivera grinned, her fingers typing away at rapid speed. “Jay, Alice, I just sent it to you, repost it as much as you can on literally everything. The faster the message spreads, the quicker Hesperus should return.”

“In theory,” Stilbon mumbled.

Phainon elbowed him. “Have some faith, Bon bon.”

The god of Mercury gave him one of the dirtiest looks Jerry had ever seen. “First off, don’t call me bonbon. I hate bonbons.”

“Bonbons are good,” Jerry said, coughing once to try and dislodge something from his throat. It was odd, the way his voice seemed to be fine one minute and scratchy the next. This had never happened to him before—even when he’d lost his voice during singing class when he was eight. 

“Secondly,” Stilbon continued, “I’m a deity, I’m literally built on faith. Which means I know that faith is iffy!”

“We’re still here, aren’t we?” Pyroeis commented. 

“Because you can’t make something physical like a planet disappear, dumbo!”

“Hey, I’m not a—”

“Stilbon, Pyroeis.” Eosphorus had procured a phone from gods-knows-where, and was looking through it. “Would you mind sending me the message, Miss, Ollie, they called you?”

“Olivera,” Olivera corrected. “Yeah, I’m assuming you have Instagod?”

Eosphorus nodded. “Venus_the_morning_planet. No spaces, underscores between each word.”

Jerry glanced over her shoulder to look, but she scowled. “I asked you to share it, Jerry.”

“I’m doing it,”

“Dang,” Alice said, shaking sand out of her hair again as she let out a low whistle. Jerry glanced up. “Your moms are miracle workers, Ol. It’s barely been twenty minutes.”

“They’re well respected,” Olivera grinned.

“Look, Lord Apollo posted it!” Phaethon said, flipping his phone around.

Olivera turned back to look at him. “Thanks.”

“And Lady Athena!” squealed Phainon.

“What?” Olivera scrolled through her phone. “Mother reposted?”

“This might actually work,” Jerry said.

As if his words were magic, there was a shift in the water. At first, he assumed it was the tides changing the river’s direction; but instead, something rose from the water.

Alice screamed loudly as something white stuck out of the water, falling backwards so she was completely in the sand, and making Olivera flinch wildly as her hands flew to hold her ear defenders in place.

Slowly, more of the figure became visible. He had the same wings as Eosphorus—silky and white—protruding from his back, which looked almost tan against his feverish skin. As he came closer to the shore, it became apparent he was unclothed, though fortunately some of the seaweed and grime from the river covered his more private areas—though gods didn’t have the same qualms against indecency that mortals and demigods do.

Jerry noticed Olivera watching him as he stepped out, and was going to make a comment on it, when she frowned. “Public indecency is a misdemeanor in New York.”

Jerry chuckled despite himself, Olivera always had a way of surprising him.

“Jay, do you have pants he could borrow?”

Jerry’s nose scrunched in disgust. “I’m not letting him borrow my pants, Ollie! That’s disgusting.”

“Shorts,” Olivera reiterated, “Or trousers.”

Jerry let out a breath. “Oh, good. Yeah, I have a pair of trousers in my bumbag.”

“You’re making the poor guy go commando,” Alice scolded. “For shame, Hughes. For shame.”

“You give him your knickers then!”

Alice gasped, “For shame, Hughes.”

Jerry ignored her, instead reaching into bumbag, and grabbing his spare pair of trousers he stuck in there in case of emergencies. He passed them over to Hesperus, who stared down at them, then back up to Jerry.

Instead of putting them on, Hesperus frowned and said. “What’s wrong with your throat?”

“My what?” Stupid irony making his voice crack on the question.

“You injured your throat,” Hesperus said, reaching and touching Jerry’s Adam's apple. He was far too confused to flinch. He hummed slightly, and all of a sudden the itch in his throat dissipated, evaporating. “There.”

“How—”

Jerry didn’t get to answer his question, because Eosphorus gained his bearings back and tackled Hesperus into a hug. 

The other Astra Planeta joined in, but Olivera cut the moment short by saying, “Public indecency is still a misdemeanor. I’d put those pants on. I don’t know if the mist will cover you up.”

“You’re over dramatic,” Alice dismissed, “No one heard me before and no one will hear us now.” She let out another loud scream just to prove her point.

The Astra Planeta stepped back enough for Hesperus to slip on the trousers, and just as he buttoned them, a voice called out from near the car park.

“Is everyone okay? I heard a scream!”

Alice shrugged a bit guiltily as a swarm of guards ran down to meet them. “Oopsy?”

“We should probably run before they get here,” Jerry said, before taking his own advice and booking it down the street, grabbing Olivera’s hand so she could run with him.

Chapter Text

Turns out, running wasn’t necessary since Eosphorus just charmspoke the guard into leaving them alone, but Alice was the daughter of the god of athletics, amongst travel, so she still ran anyway.

She passed Jerry, and boinged one of his curls, and sped off. The son of Apollo yelped, not loud enough to reinjure his throat, but loud enough to make Alice almost tumble over as she laughed at him.

The positives of having done track, as well as cross country, meant that Alice’s endurance was top notch, and she didn’t slow until she reached the train station. 

She sat on the bottom step, obnoxiously checking her bare nails when Olivera, Jerry, and the Astra Planeti came into view; Jerry’s cheeks were flushed, and he was breathing heavily, like he had tried to match her pace, and failed.

“I—” he inhaled, “fucking hate you.”

Alice drew an exaggerated heart in the air, and sent it off with a kiss. Jerry grabbed it from the air, smacked it like he was singing the camp song Baby Bumblebee , and tossed it to the ground, squishing it into the sidewalk.

“You suck,” Alice said.

“Pot, meet kettle.”

Alice stretched out her leg and kicked him, which he returned. Before she could do it back, Olivera interrupted. “Alice, the Astra Planeti offered to zap us to Olympus to return the globe and rod. Apparently, the muses are playing in the Agora on Olympus at one, so we should be able to find Urania quickly.”

“You made me run all the way here, when you could’ve zapped me to my destination?” lamented Alice. “How dareth thee?”

“That’s karma for being a bitch.”

“I hate your guts, Hughes.”

“We would’ve,” said Olivera, “But we can’t run as fast as you can, and apparently, Asclepius told Jerry that too much godly magic can literally disintegrate a demigod.”

“Funzies.”

“I think you have the wrong definition of funzies,” Pyroeis spoke, the first time an Astra Planeta had since Hesperus had returned, as they’d all stayed glued to the evening Venus like he’d disappear again.

Alice tutted, “You gods really need to learn sarcasm. And theft, you suck at theft.”

“Theft?” Hesperus asked, looking at his fellow Astra Planeti. 

Stilbon shrugged as best he could. “Had to get Urania’s staff and celestial globe and rod somehow. And she’s just a Hermes kid.”

“Snobbish, the lot of them,” Jerry said.

“Ah.”

Alice stomped on his foot. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

Alice had a good idea as to why demigods couldn’t travel with gods too often—and half of them stemmed from her leaning over a divine trash can and losing the few granola bars she’d eaten at breakfast. Thank the gods they were zapped right outside what seemed to be a cafe in the Agora, so she hadn’t needed to go far to make sure she didn’t spew all over the Olympic cobblestones.

“Alice?”

Alice looked up at the sound of her name, and nearly fell back into the can; a man, dressed in a delivery uniform, a mail satchel around across his chest, stared at her, with concern etched on his features.

From somewhere behind her, Alice heard a gasp. “Lin-Manuel Miranda?”

Her father, her father who was standing right beside her as she vomited into a trash can on Olympus, laughed, “I’ve been called that before. You must be Jerry Hughes. Apollo’s boy?”

“Um,” Jerry scratched behind his ear, “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Your father’s mentioned you.” Father said, before turning back to her, “Alice, are you alright?”

Alice wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. He said it again, her name. So the letter hadn’t been a fluke.

“I—”

“We traveled them here, sir,” Stilbon interrupted, bowing slightly. It was odd to see a god, even one as minor as Stilbon, bow. “You know how that can be.”

Her father glanced at the god of Mercury. “Oh, right! Your quest! Did you like your half-birthday present?”

Alice straightened up so she could tap the pin on her vest. “Worked like a charm.”

“I’m glad. So, you got Urania’s ball and stick?”

Alice grinned as Olivera grumbled, “Like father, like daughter,” under her breath. 

“Ollie’s got it in her satchel.”

“Ah, one of ‘Thena’s girls, right?” Father examined her. “You look kind of owlish.”

Olivera frowned, not saying a word. 

“It’s been over three thousand years,” a voice from behind Alice called, “And you’re still an idiot, Hermes.”

Alice turned quickly to find Athena walking towards them. She was dressed in full armor, complete with a war helmet, and an owl rested on her shoulder. Through the holes of the helmet, Alice could see her eyes—widened and owlish, just like all her children. She wasn’t sure why Athena thought her father was idiodic for mentioning it, she had always thought that Olivera had a slightly owlish look to her, which was even more confirmed as she stared at the goddess and her pet owl.

“Mother?” Olivera said softly. 

“Hello, child,” Athena said. “I’m pleased to see you alive and well.”

“You’re back!” A voice called out, as a god appeared beside her. 

“Dad!” Jerry grinned, tackling his father in a hug, which Apollo immediately reciprocated. 

“Hey, kiddo!” Apollo looked up at Alice’s father, “Hermes, I totally forgot to tell you. You’re little girl there tried to steal my wallet. Nicked it right out of my back pocket while I gave her a hug.”

His look of praise was overwhelming, and she almost fell back into the can again. “That’s my girl.” He held his hand up for a high five.

Hesitantly, Alice high fived him back.

Apollo glanced at the Astra Planeti, all of whom were more focused on pointing out the shops in the Agora to Hesperus than the gods—hers, and Olivera’s, and Jerry’s parents. “And Hesperus, nice to see you again. You know, when Jay here told me the plan, I honestly didn’t think it could work.”

Athena’s owl seemed to narrow its eyes like a hawk at Hesperus, as his own wings fluttered slightly. “It is a bit—” Athena said, “—unorthodox.”

"Mamãe and my step-mom helped,” Olivera said. “And Jerry got all his siblings—plus their parents who have social media followings—to help too. And I’m going to put a painting in the Big House so he doesn’t fade again!”

Athena gave her a small grin.

Alice’s father tugged on the strap of his satchel. “As touching as all of this is, you wouldn’t mind if I borrowed Alice for a moment right?”

Alice froze, and glanced back at her friends, and the gaggle of gods surrounding them. 

“We should probably head out before Urania spots us,” Phainon said quickly, “Right, Eosphorus?”

Eosphorus glanced over his wing; Alice assumed the stage the Muses were performing at was that way, though she couldn’t see it. “Good plan. We have to show Hesperus where we’ve been staying the last eight-hundred years.”

A hand covered Alice’s eyes as they popped away, and it took Alice a moment to realize it had been her father who shielded her. She wasn’t sure what to make of that.

“Go ahead, Hermes,” Athena said. “Olivera has Urania’s symbols to return, so we’ll meet you in the Agora.”

Olivera, slightly dazed, nodded in agreement.

“We’ll come with you, ‘Thena!” Apollo grinned, grabbing his son by the wrist. “Jerry deserves some fun before Will grounds him.”

“Will’s grounding me?” Jerry asked. “I haven’t even been at camp, I couldn’t have done something!”

“The group chat,” Apollo said.

“You’re his father too, can’t you unground me?”

“The repercussions of being an absentee father for four thousand some-odd years is that you lose that kind of authority. Come on, I’ll even let you hold hands with your girlfriend because Will probably won’t let you.”

Jerry huffed, but disentangled himself from his father so he could reach out and grab Olivera’s hand, but he did look cautiously towards the goddess of wisdom, who remained expressionless as she plucked a few loose feathers from her owls wings.

As she watched them walk away, she heard Jerry begin to monologue, “Will’s so dramatic! I told him, it was a minor blip!”

Once they were out of view, Alice became acutely aware that it was just her and her father. She hadn’t even met him before—hadn’t even known he knew her name—and yet, here they were. Alone. Outside a cafe on Olympus.

He dug into his bag and pulled out a few boxes of tic tacs. “So your mouth won’t taste like vomit,” he said, pouring a few on his hand and holding it out. Alice grabbed one and gingerly set it on her tongue, before Father plopped the rest in his.

“Thanks.”

She let the minty flavor fill her mouth, though she was glued to her father’s every move, every awkward shift of weight, and the slight movements in his bag, that Alice assumed was George and Martha.

“So,” Hermes trailed off, “You guys succeeded on your quest. Good job.”

Alice shifted her own weight, not able to find words to reply.

“I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried that—since Luke—”

Alice met his eyes for a second. “That I’d fail?”

“No, no, no,” he backtracked. “I knew you kids could do it.”

“Then, what’s the problem?”

He looked off in the distance, over Alice’s shoulder. “Have I been an okay father?”

Alice pressed her lips together. “I never met you before today.”

He flinched, like Alice’s words hurt him. “I know. I keep trying to schedule time off, but I’m so busy, I can barely breathe. Your siblings and you have been getting my postcards, right?”

Alice nodded. “What about now? You’re not busy now?”

“Oh, I am,” he took out his phone, and she heard George and Martha hiss her greetings from their antenna form, “Iris and Arce are clogging up my inbox, yelling at me. But, when I saw you, I knew I had to stop.”

“Maybe you can deliver the postcards in person?” Alice said. “So, all of us know you better, if that’s what you’re worried about.

Her father sighed. “I’ll try my hardest. I might—”

He was interrupted by his phone ringing.

“You should answer that,” Alice told him.

“I know.” He picked up the line. “Χαῖρε… I’m with my daughter right now, Arce… He’s holding the sky, how does he even have time to write a letter?... Whatever, I’ll send you her address in a couple minutes. Is Atlas’ letter that important?... I thought so… Sayonara.”

“You have mail to deliver?” Alice guessed.

“That was Arce, messenger of the Titans. Atlas apparently wants to send a letter to his daughter, Calypso, but doesn’t have her address since she left Ogygia, so Arce wants me to find it.”

“Ah.”

“Let me walk you to the Agora, to meet up with your friends.”

Alice thought about before the quest, when she saw Jerry hug his father, and the jealousy rushing through her veins. “Can I have a hug, first?”

He wrapped his arms around her. He smelt like crocuses. 

“Let’s go.”

Urania got Calliope to dedicate their concert to their little questing trio, so Alice, Jerry, and Olivera got to stay for the show. Jerry’s older brother, Aristaeus, gave her a few honey sticks that she ate while she listened to the music, tapping along. Jerry somehow convinced the goddesses to play Zero to Hero , which was not something Alice had on her bingo card, but was amazing to watch in person.

Athena’s owl had decided to perch itself on Olivera’s shoulder during the performance, its beak holding her ear defenders in place as she swayed on the outskirts of the crowd, her boyfriends jumping like mad all around her as danced to the music.

“I’m going to drive you three to camp,” Apollo told them after the crowd had started to disperse.

“Wait, Dad!” Aristaeus said, his wife, Autonöe behind him, eating a honey stick like the one Alice had had. “They need some honey and cheese to go!”

“Camp has honey and cheese, honey,” Autonöe said. 

“Not as fresh as mine,” Aristaeus countered. With a flick of his hand, all three of them had their arms filled with cheese wheels and jars of honey. “I don’t need anything in return. I have this catchphrase—”

“It’s always cheddar to give, than to brie-ceive.” Autonöe replied.

“Hopefully, I’ll see you around! I’m gonna get Chiron to let me do a fromology talk at Camp, so I’ll see you then. Come on, Autonöe, we’ve left my babies alone for too long in Wisconsin. Gouda to see you!”

“Why did I accept immortality to stay with you?” Autonöe grumbled under her breath, making Alice chuckle. “Nice to meet you children, and see you, Apollo.”

“See you!” Apollo waited till they were out of sight to turn back to them. “I’ll put those in a bag, then we’ll be off.”

To be honest, Alice was most excited about sleeping in a real bed—followed extremely closely by getting to see Julia again. Quests were exhausting, especially without her favorite sister nearby.