I cradled the cloud that spun in my hand.
It was a medium shade of gray and spiraled in a way reminiscent of hurricanes. Little sprinkles of water wet my hand as I held it steady. The storm guide was spinning continuously (if unsteady) and aiding the cloud in spinning.
I was all but vibrating as I strained to focus on the proper movement of the mini-cloud and rain and the storm guide. It was an exercise in multiple points of focus and made my head hurt but it was so satisfying.
The cloud was raining.
I'd made a little storm.
A grin stretched across my lips as my chest lightened.
I could make a storm!
"Excellent! That's exactly how it should start."
I beamed up at Kymopoleia as she leaned over me to study the cloud.
"Good job, Perseus."
"Havu! I was beginning to worry I couldn't do it at all but I got it to work!"
She laughed, "Storms aren't easy to make but you did well. We'll get to making more complicated ones and larger ones soon but for now I say we celebrate!"
The storm guide fell over and the cloud dissipated as my attention was drawn away, so I reluctantly put it away.
"Celebrate? What are we gonna do?"
She hummed, tapping her chin.
"What are things land dwellers do to celebrate?"
I faltered, "Uh… well mom would normally take me to get some fast food… some go to fancier places? I know kids at school have parties at places like Monkey Joes or Chuck E Cheese…"
"Monkey Joes? Chuck E Cheese?"
"They're play places! Monkey Joes is a bouncy place I think, and Chuck E Cheese has a lot of fun games and prizes… we've never really had a chance to go to them, but I've heard of them."
Kymopoleia considered for a moment, "Well, if we're gonna celebrate the land way then we should go to a land place. Chuck E Cheese it is!"
"Really!?" I asked, all but vibrating.
"Yep, it's important to have the full land dweller experience. Do they have food?"
I nodded quickly, "On the ads on TV they do."
"Perfect," She grinned at me. "Then let's get going."
Between one breath and the next we changed locations. The beach was replaced with a parking lot and a large building with a humanized mouse on the front.
"Let's get to celebrating!"
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
Chuck E Cheese was a lot of fun. I'd never gotten to play most of the games before and Kymopoleia bought hundreds of coins, so I got to play everything!
The game where you had to move your finger really quickly to get through the maze was probably the best there because of how many tickets you could get if you managed it.
Kymopoleia and me were sitting and eating pizza and wings while going over the prizes. She was treating the prizes with the utmost seriousness.
I sipped my sprite and studied the prizes hanging on the wall.
"I like the fish," I said. "It's blue and red like your hair."
I tugged at my own blue hair with a frown. "I wish I had multi-colored hair like you."
She preened, "Aw, I like the blue… but multi-colored hair is superior. Why don't you just dye it?"
I sulked, "I need someone else to help, and Samoa has declared that she won't help again cause my mom wasn't happy I did it last time."
"Hmm… well you know… it's always better to ask forgiveness than permission."
I blinked, "But then don't you get in trouble?"
She shook her head with a grin, "Nope! They didn't say you couldn't do it so therefore it's perfectly fine."
I considered, "Okay but I still need someone to help me dye it so…"
She pat my head, "Don't worry soha tatu, I'm here to help."
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
"And… There!" she chirped as she finished scrubbing the excess dye out.
Unlike land dye, the sea dye strengthens its color in water, so I had to keep my hair underwater the whole time. Kymopoleia had to scrub all the excess dye out once it had been absorbed into my hair.
"I think going for three colors was definitely the best plan. The green and purple with the blue look amazing."
"Thanks," I said as I pulled my hair out of the water and dried it with a thought.
Kymopoleia put a mirror in front of me and I couldn't help but brighten at my reflection.
Dark purple faded to cobalt blue which faded to seafoam green. It looked perfect.
"I love it! And it blends so smoothly…"
"I am the best you know."
I beamed up at her, "Thank you for helping me dye my hair."
"Anytime, now let's get you home before someone notices you're gone."
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
"Percy…" my mom sighed. "You dyed your hair… again."
I nodded, feeling sheepish when faced with the frown on her face.
"Yeah… Kymopoleia helped me dye it. Now it's multiple colors, like hers!"
"Percy, I don't mind you dying your hair… but please… Tell me before you do it."
I blinked and ducked my head, "Oh… sorry mom…"
She ruffled my hair, "It's okay. Just don't do it again sweetie."
I nodded, "Yes mom… do you like it?"
"It's lovely. I like the shade of green you picked."
"Thanks!"
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
"Oh my stars, you re-dyed your hair," Zoey squealed. "And it's mermaid hair!"
"Mermaid hair?" I wondered.
"That's what that color combo is called, the purple and blue and green. It looks so pretty, I'm jealous."
I flushed. "Thank you."
I didn't realize it was called mermaid hair, but it was rather fitting. Triton would probably find it hilarious.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I swished my tails as I sat next to Rhodos. She was showing me how to make suncatchers that worked in the sea.
I'd mentioned to Triton that I wanted to make some for the next summer solstice and he'd sent me to Rhodos to learn how to make proper sea ones. It was actually really relaxing. She reminded me of my mom a bit.
Making sun catchers on land was simple enough. You could add little glittering bits almost randomly. But in the ocean, you had to work harder to catch the sun rays that filtered down. It meant that I needed to know how to position the different glass shards and other glittering bits to maximize the light caught.
Plus, apparently the ocean used them for magical and worship purposes, and I was very interested in learning about that.
"Once you finish threading the string through the center you'll need to slip these shards on like this-" she demonstrated the method of sliding the glass shard on.
"Wow, you know a lot about making suncatchers. I don't really see a lot of them in the ocean."
She smiled softly, "I'm married to Helios, so I should hope I know how to make suncatchers."
I perked up, "I'd read about that! But Helios went missing, didn't He?"
There was a long moment of silence as she organized the glass shards and string, her gaze distant.
"Helios… both he and his sister went missing a long time ago, during the rule of Rome. They're sleeping you see."
I nodded, "And now Apollo and Artemis handle the chariots?"
"They do an excellent job of it as well."
"What's he like? Helios, I mean."
She smiled softly down at the suncatcher.
"He's stern and strong, but very loving, especially to his family. He was always kind to me and we used to do a lot of outings together. My island always got special attention from his sun chariot."
I studied her as she slipped the next shard on and showed me how to wrap the string.
"Do you miss him?"
"… I do," She sighed. "But he'll wake one day, and I'll be able to see him again."
I hummed and tried to copy her motion with the string.
"I'm sorry that he fell asleep," I said. "I hope he wakes up soon and you can see him again."
Her gaze lingered on me, "Thank you, Perseus."
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
"Alright!" Zoey cheered. "Time for us to binge watch all of Avatar the Last Airbender to prepare for Legend of Korra coming out!"
I laughed, laying comfortably on the couch.
"I don't think we can get through it all at once," Nikola drawled. "It might take a few days."
"Don't be ridiculous," Zoey said. "We're not leaving till the show is over."
Kai slowly raised his hand, "What about food?"
"We have plenty!"
Zoey looked very determined with her hands on her hips and fierce smirk on her face.
"Now then, are you ready to start the marathon?"
Acantha and Klara nodded, and Tyson cheered.
I laughed as my friends settled into their seats. Tyson was a comforting presence beside me as the others started chatting and the show began.
I'd never had friends like this, ones I could just sit with and relax while watching a show. Maybe in the ocean I'd be able to if I spent more time there, but I lived on land and my friends were of land too.
It was nice.
"Wait he was just sealed in an ice berg? How is he alive?"
"Magic"
"HoW dOeS tHaT wOrK?"
I focused on the show and leaned against Tyson and smiled.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
I nibbled on the cheez-its as I flipped through the mythology book. Ran, my lovely glass sleep serpent, was sitting on my head, a small weight settled in my hair.
It was one on the beginning of things, by Hesiod. Well, beginning of things as in it talked about Kronos. Technically it talked about a lot of things, but I was focusing on the Kronos bits.
I knew what the camp said about him.
He was irredeemably evil.
He killed without hesitation.
He would eat humans just as readily as his own kids.
Now though, now I was learning what the myths said about him.
Hesiod wasn't the only one to talk about him, but he had the most information I could find in one place, which was what I needed to actually start figuring things out.
It was really interesting to read, if really dense.
Hesiod's discussion of their birth and the fall of Ouranos was interesting. It was definitely Gaea that had them do it.
The lines were strange and didn't match up exactly to the dream I'd had, but the spirit was similar.
Gaea angry and protective, threatening her children to act to stop Ouranos. Okeanus refusing. Kronos protecting him.
The myths only spoke of the conversation briefly, which I supposed made sense since they wouldn't have been there.
And she [Gaea] spoke, cheering them, while she was vexed in her dear heart
I chewed on the cheeze-its as I considered. Did her being vexed in her heart mean mean she was upset with the Titans? Or just with Ouranos? Or both? A lot of the lines could mean several things and I wasn't sure how to understand them.
And of course, the parts about him eating his kids… those were interesting. Hesiod said he learned from Gaea and Ouranos that his son would overcome him.
I already knew about him eating his kids, that was a constant in the myths… but some of the stuff was newer.
I'd been vaguely aware that Rhea had sought out Gaea for aid, but apparently, she'd also asked Ouranos for aid and then received it.
Though the myth didn't say what Ouranos may have done, Gaea did a lot to help get Zeus away.
I frowned as I studied the lines, trying to pick apart any second meaning. The line about Zeus freeing the Hekatonkheires and the Kyklopes was interesting… it said Kronos had bound them. That meant Kronos had freed them at some point because earlier that was listed as the reason Gaea betrayed Ouranos.
I wondered on that, when did he re-imprison his siblings? Why did he do that? It even called it foolish!
And he [Zeus] set free from their deadly bonds the brothers of his father, sons of Ouranos [the Hekatonkheires and Kyklopes] whom his father in his foolishness had bound.
Even the myths said Kronos was acting dumb, so why would he do it?
My tutor said he lost himself…
It reminded me of the strange dream I'd had awhile ago. Kronos was there, so was Hestia… I thought… something had changed. Something… shifted.
What happened to him?
I shook my head and flipped through to find the next mention of Kronos.
His time ruling…
It did match what I'd learned from my tutor, about the golden age. Also sounded really cool.
And they lived like gods without sorrow of heart, remote and free from toil and grief: miserable age rested not on them; but with legs and arms never failing they made merry with feasting beyond the reach of all evils.
That sounded like a decent life. Why did the camp say Kronos ate humans? This didn't sound like eating humans.
It was so confusing.
Everyone seemed to be saying different things, from the camp to my tutor to my dreams to the actual myths… nothing lined up right.
What was the truth?
I chewed on my snack as I reread the lines.
A few things did seem to line up at least.
Kronos went crazy and ate his kids, everyone said that.
He imprisoned his siblings, the Hekatonkheires and the Kyklopes. That implied that he freed them at some point.
The camp didn't actually say anything about the Hekatonkheires but they did say that the Gods freed the Kyklopes from Kronos' imprisonment, which kinda meant that Kronos had to have freed them to imprison them… probably.
So he probably spent at least some time sane.
The myths and my tutor both said that he was actually good for a while, it was known as the Golden Age for a reason.
But the why of him going crazy… I mean other than the prophecy obviously. But he just changed in the dream, like someone flipped a switch. What was that?
What could change a Titan in an instant like that?
I was confused. Things didn't line up and the myths didn't clarify nearly as much as I'd hoped.
I groaned and dropped my head against the book.
Why were the myths so complicated? I just wanted to know what to think of my Metani.
This would take more research.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
My tutor's lesson on curses was fascinating. I'd been asking for curse lessons for awhile at this point, to help figure out how to break Carl's.
While my tutor wasn't a curse breaker, she was well informed on the history of… basically everything, and that included curses. So she was more than able to tell me about curse breaking and how it'd grown over the years.
Curses were fundamentally different from enchantments or other spells. It was why Alabaster had been talking about turning normal spells into curses to make them harder to break.
Spells could latch onto things, they could impress on something and effect it. There were spells that changed the nature of an object, but it was fine cause it went along with it.
Spells didn't necessarily go against the will of whatever the target was, it worked with their will. It was harder to cast spells on unwilling targets, if they resisted the spell could easily shatter.
But curses were meant to put your own will on top of the target.
This could be done through the four main methods I'd learned about in my reading, woven, layered, twisted, and overwhelming. All had different advantages and disadvantages.
Unlike with spells, which could be thrown off if you knew about the spell and how to resist, curses required skill to counter. And taking them off required knowing how the curse was laid.
It was complicated and took a lot of careful work.
My tutor did explain that they could be countered when being laid though. In fact, if possible that was the best time to do so. Once a curse was settled on it's target it was a lot harder to remove, especially if placed on yourself.
She'd given me a book explaining different methods of countering curses being placed on you and said that if I understood the theory then she'd talk to my Metua about getting practice in on that.
It was pretty cool to learn though. Curses evolved a lot of the years. Originally, they were all just raw power forcing the target to bend to the will of the caster, but eventually they grew to delicate weaves and twisting threads and layered power. They grew difficult and complex and dangerous for more than just those with a lot of raw power.
Enchantments grew out of curses too. They were similar in the ways they could be laid, except they worked on objects without their own will exclusively.
Blessings were always an anti-thesis to curses though. They worked best when the target was willing and they worked with the targets will. It was a very clearly defined difference and made blessings infinitely more difficult to remove than curses.
The one cursed rarely wants it there and therefore will work with a curse breaker even if only subconsciously. Someone blessed though, that was a whole different matter. The blessing went with them, with their will. Removing it meant challenging both the original casters spell work and intent, but also the will of the one holding the blessing.
It was very hard to remove a blessing.
Blessings were also less common, at least long-lasting ones. The only one known in the human myths was the Alkyonides. Amphitrite blessed them with the form of kingfishers when they'd thrown themselves from a cliff in grief. They were apparently still alive.
There were a lot more curses known though one stood out to me the most.
Skylla, one of the two sea terrors of the Odyssey.
Of course, it wasn't the Greek Skylla that was cursed, that one was naturally born as a terror just as Khyrbdis was. But the Roman Skylla… well she was cursed.
Kirke, a very dangerous sea witch, cursed her into the being she is now.
It was difficult to keep track of the differences and how they overlap but my tutor insisted that it was important to know the differences between Greek and Roman. She gave me a whole lecture on it even.
The Gods and monsters were intertwined and connected, but equally were not the same things. The monsters tended to split or merge as beliefs shifted. The two Skyllas now one, but the Medusa's and gorgons split.
I was pretty sure the Medusa I met was the Roman one, cause she didn't like Athena or Poseidon and the Greek one would have no reason to hate either.
I studied my notes thoughtfully. Kirke was extremely dangerous apparently, excelled at transformation curses in both the Roman and the Greek history.
Transformation curses like the one Carl suffered from.
He'd been awfully quiet that whole lesson…
I never did learn how he got cursed, though I was pretty sure it had something to do with spas, maps, and coins.
But the myths don't say anything about a spa for Kirke, and certainly has nothing with maps or coins.
Plus, Kirke turned men into pigs, not guinea pigs.
I shook my head, Carl would tell me one day how he got cursed. It was probably very traumatic.
OO OO OO OO OO
I was playing with Hippolyta and Carl in my room while I waited for my friends to arrive. We were gonna be celebrating Dionysia! But they weren't arriving for awhile yet so I was having fun.
Carl was swimming in the trails of water I was holding in place. He didn't particularly like being moved around but humored me making him paths since it helped with fine control.
Lyta was moving around thanks to the charm Triton got me though. It was really cool for her to be able to wander around as long as I had the charm active.
Lyta curled against my neck, her favorite resting place, with a thrum of satisfaction.
I was just designing a waterslide for Carl when I heard my mom answering the door.
"Percy, your friends are here."
A flick of my wrist had the water back where it should be and Carl safely deposited in his tank.
I gently scooped up Lyta and dipped her back into her tank, despite her annoyance at that. She wanted to play more.
My door opened barely a second later to let Zoey bounce in.
"Percy! Happy Dionysia!"
That was close.
"Happy Dionysia, Zoey."
"It's so nice to celebrate with others-" she cut herself off staring wide eyed to my left. "Is that an octopus!?"
I faltered, "Er… that's Hippolyta."
"Oh my stars you have an octopus- Nikola! Nikola look he has an octopus!"
Nikola leaned in and blinked.
"Huh… that he does."
"It is a pretty octopus," Tyson chimed in.
I fiddled with my bracelet, "Ah, thanks. My brother got her for me for my birthday."
"That's so unfair," Zoey whined. "I can't even convince my mom to get me a goldfish, much less an octopus."
I very carefully did not point out Carl.
"Okay," Nikola started. "Octopus aside-"
"Is she as smart as they say octopus are?"
"Yeah, most octopi are pretty smart and she's a coconut octopus which are considered very intelligent."
"That's so cool."
Nikola shook his head with a small smile, "We need to get going if we're gonna make it to the poetry slam."
Zoey tore her gaze away from Hippolyta reluctantly. "Oh alright. But can we play with Hippolyta later?"
Tyson and Zoey both turned pleading looks on me and I caved.
"As long as you're careful. She can't stay out of the water, but she has some games she likes to play so I'll show you them."
Zoey beamed, and Tyson cheered.
Nikola snickered. "Ready then?"
"Time for poetry," Zoey chirped. "Then dinner and libations and then musical binge watching!"
"I have never seen a musical," Tyson mumbled. "I am excited."
"This is gonna be a blast!"
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
"And then I managed to convince my dad to watch a musical with me! It was really fun, even if his wife wouldn't let me cook the food I wanted to offer."
"That sucks," I said as I scribbled out the answer Annabeth had explained to me a minute ago. "But at least you got to watch a musical for Dionysia, that's better than nothing. Which one did you watch?"
"The sound of music, and I did manage to buy some stuff to offer discreetly though I had to share it with them. I don't really like sharing the food with Them for offerings, I mean that's perfectly fine to do but I just feel more connected when doing a separate offering? But with my dad's wife won't let me do that."
I winced, "Your dad's wife doesn't seem to be doing any better. How about your dad?"
She paused in her own homework.
"He's… alright. Not like his wife, he doesn't mind me using the kitchen when she's gone. But… he's at work a lot and when he's home she always talks him around to her decisions. Says I can celebrate my 'pagan stuff' at camp but at home we're Christian."
I winced, "That's no fun."
"Yeah… dad doesn't stop me from doing things, but he doesn't help me either. He just tends to go along with his wife on all that."
"Will you be staying the rest of the year?"
She chewed her lip. "I don't know. I've been… I've been having strange dreams."
I blinked, "Dreams?"
"Something about camp. It's hard to figure out but I don't know. I'm a bit worried."
"Have you IMed camp?"
She shook her head, "I don't want to worry my siblings. I know Malcolm has a plan to kidnap me if I'm uncomfortable."
"Would that be so bad?" I wondered.
She looked away, "I… I want to give my dad a chance and… I dunno, I need space from camp for a bit."
I nodded, "Okay. Well if you leave early you can stay at my apartment until things calm down."
She brightened, "Really?"
I nodded and smiled at her happy look.
She's been having a rough time of it and I didn't like it. Hopefully I could offer some comfort with our convos.
But back onto the point of the call…
"So When did the Siege of Vicksburg end again?"
"It ended on the Fourth of July," Annabeth shook her head with a teasing smile. "Honestly that's the easiest of the dates."
I pouted, "I'm bad with dates."
"Mood."
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
Grover POV
I crept slowly through the underbrush, watching the building that the puppy was leading me too.
There'd been rumors amongst a lot of animals in the area of an animal trafficking group here and I'd promised to try to help.
I studied the building. It didn't seem all that secure. I mean, there were locks but I knew how to pick locks thanks to my time with Luke.
I checked the position of the moon (a thin crescent) and decided if I was gonna break the animals out, now was the time.
I pulled out my pipes and started playing.
OO OO OO OO
There was a lot of screaming and screeching and snarls and barking as I fled with a herd of assorted animals.
The building behind me was on fire and the animals were in a bit of chaos, but they were free from the poachers which was a vast improvement. Now I just needed to get them organized and to a safer location and everything would be fixed!
OO OO OO OO
By Khaos that was… chaos. Took forever to sort them all out but the animals were safe and in new homes. I'd added a blessing to all of them as well, which took even longer and exhausted me.
Hopefully they'd all stay safe, but now it was time to get back to finding Pan!
OO OO OO OO OO OO
I leaned over the library computer with my lotus hotel card in hand.
I'd heard about a protest to save water from being pulled out by big companies (which were causing all kinds of issues with it!). A bunch of people were buying up the right to pump a bunch of water, and then not actually pumping it. They just used it to stop others from pumping it and hurting the environment.
I could get behind that.
And I had the funds to get behind that.
I grinned as I filled out my sixth application under a new identity.
OO OO OO OO OO OO OO
"Here's some more soap," said another volunteer cheerfully.
I nodded in thanks as I started cleaning another oil covered bird.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was still being cleaned up, but things were much better than before. That wasn't saying much though.
Lots of animals were still sick and dirty and oil covered and I was volunteering to help clean them up.
I wondered if Percy had done anything like this, but from the ocean side. What was the ocean doing to clean this up? Were they the reason some things were being cleaned faster than predicted? What about that new algae eating the oil?
There was so much else in the Godly world I'd never known about despite living in it. I wanted to know what the merfolk did to protect the ocean too. Maybe Percy would tell me about it if I asked.
"Hey, we have a difficult one over here, could you take him?"
I perked up, "Yeah no prob!"
I needed to save thoughts on ocean preservation for when I wasn't working with animals haha.
OO OO OO OO OO OO
I frowned at the cave entrance in the forest.
It felt kinda naturey… but there was no way that Pan would be underground. Satyrs hate the underground.
There would be no sun or plants! He couldn't live down there.
I shook my head. Pan is near, I can feel it, but he's not there. That wouldn't fit with anything we know about him.
If he were underground surely someone would've noticed. Plenty of nature spirits have power underground. He'd be found then.
I moved on, searching for the cause of the overwhelming nature feel.
OO OO OO OO OO OO
I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
I had to be dreaming.
Woolly mammoth's were extinct.
What was one doing in Florida?
Was it- was it a sign from Pan?
I stared at the woolly mammoth. It was only a bit over two feet tall and very fluffy. I slowly moved closer.
It peered at me before making a small yowling noise that sounded almost like a groan before trodding closer and nudging my hand.
I melted.
It was so cute, so precious. It was so small. I had to take care of it. It was a sign from Pan, a blessing.
I would protect it.
But first… it… I studied it… he needed a name.
Hmm, what kind of name was good for a being that would get massive when it grew up.
My mind drifted to different things before falling onto Percy's favorite show.
That had a flying bison, which wasn't at all the same as a woolly mammoth, but it was a supposedly extinct creature and very large…
What was it's name again?
Ugh, I couldn't remember. There was Aang, Sokka, Katara… the flying bison… it was white a flew-
My face lit up.
Momo!