a Queen of Butterflies

Chapter 07: you're just a grumpy old man

I enter the small library alongside Ada and if this is only the small library then I sure as hell want to see what the grand library looks like. I look around and let every part of the library sink in.

"Done staring", Thanatos says from behind us.

"AAGH!"

"Never gets old", he smirks.

"Can you... camouflage yourself?" I ask.

"You are a mortal"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"No it doesn't clever girl", He continues.

"So are you going to answer my question then?" I say it hopefully but  I know what the answer is going to be.

"No"

"I guessed that already", I mumble.

"What?" Thanatos asks feigning surprise.

"O come on Thannie", Ada says. "Thannie!" he interrupts. "Yeah yeah, just shut up. You are a grumpy threethousand year-old man with the hearing of a bat, you heard what she said." 

his lips curl back into a thin smile, "I am, daughter of the messenger god and..." His next words were barely even a whisper, "I'm proud of it." He contnues, "Either way, the others are late so I better go and see what happpened to them." 

He turns around with a military precision, mumbling something about ungrateful godlings and how they could never be on time.

"Why does he enjoy to be such a pain in the ass sometimes?" Ada asks retorically.

"Because he's a boring, dutiful, sarcastic fallus?"

This time Ada is also spooked by the voice calling out from behind us, "Can you just st... Lord Hermes", she sinks down into a curtsy, "my apologies, I thought you were Matt or something."

"To say the Demeter boy is able to sneak up on you like that would be an insult to my amazingness, O great-great-great-great-great-great-"

"We get the point lord Hermes", Ada interrupts, "you are one of my ancestors from a looooooong time ago." 

Hermes grins, "but where exactly is my grumpy little brother in arms? Isn't he supposed to be teaching you at this time?"

"He is", Ada says, "but he's looking for the others, they must've gotten lost or something." 

Hermes cackles, "Oops. I think I may have possibly enchanted some of the corridors in the palace."

I grin too, this god doesn't seem to bad. He has bright violet eyes and spiky black hair and on top of that he seems kind of funny. He's not as grumpy as Thanatos and not as downright scary as Hades.

"And who might you be?" He asks, cocking his head towards me.

"I'm Nola sir", I answer.

"Any idea who your divine ancestor may be?"

"Erm... no, not yet."

The doors open and Hades emerges out of them, "Aha", he lifts one of his eyebrows, "I already thought you were involved in all of this somehow little nephew."

"What do you mean uncle?"Hermes even flutters his eyelashes to try and make himself look more innocent but the ginormous grin carving away at his face makes most of his efforts go to waste.

"Well, Hermes, since I am now in the small library myself and can therefore also deliver all messages that need delivering myself I would like you to fetch Thanatos and the other demigods."

Hermes nods aggressively, "Of course, my king."

"And" Hades continues, "you will fix up the massive mess you've created. Understood?"

"Naturally, my king", Hermes continues, looking a tad bit disappointed.

Then he snaps his long fingers and five people are teleported to us, they fall down in a heap of arms and legs and quickly try to stand up without stepping on top of anyone else, lastly two more people fall down but they manage to not fall on top of everybody else by spreading their wings.

Thanatos, and Cal?!

Cals wings are just as large as Thanatos's but they look like they're made out of pure gold. Their colour makes a sharp contrast against his light ebony skin and I need to blink.

They are unnecessarily bright.

When landing Cal loses his balance and Thanatos quickly grabs one of his wings and gives it a sharp tug to prevent Cal from face planting.

"Better", he mutters, "I'm impressed."

Cal momentarily closes his eyes and his bright, golden wings pull back into his shoulders.

Thanatos looks around and swiftly grabs ahold of Hermes' throat, pinning him against the wall, "Not funny", he spits into his face, then he lets go of Hermes.

Hermes breathes in attempting to say something back to Thanatos but he is quickly interrupted by Hades, "Just go Hermes."

Hermes shoots an angry glance at Thanatos but then walks out of the doors and leaves.

"Do you need us Lord Hades?"

"I don't need you right now", Hades commences, "but I have an announcement to make... and I would like the halfbloods to hear it to", he adds when Thanatos tries to wave us away, "Remember the meetings at winter solstice, where all of the gods from all of the three courts meet up on mount Olympos?"

"The ones the underworld blatantly refused to attend ever since Olympos and Okeanos decided to stop interfering in the mortal world?" Thanatos asks.

"Yes", Hades clarifies, "Those meetings."

"This year", he continues, "my adorable little brother up on Olympos has decided that it's the underworlds turn to host the meeting."

"What?!" Thanatos is clearly shocked, "Zeus can't do that!"

"Yes he can, apparently", Hades adds, "I mean he just did it so yeah."

"Isn't there a way to stop him?" Thanatos questions

"I don't think so, therefore I wan't you and the demigods to focus on recognizing each god as well as making sure they know each gods's powers. I hope I see you during dinner Thanatos. Pleasure to see you all", he adds pointing at us.

Thanatos nods towards Hades and signals us to follow him to some tables in the back of the library.

"Wait Magnolia."

I turn around surprised after hearing Hades call my name, "How do you know that's my real name?" I blurt.

"Oh I just made a wild guess."

Something in the way he looks at me, a small smile tugging the corners of the mouth, makes me believe that that's not quite the case but I'm intrigued no less, "What do you need of me?" It came out more harsh than I intended.

"That's not how you talk to your king Nola", Thanatos warns.

"Oh no problem Than", Hades waves his had dismissively, "I do owe the girl an explanation but not before I made sure my theory is correct."

"What theory", I can feel my agitation rising to the surface.

Hades smirks, "Mortals are always so curious, no patience at all whatsoever."

"Well", I am truly agitated now, "I don't have an eternity like some other... beings currently located in this room."

One of the corners of Hades' mouth lifts into a smile and I can almost feel Thanatos tense behind me.

"Let's hurry up then", he walks out of the room and leaves me to scurry after him.