The Fate of Olympus | Reynabeth [✓]

17. Sulis Minerva, Vengeful Mother

syncretism: reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in religion, especially when the result is heterogeneous, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths.
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They walked through Wellesley, looking for signs of Norse magical activity. Suddenly Annabeth grabbed Reyna by the hand. She pointed with excitement. "Look, Reyna! A library!"

The building was a red-brick, two-story square building. whose otherwise strict symmetry was broken by a round alcove on one corner of the building. The gracefully curved pathways created visual interest while allowing patrons to take the quickest possible route from the parking lot to the building. Trees lined the north-eastern wall; Annabeth knew that the trees provided both privacy and beauty. The library's architecture sang in harmony with both form and functionality.

Reyna rolled her eyes. "How exciting."

"Come on, I wanna write something down," Annabeth said. She pulled a reluctant Reyna into the public library and sat them down at a table. Annabeth started writing her thoughts down, which were probably misspelled and disorganized, but she didn't care. Sappho had given Annabeth a lot to think about. By the time she finished writing, it was early evening. Annabeth condensed her notes into a short pamphlet for Reyna.

Reyna was clearly bored with the library. She had started to play with Annabeth's phone. She didn't play games or anything on it, since monsters could use it to track them, but she did spin it around with the screen off. She studied the reflection of the phone on the library's ceiling.

"Thanks for waiting for me," said Annabeth with gratitude. She really meant it; she hadn't expected Reyna to just hang out in the same room as Annabeth all evening.

Reyna read Annabeth's pamphlet, which was a nice gesture considering that they were both ADHD and dyslexic.

"This is good stuff," said Reyna. "The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with you, you know? Maybe you should send a pamphlet to camp. I think they'd like it."

Annabeth was flattered. "Why thanks, Reyna."

They left the library. The evening air was cool, so they pulled on matching silver jackets from the Hunters of Artemis.

Reyna and Annabeth walked around the town of Wellesley. They started chatting about Norse mythology. Honestly, Annabeth was glad to get her mind off the quest.

Annabeth looked at the setting sun reflecting light off Reyna's dark hair. Annabeth imagined how nice it would be to hold hands with her.

They walked around town for a long time, looking for a place to spend the night, but it was a residential area and most of the tricks Annabeth had learned as a kid roaming the East Coast by herself weren't particularly helpful. They found an alley full of ivy. They found a freeway overpass. They found a brook that snaked behind people's houses.

Annabeth found an old glass bottle in a heap of trash. She slipped her pamphlet into the bottle, said a prayer, and dropped it into the creek. She knew it would find Camp Half-Blood in time.

They sat at the river bank together underneath a tree and stared at the water.

"Remember when I braided your hair?" Reyna asked out of nowhere.

"Gods, that was so long ago," said Annabeth. "I feel like a different person now."

"You are a different person now. It's a good thing."

Annabeth searched Reyna's expression for a sign of what she meant.

"I mean you're a better person than when we met."

"Thank you. You've grown up too."

They watched the sun sink below the trees.

"Well," said Reyna. She pulled a silver hairbrush out from the Hunters of Artemis bag. "We can't let all the Aphrodite girls have all the fun. May I?"

Annabeth smiled as Reyna brushed her hair without pulling once. Once her hair was untangled, Reyna added braids that pulled Annabeth's unruly hair from her eyes. Reyna was good at working with hair. Annabeth felt her entire body relax.

"That's nice," said Reyna, surveying her work. "You look nice."

"I always look nice."

"Yes, ma'am."

The brook rippled.

A woman emerged from the water. She had blue skin and a life-radiating, motherly aura that filled Annabeth with warmth and acceptance. Annabeth couldn't say she even felt surprised that a blue woman hovered an inch above the water.

"Sorry, is this your brook?" asked Annabeth. "I didn't mean to litter by putting bottles in it."

"I read your parchment," said the blue woman. "It isn't a curse. Usually people ask me to curse others as divine retribution for theft."

"Uh, no thanks," said Annabeth. "I just want it delivered."

Reyna stepped in front of Annabeth. "Thank you for the offer, but we need to leave."

"Sorry for startling you," said the goddess. "I mean you no harm. I'm Sulis."

"Sulis?" said Annabeth, thinking back to her Comparative Mythologies course. "You're a Briton god. The native British used to worship you before the Anglo-Saxon invasion."

"Yes," said the goddess. She nodded at Reyna. "Then the Romans came and I was syncretized with Minerva."

"You're Roman?" asked Reyna. "You're pretty far away from San Francisco."

"The Roman empire was vast. This is my home now."

Annabeth focused very hard on the goddess, purposely allowing the Mist to warp her perception. She saw Sulis Minerva, a combination of the two gods, both Briton and Roman, a blue woman with long hair that swayed like she was underwater. Her piercing gray eyes stared back at Annabeth. More Mist clouded her vision, and she could almost see Minerva. When Annabeth stopped focusing, she allowed the Mist to warp her perception completely and she saw what mortals would see: just a babbling brook with some trash nearby. The feeling of letting the Mist change her vision hurt her head, like she was crossing her eyes.

"I have a warning for Annabeth," said Sulis Minerva. "I foresaw a part of your journey. You have the option of escaping from trickery and artifice. That's the gift your mother gave to you."

"Thank you for the gift," said Annabeth. "Um, mom."

The woman smiled toward Reyna. "My sweet child. If you put love into the world, love will return to you. This was my most important lesson I learned as a mother."

Her body turned into water and spilled into the brook without making a splash.

"I love you," said Reyna.

Annabeth turned to Reyna with her eyebrows furrowed. Was Reyna talking to her? "Huh?"

"Just kidding. Geez, don't take everything so literally."

Annabeth's heart fell. "Oh."

"Let's get out of here," said Reyna. She took Annabeth by the hand and led her away from the brook. Annabeth was glad for the escape.

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A/N:

Sulis Minerva was a real Romano-British goddess in Bath, UK.

People really did write to her in Latin, asking for justice over stolen items. Over 100 tablets have been excavated. Sulis still has modern-day worshippers in the Wiccan and pagan communities.

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