Poseidon's Daughter

Chapter 38

"You can't leave if I hold you prisoner in my arms. As the princess of the sea, I command you to stay," I tell him in my most serious voice.

"So which is it, Oh mighty princess of the sea? Am I a prisoner or a subject then?" he replies amused.

"The answer is whichever one gets you to stay longer," I tell him.

He bends down to eye level, looking very sympathetic, "I can stay a minute longer, but no more. Your friend, the Satyr, is on his way."

I smile at him, "Thanks Triton."

The moment he left, there was a knock on the door. Opening it up, showing the worried face of Grover.

"Mr D wants to see you," he says.

"Very well, let's go."


"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."

I waited...

"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."

A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.

"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.

Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.

"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.

"Nonsense," Dionysus said. "The girl wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."

"Mr. D—" Chiron warned.

Please, if he does that, my father will turn him into a crap. Dionysus, Party god of the crabs. I snicker at my thoughts, and everyone in the room looks at me like I'm crazy.

"Why are you laughing Runa Johnson? I'll turn you into a dolphin," Dionysus says and I stop snickering, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Uh, I just thought of something funny. Sorry sir," I say, looking down.

"And what is so funny?" he says, sounding really threatening.

"I was thinking of all the tricks I could pull on people if I were a dolphin," I say quickly.

"I'm going to Olympus, if you are still here when I arrive, I'll make sure you can do all those tricks to the people you thought of," he says. How can such a boring looking guy, look so intimidating?

He disappeared and Chiron turned to me.

"Rhea, be careful what you say and do in front of the gods. They are not very forgiving," he says, scolding me.

"I can see that, I'll try my best," I reply. I don't think I'll be able to control myself when gods are being assholes. But Chiron doesn't need to know that.

"Rhea, what do you think of the Hellhound?" He asks.

"It scared me," I said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."

"You'll meet worse, Rhea. Far worse, before you're done."

"Done ... with what?" I ask.

"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"

I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers.

"Um, sir," I said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."

Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details."
Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.

"Poseidon and Zeus," I said, looking at the stormy sky outside. "They're fighting over Zeus's bolt."