The Missing Gods

Chapter 17 - We Get Some Regifted Presents

"What do you mean you've been waiting for us?" Annabeth asked as we both stepped into the dining room, our eyes scoping out the enormous amounts of food. I was already salivating at one of the baked potatoes in front of me when Ganymede cleared his throat.

"We'll get to that later," Ganymede said, giving the twins a look and then sitting down primly at the head of the table, looking once again like an angel.

"The twins grinned mischievously and nodded at him. "Whatever you say, boss, wouldn't want to ruin our travelers' meal!" They said in unison. When they came around the table to take a seat I was relieved to see that they were now wearing a tunic-like shift around their conjoined waist, instead of being fully naked. They took up almost three seats, but they did it so smoothly I hadn't even realized they had sat down.

Before I could get too deep into thought about how they went to the bathroom, Ganymede scraped some food into the small brazier next to him, and whispered "strength, my lord." There was a slight sizzle and a small jolt of electricity made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Annabeth and I did the same; I prayed to my dad and hoped he could somehow hear me. The Dioscuri started ravaging the plates in front of them, which I took as our cue to do the same. I was still inhaling some scrambled eggs when Annabeth shifted her attention to the twins.

"So why are you really here?" Annabeth asked, her grey eyes looking at each twin very closely. I leaned back in my chair and suppressed a large belch, still eyeing the cinnamon rolls in front of Ganymede.

He caught my eye and looked like he suppressed a grin. "Perhaps we should speak upstairs," he said, cutting off the twins' reply.

The Dioscuri nodded to him, then stood up at once and left the dining room surprisingly fast, given their interesting anatomical situation. Annabeth and I followed after them, leaving Ganymede last in line as we climbed the spotless marble staircase.

"How do we know we can trust them?" I muttered to Annabeth, sneaking a peak at Ganymede and wondering if they were secretly behind the gods' disappearance. I knew full well the bitterness of these fallen stars thanks to Aegipan, and Ganymede seemed like the likeliest to hold a grudge against Zeus.

"We don't know, Percy. We just have to—" the rest of Annabeth's reply was cut off we rounded the corner and she gasped.

In the center of the room was a table, and on that table was my father's trident, the helm of darkness, and the master bolt. The room crackled with power, as if it were doing everything possible to not explode.

"Why do you have these?" Annabeth asked, her voice calm but I knew she was just as suspicious as I was. Looking from the twins to Ganymede, I placed my hand on Riptide in my pocket.

"I am bound to Zeus, Annabeth Chase, or weren't you listening to my story earlier?" Ganymede replied, his face pinching into an expression I couldn't figure out.

"Why would you even say that?" I asked, "you told us yourself what the gods did to you." My fingers tensing on Riptide. Ganymede shifted his gaze to me, his eyes going through me as if he were looking at someone else.

"You have met Aphrodite, have you not, Jackson? You have met winged Cupid? You have learned their mischievous ways and secretive evils?" Ganymede asked, and suddenly it made sense why he had the items.

"You're trying to save him, aren't you?" I asked quietly. Annabeth walked over to study the items, but I knew she was still listening closely.

Ganymede suddenly seemed very old to me, all one thousand years showing on his face at once, and I was suddenly struck with a deep sadness for him, wondering how he had been a pawn of the gods for so long when I was sick of them after only a few years. I took my hand off Riptide and reached out and grabbed his shoulder, looking him in the eyes and nodding. He looked back at me, his eyes churning with emotion, and nodded gravely back at me, straightening up.

"I will help you, Perseus," he said, a rough edge to his normally smooth voice. A new intensity came to him then, creating a glow that was difficult to look at. I broke eye contact and shifted my eyes to Annabeth, who was studying the helm of darkness with almost a rehearsed air. I wondered how much she heard when Ganymede cleared his throat and I immediately released my grip on his shoulder, becoming embarrassingly aware that the Dioscuri were staring at me, their mouths open in shock.

As Ganymede walked away from me and over to Annabeth, taking the tokens carefully from the table and lowering them into what looked like a Nike duffle bag, I walked over to the twins.

"What?" I said gruffly, trying to keep my face neutral. The twins looked at eachother, then back at me.

"We've never seen Ganymede like this, Jackson," said Castor.

"You need to be careful, Perseus," said Pollux.

"Careful with Ganymede?" I asked, wishing they would spit it out and quit playing with me.

"Remember the prophecy," they said together, their voices lowering into a sad pitch. I was about to ask what the heck they were talking about when they turned and disappeared, almost as if they had vanished through an invisible curtain. I blinked once and then spun around to ask what just happened when Ganymede spoke softly next to Annabeth.

"They do that often. Being the aids of travelers, they have their own unique ways of travelling. They are quite the curious pair, aren't they?" He asked, the corner of his lips turning up into a slight smile.

"Yeah, if 'curious' is the word you want to use," I said, thinking of several other phrases that could fit. Ganymede's lips twitched and he strode out of the room still carrying the Nike bag, leaving Annabeth and I trailing after him.

"Your room is here," Ganymede said, opening a pair of ornate double doors that probably cost more than my mom's apartment. Annabeth smiled at him and went in with zero hesitation, most likely beating me to the shower.

I fought back a yawn at the thought of sleeping as Ganymede descended down the stairs with the bag, leaving me standing by the doors feeling as though I'd learned both nothing and too much in the last few hours. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, Annabeth already snoring quietly beside me.