Cibophobia: Fear of Food
Aurelia hated feeling helpless.
Her entire childhood, she forced herself to be a beacon of hope and stability for everyone around her—Martina specifically. She suffered through the pain of shouldering the fear, and taught herself to never externalize it. There were many times when her mother would wake up screaming from flashbacks of Iraq, and Aurelia would be the one to calm her down.
Aurelia's whole life was just a never ending cycle of traumatic events. She had built up a wall around herself to keep herself in control of her emotions, and the emotions around her. It was a wall that not even Reyna and Jason were completely able to climb.
But as Aurelia and Hazel supported the weight of a shivering, shell-shocked Percy, Aurelia truly felt like that little girl in Puerto Rico who got awoken at night by her mother incessantly screaming and pleading for her life to end. That was a time where all she could do was take away the fear, and even then it didn't truly help. And now she could influence Percy's emotions to try and calm him down, yet there was no memory to latch onto or remove. Aurelia felt helpless.
And it didn't help that Frank was feeling a similar feeling of uselessness and Hazel's emotions were a nervous wreck as well.
As they got closer to the convenience store, Aurelia realized there was a chance that the rainbow light may return and vaporize them. Now that would be a pathetic way to go. Death by rainbow. Hylla would laugh at her.
Thankfully, the building stayed dark. The snakes Polybotes had dropped seemed to have vanished. They were twenty yards from the porch when something hissed in the green grass behind them.
"Go!" Frank yelled.
Percy stumbled and Aurelia tugged at his arm just to keep him from falling to his knees. Frank knocked an arrow behind her, as Hazel tried to keep Percy standing as well.
Frank blindly shot an arrow. A flare arrow, of all things, which illuminated the monster. Sitting in a patch of withered yellow grass was a lime-colored snake. Its head was ringed with a mane of spiky white fins. The creature stared at Frank's arrow as it zipped past.
Then it fixed its large yellow eyes on Frank. Aurelia forced herself to look away, and to keep climbing up the hill to the convenience store. A new shadow crept onto Aurelia's neck as she felt Frank's fear.
"Frank!" Hazel yelled. "Come on!"
Aurelia turned just in time to see Frank swing his bow at the incoming serpent. He smacked the monster down the hill, and it spun out of sight with a wail. The wood of Frank's bow crumbled to dust.
"We'll never get out here," Frank said, miserably as he climbed up to join them.
"Then, we'd better go in." Hazel pointed to the hand painted sign over the door: RAINBOW ORGANIC FOOD & LIFESTYLES. It was weird, but it was better than poisonous snakes, so they went inside.
As they stepped through the door, lights came on. Flute music started up like they'd walked on a stage. The wide aisles were lined with bins and nuts and dried fruit, baskets of apples and clothing racks with tie-dyed shirts and gauzy Tinker Bell-type dresses. The ceiling was covered in wind chimes. Along the walls, glass cases displayed crystal balls, geodes, macrame dream catchers and a bunch of other strange stuff. Incense must have been burning somewhere. It smelled like a bouquet of flowers was on fire.
"Fortune teller's shop?" Frank wondered aloud.
"Because that would be helpful," Aurelia deadpanned.
Percy leaned against her. He looked like he had been hit with a sudden flu. His face glistened with sweat. "Sit down ..." he muttered. "Maybe water." At least he was coherent enough to form sentences.
"Yeah," Frank said. "Let's find you a place to rest."
The floorboards creaked under their feet. Frank stood between two Neptune statue fountains when a girl popped up from behind the granola bins. "Help you?"
Frank lurched backward, knocking over one of the fountains. A stone Neptune crashed to the floor. The sea god's head rolled off and water spewed out of his neck, spraying a rack of tie-dyed man satchels. "Sorry!" Frank bent down to clean up the mess. He almost goosed the girl with his spear in the process."
"Eek!" she yelped. "Hold it! It's okay!"
Other than the slight widening of her eyes at the chaos, Aurelia's face managed to stay blank. The same couldn't be said for Hazel, who was mortified, and Percy who was turning a sickly shade of green as he stared at the depicted statue of his father.
The girl clapped her hands. The fountain dissolved into mist. The water evaporated. She turned to Frank. "Really, it's no problem. Those Neptune fountains are so grumpy looking, they bum me out."
The girl was short and muscular, with lace up boots, cargo shorts, and a bright yellow T-shirt that read R.O.F.L Rainbow Organic Foods and Lifestyles. She looked young, but her hair was frizzy white, sticking out on either side of her head like the white of a giant fried egg. Her irises were distracting—constantly changing color from gray to black to white and over again.
"Uh ... sorry about the fountains," Frank apologized. "We were just—"
"Oh, I know!" the girl chirped. "You want to browse. It's all right. Demigods are welcome. Take your time. You're not like those awful monsters. They just want to use the restroom and never buy anything." She snorted—her eyes flashed with lightning. Aurelia thought hse imagined it but she felt the shock go through Frank and Hazel as well.
From the back of the store, a woman's voice called: "Fleecy? Don't scare the customers, now. Bring them here, will you?"
"Your name is Fleecy?" Hazel asked.
Fleecy giggled. "Well, in the language of the nebulae it's actually—" She made a series of crackling and blowing noises that resembled a thunderstorm giving way to a nice cold front. "But you can call me Fleecy."
"Nebulae ..." Percy muttered in a daze. "Cloud nymphs."
Fleecy beamed. "Oh, I like this one! Usually no one knows about cloud nymphs. But dear me, he doesn't look good. Come to the back. My boss wants to meet you. We'll get your friend fixed up."
Fleecy led them through the produce aisle, between rows of eggplants, kiwis, lotus fruit, and pomegranates. At the back of the store, behind a counter with an old-fashioned cash register, stood a middle aged woman with olive skin, long black hair, rimless glasses, and a T-shirt that read: The Goddess Is Alive! She wore amber necklaces and turquoise rings. She smelled like rose petals. Very friendly looking.
"Hello!" She leaned over the counter, which was lined with dozens of little statues—waving Chinese cats, meditating Buddhas, Saint Francis bobble heads, and novelty dippy drinking birds with top hats. "So glad you're here. I'm Iris!"
Hazel's eyes widened. "Not the Iris—the rainbow goddess."
Iris made a face. "Well, that's the official job, yes. But I don't define myself by my corporate identity. In my spare time, I run this!" She gestured around her proudly. "The R.O.F.L. Co-op—an employee-run cooperative promoting healthy alternative lifestyles and organic foods."
Frank was baffled. "But you throw Ding Dongs at monsters."
Iris was horrified. "Oh, they're not Ding Dongs." She rummaged under the counter and brought out a package of chocolate covered cakes that looked exactly like Ding Dongs. "These are gluten-free, no-sugar-added, vitamin-enriched, soy-free, goat-milk-and-seaweed-based cupcake simulations."
"All natural!" Fleecy chimed in.
"I stand corrected," Frank muttered.
Iris smiled. "You should try one, Frank. You're lactose intolerant, aren't you?"
Frank was shocked. "How did you—"
"Or perhaps you, Aurelia, would enjoy it. If I remember correctly you're a vegetarian.
Aurelia stared blankly at the treat then at the goddess. "I like my taste buds, thank you very much." Her vegetarian self was shuddering at the thought of placing something so placid and flavorless in her mouth. She had a sweet tooth, and loved eating carb foods so the thought of something like that made her want to give up eating altogether. "How do you know—"
"I know these things. Being the messenger goddess ... well, I do learn a lot, hearing all the communications from the gods and so on." She tossed the cakes on the counter. "Besides, those monsters should be glad to have some healthy snacks. Always eating junk food and heroes. They're so unenlightened. I couldn't have them tromping through my store, tearing up things and disturbing our feng shi."
Percy leaned against the counter. He looked like he was about to throw up all over the goddess's feng shi. "Monsters marching south," he managed, with difficulty. "Going to destroy our camp. Couldn't you stop them?"
"Oh, I'm strictly non-violent," Iris said. "I can act in self defense, but I won't be drawn into any more Olympian aggression, thank you very much. I've been reading about Buddhism. And Taoism. I haven't decided between them."
"But ..." Hazel was mystified. "Aren't you a Greek goddess?"
Iris crossed her arms. "Don't try to put me in a box, demigod! I'm not defined by my past."
"Um, okay," Hazel said. "Could you at least help our friend here? I think he's sick."
Percy reached across the counter. "Iris-message. Can you send one?"
"A what?" Aurelia murmured.
"It's ..." Percy faltered. "Isn't that something you do?"
Iris was studying Percy closely. Aurelia felt curiosity emitting from the goddess, and she didn't like that she didn't know why. "Interesting. You're from Camp Jupiter, and yet ... Oh, I see." Realization came from the goddess. "Juno is up to her tricks."
You would never have been able to see it on her face, but Aurelia was freaking out. She didn't like that Percy mentioned things that she had never heard about. She didn't like the knowing feeling she was getting from Iris as the goddess shared a silent conversation with Fleecy. She didn't like the fact that whatever Percy's request for an Iris-message (whatever the hell that was) revealed something about him that she couldn't comprehend.
"What is it?" Aurelia's voice was devoid of the swirl of desperation and anger that she felt.
The goddess pulled out a vial from behind the counter and sprayed some honeysuckle smelling oil around Percy's face. "There, that should balance your chakra. As for Iris-message—that's an ancient way of communication. The Greeks used it. The Roman never took to it—always relying on their road systems and giant eagles and whatnot. But yes, I imagine ... Fleecy, could you give it a try?"
"Sure, boss!"
Iris winked at them. "Don't tell the other gods, but Fleecy handles most of my messages these days. She's wonderful at it, really, and I don't have time to answer all those requests personally. It messes up my wa."
"Your wa?" Frank repeated.
"Mmm. Fleecy, why don't you take Percy, Hazel and Aurelia into the back? You can get them something to eat while you arrange their messages. And for Percy ... yes, memory sickness. I imagine that old Polybotes ... well, meeting him in a state of amnesia can't be good for a child of P—that is to say, Neptune. Fleecy, give him a cup of green tea with organic honey and wheat germ and some of my medicinal powder number five. That should fix him right up."
Hazel frowned. "What about Frank?"
Iris turned to the asian boy. "Oh, don't worry. Frank and I have a lot to talk about."
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Aurelia thrived off of knowledge and logic. She thrived off of the truth. As she watched Fleecy give Percy some organic, all natural, (probably tasteless) remedy to help him, she knew that there was a lot of truth she was missing. Truth about Percy. Truth behind the small little comment Iris made. The truth about what was waiting for them at the other end of this quest. So much truth that still needed to be found.
Aurelia tossed her gluten-free, soy-free, cruelty-free, all-organic, no-added-sugar gunk away the second Fleecy turned her back. It was making her sick, and the last thing she wanted was whatever concoction she just watched Percy force down to make him feel better.
She was glad for her poker face—no one could tell how frustrated and annoyed she was with everything as they tried to form a connection to Reyna. And as the flickering image became clear, Aurelia saw her cousin's head lifted above the surface of one of the Roman baths.
"Nice clothes." Aurelia was holding back her smile as she stared at the Iris-message before her. Reyna scrambled on the other side of the connection for a towel.
Percy, Hazel and Fleecy had all promptly turned away the second they saw Reyna's current state. Only Aurelia continued to look at her, amused by the horror on Reyna's face when she saw them, and then the realization when she realized they could see her.
The Iris-message concept was pretty easy to grasp. In fact, Aurelia thought it was kind of cool. The energy around her was feeling much better now that Percy was no longer physically and emotionally impaired. And now that she saw Reyna, her former frustration was diminishing.
"I hate you," Reyna grumbled when she finally found something to cover her body. "I'm decent. And how are you doing that?" Hazel and Percy slowly turned around.
"Iris-message," Aurelia explained. "Not important though. We saw the army. It is being led by this giant named Polybotes—he is the anti-Neptune. And we are only about a hundred and fifty miles from San Francisco."
"That's so close to camp," Reyna murmured.
"We just wanted to warn you," Hazel added.
Reyna nodded. "Thank you."
Even though Aurelia couldn't feel her emotions, she could see just from the set of Reyna's lips and the slight furrow of her brow that Reyna knew this didn't change anything. If they failed to unleash Death and find the legion's golden eagle, it wouldn't even matter how close the army was, or the defenses that Camp Jupiter could utilize.
"You still must continue with your quest," Reyna finally managed. "It's our only chance at this point."
Reyna looked straight at Aurelia. She tapped the corner of her eye before tapping her chest twice. I love you was what she was telling her. Aurelia copied the gesture.
"May the gods be with you," Reyna murmured.
"Hope to see you soon, Reyna," Aurelia murmured before running her hand through the connection. Reyna disappeared.
"What does that little gesture mean?" Hazel asked, copying the move that Aurelia and Reyna just shared.
"Nothing important," Aurelia responded.
"Any other people you want to try and send a message to?" Fleecy asked.
"Um ... yeah," Percy said, hesitantly. He repeated the same process that they had just done to connect to Reyna. "Show me Annabeth Chase."
Aurelia's eyes narrowed at the name Percy spoke. Aurelia wanted to trust Percy, she really did. But there were too many questions surrounding his past, including that girl, that made her hesitate.
Then again, if wherever Percy came from, wherever this Annabeth girl is, perhaps that was a way to help the camp. More resources. Perhaps ... a chance to find Jason. Or even those Piper and Leo people who the Cyclopes mentioned. The enemy of your enemy is your friend. And Camp Jupiter was desperate for a new friend.
But nothing happened.
"Why isn't it working?" Percy asked.
Fleecy shook her head sadly. "It's like you're dialing someone, but you've forgotten the number. Or someone is jamming the signal. Sorry, dear. I just can't connect you."
Aurelia was incredibly still as she watched Percy's reaction. He was upset, and scared.
"I hope Frank's doing okay," Hazel mused after a long period of silence.
"Of course he is," Fleecy assured them.
Just as Fleecy said that, Iris came in with a rainbow tie-dyed purse with a peace symbol stitched in wooden beads and the slogan Hug the Whole World.
"Where's Frank?" Hazel immediately questioned the goddess as she went around the room quickly, filling it with stuff—vitamin enriched pastries, dried fruit leather, macrobiotic beef jerky, and a few crystals.
Iris was smiling, pleasant. "Did your message go through?"
"Yes," Hazel murmured, sending a quick glance to Aurelia, who shrugged. "We were able to contact our camp's praetor." Then she looked at Percy, choosing not to mention his attempt to contact Annabeth.
"That is good, because you should hurry," Iris advised. She shoved the bag at Percy. "Here, you'll need this. Oh, that looks good."
Aurelia's lips twitched in amusement at Percy's expression and emotions as he glanced back and forth between the bag and the goddess.
"It's a purse," he deadpanned.
"Masculine accessory bag," Iris corrected him.
"It suits you," Aurelia murmured. "Really makes your eyes pop."
Percy made a face at her behind Iris's back, which just made her want to laugh even more. Iris looked at Aurelia pleased with her assessment.
"Wait, where is Frank?" Aurelia asked.
"Oh, he is outside battling the basilisks," Iris said.
A quick beat of silence and Aurelia yanked her necklace off her neck and Ferrum Temoris was in her hand as she hurried for the exit. Percy and Hazel were both on her heels, each unsheathing their own weapons.
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Aurelia felt Frank's emotions before she saw him. He was confused and shocked, but she couldn't detect any fear.
And when she saw him, he stood alone. Frank's lips twitched in amusement when he saw Percy's tie-dyed man satchel.
"Are you okay?" Hazel asked.
Percy did a full 360 circle, searching for enemies. "Iris told us you were out here battling the basilisks by yourself, and we were like, What? We came as fast as we could. What happened?"
"I'm not sure," Frank admitted.
Hazel crouched down next to the dirt, slightly mistified. "I sense death. Either my brother was here or ... the basilisks are dead?"
Percy stared at Frank in awe. "You killed them all?"
Frank was embarrassed and it seemed like his words were failing him, for his response was just a nervous gulp. Aurelia couldn't understand why. Successfully taking on those monsters by himself is a very impressive feat.
Aurelia let her sword transform back and she placed her necklace back on. She held out her hand for Frank to take.
Percy, Hazel and Frank all recognized the gesture from when they first met Aurelia. It's a gesture many newcomers to camp have witnessed after passing Reyna's judgment. It's her way of asking for permission to see into your fears.
Frank took it and Aurelia found his fear easily.
She saw Frank break his spear and a terrifying little gray skeleton, running around his thoughts, stabbing the basilisks with a knife. No, wait. He stabbed them with his own rib. And then he turned on Frank, Hazel, Percy and Aurelia, charging at them as well.
Aurelia released Frank's hand. Shadows were decorating her palm and she touched her necklace to make them disperse. She didn't exactly know what to make of that vision. "Huh."
Frank just nodded. "Yep. Thanks a lot dad."
"What?" Hazel asked. "Frank, are you okay? Ari, what did you see?"
"I am not completely sure," Aurelia murmured, her eyes unfocused as she tried to make sense of Frank's fear. Obviously, that strange little skeleton had helped him kill the basilisks, and his little comment ... a gift from Mars. Oh, that makes sense.
"It doesn't matter," Frank dismissed it. "There's an old man in Portland we need to go see."
A/N: I'm setting a goal for myself. Every chapter I post here, is a chapter I write for the Sky and the Sea
I believe in me!!