Life comes with many regrets.
You shouldn't have dyed your hair that shade of red. You should've bought those shoes while they were on sale. Those pants do not make your butt look big. That "last" drink should have been your last drink.
And sure there was some satisfaction that came in life, but Lea... Lea's life had been filled with regret since the moment Sally Jackson caught the eye of Poseidon fourteen years ago.
However, she had never regretted anything more than this moment right now...
Lea had exactly one nanosecond to cast a silencing spell around her before she screamed.
One moment Hermês was listening to Drew tell him about her dreams and coming to a very uncomfortable reality on which Titan and which curse that his Leaneíras was suffering from and then in the next, he had somehow been conned by Aphrodítē into driving her chariot which was in the form of a limousine as she headed onto a date with Árēs. He grimaced as he could hear yelling coming from the divider that he had rolled up the moment that they gotten in.
His sister had been scolding her daughter from the moment that she had landed the chariot at Waystation.
Árēs winced in the passenger at particular loud yell from Aphrodítē. There was a good chance that she wasn't having anymore half-bloods for at least three millennia regardless of how much she and Árēs argue.
There was suddenly loud sobbing and they knew that their sister had just hit a rough patch no doubt pleading for Drew to leave it all alone. She was probably begging for her to go back to the camp, to be the stereotypical BRATZ doll that she was born to be. Her efforts were for naught as it was already written into the stars that Apóllōn would lay claim to her as his champion.
They pulled into Gila Claw, Arizona. Árēs gave him a look, but Hermês shook his head. He could taste death on his tongue and as his gaze moved forward catching sight of Hḗphaistos' junkyard. He suppressed a shiver as the soothing sound of Apóllōn repeated the prophecy line in his mind: One shall be lost in the land without rain.
"Look alive," his brother said, pointing ahead of them. Hermês focused and he wasn't all that surprised to see those on the quests. Fate was funny like that, or so Apóllōn claimed. He flipped on the bright lights as Árēs pushed his form into the back of the limousine. He stopped in front of them and cast his gaze away from Perseus. He looked so much like his twin that the only thing he was missing was pair of breasts that he did not look at because Hermês valued his eyesight and he was not going to risk Poseidón's wrath if he even got wind of any thought that didn't belong in a children's movie.
(Times were easier in back in the old days when he could have just taken her to Mount Kyllene and never had to worry about little mortal laws, but then again for Leaneíras, it was all worth it. She was worth it. Being her friend first and watching her evolve though he knew that friend wouldn't be the word that she used. It was all still so very worth it.)
The back door of the limo opened and Árēs stepped out with his sword already drawn.
"Not so fast now, are you, punk?" he could hear his brother saying.
"Ares," Perseus growled. Hermês made a mental note to have Kheirôn teach them how to use the proper enunciation of their names. Well, if they wanted to invoke their names then it would be best to properly pronounce them. It worked on Leaneíras occasionally, but for the most part, she'd been trying to avoid saying names because that makes them real and she was still holding onto her arguments of aliens.
"At ease, people." His brother said, snapping his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground. Hermês could feel his amusement. "This is a friendly meeting. Of course I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."
Hermês bit back a snort. That was because Aphrodítē liked to deal with her own enemies. Father had done his best to try to keep her away from battle. They would never admit to being frightened or disturbed by what she was capable when she pushed to strike back with the full might of her power.
'Twas... awe inspiring in a rather disturbing manner.
He had never be able to look at crickets the same way again.
"What lady?" Thalia asked.
"Well, well. I heard you were back."
Hermês glanced out through the window just in time to see Árēs lower his sword and push Perseus away.
"Thalia, daughter of Ζεύς," Árēs mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."
"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in the car?"
Árēs smiled, enjoying the attention. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoë and Bianca. Considering the occasional arguments that Artemis and Aphrodítē got into on the occasion, well no. She wouldn't want to see them. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."
"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Árēs," Zoë said. Hermês snorted. As if she was being given a choice. He wondered if he was the one to say so would it change things? She was his aunt regardless of the fact that all of her siblings including his Mother turned their backs on her.
Hēraklēs was not even her khaos-mate and she broke all her vows to the Garden for him.
"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."
Árēs snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. "You were saying, goat boy?"
"Go on," Perseus told them, a bit nervously. "I'll handle this."
"You heard the boy," Árēs said, a mocking tone to his voice. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."
Hermês bit back a laugh before Árēs opened the door.
"Get inside, punk," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."
Understatement.
Hermês tapped the divider, turning the window one way as the boy climbed in. Drew was sitting beside her Mother, glaring out the window with her arms crossed and a deep, petulant pout.
Percy peeked into the car and his jaw actually dropped.
Drew scoffed, rolling her eyes.
If Hermês tilted his head and squinted a bit, he could see the way that Aphrodítē's features shifted the longer that he looked at her.
She was in her favorite red satin dress, the one that looked like fresh blood on snow. Her hair was curled in a cascade of ringlets, like the waves of the sea in the midst of a storm at night.
"Mother," Drew groaned. Hermês kind of wanted to laugh. He had seen the dream that she had where Aphrodítē attended a PTA meeting. The embarrassment that she had in the dream alongside the pride and smugness in her eyes were just the same as it was in reality.
Hermês made a mental note to do a surprise visit at his own children's school. He could just imagine the chaos that would come for that.
"Ah, there you are, Percy," the goddess said. "I am Aphrodítē."
The boy was tongue-tied as he slipped into the seat across from them.
"Aren't you sweet. Hold this, please," Aphrodítē smiled before passing him her mirror. She leaned forward, dabbing at lipstick and makeup to hide the faint traces of tears that only Hermês and Árēs could see since they knew that they were there.
"Do you know why you're here?" she asked.
"I... I don't know," he managed, pinching his own arm.
"Oh, dear," Aphrodítē said. "Still in denial?"
Drew, Hermês, and his brother chuckled. It had always been amusing to see people meet her for first time.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Perseus said.
"Well then, why are you on this quest?"
"Artemis has been captured!"
Aphrodítē rolled her eyes. "Oh, Artemis. Please. Talk about a hopeless case. I mean, if they were going to kidnap a goddess, she should be breathtakingly beautiful, don't you think? I pity the poor dears who have to imprison Artemis. Bo-ring!"
Alongside the fact that when their sister got free, then may the heavens show pity on whoever ignites her wrath. Why someone would want to piss off the goddess of the hunt and wild animals that regularly ventured around the world with girls on the cusps of puberty that carried very sharp knives and arrows and fully related to Apóllōn was beyond his level of comprehension, but he was also confused about the people that pissed off the goddess of love, beauty, and procreation and war for khaos' sake.
Idiots.
Soon to be dead idiots.
(Those poor crickets.)
"But she was chasing a monster," Perseus protested. "A really, really bad monster. We have to find it!"
Aphrodítē pushed the mirror up just a bit more. Hermês was a bit impressed. That thing was like Mjǫllnir from those Marvel comics making it impossible to lift if one does not have a "pure heart of love". Bullshit if you asked literally any of them, but again, they were smart enough to not piss her off and even smarter to not piss off Hḗphaistos who crafted the damn thing. "Always some monster. But my dear Percy, that is why the others are on this quest. I'm more interested in you."
Hermês saw the way that his eyes moved over to Drew still staring pointedly out the window. "Lea is in trouble."
Aphrodítē beamed. "Exactly!"
"I have to help her," Perseus said. "I've been having these dreams."
"You and Aeri both."
"Aeri?" Percy questioned.
Hermês could sense the charmspeak before Drew even opened her mouth. "Never call me that again unless it's to save my life."
Oh, yeah. Apóllōn was going to love her.
"I thought your name was Drew?"
"It is," Drew insisted. "My Western name anyway, but we're not here to talk about that."
Deflection. Yes, Hermês approved.
"I mean it's your name. That seems important to know."
Aphrodítē made a tsk-tsk sound, bringing the attention back to her easily. "Aeri is right, Percy. Okay, I'm on your side. I'm the reason you're here, after all."
"What?"
"The poisoned T-shirt the Stoll brothers gave Phoebe," she said. "Did you think that was an accident? Sending Blackjack to find you? Helping you sneak out of the camp?"
"You did that?"
"Of course! Because really, how boring these Hunters are! A quest for some monster, blah blah blah. Saving Artemis. Let her stay lost, I say. She'd get free eventually and we'll hear the inevitable explosion. But a quest for true love—"
"Wait a second, this my twin sister—"
"Oh, my dear, nothing like that," she snickered. "Hermês may actually kill you if it was, but no. This quest brings you closer to your khaos-mate. You're turning fifteen soon, aren't you."
"I... yes?"
"It's just like the fairytales! The handsome prince goes on a quest to save the princess! But in this case, your quest will lead to blessing. It's so romantic!"
"Uh..."
"Oh, put the mirror down," Aphrodítē ordered. "I look fine."
He sat it down beside him and Drew leaned over to gaze it herself. Hermês was sure that the girl didn't even notice that the mirror looked more like a battle map of the entire North America continent. And the lipstick marks look terrifyingly like streaks of blood.
"Now listen, Percy," Aphrodítē said. "The Hunters are your enemies. Forget them and Artemis and the monster. That's not important. You just concentrate on finding and saving Leaneíras."
"Do you know where she is?"
Aphrodítē waved her hand irritably. "Όχι, όχι. I leave the details to you. But it's been ages since we've had a good tragic love story."
"Mother," Drew groaned.
"Love conquers all," Aphrodítē promised, ignoring her daughter. "Look at Helénē and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?"
"Didn't they start the Trojan War and get thousands of people killed?"
"She didn't even like him," Drew pointed out. At all, Hermês agreed. It had been thousands of years and yet, every time he visit Elyisum she was cheering on Menelaus and Hektōr as they made Paris' afterlife hell.
(Hektōr blamed his brother very much for destruction of their kingdom and the death of his son. Though Odyseús learned very quickly that Hektōr wasn't too forgiving towards him either.)
"Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart."
"But... I don't know where it's going. My heart, I mean. I don't even know who my khaos-mate is. My mark hasn't shown up yet."
"Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodítē said. "Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who you love and who loves you? Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry."
"No, no," Percy stated as Drew pulled out an embroidered handkerchief. "Don't do that."
"And don't worry," she said. "I'm not going to let this be easy and boring for you. Όχι, I have some wonderful surprises in store. Anguish. Indecision. Oh, you just wait."
"That's really okay," I told her. "Don't go to any trouble. I mean I don't even know who my khaos-mate even is."
"Oh, silly, I already know you're mated to and trust me, they already know about you." Aphrodítē smiled, a hint of cruelty in her dark eyes. She blinked and her smile turned into something softer as she leaned closer. "You're so cute. I wish all my children could break the heart of a boy as nice as you."
She sighed, dabbing at her makeup. Of course, nothing came away.
Aphrodítē's eyes were tearing up. "Now, you'd better go. And take care of my little dove, Percy. She will be joining you for the first of your quest."
Hermês was pretty sure that all of them could hear the unspoken Unfortunately.
"It's already five," Perseus started to protest, but she only spoke over him. "And do be careful in my ex-husband's territory, Percy. Don't take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash."
"What?" Percy asked. "You mean Hephaestus?"
Árēs opened the door and yanked him out of the car. Hermes bit back a laugh. His brother hated all reminders of her previous marriage. All four of them, Árēs, Aphrodítē, Hḗphaistos and Aglaïa included; had been all too happy for the divorce to finalized and that their marks became recognized as the equivalent of modern-day marriage certificates.
Drew accepted the forehead kiss that her Mother gave her as she accepted her step-father's hand and exited the car. She pulled her jacket tighter around her while Árēs pushed Perseus further away from the car. "You're lucky, punk. Be grateful."
"For what?"
"That we're being so nice. If it was up to me—"
"So why haven't you killed me?"
Árēs nodded, shrugging his shoulders bit.
"I'd love to kill you, seriously," he said. "But see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodítē thinks you're some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. Your pops will also get mad about it. Your twin sister is coo coo for cocoa puffs and I don't need Hermês chasing me down for making her cry." Especially since things that usually pissed him off also pissed off Apóllōn and Artemis and Dionysos and no one liked dealing with all four of them at once. "But don't worry. I haven't forgotten my promise. Some day soon, kid—real soon—you're going to raise your sword to fight, and you're going to remember the wrath of Árēs."
"Why wait? I beat you once. How's that ankle healing up?"
He grinned crookedly. "Not bad, punk. But you got nothing on the master of taunts. I'll start the fight when I'm good and ready. Until then... Get lost and take care of Barbie over there."
Árēs snapped his fingers and the kids were transported the entrance of the Junkyard a few miles away.
Hermês and Aphrodítē slipped out of the vehicle to stand at his side.
The youngest of them pursed his lips. "I'm not filling out the paperwork for this."
"You drove," Aphrodítē said.
"Your chariot," he shot back.
"All three of us interfered," Árēs said. "So, technically, all three of us have to do the paperwork."
Hermês and Aphrodítē grimaced. Father had added an extra three hundred and forty-seven sheets to the Quest Intervention packets. It was hard trying to justify intervening on quest for one-million-four thousand-eight hundred and ninety three pages. It was even worse because he liked to actually read them and correct spelling and grammar mistakes at that!
(It made sense why his two favorites were nerds.)
The sand beneath their feet rose and swirl, dancing in the air like petals in the wind. There was movement around their hair, as if stirred by a faint breeze.
The three of them tensed before Hermês stumbled, feeling phantom lips press against his forehead.
Leaneíras.
Leaneíras.
Leaneíras.
"Leaneíras," he murmured, mind stopping all at once. His vision was gone. His other senses were shutting down. His Leaneíras stood before him just as beautiful as she was when she stolen away from him. "How... where?"
"A spell," she replied back, breathing heavily. Her forest green eyes darted around the dark borderland warily.
He was confused for just a moment until he realized... "You connected your mind to mine."
Well, that was not good. The mind of deity was no place for a mortal and considering every domain that he ruled over, it was especially not well for her.
And after everything they had went through dissolving the empathy link to Grover and Perseus. He looked around them, dreams and death were old friends of his. He knew how to navigate their dark borderland.
"Oh, älskling, that was very dangerous," he murmured, stepping closer to her to draw her into a hug. She snorted, fists balling into his shirt. A feeling of alarm came over him. Leaneíras did not show affection so easily. Leaneíras would have stepped away the moment he moved closer.
What did they do to her?
"I realized that a second after I cast the spell," she said, burrowing her head into his embrace.
She was quiet for a moment and he just held her.
"I met your mother," she said. "Your Mother and Aunts."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," she murmured. There was a bit of hesitancy before she spoke again. "Your Grandfather is a bitch."
Hermês froze before an ugly snort escaped him. "Is it bad that I know not which Grandfather you speak of?" Both of them were equally bad.
(And he kind of helped his half-brother, Perseús, turn one of them into stone when he assisted him in the retrieval of Médousa's head though admittedly, Hermês was the one to turn him back to normal.)
"The body builder on steroids," she said, flinching slightly. Átlas then. It was the winter months. It was time for Mother and his Aunts to venture from their place ascent within the stars.
And well, it made a terrifying amount of sense. He wondered if he should warn Zoë.
While he knew that Father would never attempt to hurt Thalia nor would Poseidón try to harm Perseus and Leaneíras and Aphrodítē just tried to remove Drew from the quest, that left only two whose parents would kill them. He greatly assumed that Bianca was the child of Háidēs from so long ago, but he did not know how... unless... hm... if he placed them with the Lotus Eaters, then it was kind of worrying on why none of them realized that before.
(It should have been obvious if she was really his child. It should have already been revealed. All of them had utilized them more than once especially in the cases of some gods wanted to prolong the suffering of an enemy. Hermês himself had placed a mortal or two there after inflicting them with one of Apóllōn's poisonous arrows knowing that the hotel that they were currently occupying drew the painful effects out more and more.)
And if she was the child of Háidēs, he doubted that he would kill her after doing so much to save her. Átlas would not have those kind of reservations.
(Now, he knew where she was being kept. Now, he could have his revenge. Now, he could show them just how much he was his Father's child.)
She fell silent once more and he pretended not to notice the way tears seeped into his shirt as she clutched tighter to him.
"Trent," she gasped. A shudder rushed through her, fingers turning white from her grip. A sob escaped her and he pulled her almost impossibly tighter to him as she broke down. "He... I thought..."
He pulled away from her just a bit, tilting her face towards his own. Tears dotted her eyes, like diamonds glistening around emerald gems. And he can see it in her eyes; the pain...the anguish... and enough rage that it could flood the world. Years of camaraderie gone like he was never there.
"I never liked him anyway," Hermês stated. The boy gazed at her a little too lovingly in his opinion. A wheeze moved through her like she wanted laugh, but could only cry instead.
Hermês pulled her back into his arms.
Later, he would worry about her psyche and mending any shattered pieces for the minds of gods were not meant to be understood by mortals. Later, he would ask her about her captivity and she had any information that she could spare for their forces. Later, he would talk to her about the depth of the betrayal that she was feeling.
But for now, he just held her in his arms and cursed all their enemies for making her cry.