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“What do you mean he’s gone?”
For what it was worth… Hades did look somewhat regretful as he stared at Hermes across the Iris message. His eyes – usually bottomless pits of despair – seemed like bottomless pits of apologies. That didn’t numb the news though. In fact, it only sharpened it, making Hermes almost step back in alarm.
“He was reborn almost a year ago-”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I cannot personally oversee every soul in my realm, nephew,” Hades said, voice somewhere between scolding and comforting. Only Hades could pull off such a feat. “Besides, as it was, I pulled strings to keep him out of the Fields of Punishment-”
“Because he didn’t belong there!” Hermes shot back heatedly. Hades merely looked at him. “I… well, who is he now? Do you even know?” He asked and Hades shook his head. Useless. Hermes swallowed, cursing the Fates for their endless cruelty. “Did he…?” Hermes began and fell silent. Hades wouldn’t know the answer. “Thank you for the information, uncle.” He said stiffly and went to wave the message away.
“Hermes,” Hades called back and he sighed before pausing the action. “I am sorry. I know that you regret what happened with Luke Castellan.”
Hermes tried not to flinch at the name. Instead, he only nodded, not meeting his uncle’s eyes before swiping away the message with a sigh. Swallowing, he looked around Olympus blankly. No matter. He was fine. Nothing amiss here. Forcing down whatever obnoxiously human emotion was wiggling up in his chest, Hermes straightened his shoulders and turned.
Maybe he would do something fun. Athena had called the Chase girl back here for some reason, right? He could make out her outline in the throne room, speaking stiffly with her mother. Maybe he could hang out with her. She would be fun to annoy, right? Right. He wouldn’t even-
Whatever else Hermes was thinking abruptly shut off when he saw a bunch of blankets in Annabeth’s arms. He froze for a moment, before letting out an excited gasp and zipping up to them, practically shoving Athena out of the way.
“A baby!” He said, practically vibrating with energy. This was what he needed to see right now. Something small and cute and grossly human. “Oh, look at it! Athena, look!” He said, turning to his sister with bright eyes. Athena didn’t look nearly as enthused by the creature. Whatever. Her loss. “Aw, it’s just a little sack of flesh at this point, isn’t it?” He asked, studying the baby for a moment. It was a girl, he was pretty sure. Probably, at least. “Hello, little mortal. My name is Hermes! And what might your name be?” He asked, giving a little bow. Was this Annabeth’s baby? No wonder Athena was upset. He hadn’t realized she and Jackson were out there doing baby-making deeds. He would have to taunt her about it later.
“Nose!” The baby told him, reaching for his eyes. Hermes grinned. She took after Perseus then.
“That is my eye, but I appreciate the effort,” Hermes said fondly, mind suddenly spinning. “Who is this child?” He asked. She didn’t look too old. Maybe almost a year? His mind flicked back to Hades.
“Nose,” Estelle giggled and Hermes made a face at her so she giggled more. Annabeth rolled her eyes and kissed the side of Estelle’s head.
“This is Estelle,” Annabeth told him, holding the child a bit closer. Estelle. Hermes frowned and tilted his head. He was wrong. This child wasn’t just mortal – it was fully mortal. He could feel it better now… so she couldn’t be Chase or Jackson’s kid. Not that it mattered. Hermes would find out her identity later, perhaps. “Can you say your name, Estelle?”
A pause.
“Nose?”
Hermes stood up. He could hear Annabeth and Athena saying something else to one another, but he was too distracted by the girl. He reached out, letting a hand grab his finger. Could it be…? Hermes wasn’t sure if there was actually a chance or if it was wishful thinking on his part.
“Nose,” Estelle sang. “Nose, nose, no – toes!” She gasped and grabbed her hair. Annabeth looked down at her, seemingly exasperated by the child’s lack of anatomy knowledge. Hermes smiled.
He would keep an eye on the child… just in case.
“I think you’re being unreasonable, Perseus.”
Percy stared at him as if he had grown a second head... which would have been cool, but unfortunately not the case. He stepped back, clinging to the bundle of blankets as if his life depended on it.
“You’re not holding my sister!” He snapped and gave Hermes a bewildered look. “How do you even know about her?”
“Blondie brought her to Olympus,” Hermes shrugged and Percy went white. Annabeth hadn’t seemed too thrilled to have a kid tagging along while speaking of Athena, but whatever. Hermes got to see the baby and now he was attached. “Hello, Estelle!”
“Hi!”
“No, Estelle. Don’t look at him,” Percy said and Estelle immediately covered her eyes. Hermes gasped. What a wondrous little thing! Already putting its limited functions to good use!
“Come on, Perce! I know lots about babies. I’ve had enough of them myself-"
“Uh huh,” Percy said snidely. “Have you actually even held one of your kids before?”
A pause.
“That was mean, unnecessary, and really insensitive.”
Percy groaned. Estelle peaked at Hermes through her fingers and smiled at him. Ugh, she was such a mortal. Adorable.
“Fine,” Percy said and took a long breath. “You can hold her for a second, but no funny business. I’ll hunt you down,” he added under his breath and then paused. “Wait. Estelle, can I give you to Hermes for a second?” He asked. The baby reached up and grabbed his ear.
“Knees?”
“Hermes.”
“Knees!” Estelle said excitedly. That must have been a yes because Percy sighed and handed her over. Hermes squealed.
“She’s so small!” He declared. “And potato-like!”
“Dude. Don’t call my sister a potato.”
Hermes didn’t see why not. She looked like a potato with a mouth. A cute potato, but a potato either way. Estelle shifted a bit, looking up at him with impossibly large eyes and suddenly Hermes felt his chest sink.
He remembered when Luke was like this.
Silently, he handed her back.
“Knees,” Estelle said and reached out towards him again. Percy looked down at her, dismayed.
“She likes you.”
“I’m very likable.”
“Dead,” Estelle said calmly. “Knees and dead! Knees and dead!” She sang. Hermes frowned.
“I feel unsafe.”
“I let Nico watch her,” Percy said warily. “Well, I made him watch her. I don’t entirely know what happened, but I feel like I should regret it,” He said. Estelle reached out towards Hermes again. Deciding to completely win over the little tyke, Hermes went into his bag and pulled out a stuffed snake. Estelle gasped.
“For you, my lady,” he said, bowing deeply as he offered the toy. “It’s like Martha and George!” He added to Percy, who was watching the stuffed animal as if it might transform and bite her. Estelle took the snake with wide eyes. Percy held her a little closer.
“Hiss?” Estelle asked and Hermes beamed at her.
“You’re a regular Athena kid, aren’t you? It does indeed hiss,” he said and snapped his fingers so that when she squeezed it a small hissing sound came out. Estelle gave a delighted laugh.
“Say thank you, Stella.”
“Bless you!”
“That’s absolutely not correct,” Percy snorted, but was interrupted by Estelle singing ‘snakey snake’ under her breath as she waved her new stuffed animal around. Hermes chuckled.
He was going to like this mortal.
“Are you kidding me?!”
Hermes looked up from where Estelle was currently grabbing a sharpie to where Percy was standing in the doorway.
“What?” He asked and let Estelle waddle over to start drawing on his face. “I needed a makeover. Rumor has it that Estelle gives the best ones,” he said, thinking to Connor’s endless complaints in his prayers about Estelle forcing everyone to endure her putting mounds of glitter and lipstick on them.
“Get away from her!” Percy growled, reaching for his pocket, but went quiet when Estelle squealed, racing over to hug his leg. “Oh… uh, hey, Stella. I-”
“You’re turn!” She said and grabbed his hand to lead him next to Hermes. Percy opened his mouth, still looking at the god with narrowed eyes, but was silenced by Estelle impatiently yanking at his shirt until he was also sitting on a cushion. Estelle wasted no time putting butterfly clips in his hair.
“Why are you here?” Percy asked him lowly and then pasted on a bright smile when Estelle turned back around with more glitter. “Estelle, I’m here now. You don’t need him, right?” He asked sweetly and Hermes gasped.
“I’ll have you know that I paid two drachmas for this!” He said indignantly before turning to Estelle. “You wouldn’t throw out a paying customer, would you?” He asked. Estelle put a sticker on his forehead.
“Very pretty!”
“I feel pretty,” he told her and turned back l where Percy was glowering. “I’m very pretty,” he told him and Percy shook his head. “Come on, what’s the harm? I’m bored and don’t want to be around gods.”
“So? Leave her alone,” Percy said moodily and paused to let Estelle grab some bright blue powder to dab on his eyelids. “I – maybe a little gentler, Stella?” He asked, voice going a little high when she poked him in the eye.
“Sorry!” She said and leaned forward to kiss the poked eye. “Better?”
“Yes, thank you,” Percy said and Hermes couldn’t help but laugh at him. Perseus Jackson was said to be many things, but polite wasn’t usually the first word to come to mind. Figures that this little glitter wielding tyrant could extract more respect from him than a full-fledged god.
“You never know,” Hermes shrugged when Estelle returned to put more glitter in his hair. “Maybe in twenty years Estelle and I might really hit it off and-”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Percy said and Hermes was suddenly very aware of Riptide in his hand.
“You would deny true love?!?”
“If you don’t think I would decapitate you where I stand then we don’t know each other well enough...”
Hermes considered. Normally, a mortal threatening him was cause for offense. However, Perseus Jackson was... of a different breed. He barely looked human at this point in his life. His skin glowed a little too much. His eyes were just slightly greener than possible. There was an aura around him...one that served as a warning somehow, even if you couldn’t figure out what it is. This was the boy who defeated Ares at twelve. Who took down titans and giants.
…who was currently wearing blue makeup and glitter. It should have toned down the threat a bit more than it did. Hermes turned back to Estelle.
“There is no man alive who is going to be brave enough to date you.”
“That’s the spirit,” Percy told him and Hermes put his hands up. “For the record, that’s her future business. Far in the future. So unbelievably far-”
“Twenty years isn’t that far. She’ll probably get a boyfriend in like… ten years.”
“Get out of my house.” Percy scowled at him and Hermes sighed. It appeared he was done here. Turning to Estelle, he stood up and gave a deep bow. Estelle paused in drawing on Percy’s face to give him her full attention.
“I must be thee, farewell. I hope to see you again, little lady.” He said dramatically and Estelle waved.
“Bye! I’ll miss you!”
“I’ll miss you as well, dear Estelle. I – ooh, that’s a good start to a poem. Got to let Apollo know about that-”
“Get out.”
“You’re not my friend. You’re a god!”
Hermes glanced up from his magazine to where his nail stylist had stopped painting to glower at him. He wasn’t sure what had just given him away. He was in his mortal form and his caduceus was safely hidden from view. Perhaps her brother had done a better job warning her though, because her expression was certain. Hermes shrugged and examined his half-painted nails.
“Yeah. So?”
“My brother said not to talk to gods.”
“That’s godist,” he told her and Estelle blinked a few times. “Besides, I have in good authority that you don’t listen to him,” he said flatly, thinking of all their poor father’s council meetings that had been interrupted for and by this child. Estelle considered. Then grabbed his wrist so she could go back to painting Hermes’ nails.
“Why do you hang out with me? I’m a mortal,” she told him, apparently over the fact he was a god. Mortal children were wildly accepting. Hermes wondered what on Earth happened between this stage and adulthood that changed humans from believing everything to nothing at all.
“Eh, you’re fun,” Hermes said and flipped a page of his magazine. “Apollo hung around a Demeter girl for a bit and it sounds like he had a blast.”
“Demeter?” Estelle repeated and looked thoughtful. “Do her kids control plants and stuff like how Percy controls water?” She asked. Hermes shrugged. Some of them did. Most, actually. Estelle’s eyes widened. “…that’s awesome,” she whispered under her breath. “I would grow so many carrots,” she mumbled. Hermes waited for her to expand upon that, but Estelle only refocused on his nails. “I’m not a demigod though,” she pointed a few minutes later, reminding Hermes of the original concern.
“No, but I don’t really care. Plus, I figured you’re my recompense for my previous sins.” He said. Estelle raised an eyebrow. “Long story. Don’t ask,” he told her. “At any rate, you’ve annoyed both my uncles and Athena gets all irritated when your name is brought up so…” He gestured vaguely.
“So…?”
“Anyone who pisses off my family is a friend of mine!” He said and then looked at his nails again. “I’m actually not sure periwinkle is my color…”
“This is the third time we’ve changed it,” Estelle grumbled and sat back. “Why don’t they like me?” She asked and Hermes stared. Did she not… know? “I thought Aphrodite might like me,” she added, rubbing the side of her arm. “She even got me a friend! Her name is Caroline,” she said, beaming. Hermes inwardly chortled. Irony. He wondered if this was Aphrodite’s version of a loophole to keep poor Perseus for decapitating potential suitors. If the boy was a true believer of equality, he would kill Estelle’s future girlfriends too.
Also, there was no way that was going to end well. He knew Aphrodite far too well for that. Still, he wouldn’t warn the poor mortal. It would be funny to see her reaction. Estelle seemed to give up on his nails and switched gears to paint her own.
“Most gods like being feared. You don’t fear them enough,” Hermes said, answering the previous question. Estelle mulled over that for a moment before shaking her head.
“But you’re Percy’s family.”
“So?”
“So, we have to be friends,” she decided and Hermes snorted. He hoped she told Zeus that to his face. Hilarious. “You can’t be friends with someone when you’re scared of them,” she pointed out. Hermes wasn’t sure about that. Some of his best friends were the ones that cowered at his name. They did whatever you wanted the quickest.
“Maybe they don’t want to be your friend,” Hermes pointed out. Estelle made a face at that and then somehow began more aggressively painting her pinky finger.
“Well, that’s too bad,” she muttered and Hermes fixed her with an amused look. Oh, he liked this girl so much. Hermes knew mortals pretty well – maybe not quite as well as Artemis – but decently well all the same. He could say with certainty that this small human was somehow both so, very, incredibly mortal while being wildly different to the lot of them. A strange mix, but he enjoyed it.
“You’re going to get blasted into nothing,” Hermes said. Estelle tilted her head. Then shrugged.
“Maybe.”
“You’re oddly okay with that.”
“Percy beat up monsters and giants and titans,” she said conversationally. “I can risk getting blasted to be friends with his family,” she said and then took a long breath. “Even if they don’t act like a good family sometimes…” She mumbled. Hermes wondered idly if she was familiar with Percy and his own interactions. He hoped not.
“Gods aren’t really family people. You do know some Greek lore, right?” He asked. Estelle shrugged. Oh, no. This poor child. “Oh, Stella. You’re not ready. Let’s see…” He said and then snapped his fingers. “Hera and Zeus? You know they’re married, right?” He asked. Estelle nodded.
“Hera hates demigods because Zeus keeps having kids with other people,” she said. Well, at least she knew some stuff. Hermes hummed.
“Well, did you know she’s also Zeus’ sister?”
Estelle’s face was something Hermes would be sure to treasure for many years to come.
“Technically,” Hermes shrugged. “Gods don’t have DNA like humans do, but… eh. Still can be weird,” he said and then grinned. “Persephone would be Hades’ niece.”
“…oh,” Estelle said and made a face. “I…uh, I see. Who are you married to?”
“Me? Peitho, technically, but I’m not the marrying type,” Hermes chuckled. Estelle didn’t look impressed. “But if you want some good Olympian gossip I have plenty of horror stories. Hera threw her son off a mountain – quite literally.”
“She – why?” Estelle demanded, sitting up. Hermes laughed.
“She had just given birth to him and he was ugly.”
“He was…? But he was a baby!” Estelle practically shrieked, voice going high. “All babies are ugly! Have you seen a baby? How could she do that? Even if he was ugly you don’t throw kids off mountains! You don’t throw anyone off a mountain-”
“Preach. Hephaestus is still bitter about it. Want to hear how Athena was born?” He asked and before Estelle could answer, continued. “You see, Zeus was banging this Metis goddess and when he found out their kid would be smarter than him he ate her,” he said. Estelle froze. “Yep. Just… ate her. Then, get this, years and years later Athena popped out his head completely grown. It’s actually a bit annoying because my dad always says he understands the pains of child labor – especially after the whole thing with Dionysus being sewn in his thigh, which really pisses Artemis off-”
“PERCY!” Estelle shouted and Hermes frowned. What? What had he said?
“What? Do you want to hear about his dad? Not going to lie. The guy is sometimes a dick-”
“Hermes! What the Hades?” Percy’s voice said. He turned to find the demigod in the doorway with Riptide out and face the definition of fury. Hermes waved. “What are you doing here? You have got to stop doing this-”
“Is Zeus going to eat you?!” Estelle asked, sounding slightly hysterical and Percy frowned at her. “Is he going to eat you like he ate Athena’s mom?!” She demanded. Hermes scowled at her.
“Were you even listening? He ate her because he didn’t want her kid to be smarter than him. No offense, Perce, but I don’t think the same logic applies to you… also, you’re not sleeping with Zeus.” He added as an afterthought. Percy’s mouth dropped.
“What are you telling her?” He said, throwing Riptide to the side so he could walk over to his sister.
“Don’t worry, I’m not telling her the super messed up ones. Just giving her the mediocre family background. It wasn’t all us though. You met Tantalus, right? The king that fed us his sons-”
“Dude, shut up,” Percy hissed when Estelle jerked back with wide eyes. “Hey. Stella, look-”
“You met Procrustes too, right?”
“Hermes!”
“Who… who is Procrustes?” Estelle asked, sounding terrified by the name alone. Percy grimaced. “You met him? Did he try to eat you?” She asked. Percy shot Hermes a nasty glare before clearing his throat.
“I told you about him,” he said, tucking a strand of hair behind Estelle’s ear. “Remember when I told you I had to pick up my uncle’s lightning bolt from Hades?” He asked and she gave a small nod. “Well, Procrustes was the guy who tried to give us that bad deal on waterbeds.” He explained. Estelle paused. Relief touched her features.
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “The expensive beds.” She nodded. Hermes raised an eyebrow at Percy who gave him a warning look. “Why were they so expensive?” She asked him. Percy smiled.
“Because they were, uh, custom fitted,” he said. Hermes snorted.
“Oh, yeah,” he agreed. “I heard they cost a head or a leg over at good ole’ Procrustes place,” he smiled. Percy stiffened. “He would really stretch you for that cash, huh?” He asked. Percy’s eyes narrowed.
“The expression is an arm and a leg, Hermes,” Estelle told him warily. Hermes chuckled.
“Oh? How silly of me.”
“Estelle, I think mom is making cookies!” Percy said brightly. “Why don’t you go help her?” He asked and Estelle nodded, blowing on her nails before throwing her arms around Percy and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Okay!” She said and waved at Hermes. “Bye! And periwinkle is your color,” she added to him with such sincerity that he was kind of touched. He was about to thank her when she dashed out, leaving him alone with his very pissed cousin.
“So… you lie to her about your quests? Shame, shame, Perseus.”
“She’s ten!” Percy growled at him. “And you need to stop. Visiting. Her.” He added, poking a finger in Hermes direction.
“And you were twelve when Procrustes tried to stretch you so that you fit a waterbed,” Hermes told him with a roll of his eyes. “What of it?”
“Have you considered that maybe I shouldn’t have been on a quest when I was twelve?” Percy asked dryly. “Besides, Estelle is mortal! There is no reason to traumatize her-”
“She wants to get to know your godly side of the family,” Hermes told him and because he wasn’t always nice, leaned forward. “And, well, you too,” he said with glimmering eyes. “Don’t forget you’re one of us, Perseus. You may have refused immortality, but your name will be remembered just as well as your namesake.” He said. Percy’s eyes hardened.
“Good thing I didn’t eat anyone or make an ass of myself,” he said, standing up. Hermes smiled and leaned back in the princess chair that Estelle had kindly offered him.
“Oh, sure. I’m sure you were proud of everything you’ve done on your adventures,” Hermes said calmly. Percy stiffened. “No regrets, hm?” He asked. Percy turned to him with a furious clench of his jaw. Hermes only tilted his head and sighed. “I’m just pointing out that you aren’t doing her any favors,” he said, dropping the act. “And even if you have horrible guilt over your life-or-death decisions, it is probably for the best she hears them from you and not some other god, right?” He pressed.
“Why are you so concerned with her?” Percy asked warily. Hermes shrugged, looking down at his newly polished nails.
“Because she’s getting involved with the Olympians. Athena, Aphrodite, Poseidon – others, too. They’ve all heard from her. You would do well to listen and avoid her turning on you,” he said with a hint of bitterness. “At least if I keep her company then she won’t be too angry.”
It didn’t make… a whole lot of sense. Not even to himself. Percy seemed to understand though because he paused for a moment before grimacing. Slowly, he reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. Hermes frowned at the touch.
“She isn’t Luke, Hermes.”
Hermes pursed his lips. That was to be decided.
“So,” Hermes greeted. “I heard you and Caroline broke up.”
Estelle stared at the ceiling blankly.
“We weren’t even together. She merely took my heart and stomped on it with her homophobic converses,” she said and looked over at Hermes. “What are you doing here?”
“...well, I have shaving cream and a lighter. I figure you can make the next move.” He said, holding up the offending items. Estelle’s eyes brightened a bit. At fourteen, she looked quite a bit like her mother. Not that Hermes knew Sally well, but the woman had been growing more… renowned on Olympus. Her son saved Olympus and her daughter threatened to throw it into chaos. It was hard not to know about her.
“Interesting proposal,” she said and then sat up. “We’ll come back to it after I finish some personal business,” she told him solemnly and flicked a switch on a white box in front of her. Ah, a wii. Hermes raised an eyebrow and she gestured him to sit down.
“I’m going to win.”
“Ha, you wish,” Estelle told him as she handed a remote over. “If there was a god of video games… it would be me,” she told him and then made a face. “…though I do have to beat Percy’s highscore,” she grumbled. “I can’t believe that ass had the audacity to take my top spot in Mariokart before moving to California. Also, I have math homework somewhere…”
“Ew.”
“Right?” Estelle asked and then settled in a beanbag chair. “I hope you know I won’t take it easy on you because you can brutally murder me,” she added. Hermes narrowed his eyes.
“Win first and then try to tell me you won’t take it easy,” he said indignantly and then – just because he was mean – clicked on Rainbow Road.
Three hours later, Hermes had demolished her. Sort of. Look, listen. He might have used his powers a bit, but the girl was weirdly good at this. He was a little concerned by it. Her and Perseus must have been practicing for some time-
“Why do you even hangout with me?” Estelle asked, propping herself up on her elbows after she threw her controller to the side. Hermes blinked. “I mean, we’re friends and you’re awesome, but…” She tilted her head, looking puzzled. “Why me?” She asked.
Oh. Oh no. Hermes winced.
“Uh… this might sound… I don’t want to be mean, but…” he trailed off. Estelle raised an eyebrow. “Has Percy told you about Luke?” He asked. She nodded. Hermes opened his mouth – should I tell her? He felt the words catch in his throat. No. No, he shouldn’t. “Right. Well, he was my son,” Hermes said evenly. “After he died, I swore to myself I wouldn’t make the same mistakes… and, look, I spend a lot of time around mortals, but I still don’t quite get the…parent part. You’re good practice.” He tried. It wasn’t a lie exactly. He really did struggle with mortal parenting – as Luke had kindly pointed out all those years ago.
Estelle stared.
“You… I’m your practice kid?” She asked. Hermes nodded. He would run with this.
“Last week, I took my daughter out for ice cream like you and I did. She thinks I’m the greatest.”
Estelle laughed and shook her head.
“You made me pay for that ice cream,” she said and Hermes blinked. Was… was she not supposed to pay? He had made Lina pay too. “Listen, I think you’re awesome, but I don’t quite see you as a, uh, parental figure.” She told him.
What? He blinked a few times. This was horrible news. What had he been doing then? This mortal was fun, but he couldn’t justify spending so much time around her if he wasn’t getting anything out of it! In truth, he wasn’t even sure Estelle was Luke. What if she wasn’t? Then he had been kind of wasting his time. Estelle chuckled and sat up.
“If you wanted parenting advice you could have just said so. I have the best parents ever!” She told him brightly and stood up, grabbing his hand. “Watch this.” She added and knocked a glass over from her nightstand. The shatter resounded throughout the apartment.
“Estelle? Are you alright?” Sally’s voice called a second later. Hermes blinked.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just knocked a glass over!” Estelle yelled back before looking at Hermes expectantly. He waved his hand and the glass flew back together.
“Be careful! Do you need anything to clean it up?” Sally asked. Estelle picked up the glass examined it.
“I got it covered! Thanks, mom!” She said and turned to Hermes. “See how that was done?” She asked. Hermes shook his head. That was the most bewildering interaction he had ever seen.
“She thought something was wrong and asked if I was okay. Then she offered to give me something I might need to fix the problem. Classic parenting,” she told him. Hermes took the glass from her and stared at it.
“But… wait, what?” He demanded. Estelle tilted her head. “If you broke the glass and hurt yourself you’ve just dishonored and disgraced her and yourself. Well, if we’re using this as a mortal analogy,” he said, waving away Estelle’s look of outrage. “I can’t go checking in on my children every time they potentially injure themselves! It shows I don’t trust them to do right by my name!” He frowned. “And offering them help? I can give them the occasional gifts, but I won’t muddy their success with my intervention!”
Estelle blinked.
“Dude, immortals are… so weird,” she muttered. “Alright, I see we’re going to have to go to the basics.”
“Estelle?”
“Hm?”
“Why is a Greek god eating dinner with us?”
Hermes waved. The casserole Sally had made was actually phenomenal. For mortal food anyways. He took another bite and turned to Estelle.
“I can’t cook for my kids. Meals are provided at camp.”
“I’m helping him learn mortal parenting tactics,” Estelle told him and turned back to Hermes. “It isn’t the cooking part. It’s just… recognizing what your children need and making sure they get it.” She explained. Hermes frowned. “And don’t worry, I promise that it won’t muddy their reputation,” Estelle added with a slight shake of her head. Paul took a bite of his food.
“Percy is going to have a heart attack,” he said to nobody in particular. “Lord Hermes, could you pass the salad?” He asked. Hermes flicked his wrist and the salad hovered over to him. “Thank you.”
“Well,” Sally frowned, looking Hermes over for a moment. “What exactly do you need to know? We’re happy to help,” she said with a shrug. “Apollo used to come by here when he was human. I suppose helping a god isn’t too different,” she mused. Hermes nodded.
“He still talks about you,” he told her. Sally smiled. “I just don’t know what my children are expecting. What is a normal parent thing to say?”
Paul took a sip of his water.
“You say ‘no’ a lot,” he offered. “And if you’re desperate to win an argument then you use ‘because I said so’ but try to avoid that one. Especially if you have an argumentative child,” he added with a sly look at where Estelle was grinning.
“My children aren’t often in the practice of disobeying me,” Hermes said doubtfully. “Most are afraid I’ll blow them up if I don’t. The ones that do tend to… well, you know,” he said with a grimace.
Silence.
“Maybe,” Sally said. “A good start would be letting them know that you won’t blow them up?” She suggested. Estelle pointed her fork at her mother with approval. “Also, good mortal parents tell their children that they love them and are proud of them.”
“Even if they haven’t completed a quest?”
“I told Percy I was proud of him before he ever had a quest,” Sally smiled. Hermes tilted his head. “There are always things to be proud of. Kids are more amazing than you might think.” She said. Hermes considered. Maybe his time with Estelle wouldn’t prove futile.
“And,” Paul continued as he put more salad on his plate. “If you have stepchildren then you might ask them why they’re hiding in your living room covered in blood.”
Silence.
“Uh, hi, Paul,” Percy’s voice came from the other room. “I was going to surprise you with a visit, but ended up getting stabbed on the way over.” He said and Estelle stiffened. “I’m okay!” He added quickly, but Estelle had already left her spot at the table. “Hey, guppy-”
“MOM! WHERE ARE THE BANDAIDS?!”
Sally put her fork down.
“You’ll need a good supply of bandaids too,” she warned him and Percy’s face peered into the dining room.
“Seriously?” He asked Hermes as he was dragged into the room. “When are you going to stop this-”
“We beat your high score in Mariokart by the way,” Estelle added as she sat him down to poke at his injuries. Percy spluttered. “Also, we decided to go through all your old video games and beat your scores or unlock new achievements.” She added brightly. Percy turned a gaping look of betrayal to Hermes.
“Seriously?!”
Hermes stared at the piece of paper Hades had given him.
Alec Layton
So… Estelle wasn’t Luke after all. He wasn’t sure if this was upsetting or a relief. Nor did he know his next step. Should he hunt this Alec down? Stay far from him? Try to trigger any memories? He had no idea. All he knew was that, even if Estelle wasn’t his son reborn, he still owed her for what was currently happening.
“I’m so excited! How do I look?” She asked, spinning around to show off her outfit. Hermes was glad. She had been pretty upset since her brother’s death… which Hermes was pretty sure he wasn’t really dead, but whatever. He was happy he could get Estelle to smile again. According to Sally, she hadn’t spoken to anyone but Nico and Hades in over a month.
Poor Hades. He had to deal with so much in their little family of immortals (and now Estelle).
“Like a demigod,” Hermes assured her as Nico himself sat in the corner wearing heavy disapproval. “What are you doing here grumpy pants?” Hermes asked him and di Angelo’s eyes glowed in warning.
“I feel like someone has to point out this a terrible idea,” he said flatly. “Estelle, the gods are already pissed with you. Going to Camp Half-Blood is just going to make it worse-”
“She’s my guest,” Hermes said and waved his hand. “Besides, I kind of assumed she already been.”
“Well,” Nico began and frowned. “Technically, yes. You were too young to remember,” he added to Estelle. “You called Mr. D a donut and stole a knife,” he said. Estelle and Hermes both nodded. That sounded about right. “So, I’m not sure-”
“I’m going to be in disguise, Nico!” Estelle said wiggling her fingers. “My name is Stella Johnson! A new demigod who is being escorted by Hermes after bravely saving him from a hellhound!”
“I don’t remember approving this story,” Hermes said and Estelle offered a bright smile. “Eh, whatever. I just need to you to keep an eye on my kids.” He said. Nico groaned and flopped back on the couch.
“Annabeth should be dealing with this.”
“Annabeth is mourning,” Hermes said. At the reminder, Estelle’s smile disappeared. Oh. No. Damnit. “Besides, Annabeth doesn’t know anything about parenting!” He added. Another strange look came over Estelle’s face at that, but it disappeared almost immediately. “Estelle is an expert.”
“Since when?” Nico demanded. “She has no kids!”
“But I have two awesome parents,” Estelle sniffed. “Watch this – Hermes, what is one important thing to teach your kids?” She said and Hermes thought back. He had been spending quite some time with Sally and Paul (who seemed somewhere between amused and aghast by his efforts) so he should know this.
“To lie. Not to me, but in general to be very good a lying.”
Estelle frowned.
“I thought we went with no lying?”
“Estelle, I need you to remember what I am the god of-”
“Technically, lying falls into the realm of Dolos and Pseudea, but fine,” Estelle grumbled. Nico and Hermes stared. “What? Athena gives me a lot of read,” she grumbled. Hermes snorted. Yeah… that sounded about right. “Who should I pretend I’m the child of?” She asked excitedly. “I would say Aphrodite since I’m a snack, but I’m not thrilled with her at the moment.”
“Why would you say that?” Nico asked. Estelle snapped her fingers.
“Apollo!”
“Let’s just say you’re unclaimed,” Hermes told her gently. Estelle frowned, but gave a grumbled agreement. Nico seemed to accept the fact this was happening because he merely rolled his eyes and offered his hand when Hermes announced it was time to go.
“She’s traveling with me. Not you,” Nico said flatly. Hurtful, but okay. Hermes supposed he wasn’t always an innocent little lamb. Within seconds, he was letting his shoes carry him forward so that he was just outside camp. When Estelle and Nico came along a few seconds later, he raised his hands to lower the mortal wards.
“Wow,” Estelle whispered as she walked by Thalia’s tree. “It’s beautiful! Percy always said so, but…” her voice trailed off either from the memory of her brother or in awe at the camp. Hermes gave her a couple seconds before subtly redirecting her to the Big House. He wanted to see his kids.
“Hermes,” Dionysus greeted as he shuffled some cards and then glanced up at Estelle and Nico. “If it isn’t Nemo and Eleanor,” he said dryly, ignoring Chiron trotting up to them with furrowed brows.
“Hi! I’m Stella!” Estelle waved, peering out from behind Hermes. Dionysus took a long sip of his coke before turning to Hermes.
“What is Perry Johnson’s sister doing here?” He asked, ignoring Estelle’s slightly baffled expression.
“She’s my emotional support human,” Hermes said and waited. Nothing. “I said she’s my emotional support human!”
“Oh! Uh, go Hermes!” Estelle said and then tilted her head. “You seem familiar,” she added to him. “Are you Mr. D?” She asked. Dionysus took off his glasses and peered her over. Estelle’s frowned deepened.
“Yes, you are very much mortal,” he decided and leaned back with a nod at Chiron. Estelle opened her mouth – possibly to object – but was silenced by the god speaking again. “She shouldn’t be here. After all, I hear mortals are now in the habit of killing demigods,” he drawled. Estelle froze.
That wasn’t… good. Hermes glanced at Hades’ boy. He also frowned at the comment as he shuffled a little closer to Estelle.
“What… is that supposed to imply?” She asked. Chiron cleared his throat.
“Lord Hermes. We’re honored,” he said. “Why is-”
“Just noting that your brother was said to have been killed by a mortal such as yourself,” Dionysus commented.
Damnit.
Naturally, Estelle launched herself at him because who wouldn’t attack a god when you were a small, measly mortal? Typical. Luckily, Hades’ boy was fast and pretty much dragged her out before Dionysus could kill her or Chiron could kick her out.
Hermes clicked his tongue.
“So, um, I heard capture the flag is today?” He said and both parties gave him a wary look. In the end, it was decided he could visit and Estelle could stay on the premises… temporarily as long as nobody knew who she was. Not that Estelle was in the social mood at the moment. It took her a good hour to calm down enough to even approach Hermes cabin.
“Stupid drunk,” she hissed lowly and Nico whacked the back of her head. “What?” She hissed.
“Didn’t you come here to help him?” He said and Estelle glanced back at Hermes and sighed before giving a muttered apology.
“Dionysus is a bit of a jerk,” Hermes told her. That seemed to quell her anger for the moment because she offered him a weak smile before looking out at the hordes of demigods preparing for the upcoming game.
“Which ones are yours?” She asked, but before Hermes could answer, was silenced by a group gasping in alarm. A few demigods were watching him curiously, but it was Travis and Connor who led the charge.
“Dad?!” Connor demanded. “HEY DIMWITS! DAD IS HERE!” He shouted and a few others scrambled forward. Hermes glanced at Estelle nervously.
“Hug one of them,” she suggested. Oh. Right. Physical affection.
“One? Or all?” He whispered. Would it be weird to hug just one? Or weirder to hug all of them? Estelle gave a useless gesture so he just picked the nearest one. It was Al, one of his older ones, who gave a squeal of alarm, but quickly hugged him back.
“What are you doing here?” Lina asked, looking him up and down suspiciously. He reached over and ruffled her hair – which apparently was shocking enough to keep her completely still.
“Heard you guys were going to kick ass at capture the flag. Thought I would watch,” he said. A nervous whisper fled over the group and Estelle quickly jumped in.
“As long as you all have fun!” She said and then waved. “Hi, I’m a new camper! My name is Stella.”
“Aren’t you Percy Jackson’s sister?”
“…no,” Estelle said slowly and Nico rolled his eyes. “Um, but look! Hermes is here to cheer you on!” She told them. Travis nodded.
“Great,” he said and rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ll win for you,” he smiled. Hermes shrugged.
“If you want. I’m just here for, uh,” He looked at Estelle. She pointed to her eyes. “To look at you. See you. I’m here to see you.” He managed and the group grew silent. “It’s been awhile.”
“I don’t have any money to buy you ice cream,” Petra said. Oh. Hermes could handle this. He waved his hand and a sack of coins dropped in her hands.
“How about I buy ice cream for everyone afterwards?” He suggested and the morale rose slightly.
“There’s something to fight for. We fight – FOR ICE CREAM!” Connor shouted and the cabin cheered loudly before giving Hermes quick bows and racing off towards the field. Estelle watched them go.
“…they seem nice,” she decided. Hermes bit his lip. “And I think that went very well.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, you’re a natural,” Estelle assured him. Hermes nodded.
“I should get them blueberry pie too,” he said absently. “Luke liked blueberry pie. Maybe they do as well.”
Estelle’s smile softened.
“Well, you can ask them later,” she said and grabbed his arm. “Come on. Let’s watch the game.” She said and poked his side. “Be sure to cheer them on! Unless it’s like a stealth thing. Then maybe not.” She rectified. Hermes nodded eagerly before snapping his fingers. Immediately, a box enveloped them, flying them high above the ground so they could float around and see various aspects of the match.
Estelle seemed thrilled by the entire thing – eyes wide as she watched the fights below while traps went off or various deceptions were deployed against other team members.
“It’s like reality TV,” she whispered when someone from the Aphrodite cabin double-crossed their boyfriend from the Demeter cabin. “It’s so weird to think Percy and Annabeth used to do this stuff…” She said and leaned forward to better see a fight. Hermes perked up.
“GO LINA!” He shouted and Estelle clapped as well. “LOOK AT THAT FEINT! AMAZING!” He called and Lina stumbled a bit, looking up at him in alarm. “IF I COULD CLAIM YOU AGAIN I WOULD!” He yelled.
“Dad!” Lina yelped, mortified as Travis laughed at her. “I – my lord, please do not… do that!” She said, face growing slightly red. Hermes turned to Estelle.
“Is that good?”
“Yep. You’re embarrassing her. Great job!” She said and then paused. “Do you care if she calls you the whole ‘my lord’ thing?” She asked. Hermes shook his head. “Alright, maybe let her know that.”
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME THE LORD THING AND I LOVE YOU!” Hermes shouted as Lina turned an even brighter red. Connor, on the other hand, frowned.
“What gives? You don’t love me?”
“I LOVE YOU ALL EQUALLY!”
“Me too?” Travis asked. Hermes gave him two thumbs up. “Suck it. He loves me too.” He told his siblings. Al beamed and waved up at him. Hermes waved back.
“DO YOU GUYS LIKE BLUEBERRY PIE?!”
“Oh. Uh, Hermes. Maybe ask them that later,” Estelle said and Hermes shrugged. Fair enough.
The rest of the match lasted another hour or so with his kids being the expected amount of awesome. By the end of it, they seemed pretty pleased with the cheering though the mood took a weird downhill turn as soon as it ended. Hermes wasn’t sure what he had done wrong.
“Well, I’m very proud of everyone here today-” He began, sitting at his table. The group looked at him nervously.
“We lost, dad,” Connor said miserably, stabbing at his food. Oh. Had they? Hermes honestly hadn’t noticed since he was so concerned with the cheering.
“So? It was still awesome,” he said and the table turned to him. His youngest – a little girl named Petra perked up with wide eyes. “I mean, did you see how Al over there stole that Athena nerd’s spear? Classic,” he chuckled. The group murmured. “And the way Connor handled the Hecate kids? You’ll win for sure next time. Also, we were definitely the best-looking cabin so that accounts for something.”
“That’s a good point,” Travis said. Then looked at Hermes with some consideration. “Do… do you want to come back for the next game?” He asked slowly. Hermes beamed.
“I mean, if you want me-”
“Yes!” Lina said loudly and then winced. “I mean, sure. If you aren’t… like, busy or anything. With… god stuff.” She shrugged. Hermes felt a smile hint at his face.
“Eh, I’m a busy guy, but honestly. My messages are for immortals. It isn’t like they can’t wait.”
Hermes decided the looks on their faces were totally worth it.
He went to tell Estelle, but – unsurprisingly – she had disappeared. You know, until the loud explosion came. Why did he even take her places?
“The betrayal, the pain, the absolute horror-”
“I’m joining the Hunters of Artemis. Not dying,” Estelle said flatly. Hermes pouted. “Look, I graduated high school and my brother is pretty much fully alive again with a baby on the way. Now seems like a good time think about the rest of my life,” she shrugged, throwing some stuff in a bag. “I like Artemis. She’s awesome – and I swore my oath never to fall in love after Aphrodite,” she grumbled.
Hermes sighed.
“Artemis isn’t a fan of the… what’s the opposite of fairer sex? The unfair sex? I don’t know, but she doesn’t like men. I won’t be able to hang out as much,” he pouted. Estelle fixed him with a bemused look before setting her bag to the side with a low chuckle.
“And I will miss you very much.”
“Cold,” Hermes told her.
“Come on,” Estelle laughed. “As awesome as I am, we both know you have your own kids to hang out with. I like Jacob. He’s cool. Also, Lina. Love Lina. Connor and Travis are awesome,” she listed off and paused. “You have a lot of kids now that I think about it. You need to cool it.”
“What can I say? I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
“Gross,” Estelle said and threw a pair of socks into her pile of things. “Well, it looks like I’m going to be a fighter, not a lover so… high five for being opposites!” She said and stuck out her hand. Hermes eagerly obliged. “Just make sure you keep visiting the camp! Petra said she loved you back the other day, right?” She asked. Hermes nodded. “Awesome.”
“…it was a little awesome,” Hermes admitted. “I can give them gifts even if it’s not their birthday, right?”
“I thought you said Zeus was weird about that?”
“He is, but I found a loophole. If they aren’t magical or anything then he can’t complain, right? Plus, you can get them things that show you know them well like your dad was telling me. Apparently, Al likes comic books so I might get him a comic book store.”
“Or just… comic books,” Estelle nodded. Hermes frowned. Significantly less fun, but she was the expert. “I think I got everything,” she said, looking around. “Well, aside from the food my mom probably packed-”
“Wait,” Hermes said and then hesitated. “There is something I need to tell you,” he said and Estelle’s shoulders fell. Did she know what was coming? She must have. There was an odd silence that sat uncomfortably between them before Hermes spoke again. “You once asked me why I spend time with you. The truth is that there was a period of time where I thought you… might be a child of mine. Reborn,” he explained and let his eyes fall away. “I learned you are not.”
When he glanced up, Estelle was nodding slowly.
“I know,” she said quietly. “Was it Luke?” She asked. Hermes nodded. For a couple seconds only silence followed. “I’m sorry you were disappointed.”
Hermes grimaced. He had been, a bit. It would have been comforting to learn he had made so much progress with Luke’s soul. Giving a wary smile, he placed a hand on her arm.
“I only tell you this because I would like you to know that despite being a young and insignificant mortal with no attachment to my name… I do consider you a friend,” he said and then paused to reconsider. “I guess you’re not technically a mortal now,” he mused. Estelle smiled.
“That was a super dick way of putting it, but I do appreciate the effort,” she told him. Hermes might have smited her, but he figured that now she was under Artemis’ protection that it wouldn’t be a smart move. “Also, um, I should apologize to you,” she said. Hermes blinked. Interesting. “Back when Percy… wasn’t, you know, doing his best…” she trailed off. Hermes nodded. “I had a bit of an outburst.”
Ah. Yes, most of Olympus heard that outburst. Hermes had kept his cool about it, but was rather surprised Zeus or one of the other Olympians had struck her down. To paraphrase, Estelle’s tantrum had included a long rant about gods being sucky parents whose children made excuses for them. It had stung.
“Yes,” he told her. “I’m pretty sure Poseidon had to intervene to keep you from being blasted.”
If it was his uncle’s work alone that kept her alive then that was pretty amazing, quite honestly. Kudos to him. Estelle chuckled nervously, eyes moving to the sky.
“I don’t take it back – sorry,” she added to the ceiling when thunder boomed. Hermes shook his head in amazement. Truly, she was a fool at times. “Olympians frustrate me. I thought Athena would be the best of them, but…” she trailed off, frowning. “I know you don’t think you’re the best parent of the group because of what happened to Luke,” she told him. Hermes stiffened. He wasn’t sure he could cope with a call out right now. Not even from Estelle.
“I-”
“But you’re wrong,” Estelle cut in before Hermes could stop her. “I’ve seen how much you care about Lina and Travis and Connor and every kid under your care. You even take the unclaimed ones in your cabin. You and Artemis spend more time around mortals more than anyone. You still think about Luke even though it would be easier to forget about him. Immortals do that a lot, I think,” she said.
Hermes stared back at her, trying to ignore the tight ball of emotions whirling dangerously in his chest.
“And you're the only one I've met who is actively trying to be better. I know there are all these rules that prevented you from being as great of a dad as you could be, but… you really are the best of them,” she said. Hermes nodded. He found it was all he could really do. “And you still spent time with me even after realizing I wasn’t Luke, so… thanks.” She smiled. “I never got around to have mortal friends, but I guess you evened that out.”
Hermes wasn’t aware that potato baby all those years ago was going to make him have so many freaking feelings.
Without really thinking, he pulled her into a hug. This was mortals did, right? He saw them do it often enough. Affection and what not. It appeared to be the correct response since Estelle hugged him back, squeezing tightly as she let out a small breath of relief.
“Please don’t get yourself killed, kid.”
“Eh,” Estelle grinned as she pulled away. “We’ll see. I still can’t really fight.”
“…so why are you joining the-? Estelle!” Hermes complained and Estelle laughed as she grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. There was scuffling outside – the sound of Sally warmly greeting someone and Hermes knew Artemis must be here. He should leave. His sister would be annoyed by his presence around her newest huntress and Estelle should say goodbye to her parents.
“I’ll see you around, Hermes,” she said and then paused. “Wait. If I want to give you an offering or something… what would I use?” She asked. Hermes frowned at her. What? Did she…? Not know how offerings worked? A small smile hinted at his lips as he remembered Athena’s annoyance that Estelle apparently burned books as ‘offerings’ or threw seashells into the ocean to get Poseidon’s attention. He would have assumed someone had told her by now.
“Just steal something for me,” he winked. Estelle shook her head, but gave a small wave as he disappeared into the wind.
“Hi. It’s me.”
Hermes didn’t even bother to open up the prayer. When he opened his eyes, he was in front of Estelle. There was a moment of silence as they looked at one another before she shifted, biting her lip.
“I heard you pissed off Ares,” he finally said. Estelle nodded. “Like… really, really pissed him off,” he said and Estelle gave another nod. “Right. And you’ve come to me for help because…?” He said, gesturing. Estelle glanced up, rubbing the back of her neck as she gave a weak smile.
“Artemis is already kind of annoyed with me?”
Hermes shook his head in disbelief. How had she pissed off literally every god? It was amazing. Incredible, in fact. Hermes sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.
“What would you like me to do? Hephaestus already showed everyone what you did.”
“He did?” Estelle asked, horrified. “Oh… Come on! In fairness – in fairness, Ares is a jerk and objectively the worst. He has very little redeeming qualities and-”
“If this is the case you plan to make in front of any other god, I am going to point out now that it’s a very bad one,” Hermes interrupted her. Estelle’s shoulders fell. “Look, how about this. I’ll facilitate some good will. I’ll replace it and say that you did it as a gift, alright?” Hermes said and Estelle quickly sat up.
“You would do that? Really?” She asked. Hermes shrugged. She had been the reason he had gotten along with his kids so the least he could do was make sure Ares didn’t turn her into a stinkbug. “Thanks, Hermes,” she grinned and threw her arms around his shoulders. Chuckling, he hugged her back.
“This is not for free,” he said and Estelle’s smile disappeared. “I need your help for a prank-”
“You just told me to stop upsetting people!”
“Eh, it’s Hera. Who cares?”
“Hera?!” Estelle demanded and threw up her hands. “Hermes, I already have a lot going on. My arch nemesis is trying to make me look bad in front of the hunt and this Ares thing is happening-”
“Still hate Chloe, huh?” Hermes asked, thinking of Aphrodite’s breakdown the other day. Should he even bother to tell Estelle that the little demon was her soulmate? Probably not. Estelle pinched the bridge of her nose with a grumble.
“I might have… well, I also might have been a bit of an idiot with her too,” Estelle admitted. Hermes waited. “So, I guess she has this half-brother who is fully mortal, right? Well, she went to visit him and I, uh, you know. Told Artemis.”
“Dumb.”
“I know,” Estelle groaned. “Artemis was ready to take my side too! Then when everyone realized it was her brother I… ugh, I feel like such an ass,” she sighed. Hermes patted her arm. Poor thing. It must be hard to exist with such a low life-expectancy.
“Did you know he was her brother?”
“No,” Estelle said, rubbing the side of her arm. “In my defense, I thought she was a bajallion years old! A lot of the huntresses are. I don’t know how to tell who the new ones are or if they have relatives,” she said and then shook her head. “Are you really going to make me piss off Hera to fix things with Ares?” She asked. Hermes nodded. “…I feel like Hera is a worse person to make mad.”
“Estelle, I’m going to go ahead and point out you crossed a very obvious line with the god of war.”
A pause.
“Alright, so what do you need my help with?”
Estelle left the hunt. Hermes had spent a solid ten minutes worrying about this. People rarely just left Artemis’ hunt unscathed. There was a history of people being killed or turned to animals or something awful. Granted, it would be bold for Artemis to turn Percy Jackson’s little sister into an ox, but then again… it wasn’t as if the girl was beloved by all the gods.
So, naturally, Hermes had to check on her.
“…you have got to be kidding me.”
“Hey, Perseus!” Hermes grinned as he leaned against the doorframe. Annabeth was asleep on the couch while Percy himself was making something or another that smelled delicious. “Heard your sister ditched Artie and wanted to make sure she was okay.”
“I hate that she’s friends with you,” Percy sighed and glanced over his shoulder. “She’s calling our mom and Paul right now. Are you stealing our food?” He asked. Hermes leaned over the pot.
“…is that Sally’s recipe?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, yes,” Hermes told him and Percy made a face before turning back to the food. “And I – oh!” He interrupted himself when something moved. He turned to see what looked to be yet another flesh potato hopping around in a small jail – or, um, there was a word for it. Play pen? It looked like a jail to Hermes. “I heard you got yourself another mini-percabeth,” he said and then turned back to Percy. “That’s you and the wife’s names combined-”
“Uh huh. Are you planning on bothering my children for the foreseeable future too?”
“Probably. What did you name this one?” Hermes said, walking over to wave to the baby. There was a pause. And then:
“That one is Grace,” Percy said slowly and then nodded to the couch where Hermes realized a slightly older child was asleep with Annabeth. “That one is Luke.”
Hermes smiled. At one point, this news might have broken him a bit, but now he felt as though the Fates had finally loosened their grip on him. Grace babbled.
“Good names,” he said softly. Before Percy could respond the door opened.
“Mom says hi,” Estelle said and flounced over her niece. “And to give her favorite grandchildren a big – Hermes!” Estelle gasped and rushed over to him. “I was thinking about going to steal something for you!” She said brightly and Percy gave a long-suffering sigh. “I’m not in the hunt anymore-”
“I heard. Why?”
“Well… it does and doesn’t have to do with Chloe,” she began and Hermes sighed. Ooh, Aphrodite was going to love that.
“Hate that – wait, do we like her now?” Percy frowned. Estelle nodded. “Oh, that’s going to take some getting used to. I’ve spent too long hating her,” he said. Hermes nodded absently, though he was trying to figure out if… wait. He had only heard Estelle left. Not the Demeter girl. What was that about?
He was about to ask, but Estelle was already dragging him from the room.
“We’ll be right back, Perce!” She said and Percy shot them a betrayed look as Estelle practically tossed Hermes into the next room and pulled out a golden necklace. Oh. Yeah. Hermes had seen that. In fact, Zeus had shown all the Olympians that necklace in an attempt to figure who was responsible for it.
“This is your marking!” Estelle began, pointing at one of the symbols etched on the pendant.
“Well… kind of,” Hermes told her. “That’s my Roman form’s symbol. Mercury,” he said and the name itself threw him – making his head spin warningly as it tried to switch. He resolutely pushed it away.
“Then you can explain what this is, right? Athena said it was protecting me and Artemis-”
“I can’t,” Hermes interrupted her and Estelle frowned. “I don’t remember putting my mark on this necklace. Not in my Greek form,” he told her and Estelle’s shoulders fell. Absently, he took it and looked at the other markings on it. Yeah… this was definitely what was keeping the girl from getting killed by other gods. He didn’t have a clue how she got it though.
“Maybe your Roman form gave it to me?” Estelle suggested. Hermes shook his head.
“I doubt it. Someone went through a lot of work making this for you.”
“Yeah,” Estelle sighed. “Artemis told me. I don’t know who though… or why. I’ve had it for years. Whoever it was must have given it to me when I was really little,” she said and bit her lip. “Do you know about the others listed on here?” She asked. Hermes looked at the other symbols carefully.
“Not much. I don’t interact with any of them. We’re not generally allowed to mix… which is a big reason why nobody can kill you, apparently.” He said and let go of the pendent. “I hope whoever made that for you is cool with Zeus kicking their ass. He hates that you have it.”
“Trust me, I know.” Estelle said and shook her head. “Whatever. I guess I’ll figure it out later. Now, I need to talk to you about my problems. Well, actually, first. Tell me how you’re doing – and the kids! How old is Lina? Also, Travis proposed? Ooh, did you ever decide to find who Luke was reborn into?”
Hermes had kind of missed Estelle.
“You get back here so I can kick your ass!”
“Look, Estelle, I can explain-”
“Do you not know what eloping means?” Estelle demanded and took off a heeled shoe to throw at him. “It means not having a wedding! So why am I in a wedding dress?” She growled at him. Hermes ducked again when the other shoe went flying. “Percy better be here. If you’re going to make me walk down a damned aisle then my brother and parents better be in attendance!” She hissed.
“You can’t throw shoes at me! I’m a god!”
“You’re a pain in the ass!” Estelle snapped and then took a deep breath. “Okay. I overreacted. I’m okay. We’re good. Hi. How are you, Hermes?” She asked. Hermes pouted. “I told you I just wanted to get married without a fuss,” she finally grumbled. “So why this?”
“I thought you meant ‘Hermes take care of the wedding for me’ kind of no fuss. Not the ‘let me elope with my ex-nemesis’ kind of no fuss!” She groaned and then looked down at the dress.
“At least I look good,” she amended. Hermes gave her two thumbs up.
“You got this. No stress. Don’t even think about all the people who are here-”
“Hermes,” she warned and took a long breath. “I guess if Chloe is okay with it… to think, I’m about to spend the rest of my life with Chloe Layton of all people-”
“What?” Hermes interrupted and Estelle glanced over at him. “Did you just say Layton?” He asked. No way. No way in Hades was that a thing. Hermes stared at her as Estelle frowned back at him. “Any relation to Alec Layton?”
“Um, yeah. That’s Chloe’s brother.”
Hermes wasn’t ready for this.
“You need to cancel this wedding,” he said and Estelle blinked. “We need everyone to go home and-”
“What? You made this wedding! And I’m not going to tell Hera, you know, goddess of marriage that there isn’t going to be a wedding!”
“You’re going to have to. I can’t see Alec Layton!”
“Why can’t you – oh, shit,” Estelle interrupted herself. “Is he…? No way,” she whispered. Hermes nodded. “Right. Fine. We cancel this. Chloe and I elope. Cool. Maybe we can fake a medical emergency… or… just have a medical emergency…” She said slowly and tapped a finger to her lip. “Is Will here? I want to know what our healing capabilities are-”
“Are you planning a murder?” A voice said and Hermes slowly turned. He had never heard that voice in his life… and yet he there was a familiarity to it that he couldn’t explain. In the doorway stood a boy about around Estelle’s age. A little older actually, given that Estelle had been frozen in time during her stint with the huntresses. He looked strikingly like Chloe with braided hair and lean frame.
Still there was something about his eyes. They weren’t blue, but they were still his. They were Luke’s.
Luke.
Estelle looked between them before clearing her throat.
“I’m going to… bye,” she decided. Hermes almost grabbed her to continue with this wedding cancellation, but found he couldn’t with the boy in front of him. Alec frowned, baffled by her exit before turning back to Hermes with a curious look.
“Um, hi?” He said and Hermes smiled back weakly. “Have we met? You seem kind of familiar.”
“Perhaps,” he said slowly. “I’m immortal. I have met many souls in one life or another,” he answered cryptically. Alec gave a small, vaguely intrigued nod at that. “Shouldn’t you be with your sister?” He asked. Alec scoffed, absently rubbing the side of his arms. Hermes waved his hand and gave him a jacket.
“Oh, thanks. Look it matches my suit!” Alec said brightly. “And Chloe is with her mom. I figured I would let Demeter do her thing before visiting,” he shrugged. Hermes nodded. “I was going to hang out with Estelle, but apparently she’s ditching me-”
“You can wait with me,” Hermes said before he could stop himself. Alec looked a little surprised, but nodded. “Are you… hungry?” He asked, gesturing over his shoulder. “The food is back there and I probably ordered too much. I forget how much mortals need to eat at times.”
“Food sounds great!” Alec beamed. “Do you have any blueberry pie? It’s my favorite.”
Hermes smiled.
“Yeah… yeah, I got extra blueberry pie.”
Hermes decided befriending the mortal potato was a good decision after all.