「005. summoning a psychotic goddess 101 」

CHERRY FOUND herself in the engine room, as she usual was if she wasn't wandering around the ship helping or training or maybe just generally goofing around (which happened less these days- they were getting closer to the end- there was no time for goofing on near the end). currently, her reason for being in the engine room was simply 'helping'. well, if you could call it helping. truthfully, it was more like cherry and leo were simply chatting, sometimes kissing and only occasionally fixing things that needed maintenance.

"something's bothering you," cherry found herself saying as a lull pressed over the couple, "it comes and goes, but i can tell."

"always the observant one," leo teased, grinning and shaking his head.

"you're avoiding my question," she said, voice suddenly sing-song. she huffed, scooting closer until she could braid small plaits into leo's hair. "c'mon elfie," she muttered, swooping to press a kiss to his cheek, "just tell me. you don't have to... but, i know it makes you feel better when we talk about things."

leo sighed, giditing with a small invention. there was a section of silence before he asked, "if you left somebody you were close friends with, but you knew you could find your way back- would you go back for them?"

"of course," cherry said, mind trying to process who leo was talking about. "why're you so troubled 'bout that though?"

"well- hypothetically let's say- this friend is somewhere really difficult to find, but-"

"is this calypso?" cherry interrupted. leo froze, shoulders stiffened and he looked like a spooked cat. "don't be worried, elfie. i just wanna know. is it?"

"..maybe?" leo said, voice pitched upwards to the end. "would you... i mean- we've talked about... er, after the war."

after the war. what leo said was true, they'd talked about (well, 'talk' was a loose term. speaking, then crying, then kissing, then crying then speaking again might fit the description more) after the war- what would happen before the war- the after and perhaps what would be left of them all after the war.

before the war, they would work their way to hopefully save demigods and mortals alike. the pressure was insane, but it was easily forgotten when the group was together. war or not, they were still teenagers- kids, even; they were about fun, even the war couldn't stop jokes shooting out from their mouths. however, as easily as it was forgotten, it was easily remembered. it clawed onto you- surprising you at the worst moments because one slip, one stab to the heart and you would be gone.

the good and bad had been discussed. after the war, they wanted a lot of things to happen. they would have a long talk with the gods and goddesses of olympus, but that wasn't just leo and cherry's idea- it had been agreed by all of them, they'd finally be teenagers- cherry had pondered the idea of going back to school once it was all over and as had leo. after the war, above all else, they'd mourn. war did not come without sacrifices, and so they would mourn, grieve and remember.

as for what would be left of them after the war?

to storm or fire the world must fall. those exact words rang in each of the demigods minds present on the argo ii. whether it was in the forefront or the background, they were not to be forgotten. there'd been talks, all which had halted rather quickly. sobering talks often had bad impacts on the crew, so they didn't do it much.

to storm or fire the world must fall. to jason or leo the world must fall. that's what it really meant, when you pushed past the rest of it. leo and cherry hadn't spoken much about it in private, but there was a silent agreement between them that whatever happened, they'd stick together. whether that meant the world fell to jason or to leo- whether they lived or died, they'd find a way out together and they'd try as best as they could to survive.

it scared cherry, to be frank about it all. suddenly, cherry understood what it must have been like for barbie who'd be scared out of her life for cherry, grieving and screaming when cherry had died. if leo died? that terrified her- equally as the potential death of jason did as well. the lot of them were family, and the fact they could just slip away like sand did in a timer made her shudder with fear. death wasn't something to take lightly, but at the same time it seemed the only way they wouldn't go mad was if they took it lightly- or else they might run themselves wild with all the possibilities.

whether it was jason or leo, cherry would do whatever to make sure they were safe- to make sure they wouldn't be lost and to make sure they were happy at the end of it, or at least close to it in some way.

"after the war," cherry repeated, "after the war, i think we have the right to do whatever." she looked at leo, reaching out for one of his hands- he let one drop into her own and she squeezed it as she smiled, "after the war, i'll go with you to find calypso. we'll find her, i know we will."

leo smiled at her, about to lean in for what cherry guessed was either a hug or a kiss before the door slammed open. the two jumped apart at the sudden noise, and a snort was heard.

"now i know what frank felt like," piper mused, a lazy grin on her face. "c'mon lovebirds- we're nearly at olympia."

"but the maintenance-" argued leo.

"leo that did not look like maintenance-"

"we'll go," cherry interrupted the both of them, smiling. she grinned at leo, "c'mon elfie, don't be a wallflower. you need food anyways, a bag of fonzies is not breakfast." she turned to piper, "you off to get barb and percy?"

piper laughed, "nah- i'm making my way back, make sure to follow 'kay? annabeth's tugging barb and percy to the mess hall by the ears."

"annabeth chase, you get your unmanicured, crusty-ass lookin' hands off my precious ears!"

"ouch! ouch! oww-!"

the mess hall was sort of home-y now they'd stayed in the argo ii for a while. it was to be expected, after staying there for so long. leo and cherry walk in and she's suddenly hit with such a warm feeling that it makes her smile so wide.

percy was eating a huge stack of blue pancakes whilst simultaneously trying to fight barbie due to the fact she was trying to steal said pancakes away from percy ("just a bite!" "never. this means war!") whilst annabeth was rolling her eyes, and proceeded to confiscate the bottle of syrup he held in his hand (which he was using as a sword against barbie).

"annabeth!"

"you're going to get diabetes."

"diabetes is a social construct."

"it's science, dumbass."

"i'm going to pretend i didn't hear that last part." percy replied primly. "ear biter-"

"i didn't bite your neasty-ass ear-"

jason was beside piper, wincing at every little thing and trying not to anger the person tending to his wounds (the person being piper). his blonde hair didn't shine as much as it did before, dulled like the life was being sucked out of him. he had his t-shirt rolled up to his ribcage as his hands clenched his seat tightly. hazel was right beside her, passing her equipment and slowly bandaging as piper cleaned parts of jason's gaping wound that was steaming.

cherry didn't like to think of that much. imperial gold was supposed to kill demigods and absolutely throttle monsters. for jason to still be here was some warped miracle, but it was terrifying to think that in a blink of an eye, his soul could be snipped and he'd be down in the underworld.

"here," mumbled hazel, passing piper something.

"thanks hazel, now i- shit, sorry," muttered piper quietly.

"ouch! um- it's alright," mumbled jason, "not your fault."

piper didn't say anything, but cherry could tell she thought differently on the matter.

frank was the person to notice the two of them, and he waved at them, a tight sort of smile on his face.

"leo and cherry are here!" frank announced, and everyone turned their heads to them.

"hiya," leo said simply, strolling over and swiping a bite of percy's pancakes before making a face, "blegh- why so much syrup, man?"

"you and barb," muttered percy darkly, "taking my godsdamn food."

"enough fo that," annabeth said quickly. "we have stuff to talk about."

everyone sat down at the table. annabeth chose to confiscate the remaining pancakes for herself whilst cherry moved to sit next to barbie with leo choosing to sit by jason, sending him a small and reassuring smile.

"so," jason winced, leaning forward, "we're going to stay airborne and drop anchor as soon as we can when we get to olympia. it's uh.. further inland than i'd like- about five miles- but we don't really have much choice, do we? according to juno, we have to find the goddess of victory and subdue her."

"that's a bit counterintuitive, though." piper noted, "i mean- stop victory? we want victory, don't we?"

"that's the part i still don't understand either," frank agreed. "the other parts make sense."

"definitely," agreed annabeth. "olympia is the home of the olympics after all. the contestants sacrificed to her. greeks and romans worshipped her for like twelve hundred years."

frank hummed in agreement, "romans called her victoria, but same different really. everybody loves her because who doesn't love to win?"

jason frowned, "that ghoul antinous said victory runs rampant in olympia. and juno warnes us that we could never heal the rift between the greeks and the romans unless we defeated victory."

"oh no biggie," mumbled barbie as she twisted the ends of her hair, "slash a sword i'm sure that'll kill the fucking goddess of winning."

"yeah..." agreed cherry, "that sounds sort of difficult. or like a really impossible riddle."

the thought stewed in cherry's mind until she squinted her eyes, looking at the static windows in the hall. it used to show camp, but since the dwarves it had been broken and nobody had really wanted it fixed. seeing camp was like a double-edged sword. reassurance and worry all in one.

"remember kids at camp from her cabin?" cherry said finally, "they're super competitive."

"you're saying nike has a dark side?" percy asked.

"their kids sure do," mumbled annabeth. "they never turn down a challenge- they have to be number one at everything. if their mom is that intense then we're- shit!" the ship rocked and syrup landed on annabeth's hand. barbie idly flicked her wrist and pink mist swirled into tissues and annabeth thanked her, dabbing the syrup away.

"don't worry about that," leo said, "festus does that sometimes. nothing to worry about."

piper hummed, letting the comment reassure her before she gasped, "hold up. no because all the gods have their greek and roman aspects split- right? and if nike is like that and she's the goddess of victory-"

"she literally can't decide who should win," barbie finished. she grinned at piper, "good thinking, pipes. so if she can't declare victory she must be going mad, right? but the problem is we don't want anybody to win- we don't want the greeks or romans to win, we just want gaea to kick the bucket."

"maybe that's the problem, then." jason said. "if the goddess of victory is running rampant, torn between the greeks and romans, she might make it impossible to bring the two camps together."

"how, though?" leo asked, "does she just start a battle on twitter?"

"maybe she's like ares," percy shrugged, "that guy can spark a fight by just walking into a crowded room. maybe if nike radiates competitive vibes then she could aggravate the divide and rivalry even more."

frank pointed at percy. "you remember that old sea god in atlanta – phorcys? he said that gaia's plans always have lots of layers. this could be part of the giants' strategy – keep the two camps divided; keep the gods divided. if that's the case, we can't let nike play us against each other. we should send a landing party of six. keeping the balance to be even numbering might help keep her balanced."

"i think frank is right," nodded annabeth, " apathy of six. but we have to be careful of who goes."

"i'll stay here," piper said quickly, "and- jason you put your damn hand down, right now."

"who should go, then?"

"jason and percy shouldn't go together," annabeth said. "jupiter and poseidon – bad combination. nike could start you two fighting easily."

percy gave her a sideways smile. "yeah, we can't have another incident like in kansas. i might kill my darling jason."

"our matching nail polish would get chipped, man. i worked so hard on it this time." jason added weakly. "besides, uh-"

"you're not going anywhere," finished piper firmly, repeating the sentiments of her prior statement.

"which totally proves my point." nodded annabeth, "so..." she let out a frustrated huff, "who else, then? percy and i might be at each others throat if we both go. but knowing wonderboy- he'll go."

"hey!"

"am i wrong?"

"no... i wanna go," admitted percy.

"then i'll go," barbie said, "nike can't hate sweet talk, can she? plus aphrodite and poseidon- no big conflicts, right? and leo has to go- he's got all the fancy killing tools."

"inventions," leo corrected before adding, "but yeah- same thing." he frowned, "don't aphrodite and hephaestus have trouble, though?"

"last i properly talked to mom she said she was getting marriage counselling after an incident on olympus," shrugged barbie. "but i guess.... we'll stick to groups of three within the six, then. i'm sure the trouble won't be big but it's probably best if we stay far apart."

"me and frank will too," nodded hazel, "you need romans there too- probably to help the balance."

"i'll go too," decided cherry, "demeter won't cause too much trouble. she keeps to herself after persephone- oh no hold on." she looked at hazel, "first of all- pluto. second-" she counted on her fingers, her left lifting two and her right lifting four. "that's two romans and four greeks. imbalance."

"but remember what mom said?" barbie frowned, "love is universal- mom wasn't struggling with herself. she didn't show pain at all, or not that much. if venus is like aphrodite, maybe i'm like purgatory for this or something."

"stick with the romans, then." nodded annabeth, "we can't have too many people going, but four isn't enough numbers. you guys are the most likely not to cause aggression- if piper, jason or i come we'll..." she shuddered, "big, big rivalry."

hazel traced her finger along the map of greece. "i still wish we could've gone through the gulf of corinth. i was hoping we could visit delphi, maybe get some advice. plus it's such a long way around the peloponnese."

"yeah." leo mumbled, "it's july twenty-second already. counting today, only ten days until-"

"i know," jason said. "but juno was clear. the shorter way would have been suicide."

"and as for delphi ..." piper leaned towards the map. the blue harpy feather in her hair swung like a pendulum. "what's going on there? if apollo doesn't have his oracle any more ..."

percy grunted. "probably something to do with that fucking creep octavian. maybe he was so bad at telling the future that he broke apollo's powers."

jason managed a smile, though his eyes were cloudy from pain. "hopefully we can find apollo and artemis. then you can ask him yourself. juno said the twins might be willing to help us."

"a lot of unanswered questions," frank muttered. "a lot of miles to cover before we get to athens."

"step by step," annabeth acounced. "you guys have to find nike and figure out how to subdue her..." she scrunched up her face, "whatever juno meant by that. i still don't understand how you're mean to defeat a goddess, let alone one who controls victory. it seems impossible."

"oh well," shrugged cherry, "team spirit, right? power of friendship?"

"let's go goddess hunting," leo said in a sing-song voice as he stood up and giggled, "i'll grab my sonic death ray."

annabeth gave a blank stare at cherry, "...he's joking, right?"

"goddess hunting!" leo warbled down the hall like he was in an opera.

"i don't know," cherry grimaced, "but uh, let's find out?"

barbie, frank and hazel were off scouting the ruins. which made barbie's shoe choice a bit questionable- but no terrain had ever stopped her from wearing anything- and she'd be damned if she let this be the thing that crumbled her. a pink satin sleeveless dress with accent lace was paired with chunky platform heels (which she'd painted hearts on for the aesthetic) accompanied her around the ruins, along with heartless (her sword in bracelet form) and heartache (which she'd wrapped around her neck to look like a choker. yes- it could kill her... but fashion, amirite?).

"why is that both me and percy are third wheeling today?" she sighed as she stomped around- as if daring the rocks  beneath her to make her fall or loose balance or perhaps it was an active challenge to gaia to suck her into the ground. who knows, this was barbie allen- she can be an enigma when she wants.

"i don't think this is third-wheeling, if anything i'm fourth wheeling," mused frank, looking over at arion who'd appeared unannounced the moment they landed, clip-clopping with hazel directing the magic gold-eating horse on top. "you're not alone."

"you're so annoyingly understanding," grumbled barbie, glaring at the rock that decided to lodge itself into the crevice of her heel's ridges. "stupid rocks- stupig gaia."

they kept walking for some time until hazel let out a whistle, a gasp coming moments later as she said, "look how far this thing travels!"

"we should tell the others," nodded frank, squinting to the other side of the carpark to see the figures leo, percy and cherry.

"guys!" frank yelled, shouting at them and waving for them to come over.

moments later, her friends were jogging over and stopped right in front of them. percy sent her a smile and she returned it, walking over to lace their hands.

"this place is huge." frank reported, "the ruins stretch from the river to the base of that mountain over there, about half a kilometre."

"how far is that in regular measurements?" percy asked.

frank rolled his eyes. "that is a regular measurement in canada and the rest of the world. only you americans-"'

"about... five or six footballs fields," barbie guessed, squinting, "either way, big."

"well- understood."

"anyway," frank, "from overhead, i didn't see anything suspicious."

"neither did i," mumbled hazel, "arion took me on a complete loop around the perimeter. a lot of tourists, but no crazy goddess."

"goddess hunting isn't going very well," translated barbie, smiling at leo, "sonic death ray any use?"

"scared a few birds," sighed leo, "i can't get it to- y'know- do death yet. more tinkering and i'm sure i will. there's nothing that can't be fixed by me."

"i can fix him," percy said in a high pitch.

"shut up- not the time." barbie said, trying to sound serious- but the smile on her face said otherwise.

arion let out a neigh, and percy's eyes widened slightly. "why the hell does your horse cuss more than all of us combined? dude-" he stared at hazel, "he really doesn't like this place."

barbie found herself agreeing with the magic horse. she didn't like the terrain, much less tromping through it with the blazing sun- shoving their way through hordes of sweaty tourists whilst searching for a crazed victory goddess. frank had already flown over the whole valley as an eagle and barbie had been doing ground work whilst hazel and arion had been circling the perimeter. they'd searched the whole place- but there was nothing to see.

"so we blunder around together," leo said, "and then... we, uh- let trouble find us." he shrugged, "'sides, that's how it's worked for us before. why not just keep to the method?"

"don't we usually nearly die when we do that? um, dangerous much?" cherry frowned.

leo grinned, a crazed look as he swooped a kiss to cherry's cheek, "what d'you mean? that's the fun part!"

"uh... sure leo." frank said, looking a bit disturbed. "let's just... search together."

"good idea, bossman." mumbled barbie as they set out to walk together.

from the outside perspective, barbie could imagine how weird it was. six teens with a horse and a magically appearing eagle at times (courtesy of frank) walking around in random circles not following tour guides at all.

the place was full of low hills, scrubby trees and a violent heat beating down at barbie so badly that this was the fifth time she'd had to apply suncream. the ruins didn't exactly save her from shade, no matter how nice the remains looked.

"this is the propylon." frank recited, looking down at the tourist pamphlet he'd gotten. he waved towards a stone path lined with crumbling columns. "one of the main gates into the olympic valley."

"rubble!" said leo.

"and over there-"frank pointed to a square foundation that looked like the patio for a mexican restaurant- "is the temple of hera, one of the oldest structures here."

"more rubble!" leo said.

"hera doesn't deserve rubble as a temple- she deserves pebbles." muttered barbie- glaring at the sky suddenly as if to ask the gods (if they were clear in thought right now) to challenge her opinion.

"and that round bandstand-looking thing - that's the philipeon, dedicated to philip of macedonia."

"even more rubble! first-rate rubble!"

hazel, who was still riding arion, kicked leo in the arm. "doesn't anything impress you?"

"a sexy looking dynamo might," leo replied cheekily.

"i get it- really important ruins. but none of these seem to be helping us find nike- or victoria- or whatever her name is. either way we aren't finding her by having frank guide us around without being paid-" he looked at frank as he said, "seriously man, after this war thing, make a home-base here. you could rake in big money with your guides. one-hundo per-cento."

"ok, but i agree with that." percy piped in, "you're good at this."

"it's just reading," frank replied, a bit flustered at the compliments. his eyes scanned the pamphlet again before he added, "and uh- oh." he glanced at percy, "uh, that semicircular depression in the hill, with the niches... that's a nymphaeum, built in roman times."

"oh." barbie said, a tight smile on her face as she re-applied suncream again, flicking her wrists as sunglasses appeared at the tip of her nose. she held them as she looked at them all, "then let's not go there."

"yeah," agreed percy, "let's... uh stay far away."

they agreed, but not without leo piping in he wanted sunglasses.

and so, they set off again- now all adorned with pink rimmed sunglasses (because none of them bar barbie wore pink enough- and that was honest to gods a travesty).

once in a whole as they walked, they'd stop and look at things, but nothing really screamed here's a goddess in hiding to them at all. if anything, the place seemed to shimmer with less hope than before- and to barbie the chances of finding a rampant goddess here were slim to none now. at least, all negative things aside, frank's tour-guiding skills were off the charts.

"this is the pelopion," frank said, pointing to another fascinating pile of stones.

"come on, frank," leo said. "pelopion isn't even a word. what was it – a sacred spot for plopping?"

frank looked offended. "it's the burial site of pelops. this whole part of greece, the peloponnese, was named after him."

leo resisted the urge to throw a grenade in frank's face. "i suppose i should know who pelops was?"

"he was a prince, won his wife in a chariot race. supposedly he started the olympic games in honour of that."

cherry scrunched her nose in disgust, "ew."

"you said it," hazel muttered.

"totally romantic," drawled barbie sarcastically. she turned to percy beside her and pitched her voice low in a mocking tone as she said, "nice wife you have, prince pelops." before she pitched it higher- still in the mocking tone, "thanks. i won her in a chariot race."

"and they say romance is dead," added percy.

"i'd totally lose to not win you in a chariot race," chorused barbie, voice dripping with mockery.

percy put on a fake-lovesick look as he placed a hand on his heart, "awe- babe."

"you two are disgusting," leo grumbled.

"psh- like you're not?" barbie retorted.

after a while, they stopped at some wide steps leading to another ruined building – the temple of zeus, according to frank.

"used to be a huge gold-and-ivory statue of zeus inside," frank said. "one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. made by the same dude who did the athena parthenos."

"please tell me we don't have to find it," percy said. "i've had enough huge magic statues for one trip."

"agreed." hazel patted arion's flank, as the stallion was acting skittish.

barbie couldn't help but be inclined to agree with the horse. she was hot (in both senses), agitated and hungry. she could feel the sweat on her forehead and no amount of fanning her face would stop that- neither would the cooler. the sunglasses weren't helping anymore. it felt like the sun was shining so bright as to spite her now, her feet aching fro the bumpy terrain (though over her dead body would she admit out loud that she should have stuck to trainers).

what she really wanted, was to return to the ship and take a sip of some iced sweet tea and be done with it all.

unfortunately, when frank mentioned temple of zeus and statue, it seemed as though leo's brain had made a connection.

"hey, percy," he said, "remember that statue of nike in the museum? the one that was all in pieces?"

"yeah?"

"didn't it used to stand here, at the temple of zeus? feel free to tell me i'm wrong. i'd love to be wrong."

tell him he's wrong- please dude. it's torture even for me, jerald said aloud.

percy's hand went to his pocket. he slipped out his pen, riptide. "you're right. so if nike was anywhere ... this would be a good spot."

frank scanned their surroundings. "i don't see anything."

"what if we promoted, like, adidas shoes?" percy wondered. "would that make nike mad enough to show up?"

"i mean," cherry began, "it's worth a shot?"

leo smiled nervously, "yeah, i bet that would totally be against her sponsorship deal. THOSE ARE NOT THE OFFICIAL SHOES OF THE OLYMPICS! YOU WILL DIE NOW!"

hazel rolled her eyes. "you're both impossible."

behind barbie, a thunderous voice shook the ruins: "YOU WILL DIE NOW!"

oh for fuck sake- c'mon leo! she raged to herself.

because towering over them in a golden chariot, with a spear aimed at leo's heart, was the goddess nike.

"goddess hunting: success," barbie muttered.

(just so you know, barbie was not offering a masterclass in how to catch a psychotic nike-sponsored victory goddess).

rosie speaks!

hey queens !! lol anyways i thought
i'd post this because i FINALLY finished
writing it. rly bad sorry but i'm live laugh
love i guess. i hope you're all staying safe
and are wearing masks !! mandate or not
masks should be always worn (unless excused
for medical reasons) because covid is
not over yet guys.

i love and missed barbie sm <3

stay safe !

word count: 4,707 words