𝓢𝓞𝓝 𝓞𝓕 𝓝𝓔𝓟𝓣𝓤𝓝𝓔

PERCY AND FRANK LED with their weapons drawn, looking out for the snakes that the titan dropped.

Evangeline trudged up the cliff with Hazel beside her.

The tension in the air could have made her choke. Hazel kept turning towards Eva and smiling awkwardly. And yeah she could feel it even in the dark!

As they dragged behind the boys. They both muttered at the same time.

"So." "So"

"Jeez, Hazelnut, just say it," Evangeline muttered, throwing an arm around her shoulder. The two girls trudged together, walking in sync, side by side.

"What you did was crazy"

"What are you referring to? Being born with this beauty?"

"You saved me. I flew—" Hazel's voice raised but she stopped.

The boys who walked ahead of them in the darkness had stopped.  Evangeline could sense it.

"Girl talk." Eva clicked her tongue.

Percy grunted in response and the boys kept going, watching for snakes.

Hazel lowered her volume. "Well, you know what happened... You were there."

"I'm not even sure if I did do it."

"It had to be you," Hazel said in a loud whisper.

Evangeline shrugged, "I can't think of how or why—I only have had charmspeak and an undeniable beauty all my life. Never been a telekinetic."

Hazel snickered, "Well maybe your mom gave you something extra for the quest?"

"Maybe." Evangeline muttered, "But I doubt it—"

Eva felt her mind wandering to the book in her backpack. She had a feeling its sudden appearance had something to do with Hazel's saving. It made more sense than her suddenly awakening some dormant power...

Note to eva: talk to mom asap.

"What is it?" Hazel asked,

They were twenty yards from the porch when something hissed in the grass behind them.

"Go!" Frank yelled.

Percy stumbled. While Evangeline helped him up, Frank turned and nocked an arrow.

He shot blindly. It skidded through the grass, bursting into orange flame and whistling: WOO!

At least it illuminated the monster. Sitting in a patch of withered yellow grass was a lime-colored snake as short and thick as Frank's arm. Its head was ringed with a mane of spiky white fins. The creature stared at the arrow zipping by as if wondering, What the hell is that?

Then it fixed its large, yellow eyes on Frank. It advanced like an inchworm, hunching up in the middle. Wherever it touched, the grass withered and died.

Evangeline tried to pull him but Percy grabbed her and Hazel, dragging the two girls to the steps

Frank didn't dare turn and run. One move and the snake would have killed him.

Instead, they studied each other in the dim light. The snake hissed, flames billowing from its mouth.

"Frank!" Hazel yelled behind him. "Come on!"

The snake sprang at him. It sailed through the air so fast, there wasn't time to nock an arrow. Frank swung his bow and smacked the monster down the hill. It spun out of sight, wailing, "Screeeee!"

Frank looked at his bow, which was steaming where it had touched the snake. He watched in disbelief as the wood crumbled to dust.

They heard an outraged hiss, answered by two more hisses farther downhill.

Frank dropped his disintegrating bow and ran for the porch.

Percy and Hazel pulled him up the steps. Evangeline pulled the whole group closer.

It was right then that the three snakes circled in the grass, breathing fire and turning the hillside brown with their poisonous touch.

They didn't seem able or willing to come closer to the store.

"We'll never get out of here," Frank said miserably.

"Then we'd better go in." Hazel pointed to the hand-painted sign over the door: RAINBOW ORGANIC FOODS & LIFESTYLES.

Evangeline had no idea what that meant, but it sounded better than flaming poisonous snakes.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

THE DOOR SWUNG OPEN AS EVA WALTZED into the store, "Hellooo."

As they stepped through the door, lights came on. Flute music started up like they'd walked onto a stage.

Evangeline wondered where the random wind came from as her hair dramatically swayed.

The wide aisles were lined with bins of nuts and dried fruit, baskets of apples, and clothing racks with tie-dyed shirts and pixie-style dresses.

The ceiling was covered in wind chimes. Along the walls, glass cases displayed crystal balls, geodes, macramé dream catchers, tarot cards, and a bunch of other stuff.

"Fortune-teller's shop?" Frank wondered.

"Hope not," Hazel muttered.

The floorboards creaked under their feet. Frank led the group as they navigated between two Neptune statue fountains.

A girl popped up from behind the granola bins. "Help you?"

Frank lurched backward, knocking over one of the fountains. A stone Neptune crashed to the floor. The sea god's head rolled off and water spewed out of his neck, spraying a rack of tie-dyed man satchels.

"Sorry!" Frank bent down to clean up the mess. He almost goosed the girl with his spear.

"Eep!" she said. "Hold it! It's okay!"

Frank straightened slowly, trying not to cause any more damage. Hazel looked mortified.

Percy turned a sickly shade of green as he stared at the decapitated statue of his dad.

Evangeline muttered, "Wow that was—wow."

The girl who almost turned into a skewer clapped her hands. The fountain dissolved into mist. The water evaporated.

She turned to Frank. "It's no problem. Those Neptune fountains are so grumpy-looking, they bum me out."

She reminded Evangeline of a true Californian hiker. She was short and muscular, with lace-up boots, cargo shorts, and a bright yellow T-shirt that read R.O.F.L. Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles.

She looked young, but her hair was frizzy white, sticking out on either side of her head like egg whites for a giant.

"Uh...sorry about the fountain," Frank managed. "We were just—"

"Oh, I know!" the girl said. "You want to browse. It's all right. Demigods are welcome. Take your time. You're not like those awful monsters. They just want to use the restroom and never buy anything!"

A woman's voice called from the back: "Fleecy? Don't scare the customers, now. Bring them here, will you?"

"Your name is Fleecy?" Hazel asked.

Fleecy giggled. "Well, in the language of the nebulae it's actually—" She made a series of crackling and blowing noises that reminded Eva of a thunderstorm giving way to a nice cold front. "But you can call me Fleecy."

"Nebulae..." Percy muttered in a daze. "Cloud nymphs."

Fleecy beamed. "Oh, I like this one! Usually, no one knows about cloud nymphs. But dear me, he doesn't look so good. Well, not like that-I mean my how could I not—oh dear he's faint! Come, come to the back. My boss wants to meet you. We'll get your friend fixed up."

Fleecy led them through the produce aisle, between rows of eggplants, kiwis, lotus fruit, and pomegranates.

At the back of the store, behind a counter with an old-fashioned cash register, stood a middle-aged woman with olive skin, long black hair, rimless glasses, and a T-shirt that read: The Goddess Is Alive! She wore amber necklaces and turquoise rings. She smelled like rose petals.

She looked friendly enough, but something about her made Evangeline feel shaky, like she wanted to cry.

"Hello!" She leaned over the counter, which was lined with dozens of little statues— waving Chinese cats, meditating Buddhas, Saint Francis bobble heads, and a realistically shaped heart crest with a sword through one of the valves.

Evangeline felt something tugging at her heart when she saw the last trinket, weirdly...the blade looked just like flamma amoris.

Eva looked up. She remembered where she was when she heard the woman introduce herself.

"So glad you're here. I'm Iris!" The lady said, flashing multi-colored tooth gems. She looked over at the group before her eyes caught on Evangeline, She gasped. "You!"

"Me?" Evangeline muttered.

"Seraphina you sneaky vixen!" Iris grinned and threw herself into her arms.

The group behind Evangeline mumbled to each other as the rainbow goddess embraced her.

Eva stood stiff, patting Iris's back and furrowing her eyebrows.

She looked past Iris's shoulder at Percy and Hazel, who both looked like a piano had just plummeted from the sky and onto her head.

When they pulled away, Iris kept spitting out things at Evangeline.

"Where have you been!" Iris grumbled, "And what an age you've chosen! My how long it's been!"

Eva blinked, uncertain, a polite smile hovering on her lips while her eyes searched Iris's face for context.

"Um... sorry," she said, her voice light but cautious, "I feel like you want me to recognize you, and I'm hoping this isn't one of those you-borrowed-my-sweater-in-fourth-grade-and-never-gave-it-back situations. I can't help it if you gave it to me then changed your mind! And I so don't wear rainbow!"

Iris didn't laugh. "No sweater," she murmured. "Just a lot of time. And a lot of forgetting."

That... was confusing.

"I swear we've never met. Unless you ran that smoothie place in Malibu that shut down? What was it? Smoothvie nix? No?."

Iris just kept smiling. Not smugly. Not even expectantly. Just... warmly.

Evangeline blinked harder, like maybe that would make sense of the conversation she'd walked into. "Okay. So. I'm lost."

Iris muttered to herself. "Each time, the reset gets deeper."

Hazel stepped forward, frowning. "Wait—what do you mean, the 'reset'?"

Iris pressed her hands together, bracelets clinking softly. "Let's sit, please. This isn't a tale to tell on your feet."

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

THEY WALKED TO THE BACK WHERE THERE WAS A COZY CIRCLE of Cloud-shaped chairs near a burbling selenite fountain. Incense curled lazily through the air, smelling like rain after a storm with a hint of lavender.

The wind blew her red hair back. Evangeline shifted carefully in the seat.

"Just for the record," she admitted, "I still have absolutely no idea what's going on, but I am loving the ambiance."

"I remember when you wore glitter stars in your hair," Iris said softly. "When you braided spells with your voice. When your laughter made the fields bloom."

Evangeline stiffened. "Right. Cool. Romantic yet slightly unhinged. Hazel, tell me I'm not hallucinating."

Hazel opened her mouth but nothing came out.

"Percy?!" Evangeline asked desperately

"Uh-"

"Okay, no. We're not doing this." Eva stood suddenly. "You're all looking at me like I'm a museum exhibit. I know I'm sexy but stop being weird! Who do you think I am?"

Iris blinked like she was coming out of a trance. Then something in her gaze changed.

A flicker of panic, then control.

"Oh... oh stars. Of course" she said, softly now, hands curling together like she was holding something delicate. "Forgive me, child. I forget how fragile this form is. How careful we must be."

"Fragile'?" Eva snorted. "I packed six-inch platforms to wear while fighting monsters. I'm not fragile. I'm—confused. And you're making it worse."

"I thought you were her," Iris said. "I mean... You are, in a way. But not fully. Not yet. Myra, Callista, Mia, Sofia, Adele, Evangeline..."

Evangeline narrowed her eyes. "Okay. Excuse my French. But what the fuck are you talking about?."

Hazel warned her, "Evangeline! She's a goddess!"

"A confusing one!" The redhead whined,

"You look exactly like her," Iris said, her voice soft and suddenly reverent. "Seraphina. The Enchantress. The one who—" she paused, "—who gave her power to you."

"Wait, what? Gave her—power—to me?" Eva repeated. "I mean she has good taste but—"

"It's real," Iris cut her off. "Long ago, the Enchantress foretold of a girl who would come, her mirror. A doppelgänger...carrying the same light, the same siren spirit... She said the girl would wield her sword, read her words, unlock the spells buried deep within, and finish what she could not."

Evangeline stayed still. Her fingers curled slightly at the hem of her shirt, then drifted to the strap of her bag, almost unconsciously.

Read her words

She thought of the book by the boughs of forget-me-nots in the greenhouse back in New Rome. Left in the open, like someone had wanted her to find it. Black velvet cover, silver lettering that shimmered when touched.

She hadn't known why she took it. Just that she had to. The moment she saw it, she packed it without a second thought, like it belonged to her

But Iris's words echoed now

Read her words, unlock the spells, finish what she could not

Percy frowned. "How do you know all that?"

"I know these things. Being the messenger goddess...Well, I do learn a lot, hearing all the communications from the gods and so on." She lit a candle between the group.

Anyone who came into the back room would think they were about to do a seance.

Percy leaned against the arm of the cloud chair. He looked like he was going to throw up all over the goddess's feng shui. "That's cool and all, really—Evangeline I don't mean to step on your toes I know this is important. It's just—Monsters are marching south," he said with difficulty. "Going to destroy our camp. Couldn't you help stop them?"

"Oh, I'm strictly nonviolent," Iris said. "I can act in self-defense, but I won't be drawn into any more Olympian aggression, thank you very much. I've been reading about Buddhism. And Taoism. I haven't decided between them."

"But..." Hazel looked mystified. "Aren't you a Greek goddess?"

Iris crossed her arms. "Don't try to put me in a box, demigod! I'm not defined by my past."

"Um, okay," Hazel said. "Could you at least help our friend here? I think he's sick."

Percy reached across the coffee table. "Iris-message," he said. "Can you send one?"

Evangeline wasn't sure she'd heard right. "Iris-message?"

"It's.." Percy faltered. "Isn't that something you do?"

Iris studied Percy more closely. "Interesting. You're from Camp Jupiter, and yet..Oh, you...I see. Juno is up to her tricks. This is getting more interesting... Remember your body forgets, but your soul never will forget where it's meant to be ."

"What?" Hazel asked.

Iris glanced at her assistant, Fleecy. They seemed to have a silent conversation. Then the goddess pulled a vial from behind the counter and sprayed some honeysuckle-smelling oil around Percy's face. "There, that should balance your chakra. As for Iris-messages— that's an ancient way of communication. The Greeks used it. The Romans never took to it—always relying on their road systems and giant eagles and whatnot. But yes, I imagine... Fleecy, could you give it a try?"

"Sure, boss!"

Iris winked at the group. "Don't tell the other gods, but Fleecy handles most of my messages these days. She's wonderful at it, really, and I don't have time to answer all those requests personally. It messes up my wa."

"Your wa?" Frank asked.

"Mmm. Fleecy, why don't you take Sera—Evangeline, Percy, and Hazel to the employees' cafeteria? You can get them something to eat while you arrange their messages. And for Percy...yes, memory sickness. I imagine that old Polybotes...well, meeting him in a state of amnesia can't be good for a son of Poseidon."

Evangeline frowned. "What about Frank?"

Iris turned to him. She tilted her head quizzically,
"Oh, don't worry about him Honey," Iris said. "Frank and I have a lot to talk about."

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

FLEECY LED EVANGELINE, Percy, and Hazel down the narrow hallway toward the back of the store. The noise of the main room faded, replaced by the soft hum of fluorescent lights.

At the end of the corridor, a swinging door opened to reveal a bright cafeteria-like area. Long wooden tables, mismatched chairs, and the scent of freshly made pretzels wafting in the air.

Fleecy had plopped down three colorful smoothies with plastic umbrellas on the table before flitting away, mumbling something about "refilling the yogurt waterfall."

Evangeline sat at the far end of the table, She reached into her bag and pulled the enchanted diary to rest on her lap. The cover shimmered subtly, velvet dark blue.

She hadn't touched her smoothie. The umbrella drooped sadly.

Hazel was perched across from her, her gaze flicking between Eva and the book. Percy sat beside Eva, arms crossed on the table as he leaned in, but not in a lazy way. He looked... wary.

"What is that thing?" Hazel asked, not quite accusing, but close. "You didn't have it at Camp."

"I found it," Evangeline said, then corrected herself. "No—more like... it found me.. I don't even remember deciding to take it. I just saw it and did it"

She opened it slowly, the silver script glittering faintly even under the dull cafeteria lights. "It's not just any book. It's more like a... journal. A living one. It changes when I open it. The pages show me things — not always in order. Dreams. Memories. Spells. Feelings, sometimes."

Percy raised a brow. "Like, actual feelings?"

Evangeline nodded. "Like I'm borrowing someone else's heart for a second...I think she left it for me. The Enchantress. Seraphina. Whoever she was."

Percy leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "You've read it already?"

Evangeline hesitated, then opened to the same shimmering page. "Yeah. A little. But like I said it changes...."

"What does it say now?"

She read it aloud, her voice soft:

"I love with no bounds
I speak and bewitch.
I feel and I unravel the sky.
The soil will not rest until the enchantress arrives."

There was a beat of silence. Percy and Hazel both stared at her.

Percy muttered. "Whatever the hell that means."

Hazel tilted her head. "She sounds sad."

"Yeah." Evangeline traced her fingers down the edge of the page. "But powerful. I don't know how to explain it, but when I read it, it feels like she's—" her voice caught, surprising even herself. "Like she's still here."

Hazel looked between them. "Do you think she's... in you?"

Evangeline snorted. "Ew, that's creepy...But I don't know, I'm lost here... If Iris is telling me the truth. If I'm her doppleganger. If her magic passed to me somehow. Then I don't think she just left this for fun. I think there's something I'm meant to do with it."

Percy leaned his chin in his palm, watching her carefully. "That's a lot to carry."

She met his gaze. "Not really. Not compared to you."

He blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You've got memory loss, gods playing Jenga with your identity, a sea titan with a vendetta, and a war coming," she said, "And you're still trying to take care of us all."

Percy smiled lopsidedly. "I mean, I'd say I'm flattered, but you did just compare me to a Jenga tower."

"An extremely heroic Jenga tower," she offered, resting her cheek on her fist.

He snorted and their laughter hung gently in the air.

Fleecy reappeared at the table, balancing a shallow glass bowl of water, a stub of waxy candle, and a small pouch of coins in her arms.

Evangeline snapped the book shut and stuffed it into her bag.

"Here we go," she chirped, setting everything down. "Took me a second to find the good drachmas. The ones that don't bounce the message straight to Olympus tech support."

Hazel blinked. "Uh... what exactly is all this for?"

Percy sat up straighter. "She's helping me do an Iris message. I asked earlier."

Hazel's eyebrows drew together. "Oh, so it's like an actual message?"

Evangeline tilted her head, arms crossed, watching Percy as he leaned toward the setup like it was a familiar ritual.

"Wait," she said slowly, "so you're trying to call someone? with water—?"

"Use water and light to make a rainbow, toss in a coin, and say who you want to reach. If the goddess is listening—or Fleecy—it connects like a video call." Percy shrugged. "I don't remember where I learned it. I just... know."

Fleecy struck a match and lit a tiny candle beside the bowl. The glow caught the rising mist, casting faint rainbow arcs across the tabletop.

Eva tilted her head. "Who are you trying to reach?"

Percy hesitated. "Annabeth."

The name hung in the air like smoke.. Eva's fingers tightened slightly against the table's edge.

Eva didn't move.

"O goddess Iris," he said, voice low and a little rough. "Accept my offering. Show me Annabeth."

The drachma hit the water with a soft ping.

Mist curled upward, shimmering. For a second, light bent strangely in the space above the bowl: colors twisting, shapes stirring like something was about to surface...gray eyes, blond hair....

Evangeline felt herself leaning forward before she could stop it. There was no reason for her chest to tighten, yet there it was—tightening.

Then the mist shrank back in on itself and vanished.

The bowl stilled. Just water now.

Fleecy sighed, tucking the pouch away. "It's like you're dialing somebody," she said, "but you've forgotten the number. Or someone is jamming the signal. Sorry, dear. I just can't connect you."

Percy stared for a long moment, jaw tight.

Hazel glanced between the empty water and Percy, then to Evangeline. "Was that supposed to... show more?"

Eva didn't say anything. She just watched him, her arms folded tight across her chest.

Hazel stood awkwardly beside her.
Fleecy mumbled, "Should we give him some space? Do you want to see the snacks in the kitchen?"

Hazel nodded, her stomach rumbling. She then looked at Percy. "Wait Uh—"

Evangeline whispered, "Go eat, I'll stay."

Hazel smiled and nodded.

When the pair left to find their snacks, Evangeline watched Percy's back as he stared at the water.

"She's the only person I actually kind of remember," Percy said to Evangeline, still looking at the bowl. "I don't even know if I still have the right face in my head. It's like... the harder I try to hold onto it, the more it slips."

Eva's voice came out smaller than she meant it to. "It's okay to miss her."

Percy turned, finally meeting her eyes. Something heavy flickered in his gaze—remorse, confusion, longing, guilt.

It was all tangled together.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," he said.

A beat passed. Eva looked away, jaw tight. "You won't hurt anyone. You're too good...What happened—" Eva licked her lips "Never happened, was just a lapse of judgement. Don't feel guilty you didn't even—."

"I wanted to, we all know I did." His voice caught. "Look I don't want to be the kind of person who pulls someone close when I'm not whole. But you—I feel like you're the best thing about waking up messed up like this—I want you to know that—"

The door burst open.

Iris wandered in, balancing a tray of mini cupcakes.

She called out, "Fleecy!"

Fleecy came out with Hazel who had a bag full of corn chips and fruit leather.

Iris popped a cupcake in her mouth, chewed for a bit, and then casually said:

"Oh hey, forgot you three were here—Frank's out on the porch fighting some basilisks."

Hazel stiffened so fast she dropped all her snacks.

"What?" she blurted.

Percy blinked. "He's what now?!"

"Mhm," Iris said, reaching for a napkin. "Very dramatic."

Hazel didn't wait for clarification—she was already halfway to the door, stepping over her spilled snacks like they didn't exist.

Eva and Percy hesitated just long enough to lock eyes, then followed without a word.