Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here! /Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here! / Part 7 Here! / Part 8 Here! / Part 9 Here! <This is Part 10!>
* You look at the scattered belongings on the beach, your fingers curling around the smooth suede wallet.
* âI have about five hundred dollars?â You hold it up, only for Circe to shake her head.
* âI have no use for mortal money.â
* âDrachma then?â You ask, holding up the sack full of gold coins, youâre slightly aware of Clarisse, Luke, and Annabethâs gaping expressions as you pull out enough money to buy an island.
* Circe had made it abundantly clear when she led you to her island that saving you had not been from the goodness of her heart, she was especially disgusted with Luke, she just didnât want a space time disotriation ruining her view.
* She also made it clear that she would not make you a potion just because your grandfather had asked it from her.
* âWhat about Diamonds?â Circeâs annoyed expression is answer enough.
* âGeez what could she possibly want?â
* It makes sense, what use does Circe have for currency? She just spends all day on her island, sheâs a sorceress to boot so she can just magic-up herself anything she wants.
* âSomething she canât make, something she would wantâŠâ
* Your hands clasp around the bright red cloak, thrusting it out to her.
* âThisâthis is Hades' cloak of invisibility.â Her eyebrow raises at that. âNot only does it hide the wearer visually, but it removes all presence, including smell.â
* This is you last ditch effort, if she doesnât take this you donât have anything else, not unless sheâs interested in your blood or bones.
* âHere,â a deeper voice says from beside you. Luke sits beside you, pink dusting his cheeks, bare feet pressed into the sand. âThese are sneakers from the god Hermes, they let you fly.â
* âThis is a knife made of celestial bronze enchanted by Athena.â Annabeth says, from the other side of you setting her knife onto the sand.
* And after they shoot a few dirty looks at Clarisse, she grumbles as she sticks her spear into the hot sand.
* âAres made this spear himself, it never misses its target.â
* You feel tears well into your eyes. Because youâve never had friends like this before.
* Circeâs eyes dance from one object to the next, the corner of her mouth twitching.
* âI have no use for knives or spears, orââ Her face wrinkles in disgust. â---anything from Hermes.â Her eyes settle on the cloak, her expression softening. âI will take the cloak of invisibility.â
* She watches you with keen eyes as you rejoice, cutting your celebration short as she beacons you into the small chateau on the island, her lions lazing on either side.
* âCome, there is much work to be done.â
* The black stone pestle grinds the herbs against the mortar, a fine green paste beginning to form.
* âIs it supposed to look like this?â
* Circe looks over your shoulder, nodding approvingly.
* âGood work, youâre grinding at just the right pace.â
* Her approving expression fizzles into one of dissatisfaction as she moves onto the others.
* âYou are too prideful.â Annabethâs makes an awkward face into her mortar.
* âYou are too rash.â Clarisse only bashes her pestle in even more to drive in her anger.
* âYouâŠâ Lukeâs paste is perfect, almost identical to yours, he looks up at Circe with eager eyes. âDisgust me too much.â Lukeâs expression immediately falls.
* âThatâs pretty harsh.â
* âAll of you have no talent, go into my garden and bring me back mint, thyme and sage.â She shooâs them out of her home, each one grumbling as they leave.
* All things aside, Circe has a pretty nice house here on the island. Itâs a little rustic, in an old fashioned Greek style, the walls are bronze and textured, the furniture is simple with uneven shapes. But itâs nice.
* At Circeâs feet a lion sleeps, watching you with a disinterested gaze as you both work in silence.
* âIs this good?â you ask, showing her your wasabi-like paste, she nods beckoning you closer.
* âYou have a talent for this,â she murmurs, inspecting the paste before mixing it into a cauldron.
* âI didnât think anyone used those outside of cartoons and movies.â
* âWeâll have to boil this for some time, tell me godling when is your deadline.â Her words are spoken with all the authority of a statement. You have to count backwards in your mind.
* âOne day since we left the train, three days since we left camp before thatâŠâ
* âI have ten more days.â She sucks her teeth, eyeing the contents of the pot.
* âIt will be hard, but with your helpâŠmaybe.â At her feet the lion yawns.
* You fall into a steady rhythm on Circeâs island, you wake up at twilight, stretching your limbs, before tugging Circeâs shawl over your shoulders, yawning as you make you way to the herâwell itâs a little like a home office but for magicâ following whatever instructions she has, more often than not ending with an approving nod from her.
* The otherâs wake up later, and make breakfast, usually something simple like porridge, occasionally dark grain bread with goat cheese.
* Afterwards the others will tend to Circeâs lions, and collect herbs and whatever ingredient fo the day sheâs determined, and then you all make dinner together â usually pasta since that seems to be her favoriteâ before turning in for bed.
* Sheâs started warming up to Annabeth and Clarisse, she even ruffled Annabethâs hair the other night. But she remains cold to Luke.
* âYouâre wondering why I hate the boy so much.â Your eyes lift from the bubbling pot to the woman in front of you.
* âIs it because of his Father?â You recall Dionysus saying something like that, that they had an affair or something.
* âHermes is one of the nicer onesâŠâ Her voice trails off. âBut heâs just as bad as any god, child, make no mistake.â
* You learn about Circe in jagged non-linear tales, each one a puzzle piece to the entirety of her existence.
* On the first day you learn that Hades is the only god whoâs ever been kind to her, Helios and her mother excluded.
* On the second you find out that her magic had not been inherent, it had come ot her gradually, at first through accidents, acts she didn't even realize she was committingâonly that she had the will for these things to happen. Later it became art, and when the titan war was over, within a handful of years she was a prisoner on her island.
* âIâm sure my father bartered long and hard for this punishment, Zeus would have preferred it if I had been reduced to dust or maybe sealed away in some cavernâcut to pieces like Kronos.â A strange expression crosses her face, but her eyes remain tender. âYour father supported Helios, spoke on his behalf.â
* âHades did?â You stop sifting herbs mid-motion, tilting your head. Hades didnât strike you as the particularly sentimental type.
* âIn a way, he and I are living the same life. He was pushed to the underworld in the guise of being granted a kingdom and I was banished to my island as punishment for acts that would have been praised on another man so no one would dare use me to disrupt society as we know it.â
* You say nothing else, silently working beside her.
* On the fourth day, as you boil the pot counter clockwise under the moon that appears in the day Circe asks: âDo you love that boy?â
* You raise an eyebrow looking over to where Lukeâs tryin to discreetly scratch his butt.
* âNo, definitely not.â She nods, sprinkling dust into the pot, watching as it changes color.
* âI was in love once, or maybe twice.â She tells you of how there was a man named Telemochus who came to her by the wind, she lived with him for a long time, changing her form so their ages would match, sighing when his soul finally stuttered out of his body.
* On the fifth night Luke sits across Circe on the beach campfire during dinner and says:
* âIf you hate my dad thatâs fine, because I hate him too.â
* Thereâs a stunned moment of silence where you, Clarisse, and Annabeth study CIrce with bated breath.
* âI doubt that would hurt him.â But the corner of her mouth twitches as she says it.
* On the sixth day, taking a page from Lukeâs book you ask why she hates Hermes so much.
* âItâs not just him, I hate most of the gods on Olympus.â
* You donât miss the way she says Olympus, specifically excluding the underworld.
* âIn the early days, when everyone was too afraid to come by, only Hermes would come,â Thereâs a long cold look on her face. âHe wasnât as vile as Zeusâs other offspring, but anything he did was for a flicker of amusement. He would bring a civilization to ruin if it meant a hearty chuckle.â
* She turns to you, a hard look in her eyes.
* âDonât trust a god child,â her eyes become sad. âTheyâll only let you down.â
* On the seventh night, when the others are in bed and you soak hydrangea in white moonlight, Circe whispers to you of beings even more powerful than the gods.
* âThe titans?â You ask, and Circe shakes her head.
* âEven older than the titans. Beings that have been here since the creation of the universe, that arrived from a rip in the space time continuum. Beings that could dethrone even Zeus with a single flick of their wrist.â
* âThen why donât they?â You whisper, and she shrugs.
* âPower, social positions, wealthâŠthese are the desires of children, these beings simply do not wish for it.â
* On the eighth day, while the others try to make hummus and bake pita bread, you ask her about something youâve been wondering about since you met.
* âCirce, are you a fertility goddess?â She sputters.
* âHow do you know that term?â You bite the inside of your cheek, looking down at the white powder.
* âI heard Hera and Persephone are fertility goddesses.â
* âAnd that dad is one too.â
* Circe is quite for a long moment.
* âNo, I am not.â Thereâs a moment of silence and her amber eyes burn a hole into you. âWell, go on.â She encourages, a small teasing smile twisting on her lips.
* âWhat is a fertility god?â
* âA fertility god is someone that has the power of life within their body, theyâre able to replenish waning life forces for any living creature, theyâre also able to craft life as well using any natural element, andâŠâ she pauses, as if remembering something painful. âAnd theyâre able to grant someone else that power as well, if they wish.â
* You donât say anything more.
* On the eighth night, sitting on the shore with your cauldron, and the thirtieth version of this potion, watching as the stars begin to lose their glimmer you admit:
* âYou know, I wouldnât mind staying here for the rest of my life.â And you mean it, in another life maybe you would have shown up at her doorstep with a letter of introduction begging to be a witch's apprentice.
* âNow child, do not forget all those that are waiting for you on the mainland.â Her voice is soft, a hand caressing your cheek. You hear her loud and clear.
* âShe wishes I could stay too.â
* She presses a bottle filled with amber liquid into your hand as morning breaks over the horizon.
* âItâs the day of the deadline.â Luke says his backpack strapped onto his shoulders.
* âThe three of you will travel by air.â Circe says, giving them what seems to be a three person skateboard. âBe careful to not crash into airplanes, Iâll get an earful from Dionysus if that happens again.â
* âShe and Dionysus talk huh?â
* âWhat about (Y/N), they canât travel by air.â Annabeth chimes in, a worried expression crossing her face.
* â(Y/N) will be traveling into the underworld directly.â Thereâs shouts of protests, but you wave them away.
* âIâm a child of the Underworld, itâs the safest place for me.â Even Clarisse has a hesitant expression, but you shake your head. âYou guys go back to camp and let Dionysus know what happened, Iâll just take this to the underworld and be right there!â You wave goodbye, telling them to save you the last of the summer strawberries, before turning to Circe.
* âI thought the only way to get into the Underworld is in Los Angeles?â
* âThatâs just something they say since itâs the easiest entrance. You can enter from anywhere if you tap on the ground three times and say the old name.â
* Youâre about to kneel down when youâre stopped, something glints in her hand.
* Circe huffs, a rosy tinge beginning to form on her cheeks.
* âIâm not about to let my apprentice go into the underworld without their own staff.â
* Itâs a simple thing, uneven like the furniture in her home, and carved from wood, a glittering orb on the end. But the second it falls into your hand it transforms, the orb fills with the inky black of space, singed with streaks of blue and white, wings sprout from either side, and branches begin to grow sprouting leaves and flowers.
* âIt can be used as a witches broom as well, so you can ride it.â
* âBut the air isnât safe for me.â
* âThe air up here is not safe for you,â Circe points to the cloudless blue sky. âBut the air down there is your domain.â
* You donât miss the look in her eye as she eyes your staff, her mouth creasing into a frown as she watches you tap the ground three times, whispering âErobosâ, and watching a chasm open in the ground, a torch lit staircase descending into the underworld.
* âItâs a good thing Iâm not claustrophobic.â
* Your heart beats in your chest, your grip tightening around your staff as you look into the dark depths.
* A dark colored garment is in her hands, one that she passes to you.
* âItâs my jean jacket.â
* Sheâs modieifed it, lining the oversized jacket with red silk.
* âI hope you donât mind, Hades has terrible taste when it comes to clothes.â She whispers, tugging the jackets over your arms. âI fashioned it into something more modern.â Thereâs a red blush on her face as she secures a pin on your collar that has her symbol on it.
* âThe underworld is teaming with monsters, some of which wonât care whose child you are.â She pats your shoulders, looking at you like a mother about to say goodbye to her child.
* âShe gave me the cloak back.â
* You canât understand this god, whoâs been alive for thousands of years, most of which have been spent in solitude.
* But the one thing you do understand, is thatâ
* âCirce likes meâŠand I like her too.â
* You wrap your arms around her, hugging her like only a child can, and you find her own arms wrapping around you, holding you like youâre made of glass.
* âCan I come to see you again sometime?â
* Youâre not sure if youâre imagining the tears in her eyes because thatâs what you would like to see, or if theyâre really there.
* âI wouldâŠlike that.â She says softly. You engrave this memory into your mind, devastated you donât have a camera to capture it. Circe against her lush green island, on her snow white sand beach, the infinite blue ocean behind her, before taking one final breath, giving your best smile and descending into the abyss.
Tag List: @holybatflapexpert @atomicsoph @fadingunknowncoffee @hopeworldsupremacy @padsfirewhisky @magical-dreamland @ladylapize @kookiedesi @kiritokunuwu @bleepmorp @flickeringlizard @luckyzipperscissorsbat @jessiegerl @bluegremlin108 @undecided-as-always @officiallydarkgeek @marsbars09 @smolfrogz @yizhoutv @alicesolengg @luxaryllis-primaryacc @time-shardz @cryinghotmess @crow-with-a-hoodie @the-nerdy-fangirl