Chiron In A Dress - Part Four

"To wrap up the show we are happy to announce that a rouge Caledonian drakon has been caught and returned to its prison."

"And, were clear!"

As the rainbow she had been addressing dissipated Angelia dropped a forced smile. She stood, stretched her stiff limbs and stepped down from her desk. She headed straight for the studio's exit. None of the nature spirits assembled in the room bothered to stop her.

She pushed open the back door and stepped into a featureless Manhattan alley. Satisfied no mortals were lurking around, she closed her eyes and let images of her her favorite spot on Olympus flood her mind.

Her body glowed white, then erupted into a column of searing light. Angelia reappeared, sitting on a stone bench. The bench squatted on a cliff jutting out of Olympus; the view was magnificent.

Finally alone, she let a few angry tears roll down her cheek. Before this could progress into a round of full blown sobbing a new presence forced her to scrub away the tears on her cheeks and bite back her sobs.

She turned round and saw Hermes regarding her with a look of pity.

"Hello Angelia."

"What do you want?" she replied through gritted teeth.

Hermes took a seat on the bench. "Still mad with me huh?"

Angelia failed to meet his eyes. "Yes."

"You know, I didn't invent the telegraph."

"I know. It was your whelp, Samuel Morse. Do you have any idea what that ridiculous contraption did to me?"

"You lost some customers?"

"Try half of my annual letter deliveries. And then you had the nerve to make it up to me with this," she said. She jabbed at the name tag on her chest; it bore the Olympian TV logo and her name.

Hermes said noting and held out his hand. She raised an eyebrow but proffered her hand anyway. Hermes produced a disk from inside his jacket and dropped it into her palm.

"What is it?"

"An early birthday gift. You did say ratings have been low lately."

She stared at him, looking for any hint of deceit. He smiled and held out his arms. She stepped forward and gave him a brief hug.

"Don't think you can buy your way back onto my good books," she warned, and let him go.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Bye." He waved, and disappeared, a puff of smoke the only clue he had ever visited the lonely cliff. She stayed there for a while longer, wondering if the station's ratings would ever pick up.

The answer to that query was yes. The footage of Chiron went on to break the station's viewership record. Impressive, considering the previous record had been set during the screening of the 2002 Superbowl.

Camp Half-Blood, Pegasi stables

"Yuck," moaned Travis. He and Connor stood a distance from the stables muck heap. The warm summer breeze guided the pungent odor straight past them. Silena, mounted on a chestnut Pegasus watched the pair

"Let's go boys!" . Travis smiled and marched towards the muck. Obviously the spell had not fully worn off yet. Meanwhile, Connor inspected his camp necklace.

The newest camp bead depicted a grey centaur wearing a streamlined evening gown: small changes the campers had made to spare Chiron anymore embarrassment. Connor looked at the bead and then up at the muck heap. Had it been worth it? Yes, he decided, grinning spite of himself. He heard Travis curse loudly.

Connor rolled his eyes and trudged after his brother, breathing through his nose. Together they began shoveling muck into up one of the many wheelbarrows they would be filling that summer.

"Look at her, all smug," Travis said nodding at Silena.

Connor grunted in agreement. "She is rather annoying."

"I heard that!"

"You were meant to!"

Connor continued in a lower voice, "Perhaps we should prank her? She's the one who ratted us out to Chiron."

Travis gave his brother a withering glare. "No! We've got enough work to do."

"Chicken."

"Shut up!"

Silena waved down at them, smiling sweetly. "Boys. You missed out stall five!"

Travis sighed. "I'm not saying yes but what do you have in mind?"

"A mango and a lot of gold spray paint."

"A golden mango?"

Connor's eyes sparkled. "Yes. It's going to be legendary!"

Fin

Apologies for the delay. Exams and coursework practically cut my writing time in half. Feel free to comment on the story. If you enjoyed it I would really appreciate if you could give it a shout of some kind. Also, PM me if you have any stories you would like feedback on or if you have any story ideas.