Plants, Pens and… Peanut Butter?
“So who are you going to ask to come with you?” James asked at the picnic tables the next morning. Sirius was picking at his eggs after a very sleepless night in his new cabin. He was honestly pretty sad to leave the Hermes kids, he’d liked Fabian and Gideon, and of course, he’d become fast friends with Remus. Not to mention the cabin he’d been shown to last night was so quiet, the bunk beds hadn’t been used in so long that there was dust on the quilts. The interior was nice he guessed, it was like an old fishing cabin on the beach - the walls were lined with old pictures of the sea, and the back porch butted up right to the water (which Sirius thought was nice) - but overall it was lonely there, he wished James could have stayed there, or even Remus… But more than anything he wished Regulus was there… Because if Sirius was Poesidon’s son then Regulus must be as well.
“Hey earth to Sirius,” James snapped in front of his face.
“Sorry, what?” Sirius shook himself from his thoughts and planted himself at the picnic table with James. Marlene, Lily, Remus, and Dorcas were all sitting on the other end of the table and Mary was coming to join them soon, everyone was acting strange about his godly parents but the only people Sirius truly cared about all backed him up. Lily had almost hit a kid in line for breakfast for staring too long, James wouldn’t leave his side and Remus was staring people down so harshly it must’ve hurt.
“Who are you going to ask to come on your quest?” James repeated.
“Oh uh,” Sirius scratched his head, “you of course. And I was thinking maybe Remus? Or Lily? It’d be nice to have our little gang of misfits together again I think.”
“Lily’s wanted to go on a quest since she got here… I think she’d be great to have along,” James smiled.
“Now now Potter,” Sirius smirked, “are you thinking with your head or heart?”
“Oh shut it,” James chucked a piece of his egg at Sirius.
“Yeah yeah,” Sirius laughed and rolled his eyes. James and Lily had hearts in their eyes whenever they were around one another, no matter what they were doing.
“But seriously, who do YOU want to bring?” James tipped his chin toward Sirius.
“Well first of all,” Sirius smirked and relished the face James made when he realized what was about to come out of Sirius's mouth. “I’m always Serious.”
James groaned, and Marlene nearly spit out her orange juice.
“That’s golden Black!” She giggled.
“Why thank you McKinnion,” he smiled back and gave her a high-five. Sirius wasn’t sure he’d ever really had a true crush on anyone but he was pretty sure if he did somehow develop one it would be on Marlene, she was pretty and nice and funny. And she seemed to just get Sirius… But for some reason, Sirius couldn’t find himself feeling anything for the girl, which gave him reason to believe the little voices in his head saying something was messed up in his head.
“Anyway,” Sirius turned back to James and smiled, “second of all I think I want to ask Remus first… he just seems kinda alone…”
“Okay!” James grinned, not at all annoyed that Sirius didn’t want to ask Lily first. “Go on and talk to him then, we probably have to leave soon.”
“Soon?!” Sirius gaped, “I thought maybe we could leave like in a few days or something.”
“Well, we’ve only got ten days… I thought we’d leave tonight, or maybe early tomorrow morning?”
“Oh yeah sorta forgot this is on a timeline…” Sirius laughed nervously, yet another reason he could not fuck this up.
“Hey it’s alright you won’t be alone,” James smiled at him. “Now go on and as Remus yeah?”
Sirius nodded more to himself than to James, “Yeah yes okay.”
☪
“Look Sirius… It’s sweet you offered, really. And yes I’ve been hoping for a quest for like five years by now but… Nows not really great timing… My old leg injury is acting up and Poppy is great and all but I’m not sure she’d be able to get me quest ready by tonight…”
“Oh ha yeah that-thats okay,” Sirius laughed awkwardly, why did he always laugh? “I just thought I’d ask, I really like your company and all…”
“I like your company too Seaweed Brain,” he teased.
“Oh shut it wise ass,” Sirius rolled his eyes.
“You’d better not die out there, It’d be a shame if I didn’t get to annoy you more when you got back.”
“Yeah that’s really the only reason I want to survive really,” Sirius rolled his eyes playfully.
“You are gonna survive Sirius Black,” Remus reached out his hand and their fingertips brushed against one another’s. “You’re a fighter. Besides, if you don’t his place will probably be the most annoying place I’ve ever been.”
“Haha very funny,” Sirius shook his head, “I’ll be back as soon as I can Wiseboy.”
“Good.”
Sirius couldn’t fight back the smile and flush of his cheeks that followed Remus’ voice.
“Come and say goodbye before you go will you?”
“Yeah of course,” Sirius blushed even harder, which was stupid because who was he to even think such thoughts about someone he was becoming such fast friends with? Remus would probably hate him and call him names if he ever found out… So Sirius shoved those feelings down into his throat and out of his reach.
“Oh wait I’ve got something for you!” Remus’ eyes lit up and he stepped into the Hermes Cabin. They’d moved away from breakfast to talk and the cabins were pretty quiet in the morning, Sirius hadn’t thought of offering his own cabin up, and thankfully Remus had just led them back to the misfit house.
Sirius followed him in and waited as Remus rummaged through his trunk and finally pulled out a small bag.
“Catch,” he tossed it at Sirius.
The bag rattled when it fell into Sirius’ hands, and Sirius scrunched his brows together.
“They’re drachmas,” Remus explained, “James can show you how to send iris messages, but basically you flip it into a bit of water and you can open it to a connection with someone else. This way you can check in and make sure I know you’re not some monster’s lunch yeah?”
“That’s so cool!” Sirius’ mouth hung open.
“One of the many perks” Remus chuckled. “Now go on and get your dream team together Seaweed Brain.”
Sirius snorted and flipped the other boy off before jogging out the door with the sack of coins in hand.
☪
“Stop,” Lily’s eyes got wide. “You’re joking, right? Me? Sirius, you can’t be for real right now!”
Sirius smiled and shrugged, “Hey I already know you’re the only one who can keep James and me in line Evans.”
“Plus you’re a badass with your daggers!” James added from beside him.
“Lily you’re the best person I can think of to get this done, I for one don’t really want to start a war in the cosmos. Oh, and I want my baby brother back or I will march into Olympus myself and demand Zeus gets him back for me.”
“Woah woah killer lets not give the all-powerful lightning god more reason to hate you… yes?”
“Right yeah… uh sorry Uncle Zeus?” Sirius said toward the sky, feeling mildly stupid for doing so.
“Better,” Lily smiled and rolled her eyes. “We’ll get Regulus back Sirius, promise. Now when do we leave?”
“Minnie wants to meet with us all in two hours,” James explained. “We should probably get packs ready, and all that good stuff.
“Yeah good plan, I’ll meet you boys at the big house in a couple of hours then?”
“Sounds good!” James beamed at her and turned back toward the Apollo cabin.
“What exactly does one pack for a quest?” Sirius asked stupidly, following James across the great lawn.
“No clue really,” James admitted, “change of clothes? Weapons for sure, maybe like some peanut butter?”
“Peanut butter?” Sirius questioned.
“Yeah! There might not always be a Wendy’s nearby… Peanut butter is a great source of protein! I’ll see if Alice has got any.”
“So your plan to defeat the god of death is peanut butter?” Sirius teased.
“Well technically if we aren’t well fed then we won’t be able to defeat him! LBS is the real killer here, Sirius,” James raised a brow at his best friend.
“If you want to just eat spoonfuls of peanut butter be my guest, but I’m sure Effie wouldn’t approve,” Sirius smirked.
“Wanna bet?” James smirked right back and reached into his jeans pocket. “I’ve got to call her anyway.”
“Oh, are you gonna Iris call her or whatever? Remus was telling me about that.”
“Yeah! I just need a coin,” James held up a gold coin between his fingers. “And like a mist sorta? We’ve got a fountain the back here,” James led Sirius behind the bunks to a small marble fountain with mist coming off the water. “Epheumia Potter please.”
A few seconds passed before the mist thickened and an image began to take shape, James grinned and Sirius’ jaw fell open when a perfectly clear picture of Effie Potter took place. James’ mum was the best in Sirius’ eyes. She always took care of him when the getting got hard.
“Hey, mum!” James waved.
“Gods James! Where have you been?! I’ve been praying to Apollo that you made it to camp, would it have killed you to call!?” She screeched at the boys. “Oh and gods I’m so glad you made it Sirius, it truly was getting to be a lot keeping this a secret.”
“Hey Effie, I missed ya too,” Sirius grinned and sent finger guns her way. “And in James’ defense, he been showing me around camp and everything.”
“Yes well I’m glad he’s been taking care of you,” she smiled her classic Effie smile that made Sirius feel warm inside. “Have you been claimed yet? It’s okay if not, it took James a few weeks and-”
“Mum-” James interrupted gently, “we were right. It explains the monsters, and the storms and power outages.”
“Dear Gods, that’s wonderful honey… I’m so glad you’re safe,” she sighed as if relieved she didn’t have to try not to ask again.
“There's more,” James’ smile tightened. “He’s got a quest…”
“Oh… James…”
“I’m going mum, I’ve been waiting for this my whole life… With what appended to Peter… I need to prove myself, Mum…”
“Oh James,” she sighed, and Sirius looked between the two of them, who was Peter? What had happened that made James need to prove himself? “I understand, but I swear to the gods if you don’t come back from this I will march up to Olympus and give Zeus a piece of my mind yes?”
“I’d expect nothing less mum,” James laughed, as if he was relieved she wasn’t telling him he couldn’t go. “Oh and if you could maybe phone Sirius’ parents?” Sirius went tense. “Just tell them he’s with us for a bit? If Walburgers asks more questions just tell her the truth I guess, the Gods shunned her a long time ago.”
“You call my mother Walburgers?” Sirius raised a brow and fought off a giggle.
“Everyone does,” James shrugged, and Effie nodded in agreement.
“I’ll get in touch with them, don’t worry about it Sirius. All that matters is you and Regulus are safe.”
Sirius and James both froze.
“I’m gonna go pack…” Sirius mumbled, not wanting to talk about his brother more than he had to. James tried to reach out to him but Sirius slipped by, he managed to get out of the cabin before he knelt over and threw up.
He vaguely heard Effie asking James what was wrong, and James started to explain what happened.
“Sirius?” A familiar voice asked. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah Minnie,” Sirius plastered on a smile and lifted himself up. “I’m just peachy.”
“Let us walk yes?” Sirius nodded reluctantly and followed the older woman as she led them toward the water. “Is it safe to assume you’re upset about this whole situation?”
“You mean finding out my deadbeat dad was some immortal asshole, my little brother is a hostage of some dead sadist, and now I have to go prove that my asshole deadbeat dad and I are innocent so I don’t accidentally start a was in the fucking cosmos? No, I’m not upset at all,” Sirius snarked.
“Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine,” she chuckled. “I know this can be quite the adjustment, and you have every right to feel angry.”
Sirius wasn’t exactly used to being validated, somehow the woman always made that feeling disappear.
“I just don’t want to put my friends in harm's way, y’know? I don’t even have a sword or weapon,” Sirius sighed.
“Well I think I might be able to help you there,” she smiled, her green eyes twinkling as she pulled a nice ballpen from his pocket. “Here you are.”
“Uh sorry Professor but what the fuck is this,” he eyed the pen warily. Then something in his head clicked, and he was back in the museum with that demon lady. “You gave me that before… in the city on the field trip.”
“Clever, not quite an Athena kid but oh well,” she shrugged and smiled. Dropping the pen into Sirius’ hand. “Riptide is the weapon of the sea Sirius. It is rightfully yours, and it will always return to you.”
“What’s that mean?” Sirius made a face as he fiddled with the pen.
“Throw it, as far as you can into the water,” the woman explained.
“Huh?” Sirius questioned, “Why would I ever do that? I don’t want to lose it.”
“Just trust me, Sirius,” she shook her head.
“Okay…” Sirius shrugged and chucked the pen into the dark waters. “Uh, what now? Does it come flying back to me like Thor’s hammer?”
“Not quite,” she chuckled. “Check your pocket.”
Sirius shoved his hand into his shorts and had to do a double take when he felt the skinny figure of a pen. That certainly hadn’t been there before…
“Wicked…” he mused.
“I do hope you succeed Sirius, you have lots of potential.”
Sirius shrugged, “I guess… Can I ask you something, Minnie?”
“Of course my boy.”
“Why exactly are you… here? Like are you also a god or something?”
This earned him a laugh, “No no no, I am just like you dear boy. Well, not a daughter of Poseidon but you get the idea.”
“You’re a demigod too?” Sirius felt a smile creep onto his lips.
She nodded, “Athena’s daughter.”
“So being a demigod isn’t a death sentence then?”
“Not always,” she smiled sadly, “I’ve lost a lot of people, but in the end, it's those who were closest to me that got me here.”
Sirius nodded, not quite understanding yet comprehending her words fully. “Thank you, Minnie…”
“Of course Sirius, may the fates be with you. We are all counting on it.”
Yeah well, that seems to be a trend, Sirius thought with a sigh. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
“Yes, you will.”