"I say Ray and I go off the grid, lay low for a while."
"That's just a band-aid."
"Maybe send him to Hades, he's always liked you."
"No!"
"We could add in extra security?" Charles spoke again.
"Another band-aid, and to what end. Also, since when did you start thinking like humans?"
"Just trying to help." Charles raised his hands in surrender.
"How about one of you finds a way to get him off Argo and in to Olympus?"
"You want to bring him closer to the Queen?" Adrastea asked.
"Do you really think distance matters?" Adrastea shrugged at the question. "I expect both of you to work on it, it's time to initiate our first contingency. My siblings and I are beginning to work on the rest of the safeguards."
"It shouldn't be too difficult," Adrastea said.
Charles' brows furrowed, "speak for yourself."
"Is there a problem?"
"He's reluctant to leave his old apartment," Charles said.
"You made him aware of the dangers of staying?"
"I did, he's still reluctant."
Athena sighed, some Olympians had a tendency to be territorial; her father was one of them. She had everything planned to the letter, but one variable was about to upset everything she devised. It got worse as that same variable was the centerpiece of everything she had orchestrated.
"I'll deal with it. In the meantime, I want Raymond out of Argo City as soon as possible." Athena said, and the two nodded in acknowledgment. Adrastea got up and left her study while Charles remained seated. "Progress report?"
"He is getting better combat-wise and exhibits an unnatural aptitude for learning but could do even better if you helped." Athena just stared at him.
"He's exceedingly loyal, smart, resourceful, a bit daring, but he is also heedless, rebellious, naïve. I could go on. Case in point, he is nowhere near ready."
"I made a wager with him, and I intend to see it through."
"Is that a good idea?"
"I have my reasons. As a demigod, he should fit the entry requirements."
"That could work, or it could backfire in a big way."
"Let me worry about that. In the meantime, escalate his training, introduce him to weaponry, he's going to need it for the contest."
"Sure."
After Charles left, an ethereal figure materialized at the edge of Athena's study table.
'Do you really think he's going to be necessary?'
'Maybe, or maybe not. Either way, Raymond is going to need his help.'
'I hope you're right about this one.'
'When I'm ever wrong brother?'
Apollo's ghostly figure smiled, 'I guess you have me to thank for that.'
'It'll all work out. Trust me.'
*****
"Do I need to close my eyes?"
"If that's your thing. Now quit interrupting me and repeat after me." Emma raised her voice a little higher than she wanted and almost drew the attention of the few people currently occupying the café.
It was a slow Monday, and Ray and Emma had just finished their morning lectures.
"Ad somnum. Only this time, reach for your magic."
"How, I still can't distinguish magic from my other abilities?"
"I don't know, I've never had to teach an Olympian before. Okay, let's try this..." she picked up a knife. "...give me your hand."
Raymond hesitated.
"I'm not cutting your arm off, jeez! Give me your hand."
Ray extended his hand over to her while looking around the café. They were seated in one of the corners with his back towards the wall while Emma had hers towards the rest of the tables.
She spread his palm and gently cut his palm from the wrist on his thumb side—across—all the way to the base of his pinky.
Ray groaned and instinctively focused on his bleeding hand.
"No, don't. Let it heal on its own."
He did as he was told and silently swallowed down the stinging pain. The two stayed that way for close to ten minutes until the last of Ray's skin knitted back together. Before he had a chance to protest, she cut his hand again.
This time he managed to stifle a groan as the healed flesh burned in protest.
"Go ahead and heal it."
Ray quickly focused on his hand, and the flesh began knitting itself back together in a matter of seconds.
"Have you noticed anything?"
"Yeah, it stings." He grinned but was met with a level gaze. "Okay, I was able to use magic to heal, but I still can't differentiate magic from divine power."
"Three supernatural powers shape reality. Cosmic and divine power and magic. Only Kaos and primordial beings have full access to the cosmic power and the other two. Titans and Olympians both possess innate divine power, but only Olympians have magic; that's what separates a Titan from an Olympian.
"When your hand first healed, that was your innate divine power at work. The second time you channeled magic through you to speed up the process. A god like Apollo, due to one of his aspects being healing, can speed up the process without the use of magic."
"It makes sense, so divine power is basically control over certain aspects of reality like nature, energy, matter," Ray observed.
"Not only that but also abstract concepts like law, emotion, intelligence, death among many."
"What about cosmic?" He asked.
"What we were taught was that it's the closest thing to reality warping as you can get and it is practically unlimited. Now focus and use your magic." She said and proceeded to cut his hand again.
Ray groaned before muttering the words again, "Ad somnum."
There was a calmness that washed over him followed by strange tingling at the base of his skull. He closed his eyes to enjoy the fleeting feeling one last time before he felt a lot of warmth followed by a sudden rush.
He then heard something hit the wooden table. He instantly opened his eyes to find Emma's head lying face deep in her plate.
"Shit!"
Raymond looked around to see if anyone noticed the incident but almost pissed in his pants as he found several people slumped in their seats. The girl at the counter was gone. The door opened, and two guys walked in, he was about to shout at them to leave before they too, dropped on the floor and quite comically, began snoring.
Ray rose to his feet and walked away from his table, a peek over the counter, he found the girl slumped on her butt in a deep, peaceful slumber. Walking towards the door, he saw a cyclist approaching the café from across the street, and he quickly rushed for the door to stop him from coming into the café.
Swinging the door open he almost went back in when a vehicle swerved dangerously into the sidewalk, before smashing into a lamp post. He instinctively rushed to the totaled car and took a peek through the window.
The driver's head was dropped on his left shoulder, eyes closed. Ray flinched back as realization of what was happening began sinking down to his core.
A quick look back at the cyclist he saw him sprawled in the middle of the road; a few bruises and scrapes visible on some of his exposed skin, his bike still between his legs.
Ray's breathing began to pick up as he looked all around him, bodies laid on the pavement others inside the various buildings.
A ball of lead dropped down his stomach, and he rushed back into the café. Sounds of glass breaking and metal hitting metal, coupled with continuous car horns was all he heard before he grabbed Emma and summoned the Aether with haste.
He immediately materialized inside Athena's mansion and screamed for help. Moments later Adrastea appeared.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! I messed up." Ray gently placed Emma down on a plush couch.
"What happened?"
"I used a Sleeping Spell."
Adrastea looked at Ray then at Emma before shaking her head. "Relax, she'll wake up, eventually."
"No! I used it out there too."
Adrastea frowned at first but then her eyes grew as big as an owl's. "Why on earth would you use a spell in public without any training?"
"Um...it was part of my training and...I don't know. I just cast a small spell and then it kind of spread like wildfire."
"Did you let go of the spell?"
"What! She never said I was to let go."
"Then do it now!"
"I can't...I don't know how to access my magic. I mean I know when I'm using it and how to use it but—"
"How did you cast the spell then?"
"Um...pain. She cut my hand—ow!" Raymond rubbed his chin when Adrastea slapped him.
"Do it!"
"That's not how it works. It takes a serious...wait...seriously?" Ray protested when he saw Adrastea pull out a dagger out of nowhere and almost slashed his chest if he hadn't jumped back.
"Stop being a baby, you've taken much worse than a simple cut."
"You aren't seriously going to gut me just so I can access my magic?"
"Fine! Give me your hand."
She made a quick but deeper slash into his hand. Raymond reflexively pulled his arm back, clutching it close to his chest while glowering at Adrastea. He reached for his magic and soon the gnawing pain subsided.
With his head working straight again, he felt the familiar rush envelope his body. He immediately forced it back into his body and felt it stop.
Raymond breathed a sigh and took a seat, "what's going to happen to all those people?"
"You and I are going back so you can reverse the whole thing, with proper instructions this time. Then we're going to come back here so you can learn the rules of magic before you do something this stupid again."
Raymond wanted to protest going back but knew she was right, "fine, but I'm warning you, it's not pretty."
He rose and took Adrastea's hand before teleporting out of the mansion and back into the café. The several sleeping bodies were still in the same state he left them.
"What now?" He asked as Adrastea took in on the scene.
"Go ahead and cut your hand and repeat these words, "Nolite somnum."
Ray did as he was told, "Nolite somnum."
He didn't get time to see the results before Adrastea grabbed him and they teleported out of there.
"Wait how will I know when to stop the magic?"
"How long did you take before you came here?"
"I don't know, two, maybe three minutes?"
"Then stop your spell by then, but unlike a Sleeping Spell, waking people up isn't problematic. If it makes you feel any better, the spell will stop spreading out on its own once your limit is reached. Anyone awake won't be affected."
"Good to know, thanks."
"Don't thank me yet, you still have another mess to deal with."
"Why isn't the spell working on her?"
"Because you didn't cast it on or anywhere near her," Adrastea sighed and muttered a short spell. Emma slowly began to wake up.
"You can override my spell?" Ray had a questioning look on his face, she could've have saved him a lot of trouble.
"I wasn't overriding your spell but rather waking her up. Your spell already worked its purpose, which is to induce sleep, nothing more. There were too many people back in the café for me to wake up without being drained."
Emma was fully awake by the time Adrastea finished her explanation. "Where am I?"
"Athena's house," Ray answered before Adrastea replied.
Emma blinked for a few seconds before shooting off the couch. She muttered a few words before looking back at Ray, "why can't I jump out of here? Forget it, get me out of here."
"Calm down, Athena is a friend."
"How nice, I don't share the same sentiment."
"You aren't afraid of me," Ray tried to reassure her.
"You're nothing like them."
"You should probably take her home and come back if you want to learn more about magic," Adrastea said before going into the study.
"Is this about the Medusa thing?" Ray couldn't help but ask.
"You're learning, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Now get me out of here." Emma said as she closed the distance and took Ray's hand.
*****