The animated dummy raised its hands, then froze, waiting for its young opponent to make a move.
"What will it do?" Athena asked, as Harry stared at it.
The young demigod swallowed, staring at the dummy. "Ehm… throw a punch?" he asked.
Athena seemed amused. "Are you asking, or telling?"
Harry swallowed again. Athena was a harsh teacher; she was completely and utterly brilliant, but had the tendency to assume everyone else was as brilliant as she was. This usually resulted in her just giving the bare minimum of information and expecting him to be able to keep up.
Since he was just a mortal, this usually resulted in her staring at him in disappointment, which made him feel like an abject failure.
"Telling," he decided. "It's going to throw a punch."
Athena clasped her hands behind her back, and calmly walked to the dummy. "Explain your thought process."
Harry blinked, not having expected that. "ehm… it's raised its hands. And it's right hand is higher than its left, so I think that's what it's going to punch me with."
"And its legs?" the Goddess of Wisdom asked, crossing behind the dummy, before walking back towards him.
Harry looked down at its legs and feet. "They're firmly on the ground."
"Good," Athena said. "You are partially correct. Its next move is to punch with its right fist."
Harry looked at her with surprise. "Partially correct, Miss Athena?" he asked.
Athena seemed amused again. "Will it be a cross, a jab, or an uppercut? There are many different kinds of 'punches', after all."
Harry nodded, and looked at the dummy. "It's going to be a jab," he finally decided. "It's not lowering the fist for an uppercut."
Athena nodded. "Correct. Remembered to always be thorough and complete. You may not always have the time to analyze and predict your opponent in full combat, but if you have an opening, you can win a fight before ever throwing a single punch."
She motioned, and the dummy changed its stance. "What will it do?"
Harry looked at the dummy.
00000
Athena's lesson had been a lengthy one. After playing 'predict the dummy', she had started staging rooms, asking him to determine what didn't fit. That had been fun – initially. Soon, the staged room went from having a clock with the wrong time to incredibly elaborate, including one case where Athena had expected him to be able to pick a single book that didn't belong out of a bookcase filled with them.
He'd failed that one. Athena had instructed him to keep up his reading least, while leveling her disappointed look at him.
After hours of drills and exercises like that, his brain felt like it had melted and would start dribbling out of his ears any moment.
He'd crossed the market, and had turned into the quieter, older, area of Olympus where Helios' Temple was located, when he was stopped by a stranger wearing a hood.
"Hi Mister H," Harry said, grinning at the cloaked figure.
"Hello Harry," the caped God of Thieves replied, sounding equally amused. "I've spoken to my pals about that study party I invited you to. We all managed to get some time on Friday evening, at 8 in the evening."
Harry nodded, despite finding it an odd time to have a math study group. "I'll be there, Mister H. How many people are coming?"
"It'll be you, me, and three of my friends, so just the five of us," Hermes explained. "Any particular reason why?"
Harry shrugged. "I thought I'd bake some muffins or something. You know, as a thanks to the others for letting me into your study group."
The God of Travelers seemed surprised, showing even while he was fully cloaked and hooded. "I'll be looking forward to them," he replied, ruffling Harry's notoriously stubborn hair. "See you on Friday!"
"See you on Friday, Mister H!" Harry answered with a grin as the god slinked away, once more hiding himself.
00000
It was Friday morning, and Harry was in Athena's Library, reading yet another book from the massive collection the Goddess of Wisdom had told him to learn from. His attention wandered; he was feeling a bit nervous about the study group Hermes would be leading that night. He really wasn't that good at math, despite doing his best at it, and if there would be four gods there, he was going to be far out of his depth.
He drew a breath, closed his eyes, and tried to relax. Letting his breath out, he really did feel better, and tried to focus on the book.
It was an interesting one, too, dealing with the forging of weapons. Now that his attention had shifted, he easily read on. The enchantment on the library turned all the characters to Greek Letters, despite being in English, and his dyslexia didn't act up once.
Two hours later, he closed the book, frowning slightly. He had a few questions regarding what he had just read, and he wondered if he should bother Athena with them.
Knowing how prickly the Goddess of Wisdom was, and how little she liked him, Harry decided against bothering her. His fingers drummed on the book's cover as he thought who he could turn to for help.
His instincts pinged him with a suggestion. He grinned. It was a good excuse to meet up with one of his favorite male gods – Hephaestus, God of the Forge.
Before he realized it, his legs had carried him out of the library, and well underway to Hephaestus' temple. As he walked, Harry wondered if he should actually bother the god; he was likely to be very busy, and Harry wanted to be on his good side.
He stopped at the temple doors, and raised his hand. He hesitated; Hephaestus would probably be very busy, and Harry's questions really were rather basic. Maybe the god would be upset if he bothered him for something so basic?
Then again, maybe he'd welcome the diversion?
He wondered back and forth for a few moments, before his instincts told him to rap on the door; apparently asking the Smith God right there and then would be a good thing.
He knocked.
The door opened on its own.
"Hello? Mister Hephaestus?" Harry asked, sticking his head inside, but making sure his feet remained outside the threshold. Hestia had warned him not to enter a God's domain without invitation.
The muscular form of the God of the Forge was suddenly there. "Ah, Harry," he said, his voice gravelly. Harry ignored how the god limped forward. "Wasn't expecting visitors."
Harry smiled hopefully up at the bulky god. "Ehm…hi, Mister Hephaestus," the young boy said. "I… eh… are you busy?"
Hephaestus studied the boy for a few moments. "Well now, not often I get asked if I have time," he said. "Usually, it's more of a 'build this' or 'build that'." He grinned; it looked twisted on his scarred face, but Harry took that as a good sign.
"I just had a few questions, if you have time, Mister Hephaestus," Harry said, holding up the book for emphasis.
The Smith God looked down, and nodded at the title. "Interested in forging, are you?" he asked rhetorically, his grin widening. "I've got some time, you arrived at the right moment. I was working on something tricky that I finished just before you knocked."
Harry smiled, silently thanking his instincts for telling him to knock then and not earlier. He held up the book again. "I was reading about making swords, and then it talked about metals," the boy explained. "I was wondering why swords – well, mortal swords – are still made from steel, and not something like titanium."
Hephaestus looked at Harry, seemingly amused. "You're making the same mistake that a lot of other people make, Harry," he said. "You're confusing 'strength' with 'hardness'."
The young boy blinked, and glanced at the book, resisting the urge to open it. "Titanium is stronger than steel for the same weight, yes. But, it is softer than good steel that is tempered correctly. Titanium will not break, this is true. But it will fold. Your edge will be gone quickly. Your blade will bend. Titanium is also difficult to forge, requiring higher temperatures and difficult treatments to use correctly."
Harry nodded. "I didn't know that."
Hephaestus grinned. "Strength and Hardness," he repeated. "Don't listen to Hollywood."
The boy laughed, and was about to thank the Smith God for his help, when he felt his instinct urge him on. Before he had a chance to contemplate it, he felt his mouth move on its own accord. "How about Osmium? Is it the same thing?" he asked.
Hephaestus' grin didn't waver. "Full of questions, aren't we?" he asked, sounding amused. Suddenly, he grew serious. "Tell you what; I'm not much of a teacher. I prefer to let people find things out for themselves. You're likely to forget the answer about titanium, but if you find it out for yourself, you'll remember it for the rest of your life."
The god leaned over, so his massive face was very close to Harry. "I'll make you deal, young Harry," he said. "I need to inventory my scrapyard. Everybody just dumps their old junk in it, and I never know what's in it from one moment to the next. You do the inventory for me, and you'll have a very good grounding in the basics of metallurgy, engineering, weapons and armor forging, and a lot of other things. " He fell silent, and Harry was about to say something, when the god went on, "When you're done, I will let you keep one item; any item at all, as long as you, yourself, can carry it out. So don't go thinking you can drag out an automaton or something. I give you a warning, though – don't take anything out until I give you the go ahead. The entire thing's cursed to Olympus and back."
Harry was stunned, he didn't know what was in Hephaestus' junkyard, but he was sure to find something interesting. He was about to accept, when his gut feeling came back, pushing him to speak.
"What do I do to write up the inventory, Mister Hephaestus? I don't know a lot of engineering or forging or metals, so I don't know if I can do a good job at it," the boy replied, driven by his instincts. Inwardly, Harry agreed with what the mysterious instincts wanted him to do; he wanted to do a good job.
Hephaestus nodded. "That is a good question," he said, nodding. He reached out, and placed one of his huge, muscular, godly-form hands on Harry's head. Which, considering its size, could be described as 'around' Harry's head. "I'll grant you a bit of a boon."
Harry felt his brain heat up. It wasn't a painful heat, but it was definitely uncomfortable.
"There," Hephaestus said. "I gave you a talent for psychometry. If you focus on an object, you'll know all about it, how it was made, what it was made from, and so forth. It'll disappear in three days; any longer than that and your brain will melt. You don't have the natural ability, so your brain can't handle it. Use that skill, and do the inventory in my scrapyard. You'll know what to write down."
Harry nodded seriously. "Thanks, Mister Hephaestus."
Hephaestus grinned. "It's me who should thank you. That inventory is boring. It's worth the trade of a small item. Remember, three days. And don't carry anything out until I say so."
Harry nodded. Hephaestus grinned. "I need to get back to work." He vanished. Harry blinked.
"How am I supposed to get to the scrapyard?" he wondered to himself.
Hephaestus reappeared. "Knew I forgot something. I'll put up a fire; you can travel there using Aunt Hestia's skill." He vanished again.
Harry laughed. "Thanks, Mister Hephaestus." The Smith God did not reappear. Chuckling to himself, the young boy walked away; the doors of the temple closed by themselves. He needed to get back to Helios' temple, make himself some sandwiches, change into sturdy clothing that he didn't mind getting dirty, and then make his way to the scrapyard. He had a job to do.
00000
Harry arrived at the junkyard wearing old and sturdy clothes, and carrying his backpack. The fire he arrived from was an ever-burning brazier, located in a relatively clear area.
As far as Harry could see, there were mountains of scrap. Bronze horseheads, obviously broken, metal human legs, also broken, smashed chariots, shields. Swords. Washing machines. Computer monitors. Harry blinked, he had his work cut out for him.
He wandered the yard for an hour or two, taking stock of how big it was, and what the best way forward was. He wanted to do a good job for Hephaestus, and the first lesson Artie ever gave him was always a good place to start. Taking stock of the situation would help him make a plan on how to best go about it.
He climbed various piles of trash, but most of them just allowed him a view on yet more piles of trash.
Eventually, however, he arrived at one edge of the junkyard, and found one hill, a mountain really, that was much higher than everything else. On one side, three-meter-tall toes were visible, and Harry wondered who had asked Hephaestus to make huge toes. Suddenly, the boon the God of the Forge had bestowed on him flared to life.
Harry suddenly knew that this was a prototype of Talos, defective but still functional, set here as a guardian of the junkyard. It was dormant, and would remain so, unless or until someone took something from the junkyard.
The next moment, Harry knew the metals it was built from, how those metals had been forged, the engineering that went into its construction. He rubbed his forehead, realizing why Hephaestus had said it would only last three days. The amount of information that had just appeared in his skull was amazing and felt incredibly uncomfortable – like a headache that was just about to form.
Taking out his notebook, Harry wrote down the information on the Talos prototype, and realized that he did indeed know what to write down as information.
Knowing that it was inactive and would remain so until or unless he stole something from the yard, Harry climbed the small mountain that was the giant automaton. Along the way, he chuckled. The automaton was covered in rust and dust, and it appeared that Hephaestus had written in the grime, in giant letters, 'WASH ME'. For a moment, Harry had the distinct urge to actually wash the poor prototype, because such an amazing piece of engineering shouldn't be lying here, rusting and covered in dirt.
He shook it off; he was here for another job. He resumed climbing, still chuckling as he did so, and soon reached the top. From there, he could survey the entire junkyard, and he smiled.
Going to a clean page, he focused on the junkyard, then on the clean paper and the pen. His fingers, wrists, and arms tingled. He started sketching the outline of the junkyard, before realizing that sketching was easy, then sketched the location of the various piles of refuse, included the brazier that was his entry point, before ending with the largest hill, which he dubbed 'Mount Talos' in his mind.
He put the pen away and looked at the page-size sketch of the junkyard. He was very good at sketching all of a sudden, and Harry realized that his focus on the page and the pen had allowed Hephaestus' boon to transfer drawing and sketching skills to his brain and his muscles.
The young boy grinned; the boon would make this task easier to handle, definitely.
From his position on Mount Talos, he numbered the large piles of junk. Once done with that, he focused on the first pile, skipped to an empty page, and started listing the items in it, including the materials, construction, and current status. The junkyard was huge, and he knew it would take him a long time to complete. He didn't mind, he was learning a lot.
Close to 4 hours later, the sun was low in the sky, and Harry realized that it was almost evening. He'd only finished three piles of junk, but they were the largest piles in the junkyard. He was going to grab some food, have a shower, bake some muffins, and arrive at Hermes' temple in time for the study group.
And tomorrow, he would come back, bright and early, and work all day. He definitely wanted to do the job, and do it properly. He walked back to the brazier, letting his eyes slide over the various object scattered haphazardly. He didn't want to focus enough to trigger the boon; Hephaestus' warning about the time limit, and the discomfort of the process, made him cautious.
As he walked, his eyes fell on a plushy lightning bolt. Frowning, Harry picked it up, wondering for a moment who had commissioned it, and why it was abandoned here in the junkyard. It was incredibly soft, and as he squeezed it, it made soothing rumbling noises, like a thunderstorm at a great distance.
Harry grinned, and put it to one side. He'd never had a plushy anything. Maybe he'd find something else, and maybe he wouldn't, but the plushy lightning bolt was going on the 'maybe' pile.
Harry continued his trek to the brazier, his eyes sliding over an electric guitar to looked like it was shaped after Apollo's lyre, a chopped up metal tree that still had golden birds in its branches, and so forth.
Finally, he made it back to the brazier, and took no time to transport back to Helios' Temple. He needed a shower, a change of clothes, and some hot food.
Half an hour later, he had showered, changed, and was puttering about in the kitchen, both to make himself dinner and do prep work for the muffins he wanted to take to the party.
"Hello, Harry," Hestia said, emerging from the living area.
Grinning, he spun around and gave his all-time favorite goddess a big hug. "Hi Hestia!"
She smiled at him in her usual fashion, then said, "You were not on Olympus for most of the day."
He nodded. "Mister Hephaestus gave me a job!" he said, excitedly.
"A… job?" Hestia questioned, as if the very concept was beyond her.
The boy nodded. "I went to ask him a few questions about metals and forging and such, and he offered me a job! I have to inventory the junkyard, list what's there and stuff. And when I'm done I get to keep an item, as long as I can carry it!"
Hestia didn't look all that happy. "I see," she said.
Harry, busy with his food and his muffins, didn't notice. "He even gave me a bit of a boon to help out! I mean, I told him that I'd be happy to help, but that I didn't know what he'd find useful, you know? So he gave me psycho… psy… an ability that lets me read things; if I focus enough, I just know what's it's made off, and how it's made. It's great!"
"Psychometry?" Hestia asked, her voice flat.
Harry nodded enthusiastically. "That's the one! He said I couldn't keep it, though. It would wear off after three days because I didn't have the ability by myself, so it would melt my brain."
"I see," Hestia said, again, her tone sounding slightly relieved. "So Hephaestus foisted off his own work on you, and gave you a minor boon and the promise of a single item in return?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't mind, I like helping people. And Mister Hephaestus is nice."
"I'll need to have a small talk with him," Hestia muttered quietly, but obviously not quietly enough.
"I don't mind helping, Hestia," Harry repeated. "It's okay, really."
She smiled at him. "You're a very kind boy, Harry. I just want to make sure nobody is taking advantage of you."
"He's not," Harry said, pouting. "Mister Hephaestus just needed some help, and he even gave me a boon so I could help him. Besides, it's fun, I learnt a lot already – even if I think it'll take me all three days to finish."
Hestia decided on changing the subject. "Baking muffins, Harry?" she asked, looking at the ingredients and the prep-work the boy was doing.
Harry nodded enthusiastically. "Mister Hermes invited me, so I thought I'd bring some muffins as a thank you."
The goddess in childlike form graced him with a wide smile. "I'm sure they will go over very well. I've received quite a few compliments on your cooking skills from Artie."
Harry grinned at her. "You should have seen Artie's reaction to the chocolate cake. Miss Zoë was shocked."
Hestia laughed softly. "My niece loves chocolate too much sometimes."
Harry just grinned. He loved it when people liked the food he made.
00000
That night, precisely at eight pm, Harry knocked on the door to Hermes' Temple. Balanced on one arm was a large tray of muffins, covered by a sealed lid to keep the contents fresh.
"Harry!" the jovial Messenger God greeted him. He was in his mortal form, so he didn't tower above Harry like usual. "Come in, come in," he said, waving Harry into his temple. It was constructed vaguely like Helios' Temple, with a large statue of Hermes in the front, as well as an altar.
Hermes didn't give Harry a lot of time to look around, and instead waved him further inside. They arrived in a medium-sized room that was richly furnished with a bar on one side, complete with high stools. In the center of the room was a circular table that held five chairs.
Harry didn't see any kind of writing materials, nor a blackboard, so he wondered for a few moments how they were going to do math in here – maybe it was to be a completely verbal thing?
He put his tray of muffins down on the bar, and removed the lid.
"When will the others get here, Mister Hermes?" Harry asked.
Hermes made a show of checking his watch. "They should have been here, but you know us gods; we're always late."
"I resent that remark," a man's voice said, just as the man in question appeared. He was tall, had black hair, and had a necklace on that held a conch shell.
"Triton!" Hermes greeted enthusiastically.
"Yes, hello, Hermes," Triton said, focusing on Harry instead. "I assume this is him?" he asked.
Hermes nodded. "Yup. Harry, meet Triton, Messenger of the Seas."
Harry smiled and held out his hand. "Hi Mister Triton. Nice to meet you."
The lesser Sea God was silent for a few moments, then shook the offered hand. "Hello, Harry. My father speaks highly of you. It is good to finally meet you," he said.
"Your father?" Harry asked.
Triton seemed amused. "Lord Poseidon, Earthshaker, Father of Horses, God of the Seas."
Harry's smile widened. "Really? That's awesome! Mister Poseidon's great!"
The Messenger of the Seas' amusement grew. "Interesting. A being of the land who's respectful towards us of the sea, yet utterly without fear. How… unusual." He finished the latter with a look towards Hermes.
"Come on, Triton! That was just a joke, and you know it," Hermes complained. Harry had the distinct impression the two were really good friends, and were just having an argument for the heck of it.
"Arguing already?" A deep, bassy, voice asked. Harry looked over at the new arrival. At first, the boy assumed the new God had an exceptionally short godly form, before realizing that he had an extremely tall mortal form. Tall, muscular, with waving blond hair that had been thrown into a haphazard sort of pony tail.
The new god's intensely blue eyes shone with amusement, however, and Harry found himself liking him before he even knew who it was.
"No," Hermes and Triton replied at the same time, before throwing a look at each other and laughing about it.
"And I see the mortal you invited has arrived as well," the newcomer said, looking at Harry. The boy grinned at the new god, who grinned back. "And fearless, too."
"Yes, this is Harry," Hermes replied with a nod, before turning to Harry. "Harry, meet Thor, Norse God of Thunder."
Harry blinked, looked at Hermes, looked at Thor, and back to Hermes.
"I think you broke him," Thor said, with genuine amusement.
"Just surprised, Mister Thor," Harry replied, stepping up to the god in question and holding out how hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Respectful, but still not afraid." Thor clasped the boy's small hand in his own huge one, and made sure not to crush it. "I like him already. Good to meet you too, Harry."
"Thanks, Mister Thor!" Harry chirped.
"Just 'Thor' will do," the Norse God replied. "Tell me, Harry, did you really fight to the death to save the damsel of your Goddess of Wisdom?"
Harry looked surprised for a moment, then glanced at Hermes, who obviously had been telling tales. He turned back to the Norse God, ignorant of the fact that Triton had taken a step closer and was listening in.
"I wanted to take Annabeth to camp," Harry said. "And then this guy came and wanted to do bad things to her. He wouldn't stop, so I jumped him, but he beat me up really badly. And then I jumped him again, and he kicked me real hard and broke my ribs."
Harry looked down, and rubbed his arms, as if he felt cold. "So I jumped him again, and remembered my knife, and jammed it through his throat."
Thor gently raised the boy's face with one huge finger underneath his chin. "You fought valiantly against a foe and emerged victorious. There is no shame in that."
Harry gave a small smile. "I know, Mi… er… Thor. It's just… I don't like killing."
Thor nodded. "That's understandable. Taking life should not be easy. It is, however, sometimes necessary."
"Well now, isn't this an interesting development?" an accented voice said, from a corner of the room. "I appear, and am treated to a story of bravery and bloodshed."
Harry looked at the newest arrival. He looked Asian, in his mid-thirties, with a mop of pure white hair and thick white sideburns. He was tall, and muscular, but not as tall as Thor was. As he moved from the corner, he moved with a cat-like grace that was patently inhuman.
"Bai Hu," Hermes said. "Meet Harry. Harry, meet Bai Hu, the White Tiger, the Western Wind of the Chinese pantheon."
Harry grinned, and held out his hand. "Hi, Mister Bai Hu. Nice to meet you."
Bai Hu grinned, keeping his arms folded theatrically. "You're supposed to bow, Kid. We don't shake hands in the East."
"Bai!" Hermes scolded.
The Eastern God shrugged. "The sooner the kid learns, the sooner he won't offend anybody. I don't care, but others do."
Harry put his hand down. "Sorry," he said, bowing stiffly. "Like this?"
"Meh, it could do with some work," the White Tiger said, grinning. "But good enough for me, Kid. A few more times, and you'll have it down."
"Thanks, Mister Hu!" Harry said, grinning back at the god.
Bai Hu burst out laughing again. Before Hermes could scold him again, he said, "If you want to be formal, Kid, you're supposed to say 'Mister Bai'. Family name first in the East."
"So it's 'Mister Bai', because otherwise I'm calling you by your first name, right?" Harry asked, blushing faintly at making yet another faux-pas.
"Normally, 'Lord Bai', Kid," Bai Hu said. "But really, I'm not that into the whole bowing and scraping thing, so 'Mister' is fine. Or just call me 'Bai', like most do."
Harry smiled wider, happy the new god he'd been introduced to wasn't mad at him. "Thanks, Bai," he said, used to calling a god by their name after Thor earlier.
Bai Hu grinned, and ruffled Harry's hair. "You're welcome, Kid."
By now, the Eastern god had maneuvered himself to the bar, gotten himself a drink, and threw an entire cupcake into his mouth in one go.
"Shall we?" Triton asked, motioning for the table. "And perhaps Hermes' guest can start us off."
Harry blinked at being put on the spot. "Ehm… I'm not real good at math, Mister Triton," he confessed.
The Messenger of the Seas looked stunned, while Bai Hu and Thor burst out laughing, and Hermes facepalmed.
"Hermes, what have you been telling the lad?" Triton demanded, looking at their host. The Messenger God looked surprised at being the one that was yelled at, and didn't reply.
Not giving the god a chance to recover, Triton looked gently at Harry. "What did Hermes tell you about our little gathering, Harry?"
Harry shrugged. "He said it was a study group. Studying something about… probability, I think he said."
Triton was the one to facepalm, and Bai Hu and Thor burst out in renewed laughter. The Messenger of the Seas sighed deeply. "Harry, did Hermes called it 'nondeterministic probability'?"
Harry nodded enthusiastically, still completely lost about what was happening, why Thor and Bai were laughing, and why Hermes seemed to be embarrassed. "That was it, Mister Triton!"
"Harry," Triton said, "What we do is play poker. Or mahjong. Or a number of other games of chance. And sometimes, we have a bit of a wager on the outcome."
Thor laughed loudly. "More than just a bit of a wager, Triton!"
"Gambling!" Harry said, smiling. "You're gambling!"
Triton looked a tad embarrassed himself, as 'gambling' had a bad feel to it. Before he could reply, the young boy went on, "That's awesome! Can I join?"
Thor laughed again, as did Bai. Hermes walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's why you're here, Harry. I thought we could teach you some things. And don't worry about money – for tonight, I'm sponsoring you."
Harry grinned. "That's even more awesome! Gambling with other people's money! Thanks, Mister Hermes."
Hermes' smile turned brittle. "I think Aunt Hestia is going to be very upset with me," he muttered quietly.
Harry smiled at him. "Hestia's the kindest, sweetest, gentlest goddess ever, Mister Hermes."
The Messenger God smiled faintly. "Then hope you never upset her, Harry."
The young boy gave Hermes a strange look, but decided not to go further into it. Hestia was too kind and sweet to ever be 'upset' with anyone.
The four gods took seat around the table, and Hermes invited the boy to sit right next to him, so he could explain the game.
Harry had heard about poker, but he only had the most rudimentary understanding of it, so he paid close attention as Hermes explained the game. The other three didn't seem upset at playing a few 'practice' games, where Hermes could explain out-loud what was happening.
Then, the money came into it. Hermes and Triton pulled out a pile of gold drachmas, Thor had a stack of generic gold coins, while Bai seemed content to simply sit there with a stack of gold bullion.
They played normally for a few games, with Harry watching as the gold shifted hands. When he felt like the god could do better, he resisted the urge to ask Hermes questions, not wanting to spoil the god's cards.
Finally, Hermes asked him if he felt like playing himself. Harry grinned, and nodded enthusiastically. Once again, the others agreed to a few 'practice' games, and Hermes set a stack of drachmas in front of him.
He played a few rounds, getting a feel for the game, before game explanations died down again, and only casual conversation filled the room.
Suddenly, Harry's instincts flared to life, and it was as if his body was doing things on its own; rather like how he had engaged Hephaestus in conversation and ended up with a job.
000
"So there I was, alone on a hill, surrounded by enemies as far as the eye could see," Thor said.
"Then what happened?" Harry asked breathlessly.
"I died, of course," Thor said with a huge laugh, taking the other gods and Harry with him. "Two pair." He set his cards down. Hermes, Bai, and Triton grumbled.
"Straight," Harry said, interrupting the Norse God who had been about to sweep the pot. The four gods grumbled good-naturedly.
000
"I fold," Harry said, putting his cards face down. All he'd gotten was a hand of nothing, and he felt like there wasn't anything more in the cards, pun fully intended. Instead, he went on with his story. "So Thalia and Luke were fighting a pair of Hellhounds, and I found out mortal arrows did nothing against monsters. So I shot one of the Hounds in the eye."
"You shot a Hellhound in the eye in the midst of combat?" Thor asked, sounding impressed. Sure, they'd heard the gist of it from Hermes, but the details were missing.
Harry looked a bit embarrassed. "I think it was more luck than anything."
"Luck or not," Triton said, "That was a great shot for a mortal."
"Thanks, Mister Triton," Harry muttered, still a bit self-conscious. "It only pissed it off, though. So, I prayed to Artie for help, the Hunt being her domain and all. I got lucky, she was in a good mood and enchanted a couple of my arrows. My first arrow shot the brains out the Hellhound fighting Thalia, and the second one nearly took the head off the one fighting Luke."
Bai laughed. "For one so young, you have a few good stories already, kid," he said. "Full House." The other gods paid up.
000
"Imagine my horror when my Father came upon me, still dressed in my mother's robes after losing that bet." Triton said. The others laughed, which gave Harry the confidence to laugh, too. Some gods could be testy about mortal laughing at them, but Triton seemed okay with it. Especially after telling the embarrassing story himself. "He took a long look at me, then said 'I do not believe those suit you, son.' I was mortified." The others laughed again.
Harry knew he liked Mister Poseidon for a reason, he seemed laid-back now, contrary to the stories he read in the history books Hestia had gotten for him from Athena's library.
"Oh, and Three of a Kind," Triton added, putting his cards on the table.
The other gods grumbled. "Sorry, Mister Triton," Harry said, drawing the attention of the four gods. "Straight." He swept the pot, and deftly stacked his loot.
Suddenly his stack of gold held a rather nice collection of drachmas, coins, and bullion.
"Careful, guys. We have a budding card shark," Hermes teased.
Thor and Bai laughed, and Harry found he liked the foreign gods even more. They seemed rather laid-back and enjoyed a good laugh. Triton had an amused look on his face, which released some of the tension Harry was feeling over winning.
000
The game continued, with Harry raising, folding, playing, and above all… winning. After a few hours of money shifting hands, it was becoming obvious that Harry was winning for more than he lost.
"Bah," Bai said, throwing his cards down, and eyeing the measly stack of bullion in front of him. "Your guest is cleaning us out, Hermes."
Harry opened his mouth to apologize, feeling bad for his unusual string of good luck, when Thor spoke up. "Don't make the lad feel bad for your misfortune, Bai," he told the Oriental god. "Rather, work on your game instead."
Bai crossed his arms, and pouted like a small child. It was so over-the-top that Harry couldn't help but know that he was teasing. The boy stifled his laugh, and noticed Bai giving him a surreptitious wink, showing no hard feelings.
"Don't worry, Harry. There are no hard feelings at this table," Hermes said, unknowingly confirming Harry's thoughts. "We've all been playing long enough."
Harry smiled faintly at him.
"How about we play some mahjong instead?" Bai Hu suggested. "Cards are for wimps. Real men play with tiles."
"I am inviting Hera to the next game," Hermes replied.
Bai Hu paled. "She'd turn me into a tiger-skin rug in front of her fire."
Hermes grinned. "Then stop being a sexist pig."
Bai Hu grumbled, before saying, "So? How about it? Mahjong, anyone?"
"It takes exactly four to play Mahjong," Triton said. "Plus, it's not a game you pick up in one setting."
"I wouldn't mind learning, Mister Triton," Harry said.
"Still, it wouldn't be fair," Thor stated calmly, before grinning. "Since Bai wants to play his Eastern game so badly, why don't you have a seat with me, young Harry, and we'll play a few rounds together. Let's see how much you still want to play after you see what it is."
Harry grinned. "Sure!" he chirped enthusiastically, scooting his chair over next to the Norse god.
"Looks like it's decided, then," Hermes said, waving his hand. The circular table changed into a square one, and each of them were seated at one side of it. The Messenger of the Gods got up, and retrieved a set of mahjong tiles, dumping them on the table.
As the tiles were shuffled, Thor explained the basics of the game, and Harry got it quite quickly. The object was to form certain sets of tiles – called 'hands' - which consisted out of a combination of 14 tiles. The player always had 13 tiles in front of them, so you could only win by either drawing the 14th tile on your turn, or when one of the other players discarded a tile that you needed to make your combination.
Of course, the better the combination, the more points it was worth. Kind of like poker, Harry thought.
The gods played a few rounds, and Harry really had to focus to keep up. The pace of the game was fast, but thankfully Thor always stopped when it was his turn, to explain some of the concepts to him.
After four rounds, where they had all been the 'dealer' once, and Bai won most of the time, Thor started asking Harry what he would do.
Harry immediately pointed to a discarded tile. "I'd pick that one," he said.
Thor looked surprised at the choice, but decided to humor him. "Then discard that one," Harry said, pointing to a tile in Thor's collection.
The Norse God of Thunder smiled at how Harry had no trouble with essentially giving him orders, and discarded the indicated tile. Play resumed, and when it was their next turn, Harry told Thor to pick a tile from the wall, before indicating which tile to be discarded.
Thor sat up straight when he noticed the hand come together. The next round, Harry pointed to the wall again.
"Mahjong," the boy declared, turning the tiles around.
"Well I'll be," Triton said.
"Well done, Harry. Someone had to stop the Tiger's run."
Bai crossed his arms. "No mercy at all. First with cards, now with tiles. No mercy at all!"
Harry grinned, by now recognizing that the Eastern God was playing.
Thor stood up. "Here, you play," he told Harry. "I'm getting a drink, then I'm going to watch you annihilate these guys."
Harry laughed softly, thinking the god was making a joke. The looks on the faces of the other three gods indicated that it may not have been, and Harry felt a slight bit of unease creep up on him.
The dealer shifted to the next player, and they played another round in relative silence. Thor sat down next to Harry, a large mug of ale in one hand, and shoved a glass of coca cola in Harry's direction.
"Thanks, Thor!" Harry said, grinning.
"Winning's thirsty work," the Norse God replied with a straight face. "And I want to see the Tiger's lamentations."
"No respect," Bai complained jokingly. He playfully shook his fist in Thor's direction. "I should pound that disrespect out of you!"
Thor laughed loudly. "Hera isn't the only one who could use a tiger skin rug in front of the fire," he joked back.
Bai Hu, the White Tiger, flinched playfully.
"Mahjong," Harry declared, turning his tiles over.
"That kid has the luck of the gods," Bai said, smiling while shaking his head, and they all paid out.
The dealer shifted, and the next round began. "Thor?" Harry asked, as the round was well under way. Once again, it was as if his instincts were driving him, as if he were taking a backseat in his own body. Last time, it had earnd him a job from Hephaestus; he wondered what it would lead to now.
"Yes, Harry?" the huge Viking God asked, gently.
"You're really good at fighting, right?" the young boy asked.
Thor laughed again. "I do alright," he said, playfully modest.
"Do you think you could give me a few lessons?" Harry asked, softly.
Thor looked surprised. "Hermes said that your God of War and your Goddess of Wisdom were training you?" he said, asking for confirmation.
"Mister Ares just tells me to fight him, but he never tells me anything, so it's him pounding me into the dirt. I've learned to dodge a lot, but I do'nt think that helps in a fight. And Miss Athena just plays 'predict the dummy' with me; she says I should be able to think my way out of a fight."
"Which again, isn't that helpful," Thor said, nodding while rubbing his chin. "I would need to consult with others," he told Harry in answer to his original question. "I would love to give you a few pointers, but we must keep in mind that normally, pantheons don't interfere with each other. Me training you could be considered an insult to Ares and Athena, which could lead to problems."
Harry nodded. "I understand," he said.
Bai grinned. "Here's something that might help," he said, pulling an old Chinese book out of a pocket that definitely wasn't big enough to hold it. "I'm not supposed to have this," he added with a grin.
Harry looked interested. "What book is it, Bai?" he asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the title.
"It's a book on Martial Arts, written by my best friend, Xuan Wu, Emperor of the Northern Heavens in the East, God of the Martial Arts," Bai Hu explained. "It's really good at getting people up to a decent amount of skill – it's not equivalent to a teacher by any means, but it should get you started. I use it to train my Horsemen."
"Cool," Harry breathed.
Bai grinned. "And I'll put it up in this round instead of money. So if you want it, you'd better win."
Harry laughed. "Are we betting favors? In that case, instead of money, If I lose, I'll make a dessert of the winner's choice."
Bai eyed the boy. "I don't know," he muttered, obviously not impressed.
"Did you like the cupcakes earlier, Bai?" Hermes asked.
"Sure, they were great," Bai replied, looking at Hermes. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Thanks, bai!" Harry chirped. "I made them myself."
"You made those?" the White Tiger asked, staring hard at Harry.
"Yup, Hestia taught me. I love cooking and baking," he replied, honestly.
"I'll accept that deal," Bai said, having made his decision. "I'll put up the book. You put up a dessert of choice."
"Since we're betting favors," Hermes said. "Two free deliveries."
Triton smiled, and shook his head. He snapped his fingers, and a twisted conch shell appeared on the table. "It's a one-time-use conch shell, it will quell any storm at sea when blown. Once," he repeated.
The other gods looked appreciative, and Harry was grinning widely. He wasn't sure if his cooking was on the same level as a book written by the God of Martial Arts, or a shell that could stop a sea storm, but he thought it stacked up well with Hermes' favor of two free deliveries.
"Now I wish I could play," Thor joked playfully. Harry looked aghast at having stopped the Norse God from playing, and was almost completely out of his chair when said god clapped him on the shoulder hard enough to push him back down. "It was just a joke, young Harry."
"Oh," Harry muttered. "Sorry." he looked at Thor. "If you want to play, though..."
"I have lived for many years and have played this game many times before," the Norse God said, jovially. "Play on. And make sure I can feast on the lamentations of the White Tiger when he loses his book."
Harry smiled crookedly, while Bai Hu complained about the lack of respect, then gave Harry a wink.
The mortal boy grit his teeth; he really wanted that book. Instincts, don't fail me now, he pleaded silently.
His hand seemed to move on its own accord, and drew a tile out of the pool, immediately discarding one from his hand. Thor laughed. "The kid knows what he's doing," he said with a grin.
It took three more turns.
"Mahjong," Harry said, relieved, turning his hand over.
"The kid beat us AGAIN!?" Bai Hu said, shaking his head.
"Tyche smiles upon him tonight," Hermes said, trying, and failing, to sound philosophical. "Seriously, Harry, you have the devil's own luck."
Harry grinned as he raked in his loot – Triton's conch, Hermes's promissory note, and the book on Martial Arts.
Excited, harry opened his new book's heavy leather cover. His first thought was disappointment on it all being written in Chinese.
His second thought was about the entirety of the Chinese written language had just forced its way into his brain by the way of his eyeballs.
He grunted as his vision blurred, and a massive headache exploded behind his eyes.
"Harry?" Hermes asked, concerned. Conversation stopped.
"I know Chinese," Harry said in wonder.
"What?" the Messenger God asked, surprised. "Harry? You alright?" he repeated when he saw his young guest wasn't responding.
Harry blinked, and looked at Hermes. "I'm fine, Mister Hermes. Just a huge headache. And I know Chinese now."
Hermes frowned, and looked at the book. He sighed in disappointment. "Oh, Bai. You didn't."
"Didn't what?" Bai asked, sounding innocent. "Put up a Chinese book? Yup, I did. I thought I'd teach the kid that sometimes, gods don't play fair."
"I know Chinese," Harry repeated. "I learned it just now, from looking at the book." He flipped to the next page, and grunted again. "And now I now Yin style Tai Chi." He shook his arms and legs. "That hurts."
Hermes and triton looked concerned, while Thor had a thoughtful look focused on Harry. Bai Hu looked completely surprised.
"Harry," Hermes said. "How is that possible?"
The boy flipped to the next page. "Yang style tai Chi," he said, before looking up at Hermes, shaking his arms and legs again, as if they were stiff from training. "I think it's Mister Hephaestus' boon, Mister Hermes."
Hermes closed the book, ignoring the disappointed sound coming from Harry's throat. "You may want to explain first, Harry," he said. "What boon?"
"This morning, I had some questions for Mister Hephaestus, regarding metals used in swords. He said he wasn't much of a teacher and preferred people to find things out on their own; so he gave me a job. He asked me to do the inventory of his junkyard, and gave me a boon so I could do it well. It's called psycho… psychomet..."
"Psychometry," Hermes stated, levelly. Triton's look of concern increased. Thor was starting to grin, while Bai Hu thumped his head on the table.
"That it, Mister Hermes!" Harry said. "When I look at things, I just know what they're made out of, and how they were built. I think that's what's happening with the book. I didn't know Chinese, so the boon taught me Chinese. It's really complex, and lots of history in each character. It hurt."
"No doubt," Hermes said. "Listen, Harry. Did Hephaestus warn you about it? Did he say it was dangerous?"
Harry nodded slowly. "He said it would disappear after three days, because I don't have a natural gift for it so it could melt my brain. I thought he was kidding."
The Messenger God pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he was the one with the headache. Now that Harry thought about it, his own headache had cleared. "Dammit, Heph," Hermes muttered. "Harry, Hephaestus wasn't exaggerating. That skill is dangerous. I doubt I could stop you from reading that book on Martial Arts, but promise me that you will not read any more books after that. Not until that skill has expired."
Harry nodded agreeably. "Okay, Mister Hermes."
The God of Messengers suddenly looked deadly serious, and leaned closer to look Harry deep in the eyes – at close range. "Promise me," he repeated commandingly.
The young boy swallowed, the usually friendly Messenger God looked incredibly scary all of a sudden. "I promise, Mister Hermes."
Hermes stared at Harry for a few more seconds, causing cold fear-sweat to break out on his brow, before nodding. "Good, then we need not talk about this further. But know this," he stated, coolly, staring at Harry again. "If your brain dribbles out of your ears, I will come down to the underworld myself to tell you that 'I told you so'."
The god grinned, and Harry let out his breath.
Bai was still pounding his head on the table. "You try and teach a kid a lesson, and end up being taught a lesson instead," the White Tiger muttered.
"What's gotten into him?" Hermes asked Thor and-or Triton.
"I think he's upset over the fact that he wanted to teach Harry not to make assumptions, only to fall into the same trap," Thor replied. "He assumed Harry wouldn't be able to do anything with the book, only to be shown otherwise."
"It was just a stroke of luck that I had Mister Hephaestus' boon, though," Harry said, still somewhat quietly. Hermes had been intense.
"Forgot smiling on you tonight, Tyche must have blessed you," Hermes told Harry. Suddenly, he grinned. "I should invite her to the next game."
Triton laughed. "We'd never win a single hand. At least the kid folded every now and then," he said, shaking his head.
"But it'd be worth it," Thor added. "Let us see how your goddess of fortune fares against young Harry."
"Xuan Wu will kill me if he ever finds out," Bai Hu muttered, forehead still on the table.
"Ignore him," Hermes said as Harry looked worriedly at the Eastern god. "He'll be fine. He's just being theatrical. And melodramatic."
Bai Hu muttered something quietly, but remained silent.
"So, Harry, how about it? Are you joining us next time, and shall I invite the Goddess of Fortune and Misfortune?"
Harry nodded. "I had a lot of fun, and I always like to meet new people," he said. His fingers split the stack of gold he had in front of him into four piles. "I should give this back to you, though. Hermes leant me the money, and I had a lot of luck."
Bai Hu looked up from his position, and shared a look with the other three. "Meh, keep mine, kid," the Eastern God said. "My element is metal. I can create as much gold as I like, so it's worthless to me anyway."
Hermes grinned. "Keep mine, too, Harry. I'm rich enough to afford it."
"Same here," Triton said, while Thor just nodded. "Gold doesn't have the same value to us gods that it does to you, so we may as well have been playing for regular poker chips."
Harry smiled widely. "Really? That's great! You guys are awesome!"
"I know," Hermes said, pushing out his chest.
Bai chortled quietly, then turned to Harry. "To come back to the book, Harry," he said. "Even with that boon, don't expect tot become a master of the martial arts after reading it. It's focused purely on the basic and intermediary skills, not the master-level skills. It'll give you a very good grounding, and even teach you most of the advanced skills, but it won't make you a master, so don't become complacent or overly confident in your skills."
Harry nodded. "I will. Thanks, Bai."
The Eastern God shook his head. "I still can't believe I fell into that trap, though," he said with a carefree grin while standing up. "I should get going. Next month sometime?" he asked the others.
They all nodded, and Hermes said, "I'll arrange it, depending on our schedules. Any volunteers to host?"
"Meh, I'll do it," Bai said. "That way, we can show the kid the Western Palace."
"I'll bring more cupcakes," Harry promised.
"Deal!" Bai said, grinning. He waved at the others. "Bye, guys." He vanished.
"I guess that's that," Triton said, standing up. "I'm looking forward to next time," he added with a grin, before vanishing.
Thor just waved from his seat. "Time for me to go clobber something. See you." he didn't even bother to stand up, and vanished.
"I like them, they're funny," Harry told Hermes. "Thanks for inviting me, Mister Hermes. It was fun."
"Glad you thought so, Harry," the jovial Messenger God said, smiling. "I think you should had back, though. If I know Aunt Hestia, she'll likely worry about you being out late."
Harry grinned. "Very true, Mister Hermes." He stood up, and held out his hand. "Thanks again for inviting me."
Hermes grinned, and shook the boy's hand. "Once again, you're welcome, Harry. Come on, I'll walk you out."
Harry could hardly contain himself until he reached Helios' Temple. Waving a hello to the giant statue of the Titan-God, Harry raced inside, plunking the book on the table, and opening it.
After flipping to a page he hadn't 'seen' yet, he grunted again as more knowledge pushed its way into his brain. A headache followed soon after, and Harry sat there, with eyes closed, waiting for it to subside.
The moment it did, the boy took a deep breath, braced himself, and flipped to the next page. He managed to suppress the grunt, which he took as a success, then closed his eyes and waited for the headache to expire.
He didn't know how long he was at it, but he jumped in surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Harry?" Hestia asked, concerned.
"Hi Hestia," Harry replied, suddenly feeling bone-weary, and barely managing a smile for his favorite goddess.
"You look ill," she said. "What happened at Hermes' party?"
"It was fun," he answered, barely managing any enthusiasm at all. "I met Mister Triton, and Thor and Bai from the Norse and Chinese pantheons. They're cool. And Bai lost this book to me."
Hestia glanced at it, and frowned when she noticed the dense Chinese script, with small human figures in various poses interspersed between the writing.
"Mister Hephaestus' boon taught me Chinese, and it's now teaching me the martial arts in the book," he young boy explained. "I get a headache after each page, though, soI wait for the headache to clear before going to the next page."
Hestia's concern increased. "I think you've had enough for the night, Harry. it's close to four in the morning. You need to get some rest." She glanced back at the book. "And perhaps you shouldn't read more of this until Hephaestus' boon expires."
"But Hestia!"
Hestia looked at him. "You could hurt yourself," she stated.
Harry grabbed the book and cradled it. "But it's teaching me Martial Arts!"
The Goddess of the Home and the Hearth sighed. "I do not like this, Harry," she said.
Harry squeezed the book tighter. The young-looking goddess sighed again. "Fine," she said. "Please don't hurt yourself. And now, off to bed."
Harry nodded, racing off to the sleeping area, still cradling the book. Hestia gave him ten minutes, then checked it on him. He was deep asleep, the Chinese book resting on his nightstand. For a moment, she considered simply taking the book, but then, eventually, decided against it. It was his property, and he would never trust her again if she simply took it against his wishes.
She leaned over, and tugged the covers over him. "Sleep well, Harry," she whispered, then vanished. Even if it was four in the morning, she felt the urge to have a small chat with the God of the Forge.
A/N: Please Support Me On patreon.com/The_Alchemyst