𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐄

𝐗

"Let's see..." Dionysus peered at the watch on his wrist. "Three minutes early. Harpies will have to skip dinner tonight, sadly."

Standing on the pier of the canoe lake, Selene saw Dionysus with two blond boys who could've passed as his clones — same violet eyes and all. One flanked Dionysus on the left, the other on the right. Snowflakes lazily drifted down, settling on the frozen lake's surface.

"I'm pretty sure you never gave me an hour."

"Then you should be glad you got it right," a mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes. "By the way—Castor and Pollux. Charming boys, I know—got it from their father. " He gestured to the boys with a flourish, a sly wink.

Each boy lowered their heads a little, saluting her. She'd seen them before, during dinner. They were by themselves at table twelve.

"Why did you want to begin training at night?"

"Oh. It's worse than I thought, boys," he turned to the boy on his left. "What do you kids say those days? 'Duh'?"

"Yes, father."

"Then, well. You're an idiot, Selene. Duh."

"Hey!"

"Did you read the books I gave you?"

"Sort of. There was one suggesting your dad had a crush on me, and I promptly said, 'hell nah'. So, congratulations, I might be your soon-to-be step-mom."

"Already pushing my limits, aren't you? Fine. You delved into 'The Story of the Moon.' Solid choice. Any guesses on the author? Forget about it; it's none of your business. But," Dionysus raised a dramatic finger, "you should at least get a heads-up on who you are and the ridiculous powers you've got."

"I zoned out on the boring parts. But hey, caught the author mentioning you guys built me a temple and made offerings and all. How considerate of you, Didi. I'm flattered, really."

Dionysus swiveled toward the one on his right—Selene still had no clue whether that was Pollux or Castor—and declared, "Summon the harpies. I'm clocking out."

"You can't be done. You promised me Avatar training by the River Mississippi or whatever."

"River Styx," he corrected with an eye roll. "But fine, we can dish out some... training. Boys, get your weapons."

"What kind of training is it?"

Selene watched as Castor and Pollux sprinted down the pier, grabbing two swords from a gym bag by the lakeshore. When they returned, she turned to Dionysus, looking puzzled.

"There's only two swords," she pointed out, eyebrows knit.

Dionysus widened his eyes, a hand dramatically pressed to his chest, and gave an exaggerated gasp.