Hurricane ~ L. Valdez

1.28- I Swear Aeolus Is Bipolar

      Jason tensed from beside me, and a bad feeling started to grow in the pit of my stomach.

      "A...um, voice in your head, sir?" He asked.

      "Yes. How odd. Mellie, should we kill them?" No, no you should not.

      "No, sir," she said patiently, as if she was used to this. Maybe it's part of the pre-job training. "They just brought us the storm spirits, which makes everything all right."

      "Of course." Aeolus laughed. "Sorry. Mellie, let's send the demigods something nice. A box of chocolates, perhaps."

      "A box of chocolates to every demigod in the world, sir?" Mellie asked. I mean I wouldn't pass up a box of chocolates.

      "No, too expensive. Never mind. Wait, it's time! I'm on!" Aeolus flew off toward the blue screen and a newscast-y jingle started playing.

       "Mellie," Jason started hesitantly, "is he...always like that?"

      Mellie smiled sheepishly. "Well, you know what they say. If you don't like his mood, wait five minutes. That expression 'whichever way the wind blows'—that was based on him."

      "That... makes a lot of sense." I realized.

      "And that thing about the sea monster," Jason said. "Was I here before?"

      Mellie blushed. "I'm sorry, I don't remember. I'm Mr. Aeolus's new assistant. I've been with him longer than most, but still—not that long." Well, that was vague.

     "How long do his assistants usually last?" Piper asked curiously.

      "Oh..." Mellie paused for a moment, and I wasn't sure if it was to think or come up with a kind response. "I've been doing this for...twelve hours?"

      Suddenly we were cut off by a voice screaming from floating speakers: "And now, weather every twelve minutes! Here's your forecaster for Olympian Weather—the OW! channel—Aeolus!"

       Spotlights pointed at Aeolus, who now stood in front of the blue screen. His smile was way too white, and he looked like he'd had so much caffeine his face was about to explode. I mean I thought Leo was ADHD, this guy looks two seconds away from having a stroke.

      "Hello, Olympus! Aeolus, master of the winds here, with weather every twelve! We'll have a low-pressure system moving over Florida today, so expect milder temperatures since Demeter wishes to spare the citrus farmers!"

      He gestured at the blue screen, and I peered to look at the monitors, seeing the digital image that was being projected behind Aeolus. He looked like he was standing in front of a U.S. map with animated smiley suns and frowny storm clouds.

      "Along the eastern seaboard—oh, hold on." He tapped his earpiece. Oh gods. "Sorry, folks! Poseidon is angry with Miami today, so it looks like that Florida freeze is back on! Sorry, Demeter. Over in the Midwest, I'm not sure what St. Louis did to offend Zeus, but you can expect winter storms!" Dad's offended by everything to be honest, so it probably wasn't much. "Boreas himself is being called down to punish the area with ice. Bad news, Missouri! No, wait. Hephaestus feels sorry for central Missouri, so you all will have much more moderate temperatures and sunny skies."

      Aeolus kept going, and it started to hurt my head after a certain point. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a fast talker, and after having conversations with Leo, I'm also a fast listener. But this is just chaos.

      "This can't be right," Jason whispered. "Weather isn't this random."

      "You obviously have not seen the weather." I retorted, watching the man continue to ramble.