The Truths Spoken In The Sea Of Lies

May Castellan, and Rhea gets her blessing

Luke's Mother awaits,

Nico, heed my counsel,

Listen next time, friend.

***

The sidewalk was lined with those little stuffed beanbag animals you see in gift shops. There were miniature lions, pigs, dragons, hydras, and even a teeny Minotaur in a little Minotaur diaper. Judging from their sad shape, the beanbag creatures had been sitting out here a long time—since the snow melted last spring at least. One of the hydras had a tree sapling sprouting between its necks.

The front porch was infested with wind chimes. Shiny bits of glass and metal clinked in the breeze. Brass ribbons tinkled like water. The front door was painted turquoise. The name CASTELLAN was written in English, and below in

Greek: Διοικητής φρουρίου.

Nico looked at Rhea. "Ready?"

The girl sighed. "Let's get this over with."

He'd barely tapped the door when it swung open.

"Luke!" the old lady cried happily.

She looked like someone who enjoyed sticking her fingers in electrical sockets. Her white hair stuck out in tufts all over her head. Her pink housedress was covered in scorch marks and smears of ash. When she smiled, her face looked unnaturally stretched, and the high-voltage light in her eyes made me wonder if she was blind.

"Oh, my dear boy!" She hugged Nico.

Aidoneus raised an eyebrow. "She's insane."

"Yep."

Then the woman smiled at Rhea and said, "Luke!"

"Which part of me looks like a boy ??" Rhea cringed when the woman forgot all about Nico and hugged the girl.

She smelled like burned cookies. She was as thin as a scarecrow, but that didn't stop her from almost crushing Rhea into a hug.

"Come in!" she insisted. "I have your lunch ready!"

She ushered them inside. The living room was even weirder than the front lawn. Mirrors and candles filled every available space. Rhea couldn't look anywhere without seeing my own reflection. Above the mantel, a little bronze Hermes flew around the second hand of a ticking clock.

There was a framed picture on the mantel. It was exactly like Rachel's sketch—Luke was around nine years old, with blond hair, a big smile and two missing teeth. The lack of a scar on his face made him look like a different person—carefree and happy.

"This way, my dear!" Ms Castellan steered Rhea toward the back of the house. "Oh, I told them you would come back. I knew it!"

She sat them down at the kitchen table. Stacked on the counter were hundreds of Tupperware boxes with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches inside. The ones on the bottom were green and fuzzy like they'd been there for a long time.

On top of the oven was a stack of cookie sheets. Each one had a dozen burned cookies on it. In the sink was a mountain of empty plastic Kool-Aid pitchers. A beanbag Medusa sat by the faucet like she was guarding the mess.

Ms Castellan started humming as she got out peanut butter and jelly and started making a new sandwich. Something was burning in the oven.

Above the sink, taped all around the window, were dozens of little pictures cut from magazines and newspaper ads—pictures of Hermes from the FTD Flowers logo and Quickie Cleaners, pictures of the caduceus from medical ads.