"So," Chāpu look around the living room of the messenger god, "You have no idea when my father will be back? I heard he was seeing Zeus, but I have no clue."
"Hehe," Socks giggled, "Seeing Zeus. That sounds so wrong on so many levels."
Hermes gave a look towards his daughter. It wasn't a great look, either. "Now, Socks, don't be like that," He warned her.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry." Socks sighed in displeasure.
Chāpu looked back intently on the two. Hermes was reading a book on art, and Socks was just playing games on her phone.
"Do you two ever interact?" He questioned after observing. His mother and him usually never did independent things. Rabe always helped him with his homework, and when they were finished, they'd play board games and watch television together. They depended on each other a lot.
Socks' eyes went up from her phone to Chāpu's stunning blue eyes, the blue phone light glistening on her white face. "Sometimes. We don't necessarily get along," She described easily.
Chāpu seemed startled. "Then why don't you find out what both of you like?"
She shrugged. "Because we just aren't compatible. It's just that."
Chāpu sighed, giving up on trying to make the two interact. He shuffled on the white couch he was on; Socks sat on a Love Seat whilst Hermes on a simple arm chair. In the center was a knee-high table with fire place was on the wall with an additional flat-screen television on top.
A phone suddenly rang out loudy, swift footsteps followed.
"Daddy, get the phone! The phone!" Angie squealed. Chāpu had to cover his ears from her excited high-pitched voice.
"Just a second, sweety," Hermes continued reading his book.
Chāpu sighed, getting up from his couch and walking towards a side-table that looked identical to the knee-high table and picked up the telephone.
"Hello?" Chāpu spoke in his Japanese-accent, but perfect English was spoken.
"Yes, hello. Are you...um...Hermes Halvenhue?" A voice asked, the background noise seemed like the speaker was in a very busy area.
Halvenhue? Chāpu thought that was funny. Was that the best last name a god could come up with?
Chāpu nodded although the speaker couldn't see it. "Yes, indeed I am. Is there an issue at all?" He queried with a curious eye.
"Mrs. Halvenhue--Marley Halvenhue, is in labor."
Chāpu's eyes widened. "Ah, I see," He tried to keep calm, "I shall be there extraordinarily soon," He put the phone down.
"Hermes, your wife is giving birth." Chāpu spoke calmly to the rest of the room.
"WHAT?!?!" Hermes yowled, dropping his book. "This early?! Where?!" He jumped up, grabbing Angie and throwing her across his shoulder.
"Weee!~" She chimed, giggling uncontrollably.
Socks also quickly sat up, still playing games on her phone. She picked up a bag that was by her chair.
"What's that?" Angie asked.
"Just a precautionary bag," Socks explained, followed everyone outside.
Everyone walked out of the house, Hermes rushing them to the car.
"Which hospital?!" He questioned.
Socks answered quickly, "The usual one."
The car was started as Hermes rushed to the hospital, speeding quickly down the road. Ahead of them was a ginormous building with obviously more than twenty stories. Hermes pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. Together they walked into the building, and up the stairs they went. Hermes stood outside the door looking at the children tag-alongs.
Should I let them upstairs with me? They're children... Hermes pondered, gazing at the three kids.
"You all should wait in the waiting room," He finally ordered the children. Angie was now holding hands with Chāpu as they walked down the hallway, down the stairs, and sat down on the uncomfortable chairs that were always in hospitals. Three different televisions hung around the room, one playing a children's channel, one was the news, the other, Disney XD.
Angie sat on Chāpu's lap, watching the channels with peculiar, huge eyes. She then turned to the door they had come into and smiled largely. A few minutes past by as she finally giggled.
"Great Great Uncle!" She exclaimed, loosening herself from Chāpu's grasp. She ran towards the automatic door and through it she went.
Chāpu didn't react quick enough, "Angie!" He called while getting up quickly and following the child.
Socks looked frightened as well. She dropped her phone on the seat in which it slid under the chair. Socks grabbed her backpack from the floor and ran after her cousin and sister.
"Wait!" Chāpu called after Angie in distress.
The two chased Angie around the hospital outside, and ended up where Angie led them, to the back of the hospital.
Trash bins were gathered in the back, huge ones filled with black trash bags. They smelled of rotting meat and food.
Chāpu paused with Socks behind him.
"What is it?!" Socks took heavy breaths after the chase. She followed Chāpu's eyes to a crying girl in the center of the opening. She was squatting down, her black braids hanging over her shoulders comfortably.
Angie ran up to the girl, hugging her from behind. "Don't cry, Great Great Uncle." She rubbed her cheek on the girl's head.
"Angie," Socks started, "Please, step away from the creepy girl in the back of the hospital."
"Why?!" Angie protested, squeezing the girl tighter, "Great Great Uncle needs some love. He's hurt."
Chāpu raised a brow. "Great Great Uncle? Why does...um...'he' need love?"
"Great Great Uncle!" Angie smiled at the two teens. "He needs love because he gets no attention anymore. Nobody loves Great Great Uncle anymore. Those who did are long forgotten," She spoke way to cheerfully.
Socks stepped forward, "Angie, come back to cousin Chāpu, all right? It doesn't seem safe over there," She tried to explain.
Angie un-clung her arms from the girl. "Fine, sis, I will," She ran over to Chāpu, who picked her up gently.
"Hey!" Socks yelled towards the girl, walking closer.
The girl turned her head slowly, glaring at Socks with pure hatred in her eyes.
Socks stopped in shock, her pupils turning small and round in disturbance. "Wha....What..." She stared in disbelief.
"What's wrong?" Chāpu approached carefully.
"Stay back," Socks warned.
From under the girl's dress two heads sprung out, two savage dogs. They were brown and black in color; Rottweilers.
They crushed their jaws together and stalked the children, drool hanging from their sharp canine teeth and mouths hungrily. Their red eyes shone dementedly while perfectly describing their raving for flesh, causing the children to freeze in discomfort and frightfulness.
Socks slowly took her backpack off of her back, putting it on the ground. She opened it slowly, never taking an eye off of the dogs. The Rottweilers circled around her as she pulled out a can of hair spray, and a box of matches.
"Stand back!" She told Chāpu and Angie.
Chāpu stepped back significantly, watching the upcoming battle carefully.
Socks took out a match and lit one up, dropping the match box on the floor. The dogs, in response, bared their teeth once more and approached. They started running towards her in quick pace, leaping with sharp-edged teeth and claws extended.
Socks, controlled by fright, sprayed the hair spray on the match, making a blow torch. The fire burned the dogs, and they whimpered in pain while landing on the ground, running in circles to get the fire off. Both of them collapsed and turned to ashes quicker than an eye's blink.
Socks sighed in relief, dropping her hair spray can onto the cement ground.
Angie started crying uncontrollably, "You murdered the doggies!!" She screamed, kicking Chāpu violently with her little legs.
Socks wasn't paying attention to her younger sister. She studied the ashes with squinted eyes, and walked towards a pile of them. Socks set her knees onto the ground, where she dug through the ashes. Out of the ashes she pulled out a pure golden dagger with carvings of mutated people on the side. The handle was lined with curves, and a metal chain was also at the handle, a diamond hanging out of it. It said, 'Apollo' on the side of the blade with curvy lettering.
Socks stood up, walking to Chāpu. She handed him the golden dagger, proclaiming, "I think the girl wanted to give this to you."
Chāpu looked back at the spot where the girl was.
She was gone.
Socks collected her things, placing them back in her rose-designed bag.
Strapping it on her shoulder, they walked back to the hospital entrance, Angie had fallen asleep on Chāpu's shoulder from over-exhausting herself.
The three stepped inside, and the two teens spotted Hermes coming towards them.
"Where have you three been?" He questioned, looking at the stupefied children. "Never mind; Come. Your mother wishes to see you," He explained, leading the way.
The four took the stairs in the hospital, arriving at the buzzing, cramped area where doctors and nurses had gathered.
"Oh!" One of the older doctors gasped, "Socks and Angie? You've grown up so fast!" He grinned.
"Doctor Irving," Socks smiled up at the man who had helped bring her and Angie to this world.
"You have a new sibling," The doctor smiled, opening the door to her mother's room.
Chāpu handed Angie to Socks, and Socks walked into the room with Hermes behind her. Chāpu watched from a distance, understanding that it was their event. Therefore, he merely stood in the doorway watching with solid blue eyes.
A frail, skinny baby was clean and in the arms of Marley Halvenhue, Socks' mother.
Marley smiled up at Socks. "It's a boy," She smiled, noticing Chāpu, and beckoning Chāpu into the room, in which he entered hesitantly. He didn't want to disobey Socks' nice mother.
Socks looked surprised, "A male?" She questioned.
Hermes whispered, "Finally," He joked, in which he received a glare from Socks.
"What should he be named?" Socks' mother looked around the room for suggestions.
Socks shook her head and shrugged, Hermes looking confused since he'd probably pick some crazy-ass Greek name.
"Tokebe."
Every turned to Chāpu.
"His name should be Tokebe." Chāpu repeated, looking around for other suggestions or agreement.
Marley smiled. "That's a lovely name," She agreed, in which everyone else did too.
Downstairs in the waiting room, a girl with double black braids that ran over her shoulders grinned, picking up Socks' phone that she had dropped a while ago.
"Tokebe, huh? That's a cute name. I'm sure Gaia will think it's interesting, too." She turned to the white stairs that led up. "Hermes and Marley would be pretty pissed to find out that I'm the one that made their baby be born two months early, and made him blind...
Thanks to the powers of Artemis."
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