BTW, Melon and Orion are shipped (they weren't when I filled out Melon's form)

I haven't had that much time comment, but I've been reading along, and I love this so much!!!! Yess numbers are all-powerful >:D although incognito?? Hmm... I've had a suspicion for who you are since your first part... but there's a sort of cool thing to having an alias/mystery, and anyways, I don't know if we can guess you :)

okiee gtg bye-- :DDDD 

Thank you, thank you, for all your lovely comments. It is indeed rewarding to have such devoted readers; it makes all the sweat and toil of writing this ski lodge quite worth it... *noble sigh*

I do believe you deserve another part, and I thank you for your patience. I have been far too busy; one has Duties, you know, and Duty calls -

Usually over the telephone, in the form of a girlfriend.

What! Agent 58, what are you doing here?? How dare you speak so?? *scuffling noises* Ahem. As I was saying. Duty calls. But so does this ski lodge, so we shall proceed.

One more thing: some of you have wondered if you are allowed to guess me. (Such an impertinent idea.) Yes, you are, as long as you don't guess correctly. I should consider it rather amusing to be mistaken for, say, an admin. So guess away, but I shall not say whether any guesses are correct or not.

On to the ski lodge, then.

Day 3, Part 1

"Wow," said Oriole, spreading out her arms and spinning slowly in a circle. "This place is amazing."

It was. The ceiling was made of glass, letting in sunlight that sparkled and swayed over the room, separated into thousands of colors by hidden prisms that reflected the light everywhere. It reminded Oriole of the disco she liked to go to, but somehow it was brighter and more exultant and more beautiful.

For once, the AEs were hushed.

Agent 58 broke the spell. (He always does.) "Come along, everyone," he said, "we haven't got all day."

"I'd like to live here," said Izzy softly.

Rumi turned to Ariella. "Maybe we should see if the gods would let us live here or something? I don't think they'd mind."

"Let's ask," said Ariella. "Where are the gods? Can we meet them?"

"Of course," I replied. "Follow me."

I led them through the palace halls. It was really quite stunning. I hadn't been here ever since I'd persuaded the gods to let the Agency organize this whole trip, and I found myself rather fascinated by the place.

I suppose I really should have noticed that the AEs were not, actually, following me, but scattering all over the palace.

In the palace kitchen, Hephaestus - who only just fit inside - was standing at the stove, an apron around his waist, an oven mitt on one hand. Savory smells drifted out of the saucepan on the stove. Occasionally he lifted the lid to check whatever was inside, while at the same time constantly stirring a pot of soup. His kindly bearded face wore a benevolent smile.

"Hello!" exclaimed a voice, and several AEs came in. "Are you the palace cook? That smells delicious!"

"Good morning," said Hephaestus politely. "No, I'm not exactly the cook. I'm more of a blacksmith by trade. But I was watching a cooking show on TV a few weeks ago, and I got inspired. I thought I might as well try it. I've been making all sorts of things - soups, stews, desserts - though I'm not much of a hand at baking just yet. It's really very satisfying when you get the knack of it. Here, let me show you around." 

"Excuse me," said Juniper, holding up a hand. "Does this kitchen have pistachios in it?"

"Oh yes," said Hephaestus proudly. "I've been making pistachio macaroons. Try one?"

"NOOOO!" exclaimed Juniper at the same moment as Hephaestus started speaking. "Pistachios!!" And she ran out of the room.

Hephaestus looked at the others inquiringly.

"She has allergies," said Astra. "But could you show the rest of us around?"

Meanwhile, some of the other AEs were wandering around the palace gardens, which sloped gently down to the sea. There were peacocks everywhere - they were Hera's favorite bird, said Hemlock, who knew about mythology. They were chattering at the tops of their voices until Morpheus - the god of sleep - jumped up from a hammock and demanded that they go away. They then continued to chatter at the tops of their voices, and in the end it was Morpheus who went away, grumbling about the Modern Generation. For once they weren't arguing with each other - they were all too interested in their new surroundings.

At that moment someone rounded a corner, and a young man came up to them. He was tall and well-built, with curly brown hair (it seemed to be a staple among Olympian men) and long-lashed hazel eyes that sparkled teasingly. He was handsome, and his entire face was filled with a boyish mischievousness that made everyone like him right away. Dressed in classic Greek wear, he looked undeniably attractive.

"Hey guys," he said - his colloquial greeting surprising everyone. "Are you the AE tourists? Dad told me you were coming."

"Yeah, that's exactly what we are," said Alyssa. "Nice to meet you."

"Same," said the newcomer. "I'm Hermes, god of mischief. You could probably tell."

"Oh of course!" said Melon, light dawning. "You're wearing winged sandals!"

Hermes grinned. "Yep. They're pretty useful for when I want to impress people - or just fly around. Being the little brother of the family, I have to keep up my image a lot, otherwise I'd be drowned out by Apollo and his rock concerts."

"Ooh, we met Apollo yesterday!" Kauri exclaimed. "He'd borrowed our hotel for a concert."

"Oh really," said Hermes dryly. "I suppose you all fell at his feet?"

"We did not," said Oriole indignantly.

Hermes was quiet for a moment, then he looked up, his eyes sparkling again. "Hey, I've got an idea. You know how I stole Apollo's cows when I was a baby? I think I'm going to try to pull that off again. Want to help me?"

"Wait, is this some sort of brother feud?" said Izzy cautiously.

"No," said Hermes glibly. "I mean, the thing is, Apollo isn't even my brother anyway, I mean he's my half-brother but he isn't actually my brother brother, which means that this is only a half brother feud, which means it's only half a feud, right? Half a feud is no feud at all, you can't even have half a feud, it's like having half an egg, which you can't have, so the thing is there is absolutely no feud here if you just logic it out, which is what you always have to do, you mustn't trust to appearances, did I ever tell you about the time when Dad thought his reflection was an enemy Trojan? You never hear about that in the mythology books. But it happened." He went off into a peal of reminiscent laughter. The AEs were rather scrambled from trying to keep up - both verbally and physically, as he was walking while he talked and doing it quite quickly. He turned to them.

"Here's the cow pasture."

It was a lovely, serene field, with a river winding through and a group of cows grazing in the distance.

"Are you ready?" said Hermes.

Lovely
to see your remarks! Didn't expect me back so soon, did you? Well,
Duty has ceased to call -

- meaning that the telephone is out of order and so The
Girlfriend can't call up -

Agent 58!!! *more scuffling* I told you not to interrupt me when I
was doing Creative Endeavors!!

Without further ado, I formally entreat you not to listen to the
things Agent 58 says, and I present to you the next part of the ski
lodge.

Day 4, Part 1

"DAD!!!" 

The grand circular room at the center of the palace - where the
gods sat when they weren't busy doing other things - was shattered by
a teenage boy's timeless complaint.

"Dad, Hermes did it again!"

"Brothers," muttered Athena.

The door was flung open, and a tall young man with spiky blond
hair and a motorcyle jacket swaggered in, his mouth turned down at
the corners. He marched up to Zeus, who sat in the biggest throne.
"Dad, this has got to stop. A guy can't enjoy himself on this
mountain anymore. First you interrupt my whole Romance with Daphne.
Then the Olympus smartphone provider stops giving me service because
of some insignificant little thing about me having to pay them every
month. And now - my cows, my precious beautiful COWS - have been
STOLEN!"

"I kept telling you to put them in a pasture with a locked
fence," said Hephaestus practically. "You really can't
expect them to stay safe if you leave them roaming about the
mountain."

"But it looked so picturesque that way! So perfect for gazing
at while I composed music." Apollo clutched his hair, in a
perfect imitation of Beethoven. "I simply can't have them in a
locked pasture!"

"Let's have the facts," said Athena, the legal expert.
"Who, what, where, when, and why?"

"Hermes, stole, pasture, yesterday, cows," said Apollo.

"Huh?" Hades had been gaming, and was only just tuning
into the conversation. "Hermes stole pasture yesterday cows?
What are pasture-yesterday cows?"

Persephone, his young wife, who was a naive girl with flowing
blond hair and an incessant giggle, gave a little giggle, as usual.
"Oh, Hades, you're so funny!" she exclaimed, her
eyes wide. "How do you do it? I never knew when I married you
that you'd be so entertaining!" 

"Dad!" implored Apollo. "Do make Uncle Hades and
Aunt Seph shut up and let me talk!"

"Do settle down, Hades, Persephone," said Zeus peaceably. He was a tall man, with
a fatherly face and a beard, older than Apollo and Hermes by some
thirty years. He looked fierce, but his voice, and the tranquil
manner in which he sat in his chair, belied his appearance.

"Thanks, Dad. So my little brother - Hermes, to be exact -
has stolen all my cows. I was looking for them this morning, and I
couldn't find them. Anywhere. Nobody but Hermes would do something
like that. And I suspect that the AEs -" he glowered round the
room - "helped him."

"We know already," said Demeter gently, in her motherly
voice. "That's why we're all assembled here. We want to have a
meeting to decide what to do about the AEs. And we've gotten Agent
59, from the Divine Travel Agency, to help." She gestured toward
me. I drew myself up and looked at my most pompous - I mean, at my
most majestic.

"Oh, please," said Athena, not at all impressed by her little brother's dramatics. "It could have been anyone."

"SILENCE!" roared Zeus.

Silence fell. Athena muttered something about "there goes Dad with the patriarchy again" but no one else spoke.

"Now," said Zeus, benevolent once again. "We must do something about these... what do you call ems."

"AEs, Your Majesty," I murmured.

"Ah yes, AEs. Dear me, I really can't remember anything if I haven't had my morning coffee. Addictive, you know." He smiled round amiably. "AEs, what a funny name."

"It stands for Awful Egos, my lord."

"Well, that does sound quite descriptive," said Hera tartly. She was a tall, beautiful woman with large violet eyes and dark hair in a braid, and a queenly, imposing presence.

"Now, Hera dear. Let's not be judgmental. I'm sure it's nothing a little therapy won't fix."

"I agree," piped up Hestia, who had been half-listening and half-reading her Guide to Psychology. "It says here that therapy traditionally has a great stigma around it. However, this is changing, and rightly so. Therapy is a proven and useful way for anyone to de-stress, de-"

"This is not the time for a psychology lesson!" snapped Hera. "At any rate, let them do their therapy off of Mount Olympus. We want our home to ourselves again."

Two AEs entered the room, ran around it shrieking "JEL-LY BEANS! JEL-LY BEANS!" at the tops of their voices, and departed, leaving a trail of confetti.

Hera gave an exaggerated sigh. "You see?"

"I would use my thunderbolts," said Zeus, "but they're all on strike right now. All this rising cost of living, you know. I think they're just greedy.  I pay them a perfectly decent wage. There is no need to have all the modern luxuries. The simple life is best. Much less materialism. Ganymede, my cup, please!"

Ganymede approached and handed him a golden cup with emerald around the edges, amethysts in groups that looked like bunches of grapes, and emerald grape leaves. It didn't look much to me like living the simple life, but I supposed Zeus must have some special reasoning.

At that moment, a small yellow zigzag bounced down the hall. It carried, in one hand, a group of papers, and in the other, it held a pen. It held itself very upright, and it had two small bright eyes, both of which were directed at Zeus. It was only about knee-high, but it evidently fancied itself very important, despite the fact that it wasn't dressed well at all and it had a few strands of messy strawlike hair. It bounced directly up to Zeus' throne and stopped.

"I'd like to report to you," it said in a high clear voice, "that the Thunderbolt Union has decided that your revised conditions are still unacceptable. We shall give you another chance to set out a new set of conditions. This sort of thing, Mr. Zeus, is simply too much. It's being an avatar of human greed, and it would be easy to snigger at you - only I don't think it would be worth my while." It gave an exaggerated sniff, only some sniggering came through and it ended up giving a cough and falling over backwards, to be sustained by Aphrodite, who giggled. Looking very insulted, it flung the papers at Zeus and bounced back down the hall.

"Whatever was that?" Persephone asked, watching it go.

"A thunderbolt," said Hera. "That one in particular went by the name of Barney Ronay. It used to be a journalist, only now it isn't."

"Where were we," said Zeus tiredly.

"The Awful Egos," I prompted.

"Oh yes. How do we get rid of them?"

"Leave it to me," said Ares, flexing a hefty arm.

Aphrodite giggled. "Oh, Ares."

"I'm all for driving them off the mountain," said Hera grimly.

"No, no," said Hephaestus. "Just a little gentle persuasion will work wonders."

"None of your ideas are going to work," said a voice bluntly. They all turned. Hermes, the trickster god, stood by the door. He had been standing there all this time, without saying anything. He looked angelic as usual, his eyes big and innocent, but his face sparkled with mischief (also as usual).

"Hermes!!!!" said Apollo, instantly making for him, to be held back by Hephaestus. Hermes took no notice.

"Now, don't take offense," he went on, "but I think that what we want here is a little ingenuity. Smartness over strength." He slid a look at Ares as he said that, which earned him a glare from Aphrodite. "We can't use force against the AEs. We can't even manage our thunderbolts, for Olympus' sake."

"I do wish you wouldn't swear, Hermes," said Zeus absently.

"But," Hermes continued, "we can outwit them. I have a plan."

Everyone listened avidly as he outlined his idea (except Apollo, who was carrying on to anyone who would listen). "That sounds very good," said Athena at length. "What does everyone think?"

"Perfect," said Athena.

"Oh, Hermes, what a wonderful plan!" exclaimed Persephone.

"Er - I say," I broke in, "what about the Agency? Our reputation will be ruined."

"Tourism!" snorted Zeus. "Always ruining life for the natives. You should have thought about that before you came to Olympus."

"At that moment a familiar voice broke in.

"Well, I'm back, and I hope you've looked over the conditions, Mr. Zeus, because I've got some more for you to look over..."

Sure enought, there was Barney, bouncing down the hall again. Uproar broke out, and in the confusion, I slipped away to tell 58 about the latest events.

Hullo all, this is just me popping in to top, and to let you know that Agent 58 is being extremely annoying again, and that things are in such a mess over here - you'll never guess what's happened. Excuse me while I go check on the waffles.