A Patchwork Fantasy Tale in eight parts.

Our sixth visit to Hotel Olympus, during which worship gives rise to a new divinity.

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Transcript

[Upbeat, inquisitive music]

Laura: Hi, you can call me Laura. I’m here to tell you a story if you like. This is Patchwork Fairy Tales and today we’re visiting Hotel Olympus. If you want to read as well as listen, check out the transcript linked in the description.

[Music fades]

Hotel Olympus Chapter 6

Charlie kept a cheat sheet nowadays. It turned out Greek gods got extremely upset when you did not know who exactly they were. It was honestly a bit dramatic, but then again, not much worse than other expensive hotels with entitled regulars. She glances at the list in her phone one more time as she gets off the bus. (Odd that there was an extra bus stop here now, when she came her for her job interview she had to walk two blocks.) Some of the entries could really do with some additional details.

• Aphrodite, goddess of romance and sex. (and love??) [act more impressed than you are]
• Hephaistos, god of forging, crafting (?) [no small talk]
• Apollo (like the rocket), god of god of music, poetry, the sun (?). Twin (?) brother of Artemis. Gets very emotional over various kinds of decorative vegetation. Not good with Helios, Hermes. [Keep away from Cassandra!!]
• Zeus, god of…lightning? Heaven?? “King” of the gods. Has a suite permanently reserved for him, but is hardly ever here. Insane policy. Has something to do with the “no mortal guests allowed”. No one will tell me what. [Do not mention around Ganymedes.]

“Hi Charlie!”

Her head snapped up from her phone with immediate suspicion. It had been weeks since Cassandra ever felt the need to use her customer service voice on her. “Cas…?”

She was standing unnaturally prim behind reception desk and her smile was plastered onto her face with uncanny precision.

“Cas,” Charlie repeated warily. “What’s going on…”

“The chief called in sick today,” Cassandra replied with terrified cheerfulness. “He left you in charge.”

Charlie’s stomach turned over. “He did what .”

“You already deal with all the customers all the time!” Cassandra said hastily. “And the rest of us know the drill. No one will make trouble for you, we promise!”

Charlie threw up her hands and hurried behind Cassandra’s counter. “Is this about that Theseus mortal that Poseidon made a reservation for?” She had never seen the manager look so miserable as upon hearing her read out a name.

Cassandra gave her a deeply apologetic look. “He’s only staying the one day and night. Please don’t leave.”

“Of course I’m not going to leave.” She groaned. “When are the new arrivals due?”

“Helios at 9:26, Theseus at 10:02 and Hestia and Demeter at 10:43,” Cassandra answered promptly. It was an absolute blessing to have her always know exactly when people would be arriving, or leaving, or putting in complicated requests.

“Alright, fine,” Charlie sighed. “I will do a quick check around then and be back here at a quarter past nine.”

“I’ll be here,” Cassandra sighed in relief.

“Honestly,” Charlie muttered, hurrying down to the kitchens. “If he thinks the previous raise covers this he’s wrong.”

In the kitchens all was under control, however, and Tantalus sent her on her way with a freshly baked bun which improved her mood greatly. She paused in the garden to cram the rest of it into her mouth before entering the stables. The gardens were beautiful, if a little unnerving. The hyacinths and daffodils had been in bloom for way too long now. And Charlie had never heard you could cultivate anemones in a fountain basin.

The stables, hidden behind a row of cypresses, were less unnerving but far more chaotic. They were monstrously big, but Charlie had by now learned they needed to be. Most of the guests had distressingly inconvenient modes of transportation. Miss Eos was alright, she usually came with just the two horses. Her brother Helios, however, came with no less than eight. (Plus a flaming chariot that took up a ridiculous amount of space.) Ares had only four horses, but they did breathe fire. (Very difficult in a barn environment with lots of hay around.) And Poseidon’s horses dripped sea foam everywhere.

The horses were nothing to Dionysus’ panthers though. Or Apollo’s swans, for that matter. Charlie was sure she didn’t know a more potentially vicious bird, and they kept trying to get into the pool, which made the nymphs uncomfortable. As far as birds were concerned, Aphrodite’s doves were a lot less intimidating, but there were an awful lot of them.

Luckily Marsyas seemed completely unbothered this morning. He answered Charlie’s questions with his usual good humour and assured her he had room for Helios’ chariot and horses all prepared and fireproofed. So there was nothing to delay her and she returned to the lobby only a little after nine.

When she entered from the direction of the pool area – it had been restored very well since Poseidon’s last visit – a hooded figure was stood at the counter and Cassandra looked unusually nonplussed.

“I trust you have a reservation?” she said, uncertainty leaking through her polite smile. “Which divinity booked for you?”

“No one.” The guest’s voice was soft, almost hesitant, but Charlie heard every word. “I have no reservation. I came because…because I am called upon.” She said it as if it was a new thing. New and wondrous, but beyond doubt. “I am expected.”

“I…um…” Cassandra began, but by then Charlie had crossed the lobby and as she turned to the counter she suddenly caught sight of the guest’s face.

She halted, her professionalism flagging in a moment of startled recognition. Her mouth moved before she could stop herself. “You’re Medusa!”

The guest turned, looking without meeting Charlie’s gaze, but Cassandra gaped at her. “You know who she is? You didn’t know Aphrodite, but her you know?”

“Of course I do,” Charlie answered, looking at the halo of snakes framing Medusa’s head within the confines of her hood. It was an unmistakable image. And the story, the name, it just stuck in the mind. At least the main parts. Defiance and strength and survival…

Medusa met her gaze, slowly, as if she expected something bad to happen that Charlie was not aware of. Charlie looked back at her with as open an expression as she could. Sometimes the customers service smile didn’t cut it. The snakes looked curious, and Medusa herself looked at her, it seemed to Charlie, as if she was as bewildered as Cassandra to be standing here, checking into Hotel Olympus as the gods did whenever they came to witness the voices who worshipped them.

“Cassandra, I believe madam wanted a room?”

“Yes, but, she isn’t- I mean she didn’t used to be—”

Charlie took care never to interrupt Cassandra, who was so used to not being listened to. This time she made an exception. “The green suite, I think, Cassandra, if you would. For our divine guest.”

“…yes, right away.” Cassandra regained her composure and turned around to select the key.

“Welcome to Hotel Olympus,” Charlie said with a bow of her head. “I hope you will enjoy your stay.”

Medusa smiled.

[Upbeat, inquisitive music returns]

Laura: Thank you very much for listening, I hope you liked this installment of Hotel Olympus. Transcripts, easy streaming, and all the information about this podcast and all my other creations can be found on laurasimons.com.

There’s another tale to tell some other day, but until then: remember to mind your mythology, guard your name, and be safe.

[Music fades]

_{Copyright Laura Simons, please do not copy my stories without my permission, lest you insult the fae.}