7 — Vaccines & Veracity

In the aftermath of the drag brunch, Thomas was called away on journalist business, and the Greek demigods were approached by Hermes and asked to visit Olympus. When asked why Step wasn't invited, Hermes explained that visiting Olympus wouldn't be pleasant for a demigod of Media. Hermes promised to get Dee and Weave back to the mortal realm ASAP, so everyone agreed to reconvene afterwards.

In the heart of Olympus, Dee and Weave were brought before Apollo and Artemis, and a silenced Terpsichore. As the god of music, Apollo had been granted authority to punish Terpsichore for her attempt at sedition. Weave and Dee used their testimony to defend Terpsichore and bring the gods' attention to the infection affecting supernatural beings, but Apollo and Artemis were unconcerned by "mortal affairs".

As Dee's temper flared, their divine nature overtook them. Weave was able to bat their ritual book away from them before they could do serious damage, but Apollo kept their ritual book in consequence. When Weave let loose with a righteous tirade, she went a step too far in her dressing down of the god. Apollo cursed her, stealing her ability to communicate through speech or writing. Artemis attempted to lighten the curse and changed its nature—when asked a question, Weave must answer truthfully and in full.

Left alone at the hotel, Step spotted a mysterious woman in traditional Squamish clothing moving through the crowd. He was unable to keep up with her, but he ran into Sage, a tattoo artist that the Woven Band had helped in the past. Sage helped them find a quiet place to recover, and the two proved well-matched in friendship. Sage inviting Step to come by their shop sometime, and Step felt very good about how the social interaction had gone.

Meanwhile, Alexandra had quality time with her family and shared that she would be moving in with "uncle tío" for the remainder of her university program. Despite her mother's assurance that the family would manage by relying on others more, she was nervous to break the news, so it was a relief when her father approved of her decision and affirmed his pride in her. As for the sisters, Victoria seemed bothered by the news, but little Valentina was thrilled at the idea of having her own bedroom.

When Alexandra's family got home from Mass, there was a big turnout of people helping get the building spiffed up in anticipation of attention from reporters and its assessment for heritage status. Alex was introduced to a young man named Felix Sotelo by their meddling mothers. Felix was nervous around her, but they both relaxed after Lenny the domovoi broke the tension. He shared that he is a dream-walker and new to magic; Alexandra demonstrated a small flame for him, but lied about not being a demigod.

After the Greek demigods were dropped in the middle of downtown Vancouver, Weave summoned Christine, and the cousins picked up Step on their way to St. Paul's. There they met with nursing director and healer, Joyce Jacobs.

While Dee and Weave told her about the strange fungus, which Apollo had called "the Florentine infection", Step availed himself of Joyce's medical and magical supplies to create a vaccine for Weave. His work was a good start for Joyce to begin researching a universal vaccine for the infection, which Joyce agreed could be a serious problem. When Weave submitted to the injection, she felt dormant spores of the infection inside of her being burned up, and Step's new interest was sparked.