Chapter Twenty Seven

The familiar ding of the default Apple ring tone jolted me from my sleep.

I blearily grabbed the phone and glanced at the caller ID. Harlow. I wiped the dried drool from my mouth and picked up.

"I'm outside." She said, not even bothering to say hello. I yawned and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"Already?" My voice was croaky as I pulled the covers of my bed over my head.

"Did I wake you up?" Her voice sounded annoyed. "We're supposed to be at the Diner in 15 minutes."

"I can get ready fast." I replied, sitting up. "I'll be out there in a few."

She said bye and I managed to pull myself out of bed and trudge over to my closet. What was the best to wear for a day of journeying and possibly fighting? It was probably best to go with something comfortable. So I threw on leggings, a tee, a red hoodie and sneakers, and I ran a brush through my hair and pulled it into a high pony tail. It wasn't exactly battle armour. But it had to do.

I walked downstairs and found Lily in the kitchen, cleaning up from her breakfast as the smell of toast hung in the air.

"You slept late today." She said, turning and pushing the dark hair from her eyes. "Is everything alright?"

"I had trouble falling asleep." I told her. "But I'm heading out to have lunch with some friends - Harlow's here to pick me up. They're giving me a tour of town after - so I'll be out for a bit."

It wasn't exactly a lie.

"You've mentioned Harlow before." She said, taking a glass out of the cabinet and filling it with water. "But who else are you going with?"

"Three other kids in my homeroom." I counted them off on my fingers. "Scarlett, Lee, Ducky and Gabe."

"Three guys - huh?" She said, waggling her eyebrows. "Any of them cute? What about the girls?"

"Nooo," I whined, really not in the mood for this. I glanced at my watch. 5 minutes. I hoped Harlow wouldn't be too mad at me.

"Never mind." She said with a smile. "I'm glad to know you're making friends so quickly. Call me when you know what time you'll get home. Me and your dad are out tonight and Milo is sleeping over at a friends so you'll be home alone."

"Okay." I said. My phone dinged, a text from Harlow telling me to get outside. I grinned at my mum and grabbed some mint gum for my morning breath. I swung my coat from the rack and headed out the door.

"Took you long enough." Harlow grumbled as I got into the car.

"Sorry." I apologised again. "I had to get ready and tell Lily where I was going."

"It's okay." She said. "I just hate being late." She turned up the radio to something I recognised as a musical of some sort and sped down the street.

She was focused on driving, so I looked out the window as we made out way through town and I lightly hummed, tapping to the rhythm.

"So you got what you always wanted. So you got your dream come true. Good for you," I murmured, singing along to the lyrics.

It didn't take long to arrive at the diner.

It looked different in the day - the neon sign wasn't lit do the building looked more washed up, but it was just as busy inside. Waiters scurried like rates to get customers their food, although it was still morning so the waiters carried fluffy pancakes instead of hamburgers.

It still smelled delicious though. 

Lee waved at us from a booth by the window. "You made it!" He said, scooting over to make room.

"We thought you'd never get here." Ducky grumbled, not looking up as I sat on the red leather across from him.

Harlow checked her watch. "We're only one minute late."

Gabriel shuffled closer and our arms brushed. I glanced up at him and snuggled into him.

Harlow ran her hands through her hair and looked at Lee. "Aidan had trouble waking up." She laughed. "But it's okay. I dragged her ass out of bed."

I shrugged. "A girl needs her sleep." I opened my straw and put it in Gabriel's half empty glass, taking a long sip. I then glanced at him and smiled cheekily.

The waitress took our orders - and I got the full eggs, pancake and bacon meal. The fact that I had such a huge appetite surprised me as much as everyone else. I should have been fervour agouti whether was going to happen, but I felt like it was meant to be. All I could do before fate fulfilled itself was sit and enjoy myself.

After the waitress left, Ducky slid into a casual conversation about school and sports. Harlow smiled and nodded, clearly trying not to appear as worried as she actually was about all of the prophecy stuff. At least Ducky had a talent for holding up a conversation on his own; especially when it was about something as stupid as his weird obsession with Elvis Presley.

I studied my good as we ate, not really paying that much attention and my mind wandering; until something Scarlett said caught my attention.

"Yeah. I had this really weird dream last night. It had Hades in it and he told me that we must go to Tartarus." She poked her egg with a fork and looked up.

I glanced around - everyone had shock on their faces mirroring what I felt inside. I brought a slice of bacon and put it in my mouth, crunching the crispy saltiness and ruining the tension.

Harlow glanced at me then drew out a breath. "That wasn't just me? Good." She shook her head and brushed the fringe from her eyes. "I thought I was going insane. Ares is pretty feisty, to be honest." She admitted with a nervous laugh.

Gabriel laughed along with her. "Yeah. Aphrodite is not what you'd expect her to be." His eyes gleamed mischievously and I smiled, heart warming at his quirkiness.

"Same with Athena." Lee added, and Ducky murmured his agreement.

"Zeus was definitely interesting." I mused, my gaze flicking to the table as I remembered his warm smile and blue eyes.

"So, are you ready to get started?" Lee asked after we finished eating.

My thoughts drifted to Zeus's dream. The dark gleam in his eyes after he had issued his warning was unlike anything i'd ever seen. But the fire that chased me through the first wasn't natural. If we had to face anything like that today, we weren't ready to handle it.

At least I wasn't.

"You look worried." Ducky said to me. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah." I forced a smile. "I was just thinking about stuff."

Gabriel frowned and squeezed my hand. "If you want to wait another day until you're more ready..."

"No." I interrupted, placing my hands on the table. "We have to do this today."

Scarlett laughed and downed the last drops of her coffee, something I noticed was the only thing she ordered, and placed her mug on the table. "If this is another one of your feelings."

I zeroed my gaze in her and ignored her hairy expression. "Actually. It wasn't my feeling - it was the feeling of Zeus, the Head Olympian and the God Of Gods."

"Besides." Lee said, violet eyes flashing. "We agreed to start now. So that's what we're going to do."

Harlow glanced at her watch. "You said you enacted to do this when the sun was out, so now if the perfect time." She reported like a robot. "It's almost midday, when the sun will be in its highest point in the sky."

Renewed energy hummed through my body. And I wondere did it was if the sun was shining or if I had taken a shot of energy without realising. Probably a bit of both.

"Let's go see Carlo then." I said rising to my feet. Whatever this feeling was, I was ready to hit the road and fulfil this god damn prophecy.

A/N: Yas feisty Aidan!

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