OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN

In this world, there were people who could control aspects of nature; the Olympus race they were named. They looked like us and acted like us, no way to tell a difference until they used their powers. Some lived in fear of them while others choose to stand and act for and with them. When there became many of the Olympus race other beings began to appear. Demons and monsters we had never seen before, terrifying creatures that killed as if it was nothing. The Immortal War broke out before anyone realized it had even escalated to that level. The Demon race was wiped out, but in the battle the Olympus race was also destroyed. To date there are been supposed sightings of Olympians, but no one can confirm these to be true.

There. Paper is completed, finally! Closing my laptop I stuff it into my bag before slinging the worn strap covered in buttons over my shoulder. Exiting the attic like room of mine I jump from the ladder to land on the wooden floor, scarring my mother.

She jumps back in surprise. "Dylan, how many times have I told you not to do that?" She snaps and I skirt around her, the messenger bag thumping against my leg.

I toss a reply bag before going down the next set of stairs and turning into the kitchen. Dad stands at the wall made fully of windows with a cup of coffee in his hand. Two boys arm-wrestle across the counter, neither giving in nor seem willing to do soon. Flipping the bag open I drop some fruit inside along with a bottle of water. Turning I walk past the counter. Grabbing their hands I force them down and gets shouts of complaint from the two. Dodging their grabs at me I end up beside dad, who still hasn't moved.

"You know, one day you wont be able to avoid them." He says, finally moving to take a drink from his mug.

I shrug in response. "Hopefully it doesn't come any day soon, I'm still faster then the two of them." Grinning at the truth of my words I head to the door.

The wind hits my face as I open the door and blows a strand of hair into my face. Cursing I push it away and set off down the road. My hood keeps blowing of my head as I walk, messing up my hair even more then it normally is. I pass a few others on the walk to the school building and see them with their noses in their books.

The school building is just like any other school you could think of; a few stories high, plenty of stairs. Bare walls that seem like a prison to those who attend and the same boring lessons that everyone has to learn. Everyone knows everyone here, we've all gone to the same school since we remember, the last new kid showed up in the seventh grade, not so new anymore. With everyone knowing everyone there is little you can do and get away with here.

The main hall of the school is the easiest place to meet your friends or piss someone off, depending on how you feel that day. Everyone sits with their group of friends in the hall. Seniors can sit in the largest section because it's got the mascot painted on the floor. Anyone can walk through there, but if you're caught sitting there by the seniors, just hope they're in a good mood or you can outrun them. I myself veer away from the hall and go straight to my first class. The paper is due in this class, I need to turn it in early.

My teacher, Mr. Murray, isn't in his seat like normal. A mug with ink stains around the handle and lip sits steaming on his desk. He must have been here a few moments ago, how could I have missed him? His laptop is opened on his desk, glasses tossed onto the keys. Shrugging at the unusualness of his disappearance I go to my seat. In the back, dead center; perfect.

Pulling my laptop out I set it onto my desk before powering on. As I return to my paper I read over it to check for any mistakes or if I need to add anything. This assignment wasn't anything to hard, we were given a piece of history text and told to research farther on the topic or passage for the week. Others had finished their papers a few days ago but I wanted to make mine perfect. Absolutely perfect. Sending my paper to the shared drive I go to close my laptop and the open tabs until a news report catches my eye. Stopping myself from clicking the close button in go to read the article.

A recent dig in the ruins of Old Country have shown to be quite satisfactory. A pair of Nata researchers has found an ancient summoning circle believed to be a meeting place for Olympians. Embedded in the circle was a large crystal jutting out of the center, light blue in color and with several chipped off areas.

While the researchers continue to observe and answer questions about this crystal the main question remains. Why did this remain when the Olympians vanished? Professor JJ Hall answered some of our questions.

"You see, when an Olympian battled a demon the fights were always deadly to things around them and the Olympians would try to end these fights quickly for that reason. They fought for peace in our world while the demons went against their ways. In many texts a summoning circle is mentioned, a circle with a large stone leaping from the middle. This circle was used by the Olympians to summon others to aid them or even weapons of varying powers to them. The stones like this one that has been found remain because they are not of Olympus race, they're demonic tools which were taken over. When a demon was killed, it remained on the world to be destroyed even farther. When an Olympian was killed, it vanished. Everything of Olympus race would vanish if it belonged to the dead Olympian."

How does the knowledge that we're living amongst demonic items? For all we know more of these items could be below your feet, below your home. This find may be breath taking and astounding, but it may hold a darker meaning.

I reach the end of the article with wide eyes. This is new information, demonic items still existing in the world; it's honestly pretty frightening. I'm shocked from staring at the screen by a school bell, signaling that class is about to begin. Mr. Murray walks in with a slouch and rubbing the back of his head. Students in the class enter in groups or alone with headphones. Chatter picks up and the seat beside me is taken by an energetic girl with yellow paint slashed across her nose and cheek. She pulls out a notebook and several pencils before facing me with a grin.

Glittery eye shadow brings attention to her large blue eyes. "Dylan, you'll never guess what I heard about this morning!"

I set my elbow on my desk, propping my cheek on my hand. "Really?"

She nods and turns to her notebook and begins sketching. "I promise that this'll blow your mind, 100%." She pauses to erase a line. "So my parents came home last night from their expedition and found something buried in the tomb."

"You mean the crystal and the circle?" I say, no sense in letting her continue and waste her breath on something I already know.

She stops her doodling and looks at me. "How did you already know?"

I nod to the laptop. "An article caught my eye earlier."

Her eyes widen as she pulls it towards her and scans the news site, reading everything thoroughly. The paint has begun to flake from her nose and she absently scratches at the bright yellow slash, eyes never leaving the screen.

She sits back. "Not even mentioning their names, stupid news reporters."

I take the laptop back and wipe several yellow flakes from the keyboard before shutting it. A few stragglers make their way into the class just as the bell rings for class to start. Mr. Murray pulls the screen down as the projector turns on.

He stands at the front of the class and clears his throat. "I hope you all are ready to turn in your papers. We will be presenting today."

A few groans from those who didn't finish in time and shuffling from others as they fish in their backpacks for the paper. A few, like myself, have already turned them in early. My pocket suddenly buzzes and I hear a few others go off in the class before they scramble to turn them off. Pulling the phone out of my pocket I glace at my lap to see an alert from the city has been sent out. Water testing in my neighborhood is going on, roads closed until one. Stuffing the phone back into my pocket I watch and listen as the first few students speak about their major history topic. Some are from this century and others from ancient history, all based on our preferences.

"Dylan, you're up next." Mr. Murray says and I nod.

The boy before me stutters as he speaks, cheeks turning red as he looks over the class watching him. Before long he falls into his seat and I stand. Walking to the front of the class I face everyone and wait for my project to appear on the screen.

I begin when it does. I covered the beginning of the Olympians and Demons and the wars that broke out between the two. I reach the modern era of their time and talk about their disappearance that seemed to happen over night. Their lights went out, the demons vanished, everything about them was gone.

When I finish a hand shoots up. "What about the crystal that was found, that didn't disappear!"

I nod. "That is true, but a Professor said in an interview that the crystal was actually of Demonic race, therefore it would remain. The Olympians had found a way to use the crystals for their benefit to defeat the Demons."

Mr. Murray nods for me to sit down. Heading back to my seat easily I sit back down and relax. The rest of class will just be smooth sailing, my project and paper were perfect. Ancient Egypt was presented after me, followed by World War II. Like I said, based on what we wanted to do.

Leaning forward onto my desk I rub my forehead, trying to ease the suddenly growing headache. I didn't have one leaving home, weird. I can hear the thumping that throbs my head and press harder against my head. No luck to make it better this time, damn.

I lean to the girl next to me. "Angela, do you have pain pills? I've got a killer headache."

She nods and opens her purse, pulling a small drugstore bottle out and passing it to me. Pulling two out I down them with water and hand the bottle back. Thanking her in a whisper I close my eyes and rub the throbbing area gently. In a few moments the pain starts to ease and I smile, that's good.

Mr. Murray stands as class starts to end. "We made it through everyone today, next time we meet I expect everyone to show up on time and ready for our trip to the monuments. Don't forget that we leave Tuesday at seven in the morning. If you're not there then the bus will leave without you, sorry."

The bell rings and we exit the class. I make my way to the next class off mine and past the band room. Someone is playing a drum to the throbbing in my head it seems. Wincing I clutch my head and force myself not to fall over. The pain hits me hard, my walk halting in the hallway. Cursing silently I stumble into my class before falling into my chair, panting from the pain. I hear my name so I look up, the teacher waving me forward to her desk. I stand and immediately go back down.

Not to the chair, but straight to the floor.