Chapter Four: The Devil's Den
Rachel walked through south wing of the main building on Olympus with purpose. Dressed nicely because she had just come from a meeting with her father she winced as her heels stabbed the marble floors clicking with each step. So much for surprising him. She thought smoothing down her chic red blazer and picking lint off her black skinny pants. Taking a deep breath she pushed open the big oak door that separated Apollo's office from the halls, he was turned away from her looking out of the big bay window one hand pressed against the wall the other down by his side. Slowly he turned to look at her the sun glinting off his already golden hair making it really shine. He really was breathtaking.
Closing the door behind her Rachel moved farther into the room her heels now sinking into the plush carpet. "Where were you last night?" Apollo asked, turning to again look out the window over the well-manicured gardens that were spread out three floors below.
"Family emergency, I was called away. I'll be gone again today as well, I'm spending the day with the girls in Manhattan if you need me."
Apollo moved from the window crossing his arms and walking closer to his Oracle his normal smiling face was clouded with seriousness. "You know it's dangerous for our kind over there, its not safe Greek territory even with the alliance I would suggest against it. Besides if something did happen I'd have to find another Oracle and that could take forever." He said.
"Are you really worried about me or are you worried about Thalia? I heard all about Zeus's announcement and your part in the challenge." Rachel paused steeling her nerves for what she was going to say next. "I've also heard about your part in Thalia's past and I want you to know that I know you and your tricks. You better not hurt her, I know I wasn't her biggest fan in the beginning but her and Nico are truly happy together; I would pick them over my position any day."
"Oh really?" asked Apollo walking closer and closer to Rachel forcing her to take a step back. "You seem to forget that I'm not just your boss, I practically own you. Besides there's more at stake here than you can imagine. Trust me Rachel stay out of it. The sun can be warm an inviting." He said running his hands through her coppery locks before continuing; "But it can also burn." He finished voice hard and faced closed off, in that instant she saw a sliver of how powerful the lighthearted god really was.
"I'll remember that." Rachel said a bit shaken, she had never seen this side of Apollo before. Opening her mouth to say something else she thought against it closing it and shaking her head. Finding the doorknob behind her she opened it and left taking one last look at Apollo who had moved back to his original position staring out the window. There's something big going on here and I'm going to figure it out. Thought Rachel closing the door behind her, for now though it was time to find Annabeth and Thalia.
The three girls met at the entrance to Olympus and started a cheerful conversation that they kept up until they were a few blocks away from the Empire State building. Taxis, buses, and pedestrians whizzed past them as they headed towards the parking garage where Rachel housed her cars. Rachel apologized to them for missing the dinner and their first night but no one went into details until they were safely locked inside a black Mercedes C300 with deep tinted windows. Wordlessly Rachel reached into her giant purse and extracted a box of Plan B pills and threw it onto Thalia's lap.
"A little birdie told me you needed this." She said arching an eyebrow playfully.
"Its not funny I've been freaking out all night!" exclaimed Thalia. "Its handy having the Oracle as a friend do you always get such detailed visions of my life?"
"That one wasn't that detailed thank god I'm not really into porno visions featuring my friends and no its weird though the past few days a lot have been about you. Honestly I think its because all of a sudden your fate is so wrapped up in Apollo's. He's connected to her, the Oracle I mean has been since Delphi, he's her protector." Answered Rachel throwing the car into reverse and screeching onto the street.
"Well he's more of an over protector to flesh and blood girls." Mused Thalia her mood darkening.
Annabeth had been silent until then but decided to speak up. "Listen I know all of this is a big deal but we left Brooklyn to get away from all this nonsense. Zeus knows Percy kept me up half the night talking about it all. He's absolutely distraught that Athena still doesn't like him. He kept going on and on about what would happen if he lost the challenges. He's invincible and the hero of Olympus I mean come on the poor son of Hephaestus he's going up against must be having a major panic attack."
"Well next time he freaks out remind him that he's not going up against a god." Thalia said wryly.
"And he'll say stop being such a smart ass." Laughed Annabeth. Turning up the speaker system and letting the top down on the convertible the three girls sped over the bridge and into another mythical territory eager to forget their lives for a while.
Though they appeared carefree each girl was left with worries in the back of their heads. Annabeth worried Percy would do something stupid like storm Olympus making him look even more rash and illogical to her mother, Rachel worried about her friends emotional safety knowing just how damaging Apollo's mind games could be, and Thalia was just a mess. She was worried about Nico facing such a powerful opponent, she was worried about how their relationship would hold when Nico barely trusted her and mostly she was beating herself up for thinking of Apollo before bed. Wrapped up in Nico's warm arms totally content and relaxed after their amazing sex she couldn't help but think of how Apollo made her feel. When he looked at her she felt warm all over and it was comforting like a blanket thrown over a sleeping child that didn't even know it was cold. Then there were his eyes so clear and blue always smiling but you could see infinite wisdom there, Apollo's good qualities made it so easy to forget his bad ones. Sighing and shaking her head to clear her thoughts Thalia tried her hardest to let loose and enjoy her day with her friends like a normal girl.
Even before the big dinner announcement the girls had planned on spending the first day of their time on Olympus together so Percy and Nico had made plans far in advance. Unfortunately they had to honor these engagements even in their upset states. Percy complained that all he wanted to do was get drunk and play Xbox all the day to get his sorrow out so that by the time the next day rolled around he'd be okay. Nico agreed whole-heartedly but reminded him that wouldn't bode well to cancel on their fathers.
"You know they're "busy" Olympians and all and they would say we need to suck it up and deal with this problem like men."
"So basically pretend like it doesn't exist?" asked Percy jokingly.
"Exactly." Nico replied. "Anyways I have to get going man, the underworld awaits." Concentrating for a second he wrapped the shadows around himself and disappeared in the blink of and eye arriving in Hades' palace a moment later.
Alecto greeted him in the entryway a glare in her eyes like normal but not as harsh as usual. For a mythical monster she harbored a sort of maternal soft spot for the youngest son of Hades. Though he knew the palace like the back of his hand she led him across the black marble floors and past the red walls like a guide. No one came to the underworld often but still Hades had decorated lavishly. Everything had a dark elegance to it much like an old English mansion in the 1920s. Nico had wondered many times if his father was holding onto the last time period that had made him truly happy, the time period when his mother had been alive.
Get a hold of yourself. He thought scolding himself. Without fail coming into his dad's house always put him in a despondent mood. And people wonder why our family line is so depressed. If we aren't in here getting the joy sucked out of us we're out there listening to the wails of the damned. Even the wonderful shouts from Elysium were eclipsed by the sounds of the suffering; there are far too many bad people in the world.
"Your father is in the throne room with Persephone... And Demeter" Said Alecto, her raspy, voice breaking into his thoughts.
"Fantastic, just the two ladies I wanted to see." Nico said sarcastically mostly to himself. Alecto chuckled softly to herself, as much as she did care for Nico she still enjoyed watching others suffer.
Without breaking his stride Nico swung the dark doors before him open and was greeted by the three Olympians. An awkward silence permeated the room as Nico walked across the floor to his father. So they've been talking about me. Thought the boy noticing how they all avoided meeting his eyes but exchanged short glances with each other. "I can come back later if this is a bad time." Nico suggested hoping maybe this would be an out for him to go sit in his suite playing Xbox. No such luck however, Hades got up from his throne gracefully his bottomless black eyes now boring into his sons head as if he could almost read his mind.
"That's nonsense, these two were just getting ready to return to the festivities my brother has arranged for everyone. We'll have our day together as planned." Answered the Lord of the Dead looking like a mysterious early twentieth century gangster. He wore a black suit and black fedora with his hair slicked back. Undoubtedly attractive Hades still gave off a strange aura that made many around him uneasy, it was an aura that his children carried with them and not all were lucky enough to get Hades good looks leaving many of his children alone and depressed.
"Look Father we both know this was just a courtesy visit, and we both know that now especially we both have better things to be doing so really lets just call it off." Said Nico after the two goddesses and vanished. Closing his eyes he began to rub his temple trying to ward off the oncoming migraine he felt. The past twenty-four hours had been ridiculously trying and emotionally draining.
"If that's what you want son but I have to tell you that when I got wind of Zeus' plan I thought that it was a great opportunity that I was seeing you, I was thinking that we could spend the day strategizing. I don't know what the challenges are per say but I can give you helpful hints and tricks that I've seen used in the past." Said the older man calmly. Hades knew his son and he knew he would be hell bent on winning. Children of death didn't fall in love often but when it did it changed them completely, he knew Nico would do anything to win Thalia. Hades knew because he too had been in a similar situation long before Olympus had resided in New York.
Nico considered this for a moment the wheels in his head already beginning to turn, he was no child of Athena but he could plan with the best of them. An unfortunate or fortunate flaw depending on how you looked at it of his heritage was their one minded determination. Once Nico wanted something it's all he could focus on, and because of this drive he usually got what he want. "Won't that be like cheating?" he finally asked seeing that as the possibly thing wrong with his father's plan.
"Nico I'm not going to be divulging precious secrets to you. I'm just going to keep you from making rookie mistakes. You're still young, Apollo has seen what I've seen trust me he'll be using some of the things I tell you. He might go easy in the start underestimating you but that won't long. You'll prove how powerful you are Nico, I know he doubts you, I doubted you for a while but you've grown into your power."
The two men had been walking and at this point had made it to Hades' entertaining area, they sat and Hades snapped his fingers sharply. A dead servant appeared dressed in old maids clothes carrying a tray of tea. Sitting its burden down carefully the servant moved to the corner and stood there rigid as a board with its eyes clothes.
"Rather morbid don't you think dad?" asked Nico picking up a mug. the scent of chai wafting up into his face.
"I don't choose the punishments Nico I just enforce them you know that." Said Hades casually. "Now are you ready to learn?"
"Yeah I guess so, okay dad show me the ropes."
Excellent. Hades thought. If Nico used his knowledge there was no way he could be beat. Zeus has disrespected my house for far to long, he'll see. oh he'll see.
"Alright first off you have a friend in this contest, team work is key. Help each other out and work as efficiently as possible..."
The sun had set on yet another evening and since his duties were done for the day Apollo parked his red sun chariot in front of his extravagant house on Olympus and decided to call it a night. He wasn't normally one to stay in but the non-stop partying for the past week was starting to take a toll on him. Between handling his business affairs during the day and mingling with his extended family or friends he was worn out. I'm getting old. He thought pouring himself a cup of nectar. Right as he had settled into his plush sofa and found a good show on Hephaestus TV there was a loud knock on the door. "Really? Someone has terrible timing." He said aloud pushing against the couch arm to get up. Running his fingers through his hair to look semi-presentable (though he never looked bad) he took a quick look into the peephole. After blinking a few times to make sure what he was seeing was true he opened the door a quizzical look on his face.
"Hello Thalia, what are you doing here?" he asked perplexed at why his ex-girlfriend was willingly showing up to his house.
She cocked her head playfully a slight smile pulling at the corners of her plump pink lips. Apollo scolded himself mentally this was no time to get distracted by how inviting her features looked. "Rude, I thought you would be happy to see me." She said only slightly joking.
"I'm sorry I am happy to see you come in, come in." Said Apollo opening the door wider and stepping out of the way.
Thalia crossed over the entryway looking around before eyes settled back on Apollo who was waiting by the door. "Looks just like I remember." She murmured before heading towards the sofa Apollo had just gotten up from.
"Well we gods don't change much, and really Thals it hasn't been that long." As soon as the words left his mouth he winced a bit, his old nickname for her had slipped out he had forgotten they weren't close like that anymore. "So how can I help you? I'm assuming zombie boy doesn't know you're here."
Rolling her eyes at Apollo's lame insult Thalia crossed her legs and placed her hands on her knees. "Zombie boy is in his room but even still he doesn't control what I do, unlike some people he lets me make my own decisions." She knew it was a low blow but she didn't care Apollo deserved to feel some pain there had been countless times where she had stayed in her cabin instead of going out with friends because of him.
"Touché." He said simply sipping from his cup of nectar. His blue eyes twinkled as he regarded her form. Just as athletic and lithe as he remembered. Old habits die-hard and she still had the presence of a predator from the hunters, it was an almost cat like grace that Apollo found sexy as hell.
"As for the second part of your question I'm here to talk about us." She continued shifting slightly away from him as he sat far to close beside her.
"Oh so there's an us now? I thought we were totally over or are you starting to doubt your new lover boy and want to come back to a real man/"
Thalia snorted, Apollo was always so egotistical even when he had no reason to be. "None of that, I'm just wondering why you agreed to all of this, what did my father offer you to fight for me?"
He was quite for a few seconds trying to decide whether he should answer her question truthfully or not. On one hand he had been forced by fate into this contest on the other hand he tried to think of a situation where he wouldn't fight for the youngest daughter of Zeus. Her ebony hair always fell perfectly framing her face and sharp eyes, her body was a dream, and she had an amazing spirit. Thalia had affected him in a way no one had in decades. Perhaps this time honesty was the best policy. Who knows maybe this we'll give me an edge.
"I agreed because I love you." Stated Apollo simply.
She saw what was coming next but made no move to stop it. His lips met hers hesitant at first expecting resistance but when there was none he deepened the kiss. His tongue exploring her mouth as her hands explored the planes of his chest. It was to good to be true how many times had he thought of having her in his arms again and now here she was. She moaned into his mouth as his hands slipped under her shirt and bra finding her nipples erect. He rolled his fingers over them while he removed his mouth from hers and began placing bites on her neck. Getting more and more excited by the second they both began to strip until they lay bare on the sofa. Her nails dug into his back as she silently begged him to enter her and just as he was about to push inside Thalia woke with a start sitting straight up in her bed.
She looked around the room everything appeared normal, she was in her pajamas, Annabeth was snoring softly on the other bed and the clock read 2:00 am. Getting up quietly she crossed the room to the bathroom to splash water on her face, a light sheen of sweat was making her feel hot and sticky. What the fuck was that? She asked herself shaken, it had felt so real.
Across Olympus someone else was waking up suddenly. Apollo rolled over to read his clock. 2:01am. Clapping his hands a light came on and he sat up. His dream had felt so real, Thaliana had come to him, she had been there, and they had almost... He squinted his eyes trying to forget the remnants of his bizarre but wonderful dream. Heading to his kitchen he happened to glance in his mirror and paused. On his back were faint red lines, as if someone's nails had been scratching his back. He stared for a second his stomach rolling this was worse then he had thought.
At the same time Thalia was looking in her bathroom mirror at the bite marks on her neck her hands shaking as she felt the spots. What in the world is going on?