A/N: Eminem is a musical genius! Haha, I love him alright well here ya go.
Vernita was bathed in a shimmering bright light. She looked freakin' angelic! She finally looked up from her faze and looked right at me. Alright well I thought I had seen it all with this chick, but I hadn't. Her eyes were bright and burning with some kind of light. She had this piercing gaze and glorious smile in her face.
"Holy shit… Vernita what the Hell!" I said, it barely escaped my lips and she looked upward towards the gleaming statue of Mercury.
"Are you going to touch him or am I?" Her voice was calm and powerful. I gulped and climbed to the top of the building, clawing my way up. Then as I neared the top a small iron fence ran around the Golden Boy's statue. I climbed quickly over it and suddenly I felt fear coursing through me. What would happen? I reached up and pressed my palm over the smooth head of Mercury's head. Then a wind so powerful hit me and I was almost blown off the building. Vernita had climbed with the speed of a cheetah and grabbed onto my hand. She steadied me and looked down into the gaping hole beneath the statue.
"Gentleman first?" She suggested, I gave her a look. Then with a quick prayer to Jupiter I lunged, feet first into the long tunnel. Wind flew through my golden curls quickly animating the journey. As soon as the tunnel had begun it was over. As I landed I noticed I had come out of a wall made of pure marble. Almost tumbling straight into a granite statue of another boy. Vernita landed gracefully next to me her breathing was almost double… That was odd.
"Oh my gods… Thilo i-its…Phoenix!" The name rang a familiar bell in my mind, I tried to remember it from somewhere but I couldn't.
"Phoenix?" I asked dully,
"Lord of the Flame!" She gestured to the statue; I turned and looked finally at the towering statue above us. It glittered in the bright light, his skin was cracked, but you could tell he was chiseled perfectly. The fine lines of muscles still ran down his arms. His eyes seemed to glow with the light of the room, and his lips were opened revealing a few chipped teeth from the age of the statue. The beautiful hair was light feathers piled onto the boy's head, slim lines of gold danced through it as if to symbolize it had been golden. With in the boys hand was a finally painted feather, but the creepy part was, for as old as the statue was a vibrant color stood out like new. It was red, gold, orange, and yellow. It seemed to dance like the open ember of a fire.
"What are you kid's doing here, it's before visiting hours!" A voice behind us spoke, we twisted around. Vernita dropped to her knees, she started to frantically sob. I knelt down next to her, but she shook her head. Her face was sealed by the layers of glossy hair around her. "V-Vernita?" The man said, I finally looked up and saw why she had been sobbing.
"Apollo." I spoke; he gave a tired smile and knelt before his child. His eyes were filled with despair, and he pulled her into his arms. She sobbed into his old leather jacket; he looked like the picture of a caring father.
"My lord, where exactly are we?" I asked, studying the grand marble arching ceiling above us. The statues were sculpted much like Phoenix except for grander cracks and blisters to their faces. Apollo looked up,
"Athens, the Athens Museum of Art." He gestured to the boy that a second ago we had been looking at. "And that Thilo, is my son." Vernita pulled away,
"Will and I-I w-we c-called for y-you! W-we sang f-for you!" She yelled, getting up. She pushed her hair angrily out of her eyes, "I don't understand, why?" Apollo looked down, and then glanced around as if someone would come in at any moment.
"Zeus is scared of Gaia, and as are the rest of the other gods. Except for well Penelope." At the sound of her name I looked up, Vernita must have noticed because she flashed me a look.
"She's the reason he died!" Apollo seemed to flare at her words; he got up and walked over to his son's statue as if to get away from her. She wouldn't allow it that was the lovely horrible thing about Vernita, if you gave her something to do she wouldn't stop until it was done. "You don't seem too upset about his death!" Apollo stopped in his tracks turned and faced her,
"You don't understand Vernita, I came to peace with Penelope because Phoenix couldn't have lived without her. He had finally found someone he would give his life for!" They were both breathing hard, and glaring at each other. The flash of green light caught me off guard; a single leaf fell from the air. A green rubbery leafy cup filled with velvety soft white flowers rolled to the foot of Phoenix's statue.
I watched in dismay as the two of them bickered, I walked over to the statue of Phoenix. So this boy died for the girl I kind of was mesmerized by. Heh, I would do the same. The chick was hot as fire. Thilo…find me… I cannot talk with them here… Find me. I heard her, her soft sweet voice. I picked up the leaf cup and plucked out the flowers. A single piece of paper rested at the bottom.
With careful hands I tore the piece of paper from the grasp of the antennae at the bottom. I opened the paper, it read, "You are in Athens, find my temple." Faunus's temple then. I snuck around the bickering father and daughter and snuck out of the museum. The streets were not as one would expect, you'd think they were old and that old crumbling monument stood around. But no, modern technology was all around. Wide black sleek skyscrapers rose up and it appeared to be morning as the early morning sun was slinking over the skyline. I was immediately confused and the scenery even more confusing. If you looked right you would see a finely trimmed tree line along the side walk, and left there would be a grand statue of Julius Caesar. A/N: WRONG! Julius Caesar was born in Rome, he was the ruler there! Don't let my unhistorical story feed your brain false information.
Scratching my head with a questioned manner, I took off towards a few signs that read: Λέσχη Χορού Τερψιχόρης - Χορός Σαν Σήμερα Θεά I followed after them. I really have no idea why, probably because I'm an idiot. Like Vernita often says to me now, as the signs trailed further down the city street, the dirtier the city got. Until I reached a neon sign, it was written in English as well as Greek. The lettering was cursive and very loopy, but my ADHD twisted the words around. I entered it, what the hell was I thinking?
When I entered I saw dancers, beautiful woman moving around poles. Twisting there bodies around them, they were all skilled in the art. Some were my age… Others were how old a mother should have been. But in the center was a golden pole, a woman twisted around it, her feet arched as she climbed. She was obviously the most popular; men threw coins and cash at her. She tilted her head back and whipped her walnut colored hair back around her shoulders. Her eyelashes were ridiculously long, and seemed to shimmer in the dim light of the club's neon.
Greek skin covered her toned body, she was better then a model. She looked up at me and the color of her eyes. Reminded me of someone. Vernita. Her blue eyes were the exact same color of Vernita's, the same bluer then blue. The same jewel like shine and she smiled at me. I heard the burst open behind me, when I looked back. Vernita stood behind me; she looked dead on at the sexy lady.
"Terpsichore!" Every head and face turned to her commanding voice, the woman, Terpsichore looked upward. She smiled at Vernita as if she were an old friend,
"Hello child, your father tells me much about you." Her voice was silky and velvety. She slipped down from her pole and stood to a towering height of six feet. Her long legs were built for dancing; her slim claves were engraved with muscle. She stepped down from her table and walked to Vernita, twisting her silky bang around her finger.
"My, my, you are pretty. You sure have the looks to be the Doxa Child. But I'm not about to let you take my throne next to Apollo, I'm the fourth muse and I always will be. So unless my sweet you want me to kill you, well…" There it was again the word "doxa". I grabbed my sheath but Vernita stopped my hand. "Then again Vernita, you probably aren't her. She was her father's child raised on his knee, unless you were taken care of by the Great Lord, I doubt you are the one." She smiled so evilly, I was angered. Vernita stepped forward and her fierceness formed into an open light.
"But that's just the problem Terpsichore, I was." My mind went blank, Vernita was raised by Apollo? "You were destroyed by your own greed and yearning for self beauty." Vernita stated in a clear cut voice, "So my question to you is why you are down here rather then up where you should be?"
"Because," She said rather smugly, "Men give me all these things, they give me love, affection, and attention. I don't even ask for it, I just dance and suddenly they leap for my love. Why must I serve the Great Lord when I'm served here?"
Vernita was silent for a minute and then her eyes met Terpsichore's, "That was the pact Hermes made with my father, you would serve him. You promised in your own blood you would." Terpsichore had been gliding very slowly towards Vernita, and now she stood over her like a giant. With speed of a thief she held my neck around her elbow, a knife raised to my abdomen. Vernita's eyes got a frightened look in them, then as quick as it had come it was gone.
Oh no, this bitch was not about to hold me. I simply lifted up my leg and kicked. She screeched and a twisted scary look came about her face. Her face contorted into a monster. Vernita and I backed slowly away, I looked to my friend. "Thilo," She whispered, "It's me she wants, and you have to go." I turned to her and my heart clenched,
"No!" She shook her head, and I saw her wipe away a tear. "I'm not leaving you."
"You must Son of Jupiter. This battle is between the wretch and me." Terpsichore said her features now shrunken back to proud and haughty. I turned to face her,
"She'll destroy you, kill you and whatever she is she'll be much better then you." I said, Vernita smiled at me. In the desperate effort I was in, I pulled Vernita to me. Kissing her. It was the greatest feeling in the world, my hopes went soaring and the passion that was tied into it was absolutely perfect. Everything in me screamed for more of her, she pulled away and our eyes locked. I released her from my grasp and then we parted.
I slipped out into the busy Athens street, heading upward to the top of the intersection. My thoughts and mind all on Vernita, she was the one. I was almost positive because everything in my being screamed for more of her beauty, everything yearned for more. The sunlight was deadly and it stung my eyes, I pulled a hand up to shield my eyes. I reached an information center with a sign hanging over the door that read in Greek and English, thank gods.
A woman was standing behind the counter her face hidden behind a newspaper. I snatched a pamphlet off the counter, fairly certain the woman was too involved in her news story to see me. I slunk out of the shop, and opened the pamphlet. GREAT! It was in Greek, I had to go back in the shop. The woman still stood there, maybe she was death.
"Uh excuse me? Miss?" I asked, the woman looked up. "Uh…" Trying to run through my Greek vocabulary. "Yasas?" The woman smiled and shook her head,
"I speak Unglish." Her accent made it quite hard to understand what she said, I sighed out in relief THANK GODS!
"Can you direct me to Pan's shrine, temple thingy?" The woman cocked her head and shook out her long hair.
"I'm afraid I don't understand, kyrie." I shoved a hand through my gnarled and untamed curls. "Do you mean Penelope's shrine?" My head popped up, what the hell? I looked closer at the god, her face was a smirk. Her intricate lines only meant one thing, Trivia. Her face shifted as she twisted her head around.
"Yes, ma'am." She reached under and grabbed out a map, and a red marker. She circled a small building only about a block from the information center. "Thanks T-er I mean Hecate."
"Thilo," She added just as I was turning away, I turned to glance back at her, "Doxa means glory in Greek. Don't let go of hope for your friend, she is the one Zeus has chosen." I gave her a nod and was out the door and down the street. I ran at my top speed almost catching up to a car passing, I looked down at the map. Why the hell was it there? I stopped according to it I was standing right next to where the shrine should have been. I turned and looked at it, "Penelope's gotta be pissed." A public bathroom sat in front of me, a homeless guy scratching his butt walked out of it.
"Ew." I shook myself in disgust; I slunk into the dirty filth of the bathroom. A guy stood leaning against the wall, ear plugs hooked under his hoodie, and dark aviator sunglasses covered his eyes. I walked over to a urinal scowling down at the dirty floor. "You are very unobservant Thilo, learn to adapt to all your surroundings. Even the most beautiful ones may be deadly." A voice spoke behind me; I turned to look at the hooded boy. Only it wasn't it was the voice that made my heart start pounding. The hood dropped and she didn't look like…her. She was so plain. Yet so…godly. Her hair was pulled back away from her face and her dark green eyes shimmered, but none of it lighted to me it had when I had first met her in person.
"I don't look like the goddess you saw, do I?" I shook my head in wonder, "I'm not I'm in human form, much of the time I chose this over my godly form." I cocked my head,
"Penelope why?" She looked at the mirror, her solemn face stared back. I studied her and she looked back,
"For reasons that you will soon find out. Thilo I'm here to help you along the quest, the body…the body that the prophecy speaks of. I think it may be Phoenix…" Her voice choked and suddenly she fell to the ground, tears exploding to her green eyes. I knelt next to her and she sobbed, "He's...gone…" Her words were choked and she started to rock back and forth. She had utterly lost her mind; her eyes were crazed and unfocused. I pulled her into my arms, and like a dam had broken she went limp and cried. But it wasn't obnoxious sobbing; it was just her weight leaning against mine. She fit so…perfectly, it was almost hard to remember Vernita and the kiss we shared.
"I-It's all…all my fault!" I held her close, something inside of me begging she wouldn't come to her senses. But she did…five seconds later. She ripped past me so my arms were holding nothing, when I looked up at her green eyes were filled with blankness. "It doesn't matter anymore," She looked away and all traces of emotion gone from her face "all that does, is that you have to come with me. To Tarterus." My breathing stopped,
"Tarterus?"