AN: The school mentioned in this is an actual school in London location wise, but I changed the name of the school and have made up pupils and teaching staff since I didn't ask them if I could use their names. Better safe than sorry… However, the inside and student schedule I have no idea about, and is a complete figment of my imagination.
Monday mornings were never good for me, especially now that the gods had revealed themselves. I had gotten hardly any sleep last night so I was irritable and anxious. And, just to top it all off, I had over slept and was now running late to the underground stop. Another good thing about living in central London was that I was so close to a tube stop.
I raced down the street to Green Park station and hopped on the Victoria Line heading north. Three stops later I was rushing around St Pancras station, grabbing my breakfast on my way. I went on the next Hammersmith and City Line west and got off at Bakers Street. I walked up the street towards the Sherlock Holmes Museum, past the end of the road and turned right up the road until my school was in my sites: the Swiss Francis School.
It's an old building, one of the original fixtures of the area. There are three floors to the building made of red bricks and a brown brick roof. It stands proudly on the corner of the street, with a high wall along the edges. A slow stream of girls were headed in to the building, so I wasn't that late. However, I certainty wasn't as early as usual.
All the girls wear the same uniform; light blue shirt, dark blue jumper and grey skirt with black tights. Shoes and hairstyles vary, of course, but otherwise all the girls are the same. I say girls because it's an all girls school. Even the teaching staff are women.
My best friend Laura was waiting at the front gate from me. She was a few inches shorter than me, but then again I was taller than average girls my age. Her long feathery red hair – red, not ginger – flowed down her back and framed her heart shaped face beautifully. Bright blue eyes shone at me from under thick lashes.
"Hey!" she said, embracing me. "Where have you been? I was worried when you weren't at St Pancras this morning!"
"Sorry," I said apologetically. "I over slept and had to get a later train."
She smiled and waved her hand dismissively. "Not like it matters," she said, linking her arm through mine and pulling me onto the school grounds. "You're here now. Did you see that thing on the news last night, the thing about the Greek gods? Weird, huh?"
I smiled nervously. "Yeah, weird."
She laughed. "C'mon. The rest of the girls are waiting upstairs."
We went up the stairs and into one of the IT rooms where I knew the girls would be waiting. The girls include Leila, a small Asian girl with short black hair and pointed fetchers, Henry (Henrietta, but don't call her that), a tomboy with dirty blonde hair and black streaks underneath, and Austin, a strongly built black girl with her hair plaited in cornrows.
"Hey everyone!" I called to my circle of friends.
"Hi!" they each said back in turn.
I caught sight of Austin's screen. I smirked.
"Looking at the news conference, are we?" I asked, trying to hide my unease.
She nodded. "I am," she said, her accent thicker, no doubt from a trip back to St Lucia over the summer. "I find the whole thing strange and I haven't had time to check it our yet."
"Mind if I watch?" I asked, looking over her shoulder at the grim faces of Zeus, Hera and Athena. "I haven't had time to watch it either."
"Sure, I'll start it from the beginning, it's only been going on about forty seconds."
"Do you have to?" Leila complained. "This'll be the fifth time I've seen it. I saw it on TV, and my brother's watched it loads of times already!"
Leila's brother was only her half-brother, which she already knew seeing as her mother married her father after Sekir was born, but there was something she didn't know; his father is Apollo, god of music.
"I don't want to watch it either," Henry added bitterly. She was always the one to point out the flaws in another, and had mood swings rivalled only by Aphrodite: in fact, I first wondered if she was a daughter of Aphrodite, but I soon knew better. "I don't want to know about a bunch of mythological freaks who are just doing this for a publicity stunt."
Ouch.
"Oh, come off it," Laura said. "Let them watch if they want to. Anyway," she said, she too peering over Austin's shoulder. "I think this is the uncut version from the American news show. They only put the 'highlights' on TV bulletin I saw."
Austin hit play.
It stated with a CCN presenter introducing the news story from the studio.
"…And now we go live to our news correspondent live at the conference. Andrew?"
The shot cut to a man, presumably Andrew, speaking quietly to the camera.
"Thank you, Susana. Yes, I'm live at the Empire State Building for this special news conference. At the table in front of us sit three of the most controversial people at the minute. These three claim to be the Greek gods Zeus, Hera and Athena. They have called this conference to announce themselves to the world. It is just about to begin."
The camera panned over to the main table, focusing on Zeus. He was wearing a black pinstripe suit, his beard neatly trimmed. Hera sat to his left, looking as regal as ever in a deep purple toga and large golden earrings, and Athena on his right, wearing a smart black suit and a long necklace with an owl on the end. They all looked as stunning as ever, even more so seeing as the recording was in HD.
Zeus stood and began to speak.
"Greetings, all of you, and thank you for coming. As you are aware, my name is Zeus. This is my wife, Hera, goddess of women and marriage, and my daughter, Athena, goddess of wisdom." He indicated to each in turn. "We are but a few of the Greek gods that exist in this world. Here, today, we reveal ourselves to you. Too long have we lived in secret. Now is the time for us the be known once more."
"Why?" one of the reporters challenged. "So we can worship you again? Is that it?"
Zeus smiled slightly, as is amused by the question. But, even seated, I saw the anger flicker in his eyes.
"Not at all," he replied calmly. "We merely wish not to lie to our people any more."
"Then what else is there?" someone else asked.
"Anything you imagine from Greek mythology exists. The gods, the creatures, everything."
"Did all of the things detailed in mythology happen, then?" Andrew piped up. "Take Hercules, for example. Was he real? Did he actually complete the labours?"
I saw Hera tense next to Zeus, the exact moment he flinched and Athena looked to the ground.
Zeus stated: "Yes, I did have a son. Heracles was his name, though: the Romans named his Hercules. He did complete the labours set before him. A lot of those mentioned in the tale are still around. For example, the Aegean stables and the horses that live within them still exist, as do the golden apples. However, Cerberus has since been returned to the Underworld, where he still resides now."
"So, you're saying you know of life after death?" a middle aged man with a French accent asked. "What about other religions theories?"
"By coming forward we are not denying nor confirming the existence of other gods." Zeus began. "Religions like Christianity, Islam and Hinduism may also be right in the existence of their gods. We mean no disrespect to anyone, or their gods. Even we do not know all that transpires in this world, even though we are responsible for the majority of things."
There was a murmur in the crowd of journalists before another question was thrown at the gods.
"What about other demigods?" a female reporter asked. "Are they around?"
Athena answered this time. "Yes, the gods still have children with mortals, the child becoming a demigod." There was a large out cry then, everyone shouting questions at once, but Athena simply held up her hand and the whole room quietened.
"As I was saying," she said. "Demigods do exist. There are many scattered all over the world. They are no different than anyone else in this world. Yes, they inherit characteristics from their parents, as any child does, and should not be scrutinised because of it."
She stared down the camera.
"And yes, that is a warming. If any of us hear of someone treating a demigod differently because of their heritage, know that you will have the force of the Greek gods to answer to."
Wow. I was not expecting that, especially from Athena, supposedly one of the more… relaxed gods. Still, I suppose if someone hurt one of her kids, she would smite them instantly.
The bell, of course, chose that moment to ring, half way through the interview. We all jumped, not expecting it.
"C'mon," Henry said, obviously bored. "We don't want to be late to the first assembly of the new term, eh?"
She had a point. Unwillingly, we all gathered our bags, Austin logged off, and we headed out of the room towards the Great Hall.