Hey guys! Here's chapter 2! But first I want to say thanks to the four of you who reviewed, I love getting reviews, they give me warm fuzzies. :) Of course I also enjoy constructive criticism if anyone has any advice to make the story better. Also, a million thanks to all you guys who favorited or followed. It's nice to know some people are enjoying it!
Disclaimer: Twilight and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, including the characters and settings are the property of Stephanie Meyer and Rick Riordan respectively. I've just applied my imagination.
Note: Dialogue which is underlined, "Like this," indicates that the characters are speaking in Ancient Greek. Any other languages spoken will have the translation immediately after it. (And sorry if these are slightly wrong, I only speak English and so had to resort to Google translate. If they aren't right and you wish to correct me, please do so.)
I threaten Edward with bunnies
Fifty-seven minutes later and I was rushing toward the Hall of the Gods, pulling my hair into a pony tail as I went in an attempt to make it look a little less ruffled.
I made it just before the hour was up, causing Hermes to roll his eyes. I had decided to just keep my looks the way they were – it was very different to Bella Swan after all, and this way I wouldn't have to change when we came back here.
"Ready?" asked Hermes.
"Yep," I said. "You know where to go?"
"Who do you take me for?"
With that, we both morphed into our true forms and teleported to Forks. It felt so good to be able to finally transport myself in this way. It had been on my mind the entire swim from Quebec to Forks, albeit slightly overshadowed by my worry.
We had agreed to meet at the end of the Cullen's driveway. I wasn't sure if they could hear this far, but even if they could, it would give them at least a little warning. They would be able to hear us coming as we walked to the house. I remembered how frantic Edward had been when Nico seemed to appear out of thin air back in the baseball clearing.
It was the middle of the night by now, probably in the early hours of the morning. It had been about midmorning when I left Forks with Apollo if I recall correctly, so it had almost been a full day since Edward had seen us.
"It's going to be a bit of a walk," I said, speaking in Ancient Greek just in case they could hear this far. I'm fairly certain that not even the vampires would have any reason to learn Ancient Greek, unless Aro taught Carlisle while he was in Volterra, but that's unlikely. He seemed to speak Italian these days.
"Never been afraid of a walk," said Hermes. We began to go down the drive. "So, how do you think is the best way to go about this? Blunt? Long-winded?"
"I think we should try to make them curious first," I said. "You know, do things that humans would be unable to do. Maybe at first we can pretend to be there to just ask what Edward thinks he saw, rather than to take them with us."
"Why?" asked Hermes. "Why can't we just tell them who we are? They're vampires, right? They are older than the mortals we normally have to deal with."
"No," I said, "not really. Carlisle is the oldest, and he was born only about three hundred and sixty years ago. None of them will believe immediately. But if we make them think that we aren't human first, and then do something that they will find interesting, they will be curious to know what we are and then we will have a better chance of them believing."
Hermes nodded.
"I'm surprised you're so curious," I said, grinning. "Normally you'd just wing it."
"I really am incredibly busy at the moment," he said, sighing. "I need to do this as quick as possible. Besides, it's nice to know more about the vampires you've been dealing with the past few months. You are my cousin after all."
I grinned at him. Other than my father and Apollo, Hermes was the Olympian I got on best with. He was the one I had the most contact with – as the messenger of the gods, he was the only one who could go everywhere, so he was able to visit Atlantis every now and then – and we loved each other as siblings, even though I wasn't an Olympian myself.
It didn't take us too long to get to the house, but when we did I was a little shocked. All of the vampires bar Edward were on the porch, with Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie standing in defensive positions. Hermes glanced at me, but I held my hands up.
"This is all yours, buddy." As I spoke, the vampires flinched. It would seem I was right – none of them knew which language I was speaking in.
"Thanks a lot," muttered Hermes. Then he moved forward, holding his hands in front of him, palms up, in a non-threatening way. Then he spoke in a pleasant tone. "Hello, I assume you're the Cullen family?"
The Cullens seemed a little surprised, as if they didn't expect him to be able to speak English. Then Carlisle moved in front of the rest of his family.
"Might I ask who you are, and what you are doing here?" he asked.
"That's Carlisle, the leader," I whispered. Hermes nodded at me.
"We have a matter that needs to be discussed," he said, ignoring Carlisle's first question. "It involves your son, Edward."
Back on the porch Esme stiffened, and Alice's expression became one of horror. Jasper and Rose snarled, while Emmett simply crouched a little lower. Carlisle, on the other hand, smiled, albeit tightly.
"He hasn't done anything wrong," said Hermes, quickly. "We just need to talk to him."
"Does this have anything to do with Bella?" asked Alice.
Thankfully, I managed to keep my face composed. I stared at her, and spoke like I was speaking at her.
"You have to pretend you don't know me," I said. "They probably won't talk to us otherwise."
"I can improvise, you know," sighed Hermes. "You act like I'm helpless. But never mind – I'll pretend I'm translating."
"Sure," I said, looking at him. I spoke more so the Cullens would think I was replying than for the point of talking to Hermes. They had begun to look more and more confused during our exchange.
Hermes gestured to me.
"She is asking whether by 'Bella' you mean my cousin," said Hermes.
"Why can't she ask herself?" asked Alice.
"She won't speak English," said Hermes. I hoped they wouldn't notice that he'd said won't rather than can't. If they did, they didn't comment on it.
"Then to answer your question," said Carlisle, "The Bella that Alice was asking about is Isabella Swan, and as far as we know both her parents were only children."
"Apparently 'Bella's' parents have no siblings," said Hermes, keeping up appearances. I nodded at him, and then he turned back to Carlisle. "I don't know this 'Bella Swan' of yours, but we do need to talk to you."
"This is good," I whispered, watching Carlisle. "He is curious to know what we are, and why we need to talk to Edward if not about Bella. He will probably ask what we are soon."
Hermes nodded at me.
"What did she just say?" demanded Rose, speaking for the first time since we arrived.
"She was just reminding me that we are on a schedule," said Hermes. "Please, let us talk to you. You have my solemn oath that we do not mean any harm."
"Jasper?" asked Carlisle.
"He was being very truthful when he said that," said Jasper.
"Well, we are in a hurry," said Hermes.
Yeah, you and me both, Hermes. I don't want to be in Forks any longer than necessary, although I do intend to come back to thank Charlie. I left his house kind of suddenly.
But the vampires still looked skeptical.
"Mention numbers," I said, this time pretending to talk to Carlisle. "Even though they seem very civilised, they still have an animal wildness inside. A reminder that they outnumber us seven to two will calm them. They believe they are stronger than us after all."
"She says that you have little to fear," 'translated' Hermes. "You outnumber us, and you're vampires. Even if we did attack you – what chance would we have?"
Again, all truths, albeit misleading ones. They were a little shocked that we knew who they were, but other than that seemed to settle a little.
"Very well then," said Carlisle. "We will talk in the living room."
Jasper refused to turn his back to us and Rosalie didn't seem happy, but other than that they all went inside, albeit a little warily, with us following.
In the living room we found Edward, sitting alone on an armchair with his head in his hands. We sat together on the love seat, doing our best to look non-threatening, while the vampires took up different positions in the room – Rose on the other armchair, with Emmett sprawled at her feet, Alice leaning against the wall by the TV and Jasper standing not far from the love seat, subtly positioned between us and Alice. Carlisle also sat on the love seat next to Hermes, and Esme perched on the arm next to him.
"I see what you meant," muttered Hermes. "Aphrodite will love these guys."
I grinned.
"Could you please speak in English?" asked Rose snidely. "We would all like to understand, you see."
Hermes sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Right," he started. "We need to talk to Edward. I assume that you?" He looked at said vampire, who lifted his head.
"Why?" his voice was not the soft, smooth tone I was used to. It was rougher, harsher – if he were human, I'd say he'd been crying.
Was that because of me? I hoped not. I'd only been with him like I figured a teenage human would with her first boyfriend. Maybe I'd overdone it a little… or maybe he'd gotten the wrong idea when I'd rescued him from Italy. That was when he'd proposed to me, after all.
Hermes seemed to be thinking what to say. He glanced at me, and I nodded minutely. I knew he'd see it and understand. Then, for the vampire's benefit, I shrugged and pretended to look confused. After all, I wasn't supposed to be able to understand them.
"An… incident came to our attention yesterday morning," said Hermes. "It turns out that my brother was the perpetrator, actually. But we were just wondering if you could tell us what it was you saw."
"What do mean?" said Edward, frowning. I sighed. Great. Now Hermes was going to have to give out more information.
"Yesterday, at approximately… nine am?" He glanced at me for confirmation. I raised one of my eyebrows, and then he understood.
"This is annoying," he muttered.
"Yeah," I said. "But yes, it was about then."
"Yes, at about 9 am, though we aren't positive," said Hermes, "My brother, for lack of a better word, visited a large clearing a few miles from here, and you, Edward, was apparently present. I also have information that you, Alice, were also involved, but I don't quite know how."
"I wasn't really," said Alice. "I just… well, it's complicated."
"How did you know I was there?" asked Edward.
Hermes rolled his eyes.
"My brother made a mistake, and was forced to report it. When my father learnt you'd seen everything, he was angry to say the least. You see, vampires are unaware of our existence, and we'd kind of like to keep it that way."
That was good. I would have congratulated Hermes on that if it wouldn't have seemed odd to the Cullens.
"And what, exactly, are you?" asked Carlisle.
"In good time," said Hermes, "Just know that we are not vampires, yet neither are we human."
"Talk to me," I muttered.
"What now?" he asked.
"Good enough. Mention werewolves."
"Fine." He turned back to the Cullens. "She said to mention we aren't werewolves either."
"Cool," said Emmett.
"How did she know what we were talking about?" demanded Rose. Oops. I thought getting Hermes to talk to me first would be enough, but apparently not.
"You want to answer that, Ella?" asked Hermes.
"I understand a little," I said. Then, I made my voice low and spoke very slowly, like I was speaking a language I hadn't learnt properly. "Human. No Human."
The vampires looked very, very confused now to say the least.
"She understands bits of English," said Hermes. "She can speak a word here and there. It's difficult to not know any English at all these days, what with American TV being in practically every country and all. She recognised the word human and then realised what we must be talking about."
I love how none of that was a lie.
"I have a question," said Alice.
"Yes?" asked Hermes.
"If it was your brother that was in the clearing that morning, how can you not know who Bella is?"
"I don't know all the details," said Hermes. "I'm just doing as my father asked."
Wow, nice save. Although I suppose he isn't the God of cunning for nothing.
"And that was…" prompted Carlisle.
"To find out what Edward saw," groaned Hermes, clearly irritated at the repetition. "Please, I am in a hurry – I have an awful lot to do. I didn't even want to do this, but no, he was all you're the fastest, you'll get it done the quickest, etcetera, etcetera."
"So why did she come?" asked Emmett, pointing at me. I gave him my best glare. "Whoa, what I do?"
"She has to go by your tone of voice," said Hermes. "She probably thought you were insulting her."
"Can you tell her I'm sorry?" asked Emmett.
"He says he's sorry," Hermes deadpanned.
"Great. We do need to get this moving though. We need to get Edward to talk… hmm… maybe ask him straight out why he was in the clearing the first place? That should get a response."
"Fine." He turned to Emmett. "She says you're forgiven."
Emmett grinned at me, and I smiled back.
"Now," said Hermes, "As I said I am in a hurry. Please, just answer our questions and we'll go. Edward, what were you doing in the clearing in the first place? Were you hunting? Just going for a walk?"
"It'd rather not talk about that, if you don't mind," growled Edward.
Well, I was sort of right – it did get a response.
"Just tell me," said Hermes. "I am trying to be nice. Seriously, you don't want to see me when I'm angry."
"Are you threatening him?" asked Rose.
"No," sighed Hermes, frustrated. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but we really need these answers."
"I have an idea," I said.
"She wants to know what is going on," said Hermes, before the Cullens could ask. "Well, what is it? And please make it good."
"I'll make the taps explode or something," I said. Hermes looked shocked.
"No violence," He said. I rolled my eyes.
"That's not what I meant. I just want to get things moving. Maybe then Edward will ask about Apollo and then we can go from there."
"Fine," said Hermes, "I'll sound like I'm trying to stop you. What shall I call you?"
"I don't know… Edward heard Percy and Nico call me Ella, so he might make the connection."
"Izzy it is."
If he was trying to make me angry for the sake of the act, he succeeded.
"Hey! You know I don't like that name!"
"Too bad."
With that, I stood up and marched toward Edward, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him up off the chair, although not very high.
"Why won't you tell us?" I yelled. "Purple fluffy bunnies will stalk you if you don't eat bananas!"
What? I had to say something.
"Izzy!" yelled Hermes. "Stop! No, don't hurt her – she doesn't mean it!"
Edward tried to get free, but I held on tight and he didn't have enough momentum. The shirt started to rip, but I paid it no attention.
Instead of making the tap explode, I decided to go for something a little more dramatic. I may be the Goddess of the waves, but that doesn't mean I didn't inherit other powers from my father. I focused on the power of the ocean pulsating a few miles away and then caused a light breeze to start up around me, gradually making it stronger and stronger. My hair was blowing everywhere, I could hear the objects in the room rattle, and Edward's eyes widened in shock. He even stopped struggling.
"Tell us!" I shouted. Just then, Hermes placed his hand on my shoulder, and I turned to look at him.
"Calm down, Izzy," he said in English, and then, "They're about to attack you – I'd stop now."
I nodded, and took a deep breath, acting to calm myself. I let the wind die down and allowed Hermes to pull me back into the seat. He put an arm around me and I leaned my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes and pretending to be tired.
"So they don't think we are too powerful," I whispered. "Besides, this might make Edward think of Nico – he was dead on his feet from the shadow travel when Edward saw him."
"What the hell was that?" asked Rosalie. I opened one eye to see that all the Cullens were standing now, and all of them were angry. Even Esme.
"Izzy's had a tough time the last couple of years," sighed Hermes. "She's been away from the family against her will, and separated from her husband. She had only been back for literally an hour when my father sent us here."
"Her husband?" asked Esme. I could tell the story Hermes was selling was getting to her motherly instincts. I hated treating them this way, but then, I suppose it was kind of the truth. "But she only looks sixteen or seventeen at the most."
"Your children frequently pass for teenagers, and yet they've been married for decades," Hermes pointed out.
"That's beside the point," said Rosalie. "I want to know how the hell she made a miniature hurricane in the middle of our living room!"
"You think that was a hurricane," muttered Hermes. "You should have seen what she did when her brother stole her journal a couple of years back."
"You mean she can do more than that?" asked Carlisle, although for some reason he seemed more intrigued than fearful or angry. I guess my innocent little girl act was working.
"Yeah, but it takes a lot out of her."
"Can you do that?" asked Emmett. He sounded excited. Oh yeah, score one to me!
"No, I can't create hurricanes. But this is beside the point! Oh, and this is just great," he was muttering now, "Now all of you have seen what she can do… brilliant."
"Why are you so concerned about people knowing about you?" asked Alice.
"If you knew, you'd understand," muttered Hermes.
"Well duh," said Emmett.
"Look, Edward, please can you just say what you saw?"
"Well, it was nothing like what, erm, Izzy just did. But I did see a kid appear out of nowhere, and a flying, flaming car."
Yes! My plan worked!
"Great," said Hermes sarcastically.
"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to sound tired.
"What do you want to say?" asked Hermes in a gentle tone, which I have a feeling was more for the Cullens than it was for me.
"Do you think we should just take them to Olympus before telling them, or afterwards?"
"It would seem they don't know what we are anyway," said Hermes. "Like he saw nothing in the satyr's mind."
"We can't be sure."
"Fine. This calls for desperate action."
"Even more desperate than blowing a gale?"
"Yup. Right, Edward, tell me now. Tell me what you saw, what you heard – including what you heard in any of their minds – and what you think happened, and then we will leave. If you don't, I'll have to call my father and believe me when I say that he will be much less accommodating than us – he's more likely to simply kill you rather than bother to ask you questions."
"What do you mean what I heard in their minds?" asked Edward, pretending to be confused.
"Oh don't give me that," growled Hermes. "I know you're a mind reader and you were already trying my patience a long time ago. Now talk."
"Fine," growled Edward. "I've told you I saw a flying hummer limousine that was on fire. I saw six people. I couldn't read the minds of five of them, but I could read the mind of the sixth. He was a boy, maybe in his late teens. He kept thinking ridiculous things about Greek mythology, almost as if he believed it was real. They were talking about the casualties in some sort of battle they had fought in."
Hermes glanced at me.
"What do you think?"
"I think that's all we need," I said, "But they still won't believe us. We should take them in first."
"Fine, I'll send a message to Zeus."
I nodded, and then Hermes looked at the Cullens.
"Thank you, Edward. Now, I know you haven't told me the entire story, but that's okay. I need to take you to my father."
At his words, there was an outrage.
"We can't possibly-"
"You said he'd-"
"Away from our home? How dare you?"
"-absolutely no right-"
"-never even considering-"
"-about Bella? We have to-"
"Don't worry, they won't hurt you," Hermes shouted over the arguing vampires. "Trust me, when you get there you'll be glad you came. When we're there, we'll tell you who we are."
"Why won't you tell us now?" asked Alice.
"You won't believe us," said Hermes. "Trust me."
"How do we know you aren't just going to kill us?"
Hermes glanced at me. I sighed, opened my eyes and moved off his shoulder so that I could look at him. We both nodded at the same time.
"I swear on the River Styx that you will not be killed during this particular trip to our home," I said. No need to leave a loophole.
"I swear on the River Styx that you will not be killed during this particular trip to our home," said Hermes.
"What does that even mean?" asked Emmett. "And what did Izzy say?"
"She said exactly the same as I did," said Hermes. "And an oath upon the River Styx is the strongest oath it is possible to take. If an oath on the Styx is broken, it has… unpleasant consequences."
The sincerity in Hermes' voice was impossible to miss.
"The Styx is that river in the Underworld in Greek mythology," said Carlisle.
"Quite so," said Hermes.
"We'll take a vote," said Carlisle.
"Wait," said Edward. "The man in the flaming car left with my… my girlfriend, so is it possible that she may be wherever you are taking us?"
"Quite possible, yes," said Hermes, glancing at me. "In fact, knowing my brother, it is very likely."
"That was your brother?" asked Edward, rage present in his voice.
"Half brother," said Hermes, as if that made a difference. "Anyway, are you coming or not?"
"Well, I vote yes," said Carlisle.
"Yes," said Esme. "Poor Bella…"
She clearly thought I went unwillingly. Oh dear. But if it got them to Olympus…
"Yes," said Edward, his expression hard.
"No," said Rose. "It's too risky. I won't put my life in the hands of strangers. We don't even know their names!"
"You almost certainly know my name already," said Hermes, "And it's possible you know Izzy's full name too, although less likely."
"What?" asked Emmett.
"All will become clear if you come with us," said Hermes.
"In that case, my vote is Yes," said Emmett.
"I say No," said Jasper. He had been very quiet, and I figured he was probably calculating the possibilities and the dangers. If he weren't a vampire I'd say he were a son of Athena, but that would be impossible. Vampire venom is deadly to a demigod. "I will not risk Alice to this."
"Well, I say yes," said Alice quietly. "I want to find my sister. I want to know what happened to her."
I sighed, causing many of them to look at me, but luckily I managed to make it seem like a tired sigh. She still thought of me as her sister… how did I deserve that?
"Then we go," said Carlisle. "How do we get there?"
"Hang on," said Hermes. "We're going to transport them, alright?"
I nodded.
"I'll go and send that message to Zeus then. I've left George and Martha with Iris though, so I'll have to IM him."
"You left them with Iris?" I asked, amazed. It was virtually unheard of for a god to leave their symbol of power with another. Plus, just thinking about the havoc George and Martha could cause in ROFL… it made me shudder.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," he said.
I sighed again.
"Alright, I just need to go and inform my father that we're coming," said Hermes. "Excuse me, I'll just be a moment."
He stood and walked outside, leaving me alone with the seven vampires.
The silence was deafening until, predictably, Emmett broke it.
"So, you can't speak English?"
I stared at him.
"Your name is Izzy?" I smiled in what I hoped looked like recognition. "Right… you know that wind thing you did was really cool."
I cocked my head to the side.
"Um, can you speak in any other languages? French? Mandarin? Italian? Portuguese? I don't know… Japanese?"
"Emmett," I said, using my low, slow voice so they wouldn't recognise me.
He grinned.
"You know my name!"
"You idiot," I muttered.
"Okay, Izzy, I'm going to teach you English. Copy me: Emmett is cool."
I stared at him.
"Emmett. Is. Cool. Come on, Izzy, say it with me."
I continued to stare at him, not blinking.
"Okay, that's kind of weird. What is your name?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"Name," said Emmett slowly. "Your name."
"Emmett," I said.
"No, your name!" said Emmett.
"Name, Emmett."
"No," he insisted. "Izzy."
"Izzy," I said.
"Yeah! What does Izzy stand for?"
"Honestly, this is completely ridiculous," I said.
"You're telling me I'm an idiot, aren't you?" sighed Emmett.
"Yep, that's basically what she said."
I looked up to see Hermes enter the room, and so I stood. The vampires followed my lead.
"Now," said Hermes, "It's pretty simple. All you have to do is hold on to one of us. It would be best if four of you hold onto me, and three of you hold on to Izzy. I'm faster, so this way we should get there at the same time. But make sure you close your eyes and keep them closed until we say you can open them. Our mode of travel can cause even vampires to go mad."
Said vampires were now looking more than a little wary, but they did move toward us. Emmett came straight to me, and Esme and Alice did the same. That left Edward, Carlisle, Rosalie and Jasper to go with Hermes.
"You know where to land, right?" asked Hermes.
"Who do you think I am?" I asked, grinning at him.
He winked, and held out his arms.
"Grab on. And do NOT forget to close your eyes! I swore you'd stay alive, so I'd very much like to keep you that way thanks." The Cullens held onto his arms closed their eyes, but the three that would be going with me did not. "I mean all of you," continued Hermes, "Even just looking at one of us when we are about to travel is dangerous.
I held out my arms and Alice, Emmett and Esme grabbed on. They closed their eyes, but Emmett was peeking.
"Emmett," I said sternly, "Close your eyes or you'll die."
"Emmett, she says you need to keep your eyes closed," said Hermes. "I think she must like you – she doesn't want you to die either."
"Great," said Emmett, grinning. But he closed his eyes.
I nodded to Hermes and then the both of us changed and transported.
We arrived in Olympus, down the bottom of the mountain but on the other side to the Empire State entrance.
"You can let go now," I said.
"Does that mean we can let go?" asked Emmett.
"Yes, it does," said Hermes.
The seven of them did so, and they opened their eyes.
Every single one of them, including Rosalie, gasped in awe.
"We're in the clouds," muttered Carlisle, looking around. "We must be very high up."
"Oh my god," said Emmett. I had to hide my wince at his use of the singular 'god'. "We're in the sky!"
"Don't be ridiculous," said Rosalie.
"No really!" said Emmett. "Look down there! Is that… No way… Is that New York?"
"It looks like it," whispered Alice.
"Impossible!" gasped Jasper.
"Where are we?" asked Esme.
"You wouldn't believe us," said Hermes.
"You say that a lot," said Emmett, "and now that we're standing on some sort of mountain in the sky above New York, I think I might just understand why."
Hermes and I exchanged an amused glance.
"Now, I have to leave," said Hermes. "Just follow Izzy. I'm going to go and get my caduceus immediately. If you need to talk to them, perhaps just use another language? One that is nothing like English?"
"Fine," I said. With that, Hermes ran off.
"Oh sure, muttered Rose, "Leave us with the psycho who can't speak English."
I glared at her.
"I will take you to the Hall of the Gods," I said.
"I'm sorry dear, we don't understand," said Esme.
I sighed, and decided I would have to do as Hermes said.
"D'accord," I sighed. Okay. "Parlez-vous français? ¿Habla usted español? Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Parli italiano?" Do you speak French? Do you speak Spanish? Do you speak German? Do you speak Italian?
To say that the vampire's expressions were shocked would be an understatement.
"You can speak other languages the whole time?" asked Emmett incredulously.
I waved my hands, gesturing one of them to speak.
"We can all speak any of those," said Alice. "They are some of the standard languages for high schools to teach, after all."
"She won't understand that," sneered Rose.
"Bien au contraire, en fait," I said, deciding on French. Quite the contrary, in fact.
"What the hell!" exclaimed Emmett. "You made me look like an idiot!"
"Why are you not speaking in English if you can?" asked Carlisle.
"L'anglais n'est pas ma langue maternelle, je préfère la langue que je suis né dans. Mais surtout, c'est parce que mon oncle m'a dit de ne pas pour le moment," I said. English is not my first language, I prefer the language I was born into. But mainly it's because my uncle told me not to for the moment.
"Why the hell not?" asked Emmett.
"Vous comprendrez bien assez tôt. Maintenant, suivez-moi." You will understand soon enough. Now, follow me.
I began to walk up through the pathways, weaving in and out between various statues and temples, the vampires trailing behind.
"Where are we going?" asked Alice.
"Le ... eh bien, disons juste que Les Douze veux pas vous voir. Je suppose qu'on pourrait appeler leur conseil," I said. The… well, let's just say the Twelve wish to see you. I suppose you would call them a council.
They were quiet for a while, and simply gaped at everything we passed.
"The architecture here is amazing," commented Esme. "It's all Ancient Greek – it's so good it looks authentic!"
"Il est loin d'être sa grandeur d'habitude - il a été le site d'une bataille seulement il ya quelques jours. Ce côté n'a pas été durement touchée, même si - il est de l'autre côté de la montagne qui est en ruines," I said sadly, sighing. It is nowhere near it's usual grandeur – it was the site of a battle only a few days ago. This side was not hit badly, though – it is the other side of the mountain that is in ruins.
"A battle?" asked Carlisle. "Who was fighting?"
"Bella mentioned a battle," muttered Edward. "She was talking about it to those people, just before she left."
"Technically, you left before she did," said Alice. "She may have stayed with you if you were still there."
"Izzy?" asked Carlisle.
"Je n'ai pas particulièrement envie d'en parler. S'il est important pour vous, mon oncle va en parler," I said sadly. I don't particularly want to talk about it. If it is important to you, my uncle will mention it.
"Where are we going?" asked Alice.
"La Salle des Dieux." The Hall of the Gods.
"Do you mean some sort of temple?" asked Edward. I smirked at him, but didn't say anything more.
We didn't talk about anything else until we got there, all the way to the top of the mountain. When we did, they were all gasping again.
"There's so much damage," said Jasper. "I must have been one hell of a fight.
"Vous n'avez absolument aucune idée," I sighed. You have absolutely no idea.
I led them into the Hall of the Gods, and then up to the doors of the throne room. Then I paused, and turned to them.
"Attends-moi ici." Wait here.
"Where are you going?" asked Alice.
I ignored her, opened the door a crack and squeezed through, shutting it firmly behind me.
They were all there already, sitting in their thrones, this time including Dionysus. I glanced at Hermes, and he nodded. I guess that means he'd informed them of everything.
"Well?" asked Zeus.
"The vampires are outside."
"Bring them in."
I went through the door again, and then stood in front of the vampires. I regarded them for a second, and wondered if I should warn them. In the end, I figured nothing could prepare them, and settled for two simple words.
"Préparez-vous." Brace yourselves.
Then I threw open the doors.
I did not turn to look at the reactions of the vampires, and instead simply walked across the room to stand beside my father, growing up to my 'godly' size as I did so. I did, however, hear their gasps as they took in the room and it's occupants, and I heard Carlisle exclaim;
"It can't be."
Oh Carlisle, yes it can.
"So," said Zeus, studying the vampires. "You are the Cullens."
They didn't answer. They just looked stunned. I knew Hermes and I made the right decision in not telling them who we were before. They will definitely believe us now – standing on a floating mountain with a council of twelve powerful beings in a place called the Hall of the Gods with a large omega on the floor under their feet? Yeah, they'd have figured it out by now.
Predictably, Emmett was the one to talk. Perhaps he hadn't realised where he was, like I am fairly sure the others had. Or perhaps he had a death wish. Either one.
"Izzy," he gasped, "You're so tall!"
I think all the other Cullens stiffened in sync, but I can't be sure.
"Izzy?" whispered Apollo incredulously, amused.
"Shut up," I mumbled. "I had to be called something."
I could hear Hermes snickering, and in front of me my father seemed to be struggling to not do the same.
The Cullen's eyes widened when they heard me speak English, while Edward had not taken his eyes off Apollo since he'd spoken. Of course Edward would recognise him from the clearing. He didn't seem to understand quite how powerful Apollo was though, as he seemed to be glaring at him with everything he had. Apollo, meanwhile, just lounged back like everything was fine in the world and it was a Saturday. Oh well… I suppose I should just be glad he wasn't listening to his iPod.
"Your voice is familiar," whispered Alice, looking at me.
"You will all stop speaking out of turn!" thundered Zeus. All the vampires looked at him immediately, even Edward. "Do you know where you are?"
As I predicted, Emmett shook his head.
"You are on Mount Olympus," said Zeus, "Home to the Gods."
The vampires seemed to be slack-jawed, like they'd guessed where they were but didn't believe it until it was confirmed.
"No way," muttered Emmett, looking at me again. "You're a Goddess?"
"Cullens!" said Zeus, "You are here for a reason!"
"Come now, brother," said my father, "Give them a little time to process this. They did not realise we existed until they walked through those doors, as Isiobella and Hermes did not seem fit to inform them before hand."
"Hermes?" asked Alice, rather loudly, spinning around to face said God. "You're Hermes?"
Carlisle, meanwhile, was staring forwards.I could see his mouth moving – he seemed to be forming the words Zeus and Poseidon.
"This is boring," said Dionysus, causing all the Cullens to look at him. "Can we just get them to swear not to talk about us to the other vampires and then send them back to where they came from, or better yet, turn them into something more interesting, such as a grape vine?"
"Do you actually want to go back to camp, Dionysus?" asked Apollo grinning, attracting the glare of Edward once more.
Dionysus simply humphed and sat lower in his seat.
"We can't hurt them," said Hermes. "To get them here we had to promise not to."
"I recall you promising we wouldn't kill them," said Ares. "There is a difference, you know."
"If you hurt them they would be more likely to tell others of us," said Athena.
"I like Dionysus' idea, if it helps," said Apollo, "Although I would go for something more exciting than a grape vine. Maybe… a dinosaur?"
"Idiot," said Artemis, "We can't have dinosaurs running around, they'd attract attention!"
"Very small dinosaurs then!"
"Quiet!" yelled Zeus.
By now, the Cullens had a dazed look about them – although Emmett seemed to be considering being a dinosaur and looked like he quite liked the idea.
"Alright," said Zeus, "Cullens, you will swear not to tell any others of our existence or you will be destroyed."
"Hold on, Zeus," said Athena. "That's not the best way to go about this."
"Then how would you go about it?" growled Zeus. Oh, thank goodness for Athena. She may hate me because of my father, but she's still amazing. She simply gave Zeus a stern look, and he sighed. "Alright, Alright. Cullens, who is your spokesperson?"
"That would be me, sir," said Carlisle.
"Right. Tell me what you know of us."
Carlisle began rattling off a couple of facts from the old stories, and Zeus held up his hand.
"Stop. I did not mean for you to tell us what happened centuries ago. Tell me what you know of us now."
This time, Carlisle seemed to get what he meant. He must have just been nervous.
"Well," he said, "The first contact I had with one of you was when Hermes and Izzy – sorry, Isiobella – came to our house earlier today and told us they needed to speak with us. Other than what you have said, what Hermes told us and what we know from the myths, we don't know anything about you at all."
Carlisle seemed to sense that he had said something wrong. We all shifted slightly when he'd said the word 'myths'. Nobody commented this time, but I knew someone would if he said it again.
"That is not true, Carlisle Cullen," said Zeus. Carlisle's eyes widened. "Earlier today was not your first encounter with one of us, which is why you are here. Edward Cullen, please step forward."
Edward did so, looking slightly nervous.
"Hermes told me you did not inform him of everything that happened to you during a particular incident."
Edward shifted, looking anxious and, I think, slightly fearful.
"Something else happened. Would you mind telling us what it was?"
"Lord Zeus," I said, quickly. "You did not mention this before!"
"Ella, calm down," said my father, turning to look at me. "You don't want to-"
"I can't face them now!" I said, groaning. "I can't let them see that I've lied!"
"They care a great deal about you, sweetie," said Aphrodite. "I can tell. They will forgive you for this."
"Edward won't though."
"No," she said, "But his soul mate is still out there. He'll find love eventually, and you have helped him learn the proper way to treat a girl of this century, as opposed to a lady of the previous one."
"But what about Alice and Esme?" I asked.
"This must be done, Ella," said Zeus. "There is no way around this, not if we want their complete loyalty."
I glanced at Apollo.
"He's telling the truth, Elle," he said.
I sighed, and pressed a hand to my forehead.
"Fine," I said.
Aphrodite looked at me sympathetically. I just kept staring at Apollo.
"Go," sighed my father. I hadn't realised he was still watching me.
"Thank you, father," I said. Then I walked across the room again to stand next to Apollo rather than behind my father, and took his hand. This normally wasn't allowed – a minor god or goddess usually must stand near the Olympian that presided over their realm. But both my father and Zeus, supposedly, since I heard no protest, must have understood. This was a kind of exceptional situation after all.
During the entire exchange, the Cullens had been looking back and forth between us, like some sort of twisted tennis match. They all looked incredibly confused, and when I had moved to be next to Apollo, they all, apart from Alice, seemed angry. Edward must have told them all that happened in the clearing. Alice, though, looked – was I right? – hopeful. Why?
"Now," said Zeus, turning back to Edward. "Tell us."
Ares leaned forward in his seat in expectation.
Edward sighed, glanced around the room and ran his hand through his hair. Then, supposedly unable to find anyway out of it, he began to talk.
"I was in the clearing because I had followed my girlfriend," said Edward. Not quite true, I suppose, but close enough. "She seemed desperate about something, and she kept saying it was 'life or death'. But something was off – her eyes were the wrong colour for one thing. She was absolutely frantic. I tried to stop her from going because I was worried for her health, but she wouldn't listen."
"I bet she didn't," muttered Apollo, winking at me. Edward gave him a glare, then kept going.
"Eventually, I gave in and took her to the clearing. Just after we got there a boy stepped out of nowhere. I think she said his name was Nico."
"I know the boy," said Zeus.
"Really?" asked Edward, surprised. "Then how did Bella-"
"Continue please," interrupted Dionysus. "I really don't want to be sitting here all day."
"Fine. She talked to him for a little while, but I didn't like it because he smelt like death, and he kept calling her the wrong name, but she didn't seem to notice. She ignored me, though, and kept talking to him about some fight. Then, a flaming limousine landed in the clearing and four kids got out. She ran towards one of them – the Nico kid said he was her brother."
"Percy," said my father.
"Yes, that's it," said Edward. "But that didn't make any sense, because Bella is an only child."
"Quit stopping already, get on with it," growled Hephaestus.
"Well next," continued Edward, "She greeted the other three and then asked where someone else was, and…" Here, Edward glanced at Apollo.
"Ah," said Zeus.
"Yes, you can skip that bit," said Hermes, rolling his eyes. "We all know what would've happened then."
"What do mean by that?" asked Edward, angrily. "Why do you know what my girlfriend would have done with him?"
I shifted uneasily.
"Just continue," growled father, noticing my movement.
"Well, I didn't see what happened after that," said Edward. "I left the moment she started to… to…"
Zeus nodded.
"Yes," he said, "That correlates quite closely to what Isiobella told us earlier, although she made mention of a lot more harsh words being exchanged."
"How would Izzy know what happened?" asked Alice, "She wasn't even there."
"Please," I said, "Stop calling me Izzy."
"Isn't that your name?" asked Emmett, causing Apollo to laugh again.
"This is great," he chortled. "Not including all of Percy Jackson's stuff 'cause he's got an unfair advantage being the kid of the prophecy and all, I haven't seen a meeting this entertaining since Dionysus got exiled!"
Dionysus began a tirade of insults in Greek, and I whacked Apollo on the arm.
"Idiot," I said.
"Why is everyone calling me that recently?" he whined.
I ignored him.
"To answer your question, Emmett," I said, "No, Izzy is not my name, it is what Hermes called me so you wouldn't suspect who I was."
"It's also what Triton calls you when he's trying to irritate you," muttered Hermes.
I glanced at Zeus, then at my father. They both nodded. I took a deep breath.
"My name is Isiobella, Goddess of the waves, deep-sea currents and the tide, as well as the Island of Rhodes. I am a daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite and consort to Apollo."
"I thought the goddess of the waves was Benthesikyme," said Carlisle.
"Yes," said Edward, "And wasn't the Goddess of the Island of Rhodes, well, Rhode?"
"My sisters," I said sadly. Across the room, my father flinched. "They faded." The Cullens looked like they wanted to know more, but thankfully had the sense to keep quiet. My sisters were still a sore subject… Benthesikyme was not well known and not worshipped since the fall of Greece, causing her to fade, and Rhode faded when her husband, Helios faded after being disregarded by the Romans.
"Tell them what you have been doing recently, Ella," said Zeus.
"Surely she should be allowed a little break first?" asked Demeter. "You should at least allow her to eat some cereal. It will get her strength up before her big reveal."
"No, I'm alright, Demeter," I said. "But thanks for the offer."
I took a deep breath, preparing myself.
"You can do it, Elle," said Apollo. "Besides, if something goes wrong I'll protect you from the big scary vampires!"
I smiled at him, then moved towards the vampires, shirking back down to mortal size so I could talk to them more comfortably.
"About nineteen years ago," I said, "My father, Poseidon and I got into a little argument."
"It was a bit more than little," grumbled Hephaestus. "I felt it in my workshop!"
"Question!" yelled Emmett. The other gods bristled, but I just smiled. Emmett wasn't being disrespectful – that's just how he is.
"What, Emmett?"
"What does this have to do with what you've been doing recently?" he asked.
"Just be patient," I said. "You'll see."
Emmett pouted, but didn't say anything more.
"Anyway, we got into an argument, he got angry and caused an earthquake, and then I got angry and caused a tidal wave. Unfortunately, lives were lost."
"You create natural disasters when you get angry?" asked Rosalie slowly.
"You'd be surprised how often this actually happens," said Hermes.
"Yeah," said Apollo, chuckling, "Did you know it happens so often the mortals actually think tsunamis are caused by earthquakes?"
"Well, they'd be half right," I muttered, causing Hermes and Apollo to laugh and my father to huff. "Anyway, as a punishment for destroying the lives of several mortals without cause I was to be exiled to a life as a mortal for twenty five years."
"That's a little harsh," said Jasper. "It was an accident."
"Not really," I said, "Dionysus was exiled for much longer for going after a nymph."
"She was one of my Hunters, however," said Artemis.
"Right," I said. "Anyway, I was given the body of a mortal and handed off to a nice young couple to raise as their daughter. For the next eighteen and a half years, I had no contact with the gods other than my visits to Camp Half Blood."
Emmett spoke up again.
"What's Camp-"
"Stop interrupting!" I think the story of my tsunami made them reluctant to anger me again, because after that he stopped talking. "Anyway, at camp I met some demigods who were good friends to me, including one of my brothers, and I also met a brilliant satyr and a Cyclops, who is also my brother."
I could tell Emmett wanted to comment, but I kept talking.
"My life was practically that of a normal mortal child, minus the fact that I still kept my mind even as a baby, had a couple of very close encounters with non-humans and that I went to Camp. However, the Titan War came up, and my father needed my assistance to defend Atlantis."
"You were a great help, too," said my father, smiling at me.
"I left my mortal home and my father restored me to my natural form, allowing me to fight. When the war was over, my father returned to Atlantis from Olympus to announce our victory, and at the same time returned me to my mortal form, but then he had to leave to come back here, dropping me off in Quebec as he went. I was a little bit desperate – you see, I did not know whether my friends and family, including Apollo, were all right. I swam back to where my temporary father was living in hope to get more information – he's one of Hestia's mortal grandchildren, you see. He didn't know any more than I did, but he had received a message for me, telling me where to go to see my friends. Four of my demigod friends, including my brother, as well as one satyr and Apollo came to greet me. Then I came back here with Apollo and we reported what had happened. After that, Zeus sent Hermes and I to come and get you as Edward had seen too much. That brings us to the present."
The Cullens were gaping at me. Edward's eyes were wide and disbelieving, while Alice looked like she wanted to be excited and angry at the same time.
"No," whispered Edward.
I glanced at my father. He smiled encouragingly.
I didn't say anything. I simply stood there, waiting for one of them to speak.
"When you were a mortal," said Carlisle in a halting voice, "Where did you live?"
"I spent the majority of my time in Phoenix, Arizona," I said, watching their reactions. "But for the first year and the last year and a half, I was in Forks, Washington."
"Bella?" asked Alice.
I stared at her for a second. This was my last chance to duck out… but eventually, I nodded.
"In Forks I lived with a man called Charlie Swan. I went by the name Isabella Marie Swan."
The silence was deafening. And then:
"No," said Edward again. "No, you aren't Bella."
The funny thing was, Edward didn't sound like he was in denial – he sounded like he actually fully believed what he was saying.
"He's right," said Esme, nodding.
I raised an eyebrow.
"What makes you think that?" I asked.
"Well, you look completely different, for one," said Jasper. "Even your scent is different."
"Besides," said Esme, "Bella is completely in love with Edward, but you are married to Apollo. You can't be the same person."
I glanced at Zeus, who, amazingly, looked amused. I groaned. I was prepared for them to yell at me. To demand why I lied to them. To try and attack me. To even be happy to see me. I hadn't for one moment thought that they might not believe me.
"A little help, guys?" I asked, looking around.
"Oh no, Ella, this one's all yours," said Hermes a little evilly. Damn, I should have known he'd get me back for that.
"Right," I said, "Look. What reason could I possibly have to lie to you about this?"
"You don't exactly have the best track record," said Rosalie. "I mean, you did lie to us the entire time you were in our house."
"No I didn't," I said, "And neither did Hermes. Look back in your memories – everything we told you was the truth."
Well, everything except for when Hermes was 'translating' what I was saying in Ancient Greek, but other than that everything was true.
"You pretended you didn't know English," said Emmett.
"But I never told you outright that I didn't," I pointed out. "When Hermes said I wouldn't speak in English, you just assumed that meant I couldn't. Besides, how would I know exactly what happened before if Bella wasn't me?"
"You're a goddess," said Rose, pointing out the obvious.
"I think I have another theory," said Edward, eyes blazing. "When Bella came back after being gone for a month, she was different. She said things that were completely out of character for her, and she was talking about stuff she shouldn't have known about. Also, those people in the flaming car were people she'd never even mentioned before. Further, her eyes were a different colour." He looked at me intently. "Her eyes were the exact shade of green that yours are."
"Yeah," said, rolling my eyes, "That might be because we are the same person."
"You and that Bella might have been."
I, his family, and most of the other gods looked at him like he was insane.
"I think Bella never really did come back, and that was only you disguised as Bella."
"Alice," I said, irritated. "Look into Bella Swan's future. What do you see?"
"Nothing," said Alice.
"Right," I said, "And is that nothing like she's dead, or just nothing, nothing?"
"Completely nothing," she confirmed. "Not like she's dead, but like she didn't exist in the first place."
"Okay. Now look into my future. Or the future of any of the gods. What do you see?"
She concentrated for a moment.
"The same."
I looked at Edward, and raised an eyebrow.
"That doesn't prove it," he said, although this time he seemed a little doubtful.
"No, it does," said Alice. She walked towards me. "It really is you, isn't it? I thought it might have been, but…"
"Finally," muttered Dionysus in an irritated tone.
I concentrated and changed my appearance. My skin faded, my hair lightened and lengthened slightly, my eyes darkened and I seemed to grow older by two or three years.
The vampires gasped.
"Bella!" yelled Alice, running forward to hug me. The others had stiffened, and I did too. But after about a second, I hugged her back, then stepped away. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I knew I couldn't get close. She'd hate me in five, four, three, two…
Sure enough, realisation and sudden anger clouded her face and she moved back a bit.
"Why, Bella?" asked Alice. "Why did you lie to us?"
"You're vampires," I said. "Perhaps if you were just regular mortals I would have told you, but-"
"So you're prejudiced, now?" asked Emmett. His playful, excited self was gone – now he was looking at me with hatred.
"But Bella…" whispered Esme, "What about Edward?"
I glanced across at Edward, and saw that he finally believed what I was saying. His face almost looked broken, though. Oh well. He deserves to hear the truth. I straightened up, and looked at the Cullens solemnly, knowing that it was likely they'd hate me totally and completely after I was done.
"The first moment that I set eyes on you guys, I knew what you were." I paused. They looked kind of surprised by the way that I began, but Carlisle motioned for me to continue. I almost laughed – like I needed his permission to do anything! – but I knew that even for a goddess that would be inappropriate right now. "I knew I couldn't say anything, because if you got suspicious I would have to move again, and I didn't really have anyone in the mortal world willing to take me in. But you intrigued me – I wanted to know why monsters were trying to fit in. I knew there was no way you would just let me be your friend just like that, so I decided to try my luck with Edward."
"That was the only reason you were with me?" asked Edward, his voice breaking. Wow, I didn't even know a vampire's voice could break. "You just wanted to get information on my family?"
"Well, I was bored, too, and I'd never been with a vampire before. They do say curiosity killed the cat," I said, shrugging. "Anyway, let me finish. That was just how it started. Truthfully, in the beginning you annoyed the hell out me, what with all your 'Bella, you're too delicate' and 'Let me handle it, Bella, I'm stronger than you.' However, when you introduced me to your family I decided that I liked them. Esme, you are one of the most caring people I've ever met, and Alice, I will always think of you as a sister, even if you hate me now. Carlisle, your compassion is so strong, and Emmett – well, let's just say you're one of kind. Jasper, I know we don't really know each other but I've always admired your intelligence and persistence and Rosalie… You take shit from nobody. I respect that more than you can imagine."
The vampire's expressions softened a little, but they were still looking at me in disdain. I sighed.
"As I got to know you better, Edward, I started to like you more. You really are a nice guy, even if your way of treating a girl is extremely out dated. I did come to care for you…"
"But?" asked Edward.
"But then you left me," I said. "Okay, I know I never actually loved you and stuff, but that still hurt. You seriously need to learn how to break up with someone. You know that if I had been mortal, I could have died that night?"
Edward looked astonished.
"Yeah," I laughed, "Amazing right? After that, I just wanted to go home, but when I jumped into the ocean Jake 'saved' me and then I had to rescue you from your own stupidity. You really think that any girl in their right mind would have taken you back after that? Please."
"So why did you?" he asked.
"I still loved your family," I said, "But that doesn't matter. No, I thought it would be better to give you a taste of your own medicine so that you would never be able to hurt a girl in the future with any semblance of a conscience."
After that, I turned away from them and began to walk. But after a second, I turned back, and looked directly at Alice.
"I just want to thank you. I know that in your eyes, what I did was wrong and that you despise me for it, but just know that you were a great friend for me despite everything over the past few months. If you ever need me, you'll know where to find me."
Then I turned away once more and returned to my Apollo's side. He took my hand again and squeezed it gently, smiling reassuringly.
"Now that's out of the way," said Zeus, sounding frustrated, "I would like you vampires to do what we brought you here for in the first place. Now, repeat after me…"
I didn't listen as the vampires swore on the river Styx to never speak of us, and nor did I hear Zeus tell a grumbling Dionysus to help Hermes take them back to their home en route to Camp Half Blood. It was ridiculous really, I mean, come on, I'm a goddess! But something inside me was telling me that these weren't really mortals, and even so I shouldn't have treated them the way I did.
I had felt this way before, of course. Any time when one of my mortal flings realises that I'm just going to dump a kid on them and leave. That didn't stop me feeling guilty. But neither did it make me feel like I had made the wrong decision. I had known what I was doing the entire time, and I wasn't about to go back on it now.
I watched as the Cullens all filed out the door, behind an irritated Hermes and Dionysus a little wistfully perhaps, but I wasn't sad. Nope, not sad at all.
None of them had even so much as looked at me after I had told them how I really felt the entire time, which was fine. I knew they wouldn't accept me after that but… I was still a little put out. Didn't they understand? Not only was I a goddess, I was a goddess of the sea. It was in my nature to be constantly moving, to never be in just one place. Even in a kind-of-demigod form that had not changed.
But as they went through the door, one of them looked back. Alice, her eyes big and sad, gazed over her shoulder at me. I looked back at her with a blank expression.
The moment they were gone, Zeus stood up.
"Well, that's that," he said. "Dismissed."
I immediately ran for the door and headed outside. Unfortunately, the Cullens were still there, as it seemed Dionysus couldn't be bothered walking all the way down the mountain when they could leave just outside the doors. I ignored them, though, and just kept going.
The door opened again, and I heard Apollo call out behind me.
"Elle!"
I sighed, but just kept going and headed for his place, which was where I stayed whenever I visited Olympus. Unless I was really angry with him for some reason, of course, in which case I stayed in my father's place, but that wasn't often.
When I got there, I just collapsed on his bed and closed my eyes.
"Are you alright?"
"Tired," I whispered.
"Right, being a mortal must have taken it all out of you," he said. I think he was nodding, but I couldn't be sure as I kept my eyes shut. The mattress began moving underneath me as he shifted position, and then suddenly my head was on his lap and he was stroking my hair.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I mumbled.
"Oh, that's just great," groaned Apollo, "You always seem to call me an idiot, but the one time I try and be the sensitive guy girls seem to rave about these days I am knocked down. There's no winning!"
"You are an idiot. But that's not what I meant."
"Ah, good. I mean, not good that you think I'm an idiot, but… I knew I couldn't do wrong – look at me! I'm just that awesome."
"What I meant was, aren't you supposed to be creating a sunrise right about now?"
"Oh yeah. Don't worry about that – I've got it on autopilot, and Zeus is doing me a favour and making the sky cloudy today in case the car grows a brain and does something spastic while I'm not at the wheel."
Wow. Okay, Zeus must be in an exceptionally good mood today. But I was way too tired to care and simply cuddled into him and fell asleep.
Hope you liked it! Tell me what you thought.