₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪
₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪
The gates of the school opened brilliantly to allow the flashy silver car through. Inside it, the driver whistled appreciatively, looking up at the fine architecture and stunning new grounds, wondering if they had been recently renovated. It had been so long since they had last seen the place. A lot of debris from the past year had been cleaned up and fixed, it was almost like they had never been there. Beside him, in the passenger seat with his feet kicked up and on the dashboard, Cleo Staulbahm scoffed. “Remind me, why the hell did we come back here again?”
“Because, your godfather still hates having you around, and I have some… business to tend to.” Tassos still struggled to believe that the rumours he’d heard were real. The same question had been repeating itself in his mind ever since his father had mentioned white feathers being left in all of his temples and even on the doorstep to the gates of the underworld. Cerberus had of course torn several of them to shreds but they had already queried the furies. Nobody had been seen even close to the gates. Nobody with white wings large enough for an angel at least. They had been left as a message. He just… didn’t want to accept it was real. She couldn’t have escaped… its impossible.
“Great godfather, you mean, and I happen to know that he’s never home so it wouldn’t matter anyway. Whats the real reason you dragged me out here, and why did you have to bring sobstory over there?” Cleo jerked his thumb to the backseat, where one Edwin DuLac was half asleep and listening to his music. It was super loud and they could hear the lamenting songs he’d been listening to, announcing to the world that this was not a good day and Edwin was not in the mood to talk about anything.
Tassos shrugged. “He’s one of the team. Three musketeers, remember? we work better in a group, and unlike you, people actually like him. They tell him stuff they might not tell us. Besides, you know how much his mother wishes he’d go outside more…”
“You’re just bringing him because she reminds you of your own mother. You’re such a simp for older ladies.”
Tassos gave him a look. “I respect my mother, that doesn’t make me a simp, do you have any idea how many live she had ruined? Want me to call her now and tell her how you ran away because you couldn’t stand seeing your own parents so happy?”
“No!” Cleo practically jumped out of his seet, whacking his head on the top of the car and wincing, but still reaching out to stop Tassos from grabbing his phone. “No, you’re good. I’ve been to Greece, I know who actually runs hell-”
“The Underworld.” Tassos corrected. After everything that was going on, the last thing he wanted was for the two places to get confused.
Finding a decent parking space, the three boys got out and looked up at the school again. They’d each had very different experiences of the place. Tassos had met a number of other gods, and even made a good friend, and potentially a few enemies. Cleo had just made enemies. He had a bad habit of getting on peoples nerves. It was a skill, really. Then there was Edwin, who had practically avoided everyone and tried to force a girl to dress up more after she had tried to seduce him. Ever since then he had practically receded even further into his shell, and honestly Tassos was still on the fence on whether that was a good thing or not, because at least it meant he wasn’t making a fool of himself. As Edwin went to the boot of the car to fetch their suitcases, Cleo leaned over on the roof to watch Tassos carefully.
“So, heard anything new lately? Anyone we should be wary of, or am I good to do my own thing?”
Tassos shrugged. “A couple things, maybe. Keep an eye out for a girl with white wings and looks like she could kill you. I mentioned that before but if my sources are correct she’s come here to try to bait me out.”
Cleo rolled his eyes as Tassos shoved his arms off the top of the car. “Okay, winged lady, got it. Anything else?”
“Don’t start any more fights with Edwin.”
“Only if he stops getting in my way and making me out to be some kind of idiot.”
“And lastly, someone mentioned that a child of the Rat king might be here.”
That got him to shut up.
Smiling, glad to finally have the diva quiet for once, Tassos went over to help Edwin carry over the suitcases. Tassos himself didn’t carry much, most of the things he owned he could easily just grab from the underworld by making a quick portal or taking a quick flight. Cleo had the most luggage. Two full trunks of clothing and one they had forced him to leave behind because Tassos wasn’t going to strap it to his car, he’d rather just leave Cleo behind if it came down to helping him or risking a dent to the Bentley. As for Edwin, he had the same things he usualy had. A couple change of clothes all stuffed into a singular duffel bag, the minimum essentials, and of course his dad’s armour. That, however, was kept in a secure box and remained in pristine condition, and was the only thing Edwin seemed to truly care about among his things. Helping to hand them off to the staff, the box was the one thing he refused to be parted with. Tassos patted him on the back. “Hey. Its going to be a better year this time, okay? I’m sure you’ll get your sheild, or… whatever you teen-knights call it.”
“A crest.” Edwin answered, not so much as looking up from under his unruly dark curls. “And thanks, but if you could, I’d rather just not talk about it.”
Tassos nodded, holding up his hands. “Got it. just… promise me you won’t attack anymore-”
Edwin immediately started walking off much faster, neck and ears burning red with embarrassment, and Tassos had to hide his chuckle as he locked the car and started walking to the entrance.
He got about two feet before he was quickly thrown to the ground.
₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪
Outside