OLYMPIA

The first day of the rest of our lives.

My alarm clock awoke me at 5am the following morning. The sound of the clock was almost instantly followed by a loud knock on the door. I stumbled out of bed and towards the door with my eyes still half closed, "Whoever's out there better have a damn good reason to want to speak to me this early" I muttered out just loud enough so the person would be able to hear. I opened the door with an annoyed expression on my face.

"I hope I'm a good enough reason" the familiar voice of Hermés spoke out loud.
"Shit, sorry Hermés, I've never really been a morning person" I apologised in a sincere tone. 

"Yes, you'd think I would have learnt my lesson by now, even as a baby you were the one who would cry when woken up late."

I chuckled at his anecdote before noticing his small smile had faded to a solemn face. 

"Look, I know you don't have much time before you leave but I have so much I need to say to you. First of all, I cant begin to express how proud of you I am. You and Ares have always been like my adopted children and I can't believe we're finally thrusting you out of the dome onto a mission. I'm not sure how I'm going to cope with you guys not being here, or our training sessions and the laughs we used to have." He started off with a serious look which quickly faded to a glossy eyed smile. 

"Secondly, I don't know what you and my son did last night but I've never seen him happier. After his mother passed he never really smiled unless he was around you and Ares. You've changed him into a completely new man and I cant thank you enough for that. I knew that you two would end up great friends from the first time I saw you playing by that tree" he said with a chuckle. He continued "He gave me something to give to you but made me swear not to open it because it was for your eyes only apparently" he said whilst simultaneously producing a letter from out of his back pocket.

"Open when you know the time is right"  Was scribbled onto the letter in thick ink and scraggly handwriting. I nodded and took the letter making a mental note to put it into my pack before i left. I looked up and noticed Hermés had a couple tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. I pulled him into a deep hug "I love you Hermés, thank you for being the best father figure I could have ever asked for." I choked out struggling to keep my tears to myself. 

"Don't be getting soppy on me now, I might start to bawl otherwise. Okay, Im gonna leave now before we get too emotional. Trust your instincts out there, remember everything you've been taught here. Good luck my dearest and do us proud." He said with a sad smile before walking away. I turned back to my room trying not too cry too much, I turned to the mirror and saw my reflection.

 A broken girl stared back at me. 

"I can do this"  I said to myself under my breath as I started getting ready. I packed everything into my small harness on my back including the letter Hermés had given me from Apollo. Once everything was packed I put on the special suit made for me by Muse. I turned the lights off and looked at my reflection in the mirror once more. This time a better dressed broken girl faced me.

A sound broke my spell and I looked down at my watch to find the source of the harsh beeping.

Incoming message from Ares

"Ready when you are"

I sighed and knew that this could be the last time I possibly walk the halls of OLYMPIA. I walked to the front gates to see Zeus and Ares already waiting for me, as i approached them they stopped their chat and turned to greet me with sad smiles. 

"Good luck to the both of you, I'm so proud of you both" He waved before unlocking the gates and ushering us through.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ares look at me briefly before walking out the gates ahead of me. I turned to wave a goodbye to Zeus but discovered the gates were already shut. 

"Well then, I guess thats it. We're on our own from here on out" Ares turned to me with an emotion in his voice that i couldn't place. 

"We're not alone, we have each other now. You're the only person I can trust from here on out, and I'm the only one you can trust. Don't forget that." I said sternly to him. 

"So, where too?"