Once a hero - Riordan_LeoGreyson

Chapter 23

Trusting the banished

Matteo's POV

I stared into the mirror in front of me. My teal blue eyes stared blankly back at me. I leaned over and washed my face. I then grabbed the towel that hung on the wall and dried my face. I put the towel down and sighed. I then turned around and walked out of the small bathroom.

I gazed around in the small apartment that I had gotten. The roof leaked with some sort of liquid, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what it was. I walked over to the couch filled with holes and sat down. It creaked underneath my weight as I leaned back. I crossed my legs and closed my eyes, while leaning my head back against the backrest.

A bright flash blinded me - still with my eyes closed, which was odd. I opened my eyes and found that my living room was no longer existent. In fact, it had been replaced by a huge thrown room. My couch and I felt out of place in the nice large room. I looked around to see the Twelve Olympians stare down at me. To my right, the mortals Perseus Jackson had befriended, stood with a woman and man with a small girl in their arms. To my left my demigod friends and girlfriend stood.

A frown etched onto my face as I noted that every face held a sad expression. What had happened?

I smirked and stood up from the couch. I extended my arms as if I was to hug someone.

"Miss me already?" I asked and cocked my eyebrows up.

"Matteo." Annabeth scolded me.

I glanced at her but fixed my eyes on the King of the Gods. He had a guilty look on his face, as if he had farted in the room and didn't want to admit it was actually him.

"I am so sorry, Annie, but if I remember correctly, I was banished. I was not to set foot on Olympus again, or any of the camps. I kept my promise. Now here I am, and not willingly." I crossed my arms and stared at Mr. Angry-God-Who-Doesn't-Deserve-To-Be-A-King.

"Matteo Kanzuri." Zeus spoke with authority. I rolled my eyes and sat back down on my holy couch. That's the word, right? For something filled with holes. Wait. It's not, but then again, it sounds cooler with holy, I shrugged.

"That's me," I grinned.

He rolled his eyes at me. "What happened the day you got banished?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you suffering from memory loss? Did Hera mess with your mind?" I asked.

"Matteo." He threatened. I only raised an eyebrow in response.

"I got banished if you don't remember. Because I'm the big bad villain, right?" I asked.

"We suspect that you were being controlled, just like how Per- how Percy was." Annabeth's voice broke at the mention of her ex-boyfriend. I rolled my eyes. She couldn't even get over him while we were together. What a girlfriend, I hissed in my mind.

Kill her.

I shook my head.

"And why's that?" I asked.

"You had the same teal blue eyes as Percy had, whenever he was being controlled." Poseidon spoke up. His voice sounded sad and broken. What the hell had happened while I was gone?

"Percy, he said he had these weird blackouts." The mortal with a goatee and a light bulb in his chest, spoke up. "Do you experience blackouts too?" He asked.

No. You don't.

I narrowed my eyes and opened my mouth only to close it again.

"Do you?" Athena asked as she looked at me with calculating eyes.