The Caelus Vance Chronicles: Ancient Souls (#1)

₪₪₪₪ Chapter 8 - The Hunt house ₪₪₪₪

Caelus Vance

A week passed, and we still had no idea where Athena's artefact was. We knew what it was now. It was a necklace with a Gorgon pendant on it. We narrowed it down to either the National Archaeological Museum, the Temple of Athena Nike, or the Acropolis of Athens.

"We'll split up to scout the areas for anything unusual. Then, later on, we'll all accompany Sophia on her little quest to get the artefact." We all agreed. Arista had a pretty good idea, so good that Aaron seemed to agree with her pretty quickly.

"Okay. I think Sophia should be with Aaron. They get along well, and Aaron can protect her easily." We all agreed with Mary, and she continued to list the pairs. "I'll be with Arista. Plants and water are good together. Then that leaves Caelus and Julia. Perfect." Mary smiled like she was proud of herself. But Julia and I hadn't spoken or even really looked at each other since our moment about a week ago.

I felt a lot more confident with my abilities and with combat, as I didn't do much but train over the past week. Julia and I were told to search the Temple of Athena Nike. We both left, and it was extremely awkward. No one said a word. I had to break the silence.

"I'm sorry for trying to kiss you... before. Uh... twice." Yep, that sounded pathetic. She looked at me like she was surprised I'd bring it up.

"It's fine. It's just the gods, right?" She seemed a bit hurt when she said that. What she said was partially true, but there was something else. Zeus asked me if I'd ever had a girlfriend, and the answer was no. But I had crushes before, plenty of them. I look at Julia and it's like I'm walking on air, and everything around me seems brighter and more beautiful. I can't stop thinking about her, and I find myself daydreaming about her all the time. My heart races whenever I'm near her, and I feel like I'm the luckiest person in the world because I met her.

"Actually, Julia... Zeus, he didn't actually..." I lost all words when her golden eyes lit up when she looked at me.

"Zeus didn't what?" I wanted to tell her I really did, but something stopped me.

"Nothing." I smiled softly and continued to look around. She just stood there staring at me sadly. I had no idea how to express my feelings. What do you even say to a girl who believes our feelings are fake? "Are you gonna help me or what?" I laughed slightly to lighten the mood, and it seemed to work. She smiled, and we searched around the temple for the next hour or so.

"Hey, Julia?"

"Yeah?"

"There's a symbol over here. It's like a diamond with a cross under it." She rushed over and looked at the symbol.

"That's it! You found it." She jumped with excitement and wrapped her arms around me. It was the most awkward hug I'd ever had. I slowly put my hands on her back, reciprocating the hug, but it didn't last very long.

When we returned to base, we all spoke about the obstacles that may have presented themselves in the temple. "Athena had quite a few enemies, but the one thing that kept her value high were the heroes. She was the patron god of heroes, and they relied heavily on her. She loved the heroes and their love for her." Mary knew quite a lot about her for someone who wasn't a big fan of Athena. "So we could encounter more spiders, water, snakes, anything relating to the Trojan War and, as per usual, Titans."

"We could encounter Titans?" The thought of that made my hair stand on end.

Mary sighed. "No. Just some of their power that lingers in certain Greek temples." That didn't really comfort me, but I tried not to show my fear and concern.

The next day arrived, and as we all gathered our things to retrieve the helm, I overheard Mary and Aaron talking. "We'll probably need to stay there overnight. There's a tent in the garage."