Forsaken Deity

Chapter 22

“Rise and shine, Thea!”

Opening her eyes, she flew backwards in the bed until she hit the floor. Apollo was crouching beside the bed and his face had been inches from hers. He grinned and stood up. “Oh, don’t be shy, Thea. I’ve seen it all before. Well, actually I haven’t seen all of yours before and I admit I was hoping you slept all natural like myself –“

He grunted as she flung him across the room with the wind. He smashed into the dresser and it crumbled beneath his weight.

“Get out,” she snapped, pulling the sheet around herself.

Apollo mumbled as he climbed out of the dresser remains and walked out, shutting the door behind him. Thea quickly grabbed her backpack and went into the bathroom. Washing quickly for fear that Apollo would try to sneak back in, she changed into a pair of jeans and her black Ramones shirt before heading out.

Apollo was waiting just outside the door. She was relieved he was wearing normal clothes today. He had on a pair or brown shorts which clung to his thighs and a shirt that read, ‘I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal’. She couldn't help but smile at the shirt and he followed her gaze.

“Good movie.”

“No, it was a great movie,” she corrected. “Classiest news anchor that never was.”

He grinned. “Ron Burgundy certainly has style. Come on, we'll eat then go and start raising the temperature.”

She followed him downstairs to a small kitchen in the back. He motioned to the cupboards. “Help yourself, the food that gets eaten is replaced every couple of days by a nymph. Her only rule is that I'm not allowed to be in the house when she does her restock.”

Thea grabbed a pear and took a small bite. “You know, you're starting to remind me of that little goat thing in the Disney Hercules movie.”

Apollo's mouth was stuffed with bread. “Why?”

“Because, like the goat dude, you think you're a big ladies man, but then when he tries to catch the nymphs they run away and turn into trees.”

Apollo made a small noise in the back of his throat and drank some water. “Please, no nymph could ever escape me. And why would they want to?”

Not wanting to bruise his ego — he still had to train her after all — she bit into the pear again and chose not to answer him. They ate quickly — or Apollo did anyway, consuming half a loaf of bread and three apples — before they headed outside.

The sun was already high in the sky, though it felt like morning and the warmth of the rays had her body relaxing instantly.

“Is it always sunny here?” she asked him.

He stopped in the middle of the green field and looked up at the sun. “It is most of the time. There's hardly ever a bad day here unless one of the Gods is in a foul mood. Back when Lissandre was around, we had continuous lightning storms for a month when she refused to sleep with Zeus. The guy doesn't take rejection well.”

“Good to know,” Thea murmured.

Apollo slapped her shoulder and her knees buckled. “Don't worry, we'll be there if he decides to show up. I'm actually looking forward to watching you shut him down again. And when he realises you're with Hermes — man, he is going to be so pissed off!”

Apollo's joy only added to her worry and she stepped away from him. “So, let's get started.”

Apollo nodded and sat down. “Pull up some grass. We don't need to be on our feet all day.”