Game of War (Cashby)

Chapter 5

"To Austin!" Alex said, standing on top of the table. "To Neptune!" Everyone cheered and drank their ale. The dining hall had never been so lively. People were singing and dancing even some fighting.

"You're a fuckin' beast, Austin," Rian said from across the table. I looked over at him and shook my head.

"Hell yeah he is," Shay said, punching me in the arm. "But so are we," He gestured to our team. "We took down Jupiter!" The room erupted in cheers again. I was kind of glad the Jupiter boys hadn't come to dinner tonight. I turned around in my seat to watch all of the drunken people saunter around doing dumb things. I caught Vic talking to that boy with the black hair from Bacchus again. He was clearly drunk as he was leaning in so close I thought they might kiss.

"Those two like mighty close." I heard someone say as they swung their legs over the side of the table. It was Jack and I chuckled.

"Sure are."

"Nice work to day, bro." He fist bumped me, "I'm gonna go get smashed." He grinned from ear to ear then jumped down and walked away. I thought for a moment, then got up and followed him. If there was any time to let loose, it was now.

-

I laid in bed later that night thinking about the day. So much had happened, it felt like an entire week instead of just two days. I heard the bed above me creak, and Phil's head poked down from the bunk above me. He smiled when he saw I was awake and hopped to the floor then sat on the end of my bed.

"Hey," he said. He was quiet, trying not to wake Shay and Tino in the bunk beds next to us. Our cabins only had one room with two bunk beds in it, but we weren't really in it much.

"What's up?" I said.

"I can't stop thinking about how you in the stretch wars. It was just so cool, man. You really kicked ass today. When did you get so powerful?"

"I don't know. I just didn't want to let anybody down."

"Let anyone down? You did the complete opposite, I'm surprised Dad didn't personally congratulate you."

"Dad? Please," I scoffed. "He would never."

"Yeah, you're right," Phil said, laughing. "Try to get some sleep, man." He got back into his own bed. I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes, letting fatigue take over.

-

I woke up the next day closer to the afternoon. I was the last out of bed in our cabin, and I found everyone already eating in the dining hall. I ate breakfast then spent the rest of the day lounging about. It was our last day of break and the disappointment had set in. The atmosphere had completely shifted from last night. I went and got my uniform with the burn hole fixed, then took my last real shower. Later this afternoon we would be going back out into the real world. It was a dull, sad day. None of us really wanted to leave, but what choice did we have?

I went and took a nap to make sure I had enough energy, then ate my last meal with everyone. looked up and saw a somber looking group of Vulcan making their way over.

"Hey," I said with a small smile, waving them over.

"I don't wanna go," Vic said as soon as he sat down. I nodded and took a bite of food.

"No one does, dude. It sucks and it's shitty, but we have to."

"Why should we have to?" Mike spoke up. I thought about it. It was the second time he had mentioned that since we've been here. We made light conversation until we had all finished. Soon enough we all went back to pack our stuff up. I picked up a backpack that had been filled with all the supplies I would need and grabbed my weapons. Then we all met around the gates to Mount Olympus. We travelled at night because of the heat.