Race to Mount Olympus

prologue

s e v e n   m o n t h s  l a t e r

Lilly tries to stay awake by sipping the hazelnut latte in front of her, but it's her second one and even the kind barista had sympathy on her by throwing in a free extra-shot. Nothing was working.

She hoped that Tyler, her date for the evening, wouldn't notice the bags under her brown eyes which she tried to conceal with foundation. But even she knows, the yawning will give her away before the bags do. At least, if he cares enough.

"I've been working Dr. Rudd's research team," He tells her, like it's the beginning to a very dull story, "And I figure I can get a letter of recommendation from him. All I got to do is raise my MCAT score a little when I retake it. I should have enough on my resume for when applications open in June."

While Lilly is normally good at keeping up casual conversation, she is just too tired to listen to the pre-med spiel all over again. Every time he finishes a step of the process, he feels the need to share what comes next and it's always the same thing. It's almost like a reoccurring dream. She knows what comes next, but there's nothing she can do to stop it.

Tyler is talking about the hospital volunteering hours he needs to catch up on as Lilly's heavy eyes succumb to her exhaustion.

And the real reoccurring dream flashes for a second.

She gets an image of herself in a red dress, sitting on a throne, in a colosseum or a castle of some sort. Somewhere exotic and unknown. She couldn't quite understand the very strong sensation in her gut telling her that she had been to this familiar place.

Lilly practically jumps out of the booth when Tyler hits his hand against the table.

"Oh, dang it," He scrambles trying to grab as many napkins as he can to wipe the table down. He had just spilled his coffee all over. It quickly spread throughout the table and started dripping over the sides, "Sorry."

She stands up to avoid steaming coffee in her lap, and sighs, obviously annoyed.

"Tyler," She mumbles.

"I didn't do it on purpose," He responds. While she knows that's true, Lilly still can't help but think otherwise. The first couple times it was endearing. Now, it's just a little over the top. "Don't overreact," he tells her as he continues to clean it up.

Others are watching them which makes Lilly roll her eyes and grab her cup of coffee. That's her cue to leave because she's not about to be the center of attention. Especially when she's this exhausted and he couldn't care less.

He didn't

"You could help," He suggests, cynically.

"I could," She shrugs, "And you could ask nicely, but you didn't."

She turns around and starts to leave him there. Only when she pushes the door open, she's face to face with a complete stranger. One, she's certain she's never met before.

But, he's also the most familiar stranger she's ever seen. Everything from the top of his nutty-brown hair to the bottoms of his black and white chuck taylor's are very familiar to her. He didn't have much color to his brown eyes, but there was a soft liveliness to them. A softness that gave away the man's concern. And the lingering of his stare told Lily that she was familiar to him too.

"Sorry," She finally says after realizing that she's in his way and she steps outside as he holds the door open.

Both of their eyes stay on each other.

"Do I know you," Lily bravely asks.

The familiar stranger stares back at her for a moment longer, but shakes it off when he realizes it. "Um, no. I don't think so. Maybe, in a past life."

"Past life," Lily laughs, "No such thing."

He hears her laugh and can't help but grin. And she's about to say more when Tyler interrupts.

"Lil," He begins, "What are you doing?"

Tyler notices that Lily is blocking the door from the guy. "Let him go in," He says.

"Oh," She snaps back from her thoughts, "right. Sorry." She steps further away from him.

Tyler puts his hand on her arm to slightly guide her towards him and out the coffee shop completely. Lily is going with him, but when she looks back - she sees the stranger.

There's a downcast look upon his face as he watches Tyler and Lily together. She can't explain it, but whatever he is feeling, she feels it too. It's faint, but it's there. And memories are starting to flood back.

Once again, she adorns a red dress on a throne, but this time she's intently watching the public spectacle happening on the colosseum floor and the familiar stranger is at the center of it all. On his hands and knees, feigning near-death.

A scream from deep within her cries out and she knows there's something wrong with this picture. This recurring dream felt more like a distant memory.

When she turns away from Tyler to search for the familiar stranger, she can't see him.

He's gone