"Believe me for once, would you?!"
Apollo scribbled with a feathered pen on a portfolio, trying to maintain poetry and self control in spite of Victor's noises. This was his one big chance to write something the gods might consider as, "learning his lesson." He wouldn't let it be ruined by a mortal.
"I assume you should be in your dormitory by now?" The god asked, not looking up at him.
"How's that important?" Victor barked. "The academy is under attack."
"The academy is heavily protected by a dragon and the Mist. And also, a quite handsome, young god." At his last words, Apollo gave a boastful smile.
Victor's face wried at him. "Sure, I bet this "god" would know everything that goes on in here."
"I control everything in here, child. Now go back to your cabin."
"No."
Apollo felt his teeth grind. His anger rattled through his fingers and the ink on his pen spilled on the portfolio. That made him even more mad.
"What did you say?" He glared at Victor.
"Not until you listen to me." Victor continued.
Apollo could his anger claw through his bones. His eyes now shone with an edge of golden, and his fists clenched as they rested on the desk. No, his anger wouldn't be worth it. Not when it was caused by a boy. If he was going to return back to Olympus, then he needed to learn how to subdue his emotions.
And especially not let them be fueled by a mortal.
He closed his eyes and let out a calm breath. Then he stared dead-straight into Victor's persistent eyes.
"Speak now, or I throw you out of my office." He said.
Victor lowered his gaze at the god. "We're walking into a trap." He said.
"And what would that mean?"
"I think the stirring of those primordial monsters is just a distraction. Someone is trying to invade the academy."
"And what evidence do you have to back that up?" Apollo placed a arm beneath his head.
He watched as Victor reached for his pocket and dropped a small, opened scroll before the him. The god studied it for a nano-second, then he looked up again at him.
"There was an intruder up on Mount Delphi. An empousa. I got this from her."
Apollo arched an eyebrow. "And what were you doing up there?"
Trying to talk to the damn oracle! Victor wanted to say, but he figured that would only make his situation worsen.
"That's not important right now." He said instead, slamming his hands on the god's desk. "What's important is that we're possibly trying to embark on quest that could lead to a trap. You have to stop the execution."
Apollo smirked. "Too late, the crew left a while ago."
"What? That is not good. You have to call them back!" Victor's yelled, his voice laced with panic.
"Let me make one thing clear." Apollo started. "I was the one Zeus banished to this institution, not you. I was the one made to oversee the activities here, not you. I make the rules and decisions here, not you. Not even us in this case."
Victor frowned at him. "You don't know the mistake you're making here—"
"And you're not in an actual position to be the judge of that. The person who decides whether or not the camp is in danger, is me. The person who decides whether or not we're walking into a trap, is me!" Apollo was starting to yell.
Victor opened his mouth to say something, but the god raised a hand at him.
"You would go straight to your cabin, Victor, and that's an order. And I don't want you ever going up that hill again, you understand?" Apollo commanded, but Victor didn't react. "Acknowledge me, dammit!"
Victor moved backwards, giving Apollo then a final death stare. Then he turned, storming his way out of the office. The sun god could hear him huffing and grunting like a mad bull as he slammed the door shut.
He heaved a long sigh. How did it all come to this? How did his life take such dreadful turn in just a few months?
A century. He thought. Just one century, and then he would be free from all of this.
* * *
Victor's feet trudged— stomped rather— as he headed towards his cabin. The Hades' Cabin was set almost near the stream of luck, where sirens loved to have their morning bath and songs.
The cabin— compared to the others— was quite tall, sorounded by a wall of Greek fire. At night, it looked like a haunted space, eery enough to spook the kids from other cabins.
Victor hated this place. Not because it was quite solicited or that he was the only occupant (he's the only demigod son of Hades around.). If anything, that was his reason to like the place.
However, what he couldn't just stand were the almost brutalizing music of the sirens. The sirens were humanoid creatures with fish scales, they were habitats of small water bodies.
Victor would cover his ears every morning whenever he heard their music from the distance. According to the legends, their voiced were beautiful and hypnotizing, but it was anything but that for him.
If anything, excruciatingly painful.
"Thanks to Apollo, I have to put up with that for a whole month." Victor grunted as he reached his door. He'd barely twisted the knob when the handle broke.
Bad luck heh? His anger furrowed through him and he kicked the door open. It fell, instead of swinging open. But he wouldn't care. He walked in, remembering to attach the broken door to cover the open space.
A hall of bunks stood before him, all without mattresses but one. Victor stopped. His heart jolted up when he saw a person seated on his bed. No, not a person. A mummy barely wrapped in white linen.
"Oracle?" Victor calmly approached until he stood in front of the oracle.
Her eyes illuminated purple, just like he'd imagined. Even while she was awake, it didn't seem like she'd acknowledged Victor's prescence. She just sat frozen, staring blankly into the nothingness.
Why was she here, in his cabin?
"He's here." The oracle finally spoke, her voice the voice of many.
"Huh?" Victor looked around but saw nothing. "Who's here?"
"The great one, who would lead the world to destruction. The one in whom total darkness shall find redemption." She looked into Victor's eyes, and for a split second, he flinched. "In you, fate has resumed its mission."