Raymond woke with a start. The first thing that caught his eye was the unfamiliar colors. The room was a lot brighter than his and a quick glance to his left where his lampstand was confirmed his suspicions. He quickly sat upright and did mad a sweep of the room.
It was significantly larger, half the size of his entire apartment.
The bed was a king size with soft silk linens. The floor wasn't left out either. It was donned with a beautiful mat. Just a few feet away was a set of sofas surrounding a glass coffee table. To his left was a study table and a small collection of books, funny he could make out most of them to be biology books.
Whoever brought him here knew him. On his right was something he had never seen in his life. There was a small wooden table, and on top of it, something resembling your standard desktop but this one looked like it was made entirely of glass. Moving in for a closer look confirmed his suspicions.
The monitor was composed of glass with a metal top and bottom. It was held firmly by another metal stand. The keyboard was also made entirely of plain glass, and he didn't see any buttons nor markings. The mouse was also strange, it was spherical, and after touching it he realized it was not precisely metal nor was it plastic, that's was as far as he could tell.
The screen immediately lit up at the touch of its mouse. The logo displayed was also different; it displayed Olysoft. After what appeared to be a few seconds, his first familiar display came to view as the screen immediately displayed the menu but what really caught his attention was the lack of browsers he could recognize.
Something wasn't right. At first, he thought it was a dream, but that was quickly dismissed, as far as he knew dreaming about waking up alone in some strange room with strange computers wasn't his brain worked.
Backtracking his memories, the last thing he remembered was going to sleep yesterday, but another quick check at the bottom right of the screen showed the next day's date which was okay. The time, however, showed he was asleep for the better part of the day, it was a little over four pm.
Considering he usually woke up at around six am on weekdays and around ten am on weekends that left at least six hours unaccounted for. A small panic began taking hold of his thoughts. He was definitely kidnapped.
Ray needed to find a way out of there. A quick trip to the door deep-rooted his theory when the doorknob wouldn't budge. Turning back, he gave a swift glance at the windows and he knew they too were not an option.
That's when his ears picked up a barely audible laughter from what felt like downstairs. He could approximate around five voices, all female. Ray shouted for help, and all the voices suddenly went quiet. His impatience began to raise when the voices resumed as if they ignored his call.
Angrily he raised his hands and started focusing on the air currents in the room, slowly concentrating it into a ball of highly pressurized air. Once he was sure he had enough, he took a few steps back from the door and let loose.
There was a tremendous boom as the compressed air was allowed to expand forward hitting the door, but what Ray never expected was his attack bouncing back at him, knocking the wind out of him.
He loudly crashed on one of the walls and he had to stay down for a few seconds before his chest could breathe again. It was when he got up that the memory of what happened earlier that day returned.
'Charles!'
***
"We have a situation," Athena stated and let it hang in the air for a few seconds before staring back at the uneven faces that blankly looked back at her. "Ares is on to him, and I have a feeling by now he knows about him."
"How?" one of the faces asked.
"I'm still piecing it together, but as of now, they've captured one of my soldiers I assigned to protect him."
"Well, we all knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. I guess we'll have to rush things up. Once word gets to the Queen, it could get messy." Another face commented.
"Agreed. Where is he now?"
"At my place. We also have another problem. He is trying to get out. I'm guessing to go help his friend." Athena replied.
"Then you should lock him up…or at the very least bring him to terms on the current situation." "I don't think that would be possible." Athena stated.
"Meaning?"
"At first, I almost missed it, but I have been able to connect the dots. His attributes are beginning to manifest." She replied.
"Which one?"
"Honor, by the looks of it."
"Isn't that a good thing?" A female voice asked this time.
"Yes and no. Right now, there is no amount of convincing that would discourage him from going after his best friend. And that's the last thing we need." Athena breathed a sigh as her shoulders slumped slightly.
"Then keep him under confinement until it passes."
"How is that going to help us in the long run, we'll just make him our enemy, and the last thing we want is him going out on his own, he won't last very long. Am I the only one thinking here?" Athena argued.
"Yeah and that's assuming the rest of his attributes don't manifest, particularly the one that allows him to hold grudges." A slightly deeper voice spoke up after being silent for the most part of the conversation.
"Then help him," the familiar female voice said.
"And give that bastard a reason to escalate things into a full-blown war." The deep voice scoffed. "Obviously, I didn't mean directly."
"No! It's too risky," Athena interjected.
"Your call, either way. If what you said about his attributes showing is true, then you better fix things before all of them get triggered. We expected his attributes to at least wait until he was ready, so what exactly triggered them?"
Athena became silent for once as she pondered for a solution. "Hermes?"
"Hades no! And don't even think about it." Hermes grumbled and Athena didn't speak another word as her brows furrowed and then she disappeared.
The other gods followed suit. Arriving at the mansion, the first thing Athena encountered was a large couch heading straight for her face, she immediately ducked. Her home was in disarray as powerful gusts of wind knocked everything around.
Moments later four other figures appeared, and they too had to duck a few things before assessing the situation.
"I guess now I understand your urgency," Apollo shouted through the howling wind. "Someone's pissed off." He grinned.
Athena ignored her brother and went straightaway for the stairs. As she completed the first flight, the blowing wind increased in intensity. She soon found herself bracing on the walls as artifact after artifact whooshed past her head.
Grunting in annoyance, she narrowed her eyes in concentration and blinked away only to appear inside Raymond's room. He was in the middle of the room, eyes closed but immediately opened to her presence and just like a switch, everything calmed and several thuds and groans came from outside the door.
Athena could easily see the anger on his face. It reminded him of her father. "I can't stay here." "I understand, doesn't mean I like it."
"You could help me you know."
"It's complicated, and you're not ready yet." She replied.
"I don't understand, you've been trying to get me to fight in your war, and now you don't want me to?"
"I do want you to fight, but you're not ready yet, you couldn't even take out a weak minotaur. Placing you against the gods would be suicide for you."
Raymond then walked to the door before stopping. "Do you mind?"
He heard Athena mutter a few words before the door clicked open. Imagining the amount of power he wasted trying to blast that very same door open. He couldn't help it but feel very inferior. Athena was right. Going after Charles was suicide, he needed help, and he had a good idea where to get it. Hopefully, she won't deny him.
Passing the corridor on his way downstairs he was met by several disheveled nymphs with looks that would kill any mortal. One of them almost struck him, but one small bark from Athena who was closely following him stopped her.
Down in the living room, things were a lot more interesting. Raymond had seen them pop up along with Athena using his Astral Vision; as he named it. Three of them were male and one female. The males were all six feet, and above.
One of them looked rather ordinary with black medium cut hair, brown eyes small straight nose and thin lips. He was giving him a slightly curious look.
The next one was slightly slim built with a pale, borderline white skin. He had the body of a swimmer and was the shortest of the men. His hair was blonde and was cut into a buzz. He had deep blue eyes that blankly stared back at him.
The last male, however, was the most interesting. He was the tallest of the three and was well toned. His face was nothing short of perfection. He had green eyes and well-sculptured cheekbones that flowed down to two beautiful lips that made Raymond uncomfortable.
As if he read Raymond's mind, he smiled, and Ray could see a set of perfect white teeth. "There's more to show if you like."
Ray quickly shook his head as he finally settled on the last person. She was shorter than the others but if he guessed, she was around 5'10 which was quite tall by human standards; by now he was sure that didn't apply to these guys.
She, like the second guy, stared blankly at him. Her green eyes bored into him like she was trying to see deep into his soul. Ray felt a small cold sweat run down his neck before he turned back to Athena. "Why can't I teleport?"
"I warded the place. It's handy when you don't want anyone just popping in unless you allow them to."
"Where are we?"
"Argo, why?" Athena answered.
"Where exactly?"
"Right now, we are just a few miles away from the CBD." Ray raised his eyebrow. "It's not that far from home."
"I need to get going."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Athena." One of the male gods spoke up while he tilted his head to the side as if directing his concern towards Athena.
"Whether you think I should go or not, is none of your business. I'm not staying." Ray felt insulted being treated like a child. He was right there in between them and Athena.
'Someone needed to teach him a lesson—Wait! Where did that come from?'
Despite his size, Ray was never a confrontational person; and for a good reason.
"Hermes, I guess." The guy frowned.
Raymond guessed he wasn't used to being addressed with that kind of tone, but Ray didn't care at that point. If he didn't like it, he could as well as kill him right there.
"Do you mind getting out of my way?"
Raymond heard a faint gasp coming from his back followed by a small chuckle from the well-toned hot guy with green eyes. By now he had deduced to be Apollo, judging by his semblance with the woman; Artemis.
He then saw Hermes' eyes begin changing. His small round pupils were thinning into feline-like. "Hermes…?"
Ray heard from his back again. Still staring at the strange eyes, he saw them slowly revert to human eyes. Which was fine with him, but he still needed Hermes to move aside.
Yet another thing that was strange, dominance wasn't his thing. There was plenty of space for him to navigate his way around the quartet, but for some reason, he wanted to pass right through them.
"You know there is plenty of room." Apollo broke the standoff whilst pointing to his left and right. Raymond felt stupid, it was a small thing but still felt really important to him.
"Fantastic!" He heard from Athena. "Dominance, what's next?"
Raymond turned to give her a questioning look. "I don't understand?"
"I can explain if you stay." Raymond sighed.
He took a deep breath and calmed himself before that initial urge subsided. He slowly walked to the side and towards the large doors before going outside. Immediately he felt the connection to the Aether return and closing his eyes he winked out of sight.
"Goddess." The sound of Adrastea broke the silence in the large mansion.
"You found something?"
"I arrived in time to find them leaving, Charles was with them."
"Who exactly?" Artemis asked.
"M.A.R.S they took him to their base right here in Argos," Athena spoke, confirming her suspicion. "You still think it was a good idea to let him leave?" Hermes asked.
"What about the humans?" Athena asked while ignoring Hermes.
"Taken care of," Adrastea replied.
"Good follow him, but do not engage."
"Yes, goddess." She answered before breaking into a small chant and disappearing.
"We each need to start preparing. I'm afraid this will happen much sooner than either of us expected." Athena said.
"What about the weapon, we haven't come this far just to lose."
"I'm still trying to find it. My spies haven't been that much successful, but one thing they know for sure, and I agree, is Ares doesn't have it." Hermes replied.
"Let's say you're right, what about the humans. Over the last few decades, they've multiplied to several billion, not to mention their ever-evolving technology." Dionysus asked.
"We shall cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, we need to prepare for war." Athena spoke.
"Assuming he will even fight with us," Hermes still frowned.
"Whether he does or not, Ares we'll be his enemy regardless. We are the only ones who wouldn't want him dead. He may be stubborn, but he's not stupid."
"Do we even know where he's gone?" Artemis asked, suppressing the urge to hunt him down. Athena paused at the question and appeared to be in deep concentration before she answered. "Interesting, he isn't at his apartment nor back home."
'Clever boy.' She smiled, apart from those two places, there was only one other person she knew he would seek refuge from.