We got into the restaurant and looked for a table. We found one right next to the window so we could see the car from our table. A waitress came up to us and asked us for our order. Greg and Carly ordered a cheeseburger with fries and a cola, Anne ordered a salad bowl and I ordered Fish sticks and chips- how cliché I know. Christopher didn't order anything but tried to woo the waitress like the Casanova he is but when he realised Carly was sitting next to him, he stopped and told her he was alright. He had brought a flask with blood in it for such a circumstance.
"Okay. Let's get right into it." Carly said eager to hear the story. We were all eager to hear it but Christopher already knew about it so he was there to confirm the story.
Greg started, "It was about two years ago, I had been wandering the earth like an idiot doing only hell knows what when I was immediately summoned to Olympus. I asked to know what was going on but Zeus shut me up. He told me he had an assignment for me. I told him I didn't want to hear what it was but whatever it was, I wouldn't do it. Then he told me to take as I was doing him a favour and he would owe me one which I can redeem at any time I saw fit. He explained it to me as a heretic who was causing the gods trouble and my job was to eliminate her. I didn't know what I signed up for but I accepted it any way.
So I set off to the location of the heretic
…
{This part of Greg's recollection is in the first person…}
I got to an old house on the outskirts of a town in New Jersey. It had this married couple vibe. The whole front garden, white-picket fence and a playground area with no toys. I treaded with caution as I approached the house. I was expecting a few traps but nothing happened. I thought maybe I had triggered a silent alarm which had warned the heretic and she was now making her escape out of a secret passage somewhere beneath the house but that wasn't the case. I entered the house. It was quiet and dusty. 'They could probably use a cleaning lady' I thought to myself as I made my way through the living room. The house was messy like no one had been here in a long time. 'Did he send me on a wild goose chase?' I thought again. Just then, I heard a sound coming from the kitchen. I opened a tiny astral portal and took out my sword. I don't even know why I was so giddy at the time. I walked slowly to the kitchen trying not to make a single sound. I entered the kitchen through the door and began searching the place. Then, I heard the sound again. This time I was ready to level the house and call it a job well done but I saw a mouse scurry across the floor. I felt so stupid. So I left the kitchen and…"
Greg stopped midway as the waitress brought our orders to the table. We were all starving but no one even touched their food. Even Christopher had put his blood flask down and was listening to the story.
After the waitress left, Greg continued.
"…and I decided to go upstairs. The stairs themselves were a health hazard. There were holes in them and the wood was rotting away. As I got to the top I heard footsteps. 'Okay this time I know that's not a mouse' I thought. They were coming from the room down the long, dark seemingly endless hallway. It gave me the chills just looking at the hallway. I was reluctant but I walked through the hallway and got to the door, grabbed the handle and opened the door.
"ARGGHHH!" Some crazy looking girl cried as she held up a dagger and came right at me. She was going straight for the heart but I managed to evade her thrust.
"I knew you were here you, you… trespasser!" the crazy looking girl said.
"How did you know I was here 'Wendy Wonka'?" I asked her.
"I could hear your thought you fool. I know I need a cleaning lady but whenever I put up a sigh, no one shows up!" She said to me.
Then she charged at me again with the intent to kill but once again I evaded her. She was very clumsy. It seemed like she had no battle experience. She kept attacking and I kept dodging. It was getting sad to witness such a poor display of physical prowess. So I thought I'd make it snappy and end this, so I waited for her next attack evaded once more and thrust my sword right into her back. She didn't move. She stood there for moment then fell face down flat onto the ground.
"Well, that was surprisingly easy. Why did he want me to do it?" I said as I turned my back to leave. Just then she got up and charged at me again.
"I could have sworn you were dead!" I yelled at her after she missed me.
"I don't die easily you idiot. I'm t…" I didn't let her finish. I was tired of her talking and refusal to die. I slit her throat.
She fell down holding her neck as blood gushed out like a red Nile.
"I… I'm…the ….. dau…ghter of…. Zeus …" She said as her last breath left her body.
"What the fuck have I done?" I didn't understand what was going on. I was so confused. This girl claimed to be the daughter of the god who sent me to kill her. I didn't want to believe she was. But if she was, why would he send me to kill his own daughter? I took the body with me and flew back to Olympus and brought the body before him and the other gods in their meeting room.
"What have you done?" My mother said with a look of fear on her face.
"Zeus! Who is this girl?" I demanded to know immediately.
"Like I said to you before, she is a heretic" Zeus said
"Are you mad, brother?" Poseidon interrupted. "Isn't that your daughter, Ivy?"
"He must pay for killing her" One god said.
"The boy must die. Strike him where he stands!" said another.
"Quiet!" Zeus demanded for silence from the other gods. He was a dominating figure. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes just like the girl. He had squared shoulders and was very masculine. He looked like he could carry the world on his shoulders.
"I sent him to kill her because she disobeyed my orders." Zeus exclaimed.
"What orders? Your order to clean the house she was living in all alone by herself?" I shouted back at him. I felt so dirty. Like a criminal. I felt like I had innocent blood on my hands.
"I ordered her to come here to Olympus and join me because someone w…" Zeus was once again interrupted by me.
"Because someone was hunting them down? And I guess she was the scapegoat for the others? That if they don't come to Olympus, the bogeyman would come for them?" I was really pissed. I couldn't stand the sight of him anymore. I had the blood of my cousin, his own daughter on my hands!
I began walking out.
"Don't forget, it was a favour and I owe you." He said as I walked away. I stopped for a moment, sprouted my wings and flew out of Olympus. And I haven't been there ever since.
…
We were all dumbfounded. Were the gods really that cruel?
"Wait. So Zeus sent you to kill his daughter because she didn't want to live with him in Olympus? Like what the fuck is wrong with that guy?" Carly was angry.
"Yes and unknowingly, I killed one of my cousins." Greg said as he sipped his cola.
"That explains a lot. Ivy was in recession for a year and just disappeared into thin air." Christopher understood the situation fully now.
"I knew her." Anne said. "She was nice."
We didn't even know how to consume the story and now we're going to this very same man to redeem the favour?
I was sceptical about it but Greg said he couldn't turn him down. After what he made Greg do, I doubt he would be able to say no to him. The waitress brought the bill and Anne floated it because she was the richest amongst us and we got back on the road to continue the journey.