The Stars Are Burning [PAUSED]

8. Disposable

A/N: thanks for 1k reads! Sorry for the late update but hey, I'm back!

THERE WAS AN almost tangible tension in the air as the small group consisting of Fletcher, Cassian, Athena and Cassandra walked to the Acropolis of Olympus. The wide streets were somewhat empty, with a few men and women either wearing ancient Greek clothing or in modern wear. Low houses stood on either side of the street, and there were no cars in the streets, only bicycles.

"How bad are the gods?" Fletcher asked nobody in particular as they climbed a set of worn cobblestone steps up the mountain.

"They're... fine," Athena said. "But I doubt that even half of Olympians will turn up."

"Who are the Olympians?"

"They consist of Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite, Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Demeter, Ares, Hephaestus, myself, and sometimes Hestia or Dionysus. The pantheon we talked about just now." Athena answered, counting the gods off with her fingers.

"Okay," Fletcher said, looking around at the empty clearing they'd reached. There was a large white pavilion on the other side, with a few figures sitting or standing. "Who should I look out for?"

"Apollo, Apollo, Apollo." Cassandra bit out, turning her head to look Fletcher dead in the eye. "He may look pretty, but he'll ruin your life."

"What did he do?"

"In all honesty, he isn't that bad compared to the rest. He's infuriatingly portrayed as perfect when he completely destroyed my life just because I didn't want to... canoodle with him." 

"What did he do?" Fletcher asked again.

Cassandra shook her head. "I was admired by Apollo, and he promised me the gift of prophecy."

"Apollo, like the god, right?"

Cassandra nodded. "When he tried to, well, fuck me, I refused even though I had promised him that at first. and he responded by cursing me and made sure that nobody would believe my prophecies."

"I mean, you did promise him that..." Fletcher said.

"But that doesn't mean anything, consent can be given and taken away at any time." Cassandra stopped walking, crossing her arms.

"I guess he could've just taken away your gift instead of cursing you like that." Fletcher said.

Cassandra nodded. "This is why you have to be careful around gods. The moment you scorn them, you're dead. Even Athena did something like that, back in the day. She's done a lot too."

Athena nodded, reaching her hand to Cassandra's and pulling her forward. The small group had all stopped in the middle of the grassy field.

Athena turned her head around to look at Cassandra then at Fletcher, grey eyes shining. "I was still a young god with too much power on my fingertips; it was a mistake. I regret it, but there are too many things to regret, so I look forward, always forward."

Cassandra threaded her fingers through Athena's and they seemed to have a whole conversation with their eyes.

Athena cleared her throat, looking back at Cassian and Fletcher. "Regardless of what happened centuries ago, we have a meeting to attend."

"So, I only have to watch out for Apollo?" Fletcher asked.

"And half of the other gods, yes. They're not better, if not worse, than Apollo." Cassian said. "Just stay by Cassandra and me and you'll be fine."

"And if any of the gods ask you who's the best looking, don't answer," Cassandra warned. "You don't want to start another war."

"Huh?" Fletcher had no idea what war Cassandra was talking about.