The Prophecy of a Girl Called Cassiopeia

Chapter Two

I was beginning to notice the weight of the several full grocery bags in my hands. That morning, I had woken up with an unexplainable craving for French toast. Seeing as my fridge was completely barren, I decided that I needed to make a trip to the grocery store.

I peeked up at the sky above me. It looked dreadfully gloomy, the heavy dark clouds threatened to let the rain fall. Unfortunately for me, I didn't bring an umbrella on my little venture. I felt a drop of rain land on my shoulder, then another on my head. Drops of water began to fall all around me. The crowded sidewalks began to get less crowded as puddles began to form on the ground. My lips dropped into a frown. As much as I loved rain, I felt differently about being caught in the rain.

With the weight of all of my groceries, I wouldn't be able to make a run for it. Seeing as my apartment building was another fifteen-minute walk away, I had two options. I could walk through the rain and get completely soaked, or I could wait it out under an awning.

I was too immersed in my thoughts to notice that I was no longer getting rained on. I looked up to see the underside of a black umbrella.

I heard a familiar charisma filled voice, "Don't go catching a cold now, astéri."

That word, that's the same word from the note.

My head snapped to look at his face only to see a teasing smirk, "Apollo?"

"Ahh so she does remember how to speak?"

I rolled my eyes at his response, "Oh, right, before I forget," I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and reached into my shoulder bag. My hand found the envelope and brought it out before handing it to the man standing before me.

"It's not much, but I can get the rest to you eventually," I peeked up at him to see his face sporting a look of confusion.

"I don't know how fast I'll be able to get all the money back to you, but I swear you'll get every penny back. I promise. Well I guess you know where I live now, so if I didn't keep my promise that would be bad... but, um, yeah, I promise."

He stood there, his eyes moved from my face to the envelope and back. I reached down and pulled his free hand into mine, placing the envelope in his palm. He realized what I was doing and tried to put it back in my grasp but I kept pushing his hand away.

"Cassie, just take it, I really don't need you to pay me back."

"Wait a second," I relaxed my grip on the grocery bags in a moment of realization, "How do you know my name?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'll explain everything, can we just get out of the rain first?"

He reached for the bags in my hand, "Not until you tell me who you are."

"Well I can't tell you unless you come with me," he paused looking around and focused his gaze on something behind me, "look, there's a coffee shop right there. Just come with me and I'll officially introduce myself."

I stood in the pouring rain, contemplating his offer. The groceries seemed to get heavier with every passing second. Do I really want to walk all the way home in the pouring rain?

"Cassie," he pleaded.

"Alright, but as soon as the rain stops, I'm leaving," I hesitantly walked to the coffee shop. I didn't notice the umbrella covering me the whole way until we got to the shop.

He held the door open for me and I muttered a small thank you. I walked to a booth in the corner of the dimly lit coffee shop and placed my bags in the booth, before sitting next to them. Apollo made his way to the counter and ordered something. Considering the lack of zeroes in my bank account, I decided not to get anything.