Divinity

Chapter Five

AFTER AN EXTENSIVE WALK that lasted approximately three hours, Castor finally thought it might be a good idea to head back to Melissa's apartment. The dream from last night was almost gone from his head now. And she might get worried if she checked on him and found that he wasn't anywhere to be found.

His stomach chose that moment to rumble, reminding him that he hadn't actually eaten anything for breakfast. He considered stopping at a Dunkin' Donuts, and then realized that he was rather sick of munchkins. Instead, he started heading towards the supermarket. Maybe he'd just buy a bagel or something.

And then someone slammed into his side, nearly knocking him over. Castor turned to see who it was, and shout a few choice words at them, when he froze in shock.

It was Pollux. And a large part of his shirt was singed off in the back.

Castor immediately turned and ran after him, but Pollux was a good runner and even after a while he didn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. “Pollux!” he yelled, out of breath.

Pollux twisted around, saw Castor, and slowed to a halt. “Castor?” he asked, looking bemused. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still sleeping!”

“I haven't been asleep for the past three hours,” Castor said.

Pollux frowned. “Then what were you doing?”

“A better question is, what were you doing?” Castor retorted. “A huge chunk of your shirt is burned off, and why were you running away from the supermarket like a monster was chasing you?”

“So, I kinda ran into a Hydra at Shaws,”

“You what?” Castor asked in disbelief.

Pollux glanced around nervously. “I'll tell you back at Melissa's apartment,”

When they finally trudged up the steps to Melissa's apartment ten minutes later, Melissa came running. “Pollux!” she cried. “I checked Castor's bedroom, but I couldn't find...” she trailed off when she saw Castor right behind him. “Oh,”

“Sorry for not telling you,” Castor said sheepishly. “I went on a walk,”

“It's fine,” Melissa said. “Actually, I have a message for you two, but come inside first,”

“From who?” Castor asked, as the two of them entered the apartment.

“From the Olympian gods,” Melissa plopped herself onto the couch. She patted the space by her, inviting them to join her.

Castor sat next to her while Pollux sat on the opposite sofa. “So, you know how monsters are coming back from the dead, right?”

Castor and Pollux nodded. “Well, the Olympian gods are working really hard, killing the monsters and stuff, but unless someone blocks off the exit to the Underworld, the monsters will just keep coming forever. So, a few minutes ago, Hermes came with a message to you two. The Olympians will grant you a pardon, if you go and close the exit. A pardon, as in, they'll let you live in your apartment instead of going back to the old cycle, and Hephaestus said he'll even make you guys a new air freshener, whatever that means.”

“He knew about that?” Pollux asked in disbelief. “I went through so much shit just to make sure that he didn't know!”

“Is that really the biggest problem on hand right now, Pollux?” Castor asked.

“I'm just saying!”

Castor sighed. “It doesn't look like we have much of a choice. But the entrance is in New York, right? That shouldn't be too hard. We're already pretty close.”