Mortal Gods

"Drop down and give me fifty!" Zeus ordered as the two demigods scrambled to the floor, placing their palms on the floor.

As fast as lightning, they completed fifty push-ups in five minutes. While the two demigods got up, not a drop of sweat on their forehead, Zeus furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at his watch.

"Not fast enough. Five minutes to complete fifty? The last time, both of you completed fifty push-ups in 4 minutes..." Zeus shook his head, disappointment heard in his voice.

One of the demigods, a girl fought back the urge to throttle Zeus. Quickly she repeated a mantra in her head. 'I'm calm, I'm calm, I'm calm...' The girl thought to herself.

However, she could not contain all her anger and ended up snapping back at Zeus. "We're only 16 for Olympus's sake! Stop being so frustrating!" The girl snapped, crossing her arms over her chest, a look of defiance visibly seen in her eyes.

Zeus slowly looked up from his watch and a low growl emitted from his mouth.

The other demigod, a boy, twirled his ring, protectiveness shining in his eyes. He got into a fighting stance, his eyebrows furrowed together and a total look of concentration on his face.

Unexpectedly, Zeus chuckled. "You, my girl, have a temper. Use it during a fight to overpower your enemy but remember, don't let the rage consume you. Think before you swing your sword." Proudness twinkling in his eyes for an unknown reason.

The boy stood up from his fighting position and his face changed back into a blank expression. However, his fists still remained clenched and placed to his sides.

The girl rolled her eyes, her mouth curled up in a smirk. "Yeah, yeah old man. You've told me that quite a number of times. One time to be exact." She teased while pulling her hair back up into a messy ponytail.

Zeus smiled, opening his mouth, about to reply before a voice cut him off. "Evening father. It's time for dinner."

The demigods turned around and saw Athena standing in front of them. The girl grinned, flashing her pearly white teeth as her dimples appeared on her face.

"Hey mum! I worked on this new design for this machine. I need your opinion on it... Can you help me?" The girl asked.

Athena looked shocked for a moment before she regained her composure and gave her daughter a thin smile. "Yes my daughter. Tell me, what is the purpose of the machine?" Athena questioned and the girl started rambling immediately, talking about the type of material used, it's purpose and how it works.

As they slowly walked to the dining pavilion, the girl rambling and Athena putting in some ideas here and there, the boy walked behind them, alongside Zeus.

"Tell her." Zeus nudged the boy as the demigod slowly turned to look at the God. The boy stuffed his hands into his pocket and a light blush appeared on his cheeks before it quickly disappeared in a blink of the eye.

"Tell Sophia you like her, Dmitri! All the Gods can see it. You like her, she likes you!" Zeus whispered excitedly, weirdly interested in Dmitri's love life.

Nonetheless, Dmitri sighed. "She doesn't like me. Besides I saw her yesterday kissing..." Dmitri gulped, feeling tears welling up in his eyes, blurring his vision.

Quickly, he willed his tears to evaporate into thin air. Zeus stopped and waited for the boy, Dmitri, to finish his sentence.

After a slight nudge from the God, Dmitri continued with his clenched fists by his side. "She... She was kissing... Apollo..." Dmitri bit his inner cheek, silently cursing the said God.

Immediately, anger filled Zeus's eyes. Filled with rage, the God punched the tree next to him, making the poor tree break in half before toppling over.

Dmitri looked at the tree sadly and his heart clenched when he saw Apollo up ahead with Sophia, both talking happily. He then turned to Zeus, an emotion in his eyes he rarely showed.

Defeat.

"Lord Zeus, may I be excused from dinner? I would like to retire to my bedroom." Dmitri sighed, still standing rigidly.

Zeus took one look at Dmitri, the boy he treated like a son, and immediately wanted nothing more than to kill Apollo, his real son he wasn't as close to, just to remove Dmitri's sadness.

The God gave a nod and Dmitri let a little sigh escape from his mouth. Dmitri gave a low bow, then he made his way to his cabin.

Dmitri's cabin was two stories and was perched on top of a strong branch of a tree. Taking his time, he slowly climbed his ladder, a blank expression on his face the whole time.

The Son of Bellona grabbed the floor of his patio and effortlessly swung hinself up, landing on his feet on the wooden floorboard.

He admired the house he had made from scratch by himself. It was made entirely out of dark oak wood. The patio had wooden railings, carved with intricate designs by him. A couch sat under one of his windows, white cushions placed neatly on the couch. A coffee table with glass over it sat in front of the couch, the glass gleaming in the setting sun.

Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. He had purposely made his temporary house look as much as his old home.

Suddenly, he could almost smell his father's homemade cookies again.

Before everything happened.

Before he became a demigod.

He passed by one of his windows, about to enter his house, when he stopped. Walking backwards, he stood in front of the window.

Looking at his reflection, he was reminded of how much he loved her that he would even give up his own life for her. His hand hovered above his right eye, well technically where his right eye used to be.

In its place was a red ball-like object, which served as the same purpose as his eye but even better. It helped him see in the dark, helped detect any living creature nearby and could light up, acting like a torchlight.

He was so lost in his thoughts, that he soon realized the sun had already set and the moon had appeared. The glow from the moon was very limited to Dmitri as his house was covered by the tree's leaves.

His red 'eye' immediately sensed the lack of light and the night vision mode was turned on. The demigod made his way into his house, closing the front door behind him when he entered.

Flicking on the light switch, he felt at peace. The way he decorated his house was almost exactly the same as how his old home was decorated.

A thin smile flickered on his face and it disappeared almost immediately. His living room had one long couch, two armchairs, a coffee table and a fireplace. The base of the chairs were wood and a white cushion was placed on top of the wood. His coffee table was wooden as well, rectangular in shape and had a book neatly placed on top.

He made his way to the coffee table, picking up his book and then, curled up in the armchair. His mood immediately changed when he opened the book. From his usual blank expression, it changed to sadness and anger.

The book was in fact, not a book. It was a diary, not written by Dmitri but rather, his father.

Dear Journal,
I met a girl today while I was on a mission. She was one of the prisoners of my target, General Wilson.

She was beautiful but that wasn't what made me attracted to her. It was her fighting spirit.

There she was, chained to a wall and being whipped by the guards. Red scars littered her back and arms but she didn't scream. Instead, she stood there with her head held high and stood up, blow after blow.

This is the reason why I became an Assassin.

To fight against evil, to free the good and the innocent. What I do is dark but I work for the light.

Tomorrow, I plan to assassinate General Wilson. Hopefully, the prisoner with the fighting spirit will make it out alive.

-Dark Shadow

Dmitri closed the book, which was his father's diary and sighed. Hatred coursed through his veins for his mother, the Goddess.

Before he could do anything rash, he decided to go out and trek up to the summit of the mountain. He turned off his lights and made his way out of his house, and to the path that led to the summit.

Climbing up the mountain, he clenched his fists as his demons consumed his mind again, filling his thoughts with anger.

Finally, he reached the summit and plopped himself down, admiring the glowing moon. His demons slowly disappeared from his mind after he took in a few breaths.

Suddenly, he heard a twig snap. His head snapped backwards from the direction where he heard the sound and in a flash, he was standing up, in his fighting position.

Twirling his ring, a half a metre sword appeared in his hands, the sharp blade shining, words in Greek on one side and the other side Latin. Both sides read the same thing, which was 'Justice in the Dark'.

Instead of some wild monsters, he saw the other demigod, Sophia, instead. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun, a few strands covering her face.

She grinned, flashing her blinding white teeth and raised her hands in the air, mockingly saying, "I surrender!" Dmitri inwardly rolled his eyes and wanted to laugh so badly but he remembered his parents training.

The first rule? Don't trust anyone.

The second rule? Never show your emotions.

He twirled his ring and the sword disappeared out of thin air. "Hey." Dmitri gave a small smile. Screw all those rules his parents taught him. When it came to Sophia, he could show his feelings and trust her.

"Hey. I brought you some food. We were supposed to eat boiled chicken and broccoli but Poseidon gave me some pizza for us to share." Sophia blushed but Dmitri assumed she was probably tired from climbing up the mountain Dmitri gracefully sat down, making no sound.

"So, you know what's happening next week... Right?" Sophia made her way to Dmitri's side, plopping herself down next to him. She swung her legs back and forth as the two demigods sat on the edge of the cliff.

"Yeah. I don't want to go back to Camp though..." Dmitri sighed, yet again running his hand through his dark brown hair.

Sophia nodded her head, agreeing completely with Dmitri but stayed silent. She lay her head on the Son of Bellona's shoulder. Immediately, Dmitri tensed up before relaxing.

"I'm not looking forward to going back to the Athena cabin... I'm... Scared that everything's gonna be like last time..." Sophia bit her lip, tears blurring her vision.

Dmitri looked at Sophia's big grey eyes filled with tears and reached over, wiping away a stray tear that ran down her cheek.

He pulled her into a hug, silently cursing Camp Half-Blood for bullying Sophia when she was younger.

Sophia had only broken down in front of Dmitri. She told him all her secrets, insecurities, thoughts and past. No one else knew about her as well as Dmitri.

Once they pulled away, Sophia sniffled. "I'll be there Sophia. If they think of doing anything to you, I'll be there for you." Dmitri shot the Daughter of Athena one of his rare smiles.

Sophia took this time to admire Dmitri's smile. His teeth were perfectly straight and glowed white, his dimples were shown and his eyes changed from emotionless to care.

Sophia simply nodded and opened the pizza box that sat beside her. "So... You ready for some pizza?" She grinned and Dmitri opened the box, shoving two slices into his mouth.

"Does that answer your question?" He smirked before they both began to chat and eat on the summit of a mountain, with a full moon up in the sky.

Notes