Victoria Angelo's Story

Monday
Ten dorm rooms, a huge theater, a courtyard, a pool, a gym, an outdoor battle arena, a café, a dance club, a dance hall, a school store, and several different classrooms were what could be found in the University. Now, in the large theater, all of the students were gathered. They sat in front of a large stage where the twelve Olympians were gathered. Athena, who had the idea for the school and was therefore headmaster, was at the podium and was speaking.

Or trying to speak. The students, though, wouldn’t be quiet. Athena looked quiet timid in front of all of them. She would have hated for her plan to fall through.
“May I have your attention? Your attention, please?” she said, but was not heard over the chatting children.

“Everybody shut up right now!” Ares yelled powerfully. All the students went silent.

Athena took a deep breath and continued. “Thank you. Now, as you all know this is the Demigod Academy. You all have gifts. A gift of us gods. You possess spectacular powers to control a certain element. Obviously, none of you are quite certain how to control it. And that’s why you’re here. Here, we will not only teach you how to use your powers, but also about what it means to be a Demigod. You must use your powers for good. And to do that, you must learn about our history and train each day. I hope you will all enjoy yourselves…” Her speech went on for about ten minutes and most of the students lost interest after a while. Finally, she said, “Have a great year! Please hurry onto your first class which I believe is ancient Greek history. And—“

“Not so fast!” a voice from out of nowhere came. From the deep tone and rage within it, everyone could tell it was Hades. “You think this is a grand idea, Athena? You believe that all these little…rodents have the ability to be gods? And what about my children? Where are they? I’ll tell you now, Athena and the rest of you Olympians, this school will fail. Shut it down now or there will be hell to pay. I guarantee it!”
After a moment, all the students began to talk about what that meant.

“Children! Please! Please! Don’t panic!” Athena tried.

Then Zeus stepped up. “Silence! All students should immediately report to the common room at once! You are to stay there until further notice. Any student caught outside of the common room shall be expelled…dismissed!” And he left. All the students filed out and were escorted by minor gods to the common room. They sat around in silence waiting for what was going to happen next.
----
SAPPHIRA:
Sapphire looked around at everyone. She didn’t know what to do. Her hair a light shade of pink, she was feeling alright, but a little worried. She looked around at the other students, but was still a bit confused as of what to do. It was frightening. Especially for her. She knew Hades and knew that he would make good on his promise to end the school.

But there was nothing she could do, was there?

Doug let out a light yawn as he found his way to a seat in the common room, folding his larger-than-average frame down onto it. He certainly didn't look worried. In fact, he was grinning faintly, if a little sleepily; this was all happening a little early in the day for his tastes. He was used to sleeping most of the sunlight away and partying long into the night, so it would probably be a little while before his sleep patterns adjusted to this new schedule of classes and trainings.

They'd forced him to wear a shirt, very much against his will, for the opening ceremony, but he'd undone every single button to leave it hanging open to expose his chiseled torso. He idly brushed some blond hair from his half-lidded green eyes, letting them wander around to appraise his fellow students. "He's just one guy. Er. God," he drawled, noting the panic in some of his peers' expressions. "Our moms and dads'll kick his ass, then we'll get to dive right into the boring school stuff." He lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug, then folded his arms across his chest, grinning. "Anyone wanna play a game while we wait?"

"A game?" Cali asked, "What do you mean?"

Siren rolled her eyes at her sister. "Depends," she said twisting her crimson hair.

"Pearl, don't be rude!" Cali scolded her sister. They were twins, but Cali always felt like the older sister. She was worried about the situation. Hades was a pretty scary dude. But Siren thought of it as an adventure. It was exciting. And anything to get out of class for a while.

Archer
Good God! Er... Gods, he supposed. Good Gods! How terrifying that had been! Archer laughed and grinned all the way to the common room. He was in a damn good mood, a damn good mood indeed. He wasn’t going to let some hellion fuck that up for him. Not Archer Scott Kennedy. No siree. He wasn’t even sure why he was so happy. Maybe it was the thrill of being near kids like him, demigods. In a way, it was like a whole big adventure. Arch loved a good thrill. Damn, he was in a good mood.

So, when some guy said, "Anyone wanna play a game while we wait?" , Archer casually chucked his hand into the air and replied, grinning, “Sure. I’m up for it. Have anything in mind?” It was one of the rare times his words didn’t contain vile swears. Road to recovery.

Seth
Oh. How lovely. A threat?

Seth was rather bored. Bored and infuriated. Too many people. They were all so... happy. Well, compared to him, anyway. A lot of people were happy when compared to Seth. Too many. He trudged after the other kids to the common room, where he promptly took a seat in the corner, cross-legged on the chair. He never liked having his feet touch the floor while he was sitting in a chair. Pet peeve of his. Seth wasn’t sure why. It was just uncomfortable.

Not as uncomfortable as being in a room full of people.

Sator’s Perspective

Watching the other “kids” sit down and settle in, talking and speaking of a game, Sator was bit irritated. One was off in what seemed to be a little fit of anger, a small one at that. Another seemed to shyly watch everyone else with utter apprehension and anxiety.

Sator thought nothing of all of this. Truly so. Perhaps he was even skeptical it was happening before his eyes, especially the whole gods-thing. Hermes came to him one night, just as he was laying in a particularly comfortable patch of corn, to tell him that Demeter, Lady of Agriculture, was his mother. Of course, Sator shrugged off this raving, naked lunatic with, “Hmm… that’s nice. Would you like to have sex?” Hermes was probably most obliged, though out of fear of Demeter he rightly rejected.

So was Sator the child of Demeter? Eh, maybe. Sator was a Christian, however. He didn’t believe in gods, let alone Greek ones, and he wasn’t sure what to think of all this. He wasn’t sure if a farmer finally hit him on the head with a rock and he got knocked out what. But it would make sense, all of this, Sator supposed. It would explain why Sator suffered and enjoyed such a dichromatic life, and would put to rest the question of who exactly his mother was. But he didn’t need a mother, and he didn’t need a father. He was an independent man. A virginal man, yes, but a man just the same. “A manly man, indeed,” he thought to himself. His only mother in life was the Virgin Mary, and he no pagan usurper could ever convince him otherwise.

He eyed a most becoming young woman sitting at the foot of a column in the commons. She was a bit near the large group of the kids. “Mmm… she is most delicious,” Sator thought. The others were not ugly, and some were certainly gorgeous, but had yet to capture his attention. What better way to catch their attention and prove his manliness than to catch her eye.

She seemed to be a rancher girl of some sort, a lil’ pistol packin’ mama it seemed, dressed in a cute little blue dress and a leather vest. Her hair was pulled pack in a pony-tail, and her eyes seemed generally enthusiastic. Sator strode gently towards her, his boots clacking against the marble floor, each calculated step purposed toward gathering attention.

“Excuse me, mi’lady,” Sator spoke, his accent leaking out a bit, attempting to catch her attention. Her smiling eyes caught up to his and he glared deeply into them. He grabbed her hand, catching her unawares. “Ah, you are indeed very beautiful,” he began to inch her hand closer to his mouth, “I am Sator Cereris Terensis, but you may call me Saturday.” He kissed her hand and looked back up to her eyes.
 

Victoria’s Perspective

“Get up off me, or I’ll be fixin’ to open a can’a whop ass!” she roared at Sator. “Ain’t no man touches this lil’ girl!” Sator jumped back up, surprised and embarrassed. His lips were sputtering for some type of salvation.

“Listen up men!” Victoria called out attention to the whole group, specifically those with the dreaded snake-organ, “Ain’t none of ya’ll ever touching this! Neve’ eve’, and ya’ll can just keep your hands down each others’ pants, ‘cause I like ladies and ladies alone.”

Bowing her head in a last grace of Southern ladylike behavior, “Thank ya’ll.”

Ain’t no man ever touchin’ without her consent. It made certain sense that Ares was her father, she was as tough or tougher than him, and she was prepared to get into the nitty gritty of things. But Victoria knew that at the heart of things, women were stronger than men, and her mortal mother was a helluva lot tougher than any man, God of War or not.

Siren grinned at Victoria, a sexy little grin that she often gave. "Well, aren't you the sassy little southern belle!" she said as she ran one finger under the girl's chin. "I like that!" she walked around her once in a circle until she was again in front of her, "I'm Siren!" she winked and giggled. "Why do you keep your hair up? I bet it would look so pretty down."

Calliope wanted to disappear out of embarrassment. It was bad enough that her sister was a complete slut and flirted with all the guys, but it was even worse that she did it with girls two. It wasn't that she disliked her sister for likening girls or guys, but she just wished she wouldn't constantly act like such a slut.
"umm..." she began to say to Sator, "are you alright?" but she avoided his eyes, too shy and embarrassed.

Victoria’s Perspective

Victoria couldn't help but giggle at Siren's touch.

"Truth be told now, I ain't certain sure. I just always have my hair pulled back," she smiled, grabbing her ponytail with her rough yet still lady hands.
"It's just somethin' you pick up on the ranch, ya' see? Ain't no uptight persnickety squirrel or nothin'."

Victoria grinned a wide smile, gave a playful scoff in Sator's direction, and rushed to gently pet Siren's beautiful hair. "Ain't ya'll got the darned near cutest red hair I've ever laid eyes upon, Lord knows." Victoria may truly have found someone she liked here, after all.

Scolding back at Sator, "Ya'll can have the boys, if'n ya'll want. I'm sure they'll be just fine with a nice ass like yours." Sator was obviously upset, embarrassed and angered, but remained silent so as not to give this girl anymore traction.

Doug Merryweather

To be fair, Douggie hadn’t removed his shirt. He’d wanted to, but they wouldn’t let him! So he’d just unbuttoned it was all. Some kid with blue and black hair, cute, was grinning like a madman, and he responded in the affirmative regarding a game to pass the time. “Well, I can think of a few games I wouldn’t mind playing with you,” he answered Archer, following up with a devilish wink.

His eyes skirted the room again as he considered the question earnestly. What sort of game? A few of the other kids seemed terrified, but most of them just seemed to be waiting. They wanted to see what happened, and they were neither afraid nor excited. Some huge guy was hitting on a girl, and Douggie laughed aloud when she professed her Sapphic tendencies for all to hear. “Duly noted!” he piped up, still laughing and shaking his head. It gave him an idea.

“Well, we’re kinda limited on options, so how about we play one of those… get-to-know-you kind of games. Like, we’ll go around, and everyone says their name, who their mom or dad is, and then just a random fact about themselves. Like, I’m Doug, or Douggie, or… well, no, don’t call me Douglas unless I’m in trouble. My dad is Dionysus, and…” He paused to think up a good ice-breaker fact. “And I once made a wish on a dandelion, and it came true.” He grinned a huge grin, then settled back in his seat. “Who wants to go next?”

Archer
Arch laughed at the guy's flirtatious joke. He hadn't been flirted with by a guy before, except at parties his friends dragged him to. After listening to Doug talk (wow... Dionysus. Neat-O), he said, "I'll go!"

He crossed his arms and introduced himself. "Archer Scott Kennedy, ladies and gents. My old man is the big guy, Zeus. And one time," he grinned a mischievous grin here. "I almost robbed a bank. Next?" He sat back in his chair, hooking one leg over the other. 

Seth 
Seth was pretty sure he was surrounded by idiots. Idiots and freaks. 

There was this one guy who wanted to play a game, of all things, and some chick who had a mighty big ego exclaimed that she was a lesbian, basically. He had to refrain from thinking that although she was bigger than him, he could most likely kick her country bumpkin ass. 

Oh God the game started. He tried not to sigh as he stared out the window, wondering why he'd shown in the first place. 

Although she was in her Spring attitude, Sapphira was a little concered as to what Victoria would do if anyon made her mad. Upon hearing, the game, though, she smiled and was excited. What a freat idea from Doug! Sapphira's hair turned violet and she became her laid-back Autumn persona. "I guess I'll go next. I'm Sapphira Black. You can call me Sapphire, Saph, or really whatever you want. My mother is Persephone. And..." she thought hard. What possibly could she say that would be good? Her hair changed to blonde and her friendly Summer personality shown through, even when she announced, "Once, I punched my best friend in the face and gave her a bloody lip. In my defense, she deserved it!" she smiled widely, "who's next?"

Siren smiled, "You know, sweetie," she said to Victoria, "I think you and I should be come best friends. How about coming to tomorrow's school dance with me? It'll be fun! I'd love to see how a cute southern belle such as yourself dresses for a dance!" she smiled and fluttered her eyes at the girl. At the moment, Victoria was much more investing than the game or any of the guys. Accept maybe Doug who was looking so fine with his shirt open, but she quickly determined that he was not in the running. But Victoria was a very beautiful young lady.

Meanwhile, Cali sighed. She had been ignore by Sator as she expected to be. She took a deep breath and suddenly gained a sort of confidence. "Hey, everyone. I'm Calliope. You can call me Cal or Cali for short, but nothing else, please. My father is Poseidon. For my birthday, my father gifted me with the ability to sing like a Muse."

Siren laughed a little and paused her flirting with Victoria for a moment. "Hello, everyone! My name is Siren--"

"her real name is Pearl." Cali said.

Siren paused a moment and glared at her sister. "The first low-life to call me Pearl, though will find themself tied to a rock at the bottom of the ocean. I am Poseidon's daughter, Calliope's twin. And on my birthday I slapped my father and he gave me the gift of singing like a siren," she only smiled at this, "and I'm very kissable." she gave a look at Victoria.

Cali tried to hide behind her hair.

Victoria’s Perspective

"I am Victoria Angelo, I'm from the Republic of Texas, ya'll!" Victoria jumped up and smiled enthusiastically. "Ya'll can call me Vita, Vickie, or Valo, if'n ya'll want. My daddy's Ares, God'a war, mhm."

She looked back at Siren and smiled, "Hmm, Pearl is such a pretty name. And I'd be much obliged to take ya'll to the dance, mhm."
She turned her direction to Cali, "Don't worry none about that big old meanie, he ain't nothing but a horn dog, and alls he wants is a bit of boy butt. Ya'll just need your sisters to keep ya'll happy, y'hear?"

Siren looked at Sapphira. Was she serious about that? She had to be kidding. Whatever. She was happy though. She had a date to the dance well before anyone else. "You're from Texas?" she asked, "Great place. Great music! I love country music. Reba, Toby Keith, Gretchen Wilson, Charlie Daniels. Love 'em!" she smiled.

Cali smiled at Victoria, but quickly looked away. She really was beginning to feel uncomfortable. She had forgotten about the dance. She was certain she'd either be alone or the akward third wheel on her sister's date. She bit her lip, though and ignored it. If someone asked her...

No one was going to ask her. She could truly believe that. At least she was singing there. Being her father's favorite daughter, he got her that. And she was greatful for it.

Siren, although constantly fighting with her sister, still loved her. She now saw that her sister needed a little help. Needed to make people notice her. It was really pathetic that she was like this. With the voice of a muse, she could sing a song that people would listen to and it would be very good. Unlike her ability to just seduce everyone with her voice.

"Hey everyone!" Siren yelled, "While we're waiting, I have to tell you all that my sister is a FANTASTIC singer! I mean, you will be amazed! Do you wanna here her sing?" she smiled at everyone and gave a look to Victoria in hopes that she would help back her up on this.

Cali's jaw dropped. What was her sister doing?

Sator’s Perspective

"Well, I don't really know, kid," Sator said, getting up off the table and sitting himself in the wooden chair next to Seth. He ran his hand through the brown side of his hair and smiled out at the window to see the stormy clouds of the great Mount Olympus. What an odd site, seeing this big, dichromatic giant and this near-white haired boy sitting together. The truth is, Sator could understand Seth's apprehension. To be honest, Sator would have reacted the same at Seth's age. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure he was being so brave; he hated people, he felt that they were nothing but a detriment to Earth and it's plant life. But, between the jolt of Hades' interruption, the arousing news of being a demigod, and the alarming mystery that Seth's presence posed, he felt his barriers seem to fade and die away beneath his sudden enthusiasm.

"To be honest, I don't even know," Sator looked over at Seth, his eyes serious and a faint watery, "When I first saw you, I thought 'Wow, he's cute.'" Sator laughed a bit, "But now I'm not so concerned about you being cute, you just seem like someone I can trust, somebody I can share my grumblings with."

He got up, "I'm willing to fight until you realize I can be your best friend, but," he stopped. Sator hoped Seth couldn't see the slight tear at the corner of his green eye, "I do consider myself a gentleman, and I will certainly leave you if I bother you that much."

He rested his hand on Seth's shoulder, fully aware that the consequences may be terrible. But he was willing to upset Seth if it meant taking a chance that perhaps he could reach out and speak to Seth in a language more intimate. "It's all up to you," Sator said, voice slightly fading, "but I will always be your friend."

Victoria’s Perspective

Victoria didn't need to hear anymore before she yelled back at Siren, being only a foot away, "YEAH!!! Let's hear some singing! C'mon ya'll, let's hear some music!

Saph, now in her cheerful Summer persona. Had a complete turn around in mood. She forgot about Seth and Sator and now ran back to join the group. Upon hearing Siren's comment, she smiled and said to Cali, "I'd love to hear you sing!" She jumped up and pushed the coffee table to the center. Or at least tried. It was heavy. "If I could move this out a little, you could use it as a stage!"

TIME LAPSE

After the strange ordeal with the school, the teachers decided that it was safe to allow the students out of the common room. They all went to their classes and the next night, they prepared for the dance. The gods were allowed to visit their children before the dance as a sort of welcoming. Many presented their daughters with gifts of dresses and helped their sons into suits. The dance was a formal.

As every student was required to go to it, several sat around and sulked. Those who wanted to dance enjoyed performances by the muses that attended as well as a single song sung by Calliope.

The dance, now in progress, seems to be going well.

___

Sapphira should have been down with everyone else. All the other students were there. But her mother was still locked away in the underworld and she had no friends yet to lend her a dress. For that reason, she was tearing her bag apart for any dress that seemed to be fomal. Any long dress would be good for her.

She sighed and continue looking through her bag. Nothing seemed to be there.

Her roommates weren't the nicest. She actually really hated them. She would do anything to switch. One didn't talk to her and the other already let her know what he thought of her.

The twins sat in the same room as their father. Cali stared politely down at the ground while Siren looked out the window.

"Are you both enjoying school?"

"Yeah," they answered.

"Make any friends yet?"

"Yeah," Siren said.

"No," Cali replied.

"What about Zeus' boy? He's your cousin," he said, "and so is Demeter's son. You know, I told Zeus the other day that you would be a good influence on his kid--"

"I bet she would," Siren said. They both turned to her, "little miss goodie goodie is daddy's favorite little girl, isn't she? Well fuck it all! I hate this! I hate this whole fucking thing!" she abruptly stood up and went for the door, but stopped herself. "You know what? I don't need any of this!"

"Was she rejected for a date?" he asked his quieter daughter.

"I have a date, Poseidon!" she screamed at her father, "With Ares child!"

"But Area child is--"

"Daddy, I'm a lesbian!" she then stormed out of the room in tears.

Cali avoided eye contact.

Poseidon's gift to his favorite daughter was a beautiful sleek blue dress.

Siren, instead, wore a fun, Alexander McQueen dress that made her stand out at the dance.

She waited for Victoria at the head of the staircase.

Victoria’s Perspective

In Her Room

“C’mon in, ya’ll,” replied to the knock on her door. She was getting dressed up in a nice pink, country-style dress that reminded her of the dances back home in Paris(Texas).



Ares shuffled in, attempting to fit in through the small doorframe despite the fact that he was both the tallest and heaviest of the gods. His face clean-shaven, and his round belly was both full by fat standards and muscled. It seemed the God of War hasn’t seen action in a while…

“Oh it’s you,” Victoria said to him through the mirror, applying her lipstick.

Hearing her response to him, he sighed and seemed most affected, but said quite proudly, “I knew you would already have your own dress, so I didn’t bother bringing you one.” She nodded her head sarcastically. “But I did bring something I hoped you like,” he said, reaching up back in his deep pockets and pulling out a bundle of velvet.

“It’s wrapped up,” he said, “I hoped you’d like to open it up here.”

“Ya’ll can just leave it on the bed,” she said coldly.

“Why do you have a problem with me?” Ares replied.

“Because you are a man,” she said calmy, but her voice starting to rise and her twang start to fade, “in face you are the epitome of a man, and ya’ll done left mama all on her lonesome with nothing but a ranch and a couple’a cows!” She turned to him, snapping and flailing her arms around. Ares liked this. “So excuse me if I am just a little skeptical of all of this!”

“Just open it up,” he said, “please.”

She calmed her temper just for a moment to open up the velvet bundle he left on her bag. It was a dark red, black velvet almost. She lifted the sheen and gliding fabric from itself to find… “Mama’s necklace?”

“I kept it all these years,” Ares replied.

“I’ve only ever seen it in pictures!” she exclaimed, handing it to her father and turning around, motioning him to apply the necklace to her neck. The necklace itself was silver, with a large, faded ruby at the heart of a silver heart. So beautiful, Victoria thought to herself.

Ares, putting the necklace around his daughter’s neck, had a tear in the corner of his eye.

“Awl, daddy, why you crying?” Victoria asked, “you’re being just a big wuss!”

He laughed at her. So much like her mama. The only women who could make him feel weak and empty.

“I’m proud,” he said. She looked at him in the eyes, and kissed him on the cheek.

At the Dance

As she descended down the staircase, she saw Siren in her beautiful dress and, Cali begin to go up on stage, and she saw that annoying behemoth and the little gnome stand next to each other, and oh god – Archer and Doug were getting wasted…

But Siren… she was so beautiful. All of this was too much to handle for Victoria, like… a wedding at a funeral! She began to cry like a little girl.

“Hey ya’ll,” she piped up to Siren, “you are lookin’ soooo fine!”

Sator’s Perspective

“I see you’re blushing, huh?” Sator said as he watched his little date’s face light up like a torch. He reached his hand out to caress the boy’s cheek. “I hope I didn’t have you waiting too long.”

“I’ve already spoken with my mother,” he said, trying to look into Seth’s eyes without exactly looking down on him, “she said we go to her classroom.”

“I hope all of this isn’t too soon,” Sator continued, “I just want to talk. No sex…” he blushed a little himself, “but kissing is fine if you like me, enough.”

“Let’s go,” he said, taking the boy’s tiny hand in his huge, tan hand.