Hayley

THREE DAYS AGO, BEFORE APOLLO AND ZEUS'S BICKERING.

★★★★

"wake up sleepy head" Zara's voice woke me, as she cooed, running her fingers through her brown sugar short fringe hair. Her mahogany eyes sparkled with excitement and a hint of amusement.

Her brown skin glowed under the dimly lit room. She wore jeans and a plain white shirt. She sat on the chair in the room.

I stretched out like a cat, yawning, as I tossed the sheets off, pushing my hair out of my face, before sitting up. She opened the windows, lifting the curtains, allowing rays of sunshine in.

"Good morning Zara."

"You know you have a lot of work to do today." She said excitedly.

"Work? Nobody views our vlog." I said. We've been vlogging for almost six months now and it's been useless.

"Yass they do girl! Remember that video you got anonymously? That video of gods living on mount Olympia?" She asked.

"Yeah I do. What about it?" I asked, running my fingers through my hair. I still didn't understand what she was trying to say.

Three months ago, i–or we in particular, got a video from an anonymous sender. It was a partially blurred video of a place in Golden City, called Mount Olympia. It had a slight description written : 'Mount Olympia, Home of gods on Earth, House of Zeus.

I definitely wanted to ignore the video, since I couldn't believe a mansion on a mountain was home to gods, most especially, Zeus. But, Zara insisted we upload it, to be sure of it's source, and how legit it was.

I'd posted it after so many persuasion, And since then, I no longer visited that stupid vlog channel. What use is having 6 followers only, for 6 months.

"Haven't you seen the views? The comments? Have you even visited the vlog channel?" She said, eyeing me wearily.

I got up, taking off my clothes, " I had no reason to. The vlog is useless anyways." I ended in a brusque tone, tugging on my bathrobe.

"Well, you have every reason to, now. That video got us one thousand viewers. " She said, crossing her hands at her chest.

" No fucking way!" I stared at her, wide-eyed.

"Yes fucking way. The video went viral and a lot of people believed Mount Olympia exists, right here, in the heart of Golden City."

I couldn't contain the laughter as they burst out, wave after wave. She stared at me confused and unsure of the cause of my laughter.

"You can't be serious. One thousand viewers? Over a fake video sent anonymously? What fools believe there's Olympus on Earth? You think Zeus would leave the luxury in heaven, to come live on Earth? Not just anywhere–our Golden City? That's the most hilarious thing I've ever heard." I concluded, wiping off the tears caused by the excess laughing episode I just went through.

She pulled out her phone from her purse, and after some scrolling, she grabbed my hand, placing the phone in it.

"See for yourself."

And I did. One thousand viewers! And over five hundred comments, some caught my attention as I scrolled through them.

"They want me to find out if this video is real! " I blurted out.

"Yes they do. Some of them believes it's true, while some don't. But, if you go check it out, think about the millions of followers and viewers. You know what that means right?" She said, grinning excitedly.

"Of course I do." It meant foolishness of the highest order. Chasing after an imaginary Olympus on Earth. Even if it did exists, what does vlogging about it prove. If they did exist, they would have made the headline news, or  front-page. Like the avengers in movies.

"Hayley, you definitely have to go find Olympia." She said with puppy dog eyes. She knew how much I couldn't resist a request, whenever she asks that way.

"Okay! Okay!!. How do I find it? Even if I do find it, what do I do?" I asked, nervously.

" Don't worry bout a thing. I've got you covered sis. All you have to do is, take videos of the mansion, find proof of living beings in it, take videos of them gods unnoticed. No matter what you do, you mustn't be seen. They might all decide to go 'poof' after seeing their cover has been blown."

The way she said it made sneaking in on gods sound easy—if they did actually exist. I must definitely be a fool, getting myself mixed up in Zara's little god hunt.

"And Olympia is just an hour's drive. Through Mallowcoast.  I got it from a trustworthy source."

Nothing Zara finds trustworthy is trustworthy. If Olympia was an hour's drive, why hadn't it been discovered? That part of Mallowcoast was covered by Rocky mountains and water–seas.

"Why don't we go together?" I probed.

"Because I have to be with Caden today, he's having his wisdom tooth removed, and I need to be there. You know that. So I have to be with him throughout this week." That was true. Very true.

"Okay. But, if I do not get anything on camera between twenty minutes, I'm calling this off." I warned.

"Okay. If you do not find it, we'd do whatever you want."

~~~~

Three days had passed since my talk with Zara, after numerous calls from her to remind me of Mount Olympia, I decided to go.  I'd stretched my hair, twisting it up into a ponytail, I had cargo pants and a black crop top on, I slipped into my Black Lycra sock ankle boots, with cylindrical heels.

After picking my phone and car keys off the table, I walked out.

I still didn't feel like going to find Olympia, but since I'd promised her, I had no other choice. Settling myself inside my car, I zoomed off.

After driving for almost thirty minutes, I had gotten into Mallowcoast. Ten minutes later I'd reached the no–car zones of Mallowcoast, the Rocky parts. This was the part I'd dreaded. How on Earth was I supposed to get to the other side of the mountain if I couldn't drive!.

That was a ten–minute–extra–walk.

I stepped out of my car, after parking it at a safe spot. I made my way up the mountain, it was sloppy and stressful, I couldn't remember the last time I was on a mountain. Five minutes later, things had started to get worse, I was beginning to go limp from climbing, as I struggled to keep my footing and not slip.

If I'd known what stress I would be going through here, I would have packed up a lunch box, and water. Finally, I was on the other side. Christ! I'd wanted to turn back and run to my car at the sights in front of me. Another fucking mountain!

Maybe I should have reconsidered coming up here. This day couldn't get any more worse —all because I'd listened to Zara–again. I couldn't climb down now, I held onto the rocks like my life depended on it, carefully climbing up. When I was halfway up, I'd decided to rest, I sat down panting, and–oh boy! The rest of the way up the mountain seemed farther.

Five minutes into my resting period, I bought out my phone, glancing at the time. An hour and half and I hadn't found any mansion, this hunt is over! I'm going home. Before I could get up, she approached, waltzing down the mountain like it was nothing, with an angelic smile on her face. 

She was beautiful, too beautiful to be human, her skin was pale beige. They shone brightly as the sun enhanced it's brightness. She held a golden staff with rainbow colored winged symbol on it.

Her hair were colors of the rainbow, blended and mixed perfectly, she must have paid lots of money to have her hair dyed that perfectly. She swung it with childish excitement, and I couldn't help but wonder how old she was.

All the while, I stared at her, wide-eyed. As she approached. She stopped, moving closer to me.

"Hey! " She said, grinning, her voice resounded like a cool breeze .

"Hi." I got up, moving towards her.

"What brings you here?" She asked, still grinning. I'd wondered if her cheeks didn't hurt from grinning too much.

"Do you perhaps know of a mansion on a mountain, called Olympia?" I probed.

" Of course I do!" She said this time, her voice held excitement in them.

" Mind if I ask a few questions?"

"Sure!"

"Where are we? Where is this?" I asked.

"Welcome to Mount Olympia, home of the gods."

"Why is it called 'home of the gods'? These people seem to believe in all this nonsense about Home of gods, and Mount Olympia.

"A long time ago, after the war between heaven and the underworld, Zeus and those on his side decided to dwell amidst the mortals, right here, on Mount Olympia, to protect them." She said.

She seemed quite happy to tell the story, like she was present when it all happened—if it actually did happen. All this doesn't make sense. Why would Zeus come to earth to protect mortals, couldn't he do it right there, from heaven?

"How do I get to this home of the gods, house of Zeus?"

"Oh, just go straight up, three more mountains and you're there. It's right at the edge of the cliff."

What! Three more mountains?! You've got to be fucking kidding me!

"Three?! Isn't there like a short cut?" I asked.

"There are no shortcuts to heaven, little one." She said, smiling.

"He–heaven? I'm not going to heaven, I'm going to Mount Olympia."

"As it is in heaven, so it is on Earth. Bye little one. I have to go now." She said, walking away.

Okay, this lady was definitely weird, why was she even calling me little one, she looked way younger, and I'm sure I could probably be older.

"What's your-" the moment I turned back to ask her what her name was, she was gone, poof, into thin air. Okay, that was the weirdest thing that has happened today.

~~~~~~

I was finally on the third mountain, and it felt like the air had been sucked out of my lungs, I was thirsty, I was hungry. I was getting towards the edge of the cliff, and there it was! The most beautiful mansion I've ever seen.

I stared at the intricate architecture, parts of it was covered in glass. Whoever succeeded in building a mansion at the edge of a cliff definitely deserves an accolade.

First, I had to glance at the bottom of the cliff. It was a long jump—to death. For whoever falls off here. A perfect spot for suicide and murder. Maybe a killer lures people here with an anonymous video to throw them off the cliff.

As I watched the waters bounce from below, my throat went dry, and I felt like jumping down for a drink. No no no. That was not an option.!  Some minutes into my thirsty thoughts, I heard noise coming out from the mansion, and suddenly, clouds formed above, and lightning ravaged the sky.

I tried to move closer, to at least hear what the noise was all about. Suddenly, the most terrifying thunderstorm I've ever seen began, the whole earth shook, as the lightning struck some parts of the cliff, I quickly took cover behind a boulder beside the mansion. My legs were wobbly and my breath shaky, as I held unto dear life.

Thunderstorm on a cliff. What's the worse that could happen? Suddenly, it stopped. I heaved a long sigh of relief. As I dragged my shaky legs out of where I'd hid myself. Deciding I'd call it a day, and end this escapade. I no longer seem to be interested in what and who where fighting. Who knows maybe brimstones and fire would pour down from heaven next.

The moment I turned to leave, the whole sky went black, and it felt like the thunderstorm and lightning had been amplified ten times in one direction—my direction. Before I made a run for it, they came down fast, I screamed, before falling to the ground.

Who knew today would be my end.? Who knew Mount Olympia would be my death place? So much for home of the gods, and house of Zeus. I felt my eyelids heavy, closing fast, a tear of regret slipped from my eyes, as I slowly drifted into the darkness.