Chapter 13 - The Goodbye

The forest, I replied my sister. I could sense her running towards the forest by now.

"Now, what were you saying, my dear son?" Zeus asked again.

"I said I want to go home!" I whined, even though I knew I sounded like a little kid.

Zeus touched my shoulder. "I'm sorry, son. You can't."

"Why? We've learnt our lesson."

"You need to pass a test before you step foot on Mount Olympus again. If you fail, you will remain mortals – without powers – forever," Zeus sympathetically stared at me.

"What test?" I almost shouted but kept my voice steady.

Zeus hesitated but shook his head. "I cannot tell you." And with that, he was gone with a strike of lightning. I suck in a deep breath and knelt to the ground, sobbing softly. I didn't even have the chance to say I missed him. Really, I do.

Then, I heard some rustling from behind me. I didn't even need to look to know who it was. "What're you doing?" Artemis approached me and stumbled to a crouching position beside me. "Are you okay?"

I didn't know how much I missed the lush skies in Mount Olympus until now. It was always perfect there. I shook my head. She handed me a tissue and I wiped the stupid tears away. "Father visited me." Artemis gasped, clearly shocked at Zeus's unexpected visit. "Actually, I called him here. I just shouted for him and then bam! He appeared right in front of me in this flash of lightning." She clasped my hand in an attempt to calm me down, but I was already babbling the events of the day. "It was amazing! And then I told him I wanted to come home. Then right after that, you called for me. So, I answered you. He asked me to repeat. And I repeated what I said. The funny thing is he said we can't come home until we pass a test, which he doesn't want to tell me about. And he said if we failed, we'll be mortals forever. Isn't that funny?" I laughed a throaty, humorless sound.

Artemis was silent. She hadn't said a thing since I explained to her. She placed her fingers to her temples, thinking. "I remembered something about a test. Athena lent me a book I was too lazy to read. But it was in the first chapter. I have to remember." She was talking more to herself than to me.

"You really believe this?" I shook my head and got up.

She continued thinking. Then, in a sudden action, she jumped up and spoke in a blur, just like how I did. "I remember now! Athena told me about that test. In the book, it said what we have to do is to overcome something. But, I forgot what! It has something to do with our weakness. Zeus or Hera would provide the test. It's not that hard, if we use our common sense."

"Hera?" I shouted her name with a sneer. "She hates us."

Artemis sighed. "Well, that's the way it is. Do you want to get back home?" I nodded. "Then, live with it."

"So, it could be anything at all? We need to be on guard at all times?"

"Agreed."

*

"Oh, by the way, you're the Homecoming King. Since you didn't come, your throne was taken away from you by Stephen."

Apollo rolled his eyes, without a care in the world. As we trudged out of the forest, we heard a sound of someone screaming. It sounded exactly like Felix's friend, Chris. Immediately, Apollo turned back and ran into the forest again. I tailed behind Apollo and followed him.

"Chris!" Felix screamed for his friend. "Where are you?" He looked around. His eyes darted back and forth. Chris was nowhere to be found.

"Over here, Apollo!" Chris was behind him in a heartbeat and Apollo was thrown to the ground with a sickening crack. "I guess you're not as tough as you thought you were, huh?" Chris had his hands on his hips in a triumphant position in front of Apollo.

I hid behind a bush and pelted Chris with stones. The stones hit him in the face, arm and his most sensitive part. He sank to the ground in pain, clutching his crotch. Blood was oozing out of his cheek and his bicep. "Who is that?" Chris screamed in my direction. Luckily, I was well-hidden and he couldn't see me. Chris tried to throw a stone my way, and it hit my hand, making it bleed. I bit my lip from crying out in pain.

Apollo had regained his composure by now and was sitting up. Chris didn't notice as he was trying to find out who injured him. Apollo flicked his wrist and his whole hand erupted into flames. He created a ball of fire and threw it at the top of Chris's head. Chris's blonde hair caught the flames and seconds later, he dropped to the ground, dead.

I ditched my hiding place and joined Apollo, who was trying to heal his broken ankle. Then, there was a blinding flash of light. Zeus appeared, again, and greeted us. "My dear children, you may come home now."

Apollo had a confused look. "You mean the test was to kill a mortal?"

"First of all, Chris is not a mortal. He is your guardian. He helped you and he cannot die." We all turned to look at Chris, who smiled up and waved. "It was all an act. Secondly, you did not pass the test because you killed. You passed the test because you defended each other. Artemis tried to defend Apollo by throwing stones at Chris as he hurt Apollo. And when Chris hurt Artemis, Apollo defended Artemis by 'killing' him."

"That's the test? That's all? We passed by defending each other?" I asked, still confused.

Zeus nodded. "Yes."

"That's so damn boring!" Apollo surprised us all by speaking the 'Mortal Lingo'. We all laughed.

"So, are you ready to go back home?" Zeus asked the both of us. We stared blankly at him.

"Give us an hour. We need to say goodbye to the family and friends that were there for us," I voiced out.

"Alright, be back here in an hour." Zeus sat on a stone and waited patiently.

We went our separate ways. Apollo went to his home to say goodbye to his family, while I went to the school to say goodbye to my friends who were still having homecoming.

As soon as I reached the school, I was pulled into a group hug from everyone, including Bonnie and Janice. After they were done saying their 'Thanks', I found Sandra, Priscilla and Penny huddled in one corner. I said, "Hey, you guys, I have something to say."

They turned and smiled at me. I didn't know how to explain my situation, so I decided to lie. "I'm going away tomorrow."

"But you're coming back, right?" Sandra asked.

I shook my head. "I'm leaving for good." I tried not to show my emotions and kept my face expressionless. My friends stared blankly at me, unable to understand what I'm saying. "I have to go now." I quickly turned and started walking away.

"Wait!" I heard all of them call out in unison. I turned back and they said together, "Don't you leave without a hug!" And then they all rushed towards me and hugged me. Unknowingly, I had already shed some tears and it is magnified when Fiona rushed over to us and joined the hug.

Without saying anything further, I walked away; afraid they would call me back and ask where I'm going away to.

"Hey, Nadine!" I heard Nate and Stefan say at the same time. They both reached me in a second.

"I have to go now. You can ask my friends for the rest of the information. I know it's sudden but I want to say that I had a good time. Thank you, Nate, Stefan. I'll always remember the both of you." I pushed them away with all my strength and ran to the exit before they could say anything else.

Janice was blocking the exit, ruining the moment, as usual, but right now she had a genuine smile plastered to her face. "Going back to your home so soon?" I know she knew everything but I decided to trust her.

"Yes. I'll miss you even though you were such a bitch." I laughed at my use of 'Mortal Language'.

"Hey, good luck, alright? Be happy."

"You too, Janice," I smiled at her. Who knew she could be this nice?

I rushed out of the school in a hurry and ran to the home that had loved and took care of me. "Nadine, what happened to you? How was –" I shut my mum up with a big hug. I did the same for my dad. Without explaining anything else, I ran back to the forest.

With a burst of light, a beautiful doe ran beside me through the forest and gave me a sense of my real home. With a shock, I realized that this is not where I truly belong. I belong in Mount Olympus, no matter what.

Apollo joined me carrying his lyre that had magically been returned to him as he ran. And with a last glance at the Mortal World, we were lifted up into the sky and out of the place that I used to think was awful. No, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Maybe I could visit sometime?

Sometime…

*THE END~*

{A/N: The ending wasn't as nice as I thought it would be. But, I hope you have enjoyed this story. Thanks for reading.}