“The Rise of Zeus – Chapter VIII (Pt 1)”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

BASIL

‘Magnificent’ comes nowhere close to doing this house justice. I mean come on, what house has a literal throne room right inside the front door? And yes, I mean an actual throne room, with a beautiful golden throne and everything. The entire room looks like something out of a fantasy-sci-fi hybrid world; everything looks like it was taken out of an ancient world before being ground through a time machine to bring it into the future. I mean I’d be surprised if the throne didn’t have some sort of buttons in the armrests like on a captain’s seat of a starship.

My footsteps echo through the hall as I follow Silas. Columns tower over me on both sides, adorned with gold details and creepy faces. Okay, I’m sure they’re not supposed to be creepy, but to me they are. I mean seriously, who puts faces onto columns?

“They’re the Greek gods,” Neera whispers into my ear, scaring the crap out of me.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” I hiss at her. “I nearly peed myself!”

“Don’t be such a scaredy-cat,” she retorts. “Now come on, we’re falling behind.”

I barely stop myself from sticking my tongue out at her as I quicken my pace. The lighter pitter-patter of Cerberus’s and Biscuit’s paws on the cold tile intertwine with our heavy footsteps as we near the throne.

Silas stops in front of it and turns to face Neera and me. “Welcome, Basil,” he says, his voice booming. “We have been waiting for you.”

Of course he keeps his statements annoyingly vague. Without waiting for me to ask any questions, he raises his hands and claps twice. Doors on either side of the room swing open and out steps four people, all dressed in armour similar to Neera’s and Silas’s.

Final Comments: It felt like it was time to get back to Basil… I was running out of things for Zeus to do in that last chapter!

Overall Rating: 😪