How to be an Eris

A Blast to the Past 2- The Academi

Athan

"Why are you forcing me to go here? I have work and I already know how to control my powers…"

I glared at my father's back.

"You're 18, all deities must attend the Academi at 18. Plus, I wouldn't call what happened to your mother's cat control…"

"I already told you that stupid thing was possessed. It kept appearing in my bed and scratching the hell out of me. Why must I be punished because Mom wanted a demon instead of a pet?"

"For the thousandth time, Athanasios, this is not a punishment. It's a requirement. I'd like to retire eventually, and you can't fully take my role unless you graduate. So suck it up and hurry, we're late enough as is."

This is bull…

We arrived at the main hall, and the headmistress turned to us, awkwardly smiling.

"This way, Athanasios. Um sir Thanatos, will you be accompanying him?"

My dad shook his head.

"Just wanted to make sure he didn't run away."

My dad turned around.

"Bye Athan. Don't come back until the end of term. Your mother and I need alone time. I won't be blamed for whatever you witness on a surprise visit."

Gross.

I scrunched up my nose.

"In you go." Said headmistress Eirene, who already looked mentally drained.

She led me into the giant banquet hall and the lights nearly blinded me.

Tall pillars with intricate golden details. A marble golden and cream floor decorated with white sofas and lamps. Large windows draped with cream colored curtains. Plants were spread across the room and four large chandeliers hung from the high ceilings.

There was a huge empty space in the middle of the hall where the other students had already arranged themselves in groups and were making small talk amongst each other with glasses of wine in their hands. Everyone wore their traditional uniform. Togas, though some of the male students had opted to wear suits.

There was a stage at the far back of the room where a band of well dressed bards played beautiful tunes that echoed throughout the room.

This place is the opposite of the underworld… I can only hope I don't fall asleep during orientation…

As my eyes roamed the room looking for an escape route. Something piqued my attention.

It was a short goddess who was busy chatting away with an even more petite goddess.

She carried herself with grace, head held high, the white toga she wore flowed flawlessly over her curves and contrasted with her long wavy, black hair and dark caramel skin. She turned to her friend, giving me a clear view of her face.

Her eyes were almost golden, her plump lips perfectly shaped. Her dark eyebrows matched her stark black hair. Her tan skin shone under the honey-colored lighting.

I must have been staring at her for a while because she suddenly looked in my direction and I swear my heart leaped in my chest.

She was the most strikingly eretheal creature I had ever laid eyes on in both the mortal and immortal world.

Her honey eyes met mine, and my heart sped up.

I should probably look away now. I probably look ridiculous…

Yet I couldn't, I was frozen in place. The edges of her lips curled into a smile and I was almost enticed to smile back, yet a booming voice brought our attention to the stage.

"A big thanks to the Bards of Elysium for accompanying us this evening. However, we've decided this year we will be including some more modern music in our entertainment. So allow me to introduce you all to my daughter, Alana. She will be our DJ for tonight." Said Apollo.

A cute, tall redhead dressed in a toga walked up on the stage, and everyone applauded and cheered.

She started to play modern techno pop, and the gods and goddesses started to dance.

Fuck me… I'm doomed…

A hand on my shoulder almost made me jump.

I turned to see Sebastian, Charon the ferryman's son, and my best friend.

"Hey man! Finally decided to join us, I see!"

I gave him a blank stare.

"What the hell are you talking about? It's your first day here too."

He laughed.

"It feels like I've been in this place for ages… at least there are plenty of hotties to flirt with."

"You're a creep, Sebastian."

"Correction, a handsome creep." He said, running his hand through his hair.

I scoffed.

I guess one could say Sebastian was conventionally attractive. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and ripped. He wore a tux, but his personality was enough to scare any sane girl off.

He started babbling about all of the women in the room he wanted to sleep with, and soon my brain refused to listen to him anymore.

At least he's giving me an excuse not to dance…

I skimmed the room. Gods and goddesses had paired up and were practically gyrating on each other, while others were talking and enjoying the music.

Alana was definitely in her element, dancing as she mixed the music. She was clearly as talented as her father.

My eyes landed on the beautiful goddess again, who was dancing with her friend. I watched as her body moved sensually to the music, and once again I was entranced.

And it wasn't only me. Some of the other gods were ogling at her, practically salivating at the mouth. Even the ones that were coupled up.

I clearly didn't even stand a chance.

I watched as a tall brown brown-haired god walked up to her and asked her to dance. She said something to him, and he nodded.

Pretty soon, he had returned with another friend of his who seemed pretty shy. He introduced himself to her friend, who was gorgeous too.

The pretty curly-haired goddess smiled at him, and they started dancing, leaving her to dance with the brown-haired guy.

I nudged Sebastian.

"Who's that guy?"

"Who?" He said, and I pointed to her new dance partner.

They were now dancing very closely. Not grinding nor touching, but let's just say it was just a matter of time.

"Oh, him? Bro, you're telling me you don't know Evander? He's Adonis's son, a pretty famous Demi-god."

Adonis? Well there goes my negative ten percent chance. Might as well just leave.

Before I could say anything else or leave, another loud voice boomed through the room, making everyone stop and stare at the stage as the music died down.

My eyes widened when I noticed the noise came from Headmistress Eirene.

"A welcome to the newest generation of Deities! We will now start the introductions. One by one, I will call you up, after orientation, everyone is to head to your dorms and prepare your rooms!"

Damn it's too late.

She started calling each person in the room and yelling out their new roles in the order of the universe.

I was practically drowning in boredom when my eyes caught the little goddess's.

She had glanced over Evander's shoulder, his arm was wrapped around her waist, yet her eyes had met mine and we locked gazes for just a minute before the headmistress's anything but peaceful voice boomed again.

"Goddess Meda of Erebus!"

My eyes widened once again as she smirked at me and winked before she dropped Evander's arm.

Erebus…? Only the worst of the worst reside there.

She walked up to the stage with her head held high.

She stood next to the Headmistress, playing with a strand of her hair.

People in the crowd started whispering yet she seemed to pay no mind to their gossip.

"Welcome, Meda. I am happy to guide you in your role as the next deity of discord and strife," said the headmistress as she gave her a golden headband with the shape of a snake.

The room filled with silence only after many loud gasps.

She just shrugged and flipped her hair back, then elegantly walked down the steps of the stage and back next to her friend. Evander seemed shocked, but regardless, he wrapped his arm around her waist anyway and whispered something into her ear, making her laugh.

After what felt like hours, I was finally called and received a golden ring. Thankfully, I was last, so we headed to the dorms shortly after.

After settling in with Sebastian being my roommate, I headed downstairs to escape his annoying voice.

I heard bustling and whispering as I walked down the dark halls.

Deciding to ignore it, I continued walking and thinking about today's events.

Bang!

"Oof- What the actual f**k?"

I looked down and saw a tiny goddess sitting on the floor in front of me, rubbing her head.

She looked up and glared at me. Her fiery eyes almost froze me to the core.

For some reason, I couldn't think straight.

She raised an eyebrow at me, then smirked, making my heart skip a beat.

"So you're not even going to offer to help me up?" She propped herself up and giggled.

It was…cute.

"Nasty… I like it…" she said.

I just remained silent.

She placed her hand under her chin as if in deep thought, as her eyes scanned my hood.

The intensity of her eyes made me uncomfortable; her expression, almost unreadable.

My eyes widened as she reached up and stood on her toes, then a brush of her hands on my cheeks sent a current of electricity through me. She grabbed my hood and pulled it back, and I was sure all color drained from my face.

What the hell is she doing?

She smiled and mischief oozed from her.

"Interesting…" she said softly.

I glared at her; no one except my parents had seen my face up to this point, and that was very intentional. It's not like I thought I was ugly or unattractive, it's just easier to go unnoticed.

She laughed. "What's with that look?" She pushed her dark curly hair out of her face. "Sorry, didn't mean to upset you…yet."

She leant up again and pulled my hoodie over my face.

"I like that look on your face, it looks dangerous."

Dangerous… What does that even mean?

"You want to see something cool?" She asked, her eyes sparkling in the dimly moonlit hall.

No.

She didn't even wait for me to answer before she grabbed my hand and pulled me down the corridor.

As she led me to God knows where, I noticed she was no longer dressed in her toga. She now wore a black tight tank and black cargo shorts, a black leg bag strapped around her left leg, with what looked like fluffy mortal slippers.

Her well-toned-brown legs were shining, and I couldn't help but do what any man in that situation would do. My eyes roamed their way up to her perfectly round ass and though I knew it was impolite to stare, staring is exactly what I did.

I couldn't look away; this goddess was incredibly alluring. I had never laid my eyes on someone so gorgeous.

She was quietly talking to me, but to be honest, I was way too busy checking her out to pay attention. She could have just told me she was a serial killer and was planning to kidnap me, and I wouldn't have even noticed.

We turned the hall, and she led me past the main room.

"You're not much of a talke,r are you Skeletor?"

What's a Skeletor? Is she talking to me?

"Well, that's ok, I guess. I like the silent type." She turned her head and smirked at me before leading me down the other corridor.

We came to a halt outside a door that was marked auditorium, and she turned to me, holding a finger to her lips.

"I heard tomorrow we will be coming here for a boring history presentation. I need an escape plan."

She opened the door to the auditorium and pulled me inside.

She looked around the room, it was a typical auditorium. Rows of red seats in front of a ridiculously large stage that had a big screen.

She grabbed something out of her leg bag and turned to me.

"Do yourself a favor and don't sit in the front tomorrow."

What? Why?

I noticed she was now holding a golden-colored apple. She brought it up to her mouth and took a small bite.

Her eyes started to glow, and her lips turned gold. She turned to the front row, and her legs lifted up from the ground. I watched as she floated towards center stage, then held out both hands. Soon a light shone from her hands, and I watched as the first three rows of chairs started glowing too.

After a few minutes, the chairs turned back to their original color, and she slowly floated down, her eyes and lips returning to normal.

I raised an eyebrow at her as she walked towards me with a giddy smile on her face.

"What did you just do?"

She shrugged.

"Oh, so he speaks. I'm bored, when I'm bored I f**k with shit."

"I'm not trying to get expelled on my first day of class."

She smirked at me.

"Oh really? Judging by the look of your body language at orientation, you want to be anywhere but here. Just like me."

Was I that obvious?

"Not really, I'm just good at reading people."

Did I say that out loud?

She laughed.

"Um, yeah, and that too."

Dammit, stupid mouth.

She smiled at me.

"Anyway, I'm done here. Let's go."

Electricity ran up my arm as she grabbed my hand again and led me outside.

Just as we were about to reach the halls to our dorm, a flash of light followed by whispering, made us stop in our tracks.

She turned to me and whispered

"s**t prefects. Don't worry, I'll distract them."

"They're level 10 Deities, exactly how do you plan to do that?" I whispered.

"Never underestimate what a little chaos can do, Skeletor."

There's that weird name again…

She fumbled in her bag and grabbed a tiny little rock and held it up to my face.

"I'll use this." She smirked.

I gave her a blank stare and blinked.

"Your plan is to use a rock? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

She scoffed and turned to the guards. She threw it, missing the guards, and I glared at her. She held up a finger.

"Wait for it…"

I watched as it ricocheted off the wall and hit one of them in the back of the head.

"Hey! What the hell was that?" Said the brunette prefect.

The other prefect shrugged.

She grabbed another rock and threw it, and just as the first one it ricocheted and hit the same guard again.

"Was that you?" He turned to face the other guard, glaring.

She grabbed one more rock. This time it was bigger than the others and repeated what she had previously done.

This time, the guard turned and punched his partner in the arm.

"What the f**k was that for?" He yelled, pushing him.

In a matter of seconds, a full-on brawl started between them.

"Go invisible, Skeletor!" She whispered.

I was in awe, but did as she said, and she grabbed my arm and dragged me past the guards in a rapid sprint.

Shit she's fast and has one hell of an aim.

I was struggling to keep up.

Once outside of our dorms, she let go.

"Well, that was fun!" She smiled.

"You have a weird view of fun."

"You have no idea. Best be getting used to it, Skeletor, something tells me this definitely won't be the last time."

I scoffed. How the hell did I get dragged into this?

"By the way, I'm Meda."

She said, holding her hand out to me.

"I know. "Athanasios," I said as I shook her hand, ignoring the current that ran through my hand as we touched.

"Athanasios…that's a little long, how about Athan."

I guess that's better than Skeletor.

"Anyway, I've got to go, I've got things to do. I'll see you around." She said as she walked away.

I just stood there watching her gracefully open the door to her room and retreat inside.