Chapter 9: First Flight
The weeks following Adonis’ return from Olympus passed in a blur.
At least they did for everyone else.
For Adonis, every day felt different.
Changed.
Transformed.
No matter what he was doing, his thoughts always drifted back to Olympus.
The silver halls.
The floating gardens.
The impossible creatures.
The gods.
The feeling of standing before Zeus himself.
The memory replayed endlessly.
How could it not?
Nothing in the mortal world compared.
Nothing.
And then there was the other thing.
The thing he couldn’t stop thinking about.
Fly.
Hermes had said it so casually.
As if it were obvious.
As if everyone could fly.
“Why not just fly?”
Adonis groaned for what felt like the thousandth time.
As always, he spent most of his days with Kaerith.
Practicing magic.
Learning.
Growing.
Now that he understood what he was, everything felt easier.
His power wasn’t magic.
But he could use magic.
That knowledge alone had changed everything.
Spells came naturally.
Enchantments made more sense.
His divine blood seemed to understand magical principles instinctively.
Even Kaerith had noticed.
“You’ve gotten better.”
Adonis smirked.
“You sound surprised.”
“I am.”
They were sitting in Magic Square when his phone suddenly rang.
The screen read:
ELI
Adonis froze.
“Oh no.”
Kaerith immediately laughed.
“You forgot about him again.”
“I didn’t forget.”
“You absolutely forgot.”
Adonis sighed and answered.
“Hey.”
“DUDE.”
Adonis immediately pulled the phone away from his ear.
“Where have you been all summer?”
Adonis blinked.
“The summer isn’t over.”
“It basically is!”
Eli sounded offended.
“You vanish for weeks.”
“You don’t answer messages.”
“You don’t call.”
“You disappear with Kaerith.”
Adonis glanced at Kaerith.
She raised an eyebrow.
Eli continued.
“What’s with that anyway?”
Adonis rubbed his forehead.
“You two barely talked in school.”
“Something happened.”
“What?”
Adonis opened his mouth.
Then immediately closed it.
What could he say?
“Oh hey Eli, I’m descended from Dionysus and recently visited Olympus?”
Yeah.
That wasn’t happening.
Finally he answered.
“We just realized we had a lot in common.”
“And she’s helping me.”
“Helping you with what?”
Silence.
Adonis stared at the ground.
He couldn’t explain.
Not yet.
Maybe never.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Dude.”
“Eli.”
Another sigh.
“We’ll hang out soon.”
“I promise.”
A pause.
“Whatever.”
Click.
The call ended.
Adonis groaned.
Kaerith smiled sympathetically.
“It’s probably for the best.”
“I know.”
“You can’t exactly explain all this.”
“I know.”
He stood.
“I’m gonna walk.”
Kaerith nodded.
“Be safe.”
“Always.”
Neither of them believed that.
Adonis wandered through the city.
Then beyond the city.
Then beyond the outskirts.
Lost in thought.
Olympus.
The gods.
The veil.
Magic.
His powers.
Everything.
Eventually he found himself deep within the swamp.
Far deeper than he normally traveled.
The trees grew dense.
The water dark.
The air thick.
Nobody came here.
Not willingly.
The alligators were infamous.
Massive.
Territorial.
Dangerous.
Adonis didn’t even realize how far he’d walked.
Then something exploded from the water.
SNAP!
An enormous alligator launched itself directly toward him.
Instinct took over.
CRACK!
Lightning exploded from Adonis’ hand.
The blast struck the creature squarely in the chest.
The alligator flew backward and disappeared into the swamp with a tremendous splash.
Silence.
Adonis stared at his glowing hand.
Then slowly looked up.
The thought returned.
Fly.
He closed his eyes.
Took a breath.
And focused.
Golden electricity crackled across his fingers.
Static filled the air.
Bolts danced from both hands.
The swamp trembled.
Then
His feet left the ground.
Adonis opened one eye.
Then both.
He was floating.
Actually floating.
A huge grin spread across his face.
“No way.”
He laughed.
“No way!”
He rose higher.
Higher.
Several feet above the ground.
“Okay.”
His heart pounded.
“This is awesome.”
Then another thought surfaced.
Hermes didn’t say levitate.
He said fly.
Adonis took a breath.
Then focused.
On everything.
Olympus.
The gods.
The wonder he had experienced.
Learning magic was real.
Learning who he truly was.
Even the frustration he felt about Eli.
All of it.
The storm inside him awakened.
Electricity erupted around his body.
The swamp exploded with golden light.
Then
BOOM!
Adonis shot into the sky.
Like lightning.
Faster.
Higher.
Clouds shattered around him.
The atmosphere blurred beneath him.
The Earth grew smaller.
Still he climbed.
Higher.
Higher.
Higher.
Until suddenly
Silence.
Adonis stopped.
The planet stretched beneath him.
The stars surrounded him.
He had reached the ionosphere.
His eyes widened.
“I…”
He should have been unable to breathe.
He wasn’t.
He should have been freezing.
He wasn’t.
He should have been dying.
Instead he felt alive.
More alive than ever before.
Then he saw it.
The Sun.
Rising beyond the curve of the Earth.
Magnificent.
Terrible.
Beautiful.
Its light washed over him.
Cosmic radiation surged through space.
His clothes began to disintegrate.
But Adonis barely noticed.
Because something else was happening.
Energy.
Ancient energy.
Cosmic energy.
It flowed around him.
Through him.
Into him.
His body began to glow.
Golden light erupted from his skin.
Lightning surrounded him.
The storm inside him roared with joy.
Adonis laughed.
A real laugh.
Free.
Wild.
Joyful.
For the first time in his life…
He understood what power truly felt like.
Not control.
Not destruction.
Not fear.
Freedom.
And somewhere far away, high atop Olympus, three gods suddenly looked toward the heavens.
Hermes smiled.
Dionysus laughed.
And Apollo slowly rose from his seat.
Because something extraordinary had just entered the sky.
