Classes started a few months ago, and it had been awkward ever since that day in the house. Rachel did not come to my house for the rest of the break, which was a total of two weeks.
When classes started again, Rachel tried to make it seem like everything was alright and that day did not happen. And it worked for a bit, but there was still a bit of awkwardness between us. She always gave me a look as if I was hiding something from her, like I lied when I stopped her that day.
But every time it looked like she was going to ask me the reason, I made an excuse to run away.
I knew it was my fault. I rejected her that day when she showed me what she felt for me. I didn't reject her because I did not feel the same. I did it because I knew I was going to lose her one day.
Rachel's destiny was to be the next Oracle of Delphi one day. And the day she becomes one, she loses her ability to fall in romantic love. It was inbuilt within the powers she will inherit one day. Every oracle who had fallen in love had something terrible happen to them.
That's why Apollo made sure that the Delphi Oracle never fell in love.
So even if I had accepted Rachel's feelings, I would have had to let go of her one day.
And I don't think I am strong enough to do that.
Silva sighed as his thoughts went the same way they did every time.
'I'm a freaking coward,' he muttered in his own mind as he prepared for the next class.
But as he was walking, suddenly a shimmer appeared near him.
"Hey, Silva, we need your help for a moment," Percy's voice came from the Iris message.
"Tell me," Silva replied. He needed a distraction.
"We're going to get two demigods from a school of some sort. According to Chiron, they are strong, and monsters were noticed near their area. Can you help us?" he asked.
'The time of Di Angelos is here,' Silva realized.
"Alright, I'll be there. Don't worry about it," Silva replied as he shut off the message.
He turned around and found that Rachel was standing there.
"So…" she had heard what the message said.
"Can you tell them I got an emergency from home? I can have Chiron call by later," Silva spoke first.
"Okay," Rachel nodded.
Silva then turned to his locker to put the books back inside. And just as he was about to go, Rachel grabbed his arm.
"Silva, tell me, did you reject me because you don't see me the same way?" she asked, and Silva froze.
'Just tell her yes. You can end it now. You won't have to feel this pain again after that,' a voice told him in his mind. But he was unable to voice it out.
"I… I have to go," Silva finally said while he gently shook her hand away.
But as he moved away, she gave her reply.
"I got my answer, Silva. So don't think you can run away like always. I'll be waiting for you to give me your full reason," she shouted loud enough for him to hear.
Later.
"Hey, Silva, you alright?" Percy asked as he was able to feel that something was wrong with Silva.
"Nothing, don't worry about it," Silva replied.
Both of them were currently in a van driven by Argus towards the location where the demigods were situated right now.
Silva was thinking about the changes he was going to make to the canon without destroying the lines of the prophecy. He could bend the meaning of the words, but he could not directly break them.
'But before that, I need to make sure to stay away from the hunters and Artemis who will appear here,' he planned and then suddenly paused.
'Huh, I'm running away again, huh,' he chuckled as his current plan to escape from the hunters came into his mind.
'Put your head in the game for now,' he told himself as he got off the van with Percy and went to find Annabeth and Thalia, who had already reached the location.
A few hours later.
Silva was shooting his arrows at the countless monsters popping up in the forest right now. They were numerous and, most of all, had bizarre abilities.
Silva had no idea whether or not the Di Angelos' parentage had been revealed to Kronos. But there were surely more monsters here than in canon. He had already killed six manticores with his arrows.
But the problem was that many monsters had special abilities. Some had camouflage, and some even managed to evade his detection using the forest's abilities.
"They are gaining on us!" Percy shouted.
"Just get on the safe line. I'll handle the rest," Silva muttered as he saw Thalia blast a lightning bolt at a bunch of monsters while Annabeth made sure both of the Di Angelos were safe.
"What the hell is wrong with these assholes!!" Thalia shouted in frustration as she dodged the umpteenth imp.
"Just run, no use thinking about it," Percy shouted as finally, everyone crossed the metaphorical safe line Silva had marked before.
The moment they did, Silva pulled out all the stops in his attacks.
He had already checked for mortals in the forest and had found none. So that meant there were only monsters left in it.
Silva cast the arrow art and fired an arrow that duplicated into a hundred light green arrows. This was a special arrow he had created after the deforestation work he did in the forest while testing out combinations.
Basically, it's an explosive arrow made from the energy of the forest, and it destroys anything that is not the forest itself.
So basically, it's an extermination arrow that might kill all the pests along with the monsters.
But just as Silva was looking at the aftermath, the hair on the back of his neck stood up.
"Got you," he heard a voice.
And suddenly, the world tilted all around him.
He managed to orient himself but found that he had been teleported from his earlier location.
He immediately looked around and winced as the situation was not good.
He was in a normal room with a dead body that had a silver arrow.
But the main problem was what the body was wearing.
It was the clothes of the priests who stand near the Christian Pope.
A/N – hope you like it.