Chapter 66: Failure Not An Option

( Rocky's POV )

After a hard day of training, Rocky was on his way to the infirmary to check on Sophia, as had become his ritual, when just outside the infirmary one of the medical staff recognised him and greeted him with a big smile.

"She's already awake, go meet her-" he said as Rocky entered the room with his eyebrows raised.

"Hey-" Sophia said weakly when she saw Rocky walking into the room with flowers as she tried and sat up while tidying her medical robes.

"Hey-" Rocky replied, handing over the flowers he brought to her, as Sophia held them and took in a nice whiff.

" They smell like grass.... What even is this flower?" She asked, as Rocky scratched his head and coughed.

" Ahem... that? Yeah, they're the flowers I found growing in the university, no idea what it is-" he confessed honestly as Sophia chuckled and replaced the fresh flowers he handed her with the one he brought yesterday, in the vase beside her.

" Well they are not smelly and they are beautiful, perfect to give someone in the infirmary" she said, to cheer him up, as Rocky smiled and took a seat beside her bed.

" Thankyou for saving my life..." Sophia said, looking straight into Rocky's eyes, who carefully studied her expression.

" Well of course, I wouldn't leave a wounded classmate alone-" Rocky said, putting on a brave face as he reassured Sophia that he would have done it for anyone.

" Ha-" Sophia chuckled in sarcasm at his reply, "I thought you hated me... we are enemies after all, maybe your patron god would be happier if I died" she said as Rocky gauged the weight of her words.

It was true, by nature they were meant to be enemies, however, it was only if Sophia was favored by those who kidnapped his sister, if not, then there was no need for them to be at odds.

"No, I had to save you, but what baffled me was why the assassin's chasing you wore the robes of Olympus? Like are you not the Champion of Poseidon?" Rocky asked, as this was the one question that was eating away at his mind ever since the incident took place.

He had doubted that it would be some other factions doing, that someone was surely trying to misdirect the eyes of the world, however, he had to hear it from Sophia.

" Unfortunately no.... They were most likely really the agents of Olympus.

There is a feud on-going between my father and my uncle and....

No, I should probably not talk about family politics here" Sophia said with a gloomy smile on her face as Rocky found no mistakes in her acting.

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( A few hours later, Floor 21, Perseus's POV )

" It is with great pleasure that I inform you brother that I have indeed broken through the champion of Gemini's defenses, he has warmed up to me and has completely bought the story.

It seems like Principal Liam also believes that there is a rift in Olympus and everything has gone perfectly as planned, while I'm also making a speedy recovery.

As I await further directions, I request that either you or father visit me while I'm recovering as I do feel lonely, but even if you can't, I will understand....

Love, Sophia"

Perseus read Sophia's letter and scoffed in arrogance.

" My lovely sister, while I'm so happy that you have used your charms to fool the champion of Gemini, I don't understand why you make stupid requests like me visiting you.

Principal Liam has a truth detection skill, I'll be bust the moment I enter the university while father and that unpredictable man cannot be placed in the same room.

When will you learn to grow up and see the bigger picture? *Sigh*

Well, you are just a kid, so hopefully soon enough-" Perseus said to himself as he paced around the room with his hands behind his back.

Olympus had sacrificed a lot for this plan to work, so he was happy that it was working.

Principal Liam had nearly demolished 50% of his elite forces in his raid on floor 21 and it would have been worse if not for the careful cues they planted, suggesting an internal rift.

If this plan did not bore fruit now, all those lost lives would be for nothing, while the ire of the madman was hard to predict.

From this point onwards, failure was really not an option anymore.

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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the GT Target, good job everyone! ///