Pegasus and the Origins of Olympus Read Free Page B

visited the ex-CRU agent. After Jupiter saved his life and turned him into a beautiful willow tree, he was planted in Olympus and lived with Alexis, the Sphinx.
    They had built a large platform in the branches of the tree for Alexis to live on. Now Alexis rarely left it and hadn’t been seen in Jupiter’s palace in ages.
    The moment they touched down and approached the willow, the slender branches started to quiver and wave.
    ‘Emily, Pegasus, hello! What a lovely surprise.’
    Agent T’s voice was light and leafy, but it was there. In the beginning, it had disturbed Emily that he had been turned into a talking tree, when he didn’t even have a mouth. But somehow, in Olympus, everything was possible.
    Emily slid off the stallion’s back and approached the tree trunk. She gave it a greeting pat. ‘Hi Agent T.’
    The leaves seemed to laugh. ‘Emily, I am not Agent T any more, as I am no longer a CRU agent. I’m not even human. Surely by now you can call me Tom.’
    ‘She will never learn,’ called Alexis from her platform high up in the thicker branches. ‘But as you are here, you might just as well come up.’
    Emily stroked Pegasus’s neck. ‘I’ll be back in a bit, Pegs.’
    She climbed up the rope ladder and crawled on to the sturdy platform. The Sphinx’s lion legs were curled underneath her human upper body as she lounged on a soft silken pillow pressed up against the tree’s side. Her eagle wings were folded neatly across her back.
    ‘What brings the Flame of Olympus to our home?’ Alexis asked. ‘You are not planning another adventure to Earth, are you? Because if you are, I will not be joining you.’
    ‘Alexis, please,’ Tom said. ‘Let her speak.’
    Emily was stunned at the change in the ex-CRU agent. Since arriving in Olympus, his cold exterior had melted in to a warm and friendly personality. Emily could now see what had attracted Alexis to him. The Sphinx was completely devoted. Nothing could draw her down from his strong branches save an order from Jupiter or Juno.
    ‘Actually, I came to speak with Agent … I mean, Tom.’ Emily said awkwardly.
    ‘If you must,’ Alexis sighed. ‘Take a seat.’
    Emily had wanted to speak with Tom alone, but Alexis wouldn’t budge. The Sphinx was as stubborn and single-minded as she always had been. Emily sat on the platform. She crossed her legs and stared down at her laced fingers.
    ‘What’s wrong?’ Tom asked. ‘I don’t need human eyes to see that something is bothering you.’
    Emily inhaled deeply. She looked at the smooth bark of the strange willow tree. ‘Tom, are you happy?’
    ‘Me?’ he laughed. ‘You came all this way to ask if I am happy?’
    ‘Are you?’
    The tree turned serious. ‘Yes, I am. I can honestly say I am the happiest I’ve ever been.’ Tom paused. ‘Back when you first entered my life, I cursed you, Pegasus and all the Olympians. I hadn’t been content with anything around me, but at least I thought I had a place where I belonged. But after everything we went through together, you showed me how much I was missing. Now, even though I may not be the man I once was, I couldn’t be more content.’
    ‘Even though you aren’t human any more?’
    ‘Yes, even though I’m not human. Although …’ he paused.
    ‘What?’ Emily asked.
    ‘Well, if I could ask for just one more thing, it would be to have real arms so that I might hold Alexis again.’
    ‘Oh, Tom,’ Alexis mewed softly. She rose from her cushion and brushed up against the bark of the tree like a cat does to its owner’s legs.
    Emily was stunned by the soft, loving expression on Alexis’s face. The deadly Sphinx had totally lost her heart to the ex-CRU agent.
    ‘But apart from that,’ he continued, ‘I am very happy. Why do you ask?’
    Emily looked down at her hands. They were starting to tremble. Unable to lift her head, she whispered, ‘I don’t know who or what I am any more.’
    Alexis tilted her head to the side. Her piercing green