Chapter 6: I ruin a bus and battle demon owls
It was getting dark on the bus, and at that moment, a man in a baseball uniform stood up and said. “I need to go to the bathroom. Then, four owls swooped around him. “AHHH!” yelled Ashta. “He’s a manticore.”
“And strixes’”.
“That’s right, Ashta Lavan,” said the manticore. “And this must be dinner,” he added. “I am Thato.”
Thato lunged at me, and I sidestepped. The mortals yelled. The strixes charged at me. I knew they were extremely dangerous. I dodged. I hit the emergency stop button. The mortals ran out the bus door, and so did the driver. I lunged at Thato. He dodged and laughed. ‘You cannot win against me!” He lunged. Ashta threw one of her throwing knives. It hit one of the strixes.
‘Don’t!” I yelled. ‘More will come if you hit one of them!” Too late. It hit the strix. I saw more coming. I swiped at the manticore. I was smashed against a seat. ‘Your puny sword is no match against me,” he sneered.
‘THE BRACELET!” Ashta yelled. I hit the lightning bolt bead, and it spiralled into a shield. I swiped. He lunged. Tityri threw stuff at Thato. Ashta came from the back. I went from the front. Then, it dissolved into dust. We ran out until we lost the strixes.
“Well,” I panted. I touched a stone. Then, a fisher opened, and we fell into the ground. Bump! We landed in a cave with a pool. Stalagmites hung low in the ceiling. “Where are we?’ I asked.
“The l-” but whatever Ashta was going to say, the cave shook. “EARTHQUAKE,” we yelled. “RUN!” We dashed around. The rumbling stopped. Ashta touched the ceiling above us. The same fisher opened. We climbed the Stalagmites and out into the open air. The fisher closed.
“Hello heroes,” said a quiet voice behind us.
“Who are you?” demanded Ashta.
“I-” she continued, but the woman said. “I am Athena, goddess of wisdom and knowledge, and here is my father,” said the woman. There was a man behind her.
“I am Zeus,” he replied.
“We Olympians need your help,” said Athena.
“That punk,” growled a voice behind us. “Ares!” Zeus exclaimed.
“Don’t talk to my son that way,” he said. “Yeah, whateve,r” replied Ares. “That punk won’t suffice for our problems,”
“I” said Athena, “am the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, and you should do it.”
“You’re a war goddess,” Ares pointed out.
“Ah, but I’m wise, you should do it, and now with these heroes.
“Well, we know about your quest, young heroes. “My half-brother Apollo predicts-”
“Get on with the important stuff,” said Zeus. “Well, as you see, you only have 6 days left.” “You are far from your destination, so Zeus has given you a ride.”
“He has given you a flying chariot,” she pointed at a chariot pulled by Eagles and Swans. Probably two dozen of each.
“But you must not fly for long,” “Poseidon and Hades are cooking up some schemes.”
“Athena, get t-” yelled Ares, “Ares, their quest is not done.”
“Hera sent me here!” he yelled back. “Yes, but they need a-” “Will you shut up?” Ares yelled back.
“SILENCE” yelled Zeus. “Well, my son, we must leave.” We all turned, and they disappeared in golden light. We rode in the chariot into the sky. “Well, well, well, lit-” and Ares was in his chariot.
“AHHHH!” yelled all of us. His fire-breathing horses made our eagles and swans fly away.
“WILL YOU GET BACK?” yelled Zeus’s voice from above. “These p-” “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”. “OR I SHALL HAVE DEMETER CURSE YOU!” “YOU ARE NOTHING BUT TROUBLE.” Ares was gone. We flew to New Mexico. “Well, I must say, you need to land,” said Zeus’s voice from above. We landed in a small city with shops and other amenities around us.
“Well, her-” I began, but Tityri said. “Pan, Pan, Pan.
“Oh, I get it, goat boy,” said Ashta. “Pan is near,” she tried to continue, but then, I said, “Where is Poseidon’s trident?” “Near Pan,” Tityri said.
Chapter 7: We are hit backwards
“West is that way,” I pointed to our left.
“I think so,” replied Ashta. “The sun sets in the west-”
“It’s dawn,” Tityri corrected.
“Right, well, west is that way,” I corrected. “We should eat,” I said. After we ate, it was 11:00 AM. “Where is west?” I asked.
“Well, uh……” CLASH! CLASH!. “What’s th-?” but Zeus’s voice came from above.
“Find the freight train that takes you west.”
“Well, there!” Ashta pointed.
“Oh, we must ge-” “Which one?” I asked.
“Hmmm…” said Ashta. “This one,” “H-” but we got on, and the train moved on its own accord. We got out when it stopped.
“Wh-” I began, but Ashta said “Oklahoma.”
“We’ve gone the wrong way on the wrong train,” she sobbed. “It’s all m-”. Then, a woman appeared. “Mom?” Ashta asked.
“Why yes, it is, I am Demeter,” replied the woman. “You do not need to give up. “My sister Hera tricked you, Theta, and my daughter. “Hera is jealous-” she began, but Hera appeared and said, “I am not, Demeter, you are”.. “My silly husband, he always cheats, and so do you, Demeter.” “You swore never to mar-” “I never said that. We’ve been here for nearly 4000 years.” “You’re jealous of not having more children, I suppose?”
“Zeus! What are you doing?” Hera yelled at the sky. “He’s dating another nymph!” “We agreed never to marry, and you to Demeter!”
“Wha-?” I asked. “Never mind, when my hu-”
“Not the time to talk about it,” said Demeter. “Now, Hera, do your business if you please!” “Then what are you doing here?” asked Hera.
“Well, seems like my stepmother is having trouble,” said a voice from above. “No, I don’t, and do your business!” Hera screamed. “Right, right, goodbye!”
“Hera, I am talking to these demigods. And they need whea-” “MOTHER!” yelled a voice. Persephone bounded towards them. “Yes, some wheat would do them good. Persephone, did you eat your ce-”
“Mother!” she complained. “It’s so boring!”
“I find cereal helping me-”
“Mother!” Persephone repeated.
“Right, now, Hera, enough is enough, go do your business, and Persephone, one more bowl of cereal.”
Ares appeared. “I’d say, mother, that- what is the punk doing here?”
“ARES! GET BACK HERE, I AM NOT DONE TALKING!” yelled Zeus from above. Ares disappeared. All three goddesses looked at each other and disappeared.
“Stupid queen, interrupting my mother talking to me.”
“DO NOT TALK TO THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN LIKE THAT,” boomed Hera from above.
“Well, we have only five days, now, how do we do this?” asked Ashta.