Chapter 29

                Hunter dodged and maneuvered around arrows, swords, and spears. Hunter didn’t want to hurt anyone or any of the pegasi. He quickly took an early lead after dodging around two competitors bumping each other. He zoomed forward and whipped around the flag. As he turned a boxing glove arrow hit him right in the chest. He was hanging off Ulysses by an arm. He swung himself back on and glared at the grinning son of Apollo who was reloading.

                “This is a new game, now.” Hunter muttered before summoning his massive bow and swinging around on Ulysses’ back. Placing a finger on the bottom of his quiver, he whispered, “Boxing glove.” He notched an arrow and waited for the right moment and fired. The boxing glove zoomed into the chest of the daughter of Athena knocking her off her pegasi and into the group close behind her. Hunter felt a little bad, but he’d taken harder hits. He turned back around and zoomed off toward the far flag. He zoomed around and ducked a spear and two arrows before slowing to a stop at the middle flag. A horn sounded and Hunter looked over to see a scoreboard. Hermes: 1. Aphrodite: 1. He casually flew back down to the ground and slid off Ulysses. “That’s a good boy.” He patted his steed on the nose and tied him back to the post, all the while hearing grumbles from the opponents. He looked back at the scoreboard. Next event: Archery. Hunter grinned and drew his bow again. “This is a gimme.”

                “That’s quite the bow.” Hunter turned to see the Ares kid. Hunter shrugged.

                “With the work it took to get it, it had better be.” Hunter said with a chuckle. The Ares kid nodded.

                “Good luck.” He sneered, taking a last glance at the bow before skulking off. Hunter raised an eyebrow and took his place at the Archery range.

                “On my count!” Hunter drew an arrow and notched it. He took aim and waited for the signal from the satyr judge. “3….2…..1….FIRE!” Hunter released and the arrow shot out like a laser. The target exploded in a puff of hay and wood splinters. “Aphrodite. You are disqualified from archery. Please step aside and wait for the next event.” Hunter looked at the judge in disbelief. This was HIS event. He cursed under his breath and dismissed his bow before leaving his spot and sitting on a folding chair off to the side. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. Not only was this boring, but he could tell that he was a better archer than all of them.

                “His stance is too stiff. Her bow is too big. He…Well, he just has no idea what he’s doing.” Hunter critiqued. After a few rounds, the son of Apollo was the obvious victor. Hunter stood up with a sigh and followed the group to the next event: Javelin. Hunter was 4^th in line and had 3 throws. His longest would be counted. The daughter of Demeter threw. “Not bad.” The son of Hermes threw. “Not great.” The son of Apollo threw. “Hmm…He could be a challenge.” It was Hunter’s turn. After three throws, he was sitting pretty with the longest throw. That’s when he saw who was next.

                “Watch this.” The Ares kid said before spitting in his hand and grabbing his javelin. His first throw was right about the same distance as Hunter’s. Hunter raised an eyebrow and smiled. The Ares kid grabbed another javelin and threw it. Hunter’s smile dropped when he saw the javelin zoom over Hunter’s farthest throw. Hunter wasn’t doing well in these games. He needed to win this or this quest was done. As soon as the rest of the competitors had finished throwing a horn sounded. Hunter turned at the scoreboard. Aphrodite: 1. Hermes: 1. Apollo: 1. Ares: 1. Hunter sighed and followed the group to the next event. The next two events were there as a formality.

                “Sometimes Apollo doesn’t send in a kid or like this year when Hephaestus doesn’t send in a kid.” Jack explained to Hunter. Hunter rolled his eyes.

                “Music and smithing, though? I can sing sort of and make crappy swords. That’s what I’m bringing to the table.” Hunter said with a small chuckle. “Ares is going to win smithing. Apollo is going to win music. This is a fact.” Hunter said with a shrug. Sadly, he was right. The horn blasted after the judging for smithing was done. Hunter sheepishly followed the group to a large climbing wall, not dissimilar from the one back at camp. The same one that he hadn’t touched in several years. He waited for the signal and started to climb, but it was hopeless. Jack had the wall scaled and was looking down with a devious grin by the time Hunter was halfway. Trees? He was great. Walls? Not so much. The horn sounded and Hunter clumsily climbed down and stretched his arms and legs before following the group to a medium-sized shallow pit. It was tiled with stone and was a square shape that reminded Hunter of a wrestling ring. “What is this?” He said before glancing around. The competitors were wrapping their hands in tape. Jack finished his and walked over to Hunter.

                “Pankration.” He said, handing him a roll of tape. “Bare-handed wrestling that makes UFC look like a playground slapfight.” Hunter’s eyes widened as he glanced at the Ares kid who had a devious smile on his face. Hunter had to win this event and by the looks of it, his chances were slim.

                “Do the math, kids. Demeter. Athena. You can’t win, today. Sorry.” Hermes said from the podium. Hunter sighed. He was glad to have two less people to deal with. He wasn’t so glad when he heard who he was going up against. “Hunter. Duke. You’re after Jake and Martin.” Hunter looked at the Ares kid who was cracking his knuckles and grinning angrily at Hunter.

                “This…isn’t good.” Hunter said before reluctantly wrapping his hands in tape.

Chapter 28

“You mean…THE Olympics. Like the Winter/Summer Olympics.” Hunter said in disbelief.

                “No, I’m talking about the other Olympics.” Aphrodite said. “The ancient Olympics. Every few years, the Olympian gods send our kids to play some games. Whoever wins the most events gets a gift from their parent.” She said before sliding closer to Hunter. “See, my problem, every year, is that my kids don’t do anything. If it was a competition about fashion, makeup, and hair, then my children would win every year!” She said as she bit her bottom lip and sighed. “It’s not though. And that’s where you come in. You, my handsome man, are one hot commodity.” Hunter blushed and cautiously took a step away.

                “What about uh…What about Artemis? Won’t she be upset?” Hunter said desperately. Aphrodite shook her head.

                “She doesn’t give one lick about the games. She’s too busy being a stick in the mud.” Aphrodite chuckled. “You’re stuck with me, Hunter. Those are my terms. Do you accept them?” She said, raising an eyebrow. Hunter looked at Kyle and Marina and sighed. If this quest was going to succeed, he needed to do it.

                “Yeah, I’ll do it.” Hunter said with a sigh. Aphrodite giggled and stood up.

                “Wonderful! I’m glad you agreed, because I was running out of time.” She said with a grin. Hunter nodded before the words sunk in.

                “Wait. What?” He said quickly before looking up at Aphrodite who smiled and gave him a wink. Suddenly, he was in a giant stadium. He looked around to see other kids around his age, who were stretching or practicing against a dummy. “What in the world…” He glanced around to see stands full of satyrs, naiads, and other beings. At one end, there were 12 thrones. In the middle of them were two which were larger and more imposing. “Zeus, Hera.” Hunter said as he looked at the godly king and queen surveying the stadium. He recognized Apollo, Hephaestus, Athena, Demeter, Ares, and Aphrodite who was giving him a smile from all the way across the arena.

                “Hey, kiddies! Over here!” Hunter looked and saw Hermes standing at a podium on ground level. “There will be 8 events in these games. The child who wins the most gets a gift from their godly parent. Everyone get it? Good. Let the games begin!” Hermes shouted and there was an eruption of applause from the audience. Hunter looked as someone he recognized from camp walked by. He shrugged and followed closely behind. He found himself lined up with the other ‘champions’ on a track. He stood in his lane and prepared as the others did. There was a bang and Hunter took off. He had no idea when he needed to stop and he had no idea if he was even doing it right, but he was near the front of the group. A smile spread across his face as he took the lead. He could see the ending tape and tried to push himself to reach it, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a familiar kid sprinting ahead of him. He crossed the line and slowed to a stop before turning around and grinning.

                “Come on, guys. I even started late.” Hunter recognized him from camp as Jack, a child of Hermes. There were several groans from the other competitors and a few shut up’s. Jack chuckled to himself and turned toward what Hunter assumed was the next event. Hunter caught his breath and followed him. He came across several Pegasi tied to a post, including Ulysses.

                “Ulysses!” Hunter ran over and patted him on the muzzle. “What are you doing here?” He said quietly.

                “It’s the next event.” Hunter turned to see Jack looking at him and leading a pegasus of his own away from the post. “Pegasus race.” Hunter raised an eyebrow and looked at Ulysses.

                “You up for a race, buddy?” He patted the winged horse on the neck and it let out a snort and stamped his feet. “Good. I am too.” Hunter grinned before mounting up. He waited on the ground for the rest of the competitors to catch up and prepare themselves. They all flew up into the air and floated. Hunter could see a flag at their position, one far off in the distance, and another far behind him. They were all gently flapping in the wind and floating in air. Hunter guessed that one had to fly out to a flag, then fly back to the middle flag, then fly out to the other flag and fly back. “This is gonna be simple.” Hunter said with a chuckle. Shing! Hunter looked over to see a brutish looking kid, who must have belonged to Ares, taking a few practice swings with a long sword. “Uh oh.” Was all Hunter could manage before hearing the bang, signaling the start of the race. He kicked Ulysses into action and hoped that he wouldn’t die today.

Chapter 27

                “I didn’t know that you could marry a horse.” Hunter said, slightly traumatized, as he walked out of the ‘Drive-Thru Marriage Church of Saint Blackjack.’ Hunter mounted Ulysses again and turned him around toward the road.

                “Why was he willing to marry 3 17 year old kids?” Marina asked with a sigh, a similar look on her face.

                “2 guys, a girl, and a wedding package.” Kyle said, briefly hugging his Pegasus. “That can’t be legal…” That was their 8^th chapel and no Aphrodite, yet.

                “Let’s keep going. Maybe, if we only go to chapels where there are weddings going on. Let’s look for a busy one.” Hunter said with a sigh. He didn’t think that the scariest thing he would see on this quest would be wedding pictures. He shuddered slightly at the memory and kicked Ulysses into a trot.

                “That one looks busy.” Kyle said, pointing to the ‘Little White Chapel and ATM.’ Hunter glanced over to find that he was right. There were a lot of cars there.

                “Let’s check it out.” Hunter said as he galloped across the street and slid off. He stood outside of the door and took a deep breath. “Are you praying to your parents, guys? I didn’t think that this would be the hard part of the quest.” He said with a chuckle.

                “I’ve been praying since ‘The Quick Hitch Synagogue.’” Marina said with a sigh. Hunter smiled softly and stepped inside. It smelled like candles and alcohol. He took a few steps inside and the smell changed. It went from alcohol to cinnamon, chocolate, and roses. Hunter stepped into the actual chapel and glanced around. Up front was an Elvis impersonator, a woman who looked about 20, and a man well into his 50s.

                “Do you, Chandelier, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” The Elvis said. She slurred something that Hunter assumed was ‘I do.’ “And do you, Jacob, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

                “I love everyone, here!” Jacob slurred as he almost fell down, but was caught by the Elvis.

                “I know pronounce you Husband and wife. Ah’thank you very much.” The Elvis said before stepping back as Jacob  and Chandelier made out right next to the altar. Hunter shuddered and glanced around. There were a fair amount of people there. All of them were asleep, drunk, or watching plainly. Only one of them was crying and she was beautiful. Hunter looked and as he stepped forward he thought that it was Kate. He shook the thought away and thought he saw Arabella and another time thought he saw Philippa.

                “It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” Aphrodite  said wiping a tear away. Hunter raised an eyebrow.

                “I’m not sure beautiful would describe this. What are you doing here?” Hunter said bluntly. “I thought Hera was the goddess of marriage.” Aphrodite chuckled.

                “Marriage….Hera doesn’t want anything to do with these. This is all about LUST.” She said with a smile. “A guy and a girl get drunk. He can make her laugh. She gets prettier with each drink. 5 shots and 7 awful jokes later…” She said before whistling ‘Here Comes the Bride.’ She finally took a deep breath and looked at Hunter with a smile. Hunter looked at Kyle and Marina who were looking in surprise.

                “You’re…Aphrodite?” Kyle said questioningly. He glanced at Marina and then at Aphrodite and then back at Marina. “Huh.” Hunter rolled his eyes and turned to Aphrodite.

                “So, you know why we’re here, yes?” He said, trying to get to the point. Aphrodite nodded excitedly which made Hunter a little nervous.

                “You need my help.” She said with a nod. “I believe you need my blessing. That and some magic arrows, but we’ll talk about those later. Right now, we should talk about what you need to do for me.”

                “Me? Uh…No! No, no. This is Kyle’s quest. I…You can’t uh…Use him.” He said desperately. Aphrodite shook her head.

                “I can’t use him. I would never hear the end of it from his mom. You, Hunter, are absolutely perfect.” She said with a grin. Hunter swallowed and blushed slightly.

                “What do I need to do?” He said, hoping it wasn’t what he would expect from the goddess of love, beauty, and lust. “I can’t…Umm…” Aphrodite giggled.

                “No, no, no. I wouldn’t have you do that. I’ll leave that for my daughter.” She said with a wink. Hunter blushed hard. “I just need you to compete in the Olympics.” Hunter froze.

                “What?”

Chapter 26

                Hunter looked at her in shock. “Wait…I need Aphrodite’s blessing to defeat…whatever this is?” He asked in slight disbelief. She shrugged.

                “Face that helped Melanion, blah blah blah. That’s my mom. She gave Melanion golden apples to distract Atalanta in a footrace. When he won he got her hand in marriage.” She said with a bright smile. Hunter stared at her for a second before laughing.

                “Arabella, I could kiss you.” He said with a chuckle. She blushed a little before smiling back.

                “I’ll wait.” She said with a devious smile. Hunter’s eyes widened as his cheeks turned pink.

                “Uh…I uh…Thanks.” He said nervously. “Wait, so where do we find her.” Arabella sighed.

“I think she said something about Las Vegas. I’d start there.” She said with a nod. “Look for places all about lust and love.” She said, flashing Hunter a smile and a wink. Hunter swallowed uncomfortably.

“Uh…Thanks for the advice. I’ll do that.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I’ll talk to you later, Arabella.” He said before swiping his hand through the image. He ran back to their camp and found Kyle and Marina sleeping soundly in each other’s arms. He chuckled to himself before walking to his spot, sitting up against a fallen tree. He leaned his head back and, in a few moments, fell asleep.

                He woke up before Marina and Kyle with a stiff neck and back. He had fallen asleep in less comfortable places before. This was odd. He had woken up with the sensation of dreaming, but he didn’t remember it. He stood up with a wince and stretched.  He sat down on the tree and sighed. “Vegas.” He said with a sigh. After a few more minutes, he walked over to Kyle and Marina and found them making out. “Oh my gods. Really?” They looked up in mild surprise before smiling.

                “What? We didn’t know you were up, yet.” Kyle said with a chuckle.

                “Besides, we aren’t going anywhere until we figure out the next line of the prophecy.” Marina said as she stood up and fixed her shirt. “Unless, you’ve got it all figured out, Hunter.” She said with a defiant smile. Hunter took a deep breath.

                “As a matter of fact,” He said with a grin. “I do. We need to go too Vegas. Go to Vegas and we’ll find Aphrodite.” Marina and Kyle looked in surprise.

                “And where did we learn this little tidbit of information?” Kyle said with narrowed eyes. Hunter took a deep breath as he thought of an excuse. He would probably get teased to no end for a late night iris message with a daughter of Aphrodite.

                “It’s called reading, Kyle. You should try it sometime.” He said with a chuckle. “Atalanta, fill Kyle in would you?” He pointed to Marina who looked in slight surprise before clearing her throat.

                “Oh, uh…Atalanta. She was a huntress who promised to not be wed.” She said with a nod. “But uh…There were suitors and one of them, Melanion, won and received her hand in marriage. Right?” Hunter nodded.

                “And how did he win?” He said with a smirk.

                “Well, he was given the golden apples, which distracted Atalanta-“

                “Proof that girls are attracted to shiny objects.” Kyle said with a nod. Marina smacked his arm before continuing.

                “Aphrodite gave her the apples.” She said with a sigh. “That still doesn’t explain why we need to go Las Vegas.” Hunter looked at her with a ‘why must you look a gift horse in the mouth’ look.

                “It’s the city of love.” He said finally.

                “That’s Paris.”

                “Okay, it’s the American city of love.”

                “That’s New Orleans. Or Philadelphia.”

                “Okay, fine. It has an Eiffel tower. Does that work? Now, can we go?” He said slightly frustrated. Marina shrugged.

                “Fine, don’t get your panties in a twist.” She said with a chuckle. “Let’s get going, then.” She said with a smile. The three of them walked toward the pegasi and Hunter turned to see Marina’s smile drop. “Do we have to? Can’t was just walk? OH! OH! We have to walk! They’ll see us! On our flying horses!” She said desperately. Kyle put an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

                “Babe, it’s Vegas.” He said with a shrug. “10 percent of the people will see it and think nothing of it. Another 10 percent will see it and think it was all in their head. Everyone else, probably sees crazier stuff on a daily basis.” He said with a chuckle. “Now, mount up. Let’s get home before dinner, shall we?” The three of them, one more reluctantly than the others, mounted onto their pegasi and took off toward Vegas. Hunter estimated that they were somewhere near Indiana, when they left. They had left early so it was in the midafternoon when they arrived. They landed in front of a homeless man who screamed and ran off.

                “Should we hide them?” Marina asked nervously. Hunter thought for a second.

                “No, we’ll be okay. We just won’t fly. Is that okay, Ulysses?” Hunter said patting his mount between the ears. “Now, you can show off your wonderful equestrian ability, Marina.” He said quietly.

                “Maybe, I will.” She said with a defiant smile. She maneuvered Jimmy and was trotting circles around them. She smiled and let out a defiant, “Ha!”

                “Let’s get going, then.” Hunter said as he kicked Ulysses into a walk, through the circle Marina had formed. “We need to look for stuff with love or lust or hearts or something…Aphrodite-y.” Hunter said as they turned a corner to see dozens and dozens of signs with hearts.

                “’This Little Chapel o’ Mine.’ ‘Best Little Chapel.’ With a cop car parked out front.” Kyle said with a chuckle. “’A Hunk o’ Burnin’ love church.’ What… ‘Chapel of Love.’ I feel like this is going to be a long day, guys.”

Chapter 25

                Hunter was too anxious to sleep. Marina and Kyle had done couple-y things for a little while before falling asleep in each other’s arms. Hunter stood up from his spot against the tree and stretched. He summoned his bow. He still wasn’t used to wielding the enormous bow of Hercules. He drew an arrow and notched it. He walked a ways into the woods. The bow was too powerful to fire pulled all the way back. He found a good spot, pulled halfway back, aimed, and fired. The arrow shot through the air and, instead of exploding the tree, it split the tree in two. “Dang it.” Hunter whispered as he drew another arrow. “I’m going to run out of trees here, soon.” He sighed and notched the arrow. Taking aim, he took a deep breath and imagined the arrow doing nothing but sinking into the tree. Not making it blow up. Not making it split in two. Just sinking in like a regular arrow fired from a regular bow. He pulled back just a little bit and fired. The arrow fell straight to the ground. He picked up and loaded it again. He pulled all the way back and fired. It lodged into the tree without going right through it. He looked at the bow. “It must be connected to my mind.” He said as he loaded and fired again. It landed into a tree again. He now imagined it going right through the tree and lodging into the one behind it. He aimed and fired. It did exactly that. A smile spread across his face as he practiced different degrees of the bow’s strength. He whipped around firing arrows into tree after tree.

                “Hunter? I didn’t think that- AAHH!” Hunter had turned around and fired before seeing an iris message disappear as the arrow flew through it.

                “Was that…” He said as he dismissed his bow and quiver and stood there, partially waiting to see if it came back. Suddenly it appeared again. Hunter’s eyes widened. “Arabella?”

                “Hunter? Oh my gods! Hunter! It DID work!” She screamed making Hunter take a step back.

                “How did you know where to send this message? I’m in the middle of the woods of…some state.” Hunter said, realizing that he had no idea where they had ended up. He looked up as Arabella shrugged.

                “I was bored and I wanted to talk to you. Well, I didn’t- I was thinking about- You know what I mean!” She said, slightly flustered. “I just tossed a drachma in, said the prayer, and then said ‘Hunter, in the woods, somewhere. I assumed that you would be there. You’re always there.” She said with a giggle. “So, how’s it going?” Hunter stood there with a raised eyebrow. There’s no way Iris just tracks Hunter down in the middle of the woods just for a social call from Arabella.

                “Not bad. This has been an uh…interesting day, so far.” He said, fidgeting with his watch. He looked back up at her and realized she wasn’t at camp. She was in Olympus. “Oh my goodness, Arabella. I totally forgot that you’re in Olympus, now. How’s that going?” Hunter said, leaning up against a tree. She giggled and smiled at him. She looked happier than he had ever seen her in camp.

                “It is wonderful! My mom is so great. I’m kind of bored because she’s gone somewhere, right now, but ugh…It’s so great!” She said excitedly. “I don’t even know where to start! Okay, so the first day, my mom and I basically just sat and talked. I know what you’re thinking. ‘That’s sounds so boring’ But it wasn’t! It was great!” Hunter smiled as she went off on another tangent. He had seen her around camp and never was she as excited about something as she was now. He remembered back to his first day on Olympus. Artemis, immediately put him to work. He wasn’t shocked, but he had talked to others and their parents had let them have a day off where they had fun and relaxed on their first day. A lot like Aphrodite had done with Arabella. Artemis didn’t have children, but there were a few hunters she saw as her children. Hunter wasn’t one of them. He found a place, and he learned about his family, but he still felt a little lonely. Philippa might be the thing that- “Hunter, are you even listening?!”

                “Hmm? Yeah! You were talking about clothes or something. Of course, I’m listening.” He said quietly. Arabella narrowed her eyes at him.

                “Something is bothering you. I can tell something is bothering you. Tell me what is bothering you.” She said with a giggle as she seemed to move closer to him. Hunter sighed. He didn’t really want to talk about it. Especially with a known meddler like Arabella, but I guess there’s no harm. Philippa is evil now.

                “When I was in Olympus, I became friends with this girl named Philippa. Well, on my last day with Artemis, Philippa…She uh…She kissed me.” He finished quietly. Arabella flailed.

                “She kissed you?! Did…what did…how did you…” She stammered. Hunter couldn’t tell what emotion she was expressing at that moment, but whatever it was, it was fairly prevalent. She took a deep breath. “What did you do?” She asked quietly, but Hunter could sense a sort of anxiety in her voice. Hunter shrugged.

                “I just stood there. It was my first kiss and it was completely unexpected. I had no idea what to do.” He said quietly. “And now she’s evil or something. Possessed by…something. I don’t know.” Arabella looked at him with sad eyes.

                “Is this part of your quest?” She asked with her head tilted. Hunter sighed and nodded. He thought it was going well, but now he wasn’t sure. “Can I help? Where are you in your prophecy?”

                “Well,” Hunter started. “The weapon of Zeus' greatest son, that staunch never-loser, will be found with the famed namesake of his bow's second user. The obstacles will be deceiving, and the enemies well-cloaked, but be wary, and be careful, or your chances will be choked. We just did that, I think. So that means that the next part we need to do is: The favor of a god or goddess is the second item for this task, and in battle or in contest, Ares or Nyke you would ask. Ask neither war nor victory for success in your quest, but look to the face, that helped Melanion win his heart's race. I don’t know what that is. Kyle doesn’t know and neither does Marina. We’re a little stuck.” He said with a sigh. Arabella thought for a second.

                “Wait. I know this. That’s easy!” She said excitedly. Hunter looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

                “How do you know that? You don’t do anything, but tan and talk about boys.” Hunter said slightly teasingly.

                “If I could reach you I would hit you.” She said with a slight pout. “When it comes to stuff like this, I know it because it’s personal. I know everything about my mom. You need to talk to her. Aphrodite.”