TEENS FROM OLYMPUS

Chapter 35: Asfalis Epineio

"Are we there yet?" I groaned from the back of the Jeep Wrangler we had rented. Athena was driving as I internally thanked myself for having taught her how to do so. We were driving across the Sonoran Desert. I looked out the window and groaned once again due to the fact that all I see outside is sand, sand and sand. "Ten more minutes maybe." Zeus answered.

"I can't believe I skipped school for this." I muttered. After the 'terrorist attack' that hit our university, we had a three-week suspension. The jolly days had ended and it was back to school for us again. Well, for them. I haven't gone yet. I had to call a professor just to make sure they don't think I was dead from the attack. A trickle of drool made its way across my shoulder as Aphrodite slept beside me. "Gross." I complained.

"Chill, Yhan. We're almost there." Athena chirped. I rolled my eyes. Chill? The jeep was air-conditioned but I still felt like I was being fried. I could only imagine the scorch we would have gone through if we did bring the hippogriffs for transportation. I would've had a horrendous tan.

I squinted my eyes when I realized that there was nothing in front of us, just an endless horizon of sand. We were in the middle of nowhere. I looked around me to see how the others were feeling. I was sat beside Aphrodite who was taking a nap. Beside her was Hermes who managed to still look calm. Ares had the same expression as me. I was starting to wonder if his eyebrows were naturally furrowed that way. He always looked irritated. Poseidon had a blank expression, his chin in the palm of his hand. Probably bored of the scenery (Hint: The scenery was a magnificent landscape of endless sand.) Hera sat on Zeus' lap in the passenger seat, sleeping. That's when I saw a towering valley in front of us.

"Where did that come from?" I asked in shock. We were suddenly in front of an enormous valley. The space in between was big enough to fit five trucks. I look at these gods' faces and after a few seconds, a bloody valley appears from nowhere.

"It's the Hidden Valley, Yhan." Athena laughed. "It was always there, you just didn't see it from all the sand."

Aphrodite started to fidget beside me and I tapped her shoulder. "We're here." I whispered. She fluttered her eyes open and looked at me. Her eyes started to go gold again. "Aphrodite's going to read again." I groaned. I don't want to go through that again, but since I'm the first person she saw from her nap, I had no choice.

"See you later, alligator." Hermes said. I stuck a tongue out at him right before Aphrodite put her hand on my thigh, knocking me out.

"Good morning." Aphrodite chirped. We were in a hotel room. I was laying on what seemed like a cloud. The bed was so soft I didn't want to get up. To top it off, the bedsheets were silk! I sat up and instantly saw a window beside the bed. "It's dark out." I muttered.

"It's already 7:30 in the evening." Aphrodite smiled as she sat beside me on the bed. "Sorry about earlier." She said sheepishly. I nodded. "At least we both know for sure that you're definitely in love with your boyfriend. I still can't say who you're ending up with anyway." She said.

I shrugged my shoulders. "No worries. I haven't reached that part of my life yet where I'm looking for my destiny. I'm still too young." I said. Besides, I don't want to be like Ted Mosby. When my mind finally woke up, I realized that Aphrodite was already dressed. She wore a tight black dress with a sweetheart neckline. The dress reached the middle of her thighs and it perfectly accentuated her curves. Goddess of beauty, indeed.

"You should go get dressed. Hera's looking for me downstairs so I'll have to leave you now. My son will pick you up when the party's going to start." She said.

My ears pricked as I raised an eyebrow at her. "Your son?" I asked.

"I have lots of kids here." She smiled. "Demigods. Some are your age, but mostly older. No one's younger than 17 around here after what happened to the triplets." She explained. I nodded at her and she once again said she was going to leave. It's weird to look at her talking about her kids anyway.