Darkness clouded my vision, even though we were holding flares, which seemed to give out dull light that was somehow enveloped into the darkness as well.
"Are you sure this is the place?" I asked. "This doesn't look anything like a lair of a goddess..."
"I'm sure it is," Apollo answered from some dark corner of the room. "Hermes' sources are almost always reliable."
"Almost always?" I frowned. "How reassuring."
My thoughts were muddling up as we walked further into the room. Apollo's thoughts were far more disturbing, now that he had turned mortal and I could read his mind with my Legilmency powers, although he hadn't lost a single power of his. I couldn't really distinguish between my own voice and his, and my eyes were starting to droop. The only sounds were that of Apollo's and my footwear, that were making slight whooshing noises as we sneaked through the darkness.
"We really should've brought Hermes here too," I said. "Just so he knows how difficult it is."
"Pity he had to get off by Canada," Apollo answered.
***
CLANG.
Both Apollo and I came to a stop. "What was that?!" we said to each other, our voices barely a whisper.
CLANG.
I took a step backward.
CLANG.
"Someone's coming," Apollo said. "Or maybe it's something."
By the small light of my flare, I could see Apollo's blonde hair shining a few steps away.
CLANG.
Our hands flew to each other, and I gripped Apollo's arm too tight for anyone's liking.
I whispered a sorry, and Apollo nodded, although frowning.
CLANG.
Through the shine of his glowing body, I could make out exactly one thing- something was moving in the darkness.
CLANG.
"Ah," a new voice said.
The two of us began to look around, our flares trying to find out the source of the sound in the dark.
CLANG.
"New- competitors."
"Reason fifty seven of why I hate Nike," Apollo said.
My vision was bleached as the lights turned on so suddenly, blinding both of us.
I had to squint my eyes to see what was going on. The scene in front of us was rather shocking.
A golden chariot, pulled by horses the size of elephants rolled slowly towards. The horses, clad in strong iron horseshoes CLANGed their feet fiercely against the ground.
Behind the horses stood a woman tall woman, her eyes wide and raging, her dark hair in piled-up braids circled with a gilded laurel wreath, and her sleeveless white dress sparkling in the light. From her back, wings of gold stretched out, glittering as brightly as New York City's Fourth of July fireworks in the sudden light that we had encountered.
Nike was truly crazily beautiful. She looked like she'd had twenty seven shots of espresso after drinking fourteen espresso martinis.
"Nike!" Apollo said, trying to smile. "It's me, Apollo!"
Nike raised an eyebrow. "Apollo? Apollo who?"
"What?" Apollo said, an eye twitching. "It's me! Your boss' son!"
"I have no boss!"
"Oh Zeus," I cursed. "She's already been affected."
"Affected! You dare, mortal?"
I sighed. "We're too late."
"Late?! BEING LATE MEANS NO VICTORY!"
"Oh dear lord, Jesus save us."
"WHO'S JESUS? MY NEWEST COMPETITOR? I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE HE LOSES-"
"Yeah, that's going to happen."
Apollo rolled his eyes. "Nike, look over here. We're here to take you back to Olympus. Remember Olympus? Home?"
"This is my home, mortal!" Nike exclaimed. "Don't you see?"
"Yeah, we're doomed," I added, sighing.
"Don't lose hope," Apollo whispered. "Come on, Nike. Look here. I'm Apollo, your bestie!"
"Bestie?" Nike asked. "I have no besties. I HAVE ONLY VICTORIES!" She raised her golden spear into the air like she was going to charge into battle.
"This is the most lovely encounter I've had with a god," I muttered sarcastically. "Aphrodite was better than this."
"APHRODITE? Who is she?" Nike asked. "I'LL SHOW YOU- I'M BETTER THAN ANYONE!"
"Yeah, we should just kidnap her after baiting her with espresso," I muttered to Apollo.
"Nice plan," Apollo said. "But I don't think that'll work."
"YOU!" Nike pointed to me.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"DO YOU ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE?"
"What challenge?"
"THAT YOU SHALL FIGHT THIS ONE-" she pointed to Apollo, "- UNTIL DEATH?"
"What?!"
"Yeah, that's the standard protocol for Nike," Apollo said. "She likes to scare the hell out of people.. except I'm not sure whether she's joking this time."
But Nike did not budge, still pointing a single finger at me, gazing at me with eyes as wide as eggs and a smile as crazy as a joker's.
"I do not accept the challenge," I said.
"But how will we know who wins?" Nike pouted.
"We're friends," I told her, "we don't need to fight."
"OF COURSE YOU DO," Nike roared. "Victory is more important than friends."
"No it isn't."
"Hey, Nike, how about we take you on a jolly ride to Olympus?" Apollo asked kindly. "And we can organize competitions from there-"
"I'LL FIGHT YOU, PUNY MORTAL!" Nike rose from her chariot, her wings beating furiously, her spear aiming at Apollo. "I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF-"
"NO!" I shouted. "WE'LL COMPETE AGAINST YOU!"
Nike stopped mid-wing-beat. She tilted her head. "Compete against me?" She smiled. "I am the LADY OF VICTORY! NO ONE BEATS ME!"
"We'll beat you," I said, straightening up. The words were coming out of my mouth on their own. "Yeah, we'll have a competition-"
"ARCHERY," Nike said. "AN ARCHERY COMPETITION. IF I WIN, YOU'LL BECOME MY SLAVES."
"And if we win," Apollo said, "we take you to Olympus. Swear it on the Styx?"
Nike nodded. "But only one of you fight. And I choose this one," she pointed at me.
***
Apollo took me aside. "You don't know Nike's rules," he said.
"Well, I'm sure I can learn," I answered.
"No, no," Apollo whispered. "She'll do anything to win- ANYHTING."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"She'll deflect your arrows with her powers, anything, as long as you can't prove that she cheated."
"Oh."
"Yeah, exactly."
Suddenly, I didn't feel so confident. Chiron had trained me well, but well enough to go against a goddess?
I shook the thought from my head. "As long as I can cheat without getting caught, I'll be fine. Besides, you're the god of archery, I can always read your mind to know whether I'll hit bullseye."
Apollo looked at me with eyes full of wonder, as though he could have kissed me at that moment. "You're such a wonderful woman."
"I guess so."
***
"You hit bullseye, you get a hundred points," Nike said. "You hit anything that's not bullseye, you lose. Three turns."
"What?" I asked. "That makes no sense."
"Lacking confidence in yourself?"
I brought out my bow. "Never."
Nike brandished her own bow at me. "Made from the purest Celestial Silver, the rarest metal on Earth. It'll always reach my target."
I shrugged. "Mine's just plain old Celestial Bronze and wood."
"Alright then," Apollo said, "I swear on the Styx that my judgment will be fair. Let the games begin."
"I go first," Nike said, pulling the drawstring and nocking an arrow. "You shall all lose."
The sound of the arrow tearing through the air echoed through the room. Undoubtedly, the arrow didn't take long to find it's aim, hitting bullseye.
"Nike scores a hundred," Apollo informed.
"Yeah, no kidding, Sherlock," I grit my teeth and drew my arrow from the quiver. "Let's go." I scanned my surrounding. Nike was smiling like crazy, as though she trusted me enough to just give up. "Okay," I whispered to myself. I focused on the red dot, considerably smaller than Nike's target.
"Nike changes direction, arrow goes left, misses target," Apollo thought instantly. I looked at him. The power of prophecies is a good thing.
I tilted my bow a little to the right and let go.
The feel of my bow, the sound of the arrow soaring through the air was music to my ears. It was good to be a demigod again.
"Ariana scores hundred."
Nike grumbled furiously. She took another arrow and let go with ease.
"Nike scores hundred."
I had to smirk at the goddess' anger. I took another bow, ready to launch-
The lights went off.
"Oh, dear," Nike said. "I suppose it's going to take a few minutes for me to get that on. You go ahead."
I bit my lip. I couldn't see through the dark. My arrow was still nocked into my bow, ready to leave, but the aim wasn't right, I was sure.
Think, think. What would Chiron do in this situation?
And the bulb glowed in my head.
I closed my eyes and envisioned the place- the blinding lights - the target- the red dot.
I raised my bow, and let go. The sure sound of the arrow hitting the wood made me relax, and I opened my eyes.
The lights came on. I blinked twice-
"Ariana scores a hundred."
I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank gods."
Nike huffed angrily. "You go first this time."
"As you wish," I smiled, and nocked another arrow, except this time, Nike did too, aiming at the path of my arrow. "Hey! That's cheating."
"I never said anything about that," Nike smirked.
My ears went hot red at once. I could feel steam literally erupt from them. "Oh yeah? Okay, then."
I took aim at the target, and closed my eyes.
Alexandra, help me, please.
I let go of the arrow.
I can still remember everything exactly as it happened, as though it happened in slow motion.
The arrow tore through the air, and Nike let go of hers, aiming to intercept mine mid-way. And just as hers almost touched the bronze tip, my arrowhead split into two. The whole arrow began to peel away, and Nike's arrow went right though the gap.
Nike screamed. "NO!"
The arrowheads and then stuck themselves together as they flew back into position, and-
"ARIANA SCORES A HUNDRED!" Apollo was jumping.
"THAT'S CHEATING!" Nike said.
"You never said anything about it," I smirked. "My arrow may be Celestial Bronze, but it belonged to the goddess of warriors and two valiant heroes once upon a time. I wouldn't underestimate it. It's your turn now."
Nike was turning as red as a lobster. "YOU-"
"Nike, you made an oath on the Styx!" Apollo interrupted. "You cannot leave the game now."
Nike took an arrow grumpily and nocked it.
I smirked. "Confundo," I whispered.
Nike's eyes rolled overhead. She let go of her arrow.
The arrow went past the target, hitting one of the pale horses that stood behind it.
"THE WINNER IS ARIANA!" Apollo exclaimed so loudly that the cries of the horses were drowned by his screams. "YOU WON- YOU WON!"
"Real godly thing to say, Apollo," I smiled. "Now let's pack up and get out of here-"
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Nike roared. "YOU CHEATED- YOU CHEATED! THERE'S NO OTHER EXPLANATION!"
"Can you prove that?" I asked.
"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU BOTH-" She raised her spear and brought it down on me, cutting through my cheek.
"Bloody-"
"HOW DARE YOU?" She raised her spear again. "I'LL KILL BOTH OF YOU!"
Saying thus, Nike fainted.
The two of us stared at each other in shock. Apollo looked back at Nike.
"Yeah," he shrugged. "That's what happens when you go back on an oath on the Styx. I guess Nike's out of the game for now."
"Well, that's a failure of a quest. What's next?" I asked.
"We can cure these horses, and we can then find the last god- Dionysus."
"Not Camp Half Blood."
"You read my mind. That's exactly where we're going."
_________________________________