Chapter 2 - The last of the twelve.
They walked under the banner and straight in front of them was a large hill, and to the left and right was open space bordered with loads of fruit-filled trees. “That’s Mouvast Mountain. It’s where we go to speak to the Gods.”
“The Gods, of course! So how many people are there here?” Jay’s words came out slurred and pointless to himself. ‘How many people are there here? What a question to start with? Try something more important, when will I get fired by the crazy creature again?’ Jay’s mind spoke to him in frustration, as it loved to do. A habit.
“Oh, there are 12, including you. They each resemble one of the twelve Olympian Gods. Like you here, have the ring of Hephaestus, who is God of the forges and fire,” Hollie said as they trotted around the left-hand side of the hill.
“So what God is your ring then?”
“Ah, mine is Poseidon the God of…”
“Sea isn’t it. I remember seeing it in a book.”
‘Smart arse! Now you’ve done the calm conversation get your but over to those trees, magic up a phone and call nine, nine, NINE!’ His thoughts faded and the calm that kept him sane took over completely. He couldn’t understand why he just suddenly felt as though everything was okay. A warming sensation soothed inside him and his shoulders relaxed from their hunched up position.
“And earthquakes yeah.”
They walked around the mountain, which was hiding a wonderful stream and a large Greek temple. There was a bridge in the middle and a waterfall at the far end.
Jay was taking in all the scenery when Hollie said, “That over there,” she was pointing to the temple, “is where we meet up and then that over there, if you can make it out”, she now moved her hand to point at a stadium, “is the games area where we play squally ball. It’s a magic game.”
“What about that bridge?” Jay asked.
“Ah you probably won’t need to use it because we use our powers to cross the stream when we need to. Anyway, we’re going over that way so as you can get to your house.”
Jay was wondering what Hollie meant by a house, did she mean a mansion, a flat, or a bunk bed. Anything would be better than sharing a room with a screaming eight year old.
They strolled along the verdant bed of grass towards the stream, then in the distance there was a rustling in the trees and a girl made of pure green grass scurried back into, what seemed to be, a tree trunk.
“What was that?” asked Jay, pointing to the trees ahead with a slightly concerned voice which somehow managed to fight the calmness and bring his reality self, back into the fight. It was a bit like a yoyo: reality, calm, reality, calm, reality…
“Oh, was it green or brown?”
“Green, why?”
“It was a tree nymph, they’re alright but can be quite annoying at times.”
“A tree nymph?” Jay pondered as they drew closer to the river. They reached the bank and Hollie took a deep breath and just walked.
“Where are you going, you can’t walk over wa…..”
Before he could finish his sentence Hollie had started walking, quite casually, over the stream. Like it was just solid ground.
“C’mon it’s safe,” she said as she reached the other end.
“How do you do that?”
“Oh my Gods. Eh, let me think. Poseidon, hmmm. Oh, wait a minute. That’s a stream and Poseidon is the God of water…?”
It took a moment to sink in, then Jay, feeling rather stupid to think that Hollie couldn’t control water seeming as she was the wearer of the ring of Poseidon, followed Hollie over the river.
It felt like you were treading on air, except much better for people with vertigo. Jay reached the other side and then quickly darted up the bank to join Hollie.
“Alright?”
“Just, felt, weird,” Jay muttered. He looked up and he could just make out a fire through a gap in the trees.
“Whoa there’s a fire,” he screamed in a timid, low tone, pointing between the trees.
“That’s where our dorms are,” Hollie said calmly as they walked through a gap into a large field, cornered off by lines of trees which surrounded it but leaving four gaps in the middle of each side.
“What is this used for?” Jay questioned.
“This is where we train for battles,” Hollie answered as they carried on towards the fire on the other side.
‘Battles?’ Jay thought, ‘Well it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting bored here.’
“Hey, look. There’s Broudie.” A boy the same height as Jay entered the other side of the field.
“BROUDIE, THIS IS JAY. HE‘S THE NEW ONE. YOU‘LL MEET HIM TONIGHT!” Hollie shouted, her voice showing clear power and dominance.
“HI, JAY!” Broudie screamed back, before carrying on through the field, casually carrying a beautiful sword that reflected bright sunrays back at Jay. He waved his hand but Broudie seemed to have more important things to do than talk to him.
They veered towards the fire, through the trees, and Jay could make out small huts, like old wooden sheds, painted in different colours, gathered around the burning flames.
“So, who’s Broudie’s, you know?” Jay asked.
“Ares, the God of war. Great at battles. You may think he’s brutal but he’s as soft as a brush really.”
They squeezed through the trees and then straight in front was the big fire, surrounded by four logs and twelve colourfully designed huts, some even seemed to be moving.
There was a light blue one with clouds at the top which seemed to be circling the hut; a dark blue one with odd, funny-looking fish on it; a pale blue one with flying shoes on; a light red one with swords that were fighting free handed on it; a purplish one with vines covering it; a yellow one with arrows darting round the corners; a yellow-at-the-bottom-gradually-going-to-red-at-the-top one; a golden coloured one; a grey one; a green one with a horse galloping on it; a pink one with flowers on it and a dark grey one with the moon raining down from the one corner.
“These are the dorms,” Hollie announced.
“They're quite small aren’t they? I mean you can only just about stand in them.”
“Ah. Well, we’ll have to see, won’t we? C’mon this one’s yours.” Hollie pointed at the small red and yellow one and they strolled towards it.
Jay opened the door expecting to see a small ugly shed, but instead he saw a hallway lit with torches and a beautiful carved staircase. Dark wood covering the floor and yellow and red walls all around. The moment Jay stepped in there he felt as though he had been in the Artic and just got back into a soothing hot bath.
“Wow! It’s, it’s amazing,” Jay gasped as he strolled into the hallway and tilted his head around the wall to see an open plan lounge and kitchen. The sofa was hot red and there was a yellow and orange rug on the floor with a wooden table perched on top.
“Nice is it?” Hollie smirked, still stood at the door.
“Yeah,” Jay said, then he turned to see Hollie still outside. “Aren’t you gonna come in, it’s awesome.”
“I can’t, just like you can’t come into mine. It’s enchanted so only the wearer of that ring,” Hollie pointed at the ring on his finger, “can enter this place.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry. You settle in and don’t come out till I come and get you. I’m sure there are plenty of gadgets you can find in here seeing as Hephaestus is the God of the forges.”
“Yeah ok.”
“Right I’ll come and get you in a minute. I just need to tell Amy of our arrival. See ya.” Hollie closed the door and trudged off away from the dorm.
Jay turned around and walked into the front room and then into the kitchen. The kitchen was gleaming white with dark granite cupboards which lined the walls, and a large grey fridge in the corner.
He walked over to the fridge and opened it. It was empty, nothing in there.
Then a voice spoke in a whispered tone,
“What does one want? Close the door and ponder, then you will find what you seek.”
Jay shut the fridge worriedly with a bang, and then stood staring at it. He shut his eyes and opened the fridge very slowly. He then reopened his eyes again and there, sat in the middle of the fridge, was a milk bottle with semi-skimmed written on a bright green label.
“Now that is awesome,” he said nodding at the milk and then taking it out and putting it on the table. He made himself a hot drink with a surprisingly fast-boiling kettle and a similar-acting cupboard. While sitting there, sipping his drink, he took himself back to when he got the ring.
He was at the park with Richard, his friend, when he heard the whistling noise.
He had turned around to see the four teenagers walking towards him in a brisk, uneasy walk and he had somehow ended up being blasted to the floor with a ring magically glued to his finger.
When they had reached him, Hollie had just pocketed a golden watch and the surroundings had frozen in time; Richard had paused in a running motion and many cars had stood still, motionless.
That day he felt more scared than ever, and at first he thought they were just some real good acting bullies trying to play a trick on him. Then Hollie gave her well-practiced speech:
‘Well, see, the Gods are real, the Greek Gods I mean, and they are immortal. Except they can fade, which is what is happening now. See humans are effecting the Gods’ powers like…Poseidon is the god of the seas, and nowadays we have ships and submarines which can control the seas, and the catastrophes the sea makes such as tsunamis can be predicted and the damage lessened. So Poseidon doesn’t control the sea as much anymore, which is why he is beginning to fade. But now more and more are starting to fade, and it’s our job to help them.
Now, as you can see we all have rings just like you and they were given to us by the Queen Goddess, Athena. I say queen but I mean technically that would be Hera, but you get the gist. The Oracle, a powerful woman who can see the future, gave Athena these rings. She told Athena that she must give them to Amy, one of us twelve. These rings can’t be worn by anyone; in fact, there are only twelve chosen people who can wear these rings. You are one of those twelve. Then the oracle told Athena that the rings will give the user the power of magic, and that each ring symbolises one of the twelve Olympian Gods. Before the Gods started fading they managed to create a door to close Tartarus, where the bad monsters go, so that they could not get out. But, the monsters are starting to do exactly that, they are escaping and because of all this fading malarkey, the gods are too weak to stop them. So it is our job, we must protect Olympus and the mortals of the present day. Now hopefully you will join us, I know it’s a lot to take in but this is the truth and we have all been in your shoes before so don’t worry. Now you may ask your questions.’
Hollie’s rambling speech looped over in his mind like a tape.
They had showed him how they could use magic by controlling a puddle of water and Jay had run off. He had left them there and then tried to completely blank them from his mind. How was he supposed to know if they were telling the truth? Then, a fire-breathing monster from mythology had attacked him only a few days later. Just this morning.
It was ridiculous to think that Gods living in a cloudland have always watched down on the mortal world. Even thinking of a divide between mortals and magicals was confusing. At the same time though, Jay really loved this new world he has somehow instantly slipped into. He now had a purpose in life, whether it was a dangerous one, who cares? It was something to battle for.
‘I’m so great aren’t I? Talking as if I’ve got this whole situation sorted and packed up. I haven’t really I just like to think I have. And it is partly true. I guess. I think. Well, I hope.’
After those few minutes of pondering, he made his way back to the hall and up the stairs to the landing, which was also bright yellow and red. At the top was a massive room with a hearth and a giant, king-sized bed in the corner. There seemed to be only one cupboard and then it struck Jay that he had only one set of clothes, the ones he was wearing.
He jumped across the room and pulled the doors of the closet open to see all his clothes from back at the foster home and a red jacket with ATHENA’S DESCENDANTS written on it, hung neatly on a rail.
He was just closing the wardrobe when he heard a knock on the door. ‘That was quick’, he thought. Jay went down to open the door and when he did, thinking he’d see Hollie, he saw nothing.
“Hello?” Jay called as he peered out to see if there was anyone there. “Hello?” he repeated.
Jay stepped out of the dorm into the burning warmth of the sun. He thought about what Hollie had told him ‘don’t go anywhere till I come to get you.’
‘It wouldn’t hurt would it, just to go and have a look?’ he thought.
Just then, there was a rustling in the trees and Jay turned around to see a pair of pink legs disappear through the trees.
A/N
Hey again! Just to tell you i split each chapter i two as people said the chapter were too long whatever so thats why there are two chapters called the same title. Sort of like a part A and B. Hope you like what you read, if not then "Votaldea" to you :D ha, dont even know whether that spell is introduced yet, but hey ho, stick around and find out what spell I've sent at you ;) im joking, stick around if you like, if not then dont worry, please drop a line or a vote. Love you all! :D