No sooner had they walked ten feet into the thick foliage did the roaring of the crowd behind them become silence. They looked back to see the woods seeming to swallow them whole.
"Whelp... No turning back now I guess..." Courtney said nervously.
"Yeah..." Jake breathed in agreement, watching entranced as the twisted vines and branches became thicker as they weaved together behind the small group. They started their trek into the dark, ominous forest and the golden thread let off a soft glow that caused the shadows to dance wildly around the group as it lifted to wrap around Jake's wrist. The light sifting through the trees lessened the deeper they traveled and eventually stopped completely, plunging them into almost complete darkness only lit by the glow of the thread. The thick canopy suddenly started to thin and a wide clearing opened up in front of them. A large cave opening dominated the area and a few small plants leaned in towards the sunlight but none grew in the great clearing. The glowing thread led straight into the cave. When the group stepped into the clearing, the woods behind them once again closed up, the writhing vines and branches creaking as they weaved together.
They approached the mouth of the cave and Jake started to climb down before Courtney exclaimed, "Nope! We are not going down that cave!"
"Why not? It's just a cave," Jake called up.
"I've seen what happens to people when they go down mysterious caves in horror movies," she answered, "It never ends well!"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and jumped down into the cave past Jake. "There's nothing down here!" she yelled up to the rest of the group.
They jumped down and looked around. The area they had landed in looked almost cut out of the earth. The thin mist that covered everything put a chill in the air that used to be hot and changed the soft light of the thread almost blue.
"Welcome," the same booming voice reverberated around the room, "We were hoping you would arrive soon." The once gold thread had slowly faded to a soft blue glow and the entire room had an icy feel to it. The mist swirled and condensed into a human-like figure. As he solidified, they could tell he was wearing a biker's jacket and sunglasses, though it was already dark in the cavern. The mist behind him swirl and more people emerged. A fisherman, a beautiful woman, a serious-looking woman standing that let off a commanding air, and a disabled mechanic all came out of the fog.
Jake dropped suddenly to one knee in front of the biker. "Father," he muttered softly.
Courtney looked the biker over a few times before saying, "Really? You're Ares? I never would have guessed..."
Jake looked up at her in horror, "Are you crazy?!"
"What?" Courtney asked innocently, "I was just expecting more."
Ares looked over at her, "What more were you expecting?"
"I thought you'd be taller," she said shrugging.
The god grew from his average 6ft to 12ft in seconds, "This tall enough?"
"Is that really all you've got?" Courtney taunted as she looked him up and down.
As he started to grow to where his head was rubbing the ceiling, someone laughed behind him, "Ares, come on. You know she's just messing with you," the fisherman said between fits of laughter.
"Control your daughter Poseidon," Ares said, outraged to be ruffled up by a mere demigod girl.
"She's not a dog," Poseidon replied.
"She could be," Ares said simply.
Elizabeth cleared her throat and the bickering gods turned to see who had dared interrupt them. "No she couldn't actually," she stated matter-of-factly, "You need all of us. You wouldn't have called us specifically if we were that expendable."
The serious woman smiled at Elizabeth's comment. "You can tell who has the wiser children," she chuckled.
"Take that Shorty!" Courtney taunted, "I've got the smart friend." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Shorty?!?" Ares yelled, "Oh you are just begging to die." He sat down on a rock to seethe.
"You want some of this?!" Courtney exclaimed hopping from foot to foot.
Poseidon looked over at his daughter and sighed, "Courtney calm down. Right now we need to talk about important matters."
"But Dad! Percy got to fight with him!" Courtney exclaimed disappointment obvious on her face.
"Percy is older than you," Poseidon said.
"Only by a year!" Courtney replied.
"I won't have my daughter fighting a god before she is ready. Percy is trained. You are not," Poseidon said finally.
"I'm better than Percy!" Courtney exclaimed.
At this point, Elizabeth spoke up, "It's true. They sparred."
"Shorty's gonna get it..." Courtney muttered angrily as she stopped arguing.
As Courtney sulked back over to where the rest of the group was standing, Jake realized something. He had met his father in nothing but a pair of pajama pants. Courtney was wearing a blue sleep shirt with the words 'Yes, I'm dreaming. Pinch me and I punch you' in green lettering with a yellow night mask hanging from the bottom of the 'y' with blue and white striped pajama shorts. Elizabeth had some cutoff sweat pant shorts with a t-shirt that had a FOB logo on it. Both Mark and Jake were wearing pajama pants with no shirts. As he glanced around at their ridiculous outfits, he noticed faint white scars crisscrossing around Mark's chest and stomach. As he glanced back at the girls, he saw Courtney looking at his exposed chest. He felt his face flush bright red as she asked, "You lift weights?"
The beautiful woman standing near the back of the cavern laughed softly at his reaction to Courtney's flattery before she snapped her fingers and two shirts materialized in the boys' hands.
As Jake scrambled to pulled the shirt on, he could have sworn he heard Courtney sigh in disappointment. "Better?" the woman chuckled and he nodded thankfully.
The woman that had been silent almost the entire time stepped forward and started to speak, "As you have guessed we are a few of the Olympians. I am Athena, that is Aphrodite, Hephaestus is over there, and you already knew who Poseidon and Ares are." She pointed to the corresponding god as she spoke. "We need your help."
"What do you need help with?" Mark asked.
Athena looked at her daughter, "The shield Aegis has been stolen."
Elizabeth's eyes widened, "Please tell me there just happens to be another shield named Aegis and that Zeus's shield is safe."
"Hang on," Courtney interrupted, "Zeus lost another of his famous objects? Doesn't he have godly insurance or something?"
"So we're talking about Gorgon head and goat-skin shield right?" Elizabeth questioned, ignoring Courtney.
Athena nodded solemnly, "It was given to me by Zeus himself."
"And you lost it?" Courtney inquired.
"It was stolen!" The goddess exclaimed, "Anytime I try to get it back the thieves get away somehow!"
"So you want us to get it back and bring it to you?" Elizabeth inquired.
"Yes. That is my task for you," Athena nodded.
"If it's your task, why are these other gods here?" Courtney questioned.
"All I want is some juicy drama. Some romance. You know the normal stuff that happens during adventures," Aphrodite shrugged.
"They needed me for the khalkotauroi," Hephaestus said simply.
"I came to see the next famous group of heroes," Poseidon answered, "Also I wanted to meet my daughter in person."
Courtney spun to look at Ares, "And what? You're here to sulk and pout about getting mouthed off?" Courtney prodded.
"Oh, that's it..." Ares chucked a basketball sized fireball straight at Courtney.
Courtney smoothly rolled out of its path and Poseidon sent a burst of water to extinguish it, "Come on Ares. You knew her reflexes were too fast for that," Poseidon shook his head. Ares grumbled and walked to the back of the cavern.
"Do you accept this harrowing quest?" Athena questioned.
Elizabeth looked at the rest of the group who nodded, "We accept your quest."
"Then go, you have six months retrieve my shield. Return in glory." Athena said with finality. With that, the world was engulfed in a cloud of deep blue mist.
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Hi guys! First, thanks for reading this far and sticking with my occasional typo. And second, this is the second-to-last chapter I have pre-cut and written so expect chapters to come more slowly. I will try to update one or two times each week but that might not always happen. Thanks again for reading this far and I hope you enjoy the rest of the book! Peace!✌😜