by Jory Smith
Amadi jumped out of bed and was surprised he wasn’t sore, especially after yesterday’s training. His body seemed to have healed itself of everything that was wrong with him. He felt just as fresh as if he was when he started basic training. Even his ailing knee didn’t ache anymore.
Amadi walked to the bath area and looked in one of the mirrors. All of his life he had been in shape, but from his pose Amadi could tell the body he had now made his body look like a sickly old man. He still had all the scars he acquired throughout his life, but every muscle in his body seemed rigid and ready for the trials it would go through. At least I am not going to hurt bad today.
He went to his armoire and donned his armor. Putting on the armor felt natural and right to him. Then he headed out to test his new body.
Amadi looked around for a way to test his body. He gazed in the direction Terry threw the boulder and decided to go and find it. Let’s see how strong I have become. He ran for ten miles and found the boulder. That didn’t take too long. The boulder had landed in a grove of trees and caused a stream to back up. Even though it was just five miles away, he could see it as clear as day. Looks like my eye sight got better. I have gotten a lot faster as well. This will be very useful.
Amadi rushed to the boulder and bent down to pick it up. If Tereus could do it, so can I. Amadi crouched down, put his fingers under a groove, and started to lift. He was putting so much strength into it that it actually started to lift off the ground, but his knees suddenly buckled and the boulder slumped back down to the ground.
That boulder is really heavy, he thought to himself, panting. The boulder did budge a little, much more than the last time he had tried. He gave up on the boulder and ran to the training field. Amadi found the training weapons where they left them.
Amadi picked up a few spears and pictured training dummies in his head. They materialized on the field in front of him. He ran back a hundred feet and tossed the first spear at the first dummy. Nailing it in the chest he moved to the next one. He stepped fifty feet closer and tossed another spear, nailing it in the chest, though this time the spear was sticking out of the other side.
Finally Amadi went to the designated throwing line and looked at the last dummy. He pictured three other dummies right behind it and they instantly appeared. He got into a throwing position, arched his back, and chucked the spear as hard as he could. He watched as the spear ran through all four dummies and stuck into the training compounds wall. He looked at the spear and he saw that the spearhead had gone all the way into the wall.
Today is going to be a great day, Amadi revered as he grinned.
“It’s time to get up. Your breakfast is waiting and you have to start training,” A voice said from the doors entrance.
Nicolai pulled his blanket over his head. This is getting ridiculous. First the pain and now we have to wake up at the crack of dawn. The world be damned.
“Athena sent me to fetch you. She said you were brought here for a reason, and that reason is not to lie in bed all day.”
The voice was so seductive. If he wasn’t in such a pissed off mood, he would actually welcome the voice. But no one woke him up this early, not even the guards when he was in prison.
The covers were suddenly yanked off him while simultaneously his bed was being pulled under him. Falling to the ground, Nicolai quickly recovered, he was going to seriously hurt whoever did that. Seeing that it was the four nymphs he just looked at them. What are they giggling at? Nicolai looked down and realized he was completely naked. The leader of the group threw him some clothes and he quickly got dressed.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to speak or you would drive me mad with lust.”
The leader of the group walked over to him seductively. She helped him tug down the chiton over his head so that it covered him fully, her hands stopping on his butt.
“Well, if you want to see how far you can resist us, we can play that game. Shall we began?” She started caressing his back and ran her fingers across his butt, humming as she moved. The rest of the nymphs moved closer to him, humming as they caressed him.
It took all the will power he could muster to fight the urge to let them do what they wanted. He looked down and saw his hands were already on one nymph, feeling her curves, moving to remove what little cloth she had on. Shaking his head, he pulled back his hands, and managed to get away from them. As he headed out the door, he heard their giggling grow even louder.
When he stepped outside, he saw Amadi throwing spear after spear towards some of the dummies. Each spear hit the dummies head on. He looked towards his left at a table filled with food. There sat the American watching Amadi, studying his form. As he approached the table Terry looked at him and started to smile.
“I take it you had a pleasant wakeup call?” Terry said grinning.
He definitely was a young man. “Why do you say that?” Nicolai asked.
“For one I saw those nymphs enter the room after Athena told them to wake you up. Second, I heard some giggling going on. And third your chiton isn’t all the way down.”
Nicolai looked down and saw that Terry was right. His privates were barely covered. The nymphs must have been inching his chiton up after he put it on. He was going to have to watch out for them.
“Thank you for your concern, but keep out of my business,” Nicolai shot back.
He saw Terry was taken aback by his remark, after a few seconds he followed up with, “It’s not like you think. Just like you have your woman, I also have a woman. She just has been away from me for a long time. I have a chance to be reunited with my love. I can’t think of another woman when I know I can be with my love.”
Terry nodded with understanding. The woman Terry loved was just but a few feet away. Soon Nicolai would be with Celeste.
“So, yesterday you had an idea where we wouldn’t have to train with these weapons anymore. Is that being implemented anytime soon?” Nicolai asked, grabbing some bread and cheese.
“It still is. I asked Athena if she could bring Hephaestus here. She was curious as to why, but I wouldn’t tell her. She will still bring him though.” Terry grabbed a piece of cheese and took a bite. After his mouth was empty he continued on. “Amadi was up way before dawn, practicing with the weapons. It seems like our bodies changed overnight and the old man has been enjoying his new-found energy.”
“I thought something was different when I woke up. I just didn’t have enough time to inspect myself with how I was woken up.” Nicolai said grinning. “Maybe the training won’t be as bad.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you, but I doubt it. They will just push us harder today.” Terry got up and wiped up his mess. “I am going to check in on Jessica.”
He started to walk away but quickly turned around.
“Something just came across my mind last night. I wasn’t going to tell you about this but I changed my mind. Do you think something is amiss? Not in the sense that there are gods among us and we are throwing boulders around and shooting fireballs. I have this feeling like we are going to be betrayed. I feel we are being played like pieces on a chessboard.”
“I haven’t felt that way. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know. I have always had this ability to know when I am about to get screwed over. Ever since we have arrived here, I have had that feeling nonstop. It gets worse when Zeus is around. We should watch each other’s back.”
If Zeus has lied to me, he will pay dearly Nicolai thought. Then he responded, “Sure. I mean if the old stories of them using humans as pawns are true, it does make sense that they would use us the same way.” Nicolai turned his attention to Amadi who was now sparring with Athena. “Do you want to bring Amadi in on this?”
“That is what I was thinking, but I was getting a strange feeling from him today. I think he may be turning into one of them. He greeted me as Tereus when I walked outside.”
“We will keep an eye one him. Go and see your girl,”
Nicolai sat back and wat
ched as Terry walked away. Nice kid, I hope I don’t have to betray his trust.
It was only mid-day and Terry was already having a bad day. He hadn’t finished the project that would accelerate their training, and Jessica still wasn’t awake yet. The healers said it wasn’t time, but that they were positive today would still be the day they wake her up. If it wasn’t for Hephaestus this day would totally suck.
Hephaestus wasn’t as bad as the other gods. Terry could see himself being friends with him. Terry had asked him if he was married to Aphrodite like the stories said and he just laughed. He did agree she was beautiful, but quickly mention he wouldn’t give her to his worst enemy. Apparently to him, the only one that was worse than Aphrodite was Hera. Those were some dark days when Hera was around. Terry asked what happened to her, but Hephaestus just ignored the question. Sensing it was a taboo subject; Terry didn’t press him any further.
Terry didn’t understand why his project was taking so long. Terry thought that the diagrams he made for Hephaestus were easy to follow. But Hephaestus said he had to know more in order to make them. He had to know what it was supposed to do, but explaining it to him was frustrating Terry.
Amadi was right, Terry thought. These guys just expanded their technology to a limit. Explaining how a gun is supposed to work to these people is like trying to show how a sunset looks to a blind person. Finally after many discussions and heated debates, they were almost done with the first weapon.
Terry decided to have Hephaestus create Nicolai’s weapon first, the Winchester 1887 shotgun, to the proper specifications. It was the easiest one out of all of the weapons to make. When it was finally done, Hephaestus presented it to Terry, accompanied with a bracer. Terry had to give Hephaestus credit on that part. Hephaestus was the one who came up with the bracer that connected to the weapon so the welder can charge the weapon with their godly powers, without destroying it. The weapon could also be called the welder if it gets knocked out of his hands. The weapon itself was a beautiful piece of weaponry. Terry looked closer at the weapon and saw some engravings on it.
“Hephaestus, what are these engravings?” Terry questioned.
“I don’t know. You said the weapon was for Nicholaus. When I created it, I put him in my mind. Those engravings are his markings and his creed. Only he can read it. To us, it is a bunch of gibberish.”
“What are they for?”
“Those show that the weapon is his. If someone else welds this weapon or tries to use it on him, they will be in for a nasty surprise. That’s what happens with all of the weapons I create- Ares’ battle axe, Poseidon’s trident, Athena’s shield. I will have the others ready for you by the end of the day, since you won’t be here to distract me anymore.”
The god turned his back to Terry and went back to work, acting like Terry wasn’t even alive.
So that is what it feels like when a god dismisses you, Terry thought. Oh well, this is going to be so worth it.
He walked over to where Athena, Amadi, and Nicolai were training with Hermes nowhere in sight. Terry was getting anxious for the show he was about to give. And the fact that Athena will be put in her place was even sweeter. Earlier she mocked him for his ‘stupid’ idea.
As he walked over, Athena looked up and continued her mocking of him. “You are finally done playing with your toys?” She looked down at the shotgun in his hand. “I guess not. You should put that toy away and learn how to fight with a real weapon. Those puny human weapons will do nothing against Ares’ legions.”
She is an ignorant woman. Terry thought. Someone has to put her in her place. Hopefully this will be a start. He tossed Nicolai the bracer and told him to put it on.
“This is what I have been working on. This looks just like any normal shotgun right? Well don’t let the looks deceive you.”
Terry pointed the gun to the dummy and shot. It just sounded like a regular shotgun, but when the slugs hit the dummy, they dropped heavily to the ground.
Ignoring Athena’s laughs, Terry went on.
“Now Nicolai, summon the shotgun to you. Imagine it in your hand.”
Nicolai must have done it because the weapon jumped out of Terry’s hand into Nicolai’s.
“Now Nicolai,” Terry said. “I want you to shoot at the dummy.”
Nicolai pointed the shotgun at another dummy and Terry stepped back, covering his ears. Nicolai slowly aimed the shotgun at the dummy and fired, a loud bang that sounded more like an explosion that echoed throughout the plane came from the shotgun. The dummy that was shot shattered into splinters. Terry looked at Athena; she was so shocked that she actually dropped her shield and weapons and her mouth dropped all the way open. Serves her right, Terry thought.
“I think we can move on to then next training stage, Athena,” Terry said. “Now that we finally have some real weapons we can concentrate on our powers. And don’t worry Amadi; our weapons will be done by the end of today.” Terry cockily leaned up against one of the weapon racks. “What do you think guys?”
After admiring the weapon passionately, Nicolai spoke up. “That was awesome. You know, I think I can actually control the noise level. I can make it silent and maybe even the type of ammo it shoots. How many shots do I have?”
“The shots are infinite, but you do need to charge it. Charging your weapon will cause your weapon to overheat. So you will have to wait for the weapon to cool down. You also have to be careful. Charging your weapon will eat at your magical energy as well. If you have used up all of your magical energy the gun won’t even fire. One final warning, if you use up your magical energy with your weapon you won’t be able to use your powers.”
“You are right. Already I feel like I can shoot it again,” Nicolai said pulling up his weapon. “I guess we will just have to be smart when we are in battle.”
Nicolai aimed his weapon, and fired again. This time there was no noise.
“That’s what I considered. I can make it silent or even less powerful by using less energy. See? This time it only froze the dummy in ice.”
Amadi walked up to Terry. “You think we can get some of these made for my men? They could use them, especially the other humans that remain on earth.”
“Don’t worry. I have talked with Hephaestus about it. He said he can make the magical ‘fire sticks’ for the humans so that they don’t have to use spears and swords to fight. Their guns won’t be as good as ours, of course, but they will be able to kill Ares’ monsters. It will give them a fighting chance.”
Just as Terry was about to turn to Athena to brag some more, he heard one of the healers running towards him, screaming that Jessica was awake. He spun around and ran quickly to her.
Terry reached the cabin and heard things being thrown around inside. He opened the door and saw Jessica backed into a corner, grabbing everything within arm’s length and throwing it at the servants.
Suddenly a dresser was heading his way. He dodged out of the way and yelled.
“Jessica, what are you doing? Put that bed down and stop acting like a child.”
He must have scared her because she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice.
“Yeah there are a few things you going to have to be caught up on.” Terry looked around and noticed the mess she made of things and said, “Let’s go outside and talk. You made a big mess in here.”
She hurried and ran to him still eyeing the servants. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to put them in charge of her. Zeus should have picked servants that were more human-like.
When they went outside, they walked down into the valley and sat near a pond.
“Jessica, do you remember what happened when this all started?” Terry asked, trying to figure out where to start.
“Yeah, I do,” she replied. “I thought it was a dream, a bad dream. But it wasn’t. Who was that lady who attacked us? What was that monster that attacked Hawaii? What were those creatures? Most importantly, where are we? Last time I was awake we were in North Carolina and now we are
here.”
“Well, the lady who attacked us was Demeter. The Goddess of the harvest. The monster…”
“Demeter. Wasn’t she supposed to be good and lovely towards people?”
“Yeah, she was.” Terry started scratching his head trying to explain Demeter’s change of heart. “Zeus has the ability to bring out the worse out in people, the monster was the Kraken. As for the creatures you woke up to, I don’t know. I have not read anything about them or seen them before. Even in the books I was reading, they talked nothing about them. Zeus did mention they were the best healers in the universe so I didn’t think anything of it. And honestly, I don’t know exactly where we are. We were dropped here and told this was going to be where we train.”
“Train for what?” Jessica asked. “What are you guys being trained for?”
“Well, the two men you saw, when we walked out of the cabin, they are training with me to stop Ares from taking over the whole universe. He was the one who was in control of the monster that attacked Hawaii. We are going to stop more of that from happening,” Terry looked up at Jessica and added, “All four of us”
“What you’re talking about? Jessica asked.
“I am a demi-god, same with the other two men.” Looking away he quickly added, “You are one as well.”
“I am no demi-god. I just passed out from the shock of what was happening.”
“No you didn’t. You passed out because your body collapsed from using all of its energy when you saved me from Demeter’s fire.”
“I can’t be a demi-god. I don’t know. I just know you’re different, especially now. When I went into your arms today, I noticed your body was harder and more cut. I am not different. I am just the same.”
Terry got up and took Jessica’s hand. “Come with me. Athena can tell you who you are. If that doesn’t work, we may still have one other way to prove you’re a demi-god.”