Amphitrite the Bubbly

by Joan Holub

  The bowls on the giants’ table were enormous, and they were eating with their hands and licking their fingers.

  “Eew?” Pandora commented, shaking her head at them.

  “Definitely eew,” Thetis replied, nodding.

  “Welcome to the Temple of Heaven,” the Chinese guides began. “Let us tell you something about this place. Since the sky and the heavens are blue, the three roofs of this temple are painted blue to match.”

  Poseidon noticed that the guides kept smiling at Wen Chi and Mazu, the Chinese goddesses on Medusa’s team, as they spoke about the temple. He frowned. Would Medusa’s team have a leg up on everyone else because of what those two girls must already know about this temple?

  “Twice a year the emperor leaves the Forbidden City to perform a ceremony here in the Temple of Heaven. Each step in this ceremony must be completed perfectly to ensure a good harvest for the crops in China,” one of the guides said. “The smallest mistake in the ceremony is a bad omen for our country.”

  “But what is new challenge?” demanded Porphy, impatiently cutting into the girl’s speech. His four giant brothers grunted their approval of his question.

  Thetis and some of the other students frowned at the giants’ rudeness, but Poseidon was in agreement with those giants for once. He’d finished eating and was more than ready to get on with the competition.

  “We will move on, then,” said one the guides. She spoke in a pleasant tone, seeming not to have taken offense at the giant’s interruption. “As part of your challenge, you all must now learn the steps in the traditional Chinese tea ceremony.”

  The guides began to clear the clay food bowls from each table, replacing them with blue-and-white teapots and cups, a bamboo scoop, a large bowl of water, a canister of oolong tea leaves, a strainer, and other tools. Each competitor received a tray containing these items, all carefully positioned just so.

  “Huh?” muttered Hades, staring doubtfully at the tray before him. “We spent weeks working out on obstacle courses and getting in shape for the games. And now our challenge is making tea?”

  Though Poseidon felt the same way, Hades’ comment struck him as funny and he laughed, forgetting his impatience for the moment. He’d hoped for a challenge involving water, but making tea wasn’t exactly the water-based challenge he’d envisioned, he thought wryly.

  He wasn’t the only one giggling. Seeing the giants with delicate China cups as tiny as thimbles in their fingers proved a total crack-up to all of the students.

  There turned out to be numerous steps to the tea ceremony, an act said to bring wealth and happiness. For a while it was mostly moving hot water from one small cup to another, as tea leaves steeped in a tiny teapot. Eventually, however, each competitor wound up with a small steaming cup of tea. Even the giants managed to do this more or less successfully.

  “Who won?” asked Pandora as she started to take a drink.

  “Wait!” cautioned one of the Chinese guides. “The challenge has not ended.”

  “It has only just begun! Now you must all stand, take your full cup of tea outside, and place it atop your head. Then you must walk one lap around the exterior walls of the Forbidden City complex and return here,” added the second Chinese guide. “All without spilling any tea. First person to return wins for their team.”

  The students jumped up eagerly. “Be careful,” the two Chinese guides called after them. “If you spill even a single drop of tea, your team will be disqualified! But if no team is disqualified, last team back is out.”

  Poseidon gathered his team together and helped them steady their teacups atop their heads. After they took off walking, he finger-combed his own hair flat and set his cup on his head. Then he followed close behind his team.

  Pandora was the weak link among them, he quickly realized. She kept turning her head this way and that to stare at anything she found curious—long silk scrolls hanging on the exterior walls of the Forbidden City, a red lacquer throne passing by on a litter carried by men in white, two ladies wearing richly embroidered gowns.

  Just when Poseidon was about to blow his top at her, Thetis stepped in, gently directing her to focus. “Keep looking straight ahead, Pandora. You’ll still be able to see things from the corners of your eyes. Good work. Keep going. We’re almost a quarter of the way around!”

  “Nicely done,” Poseidon whispered as he fell in step with his mergirl teammate.

  “Thanks.” She smiled over at him as they kept a careful but brisk pace. “It’s all that seal herding my sister Thetis and I do in the Undersea.”

  “You mean you and your little sister, Thetis Two?” he asked.

  “Huh?” She jerked in surprise, causing tea to slosh in her cup.

  “Hey, careful,” he cautioned.

  “Yes. I mean, sorry. My little sister. That’s what I meant to say.”

  Crash! Hearing someone’s teacup bite the dust behind him, Poseidon didn’t dare look back for fear he’d unsettle his own cup.

  “Uh-oh, someone’s out,” Delphinius said a few steps ahead of them.

  “Wasn’t anyone on our team, though. Just keep an eye on Pandora,” advised Poseidon.

  “You know, maybe you shouldn’t be quite so hard on her,” Thetis said from beside him. “She actually got some good information from those marionettes in Uppsala. If you give us all a chance to show what we can do, we might surprise you.”

  Poseidon turned his head slightly to follow Thetis as she moved up to walk alongside Pandora, who’d gotten distracted again. He didn’t like to admit it, but maybe she was right. Pandora had asked a good question or two back in Uppsala. And sometimes he did overlook how others felt in his drive to be top godboy. Maybe he should try to offer his team more encouragement.

  In an effort to do just that, he began to coach Pandora as they walked along. “Good posture. Steady going. Focus,” he said. He was surprised at how pleased she seemed at the positive attention. It kind of made him feel good too.

  They were back in the courtyard at the finish line before he knew it. But due to their longer strides, the giants had returned to the starting point ahead of everyone else. The tiny teacups had fit perfectly in the steam blowholes atop their heads, anchoring them snugly the whole race. They hadn’t spilled a single drop of tea. And the steam had even kept theirs hot!

  The crash they’d all heard earlier had been Medusa’s cup hitting the path. She was out, and the giants had won the competition! No one was happy about this outcome, especially Medusa and her snakes, which hissed at the giants.

  “That green-steam giant tripped me and made me drop my cup,” she complained. This news did nothing to bolster student goodwill toward the giants, of course. Although Medusa’s snakes had always kind of icked Poseidon out, right now he felt like hissing at the giants on her behalf too!

  It was the giant’s word against Medusa’s, since no one else had seen what had happened. And since the giants denied any wrongdoing, Zeus had no choice but to send his confirmation of their win by scroll-gadget. He didn’t seem happy about it either, for his message was curt. Afterward, the guides handed Pheme an Oracle-O cookie, then bowed farewell to the students before retreating into the Temple of Heaven.

  Pheme stood on the temple steps and opened the cookie, which broadcasted its instructions to the students loud and clear: “Proceed to India and visit Badrinath, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu in the Himalayan Mountains. There, one team will triumph and yet another be eliminated.”

  Since India bordered China, this trip took less than an hour in giant steps and by winged sandal. Soon the teams were assembled together in the craggy mountains before a temple painted in yellows, blues, and reds. It had flags flying from above, a large bell at its entrance, and a hot sulfur spring bubbling below.

  Right away, a woman wearing a colorful sari greeted them. When the girls oohed and ahhed over it, she informed them that it was one long piece of cloth wrapped in a special way to create a gown. It kind of resembled the chit
ons the goddessgirls at MOA wore, thought Poseidon, only with even more decoration.

  “According to Hindu legend, the Indian god Vishnu visited Badrinath to meditate,” the lady guide told them. She gestured toward a life-size gilded stone statue of the god, which stood beside her.

  “Whoa! Did you count those arms? He has six!” said Pandora.

  The guide nodded. “Lord Vishnu is often shown with multiple arms to demonstrate his superhuman power and his ability to perform several acts at once. Which brings me to your challenge.”

  As she paused, the students and giants all leaned in, their interest rising. They could hardly wait to hear what their challenge would be!

  “Like Vishnu, you will have to perform numerous actions at once in this challenge,” she went on. “As each person makes mistakes, they will step out of the competition. The first team with all its members out is eliminated. The last person standing wins for her or his entire team.”

  “Now we begin. First, you must all stand on one leg,” their guide instructed. Giggles rippled over the group as she waited for everyone to do so. Centaur, from Apollo’s team, was allowed to stand on three legs, since he had four. Then she went on, “At the same time, you must also tap your heads with one hand and rub your stomachs with your other hand.”

  Once everyone was doing these three tasks simultaneously, she said, “Now nod your head as well.”

  Poseidon couldn’t help grinning as she went on adding more actions. Others were laughing outright. They all looked and felt ridiculous, but after all the tensions of the competition, it was kind of fun!

  “This reminds me of sunning,” said Thetis as she hopped on one foot beside him. When the others nearby looked confused, she added, “It’s an art us mermaids are taught at MUMS—that’s my school. We have to comb our hair, sing, and pay attention to our positions while sitting on slippery rocks in the sea, all at the same time. It’s not easy to do!”

  Their guide continued adding difficulties until finally Eros lost his balance. One by one, more team members fell out, or fell over, actually. Eventually it came down to just Porphy, Athena, Apollo, and Poseidon who were left tapping, rubbing, and nodding, plus doing other actions on top of those.

  Apollo went down next. Since he was the last of his team, it meant his whole team was eliminated. Apollo took this with typical good humor, though. No big deal to him, probably, thought Poseidon. That godboy already had plenty of temples dedicated to him. He deserved them, but so did Poseidon!

  Next, Porphy fell over! Awesome! Now only Athena and him were left. Just thinking about how much he wanted to win made Poseidon slowly tense up. His concentration broke, and he stumbled.

  Athena wound up besting them all. Everyone congratulated her. Thetis even gave her a hug, which reminded him of how she’d hugged that nervous Chinese goddessgirl the day before. Thetis was sweet. And kinder than him. He just couldn’t bring himself to offer congratulations to his biggest rival, even though he knew he should be a good sport about the loss. After all, besides the giants, Athena was who he’d most wanted to beat in the Temple Games. Now their two teams were the students’ only hope of beating the giants in the overall competition!

  For the three teams’ next to last challenge Zeus sent a listscroll of six destinations to choose from, which the sari-robed guide handed to Athena. “As the winner of this challenge, you are entitled to pick one destination from among them,” the guide told her.

  Athena scanned the list. Then she called out, “We’ll go to Egypt!” After being given some directions to a temple there, they were off again. Together, the students winged over the Arabian Sea, Saudi Arabia, and the Red Sea to the Egyptian temple at Karnak.

  There, in a hall full of enormous columns, another guide trailed by two young servant boys met the three final teams. The guide wore a white pleated linen robe and had painted dark kohl around his eyes. He shot the giants a surprised glance, but Poseidon wasn’t sure if that was because he hadn’t known there would be giants in the competition or because they were dripping wet, having stomped and swum the whole way.

  “You are standing in Hypostyle Hall,” the guide informed the group.

  “Hippo style?” Pandora piped up. “Like the animal?”

  The guide shook his head, then patiently spelled the word, going on to explain that the term described a hall with many tall columns supporting its roof. “This hall’s one hundred and thirty-four columns are arranged in sixteen unequal rows. Some are over sixty feet tall and are covered with paintings, sculptures, and hieroglyphics, as you can see.”

  As he went on, Poseidon noticed that one by one, the giants were all leaving the temple hall. That was curious. Why weren’t they staying to hear the challenge? He wasn’t the only one to notice. It would have been hard to miss even one humongous giant sneaking out of a room, much less five. “Where are those giants going?” the ever-curious Pandora blurted out at last.

  One of the servant boys pointed north. “I heard them say their mom wanted to see them at the Parthenon.”

  Pandora wrinkled her nose in confusion. “Pantheon? Wasn’t that our first challenge?”

  “The Pantheon is in Rome,” Dionysus told her. “The giants went to the Parthenon in Greece.”

  “But we haven’t even started the challenge here. Do you think they’re up to something?” Pandora asked.

  “Good question,” Poseidon said. “I’d like to know the answer to that one too!” There were murmurs of agreement from all the other students.

  “This is most irregular. The Parthenon is the location of your final challenge, so they’ve skipped ahead,” their guide declared. “I suggest we forgo this challenge so you may join them.”

  Did the giants think they could race off to the last challenge and win the Temple Games unopposed? Poseidon wondered as the teams scrambled out of the temple hall.

  “Those giants are cheating scum,” Delphinius muttered from beside him.

  “Zeus won’t let them get away with this, will he?” Panacea asked.

  “I—I’m not sure,” Athena replied, overhearing.

  Poseidon could guess why she might not be sure. Zeus could be a pretty tricky character himself, so he might admire the trickiness of these giants.

  “We have to stop them!” Thetis exclaimed as everyone raced outside. Poseidon grabbed her hand, and Athena grabbed onto Heracles as the members of both teams took to the air in their winged sandals.

  Poseidon’s heart sank as they flew toward Greece. The Parthenon was Athena’s most famous temple. The one she’d been awarded for her invention of the olive. He’d avoided that place like the plague ever since she’d won (and he’d lost) the invention contest that had caused the city of Athens to be named for her. She’d know that temple inside out and would have a real advantage because of that knowledge in whatever challenge they faced there. Unless, of course, the contest was over and the giants had already won!

  9

  Battle of the Giants

  Amphitrite

  WORRIED THAT THOSE CHEATING GIANTS might actually win the Temple Games, Amphitrite and the other students zoomed toward Greece. Hardly a word was spoken to break the tension among them as they followed the Nile River north until it branched out into the Mediterranean Sea.

  They’d been flying along for some time, when suddenly Poseidon’s face whipped toward Amphitrite, his expression alarmed. Abruptly, he dropped in a freefall toward the glittering blue waters of the sea, taking her with him.

  “What are you doing?” she cried out in fear, grabbing his hand with both of hers. Her turquoise hair whipped wildly in the wind as they hurtled downward.

  “You haven’t been in the sea for over twenty-four hours,” he shouted over the wind. “Aren’t you feeling landsick?”

  “No!” she said in surprise.

  Poseidon slowed, stopping just short of plunging them both into the Mediterranean. The silver wings at their heels fluttered, allowing them to hover just above the waves. “So you don’t ne
ed to shape-shift into a mergirl?”

  Amphitrite shook her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t feel at all landsick, isn’t that weird?

  “Yeah, I don’t get it,” Poseidon said as he took them higher again. They put on a burst of speed to catch up with the others. “I’ve never met a merperson who could stay out of the sea for more than twenty-four hours without feeling sick.”

  Amphitrite’s mind was racing as fast as they were flying. It must be the omphalos pearl! she thought. While she’d held it at Delphi, she remembered murmuring, “And my wish would be to be able to live on land or sea!”

  The pearl had granted her wish!

  She felt for it in the pocket of her scalloped chiton. Still there. If it really was allowing her to remain in shifted form without getting landsick, just think what that could mean! The rest of the pearls on the omphalos could do the same for her sisters, too, if that was the wish they chose. It was the protection they all needed. But how could she get the omphalos away from those giants?

  “The truth is, I’m pretty new to shape-shifting,” she admitted, sharing only part of the truth.

  Poseidon raised his eyebrows. “Huh? I’d heard you were great at shifting. It’s one of the reasons I invited you to be on my team.”

  Amphitrite paled. Was she about to be found out? She knew she should probably tell him the whole truth. That she wasn’t Thetis, who actually was great at shifting. But what if he got so mad at the trick she and her sister had played on him that he left her behind in the sea? She had started to like this guy, she realized. And she didn’t want him to think badly of her.

  Before she could decide what to do, they caught up to the others and Harmonia shouted, “Look! Giants!”

  Amphitrite glanced down. The Parthenon was below them already. She’d seen drawings of it in a scrollbook at MUMS. Gleaming white, it dominated a hill called the Acropolis, overlooking Athens, the city named for Athena. The five giants were running all around the Acropolis now, searching high and low for something.