Crius and the Fright of Night

by Joan Holub

  He sat up, waiting as his eyes readjusted to the darkness. The other four Olympians were getting their bearings too. Wait! Only three other Olympians had come here with him. So who was the fourth?

  “Artemis!” Apollo cried out. Sure enough, sleeping there in the center of the bed was a girl with long golden hair. She was Apollo’s twin!

  CHAPTER SIX

  Unexpected Help

  Shhhh!” Zeus warned the others. “Who knows how close by those big-eared Pandi are?”

  The four Olympians stayed quiet for a moment, staring at Artemis. When there were no sounds of the Pandi returning, the friends began to talk again.

  Apollo crawled across the bed and shook his sister. “Artemis! Artemis! Wake up!”

  The girl shifted a little bit, but she did not wake up. She looked a lot like Apollo, thought Zeus. Their golden hair and their faces were almost identical!

  Hera pulled out the tiny seed the nymphs had given her. “I wish this thing could make berries faster. We need a cure now.”

  “There must be some other way to wake your sister up,” Hestia said to Apollo.

  Apollo looked thoughtful. Then his face lit up with an idea. “My sister is sweet but has ticklish feet!” he said. “Hera, give your feather a shake. Maybe we can tickle her awake!”

  Hera looked at Zeus. “Do you think it’s safe to call my feather here? What if the Pandi notice?”

  “It’s so dark everywhere in this tower,” Zeus reasoned. “So maybe they won’t. It’s worth a try. If the Pandi come, we can hide the feather and pretend to be asleep again.”

  “Sounds good,” Hera said. She thought for a minute. Her feather would do anything she told it to, but she had to speak in rhyme for it to work.

  “Feather, please fly away from those Pandi, and fly right into my own right . . . um . . . hand-y!” she said.

  “Hand-y?” Apollo teased her. “You couldn’t think of a better rhyme, maybe—”

  But before he could go on, Hera’s peacock feather scooted in under the door and came floating right up to the bed.

  “Obviously, my rhyme was just fine,” Hera said haughtily. She handed the feather to Apollo. “You’d better do this, I think.”

  Apollo nodded and started to tickle the bottoms of Artemis’s bare feet with the feather.

  She started to twitch right away. Then her right foot kicked Apollo in the arm.

  “Ow!” he cried.

  “Shh!” everyone shushed him.

  Suddenly, Artemis propped herself up on her elbows. She opened her eyes, but just a little bit.

  “Artemis?” Apollo whispered in a hopeful voice.

  “Whaaaaat?” Her voice sounded groggy.

  “Come on. Get her on her feet!” Zeus urged.

  It took all four of them to drag Artemis out of bed. Apollo and Hera had to hold her up. She couldn’t walk on her own, and she kept closing her eyes.

  “What do we do now?” Hestia asked.

  “Maybe I can help,” said a new voice.

  They all gasped as Hades appeared in front of them! His magical invisibility helmet was tucked under his arm.

  “Hades! You’re okay!” Zeus exclaimed, trying not to shout in his excitement. “What happened to the hut? And what about the others? Is everyone else all right?”

  Hades nodded. “It was pretty scary when that wind picked up our hut. But we landed on top of a nice big haystack next to a farm. Nobody got hurt except for some bumps and bruises. That hut is history, though. Broken to boards.”

  “How did you find us here?” Hera asked.

  “A farmer told us about Crius’s tower,” Hades replied. “Seems all the villagers around here know about it. This place looked pretty spooky, so I put on my helmet and went invisible before I went inside to scout it out. That’s when I saw you all being carried into this room by those hairy warrior guys. It looked like you were asleep.”

  “Just faking it,” Zeus explained. “Crius gave Artemis a sleeping potion to put her in a deep sleep. He tried to do the same with us.”

  “Artemis?” Hades asked, just now noticing the extra Olympian. “You found Apollo’s sister? Woo-hoo!”

  “Shhhhh!” Zeus warned. “Those hairy warriors have huge ears. They can hear—”

  Bam! Too late. The door burst open, and four Pandi warriors ran inside.

  “What’s going on here?” one of them growled.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Battle of the Stars

  Bolt!” Zeus yelled. His magical object instantly flew back from the clutches of whichever Pandi had had it. It zipped down the hall and right back into his hand. “Large!” Zeus added, and Bolt grew to five feet long.

  Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap! He aimed Bolt at the Pandi, knocking them off their feet. One of them dropped Hestia’s torch and another dropped Apollo’s lyre. Both Olympians snatched up their belongings.

  “Let’s go!” Zeus urged.

  The Olympians followed him out the door and down, down, down the winding staircase. Hades, Hera, and Apollo helped half-drag, half-carry Artemis.

  They made it all the way down the stairs and outside before a line of torch-carrying Pandi came marching toward them across the grass.

  “Can we beat them?” Hera whispered to Zeus.

  “I’m not sure,” he said. “But we have to try.”

  With a loud cry, he aimed Bolt toward the line of Pandi. Hestia whipped out of her torch.

  “Charge!” cried the Pandi commander. The warriors surged forward.

  And then each and every one of them tripped! They fell facedown. Some of their torches sputtered out.

  “W-what just happened?” wondered Zeus. But then he heard Athena’s voice.

  “Got them!” she cried. “Now let’s wrap them up!”

  Athena rushed out from the left side of the Pandi, and Poseidon rushed out from the right side. Poseidon wasn’t limping any more! They each looked like they were holding something. Zeus couldn’t see it, but he knew what it was: Athena’s superthin, superstrong, magical Thread of Dread. She and Poseidon had used it to trip and lasso the Pandi!

  “It’s good to see you guys,” Zeus called, grinning when he also saw Demeter and Ares run up behind them. All nine Olympians were united again! They’d creamed some of the Pandi, but others were slowly getting to their feet.

  Zeus held up Bolt. “Time for talk later. Come on. We have to hurry. Let’s supercharge.”

  The Olympians huddled together. The ones with magical objects held them up, touching them together. Zeus’s Bolt. Poseidon’s trident. Hera’s feather. Hestia’s torch. Hades’s helmet. Ares’s spear. Athena’s thread.

  Whoosh! A blast of energy flowed through the objects. Bolt glowed like the brightest lightning. The flame on Hestia’s torch danced tall and high. It lit up the battlefield so the Olympians could see what they were facing.

  “Let’s do this!” Zeus cried.

  The huddle broke apart, and they turned toward the Pandi as more waves of them came. The warriors angrily aimed their spears and raised their clubs at the Olympians.

  Zap! Zeus blasted the spear right out of a Pandi’s hand.

  Poseidon pointed his trident at a line of advancing warriors. A powerful wave of water flowed out, knocking them backward.

  “Yee-haaa!” Athena cried, twirling her Thread of Dread like a lasso. It wrapped around a Pandi warrior. She pulled it hard, bringing him down.

  “Have a taste of the Spear of Fear!” Ares cried, hurling his spear at another Pandi. The warrior ducked just in time, and Ares ran after the spear.

  Hades put his helmet back on. Invisible, he ran around the field, delivering surprise pinches and noogies to the Pandi and pulling the spears and clubs from their hands.

  While most of the Olympians fought, Hera and Apollo protected Artemis. Hera gave the nymphs’ seed to Demeter. “I need you to grow this into a bush with berries—fast!” she urged.

  Zap! Zeus took down another Pandi. They had almost taken out the whole Pandi army by now. Soon
they’d be able to get away—far, far away from this creepy tower. But he’d forgotten something. Or rather, someone.

  Suddenly the ground beneath their feet shook, and Zeus looked behind him. Crius had emerged from the tower. The stars on his robe glittered brightly. His eyes flashed with anger.

  “You shall not escape!” he boomed. “Surrender!”

  Zeus aimed Bolt at him. “Never!”

  A jagged streak of lightning hit the Titan square in the chest. He staggered backward, but he didn’t fall. Recovering, he stomped toward Zeus, his eyes filled with fury.

  “You dare to attack the Highest Titan?” he yelled.

  Crius pulled a star from his robe. It was like a saw blade with sharp jagged edges. Before Zeus could react, Crius hurled the star at him sideways. Zeus dodged to the right, but the star caught on to the end of his tunic. He felt an amazing force pull him backward as the star pinned him to a tree!

  Crius stomped toward him and whacked Bolt from his hands. “This is over, Olympian!”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  A Voice in the Darkness

  Crius lowered his massive head and got in Zeus’s face. To Zeus, the Titan’s eyes looked as big as plates and his nostrils were like hairy tunnels.

  “Think you’re special just because you’re the son of the mighty Cronus?” Crius taunted. “You? A scrawny boy? I don’t know why your daddy is so afraid of you. Without your little lightning bolt, you are nothing. Like a night with no stars.”

  “Soon your daddy’s army will be here, and they will take you to him,” Crius said. “And that will be the end of you. And all your little friends. For what chance will they have without their leader?”

  A jolt of anger flowed through Zeus—like the one he’d felt battling the Cronies, only bigger. He yanked at his sleeve, freeing himself from the tree. Then he leaped onto Crius’s robe, grabbing on to stars, reaching for him like they were rocks on a climbing wall to make his way down to the ground.

  “Get back here, you little bug!” Crius fumed, reaching for him.

  “Bolt!” Zeus yelled.

  Pzzt! Bolt flew back to his hand lightning fast. The anger filling Zeus’s heart flowed into the magical object, causing it to crackle and sparkle with energy. He heard his Olympian friends calling to him, but their voices seemed far away. It was as if the force of his anger was keeping them back from this one-on-one battle.

  “Perhaps you are like Cronus after all. You have his anger,” Crius said and then he laughed. “Are you going to sting me again, little bee? What good will that do you?”

  “Bolt, now!” Zeus thundered. At this command, a massive burst of energy exploded from Bolt.

  Boom! This time the blast was so strong it knocked Crius right off his feet. The giant toppled backward, shaking the ground as he fell.

  Zeus leaped up onto his chest. He plucked stars from Crius’s robe as fast as he could. Then, one by one, he hurled them at the flaps of the Titan’s robe, pinning down Crius with his own stars!

  “How dare you!” Crius roared in outrage. “Free me at once!”

  Zeus marched up to the Titan’s chest and stared into his face. “I’ll think about it,” Zeus said. “If you tell me how I can defeat Cronus!”

  Crius laughed. “You? Defeat the mighty Cronus? Impossible!”

  “I don’t think so. I just pinned down the Highest Titan, didn’t I?” Zeus said, folding his arms in satisfaction. “Cronus must have a weakness. Tell me what it is!”

  “By my honor as a Titan, I will not!” Crius replied, struggling to free himself.

  Around him, the other Olympians were winning the battle with the Pandi. But Zeus didn’t even notice. He was filled with anger at this big, bloated Titan.

  He thinks I’m puny? Zeus raged. He thinks I’m powerless? I’ll show him!

  Zeus jabbed Bolt into the center of Crius’s forehead. Bolt sizzled and sparked. “Tell me!” he thundered. “Or else.”

  “Never!” replied Crius.

  Zeus’s hand trembled. Crius wasn’t going to give in. One blow from Bolt, and there would be one less Titan to worry about.

  You have his anger, Crius had said. Is that what was happening? Was he going to end up as evil as King Cronus?

  “Zeus!”

  It was a woman’s voice. Rhea’s voice. His mother. Instantly it snapped Zeus out of his rage. He jumped off Crius’s chest.

  “Rhea? Mom?” he cried, and then he ran into the darkness to look for her.

  CHAPTER NINE

  A New Magical Object

  Rhea?” Zeus was sure he had heard his mother’s voice. So where was she? Bolt’s light went dim, and he stared into only blackness.

  “Zeus, I am here,” Rhea’s voice replied.

  His heart leaped. He hadn’t known his mom while growing up. A goat and a magic bee named Melissa had raised him. Learning that Rhea was his mom had been the best thing about becoming an Olympian. But he had never met her face to face.

  “Do not shine Bolt’s light on me,” Rhea said. “I have been watching over you. But if Cronus or any of the Titans learn this or see us talking, I will no longer be able to do so.”

  “I understand,” Zeus said, but he felt sad. He really wanted to see his mom’s face!

  “Zeus, I see the storm inside you,” Rhea said gently. “I want to help you.”

  “Crius said that I am like my father,” Zeus admitted. “But Cronus is evil. Am I evil? Do my powers make me evil?”

  “Power is neither good nor evil,” Rhea replied gently. “It is what you do with your power that matters. Everyone has it in them to do good things or bad things—but whether or not we are good or bad is all up to the choices we make.”

  Zeus thought about this. “But I felt so angry just now . . . like I couldn’t control it. It has happened before.”

  “I understand,” Rhea said. “You are young, Zeus. It is difficult to take control of your emotions. But you can do it. I know you can, my son.”

  My son. Hearing the words made Zeus suddenly well up with tears.

  “I can?” he asked softly.

  “You may be your father’s son, but you are my son also,” Rhea said. “When I was young, I made some bad choices. But then I learned to make good ones. I know you will make good choices, Zeus. You and the other Olympians have made many good choices already. You are kind to one another and to the mortals you meet. You help those in need.”

  Zeus nodded. “Yeah, I guess we have done that.”

  “And I know you will continue to make good choices,” Rhea said. “You will triumph over your father when the time comes. I have faith in you.”

  Warmth filled Zeus, and a deep calm came over him. His mother had faith in him. His mother. “Thank you,” he whispered.

  “Zeus, is that you?”

  He spun around. Hera and the other Olympians appeared behind him, lit up by Hestia’s torch.

  “It’s Rhea! Our mom!” he cried, pointing.

  Hestia aimed the torch into the darkness . . . but there was no one there. Rhea was gone.

  “She was here!” Zeus insisted. “I just talked to her!”

  “I believe you,” Hestia said. “What did she say?”

  “That she has faith in us,” Zeus replied. “She says we will defeat Cronus when the time comes. And that we are making good choices.”

  “Well, I think a good choice would be to escape from here before Crius gets free and those Pandi get back on their hairy feet,” said Poseidon.

  “Right!” Zeus said. “Hestia, lead the way.”

  Hestia marched forward, holding her torch high. As Zeus trailed her, he noticed that Artemis looked more awake now. She was leaning against Apollo, but mostly she was walking on her own—and still yawning.

  “How did you wake her up?” Zeus asked.

  “Demeter did her thing. And . . . presto! The nymphs’ seed grew into a berry bush,” Hera said.

  “Unfortunately Poseidon was attacking one of the Pandi at the time, and his trident washed awa
y most of the berries,” Demeter added.

  “Hey,” Poseidon interrupted with a shrug. “It was in the heat of battle. Sorry.”

  “So anyway, I only had a few wake-up berries to give to Artemis. Which is why she’s still yawning,” Demeter finished.

  Suddenly they stepped out of Crius’s realm and into bright sunlight. It shocked the Olympians for a second—they had been living in darkness for hours.

  “Wow, it’s really fun to leave darkness for sun!” Apollo sing-songed, lifting his face to catch the rays.

  “Don’t worry. You didn’t lose any of your tan,” Hera teased him.

  “So where to now?” Poseidon asked, looking around.

  “Well, this is usually when Pythia shows up in a mist to tell us what to do next,” Zeus said.

  They all waited quietly for a moment, expecting the oracle to appear. But she didn’t.

  “That’s weird,” said Hera. “But if she won’t come to us, maybe we should go to Delphi and find her,” she suggested. “Back through the forest first though.”

  “Good plan,” Zeus agreed. “And good work back there at the tower, everyone!” Proud smiles formed at his words as they made their way toward the forest of the nymphs.

  Above them, the sun was just starting to sink into the sky. Darkness was falling, for real this time, not by magic. Apollo strummed his lyre and sang as they walked.

  “My sister was in a deep, deep sleep.

  She was under the Titan’s spell.

  But the Olympians came to her rescue,

  And Crius the Titan fell.

  Now she’s awake and with me once more,

  And I think that’s really swell!”

  Artemis gave her brother a sleepy smile. “Thanks, brother,” she said, yawning. “I’ve missed your songs. That was a good one.”

  Soon they reached the woods. They hadn’t gone far when the three green-skinned nymphs appeared in front of them.

  “Galloping green ghosts!” Poseidon cried out in alarm.