CHAPTER 1 – ZEUS

Of all the ways I thought I’d die, I never once imagined that it would be from being hit on the head by a brick. And yet, here I am, lying on the ground beneath twenty-something-year-old girl, her weapon of choice balanced precariously in her hand.

And yet, she doesn’t move to finish me off. Part of me expects Hades or Apollo to come crashing in to save me at the last minute. The logical part of my brain reminds me, You saw them fall. They’re dead. No one’s coming to save you.

I scowl up at my opponent. Sure, she was lucky when she disarmed me, but her luck just ran out. That, and she’s a mere mortal; she doesn’t stand a chance against a god.

In one fluid movement, I grab her leg and pull her to the ground while twisting up to my feet, careful to avoid the brick tumbling from her fingers. It hits the ground, spraying dust up into my eyes and mouth. A fit of coughs overcomes me, giving the mortal the split-second needed to finish me off. Of course, her being mortal and all, she doesn’t. Instead, she jumps on me clumsily, fingers trying unsuccessfully to get a grip on my armour.

Honestly, it’s like she doesn’t want to kill me. With brains like those, mortals really don’t deserve to continue to exist.

And yet, somehow, even with their little brains, these mortals managed to kill my brothers and sisters. One by one, they fell.

Apollo, Hades, and I had been the last ones left. And now, even they’re gone.

So, here I am, stuck fighting this stupid mortal girl who’s trying to whack me on the head with a brick. I mean seriously, how dumb can these mortals be? Killing a god with a brick? Chiron was right; man’s time on Earth is up.

I shove the girl back, rolling my shoulders to help my armour readjust as she goes tumbling to the ground. The little pieces of metal snap back together, reforming the formfitting casing around my body that had been broken earlier by the explosion that had killed Hades. Numbers on my helmet visor flash to indicate that my armour has been restored to one hundred percent.

Yes, that’s better; now I can properly finish off this girl.

She slowly rises to her feet, fist clenched around her brick. Her eyes are narrowed slits, warily watching my every move.

Good, she should be wary. She is fighting a god after all.

I straighten my back and roll back my shoulders, falling into my familiar fighting stance. The ground feels soft beneath my feet, the air beginning to crackle around my body. Energy jumps across my armour, tickling my skin. My fingers curl and tap my palm twice to summon the electricity to my palm.

A grin spreads across my face. This is more like it.

A roar rips itself from my throat as I charge toward the now-pale-faced girl. She stares at me as my lightning bolt forms itself in my hand. The crackling energy of light reflects in her wide eyes as I bring it up and smash it down, shattering the earth around her with an ear-splitting CRACK.

I exhale, letting my lightning bolt retract itself back into nothingness. Through the dust-filled street, I can just make out a dark, unmoving figure lying on the ground several paces back from where the girl had been standing just moments ago.

Satisfaction snakes its way up into my chest. Finally, my brothers and sisters have been avenged.

But a flicker of movement stops me dead in my tracks.

The girl… She isn’t dead. No, in fact, she seems more alive than before.

I can only stare in shocked silence as the girl pushes herself up to sitting, her hair moving of its own accord. Right before my eyes, the strands group themselves together before solidifying into long, solid ropes, covered in scales.

“Well, well…” Medusa hisses, smirking up at me from her position on the ground. “Lord Zeus. What a pleasant surprise to find you on Earth, among these mortals.”

Medusa. Of course; this is why I couldn’t kill her earlier.

“I could say the same about you,” I shoot back, curling my hands into fists and feeling the electricity gathering within. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

Medusa stands, snakes bobbing around her head. “I came to warn you.”

“About what?”

“Your fate.”

I scowl, balling my fists even tighter. “As if I’ve never heard that one before. I’m a god! I’m immortal! My fate is to rule this mortal world forever!”

Medusa raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure? Then why are you the last remaining god? Why have all your brothers and sisters fallen? Why are you here, fighting the mortals that you are supposed to rule?”

I glare at her. Honestly, who does she think she is anyway? Why doesn’t she mind her own business for once?

“Alright, I’ll play along,” I say with a sigh. “What’s this important warning about my fate?”

Medusa’s expression darkens. “Your past will catch up with you,” she murmurs, her voice echoing around me. “My warning is this: Beware of basil.”

“Basil?” I raise an eyebrow. “Are you telling me that I’m allergic to spaghetti sauce?”

She glares at me before releasing an exasperated sigh. “Not the herb. A man. A mortal.”

“And he’s going to… what? Kill me? Is that it? Does he want power? Or money? Or a new phone? Or whatever else these stupid mortals seem to want these days?”

Of course, instead of answering me, Medusa begins to slowly fade away.

“Remember,” her voice echoes as the mist envelops her, “Beware of Basil.”

---

CHAPTER 2 – BASIL

“Basil! Clean up in Kennel Two!”

Stifling a groan, I grab the basket of cleaning supplies and head down the rows of kennels, wincing at the occasional extra-loud bark, until I reach the end aisle. Kennel Two: my favourite. Please note my sarcasm.

Biscuit glares up at me, her eyes glinting menacingly in the dim lighting we use to calm the dogs. Trust me, the lights don’t work. If anything, they make the dogs more agitated.

Yes, I know that I—an educated twenty-one-year-old man—shouldn’t be afraid of a tiny Yorkshire terrier. And yes, I know that Biscuit is taking advantage of me by preying on my fear and making it worse. But here we are, with this tiny, yappy dog literally crapping all over my life.

“N-nice Biscuit,” I say, cursing the tremble in my voice. Right, as if the dog can’t sense how nervous I am without me sounding like I’m about to be beaten up. I wonder if dogs really can smell fear. Even if other dogs can’t, I’m pretty sure that Biscuit can.

“I just need to clean up your bed,” I say, slowly unlatching the door. “Then, if you don’t bite me, I’ll give you a cookie. How does that sound?”

Biscuit continues her staring contest with me, her lips sliding back to reveal her sharp teeth. A low growl builds in her throat. Somehow, she’s able to make her own voice sound as though it’s coming from a much larger dog—say, a Doberman—that I could reasonably explain being afraid of.

“Are you done yet, Basil?” Casey shouts from her office.

Leaning back to peer through the window at the end of the hallway, I shake my head. “Just getting started.”

Casey holds her hand over her cellphone to say, “Well hurry up. Apotential new puprent will be arriving at any moment!”

My jaw clenches involuntarily. I swear, every time I hear ‘puprent’ I want to scream. Honestly, I wish Casey would realize that ‘puprent’ isn’t a cute word; if anything, it sounds like our adopters are renting out our puppies, which just really misses the mark.

“Alright, I’m hurrying,” I say as Casey returns to her call. Just as I turn back to Biscuit’s kennel, the door flies open and a small streak of brown and black passes by my feet.

I freeze. My worst nightmare has come true: Biscuit is free.

“What was that?” Casey asks, appearing at the door to her office. It’s incredible how her phone call finished just in time to see me let a dog escape.

“Er, I believe that was Biscuit,” I say sheepishly, pointing down the hallway.

“Well why aren’t you chasing after her?!” Casey shouts before departing at a full sprint.

Under my breath, I reply, “Because I’m terrified of the little monster.”

“Come on, Basil!” Casey screeches. “The front door could be opening at any moment!”

Oh right, because of our potential new ‘puprent’ who’s supposed to be arriving at any moment.

With a sigh, I take off toward the front of the building. Knowing what a little terror Biscuit is, she’s probably make a beeline for the door so that she can escape our clutches and wreak havoc on the rest of the world.

“Biscuit!” I whistle as if she’s going to respond to her name. If anything, by giving away my location, she’s going to run the other way. “Biscuit, come here! I’ve got yummy treats for you!”

Beside me, the other dogs start howling. Man, Biscuit really brings out the worst in everyone.

As I round the corner, a flash of brown and black streaks toward the door. At the same time, the familiar bell on the front door jingles.

“Crap,” I mutter as I kick up my speed.

The door swings open in slow motion while Biscuit races straight for it. I take two giant steps before launching myself forward, arms outstretched. My fingertips graze the tip of Biscuit’s tail before I land hard on my chest. My chin bounces on the ground, sending a sharp spike of pain shooting through my teeth and vibrating through the rest of my skull.

I lie still for a moment. Even though Biscuit might be well on her way to the main city to begin destroying buildings, I think that I deserve a second of rest after a fall like that, especially considering that little black spots are currently doing a tango in front of my eyes.

The spots grow and converge to form the shape of a man.

“Are you alright?” a deep voice says above me.

I groan in response; my mouth doesn’t seem to be able to make any other sort of sound at the moment.

A hand appears on my shoulder.

“Are you alright?” the man repeats.

This time, my voice works a bit better. “Uh huh.”

Slowly—and quite painfully, I might add—I push myself upright. With a strained sigh, I sit back and rub my chin.

The man crouches down in front of me. His lips move, but I’m only focused on the small brown and black lump of fur cradled in his arms.

“You caught Biscuit,” I say, staring at the dog who’s quite happily licking the man’s cheek.

“Ah, is that this cutie’s name?” the man asks, smiling down at her. “It seems fitting.”

I almost shout “CUTIE?! That dog’s the devil!!” but I restrain myself. If this man adopts Biscuit, then I won’t have to deal with her anymore.

But my hopes are shattered when the man holds Biscuit out to me. “Here you go,” he says.

“Oh. Are you not wanting to adopt a dog? Biscuit really seems to like you.”

He tilts his head, looking at Biscuit. “Well, she certainly is cute, but I was looking for something a bit bigger.”

“Ah, I see.” I reluctantly take back Biscuit, trying my best not to look her in the eye; that just makes her more aggressive. “Would you like me to show you some of our bigger dogs then?”

“Actually,” the man says abruptly, “on second thought, I’d like to spend some more time with little Biscuit here.”

Immediately, that flicker of hope reignites. “Really?” I exclaim and practically throw Biscuit at the man before she bites me. “Well, here you go.”

The man takes Biscuit and she transforms into a deceiving little angel once more.

“Thank you,” he says, smiling down at her as if she’s the best thing he’s ever seen. “Now, I do have some questions…”

Before he goes on to ask the usual ‘thorough’ line of questioning, I say, “Yes, Biscuit’s available for adoption. She’s potty trained and knows how to come, sit, and lie down on command. She needs about an hour of exercise every day, given that she’s a small dog, but she’s not suitable for apartment living because she barks almost constantly.”

The man lets me finish answering before raising an eyebrow. It’s almost like he’s amused by my enthusiasm to help this adoption along.

“Actually,” he says after waiting for a moment to make sure that I’m finished speaking, “I was going to say that I have some questions about you.”

Surprise shoots through me, turning my cheeks bright red. “About me? What do you mean?”

“Your name is Basil Andino, correct?”

“Er, yes.” Did I tell him my name?

“And you are twenty-one years old?”

Okay, now this is getting creepy. “Have you been stalking my social media?”

A smile turns up his lips. “There are other, far more reliable methods, of gathering information.”

“Such as?”

Of course he doesn’t give me an answer. Instead, he says, “I have a proposition for you, Basil Andino.”

“Oh?”

The man runs a hand from Biscuit’s ears to the base of her tail before setting her down on the ground beside him. My instincts tell me to dive to catch her, and I barely stop myself. Strangely, Biscuit simply sits beside the man, wagging her tail with both eyes fixed firmly on him.

“W-what did you do to her?” I whisper.

He smiles. “Would you like to hear my proposition?”

“Honestly?” I say with a frown, “Not really. Whatever weird stalking business you’re into, I’m not interested.”

The man chuckles and lifts Biscuit up to look her in the eyes. “I’m no stalker. I simply find people.”

“That sounds an awful lot like stalking to me,” I mutter.

Biscuit licks his nose. “Here’s my proposition for you, Basil Andino.”

“I just said I didn’t want to hear it.” Plus, I really wish he’d stop saying my full name; he’s really beginning to creep me out.

“Well, I’m telling you anyway.” He lowers Biscuit and cradles her on her back. Her little legs kick up into the air contentedly as her tail continuously slaps the man’s stomach.

I open my mouth to protest yet again, but he holds up a finger and turns to look me directly in the eye. My breath leaves my lungs in a huff; the intensity in his eyes physically sends me a step back. Where did this power come from?

“The end of the world is upon us, Basil Andino,” he says, his voice booming through the kennel. Even the dogs around us have stopped barking for once. “Death and destruction are around every corner.”

Somehow, I find my voice and force out, “And what does that have to do with me?”

“You, Basil Andino, are special. You have been chosen for a very special purpose.” He pauses—probably solely for drama—before saying, “You have been chosen to save the world.”

I stare at him. “Alright, buddy,” I say with a sigh, “I’ve humoured you for long enough. Look, if you’re not going to adopt Biscuit, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I understand,” he says with a curt nod. “Biscuit and you may accompany me back to my house.”

“Woah, wait, what?! What makes you think I’d ever go with you to your house?”

He frowns. “Where else would you complete your training?”

“My training? Dude, you’re literally making no sense.”

The man sighs, a glint of frustration in his eyes. “Basil Andino, I have been patient with you, but this is becoming ridiculous. I have already told you that you will save the world.” Slowly, his voice rises. “Why will you not accept your destiny? Is it me? Have I not made my role as your guide to heroism clear?” He’s now full-on screaming.

Before I can snap back something I’d probably regret later, the man shakes his head. “I apologize for my outburst,” he says, his voice back to a normal indoor-volume. “You have made your position on the matter clear, and I do not wish to force you into beginning your training earlier than you are prepared for. I will leave you now.”

He shoves his hand into his pocket and withdraws two hundred dollar bills. “This is for the dog,” he says, giving them to me. “And this…” Without warning, his hand snaps up to grasp my still-sore chin. I only now realize that he’s wearing gloves; the stiff material is cold against my skin as his fingers curl around my jaw, preventing me from shouting out. “This is for you,” he finishes, giving my bruised jaw a tight squeeze.

A gasp forces itself from my throat as a strange tingling sensation creeps through my chin. Then, a blinding heat flashes through my jaw, travelling briefly to the rest of my skull before disappearing.

The man releases my chin and a slightly different tingling begins as the blood rushes in to fill the veins that his fingers had been constricting. Once all my veins are properly satisfied once again, something ticks in my brain that makes me pause.

The pain in my chin is completely gone. My teeth feel as though they had never been rattled against one another and my headache has disappeared. I quickly test my jaw; it’s not at all sore.

My feet drag me to the mirror a short way down the hall. The bruises that I’m certain were there before no longer exist.

“What did you do to me?” I gasp, turning back to the man.

But all I catch of him is the heel of his black boot through the doorway and the jingle of the bell.

---

CHAPTER 3 – ZEUS

I open my eyes to see Apollo staring down at me.

“So?” he asks, sitting back on his heels, thumbs nervously drumming on his thighs.

Slowly, I push myself up to sitting. “Er, well, I’m afraid I don’t have much good news.”

Apollo’s face falls. “Was there… any?”

“Not really.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Apollo sighs and stands before offering his hand to me. “I guess we should go tell the others then.”

I let him help me up and dust off my pants. “Hey, have you talked to Hephaestus about the fridge yet?”

He glares at me. “You just woke up from an apparently disastrous vision about the future and you want to talk about the fridge?!”

“Well, yeah, I’m hungry and you know how I don’t like warm bananas.”

Apollo rolls his eyes as he leads the way out of the room. “Honestly, you can be such a child sometimes.”

“You dare call the king of gods a child?” I gasp. “Shame on you!”

He just sticks his tongue out at me.

I let myself become lost in jokes and banter with Apollo as we walk downstairs and toward the front door. The signs of my vision are clear as we move through my house; most of my furniture is overturned and feathers and glass pepper the floor. Honestly, it’s a miracle that I was able to find my way back up to my bedroom.

But as soon as I step outside, the heaviness of my vision returns. The others are already gathered, waiting anxiously for news of the future. Undoubtedly, they already have some idea of the outcome. After all, indoor lightning isn’t exactly a common phenomenon, not even here in Olympus.

“How bad is it?” Athena asks, stepping forward with a frown.

I bite my lip, trying to figure out exactly how much I should tell them. Finally, I settle on, “Bad.”

Alarmed murmuring breaks out amongst my brothers and sisters. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so blunt.

“What, so you’re just going to leave it at that?” Apollo calls out. “Give us details!”

So, I do. I tell them every little detail, from the destruction that I’d witnessed all the way to Medusa’s warning about non-spaghetti-sauce Basil.

When I’m finished, Ares immediately shouts, “You’re saying that we’ll be killed by mortals?”

“Unfortunately, yes. It seems as though Chiron is training them a bit too well.”

“Oh I am, am I?”

The voice echoes from behind my brothers and sisters. They step aside, bowing their heads respectfully as Chiron passes between them to walk up to me.

“Chiron,” I greet him, acknowledging him a nod. “I was just telling the others about my vision of the future. It… well, it doesn’t look good.”

Chiron frowns, running a hand through his greying hair. “What did you see, Zeus?”

The vision runs through my head for a third time of the day as I tell Chiron. He just stands there, expressionless, one hand rubbing his beard while the other rests on his hip.

When I’ve finished, Chiron remains in that pose, fingers mindlessly running through his beard. Finally, he says, “I’m the one who says that the mortals are no longer worthy of Earth?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting.”

He falls silent again, deep in thought. Apollo catches my eye above Chiron’s shoulder and gives me a grimace. I try my best not to respond, though I feel the corner of my mouth twitch up into a smile.

“Do you think that this is funny?” Chiron immediately snaps.

“No, sorry,” I mumble.

He sighs, shaking his head. “Alright, well there’s not much we can do at the moment. Ares, continue with the training. Apollo and Athena, I would like to speak with you both.”

Apollo and Athena? But what about me?

“Chiron—” I begin, but he’s already walking away.

As Apollo passes me, he clasps a hand on my shoulder and whispers, “I’ll catch you up later. It probably isn’t super important.”

“Sure,” I mutter through gritted teeth.

As I watch them leave, I start planning my route through the Citadel. If Chiron thinks that he’s going to have an important meeting without me, he’s sorely mistaken.

“Hey, Zeus!”

I wince. Of course Hephaestus wants to talk to me.

“Dude, if this is about the fridge, then it can wait,” I say, turning to face him.

Hephaestus frowns. “The fridge?” At my raised eyebrow, he startles and says, “Oh, right! The fridge! Yes, I’ve definitely looked into that already.”

“You don’t have to lie about it. I’m not going to get angry or anything.”

“Thank Olympus,” he sighs. “No, this isn’t about the fridge. I just wanted to give you an update on your armour upgrades.”

“Oh. Well, can it wait?”

“Er, I guess so.” He frowns. “Wait, are you going to listen in on Chiron’s conversation with Apollo and Athena?”

“Pfft, no, of course not.”

He gasps. “You totally are!”

“Shh, lower your voice,” I hiss before grabbing his arm and pulling him through the door to my house. Only once the door is firmly locked do I say, “Alright, so I want to go listen in. Is there a problem with that?”

“Yes! Chiron specifically asked for Apollo and Athena. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t hear him say ‘Zeus’ in that sentence.”

I scowl. “They’re going to talk about the consequences of my vision. Plus, I’m supposed to be the leader here! How can I lead if I don’t know everything that’s going on?”

“Have you maybe thought that he doesn’t want you to be part of that conversation for a reason?”

“No.”

He lets out a long sigh. “Honestly, Zeus, as the ‘king of gods’ or our ‘fearless leader’ or whatever cool name you’ve come up for yourself today, I’d expect a bit more thoughtfulness on your part. It’s much easier following your lead during quests when you’ve actually thought the plans through.”

“They’re still talking about my vision though! I don’t understand why I should be excluded from this conversation.”

“Can’t you just trust Chiron for once?” Hephaestus begs.

“Why can’t Chiron trust me for once?” I shoot back.

Hephaestus pauses before sighing and shaking his head. “You know what, Zeus? Do whatever you want. Just know that I’m not going to play a part in whatever you decide to do.”

“I never asked you to help,” I snap as he exits my house.

Honestly, Hephaestus puts too much faith in Chiron. Sure, Chiron’s the one who made us all who we are today, but I’ve outgrown him. Instead of raising me up, he’s pulling me back down. All because of what? Is he jealous of me? Is he jealous of the power he’s bestowed upon me and excluding me is his desperate attempt to get it back?

Well, there’s no way I’m going to let him get away with that. No, I’m going to hear that conversation and I’m going to take back control of my own life.

I straighten my back before stomping out the door. The other gods and goddesses have already dispersed, leaving the courtyard empty. My feet guide me to the Citadel while my brain travels through the various secret passages throughout the building. The most obvious place for them to be holding their meeting is in the War Room, considering the nature of my vision. So if I take the passages behind the West Wing and make my way up through the elevator shaft, I should be able to sneak my way into the ceiling above the War Room. That is, assuming I don’t get crushed by the elevator.

Just as I’m about to enter the Citadel, another voice calls my name.

“What is it?” I sigh, turning to see Hermes leaning against the wall beside me.

“You’re planning on going up the elevator shaft, aren’t you?” he says, that annoying ever-present smirk on his face.

“Is everyone trying to stop me from going to this meeting?” I mutter.

Hermes pushes off from the wall and saunters over to stop in front of me. “Stopping you?” he says with a chuckle. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t dream of stopping my beloved king from getting to where he needs to go.” He performs an exaggerated bow, his arms flicking up over his head as he leans forward.

How is it that even after all these years of knowing him, Hermes is still the most annoying person I’ve ever met?

“Either make your point or get out of my face,” I spit.

His eyebrows raise. “Now, you wouldn’t raise your voice at your lowly subject, now would you, oh majestic king?” But when he sees that I’m not going to satisfy him with a comment, he sighs and says, “Alright, fine. I just thought I’d mention that you don’t need to go through the elevator shaft. There’s another way.”

I wait for him to continue. When he doesn’t, I mutter, “Really? And are you going to show me this other way or do I have to guess?”

“Well, you could guess if you want,” he says with a shrug. “That would actually be quite amusing. I should attach a camera to your head and watch you fumble around all over the Citadel.”

“Fine,” I scowl, “don’t tell me. Now get out of my way.”

“Okay!” He puts out his hands to stop me from walking past him. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But I want something in return.”

“Of course you do,” I say, rolling my eyes. “What is it this time?”

“Well, you might remember a few weeks ago, Chiron confiscated something of mine. All I want is to have it back.”

“And let me guess: this thing that Chiron confiscated is somewhere in the Citadel, probably along this new path that you want me to take.”

“Ding ding ding,” Hermes says with a wink. “See? It’ll take just a second of your time. You know what? I’m feeling so generous that I’ll even allow you to grab it on your way out.”

“Oh, well thank you,” I say dryly. “Is there anything else you’d like while I’m in there? A soda maybe? Some pizza?”

“Nope, just my sketchbook should be good,” Hermes says.

I glare at him. “This is about your sketchbook? Can’t you just get another one and put some more drawings in?”

Apparently, I didn’t say the right thing, because for the first time I think ever, Hermes’s grin fades. “You wouldn’t understand,” he mumbles, looking at the dirt as he nudges it with his shoe.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” I mutter.

His grin snaps back onto his face. “Wow, I think that that’s the closest thing I’ve ever gotten to an apology from the great Lord Zeus,” he says with a wink.

“Shut up,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Okay, fine, I’ll grab your sketchbook on my way out. Now can you please tell me how to get in there before they finish their conversation?”

“Right.” He sidles up to me and leans in to cup a hand to my ear. He whispers, “Go through the kitchen.”

I swat him away and glare at him. “The kitchen? Are you insane? Hera’s in there, and we both know she’ll tell Chiron.”

“Well then don’t get caught.”

I roll my eyes. “Right, as if it’s that easy.”

Hermes dramatically copies my eye roll. “Fine, here’s a little something that’ll help.” He pulls a small packet from his pocket and hands it to me. “When you need a distraction, snap this and then throw it.”

The little packet in my hand feels suspiciously like a prank bomb. “This won’t hurt her, right?”

“Of course not!” He gasps, as if insulted that I would even suggest such a thing.

“Had to ask,” I say with a shrug.

He shakes his head before pushing me toward the door. “Alright, now go on! No time to waste! I’m going to grab a coffee while I wait, but I’ll be back later to pick up my sketchbook.”

Without waiting for me to reply, he turns on his heel and walks away, whistling as he goes.

Taking a deep breath, I turn to the door.

“Well, here goes,” I whisper, walking into the Citadel while holding a package that may or may not be a bomb.

---

CHAPTER 4 – BASIL

Three days have passed, during which I’ll admit that I’ve been furiously trying to find out more about this mysterious man who popped up in the adoption centre. That meant long hours of Internet searches and even a few trips to the library. What can I say? I’m desperate!

So far, the only results that popped up have been related to fantasy novels or witchcraft. As for the man himself, the only information I have about him is his name that he signed on Biscuit’s adoption papers: Silas Farview. Silas has absolutely no social media presence or Internet presence at all. You’d think that a man with magical healing powers would have a business with a website or something. But no, it’s like he doesn’t even exist.

So, here I am, staring at Biscuit’s adoption papers, wondering if I missed something. Or maybe I hit my head so hard that I just imagined him healing me.

The bell rings and I hurriedly put away the papers. When I look up, my eyes widen.

“You!” I hiss.

The man—Silas—completely ignores me. Instead, he says, “When I got home with this little angel,” he pulls out Biscuit, who immediately snarls at me, “I realized that I never asked what types of toys she likes.”

I stare at him. “You seriously came back here to ask what her favourite toy is? Why not just let her loose in the pet store and let her take her pick?”

Silas’s eyes light up. “That’s a brilliant idea!”

He scratches Biscuit’s head and her tail goes wild.

“Why didn’t you just call?” I ask. “We’ve got a phone, you know.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“You don’t what?”

“Have a phone.”

“Seriously?”

He stops petting Biscuit for a moment, causing her to whine, to answer, “Phones are a distraction from real life.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, “that’s kind of the point of them.”

Silas frowns and returns to petting Biscuit. “So,” he says abruptly, “have you given any thought to my proposal?”

“What, going to your house for some sort of training?”

“Yes.”

The logical part of my brain is screaming ‘Don’t go to strangers’ houses!’ But the irrational part of my brain is being prodded by curiosity. Training? From a man who can apparently perform real magic? That doesn’t seem like an opportunity that I should pass up.

Before I register what’s happening, “Okay,” flies from my mouth.

Silas smiles. “Excellent,” he says. “We will begin immediately.”

“Er, but I have to work.”

His smile turns to a chuckle. “My dear boy, your work will be very different from now on. You will not have time to play with puppies anymore. Am I understood?”

“Well, I guess, but—”

“Then it is settled.” He nods firmly, as if trying to really drive his point home. “We leave immediately.”

I get the feeling that he isn’t completely understanding my situation here. “Yeah, but see, I can’t just leave. I’m the only one here at the moment. Casey, my boss, isn’t supposed to be coming in until later this afternoon.”

“So lock the door behind you.”

“But—”

Silas suddenly straightens his back until he’s towering over me. Was he seriously always this tall?

“Basil Andino,” he says, his voice booming. I shrink back behind the desk as I stare up at him. “You were chosen to save the world. Now, do you want to fulfil your destiny or not?”

“I-I guess,” I squeak. I must look pathetic right now, cowering behind my desk as he literally just stands in front of me while speaking loudly. Have I really always been such a scaredy-cat?

“Then we leave now,” Silas says. “Come.”

“Um, okay,” I say, reaching down behind the desk to grab a pen and pad of paper. “I’m just going to write a note for my boss so that she—”

The dogs suddenly start howling as one, creating the most creepy atmosphere I’ve ever experienced. I swear the temperature drops by a few degrees and a chill runs down my spine.

Biscuit wriggles out of Silas’s arms and sits down to join the howling chorus. Silas’s eyes widen and his hand jumps to his belt buckle. I mirror his movement; if I’m going to pee my pants, I’d like them to stay on my body.

The howling abruptly stops. Silence envelops the adoption centre as the windows darken. Of course the lights start flickering as well, because what sort of horror movie would this be if the lights weren’t flickering.

Just as I open my mouth to ask Silas what the heck is going on, a low snarl reverberates through the floor. My entire body trembles with the force of the vibrations from the sound.

Silence once again. And darkness. Have I mentioned how much I hate the darkness? Man, I wish that darkness didn’t exist. Sure, you need darkness to have light and blah blah blah, but still, I’d prefer if everything was bright and sunny and—

Light. Six of them Through the windows. Red—of course, because horror movie, remember?—and strangely shaped. Almost like eyes…

“Get down!” Silas shouts, turning to me and shoving my down by my shoulders.

I stumble back and my knees buckle, sending me crashing to the ground. The counter blocks most of my view, but I can still see the top of Silas’s head. His eyes meet mine for a second before something metallic encases his head.

A helmet. A helmet magically appeared. Of course it magically appeared; the man’s magical! And now he’s going to use his magic to magically make everything better. Right?

“Stay down,” Silas hisses, his voice tinny and small from inside the helmet.

Honestly, he doesn’t have to tell me twice. Sure, I feel like a baby for hiding, but the guy’s covered from head to toe in armour. Plus, he’s got magic, remember? So I can confidently say that I feel comfortable letting him handle this… well, whatever ‘this’ is.

The rumble through the ground restarts, sending me bouncing up and down as if I’m riding a horse. Various office supplies begin raining down on me from the desk, forcing me to cover my head with my arms. When the rumbling finally stops, I look up again to find that Silas has vanished.

A sudden loud CRASH from outside makes my bones jump inside my body. My heart pounds as more clanging follows, accompanied by some unintelligible shouting.

Then, before I even fully register the assortment of noises from outside, the world falls back into silence.

Light starts filtering back into the building. But still, no sound.

“Silas?” I whisper, craning my neck to peer over the top of the desk.

Silence.

“Silas?” I cautiously stand. He’s nowhere to be found.

Out of the corner of my eye, a small, furry blob slowly slinks out from behind a row of crates.

Biscuit. Of course the little demon is still here. And just when I was hopeful that I’d gotten rid of her.

But there’s something different about her. She’s shivering, tail tucked between her legs, fur sticking up on end. She looks exactly how I feel every time I see her.

Her eyes meet mine. In that split second, something changes between us.

Did I just… have a moment with a dog?

Biscuit lets out a low whine and scurries over to me. She presses her tiny body against my legs, and for the first time ever, I feel powerful, which is extremely sad to say, considering that I’m talking about feeling powerful in relation to a dog whose ears don’t even reach my knees.

I slowly bend down and scoop up the little ball of fur. Biscuit shivers in my arms and buries her face under my arm.

“It’s okay,” I whisper in her ear. “It’s okay.”

It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay…

My breathing picks up as the seconds tick by and Silas remains MIA. Maybe it’s safe to go outside? After all, the darkness and weird eyes in the windows seem to have vanished.

It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay…

Suddenly, the door slams open. Biscuit goes flying out of my arms with a high-pitched yelp and I go tumbling backward.

A figure stands in the door, highlighted by the sunlight. But it isn’t a man, so it isn’t Silas. It’s a girl, standing with more confidence than I could ever dream of having.

“Basil Andino?”

How is it that everyone knows my name?

“Y-yes?” I choke out.

The girl strides forward and comes to a stop before me. She’s wearing armour too, though hers is a dark green instead of Silas’s white. She lowers a hand to her belt buckle and before my eyes, the armour collapses into it.

“Silas sent me,” she says, extending her hand.

I shake it hesitantly and ask, “What happened? Is Silas okay?”

“Come,” she says, dropping my hand, apparently not hearing what I just asked. “I’m to bring you to Silas’s house to begin your training.”

I scramble after her, questions still trying to jump out of my mouth. But I’ve learned my lesson; don’t ask the scary girl questions because she’s not going to answer.

“Oh,” the girl says, stopping abruptly and spinning on her heel. I skid to a stop to avoid crashing into her, “and don’t forget the dog.”

---

CHAPTER 5 – ZEUS

Of all the gods and goddesses here at Olympus, Hera is the one I least like running into. And no, it has nothing to do with the fact that we used to date or the fact that she cheated on me, although those don’t exactly give her any points. I mostly just avoid talking to her because she’s Chiron’s favourite. The kind of power that gives her… I don’t even like thinking about it.

So, as I sneak through the kitchen, the fear of being discovered is making my adrenaline pump like crazy. Honestly I feel like I just drank a boatload of coffee, that’s how nervous and jittery I am right now.

All because of this girl. This girl who betrayed me and tried to turn Chiron against me by lying. I say ‘tried’ even though she definitely won that battle. I mean seriously, how could Chiron think that I would ever cheat on her?! And then he made me apologize to her in front of everyone?! I’ve never been more humiliated.

And still, to this day, Hera remains Chiron’s favourite. I’m actually surprised that Chiron didn’t invite her to his little secret meeting. Maybe she’s baking him some cookies now to make him feel guilty about not inviting her.

My foot knocks against the side of the metal counter and a hollow clang rings out. I wince at the sharp sound and peek out above the countertop.

Hera’s already spun around to peer in my direction through narrowed eyes. “Who’s there?” she shouts.

I take a deep breath. It’s now or never.

I stand up. “Hey,” I say, immediately silently cursing for sounding so pathetic. ‘Hey’? That’s seriously the best that I could do? Not an authoritative ‘It’s me, Lord Zeus, your king!’ Nope, just ‘hey’. I’m such an idiot.

Hera rolls her eyes. “Oh, it’s you.” She turns back to her cutting board and picks her knife back up. Because of course she’s chopping vegetables with a scary big knife right now. “You’re trying to get into that meeting, aren’t you?” she adds, her voice slightly raised to be heard over the sharp clicking of the knife hitting the cutting board.

“Nope,” I say with a dry chuckle. “I’m just picking up a snack.”

Hera stops chopping and turns to face me with a sigh, her knife still clutched in her hand. “Honestly, just how stupid do you think I am?”

“I don’t think that you’re stupid,” I say, trying my best to look confident as I stroll through the kitchen. “I am hungry, though.”

The package feels uncomfortably heavy in my pocket. It’s not like I have any reservations about throwing a bomb at Hera—count this as part of my payback for her cheating on me—but I still feel like I’m doing something wrong. Of course Hermes would say, ‘Suck it up, and just throw the bomb, you big baby!’ But Hermes isn’t here. Unfortunately.

Hera’s eyes follow me as I walk beside the counters. A sudden rush of panic overwhelms me and I grab the first thing that I see.

“Butter?” Hera asks, arching an eyebrow. “Out of all the things in this kitchen, you choose butter for your snack?”

“Mhmm.” I swallow the lump of saliva that rose into my mouth as soon as my stomach realized what I’d picked up. “Yum, butter.”

She stares at me. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Are you going to eat it?”

“Umm, of course I’m going to eat this delicious butter that I picked up for a snack.”

Hera raises an eyebrow as she patiently waits for me to unwrap the foil from the butter. Each crinkle of the wrapping grates against my ears in the otherwise silent kitchen. I can’t believe that Hera stopped everything to literally watch me peel open a stick of butter.

“Are you going to keep watching me?” I ask, giving her a glare.

“Yes,” she says, apparently unable to keep that smug grin off her face. “I’ve always wondered what a solid stick of room temperature butter tasted like.”

“Well you could take the first bite if you’d like.”

“I learn best from watching.”

Seriously? What a load of crap.

“You’ll really say anything to get your way, won’t you?” I mutter under my breath.

Unfortunately, it’s still loud enough that she hears me.

“Excuse me?” she asks, her voice sharp. “What was that?”

“Oh, nothing.” Maybe it’s a sudden burst of courage or just the feeling of impending doom of having to force myself to eat a stick of butter (it’s probably the latter), but I add, “Just commenting on your selfishness and general lack of respect for everyone else.”

Her eyes fix onto mine. A fire burns in them so intensely that if it burned a hole right through me, I wouldn’t be surprised. Death by glare from ex-girlfriend—I don’t know whether that or being hit over the head with a brick is more embarrassing.

“How dare you call me selfish,” she hisses. “You know very well why I did what I did.”

“Oh yeah, you cheated on me because you ‘loved me’,” I say, rolling my eyes. Why in good Olympus do I keep pushing her? “You do realize that it doesn’t matter how many times you say it right? It still doesn’t make it okay.”

Somehow, the fire in her eyes intensifies. You’d think that Hephaestus would be the one with the fire in his eyes, but no.

“That’s it,” she snarls. Her hand snaps up and her sword flies to her hand.

I roll my eyes. “Seriously? What are you going to do; stab me? You know that Apollo is too busy to patch me up right now.”

“I’m sick and tired of you accusing me of being the bad guy,” she says, her voice dangerously low.

“How are you not the bad guy?” I scoff. “You broke my heart and then turned Chiron against me!”

She waves her sword in my face, so close that it slices off the tip of my hair dangling in front of my eyes. “That’s enough,” she hisses. “Now come on, are we going to settle this like gods or like kindergarteners?”

My first instinct is to snap back, ‘Like kindergarteners,’ but Hera doesn’t give me the chance to say anything because she spins around with a powerful kick. My hand flashes down to block her, but the force still sends me a step back.

“It’s rude not to wait for an answer when you ask a question,” I mutter.

She sticks her tongue out at me in response before sheathing her sword and launching a series of punches at my face. I dodge the first two, but on the third try, she gets lucky. Her fist connects with my cheekbone, making my brain rattle inside my skull.

“Come on,” I growl, ducking under her fourth punch and rubbing my cheek. “That hurt!”

“It was supposed to hurt,” she shoots back, coming in for another kick.

Okay, let me just say that I may hate Hera for everything she’s done to me, but I can’t deny that she’s an incredible fighter. Honestly, if she’d still had her sword drawn, she probably would’ve skewered me by now. In retrospect, that’s probably why she put her sword away. Wow, that’s actually quite embarrassing.

“Can’t we just talk about this?” I ask, finally throwing a punch of my own.

She gracefully weaves out of the way before bringing her fist down on my outstretched arm. My elbow crumples and my arm falls back to my side. In her brief moment of distraction, I bring my leg up, hook my foot around her calf, and pull. She lets out a small yelp as her knee buckles and she stumbles forward. I catch her as she passes me and wrap my arms around her upper arms, holding her tight against me.

“You know,” I hiss into her ear, “I don’t think you ever even apologized to me.”

“For what?” she growls back. “For saving your life? Yeah, I’m sure regretting that decision now.”

Without waiting for me to reply, she brings a foot down hard on top of mine. Even though my brain is screaming at me not to let go, my arms don’t quite get the message. As soon as she’s free, Hera spins and brings her knee up to hover right in front of that special spot that will hurt more than anything else in the world.

“Don’t,” I warn her, freezing in place.

She scowls and lowers her foot back to the ground. “Get out,” she snaps, jabbing a finger at the door.

I copy her scowl and head toward the door. The package in my pocket suddenly seems to weigh a ton again. I guess I have no other choice; Hermes’s mystery bomb it is.

“Hey, Hera,” I say, turning back to face her.

“Wha—”

The snapped package explodes in her face, sending particles of some bluish-greenish dust flying everywhere. Hera goes down immediately, her head banging against the ground.

“Oops,” I say.

I wait for the dust to settle before making my way through the kitchen. Okay, so I admit, it would’ve been much faster to just throw the package when I first entered the kitchen. But wasn’t that way more fun?

Note the sarcasm. I strongly regret not just throwing the glitter bomb, but hey, what’s done is done.

Once I’m through the kitchen, I head down the hallway toward the War Room. Knowing Athena and Apollo, they’re still deep in conversation about my vision. I still remember that one time it took them five hours to decipher what the pink sheep from Aphrodite’s dream meant. Honestly, it took them five hours and they never figured out that the pink sheep was literally just a hallucination from Aphrodite inhaling too much of her new perfume. There was a picture of a pink sheep on her perfume bottle, for crying out loud!

Which brings me back to my main point. If they’ve finished discussing even one detail of my vision, I’d be amazed.

The door to the War Room is shut so tight that I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d start running out of oxygen at some point. The fact that it’s also soundproof really isn’t helpful at the moment.

However, there’s still one way to listen in. Hermes discovered a singular ceiling tile that’s thinner than the others. He suspects water damage; I suspect poor architectural design (ahem, Athena). Still, it’s a secret shared only between a select few of us. Unfortunately, Apollo has been included in those select few and he probably knows that I’m going to try to listen in. Hopefully he doesn’t rat me out to Chiron.

To get to that tile, I need to climb up into the ceiling. Luckily, we’ve located a loose ceiling tile at the end of the hall; it’s just a matter of reaching it. Of course, that’s not a problem for me, considering that one of my godly abilities is flight.

Once I reach the end of the hall, I simply lower my hands to my sides and jump to gain some speed. The air whooshes past me as I rise steadily toward my opening. I stop beside it and nudge it experimentally. A deep sigh of relief leaves my chest; they haven’t fixed the tile.

I float higher and push my way into the ceiling. After carefully replacing the loose tile, I crawl toward the thin tile and press my ear against it. It’s faint, but I can hear their voices.

“—Zeus can’t know. Are we all agreed?”

Okay, seriously? This is the part of the conversation that I hear?

“Yes,” Athena says, her voice subdued as per usual. “However, I would recommend that we do not disclose this information with the others either.”

“Oh man,” Apollo cuts in with a high-pitched whine, “you know how bad I am at keeping secrets! Especially with something this big!”

Oh yeah, sure, keep torturing me. Thanks a lot.

“Athena is right,” Chiron says. “We must keep this quiet, at least until we have more information.”

Apollo lets out a huge groan. “Fine, if you say so.”

“I do say so.”

I can picture Apollo’s eye roll and Athena’s smirk. Man, if only they’d invited me in; then I could’ve laughed at their faces in person.

“So we are agreed?” Chiron continues.

Silence follows, but I assume that Athena and Apollo both nod.

“Very good,” Chiron says. “Meeting adjourned.”

My heart stops. You’ve got to be kidding. This is one time that they choose to have a quick meeting?

“Just kidding,” Chiron chuckles. “I saw the panic in your eyes there, Athena.”

Good thing he couldn’t see the panic in my eyes.

“Let’s discuss the elephant in the room,” Chiron says. “According to Zeus’s vision, Medusa is still alive.”

Wait, was Medusa supposed to be dead? I mean, at least the last time I saw her, she was alive and well.

“Well,” Apollo says, “visions aren’t always an exact reflection of the truth. Zeus doesn’t know that Medusa is dead, right? So that’s probably why he saw her in his vision.”

And Apollo knows that I don’t know? What in high Olympus is going on?

“Perhaps it’s time for us to tell him,” Chiron murmurs.

Uh, yes, I agree!

“No,” Athena says. “We don’t know the type of fallout that this kind of information would create. No, it’s safer for all of us to keep this to ourselves.”

“Great, another secret to add to the pile,” Apollo mutters.

“This is nothing new, Apollo,” Chiron reminds him. “You’ve kept this secret for two years already. I’m sure you can hold onto it for a bit longer.”

Two years? Medusa has been dead for two whole years and I never knew?!

“Three years,” Athena interjects.

Oh great. It was actually three years instead of two. That’s just perfect.

“So don’t you think that it’s time to let him know?” Apollo asks.

Man, I’m glad that I’ve got at least one person on my side.

“No,” Athena repeats.

“But what if we approach it like ‘Hey, Zeus, do you remember Medusa? Well, we’ve just heard that she’s no longer with us. Sorry about that.’”

“No.”

“Okay, how about ‘Hey, Zeus, we’ve got some bad news.’”

“No.”

“What about—”

“No.”

“But—”

“No.”

“H—”

“No.”

The room falls silent. Honestly, I’m amazed that Apollo held out for as long as he did; usually he just accepts Athena’s word as law, given that she’s supposed to be the wisest of us all.

Finally, Chiron says, “Well, I do believe that it’s settled. We don’t tell Zeus about Medusa.”

“Yeah, but what if he finds out?” Apollo asks.

“How would he find out?”

Another moment of silence, then Apollo mutters, “I don’t know, but he could.”

“We’ll deal with that if or when it happens,” Chiron says. “Now, can we please move on?”

“Yes,” Apollo murmurs.

“Yes, let’s discuss the mortals next,” Athena says.

“Alright,” Chiron says, probably giving a nod of respect toward Athena. “Let’s discuss the mortals.”

---

CHAPTER 6 – BASIL

Normally, I wouldn’t even consider getting into a stranger’s car, but I’m way too deep into whatever crazy magic world this is now. So, here I am, getting into the passenger’s seat of a dark green sports car with a girl I met literally two seconds ago and a shivering dog in my arms.

“So,” I say, words starting to fall out of my mouth as a result of my nerves, “I’m assuming your favourite colour is green. That’s cool; I like green too. And this car is super nice. I’d love to drive a car like this someday. But with what I’m getting paid at the adoption centre, I’d be lucky to get a car that’s street legal. Oh, and sorry in advance if the dog gets your car dirty. Like if she has an accident or something. I don’t know how likely that is, because I’ve never been with her in a car before, but I’m just saying that it’s a possibility. For both me and the dog, actually. Wow, did I just say that out loud? I can’t believe that I’m still talking. Please say something so that I stop rambling on like an idiot, even though I know you already think that I’m an idiot because I literally cannot stop talking.”

Finally, my lungs run out of air and I pause to take a gasp of oxygen. During my one second of silence, the girl glances at me and starts up her car. The engine lets out a loud growl, making me jump, before it shoots forward onto the street.

“Silas has instructed me to bring you back to his house to begin your training,” the girl repeats, her eyes fixed on the road.

Before my brain can censor my words, I say, “Are you a robot?”

That earns me another glance. “What?”

“Er, never mind.”

The girl returns her eyes forward. “No,” she says, the hint of a smile turning up the corner of her lips. “I’m not a robot. I just need to keep focused during missions.”

“So your mission is to bring me to Silas?”

“Yes.”

At least she seems to be responding to my questions now.

“So do you have a name? Or should I just get your attention by saying, “Hey, you there, the girl in green!’”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” she says.

We sit in silence for a moment more. Just as I open my mouth to ask her again, she adds, “My name is Neera.”

“Neera,” I repeat with a smile. It’s a pretty name. “Well, Neera, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Basil.”

“I know.”

I frown. “Yeah, how do you know my name, by the way?”

“I did my research before this mission,” she says, sounding offended that I asked.

I stare at her. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

She sighs and shakes her head. “You really don’t know anything, do you?”

“Well, if you mean that I don’t know anything about whatever it is I don’t know about, then you’d be right.”

A hint of a smile cracks her serious expression again.

“What? Did I say something funny?”

“Everything about you is funny.”

“Um, thanks?”

“No problem.”

For a while, I just stare out the window and watch the trees race by. We’ve left the city far behind—not that it took long, because the adoption centre was on the edge of the city to begin with—and are now on a winding path through a forest. Neera’s driving along with a practised hand; she must’ve travelled this road many times before, considering how many twists and turns there are and how easily she’s navigating.

“So where exactly are we going?” I ask.

“To Silas’s house.”

“Okay, well I know that. But where’s his house?”

Just as the words leave my mouth, the trees open up to reveal a hill in the distance. On top of the hill sits a house that must be massive, because I can see it all the way from here.

“There it is,” she says.

“Gee thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The house disappears momentarily as the road dips downward. As the shadows from the trees flash over us, I turn to watch Neera as she drives. I’m honestly trying not to be creepy, but I’m also trying my best to understand a bit more about this robot-like girl who’s driving me out into the middle of nowhere. Maybe she is actually a robot. Some form of artificial intelligence? Has AI already taken over the world and we just don’t know it yet?!

“Stop staring at me.”

My head snaps back to the front. “Sorry.”

The whirring of the engine takes centre stage as we re-emerge into sunlight.

“Okay,” Neera says with a sigh, “this is excruciating. If you’ve got something you want to ask me, just ask.”

I almost blurt out, “But you’re scary!” Luckily, I catch the words before they fall out of my mouth and swallow them up hopefully to never ever be heard.

Somehow, I manage to ask an actual question. “How do you know Silas?”

She throws me a sidelong glance and says slowly, “Silas took me in after my parents died.”

“Typical orphan sob story?”

“Yep.”

“Same.”

She glances at me again with a strange look in her eyes. “Really?”

“Yeah. Parents died when I was seven. House fire.”

“Nine. Car accident and cancer.”

Laughter suddenly bubbles up into my chest. It comes out as a dry chuckle.

Neera frowns. “Are you seriously laughing at how my parents died?”

“No. I’m laughing because instead of asking each other about our favourite colours and pet peeves, the first real conversation we’re having is about how our parents died. I’m not sure if that follows the typical orphan sob story?

She adds her own chuckle to mine. “Just because our origin story is typical doesn’t mean that the rest of our lives will be.”

“That is true. I mean, you’re wearing actual armour for crying out loud!” I pause before adding, “Wait, are you guys superheroes?”

“Superheroes?” Neera arches an eyebrow. “No, we’re not superheroes. We’re just… people who try their best to make this world a better place.”

“That’s literally the definition of heroes. Plus, you’ve got magical powers or whatever. Well, Silas does, at least. Hero plus magic equals superhero.”

She looks at me sharply. “What did you say?”

“That you are, in fact, superheroes?”

“No, about Silas.”

“What, that he’s got magical powers?”

She shakes her head. “Silas doesn’t have magical powers. None of us do.”

“Wait, there are more of you?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“There are five of us and Silas.”

“Five of you?”

“Yes, that’s what I just said.”

Something doesn’t quite sit right with me about that. There’s five—six apparently, including Silas—superhero-type people running around on Earth. So why haven’t I ever seen them before? Or even heard of them? Shouldn’t they be in the news constantly, what with all the epic battles they fight to keep us here on Earth safe?

“We prefer to work in the shadows,” Neera says, as if magically reading my mind. I’m telling you; they have superpowers. She adds, “And before you say that I just magically read your mind, I can assure you that I didn’t. I just happen to know the thought process of new recruits.”

For some reason, I immediately feel less special.

“And no, you’re not special,” she continues. This not-mind-reading-but-actually-still-mind-reading is freaking me out. “Again, I know how new recruits think.”

“Oh yeah? So what am I thinking right now?”

“That you thought you were special, and now you’re shocked to find out that my four coworkers went through the exact same process as you.”

“Is that really what you think?”

“Well now you’re not thinking about that, because you’re trying to prove me wrong. Now you’re thinking about the most random thing you can possibly think of which, for you, is probably unicorns or something.”

Wow, she’s good.

“So?”

“So what?” I say with a frown.

“Was I right?”

“About what?”

She lets out an exasperated sigh and rolls her eyes. “About you thinking about unicorns.”

“Umm…”

“So that’s a yes?”

“Well…”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Okay, if that makes you happy.”

She scrunches her nose at me as the car suddenly jolts to a stop. I look up to see that the tiny house I’d seen in the distance before towering over me.

“Oh, I guess we’re here.”

She turns off her car and opens her door. “Come on. Silas is waiting.”

Her door slams before I can ask about Silas. I hurry out of the car and look up to see that she’s already at the door.

“Come on!” she repeats impatiently.

I jog to catch up to her, this time asking my question as I go. “So why didn’t Silas bring me here himself?”

“He was busy.”

“With what?”

She glares at me as I skid to a stop next to her. “Did you not see that giant dog outside the kennel?”

“Adoption centre,” I correct her out of habit. “And that was a dog?!”

“Yes. Cerberus.”

“What?”

“Cerberus.”

“Repeating it won’t make it magically make sense.”

The door suddenly slams open and there stands Silas, no longer in his white armour but once again in normal modern day clothes. “Cerberus is a creature from Greek mythology that appeared as a three-headed dog,” he says. “It guarded the Underworld and was Lord Hades’s pet.” His lips turn up into a smirk. “Of course, the Cerberus that escaped today isn’t exactly the same as the one in the myths.”

A large fluffy creature suddenly at Silas’s feet, pushing its nose between his legs to peek out the door.

“Basil,” Silas says with a chuckle, “meet Cerberus.”

The big, shaggy black dog squeezes out from behind Silas and bounds over to me. Biscuit immediately meets him and the tails start wagging.

Neera leans over to me and whispers, “Cerberus has separation anxiety. He escaped today to find Silas.”

“Wait, but what about the thunder and lightning and all that other stuff?” I ask, staring at the dog—Cerberus—as he and Biscuit tumble around on the ground together.

Silas shrugs. “Weird coincidence.”

“But the ground was dry when I came outside!”

“Was it?”

“I…” I look down and notice that the ground is, in fact, soaking wet. Huh.

“But how—”

“Shock,” Neera says.

“But what about the armour? And all this ‘you were chosen to save the world’ crap? And this training? And this house? Who are you people?!”

Neera and Silas exchange a look that must mean something to them but means absolutely nothing to me.

“Let’s go inside,” Silas says, turning back to look at me. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

He turns and walks into the house. Cerberus gives Biscuit one last lick before following Silas. Biscuit bounds after him into the house, leaving Neera and me standing outside.

“Go on,” she says, nodding at the door.

I take a deep breath, but still hesitate. “Can I ask you something?”

“You’re going to ask anyway.”

“True.” I pause before asking, “Can I trust you?”

She shakes her head. “Only you know the answer to that.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Basil, we’re not going to force you to do anything. If you want, I’ll drive you back into the city right now.” She pauses and gives me a small smile. “But I have a feeling that your curiosity is going to win this time.”

I chuckle. “Wow, one car ride and you already know how I think.”

“Of course,” she says, giving me a wink. “You’re a new recruit, remember?”

“Right.”

I take another deep breath before turning to the door. It’s amazing how difficult it can be to literally walk through a door.

“Okay,” I say with a firm nod, “let’s do this.”

---

CHAPTER 7 – ZEUS

Six incredibly long and uncomfortable hours later, Chiron, Athena, and Apollo wrap up their final topic of the day.

“Get a good night’s sleep,” Chiron says, his voice barely audible over the scraping of his chair as he pushes it in. “We did some good work today, but it’s just the beginning. Tomorrow, the real work begins.”

“Oh, joy,” Apollo mutters, “I can’t wait.”

“And remember,” Chiron says, “everything we discussed today stays in this room. Am I understood?” He pauses before adding, “I’m looking at you, Apollo.”

“Yes, I understand,” he mumbles.

“Good. Then get some rest. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

I hear the doors open and close before silence falls over the room.

Suddenly, a voice rings out. “You can come down now, Zeus. I know you’re there.”

Crap.

Slowly, I lift the ceiling tile and float down into the room. I land in front of Athena, who’s waiting with her arms crossed.

“Hi,” I say sheepishly. “How did you—”

“You’re so predictable,” she sighs, shaking her head. “Honestly, did you really think I didn’t know about that ceiling tile?”

“I mean, I guess I didn’t really think about it.”

“Of course you didn’t.” Her expression suddenly softens as she whispers, “You heard most of that conversation then, didn’t you?”

If it were Apollo, I probably would’ve lied and said that I just heard the tail end of it, but there’s no point trying to trick Athena.

“Yeah,” I admit. “Is it… Is it true about Medusa? Is she really dead?

Athena’s eyes are filled with sympathy as she nods. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs, resting a hand on my shoulder.

I let out a long sigh and pull out a chair. As I sit down, I say, “If you knew that I was listening, why did you fight so hard to keep Medusa’s death a secret?”

“I was trying to not rat you out to Chiron. I’ve held the position that Medusa’s death should be kept a secret from you for years. What would he have thought if I suddenly changed my mind?”

“Maybe you changed your mind because of what you saw in my vision? Maybe it would’ve made sense for me to know?”

“But that’s the thing; it wouldn’t have made a difference. It doesn’t matter that Medusa is dead now because you already had your vision.”

“But maybe my vision would’ve been different if I’d known that Medusa was dead. Maybe I would’ve seen something different.”

She chuckles. “I may not have Apollo’s expertise of visions, but even I know that it wouldn’t have made a difference. Visions are never influenced by your conscious or subconscious thoughts. Visions just… are.”

“So what, they’re given to us by some higher power? And here I thought that we were that higher power.”

Athena shakes her head. “Oh, the mighty Lord Zeus and his mighty ego. Yes, we may be gods, but that doesn’t mean that we’re all-powerful. We can still be killed, remember?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s nearly impossible to kill us.”

“‘Nearly impossible’ being the key words,” she says. She pulls out a chair and sits so that she’s facing me. “Listen, I know that you heard our whole meeting, so I won’t repeat myself. All I can say is that something big is coming. We both know that. So the only thing we can do now is prepare. We’re one step ahead, because we know what’s coming. So let’s prepare as best we can and try to keep ahead of whatever’s coming, okay?”

I sigh. “It just all feels so pointless. My vision foretold of certain doom. So why bother preparing if we’re all just going to die anyway?”

“Visions don’t foretell the future,” Athena says. “They just predict it.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

She gives me a glare that says ‘Of course not, dummy.’

I hold my hands up. “Okay, geez, sorry.”

“Look,” she says softly, reaching out to rest a hand on my shoulder, “no matter what visions may say, we make our own future. We decide how we live and when we die. If you don’t want to die by getting your head bashed in by a brick, then don’t.”

“Oh yeah, because it’s just that easy,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Plus, I don’t get killed by a brick, because Medusa was the one trying who was trying to do that. It’ll be this Basil guy who’s destined to kill me apparently.” I raise an eyebrow. “Hey, why don’t we just go around the world killing everyone named Basil?”

She chuckles. She actually chuckles!

“I’m not joking!”

“Sure you aren’t,” she says, her eyes still filled with amusement. “So when are you heading off on this killing spree of innocents named Basil?”

“Um…”

She sighs. “Honestly, Zeus, you’d never be able to do it. You’re too much of a softie.”

“Well, I— Okay, yeah, you’re right.” I let out a deep breath before whining, “Why do I have to be such a good guy?”

“It’s a curse,” Athena laughs, nudging me. “Okay, seriously though, I think you’ve spent enough time moping around in here. You want to go train for a bit?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I’ll even show you how to defend yourself against spaghetti sauce.”

“Hah hah. Very funny.”

Athena chuckles at me before leading the way out of the War Room. As we pass through the kitchen, she stops and stares at the floor. I peek over her shoulder to see Hera curled up on her side, sucking her thumb. A sprinkling of sparkles resting on her cheeks glints in the harsh kitchen lights.

My cheeks flush and I open my mouth to give some lame excuse, but Athena raises her hand.

“I don’t want to know,” she says, taking a large step over Hera and continuing to the door.

In my defence, Hera looks like she’s getting more rest than she has in weeks—she’s always complaining about how there’s a draft in her room that prevents her from getting a good night’s sleep. So really, she should be thanking me!

I step over her and hurry after Athena. We walk outside together, directly into Hermes.

“Shoot,” I mutter under my breath as Hermes greets Athena.

“Ah, so this explains sleeping goddess in there,” Athena says dryly, jabbing her thumb backward at the kitchen.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hermes says with a grin. He glances over Athena’s shoulder and calls, “Alright, you can hand it over now.” He sticks his hand out to receive the book or snack or whatever I was supposed to pick up for him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, trying my best to mimic his annoying little voice.

His face drops into a scowl. “You forgot.”

“‘Forgot’ is a strong word, don’t you think? It’s more like my mind was preoccupied with other, more important stuff and didn’t have space for your thing.”

“That’s literally the definition of forgetting something.”

“But—”

“He’s right,” Athena cuts me off, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I know he’s right,” I snap. My mouth continues without my brain’s permission. “Jeez, you’re such a know-it-all.”
Immediately, I go into apology mode. “Athena, I didn’t mean it, I—”

But it’s too late. Her eyes darken and she does her dreaded arm cross. Honestly, Athena standing on front of you with crossed arms and a scowl is near the top of my list of The Most Terrifying Things to Ever Stand in Front of Me. Yes, it is a real list. No, I’m not going to give you the full list right now, because quite frankly, number one is embarrassing.

“You know what?” she hisses. “I hope you enjoy getting killed by spaghetti sauce.”

“That’s not—”

But she’s already spun on her heel and stalked away.

“Okay, why is everyone so against spaghetti sauce lately?” Hermes says, watching Athena leave. “Like, I get it because it’s gross, but also, why?”

“It really is being overused,” I agree.

Suddenly, he slaps my arm.

“Ow!” I whine, rubbing the spot that’ll surely be bruised later.

“You had one job!” he shouts. “Just the one! But no, the almighty Zeus couldn’t be bothered to grab a sketchbook for one of his insignificant peasants.”

“Woah there, now that’s not fair.” The air around me begins crackling with tiny sparks of electricity. “I was trying to figure out what Chiron thought about our future. Our future, not just mine. So I think that your sketchbook can wait.”

Hermes’s face drops into an even deeper scowl. “We had a deal, Zeus.”

“Yeah, well some things are more important. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go.”

“Go where exactly?”

It’s a valid question that I have no valid answer to other than ‘To get away from you before you kick my butt’. Honestly, it’s pathetic that I’m scared of Hermes of all people. I mean honestly, he’s like a weasel, with his spindly limbs and pointy nose and beady little eyes. And yet, under his glare, I panic.

“I need to get ready for a date.”

A date? A date?! Seriously? That’s the first thing that came to my stupid little brain?

“A date?” Hermes says, staring at me with disbelief. “Seriously?”

“Um, yes?”

“Oh yeah? And who’s the lucky girl?”

Girl names, girl names, come on Zeus, think!!

“Brieleanita,” is the mess that ends up coming out of my mouth. Because that’s totally a girl’s name.

“Come one more time?”

“Brieleanita,” I repeat. I hope I got all those syllables in there.

“And where did you meet this, ‘Brieleanita’?” he asks, his fingers sticking up in air quotes as he says that completely realistic name.

“Oh, you know, in the city.”

“Which city?”

Okay, now this time I really can’t make up a name.

“Thessaloniki,” I say.

“Greece?” Hermes says, raising an eyebrow. “And when exactly was the last time you were in Greece?”

“Last week.”

“When?”

“Like, Wednesday, maybe? Or maybe it was Friday. I don’t know, man. Seriously, can we drop this now?”

Hermes crosses his arms, an uncharacteristic frown darkening his usually-joyful face. “No, because you’re lying to me just to get out of admitting that you messed up. Honestly, Zeus, I ask you to do one thing and when you don’t do it, you can’t apologize. And you call yourself a leader?” He shakes his head. “Nah, man, you’re no leader.”

Now that hits me right in the heart. Which apparently makes me revert back to a five-year-old. “I am too a leader!”

Hermes just shakes his head at me before turning and walking away.

“Okay then,” I call after him, “I’ll let you know how my date goes.”

Man, why do I keep pushing this date thing? Knowing Hermes, he’ll bring it up again at dinner when everyone else is there just so that he can force a confession out of me. Well, that’s not going to happen. I guess it’s time to find a girl named Brieleanita or whatever that weird name was that popped into my mind.

At least I’ve created an excuse to leave Olympus for a few hours. Hopefully, a nice walk outside will help me clear my head.

By some miracle, I manage to slip out of the gates without being stopped again. Once I’m a safe distance away, I shoot up into the sky. The air rushes past me, cooling my face and emotions. By the time I emerge over the clouds, I feel calmer than if I’d just taken a long, hot bath.

Out of all my abilities, flying has always been my favourite. The incredible feeling of complete freedom never gets old.

A flicker of movement down below catches my eye. Cars weave back and forth along the highway, playing an endless game of cat and mouse. But one car in particular makes my heart pound in my chest.

My fists clench as I spin in midair and dive back down through the clouds. A cloud of dust erupts around me as I land in the middle of Olympus. Immediately, Chiron is at my side.

“What is it?” he asks.

“He’s coming,” I pant. “He’s almost here.”

“Who?” Chiron demands.

“Who do you think?” I spit. “The only other person who knows where we live.”

“Ah,” Chiron says with a solemn nod. “So Hades has finally returned.”

---

CHAPTER 8 – BASIL

‘Magnificent’ comes nowhere close to doing this house justice. I mean come on, what house has a literal throne room right inside the front door? And yes, I mean an actual throne room, with a beautiful golden throne and everything. The entire room looks like something out of a fantasy-sci-fi hybrid world; everything looks like it was taken out of an ancient world before being ground through a time machine to bring it into the future. I mean I’d be surprised if the throne didn’t have some sort of buttons in the armrests like on a captain’s seat of a starship.

My footsteps echo through the hall as I follow Silas. Columns tower over me on both sides, adorned with gold details and creepy faces. Okay, I’m sure they’re not supposed to be creepy, but to me they are. I mean seriously, who puts faces onto columns?

“They’re the Greek gods,” Neera whispers into my ear, scaring the crap out of me.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” I hiss at her. “I nearly peed myself!”

“Don’t be such a scaredy-cat,” she retorts. “Now come on, we’re falling behind.”

I barely stop myself from sticking my tongue out at her as I quicken my pace. The lighter pitter-patter of Cerberus’s and Biscuit’s paws on the cold tile intertwine with our heavy footsteps as we near the throne.

Silas stops in front of it and turns to face Neera and me. “Welcome, Basil,” he says, his voice booming. “We have been waiting for you.”

Of course he keeps his statements annoyingly vague. Without waiting for me to ask any questions, he raises his hands and claps twice. Doors on either side of the room swing open and out steps four people, all dressed in armour similar to Neera’s and Silas’s.

“Right, because this isn’t weird at all,” I mutter under my breath.

Neera nudges me with her sharp elbow. “Shush.”

“Everyone,” Silas says, his voice bouncing off the hard walls, “meet Basil. Basil, meet your new co-workers.”

This entire time, the four of them have been standing perfectly still, posing almost like a regal statue that would match the Ancient Greek theme of this house. Honestly, if I hadn’t seen them walk through those doors, I might’ve actually mistaken them for statues.

Suddenly, four pairs of eyes lock onto me. A shiver runs down my spine from the intensity of their expressions.

“Oh man!” the guy dressed in black armour exclaims, a broad grin breaking out across his face. “You should see the look on your face. Pure shock. Here, hold still.” A flash momentarily blinds me. When my vision clears, I see a camera lens pointing at me. Great, he’s immortalized that stupid expression I probably had on my face.

“Now, now, Kellan,” Silas says, “let’s try to make Basil feel at home.”

“This is what it’s like living here,” the girl in crimson armour says dryly. “So Kell’s doing a good job at making him feel at home.”

“Mei has a point,” Neera says with a shrug.

“Come now,” the other guy in violet armour says, “Let’s give the poor kid a break. I mean really, he looks like he’s about to run out of here screaming!”

Even though the violet guy’s words are kind, his face definitely isn’t. He has a smirk that can only be described as cruel as he steps forward, holding out a hand to me. “Welcome, good sir,” he says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “It’s an absolute delight to meet you.”

“That’s enough, Jonah,” Silas says firmly. “Now, Basil, let me introduce everyone properly. You’ve already met Neera.”

I glance to the side to see that Neera’s moved away to stand in front of a closed door. I guess if she hadn’t walked in with me, she would’ve made the same dramatic entrance as everyone else. She’s watching me through narrowed eyes, her fingers constantly moving by her sides. She slows her movements for just long enough for me to make out small knives dancing between her well-practised fingers.

Remind me to never get on Neera’s bad side.

“Next,” Silas continues, “we have Kellan.”

The guy in black armour gives me a wave and a goofy smile. Even though he looks a few years older than me, he’s acting like he’s several years younger. I mean honestly, who takes pictures of random people that they think have funny expressions? Immature children, that’s who.

“Then we have Meilin…”

Okay, I thought that Neera was scary, but this girl’s terrifying in a different way. Sure, she looks innocent and all, but there’s something in her eyes that makes my skin crawl. Plus, her red armour isn’t really helping; the cut of it makes her look like a princess drenched in blood. I think I’m going to be sleeping with one eye open from now on.

“,,, and Jonah.”

The guy in violet looks down his nose at me. He, too, has moved back to his place in front of his door, but it feels like his presence is still right here in front of me. His thumbs are hanging casually on his armour where a belt would’ve been, but nothing about him feels casual.

“Finally,” Silas says, gesturing toward the last girl who’s remained silent so far, “we have Harper.”

Harper gives me a small smile and wave. Her golden armour matches her hair, both shining in the harsh light of the room.

“And, of course, you’ve already met Cerberus,” Silas says with some amusement, leaning down to pet his dog between the ears. “I’m glad that he and Biscuit are already getting along so well.”

My mind finally snaps out of this weird, accepting trance that it’s been in since I walked into this room. Millions of questions tumble over one another in my mind.

Why are they wearing armour? Where am I? Why is there a throne? What’s behind those doors? Why does Neera have knives? Who are these people?

And, perhaps most importantly, why am I here?

“But now,” Silas says, “you must be wondering why you’re here.”

“Umm, yes,” I say. “You told me that I’m destined to save the world and that you would help me with my training, but that’s it. It just all seems a bit vague.”

“Hmm, yes, I can see that,” Silas says. “Well, you might as well come in and make yourself comfortable. Come, let’s go to the conference room.”

He turns on his heel and leads the way behind the throne to yet another door at the very back of the room. I follow him, feeling the eyes of the others trained on me. Each of them falls into step behind me as we walk in single file toward this conference room.

The door behind the throne leads to a hallway that stretches as far as the eye can see to both the left and the right. Pictures of various Greek gods line the walls, as well as pieces of artwork that I assume are also of ancient Greek origin, given the theme of the rest of the house.

Silas turns right and continues down the hallway. I quicken my pace to keep up with his longer strides; I don’t want to get lost like an idiot and have to ask one of the others for help.

“Hi,” a soft voice says beside me, making me jump.

“Jeez, hi,” I say, turning to see Harper walking beside me. Even though she’s wearing armour, she moves almost completely silently.

“I’m Harper,” she says. “I know that Silas already said that, but I wanted to introduce myself to you.”

That does make me feel more comfortable.

“Thanks,” I say, trying to convey my sincere gratitude in just the one word. “Well, as you already know too, I’m Basil.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Basil,” she says with a smile.

“Er, so, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the armour?”

She glances down at her own shimmering golden suit. “Wow, Silas really didn’t tell you anything, did he?”

“Nope.”

She chuckles softly. “Typical Silas. Sorry though, if he didn’t tell you, I’m sure he had his reasons. I’m sure he’ll explain everything once we get to the conference room.”

I let out a long sigh. “Fine.”

“Aw, don’t pout, we’re almost there.”

I glance over my shoulder to see that we have, in fact, already walked quite some ways down the hall.

“How big exactly is this house?” I ask.

Harper shrugs. “Honestly? I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever explored the whole thing.”

“But you’re here every day, aren’t you? Like is this a job for you? Or what?”

She raises an eyebrow. “This isn’t work, Basil. This is a lifestyle and this is our home. We live together and train together and fight together. We’re a family, and soon, you’re going to be a part of it.”

“Wait, you live here? And you’re expecting me to live here too?”

“Yeah. If you want to really make a difference in this world, you’re going to have to dedicate your whole life to it. We all have, and none of us have ever had any regrets.”

Her hand suddenly snaps out to grab my arm, stopping me in my tracks. I look forward again to see that I would’ve crashed into Silas if Harper hadn’t stopped me.

“We’re here,” Silas says, turning around to face me. He does a double take when he sees how close I am to him. I mumble an apology and take a step back.

“This is our conference room,” he says, gesturing behind him at the large double doors. “If you ever need to call a meeting, just press this button.” He presses a large red button beside the door that could’ve been mistaken for a doorbell if it weren’t inside. As soon as the button is pushed, an alarm rings out through the rest of the house. “The alarm will only stop once everyone in the house is in the conference room,” Silas shouts, pushing open the doors and corralling us in. “Hurry now.”

I step inside the conference room, which is honestly just a normal office conference room. The doors close behind me and the alarm stops.

“Wait, but how does the alarm know when everyone is here?” I ask, turning to Silas.

“The house knows all,” Kellan says, giving me a wink.

“Sensors in the walls detect how many people are in the house at any given time,” Silas says. “And sensors on the door track how many people enter the room.”

“So… the house is spying on us?” I ask, feeling a bit queasy.

“Not spying on us,” Silas says with a frown. “Spying for us.”

That doesn’t make me feel better.

“It’s very rare for someone to call an emergency meeting, though,” Neera says. “The last time we had one was two years ago when Jonah tripped and hit the button.”

“I only tripped because Kell tied my shoelaces together,” Jonah protests with a scowl. He turns to Kellan and says, “Honestly, you act like a child sometimes.”

Kellan sticks his tongue out at Jonah. “At least I’m not a grumpy old man like you, dad.”

“I’m twenty! That’s not old!”

“Boys, boys,” Silas interjects, holding up his hands between the two of them. By his almost imperceptible eye roll and Neera’s snicker, I can tell that I should expect many more little arguments like this in the future. “Come now, take your seats.”

He sits at the head of the table and gestures down the line of chairs. I hang back—is there assigned seating or do I grab the first one I see?—and the others march toward what I suppose are their assigned chairs. The last empty one is at the head of the table opposite Silas, so I head to that one and sit down.

“Good,” Silas says, “now we can begin.” He looks directly at me and there’s a soft shuffling of fabric as the others do the same. Involuntarily, I shrink under their gazes; oh, come on, you’d find that being stared at by six people in full sets of armour is super intimidating too!

“Basil,” Silas continues, “you may ask your questions now.”

Immediately, my mind goes blank. Don’t you find that that always seems to happen? You’ve got ten million questions bumping into each other in your head like people in an overcrowded amusement park, but as soon as someone gives you free rein to ask those questions, everyone leaves the park. Like, what’s with that?!

So, my magnificent brain sends that message of emptiness all the way to my mouth and vocal cord muscles and I say, “Uhhhhhhh…”

Luckily, Harper jumps in and saves my idiotic-sounding butt. “Actually, Basil was wondering about the type of training we do here.”

“Has he seriously not figured it out by now?” Jonah mutters under his breath, still loud enough for me to hear even though he’s all the way at the other end of the table.

Silas gives Jonah a disapproving look—which Jonah doesn’t even see, by the way—before saying, “In simple terms, we train heroes here.”

I stare at him. “Heroes? Like the people who fly around and shoot lasers out of their hands and talk to animals?”

Silas frowns. “Those would be superheroes. No, no, we are very much interested in helping people, but we do not have superpowers.”

“But you healed me! It was just like magic!”

At the word ‘magic’, the group collectively chuckles. No, ‘chuckles’ would imply that it’s a quiet laugh. Kellan’s almost fallen out of his chair from his uproarious laughter, while Jonah and Meilin are snickering and exchanging glances like ‘Did this idiot really just say magic?’. Meanwhile, Neera’s looking at me sorrowfully, like I’m a sad puppy sitting on the side of the road in the middle of a thunderstorm. Harper’s the only one who doesn’t react; in fact, she gives me a small smile that I interpret as supportive.

“That was no magic,” Silas says with a frown. He sounds offended that I would even suggest such a thing. “That was pure science.” He holds up a gloved hand and shows me his palm.

“Um, is there something I should be looking at here?” I ask, squinting across the long table at him.

“Oh my gosh,” Meilin sighs from my right, rolling her eyes. “Okay, kid, look here.”

“I’m, like, the same age as you,” I mutter, but I still watch her as she raises her own hand and opens her palm. At first, I still don’t say anything, but Meilin scares me too much for me to say anything. So, I just stare at her hand, waiting for something to happen.

And then, I see it. The surface of the glove is moving, almost as if it’s alive. Now that I see the movement, I see it everywhere. Meilin’s entire suit, which I previously thought had just been shimmering in the light as she moved, is actually shifting. It rolls with her muscles as she flexes her biceps, keeping tight to her skin.

Sudden movement on her palm makes me jump. A bright beam of light is erupting from her palm. The light shuts off and as I blink away the spots from my eyes, I see the tiny scale-like parts of her suit turning back over to hide the flashlights.

“Cool,” I breathe. “How did you do that? Is there a button you press? Or a hand signal that you do? Do all your suits have flashlights? Can they do anything else? What do—”

Silas holds up a hand and I stop talking. Suddenly, I realize that I haven’t taken a breath since I started asking questions, so I breathe in deeply and let it out again.

“It seems we have found your questions,” Silas says, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “The answer to your first question is highly scientific, so all I will say is that we control our suits through thought. Simply think about what you want the suit to do and it will do it.”

“So if I want it to get me an ice cream, it’ll do it?”

“Er, well, not quite. The suit does have its limits.”

Aw man, I could’ve really gone for an ice cream.

“All the suits are equipped with basic survival functions,” Silas continues as I try to push my craving for ice cream aside. “Flashlights, fire, and ice picks to name a few.”

“And healing capabilities,” I add.

“And healing capabilities,” Silas repeats with a nod. “But then each of our suits has some unique capabilities.” He nods at Meilin. “Meilin likes to store her weapons in her suit.”

Meilin smirks at me before a long, sharp, blood-red sword suddenly slides out from the palm of her suit.

“Holy crap!” I yelp, jumping backward as she waves her sword in front of my face. “Be careful!”

“Oh, calm down,” Meilin sighs, rolling her eyes and retracting her sword. “I’m not going to hurt you. At least, not right now.”

Perfect, a death threat. I’ve always loved getting those. For some reason, whenever I try to threaten someone—jokingly, of course—they just laugh me off. Although, to be fair, a Yorkie doesn’t even feel threatened by me, so I guess I can’t blame the humans that I try to threaten.

But Meilin… Man, she’s something else. You know how people usually have multiple dimensions or sides to their personalities or whatever your English teacher tells you when you’re supposed to be inventing a character and she scolds you for creating a flat, boring, one-dimensional character? Well, whoever created Meilin didn’t do that. Meilin’s scary. Period. End of story.

“She’s not going to hurt you,” Harper whispers to me from the other side of the table.

Meilin shoots her a dirty look, which Harper doesn’t even see. Man, I wish I could be that confident.

“So what does your suit do?” I ask Harper.

Her lips curve upward as she raises a palm. The golden links of armour begin vibrating. I lean in to get a better view. Suddenly, the armour releases a blast of air directly into my face. I’m lifted up out of my seat for a second before landing hard.

“What just happened?” I ask, staring at Harper.

She curls her fingers back in and lowers her hand. “I can push air around,” she says casually, as if she’d just said something normal like, “It’s supposed to rain today.”

“You can push air around?” I repeat. “Like, you can control the air?”

“Um, no,” she says with a slight frown. “I mean I can create powerful movements with the air directly around my suit.”

“So can you fly?”

Harper glances at Silas. “We’re working on it, but we’re not quite there yet.”

“Oh.”

“But,” Silas interjects, “we did just add that new feature, remember?”

“Oh yeah!” Harper’s eyes light up as she turns to face me again. “Here, watch this.”

She raises her palm again. This time, I lean back so that my face doesn’t get the full force of another blast of air.

“This time is different,” Harper reassures me, a glimmer of amusement in her eye. “Just watch.”

As I stare at Harper’s palm, her armour begins to move again. But it’s shifting more slowly this time, almost as if it needs time to think. As I squint through the light reflecting off the golden metal, a tiny drop of liquid appears. Very slowly, it gets bigger and bigger until she’s cupping an entire handful of water in her palm.

“Whoa,” I say. “Okay, how did you do that?”

“Magic,” Jonah says, his voice thick with sarcasm. He snickers when I shoot him a glance.

“Science,” Silas says, beginning to sound like a broken record. “The suit cycles the air and extracts the water particles.”

“So you’re basically like Mother Nature?” I ask Harper.

“Silas says that the name Gaia is more appropriate,” she says. “You know, considering the Greek mythology theme and all.”

“Gaia?”

“Yeah, in Greek mythology, she was the goddess version of Earth.”

“Umm, what?”

“Just think of her as Greek Mother Earth.”

“Oh, okay. That I can understand.”

Silas raises his hands and my eyes snap to him. It’s hard to explain, but every time he moves, I almost feel like I have to bow down to him or something to show my respect. I guess he’s just one of those people with a powerful presence.

“You’ll soon come to learn everyone’s unique abilities,” he says. “But I’m sure you’re feeling overwhelmed from all this information.”

Overwhelmed? Well yeah, that’s one way to put it.

“Jonah will show you to your quarters,” Silas says. “Then, in two hours, we’ll begin your training.”

---

CHAPTER 9 – ZEUS

I don’t know what it is about Hades, but at the mere mention of his name, my face contorts into an ugly grimace. I swear, it’s an involuntary reflex to his name.

As the car skids to a stop in front of us, enveloping us in a cloud of dust, I can’t get the grimace to go away. Maybe this is just my new look. I mean honestly, it’s about the same look as models make as they go down the runway. So if they can pull it off, who’s to say that I can’t?

“Your face is doing that weird thing again,” Apollo whispers into my ear.

Okay, so maybe I can’t pull it off. I take the time for the dust to clear to relax my facial muscles into a smile.

“What are you doing?” Apollo hisses. “You look like a creep.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but it’s either this face or the other one.”

“Fine, go back to the other one then.”

I scrunch my nose up and stick my tongue out at him before letting my face settle back into its grimace.

The dust finally settles, revealing the sparkling black car in front of us. The purple skull design on the front is unmistakable; only fans of heavy metal and the God of the Underworld would grace their car with a design like that.

The car’s front door opens and literal smoke pours out. Honestly, I don’t know how he can breathe in there.

A black leather boot steps out. It’s been polished to a point that I can literally see the reflections of the faces of all the tormented dead in it.

Oh wait, no, that’s just my disgusted face staring back at me.

“Well, well, well,” Hades says as the rest of his body emerges from the car. “How nice of you all to come welcome me.”

“Chiron made us,” Apollo mumbles under his breath.

I hold back a chuckle and gently elbow him.

“Ah, Zeus,” Hades says. He slams his car door closed behind him and holds his arms out to me. When I don’t immediately return his hug, he grabs me and squeezes me tightly. “I missed you most of all,” he whispers into my ear.]

I scowl but let him hug me for an uncomfortably long time. Honestly, I really don’t understand why Chiron likes him so much. Seriously, why does he like Hera and Hades so much? Okay, Hera I can understand because she acts so incredibly sickly sweet around him. It’s amazing, really, that he doesn’t realize that she’s faking it just to get to be the favourite. But Hades? He doesn’t even try to hide that he’s a self-absorbed jerk, and yet Chiron still seems to love him. I should be the one getting that attention, for crying out loud! I’m the leader of the Olympians, not Hades!

“Hades,” Chiron says with a smile, “welcome back.”

“It’s good to be home, dear Chiron,” Hades replies with a smirk. “Apollo, Hermes, Hera, good to see you all again.” His eyes fall on Aphrodite and they immediately light up.

“Welcome home, Hades,” Aphrodite purrs, giving him a wink.

Man, I almost wish that they’d just get together and get this whole pointless chasing each other stuff out of the way. I mean it couldn’t be more obvious that they both like each other, so I don’t understand why they can’t admit it. It would be a whole lot easier—not to mention less uncomfortable—if they just got over this little flirty phase.

“Come inside,” Chiron says, interrupting the awkward series of eyelash batting that Aphrodite and Hades are doing at each other. “You must have many stories to tell us about your travels.”

“Oh, that I do,” Hades says, finally tearing his eyes away from Aphrodite. “I’ve got news of your precious mortal heroes.”

Apollo and I exchange a glance.

“I’m not telling him,” Apollo whispers. “It was your vision.”

“Yeah, but visions are your responsibility,” I hiss back.

“A vision?” Hades’ sharp voice makes me wince. “Haven’t your visions already done enough damage, Apollo?”

“I don’t control them,” Apollo snaps back, fire in his eyes. “All I do is help facilitate your state of mind to be able to enter into the vision!”

“Right,” Hades says dryly. “Sorry, I just forgot how much I don’t care.”

Man, Hades can be so annoying sometimes.

Hades’ black eyes land on me and I freeze.

“So,” he says, slowly walking toward me, “what exactly did you see in this vision of yours, dear brother?”

“Um, well—”

Wow, I forgot how articulate I am around Hades.

“It was about the mortals, wasn’t it?” he scowls.

“How did you know that?”

“It’s always the mortals,” he says, rolling his eyes before turning to Chiron. “Honestly, I don’t understand why you still train them. They always end up turning evil and coming back to hunt us down because we’re more powerful than them.”

“Now, now, Hades,” Chiron says with a frown, “we’ve been over this before. The mortals need to take care of themselves. And, regarding your point, my heroes rarely ever return to cause trouble.”

“Oh yeah? What about Leah?”

“Yes, well that was one—”

“Joey. Bianca.” Hades holds up his fingers and starts counting to prove his point. “Pablo. Chen. Eliza. Har—”

Chiron holds up a hand and Hades finally stops talking.

“They never should have been chosen as heroes,” Chiron says stiffly. “They were my mistakes, and I fixed them accordingly.”

Just like every time the Lost Heroes are brought up, my insides twist. Sure, they betrayed us, but they were also human beings. They were mortals, and they were supposed to be under our protection. In my mind, Chiron didn’t let them down; we all did. And they weren’t mistakes; they were misunderstood.

This is yet another reason why Hades brushes me the wrong way. Then again, Chiron isn’t much better, calling the mortals ‘mistakes’ that he ‘fixed’. Man, my family is messed up.

“So that’s it?” Of course Hades won’t drop the subject. “You fixed it, so everything’s fine now? What about the other heroes? What if they turn evil? What if they’re the ones from Zeus’s vision? Or what if it’s the heroes you’re still training today?”

“That’s enough,” Chiron booms, his voice echoing almost as powerfully as mine can. “I will not stop training the mortals just because a few of them betrayed us.”

“A few?” Apollo mutters into my ear. “Try ten.”

I elbow him and he releases a small huff of air.

“Fine,” Hades says, raising his hands in surrender. “But don’t come ask me to help stop them the next time they attack us.”

“We’ve been able to deal with them just fine without you for the past year, thank you very much,” I scowl.

“Ah yes, so I hear. I, too, did just fine without you for the past year. Although I did miss the sound of your little voice and little thunderstorms.”

He winks at my deepened scowl.

Seriously, insult me all you want, but don’t insult my thunderstorms. They’re awesome.

“Boys, boys,” Athena says, stepping forward between Hades and me. “Relax. Let’s go inside and chat before someone’s eyebrows get fried off again.”

She gives me a pointed look and I sigh, dispersing the electricity crackling around my fists. “Fine,” I growl, “let’s go, brother.”

“Why thank you,” Hades says, winking at me as he heads toward the War Room.

And yes, we’re going back to the War Room. Because where else would all of us meet?

Hades flings open the large wooden doors and immediately claims the seat at the head of the table. My seat.

“Move it,” I snap, jabbing my thumb toward the row of chairs lining the table.

“Nah, I quite like this seat,” he says, leaning back and putting his feet up on the table.

“Well, it’s my seat!”

“Wow, touchy, touchy.”

Aphrodite slides in between us and perches on the armrest of my chair. Great, now I’m going to have to sanitize the entire thing.

“Come on, Hades,” she purrs, “you can sit next to me.”

“Gross,” Apollo mutters into my ear.

Hades grins at Aphrodite before standing up. “You got lucky this time, brother,” he says to me before following Aphrodite down the line of chairs.

I gingerly poke at the chair to make sure Hades didn’t leave any spirits with unresolved issues lingering behind. He’s done that before to me as an April Fool’s prank—no, I’m serious. He left the poor soul in my closet for me to discover in the morning. Let’s just say that we had to get the electricity rewired in the entirety of Olympus after that.

---

To be continued…

EXTRA: Characters

Here’s a quick summary of all the characters in The Rise of Zeus. Honestly, this is mostly for my benefit to be able to keep track of everything and everyone, but I thought I’d share it with you since you’re reading the story while I’m writing it! I’ll probably be updating and adding to them every once in a while (probably won’t be consistent) so that the information is relevant and up-to-date.

Also, I should mention that there are SPOILERS below for The Rise of Zeus, so be sure to check that you’ve read up until the end before reading the character blurbs!

Zeus: The Leader of the Olympians

Other names: Lord Zeus, King of the Gods
Likes: cold bananas
Dislikes: being excluded from secret meetings regarding his own vision

I’m still trying to pin down the specifics of Zeus’s personality, but one character trait I am certain of is that he has a big ego. He believes that he’s the best and that he’s special, so much so that he calls himself the King of Gods. While he does have some friends (most notably with Apollo) he considers himself above everyone else; everyone else should therefore listen to him and bow down to him (which obviously isn’t great for friendships). Still, he does care about the other gods and goddesses and calls them his brothers and sisters.

Chiron: The Real Leader of the Olympians

To me, Chiron is kind of like the Nick Fury of the Olympians. He’s in charge of keeping the Olympians in line and often clashes with Zeus because Zeus thinks that he’s the one in charge. However, the other Olympians tend to listen to Chiron more often; even Apollo, Zeus’s best friend, kept a secret from Zeus for years because Chiron asked him to. I can see a clash between Chiron and Zeus in the future…

Hera: The Ex-Girlfriend

Relationships: Basil’s ex-girlfriend, Chiron’s favourite

I’m honestly still not entirely sure why Hera cheated on Zeus… I’ll keep thinking about this one…

Basil Andino: “The Chosen One”

Age: 16 *written as 21 in Chapter 2, but I decided to change it
Occupation: ex-dog adoption centre employee, current new recruit

I really enjoy writing from Basil’s POV because of his sense of humour. He tends to talk nonstop when he’s nervous and Basil doesn’t think of himself as a hero at all and actually admits that he’s a bit of a scaredy-cat. When we first meet him, one of his greatest fears is Biscuit, a tiny dog that was at the adoption centre. This is actually kind of nice, because it leaves lots of room for character growth!

Silas Farview: Trainer of Heroes

Armour colour: white
Age: old

I feel like every time I write something about Silas, he switches between being a kind, warm person and a cold, emotionless one. I guess what ‘m trying to say is that I’m still trying to nail down his personality…

Biscuit: “The Little Monster”

Species: dog
Breed: Yorkshire terrier

What better first antagonist for our hero than a tiny yappy puppy? Honestly, I just wanted to put a dog into the story…

Neera: “The Girl in Green”

Armour colour: green (of course)
Car: green and fast

Neera is the first hero that Basil meets (other than Silas, but he doesn’t really count). I think that this creates a special bond between Neera and Basil, and Basil will probably rely on her in the future.

Kellan: The Jokester

Armour colour: black

Every story needs a character to provide some comic relief. Well, that’s not necessarily just Kellan, because I think that some of my other characters are pretty funny too, but Kellan is the first who has “funny guy” as an identifiable character trait.

Meilin: Assassin in Disguise

Armour colour: red

I’m imagining Meilin as a cold-blooded assassin, but does she have a soft side? Maybe…

Jonah: The Nice Guy Who’s Actually Not Nice

Armour colour: violet

I feel like Jonah’s tough exterior is just masking something else that’s going on in his life… Or maybe it isn’t and he’s just a mean guy. I guess we’ll find out…

Harper: The Nice Girl Who’s Actually Nice(?)

Armour colour: gold
Hair colour: gold

Harper seems to be the most approachable hero, which makes it easier for Basil to talk to her and connect with her. But is she really as nice as she acts? Or is she, like all the others, hiding something too?