I boldly walked up the stone steps to where Lupa sat watching young demigods planning and carrying out their battle tactics. She sat in a dark marble throne with a silverly toga wrapped around her tall figure. I approached the dark and radiant lady and bowed."AlecK, what brings you here today?" Lupa demanded, expressing no emotion in her voice as usual."My half-brother Jason, is he okay?" I asked firmly with confidence ringing in my voice."Yes child he is fine. Your father Jupiter guides him," she answered. I nodded and said thank you. On my way back I started thinking about the quest I had been offered by Jupiter last night, but Lupa didn't want me to go until we found Jason. The moment I stood on the top step, I heard her voice again. "AlecK, pass my three tests and you can go on the quest you seek," I turned around in amazement."How did you know what I was thinking?" I asked."Your mind is simple but that isn't the question," she retorted. "The question is will you accept my offer?" Lupa asked in a husky voice. Without thinking of the consequences, without thinking of the huge task she was presenting me I answered. "I accept." Lupa gave me a victorious look and barked. A pack of wolves swarmed round us abruptly. With wide frightened eyes I saw Lupa disappear into the shadows. Short seconds later, a figure emerged from the swirling mist. Instead of Lupa, a man of about eighteen strode out to stand before me. He had short blonde hair and his eyes were golden, like my swords. As he advanced with a Scythe in his hand, I wracked my brain trying to remember his name. In a shock of realization I remembered that this was the titan lord Saturn, in his new body as a child of Mercury. I drew my twin blades. One was imperial gold and the other was celestial bronze. Saturn's eyes widened as he seemed to sense the power of both blades and gripped his Scythe more firmly. He then advanced towards me with a battle cry and his Scythe flashed silver as he attacked me. He swung his Scythe over and over trying to land a blow on me but I gave him no chance. I managed to dodge all but one of his attacks. The attack pierced me right in the chink of my armor. It felt like my soul was being ripped from my body. One tiny shred of hope struck through my body and I realized he was an illusion. I used what was left of my strength to summon a bolt of lighting that hit Saturn right in the chest. Time slowed as he was reduced to a pile of ashes. The ashes swirled in the air before settling down into a shapeless heap. The whole time I was breathing hard and trying to regain my breathe as the fight had taken a toll on me, especially when Jupiter had hit me. The chink in my armor was small but the pain of it was great. Before I could fully recover, a gong sounded. The next test had now begun.I felt myself being healed as the giant shape of Pluto descended from the darkness above. Suddenly, he stood towering over me, his menacing laugh sending a shiver down my spine. With no time to waste, I ran at him with both swords about to strike him down. I attempted one fatal lunge to his chest and both of my swords hit the weak point in his armor. I had caught Pluto my surprise and could not react in time. He fell helplessly to the floor. I saw that the golden blood of the gods, Ichor, was seeping out of his wound. The blood and the body became pure energy. From that energy a wolf like creature formed. I smiled and knew this was the third appeared in front of me, his red eyes seeming to stare straight into my soul. I lunged but he moved before I could hit him. I dodged as his claws tried to rip through my flesh. I smiled as my twin blades changed from gold and bronze to silver. I slashed at him and this time he didn't have time to dodge; the blade sliced him from the shoulder to the corner of the thigh. He disintegrated into a pile of silver and gold dust. A faint breeze blew the dust into the darkness. I held my sword up just in case it was another test, but instead Lupa came forward with a glowing and not quite friendly grin on her face. "It is time to visit Olympus," Lupa said as if that was the last place she wanted to be. I moved slowly towards the exit and as I approached the wolves, they parted, allowing me to leave. I turned around as I was trying to tell what Lupa was thinking. Her emotionless face displayed nothing and her eyes narrowed. I looked forward once more; this was going to be bad. I turned and walked in the direction of the underground tunnels. Once in there I felt strange, almost as if part of me had been taken away. I wandered deeper, until I reached the small opening that led to the end of my cabin. I walked into a brightly lit room with thunder bellowing above me; being in this room always made me feel better. I was momentarily dazed thinking about how the roof sometimes releases strikes of thunder, when the bell for diner rang and shook me from my daydream. There was a lot of discussion about my quest until I walked in. The moment they saw me, the talking stopped. As I walked up to my table I heard a few good lucks and a few smiles from the Venus cabin girls. When I sat down they started talking again. I looked over to the Minerva table and saw Aleeza smiling at me. I smiled back. A few Venus cabin girls noticed then snickered in her direction. I got up with my plate full of pizza and sausage rolls, then gave a couple of slices of pizza and some jumbo sausage rolls into the hearth and muttered, "Hope your hungry Jupiter." I turned around to see Aleeza standing there. "AlecK, I heard you're going on a quest," she said casually."Yeah," I said, pretty certain of what was coming next,"Well you need two people to accompany you, and I know Lupa is one, so can I be the other?" She asked bluntly, not even trying to hide her excitement."Of course you can come!" I said smiling. Aleeza beamed. I knew that I could depend on Aleeza to help and protect me on any quest I undertook. I looked around realized everyone was staring at us; I looked in Lupa's direction. She growled and I understood what it meant, "sit down or the wolves get to feast like kings." I sat down as quick as possible. As I took a bite of my pizza, my gaze landed on the Minerva table. From their hushed tones, their fleeting and scrutinzing looks and the acusative fingers pointed towards me, I knew that they were discussing the conversation between Aleeza and I. Aleeza motioned with her eyes to the tables around us and realized that everyone was trying to disguise their conversations about us; even the fauns were gossiping. I left early to get some sleep before I journeyed to Olympus and also to get out of the suffocating dining hall.
I woke to the sound of lightning narrowly missing my head; nothing new. I got up feeling refreshed and ready for Olympus. I showered and dressed quickly, anticipation building up in my chest. I headed for the meeting room and it was bigger than I anticipated. It had statues of Romulus and Remus, the first heroes Lupa taught. In front of the statues, Lupa sat staring at me, dressed today in a golden toga and a golden leaflet circlet adorning her head.. I sat down on a circular table where eleven other people were waiting for me. Next to me was Aleeza smiling at me like I was her favourite book and on the other side of me sat Scotty. She was the daughter of Apollo but her last name was a mystery to everyone. On the side of the table, directly across from me sat Thavma, daughter of Mars. "Welcome Counsellor, this meeting has started." Lupa said in her usual emotionless voice."Why are we here? We never have a Counsellors meeting before a quest, we usually wait until after the Quest," Thavma said in her usual demanding tone. "The reason we have this meeting is because of an important quest offered to me," I said in a tone of authority."By whom?" a guy from the Vulcan cabin said."Very good question, Victor." Scotty said, I glanced towards Scotty and recognised her from the Victoria cabin. "It was issued by Jupiter," I announced looking at Lupa for guidance. She just stared at me as if encouraging me to continue. "I know the Gods have gone silent." "Why should we help them if the only thing they do is claim us!" Thavma shouted,"Remember they rarely visit us anyway so if we do this then maybe they will visit us," I said assertively. Everyone seemed to understand and agree. From my winning arguement, Lupa decided to dismiss the meeting so I could get equipped for the quest. I left and headed for the forges. Usually the forges are the domain of the Vulcan cabin but lately everyone has been going there to build their weapons. I walked in and only Aleeza turned her head towards me. I approached and saw what she was making. It was an imperial gold dagger with a handle of stainless steel. I sharpened my twin blades while talking to Aleeza. "So are you ready for the practice battle?" I asked,"What practice battle?" she replied."The battle with the monster that Lupa allows in to camp before a quest," I answered in a tone that implied that she should know this. "Oh" she said, then got back to work on her dagger. I left the forges after my twin blades were sharp enough to cut through titanium as if was paper. I walked outside to find the camp fighting the God Sol. I looked up in confusion trying to contact Jupiter to tell me what's going on. I was just about to shout stop when one of the Venti that help out told me that Sol is our practice fight. I turned towards Sol, understanding that he had done this to help me prepare for my quest. I charged at him with my swords raised ready to attack him. I was just about to strike when Sol created a blast from the sun sending me and the campers to the floor. I got up angry that he had wounded my friends. I slashed my swords allowing lightning to follow. The blast sent Sol on to the floor unconscious. I looked at where I had hit and there streaming from his body was the golden blood of the Gods, Ichor. I walked away into a sea of gratitude from the other campers. I walked up the stone steps where Lupa sat watching the God rise from the floor fully healed and once again the size of a human. I turned to face Lupa as Sol left. "Are you ready?" Lupa asked in her usual tone. Today there was something edgier, perhaps a bit of annoyance. "Yes," I answered. She led me through the crowd until we reached the entrance to the camp. Standing there was Aleeza, waiting for me and Lupa. "So I see you have chosen Aleeza as your choice for this quest," Lupa said with a hint of surprise in her voice. "Who is the third?""What do you mean?" I asked."The third person you have chosen for the quest." she answered as if she were talking to a small child."Well I thought you where the third person," I replied slightly confused. "No, I am just here to take you to Olympus, from then on your on your own," she exclaimed showing assertiveness. Puzzled, I turned towards Aleeza."Who do you think I should choose Aleeza?" I asked."I think maybe Icarus," she replied shyly. I noticed Icarus in the crowd looking shocked that someone had even noticed him since he was still undetermined."He wasn't even in the fight against Sol! How will we know how good of a fighter he is?" I pointed out, more confident then I actually was. Icarus seemed to wince when I mentioned the fight and wrung his hands together nervously but I ignored it."He is a strong fighter," Lupa interupted sternly."Ok," I said, still unassured. I turned to the boy that Aleeza had suggested. "Well then, are you up for an adventure?" At his hurried nod, I knew that I had the third member for my quest.
