Chapter 9: Preparations
Hector walked up beside me to face Hippolyta. "We need to leave as soon as possible." I explained to her,
"We do not require preparation," Hippolyta said, "The Amazons are always ready for battle!"
"Well that's convenient." Lauren commented
"Where is our destination?" Hippolyta inquired,
"Mount Tamalpais," I said, "Where Atlas held up the sky."
"Then we must leave immediately," Hippolyta replied, "Stag Horn, ready our ships, we sail for Tamalpais!"
One of the Amazons grunted, and beckoned a couple more of them to follow.
"I assume you'll want your weapons back." Hippolyta said to us. As she said this, the Amazon that we first met brought out the sack with everyone's weapons in it. They were quickly retrieved. I fastened Backbiter to my belt.
"Now let us go." Said Hippolyta, and she led the way back up to the beaches. My lungs filled with wonderful sea air as I climbed out of the sand mound. It was refreshing to be back outside. On the shore, the team of Amazons that were dismissed earlier were preparing four wooden vessels. Everyone started toward them.
"Achilles Jackson," said a serene voice behind me. I turned around to face a woman I'd seen before, only in a dream. She was a tall woman with Levi jeans and a Shirt that said "Go Green!" Her brown hair and green eyes were stunning.
"My name is Gaea, I have come to aid you on your quest." She said
"I thought the gods couldn't help heroes on their quests!" I said and immediately wished I didn't. Gaea began to laugh.
"God? No no, my dear boy, I am Gaea, Mother Earth, mother of the titans, the ancient laws to not apply to me. Anyway, I've come to give you this." She revealed a small vial of electric blue liquid.
"What is it?" I asked,
"A mixture of nectar, juice from the apples of Hespiridis, and water from the river Styx." Gaea said
"To make.." I said not satisfied
"Your army," Gaea said, "Your name is a powerful thing Achilles. If used correctly, this concoction will grant you an army of soldiers, just remember Achilles, and you'll know what to do."
"Why can't you just tell me?" I said a little annoyed,
"Because, you're about to miss the boats!" she said urgently,
I turned , and sure enough the tide was coming in, bringing the ships out to sea. I took the vial of liquid, said thanks, and dashed off.
"When all seems lost," Gaea called, "Remember the stars!"
I didn't know what she meant at all, but I nodded. I managed to board one of the ships before it was out of reach. The deck was manned by the Amazons; everything seemed to be in order. I saw Coops (Son of Eros) sitting against the mast quietly. I went to sit beside him.
"Hello AJ." He said politely,
"How'd you know it was me?" I asked looking at the band that covered his blind eyes.
"I smelled you," Coops said smiling,
"Smelled me?"
"I smell a lot of sweat, only you and one other person did enough work to perspirate at that rate, and you are not Hector because you didn't make a plop when you sat down."
"That's amazing Coops!" I said
"Not as amazing as being able to see." Said Coops longingly, "How does it feel AJ? To be able to look onto the horizon and admire the beauty the gods have blessed us with, to be in danger and know that you can always rely on your eyes to guard you from incoming danger? To not have to rely on smell and sound for everything?
"I don't know, I never really thought about that."
"I didn't expect you did," Coops admitted, "People never truly appreciate what they have until its gone."
"Yeah," I agreed
"Who is she?" Coops asked
"Excuse me?" I asked confused
"The girl, you had a couple friends abducted by Ouranous right? You liked one of them."
"How did you know."
"I'm the son of Eros, more commonly known as Cupid, I just know these things."
"Her name is Jordan." I said,
"Pretty?"
"Yes, definetly," I said, "Selfless, kind, gentle, graceful… amazing."
Coops laughed, "This puts me at ease." He said,
"How?"
"Because, I know you will do your best out on the battlefield, knowing if you win you will see her again. Very epic, if you ask me. Whenever you even think of giving up, her image will pop in your mind, and you'll find the strength to continue. This combined with your love for your family and friends almost seems to guarantee our victory."
"So you think we are going to win this?" I asked
I saw Coops lift his arm and feel for my shoulder. "I know we will," he said, looking determined,
"How much longer do you think we are going to be on this boat?" I asked
Coops once again smiled, "I overheard one of the Amazons gloating about these ships and their magical properties. I heard they can reach any destination within an hour. We'll be there in no time."
Our conversation died out after that. I fished out the vial that Gaea had given me. I didn't know what in the world to do with it, and her hint about the stars wasn't helpful at all. The stars couldn't possibly help in a battle. They were useful for navigation, but that was about it. I didn't think I was supposed to drink it, because that would have been simple enough to explain. I knew that Achilles didn't ever have a magical potion either. I stuffed it back in my pocket, no wiser than I was when I had taken it out. I thought, and there was much that needed to be done. We needed to stand up against an army of monsters, that I knew was waiting for us, we needed to fight and defeat Ouranous, and we needed a way to find a way to suspend the sky back to its original state before it crushed us to death. Suddenly a horn blared, "Land HO!" Yelled one of the Amazons," sure enough we were nearing California. I could even see Mount Tamalpais in the distance. We were almost there. I went up to the Amazon captain at the helm.
"Signal the other ships to dock near those woods over there." I said pointing to a wood, about a fourth mile away from the Mountain. "We can prepare there, and strike just before dawn."
The Amazon grunted and blew a horn in a Morse code type way. Then she made way for the wood I had pointed out. It wasn't long before we were all back on land. We set up camp in a small clearing. The Amazons were applying war paint, I was merely staring at the ground, waiting. On the ground was an anthill. Thousands of ants were probably in there. I had learned somewhere that ants were extremely strong for their size and were capable of remarkable things. I wished I could have an ally like them. I brought back out the vial of liquid. Just remember Achilles, and you'll know what to do. Said a voice in my head. I thought, Achilles was a warrior in the Trojan War, who defeated many warriors, and a great commander, a commander of his own legion of soldiers, magical soldiers that originated from… Ants!
"That's it!" I said out loud, some people looked in my direction, but I ignored them. I gleefully pulled open the vial, and dumped its contents on the anthill. There was no effect, other than the ants rushing to escape the hill. I felt highly foolish for several minutes, until the anthill started glowing, then one of the ants started to morph and grow, then two, then three, then fifty. Before my very eyes ants were transforming. The first had completed its metamorphosis. The ant now looked like a man, burly and gruff. His eyes looked hungry, as if ready to fight. He looked in great shape. He was dressed in full greek armor, and he had a short beard, the rest of the men that appeared looked like copies of the first, with slight variations in eye color, beard length, and height.
"What's going on!" Hector sounded alarmed making his way toward me.
Our group had to keep backing up into the woods to make room for the increasing amount of soldiers that were popping into the clearing. After the last of them appeared, the first walked toward me, as the others gathered in formation. He walked straight over to me, and he bowed low. "Lord Achilles, it is good to be back in your service."
"Thank you," I said uncertainly, "And you are?"
"My name is Archer, Captain, and second in command of the Myrmidons, second to you of course. Our men our ready for battle. We await your orders." With that he walked back to the other soldiers and fell into formation. I was about to shout an order like "Prepare for battle!" or something like that, when something else caught my eye, a glint of light coming from the bushes at our feet. I moved over to them and found that the bushes were already removed and placed together in order to crudely hide something. Seconds later I knew why. An eight foot tall man, he had light brown skin, and slicked- back dark hair. His clothes were drenched with sweat. Oh yeah, and he was unconscious. I nudged him until he stirred. Once he came to his senses he looked at me, and blinked several times. "You have come to defeat my father?" He asked in a voice deeper than James Earl Jones'
"Father?" I asked, then realization hit me, "Then you must be…"
"Yes," the man nodded getting to his feet, "I am Atlas."
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