CHAPTER ELEVEN

Okay, I know. That was stupid, five kids charging at a dozen skeletons with loaded guns. But what else were we supposed to do? Just stand there and let them shoot us?

We attacked, hacking away at the skeletons' bones. I heard gunfire, and winced at the thought of someone being shot. But no one went down. We somehow managed to dodge all of the bullets and in no time we were were standing in a ring of bones.

The boy turned and looked us. He held in his hand a golden sword that looked very sharp. He sheathed his weapon and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hi. I'm Ben Troy, son of Mars."

Archer raised his eyebrows in surprise. "A Roman," he said.

The two stared at each other, the air between them tense. I got the feeling that there was some history between the Greeks and Romans.

They finally shook hands after coming to a silent agreement.

"Nice to meet you," Archer said.

"Same."

"Hades said he wasn't going to help Jupiter," Dakota said. "Are you on a quest to find him?"

Ben nodded.

"All by yourself?" Tina asked.

"Well, I had companions but they . . . didn't make it this far," Ben said quietly.

I felt bad for him. He had lost his friends and had decided to continue the quest alone anyway.

"And you guys are searching for Zeus?" he asked us.

We all nodded.

"We left camp today," Archer said.

"Well, maybe we should join together," I ventured. "I mean, you're searching for Jupiter and we're searching for Zeus. They're the same god, right?"

"Well, actually—" Ben started to say, but Archer cut him off.

"Relatively speaking, yeah, they are the same god."

Ben shot Archer an annoyed expression but sighed in agreement. "Sure, I'll join up with you guys."

"Okay, that's great and all," Dakota said. "but we still don't have the guide."

We all groaned. I had forgotten about the guide.

"Does anyone know what it is?" Tina asked.

"Some kind of map," Ben said. "Hades keeps it with him in his room."

I raised an eyebrow. "You really think its a good idea to go searching that god's room?"

"We don't have any other choice," Dakota said. "If we want to find Zeus/Jupiter, we need that map."

"Well, I guess it's time to explore his castle," Archer said.

We looked around the room. There were three doors. One led to the garden, but we didn't know about the other two.

"Should we split up?" Archer asked. "We'll cover more ground that way."

I hated the thought of splitting up, but Archer did have a point. Plus, it would be easier to sneak around the castle unnoticed.

I nodded. "Okay. Tina and Archer, you go through that door," I said, pointing to the door behind the thrones. "And Dakota, Ben, and I will go through that door." I pointed to the door on our left.

We separated, Tina and Archer disappearing behind their door. I led the boys over to our door and opened it. It led us down a cross work of hallways. I went down them at random, not really knowing where I was going.

We walked down a hallway that opened up to a kitchen. Five skeletons wearing aprons and chef hats were cooking things over the stoves. It smelled like Mexican food, and I remembered Hades saying that we had ruined his fiesta.
We backed up out of the kitchen, not wanting to be seen, and turned down another hallway. It led us through a door to a bathroom. The walls were black and placed in the center of the room was a golden toilet. A sign above it read: Lord Hades's Golden Throne.
I looked back at Dakota and Ben, and they were laughing. I finally couldn't help myself. I started laughing too.
"Well, that's embarrassing," Ben said through laughs.
We walked back out of the bathroom and were turning down yet another hallway when we heard screaming.
"Run!" the voice said.
Archer.
We took off, following the sound of pounding footsteps and shouts. We turned down a hallway to the left, and I ran straight into Tina. Ben reached out to grab me, putting his hand on my waist. Instead of keeping me up, however, I pulled him down with me.
"Ugh," I groaned.
"Get up now!" Archer said. He grabbed Tina's hand and pulled her up.
Ben stood up, pulling me up with him. Just in time too, because seconds later, right where I had been sitting, a wickedly sharp, double-bladed ax lodged into the floor.
I looked down the hallway and saw six huge skeletons running towards us. They all carried with them huge black swords and axes. The thing that made them less scary was the bright orange and green sombreros perched on their heads.
We booked it, racing down the confusing hallways of the castle. We ran through the kitchen, startling all the cooks. Dakota ran into a chef carrying a plate of burritos, and we heard a crash. I looked back, and he had beans in his hair and a tortilla perched on his head.
We raced through the kitchen and out into yet another hallway. (Why did there have to be so many of them?) Ben opened a door and rushed through it. We were back in the throne room.
Somewhere behind me, I heard a yelp. I looked back and saw that one of the skeletons had reached out and tripped Tina. She fell to floor and screamed as the skeleton started dragging her back down the hallway. Archer back tracked and kicked the skeleton, sending him flying away from Tina. He helped her up and we went through the creepy garden, back through the first hallway, and out of the castle doors.
Alarms blared outside and behind us, I could hear more guards coming. Ghosts stared at us as we raced past.
It seemed like it took forever to run through the dead plain, but we raced through it, past Cerberus, who was still sleeping, and through the security gates. More alarms blared as we ran ran the wrong way through the gates.
"The river!" I cried.
We had forgotten all about that problem. Ben gave us a confused look. He ran over to a huge rock and pushed something on it. A bridge appeared out of the river.
"How did you know that was there?" I asked him as we ran across the bridge.
He gave me a smile that made my heart flutter and said, "The Romans at my camp took a field trip to the Underworld one time, and our not-so-smart-guide showed us the secret bridge."
"Dang, everyone has all these cool tricks," Archer muttered.
We pounded down the black soil tunnel and to the stone circle. Ten skeletons were now following us.
"Quick!" Tina cried. "Find the Greek letter!"
We searched frantically for the letter, and Ben sighed when he found it. He pressed it, but the stone didn't move.
"What's wrong?" he cried.
"Oh move over, Roman!" Tina yelled. She pressed the letter and it glowed blue.
The stone started rising, and just in time too, because the skeletons were about to climb on the circle, when the tunnel disappeared from sight. We all looked at each other and sighed with relief.
"Wait," Dakota said. "did you guys even get the map?"
Tina and Archer smiled at each other. She pulled a yellowed and cracked paper out of her pocket. When she opened it, we saw a map of the United States and Mexico. An orange circle glowed around Chihuahua, Mexico, showing us where we were. A blue circle glowed around. . . .
"Hawaii," Ben said. "We have to go to Hawaii."

We stopped at Taco Bell for dinner, which wasn't as good as some of the other restaurants, but it was cheap.
"So, what's the plan?" Dakota asked with a mouthful of chicken taco in his mouth.
"There's a train that's heading out at six," Archer said. "That will take us to Arizona. Then we'll take the pegasi and griffins and fly to Hawaii."
"You have pegasi?" Ben asked, amazed. "And what are griffins?"
"You'll see tomorrow morning," Dakota said in an annoyed voice.
I looked at my watch. It was five-thirty. "How far away is this train station?"
Archer looked at his watch. "Um, thirty minutes away, maybe."
We all stared at Archer in with blank faces and then quickly grabbed our stuff and dashed out of Taco Bell. Outside, we raced down streets and roads, dodging people as they strolled on by calmly.
We almost missed it. Actually, the train was leaving when we raced up. Dakota threw his bag in and hurled himself in. He then reached down to help me up, but Ben was already giving me a leg up. I caught a glimpse of a glare that Dakota gave Ben.
Archer grabbed Tina by the waist and tossed her in. Then with a graceful jump, he was in the train with us, and we were on our way.
We were in an empty car. There was absolutely nothing in it, and with the night fast approaching and the wind whipping through the open doors, I felt myself shiver. Dakota reached out to rub my arms, but I inched away. A hurt expression appeared on his face for a split second before he masked it with a blank stare.
I wasn't sure what I felt towards Dakota. It was obvious that he liked me, and I thought I had started to like him back, but then Ben had popped onto the scene. Ben, who I had just barely met, yet I felt like we had had a spark instantly. But, he was a Roman. Bad enough that the Egyptians and Greeks hated each other, but it seemed like the Greeks had history the Romans too. What history did the Egyptians and Romans have?
"So," Ben said. "we get to Arizona, fly to Hawaii, and then what?"
"We start searching the islands for Zeus, or Jupiter," I said for his sake. This whole gods- having-two-names thing was giving me a headache.
"Does anyone have the slightest clue as to who took Zeus?" Tina asked.
We all shook our heads. I felt a nervous feeling form in my stomach. What were we walking into here?
"Whoever or whatever took him," Archer said. "must be really powerful to have taken the king of the gods."
With that happy thought, we all grew silent, absorbed in our own thoughts. Next to me, Tina started to fall asleep. She rested her head on Archer's shoulder. He looked down at her, and a smile formed on his face. I quickly looked away, not wanting to ruin the moment. Dakota, on my right side, shifted away from me and put his head on his leather bag. I felt bad. I hadn't meant to hurt him, but should I really lead him on when I didn't feel the same way? Of course, I didn't really know what I felt at the moment.
Finally, Dakota's breathing slowed, and he went to sleep. I looked around the car, seeing if anyone was still awake. Archer had rested his head on top of Tina's and was sound asleep, a smile on his face. Next to him was Ben. He had unsheathed his sword and was cleaning it with a rag. I sat there for a second, looking at him, and then I decided to go sit by him. I got up quietly and walked over to him, wobbling with the movement of the train.
He looked up when I walked over and said, "Hey."
"Hi," I said, sitting next to him.
We sat there in silence for a moment when he said quietly, "So, you're the daughter of Horus?"
"Yeah. I found out yesterday."
"And you're the only daughter of Horus?"
"The only child of an Egyptian god actually. Really, I wasn't supposed to be born." I felt a sadness come over me when I said that. It was the truth though. I had been born because Horus had broken a pact.
"So, why are you on a quest to find Jupiter then?" Ben asked, confused.
I sighed. "My mother was a daughter of Zeus, which makes me the granddaughter of Zeus."
"So, you combine the blood of two very powerful gods," Ben said in awe. "You must be one powerful demigod."
"Yeah, that's what everyone keeps telling me. And I wish they wouldn't because it scares me when they talk about it." I didn't know why I was telling him this. I just felt like I could trust him, even though I had met him only a few hours ago.
"Oh, sorry," Ben said quickly. "We can talk about something else then."
I gave him a small smile. "Thanks. So, do you mind me asking what happened on your quest?"
Ben sighed. "We left our camp in California yesterday. Things started off badly from the start. We were attacked by a Cyclops clan just outside of California. And then a wild pack of centaurs came after us. They killed everyone in the middle of the night except for me, because I had gone off to get some firewood."
"Wow. I'm so sorry," I said to him.
He gave me a weak smile. "It's fine. That's just how life is as a demigod."
We sat there, looking outside the door at the landscape. In the distance, I saw a pack of coyotes chasing something.
I shivered in the cold, wishing that I had packed some clothes. My thin top wasn't made to wear in the desert at night.
Ben saw me shaking and dug in his backpack. He pulled out a gray pullover and handed it to me.
"Here, I don't need it."
I smiled at him and put it on. It smelled like a pool, like Ben swam a lot. I put my head back and felt my eyes start to close. I slowly let my head fall on Ben's shoulder, and he shifted so my head was more supported. I sighed, content, and let sleep overtake me.