Hello! I hope everyone had a great turkey weekend! It was up here in the great white north. ;) Been a while since i posted so lets get to it:
Herry:
The sun was not far from dusk when we approached the village. It seemed to be a small farmers village with a few stores, a pub, and maybe a church. We entered along the main road, which was lined with cobbled fences and old bushes. As we walked along the street, I noticed that the two of us were receiving some very unusual looks from the locals.
"Herry," Ashlynn whispered, "We're still in the commando outfits."
Realizing the fact made me blush. The locals must have been thinking suspiciously of us. Like we were ninja assasins or something.
"I think we will stay here for the night and get a ride out of here in the morning." I said quietly to Ashlynn.
"Ok," she replied, "but where will we go? Where is the entrance to mount olympus?"
I stopped walking. We had walked into a brick wall with no way around. The entrance to mount olympus was not as simple as a hole in the side of the mountain. It was somewhere else in the world. My dad said that we were at the nearest exit from the underworld to it, but where was it?
We found a place to stay at the pub. It was a Friday night so the people of the town were off of work and relaxing with a few pints. I wished I was that relaxed. I was freaking out about the entrance, and the fact that the bartender didn't check for ID wasn't helping. Ashlynn's attention was to the people around us. There were many loud voices and laughing, and there was a stench of stale beer in the air.
I was running over possibilities of where it might have been but none could work because I didn't have any leadin evidence. I hid my head beneath my arms in frustration. Ashlynn barely noticed.
"That guy over there has been staring at us all night." She said.
"Huh?" I asked, looking over my shoulder. Sure enough, there was a hooded man in the far corner of the pub. He didn't seem very big. It was hard to tell due to his massive cloak. However, despie the fact of his unusual stance and mysterious figure, I didn't feel threatened. My senses were telling me I was in the safe. But Ashlynn looked very nervous. She was uneasy here, I could feel it in her thoughts.
"I think we should go to bed." She muttered I nodded, being tired after several days in hell. I got up and followed Ashlynn up to our room. All of a sudden, as I walked past the bar, I accidentally brushed against a large stocky man who obviously had a few too many to drink,
"Oi, wha' you wan'?"The man barked out. He was in his thirties and had a furry beard. He reminded me of a teddy bear.
"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean-"
"Bull shite. Lets go right here right now." He bellowed charging me with his fists ready. The thing was, he was way to drunk to stand up.A smurf could have beaten him. I simply stood aside and the man went into a faceplant on the ground. However, as I stood back, he scythe fell on the ground. The crowd stopped laughing at the drunk sod on the ground and stared at it mesmerized. I quickly picked it up and shoved it in my backpack. They suddenly seemed to snap out of the trance that ensnared the room a second before. I met up with Ashlynn who was waiting patiently at the top of the stairwell.
We approached the landing when she pulled me out of the way and behind the wall where we were out of sight, her hand was over my mouth and she was beckoning me to be quiet. Suddenly, we heard footsteps coming from the stairs. She let go of me and I jumped back around the corner. I heard a yelp of a man. Rushing over, aashlynn had the hooded man pinned against the wall.
"Who are you and why are you following us?" She threatened. I stood over beside her. The man's hood was down, revealing a slender face with a winged leather cap.
"Hang on Ashlynn," I said. "This man is not an enemy."
"Herry, Ashlynn, I am Hermes, messenger of the gods." Ashlynn put him down gently. Dusting himself off, he said;
"Nice one back there Herry, but be careful about revealing that scythe to the open." Hermes seemed to be just as I expected him to be. Jolly and cheerful, but with an annoying voice that seemed to break every once in a while.
"I need you two to follow me." He said, looking around cautiously. We followed him to the last room on the right. Where we opened into a large room with a fireplace and a couch, upon which a tall figure was standing before. As the figure came closer, I realised that I recognized it. With graceful strides, the woman came closer to us. she revealed her face to the light. I knew it.
It was Hera.
"It's good to see you two." She greeted.
"H-hera." I stumbled. It was really her. The queen of the gods. i felt like I was in the same room as the president.
"You mean Hera? The queen of the gods?" asked Ashlynn.
"Yes." Hera finished.
"What is the queen of the gods doing out here at the brink of war?" I asked.
"We are gathering forces. There are many giants who reside on this island. We are encouraging them to fight for us over the darkness and Hades. said Hermes.
"And of course, we wanted to meet the one who's fate of the world is bound to." Finished the old woman. "You carry a dangerous weapon, young is running short for you and the journey will only get harder from here on."
"I don't know." I muttered, "It's been pretty hard already." Ashlynn giggled at my comment. It struck me. Maybe the gods knew where to find the entrance to mount Olympus.
"Hera, I need to know; where is the entrance to the forge of Mount Olympus?"
Hera smiled, "It in the land of man's greatest ahievements. Within a monument which stands as a last soldier fighting within the dead legions. Order and discipline made it. And order and discipline have unmade it."
I sighed for a moment. "One sec, what is it with you gods and speaking so cryptically? It would be much easier if you just told us straight out." The room filled wit silence until it was broken by Hermes' chuckle.
"What Hera is saying is, that the entrance is in the coliseum."
The coliseum. I realized that Hera had been talking about the Romans and their achievements. I sighed again.
"Is there no other entrance to the underworld between here and Rome?" The gods shook their head. I paced in frustration. "How the hell am i meant to get to Rome from here?
"Use your griffin." Jeered Hermes. I blushed. I had completely forgotten about Sandy. She was probably waiting all the way in canada for my return.
"Just call her now, and she'll be here within a few hours." The cheerful messenger of the gods said. Something beeped in his pocket. "Sorry guys gotta go. Ares is struggling to convince the centaurs. See ya!"
As soon as he busted out of the door to gods know where, Ashlynn nudged me on the shoulder.
"I'm going to get some sleep. Care to join me?" She asked with the twinkling eyes of hers.
"Give me a few minutes." I said. She kissed me on the cheek unexpectedly and walked out. I touched the place where she had kissed me like I had felt that kiss before.
"You love her, don't you?" Hera said, with a beaming smile.
"With everything I've got." I replied, looking towards the fire. she smiled.
"Your parents were the same you know, as were hers. Those relationships definetly complicated a few things on their way to defeating Cronus."
"What are you getting at?" I asked. The smile on Hera's face diminished with an instant. she looked at me wth eyes that spoke coldly of wisdom.
"The path ahead is unclear for you, but it will face you with pain like you've never known it before." I clutched my shoulder when she spoke of pain.
"If she goes with you, her life may be claimed by darkness. And if that happens, what would you do? If you really love her which you do, you would sacrifice everything to get her back, that means turning your back on the world and letting darkness consume that too. I am like you Herry. I do get glimpses of the future but not complete pictures like the oracle. I have forseen great hardship for you, I do not deny it. Would you risk hurt to the ones close to you?"
I remained silent on the far side of the room. If what she said was true, Ashlynn might die because of me. Because of my destiny and the task I had to perform to save the universe. I wouldn't let that happen.
"I have to do this alone, don't I?"
Hera nodded grimly. "The prophecy stated you would do this. Not two of you, only you. You will have to go on without her, but I cannot make that choice for you."
I sat down and thought. Ashlynn would rather die than leave my side. but I knew that if she came with me, she would die. i was starting to break. The stress, the choices, it was becoming too much. I felt tears appear on my cheeks.
Hera came beside me and comforted me. "I remember a wise man once said; neither of us chose our lives, yet here we are."
They were one of Odie's last words to me. I never forgot that quote. Even today I rememeber it like instinct. It made me stop to think. I had come this far. I had to keep going, no matter what, I had to succeed.
I stood up, the tears were drying. I breathed heavily but my voice was confident when I said;
"I know what I have to do."
Tough decisions. We face them every day. What do you guys think? Plz review and have a great day! :)
