THALIA
I alternated my gaze between Mrs. Artemis and Váli hoping someone would explain more or at least give me an option that didn't involve flying. I think that eventually Mrs. Artemis felt my look of curiosity and, with a sigh, decided that I deserved a more detailed explanation.
"I don't need to say that many people have many different gods." she said.
"Yeah. That's pretty clear to see." I said nodding with the head.
"If you stop to think a little, it's easy to notice that many of these gods have lost much of their importance over the decades and the centuries. We even lost a lot too. The Egyptians, the Aztecs, the Celts ... anyway ... some can still be recognized by mortals because of some old fame, but we are hardly taken seriously."
"Downgraded to mere mythology" said Váli.
"Yes." agreed Artemis. "Many have been forgotten, others have remained with a certain fame but downgraded to mythology. Others are still able to keep up with more recognition than this, as is the case with the Japanese gods."
"I think I should imagine that the Japanese gods also exist ... all religions that exist or existed are actually real?" I asked.
"Do not repeat that question." said Artemis, casting a serious look at me that made me immediately cease to insist.
"But going back to the explanation," said Váli, taking the word for himself. I wonder if he also didn't like the question I asked. "If you stop to think, there's a lot of gods out there who doesn't like the fact they lost fame."
I thought about those words before I said anything. I think I was understanding what the purpose of these gods was and why they were gathering and causing trouble. It was not so different from many other problems we had faced in the past. After all, everything seemed to sum up one word: Power. And from what Váli had explained, it went far beyond regaining lost power. "Where those now ignored or who never mattered can be the real leaders." Those had been his words. So, not only gods who mattered in the past were in this crazy endeavor, some not so powerful were in that too.
"So ... Acheron ...?" I asked looking at Artemis.
"I think we'll have to worry about several other mythical rivers, including him." said Artemis "He said he wanted the future promised by Naunet. It should be easily attractive being her the goddess of primordial waters, even if Egyptian."
"And what part of it says that I need to get on a plane?" I asked.
In answer to my question, Artemis easily crossed the distance that separated us from Váli and Sigyn crossing the river, which was not so deep, on foot. Not wanting to risk any surprise attacks, Kowalski and I pointed our arrows at the two, paying attention to any movement. Artemis then held out her hand to Váli and took the plane ticket and read it calmly.
"Athens, Frankfurt. Frankfurt, Boston?" she asked.
"Why these destinations specifically?" Kowalski asked.
"And how do you know it's good for me to get on this plane?" I asked.
Vala let out a sigh as Mrs. Artemis returned to us with the ticket of the plane still in hand. My eyes followed his every move for any sign of attack, but all he did was put his hands inside the pockets of his pants.
"Naunet and Quetzalcoatl have been trying to recruit us with Cipactli." said Váli.
" Naunet is Egyptian, the other are Aztecs?" Kowalski interrupted him.
"Yes." Váli said. "They didn't notice that we were listening, but we heard them saying they have to send someone to intercept the plane before it arrives in the United States. They seem to be interested in something that is in it."
" What?" I asked.
"don't know. Quetzalcoatl suggested that Tlaloc should intercept the plane although, in Cipactli's words, they were afraid that Tupã would realize that they were involved in this plan of Naunet."
"Wait ... too many names ... better explanations, please." Kowalski said, and I shared the feeling.
I was no expert in mythology and those complicated names were already confusing me. It was already very difficult to memorize which Greek and Roman gods were equivalent to each other. In addition to all the mess of names that was forming in my head, I also wondered if Sigyn could talk. She hadn't said a word all this time. As for the plane situation, of course I would be worried that something important would fall into the wrong hands. But I still didn't see the reason why it had to be specifically me and what was this thing that was on the plane.
"Quetzalcoatl, Cipactli, Tlaloc." said Artemis "all three are Aztec gods. Like the Greeks and Romans, they have another form as Mayan gods. Quetzalcoatl is the feathered serpent. Cipactli would be perfectly described as a demonic crocodile. Tlaloc is the god of rain, thunder and so on."
"Oh ..." I said.
The explanation made me notice why they had immediately linked the situation to me. Tlaloc was apparently the Aztec Zeus. I suppose the amount of Zeus's children was very low due to the agreements and also because ... Jason ... I wonder how my no-dear father was dealing with this agreement of not having children being that his fame in mythology is... well ... let's say I don't want to try to set up my family tree.
"And the other one they said? Tupã? Why would they be worried about him?" I asked.
-"Tupã lives more to the south than thise three Guatemalan-Belizean-Mexican. Although he also lives in the sun." said Váli.
"In the sun ...? But Apollo dosn't ...? " I said trying to understand the knot that was forming in my head.
If Tupã lived in the sun, how could Apollo direct the chariot of the sun? The sun is a trailer or a magic truck wagon? After a few seconds, I decided it was best not to think about it. Surely I would only get more and more confused. Especially if you stop to take a closer look at the other mythologies.
"How far south?" Kowalski asked as I was still trying to organize my head.
"Brazil." replied Váli "Thunder god of Tupi-Guarani mythology."
"So ... you basically chose me to help because you're full of thunder gods in the middle?" I asked. "You had no better option or ... or rather ... if you don't like what's happening, could not you just figure it out for yourself?"
My expression was hard as I crossed my arms looking at him with an accusing look. Gods and their craze to leave dirty work to others. From Váli's expression of mild surprise, I assumed he was unaccustomed to having other people talking to him in that tone. Despite this, I didn't stop staring at God in a firm and accusatory way.
"You really know how to pick your hunters, Artemis," Váli said.
The light laughter that Artemis gave drew my attention to her and I could see the look of approval and pride she briefly gave me before looking at Váli again.
"I chose you because you were closer. And I will not settle because I'm not in the mood." Vai said.
I snorted not surprising myself with the answer. Were there any more lazy (and irresponsible) beings than the gods? I could not help but be a bit frustrated. Of course, I will not generalize. I believe that some gods besides Mrs. Artemis will do more leave their trouble for others to solve or outsource the salvation of the world, but even so, it wasn't cool at all to be used as a mere piece of chess.
"Well, you're warned." Vali said "The tickets are there with you, I brought tickets to two people so you can even bring a friend. Good luck to you in trying to stop this new attempt to end the world."
Leaving us to make the difficult decisions, Váli and Sigyn turned their backs and left. I huffed in anger and approached Mrs. Artemis who handed me the plane tickets so I could see them. I looked at the sheet that showed the cities. The flight leaving Athens would leave the next morning, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the first flight or one of the first of the day. I tried to think clearly about the situation as a whole, but my heart was already heavy as thinking about getting on a plane. It was as if a weight was crushing me right in the chest.
"You can decide what to do." Mrs. Artemis said.
"I suppose you have your position already." I said.
"Yes." said Artemis. "Although I don't like the idea of letting you go on this mission that may well be a mere trap, it can't be something that should go unchecked."
"Exactly what I thought ..." I said with a heavy sigh and sat down on one of the gray stones with some moss nearby.
"I can go with her to make sure everything's going to be all right," Kowalski said, and I could not help but smile a little at her, especially considering that my stomach was already wrapped up just thinking about how high the plane would be.
As I took a deep breath and told my stomach to calm down, I looked at both of them as I noticed that their eyes were on me, probably waiting for my decision. Of course I'd rather have Mrs Artemis come along, not that I don't like Kowalski, quite the opposite. The preference is only because it is clearly more reliable and safe to have a god by your side. One that is not loose preferably, or elsehe or she would only give more work. But I knew that this was not possible, she had to guide the other hunters down the rivers that rebelled to join the cause of Naunet.
"Well, I think we have a few hours to get to Athens, Kowalski." I said.
The smile appeared on her face and I lowered my eyes to the ticket of the plane I held in my hands. I was not impressed when my name appeared magically written in the field that was empty waiting for this information.
Unfortunately, transport between cities in Greece is not as simple as in other parts of Europe that are linked by extremely fast trains. We did what we could, we took hitchhikers, borrowed cars ... Of course, Greece was full of mythological monsters ready to make people breakfast or a night lunch. Why Acheron had to be so far from Athens? We traveled all night until we arrived in the Greek capital with some scratches because of hurried fights.
We made it to the airport some time in advance and, as much as we looked, everything seemed pretty normal.
"You look awful." said Kowalski.
"I know." I said, my hand on my stomach.
I was sure that my stomach was almost throwing out the bread we bought at an bakery at the airport whose name, for some reason, was Leonidas. I could not fail to remember another Leonidas, not the one famous by its name and the 300 movie, but the only Leonidas I know, Leo Valdez. Well, I can't say I know him very well, but how many Leonidas do you know? As much as some of the current semi-gods have names of ancient heroes, like Jason or Percy, Leonidas was not a name that was seen every day, even more outside of Greece.
I noticed at once that my mind was wandering over simpler subjects wanting to divert my attention from my stomach.
"If something strange happens, you'll let me know, right?" I asked.
"Sure. Why?" Kowalski asked.
"I need a few minutes or I'll be completely useless in any battle," I said.
Kowalski didn't ask what I meant by that, but her eyes followed my hands as I took a black beat-up iPod from my backpack, pluged my headphones, and started to listen to Green Day. Listening to Boulevard of Broken Dreams was not the best thing to do when a god could start an attack at any moment, but music sometimes helped to relax and I needed to relax or I would defeat Tlaloc by vomiting in his face.
By the time of boarding my stomach had managed to calm down enough. So I put the iPod back in my backpack and followed Kowalski into the plane. Although she had to give me a slight push to actually get on the plane.
As we got on the plane, I tried to remember that it was still on the ground as we went to the seats that were marked for us. We looked at every face that was there. Be it passenger or crew. But they all looked pretty normal. The most extravagant didn't seem more than tourists who were returning home after a tour in the history of Athens. I sat down in the chair and I tried, I really tried, to be ready for any battle or something, but the truth was that I was like a statue created by Medusa holding, perhaps too strongly, in my beloved floating seat while I wished it also had a parachute or something.
Despite Váli's warnings, the flight to Frankfurt was quiet even though my best friend in the trip proved to be the sack for vomiting, although Kowalski was a good opponent for it trying to give me water and everything. We landed on German soil with the certainty that all the bread I had eaten at the Leonidas Bakery had been left behind. That, and that anything extraordinary that happened on this trip would happen in the second part.
Back on the mainland and having already had the first scare of the plane, I was able to help Kowalski further in the task of analyzing all the passengers who were in the lobby waiting for the same plane as us or another who had the gate nearby. Just like in Athens, everyone seemed very normal, except for one family in particular. A girl with those cloths that Muslims wear on their heads, an old man, an old woman with the same cloth on her head, and a boy. Don't misunderstand me, it was not because they were Muslims that I was staring at them more intensely (I can't say the same for the other passengers on the plane), but because the girl held an ax.
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Sorry for the delay. My computer decided to die so I got a week without a computer ;~; Now things are back to normal XD