THE REAL THING
Apollo strolled lazily into the breezy airborne stadium, his golden locks tossed beautifully in the wind and his blue eyes gleaming. As usual, there was a wild applause, with all the girls in the stadium screaming and jumping to get him, some of the boys too. Satyrs played soft music to honour him and nymphs hurried over with bows and arrows and drinks. Akira was waving a whip now to control the audience and Hades was gripping Persephone's wrist with all his might.
"Let go, Hades, you act as though I'm going to run away," she snapped. He relaxed and released her. She immediately made for the stadium.
"Hey! Kore, COME BACK!" he cried, running furiously after her.
"Just one autograph please," she said playfully.
"Kore, he is your brother! You can get it any time you wish!"
"But it is soo nice to do it the mortal way, soo FREE!" Her bronze curls were jumping about wildly.
"Where did she get that strength?" he growled huffing and following her, his black cloak flapping behind him. This caused the crowd to now become manageable and Apollo to scowl, for the girls were goggling at Hades now, scared, yet enchanted.
Artemis now entered the stadium, followed closely by her Hunters. Clapping and cheering ensured and the boys surreptitiously goggled at her. The dryads bowed their respective trees and sent their best flowers and Poseidon hooted loudly, sending the Hunters into fits of giggles.
Persephone came to a halt in front of Artemis and flung her arms about her.
"Ah, sister, all this attention, I'm flattered," Artemis said shyly.
"Sooo long since I met you last," she gushed. "And such a long time since I ran like this . . ."
"You look ill, Kore," Artemis said, taking her in.
"Don't ... remind ... me ..." gasped Hades, clutching a stitch in his stomach.
Artemis laughed. "So Kore, any reason other than exercise?"
"Um, I'm collecting autographs of all the winners of the competitions I attend,"
"Oh, Kore, I haven't won yet,"
"Who else will win?" they chorused.
"You must win this niece," Hades remarked, as Artemis signed a scrap of paper.
"No pressure, but all the best," Persephone said.
"Thanks," she said blushing pleasantly. They left.
"That's it! Whatever you say, your diet is called off! I can't have everyone think I'm not looking after you. By Tartarus, you look like you'll be blown away!"
"But I'm not at all pretty, . . . . . . . .oops," she said, trailing away. Hades stopped.
"So that's what the fuss is about," he remarked quietly. She looked away.
"Kore," he said quietly. "Kore, look at me!" He pulled her closer and tilted up her chin. "Do not believe that idiot. She thinks that she is the most beautiful woman on Earth. No doubt she is," he spat disgusted. "But she is the most insensitive and foolish bit of shit I've ever seen!"
"You, you just swore. . . ," she replied awed.
"I did?" he snapped, distracted.
"Yes you did! By Zeus, you swore just now!" she laughed in delight. "Man, I never thought I'll catch you doing that,"
"Ah, well, you better start eating now,"
Kore skipped back to her seat, looking mischievous. Demeter waited with the biggest scowl on her face.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" she scolded, holding Kore by the arm. "You could have been lost! There could have been a stampede! You could have tripped! Hades, do you have brains or what?"
"For your kind information, your daughter ran away on her own! And don't be so paranoid, nothing would have happened. Time you realized your daughter is not a child anymore,"
"Hades, YOU THIEF, you don't tell me about MY daughter!"
"That's a misunderstanding we've been having for centuries and you NEVER let us explain!" They said it together, at the same time and Demeter marvelled at how even the voice modulation matched. Unfortunately, this only made her more angry.
"You are stressed out, sister," Hades stated. "Take a seat."
"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO SIT WHEN THERE ARE NO SEATS?"
"Ah," he said. "A little change in the seating arrangements then."
Everyone around clutched their seats in horror, afraid of being thrown out, but no one expected Kore to climb into his lap. Demeter's jaws dropped to the ground.
"This is way better than those leather seats," she purred, curling up, as Hades threw his arms around her.
"So," he asked politely, though there was a triumphant glint in his dark eyes. "Aren't you sitting?"
"Um, in a moment," she stammered, disoriented. "I'll just go get some popcorn,"
"High calorie ones," he added. "There's someone we need to fatten up." He turned and glowered at his audience, who immediately began to look busy. Only Poseidon had the gall to wink at him.
"So, Apollo and Artemis," Athena's voice echoed up the much quieter stadium. "Shall we start now?" Apollo blew her a kiss in response while Artemis nodded stiffly.
"Please take your allotted places." The crowd began cheering again as they moved to their positions.
"Some general instructions. Your submitted equipment has been scanned for magic traces. Only that equipment must be used in the competition. Do not use your immortal form in any stage of the competition. Use of magic to propel or guide the arrows is forbidden. No cheating, direct or otherwise. Do the competitors agree?"
"Yes," they chorused.
"The first round is called 'Aim Tight'. Marks are awarded for completing the task and for display of special skills. You must not move from your allotted place during this round, no matter how far the targets are. There are three stages within this round."
Immediately, helpers appeared with a box for the contestants. Artemis scanned the contents. It contained a small, but closely-knit flower garland and an olive wreath, small enough to make a bracelet.
"There shall be a singer and a musician before each of the contestants. The singer must be adorned with the garland and the musician must get the bracelet while they are performing. And the bracelet must be put on the hand strumming the instrument."
Two nervous troupes came from opposite ends of the stadium and took their places, straight before the contestants.
"Oh my," whispered Persephone. "At this distance, I don't know who's singing and who's playing! If it weren't for the TV. . ."
At a signal from Athena, the two guys began singing the same song, while the musicians fingered the lyre dexterously.
'Suitors came from lands afar,
Athens, Pylos, Crete, Ithaca,
For no one's beauty was on par,
With the fair maiden, Helen of Sparta,'
"Helen; guys come off it!" commented Hermes. "There are so many other pretty girls that . . ."
"Like Akira," said Martha.
"Or Atlanta," added George.
"What?" he snapped, distracted.
"The runner Atlanta, one of the Argonauts," explained Martha.
"Not Atlanta Johnson, but she is also . . ."
"Hermes, did I just hear my daughter's name in your head?" asked a suspicious Athena.
"Oh look at that!" yelled Hermes, drowning out Athena's voice buzzing in his head. "Will you look at that! If anybody needs more proof that they are twins, I say look now. They have both garlanded their respective singers at the same instant! Ah, now the music is much more boisterous. Lyre players relax! It's the divine twins! You need not worry about losing your hand!"
"Hermes do you have a minute?" Athena persisted.
"Apollo's all calm and composed, waving and blowing kisses and winking at the audience and he doesn't even have the bow in hand ! But Artemis's stance reminds me of an alert tiger eyeing its prey. She's soo not going to miss the target."
"I know you are only pretending," she continued.
"Ah, now Apollo's got the bow and arrow in hand and THEY SHOOT! The bracelets land neatly on their wrists at the same instant ! They have both utilized that break in the song to shoot their little shafts. Bet Apollo knows the song by heart. Kudos contestants! While Athena gets ready to announce the scores, why don't we give a long applause to the troupes and the contestants?" They crowd cheered lustily for a while.
"The scores; Apollo : 2000 Artemis : 2000. A clean tie." Athena's announcement sent the crowd into raptures. Apollo grew busy in humoring the crowd while Artemis checked her equipment.
"The second stage involves music too," Athena said, silencing the audience. "Contestants, listen carefully to this sound and observe the source."
Two helpers entered the stadium, carrying erect fishing rods. A small silver bell was attached to it. They moved the rod to and fro enabling them to listen to the sound of the bell ringing.
"So, have you observed? Now, you shall both be blindfolded. This bell shall be played again, at different places, along with a number of other sounds. Ice cold water shall also be poured on you at intervals for distraction. You must remove the gong from the bell, without moving from your assigned place, only by tracking its sound. One at a time. Shall we begin?"
Artemis stepped forward first to be blindfolded. She readied the arrow and waited.
Immediately, the stadium broke out into a cacophony of noise. There were cheers, catcalls, jeers, insults, lyre music, singing, chanting, loud booming voices, whispers in the wind, drums, guitars, trumpets, sitars . . . and that little silver bell. The sound was so feeble one would never even realize its presence, but Artemis recognized, indeed heard, no other sound. The bell was now in the right, now right opposite her, now left, obviously one of the helpers was carrying it with that fishing rod. . .
"So Lady Artemis now performs a dance similar to the mesmerized snake before its charmer, come off the charm Arty! Shoot the bell!"
Artemis let loose her arrow just then and the tiny gong fell to the ground, leaving the bell unharmed.
"BRILLIANT work, sister! All that hunting in the dark has paid off! Come on, cheers for our maiden Huntress!"
The crowd applauded as Apollo was getting ready.
"So; the Lord of Light is now preparing to aim his arrow in the dark. Oh, he's actually rocking to a little serenade!"
Apollo was attracted by the beautiful lyre music and unconsciously moved in time to it.
"Now, now, bro, don't get distracted! The bell, the bell!"
Now Apollo heard the shouts of his fans and the loud jeers of Artemis's Hunters, the various lovely musical notes, his daughter's voice. . .
SPLASH! One bucket full of icy cold water doused him now.
"What the," Hermes managed, choking down his laughter. "Fast, brother! A free bucket of water for every minute you stay there!"
Apollo now heard it, a tiny note among all the chaos, that bell . . .
"Dad come on! Hark the bell! Hark the bell!" floated Akira's voice.
Now the bell rang clear in his brain; loud, sharp and near. Before a second bucket of water hit him, the gong dropped to the ground, denting the bell.
The stage exploded into cheers.
"Guys, guys!" cried Hermes. "Don't you want to know the scores?"
"Apollo : 4000 Artemis : 6000 ; for fast timing, avoiding water and damage to the bell."
"All right audience! The third stage in the first round!" Athena announced. "In this stage, you have three targets, at varied distances that you have to take out from your position."
Immediately, helpers placed six huge things, covered by cloth, one behind the other, right opposite the twins again.
"The first target is a typical target board with a red spot you must hit. But the spot keeps moving in a random manner. Next, you have axes, a little away from the board. One set of axes rotates in the clockwise direction while the other anti-clockwise. But you will notice small handle holes in the axes. You must make your arrow pass through all the holes simultaneously. The last and the farthest is a William Tell repetition: someone you favor will have an apple placed on their heads and you must shoot it. But they shall have a tickling spell on them."
"You can take them out in any order and there is no time limit, but the completion time will be taken into account. All the best. So, who chooses to begin?"
"Ladies first," offered Apollo generously. Artemis produced her bow. One of the helpers removed the cloth placed on the board opposite her.
"Sissy, no need to be nervous, just do your best, I'll understand if you lose,"
"Shut up."
Artemis began to study the moving dot in front of her, while notching an arrow.
"So, audience," announced Hermes. "Artemis is in. She's clearing the targets in the exact order they are placed. Ah, I think she's a bit baffled by the dot!"
She was indeed more than baffled by the dot's motion. She bit her lip nervously and her green eyes followed the spot obediently as it first went to the centre, then the edge, then to the left corner. . . .
"Well guys, she's ready to shoot!"
Artemis would have fired her arrow, but the red dot did not move as she planned, and she was reduced to staring hard at it again.
"Come on, niece, hit it!" yelled Poseidon. The crowd followed his lead and cheered and booed accordingly.
" . . . And by Zeus, she hit the sweet spot! Come on Lady Artemis, that's the spirit!"
The helpers cleared the board away to the thunderous cheering of the crowd. When the cloth was removed from the second target, the crowd gasped.
"Well, I now see why you are awed," Hermes said. "That is the biggest collection of moving axes I've ever seen. Each one is fifty feet in length, base attached to a long iron stick. Like Athena said, seven moving clockwise, another seven anti-clockwise. But there is only a tiny hole in them, just enough for an arrow to pass through. Man, this is going to be soo tough!"
Artemis was examining the ominously moving axes too. In a few seconds, an arrow was sailing through the holes.
"This is superb! Within twenty seconds! She's sure making up for the lapse in the first stage! Go Arty!" Apollo growled when he heard the nickname.
The screen to the last target was pulled aside to reveal Thalia squirming in her position, apple pasted firmly on her head. She had her eyes closed and kept her body stiff, but occasionally gave way to convulsions.
"Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus and the second in command of Artemis Hunters. Looks like she's got tons of self control, tickling spells are terrible to suppress. I tried and failed miserably."
"I placed the spell on him!" Persephone chirped. "When he stole my flower crown."
"Steady Thalia," Artemis whispered, pulling the string of her bow.
The arrow sailed swiftly to land on the top portion of the apple.
"Level completely cleared by Lady Artemis! Excellent performance, though she could have nearly missed the target in the last stage. Affection surely must influence the aim. Come on guys, an applause!"
Poseidon yelled and choked on the popcorn. Persephone jumped up and down while Demeter shouted her protests. Ares lifted his chocolate sword in appreciation.
"Calm down mates, it is only the third round! Oh, let's see what Lord Apollo's got to offer."
Apollo was busy talking to one of the helpers. He nodded in reply and conveyed the message to the others.
"Ah, looks like he wants to study all of them before he makes a move, for he has instructed for the removal of all the covers. Let's see, the spot is as unpredictable as ever, the axes are also scary and the apple is on the head," he choked for a second before continuing. "Of Akira Naruko, Daughter of Apollo and head security guard of this event."
"Apollo," Hermes snarled telepathically. "You better make sure you do a neat job."
"She's my daughter," he snapped back. "I'll do it much better than you."
Beads of sweat trickled down his hair as he took in the motion of the red spot. Akira was wiggling, but she didn't let the convulsions reach her head. She had her eyes firmly closed too. Apollo drew the string as far as possible and let the arrow slip. The string snapped into two.
"Hmm, looks like he's nervous, that's soo unlike . . . Oh my, he's a GENIUS! Did you see that, Athena? Spectacular, mind blowing, by Hades, I'm totally impressed! You rock, brother!"
The arrow had sailed to hit the red spot, torn through the thick material to pass right through the holes in the rotating axes and landed neatly on the apple.
"Sweet Zeus, my head is reeling, I've never seen such a crafty piece of archery. Ah, why didn't Artemis think of this too?"
"Apollo : 9000 Artemis : 8000."
The crowd rushed into the stadium. Akira immediately tossed the apple away and began to control the crowd.
"Get back, get back, this area is out of bounds!" she yelled in a hoarse voice.
"Akira, I need you a minute!"
"What is it?" she snarled, without turning. "I already gave you detailed instructions as to handle Himerus and the nymphs."
"Akira, I ,"
"Can't you see I'm busy? Any new problems, just ask Alex to. . . .Dad?" she asked, trailing off.
"Well, I want,"
"Oh, no need to say thanks, hey!" she gasped, totally nonplussed as Apollo drew her into a warm hug. She became limp with shock as Apollo rocked her gently like a two year old. . .
"I love you Akira," he whispered. "Always do." He then pinched her nose fondly and departed in a flash.
"Where did that come from?" she muttered, with a grin.
NOTE:
Thank you very, very much to RIPallas for giving me that idea on moving targets. My mom gave me the idea for the first round, while my bro inspired the second. You can give me your ideas too!
The next round is 'Taking out the Target'. Any mythological creatures? Interesting circumstances? Alternate environments? I'm all ears. Please help me!