Carmen and I rode our Pegasi till daybreak, and by then we had covered half of the United States. We touched down in Chicago, on a remote pier on Lake Michigan. We led our Pegasus into a hidden clearing in the woods, where we set up camp. I left Carmen to set up camp, i.e. start a fire, set up the tents, stuff like that ,while I went into the city to get some food.
I brought my mechanical pencil with me and I hiked until I reached the city outskirts. The first area I got to was the warehouse district, and I knew there wasn't anything to eat there, so I skipped that place completely. The next area was closer to the city, but was more lawless, had more crime. I could just tell that I had to stay on my toes right when I stepped into the area.
I could sense the presence of at least 3 gangs of Cyclops, one gang of mortals, and another gang of empousa. I steered clear from the empousa, along with the mortals, since I couldn't hurt them with my blade, and tried as best as I could to stay far away from the Cyclops. I failed horribly. I mean, I was pretty close to getting out of that area and into the actual city, with the Bean, and the skyscrapers, but I got a little too arrogant and stepped right through their territory.
At first, it didn't seem like any Cyclops had noticed me. A few glanced at me and brushed me aside, but none really took much care in me. That is, until they caught my scent. I guess that it must have grown stronger, seeing as though I was the one to replace Zeus, but what didn't heighten was my instincts. I heard footsteps all around me, but it didn't register in my brain as a danger until a fist smashed into my back, knocking me to the ground. I groaned as I stood to face my assailant, drawing my sword as I did.
There were at least 5 Cyclops around me, fists clenched and muscles coiled. I knew they were ready for a fight, and so was I. Their sheer size would have made any other demigod faint, but not me. I was the heir of Zeus! I couldn't let myself back down against monsters like this. We stood like statues, waiting for the others to make the first move, until one Cyclops threw a punch at me. Big mistake. I spun away from his fist, and cut his hand off of his arm. The Cyclops bellowed and tried to kick me. I stabbed at his foot, and the Cyclops recoiled in pain, tripping and falling onto his back.
"Who's next?" I taunted. One Cyclops rushed me, rage in his eyes, and tried to punch me in the chest. I blocked his fist with my sword, and grabbed onto his arm, which he swung straight into the air. I let go right as his arm reached the vertex of its swing, and jumped straight into the air. I shot up at least 20 feet before I shot down like a bullet, stabbing the Cyclops in the face with my blade. I flipped off of his body right as he disintegrated into dust.
Enraged, the others all rushed me at once, in a flurry of punches and kicks. I was about to launch into a ballet of destruction when the sound of clapping and whistling cut the battle off. I turned to find the source of the noise, and found that a Cyclops in a trench coat was making the noise. I took an offensive stance and readied for battle. I was about to rush the Cyclops in front of me, when he put his hands up in the universal 'cool-your-jets' sign. I stepped back and relaxed my stance, but kept my sword out. "What is it? What do you want?" I spat at him.
The Cyclops raised his eyebrow and gave me a questioning look. "Why so negative, my friend? I only came here to talk." His voice sounded like that of a classic gangster, from those crime movies. Almost like the Grandfather's in the Grandfather. He took 3 steps forward and was face-to-face with me when he continued, "My name is Δυο μάτια, or in modern day English, Two Eyes." I almost ruined the conversation by bursting out in laughter. I'm just lucky that Carmen isn't here, because a bad joke like that would have made her explode. Anyway, Two Eyes continued, "The thugs you see behind you are, from right to left, Μεγάλο Πόδι, or Big Foot, Γιγάντια γροθιά, or Giant Hand, and the last one on the edge that you haven't turned to dust is named ουσ. Χριστόφορος, or Christopher." That last one threw me for a loop.
"Okay then. So, let's cut to the chase. What is it you want from me?" I asked Two Eyes. He nodded in appreciation.
"Ah, a boy who doesn't like to wait. Reminds me of me, back in the day. Oh, well. No time to reminisce. What I want from you, dear demigod, is to play a game. See, our employer has a bounty on your head, and we intend to collect it. But, I am nothing if not fair, boy. I will play a game of Mythological Chess with you. If you can beat me, then I will let you leave in peace. If I win, however, then I get the pleasure of destroying you. Now, what is it going to be, youngling?" I thought for a few minutes, turning the odds over and over in my head. If I accept, then I have a chance of escaping. But if not, I may not get out of here alive. After another minute of silence, I answered,
"All right, Two Eyes. I accept your challenge. On one condition." The Cyclops raised his eyebrow questioningly. He motioned for me to continue. "No cheating. None, whatsoever. If either of us cheats, then the other automatically wins." Two Eyes nodded in ascent.
"You've got yourself a deal, kid. Now, follow me. I'll take you to your possible doom." He led me down a long, dark alleyway with a spiral staircase at the end that descended into the undergrounds. He gestured for me to go first, and I bolted down the stairs quickly. I reached the bottom before anyone else did, and saw a strange sight.
At the bottom floor, it looked like a giant rec room, with foosball tables all around, at least two air hockey tables, a pool table, a table with snacks on it in front of a couch and a T.V., along with a mini-bar and a poker table in the center of the room. The Cyclops finally caught up with me, after I looked over the bottom floor at least 3 times. Two Eyes rested his hands on my shoulders, nodding in agreement. About what, though, I didn't know until he started speaking. "Amazing, isn't it? It's strange what mortals will end up doing with such amazing items!" Not responding, I headed straight for table in the corner, determination in my eyes.
The board was set up already on the table, and I took my place on the Olympian side. The Olympian pieces were a pure white marble, while the opponent's pieces, the Titans, were made of pitch-black obsidian. Two Eyes took a seat on the other side, the board coming to life as his bum hit the chair. The Olympians actually were chatting amongst themselves, the demigods in front acting as pawns staring straight ahead. The rules were the same as in regular chess, the board was the same, but the pieces were significantly different. As I said before, the demigod pawns stood like soldiers staring at the end. The rooks on my side were the gods Ares and Athena, the knights were the gods Poseidon and Hades, the bishops were the gods Artemis and Apollo, and the king and queen were Zeus and Hera.
On the Titans side, monsters stood in the place of pawns, snarling as they stared straight across to the demigods. The rooks were the Cyclops, with stones and boulders in their hands. The knights were the Titans Hyperion and Typhon, the bishops were the Titans Prometheus and Atlas, and the king and queen were Kronus and Rhea. As the game began, both sides instantly stiffened up, the armies preparing for war. I made the first move, moving one of my demigods up so that it revealed my queen. Two Eyes was making moves that were consistent with that of setting up a castling maneuver. I didn't really move to attack as he finished his castling, because I was setting up a demigod chain defense.
Two Eyes' eyebrow shot up, trying to process my move when I finished my chain. He took his first offensive move of the game, using Hyperion to kill one of my demigods. I countered by destroying Hyperion with one of my demigods, and it went like that for the entire game, until all that was left was Kronus, Typhon, and three monsters for Two Eyes, while I still had Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, and three demigods. Two Eyes tried to upgrade his monster by moving him into my end of the board, but was slain by Athena.
I started my attack on Kronus, defeating Typhon and his last two monsters, while one of my demigods was slain. I used Athena to trap Kronus in Two Eyes' end of the board, and shot Hera straight into the same row, ending the game right then and there. I stood straight up and walked away, while Two Eyes swore repeatedly in Greek.
After that long encounter, it was nearly sundown, so I sprinted into the city and back to Carmen as quickly and as covertly as I could while I was carrying groceries. When I reached our camp, Carmen was sitting on a log, reading a book, and the Pegasi were sleeping nearby. She looked up, finally registering my appearance. "Where have you been?" She asked me. I told her the story over dinner, and afterwards, we fell asleep, after a long day of action.
Author's Note: All right, once again, thanks for reading, comment on what you thought, and stay tuned, as Chapters 6 and 7 are coming out in the next few days. Until next time, rainstorm24 OUT!