He stood like a human, but he could not have been taller than my hip. "I have, Teumessian Fox."
"Please!" He exclaimed, "Call me Tewey!" He threw his bone away.
"Alright… Umm… Tewey. I need to ask a favor of you." I said.
"What's that?" He asked. I was surprised I had not been attacked yet.
"I want the belt, the sword, and the ring." I said, trying to sound bold. The fox thought for a minute.
"Mmm… nope. Can't do that." Said the fox, "But I think your bones would go very well with my collection!" He gave me an evil smirk.
"Umm, actually, I was just leaving." I said, stepping back.
"Okay. Come back soon, though, I get hungry." He said, dismissing me. He picked up a rib and inspected it. I ran far, far away, all the way back to where the toucan once screamed. I stopped and saw his eyes on the ground. Gingerly, I lifted them up.
"So gross…" I muttered. I walked back to the dog cage. He was happy to see me. "Hey, pup! How are ya?" He barked and licked the edge of the cage where I saw a keyhole. It was big. I decided to stuff the eyes in to see if it would do anything.
The whole cave shook, and I heard a clang behind me. I ran back to find that the ring had fallen to the ground. I took it up and put it on, and suddenly I couldn't see myself anymore. Invisibility. I took it off and went back to where the sword glowed and found that my puppy had freed himself of the cage. I thought for a moment… steak!
"You like steak, boy?" I asked. He barked and wagged his tail. "Come on!" We started running towards the steak. We found it, and puppy knocked it off the stool and wolfed it down. I heard a louder clang behind me and figured the sword fell. I retrieved the sword and, when I had returned, my puppy was no longer a puppy.
"Lailaps." I identified. Zeus had created him to catch the fox, but he and the fox had been turned to stone a while ago: The fox was destined to never be caught, and Lailaps had been destined to catch anything it chased. You can see where the problem lied. I looked up at him. It was a wonder he fit in the cave. "You remember your old pal Tewey?" I asked him.
He growled. "Let's go get him." He barked and rocketed foreword. When we had arrived in the Teumessian fox's lair, he was sitting on a pile of bones.
"You again!" He said, glaring at Lailaps. He barked viciously and lunged at the fox, which skillfully avoided him. "I thought I locked you in a cage. No matter. I'll just do it again." By the light of Achilles' sword, I could see that the room was expansive, and I was standing between him and the only exit. He broke into a run and Lailaps chased him around the room. I watched for a few minutes, wondering what to do.
I slipped on the ring. "Hey!" Shouted Tewey, "Where did she go?" Lailaps nipped at his tail, but he continued running. I jumped out in front of him and put my sword in his way. He ran right into it. A gash ran through his body, and I cut his head off. I took off the ring. No clink of a belt hitting the ground. No way out.
"What gives?!" I exclaimed, "I thought I was supposed to kill the fox and get out of here." Lailaps sat down and nuzzled his head.
"Oh now that's nasty." I said. I didn't look as I removed the evil eyes. I heard the noise of leather falling and hitting the ground. "Yes." I said. I went back and took the belt. "Now what?" I asked. I decided to put the belt on, and the cave shook with such force it knocked me off my feet. I closed my eyes and as a blinding light overtook the passageways. I opened them after the shaking had stopped. Lailaps was gone, but there was a spiral staircase that led to the top of the cave. I ascended the stairs and opened the hatch on the top.
I stepped out, and I was inside a whirlpool. It died down, and I recognized that I was on the Amazon River. I was in the same place I had entered into, in fact. I looked around. Nobody was there. I started on the path back to where the Amazon camp was and wondered how long I had been down there. Had it been seconds? Days? Years? There was no way to be sure. After an hour of searching, I found the white house-like building. The ocelots were playing, and everyone was standing in the lobby.
"Zenia?" Klaus asked, sounding surprised, "What are you doing back so soon?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, "I've been down there for at least a day!"
"No, Zenia… It's been two hours."
"Wow… Time crawls on when you're down there." I remarked. Klaus stared at me.
"You have the artifacts!" She exclaimed. I noticed that the items were no longer glowing and I was not invisible anymore. I handed her the ring and the sword.
"And as a reward you will keep your belt. Go and complete your quest before we're all boiled alive!" She exclaimed. I said goodbye to Daphne and Klaus after explaining my adventure to everyone. A scribe copied down every word, which made me feel special. I was clothed, and Orion was released.
"Thank God!" He exclaimed, "I thought I would be in that cell forever. Did you get the belt?"
"Yep!" I said, swinging my hips. It was a cute accessory.
"So, how are we going to get to Mount Olympus?" He asked.
Just then, a puppy came bounding through the doors. "Lailaps!" I exclaimed. He ran right up to me and I picked him up. He licked my face all over.
Shadow travel for three? Philana asked, walking up.
"He's a hellhound?" I asked.
Of course! Philana exclaimed.
"Okay, then. Shadow travel for three!" I told him. He jumped out of my arms and morphed into a giant, vicious dog. I climbed on, followed by Orion, who carried Philana.
"To Mount Olympus!" Orion instructed, and Lailaps leapt into the shadows.