Rise of the Minor Gods Presented by iWrite Co.

Bumping.

 

Chapter 6 Part 3
The door swung open, banging against the wall. Hector looked around the room. It was well decorated but a little cluttered. Hector took a few more steps into the room until he was standing in the middle. A few papers were cluttered here and there and clothes were scattered around the room too.
Hector picked up a piece of paper by his foot and unraveled it. It read:
Μην ξεχάσετε να παρακολουθήσουν ελληνικά τάξη μετάφραση. Hector scratched his head, as he translated it too:
Don’t forget to attend Greek translation class.
Hector scratched his head again and smiled. Apparently, the translation classes have been a success.
He threw the piece of paper into a nearby trashcan and continued to venture around the room. He looked into the closet of the room and the drawers. All of which were littered with clothing. Hector looked down at the clothes he was wearing right now. His jeans and shirt were in tatters and a bit stiff from the salt water.
Digging into the drawer, Hector pulled out a pair of black gym shorts and took a fresh clean electric blue shirt from a hanger.
“Knock, knock,” a cheery voice said behind him, knocking lightly on a wall.
Hector jumped as he heard the voice and turned around to face the person who had intruded into the house.
“Who are you?” Hector asked a slight tremor in his voice. He was suddenly filled with awe for the stranger who had walked in.
The stranger, a man in his twenties ran his fingers through his curly blonde hair. His hand gripped tighter around a small bag he was holding.
“Let’s just say I’m a friend of yours,” he said giving a perfect smile with dazzling white teeth.
Hector smiled a sheepish smile, at ease with the man, but still a little doubtful.
The stranger walked into the room, looking at the pictures taped to the wall and looking out the window that gave a perfect view of the temple, where Selene probably laid dead.
The man looked at Hector who sat on the edge of the bed, sulking to himself.
“It’s not the end Hector,” the man said, sitting next to him.
Hector didn’t reply.
“Why are you so upset? You don’t even know her.”
Hector gave a deep sigh and said, “I know I didn’t really know her, but I owe her.”
“What do you mean?”
“She pushed me out of the way when the arrow nearly hit me.”
The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully, thinking. “Okay,” he began, “Let’s say she were to magically come back to life and be perfectly healthy. Would you promise to take care of her and protect her? No matter what?”
Hector nodded quickly, without hesitation. He blushed cherry red after he realized what he just agreed to.
The man smiled another perfect smile and patted Hector’s back.
“I’ll see you later Hector,” he abruptly said as he stood up rather quickly and began to walk out the door. The faintest sound of music coming from his iPod echoed around the room.
“Wait where are you going?” Hector asked as he saw the man’s head bobbing from side to side.
The man did sort of a backwards wave and replied, “I’ve got a job to do.”
Hector sulked back down into the bed laying his hands on either side of him. His left hand felt a small cotton bag and a piece of paper under its palm. Hector picked up the small slip of paper and silently read the hastily written handwriting. It read:
Χρησιμοποιήστε αυτά τα προσεκτικά. Ξέρεις πού να πάρετε μια ξαναγέμισμα.
-Απόλλων
Hector translated a majority of the words to: Use these carefully. You know where to get a refill.
The signature of the note was far too messy and smudged to be able to translate to anything. Hector picked up the small cotton bag that was next to him and spilled the contents out onto his hand.
The same grayish marbles he had found in his pocket were now in his hand. They seemed more metallic in color but had the same small storm clouds inside of them. Hector gently placed the marble back inside the bag. He estimated there were about fifty in all. Placing the bag gently in his shirt pocket, Hector suddenly had an impulse to investigate the storage room.

 

Chapter 7 Part 1: A Cut to Remember (Not my best title name, I know.)
Hector quickly sprinted down the flights of stairs and made a quick stop in the kitchen. The kitchen had a nice cozy touch to it. The countertops were gleaming clean, although there were utensils placed randomly in the room. A large fruit bowl was standing on the middle of a counter and racks of cured meat hung off to one side. His stomach growled for food while his feet and mind urged him to the storage room.
Ignoring the impulses, he walked over to the racked meat and took a small kitchen knife. Cutting a large piece of meat off an adult lamb and stuffing it in his mouth satisfied his hunger.
He briskly walked out of the kitchen, and began to walk slowly to the storage room. As he was walking, a drastic thought dawned on him. Stopping in his tracks, Hector suddenly swung his head to his right where the altar of Zeus laid. His mind whirled as he suddenly realized with a jolt that in the place he had called a bedroom, all the clothes had fit him perfectly. His mind raced as he remembered all the pictures of him, his family, and a few other demigods.
If this is originally my house, he thought slowly, absorbing everything in, and this place is dedicated to Zeus. His eyes were locked with the altar of Zeus. Then that means I’m the son of…
“Oh my gods,” he said out loud, particularly to no one.
Hector slowly sat down, realizing how stupid he was he didn’t know this sooner. The prank with the Hephaestus kid came into his mind first. He had electrocuted him very badly and had ruined his best shield. His mind also thought of the small gray marbles with the small storm clouds in them.
Gods I’m stupid. He thought as he stood up on shaky legs.
As he walked slowly to the door of the storage room he made up a chant in his head as he went.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
His hand grasped the handle to the door and opened it quickly, the chant still continuing in his head.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

 

Chapter 7 Part 2
Hector walked into the cramped storage room. Specks of dust danced around in the room, the sunlight through a window making them visible.
Weapons were sticking out of various crates and boxes and the tiles of the floor were cracked and discolored. Hector peeked into multiple crates to find arrows, quivers, crossbows, daggers, and vials of powders and liquids. Hector worked slowly and thoroughly, still sorting out the thoughts he remembered. A flashing gleam of metal caught his eye before he had a chance to rest and get some fresh air.
Hector squeezed himself between the boxes before he made it to the back of the room where the flash of metal was. Carefully mending his way and sucking in his stomach, he half tripped half fell into a nearly hidden open area where Hector swore he had seen the metallic flash.
Hector scratched his head quizzically, his eyes straining through the boxes. Sighing deeply, Hector prepared to walk back out in the open, until his eyes caught something interesting. A rather long box sat on a grand stand carved out of wood.
Smiling for no apparent reason, Hector lifted up the lid to the box, coughing at all the dust that swirled around him. The box was lined with dark red satin flecked with what looked like gold glitter. Hector breathed deeply, his eyes focused on what laid inside the box.
Hector gently picked up a large, double sided sword as if it would break apart in his hands if he handled it too roughly. The hilt of the sword was made up of soft, spongy foam tied together with a crisscrossed piece of string. Hector took the sword by the hilt and shone it in the sunlight.
It caused a blinding light that afflicted his eyes and temporarily dazed him until the large spots stopped dancing before his eyes.
Rubbing his eyes furiously, Hector absently placed his hand on the edge of the three and half foot long sword and pressed his hand down lightly.
“OUCH!” Hector howled as he observed his reddened hand.
A large cut sat on his palm and bled slowly and stung bitterly. Slumping to the ground, Hector blew on his hand feebly as his hand began to swell and the energy drained from his body.
The sword hector was still gripping in his left hand clattered to the ground, the sound echoing off the stone walls and the wooden crates. Footsteps sounded from the door, but Hector didn’t get a chance to see who it was.
A blurred yell sounded from behind him, but a buzzing in his head quickly drowned out the sound. He felt his head sink to the ground, along with the rest of his body, and his mind getting further from reality.

 

Chapter 8 Part 1: (No Title Yet)
Bleary eyed and nauseous was not a good sign if you wake up with these symptoms.
Looking from left to right, Hector found himself in his bedroom on his bed. Smiling, Hector nearly had an urge to name everything in the house as his. In his doorway Mr. Trayton and the man who had said he was his friend and had given him the bag of marbles conversed amongst themselves.
The almost complete stranger glanced suspiciously at him, and Hector decided to do a bit of acting, just for the fun of it.
“No mom,” he mumbled as if he were in a dream, “not the plaid pants! Please! No!” Hector peeked out through narrowed eyes and the man cocked his head to one side. That movement obviously said I’m not an idiot. That was the worse acting I’ve ever seen.
Sighing, Hector opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows. His cut hand was covered in gauze and some type of green ointment that smelled a little like mint.
“Hector glad to see your up!” Mr. Trayton exclaimed his gray eyes filled with relief.
“I’m glad I’m up too. What happened?”
“We found you in the storage room knocked out cold. I think you cut your hands on this,” Mr. Trayton said, holding Hector’s sword by the hilt.
“I remember that,” Hector said, rubbing his eyes. “But how’d I get knocked out?”
“It was coated with some type of poison.” Mr. Trayton said, laying the sword down gently on the floor.
“To be specific Tray,” the stranger said absently, looking through his iPod, “I believe it was some type of venom from a spider.”
Mr. Trayton shuddered, his eyes suddenly filled with hate. “Spiders, disgusting little freaks of nature.”
“Ahem, back to me,” Hector announced, not realizing how self-centered he was actually being.
Mr. Trayton tore his eyes away from a small cobweb dangling from the ceiling and stared back at Hector rather irritated.
“You’ll be fine,” Mr. Trayton said and briskly walked out of the room. The stranger shrugged the song he was listening to slightly escaping his ear buds.
Swinging his legs from the side of his bed, Hector ran after the stranger, grasping his shoulder with his cut hand. A slight tingling feeling ran through his entire arm and left a warm, pleasant sensation, the pain in his hand quickly diminishing.
The man’s knees buckled from under him and he clenched his stomach as if he were going to vomit.
“What do you want?” he asked, a look of urgency and irritation flashing across his face.
Hector frowned slightly. He’s been getting the irritated look a lot lately.
“Who exactly are you?” Hector inquired, his eyebrows arched. It had just hit him that this mystery man had been appearing out of nowhere, and he not even bothered to ask who he was. Instead, he seemed to trust him full heartedly.
“Honestly, a dying mortal could still utter my name with a brain tumor in their head,” the man said, rolling his eyes.
Hector was befuddled, and getting more frustrated with every retort. If this stranger kept jabbering on with answerless answers, Hector might just have to punch him in the stomach.
“Give me a straight forward answer,” Hector growled menacingly, reaching for the marbles in his pocket, “Now.”
His eyes widened at the sight of the small sack containing at least 50 of those electrocuted marbles.
“I suppose I have nothing to lose,” he stated flatly, trying hard to keep his calm. Looking down at his perfectly white tennis shoes, he mumbled a quick sentence, barely audible, but Hector still caught the words.
“My name is Apollo. God of the sun.”

 

Bump

 

Chapter 9 Part 1: Family Blood
The news should’ve come as a shock to Hector, but as his mind registered the news, he acted like it was an everyday thing. He thought about the time when his mother had yelled at him for getting a D- on a test, but Hector just shrugged his shoulders and walked on. That was of those moments.
Hector and Apollo walked out of the house, Apollo removing the last of the venom from his system.
“So you’re the god of the sun?” Hector asked, testing the mobility of his hand.
Apollo did a sort of a somersault movement, and in a split second was standing in front of Hector.
“Not only the god of the sun, my mere mortal follower.” He stated, wagging a finger an inch away from Hector’s face. “I’m also the god of prophecy, healing, music, plague, and only sometimes the sun.”
“Quite a mixed bag you got there,” Hector stated, following Apollo to an elaborately designed path filled with classical music pieces.
“Ah, Beethoven,” Apollo sighed, standing over a particular musical piece. “One of my favorite children, next to Mozart.”
Hector looked up at Apollo to see if he was kidding, but he could only see thoughtfulness and sincerity swimming in the blue depths of his eyes.
Opening the bright orange marble doors, they walked right into the house into the courtyard. The floors were a glossy black and white checkered tile that reflected any light that hit it. Near the end of the courtyard stood an altar of Apollo. The statue depicted Apollo half standing half leaning against a boulder and playing a lyre.
Standing next to the statue, Apollo himself imitated the position and played a few strings on a lyre he magically pulled out of nowhere.
“Thank you! Thank you!” he exclaimed, blowing kisses to an imaginary audience. “Please you’re too kind! Let the bowing and praise begin!” he said, bowing deeply himself.
Hector grinned widely, amused with the Greek god. He was happy this was his half brother. Apollo acted exactly like the brother he never had.
“What about the bowing and praise for me?” Hector asked, pointing directly to himself. “I’m the son of Zeus, the almighty.” Giving a deep bow himself Hector then said, “Please let the worshipping begin.”
Apollo shook his head, the blond corkscrew curls bouncing on his head. “Sorry mere mortal, but you don’t rank amongst the gods.”
“Whatever. Anyways, can we get out of here? I’m afraid if we stay any longer, you’re already big head will burst,” Hector stated, already walking towards the exit of the temple.
“Sure why not. I’m suppose to make an appearance at dinner anyways in about an hour or so.” Apollo replied following quickly after Hector.
Both god and human exited the ring of houses and scrambled down the steep mound of rocks like mountain goats. Apollo not as ungainly as Hector though.
“Anything else you want to ask?” Apollo asked, brushing the dirt that trapped onto his shirt.
Hector thought for a moment. What would he even bother asking anything?
“Anything concerning my sister’s daughter?” Apollo asked again, his eyebrows raised.

 

Chapter 9 Part 2
The statement hit Hector like a wrecking ball and a coil of nervousness sank into his stomach, sending butterflies flitting around his abdomen. He had completely forgotten about Selene. Question suddenly bombarded him from all directions in the confines of his brain.
“Where did they bury her?” he croaked out, his voice barely audible.
Apollo smiled triumphantly, an expression that could be taken the wrong way in Hector’s terms.
“You killed her?!” Hector yelled abruptly, an octave higher than his usual voice.
“What?” Apollo asked, a horrific expression crossing his face. “No of course not! She’s not dead. She’s alive.”
Hector took a quick glance behind him, expecting a zombie to be crawling over the rocky terrain.
Apollo held back a laugh. The things he could do to terrify a mortal.
“Hector remember. I’m the god of healing,” he said slowly as if he were talking to a person without a brain. “I’ve brought people back to life before.”
Hector relaxed. Selene was alive again, thanks to Apollo.
“There’s a slight issue though,” Apollo said delicately. “The last time I brought someone back from the dead, I had a slight problem with Hades.”
“A slight problem?” Hector asked.
“Yeah sort of. Apparently I was affecting his ‘business’ as he would say and to solve the dispute, Zeus,” Apollo stopped his sentence and made a movement that showed him slitting him throat with his index finger.
“So Zeus is going to kill you again?” Hector asked worried for his half-brother.
“Well no. I settled a deal with Hades,” Apollo said. “Technically, Selene was dead and had already went through judgment with Hades. She got sent to Elysium actually, which is exceptionally lucky.” Apollo caught his breath and continued, “Hades was furious no doubt, and was about to kill me on the spot. But instead I made an agreement with him.”
“Get to the point!” Hector snapped impatiently. He was rather excited to see Selene moving again.
“All right, all right,” Apollo said. “Well, every winter, children of Hades go visit him along with children of Persephone. They stay for about a week and then come back here. So I reasoned with Hades and we came to a conclusion that Selene will just have to tag along with them.”
Hector processed the information and asked, “So she’s eternally bound to the Underworld now?”
“Well no. But it was either that or I’d get zapped by Zeus.” Apollo said simply.
“So then where is she?” Hector asked, standing quickly to his feet.
Apollo shrugged. “Last time I saw her, the Aphrodite kids were giving her a makeover. And by the way, Mr. Trayton wants to see you.”
“Where?”
“Try the temple a.k.a. your classroom.” Apollo said sprinting off.
“Wait where are you going?” Hector called after him.
Apollo waved back and called, “Have to get ready for dinner!”
Hector glanced towards the temple and a flash of light that radiated heat came from where Apollo had run off. Turning his head, he saw that Apollo was nowhere to be seen, but there were suspicious singe marks on the grass.

 

All of Chapter 10: A Surprising Surprise
Hector walked swiftly towards the temple, ignoring the yelps of excitement of Selene’s revival. I’ll visit her later, Hector thought as he came in view with the temple.
He stopped abruptly, having a sense that something wasn’t right. Crouching behind a large rock, Hector popped his head up just enough so he could have a clear view of the temple. Mr. Trayton was nowhere there. The chalkboard with Sonya’s plans for her Trojan War project was still up. The desks were still in order, except for a slight red tint on one desk which was probably Selene’s blood. His chair at his desk was a strange black color compared to the white marble of everyone else’s chair.
Not only did the chair make him suspicious, but what really unnerved him was the unnatural shadow moving around his desk.
I’ve seen that shadow before, Hector thought, moving closer to the temple. Searching his memories through the past events he came into nothing related to the shadow. Until he remembered his dive over the cliff and how he landed in the mouth of Charybdis.
Surely this can’t be the same shadow? Hector thought. The figure was shorter than his perpetrator, but there was no need to take any chances.
Fumbling with his shirt pocket, Hector pulled out the small sack that contained the grayish marbles and grasped two in his grip. As the figure began to exit the temple, Hector chucked them as hard as he could. Luckily for his good throwing arm, the marbles landed at the feet of the shadowy figure and exploded as they made contact with the ground.
An electrical blast created sparks that flew in all directions, making it look like a light show. For good measure, smoke filled the entire area and blotted out any life forms.
Just my luck, Hector thought as he walked blindly through the smoke. If the person that was near his desk had managed to escape the explosion conscious, or survived, he would be able to easily disguise himself in the smoke.
After tripping over a few rocks, he finally came to a conclusion that he would have to crawl like a toddler to reach the temple. Hector’s hands and knees were scraped in seconds, and his face ached because of all the rocks he had slammed into. When his hands finally touched the cool marble, Hector stood up relieved, only to his dismay, he slammed his torso into a desk that was right in front of him.
If I see Apollo again, he thought clutching his stomach, I’m going to need another healing.
As the smoke cleared away, Hector saw no obvious damage done. He had honestly expected a death threat or some trap to be set but he only saw his oddly shaped chair soaked in water and the shadow person passed out on the floor. His eyebrows were singed and the helm he was wearing had an electrical current running through it. Hector removed the helm from the boy’s head with no hesitation and observed the boy who had just materialized in front of him.
His hair was a brownish rusty color and he had freckles all over his face. Opening one of his eyelids he saw that his eyes were dark green and spaced out. Unless this was some clever trick of his perpetrator that had thrown him off the cliff, they had absolutely no resemblance. What really made Hector curious was the spray bottle he held in his hand. Loosening the grip on the boy, he observed the transparent bottle. A purplish, inky liquid sloshed around inside and looked simply like water with food coloring in it.
Was this what was on his chair? He thought to himself as he bent down to see the liquid dripping on the ground, forming a pool of the fluid.
Hector opened the spray bottle and swished the liquid around for a few moments. Out of curiosity he spilled a little of the liquid on the ground in front of him. Kneeling down, his hands were just about to touch the liquids when a spear flew out of nowhere. The weapon narrowly missed his arm and grazed his under arm. It penetrated the marble and left Hector pinned helplessly to the ground. A few feet away Hector’s eyes widened as someone he wouldn’t have expected to see walked out quietly. A few feet away behind a Greek column walked out Sonya.

 

Chapter 11 Part 1: Knock Out Girl
Hector stared Sonya with eyes like daggers. She walked soundlessly to the bottle on the floor which still contained some of the liquid and poured it all on the boy. She took off the jacket she was wearing and laid it on the pool of water that Hector poured himself and then walked over to her prey she had speared.
“So Hector,” she said, her foot coming down hard on his chest, “How’s your day going so far?” She smiled a mischievous smile, teeth and all.
Hector tried to smile full heartedly back, which was a challenge because Sonya was already lunging for his windpipe.
“Swell Sonya. My day is going swell,” he eventually managed to sputter out, his oxygen depleting from Sonya’s grip on his throat.
Sonya cocked her head for a moment, as if thinking, and then pulled the spear out of the ground and helped Hector up to his feet. The once beautiful white marble was now cracked in a spider web sort of pattern.
“I’ll let you live this one time big shot,” she said brushing the dirt and grime off of his shirt, “only because your life is crucial to everyone else’s survival.”
“Um, thanks I suppose,” Hector replied, blocking Sonya’s hands from brushing him any longer.
The boy with rust colored hair was just waking up and Sonya was at his side in a flash. The boy’s eyes were now fully alert, but had a distant look in them and seemed a little bit too bright in his current situation.
“Hello there,” he said cheerily, his eyes now coming into focus and his mouth gaping open in a disturbing smile.
“Hello Randolph,” Sonya replied returning the smile.
Randolph, as Sonya called him, looked momentarily confused, but then smiled once more.
“Randolph,” he said as if it was the most interesting word in the world. “That’s a nice name. Who’s Randolph?”
Hector cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. Was this all some act that the two were playing on him? Sonya silenced him from saying anything with eyes that bit like vipers and turned back to Randolph smiling again.
“You’re Randolph silly. And I’m your friend remember?” Sonya said, looking slightly annoyed.
“A friend?” he asked. How simple-minded could this boy be? “What’s a friend? And have I met you before?”
Sonya looked like she was going to just punch Randolph in the face.
“You’re Randolph and you’re our friend, alright?” she said slowly.
“I’m Randolph and I’m your friend,” he replied. He looked at Hector and smiled as if he were a long lost friend. “Then who’s he? And what am I doing here again?”
Sonya gave a loud groan and clenched her fists. “I don’t have time for this,” she growled.

 

Chapter 11 Part 2
Taking two of her fingers she jabbed the boy in his solar plexus right under his chest. That made him double over in pain. She then slammed the base of her hands into his temples and gave one final punch to his jaw just a little bit below the ear.
“What was the point of all that?” Hector asked, gingerly covering his major pressure points.
Sonya shrugged and said, “He’s an enemy so I knocked him out cold.”
“Well I can see that,” Hector said looking at Randolph, “but what about all that water business and his dim-wittedness?”
Sonya rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re so stupid. Do you not remember one lesson Mr. Trayton taught you?”
Hector tried to remember but the details were fuzzy.
“Does the River Lethe ring a bell?”
Hector had slight knowledge of the river. He knew it was from the Underworld and it made you forget things, hence the name Lethe.
“That makes sense, but there was no need to spear me,” Hector said, his hand gently prodding the part in which the spear had scraped him.
“If one drop of that water lands on you, you forget everything!” Sonya yelled straight at Hector’s face.
“Oh, really? I thought you had to drink the stuff to forget,” Hector said, not realizing how simple-minded he sounded. “Then what about the chair?”
Sonya took a glance at Hector’s chair that seemed to be made out of bone and gave a shrug.
“Chair of Forgetfulness I’m guessing. Apparently the person who set that up for you wanted you to forget everything.” A flash of concern crossed Sonya’s face for only a moment then disappeared as quickly as it came. “Just don’t sit around your desk anymore. There might still be water in that area.”
Hector was just about to agree when another thought struck him.
“Why are you so concerned about me Sonya?”
He could’ve sworn that Sonya had blushed, but he didn’t have a chance to ask. Merely seconds after he had asked the question, she gave a mighty punch to his jaw and knocked him out completely.

 

Bump for readers

 

Chapter 12 Part 1: Reappearance
The cold was what managed to wake Hector up from his slumber. His eyes fluttered open and he was immediately up. He found himself in his bedroom and sitting stark up right. No one was in his room, but an ice pack seemed to be tied on to his face. Quickly untying the pack he found that the pain from his jaw was pretty much gone, but there was a bruise no doubt. Looking outside his window he found that the sun was just about to set and the sky was beginning to darken.
Just then footsteps sounded out his door. Instinctively his hand went to his shirt pocket and he held a marble ready in his hand. Just as he was about to throw, he had the right mind to stop his arm as a little girl, no older than the age of three walked into his doorway.
“Dinnor’s weady,” she said in a cute little voice no one could help but loving. She walked away, the hat with wings she was wearing was covering her eyes and she tripped in shoes with wings that were much too large for her.
Hector got out of his bed and walked out of his room. The girl was nowhere to be seen, nor could he here the pitter patter of her feet. He ran swiftly down the stairs and into the courtyard of his house. The stars were just coming out and he could see them clearly through his glass roof. The smell of food was wafting around him and he gave a shove on the door to see a magnificent sight.
The pit of fire he had seen earlier that day was now lit, the flames reaching twenty feet high. There were at least fifteen tables set up on the left and right side of the pit and standing before him, there were five tables set up, each one stacked up high with food and drinks.
“Hector!” two voices called out simultaneously. To his right he saw the fifteen tables were being filled with only boys. On the other side of pit the tables were being filled up with girls.
Two familiar faces, both identical, beamed out at him. They were waving frantically and Hector recognized them as Destan and Dour. Both of them had saved a seat for him and after a few minutes of arguing, Hector finally decided to sit in-between them.
“That’s the spirit Hector,” Destan said giving Hector a hard slap on the back.
“Um, thanks Dour?” Hector tried.
“I’m Dour he’s Destan,” Dour said pointing to his brother. Hector saw the obvious resemblance between them. Both of them had shaggy blonde hair that came down in waves on their forehead and covered their ears. Their aqua blue eyes seemed to be exactly the same tint and each had the exact same facial features. But their clothing apparel was completely different. Destan wore a turquoise t-shirt and black shorts, casual all the way. Dour wore something that looked like a robe. It was dark blue with white fringe at the edges and a hood.
“Aw Dour you always ruin the fun,” Destan said, pouting slightly. Dour reached behind Hector and hit his brother in the arm very hard. In a chain reaction, Destan fell off his seat, his ice spear rolling off of his belt. An Apollo child, someone who looked like Ray, came across and kicked the spear sending it farther off. It finally landed at the feet of someone Hector thought he would never see again.
“Selene?” Hector whispered to himself.

 

Chapter 12 Part 2
Every single person stopped what they were doing. In a swift movement, Selene bent down and retrieved the spear. She removed a bow she had slung across her shoulder and an arrow from her quiver. Stringing both the spear and arrow in her bow she pulled back her string and the two weapons went flying. Destan caught the spear in his hands and the arrow raced towards Hector.
Not again, Hector thought paralyzed with confusion. For the second time that day, the arrow pierced his shirt and sent him flying into the table. Hector feebly tried to yank the arrow out but it was lodged in deep.
Destan’s eyes widened and he gasped. “Hey everyone, Selene is back!”
Everyone exploded into cheers, some were laughing along with Destan knowing he was a bit late with his exclamation while Hector was still trying to pull the arrow out.
“No applause Hector?” someone asked from behind him. He jumped right out of his seat, the sleeve of his shirt catching onto the arrow and ripping right off. Hector lied on the ground, his heart thumping and him gasping for breath.
Selene’s face popped out in front of him. “I’m waiting,” she said coolly.
“Welcome back,” Hector whispered. His hand went up as an invitation for help up. Selene grabbed his hand in hers and Hector pulled himself up. To his enjoyment, as he was being pulled up, Selene fell face first to the ground.
“Nice one Hector,” Destan said, pounding his fist with Hector’s.
Selene stood up and brushed herself off, glaring angrily at him. Selene took a small knife she had at her side and slammed the blade into the table, a centimeter away from Hector’s hand.
“That is the last time you will hurt me ever Hector Daniels,” she growled. She took the knife out of the table along with her arrow and stomped off, fixing her laurel wreath as she went.
Hector turned to Dour, raising an eyebrow. Dour shrugged in response.
“Girls,” he said, “We’ll never know.”
Destan took the sleeve of Hector’s shirt and threw it over his shoulder.
“So… Can we eat or what?” Hector asked, clutching his stomach to stifle the growling noises.
Dour took a sip of water that he had managed to materialize from the table with drinks to his cup.
“We have to wait for the appearance,” he said, taking another sip.
“The appearance!” Destan exclaimed like a three-year-old about to sit on Santa’s lap. “I hope Poseidon shows up.”
Dour shook his head and took another sip of water. “Poseidon showed up three months ago.”
“Oh yeah,” Destan said, slumping his shoulders.
“What exactly is the appearance?” Hector asked.
Dour held a finger up as he finished every last drop of water from his cup. “Every month a different Greek god makes an appearance for dinner.”
Smiling, Hector’s spirits immediately lifted up, but Dour just shook his head.
“Zeus visited in January,” he said flatly, pulling the hood up over his head.
The trio sat in silence, Hector drumming his fingers on the table, Dour gave a loud, violent cough periodically, and Destan stared at the empty table as if there were a cheeseburger in front of him.

 

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Chapter 12 Part 3
Footsteps sounded from the entrance to the ring of houses and soon Mr. Trayton stood before the fire pit. The glow of the crackling flames made him look ominous in his simple black pants and shirt.
“Attention everyone!” Mr. Trayton yelled above the talking of the assembled demigods. “As we all know, we will have an appearance from one of the chosen Greek gods on Mount Olympus.” The demigods stared at Mr. Trayton eagerly, absorbing every word.
“Spit it out already!” a boy yelled out. Hector assumed it was an Ares child.
Mr. Trayton stood calmly, unaffected by the information. “It is my pleasure to introduce the god Apollo!”
Nearly half the demigods erupted into cheers and squeals of excitement. Some began to burst into tears of happiness.
A flash of light erupted beside Mr. Trayton. Two horses galloped out, each one seeming to be made of solid gold, and they pulled a chariot behind them. Standing in the chariot was Apollo, smiling and waving to his children who were hysterical with excitement.
Hector smiled and gave a slight salute to Apollo who saluted back with a strange expression on his face. What was it? Fear? Excitement? Worry? Just then Dour erupted into violent coughs, his fragile frame wracking with each blow.
Destan managed to pull his eyes away from the spectacle to glance at his brother and his face instantly paled. “Dour? Snap out of it come on.” Destan rubbed his brother’s back with the help of Hector. The coughs were becoming more persistent, Dour not even able to get a breath of air into his lungs. Destan stumbled out of his seat, his face distorted with worry. He was reduced to slapping his brother on the back.
“Dour!” he yelled. His twin brother’s face was turning blue from lack of oxygen and yet he couldn’t stop coughing. Hector even thought he saw a splatter of blood coming from Dour’s mouth.
“Help! Help!” Destan yelled at the top of his lungs. Dour was out of his seat, kneeling on the ground and grasping his throat. Every demigod was trained on the two brothers, and just then Dour collapsed to the floor.