Chapter 13: The Third Trial
The morning went as usual, with
Theseus filling in Josephine on the next Trial and it’s requirements, sparring,
and eating a lunch so massive that it made everyone’s stomach hurt afterwards. The
one thing that Josephine kept thinking about the whole time was: what about
Hermes? Surely, by now, he’d be seeking revenge. Maybe he’d already gone to
Zeus, pleaded his case, and ratted out the girls for conspiracy. Nobody was
talking about the god, so Josephine hoped that he either returned to his palace—scared
of her power—or he fled and chose to give up his spot as Game Master. Either
way, Josephine was about to find out soon enough.
She hadn’t spoken to Persephone
either. Jase asked her to bring up a potential alliance to the Goddess of
Spring, so she wandered the corridors of the Grande Hall in search for her
counterpart. People were bustling through the hallways, shoving, and pushing in
preparation for the third Trial. There were only a select few of them left, so
the stage was getting grander and grander. Groundskeepers carried large
decorations—from cranberry garland to gold accents to the arena. Josephine
finally found Persephone sitting by a large tree in the courtyard, book in hand
as she contently read.
Josephine approached her and sat
down, “What are we reading?”
Persephone didn’t look up, “This is
just a historical bible about the Trials. I’m trying to get as much leverage as
I can. You should be doing the same, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Persephone glanced at her and
sighed, “Tell me. What did he need you for?”
Josephine’s eyes met hers, “He
wants an alliance. He told me he’s not like that anymore. I think we
should give him a chance.”
Her friend slammed the book shut
and turned to her, “Listen to me, Josephine. Jase Vitalis cannot be trusted.
Ever. He will always be like…that.”
“Did you know that he has two
gifts?”
“What?”
“Two gifts. He has two, Persephone.
Don’t you think it’d be wise to ally with him?” Josephine asked.
“Did he tell you that? Did he
demonstrate his gifts?” Persephone questioned.
“No… He didn’t demonstrate his
gifts. But I believe him.”
“Ugh,” Persephone sat back against
the tree and crossed her arms in disgust, “I hate him, Josephine. I don’t like
the sound of this.”
“Well, as you know, we need to
group up today. Unless you want to partner with a random—who may or may not be
helpful—I would recommend we take the help.”
“We don’t need help,”
Persephone spat, “You have the gift of fire.”
“And I’m not using it unless I
absolutely have to.”
Persephone groaned and slapped a
hand over her face, “Fine. We ally with him. But only for this Trial.”
Josephine allowed a smile to form
on her face, “Okay. Good. Now, tell me about this book.”
~
The arena was packed with more
people than the second Trial. The crowd were ants, piled into each other,
chanting something Josephine was unable to decipher. They waited and waited for
Hermes to show—but to no avail. They were left without a Game Master.
A broad man, with gray hair and protruding
muscles stepped into his place. He stood at the speech altar, his crown shifted
slightly to the left and his gold iron accents shining amongst the poor
townspeople.
“It seems Hermes is rather…busy,”
The man said, his voice traveled miles yonder as if he was a microphone
himself. He sounded powerful, almighty…ancient.
“I am Zeus, your king. I have the
pleasure today of explaining the Third Trial. I am rather excited for this
one.”
The crowd went silent as Zeus
introduced himself. Josephine had never seen him—as he was mythologically known
to be secretive and diabolical in his ways of ruling. Ares wasn’t fond of Zeus,
therefore never spoke of or about him. Everyone else in the arena seemed to
feel the same way, their eyes locked intensely on the great God of Thunder. Josephine
stood alongside Persephone and Jase, who had glared at each other when they
grouped up inside the tunnel—the entryway to the arena.
Zeus continued, “This Trial may be
real, it may be not. The point of this Trial is to test the contestants on
their logical skills—can they differentiate the difference between an illusion
and reality? Can they group up and keep each other from going practically
insane? —”
The crowd oohed and awed.
Josephine stiffened. Jase must’ve noticed because he brushed his hand against
hers, causing Persephone to fake gag and turn her attention back to the speech.
“— This Arena, to the Champions,
will not look like an Arena. Instead, the image will morph into what they
consider to be their worst nightmares, all combined and destined to destroy
their intellect and test their competence.”
Persephone cursed under her breath.
The arena morphed into an ash meadow,
the blues and whites in the sky changed into a dark endless pit of fire and blood,
and the air suddenly smelled like sulfur and rancid meat. Josephine gagged and
covered her mouth, the other Champions around her gasping. This was hell.
The image of Zeus was blurry, and
his voice was muffled through a boundary which somewhat replicated the energy
she sensed in the Forbidden Slopes. Something like a force-field.
The Trial must have already
started. The picture morphed again, this time Zeus was no longer visible, and
the meadow surrounded them, leaving all of the Champions alone in a
place that looked disturbingly similar to island of Medusa’s Exile.
Jase stepped in front of the two
girls as the other Champions dispersed into their own groups and took off into
oblivion, “From what Zeus said, I’m pretty sure we need to keep our minds
straight. Remember, everything is an illusion. He’s going to try and break us.
We can’t let that happen, okay?”
Josephine nodded and Persephone
rolled her eyes, “I know that, asshole. We need to find shelter, somewhere to
stay while all of this happens.”
“While all of what happens?”
Josephine asked. She wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this Trial, but just
by the way Persephone and Jase reacted, she could already tell this was going
to be a horrible experience. Why would they even need to hide?
Jase grabbed Josephine by the wrist
and led both girls into the trees, the smell of sulfur engulfing them as if
they were in an erupting volcano. The air was hot and humid—the perfect
mixture for a hurricane—and the trees swayed ever so slightly as the wind made
howling sounds. They spotted another team in the distance, close enough to make
out facial features. Josephine recognized them as the sons of Zeus. One of them
stepped towards them, sword drawn, and Persephone turned to Jase with a sigh,
“Did you bring a weapon?”
Jase’s eyes flickered to Josephine
and then back to the boy stalking towards them, “Yes. And no.”
“What does that mean, smart ass?”
Persephone countered.
“Just trust me. Gods, you’re
unbelievable.”
“Don’t talk to—”
“Hello, Jase,” The boy smirked, his
brothers forming a triangle around him, “Who are these… lovely specimens?”
“Ew, puke,” Persephone frowned,
returning to her place next to Josephine. Josephine simply eyed the boy; his
blue eyes were almost inviting, and she could feel the lust for power
radiating off him.
A large roar sounded in the
distance, followed by muffled screams and lightning.
Jase ignored his question and
rolled his eyes, “Hello, Brodie. Malakai, Justyn. I wish I could say it’s a
pleasure seeing you three again, but I’d be lying if I did.”
Brodie and his brothers laughed.
The one with the chestnut brown hair, Justyn, didn’t take his eyes off of
Josephine, his smirk growing with every word Jase said. She started to feel uneasy. Another roar
sounded except this time it sounded relatively close to them. Jase turned his
head towards the noise but didn’t let down his guard.
Brodie shrugged and twirled his
sword between his fingers, pursing his lips, “Blah, blah, blah. We claimed this
territory, Vitalis. Back off.”
“Gladly,” Jase started backing
away, but Brodie was too quick. The son of Zeus sliced Jase in the arm, causing
him to wince. His eyes glowed a light green as he stepped back towards the
young god. Blood fell from his arm, the crimson red hitting the piles of ash
beneath his boots.
Josephine stiffened even more, and
she could feel Persephone’s energy shift. Her friend’s face was full of pure
concentration, her hands balled in small, loose fists at her side. For hating
Jase, she seemed to be rather pissed off. Jase made the first move, lunging
for Brodie with one solid leap. Magic sprung from his fingertips as he attacked,
but Brodie dodged every swing with ease.
Justyn walked towards Josephine,
slowly, as Persephone handled Malakai. She could see the Goddess out of the
corner of her eye dancing to the rhythm of combat: her strong suit—and these
minor gods were an easy match for the Goddess of Spring. Vines grabbed and nipped
at his ankles; multi-dimensional flora emerged from the ground, and the skies
now smelled of roses and poppyseed. Josephine, though, kept her eyes locked
with Justyn’s.
She thought about her options: she
was a fast runner. She could most likely outrun him easily, but where would she
end up? Not to mention if she loses her group, she’d probably be a goner. She
could also choose to fight, which sounded like the better option, being as
Justyn was younger than her and looked like he had less experience. He is the
son of Zeus, though—so Josephine didn’t feel comfortable underestimating him.
Lastly, she was tempted to conjure her magic, but what toll would that take?
From the sound of the roars and sounds in this dimension, she needed all the
power and energy she could savor. Who knew what their next obstacle would be.
She made a choice.
Justyn edged her with his eyes,
tempting her to attack first. He didn’t speak, not once, over the commotion of
his brothers fighting, and instead nodded his head in battle initiation.
Josephine nodded back respectively, getting in stance.
She ran for him, tackling him into
the ash. He stilled and then hooked his left arm around her neck, flipping her
over and tossing her into a nearby tree. Her spine hit the trunk with a crack
and she screamed in pain. She rolled over onto her stomach and pushed
herself back up. Sparks flickered at her fingertips, and she could feel her
body warming up—but she ignored the feeling and faced Jeremy once again. The
god never broke his smile.
He rushed her, and she dodged.
Josephine took her only chance and held her forearm up against his neck, the
circulation scarce around his head which caused his lips to turn a slight hint
of purple. He coughed, grabbing at her skin. She didn’t let go until she felt
his body go limp. She noticed Persephone and Jase staring at her—their eyes
full of excitement.
“A daughter of Ares, she is indeed,”
Jase purred, his eyes caressing her.
“Gross,” Persephone snapped.
Josephine wiped herself off and
tried not to blush, “What was that sound, by the way?”
“A hellhound,” The Goddess of
Spring replied, “Cerberus, to be exact.”
Josephine forgot that Persephone lived in the Underworld. Of course, she knew every single monster that originated
there, or belonged to Hades. The hellhounds, for example. Most people’s
nightmares consist of hell and the Underworld, so for this Trial, Persephone
may be their greatest weapon.
Jase looked in the direction of the
growling, “Do you think you could tame him?”
“Yes. I can tame the real Cerberus,
but this is an illusion. It may not take to me.”
Jase nodded and led the girls back
into the meadow. He placed his hand to the floor and knelt on one knee.
“What are you doing?” Josephine asked.
“Feeling,” he responded, a
concentrated look on his face, “Now shh.”
Josephine smirked and obeyed. A few
seconds passed before he got to his feet, “He’s close. Less than a mile. Let’s head
east.”
“Towards him? Are you mad?”
Josephine questioned, watching as he strode towards the trees
He turned to them, “This place will
make us mad if we don’t face it. Let’s go.”
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