ATN 3: THE JAR IN THE MAZE

OFF TO THE WAR LAND

When I arrived at the garden where I found the crowd. The chariot was there, and Arion had been attached to it. We were about to take off. All the demigods were there, bags on back. But aweing the beauty of the chariot was Actaeon and his pack. "Pretty cool, Sinha." Actaeon said.

"Thanks." Rahul was getting used to all the praise he was getting. Finally, he was receiving the praise he deserved for his talent. I felt happy for him. 

Iris was nearly ten foot tall right now, as she was controlling the kids, and explaining the plan, "We will start from Atlantis on our ATN Chariot made by Rahul, son of Hephaestus. Give him a hand."

We all clapped, Dadai patted Rahul on the back. Iris went on, "The plan is simple. We will start from here now, and will reach Themiscyra by night. We will stop for some refreshments on the way, which will be only once. Understood?"

"Yes, boss." Actaeon shouted.

We all agreed. Iris went on, "Now, I would request the two leaders of the demigod army chosen by the gods to come here and say a few encouraging words, and get us motivated for the war. I don't need motivation, for I am a goddess. But you all little kids do. So, our Atlantis's favorite  couple, come here."

Even after having saved Atlantis twice, and basically named one of the two leaders in the war against the giants, I still got scared when I had to speak in front of others. Tina, however, had seen this coming. She held my hand, and pulled me towards the front.

While my beautiful girlfriend started to speak, I looked at the hopeful faces looking at us, trying to find hope among us. It struck my mind that I was not alone in this. I knew I wasn't, but this was the first time my heart caught some breath. We were together. Maybe we weren't as many in number, but we were one unit. We were powerful enough. Yes, Jared Wilson must have been invulnerable by now. Gods knew what he was planning.

Tina was saying, "Remember what I have taught all of you everytime we stepped on the training ground. We will be good." Then, she turned to me, and signaled me to start.

"Well, uh..." I stammered, but got on with it, "No great hero got to skip the part we are at. Not Theseus or even Heracles got away with it. All of them fought in the first Gigantomachy. So are we. We are at the same position they were once." I was now letting out everything that was coming out automatically, "So buckle up, be brave, and know that we are stronger than him, or his gigantic minions, because we are one. So, lets take up our arms, fight, and scream at the faces of those evils that they will NEVER MESS WITH OUR PARENTS!"

There was a huge roar of cheers. I raised my wand and shouted, "ALL HAIL ATLANTIS!" The others repeated, raising their hands. I looked at my cousins who were clapping, while Iris was looking at me with a weird look. I asked her what it was, she replied that it was something she felt.

We finally sat down on the Barcaloungers. As soon as we did, a seat-belt fastened around us. I looked straight at Rahul, who said, "What? Am I stupid enough to forget about safety?" We clapped for him again. Kid was very smart.

I sat between Tina and Abhro. Hiya and Riya sat alongside Tina. Dadai was next to Abhro. Rhian and Trent sat close to Arion, so did Rahul. Iris and Actaeon were chatting about something casually. Lucy was sitting among the werewolves, who were saying something funny, since she was laughing. Aya sat exactly opposite to Tina. We had all put our luggage right on the floor, between the seats. We were ready to go. Arion nickered right outside. Rhian translated, "He says he's ready."

"So are we." Iris said, "Lets go!"

Arion neighed, and started. Man, the speed of the guy. He was so fast, that he made Apollo's golden pegasi look normal. We were going at super super speed, speed that Hermes would have been very proud of. I signed Iris to ask how long it was gonna take for us to reach, she signed,  four hours. I saw that Tina was looking outside, holding my hand. I was too. The sky was hitting twilight. It seemed very beautiful around us. But I was afraid that if Jared won, the sky, the sea, the nature itself would get imbalanced. So, we had to win. There was no other result acceptable.