Chanel Hastings & The Treasures of Aphrodite Book 1: The Magic Girdle

Chapter 14: I Kick Butt With Some Axe Body Spray

OOTD: Whatever fit I was wearing before...with a layer of dirt.

Makeup: None. Can someone lend me some stage makeup?

Hairstyle: No clue. I hope the Astomoi had the decency to clean it up.

Fragrance: A whole lot of Axe (it'll make sense in a bit, I promise).

Dear Diary,

I wish the Astomoi had lent us some deodorant before rolling us out on stage. I was sweaty and anxious like Zeus after being caught in another affair, and I'm sure I didn't smell too great.

Man. If only I could use some of my body odor to take the Astomoi down.

One by one, Kamal and Astomoi grabbed the carts we were tied to and wheeled us around a maze of corridors. Balsam grabbed Tharika, while Ashoka, Orchid, and Hibiscus grabbed the other three demigods, and Kamal got stuck with me.

Since he wasn't as large and beefy as the Astomoi, Kamal struggled to push my cart, and we eventually fell behind the others. I took the bit of distance as a chance to Kamal privately.

"Kamal!" I whispered, trying not to alert the Astomoi ahead. He flinched and met my gaze.

"Kamal, please," I begged him. "You need to help me figure out a way out of here."

His face looked frightened at the idea. Kamal snuck a glance at his bosses ahead, and then shook his head at me. "I can't."

"Yes, you can!"

"No," he said, more firmly this time. "I've seen what happens when someone tries to escape the Astomoi. I...I don't want to be dinner for some monster!"

"Look. I know you're afraid. But I need you to see that you're not alone," I encouraged him. "All of us our demigods just like you, and all of us will fight to defeat the Astomoi and get you out of here, but only if you help us too."

When he remained silent, I told him, "I'm a new demigod myself. This is my first quest."

His eyes lit up in surprise. "Really?"

I nodded, and then he sadly admitted, "It was my first quest too when I got trapped here. The Astomoi had ransacked one of my mother's sacred gardens, so she sent me to avenge her." Kamal took a sad look at his bosses in front of us. "I was too weak and scared to even put up a fight when I got caught. My quest-mates ended up gods-know-where, and I couldn't even help them. I...I was such a failure."

As I watched the tears spill out of Kamal's eyes, my heart became overwhelmed with sympathy. I hadn't been in his exact shoes before, but I knew a little bit about what it was like to watch your friends get caught in danger, and feeling incapable of helping.

"And you know those other demigods?" I asked him quietly.

"Yeah, they're from Camp Half-Blood," explained Kamal. The tears continued to stream down his face. "Chiron sent them on a rescue mission when they learned through a vision that I was still alive. But now they're stuck too...and I won't be able to save them either."

I shook my head. "Not true."

"What do you mean 'not true'? Are you seeing me right now? I'm a mess!"

"I know, I know," I said compassionately. "I know you're terrified, Kamal. I know things have been scary and awful for you since you ended up here, and I'm so so sorry for that. I've messed up on my quest a couple times too, and I've also gotten my friends into danger. It feels really bad, and I want you to know that I understand."