New Olympians

King of Olympus

They awoke the next morning to a bit of confusion, since it was still dark inside their vine cocoon. Arian cut his way out first, insisting that he needed to pee. After Daisy had made the plants disappear, Helen noticed that Aubrey looked like she hadn't slept at all. The dark bags under her eyes and paler than normal face said much.
Helen sat next to her and put her hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, are you alright? You don't look so good."
Aubrey laughed nervously. "Yeah, I'm alright just... nightmares. I think those wendigo things scared me a lot more than I thought."
Helen put her arm around her.
"They scared me too."
Harrison, however, was looking much better.
"That was a nap to be reckoned with!" He said, stretching. Cerberus started licking his face. "Bleh, ack! Not the mouth!"
"Zander," said Terick. "Come talk with Parth and I, we have some things to discuss."
The three of them stood in a circle away from the others.
"First, Zander, you're sure Olympus is up there?" Parth said, pointing.
"Yep, still feel it."
"Then that means it's currently invisible." Terick said. "Makes sense, considering it's a flying city. Hard to hide otherwise."
"So I'll have to go up there and, turn it off?" Zander guessed.
"If it's that easy. It may have some other defenses we don't know about yet."
Parth snorted. "May? Almost certainly does!"
"Good point." Terick agreed. "Now, as the Lady Hera said yesterday, you and Henry are the only ones who can fly."
"And the city is your domain, which means that you're the only one who can go up there and control it." Parth said. "So there's no point in sending Henry up there with you."
"So I have to go it alone." Zander finished.
"Unfortunately, yes." Terick said as he put a hand on Zander's shoulder. "But I have faith that you'll manage it. Don't be afraid to come back down and regroup. Whatever gets us up there."
"Then I'll go up right now, get it over with as soon as possible."
"If you're ready."
"I'm probably not but I'll do it anyway."
"That's the spirit!" Parth said, slapping him on the back.
"Lemme talk to them first-"
"Zander! Come see this!"
"Speak of the devil." Zander jogged over to where Harrison had called him. He was looking at Zander's phone, several of their friends behind him.
"What's up?" Zander asked.
Harrison showed him the screen.
"Ships have been going down in the Atlantic Ocean." Harrison explained. The phone showed news footage of debris from wrecked ships floating on the ocean, with search boats circling it.
"The authorities are saying it's storms, but there's been talk of sea monsters too. Sounds ridiculous huh?"
"Just ridiculous enough to be true." Zander said, then looked at Peter. "We need to get you in the water mate."
"That is music to my ears!" Peter said.
"I'm going up to claim Olympus for us right now." Zander said.
"Ooh! Let me come with you!" Henry exclaimed immediately.
"No, Henry you can't." Zander said sternly. "It's probably dangerous and I don't think you'll be able to do anything that will help."
The younger boy's shoulders slumped and he looked down at his feet. Zander leaned down and grabbed his shoulder.
"Hey, as soon as we have Olympus, I'm gonna keep you so busy helping that you won't even know what to do with yourself, okay?"
Henry nodded. "Okay."
Zander ruffled his hair. "Alright. Harrison, you're in charge while I'm gone."
"Okay."
"Hey, why is he in charge!?" Peter argued.
"You and Helen are tied for second in command."
"That ain't really an answer-"
"Just do as I say, please." Zander said. "Or you know, as Harrison says."
He looked at Helen. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I'm sure you will." She said a little stiffly. Zander frowned then walked back to the dwarf and treefolk.
"This might be cliche but, I do not understand girls." He said to them.
"There's only so much wisdom that can help you there friend." Terick said, laughing.
"Yeah I've got nothing." Parth said, hefting his workbench. "But I can make you look cool. It's all done."
"The armor?"
"Yep."
Parth opened up his workbench and revealed a full set of dragon scale plate armor, lined with silver. Zander ran his hand along the sky blue surface.
"Parth, this is... amazing! It looks so good!"
"Don't thank me yet, put your arms up."
Zander lifted his arms and Parth and Terick helped him into his new armor.
"How do I look?" Zander asked when they were finished.
"Like you could get hit with lightning and shrug it off." Parth said.
"I was going to be a little more eloquent, but yes I agree."
"Oh," Zander was expecting a little bit more. "It feels really light."
"Dragon scales aren't that heavy." Parth said. "Otherwise they wouldn't be able to get off the ground."
"Speaking of which, that's what I should do now."
Zander took out the Thunderbolt and pulled in the air around him, lifting off the ground, his blonde hair swept through the wind current.
"Be safe up there, Lord Zeus." Terick said.
"You got it."
Zander shot up into the sky. He kept his eyes up, scanning the sky for any signs of a giant flying city. As he got closer, he began to notice something strange. Part of the air seemed a bit off, like there was a thin bit of clouds inside it.
"Bingo."
He flew towards it, preparing to shoot some wind at it when thunder rumbled. Zander stopped.
"Um, that was not me." He said to himself.
Lightning flashed out of the distortion in the air and it began to dissipate. Clouds and dust swirled, unraveling until it revealed the biggest Greek building Zander had ever seen. It looked like a Greek temple, except the marble columns were even bigger than redwood trees. The triangular roof sported a giant, golden omega and below it, a golden plaque with words Zander couldn't read.
Inside the temple was a smaller version of it surrounded by houses in the Ancient Greek style. Underneath, it was all held up by a metal base with massive spinning propellers that seemed to be keeping the city aloft. Studded next to propellers were massive, light blue cut gemstones, with large omegas carved between them.
It was the most incredible thing Zander had ever seen.
Then he noticed that the clouds weren't fading, they were splitting into four. The first form that emerged looked like a tornado given life. Two funnels made its arms and a simple, yet angry face leered at him from the clouds and dust. The second creature was identical to the first one, but white, snowflakes flying out of it. The next one was made of orange and tan sand, the air around it wavering from its heat. And the final one was the darkest one. Cumulonimbus clouds filled with lightning, a thunderstorm given sentience.
Zander backed up a little, stunned by the four wind monsters charging towards him... and then he realized they were charging towards him.
He shot down and under them before stopping behind them. They didn't even need to turn around, their faces moved around their bodies to look at him. The gray one reached him first, swinging a cone shaped arm. When it hit him, Zander was sucked inside its body, the air pulling the oxygen out of his lungs. It was only dry air and bits of dust inside. He instinctively burst the air around him out, releasing him from the creature's grasp. He fell a few feet and as he did, he noticed a spinning object inside of its... chest?
He caught himself and shot towards the next one, electricity crackling around his scale armored arms. The sandy wind monster swung at him, waves of heat flowing over him. He dodged it and shot lightning at it, but the bolt just passed right through it. Again he noticed an object inside of it. He felt cold air creep along his back and turned around to be swallowed by a snowstorm. It was freezing inside, snowflakes cutting at his cheeks. He saw another object inside and shot lightning at it. Its spinning faltered for a second and the cold wind around him weakened. He shot out of it and kept flying without stopping.
"Regroup!"
He went up and down then all the way back and shot back into the forest. He watched the sky, waiting to see if the monsters had followed him, but there was nothing. He flew back towards their camp.
As he got closer, a streak of golden light shot through a nearby tree.
"Asher!" He heard Daisy yell. "Quit puttin' holes in the flippin' trees!"
Zander came upon Harrison first, sitting on the forest floor with Cerberus in his lap.
Harrison looked back at him.
"Oh, hey dude. Nice armor. How'd it go?"
"Well..." Zander said, scratching something ice off his arm. "The city's visible now, don't know if you noticed."
Harrison glanced up.
"Oh yeah, saw it. Kinda hard to make out what it looks like from here."
"It's awesome, but... there's now four wind monsters protecting it."
"Four what now?" Terick was walking over.
"There's these four things made out of wind. One's like, dry, one's cold, one's hot and one's like a thunderstorm. Which sounds familiar now that I say it out loud."
"It's the Four Winds." Harrison, standing up. "Boreas the north wind, Zephyrus the west wind and..."
"Notus the south and Eurus the east." Terick finished. "They were a part of the myths that I thought weren't true. But it seems they've been protecting Olympus.
"They have these things inside them." Zander said. "Like these spinning things. Didn't get a good look."
"Hm, that sounds familiar. Parth!" Terick called.
"What?!"
"Do wind monsters with spinning devices mean anything to you?!"
"Sounds like a wind golem. Or an air elemental, not much different. Man made constructs."
Parth waddled over. "So that's what you're dealing with?"
"Maybe more like storm golems? But yeah."
"Then you'll want to go for the spinning thing inside them. We call it a gyroscope, though that's not exactly what it is. It's enchanted with elemental power, like quite a lot of it."
Terick nodded. "Zeus was also said to command the four winds, so that should mean something."
"I... I don't know guys. Taking down a bird was one thing, this? I-I'm not sure."
"Dude," Harrison said, grabbing his shoulder. "You're literally worrying for no reason. I've been watching you for weeks and you've always just blown my expectations out of the water. Those things are just made of wind, you literally control the wind! The Thunderbolt chose you for a reason, it looked at you and said, 'Yep, that's our Zeus.' You're the Thunderer, are you gonna let some cloud robots steal your thunder?"
Zander chuckled. "No. Though actually I could use your help. How did you go like, full Hades mode last night? I've been picturing that you like, pull all of your power in, but..."
Harrison shook his head. "It's the opposite. Force all of it out. Don't hold back. Basically go Super Saiyan. Do you know what that is?"
"Yes, I've been on the internet." Zander said. "Anything else?"
"I know it's cheesy but, believe in yourself. If you believe you can do it, you probably will. They don't stand a chance. This is magic. From what Parth and Terick have told me, it works almost entirely on how you think and feel. So think that you can."
Zander hesitated. "Alright. What are their names again?"
"The cold one is Boreas," Harrison started. "The dry one is Eurus, the hot one is Notus and the stormy one is Zephyrus."
Terick nodded in approval and Parth patted Harrison's back.
"Okay, got it." Zander said, summoning the winds.
Cerberus barked as Zander crouched and shot back into the sky. He swooped around and shot towards the storm golems. They seemed to be expecting him, but they weren't expecting what he would do. He shot through Eurus, grabbing the gyroscope inside as he passed by. It stopped spinning and the tornado body faded away. He stopped a couple hundred yards away to examine it. It was made completely of gold, except for the yellow gem the size of his head at the center. The two rings were carved with words Zander still couldn't read, but it vaguely reminded him of Old Norse.
The gyroscope started to try and spin again, the other three winds surging towards him.
"This might be stupid but it's worth a shot."
He threw up the gyroscope and shot lightning at it. It connected with the gem and spread to the surrounding rings. He held the lighting and it swung like it was a solid rope, and not electricity.
"Oh yes! That worked, okay!"
He immediately shot another bolt at Boreas and pulled with all his might. The blue-gemmed gyroscope appeared out of the mass of white and Zander caught it. Boreas disappeared with a windy moan. He held onto the gyroscopes and summoned a tornado around him.
"Two can play at this game!" He yelled as he swung his right arm. A funnel of wind slammed into Notus and the sandy golem fell apart partially. Zander called lightning from the sky and it struck its gyroscope. He flew forward and caught it, this one with a red gem. Then he let his eyes rest on Zephyrus, lighting flashing out its dark cloud body. It stared back at him, fluffy brows furrowed. Arms full, Zander sneezed and shot lightning from his nose. It sank into its body and did nothing.
"Right... you and I are fairly similar, Zephyrus." Zander said. "I guess it's gonna take more than a little trick to take you."
Zephyrus roared and flew at him. Zander flew backwards and closed his eyes. The sky around Olympus darkened as storm clouds thickened. Thunder roared as lightning struck the marble roof and the trees under them. The tornado around Zander strengthened and sucked the dark clouds of the sky into it. Zander clenched his fists and tightened all the muscles in his arms. Lightning struck his tornado as the winds picked up speed, which made the clouds making up Zephyrus falter. Zander released the three gyroscopes and they spun in the tornado around him. Then finally Zander opened his eyes... and his irises exploded into electric blue light.
"Nighty night!"
A dozen bolts of lightning struck Zander on his armored arms, legs and back. He clapped his hands as hard as he could, sending wind and lightning at Zephyrus. The wind buried into its body and the lightning struck the gyroscope inside. Zephyrus faltered, its shape becoming less defined, but it kept glaring at Zander.
Zander laughed.
"You've got spirit for a robot!"
He inhaled then yelled,
"Zephyrus!"
The storm monster roared, lighting crackling inside it.
"My name is Zander Bronte! I am the new Lord Zues, King of Olympus! I've come to reclaim the city for my friends and I! The world is in turmoil, and the only way for us to save it is with Olympus!"
Zephyrus went from looking angry, to doubtful.
"You've done well protecting the city these last few centuries! But now you can rest! Just yield!"
Zephyrus moaned in protest. Zander clenched his fist and the bolt of lightning shackling the west wind turned from blue to hot white.
"Yield!"
A new expression came over Zephyrus, an expression that seemed to Zander to be respect. Its dark clouds dissipated and left only the gyroscope. Zander reeled it in and examined it. Its gem was green.
"We'll speak again." He told it, giving it a pat. He landed on the very edge of Olympus, letting the other three gyroscopes drop and bounce on the mable ground. The light in Zander's eyes faded and he dropped to his knees as his energy drained away.
"Oof, Harry wasn't kidding about that taking a lot out of you." He said to himself. The whole city shook and he felt it begin to descend.
"I'mma just... take a nap."
And he flopped over and fell asleep.
...
"Zander."
Zander heard a voice, but it sounded very far away. Maybe it was just in his dream.
"Zander!"
The voice sounded closer this time. He could see a light ahead of him. A hand shook his shoulder.
"Zander, are you alright? Dude, wake up!"
Zander opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Henry was leaning over him, hovering a few inches off the ground.
"You alive?"
Zander groaned. "Yeah I'm alright, just a little tired."
"Did you lose a fight against these, circle gem thingies?"
"Better," He sat up. "I won a fight against those circle gem thingies."
"Cool. Oh! Dude! Have you seen this place?! It's awesome!"
He flew around the nearest marble column.
"Yeah, it's great. Where are we? You know, besides Olympus."
"Oh, we're about a hundred feet above the ground. The others are waiting while I check on you."
Zander stood up. "Alright. Wanna deliver a message for me?"
Henry stopped flying about and stood straight up a few feet over the marble, saluting.
"Lord of Messengers, at your service!"
Zander smiled. "Go tell them that I'll be right down and bring them home."
"Aye aye, captain!" And Henry shot down into the forest. Zander gathered up the Four Wind's gyroscopes and looked back towards the temple inside.
"I'll be back."
He stepped off the edge... and fell.
"Ah!"
He caught himself and jerkily floated to the ground. His powers were still a little strained. He landed in front his friends, who were standing, waiting for him.
"Hey guys." Zander greeted, then threw Notus to the lord of the Forge. "Hudson, I'm putting you in charge of these. Maybe you can find a use for them."
"Aight." Hudson said, staring at the gyroscope.
"So are we good to go up there?" Helen asked.
"Yep, it's ours."
They all started talking at once, excitedly.
"How are we going to get up there?" Holly asked over the noise.
"I've got an idea!" Daisy announced. "I think I figured out how to do what Harrison did."
She straightened the straps of her overalls and flicked open her knife, expanding her golden scythe into her hand. With a twirl she raised it over her head and her eyes flashed yellow-green. She drove the blade of the scythe into the ground and with a rumble, vines shot out towards Olympus, bending like a staircase.
Zander frowned at Daisy.
"I feel like you did that way too easily."
She shrugged. "I practiced. Had to fix the holes in the trees!" She glared at Asher who rolled his eyes.
"You're at least tired, right?" Harrison asked. Daisy shrugged again.
"Little bit. The vines should've reached it by now."
"Then let's head up." Zander ordered.
They all filed onto the leafy staircase. As they walked, Zander noticed that Terick was looking a little shaky and pale.
"Hey man, are you okay?" He asked him.
"I will be." Terick said. "I've just been away from my tree for a long time."
"We'll pick it up, first thing."
"Much appreciated."
Henry was flying around them impatiently, chatting their ears off about what Olympus was like. Harrison looked up at the gold plaque on the roof.
"Hey, what does that say?"
Parth looked up. "The top line's in Dwarvish. 'When the world is in peril,'"
"Then in Ancient Greek it says, 'Olympus will stand.'" Terick finished.
"Of course you know Greek." Harrison quipped.
They finally reached the city and started around in awe of the massive building.
"Oh, look!" Aubrey pointed at the ceiling. They all looked up and saw that the entire ceiling was covered in gold, though it was hard to make out through the dim light.
"It's kinda dark in here." Asher said, pulling back an arrow. He released it, and as the glowing arrow arched over the big building in the middle, its light was reflected off the gold surface of the ceiling, brightening the darkened interior.
"I think that's on purpose." Hudson said, examining the ceiling. "The lighting up thing."
"Well let's go, turn it on or something." Zander said. They hurried to the center building running up the steps. There wasn't much inside, just a bronze fireplace in the center and two thrones at the far end.
Zander and Holly peered inside the fireplace. Inside was old but seemingly usable wood. Zander looked at Holly.
"I think this is for you."
Holly hefted the Hearthfire and summoned flames around her hand. She cast the flames onto the wood and they lit immediately. Braziers around the room also lit up, shining a bit more light on the dark city. Asher and Harrison whistled. Zander approached Helen and held out his hand.
"I think those are for us." He said, jerking his head towards the thrones. Helen tried to hold a neutral look on her face, struggled, then smiled and took his hand.
"Okay."
They stepped up to the thrones. The one on the right looked like it was made out of clouds, flawless white marble carved with swirls and bumps. The one on the left was more like a regular chair, with faint streaks of pink throughout the silvery white stone. Zander went closer to the cloud throne and immediately noticed a round hole in the right armrest. He pulled out the Thunderbolt.
"Here goes nothing."
He pressed one end into the hole, then twisted it when nothing happened.
The sound of clanking metal echoed through the floor. A voice, a very familiar voice spoke from somewhere that couldn't be traced.
"Welcome, Lord Zeus. Activating flight controls."
Metal handles slid out of the floor next to the thrones.
"Now activating the King's Spear Thunderbolt."
The runes on the Thunderbolt glowed briefly. Zander pulled it out, and the silver ends slid out another two feet each.
"Oh. Oh whoa!"
The lighting appeared out of the ends and Zander twirled it.
"Wow this is way better! I can use it more like a weapon now!"
Helen rolled her eyes and shook her head with a smile. She looked down at her throne and said,
"Oh, there's a slot here too!"
She held out her hand and her charm bracelet turned into her rose gold and silver scepter. She pushed her brown hair back behind her ear and pressed the bottom of her scepter into the hole and twisted. There was another clank and the voice said,
"Welcome home, Lady Hera."
More clanks, and the entire city brightened.
"Welcome home, Olympians."
Sixteen holes opened up in the floor, and sixteen thrones slid out. The one closest to Zander's was made of blue-green stone, carved like crashing waves. The one next to Helen's was rough volcanic stone, with skulls carved on the armrests.
They all looked at each other, then silently (if a little giddily) sat in their thrones.
"There's more than twelve chairs here." Harrison said as he sat down. "And Hades wasn't a member of the Twelve Olympians."
"Maybe that's just the way people looked at them." Zander suggested. "We're the New Olympians, and you deserve to be here."
Terick and Parth came and stood between Helen and Zander and watched them sit. Daisy sat in a throne made of tan rock, carved to look like sheaves of wheat. Aria sat in a gold and silver throne that looked like a chariot, Arian in a black throne with a back made of spears and swords. Aubrey sat in a pink clamshell throne, Henry in a golden one with wings for the armrests. Hudson got a throne made of bronze and gold with hissing gears. Ava and Asher sat in silver and gold thrones with a moon and sun for the backs.
A cushioned pedestal rose under the fireplace and Holly sat on it.
"Are you alright there, Holly?" Zander asked. Holly reclined on the cushions.
"More comfy than you, hermano."
Everyone laughed, the echoes of their joy resounding throughout the city. Zander cleared his throat and said loudly,
"Hey guys!"
They all looked at him.
"We're home!"