Kingdom of the Gods: Mythical Madness

Chapter 15

15: The Journey Begins

KEVIN'S POV

I lay awake a little anxiously in my bunk in the Transformer dorm with my two other dormmates. Max, Piper, Jack, and I had been allowed to get a small amout of sleep before setting off tomorrow morning. They were both asleep, but I was wide awake, unable to stay down with the prospect of the world's fate hanging on my shoulders. Suddenly, there was a call of "Kevin, are you awake?" from outside.

I looked out and standing there was a kid named Ricardo Gonzalez, a son of the Basque god Basajaun. He was motioning for me to come outside, and I did.

"What do you want? If the teachers catch you, they'll have both of us in big trouble," I said when we were outside.

"I know, but I just wanted to give you this," he said, handing me a large tomahawk.

The tomahawk had a handle of wood, but its blade was steel. It had two feathers and a set of three beads hanging off of the side of it. I took a few practice swings with it. It wasn't too heavy, and it wasn't as light as it could have been. It was the perfect weight.

"It's nearly unbreakable, and if you throw it, it will come right back to your hand. I spent half the night making it. A goodbye present. Good luck, Kevin," he said, walking away.

I nodded and headed back into the dorm.

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MAX'S POV

"Alright, everyone ready?" Jack asked.

After saying our short goodbyes (Meredith and the Confirmation Dorm had given me some words of encouragement, and Meredith had even given me a hug!), we had all gathered in the center square. Mr. Kuukon had given us each backpacks stocked with food, money, and bottles of water, as well as some spare clothes.

"Yeah, I think so. Let's go," Kevin said.

Jack stepped forwards and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were glowing that creepy abyss-black color. He waved his hand and an Abyss Portal appeared in the air. He closed his eyes and reopened them, and they went back to their normal color.

"We're headed to Los Angeles. Kevin says that the tracking seeds are pointed in that direction. This portal goes to a small car depot on the outside border of the city. We'll hijack a car and take it deeper into the city," Jack said, gesturing to the portal.

We all dove through, and again, there was that scary feeling of blindess and spinning around and around. As I was about to burst from the terror of it, I emerged. A blast of warm air washed over me. Kevin, Piper, and Jack emerged right after me. We were in a large area surrounded by a chain link fence. Cars were everywhere. Two burly men in greasy, oily suits were walking around the outside of the fence. They hadn't noticed us yet, and Jack called up a fog cloud to hide us from them.

"Alright, let's choose a regular-sized car. Big ones will draw attention, and small ones are often a little slow in the case that we might need to escape," Piper said.

We looked around, and finally we all settled on a good-sized, but shorter, Toyota Highlander. We all piled in and threw our bags in the trunk. Kevin hopped in the driver's seat, I got in the shotgun one, and Jack and Piper jumped into the back. Kevin pulled a few wires and fiddled with a few parts under the dashboard. The hotwire was succesful and we pulled out of the yard, shrouded by that deep black fog. The two guards didn't see us, and we moved into the main city.

It was a huge, bustling place. Big, towering buildings lined the street and shops and stores were right alongside them, selling everything from cosmetics to video games. Jack waved his hand again, and the black fog around us cleared. Just as he did that, the car died briefly and then flared to life again.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Stupid human technology. It sometimes acts like that around magic. Kevin blew up a microwave once when he was making a bowl out of plants nearby it," Piper explained. Kevin chuckled.

Kevin guided us through the city throughout the whole day. We only hopped out to eat and go to the bathroom. Eventually, the day was over and we still hadn't found our targets. We pulled into a parking lot behind a large Japanese restaurant at about 11:00. Jack and Piper were fast asleep, curled up together on the back seat. Kevin's head was drooping, and my eyes were closing.

"Alright, I guess we sleep in the car tonight," said Kevin.

Suddenly, there was a loud beep and a glimmer of golden light appeared in the air in front of our car. I started to reach for my axe, but Kevin put a hand on my shoulder.

"Someone's contacting us. They're using Hermes power. Sons and daughters of Hermes have that power to speak to targets from afar, since Hermes is the messenger of the Greek gods," Kevin said.

Just as he said that, Mr. Kuukon's face appeared in the middle of the large golden light glimmer. He looked around and then said, quietly, "Max and Kevin, I assume that you can hear me?" Kevin and I both nodded.

"Good. I see the search hasn't gotten very far. That's alright though, we have a few more days. Anyways, I'm here to tell you to be very careful. Kevin, you've heard this in class, but let me tell Max. Around the world, we have cities called the Terrible Ten. The Terrible ten are, obviously ten, cities where mythological activities run high," he explained.

"Like there's a lot of monsters and gods in them?" I asked.

"Exactly. The Terrible Ten are New York City in the state of New York, Mexico City in the country of Mexico, Johannesburg in the country of South Africa, Cairo in the country of Egypt, Athens in the country of Greece, Paris in the country of France, Jerusalem in the country of Israel, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Tokyo in the country of Japan, and Los Angeles, where you are now. Not all of the gods are bad, but some are and certainly most monsters are as well. I'm just telling you to please watch your feet in the water...or a Kappa might bite them off," said Mr. Kuukon.

And with that, the connection cut off and the golden light folded inwards and disappeared into itself.