Zeus and the Dreadful Dragon Read online

  “We need to release three Titans from Tartarus,” Hades replied. “But first maybe you can tell me how the other Titans got out?”

  “It was not our fault, Lord Hades,” said Pointy-Nose. “It was Thanatos. He—”

  “LIES!”

  A deep voice bellowed up from the pit, and a man in a billowing gray cape floated up to the edge. The cape’s hood hung low over his face, covering all but his angry mouth. Zeus and Hades had met him before. He was Thanatos, also known as Bringer of Death.

  “We’re not lying!” Pointy-Boots snapped. “You were supposed to be watching them while we went to that party at the Elysian Fields.”

  “We never get to go anywhere!” added Pointy-Ears.

  “And you let us down!” finished Pointy-Nose. “But most of all you let down Lord Hades.”

  “I DID NOT!” Thanatos boomed. He waved his arms around wildly, and a huge gust of wind nearly knocked Hades and Zeus off their feet

  “Uh-oh,” Hades whispered. “Death-bringer dude sounds mad.”

  Thanatos continued to yell. “It’s your fault! You didn’t tell me you were going to the party. You didn’t even invite me.” He pouted. “Nobody invites me anywhere.”

  “Oookay. I’m sorry you missed the party,” Hades said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now. And we need to get three Titans out of Tartarus.”

  “Briar, Kottos, and Gyes,” Zeus added.

  Pointy-Nose flew to hover in front of Hades. “You want us to let them out? But this is a prison! We’re supposed to keep them in!”

  “Yes, but their mom, Gaia, says they can help us defeat Cronus and the other Titans,” Zeus explained.

  “Are you sure you want this, Lord Hades?” Pointy-Boots asked.

  “Yup,” Hades replied.

  “I will take you to them,” Thanatos offered.

  Thanatos dove into the pit, and Zeus and Hades followed him in the chariot. The air became warmer and smellier as they descended farther into the gloom.

  At the bottom they glided over bubbling lava and then landed near the mouth of a large cave. Guarding the cave was a huge dog with three heads, dragon scales, and a tail that ended in a sharp point.

  “Cerberus!” Hades cried happily, jumping out of the chariot. The dog creature ran to greet him, then began licking him with all three tongues. “I missed you, boy.”

  “He’s never this happy when he sees me,” Thanatos grumbled.

  “That’s because he likes me more,” Hades teased. Cerberus gave another big lick, as if he agreed.

  Before Thanatos could say anything else, Zeus climbed out of the chariot and walked up to Hades. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find those three Titans.”

  They hadn’t gone far into the cave when they heard voices arguing.

  “I’m doing the left sleeve.”

  “No, I’m doing the left sleeve.

  “You’re both wrong. I’m doing the left sleeve.”

  The two boys gasped as they saw what was going on. The voices were coming from three Titans, but they were not like any Titans the boys had ever seen before. Each enormous being had lots and lots of arms—more arms than the boys could count! And every single arm was—knitting? An enormous wool sweater with a multitude of sleeves spilled out from under their knitting needles.

  When the Titans saw the Olympians, every single knitting hand dropped. Each Titan had a long, shaggy beard. The only thing different about each one was the color of his eyes.

  “Who goes there?” growled the blue-eyed brother.

  “I am Hades, lord of the Underworld,” Hades replied. “Are you the sons of Gaia? Briar, Kottos, and Gyes?”

  “Yes, I’m Briar, but together we are known as the Hekatonkheires,” the blue-eyed Titan replied. He pronounced it “heh-kah-TONK-eh-reez.”

  “The word ‘Hekatonkheires’ means ‘one hundred hands,’ in case you’re wondering,” the green-eyed brother informed Hades. “I’m Kottos.”

  “And I’m Gyes,” said the brown-eyed brother. “Why are you guys here?”

  “Your mom sent us to help break you out,” Zeus explained.

  Briar, Gyes, and Kottos stared at the two boys. “She did?” they asked.

  Hades nodded. “Yeah. And since I’m lord of the Underworld, it’s easy.”

  The three brothers looked at one another.

  “Do you know what this means?” Briar asked his brothers.

  “We sure do,” Kottos replied.

  There was a pause, and then all three yelled, “We can stop knitting this sweater!”

  They jumped up and tossed their knitting needles onto the floor of the cave with joy.

  “Why were you knitting this, anyway?” Zeus asked. “Is it a magical sweater?”

  “Nope. It’s a regular sweater,” Gyes answered. “But you know, we’ve got three hundred hands between us, and so we need to keep them busy or we start hitting each other.”

  “Yeah, and that’s no fun,” Kottos added. “So we came up with a motto down here. ‘Knitting, not hitting.’ ”

  The three Titans were standing now, and Zeus was impressed. Each one was as tall as a tree, with enormous muscles. They would be a big help in fighting Cronus and the other Titans.

  “You might have to do a little hitting when we get you out of here,” Hades said. “Are you up for it?”

  “Anything to get out of here!” replied the Hekatonkheires as one.

  The group walked back to the cave entrance. Hades turned to Cerberus. “Sorry I have to go, boy. Don’t worry. When this is all over, I’ll be down here for good.”

  That was when it hit Zeus—all this time, they’d been focused on taking down King Cronus. He hadn’t thought much about what would happen after that. He’d only met Hades—and the rest of the Olympians—a short time ago. And now it looked like winning against Cronus might mean that Zeus would lose his new friends and family.

  Hades noticed Zeus’s face. “Don’t look so down, Bro,” he said. “We’re going up! Portal, open!”

  A black hole appeared in the cave. Hades and Zeus jumped back into the chariot. Hades nodded to the three Titans.

  “Just jump through after us!” he told them.

  The horses pulled the chariot through the portal. They emerged back on the beach, where Gaia and the other Olympians were waiting for them. One by one the three hundred-handed giants popped out of the portal.

  The other Olympians looked shocked by the sight of the Hekatonkheires.

  “Flipping fish sticks!” Poseidon cried. “That’s a lot of hands!”

  But the Titan brothers were too busy enjoying their freedom to notice the Olympians—or Gaia, who didn’t look too happy that her sons were ignoring her!

  The three Titans gazed around in wonder.

  “Look at that blue sky!” Briar cried.

  “Smell that salty air!” Kottos exclaimed.

  “I see a field of flowers!” added Gyes.

  Gaia frowned. “Aren’t you happy to see your mother?”

  The three Titans ignored her. They stomped down the coast, whooping and cheering about how happy they were to be free.

  “Get back here right now, you three!” Gaia yelled, and she took off after them.

  Hera looked at Zeus and shook her head. “I knew this whole thing was a trick!” she said.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Two Old Ladies

  I still don’t think it was a trick,” Zeus explained. He and the other Olympians were back on the boat, sailing the calm seas toward Mount Titan.

  “Me neither,” Hades agreed. “I think those guys just got excited to be out in the real world again. They’ll come back.”

  “Well, they’d better come back,” Hera snapped. “Especially since Mr. Zappy here doesn’t have a plan.”

  “That’s not true,” Zeus replied.

  “Oh yeah? So, what is it?” Hera challenged him.

  “Yes, what is it, fearless leader?” Hephaestus chimed in. Ever since they’d found Hephaestus, he had
always wanted to be the leader of the group.

  “We’ll talk about it when we dock the boat later,” Zeus replied.

  “Right,” Hera said. “Because you don’t have a plan.”

  Zeus ignored her and stared out at the ocean. Hera was right. He didn’t have a plan, exactly. When they got to Mount Titan, they’d be facing King Cronus, the other Titans, an army of Cronies, and maybe even monsters. How exactly did you plan for that? All he knew was that in the past everything had always worked out. He’d have to have faith in that.

  Faith. That was the only plan he had. But he couldn’t tell that to the others. He had to think of something.

  They sailed all morning, and Poseidon docked the boat in the afternoon, before the sun set.

  “It’s about a half day’s walk to Olympus from here,” Hermes reported after returning from another scouting mission. “I don’t think they’re expecting us to come from the coast. Cronus has most of the Crony army stationed in the south and east.”

  Zeus nodded. “That’s good,” he said. “Maybe we can surprise them.”

  “Surprise? Is that your plan?” Hera asked, seeming to appear from nowhere.

  Zeus changed the subject. “Ares and Hades, tie the boat to the dock and then we’ll eat. Who’s hungry?”

  “Me!” Poseidon yelled. “I’m so hungry, I could eat a fried boot!”

  “We’ve got plenty of bread, cheese, and fish,” Hestia said.

  Demeter sighed. “I miss eating fresh fruit and vegetables.”

  Suddenly voices rose from below the dock. “Figs! Ripe, juicy figs!”

  Demeter and Hestia raced to the edge of the boat. Down below were two gray-haired women in robes. One held a basket of plump purple figs.

  “Yum!” Demeter cried. She turned to Aphrodite. “Could you please magic up a gold coin? Figs would be lovely for supper.”

  Aphrodite smiled. “Of course!” She tossed her golden apple from hand to hand, and three gold coins clattered onto the deck.

  Demeter picked up the coins and climbed down from the boat. A minute later she came back holding the basket of figs, followed by the two old women.

  “This is Nemmy, and this is Risa,” Demeter said. “They’re giving us the whole basket of figs! I invited them to eat with us.”

  “The more the merrier!” Hades said.

  “What a sweet young man you are,” said Nemmy.

  “Yes, such kind children,” added Risa. “Please, eat some of our delicious figs.”

  Hades grabbed a fig from the basket and bit into it. “Mmm, juicy.”

  Most of the Olympians, Ron, and the four goat guys crowded around the basket of figs, happy to have fresh fruit to eat. Zeus didn’t join them. He continued to gaze out at the waves, worried about the next day’s battle.

  Then he walked over to Poseidon. His brother’s lips were purple from fig juice.

  “Listen, Bro,” Zeus said. “Hera is bugging me about a plan, and I think I have one.”

  “Hera? Who’s Hera?” Poseidon asked, his eyes blank.

  “Ha. Very funny, Poseidon,” Zeus said.

  “Poseidon? Who’s that?” his brother asked.

  Zeus sighed. He loved both of his brothers, but sometimes it was hard to get them to take things seriously.

  “We need a plan for tomorrow,” Zeus said. “For the battle with Cronus.”

  Poseidon just looked at him blankly, and that was when Zeus noticed that something wasn’t quite right with him. He gazed around the boat. Hera, Apollo, Artemis—everyone he looked at was shuffling around the deck with wide, blank eyes.

  He ran to Hera. “Hera! It’s me, Zeus. Boltbrain!”

  Hera looked confused. “Boltbrain?”

  Zeus noticed that her lips were stained with purple too. That could only mean . . .

  He turned to the two old ladies. They both were grinning at him.

  “Would you like a fig, dear?” one of them asked sweetly.

  “No!” Zeus cried, reaching for Bolt. “Those figs are messing with everybody’s minds!”

  He held Bolt out in front of him. His eyes widened as the air around the two old ladies began to shimmer.

  Both women grew taller and taller until they towered over all the Olympians. Their wrinkles disappeared. The gray hair of one turned red, and the gray hair of the other turned black.

  “Mnemosyne! Eris!” Zeus cried.

  The two women were Titans, sisters of King Cronus. Zeus had met them before. In the Underworld, Mnemosyne had tricked Poseidon into drinking water that had erased his memory. And Eris had fed the Olympians food that had made them all angry with one another. Now it looked like the women had combined their powers into those dangerous figs.

  Mnemosyne, the redhead, smiled. “You are a clever one, Zeus. But not clever enough. Your Olympians can’t fight us if they can’t remember they’re Olympians!”

  Eris, the dark-haired one, held out a fig. “Now be a good little boy and eat your fig,” she said with a wicked laugh.

  “No!” Zeus cried. “Bolt—”

  Eris slapped Bolt out of his hands. Then she pinched his nose with two long fingers. His mouth opened instinctively.

  “Open wide,” she said.

  Zeus struggled to break from her grasp. The fig touched his lips. Then, suddenly, something yanked Eris away from him.

  The jolt knocked Zeus onto his back. When he stood up, he saw huge, thick green vines snaking around Eris and Mnemosyne. Demeter stepped out from behind them, smiling at Zeus.

  “Demeter!” he cried. “You used one of your magic seeds?”

  She nodded.

  Zeus was puzzled. “But the figs?”

  “I was being nice and handing them out to the others before I took mine,” she replied. “Then I noticed that everyone was acting really weird.”

  The two Titans were struggling to get free of the vines, but Zeus knew from experience that Demeter’s magic monster vines were stronger than Titans.

  Zeus yelled up at them. “What’s the cure for your rotten figs?”

  Eris laughed. “There is no cure!” she said. “Your friends will never remember who they are!”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The Plan

  The vines continued to grow around Eris and Mnemosyne, trapping them in a plant prison. Then the vines began to snake their way all over the boat.

  “We’ve got to get everyone off !” Zeus yelled, and Demeter nodded. They quickly started to round up the others. Pegasus helped, pushing Ron forward with his nose.

  “Where are we going?” mumbled Hades.

  “Where are we now?” asked Ares.

  Zeus and Demeter got the confused Olympians and the goat guys off the boat and onto the shore. The magical vines kept growing and growing. Finally, with one more loop, they took over the entire boat—trapping the two Titans inside!

  “Let us out of here!” Mnemosyne yelled.

  “Just wait until Cronus hears about this!” Eris wailed.

  Zeus and Demeter ignored them as they did a quick check of the Olympians, who were all wandering around the beach in a daze.

  “We’ve got to find some way to restore their memories,” Zeus said. “Could one of your seeds help?”

  Demeter frowned, thinking. “I suppose I could try to grow a flower with a cure, but I’m not sure that would work.”

  They were both silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. Then they heard the sound of Apollo’s golden lyre.

  They turned to see the blond boy strumming his instrument, staring out at the waves.

  “At least Apollo didn’t forget how to play his lyre,” Zeus remarked.

  Demeter’s eyes lit up. “Wait, that’s it!” she said. “Just because he lost his memory doesn’t mean he’s lost his magic. When he sings about something and plays his lyre, it comes true!”

  Zeus nodded excitedly. “I get it! We just need him to sing that everyone has their memory back, and it will happen,” he said. “But how will we do that?”

&n
bsp; “Let me try,” Demeter said. She approached Apollo.

  “Hi, Apollo. I’m Demeter,” she said cheerfully.

  He smiled at her. “Hello, Demeter. Who is Apollo?”

  “You are Apollo,” Demeter replied.

  “Oh, I am?” he said, surprised. “That’s a cool name.”

  “Can we play a little game?” Demeter asked. “How about I sing something, and you sing it back to me?”

  Apollo nodded. “That sounds like fun!”

  Demeter began to sing in a sweet voice. “The Olympians and their friends lost their memories. . . .”

  “The Olympians and their friends lost their memories,” Apollo repeated, strumming his lyre.

  “But they will triumph over their enemies,” Demeter sang.

  “But they will triumph over their enemies.”

  “Their memories came back right away, and everyone was okay,” Demeter finished.

  Apollo sang and played, “Their memories came back right away, and everyone was okay!”

  As soon as he sang the words, a light flickered in his eyes. “What do you know? I’m Apollo!”

  The others began to talk all at once as their memories returned.

  “What just happened?” Hera asked.

  “How did we get onto the beach?” Athena wondered.

  “Flipping fish sticks! Where did that giant plant come from?” Poseidon exclaimed.

  “Settle down, everybody!” Zeus called out, and he quickly explained how they had been tricked, and how Demeter had saved them.

  Hestia hugged her sister. “You are so smart!”

  Demeter smiled. “It’s just lucky that I didn’t eat any of those figs.”

  Ares looked around. “It’s getting dark. What should we do? We can’t get back onto the boat.”

  “We can camp right here,” Zeus said.

  “I’ll light a fire!” Hestia offered.

  “And then what?” Hera wondered. She nodded to the two Titans trapped in the prison of vines. “What do we do about those two?”

  Before Zeus could answer, Demeter spoke up.

  “I don’t think they’ll be able to get out of those vines for a while,” Demeter said. “When I planted the seed, I made sure to make the vines extra strong.”