Walking on Roads of Hades District
1474 Words
"Three!" we counted. It's a draw.
"One, two, three!" It's a draw again.
"One, two, three!" What? A draw again!
"One, two, three!"
"No!" one of them shouted while the other one said, "Yes, I won!"
I announced the winner: "The winner is.... Sander!"
"Wohooo!" he celebrated.
"So that makes Philip's home to become our place to sleep this coming weekend!" I said. "Now we are gonna suffer awkwardness!"
"Hey!" said Philip, but Sander and I laughed.
"Let's go!" I said. "Philip, lead the way!" He leads the way, while we formed a line. I was the last man.
The cool breeze, the hiding sun on the clouds above Olympus, the brushing of the grey grasses, and the sound of our footsteps against the soil, make all of this worthwhile. This meadow is beautiful, I saw one or two people at the fields tending to their flocks of sheep, some flowers among the grey grasses, birds dancing with and above the waving grasses, and the pond that's just beside and below the road we are walking on. We walked farther until we crossed a beautiful stone bridge. On the bridge, Sander looked to the east, which is at our right. Olympus on the summit is shinning with gold and silver. It is much clearer than I viewed it from home. My stomach fluttered a little bit, thinking that I am one step closer to Olympus.
Then I remembered something that I forgot to ask. "Guys, what does it mean in your saying that, 'We know He is here when the mountains, oceans, and skies will roar'?"
"It means the Trio," said Sander. "You know... Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Zeus will make the sky roar, Poseidon will make the ocean roar, and Hades will make the mountains roar. I was told that the word 'He' refers to the three of them as one."
"I think I met two of the legendary trio last week before I went here," I said.
"What?" asked Philip. "Really?"
"Yeah, they were reincarnated as girls, the same as our age."
"We know, " said Philip. "I never saw them on TV, but I heard they were beautiful. Can you describe what do they look like?"
"Okay... Aurelia, the Goddess of Lightning has long golden hair. Really... like gold, but she acts like a tomboy. Mila on the other hand is very quiet. In fact, she never said anything. Her hair and her clothes were all black, even her lips."
"How did you meet them?" asked Sander.
I told them the story until the bridge ended at the other shore, and the dirt road continued. I bumped into Sander. "What are you-" I said, but then I saw a big bull right in front of us. We just stood there, not daring to make sudden moves while it munched on some grass, and looking at us. It is taller than any normal bull. It is higher than a grown-up man. I swallowed while walking backward slowly. I stepped on something mushy.
"Bullsh---- crap!" I shouted.
"Leo!" they said to me as the bull mooed angrily! They ran back, leaving me behind.
"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" I removed some cow crap by stomping on the ground. "Eeeeeeiiii!" I said in disgust. I looked at the bull, it is pointing its horn at me, and stomping its feet. I ran without hesitation to where those traitors went. "Help!" I yelled. I looked behind, and it is there charging towards me! He's gaining on me! "Crap!" I feel tired and I need some rest, but this is my life we are talking about! No stopping to rest! "Ahhhh!" There are no trees in this meadow, I need to get somewhere the bull can't go! The bridge!
"Leo!" called someone from the bridge as I ran towards it. I saw Sander and Philip on a rock on the river just under, and the right side of the bridge. I ran faster as I hear the sound the hoof of the bull makes. I am already on the bridge when they said, "Jump!" So I did. They caught me as I fell down the bridge. We almost fell down the river, but they did a good job of placing themselves.
"That was close!" I said while panting.
"I thought you were dead meat, Leo," said Sander.
"No one can survive the charge of that bull," said Philip. "but it is funny looking at you being chased by it." He laughed.
"Hey, I almost died there! You guys abandoned me!"
"What?" he said. "You expect us to carry you and run? You're not a baby!"
"Yeah, but-"
"Hey guys," said Sander while looking up. "The bull is looking at us." I looked at the bull as its big, panting nose pointed at us.
"Yeah, but it wouldn't dare to jump here," said Philip.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Of course! This is not the first time I encountered this same bull and jumping on this rock. It chased me when I was walking to go to the Academy."
I felt a little relieved. I looked at the bull again. "It looks kinda dumb," I said.
"Yeah!" said Sander. "You hear that bull? You're dumb!"
We laughed at it. It turned around to go somewhere else, but what is this? Why do we see his butt?
"Oh crap!" said Philip as the bull let out its crap and rained down on us! We can't dodge, because we are barely even standing on the rock that is good for the three of us. The crap splattered on Sander the most, and some of the crap went to my face, it is warm and smells bad!
"No!"
"Yuck!"
"Ughhhhhhhh!"
The bull left with a mooing that I think is its laugh. "Curse you, cow!" said Sander.
"He's a bull!" said Philip.
"Same thing!"
Philip and I spat and spat, for some of the crap have splattered onto our lips. Sander suffered the most because there is a cake of bull crap on his head.
"This is not right!" screamed Sander. "Why did the crap fell on me the most?"
"It's because you are the one who teased it!" said Philip. "We were going to be fine, but you!" He poked Sander's head.
"We smell bad!" I said. "We need to get ourselves cleaned up! I am gonna jump on the river."
"Okay, but throw your bag to that shore first." He pointed at the shore that leads back to the academy. I did what he said, and I didn't expect that I could throw it farther than I expected. "Nice, it's my turn." He threw it without effort.
"Nothing's gonna eat me if I jumped on the river?" I asked.
"Of course not, there are no dangerous animals in this district that live on the water."
I jumped on the river first, and as expected, it is very deep. I knew how to swim, so it is easy to get to the shore while I wash. Then I touched something slimy and soft behind my left arm.
"Leech!" I screamed as I pulled it out. It stings, and I checked every part of my body if there are more of it.
"What?" said both of them while they are still on the water. They quickly swam in fear of the leeches. Then they made me check their body if there are any, I found two on Sander, and three on Philip.
"Jeez," I said. "Are these leeches poisonous?"
"I don't know," said Sander. "I regret I won that match! The road to my home was much safer! There are no angry bulls, bull crap, and leeches there!"
"Okay, okay, calm down guys," said Philip. "We're gonna get through this! Just hold on until we reach my home, and we will clean ourselves!"
"You better have a bathroom...," I said.
"Of course we have one!"
"Just checking."
We cleaned our bags using the water in the river, but with caution. We don't want to be sucked by leeches again. We washed most of the crap out of us, but we still smell bad. Before we went to the road where we met the bull, we checked the whole meadow from a small hill near the bridge to find out if it is near. There are no traces of it anymore. We continued to walk, but faster. We sharpened our senses to watch out for the bull. I feel nervous.
We didn't walk on the road, but in the grasses to hide. We don't know where the bull is.
"Why is that bull loose?" I asked behind both of them.
"I don't know," said Philip. "I don't even know who owns that huge bull." He leads the way by clearing the tall grasses on our way.
"I am scared...," said Sander. "What if it shows up in front of us again."
"He's a big bull," said Philip. "we can spot him before it spots us."
Then we heard a loud, mooing...
"Ahhhh!" we screamed.
- Writer
