Julia had no idea what was happening. She couldn't hear anything but the rush of air around her.
Then she landed on a hard marble floor.
She stumbled forward, letting go of Brody's arm.
"What's going on?" Brody shouted. "Hey!"
Julia looked around, too frightened to speak.
They were in a square room with stone walls.
A skylight overhead let in a beam of bright sunshine.
Two young men stood in front of them.
Both were tall and handsome and dressed in short robes.
"Chitons," Julia thought. She remembered learning that word in social studies class.
Chitons were simple garments worn by men and women in the ancient world.
The classes about ancient Greece and Rome had been among Julia's favorite parts of social studies last year.
But why were these guys wearing chitons?
What had happened to the high school?
"Where did the girl come from?" one guy asked. "She wasn't part of the plan."
The young man's face was so beautiful that it took Julia a moment to notice something odd.
He had only a single lock of brown hair hanging over his forehead.
The rest of his head was completely bald.
The second young man had curly blond hair and was as handsome as a movie star.
He leaned forward and poked Julia. "You, girl," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"Ow!" Julia yanked her arm away. "Stop poking me."
"What's going on?" Brody demanded again. "Where are we?"
"Silence, mortal." The blond man frowned at his friend.
"The girl was a mistake. Let's toss her back through."
"Are you certain you want to do that?" the bald guy said.
"Remember, this passage will close forever as soon as anyone passes back through it."
"I forgot about that." The blond guy looked annoyed.
"In that case, she'll have to stay.
We might need the passage again if this doesn't work out."
He glanced at Brody and looked him up and down.
"Are we being kidnapped?" Julia blurted out, still trying to figure out what was happening. "Who are you?"
The blond guy chuckled. "Do not be frightened, mortal. We won't hurt you.
Don't you recognize me? I am Hermes, messenger of the gods and friend to mortals."
"Mortals? Gods?" Brody said. "Huh?"
Hermes held up a hand to silence him.
"And this is my friend Caerus, god of luck and opportunity.
He saw the opportunity to help me humiliate Zeus by seeking a mortal champion in an unusual way."
Hermes and Caerus both laughed heartily. Julia caught a glimpse of movement and looked down.
Her eyes widened when she saw little golden wings on Hermes' sandals.
They were flapping gently. Could it be . . . ?
"I do have some influence over time and seasons," Caerus said, puffing out his chest proudly.
"Not that Zeus would ever notice—he treats me like a demigod.
He'll never figure out that I helped Hermes defeat him with a champion from the future."
"What? This is stupid," Brody said loudly. "Look, I'm tired of your dumb stories.
Why did you really grab me and drag me in here?"
"It's quite simple, my simple mortal friend," Hermes said.
"You see, the next Olympic Games will begin soon."
"The Olympics?" Julia echoed.
Caerus nodded. "And as usual, Zeus is already bragging about how his champion will easily defeat all others."
"Yes." Hermes snorted. "He's being quite annoying.
Just because he's king of the gods, he thinks nobody else can ever beat his hand-picked champion."
Brody looked confused. "Zeus?" he muttered. "Wait, that sounds familiar.
Is he from a video game or something?"
"No way," Julia said, staring at the two men. "You're not real.
None of this is real. Hermes is just a myth.
So is Zeus—all the ancient Greek gods are from myths."
"Greek gods? Like from social studies class?" Brody said with a snort.
"Yeah, right. These two are probably just a couple of jerks from Southbridge High.
They're trying to scare me before next week's game."
Hermes traded a look with Caerus. "What are they blathering on about?"
"Who cares," Caerus answered. He sounded bored again. "Let's move this along. I'm hungry."
"All right." Hermes gestured to Brody. "Come, mortal. I've arranged for you to stay with a local family." He glanced at Julia.
"I'm sure they can make room for the girl as well."
"No." Julia's logical mind still refused to accept what Hermes and Caerus—or whatever their names might be—were telling her.
"This isn't happening," she insisted. "We're not really in some temple in ancient Athens."
Hermes sounded impatient. "Aren't you listening to a word I say, mortal girl?"
"'Julia,'" she said. "That's my name, not 'mortal girl.'"
Hermes ignored her. "Of course we're not in Athens. We're in Olympia.
If you don't believe me, I'll prove it to you."
He grabbed Julia's arm. Julia tried to shake him off, but his grip was as strong as iron.
"Stop it," she yelled as he dragged her outside. "Let me go or I'll—whoa!"
She stared in amazement at the sun-drenched scene spread out before her.
It looked nothing like her hometown. It looked nothing like anywhere she'd ever seen, except in the pages of her social studies textbook.
Large, gleaming marble buildings lined with columns dotted the landscape, along with many smaller structures. A mountain rose in the background.
The only roads she could see were dirt ones, and there were no cars on them,
just people in chitons walking or riding donkeys or driving carts pulled by oxen or horses.
There were no power lines or billboards or tall buildings anywhere in sight.
Julia's mind whirled with confusion as she realized what it looked like—an ancient Greek city!