Two hours later Brody had moved on from practicing for the hoplitodromos race to practicing for the wrestling event again.
Brody hadn't wrestled much, but he wasn't worried.
Today he was practicing against Demeter's champion, a tall, thin youth with a big nose.
"Got you!" Brody cried as he pinned the other athlete for the third time in a row.
Demeter's champion gritted his teeth. "Never mind," he said.
"I may not be the best at wrestling.But I'll beat you at boxing every time!"
Brody let him go and stood up. "Boxing?" he said to Hermes. "Do I have to do that?"
"Of course," Hermes said. "We'll practice that tomorrow.
I've already started setting up some sparring partners for you."
Before Brody could say anything else, a loud buzzing sound filled the gymnasium.
"What's that?" Julia exclaimed.
Markos covered his head. "Look out above!"
Brody glanced up just in time to see a huge black cloud descending on the gymnasium.
When it got closer, he saw that it was actually a swarm of large insects.
"Gross!" Brody covered his head as the first insects hit him. "What are those things?"
"Cicadas." Hermes sounded disgusted. "Apollo! Did you have something to do with this?"
Apollo was standing nearby, grinning as the other gods' champions raced for cover from the rain of singing insects.
Meanwhile Apollo's own champion continued to jog around the track, untouched by the cicadas.
"What makes you think I had anything to do with this?" Apollo asked, still grinning.
Cicadas were pelting every inch of Brody's head and body. One even crawled into his mouth.
"Yuck!" he exclaimed, spitting it out and then running to join Julia and Markos, who were huddled beneath the shelter of an overhang.
"Enough, brother!" Artemis stepped forward, frowning. Ignoring the insects raining down on her, she lifted her bow. "Feathered friends, help us!"
A loud, piercing shriek seemed to tear the sky in two.
A moment later something scurried into the gymnasium.
"What's that?" Brody asked, peering through the veil of cicadas.
"It looks like a bird," Markos said. "It's eating the cicadas!"
"It's a guinea fowl," Julia explained. "My neighbors used to raise them.
They're really noisy. And they'll eat anything."
"Look!" Markos pointed. "Here come more of them!"
Dozens of guinea fowl were running or flying into view.
They immediately began gobbling up the cicadas. Some of them let out sharp cries as they fed.
"This is ridiculous!" Ares marched over to Apollo and Artemis, cicadas crunching beneath his feet.
"How can any of us train under these conditions?"
"Sorry." Apollo shrugged, not looking sorry at all.
"I was just testing out a little trick I might try on the mighty Alcides."
"Hmm." Ares suddenly looked much less angry.
"Now that you mention it, I have a few things in mind for Zeus' mighty champion as well."
He raised his spear to his own head just as his red hair burst into flame.
He lit his spear, and then twirled it, shooting fire at the cicadas.
A guinea fowl let out a squawk as a spark just missed its head.
"Maybe we should get out of here." Julia sounded nervous. "Things are getting a little dangerous."
Hermes sighed. "I suppose we won't get anything done until the others have had their fun," he said. "Besides, it's almost dinnertime. Let's go."
They headed back to Markos' house.
"Are the other gods really going to sabotage Alcides, like they said?" Julia asked Hermes.
He looked surprised. "Of course! What a silly question, girl."
Brody frowned. "But the Olympics are supposed to be about who's the best athlete," he said.
"How can you figure that out when you're all trying to cheat all the time?"
He was afraid that Hermes might get mad at his question.
Instead, the god laughed. "Oh, you mortals! You're always getting worked up about things like that."
He patted Brody on the head. "Don't worry about it. It's not as if any of this matters, after all."
"What do you mean?" Julia asked. "I thought the Olympic Games were super important.
Don't the games help to keep peace among all the Greek cities? And honor Zeus and the other gods?"
Hermes pointed to a dog chasing a rat along a path.
"To those creatures, their game is important," he said.
"To you mortals, the Games are important. To us?" He shrugged again.
"The Games are amusing, yes. They bring us pride and a chance to brag, certainly. But important?" He laughed loudly.
Brody was still thinking about what Hermes had said when the family finished dinner that evening.
He waited until he, Julia, and Markos were alone in the courtyard.
"So what did Hermes mean earlier?" he asked Julia and Markos. "Doesn't he care about the Olympics?"
"I told you before," Markos said. "The gods are different from mortals. We are playthings to them—pets, like that dog we saw."
Julia frowned. "I don't even think they see us the way we see dogs or other pets," she said.
"We're more like ants to them. They make us race each other, and then they pull our legs off or stomp on us for fun!"
"You're lucky you're Hermes' champion, Brody," Markos said.
"What are you talking about?" Julia blurted out.
"Hermes might not ever let us ever return home!"
"That's true," Markos admitted with a grim expression.
"But I hate to think of what might happen to Hera's hero if he fails to defeat Alcides.
Or what could happen to Alcides himself if he disappoints Zeus."
"Hmm . . ." Brody hadn't realized that some of the gods could be so cruel.
"Well, it sounds as if Alcides might not even make it to the Olympics," he pointed out.
"I mean, every god out there is going to try to take him down, right?"
"Except Athena and Zeus," Julia said. "Okay, maybe you're right, Markos. Maybe it could be worse."