Julia frowned at Brody. Heracles was definitely intimidating as an athlete.
But Heracles was a kid, just like them. And he seemed like a nice guy.
"Maybe we should talk to Hermes about a strategy," she suggested.
"Now that he's seen Heracles, he must realize that no mortal will ever beat him.
Maybe he'll even let us go home before the Games."
"Never," Markos stated. "The gods don't give up easily. Especially when it comes to the Games."
"Well, I don't give up either." Brody declared suddenly. He puffed out his chest.
"I'm going to beat Heracles, even if I have to train nonstop between now and the Games."
Julia stared at him. "Are you crazy? A minute ago you were worried about competing against him.
And you saw what Heracles did!" she added.
"He outran a horse! And picked up a giant ram!"
Brody looked stubborn. "I don't have a choice, Julia. And if I keep up the training, I can do it."
Julia shook her head. "This doesn't seem like a real plan, Brody."
"Yeah, well, until you come up with something better, this is what I'm going to do," he shot back.
Julia stomped off to get away from Brody for a few minutes.
This situation was bad, and he didn't even seem to realize it.
All this time she'd been hoping Brody could actually win at the Games.
But now that he was competing against Heracles, she was sure Brody—along with all the other athletes—was going to lose.
Unless the gods managed to sabotage Heracles. Then Brody might have a chance.
As she walked around, she could hear people talking about Heracles.
Everyone still seemed dazzled by Zeus' amazing hero.
Then there was a commotion somewhere near the dais.
Julia looked over there just in time to see Heracles lift Zeus by one ankle!
The king of the gods waved as the crowd cheered.
"Behold the greatest mortal athlete of all time!" Zeus called out.
Suddenly someone grabbed Julia's arm. "Let go," she snapped, yanking it back.
She turned around, expecting to see Brody. Instead Aphrodite was standing there!
Julia gasped. "I—I'm sorry," she babbled. "I thought my friends were . . ."
She was afraid that the goddess would be angry at the way Julia had spoken to her.
But Aphrodite just looked excited. She was staring at Heracles.
"Do you see Zeus' hero, mortal girl?" the goddess said. "I've never seen a mortal so handsome!"
"Um . . ." Julia wasn't sure what to say to that. "He's handsome, I guess."
Luckily Aphrodite didn't seem to care about Julia's reply. She grabbed a passing woman.
"Isn't this exciting?" Aphrodite said. "The Games should be quite interesting this year. Don't you agree, mortal woman?"
Julia slipped out of Aphrodite's view, relieved that she hadn't accidentally offended the goddess.
After Aphrodite's trick with the poisoned chiton, Julia didn't want to take any chances.
Hera and Aphrodite made her especially nervous.
A moment later she saw Brody and Markos coming toward her.
"You missed it!" Brody said. "We just heard Ares and Dionysus talking about Heracles."
"Oh?" Julia glanced at the dais. Heracles had lowered Zeus to the ground.
Now the hero was doing a one-handed handstand while he used his feet to balance a nervous-looking goat.
"Yes," Markos said. "The gods were trying to figure out a way to sabotage Heracles before the Games."
"And after that, we passed Hermes talking to Artemis and Apollo," Brody said.
"They were plotting too." He laughed, looking a bit more cheerful now.
"It sounds like all the gods are making plans to sabotage Heracles."
"That's good for you, for two reasons," Markos told him.
"One, the gods probably won't keep plotting against you, even though you're one of the best mortal athletes in the Games."
"Thanks, dude." Brody grinned broadly. "What's the second reason?"
"Duh." Julia rolled her eyes. "The second reason is they might actually succeed in getting Heracles out of the Games."
"Oh, right." Brody grinned. "Then I can definitely win!"
Suddenly they heard a loud gasp from the crowd. Julia glanced at the dais.
The goat on Heracles' feet had turned into white-hot flames!
"Hephaestus!" Zeus thundered. He pointed at the flames.
Twin lightning bolts shot out of his fingers, and a second later the flames sizzled and disappeared.
Heracles let his legs fall, and then he stood up.
"Thank you, Zeus," he said, bowing. His feet were blackened from the fire, but he didn't show any signs of pain.
Zeus was glaring at a god Julia hadn't seen before.
But based on the god's name—Hephaestus—Julia knew he was the god of fire and the forge.
"How dare you tamper with my hero?" Zeus thundered.
Just then Hera stepped into view behind Hephaestus.
"What's the matter, husband?" she asked in a voice that sent a chill through Julia.
"Are you afraid your hero isn't mighty enough to handle a few friendly pranks?"
"Friendly?" Zeus repeated, shifting his dark glare to her.
Hera took a few steps backward. "You'll soon see just how unfriendly I can be, wife!"
With a deafening thunderclap, he and Heracles both disappeared.
Julia shuddered. "Wow, things are getting serious."
"Yeah, did you see the way Zeus shot that fire right off Heracles' feet?" Brody exclaimed. "It was cool!"
"This isn't a video game, Brody!" Julia snapped.
"We're all in big danger here." She turned to Markos.
"Zeus is obviously guarding Heracles closely. What if the gods don't succeed in getting Heracles out of the Games?"
"Stop worrying, Julia. I'll beat him!" Brody declared. He flexed his muscles.
Julia ignored him as she waited for Markos' reply.
"Zeus is powerful," Markos answered. "But he's only one god.
The other gods can band together to outwit him. They will probably succeed."
"I hope you're right," Julia said slowly.
But as she watched Hera cross the dais, Julia felt a fresh wave of worry. What lay ahead for all of them?