Julia knew that the pentathlon was one of the hardest events of the Games.
It consisted of five separate events: the long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, a short footrace, and wrestling.
Zeus mixed up the order again, and announced that the first event would be the footrace.
Julia felt nervous as she watched Brody join the other runners.
The gods would surely be trying all kinds of pranks.
Iphicles sat down next to Julia and Markos.
"Is Heracles ready for this?" Julia asked him.
"He'll have to pay close attention to what's going on, or he'll be in big trouble."
"He's ready," Iphicles assured her. "You warned him well about Hades' plans for the footrace, right?"
Julia nodded as the runners took off.
All around the stadium people and gods shouted, "Go!"
Soon Heracles was in the lead, with Brody and several others close behind him.
"There!" Markos shouted, pointing.
Julia gasped. The ground had just split open, creating a huge chasm right in front of the runners!
Heracles was ready—this was the exact prank that Julia had warned him about after the banquet!
He leaped over the chasm and landed safely on the other side.
So did Brody, since he'd been watching for the chasm to appear too.
But two or three of the other racers weren't as fortunate.
Apollo's champion couldn't stop in time, and he hurtled down into the chasm with a terrified cry.
Another runner tried to stop, but he skidded over the edge, and was barely clinging on to the walls of the pit.
Most of the others were a little farther behind and were able to stop in time.
They stood now at the edge of the chasm, watching helplessly as Heracles and Brody finished the race. Heracles won by several strides.
"Whew," Julia said. "They did it!" But she didn't feel completely relieved—was that runner in the pit okay?
She glanced at the gods. Apollo was striding toward Hades, shouting and shaking his fist.
Clearly he'd guessed who was responsible for the chasm that had taken his champion out of the race.
Hades wasn't paying much attention to Apollo.
He was watching as Zeus rushed over to congratulate Heracles.
"Hades doesn't look very mad that Heracles foiled his plot," Julia commented.
Markos nodded. "Hades is more reasonable than some of the other gods.
He's probably disappointed that Heracles won, but also impressed by how quickly Heracles reacted."
"It helped that Heracles had some advance warning," Iphicles said.
"Well, I don't think Hera is as reasonable as Hades." Julia nodded toward the queen of the gods.
Hera was grinding her teeth and looking furious. Julia shuddered.
She tried not to imagine what Hera had in store for Heracles now that two gods had failed to stop him from winning.
"What if Hera finds out that Brody and I are helping Heracles win?" Julia thought. This was a very scary thought too.
Abruptly, Julia turned to Iphicles.
"Our plan is ready, right?" she asked him. "You've set up the, uh . . ."
She looked around, making sure nobody nearby was listening. "The escape plan?" she whispered.
"Don't worry," Iphicles said. "I told you I'd take care of that, didn't I?
Look. I think the official is getting ready to start the long jump."
Julia turned to watch the long jump.
She waited anxiously for Heracles and Brody to compete.
At last Zeus gestured toward Heracles. "All right, my champion," he called out.
"Show them how it's supposed to be done!"
Heracles ran up to the short board marking the starting point.
Just as he leaped into the air, flames shot up at the other end of the track.
Julia gasped. Even though they'd known about Hephaestus' prank ahead of time, it was still frightening to see Heracles leaping right into a fire!
Heracles' feet brushed the flames as he jumped.
But to Julia's relief, he landed well beyond the fire.
"What?" Hera cried, her face twisting into an expression of bitter fury. "Impossible!"
But almost everyone else in the stadium was cheering for Heracles.
"What an awesome jump!" Julia cried.
"That's the way, my boy!" Zeus crowed as the flames died away. "No one can beat that jump!"
Nobody did beat it. Brody ended up coming in second, though his jump was not even close to Heracles'.
"So far so good," Julia said as people bustled around, setting up the course for the discus throw.
"I just hope we can keep Heracles safe for the rest of today's events."
"And tomorrow's too," Markos reminded her.
Julia nodded but didn't say anything. The first athlete was stepping forward to begin the discus event.
This time Heracles went last. When he began to spin, preparing to release the discus, Julia glanced quickly at Hermes.
Would Hermes go through with his plan?
She looked back at the track, where suddenly the discus changed shape and color.
"We were right about Hermes!" Markos whispered.
Heracles found himself clinging to an enormous tortoise.
Hesitating slightly, he glanced toward Julia and the others.
Then he flung the tortoise down the course.
Julia held her breath, hoping Markos' guess about what Hermes would do next was right.
The creature's short legs wiggled helplessly as it flew through the air.
A split second before it crashed to the ground, Hermes let out a cry—and suddenly the tortoise turned back into a discus.
Julia let out her breath. "Thank goodness," she told Markos.
"You said Hermes has a soft spot for tortoises, and that he wouldn't let one get hurt. I'm glad you were right!"
Iphicles peered intently at the track. Several gods had rushed out to examine the spot where the discus had landed.
"That tortoise looked awfully heavy," Iphicles said.
"What if my brother has finally lost an event?"
Julia nervously bit her lip.
A second later Agon finally held up his hand. "The victor is Heracles!"