"Congratulations, dude," Brody said to Heracles. "You've won every event so far."
"Thank you." Heracles looked solemn. "But I won't relax until the final event is complete—and you and Julia are safely through the time passage."
"Yeah. Me neither," Brody agreed. "I'm definitely ready to go home."
The athletes had just completed the boxing event. There had been more pranks from the gods, of course, but Heracles had handled them without much trouble.
Now all that was left was the final race—the hoplitodromos. Brody wished Heracles luck and headed over to his armor. Hermes and Markos were waiting there.
"You've performed well today, my boy," Hermes said cheerfully. "I'm proud of you!"
"You are?" Brody was relieved. He'd been pretty sure that Hermes was pleased with his performance, but it was still good to hear it. Especially since Brody had come in second or third in most of the events.
"Of course!" Hermes chuckled. "You can't be blamed for failing to defeat the mighty Heracles. He's quite amazing, isn't he? I'm almost tempted to cheer for him myself in this final event."
Brody scowled as he put on his armor. He was a little annoyed by Hermes' remark. After all, Brody was Hermes' champion, not Heracles. Didn't Hermes believe in Brody?
"Heracles is very dominant," Markos said politely.
"Of course . . ." Hermes seemed to be thinking aloud. "If Zeus' champion sweeps the Games, then Zeus will be impossible to deal with." He shot a look at Brody. "But if something happens to Heracles in this final race . . ." He winked mischievously. "Well, I suppose in that case, they'd have to award the olive crown to you, my champion!"
"Oh." Brody hadn't thought about it that way. It would be fun to win, but he needed to make sure that Heracles came in first.
Hermes' words alarmed Brody.
"There's no reason to worry," he told himself. "Julia is a genius." She had figured out what Aphrodite had planned for Heracles during the hoplitodromos. She'd also figured out a plan to help Heracles avoid the prank.
"So there's no danger," Brody thought. "It's almost time to go home."
"Hold still, Brody," Markos said. "I'll help you put on your shin guards."
Hermes watched as Markos fixed the guards to Brody's legs and then handed the helmet to Brody. "You've performed well too, my boy," Hermes told Markos. "Your loyalty and hard work are a credit to your family."
"Thank you, Hermes," Markos said with a bow. "It has been an honor to serve you."
"Yes, I know," Hermes said. "Still, I wish there were a way to thank you. Perhaps I should declare your entire family to be henceforth under my patronage and protection."
Markos' eyes widened. "You would do that?"
Athena happened to be walking by at that moment. She stopped and raised an eyebrow at Hermes. "I would like to hear your answer too, Hermes," she said. "You shouldn't promise such protection to mortals unless you mean to follow through with it."
"Of course I mean to follow through with it." Hermes looked annoyed. "I don't need a warning from you, Athena."
Athena shrugged. "Perhaps you do. It's not as if your word has always been good."
"Well, my word is good this time!" Hermes declared with a frown. "From this day forward, upon my word, the family of Nikolaos shall be under my protection. May I be thrown out of Mount Olympus if I break this vow."
"It's official then." Athena looked approving. "Good luck to your champion in the hoplitodromos, Hermes."
She moved on. Hermes still looked annoyed, but Markos looked awed.
"This is incredible!" he whispered to Brody. "Hermes won't dare break his vow to protect my family—not with Athena as a witness!"
Before Brody could answer, Hermes handed him his shield. "Get ready, boy," he said. "And stay away from Heracles. Hera might be planning some trouble, and I don't want you caught up in it."
"Okay," Brody said. He hurried toward the starting line.
Halfway there, he realized what Hermes had said.
"Huh?" Brody thought. "We're expecting a prank from Aphrodite during this event, not Hera."
Brody glanced around, suddenly in a panic. Where were Julia and Markos? Finally he spotted Iphicles in the crowd and waved him over.
"What is it, Brody?" Iphicles seemed distracted. "I must leave soon to prepare your escape."
"I know," Brody said. "But I just heard something weird about Hera . . ."
He told Iphicles what Hermes had said.
"I'll get word to my brother," Iphicles said. "I'm sure he'll figure something out."
"Thanks, dude," Brody said, relieved. "See you after the race!" He rushed on to the starting line.
"Go!" Agon shouted a few minutes later.
Brody took off, clanking along the track in his heavy armor. As usual Heracles was already in the lead. Suddenly there was a clamor of chirping. A huge flock of sparrows swooped toward Heracles and mobbed him.
Then Heracles' muscular arm emerged from the cloud of birds, tossing a large handful of grain onto the track. The birds eagerly dived for the grain.
"That was easy!" Brody thought gleefully as Heracles raced on. Heracles had now foiled Aphrodite. And since Iphicles had promised to warn Heracles about—
Just then Hera stepped forward. She waved her hand—and a sea of pomegranates rolled across the track, right in front of Heracles!
"Ahh!" Heracles cried as his foot hit one of the fruits. His heavy armor made it hard to balance, and he almost fell. More pomegranates were rolling toward him!
Brody knew that Heracles couldn't see the fruit clearly because of his helmet. But he had an idea. "Hold on, dude!" he yelled.
Brody ripped off his helmet and tossed it aside, along with his shield. Hermes would be furious when he saw Brody disqualifying himself.
But that didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was making sure their plan worked.