Chapter 9 - The Relic - 

Knowing they are home they rush to their families, Sirosa making a sprint for his home to see his mother, Jane, while Odysseus and Atheas make a dash for their home to see their mother, Alexandra. They arrive at the home where they grew up, but something is not right, the flowers have died, the courtyard table turned over and broken, they both look to one another and hasten their sprint, as they enter the house they see it has been ransacked by someone or something, they call out to their brother Perseus, there is no answer, they call out to their mother, but again, there is no answer, they search the house and find nothing, all their belongings have been either taken or destroyed.

Odysseus, with his short temper, takes out his sword and throws it straight through one of the walls with such force it knocks it down. Atheas, with tears in her eyes, looks around the home to find all her belongings gone. Suddenly they hear a faint noise coming from the kitchen, they make a dash for the kitchen to find their mother resting up against the wall. "Mother!" shouts Atheas, "what happened!" she screams, as she clutches her mothers’ arm, "who did this to you". Her mother covered in blood and bruised from head to toe, turns to them and says, "my children you made it home", "who did this mother", asks Odysseus, "this was the doings of your father my child". With shock in their eyes, they both look at each other, then turn back to their mother Alexandra, "your father, he came back, when I asked him to stay, he got so angry, I had never seen him so mad before, he would not stop beating me, I tried to defend myself, but he was too strong". "Mother did he say where he was going, before you tried to stop him", asks Odysseus. "He said he had a very important quest that involved travelling to Mount Olympus. Please my children you must stop your father, he must be stopped". "Mother, when did he leave", asked Atheas, "when was he here, we need to know?" "It was two days ago", she replied. Odysseus runs to the waterhole and fills a cup, rushing back to his mother to give her a drink, as he places the cup to her lips, her head falls into his arms. "Mother! MOTHER!" shouts Atheas, Alexandra had taken her last breath.

Beaten so badly by Lysander, she dies in the arms of her children. With so much anger building inside Odysseus, he lets a roar so loud Atheas can feel her heart shake. Odysseus and Atheas bring their mothers body to the courtyard and begin to build a wooden pyre for their mother, giving her the funeral she deserved, placing two drachmas on her eyes for the ferryman, so she can pass peacefully to the next life, they light the pyre and watch their mother’s body burn, they stand back and wait for the fire to consume their mother, As the fire burns, Odysseus turns to his sister and holds her tight, he whispers in her ear, "we will make him pay sister, I promise you that", they say their final goodbyes and begin gathering their things to set out to find their father, both of them filled with rage, knowing that their father is setting out to release the titans from Tartarus, journeying to Mount Olympus to kill the gods and murdering their mother. They now know that they are not setting out to bring their father home but are now setting out to kill their father and stop his evil plans.

Meanwhile.......

As Sirosa makes a dash for his home, he screams for his mother, she runs to the door to see her son has returned home, he runs straight into her arms, holding her tight, "mother we need to talk" he says, she looks at him with worried eyes, "ok son lets go inside". They step inside and sit at the table in the courtyard. Sirosa turns to his mother and says, "Mother, I know about my father, I know who he is". His mother hangs her head, "I am sorry my son, I should have told you sooner, I did not want you to leave me if you found out your father was Zeus". "Why do you think I would leave mother?", he asks. "The life of a god sounds better than the life of a mortal", she replies. As they sit and talk, Sirosa turns to his mother and asks, "Mother, did he even care about me". "Yes, of course he did, that is why he left you that shield, it was one of his most prized possessions, he cared about you deeply Sirosa", she replied. "That was not the only thing he left you my son", she said. Sirosa looks to his mother, "what else did he leave me mother", "come with me" she replies.

As they both walk through the courtyard, Sirosa’s mother Jane, walks to the wall at the back of the courtyard and pulls on what appears to be a hollow stone, she pulls it away from the wall, Sirosa steps up to the hollow stone and looks inside, inside he finds a solid gold Spartan helmet with a black mane, his mother turns to him and says, "he also left this for you, he told me you would know what to do with it when the time comes". He removes the helmet from the stone to take a closer look, "such beautiful craftmanship", Sirosa says, "you said I would know what to do with it when the time comes, what does that mean", he asks his mother. "I am not sure my son, your father was a very secret man, but I do know that if he left this for you, it was left for a purpose, take it", she says to Sirosa, "its yours". Sirosa takes the helmet and goes to try it on, but then he notices an inscription on the inside of the helmet, he takes a closer look, it reads,

“To my son Sirosa, may this helm show you your true power, The power of a God”.

Sirosa cannot believe his eyes when he reads the inscription, “the power of a God”, Sirosa thinks to himself, "could this be a relic of the gods, could this be my relic", He takes the helm and puts it in his satchel, he turns to his mother, "Mother I must leave, I must see Atheas and Odysseus, there is something we need to do". Jane turns to Sirosa, "please my son, be careful". Sirosa gives his mother one last hug and kiss, he lets her go and leaves.

As Sirosa leaves his house, he can see smoke from the home of Atheas and Odysseus, he quickens his pace and starts to sprint to their home, he gets to the home and he cannot believe his eyes, Alexandra on top of a pyre, burning. He calls to Atheas, "what has happened?, Atheas, what has happened to your mother", he says with a saddened tone to his voice. Atheas runs to him and falls into his arms, she starts to cry, "it was my father", she says crying into Sirosa’s chest, "my father killed her, he killed her". "Did she say anything before she died Atheas?", asked Sirosa. "Yes", Atheas replies, "she told me he is making his way to Mount Olympus, so we need to get to Olympus as fast as possible to stop him, we need to stop him". They take a few moments to get themselves ready, they pack some food and water, planning their journey to Mount Olympus. Sirosa turns to Odysseus and Atheas, "we must first travel to Delphi that is where the path to Olympus starts, but to travel to Delphi, we must pass through Argos and Athens once more, which means passing through the Black trail once again. Your father is only two days ahead of us so if we quicken our speed, we should catch him before he gets to Delphi", said Sirosa. They make their final preparations and set off for the long journey to Mount Olympus.