Hyperion and the Great Balls of Fire by Joan Holub

Author:Joan Holub
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

CHAPTER SIX

Global Warming

Zeus slipped off a sandal. Thwack! Thwack! He hit at the place where the globe had opened. But nothing happened. Except that his sandal began to smoke from the heat. At least the floor under their feet wasn’t fiery. Only the walls of the globe were.

“It’s as hot as the Underworld in here,” Poseidon complained.

“Seems just right to me,” said Hades. “Nice and toasty.” Cold bothered him, but heat never did. “And anyway, we wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t lost your trident to Hyperion. Twice.”

“I was thirsty,” Poseidon whined. “Besides, this is just as much your fault as mine. Why did you have to play the hero and take off your helm?”

Hades frowned. “Duh. To keep those guards from taking you and Zeus away.”

“But if you’d stayed invisible, you could’ve followed when the guards brought us down here,” Poseidon argued. “Then, when they left, you could’ve opened the door of this globe from the outside and—”

“We all made mistakes,” Zeus interrupted. “I was dumb not to keep my thunderbolt hidden. Now none of us has a weapon!”

Pythia’s prophecy said Zeus was the leader of the Olympians. But sometimes he doubted himself when he made mistakes like that. Did he truly have what it took to be a good leader? he wondered.

“What’s done is done,” he told his companions. “Arguing won’t help. The thing now is to think of an escape plan.”

“You’re right,” said Hades.

Poseidon nodded.

The three boys began pacing circles inside the flaming globe while trying to think up a plan.

“Maybe we could run from one side to the other superfast and ram through the globe door,” Poseidon suggested.

Hades snorted. “Okay. You can be the first to try it. Zeus and I will scoop up your ashes afterward.”

“You got a better idea?” Poseidon said with a scowl.

“Not yet,” said Hades. “But any idea would be better than yours.”

“I know!” said Zeus. Poseidon and Hades stopped arguing and turned to look at him. “The guards will return with food and drink eventually. After all, Hyperion needs to keep us alive.”

“True,” said Hades. “Till he can turn us over to the king.”

“And so?” Poseidon asked.

Zeus grinned. “So when the guards open the globe, we’ll trick them somehow and escape!” Abruptly his grin evaporated. “I haven’t quite yet worked out the somehow part,” he admitted.

Just then a tiny voice piped up. “Et-lip e-mip elp-hip.”

“Chip?” Zeus had almost forgotten about the amulet. It didn’t speak often, but when it did, it spoke Chip Latin. Which was like Pig Latin. Except that you moved the first letter of a word to the end of it and then added an ip sound, as in “chip.”

Zeus lifted the amulet from around his neck. “Did you just say ‘Let me help?’ ” he asked it.

“Es-yip,” said Chip.

Poseidon and Hades came closer. The three Olympians gazed at the amulet with hope in their eyes.

“How can you help?” Zeus asked. “Do you have a plan? ’Cause we could really use one.”

“E-bip ilent-sip,” Chip said.

“Be silent?” Zeus glanced up at Hades and Poseidon.

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