An Unexpected Arrival

Hermes must have annoyed the other gods last night, ” Julia murmured to Markos. It was the following day. Julia and Markos were in the gymnasium, sitting on their usual bench watching Brody’s training. Today Brody was practicing boxing. He’d spent the past few minutes sparring against Hermes himself. Markos gasped as Hermes landed yet another jab on Brody’s shoulder, and Brody fell back with a grunt. “ And now Brody is paying the price. None of the other gods would agree to train with us today, so Hermes had no choice but to serve as Brody’s opponent himself. ”

赫尔墨斯昨晚一定惹恼了其他神，”茱莉亚对马库斯喃喃道。 那是第二天。茱莉亚和马库斯在体育馆里，坐在他们平常所坐的那张长凳上看着布罗迪训练。 今天布罗迪在练习拳击。在过去的几分钟里，他一直在与赫尔墨斯对抗。 马库斯屏息着，赫尔墨斯又在布罗迪的肩膀上猛击了一拳，布罗迪咕哝了一声向后倒去。 “现在布罗迪正在付出代价。其他神今天不会同意和我们一起训练，所以赫尔墨斯别无选择，只能亲自充当布罗迪的对手。”

Julia watched as Hermes danced around, jabbing at Brody every chance he got. She winced. The messenger god seemed to be enjoying himself. He flitted back and forth, taking advantage of his greater height, speed, and strength, as well as his winged sandals. So far Brody hadn’t landed a single punch, although he’d received plenty from Hermes. “ Ugh, ” Julia said. “ I hate boxing. It’s so violent! ” “ Good one, Brody! ” Markos shouted as Brody swung at Hermes’ chin, barely missing as the god spun out of the way. “ Er, I mean, nicely dodged, Hermes. ”

茱莉亚看着赫尔墨斯跳来跳去，一有机会就向布罗迪猛击。她退缩了。这位神明使者似乎很享受。 他利用自己更高的身高、速度和力量，以及带翼凉鞋，来回飞行。到目前为止，布罗迪还没有打中一拳，尽管他已经从赫尔墨斯那里学到了很多。 “呃，”茱莉亚说。“我讨厌拳击。它太暴力了！” “棒极了，布罗迪！”当布罗迪向赫尔墨斯的下巴挥拳时，马库斯喊道。他并没有击中，神转身躲开了。“呃，我是说，躲得不错，赫尔墨斯。”

Hermes grinned. “ Don’t hesitate to cheer for your mortal friend, boy, ” he called to Markos good- naturedly. “ He needs all the help he can get! ” “ Urgh! ” Brody grunted, lunging at Hermes. But once again his punch missed the mark. Hermes sidestepped easily and hit Brody on the ear as Brody went by. “ I don’t want to watch anymore, ” Julia told Markos with a shudder. She glanced around for something else to do, but the gymnasium was nearly deserted.

赫尔墨斯咧嘴一笑。“别犹豫，为你的凡人朋友欢呼吧，孩子，”他和蔼地对马库斯喊道。“他需要所有他能得到的帮助！” “呀！”布罗迪咕哝道，扑向赫尔墨斯。 但他这拳又一次打偏了。赫尔墨斯轻松回避，在布罗迪经过时击中了他的耳朵。 “我不想再看了，”茱莉亚颤抖着告诉马库斯。她环顾四周，想找点别的事做，但体育馆几乎空无一人。

“ Let’s go to the agora and find out if Alcides has arrived yet. Today is the day he’s supposed to arrive, right?” Markos was leaning forward, watching the fight with interest. “ Alcides is not in Olympia yet, ” he said. “ If he were here, we’d have heard about it. ” Julia sighed and sat back. She looked away as Hermes punched Brody in the nose, sending sweat and a little blood flying. Now she could see that Apollo was wandering toward them. “ Nice moves, Hermes, ” Apollo said. “ It’s a good thing you’re getting your champion used to losing. He’ll be doing a lot of it once the Games start! ”

“我们去集市看看阿尔西德斯是否已经到达了吧。今天应该是他来的日子，对吧？” 马库斯身体前倾，饶有兴趣地看着这场战斗。“阿尔西德斯还没到奥林匹亚，”他说。“如果他在这里，我们早就听说了。” 茱莉亚叹了口气，坐了下来。赫尔墨斯一拳打在布罗迪的鼻子上，汗水和一点鲜血飞溅，她移开视线。现在她看到阿波罗正朝他们走来。 “动作不错，赫尔墨斯，”阿波罗说。“你让你的冠军习惯失败是一件好事。一旦奥运会开始，他会失败更多次！”

Hermes frowned at the other god. But before he could say a word, the ground beneath the gymnasium let out an ominous rumble. “ What was that?” Julia exclaimed. “ An earthquake?” Suddenly the ground split open. Dirt and sand sprayed everywhere. Hermes and Apollo jumped back as a chasm appeared in the spot where they’d been standing. Brody just stood there staring, and Hermes had to fly in and grab him so he didn’t fall into the chasm. “ What’s going on?” Julia cried, grabbing Markos by the arm.

赫尔墨斯皱着眉头看着另一位神。但他还没来得及说一句话，体育馆下方的地面就发出了不祥的隆隆声。 “那是什么？”茱莉亚惊呼。“地震？” 突然，地面裂开了。到处都是灰尘和沙子。赫尔墨斯和阿波罗向后跳去，一道裂缝出现在他们站立的地方。 布罗迪只知道站在那里看，赫尔墨斯不得不飞进去抓住他，这样他才不会掉进裂缝里。 “发生什么事了？”茱莉亚喊道，抓住马库斯的胳膊。

Markos’ face had gone pale. He pointed. “ Hades is here. ” The chasm belched out black smoke, and then a god stepped out. “ Hades, ” Julia whispered, impressed and a little scared. “ The god of the underworld! ” Hades’ chest and shoulders were broad, and he had pale skin, sleek dark hair, and a craggy, ugly face. He was holding a chain in one strong hand. The other end of the chain was fastened to the collar of the largest dog Julia had ever seen.

马库斯的脸色变得苍白。他指了指。“哈迪斯在这里。” 裂口冒出黑烟，一位神走了出来。 “哈迪斯，”茱莉亚低声说道，她印象很深刻，而且有点害怕。“冥界之神！” 哈迪斯的胸膛和肩膀都很宽阔，他有着苍白的皮肤、光滑的黑发和一张粗糙丑陋的脸。 他一只有力的手握着一条链子。链子的另一端系在茱莉亚见过的最大的狗的项圈上。