2011 - Nolan Swift Challenges (The Olympian Games) has been nominated for the 2011  !!!
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The Olympian Games[]
Nolan Swift
Prologue: Nolan Swift's POV[]
That morning started like any other. I woke up and checked the trunk at the foot of my bed to make sure all my belongings were still there. Being a son of Hermes, you never know when one of your siblings would try to steal your stuff. The Stoll brothers were the worst, but they stopped stealing from me after I managed to steal their beds right out from under them one night. I put on my Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and my sneakers before heading outside into the brisk Long Island air. As I looked around, I saw a few other campers out already doing various activities. The Apollo campers were staring at the sunrise while the Demeter and Persephone campers were watering their plants.
Camp seemed almost normal, but everyone was a little on edge. The gods had started something they call “The Olympian Games,” a series of challenges for young demigods to face. No one knew exactly which demigods they had chosen to take part in their event, but every so often a demigod would disappear right in front of us with a hologram above their heads representing the god that had chosen them.
I took a quick jump off the front steps of the Hermes cabin and began my run through the woods. I had become fast friends with several of the nymphs in the forest simply because I ran through their forest every morning and they would have fun racing me. Eventually, I found my way to the shores of Long Island Sound where the sun had completely risen over the horizon. Its warm light filled the air and I heard a call from behind me.
“Hey Slowpoke!” said my friend Megan Snow, a child of Athena. We had become good friends over time; she was the one that got me to camp safely and a year later I managed to save her life. She had a habit of calling me “Slowpoke” which is weird because I had always prided myself on my speed. Her silver hair seemed to blow in the sunlight and I watched as she walked toward me. I raised my hand to wave, but the waters along the beach began to become rougher and the waves began to intensify. All of a sudden, a trident rose from the waters followed by a large man in a Hawaiian shirt.
“Poseidon,” Megan gasped in surprise as she froze in her tracks next to me.
“Yes, that is true. I Poseidon, Lord of the Sea have chosen both of you for The Olympian Games,” he said as he raised his trident into the air and we were both engulfed in waves. Next thing I knew, I was in what looked to be a hotel room decorated in an undersea theme. There was a jellyfish lamp on an end table and the walls were painted like the ocean, but there was a storm and a small sailing ship seemed lost at sea in the background. There was a small fountain in the spot you would expect a TV to go, but I was one drachma short of being able to Iris message somewhere with a TV.
All of a sudden, a rainbow formed from the fountain and Poseidon once again appeared in front of me.
“This will be your living quarters during the games,” Poseidon said. “I hope it is to your liking?”
“I live in the Hermes cabin, I’m lucky if I wake up without a sleeping bag full of shaving cream,” I joked as I looked at his image. He seemed to like the joke and laughed a little. “By the way, I’m Nolan Swift. I don’t think we have ever met before,” I said, trying to be polite. Even if the god already knew who I was, it only felt natural to introduce myself to someone I had never met before.
“I am Poseidon, it is a pleasure to meet you,” he said, extending his hand as if forgetting that he was talking into an Iris message. However, the water in the fountain turned into a hand and I grabbed it.
“Strong grip,” he said. “You will make it far in these games. Speaking of which, I’ve come to tell you of your first challenge. You will be facing two empousi in a place of my choosing.”
“Where is that?” I asked, but he just smiled and a second later I was pulled by the watery hand into the fountain. I seemed to be underwater until I was blasted out of a raging sea onto an old ship called the Queen Anne's Revenge.
Challenges[]
Nolan Swift's First Challenge: Swift vs Two Empousa on a Boat[]
I looked around at my new surroundings. The sea tossed the boat around almost as much as my stomach as the storm seemed to get worse. Poseidon had picked a boat, a pretty predictable choice for the sea god and possibly the worst battlefield for me. I was a runner, I did best on a flat surface or in an open field; a place with plenty of room to move around. Poseidon had placed me on a rocking boat in the middle of the ocean, not exactly the best place for a fight with two empousi.
“Look first-mate, a stowaway,” came a voice from the helm of the ship. I looked up and saw two teenage girls holding onto the wheel of the ship on opposite sides. However, instead of the usual cheerleader outfits that I had seen them in the other times I had faced them, they seemed to be wearing a pirate outfit that looked like it came from a costume shop. They even had plastic swords on their belts, at least I hoped they were plastic.
“Well Captain,” the other said as she pushed herself off the wheel and started walking down the stairs onto the main deck toward me. “You know what we do with stowaways.”
The captain followed her crew member down another set of stairs on her side of the ship and soon the pair of pirates were walking side-by-side as their one goat leg sounded like the peg leg of a real pirate, which was ironic considering that they already had a fake bronze leg. It was at this point that I noticed my legs weren’t moving, either from fear or possibly the fact that I hadn’t taken my eyes off them since they made their presence known.
“He is a handsome one Captain, maybe he could be our new cabin boy,” Said the first mate as she placed her hand on my shoulder and the two started walking around me as if checking me from all sides.
“Not a bad idea and maybe if he is really good at his job, we can have him in our cabin for dinner,” replied the captain as she looked me dead in the eye only a few inches from my face. “In fact, I want a little taste right now.”
“Aye aye Captain,” the other said and before I knew it they were both about to sink their teeth into my neck and suck my blood. However, a huge wave hit the side of the boat and all three of us went toppling over. I managed to get my body moving again as the spell seemed to have broken. The other two weren’t as quick to their feet as the mismatch of legs combined with the slick surface of the deck made it harder for them to get to get up. I could have tried to attack them, but they were still together and I had to find a way to keep them apart so I would have a chance of winning. I ran across the deck and over a hatch to one of the lower levels of the ship.
“Hey you two,” I shouted at them over the roar of the storm. “I’m going to make you work for your fast food and trust me when I say it is fast.”
Their looks changed from that of the charming teenage girls to looks filled with anger as some of their true monstrous from bled thought the mist they used to conceal themselves. I pulled at the pendant around my neck it grew into the form of my bronze sledge hammer, Road Maker. I held it in my hand and the empousi charged at me. I stood my ground and waited for them to come to me. It was actually kind of funny to see the two try and run as their legs didn’t seem to respond to their commands. When they got close enough to me, I slammed my hammer into the ground and the two jumped back. The wooden board of the old ship began to creek as I had fit a support beam under the floor. This caused the captain of the ship to fall through the floor and to a lower section of the deck.
“Captain!” the first mate called, but this gave me an opening as she was no longer focusing on me. I ran over and smashed her in the stomach with my weapon. She fell to the ground a few feet away and the spot I hit seemed to leave a mark as part of her body turned to dust. The anger that was in her eyes earlier turned to hate and she burst into flames. The rain that was falling seemed to evaporate around her and I realized she wasn’t trying to attack me, she was going to combust; empousi had a nasty habit of doing that. I looked around for an escape and I only had on, the broken hatch to the lower decks. I ran for it just as the First-mate started to glow her brightest. I grabbed one of the ropes on deck and jumped down the whole just as the entire deck became covered with fire. The sails started to burn up and one of the three masts began to topple over, falling off the side of the ship. The fire also burned the rope I had been hanging on to and I fell a few feet to the floor. I looked around for my hammer hoping it had fell somewhere close. It would eventually return to its pendant form around my neck but until then I didn’t have a weapon.
“Ok, that hurt,” I said to the darkness.
“Not as much as this will,” came a voice from behind me and the room was filled with the bright light of the flaming hair of the empousi. As if on instinct, I rolled to me left just as her teeth were about to rip my neck apart. Using the bright light she was giving off, I managed to see where I had fallen. I was standing in the armory of the ship; lines of cannons were ready to fire at the order of their captain with barrels of gunpowder along the far fall.
“Come here you horrible demigod; no one kills my first-mate,” she howled as she started running toward me and she looked like a giant ball of fire. I grabbed something to defend myself and I held it in front of me in a desperate attempt to keep her teeth away from my neck. This seemed to work as she backed away for a second and the fire in her hair died down. I was a bit confused until I noticed that I was holding a bag of gun powder. She may have been a monster, but monsters still don’t like to die. The more time they spend alive, the more demigods they can enjoy. As I looked behind her, I saw my hammer had fallen into the barrel of a cannon and she was standing right on the fuse. It was then that I got an idea and started swinging my bag of gun powder around.
“Not much of a captain without a crew,” I mocked. “You couldn’t even defeat one stowaway.”
“Be careful with your words, I am still captain on this ship and my word is law,” she said angrily, but I just brushed her off.
“Sorry about that Captain Goat Leg. Or is it Captain Gimpy?” I asked her. It was then that my bag ripped and gun powder landed on the floor of the room. She smiled as I stood there with an empty bag. She let out her furry and the room was once again filled with fire. However, this is what I was hoping for as the fuse for the canon lit and started moving across the floor. It had the added effect of setting off some of the gun powder on the floor and the fire started working its way toward the wall of gun powder barrels, something that wasn’t part of my plan. The empousa looked at my scared expression and actually believed it may have been caused by her alone. Just then, the canon went off and she had just enough time to look behind her as my hammer went sailing across the room and right though her body and she instantly turned to dust. I on the other hand started running to the other end of the ship and the barrels of gun powder exploded sending a shock wave though the ship and causing me to fall to the floor. If the first-mate lighting herself on fire was bad, this was about 20 times worse as now the entire front of the ship was gone and I was slowly sinking into the sea.
However, a trident appeared above my head some of the water formed a portal back to Olympus. I jumped thought the water and landed in a room full of demigods. Other contestants most likely, but I didn’t really care as all I wanted right now was to dry off and maybe change my damaged clothes.
“What happened to you?” asked a familiar voice. I looked over and saw my friend Megan Snow, a daughter of Athena. From the looks of it, she also had just finished a challenge of her own and I couldn’t wait to hear what she had to fight.
"Not much, I got to go on a boat ride, how about you?" I replied.
Nolan Swift's Second Challenge: Catch the Fastest Fox[]
Prologue[]
I had just finished explaining my battle to Megan and Kat when a flash of light forced our conversation to an end. As the light faded, I looked to the large table in the room that had previously been empty and saw the gods sitting in their seats. Zeus then rose from his throne and looked out into the large room.
“Welcome victors, you have all advanced to the second round of the Olympian Games. I am amazed that so many have managed to overcome the tasks we had created for you. However, the games are not yet over and we have devised new challenges for all of you,” Zeus announced and everyone watched him in anticipation. “Artemis, I’ll allow you to go first.”
Artemis rose from her throne and looked out over the room, as if hunting for a person to meet her challenge. Unfortunately, her eyes lock on mine and she raised her hand and pointed toward me.
“Nolan Swift,” she said and her voice carried around the room. “As you may know I am a goddess of the moon and I have found many creatures among the stars. I am also a hunter and take great pride in my abilities. I have found a creature that exists in both my realms and it will be your task to capture this creature.”
She raised her hand into the air and a constellation began to move across the sky and landed in her hand. It then began to dim and take form into the shape of a small red fox. It didn’t look any different from a normal fox and once the light completely faded it looked around the room as if confused.
“This is the Teumessian Fox. For your challenge you must capture it,” she said and a moment later the fox was transported away. “You shall start tomorrow morning so I suggest you get some rest.”
“You have no shot,” said Megan as the rest of the gods began to announce their own challenges. I thought I heard Apollo say something about a pair of sexy sunglasses, but I wasn’t paying attention.
“How hard could it be to catch a fox?” I asked her. “I mean I have never hunted before, but I’m fast and should be able to simply move so fast it won't be able to react.”
“That might work for a normal fox, but this isn’t a normal fox,” she informed me. “This fox was created to never be captured, it literally cannot be captured. Artemis is setting you up to fail.”
“Is that allowed?” I asked. “I mean they can't give me a challenge that I have no shot of accomplishing, can they?”
“I don’t know, they are gods so they can do whatever they want I guess,” she said. “Maybe Artemis just doesn’t like you. Either way, I’d get some sleep.”
The Second Challenge[]
When I woke up the next morning, Artemis appeared before me.
“Are you ready young demigod?” she asked me.
“Before I go, is there any way I can actually accomplish this challenge?” I asked her.
“Nothing is impossible, but you may not have the time to find the answer,” she told me and took out her bow. She then tapped it on the ground and a bright flash of light blinded me. When I opened them back up again, I found myself standing in a grassy field with a few trees. I looked around and right away something felt strange about my challenge arena. I looked around and started running in a single direction and before long I found myself right back to where I started. I had been transported to a small sphere shaped planet that couldn’t have been more than a mile around.
“You have got to be kidding me. What kind of crazy messed up place is this?” I asked out load to no one in particular. It was then that I saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye and I turned to look. The fox was sitting on top of a log and had possibly been watching me since I first arrived. “There you are.”
I started walking very slowly in hopes that I wouldn’t scare it away and it seemed to work as the fox began scratching at his ear and didn’t really seem to care about me at all. When I got close enough I lunged forward and went to grab it in a bear hug.
“Gotcha,” I said hopefully. I looked down in my arms, but there was nothing. I thought for sure I had and then looked around frantically to see where it went, however it was nowhere in sight. A second later I felt a large weight land on my head as the fox used my skull as a spring-board and jumped off, causing my head to hit the log. I grab my head in pain and turned around to face the fox and I could have sworn I heard it laughing at me with a smile on its face.
“Alright, very funny,” I said and I got back onto my feet after I checked to make sure I wasn’t bleeding. “Now it’s my turn.”
I started sprinting toward the fox and it in turn started running toward me. We were about a foot apart when the fox jumped into the air, once again landing on my head and forcing me off balance, causing me to crash into the ground and slide into the soft grass. The fox was toying with me and it was kind of annoying.
“Alright, you want to play, I’ll play,” I said and took the pendent from around my neck. The pendent grew into that of a Celestial Bronze sledge hammer. I started twirling it around and then ran for the fox. As long as I captured it, it really shouldn’t matter what shape it is in. The fox began to run away from me and I would take a few swings at it, trying to only injure the thing so I could capture it. However, this seemed to be an impossible objective as the thing would slide under my swings or jump over them. At one point, I was so focused on the fox that it jumped behind me and I went head first into a tree, knocking myself out.
I woke up some time later and saw an hourglass in the sky that I hadn’t seen when I first arrived. The sand was already about half gone and I realized that my challenge had come with a time limit. Artemis words rang in my ear, as she had told me that I may not have the time to find the answer and I now knew what she meant. I went to get up a felt a weight on me chest. I looked down and saw the fox sitting on my chest.
“What do you think you are doing?” I asked it. It brought its face close to me and licked my nose. I shook my head a bit and then tried to grab it again, but it dove over my grasp and started running away. I instantly got to my feet and chased after it around the surface of the small planet. It was then that I stopped and got the idea to run in the opposite direction. I turned around and started running back the way I had come. When I saw the fox over the horizon, it was looking away from me confused as if wondering why I wasn’t following it. I then went for the capture, but it heard me at the last second and ducked under my grasp before running away. I once again took a different direction and we met up again on the far side, but the fox once again escaped my efforts. Before long, I realized that this plan was going nowhere fast and my time was running out. I maybe had another fifteen minutes or so.
“Alright fox, no more playing around!” I yelled at it and my body began to glow a bright golden color. Wings appeared on my sneakers and around my head and I took on a sprinting pose. The fox looked on in curiosity and I took off at the speed of sound toward it. It went from shock to panic as it ran away from me. In the span of a few seconds, we must have circled the small sphere at least three times. As I chased the fox, I would sometimes see the trail of golden light I was leaving behind and it made it harder to see where the fox was. This went on for a few minutes until I felt my muscles start to burn and I could no longer keep up the Blessing of Hermes. The wings vanished and the golden light faded as I stumbled forward and had to take in a few deep breathes. The fox was also tired and took in a few breathes of its own and we just looked at each other. We both then collapsed about half an inch from each other and laid down in the cool grass.
“You are…” I said as I took another breath into my lungs. “…one fast fox.”
The fox began to grin at me and I tried once more to grab it, but it would always manage to slink away. As I looked at the timer in the sky, the sand was almost gone and I maybe had another thirty seconds before I failed. I just couldn’t get close to the fox without it moving away. Then it hit me, not the fox, an idea and I pushed myself into a sitting position against a tree.
“I know I will never be able to capture you,” I said to the fox. “But would you be willing to let me capture you?”
The fox looked at me puzzled as I outstretched my arms. Right before the sand ran out in the hourglass, the fox jumped into my arms and we were transported back to the Olympian Games lobby. Artemis appeared before me as I sat in my chair with the fox in my hand.
“Well done Nolan Swift, you have accomplished the impossible,” Artemis said to me. I looked down at the fox and he looked back at me.
“Nothing is impossible,” I said to her, mirroring what she had told me earlier. “Now if you’ll please excuse me, I think we need some sleep.”
I took a few steps toward my bed and collapsed into it, falling fast asleep. The fox jumped up into bed with me and curled into a ball next to me.
“You seem to have taken a liking to this boy,” Artemis said and the fox nodded his head in agreement. “He may not be a hunter, but if you like him then I guess he has earned my respect.”
She began to walk toward the door to the room, but turned around and smiled at the fox.
“You know, he almost got you,” she said and the fox let out a low growl before falling asleep at my side.
Darkcloud1111~Fastest Hero Alive 18:31, September 1, 2011 (UTC)