Uranus and the Bubbles of Trouble

  Contents

  Greetings, Mortal Readers

  1. The Ruler of the Sky

  2. Who’s Ruling Who?

  3. An Ocean of Trouble

  4. An Olympian Is Born!

  5. Still Hungry!

  6. The House of Eris

  7. Who’s the Fairest

  8. Bolt, Where Are You?

  9. Stuck on Aphrodite

  10. A War Begins

  About Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

  For our heroic readers:

  Wyatt B., Sebastian C., Anh H., Jenny G., Luke O., Sophia O., Harper M., Parker M., the Andrade Family, Lily-Ann and Daddy, Ann S., Christine D.-H., Kenzo S., Julio A., Lucas A., Caitlin R., Hannah R., Joey W., Mackenzie and Ivan S., Amanda W., Landon H., Trey H., Steele H., and you!

  —J. H. and S. W.

  Greetings, Mortal Readers,

  I am Pythia, the Oracle of Delphi, in Greece. I have the power to see the future. Hear my prophecy:

  Ahead, I see dancers lurking. Wait—make that danger lurking. (The future can be blurry, especially when my eyeglasses are foggy.)

  Anyhoo, beware! Titan giants seek to rule all of Earth’s domains—oceans, mountains, forests, and the depths of the Underwear. Oops—make that Underworld. Led by King Cronus, they are out to destroy us all!

  Yet I foresee hope. A band of rightful rulers called Olympians will arise. Though their size and youth are no match for the Titans, they will be giant in heart, mind, and spirit. They await their leader—a very special boy. One who is destined to become king of the gods and ruler of the heavens.

  If he is brave enough.

  And if he and his friends work together as one. And if they can learn to use their new amazing flowers—um, amazing powers—in time to save the world!

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Ruler of the Sky

  Ten-year-old Zeus and his band of ten Olympians stood on an island in the Aegean Sea and craned their necks to stare upward. The sky above them had started to turn as black as night—in the middle of the day! Obviously, this was no ordinary darkness.

  “Guys, this doesn’t look good,” he said. The others—all kids Zeus’s own age—nodded gravely. They had been gathering coconuts and berries before setting sail in a ship they’d stolen—um, borrowed.

  “Yeah, something’s not right,” agreed his curly-haired brother Hades. “We just went from day to night in a few minutes!”

  “It’s like time sped up,” added their red-haired sister, Demeter.

  Besides Zeus, Hades, and Demeter, the Olympian members included another brother named Poseidon, and sisters Hera and Hestia. Onshore nearby were also Apollo and his twin sister, Artemis. With Athena, Ares, and the newest member, Hephaestus, that made eleven Olympians in all.

  Black-haired, blue-eyed Zeus was the leader of the group. Though he and the others looked like normal mortal boys and girls, they were actually immortals and their actions were mighty. And they were absolutely determined to stop their giant enemies, the evil King Cronus (ruler of the Titans) and his Crony henchmen, from taking over the world. This was an outcome every citizen in Greece lived in fear of!

  What the sudden strange sky had to do with Cronus, Zeus wasn’t sure. But he guessed there must be some connection. No sooner did he think this than a deep voice boomed from overhead.

  “I am Uranus, ruler of the sky!”

  Zeus froze. Because Uranus’s voice sounded oddly familiar. Also, because the sky didn’t usually talk.

  Poseidon—the god of the sea—jabbed Zeus in the shoulder with his magical three-pronged trident, jolting him from his frozen state. “Which guy?” Poseidon asked, confusion showing in his turquoise-blue eyes.

  “Guy? What do you mean?” Now it was Zeus’s turn to be confused.

  “He said he was ruler of ‘this guy,’ ” Poseidon replied. “So, which guy?”

  Zeus sighed. “Ruler of the sky,” he corrected Poseidon impatiently.

  Hera leaned over to them. “Another Titan, do you think?”

  Before anyone could reply, Uranus took shape in the darkness above them. The Olympians stared at him in awe.

  He was massive, bigger than any Titan they had ever seen. His dark-blue form filled the entire sky, arching from one end of the horizon to the other. Stars glittered across his body. He had a white face and beard, and his eyes twinkled with piercing starlight.

  “Behold my grandness! For I am the greatest of your enemies, the Titans!” Uranus boomed in answer to Hera’s question. “The biggest, baddest daddy of them all! Fear me if you know what’s good for you.”

  Zeus bravely stepped forward. “You want us to fear you?”

  Uranus nodded his enormous head. “And I want you to fear him, too,” he added, gesturing toward something beyond the Olympians.

  They whipped around to see what—or who—Uranus was talking about. Behind them on the island’s highest hill stood King Cronus!

  “Butt out. I can handle this myself, Father!” Cronus yelled up to Uranus in an irritated voice.

  Father?

  “That’s it!” Zeus snapped his fingers. “I knew Uranus’s voice sounded familiar. He sounds like Cronus.”

  King Cronus was Zeus’s father. Which made this amazing Uranus guy Zeus’s grandfather! They were father and grandfather to Zeus’s brothers and sisters too. But none of them knew it yet. Zeus hadn’t had the heart to tell them their enemy was also their dad!

  Poseidon was staring at Uranus. “Wow! Who knew there was such a gigantic being? So should we fear him like he asked?”

  Zeus gestured toward Cronus. “We’ve got other, closer Titans to fear right now, don’t you think?”

  “I’m not sure which is worse,” said Hades, eyeing both Titans.

  “Yeah, a guy as big as a sky could catch us pretty fast, no matter where we run,” agreed Hestia.

  Zeus hated to call Cronus’s attention back to himself and the other Olympians, but there was something he needed to know. “Cronus! Where is our mother?” he called out, hoping his voice would reach his father’s giant ears.

  “Yeah, good question. Where is Rhea?” Artemis demanded, glancing around at her siblings.

  Cronus had captured Rhea and was keeping her away from her Olympian children. In fact, the evil king had even swallowed some of Zeus’s brothers and sisters a while back! He’d kept them in his giant belly for years until Zeus had rescued them by forcing Cronus to barf them up.

  But Cronus didn’t hear them. As he and his dad had begun to argue, a stormy wind had suddenly whipped up between them, fueled by their fury.

  “As usual, you’ve made a mess of things,” Uranus scolded his son. “Leaving me to step in. You are a disappointment and a failure!”

  “Am NOT!” Cronus shot back angrily. Then in a pouty voice he added, “You’ve always liked my brothers and sisters better than me!”

  With a swish of her blond ponytail, Hera ran over to Zeus. “Are we just going to stand here while these two argue?” she demanded. “Or are we going to try to escape? We have a ship, you know.”

  The Olympians had taken the ship for transport after an oracle named Pythia had sent them here on a quest. She was always sending them on quests—usually to locate more Olympians and various magical objects that would help them battle their enemies. She always gave them a clue telling them what to look for—but often, her foggy spectacles meant the clues were a little off. Find the bubbles, she had said this last time, just before disappearing into the hazy mist that always surrounded her.

  Bubbles? What bubbles? Like most of Pythia’s instructions, it didn’t make much sense. So it was up to the Olympians to discover what Pythia had really meant.

  Hephaestus’s
dark hair whipped in the wind as he spoke up now. “I think we should scram, but unfortunately, I’m not in charge here,” he said in a voice that clearly indicated he wanted to be the Olympians’ leader.

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” Zeus heard Uranus bellow at Cronus over the storm they’d stirred up. “I’ve always given you just as much attention as any of your siblings. More, in fact!”

  “Yes, but only to criticize me,” Cronus said peevishly.

  “Hera’s right. Let’s scram.” Zeus nudged the others and began sidling toward the ship.

  SPLASH! Suddenly, a huge wave crashed against the shore, causing the ship to sway. The Olympians froze in their tracks as water swirled inland. If the ropes that held their ship fast came untied, they would lose their transportation!

  “Look! It’s Oceanus making waves!” Poseidon pointed toward the sea, where a huge figure was rising. Oceanus was another Titan, one with golden skin, long hair, and a beard that flowed down his face like the waves. They had battled Oceanus once before—and won. Or so they’d thought.

  “What is this? A Titan family reunion?” grumped Hera.

  His eyes blazing, Oceanus looked up at his father, Uranus. “The Olympians are mine!” He thrashed his long, thick serpentine tail, which sent another wave crashing against the shore and caused the Olympian’s ship to bob up and down even harder.

  Uranus laughed. “You had your chance to destroy them and failed.” He pointed to the trident Poseidon had won from Oceanus in their previous battle. Poseidon quickly thrust it out of sight behind his back.

  “And, Cronus, you could not even keep your own children in your belly after you swallowed them.” Hearing this, Poseidon, Hera, Hades, Hestia, and Demeter all gasped. They were the five who’d been swallowed.

  “Children? Fiddling fish sticks!” cried Poseidon. “That must mean that Cronus is our . . . dad?” All the Olympians glanced in confusion at Zeus.

  “Did you know about this?” Hera demanded.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Who’s Ruling Who?

  Um . . . yeah,” Zeus admitted. “Cronus told me during our battle back when he was building Mount Titan.”

  Ares glared at Zeus. “And when were you planning to tell us?”

  “I . . . I don’t know. The whole thing was so weird,” Zeus admitted. “I still haven’t gotten used to the idea myself. And I didn’t know how to tell you. I guess I was waiting for just the right moment, and—”

  “Really?” Hera interrupted, her blue eyes flashing with anger. “The right moment was about three quests ago, you Boltbrain!”

  A strong gust of wind blew across the shore just then, nearly knocking the Olympians off their feet. Was it just his imagination, wondered Zeus, or was the storm getting stronger as the Titans’ argument got worse?

  “I kept those Olympian brats in my belly for years!” Cronus yelled to Uranus and Oceanus. Then he pointed Zeus’s way. “Losing them was this blasted Barf Boy’s fault!”

  “Yet you haven’t recaptured them. For every additional moment the Olympians roam free, mortals mock you,” Uranus scolded. “You know the prophecy—a child of yours shall take your place as the ruler of all!”

  The Olympians looked at one another in surprise. Then Hera glared at Zeus. “Did you—”

  “No! I did not know that,” Zeus defended himself.

  “Wait, so one of us will be the ruler of everything?” Poseidon asked. “I thought we were all going to rule together. Like a team.”

  “I think he’s talking about the ruler of the Earth realm,” said Hades. “You know, like how I already rule the Underworld, and you rule the sea.”

  “Yeah, but he made it sound like the Earth realm is more important than the Underworld or the sea,” Poseidon said unhappily.

  Everyone looked at Zeus again. Since he was the Olympians’ leader and had freed his siblings from Cronus’s belly, it seemed likely the prophecy referred to him.

  “Why do boys always get to rule everything?” Hera complained.

  “I don’t think that’s true,” gray-eyed Athena consoled her. “I rule cleverness. And Hestia rules the fires of the hearth, and Demeter rules the plants, right?”

  Artemis raised her bow and arrow high. “And I rule the hunt!”

  Red-eyed Ares clenched his fists in anger. Looking ready to explode, he blurted, “So what do I rule? Spears?”

  “Calm down, crankypants,” said Hera.

  Zeus glanced around at the fighting Titan trio as the winds grew stronger yet. Caught between Uranus in the sky, Oceanus in the sea, and Cronus on a hilltop not far away, the Olympians were sitting ducks. And as soon as the Titans stopped arguing long enough to realize that, Zeus and his friends would be toast!

  Oops, too late, Zeus thought as Uranus pointed down at the Olympians.

  “Here they stand on this island, and yet you do nothing!” Uranus taunted Cronus. “What are you two boys waiting for? Crush them!”

  With a mighty roar Oceanus dove back into the ocean. Cronus stomped off. Both were heading for the Olympians, meaning to do them harm.

  “What now, fearless leader?” Hera asked Zeus.

  “Escape! To the ship!” Zeus cried.

  “Yeah, like I suggested before,” added Hera, rolling her eyes.

  The eleven Olympians splashed into the sea and scrambled aboard their ship. Ares, Artemis, Hades, and Hestia each grabbed a long oar. Zeus and the others worked the sails and ship’s wheel. As they pushed off, an enormous wave broke against the side of their vessel, nearly tipping it over. Luckily, they managed to right it and sail away.

  They were far from safe, however. Suddenly, the huge, shaggy head of Oceanus rose up from the water behind them. A hand reached out.

  Quickly, Zeus removed the thunderbolt-shaped dagger from his belt. Bolt was a magical object. He had pulled it from a stone in the Temple at Delphi, and it had helped him fight dozens of dastardly creatures ever since.

  “Bolt, large!” Zeus cried. At his command, the thunderbolt grew as tall as he was and glowed with bright, white light. “Attack!” Zeus yelled, throwing it into the sky. He had a plan. And he was aiming for bigger prey than Oceanus. Much bigger.

  Bolt disappeared into the darkness that stretched overhead. Then . . .

  BOOM! A thunderous explosion rocked the sky.

  Uranus stared in shock at Cronus. “Did you just attack me?” As Zeus had hoped, Uranus had been so focused on criticizing both his sons that he hadn’t noticed what Zeus was up to.

  “Ha!” Cronus yelled back. “You always blame me. Why not suspect the Olympians or Oceanus?”

  “I didn’t do anything,” grouched Oceanus.

  Doesn’t anybody in this family get along? Zeus wondered. But at least their argument was allowing the Olympians to make a getaway.

  Enraged, Cronus began chunking rocks at his father and brother. Uranus fought back, producing stars that appeared sharper and more dangerous than any stars the Olympians had ever seen in the sky, and hurling them at his sons!

  Snap! Crackle! Pop! Broken stars and rocks rained down from the sky.

  “Duck!” Hades yelled. The Olympians scrambled to find cover as some of the broken pieces hit the ship’s deck.

  Uranus sent another star hurtling toward Cronus, but the strong wind blew it off-course. It wound up smacking Oceanus in the head instead. “Ow!” yelped the watery Titan.

  “Good shot!” Ares cheered as Oceanus turned tail and swam away, fleeing the chaos.

  “Ha-ha! Scaredy-serpent!” teased Poseidon.

  “Everybody keep us moving! They won’t forget about us for long,” Zeus said, anxiously eyeing the two remaining Titans, one on the island hill and one overhead. He grabbed the oval, smooth chip of stone that he wore on a cord around his neck. Like Bolt, Chip was a magical object too. One that always managed to steer them toward the right path and away from danger.

  “Chip, get us out of here!” Zeus commanded. “Take us to the bubbles!”

  CHAPTER THREE


  An Ocean of Trouble

  The Olympians’ ship zoomed onward in the direction of Chip’s black compass-like arrow. Then suddenly Chip’s arrow began to glow green and spin crazily.

  Poseidon stared at it in surprise. “What’s wrong with that thing?”

  Athena studied the churning waves surrounding the boat. “The Titans’ anger is whipping up the sea. I’m guessing these frothy air bubbles in the water are confusing Chip. He must think they’re the bubbles Pythia wants us to find.”

  “Maybe they are,” suggested Zeus. Pythia hadn’t explained what kind of bubbles they were supposed to find or what they were supposed to do once they found them. Typical!

  “Hmph! Forget Chip! My feather will help us.” Hera held out her magical object, a peacock feather. “Feather, feather, can you see, a safer place for us to be?” She had to speak in rhyme or it wouldn’t obey her. Normally, she would have let her feather fly off to search for such a safe place. But afraid of losing it in the wind, she held it tightly now.

  She gazed into its eye as an image began to form there. “I see another island! I’ll ask my feather to lead us there.”

  But before she could do that, Chip spoke up. It had its own special language, Chip Latin. It was like pig Latin, only you moved the first letter of each word to the end of the word and added “ip.”

  “O-nip! Tay-sip at-ip ea-sip!” Chip said.

  “What did it say?” Hephaestus asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “It told us to stay at sea,” Zeus translated.

  “But the image on my feather is telling us to go ashore,” Hera argued.

  Poseidon shook his head. “You and Zeus hardly ever agree on anything. And now your magical objects can’t agree either!”

  Fighting against the wind, Hera marched over to the sails and grabbed the ropes. “My feather’s right! We’ll find those bubbles at the coast!” she announced. She pulled at the ropes with all her might but couldn’t shift the sails. “A little help here!” she called out, when no one moved to assist her.