Chapter 1
‘Mt. Olympus Heroes’...It’s a brand new game that takes the player into a virtual world filled with Greek Gods, monsters, and challenges. I had listened to my classmates talk about the different quests and storylines on this game for weeks!
A month ago I found a contest online with a special edition of the system offered as a prize. I entered it immediately, of course, but I was still shocked when an email arrived two weeks later saying I had won! A few days later it arrived at my house, however I had to wait until the weekend to play it.
On Friday I arrived at home and grabbed the UPS package it was in before heading upstairs to my room. Once inside I carefully opened it and tugged out a medium sized colorful box with pictures of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades scattered all over it. I gazed at it in awe before slowly opening it and carefully tugging out a special black and purple headset along with two CDs and a special microchip.
I quickly slid one of the CDs into my computer and started the installation process before inserting the chip into a special slot on the headset. I tapped my fingers against the desk top impatiently as I waited for the game to finish installing. Approximately thirty minutes later the computer beeped to let me know the game had finished installing and was ready to be played.
I slid the headset on before leaning back in my chair and clicking on the MOH icon. Instantly a visor came down to cover my eyes. I closed them as my mind was linked to the MOH virtual world.
The first thing I saw when I opened them again was a huge white room with four columns in the center forming an invisible square. There were several paintings of different greek heroes covering the walls. I spotted a few of my favorites: Hercules, Daedalus, and Odysseus. There were others there, but before I could take a closer look a beautiful lady stepped into the room. I quickly recognised her to be Hera, Queen of the gods.
“Greetings young hero. I am here to help you create your character,” She stated in a voice that sounded silky. I couldn’t think of anything to say so I just nodded. She quickly summoned two player models representing each gender. “Please select your character’s gender.” she said softly as she moved to stand between them.
I glanced at them both frowning. Usually I went with a female character because people were more apt to help me, but I also wanted to do something different for this game. After a minute I reached out and touched the male character form. “I’ll play as a male this time.” I told her which caused the female model to disappear.
“Choose your character’s appearance and then talk to me when you’re done.” Hera said softly before bringing up a menu for me to select my choices from. I quickly decided his height was about 5'5” and he had an average build. I chose almond shaped, dark green eyes and shoulder length, white hair which I could pull back in a low ponytail before stepping back to examine him.
“Alright I think that’s as good as he’s going to look for now. What’s next?” I asked glancing up at her. “Now you take the quiz to see who your patron God or Goddess is. Please answer all questions as truthfully as possible,” she told me as she waved her hand and made a new window pop up in front of me.
“What best describes what you do in your free time? Swimming, fixing mechanical and electrical objects, get a start on homework, listen or make your own music, anything you’re good at, or just spending time alone?” Hera asked as she made my choices appear on the screen. I frowned as I glanced between the last two answers before sighing and choosing the bottom one.
Hera nodded before asking her next question, “Question two: Among your friends are you the musician, leader, athlete, pessimist, actor, “nerd”, loner, or optimist?” I glanced through the answers before selecting loner. I didn’t really enjoy other people’s company and prefered to be on my own.
“Do you have a common phobia of spiders, the dark, bright lights, heights, think they are irrational, or just do not have one?” she asked. I rolled my eyes before selecting the last one. The rest were just plain silly.
“What is your favorite subject in school? History, literature, music, science and math, lunch, or an elective period?” she questioned sounding mostly bored now. I shook my head a little before choosing the last answer on the list. The rest just didn’t interest me enough to choose them.
“Final question: What are you most likely to be when you are older? A psychiatrist, a swimmer or sailor, a leader in something, a smith, a poet or musician, or a funeral director?” Hera asked. I frowned as I looked at the choices before sighing. None of these really sounded like something I would become so I decided to close my eyes and choose one at random. The minute my finger touched one of the answers I heard a ding and opened my eyes to discover I had picked funeral director!
“Congratulations! You have finished the quiz! Please wait while I figure out where to assign you.” Hera exclaimed clapping her hands before closing her eyes and going still as a statue. After a minute or so her eyes flew open and she stared at me for a second. “The god who has chosen you to be his protege is...Hades,” she said quietly.
I stared at her in shock even as a dark gray outfit consisting of a shirt and pants appeared on my character model. A few seconds later they were covered by a lighter gray cloak. An obsidian staff topped with three small sapphires rested in his hand. “This can’t be happening...I mean there is no one else in Hades part of the game...” I whispered staring at the goddess in dazed confusion.
Don’t get me wrong. I was pretty happy about being alone but this would set me apart and I did not like that at all. It would make me a target for stronger players which meant I would have to stay in Hades domain for a good long while until I could handle them.
I thought it over for a few minutes before shrugging. “Ah well...It will be all right. I’ll just have to grind for a bit until I can reach a high enough level not to worry about it...” I muttered to myself before glancing back at Hera. “Am I done or is there something else I need to do?” I asked.
“Type in your username and we’ll be all done here.” Hera answered as she flicked her hand to make a window with a keyboard appear in front of me. I thought for a few minutes before typing in my chosen username. I thought it quite fitting considering who my patron god is.
“Welcome to Mt. Olympus Heroes ShadowBane4.” Hera said as she made the window disappear and a door popped into existence behind her. She moved to one side as I smiled at her before opening the door and stepping into Shadow’s new home.
