Zeus the Mighty Book 4: The Epic Escape from the Underworld
cast of Characters Zeus is a golden hamster with a cloud-shaped patch on his cheek Zeus believes he’s the king of all the other animals that live at the Mount Olympus Pet Center The favorite rescued pet of Artie the shop’s owner Zeus genuinely cares about his fellow Olympians but also sees them as minions that should follow him on nightly adventures which often go awry When humans aren’t around he scrambles down from Mount Olympus the highest shelf in the shop where his enclosure is and pictures himself wearing a white chiton a fine shirt people wore in ancient Greece and a crown-like gilded laurel wreath Demeter is a small grasshopper with a big heart Once a resident of the rescue center’s Bugcropolis the city of insects she’s now Zeus’s constant loyal companion and loves to explore the shop’s world She wears a sash of lettuce over her shoulder and a laurel wreath on her head to represent the Greek goddess of the harvest for whom she’s named The youngest and fastest of the Olympians Demeter can fly in short bursts But don’t let her size fool you this is one courageous grasshopper Athena is the wise gray tabby cat that lives under the front window of Mount Olympus Pet Center Named after the goddess of wisdom Athena often tries to keep Zeus out of trouble when he starts dreaming up wild adventures Her quick and clever thinking helps settle arguments and solve problems For instance she figured out how to steer the Argo a robot vacuum which she now captains around the pet center In the human world she wears a gold collar with an owl charm but the other Olympians see her wearing a laurel crown and two thin gold bracelets that wrap around her front paws
Ares the pug is the strongest of the pet center Olympians Courageous and impulsive like the god of war Ares is the first to jump into an adventure and face any monster But his excitement can sometimes get the better of him One time he accidentally sat on Poseidon’s hose and almost suffocated the pufferfish Ares loves to be called a good boy and can eat an entire handful of Mutt Nuggets in one sitting which probably contributes to his meatloaf-ish body He wears a spiked collar and among the Olympians a bronze Spartan war helmet Poseidon is a white-spotted pufferfish that lives in the fish tank known to the animals as the Aegean Sea at Mount Olympus Pet Center From his saltwater throne Poseidon rules over his fishy minions and challenges Zeus’s authority over the center The two regularly argue over who is the better ruler Poseidon can leave his aquarium by swimming into a plastic diving helmet that has a long hose connected to the tank He wears a tiny gold crown and carries a trident just like the Greek god he’s named after Hermes is the newest resident of Mount Olympus Pet Center Rescued from a poultry ranch she’s an Appenzeller hen or lady chicken Ancient Greece is a new realm for Hermes but that doesn’t stop her from trying to live up to her name as the goddess of sleep She can crow out a tune that would wake the dead Hermes has the courage of an Amazon and helps the team soar to new heights even if she’s afraid of heights herself Artemis Artie Ambrosia is the owner of Mount Olympus Pet Center In Greek mythology Artemis is the goddess of hunting and wild animals so it makes sense that Artie has rescued the animals living at the center It also makes sense that she named all her rescued animals after Greek gods since she loves Greek mythology She even listens to Greeking Out a podcast that retells the famous myths and gives the animals crazy ideas for their adventures Artie plans to open a rescue center next door to Mount Olympus so she can find fur-ever homes for more animals
PREFACE ARTEMIS AMBROSIA DIDN’T WANT TO LEAVE Mount Olympus Pet Center even though it was five minutes to closing time It wasn’t only that she loved her job as the center’s caretaker despite endless hours spent scraping algae from the aquariums and refilling food bowls And it wasn’t because it was storming outside a summer downpour just in time for her walk home It was that strange things happened after she left the center each night Chew toys went missing Rodents went swimming Displays came crashing down The shop’s robot vacuum never seemed to recharge But that wasn’t all A lot more happened in her pet center than Artemis Artie for short could imagine She looked around at her favorite rescues who she suspected were also the most troublesome Poseidon the pufferfish hovered above a colorful coral in his tank Ares the pug nibbled on Mutt Nuggets near his kennel while Hermes the hen snoozed alongside him Athena the
cat was curled up in her bed beneath the picture window and its Mount Olympus Pet Center sign And at the back of the center on the highest shelf her favorite rescued animal sprinted in his exercise wheel Just once I wish I could see what you mischief makers are up to at night Artie said There’s an app for that answered a voice behind her Artie turned to see her friend Callie in the entry to the vacant space next door which she was converting into an expansion for the pet center What kind of app Artie replied intrigued Like a nonsense sensor More like an extra few sets of eyes Callie said as she lugged her tool bag to the front door I’ll show you tomorrow Artie had wrapped up her evening routine She joined Callie at the door and turned off the light Closing time Zeus the Mighty Artie called The golden hamster looked at her You behave my little escape artist One of these nights you’ll wish you never sneaked away from home
