Godly Forces

By Joseph Fitz

Michael Gray is a sixth grader in Springfield, Alabama, when his father is killed in a boiler room explosion overseas. Little do they know that the explosion was caused by a power unimaginable to mere mortals. In the absence of his father, Michael is raised by his single mom.

Five years later, Michael has done his best to move on from loss and make close friends. The group is composed of Michael, Lucas, Sarah, and Annabeth, and they’re practically always together, but news of a possible invasion rocks their world.

Lucas catches wind of it first, and this invasion is not just of their country; it’s an invasion of the world. A mythological evil now hunts humanity. These four friends have very little time left to save Earth before humans become the oppressed, serving under the power of Hades. This divine insurrection has something to do with the death of Michael’s dad, forcing the boy to face his inner demons, as well as shadow figures, chimeras, ancient gods, and more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jun 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665719124

Joseph Fitz

Joseph Fitz is a middle-schooler in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA. Fitz is an aspiring author early into his writing career. He writes stories of supernatural fiction, a genre of which he has a liking for. Fitz brings in legends and monsters to both inspire and appear in his work. Fitz says he plans to write numerous more novels as well as sequels to them, throughout his years. His work includes Godly Forces and he claims to be working on a new novel, Tenacity.

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Copyright © 2022 Joseph Fitz.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-1911-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-1910-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-1912-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022903209

Archway Publishing rev. date: 04/26/2022

CONTENTS

Part 1: SINS OF THE FATHER

Chapter 1 A Trip Down Memory Lane

Chapter 2 The Talk

Chapter 3 Preparing for the Worst

Chapter 4 We Meet a Furie

Chapter 5 The Ritual of the Nereids

Chapter 6 The Umibozu.

Chapter 7 The Entrance to Olympus

Chapter 8 The Goddess Athena

Chapter 9 A New Plan

Chapter 10 Marble Str. 592

Chapter 11 Exacting Vengeance

Chapter 12 The Forest of Mist

Chapter 13 The Entrance to the Underworld

Chapter 14 Inside the Castle

Chapter 15 Ritual of Cthulhu

Chapter 16 The Lovecraftian Nightmare

Chapter 17 Out to Japan

Chapter 18 Lara

Chapter 19 Weaponry

Chapter 20 Arrival

Chapter 21 Testing

Chapter 22 Slit

Chapter 23 Angelic Visitor

Chapter 24 Surge

Chapter 25 Back to the Underworld

Chapter 26 Back to Alabama

Part 2: CHAOS RISES

Chapter 1 Maxwell

Chapter 2 Return

Chapter 3 Escape from Chaos

Chapter 4 Exapato

Chapter 5 Cutting Flame

Chapter 6 The Bagger

Chapter 7 A Blessing

Chapter 8 Messenger of the Gods

Chapter 9 Alyssa

Chapter 10 Revenge

Chapter 11 Bloodline

Chapter 12 Olympian Meeting

Chapter 13 We Fight a God

Chapter 14 History Class with Rachel

Chapter 15 A Long Way to Go

Chapter 16 The Underworld Falls

Chapter 17 Arrival

Chapter 18 Meet the Demigods

Chapter 19 Reunion

Chapter 20 Preparation

Chapter 21 The Battle Begins

Chapter 22 The Battle Ends

Chapter 23 The Aftermath

Part 3: PLAGUE’S BLOODLINE

Chapter 1 Recap

Chapter 2 Convenience

Chapter 3 Beginning

Chapter 4 Back Again

Chapter 5 Through the Forest

Chapter 6 Don’t Anger Him

Chapter 7 Meet Uriel

Chapter 8 Stone Giant

Chapter 9 A Plan

Chapter 10 Natural Disasters

Chapter 11 Twister Twist

Chapter 12 Impact

Chapter 13 Going in

Chapter 14 Back to the Underworld A

Chapter 15 The Final Battle

PART 1

SINS OF THE FATHER

1

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A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

M IKE! I’M SHAKEN right out of bed when my mom yelled out my name. I got up and quickly got ready for my first day back from Christmas break and, honestly, I was more or less bummed out. I guess I can’t complain. We got 2 weeks off and got presents. (Too bad I mainly got clothes.) I walked to my small marble bathroom and quickly showered and brushed my teeth. I always hated mint.

I finished my morning routine and stepped down the stairs to see a wonderful breakfast across the table. Pancakes with blueberry syrup, a little chicken, and some oranges, as well as broccoli on a small plate next to me. My mom sits across the table with her beautiful cloud gray eyes, (Thank her for giving me those.) eyeing me with a smug grin as she chews on her eggs. You said at Christmas, I didn’t know how to make a meal. She said with her mouth full of food. What do you say now?"

I sighed defeatedly. You proved me wrong, sadly, but bravo on the meal.

I thought as much. She smiles at me sarcastically but in a loving way at the same time. As we ate our breakfast, we started to discuss our favorite colors and how good certain colors went together. I then finished my food, rinsed my plate and set it nicely in the dishwasher. As I walked out of the kitchen and through the door. She followed and kissed me on the forehead. Mom, I’m in sixth grade. I whined. Don’t do that.

She smiled at me again, and then told me Never, for as long as I live. I smiled and took off for Springtown Middle School. I didn’t like the place, and it’s not just the fact that my friends and I are always being bullied by Maxwell and his buddies. I only lived a couple of miles away, so I just walked. My mom always tells me that if I ever feel sleepy, or exhausted, she can drive me, but my mom works from Monday-Friday from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM and I don’t want to burden her by having to get out of bed and drive me to school.

As I walk along the street, I try my best not to pay attention to the Asphodel Cemetery, which isn’t that big, but it feels like it takes an eternity to walk past it. My father was buried in the cemetery, I didn’t want to remember what he was like, it hurt too much. One time, when I walked past it, I recalled a faint memory. We were at a picnic, and we were all eating pancakes with blueberry syrup talking and laughing. Looking back, I wondered why we were eating pancakes at a picnic. I looked directly into my father’s eyes and then it just blanks out. As I finally walked past it, I swore I could hear my father’s voice calling out to me, but I knew it wasn’t the case, it was just my imagination. I lost him when I was seven, I’m 12 now, and things have gotten better, but the gap he left was never completely healed. Mom refuses to talk about him, and she always seems in despair when I ask her how he died. All I know for sure about his death is that he was overseas and somehow died there.

I took another step forward, bottling down all these feelings and getting to school, step after step. I walked inside my classroom 20 minutes early, and unpacked my binder, textbooks, and pencil box. As I put my math textbook inside my desk, I looked and couldn’t help but glare a little bit at Mr. Terris. Mr. Terris came here earlier this year, when our old math teacher, Mrs. Glade, retired. Mr. Terris was always hunched over, irritable, and worst of all, a complete jerk to my friends, especially Sarah. To put it simply, a 43-year-old grumpy hunchback. Especially my friends and me. He’d punish us with detention for the smallest things, like spending too long getting our textbook out, call on us whenever we didn’t raise our hands, and he wouldn’t answer if you asked him a question. I remember a time when me and Annabeth were being beaten up by Maxwell and his stupid buddies in the hallway and I saw Mr. Terris. He just looked at us, and then he turned a blind eye. I’ve complained to the principal, Mrs. Sprouse, but she married into that name, and her maiden name is Ms. Terris, Mr. Terris’ older sister, so she’s lenient with him, and then the old hunchback complains, and then I get called disruptive, and I get in trouble. By now, I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut. I sat down and started working on my history homework. That very moment, my buddy Lucas whispered to me, Lucas’ pale and usually approachable face seemed tired and a little...worried. Dude, He whispered. I need you to come to my house, the moment you get home, as soon as possible anyway." I was wondering what he meant, but before I could ask, I thought I saw something under his sleeve. It looked a bit red, or maybe black, but I only saw it for a split-second, so I assumed it was a figment of my imagination. I noticed that my two other friends, Lucas’ sister Sarah, and Annabeth were looking at me with the same troubled look. I knew something was wrong.

2

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THE TALK

I TOOK MY PHONE out and called my mom while I was walking home from school. I’m stopping by Lucas’ house before I get home. I stated.

Is that alright with you?

As long as your back home by 6. I don’t want you staying out too late. She responded.

Alright then. I love you mom.

Love you more. My mom told me and hung up. I shoved my phone in my front pocket and kept walking to Lucas’ house. Luckily, I didn’t need to go past the Asphodel Cemetery. That was definitely a nice bonus. I had a bruise on my face from when Maxwell jumped me, with his friends Jonathan, or John, and Wilson, all eighth graders. It amazes me how much trouble they’ve caused me and my friends in 5 months. Wonder what’s up. I thought as I walked through the neighborhood. I stopped at Lucas’ and his sister Sarah’s house and, like always, took a moment to admire the house. It was in mint condition with 3 stories including the basement, where nobody went down really except me, Lucas, Sarah, and Annabeth. We would hang down there for hours playing and laughing and watching horror movies on that big TV. Sarah got so scared silly when we watched Don’t Knock Twice. Her face was priceless. I went inside the deathly quiet house, as like mine, Lucas’ parents weren’t usually home when he got back from school and crept down into the basement. I knew that’s where I’d find Lucas because that’s where we go whenever Lucas invites me over. Lucas, are you here?

Here. said Lucas as he sat on the floor with a computer and a deathly serious look on his face. Next to him I saw Annabeth and his sister Sarah both studying the computer screen. Why’d you call me here and all of you looked really on edge when we were at school. He gestured his hand, asking me to come over to him. I sat on the floor a few feet in front of him and gave him my best I’m waiting for an answer. face. They all looked at me and said that something serious is going on right now and that they need my help. What’s going on. I asked.

Have you ever heard of demons? Sarah butts in.

Yes, monsters associated with the devil, right.

Yes, and we all found something out, something we shouldn’t have. Satan and Hades are working together and... She pauses for at least 10 seconds, and I can’t help but start getting curious. But I still don’t understand where they’re going with this. "Demons are real and they’re going to attack, no, conquer our realm soon. They’ve attacked humans already. A seed of uncertainty plants itself in my mind but I’m not convinced much at all. Demons, I said. Attacking humans? I’m not an idiot you guys.

We’re not joking. Annabeth finally spoke, sounding a little aggravated. We’ve been studying about demons from all types of cultures: Norse, Greek, Christian, Roman, you name it.

What demons do weapons have among cultures? Lucas asked.

I pause to think for a moment. Fire, fear, whips, spears. Yada Yada. Why? What do you know about your father’s death?

I honestly was a bit taken back by the question. He knew how I felt about questions like that. clenched my fist, remembering everything my father’s coworker told me. I remember a certain coworker. I started. Louise. He was with my father down in the boiler room when he died. One minute, they were checking the engine. The next minute, the engine was destroyed, and my father was caught in the explosion. Louis barely survived but he wasn’t the same. He would ramble on and on about a shadowy figure with a white plague doctor mask, bat wings, and evil golden eyes. He said that it brought his own, and dad’s worst fears to life. Buckets of blood surrounded him all around; he would say. Then the being conjured a molten spear and threw it right through the room and into the engine, it exploded, and my dad was killed. Lucas smiled, a smug smile, but it seemed sad, not happy. "You said the creature brought fears to life and threw a molten spear?" It all started to make sense to me, and a surge of anger zapped through me and a surge of grief for my father. I looked up at my friends and they all looked back at me, Lucas, Sarah, and Annabeth. We need your help, Mike. Sarah narrowed her eyes.

What? I asked.

3

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PREPARING FOR THE WORST

Y OU EVER HEARD of four tweens preparing to venture to Hell? Probably not, but that’s exactly what we were about to do. I told my friends that they should try asking for the help of the police, but they asked me if I thought the police would believe a few kids telling them that demons are invading Earth. I can’t argue with that. I’ve been studying cultures and I found something out. I heard something about a cave with a golden light coming from it. This is apparently the entrance to Olympus. I’m not sure I believed it, but it was the only lead I had. The cave is found deep within the Daintree Rainforest. I called a group meeting for the Furious Four (Our group name) and told them about the cave. How do we get to Australia? They’d ask.

Still working on that part.

Are you sure about this?

It’s our only option. Lucas asked the group to collect the money they had and meet up in his basement so they could see what supplies they could get for the journey. Luckily, we were all savers, and when our parents were home, we sometimes liked to take it as an opportunity to make some cash. That’s why we had so much. I had $102.34, Annabeth had $92.93, Lucas had $126.46, and Sarah had $87.96 on her. This meant we had about $400 dollars in total.

We all volunteered that first we needed to spend money on food. We mainly got snacks because they were quick to eat, cheap, and high in calories. We rationed out the food and we could stretch the food out for about 2 weeks. We had $201.32 left and we used that on shelter and supplies. We then had $85.92 left. We used it on weapons to defend ourselves, we each got $15, and we went out to get our own weapons. I got a baseball bat, and a slingshot with $3.92 left. Annabeth got a slingshot and screwdriver with $6.12 left, Lucas got some construction gloves and a baking sheet with $3.20 left over, and Sarah got an axe and a med kit wit $0.23 left over. That means we had 39.39 left. We put the bags over our arms and started to ride our bikes to Lucas’ house. We decided to keep it for the road. So how are we going to get to the Daintree Rainforest? Lucas asked.

I might have an idea. Said Sarah with a grin. Have you ever heard of a nereid?

Don’t tell me you think you’re going to befriend one and have them take us to Australia!

Follow me I told everyone, and we stopped our bikes at the start of the street. We then dragged our bikes across the pavement and grass to the top of a hill under an elm tree, with its big broad leaves enclosed around us. Sarah may have a point. I started. There’s a beach a few miles away from where we live. If we go down there, we could get to a Nereid, but it’s not that easy, we need to call one. Like with a ritua- The Ritual of the Nereids. Annabeth interrupted. We can use that to summon one."

4

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WE MEET A FURIE

"W E FIRST NEED to go to the library. We don’t know how to perform the ritual, or what we need to do it." I spoke.

Yeah, we do. says Sarah. I pulled out my GPS on my phone and looked for the library. It was 0.8 miles away. It’s less than a mile away. I tell everyone. We’ll ride our bikes. Follow me.

When we got there, something was different from usual. The library used to have a fair share of people but now it was eerily empty and cold. In front of me, at the desk, I could see an unfamiliar librarian. Who’s this. I thought. I walked up to the lady. The librarian looked like she was in her forties or fifties. She had blonde hair, and she was very tall, taller than all of us. She was at least 5’10. Good afternoon. Annabeth greeted. I’m Annabeth, and behind me are Lucas, Sarah, and Michael, but we call him Mike. What’s your name?

Ms. Lenny. the lady responded.

Do you know where any books about mythology are. Ms. Lenny?

Look behind you, go to the other side of the store and on the far-right aisle, you’ll find what you need.

Thank you. I told her and started on my way to where she told me to.

I heard Sarah and Lucas whisper to each other. This place gives me the creeps. said Lucas.

Me too. Sarah agreed. I walked to the aisle and knelt down near mythological ritual books. I called Guide to creatures and rituals from mythology and folklore all across the world. I picked it off the shelf and got ready to walk back to the librarian. I walked up to the front desk, but the librarian was nowhere to be seen. I then heard a scream that sounded like Annabeth from the aisle we were at. Annabeth!" Lucas and Sarah screamed.

What’s happening! I called out as we ran towards the aisle. Annabeth hung upside down screaming as she was held up in the air by her feet by the librarian’s belt, but something was different. Ms. Lenny’s skin bulged and was turning green and scaly. Her strands of ruffled hair turned into snakes. Her eyes became those of a reptile’s. She let Annabeth scream in pain as her new molten whip hung her upside down. It’s all over kids.

Oh, yeah? Annabeth told her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her screwdriver. She jabbed it right into the monster’s eye. She pulled it out and she was released. She stepped back as the librarian fully transformed. Her skin looked like Medusa’s. I recognized that look though. When I was studying Greek Mythology, I’ve heard of the Furies, or the Kindly Ones. She looks at Annabeth and dashes towards her screaming. I froze. There’s no way this is real. I thought. Sarah was fast though. She got a direct hit on Ms. Lenny with her axe. Take that! Lucas takes out his gloves and puts them on. He punched her in the face, and she backs up and nearly trips from the withdrawal. She then put her sights on me. She runs at me slashing wildly. I just barely sidestep her and take out my bat at the same time. I hit her on the back of the neck. She screams in pain and falls over. I looked at Lucas, who took his sheet out and started bashing it down on her. This may have been a mistake though, as she turns around and grabs him with her scaly hand, squeezing Lucas’ neck, choking him. I ran forward and bashed the Kindly One’s head with all I had. She fell right over on her back and released Lucas. She comes up again but this time, all 4 of us knock her down at the same time. She stood back up nervously. She looked at all of us and then scowled. I’ll be back, and the next time, you won’t survive.

I wouldn’t be so sure. I nervously told her. She growls and turns around, spreading her demonic bat-like wings and flies away, breaking through the roof like it wasn’t even there. At least we got the book. Annabeth remarks.

Not the time, Annabeth. Sarah grumbles.

I looked at the hole in the library ceiling. MY whole body trembled. This is real. I thought.

5

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THE RITUAL OF THE NEREIDS

W E WENT TO the beach and stood in front of the water. I took the book out of my jacket pocket and opened it. I flipped through it until I found the Ritual of Nature creatures. I flipped through and found the call of wood nymphs, satyrs, and naiads. I flipped through naiads and to summon one. We needed a seashell, a bottle of freshwater, something of sentimental value, and to focus only on the sea. I had my piece with me, so I volunteered to get the bottled water. Lucas and Sarah needed to get something of sentimental value. Annabeth went and got a red and white seashell while I came back with a bottle of water from the vending machine. We waited for about 15-20 minutes while Sarah and Lucas got their token. The ritual called for a drop of blood. So, I got Annabeth’s screwdriver and made a cut on my arm. It said to drop all the items in the sea and if the stuff disappears, the ritual was a success. I grasped the small cold keychain in my pocket. I’ve had the keychain for the past 5 years. It was the last thing left of my father after he passed. Before we all completed the ritual, we all shared the value of our token. The collar belonged to my dog before he passed. Sarah said.

Lucas was uneasy. The knitting needle belonged to my grandmother. She passed away.

My hat. began Annabeth, it belonged to my big sis before she died in a car crash.

My dad left this keychain at home when he went overseas and died. I told everyone. We all wiped away a few tears and set all the necessary items in the ocean. I stuck