where did the mythical Erymanthian Boar take our young heroes? and what does magic poop have to do with it? where will our heroes find themselves next? find out in this update! 

/ 

A mountain top, shrouded in a blanket of inescapable darkness…

Drip, drip… 

...water?

...no… too murky and green… 

Green smog wrapping around her ankles…

Curling… and curling… until a loud snapping sound rang out… 

/ 

Momo jerked awake and subsequentially smooshed her face into Jihyo’s back. The Boar had jostled a bit and it reminded her of the feeling of a car going over a big bump on the road. 

Luckily, Jihyo had gripped her arm and prevented her from falling off. What a way to go; falling off a giant boar at a breakneck speed. 

Was that a dream…? 

Although her mind was sleep-addled, fragments of her dream remained. All she could remember was the feeling of dread and darkness. 

“...how long?” Momo mumbled sleepily into Jihyo’s shoulder. 

Jihyo hummed as she calculated. “About an hour or two? The Boar’s heading west so we’re crossing a few time zones. If we were still in New York, it would be about… hmm... late evening by now.” 

Momo nodded as she blinked away her sleepiness. She peeked over her shoulder and saw Chaeyoung slumped comfortably onto Jihyo’s front, napping away. 

“Why don’t you get some rest. I’ll take watch.” 

Jihyo nodded before leaning back onto Momo. 

The saddle was surprisingly comfortable. She took watch, observing as the landscape changed in mere minutes. The three demigods rotated watch, so that each of them could have the time to rest. 

/ 

Momo woke up again, this time without falling off. The Erymanthian Boar was squealing and huffing impatiently. She noticed that their pace was slowing. 

Jihyo and Chaeyoung were awake as well. The three of them were alert as they waited for the Boar to slow down. Looking around, Momo could see nothing but fields and fields of grassland and the occasional patch of woods. 

Wait, scratch that. 

Momo could feel water nearby— like a lot of water.  

“I think we’re nearing our destination.” Momo’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “Yeah... I can feel it in my gut.” 

At Chaeyoung’s confused expression, Jihyo chimed in. “Poseidon’s blessing.” 

The Boar’s pace slowed to a stop as they reached the bank of the river. It grunted and shook side to side. Taking that as a sign, the demigods hopped off the saddle. Once they came down, the silver saddle glowed harshly. They averted their eyes lest they became demigod toast. When they looked back, the saddle was gone and was replaced with a hovering silver briefcase, to which Jihyo grabbed cautiously. 

The Erymanthian Boar huffed out a puff of air as it stared down the demigods for a few seconds. With a final grunt, the Boar turned around and ran off. In a matter of seconds, the mythical Erymanthian Boar was already a good distance away. 

“Well, that was something!” Chaeyoung exclaimed with a lopsided grin. She still couldn’t believe she encountered the Erymanthian Boar, let alone ride it! 

After a brief moment of starstruckness, she turned to Jihyo with a curious look. “What’s in the case?” 

At her words, Jihyo cracked open the shining briefcase. The demigods peered into it; it was a piece of the Erymanthian Boar’s tusk. It was as long as the length of the briefcase—because they couldn’t actually carry the whole tusk, which was roughly about the size of a canoe ! 

Jihyo took the tusk out and the silver briefcase pulsed and faded into stardust when she did. 

“Whoaaa…” Momo and Chaeyoung chorused in awe. The two looked like they had stars in their eyes. 

The piece was the pointy end of the tusk and it looked similar to a ram’s horn except it didn’t curve as much. Jihyo held it in both of her hands. “I don’t know what Lady Artemis expects us to do with this but… maybe it’ll help us later.” 

Chaeyoung opened her enchanted backpack and Jihyo dropped it in. Seeing as that was settled, Momo turned to the body of water. 

They were still standing on the river bank. Speaking of, the giant body of water was actually two rivers. Momo could see— more like feel —where it joined together and where it began to diverge. She crouched down and dipped her hand into the water. 

“I think we’re…” She stood back up. “It’s the Mississippi River and the Missouri River.” 

“Holy crap!” Chaeyoung’s eyes were wide. “We just traveled through 4 states in like 45 minutes!” 

Jihyo tapped her chin. Something about the location was familiar. “Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, I think this is related to the Fifth Labor.” 

The three tried to recall if anything related to Heracles and rivers came to mind, specifically the two conjoined rivers. 

After a while, Jihyo suddenly exclaimed. “The Augean Stables!” It had hit her like a lightbulb turning on. 

The trio started looking around after her outburst. 

Momo spotted something, “Over there! By the small hillside.” 

A wooden hanging sign was planted in front of an impressive ranch. The demigods got closer and upon reading, the sign read: The Augean Stables. Home of the divine Augean cattle. 

“Ugh.” Chaeyoung covered her nose as the smell of cow dung started drifting over. “Yup. This is it alright.” 

Momo wrinkled her nose as she wasn’t doing any better. Jihyo walked past the gate, “C’mon. The faster we start, the faster we can stop smelling it.” 

Chaeyoung and Momo trailed after her with their hands still keeping their noses shut. 

A little deeper into the ranch they went, the smell becoming more intense, until they spotted someone by a pair of red cattle. 

“Why, hello there! I’m Cliff.” Cliff, the farmer greeted them as they approached. “What brings y’all down here?” 

Momo made eye contact with her friends before speaking. “We’re on a quest. One of our tasks is to clean The Augean Stables.” 

Cliff’s eyebrows were raised up high. “ Well, now . That is a mighty big task! What kind—whoa! Watch out!” 

Cliff suddenly exclaimed and pointed to the side of them. A snake had slithered rather close to them. Before it could come any closer, Cliff brandished a shovel and punted the snake away like he was playing a casual game of golf. 

“Careful now, those kinds of snakes are very dangerous—especially for demigods. They’re a special kinda breed coming from the place of Delphi.” Cliff leaned on the shovel handle casually. “The only cure for them bites is a special antidote acquired by grinding monster tusks. And those don’t come around too often.” 

Momo shared looks with Jihyo and Chaeyoung. Hopefully they were all on the same page. 

“Say, we happen to have a monster’s tusk...” Jihyo started off, a charming smile equipped as her choice of weapon. “How about a trade? We can clean your stables for you and in return, you can make us some of that antidote.” 

“Hmm, I dunno…” Cliff scratched his head. 

“Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be the one cleaning up all this dung. Am I right?” Momo jumped on after hearing the farmer’s hesitance. “It would probably take forever!” 

Cliff hummed as he took in the sight of the thousands of cattle grazing on the grassy plains. Thousands of healthy and immortal cows that left large and healthy amounts of poo. A shudder went through his body before he turned back to them, “Alright, ya got me! Sounds like a deal.” 

Momo placed her hand out, “Swear on it then.” 

Cliff raised his eyebrows at the gesture. Momo shrugged, “I’ve learned that deals are one of the most dangerous yet crafty guarantees in this world.” 

“Smart one ya are.” Cliff grinned before shaking her hand. They both swore an oath and lightning rumbled distinctly in the distance. 

“Hand me your monster tusk. I’ll work on your antidote while you three get started on this.” 

Chaeyoung handed the boar tusk off to Cliff who took it with both hands before marching off to his farmhouse with a smile. “Have fun, y’all!” 

The demigods turned to the cattle. They were bigger than your average-sized cows, and they appeared to exude a visible attitude of disinterest. They were already in another fenced-in part of the ranch, courtesy of Cliff. With them out of the way, there was just the large grazing area full of cow poop, waiting to be cleaned. 

“ By the Gods, that’s foul.” Jihyo wrinkled her nose. 

“Look at allllllll this cow poop.” Chaeyoung stared out at the field, half in disgust and half in wonder. Just how could those cows poop this much ? “Man, this really might take forever!” 

A thoughtful look crossed Jihyo’s face. She pulled out the handy little guidebook before flipping through the pages rapidly. “Guys, do you remember how the fifth labor was completed? Hercules used rivers to clean the stables.” Jihyo showed them the page of the book and pointed to the side of the ranch where the river bank was. “And look what’s nearby—the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.” 

A grin grew on Momo’s face as she looked back and forth between the illustration and the rivers. “Granted, I can’t control an entire river yet but I can get us enough water to clean a good portion of this place.” 

“Oh thank the Gods!” Chaeyoung loudly exhaled. “I really thought we’d be stuck here forever.” 

“Are you sure you can? There’s at least a thousand cattle here.” Jihyo questioned her friend, her tone laced with concern. It wasn’t like she didn’t believe in Momo’s ability; it was more like she was worried for her well-being. It was a known fact that demigods are blessed with certain abilities but it came at a price. The more powerful a demigod became, the more consequences the Fates had in store for them. 

Only after Momo’s nod and reassurance, they continued on. 

“We can take turns; me and Chaeng can shovel after you flush out a part of the field.” Jihyo suggested. 

“Hehe...flush.” Chaeyoung giggled after Jihyo finished her sentence. “Get it? Flush —cause we’re cleaning up cow poop.” 

Jihyo groaned at the joke while Momo chuckled as she faced the river bank. 
 

She focused her gaze and lifted her arms towards the rivers. A clenching started happening in her gut as she tried to imagine the water moving to how she wanted it to. It wasn’t instantaneous but rather slow; Momo was still getting the hang of the whole child of Poseidon powers and what not. 

Eventually, the water started rushing steadily into the stables. The manure was cleared under the unrelenting force of the rushing river. 

Chaeyoung and Jihyo started shoveling whenever Momo stepped back and took a break. She’d rest for a while until her friends could shovel no more. Her body started sweating the more she used her ability. Coupled with the hot sun beaming down on her and the scent and sight of manure everywhere, she didn’t feel the freshest. 

Momo grit her teeth—she had to endure this. She was their best chance to complete this task quickly. Putting it in a non-egoistic way, of course. 

Before they knew it, they were on the last patch of manure. 

“Hang in there, buddy! It’s the last pile.” Chaeyoung bumped her shoulder in jest, in an attempt to encourage her. 

Momo mustered a tired grin before concentrating on the water again. With a final grunt and a sweeping hand motion, the rushing waters cleared the stable grounds of any remaining manure. 

With her quick thinking, Chaeyoung grabbed ahold of Momo before she could slump down onto the ground in exhaustion. 

Jihyo brought out some granola bars and a bottle of water for her. “Here, take these.” 

Momo gulped it all down quickly. A bit of her energy was replenished but she still felt like she could nap for hours . 

“Nice job, y’all!” Cliff the farmer whistled appreciatively as he approached them. A small pouch was in his hands. “Well, would ya look at that! This place hasn’t looked squeaky clean since a couple decades ago.” 

“Oh, I bet.” Momo mumbled tiredly before shoving the rest of her granola bar into . 

Cliff took a few moments to look at their work before turning back to the demigods. “A deal’s a deal. Here’s your antidote.” He handed Jihyo the pouch in his hands. She opened it up to reveal a dozen vials full of green liquid. “Ingesting them’s the only way. Effect lasts a good 2 hours after it’s in your system.” 

“Watch out for them snakes now, ya hear! Even if you have the antidote, those bites have nasty side-effects. Last fella I knew that got bit was hallucinating while his blood boiled!” 

“Thanks Cliff.” Chaeyoung nodded in thanks but she was a bit busy trying to wipe what he just said out of her brain. I did NOT need that visual.  

“We’ll be on our way.” 

“Now hold on a minute.” The demigods paused midstep. “Y’all are doing Hercules’ deeds, aren’t ya?” 

“Wasn’t hard to figure out; it’s not everyday demigods appear and ask to clean your farm.” Cliff hummed before continuing. “Your next task’s near the Great Lakes. It’s a bit of traveling to do but your friend might know of a faster way.” He tipped his head towards Momo, but she didn’t look like she had a clue. 

There’s a faster way and apparently I know it?  

At her confused blinking, Cliff chuckled before producing a few large beige coins that resembled the size of pepperoni. “Here’s a couple sand dollars. Throw ‘em in a body of water and it’ll take ya to where you want to go, granted that some sort of body of water is near it, of course.” He dropped the coins into Momo’s hand. “Figured it’s the least I can do to even out the deal.” 

“Thanks mister!” Chaeyoung brightly smiled. Jihyo and Momo also said their thanks before the group finally made their way off the ranch. 

The demigods approached the river bank once again. 

Momo stared at the water like she was seeing it for the first time in a while. The tip that Cliff gave them only managed to confuse her, she had never heard of such a thing before. 

“Ok, so…” Her gaze dropped down to the sand dollar in her hand. Although perplexed, she was beyond curious on this mode of transportation. “He said to just drop one in and it’ll take us to where we want to go.” 

Momo threw the coin in. Nothing happened for a couple seconds. Then the water started to bubble and swirl. The swirling shifted into a mini whirlpool the size of a kiddie pool. 

“Wha—” Momo turned to her friends in surprise. “What now?” 

Jihyo matched her confused state. Looks like the Daughter of Apollo was in the same boat as her. On the other hand, Chaeyoung excitedly grinned and shrugged. “Only one way to find out.” 

“What do you me—” 

Chaeyoung did the unexpected and broke out in a run before jumping off the river bank. She tucked her knees in and cannon-balled into the whirlpool with a splash and a giddy shout of “Geronimo!” 

“Chaeng!” Jihyo shouted in shock. She leaned her body forward to see beyond the splash. “You can’t be serious!” 

The whirlpool vigorously swirled as Momo and Jihyo stared at it, waiting to see what became of their friend. When nothing else happened they looked at each other in a mix of disbelief and exasperation. 

“Well, what choice do we have now?” Jihyo sighed. 

Momo laughed heartily. “C’mon!” 

She and a reluctant Jihyo rushed into the swirling waters and cannon-balled with a splash. 

The mini whirlpool swirled for a little longer before it dissipated. The river water returned to its calm state with no trace of whirlpools or demigods anywhere. 

/ 

Momo was met with a face full of water. 

Actually it was her entire body. 

She sputtered as she tried to keep her head above the rushing water. 

Out through the other side of the whirlpool, the demigods had landed with a splash. Right into a rushing river. 

Momo looked around frantically. They landed in a river but...where are her friends?!? 

She called out their names desperately. 

“JIHYO! CHAEYOUNG!” 

All she could hear was the roar of the water in her ears as it swept her with the current. Her stomach rolled when she didn’t see any trace of them. 

Then a hand stuck out of the deep blue. 

Momo let out a loud cry of relief as she began swimming towards it. She grabbed the hand and hauled them up. 

The top of their head rose, showing wet blonde hair. Chaeyoung sputtered water out of as she clung onto Momo’s arm. She coughed out the rest as Momo gently patted her back. 

Momo tightened her hold on Chaeyoung as they bobbed in the water. She swiveled her head around as she asked, “Where’s Jihyo?!” 

A scream suddenly echoed in the air. It only got louder and louder. The two demigods looked around bewildered until they spotted the source. 

Jihyo was being carried by the river’s current. 

Fortunately the current was coming towards them. 

Unfortunately, the current was too fast for her to stop. 

Jihyo slammed into her friends, loud grunts and shouts resulted from the collision. Before anything else happened, Momo quickly grabbed onto both her friends and linked their arms together. 

The three demigods continued to be swept away by the river’s rushing current. 

“YOU GUYS OK?” 

“WHO’S IDEA WAS THIS!” 

Chaeyoung’s only response was “AHHHHHHHHHH!” 

We need to find a way out of here. This feels like a river rapids and that usually includes —  

“ROCKS!” 

Momo looked up startled by Jihyo’s shout. The Daughter of Apollo was right; further down the course of the river were big rocks and Momo really didn’t like the way some of their jagged edges glinted in the sun. 

“START KICKING!” 

The three demigods kicked and paddled with all their strength. 

But it was futile. 

The river propelled them forward; they were too slow and too weak against the river’s fast-flowing current. 

“BRACE!” 

Momo warned them as it was all they could do. 

She grunted as they all slammed into a hard rock before being tossed into the current again. This repeated a few more times and Momo lost count after her ribs slammed painfully into a boulder and she started seeing spots in her vision. 

A loud cracking sound rang in the air. It was almost inaudible thanks to the roaring rapids. 

Momo groaned painfully as her hand gripped onto stone. 

Wait, stone??  

Her eyes shot open. She was right; there was stone under her. 

Actually it was her that was on top of a large boulder. She turned to see Jihyo and Chaeyoung safely on the same rock, despite being battered and bruised. 

“Thank the Gods…” she muttered as they all laid there taking in some much needed air. 

CRACK!  

...or maybe not. 

The large boulder they were all resting on shifted suddenly after the noise. It swayed from side to side and then slowly tipped forward. 

Momo stared in disbelief at the turn of events. Jihyo and Chaeyoung sat up alarmed as the rock shifted a lot more. 

“You gotta be kidding meeeeeeeeee!“ 

Her exclamation trailed off as the boulder broke off with a loud crack and snap. The river rapids the boulder into its current and off they went again. 

Now on a boulder and surfing the rapids at a breakneck speed, the demigods let loose screams of terror. The only good thing was that their boulder smashed into the jagged rocks and came out with no damage. 

The screaming demigods laid on their stomachs and held onto the boulder tightly. Being as it was a large piece of stone, there wasn’t any handlebars or anything. 

The large boulder rushed down the curving river, smashing smaller rocks in its wake and splashing water onto the demigods. 

If you included seatbelts and some music, this could almost pass as an extreme water park ride. 

Against splashing water and wind, Momo struggled to keep her eyes open. She grit her teeth as she held on for the turbulent rollercoaster of a ride. 

A sharp tugging started up in Momo’s gut. Gods, what it is now!?  

“Momo!” 

She could feel and hear Jihyo prodding her side. 

“Look!” 

Momo lifted her head to see a violently churning whirlpool waiting ahead. 

“Oh man…” She whispered in resignation; she could feel the pull of the whirlpool and the boulder was powerless against the swirling current as it gravitated towards it. 

“JUST HANG ON!” 

The whirlpool roared explosively in her ears as the boulder turned and turned and turned. She squeezed her eyes shut as they all screamed. The tugging in her gut wouldn’t stop. 

Until it did… when the boulder was swallowed and submerged as it finally reached the center of the whirlpool.