Chapter 5

Jackie's eyes adjusted to the gloom of the Ganymede Tunnels just as soon as he and Princess Diana got past the initial tunnel. That was mostly 'cause of the blue glowing mushrooms that started cropping up every couple yards. They marked shit out like some sorta dim, underground, street lamps. As they walked, Jackie had to keep his mind occupied, since he figured if he started dwelling on the fact that he was gonna come face-to-face with a literal Dragon, he might just psyche himself out before he even came across the damn thing.

"So why'd they call this the Ganymede Tunnels, anyway?" He questioned softly.

"Ganymede was a former cupbearer of the Gods, he was almost entirely mortal, but his father was the Demigod Tros, who gave his name to the City of Troy. Tros' mother, the Nymph Astyoche, daughter of the River God Simoeis, who in turn was the son of the Titan Oceanus, lobbied her grandfather, one of the few Titans remaining unbound in Tartarus thanks to his refusal to join Kronos in his war against the Gods, to speak with Zeus on her Grandson's behalf." Whispered Princess Diana.

"So? What's that got to do with these tunnels?" Queried Jackie, quietly.

"I'm coming to that. Oceanus and Zeus struck a bargain after some negotiation whereby Ganymede would be allowed to come and go from Olympus to the mortal realm as he pleased whenever he was not called upon to serve at one of the Gods' various Fetes. Gaia opened these tunnels through the Earth to foster such a bargain. That's why these tunnels are named for him." Informed Princess Diana.

"Huh, I thought the King of Troy was some guy named Priam? If this Tros guy's got god blood in his veins, I gotta wonder why he stopped being King? It ain't like a guy like that dies of natural causes, after all." Asked Jackie.

"I never said that Tros founded and ruled Troy, simply that he gave his name to the City. It was Tros' son and brother to Ganymede, Ilos, who founded Troy. It is why the City is sometimes named as Ilios. Over one-thousand-seven-hundred years passed between Ilos and Priam. As for Tros, he ruled Dardania and left the throne once his son, Assarakos came of age to rule. No one knows what happened to him after that, though the fact that he was slain is not in question. His shade rests in the Asphodel Fields in Hades, but refuses to speak of his death to anyone." Shrugged Princess Diana.

"Neat. So where's this Ganymede guy now?" Wondered Jackie.

"The divine blood in his veins may have been thin, but it did provide him with agelessness and fair looks, though it gave him no other powers beyond those. He was still serving in the Court of Zeus when Circe attempted her coup, though he has long since given up on using these tunnels. Last I heard, he had graduated from Cupbearer to the position of Archiosomatophylax." Explained Princess Diana.

"Arkeo-what now?" Frowned Jackie.

"Archeosomatophylax, it's an ancient title for the Personal Bodyguard of a Great King. In this case, it largely comes down to guarding Zeus' side and serving as something akin to his Squire, was he a knight." Reiterated Lady Diana.

"So what? He gets to polish the divine armor and sharpen the divine sword instead of anything of real power? How's that a promotion from being a glorified waiter?" Scoffed Jackie.

"Some might say doing either of those things would be a great honor." Intoned Lady Diana.

"And some might say you oughtta aim your sights a little higher than taking someone else's shit for a living, even if they are King of the Gods." Retorted Jackie.

"You might wish to not mention that opinion should we emerge out of these tunnels to join with Zeus." Was all Princess Diana said to that.

Jackie figured that was as good as he was gonna get on that front and the pair lapsed into silence. Continuing to press on through the tunnels as they went up through the bowels of Olympus. The tunnels had started to slope upward just a few minutes after the glowing mushrooms started popping up. Being underground fucked with Jackie's sense of distance, but he figured that they've gotta been climbing up at least a mile. Still no sign of the damn dragon yet, but Jackie ain't gonna hold his breath on being able to bypass the fucker. According to Princess Diana, the damned thing never slept and could see everything in its fucking lair.

After they'd walked for what'd felt like at least a mile and a half, though, Jackie frowned. Just how tall was the fucking mountain of the gods that they ain't even reached the exit to the first level yet? He knew that Mount Meru was nine miles tall. He oughtta know that Brother Monkey'd kicked him down the mountain a couple times during training, after all. That was for numerological reasons though. He ain't heard of the Greeks being big on Numerology.

"How much further?" Questioned Jackie.

"Mount Olympus is seven miles tall. The first level begins at the three-mile mark. We are likely to find the Dragon's lair at the two-mile mark or not very far after." Answered Princess Diana.

"We oughtta be coming up on the two-mile mark soon, yeah?" Queried Jackie.

"Indeed, so if you do not wish to be ambushed, keep your mouth shut and your eyes and ears open." Huffed Princess Diana.

That seemed as good an order as any. Jackie shut up and started to listen and watch for any hint of a fucking huge dragon about to strike. He ain't felt any ground rumbling or heard any heavy breathing through the walls. He didn't see any big fuck-off scales or giant fang-filled jaws. There were signs that they were coming close to the Dragon's lair, though. For a start, the air started to get thick with choking fumes and the smell of almonds. Some of the rocks in the tunnels were also scoured clean by caustic fumes.

It was enough to make Jackie think that Brother Monkey'd given him the Tears of the Cinnabar Orchard 'cause he'd already known that poison was gonna be one of the main threats here. Aside from that, Jackie was pretty confident he wouldn't die from being hit with caustic breath now that he was immune to poison. Sure the corrosion'd burn like a bitch, but he wasn't gonna die from it. With that not being immediately lethal to him, that just left the Dragon's teeth and claws to watch out for.

"Brother Monkey's helped my ass out without me even knowing. Fucking showoff." Grumbled Jackie.

"Quiet, we're close!" Hissed Princess Diana.

Sure enough, a hundred feet later, the tunnel opened up into a wider cavern. The exit opened up halfway up the cavern wall and led around to the right, skirting a major depression and continuing on to another tunnel entrance part of the way up the wall on the opposite side. The depression itself was filled with all kindsa stuff, from gold and silver coins to jeweled cups, magic objects, and marble statues. The sorta swag that an ancient hero could accumulate if he'd had an army to lead and a hundred magically-inclined kingdoms to conquer. It ain't all just shit from the Greek world, neither, though from the Orichalcum Scale Thorax Armor, those were on display too. Jackie saw Egyptian Scarab Amulets meant to provide protection from arrows and poison, Indian Blades of Godmetal, Persian Bows made from Mystic Cypresswood and strung with the Sinews of a Roc that lent unerring accuracy to the wielder, Scythian Gold Arrows inscribed with mystic sigils and fetched with griffin feathers, Godmetal and True Jade Dao, Jian, and Qiang Swords and Spears, and even vessels full of substances like Amrita, Ambrosia, Peach Wine of Immortality, and True Soma.

That ain't the biggest thing in the chamber, though. Coiled up around the tallest mound of treasure in the depression was a thing that looked more like a snake than a dragon. Coils that probably were at least a full football field long and covered in scales that Jackie was willing to bet would shrug off a Battleship Shell were topped by a fanged head topped by a crest of horns that'd be able to headbutt a skyscraper apart. Two eyes the size of basketballs, yellow and slitted like a snake's took in sights from all kindsa angles, even shit they ain't looking at currently. Toxic vapors curled up outta scaly nostrils, as two claws with talons that'd be able to tear through whole city blocks with ease scraped along the ground and gouged furrows in the solid rock.

The Colchian Dragon looked up and its gaze immediately locked on Jackie and Princess Diana, it opened it's mouth to hiss out a roar, showing serrated teeth that'd rip open an aircraft carrier's hull in a single bite as a tongue that had a triple fork in the end lashed out to lick its chops. That was all the warning Jackie and Princess Diana got before the Colchian Dragon let out a torrent of toxic, caustic, vapor at the pair of 'em.

Jackie leaped down into the pit, engaging his various enhancements and drawing his Dragonkilling Butterfly Swords. Princess Diana, on the other hand, seemed to leap across the pit and land on the other platform leading to the exit. As Jackie fell down into the pit, the Colchian Dragon reared up on its coils as if to bite him, and Jackie used the Resplendent Crane Takes Flight to dodge mid-fall, janking to the side as he struck out with his Butterfly Swords. The twin Godmetal and True Jade blades struck into the Colchian Dragon's side, carving grooves into the scales but doing no real damage. Jackie kicked offa the Colchian Dragon's neck, sending the serpentine coil swaying sideways to slam into the opposite wall of the pit.

As Jackie landed, he looked up at Princess Diana, who steadied herself from the tremors that the Dragon being kicked into the wall caused. She caught her footing, then looked back at Jackie with a questioning sorta look on her face.

"Go on! I'll catch up after I'm done here!" Offered Jackie.

"Are you sure?" Queried Princess Diana.

"Oh yeah, after the training Brother Monkey put me through? I ain't gonna die against this overgrown pair of boots!" Grinned Jackie.

"Fine, the mission is too important to waste time arguing! Fight well and catch up fast!" Nodded Princess Diana.

Then she disappeared down the tunnel leading up to the First Level of Olympus. Jackie turned toward the Colchian Dragon as I shook the stars outta its sight and let out another hissing roar at Jackie like it was offended some mere Mortal with barely any divine blood in his veins'd dared to strike at it. Jackie smirked to himself. When he was done with this fucking thing, it'd make him more than a pair of boots. He could get a whole new costume outta its hide, to say nothing of the shit he could pilfer from its hoard.

"Yeah, that's right Asshole, I kicked your ass into the wall! Now what're you gonna do about it?" Challenged Jackie.

His response was another hissing roar. Jackie ain't one of those guys what spoke Dragon, but he could pretty easily figure out what this one was saying from context clues. Probably something about enjoying slowly digesting him for a thousand years or some shit. It'd be more intimidating to a guy who ain't seen Star Wars before, though. This asshole ain't no Sarlacc.

"All right, bring it asshole! When I'm done with you, you're gonna wish you let us pass through without doing shit!" Shouted Jackie.

Then, the Dragon breathed another caustic, toxic, cloud of vapor at Jackie and the fight began in earnest. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we get a bit of info on the history behind the Ganymede Tunnels, as well as the initial clash between the Colchian Dragon and Jackie. We also get to see what's at stake for the winner aside from the more general stakes of life or death and the potential for Circe's coup to be victorious.

That treasure hoard came from the Colchian Dragon's last rampage in the mortal realm, back in mythological times. This was before Medea died and Circe took ownership of the Dragon and brought it to Olympus with her. While most of it isn't something the gods are going to let Jackie keep, that Peach Wine of Immortality will effectively make Jackie immortal and let him breach past the Wall of Humanity.

Granted it'll be the kind of immortality that Sun Wukong has, which means he can still be killed by someone more powerful than he is, but he won't have to worry about natural causes or disease. If he can win, Zeus will let him claim that and possibly a few magic items too if he can prove useful against Circe's coup attempt. The Wine though will let him become the first Boddhisatva-level Cultivator to come out of the Old Cultivation Families since the Song Dynasty.

He has to actually kill the Dragon first, though. That fight will be coming up next chapter.

Stay tuned. . .