by Melody Rose
The seven of us spread out, no one choosing to sit next to one another. Zach wanted to stand, but Min forced the soldier to take a chair.
I sat as far away from the soldier as I could. I didn’t know how genuine his anger was or if it was just a result of whatever love-struck spell he was under. While my theory was still just that, a theory, I clung to it like a life preserver. Because if it wasn’t true, then I didn’t know what to think.
My leg jiggled with an onslaught of nerves. I wasn’t the only one who was filled with anticipation. Darren tapped his fingers to a random rhythm on the table while Zach popped his lips against one another like he was chewing a rather large piece of gum. The son of Athena slapped his palm on the table at Zach, and the soldier stopped his annoying movement.
The General stood at the head of the table, the only one of us to not take a seat. “Cheyenne, I’m sure you know about our strict policy regarding violence against your fellow students.”
“I do,” I growled. “However, that policy isn’t valid when the violence is out of self-defense.”
“Was your attack on Zach out of self-defense?” the General asked, keeping surprisingly calm during the interrogation.
“She’s lying,” Zach interjected passionately. “I didn’t lay a hand on her.”
“Enough,” Buck scolded. “We know your side of the story, Zachariah. That’s why we are here. Let her speak.”
Zach’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he tried to keep his comments at bay. I still wasn’t sure he could keep his mouth shut while I offered my defense, but I continued anyway.
“He was attacking my friend,” I began. Even though my words weren’t entirely accurate, I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to reveal just then because I could just as easily get Zach and Benji in trouble for their sexual relations.
“I was--” Zach interrupted, but then the General cut him off.
“If you cannot keep your tongue in your mouth, Zachariah, I will have to force you to leave,” the official scolded. His voice came out like a jungle cat growling at its prey before striking. A simple but effective warning.
“Sorry, sir,” Zach replied, seeming to take the threat from the General more seriously than the previous ones from the other Olympic Officials.
The General turned his attention back to me, his hands on his hips. “Zachariah attacked Benji? You saw this?”
“Cheyenne,” Darren hissed under his breath, knowing I wasn't entirely truthful.
I shot a glance at my friend and saw his worried expression. If I started lying now, then my creditability with the Officials would decrease. I needed them to believe me because, in my gut, I knew something strange was going on around campus. Something more than just typical hormones. These were rational, dedicated soldiers doing irrational things to jeopardize their careers, something that they wouldn’t just throw away on a whim. Especially not Benji. No matter how much he disagreed with how the Academy was run, the nepotism, or the politics of it all, he wouldn’t do this. I knew my friend well enough to know that.
“He wasn’t attacking Benji,” I corrected, finding the strength in my voice. In my belief. “They were engaging in… sexual intercourse.”
My truth bomb had a dramatic effect. Buck’s face went white as a sheet. Min zipped his mouth shut to try to hold back a laugh. Zach burned with anger, and he lifted slightly out of his seat until Min regained himself enough to push the soldier back down. The General stiffened, all of his muscles cinched together like a loose string pulled taught on a sweater, bunching all of the fabric. Darren sighed and hung his head as he readied himself for the onslaught.
“That is a very serious accusation, Cheyenne,” the son of Athena said to me, his hand still on Zach’s arm to keep him at bay.
“Just as serious as attacking another student, I believe,” Buck added, though his voice came out strained like it was pushing through a small hole.
“I don’t think it was their fault, though,” I quickly added. I realized that this slow route, dropping one piece of information at a time like a leaky faucet, wasn’t going to get anywhere. I needed to speed this along, throw all caution to the wind. I rose to my feet and leaned forward on the table, my fingers propping me up. “I think they, among other students, have been infected with some sort of love potion, spell, or something.”
The General stuck his neck out at me as if he didn’t hear me correctly. After a pause, the leader of the Academy scoffed. “A love potion?”
“Or something like that. I don’t know if it’s a potion, per se,” I clarified.
“In all my time at the Academy, that is one of the most ridiculous excuses I have ever heard,” the General accused.
“Okay, but you have to give me some credit,” I said, aware of the snap in my voice. “The last time you thought I was making something up, I was actually right, and it nearly cost you the lives of five of your best soldiers.”
It was clear that the General was not pleased with my accusation, however true it might have been. A flush of red appeared in his cheeks, but after a hefty breath, the General calmed himself.
“As much as I hate to say it,” Min interjected gently, “Cheyenne has a point. Perhaps we should hear her out.”
The General didn’t offer a verbal response. Instead, he lifted his hand off his hip and opened it up, as if he were holding a serving tray. The General gestured at me to continue.
I took a deep breath and looked at Darren for encouragement. He offered me wide eyes and pursed lips as if to say: “This is all you, girl.”
With a deep breath, I relayed the past twenty-four hours with every piece of information I could remember. I worked backward from finding Zach and Benji to finding out about Temperance, and then finally ratting out Janet and Rick. I only did it so I could lay out my argument, though there was still a glob of guilt that stuck to the inside of my stomach as I went against my word to Janet.
I relayed the exact wording both couples used, mainly to emphasize my point and layout all of the evidence for them. When I finished, I found myself out of breath, my chest heaving as if I had just run a marathon rather than simply relay a story.
I waited for their responses, but the three officials just stared at me in silence. Part of me wondered if they heard me at all or if they checked out like high school students during a particularly boring lecture. Finally, Min coughed into his hand and then leaned forward on the table.
“That’s quite a tale, Cheyenne,” the son of Athena said. The doubt in his voice was obvious, so much so that I sighed in frustration.
“I know it sounds absurd,” I said defensively, “but not any more absurd than flying horses or the Greek gods being real, or fire that changes color. We live in a magical world. It stands to reason that this is a viable possibility for what’s going on.”
Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door, cutting off any chance the officials had at answering me.
“Come in,” Darren called out, taking charge.
Reese, the nurse, peeked her head in through the door. Her knuckles were white as it clutched the edge of the door. “Uh, Darren? You told me to come to get you when he wakes up?”
“Benji’s awake?” I asked nervously. While I was excited that Benji was up, I wasn’t sure how much he would remember. Would he recall how I had hurt him? Would he understand why I had to do it?
“He’s awake and stable,” Reese reported as she fully entered the room. “Seemed lucid though he keeps asking where Zach is.”
All of our eyes turned to face the Gi soldier, who looked dazed and thrilled at hearing Benji’s name. He pushed himself halfway out of his chair, but Min and Buck restrained him back down. However, this was the first time Zach resisted them.
“Benji’s okay? Where is he? I want to see him!” Zach called out, his voice rising with each word, like a petulant child.
“You said he was alright?” the General asked the nurse.
She swallowed before answering, seemingly intimidated by the General and
his presence. “Yes, sir.”
“Bring him in here,” the General commanded. He tucked his hands behind his back and widened his stance as if he were preparing for an attack. “We’d like to speak to him.”
Reese’s eye shifted to Darren and then back to the General. She ducked out of the room, and her footsteps shuffled down the hallway.
There was a tense silence after the nurse left. The General stood as still as a statue in his stance. Officer Buck kept a hand on Zach’s forearm as the soldier squirmed in anticipation of seeing Benji. Min leaned forward with his elbows resting on the table, hand steepled as if in prayer. Even his eyes were closed. Darren kept trying to get my attention, catch my eye, but I didn’t return the gaze. I was too wrapped up in my own head.
It was clear that Zach was obsessed with Benji. No trained soldier would act so emotionally, especially not in front of the Olympic Officials. His behavior was irrational at best, obsessive at worst. The officers had seen that much at least, but I didn’t know what Benji was going to say. Had whatever infected him finally worn off? Would he blame me for everything?
A lump formed in my throat, dry like a piece of stale bread. It seemed to grow as the second ticked by, as the silence dragged on.
Finally, after an eternity, the door opened again. Reese led Benji in by the arm, while his other hand held an ice pack to the back of his head. He looked worn out and a little woozy, like he’d woken up from a hundred-year sleep. I winced at the sight of him and regretted hitting him as hard as I had.
However, his entire demeanor changed when Benji saw Zach. He lit up as though he’d been electrified. My friend charged forward, making Reese teeter to regain her balance. His arms were stiff and straight, outstretched for a hug. But it wasn’t Zach who greeted him. It was Min as he blocked Benji’s route to Zach.
Officer Buck, in turn, used his large form to hold Zach. The officer pushed the soldier back against the wall since Zach’s body seemed to surge forward of its own accord.
I even rose to my feet at the sight of the tense standoff. It was an unusual sight, two grown men preventing the young soldiers from reuniting. Benji and Zach did what they could to get a glimpse of one another, exchanging small waves and sheepish smiles.
The General stayed in his stiff stance and observed. His stormy eyes flicked back and forth between the two soldiers and their captives. The General pursed his lips together as if he sucked on something sour. The disapproval was apparent, but his knitted eyebrows gave me hope.
For all his flaws, the General was not a stupid man. His actions were deliberate and always calculated. He knew that he was doing at all times, and more often than not, he was three steps ahead of the rest of the world. All those years of training, not just weapons training, but with leadership, and the skill at reading people he had developed came into play at this moment. For the first time since arriving in the med bay hallway, I felt confident that the General saw what I saw. Even if I wasn’t right about the love potion thing, he knew something was odd.
Vindication soared through me, but I pushed the giddy feeling back. It was still too soon to celebrate. The General might not care that something was wrong. He still might expel and banish the both of them.
“I don’t know about you, General,” Buck said as he pinned Zach against the wall, “but I would say this is highly unusual behavior. Temperance and Charlie couldn’t keep their hands off one another either.”
Hearing Buck say that, I nearly burst into laughter. I was relieved to be right and better yet, to be believed.
“I see,” the General said, his voice not yet giving anything away. He took a heavy breath in and released it slowly. “Cheyenne.”
My name came out sharply from his lips, so much so that I jumped a little, even though I had already been looking at the General, waiting for him to speak.
“Yes, sir?” I answered as I took a step forward.
“The other two students you spoke of?” the General asked, not sparing me a glance. “They were?”
“Janet daughter of Aphrodite and Rick son of Hermes,” I replied.
“I want them brought down to the med bay,” the General demanded. The strategy formed in his eyes, softening his face. The relief at having a plan soothed him. “And I want these two separated while they are examined.” His attention snapped to Darren, his expression almost resigned. “I know your particular talents are of no use here, Darren, but is there a healer here that will be able to assess them?”
Darren’s jaw tightened at the hidden insult. Still, he replied to the General. “Yes, we have some tests we can run and the necessary staff to perform them.”
“Good because I don’t want to have to pull anyone out of the field for such a minor problem,” the General huffed.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. This wasn’t a minor problem if students were ill. This was just as severe as if they had a physical ailment. But I held my tongue and let the General sort out his thoughts.
However, the universe didn’t seem to want to give him that chance. Because, just then, there was a ruckus outside the door, as though two women were arguing. Next thing we knew, Clarissa burst into the room. Her pale face, normally clear and blemish-free, was red and flushed from her effort and the frustration, as evidenced by the fire in her eyes.
“General,” she reported, her voice tight. “We’ve got a problem.”
“What is it?” the General stepped forward, ready for action. “Has there been an attack?”
“Not that kind of attack,” Clarissa said as she shook her head back and forth. “We’ve caught more students… fornicating.”
My eyebrows launched upward into my hairline to hear her use that word. I couldn't hold back the shock at not only hearing the word, but at the realization that there were more culprits. Or victims, depending on how you looked at it.
“How many?” the General grumbled.
Clarissa swallowed audibly. She looked as if she didn’t want to answer his question, but the General’s voice yanked it out of her. “How many, Clarissa?”
“Twelve, sir,” Clarissa’s voice, despite her clear nerves, was crisp and authoritative.
A scoff escaped my lips. Darren’s eyes shot me a warning glare, and I hung my head to hide my amusement. My mind reeled with the possibilities of how they found twelve students having sex. I wondered if it was all together, or six pairs, or another grouping my prudish mind wasn’t creative enough to imagine.
The General’s muscles tensed. He finally broke his straightened posture and leaned over the table. He stretched out his arms and gripped the edge of the table with a death grip. His head hung forward with a loose neck, hiding his face from all of us.
“Clarissa,” the General said, his voice the softest I’d ever heard it. “Gather up those students and bring them to the med bay. Then we need to convince the Olympic Officers.”
The General’s head snapped up, his grey eyes raging and swirling like a thunderstorm. I worried that he was ready to conjure another storm like he did when he defeated the harpies. Instead, the General stayed the course and continued.
“I think the Academy might be infected.”
13
Last year, when I’d found myself in the Olympic Officer’s main chambers, I realized I never wanted to be back in that room again. I could have gone through my next three years without ever going back in there. However, I was not so lucky.
I found myself in the long room with the oval table, each of the Olympic Officials in their designated seats. The only empty one was for the child of Hephaestus. The General once invited me to sit there, as I was technically qualified to do so. But that felt completely terrifying, and considering how much I wanted to avoid the room, I wanted to avoid that chair more.
Also in the room were the three branch leaders, though they stood along the wall. Kiley and Samson were clustered together, whispering before the meeting officially came to order. Ansel had his eyes closed and leaned his head back against the wall, seemi
ng to be asleep. I watched his chest rise and fall with ease. I admired how he seemed so relaxed in a space that brought me such anxiety.
I also stood against the wall opposite Ansel and the other leaders, though. My face was in a permanent scowl ever since we left the med bay boardroom, and the General commanded me to come with him to the Olympic Officer’s chambers.
“We need you to tell all of the officers what you’ve seen,” the General reasoned.
Every muscle twitched as I wanted to argue. Make up some excuse about some class that I was late for or project I needed to start in the forge. But this was the General. The leader of the Academy. His presence and status were the epitome of when he says jump, you say how high.
So, I begrudgingly followed as the Olympic Officials gathered. The one consolation I had was that the General also commanded one of the healers to report to the officials when the testing was complete on the love-struck soldiers. Maybe Darren would come and join us so that I wouldn’t have to be so alone in this. Even though Ansel was here, ever since we severed whatever connection we had, I didn’t consider him the same kind of ally. But for now, it was the twelve officials, the three branch leaders, and me. Clarissa was the last official to arrive as she finished wrangling the twelve other offenders to the med bay.
My arms were crossed. My back was flat against the wall. My mouth was turned into a frown. I had no problem letting these officials know that I was unhappy with them. I hated how much it took for me to convince them that I was right, and something was off with the students and guards. Just like the last time, during the situation with Esme, they had their heads too far up their own asses to consider anything outside of their own ideas. The General in particular. But now, here we were. Once again.
The General called the meeting to order. The miscellaneous chatter ceased as the officers straightened, shifted in their seats, and prepared to begin.
