by Melody Rose
“With you at the center of it,” Violet pointed out.
“Yeah, don’t remind me,” I groaned as I put a hand to my forehead.
“Or me,” Darren agreed, equalized traumatized by the incident at the dance.
“You said they were saying different things this time,” Fiona stepped in, literally taking a step forward. “What was it again?”
“The first time it was like ‘We have this connection’ whereas this time it was all about ‘most fair and most beautiful,’” I quoted. “Then at the dance, they called me ‘ravishing.’” A chill went down my spine at the memory of all those voices shouting that word at me, thinking it was a compliment when it was really an off-putting comment.
“Do those words mean anything to you?” Fiona asked. “Any of you?”
We paused and let the wind whip around us as we thought about the repeated phrases by those who were Love Struck. My mind cycled through the words: connection, ravishing, fair, beautiful. Something about them was familiar, and it pricked at the base of my skull.
“Is it…” I started, my voice not quite caught up to my thoughts. “From a myth?”
“You would be the one to know,” Violet said with a scoff.
Even though I sensed the jealousy in her voice, she was right. Especially given what Eros had told me about how I used the Sight. I flipped through the stories in my mind, searching for those keywords and how they might have been used. Originally, I added love and lust and even Eros to my initial search, but that didn’t feel right. It wasn’t love, so much as it was manipulation, because that was the real antagonist here.
There were so many stories of manipulation in Greek mythology, but there was only one that used those four words.
“The apple orchard,” I whispered.
Fiona stuck her neck out at me and leaned her head towards me, unsure if she’d heard me. “I’m sorry. Apples?”
“Yeah,” I said with a slow nod. “I think apples are the source.”
“Shy,” Darren prompted gently, “want to tell the group how you got there?”
“Sorry,” I stuttered. I held out my hands, as though I could see the story in front of me. “It’s the wedding of Peleus and Thetis when Eris threw in the Apple of Discord because she was pissed that she wasn’t invited to the wedding. The apple was inscribed with a phrase, but they disagree on the exacting wording because of translations. But the four words, connection, ravishing, fair, and beautiful, are among the disputed words.”
The words tumbled out of my mouth as the ideas and connections fired in my head at an alarming rate. I tried to slow down, but my voice only seemed to speed up as I continued. “Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all claimed the apple and were manipulated by it. The Judgement of Paris happened, which led to the most infamous war in Grecian history! The Trojan War!”
I had both my arms in the air like a ref at a football game, overjoyed by my discovery. “So, I think it’s in the apples that are in the orchard that we worked on during Agriculture.”
Violet’s mouth opened and closed, her eyes wide with shock. Before she could answer me, another thought struck, and I jumped up and down in light of my epiphany.
“Which means I’m not immune,” I said. “I haven’t been affected because I haven’t had any apples because I’m allergic. And Violet just made those tarts, the apple ones, just now, that’s why they all freaked out in only the cafeteria. It’s been in our food. That’s got to be it!”
I waited for the other three to share in my excitement, but there was something stale in the air. Their bodies were stiff and tense with something that I didn’t understand. Everything made sense. My theory was solid. All we had to do was test the apples in the med bay and see if I was right. However, it was clear from the faces of my friends and the Olympic Official that I was missing something rather crucial.
“Well, I thought it was a good idea,” I said as I lowered my arms in defeat.
“Unfortunately, Cheyenne, I think it is too,” Fiona said with a low and measured tone.
“Why unfortunately?” I asked, picking up on her strange word usage.
“Because if you’re right, then that means we know who is responsible for spreading Love Struck around campus,” Fiona concluded.
“Yeah, whoever planted the apple orchard,” I agreed with a shrug. “That makes sense.”
All of a sudden, my former roommate burst into tears. She put a hand to her mouth and trembled.
“I didn’t do this!” Violet cried. “I had no idea, I swear!”
Horror slapped me across the face as I realized what had actually just happened. While I figured out the potential source of Love Struck, I had also just inadvertently incriminated my best friend.
32
They arrested Violet that very day.
Unfortunately, Fiona reported my theory to the rest of the Olympic Officials. Darren helped conduct the tests on the apples at the med bay alongside Eros. Both of them were able to determine that yes, they were infected with the same magic as his bow and arrow, like the Apple of Discord.
The General had no sympathy for her either. No matter how many times Violet insisted she knew nothing, that she had bought the apple seeds from the farmer’s market in the mortal world, that she was innocent, he wouldn’t hear it.
“Save it for the trial,” he told her as they dragged her from the kitchens, where she had been working on dinner for that evening.
It was a terrible spectacle as every student in the quickly cleaned and repaired cafeteria watched. The Olympic Officials paraded her to the jail like a criminal, and the whole ordeal was wholly unnecessary. The only reason for it was so that the General could tell the campus that had found their culprit. In my eyes, that very choice to humiliate her publicly condemned her already.
Even if by some miraculous reason that Violet was found not guilty at her trial, everyone would remember and know her name. They would remember the moment when the Officials strapped her hands behind her back and marched her in front of everyone with no shame or thought of the consequences.
I tried to see her the minute that I heard she was kept in the same cells that I was last year. Even Darren tried to use the same medical excuse as he had done with me, but the Officials were having none of it. Security at the jail on campus had significantly increased as a result of our escape.
There was no way I could comfort my friend. I couldn’t apologize for unknowingly putting her in the line of fire. My thoughts had gotten away from me, so excited to have an answer and source for Love Struck, that I didn’t actually think about what I was saying. If I had known it led back to Violet, I would have done something, anything, to prevent this poor treatment of her. I would have figured out a way to point the finger somewhere else because no matter what the evidence said, there was no way that Violet could have done this.
However, only Darren, Benji, and I seemed convinced of that fact. Benji, like all the other infected students, was quickly healed by Eros and became his own quirky self. Daren and I explained the whole situation to him one night in Darren’s dorm room.
“It’s not her,” Benji quickly concluded, not missing a beat. “She couldn’t have done this.”
“We know,” Darren and I chided together.
“I mean, what’s her motivation?” Benji continued, not really listening to us, caught up in his own emotions. “That’s what all the crime shows and detectives talk about. Motive. What’s her motive?”
“There is no motive, but that doesn’t matter,” Darren said, his voice hoarse as though he’d spent the night shouting at a rock concert. I knew it was from crying at Violet’s fate. Being the realist among us, Darren saw the whole situation as a lot more dire and hopeless than Benji and I did.
“Of course, it matters!” Benji protested.
“Darren’s right,” I added. “You don’t need a motive to convict someone of a crime. It helps the jury understand the crime better, but it’s not a requirement.”
Benji’s mouth
flopped open, as though we’d just set off a stick of dynamite in his head. He had his hands on his hips and stared at us incredulously. Our friend closed his mouth and shook his head with a disappointed expression.
“All those episodes of CSI wasted,” he grumbled. Benji cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Well, at least she gets a trial. That means she has a chance.”
“Not when it’s a closed trial, run by the Olympic Officials,” Darren said solemnly. “They are her judge and jury. While there are some influences from the American justice system, the whole ordeal is rather archaic.”
“Could you at least try to stay positive?” I pleaded with my friend. “Because we have to be hopeful that they see that she didn’t and couldn’t have possibly done this.”
“That’s the problem, Cheyenne,” Darren said as he hopped off his own bed so he could stare at me directly. “I think she did do it.”
Benji and I gasped. “Darren!” Benji exclaimed.
“What the hell?” I snapped, anger firing up in my stomach.
“I think she did it,” Darren repeated, unashamed of his answer. “I don’t think she intended to. I don’t think she injected the seeds with Eros’s magic, but I do think she brought them to campus and planted them and fed the apples to campus.”
“So what if she did that?” I asked, the sharpness never leaving my voice. “She didn’t know that the apples would make anyone Love Struck.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Darren said. He held out his hands as if weighing the options. “Say you hit someone with your car. You didn’t mean to do it. Maybe it was dark, or they were crossing the street at the wrong, but you still hit them. It might not be murder, but you still get charged with manslaughter.”
“So that’s why you're so…” Benji waved his hand around Darren’s whole body as if he were indicating the healer’s aura or something. “Pessimistic. You think it doesn’t matter if she intended to or not.”
“It won’t,” Darren said as he shook his head, like a doctor calling time of death.
“So what?” Benji prompted with a shrug. “You think they’ll still wipe her memory and kick her out of here.”
“I do,” Darren nodded. “They want to make an example of her, show that no one can mess with the Academy like this. Especially not after the embarrassment of letting Esme get away.”
Waves of emotions crashed inside of me. On the one hand, Darren’s logic made sense as much as I didn’t want it to. Everyone already knew that Violet planted the apple orchard this year. It was her pride and joy, which she personally cared for, a project she hoped would launch her into being drafted early because she used her powers with food to enhance their growth rate and the size of the apples. I was even there when she bought the seeds. Or at least, she had shown them to me at the farmer’s market.
On the other hand, I couldn’t stand the idea that my friend might be gone. That they would be cruel enough to wipe her memories of Greek gods being real, of her powers, and of the Academy. She wouldn’t remember any of this, any of us. All because she was an unknowing pawn in someone else’s game.
“Have we thought about who could have infected the seeds?” Benji said, clearly grasping at straws.
“Violet said she didn’t buy them from Esme, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said with a sigh. “We know it was Esme who stole the bow and arrow, so it makes sense that she would infect the seeds.”
“But how did the magic get from the bow and arrow to the seeds, then?” Benji asked.
I shrugged. “That’s the key, isn’t it? If we could prove who infected them, then maybe we could get Violet off the hook. Everyone will want to blame that person.”
“That might be true,” Darren started as he leaned against his footboard, arms across his chest. “But I don’t think there’s any way of figuring it out. And plus, I don’t think they will care. They have their culprit. Once they punish her, they’ll just want to move on.”
“I can’t do this anymore,” I said as I threw my arms up in the air. I crossed to the door and put my hand on the knob.
“I’m sorry, Cheyenne,” Darren said. “I don’t mean to upset you. I’m just trying to prepare you.”
I looked over my shoulder and could see the sadness in his eyes. All of this pained him as much as Benji and me. But neither of them were saddled with the guilt that they were the one who had incriminated her best friend. That was all on me.
“And I appreciate that about you, Darren, but right now,” I released a heavy sigh, “I just can’t.”
Without another word, my friends let me leave the room. I could hear their muffled voices on the other side of the door, but I walked away before I could distinguish any words. I didn’t want to hear what they were saying about Violet or me or this entire messed up situation.
I exited the dorm building, intent on heading to the forge. It was the only place I could think of to distract myself enough from the heaviness in my stomach and the tightness in my chest.
All I wanted to do was talk to Violet and tell her I was sorry. I knew it wouldn’t erase this whole situation, but I couldn’t help but think that if I hadn’t opened my mouth, if I hadn’t pieced together the whole apple theory in the first piece, that she wouldn’t be on the verge of expulsion right now. Sure, we would have reached the same conclusion eventually, but we could have quietly gotten rid of the apples. Or we could have had enough time to figure out who infected the seeds in the first place, so we could convict them instead of Violet.
Right now, though, I felt utterly helpless. It was my least favorite feeling in the world. So I made my way to the forge, hoping to quell some of that helplessness. If I made something, if I could bang away my feelings, then maybe I would feel better about this whole situation.
Mainly, more than anything, I just wanted to remind my friend that I was there for her. Even if I couldn’t give her a hug or a kind word, I needed her to know that I loved her and believed in her. With the jail security the way it was, there was simply no way I was getting in to tell her any of those things.
But maybe I didn’t have to get it.
I stopped in my tracks as the thought occurred to me. It seemed so obvious. I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before. Without another moment to lose, I put my fingers to my lips and whistled long and low.
Khryseos and Argyreos appeared dutifully at my side. They materialized in midair with goofy grins on their faces, huffing and puffing as though they had just run a marathon. They leaned up against me enthusiastically, and I bent down to greet them accordingly.
“Hello boys,” I chided, smiling instantly at the sight of them. I ran my fingers through their short black hair, and Argyreos barked in delight.
I chuckled at the pair, but then my face grew serious as I looked between the pair of them. “I need you two to do something really important for me.”
Khryseos and Argyreos put their tongues back in their mouths and sat up straighter, listening keenly. I smirked at their prompt responses.
“You remember our friend, Violet?” I asked. I paused for a moment as if waiting for a response, but then remembering that they couldn’t actually speak to me, I continued. “Well, I need you to find her in the jail cells on campus. She’s really alone right now and going through a lot. I don’t want her to be alone, okay? I need you boys to stay with her as long as you can. Don’t let anyone else see, so you don’t get kicked out, but let her know you’re there for her, alright?”
Khryseos pushed my hand with his nose in agreement. Argyreos’s ears perked up, straight as an arrow, attentive. Then he licked the side of my face, in case I hadn’t gotten the message.
“Thank you both,” I said with a kiss on each of their heads.
Then they disappeared from beneath my hands. I let my arms fall to my side with a sigh. I missed the heat and the weight of the dogs already, but I knew that they would comfort Violet accordingly. They loved her almost as much as they loved me, and they definitely enjoyed her p
resence. I knew this because when we’d lived together last year, I would often find them on her bed while she studied when I would come back from a long training session with Ansel.
Hopefully, their presence would let Violet know I was thinking of her.
My feet continued leading me to the forge. I passed some other students who passed by without a word, whereas others said hello or nodded in greeting. While they were cordial acknowledgments, I noticed the stiffness or the lack of joy in them. Just a few weeks, the campus had been alight with happy couples. Even students that hadn’t been paired up enjoyed the anticipation of the dance, the prospect of falling in love, and the drama of the Love Struck disease. There was a liveliness that Love Struck brought to the Academy that hadn’t been there before.
A flicker of doubt crossed my mind as I thought back to what Violet had said to me the night of the dance. She wasn’t sure we should get rid of Love Struck. It made people happy, and she didn’t see the problem with that.
I agreed with her on one hand, but another part of me thoroughly disagreed, believing in the ability to choose. But something about her philosophy appealed to me just then. I wanted that happiness back, that joy that seeped through campus.
Yes, we were training to be soldiers, superhuman soldiers with supernatural abilities, but we were still human. We deserved love and laughter and joy. If Eros and his magic brought that, was that really such a bad thing? Maybe there was a way to not view this as an attack, but as a blessing. There had been fighting, but no one talked about the general sense of wellbeing that spread amongst the students. Could something of the past few weeks be salvaged and brought back to campus life?
As my thoughts traveled down that path, my legs stumbled upon another one. While I wanted to head to the forge, just off to the left was the cursed apple orchard. I hadn’t seen it since that time in my Agricultural class, and something pulled at me to see the culprit behind all of this chaos on campus.
Intrigue and a small bit of irritation bent my path as I turned to head for the orchard. It didn't take me very long before I reached the field on campus. The trees were planted a little ways away from the other foods, being Violet’s special project.
