Born in Beauty

by Melody Rose

  I leveled the necklace on the edge of the anvil, aiming to hit it right on the corner so that with one hard smack, I should be able to snap the chain in half. The snakes were strategically placed to take the brunt of the hit.

  Finally, I raised the hammer and thought about all of the frustration from this semester, the injustice done to my friend, and the manipulation of campus throughout these last several weeks. Then I lowered my arm with a hefty swing.

  The metal banged against one another with a sharp clang. I nailed the chain right in the sweet spot and nearly leapt out of my shoes, I was so excited. However, when I pulled the chain away, I could see that it was still connected.

  Nothing broke.

  I readjusted and aimed to hit the chain again. And again. And again. Finally, when I began pounding away on the piece of jewelry with reckless abandon, Ruby interrupted me.

  “You have to reheat it,” Ruby reminded me. “Plus, I don’t think all that hammering is working.”

  “Maybe I should try,” Ansel offered. Mine and Ruby’s head snapped up to him, shooting daggers with our glares. “Look, I’m not trying to be a macho man here, but I am stronger than you, Shy. At least let me try.”

  We let everyone try, even Benji and Darren, who were clearly not stronger than Ansel or me. Or even Ruby, for that matter. After we determined the hammer didn’t work, we moved onto other destructive items. We tried to crush it in the forceps but nearly broke the handle from tightening it too much. We took it to the grinder at all different levels. However, the chain never even thinned against the rapid machine. The electric hammer had no success either. The only thing that flew out at us were sparks as the hammer pounded on the unmoving necklace.

  I tried coaxing the Eternal Flame to blast its temperatures, but no matter how many colors the Flame changed as it altered its temperature, the necklace never cracked under the heat.

  We even let the dogs play with the chain for a bit, using it like a chew toy or a rope for tug-of-war, but eventually, even they grew tired of the thing.

  Darren came up with the idea of pulling it apart versus smashing it. We pulled on it, two on either side. When that didn’t work, the five us grabbed on as best as we could while one end was tied to the forceps. The only thing that broke was our tailbones as we clattered to the ground after pulling too hard.

  I scrambled up to my feet and grabbed the necklace. “What the fuck is wrong with this thing?” I scrunched it up in my hand until the edges of the metal pressed into my skin.

  “It’s a magical cursed necklace made by Hephaestus,” Darren said as he slowly rose to his feet. “What makes you think it would be easy to break?”

  “There has to be a way!” I exclaimed, my frustration bubbling to the surface. “I don’t even know if Violet’s still on campus. She could be brainwashed already, stuck in the middle of nowhere with no idea who we are or how she got there!”

  Ansel got up and crossed over to me. He tried to put a hand on my shoulder, but I jerked out of his grasp, fuming too much to be physically comforted at the moment. But Ansel didn’t look hurt at my rejection. He actually appeared to understand with the way his face softened.

  “Why don’t I go check on things? See if we can’t get a better timeline?”

  I sniffed, fighting back tears, and nodded at him, sure that if I used my voice, it would crack and I would break. Ansel didn’t say anything but gave me a knowing look before he left.

  The rest of us watched him leave in silence as our brains sifted through new ways to break this thing. The Eternal Flame continued to blaze in the forge, but its color had cooled to a baby blue like it was resting.

  I put my hands on my hips and stared at my friends and my mentor. “What haven’t we tried?”

  “Do we have any liquid nitrogen?” Benji asked randomly.

  We all stared at him with confused glances when Benji sighed in exasperation. “You know what I’m talking about. Like how science teachers used to put, like ping-pong balls or bananas or goldfish in liquid nitrogen and then smash them on the table.”

  “Your science teacher killed a goldfish in front of you?” Darren exclaimed, appalled and disgusted by the idea of fish murder.

  “Not a real fish,” Benji clarified frantically. “Like one of those squishy bath toys, you know.” Benji clamped his hands together, mimicking the motion.

  “We don’t have any liquid nitrogen,” I blurted out, stopping their conversation in its tracks. “And we don’t have time to freeze it. There has to be something else. We’re just not thinking of it.”

  “Cheyenne,” Ruby said, and I could hear the caution in her voice, but I didn’t want her lectures right then.

  “I know, okay? I know I’m being harsh and brash, but Violet’s whole life is at stake, and it’s my fault. I need to make sure that we do everything we can to help her and if all I have to do just break open this damn necklace, then--”

  Surprising even myself, I threw the thing across the room with a roar emanating from deep in my chest. The piece of jewelry skidded to a stop nearby the door of the forge.

  Which hung open and revealed Eros, the god of lust, standing in the doorway.

  36

  All four of us stared in shock at the child of Aphrodite and Ares as he stood in the doorway. His wide shoulders took up the whole space, and I wasn’t sure he would be able to come in all the way. But Eros stood where he was and instead bent over to pick up the necklace that I had carelessly thrown at his feet.

  There was a tense silence as the god peered at the jewelry. His lips bent into a slight frown as he held the gold chain up to the light. Then he shrugged and stepped fully into the room. His eyes wandered over all of the tools and the machinery with quiet indifference. He clasped his hands together behind his back as he mozied about.

  “You know,” he said in his brash and bold voice, “I never bothered coming to forge before. It always seemed like a drab and dirty place. Utterly unromantic. But this is quite nice, now that I look at it.”

  Ruby and I shared an uneasy glance. I didn’t know how to respond to Eros’s observations. Was I supposed to say thank you? Or kick him out? Tackle him and tie him down, so he didn’t run to the Olympic Officials and tell them where I was? As if we could manage to take down a god. Instead, my voice seemed stuck in my throat, and I remained silent as I waited for Eros’s next move.

  “I believe this is yours,” the god of lust said as he held out the necklace to me.

  When I didn’t respond right away, Eros raised his dark eyebrows, and the corner of his lips twitched expectantly. I held up my hand, open palm, and Eros dropped the necklace into it. The chain curled along my lifelines, like a worm.

  “You know there are people looking for you, yes?” Eros asked lightly.

  “I’m aware,” I said, my voice weaker than I would have liked it to be. “Are you here to turn me in?”

  “Oh no, dear Cheyenne,” Eros exclaimed, with an offended hand on his chest. “I recruited Oliver Patel and his nymphs. We have been keeping them away from this place. When one of the nymphs came and told me that you burned down the apple orchard with the Eternal Flame, I figured your time would be better served helping with the crisis than locked up for something silly like disobeying the General.” Eros waved his hand nonchalantly. “I was told it was quite a spectacle, your bonfire. I bet it smelled great.

  “So,” I hesitated. “You’re not here to turn me in?”

  “Of course not,” Eros confirmed. “But I came here to warn you that they are planning to erase your friend’s memories in less than thirty minutes, and then they’ll double down on finding you. I don’t know how much longer we can hold them off.”

  “Fuck,” I muttered as I physically stamped my foot. My hand curled around the necklace again while my free hand ran down my face.

  I was out of ideas, and hopelessness began to settle in my stomach like a comfortable cat with no intent of leaving. My mouth ran dry as I thought about how I failed my friend. I pressed
the heel of my hand against my forehead and inhaled sharply.

  “Cheyenne,” Darren said softly.

  “Shut up. I’m thinking,” I snapped.

  “Hey, not okay,” Darren called me out as he stuck a sharp finger in my face. “We want to help Vi, too, okay? You’re not the only one who's frustrated.”

  “I’m sorry,” I sighed as I lowered my hand. “I just don’t know what to do anymore. I thought that, with the Eternal Flame and my tools, I might have the power to destroy it, but…” My voice trailed off as my confidence faded. I sighed heavily and continued on, defeated. “Maybe this stupid Necklace of Harmonia can’t be destroyed. That’s why no one else did it over the past several hundred years.”

  “Nothing is indestructible,” Ruby said like a mantra. “Everything always has a weakness.”

  Eros clicked his tongue knowingly. I shot the man a glare, no longer caring that he was technically my superior as a god, and he had supposedly helped me evade capture. I pursed my lips and held back a snarl.

  “Care to share with the class, Eros?” Ruby beat me to the punch, snapping at the god like he was just any other person and not a superior, supernatural being

  “I just think that Cheyenne is selling herself short,” Eros said with an innocent shrug.

  When he didn’t elaborate, Ruby coughed and waved her hand at the god of lust, prompting him onward. Eros sighed dramatically and crossed his arms while stroking his chin with one hand.

  “I believe she has the power to destroy this necklace, if that is what is needed to do,” Eros said. “She’s just using the wrong power.”

  “The wrong power?” Ruby blinked at her colleague. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  But I could guess what Eros was referring to. My mouth opened inadvertently, amazed at what he was getting at. “But, I don’t even know how to control that power. It just kind of happens. We talked about this.”

  “Okay, I know I’ve been out of it for a while, but from what I remember, Cheyenne has fire powers, am I missing something?” Benji asked the room with a comic tone, though I could tell his question was serious.

  “Ever wonder why your friend has the uncanny ability to just pull myths out of thin air?” Eros said as he curled his hand in the air like he was waving it through smoke.

  “She’s just really smart?” Benji replied, though his voice showed his obvious hesitation.

  “She has the Sight and can dip into that power to see things of the past,” Eros said, ignoring Benji’s answer.

  Darren and Benji looked at me expectantly and slightly insulted. I looked at them blankly. “I didn’t know it was a thing until he told me it was. Then it just never really came up.”

  “Except for now,” Eros jumped in. He clapped his hand together. “I bet you can tap into the past of that particular necklace and figure out how to destroy it.”

  “But it’s never been destroyed before now,” I growled, my annoyance surfacing at Eros’s all-knowing and arrogant demeanor.

  “Why don’t you just have a little look?” Eros prompted with a smug grin.

  “We don’t have time for this!” I protested, waving my arms about in frustration. “You just said we only have thirty minutes--”

  “Less than thirty minutes,” Eros corrected.

  “Exactly!” I snapped at him. “We don’t have time for your games and vague hints. If you’re some snazzy god, why don’t you just tell just how to destroy it?”

  I realized I’d made a misstep the minute the words left my mouth. I’d just let my frustration get the better of me and insulted a god. I closed my eyes and held my breath, fear making my heart stop. If I had thought that Eros was going to help us before now, I had just single-handedly ruined any chance the god had of actually helping us out of this situation.

  I opened my eyes to find Eros inches from my face, breathing sharp and pointed breaths that smacked against my skin like pinpricks. He had his pointer finger pressed against my chest, bruising me with a slight amount of pressure. When he spoke, his voice was low, only a few steps from a grumble.

  “Because you helped me restore my most prized possession, I’m going to let that one go,” Eros threatened. “But make no mistake, daughter of Hephaestus, I am helping you. It is your choice whether or not to listen. I know you’re prone to disobedience, but it would be unwise to ignore my advice.”

  I stared into his golden eyes and held them for as long as I could. But the sheer power of him tapped into a base instinct of mine. This was a predator, and I was prey beneath him. Despite our closeness over the time when we developed the bow and arrow, our week was a blip in the life of this immortal. He could squash me like a bug, and I noticed that he used immense restraint not to at that moment.

  So I decided to oblige him and offer a soft nod, while my eyes shifted down to the floor. I put my pride on a shelf and left Eros to step back. He swept his hair back from his race, and his face fell into a comfortable and confident smile.

  “Now, you don’t have a lot of time yet, and you said it yourself, you’re running out of options,” Eros’s nostrils flared. “Why don’t you give my idea a try?”

  My gaze looked down at the necklace in my hand. The chain looked so delicate and tiny. How could something so small be giving us so much trouble? How could it be so indestructible?

  I thought back to what Ruby had said about everything having a weakness. As I stared down at the gold chain, I decided to ask the piece of jewelry.

  What’s your weakness? How do I defeat you?

  Once again, my vision narrowed in, turning black around the edges. The telescopic view honed in on a familiar scene. I had been expecting to see something from back during Ancient Greece, but this was a modern picture. There were people milling around in modern attire, with their smartphones in their hands. There were food trucks and booths with different vegetables.

  Holy shit! It was the farmers market that I worked at over the summer. The answer to how to destroy the Necklace of Harmonia was at the local farmer’s farmer? How the hell did that work?

  The image panned to two instantly familiar faces that sat knee to knee on a park bench under the shade of one of the few trees in the market. It was my mom and me.

  I nearly jumped out of the vision, I was so shocked. What was happening? Then I heard the tune, and I had a solid guess where I thought this was headed. This was the same moment that my mom had sang the weird song that sounded more like a prophecy than a random tune. Was the answer buried in the lyrics? Like it had been with the dress?

  I closed my mouth and opened my ears, waiting for her to repeat the song. Mom put her hand on my knee, and I prompted her with the silly tune. Her eyes glazed over, just like they had the first time.

  “Oh la de dah de dah de dah, la de dah de dah

  Many adventures to come

  For you my daughter dear.

  Like a gross infection

  On campus will appear.

  A distraction, it will be.

  Do not fret at all.

  Though solve it you must,

  Or a friend will fall.

  Oh la de dah de dah de dah, la de dah de dah

  Focus will be taken

  By a flash of silk and red.

  Follow the steps learned

  To stop the violent spread.

  Love will stay true

  Through the thick and thin.

  An old trick gone rusty

  Will be needed to win.

  Oh la de dah de dah de dah, la de dah de dah”

  The vision went fuzzy and then widened back out, returning me to the forge with Eros and my friends. While my vision might have cleared, the tune stayed in my head, playing like an annoying jingle over and over. The room swam in silence while Eros looked at me with that wide, smug smile all over again. Ruby, Benji, and Darren, on the other hand, looked bewildered and frightened all at once.

  “You know,” Benji commented, “I’m kind of sick of watching you zone out like that. First
with Harmonia and now with Eros. Is this what we’re just supposed to expect when you meet gods?”

  Eros’s eyes darted up to Benji and got into my friend's face with the same kind of intensity that he had just approached me. “What was that about Harmonia?”

  Benji eked out a pathetic sound as he inched away from Eros’s face. He pointed over the god’s shoulder in my direction. “She said Harmonia’s trapped in the necklace.”

  Eros whirled around on me, a desperation in his eyes. “My sister… she’s… she’s actually trapped in there?”

  “That’s my theory, yeah,” I said, surprised at seeing this vulnerable side of the god. “When I put it on the necklace, I was transported to this weird lake place where Harmonia was trapped.”

  “How? How did you see her?” Eros demanded.

  “I think I have a connection with the necklace because my father made it,” I explained slowly even though I hadn’t sorted out all of the logic of it yet. “It’s not made out of pure gold like the myths claim. It had flecks of other metal in it too. It’s processed.”

  “So you were able to sense what was inside the necklace,” Darren deciphered, his natural brilliance breaking through and putting the puzzle together. “You were also able to sense Harmonia hiding inside it.”

  “That’s what I think, yes,” I agreed though he expressed it with more eloquence and simplicity that I could manage.

  “Then we have to break that necklace,” Eros said with a renewed fervor in his voice. “What did the Sight tell you?”

  I had to take a second to regain my thoughts because I was thrown off by the god’s urgency and his new stake in the game. Then I relayed the song my mom sang all those weeks ago to my companions. When I got to the last verse, something clicked in my brain, just like it had when I was alone in the kitchens, dancing around the dress. This time I barely was able to finish the verse in my excitement.