The High Court

by Chris Ledbetter

  “I’m not doing it!” Meter said. “Look at Zeus. He hasn’t been right since he did it. He’s almost died ten times since he went up there. It’s cursed.”

  “That it is!” Tia stepped through the crowd. “I told him not to go up there. Didn’t I?” She held my gaze directly. “I told you. Hard head makes a soft behind, doesn’t it, Headmistress?” She turned to Rhea. “I’m not sure I agree with this plan. That throne is dangerous.”

  “But look at the powers he gained,” Metis countered. “We wouldn’t have gotten out of Tartarus alive without him, without his gifts.”

  “And now look at him.” Tia folded her arms. “I’m not usually a negative Nereid, but I am genuinely afraid of that thing up there.”

  “It’s not all bad.” I argued. “Hera’s not cursed. And neither is Shade. If we put all our different abilities together, we’ll be one super power … better able to fight moving mountains.”

  “I need everyone to be on board with this initiative,” Rhea said. “But, I feel compelled to warn you. Whatever dawns in you, I cannot undo. And when all is done, you must never turn your deity magic against your Mount Olympus Preparatory Academeia classmates.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Two hemeras later, after the early morning smooth sailing of Oceanography class, the gathering storm of tension and anticipation had thickened so much a sword could’ve barely cleaved it. Four hemeras stood between us and the trials against Hyperion for killing Anytos and Kronos for killing Ouranos. For me, those trials couldn’t come fast enough.

  We all huddled in the lab of the Observatory, the house that Ouranos built, during the class period slated for Advanced Astronomy. Rhea ensured all of her litter was accounted for and then ushered us between the tables, stopping at the base of the Observatory stairs that led up to the Sky Throne.

  “Before we ascend, let me be clear about one thing,” she began. “Ouranos and I kept you all off this throne for fear you couldn’t handle the immensity of it. The transformation. The transmutation. We were wrong to hinder your growth. Clearly your shoulders are built to handle the weight of the cosmos. And so you shall. As Ouranos’ death taught us, none of us are totally immune to the purest evil. But we can be prepared for it.”

  I raised my hand. “Now might be a good time to discuss who is actually going to rule the Sky Throne when this is all over.”

  Hera put both her hands in the air. “Me. No question.”

  “Who says it is going to be one of us?” Meter asked. “Why not Headmistress Rhea? She’s next in line.”

  Rhea chuckled. “For the record, not only did I sit on it, I actually tried to control it once … it didn’t go well. The power of the throne is always present, but in order to control the heavens, there’s a crown that enables brain-environment interface. The crown stays locked away in my office. The last time I put that crown on, it rained for forty hemeras and forty nights.”

  Hera patted Rhea on the back. “I am equal to the task. I am the best student, after all. With immense power comes immense responsibility. I will absolutely remember all the little people after I ascend.”

  Shade laughed. “If only they gave awards for humility. I’m so sure you’d … not win.”

  “Confidence is the new sexy, Shade,” Hera said. “Try it on sometime.”

  “I’m older,” Shade said.

  “Umm, hello,” Tia said. “I’m oldest. First born. I have the best claim to the throne. But I don’t want it—”

  Demeter put her hand on Tia’s shoulder. “And that’s exactly why you should get it. All of you who are campaigning for the throne are too ambitious by half.”

  Amphitrite stepped forward. “I realize it’s not my bloodline, so I don’t have a dolphin in this fight, but I side with Tia and Meter.”

  Don pulled Phi’s arm. “What?”

  “Betrayal,” I said, pointing between Phi and Don. “Water a little shallow—”

  “Shut it!” they both snapped simultaneously.

  Don turned to Amphitrite. “Babe, why would you say that? You don’t want me to command the throne? We talked about this. After I sit on the throne tonight, my power will eclipse Zeus’ little sparkly hands.”

  “Proving my point,” Demeter said.

  “Oh,” Don said. “You side with Zeus? Huh?”

  “The only person siding with Zeus in particular at the moment is Metis,” Demeter clarified. “My pick is still Tia.”

  “Please don’t make Zeus go back up there.” Metis waved her hands. “I don’t want him on that damn thing either. He’s already a handful and four-fifths.”

  “Thanks a lot,” I said.

  “You know it’s true.” Metis reached for my arm.

  I yanked my arm away.

  Don pleaded with Headmistress, “Are we going to do this or not?”

  “Yes,” Rhea said. “It’s time. Everyone must go up so that we all can work together to defend ourselves. Don, you’re first.”

  Don shot me a smirk, then marched up the stairs, including the invisible ones that jut out over steep mountain below, and plopped down on the throne. After a moment, his skin turned iridescent aquamarine from his feet up to his neck. He stretched his muscular arms wide, moving his fingers in a motion as if to beckon to the universe to give him more. A golden aura surrounded his entire body, casting a dull glow on the tunnel and Observatory roof. In an instant, the aura disappeared, falling and then absorbing into Don’s skin.

  “Your skin, baby,” Phi gasped. “You look incredible! How do you feel?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t feel any different. I mean, my body tingles all over. But that’s about it.” He flexed his muscles this way and that.

  “B-but you had blue and green … scales … all over your body,” Phi exclaimed.

  “And the golden aura …” Meter said. “It absorbed … into you.”

  “I know,” Don said. “But I received nothing like what Zeus got. And I can’t read minds like Hera. And I can’t disappear like Shade. At least I don’t think I can.”

  Suddenly his eyes rolled back into his head and he stumbled down one stair, then three, then tumbled toward us like an avalanche. Aphro dodged his falling body, but he hit Shade square in the chest. They fell backward, rolling down into the lab.

  “Damn, son,” Shade said. “Either you got a lot heavier or I’m weaker.” He laughed rolling out from under Don, who lay unmoving. “Don … get up. Don?”

  Rhea gasped and rushed to Don’s side. She tried to move him but couldn’t. Shade and I managed to roll him over and sit him against an internal wall of the lab. His forehead had a nasty gash from temple to temple from striking one of the stairs on the way down.

  Rhea motioned her hands frantically. “Someone go get some water.” Phi and Metis immediately took off. “Zeus, I need you at the ready.”

  I twisted my lip. “To do what exactly?”

  “Shock him, of course.”

  “I-I-I can’t use my power against my brother. I won’t.” Thoughts immediately raced back to Tos. “I could never be responsible for another brother’s death.”

  Rhea glared at me. “Just do what I tell you. Trust me. I don’t have time to explain.” She turned around again. “Water, please!”

  Phi and Metis rushed back into the Observatory with buckets of water from the bathhouses. Panting, Phi brought both to Headmistress. “Please save him, Headmistress.”

  “Everybody clear?” Rhea asked. She took up the bucket of water and whispered, “I sure hope this works.”

  We all stepped backward, forming a semi-circle around the center of attention. Rhea tossed the water onto Don’s motionless body. I half expected that to revive him. It didn’t. But the gash on his head closed up like it had never been there. And then his body soaked up all the excess water around him like a sponge.

  Wide-eyed, I gazed on, trying to figure out what the water could’ve done to heal such a wound. Someone shoved me from behind. I
turned. Metis’ brows were pinched.

  “Go,” she said.

  “Go where?” I asked.

  “How long do I have to call your name? It is still Zeus, is it not?”

  I shook my head to clear some obvious cobwebs. Had I blacked out?

  “Your name’s not Zeus anymore?”

  “No. It is. What is going on here? You wanted me?”

  Rhea felt my head. “You’re a little warm.” She checked my back. “Toxin is moving a bit, but otherwise holding steady.” She wheeled me back around. “This may hurt you a bit, but I need you to shock him.”

  My puzzled expression must not have gone over well.

  “Now, Zeus!” she yelled.

  “Shoot him or …”

  “Hands to the chest. Do it!”

  Gasps erupted all around the lab. Hera and Metis both covered their mouths with their hands. Shade grabbed his hair and pulled it backward.

  The familiar sting of a thousand needles prickled my hands. Yellowish-white energy strings with a hint of blue encased my hands like gloves. I knelt beside Don, extended my arms and crackling hands. I closed my eyes with a silent apology and then pressed my hands to Don’s chest.

  His body jumped and convulsed. But when his body calmed down, his eyes opened. Phi rushed over and tackle-hugged Don to the floor.

  “All right,” Don said. “I’m fine.” He stood up and wobbled several steps. “What in Tartarus just happened? Why are you all crying?”

  “I’m not crying,” Tia said, wiping away tears. “You are.”

  My back wrenched and spasmed as Rhea had predicted. I grunted.

  Metis approached. “You alright?”

  Rhea cast a concerned gaze toward me. “Thank you for what you did, Zeus. Now it’s time for you to take it easy.” Rhea sighed loudly. “Now that that’s all taken care of … who’s next?”

  “Oh hell no!” Aphro said, propping her hands on her hips. “I’m not going anywhere near that damn chair. I don’t even need whatever you think it offers.”

  Hestia paced, rubbing her forearms up and down. Phi continued to comfort Don at one of the Observatory lab tables. I ambled over to them to make sure I’d done no lasting damage to him.

  Meter raised her hand slowly. “I’m not crazy about this, Headmistress, but I love this family enough to try. No one has died … yet.”

  “Good,” Rhea said. “And, you’re not going to be the first.”

  Demeter climbed to the throne and eased onto the seat. She closed her eyes and then preemptively cringed in anticipation. A green aura surrounded her for a few moments, and then absorbed fully into her body. Then beginning at her neck, bright yellowish-gold streaked down through her entire body to her feet. Dark, hunter green followed the same pathways. She suddenly slumped against the back of the throne.

  “Meter!” Shade scrambled up the stairs. “You all right?”

  She nodded weakly. “I just … have no energy. I feel like when we escaped Tartarus. I thought this thing was supposed to give you power, not take it away.”

  Shade helped Meter down to the Observatory.

  “Go get an amphora of nectar from the Andron.” Rhea pointed to Metis and Hera. “Hestia, you’re next.”

  Her celestial green eyes snapped wide. “Do I have to?” When Rhea nodded, Tia sighed and climbed begrudgingly. Turning, she closed her eyes, and sat gingerly upon the seat of the throne. Her skin brightened to a blinding yellowish-white, then black as deepest night. The hair on her head stood on end and then, beginning at the roots, turned blond all the way to the ends. When her normal, deep auburn hair color returned, it fell limply to cascade over her shoulders again. Finally, an orange halo of light traveled over her body from her toes and fingers up to the crown of her head as fiery sparks swirled slowly around her.

  Tia stood suddenly. “Is that it? Phew. At least I didn’t fall unconscious.” She descended the stairs like nothing had happened and tapped Phi on the shoulder. “You’re up, lady.”

  Amphitrite pursed her lips and adjusted her hair restraint. She bent over to peck Don on the cheek. He grabbed her hand. Phi pulled slowly from his grasp, before climbing up and sliding across the marble seat of the throne. She bolted to her feet briefly, only to seemingly be yanked back down by an unseen force. Ahhh, the chaotic magic of the throne. A soft whimper escaped her lips. As she sat, strapped invisibly to the chair, a silvery blue sphere orbited her in a random elliptical pattern.

  Don took two steps before being halted by Rhea.

  I suddenly noticed that, at some point, Pontus had entered the lab behind us and made his way to the stairs to witness the transformations. When Phi struggled again to rise but couldn’t, Pontus moved to help Rhea hold Don back. Rhea held fast to his shoulder, no doubt calming him as she has all of us at one time or another.

  “Whatever is occurring, she can handle it. Trust me.” Rhea soothed. “She is becoming the young woman she’s meant to be. Transformation is the process by which iron stops being some dull piece of metal and becomes its manifest destiny, a finely-honed weapon.”

  When Phi was finished, she stood on uncertain legs. Rhea finally allowed Don up to help her down.

  “I got you,” Don said as he wrapped Phi’s arm around his shoulder. Her arm and his shoulder glowed bright blue where they touched. Then suddenly, she turned to him, grabbed his face with her hands, and kissed him with the deepest kiss I’d ever seen from them in public. A ribbon of deep cobalt energy swirled around both of them from their heads to their toes and then expanded into a wide blue circle that extended out to the horizon.

  Rhea turned to Aphrodite. “I realize you’re new, and this is a lot to take in. I can’t force you, but you may ascend to the throne when you’re ready.”

  Aphro crossed her hands in an X in front of her. “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need anything from that chair.” She chuckled. “Besides, can you all imagine me with deity magic on top of all this?” She waved her hands up and down her body.

  Hera groaned.

  “What about you, Metis? Have you gone up yet?” Rhea asked.

  Metis coughed. “Um, yeah. I got close enough.”

  “Did you dawn any powers?”

  I stepped forward. “I can vouch for her abilities—”

  “You would.” Hera laughed.

  “Damn right, I would.” I crossed my arms. “Why wouldn’t I? Seriously, Metis analyzed and calculated the strategy that Pontus used in placing the posts on the field … and correctly predicted that one would be submerged in the river.”

  “Impressive,” Pontus’ baritone voice rumbled. “I thought sure no one would find that one.”

  “Well done, girl. You’re fitting in nicely.” Rhea studied Metis’ face and smiled. Rhea commanded our attention with a simple narrowing of her eyes. “I realize that this is new to you all. And exciting. And frightening. And empowering. Deity magic can be disturbing and unnerving when it first dawns. For some it dribbles out. For others it rushes forth like a torrent.” She sighed. “And you never know ultimately what you’ll get. My ability to calm and soothe dawned on me by accident when I was interrupting a quarrel between Kronos and Ouranos. But mind reading freaked me out. It was immediate and unforgiving, like everyone yelling at me inside my brain … all at once.” She waved her arms wildly in the air. “Until I learned to control, harness, and filter it. You all will need to do the same once your deity powers matriculate.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Rhea gazed commandingly around at us all. “Stronger now than you were, I need each of you to haul two Hurler posts down to the entrance gates.” She paused. “Don’t look at me with that tone. From there, the Cyclopes will take the posts to the lower academy at Limnos for later use. They’ve been trying to rekindle the fires of our own forge and can’t seem to spark things to life.”

  “Oh right,” Shade interjected. “Because there’s a forge there at Limnos.”

  “And, it’s far larger t
han ours here.” Rhea nodded. “Brontes, Arges, and Steropes will craft weapons and armor for each of you.”

  “Oh man,” Hera chuckled. “Shade, you actually remember something from your youth? I thought that accident when you bumped your head erased your memory.”

  “I’ll have you know,” Shade said as he hoisted two Hurler posts into the air. “I have near perfect recall. Like an elephant.” He stared into Hera eyes. “So don’t cross me.”

  Hera laughed. “Yep. I see the resemblance. Big ears. Long nose.”

  Shade performed hammer bicep curls with the Hurler posts while exiting through the door to the observatory. Tia and Metis hugged their posts close to their bodies while Hera and Meter tucked one under each arm as they, too, headed out. I gripped the posts, rough under my palm, close to the neck to lift them to rest on my shoulders. The density and heft of each post still surprised me, despite being stronger than I’d ever been in my life.

  The pulsing blue lights of the posts bobbed ahead of me as we all walked down the night path from the Observatory toward the front gates to our school. Near the rear of our convoy, one of Metis’ posts slipped from her grasp. She probably should’ve sat all the way on the throne. She groaned to lift it back up.

  I sidled back to her. “Want me to get that?”

  She waved me off. “Absolutely not.”

  The Cyclopes greeted us outside the immense, obsidian gates.

  “Thank you for bringing these to us, Rhea,” Brontes said. “The observatory is a wee bit tiny for us to fit inside.”

  “You think?” Tia joked.

  “Yah, but now you’re here for the most important step to designing weapons and armor for Olympians,” Arges stated. “You all must reverse infuse your posts with your signatures.”

  “Invert my what with my who?” Shade asked.

  “Is that a bag of rocks on top of your shoulders?” Tia joked.

  Shade immediately dropped his posts on the ground with a thud and began feeling around his neck, shoulders, and upper back.

  Meter, Tia, and Hera looked at one another and shook their heads.