The High Court

by Chris Ledbetter

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  When I opened my eyes the next morning after a surprisingly uneventful rest of the night, the light of day revealed a sprawling campus dominated by stone structures. I gazed out my window at the panoramic views of the bay around which the campus had been built, and the Aegean beyond. It all reminded me a lot of Eastern Crete, in too many ways.

  We all washed up in the bathhouses and returned to the barracks to find fresh tunics. However, the garments proudly exhibited the large ∧ with two hammers crossed beneath, in contrast to our MO Prep tunics, which displayed the legendary Ω symbol. I thought back to how no such insignia existed on the Eastern Crete tunics. And then I wondered who even provided these tunics to us given that—if last night’s heated exchange was any indication—we weren’t exactly welcomed guests.

  On our way to the baths and back, Limnos faculty and students shot us glances that varied on a range from curious to disgusted. My own classmates even flashed me puzzled, if not scrutinizing expressions. I had the most trouble reading Meter and Tia’s faces. But Shade, Hera, and Don’s were unmistakable. Rhea, Pontus, and the rest of my faculty avoided my gaze. At that moment I didn’t care.

  I dressed in the foreign, ill-fitting tunic I’d been given, and then headed outside to the fresh air path that lead to their eating hall. Metis, Phi, and Aphro were just ahead talking while they walked. Phi busied herself wrapping her wet hair into a pony tail secured by a leather strap. Her blue hair appeared nearly obsidian when wet. Aphro had taken her hair down from their puffs and let the dark, mahogany brown loose curls and waves cascade over her shoulders and down her back.

  Metis threw up her hands. “What’s with all these snapping turtles passing off as headmistresses? First my mother, Tethys, on Crete and now this sea monster here at Limnos? I don’t remember our Kithira headmaster being so inhospitable.”

  Phi smoothed down her tunic. “I only got sent to the office once for being out of dress code. Other than that, I kept my nose clean.”

  “You lie like a cheap tunic!” Metis laughed. “Remember when you first met Poseidon at the swim meet?”

  Phi smiled. “Mmm, damn he was fine. Even at that young age, too—”

  “You do like ‘em young.”

  “Shut your face.”

  Aphro drove her fingers through her hair and flipped it from side to side. “There’s a new headmistress there now than when you attended Kithira.”

  “I saw her when you arrived at MO Prep the first time,” Metis said.

  “Ah, yes,” Aphro said. “Well, rumor is that she was hand placed by Gaia. No interview process or anything.”

  “You trading in rumors now, Aphrodite?” I called out from behind them. “What else do you know that you shouldn’t?”

  All three girls stopped mid-stride and turned to face me.

  Aphro propped her hands on her hips that her tunic could barely contain. “I beg your pardon.”

  Metis patted Aphro and Phi on their backs. “I’ll catch up later, girls.” She walked back to me, looped her arm through mine, and pulled me behind a nearby building. “What did you mean by that back there?”

  “Nothing. But maybe Hera was right. Maybe she’s hiding something. We didn’t start getting attacked until she arrived here.”

  She gazed deep into my eyes without speaking for longer than was comfortable.

  “What in the Underworld do you want?” I snapped.

  Metis scoffed. “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.” I folded my arms. “If you’re gonna be a judgmental sour olive like everyone else, you can take a hike.” A twist of pain wrenched my lower back and then receded.

  She gripped my chin tightly. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

  “Are you finished roasting me over the spit?” I asked. “I really need to eat something.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. One escaped down the side of her cheek.

  “So, we’re done here, I guess?” I continued to walk toward the building where their eating room was housed.

  Behind me, Metis whispered, “I guess so.”

  I didn’t have time for her whiny crap. I entered the structure and followed the noise until I found their eating area. Above the arched doorway, a sign read Syssitia.

  I entered the crowded room to find a much different food spread than we had back at MO Prep. This morning meal consisted of barley bread, olive oil, figs, and tagenites, small, flat round cakes made from flour, oil, honey, and curdled milk. I loaded my terra-cotta plate, grabbed a goblet of water. No nectar here. Dammit. What were we gonna do without nectar?

  At a far table, Phi and Don laughed at something. Adjacent to them, Tia, Meter, and Aphro engaged in light conversation as well. I serpentined through tables filled with Limnos Academy students—Nereids and Potomoi with every shade of blue and green in their hair—and approached the clustered tables of my classmates. They ignored me when I sat down.

  “That whole dance last night between Eurynome and Rhea …” Don said in a low tone. “What do you make of that?”

  “You think it’s true what Eurynome said?” Meter asked. “Is Rhea even who we thought she was?”

  Everyone shrugged. And frowned.

  “Was last night just a bad dream?” Tia asked around the table. “It’s all a bit too much.”

  “Or are we still stuck in the same dream?” Meter replied. “We didn’t wake up in our own beds. It’s like those nightmares you can’t shake.”

  Phi twirled her knife blade into the table. “Those beasts better not touch my cabin. It took me a long time to curate my seashell collection. I picked my first as a tiny tadpole back on Kithira.”

  “Oh heavens!” Tia exclaimed, grasping the fabric of her tunic over her heart. “My heart rocks. Those monsters better not have touched my rocks, dammit.”

  “Well, we all know they could smash Shade’s bungalow to tinder,” Hera joked. “And it would actually improve the appearance considerably.”

  Laughs rang out.

  Shade jabbed Hera lightly in the arm. “I’m not taking your bait. I won’t let you get my sheep.”

  More laughs erupted.

  “It’s goat, not sheep.” Don doubled over laughing.

  I pounded my goblet on the table. “They better be gone when we return. If I ever meet a monster like that again, I’ll slice it in half.”

  All conversation dropped as soon as the last syllable fell from my lips. Furtive glances crisscrossed the tables.

  “Why is everyone so quiet all of a sudden?” I asked.

  Don turned half way toward me, but then Phi pulled his arm.

  Tia stood up and finished chewing the bread she’d bitten into. Once finished, she spoke. No joyful sparkle lit her green eyes. “I speak for everyone here when I say …” She sighed. “You need to get yourself under control.”

  Fury burned anew. My entire lower back felt like someone had pressed a hot log against me. “You gonna start in on me, too?”

  At that, the entire room got quiet. All gazes trained on our tables.

  “What is wrong with you, Zeus?” Meter asked. “What happened to that boy I met on his first day at MO Prep?”

  “Why does something have to be wrong!” I exploded, shattering my plate on the table. “Why don’t you all just leave me alone!” I pointed to everyone at the table. “You’re the problem. Not me.”

  “Zeus wait …” Hera stared at me for several moments, similar to the way she gazed at me the first time we met in the Andron. Her eyes narrowed. A voice tried to break through mentally but was drowned out. She frowned, one side of her mouth lifting higher. “Why can’t I get through to you mentally?” She called as I turned to leave. “And why is the back of your neck black as Tartarus?”

  I whipped my head back and forth and cupped the back of my neck. Hot to the touch, I too wondered what it was. And then the pain in my back suddenly grew unbearable … flooding me as if I’d been subconsciously supp
ressing it, and then the dam had broken. I grabbed my lower back with my other hand and doubled over.

  Hera and Meter reached my side first.

  “Are you alright?” Meter asked.

  I growled. “I’m fine!” But the searing pain forced me to take a knee.

  Hera snorted. “See, that’s the thing. You used to be fine. Now, you’re just plain ugly.”

  “Get away from me!”

  Hera half-chuckled. “Make me.”

  I struggled to rise to my feet but couldn’t. Twisting cramps and searing spasms wound my back and side into knots.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  I grunted through clenched teeth, as the aches in my back increased sharply … while the temperature at the rear of my neck rose considerably.

  Meter pleaded with me. She touched my wrist. “Please, Zeus. Let us help you. Let me help. I can probably funnel the sun’s energy through my body to yours and—”

  “No!” I grunted through the increasing pain.

  “Stop helping him,” Don said over the din. “He’s clearly turned into a self-absorbed goat’s rectum. It’s a good thing we’ve all sat on the Sky Throne. Now we can counteract this virus!”

  Tia arrived by my side next. “Seriously, Zeus! Is this some kind of ploy for pity? I’m beginning to get sick and tired of your crap.” She put her hand on my shoulder. “Damn.” She immediately pulled her hand away, shook it, then reapplied a gentle touch.

  The oddest thing happened. The temperature at my neck and the pain in my back both decreased. Significantly. I turned toward Tia, suddenly able to regain my faculties and free movement. Fiery sparks spiraled around her arm. Or perhaps my vision had been impaired. Perhaps I’d made that up.

  “Umm … thank you,” I uttered.

  “For what?” Tia asked. “Are you feeling better? Feeling like yourself again?”

  “Yes … actually.”

  “Good.” Tia’s glare was devoid of warmth. “Then stop acting like a volcanic rectum.”

  Hera helped me to my feet, all the while staring at me like I had horns emerging from my head. “Do you mind explaining what in Great Gaia’s Terra had gotten into you just a moment ago? We were almost ready to write you off. But we don’t do that. Mu Omega Pi.”

  “I’m ravenous.” I said.

  “Then you should definitely eat something,” Shade said as he strode over. “By the way, where’s Metis? I thought sure she’d have been able to rein in this crap behavior of yours.”

  “Damn,” I whispered. “Metis …” I abruptly left the Syssitia without eating a morsel. Probably a bad idea, but I needed to find her. Except I had no idea where to begin.

  Just before I exited their great megaron hall to go outside into Helios’ light, Phi caught up to me.

  “I’m certain you’re going to scold me for my behavior back there, so let’s have it,” I said.

  “As an upperclassman, and someone who knows your friends and classmates better than you.” She placed her left hand on my shoulder. “What you did back there … not cool. But, since you’re back to something resembling normal, I’ll help you try to find Metis. Because I can almost guarantee that the reason she’s MIA is that you offended her. And I can help smooth things over. Hopefully.” She sighed and turned me toward her. “But if you ever do this again, I won’t intervene and you’ll lose her forever.”

  I nodded. “Let’s go find our girl.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  After winding through countless Limnos lower school Nereids, and frantically checking the barracks and the bathhouses, Amphitrite suggested we go to the waterfront. We found a path down the hill from campus to where the bay rushed up to wet the sand. Jagged hills framed the beachscape to our right and left. Metis stood there alone, allowing the surf to wash over her toes. Salty breezes swept her blond tendrils from side to side.

  Phi turned to me. “This is her happy place. And mine. That’s how I knew she’d likely be here.”

  We approached Metis. She turned slowly, her eyes red and swollen.

  “Ummm, yeah …” Phi said. “I think I heard someone calling my name. I’ll leave you two.” She turned to Metis. “Girl, you know I wouldn’t have brought him down here if he wasn’t ready to grovel.” She clicked her teeth and winked, before leaving us.

  A thick, briny headwind divided the space between Metis and me. In the silence, I contemplated dual philosophical dilemmas. How does one cross a chasm? How does one eat a pachyderm? The answer wasn’t the same for each. And yet there I stood with the insurmountable task of performing one or the other. Or both.

  I cleared my throat. It wasn’t loud enough to be audible above the sea winds and the crash of waves, which also meant that she probably didn’t hear it.

  “Sounds like you’re a little nervous over there,” Metis said over the bay noises.

  So, she had heard me. “Metis …” Words jumbled in my throat, confused as to the order in which they should emerge. I took a deep breath.

  “The guy I knew … the guy I fell for … had confidence for stadia, even when he shouldn’t have.” She wouldn’t even look at me. “He wasn’t a coward. He didn’t push away his allies either.”

  I stepped forward, finally having found my voice. “Metis, I don’t know what’s happening to m—”

  She whirled toward me. “Those are the first words out of your mouth?”

  Dumbfounded, I took a step back.

  “Before you say another damn word to me, you have one more chance to get it right.” She turned to me and crossed her arms. Her hazel eyes were icy. “I have already been through one goat dung relationship that I’d just as soon erase from history. But I will not do it again. I’ll be alone before I let you hurt me.” She turned back toward the bay. “Choose your next words wisely.”

  I closed my eyes. Memories washed over me … of how we met … of the night in my bungalow after the wrestling championships … the night before we journeyed to the Underworld. A lump swirled in my stomach, stirring a spot of nausea. My throat closed up just before I would’ve spoken. I cleared my throat again. Louder that time. My back began to throb again. I tried to push it back down, at least until I had said what I needed to say.

  “Metis, I am sorry. I truly am.”

  She slowly turned to me. Her eyes remained swollen through a smile. “You bet your ass, you are.”

  “Seriously. I am so sorry.” I took two steps forward. “Something strange is happening inside me. Something I have no control over. I feel like I’m going mad.”

  Metis shook her head. “I thought the biggest problem I was going to have with you this term was that eye-magnet, Aphrodite. I get it. She’s pretty. Golden-bronze skin. Hips like the moon, straining the seams of her chiton. Long curly hair. Full lips. I mean, if I didn’t love you, I’d push up on that in a moment.”

  My brows raised, but she was deathly serious.

  She continued, “I can’t compete with …” Fresh tears formed. Her lips trembled. She twisted her hand around in the air. “That … whatever she is. But I thought that was the biggest obstacle to us. But that’s not it at all. Now I see the biggest threat to our union … is you.”

  Her words wounded me deeply like a spear to the chest. My lower back tightened and spasmed. I winced when my spine twisted. My mouth opened but the scream refused to exit. I took a deep breath to speak. “The way I’ve been acting … It’s not me. It’s not who I am. Don’t you see that?”

  “How do I know that, Zeus? Despite my strong emotions for you, your behavior is giving me pause—”

  “But it’s not my fault!” My voice rose.

  “Zeus … I realize that we haven’t known each other that long. Maybe this is the real you?”

  “NO!” My spine twisted again. “No. Please. You have to believe me.”

  “Why are you yelling at me? This is exactly what I’m talking about. You sound just like Atlas.”

  “I’m nothing like
him!” I yelled in a voice I’d never heard escape my throat before. Pain shot higher up my neck. I dropped to one knee from the immensity of agony. Yellowish-white strings of energy surrounded my fist just before I punched the sand, creating an imperfect starburst of glass. A dark hole dented the beachhead beneath.

  “You’re scaring me, Zeus!” She stepped backward and gripped the hair just above her forehead.

  The pain in my back grew so intense that a single tear fell from my left eye. I tried to stand but couldn’t. Metis crouched slowly in front of me and tipped my chin upward with her finger. She slid her hand against the heat of my cheek and wiped my tear. As soon as she did, a tear fell from her own eye. She crept around to my back, then tugged the neck of my tunic.

  “It’s the neuro-poison from Campe’s barb, isn’t it?”

  I stammered. “I-I think so.”

  She walked back around to my front. With her feet firmly planted in the shallow surf, Metis stood me upright and placed her hand on my chest. “Look at me. We’re going to find a way to help you through this, but you have to try harder, too.” Coolness suddenly surged into my body and coursed through my veins. Within moments, my spine loosened.

  “Wait,” she said, looking at her own hand. “Do you feel that?”

  I nodded.

  “Whoa. I didn’t even know I could do that. It’s coming up through my feet. Whatever it is.”

  “It’s working.” I stood straighter than before and then wrapped my arms around her. “Thank you so much. Thank you for putting up with my crap. For helping me … saving me just now.”

  “Now that we have an idea of the problem, we can figure out a solution.” She sighed. “I’m just relieved to know that this wasn’t the real you coming out. We were almost over for good.”

  I released her and held her at arms’ length. “Thank you again. Truly. Although, Tia did something similar earlier, but it was more heat borne. And there was no water around.”

  “Hmm, good to know who the healers are among us.” She rifled her fingers through my hair. “I bet my ability is tied to seawater, not river water, because I was not able to do anything to help you when the giant thing attacked in the Caldron. But, honey, you need to let me know when you need help, instead of alienating everyone.”