Aphrodite the Fair

by Joan Holub

  “Yeah? Hey, what’s up with that apple trophy of hers, anyway?” Heracles asked.

  “Trophy?” Ares repeated. His mind clicked on the gold metal item he’d seen at the top of Eris’s black bag outside the girls’ dorm the night of his birthday party.

  “God-dude, haven’t you heard about it?” Heracles asked. “Athena’s, like, obsessed with winning it. It’s like that thing’s put her under some kind of enchantment.”

  “Enchantment?” mused Ares. “Hmm.” Could an enchanted trophy be affecting Aphrodite’s behavior too? “I wonder if you could be–oomph!” He broke off, stumbling a few steps forward as someone shoved him from behind.

  Ares whirled around to face off with . . . his roommate? Atlas, who was also MOA’s bulky champion weightlifter, was glaring at him. “What was that for?” Ares asked him in surprise.

  Atlas hooked a thumb toward Heracles. “Why are you talking to the enemy?” he growled. “It’s bad enough that you’re still hanging out with his team captain.”

  “Enemy? Heracles? So suddenly we can’t hang out just because he’s on the opposite team in this dumb grades contest?” Ares said in disbelief. Even though Atlas had some Titan parentage and Olympians weren’t usually pals with Titans, all three boys had always been buds!

  “Some friend you are, Heracles,” Atlas retorted. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten how you tricked me into holding up the sky while you stole those magic apples.” He looked ready to fight! The three boys squared off, their muscles stiff, prepared for trouble.

  “The ones from the Garden of the Hesperides? That happened forever ago!” Heracles protested. “Besides, getting those apples was one of the labors I had to do in order to stay at MOA. And I sent Ares and Poseidon back to get you later, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah, he did,” Ares put in.

  But Atlas only snorted, unimpressed. “Because Athena told you to,” he countered, glaring at Heracles. “At least that’s the way I heard it.”

  “Who told you that? Athena?” Heracles demanded. Now he sounded tense, too, and the two boys began circling each other in a fighting stance.

  “Wait!” Ares ordered. Leaping between them, he held his arms straight out from his sides to keep them apart. Sounded like Heracles’ friendship with Athena had taken a hit recently, just like his own friendship with Aphrodite had. Things with her been going pretty well before this competition started. But by now Aphrodite had become downright snippy with him.

  “In case you forgot, we didn’t choose which teams to be on; we were assigned to them,” Ares told the guys. Although, knowing his sister, it wouldn’t surprise him if she had a hand in helping Ms. Hydra make the “random” assignments so they best pitted friend against friend. “Godsamighty! How come everyone else but me is fighting these days when I’m the godboy of war?”

  Atlas ignored him and started jogging off backward. On the way, he picked up a statue along the side of the path and started pumping it up and down overhead with one arm. Since he was the school’s champion weightlifter, he was always grabbing random stuff to pump like that.

  “You just wait,” he told Heracles. “When this contest ends on Friday, our team is going to crush yours. Then I’ll make you my servant for a day, like Principal Zeus promised. And I’ll find something for you to do that’s even harder than holding up the sky! Like maybe holding up your big fat head!” With that final threat hanging in the air, he tossed the statue back to stand at one side of the path and turned to jog off toward the gymnasium.

  “I hope your workout improves your personality!” Heracles yelled after him. When one of the discus throwers in a nearby section of field called to Heracles just then, he told Ares bye and loped off in that direction.

  Ye gods! This whole grades contest was totally out of control! thought Ares as he headed for the track. After a few warm-up stretches, he freed the wings on his new sandals and began flying laps around the obstacle course, still thinking about what had happened as he traveled.

  Skimming a few inches above the ground, he ducked under bars, spun around as he leaped over small hills he encountered, and banked around sharp curves. The course was magical, so it changed when you least expected it and was always different each time you flew it. The athletic Temple Games weren’t taking place for another month and a half, but he needed that time to get in shape for them. He had just finished his third lap when he suddenly remembered Heracles’ remark about Eris’s trophy.

  Could it really be enchanted? Or maybe her power to create discord had simply rubbed off on it, making Athena and Aphrodite ultracompetitive all of a sudden? He stopped to do chin-ups on a bar beside the track. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Hey! He did a double take when he saw his sister skimming across the courtyard in a pair of winged sandals she must have borrowed from the communal basket beside MOA’s front doors.

  At last! It was high time for a little talk, he decided grimly. Ares dropped from the bars, then whisked across the sports fields. Training could wait.

  “Where are you headed?” he asked when he finally caught up with his sister.

  Eris stopped dead, whipping around so fast, she fell over. She did not look pleased to see him.

  He glanced down the path in the direction she’d been traveling, which went to Earth. “Going home for a visit?”

  “Maybe. So?” she said guardedly. She ignored the helping hand he held out and pushed to her feet on her own, apple trophy bag and all.

  “So nothing,” Ares said. His eyes went to her lumpy bag, and he reached out for it. “Hey, let me see that trophy a second.”

  Her eyes went wide, and she wrapped both arms around the bag. “Why?” she asked, sounding nervous.

  Ares lunged for the bag, but she swung it away from him just in time and skimmed off. He gave chase, calling, “I’ll go to Principal Zeus about this if I have to!”

  Eris screeched to a halt, looking trapped. He was usually the one backing down from her, but now she caved instead for once. “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “You can have one quick look.” She started to slide the trophy from the bag.

  Ares swung out an arm. “Gotcha!” he crowed, whipping the trophy from the bag. He zoomed off with it now, winged sandals flying. His new ones were far faster than her borrowed ones, and he easily outpaced her.

  “Give that back!” Eris protested behind him, frantically trying to catch up.

  But Ares ignored her. As he flew on, he turned the trophy this way and that in his hands. He’d halfway expected to feel an uncontrollable urge to possess it. However, when he didn’t, he slowed, stopping.

  Eris caught up to him and snatched at her trophy. Still, he held her off. She was acting really anxious now, studying his face.

  “Worried I’ll go gaga over it, like Aphrodite and Athena?” he asked. “And what does this inscription mean–For the Fairest?”

  “Nothing. I don’t know what you’re talking about. If Aphrodite and Athena are acting different, chalk it up to the competitive instinct to win, I guess,” Eris replied smoothly. “You should know all about that, war boy!”

  Ha! “I don’t believe you. What’s so special about this thing? It’s not having any effect on me. Seems like a standard-issue trophy. Is it enchanted?” he demanded, finally handing it back to her. Being a good athlete, he had a whole roomful of trophies, many much nicer than her apple one.

  “How could it be? You just said it felt like a plain ol’ trophy to you.” A look of pleased relief flashed across Eris’s face and then it was gone. Maybe he’d only imagined it, he decided, since now she was smirking. “So I hope you’re satisfied,” she said, rebagging the trophy.

  They slowly circled each other, their winged sandals hovering a few inches above the forest path as they stared each other down. “Something’s different,” Ares said at last. “You’re bigger. Taller. More powerful. You’re enjoying stirring up trouble here, aren’t you?” He knew from experience that the confidence she got from making trouble increased her stature and strength. Literally.r />
  “Yeah, MOA agrees with me,” she said unapologetically. “Some of the kids are kind of standoffish, though, like I make them nervous or something.”

  He eyed her. If word had gotten around about his sister being the goddess of strife and discord–which was likely with Pheme’s nose for gossip–then he could well imagine that some kids might be “standoffish” around her.

  “But Aphrodite–I mean, I can see why you like her,” Eris went on. “She’s been so nice, letting me borrow her chitons to wear and everything.” She twirled in a quick circle to show off the one she had on now.

  No surprise that he hadn’t recognized the chiton she had on as one of Aphrodite’s. He paid about as much attention to clothes as his godboy friends did. Which was to say, not much. She must’ve sensed that he was about to question her further about the trophy because she burst into speech before he could break in.

  “Zeus is really happy with the results my contest is getting so far,” she boasted in a rush. “Grades are up across the board. He says teachers report that students have been working much harder in class.” She paused, and that all-too-familiar gleam came into her eyes.

  Ares’s gaze narrowed. “What I want to know is, what’s in this for you?”

  “A spot at MOA, of course! Zeus is bound to invite me to enroll once I’ve proven my value around here. I’ll get him to change that dumb no-siblings-who-aren’t-twins-or-triplets rule.”

  Suddenly Eris whisked closer and darted a hand toward him. He flinched, expecting to be punched or pinched. Instead, much to his surprise, she hugged him!

  “Wha-what was that for?” he asked, stumbling back from her.

  She rolled her eyes. “A thank-you for not ratting me out about being expelled from my last school. And anyway, since when does a big sister need a reason to give her little brother a hug?”

  Ares gaped at her. She’d never needed a reason to pinch or haul off and slug him, either! But she’d done that plenty.

  “See you!” With a bright smile and a little wave, Eris and her bag were off!

  Ares watched her go, feeling totally confused. Once, long ago, his parents had told him that it was his job to protect Eris since she was his sister. She’d never seemed in need of protection to him, though. If anything, he’d been the one needing protection. From her!

  But was it possible his sister was turning over a new leaf? he wondered as he skimmed back to the Academy. If given the chance to enroll at MOA, could she change for the better? Doubtful. She was just riding high on success. It was making her act halfway nice for once.

  When he reached MOA, he looped the laces on his Fly like the Wind sandals around the wings at his heels to still them. Then he pushed through the bronze doors and started down the hall to his next class.

  Sure, students’ grades had gone up as a result of the competition, but at what cost? Heracles and Atlas were barely speaking. Roommates and friends were at one another’s throats. The tension between the competing teams was tight as a wire, and soon that wire was going to snap. Maybe it already had, he realized as he rounded a corner and ran smack into a shouting match between two of his best friends. Ares joined the crowd of students who had gathered around them to watch.

  “It’s your fault I messed up on that monster identification test in Beast-ology today!” Poseidon yelled at Apollo. The godboy of the sea (or lately, C’s) pointed his trident at Apollo in a menacing way. Poseidon was on Aphrodite’s team, while Apollo was on Athena’s, same as Ares.

  “You accusing me of something?” Apollo shot back. “What’s the matter? Scared that big, bad Aphrodite’s going to lecture you?”

  Instantly taking Poseidon’s side, the other students on Aphrodite’s team roared indignantly, while the students on Athena’s team booed.

  “You know you tricked me!” Poseidon yelled at Apollo. “I thought you were trying to help when you let me borrow your notes to study from last night, but you’d changed them all around so they were wrong. Turns out the kobaloi are sprites, not spiders, and they’re fond of tricking mortals, not tickling them!”

  Several students who were on the same team as Apollo laughed. Apollo just smirked and said, “Maybe you just couldn’t read my handwriting.”

  “Ha!” yelled Poseidon. “You wanted me to screw up so your team could earn more points!” With that, he sprayed Apollo with water from the drippy three-pronged end of his trident, drenching the godboy from head to toe. Then he took off running.

  Now Poseidon’s supporters laughed. “Serves you right!” one of them jeered at Apollo.

  “Godsamighty!” Apollo yelled as a puddle formed at his feet. “I’ll get you for this if it’s the last thing I–” He started to run after Poseidon, but just then the lyrebell pinged a warning that the next period was about to start.

  As everyone moved on to their classes, Ares went up to Apollo. “Sorry about that, buddy–” he began.

  Apollo cut him off. “Yeah, I bet you are.” Spinning on one heel, he stalked off to his next class, leaving Ares openmouthed in the middle of the hallway.

  “Hey! What did I do? I’m on your team, remember?” he called after Apollo. This stupid grades contest! He couldn’t wait till it was over.

  He wanted his sister to be happy, but this was just a small taste of how unhappy things were going get for everyone if she got her way and was allowed to become a permanent MOA student. She had to go!

  7

  Liars and Cheats

  Aphrodite

  OKAY, TEAM!” APHRODITE SHOUTED. IT was after school on Wednesday, and she stood at the top of the granite steps that led from the Academy’s big bronze front doors down to the marble courtyard. Half the student body–her team in the grades competition–had gathered on the steps below her with some members spilling out into the courtyard. She’d called them here for a pep talk.

  Aphrodite raised her pink megaphone to her mouth. “Are you ready to win this thing!” she yelled in the enthusiastic voice she used for Cheer Squad.

  “Ready!” her team yelled back.

  “That’s the spirit!” she responded. Truth was, though, Eris had just informed her that her team was trailing Athena’s by several points. That wasn’t necessarily cause for alarm, as the lead had seesawed back and forth throughout the contest. But today was Wednesday. There were only three more days counting today until the contest was over!

  “Now, what will we all be doing tonight?” she shouted through her megaphone.

  “Studying!” her team yelled back.

  “That’s right!” Aphrodite encouraged. Then she led them in a cheer she’d composed especially for this rally:

  “Come on, team–we can do it!

  We’re the best–and we can prove it!

  We will burn that midnight oil,

  And with all our mighty toil,

  The other team’s hopes, we will spoil!

  Get on your feet, and let us hear it!

  (Stomp! Stomp! Stomp-stomp-stomp!)

  Hands together, let’s all cheer it!

  (Clap! Clap! Clap-clap-clap!)

  Go, study, win! Go, study, WINNN!”

  At the end of the cheer, her team erupted in enthusiastic yells and applause. Some of the girls even did air splits, while the guys punched fists in the air. Then, with renewed energy and determination, they started back inside the Academy to go up to their rooms or to the library to study. Too bad students couldn’t earn points for team spirit, Aphrodite thought. Her team would win hands down. Or rather, hands waving up in the air!

  Unfortunately, two godboys named Makhai and Kydoimos, were hanging out on a bench just inside the Academy’s front doors when Aphrodite’s team broke up and started inside. They were on Athena’s team, like Ares, who got along with them for some strange reason.

  As she followed the last of her team inside, the two boys jumped up. Makhai pulled a quizscroll from his pocket and waved it in front of her face. There was an A plus grade on it. She’d heard some complaints about these bullies lat
ely. A few of her team members suspected that they were cheating to better their grades.

  “Read it and weep!” the squinty-eyed Makhai told her.

  Kydoimos waved his quizscroll, too, also graded A plus. “Your team is toast!” he crowed.

  “Get away from her, you . . . you cheaters!” shouted a centaur on Aphrodite’s team. Like many of the boys at MOA, this centaur–half boy and half horse–had long had a crush on her, she knew. Now he pawed at the marble floor with one of his front hooves and lowered his head like he was getting ready to charge the two boys.

  “Cool it, Four Legs!” said Makhai. He sounded cocky, but he took a step back from her would-be champion nonetheless. “You’re just jealous.”

  Then he spoke louder to the dozen members of Aphrodite’s team who hadn’t yet disappeared down the hall to the library or started upstairs to their rooms. “Instead of wasting your time with cheers, maybe Aphrodite should have organized you guys into study groups like Athena did with our  team. Then you might actually have had a chance at winning this Friday. But no, you’ll all wind up servants instead. Hahaha!” The two boys cracked up.

  An angry murmur ran through Aphrodite’s team.

  She aimed her megaphone toward the two bullies as she spoke to her team beyond them. “I appreciate the support and loyalty,” she called out. “But just ignore these guys. They know we’ll win!”

  “Ow! Watch it with that thing.” Makhai and Kydoimos covered their ears and cringed away from her mega-loud voice.

  “Oops! Sorry,” she said sweetly, though she wasn’t. She’d spoken with confidence to her team. However she was a little worried, actually. Because there just might be some truth in what Makhai had said. Athena’s study groups must really be effective if this pair had managed to ace that quiz.

  As if they had suddenly realized how outnumbered they were, the two boys ducked past Aphrodite and pushed outside through the front doors. “Bye, losers!” Kydoimos yelled back over his shoulder.

  Poseidon and a couple of other godboys on her team made a lunge to follow. “Let’s get ’em!”