by Holly Hook
Heat rushed into my face and I stepped back from the podium. The darkness waited for me to use. Of course these students didn't want to put themselves at risk against the gods. They were sane and none of them wanted to die.
"Thank you," I said, stepping away.
I found myself in the corridor, sitting on the bench near the entrance.
"Giselle. Good speech," Prometheus said.
"Nobody wants to help." Even my scary voice and presence could convince no one. I understood it with Serena, but the others?
"Most people want change," the titan said with a sigh, "but they don't want to do the work unless they're backed into a corner. But you have help."
Yes. I did. There was that.
I forced myself to stand. "When does this happen?"
"Soon. Very soon. The Lower Order is working on the final details. We'll get you when the time comes." The titan was shaking and weak.
I shuddered, thinking of my chain reaction. I could be dead by the end of the week. Or dormant or just completely nonexistent.
Ronin stepped out of the dining hall. "Giselle, you know the staff are going to fight with you. Well, except for Natalia. She's staying behind. We need to work out a plan. I'll talk to Cal. We might be able to drum up more assistance."
"Maria and Mikey should be with us," I said, struggling not to break down. I was almost glad they weren't. They wouldn't have to die when I caused a chain reaction that broke down Mount Olympus for good.
"Yes. They should," Ronin agreed, sitting beside me. "We'll get them both back. Cal's also going to fight beside us. He's been working on a little something that I think will surprise you."
* * * * *
The next few days consisted of students wandering around Cursed Academy, muttering amongst themselves and avoiding me. No one wanted to get close to the one about to try taking down Olympus. A few of the students dared to glare at me, mostly the first years who hadn't had a taste of reality yet.
Whatever Cal was working on, he didn't say, because he left campus and vanished. He left Mikey alone, at his request.
And I didn't see Mikey much during that time. He didn't come out of his dorm much, despite me and Wendy knocking twice per day.
"Mikey, it's fine," I said. "This is almost over." I didn't have the heart to tell him about Maria, who was still lying in the basement.
"I'm sleeping," he said in that seductive voice.
"You can't do that forever," Wendy said beside me. "Cal says he's doing everything he can to make sure we win when we invade Olympus. You know he has tricks up his sleeve."
"I'm glad you can be positive."
"We need you to help fight!" I shouted, accidentally filling the hallway with my voice.
A couple of doors opened down the hall and some guys peeked out, then closed their doors again.
"Let me know when the time comes," he said. "Until then, I'm sleeping."
"Maybe it's better this way," Wendy said as we walked away from Mikey's closed door. "He doesn't know about Maria. Hopefully this can blow over and she'll wake up, not realizing anything happened." Wendy didn't sound hopeful.
"We have to visit her," I said, knowing it was the right thing to do. I hated seeing that empty shell that looked like my friend. I couldn't stand it for more than a minute. Maria wasn't even there to benefit from us being there. But it was the right thing to do.
I had to torture myself and atone.
So I spent the rest of my time sitting in a chair beside Maria, trying not to think, trying to focus on the soundproof padding of the walls. Ronin came down and sat with us, and we discussed our plans in front of her in the vague hope that she'd hear.
"...and we should always have an exit strategy," Ronin said. "I'm assuming the heart of Olympus is the throne room of the gods. We get in there, you do what you have to do, and then we get out."
I swallowed. "And then we profit."
"Yes." He kissed me on the temple. Ronin was shaking.
Footsteps raced down the basement stairs, and I rose, peeking my head out of the secret room while Maria continued to breathe, locked in time. It was Cal. He'd returned, and his cheeks were flushed. His eyes, hard and determined. "I've found," he huffed, "I've found resistance who wants revenge against Zeus. Never underestimate the power of a bunch of angry girls."
"Huh?"
Ronin emerged behind me, followed by Wendy. "Oh. So you stalked the list I made."
"List? What's going on?" I whirled on Ronin.
"After Zeus ruined my phone," Ronin said, "I started investigating. Remember the former students I told you about? The ones he harassed?"
"Yeah," I said. "You're saying Cal found them."
"Graduates. Yes," Cal said. "A lot of them have stories they fear nobody will believe because Zeus can do no wrong. Most of them fear Hera, too."
My mouth dried out as I thought of what dozens, if not hundreds, of girls and women had endured at the mercy of the sky god. Employees. Former students. Maybe even current students. My skin crawled.
"Come on," Cal said, facing me. "I brought them through the opening you left. Try not to scare them too badly."
I breathed in, rising, glad to be out of the secret room. But I faced Maria. "See you soon."
No reaction. I turned away, swallowing over the massive lump in my throat, and followed Cal up the steps. Elliot would be alone when he sat with her tonight. Ronin and Wendy came up behind me. Now I was about to see how many girls had suffered at the hands of Zeus. And possibly Hera, since she had a thing about victim blaming.
Cal had gathered a dozen young women, a few of them as young as me, and all of them had golden-flecked eyes, indicating they were descendants of gods. If I paid attention, I sensed a bit of heat. Sunlight. Even the hint of a rainbow. The ladies in the corridor were all well-dressed, in slacks and skirts and even designer jeans. They came from money, as most descendants of light gods did, and a dark-skinned young woman in jeans and with perfect, silver painted nails forced a smile as I stood in her presence. I blinked and got an impression of flowers, doves, and just plain beauty. A descendant of Aphrodite, then.
And now these perfect women were standing in the presence of me, hoping I could help them.
"Hi," I said.
"I'm Virgeat," the silver-nailed woman said, keeping her arms by her side. "You had trouble with Zeus, too?"
"To put it mildly," I said. Focus. I had to keep my atmosphere back. I would not lose the help Cal had gathered. Already the ladies shifted side to side, unnerved.
"Zeus...can't keep his hands to himself," Virgeat told me. "Until Cal found me, I thought I was the only one he tried to touch. I was lucky. I got away and moved across the country when I graduated. But it appears he moved on." She nodded sadly at the other young women behind her.
"None of us wanted to come forward," another young woman, a blond, added. Though she remained still, I sensed swiftness. A descendant of Hermes, like Ronin's mother had been. "Zeus is too powerful. And we would have only endangered ourselves. We're not raising daughters in a world where he's in charge."
"And he'll be in charge soon, once he controls all the resources," Ronin said, swallowing. This was hard for him to say. "No one but the most loyal will be safe." He shrunk back. All these young women in front of him were hard for him to face. "I'm so sorry, ladies."
"It's not your fault," Virgeat said. "From what we heard, you've suffered too. And they trained us to look down on the monsters. No one's attacked me since we got onto campus."
They were rational people, then. And powerful people. "You want to join the fight," I said.
Virgeat smiled. "Why else should we come here? We wanted to meet the girl who kicked Zeus in the nuts. Now show us where we can eat. We all had long flights and airline food is sub-par."
"Oh. That." I blushed.
Under other circumstances, I knew some of these ladies wouldn't talk to me. Some hung back as I led them to the dining hall and showed them where to get some food. A few of the
young women grimaced at the offerings, probably disappointed it wasn't caviar and lobster, but they didn't complain. We all sat down at the empty fourth years' table. Cal talked about how he'd tracked down some old students from Olympian Academy, called them, sent online messages, and had to ask awkward questions to see who stepped forward when it came to Zeus's roving hands. Apparently, he'd spent hours messaging hundreds of former students, but only gotten a dozen responses. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
Cal looked at me after he was done explaining, silently asking how Mikey was doing.
I owed him after he'd gone out and found help. So I pulled him aside and told him.
"And I keep telling Mikey over text that everything's going to be okay," Cal said. "He doesn't believe me."
"You did this for him."
"Yes." His inner glow flared. "And I'll go to Olympus for him, even if it kills me."
* * * * *
The dozen former Olympian students stayed on campus overnight, and Cal encouraged them to take some empty dorms, which were all fully furnished. There were, sadly, plenty of empties just in the girls' dorms alone. Cal himself had to take Percival's empty room.
And Wendy was speechless about that. She vanished afterwards and I sensed she needed alone time, so I let her go.
Then I couldn't sleep.
I had the overwhelming feeling that at sunrise, the plan would go into action. Ronin and I paced around Cursed Academy together, stopping in front of Mikey's door, and then Maria's secret room, and then Wendy's door. Tension lived in every corner, which my senses picked up. Even the dining hall felt tense, despite the mostly warm visit earlier. Ronin and I couldn't even go and try to make love. Not in this atmosphere. What if I destroyed us all tomorrow? The thought should make me want to take Ronin to bed, but instead, it dropped a dark curtain over everything and I hollowed out inside. If that happened, nothing would matter.
And that was real destruction.
Eventually, we retreated to the dining hall after many silent laps around the school. Ronin and I sat beside each other all night, watching the clock. I couldn't stop gripping the table. Eventually, the front door to the school opened and Prometheus himself walked in, unlocking his office.
It was four A.M.
I had to ask him if he knew anything.
And when I found him in the hall, pushing his door open, his pallor and tremors told me that yes, he knew something, and it had to do with fighting Zeus. He was dangerously close to breaking the Oath.
"Hey," I said, meeting him alone.
"Giselle."
"The attack is today, isn't it?"
Prometheus swallowed. "Today might be your big day, yes." He scrambled into his office and opened a drawer, drawing a bottle of nectar. I watched as he slurped it down, but it did little to calm his tremors.
"Careful," I said, no longer able to hate the titan even a little. He'd given so much for the world and he was willing to give again.
"You know, I was wrong about Ronin," he said. "He's a good young man."
My jaw dropped. "You're changing your mind about Ronin. Now I know something's going on." Heaviness settled in my chest. The titan wouldn't blurt out something like that unless--
Celestus stepped into the building from the main entrance. Cold winter air blew in as he let the door close behind him. "It's today, Giselle. The gods can't wait any longer or they'll succumb to the Oath. Both of you. Come on. Natalia and Cal are waking the others."
Oh. I peeked back into the dining hall and motioned Ronin out, wondering why they needed him again, and hoping that whatever opening the way to Mount Olympus entailed, it wouldn't hurt him. He got up and stood with me in the corridor.
Prometheus rummaged around in his office, then emerged and closed the door. He handed me a vial of the golden liquid. "My last one," he said.
I took it, tucking it into my robe pocket. "Thanks."
Without a word, he motioned us to the back door while Celestus followed in silence. We walked past the basement, where Maria was still dormant. We walked past the entrance to the guys' dorms, where Mikey was still too ashamed to show his face. I would be going to war without them.
Ronin slipped his hand into mine.
At least we were facing this battle together.
Celestus seemed to know what was going on, and bags hung under his eyes as if he, too, had been up all night. He opened a side door for us and let us step out into the cold, still-dark morning. Hard, icy snow crunched under our feet as we crossed the grounds of Cursed Academy, following a set of torches that spit fire, forming a trail into the trees. I knew who had set them up but didn't dare say so out loud.
Natalia walked up beside us, once again in her black robe. She looked as if she'd emerged from the shadows. "Hey, Giselle."
"You're helping to open the way to Olympus?"
She held a dagger, the same dagger she used to draw the blood of students who visited the Sorting Temple. If I remembered right, it was the same weapon she'd used to stab Zeus in the back. Natalia rolled it in her hands absently as Ronin stared at it.
"Happy memories," he said.
"Yes," Natalia said. "They needed an oracle. Dominique can't do the ritual by herself, even if she is a powerful witch. The Order was never able to recruit any oracles so they need me. It's rare that they recruit anyone from Olympian Academy."
The Lower Order was going in with me. I found it oddly comforting. I wouldn't have to do all the dirty deeds myself, even if I had to deliver the final blow.
The torch trail led us into the woods. We walked past tons of footprints already in the snow. Paw prints. Even twisted lines that looked like serpent paths. All sorts of creatures had gathered tonight to prepare for the final battle. The air grew tense even though this part of the woods was still part of the Cursed Academy campus.
Ronin slipped his hand into mine. He was shivering.
I squeezed. If we got out of this--
The torch trail lurched downward, and I realized we were heading into a clearing made of packed dirt, ice, and a single, giant tree trunk in the center that looked to be a century old. Oil lanterns sat everywhere, revealing a circle of black-robed, hooded figures. I caught my breath. There were far more Lower Order members here than I remembered from anywhere else. Perhaps a hundred, standing three deep around the periphery of where the ritual would take place. On the tree stump was a black bowl full of water, and Dominique herself stood before it. The sight looked like something out of a horror movie and instinctively, I grasped the handle of my dagger.
She nodded and waved us forward. The Lower Order had left an opening for us to enter the giant circle. We did, Ronin and I first while Prometheus hung back. Where was everyone else?
"We must wait for our soldiers," Dominique said. "They need to see you here as they arrive."
I swallowed as we stood there, surrounded by Lower Order members. I was the moral support. Yikes. Ronin tensed. Celestus joined Natalia while the titan remained outside the circle, leaning against a tree and barely hanging on. I studied the faces under the hoods. Men and women, seemingly from all walks of life. Some looked human on the outside. Others had only single eyes. Still others had fangs, or blue skin, or hairy brows.
And one of the faces was Duncan, a descendant of the god of death who had joined the Order at the end of our first year. Our gazes met. He had a beard now. Scars lashed his face as if he'd seen a few battles. His eyes were hard, but no regret lived there. And soon Wendy would see him for the first time since then.
Our soldiers arrived a few minutes later, crunching through the torch light and down the trail. The former Olympian Academy ladies came first, and instead of skirts, designer jeans, and fancy blouses, they were decked out in supernatural riot gear. Helmets. Shields. And swords. It looked as if these ladies had looted the Combat gym at Olympian Academy for all the gear they could get their hands on overnight. It was no wonder we hadn't seen them.
Ronin nodded to them as they stepped into the circle,
armor clanking, seemingly not caring about the Lower Order being there. Even some of the hooded figures nodded to them. "Thank you for joining us."
"We trained for this. Never thought I'd use it," Virgeat said. She was clearly the leader. "I always asked myself why I took Combat in school if I'm going to invent fancy nail polish? Max always told me to shut up."
"I sure did!" Max shouted from behind the line.
My heart leapt. My former Combat Training instructor paraded to the front of the ladies, just as decked out and holding a huge, heavy broadsword with fighting warriors on the handle. It had to be his birthright weapon. With Max, the mortal fighters might have a chance. He didn't screw around.
Max offered everyone an encouraging nod, though he kept his expression dead serious. Here was the face of a man who would die to defend the world.
"You showed up," I managed. The last time I'd seen Max, he'd looked at me with fear and despair.
"When these ladies," he motioned to the young women, "told me what happened, I knew I had to fight. I have a daughter and a son. I don't want them growing up under Zeus."
I hadn't thought Max had children.
Ronin looked at me and winked. "I'm glad he's back."
As I waited, the others arrived. Cal. Wendy. Both held their swords and had borrowed some of the armor from Olympian Academy, thanks to these amazing young ladies.
Wendy managed a smile. So did Cal, though desperation lived in his eyes. I waited for more fighters, especially Mikey, but none showed. Max frowned at the empty, torch-lit trail behind us.
I let out a wispy, spiraling breath.
"We have people on our side," Ronin reminded me.
Prometheus finally walked into the circle and stood near the tree stump and the crystal black bowl of water. And this time the gods were following him, emerging from the surrounding trees.
Though I no longer felt overpowered in their presences, the ripple of shock and mutters through the Lower Order made a shudder race down my spine. Wendy and Cal cringed. Even Dominique took a step back from the stump. Apollo entered first, circling around me and standing before the black bowl. Then Artemis, and then Hephaestus, and then finally Hermes entered to stand beside the titan.
