by Holly Hook
Even in Cursed Academy, there was a hierarchy.
“Greetings,” Celestus said in a very curt and professional manner. “Pull out your notebooks. In fact, you should have one dedicated to this class. Today you will journal any ideas for your future career. This is Career Exploration, after all. You'll turn in your paper to me at the end of the hour so I can have a better idea where to take this class.”
Journaling? I breathed a sigh of relief. I watched Wendy get out her notebook—black with a glittering skull, of course—and start writing while Celestus retreated behind his desk. Wendy punctuated her sentences with angry periods and slashing commas. She didn't seem too happy about whatever she was putting down.
“Write down anything that comes to mind. Some of you may have no idea where you'll go and that's understandable. Those of us with magic have greater and grander options than those without.”
Wendy snorted, almost inaudibly. But Celestus ignored her. The other students wrote, filling the room with quiet scribbling.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I wanted to get over to Olympian, but what did I want to do?
So far, I hadn't been able to get my mind past that stumbling block. Sheesh, I was almost eighteen, with no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I lifted my pencil and held it over the lined paper. Do not go dark. Do not destroy everyone. No, I couldn't write that. Celestus would see it. Prometheus would see it. That was the whole idea of this game.
What was a budding immortal supposed to even pick?
I had to be careful here. What would Maria and Ronin suggest? Maybe it was possible to turn this around and extract some information instead.
I don't know what I'm going to choose yet. I guess it depends on what I turn out to be. And nobody's been able to tell me what I'll be, so I'm confused.
Would Celestus take pity?
It's frustrating not knowing what's expected of me and I'm scared.
I sat there, shocked I'd let that flow. My skin prickled. Celestus was watching me. I went to erase my latest disaster but stopped, eraser in mid-air.
“Your papers, please.”
Crap. It was already closing in on time for Combat Training. And as if on cue, Prometheus walked past our open door and out of the building. I listened as the door opened and closed with a click.
He was already gone.
And I still had to turn in this paper. Already, the others got up and formed a line, putting their journal pages in the bin.
After handing my assignment I made a beeline out of the room.
"Giselle—" he started, but Wendy said something to him and shut him up.
Prometheus had already disappeared into the main building when I got outside, and now Celestus had my awful paper to boot. And when someone clamped their hands down on my shoulders, I screamed, partly due to the horrible tension.
"It's me," Wendy said. "Serena's still writing. Class is completely awkward for her now." A smile crept into her words.
I whirled as the low thrum of dread filled the air. "They hate each other."
"Well, he's well off and she's struggling," Wendy said. "And we all know how jealous she is. Look. Where did Prometheus go?" She flicked her gaze down the gravel trail.
"Don't know. He just took off. It's like he knows we're trailing him."
"Maybe." Wendy eyed the now closed doors of the Career Center. No one else had come out yet. "This won't be easy. He offers no opportunities. Our best shot is you."
"Huh?" As her words sank in, the cold of the Lethe water vial stabbed into my skin. I pulled my robe away from me to stop the horrible sensation. That water never warmed.
"You can steal the powers of others," she reminded me. "For now."
I gulped. "How's that going to help me get close to the principal? Unless we can find powers that make us invisible, we're screwed."
Wendy seized the front of my robe and pulled me close. Despite us supposedly being secret friends now, she was serious, but I couldn't blame her. Her golden-flecked gaze met mine as she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Serena and Celestus have night powers. Powers to make themselves blend in. You might want to check them out."
Chapter Eight
Night powers. That was vague. I thought about Wendy's words through Combat Training and through the rest of the week. Classes went on as normal, with me using my fake Chaos Dagger during Advanced Magic with Mrs. Ershaw. Mrs. Ershaw, despite being a descendant of Hecate just like Dominique herself, actually turned out to be less scary than Mrs. Allenson. In fact, she looked like a kind old grandma in a black robe, not something straight out of the Wizard of Oz.
She liked magic rituals and sitting us in a circle while she read through ancient Greek incantations. Well, that made sense for a witch, and it turned out that focusing on the sigils and symbols of the Greek gods didn't make Chaos erupt around me. Instead, I had a mild case of my copycat power whenever Mrs. Ershaw led us through a group chant and had us stare at a rug of symbols. When we did a group spell to invoke the strength of Ares into us, a bit of extra strength flowed into my limbs and I felt ready for Combat Training. And the week after that, Mrs. Ershaw caught wind that Mrs. Allenson was going to give us a pop quiz, so she had us sit around the symbol of Athena, a sigil that had the eyes of an owl, and follow her through another chant in ancient Greek to invoke her wisdom. We aced the quiz.
"Why can't we have such an awesome teacher?" Mikey asked as we walked out of Divine History that day. "I bombed that quiz."
"Don't worry," I said. "Mrs. Ershaw told us we'll probably never be masters of that kind of magic since we're not from Hecate. We'll just be able to work with others who are so we can get stuff done. She agrees with Celestus that me and the god descendants will probably work for ourselves and will need the extra boost to make it in the world."
"I'm still jealous," Maria said. She pushed open the door to Building B. "I want to join that class so bad. Everyone should be able to do that kind of magic if they focus. I've heard even regular people can do ritual magic if they practice. Yeah, they'd never get anywhere near as good as Mrs. Ershaw, but it shouldn't be closed off."
It was something Carmen would say. My trainings with Celestus continued, and Ronin came with me to every single one and stood on the sidelines. Another small dose of asphodel in the evenings helped, and so did making love to Ronin before every single session. At least I had something to look forward to after classes.
If Celestus suspected we were doing our best to sabotage him and was upset, he was a pro at not showing it. He continued to send shadows after me, in the forms of everything from alligator jaws to ghosts to even snarling horses, but he kept his distance, and I knew that if I managed to take his powers and figure out what Wendy meant, I'd bring myself closer to maturity.
Dealing with the shadows was bad enough. I could shatter them by pointing my dagger and summoning small voids, but Celestus made spirits that were more solid and powerful than Serena had. Closer the Nyx and therefore, Chaos. During some sessions, Celestus let me use my fake dagger, since he had no idea my real one was probably gone forever, and when I could use that, the power of night didn't affect me as badly.
But soon, I'd have to face the worst again.
But Celestus kept his distance from me, standing at the other side of the burned arena with his arms folded. He remained distant, both emotionally and physically. It was as if he were afraid of having people near him.
And one night in mid-October, Celestus held up his hand, motioning for me to stop as I slashed a shadow snake in half.
The dark serpent, vaporous but complete with stars shining on its back, writhed and sunk into the ground. I swallowed. The low groan in my head remained, but I'd achieved my goal of not making it worse. Over the past few weeks, I'd gotten used to dealing with the shadow creatures he sent my way, even if they did make the low groan rise within me.
"What's the problem?" Ronin asked from the sidelines. He motioned to the snake, drawing back his hand when he
accidentally reached over the barrier. Ronin seethed at the heat and rubbed his palm.
"You're stalling," Celestus told me, taking a step forward. "You've been resorting to the same moves again and again. That's easy to do, but it makes you predictable in a fight."
"That's something Max would say," I said. He'd given me, and the whole Combat Training class, the same lecture.
Celestus offered a rare smile. I looked away before heat could flush into my face. "I want you to work on other ways during the next fight, okay? Perhaps more hand to hand."
Crap. "Okay." I loosened my grip on the dagger. Of course this trick wouldn't last long.
"Come on," Ronin said once I was out of the makeshift arena. "Let's get back up to your dorm. Or if you want, we can check out the dining hall and see what our buds are up to."
"That would be good," I said, picking up my pace to the back doors of the main building. Night was already settling. But the trees around me popped in color, with orange leaves mixing with the dark green needles of the pines. Yeah, I wanted to escape Cursed Academy more than anything, but I had to admit the place looked awesome around Halloween with its black marble buildings and green torches inside.
I had to tell Maria and Mikey that I needed a new, creative way not to go dark during these mock fights. And a way to get close to Prometheus that involved using Celestus's, or even Serena's, powers. Already I felt like our time was running out this year and it was just October.
Ronin's phone buzzed. He pulled it out and frowned.
I knew from the look on his face what the problem was. "Giselle, I need to go do some damage control."
"Zeus?"
"Yeah. And Ares. And Hera. They want to talk to me."
"It's about me not training with you, isn't it?"
Ronin squared off with me and to my shock, smiled. "This might be my chance to explain to them what Prometheus has done. I...I did try to reach Zeus, but he doesn't pick up his phone often."
"But you're his son." Had Celestus been getting to him worse than I thought? So much he hadn't wanted to admit trying to get his father involved?
"He's busy." Ronin swallowed. "I'll tell them the titan hasn't left you time to train with me, and it's the truth. You should feel good that they want you over at Olympian already." But at that last sentence, his smile dropped away and I knew Ronin still hated the idea of me getting shoved into the spotlight.
My heart rose and beat harder. Ronin wasn't touching me, but I could feel the air turning electric with his nerves. "Why don't we ask them to help us with this crazy plan, then? I haven't been able to get close to Prometheus and neither have Maria, Mikey, or even Wendy. Wendy says I need to steal the power of the night to do that."
"Maybe you could ask Mrs. Ershaw how to do it?" Ronin asked. "I don't know her, but from what you described, she seems all right. Look, I can't be late." He punctuated his sentence by backing towards the shared combat arena.
"I can try," I said. If she could provide me with a way to harness Nyx's power without having to attack Celestus or Serena, that would be good. But I hated the thought of doing that. This could be a way to get me to mature faster, a trap Prometheus was setting. It was worth a shot.
Ronin broke into a run, leaving me alone in the dusk, leaving me between the makeshift arena and the back of the main building. I could go inside right now. Or trail Celestus, take his power, and explore exactly what Wendy meant. But a shudder gripped me, and not just due to the cold night air. I hadn't taken Nyx's power into myself since that first disastrous fight with the shadow alligator jaws. If I made one wrong move—
Prometheus would have what he wanted.
I couldn't deny it anymore. He didn't care what I became, so long as I became something impressive. Maybe he even thought I could use my void powers to destroy the Lower Order. That would put Cursed Academy, and all its students, on the map after years of oppression.
A twig snapped.
I faced the woods. A faint light shone through the window of the titan's house, which was nestled in the distant trees. I thought of spying, but knew I'd never get close enough to see a thing. Thanks to that magical barrier, I was screwed in that department.
But a dark figure approached the house, back to me. A black robe swished in front of the house. Celestus.
I watched as he walked over the barrier, without so much as his hair smoking, and knocked on Prometheus's door. The door opened, revealing another shadow against the light, before the two vanished behind the closed door.
* * * * *
My thoughts kept turning to Ronin and whether my trainings with Celestus would stop. But no one knocked on my door the next morning, and once down to Divine History Three, no one knocked on the door of my class and pulled me out. What gave? Zeus didn't care about class time. When he wanted to talk to you, he did it because he was Zeus.
I waited for my phone to blow up with texts from Ronin, but those didn't come, either. He'd have to tell me what went down tonight, then.
Before I went to train with Celestus again.
The silence dragged out. Maria and Mikey asked me what was wrong as we walked from Building B back to the main building, where I'd have Mrs. Ershaw for Advanced Magic.
"I've heard nothing," I told them, barely able to form spit. "Ronin might have gotten in serious trouble. I've been texting him since late last night and he hasn't responded. I don't like that." My nerves rose with every passing hour. Ronin never ignored me like this.
"Maybe he got sent away," Mikey said, pushing open the back doors to the main building. They opened with an ominous creak just as a group of first years tried to exit.
"The gods wouldn't send him away. Would they?" I asked.
"Doesn't sound like something they'd do," Maria said. "Especially since you need Ronin to not go dark. Maybe they're coming up with a way around the Division Oath. You know, a way to help you."
I hoped she was right. Hiking up my backpack, I turned the corner and waved to my friends. Maria and Mikey didn't share Advanced Magic with me, and I hated that, but I wanted to talk to Mrs. Ershaw.
I found her leaning over her desk, alone, poring over an old book that looked like it might have come from the forbidden Olympian library. Magical symbols and sigils decorated the pages while the text itself was in both English and ancient Greek. She was so absorbed that she jumped when I entered the room. Since there was a fifteen minute gap between Divine History and Advanced Magic, people usually took it and socialized. It was clear Mrs. Ershaw wasn't counting on someone being early today.
But she didn't close the book. "Hello, Giselle." A warm smile spread across her lips and for a moment, I couldn't wrap my mind around her being descended from the same dark magic goddess as Dominique.
"Hi," I said. "I want to ask about Nyx's magic."
Then Mrs. Ershaw closed the book, but not without respect. It was an old volume with no title that you'd never see in Mrs. Allenson's classroom. Probably something forbidden to students that Maria said you could find on the black market.
"Nyx's magic," she said, pacing as her black robe flowed around her. Mrs. Ershaw was hunched, unlike Dominique, as if she'd spent her whole life bent over dusting antiques. "It's not very common. Few people are descended from the goddess of night, as her palace is deep in the Underworld beside Chaos. No one has seen it." A question burned in her statement. Why did I need this information?
"I want to know about all the night powers a descendant of Nyx could have," I said. "Our library here in Cursed Academy isn't very good. All it really does is praise the gods. I have to train with a descendant of Nyx tonight and he wants me to come up with new ways to fight him." How much did Mrs. Ershaw know about me?
But she smiled. "Yes. The gods sure like to look good. No one likes their faults to be public," Mrs. Ershaw said, facing me. She moved a chair to the side, leaving room on the black carpet for students to sit in a circle. "After the Awakening disasters calmed down, they were horrified that their faults were still written a
nd popularized in what people called myths."
"Myths?" I knew that before the Awakening, the stories about the gods were considered just that—stories, written by authors thousands of years ago. No one thought of them as true accounts.
Mrs. Ershaw winked at me. "I'm no spring chicken, Giselle, but I do remember some things. They used to teach Divine History as Mythology in regular schools well before that earthquake in Greece woke the gods. The stories were a bit...different back then."
"You're saying the gods changed them after they woke?" I asked.
My teacher moved to stand behind her desk. She rummaged through a book of attendance sheets, running her finger down lists of names. "Yes. They might be immortals, but they're people. And they wanted to leave the ugly past behind."
"Wouldn't anybody?"
"Yes." Mrs. Ershaw fixed me in a stare that made me backpedal. Her golden-flecked eyes were intense. Intelligent. Tingling magic swept over me. "And you didn't hear this from me."
The door to the classroom opened and Wendy stepped in, with Serena and Percival trailing behind her. I'd wasted time. Wendy shot me a glance as if questioning what I'd accomplished so far, and that was nothing. So I wandered off to sit near the circular rug.
So much for asking Mrs. Ershaw for a safe way to access Nyx's power. Of course, she'd gotten distracted. But I couldn't help but think that she and Maria would get along well.
Mrs. Ershaw led us through a session of invoking the power of Iris today, which made me feel good inside and see rainbows behind my eyes whenever I blinked. The mood in the room lifted, but when I left class to head to lunch, the feeling dissolved.
“Hey. Did you manage to snag any of Celestus's power?” Wendy hissed in my ear as I turned the corner.
I jumped and whirled right there in the corridor. Wendy acted as if we'd been walking side by side. One of the heatless green torches spit behind her. I didn't see Serena or Percival anywhere. In fact, the whole corridor looked empty.
