Designed by Death

by Melody Rose

  A familiar tune popped into my head just then. My mom’s song floated to my inner ear and repeated a crucial stanza.

  Oh la de dah de dah de dah, la de dah de dah

  This decision will start

  A series of events

  An open box overturned

  Spilling all its contents

  Charge forward

  Only ahead you will go

  Trust in those around you

  Rely not on only what you know

  Oh la de dah de dah de dah, la de dah de dah

  I thought about what Temperance had said about trusting my mom’s words. I recited that section of the song one more time and finally made up my mind.

  “Arges?” I said, snapping everyone out of their stupor. All three heads turned towards me as I announced my decision.

  “Yes, Cheyenne?” Arges asked, his voice as calm as ever, giving nothing away.

  “I would like to learn from you,” I said, trying to make sure I said everything I wanted to. “And from you, Phae, and you too, Erich.”

  That last part seemed to surprise the ghost and the goddess. The pair shared an unsure look, but I didn’t give them a chance to respond right away. I continued on with my request. I leaned forward, putting my elbows on my knees and interlacing my fingers together.

  “I think you all have something to teach me,” I went on, my voice growing stronger with each and every word. “I need your help to become a better blacksmith and a better soldier. Will you help me?”

  There was a pause as all three of them considered my request. We heard the wave crash against the rocks outside. Erich was the first to break the silence with a shrug.

  “I’m stuck with you anyway, so why the hell not?” Erich relented.

  “If you promise not to explode my head again, then I’ll help by teaching you some defensive maneuvers,” Phae agreed.

  I nodded my gratitude to both of them and then turned to Arges. He was the first to offer his services, but I didn’t know if I had already missed the window of opportunity. He was an eternal being with more power than I knew. The cyclops had no ties to me, nothing was forcing him to help me. But I asked like he wanted, and I really did want to be better. I wanted to be the best, and I believed I needed his assistance to do that.

  Arges popped his lips and made dissatisfied sounds. Then the cyclops got to his feet, making his way to the exit. I thought for a moment that I had lost the opportunity to learn from him. He was walking out the door when he looked over his shoulder.

  “Phae,” he spoke to his assistant. Despite her aching head, the goddess got to her feet and looked at her employer. “Please show Cheyenne to her chambers.” Then he turned and trained his single eye on me. “Meet me in the smithy tomorrow morning at sunrise. We begin then.”

  Then the cyclops left the room, disappearing into the house.

  18

  “You’re late,” Arges chided at me the next morning.

  “Seriously?” I gestured back out towards the entrance of the cave. “The sun’s still rising. You said at sunrise.”

  “I expected you at first light,” the cyclops said as he whirled around to face me. He leaned back against the workbench, both hands braced against the edge, spread wide.

  “Then you should have said first light,” I argued with a cheeky smile. “Because it takes, like, a solid eight minutes for the sun to rise, so I had an eight-minute window as far as I was concerned.”

  The cyclops’s face fell at my explanation, and I knew I had him. But I kept my face full of innocence so as not to rub it in his face.

  “Are you always this indignant and disrespectful?” he wondered, cocking his head to the side, but keeping his eyeball trained on me the whole time.

  “Not always,” I promised. I walked further into the forge, set my bag down by a smaller workbench, and pointed to it. “Is this my spot?”

  “For now, yes,” the cyclops agreed. He ventured over to me. “But we will not need any of these today.” He promptly took my bag of tools and dumped it on the floor, off the bench.

  “But I thought--” I started, but my instructor cut me off.

  “That is the first thing I need you to do,” Arges interrupted with a single finger raised in the air. “I need you to stop thinking and forget everything you’ve learned before this moment.”

  “Uh,” I stuttered, not quite understanding, but the cyclops didn’t care. He merely barreled on.

  “We will begin here,” Arges stated as he waved his hand over the bench.

  Just then, four rectangular pieces of different steel floated out of the rack and onto the top of the workbench. They arranged themselves into two rows of two and settled down with little fanfare or noise.

  “We’re going to learn how to tell the difference between each of these types of steel,” Arges explained.

  It was my turn to cut him off. I pointed to each one in turn as I stated their names. “Carbon, alloy, stainless, and tool steel.”

  There was a pause as I looked up at Arges for approval. Instead, I was met with a grimace.

  “And which,” my instructor said through gritted teeth, “is the best of those to make plate armor?”

  I opened my mouth to retort but closed it again. I thought back to the suit of armor that Ansel and I saw the museum at the beginning of the summer and how I hadn’t been able to figure it out. I instantly regretted not breaking the museum rules and touching it so I could correctly answer Arges’s question.

  The cyclops seemed satisfied with my lack of an answer because he sucked his teeth and slapped the table twice. “You are here to learn, Cheyenne. Please do not forget that.”

  “But this is basic stuff,” I said, gesturing to the steel on the table. “I know the difference between these metals and which to use when.”

  “But not for everything,” Arges pointed out. “It will be awhile before you pick up a hammer, at least before you do so in my forge. So, we start with the basics.”

  I swallowed my groan and did my best to bite my tongue through the rest of the lesson. Arges wasn’t kidding when he said we were going back to the basics. For the first week of our training, he had me sort through every piece of metal he owned. Luckily, I was able to pick up and put back all the pieces, so it was easy for me to use my powers to tell them apart. Arges soon discovered that trick of mine and forced me to say the types of metals aloud, and he put them away. It took longer, but before long, I would visually identify everything from fool’s gold to nickel to brass.

  Finally, on the first day of the second week, Agres informed me that we were actually going to make something.

  “We’ll be working on a muscle cuirass which is--” Arges began, but I couldn’t help myself. My past Seer knowledge jumped right in and didn’t give me a chance to stop it.

  “Also known as an anatomical cuirass, it is made to resemble a physique desirable for warriors. Well, male warriors,” I said, rolling my eyes at the misogynistic armor. “It was mainly worn by leaders like generals or kings whereas they gave their soldiers poorly made and less attractive armor.”

  Arges’s single eye squinted at me as though I had a math problem written on my forehead. I swallowed audibly and took a step backward.

  “Sorry,” I apologized sheepishly. “Sometimes, that just happens. I can’t help it.”

  “You are a Seer,” Arges deciphered. “That is where all that knowledge comes from.”

  “Yes and no,” I said, physically weighing the options in my hands. “I really am a huge nerd when it comes to blacksmithing, and I did read up on a lot of Greek myths as a kid, but I do have an unnatural ability to pull up random Greek facts seemingly out of nowhere.”

  “I see,” Agres said with a knowing nod. “That is quite the asset you have.”

  “It was a real problem before I knew I was a demigod,” I said, a joke in my voice. “Before that, I was just made fun of.”

  “Knowledge is an underrated trait,” Arges said wisely. “People think tha
t superiority comes from being bigger or physically stronger, but a strong mind can often beat out a strong body.”

  “I see,” I said this time with my own knowing nod. “Do we really have to make a muscle cuirass?”

  “Didn’t we talk about being defiant?” Arges said with his eye pinched shut.

  “Yes, we did, but as a woman, I feel that I should also learn how to make armor designed for the female body, like what Phae wears,” I argued, trying to keep my voice even and far from whiny. It wasn’t that I didn’t think I should learn how to make the original cuirass. I just also wanted to make an updated and more modern one.

  Arges pondered on this for a moment. He tapped his sausage fingers on the edge of his workbench before he waved his hand in a move forward gesture.

  “We can begin with the female form. Then once you complete it, you can wear it with your upcoming matches with Phae.”

  “Oh goody,” I groaned.

  My sparring sessions with the sun god’s daughter happened every other day in the afternoon. I never liked my one-on-one sessions at the Academy, and these were way worse. Because I had to unlearn everything Ansel had taught me in order to focus on the defensive positions and strikes that Phae taught me.

  When I showed up with my female cuirass after I finished it, she outright laughed in my face.

  “Your boobs are crooked,” she told me with a dramatic point. She could barely get the words out through her fit of laughter.

  I looked down at my armor and frowned. “I know, but I had to freehand this one, and at first, I made them too small. I was popping out, and that put me in a different kind of vulnerable position.”

  “Then lopsided it is, I guess,” Phae said as she bent into a crouch. “I hope it doesn’t throw off your balance.” Then she spun on her heel and put her back to me. “I want you to charge me.”

  “What?” I gasped. “Not with your back turned to me like that. That’s not how sparring works.”

  “We’re not sparring anymore,” Phae informed me. She looked over her shoulder. “We’re learning how to defend yourself in real-life situations.”

  “Oh-kay,” I said, drawing out the word. “You know, I did do something like this in college, and I really don’t want to get thrown over your shoulder.”

  “I won’t throw you over my shoulder if you attack me correctly,” Phae pointed out. She turned back to face away from me. “Attack me!”

  After a minute of me not moving, Phae called out, “Come on, Cheyenne. This is the one time I am going to ask you to do something you’re good at. Attack me!”

  Internally, I groaned as a secret knowing crept over me. I knew that no matter how I went about this, I was going to end up in pain and soaking my body in the claw-foot bathtub before dinner. Nevertheless, I looked over the goddess’s stance and figured the best thing to do was to pin her arms so that she couldn’t use them against me.

  I ran up behind Phae and wrapped my arms around her middle, trapping her arms in my lock. Suddenly, the goddess lifted her foot and slammed it down on my own. The pain distracted me from my positioning, and I unknowingly released my opponent. She took advantage of her freedom and slammed her elbow into my nose.

  There was a steady throbbing in my nose, and my hands immediately flew to protect myself. Consequently, I didn't have my hands to brace myself when I landed straight on my butt.

  “I think you broke my nose,” I said through a nasal voice as I held onto my broken appendage.

  “I went easy on you so I wouldn't break your nose,” Phae informed me as she reached out a hand to help me up.

  I took it and got to my feet.

  “My breastplate didn't even help me at all,” I complained.

  “You need to think about every part of you that is exposed,” Phae said, going into her teacher's voice.

  “What am I supposed to do,” I asked only half sarcastically. “Wear bubble wrap everywhere?”

  “As hilarious as that would be,” Phae laughed, “that's not the point of armor. Yes, it protects your most vulnerable parts, but it's still up to you to protect yourself.”

  “I could do that better if I had a weapon in my hand,” I retorted back.

  “No one's saying you can't have one,” Phae countered.

  “That's exactly what you've been saying to me for weeks now!” I protested, throwing my arms in the air.

  “Cheyenne,” the goddess said softly. “You are here to learn the balance between defense and offense. It's not one pitted against the other. They are one and the same, two sides of the same coin. They're there to help you be the best warrior you could be.”

  I thought about what she was telling me and wondered if I had been looking at this whole situation wrong the entire time. I knew that I was supposed to be learning about defensive weapons and armor and techniques, but I always thought that I had to erase everything I had learned before that moment. Hearing Phae speak, I was thinking about how I might be able to meld the two together.

  With a new resolve, I looked at the goddess and said, “Let me try again.”

  “Are you really sure you want to try again? You sure you don't need some in ambrosia to help heal your nose before we get started again?”

  I knew she was mocking me, but I had to push past her taunts. I straightened my back and wiggled my nose, mainly to make sure it didn’t hurt too much.

  “I’m sure,” I replied. “I want to go again.”

  “Alright,” Phae relented with a doubtful chuckle.

  She reset herself and turned her back to me. I took a minute and watched her stance, her body language like Ansel had taught me to do. I thought about her body as a weapon, and while I couldn’t use my metal senses to predict her moves, I thought about what she was defending, what she was protecting.

  A couple of fights ago, I had gotten in a lucky kick to her back. It put us on pause for a little while that day, but the next time we fought, she seemed right as rain. However, as I looked at the goddess just then, I could see that she had her hip shifted forward, pushing her weight in that direction as well, like a rabbit ready to pounce. She was trying not to put too much pressure on her back.

  No wonder she didn’t want to flip me over her shoulder, I thought to myself.

  Suddenly, I knew what I had to do.

  I ran up to Phae’s back and jumped onto her. I wrapped my arms around her neck, like a child jumping up on their father for a piggyback ride. The full weight of me surprised the goddess, causing her to collapse with me on top of her. While I wasn’t quite ready for the sudden fall, I made sure to stay centered so I could pin her to the ground.

  When Phae wiggled her limbs around, I darted forward to get a hold of her wrists and used my knees to nail her calves down. Right then, I knew I had her.

  “Yes!” I cried triumphantly. “I did it!”

  “Cheyenne, let me go,” Phae said urgently.

  “In just a minute,” I protested. “Let me enjoy this moment of victory.”

  “No, really Cheyenne, you need to let me go,” Phae repeated in the same sharp tone.

  I noticed the switch in her voice and stopped my gloating. Right then, there was a weird buzzing noise and a vibrating from somewhere near my chest. I bolted upright and rolled off the goddess.

  “What the hell?” I asked from the ground as Phae got to her feet, looking disheveled from the fall, but her face was completely serious, pulled back at the edges as she pulled out a cell phone from inside her own armor.

  “There’s something wrong,” Phae said, and then she took off running before she elaborated any more.

  “What’s wrong?” I called after her, but the goddess refused to reply. She was already sprinting across the grounds away from me.

  I scrambled to my feet and followed after her. Even though she didn’t specifically ask me to come with her, I couldn’t let the notion that something was wrong just pass me by. Whatever it was, maybe I could help.

  I followed Phae as we dashed across Arges’s land. I
pushed myself to keep up with the goddess, who growled at me when she spotted me next to her.

  “Go back to the house, Cheyenne,” she commanded.

  “Hell no,” I replied sharply. “What’s going on?”

  As she ran, Phae glanced down at her phone and sped up, not giving me an explanation.

  “Seriously?” I groaned, but I pushed my legs, muscles burning to keep up with the goddess.

  Finally, we seemed to reach our destination. We were at the edge of the property, standing at the top of a cliff. But there were no stairs that led down to the forge. There was nothing but a straight drop down to the ocean. The grass stopped just before the edge, and it receded into brown dirt. The wind was fierce up this high. I had to brush it back from my face several times until I noticed that we were even more elevated than the house which was at least fifty yards away from where we stood.

  “Do you see anything?” Phae asked desperately.

  I looked out as far as I dared without my stomach threatening to throw up lunch. I gazed out into the ocean and then back towards the fields we ran across.

  “Not anything unusual, no,” I replied.

  Phae looked back at her phone and looked like she wanted to chuck it over the side of the cliff. “Fuck,” she muttered under her breath.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, my voice dropping into a beg.

  “Our security system says there was a breach,” Phae reported, sounding like a secret agent. “Someone was trying to get in, but I don’t see anyone.”

  “This seems like a weird way to try to get on the property,” I said with a gesture out to the open sea.

  “Just because you can’t fly, Cheyenne, doesn’t mean that other people don’t,” Phae reminded me with a heavy warning in her voice. Then the goddess crept to the very edge of the cliff and looked down it to see if anyone was hanging over the edge.

  It happened so fast that it didn’t seem to be real. Out of nowhere, Phae slipped on the dirt, and she fell flat on her back, like a cartoon slipping on a banana peel. I would have laughed heartily if I hadn’t seen her body begin to sink into the ground.