by Raine, Eliza
We changed as quickly as we could and somehow weren’t the last to reach the side of the pool. I tugged self-consciously at the swimsuit I was wearing. It was the shiny, scaly material my Mom had been wearing, and it glittered blue in the light. It was used to swim classes, but I was the new girl, and a Titan. Everybody was looking at me. Tak strode over, smiling. His face morphed as he approached us though, horror forming as he pointed at the water and shouted,
‘What’s that?!’
I turned quickly to look with everyone else, gasps and startled cries rippling through the crowd as I scanned the clear water, but I could see nothing. Zali punched his arm, hard.
‘Tak! You’re such a child,’ she chided him and he snickered. There was nothing there, I realized with a long breath out. Tak shrugged.
‘I got bored. Thought it was time for a little wind up.’ I saw his eyes race up and down my body but they settled on my face and he smiled. ‘Ready for a swim?’
I nodded, my heart rate slowing.
‘I swam a lot at home,’ I answered. ‘I love being in the water.’
‘Me too,’ said Zali happily.
‘It looks like this class is mostly humans,’ I said, looking around and spotting Arketa and her crew. She pulled a disgusted face as she met my eye, and turned away. At least she would meet my eye though. All the other students I tried to smile at turned hurriedly, avoiding my gaze and beginning animated conversations with friends. It was almost like they were scared of me.
‘Some are them shifters, like me,’ Zali said. ‘But lots of non-humans, like centaurs, wood nymphs, harpies, satyrs; they’re naturally forest or sky dwellers so they’re not very happy in the water.’
That made sense, I thought. Laughs and snickers started up around me and I turned to see what people were giggling at.
Icarus was walking over to the pool, wearing blue shorts like the other boys. His chest was hard with lean muscle, and I gulped as he approached the group. His head was hung forwards, his hair covering most of his face and those incredible eyes. He didn’t stop when he reached us, but carried on past and I stared at his back. Between his shoulder blades were two tiny back wings. They weren’t much bigger than my hands.
‘He has wings?’ I said, incredulously.
‘If you can call those wings,’ snorted Tak.
‘Don’t be horrible,’ said Zali, scowling at her friend. ‘He’s in my shifting class. It’s sad really. Everyone laughs at them but he can’t make them bigger or hide them. They just seem stuck like that.’
I cocked my head as I squinted at Icarus. He threw me a dirty look as he came to a stop at the far edge of the pool, away from everyone. Maybe that’s what Professor Dasko had meant about him having a hard time here, that everyone laughed at his wings. I didn’t find them funny though. I wanted to see them again. Were they fully-formed and tiny, or like fledgling wings that had yet to grow properly?
‘Silence, class!’ rang out a sharp voice. Everyone fell quiet as a tall, lean woman in a swimsuit like ours approached the pool. She had her dark hair tied in a tight bun on top of her head and looked serious.
‘That’s Miss Alma. She takes most of the physical classes,’ whispered Zali.
‘Today we’re going to be racing. Team A outside, team B inside. Into the water, now!’
There were splashes and laughs as everyone jumped into the pool.
‘Which team am I?’ I asked Zali.
‘Miss Alma!’ she called loudly. The teacher came over to us. ‘This is Pandora. She’s-’
‘She’s an Oceanus descendant. I heard. Can you swim?’
She fixed her gaze on me and my eyes flicked to the strong muscles bulging on her arms she put her fists on her hips.
‘Yes,’ I nodded, nerves setting in.
‘Can you swim well?’
‘I think so.’
‘Team A then. Outside. Stick with Zali.’
Then she turned, and dove into the pool, the water barely making a splash.
‘Wow,’ I breathed.
‘Yeah, she’s pretty awesome. Tak fancies her like mad.’
I looked around for him, spotting him in the pool.
‘He’s in team B, so he stays in the pool,’ she said. ‘But we go outside.’
‘Outside? As in, the ocean? How do we get there?’ I asked win amazement.
‘I’ll show you,’ she grinned.
It turned out to be pretty simple. I just had to swim at the dome. It was a little alarming at first, but there was a slight sucking noise, and I was through. The water of the ocean around me was cold compared to the warmth of the pool and my head suddenly being underwater was a slight shock, but the feeling of freedom was instant. Zali gave me a thumbs up, then swam easily back through the dome, to the pool. I followed her, taking a big breath once I’d crossed back over.
‘That’s so cool,’ I said, treading water as I pushed my wet hair out of my face. Students all around me were swimming back and forth through the dome. ‘What happens if you come back through further up?’ I asked.
‘Then you fall,’ Zali said.
‘Can’t other people get into the academy like that?’
‘No. The academy knows who’s a student and who isn’t.’
‘Really? How?’
‘I dunno. I think it’s to do with a register Chiron has.’
‘Team B races first! Line up along the far edge. You must spend at least half the race underwater, or you’re disqualified,’ Miss Alma’s voice called across the pool. There was a scramble as students made their way through the water to the edge of the pool the teacher was pointing at. Zali dragged me over to the opposite edge, where all the other students were pulling themselves up to sit on the side to watch. I did the same, my feet dangling in the water. Zali stayed in the pool.
‘Will your legs not get tired?’ I asked her. She shook her head and a whistle sounded.
We watched, cheering Tak on loudly as everyone raced through the water. Some of the students were really slow off the mark, floundering at the back, while others were faring much better. A small girl with red hair and a determined face was paddling behind everyone, her progress slow but steady. Icarus wasn’t far in front of her, swimming lazily, ducking under every now and then. There were five people at the front, including Kiko. She was taking big breaths, ducking under and kicking hard, then surfacing and repeating, and she was edging out in front. The boy next to her threw her a sideways look and began kicking harder. Tak was in third place.
‘Come on, Tak!’ I yelled. The water around my feet began to move as they approached. Tak had overtaken the boy in second place and was gaining on Kiko. I gasped as she kicked out at him, catching him on the shoulder. He rolled slightly, then ducked under the surface, moving away. The move had cost him time. I looked around indignantly for Miss Alma, waiting for her to say something, but she just watched in silence.
Arketa and Filis cheered as Kiko reached them, touching the other side of the pool first. Tak and the other boy reached the end a moment later, at almost the same time.
‘Well done, Kiko. A few more like that and you can move up a team. Next group!’ Miss Alma called.
‘What? But she kicked him!’ I exploded.
‘You do whatever it takes to win here, Pandora,’ the teacher said, fixing her eyes on me. ‘Olympus isn’t fair, so neither is the academy.’
I frowned as I slid back into the water. Surely teaching the next generation to behave badly didn’t help? Dad would never condone hurting someone else to get ahead. A bolt of sorrow shot through me as I pictured his stern face. I wish I knew if he was alright.
I followed Zali to the same edge of the pool and zoned into what she was saying.
‘You need to swim out to that light, out there, you see it?’ I followed her pointing hand. There was a small white light bobbing out in the ocean beyond the dome, like an underwater buoy.
‘Yep,’ I said.
‘Once you reach it, turn around and get back to the pool and tou
ch the other side.’
‘OK,’ I said.
‘And watch out for…’ she tailed off. ‘Well, everything,’ she finished with a shrug. Before I could ask her what she meant the whistle blew and there was a flurry of water around me. I pushed off the pool edge with my feet as hard as I could, angling myself towards the dome. Just before I reached it I surfaced, took a massive breath, then kicked through. I was aware that there were people both in front and behind me, so I wasn’t last. Confidence boosted me and I pushed my arms out in a big arc, propelling myself towards the light. It looked much further away now I was out here. A couple of air bubbles trickled from my mouth, tickling my face. A shadow fell over me suddenly and I glanced up. I didn’t see what caused it though, because at that moment, a figure streaked past me, drawing my attention completely. Zali? Wonder filled me as I stared at her. Her legs were gone, a shining, shimmering purple tail in their place. It had merged with her swimsuit and it looked utterly awesome. She corkscrewed through the water, turning her head upside down and giving me a little finger wave, before shooting towards the light. A few big bubbles escaped my mouth and I realized with alarm that I’d slowed down. With renewed concentration, I sped towards the light. As soon as I reached it I whirled, relieved to be passing others who hadn’t yet got there as I made my way back. My eyes widened as I faced the academy. It looked so beautiful from here, the white temples warping through the water, a place that just didn’t look real. I chased after Zali, still mesmerized by her shining tail, crossing back into the pool a full thirty seconds after her. As my head broke the surface and I gulped down air, I heard the cheers of my classmates. Then, suddenly they dropped off, awkward silence replacing them.
‘Shame, she survived this time. Maybe next time she won’t be so lucky,’ sneered Arketa as I reached the pool edge. She and Filis had already made it back. Embarrassment rolled over me, though I didn’t know why.
‘You wanted me to die? You don’t even know me,’ I panted, pushing my hair back and gripping the side.
‘We don’t need you or that other freak at this school. You’re dangerous,’ Filis said. I gritted my teeth. I didn’t know what to say. I certainly didn’t feel dangerous. There was a splash and I turned to see Icarus, plummeting head first into the water. He kicked and rolled and came up spluttering, his face aflame. Raucous laughter erupted across the class.
‘Enough! What have I told you about pushing people into the pool?’ shouted Miss Alma, half-heartedly. Everyone moved out of the way as Icarus swam to the side and pulled himself up out of the water. His wet hair covered most of his face, but I caught the fury in his eyes as he stood up.
‘Well, once again, Zali wins, but Arketa, you were second, well done.’ Arketa smiled around at the group smugly. ‘Now, get into pairs and practice diving down to bottom of the pool.’
11
For dinner that night we had pasta. I spooned huge helpings of pesto and cheese over the top of mine and tucked in, my appetite huge. Dasko came over when I was half way through to give me my timetable. I scanned it quickly.
‘I have Elemental Control after lunch every day?’
‘Until we establish where your strengths are, yes. This may all change next semester. You have increased history and geography classes until you’re up to speed as well.’
‘OK. Thanks, professor,’ I said, putting the time-table down in front of me. As soon as he was gone, Zali picked it up and studied it.
‘Yuk, History of Mythology three times a week!’ she exclaimed.
‘I’ve got a lot to learn, I guess,’ I mumbled, shoveling in more pasta.
‘Swimming twice though!’ Her eyes lit up. ‘I have it every day.’
‘What about flying?’ I asked her, my mouth still full. She scanned the paper.
‘Last thing on Friday,’ she answered.
I frowned as disappointment flooded me. Today was Tuesday. I couldn’t wait until Friday to see the pegasus stables!
‘You’re in my Magical Objects and Shifting class,’ Zali carried on. Tak leaned over the table to look.
‘You’re in my Sword and Archery classes,’ he said. ‘Oh, and Telepathy.’
It was a relief to hear that I’d have a friendly face in most of my new classes. I couldn’t bear the thought of nothing but Arketa and her gang or Icarus’s moodiness filling my days. We spent the rest of the meal comparing time-tables and talking about what to expect in my new lessons. Eventually the food on the table in front of us disappeared and Tak and Zali stood up, picking up their bags.
‘Come on, we need to get out of the way,’ said Tak.
‘Why?’ I asked, picking up the fabric bag with the swimsuit in it and following them.
‘The room’s about to transform into the library. You have about five minutes after the food vanishes before it changes. And you don’t want to get stuck in the middle of a bookcase. Trust me.’
Zali smothered a laugh.
‘You have to admit, that was funny,’ she said. He glared at her as we reached the stone wall of the room, other students doing the same around us.
‘No, it wasn’t.’
‘A bookcase appeared right where he was standing and he got merged with it. He was stuck for ages before Professor Fantasma rescued him,’ Zali said to me.
‘Who’s Professor Fantasma?’
‘She takes Earth, Air, Telepathy and Magical Objects classes. She’s nice,’ Zali answered.
There was a loud whirring sound, then the long tables started vanishing from the room. Bookcases filled with colored books and squishy couches of all different sizes whirled into existence in front of me, landing silently all over the room. Wooden swords and dart boards on wheeled bases appeared in the corner near us, and a series of tables with what looked a lot like chess boards shimmered into place on our left.
‘Wow,’ I breathed. ‘I thought a library would be boring.’
Zali and Tak both stared at me.
‘Err, no. It’s where everyone hangs out,’ Tak said.
Students moved away from the walls, claiming couches and swords and tables, the noise of chatter filling the hall. Zali and Tak headed straight for a small couch near the left door to the dorms, in front of a massive bookcase. I peered at the book titles. They seemed to all be about goddesses. Movement on my right caught my attention and I saw Icarus pull a blue book from a nearby shelf, then slide down it onto the floor. Leaning back against the bookcase, he opened the book and began to read.
‘Is he always alone?’ I asked Zali as I slumped down onto the couch beside her.
‘Yeah,’ she answered. ‘Do you play dice?’
‘I can learn,’ I said as Tak dragged a low little table towards the couch.
We spent the next couple of hours playing a game with dice with tiny ships painted on them. There were different classes of ship in Olympus, apparently, and the better ships you rolled, the more likely you were to win. The best ships were the Whirlwinds and the worst were called Zephyrs. By the time Tak announced that he was going to bed I had just about memorized which pictures were which ships and what order they went in.
We went up to the girls' dorms, but as Zali called goodnight to me from the other side of her curtain, I realized I wasn’t at all tired. My mind was still buzzing from the day I’d had. How was it possible that only a couple of days ago I’d been at home, trying to stay out of trouble and wondering if life would ever get any less boring? Well, I’d got my answer. Disappointment about my Elemental classes dragged my excitement down a little. I needed to be better, if I ever wanted to see dad and Mandy again. I would get better. In a few days I’d be starting to learn to fly. Excited energy fizzed through my body. What did a pegasus look like, I wondered, thinking about the tower stretching up and up. How did you get to the top? It couldn’t be via stairs, you’d be there forever. The more I thought about it, the more I needed to know. Not just wanted to know, but needed to. Restlessness was making my legs vibrate and I flexed my hands into fists over and over. It was no
good. I needed to go and see the pegasus tower. I couldn’t wait until Friday.
I eased my legs out of bed, then leaned over, feeling around for my Converse. I didn’t know how the dome darkened at night, I assumed it was the same magic that created the realistic sunlight during the day, but beyond our window the light was dim. Nobody had given me any explicit rules about staying in bed at night, I thought as I slipped my feet silently into my shoes, then tying them up. Zali had said something about a ten pm curfew but I hadn’t been paying enough attention to remember everything she’d said. I crept silently from our room, then sidled down the corridor. Nothing moved or made a sound. I got down the stairs and through the heavy door and with some relief, jogged across the training ground towards the tower. I slowed as a massive shadow passed over the dome. Stopping completely, I craned my neck to look up. It was a pod of whales. Three massive ones, underbellies white and pale in the dark blue water, and seven or eight smaller ones, moving fast to keep up. And then I spotted a final whale, tiny compared to the others, racing along behind them. I watched as they swam all the way over the academy, disappearing into the darkness beyond. In all my dreams, I’d never have imagined a place like this. Excitement tingled through me again. The academy was just one part of Olympus. What other wonders were there to be found out there?
I crept on, towards the tower, only stopping again when I reached the bottom. A wide archway was carved into the bottom of it, and there was no door. I stepped through cautiously and saw what looked like an elevator, but made from stone. A decorative metal grate acted as a door and a small sign at the top said ‘No jumping in the hauler.’ A hauler? I stepped into it, and pulled the grate across behind me. It immediately began to move, upwards. I widened my stance, worried for a moment I would fall, but the ride was smooth. Pale white walls whizzed past beyond the grate for half a moment, then the hauler slowed gently to a stop. A breeze wafted in and I closed my eyes and inhaled instinctively. The smell of salt and coolness on my face was delicious. When I opened my eyes again I could see a wide corridor beyond the hauler grate, ending not in a wall but with an open view of the deep blue sky. I yanked the grate open, and walked out, looking furtively around for any sign of other people. It was all quiet. Then I heard a small whinnying sound. I walked quickly down the corridor and realized I could smell hay and earth and other animal smells. I was definitely approaching the stables, I thought. The corridor reached right to the edge of the tower, then veered off left and right, creating a walkway around the central tower. I assumed that if I went one way and kept walking all the way around, the path would bring me back to the same spot. There was no railing around the walkway and I tiptoed to the edge and leaned out, looking around. Waves crashed against the stone tower beneath me, white and foaming, and the wind whipped at my hair as I left the towers shelter. I drew my head back in quickly. There was nothing at all on the dim horizon, just the ocean as far as I could see.
