Born in Beauty

by Melody Rose

  I squeezed Violet’s hand and opened my mouth to respond when the General interjected with another name. “The Gi branch will now welcome Benji, son of Demeter.”

  Mine and Violet’s heads snapped to Benji, who sat in a state of shock. There was another round of polite applause since we three friends were too surprised to hoot and holler right away.

  When Benji didn’t move, Darren reached out across the table and shoved his arm. “Get up there, man!”

  Darren’s command seemed to shake Benji out of his reverie. When he rose to his feet, the applause picked up again and continued as he walked to the platform. Finally, the three of us returned to our senses and cried out for our friend.

  Zach clapped enthusiastically and stopped Benji up on his way to Garth, who held his sash. Zach shook Benji’s hand and congratulated him, the first leader of the branches to do that to any recruit. There was a pang in my stomach as I thought about the fact that Ansel didn’t say anything to me when I was selected.

  Professional, I reminded myself, We’re keeping it professional.

  Benji took a second too long, shaking Zach’s hand until Garth coughed, reminding Benji of what he was supposed to do. My friend jumped a little at the noise and turned to face his half brother. Garth’s face beamed with pride as he placed the sash over Benji’s head.

  A final round of applause sounded up when Benji left the stage. He approached us with wide eyes and tight lips. We offered him the same words of encouragement that they all offered to me only minutes ago.

  “Well done, Benji!” I cheered, my voice louder than I intended but not caring. I was just so excited for my friend.

  “This is so great,” Darren added.

  “Yeah,” Benji said as he shook his head like he was trying to clear his vision. “I can’t quite believe it.”

  His voice was soft. The three of us picked up on his disappointment, from the way he wouldn’t quite meet our eyes or how his lips hardly moved when he spoke. Suddenly, Benji’s expression changed from one of sadness to one of anger.

  “Did you notice that all of the students drafted so far have been children of Olympians?” Benji pointed out.

  Darren and Violet looked at one another. I took a back seat on this question, not really wanting to respond, because, honestly, I hadn’t noticed. Then I felt foolish for not having done so in the first place. But Benji had a point. Two children of Aphrodite, a daughter of Hephaestus, and now a son of Demeter. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

  “They’re not going to count out the non-Olympian demigods,” Violet reasoned, though her voice was still nervous. She put a lock of her black hair behind her ear with a shrug. “There’s just as many of us as there are of you. They won’t just slice the year in half like that.”

  But as Violet said this, the General called up a son of Hades and recruited him to the Gi branch as well. We clapped our hands, but only because we would have stood out if we didn’t, and Walter didn’t deserve that kind of slight from us. He was a good guy, quiet but kind.

  So far, there had been five new drafts already, which was a lot considering it was a quarter or so of our class. I didn’t think the officials would draft everyone right now, so I reasoned that the officials had to be done.

  However, they had one last surprise for us.

  “Finally, the last draft of the evening will be Darren, son of Asclepius, to the Aeras branch,” the General announced.

  Once again, the group of us was stunned. However, none so much as Darren. He looked like a ghost as he walked up to the platform, his shocked expression never faltering. The only motion he made was pushing his glasses up his long nose before bowing forward to accept his sash.

  This time, when Darren came back to our section of the table, none of us said anything. We were still stuck in our surprise.

  The General excused the rest of the Academy. Before we knew what was happening, Benji, Darren, and I were the center of a swarm of people. Students from all four years were congratulating us. Even some soldiers from Fotia came up to me to shake my hand. I tried to greet each of them with a smile and a short phrase of gratitude.

  The four of us were quickly separated, the three drafted ones each in our own little pod of admirers. The same thing was happening to Walter, Janet, and JJ across the way. Some of the first people to congratulate me were the team of students I worked with in the past to defeat a chimera. Erika, Jenson, Temperance, and Kristof were all members of the Fotia branch. They were in their fourth and final year at the Academy. They approached me at once, like a flock of birds.

  “Welcome to Fotia!” Erika said, taking her hand in mine without asking.

  “We knew they would have to draft you,” Temperance said kindly, “with how you took down that chimera last year.”

  “And saved our lives, don’t forget,” Jenkins added.

  Kristof coughed, arrogant as ever, “Don’t give her a bigger head than she’s already got, guys.”

  Temperance rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to him. You should be proud.”

  “Thanks,” I said sheepishly.

  “We’ll see you in class or in training!” Erika called out as the four of them walked off, clearing the way for other people to offer their congratulations.

  After the initial onslaught of Fotia members, one of the people from another branch that came to my circle was Zach, which surprised me.

  “Hi, Cheyenne,” Zach said as he grabbed my hand in his. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Congratulations on getting drafted. That’s got to feel great.”

  His easy-going demeanor rubbed off on me instantly. I smiled back and gripped his hand a little tighter. “Thanks. It does.”

  “I know you’re not in my branch, but I’m still looking forward to getting to know you more,” Zach said, his smile never leaving his face. When he dropped my hand, there was an unexpected pang of regret in my belly. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

  I scoffed. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

  “Oh, it’s good,” Zach said with raised eyebrows. “Definitely a good thing.”

  “That’s surprising, because the rumors about me are definitely a mixed bag,” I admitted. I didn’t quite know why I was telling him this, but Zach seemed like a cool guy to talk to. I wanted him to like me, as a new officer who could get a fresh impression of me.

  “Any press is good press.” Zach smirked. “Isn’t that how the saying goes?”

  “So I’m told,” I said, sensing something else in his words. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but this conversation held a different vibe than the other ones I’d been having with students about my drafting.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to discover what that feeling was because Zach quickly excused himself.

  “Well, congratulations again, but I want to go meet my fellow Gi members.” Zach shook my hand once more before slicing right through Benji’s group. He interrupted any previous conversation and instantly honed all the attention of that circle of people, including Benji’s.

  “I told you you’d get drafted,” Ansel’s voice said from beside me.

  I turned to look at him and caught his green eyes gazing at me with a hint of amusement in them. I cocked my head at his wording, which was much more of the personable Ansel than the soldier Ansel I’d expected.

  “You are right,” I replied. “I still think you knew something.”

  “I swear I didn’t,” Ansel insisted. “Nothing more than a gut feeling.”

  “If you say so,” I chuckled, not quite believing him.

  “I wanted to give you something,” Ansel said, a soft flush coming to his cheeks.

  My eyebrows rose involuntarily. “Oh yeah?”

  “It’s a gift to congratulate you on getting drafted,” Ansel explained as he held out his hand. In his palm was a short and thin package. Right away, when the item got in my line of sight, the familiar tingles ran up and down my spine. I instantly knew what the gift was.
>
  “It’s a knife,” I said unthinkingly.

  Ansel chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I should have known you would guess it. But yes, it’s a knife.”

  He unwrapped the cloth around the weapon and held it out for me. It was thinner than usual knives of that size, but when I held it, I could tell that the blade was strong and firm. The handle was crafted from a light wood that I didn’t recognize right away, but I liked the feel of it in my hands. Despite its size, I could tell that this was a steady blade, crafted well and with care.

  “This is beautiful,” I breathed. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” Ansel said, not bothering to hide his smile. “The handle is made from lotus tree wood, and it’s Damascus steel.”

  “I see,” I said as I held the blade up to eye level to examine the spine. “It’s well done.”

  “I made it,” Ansel said proudly.

  “You made this?” I balked, completely caught off guard.

  “I did,” Ansel confirmed. “I make one for every new Fotia recruit.”

  After hearing that, suddenly the gift didn’t feel so special. I kept my eyes on the weapon so as not to show my disappointment.

  “I always suggest that the new recruits put them in their boot, or someone secret and secure,” Ansel advised, pointed at my shoes. “It’s always best to have something on hand than nothing at all.”

  “The General tell you that one?” I asked, not knowing why my voice got so sharp.

  “Yes,” Ansel said, the word coming out as a hiss. “But it’s a good piece of advice all the same.”

  I didn’t want to escalate the situation further. In fact, I didn’t want to be harsh at all. It was still a lovely and thoughtful gift, so I put a smile on and looked up to meet his eye.

  “Thank you, Ansel,” I said as sincerely as I could. “It’s great.”

  “You’re welcome,” Ansel said, his voice shifting to one of business. “I also have your schedule and your new dorm key.”

  Sure enough, in his hand was a folder with my name scrawled across the front with the Fotia flame symbol right above it. I took the folder and slapped it against my palm.

  “Thanks,” I said, not knowing what else I was supposed to say.

  “Congratulations again, Cheyenne,” Ansel said. He put his hands behind his back and began to walk in the opposite direction. “You definitely deserve it.”

  I watched him walk away and admired him from every angle, unable to help my eyes roaming from his light hair, flopping as he walked, to the muscles moving in his back, to his well-shaped ass. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to clear my thoughts.

  When I reopened them, my fan club had pretty much dispersed, for which I was grateful. However, my brain quickly alerted me to the fact that I hadn’t seen Violet since the opening ceremony ended. I swiveled around, looking for her, but she was nowhere in the cafeteria.

  I saw that Darren had only a few people left too, so I interrupted his circle and leaned in to talk to him. “Have you seen Violet?”

  At my question, Darren seemed to come to the same realization that I had. She wasn’t there. Darren looked around, too, reaching the same conclusion.

  “No, I haven’t,” Darren answered, clearly worried. “We should find her.”

  “Agreed,” I replied definitively.

  Together, we looked over at Benji, who was still talking to Zach despite the crowd of students still waiting to congratulate him. Not caring about decorum anymore, both Darren and I approached Benji, appearing on either side of him. We looped our arms through his and locked him between the two of us.

  “Sorry, Zach,” I said as sweetly as I could. “We’ve got to get going.”

  “Absolutely, I understand that you’ll want to celebrate before classes start tomorrow,” Zach said with an encouraging grin. “I’m sure I’m supposed to say something about not celebrating too much, but go have fun and enjoy this moment. We’ll see you tomorrow, Benji.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Benji replied, but we didn’t let him get the full sentence out before we led him away.

  “What the hell?” Benji asked as we guided him through the cafeteria doors and out onto the quad. He disentangled himself from us and shook out his arms as if he needed to rid himself of the feel of us.

  “Have you seen Violet?” I asked.

  “No,” Benji answered, clearly confused.

  “She didn’t come up to you afterward?” Darren checked.

  “No, she didn’t,” Benji replied. “What’s this all about? Is she okay?”

  “Would you be okay if your three best friends got drafted on the first night, and you didn’t?” I reasoned, laying it all out loud and clear for Benji. Luckily I did because the son of Demeter finally seemed to understand what was going on.

  “Oh,” he said slowly, the bomb going off in his mind.

  “Yeah,” I said with pursed lips.

  “Where do you think she is?” Benji wondered aloud.

  “My first instinct is the kitchen,” Darren ventured, “but usually when she has prep duty, she isn’t also tasked with clean up duty.”

  “We should still check,” I suggested, “just in case, because right now, I can’t think of another place she’d be.”

  The three of us walked around the cafeteria building to the side entrance. Towards the back were the dumpsters, the loading dock, and the kitchen door. When we approached, we quickly discovered it was locked. Without warning, I slammed my hand against the metal and shouted.

  “Violet! If you’re in there, open the door!”

  I banged a couple more times and then waited for her response. There was a clatter of something on the other side, and then the sound of footsteps shuffling to the door. The heavy metal door opened a crack, and Violet’s round face appeared in the space between the frame and the door.

  “Oh, hi guys,” Violet said, sniffling.

  There were clear signs that she’d been crying. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks were puffy. There was a streak of mascara under one eye from where she had swiped at her face.

  With one fluid movement, I took the door handle and whipped it open. The force yanked the handle on the other side from Violet’s grip, making the crack wide enough to let all three of us through. Following my lead, Benji, Darren, and I stomped past Violet and into the kitchen. Darren wrapped his arms around Violet while Benji guarded the door. I stood in the center of the spacious kitchen, metal and gleaming from a recent scrub down, with my hands on my hips expectantly.

  “Oh, Vi,” Darren said sympathetically.

  That’s all it took before the tears began again. Our small friend shook in Darren’s arms as she cried into his shoulder. Darren simply held her while we watched and waited for her to find her voice. I relaxed my arms and let them fall to my side as I watched the sadness ooze from my friend.

  “I’m sorry,” she sputtered. Violet pushed herself up off Darren and swiped at her eyes. “I know I should be happy for you all, and I am really, but… I guess I just didn’t expect you all to get drafted at once. I thought we would still have some time before… before…”

  “Before it all changed?” I finished for her.

  “Yes!” Violet held out a hand to me, indicating that I had filled in the words perfectly.

  “I know how you feel,” I said, taking a step towards her. “I’m not thrilled about it, either.”

  “Same here,” Benji confessed. “I mean, I knew Gi was the obvious choice, but I thought… I don’t know. I still hoped that they might give me a chance in another branch.”

  “And I’m shocked to be drafted at all,” Darren admitted, as he rubbed Violet’s back up and down.

  “How can you say that?” Violet scolded him. “You’re the best damn healer we have. They would be crazy to get rid of you.”

  “I just...” Darren blinked and shook his head. “The doubt has always been there.”

  “Because of your dad?” Benji ventured the thought we all were thi
nking.

  “Yeah,” Darren said with a nod.

  “I have that same doubt,” Violet said, her voice breaking. “And when I saw the three of you up there, each of you, I just thought… wow, maybe I’ll never get drafted and never see them again.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” I said, the words leaving my mouth even though I didn’t fully believe them. I hoped for them, but I didn’t know if they would come true. But that’s not what Violet needed to hear right then. She needed to share in that hope.

  “This year’s going to suck,” Violet said through sniffles, “I just know it.”

  “I can’t be worse than last year,” I said with a shake of my head, not ready to accept that.

  “It can always get worse,” Benji said ominously. He crossed his arms and leaned his back against the closed door.

  “We can’t think like that,” Darren interjected. “It’s going to be different, yes, but we knew this was coming. We just have to adapt or die. Those are our only options.”

  “Cause that’s a better way of thinking about it,” I joked. “Adapt or die. Real positive there, Darren.”

  Darren rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh at having been misunderstood. “I just mean that either we can adjust our friendship or we lose it. And I, for one, don’t want to lose it.”

  “Me neither,” Violet whimpered. Though her voice was weak, her conviction was strong.

  “Absolutely not,” I agreed without hesitation.

  “Hell no,” Benji chimed in. He pushed himself off the wall and approached Violet and Darren. “We’ll make time, okay? Between classes and work and study times, we’ll make time to hang out.”

  “Promise?” Violet asked for reassurance.

  The three of us gave our various forms of agreement, landing us in a comfortable silence. Soon, though, the silence became stale as none of us knew what to say or do next.

  “So,” Benji said slowly, “do we need to, like, throw our hands in the middle or something? Say some cheesy catchphrase?”

  I scoffed and released a chuckle, while Violet hiccupped and Darren shook his head at the joke.