by Eliza Raine
‘Are you alright, Pandora?’ Professor Fantasma asked me.
‘I, um, the goblet…’ she smiled knowingly at me, then motioned for me to sit with the others who had already handled all the goblets.
‘So, class,’ she said, when were all sitting on the cushions on the floor. ‘Who wants to tell me what they felt?’
‘The gold cup is evil,’ said a few people in unison. The professor nodded.
‘It is an old curse that binds that one. Few would be foolish enough to drink from it now, when its evil is so ingrained with the metal that it seeps so clearly from it. But it wasn’t always so. When the curse was fresh, the cups intent was still hidden, and many died as soon as their lips left the metal.’
‘The marble cup made me feel… greedy,’ said Felix, quietly.
‘Me too!’ I exclaimed. ‘Like I wanted all the expensive things in the room.’
A few other students nodded but most looked interested.
‘Indeed. That goblet belonged to King Midas. The curse on it would cause anybody who used it often to value wealth before anything else in the world. You would happily turn your whole family into gold, just to be surrounded by more treasure.’
I stared at her in horror. How could anything make you love gold more than your own family?
‘That’s why it is down here. Nobody is foolish enough to want unlimited wealth and eternal loneliness.’
I gaped at the goblet. I needed to be more careful with what I touched, I thought, not for the first time since my incident with the armor.
‘When I touched the silver one, I felt really curious about my life and what I’m going to with it,’ said Skye.
‘Yes. That curse will make you burn with desire to discover truths about your future. But if you were to drink from it you would likely only see riddles that would confuse and haunt you for the rest of your life. Oracle sight is unreliable. What you see is not always unavoidable but can shape your every action forever. Nobody wants to live like that.’
‘I didn’t feel anything,’ I said. Fantasma looked at me.
‘Really?’
‘I tried, but there was nothing.’
‘How very, very interesting,’ she said, peering over her glasses at me. ‘Did everyone else feel curiosity about their future when they held the silver goblet?’
Everyone nodded, yeses ringing out around me.
‘Pandora, stay for a few minutes after class please. This is very interesting indeed.’
My stomach squirmed. What did that mean?
We spent the rest of the lesson looking through textbooks for examples of cursed objects that gave off auras of power that helped identify what they did. At the end of the class I stayed sitting on the floor and watched everybody else leave apprehensively.
‘Come here please, Pandora,’ Fantasma called from the table. I got up and joined her leaning over the silver goblet and holding a tiny jug. ‘There’s only a few reasons you would feel nothing from the goblet. Either there’s something about your Titan powers that negates it and stops it working, or you have such an undecided, turbulent future ahead that the cup can’t fathom it.’ I blinked.
‘Hopefully the first,’ I said quietly.
‘Indeed. Look into the cup. Do you see anything?’
I leaned over to look into the bowl.
‘You’ve filled it with water?’ I said.
‘Look harder,’ she tutted, rolling her eyes. ‘Place your hands on the base of the goblet.’
I did as she told me. At first there was nothing, exactly as before. But then I started to feel a slight heat coming from the metal. The water began to ripple slightly, then swirl around the shining cup. Then… Flames. There were flames in the water. I felt my mouth drop open. The flames were racing around, merging with the tiny whirlpool, fiercely orange in the clear liquid.
‘There’s fire in there,’ I breathed.
‘Fire? Oh dear,’ said Fantasma. I looked at her and the heat under my fingertips died instantly.
‘Oh dear?’ I repeated. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means that your Titan powers were not blocking the goblet’s powers.’
I thought about that as she gently removed the cup from me, sliding it to the other end of the table.
‘So I have a… turbulent future ahead of me?’ I asked, remembering her words from moments before.
‘It looks that way. Sorry dear.’
I groped for something to say as she began bustling about, tidying up the students books.
‘Is there anything I can do to make it… less turbulent?’
‘I doubt it. I suppose it’s not surprising though, what with you and that boy being the first Titan students in years. Your future might be difficult to read because you may end up back in the mortal world.’
My breath hitched. Would I be back there as an outcast, never able to settle anywhere with anyone I loved? Or as a powerful member of Olympus, able to come and go as I pleased?
‘And there’s nothing I can do?’ I asked her again. She straightened and gave me a soft look.
‘Just make good decisions. Live by your morals. None of us can do more than that.’ I nodded at her. Gods, I hoped I would make good decisions. That hadn’t exactly been one of my strengths in life so far. ‘Now, be off with you, I have things to attend to. Those rafes aren’t going to grow themselves you know,’ she chided, moving towards the door. I began to follow her, then her words forced their way through my reeling thoughts.
‘Rafes?’ I repeated, freezing mid-step.
‘Rafes, yes. Do you have an interest in aquatic plants?’ she said, glancing at me over her shoulder.
‘Yes!’ I half-squeaked. Professor Fantasma paused and turned to me.
‘Really?’
‘Yes,’ I said, nodding vigorously, my heart starting to pound with excitement. ‘Yes, I love everything about the water so I’ve been reading about Scorpio’s plant-life. I like the fire rafes the best.’
‘Oh, now there’s a beautiful plant,’ Fantasma said dreamily.
‘Do we have any here, at the academy?’ I asked, trying not to hold my breath as she screwed up her ghostly face.
‘Oh no, dear, they only bloom for twelve hours.’
I felt my face fall as my excitement drained away instantly.
‘I have plenty of seeds though.’ I snapped my eyes to hers. ‘Would you like some?’
17
I arrived at water class ten minutes late, but when I explained to Dasko that it was because Fantasma had held me back he gave me a nod and told me to go and practice at the water-wall. I went over to it quickly, my mind racing. I didn’t know whether to try and tell Icarus about the seeds Fantasma had given me or not. And how would I plant the fire rafe? The plants needed to grow in a tank, somewhere secret so that nobody would ask questions or interfere with them. Nix’s words flashed into my head.
‘…that highly cultivated aqua garden underneath the school…’
That was it! I would plant them under the school. They would be safe there. And I could do that without Icarus’s help, as long as the breathing bubbles turned up. The sooner I planted them, the better, I thought as an image of the attacked girls black eyes filled my mind. I would sneak out and plant them that night, once everyone was asleep, I decided. Then I would have something good to tell Icarus when he was ready to talk to me.
My leg jiggled impatiently all through dinner, and I struggled to focus on what my friends were talking about. I was desperate for midnight to come around so that I could finally do something useful to help fix what I’d caused.
‘Are you OK? You seemed really distracted tonight,’ said Zali as we finally left the library for bed. She was still quiet herself and I missed her perky cheerfulness.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. Just had a weird class today,’ I said.
‘Oh yeah?’
As we walked back to our dorm room I told her about the goblets, and Fantasma holding me back.
‘Turbulent?’ Zal
i repeated when I’d finished. She was frowning. ‘That’s a worrying way to describe someone’s future.’
‘That’s what I thought,’ I agreed.
‘Well, maybe the cup or Fantasma were wrong. Or maybe turbulent is a good thing,’ she said.
I smiled at her. That was more like the optimistic Zali I had come to love.
‘Yes. Let’s hope so.’
After I had said goodnight and pulled my curtain across, I changed as quietly as I could into my swimsuit, then pulled my hoodie and jeans back on and got into bed. I waited impatiently for Zali’s breathing to slow, going over my plan in my head. When I was sure she was asleep I crept back out of my bed, eased the door open, and slipped out into the hall.
I darted between the shadows of the buildings, more wary than I used to be about slipping out to meet Icarus. The death demon was somewhere in the academy, and Neos had said soul snatching wasn’t their only weapon. It couldn’t hurt to be careful. When I reached the edge of the pool I ducked behind one of the ornate columns and slipped off my hoodie and jeans. A thrill of excitement and anticipation ran through me when I thought about the glowing garden under the school. I couldn’t wait to see it again. I slipped my consciousness into the ocean around me, sensing for anything I should be worried about. I felt the turtle family, a little way below, and something I thought was similar to swordfish back home quite far out to the west. No sharks or sea monsters. Something touched my shoulder and I almost shrieked in surprise, coming back to myself with a jolt and whirling around on my butt.
‘Dora, it’s me!’ hissed Zali. I let out a massive breath of relief as I leapt to my feet.
‘Zali! What are you doing here?’
‘I wanted to see what you were up to! I know you sneak out all the time but I figured that was to meet Icarus and you two aren’t talking at the moment. I was worried you were doing something dangerous,’ she whispered. Her eyes flicked down to my swimsuit. ‘What are you doing?’
‘It’s a long story,’ I said. ‘And it is dangerous. You should go back to the dorm.’
She gave me a stern look and put her hands on her hips.
‘No way. You need to give me more than that,’ she demanded. I looked at her face, set and fierce.
‘OK, fine, but not here.’ I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the changing rooms. We slipped inside and I called a tiny fireball to light the dark room.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked me as I sat cross-legged on the tile floor with a sigh.
‘You honestly don’t want to know,’ I said as she sat down opposite me.
‘Yes, I do. Especially if it’s dangerous.’
‘But-’ I started and she cut me off.
‘Dora, I haven’t asked you about where your powers and Icarus’s wings came from last semester, or why Dasko takes such an interest in you two, or what happened just before the inspection. Because I figured you would tell me if you could and that you were safe with each other. But with you two not talking and a death demon loose in the school and you sneaking out by yourself… I’m not going to drop this. You’re my best friend. And…’ She took a deep breath and fixed her eyes on mine. ‘I can be brave. I’m not useless. I can help you. I want to help you.’
My heart felt like it was swelling in my chest as I stared at her determined face. She was willing to help me? Without even knowing what was happening? Before I could stop myself, words tumbled from my lips.
‘I made a terrible, terrible mistake last semester. Dasko helped us find a box that only Titan magic could find. And… and I opened the box when I wasn’t supposed to.’
‘A box?’
‘Yes. And…’ I dropped my eyes to my lap and gulped. ‘I let the demon out,’ I whispered. There was silence, and I couldn’t bring myself to look at my friend. Shame overwhelmed me, and I felt my eyes fill with tears.
‘I take it you didn’t know there was a demon in the box when you opened it?’ Zali said eventually.
‘Of course not! I would never, ever have opened it if I’d known I would cause this!’
‘Oh Dora, then it’s not your fault!’ Zali said, and put her hand over mine. A hot tear splashed from my face onto her dark skin.
‘It is though,’ I gulped. ‘Those girls, lying there with those awful soulless eyes… It’s because of me.’
‘Lots of people make mistakes. It’s how we fix them that is important,’ she said. ‘Did the box have something to do with your powers?’
‘Yeah,’ I nodded. ‘And Icarus’s wings. There was a vial in there and a note that said we had to drink it. And it gets worse. There… there were two more demons in the box.’
‘Um, I don’t know what just happened, but I have no idea what you just said, after ‘Icarus’s wings’. I have never heard that language before,’ Zali said, frowning.
‘Oh gods, this is what happens when I try to tell Dasko important things. It comes out in this stupid Titan language only Icarus understands. I don’t even know how it happens.’
‘That’s quite cool. I wish I could speak a secret language,’ Zali said. ‘What are you doing tonight? Is it something to do with stopping the demon?’
I looked at her.
‘Yes. It’s hard to explain, without the Titan language taking over, but I have a list of things I need to get that will help catch it. One of the things is a fire rafe.’
‘What’s that?’
‘It’s an aquatic plant, that takes four weeks to grow and only blooms for twelve hours. I managed to get some seeds from Fantasma today, and I need to plant them as soon as possible.’
‘In the pool?’ Zali looked confused.
‘No. Last semester, when we were looking for the box, we found a secret underwater garden. Under the school.’
Zali’s eyes widened as she stared at me.
‘A secret underwater garden?’
‘Yeah. It’s upside-down, on the underside of the marble slab the academy is built on. And it glows.’
‘That sounds like the coolest thing ever,’ she breathed.
‘It is pretty amazing,’ I agreed.
‘And that’s where you’re going now? How do you breathe?’
‘Every time I’ve been before these little turquoise bubbles have wrapped around me and I could breathe fine. They wrapped around Icarus too. I guess they’re part of the garden.’
‘I can’t believe you’ve never told me about this. It sounds awesome!’ Zali’s voice was filled with excitement.
‘You don’t hate me then? For what I’ve done to Alexsis and Demitra and Kiko?’
Her face softened as she squeezed my hand again.
‘You didn’t do anything on purpose. And you’re trying to fix it. Of course I don't hate you.’ She gave me a pointed look. ‘Let me help you.’
‘Really? Because, it would be great to have some help.’
‘Secret glowing water gardens? Just try and stop me!’
18
By the time we both slipped into the pool my shame had subsided, and determination to make things right had taken its place again. And I couldn’t help being a little excited at showing Zali my underwater discovery. Why had I never confided in her before? She was so kind and understanding, and it felt so good to have someone to talk to after so long without my conversations with Icarus. I couldn’t tell her everything, like about Neos or about Icarus’s past, but it seemed I could tell her about the ingredients. Maybe she could help me with the manticore feather too?
‘Ready?’ she said, turning to me at the edge of the dome. Nodding, I took a big breath, and ducked under the water and pushed through the dome. I kicked hard, angling myself downwards and I saw Zali’s legs shimmer out of existence as she powered past me, her shining, iridescent tail taking their place. I stayed close to the marble slab, relieved when we reached the bottom. I gripped the edge of the rock and Zali swam up beside me and did the same. Pulling hard, I flipped myself under the slab. The disorientating whirling began, tumbling me through the water over and over,
and causing adrenaline to surge through my body. When I finally came to a stop I tipped my head up. The garden clung to the rock above me, hundreds of plants and fish pulsing with electric colors. My chest ached through my wonder though and I looked about for the breathing bubbles. A flash of turquoise caught my eye, then they were spiraling out of the depths towards me. I held my arms out happily and they curled about me until they reached my face. I closed my eyes and took a tiny, testing breath. Dry air filled my mouth so I took a bigger breath, relaxing. I looked around for Zali, and saw the bubbles surrounding her too. She was holding her arm up to her face, gaping at them, a goofy grin on her face. I pointed up and she leaned back, her jaw going slack as she took the garden in. Her amber eyes found mine again, alight with amazement and I smiled at her. I kicked up towards her and she fell in beside me as we swam along the coral, watching the fish dart in and out of the rocks and the swaying, shining plants. I looked carefully for anything that resembled fire rafes, just in case there were already some down there, but there was nothing like the picture I had seen. I hadn’t thought I would be so lucky.
I kept swimming, looking for the area we had found the mushroom things that had lured the snake away from the cave. I remembered that they had been in some sort of soil, so maybe there would be space to plant the fire rafes near there. When I found the spot, I was relieved to see that there was definitely plenty of room in the dark, muddy looking soil. I rolled onto my back to face the little patch of red mushrooms above me, my power keeping me buoyant enough that I hardly needed to kick my feet to hover in place. I tentatively reached out towards the soil, and yanked my hand back as the purple shock shot through the water in front of me. Zali grabbed my shoulder and I rolled, looking at her alarmed face. Pushing my senses out into the water, I felt for something that might be causing the purple zap of energy. It was an eel, I realized. I couldn’t see it amongst the reeds at the side of the mushroom patch, but it’s presence kind of glowed and I could feel it there. I pointed, reaching out and rustling the reeds by their tips. There was a slither of movement, then suddenly the eel burst from the plants. I snatched my hands back as purple energy crackled around the creature, and little neon fish scattered around us. The eel was incredible to look at. It pulsed with the same electric light the rest of the garden did, a pale and intense pink. As it raced back and forth in front of the mushrooms, small bursts of lightning rippled down it’s serpentine body like veins, then shot into the water around it. It seemed it was taking its job of guarding the mushrooms very seriously.