by Kate O'Hearn
Joel shuffled his feet but smiled back at Emily. “Well, we were very different. . . .”
Paelen gave Joel a light slap on the silver arm that Vulcan had made for him when he lost his real one. “What are you talking about? You told me you two hated each other, remember?”
Emily grinned at her friends and then turned back to the crowd. “That’s why school is so important. It’s where you learn to get along with new people, people you think you might never like. For us, it was just people from different places, but here, the differences are amazing.” Her eyes landed on Zephyr “Why’s she looking at me?” Zephyr asked Astraea softly.
Astraea chuckled. “Because you’re so different!”
On the stage, Emily continued. “I know there’s still a lot of mistrust between the Olympians and the Titans, but maybe through this school, you’ll discover that you have more in common than you thought, and maybe, very soon, you’ll even find you have a lot more friends than you imagined.”
Once again the crowd cheered and waved as Emily continued her speech. But on the stage beside her, Hyperion rose carefully to his feet and slipped silently away.
Astraea watched her grandfather jump down from the stage. He was joined by his security guard, Tibed, and a woman. Their expressions were serious. After a brief exchange, Hyperion looked back to the stage, bowed to his brother Saturn and the Big Three, and then started to walk away.
Something was up, Astraea could feel it. She rose and looked at her father. “Dad, I’m really sorry, but all this excitement is getting to me. I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Can it wait?” he asked. “The ceremony has just started.”
Astraea shook her head. “I know and I’m sorry, but it’s getting urgent.”
Finally he nodded. “All right, but hurry back. You don’t want to be late on your first day.”
“I’ll be as fast as I can.”
She nodded back to Zephyr. “I’ll be right back.” She apologized as she walked past her mother and brothers.
When she was free of the row, she ran down the aisle and made her way through the dense crowd gathered at the rear. Running along the back of the gathering, she tried to follow the path her grandfather had taken. But all traces of him and his people had gone.
Just as she was about to go back to her seat, she caught sight of her great-uncle Crius. He was Hyperion’s younger brother and also part of the security aspect of the high council. He was leaving the gathering and walking with purpose. Every instinct inside her said this had something to do with Hyperion and the humans.
Keeping farther back, she started to follow Crius through the crowd and away from Arcadia. Once they left the school grounds, it was difficult to stay behind him without being seen. Wherever he was going, he needed to be there fast.
After a moment, Crius stopped. He turned and looked back in her direction. Astraea ducked down behind a flowering bush. Had he seen her? She crouched and waited. Crius looked around, as though he sensed someone there. Then he started to walk in her direction.
“Crius!” a voice called.
Astraea had never been so happy to see Tibed before. He ran up to her great-uncle and pointed in the opposite direction. “He is running toward the palace. Hyperion told me to go around this way to cut him off.”
Crius nodded. His eyes trailed over to Astraea’s hiding place a final time, and then he allowed Tibed to lead him forward.
Astraea’s heart was pounding. She was sure her uncle knew she was there. But thanks to Tibed, he was now focused on other things.
Astraea left her hiding spot and followed but was careful to stay farther behind. Before long, they headed into the part of town that held the palace and was the center of power for Titus. After several minutes of dipping and dodging behind buildings, she heard shouting and then screaming. It was coming from Saturn Square, the open public square that celebrated the union between the Titans and the Olympians.
Surrounding the outside of the paved square were carved marble statues of the heroes from the final battle for Olympus. At the very center of the square was a large fountain. The marble statues at the top of it were a life-size Pegasus rearing high, wings wide and kicking out his front hooves. Emily Jacobs was on his back with her arms raised. Real fire shot from her hands and sizzled through the fountain’s water flow.
At the base of the fountain, Astraea saw a man being held down by Hyperion and two others. He was large, strong, and young, and his clothing was completely different from what the Titans wore. Judging by the way Hyperion and the others treated him, he must be human. Though she was across the square, Astraea could clearly see that the man was terrified. He tried to fight his way free, but one quick blow from her grandfather knocked him out.
The unconscious man was dragged away. Astraea rose to follow, but before she could take her first step, a hand slammed down on her shoulder.
She jumped and turned to see the furious face of Tibed standing above her. “What are you doing here?” he demanded harshly. “You should be at the opening of Arcadia, not sneaking around in the middle of a security operation.”
There was no excuse Astraea could think of to explain her presence. “Well, I, um . . .”
“Yes, spit it out,” Tibed said. “Or have you nothing to say because you have been caught doing something that you know you should not be doing?”
Astraea stood at her full height, which made her taller than her grandfather’s portly guard. “I heard there were humans in Titus. I wanted to see one for myself and maybe understand why they are here.”
“Who told you there were humans in Titus?”
“I don’t remember,” Astraea said quickly.
“Well, whoever it was is wrong. There are no humans here.”
“What about that man my grandfather just hit? He was human.” The moment Astraea said it, she regretted it.
Tibed’s round face went red with rage, and he moved in close enough to make her nervous. “You did not see anything here. Do you understand me? No humans, nothing.”
“B-but—”
“But what?” he spat. “There are no buts. You saw nothing. Or do you want me to tell Hyperion you were spying on him?”
Astraea panicked. “No, please don’t tell him. I promise I won’t say anything about what I just saw. I’ll go back to Arcadia and forget everything. Please don’t tell my grandfather.”
Tibed said nothing for several heartbeats as his hard eyes bored into her. He was only a hand’s width from her face. Up close, there wasn’t a trace of compassion or understanding in him. “What will you pay for my silence?”
“Wh-what?” Astraea choked. “I—I don’t understand. I don’t have anything.”
“I do not want anything now,” he said, leaning even closer. “But there may come a time when I need something—perhaps a favor, or something else. Then I will tell you what my silence today will cost you. You either agree now, or I will call Hyperion over. The choice is yours.”
There was nothing about this man that Astraea liked. There was a genuine threat in his eyes that frightened her like she’d never been frightened before. She nodded her head slowly. “I—I understand. Thank you for not telling him.”
Tibed didn’t smile or react at all. But thankfully, he backed away. “Go on now, little girl. Go back to school and leave the adults to their work.” He roughly released her and shoved her away. “Go on now, run, run away. . . .”
Astraea started to run. The horrible little man had treated her like a child, but she was not a child. She was growing up and becoming more and more aware of a terrible problem.
There were humans coming to Titus.
4
BY THE TIME ASTRAEA MADE it back to Arcadia, the opening ceremonies were finished and the speakers and guests were gone—including her parents. She was going to be in a lot of trouble when she got home. But at least she’d have time to think of a good excuse.
Astraea walked between the chairs that were being taken down
by a group of satyrs, while the stage behind her was being dismantled by two giants. Farther ahead, closer to Arcadia One, Astraea saw long lines of students still waiting to be assigned their classes.
After a quick search, she found Zephyr hovering at the end of one of the longest lines. Her friend raised her head and whinnied loudly when she caught sight of Astraea. “Where have you been? Your parents were furious!”
Out of breath, Astraea ran up to her friend. “You wouldn’t believe it. . . .” She gulped air. “It’s true, there are humans in Titus.”
“No way!” Zephyr cried.
“Yes, I saw one for myself. There was a human man in Saturn Square. He was so frightened. Then my grandfather hit him.”
“Why?”
“I think to quiet him down. He was screaming.”
Zephyr laughed. “I would scream too if I came face-to-face with Hyperion!”
“That’s not funny, Zeph. Don’t you realize what this means?”
“Yes, it means that man is having a really bad day.”
In the line next to them, a chestnut-colored centaur was staring intently at them. He was frowning and scratching his head. Finally he stepped away from the group of centaurs he was with and clopped up to them. His eyes settled on Zephyr. “You’re Pegasus’s daughter.”
Zephyr immediately tensed, and her shoulder muscles twitched. She turned on him and scowled. “Excuse me? Do I look like Pegasus is my father?”
“Yes, you do,” he said.
Zephyr’s wings fluttered, and her eyes went wild with anger. “You take that back right now, centaur, or I’ll make you take it back!”
“Zephyr, stop!” Astraea put her hand on one of Zephyr’s fluttering wings to calm her. “Don’t let him bother you. We have more important things to worry about.”
“That’s easy for you to say. He didn’t just call you Pegasus’s daughter.”
“I know,” Astraea said. “But I’m sure he didn’t mean it as an insult.”
“Yes, I did,” the centaur said. “Her father is Olympian, but she pretends to be Titan by spending all her time with you—as if spending time with a stubby-winged child could help. She should be with her own kind in Olympia and not here at Arcadia with real Titans.”
Astraea’s eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline. “Stubby-winged? Is that what you just called me?”
He nodded his dark head. “You are stubby-winged.”
“Oh, you really shouldn’t have said that,” Astraea warned. “If you had half a brain, you’d get outta here now while you still can.”
“Why? What are you going to do? Beat me with those baby wings of yours?”
Astraea started to chuckle and stepped back. Tibed had frightened her just a short while ago, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wasn’t about to let this centaur do the same. She looked at Zephyr, bowed, and waved her on. “He’s all yours.”
Zephyr reared on her hind legs and kicked out her front hooves at the centaur, knocking him backward. “Astraea’s wings aren’t stubby and my father is from Earth, not Olympus—his name is Tornado Warning, not Pegasus!”
The centaur crashed to the ground and looked up at them in complete shock. “You kicked me!”
“Yeah, and I’ll do it again if you don’t apologize to Astraea right now.”
The stunned centaur climbed to his feet. “How dare you kick me! Don’t you know who I am?”
“Don’t know and don’t care,” Zephyr said. “If you don’t apologize to Astraea right now, I’ll knock you down again!”
“Hey,” another Titan said, stepping forward. “Leave Cylus alone, you filthy Olympian.”
That comment caused a satyr to push forward and turn on the Titan. “Are you blind? She’s a Titan, not an Olympian. And we are not filthy!”
“You are all filthy,” the Titan said. “So shut up before I make you shut up.”
A roar filled the air as a sphinx strode up to them. She was about Astraea’s age, with blue-black hair and emerald-green eyes. The feathers on her wings were in shades of brown and black, while her lion’s body was golden. “All of you stop it right now.”
“Stay out of this, Seneka,” one of the other centaurs said. “This is between us and the Olympians.”
Seneka shook her head. “We all have to live here now. You can’t keep fighting like this.”
“We can do whatever we want,” another Titan called. “And you can’t stop us.”
More Titans in the line started to mutter and call out to the Olympians, who also responded angrily.
“You all shut up,” Cylus said. “This is between me and Pegasus’s brat!”
Zephyr launched herself at the centaur again. Swinging her neck, she knocked him over and stood above him. “Pegasus—is—not—my—father!”
The students around them backed up and started to cheer and encourage the fight as Zephyr pounded Cylus with her front hooves. When Cylus rose again, he reared and kicked out his sharpened hooves at Zephyr, giving her a deep cut on her black blaze.
“Zeph, that’s enough,” Astraea cried, trying to pull her friend back. “You’re bleeding!”
“Not till he apologizes!” Zephyr shrieked.
“Never!” Cylus shouted.
The ground beneath them shook as a giant almost as tall as Arcadia One and wearing a uniform charged into the fight. On the front of his pale blue lapel was the insignia for Arcadia—a blazing circle of stars surrounding a gold A on a midnight-blue background.
“What is going on here?” he demanded.
He separated Zephyr and Cylus with a massive hand. “Stop it, both of you.” He looked around and shouted loudly enough to rattle windows. “You will stop fighting right now!”
Fear of the giant silenced everyone.
Astraea recognized the giant because he worked for her grandfather. Pushing forward, she called up to him. “Brutus, it was that centaur’s fault. He insulted Zephyr and me.”
Brutus looked down on her. “Astraea, what would your grandfather say if he knew you had been brawling on the first day of school?”
“It wasn’t her, it was me. I was brawling,” Zephyr said. “And Cylus deserved it. He called me Pegasus’s daughter and said Astraea had stubby wings like a baby.”
The giant bent down and faced the centaur. “Cylus, did you say that?”
Cylus wouldn’t look up at him. One of his front hooves dug into the ground and he folded his arms across his chest. “I might have.”
“Words wound,” Brutus said. “You should know better.” Then he looked at Zephyr. “Your father, Tornado Warning”—he glanced back at Cylus to make it clear who her father was—“may be wild, unpredictable, and dangerous, but you know better than that. Violence is never the answer.”
“It works for my father and it works for me,” Zephyr said defensively.
“Well, let us see how well it works when I take you in to see Arcadia’s new principal.” Brutus looked at the gathered crowd. “All of you, get your class assignments and then move on. If I hear of any more trouble, you will answer to me.”
The students around them returned to their lines with their heads held low. No one said a single word.
“Cylus, Zephyr, and Astraea,” Brutus said. “You will follow me—now.”
Astraea looked back at the sphinx and shrugged. “Thanks for trying, Seneka.”
The three followed Brutus through the long line of students, past the faculty at the end who were doling out assignments, and finally up the steps to Arcadia One.
“Honestly, fighting on the first day?” Brutus stopped before the doors. His immense size meant he couldn’t enter the school. “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Astraea looked over to Zephyr. Her friend wasn’t the least bit ashamed. The nerve in her shoulder was still twitching with irritation, and it wouldn’t take much to get her fiery temper flared again.
“Wait right here,” Brutus said. “I am going around to the principal’s window to let her know w
hy you are coming to her office. While I am gone, there will be no more fighting. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Brutus,” Astraea said.
Zephyr’s head was down. “Yes, Brutus,” she said glumly.
When Cylus said nothing, Brutus bent down. “I asked if you understand. There will be no more fighting!”
“I don’t see why I should be in trouble when Zephyr started it,” Cylus insisted.
“You did!” Zephyr whinnied.
“Enough!” Brutus roared. The pressure of his voice caused the open school doors to slam shut. “This stops now! If I hear of any more fighting, your parents will be told.” The giant stood up and stormed along the front of Arcadia One and around the side.
“This is your fault,” Cylus said angrily.
“Us?” Astraea cried. “You started it!”
“Yes, well, what are you going to do about it?” Cylus threw out his chest. “We’re already in trouble.”
“Not as much as you’re going to be unless you shut up,” Zephyr warned.
Astraea could see her friend was getting ready to fight again. She put her hand on Zephyr’s neck. “Zeph, stop. Dad’s already going to kill me for missing the opening ceremonies. I don’t want to make it worse.”
Zephyr’s eyes were bright and her nostrils flared as she turned to Astraea. “But you know how I feel about being compared to—you-know-who.”
“Yes, I do. But now’s not the time to fight over it.”
“Oh, so poor little Zephie doesn’t like being called Pegasus’s daughter,” Cylus teased. “Well, too bad, because that is exactly what you are. Tornado Warning is just a dumb copy of Pegasus that can’t even talk. If he is your father, then by definition, so is Pegasus.”
Astraea gave Zephyr a calming pat. “Stay here.” She walked over to the centaur. Up close he was much taller than her, as he defiantly stared her down. “I wonder what happened to make you so mean. Did someone take away your toys when you were a baby? Or are you just stupid, and being mean is your way to hide it?”