Of Thorns and Lightning

by Fiona Price

  Artemis appeared in the room, and she was hard to miss. She was wearing boots, black cargo pants and a white tank top. She was absolutely ethereal.

  "Hello, ladies, I'm Artemis. Are you ready to be shown the ropes?" She asked in a polite and calm but not overly enthusiastic voice. They nodded.

  They were speechless on their tour, desperately not wanting to mess something up already as well as still processing what was happening to them. They took the elevator up a few floors and had to swipe their ID cards in order to get into the room where Artemis was leading them. In that enormous gathering room, there was a group of scattered teenagers and young adults mostly keeping to themselves. Even when the three women entered the room, it was like the door never swung open, slammed shut and Artemis was talking. Maize didn't know if she liked being invisible. Meaghan just wondered if she could start new with these people; create a whole new life for herself. At least one of them was trying to be positive enough for the both of them, but there wasn't any room for emotions right now. Maize had flipped the switch and felt almost robotic.

  Artemis began walking, introducing each person in the room to the girls who were following behind Artemis at a safe distance. They were still starstruck by her.

  "This is Talia Townsend, William's daughter. She just finished her junior year of college, studying engineering. She will be learning from Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing and science. " Artemis introduced first. Talia wasn't really paying attention; her square black framed glasses were tilting low on her nose and she was working at the table with a graphing calculator and some heavy-looking work. She glanced up and eyed down the last two initiates.

  Talia was effortlessly chic, her deep red lipstick contrasting her gold nose and ear piercings, and her eyeliner wings were sharp enough to kill. Maize was instantly attracted to her in a dangerous sort of way, and she hoped to God that Talia's stern expression and body language was just in that moment.

  "Meet Ariel DiMarco, she'll be replacing Diana. She's the best archer in the nation for her age in the highest and most elite category. She went to Olympic Trials as well."

  "The new Menoetius, god of violent anger and rash action, Jordie Jones. Neuroscience major, captain of the top college hockey team on the east coast, with some naturally bred anger issues."

  "Meet my replacement, Angelina Foster. She's the Eastern Zone winning all-around gymnast and has been holding the number one spot for the girls on her Division 1 college team."

  "And Arachne. Well, Peter Lannigan. Loves computer science. None of us are exactly sure how William knew his Aunt Malorie, but we picked him up from Queens and he turned out to be pretty good."

  When Maize first saw Peter, her heart skipped a beat and her stomach dropped right through the floor. What was he doing here? Is that why he had the file on the flash drive? Is this what this is? How long has he known? Did he know the three of us would be in it from the start? She thought.

  "I'm well aware of Peter Lannigan, I've known him since I was born." She responded monotonously, her mind was distracted by too many other things. She didn't lose eye contact with Peter's steely glance, his eyes piercing into her chest. Already, she felt like she couldn't breathe.

  "Now, all of you, meet Maize and Meaghan. Maize will be replacing Thor and Meaghan, Dike."

  Some were shocked that two young girls from Queens would eventually be replacing them. The girls themselves were shocked at it as well. Maize understood why they picked Meaghan for Dike's place, she fit the role to the tee. Herself? She never felt as strong and diplomatic and selfless and strong as Thor, and she didn't think she could ever be. As she looked around at her fellow initiates, they all fit the description and were already flawlessly playing their part, and Maize didn't know how she fit in there. She could think of only one explanation-

  There must have been a mistake.

  There was no other way Maize could explain her presence in front of gods, heroes. She, herself, was not a hero. She knew that for sure. She wasn't qualified by any stretch of the imagination. A god? She felt that title was questionable for her and she didn't deserve it.

  Thor, though, felt differently.

  The Compound

  "There had to be some kind of mistake. She couldn't be Thor."

  ♦️

  Maize and Meaghan were just settling in to their new rooms for the first night they would be spending at the compound. They still had a few questions about the logistics and permanency of it all, but it was made absolutely clear that this is where they would be living, and those roles are the roles they would be assuming. Their rooms were spacious and completely furnished but minimalist, the color scheme was black, gray and white. It looked cold; it had never been lived in before. Meaghan looked at the bright side of that and made sure she and Maize would decorate a little bit to add their own personal flair to the rooms and a little bit of color. Meaghan didn't want anything else but to be Dike; she was rattled from the day but stoked to be there. Maize would definitely need some more time to settle in and get used to everything.

  They knew that William and Artemis were already with them, but later that week each initiate was asked to introduce themselves to the current Gods individually, then they would start working with their God in personal sessions. Meaghan was second to last, then Maize was last. Thor was not yet at the compound, leaving her a little further behind the curve than everyone else.

  After her meet-and-greet, Meaghan seemed cheerful. Maize knew that later that night, Meaghan would come into her room and talk about every detail of Dike, the legendary Dike. Maize didn't feel the same. Her way of adjusting wasn't doing her any favors, and she had to get used to her new environment before she started enjoying any part of this experience. Maize also knew that she couldn't postpone her meeting time with the Gods, but she was terrified and nervous to meet the actual people that saved Manhattan not too long ago and are international heroes.

  She didn't feel like she belonged with them yet, or even like she would ever belong with them.

  She took the elevator up to the common room where she met all the other initiates and paused before swiping her key card and entering. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and straightened her clothes, gathering her thoughts and preparing herself as much as she could before she had faced Dike, Menoetius, Diana, Hecate, all the Gods she had not yet met. She walked into the room and their quiet conversations stopped, their eyes turning to her.

  "This is our new Thor! I like her already, you know." Diana said, her tone light and friendly. She cracked a little bit of a smile. "She already seems right for it." Diana added.

  "Hi, I'm Maize, and as Diana just said, I am Thor's eventual replacement." She greeted generally.

  "Say your full name, Maize." Dike requested, not sure where he had heard that name before.

  "Uh, Maize Grace Leto." She responded. The room went silent. It seemed like every God that didn't know her profile stopped what they were doing and turned towards each other, whispering about her.

  She's a Leto?! Yeah. No one ever was allowed to talk about her. We didn't know why.

  "Leto, Leto...... let me see.... and you're not Jared's kid?" William said as if he were thinking his thoughts out loud. He had previously asked her if he knew her from somewhere, he was searching his brain for something. He too was piecing the bits of the puzzle together.

  "Positive." She answered. "I get that a lot." She also wondered why he was asking this just now when he was with her when she signed the mountains of paper. How did he not know her full name and her entire history already?

  Jason then chimed in.

  "Leto, the Titan goddess and lover to Zeus. She gave birth to Apollo and Artemis on the island Delos after all the lands had rejected her."

  "Thank you, Jason, but not the Leto I'm looking for." William said, and when it clicked, he kicked himself that it took him this long to make the connection. Maize stood still during this time. William seemed to analyze her just with a gaze, until Thor broke it with a
question.

  "You do know why we picked you, right?"

  "Absolutely not. That's why I'm having such a hard time with this." She answered truthfully.

  "Oh, okay." He said before turning to Dike and quietly asking to the side, "is this like telling a kid they're adopted, or...?"

  "What? What's going on?" She asked, now on edge.

  "Okay, we didn't want to have to do this right now but, Maize, do you know both of your parents were part of the Assembly?" William asked, more confident in her identity.

  "Um, no! That’s not possible! Nobody knows if the Assembly even exists. It’s a myth."

  "I said were." William corrected. “And they’re more real than ever, albeit exclusive and secluded.”

  Maize rebutted.

  "My dad lives in Washington Heights and I live with my mom in Flushing, nice and peacefully. They're not members of anything. Listen, I promise you, you've got the wrong girl. I'm not who you're looking for. Sorry for the trouble-" Maize denied, turning around towards the door.

  "Maize, wait!" William said, jogging after her. "I didn't mean to scare you off. But believe it or not, this is real. We didn't make any mistakes in choosing you. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you're comfortable here, okay? I promise. You've already signed the papers so whatever you need, I can get it for you."

  "This is all happening so fast, there's just too much information I'm being fed here, I just don't understand." She said, completely flustered.

  "Meaghan is your perfect hero, there's no doubt about that there; she saves puppies in thunderstorms. Me? I don't think I'm as noble as you cut me out to be. I don't have any special powers and I can't rule a planet. I'm not the number one in the nation of anything, I'm just a regular human that can't possibly be the prophetic replacement for Thor. I don't think I can give you what you expect from me. I'm sorry." She explained, walking out the doors. It was only a matter of seconds before she walked back in looking frustrated and upset.

  "I was going to leave but this place is really complicated, and I don't know where I'm going, and I already got lost."

  "Alright, I'll help you make a dramatic exit." William offered, leading her out and back to her room. He let her alone to process all of the information she had already taken on.

  "If you need anything, just call."

  Later that evening, Maize didn't go down for dinner. She didn't talk to anybody and she didn't even bother doing any research on her own yet. Just in a matter of hours she had been completely relocated to a new home with new people and she felt like it was all way above her pay grade. William understood this and wanted to help her understand what was going on, realizing she was upset, and he tried his best to be sensitive. It wasn't ever his best strength; not in his life, not with his daughter, but he always tried.. He knocked on her bedroom door at about nine that night. She groaned him permission to come in and he stood in the doorway.

  "Hey. If you're up to it, I want to show you something." He said quietly. She hesitantly got up and gathered herself. It was time she went and stretched her legs, anyway. She couldn't even bother to ask where they were going, she just followed William and hoped for the best. The first thing he spoke to be the Artificial Intelligence system he had designed for his mansion and the compound.

  "Jason, give Ms. Leto unrestricted access on her security card. Not all-around, no-questions-asked access like mine, just assign her top-tier clearance that the Gods get." William instructed. Jason complied.

  "Why did you do that?" Maize asked as they continued down the hallway.

  "Well if you're anything like your parents, I know you'll like to wander and explore the compound as well as give you some quiet places to hide that only you have access to and none of the other trainees do. Sometimes your room just isn't enough when you need to be alone." He started.

  "The entire library and files room are open to you to read what you'd like. Anything you can ever imagine about us is in there and if you can't find it, Jason can. Some of the files are confidential and you won't have access to those, but I learned from working alongside your mom- and with the flash drive incident a little while ago- that if you have access to something instead of locking it behind walls, you'll be less likely to cause trouble trying to break in and get it."

  "Why me? Those other kids have connections, too. It's not just me. And I don't understand why you keep talking about my parents like you know them, I barely even do!"

  "Your parents are legends. Long story short, okay? They saved my life a couple times, and I know them and trust them. I don't have a shred of doubt in my mind they raised you right, which is why you're best fitted to be Thor. But I trust you just as much as I trust Anne and David, Maize. I don't want you to feel like you're trapped here, either. What's mine is yours, Ms. Leto." He concluded as they finally approached an unmarked room with a keycard swipe plate. He swiped her newly updated card and opened the door for her.

  "What is all this?"

  "This is part of the Gods library. I had Jason organize everything about your parents on the MacBook in the middle. I figured you'd want to know since we all do, you're clueless and it's killing you. Take your time, don't try to soak it all up at once. If you need anything, ask Jason to bring it to you, but don't be afraid to get me. Have fun." He said, handing her key card to her and letting the door close behind him as he walked away.

  Maize slowly walked further into the room. It couldn't have been the entire library, that had to be huge. This must have been the annex, the old records room off the library. Yet, nothing looked old. Even so, everything was new and modern. She slowly approached the laptop sitting on the table in the middle of the room, just like William said it would be.

  "Hi Jason. It's Maize Leto." She greeted softly, not sure where to talk. She copied William and spoke into thin air as if she was having a conversation with herself.

  "Hello, Ms. Leto. No need to introduce yourself, I've already committed you to my memory. What can I help you with?"

  "Turn down the lights a little, please?" She requested and Jason made the lighting dimmer and warmer. Maize took the laptop off the table and sat with it on her lap in one of the large chairs as she opened it. The screen glowed to life and her keycard granted her access to the files listed on the computer. She took a deep breath and opened the first document, preparing herself for whatever she might see.

  She saw everything.

  Some things startled her and hurt her and made her angry, but she couldn't find it in herself to tear herself away. She couldn't bring herself to stop. She was sucked in and reading as if this was the only chance she would get to find out about herself, her parents and the past. This was her time machine and she didn't know how long she would have to use it. Time flew by and it turned out that she didn't know the parents she grew up with anymore, but she better understood herself by the time the sun rose.

  Every file had been read.

  She shut down the laptop and got off the couch. She opened the door and found herself in the hallway, but she stopped walking as it felt like the journey grew longer with every passing step.

  She had lost her direction once again.

  Thankfully, William was there to help her.

  "Did you get any sleep?" William asked.

  "No. I didn't listen to you and tried to soak up all the files all at once."

  "Why doesn't anybody ever listen to me?! I say relevant and smart things most of the time!"

  "But I've heard that you needlessly jabber a lot, and no one can ever tell if you're talking to your computer lovechild, to yourself or us. Sometimes we zone you out until we hear some key words."

  "You know, you look just like your mom but you're as much of an honest smartass as your dad."

  "I don't want to hear about my parents anymore, William!" She exclaimed, his comment hitting a nerve. "I don't know my dad!"

  He backed off. Maize knew she needed to ask the question that was itching at the back of her mind, no matter how much it could
potentially hurt her. It was her fatal flaw.

  "William, I need to ask you something."

  "Okay, go ahead. I don't know if I'll have the answer, but try me."

  "Did I ever have any other choice for my life, or was I meant to be a God since the day I was born?"

  "No. You didn't ever have any other choice." He admitted softly, knowing she needed a straight answer. She nodded, trying to accept it.

  "I know it's every kid's dream to be Dike or Thor, but William, I don't want this. I don't think I ever wanted this. And I think it's wrong I never had a choice." She said, walking off in tears.

  "I'm sorry I made it worse. I thought I was doing the right thing." William apologized, not sure if she could hear him or would even want to listen. She did and turned back around to face him. This wasn't on William. This was on her.