Rhea stepped forward. “What are you saying?”
Themis pounded her fist into her palm. “Or, what is it you’re not telling us?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
The greenish-yellow aura that had surrounded Gaia returned in strength. “I’ve said all I plan to say on that matter,” Gaia said. “Now onto the last two rulings. On the charge of impersonation by shapeshifting, I find Kronos guilty. He shall serve seven hemeras in Tartarus following his abduction sentences.”
Phanes slammed his staff into the floor. Sparks flew upon impact. “I strenuously protest this sentence. Punishment should be punitive. That act is unforgivable. This is a slap on the wrist.”
“And a slap in the face,” Erebos said, “to all the investigative work we performed to even bring this to trial.”
“If all he receives is seven hemeras, what’s to stop others from doing the same thing again? That’s not a deterrent!” Eros said. “What if a man shapeshifts into a woman’s husband to seduce her? Certainly a heavier sentence ought to be levied for such an unforgivable act? This is no way to honor Ouranos’ memory.”
“Oh, I remember Ouranos just fine,” Gaia said. “Every time I see Kottos and Briareos and Gyges.”
“Mother!” Themis exclaimed. “So far in this Kronos trial, your rulings have been delinquently lenient.”
“Don’t use that tone with me, young lady.”
“I’m grown!”
“You aren’t as grown as me,” Gaia barked. “Now … on the final charge of murder, I find Kronos … not guilty by virtue of it being justifiable in defense of others.”
The entire court chamber erupted into an unruly display of shouting and crying. Goosebumps pushed through my skin like mountain ranges spurred by tectonic shifts. Blood rushed through my veins in a hot torrent.
I calmly asked, “Gaia, don’t yo—”
Gaia glared at me. “If you address me at all, you will address me as All Mother, Queen Mother, or High Goddess.”
I cleared my throat. An erratic pulse thudded in my ears and temples. “Queen Mother Gaia, I have one question that hasn’t been answered. Don’t you as an administrator of justice, see the improper nature of an entire swath of witnesses who wound up dead?”
“Good question.” Gaia’s tone softened. “Yes. When such an injustice occurs, it is disconcerting. I usually look to who would benefit most by their absence.”
“So this has happened before?”
Gaia deadpanned, “Everything old is new again.”
“You said who has the most to benefit …” I raised my finger. “In the case of Tos’ death, the person who benefitted most by Amalthea and the Kouretes being eliminated so they could not testify … was Hyperion.”
Gaia’s face remained stoic. “Yes. And he was found guilty based on the strong testimony against him.”
“But,” I began, “Kronos benefitted most by the giants sent to silence us … and you all but pardoned him.”
Gaia tightened her gaze on me. “Clearly, these alleged giants of which you speak did not impede your ability to be here, because … here you all are. Giants? Really? How big? Larger than the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes?”
“Ummm, they darkened the sky,” I quipped.
Gaia smirked. “No. You must be mistaken. No such beasts exist. Your eyes create fables.”
I jerked my head backward and shook it in disbelief. “Are you calling me a liar? We all saw them. Our school was damaged by them.”
“Or perhaps your school’s falling apart due to faulty infrastructure.” Gaia turned to Rhea. “You should take better care of your environs.”
Rhea stepped forward, but Themis blocked her advance with her arm. Themis cautioned Rhea, but anger seeped into my ichor bloodstream. I realized that Gaia was our High Goddess, Queen Mother, but I was done accepting this attempted erasure of events we all obviously endured. My voice cracked. “You think this is a joke? Huh? We all fought these monsters. Pontus died fighting them. He sacrificed his life to save ours.” I smiled through my rage. I was about to nail Gaia into a corner. “But, more importantly, Kronos wasn’t the only one to benefit from us being attacked …” I paused for dramatic effect. “Since you admitted that you were pleased with Kronos’ actions and basically slapped him on the wrist instead of administering any true justice … you benefited as well.”
“Preposterous!” Gaia blared. “What a fantastical theory. Is that what they teach in drama curriculum at your school?”
I pushed forward. “I bet you or Kronos ordered the giants to besiege us, didn’t you?”
Gaia crossed her arms. Her aura grew in strength.
“You didn’t want any witness testimony against Kronos so you could push through a not guilty verdict, so you shut down the Agora and told everyone to shelter on campus, so we’d all be in one place when the monsters ambushed us.”
“I beg your pardon.” Gaia shook her head. “I have the weight and responsibility of caring for all students and faculty under my dominion. I take that very seriously.”
“And yet, we were attacked not only at MO Prep, but also at Limnos Lower Academy! They followed us!” I said.
Themis turned to Eros and Phanes. “Please investigate this notion of giants attacking our students and faculty. We will get to the bottom of this.”
“No need,” Gaia retorted.
“Clearly,” Themis snapped, “there is cause to investigate this claim, High Goddess. But, let’s resolve the issue at hand. Kronos must face punishment! I tried him. I nailed him. He confessed. He’s guilty! You can’t even use justifiable defense here.”
“My ruling is final. Court is adjou—”
“Who did he defend in that cowardly act?”
Gaia glared at Themis. “Everyone that Ouranos ever wronged.”
“Hold on,” I said. “Queen Mother Gaia, were you the one who counseled or ordered Kronos to do these acts?”
She snapped her gaze to me. “Boy, you’re sailing a tumultuous sea. Don’t you ever address me again unless directly queried. I am so far above your station that you’d suffer a nose bleed just to reach me.” She paused for a beat. “And I know how you dislike heights.”
Her last statement made me pause. But then I tried again. “Did you or did you not orde—” Before I could get the words out, Gaia waved her hands if she were wrenching her fingers around a linen towel and my lips clamped shut against my will. Then a crushing force like the weight of ten pachyderms suddenly draped over my head and shoulders, forcing me to my knees. It felt as if it would continue to press me through the floor. I could barely breathe.
Gaia cocked her head to the side. “You know nothing of me except what you’ve heard. And I doubt much of that is true. What is true is that I’ve presided over this court along with Themis for longer than you’ve been alive. I don’t have to explain anything to you. Nor will I.”
“Let him up, Gaia,” Themis demanded. “Now!”
The downward pressure released, and I fell over onto the floor.
Gaia glared at me. “Don’t ever again make the mistake of thinking you can address me directly.”
“Listen, Mother,” Themis said. “Let’s be perfectly clear. I hate the senselessness of the experiments as much as anyone, but that happened long ago. From a legal perspective, Defense of Others is present tense. I ask you again, who was Kronos defending when Ouranos was murdered in cold ichor blood?”
Gaia stepped forward into Themis personal space. “Kronos was defending the honor of those who were wronged. Someone had to stand up.”
“But that’s not how that works—”
Gaia gripped Themis’ chin like a vise and spoke into her face from a finger’s distance, her voice and tone steadily rising in strength and volume. “I gave birth to you, sheltered you from the horrors of a psychotic, abusive father, and clothed you, nursed you, fed you knowledge and wisdom so you could one day help me administer this court. Now you try cases and I
rule on them. That’s what we do. My ruling is final so sit down and shut up!”
I wasn’t exactly sure what I was witnessing, but it caused a strong shiver to shake me to my core. All I knew for sure was that after all the wrongs Kronos had committed, he was only going to be in Tartarus for sixteen hemeras. Which was to say that he virtually got no punishment at all. My heart squeezed. The so-called punishments were laughable.
Images of the chaos in the Observatory flashed into my mind like hot sparks from a bonfire. Memories of Kronos’ shapeshifted iteration of Ouranos caused my teeth and fists to clench. Ouranos’ final words slid back into my ears as if freshly uttered. And before I knew it, my feet had moved me all the way through the crowd to right in front of him.
I opened my mouth, but Metis suddenly clamped one hand over my mouth and the other around my waist. “Wrong time. Wrong place,” she said.
“She’s a keeper.” Kronos laughed.
Gaia snapped her fingers. “Kottos, would you do the honors. Kronos has some time to serve.”
“What a joke!” Themis blurted out.
“You can join him,” Gaia said.
“Goddess Mother, we need to talk.” Themis herded all court witnesses and spectators toward the exit doorway. Kottos finally grabbed Kronos like he was a piece of driftwood.
But as Kottos carried Kronos out, Kronos cocked his head to the side and smirked at me. “Hey, Zeus … I’ll be seeing you around.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
We strode back through the external doors and into the shade of the portico. Everyone put back on their bracelets and gauntlets. Her arms crossed and her face as deep red as a wild poppy, Hestia had worn a trench in the earth from pacing back and forth. Dust coated her sandaled feet and the bottom of her chiton. Upon our exiting, she almost knocked Rhea over when she rushed over to us.
“So? Please tell me some good news.” Hestia held Rhea by the shoulders.
Rhea’s head drooped. “I don’t know what to say—”
“No. No. No. No. Don’t tell me that!” She turned to Hera. “C’mon. Tell me we nailed him. Tell me he’ll rot in Tartarus forever. Tell me—”
“Fat chance.” Atlas strode by. “Our fearless leader will be back in the saddle before you can clean off your dusty ass sandals. Except, by then, we’ll have a two-pronged offensive.”
“Offensive?” Hera scoffed. “You’re definitely that.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, sweetheart,” Atlas chuckled, and cast a short glance at Metis, and then back to Hera. “You’re not even my type.”
“Brainy?”
“Talkative,” Atlas deadpanned. “Sometimes girls just need to know when to shut up.” Iapetus clapped Atlas on the shoulder, and they continued the walk down the hill toward the Hurler posts.
Tia had become so enraged that fiery sparks orbited slowly around her body. Her eyes glowed red.
Hera clenched her fists. “I’m torn, guys. Was Ouranos really this whacked out, mad chemist, deranged with evil intentions, willfully poisoning his children? I mean, what kind of parent does that, right? Or was he simply trying to do the best he could, the best he thought he knew, and things just went sideways?”
I spoke, “Rhea once said about parenting, ‘We should want our offspring to be more powerful than we are, because if they are not … what are we even doing as parents?’ Maybe that’s all Ouranos was doing … trying to ensure his children were more powerful than he was.” I looked at Hera. “Guilty of caring too much?”
Meter shook her head. “I don’t believe that mess about him trying to kill the Hecaton brothers.”
“Did you see those gargantuans?” I said. “No way he’d have even thought to do that. He’d never have been able to kill one, let alone three. So my guess is the thought never entered his mind. They’d have pulverized him.”
“But then how’d they end up in Tartarus?” Tia asked. “What did they do to get sent there?”
“The Cyclopes said Ouranos had them cast down there for being unruly and disrupting the learning process at MO Prep,” I said. “Remember that?”
“You’re right,” Hera said. “We need to unpack that somehow.”
“Not now. It’s not the time or the place.” Rhea rubbed her eyes. “I promise to have a full debriefing once everyone is back together. I’ll never be able to look at the Cyclopes the same way again.” Her lips tightened. “Nor Ouranos. I guess that’s why he so diligently kept you away from the Sky Throne, not knowing how it would affect your young bodies … not wanting to repeat earlier mistakes.”
“Perhaps. But, we need to get back to Limnos!” Hera said. “I hope they all were able to save the items in the forge.”
Golden-skinned Phanes approached us from inside the court. “Zeus, I wanted to impart to you that we are still in the early investigation stages for the Amalthea and Kouretes incident on Crete. I will need a full statement from you and everyone else who travelled with you that night.”
I nodded.
“Now, we also have this attack by giant … things … to look into?”
Rhea said, “Oh it’s real. I’d never lie to you. Zeus was correct. We did get attacked by some race of giants.” She drew her lips tight. “Pontus died fighting them at Limnos academy. You can begin your inquiry at our campus.”
“Really?” Phanes asked. His mouth dropped open, and he gave Rhea a long consideration. “All right then. Get settled back in at school, and we’ll be in touch.” Phanes turned to re-enter the court.
“Come on,” I said. “We have to go.”
We jogged down the winding, sacred path, past the previous night’s lodging, past Themis’ house, past Iapetus and his sons who chuckled as we scampered by. We huddled around the Hurler. In a matter of moments, we all liquefied and became one with the wind.
Several moments later, we reappeared in the midst of chaos. The sky over the volcano that housed the Hearthstone Forge had been consumed by dark, billowing ash clouds so thick and textured that one could see just about anything they wanted to in them. A lion’s head surrounded by an unruly mane. An untamed beard. A dragon’s head.
“Hey, you all are back!” Shade said. “It’s about time. We were about to leave without—”
“How dangerous is the volcano?” Rhea asked. “Is eruption imminent?”
Brontes knelt before Rhea. “It’s been like this all day today. Rumbling. Belching. It’s getting b—”
The earth abruptly shook with such anger that everyone stumbled and fell. A loud explosion erupted, and for the first time, we witnessed actual fire spew into the air as if from a dragon’s mouth. And bright reddish-yellow lava spilled over the summit’s brim, slowly advancing toward us.
“I’ve had enough fun. I really hate that we can’t stick around for the show.” Shade jumped to his feet. “Time to go. And speaking of …” Shade paused. “When we get back to MO Prep. Phoebe and Nemo got cornered by some heinous, winged beasts. They ran and hid under the gym. I barely got out of there.” He stopped abruptly, gazing at the pile of items they’d saved from the forge. “Did anyone find the two amphoras of nectar I brought back?”
“Phoebe and Mnemosyne what?” Rhea snapped. “You left just left them?”
Shade gazed at his feet. “I couldn’t fight them alone. Just wait. You’ll see. I told Brontes about them. We were waiting until you all returned.”
Rhea said, “It’s time to go, little lions. It’s time to reclaim our school, our mountain, our home.” Her dingy chiton ruffled in the swirling winds. “Grab all your armor, weapons, and various sundries.”
I froze for longer than I needed to, mesmerized by the lava flow. Then I sprang into action to scramble to where our supplies were piled. The mountain roared as burning embers rained around us. The earth rumbled again.
After everyone had collected their belongings, Rhea huddled us around the Hurler post on the side of the hill just down from the cave. “We have no idea what to expect once w
e get back, so be ready for anything. We’ll go in three heats. Cyclopes, you’ll be the final group. To attract the least attention, let’s make our teleportation target the Observatory Hurler post instead of the other two.”
Everyone nodded.
Steropes protested. “Rhea, we’ll never fit in there. We’ll go to the entry gate instead of the Cloudwell. Does that work? And then we’ll meet in the middle.”
As Rhea nodded her agreement, I went with the first group. Rhea, Hera, Shade, and Demeter rounded out our party. I gazed at the volcano one last time before we became one with the wind. We reappeared in the Observatory. The air stood stale like no one had breathed it in forever. We’d only been gone less than a week, but it felt like a lifetime. We dropped our supplies on the lab tables, but kept weapons, and armor on.
Rhea led us out of the door. “All right, Hades … what do you know about where Phoebe and Mnemosyne could be? And did you see Ananke?”
“I never saw the guidance counselor. And last I knew the others were in the Forge under the gymnasium.”
“Let’s do this,” I said.
We crept down the path as the second group hurled into the Observatory. They quickly caught up to us as we all neared the gymnasium doors. Much of the campus had been untouched by the giants who first assaulted our home. A few buildings had sustained minor damage. The theater and barn had been impacted the most. I was certain Rhea had a plan for that, though.
But first, rescuing our professors.
Shade led us to the doors of the gymnasium. He held his fist in the air to halt us. He creaked open the door. Another lump formed in my throat. Or perhaps it simply built on the one already there. Sudden images of Pontus assaulted me. The gym was his domain, where he taught us to push one another and become the best versions of ourselves.
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