The High Court

by Chris Ledbetter

  The rotten and foul odor of the air seeping through the doorway stung the back of my nose. Shade waved us inside the gym. Once we’d all filed in behind him, without warning three hideous winged beasts swooped down from the sky. Black death mongers. Snaked hair. Bleeding eyes. I’d seen them before, some of them at least. Hera, Shade, Metis, and I had vanquished some of them before on our way to the Underworld.

  Demeter nocked two arrows and loosed them. The flying creatures skillfully evaded them with barrel rolls. They snapped their wings forward and sent a murderous number of feathers sailing toward Meter. Five or more hit her, each one thudding like an arrow into a dead goat.

  She crumpled to the ground immediately.

  As Tia ran to cover Meter with her shield and she yelled, “Poison! Somebody help me!”

  Metis and Phi ran to help Tia scoop Meter up and carry her to the side wall of the gym. Tia, Metis, and Phi interlocked their shields overhead.

  Hera spoke into our minds, Fan out, everyone. And keep moving. That way they can’t gang up on one person. Harder to hit moving targets.

  Don’s trident glowed blue. He spun it and prepared for battle.

  Shade slipped his helmet down into position, vanishing from sight.

  Aphro folded her shield in front of her, swinging Heartbreaker in her right hand.

  I shuffled side-to-side on the balls of my feet in the center of the gym floor.

  One of the demons spoke in a screech, “I am Alecto. This is Tisiphone and Megaera. We are seeking the murderer of Ouranos. Tell us who the guilty party is.”

  “I’m glad you asked!” My pulse thudded at my temples. “But first, what exactly is your business with said guilty party?”

  Tisiphone spoke next, “We seek retribution. To right imbalances in the natural order.”

  “Ahhh, you don’t say …” I glanced around at my friends. Maybe they’d attacked us last term when we were headed for the Underworld because they thought we had killed Ouranos. Eventually my gaze landed on Rhea. She nodded once for me to continue. I turned back to Alecto. “Well … I’m not sure where you came from or how you got here, but we can help you in your quest. But in order to do that, we have to gain some trust.”

  “Proceed,” Megaera said as they hovered in the air.

  “First, my name is Zeus.” I raised my hands as a gesture of de-escalation. “You clearly injured my sister, Meter, erm, Demeter over there, so we need to ratchet this situation down a few columns. Secondly … land on the ground so we can talk like proper allies.”

  “Weapons down then!” Alecto hissed. “Or else we stay where we can defend ourselves.”

  I turned in all directions to catch the gazes of my siblings and friends to get them to lower their arsenal.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Don called out.

  The creatures slowly descended to the ground, but their wings remained outstretched.

  I sighed. “Good. Now then … the person whom you’re seeking is Kronos. He pled guilty in The High Court to the offense you all are so keen on avenging yet received no punishment to match the act.”

  “Where do we find this Kronos?” Alecto asked.

  “We can take you to him …” I said. “For a fee.”

  “What fee would this be?” Tisiphone queried.

  “If you hang out here at MO Prep and help us renovate and repair what’s been damaged, I will send Shade, erm, Hades with you and he’ll lead you right to him. Deal?”

  Just then, the Cyclopes showed up, having arrived from a different Hurler.

  “All well here?” Brontes asked.

  “Yes. We’re just finishing up,” I said. “Brontes, Arges, and Steropes … meet Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera. Brontes, they’re looking for Ouranos’ murderer. They’ve agreed to help us restore order here first, then Shade will escort them down.”

  “They have snakes for hair,” Steropes said.

  “Yah, and wings of black death …” Arges added.

  Tisiphone glared at the Cyclopes. “None of you are winning any beauty contests either.”

  Brontes laughed heartily. “I think we’ll get on just fine.”

  “Wait a moment! I agreed to nothing,” Alecto spewed. “How do we know we can trust your bargain, young Zeus?”

  “Fair enough question,” I said. “We’re earning trust together, one moment at a time. First we’ll trust you not to inject us with barbed, poisoned feathers …” My hand suddenly throbbed with so much pain I could barely raise it. Yellowish-white and blue energy tendrils radiated from my closed fist. “And you’ll trust me to not completely obliterate you if you step out of line. Deal?”

  Alecto conferred with Tisiphone and Megaera. “Fine, but if we must wait too long to enjoy the fruits of our search for this Kronos person, this deal may turn sour.”

  “Very well,” Steropes said. “Alecto and friends, come with us. First, we’re going to sweep the perimeter to ensure there are no current threats. Next, we’ll secure the campus. Then we can assess what needs to be rebuilt.”

  I glanced over at Metis, Tia, and Phi helping Meter. They’d removed the feathers, and Tia worked her healing magic, as evidenced by the fiery sparks that swirled around her. Meter sat up under her own power, so I knew she’d be fine.

  Movement registered in the corner of my eye. Shade reappeared with a huge smile on his face. Professors Phoebe and Nemo came out from under the gym floor. Rhea jogged over and hugged them both. It was a rare emotional display from Rhea. Close behind, Melete and Aoede embraced them as well.

  After the embraces, Rhea walked back to my siblings and me, holding Nemo and Phoebe’s hands as if it were the last time she’d ever done it. “Let’s all get bathed, faculty will scrounge up some food, and then we’ll all reconvene in the Andron. Inventory your living spaces for personal items and damage. Report any discrepancies to me as soon as possible. And wash up well. You all smell like goats.”

  Metis caught up to me while we all ambled to the campus housing area. “So …” She began with a purely sinful smile. “Do you need any help with your bath?”

  Before I could even get a word out, Rhea called from across the quad, “Watch it, you two!”

  Metis responded, “I was just testing you, Headmistress.” She patted me on the butt, and then slowly took the fork in the path veering away from me toward her own cabin.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  I honestly couldn’t say if that bath I took was the best I’d ever taken, what, with having to compete with the infamous Delphic bath … but damn, it felt good. I sat, double cocooned by tepid water and silence. I ran my fingers over my new normal, the aegis breastplate. As it wasn’t fused to my chest, water was able to flow underneath. At least I wasn’t going insane anymore. I reached around to feel my back. All was well.

  My thoughts drifted first to Anytos. I shook my head. His death had been so senseless. Not that any of these deaths made sense, really. At least I saw to his vengeance. Wouldn’t bring him back, though. Nor Amalthea and Aristaeus. Why in Ouranos’ name would anyone harm them? My spirit and soul warred over the seeking of revenge or not. To forgive their transgressor or not. At that moment … vengeance was winning. I wanted awful things to happen to their attackers. Atrocious things. But we needed to figure out who’d actually done it. It was neither Hyperion nor Kronos given that they were both in custody awaiting trial at the time. I hoped the Khaos Council would get to the bottom of it.

  I wrung my hands beneath the water, thinking about Pontus … and Ouranos. Pontus had sacrificed his life for us. His selfless death saddened me almost as much as Tos’ had. I know Don took Pontus’ sacrifice pretty hard. We all did. But Don got hit a bit more squarely than the rest of us. Teacher. Coach. Mentor. At least he still had Amphitrite.

  Ouranos’ death, on the other hand, seemed to be part of a larger design, higher reaching in Hellas than I could’ve imagined. The stories Kronos told about Ouranos opened my eyes. I had had a rocky st
art with Ouranos, but I had a difficult time believing he acted out of malice.

  I was certain Gaia knew more than she let on. Like, way more. I almost thought she had covered for Kronos. That entire courtroom scene was mind blowing and tough to process. Kronos received some punishment, even though it’s not what anyone thought was fair or just. Then again, Pontus told us “I think the entire concept of fairness … is a crutch for the weak.”

  Fairness was a hotly contested concept as of late.

  Unsure of our next steps, it was possible we needed to simply let that go and move forward. If Ouranos’ death was to correct certain wrongs, then the ordeal was over. Or not. Of one thing I was certain, if any more confrontations happened between MO Prep and Othrys Hall, no doubt a complete civil war would erupt between the Olympians and the Titans. Although I wasn’t certain how civil it would be. Kronos’ reemergence in sixteen hemeras could be the spark that would ignite the flame.

  I tried to relax and empty my mind in the bath and focus on breathing. I nearly drifted off to sleep before I remembered that Rhea was expecting us. I toweled off, returned to my bungalow as fast as I could, and threw on a black tunic. After inspecting and inventorying, I found nothing out of order. I arrived to the Andron later than everyone else.

  “Sorry for my tardiness, Headmistress. I nearly fell asleep in the bath.”

  Her understanding smile warmed. “Get a food plate and come on over. Pickings are slim, given our absence of almost a week and the state of our barn and greenhouse. But on the bright side, we discovered Ananke under some rubble near the barn.”

  Everyone in the room burst into heartfelt congratulations. And questions regarding her health.

  “Ananke is fine,” Rhea said. “She just needs some nectar, food, and rest, which we gave her.” She turned to Tia. “Hestia, when we’re done here, I want you to go to the faculty residences in the clouds above your housing area and work your magic on Ananke.”

  “Yes, Headmistress,” Tia responded with a bright smile. “I’ll do anything I can to help.”

  I grabbed some bread, figs, and nectar. That was about all I had the stomach for, not that the options were vast. Several tables had been pushed together in the center of the room. I know why I’d chosen my black tunic, it matched my mood. But I found it interesting to see what others had picked. Both Shade and Don had also chosen black, likely for different reasons among them. Amphitrite was clad in aquamarine. Metis was radiant in a sun chariot yellow, clingy chiton. Aphrodite had slipped back into the seafoam green chiton she’d worn the first day she arrived. Hera was sheathed in red. Simple. Classic. Predictable. Tia wore plum like the first day I met her. Probably her favorite. Meter dressed in sage green. Standard. Everyone had returned to their comfort zones.

  “Now then,” Rhea began, “I’ve been briefed by Brontes as to the state of our campus. No permanent damage. Nothing we can’t fix.” She took a swig of something that appeared to be wine. Totally understandable. “As this is still an institution of higher learning, classes will resume two hemeras from now. We can’t afford to get too behind in the curriculum.”

  Don’s hand shot up.

  “I know, Poseidon. I’m getting there,” Rhea said. “First, let me just say that, I’m taking Pontus absence … I won’t call it death … as hard as anyone here. Poseidon, I know you had a particularly close relationship with him. And Amphitrite, if I’m not mistaken, he was your great-father. The losses we’ve endured over the last couple of weeks have rocked this academy to its core.” She paused to collect herself. Phoebe hugged her. Rhea continued, “That said, Brontes, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Ananke and I will discuss curriculum, possible changes, and teaching duties moving forward. Obviously, it is preferable to continue on our current heading. But if alterations need to be made, they will be. I realize what that means for fourth years. But before you protest, let us combine heads and match wits … and then we shall see where the dust settles.”

  Tia raised her hand.

  “No, Hestia, I am not anticipating any new faculty at the moment, especially since Steropes, Arges, and Brontes have returned. I assure you their focus is singular.”

  Shade stood.

  Rhea held her hand up to silence Shade. She paused to drink the remaining contents of her goblet and refill it from a nearby amphora. “That was actually next on my list. Now then, for those not present at the trials … Poseidon, Hades, Amphitrite, Aphrodite, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Aoede, Melete … the proceedings went both well and poorly. In the first trial, Hyperion was found guilty of murdering Zeus’ dear friend Anytos by improper influence over young Titans. That’s the good news. As for the Kronos trial, however …” She took another long swig. “Despite overwhelming evidence as well as a confession, Kronos was only found guilty of abduction and shapeshifting into another being.”

  “And not of murder?” Shade exclaimed. “What the—”

  “Hades …” Rhea cautioned slowly.

  “And you said he confessed?” Don asked. “How did he get off then? He did it and confessed to it?”

  Rhea nodded. “It was an odd ruling, defense of others …”

  “That’s goat feces!” Shade kicked his chair across the room. “We held Ouranos as he uttered his last words … and took his last breath.”

  “Hades,” Rhea began, “I understand your frustration. It mirrors my own. Gaia’s ruling was that he was defending the Hecatonchires and Cyclopes because of experiments Ouranos had performed on them … that turned them into beings that are … well, different from us in many ways. But that is a discussion for a different time. And I promise to tell you all. Every bit.”

  She sighed, paused, and continued. “And let me just say … the Hecatonchires are not bad. They are not hideous or ugly. The ways in which they’re dissimilar to us are no different from you having green eyes, and you having pale skin, and you having naturally indigo hair, and you having full lips, and you being born to harness … lightning. We are the same in our diversity. And if ever we should welcome them back into the Mount Olympus Prep family, we will all treat them as such. Is that understood?”

  We all nodded.

  Rhea continued, “But for now, Kronos is in Tartarus, as is Hyperion. Hyperion’s gone for forever. Kronos will come to the surface again in sixteen hemeras. He’ll no doubt return to the helm of Othrys Hall.” She paused to consider our faces at a measured pace. “Our job right now is to rebuild Mount Olympus. Stronger than it was. Evil still exists in this world. Other pantheons may still be under siege from whatever haunts them. We need to be able to withstand threats both outside and inside Hellas. I’m no longer under the illusion that simply being on Mount Olympus is enough for our safety.”

  I stood up. “May I just say one thing?”

  Rhea smiled and nodded. “You have the floor.”

  “I wanted to thank you all for standing by me when I wasn’t my sturdiest recently. I apologize for poor decisions and melt downs.” I tapped the breastplate beneath my tunic. “Due to the unparalleled craftsmanship of the Cyclopes, looks like our contraption is keeping me sane.”

  “Too bad we couldn’t have put it over your face, too,” Shade joked.

  “Funny you say that,” I countered, “that’s exactly what the Cyclopes gave you with your helmet … a way to hide your face.”

  Laughs rang out in the room.

  “But seriously, though,” I began again, “I’ve lost a lot. Anytos. Amalthea. Aristaeus. But, we’ve all lost plenty here. We’ve gained a lot, too. New friends and allies have become family. And I notice a fair bit more togetherness amongst us than I witnessed on my very first visit to the Andron. If we have nothing else to celebrate, let’s celebrate that.”

  A few long moments of silence followed.

  I continued, “But I have to say … the ruling in Delphi speared me. Headmistress set us up with the expectation that Gaia and the rule of justice in Hellas was strong and fair. Kronos got nothing. A slap on the wrist, if that. The sys
tem is broken. Look at the cold reception by school administrators at Eastern Crete, Limnos, and Othrys. And now, in sixteen hemeras, Kronos will return to one of the most corrupt schools in the Hellas district with clear support from Gaia. If we’re going to survive this long night, we need to vow right now to eliminate the disease that has infected Hellas. The guiding light and leadership structure of Hellas is failing us. The only people we can depend on right now are within the walls of MO Prep. We are the change agents.”

  Rhea slid her arm around my shoulders. I turned toward her broad smile. A single tear streaked defiantly down her cheek before she aggressively swiped it away.

  Stern expressions of determination resided on everyone’s faces. Intense gazes. Tightened lips. Slow nodding greeted me. Aphrodite began clapping.

  Shade stood up and waved her to stop. “Hold on just a moment. Zeus, did you make that up yourself or did you memorize that off of a get well scroll down in the Agora?”

  Everyone in the Andron simultaneously yelled, “Shut up, Shade!”

  “Ahh, there we go,” Shade said. “Everything’s back to normal.”

  Rhea held her hand in the air to quiet us. “One last thing. I’m willing to wager that the curfew and travel restrictions will be lifted soon. That means, we can reschedule War Games matches, provided the other teams are willing and don’t have their own menace to combat. And we can also reschedule the symposium in celebration of Ouranos’ and now Pontus’ life.”

  “Can I just say one thing?” Don stood. “We had some pretty contentious battles for captain of the War Games team. I’m secure enough to fight for the title. And to that end, Pontus charged us with a strategy project. I say we reconvene our groups and complete the assignment by Hemera Khaos and turn it into Headmistress.”

  Rhea smiled. “That’s a great idea, Poseidon. I am familiar with the assignment, and can’t wait to see your strategies and rationales.”