by Joan Holub
“That’s so . . . pink!” Athena exclaimed, copying Eos’s word for “cool.” “I like to transform into an owl sometimes.”
“I changed myself into a stag once,” said Artemis as they continued to walk.
What fun this is! Eos thought. Back home, she never got to have conversations about transformation. No one else at her school had any experience with that ability. She was about to ask Artemis why she had changed herself into a male deer when she happened to spy two small, shiny, black beetles under the edge of a nearby bush.
A sudden, strange feeling compelled her to stop. “Wait!” she called to Athena and Artemis. Kneeling, she picked up the two beetles, which were each about a half inch long. Then she stood again and showed them to the other two goddessgirls. “Aren’t they the cutest coleoptera you’ve ever seen?” she enthused, recalling more of what Tithonus had told her over the years.
“Collie-up-to-what?” asked Artemis. “They look like plain old beetles to me.”
“They are. All beetles belong to the insect order Coleoptera.” With a gentle fingertip, Eos petted first one beetle’s and then the other’s shiny black elytra, the hardened front pair of wings that protected their fragile hind wings.
“Oh, I get it,” said Athena, leaning in to study the insect pair. “The word ‘coleoptera’ must come from koleos, which means ‘sheath,’ and ptera, which means ‘wings.’ ”
“Sure, everybody knows that,” Artemis teased her brainy friend.
Athena flicked her a grin. “So as I was saying, Coleoptera must refer to the beetle’s sheathlike wings.”
Cupping her hands around the two beetles so they wouldn’t escape, Eos cooed to them. “Hey, cuties. I’m going to keep you beetely-weetelies as pets!”
Athena grinned as the girls began to walk again. “I think you must have been bitten by the same bug as your friend Tithonus,” she told Eos. “You know, as in you’re starting to kind of fall in love with insects too!”
Eos parted her hands a crack and smiled dreamily at the two beetles. “Hmm. My little love bugs.” Probably thinking she was joking, the other two girls laughed. But she wasn’t joking. Which was kind of weird, now that she thought about it. Since when did she love bugs? And why was she nicknaming two beetles “love bugs” when beetles were actually insects, and not especially lovable ones either? What was going on here?
“Personally, I think dogs make better pets,” Artemis remarked as the girls kept on walking. “You can’t play ball with a beetle.”
“Unless it’s a dung beetle,” said Athena. When the other two looked at her in surprise, she added, “What? It’s true. They push around a ball made of dung, also known as poop.”
“My beetles aren’t that kind, but they’ll be easier to take care of than dogs,” Eos commented as the girls crossed MOA’s marble courtyard. “For one thing, I won’t need to take them for walks.” She peered at her beetles through her fingers. “You doing okay, Cleitus and Cephalus?”
Artemis raised an eyebrow. “Cleitus and Cephalus?”
“Yeah, I don’t really know if they’re boys, but I’ve decided I’m naming them after these twin brothers that Tithonus hangs out with,” Eos explained. “The brothers are identical. And they kind of remind me of beetles. They’re roundish, and they have black hair and always wear shiny black tunics.”
Athena and Artemis laughed again.
Before the three girls knew it, they were climbing the granite steps to the Academy and pushing through its bronze front doors. Before they headed upstairs to the girls’ dorm, Artemis ducked into the cafeteria and grabbed an apple and an orange. “Breakfast snack, for you to take with you tomorrow morning,” she told Eos.
Since the beetles were cupped in Eos’s hands, Artemis slipped the apple and orange into the pockets of Eos’s chiton. Together the girls climbed the marble stairs to the fourth floor.
“You’ll need something to put those beetles in,” Athena said when they stopped outside her and Pandora’s dorm room. “I’ve got a glass jar you can have.” She ducked inside her room and quickly returned with the jar, as well as a piece of loosely woven cloth and a string to tie the cloth over the mouth of the jar so the beetles wouldn’t escape.
Athena held the jar while Eos carefully placed her beetles inside and then tied the cloth cover over the top. “Perfect. Thanks,” she told Athena. Then, glancing at Artemis, too, she said, “You guys are the best. It’s been sooo much fun hanging around with you!” They all hugged and said their farewells, since Athena and Artemis would likely still be sound asleep when Eos left the next morning.
Once inside Aphrodite’s dark room, Eos set the jar on a desk and lit a small lamp she found there. Then she changed into the pink nightgown Aphrodite had let her borrow and tossed her chiton on top of her bag to put back on in the morning. She shifted the heart-shaped pillows to the end of the bed, but instead of climbing into it right then, she couldn’t resist going back to the desk where she’d left her beetles.
She gazed at them fondly through the glass. “Nighty-night, sweetie beetelies. I’m glad Persephone and Aphrodite took their kitten home for the night. Otherwise Adonis might have tried to eat you!”
Speaking of eating, what if Cleitus and Cephalus were hungry? she thought anxiously. She remembered Tithonus saying that many beetles liked fruit. Hurrying over to her bag, she pulled the apple and the orange from the pockets of her chiton. At the desk again, she held both over the jar. “Which would you prefer?” she asked her beetles. “Apple? Or orange?”
“Both!” she squeaked, pretending they were replying to her question.
“You got it, my little beetle boys!” she answered them in her normal voice.
Using her fingernails, she peeled off bits of both fruits and gently placed the pieces at the bottom of the jar. “Tomorrow I’ll add a few twigs to your jar in case you’d like something to climb on,” she promised them. “And I’ll pick some fresh grass shoots too, in case you’d like those better than fruit.”
Before she blew out the lamp, Eos borrowed a sheet of papyrus from the top of Aphrodite’s desk. Quickly she wrote a note, thanking Aphrodite for letting her spend the night in her room, and for the use of one of her nightgowns. She also told Aphrodite what a good time she’d had at MOA. She decided not to mention the tension she’d sensed when they parted. If she’d been right about that, Aphrodite was probably over her anger by now, anyway.
She left the note on the desk, then slipped into bed and pulled the comforter up to her chin. Feeling as snug as a bug in a rug, she fell fast asleep.
10
Home Again
IT WAS PAST LUNCHTIME ON Sunday when Eos arrived at the open courtyard of her home and transformed to whirl down into her urn-room. She’d waved to Nyx when she’d seen her at dawn, thanked her again for the invitation, and quickly mentioned her fun trip to the Supernatural Market last night.
Though the flight home had been long, it had given her time to think about all that had happened yesterday. Especially the surprising things Zeus had said about her dad, and the chance he’d given her to make Tithonus immortal. She’d even worked out the words to a spell that she hoped would do the trick!
After taking a shower and changing clothes in her urn-room, she checked on her beetle boys. They were perched on the twigs she’d placed inside their jar that morning. “Hey, guys, you doing okay?” she asked them. They said nothing, of course, but she noticed they’d eaten the pieces of apple and orange she’d given them before she’d gone to bed last night.
“I bet you’re hungry again,” she said. “I ate the rest of the apple and orange on the way home. But, good news, I saved one hunk of the orange for you guys.” Taking it from a small pouch at the top of her bag, she lowered it into their jar.
“I’m hungry too,” she told her beetles as they scampered over to the piece of orange. They were so cute! Feeling a surge of affection for them, she added, “I’m going to go get some lunch, and I’ll bring you sweet little beetle-twee
tles another treat when I come back, okay?” Not that she expected them to answer or anything.
Once she’d covered the jar and secured the cloth with the string Athena had given her, Eos scratched at an itchy red spot that had appeared on her upper arm that morning. Hmm. Looked like some kind of bug bite. All at once she flashed on Aphrodite giggling and saying in a singsong voice, “Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” That goddessgirl had been mega-angry with her only moments before she’d said that. What if she’d actually been casting a magic spell to cause this bite when she’d chanted that rhyme? But no, Eos told herself, that idea was just plain silly. Besides, that didn’t sound like a spell to her.
In seconds Eos had transformed herself into a pink vapor again and spiraled up and out of her urn-room. Then she became her goddessgirl self and went into the kitchen.
“Oh, good. You’re home! How was the sleepover?” Dressed in a glittery red chiton, her mom stood at the counter, chopping lettuce. As her knife moved up and down, the diamond bracelet on her wrist jiggled and flashed.
“Fun,” Eos replied, figuring Theia didn’t have time for details. As busy as she always was, she’d probably be off somewhere as soon as she’d eaten.
“I’m making a big salad for lunch. Want some?” her mom asked.
Eos nodded. “Yes, thanks.” Then she added, “I didn’t expect you to be home. I thought you’d be at a meeting or out helping with one of your charities.” Spying a bowl of grapes on the counter, she tossed a couple into her mouth and then stuck one in the pocket of her chiton to give to Cleitus and Cephalus later.
“I skipped my jewelry-club meeting,” her mom informed her. After putting the chopped lettuce onto two plates, she began to slice up a cucumber.
Startled, Eos’s mouth dropped open as she reached for more grapes. “You did? But aren’t you in charge of the meetings? You’re the president.” She had never known her mom to blow off a commitment! The two of them were alike that way. They kept their promises, and when they said they were going to do something, they followed through.
Her mom gave her an affectionate smile. “I am. But I decided someone else could take over today’s meeting. I wanted to be here to chat when you got home.” She set down her knife. “In fact, I’m thinking I may cut back on some of my activities, so I can be home more often.”
“Really?” Eos said, her eyebrows going up.
“Really. You’re growing up so fast, and . . . well . . . I’d like to spend more time with you.” Theia’s forehead furrowed as she looked at Eos. “Would you like that too?”
Eos grinned. “Yeah, definitely.” But then she added, “Only I wouldn’t want you to give up anything you really wanted to do. I’m proud of the all the things you do!”
“Why, thank you, sweetie. That’s good to know.” Theia opened her arms to Eos, and they hugged. “I’ll still keep doing the activities I enjoy most,” her mom assured her afterward, while adding olives and cherry tomatoes to the salads. “It won’t hurt to give up being in charge of a few, though. That’ll offer others a chance to step forward and lead.”
Hmm, thought Eos. Interesting point. If her mom could give up being in charge of some of her activities, maybe she could too. She might start by letting someone else take over the Scrollbook Club meetings. Her lips curled into a mischievous smile. Maybe Zoe? Then it would be that girl’s turn to be annoyed when others hadn’t read the month’s book!
“Now tell me everything about Ephesus and your visit to Mount Olympus Academy,” her mom said as they carried their salads to the table and sat down. So as they ate, Eos described Artemis’s amazing temple and the unveiling of Nyx’s statuette. And she told about the party, too, and how Apollo’s band had played and she’d gotten to dance with other goddessgirls and godboys. “And I also met Athena’s little sister, Hebe. Hera brought her.” Here Eos paused and cocked her head at Theia. “How do you and Hera know each other, anyway?”
Her mom smiled. “I bought a dress from her shop in the Immortal Marketplace once, to wear to a friend’s wedding.” The IM was enormous, with shops that sold everything from the newest Greek fashions to tridents and thunderbolts. Hera’s wedding shop was called (appropriately enough) Hera’s Happy Endings. “And we also worked on a committee together a few years ago, before she and Zeus were married,” Theia added.
Her mention of Zeus caused Eos to blurt out, “I saw him at MOA. He said he and Dad play chess together?”
Her mom nodded. “Mm-hm. I’ve visited the Underworld a couple of times while they were playing. I would’ve mentioned it before, but I didn’t want to break my promise to you by discussing your d—”
“But aren’t you mad at Zeus?” Eos interrupted, feeling confused. “I mean, he’s the whole reason Dad is in the Underworld. Aren’t we enemies?”
“Enemies?” Her mom shook her head. “No, the Titanomachy was a long time ago. From the start, both sides in that war knew what the punishment would be if they lost. I don’t believe in holding on to anger about the past.” Having finished her salad, she set down her fork and then grinned. “Besides, your dad always beats Zeus at chess. He jokes that if a game of chess had decided who would rule, instead of that war, then he and the Titans would be in power instead of Zeus and the Olympians. Zeus may be King of the Gods, but your dad is King of the Chessboard!”
Eos laughed. She loved the idea that her dad could beat the King of the Gods at something. When she’d talked to Zeus yesterday, however, he’d been pretty confident that he’d finally win a match. But had he won?
“Zeus was nicer than I imagined he’d be,” she admitted. She didn’t mention that she’d asked him to make Tithonus immortal and that he’d granted her the power to do so, though. She was a little worried that her mom might not think it was a good idea. It was! But grown-ups were sometimes too cautious, in her humble opinion.
All at once Eos became aware that her mom was studying her. “What?” she said.
“I know I promised I’d never speak about your dad to you again,” her mom replied hesitantly, “but you brought him up yourself just now. And I wonder . . . would you like to go with me to the Underworld next time I visit him?”
Eos sucked in her breath. Would she? She thought about what her mom had just said about not holding on to anger. Was that what she had been doing all these years? Holding on to anger toward her dad? And toward Zeus, too? “When are you going?” she asked carefully.
“Tomorrow,” Theia answered. “We could go after you’re home from school. About an hour south of here by chariot there’s a shortcut to Tartarus. It’s within a circle of big boulders that you can see from the air. We could visit your dad and get back with plenty of time for you to do homework, if you have any.”
Eos nodded and set down her napkin, finished with eating. “I’ll think about it.” After all these years, she wasn’t even sure what she’d say to her dad. In spite of what her mom had said, she was still kind of mad at him for not coming home after the war. He’d promised.
But now it occurred to her to wonder if she was being unfair. Maybe some promises just couldn’t be kept. It was something to consider, anyway. She got up from the table and took her and her mom’s empty salad plates over to the sink.
“Oh. I almost forgot,” said Theia. “Tithonus came looking for you this morning. I told him you’d spent the night at MOA and would be home later.”
“Thanks,” said Eos. “I’d better go see him. I promised to help him with his science-fair project on grasshoppers.” She also planned to make him immortal before her immortality-granting power could expire, but she didn’t tell her mom that!
Soon Eos was off next door, taking with her the papyrus Ares had autographed, and Cleitus and Cephalus in their jar so Tithonus could meet them. When she knocked at the red door of his house, he answered almost immediately and ushered her into the living room. Posters in progress, some with diagrams and illustrations of grasshoppers, blanketed the floor. Eos edged around them, careful not to
step on any.
“Wow, you’ve done a lot!” she told him.
Tithonus grinned at all his posters, looking pleased. “Mom hates messes. She’d have a fit if she saw I’d spread these all out here. Luckily, she went to an exercise class and has plans to attend some kind of lecture afterward. She won’t be home tonight till around seven.” Noticing the jar Eos was holding, a curious look came over his face. “What have you got there?” he asked.
Her eyes sparkled. “Beetles!” She removed the cloth top and held out the jar to him.
“Cool!” he said, after peering inside. “Those belong to the Tenebrionidae family of beetles.”
“Ten-knee-bree-a-what?” asked Eos.
Tithonus laughed. “A more common name is darkling beetle.”
“I like that better. Much easier to say and remember. Guess what I named them.”
“Zeus and Hera?”
“Nope.”
“Beetledum and Beetledee?”
She giggled. “Nope. Cleitus and Cephalus.”
As she knew he would, Tithonus cracked up, getting right away why she’d named them after the twins. “I totally see the resemblance.” He handed the jar back. “Are you going to keep them as pets?” he asked, reaching to straighten his untamable cowlick.
Eos nodded, gazing into the jar at her cute little fellows. “Got any beetle-care tips? I gave them some fruit, but I wasn’t really sure what to feed them.”
“Fruit’s fine. Darkling beetles will eat a lot of different things,” Tithonus told her. After selecting a few of the half-finished posters spread over the floor, he carried them to the dining room table, then pulled out a chair and sat.