The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

  Really? Nora stood up, holding a screwdriver that she thought would fit. She went back to the table. “Is it really such a terrible job?”

  Coeus shrugged. “Well, you haven’t been here too long, Nora, so maybe you haven’t noticed, but most muses are not particularly into responsibility. They’d rather focus on their own little creations and not think about anything else.”

  Nora tried the new screwdriver on the walkie-talkie. Much easier. She was actually able to unscrew it.

  “Usually, that works out just fine, actually,” said Coeus. “They’re responsible for themselves, and they’re happy, and we don’t have a lot of problems here. When we do have problems, though, Phoebe gets the brunt of it. She’s strong, though. She can handle it.”

  Nora had managed to remove two of the screws. She went to work on the third and final one. “So I guess it’s really more of a burden than a privilege, being head of the council.”

  “Being on the council’s the same way,” said Coeus. “It’s a big headache.”

  Nora had never really thought about government that way. She remembered being a kid in middle school and really wishing she could run for student body president. Of course, she guessed class government was not the same thing. “So, if Phoebe doesn’t want to do it, why doesn’t she just stop?”

  “Not that easy,” said Coeus. “If no one else steps up to take over the council, it’s a disaster. Enclaves tend to get a little angry with each other, as you may have noticed. If there isn’t anyone around to moderate that, it’ll get real bad, real fast. Phoebe wouldn’t let that happen. She cares too much.”

  Nora took out the final screw, and began trying to get the back off the walkie-talkie. It was loose, but still attached somewhere. She turned it over in her hands. “You and Phoebe are different than other muses. You embrace responsibility.” She was thinking of the things Agler had said around the fire that night. How he’d argued that people needed to endure a little bit of discomfort not only to grow, but to help out the community. Phoebe and Coeus certainly seemed to subscribe to that way of thinking.

  “Look, somebody’s got to be responsible,” said Coeus. “We can’t all be little children, running after the next game.”

  Aha! There was a little plastic latch. If Nora pushed it in very carefully... Yep. The back of the walkie-talkie came right off. “Do you ever think the other muses should be more responsible? Does Phoebe?”

  Coeus sighed. He put down the green circuit board he’d been working on. “Now, that question goes right to the heart of things, Nora.”

  “Sorry,” she said. She didn’t want to let on about her suspicions.

  “No,” said Coeus. “It’s fine to ask. And I’ll be honest with you. Sometimes, I do. But Phoebe knows better. She’s focused. The purpose of Helicon is to inspire. So whatever we do here, we have to have an environment where muses are constantly creating. And responsibility sometimes kills creativity.”

  “But the engineering enclave is responsible for keeping everything running around here,” said Nora.

  “That hasn’t always been true,” said Coeus. “Engineering used to be an enclave a lot like science. Just a bunch of guys making things that worked for different purposes. When I took over engineering, I was inspired to do things that mattered, though. I thought it would be more meaningful to create things that I knew people would actually use.”

  “Is it?”

  Coeus nodded, grinning. “Yes. Knowing what I create makes a difference is definitely more meaningful than creating for my own ego. But it does mean giving up a little bit of freedom. I can’t engineer anything I want any time I want. For me, it’s worth it. I sometimes wonder if other muses might feel the same way if they gave it a shot, but I’m not going to force anyone to do anything.”

  Nora now had the walkie-talkie open. And there was a little green circuit board inside which looked very similar to the one that Coeus was holding. She pointed at it. “Is this what you need?”

  “That’s the ticket,” he said.

  Nora tried to pull it out, but realized it was attached somewhere. Carefully, she looked for the attachment and tried to think of how to put the next thing she was going to say. “You won’t force anyone. But Phoebe insists that we don’t use muse energy to make things that we could make the old-fashioned way. Doesn’t that force us to be more responsible in some ways?”

  Coeus laughed. “Nora, you haven’t been here very long, but you really seem to have your finger on the pulse of the central conflict here.” He looked thoughtful. “I guess in some ways, Phoebe does try to act in ways that force the muses to do what’s best for everyone, even if they don’t like it. But it’s best for Helicon and especially for the mundane world if we can give them as much energy as possible. She knows that, even if other people don’t.”

  Nora managed to free the circuit board. She felt triumphant. If what Coeus was saying was true, it didn’t seem like Phoebe would want to drain magic from the muse world. But what if she felt so strongly about it that she thought she needed to teach everyone a lesson? She supposed they couldn’t rule Phoebe out as a possibility. Maybe she was opening holes in Helicon. But Nora had to admit she thought it was unlikely.

  A muse poked his head inside the room where they were working. “Hey, Coeus, we were wondering if you could help out with putting up the Maypole.”

  He set down his circuit board. “Architecture’s supposed to be doing that. How hard is it? It’s a big pole with ribbons on it.”

  The muse shrugged. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

  Coeus sighed. “Nora, if you can get two or three more of those out, that should be enough. Thanks.” He strode off after the muse.

  * * *

  The closer May Day got, the more intense the preparations were. The Maypole was erected in a field near the main fire pit. It was a huge pole with long colorful ribbons attached to the top. They were tied at the end for now. One day, the dancers got to practice with the actual Maypole, and Nora had to admit the intricate dance made much more sense to her at that point. Visual art set up huge fire baskets all over Helicon. They were gorgeous metal sculptures, depicting dancing men and women with wings. Sawyer finished all the dresses the afternoon before May Day, and she and Maddie helped him deliver them to all the dancers. They were positively beautiful, just like everything Sawyer made.

  The dresses were not too long so that they would have room to move. The skirts descended to just below their knees. They were a simple design, with fitted bodices and flowing skirts, but they’d all been enhanced with frills and laces. They were comfortable and easy to move in, but they were also quite elegant and beautiful. When Nora put hers on, she felt like a princess.

  The night before May Day, the visual art enclave distributed crowns of flowers and ribbons at the council meeting. Nora got one with daisies and yellow ribbons. Maddie’s was yellow daffodils. Sawyer got one with lilacs. “Who doesn’t like purple?” he said, grinning.

  Maddie was buzzing with information about May Day, since Nora had never experienced one. “May Day is one of the days that divides the year into quarters,” she told her. “There’s May Day, the Summer Solstice, Halloween, and the Winter Solstice. May Day is the opposite of Halloween, but it’s an important day because it’s a transition from spring to summer.”

  “It’s always summer here,” said Nora.

  Maddie rolled her eyes. “There will be blossoms and stuff tomorrow. You’ll see. Anyway, the veil between the worlds is supposed to be really thin on the quarter days—May Day and Halloween. It’s a time of magic. Anything’s possible.”

  “What about what Himeros said?” asked Nora. “It’s all about fertility?”

  “It’s spring, silly,” said Maddie. “New birth. New growth.”

  “Yeah,” said Nora, “but why are all the Maypole dancers traditionally virgins?”

  Maddie looked uncomfortable. “Well, we don’t really do that anymore.”

  “Do what?”

  �
��Apparently,” said Maddie, “thousands of years ago, the idea was that the Maypole dancers were sort of new brides, and on May Day, they began their journey towards being fertile mothers.”

  Nora felt a little alarmed. “So the Maypole dancers were supposed to stop being virgins after dancing on the Maypole?”

  Maddie nodded. “But it’s not like that anymore. Well, I’m not saying people don’t have sex on May Day, because they do. But no one has to, you know?”

  Did Owen know all this? Nora kind of hoped he didn’t. She certainly didn’t mention it to him when they hung out that evening. He liked her Maypole dress, though, and said he was excited to see her dance the following day.

  At Maddie’s urging, Nora went to bed early. Maddie said the festivities would get started right away when she woke up, and her excitement was always infectious.

  Morning came, and Nora was awoken by Maddie, who dragged her out into the grass next to their tents, fell to her knees, and began rubbing her hands in the grass.

  “What are you doing?” said Nora.

  “The first thing you do on May Day,” said Maddie, “is wash your face in the dew.” She rubbed her wet hands over her face.

  Nora laughed but did the same thing. “Why are we doing this?”

  “Why do you have to always know why?” said Maddie. “There’s a charm you can say if you want to meet a boy in the coming year, but you already have a boy, so I don’t guess you’ll want to say it.”

  “You think stuff like that works?” said Nora.

  “If there’s a day that it works, it’s today,” said Maddie. She murmured something under her breath.

  Nora giggled. “You totally said a charm.”

  Maddie smiled back. “Well, maybe this is the year, right? I don’t want to be the oldest muse in Helicon ever to have a first kiss.”

  Nora hugged her friend. “Your first kiss is going to be amazing.”

  They ate breakfast, put on their new dresses and flower crowns and met Sawyer to go to the dance enclave. The procession would start there. True to Maddie’s word, every tree in Helicon had blossomed overnight. Instead of being decorated with leaves of green, they dripped flowers of all colors, a gleaming rainbow. There was excitement in the air, and Nora felt herself caught up in it. The breeze seemed a little crisper, though still warm.

  Once in the dance enclave, they were all given a torch. It took some time for all of the muses to appear, and for a little bit, everything seemed to be a disorganized mess. But once the area around the enclave’s fire pit was crowded with muses, Himeros—in a green-velvet, tapered coat and tails—clapped his hands over his head and yelled for quiet. “Everyone gather together, putting your torches together.”

  The muses crowded in, all placing their torches in the middle of their crushed-together bodies so the torches touched.

  Himeros’ voice rang out. “Together, on this May Day, we welcome the spirit of spring into our midst. The fire of passion is lit again, and we bring the fire to Helicon.”

  At once, a flame roared up in the center of the cluster of muses, igniting all the torches. As they all pulled away with lit torches, the muses cheered.

  “Let the procession begin!” said Himeros.

  The muses lined up, with Natalia and Himeros leading. They were representing the May Queen and the Green Man in the dance. Behind them, Nora, Maddie, Sawyer, and the other Maypole dancers in their white dresses. And behind them, the rest of the dance muses. All of them held their torches high over their heads. Natalia and Himeros linked arms and started off. They paused near every fire basket that the visual art enclave had put up to light it. When the fire burst out, it made the metal sculptures glow.

  The procession went to the music enclave first. Natalia and Himeros marched into the enclave’s main area, right next to their fire pit. Together, they put their torches to the fire pit, lighting it.

  “The fire of spring is lit,” yelled Natalia. “Who joins our celebration?”

  At once, the muses of the music enclave poked their heads out of their tents, cheering. They brought their musical instruments. Drums were slung over shoulders, guitars strapped to their bodies. Whooping and yelling, they fell in behind the dancers, and they began to play their music.

  Now the dancers moved with the beat of the drums, swinging their hips as they walked. The swell of singing propelled the procession forward, and on it went. They visited each and every enclave, lighting the fires and calling the muses forward. Soon the procession was very long, and the fires of Helicon were all lit. Eventually, the procession ended at the Maypole. The muses wound around it.

  There was a center ring, right around the Maypole, consisting of the Maypole dancers. The rest of the muses made circles outside the ring, until every muse was standing around the pole. The drums beat fiercely, and the muses all cheered.

  Phoebe stepped into the center of the ring. Nora was struck by how regal and beautiful she was. She wore a long violet dress with flowing sleeves. Her white hair was in brilliant contrast to her smooth dark skin. She threw her hands up, her head back, as if she was drinking everything in, and it was glorious. “Happy May Day!” she cried.

  The muses went crazy, screaming back at the top of their lungs, beating the drums in a frenzy. Nora felt buoyed up by it, somehow connected to everything and everyone, like electric jolts were sizzling through her. She couldn’t stop smiling.

  “Let the dance begin,” said Phoebe. She moved out of the way.

  The Maypole’s ribbons had been laid out on the ground all around when they arrived at the pole. Nora knelt and picked up her ribbon as musicians began to play their instruments.

  Natalia and Himeros stepped forward. Their part of the dance was about to begin.

  Natalia, representing the May Queen, darted away from Himeros, moving elegantly to the music, her body lithe as she sprung over the grass.

  Himeros gave chase, but his movements were stylized as well, meant to move with the flow of the music.

  Natalia darted in around the ribbons of the flagpole, stopping occasionally to glance over her shoulder at Himeros and giggle.

  This, Maddie had explained to Nora, was the chase. The May Queen ran from the Green Man, taunting and teasing him, but eventually she allowed him to catch her, because the union of earth and rain or male and female was necessary for growth and the cycle of life.

  Natalia and Himeros were beautiful to watch. Their movements seemed careless, but they were quite deliberate, and they worked together as the perfect team. They danced, but they also told the story well, as they scampered and leapt in and around the Maypole.

  Eventually, Natalia paused just outside the circle of Maypole dancers. She ran her hands through her hair, shook her hips, and beckoned to Himeros.

  He leapt toward her gracefully, like a gazelle. When he reached her, he lifted her into the air and, balancing her as her body arced beautifully over his head, spun her in a circle.

  Then they danced together. The movements were sensual but beautiful. Their bodies pressed tightly together, they moved like one being, as if they had one mind. They gyrated around the circle, finally together. As they made their final orbit, the Maypole dancers began their dance.

  Their dance was simple. One group of Maypole dancers moved clockwise around the circle. One moved counterclockwise. Using the ribbons they were holding, they drew one ribbon over the first dancer they encountered, and then ducked under the ribbon of the next dancer they encountered. The dance was up and down, ebb and flow. It circled the pole. They had moves to make with their feet, though, ensuring that they made a precise number of steps. And there were moments they all paused with the music for effect. And while all this was going on, they waved their free arms in synchronized patterns and undulated their hips in time to the drum beat.

  Nora half-wished she could see what it looked like. She knew it felt amazing, being part of this human machinery that was weaving a beautiful pattern of ribbons around the pole. Because the way they weaved thro
ugh each other wove the ribbons, making them braid themselves around the pole.

  As the ribbon wound around the pole, it shortened, tightening their circle, and making the dancers get closer to each other. The music sped up in time as their steps got smaller and smaller. When they were so close that they couldn’t weave under each other anymore, and the music had reached a frenzied pace, they stopped weaving the ribbon and simply walked in a circle, winding the last of the ribbon to the pole, finishing it.

  The music finished with a flourish, and the surrounding muses stomped their feet, clapped their hands, and yelled.

  Phoebe came forward amidst the cheering. She had ten or fifteen ribbons of various colors draped over one arm. She raised the other arm in the air for silence. “Will the couples who wish to be handfasted this May Day please come forward?”

  There was a shuffling, and then muses began to step up in pairs. Nora felt the dancer next to her touch her arm and realized that the Maypole dancers were all sitting down on the grass now, so she did as well.

  Phoebe lined up the couples facing each other. Nora watched. Maddie had told her a little bit about this. Apparently, muses sometimes chose to commit to each other for a year and a day at May Day. It was sort of like marriage, Maddie said.

  Phoebe addressed the gathered muses. “These couples have expressed a wish to make a commitment to each other publically, in the eyes of the community. They will be bound to each other for a year and a day, in accordance with the tradition of Helicon.” She turned to the couples. “Repeat after me, please. You cannot possess me, for I belong to myself.”

  The couples looked into each other eyes and repeated Phoebe’s words, which Nora thought were a little strange for the beginning of a vow of commitment.

  “But while we both wish it, I give you that which is mine to give,” said Phoebe.

  The couples repeated. Nora considered. Actually, it was very nice, she thought. She wasn’t especially familiar with wedding vows, but she liked that this differed because it was an affirmation of choice.