by Simon Archer
“I was behind when I first came to the Academy,” I replied. “It wouldn’t be anything new for me. And I know it’s unusual, but this is an unusual request. No one expected Sarah to die so suddenly, did they?”
Without shame, I aimed this question right at the Stratego, who met my gaze without fear. My undercut wasn’t well hidden, but if the Stratego picked up on it, he didn’t let on that he did. I watched the Stratego’s broad chest move up and down in a steady rhythm, completely unphased by me.
“We understand the need for you to work on the Ultimate Weapon,” Effie reasoned, looking at the tension between her cousin and me. “Perhaps we can open the forge sooner than expected or grant you access for the time being?”
“It’s not just Sarah’s absence,” I argued, playing the final card in my pocket. “I believe that there isn’t going to be a single teacher in the Academy who can teach me more than the original blacksmiths. They have skills I’m not going to learn anywhere else. They could give me the final piece needed to finish the Ultimate Weapon.”
Another round of silence settled in the room. The Elemental Officials exchanged looks, debating without words about my points and my proposal. The only two that didn’t seem to be on the fence about anything were Noel and the Stratego. Neither one of them looked at their colleagues to discuss their thoughts. Noel continued to look at the table, and the Stratego never took his eyes off me.
For the first time, I was unsettled by the Stratego’s gaze. Something about the hardness told me that I was on the losing end of this. A sinking feeling attacked my stomach. Could Jade be right? Despite what the other Elemental Officials thought, could the Stratego’s hatred of me really prevent me from moving forward with this plan?
“Thank you, Cameron, for your proposal,” Effie said suddenly, surprising everyone by taking charge. “We will continue to deliberate and then put it to a vote. As you know, there has to be a majority in order for your proposal to be accepted. A tie counts as a loss, and your request will not be approved. Do you understand?”
“I do,” I answered.
“Good,” Effie said with a confirming nod. “Then you may wait outside until we reach a decision. Leaders, you may each share your opinions with the officials and then leave as well.”
I glanced over at the four leaders of the branches and shot them a hopeful smile. Bella returned it graciously, and I knew I had her support. Olivia and Mia were unreadable, but then again, I didn’t know them that well, so it was a toss-up. Hailey, on the other hand, kept her expression hard and let her hurt shine through her eyes.
It hit me directly in the heart, like one of Artemis's arrows. She didn’t support this decision, and I knew it. She also could tell that half of my answers were completely for the council’s benefit. Hailey knew me well enough to sense that something else was going on beneath the surface.
I looked away from the daughter of Apollo and walked out of the room before I could say anything and so that they could start their deliberations right away.
When I exited the room, I saw Jade, Beth, and Daniella waiting in the small waiting area. The three of them stood when they saw me and instantly crowded around me.
“What are you all doing here?” I asked, completely surprised by their presence.
“Jade told us what was going on,” Beth explained.
I raised my eyebrows at Jade, silently asking if she told them the whole story. Jade squared her jaw in disapproval, but she did shake her head. So she might have told the girls that I wanted to study abroad, but she didn’t tell them about Katlynn or my deal with Hades.
Relief soared through me, and I managed to put on a genuine smile at seeing my friends.
“We can’t believe you want to go all the way to Italy!” Beth said excitedly as she took my hands in hers. “I mean, I know why you want to go to Italy, because Italy! But it seems so crazy.”
“It’s not crazy,” Daniella stepped in to reassure me. “It makes perfect sense. I’m just sad that you’ll spend the semester away.”
“You really think they’ll say yes?” I asked, my own insecurities and doubts catching up to me.
“Of course they will!” Beth said, wrapping me up in a brief but reassuring hug. “It makes no sense why they wouldn’t. With what happened with Sarah and everything, you should definitely have a chance to still learn and grow as a blacksmith. This is the best way to do that. Even if you have to go all the way to freakin’ Italy to do it!”
“Man, you’re really hung up on this Italy thing,” I said with a chuckle to mask my own nervousness about traveling across the ocean.
“Because it’s Italy!” Beth said as though that point was obvious. “Not just Italy, Sicily. You’re going to love it. The food. The people. The landscape. The wine.” Beth’s eyebrows bounced up and down in excitement.
Jade decided to reroute the conversation and interrupted Beth’s exuberance. “What did Hailey say when you told her?”
“She…” I started, but then the door opened behind us, saving me from having to answer.
The four branch leaders stepped out of the door to the council room, one by one. Bella reached out and grabbed my hand with a reassuring squeeze and gave me a quick kiss before greeting Beth with a quick peck on the lips as well. Olivia and Mia each nodded at me politely before leaving the building completely. Hailey brought up the rear, and upon seeing her, I held my breath.
Her face was still stony and grave. She didn’t meet my eye right away, but her anger was palpable, like thick humid air.
Smartly Bella grabbed Beth’s hand and said aloud to the group, “Why don’t we wait for these two love birds outside? I’m sure they have a lot to talk about.”
Beth and Daniella followed suit after offering me waves and final words of encouragement. Jade opened her mouth to say something but simply closed it and shook her head instead. She walked up to give me a soft kiss and then she followed behind the others, leaving Hailey and me alone in the waiting room.
I inhaled and exhaled audibly. “Look, Hailey, I--”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked, cutting me off. My bright blue eyes met her green ones, which were narrow and accusing.
“It… it all happened so fast,” I said lamely, even though it was true.
“Where did you get this idea, anyway?” Hailey questioned. Her voice was low and full of disappointment. The tone cut me to the core. I almost would have preferred it if she had yelled at me, even though I knew she wouldn’t dare do that with the Elemental Officials on the other side of the door.
“Aphrodite told me about it,” I admitted. “Last year, when I was making her girdle.”
“And Gods, Cam, you thought now would be a good time to go all the way to Italy?” Hailey ran a hand through her hair and then stuffed it back into her pocket defiantly. “We just… I thought we were going to spend the semester with each other and the girls.”
“I wanted to, I really did,” I said, desperately trying to get Hailey to believe me. “But then things changed.”
“What changed?” Hailey demanded.
“Sarah’s death changed everything!” I said, not realizing how loud my voice had gotten. I paused, taking care to measure it back to a normal volume. “You know how much that affected me.”
“So, instead of dealing with it, you’re running away?” Hailey accused as she pushed her shoulders back. She got a sudden burst of confidence, as if she figured out the real reason I was doing this. “Is this where you went last night? Instead of going to the bathhouses like you said? You went to figure out how to run as far away as possible?”
“That’s not it,” I tried to argue, but my words felt futile. Was I really going to tell her the real reason? If she thought this study abroad request was ridiculous, how was she going to feel when I told her the truth about why I was doing it?
“Then tell me, Cam, what’s going on?” Hailey asked, her voice breaking into a beg. “Because while you might have been telling some of the truth i
n there, you and I both know that was a bunch of bullshit.” She pointed with a stiff arm towards the door, back where the Elemental Officials were still deliberating. Then, unexpectedly, Hailey’s face fell, and her voice broke. “Does it have something to do with us? With me?”
“No!” I rushed to reassure her. “That’s not it at all.”
“Then what?” Hailey questioned. “I mean, gods Cam, did you even think about us when you made this decision?”
“I--” I didn’t know what gave me pause. Because the truth was, no, I hadn’t thought about her at all. Or the other girls. But I was already lying to her, and I didn’t feel like piling it on. However, before I was able to come up with something to say, Hailey seemed to take my silence as an answer.
“You didn’t, did you?” Hailey concluded. I reached out for her, but she turned away, out of my reach, and braced herself against the wall with one arm, the other one paused on her hip.
“I’m sorry, Hailey,” I said, my voice weak.
My girlfriend inhaled sharply before replying. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, Cameron, but it concerns me. I know Sarah’s death has messed you up, and maybe that’s all this is. But you can’t go running away like this. You just can’t.”
Right then, at what I considered to be the worst possible timing, the door to the council room opened, and Jasmine, Hailey’s sister, stood on the other side. She looked between the two of us, sensing the tension but refusing to acknowledge it.
“Congratulations, Cameron,” she said as she held out my application, stapled once again. “You’ve been approved to study abroad in Italy this semester.”
13
The sun barely peeked out over the horizon in the early morning of my departure date. Khryseos and Argyreos followed behind me, moping along. I turned around and walked backward, beckoning them along.
“Come on, boys,” I called to them. “I know you’re not happy with this, but Ann’s going to take good care of you.”
Both dogs seemed to go even slower after I asked them forward. They knocked into each other like a pair of drunks, unable to step in a straight line.
I let out an exasperated groan. “Seriously, you two,” I said. “We’ve been over this. You can’t come with me to Italy. The Cyclops wouldn’t allow it when they approved my application. So you are going to stay on campus, not teleport halfway around the world to me, and watch over my girlfriends.”
I bent down to look at Khryseos and Argyreos eye to eye. “You love Jade, Beth, Bella and Daniella, don’t you?”
The two dogs moaned in response, almost as though they hated to admit they loved my friends as much as me.
“I’m not going to be around to protect them this semester,” I said with a low voice even though the campus was deserted at this early hour. “That’s your job, you hear? And even though she won’t admit it, I think Hailey’s going to need the most help.”
Khryseos and Argyreos broke into smiles, finally signaling their agreement.
“Now both of you get over here and give me a hug,” I told them. The dogs gleefully complied, nearly tackling me into the grass. They each licked a side of my face and pressed their heavy bodies against mine in a comforting manner. After I recovered from my fit of laughter, I wrapped my arms around the pair of them and squeezed.
When I had made the decision to go to Italy to study with the Cyclops, I only focused on the destination. I didn’t think it would mean leaving my dogs and girlfriends. I hadn’t even considered what my mother would say. Luckily, the Academy bent their “no contact with the mortal world” rule to let me send her a letter, telling her where I would be for the next several weeks. I made sure to reassure her that I would be back for Christmas, and I would tell her all about my Italian adventures abroad.
With Khryseos and Argyreos significantly perked up, the three of us finished the journey up the hill towards the farmhouse where Ann was waiting. The farmer wore her iconic overalls and wide-brimmed hat. I found her leaning over the side of a wooden-railed fence to feed the pigs their morning slop.
“Morning Ann,” I greeted with a wave.
“Well, looky here!” Ann said, correcting herself so she could stand up straight. “Good morning to you, Cameron. You all packed up and ready to go?”
“Yep, I am,” I assured her. “Hey, thanks so much for looking after Khryseos and Argyreos while I’m gone.”
“Oh, it’s no problem,” Ann said as she waved me off. “It’ll be just like old times, right, boys?”
Khryseos and Argyreos bounded over to their old friend and jumped around her in circles. Ann reached down and patted each on the head before pulling a treat out of her pocket, which both dogs greedily gobbled up.
“Not too many of those now,” I warned. “I don’t want to come back to find my boys all plump and hefty.”
“I promise they’re going to be fine,” Ann said kindly, speaking directly to my worries. “Just like you are going to be fine.”
A lump caught in my throat at her words. Even though I was confident in my decision to study with the Cyclops, I was still ridiculously nervous. I frowned at Ann and tried to brush off my insecurities with some humor.
“Oh gods, is it that obvious?” I said with a half-hearted chuckle.
“No, boy, I just know you,” Ann said with a half-smile. “And it’s okay to be nervous. You’re about to go do something amazing but scary.”
Something broke in my chest, a dam opening up and allowing my concerns to come flying forward. “It is scary!” I agreed. “I mean, I’ve never been out of the country. And the farthest I ever traveled was one trip to Disney World when I was a kid. It’s crazy, but I don’t really go and do things like this.”
“But you don’t go fight chimeras and minotaurs and other demigods either, now do you?” Ann raised a knowing eyebrow, and I knew there wasn’t a real response to that.
“You’re doing that thing where you tell me the other brave things I’ve done to boost my confidence, aren’t you?” I said, calling her out.
“All I’m doing is reminding you that you’re amazing because somewhere over the last week or so, you seem to have forgotten that,” Ann said pointedly.
I paused and looked over the older demigod. She’d been a good friend to me during the past two years. One memorable moment was when she helped Daniella and I sneak off campus with a couple of pegasi in order to save Hailey and her troupe, who walked into a trap. She was one of the few people who believed me when none of the Elemental Officials had. While Ann didn’t have that kind of authority, I still respected her and her opinions of me. Basically, in my mind, she should have that kind of authority.
“Hey, where are those fancy collars that you made them?” Ann said with a point to the dog’s empty necks.
“Uh,” I stalled, unable to think of an answer right away. My hand flew up to the locket made from their dog tags beneath my shirt. “I thought they would enjoy some time without them, you know, cause they never had any before I showed it.”
Luckily, Ann shrugged it off. “If you say so, but I don’t think they mind it one bit, do you, boys?”
Khryseos and Argyreos smiled up at the farmer, and the sight gave me the reassurance I needed. They would be loved and well cared for. And it would only be a couple of weeks, and then I could have my protectors back.
“How are you doing, kiddo?” Ann asked frankly, her voice dropping into something low and full of concern. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that she was talking about Sarah.
“It’s hard,” I confessed.
“Yeah. It is.” Ann removed her hat off her head and held it to her heart. “I just have to believe that she’s in a better place now. Sometimes that thought is the only one that gets me through the day when the grief is too heavy.”
I opened my mouth to correct Ann. If she really believed that Sarah killed herself like everyone claimed, then she couldn’t be in a better place like the Elysian Fields. She had to be in Tartarus. But then I closed m
y mouth when I saw the look of serenity on Anns’ face when she closed her eyes, as though she was stepping out into the sunlight for the first time in years. Who was I to rob that joy and peace from her?
Then the farmer opened up her eyes and put a hand on my shoulder. “Do you want to see something before you go?”
“If you make it quick, then sure,” I said with a forced smile.
Ann waved her hand for me to follow her. We walked into the barn where the various horse-like animals lived. Unicorns, pegasuses, and regular horses resided all together here. Ann brought me to a corner of the barn where she kept her riding equipment and weapons. I was rather familiar with that section since Daniella and I had borrowed from it two years ago.
On the wall hung four rows of new and shiny horseshoes. I cocked my head at them and wondered for a second why Ann was showing this to me. Then I realized that these were made by Sarah. And they were made recently.
“These were the last things she made,” Ann announced proudly. She took one off the rack to show me. “I found them in the forge after… after they took her away. They’re some of her best work if you ask me.”
I turned the u-shaped metal in my hands. “She must have been inspired because it’s a little different from when she typically makes them.”
“I noticed the same thing,” Ann commented as she pulled a second one down to show me. She pointed with her pinky finger around the rim of the shoe. “See this indent here? That’s a new feature.”
“Oh yeah,” I admired. “That’s called a hamon. You use clay to put a cool indent like that in the metal.” A soft but sad smile spread across my lips. “I taught her how to do that. Make a hamon.”
My voice hitched unwillingly, and I cleared my throat to try to get rid of it. Ann quickly caught on and took the horseshoe from me and put them both back on the rack.
“She’d be so proud of you, you know,” Ann said unexpectedly. “Of what you’re off to do.”