by Joan Holub
Apollo and Cassandra traded smiles. “We can try,” said Apollo. They were both silent for a few moments, their minds seeming to turn inward as they waited for prophecies to fill their heads.
“One day you will become a king,” Apollo foretold after a while.
“Well, duh,” Artemis teased him, listening in. “Since his dad is a king, it’s practically a foregone conclusion that he’ll be a king one day too!”
“Hey, I wasn’t finished,” Apollo told her. Then to Theseus he continued, “The famous playwright Euripides will someday write about you.”
“Cool!” Theseus exclaimed.
“Yeah, much better, Bro,” Artemis agreed, grinning at Apollo.
Athena and Cassandra exchanged glances. Theseus seemed so pleased at the idea of being written about that neither had the heart to tell him that Euripides—coincidentally the former owner of the scrollbook part of Cassandra’s family’s store in the marketplace—mainly wrote tragedies, not the kind of tale where all ends well.
Apollo looked at Cassandra. “Your turn.”
Her nose wrinkled, and Athena thought she heard the girl murmur, “Mmm. Peppermints.” The seer looked at Theseus and spoke more loudly. “You will rule dishonorably and lose great battles,” she predicted.
A look of alarm came into Theseus’s eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Athena reassured him quickly. “Remember the Opposite Oracle-O cookies? Cassandra’s prophecies always turn out the opposite of what she says. So really you will rule honorably and win great battles.”
“That’s a relief,” said Theseus, laughing.
“Yeah,” agreed Ariadne.
They all hung on as the dragon suddenly took a steep, smooth dive. Looking ahead, Athena saw the high-ceilinged crystal roof of the Immortal Marketplace come into view. The IM was enormous, with rows and rows of shops separated by tall, ornate columns. Zeus’s wife, Hera, had a wedding shop there, and Persephone’s mom had a flower shop.
Once Professor Ladon set the chariot down on the wide slab of marble tile at the entrance to the marketplace, Cassandra and Ariadne said their good-byes and took the steps down from the chariot. The two girls were already chatting excitedly about a shop called Arachne’s Sewing Supplies, where Cassandra planned to take Ariadne to shop for more yarn before the princess departed for home.
Theseus slung his bag over his shoulder. Then he gave Heracles a great big bear hug. “See you again soon, Hero-Cuz,” he said.
“You too, Hero-Cuz,” Heracles replied with a grin.
Theseus beamed at him. Then to Athena and the other students he called out, “Great to meet you all!” With that, he stepped from the chariot with his back straight and his head held high.
His act of heroism had added to his confidence, Athena thought. And maybe that had put his relationship with Heracles on a little more equal footing. Which wasn’t a bad thing, she reflected. Having someone look up to you was nice, but it could also be a burden. It had been humbling when she’d had to admit to Daedalus that she’d made a mistake in changing his labyrinth. But admitting that had cleared the way for a real and equal friendship based on their mutual interest in invention.
Professor Ladon quickly took off again, and soon the chariot was airborne once more, flying high above the sparkling blue waters of the Aegean Sea. To pass the time Apollo made a few more predictions.
“As King Minos hoped, the park will become a huge hit,” he prophesied. “When mortals hear that the Minotaur even scared a group of illustrious immortals and their mortal friends, they’ll be dying to visit the park and see it for themselves.”
The students burst out laughing at the irony.
“Well, it was terrifying at the time, but like I said, everyone loves a good scare,” said Aphrodite.
“I wonder how all those mortals will learn about the Minotaur going crazy,” Pandora asked. “No reporters came to the park, because of the conference Pheme and Eros went to, right?”
“Speaking of reporters, look!” said Actaeon.
Athena turned just in time to see a winged chariot break through the clouds. The chariot was carrying Eros, Pheme, and a few other kids who were probably also reporters. It flew parallel to them about twenty yards away. Excited to see them, Pheme waved wildly and yelled toward their dragon chariot. It was hard to hear from such a distance, though. And the wind was blowing away the cloud words she puffed overhead almost as fast as she spoke them. Still, Athena caught some of what she was saying: “. . . interview . . . you all . . . get . . . info . . . about . . . park . . .”
Pandora scurried across the aisle, taking Cassandra’s former seat next to Apollo, since that side of the chariot was nearer to Pheme’s chariot. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “The park was wild. What do you want to know?”
“Well, I guess that explains how news about our a-maze-ing adventure is going to circulate,” Apollo quipped. Which made them all laugh.
While Pandora was busy yelling a conversation back and forth with her friend Pheme, Athena took her History of Farm Implements scrollbook from her bag and started reading.
She looked up a few minutes later when Heracles slipped into the now empty seat beside her. He pointed at the book in her lap. “Working on a new invention?”
“Just trying to improve an old one,” she replied.
“Can I help?”
“It always helps to bounce ideas around,” Athena said as the chariot ascended toward Mount Olympus. Though she hadn’t intended it, her words came out a bit stiffly. She still hadn’t quite forgiven him for his lack of attention during the trip and for naming as his favorites the labors he’d accomplished without her. Not that she was supposed to have heard that last part. She’d been eavesdropping on his conversation with Theseus on the trip to Knossos at the time.
Heracles had left his lion cape ahead on his seat, and now he ran a hand through his dark, curly hair. “Listen,” he said. “I can tell you’re kind of mad at me. I’d like to fix things so we can get back to being friends again.”
“Okay,” she said. Her voice came out less stiffly this time. She tucked her scrollbook back into her bag and waited to see what he’d say next.
“I didn’t spend as much time with you during the trip as I would have liked,” he told her. “My fault for bringing Theseus, but I was just so excited to see him. It’s been a long time since we’ve hung out.”
Athena softened some. “I would have liked more time with you, too,” she admitted. “But I get why you wanted to hang out with Theseus. And anyway I did have fun doing the rides with my friends and talking inventor stuff with Daedalus.”
“Good,” said Heracles. They smiled at each other. Athena wanted to bring up his comment to Theseus regarding his favorite labors, but then, being the goddessgirl of wisdom, she wisely decided to drop the matter. It wasn’t that important. Besides, weren’t some of her favorite moments ones she’d spent alone? Like when thinking up new inventions?
“I know I’m no Daedalus,” Heracles said, “but I’ll give it my best shot if you want to talk about that invention you’re working on.”
It warmed her heart that he seemed to understand just how important being an inventor was to her, even if it was an interest they didn’t really share. And thinking about that, she silently forgave him completely for valuing the labors he’d accomplished on his own over the ones she’d helped him with.
“I’m unhappy with my plow,” she admitted. “If mortal farmers had your strength, it would probably work just fine. But they don’t, so pushing it through fields is hard for them.”
Up ahead the five-story Academy came into view. Though the sun was setting, the outlines of the majestic white stone building, which was surrounded on all sides by dozens of Ionic columns, were still visible. Against a red, purple, and pink sky, the grandeur of MOA was a sight to behold!
Heracles grinned. “Being as strong as an ox does have its advantages.”
“You can say that again,” said Athena.
“Being as strong as an ox does—”
“That’s it!” she interrupted him suddenly, her eyes lighting up. As Professor Ladon guided the dragon chariot toward the courtyard below, she added, “That’s the answer!”
Heracles cocked his head at her. “You just figured out how to improve that plow of yours, didn’t you?” He reached over and took her hand in his.
Athena nodded happily, both because she’d solved her invention problem and because Heracles was holding her hand.
“That’s one of the things I like about you,” he told her fondly. “Those wheels inside your brain are always turning. But if you aren’t too busy inventing stuff tomorrow, maybe we can go get shakes at the Supernatural Market?”
She squeezed his fingers, grinning. “Sure!”
As the dragon chariot set down in the courtyard, Artemis’s dogs came running to meet it. Seeing them reminded Athena of how funny Nectar had looked when he’d gotten her papyrus “wheel” stuck around his neck earlier that week. And that’s when she got another great idea. “Ye gods,” she murmured.
“Um . . . Earth to Athena,” Heracles said, interrupting her thoughts. She’d been so lost in them that she hadn’t noticed when he’d stood up to put on his cape and grab both their bags. Everyone else had already left the chariot. Now he stood waiting for her to exit it ahead of him.
“Oh, sorry!” Athena beamed at him as she jumped up. “But I just got the best idea! I’ll design a yoke to link two oxen together. Pulling a plow is hard for one man but would be light work for even one ox, given how strong they are. For two oxen the work would be lighter still.”
“Awesome!” he said, sounding really happy for her.
“Yeah, I don’t know why that didn’t occur to me before. After all, it’s common for animals to help pull chariots. I just thought of it now when I saw Artemis’s dogs.”
She couldn’t wait to flesh out her yoke design, which would keep the oxen heading in the same direction while fitting comfortably around their necks. However, all that could wait till later. Heracles easily hefted both of their bags onto one shoulder, then helped her leap down from the chariot. Not that she needed his help, but it was still nice of him.
Once they were down, she slipped her hand into his. Swinging their hands between them, she and Heracles headed across the courtyard, back to good old MOA. Up ahead Pheme and Pandora were walking side by side, their heads together as they climbed the granite steps that led into the school.
Athena smiled inwardly. When Pheme’s next column in Teen Scrollazine came out, it wouldn’t be long till every mortal and immortal knew of the fourteen students’ adventures in Crete!
Laughter floated back to Heracles and her from the other students walking in front of them. Aphrodite was teasing Ares. Apollo and Artemis were having one of their typical brother-sister disagreements, laced with giggles. And Medusa and Dionysus were talking in quiet tones. It was a magical night. Tomorrow would be magical too. She and Heracles were finally, at looong last, going to get to hang out! Yes!
Two weeks later . . .
DEAR DAEDALUS,
I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW
THAT YOUR ADVICE TO LET GO OF
STUBBORN INVENTION PROBLEMS AND
ALLOW SOLUTIONS TO BUBBLE UP IN
THEIR OWN TIME REALLY WORKED!
FARMERS WRITE THAT MY NEW
INVENTION OF THE YOKE, WHICH KEEPS
TWO OXEN PULLING IN THE SAME
DIRECTION, WORKS GREAT. IT’S LIGHT
WORK FOR THESE STRONG ANIMALS TO
PULL THE PLOW. NOW FARMERS NEED
ONLY WALK BEHIND AND GUIDE IT. THEY
SAY THAT CULTIVATING THEIR FIELDS
HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER AND THAT THEY
CAN PLANT MORE CROPS THAN EVER
BEFORE AND FEED MANY MORE PEOPLE
AND ANIMALS.
I SO ENJOYED BEING IN CRETE. THE
AMAZEMENT PARK IS TERRIFICALLY FUN,
AND YOUR LABYRINTH IS PERFECT NOW
AND NEEDS NO IMPROVEMENTS.
IT WAS A TREAT TO SPEND TIME WITH A
FELLOW INVENTOR. YOU TAUGHT ME A
LOT, AND NOT JUST ABOUT INVENTIONS.
YOUR FRIEND,
ATHENA
Don’t miss the next adventure in the Goddess Girls series!
Coming Soon
JOAN HOLUB is the award-winning author of more than one hundred and thirty books for young readers, including Zero the Hero, Vincent van Gogh: Sunflowers and Swirly Stars, and Shampoodle. Of the four goddessgirls, she’s probably most like Athena because she loves to think up new ideas for books. But she’s very glad her dad was never the principal of her school! She lives in North Carolina. Visit her at joanholub.com.
SUZANNE WILLIAMS is the award-winning author of more than thirty-five books for young readers, including Library Lil, Ten Naughty Little Monkeys, and the Princess Power and Fairy Blossoms series. Her husband says she’s the Goddess of Annoying Questions. (Most having to do with why her computer misbehaves.) That makes her kind of like Pandora, except that Pandora never had to deal with computers. Suzanne lives near Seattle in Washington State. Visit her at suzanne-williams.com.
Aladdin
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
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READ ALL THE BOOKS IN THE GODDESS GIRLS SERIES
ATHENA THE BRAIN
PERSEPHONE THE PHONY
APHRODITE THE BEAUTY
ARTEMIS THE BRAVE
ATHENA THE WISE
APHRODITE THE DIVA
ARTEMIS THE LOYAL
MEDUSA THE MEAN
GODDESS GIRLS SUPER SPECIAL: THE GIRL GAMES
PANDORA THE CURIOUS
PHEME THE GOSSIP
PERSEPHONE THE DARING
CASSANDRA THE LUCKY
ATHENA THE PROUD
COMING SOON:
IRIS THE COLORFUL
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Aladdin hardcover edition April 2014
Text copyright © 2014 by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
Jacket illustration copyright © 2014 by Glen Hanson
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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Jacket designed by Karin Paprocki
Interior designed by Hilary Zarycky
The text of this book was set in Baskerville Handcut.
Library of Congress Control Number 2014931058
ISBN 978-1-4424-8821-2 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4424-8820-5 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4424-8822-9 (eBook)
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