The Broken Curse

by Taylor Lavati

  "Thank you. With every loss there is reward. We won't forget those who have fallen, but we commemorate their sacrifice." My eyes water as Professor La speaks in front of the group. "On behalf of the school. I would like to host a memorial service for anyone who gave their lives to this war."

  "Thank you." I hug her, repeating myself over and over.

  I decide not to sit at a table this morning. Instead, I want to stop and say thank you to each person individually. I nod to Ari, signaling that I'm okay, and he sits with Cristos at a table alone. I ate anyway, so there's no need to have two breakfasts.

  "I wanted to extend a thank you to your entire family," I say to Heron as I approach their table. "I know there was a big risk, and I want each of you to know how thankful I am that you were there in the Underworld and are here now."

  "It wasn't for you." Nikias frowns at me, stabbing the sausage on her plate.

  "Excuse her. We were happy to help our friend Cece. Please, let us know when the service will be held." Heron nods her head, and I take that as my dismissal. At the mention of Cece, my stomach hurts, a sharp pain just under my ribs. I try to bury the pain, but it doesn't work. Instead, I embrace it; I embrace her, and what she stood for, and push through. The pain reminds me she's still here.

  "Thank you for doing all of this," I tell Professor La as I walk up to the table of teachers next. "I honestly don't know what would have happened if you weren't there. I'm so sorry for your loss." Professor Elytis looks down at the table and nods his head. His eyes are dark and bloodshot, like he's been crying a long time. But, there's nothing I can do to help him with the pain.

  "Let me know if I can help for the service. Also, the group over there would like to come pay their respects." I nod over at the Louisiana people. They're packing up their things, and Nike is already out the door. But I know they want to come to the service, and I won't get in their way.

  As I turn to go sit with my friends, I notice Lex in the corner of the room, sitting alone and not eating despite the fact that there's a full tray on the table. I sprint to him and sit across the small table.

  "I know it doesn't help, but I am so extremely sorry for your loss." I grab his hand and hold it, squeezing it to let him know that I'm here.

  "I'm so lost, you know?" He looks up at me and his dark eyes glisten with unshed tears. I see Alexius in every part of him. She's in his hair and his dark eyes and his full lips and his deep voice. Every time he looks in a mirror, I'm sure he sees her.

  "You can stay here as long as you want. I'm sure you could get a job, and there are plenty of people who can support you."

  "I don't know if I can. I have to tell our family."

  "There's always a place for you here. I'd love to see more of you." I nod to him so he knows I'm sincere.

  "I'm just prolonging the inevitable. We have another brother. He's going to be broken." His bottom lip trembles and before I can even react, he's gone. All that's left is the wind from his wake and my hand which hits the table. I pause at the table and then walk over to the other table.

  My friends are all silent. Mikey picks at his scrambled eggs. For the first time ever he doesn't even acknowledge my presence. I sit beside him and rub my hand up and down his back.

  "When did you get here?" he asks, looking up for the first time.

  "Just now."

  "Oh." His thought dies off, and the room reverts back to nothingness. Shane has his head on the table, his hand covering it. He almost looks asleep. Lisa's nowhere to be found. Kara and Junior keep to themselves at the end of the table. They aren't talking or kissing. He has his arm over her shoulder, their heads pressed together at the temple. But they're silent.

  Surprisingly, the table feels empty without Carter and Martin. They weren't as present or known as Mikey. But with two spots down, we're empty. Martin had a presence about him that just made me feel good. And Carter was always cracking jokes. It's not the same. Everything has changed.

  "So, the teachers are organizing a memorial for the people we've lost," I explain to the group. I don't know what else to say, but the silence eats at me so I have to fill it.

  "When?" Lisa emerges from behind us, the heavy doors slamming behind her. We all turn and find her, looking as perfect as ever.

  Her hair is curled to her waist in red ringlets. She's wearing a yellow sundress with white polka dots. Her three-inch heels add to her already tall height. With each step, she clicks against the tiled floor.

  "I'm not sure. Probably this weekend."

  "That's good. Yeah. That'll be good for us." She nods her head like a hundred times, reassuring herself.

  "What's wrong with you?" Shane sneers. He lifts his head from the table, looking her up and down in disgust. It's not that there's anything wrong with the way she's dressed. I think he's just confused since she lost her on again off again boyfriend in the war, and she seems perfectly fine on the surface.

  "Leave her alone." I don't want them to make Lisa feel bad. If this is a way she's coping with Carter's death, then we should let her be.

  "It's fine. Sorry I'm not a sobbing wreck like you were when Megan died." He jumps up from the table and grabs her around the neck. He sprints back to the wall and pins her there.

  But, she gathers a ball of air and hurls it right into Shane's gut. He flies back twenty feet and lands right into a table, splitting it in half right down the middle.

  "Stop!" I scream, not wanting this to escalate further. "What is wrong with you?" I leap from the table and stand in the middle of them as they go after each other again.

  "Her boyfriend just died, and she's being a bitch!" Shane yells.

  "Just leave her alone. We all cope differently," I try to diffuse.

  "Oh, get off your high horse. After Megan's death, you disappeared," Shane rebuts, hurting my feelings. But I don't want to get emotional. I'm trying to break up their fight. I'll take the brunt of his anger.

  "Exactly. I coped that way, and it wasn't good, but it's how I did it."

  "I'm out of here." Shane sprints out of the room, the door crashing in his exit. I look at Lisa, and she's fixing the top of her dress, which fell a little. She twirls her hair around her pointer finger, smiling as she leans into her hip.

  "Let me know when the service is." Lisa leaves the same way Shane did, exiting before she even has a chance to talk to anyone. I shake my head and walk over to Ari, sitting with the only person that can make me feel better.

  Meet me at the gym —Athena

  I leave Ari and Cristos at his house. There's not much to do, and after breakfast, I'm kind of in a slump. I had a major crying session when we got back to the house, and before I knew it, both Ari and Cristos were crying right along with me.

  I find my mother with Zeus and Atee in the training center. Atee and Zeus play around with the ropes in the smaller room, hanging and swinging and jumping around like children. I walk over to my mother who's watching them with lit up eyes from the bleachers.

  "How are you feeling after the mayhem in the Underworld?" she asks me as I sit beside her.

  "I guess as good as I can be. What happened after we escaped?"

  "We had to fight all of Hades's demons until it was clear we'd win. He wouldn't give them the order to stop until the last dozen or so were left. I just don't understand how he accumulated so many followers." She shakes her head in disbelief.

  "It seemed like there was thousands of them."

  "There was. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to know about us." She points from her chest to mine.

  "What about us? I didn't even know there was an us."

  "That's my point. Do you want there to be an us?" Her question weighs on my mind; honestly, I'm not sure what I want. I don't know how my dad would feel about it. I don't want to betray him; although, yesterday, he and mom seemed to be buddy-buddy.

  "Yeah, I think I'd like that. I'll be around for five hundred years or so." I nod, and her purple eyes fill with tears. She pulls me to her chest
and hugs me tight, her hands hold my head to her collarbone.

  "My guess is you'll be around longer than that. Despite only being a half-god this reincarnation, your original life you were a full-blood. Who knows? But I'd bet you'll be around thousands of years."

  "What?" I gasp, unable to believe her. She nods and looks across the gym at Zeus and Atee.

  "Zeus!" my mother calls out. Both of their heads snap towards us. Atee waves and laughs as he drops about twenty feet to the ground, landing in a perfect crouch. Zeus drops as well.

  "Hey, sister." Atee punches my arm jokingly after he sprints towards me. He smiles down at me and sits beside me, reaching over and tapping Mom on the back.

  "It's good to see you again." Zeus formally takes my hand in his and kisses the top of it. I giggle as he takes it and try not to wipe it on my pants when he lets me go.

  "I'm going to be sticking around here for a while. I wanted to know if you'd like to stay and get to know Eury, as well. You too, Z." My mother takes my hand and interlocks our fingers. She looks at me the same way that Cece used to. My heart clenches.

  "I'll definitely stay. I have to go home and pack a bag, but it'll only take a day, two at the max. What about you, pops?" Atee looks way up at his father who sits down on the bleacher above us.

  "I can't stay, but I'll stop by as often as I can. I'm sure you guys want family time."

  "You're a part of this, too, right?" I ask him, looking up through my lashes.

  "We're just one big, dysfunctional family." My mom stands, tugging me with her, and hugs Zeus. I reach for Atee and make him join in, too. Together, we all hold each other, until it gets too weird. Then Atee and I race to the ropes and see who can climb up faster.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  memorial

  The memorial service starts in just under an hour, and I'm not even close to ready. Luckily, they're having it in the large meeting center in the Administration building, so I don't have to run too far.

  "Do you think this is okay?" I ask Kara as I try out a cap sleeved, black dress. It cuts just above my knees, which are still are covered in black and green and yellow and blue bruises, but I don't have anything longer. It's been five days, but it seems like just yesterday.

  "That's perfect. I have a pair of leather pumps that you can borrow." She bends down into her closet and pulls out a pair of pointed toed shoes.

  "Will I be able to walk in those?" I ask her as I stare at the three-inch heels.

  "Doubtable."

  She quickly slips into her black dress, but it's much nicer than mine. It is beige with a black crocheted slip over the dress. She's wearing tights as well, with tall black-heeled boots.

  A knock sounds on the door, and I run over to get it since Kara is in the middle of curling her long, blonde hair. Ari pushes in, lifts me into his arms and kisses me while walking us back in the room.

  "I love you," he says as he places me back on the ground.

  "I love you, too."

  "Ugh. Gross. I'm going to vomit. Please, don't tell me Junior and I were like this!" She pretends to vomit, sticking her finger in her mouth, and then realizes that her hair is burning, so she quickly takes the iron off her head.

  "You two still are," Ari says as he hops on my bed.

  "And it's worse since you make out all the time." I wink at Ari at our joint attack on Kara and Junior. I notice that he's in a really nice, dark gray suit.

  His slacks are cut to perfection, clinging to his butt at the perfect spot. His jacket isn't buttoned, and his dark red tie hangs from his neck. Gel holds his black hair back. He's really hot. And he's all mine.

  Junior storms into the room without knocking and taps on Kara's butt as she stares at him through the mirror.

  "Apparently we can't make out anymore."

  "Says who?" Junior glares over at me, and I stick out my tongue.

  "They say it's gross."

  "Who gives a—"

  "Hey! No swearing. I thought we were working on that." Kara leans over and slaps Junior on the wrist. But he grabs her hand and wraps her into him, planting wet, loud kisses all down her neck.

  "Gross!" I yell as I finish brushing my hair.

  "We're going to be late if you jerk wads don't hurry it up," Lisa says as she too walks into the room without knocking. She's dressed to perfection: black from head to toe with bright red lips to match her auburn hair.

  "Okay, let's go." I say as I reach for Ari's hand. "You have five minutes to get that cute butt downstairs." I glare at Kara through her mirror and make Junior promise that he'll hurry her along.

  We follow Lisa down the stairwell and wait in front of Aphro Hall for Kara and Junior. Shane is already there, leaning against the front of the brick building with a cigarette in his hand. White smoke clouds around him like a thought bubble.

  "Sorry, Shane." Mikey bounds through the front doors and only when he stops at the sidewalk does he notice the rest of us. "Hey, guys!" He walks in a circle, hugging me, then Lisa, then giving a weird bro-hug to Ari. Then he nods over to Shane. The two walk over to the Admin building alone.

  "I don't know what his problem is," Lisa mutters under her breath.

  "Just leave him alone, okay? Just today. Please?"

  "Fine." She huffs at me, rolling her eyes, but I ignore her. Shane's been through enough, and Lisa needs to just let it go. Kara sprints downstairs, Junior gasping for air behind her, and we trek off together as one big group.

  Truthfully, I have no idea how many people are going to show up and who exactly will be there. A lot of people left in not so happy ways. I hope that Linus shows up, for his mom. A lot of speculation has been going on—that he's left town and refuses to speak to us—but it's all just rumors.

  There's a line that goes out the Admin building and down to the fountain at the front of the school. I look over at Ari and widen my eyes in confusion. Cars are parked up and down the left side of the street and out the front gates.

  "There must be a lot of people." Ari shrugs his shoulders, and we continue to walk to the line.

  I check my bag to make sure I have tissues when I see Ollie a few people in front of us with Dimitri by his side. I start to walk over, but Ari catches my elbow and stops me.

  "We can talk to him after. Just let him be." I nod and wait patiently in line. We finally get into the main hall, and we're directed to move around the perimeter of the room.

  There are tables set up along the walls and on each table is pictures of those who have passed. The first table has a school photo taken of Megan. I didn't realize they'd include her in this. There's a bouquet of yellow flowers beside her.

  Immediately, the waterworks start coming and I can't stop it. Ari places his arm around my shoulder and pulls me to his chest. There are a couple of candid pictures also: one of Megan as a child; one of her at the academy; and then there's a picture of Megan, Lisa, Kara, and me from the cabin field trip.

  I whisper a quick, "I love you," and then move to the next table, not wanting to hold up the line. Two girls and one of the guys from the attack at the cabins each have a table with special flowers and their favorite photos.

  Alexius' table is next. The largest photo is one from a long time ago it seems. She's wearing a peasant dress and holding an umbrella. But she looks identical to when I knew her. There's a picture of her and Lex and another similar-looking man, and then her and what looks like their parents. The picture in the front is another one of her and just Lex.

  It's up close, just their faces in the shot. It's hard to tell them apart with it being so zoomed in. They're both brightly smiling, their cheeks pressed together, eyes squished.

  The last table in the long line of casualties is Professor Onassis. There's a note above her picture that states that she wasn't killed in combat, but that her actions with the war are what helped us succeed.

  I couldn't agree more.

  The largest picture is in a black frame. She looks like she's only twenty, not a wrinkle on her body. Her hair
is bright white, and cropped short, ending right around her chin. Her violet eyes are vibrant and lined in black coal.

  In a smaller frame is a picture of her and Linus with a diploma in his hand. Next to that is her with a man, a small baby in her arms, Mimi and Lee by her sides grinning wide. The last picture on her table is her at her desk at the school. She looks to be about fifty or so. It must've been a fairly recent photograph.

  There is a clear vase on the table with pink roses and little tuffs of baby's breath. She would have loved it. After her table, an usher instructs us to find a seat and wait for the eulogies to begin.

  We all sit near the center of the room. There are folding chairs lined up and down in tight rows. We squeeze in until there's nowhere left to go, and I end up sitting on the aisle seat.

  I look towards the front of the room and see Ollie sitting on the stage, playing a slow, sad song on his guitar. He doesn't look up from his guitar, but I can tell from his strained posture that he feels my entrance. After the short song, Ollie collects his guitar and case and sits in the wing.

  "Welcome, everyone." A man enters the stage from where Ollie exited. He's not wearing a robe, or anything religious—just a suit with a white rose on the lapel. "Since we're celebrating many lives, we've chosen not to make this about religion, just about the people.

  "To start this service, I'd like us all to stand and sing with our very special band." The man steps to the side, and I just barely can see Ollie and the orchestra begin "Amazing Grace."

  By the end of the song, my heart hurts in my chest. I'm trying to hold back tears, and my chest aches with all the effort it takes. I look to my left and everyone is full of tears, but none of us can let them go.

  "And now I would like to read a prayer called 'The Glory of Life is Love.' 'The Glory of Life is not that it endures forever, but that, for a time, it includes so much that is beautiful…'"

  I hang onto Ari's arm as silent tears fall from my face. Faces float through my mind: first Megan and then Alexius and then Carter and Martin and then Cece. I can picture them all so perfectly, but they're not here. And they won't ever be back.