by Joan Holub
"We set the vase outside your room," Persephone said.
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"Go take a look if you don't believe us," added Athena.
Before Medusa could respond, Pheme pushed through the crowd and started upstairs. Aphrodite could bet she was making a beeline for Medusa's room. Hurrying after her, Medusa called out, "Hey, wait for me. The flowers are mine!"
The goddessgirls grinned at one another. Once Pheme saw the roses and the card they'd asked Hermes Floral Delivery to send on Ares's behalf, it wouldn't be long before Ares and Medusa's names would be paired together on everyone's lips. Ares must have realized that too, because he raced upstairs after Medusa, a worried look on his face.
Some of the students in the crowd dashed after them, wanting to see what else would happen. The rest left
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in groups, busily discussing the merits and drawbacks of this surprising new romance. Aphrodite sighed with pleasure. "I don't think I've ever made a more deserving match." Feeling more lighthearted than she had in days, she bent to pet Artemis's dogs and didn't even mind when Suez slobbered on her hand.
Later, the four friends walked past the sports fields at the edge of campus, down to the Supernatural Market, where they bought some snacks to share. On the way back they wove silly spells together and made candies and chips dance in the air. The hounds were delighted, especially Amby. Ears flapping, he leaped to snatch the treats and quickly gobbled them down.
"Anyone want to race?" Artemis asked as they came even with the track field.
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Persephone giggled. "Not without my winged sandals."
"Have you ever seen anyone who could run as fast as Atalanta?" Athena asked.
"Well, Ares is pretty fast," said Aphrodite.
The other girls looked at her, as if surprised she could still say something nice about him. She shrugged. "It doesn't mean I'm still crushing on him. But you know he's won the footraces in every Olympic games since first grade."
Artemis nodded. "True. But do you think he could beat Atalanta?"
"Maybe," Aphrodite said. Then she grinned. "Especially if Medusa was chasing him."
Laughing, the goddessgirls reached the courtyard. As
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they passed a group of godboys at the base of the granite stairs, all heads turned to look at Aphrodite. "Hey!" yelled the centaur from Mr. Cyclops's class, the godboy she'd made blush only a few days ago. "Will you dance with me at the school party this weekend?"
"Hold on! I was going to ask her!" Poseidon chimed in. "Me too," said another godboy.
Artemis rolled her eyes. "Looks like things are pretty much back to normal," she whispered.
"One of these days you'll find out what it's like to crush on someone," Persephone teased.
Athena nodded, grinning. "I'd like to see that!"
"Hey!" said Artemis, looking a little worried. "Aphrodite doesn't need any more matchmaking ideas."
Aphrodite cocked her head. "Sure I do." Then she smiled over at the hopeful centaur. Yes, boys could be
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annoying, but some of them were also sweet. "I'll dance with you," she said. "Are you any good?"
The godboy grinned. "I think so." He stamped his hooves.
"Don't believe him!" Poseidon yelled. "Can't you see he's got two left feet?" The boys started laughing and began good-naturedly tussling on the ground.
Athena shook her head at their silliness. "Godboys will be godboys," she said dryly.
"You can say that again," Artemis agreed.
Persephone grinned. "You can't take the boy out of the godboy that's for sure."
"And would we really want to if we could?" asked Aphrodite. Then she called out, "See you at the dance, guys!" Her smile dazzled the entire group, leaving them all rooted to the spot with their mouths hanging open.
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"Like I said, looks like things are back to normal," Artemis teased. Persephone and Athena grinned.
Aphrodite laughed. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." Linking arms with her friends, the four of them climbed the steps to the academy's front doors.
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ON SILVER-WINGED MAGIC SANDALS, ARTEMIS zoomed through the Forest of the Beasts, her feet gliding just inches above the mossy forest floor. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," she singsonged under her breath.
Dodging tree trunks and ducking under low-hanging vines, she listened carefully for any unusual sounds. Her keen dark eyes searched the dense woods. Her favorite bow--its limbs made of curved, polished olive wood--was at the ready. A tooled leather quiver of arrows was
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slung across her back. She could pull one out and have it nocked and aimed in a split second, as soon as it was needed. Behind her, Artemis heard Athena whizzing along in winged sandals as well. And following her were Aphrodite and Persephone. All four goddessgirls wore ankle-length flowing gowns called chitons, and their skirts whipped in the breeze as they zipped through the forest of olive, fig, and pomegranate trees, their feet never quite touching the earth.
They had come here this afternoon for one purpose: to duel with some of the slimiest, smelliest beasts ever to roam the Earth. Armed with magic-tipped arrows, the goddessgirls had already defeated a she-dragon called Echidna and bested a goat-headed Chimera. Now they had only ten minutes left to find the third beast they were tracking.
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Winning this one final battle of good versus evil was critical. Something very important hung in the balance.
Their grades.
The first Friday of every month, all the goddessgirls and godboys in their Beast-ology class left Mount Olympus Academy and came down to Earth. Here in this forest, for an entire hour, they played games of skill that Professor Ladon had created to test them. How lucky that she and her best friends were in the same class and that they'd all been assigned to this section of the woods!
Defeating three beasts today would mean an A for each of the four girls. Getting only two was a B, one a C, and coming up empty meant having to repeat the test until they got it right. Artemis had never ever gotten less than an A in the Beast-ology games, and she didn't want this to be an exception. Today was her birthday, after all.
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Another A would be the perfect gift to herself.
As she entered the clearing, Artemis heard a snuffling sound. The gray-green leaves of a nearby grove of olive trees rustled, disturbing finches and warblers, which flew away in a great flutter of wings. She slowed, motioning silently to her friends to alert them that something was up.
"It's lurking. Over there!" Artemis called softly as the others drew up beside her. Just then the wind changed direction, and she got a whiff of the creature. Ugh. It smelled like swamp gas, wet dog, and cow patties all rolled into one.
Persephone groaned and fanned her hand in front of her naturally pale face, causing the bangs of her curly red hair to flutter. "Doesn't exactly smell like flowers, does it?" A skilled gardener, she could make anything
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bloom at the touch of a finger.
Athena wrinkled her nose. "Maybe like skunkweed."
"I hope it doesn't turn out to be something that slings slime this time," whispered Aphrodite. Flipping her long, shiny blond hair over one shoulder, she touched the gold braid edging the neckline of her chiton. "This outfit is new and I don't want it ruined." The goddessgirl of beauty, she had an outfit for every occasion. This one was a bright robin's egg blue that matched her eyes. Circling her slender waist was a belt made of woven grapevines. Since Aphrodite set most fashion trends at Mount Olympus Academy, every goddessgirl at school would probably be wearing a belt just like it before the week was out.
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. The ground shook as the beast lumbered closer. Goose bumps rose on Artemis's arms. 164She'd rather eat a scarab beetle than admit it aloud, but she was scared. Because she was goddess of the hunt and was skilled at archery, everyone at school assumed she
was brave. Her friends depended on her to lead them in these hunts. Even now the others were waiting for her to tell them what kind of beast they'd found. And she had a hunch she knew what it was!
Raising her left hand overhead, she held up one finger. Then, after a moment's pause, two fingers. Another pause. Three fingers. And finally, four. Then, holding up her other hand she showed two more fingers to make six in all. This signaled to the others that they'd probably found a one-headed, two-armed, three-bodied, four-winged, six-legged beast. Just in case they hadn't gotten the message, she silently mouthed the beast's name: Geryon.
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At the news, Athena got the determined look on her face that she always got just before taking a test she wanted to ace. Persephone pinched her nose closed, as if preparing for the worst smell ever to get even worse as their opponent came closer. And Aphrodite glanced down at her stylish blue chiton, looking more than a trifle concerned.
Seconds later a giant creature jumped out of the woods into the clearing. At the sight of it, goose bumps rose on top of the goose bumps Artemis already had. The Geryon was big. It was bad. It was beastly. It looked just like the one in her Beast-ology textscroll that the Greek hero Heracles had fought in a famous battle known as the Tenth Labor.
Although she loved to hunt, she wished they'd shoot at regular targets. Sometimes the beasts Professor Ladon
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designed for these tests seemed so ... so real . She had a hard time remembering they were fake.
"You called this one right as usual," confirmed Athena from behind her. "Watch out, the class textscroll says they have particularly vicious talons and wily ways."
"And bad breath," added Aphrodite, holding her nose now along with Persephone.
The Geryon licked its green lips, eyeing them each in turn. Then it turned and waggled its three rear ends so its trio of long tails swept back and forth in the leaves. "Nah nah nuh nah nah," it taunted softly. All the while, its blazing red eyes watched them over its shoulder to see if they'd take the bait and move closer. When they didn't, it held a hand toward them. It poked one foreclaw out and curled it over and over, beckoning them to follow it into the intricate maze of bushes beyond it known as the labyrinth.
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There was rumored to be some sort of fantastical beast-making machine in the center, which Professor Ladon had specially designed to spawn their opponents for these games.
"Ye gods," Athena whispered. "Does it really think we'll fall for that?"
"No way we're following it into that maze," Artemis agreed, her voice shaking. Then, worried that her words might have sounded cowardly, she added in a confident voice, "Let's try to lure it closer. I'd like to get a good shot at that big green patoot."
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