by Joan Holub
Front and center under the stage spotlight, Orpheus was strumming his lyre and singing his heart out, playing his new songs. Now that he was feeling creative again, he’d agreed to a final farewell concert. The band had been playing for two hours, so the performance was almost over.
Later tonight Orpheus would depart MOA for good and continue his tour. He’d do okay, Hades figured. Everyone seemed to like his new heartbreak songs. Some of the girls in the audience were even crying, in a happy sort of way.
Out in the courtyard Hades glimpsed Persephone. She was sitting with Aphrodite, Athena, and Artemis on the edge of a high garden box wall, sipping nectar. Behind them were beds of flowering bushes. Beyond that stood the Academy, gleaming in the twilight.
Catching his eye, Persephone waved. He grinned and waved back.
Then he got his cue. It was time for the big special effect Orpheus had asked him for. Quickly Hades cast a simple spell:
“Torches of flame . . .
Bring Orpheus fame!”
As his words died away, the special flaring torches Hades had set in place rocketed up from the middle of the stage. They created a flash of multi-colored flames all around Orpheus.
A collective gasp rose from the students in the courtyard. They craned their necks and whispered excitedly. “What’s happening?” “What’s going on?” he heard them say.
The special effect was electrifying, but it wasn’t dangerous. It was only a bit of harmless magic—all part of a grand finale that Orpheus had planned. Hades knew only the pyrotechnics part of the plan, however. Like everyone else, he waited to see what would happen next.
As suddenly as they’d appeared, the colorful flames disappeared. And now, instead of just Orpheus at center stage, there were three people standing there.
“It’s Eurydice! She’s back!” someone yelled.
Hades’ jaw dropped. This was unexpected!
A wild cheer went up at the sight of both Eurydice and Orpheus onstage together again. Viper was with them, but quickly stepped to the back of the stage. He wasn’t a musician at all, Hades guessed. Had Eurydice only made up that story about forming a band with him? If so, why?
Moments later Eurydice began to sing, her clear lovely voice smoothly blending with Orpheus’s in a duet. It was a song about the Underworld!
“Mount Olympus lightning
Forbidden Meadows frightening . . .”
The two rock stars held everyone transfixed with the beauty and power of their voices. Even Hades fell under their spell. When the last words of the song died away, there was a small silence.
Then everyone began whooping and cheering like crazy. He jerked to attention, remembering this was his cue for a final special effect. Using magic, he made the torches reappear. This time the simulated flames rose higher and brighter than ever.
They fizzed and sparked wildly for about a minute. And once they died away, Orpheus, Eurydice, and Viper were gone!
The crowd jumped to their feet, whistling and clapping. Deciding that the band’s work was pretty much done, Hades hopped off the back of the stage and headed around toward Persephone and her friends. By the time he got there, the applause and cheers were dying down. Everyone was still buzzing about the performance.
“How did they both know the words?” he heard someone wonder.
“Orpheus didn’t seem surprised about Eurydice’s and Viper’s return,” someone else said.
Just as Hades reached Persephone, she braced herself with both hands to push down from the wall. Only, her hand slipped and she started to tumble. In the nick of time he put his hands on either side of her waist and safely set her on the ground.
“Whoa! Thanks,” she said. She squinted up at him for a few seconds, a thoughtful look on her face. Then her eyes widened. “You’re the one who rescued me at the Orpheus Rocks the Gods concert,” she said in surprise. “I just realized it.”
He stuck both hands into his pockets. “No big deal.”
“It was a big deal,” said Aphrodite, hopping down from the wall on her own.
Persephone’s other two friends jumped down too, and all four girls gazed at him in admiration.
“Yeah, she could’ve been crushed in that mob,” Athena told him.
“Face it, god-dude, you’re a hero,” said Artemis. “Even if we didn’t realize it till now.”
Aphrodite’s blue eyes sparkled more brightly. “And a hero deserves something special on his birthday. Ta-da!”
The girls all threw their arms wide and looked upward expectantly. Hades followed their gazes. Suddenly balloons magically began to fall from the sky like giant colorful raindrops. They landed all around Hades, bouncing a few times before settling down. Behind him the band launched into a rowdy version of the “Happy Birthday” song.
Eros and some of the other godboys wheeled out a cart with an enormous cake on it. Looking closer, Hades saw that a frosting map of the Underworld decorated its top.
“Happy Hades’ Day!” everyone shouted.
Feeling a little dazed, Hades blew out the candles on his cake. As Persephone and her friends began handing out pieces, everyone crowded around him, teasing him about getting old, and making silly birthday jokes.
“So, I wonder what the scoop is on Eurydice and Orpheus?” Persephone asked a little later as a bunch of students sat surrounded by the balloons, eating cake in the courtyard.
Hades suspected she’d asked the question just to get everyone to focus on something besides him. She knew he was uncomfortable with too much attention. The fact that she knew that about him, and didn’t mind, was just one of the many things he liked about her.
“I know!” Apollo announced in response to what Persephone had wondered. “Just before the concert Dionysus and I caught Orpheus, Eurydice, and Viper making plans backstage. We were sworn to secrecy, though.”
“But now we can reveal the truth,” said Dionysus. “That they never broke up at all. It was just a publicity stunt. Apparently Eurydice sent a message from the Underworld to Orpheus outlining the whole plan, just in case she did manage to escape.”
I sent message for her, Hades realized, though he hadn’t known what she’d written.
“And I helped spread the word about the breakup,” a voice piped up. Pheme had arrived out of nowhere as usual. “Their tour will get extra attention now. That new duet of theirs is going to be an instant megahit!”
As more students came over, the group around the cake cart grew. Hades and Persephone wound up standing a little off to the side.
“So you knew it was a publicity stunt too?” she asked him.
Hades shook his head. “Not at all. Like Apollo said, he and Dionysus—and Pheme, too, I guess—were sworn to secrecy. Orpheus and Eurydice must’ve figured that the fewer people who knew, the better.” He grinned. “Can’t say I’m not glad those two are heading back to Earth, though. Now they’ll be someone else’s problem.”
Persephone giggled.
A small silence fell between them. He ran his fingers through his dark hair and shifted from one foot to the other.
“What?” she asked him. She must’ve sensed he had something more to tell her. Another thing he liked about her. She could read him like a textscroll.
“There’s something I— I mean I just wanted to say, um—” Leaning down, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She caught her breath. He drew back to look at her. Was she mad that he’d kissed her?
“Thank you,” she said, blushing. Then her green eyes widened and she looked embarrassed. Probably for having thanked him for a kiss!
He grinned. “No. Thank you. For the best birthday ever.” Then he added, “Remember how I said no one had ever given me a gift before?”
Persephone nodded, her eyes glistening.
“That wasn’t exactly true.”
She tilted her head with curiosity, watching him pull at the chain he wore around his neck. He fished it out of his tunic and showed her the amulet that hung on the end of the chain. She cup
ped it in her palm, studying it.
“A pomegranate seed?” she asked.
“Not just any pomegranate seed,” he told her. “It’s from our spitting contest. The first time we talked in the cemetery. Remember?”
“You kept one of the seeds?”
“Um, yeah.” Did she think that was dorky? He couldn’t tell.
“And you’ve worn it all this time?”
“Well, yeah.” Did she think he was dumb for doing that?
“That is so . . . mega-awesome!” she exclaimed.
She smiled up at him. And it was like the sun had come out again to brighten the twilight. In his opinion this birthday was now officially the most perfect ever!
15
Don’t Look Back
Persephone
IT WAS MONDAY TWO WEEKS later, and Persephone was skipping and twirling her way down the girls’ dorm hall. She knocked on Athena’s door, then Artemis’s, and then Aphrodite’s. When they popped out of their rooms, she held up a scroll and read it aloud:
“DEAR PERSEPHONE,
WE ARE PLEASED TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR EURYDICE BLOSSOM HAS BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE ANTHESTIRIA FLOWER FESTIVAL. FEW ARE CHOSEN FOR THIS HONOR. CONGRATULATIONS!
PLEASE ENTER A FLOWER-THEMED FLOAT INTO THE PARADE, PREPARE A SPEECH, AND PLAN TO ARRIVE IN CYPRUS TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY.
SINCERELY,
THE FESTIVAL ACCEPTANCE COMMITTEE”
“I’ve been accepted into the Anthestiria Flower Festival!” she shouted just in case her friends hadn’t fully understood what the letter was all about. But they had, because they were all grinning from ear to ear. As the other three girls came out into the hall, Persephone did another little twirl, too excited to stand still.
“Awesome!” said Athena, hugging her as soon as she stopped twirling. “You worked hard for this honor!”
“Congratulations!” said Aphrodite, joining in on the hug.
“Your flower was amazing. I’m not surprised they liked it,” said Artemis. She hugged Persephone too.
“Thanks!” said Persephone. “I’m a little worried about the speech part,” she admitted as they drew back. “I mean, as fun as it was being onstage at Orpheus’s concert that one night, the attention was mostly on Orpheus and Eurydice. During my speech all eyes will be on me.” She made a Yikes face.
“After you write it, I’ll help you edit it if you want,” Athena offered.
“And Artemis and I will be your audience while you practice it. We can give you some pointers,” said Aphrodite. “It’ll be like a trial run.”
“You guys are the best! I’d really appreciate the help,” Persephone told them. “The truth is that without it I might not dare to do the speech at all!”
Her friends laughed, getting her jokey reference to the Truth or Dare game that had been the beginning of so much excitement a few weeks ago.
Aphrodite smiled at her. “Don’t worry. We’re all behind you on this.”
“Whatever you need, we’re there for you,” said Athena.
“Yeah,” said Artemis. “We’ve got your back.”
Which basically meant that she could depend on them, Persephone knew. Her friends had never let her down. Dependability was just as much a part of their character as it was hers! And it was a part of Hades’ character too. That’s why he was so conscientious about his work in the Underworld.
As much as she’d enjoyed Eurydice’s spontaneity and unpredictability, she knew she couldn’t live that way. It would drive her crazy! And so would having undependable best friends.
So if she valued that trait in her friends, she should value it in herself, right? When she got home today, she decided, she would post that Teen Scrollazine poll smack dab in the middle of her bulletin board. Being dependable was something to be proud of!
Of course, that didn’t mean she couldn’t be just a little bit daring from time to time too.
“I’m going to head down to the Underworld to gather some flowers,” she told her friends. “Think Hades will help me build a float if I ask him?”
“I think you can depend on it!” said Athena.
Smiling, Persephone dashed down the hall. She couldn’t wait to find Hades and tell him her good news! And as for that speech she’d have to give, well, it would be worth a bit of stage fright to accept the honor that was hers.
As she headed downstairs, she imagined the scene at the festival. When her name was called to speak, she would definitely dare to climb up onto that stage. She would get up there and give her speech.
There would be an audience, of course. And the festival committee would be sitting in a row of chairs behind her onstage, gazing on as they listened. Lucky for her, the Furies wouldn’t be sitting with them, waiting to pounce on her if she made a mistake.
She grinned, thinking to herself that, just in case they did decide to show up, she would not look back!
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.
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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
COMING SOON:
CASSANDRA THE LUCKY
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 the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Aladdin paperback edition August 2013
Copyright © 2013 by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams
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Designed by Karin Paprocki
Jacket designed by Karin Paprocki
Jacket illustration copyright © 2013 by Glen Hanson
The text of this book was set in Baskerville Handcut Regular.
Library of Congress Control Number 2013931642
ISBN 978-1-4424-4939-8 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4424-8158-9 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4424-4940-4 (eBook)
Joan Holub, Persephone the Daring