by Simon Archer
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “He had, like, sixteen kids, with at least seven different women.”
Genesis looked at me pointedly. “And that doesn’t bother you?”
“I thought we didn’t really think about that stuff here.” I gestured to Genesis and myself. “Otherwise, we’d be like half-siblings or something like that, and that’s weird.”
“Step siblings,” Genesis corrected.
“Still weird,” I said unshaken.
“Cameron,” Makayla said with a tone to indicate that she wanted to get back to the matter at hand. She leaned forward on her desk and stared at me in the eye. “If you didn’t start this, then who do you think did?”
I paused and considered her question as much as I did my answer. “Why are you asking me?”
“Because you are one of the few people on campus that can think sensibly at the moment,” Genesis explained. “And that is an asset we can’t afford to waste.”
“I really think it was Aphrodite,” I answered plainly. “Or one of her godborn children, like Eros. They’re the only ones powerful enough to produce or recreate her love formula. I don’t care about why she did it. I’m way more concerned with fixing it.” I turned to Genesis, “And why your mother hasn’t said anything to you, one of her demigod daughters.”
“So are we, do not mistake that,” Makayla assured me though I was skeptical.
Genesis frowned, “I don’t know why. But she never contacted me before, so I can see her not contacting me about this.”
I still think they wanted someone they could punish, publically make an example of. The Stratego would have loved that.
Suddenly a thought occurred to me. I looked around the room with punched eyebrows and ruminated on my discovery.
“What is it?” Genesis asked eagerly. “You look as though you just thought of something.”
“I did,” I replied honestly, though my voice was soft, “but not about Tainted Love.”
“Tainted Love?” Makayla asked in the exact tone I had used with Hailey earlier.
“Yeah, apparently, that’s this thing’s nickname.” I waved off the question, focusing on my epiphany. “Where are the other Elemental Officials?”
“Excuse me?” Genesis wondered, though her face grew stony.
“You both just accused me of starting this whole mess,” I said as I twirled my finger around the room as though the disease were in the air. “Wouldn’t that be something you bring to the whole group of twelve rather than just Makayla’s private office?”
Makayla and Genesis remained silent at my question, refusing to answer. My lips curled into a triumphant smile.
“They don’t know about my immunity, do they?” I asked the pair of officials in front of me. “Why?”
“It would seem…” Genesis sighed and relented.
“Genesis,” Makayla warned as she held out her hand to stop Genesis, but she jerked her colleague off.
“It would seem,” Genesis started over, more confident now, “that when we mean that everyone has a trace, we mean everyone.”
“Including the Elemental Officials,” I translated. A bark of astonished laughter escaped my lips, but I didn’t hold it back. “And you can’t trust them to think clearly right now. Wow. That’s really interesting.”
“Cameron,” Makayla said my name in a warning tone. “That is not public knowledge, nor is it your responsibility to share it.”
“I understand, but I also understand why you need my help now,” I deciphered. “Because if any of the other Elemental Officials are out of commission, it’s going to make it really hard to devise a plan and find a cure.”
“There is no cure,” Makayla said defeatedly. “We are hoping that the infatuation will wear out over time, but none of our healers have been able to rid the demigods of the… Love Taint.”
I smiled at Makayla as she tried out the nickname. It didn’t sound right in her mouth, but at least the disease had some sort of title now. However, I wasn’t paying attention to Makayla. My eyes trained on Genesis. The powerful and intimidating woman for moments ago shrunk into herself and leaned against the wall like she wanted to crawl inside it.
“You know something, but you’re not saying,” I accused Genesis, feeling emboldened with my newfound power and respect from the Elemental Officials.
Makayla’s head whirled around to look at her colleague. “Genesis,” she said, her voice weak. I could understand why, here was one of Aphrodite’s daughters, hiding information about Aphrodite’s infection, “What do you know?”
Genesis sighed dramatically and released her hands from their tense place across her chest. “There’s only one way to reverse the effects of Aphrodite’s girdle. Once you've been infected with the attraction and desire from it, you remain with intense feelings of desire--”
“Until Aphrodite exposes you to the girdle again,” I finished for her. “So, we need the girdle.”
“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” Makayla asked, her eyes still on her fellow official.
“Because I was hoping you and your healers had a way,” Genesis said. She shook her head. “I knew it was foolish, but do you know how hard it’s going to be to get Aphrodite’s girdle?”
“Could we get a team of soldiers to go out and steal it?” Makayla suggested, thinking like the officer she was.
“Aphrodite never lets that thing out of her sight.” Genesis was clearly appalled, as though Makayla has suggested an insurmountable task. “And you’re suggesting stealing from a god? Really?”
“That’s never gone over well,” I said, the wheel of myths turning in my head from all of the catastrophic instances. Prometheus stealing the fire from Zeus led to him getting his liver eaten by an eagle for all eternity. Typhon taking Zeus’s weapons led him to being banished to Tartarus. Hermes stealing Apollo’s cows led him to losing his lyre and Apollo becoming the god of music instead of Hermes.
Needless to say, it was a bad idea to steal from the gods.
“What if we could get Aphrodite to come to us?” I ventured the question as more of a guess than anything else.
“If you haven’t noticed, Cameron, the gods don’t just pop up at the Academy,” Genesis said with a disproportionate amount of sass. “It’s not as though we can summon her.”
“We can always pray to her, offer her something, and then she might come,” Makayla suggested. “That’s how we get the gods to come to graduation.”
“She still has the right of refusal,” Genesis said as she shook her head. “You can’t ever force a god, or goddess to do something she doesn’t want to do.”
“But you can trick her,” I said. The words seemed to come out of my mouth of their own accord. “It’s the only way for mortals to get gods to do what they want.”
“You think stealing didn’t work out well for people,” Genesis said as she put her hands on her hips and leaned forward, sticking her neck out at me. “Tricking the gods is basically a death sentence.”
“Archenne, Sysphis, Hercules,” Makayla ticked the culprits off her fingers. “Telemachus, Io. The list goes on and on.”
“I know, I know,” I said as I stood up from my chair and paced around the small office. “But hear me out. If we can get Aphrodite here on campus, then we can trick her into helping us cure everyone.”
“How do you expect to do that?” Genesis said skeptically.
“Calm down Genesis and hear him out,” Makayla said, defending me. “This is the most progress we’ve had in a while, so let’s see where it goes.”
I gulped at Makayla’s notion. If the Elemental Officials were so short changed for ideas that they were turning to me, then the campus might be in more trouble than I thought.
“Well, I don’t necessarily know how we might trick her,” I started, and when Genesis scoffed, I added quickly, “Yet. I don’t know yet, but you might be able to help me with that. But I know how we can get her here.”
“How?” Makayla wondered, genuine interest in h
er eyes.
“Aphrodite is the god of love and desire,” I said, even though they both knew this, and Genesis’s eyes urged me to hurry up. “In the myths, she can never resist a good party, specifically one filled with love and desire.”
Genesis caught up to me. I could tell when her eyes grew wide in horror. “Are you suggesting what I think you are?”
“A school dance?” I said at the same time she said, “An orgy?”
Makayla’s expression grew baffled at the pair of us while Genesis and I stared at one another curiously. We both looked like fish as we opened and closed our mouths a couple of times. It amused me to see her cheeks grow red from embarrassment. Seems she didn’t know her godly parent as well as I did.
“In all honesty,” Makayla interrupted our awkward moment with a cough. “There’s not much difference between the two.”
“To a certain degree, yes,” I said as flashes of memories from my high school proms and homecomings came to mind. “But I think we create an environment that Aphrodite simply can’t refuse.”
Genesis looked ready to protest, but Makayla laid a hand on her arm. This time, she shut up, and Makayla opened her hand, permitting me to continue.
“I think we erase all of the no relations stigmas,” I said with a deep exhale, all of the words coming out in a rush. The idea formed in my mind, and it seemed so clear and solid that I had to share it. Even if it was absurd and ridiculous, something like this might be the only chance to make Beth and the rest of campus regain their senses.
“They pretty much already are,” Genesis relented.
“I know, but do it officially. Get the Stratego or whomever,” I clarified as I noticed the tense glint in Genesis’s eye when I mentioned the head of the school, “to make an official announcement. Dating is allowed between anyone and there will be no negativity or restrictions about it. Say nothing about how school work and training are going to suffer, because I bet that if you let couples be together as much as possible, in class, in their rooms, in the cafeteria, then they’ll engage and actually get things done.” I tilted my head back and forth, unsure of this one, but I thought it was worth a try. “Especially if we tell them about the dance. They need to complete their classes and training in order to go. Couples need things to do together, and with that incentive of the party, they’ll do it.”
“This is sounding more and more ridiculous by the minute,” Genesis grumbled.
I barrelled on, ignoring her doubts and my own at this moment, because realistically, what else did we have to go on?
“The campus will be sexually charged leading up to the dance, and that will be an explosion of womanly beauty, love, desire, sex, and all things Aphrodite.” I spread my arms wide, nearly reaching either end of the office walls. “Then she’ll have to come and see what all of the fuss is about.”
Genesis put her face in her hand and shook it slowly. Makayla looked at me with one raised eyebrow. I had no idea what either of them was going to say. A sinking suspicion told me that they were going to shoot me down in one fell swoop. They would usher me out, say they were wrong to trust me, and they, the adults, would figure something out.
But then, Makayla surprised the shit out of me when she said, “I think it’s a great idea.”
“What?” I balked just as Genesis said, “You do?”
“I do,” Makayla answered her colleague. “At the very least, it will get Aphrodite here, and we can ask her what the hell is going on.”
“If we do this…” Genesis began, and a surge of hope flared in my chest. She must have noticed my reaction because she held up a finger and emphasized her point. “If we do this, we might attract the attention of other gods too.”
“You mean like the other love gods? Eros?” I asked. “The Erotes? Anteros, Himeros, Hedylogos, Hymenaios, Hermaphroditus, and Pothos?”
Genesis’s mouth hung open, looking the most unattractive I had ever seen her. Makayla whistled, clearly impressed with my knowledge. I squinted, and my face grew tense.
“I did it again, didn’t I?” I winced. “That thing where I spit out too much random-ass Greek knowledge. Sorry.”
“Do not be sorry for that,” Makayla scolded me. “It is impressive, and a talent like that should be rewarded, not diminished.”
“You…” Genesis blabbered. “You even pronounced them correctly.”
“Yeah…” I pushed the words through a cheeky smile.
“Originally, I meant Eros,” Genesis clarified, “but absolutely, you’re right. We might attract the Erotes as well.”
“So then we do, and maybe one of them will lead us to Aphrodite,” I reasoned, trying to push past the awkward moment. “Either way, this is the best idea we’ve got. And even if it weren’t literally our only viable option, I still think it’s a good one.”
“Do you think we can convince the others?” Makayla looked up at Genesis, who still stood in the room, while she’d remained in her office chair during the whole conversation.
Genesis shrugged. “I think we can. Especially if we let them know they can fuck whoever they want.”
I blinked at the daughter of Genesis’s crassness, though part of me figured I should have been all that surprised. When Genesis caught my face, she offered me a second shrug.
“When should we have this school dance?”
“Halloween,” I offered, not having to think about it. “It can be a masquerade.”
“Wow, that’s so Hollywood of us,” Genesis commented snobbishly.
“But you can’t tell me that everyone won’t love it,” I argued.
“That gives you about six weeks to plan it,” Genesis said.
“Wait, me?” I asked, completely shocked. Once again, I seemed to forget my name and pointed to my chest. “Why me?”
“You’re the only one with some sense, remember?” Genesis reasoned. “Even Makayla and I have some traces of being infected with Tainted Love. It hasn’t manifested yet, but it might. You should head up the party.”
“You have our permission to get whatever you might need,” Makayla said as she took a pad of paper from off her desk. She crouched over it as though she were writing me a prescription. “We’ll pitch it to the other officials and then get started on announcing it to campus.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I protested. “I can’t possibly do this all by myself. There’s no way!”
“You can form a committee if you want,” Genesis offered. “We’ll be your advisors, but make sure you choose wisely. We need you to keep that clear and sensible head on your shoulders.”
“No pressure,” I grumbled, suddenly not excited about my brilliant idea at all, considering the amount of work it was going to be.
“In fact,” Makayla held up her pen, a lightbulb going off over her head as she had an idea. “I have just the person you should ask.” Makayla scribbled another thing down on the pad of paper. Then she ripped it off with a crisp and efficient pull and held it out to me.
I took it apprehensively, as if it were a bomb rather than a piece of paper. I read the nearly illegible scrawl on it. “Sasha Manuel. Who is Sasha Manuel?”
“Oh gods, Makayla, really?” Genesis rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“She’s the perfect party planner. You’ll definitely want her on your committee,” Makayla said as her eyebrows waggled up and down suggestively.
“Why?” I wondered.
“Because she’s the daughter of Dionysus,” Makayla smiled like she just offered me the biggest gift in the world. “You’re welcome.”
Something told me that this daughter of Dionysus was going to be more of a hindrance than a help when it came to planning this masquerade dance. Still, I was in way over my head, and I still wasn’t quite sure how I’d gotten there.
16
“Have you heard?” Jade asked with a squeal as she collapsed onto the bench the next morning. Her face was wide with a smile and her eyes bright, like amethysts in a cave. Her energy was so intense that Daniella and I pi
cked up our blue trays off the table to avoid spilling anything.
“If you’re talking about the dance,” Daniella said with a growl in her voice, “then yes. We’ve heard.”
Genesis and Makayla worked faster than I thought they would. By the evening the day I got tested, there were notices up everywhere, announcing the masquerade ball. It was set for Halloween evening at sunset in the main quad, just as we had planned.
Also, on the notice, it mentioned the temporary allowance of relations between students and guards. It would hopefully stop the secrecy and the blackmailing that was surging through the campus. Even non-Tainted-Love demigods were excited, though their jobs of finding dates would be a lot harder. Tainted Love couples already were asking one another and discussing what they planned to wear.
The other thing that the notice said that I hadn’t expected was the announcement of two outings off-campus for students so they could find appropriate costumes. They were actually letting us out into the mortal world for this.
Genesis and Makayla went above and beyond, which made me all the more suspicious considering what hardasses the Elemental Officials had once been. I wondered what they were like now that some of them were infected with Tainted Love. Big softies, maybe? Did the Stratego turn into a gooey teddy bear due to the effects of Aphrodite’s formula?
The mental image made me shiver a little bit, and Jade misinterpreted my reaction, thinking it related to her comment. Like a wilting flower, she shrunk down immediately as her enthusiasm left her.
“Oh,” she said, her voice practically a whisper. “I thought you all would be excited.”
“If you want to talk to someone excited, talk to Bethany,” Daniella said with a jerk of her head in the direction where Beth sat on Bella’s lap.
Both Jade and I looked over at the wrong moment. Bella fed Beth grapes, and our friend bit down on the Eda soldier’s finger and sucked. Jade blinked back her surprise.
“I don’t want to… uh, interrupt them,” Jade reasoned, turning back to our group. I knew my look of disappointment and sorrow would be echoed back to me in her eyes.