Cursed Academy (Year Four)

by Holly Hook

  I took a breath.

  Pain erupted in every muscle, but I was alive.

  Ronin extended his hand, eyes wide as more magic and fighting flared behind him. "Are you okay?"

  "That wasn't your fault." I took his arm as the pain quickly faded.

  If I hadn't matured already, I'd be dead.

  Ronin pulled me up. "I wasn't expecting that."

  "It wasn't your fault," I repeated, raising my dagger at the battle now taking place without me. Wendy blasted the Zeus statue again, this time striking its chest and leaving a massive crater. She stumbled to the side and into Duncan, who swung his crow dagger at the Poseidon statue. So far, none of the others had come to life.

  I kicked my legs to activate my shocked muscles. I had to get back into the fight. My power waited on the horizon. Ronin let me go and I waved the dagger above everyone's heads, decapitating the sea god with another whip of darkness. His bearded head toppled to the side, crashing into the inert Apollo statue and making it wobble on its pedestal. "Come on!"

  Duncan staggered to the side, temple bleeding, and Wendy steadied him as they backed away from the Zeus statue. The magic users were taking a beating. Even Max and Vergeat backed off, reeking of sweat, and the warrior ladies all stuck together, shields up, as the Zeus statue advanced on them, holding up its other hand.

  A marble lightning bolt sparked to life.

  The sky god's golem would take them down with one strike. I fired another whip of purplish-black void magic, but the sparks deflected it, and my magic spiraled to the ground like a narrow, dead snake.

  I'd have to open a void.

  The first of many.

  "What are you doing?" Max shouted as he held his arms out in front of his former students, motioning them back. He'd die for them. A father of two.

  I slid underneath the marble god's legs and swirled my dagger. The air here in Mount Olympus was thicker. More magical and more resistant to the void far below than in the human world. I grunted, putting in more effort, ordering the darkness into my body and down my arm. At last a sphere of pure ink opened, whining as it sucked in air, and fighters screamed and backed off as my hair rose with increasing electricity.

  I rolled out from under the rising foot of the golem. The void grew, and then reached the inside of the stone Zeus's knee. Stone crumbled. The uncaring statue fell just as it threw its bolt, and a mighty crash followed as the bolt flew not into the warrior ladies, but into Hera, which knocked them both to the floor.

  Cheers erupted from the crowd as I pushed myself to my feet. Weapons rose and swung in the air. Ronin helped me to stand as my void continued to suck in all the thick air around us. I silently ordered it to stop growing, and it did, and just to be safe, I closed it with a flick and then sheathed my dagger. We didn't need a chain reaction yet.

  "Level One completed!" Cal shouted, lifting his own blade.

  Neither of the fallen statues rose. The Zeus statue had a crumbled leg and wouldn't rise anytime soon. The Hera statue remained down. The two deserved each other.

  I eyed the wide steps that went up to the next level.

  "That's next," Ronin said. "The throne room is supposed to look like a meeting room. Building C was modeled after this place."

  I swallowed. With luck, no gods would be present.

  But that was too much to hope for. These statues had been ready for us.

  And the longer we waited, the more time the gods would have to launch a counter attack. I eyed Max, who nodded and flipped his clear visor down over his face. He was thinking the same. "Ladies," he shouted. "Form two lines behind me! Follow Ronin and Giselle!"

  Quickly, our troops assembled. Wendy and Duncan supported each other. Dominique and Alonso took up positions right behind us. I read the grave expression on their faces. They were willing to sacrifice themselves to make the world right again.

  Pain flared in my chest. Dominique might be a lot of things, but she had brought me here somehow to take care of this mess. And if she was willing to die, then I had to make it worthwhile. For Mikey. And for Maria.

  And even for Elliot. Near the back, he offered me an encouraging wave.

  Swallowing, I motioned everyone forward.

  We climbed the steps, Ronin and I in the center, and Celestus, Dominique, Wendy, and Cal right behind us. The clanking armor of the warrior ladies followed. The steps seemed long and short at the same time, which stretched and compressed. Olympus was a realm like the Underworld, where time didn't seem to matter. The next level remained out of sight, the floor sweeping everything up there out of view.

  At last, after what felt like years and just minutes, Ronin and I climbed past pillars and made it to the top of the stairwell.

  The world straightened out, and a horde greeted us.

  A horde of monsters.

  A horde of monsters?

  Centaurs, lamia, Cyclopes, werewolves, and even a few shifters in their lion forms stood behind a long, gilded table with eleven thrones surrounding it. There must be a hundred of them, some in plain gray uniforms like what Elliot used to wear at the power plant, and others were slightly better off in rent-c-cop uniforms like the werewolves Prometheus used to hire. Guards. Grunts. The gods' employees. They had brought their employees to Mount Olympus to counter us? The monsters all remained still and rehearsed, their weapons at their sides, and most of them were older than me and Ronin.

  And one near the front was Ted, now wearing a gray uniform with a ship patch.

  Ted was in his human form rather than his lion form, and our gazes met. Maria's boyfriend wore a look of sheer terror. He hadn't asked to be here.

  "Ted?" I asked. What are you doing here? He was wearing his birthright weapon, a set of metal claws that reflected the table in front of him.

  The table itself was covered in papers, maps, and printouts of numbers. Business matters. The Olympians sat here and decided our fates away from mortal eyes.

  But two figures stepped in front of the table, seemingly from nowhere. Hera wore a lavender pantsuit and had her auburn hair tucked back into a severe bun. She glared at Ronin, who shifted closer to me as we stood on the edge of the stairwell.

  And then Zeus stepped over from the left to stand beside the wife he betrayed on a regular basis. Both immortals looked ready to meet us.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I was dumb and let Zeus do the talking first.

  "Giselle. I was hoping you could see the glory of Mount Olympus," Zeus said. "Though I don't care for most of the company you keep." He took his hand and motioned to the assembled warriors behind me.

  "We know what you are," I said, hoping my voice quaked the pillars and the ceiling. But in this realm, my voice was dulled. More normal. More mortal. Mount Olympus was far from my element.

  "I am the father of the gods," Zeus said, reaching out for his wife. The goddess of marriage accepted his embrace, brushing up against his gray suit. "And I am also the father of man."

  Some of the monsters behind them nodded. Lie. I balled my fists, staring down all the monsters assembled behind the immortals. How brave of them to rope their employees into this. With the right word, Zeus and Hera could order them to attack the Lower Order, the group who had been trying to help them. These monsters had been trained to hate those who wanted to set them free. The thought made rage expand in my chest.

  No, not yet. Don't attack yet. Ted was here. So were many innocents who didn't choose their forms. I eyed a lamia, a former student at Cursed, and she bit her lip with her protruding fangs. A centaur shifted as sweat marks appeared between his fingers and on the polished wooden handle of his bow. I sensed coercion. You did not say no to Zeus.

  Until now. If I could get them on our side, we could swing this fight in our favor.

  "You're not my father and not the father of man," I said, daring to take a step closer. Zeus couldn't kill me. Neither could Hera.

  "Zeus," Ronin said. "I can't personally argue with that point, but I'm here to say you're officially dea
d to me. You're the worst father, husband, boyfriend, and brother in all of history. And get your arm off the bitch who had my mother killed."

  Some of the fighters behind us cheered.

  The air thickened with electricity and the sky god glowered at his own son. I moved in front of Ronin, ready to block any blow Zeus could deliver. Hera peeled away from Zeus and eyed Ronin like he was a disgusting slug. She showed no remorse for what she'd done, for the torment she had put him through already.

  "Kill them!" Dominique shouted from a few feet behind me. Magic whooshed. She was more ready to fight than anyone. Behind me, weapons drew. Every sound joined the darkness within me.

  I'd destroy Hera first. Slowly, I reached for my dagger, heart racing, throat dry. I'd stood up to the gods before, but never on their own turf.

  "Ronin!" Zeus shouted. "I provided for you and your mother. I bought you your dream car. I kept a roof over your head. And now you've gone to the Lower Order and spat on your mother's memory."

  "Did you hear me?" Ronin drew his sword. He was going to attack his own father. He quaked with revenge and justice. A lust for closure.

  "And you are not the father of man. You've been nothing but terrible to humans," I said.

  "Amen!" Dominique shouted.

  Alonso joined in. "Speak, girl!"

  "Mortals brought evil to the world. They must be guided and controlled!" Zeus shouted, stepping away from Hera. "Pandora, the first woman, was charged to keep evil in a box. She disobeyed and let it out!"

  "Oh, that story?" I asked.

  Celestus stepped up beside me and spoke. "We know what happened. You got mad when Prometheus gave humans fire. You told Hephaestus to make Pandora. Then you set her up for failure."

  Shouts of agreement rose behind me while the monsters behind the table shifted with uncertainty. This was their first time hearing the real version of events.

  "It was a test that their kind failed!" Zeus shouted. Sparks danced around his hands. He was about to throw a god tantrum. Zeus could not stand to be wrong.

  "Dear," Hera purred. "Calm down. The deal, remember?"

  Zeus took a breath and paced.

  I grabbed my dagger. But like Pandora, curiosity was getting the better of me. Ronin and Celestus looked at me to start the attack. Why couldn't I?

  Ted was here.

  Maria's boyfriend.

  If I started a chain reaction, I could kill him and any other monsters who didn't want to be here. They were just people screwed over by the Awakening. The gods were banking on that. Maybe this was one last test to see how dark I was.

  "The deal," Zeus said, breathing out and forcing the sparks to calm. "Giselle, you did not want your darkness. I can sense that. Hermes can sense that more than I, and I trust him. I must admit that I took the wrong approach."

  Hera offered a sharp nod to that. Zeus wouldn't have admitted to her what he'd tried to do. She was old enough and wise enough to have figured it out on her own.

  "I know your friends have succumbed to darkness," he continued as Ted shrunk back. "I may have asked around. We can fix them. Take a seat with us here in Mount Olympus, and we will find a place for you. With Hades gone, we have room for one more immortal at this table." He motioned to the ornate chairs. "Destruction is neither good nor evil. But the way you are going, you will become evil, Giselle. Bitter, like Hades. An outcast. Feared. Forever."

  I stepped back.

  Zeus's words stabbed into my core.

  Hera continued. "Become an Olympian, and we will heal your friends. I can turn them into ordinary humans. Many immortals have the ability to alter the shapes of other beings. Surely Divine History has taught you that." As she spoke, the room brightened with hope. "We have turned many wretched and unlucky mortals into--"

  "Flowers? Spiders? Lions? Wolves?" I asked. I wasn't going to buy this. Lifting my dagger, I watched as Hera stepped back into Zeus. They exchanged a glance. I wasn't getting along. "What would you have me do here? Plot which countries to wipe off the map? Which businesses? Maybe we could cast disobedient mortals into the abyss?" Then I studied the immortals for their reactions. I needed to see that they were lying, that they didn't hold the answer to my friends' salvation.

  "Listen to Giselle!" Ronin shouted to the fighters.

  Tension filled the air. I wondered if they'd spun this tale with Hades. You won't go dark. You'll have a seat here.

  "History is the best teacher," Celestus shouted.

  "I can save your friends!" Hera shouted. The light in the room increased so much I had to squint. "You will go bitter. Become an outcast. You can still be molded, Giselle."

  I took a breath. What if she could save Maria and Mikey? "Would you vow to save them? All of them?"

  "Yes!"

  "Giselle!" Dominique shouted in despair. But she could do nothing against me. But at least she'd taught me what time in Olympus would be like.

  I couldn't listen to them.

  "You will sink into despair and lose everyone," Zeus continued. "You won't age, but you will watch your friends get old and die. And Ronin. We can make him a god and keep the two of you together forever."

  "Don't listen!" Ronin shouted. "It's all lies!" He grabbed my arm. "I'm over it, Giselle. We have people to protect."

  Our gazes met. The golden flecks in his eyes were as hard as diamonds. He had faced his demons and won. And now, so must I.

  Slowly, I faced Zeus and Hera, who stood side by side, awaiting my decision. I didn't know what would happen if I refused,

  "No," I said, pointing my weapon for the killing blow. Darkness could be evil, but so could light. "If I go dark, so be it."

  Chapter Twenty

  The immortals before me broke apart, scowling. Zeus's eyes darkened with hatred. Hera's with jealousy. She opened her palms, lavender magic gathering within them, and turned her glare on Ronin. She'd destroy him first. And Zeus was making no move to stop her. Instead, he opened his own palms, lightning dancing within.

  "Attack!" I shouted, slashing. A small void struggled to open between Zeus and Hera, but neither reacted. They were strong and in their own turf. I waved again. Air spiraled into the maw as it slowly grew.

  Fighters on both sides scattered and clashed. The warrior ladies and then the Lower Order surged out from behind me, colliding with the loyal monsters. Magic cracked and arced. Ronin fired a bolt at Hera, which threw her back into the ornate table, and Celestus summoned weak shadows that danced along the floor.

  And Ted shifted into his lion form and leapt into the fray, vanishing.

  Hera stepped before me, ignoring the void that spun behind her. She held up her hand at Ronin. Gathered another angry, lavender light in her palm. And before I could warn him, an explosion of the same color knocked him off his feet.

  He flew back, rolling down the steps, the lavender light spiraling around him.

  "Ronin!" I shouted as Zeus glanced at him, turned away, and raised his hand at Dominique.

  Ronin flew down the steps, body hitting as other fighters scattered. I charged Hera in a blind rage, raising my dagger, as she lifted her hand once again to shoot another burst at me. The hatred in her eyes glowed and even the light of Olympus flashed with it. The temple of the gods was no longer beautiful.

  Raising my knife, I shoved her back against the table, just a few feet from my void. She leaned back and a wicked smile spread across her lips.

  "You associate with rats, so perhaps you'll like Ronin as one!"

  Cold terror bloomed in my chest. She wouldn't...she would. I wanted to look back. Check on him. Make sure he was okay. But Hera lifted her hand, waiting for me to look away, waiting to strike. It was a ploy.

  I brought my dagger down to have her catch my wrist in midair.

  "Not so fast," she said.

  I had to destroy her. Ronin grunted with effort down the stairwell. My senses tuned in to him. He was thrashing, swinging his sword, as magic hummed and crackled around him, trying to close in. Ronin was holding it off, but it wo
uldn't be for long.

  And Zeus was doing nothing to help him.

  Instead, he slammed Dominique against the wall with a lightning beam. He kept his back to me as she hit a marble pillar so hard that it cracked. The fighting around me seemed to fade. Dominique collapsed. And the pillar crumbled on top of her, crushing her form. Bones cracked and splintered. Flesh shifted and she let out one last, gurgling breath. She was gone.

  "No!" I shouted, shocked at the emotion that ripped out of me. Dominique had given me life. She hadn't meant to screw up the world. Now she was crushed like an insect. I let go of Hera and turned my aggression on Zeus, running past the small, open void. Ronin choked at the bottom of the stairwell as the magic closed in. I couldn't save them all.

  I stabbed Zeus in the back and breathed in, ready to inject him with the darkness that would consume him from the inside out.

  Golden blood squirted out around my blade as he whirled. My blade remained in his back and he wrenched it out of my grasp with that one movement. Instantly the darkness waiting on the horizon for my command receded from my view. I couldn't sense it anymore. Not here. Not in this thick air and world of false light.

  "Giselle," Zeus said, thunderous, leaving the blade in his back. "You've made your decision. I'll bind you in Tartarus forever. You may be immortal, but that only makes punishment so much sweeter." Cruelty lived in his eyes. "You will suffer in pieces beside the defeated titans. Beside Tantalus. Beside all of those who dared to defy me and my order." His voice shook the meeting room, making all the crashes, grunts, and shouts of fighting fade in the background. Only one sound popped.

  Ronin.

  "Urrgh!"

  I couldn't see him, but I knew Hera's magic was closing in. She stepped to the top of the stairwell behind me to watch her victory. If I turned from Zeus, he would attack. And if I didn't, Ronin was as good as dead. I couldn't remove curses.

  And now I couldn't even destroy.

  "Your boyfriend," Zeus said with a mad twinkle in his eye, "is in trouble." He reached back and slowly pulled out my dagger, which dripped with golden blood. "You should learn another attack."