by Raine, Eliza
‘You’re a Titan?’ she whispered.
‘If Oceanus is a Titan, then yeah.’ The words came out harsher than I meant them to and Zali flinched. Frustration was taking over now, and anger at the way those girls had just shown me up. It wasn’t my fault I didn’t have a clue what was going on. ‘Will someone please explain why this is such a big deal!’ I snapped. Zali and Tak looked at each other and I clenched my teeth. I knew that look and I knew what was coming. It was the same at school at home. As soon as any trouble came my way, everybody would bail on me. I braced myself to be left alone at the table. Again.
‘The Titans and the Olympians are age old enemies,’ said Tak. I blinked at him. ‘Centuries ago the Titans ruled the world. The lord of the Titans, Cronos, heard a prophecy that his son would overthrow him, so he ate all of his children.’ I choked back a noise of disgust. ‘But Zeus escaped, and freed his siblings from Cronos’s belly and they went to war. The Titans were defeated and imprisoned and Zeus formed the Olympians with his brothers and sisters. They’ve ruled ever since.’
I tried to process his words.
‘So… so I’m a bad guy?’ I jumped as Zali laid a hand on my arm.
‘No, Pandora, it was centuries ago. But it’s rare for Titan descendants to join the academies. They’re usually not allowed. Titan power can be strong. And unpredictable.’ I looked into her wide eyes. ‘There was an accident here. It was years ago, but the stories stick around. A Titan student nearly burned down the whole school. Two people lost their lives.’
I shuddered, goosebumps raising on my skin.
‘People might be a little nervous of you,’ said Tak. ‘But… they’ll get over it.’
They weren’t going to leave me alone at the table, I realized. A wave of gratitude crashed over me.
‘Thank you,’ I said, looking down at Zali’s hand on my arm.
‘For what?’
‘Answering my questions. Staying here, when I might blow up the school.’
Zali laughed.
‘I’m sure you won’t. You’re here to learn how to control your powers.’
‘I’m not sure I have any powers,’ I said.
‘They’ll come,’ Tak smiled at me. ‘Chiron will find out what you’re good at. It’s his job.’
I smiled back at him, putting as much sincerity into it as I could.
‘Are you really a mermaid?’ I asked suddenly, turning back to Zali.
She nodded at me.
‘A mermaid shifter, yeah.’
‘That is possibly the coolest thing I’ve ever heard,’ I breathed. Zali’s face lit up. ‘Tell me about it?’ I asked, hopefully.
‘Of course!’ As she spoke, the table shimmered and flickered, then suddenly it was covered in food. And I mean covered. Bowls and plates of chicken, ham, roasted vegetables, fresh salads, pasta, piles of fruit and even cakes lined the middle of the table and a bolt of hunger shot through me.
‘Can we eat whatever we want?’
‘Course. You’ll need it to keep up with the training,’ winked Tak as he picked up his plate and began loading it with pizza.
7
Once Zali started talking, she didn’t stop. Over the rest of dinner and all the way up to our dorm she told me about how she could change into a mermaid at will, and swim with all the creatures in the ocean around us, and how she’d dreamed of a life split between humans and the ocean her whole life. She was hoping her time at the academy would teach her to talk to all the sea animals, and she’d learn to hold her breath indefinitely. As a lover of the ocean I was as thrilled by her powers as she was. I wanted to ask more about the Titan Oceanus and what I would likely be able to do, but I’d already made myself look as ignorant as it was possible to. I was reluctant to make the same mistake twice. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, with my mind spinning and a hollow feeling in my gut reminding me constantly that I’d lost dad and Mandy. But I was asleep the second my head hit the pillow, exhaustion swallowing me whole as I sank into the comfy bed.
‘Rise and shine, Pandora!’ sang a girly voice. I reluctantly forced my sticky eyes open. Zali’s amber eyes floated above mine. ‘Morning!’
I scowled up at her.
‘Already?’
‘Uhuh. You need to get ready, you’re supposed to be in Chiron’s office in an hour, and you’ll need your breakfast.’
I groaned and flung off the covers.
‘How do you keep time around here?’ I asked, rubbing my eyes as I sat up.
‘There are gongs for each period and meal times.’
I nodded as I dimly recalled hearing them yesterday.
‘Zali,’ I said slowly as she scooped up my dirty clothes from the floor. ‘Thank you. For looking after me. I’m sorry if I was a bit… rude yesterday.’
She smiled at me.
‘I’m sorry I reacted so badly about the Titan thing. You seem really nice, I think we’ll get along great,’ she said, and I believed her.
‘Trouble kind of follows me around. I just thought I should warn you,’ I said, standing up. Zali raised her eyebrows.
‘You’ll be too busy here to get into trouble. The shower rooms are at the end of the hall.’
Wearing the new uniform felt weird. We didn't have to wear a uniform at school back home. In fact, I hadn’t worn a plaid skirt like this since I was Mandy's age. Thinking of my little sister caused a painful pull in my chest. Would they be worried about me? Of course they would. Guilt washed over me and I screwed my face up. This was my mother's fault, not mine, I told myself. I’d ask Chiron if they’d got the message back to my family. And then I’d get busy becoming powerful enough to get back to them.
We sat in the same place, at the same table for breakfast, Tak joining us again. He chattered enthusiastically about his day, which was to include a sword-fighting tournament, apparently. Pancakes and cereal and fruit and bread and fried bacon covered the long tables and I helped myself greedily. By the time the gong rang, my belly was aching, and I was regretting the amount I’d eaten. I waved bye to Zali and Tak as they headed off through different colored curtained doorways with all the others, and headed to the front temple, to see the headmaster.
‘Come in,’ called Chiron as I knocked on his door. He smiled from where he was standing behind a massive table, as tall as I was. Bookshelves lined every wall of the room, and there weren’t just books on them. Trinkets, ornaments, statues, jewelry, all sorts of shining, exotic objects filled the shelves.
‘The uniform suits you, Pandora,’ Chiron said, pulling my attention back to him.
‘Why didn’t you tell me I was a Titan?’ I asked. It wasn’t what I meant to say, but it just came out. The centaur's smile slipped.
‘So the other students told you?’
‘No. I told them. You could have warned me,’ I grumbled, my face reddening at the memory of everyone staring at me.
‘I’m sorry, I thought it would be too much in one day.’
‘It was,’ I told him.
‘Please, sit down. Today will be a long day too. We need to test you before we can allocate you to your classes.’
‘Test me? For what?’
‘Powers.’
My annoyance was doused out as a wave of excitement engulfed me.
‘We’re going to find out what I can do?’
‘Yes, but it’s not always easy. Or quick.’
‘OK,’ I nodded. ‘When do we start?’
‘We’ll start now, if you’ll sit down,’ he answered with a chuckle. I pulled the chair opposite his desk towards me and sat down.
‘Did you tell my dad I was OK?’ I asked, more quietly.
‘Yes. He has been told.’
‘Was he upset?’
‘I’m told he was…’ the centaur paused. ‘Sad to lose you but excited for your future,’ he finished. Hollow sadness coiled round my insides as I pictured dad saying that. Of course he would say that. I hoped he meant it. I tried to ask about Mandy, but my throat started to
close up and the burning behind my eyes stopped me. I didn’t want to cry again.
‘What’s the first test?’ I said instead, shoving the feelings deep down.
‘Not as exciting as you hope, I fear,’ Chiron said, passing me a wad of papers. ‘A written test.’
I scowled. Written tests were boring. Really boring. I flicked through the questions.
‘Which Olympian controls the sun?’ I read aloud. I looked up at Chiron. ‘I didn’t even know what an Olympian was until yesterday!’
‘Can you guess?’ he asked. I thought, hard. Sun god, sun god…
‘Something to do with a chariot? That pulls the sun up?’
‘Correct! It’s Apollo’s chariot. Though he doesn’t usually ride it, that’ll be Helios. Or Selene at night, for the moon.’
I stared at him.
‘And you’ve lost me,’ I said. He considered me a moment, then held his hand out.
‘Give me the papers back. We’ll put you into all of the history and literature classes.’
I frowned a little. I wasn’t sure I’d done myself any favors.
‘Literature?’
‘Yes. Do you know any Greek?’
I shook my head.
‘Zali, for example. Her name is Greek for swim.’
My eyes widened.
‘Because she’s a mermaid?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Huh. Is shifting normal here?’
‘The powers a student has depends on their parents, and how far back the god is in their bloodline. Gods' blood is called ichor, and it shines like silver. But it gets diluted with mortal blood as families grow.’
I nodded, trying to picture silver blood.
‘Some powers will show themselves when a person is young, like Zali’s shifting. Others need to be coaxed out, with practice and training. There are many other things you need to know to survive in Olympus though. Did your mother tell you much of it?’
I snorted.
‘She told me nothing,’ I muttered bitterly.
‘It is an incredible world. There are twelve realms, each run by one of the Olympians. And each very, very different. Four are forbidden to all but a few races, like my homeworld, and two are too dangerous for most to visit. But even the other six realms are perilous, if you are not properly prepared.’
Thrills of excitement were making my chest tight now, my breathing short and my eyes wide. Olympus sounded amazing. How could I ever get bored in a place like that?
‘Why is it so dangerous? How do you get between the realms? Is it like my world, with oceans and land and stuff? Do people have normal jobs? Do they have to worship the gods?’ Once the questions started I couldn’t stop them, curiosity about this mysterious world burning inside me.
‘Slow down!’ Chiron laughed, waving his hands. ‘You’ll learn about all of that in geography class. But you’ll also need to be able to fight. Olympus is a barbaric place compared to your world. You’ll need skills you don’t currently have to make it there. Now, there are different sets of classes here at the academy. History of Mythology, Ancient Language and Olympian Geography will be compulsory for you. Classes started a few months back so you’ll need to catch up. There’s another new starter that will take some introductory classes with you, until you can join the rest of the students. You’ll do Shifting, Telepathy and Magical Objects with everyone else. The other three classes are Elemental Control, Physical Training and Fighting Skill, and those are the ones we’ll test you on today.’
A little surge of adrenaline made my hands shake as I leapt to my feet. Elemental Control? Please let me able to control water, I prayed in my head. I was a distant relative of Oceanus, that had to mean I had power over water, right?
8
I followed Chiron through the main temple and out to the training grounds, my palms sweaty and my stomach jittery as I wondered what was coming.
‘Chiron!’ called a voice when we got there. A man with black scruffy hair and smiling brown eyes approached us. He looked strong and muscular and I had to make an effort to drag my eyes up to his face when his biceps bulged as he reached up to shake hands with Chiron.
‘You must be Pandora,’ he said, and shook mine too. I concentrated on not blushing. ‘I’m Professor Dasko, your tutor.’
‘Oh!’ Tutors were not this hot at home.
‘Welcome to the academy. I’m really pleased they’re allowing Titan descendants now,’ he beamed.
‘Did they not before?’ I asked. Dasko looked at Chiron uncomfortably.
‘Not since… err…’
‘The kid who burned the school down?’ I finished for him. He looked relieved.
‘So, you know about that.’
‘Yeah. Some other kids mentioned it at dinner last night.’
‘Huh. Well, you’re more likely to flood the place, being that your related to Oceanus,’ he grinned. My alarm at his words must have shown because he laughed. ‘Don’t worry, I’m only joking,’ he said, reassuringly. I gave him a weak smile.
‘I don’t think I could flood anything,’ I said.
‘Let’s find out, shall we,’ replied Chiron.
We did the Fighting Skill test first. I had to hold a wooden sword and spar with Professor Dasko. At first I felt stupid, waving the bit of wood at him, but after a few smart taps on the shoulders from his sword, I got into it a bit. Just as I was starting to feel comfortable Chiron whistled and Dasko straightened with a smile. He wasn’t even a little out of breath. Next I had to jab at a mounted target with a long, heavy spear. I could barely lift it, and when I did I stumbled sideways, totally off balance. Embarrassment spurred my determination though and eventually I was able to launch it, badly, towards the target. It bounced off and clattered noisily onto the ground. Neither teacher said a word as they led me to a line of smaller targets on wooden frames on wheels, and a tall container on the ground holding bows. I’d tried archery with dad once, on holiday. From what I could remember I’d been neither great or awful. Professor Dasko showed me how to notch the arrow and I fired ten in total. Six hit the targets, and three hit the circle drawn on the middle. None were close to the red dot right in the centre though.
‘Very good,’ said Chiron. ‘Physical Training consists of running, lifting, swimming and flying.’ He looked down at my converse and raised his eyebrows. ‘Can you run in those?’
I nodded.
‘Good. I want you to do five laps of the training ground, please.’
‘Five!’ I protested. It had been years since I had run more than what was required to catch the bus to school.
‘Five, Pandora.’
I sighed, and set off, slowly. Did he really just say flying? And I couldn’t wait to get in the water. I wonder where we would swim? I looked up as I thought it, the rippling blue ocean high above us. Surely not in there? What if we got into trouble in the water? There must be a pool. Moving my legs was making me feel good, and the more I thought about what I had yet to see, the more I sped up without really trying. Every time I thought about the Elemental Control class my muscles surged me forwards.
In no time Chiron was whistling again and I jogged over to him, panting. He gave me a few minutes to get my breath back, then led me to another corner of the training ground. There were stone balls laid out, the smallest one about the size of my head, the largest the size of my whole body. Chiron told me to start with the smallest and lift until they got too heavy. To my disappointment, I could only do the first two.
‘We’ll do the Elemental Control tests now,’ the centaur said, heading towards the building behind the training ground.
‘What about swimming and flying?’ I asked.
‘It’s just one group for everyone, beginner or advanced,’ he answered. When we reached the Elemental building Chiron stopped and turned to me.
‘Elemental powers manifest differently in all students. Broadly speaking the main ones are,’ he held his hand up and ticked them off. ‘Fire, water, earth, air and electricity. You will s
tudy at least one of these. But we also practice telepathy, shifting and magical objects out here too, as sub-classes.’ Excitement danced across my skin. Was this really how I’d be spending my days? ‘The five doors at the front here lead to the classrooms for the main elements. You can see which is which by the symbol on the door.’ I followed his pointed hand, and saw a swirling flame carved on the first door, painted in oranges and reds. It was surprisingly detailed. ‘Shifting is practiced on the roof,’ he pointed at a spiral staircase on the left of the building leading to the flat roof, ‘and magical objects is held under the building.’ He pointed to a set of steps sinking below the marble patio on the right.
‘What about telepathy?’ I asked.
‘That’s done in the normal classrooms in the main temple,’ Dasko answered from behind me. I turned to him.
‘Are there students practicing in the elemental rooms now?’
‘No. Don’t worry,’ he smiled, reading my nerves correctly. ‘There will be nobody watching, you’ll be fine.’ He would be watching though, I thought, my palms sweating again. I clenched them a few times and Chiron said,
‘Shall we?’ then trotted up to the fire door.
We entered a room that had simple pale stone walls and floor, and thin square pedestals regularly spaced everywhere. My eyes were drawn straight to the back wall though, where a torrent of water rushed from the top of the wall to the bottom, disappearing into the floor. It was like a curtain made from a waterfall.
‘That’s there to stop any disasters,’ smiled Dasko, walking to an empty pedestal in the middle of the room. There were no windows but the room seemed to glow with its own light and it wasn’t dark at all.
‘Where’s the light coming from?’ I asked.
‘The ceiling. It emulates daylight.’
I glanced up at it and swore I could see white clouds rolling across the stone. Professor Dasko beckoned me over to the pedestal and I joined him, peering at it. The top was slightly curved, like a shallow dish. Dasko clicked his fingers and a tiny flame appeared in the middle of it. I gasped.