by Melody Rose
“Yes, daughter of Hephaestus, just like that,” Zeus grimaced as if he didn’t want to be bothered with that memory.
“No wonder you hated me,” I scoffed. “I represented my father in your eyes who put you in this position.”
“Yes, I did resent you,” Zeus confessed with a frown. “But I also needed you to complete the prophecy so I could return to my immortal form. It was quite the dilemma.”
“I bet it was,” I said as I lowered the Ultimate Weapon ever so slightly.
“We are honored to have you in our presence, Mighty Zeus,” Clarissa said with a slight bow of her head.
I rolled my eyes at her brown-nosing but bit my tongue, so I didn’t say anything I would regret.
“How would you like us to move forward from here?” Clarissa asked.
That question pissed me off. Why was she asking the god? Wasn’t it our responsibility to think for ourselves? We had a campus to clean up, a graduation ceremony to get to, an army to rebuild. Didn’t she see that?
“I have no requests of you,” Zeus said with a shake of his head. “My only request is for Cheyenne.”
“Me?” I said as I pointed to my chest, surprised that he used my name rather than “daughter of Hephaestus.”
“Yes,” Zeus said as he straightened his back, seeming to regain some of his confidence now that I didn’t have the Ultimate Weapon pointed at directly at him. “I would like you to hand over the Ultimate Weapon to me.”
“Hell, no!” I yelled defiantly as I took a step away from the god. “You’ve got to be kidding. This is the only leverage we have against you gods, and you think I’m going to give it up, just like that. You’re crazy.”
“That’s exactly the problem,” Zeus said, a deep growl at the back of his throat. “You mortals cannot wield this level of power over the gods. It goes against the balance of the universe.”
“Maybe the universe has been out of balance this whole time,” I countered bravely. “Ever thought about that?”
“That’s just the way things are,” Zeus said insistently.
“It doesn’t have to be,” I argued. I clutched the scythe close to my chest. “I think my fellow demigods would agree that we don’t appreciate the gods being able to fuck with us all willy nilly like you do.”
To my surprise and relief, there were a series of murmurs and cries of agreement from behind me. My face hardened with confidence as I knew that my comrades were in agreement with me when it came to this matter.
“So I think we’ll keep this bit of leverage, thank you very much,” I concluded.
“You know I can’t let you do that,” Zeus threatened, the storm clouds in his eyes swirling dangerously.
I met the god with as much courage that I could muster, but he was a massive being with powers I couldn’t even fathom. I knew that he could send one of his lightning bolts right out of the sky and strike me dead, taking the weapon for himself. But he wasn’t.
Why? I wondered. If Zeus wanted the weapon so badly, then why didn’t he just take it from me? My gaze narrowed at him as I tried to figure out why the god was asking rather than stealing. My mind couldn’t come up with an answer to that question, but it did come up with a compromise. I bit the inside of my cheek as I considered it.
“I’ll tell you what,” I said suddenly as I held the scythe in both hands. I unscrewed the middle so that the chain appeared, giving the weapon a little bit of slack.
Then I snapped it over my knee.
There was a collective gasp that echoed around the arena like the wave at a baseball game. There were a series of whispers popping up from behind me as people wondered what the hell I was doing. But my focus, my attention never left the head of the gods.
“I swear that this weapon will remain in two pieces,” I said, holding the two scythes aloft. “It is useless as two and needs to be connected in order to work. Trust me, I made it. The demigods are going to keep both pieces, but separate. We won’t connect them unless it is absolutely necessary for our protection from the gods.”
Zeus opened his mouth to argue, but I held up a hand and interrupted him, probably my ballsiest move yet.
“No, I can’t promise this for the rest of the demigods here, but I give you my word.”
A tense silence crackled in the air. As much as I wanted to see the reactions of my friends and fellow Olympic Officials, I knew I couldn’t waver. I didn’t want Zeus to see an ounce of weakness in me, anything that he could exploit. I wouldn’t give it to him, just like I wouldn’t give him this weapon.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Zeus cocked his head at me and said, “I hear your word is worth a lot, Cheyenne, daughter of Hephaestus. I will agree to your terms, but if I find out that you have--”
“I won’t,” I assured him, cutting him off once again. “My word, remember?”
“Indeed,” Zeus said. The god broke eye contact with me and addressed the crowd of soldiers once again. “As much as I wish I could have attended your graduation today, I think it is time for me to get back to Olympus. It has been much too long for me.”
With that final note, the god of lightning flashed once more. Everyone shielded their eyes from the bright light, and when we looked center stage once again, the god was gone.
There was a single moment of silence before several figures ran into me and enveloped me into giant hugs.
“Cheyenne!” Violet squealed. “That was amazing!”
“The way you stood up to Zeus,” Benji mimed his head exploding.
“I still can’t believe that was the Zeus,” Darren said as he rubbed his glasses on his shirt.
“We can,” Esme said as she approached with Ansel at her side.
I didn’t even bother listening to her explanation about the laurel leaves and true sight and that shit. I dropped the Ultimate Weapon and ran into Ansel’s arms. His lips pressed into mine with desperation and urgency I’d never felt from him before. It felt as though we were sharing the last kiss between a man and a woman, relishing it for all it was worth. His hands roamed over my hips, my back, my neck with a familiarity that eased all my tensions. For a solid minute, I let myself be consumed by him, and the world melted away, along with the mission, the direness, and the finality.
Until Khryseos and Argyreos barked in unison.
Their sharp sound broke us apart, and reality crashed back down around us. I blinked for a couple of seconds before I righted myself. I bent down and picked up the two scythes.
“You don’t want to lose those,” Ansel said with a chuckle. “Those are a hot commodity around here.”
“Right, right,” I said, unable to take the smile off my face. “Gods, it’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too,” Ansel said, his white teeth shining through the blood and the dirt, marks of battle.
“Oh, get a room,” Esme said with a sarcastic eye roll.
“I believe there will be plenty of time for a reunion,” Annika said from behind Ansel. The six of us turned to look at her. She held her hands behind her back, looking surprisingly good after having fought in a war. “But for now, we have a graduation ceremony to finish.”
“Or start,” Jarred, son of Poseidon, added with a chuckle.
“Cheyenne,” Annika said as she stretched out her hand. “Would you please join the group of candidates today?”
I looked to where she was pointing and saw a row in the front with other fourth years who were supposed to graduate this morning. Instead, they found themselves in a battle for their lives. I blushed slightly at the sight and turned back to Annika.
“Seriously?” I wondered if the whole thing was a joke.
“Seriously,” Annika said with a gentle nod.
“Wait a moment!” Clarissa said as she held up a finger and stepped in. “She hasn’t completed any of her exams. She ditched the last several weeks of class. Cheyenne cannot possibly be allowed to graduate.”
“Give it a rest, Clarissa,” Buck said as he rolled his
eyes. “She saved our lives. That’s bigger than any test we’re going to be able to give her.”
“I demand that we put it to a vote,” Clarissa said as she literally stamped her foot like a petulant child.
“Fine,” Annika said with a strained smile on her face. “All of those opposed to letting Cheyenne graduate today, raise your hand.”
Clarissa’s hand shot into the air, but no one else’s followed. A sense of pride welled up in my stomach, and Ansel put his arm around me with a squeeze.
“All in favor,” Annika said in order to follow through with the proper procedure.
All the Olympic Official’s hands rose in the air. But theirs weren’t the only ones. Violet’s, Darren’s, Benji’s, and Esme’s joined in. Ansel held up his, too. I looked out onto the crowd of soldiers, and every single one of them had their hand up in support of letting me graduate on to being an official soldier.
I was speechless. The sight overwhelmed me, and I nearly fell to my knees with gratitude. But Ansel kept me upright as we took in the sight together.
“There,” Annika declared. “It’s settled. Cheyenne, now please join the rest of the candidates.”
And so we held a graduation ceremony, among the carnage of monster bodies, remnants of dust from immortals, and while most of us were battered and bruised. It seemed appropriate considering all that we went through together.
As my name was called and I walked up onto the stage, the crowd cheered the loudest, like a thunderstorm. When I journeyed across the stage, I walked right into the sunlight. The sun shone high in the sky. It signaled not only a new day but also a new dawn for the demigods and the Military Academy of Olympus.
Just like the prophecy said it would.
A Note from the Author
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