In prophecy class, Pythia helped me with divination. She told me that I’d never be able to do it until I learned to open myself up. During one extra practice, she’d tried to read into my past.
We sat across from one another in simple wooden chairs, knees touching. She held out her long, gnarled hands. “Take my hands.”
I did, but not without wincing, as they felt like old, wrinkled leather. I felt bad, but I knew she couldn’t see me. She was blind. She was self-conscious about her deformity, so she wore a gray blindfold around her face, where her eyes once were.
She clutched my hands, her twisted, claw-like nails digging into my skin. “You must learn to open your mind to others, so you in turn can see into theirs. You are too guarded.”
I twisted my neck, the bones cracking from stiffness, and tried to relax. Closing my eyes, I attempted to empty my mind of all my worries, and there were many. I thought of calm water and light breezes. I imagined sitting in the garden back home listening to the chickadees chirp from the nearby trees.
“Relax your mind. If you can’t, you will not pass the trial.”
Her voice sounded far off as I started to drift. In my mind, I was floating on a sea of white, fluffy clouds. It was so peaceful, and I wondered if I could stay there awhile. But those fluffy clouds turned dark, and I shot downwards, landing on the ground. It was day, hot; the land looked like a desert wasteland. Then I saw a woman, a tall, slender, pretty woman with purple eyes. Her face was a mask of fear as she ran from a mob of people who wore robes and carried large stones.
The mob yelled at her as they chased her, calling her monster and witch. Then they started to throw the stones. She was hit in the body and head and face. Eventually, she stopped running as her legs gave out. On the ground, she tried to protect her head, as more stones flew at her. But she couldn’t stop them from hitting her face. Blood poured down her cheeks to drip on the sand beneath her.
Opening my eyes, I gasped, realizing what I’d witnessed. The woman had been Pythia, and this was how she’d lost her eyes.
She squeezed my hands. “Yes. Good. Now open for me.”
I pulled away from her memory and tried to empty my mind again to let her in.
I watched as her face contorted and twisted. Her brow furrowed deeply, her whole body twitching. She squeezed my hands so tight they hurt.
Then she cried out and flinched backward, nearly falling out of her chair.
“What is it?”
She shook her head and put a trembling hand to her chest. “You must go.”
“Why? What happened? What did you see?”
“Please, just go.”
I stood, but I needed to know. “What did you see? Please tell me.”
“I saw nothing. Just darkness…”
That couldn’t be all that bad. Maybe she just couldn’t get into my past.
“And death.”
A shiver rushed down my back, as I left the classroom. I didn’t know what Pythia meant when she said death, but maybe she’d seen the destruction I’d seen on the trip back to Pecunia. That would’ve been a very strong memory for me.
When I returned to my dorm room, Georgina was already asleep. I crawled into bed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling. The whole thing had unnerved me. I wasn’t sure I could sleep without seeing Pythia’s past. But eventually, I got so tired I just passed out.
One day blurred into the next until it was time for the trials. I was excited but scared that I wasn’t going to pass enough of them to be able to stay at the academy. I did have a slight advantage though, in that I only needed to pass five more trials, as I’d already went through the lightning ordeal. Despite not knowing what each trial entailed, I was confident I would pass anything to do with flying, fire, and hand-to-hand combat. I was pretty good with a bow now, and I could make a decent sleeping potion without killing anyone. I’d also proven myself in the water. It all depended on what we had to do in each trial. I suspected a few of them weren’t going to be straight forward.
The night before the big day, we were allowed to spend it however we wanted to prepare. I spent it alone, walking through the maze. There was something about the place that settled my mind. It was like a kind of peace enveloped me. Maybe it was the darkness or the quiet. Whatever it was, I soaked it in as I sat inside the gazebo with my turbulent thoughts.
“So, I kind of feel like you’re on my side somehow.” I glanced around, hoping Hades would show. “Tomorrow is a huge day, and I’m… I’m afraid. I could really use a pep talk.” I stood and walked over to the bench he’d perched on before. “Any words of wisdom? Any advice? A hug? I could use all of those things right about now.” Laughing, I rubbed my hands over my face. “Mel, you are officially losing it.”
“Who are you talking to?”
I whirled to see Lucian walking toward the gazebo. “No one. Myself, I guess.” I shrugged.
He stepped up to me and grabbed my hand. “Do you want to go flying?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Could you just hold me?”
He tugged me to him and wrapped his big arms around me, cuddling me close. I lay my head against his chest and inhaled, breathing the scent of him in. I was always surprised at how good he smelled. Like wood and pine, with just a touch of mint because of the gum he always chewed.
“You know, we might have to go against each other in the trials.”
His hand on my back stilled. “I know.”
“If given a choice, though, I won’t fight against you. I’ll pick someone else.”
“Me too.”
“I do hope I get a chance to fight Revana, though.”
He chuckled and ran a hand over my head. “That I would love to see.”
I raised my head to look at him. Going on my tiptoes, I brushed my lips against his. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the rest of the night—kissing Lucian until the sun started to pinken the sky and my lips got sore.
Chapter Twenty-One
MELANY
At six a.m.,a trumpet-like horn sounded through the dorms.
It was a call to action.
I was already awake, having forgone sleep. I was wired and ready to go.
We all gathered in the great hall. Up on the dais, all twelve Gods looked out over their recruits. Zeus stepped forward to speak.
“Today marks the first day of the Trials. For the next twelve days, you will be engaged in the hardest tasks you’ve ever had to do thus far in your training. Each trial will last one day, and when you are not active in the trial, you will be in your dorm rooms resting. There will be no socializing, except with your dorm mates during the trials. Anyone caught outside of their dorm during rest time will be automatically expelled. No exceptions.” His gaze landed directly on me.
He didn’t have to worry; I had no plans to screw this up.
“These trials are created to best showcase the skills you’ve learned over the course of your training and to weed out the weak. Each trial is specialized to each God clan. How well you do in each of them will determine which clan you will be relegated to at the end of your first year here at the academy. To stay in the academy, you must pass no less than eight trials. Before each trial, you will be informed on what constitutes a pass and a failure. No two trials are the same in that regard.”
Nerves vibrated through me. I hated I didn’t know what to expect at each of the trials. It would be easier to know if we had to fight against each other, or against others. I could strategize better. As of right now, I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do. But I supposed neither did anyone else. It put us all on a level playing field.
“You will be given specialized nourishment every day to keep your bodies strong and your minds sharp. I suggest you eat and drink what is given to you, as you will not have access to anything else throughout the twelve days.
“After your nourishment, which will be passed out shortly, meet out on the north training field at the sound of the horn.
“Good luck to all of you!”
He stepped back, and all of the Gods filed out of the room, as several of the serving robots rolled in, accompanied by Chiron and Heracles.