“Good morning, my little apothecaries.” His speech was a bit slurred, and I wondered if he was drunk already. Or hadn’t stopped being drunk. Maybe drunk was his natural state of being. It was hard to tell.
“For this great trial, you will need to create three different potions.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “Sleeping potion, super strength, and invisibility. Now since you’ve been learning to make these all term, you won’t be provided with a recipe. You must make it on your own. All the ingredients for each potion can be found here in the workshop. You have two hours to complete your potions.”
Before everyone could scatter to collect ingredients, Dionysus held up his finger.
“Once you’ve crafted your potions, you will be testing them on someone else. And I get to pick that someone else,” he said with aplomb. “To pass this trial, at least two out of the three potions need to work properly. And if you end up poisoning someone, I won’t be held responsible.” He smiled and waved his hand in the air. “Begin.”
While there was a mad rush for the valerian root—obviously everyone was starting with their sleeping potion, which was the easiest recipe to remember and to make—I opted for the ginseng. I was going to tackle the super strength potion first. Then for my sleeping potion, I was going to base it in lemon balm and not valerian, which was the more volatile herb.
I took my time making my potions, as quality was the important factor here. Every now and then, I peeked at my fellow recruits to see how they were fairing. I knew both Jasmine and Georgina were competent potion makers, so I didn’t worry about them. Ren looked a bit flustered, as did Lucian. If either of them were going to fail at any trial, it would be this one or one of the other cerebral ones. I had no doubt that they would both excel in the more physically exerting trials.
Two hours passed quickly. Dionysus blew a whistle, and we all had to stop.
“Okay, now to test them.” He walked around the workroom, peering at everyone’s potions. He stopped at Jasmine’s station. “You can test yours on…” His gaze traveled the room and then he grinned, pointing at me. “Melany. And vice versa.”
Jasmine and I both picked up our individual vials and walked them to the front of the classroom to set them on the front table in the holders.
“Let’s start with the super strength.”
I handed Jasmine my potion and I took hers. I looked at her, and on the count of three, we both drank. It tasted like licorice, and I wondered if she’d added that for flavor.
“Now to test it.” Dionysus pointed to the iron anvil sitting in the corner.
Jasmine and I walked over to it. “You first,” she said.
I crouched, put my hands around it, and easily lifted the four hundred pound anvil. I grinned at Jasmine. Then it was her turn, and she also easily lifted it. That was one down, now onto the invisibility potion.
We drank at the same time, and within seconds we both faded from view. It was really cool to watch, knowing I’d brewed that. The effects only lasted for a few minutes; Dionysus had us design it that way. Later, we would learn how to make one that would last for hours.
“Now, technically, you both passed, but I want to see how you did with the sleeping potion.” He pointed to two chairs in the corner.
We sat, and both of us downed the other’s potion. I was happy to taste that Jasmine had used the lemon balm as well. That was the last coherent thought I had until sometime later Dionysus nudged us awake to find that Mia, Ren, and Diego hadn’t passed. Ren’s invisibility potion had turned Revana green. Literally. If I hadn’t been sad that he hadn’t passed the trial, I would’ve laughed my ass off at that.
Later that night, I lay in my bed and stared up at the ceiling, hoping I had the strength and fortitude to continue on. I’d passed four trials; I just needed to pass four more to stay at the academy. I couldn’t be cast out. I wouldn’t survive that. I was worried about tomorrow’s trial, as it was with Apollo and Pythia. I hadn’t done well in practice with Pythia. I hoped that it didn’t hamper my performance.
Apollo paired us up the next day, with the intention of reading each other. I was hoping for someone I’d be comfortable with, someone I could open up to. I got Revana.
We sat in chairs facing each other, forced to touch knees.
“You must each read something from each other’s past and say it out loud. Those who do not extract that information won’t pass the trial.” Apollo touched us both on the heads. “Clasp hands.”
Resigned to my fate, I offered mine, and Revana slapped hers into my palms. I wrapped my fingers around her hands and squeezed. Probably harder than I needed to, but I didn’t care. I wanted to pass this trial, and I wasn’t going to let her mess with that.
I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and concentrated on Revana. I focused on her hands in mine, the sound of her breathing, the scent of vanilla she always carried on her. Then I shot into her mind, into one of her strongest memories. I hated that I had to speak it out loud. It was an invasion of privacy in the worst way.
“I’m at a track meet. Revana is racing; she looks maybe eleven or twelve.”
Revana’s hands tightened on mine, and I could feel her pulse thudding hard in her wrist.
“The gun goes off, and Revana sprints down the lane. She’s running hard. she’s passing the other girls. She’s almost at the finish line, when another girl comes from behind and crosses first.”
I didn’t want to continue. Even in the memory, I could feel Revana’s disappointment. Her despair. Her hatred at herself for losing the race.
“She’s coming into her house, her parents entering behind her. She turns to look at her father. He doesn’t smile at her. She tells him she’s sorry. He scowls at her, and tells her she’s stupid…”
Opening my eyes, I stopped and shook my head. I didn’t want to go on.
“You have to tell us everything you see, Melany, if you want to pass this trial.”
Revana glared at me and dug her fingernails into the backs of my hands. “Just do it.”
“He tells her she’s stupid and worthless. No one cares about second place. First place is the only thing in life that’s important. She says she’s sorry again. He slaps her across the face.” I sighed. “That’s it. That’s the end of the memory.”
Apollo nodded. “Good. Your turn, Revana.”
I took in another cleansing breath, trying to relax and open for her. I hated that she was going to be poking around in my head, but it had to happen for the sake of the trial. I didn’t have any way of blocking her. She was going to see what she was going to see. I had no control over what memory she plucked from my subconscious.
Revana stared into my eyes, as she squeezed my hands tighter. I was going to have divots in my skin. Her eyes narrowed, and her breathing picked up. “I can’t see anything.” She yanked on my hands. “Let me in.”
“I am.” And I was. Or at least, I think I was. I wasn’t actively blocking her.
She snapped her eyes shut, and her face contorted in concentration.
“Try harder, Revana,” Apollo said from next to us.
“I am.”
“You only have a few more minutes to complete the task.”
I wanted to tell him to shut up; he wasn’t helping.
Finally, her eyes flicked open, and she pulled her hands away. “Nothing. I couldn’t see anything.”
Apollo frowned. “You couldn’t capture one memory?”
“There was nothing there to capture. Her mind was just dark.”
He glanced down at me. “Were you blocking her?”
I stood. “No, of course not. I wouldn’t know how to do that, even if I wanted to.”
“Okay, you pass, Melany. I’m afraid, Revana, you failed this trial.”
“You bitch!” Revana bolted to her feet and sucker punched me right in the mouth then she stomped out of the room.
Shaking his head, Apollo glanced at Pythia and shrugged. “I have a feeling this is going to be a long day.”