City of gods - Hellenica (8 page)

Pan had brought out a lute and was playing it while he sang.

My name is Pan
, and this is the PAN-theon

Traveling
to the A-CAD-e-MEE

And if you should choose
to stay in this CLAN-theon

You'll be a god
with a lowercase "g"

We have falcons and dogs, a Japanese frog

And if you want
to be killed with a breath

We have a fire demon,
a Frost Giant freeman

And beautiful
, voluptuous Death

We have Amazon wonders, polar bear hunters

Crocodiles and
ghouls of the night

And if you were to tell
that we're all straight from Hel

I'd think twice
and then say that you're right

And there is a man, he is a Norse-MAN-theon

Hurt his pride
and he'll have a fit

And there are Four Horsemen
, who won't like this Norseman

And the world won't like them
one bit

My name is Pan, and this is the PAN-theon

Traveling
to the A-CAD-e-MEE

And if you should choose
to stay in this CLAN-theon

You'll be a god
with a lowercase "g"

The crowd clapped in wonder; even the Amazon cracked a smile. Rowan muttered another curse but was drowned out by cheering as the students asked Pan for another song.

Kayana stared back at the dog-faced boy and his eyes continued to glow.
Anubis is a death god,
thought Kayana.
You have a connection to all death gods.
Kayana sensed the same connection between herself and another girl; a girl who looked half-alive. This girl’s hair grew in ashen-grey clumps and her skin was falling off, and she didn’t seem to be aware of her surroundings. Kayana heard a murmur from the group that this girl was a
ghoul
from Little Riyadh named
Asra
. The other kids whispered complaints about Asra’s pungent smell, but Kayana thought the girl smelled divine.
She has no agenda, no malice and no hatred in her heart
, thought Kayana.
Asra is pure.

Kayana’s eyes scanned the room and landed on the warrior Gunnar, the girl with the hyaena and the sick boy with the suit. She couldn’t explain it, but these three were familiar to her. She’d not seen their faces before today, but she sensed a connection with all of them, as if they’d known each other a thousand lifetimes ago, or in a nightmare long forgotten. Gunnar looked tense, as if he was steeling for a confrontation with Rowan; the sick boy sat meekly in his suit, and the girl with the hyaena sat imperiously and stared straight ahead.
I feel a dark power from them,
thought Kayana,
and
they aren’t gods. Though they sit amongst gods, these three aren’t the same.

The kids spoke to each other, gossiping, bonding and forming groups, but Kayana maintained her silence. Charon also showed the indifference of an elder chaperone and seemed to be lost in thought, but when the vessel came to a stop he unbuckled and sprang into action.

“We’re here,” he said. “Now follow me into the next room.”

They all unbuckled their seats except for Asra, who was in a stupor. The mercenaries had expected this and cautiously took off her restraints. One of the mercenaries was struck by the ghoul’s odor and ran off to get sick in a corner. His comrades guffawed at his expense, but Asra snapped awake and cut them off mid-laugh. They jumped back quickly, and one of them screamed. They calmed down and approached her again, and one kissed an amulet around his neck.
They fear her,
thought Kayana,
but it’s more than that. The ghoul seems to drain emotions of all those in her vicinity.

The students filed into the next room, which was a small amphitheater with two tiers of seats. Each chair was labeled, and they all sat down. Charon was the last to arrive and stood in the middle of the theater. This room was compact, but larger than the previous vessel. There were no straps on the seats, and the walls were made of heavy stones. It was dark and cold, but clean, and the acoustics were so good that she could hear Charon’s breath as he approached a podium.

“Welcome to the Academy,” he said. “I introduce Headmaster Indra, and Heracles, dean of the school.”

Indra was a tall, golden man with a long overcoat covering a suit and tie. His body bulged unnaturally in the middle; he was clearly hiding an extra set of arms. Heracles was more humbly dressed and a bit shorter, but much thicker and hairier. The two gods commanded quite a presence and all the students were in awe, including the Amazon girl. Rowan broke the silence by kneeling before them.

“Please be seated, Berserker,” said Indra. “Blind fealty is one of the reasons we’re here in the first place.”

Rowan reluctantly stood up, bowed one more time and then sat down. Tears of joy filled his sparkling-blue eyes, and he grinned nervously in Indra’s presence. Kayana noticed that Rowan was almost as tall as Gunnar, and his muscles were nearly as well-developed. His clear, clean face was without scars, but his jaw held a quivering fierceness and Kayana saw a reckless streak within him.
He’s not yet seen a battle,
thought Kayana,
but if he hears one, he’ll run towards it and pick a side on a whim. He’s a fool cloaked in courage and honor, but I should be wary, because fools such as he can kill friend and foe just the same.

“As of today,” said Indra, “your past is gone. You have no family, and no friends outside of this room. If you are to perish, no one will mourn for you. There will be no temples built in your honor, no scores of worshippers currying favor, no idolaters begging you to do a magic trick in their self-interest.

“You were selected for the Academy because you don’t care about this, or at least you can be
taught
not to care. You are young, malleable and still yearn for something greater than your own interest.

“The conurbation, and the world as we know it, is dying. The gods will make sure of this; they’re growing out of control, and if we fail to act now, they’ll pass the threshold and the world will lay in a state of permanent war. We need a police force to bring the world back to sanity, to bring the gods back under control. We have tried to do this with diplomacy, technology and sheer warfare, but to no avail. So we have called upon you: the first class of young gods at the Academy.

“Not all of you will make it. Some will quit, some won’t pass our training, some will succumb to the temptations of pettiness and disappear back into the conurbation. Some of you will fall in the line of duty and die.”

There was a hush in the room. Asra seemed not to notice and Rowan smiled, but the rest of the gods were now rapt in attention.

“Oh yes,” said Indra, “though you’re not mortals, our enemies have found ways to kill gods. Don’t take this calling lightly; you may perish.”

The group was tense and quiet.
These students have never contemplated death before
, thought Kayana.
It’s as foreign to them as flight is to a mole.

“Do not overworry about death,” interjected Heracles with a smile. “You’re at the Academy, and we’ll teach you to defend yourself. Whatever powers you have will be magnified a hundredfold by the time we’re done with you. Dagon, Lugh, the Yōkai and even great Poseidon will take notice when you approach. They’ll tremble and know that you’re part of a powerful force, a force that can’t be fooled, co-opted or bought off.”

Heracles looked directly at Rowan.

“We’re not in the business of dying here at the Academy,” said Heracles. “Even if it means great honor.”

Indra got up to speak again. His golden skin pulsed as he talked, and his voice was clear and calm. He and Heracles resembled giants rather than gods, with Indra nearly three meters in height, and Heracles seemingly that in breadth.

“There are sixteen of you,” said Indra. “You’ll be grouped into one of four Classes: the Elements, Death, War, and Nature. There will be four teams, each team with one member of each Class. You will train within your Class, and both live and fight within your team.

“All necessary information will be found underneath your chair. Read it and then go to the mess hall immediately and sit with your team. Training will begin within the hour.”

Indra left the room. After a few moments, the Amazon was the first to look under her chair. She took out a bit of granite with some carvings on it and read it. She smirked, smashed the granite over her knee and then stared at Heracles. The others began pulling their granite tablets from under their chairs and erupted into various reactions. Soon Kayana and Asra were the only students who didn’t know where they were going, so Kayana pulled her piece of granite from under the chair and it read:

KAYANA MARX

CLASS = DEATH

QUARTERS = KAZBEK

TEAM = HORSEMEN

“You’ll survive this training,” said Heracles. “We’ll make sure of it. But you may end up grievously injured, so be very, very careful. Now rest up and get something to eat.”

TRAINING

Gunnar walked to the mess hall to meet his new team, the Horsemen.
Two girls and a boy who can’t walk
, he thought.
I should be fighting
for
them, not
with
them.

They sat down at four tables, each with four chairs hewn of ironwood. The chairs had their names engraved upon them: Tommy Alderon, Kayana Marx, Gunnar Redstone and Saoirse Frost.

Hestia, goddess of the hearth and home, had cooked a large pot of ambrosia and placed it in the middle.

“Watch out,” said Hestia, “this will make you strong, but it’s not for the weak of stomach.”

Hestia left and Tommy poked his ambrosia and smiled. His helmet’s shield retracted slightly so that he could eat, but he didn’t take any food in yet. His face was small and gentle, with straight black hair and light brown skin that had been flushed pale by a childhood spent inside a suit. In the ride down to the Academy, Gunnar had heard the guards whispering that Tommy held virulent diseases in his body, but Gunnar sensed that Tommy would sooner die than let those sicknesses out. Tommy wasn’t a killer, and he reminded Gunnar of
Tōfu-Kozō,
a comical Yōkai spirit who befriended the bullied and was often bullied himself.

“Ambrosia requires the power of a god to make it taste good,” said Tommy. “It’s a mental thing; you have to willfully
make
this substance into something edible. They gave us this on Lepros. I never got the hang of making it edible, but it’s good. It cures whatever ails you.”

Tommy dropped his face shield down and took a mouthful of the blackened mush. He grimaced, but continued to eat. Gunnar followed suit; the food tasted worse than ashes. But Gunnar ate heartily; the hunger from the
Agoge taught Spartans to eat anything short of human waste.

As Gunnar ate, he felt stronger.

“I cannot eat this,” said Saoirse.

“You should,” said Gunnar. “I heard Heracles’s tone of voice. He speaks the truth; our training will be dangerous.”

“I know I should,” said Saoirse, “I just can’t stomach it.”

“I learned a trick on Lepros,” said Tommy. “Just wait a moment.”

Tommy went to the far corner of the hall and gathered several condiments. He grabbed a bowl of Nahuatl chia seeds, a bottle of Hellenic fish-intestine
garum
and one Indian ghost pepper. He brought them back to the table and began to mush them into Saoirse’s food.

“The key is to make the ambrosia wretched, but wretched in a way we can handle,” said Tommy. “This will be intense, perhaps too much to bear, so eat quickly before it gets too hot.”

Saoirse ate it quickly, and then laughed as the spice took over. Tears came from her eyes, and she drank an entire pitcher of water.

“Drink milk instead,” said Tommy. “And drink it slowly.”
             

Soon the whole hall took notice and was mixing spice into their food; everyone except for Asra  the ghoul and Rowan the Berserker. Asra preferred to eat it plain, and Rowan refused Tommy’s help on principle.

“You should do as he says,” Anubis said to Rowan. “Fire is easier to stomach than ash.”

Rowan refused to acknowledge the gesture and ate in silence. After a few moments he turned over his plate and exploded in rage.

“I’ll not accept
wisdom
from Children of the Apocalypse,” said Rowan, “let alone from
Pestilence
.”

Rowan stared right at Tommy.
Tommy has no idea what Rowan’s saying,
thought Gunnar,
nor do I.
Gunnar steeled himself in case Rowan attacked.

“You heard me,” said Rowan. “You
all
heard me. There is good and bad in this world, the noble and the ignoble. Gods fall on one side only; never in the middle. And the likes of Frost Giants and Horsemen know naught else but destruction. Like the scorpion riding the frog across the river, they’ll sting us even if it means they drown as well. It’s in their nature.”

“I think you’re mistaken,” said Tommy. His voice shook; he seemed unfamiliar with confrontation.

“I am not,” said Rowan, “and by Thor’s own hammer, I’ll stop you before you can use that suit to destroy us.”

Tommy had no response; instead his jaw began to quiver and a tear rolled down his cheek. Gunnar got up in a flash and pounced on Rowan. The young Berserker unsheathed a small axe from his armor and swung at Gunnar. Gunnar dodged the axe and punched the Berserker’s breastplate, denting it.
It must be some strange alloy
,
strong yet flexible,
thought Gunnar.
That punch would have shattered Spartan armor.
Rowan shoved Gunnar off, and the other students instinctively spread out around the periphery. Rowan pushed over the tables to clear some space and prepared himself.

“Come at me, War,” said Rowan. “You’ve no armies to protect you.”

We are pit-fighting now,
thought Gunnar,
and no one short of Heracles can best me.

Gunnar crouched on the ground and lowered his center of gravity.

“You’ve seen many foes, but not a Berserker rage and—”

In a flash, Gunnar blasted into Rowan’s legs. Rowan tried to jump over Gunnar, but Gunnar was too quick. He grabbed Rowan’s armored leg and used gravity to push the Norseman’s momentum downward, slamming the Berserker’s face into the ground. Gunnar locked Rowan’s legs and put his knees on Rowan’s shoulder blades. Gunnar used his free hand to lock Rowan’s arm, and instantly the Norseman was helpless.

“I suggest you apologize to my teammate, Berserker,” whispered Gunnar. Gunnar twisted his opponent’s arm just to show that he could break it if he desired.

“I will apologize to neither your teammate nor anyone else,” said Rowan. “Break both my arms if you wish, but I won’t apologize.”

Gunnar twisted Rowan’s arm. Rowan spat and snarled, but he didn’t yell.

“Look upon these four!” yelled Rowan, addressing the rest of the students. “Death and destruction is in their nature. The cripple will bring plagues, and the brute above me will one day foment genocide. Laugh at me for the prideful warrior I am, but hear my message. These four will hasten the end of Hellenica, then soon thereafter the conurbation, and then one day the world.”

Heracles burst into the room in a rage, followed by Charon. Heracles picked Gunnar up as if he were a rag doll and threw him against the far wall.
Heracles was hiding his strength during our initial fight
, thought Gunnar.
No one has ever thrown me like that.

“What’s the meaning of this?” screamed Heracles.

Gunnar remained silent, but Rowan spoke up.

“I was ridding the Academy of these destructive creatures from Hell and—”

“Quiet, you!” yelled Heracles.

Heracles turned red and picked Rowan up by his neck. Rowan’s tan, muscular arms grabbed onto the hairy shoulders of Heracles, but Rowan was like a child in the strong man’s grip and could only flail about helplessly. Heracles looked as if he were about to crush the Berserker in his fists, but after a moment dropped Rowan, who fell with dead weight onto the ground.

“This is
precisely
what’s killing our society, creating
blood feuds
when there are none,” said Heracles. “In-fighting will not be tolerated. Any more blows, deserved or not, will warrant both parties being sent to Tartarus. For now, we’ll let you off with a warning; your first test is punishment enough. Charon will escort you to the training center. Now go!”

“Follow me,” said Charon. “A brutal lesson awaits.”

Charon went out of the room and each student soon followed him, sticking to their own groups. Gunnar got up to follow too, but Heracles stopped him and held him by the arm. Once again, Gunnar felt that he could be broken at any moment.

“The Berserker Rowan is a fool; we know this,” said Heracles. “But we still took him in because of the value that he brings. One day you’ll lead him into battle and his Berserker rage will accomplish more than ten squadrons. Until then, you’ll not take his bait, you’ll not take his feuds, and you’ll
not
best him in combat.

“I said your days of pit-fighting were over, Redstone, and I meant it. You’re a General, not a petty brawler. Any more comeuppance from you and I’ll
personally
ensure that your punishment is harder than it should be. Is that understood?”

Gunnar nodded yes.

“Good,” said Heracles, “now concentrate on your first day of training. It’s up to you to keep your teammates alive.”

“I thought you said we couldn’t die this day,” said Gunnar.

“We’re protecting you, this is true,” said Heracles, “but a god can die any day.”

/***/

Charon walked the students out of the lunch hall, across a courtyard and up to an ominous building that looked like a windowless gladiator’s coliseum. Though the underground floor was cavernous, Gunnar looked around and knew that this was just the beginning of the Academy.
This is an underground world, with architecture so profound that it must have been designed by Hephaestus himself,
thought Gunnar.
And Hephaestus is known to dig deep. There must be floors below this, so many that this Academy might be connected to Hades itself.

Charon motioned the students towards the windowless building, and Gunnar noticed that there were four rooms, each engraved with names of the four teams: Power, Stealth, the Scalpel and the Horsemen.

“Teams, go into your rooms right now,” said Charon.

Rowan immediately strode into his room; he was on the Power team. The rest of the groups gradually followed suit and went into their rooms, leaving Gunnar and his Horsemen alone. “Shall we go in?” Gunnar asked. He got no response, so he just said, “Follow me.”

Gunnar strode into the room and was followed by Tommy and then Saoirse. He’d never seen a girl like Saoirse before, and thought that the blonde hair laying against her dark skin was one of the most beautiful sights he’d ever seen. Her hyaena hugged her leg as she walked past, and Gunnar averted his gaze for fear that she’d belittle him like the Agoge girls had been taught to do. She simply smiled and walked by though, and was soon followed by Kayana, who disappeared into the darkness of the room.

Once they were all inside, the door shut behind them with a thud. It was completely quiet. After a moment, Gunnar pulled on the door, but it wouldn’t budge. They were alone, just the four of them and a hyaena. It was quite dark, but Gunnar had excellent night vision. He saw the far end of the room was the entrance to what looked like a maze. He listened closely and heard an eerie snapping from the depths beyond.

“What’s that?” asked Tommy.

“Something dangerous,” said Saoirse.

“It makes no sense,” said Tommy. “They just threw us in here.”

“It makes perfect sense,” said Gunnar. “They did this all the time during the
Agoge. When training a team, start by dropping them in a hostile environment. It’ll help us bond and work together.”

There was another snapping sound and then a large
splash
. Some water came out of the maze’s dark entrance.

“I’d rather bond another way,” said Tommy, “perhaps through conversation.”

“We’ll have time to do that,” said Gunnar, “but for now we have a task before us. There’s a maze in front of us, and most likely a few dangerous creatures lurking in its shadows. If we come across one of these creatures we need to work together, and that starts with knowing our abilities. So let’s discuss our powers. Tommy, you first.”

“Powers?” asked Tommy. “I don’t know. As of yesterday I was just a contagious boy from Lepros.”

“What can that suit do?” asked Gunnar.

“Quite a bit,” said Tommy. “It gives me strength, protection, sight. It can go in most every environment. But I built it mainly to protect others. If I opened the face shield, you’d get infected.”

“Does it have night vision?”

“Yes,” said Tommy.

“Perfect,” said Gunnar, “you’ll be our eyes. Saoirse, what can you do?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Other than charm, I don’t believe I have any abilities.”

Gunnar found it odd that a girl like Saoirse would self-deprecate like that. She wasn’t athletic and sinewy like the girls in the Agoge, but her square jaw and gently curving body suggested a sort of nobility, and regal girls always had hidden powers. She was the kind of girl who would either fight in a war or have a war fought over her, but whatever the case, she’d always have a role to play.

“They didn’t bring you here for your charm,” said Gunnar. “What’s your power? You have one.”

“Then my power is as yet unknown,” she said. Her hyaena growled and then nuzzled against her leg, whining.

Gunnar gave up on deducing Saoirse’s abilities, but made a note to keep an eye out for them whenever they showed themselves.