Chapter Text
Olympia High, academy to only the most impressive individuals. Glowing gates led the way to the esteemed institution. Somehow, their pristine shine was less brilliant than their star pupil. A tall goddess was standing near the gates with two other girls and a boy. Her intense eyes were watching each vehicle as they came to pick up students.
“It’ll be weird not seeing the seniors next year,” one girl commented.
“It’ll be nice to be one next year,” the second added.
The boy nodded. “Now, if we could just get certain students to finally graduate, that would make this even better.” He turned to the tallest girl. “Of course, you’ll probably even graduate college with a doctorate before any of us get our bachelor’s, Athena.”
“Probably, but I doubt you’ll be far behind me, Prometheus.”
Hearing this, he smiled. One of the girls went over next to Athena. She gave a big grin to the taller student.
“You’re going to have everybody admiring you in senior year, Thena. They do already.”
“Admittedly, I have thought about senior year a lot. It needs to be perfect so that universities won’t even think twice about accepting me.”
“You’ll be fine. Anywhere would be lucky to have you.”
A small grin appeared on Athena’s face. “Thanks, Pallas.”
As soon as the smile was there, it was gone. The other girl could not help but notice the worried look in her cousin’s eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“Dad’s taking a while. He’s normally here by now.”
“Maybe he forgot.”
“Or he’s busy,” the third girl offered, gagging.
Athena felt a little ill. “Why would you put that thought in my head, Nike?”
“Sorry. Just have to mention it.”
Athena’s eyes narrowed. “There he is. Finally.” She gave the trio a hug. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Thena!”
Athena hopped in the car, getting in the front seat next to her father. She brought out her phone to continue researching colleges.
“Hi, Dad. Might want to wipe your cheek,” she commented.
Quickly, Zeus wiped the lipstick mark off. “That was from Hera,” he lied.
“Mhmm. Was that why you were late?”
“Actually, it’s completely unrelated. How was your last day as a junior?”
“It was nice. The four of us are preparing to become seniors who the colleges will be begging for.”
Zeus beamed proudly. He did this so much that happy lightning sparkled off him and made the car radio go haywire. Athena calmly turned it off like she did every other time this occurred.
“Senior year. Lots of nice things will happen then.” His smile faded slightly and he began mumbling. “Speaking of, you won’t be there alone.”
“I missed what you said, Dad.”
“You won’t be alone.”
“Well, no, I didn’t expect to be.”
“You didn’t? Great! That makes this so much easier.”
Athena put down her phone. “What are you talking about?”
“The others are joining you.”
“What others?”
Zeus ducked down a little in his seat. “Your siblings.”
Athena’s eyes widened in horror. “Dad, you’re kidding.”
He let out a sheepish chuckle. “Can’t say that I am.”
“Dad, no!”
“Their other school burned down. That’s why I was late today.”
“How’d that happen?”
“Hephaestus apparently doesn’t know how to control his pyrokinesis during high-stress environments. It happened during his final exam.”
Athena sat back, putting a hand on her forehead. “Does he know how to control them now?”
“Ehh.”
“Dad.”
“What better way to find out than at Olympia?”
“Dad!”
“I don’t know what else to tell you, Athena. They can’t stay there. Nobody can. Besides, Olympia High is only for the best students. Despite that little accident, Hephaestus and Apollo would do well there. They’re bright. Maybe Artemis will focus more on her studies rather than just sports if she saw how well everybody else did. Hermes, Dionysus, and Enyo might even finally start applying themselves.”
Athena waited expectantly, then looked at her father when he stopped talking. “And Ares is going to…”
“Be there too I guess. I can’t think of anywhere else for him to go and Hera will pull out her hair if she has to homeschool him again.”
It was Athena’s turn to melt into the seat. All she wanted was to have a normal senior year. When her siblings were involved, “normal” did not even exist. She was convinced they actually found a way to erase it from the world until they left. It was almost impressive if it was not so concerning.
“Do they know yet?”
“They do. I told them earlier.”
“How’d they take it?”
“They were fine with it.”
Athena regarded him doubtfully. “Did you tell Ares? I don’t think he’d like the sound of this either.”
“Of course I told…well, I told the others. Could you tell him? It’ll save time.”
Miserably, Athena nodded. She spent the rest of the car ride pretending like she had not received that news. Mere moments ago, she only had to worry about college applications. She never thought she would miss that. Zeus pulled up to the home. Of course, this was an understatement. It was a mansion—an estate actually. Athena loved something about it in particular: that its younger residents and her academics stayed separate. Evidently, she would have to find a new thing to love. Dragging her feet, Athena went to find her brother. She already knew where he was. He was on the training grounds, stabbing dummies.
“Hey, old lady,” he greeted, slicing a dummy’s head off.
“I’m not going to be that kind of senior.”
“Basically.”
Athena sighed, already regretting what she was about to say. “On the topic of school…”
“Yeah, the old one burned down. It was pretty cool. Not literally, but it was fun to watch. Hermes made s’mores. I think he burned mine on purpose.”
His sister’s silence made Ares look at her. She seemed like she had been given grave news.
“Did someone die?”
“Just my dreams.” Athena’s shoulders slouched. “You’re all going to Olympia High with me.”
“Ha.”
“You’re starting the next school year.”
“...Ha?”
“I’m serious.”
Ares’s eyes widened and he dropped his spear, running home. “Mom!”
He found Hera in her study. She was on the phone with some wedding planners and sighed.
“Would you give me a moment?” Putting the phone on mute, she looked at her son. “Ares, I’m on the phone.”
“Am I really going to school with Athena?”
“Yes.” She put the phone back up to her ear. “Sorry for that. The bride wants to match the flowers. Make sure it happens.”
Unsatisfied, Ares ran and got a notepad. He began writing it on, then showed the words to Hera.
I can’t go to school with Athena.
“You can and will,” Hera mouthed.
She’s going to get me sent to detention all the time.
“You already get sent to detention all the time.”
Before he could write anything else, Hera ushered him out of the room. The boy’s head hung and he walked away. He did not even notice that he and Athena had gone to mope on the same sofa. The younger immortal flounced face-first while she was dramatically laying on her side.
“My life is over,” he lamented.
“Mine ended an extra half hour earlier.”
“See? You’re already trying to one up me. This is gonna suck.”
Ares wheezed when someone hopped on his back. Hermes was up there, jumping.
“Oh, good. You two know. This is going to be cool! I’m going to test out all my new pranks on the fancy folks there at Olympia.”
“And I bet one of them will buy me something to drink,” Dionysus said, joining them.
“You’re too young,” Apollo stated, approaching with some books in his hands. “You should drink more water anyway. It’s healthier.”
“That’s why you’re going to be the nerd,” Hermes said.
“No, that’s Athena,” Ares commented.
The goddess frowned at him but did not disagree.
“Pol’s not going to be the nerd,” Artemis protested. “He’s going to be the most popular guy in the school! You’re going to be the class clown, Hermes.”
“Ooh, class clown.” His eyes lit up hopefully. “Yeah! I like the sound of that.”
Enyo roughly pushed him. “It wasn’t a compliment, dummy.”
Hephaestus joined them, rolling over. “I just hope that this new start will be nice…and no one’s too flammable.”
Athena wanted to say that most of the student body was, but she simply did not have it in her. She glanced down when a little immortal came trotting over. The girl poked Ares’s leg, but he did not respond, still face down. Her lip quivered.
“Is he dead?”
“Yes,” Hermes answered.
Athena threw a pillow at Ares, making him sigh. “No, Hebe. See, he’s fine. Just annoyed about these schooling arrangements.”
“Can I come to Olympia too?”
“You’ll have to wait until you’re older.”
Hebe’s mouth curved downwards, but it did not stay that way for long. The others seemed excited. Most of them began planning as the eldest two continued to brood. Later that day, Athena decided that she could not handle more of her siblings talking about how much fun it was going to be. She needed some fresh air. The girl went outside and hopped over a couple fences. They separated the mansion from her cousin’s home. It had been her father’s idea to have the immortal and long-lived portion of the family all live on the same general property. This resulted in an entire neighborhood of relatives. Deep down, Athena thought it was just to brag. By comparison, this other home was modest even though it still had to fit a family of five. Pallas was outside, doing a handstand while reading. Long ago, that had stopped seeming strange to Athena.
“Aw, why’s your smile upside down?” she asked.
“Because you are.”
Pallas leapt back to her feet. “It’s still looking that way to me.”
She attempted to manually make a smile appear. After a few cheek stretches, Athena lightly swatted away her hands.
“I came here to complain. Do you mind?”
“Nope, complain away.”
“Thanks.” Athena plopped onto a lounge chair. “Dad hates me.”
“I thought he loved you the most.”
“I did too, but now, I’m going to have to spend all of senior year—which I should be using to focus on college and getting as many credits as possible—babysitting my little siblings.”
Pallas cringed. “They’re enrolling too?”
“Yes. It’s going to be so distracting!”
“I guess that’s why Mom and Dad made sure Triteia, Calliste, and I went to different schools.”
Athena frowned slightly. “That’s not helping.”
“In my defense, you asked if you could complain, not if I could help.”
Pallas chuckled, but Athena did not do the same. The other girl approached her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Thena, it’ll be okay. I’ll be there with you. Prometheus will be too and Nike…well, she probably will be. At least the two of us will help out. If we share the kiddos, it might not feel so bad.”
“Pallas, you’re proving that you don’t know the rest of our family very well.”
“What’s the worst tha—”
Athena put a hand over her mouth. “Please, don’t finish that sentence. You’d be surprised.”
The nymph nodded. “Okay,” she said, muffled. “So, I guess we’ve just got to spend this summer hanging out a bunch!”
She grabbed Athena’s hand and started pulling her inside the home. If their next school year was going to be stressful, they had to make the most of these moments. Soon enough, the time had come. It was the first day of school. Athena walked out of her room like she was walking to her doom.
“Want some breakfast, Sweetheart?” Hestia asked, setting out some plates.
The food was always extravagant and rarely appreciated by the likes of the youngest siblings. Athena watched as Hermes launched a crepe at Dionysus, who happily caught it in his mouth.
“Can’t wait until we do this at the cafeteria!”
“Me neither!”
Athena let out a sad noise and shook her head. “No, thanks anyway, Auntie.”
She got bumped by Artemis as the other girl rushed to grab a few handfuls of scrambled eggs. The goddess stuffed them into her backpack. Enyo stole some from her, resulting in her being chased around the table. Apollo ate a Belgian waffle and would not stop humming as he did. Any other day, Athena would not have minded, but this was not any other day.
“I’m not really hungry,” she commented.
“Well, if you wait a moment, I can give you a ride to school. Zeus and Hera had to leave early today and asked me to drive.”
“How convenient,” the younger goddess thought. “It’s almost like they wanted to avoid this anarchy.” Aloud, she said, “It’s fine. I’m just going to walk.”
Athena left the home before anyone could try to tag along. This was going to be her only moment of peace. Well, it would have been.
“What are you doing here?” Ares asked.
“I was trying to walk to school.”
“Since when?”
“Since the alternative became piling on top of everyone in a bus. What are you doing?”
Ares crossed his arms. “That was my plan.”
“Why?”
“I always walk to school.”
“You don’t even know the way to Olympia.”
With a grin, Ares held up his phone. “GPS baby! There was no way I was about to arrive at school with everybody.”
“You weren’t supposed to arrive there with me either.”
“Then go another way.”
“No. This is the fastest path and I don’t want to be late.”
“I don’t either.”
Athena frowned at him. Subtly, she began picking up her pace. Naturally, he did the same. Within moments, they were both running. Whoever reached Olympia first won…something. They were a little preoccupied to think up the details of this competition. It became a tie when they were almost run over.
“Look out!” they called out to each other.
A limo pulled in front of the school, letting out a boy with his head held so high, Ares wondered if it belonged in the clouds. Realizing what had just happened, he and Athena turned away from each other.
“I saw that car,” he said.
“Clearly not. It’s a limousine and I didn’t need a warning either.”
The duo began to bicker. It must have been going on for a while because they noticed the sound of another vehicle approaching.
“We’re too late,” Ares said quietly.
In horror, they watched the van doors open. Hermes sprinted out, nearly running into several students along the way. Enyo and Artemis were behind him, Apollo was looking around curiously, Hephaestus rolled after him, and Dionysus leisurely strolled along. The only consolation to Athena was that she saw their cousin there too. Pallas approached the group.
“Welcome to Olympia!” she greeted, putting an arm around the twins. “You’re going to shadow us to your classes.”
“But aren’t you seniors?” Apollo asked.
Pallas winked. “Yeah, but we’re special seniors, especially Athena. So, we can do this.”
She glanced to the side and saw Nike and Prometheus. Eagerly, she waved them over.
“Great, okay I’ll show the twins and Hephaestus to their sophomore classes. Nike, you get Dio and Hermes, the freshmen. Hermes is somewhere around here. Follow the sounds of carnage.”
A crash accented her point.
“Like that! Prometheus, you get the—”
Nike started shaking her head. “Sorry, I’ve got plans. I’m supposed to meet with a guidance counselor today. You’ll have to do this without me.”
“But—”
“Good luck!”
Pallas frowned after her. “Fine, then, Prometheus, could you get the freshmen?”
“Yeah, I don’t mind.”
He looked a little nervous when he heard another crash. Pallas turned around to face Athena, offering a sweet smile.
“Thena…”
“I’m stuck with the juniors,” she realized, sighing.
Ares poked her shoulder. “I don’t want the first time I meet everyone to be when they find out I’m your little brother.”
“Believe me, I don’t want that either, but Nike left us without many options. Go get Enyo, then I’ll show you both around.”
Unhappily, the boy went to find his other sister. She was testing out the strength of a locker door.
“Time me!” she called out. “I wanna see how long I can lean on this before it breaks. Hermes already broke those.”
Ares looked down at two fallen locker doors that had hijinks written all over them. Literally. Ares wondered when Hermes got a red marker.
“Athena’s going to show us around.”
“Boring. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“You don’t know where your classes are.”
“I’ll find them. Have fun. See ya!”
She ran off and Ares tried to stop her, but she got lost in the crowd. He noticed that not everyone had seen her before she left and they certainly had not seen Hermes. They just saw him…with mangled lockers. The boy offered a nervous smile. It might have been visible if he had not been wearing his overly large skully. He hurried off to find Athena. She let out a sigh.
“She’ll figure out where to go eventually.” Athena gestured in front of her. “Come on. I guess I’ll just be showing you around.”
“Lucky me,” Ares muttered.
Athena led the way through the halls. Ares had never seen a school so large before. He could not even see the ceiling. The floors were made of gold and the walls sparkled with divine power. Athena pointed to the very back of the corridor.
“That’s where you’ll be going a lot.”
“What class is it?”
“It’s not one. It’s the principals’ office.”
Ares’s eyes narrowed at her, then they continued the tour. They stopped at a large pool.
“Pallas’s dad, Cousin Triton, is the swim coach.” Athena waved to the demigod. “The gym is on the other side. There’s a library, theater, and a few other places too, but we don’t have time for them right now. I’ll show you the cafeteria, then take you to the classes.”
They kept going, stopping at an enormous dining hall.
“Nobody here cooks, so they buy Aunt Hestia’s food in bulk.” She turned to her brother, holding up a stern finger. “I’m going to say this once. When it’s time for lunch, don’t. Sit. Here.”
Athena pointed to a table. It stood out from the others. It had a spotless tablecloth, a section for books, its own cutlery, and even a few spear sharpeners. Ares’s eyes twinkled at the last part and he reached for one. He pulled back his hand when it got whacked.
“Don’t touch that.”
“Why not?”
“This table is for my friends.”
He crossed his arms. “I don’t want to sit by your friends anyway.” His eyes trailed back to the sharpeners. “But can I just ta—”
“No.”
“You’re greedy.”
“Deal with it.” She grabbed his hand. “Now, let’s start heading to class. You’re still expected to attend them today. The Muses basically teach everything, but sometimes, guest lecturers are brought in.”
Ares peeked into classrooms. They were large too and some chairs looked like they could fit several immortals. That student from the limo started walking beside the siblings, eyeing them arrogantly as he made his way to his first class. Slowly, Ares realized something.
“Thena,” he whispered, “he’s a mortal.”
“Weird, I didn’t notice.”
Ares recognized the sarcastic tone and shoved her. “I’ve never really been around mortals. Do they actually die as easily as Uncle Sei says?”
“Only when you drown them like Uncle Sei does. That’s Sisyphus.”
“That’s Prince Sisyphus,” the mortal claimed, having been eavesdropping.
Athena rolled her eyes. “No one calls him that, but his family is one of the richest in town, so he expects everyone to treat him like royalty.”
“Are there a lot of other mortals?” Ares asked.
“Only those who either have really promising futures or are foolish enough to think a big check means they deserve to be here.”
She raised her voice at the last part, but Sisyphus just stormed off for class. Unhappily, Ares discovered that he was also going to that classroom. Athena was about to leave, but the instructor saw her first.
“Athena,” one of the Muses greeted, smiling. “Who’s this?”
She had almost escaped. Ares put his hands in his pockets and started entering.
“I’m Ares,” he mumbled.
“Well, you’re just in time for history class, Ares. I’m Ms. Clio.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Clio looked back at Athena, a question still in her eyes. She tapped her lip thoughtfully.
“Ares…there’s something about you that reminds me of our Athena.”
“Don’t do it,” Ares silently begged.
“Are you—”
“Don’t.”
“—related?”
The siblings deflated. They were the only ones who did. Everyone else in the class sat more upright, eyes locking onto both of them.
“You’re Athena’s little brother?” someone asked. “Wow. I wonder what that’s like.”
“I couldn’t do it. I’d never be able to compete.”
“I’d probably just stop trying to do well with anything ever.”
“There’s literally no other option.”
Athena wanted to correct their use of “literally,” but she realized that would only prove their point. Ares had not even been able to find a desk yet. He managed to get through the crowd of curious students and sat down, already trying to bury himself in textbooks to hide. Athena offered him a moderately apologetic look, then bid farewell to Clio. She had her own classes to attend, but apparently, she and Ares were not the only ones to have caused this news to get out. As soon as she entered her AP chemistry class, students leaned towards her.
“Is it true that all your little siblings are here?”
“No,” Athena said.
Technically, she was right. She had way more than she would ever know. She did not need to specify. It merely was irritating to have someone ask her about the group wherever she went. It was not easier for Ares. The second that history class had ended, it seemed like the students went running. The only good part was that word of mouth was not immediate. Therefore, Athena and Ares could have crawled under a rock when they heard a voice over the PA system.
“Hello students. It’s come to our attention that we have new students. Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Enyo, and Hermes.”
Ares sighed a breath of relief.
“Sorry, I had the final name smudged. And Ares.”
The boy cursed quietly.
“They’re apparently the younger siblings of Athena. Make sure they feel welcome. Also, to you newcomers, we’re the Furies, your eternal hall monitors. If we catch you running again, Hermes, we will bring you to the principals’ office personally.”
“Gotta catch me first!” Hermes’s voice added through the system.
The students grimaced as they heard shuffling go through the speakers. The Furies began fussing and there were several angry words before either Hermes or the others turned the speakers off. Ares adjusted his skully, making it cover even more of his face. The less he was associated with the others, the better chance he had to make a decent reputation. He had almost made it to lunch. He could do it. There was only one more class before then: gym. Ares entered the gymnasium, spotting a large god. He was extremely muscular and eyed the students. Suddenly, he pointed at the twins.
“Pin that hair up, girlies, or you’ll get scalped.”
“Apollo’s not a girl,” Artemis commented, frowning as she gave herself a bun.
The other immortal stared at the twins for a moment, then shrugged. “Whatever you say. Still, pin up that hair.” He took a metal rod and bent it in half. “I’m your gym teacher, Kratos, and let’s set the standards now. We come here to get strong! This isn’t just some simple math class. You won’t get the chance to have a make-up test. There are no redos in life!”
Someone started snickering. Ares groaned, already knowing it was his little brother. Kratos marched over to Hermes, glaring.
“Something funny, shrimp?”
“Actually yeah. I was imagining how it would be if life did have redos. Today, I never even would’ve been spotted by those Furies.”
Dionysus nodded. “And I could drink as much wine as I wanted.”
Kratos pointed at him next. “There is no underage drinking in my gym! And there is no laughing! Both of you, shut up and get ready to sweat.” His gaze fell on Hephaestus. “Faking an injury, are we? You won’t get out of PE that easily, wheels.”
Hephaestus shook his head. “I’m really a wheelchair user.”
“Hope you don’t think that’ll make me go easy on you. Life doesn’t go easy on you!”
Hephaestus shook his head faster. “N-no, Sir, I didn’t think it meant that.”
“Good! If all of you can respect me, I can respect you.”
“Why should we respect you?” Enyo asked. “We don’t even know you.”
A wild look appeared in the god’s eyes. He also pointed at her, keeping his finger in her face.
“If it stays there any longer, you’re gonna lose that finger,” she threatened.
Kratos scowled, then smirked. “Spunk. That’s what I want from the rest of you cupcakes. Everyone be like…what’s your name?”
“Enyo.”
“Be like Enyo here and we won’t have a problem.” He turned to face the group. “First, we’re going to bend rods like I just did.”
Ares noticed that the gym teacher was looking at him.
“Skully, you do it.”
“My name’s actuall—”
“I don’t care! Do it.”
Grumbling, Ares grabbed one of the rods. He easily bent it in half—too easily. The rod snapped. He stared at the pieces unsurely.
“I said bend it, Skully. Bend! Do you not know what ‘bend’ means? Well, I’ll teach you. One thousand squats right now!”
Frowning, Ares did as he said while Kratos looked at the rest of the students.
“And for any of you thinking, ‘Oh, but Mr. Kratos, I’m a mortal. How am I going to bend a rod?’ I say, push yourself! You’re going to die anyway. Might as well be strong while you do it!”
With many quiet complaints, the others began exercising. Ares sensed someone approaching on the right, but she did not look directly at him, knowing the gym god expected full attention on him.
“That was impressive,” she complimented. “I’ve never seen someone break one of those.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re Ares, right? I’ve been trying to put faces to all the names we were told earlier.”
“Yeah, that’s me. What’s your name?”
“Sugar Cube!” Kratos yelled at her. “Does this look like a social party to you?” With a glare, he gestured off to the left. “Rock climbing. Get to the top in less than a minute or you’ll have to do a thousand squats with Skully.”
The girl flicked her hair and nodded. “I’ve been in the mood for a challenge.”
Ares turned to see that she was going towards a mountain. Maybe his school was boring before it burned. He remembered rock climbing simply being a wall with these little spots that poked out for the students to put their feet on. He could not recall actual mountains being on-campus. Evidently, this student was used to it. She cracked her knuckles and neck. When she heard the teacher’s whistle, she started darting up. She moved so swiftly, she reached the top long before the minute had passed. Athena went over to Ares and closed his mouth for him.
“She’s got to be a goddess too, right?”
“Yeah, that’s Aphrodite.”
Ares watched as Aphrodite slid down the side of the mountain.
“She’s cool.”
“She’s popular. There’s a difference.”
Aphrodite went over to the siblings, patting Ares on the shoulder. “Maybe we’ll be squat partners next time.”
“O-okay,” he responded.
He kept watching as she returned to the rest of the group. Athena was not wrong…unsurprisingly. Aphrodite was congratulated by a crowd of adoring fans. When PE ended, the students went to the showers. Aphrodite winked at a few guys as she entered the girls’ locker room. Ares spotted Hermes trying to follow and caught him by the head.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to get some water.”
A too wide smile was on his face for Ares to believe him.
“The fountain’s the other way. You were trying to spy on the girls.”
Hermes snickered. “The thought might have crossed my mind. Did you see that girl on the mountain?”
Ares frowned at him and tossed him into the other locker room.
“You’re a killjoy,” Hermes complained. “This school’s full of hot students.”
“Ignoring how messed up your plan is, did you forget that our sisters are also there?”
Hermes was about to protest, then scrunched his face in disgust. “Well, thank you very much for ruining that.”
“Just get ready for lunch.”
“Bossy.”
When they were done getting cleaned up, Artemis and Apollo reunited in the lunch line.
“You’re popular,” the sister commented. “Several of the girls wanted to sneak into the other locker room to spy on you. I almost strangled one of them.”
“I can always count on you for that.”
“Duh. I’m surprised Hermes didn’t try to spy on anybody. I had an arrow waiting for him.”
“He almost went,” Apollo revealed. His expression became sad as he reached the food. “They didn’t order any of Auntie’s healthy meals.”
“Because we don’t need healthy food,” Dionysus stated, joining them. “We just need stuff that’ll taste good.” He grinned. “Which is why I snuck this in.”
He opened his backpack, showing a wine bottle. Artemis whacked him over the head.
“You’re going to get us all in trouble. Get rid of that.”
“Give me a couple minutes and I will!”
The huntress sighed, but she saw that it was pointless to try to stop him. “I’m not sitting with you. Pol, let’s leave this delinquent-in-training before we get sent to detention with him.”
After their plates were made, the twins went off to sit together. It did not take long for some other students to join them. They kept looking at Apollo. He smiled at their infatuated glances.
“Want to sit with us?” he inquired, ignoring Artemis’s glare.
“Yeah!”
Soon, their table was full. Dionysus and Hermes found another group. Within minutes, they were all laughing and taking part in the younger boy’s drink. While they were there, Hephaestus glanced around, looking for a spot.
“I guess we could be tablemates,” Ares suggested.
Hephaestus was about to agree when he saw someone waving to him. A mortal approached, smiling brightly.
“Hephaestus! I know you don’t know me, but I heard about the robotics competitions you won while in your old school.” He offered his hand. “I’m Daedalus. Want to sit together? I’m an inventor too.”
The god peeked at his brother and Ares sighed. “Go on.”
Hephaestus grinned and Daedalus led him to his table. Several more students with an interest in engineering and inventing were there. Ares looked around for Enyo. She was leaning against a wall, eating her food. He went to join her, but she moved away.
“Uh-uh.”
“What?”
“I’m trying out that ‘too cool to eat with others’ thing. I can’t do that with you, bro.”
“What if you tried out that ‘not abandoning me at a new school’ thing?”
“I’ll pass. There’s another wall. You can use that if you want.”
“Thanks,” Ares commented sarcastically.
He went past the crowded tables, spotting Aphrodite. From the looks of it, she was definitely the popular girl in this school. Several tables had been pushed together just to accommodate her friend group. He really wanted to ask if he could join, but he never was meant for the popular table. Most of the tables were full. All the friend groups immediately knew to gather. Ares went by the few tables that still had room, but the students looked frightened. The third time someone shied away from him, he gave up.
“I broke the rod,” he complained, walking away. “I’m not going to break you too.”
The youth grumbled and looked around for somewhere else to go. He glanced at Athena. She was at her table with Prometheus, Pallas, and Nike. It looked so nice over there. He was tempted to go, then remembered what she had said. Then he remembered something else. He did not follow her orders.
“Hey.”
Athena frowned up from her plate. “Prometheus, am I seeing things? I must be because it looks scarily like Ares is sitting with us.”
“You’re not seeing things,” her friend commented. “I see him too.”
“The whole school already knows we’re related,” Ares mentioned. “I might as well sit here.”
“You’re going to start an argument. We’re trying to have an intellectual conversation,” Athena stated.
“I bet I could make it better.”
“See? You’re already starting something.”
“You’re the one arguing, not me.”
Athena was about to complain, but Pallas shrugged. “Don’t be too hard on him, Thena. It’s scary being the new kid in school.”
“I’m not scared,” Ares said defensively.
The goddess began to grin. “Pallas is right. It’s terrifying. No one could blame you for wanting to be around your big sister. I make you feel safe.”
Ares frowned at her. “That’s not what I’m doing!”
“You don’t have to admit it. We understand.”
Upset, Ares grabbed his plate and stood up. He nearly spilled the drink on himself in the process.
“Fine, have your dumb, fancy table. I have a wall!”
He stormed off to the other side of the cafeteria. The wall was going to have to suffice. Ares took a bite of his sandwich, then grunted. Students were starting to go back to class. This had taken longer than he realized. He scarfed down the rest of the food and hurried to the next one.
At long last, the day ended. Ares grabbed some books out of his locker, feeling more tired than he ever had. His head was practically spinning during some of those lectures. Somehow, he would have to make sense of it before the first assignment. His attention moved when he heard Dionysus let out a sad cry. Worried, he went to see what was wrong. A minor god was standing over a broken wine bottle. Dionysus was trying to figure out how to sop up the liquid.
“It took me all month to figure out this recipe,” he lamented.
Ares looked at the unfamiliar immortal. Annoyed, he realized that the guy was smiling.
“That’s a message from the Aloadae. They said to let the new fish know who’s boss.” The stranger was staring at Dionysus. “You better know your place, Tubby, or bottles aren’t the only thing they’ll break.”
The immortal yelped when Ares grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He lifted the other god off the ground.
“Did you just threaten my little brother?” he growled.
In vain, the lackey tried to get back down and realized that he could not. He offered a fearful smile.
“Uh…no?”
Ares clenched one hand into a fist. It had been a long day. He could think of no better way to let out some steam than to beat the ambrosia out of a bully. Ares’s eyes shifted when he saw three immortals approaching them.
“Mr. Ares,” one of them said, shaking her head.
“We knew we’d see you soon.”
“We know everything.”
Ares set down the other god. “Who are you?”
“The principals.”
“All three of you?” he inquired.
“We’re the fates,” one answered. “For fighting, we normally send students to detention.”
“But we’re going to give you a one-time pass,” the second added.
“We’ll just be watching more closely from now on,” the third promised.
“And when you mess up again,” they said in unison, “we will respond accordingly, young god.”
They stayed together, facing the youth, daring him to do anything else. Nervously, he pulled Dionysus up from the ground. They started hurrying out of the school. Outside, Dionysus gave his brother a hug.
“Thanks!”
Ares ruffled his hair and the younger god ran off to join the others. When the van arrived to pick them up, Zeus was driving this time. He grinned at the kids.
“So,” he drawled, “how’d it go?”
“Great!” Apollo exclaimed. “There were a lot of cute students there and they thought I was cute too. I also can’t wait to start learning about the school band and seeing what else the classes have to offer.”
“Gym was pretty fun,” Artemis said. “It needed more archery, though.”
“I broke a locker door,” Hermes added proudly.
“Two,” Enyo corrected. “And I won over the gym teacher.”
“I might’ve made an inventor friend,” Hephaestus revealed, grinning.
“I got a lot of students to try my wine before this one jerk broke the bottle.”
Zeus nodded, pleased. He glanced at the rearview mirror to look at Athena. She was staring out the window.
“What about you, Sweetie?”
“Everyone knows they’re my siblings now.”
“Oh…well, I’m sure it won’t be too bad. It might even make you look better since they’ll see what a good older sister you are.”
Ares was staring at the floor of the van. “I think I got threatened by the principals.”
“That’s nice,” Zeus commented, not actually having heard him.
Athena glanced over at her brother. “Why?”
“I almost got in a fight.”
“It’s your first day, Ares. How’d you already get in a fight?”
“I didn’t! Just almost.”
“You amaze me sometimes.”
“And you annoy me all the time.”
Athena rolled her eyes, turning on her phone. “Pallas is busy tonight. Want to be study buddies?”
“Sure,” Ares said, grinning.
“We’re not making a habit of it.”
“Who said I even wanted to make a habit of it?”
“You would if you could.”
“You’re the one who offered!”
Athena sighed. “This is going to be a long year.”
“I could’ve told you that.”
Ares crossed his arms and Athena did the same. They frowned at one another for a bit until the expression faded. They spent the rest of the ride sharing how their days had been, taking any and every opportunity to complain about the other. Just because they had to be in the same school did not mean they would change that much. Who were they if not the quarrelsome war siblings?