Nine

Ava didn’t see, at least not until after lunch, when she and Fia headed over to the Design Lab on the third floor. No one had done anything strange in science and math unless Ava counted Ms. Moira revealing that she was one of the Fates, the goddesses who determined every mortal’s life span by spinning and cutting a single thread. “That was the old-school way,” Ms. Moira explained. “But it was too time consuming, so today we just leave it to your DNA.” Then she’d explained everything Layla had already told Ava about the meaning of her “undetermined” ancestry. Mr. Moros seemed to have recovered completely from his fainting spell, though his mood in Pre-algebra was grim. Ava was not surprised to learn that he was really Moros, the Fates’ brother and god of impending doom.

Ms. Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, who wore long, flowing dresses and flowers in her hair, taught Introduction to Classical Languages. The greatest danger of Ms. Calliope’s class was her soothing voice, which threatened to put Ava to sleep. But these classes were for first-year students only, whereas Design Lab was a mixed class of both first- and second-years. Mr. Heff, who Ava now realized was Hephaestus, the famous blacksmith and Greek god of fire, welcomed everyone warmly. His legs, Ava knew, had been damaged after Zeus had thrown him off Olympus for protecting his mother, Hera, from Zeus’s rage. With his powerful biceps, he wheeled his chair easily around the Design Lab, leading them on a tour. There was a blazingly hot forge, piles of jagged scrap metal, half-finished sculptures and robots, anvils, power tools, batteries, wires, and an impressive collection of nail guns, box cutters, and saws.

“Everything here is completely and totally dangerous,” Fia said with approval.

But all the saws and cutting tools made Ava nervous. She wondered if her lifelong fear of sharp objects, from needles to knives, was a clue to her identity. She thought again of the monster that had occurred to her in the Great Hall. But a lot of monsters had been killed by swords—many of which had been made in Mr. Heff’s workshops.

“We can really use all this stuff?” Mathias asked.

Mr. Heff nodded. “As long as you’re careful.”

As if to demonstrate, a second-year boy wearing a T-shirt with manga characters pulled down one of the power saws hanging on the wall and grabbed a wooden plank from a pile on the floor. Then he turned it on and began slashing wildly at it with the saw. Ava could barely watch.

“It’s a loose definition of careful,” Fia said as splinters of wood flew into the air.

“You should have goggles on for that, Arata,” Mr. Heff said over the loud buzz of the saw.

Arata looked back over his shoulder at Mr. Heff. “What?”

At just that instant the saw kicked up and landed on Arata’s forearm, chopping it off in one clean cut. Ava screamed; Mathias fainted. Fia spun in frantic circles, scanning the workshop. “We need a tourniquet!”

“But there’s no blood,” said a first-year from China named Bo-jing.

Ava blinked. Arata’s arm ended just past his elbow, but he wasn’t bleeding. In fact, he didn’t even look particularly upset. Neither, Ava noticed, did the other second-years.

“Show-off,” one of them muttered.

“Calm down, everyone,” Mr. Heff said. He had wheeled himself over to Mathias and was fanning him with the attendance list, as if he were the real victim. “Arata’s a Hydra. His limbs grow back.”

No sooner had Mr. Heff spoken than Ava noticed Arata’s stump elongate, spread into a hand, and sprout fingers. Seconds later, he picked up his old hand in his new one and held it out to Mr. Heff. “Recycling?”

Ava cringed. “Yuck.”

“At least he’s environmentally conscious,” Fia said.

“Can’t Hydras also grow back their own heads?” Ava whispered.

Fia nodded. “Not sure I want to watch that.”

Ava touched her neck. “Kind of a useful power.”

Mathias had come to and looked relieved to find Arata back in possession of his arm. Mr. Heff gave him a reassuring pat, then wheeled to the center of the group.

“We’ve had quite a few students accidentally discover their powers in the Design Lab. But even if you don’t, you can still discover your creativity.”

“Cute,” said Fia.

“I’m sticking with sculpting,” Ava said. “Using clay.”

Physical education, or gym, was also a mixed-grade class, with first- and second-years together. The gym was located on the roof of the palazzo beneath tinted glass that prevented ordinary mortals from noticing how it changed into a track, swimming pool, tennis court, or soccer pitch, depending on what Ms. Atalanta, the tall and muscular athletic director, wished. For their first phys ed class, she had turned it into a pool (Olympic-sized, as Ava’s mom had promised) for Ms. Doris, the swim coach, who was a Nereid and had short green hair and long, pale legs that changed into a scaly, iridescent tail in the water.

At the prospect of showing Ms. Doris what she could do even without a tail, Ava stopped worrying about her monster heritage. She changed into the school’s regulation swimsuit with Hercules flexing his muscles on the front and eagerly jumped in. But she noticed Fia clung to the side of the pool with a petrified expression. She looked more unhappy than when Mr. Orion’s waves had scooped up some of their first-year classmates. Ava was about to ask Fia if she could even swim when Ms. Doris thrashed her tail and blew into the seashell hanging around her neck like a whistle.

“I want everyone to swim a lap and back so I can see who our fastest swimmers are,” Ms. Doris trilled. “On your mark, get set—”

Ava pushed off the side of the pool. Her breaststroke was fast and even, and she pulled away from the bigger girls in the lanes on either side of her. She reached the end of the pool and did a flip turn. But just as she was about to blow past the same girls, she felt the water jerk her arms sideways. She tried to straighten them, but instead she was swept back by a strong current, then caught in a whirlpool that spun her in circles. As she struggled to keep her head above water, one of the bigger girls reversed course and crossed into Ava’s lane. She would have plowed right into her had Ava not held her breath and let herself get sucked under by the whirlpool. By the time she had fought her way back to the surface, both girls had popped up on the other side of the pool and were punching the air triumphantly.

“Anahita and Morgan, tied for the win!” Ms. Doris shouted.

The whirlpool weakened, then slowed until a ripple was all that remained. Released from its grasp, Ava swam back to where she had started. She was last save for Fia, who had never started and was still clinging, white-knuckled, to the side.

“Did you see that?” Ava asked her.

Fia nodded. “I think you got stuck between Scylla and Charybdis—or their descendants, anyway.”

Ava knew exactly who Fia meant—the sea monsters from The Odyssey, a whirlpool and a many-headed snake that destroyed the ships and ate the men who tried to steer in between them. She had certainly felt like one of Odysseus’s hapless shipmates.

“Is that why you stayed put?” Ava asked. “You already figured out who we were up against?”

“I’m not keen on water,” Fia said. “Lucky me, going to school in Venice, right?” She gave a tight laugh.

“You get seasick?” Ava asked, remembering Fia’s reaction to the floating shapes and waves at last night’s dinner.

“Something like that,” Fia said.

It was a relief for Ava to be back with just first-years for her last class of the day: Ms. Clio’s double period of Greek and Roman Myths. Ava could tell immediately that Ms. Clio was a strict teacher—she laid out a daunting schedule of homework, quizzes, and tests. But she also promised them a special visitor later in the fall and spoke passionately about their first unit on the Olympian gods and their spheres of influence.

“Does anyone know what Zeus did immediately after his victory in the Titanomachy?”

Ava raised her hand. She looked sideways at Fia, expecting her to have her hand up too, but she didn’t.

“Ava?”

Ava was pleased that Ms. Clio remembered her name.

“Didn’t he divide up the realms of the sea, earth, and underworld between his brothers, Poseidon and Hades?”

“Exactly.”

Fia’s hand shot up.

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t he share with his sisters? He had three of them—Hera, Hestia—”

“What’s your name again?” Ms. Clio interrupted. Her voice was cool, and Ava could tell she hadn’t liked the question. But Ava had to admit that it was a good one.

“Fia.”

“Everyone has their own sphere, Fia. Marriage and family are the domain of those goddesses. We’ll talk about them later this week.”

“But those realms don’t seem as cool as running the entire ocean—”

“Let’s keep on topic. We’re talking about the most powerful trio—”

“They’re just powerful because they’re male gods and they’re physically strong,” Fia said.

By this time, everyone was shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Even Ava wished that Fia would drop the subject.

“You seem to have forgotten the name of our school, Fia,” Ms. Clio said. “Strength counts for everything in this world. That’s something you’re here to learn. Now let’s get back to Zeus—”

Ava continued to raise her hand and answer more questions, but giving the right answers didn’t have the same thrill as before, especially as Fia just sat silently beside her.

“Those were good points,” Ava said to Fia after Ms. Clio released them. “But you realize you’re just riling her up?”

Fia shrugged. “That’s what monsters do, right?”

Ava grinned. “Come on.”

Fia’s eyes locked on something behind her. “Uh-oh . . .”

“What is it?” Ava asked, turning around.

“My crazy roommate.”

A tall, pale girl with black hair and blue eyes was staring straight at Ava. Her arm rose into the air, and she pointed.

“You, you, you,” she sang in a high, eerie voice.

“I’m sorry in advance for whatever she says,” Fia muttered under her breath as Cassie glided purposefully toward her.

“Don’t worry,” Ava whispered back. “We know she’s not even accurate.”

Still, Ava was curious as to what Python’s descendant would say and mesmerized by the way Cassie’s eyes rolled back in her head.

“Ava, the name that’s spelled the same,” she sang in a high, eerie voice, “forward and backward. You are the girl destined to disrupt history.”

Then her eyes fluttered back down to land on Ava’s, and she stuck out her hand.

“I’m Fia’s roommate, Cassie,” she said in another voice entirely. “What’s your name?”