There’s more magic to be found in a normal life than Cora gave credit. For all her adventures, she forgot how wonderful it was to have a hot bath and sleep in a real bed in Aunt Zoe’s house. She didn’t have to worry about what was watching her, or being turned into a stag, or drowned in the sea, or something even more horrible. The sweet ambrosia might be effervescent and divine, but it couldn’t match a stack of pancakes for reviving her. She now wore the clean blue dress that Aunt Zoe left for her, although it was too short for her comfort. Or at least, for that’s how she would have felt last week. Now she didn’t think much of anything could bother her.

  Cora munched and stuffed the pancakes in her face at the kitchen table while Zoe sat impatiently across from her. Cora was exhausted and ready to collapse even before the sun set. In truth, she didn’t want to see it set ever again, knowing the hopes within her must set with it.

  Aunt Zoe wasn’t happy. Cora didn’t know why. She just hoped she could finish eating before she found out. Glancing up at her aunt, the woman clutched a cellphone in her hand.

  “An ungrateful girl. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Hmpph.” Cora was as stubbornly obtuse as her mouthful of pancake. “Who is?”

  “Not everyone is so lucky to have a family taking care of them. I see your father was too soft with. A spoiled girl becomes a brat, I always said.”

  “What did he tell you exactly about why I’m here?”

  Aunt Zoe’s eyebrows, which must have been penciled in, performed some light yoga.

  “He said you had loose morals.”

  “I do not.”

  Zoe gave a wicked smirk as she worked her mouth in silent motion before speaking. She was really enjoying this.

  “He did too. He said you didn’t take your classes seriously, and you didn’t want to work. You would rather be chased by boys. You don’t realize how hard your father struggled to give you opportunities in life. And what have you done with them?”

  Cora steamed. “I’ve done more already than you will in a hundred lives.”

  Zoe’s smirk faltered, with a swift revival. She handed Cora the phone. They glared at each other with fresh intensity. But Cora had stared down Hera in her own palace and wouldn’t surrender to this old hag.

  “Call your father this instant.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I have loose morals.” Cora stuck out her tongue. “I mean, isn’t it obvious? He practically kidnapped me! I didn’t choose to come here! He wasn’t trying to save me. He was trying to get rid of me. And it worked, because I’m not ever going back to Athens. I’ve seen better palaces now.”

  “What nonsense is this? It is not how you will behave as long as you live here. You will treat me with respect. You will say ‘Yes Aunt Zoe’. ‘I would be happy to, Aunt Zoe’. You will do chores without being asked if they need to be done. There will be rules. And curfews — no later than 9 PM. There will be no boys allowed. And you will work.”

  “Fine. Then I’ll get a job, and I’ll move out. You won’t have to deal with me for long.”

  “That’s fine with me.”

  They glared fiercely at one another. Zoe thrust the phone toward Cora again.

  She had enough of being an outsider. It was bad enough feeling that way among the Gods, but she couldn’t do that with her own family too. Cora sighed.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. I appreciate you letting me stay here.” Cora took the phone and dialed her father. She didn’t like Zoe watching and listening in, but she didn’t want to make a fuss about getting up to leave now.

  “Cora?”

  “I’m here, Dad. I’m with Aunt Zoe.”

  A long silence. “The ship hasn’t arrived yet.”

  Aunt Zoe leaned in a little closer on her elbows. She didn’t disguise listening in. Cora had forgotten all about arriving ahead of the ship. She didn’t know what to say.

  “I took a different one,” she stammered.

  “What are you talking about? Freight 247. I saw you get on. I watched you leave. You didn’t have a ticket for another one.”

  “Um… I met someone. He had a faster ship. A yacht, actually,” Cora lied. “He’s kind of like a prince. But don’t worry, he’s gone now. Nothing happened between us. It was just a pleasant dream.”

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  She could feel her father fuming through the line.

  “You will only hurt yourself, falling in an out of love like you do.”

  “Yes father. To be honest, I may never fall out of love again.”

  “You will forget all about that while you’re in the country. Good luck finding a rose in those barren fields. When you come home, you will be an honest woman with a serious goal in life. Put your Aunt on the line.”

  Aunt Zoe took the phone. She silently mouthed the words ‘You lied to me’. And maybe something else too, something not so nice.

  Cora took her plate to the kitchen, washed it, and then went to the guest room she was assigned. She stood in the window and let the fading sun wash her briefly before pulling the shades against it. The sun no longer felt like it was on her side.

  She undressed in the dark and lay down in bed. The heavy air of Olympus already seemed like a dream. Apollo was gone. The Gods were gone. No one was going to look out for her except for her, and she had better get used to it. On impulse, she got up and retrieved her old dress stained with blood from the hamper. She put it on, discovering a full length mirror on the inside of the closet door. She stared at her silhouette in the dark and imagined herself a warrior Goddess fresh from battle. She meant what she said: she was done falling in and out of love. If she wanted to ever see Apollo again, she would have to bring him back through her own efforts. What gates could bar the sun for long?

  A little giggle in the dark behind Cora. Dark shapes like claws appeared on either side of her in the mirror. She shrieked involuntarily with a most un-warrior like sound, and nearly leaped straight into the closet to get away. That only made the nymph laugh harder. Oreads laughed so hard she collapsed back onto Cora’s bed and shook her leaves in the air to rain down on the sheets.

  “Oreads! You stayed with me!”

  “Look at you! You’re a mess! You need me.”

  Cora turned on the lights and looked down at her bloodstained dress. She crossed her arms defiantly. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “You really are in love with him.”

  Cora shrugged. There was no point in denying it. Then she nodded. “Forever.”

  “How can I leave you in such a sorry state?” the nymph giggled. “It is my role in life to serve the Gods, and there is nothing so divine as boundless love. I will help you to love again, and to let go of what is gone.”

  “He’s not gone!” Cora insisted. Her eyes stung like she was back in the sea.

  “The Gods do things on our time, but their own. Remember that the tournament of the Gods lasted a hundred years before Poseidon won the final battle. Now that Zeus has gone on a trip, he may not be back again in your lifetime. And if by some miracle Apollo rises from his own death, then you will be fortunate to see him again when you are old and gray.”

  “I don’t care. I’ll still love him then. And he promised to protect me forever.”

  “I’m sure you will, day by grieving day,” Oreads cooed softly. “You will love him, and you will wait for him. And that love will grow heavier through the years. It will keep sinking deeper and deeper, until it leaves a pit inside you to fill with poison and regret. You are young and do not know how heavy love can grow. Poor child, you only think you wish to love Apollo. When truly you only wish to love. And now that you have learned to do it once, it will be so much easier to learn to love again.”

  Cora threw herself down on the bed beside Oreads. She buried her face in the pillow. She didn’t care if the dried blood came off on her bed. She hoped it would bleed into her skin and never come out again.

  “Come with me. I have something to show you,” Oreads said.

  Cora sat up again and rubbed her eyes. “Did Aunt Zoe see you? I don’t want to have to explain why I brought a bush into the house on top of everything.”

  “A bush! How rude! I’ll have you know I am the spirit of an olive tree. And don’t worry, I have been undetected.”

  “Did you use more magic to get in?”

  “The window. You can crawl along the roof there for a bit to reach the tree in the yard. And you had better get used to it too. My magic isn’t going to be saving you anymore.”

  Cora followed the nymph to the window and drew the shades up. She looked skeptically out at the thin ledge. The rough gray tiles of the roof were steep and daunting.

  “What do you want to show me? Why can’t you magic us there?”

  The nymph crawled out of the window. The branched leaves extending from her body gracefully folded behind her like wings to let her slip through the window.

  “My magic is given to me by the Gods to serve them. I am here with you now, and am not so blessed. But one day perhaps Apollo really will return. And I think in serving you, he will be grateful to me then, and forgive me for stealing his sword.”

  “How about you crawl on the roof, and I go out the front door and meet you outside?”

  “This will not be the only time you need to escape this house. On the roof, if you please. Oh, but you’re sure that’s what you want to wear?”

  “Yes.” Cora ran her hands down her bloody dress.

  Oreads smiled and shook her head. She crouched low for balance and made her way along the slanting roof. Cora looked about frantically for a rope, or something to secure her first, but then changed her mind and ducked her head and body out the window. She stepped onto the roofing ledge, deliberately choosing not to be afraid. She pressed her back to the side of the house and inched her way along a few steps before making it onto the broader roof. There she crouched low like Oreads and followed her higher up the slope.

  Cora was so focused on the grip of her hands and feet, she didn’t see anything else until she got to the very top. Then swinging a leg over, she straddled the pointed roof and secured herself. Only then did she look up into the face of the dreadful woman mounted on a giant leathery vulture. The harpy opened its beakish mouth to squawk at her.

  “Quiet Nictate! Or no fish for you!” Oreads snapped.

  The frightful creature hung its head low below its jutting shoulder blades. Now that Cora was her proper size again, the harpy was a little smaller than her. There was a leafy vine knotted into a rope which bound one of the creature’s legs. The other end was tied around the chimney.

  “How did you catch it?” Cora asked in amazement.

  “Tricks and lies!” the harpy wailed, more softly this time. “Nasty mortal. Should have eaten her straight away. But no, the lady says. Only if she is with Apollo do we have a taste. It isn’t fair!”

  “Hera sent her harpies looking for Apollo,” Oreads explained. “We might be able to use her to find him.”

  “Then Hera knows he’s still alive!” Cora would have leaped for joy if she hadn’t been on the roof.

  The harpy squawked and pulled against its taunt vine. “If he is alive, I know how to find him. Set me free, and I will show you before I return to Hera.”

  “It’s a dangerous deal —” Oreads warned. She cut herself short. Cora wasn’t listening. She was already reaching toward the harpy’s outstretched talon trapped in vines.

  “I’m going to save him this time,” Cora said.