Guilt gripped me as I looked out towards the sea. I knew the longing I felt was selfish and wrong, but I couldn’t help it. I despised the fog that surrounded me—it’s cold sheath contained me, “protected” me, and kept me from seeing anything beyond the horizon. That’s the problem with living at the edge of time itself—the isolation is unbearable.
I’d been sixteen for three months, and still I hadn’t left this island, “Elysium.” The seclusion was killing me. Every child on Elysium left to explore the world for one year, starting on their sixteenth birthday. It was a rite of passage—a year of learning, not just about the world, but about ourselves. My best friend, Adam, was the only person I knew who was sixteen and remained here. I suppose I should have been grateful to stay by his side, but my greed—my unbearable longing for the outside world—was undeniable.
On most days, I managed to keep thoughts of the outside world at bay as I continued with my daily routine—school, work, fights to the death—but today, I couldn’t push the desire from my mind. Today was the day of the departure of my cousin, Raevyn—daughter of Apollo.
We were on this island for our own protection—or so we were told. We were the sons and daughters of gods—which made us dangerous. Once we turned twenty-one, we could choose to live in the mortal world (and lose all our powers), or join our parents on Mt. Olympus. Somehow, I doubted I’d ever be given the choice. My mother, Artemis, was the one who denied my trip to the mortal world. She said I was too dangerous. I suppose it made sense—I was different that the other demigods. Artemis was a maiden goddess—she could have no children. She had made me from a blue jay, replacing the bird’s blood with her own. That’s how I received my name—Bluejay—not that I’d ever tell anyone. Most people called me Jay—and anyone who knew my true name called me Blue—a nickname I could easily attribute to my startling blue eyes.
To be honest, I was extremely envious of my cousin, Raevyn. We had always had a sisterly rivalry—probably due to the fact that our parents were twins. Despite the fact that she was younger than I, Raevyn had always joked that she would leave Elysium before me—and apparently, she was right.
Lost in thought, I didn’t notice as Adam came up from behind me. Not saying a word, he grabbed me, and I shrieked. I tried to release myself from his grasp, but he knew my tactics too well. Strengthening his grip, he ran into the ocean. The cold waves hit me as he pushed me underwater. I tumbled with the current until, finally, Adam pulled me to the surface. Spluttering and gasping for air, I tackled him. “You jerk,” I spat, half laughing as a wave broke on him.
The laughter in his sea-green eyes did not fade. He remained perfectly dry, despite the crashing waves around him. My best friend was a son of Poseidon. The sea was his greatest ally.
“Did I ever tell you how much I hate you?” I asked as he dragged me to shore.
“Indeed—yesterday, if I recall,” he answered humorously.
I ran my fingers through my stringy, wet hair. My plain black T-shirt and dark jeans were sopping. “Adam,” I sighed. I looked at him pleadingly. “Give me a hand? Raevyn’s departure ceremony is in five minutes. I don’t have time to change.”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Fine, but you have to admit I’m the awesomest demigod ever to grace this island.”
“I would if I could, but I must not tell lies,” I shot back at him.
Adam grinned—it was his signature smirk, endearing and annoying at the same time. With a wave of his hand, he lifted the water off of me, drying my hair and clothes.
I smiled at him gratefully and turned around once more to look at the horizon. The walls of fog still blocked my view. Adam put a hand on my shoulder. “You really want to get out there, don’t you?” he asked.
I nodded. “I know it’s wrong—I should be grateful that I’m protected. But—I so want to be out there.”
Biting his lip nervously, Adam glanced at me. “We could find a way,” he told me.
I turned to face him. “What do you mean?”
“Raevyn’s boat. It should be empty right now. Everyone’s gathered in the Courtyard for her departure ceremony. Now’s our chance.”
Excitement welled up inside of me. “You really think we can do it?”
Adam grinned. “I don’t see why not! After all, we’ve been training our entire lives for this.”
“Come on.” I grabbed his arm. “We’re running out of time.”
Together, we ran to the dock, where Raevyn’s boat bobbed in the waves. Seeing it there, I felt guilty. This was her boat—she had built it with her own two hands. It shone gold, representing her father, the god of the sun. If I were allowed to make my own boat, would it be silver, or would my mother—the goddess of the moon—refuse to give me her blessing?
Adam hopped onto the boat without hesitation. He looked around briefly, then returned to where I stood, my feet planted firmly in the sand. “There’s enough food here for the three of us,” he told me. “Let me just run back to the House to get our things. You still have that emergency pack under your bed, right?”
I blushed. I had decided to make an “emergency pack” when I was seven years old. Things were unstable that year, and I constantly feared disaster. The theory was that if we had to evacuate, I could easily grab everything I needed. I had forced Adam to make a pack, too. Even now that I was sixteen, I still updated the pack every six months. It was silly, but it kept me reassured.
Adam ran off towards the House. I climbed aboard Raevyn’s boat and situated myself in a cupboard. With a little luck, Raevyn wouldn’t find me until we were past the fog—after that, there would be no returning to the island.
Adam returned quicker than I expected. He found me crouched in the cupboard, and awkwardly squished in next to me. He handed me one of two black backpacks—my emergency pack. I glanced at his pack. It didn’t take long for me to identify it as the bag he had stored under his own bed all those years ago. “Is that thing up to date?” I whispered. He nodded at me—smiling as he caught my expression. Apparently I wasn’t the only paranoid one on the island, after all.
I honestly don’t remember the three days we were sailing. I assume Raevyn must have found us at some point, but she didn’t overreact or freak out, like I expected. The next clear memory in my mind was on the shores of Long Beach, California. Raevyn’s boat had just sunken into the water—a sign that we had reached our destination. Raevyn gave Adam and me a little money, than left, telling us that she had to complete this journey on her own. Suddenly feeling very lost, Adam and I had no idea what to do, or where to go.
“I’ll go try to find us a place to stay,” Adam offered. “Can you go get us some food?”
I nodded. I knew what Adam meant. It was time to go hunting.
Since my mom was the goddess of wildlife—as well as hunting, girls, children, and the moon—I could transform into an animal at will. My powers were somewhat hard to control—sometimes my emotions could cause a transformation. I had strived to perfect my control over these occurrences—A) because transforming back after an unwilled transformation was extremely painful, and B) Because of reasons that I’d rather not discuss.
In all honesty, I was relieved. After being cooped up on that boat for three days, the wild animal inside me was dying for a good hunt. Fortunately for me, Adam wasn’t a picky eater—he’d eat whatever animal I’d bring back to him. Without a word, I transformed into wolf. Adam saluted to me as I sulked away noiselessly.
I wasn’t worried about Adam finding us a place to stay—according to just about every girl on Elysium, Adam was “hot.” I had never really noticed—after all, Adam was like a brother to me—but I guess I could sort of see where they were coming from. He was thin and gangly, with messy black hair that was constantly falling into his eyes—but when he smiled, he lit up the whole world.
My sense of smell increased measurably, I quickly caught the scent of a squirrel. I knew many kids who would rather die than eat a squirrel, but my predator instincts had taught me that they were a good dinner. With a sharp bark, I began the chase. The squirrel was faster than I had expected, but not very clever—instead of scurrying up a tree, as most squirrels would, this one lead me in a straight path into a dark alleyway. Yapping at the furry rodent, I didn’t realize the trap until it was too late.
I awoke in utter pain. I recognized this pain—I was being transformed against my will. A few seconds later, I had lost my canine features—I was human again.
Sadly, I was also dressed in an outfit fit only for a daughter of Aphrodite. This was the other negative side effect of an unwilling transformation. My black V-neck and warn-out jeans had been replaced with a pink tube-top and a denim miniskirt. I didn’t know why this always happened—my personal theory was that it was a curse from Aphrodite, or maybe her daughter, Philia, who had never liked me. All I knew was that I despised it.
“Ah—look at that,” a sinisterly smooth voice said. “The daughter of Artemis herself. I must say—good job. I thought for sure that you’d messed up again.”
I couldn’t see who the man was talking to, but as my vision returned to normal, I was able to take a good look at my captor. He was a tall man with a timeless face—he could have been fifteen or fifty. He wore a grey suit and a gold tie. There was something sinister about him—was it those glaring red eyes?—and yet something about him that made me feel safe.
“Hello, Bluejay,” the man said. “Don’t worry, you’re quite safe.”
I looked around the sterile white room. “Then how come I’m chained to this wall?” I asked bluntly.
The man chuckled. “Oh, my silly little godling. Of course I must contain you. If I didn’t, you might be so foolish as to try and kill me—and we can’t have that, can we?”
I shook my head. “No—no—you’ve got this all wrong. I’m not a god. I’m just a demigod.”
The man chuckled. “My dear, stop being so blinded. Of course you aren’t a demigod—you never have been.”
My mind was whirling. “Sir, I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.”
“Bluejay, do you really think that once upon a time you were an ordinary bird? Of course not. Artemis used that bird’s life because she could not create life on her own. But you, your physical form, your sense of emotions, your mental capacity—she made from herself. Only your soul was once a bird’s--not your being. You are pure, 100% goddess. Nothing mortal about you, not at all.”
Shivering with fear, I tried to look into the man’s red eyes. “How would you know? Who are you?”
The man cackled. “I suppose I am a bit overdue for an introduction. I am Kronos, King of the Titans, Lord of Time. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?”
Nodding, I mentally thanked the gods for my eidetic memory. “Yes. We learned about you in class. You’re Lord Zeus’s father. I guess…that makes you my great grandfather.”
Kronos beamed. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Now, listen, I hate to be pushy—after all, we’ve only just met—but I need a little favor.”
“What?” I asked, assuming that he needed my hunting abilities to fetch something for him. Hopefully I could get this over with before Adam even noticed that I was gone.
“Well, you see—now, this is kind of awkward, with you being the granddaughter of the man who overthrew me and all, but for the past two thousand years I’ve been sitting at the bottom of a pit in the underworld, and that’s given me plenty of time to think. And I’ve finally realized that what I truly want is to rule the world and spread chaos and discord across the land!”
I blanched. “Are you crazy?”
Kronos shrugged. “Perhaps. Like I said, I have been sitting at the bottom of a pit for the past two thousand years…”
“That’s it, I’m out of here.” I willed myself to transform into a mouse, but instead I was hit with an unbearable pain. “ARG!” I screamed.
Kronos chuckled. “I’m sorry, my dear, but it’s help me or die. I need a goddess by my side, you see—not only will you offer me immunity from the gods—after all, those weak-minded saps would never harm their own descendant—but in addition, I believe you’ll serve as a valuable ally. Once you learn to harness your godly powers, it will be all too easy to take over the world!”
Kronos unnerved me. It wasn’t just his insane plan to take over the world—it was the way he talked about it. He was so calm, so collected…his voice was charismatic, almost charming. Though I hated him with a burning passion, I also got the feeling that, if the situation were different, we could be friends. This thought scared me.
“Of course, one meager godling won’t be enough,” Kronos added. “I’ll need another…a strong god…a god of the sea. And you, my darling, shall be the bait.”
It didn’t take me long to put two and two together.
“Adam,” I snarled. “You want Adam.”
Kronos laughed. “Of course, my dear! With the two of you by my side, I’ll be utterly undefeatable! Besides—neither of you will act up while the other is in my grasp. Isn’t that right, my dear Bluejay?”
I glared at Kronos with all the hatred I could muster. I never should have left Elysium. How could I be so stupid?!
“But Adam is just a demigod. His mother is a mortal,” I spat.
“My dear, dear Blueday, when will you learn? That was a cover story! Godlings are strictly forbidden on your precious little island, Elysium, aren’t they? But your dim Uncle Posieden had no other place to put young Adam. So to Elysium he went, his head full of stories of a mortal mother.”
“You’re lying.” My heartbeat quickened as I heard Adam’s voice. I felt weak with relief—yet frozen with fear.
“Adam! Get out of here! Run!” I shrieked.
“Jay!” he yelled. Instead of running away, he ran towards me.
“No! Adam! Get OUT!” I shouted.
“No way! I’m not leaving you!” He screamed as Kronos began to attack.
Adam reached me, and all Hades broke loose. Kronos used the chain bound to my neck to electrify me with a blast so strong it should have killed me. His eyes were now literally flames. He had lost all of his composure. A black scythe materialized in front of him, and he slashed at Adam. My friend crumbled at my feet as I lost consciousness. The last thing I saw was a burst of light.
My first thought, as I began to wake, was that I was in the healing chamber of Elysium. This vision soon proved to be an illusion—after a few blinks, the image was gone. I was standing next to Adam in a cavernous room. It seemed familiar, though I was sure I had never been here before.
“Hey, Feather,” Adam said softly, using the nickname he knew I both loved and despised. He sounded…sorrowful.
“Where are we?” I asked. Several dull poplar trees dotted the landscape, which I now saw went on for miles. We were standing by one of the trees, watching a horde of people milling about in the distance. It was quiet, and yet the wind carried the whispers of a thousand voices. I gazed at Adam, sure that my blue jay blue eyes were piercing his very soul. “Where are we?” I asked again.
Adam seemed hesitant. “Gods can’t dye,” he told me.
“That’s not an answer,” I snipped, suddenly feeling very afraid.
“So we haven’t really died,” he continued slowly. “We’ve just become spirits of the Underworld. Our parents…Artemis and Poseidon…have willed it so. Our disobedience led to our deaths—so as punishment, we have been stripped of our godly powers. We shall spend eternity assisting Lord Hades.”
Holding back tears, I glanced down. I was wearing a dress commonly worn by the women of ancient Greece—the only difference was that my dress was jet black. For a second, the dress seemed to flicker—I was wearing my favorite old V-neck and jeans again. After a minute, the illusion faded. I was no longer me.
I looked at Adam. Yes, we had to serve out this sentence for the rest of eternity. But even if we were now shadows—stripped of our personalities and assigned to the task of watching over the dead—there was no one I would rather spend eternity with than my best friend.
THE END
