12/
The automaton lunged at me. I stomped on its sword and quickly twisted its glass eyes; instantly it froze. I stabbed my blade into the ground to lean on it as I wiped sweat off my forehead.
I pulled my sword out of the ground and sheathed it. Then I reached over and twisted the automaton's eyes. It straightened with a mechanical whirring sound, then readied its sword. "Adonis!" I commanded. "Epsilon alpha omega!"
Immediately the automaton Adonis sheathed its sword and walked with a mechanical gait to the armory, where it deactivated itself.
I noticed a gash on my arm where the automaton's sword had cut me. I headed toward Poseidon Beach, walked into the ocean and doused my arm in the salt water. The cut sealed up almost instantly. The water felt so good I ducked my head in.
I instantly felt energized. I got out of the water—completely dry, since I never got wet unless I wanted to—and started walking to the house. I looked up at the sky and saw that it was an hour or so past noon. That meant the Apollo kids were supposed to be taking sword fighting lessons from the Ares kids. I sighed.
The Ares and Apollo children absolutely hated each other. The Ares kids were irritable enough, but they were worse around their cousins. The Apollo children refused to listen to their instructors—especially Shawn Spencer.
Sure enough, when I got to the house, Shawn was sitting on the roof, humming along to the sounds of his lyre.
"Shawn!" I yelled. "Why aren't you in the arena?"
"Uhh, you're breaking up! I think you're driving through a tunnel!" he shouted back.
I rolled my eyes. "If you don't come down I'm going to have to drag you down!" I called.
He just shook his head. I sighed, stretched out my hand, and willed the water of the creek to rise. It obeyed, flew up to the tip of the house, and concealed Shawn inside. Then, in a mass of swirling creek water, it floated down and deposited two objects in front of me: a very confused Shawn Spencer, and an extremely annoyed Harmonia.
She gave me a dirty look; I shot an apologetic one of my own, then lifted the water again, along with the naiad, and let it slosh back into the creek bed. The naiad, back in her waters, flicked a small fish at me, then slipped into her depths.
I turned my attention to the soaking Shawn; he was seated on the ground, a bewildered look on his face. I held out my hand. He took it, and I pulled him up. "Are you ready to practice now?"
"Uh…yeah." Shawn shook his head like a wet dog and started toward the arena.
I smiled after him and continued into the house. Maggie Collins and Elizabeth Bentley came dashing out of the Aphrodite room, squealing. I stepped in their path. "What in the name of the gods is going on?" I demanded.
"Connor Heist just told us there's a new Jacuzzi outside!" cried Maggie, her red curls bouncing.
"A—a what?"
"Ohh," Elizabeth said seriously. "Right—a Jacuzzi is a tub filled with hot water that bubbles."
I still didn't understand what she was talking about, but I did know that if Maggie and Elizabeth were willing to trust Connor Heist, they weren't as intelligent as I'd thought. I sighed and closed my eyes. "All right, where is it?"
Maggie and Elizabeth happily took me to the 'Jacuzzi' thing. On the way, I noticed they were oddly hyper. The water of the tub held a suspicious smell; I grabbed Elizabeth's hand and dipped the tip of her finger in the water. It turned green. "Maggie," I said. She looked up at me, her eyes curiously bright. "Did Connor or Robb give you any food?"
She thought for a long moment, proving my theory of slow reaction time. "I…think so," she said slowly. Then she brightened. "Oh! Elizabeth!" She grabbed her sister's arm. "Didn't Robb give us the most delicious box of chocolates?" She closed her eyes and licked her lips.
"Ooh, yes," Elizabeth responded. "I love chocolate."
I rolled my eyes. I grabbed the arm of a passing dryad. "Bring me Connor and Robb Heist." She nodded and ran off.
I turned around and saw Elizabeth idly playing with a knife. I ran and pried it from her hands. "Okay, Elizabeth, let's get you inside. You too, Maggie."
The Aphrodite girls, having no idea what was happening around them (and jumping like rabbits) went into the house. I shooed them into the Aphrodite room and put them into their bunks. Then I closed the curtains and the door and sighed.
I rubbed my forehead. Connor and Robb were going to have to pay. I knew I couldn't out-prank them—they were the experts and would see right through my plan, no matter how carefully thought-out it was. I smiled to myself as I figured out the perfect way to drive them crazy.
I got to the living room and found Robb and Connor Heist sitting on the couch. "You," I said to them sternly. I rubbed my eyes. "I can't believe that you'd drug Maggie Collins and Elizabeth Bentley just to turn them green."
Robb shrugged. "What were we supposed to do?"
"Yeah," Connor chimed in. Then he shrugged too. "Believe it or not, Maggie and Elizabeth are actually pretty smart. Robb and me had no choice but to—er, dull their brains—"
"—so they would be too loony to notice anything," Robb finished.
Connor changed the subject. "So, Alice, what's our punishment?" he sighed.
"Eternal pit of fire?" Robb laughed. "A Sisyphean task?"
I smiled wryly. "No. You two get to relieve the naiads of washing the dishes" they grinned at each other "but," I said, holding up a finger. "You also get to be one-month-slaves to two of the dryads."
Their eyes wide, they looked at each other, then me. "Who?" Connor asked fearfully.
"You know, Alice," Daphne said pleasantly. "I do believe this will work."
"Yes," Marissa said with a sensual smile. "I believe so." Marissa was a nymph true to her name; she lived in a honeysuckle plant. Marissa's fingers were playing with Connor's curly black hair. The boy's expression was dreamy, absent.
Daphne was seated on a branch bent like a chair, Robb on the ground by her feet. The dryad looked content; I knew she'd like having Robb as her servant.
Even though Robb and Connor Heist looked satisfied, I knew perfectly well that dryads were extremely difficult to please and that the Hermes twins would be exhausted by the end of the hour.
I smiled once more. "Have fun," I said to the twins. I winked at the dryads. "You know what to do."
I caught one glimpse of Connor and Robb's fearful expressions before turning on my heel and walking away. I laughed to myself.
I heard hurrying footsteps behind me as Parker Parkers ran to catch up to me. "What's so funny?" she asked breathlessly.
"I just gave Robb and Connor Heist the most difficult punishment ever," I said. Then I told her what the twins did.
"Whoa," she said. "Even I wouldn't go that far."
I smiled. "That's because you aren't a prankster" she opened her mouth angrily "you're a thief."
"Oh," she said. "Right."
I heard rapid clip-clopping behind me and a, "Alice! Look out!", but I didn't turn fast enough, and I found myself over someone's shoulder, the trees flashing by.
I didn't know who it was, but I didn't care. I reached back, pulled an arrow from my quiver, and stabbed it into the thing's back. It let out a goat-like squeal, and collapsed. I dropped to the ground and rolled away from the thing.
I got to my feet and shook the leaves out of my hair, brushing off my clothes. I realized the thing was a satyr—but it wasn't Derek, Peter's friend. In fact, I didn't recognize him at all.
I scooped up my arrow, cleaned the tip, and tossed it in my quiver. Then I glared in the direction of the satyr. Soon Derek, his hooves making dents in the ground, ran over, breathing heavily.
"What," I said, pointing at the satyr, "is that?"
Derek looked sheepish. "Sorry, Alice," he said apologetically. "It gets lonely here, ya know, since I'm the only satyr."
I pursed my lips at him, threw some leaves at the groaning satyr, and walked away.
I found Peter talking to Anne Grey—arguing, actually. They were standing five feet apart, shouting at each other. I jumped between them.
"What's going on?" I demanded.
Anne blew a strand of hair out of her face. "It doesn't matter," she said, throwing an annoyed glance at Peter.
I gave her a slight nod. "You" I pointed at Peter "go practice archery." He opened his mouth. "No!" I interrupted. "Just go."
He kicked a rock and stalked away, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
Someone screamed my name. I glanced at Anne, who drew her sword.
