Pandora the Curious Page 5

  Prometheus pulled an object about the size of a pickle from the pocket of his tunic. He tucked it into his fist, letting the top of it poke up about an inch. Then Epimetheus stacked his fist on top of Prometheus’s fist, wrapping his fingers around the part of the object that was sticking out.

  Together the two godboys murmured the same magical chant:

  Basket for three

  Come to me.

  Then their fists jerked apart and they both let go of the object. In a flash it magically transformed into a large, square woven basket. The basket hovered in the air for a few seconds, then dropped to sit on the ground. The top of it was about even with Pandora’s shoulder. And it did look big enough to hold three people.

  Still she was a little disappointed. “A basket?” she asked. “That’s what you use for Titan Flight?” She’d been hoping for something more unique and amazing.

  “Just wait,” Epimetheus said mysteriously.

  Whoosh! She jumped back in surprise as an enormous balloon suddenly inflated from the basket’s middle. Eight cords, each set about two feet apart, rose along the rim of the basket. Quickly the cords threaded themselves through holes in the bottom edge of the balloon, catching it before it could float away.

  “A flying balloon? Awesome!” said Pandora, bouncing with delight. “How does it work?”

  “It’s powered by U-fire,” said Prometheus.

  “Huh?” she said.

  “That stands for ‘Underworld fire,’ ” Epimetheus explained. “Get in and you’ll see.”

  He cupped his hands together so she could step into them. Then he gave her a boost over the side of the basket. After she’d hopped inside it, the two Titans hefted themselves in too.

  In the middle of the basket’s floor sat a small ceramic pot. She walked around it. Flames rose from it, but its fire didn’t seem to have a fuel source.

  Epimetheus noticed her confused look. “You know that thing we held when we were saying our chant?” She nodded. “It contains a single spark of U-fire,” he told her. “The chant’s magic ignites it. Then the fire heats the air, which fills the balloon to lift it.”

  “Did you get the U-fire from Hades?” she wondered aloud. That seemed hard to believe. Hades might not taunt them, but he didn’t seem overly fond of them either.

  Epimetheus shook his head. He and his brother had begun testing the cords that attached the basket to the balloon, making sure they were secure. “No. From our dad. Zeus banished him to the Underworld after the war.”

  “Since he couldn’t be around to protect us anymore, he gave us the spark so we’d have the gift of flight,” added Prometheus.

  Their dad was in the Underworld? This was news to Pandora. She tugged on the cord nearest her, testing it like she’d seen Epimetheus and Prometheus do. Once they were satisfied that all was ready, Epimetheus called out:

  Underworld fire,

  Take us higher—

  Earthward bound

  Where mortals are found.

  Pandora braced her feet and grabbed the side of the basket as it swiftly rose high in the air. And soon they were sailing away from MOA and downward from Mount Olympus, the tallest mountain in all of Greece.

  For a while Pandora waved to other pairs of MOA students skimming the ground in winged sandals. But then she lost track of them as the balloon sailed faster and farther.

  The breeze cooled her cheeks as they zoomed past puffy white clouds. Looking over the side of the basket, she could see their balloon’s blue-gray shadow as it fell across the forests, grasses, and lakes below. Everything was so beautiful from up here. She almost hated for the ride to end.

  All too soon, though, they began their descent. “Here we come, Earth!” Epimetheus yelled.

  Below, Pandora saw an amphitheater, a round stone temple, houses, roads, and a market called an agora. But the biggest landmark of all was the enormous limestone Temple of Zeus. It had six columns across the front and thirteen on each of its sides. And each column was nearly five times as tall as Zeus himself!

  “Looks like we’re in the city of Olympia,” said Epimetheus.

  “Where should we touch down?” Prometheus asked.

  Pandora pointed below. “Maybe behind Zeus’s temple?”

  Epimetheus nodded and guided their balloon lower. It wasn’t until they’d landed and stepped out of the basket that Pandora began to shiver. “Brr. Why is it so cold here?” she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.

  “Good question,” said Prometheus, who was shivering too.

  “I’ve got goose bumps,” added Epimetheus.

  With chattering teeth the Titans recited a magical “undo” chant. It was basically their original chant, only they said it backward:

  Me to come

  Three for basket.

  Instantly the balloon deflated and disappeared into the basket, which then shrank to pickle size again. Epimetheus pocketed it, and the trio walked around the side of the temple.

  Prometheus had some coins, so they stopped at the nearby agora and bought three hooded cloaks to keep them warm. Soon they were standing in front of the temple.

  Right away they saw a group of mortal youths hurrying down its front steps and heading their way. Pandora peeked past them into the temple and gasped at the sight of the gigantic ivory and gold statue of Zeus himself. This temple was one of the most famous in all of Greece. And the statue of Zeus was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world!

  “Hello? Excuse me,” Pandora called to the youths. Hearing her, they paused. “Can I ask you a quick question?” Without waiting for their reply, she rushed on. “What do you need? I mean, what would you wish for if you could have anything?”

  One bold youth didn’t hesitate to answer. “A new coat!” he said.

  A maiden passing by with only a thin shawl around her shoulders said, “Yes! A warm one!”

  A gray-haired woman coming down the temple steps had also overheard. “Or how about a bright, hot fire that never goes out?” She was wrapped in a half-dozen shawls, but still she shivered with cold. The whole group of mortals cheered her idea.

  “Yes! We’re freezing. And we can’t even cook our food these days,” said the maiden.

  “Why don’t you just build a fire?” asked Epimetheus.

  “Bah! Try it yourself and see what happens,” said the woman with all the shawls. “The fires on Earth have gone out and cannot be lit again. Even the fires in Zeus’s temple.”

  Pandora peered back at the temple and saw it was true. “That’s awful!” She sent the Titans a pleading glance. “What about the fire balloon? Why don’t you—”

  “Yeah, let’s give them U-fire,” Prometheus urged his brother.

  Epimetheus put a hand over the pocket where he’d stashed the magic pickle device. Reluctantly he shook his head. “You know we can’t. We swore an oath to Dad never to share it.”

  “Oh, please!” the maiden begged. “If you have fire, we desperately need it!”

  Prometheus hunched his shoulders and rammed his hands into his pockets. “I know we promised Dad. But still. It’s mean not to help.” He sounded frustrated at Epimetheus’s refusal.

  “And you say I’m the one who acts before thinking?” chided Epimetheus. “U-fire could actually make things worse here. Dad told us it could prove as dangerous as that box of ours in the wrong hands.”

  Just then a cold wind whipped up and blew back his hood.

  “Look! His skin! It shimmers,” said the shawl-bundled woman. “Which Olympian gods are you?” she asked eagerly.

  The boys didn’t answer.

  “Epimetheus and Prometheus aren’t Olympians,” Pandora told her. “They’re T—”

  “Titans! The sons of Iapetus,” someone guessed before she finished. The crowd began to grumble.

  “So that must be why we’re cursed and can no longer make fire,” an old man said. “Because Zeus has invited Titans to Mount Olympus!”

  “Yes! It’s Zeus’s fault!” someone yelled.r />
  “And the fault of these Titans!” someone else added.

  “What? No. That isn’t true,” Pandora protested.

  But no one was listening to her. And the crowd was getting angrier by the minute. Soon the mortals began to advance on the two Titans. And on Pandora, too! Apparently they also held her responsible simply because she was mixing with the Titans. It was guilt by association!

  “Let’s get out of here!” shouted Epimetheus.

  7

  Eew!

  EPIMETHEUS TOOK PANDORA’S ARM AS HE AND Prometheus began backing away. With his other hand he pulled out the magic pickle device and brought forth the balloon basket.

  The mortals’ eyes widened in astonishment as the flames of Underworld fire whooshed up, inflating the balloon.

  “Fire! They have fire, but they won’t give us any!” someone yelled.

  The two Titans jumped into the basket. They pulled Pandora inside after them, while reciting their flying chant all in a rush:

  Underworldfire,

  Takeushigher—

  MountOlympusbound

  Whereimmortalsarefound.

  In the nick of time their basket lifted from the ground. Whoosh! They soared higher, gaining altitude. The three of them peered over the edge of the basket. Down below, the angry crowd still swarmed before the temple, shaking their fists.

  Pandora took off her cloak and asked the boys for theirs. Then she tossed all three cloaks down, hoping they’d at least help three mortals keep warm.

  “I think this problem is bigger than our game board heroes can handle,” said Epimetheus.

  Pandora nodded. “We’d better tell Zeus, don’t you think? When he finds out about this suffering, he’ll know how to set things right.”

  The flight home seemed to take forever. But eventually they broke through the clouds, and the majestic Mount Olympus Academy—always an imposing sight—sprang into view. Built of polished white stone that gleamed in the sunlight, it stood five stories tall and was surrounded on all sides by dozens of Ionic columns. Low-relief friezes were sculpted below its peaked rooftop.

  From overhead they glimpsed Principal Zeus and his wife, Hera, in the olive grove to one side of the courtyard.

  Pandora scrambled out of the basket the minute they landed, and ran for the grove. Behind her she heard the balloon deflate. Then the Titans’ footsteps were pounding closer to her as the boys followed.

  When they got close enough, they could hear Zeus and Hera arguing. Or rather Hera was arguing. Zeus was smiling lazily up at the sky, appearing undisturbed by her ranting.

  He was lying on a bench under an olive tree, sunbathing in his tunic. Unsure if it was wise to intrude, Pandora and the two Titans stopped at the edge of the grove to listen in.

  “You said you would help me move some walls in my store right away,” Hera railed. “But it’s been two days, and you still haven’t shown up to do it.”

  Zeus yawned. “I’ll get to it, sugar pie.”

  “Don’t you ‘sugar pie’ me,” she said, folding her arms. She was probably the only person on all of Mount Olympus or Earth who could get away with talking to Zeus like that.

  “Oh, speaking of pies, would you mind getting me some lunch from the cafeteria, sugarplum?” Zeus asked.

  “What? Get it yourself, you . . . you lazybones!” With that, Hera stormed off.

  Once she was gone, Pandora and the two Titans burst into the grove.

  “Principal Zeus?” Pandora began breathlessly. “There’s trouble down on Earth? All the fires have gone out and need to be re-lit?” She knew she was making sentences into questions, but she was so upset, she couldn’t help it.

  “Later,” said Zeus, yawning again.

  “But mortals are cold and they can’t cook,” said Epimetheus.

  “Whatever,” said Zeus.

  “Do you know what it’s like to be without fire?” Prometheus demanded. He was getting really annoyed.

  “You can’t leave them that way,” Epimetheus said. “They could freeze to death!”

  “What do I have to do to catch forty winks around here?” Zeus whined. “I’m going someplace quiet.” He stood and trudged away.

  Stunned by his uncaring attitude, the three of them watched him go.

  “Know what I think?” said Prometheus as they headed out of the grove a minute later. “I think the trouble on Earth is Principal Zeus’s fault. I think he’s gotten so lazy that he’s neglecting the mortals there.”

  “You could be right,” said Epimetheus. “Even the fires in his own temple were out, remember?”

  It was true, but hearing the Titans criticize Zeus bothered Pandora.

  Back in the courtyard Prometheus quickened his pace toward the front steps of the Academy.

  “Where are you going?” Pandora called after him.

  “To Hero-ology. I want to make some changes to my hero statue,” Prometheus said over his shoulder. “So he’ll be better equipped to help mortals deal with their lack of fire.”

  “What kind of changes?” Pandora asked, running to catch up with him. Epimetheus was right behind her.

  “I’ll give him weapons to hunt animals. That way, mortals will have fur coats,” said Prometheus.

  “No!” Epimetheus and Pandora exclaimed at the same time. They followed him through the front doors of MOA and then up the marble stairs.

  “It’s not the animals’ fault that Zeus is lazy,” said Epimetheus as they entered the Hero-ology room.

  “Yeah, can’t we figure something else out?” asked Pandora. But Prometheus wouldn’t listen.

  When they reached the game board, Epimetheus tugged at his brother’s arm to try to stop him. Prometheus shook him off. Whap! In their struggle they accidentally knocked a half-dozen little heroes into the Mediterranean Sea.

  “Oh, no!” said Pandora as her girl hero statue splashed in.

  Everything they did to their little statues on the game board actually happened to the corresponding real mortal heroes living on Earth. So that meant that the life-size, living, breathing heroes on Earth might be drowning! They could even get eaten. Because not only were the seas and oceans real, but the beasts that lurked in them were too.

  “Hurry! We have to save them!” She stuck her hand into the sea, going elbow deep. The boys reached in too.

  “Eew!” Pandora wailed as she fished around for her hero-girl. “I think a sea serpent just slobbered on my arm!”

  Luckily, she was able to find Curie and scoop her out. The clay figure looked okay, if a little damp. Just as she and the Titans rescued the last of the six heroes who’d fallen into the sea, the classroom door flew open.

  Mr. Cyclops, the Hero-ology teacher, came in. “What are you all doing in here? Get away from that board this instant!”

  The three of them jumped back from the game board as if a bunch of sea monsters had leaped from the oceans and bitten their noses.

  Mr. Cyclops put his hands on his hips. The single eye in the center of his forehead blinked at them. His only eyebrow scrunched up in irritation. “I asked you a question. What are you doing?”

  “Working on our Science-ology project?” Pandora squeaked nervously.

  “Which is?” asked Mr. Cyclops.

  With the Titans’ help Pandora quickly explained. Before they could finish their explanation, though, Mr. Cyclops was already shaking his head.

  “This may be a game board but this isn’t a game. You can’t just add heroes to the board willy-nilly,” he said. “Doing so could have serious consequences down on Earth.” The single eye regarded them sternly for a few seconds. Then he said, “Please remove all of the new statues you’ve added.”

  “But—,” said Pandora.

  “Now,” Mr. Cyclops commanded.

  Pandora reluctantly wrapped up and pocketed her girl hero. The Titans scooped up their heroes too.

  “Guess it’s back to square one?” she murmured as they left the Hero-ology classroom.

  “There is only o
ne day left before the fair this Friday. We don’t have time to start a whole new project,” Prometheus grumbled. He and his brother both looked glum.

  “Are you really going to wimp out?” Pandora asked them as they headed for the cafeteria. “Because I’m not. We know what mortals need now. We just have to think of a new way to help them get it. So put your thinking caps on.”

  “I think mine’s broken,” said Epimetheus, smiling slightly. Pandora gave his arm a playful punch. “Well, fix it.” She wasn’t giving up on the possibility of winning yet!

  Just then they passed the stairs. Glancing up, Pandora noticed Athena standing on the landing, looking bewildered.

  “Psst!” Athena waved her closer.

  “You guys go on. I’ll catch you later,” Pandora told the boys. As the two of them continued on to the cafeteria, she took the stairs up.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked when she reached Athena.

  “Well, you won’t believe this, but I lost Woody,” said Athena. “You know—my Trojan horse? The one I brought from my home in Triton down on Earth? I had him in our room. And then I remember taking him somewhere. But now I’ve totally forgotten what I did with him!”

  “Don’t worry,” Pandora told her. “Woody’s in the Hero-ology room. I saw him there a few minutes ago.”

  Athena snapped her fingers. “So that’s where I left him! I can’t believe I forgot. How bubble-brained is that?” Far from being upset, she burst out laughing at her own silliness.

  Bubble-brained? It sure seemed that way! Watching Athena head downstairs, Pandora got a mental picture of that blue bubble bumping Athena’s forehead just two days ago. Hmm. The bubbles. The Trojan horse. The bubbles. The Trojan horse. Her brain seemed to be working on some kind of connection between the two.

  Ye gods! she thought as an idea finally took shape.

  Epimetheus and Prometheus had admitted they knew all about Athena’s Trojan horse trick. What if their box of bubbles was actually a devious version of the same trick? A cunning Titan plot to get revenge on their dad’s enemies—Principal Zeus and the Olympians at MOA!