Pandora the Curious Read online

  Luckily, MOA’s fire hoses still recognized his voice and obeyed him. Three of them magically rose from the courtyard fountain like long snakes. Thanks to the pumping system, which Poseidon had designed, the fire was quickly extinguished.

  Pandora thought it was amazing that Zeus had managed to issue orders at all while under a Lazy spell. That kind of determination, power, and energy could only come from a true King of the Gods!

  The students were told to wait outside while Zeus and some of the teachers went inside to investigate. On their way in, Poseidon suddenly ran out of the bronze doors past them, shrieking like his pants were on fire. Which they weren’t.

  “Fire! Save me! Help! Run for your lives!” he yelled. When he reached the bottom of the granite steps, he leaped into Hades’ arms.

  Hades staggered back under his weight. “Whoa! Get a grip, godboy,” he said, setting Poseidon on his feet. “You look fine to me. And anyway, the fire’s already been put out.” Since Hades spent a lot of time in the Underworld with its molten rivers of lava, fire didn’t faze him.

  Some of the kids were grinning and trying not to laugh at Poseidon’s antics. Medusa was blinking at him in surprise. Pandora knew that the snaky girl had once had a crush on him too. But all that had ended around the time Principal Zeus had married Hera.

  “I want my mommy,” she heard Poseidon whimper.

  Suddenly suspicious, Pandora peered at him more closely. Poseidon had his faults, but he wasn’t a total wimp! To test out her suspicions, she pointed to the ground behind him.

  “Hey, Poseidon, isn’t that your shadow?” she asked. It was a ridiculous thing to say. But he fell for it.

  “Eek!” At the sight of his shadow slanting across the moonlit marble tiles, he jumped a foot high. Then he dashed off to hide behind Apollo.

  “What’s up with him?” Epimetheus asked, coming to stand beside her.

  “I think maybe the eighth bubble found him,” Pandora said. “Maybe earlier tonight. Remember how he was acting in the hallway?”

  Epimetheus grinned. “You mean dippy, er, drippy?”

  For some reason she wanted to laugh, but she managed to stop herself. “No!” she told him sternly. “I mean—”

  “Eek!” the turquoise godboy shrieked again. “Get away! Stop following me, you . . . you shadow!”

  Epimetheus chuckled as Poseidon began running around. “Must’ve been a ‘Chicken’ bubble that got him. Or a ‘Scaredy-cat’ one.”

  Pandora felt a smile curve her lips, and this time she couldn’t control herself. She giggled. “Well, he can’t help it,” she said, trying to stop. “Nobody acts normal when those bubbles attack.”

  “Show’s over. Everybody back to bed!” the herald called out. Zeus had leaned from the Hero-ology window to signal that all was safe.

  As everyone began filing back inside, Pandora wound up next to Poseidon. That’s when she realized he was wearing footie pajamas! Her eyes traveled from his feet to his face.

  “I was worried something might nibble my toes while I was sleeping,” he said defensively.

  “Do you really think that’s a realistic possibility?” she asked kindly as they pushed through MOA’s front doors and went inside.

  Before Poseidon could answer, Principal Zeus came down the marble stairs toward them. He had Prometheus by the scruff of his neck. “Pandora! Epimetheus! Get over here on the double!”

  Uh-oh! thought Pandora. Though he’d yawned between each word he’d spoken, Zeus still looked and sounded thundering mad.

  She and Epimetheus scrambled to obey. They reached Zeus just as he released Prometheus. Then the principal stood there and eyed all three of them, his arms folded. “IT SEEMS THAT SOMEONE PURPOSELY SET THE HERO-OLOGY ROOM ON FIRE,” he boomed in an accusing voice that echoed through the halls.

  “What?” asked Pandora. “Who would do something like that?”

  “You tell me,” said Zeus. He opened his palm and showed them a charred clay statue holding a stick. Pandora sent Prometheus a sidelong glance. It was the hero statue he’d made for their Science-ology project. But why was it holding a stick?

  “Mr. Cyclops has told me he found the three of you loitering around the game board earlier today. And you know what that makes you?” The three students shook their heads. “My prime suspects,” Zeus informed them.

  Then he looked at Prometheus. “You in particular. What were you doing in the hall outside the Hero-ology room just now?”

  Prometheus shoved his hands into the pockets of his tunic. “All right. I admit it! I started the fire!”

  Pandora and Epimetheus gasped. Other students were still filing around them, going back to their rooms. They overheard of course and started grumbling. She could totally understand them being mad. A Titan had almost burned down the Academy!

  “But it was an accident,” Prometheus went on. “I stole—I mean borrowed one of Hephaestus’s night-light torches and used it to light that torch my hero is carrying.”

  So that’s what the stick in the charred statue’s hand was, Pandora realized. A tiny torch.

  “I gave fire to my hero so he could use it to help other mortals on Earth,” Prometheus explained. He glared at Zeus. “Because someone who should have been keeping the fires burning on Earth was too lazy to do it.”

  At this, Zeus made a strangled noise in his throat. He looked like he was in the mood to zap someone or even hurl a thunderbolt!

  Godness, thought Pandora. Prometheus better watch his words or he might end up as charred as his hero statue! Although, now that she looked at the statue, it was actually more sooty than burned. Since mortals were suffering, he’d done a heroic thing, all right. But talking to the principal like this was a very bad idea.

  Zeus pointed in the general direction of the Hero-ology room. “Everything that happens on that game board happens on Earth!” he roared. “Which means mortals have had a fire.”

  “Good! They were freezing,” Prometheus said. “They need fire!”

  “But not wild fire!” thundered Zeus, spreading his arms wide. “Fortunately, it’s out now, so there’ll be little damage on Earth. Still, you must be punished for your rash action.”

  Then he wilted a little. “Only, I’m too tired right now to think up a fitting punishment.” He shut both of his sleepy eyes. Then he opened them to slits to stare at Prometheus. “Therefore, you will decide your own punishment.”

  “I have an idea!” Epimetheus interrupted. “You could punish him with a spell to make him stop stealing. You know, like he stole that torch.”

  It was a crafty suggestion. But Zeus—even a lazy Zeus—couldn’t be tricked so easily. He squinted at Prometheus, his blue eyes seeming almost to burn into the boy’s mind.

  “Aha!” Zeus said at last. He slowly rubbed his palms together, and sparks flew. The three students jumped back to avoid being struck by them. “I have looked into your mind, Titan. And I see liver.”

  “Liver?” Prometheus echoed.

  “Yes,” Zeus went on. “I have learned that you hate liver. Therefore, as your punishment, I proclaim that you shall dine upon it forevermore. As in—through eternity. Got it?”

  Prometheus turned a sickly green. “No! Please. Anything but that!”

  “Wait! This is partly my fault,” Pandora protested. It wasn’t fair that all the blame should fall on Prometheus. “Because of that box. I—”

  “Enough! There’s no excuse for what this boy has done.” Zeus went to the front door, opened it, and whistled. From somewhere in the nearby forest came a loud caw and the flap of wings. On a mighty whoosh of air, an eagle flew from the treetops. It zoomed inside the Academy, circled them, and then landed on Zeus’s shoulder.

  He and the eagle both pinned Prometheus with their gazes. “In case you are tempted to disobey, this eagle-eyed eagle will be watching to ensure that you eat every bite of liver set before you from now on.”

  Immediately following this pronouncement Zeus yawned loudly. “I need a nap,” he said
as the eagle hopped from his shoulder to Prometheus’s. All three students stared at it, and it stared back at them as Zeus turned on his heel and headed for his office.

  What were they going to do now? Pandora wondered. That eagle would probably be keeping an eye on Epimetheus and her as well as Prometheus. And meanwhile Zeus still had the box.

  12

  One Last Hope

  THE NEXT MORNING PANDORA WOKE TO THE sound of hammers and the scraping of furniture. It seemed to be coming from down below in the courtyard.

  “What’s all that noise?” Athena grumbled. She put a pillow over her head.

  “Today’s the Science-ology fair, remember?” Pandora told her. She hopped out of bed and ran to the window. Down in the courtyard students were beginning to set up their displays. There were rows of tables, some with awnings overhead. Unusual gadgets and illustrated poster-scrolls already sat on some of the tables.

  Athena’s rolled-up poster-scroll was on her desk here in their room, just waiting to be displayed outside on the table she’d share with Heracles.

  A sick feeling came into Pandora’s stomach. Her team had nothing to display. She was going to fail the project. As were her partners.

  Taking a deep breath, she pushed the thought aside. Because she had more important things than a mere grade to worry about. She dug around in her closet and came up with a butterfly net. She whipped it back and forth in the air a couple of times, making swishing sounds.

  “What’s that for?” Athena asked, peeking an eye out from under her pillow.

  “Bubble hunting,” said Pandora. “Near as I can tell, there’s still one bubble loose in the school. If I can save one last student from being bubble-bumped, that’ll be something, right?”

  “Definid—definditpy—definity— Um, yeah,” agreed Athena.

  Quickly Pandora shucked her pj’s and pulled a blue and gold chiton over her head.

  Athena sat up and slid her feet into slippers that were beside her bed. Then she stared down at her feet in confusion. “These feel weird.”

  Pandora looked over at her and sighed. “Because they’re on the wrong feet.”

  Athena giggled, then bent to switch left with right.

  “See you in the courtyard,” Pandora called as she made for the door.

  “’Kay,” Athena replied.

  After taking the marble stairs down, Pandora stopped by the cafeteria to grab some cheese styx from the snack table. She didn’t have time for a real breakfast. She was on a mission!

  First thing she saw in the cafeteria was Prometheus, seated and staring at a plate piled high with liver on the table before him. He was kind of hard to miss because that eagle from last night was perched on the back of his chair.

  It was peering over his shoulder, watching closely to be sure Zeus’s orders were carried out. Prometheus was eyeing the pile of liver, his lips curled in distaste.

  “OMG,” she murmured to herself. “He looks sickly green, and he hasn’t even taken a bite yet?”

  “Oh, but he has,” said Epimetheus. She hadn’t noticed that he’d come up beside her. “That’s a special plate he’s eating from. Every time he takes a bite of liver, more liver magically appears. He has to sit there and keep eating it until the eagle decides he’s had enough. Breakfast. Lunch. And dinner. Forevermore.”

  Just thinking about that made Pandora turn a little green herself. She despised liver with a purple passion too.

  “I’m sorry?” Pandora told him. She hadn’t meant it as a question, but she was so upset that of course it came out that way.

  “Yeah, well, that doesn’t really help him.” Epimetheus left her side and went to sit by his brother. With a heavy heart Pandora trudged outside to the courtyard.

  She’d started across it, when Persephone walked by with her crush, Hades. “Will you shut up?” she was saying to him. She was obviously still under the spell of the “Anger” bubble.

  Hades got steaming mad. “Fine. I will!” He turned on his heel and stomped off.

  Watching him go, Persephone looked like she was going to cry. “I don’t get it. Why am I acting like this?” she murmured under her breath.

  “Because you were bubble-bumped,” Pandora whispered, but not loud enough for Persephone to hear. The girl wouldn’t understand anyway, and Pandora didn’t have time to explain.

  Keeping a sharp eye out for the stray ninth bubble, she wound her way through the science fair displays. Artemis was already at her table, holding her new Cutie Pie dog. She had partnered with Pheme for some unknown reason. Both girls were wearing heavy eye makeup. The title of their display was:

  QUESTION: WHICH EYE SHADOW COLOR MAKES US LOOK THE MOST BEAUTIFUL?

  Pandora was sure this choice of project had been Artemis’s idea, but at least Pheme seemed to be enjoying herself too. Due to some kink in their experiment, the shadow colors on their eyelids were changing at a dizzying speed, randomly flashing new colors every few seconds.

  It was a weirdly cool project, but Pandora had a hard time seeing the scientific merit in it. Next she walked past Medusa. She was in the middle of an argument with Iris and Antheia, who had the table beside hers.

  “Oh, come on. You don’t need all that room,” Medusa told them. Then she proceeded to slide her poster partly onto their table, taking half of the other girls’ space.

  “Why are you doing this?” asked Iris, sounding annoyed.

  “Yeah, you’ve got plenty of room on your own table,” Antheia added.

  In reply Medusa eyed them and pointed a finger at the title of her project poster. The question she was apparently researching was: GIVE ME MORE.

  It wasn’t really a question at all, but who was going to argue about that? No one, that’s who. Certainly not Pandora. Not with a snarky snaky-haired girl who also had the power to turn mortals like her to stone.

  Pandora sent her an encouraging thumbs-up, and Medusa grinned at her. Then she called out, “Hey, can I have that butterfly net?”

  Pandora sped up and pretended not to hear. Now, where did that pesky ninth bubble get to? she wondered, scanning the sky.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she heard Apollo say as she was walking along. He wasn’t talking to her, though. When she looked his way, she noticed Poseidon was hiding under the table that he and Apollo shared.

  Seeing her, Apollo pointed at Poseidon. “I don’t know what’s gotten into this guy. He insisted on changing our project and redoing our poster at the last minute. It’s embarrassing!”

  Apollo gestured at their poster-scroll, which appeared to have been erased and hastily rewritten. It now read:

  QUESTION: WHAT SHOULD YOU BE SCARED OF? HYPOTHESIS: EVERYTHING.

  Suddenly Apollo’s gaze shifted to the granite steps that led up to the school. His expression changed to one of dislike. “Firebugs,” he muttered.

  Wondering what he was talking about, Pandora glanced over. She was just in time to see Epimetheus and Prometheus push through the front doors of the Academy. Prometheus was still looking a little green from all that liver.

  As they descended the steps and began to walk through the fair, everyone shot them angry glances. “I knew we were right not to trust you,” Kydoimos hissed at them as they passed.

  It wasn’t fair! Prometheus had only stolen fire because of that “Thief” bubble. Well, also because he wanted to help mortals. His heart was in the right place. So was Epimetheus’s. But no one else at MOA knew that.

  There had to be a way to fix things so everyone stopped blaming the boys. And so her friends didn’t stay permanently weird. Capturing that ninth bubble might be the first step. So where was it?

  Just then a light coming from above flickered in Pandora’s eyes. She looked up at the sky and saw Hermes’ chariot winging toward the fair. There were three passengers with him. Probably the science fair judges.

  But there was also something else glinting in the sunlight overhead. Something closer. Something round and small and turquoise that was bobbing alon
g in the air. She put up a hand to shield her eyes and saw . . . the ninth bubble!

  Her heart started thumping. She had to pop it before it could strike yet another victim! As it moved beyond the awnings, she ran along the aisle trying to follow it. It streaked through the science fair, leading her on a not-so-merry chase.

  “Come back here, you stupid bubble!” she called out as she zoomed after it.

  In her haste she couldn’t help knocking into people as she ran. Since they couldn’t see the bubble and didn’t know how important her mission was, they were understandably annoyed.

  “Troublemaker,” someone grumbled at her.

  “You have no idea!” she yelled back. Because she was a troublemaker. When she’d released those bubbles, she’d caused tons of trouble.

  Finally, when she judged she was close enough to the bubble, she jumped and swung. Swish! She whipped her net through the air, trying to capture the bubble.

  Whoosh! Hermes’ chariot zoomed down from the sky, sending a puff of air her way. The bubble did a few corkscrews in the air and dodged her net. Then it whipped away and headed for the chariot, which had just landed.

  Hermes hopped out and opened its side door so his three passengers could get out. Pandora watched in dismay as the turquoise bubble zipped over and bumped one of them. Pythagoras. She recognized him from the pictures Athena used to have of him before she changed her bulletin board.

  Pandora wasn’t close enough to hear what the bubble whispered to him. She went closer. The minute the three scientists stepped from the chariot, she leaned over to the bubble-bumped one. “Pythagoras?” she asked.

  He looked straight at her and replied, “No. I’m Aristotle.”

  “What?” Pandora knew that wasn’t true.

  “No, you aren’t,” another scientist said to him in surprise. “I am.”

  Ignoring him, Pythagoras made his way down the first row of student exhibits. He stopped at Kydoimos and Makhai’s table and studied their project. It was all about mathematical shapes. The boys smiled at him, but their faces fell when he shook his head.