Goddess Boot Camp

SOURCE: HERMES

The ability to use the body to its fullest extent. This power may manifest as superior stamina, extraordinary healing ability, and athletic talent. Can., depending on thehematheos heritage, result in superior physical grace, rhythm, and affinity for dance. Descendants of Hephaestus lack this power entirely.

DYNAMOTHEOS STUDY GUIDE * Stella Petrolas

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'PHOEBE, WAKE UP.' A voice penetrates my dream. Then the owner of the voice shakes me awake. 'Dad and Valerie will be home in a few hours and you're going to be late for camp. Get up.'

I try burrowing under the comforter, hoping Stella will take the hint and go away. Not that she's ever been one to take hints.

'Don't make me get the ice water,' she warns.

I grunt in response.

I want to get back to my dream-in which I not only win the Pythian trials tomorrow, but also the Pythian Games andthe Olympics… but all while running underwater. I know, dreams never make sense.

Besides, Stella wouldn't really-

'I warned you,' she says, a split seeond before my comforter is jerked away and a splash of freezing water hits my forehead.

Bolting up, I shout, 'Are you insane?' Wiping at the water before it can trickle down to my neck and other sensitive areas, I give her my best you'd-better-run glare. 'You can give a person a heart attack doing that.'

'Stop being so dramatic.' She holds the still-half-full glass over me. 'Now get out of bed before I dump the rest on you.'

She disappears before I can even begin to think of ways to murder her and hide the body.

Well, I'm fully awake now-my dream is out of reach-so I swing myself out of bed. It wasn't the ice water that jolted me awake so much as the reminder that Mom and Damian are getting home today.

Though I could be relieved that Damian is about to be home and can help me train, I'm terrified, even though he said it could happen at any time. I felt pretty certain the gods wouldn't spring the test on me while Damian was off the island. With his return comes the looming reminder that I'm going to be tested, and soon. Summer solstice is only days away.

As I splash water on my face, my stomach is full of butterflies. What kind of test will it be? Will I be able to figure out it's the test before I fail miserably? And what really will happen if I fail? I'm picturing me chained to a boulder while a giant eagle pecks out my liver when Stella opens the bathroom door.

'You're not even dressed,' she points out.

Not willing to dignify her statement by turning around, I give her reflection a look that says, Duh.

'Hurry up already,' she says, giving me the speed-it-up gesture. 'I don't want to be late today.'

Rather than point out that shedoesn't have to be late, even if I am-since when does she wait for me?-I ask, 'What's the rush? Why are you so excited about today?'

'No reason,' she says. But I see the twinkle in her eye.

She's up to something.

'Be on the front porch in five,' she says. 'Or I'm zapping you to camp, dressed or not.'

As if the butterflies in my stomach weren't bad enough, now they're swirling up a storm at the thought of what she has cooked up for today. I can only imagine it will end in my total embarrassment-as always.

But, since my getting zapped into the middle of camp in my smiley-face boxers would mean certain humiliation, I speed up my routine and beat Stella to the front porch by a good thirty seconds.

'Are you going to tell me what's going on?' I ask as we descend the steps and head toward school.

'I don't think so,' she says. 'I like keeping you on your toes.'

When we pass by the turn for the front entrance, I ask, 'I thought we were meeting in the courtyard today?'

'We were.' She smiles cryptically. 'Plans change.'

We round the back of the school, where Adara and Xander are waiting. Adara looks annoyed. Xander looks… well, also annoyed, but that's how he always looks.

There are no little campers around.

'What's going on?' I ask nervously. One or two of the ten-year-olds are always early. 'Where is everyone else?'

'They'll be here later,' Stella explains. 'At ten.'

'At ten?' I look for my watch, only to find my wrist empty. 'I thought it was ten.'

'It's eight,' Adara says, crossing her arms across her chest.

Spinning on Stella, I ask, 'Why am I here two hours early?'

Xander, silent until now,. steps forward. 'This is my idea.'

'We think this might help you take your powers control to the next level.' Stella explains.

They are being intentionally vague and evasive. I'm immediately on guard. If this were some simple exercise, they'd just tell me without all the dramatic suspense. 'What is 'this' exactly?'

No one answers.

Adara steps forward, carrying a black sash. 'Trust me?'

It's only half a question. Asking me and telling me to trust her at the same time. A week ago, I would have shouted, 'No way!' But ever since she shared her darkest secret, we've had a kind of understanding. She hasn't once threatened to smote me.

I turn my back, letting her secure the sash over my eyes.

'What am I supposed to do?' I ask. 'Guess how many fingers you're holding up?'

'Not exactly,' Xander says, moving closer and taking my elbow. He leads me… somewhere. All my senses are on high alert because I can't see my surroundings. I can hear the crunch of our footsteps on the gravel path.

'So…' I say as the scent of pine fills my nostrils. 'Are you going to tell me what's going on?'

'You're going to complete an obstacle course.'

'Blindfolded?' I stop in my tracks, only slightly pleased to feel Xander jerk to a stop next to me. 'Are you crazy?'

I reach up to rip off the blindfold, but Xander's hands clamp around my wrists.

'Listen to me,' he says, his voice low and close. 'In order to tap into your powers, sometimes you have to stop relying on your senses. You don't need to see the obstacles to overcome them.'

'But what if I get hurt?' An image of me sitting in the bleachers at the Pythian Games, my leg encased in a massive cast, sends a shiver through me. The trials are tomorrow and I need to be in peak