Alpha Academy: Misfit's Rise

Chapter Thirteen: Expression

I still had a few minutes before my next class, so I decided to check out more of the murals. It would keep me from fuming, in any case. The first one I found showed a man standing over a raging sea, stabbing his trident into a ship, which capsized. The ship's mast rushed down toward my face, and instinctively I threw my arms over my head. When I opened my eyes again, the sea was peaceful, the ship intact. Most of the murals were from ancient Greece, but I found other pantheons, and several that looked like references to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Many of them were layered with different images. One showed Zeus dressed in a Toga, standing over Mount Olympus. When I stepped closer, it showed him sitting on his throne, wearing the clothing of a Roman centurion. When I tried to leave, a lightning bolt snapped in front of my face, making my hair stand up on end. I found a mural for Hera, Athena, and Artemis that all had a Roman version underneath. My favorite though, did not.

It was simple, at first, tucked away in a corner on the third floor. It showed a young girl with auburn hair laced with violets, lying in a field of wildflowers. She wore a flowing white gown that shimmered pale-green in the sunlight. Her stance was casual, but there was a firmness in her shoulders and an almost imperceptible smile on her lips as she caressed a white lily. Unlike the other pictures, though, she didn't move. The picture was frozen, still. And somehow, she was out of focus, muted against the brightly colored-flowers around her. It was like the artist purposefully drew attention to every part of the piece but her, which only made her stand out more.

I stepped closer, and a new layer formed. Unlike the other pictures, the colors didn't just shift and change to show a new version of the Goddess. Like the murals in the dome, it told a story. Darkness swirled up from the ground beneath her, forming the shape of man. She unfroze, like unpausing the screen of a movie, as her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. Before she could scream, his hands wrapped around her mouth and waist. He lifted her in his arms as the darkness swirled around them, and suddenly they were sinking down into the earth. The darkness continued to fill the frame, until it was pitch black.

I waited for more, but nothing came. My brow furrowed. Is this where it was supposed to end? Why did they replace such a beautiful painting with nothing?

But then, slowly, a small light appeared in the corner. It spread, sort of. It was more like moonlight, flitting in and out of darkness but leaving most of it untouched. It reached the center, illuminating a foot. Gradually that foot became a leg, and then a hip, until finally, a person was revealed. It was the girl from before. Her hair was no longer auburn, but a startling wine red. Her white dress was now dirty and torn, but somehow still magnificent. Her eyes were black and sunken, like endless pits on her pale skin. Her wreath of flowers now a crown of black thorns. She was beautiful, but grotesquely, dangerously so.

She lifted her hand. Pale light reflected off her almost-emaciated limbs, briefly illuminating the forest behind her. Skulls, bones, and ghoulish faces were woven into the leaves and branches. The light extended further, and a shadowed man came into view. The girl smiled, black mist issuing from her teeth.

"It's Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld," someone said.

I'd been so focused on the mural I hadn't noticed the person standing next to me. It was Lucian, of all people.

I'd never been this close to him before. I guess I could see what all the hype was about. He was well-toned and had that chiseled face thing going on. He also managed to pull off that black hair and pale skin in a way that looked regal, not pallid. He reminded me of those old Roman statues, magnificently beautiful even though I couldn't say exactly why.

"The picture," he said, misinterpreting my bemused expression. "It tells the story of the goddess Persephone."

"Right, 'cause she got kidnapped by Hades, God of the Dead."