Titans 1 "I KNOW WHAT I SAW, Aurora. there was a human on Titus!" The sound of her parents'' distraught voices woke Astraea from a deep sleep. They had never sounded like that before, but it was the fear in their tone that really caught her attention. Climbing from her bed, she crept to the door and opened it a fraction to listen to what they were saying. "My father said you are mistaken. There are no humans here." "Hyperion is lying!" her father insisted. "No matter what he claims, there was a human woman here.
" "But it is impossible. Humans are banned, and access to the Solar Stream is forbidden without permission. There must be some other explanation." "If there is, please tell me, because I cannot think of one," her father said. "I do not know," her mother replied. "But if a human was found on Titus, it would mean disaster for us all. I am sure my father would have told me." "Your father is not telling anyone, and that is why I am so worried.
The woman was terrified and crying as he took her away. He was taking her toward the new wing of the prison. But we haven''t finished building it yet. Why would he take her there?" "I--I just do not know. Perhaps I should ask him again." "If he denied it once, I am sure he would do it again. But something strange is going on. At work we have found these thick puddles of gray matter.
We have no idea what they are or where they are coming from. I told him about those as well, and he said nothing." "This is madness. My father enforces the law; he does not break it," Aurora said. "He would not associate with humans, especially now. Perhaps she just looked like a human but was a Titan or Olympian." "I know the difference. She was definitely human.
" "What are we going to do?" "I do not know. But I was thinking perhaps we should ." Their voices trailed off as they moved deeper into the house, but Astraea had heard enough. Her father had seen a human taken away by her grandfather. But how was that possible? Everyone knew that contact between Titus and Earth was forbidden. Anyone caught going there, or bringing a human here, would be severely punished. Astraea closed her door and wandered over to the window. It was late and the stars twinkled brightly overhead.
Taking a seat on the sill, she watched a group of young night dwellers playing a game of kickball. The sound of their soft laughter drifted toward her, even though they kept their voices low. She had met a few night dwellers before, but they were a mysterious bunch who kept to themselves and only ventured from their homes after dark, since the sunlight was deadly for them. Watching them play, she knew she should go to bed. The following day was going to be very busy, and she needed her rest. But the brief exchange left her unable to sleep. What was a human doing on Titus? How did she get here? And why was her grandfather keeping it a secret? Astraea''s kitten, Hiddles, leaped up onto her lap and meowed softly. The rainbow tabby fluttered his tiny wings several times and settled down.
Astraea petted his fluffy, warm fur and smiled at his soft purring. She leaned down to his head and whispered, "I don''t want to go tomorrow. Do you think Mom would believe me if I told her I was sick?" Hiddles looked up at her and licked Astraea''s chin, then lay his head down again. Astraea sighed. "You''re right, she wouldn''t believe me." It was just before dawn when Astraea finally grew sleepy and climbed into her bed. It felt like she''d only just closed her eyes when a voice outside her window started calling her name. "Astraea, are you up yet?" Astraea moaned and rolled over.
"No. Leave me alone." "Come on, we''re going to be late for the opening day!" Astraea pulled the covers over her head. It couldn''t be time yet. She had only just gone to bed. "Go away, I''m sleeping." There was movement beside her bed, and suddenly her covers were wrenched away. "Hey!" Astraea started pulling them back, but they were locked firmly in the teeth of her best friend, Zephyr.
"Let go!" "Get up!" Zephyr said through clenched teeth. Her gleaming white head and neck were stretched through the window to reach Astraea''s bed. As soon as she started to back up, Zephyr knocked all the marble ornaments off Astraea''s bedside table. "Zephyr, stop! You''re wrecking the place!" Astraea clung to the covers, was dragged from her bed, and hit the floor with a loud thud. She got up, secured her grip on the bedcovers, and started to pull them back in with all her strength. "I said let go!" "No, you let go!" Zephyr whinnied. The tug-of-war continued as the two strong Titans pulled the covers. Zephyr was by far the stronger but was only using her teeth.
Astraea had both arms wrapped around the fabric and had planted her feet firmly on the floor. She flapped her small wings to add to her pulling strength. "Give up now," Zephyr called through her teeth. "Never!" Astraea cried. "You give up!" Inch by inch, Astraea was slowly dragged closer to the window. She put a foot up on the sill to give herself more leverage, and then her second foot, until she was standing on the sill, leaning back and straining against Zephyr''s strength. The sound of a tear started. "Uh-oh," Astraea called.
"Zephyr, stop, it''s going to ." The downy cover ripped in half, throwing both Astraea and Zephyr backward in different directions and filling the bedroom with a shower of soft white feathers. Astraea landed hard on her backside. Outside the window, Zephyr nickered and coughed. After getting to her feet, Astraea peered out and burst into laughter. Zephyr lay sprawled on the ground in the middle of a cloud of down. Her wings were askew and her equine body was smeared with mud. She sat up and spit out the remnants of the duvet.
"Look what you''ve done!" Zephyr rolled over and climbed back to her four legs. She held up a golden hoof. "I spent all morning getting ready, and now I''m filthy. My hooves need polishing again!" "You started it," Astraea chuckled. Zephyr snorted, "Oh that''s special, blame me. You should''ve been up already and you know it. Today everything changes." Astraea groaned.
"Don''t remind me." She leaned out the window and lowered her voice. "I have to tell you something, but you can''t say a word to anyone." "Ooh, a secret. I love secrets." Zephyr trotted closer. Astraea checked to make sure no one was listening and kept her voice soft. "Last night I heard Mother and Father talking.
They said a human woman was found on Titus. My grandfather took her away." "A what?" Zephyr cried, and looked around fearfully. "A human is here?" "Quiet!" Astraea hushed. "I don''t think anyone is supposed to know about it. But my parents were really upset." "No kidding! If a you-know-what was really here, they could cause an epidemic. They''re filled with all kinds of terrible diseases.
You could go blind if one touches you." "What?" Astraea cried. "No, that''s just a myth." "No it''s not. You-know-whats are filthy, disgusting creatures." Zephyr looked around again and raised her front hooves as though she expected a human to jump out at her. "What about Emily Jacobs? She''s from Earth and she''s not disgusting." "She''s not human," Zephyr said.
"She''s Xan." "But she used to be. And her father and Joel are still human and they''re not infectious." "That''s because they lived on Olympus long enough to be cured. But if there are new ones here, there''s no telling what could happen. How did she get here?" Astraea frowned and mused aloud. "I really don''t know. But if it''s true, why is my grandfather hiding her?" "Maybe to stop a panic.
" "Could be," Astraea agreed. "I think we should miss the opening ceremonies and start our own investigation." Zephyr started to laugh. "Nice try, Astraea, but nothing is going to stop us from going to the opening of Arcadia. We''re doomed, and there''s nothing we can do to save ourselves--even if a hundred you-know-whats appeared here." "But this is more important!" "Maybe, but we can''t do anything about it. We have to go. Your mother will kill us if we don''t.
" Astraea sighed and shook her head. "I''ve been dreading this for ages. School--who ever imagined Titans would have to go to school? And why do we have to go when our parents didn''t?" Astraea didn''t hear her bedroom door open or her mother enter. She jumped when her mother said, "We did not have to go because we were too busy trying to survive being locked away in that prison, Tartarus. This is a great day, the joining of the Titans and Olympians in education. It has been a difficult adjustment for all of us living together here. Perhaps now we will be unified." As her beautiful mother came closer, she frowned at the mess in the bedroom.
Downy feathers covered every surface, and half the torn duvet lay on the floor. She picked a small feather from Astraea''s hair. "Do I want to know what happened here?"