Dreamless

than any modern-day religion. They had to remain childless while they served the god Apollo, but no one was expected to be a priest or a priestess forever. You could leave whenever you wanted. Then there were a few little rules about keeping various parts of your body clean, making regular burnt offerings accompanied by some basic chanting, and observing a day of fasting once every new moon to honor Apollo’s twin sister, Artemis. That was about it.
    “Oh. Well, sign me up then,” Ariadne with a grin and a shrug. “I can totally handle making sure that the creases between my toes are cleansed before joining others at table, just don’t ask me to give up—”
    “We get it, Ari,” Jason interrupted, not wanting to hear what his sister was about to say. “So, how would we go about this?”
    “There’s bound to be some kind of test we have to pass,” Matt added, intrigued. He seemed to be warming up to the idea of becoming a priest of Apollo.
    “The Fates decide who gets to join. Then the Oracle performs the ritual of initiation,” Claire replied, looking pointedly at Cassandra.
    “Me?” Cassandra said, taken aback. “I don’t know how to . . .”
    Cassandra broke off when Claire sheepishly handed her an old parchment. It had obviously been stolen out of the Delos library, which meant that for days now, Claire had been breaking into the library and searching through potentially cursed scrolls before she had found it. There was a moment of silence as it sunk in for everyone just how dangerous Claire’s actions had been.
    “I had to do something!” Claire protested to no one in particular. “Helen’s been putting herself through hell, literally through hell , every night. . . .”
    “And what makes you think Helen is more important than you are?” Jason asked, his face turning bright red with anger. “You could have been killed by some of the stuff written in those scrolls!”
    “I can’t just sit back and watch my best friend suffer! I won’t do it, even if I am only mortal ,” Claire shouted back at him, like she was quoting something he had said to her.
    “That wasn’t what I meant, and you know it,” he said as he threw up his hands and made a frustrated noise.
    “Guys,” Helen said as she tried to step between them, tapping her hands together in the universal sign for “time out.”
    “Just stay out of this!” Jason yelled. He brushed past Helen on his way to the door. “You’re not the center of everyone’s universe, you know.”
    The door slammed behind him, and an uncomfortable pause followed. After a moment, Claire whirled around to face Cassandra.
    “Can you do it?” Claire demanded. Helen was surprised to see tears sparkling in her eyes. “Can you initiate us, or not?”
    Cassandra looked up from the scrolls she had been studying since Claire had handed them to her, and paused to gather her thoughts.
    To Helen, it looked like Cassandra was as unconcerned with the emotional quarrel between Jason and Claire as she would be with a TV show that happened to be on in the background while she was trying to read. In a way, this was more disheartening than anything that had been said during the fight. Jason obviously held some kind of grudge against Helen, but at least they all cared about each other. Helen didn’t know if the same was true of Cassandra anymore.
    “Yes I can ,” Cassandra said. “But that’s not the right question to ask me.”
    “ Should Cassandra initiate us, Sibyl?” Matt asked, his eyes narrowed like he was testing a dangerous theory that could blow up in his face.
    The room got cold. The eerie, glowing aura of the Oracle overtook Cassandra’s girlish frame, bowing her shoulders until she was stooped over and shadowing her face until she looked like an old woman. When she spoke again her voice was a chorus as the Three Fates spoke through her.
    “You all are found worthy and shall suffer no injury from the knowledge you seek. But be warned. For suffering awaits you all.”
    The acid-purple glow of the Oracle’s aura snuffed out, and Cassandra fell to the ground in a heap.
    Before anyone could recover from the shock of witnessing the paralyzing presence of the Moirai , somehow Lucas appeared at his sister’s side, already gently lifting her up off the floor and into his arms.
    “When did you come in?” Ariadne asked him, looking over her shoulder at the door, and then back at Lucas with wide eyes. He didn’t bother to respond. His focus