For a moment, I hesitate...but disappointing my teachers just isn't in my nature. Professor Hatch grins on my approach.

"It's an honor to have you. Now," he turns to the rest of the class as I take the place he indicates at his side. "As I'm sure you all know by now, we Demeter Variants are limited to the growth and manipulation of existing species of plants and fungi. Once we come into contact with a species, its ours forever to recreate. Our queen, on the other hand, is far less limited."

I shift uncomfortably at that, trying not to meet anyone's eyes.

"She can not only bring about animal life in addition to our plants and fungi, but can create new species entirely. Including—I believ—plant-animal hybrids. Is that not correct, Ms. Hades?"

"Er, it is," I confirm.

"And so. My experiment."

He reaches into one of his pockets and produces a live snake.

"If you would, please. I'd like you to acquire the snake's DNA and that of any plant specimen here, and make for me a hybrid creature. Something that looks like a snake, and which moves like a snake, but which is in fact mostly vegetative."

I suck in a breath.

"A-alright."

Professor Hatch deposits the snake into the cup of my outstretched palms. A brilliant shade of turquoise, it's soft and smooth against my skin. It twines itself around my fingers as I concentrate, registering the faintest tingling sensation where its body comes into contact with mine. Maybe that's it?

Handing the little creature back to him, I look around at the bounty of options available on the flora side of things. My eye settles on a flowering vine that twists about the trunk of a nearby tree. Taking a deep breath, I put my hand to one of the berry clusters. Oh Gaia, I have no idea what I'm doing.

But I close my eyes anyway and concentrate. Envisioning the snake, I call up the memory of the look, smell, and feel of it in my hand. I imagine its essence blending with that of the vine. Imagine a snake that is a vine. The tingling sensation in my hand where it touches the berries intensifies, and their flesh parts and bursts, revealing seeds that are also eggs. Already, there's movement beneath their pliant shells.

Professor Hatch strides over to join me, cradling the seed-eggs in his hands as I pull away.

"Brilliant," he says as the first snout breaks through its shell, tiny green tongue darting outward to taste the air. "Absolutely brilliant. Now, who would like to try first?"

There's a brief silence. "Ah, try what exactly, sir?" Asks a Variant in the front with yellow eyes and wild, dark hair.

"To recreate it, of course," answers Professor Hatch, sounding almost affronted. The other students look around amongst themselves.

"If it is more plant than animal, it just might be possible. So. Who'll it be?"

The wild-haired Variant shrugs.

"I'll give it a shot."

Ambling forward, she reaches out to pet the baby snake-vine's head. Her lips curl into a smile. Closing her hands together, she takes a step back. When she pulls them apart again, it's to reveal a seed—roughly the size and shape of the eggs—but very much just a seed. Twisting her lips, she seems to concentrate. A small green sprout cracks through, curling upward toward the light.

But it's only that—a vine.

Shrugging again, the student shuffles back to the group with the seed and vine still in hand.

"A valiant effort," says the Professor, looking around at the rest.

The next student to try has a similar level of success, and the next...and the next. By the time everyone's had their hand at it and failed, Professor Hatch's disappointment is evident on his face. Surprisingly, he doesn't make an attempt himself.

"Ah well. It was worth it. My curiosity is sated, for now." He looks around at all of us, composing his expression once more to that of the enthused teacher. The snake-vine creature coils around his fingers, its eyes drifting closed.

From there, the professor transitions to a more ordinary first class format, going over his curriculum and what we have to expect in the semester to come. And just as it draws to a close, I catch a scent that I'm becoming all too familiar with.

Phoebus's.

Did he skip out on class early to catch me here before I even have a chance to get to lunch? Heat rises under my skin. As the professor retreats to the back of the greenhouse and most of the other students are filing out, he strolls in.

"Hey, little queen. Mind if I walk you to lunch? There's a lot to go over and—"

My hands ball into fists.

"I told you I would meet you at lunch. Not before. Not on the way. At." I glower up at him, and for an instant his eyes narrow, and he shifts ever-so-slightly backward. But then his smile widens.

"That's exactly the kind of fire I want to see in you, li—Kore," he says, stumbling to correct himself. Trying to suck up to me. "See, we have a duel club here, and their first meet-up of the year is after classes today and I thou—"

My nails bite into the flesh of my palms, and I could swear my blood's boiling.

"A duel club, you say?"

Phoebus blinks, then breaks into a grin. "Yeah. There are a lot more constraints than in freeform duels, but they earn twice the points."

"Great," I say through gritted teeth. Somewhere in the trees behind us, there's a yelp, then a lot of rustling of leaves and undergrowth. But I keep my eyes fixed on Phoebus. "How about this? Duel me."

Something immense slithers up behind me, and I recognize it without turning to look. I don't just know it by scent alone, I know it intrinsically because I made it. The snake-vine. Looks like my anger found an outlet. Now I'm the one smiling. It coils around my feet protectively, hissing and snapping at the air in Phoebus's direction.

"Duel me as soon as classes are out, and if I lose I'll join the club. But if you lose, you never get to bug me about the club or any other duel ever again. Or hound me between classes."

His eyes tighten around the corners as he glances at the snake, but he doesn't lose his smile.

"Alright, little queen, you're on."

~*~

I let him choose the place, with the caveat its somewhere we won't get expelled for fighting in—trailing a good distance behind him and his entourage on the way there. Overkill's full form follows behind me alongside Syntrofos. The vine snake coils across the icy stone at my side. The first thing I did after getting out of class was go back to the Green house for the hybrid—since it's a direct result of the use of my powers, it doesn't break any rules for it to fight as my companion.

On the way to wherever Phoebus is taking us, Artemesia materializes from the shadows between buildings with Hind at her side and trails after us. Her brother's site of choice turns out to be one of the tower rooftops of central campus's largest building, Hyperion Hall. It's bordered by the usual high-reaching forcefields, so falling over the edge won't be an issue. Their faint violet glow illuminates a mostly featureless space—though towering Daimon statues look down on us from each of the four corners. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and Gaia.

The spectators spread out around the outer edges, Artemisia placing herself conspicuously far from her brother's crowd. Syntrofos and Overkill hang back too, but Kill's back-piece detaches to hover behind me. Its instructions: not to interfere unless I'm at risk of serious injury or death.

"Kestrel," shouts Phoebus as we each take our places at either end of the rooftop. "Call it."

"Happy to," trills the tiny blonde Variant.

That's when I come down from the adrenaline high of rage and it hits me for the first time. Really hits me. That I've just challenged the strongest person in our whole fraternity to a duel. My first ever duel.

Oh no. I'm an idiot.

On the other side of the roof, Phoebus begins, faintly, to glow.

"Three...two...one...fight!"

There's a flash of light so brilliant that I actually hiss at the pain of it, squeezing my eyes shut. Temporarily blinded.

But I've got the serpent, and it doesn't rely so much on sight.

There's a meaty impact. Phoebus snarls. The flare subsides and I open my eyes to find my vision still bright and blurred. Useless.

But I can still smell Phoebus. Can still hear him struggling to free himself from the vice-grip of the snake. And...and I can grow more eyes.

There's a series of rips as my shirt tears, and new appendages burst from my shoulders-drawing from my most recent animal DNA acquisition, the snake.

Suddenly I can see again. But it's not a sight like anything I've ever known. The perspective is wildly disorienting at first—twenty-something eyes arrayed along two scaled tentacles—and everything's in just two colors, neither of which I can describe.

Phoebus's eyes go wide as he sees this, managing to free himself of my serpent companion and flinging it violently away a moment later. Its wounds spray nectar rather than blood. He rights himself, sporting hardened, leathery skin for armor. His enormous forearms are covered in fur, with paw-like hands that end in wickedly sharp talons.

Thank the Daimon he doesn't have Deius's power to grow additional limbs, too. At least not yet.

I concentrate again on the flesh at my back, until two more scaled appendages erupt from my skin, these one eyeless. Huge snake's tails. Gaia, it's gonna hurt to get all these off. I shudder, remembering when I shed the eel tentacles. If only they could just melt away in smoke like they do for Deius.

Phoebus smirks, likely thinking the shudder is for him. And then he's a blur of movement. The snake tails whip forward to intercept. I scream as his claws and teeth tear into them, ripping away chunks of flesh, but squeeze them tighter around his body, bringing the eye-tentacles forward to hook around his neck. But he's too strong, freeing himself of my grip in the next instant. Blood pours everywhere as he manages to tear off the last third of one of my snake tails, and for a moment I reel—lost in the pain of it.

My ordinary vision is almost entirely back now, but all I can see is Phoebus. Phoebus, too close now to get my grip around him. Phoebus, that sun-bright flash of fangs threatening to blind me again. But there's also a glimpse of green behind his back as my serpent companion returns. Poised to strike.

The Zeus Variant roars in sudden pain.

He twists backward, his grip on me loosening as he attempts to get free of the snake-vine's long fangs. I pull too hard to get myself away from him and stumble, falling on my ass. Simultaneously, Phoebus reaches backwards and rips my companion from his flesh with one huge clawed hand-hurling it to the far end of the roof where it zaps against the force field before falling at its base with a meaty thud.

His grin widens as he looms over me, and his eyes begin to glow.