Their determination to find out more about the mysterious wave of ghosts that had risen to attack them on their last jaunt to Bluebell City stretched into the ensuing days, so that it became a common occurrence for several members of the group to be seen in the Library at least once per day. It was a vast room, twice as large as the one that had resided in his old school, lined with superb mahogany shelves all stocked with volumes of all sizes, lengths, and ages, with a magnificent portrait of the Goddess of Wisdom Athena hung on the frontmost wall. In addition to the wide array of books, there was a long panel of computers as advanced as the ones in the Computer Lab stretching along one wall.

Yet even with all these resources, the results were just as Alec had thought: there were very little Villains across recent history that displayed abilities over the dead, and the ones who did did not match the images they had witnessed. The closest they came to finding someone who matched the description was Jade Warlock, but the ghosts he summoned were risen through a very complex ritual, and none of the conditions, including the presence of a full moon and a large sacrifice of blood to the restless souls, had been met that night.

Not to mention the ghosts he used looked completely different: pale grey and wasted, with scabby skin and hollow eye sockets.

"It's ridiculous, we've been looking for days and still, absolutely nothing," Anthony burst out on the third day of their research. They were sitting around one of the larger benches at the front of the school, where only a few kids besides themselves were loitering, once again poring over old books.

"I refuse to believe that there's nothing there, we just haven't found it yet," Charlie said, though he too sounded annoyed. "Has your mom gotten back to you yet?" he asked Reya.

Reya shook her head. Still firmly of the belief that this was a magical issue, rather than one involving superhumans, she had reached out to her mother for assistance, though framed her questions in a way that didn't relay to her that they had gone on a ride to the city without permission, but rather as plain curiosity inspired by the spellbooks she'd been left. According to her, her mother had been very relieved to hear from her and concerned about the lockdown, which she claimed she didn't know about, but had gotten "really titchy" when she mentioned Necromancy. She had assured her daughter that she would get back in contact with them after doing her own research, but she too hadn't turned up anything useful.

Maddison too had turned up empty-handed, but as she insisted, "she was getting close."

Katrina and Anthony, while interested, were getting frustrated at the tedious hours of study and the proportional lack of results. Ethan didn't seem to mind. The long hours spent rifling through random tomes and online articles seemed to have given him the push he needed to also begin studying for their exams, which would commence the next month.

Javon's mind was also on the upcoming month, but for an entirely different reason — the End of Year Ball. The formal event that would take place on the very last day of term.

He was quite excited to go, constantly talking about what he would wear, or what theme the Academy would host, but Alec wasn't interested, and no matter how much he tried to say this, Javon wouldn't let the matter rest.

"Come on, it's the last day of term, it'll be fun," he coaxed.

"No."

"Is this because you don't have anyone to go with? Because you know, you're a somewhat attractive guy, and pretty well-known around the school. Shouldn't be too hard for you to find a date."

Alec could feel heat rising up his neck. "Gee, thanks. But no."

"I thought you were trying to get more involved," Javon persisted. "You know, stop shying away from things like this?"

"That's not — it isn't —" Alec let out a grunt of rage. "That's not the problem," he said. "Now drop it."

An awkward silence fell. Everybody was looking at him, but he was staring just as determinedly at the book in front of him: Rex Warner's "Men and Gods," though he wasn't really seeing the pages at all.

"Okay," Javon conceded at last, and they all returned to their tasks. Alec closed his eyes and took a breath to calm himself, pushing thoughts of the Ball and everything to do with it firmly out of his mind. Then he focused his attention on the book. It was a collection of stories about ancient Greek Heroes and their interactions with the gods. Some of them he found amusing, others downright horrifying, like the tale of Cadmus, who unwittingly stumbled upon the goddess Diana (or Artemis, as she was called in Greek myths) as she bathed in a forest pond. In punishment, he was turned into a stag, and ripped apart by his own hounds.

He had been reading the book every now and then for the past three days. Of course he knew that he would get nothing on the ghost case from it, but it was interesting delving deeper into the culture that had inspired the school he now attended.

"When I first got here," he announced suddenly, "my guide, Hartley, told me that different aspects of the school were based on old Greek mythology. That's why the Dorms are called 'Zeus,' 'Poseidon,' and 'Hades.' But do you guys actually believe that the half-blood Heroes really existed?"

"Personally, I don't," Maddison said. "There's no evidence that they did, but if they were alive, then they were likely just regular men who were only fabled to be extraordinary. There's a reason they're called myths."

"You see people who can lift trailers with one hand every day, you can even pull knives out of your hands, and you find it hard to believe that gods could actually exist?" Reya said incredulously.

"The Deva gene is a biological trait, one which has been studied for decades, and the findings recorded. It's observable Science. They're not the same thing. For all we know, people like Hercules and Achilles could have existed, but whatever powers they displayed, if any, were likely the result of a less evolved Deva gene, which the ancient Greeks attributed to 'godhood' because they weren't aware of the gene's existence."

Reya looked as if Maddison had slapped her. "Except Science isn't the only existing force in the world! I've read spellbooks, interacted with other covens, and all of them reference, even interact with, great magical figures in history, like the goddess Hecate, or Circe. You've witnessed my magic firsthand, would you say it's just a hoax? Just a result of some abnormal Deva gene? Science with sparkles?"

Her voice grew steadily more heated while she spoke, glaring at Maddison, and Alec had a sudden vision of himself and Dusty, glowering at each other across a table, arguing over simple comics in Richie Rumbanks' store.

"Well, yes, if one looks closely enough they certainly could say that it's just Science we don't fully understand." Maddison too was scowling, her voice growing colder in contrast to Reya's. "It's not too hard to imagine, you and all the other 'spellcasters' in the world could be able to tap into multidimensional energy, the very fabric of the universe, and mould it into a form you can control — that is, 'magic' — and use it to manipulate certain aspects of reality.

"It's not exactly new. People have been altering aspects of our dimension since forever," she said dismissively. "Even Messus can transform one object into another, and he doesn't need to chant and holler like a caveman to do it."

Reya leapt up so fast that she sent her drink flying, spilling its contents over the ground; Maddison rose as well, towering over her.

"Woah!" Charlie said, as everyone around the table tensed. "Everybody just calm down, okay. Rey, that's enough —"

But Reya seemed not to hear him. "How dare you?" she said, her voice trembling with rage. "How dare you? Disrespecting thousands of years of teachings, my family, my culture, because you're too narrow-minded to accept anything that doesn't fit neatly into your little Science box."

"I would much rather be 'narrow-minded' and grounded in reality than waste my time believing in children's fairtytales," Maddison said disdainfully. "Magic." She scoffed. "Was a pumpkin carriage scribbled down anywhere in your sacred teachings?"

Reya turned on her heel and stormed away, her blonde hair flying behind her. Maddison glowered after her.

"What the hell?" Charlie demanded. "Even if you don't believe in it, you didn't have to crap all over everything she's known her entire life!"

"Sorry, Charles, I don't humour nonsense," she said scathingly, and she too gathered her things and strode away.

Charlie glared after her until her dark ponytail had bobbed around the corner and vanished from sight. He turned back to the table, jaw clenched. "Right piece of work, isn't she?"

"You have no idea," Javon said wearily. "You get used to it, though. But will Reya be okay? She seemed pretty upset."

"Yeah, well, being told that your birthright is nothing more than fancy parlor tricks can do that to a person." Charlie sighed. "I'll talk to her, I have to get back to the Dorm anyway."

"Us too," Katrina and Anthony said, and all three left together.

"Guess we should head back too," Alec said, after a minute had passed in silence.

"You two go, I've had enough human interaction for the day," Ethan said, waving them away as if they were a pair of irksome flies.

Javon rolled his eyes and gathered up his things, then set off back to the Hades Dorm, Alec alongside him.

"You've been pretty quiet," Javon said.

Alec frowned. "About what?"

"The Shadow Shifter thing, what else!"

"What am I supposed to do?" Alec said, with a hollow laugh. "Break down because the very powerful, murderous Villain who I'm directly responsible for throwing into jail escaped and is now probably hunting me down as we speak?"

"Yes!" Javon said. "It's a very serious issue. Shadow Shifter is no joke, you know that."

"Of course I do, but he doesn't know me, or Dusty. The most he has on us is what we look like, and even then it was pretty dark. Besides, the League's looking for him and the other escaped convicts. They'll have to stay hidden for a while. And it's not like he'd think to show up here."

"Well, no," Javon conceded. "But you wouldn't want to run into him on another night out, would you?" Alec was silent. Javon cast him a suspicious sidelong look. "Unless you're not planning on going back out?"

"I don't think it'd be the best idea," Alec muttered. "Last time, an army of ghosts tried to kill us. Actual ghosts. Now a group of superpowered criminals is on the loose. It's not worth the risk just to find out."

"Some would disagree with you. That's me, by the way, I'm 'some.' You told us what Maddison's brother said. They stole an incredibly powerful weapon and days later a mass breakout happens at the Stormvault Penitentiary? No one has ever escaped from that place before. Between the robbery and the breakout, that's not a coincidence, especially seeing what Aaron said about unlikely alliances starting. And —" Javon suddenly gave a very loud and dramatic gasp that made Alec jump and which attracted the attention of several nearby students.

Javon quickly composed himself, grabbed Alec by the shoulder, and steered him swiftly down the path. Then when the gawking students were out of earshot, he said in a low excited voice, "What if the ghosts were a part of it too? What if the weapon that was stolen is what was used to summon them?"

Alec was prepared to say that it was a crazy idea, but the words got lost somewhere on the way to his mouth as he pondered the theory. "You think?" he said, interested.

"Fits, doesn't it? Powerful alliances are reportedly formed, then a weapon of mass destruction is swiped, then a breakout ensues at the same time an armada of Caspers is let loose on Bluebell City? I don't believe in coincidences. Okay, I do, but I don't believe this is one of them."

"What if that's what we've been doing wrong?" Alec said. The theory had taken root in his mind, sprouting branches of all kinds of possibilities. "We were looking for someone that could summon ghosts, but all this time we should have been looking for something."

"This is good, this is good," Javon said, moving his arms in a "keep going" kind of gesture. "What else do we know?"

"Um . . . the weapon was taken from an old temple."

"So, what are we thinking, a magical artifact? That's something. I bet Maddison didn't think to look from that angle either. We should tell her —"

"Uh —" Alec protested, coming to a halt, the warm glow of triumph at finally making some progress suddenly dimming.

"What?" Javon asked, confused.

"I mean, we saw how Maddison reacted at my question a while ago. She might just burst into flames if we mention the possibility of an ancient mystical construct being at the center of all this."

"So what, we don't tell her?"

"No, I . . ." Alec made a half-sigh half-groan sort of noise. "Okay. But she probably went to class already, we'll tell her afterwards."

Their next two classes were Clothing and Textiles and Gym. C&T, like Health Class, was one of those subjects that wasn't particularly interesting, but wasn't boring either. Typically the shortest of all their lessons, they learned about different materials used by Superheroes for their own costumes and their special traits, such as being waterproof, fireproof, or able to absorb the blunt of physical impacts, pooling ideas for their first custom uniforms, which they would submit the designs for to the school and be handed back in the second term.

After that, they went to Gym. Professor Elliott, however, had decided to conduct this lesson by the swimming pool. Alec had felt slightly self-conscious at the thought of standing half-naked in front of students from all three Dorms, even though he had grown in build in his three months at Helix, but fortunately Professor Elliott had instead provided the students with custom water suits that stretched to fit the wearer's body, which they changed into before joining him at the poolside. He explained that for their next few lessons, he would be honing their combat skills and teaching them how to adjust to different environments during battles, because they were bound to end up in places other than dry land at some point.

He called three random people from the register and, after ensuring that they could indeed swim, sent them into the pool with their instructions. He was employing the aid of three drones, each of which was assigned one of the students as target. Each student was to navigate through the pool (which was much larger than Alec had initially thought, by at least three times) and retrieve one of the large weights he had laid at the pool bottom while the drones attempted to stop them, and it had to be done in less than four minutes.

It was difficult work, fighting off the drones while diving. The easiest part was repelling the machines, which had been set to "stun" ("As painful as an ant bite," Professor Elliott had assured them), but the real work came in trying to heave the balls upwards from the bottom of the pool, all the while having to drop them ever so frequently in order to deal with the drones or to resurface for air.

"Sloppy!" Professor Elliott would say, every time a group failed. "Next!" And he would reel off three more names, yet nobody was disheartened. This was one of those rare moments in Gym Class where the kids were actually excited, raring for the challenge.

"Messus! Smith! Thomas!" Professor Elliott yelled after the fourth group emerged from the water, then gave a short blast on his whistle. Damon, Maddison, and Javon all started forward, Javon looking nauseous.

"You know the deal, four minutes, go!" And he pressed the button on his stopwatch. As the timer reset, the three candidates jumped into the water. At once, the drones swooped in after them.

Maddison was the first to retaliate, wheeling round with a great bone club in her hands. She swung the club in a great arc, smashing it into the drone's face. It flew backwards away from the pool, and someone from the crowd yelled, "Home run!"

Maddison ducked beneath the surface, diving towards her weight. But the drone was already soaring back, the laser activated. It plunged in after her, and they could see the scarlet glow reflected from underneath the surface as the drones opened fire. Damon was the first to reappear above the water, forty seconds later, shaking his sodden mop of syrup-brown hair out of his eyes. His drone erupted behind him in a spout of water and dived, plunging for his chest, raining lasers. Some missed, others landed, but he didn't move, remaining firmly in place as it drew closer. Then it slammed into his chest and he grabbed it.

The force of the impact pushed him across the surface and straight to the edge of the pool, but he gripped it still more tightly, pressing harder against the sides. Energy glowed at his palms as he siphoned it from the drone, the red of its lasers steadily dimming, while his eyes glowed a brighter gold. Then the whir of the drone died and Damon tossed it away. It skidded across the floor, lifeless and pitiful.

Damon winked at the crowd (some titters and giggles sounded in response, and Alec rolled his eyes), and he dived again.

"Oh no you don't," Professor Elliott said, a wild look in his eyes. He jabbed away at the control panel he was using to direct the drones, and another swooped out of the bag they were held in and plunged downwards in Damon's direction.

Maddison resurfaced at almost the same time, along with her drone. It whizzed through the air, raining fire, but with a grunt of rage, Maddison launched a spike, the largest weapon Alec had ever seen her make, and it impaled the drone. Professor Elliott yelped, but Maddison merely ducked under again. The teacher let loose another drone, but soon after it floated back to the surface, riddled with knives like some strange hedgehog. Professor Elliott gawped, slack-jawed, then recovered enough to send in a third volley. Another minute passed — then Damon reemerged, and Maddison promptly followed, both clutching their weights.

"Ooh, missed it by all of two seconds, Maddie," he said in a mock-apologetic tone. "Better luck next time."

She looked quite ready to impale him as well, but before anything else could happen, Alec said, "Wait, where's Javon?"

He had not resurfaced since they'd first dived. Maddison and Damon looked at each other, all animosity replaced by looks of dawning comprehension as they too realized what was going on. Professor Elliott hurried to the poolside, looking horrified. "Messus, see what's going on down there."

"On it," Damon said, but just as he made to move, Javon reappeared. He too was holding his weight.

"What in Zeus's name were you doing down there that long, boy?" Professor Elliott asked, goggling at him in amazement.

Javon merely shrugged, smiling nervously.

"Well, thank goodness you're okay, but . . . where's the drone?" he said suddenly, looking around at the water.

Javon raised his other hand from under the water. A few students gasped. Javon was holding the third drone in his hand, but the entire front was melted, as if it had fallen into a vat of acid.

Alec's eyes widened. Even Maddison and Damon looked shocked.

"Jesus," murmured their teacher. "What did you do?"

But the bell rang before Javon could answer. Though Professor Elliott was still staring at Javon as though unsure whether to be impressed or appalled, he called, "All right, that's it for today. Anyone who didn't get to go this class, prepare for the next. Change, drop your suits back in the changing room — folded, please — and off you go."

Damon, Maddison, and Javon swam to the pool's edge and climbed onto dry land. Professor Elliott took Javon's melted drone in his own hand, surveying it closely, then gagged as the acrid stench of burned metal assaulted his nose.

"How did you do that?" Alec asked Javon as they walked into the changing room, astonished.

"Tell you later," he muttered back. He did not seem happy at all.

When they had changed out of the skinsuits and were making their way back up to the Dorm, Maddison came up to them.

"I suppose I should say nice work," she said to Javon. "That was impressive."

"Thanks," he said gruffly.

"How did you do it, though?"

"Do you tell us all your secrets?" he shot at her, taking her aback.

She seemed to see his point. "I guess not."

"Speaking of secrets, there's something we need to tell you," Alec told her, partially to cover the awkward moment.

"So do I. I found out where the temple the weapon was stolen from is."

"What?" Alec and Javon said, awed.

"I told you I was close," she said smugly.

"Well that's good," Javon said. "Because we made a discovery as well. We think whatever they stole from the Temple is the same thing they used to summon the ghosts last night. It's likely a magical object."

Predictably, Maddison's nostrils flared.

"Whatever your views on magic, it doesn't change the fact. And if there's anyone who knows about magical items," Alec said sternly, "it's Reya. So you, make nice."

"I'm not apologizing for believing in common sense," she said stubbornly.

Alec groaned. "Then you can at least apologize for saying her family's legacy is akin to an idiotic children's story."

Maddison huffed, but said stiffly, "Fine."

"Great, now let's go find her."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This doesn't narrow it down at all," Reya said flatly. That was not what he had expected her to say. They had met once again around the front of the school, claiming a bench that overlooked the sea. Ethan was sitting to Alec's left, staring down at the sparkling mass, like a carpet of diamonds. Javon was on his right, along with Katrina and Anthony, with Charlie and Reya in front of them and Maddison at their side, arms crossed, staring up at the horizon.

"What do you mean? How many magical artifacts could there be that could possibly have that ability?" Javon asked, looking genuinely nonplussed.

"Hundreds! Lots of different cultures possess some means of communicating with their dead, and there are loads of spellbooks with incantations that could pull off the trick as well."

"But how many of those artifacts could summon such a large number of ghosts?" Maddison interjected.

Reya pretended not to hear her, but her jaw tightened nevertheless.

Maddison's chest rose as she drew in a breath of exasperation. She exhaled deeply, then said, "I'm sorry, all right? It was wrong of me to say what I said. Believing in magic and gods and all of those things isn't something that's as easily acceptable to me as it is for you, for my own reasons. But I shouldn't have disrespected your family's history in that way."

"No, you shouldn't have," Reya said coldly, turning to glare at her. A few seconds passed, then she sighed. "I accept your apology. And I'm sorry too. You're perfectly entitled to your opinion, even if I don't agree." Maddison nodded. They had not come to the understanding that either wanted, but it was a compromise nonetheless. "But even so," Reya continued, "I don't think this lead will do us any good right now."

"Maybe not this lead by itself," Anthony said slowly.

"What do you mean?" asked Charlie.

Anthony turned to Maddison. "You said you found out where the temple was, right?"

Maddison nodded. "It was tricky in the beginning, but then I approached it from a different angle. At first I was looking into ones where anything was reported about something being missing. But nothing was there. I suppose if the weapon is as dangerous as the League thought, they wouldn't have wanted the knowledge that they'd lost it getting around. So I tried again, this time trying to see which temples were the most prominent, places you would think items like this would be hidden. None of the options seemed likely.

"Then it hit me. I checked the sightings of Heroes reported in the past few days, since the lockdown. A lot of them were seen around or heading in the direction of South America. So I checked to see what was in that general area and found an old Greek temple, but the history is obscure. I couldn't find anything useful online, but I'm certain it's the place."

"Then we'll just have to check it out ourselves," Anthony said, beaming widely. Even Katrina was looking at him as though he had gone mad. "Come on, think about it! What better way to find out about the origins of the superweapon, than to go to the place where it's been rusting for all this time?"

"He's right," Charlie said, after a short pause. "God, that feels weird to say. But it's our best bet."

"Are you kidding?" Javon demanded. "Have you never seen Indiana Jones? Or any adventure movie? You never visit places like this — places where important artifacts are being held — because they're always filled to the brim with all sorts of horrible traps and curses."

Alec snorted with laughter. "Okay, but even if that was true, the Villains have already been through the Temple, which means most of those traps would already have been tripped, no?"

"That, and if those dumbbells could make it through, we certainly can," Anthony said.

"That's crazy," Reya said.

"But still our best option," Anthony said.

"Why are we even trying to find out in the first place? I'm sure the League's already been through the place, they would've found something already. They're the actual Heroes, we should let them do their jobs."

"You mean like when they showed up to help us fight off a swarm of murderous phantoms in Bluebell City a few nights ago?" Anthony said, before adding, with awful sarcasm, "Oh, waaaaiitt. . . ." Reya flushed.

"It hasn't even been reported," Maddison added. "Which means either the League still doesn't know or they're more scared than we thought."

"You can't possibly agree with this, do you?" Reya said desperately to Katrina. The yellow-eyed girl paused, contemplating.

"It's true that the chances of finding something the League hasn't are slim," she said slowly.

"Thank you."

"But" — Reya's relief at finally securing an ally evaporated — "who knows, maybe they just didn't know what they were looking for. There's no registered magic-user in the League, to my knowledge. But maybe, with you, we have a shot of finding something they may have missed." She wriggled her brow wryly.

Reya let out several incoherent noises of protest, then said, "It wouldn't even be possible, unless you're thinking we can make it to a different part of the country and back before six o'clock tomorrow!"

"We don't have to," Anthony chimed in. "Long weekend, remember?"

Alec had forgotten the promised three day's vacation that Headmistress Lewis had announced the day before. It would be starting the Friday of this week, when they would be allowed to return home for a few days. Rumours were floating about that they were finally going to consult with the Board about the damages done to various regions of the school and start working to fix them, and even more popular, that a big meeting would be happening with the League regarding the future of the Academy.

"That's right," Alec said.

"I'm game," Ethan said, speaking for the first time. Alec suspected that this was more about his staunch refusal to return to his home for an extended period of time than his interest in what they might find at the old ruins, but said nothing.

"Me too," said the twins. Javon shrugged. He seemed much more inclined towards the idea than he had a few days ago.

"I've got nothing better to do," Charlie said with a shrug of his massive shoulders. He looked at Reya.

"You're all exhausting," she groaned. Then, "Fine."

"How are we going to get there, though?" Maddison said. "We can't take the vehicles."

"And I can't portal that far," Anthony said. Everyone fell silent, thinking. After a few minutes they looked up, interest caught by a faint yet familiar whirring, and turned to look at the beach. The Hydraloop had just stopped. Alec's eyes lit up the moment he saw who had emerged, a beaming smile adorning his lips.

"I think I may just have the answer to that."