It was four days until the end of the year pantomime that the Latin students would perform. They were put into groups to organise skits or songs about the gods and their feats as a final project, bonus points if they could speak Latin during parts of it. Ideally, they would entertain the younger students and the visiting parents as well as show how much they had learned. For the end of the show, Mrs. Frederic, the Latin teacher, had pulled fourteen students from all the participating years to portray the Twelve Olympians plus Vesta and Pluto. They would tell the audience about themselves and their relation to the others.
Heri had been selected to play Diana, and she honestly couldn't be more excited. She identified with Diana (what little girl wouldn't?) and had been over the moon (no pun intended) since she had been chosen. Part of the assignment was to create a costume as well, and she had raided Poundland* for cloth and sewing equipment and spent every extra minute she had working on it. She even fashioned herself a bow and arrow! When it came time for a dress rehearsal, Heri was a vision in her belted maiden tunic and sandals.
"Oh, my dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Frederic. "Aren't you just the cutest thing!"
Heri's outfit was the only one that wasn't store bought or just a bed-sheet tied up as a toga. The other girls looked pretty as well, but only Heri looked authentic.
That was when this nonsense with the boys started. They had gone from being too scared of her beating them up to have anything to do with her to bothering her almost constantly. It was like they collectively just realised that Heri was a girl! Granted, she never gave off a girly air, what with wearing Dudley's old clothes and getting into fights, but she didn't think she had looked like a boy.
The idiot that was chasing after her apparently thought differently.
"C'mon, Potter!" the twerp behind her called out. He was panting and looking peeved. "It's just a little peck! Think of it as practising for our roles!"
The moron trying to get a hold of her was a fifth-year student that was the bully of his year level. He had been chosen to play Apollo, god of the sun, because of his bright blond hair and loud attitude. He had been trying to prove himself by landing a kiss on her after she had whaled on him for flipping her skirt up. He was the only one that didn't give up for the day after she knocked him flat. As it was, Heri had tripped him trice, punched him four times, and led him in a merry chase around the park two times already. He'd almost pinned her once when her glasses slid down her nose and blinded her!
He was determined, she'd give him that.
"I've told ya like a billion times, Miller!" Heri called over her shoulder, jumping over a log that the boy tripped over. "Apollo and Diana are brother 'n' sister! They wouldn't be kissin' at all!'
"Jupiter and Juno are brother and sister too! They still got married!"
Damn him. For all that he was an arrogant toe-rag, the boy paid attention in class.
Heri growled, "The answer's still NO!"
It took a sharp turn at the sandbox and a convenient gaggle of geese waddling by before Heri could shake him by scaling the fence enclosing the tennis court and springing herself up onto a tree limb. By the time Miller caught up again, Heri was over two metres up a tree with no branches close enough to the ground for him to reach. She made faces at him at his displeasure.
Miller stamped his feet and fumed but eventually accepted defeat. At least for one day. Heri watched him snatch up his backpack and leave the park with great relief.
Thank the powers that be!
"That was quite a chase."
Heri jolted at the voice coming from behind her. She swivelled around on her branch and caught sight of a young woman standing under the shade of the tree. Heri sucked in a breath, her eyes widening. It was the spirit!
"H-hello?" said Heri.
The spirit regarded her calmly.
"Hello."
"Umm . . . Was there something I could help you with?"
"No." The answer was so resolute, Heri felt her self-confidence take a blow. "Rather, there's something I can help you with."
Heri floundered, flustered for some reason.
"Oh, erm . . . well, then ah—"
"Don't stammer," the spirit reprimanded, her lips pinching a bit in displeasure. "It's very unbecoming."
Heri's mouth snapped shut and a flush spread across her cheeks. Never had she felt so inept!
"That's better." The spirit beckoned to Heri. "Come down from there. Don't dawdle."
Heri obeyed without question; there was something about the young woman that commanded immediate compliance. She swung herself around the tree until she was hanging by her arms and then dropped to the ground, bending her knees to absorb the impact.
The strange older girl observed Heri as she straightened. Her eyes were keen, taking in every hidden detail.
"Yes," she said. "You're coming along very well considering."
Before Heri could question the statement, she held out her arm, hand reaching toward Heri's face.
"You were doing quite well until those glasses got in the way. Come here so I may remove your need of them."
The run-ins with creatures trying to kill her on top of bullies and admirers trying to coax her into their grasps made Heri wary of people that tried to touch her. She would have liked to take the being's word for it, but she was still wary.
"And how will you do that? How do I know you're not just going to kill me?"
The extended hand lowered a touch as a look of irritation mixed with approval crossed the young woman's face.
"While I commend your caution, if I wanted to kill you, you would be dead by now."
Fair enough. Considering all the time the spirit turned young lady spent watching Heri go about her business, it was believable that any harm meant would have been achieved already.