It was actually a little insulting, you know?

Here he was, all heroic-looking and Clint Eastwood-y standing out in the courtyard waiting for a fight with some goon from the fires of Hades that had noticed his whistleblowing. Oh, how he had waited. Through breakfast and lunch, through three classes, Dallas had lounged around and sunbathed, moving from benches, patches of grass, and even to the hood of his car to attempt to stave off death by sheer boredom. He'd gone through all the effort to blow the lid off of the Headmistress' corruption, the death of the Headmaster, and the disappearance of his sister, and after twelve hours there wasn't even a whiff of fire and brimstone.

Innnnnnnnnn-sulting.

Finally, as the sky darkened and the first stars began to shimmer against the coming evening, Dallas had gotten into his car and driven to a Wendy's in search of a couple burgers, orders of fries, and a large strawberry lemonade. Even on his fast food run, nothing had ambushed him, so he returned to Olympus Academy with two bags of food and a bad mood. Now he was just going to have to make up a bunch of shitty assignments he'd skipped - and he was cheating on his workout schedule - AND he was cheating on his diet!

"Fuck me."

When he had finally decided that no, nothing even remotely resembling a chimera or a cyclops was going to pull itself shrieking out of hell to devour him, he had also decided that there was no point in keeping Delilah in the dark overnight, in case something ended up happening tomorrow. Hence the second bag of food.

That bag of food, however, made it hard to actually knock on a door, so Dallas stood beside the doorframe and lifted up his left leg to slam the heel of his foot into the door three times.

"Yo. It's me."

Delilah had been hanging out in her room obediently, following Dallas' instruction. She was worried about everything that was going on from the headmaster's sudden death and Dallas' warning, but she did her best to get her mind off those things. She managed to finish reading a book that she had been putting off since school started and even study for her Greek Mythology class. It would have been an ordinarily dull day if it wasn't for everything that was happening out there.

She was just about to prepare dinner for herself when there was a knock on the door followed by a familiar voice. She walked towards the door and checked the peephole to make sure that it was safe to open the door. She saw that it was just Dallas with take out from Wendy's but just to be sure she only opened the door slightly, revealing only half of her face.

"H-hello...?" she said softly, wondering if it was a good idea. After all he had told her to not open the door for anyone, not even Dallas himself.

Dallas closed his eyes for a second so he could resist the urge to roll them, and waved the bags of food at about chest level.

"I did tell you not to do that." His mouth twitched upwards briefly and this time he really did roll his eyes. "But if I were an evil shapeshifter, I doubt the fucking door could stop me anyway. You eat fast food, right? You're not, like, some vegetarian Greenpeace maniac?"

The boxer wanted to push his hair back all of a sudden. Something about the way his bangs were lying on his forehead was irking him, and he couldn't even see them at the moment.

Grrr.

Despite the fact that Dallas had somewhat scolded her, she could not help but smile.

"Oh, I mean I'm not a vegetarian but I'm not really big on burgers. I'll have some fries though," she said, letting the demigod in. She led him to the dining table so he could put the bags down.

"Not that I mind, but what are you doing here? Is something going on? The texts you sent me were pretty ominous." Her gaze fell to the floor and she added hesitantly,"I was really worried about you..."

"Yeah, I found something. It was the headmistress - all of it, Viv, the headmaster, the one we've been looking for. It's her. I sent proof to everyone and then dared her to come at me. Wanted to get my hands on the old bitch myself. Turns out, it was just a waste of a day. Can you believe that? I couldn't have been more goddamn brazen if I'd made her a voodoo doll and then taken a piss on its head, but noooo. Apparently I'm not worth the effort of sending to hell." Dallas turned away from the table he'd set the bags on and then turned around to face Delilah. "Piss me off..."

He took a deep breath and then, after another second, reached out to mess up the younger demigod's hair with a casual hand.

"I figured scaring you into locking the door was the best way to keep you away from me. No hell on earth? No point in scaring you."

Delilah could not believe that the headmistress was the one behind all of it. Granted it was suspicious how she randomly joined the staff this year when the Academy didn't need another headmaster. But she was the one who also helped out with all the search parties! She was very good at acting like she was... well, good.

Surely it could not be true. But Dallas said that he had proof and as much as she wanted to deny it, she couldn't. She began to feel a bit sick but was soon comforted by Dallas' pat on her head.

"Wow... that's a lot to take in... I can't believe that the headmistress would..." she stopped, not wanting to say anymore. "I'm glad you're okay though." She sighed.

"But what are we going to do now? Do you think we have to..." she stopped herself short again. It was not a pretty picture.

"Kill her? No. Maybe. I dunno. But I don't plan on waiting around here to disappear, either." Dallas opened up one of the bags and took a couple fries, eating them thoughtfully one by one. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the nasty shit. Have you heard anything from Viv yet?"

The obvious answer was no, but Dallas had found himself asking day after day anyway on the off chance that she might find some way to contact her best friend. Dallas himself had been wondering if there were such a thing as demigod telepathy between two kids, but if that were the case, he probably would have much more entertaining material for the next time Viv threw a tantrum about his attitude.

Delilah shook her head regretfully. "Nothing at all..." She took a seat at the table and grabbed some fries for herself.

"Look, for now, let's celebrate the fact that I'm alive and not currently chained at the ankle and wrist to some evil Greek monster in the depths of hell. You want a sip of lemonade? I got a strawberry lemonade." Dallas gave the straw a flick and grinned for the first time since he'd shown up at the door. "If you're not scared of cooties. Do you still believe in cooties? I forget what age that dries up..."

"You're right," she agreed, trying to lighten up. She snatched the lemonade and took a somewhat rebellious sip. "I'm not that much younger than you. You don't have to treat me like I'm still a kid," she said in a faux-whiny voice.

She held the cup higher, and grinned. "To still being alive!"

"To still being alive. And to easy joke material." Dallas took the cup back and took a long sip. His face changed slightly as he lowered it back to chest level, and his lips pursed up in a fake display of worry (which, on a face of someone unaccustomed to worrying, looked more like his usual faux-pout) when he looked back down at Delilah.

"You know something? I taste your cooties," he teased, pulling a burger out of the bag and unwrapping it. "Eugh."

She demonstrated a display of mild concern, at least until he started talking again. She lightly shoved him and retorted, "You're such a boy!" She laughed, feeling a lot more cheerful since he had arrived.

She delicately ate her fries; painstakingly slow and one at a time. She liked to enjoy her food and it has been a very, very long time since she last had french fries. She forgot how good those horrifically oily and unhealthy things were.

Knowing the fries would probably not be filling enough by themselves, she went back to the kitchen to get some more food. "Do you want anything? she asked, just to be polite since he was a guest at her home. "I was probably just going to make a sandwich or something."

"Nah, I'm good. Between what's in these bags I'll be able to survive until breakfast." Dallas thought about that for a second and then added, "Christ, I'm gonna need to work out, though. I even skipped Weight Lifting with Jonas today hoping something would go down. Nada."

He sighed and took a bite of his bacon cheeseburger, dabbing a bit of ketchup off his lip with a napkin.

"Sorry I didn't tell you the truth about where I was today," he finally added, once he was about halfway done with his first burger (a process which sounds a lot longer than it really was) and had set it down. "I'm pretty good in a fight, but if you'd been there, I would have spent the whole time worrying about you. You can be a real pain in the ass sometimes when it comes to me trying to do my thing. You and Viv both."

Instead of touching Delilah's hair with the hands that had touched a fast food burger, he balled up his index finger and then bopped her chin upwards slightly with a knuckle.

"Thanks for listening to me. Even if nothing came out of it."

Delilah made herself a tuna salad sandwich quickly and rejoined Dallas at the table. "You only missed one day, right? You can work extra hard tomorrow," she said, though she didn't really know how it worked.

She was somewhat mixed between flattered and guilty when he said that he would worry about her though felt a soft pang of sadness when he said "You and Viv both." Right... she was more like a little sister to him than anything. She was in the same category as Viv. Though at least he cared a lot about her. That was nice.

"You probably would have gotten mad at me if i didn't listen to you," she returned half-jokingly. She took some bites out of her sandwich and took back the cup to drink some more lemonade to wash it down.

"What, mad at you? How much of a dickhead do you think I am?" Dallas finished cleaning off his hands and pushed his hair back, slouching back in the seat and laughing to himself. "Christ, that'd be like telling someone Santa's not real. I just don't have the heart."

He let her keep the cup of lemonade and decided to just let Jonas have the second burger tomorrow or something. Few seconds in the microwave was all they probably did to it when he went through the drive-thru anyway, why should it be any different as leftovers? The son of the sun clicked his tongue against the side of his mouth and winked.

"As for working out, spoken like someone who has never actually gone to the Weight Lifting part of the class, Lilah. You should swing by tomorrow while we're exercising. I could use another spotter besides the big guy. Jonas says I just like to show off my upper body, which is...well...like...okay, I do, but a. it's fantastic, and b. it's quality time! And it's time that you're not locked up in this dorm worrying about me."

Delilah smiled at the thought of spending more time with him. "I mean... I don't know if I... well if you're okay with that. I mean.. okay! I want to!" she stammered awkwardly.

She had finished her food and began to clear the table. She took the bags and used wrappers and threw them away. She put the plate that she used into the sink and washed it. She then got a wet rag and wiped the table down.

"Thanks for the fries," she said, realizing that she hadn't thanked him for the food yet. "And thanks for letting me know that youre still alive."

She shifted around awkwarly, unsure of what to say or do. Should she tell him to make himself at home? Turn on the TV? She didn't know how it worked.

"Any time," Dallas quipped, grinning and standing up with the second untouched bag of food. "I should get out of your hair for the night. Thanks for the talk, Lilah."

Dallas reached over the table and gave her head another playful shake - along with a departing knock on the counter - before walking towards the door. When he reached the exit, he spun on his heel and winked, with a blown kiss, and leaned against the doorframe behind him.

"G-good night," she said, blushing because of his flirtateous attitude. She knew that was how he was, but it still made her flustered when such flirtateousness was directed at her. "I'll see you tomorrow...? Weights... yeah!" Really? Weights..? Her words were failing her and she wanted to die of embarrassment. She walked up towards him hesitantly to close the door after him when he leaves.

"Weights!" Dallas sounded like he was trying not to snicker as he walked down the hallway. "Yeah. Seeya babe."

Sploosh.

The harpoon, guided by surgically precise hands, found itself hurled into the soft blues of the teeming water, carving through the surface tension as though a knife would warm butter. True to form of the wielder, who rippled with powerful muscles actuated by long, intense, grinding periods of strength training. He could do this for hours on end, with neither any sign of fatigue nor even great change in routine. Well, of course, what little of a routine he was capable of. Despite growing increasingly capable at this technique, he still had a lot to learn of the trade, and each thrust was a game of chance.

A game that apparently, he was having a stroke of luck with. Hauling his catch atop the pier, he looked on with pride at the dying, pinkish-purple mass of muscle some three feet long, tapering off into a hard and, if one wasn't careful, potentially deadly extra foot and a half of natural weaponry. His fourth swordfish in a row. He felt as though fireworks were going off above his head, and could practically hear fanfare in celebration. He was making real progress at this fishing thing.

TIKTAKTIKKITYTAKTAK.

The young man gazed over his fellows upon the pier, each similarly occupied as he slid the swordfish into his storage vessel. Being a minor throng as it were, he saw men and women of all walks of life huddled together over the choicest sport for their methods of plundering the water of its vast riches, the weak and strong side by side, sometimes standing so close they were practically atop one another. Speaking, he boldly broke the amicable silence of the atmosphere around them.

Lvls?
>37
>>55
same just got it lol
>gratz
>>gz
>>>76
>>>>54
nice nice
>>>>>98
>>>>fug
>>>how close to cape?
>>>>>2m away ;_;
>>keep at it fam lol

Spinning back away for a moment, Jonas highwind took a healthy pause from socializing on a deliberately outdated version of an MMO to keep up on his socialization in that shitty modern MMO called IRL, Outside expansion pack installed.

Because we don't have enough tired "nerd" jokes around here. Sliding past the lock screen of his phone, the 6'3 killing machine held the past few days in review. His escapades at soup, his destruction of Dallas and Zaheen's phone plans over Ronda Rousey being finally dethroned (THE MEME IS DEAD!), his continued destruction of them over Guts being off the boat, his stupid snapchats sent to Tara (Marked Darling_Imouto because he knew she hated it) with no responses back...

"Man, what a week. So much for Dal's warning and shit, though. Bruh better have something for me tomorrow when we hit chest."

It had been at least a couple of hours since that guard Anderson had left. Vivian didn’t know the exact time as there was no visible clock, but she had to assume that a while had gone by because she saw a few shift changes among the guards come and go.

At first, it started with some new ones. They were those that treated her like a prisoner and didn’t even grant her any food or what the time of day was. After them came a few guards who were slightly nicer than those previous. They, at the very least, gave her some food to keep her alive. Still, they weren’t all that nice. They addressed her as either what her prison name was or “Daughter of Apollo.” If Vivian was going to be honest with herself, the latter name was what she hated being called by them.

And then came the third of the rotation.

The last of the three maximum shift changes, Vivian was always relieved. The two guards that came in this one, while still sticking to the recurring theme of being a jerk, were at least nice and civil with Vivian. She even knew them on a first name basis. One was Xander, a tough-sounding male, but had a sweet spot for blondes(or so Vi assumed by the lengthy glances he would give her). The second being Quinn, a female who seemed to be the nicest of the two. She allowed Vivian to know what she looked like. Even as dim of lighting as the room was, Vivian was able to see that Quinn was a pale woman with red hair. Vivian’s first thought was that she had to be some kind of Irish mix.

When it came to Xander and Quinn’s shift, Vivian’s eyes lit up with a sparkle. When the door slammed, they took their positions at the desk, placed Vivian’s platter of food on and proceeded to begin their shift just by being there, playing cards.

“Boy, aren’t you two a sight for sore eyes.” Vivian said, trying to open up some kind of conversation between her and Alex and Quinn. “You have no idea how boring it is with the other guards. “

Quinn, removing her hood. As she did, she was revealed to be a pale redhead with green eyes. She wiped the sweat away from her forehead. “Yeah, the ones before us are a bit uptight.”

“Quinn!” Xander snapped, looking directly at her, his voice sounding angry.

“Oh calm it down, Xander. It’s not like Anderson is here to berate us for simply taking off our hoods. He’s gone to Olympus Academy, remember?” Quinn told him, simply brushing off whatever anger he had at her.

“I know, but what if he decides to come back early?” Xander asked.

“Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to make it back at least until midday tomorrow.” Quinn told him.

Sighing, Alex admitted that she was right.

“I couldn’t help but overhear,” Vivian intruded. Xander and Quinn both looked at her curiously. “He won’t be back here until midday tomorrow? Is that how far away Olympus Academy really is?” She inquired.

Quinn nodded, sighing at the hotness that the room had. “But Anderson is faster than most of us. It’s like a two-day journey from here to there, but it only takes him about seven hours, the fucking wanker.” Quinn said, “anyways, that’s enough of that, you need to eat, Vivian. I’m sure you’re starving and most of the dumbasses here don’t feed you regularly, I take it?”

Vivian nodded.

Quinn smiled. “Well, it’s good that we got you some food.” She said, walking over to Vivian’s cell and sliding it through the part of the door that was made for a platter of food.

On the plate, Vivian saw steak, potatoes, and corn with some gravy and butter. Even though the quality seemed to be less than what Vivian preferred, she started to eat it on her bed. Bite after bite, Vivian was soon done with it in a matter of minutes.

As Viviian took her glance slightly over to Alex and Quinn, she saw that Quinn was on a phone and she seemed to be texting someone. And that’s when, right in that moment, Vivian made the plan to somehow, someway, she would get that phone. It would be her only chance to contact anyone, be it Delilah, Dallas. Pretty much anyone who would answer her call.

The only problem was how would she get her hands on it?

Not only was Vivian the daughter of the Son God, Apollo, but she was the younger sister of the sneaky, crafty, and above-all-else, mischievous planner, Dallas Relo. Surely she could devise some kind of in-the-moment plan to get a hold of that phone. Surely, somewhere in that brain of hers lays a sure-fire way to get that phone.

There has to be.

Vivian sat there thinking and thinking and thinking. And then it came. Not to her, but near her.

Vivian’s sense of hearing heard the door open. It was one of the many guards on staff. She couldn’t really make out any of the words, but it prompted both Alex and Quinn to drop whatever they were doing. Alex had been eating and he dropped his sandwich on the plate it was. Quinn, on the other hand, was in such a rush that her phone -- covered in a unbreakable case -- had somewhat rolled off the chair, and about a few feet away from said chair and within arm’s reach of Vivian.

Realizing that this was her chance, Vivian got on her stomach and through the short gap between the bars, Vivian reached her tiny-ass arm through them.

As she reached as far as she could, Vivian thought that she wouldn’t be able to get it. At one point, she thought she had it, but not enough of it. She could feel her arm starting to tighten up a bit, but just as it started to get to her breaking point, Vivian felt confident enough.

“Got it!” Vivian said excitingly, as she brought it carefully inside the cell and finally held it in both of her hands. Vivian didn’t waste time. She instantly brought up the dialing pad so she could dial a number. The first one that popped into her head was Dallas’ number. As she had put it in, she pressed

"Dallas?" Vivian said as quietly, yet clearly, as she possibly could.

"You've reached Foghorn Leghorn's House of Cock, the world's most CARTOONISHLY fun adult retail store. How can, I said ah, how CAN I help ya today, ma'am?" the cheerful voice rang back. "Funny story. You sound a lot like my sister, so if this is my sister and she's somehow crawled her way out of hell and back into 4G range, I want you to squeal in excitement once. That way I can know to stop pretending to sell you sex toys. Before this gets icky."

"You fucking dumbass, this is Vivian!" Vivian, trying as much as she can not to yell extrememly loud. "Now stop being a total goof and listen to me." Vivian ordered, "I don't got much time. I need you to get one of your techy friends and trace this call ASAP!" Vivian said.

Techy friends? Tracing cell phone calls? Motherfucking ASAP?

Had he walked into Black Hawk Down? Or a spy movie? 

"No, Miss Corette...I expect you to die." Dallas sighed, the sound warbled by poor cell reception into a rasp of static, and the sound of him pinching his nose in frustration was almost audible. You're still really whiny. Guess that's as good as a squeal. Alright, alright, I'll get Zaheen. Hey, bright side, it was the headmistress that chloroformed you. So really, all those times I told you that this shitty school was going to be the death of us, maybe listening might have put Stella in that cage instead of you. And the world would be a better place for it."

“The headmistress? Damn, so that’s what he meant by boss.” Vivian recalled what Anderson said. “Can’t believe I got choked out by that old hag.” Vivian really couldn’t.

Another sigh.

"Alright, I got Zaheen. He's doing...something with his laptop, the toaster, and a mini antenna. I'm not gonna question it. Have they hurt you?"

"Just my pride — and your.. prada sunglasses." Even as she said that, Vivian could feel the incoming anger that Dallas would have at the news of his sunglasses.

"You...are trying to manipulate me into ending human lives. I can hear it in your voice." Dallas took a deep breath. "...God damn it, those shades were a gift. God damn it. I am not so easily manipulated into a...a...oh fuck it fine where are you I'm going to go and shatter some jaws."

"I'm in some cell.I don't know the exact location, though. It's gotta ways away, though." She said, " They got everyone else here too. I saw Hector when they were taking me to my cell." Vivian told him. "Oh, one more thing." She paused, looking at the door to make sure that Quinn and Alexander weren't coming back. "Some guy by the name of Anderson said he was going to see The Boss. I don't know if that's the Headmistress, but tell everyone to keep an eye out." Vivian said

"Yeah, okay, I'll do that. Listen, I want you to delete this call from the phone and slide it back wherever you found it. Push it far the fuck out of your reach so there are no questions. And then I want you to bide your time and don't be a smartass until I come and storm Normandy. Understand me?"

" I'm not an idiot.I know not to leave any traces of us talking" Vivian said, giving Dallas a confirmation that she understood what he said.

"And stop cursing. Cause you're fucking dogshit at it and your voice still cracks." Dallas' voice softened slightly, and there was a third sigh across the line. "Keep your chin up, kiddo. I'm not leaving you alone much longer."

Vivian smiled and made a sound that could've been described as a slight sniffle, probably something akin to crying.

"Just hurry." Vivian said, hanging up with Dallas.

As she started to hear the knob on the door turning. She quickly went to the recent call history and deleted her call to Dallas and threw the phone a yard or two away from her cell door, it sliding across the floor and landing near one of the legs of the chair closest to the door.

---

---

"Uhm.. what?" Cori cleared her throat. Roze was very straightforward with these matters. Maybe it was time Cori learned something from her. She inhaled deeply before she made her decision. She nodded.
"You're the best Roze. Thanks." She hugged her friend. Damn was she nervous all of a sudden. She smiled sheepishly at Roze in expectation of the excuse she would choose.

Returning the hug from Cori, Roze couldn't help but chuckle. Damn. She should start up a match-making service or something.
Or, y'know, start applying her own advice to herself, because the horizon was depressingly bare when it came to partners.
"I''ll wait till blondie-boy comes back before making my excuses. Don't want to make our conspiring too obvious." She added with a chuckle. They had, after all, only just arrived.

Zeke had heard Roze call out for him when he was already on his way back from the first lap. His face was slightly flushed from the swimming and perhaps guilt/embarrassment of almost forgetting about them. "My bad, guys," he apologized once he was within speaking distance of them.

"This is nice. I've been stressed out lately and this helped get my mind off things," he admitted. "I still can't believe all the crazy shit that is going on around here."

"yeah.." Cori sighed in agreement. "And I thought discovering that this whole mythological universe coming to life for me was pretty surreal. I guess that was just the start of it.."

"Hmm..." Roze simply murmured her agreement to her friends thoughts, head tipping back to take a look at the sky. The sun was getting low in the sky now, with pink, orange and purple hues filtering through the blue. "Life has been crazy. I'm still glad I came here though; even though everyday is like one of those bad young-adult novels that gets turned into a shitty TV series..." She paused, glancing slyly at Cori before contiuing. "...one of which I just remembered I was going to watch. Tonight." At that she heaved a heavy, put-on sigh about her amde up TV show, and clabered out of the lake. Simply willing the water to fall from her body, she was dry and back in her own clothes in no time at all.

"Sorry about the let down Cori - but you know how bad I get when I don't feed my inner nerd. Zeke, I've told the water to stay off of your butt when I'm gone, but it may change it's mind at sometime, so don't blame me." Roze said to the both of them; and at that, picked up her bag, and began heading back towards the main campus, chuckling quietly to herself.

"Okay, see you later, Roze," Zeke called out to her as she left the two of them alone. He knew that Roze was really into her shows but he didn't think that she would just ditch them right there. Especially since they just arrived a few minutes ago.

Heeding Roze's warning, he decided to get out of the water and began to relax on the grass nearby. "I'm going to stay out here to be safe," he told Cori. "If you want you can stay out by the lake or you can join me. Whatever you want."

"Bye Roze! Be careful out there. you never know." Cori waved at her friend as she left.
So this was it.
She was not looking forward to this confrontation, but it had to happen. This was supposed to be a good thing, right? It could go well.. right? What would that even look like?
Cori climbed out of the water and sat down next to Zeke. "I think Imma join you here." She said with a careful smile.
They just sat there for a moment in silence. Then Cori took a deep breath.

"Zeke, look. I mean, the thing is.."

She cleared her throat... focus
"I have to tell you something."

Like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck, there was no escaping this now.

"I eh.."
And something inside her decided that the leap should be taken. She felt calm. Sure of herself. She looked in his eyes.

"I like you.

A lot."

The words had found their way. And regardless of what he was going to say, she was glad she had told him.

Zeke's mind was a little slow on the uptake. One.. Two... Three... "Cori likes me?"

For the past few weeks or so he was absolutely certain that she had a thing for Peter! Huh... Wait... Has she liked him for a while? Oh man, he was a complete bonehead. He began to look back at all the things that went down the times they hung out. Everything began to make sense now which was a rare occassion for the mega-jock.

"Wow... I always thought you were great but I didn't think you would... well... I never thought of the possibility of us... No, that makes it sound like I'm rejecting you. Uh.. no.. it's just wow. I... You're great! I always have a great time hanging out with you. So, if you really are okay with me and how stupid I am sometimes, we should ... I don't know. Start going out?"

Real smooth. Real smooth. Hard to believe he was such a smooth operator before this moment. Despite his temporary awkwardness, he was smiling and enjoying himself. And while he never really thought of them as a couple before, it kind of felt like it would work out when he thinks about it.

"You're definitely stupid if you didn't pick up on this before!" Surprised by her own reaction, Cori quickly put her hand on her mouth.
"I mean.. "
Cori had ran an entire speech in her mind for the scenario that she had thought to be most likely. That she knew that he was the popular jock and that she was weird and the he was Zeus' boy and she was Hades' child and that he liked Clarissa and that she knew all that but that she did like him anyway and.. well..
Things seemed to go a little different now.
"...you want to go out with me?" She smiled.

What else was to be said right now?

She scooched a little closer to him...and rested her head against his shoulder.

"yeah, you're stupid."
And she wrapped her arms around him.

"You're awesome. I'm awesome. Why not?" he said as he put one of his arms around her. "Just a warning, I'm not used to the whole relationship thing. Never been in one for too long, I have to admit."

Which was true. When was the last time he was in a serious relationship? He wouldn't want to hurt Cori since she was also a close friend of his. He hoped that he wouldn't screw things up with her, as a friend or a boyfriend.

His ego could not help but make him ask. "So why do you like me?" his eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Neither have I." said Cori in response to Zeke's relationship doubts. It uneased her that he was already struggling against this. Or well.. 't was just that she had hoped that it would be easy once she knew how he felt. But she wasn't really sure how he felt right now. He said sort of yes. But with a lot of thinking. Maybe she was overthinking all this as well again. "But we'll figure something out. No need to get ahead of ourselves. I'm just glad we're here now. like this.

Ha! Why do I like you? Well..you make me feel safe. You always know what to do and say. It's simple between us. We can have fun together. plus you're very cute. But I'm not going to blow up your ego all the way now." She winked at him.

"Thanks babe," he smiled as he was not expecting a real answer but appreciated it. He took the time to look at her more carefully for the first time. She was actually really beautiful. He used his free hand to play with her wet hair.

Not really saying much, he thought about what their relationship may lead to. Here he was, with an incredibly gorgeous girl, one that he has not really noticed until now. Was being in a relationship so soon the right thing to do? But maybe she was right. They could figure it out as they go along. These things took time right?

---

---

Sammy hid a smile at Jay’s offer for the ‘’big, strong males’’ to take all of the bags inside. Although the task was definitely made easier with Skye taking his biggest bag in, there was still quite a bit there.

Most of it still Skye’s.

Hoisting one of the bigger ones on his shoulder, Sammy let out a laugh as the girl’s began their bet.
“Now there’s a wager I’d love to take part in – however, I’d rather see one of you two skinny-dipping than doing it myself.” He said through his laughter, only glancing behind him as a quiet stream of swear-words met his ears, and Jay began tugging on his shirt. Turning to look at him, Sammy chuckled again, shaking his head slightly.

“Damn Jay – your Daddy never tell you to lift with your knees?” He said in a quiet, yet joking tone, in order to keep it quiet. He had to give the kid his dues – there was nothing worse than being emasculated in front of your girlfriend, and he hid it pretty well. However, after seeing the pain in Jay’s face, Sammy stopped the jokes for a second. Time to help a bro out.

“Hey ladies! Speaking of bets, I bet you I can carry two of Skye’s bags into the cabin – while carrying Jay here. Place your bets now, because I want this party starting real soon.” He said with a jovial grin to Clarissa and Amelia – and then looking back at Jay with a wink.

“So, I can carry you fireman style, or piggy-back style. Your choice, my friend.” He said in a low tone, still grinning. He figured this was the least embarrassing way for Jay to be aided into the house.

Hopefully Sammy himself wouldn’t be embarrassed by collapsing under the weight. He already had a headache from the damn bickering in the car – he did not need a slipped disk on top that.

Damn, Sammy. You’re sounding 80-years-old again. Man UP!”

---

---

---

---

Peter’s insomnia hadn’t been kind to him recently.

The stress of disappearances and a very brief visit from his Mother last week had just screwed up his sleep schedule royally. He was up all night, obsessing over pointless compositions or equations, simply in an attempt to fall asleep – and to avoid the second present his Mother had left him.

It had been a fairly cryptic visit. She’d popped up right between himself and his TV during a Star Trek marathon, chiding him for not using his spear. His first comment had, naturally, been a snarky one:

”What am I supposed to be stabbing with it? Imaginary kidnappers? I’m not Sherlock Holmes, I don’t know how to catch these guys.”

She hadn’t been happy with his answer – instead giving him a scroll with a cryptic message on it, and a brand new charm to his spear. If he didn’t use it at least once a day, it would prod him. Repeatedly.

And by use, one means practice. He’d googled fighting techniques to use with spears, even gone to some of the Professors for help. After a week, he’d gotten the hang of twirling it a couple of times without cutting off his fingers in the process. Also after a week, he was definitely looking worse for wear. Bruises clouded beneath his eyes in his exhaustion, and his arms and body were littered with cuts and nicks from Gungnir. There was a particularly nasty one on his ribcage which ached everytime he breathed.

So, yeah.

Fun times with Mommy.

Deciding to leave the spear practice until later, Peter had thrown on some clean clothes and sunglasses before departing outside. Despite the lowering sun giving off a glare that would piss even Apollo off, the fresh air was somewhat soothing to his frazzled mind. Deciding to avoid the noise of people in general, Peter headed towards the outer rims of the Campus.

Probably not the wisest idea, what with all the kidnappings and everything; but honestly, he was beyond caring. Maybe if they were nice enough to knock him out, he’d at least get some damn sleep.

Speaking of being knocked out... was he getting woozy? Or was the ground shaking? Leaning against a nearby tree for support, Peter’s eyes widened slightly.

Did Utah even get Earthquakes?

---

---

---

---

Roze couldn’t help but burst into laughter as she jogged away from Zeke and Cori. Honestly – how clueless could that boy get? Hopefully Cori could actually drop a hint large enough for him; as if Roze’s obvious set-up and then leaving wasn’t obvious enough.
“Ah... I should start a dating service or something.” She said to herself through her quiet laughter, jamming her hands into her pockets. The air was much cooler now that the sun was setting. Wet hair didn’t exactly help make her feel all warm n’ cosy either.
The smile upon Roze’s quite smug face froze as she heard leaves rustling behind her. Pausing and turning to peer into the darkness, a different kind of cold crept over her – the chill of fear.

“Nice goin’ Rozie. You just broke the number one rule of any horror movie or Supernatural episode: NEVER. BE. ALONE.”
Now, despite the lack of ninjas or monsters or whatever jumping out at her, the sudden suspicion that she was being watched occurred to her. Paranoia? Probably. But given the current serial kidnapping situation she was in, it was rather healthy to be paranoid.
Especially near a creepy forest. At night. Alone.

“If there’s someone lurking around here, I’ll kick your butt... then escape...” Roze called out uncertainly into the dark treeline. The rustling had stopped – although she doubted that she’d scared off any potential attackers in there with her weak-ass threat.
”Let’s just sprint like hell back to the main campus. Will I look like a crazy person? Eh, probably. I’ll just say that I was super hungry for some tacos.”

Mind made up, Roze turned on her heel and ran full pelt back towards the main campus area – only slowing down once she reached the glaring fluorescent lighting of the lampposts.

“Yeah... told ya I’d escape...” Roze panted, allowing herself another smile, as the rather uncomfortable feeling of being watched disappeared. ”Huh. Look at that. I actually want some tacos no-“

Roze’s thinking-out-loud was cut short as a gloved hand clamped across her mouth, and a rush of negative emotions hit her like a wall. Suddenly she was a kid again, hiding in a basement while she listened to nightmare creatures tear apart her mother, and the earth shook and trembled around her in her terror.

Except whatever these things were, were not monsters. They were making quite human-like grunts of exertion as she fought against their hold, biting and clawing and punching at the thing that was attempting to put a cloth over her mouth. No doubt soaked in chloroform or something. Lifting her legs up and kicking out, she planted her converse firmly into the midriff of the attacker with the knock-out cloth; who then promptly dropped said cloth in pain. Now, Roze could see a curious-looking (And by curious, I mean terrifying) glove upon his or her – or it’s – hand, studded with claw-shaped rubies that seemed to be swimming with the fire of Hell itself; these gloves clenched in anger, and backhanded Roze across the face; the spikes cutting into her skin.

At this blow, Roze’s fear spiked, and the world began to shake. Not just from her struggling – the ground was literally shaking. Car alarms began blaring in the distance, and the street lamps flickered and swayed with the motion of the quake. Her attackers looked around in shock, and using this confusion, Roze slipped from the grasp of the person holding her. Pushing them to the trembling ground, Roze ran from them – her run no longer one of apprehension, but of complete and utter terror. For some strange reason – although thankful for it nonetheless – Roze could run away perfectly fine despite the 5 pointer Earthquake she’d just unleashed upon the Campus.

Before today, she would have ran straight towards the main building where the teacher’s stayed for the most part out of lesson – but how could she now, knowing that their only Headteacher was a two-faced bitch involved in the kidnappings? Instead she ran back the way she had come, towards the lake – and towards her friends.

There’s no way in Hell they’d take on three of them... right?

As she rounded the corner and saw Zeke and Cori sat close together, she tried to call their names – yet all that came out of her mouth was a sob, both of exhaustion and fear. At this point, tears were mingling with the blood from the cuts on her face and streaming down her cheeks; yet they were a small price to pay for freedom.

Hearing a slight thud; Clarissa glanced over her shoulder seeing Jay had dropped a bag. She could make out some swearing from under his breath, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him slightly. She never heard him swear before. But a worried look crossed her eyes; seeing pain beneath that forced smile. "Are you okay? Maybe, you should have let Sam handle Skye's bags." she said, with a gentle and sympathetic smile. That's when she heard Sam's words about their bet. Clarissa threw her head back with a slight laugh, before she smirked at Sammy with a cheeky grin. "Just you wait, Sammy-Yo! Just you wait....you'll get drunk enough and probably join in." she teased her best-friend, but smiled cheekily. In that moment, forgetting what she had said earlier that day about Sammy skinny-dipping. She then glanced over towards Amelia, wondering what was going through her mind.

Amelia heard the grunt and rose a slight eyebrow at Jay's reaction; for a moment thinking she heard him swear. She gave him a sympathetic smile and then heard Sam's comments about them skinny dipping, which caused her cheeks to turn pink. The thought of Sam seeing her, if she lost...caused her to blush profusely. She glanced away, allowing her hair to hide her cheeks.

The girls heard Sam's words about carrying Skye's bags and Jay at the same time. Clarissa burst into laughter thinking he was joking...but then stopped giggling when she saw how serious he looked. "You've got to me kidding. What you're superman now?" she asked. She knew Sammy was strong...but this was beyond anything, she could have thought.

Amelia on the other hand looked excited and giddy about Sam's best. She just nudged Clarissa with a smirk "I wanna see this." she said and she then nodded looking over at Sam. "You're on pyro-hands. I bet 30 bucks." she said with a smirk, folding her arms over her chest. Clarissa eventually gave in and bet 40 bucks. Both of the girls watching with careful and curious eyes. Wondering if Sammy would even succeed in carrying Skye's heavy bags and Clarissa's boyfriend at once. If he did...the girls would lose money. Leaning against the nearest trees, the girls just watched in silence. Clarissa chewed on her bottom lip nervously. Whilst Amelia watched with a beaming smile, of curiosity.

---

---

As she sat in her office, Celina was one happy woman right now. She was drinking a glass of red wine as she gloated about how everything was falling into place. Her plan was coming along smoothly. She got rid of Mark and sent him to god-knows where, most of the Demigods and Demigoddesses that she and a few close within the organization she works for have been secured in The Facility. On top of that, no one even has a clue that she was the one behind it. They all thought that she was attacked by the kidnappers and she somehow got away. If only they knew that she really was the one who fabricated the entire plot against Olympus Academy.

Beginning to stand up, Celina felt the ground shake. It was much more than just a light shake, though. She saw her desk start to travel from its position, the chandelier hanging from the ceiling started to come loose, and all of the paintings hung up fell instantly, the frame breaking upon impact. As for Celina herself, she could feel her footing starting to slip and face-first she went, her wine spilling over her hair as it followed her.

“What could be the cause of this?” She asked herself, looking around her office as it continued to be destroyed by the earthquake. Thinking about it more, Celina knew what the source could be. There was only one student who had the power to cause earthquakes of this magnitude. “Rozalia Éathliel is the only one.” Celina cursed out loud.

She didn’t know why Roze was causing this earthquake. Even though the girl’s quite the prankster, Celina was finding it hard that she would suddenly want to cause mayhem to the academy. As far as the headmistress knew, Roze liked it at Olympus Academy. Something must’ve happened to warrant the girl to lose control of her powers like this.

“But hell if I know why.” Celina cursed herself again.

As Celina was about to get up, she heard a knocking on her door.

“Celina! Are you alright?” John asked through the door. He sounded worried.

Grunting as she finally got up, Celina felt her joints tighten. “Aside form a killer headache, I’m fine.” She said loudly back to John.

“Do you need me to come in?” John asked worringly.

Celina was about to speak, but out of a dark corner she saw someone. Her expression went from painful annoyance to just flat out annoyance. “No, I’m fine. Go check on the other students. I’m sure they’ll need you and the other professors more than I do.” She said with a fake laugh.

“Alright.” John said, doing as Celina said.

Sighing, Celina pulled a chair nearby and placed it right up. She then sat on it cross-legged. “So, how long have you been there, Anderson?”

“Since John started talking.” Anderson said, stepping out from the darkness, his mask off, revealing the face of a Hispanic man with short black hair and a goatee.

“I see,” Celina said, “so, why have you come here? I hope there aren’t any problems at The Facility?” Celina asked Anderson.

“No, there isn’t, but you have trouble here.” Anderson said directly.

Celina arched an eyebrow. “What does that mean, exactly?” She asked.

“It means that our plans have been discovered.” Anderson said.

The slightly amused expression on Celina’s face was gone as soon as Anderson stopped talking. “What do you mean they were discovered? By who? When? How?” She asked desperately.

“Oh, when you took it upon yourself to make that power play and kill Mark.” He informed her, “as to who and how, well that’s obvious right? A certain daughter of Poseidon must have eavesdropped on you at some point and told everyone.” Anderson said.

“Daughter of Poseidon? You mean Roze? She couldn’t possibly be that smart?” Celina actually sounded dumbfounded. To think the queen of pranks herself had the street smarts to do that.

“Whether she is or isn’t, we traced a text to her phone that included not only proof of your…foolish play, but that it had copies of it,” Anderson told her.

“Damn it!” She roared. “Damn it to Hades! How could I have been so foolish?!” Celina was livid with anger. Not only at Roze, but at herself as well. “She’s going to pay.” Celina vowed to get Roze.

“Had I foreseen that she was able to cause such a strong earthquake, I would have never attempted to snatch her up without taking precautions.” Anderson admitted to Celina.

Celina was surprised. Anderson was never one to get his hands dirty. That’s why he had Celina to do all of the actual kidnapping. “Did you at least catch her?” Celina asked.

Anderson just looked at Celina. “Does it look like I have her with me? No. She got away.”

“Why didn’t you go after her.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was a little busy trying to survive a close-range earthquake.”

“You can drop the smartass attitude. This is serious.” Celina said.

Anderson sighed. “You don’t think I know that? I attempted to grab her, she lost control of her powers, and now she’s probably going to be extra cautious, especially around adults. Even worse than that, she’s probably going to start telling the other students.”

“What are you trying to suggest?”

“What I’m trying to suggest is that, if you keep playing this ruse of being some innocent headmistress, you run a high risk of being found out. What I’m trying to suggest is that you need to act first before these entitled brats all find out who you really are and decide to do something about it.” Anderson said, pausing. “Listen, Celina, if you don’t do something quick, the entire operation would have been all for nothing. Those months of planning, of carefully plotting the kidnapping of the Gods and Goddesses’ children would be for nothing if one little girl decides to squeal. You need to locate her, and eliminate her.” He said, turning around. “If you don’t,” he said, looking at her, “there just might be some consequences that you might not like.”

Just as soon as he said that, Anderson was gone from sight, no dobut going back to the Facility.

Celina sat in her chair. The words that Anderson spoke was played on repeat in her mind. She knew he wasn’t lying. For as long as she has been with the organization, they didn’t hand out threats lightly. If they had to say such things, then Celina must really be on her last leg.

“She’s got to die — and I know just who to call.”

---

---

Break time meant smoke time. Ray stood outside the Coffee Station and leaned against the wall. It was quiet today. He blew smoke rings, one of his favorite artistic outlets.
He sat down in a half lotus position. Why had it been so quiet today? There had been that girl that drank more caffeïne than was healthy for anyone, together with her friends. Besides that trio there had only been a few people in the café today. Something was going on and he didn't know about it. It annoyed the fuck out of him. The next person that was coming his way, was bound to tell him what was going on.

At that very moment, Johanna Raske came walking towards the door of the café.
"Hey Raske!" He abruptly pointed at the blue-eyed miss that he knew from class. They weren't friends in the sense that they did things together. Nor was he really sure if she thought he was acceptable company. -Though he found her quite intriguing with her.. style. Either way, he was pretty sure that she at least knew his name. "Have you noticed anything odd lately?" He beckoned her to come closer and said conspiring, almost whispering: "something fishy is going on."
He scratched his nose.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jay called out to Clarissa, giving her a wave and a smile, easing her worry about his possibly fractured foot.

When Sam offered to carry Jay either piggy-back or like a fireman, Jay simply sighed. “There is no way my privates are going to be touching your back..” Jay responded awkwardly and quietly. He just wanted to get off his feet and into the cabin as soon as possible, but ideally when it didn‘t involve his privates touching a man‘s back.. His foot was starting to cause a lot of pain for that specific leg of his.

Sammy laughed, amused at Jay's response, although slightly annoyed. He was offering to sweep him off his injured feet and carry him inside, all heroic like, and he was troubled over the whole 'no homo' thing?

"Fireman lift it is. Try not to struggle, you'll just embarrass yourself more." Sammy said smoothly, and then swiftly grabbed Jay by the legs and hoisted him over his shoulder. Despite the wiriness of the guy, he was definitely heavier than he looked.
But Sammy was never one to back down from a dare.

"Just don't drop me." Jay said as serious as he possibly could.
Darting a grin at the girls, he picked up two of Skye's bag from the floor, holding them both in one hand. Praying silently to his Mother that the handles didn't snap, Sammy couldn't help but grin. Hecate was probably shaking her damn head at the whole siutation, while Demeter, if she was anything like her daughter, was probably blushing at seeing her Son treated like a damsel in distress.

Pinning Jay's legs to him with his other arm, Sammy chuckled lightly and began a somewhat slow stagger towards the cabin.

Through a slow stagger and some worry that Jay might fall on his neck or something, it would seem that Sam got them safely inside the cabin.

There was a certain mechanic built into the atmosphere of the cabin. Some call it Demeter’s essence and some call it something within the wood that was used to build the cabin. Whatever it was, it was something handy and wonderful. Because it is a cabin given to a child of Demeter, once an offspring of the Goddess of the Harvest was detected, a flash of green and brown light will appear. Not even a second afterward, the cabin is illuminated by a mainly white light source with a tint of green and brown, revealing a multi-story, glamorous display of only the best furniture and comforts one would expect to see in a cabin.

It had couches only of the finest make, carpets that spoke simplicity. The couches were aligned perfectly around a fire pit within the center of the living room. Behind the couches was the kitchen. Upon first glance, it held a certain beauty only to be rivaled by the Gods and Goddesses themselves. There was a marble countertop and a stone-embedded counter, black high stools, and everything any good chef needed in their home. The floors were of a burnt red hardwood. Just by looking up, one could just imagine what the bedrooms and bathrooms look like.
“You can set me down here.” Jay told Sam, letting himself down gently as he took a seat on the leather couch nearest to him. Even though Jay landed softly, he still felt a tinge of pain shoot into his left foot. It obviously was fractured in some way, but the time off it seemed to have helped.

Jay let out a relaxed sigh as he took in the essence of his mother around him and felt the stress from his foot go away. “I have to admit, it’s even nicer in here.” Jay commented, his head looking up, the ceiling fan above blowing down a refreshing breeze. “Demeter—I mean mother—definitely knows how to spoil me.” Jay didn’t want to seem like he was bragging, but no one can say that Jay ever got the chance to do so. So, why not show a little pride in what’s your’s, right?

Although Sammy was immensely happy that he had just won the bet and gained $70 from the girls, the short journey had somehow made his slight headache worse. How? Shit, he didn't know. Obviously his arm muscles weren't interested in pain just now, so they sent it straight to his brain. Typical.

However, once the delicate Jay had been placed down, and he'd relieved his screaming arms from Skye's heavy bags (Seriously, what did that kid bring with him? Bowling Balls?) Sam was able to take in his surroundings properly.

And oh, what surroundings they were.

Once again, Sammy let out a low whistle as he stared at the house. Already, Demeter's warm presence was making itself known to him. The ceiling fan was going, but the breeze was one of warmth, like a gentle hug. The only thing missing from this place was the smell of a home-cooked meal.

Oh, and cookies. Warm, fresh, home-made chocolate-chip cookies.

Goddamn.

"Shit, Jay-Jay, you're not kidding. All I get from my Mom are some fucked up powers that I can't control half the time. Oh, and don't even get me started on the damn visions." Sammy said with a dry laugh, still taking in the scenery.

It was true - Hecate didn't exactly win any 'Mom-of-the-year' awards. But he still loved her, and was certain she loved him. For some reason, Sam felt better about her than his Dad - at least the whole thing with being a Greek Goddess meant she had a decent excuse for ignoring him for a few years. A state Senator was tame compared to that. Dad looked like a lowly Walmart employee when up against Hecate.

Sam felt a brief spark of envy when he looked back at Jay. The kid had it all - hot Girlfriend, the nicest Mom of all the Olympians, a cabin by the lake; and also a high possibility that he didn't have to see his favourite family member be murdered before his very eyes.

However, envy was not an emotion often welcomed into Sammy's mind, and it was swiftly quelled with the thought that even though Sammy was unsure on how he felt about Jay as a whole; he didn't know the kid's life-story.

For all he knew, Jay could have an evil-stepmother. That would fulfill yet another Disney-Princess requirement he had. Princess hair? Check. Princess eyes? They'd make Dean Winchester himself weep with joy. Badass partner who would kick literally anyone's butt? Check for Clarissa.

Sam made a mental note to check if Jay had any animal companions lurking around. If he saw a Chameleon in this place, he was gonna lose it.

By the time Jay had lost his awareness of his surroundings due to the cool breeze emitting from the many five-bladed ceiling fans spread throughout the ceiling of the cabin, it seemed that Sam had already finished bringing in the last batch of the bags. He saw the pile of blue bags—Skye's bags— set near where the dining room table was. There was an assortment of red, light blue, and meadow green bags as well. Even with all of those combined, they didn't make up for half of what Skye had. Jay simply shook his head at the sheer quantity of bags Skye had, it even brought out a laugh in Jay, a laugh that Sam would no doubt hear.

As Jay's laugh caught his ears, Sammy threw himself into one of the comfortable couches opposide him, opened bottle of beer already on hand. It was a fine-ass couch; one nice enough for him to reconsider drinking on it. What would Demeter do if he ruined this fine piece of furniture? Turn him into a tree? Make bees attack him? Make him allergic to flowers?

Wait, he already got hayfever. Check that one of the list already then.

Glancing at the pile of bags that Jay was undoubtedly chuckling at, Sam gave him a wry smile.
"He's not always that insufferable, y'know. It's just that you're the nice, new shiny toy that he doesn't get to play with. Once Skye gets bored with you, he'll just act normal around you." Sam began, pausing as he took a swig from the bottle. Swallowing the liquid, he winced slightly, running his hand through his hair as the headache continued banging away. Jeez, ethanol. Would it kill you to hurry up and numb this damn aneurysm?

"I really wish he'd just stop, though. It's becoming annoying. I'm pretty patient when it comes to people like Skye, but it's getting to that boiling point." Jay sighed. He wanted to like Skye for Clarissa's sake, but there was only so much that the Son of Demeter — the patient son at that — could withstand.

"Of course, that could apply to both of the Aphro-brat twins. Clarissa hasn't always had the lengthiest of relationships. If you hadn't shown up, I'm pretty sure she would have used poor ol' Zeke like a doormat before finishing him in a few months." He added with a smirk. In hindsight, that was a pretty bad thing to be saying to Clarissa's boyfriend of less than a damn month, especially considering the two had hooked up within 24 hours of meeting one another.

Jay looked over at Sam with slightly narrowed eyes. Was he hinting towards something?"Admittingly, I'm not well-versed in the history of Aphrodite, but Clarissa isn't like that anymore, right?" Jay inquired worryingly.

Did true love exist in Greek Myths? Were the Gods all behind the whole soul-mate thing? Because from what he could remember, it was all incest, bestiality, back-stabbings, and of course, consent wasn't a major issue for the big guys up top either, back in the day.

Man... what a fucked up family they were blessed with.

Thank the Gods they didn't have Thanksgiving together.

Jay spent the next minute or so thinking about what Sam said. Leaning back, Jay was looking back up at the ceiling fans, trying to forget about what Sam told him about the old Clarissa, but for whatever reason, he couldn't. The thought didn't leave and now it plagued his mind like the craziness in Dionysus' own.

Shaking his head, Jay's green eyes came to Sam's direction and he noticed that the dark-haired male was in some kind of pain. "You alright over there? I have some aspirin if you need it." Jay offered.

Sam took another swig of his beer, slightly irritated with himself that he'd made his pain so obvious. He'd dealt with worse headaches, but they usually occurred after drinking, not beforehand.

"I'm good thanks - the alcohol should kick in soon. He said, directing a smile towards Jay... who still looked somewhat concerned about Sam's earlier comment.

"Look, I doubt you have to worry about Rissa reverting back to her scandalous ways. According to her, it was the whole 'love-at-first-sight' deal. It always works out in the Disney movies... well, apart from Quasimodo, but shit Jay, you be better looking than him." Sam added with a light laugh.

"If you say so," Jay said, sighing slightly. When Sam mentioned Quasimodo, Jay laughed. "Well, thank goodness I'm not Quasi. I do not think Clarissa wouldn't like it if I had a hunch in my back." Jay said, trying his best at humor. Safe to say it wasn't really superb in its delivery.

Despite Jay's weak attempt at the joke, Sam chuckled at the truth in it.

"You got that right." He muttered, downing the remainder of his beer. Clarissa wasn't one to go for ugly guys, that was for sure. "Speaking of, what's taking them so long? I gave them one bag to carry between them - surely even they could handle that. He added in a slightly irritated tone. He wanted this party started - perhaps in the hopes it would chase away this damn headache.

Jay was also starting to get a little worried, "maybe they got distracted by the scenery," Jay said, "the sights around here are one of the best thing about coming here. You could get lost in the sight of the lake alone." Jay admitted. It was true. Plenty a time, Jay has gotten lost in the sight of the lake itself. It's majestic green hues combined with that warm feeling it gives to whomever would be gazing it is often enough to get lost in it. That's not even to mention the mountain and forests surrounding the lake. Truly, Demeter came through for Jay in giving him this wonderful cabin.

---

---

Seeing Jay's wave; Clarissa waved back at him with a soft smile. Standing beside Amelia, the two girls watched Sam and Jay with curiosity as they seemed to be debating about something still-the girls did not hear the conversation fully. Just hearing Sammy's chuckle, which meant something must have amused him.

Brushing her hair out of her way, Amelia leaned against the car slightly and that's when the two girls saw Sammy lifting Jay over his shoulder...like a piece of feather....along with Skye's heavy bags. Amelia and Clarissa started speechless for a few moments; their jaw dropped in awe. They were both silent for a few moments...not heaving any loud thuds, meant that Sam won the bet. "Darn it...darn it." Amelia hissed under her breath. She and Clarissa had just lost $70 in total.
Clarissa's jaw clenched slightly, watching Sammy carry Jay like a peace of feather..At least he didn't drop her boyfriend. But still...she and Amelia just lost. 'I'll get you back, Sammy...I'll get you back. Somehow.' Clarissa thought to herself. But she couldn't help but notice, how Amelia stared after Sam-like he was the one and only man left on earth that was a hero. Clarissa knew how Amelia felt about Sam-she could see how she looked at him. It was a wonder, Sam hadn't caught on yet. Smiling over at her friend-she gave her the look as she rose a slight eyebrow at her. As if she was asking, when Amelia was going to admit it out loud to Sammy himself.

Amelia felt her cheeks turn bit pink, but flashed Clarissa a soft smile. She felt nervous as it was, but with everything going on. She was sure, it would not be the best time to mention it...or maybe it was. Amelia moved to pick up the last bag that was present...when the girls felt a slight tremor beneath their feet...an aftershock from an earthquake it would seem. They couldn't help but wonder where an Earthquake struck...maybe the academy?

With a shake of her head-Amelia walked in first setting the bag down by one of the chairs in the living room. "Did you just feel that?" she asked, whilst she tossed a 30 on the table in front of Sam. Clarissa walked in after Amelia, smiling over at Jay who was sitting comfortably on the couch. Walking over she kissed his cheek, before she tossed a 40 over to Sam. "You're buying my lunch for the next 2 weeks, for this." she pouted over at Sam slightly-but gave him a playful smile. Clarissa was about to sit down next to Jay-when she noticed her brother walking back down the stairs. Looking fresh, clean and devilishly handsome as always. In a fresh, clean outfit and his hair done up in a cool spike.

Amelia had taken a moment to look around the Cabin. It was spacious, and beautiful. Everything screamed Demeter-it was almost serene. "It's beautiful here, Jay. Really. You're lucky." she commented with a smile, but soon noticed Skye rejoining them. And he seemed ready to strike.

Grabbing Clarissa by her arm, Skye twirled her away causing her to bump into a chair next to Sam's, as he sat right near Jay. Breathing down his neck. "So...why go for Clarissa? Huh? I mean...there's other girls that could have caught your eye...or someone else. But nope...you go for the miss beauty pageant, diva and not so always former-bitch of the school that's known as my sister." he breathed out. Clearly annoyed from earlier, so he was trying a different approach to this. Putting emphasis on the word someone else...meaning himself. Skye was jealous and he was acting as such-he normally would defend his sister, but now, He was insulting..or trying to. "Mhh...you know...besides the pretty puppy-face and gorgeous hair...not sure what she sees in you." he said as he pinched Jay's cheek.

Clarissa let out a gasp landing in the chair-and her eyes turned darker and more annoyed as she listened to Skye speak to Jay in such a tone. Her hand curling in a fist. Amelia grabbed Clarissa, holding her back before the Daughter of Aphrodite could lunge at her brother. "I suggest you shut up, and get away from him! Now...Skye!" she spat at her brother through her clenched teeth. Her body was trembling slightly as she felt the anger curse through her veins at this very moment.
Amelia watched Skye in slight shock-she had never seen him so...jealous. Clarissa was finally happy and trying to change her ways-instead of being supportive. He was giving Clarissa and Jay hell...he was so jealous. She could almost smell it. "You know...for a brat. You have a big mouth with no filter...I'd be quite if I were you, before someone punches you in the nose. It might just be Rissa here." she warned Skye with a glare.

Skye rolled his eyes-ignoring Amelia this time and he zeroed in on his sister. Standing up-hands on his hips. "Or what? You going to go to mommy...thinking she's going to be on your side? Not like your her favorite child anyways." he mocked. He walked a bit closer "What were you planning on telling her anyways? Huh?...That your precious brother, is trying to steal away your little golden boy-toy? He should know the truth Rissa....do you think, he'd care for you then? Huh?...After all, once a heart-breaker, always a heart-breaker. Look at Zeke." he commented with a smirk.

Amelia watched almost speechless at Skye's turn in tactics-she glanced over at Sam in worry.

Clarissa's face turned slightly-as if he bruised her on more than one level. She looked hurt, insulted...also a little guilty and fearful at the same time. "Everyone has their past, Skye! But people are capable of change and that's what I am trying to do. I am not perfect, I am not smart-I am me...I know that...but god...you're making me out to be like some sort of criminal-mastermind. I never had feelings for Zeke-and I still DON'T. I Love Jay, he's not a boy-toy either!...Get over yourself Skye and stop being so jealous and scheming. God...I regret bringing you along here. I Only asked for you to come...to keep you safe with all these kidnappings going on! And this is how you repay me, for bringing you along and for a little prank...because you got on my nerves?!" she snapped at Skye-her anger, and emotions just boiling over the top.

Amelia was glancing back and forth between the two siblings-taking in the argument when she heard how Clarissa felt about Jay. She felt Clarissa's purity in that comment about Jay...but the rest, she could tell her emotions and anger were getting to much to bear with Skye digging into her like this. Even that was beneath Skye....it really was.

Skye narrowed his piercing eyes at his sister, walking a bit closer. He scoffed "You called that a prank? You better watch out..before someone chokes you in your sleep. This is war...dear sister! THIS IS WAR...and I don't intend on loosing to you." he snarled, looking bit vicious...taking a bit too seriously due to his anger, resentment and jealousy. Turning swiftly, he pointed at Jay "This isn't over! If I can't have you...neither can she!" he commented, giving him an annoyed glare that Jay kept resisting him. With that, Skye grabbed his heavy bags, hauling them up the stairs..almost tripping over his own feet as he struggled with his bags-breathing like a bull after a fight.

Clarissa's frame was shaking...her jaw clenched and her eyes dark and menacing from her anger that was rushing through her veins. Her jaw clenched...her nostrils flaring. Skye was going to pay for this...if he wanted a war. She'd give him one...and he'd be the one to loose and weep! Not her. She had been holding her breath-so looked a little pale as she hadn't taken a puff of air in the last few seconds. That's when she noticed Skye left behind one of his bags-she walked over with a glare and pulled the zipper open-full of his favorite hair products and sprays...she grabbed three and set them on a table.
She then began to rummage through the cupboards and any door she could find.

Amelia could see the anger in Clarissa's expression and that's when she noticed Clarissa rummaging for something "Clarissa? what are you doing?" she asked, trying to stop her.

Clarissa wiggled out of her light grip, slapping away her hand "Looking for something..." she muffled under her breath and when she found 3 tins of spray-paint, her smirk widened in a mischievous and malicious grin "Gotcha." she said to herself and carried the spray-paint over to the table, she checked the nuzzles-they were rather clean. Taking Skye's hair products, she carefully pealed off the wrapping before wrapping it around the the spray-paint cans. Knowing her brother would not be down for a while, she took care whilst sticking the wrappings around the spray-cans so they stuck properly. Cleaning off the nozzles, she then set the disguised spray-paint cans in Skye's bag, closing it up.

Grabbing the original hair-products, she walked over to the sink. She then grabbed a knife...stabbing and stabbing the containers...the liquids oozing into the sink. Once the containers were empty...Clarissa tossed them into the bin, cleaned up the knife and sink...putting the knife away once again.

Amelia just watched Clarissa in silence for a few moments and she nodded. "Okay...I get it...you're angry. You want to see Skye's hair suffer...good call." she said seeing her changing the labels from the hair-products. It was a smart move-and considering what Clarissa said about herself earlier, it seemed like a smart move. Amelia felt bad for Aphrodite's daughter-and how she down-graded herself because of what Skye had said. She didn't believe, that Clarissa was un smart-she wasn't...she was just...wild...adventurous...different. She was Aphrodite's daughter.

Skye walked down the stairs about 10 minutes later...grabbing the last bag he forgotten earlier. His face looking more relaxed and calm, as if nothing had happened before and he flashed everyone a cheeky grin. Amelia looked surprised, at his sudden change of character yet again...whilst Clarissa glared after him.
Upstairs in the bathroom...Skye had grabbed one of his hair products. Or fake hair products that Clarissa had skill-fully changed in the last few minutes. Shaking it slightly as usually...it didn't respond seem to move like it usually did. "Oh come on...spray." Skye muttered, as no puff came out. Shaking it vigorously, whilst trying to spray it, it suddenly exploded in his hand. The paint exploded all over his clothes, hair and face...looking horrible yellow color down to bottom.

A loud shrieked could be heard all over the cabin-it sounded half like a Banshee scream and half a siren-wail. Hearing The Scream; Clarissa smirked in satisfaction whilst Amelia laughed hearing Skye's Banshee like wail.

Jonas Highwind, the six-foot-three titan of terror, duke of destruction, sultan of squats, and prodigal son of Ares found himself at a crossroads. Before him lay a choice that would shape his outlook on life for years to come, laying beneath many layers of obfuscation and vague words that, to him, were nonetheless presented as if plain. Even in spite of his relative inexperience with the material, he had acquired savvy by osmosis, due to surrounding himself and holding the majority of his discussions with those very, very familiar. In essence, he was a well-read rookie, lacking more in experience than knowledge.

Thusly, the choice before him was obvious, where it's solution was less so. One could argue that this actually put him at a disadvantage to his similarly green, yet uneducated peers; After all, they had the liberty to simply stumble along through into one choice and be none the wiser. Unlike him, who saw the questions for what they truly were, and found himself paralyzed by choice. Thankfully, though, this was no "answer trivia for a chance at a million dollars" type of quiz show. He had no need to worry about exhausting a lifeline too soon.

Thusly, he made a call. The voice at the end, though slightly weary and ragged from exertion, was still buttery-smooth as his own and bright as his heritage would suggest, even as it aped at a testy, annoyed answering.

"I've been lifting alone for an hour and a half, Jonas. The fuck did you get off to?"

He smirked. You'd never expect Dallas to hold experience in this field, but one Zaheen Ibrahim had seen fit to change that early last year.

"Was planning on heading out later, Tara asked me to grab some groceries this morning." he half-lied. She didn't ask, so much as gruffly tell him what they were out of. "Hey, I got a question for ya, buddy."

"Shoot."

"Aight, so help me out. First time on Katawa."

"Oh lord and you didn't tell me you star--" began the voice on the other end, displeasure evident.

"So I gotta ask: Lily or Hanako route first?"

A long silence followed.

Was Dallas giving it that much thought? It was a tough choice...

"C'mon man, Tea and Crumpets or a BLT?" he asked, swinging his legs 'round as he spun in his chair.

A sputtering noise from the other end. Well, at least he was listening.

"Seriously though, I can't see a clear winner between the two. Which do you think would kindle something in this lonely heart of mine?" he asked, expression leaving cheek and approaching mania.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" demanded the Son of the Sun indignantly.

To that, Jonas simply shrugged. "You know me man. My grasp of social cues and facility for decision making's always been--"

"Jonas, no."

Ear-to-ear.

"Crippled."

BOOP BOOP BOOP

He cackled, seeing the fruits of his efforts upon the phone's screen.

>Call Ended 00:43

Bless.

---

---

"Two days hm.." Ray mumbled as his eyes followed Johanna's hand that she lay on the wrist of her other arm. He wasn't sure why he thought that was strange. It could be a natural movement, but somehow it didn't seem like it was. He left it for what it was. Everybody had their tic.
He stood up so he leveled with Johanna and sniggered at her remark about them being demigods.
"You sure got that right. I've seen things more peculiar than quiet days at the coffee place."
Almost unconsciously, Ray softly knocked on the wooden door post when hearing Johanna assume no deaths.
"well let's hope so. I'm going to text.." Am I really? he felt a bit sick at the thought of having to interact with his relative.
"..My sister" The words came out like he was eating something disgusting. "just to be sure."

He put out his cigarette.
"By the way, I'm not sure if I ever properly introduced myself to you."
He stretched out his open hand to her, ready to shake.
"Raymond Severus Jones, proud black sheep of the Aphrodite family.
You're Johanna, right?"

He motioned with his head towards the door.
"Let's get inside. Coffee is on me today."

---

---

She did say she was going to meet Dallas here. Delilah looked around the place with an innocent and naive awe. She had honestly never been in here before but she could feel that Dallas probably enjoyed it a lot here. The air was heavy with the smell of sweat and other stuff that she could not quite identify.

She had tried to dress for the occasion and had put on a pair of work out shorts and a tank top. She was also wearing her tennis shoes that she had only worn out in the field and gardens. They had a bit of dirt and soil on them and she hoped that no one would mind. She had put her hair up in a high ponytail to keep her hair out of the way. Still, she felt very much out of place. "Should I just... start.. doing stuff? But I don't know how it all works... I should look for Dallas," she thought to herself as she began to imagine that everyone's eyes were on her despite the fact that they were probably too busy doing their own thing to care.

She walked around, trying her best to not get in anyone's way. Suddenly she spotted him and instantly felt relieved. "Hey Dallas!" she called out, rushing over to him. "So... this looks... fun. What do I do?"

She then noticed that Dallas was not with anyone so she asked, "Oh, where's Jonas?"

---

---

"Roze!" Zeke exclaimed at the sight of her, all cut up and teary-eyed. He quickly shot up and gently grabbed her shoulders. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

There was no way this could have been an accident. Someone did this to her. He was feeling a mix between anger and concern. He let go of her before his grip would be too tight and he might accidentally hurt her.

It was nice with Zeke at the lake. But their peaceful moment was disrupted by a sudden earthquake. Normally the earthquake itself would be the most disturbing thing in such a situation. However, the earthquake did no real damage to the ground or the lake. Zeke and Cori sat down as well, so even though they lost their balance, there was no real harm inflicted on either of them. What worried Cori more than the shaking ground, was what she knew about Roze. That this was probably her doing. And that could not mean anything good. They had let her leave by herself, alone. That was an incredibly selfish thing to do on Cori's part. With the kidnappings going on and all the school in uproar about the murder on the headmaster.

So it would be an understatement to say that Cori was relieved when she saw her friend running towards them a moment later. "Roze!" Just to realise a second later, that she was bleeding and crying.

Zeke got to her first. Cori had started crawling towards her stuff during the earthquake, to get her stuff before she would storm for Roze, so she was further away, plus Zeke was naturally faster. But now the ground had stopped shaking and her friend was already here. Cori stood up and hurried to Roze. She lay her hand on her shoulder. "Roze! what's going on!" She knew that Zeke was asking her the same things, but she couldn't help herself.

Although more than relieved to see her two friends, Roze felt a momentary pang of guilt - not only was she worrying them right now, but she'd ruined what had probably been a special moment for them. However, more important things needed to be discussed rather than apologizing for third-wheeling.

Brushing away her tears with a shaking hand, she glanced worriedly behind her shoulder, wondering if what or whoever had attacked her had followed. However, it seemed the eathquake had done its job.

"Th-they tried to take me..." Roze managed to stutter out, still shaking from the ordeal. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off now, leaving her shivering, and the pain from the cuts on her face were finally making themselves known. Gently running her hand over them, there seemed to be three shallow ridges going across her left cheekbone, each weeping blood. "I couldn't...control myself, the quake just happened...Gods, do you think I hurt anyone?!" Roze asked, in a suddenly panicked voice, tears springing back into her terrified eyes. She couldn't be responsible for more deaths, not after last time.
Not after what happened to her Mamma.

Zeke, unsure of what to do or say at this point, patted his friend gently on the head. "You're safe now..I'm sure everyone is okay... Just calm down..." he said, trying to reassure her. He couldn't say for sure that everyone was alright, but they had been pretty close to the center of the earthquake and they were okay. Or however earthquakes worked.

"Come on, let's take you to the infirmary or maybe a hospital if you prefer," he said then asked, "Can you still walk alright? Do you need me to carry you?"

Cori hugged her friend and stroked her back. "I'm glad you're so dangerous they couldn't take you. It's gonna be alright. Let's get to a safer place where somebody can take a look at those cuts."

It was chaos. And that was normally how Cori's mind worked as well. But now she was calm. It was all so clear. Get to safety. Look after Roze. And damn sure she was going to live up to that promise, that it was going to be allright.

"Were you followed?" She asked while letting go of her friend and looking behind her to see if she saw anything moving.

"We better be prepared for them if they come at us again. Zeke, you're fast, you're strong. I'm pretty sure you can carry both of us to get to the infirmary without anybody being able to catch up on you. And by the way, it's about time we did that some time."

She looked at Zeke and then at Roze. Then she saw something glistening under one of the rocks, a few meters away. And she had a guess about what that could be.
"just a sec." She told her friends.

She squatted in front of the rock and reached down into the crack between the rocks with her hand. There her fingers found a familiar metal feeling. But nothing like coins or gems this time. It was bigger. and.. "ow". She had cut herself.
When she took out the object and held it in the light, she found it was sickle.
"It seems like my dad has sent me something." His choice of weapon dumbfounded her for a second. "Is this your humor? your daughter as a grim reaper?" She said as if Hades was around the corner somehwere. A little blood was dripping from her finger. Cori put the finger in her mouth and sucked the blood off of it.

"Well thanks anyway." She sighed. She was not going to stab anyone or anything. But she put it on her belt anyway. The belt that she had to take of off her pants first. Quite a sight in her bikini with only the belt and the sickle. But there was no time for getting dressed.
"Alright guys.." She said to her friends. "ready to go?"

Zeke smirked at the sight of his newly dating girlfriend. It looked kind of cool. Maybe even badass. But now was not the time for that. But he still made a quick comment."I think it suits you. And I told you already before that I won't carry you while I... oh never mind. I can still go pretty fast even I don't go at my full speed."

Despite the reassurance from her friends, Roze wasn't too thrilled of their idea of the infirmary. Infirmaries meant staff - and staff could potentially include Celina.
And that wasn't someone Roze was wanting to run into right now.

As for people following her, she would have been damn impressed if whoever it was had managed to even stand, let alone run after her. Earthquakes were pretty bad - but standing at an epicenter of one usually meant you were lucky to not get swallowed up by the ground itself. That's what happened to her house the last time, anyways.

As Cori walked over to the rocks, Roze stayed close to Zeke, still glancing behind her into the shadows. However, her interest was certainly piqued as Cori drew out a... sickle?

Seriously? Hades was watching on and helping out in the situation, but Poseidon was nowhere to be seen?
"Not like we're right next to a lake or anything for you to jump out of, Dad." Roze thought to herself bitterly, casting a swift glare at the lakewater - which was staying rather tame and unmoving.
However, it was a pretty rad sickle. And Cori looked like Lara Croft's distant cousin or something with it slung over her bikini bottoms.

"Well, I don't think we've been followed... but I wouldn't say no to a lift." Roze replied to Cori and Zeke, still shivering slightly. "And could we head back to my place instead? I have a first-aid kit around there somewhere..." She added, folding her arms tightly against her body in an attempt to stop shaking. Most people would find it odd, for a teenage girl to have a first-aid kit with her. But if she ever got really bad again... like, really bad, from back when she in care; bandages were a kinda necessary precaution.

Cori calmed down slightly when hearing Roze wasn't followed. But still, there were better place to be right now than off-campus, in the darkness of the falling night.
"If that first-aid kit does the trick, then I'm all for it."
She walked closer to Zeke and took his upper arm with her hands. "well?" She said softly as she looked up at him.

He wrapped one arm around Cori though hesitated a bit before putting one around Roze. He wondered if Cori would be mad, but the poor girl was just recently attacked and shivering for goodness sake. He looked at Cori to make sure it was okay with her. "It would be pretty crappy to make her mad within the first hour of getting together. Especially since she has a weapon now," he thought to himself.

"Alright, whatever you guys want to do," he replied as he did not have any preference in the matter. "Just don't expect me to know how to fix you up."

He held onto them and began to "jog". Well it was jogging speed for him at least. He didn't want anything to accidentally happen to them. Some people just aren't meant to go that fast and he didn't want to risk it, demi-goddesses or not.

Soon enough they had arrived in front of Roze's apartment door and he gently put them down. "This is our stop, thanks for riding Express Zeke," he joked, more so for his own sake than theirs.

Even though it was obvious that Roze would come as well, Cori was very happy with the fact that Zeke was sort of asking her permission. Well, that's how she interpreted his look anyway. Unfortunately the circumstances were a bit grim, so she couldn't enjoy her succes of travelling by Express Zeke to the fullest. But she was still pretty content that she actually was. If danger wasn't around the corner somewhere, this was a great way to spend time together. Bring some coffee and cookies, go for a picknick..
Well, her thoughts drifted of as she had closed her eyes and enjoyed the wind in her hair. But pretty quickly, they arrived at Roze's front door.
When Zeke had put them down, she went back to her position where she wrapped her arms around his upper arm. It was big enough for that.
"That was nice."

Honestly, riding Express Zeke (Oh, Gods, Roze, PHRASING) wasn't as bad as she first anticipated. She was expecting some Harry Potter Apparating shit, where your insides turned into spaghetti or something. It was thankfully more akin to sticking your head out of a boat when out on the ocean.

Only less salt spray. (Oh Gods, PHRASING AGAIN)

"Thanks for the express delivery, Hercules." Roze said with a shaky laugh, unlocking the door and opening it cautiously. It was still the same homey, cosy apartment she remembered. No monsters, no creepy shadows, no scary nightmarish gloves.

Since her arrival at the Academy, she'd done what she could to make it as much like home as possible. She'd strung fairy lights in every room; scattered around candles that smelt of the ocean air and her Mom's favourite scent of camomile and lavender; fluffy cushion covers, throws, beanbags and teddy bears that reminded her of Washington; and pictures and photos of her childhood before it got majorly shitty- hell, even an extremely rare one of her, her Mom, and "Daddy dearest" in his human form, back in Italy. She couldn't remember who'd taken the photograph, nor why Poseidon had let it happen in the first place, but there it was. The memory of a happy family.

"Um... make yourselves at home, I guess. The first-aid kit is in the bathroom cabinet." Roze said somewhat awkwardly, glancing at Zeke and Cori. This was the first time she'd let anyone into her apartment. All of a sudden, she felt worried they were going to think it looked stupid. Now was hardly the time to worry about interior decor, but when it came to stressful situations, Roze stressed over everything.

---

---

As Ray got behind the counter he quickly composed that text to his sister.


Perhaps she had nothing to do with it. Perhaps it was indeed paranoia. But he was hungry for the information and she needed to know that they were not going to be friends, just because he contacted her.
He put away his phone and looked back at Johanna.
"So what's your style? You don't seem like an americano, nor like a cappuccino."

The only other two customers came to pay for their drinks. When they left, it was only Johanna and him in the café. Oh and a girl standing in the middle of the café. Ray glanced at her. What's up with her?
He nodded at her. "Can I help you?"

Johanna wasn't sure how to respond to Severus's obvious distaste for his half-sister. Or was it full sister? One couldn't be sure with the Gods; sometimes they stuck with the same person. Personally she didn't really know her half-brother, but she was sure they'd get along fine if they spent perhaps ten minutes together in the same room. It must suck, she decided, to hate someone who's related to you.

"Johanna Raske – it's Joey, if you want to be more American," she told him. "Daughter of Hermes." It always felt so important to clarify that, and Johanna had never met a demigod who didn't tack on their parentage to the end of their name – or make someone guess it.

Coffee was free? Ooh, fabulous. She'd never been given free coffee before! Heavily discounted, maybe, because she was nothing if not a bargain-hunter, but never on the house. She paused, then added, "I'll pay for one of mine, then. I need a spare one to keep my snake warm." Johanna followed Severus inside, still smiling a little dopily. "I'll have a... black coffee for Ouroboros, and – do you do soy lattes?"

"Nice to meet you Joey." He froze for a moment when she mentioned her snake. "A snake?!' He scratched his nose as he thought about that. "So that's what's under your sleeve. Well you are in luck because snakes drink for free in this place. Can I see him?" He was not going to stop now. Some students here surprised you with their habits, line of thought, powers, objects, pets or whatnot. And Ray was always ready to go down that rabbit hole.
"And soy lattes we do, but you'll have to go easy on me for your expectations on the latte art then."

"Oh, no, it's fine. It's all about the taste for me," Johanna reassured him, and blushed slightly. She usually kept Oreo hidden when she took him out on walks – it wasn't exactly hard, given he was far, far too small for a lead (which would look sort of ridiculous anyway). The one time she had taken Jörmungandr wrapped around her neck, and torso, and arm had resulted in far too many stares for the self-conscious snake to bear.

Tugging off her glove, she held out her other hand to catch the black, bracelet-sized snake, no thicker than a pencil, from falling. He tasted the air hesitantly. "This is Oreo. He's my newest – Hermes gave me him. Say hello."The last bit was hissed towards the snake and most assuredly not in English, again thanks to her good old dad's genetics.

The hissing surprised Ray. The hissing from Joey at least. He made a mental note: talks to snakes. pretty cool. He had put the espressomachine to work, and had taken out the soy milk. Whilst waiting for the antique device to do it's thing, Ray came to take a look at the snake.
"He looks cute." He carefully stretched out his hand to the snake and held it in front of it. That seemed safer than petting it. please don't be venomous.
"Hello Oreo, I'm Ray. Pleasure to meet you."
The urge came to him to shake the snake as if it were a hand. But he decided that that was probably a bad idea.
He turned around again to steam up the soy milk and prepare the orders. The latte art he made was supposed to resemble Hermes staff with the snakes. It wasn't very clean, but still recognizable.
"A soy latte for the lady, and one americano for the snake." He said as he put the coffees in front of them. He was proud that he was in the occasion to say that sentence. He loved the academy for these moments.
"So is he actually going to drink that?" Ray asked curious. It seemed a bit much for the snake. About it's body weight in coffee, probably.

"Thanks!" Johanna smiled at the latte art on top. Her dad would get a kick out of that – if only he had a phone she could Snapchat or Instagram it to. Oreo slithered back up to take a clinging position around Johanna's other wrist as she took the two coffees. "Oh, Gods, no, that would kill him," she said, aghast. "He likes to wrap himself around a warm mug, and it's not really fair if I take him out and don't get him something, you know?"

Johanna shuffled a bit to the side as she started her drink, sitting the spare coffee and her snake on a napkin to do his thing. She was still at the counter but not in the way of the other customers... Customer. Singular.

Marilee supposed that she looked odd standing right in the middle of the cafe. But she always looked odd to people, so perhaps this wasn't too bad. It was better than talking to 'thin air', like she usually did when a wandering spirit got lonely and decided to chat. Someone had spoken, but she had been too caught up in her head to notice. Finally she saw that there were already two other people inside. A guy behind the counter and a girl sitting.

Very well, she was suppose to seat herself then. Her boot sounded a bit loud to her nervous ears as she walked a few steps and sat at the counter, a seat between her and the other girl. Slowly glanceing over with pale blue eyes, she almost spoke to her but decided it was rude, and she turned her attention to the menu.

"I'd..." her voice was low and wavered under pressure, "I'd like a hot tea... If you have any. Please."

Sammy had stayed quiet throughout Skye's petty and childish outburst - but that didn't mean he wasn't in the least bit pissed off at the kid. He'd taken it one step too far; it had even been somewhat amusing, watching him fawn over Jay. but when he resorted to insulting Sam's friends - and literally treating Jay like the latest accessory - Sam's anger was real riled up.
Although not in the same manner as Clarissa's - while hers was an angry, red hot anger; as shown by her treament of the hairspray - his was a cold and quiet one.

Not only had this wee outburst between the siblings worsened both his headache and his mood, but the mere fact that Skye had the audacity to be arguing over stuff like this was infuriating. People were going missing - their own Seraphina had been taken not 24 hours ago - and here he was, declaring "war".

If war is what you want Skye, we'll give it to you. Sammy thought to himself, watching him with dark eyes as the younger boy retrieved his tampered bag.

At this point, Jay just expected Skye’s comments. He couldn’t do nothing about it. Not because he didn’t have it in him to go after Skye in a violent kind of way, but even if he wanted to, he probably couldn’t due to his foot. Still, when Skye made those comments about Clarissa, Jay felt something inside him build. He had always tolerated Skye for only being slightly annoying and Jay wasn’t really the type to get violent, but every once in a blue moon, there would come a time that even the silent one must speak up.

As Skye pranced back up the stairs in a rather smug manner, Sammy stood up, glancing at Clarissa. He had no doubt the girls knew the familiar look in his eyes - it wasn't often he got this angry, but when it came to people he cared about, it really ticked him off.

Shit, he'd killed people before. Not even the mythological monsters that the Academy warned them so much about - just regular dudes, hoping to make some random mob boss happy by killing off a politician and his family.

Not that Skye had gone far enough to warrant death - that was hardly the case. But Sammy was one for making rash decisions, and a yellow spray-paint bath seemed to be far too tame for the Aphrobrat at the minute.

"Excuse me for a moment - I won't be long." He said, icy smile warming slightly as he talked to Clarissa - as he began walking towards the stairs, a shriek echoed his words - no doubt Skye had found Clarissa's little surpise.

After Clarissa heard Skye's shrieks and Sam seemed more furious than her-during that point. She caught his deathly glare along with Amelia-both knew that look too well. Skye was in a load of trouble, where that came from. She closed her eyes, trying to take a few deep breaths. She smiled faintly towards Sam, as he spoke to her. "Sure...we'll wait." she breathed out, taking a seat on one of the stools and leaning her head against her hands. Trying to calm down.

Amelia just watched after Sam with a slight worry. She glanced over at Jay to see how he was coping-it seemed like he was about to burst aswell, but kept silent.

As Sammy reached the bathroom Skye's girlish shriek's were coming from, the door flew open, and an infuriated - and also bright yellow - Skye paused as he saw Sammy before him; but in his rage, didn't take long before coming back to his furious senses.

"Out of my way, Samael!" Skye hissed, a sneer adorning his face as he said Sam's full name. Because of the fact he didn't believe in all the Christian crap after finding out about his Greek heritage, Sammy wasn't too amused by the fact he had two names that were Angelic. As such, he preferred nicknames. "You've gone too damn far this time! Do you have any idea how long it'll take to wash thi-"
Skye's words were suddenly cut off as Sammy shoved him back into the bathroom - not enough to really hurt him, but enough to shut him up.

"Yeah, buddy, looks like it'll take a real long time to clean up." Sam said, a dry anger hanging around his words. Skye's own anger gave way to fear - the same fear he'd portrayed in the car prior to Sam's previous threat. "Say, isn't spraypaint flammable? Would sure be a shame if you leant to close to a naked flame, wouldn't it?" Sammy added, raising one hand and letting tiny flames dance around in the palm of it. Beneath the paint, Skye's face became white as a sheet. Third degree burns were a lot more permament than paint, after all.

"Y-you wouldn't dare..." Skye squeaked, still staring at the flame. Sam's eyes narrowed as he stepped forward, a frankly frightening smirk on his face.

"You know what I'm like, Skye. I have one hell of an anger problem. Gods only know what I'd do to that pretty little face of yours if you EVER threaten my friends again!" Sammy uttered in a hushed tone, and after a few seconds, was satisfied with the look of terror on the kid's face.

Stepping back and extinguishing the flames from the palm of his hand, Sammy glanced quickly around the paint-splattered bathroom. It was surprisingly not an en suite - which meant the only exit was the door behind him. Looking back at a still cowering Skye, Sammy stepped backwards out of the bathroom.

"To give you some time to clean up and stop stupid things coming out of your mouth, I think I'll leave you alone in here. Just let me lock the door for you." He said with a grin, and before Skye could even speak, he had slammed the door behind him, and jammed a chair firmly under the doorknob.

No way he was getting out now.

Walking back downstairs feeling considerably calmer - and pleased with himself - Sammy paused for a moment as a wave of wooziness hit him. Leaning on the banister, he blinked away the spots before his eyes, and the world looked normal again. Feeling wetness on his lip, Sammy brought his fingers to his nose, and was surprised to see blood on his fingertips.

A nosebleed? Surely he hadn't been pissed off enough to pop a blood vessel?

"Probably just the magic... He muttered to himself as he rejoined the others in the living room.

“So, uh, what exactly did you do to him, Sam?” Jay asked curiously.

The conversation upstairs could not be heard - Whilst Clarissa was still trying to cool down. Amelia was worried - glancing at the stairs every so often. She rubbed her forehead, and soon enough she heard Sam re-joining them but her eyes shot wide open as she saw the blood oozing from his nose and smeared on his lips. "Oh my...Sam! Are you okay?!" she gasped, grabbing a few tissues as she rushed over to Sam.

Her eyes gentle and filled with worry, as she gently touched his cheek to wipe the blood from his lips and gently held the tissue against his bleeding nose. "I swear, if that little....urgh...if he...god I'll rip his head off myself." Amelia stambled over her words. Thinking that Skye had the nerves to punch Sam, and cause the incident. Her frame slightly trembled and she sighed, just wrapping her arms around Sam, hiding her face against his shoulder. Breathing in his scent, she gave him a tender squeeze of affection. She knew, that Sam had enough to deal with already. But he was a good friend - and Skye surely got what he deserved...if not more.

Staying near Sammy, Amelia rubbed his back gently in aid to try and ease his temper. She wasn't sure, what she could do for the head-ache.

Clarissa glanced up when Amelia rushed over to Sam - seeing his nose bleeding worried her slightly. Her brown eyes creased with slight confusion - she had never seen Sam's nose bleeding...nor had ever known it to when he got angry. "Sam...thanks for what ever you did. I appreciate it." she flashed him a soft smile. She was lucky, to have such good friends that stood up for her against her brother in situations like this one.

Sammy's nerves were soothed just to see how worried Amelia had gotten over a tiny nosebleed. He even cracked a smile when she got angry - obviously assuming that Skye had hit him.

Please.

If Skye had raised a hand to him, it would be missing.

Sammy placed an arm around Amelia's shoulders, running his thumb gently over her upper arm, throwing a smile towards Jay and Clarissa.

"Don't wet your pants with excitement guys - I didn't go all Bruce Willis on the guy. I just locked him in the bathroom. He said with a smile, wiping away the last of the blood on his face with the tissue. "Although speaking of wet pants - I'm pretty sure that some of the yellow on the floor around Skye wasn't all paint, if you get my meaning." He added with a chuckle, and like that, the anger was gone, quickly replaced with his flippant attitude.

Planting a kiss on Amelia's head, and a whispered 'thanks' for just simply caring about him, he turned back to the others with a grin.

"Well, guys, the children have been put to bed, and there's a disturbing lack of music! Let's get this party going!"

Seeing Amelia and Sam embracing - Clarissa smiled briefly. Those two always looked so cute together. Amelia did have a tendency to worry about Sam - even if it was the little things.But it was sweet nontheless. Clarissa stole a few glances over at Jay, wondering what was going through his mind-she had expected he might say something to her...but in all truth; she wasn't sure what he would say or think of her now with what Skye had said. Sighing, she glanced at her own hands. Hearing Sam's comments about her brother...she rose a slight eyebrow.

[i]'Skye wet himself?[i] she thought to herself, with a smirk on her lips. Whatever Sam did, worked it's magic pretty well...it would seem so at least. Sammy was probably the best person to try and scare of Skye.Having done so on previous occasions-including today no less.

Leaning against Sam; Amelia was content in their embrace for a few moments. Wanting to make sure Sam was okay. Hearing his chuckle brought a smile to her face. It was like he was all better now and the anger had left him. She smiled softly, feeling his thumb brushing over her arm and then his lips against her head. "I always care, Sammy." she whispered, before leaning up and she kissed his cheek. It was true - Amelia had always cared for Sam. No matter what happened, even when he left - she still cared and worried for him.

Hearing's Sam's proposal about the party, she smiled in agreement. [color=ligthblue] "I agree! You have some music, here right?" [/color] she asked, glancing over at Jay who was still sitting on the couch.

The daughter of Dionysus glanced over at Clarissa and reached over poking her. "Come on, Chicka! Smile...or me and Sammy will tickle the heck out of you." she smiled, as she ruffled Sam's hair as she moved away from him walking over to the cupboards, she grabbed a few glasses setting them on the table. Looking through the bag of drinks that Sam brought; she poured a shot for Clarissa. Pushing the glass over to the young Demi-Goddess "Bottoms up...Rissa." she smirked before pouring her self a shot.

Clarissa couldn't help but crack a smile as she heard Amelia's words. Seeing Amelia slide a drink across to her; she caught it in her hand and with one easy swing-gulped the rich, alcoholic drink down like water. Making a slight face at the bitterness of the first shot. "I needed that...pass me another, would you?" she asked, as she slid the empty glass over to Amelia.

Amelia saw Clarissa's eagerness for the competition - and to drown out her nerves that Skye had caused to bubble a few moment before. Refilling Clarissa's glass, she passed it back to her.

She then threw her head back as she downed her shot - before taking a refill like Clarissa. Being the daughter of Dionysus had some perks when it came to alcohol and drinking - she had a higher tolerance than most, and it wasn't that easy for her to get drunk. But even then, being part human came with the affects of tooo much booze. So she wasn't totally safe, even if she could last a bit longer than a few people. But who knew, she had never seen Clarissa drink that much. Maybe she had met her match, as Clarissa was stubborn.

With all that was happening, from Sam and Amelia somewhat loving on each other, to Clarissa taking a few glasses of alcohol, Jay couldn’t help but just stay silent and watch everyone enjoy themselves. His lack of words — his silence — was no doubt alarming the rest of the gang. If not all of them, then for sure Clarissa; though, perhaps since she was taking in glass after glass, maybe Clarissa wasn’t paying that much attention to what Jay was doing, or rather, not doing.

Lightly tapping his foot to see how it was, Jay did feel some slight pain, but being off of it seemed to have dulled the pain a bit. Feeling confident that he would be able to get on it, Jay just did that. Though he sort of staggered as he attempted to get in a vertical position, Jay was up and on his two feet. Without saying anything to Amelia, Sam, or even Clarissa, Jay went outside. He opened the door and closed it behind him.

A grin adorned Sammy's face as the girls got things going - with a ruffle of the hair and teasing out a smile from Clarissa, Amelia had truly switched the mood around in a matter of seconds. As she took out several bottles of whiskey, rum, and vodka (Which he was making sure Clarissa would be staying away from; after the dreaded Ares Lake party of 2012.), Sammy let a low chuckle, pouring out a double of rum for himself. Ah, dark rum... the most piratey of pirate drinks.

"Drink up me hearties, yo ho! Sammy chuckled before swallowing the liquor in one go. Although he was usually one to savour a fine rum, he felt that he deserved something to take the edge off. As he poured his second one, he paused as Jay stood up. He, Clarissa and Amelia watched as Jay left the room, and went outside in silence, a curiously stony look upon his face.

"What in the name of Asphodel is wrong with him now? Sammy thought to himself with a roll of his eyes. Glancing at Clarissa, Sammy poured another drink of rum out and headed towards the door.

"Don't worry about it Clarissa - he's probably just prepping himself for your skinny-dipping later. Obviously seeing you all riled up got him excited. Sammy said with a laugh, glancing between Clarissa and Amelia. "Put some music on - I want this place sounding like a rock concert when we come back in." He added in a jovial tone before shutting the door behind him. Looking out across the front of the cabin, he saw a silhouette of Jay standing in front of the lake. The sun had completely set at this point, and starlight danced across the sky.

Had he been in a better mood, Sam would have taken in the constellations and the bright moon. Instead, he took a sip of his own drink, then began walking towards Jay.
It seemed with each step, his headache got worse.