---

---

Rhea walked through the halls of Olympus academy, a bag slung over her shoulder, looking for a dorm room number. Instead what she found would be one child and one parent. She looked away, averting her eyes from what was honestly a painful sight when she saw it again. One parent, one child.

“Come on sweetie, let’s get you unpacked then we can find some food.” One man said, reassuring his daughter while smilingly ripping the shoddily patched wound on Rhea’s soul a little wider.

She looked away, but no matter where she looked to – one parent, one child.

---

“Where the hell do I even go?”

I often wonder aloud when I’m frustrated. That’s a bit of a problem I run into. People think I’m crazy for talking to myself, but when I’m caught I get more frustrated and talk to myself even more.

Coming to a door that seemed oddly familiar, Rhea stopped gracefully and spun on the ball of her foot to face it. “Oh that must be why.” She said stroking the wooden door. Surely made from a tree she recognized from the Canadian countryside. She considered that it could’ve been a weeping willow. She softly inserted her key into the lock and it slid in wonderfully. She turned the key and then the door handle. There it was, her room for the year.

There was a small living room area, which also supported a kitchen counter along with some drawers for dishes and cutlery. There was then a small hallway leading to the right from the entrance of the apartment which held three doors. Two bedrooms and a washroom. Rhea slowly peaked into both of the bedrooms, but it seemed neither room had been occupied just yet. She wondered who could possibly come to live there with her. She knew many of the students already, though just barely. She would still have to introduce herself to most.

Rhea’s blushing cheeks made their way to the fridge, gingerly opening it and sighing as – obviously there wouldn’t be any food in it.

She leaned back and through her duffel bag onto a bed, neither had been set up yet so she decided she’d claim the bed nearest to the window. By the time she finished unpacking she laid her head back against the wall, sitting somewhat upright in her bed, exhaling deeply. It was days like this where everything changed. Where the world would truly begin testing them.

The corners of her mouth turned slightly up as she thought of it.

Maybe she’d even make her own little….

She laughed at the stupid idea and returned to staring at the ceiling.

---

Marcella said as she opened the door to her home for the coming year. The décor was seemingly last updated the first time Britney hit the number 1 position on the charts. She slid her designer sunglasses down her nose in order to reaffirm that it wasn’t just some… Trick of the light.

“No, this is real. This is where I’ll be living.” She said quietly, with the tone of a slap. She rolled her suitcase into the first room she found, though that isn’t to say she didn’t examine the other room in order to make sure she wasn’t getting screwed out of a bigger bed.

No. It seemed this was how it would be.

She set her bed up slowly, painfully before finally laying back onto it with an exasperated sigh and pouted.

“I’d literally rather be in hell.” She said under her breath waiting for her new roommate to arrive and push her farther towards desperation.

"of course it's nice this time of year and I haven't seen dad in a little while, but I'd still rather be in hell. Morally that should mean something to this school." Of course it was actually bigger than her mother's house, but who was keeping track of size. She expected something suitable for the gods. This was just...

Nice.

---

---

Webster had stopped coming to school with his dad the moment he'd gotten his license. After sixteen years, he was done with the long talks about achievements, and how his heritage on both sides meant he was supposed to be great. So it was, that as he pulled into the school parking lot, he was alone, for the third year in a row. He wasn't all that torn up about it, if he was being quite honest. Better alone than with the unpleasant company of Johnathan Frederick O'Connor II.

Stepping out of his car, he smiled as he laid his eyes on the campus which he'd considered his home for the past four years. He grabbed his two suitcases from the top luggage rack, and grabbed a bookbag from his passenger seat, one that was bulging with an assortment of novels as well as his laptop. It was most certainly well past capacity, although he paid it no heed, and instead slung it over his shoulder and walked towards the dorms, suitcases trailing behind him.

When he arrived at his dorm, he discovered it to be unoccupied. It was sparkling clean, and easily one of the most poorly decorated places on the planet. But, tacky decor aside, it was to be his home for the next year. He might as well come to enjoy it. Claiming the room on the right, he set down his suitcases with a thud. Resting on the bare mattress was a card, with his name written on it in a scrawl that was too perfect to be mortal. Mom, he thought, moving towards the card as if worried it would bite him.

Luckily, he picked up the card without any biting, and he opened it up, prepared for a nice, heartfelt note. That's what he would've liked. Instead, written in the same scrawl as the front was a single sentence. Have a good year! He grimaced. "Thanks Mom. Really feeling the love with that one," he said to no one in particular. He grabbed the card, and nearly threw it in the trash, but instead placed it on the nightstand that rested next to the mattress. Sighing, he began to unpack.

---

---

The drive to the academy had been a pain in the ass, but it was worth it. Tess couldn't deny that as she stared at the campus, grinning. As much as she enjoyed being home with her dad, she adored being at the academy, with others like her. It felt like a second home to her, being here surrounded by friends.

Popping the trunk of her car, which she lovingly referred to as Mercy, she proceeded to pull her bags out. She slung one duffel bag over her shoulder, a backpack over her other shoulder, and held two more bags in her hand. Tess was many things, but a light traveler was not one of them. She had far to many things in her life to limit herself to one bag. Or even two.

Strutting across the campus and towards her dorm, she waved greeting to old friends, grinning all the way, red hair falling perfectly down her back. She resigned herself to catch up with more people later, as she reached her dorm room. Walking in and dropping her bags on the floor, she found that she was the first to arrive. Awesome! I get to pick my room first, she thought, moving her luggage into the room on the left.

Surveying the bare room she decided that she'd have to decorate it. But that would have to wait. She had a best friend to catch up with. Whipping out her phone she shot off a text to Dusty, and began unpacking, listening for her phone to buzz with a response.

To - Dusty
Lemme know when u get here so we can catch up :)

---

---

A loud snore interrupted from the mass of flesh that had it's arm around Dustyn Taylor Flint. Her eyes slowly begin to open, practically glued shut with this morning's eye gunk and last night's mascara. A look of disgust spread across her face as she looked to the man to her right. "Fucking. Gross." she spoke aloud as she pushed his heavy arm off her chest. Sitting up she looked down and let out of a sigh of relief- her pants were on so that probably didn't mean she had any type of action.

Seconds after Dusty sat up in the bed, the man awoke from his slumber. If it had been under different circumstances, it might have been romantic as the two intently locked eyes with one another. He parted his lips and in anticipation Dustyn raised her eyebrows in curiosity as to what the mystery man had to say about the situation. Vomit erupted from his lips instead of sweet nothings and rolled down his bare chest and onto the bed sheets.

"Fucking. Gross."

Dustyn bounded off the bed, snatching her phone off the floor and left as took her leave from the room. As she darted down the hallway, she flew down the flight of the stairs hoping no one she knew would see her coming. Reaching the front door of one of the many dorms, she looked out to her car in the street. Dustyn's car was a mix of a few car parts in all honesty. It had started off as a ford focus or something like that, but after a few accidents it had been reconstructed into a barely working mess. The bright color of the ticket in her windshield, a simple reminder of why she hated hated the piece of shit. Taking the ticket off the car, she opened her car door and tossed it in the passenger seat with the various clothes, trash, and other items of interest.

Reaching into the glove box, she pulled out the keys and shoved them into the ignition. "Come on frankie." she pleaded as she tried to turn the engine over. She had named the car in honor of the classic horror movie Frankenstein, as her car looked like the monster the doctor had produced. As she attempted to start the car with her one hand, in the other her cellphone buzzed signaling a text.

From - T-BONE STEAK
Lemme know when u get here so we can catch up :)

Of course Tess had already gotten into the dorms already. A quick glance into the back of Dustyn's car she saw her various suitcases, backpacks, and piles of clothes taking up the backseat. She had forgotten that it was moving in day already once again. As the sound of the radio blasting hip hop music exploded from the car. Getting Dustyn's attention that the car was now in motion, she pulled out of the parking spot quick and began heading towards her assigned dorm. Like a good and responsible citizen she texted back to Tess as she drove.

To - T-BONE STEAK
I am omw. Watched an exorcism being performed this morning- made me hungry lol, jk but not really. Cya soon tho babe. <3

A small laugh escaped from the girl's lips as she pressed send. It was a good thing that she made herself laugh, because more often than not- her humor wasn't met with such approval. She tossed the phone over to the seat with the other treasures as she drove the few minutes to her assigned dorm room. She wouldn't bother moving things in just yet, as she was often on the move and staying over at other's places anyways.

Parking, she placed her keys in the glovebox as usual, and grabbed her phone. Getting out of the car she examined herself in the hanging side view mirror. She was very informal for the first day of school, a white tank top and some jean shorts. Not showered, her hair a mess and her teeth un-brushed for at least a day. Any man's dream wife, she was sure of it. Reaching back into the car, she reached into the treasure pile and found a pack of gum. It would have to do until she could get some TLC from Tess. Slamming the door, she shoved her phone into the small pocket of her shorts and walked into the dorms.

Before long, the young girl was knocking- no pounding on the dorm room door belonging to Tess Galloway. "Excuse me mam! We're doing an investigation for hot girls in the proximity and we're given a lead to this dorm room!" she exclaimed in a playful tone different than her usual tone. Without patience, Dustyn let herself into the room. "Oh my God Tess, this is how every person gets murdered around here, leaving their damn door unlocked- we're not in the 1940's anymore, we can't just let our milkman babysit our kids and fuck our wife." the girl claimed, walking into the room and placing her hand on her hips.

Apollonian philosophy.

In Nietzschean theory, Apollo represented the apex of rational discourse. The god of light, poetry, and medicine was a standard for all reasoned men to strive for - a beautiful being defined by his logical thinking and approach to all problems with careful, measured thought. Apollonian thought was regarded as a complete opposite to the chaotic, free form, hedonistic thought of Dionysian philosophy. The two had mingled over the centuries, but only reluctantly, Nietzsche argued, and the Dionysian path was a slippery slope where rough edges and loose cannons made their home, thankfully segregated from the illuminated Apollonians.

Bloooooooooow it out your aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssss, Freddy~!

You had to wonder what was so dispassionately objective about a guy who had nearly gotten himself locked up in Tartarus more than once in his lifetime, or what made the guy who tricked his sister into no-scoping her husbando such a beacon of rationality. Perhaps Nietzsche had no idea how Greek myth worked. Perhaps he had been hitting the sauce too hard at Oktoberfest before he wrote The Birth of Tragedy.

Or maybe Apollo had just managed to shape up a little, and had chucked all his impulses and bad habits a generation or two down the genealogy bonsai into our hero - Dallas Brett Relo, a Roman Catholic by birth, a trickster god by reputation, whose shrine was any couch on the Golden Coast of California. He had been under covers so often that he was expecting a license to kill any day now. A free spirit, through and through...forrrrrrrrr about two or three months outta the year. The rest of his time was now spent at Olympus Academy, a destination he loathed the thought of so much that he was hurtling towards it at around 95 miles an hour with no seatbelt.

The journey had eaten up the better part of eighteen hours, and he had long ago stopped getting Snapchats from other demigods (many of whom did not share his true love of reckless driving) as they had each started road trips of their own. Dallas, having to drive through two and a half enormous states, spent more money on gas and more time trapped in this Red Comet of a WRX STI than most others, was having no more of it. Hence why the Snapchats he was sending out like distress calls tended to be earmarked with higher and higher measurements of speed the closer he got to Olympus.

By the time he made it, ride screeching into the Olympus Academy student parking lot, he was practically breaking at the seams with unused energy. He left the car before parking it correctly (he had taken up half of his designated parking and about a third of the space allocated to Jonas' shitty old Ford) hopping over the driver's side door without opening it and whipping out his phone. From the distance, he heard loud wailing in moonspeak (too manly to be Dana...) but didn't follow up on it instantly. Instead, he kept an eye out for the other familiar offenders - and, finding none, decided to make his own entertainment.

To the Bratcave!

And with a push of his hair away from electric blue eyes, Apollo's one true dipshit and heir began whistling to himself and struck off towards the dorms, intent on making sure no one was currently scoping out his dorm.

---

---

"Gah! FUCK!"

The sound of crashing followed the cry, disrupting the once peaceful and serene atmosphere of the dorm room. A head poked out from the doorway, her hair a wild mess and a frown on her face as she called, "sorry!" to anyone that could have been in the general vicinity. Mariana Dixon had arrived to the academy not too long ago, but early enough to be one of the lucky ones to claim the room she wanted in her dorm with no one to complain against her decision. Yet.

Olympus Academy was her home now, for the second time in many years to come. She'd been a late-comer, arriving the summer after graduating High School and to catch up on the things she'd missed, the Professors had decided it was best for Mariana to start from the beginning despite being late. She'd found friends and settled down relatively quickly into her new life as the daughter of a God in a Academy way too similar to Hogwarts.

The room itself was still pretty bare, four walls with a table on one side and the bed pushed against the other wall with a window that let just enough sunlight to give the room some natural light and a small drawer for extra storage. Mariana seated herself on her newly made bed, looking at her heavy suitcase with a wary look on her face. She'd tried to keep most of her items to that one suitcase and two duffel bags, but the suitcase was most definitely over-packed.

'Maybe it was unnecessary to pack that many books...'

At least half of her suitcase was taken up by books - both fictional and text books - for her to read during her down time. What else was she supposed to do when there was nothing horrifying to watch at night? That logic convinced her last night while she was packing, and now she cursed her decision to cram most of her bookshelf into her suitcase. She'd already unpacked her duffel bags, her clothes hanging in the small closet or tucked away neatly in their appropriate drawers with the bags tossed away in the corner of the room.

'Come on, up you get. Still got some more unpacking to do...'

The brunette stood up, approaching her still collapsed luggage with a somewhat determined look on her face.

This was going to be a long day...

---

---

It's often thought that Ares children take naturally to war. That they thrive in visceral, man-to-man combat, and are some of the most naturally gifted and instinctual fighters on the planet. They are either the most feared, or most welcome sight on the field of battle, a sentiment that was wholly dependent on whose side they'd taken beforehand.

"Ｉｎ　ｆｉｆｔｙ　ｆｅｅｔ，　ｔｕｒｎ　ｌｅｆｔ．"

Dammit, Yuki!

"Warn me sooner!"

None of these things were false at all, and in fact are known to be the quickest, simplest way to describe a demigod of this particular lineage. However, they neglected a crucial detail.

The massive twenty-year old cut to left as directed. At this speed, merely turning hard to course correct would undoubtedly flip Old Reliable over and spell her final undoing.

She deserved no such fate. Not at his hands.

A python shot for the handbreak, her position memorized so thoroughly that he felt comfortable grabbing forward and pulling up at his full speed, the action less looking like something deliberate and carefully calculated, and more just a blur of instinct.

War could be thought of as any competition.

Including a race.

"EAT MY DIIIIICK RELOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he roared, as the rear end of the venerable Ranger slid outwards into his turn. The two had verbally agreed, over the course of the preparation week, to a land race to the Academy, one starting from California, the other from Texas.

They figured it would be close enough to even to have fun with it, apparently not expecting northern Arizona to be backed up like the sphincter of a man who loathed dietary fiber. Dallas's snapchats had grown cockier and cockier, smugger and smugger, faster and faster as he'd realized he was sitting on a lead.

And that, of course, nettled Jonas.

Ever the competitor.

Pulling into straight driving once again, he gunned it and she gave every drop of go she had. His GPS, a gift from his beloved little Japanese sister with a wry sense of humor (and a surprisingly accurate sense of his tastes in anime), was leading him straight to a specific set of coordinates that he'd had to input himself. As Yuki Nagato's soft monotone informed him his destination was getting closer and closer, he raised his phone—

And captured a perfect video.

There was the scenery through the window, changing abruptly and with a flash, from somewhat barren Utah shrubbery to a forested road that wouldn't look out of place in front of Maine.

There was the Ranger herself, a gallant steed that wore the snapchat's measurement of 114.6 MPH as well as any old girl could in her suspension.

There was the blaring audio from the speakers, with poor GPS-chan's "Ｙｏｕ　ｈａｖｅ　ａｒｒｉｖｅｄ．” being all but drowned out by the Eurobeat flowing in through the AUX cord.

And there was Jonas, screaming at the top of his lungs with a war cry that would quake the hearts of man's finest.

"Yep, that's going in the Story."

We won't get into how he managed the parking job three minutes later.

It must have been something, though, considering what Dallas deemed acceptable for his shitty Bratmobile.

---

---

---

---

“BLOODY HELL!”

She swerved right as she looked out of the car window, suppressing the urge to flip the guy off. Idiot. Bastard needs to learn how to turn their blinker on. She sighed and looked down for a moment, grabbing a lip tint and applying it just as she stopped at a red light. She then put it in a black purse that she had in the passenger seat. Another couple of years at this school. It wasn’t too bad. She had a couple good friends either way.

Birdie approached a perfect parking spot in the shade. She had on her designer shades that were circular and, of course, black and white. Birdie got out of the car and went to the back seat, taking out her 2 suitcases. One black and the other black. She then locked the car, pushing her hair behind her shoulder and beginning to walk towards the school. I wonder if i’m going to have to see that slut. Nah, my “mom” shouldn’t be around anytime soon.

As she got near the school, Birdie pushed up her shades to rest on the top of her head. She then pulled out her cell and quickly went to contacts, going under her list of friends to Webster.



Clicking send before she then put her phone back in her pocket with a smile. She finally got to see one of her best friends again. Going back home was always hell. I mean, her brother barely talks to her and it’s just so awkward with her parents. Either way, that stuff didn’t matter. Was she allowed to smoke on school property? Wait. Do I care? To care or to not care. She sighed and decided to use it to her advantage, putting away the pack of cigarette. She needed to quit anyways. Not that it would last long anyways.

Finally, she made her way to her dorm. If anything, the dorms here were sweet. They sure knew how to make them feel like real demigods. She quickly began to dig through her suitcase, taking out her clothes and taking them out properly folded. Maybe later she'd go over to a friends dorm. She better not have a bunch of drama in her life today though. She was tired and she really wanted some beer.

'Good thing I have about 5 bottles in my bag. But, later...' She had some self restraint.

Birdie then looked over to the left and saw that someone else was in the room. This chick's name was Tess, wasn't it? She hadn't noticed at all until now. How long was she even there? She smiled lightly at her, stopping herself from packing.

"Hey. Tess, right? Call me Serein." she says to the girl.

"BEEEEP BEEEP BEEP"
A loud groan came from a mass of blankets, A popped out of the blankets and swatted the alarm clock. Devlin popped out her head of her blanket and picked of her cell phone to check the time. She moaned as she saw the time, She opened her contacts and scrolled to 'Milady D'. She quickly sent a text saying.

" Dusty... Please tell me wherever you are you have coffee... if so can I have some?"

Seconds after Delvin sat up in the bed, She made her way to way to the restroom took and a quick shower. She than hopped into the closet to get dressed, She came out wearing a Dark blue jeans, Charcoal shirt and red flannel collared shirt that she rolled up to her elbow. Devlin bounded toward the bed, Plopping herself onto the bed she put on her socks and shoved her feet into a pair of black and gold studded boots. She slipped her phone into her pocket, and snatched her satchel off the floor as took her leave from the room. As she walked down the hallway, she smiled and everyone walked pass. Reaching the front door of the dorms, she made her way to one of the benches. She took out her headphones and plug it into her phone and listened to randomized song list as she sketched out a some designs for a robot idea that she had stuck in her head.

She soon picked up her phone again and scrolled through list till she reached 'Kid Genius', opening one of the previous messages. Devlin smiled as she thought it would be a good idea to invite him to help her out. she sent him a text that said.

"Hey Webster, Do you like robots? Suddenly had a urge to make one, and I'm in desperate need of some assistance. would to hear you opinions on it buddy. I'll bring snacks too, so while talk we can snack. Let me know when your free :)"

---

---

Delilah was dropped off at the Academy by her father. Before he left and made his long trip back home, she kissed him on the cheek. "Drive safe, Dad. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Lilah. If anything happens, call me. I'll drive all the way back here and take care of it!"

"Dad... that will take you a full day of driving for a round trip."

"Anything for my little girl! Anyways, I should get back on the road. Bye! Love you!"

"Love you too! Bye!" she called out after him as he sped off.

They had the same conversation every year when he dropped her off. She could drive to school by herself but she could not help but get the feeling that that last 'road trip' before school started was very important to her dad. Plus it was a lot more fun with the two of them. She hoped that he would be okay driving by himself.

She dragged her stuff through the familiar gate and made her way to the dorms. It was going to be her third-year at the academy, so she knows how to get around the place pretty well. Some of the other students were already there and the place was bustling with life. Delilah smiled at the sight of friends reuniting. Some of the students that knew her, greeted her politely and waved. She returned their greeting with a smile and continued on with her path. Some stopped her with a hug and had a small talk about what they did over the summer. "Oh, I mostly just helped my dad at the farm," she would say. "That's cool," they would say back. She would hold up her luggage and say, "We'll talk more later! I should really unpack!" They would nod understandably and let her go.

She did not know how long she was doing that, but she was already tired from the trip and yearned for the soft, plush beds they had at the academy. Once she finally arrived at her dorm room, she dropped her stuff near the door and swiftly claimed a bed. She rested her head on the pillow, but did her best not to fall asleep yet. She still had a lot of things to do. But maybe... she can rest just for a moment...

Rebekah didn't have much time to pore over her novel. A quarter of an hour later, a tall Japanese woman came striding confidently up to the bookworm on the bench and stared down halfheartedly over Gucci sunglasses. She was wearing a dark skirt, heels, and a jacket underneath a burgundy peacoat that seemed like it had been recently put on; one of the sleeves was still ruffled. The unspoken explanation for the coat came when Dana pulled an enormous polished-silver handgun from the inside right breast pocket and dropped it surreptitiously into her handbag. With that done, she hooked her sunglasses to the collar of her shirt and finally gave Bekah her full attention.

"Hello friend."

"Hello, Dana."

"I see you spent the summer tanning in front of your computer."

Rebekah arched her eyebrows faintly in amusement. Nothing more was said.

In fact, the two remained mostly silent throughout the trip back to the Grand Caravan (or, as it was known in certain gaijin circles, "the Lesbo-bile") that would be taking them to Olympus. Though they walked hand in hand out into the parking lot, the only words spoken for the first half of the ride were spoken when Dana exclaimed her happiness at the case Rebekah had made for her sword. It was much harder to get a bladed weapon through an airport than it was to pick up a handgun one of your mother's friends from overseas had left bundled up in a peacoat for you, so Dana had entrusted it to the care of her best friend for the summertime. From the look of the fully-hinged mahogany display case, she had chosen wisely. Such was her pleasure that she had finally pulled Rebekah into the first hug of the school year and, with a lush smile, proclaimed that the sword was hers as much as it was Dana's.

After that, the two decided into complete silence yet again.

It broke momentarily when Dana asked how Bekah's dad was. Bekah said good.

A moment of silence went by. Bekah returned the question, flipping it on its head to inquire as to the health of Dana's mother. Dana said good. Her mother had not represented anyone with a missing finger while she was away. This spoke well to the...caliber of her mother's clients for the year.

With a faint knowing smile on Dana's part, and a furrowed brow on Rebekah's, the two lapsed into a final silence that lasted until they arrived at Olympus. It was then that she noticed the oddly-homoerotic placement of her brother's Ford Ranger in conjunction to the tuner of his oddly-homoerotic friend.

As Rebekah parked, Dana began to believe the worst - a belief that was cemented upon checking her meathead brother's Snapchat story and watching the parking job occur in beautiful, awful real time.

"Oniisan is such an idiot. I am going to break our streak for this," Dana opined quietly to her friend as they stepped out of the minivan. Dana threw her coat over the crooked arm currently supporting her purse and bent over into the backseat to retrieve her sword from its new case. She carried it in her unobstructed arm as she, and her friend, walked over to Jonas'...parking spot...and engaged the son of Ares.

"Hai, Jonas," she said, another smile playing along her lips. "I would like some affection."

---

---

Webster had just finished making his bed when his phone buzzed twice, alerting him to incoming texts. Surveying his work, he nodded his head in approval before checking his phone to see texts from both Devlin and Birdie. He grinned and shot out replies to both of them.

To: Dev
sounds like a plan, probably gonna bring Serein too. we'll be at your place soon :)

To: Big Birdie
Heading to Dev's room now, we're gonna build a robot. there'll be snacks if you wanna hang with us

Smiling at the prospect of what the day would bring he hurriedly unpacked his clothes, stacking them on the bed. I can put them in the dresser later. A robot awaits he thought, rushing out of his room and strolling down and out of the male dorms. He hadn't seen either Devlin or Serein since the end of the previous year, which was far too long in his opinion. His entire summer had been spent with his dad, with occasional visits from his mom, although he wasn't a fan of those.

As far as he was concerned, his mom was doing too little too late, trying to make up for the childhood she'd missed, while she'd been off gallivanting around with another family. But he wouldn't dwell on that. He was going to have fun today, and thoughts of his mom weren't going to ruin that. Finally reaching Dev's room, he knocked on the door and walked in, grinning. "So what's this I hear about a robot?"

---

---

Tess didn't even get a chance to answer the door before Dusty waltzed in and started ranting about milkmen. Shaking her head a large grin plastered on her face, she shot out her reply. "I'm a badass demigod with a mean right hook. I'm not worried about murder," she joked, running and hugging her friend, before taking a step back. "So, how was your summer? Adventurous and amazing as usual?" she asked, going into the small kitchen and searching through the cupboards.

Waiting for Dusty's answer, she pulled a standard black kettle from one of the cupboards, one that the school provided, and filled it with water before placing it on the stove. She rushed to her bedroom where she snatched a box of green tea bags from her suitcase, and then ran back into the room, still listening to Dusty.

However, when she returned, there was another girl there. She recognized her as one of Webster's friends and greeted her with a smile. "You're friends with Webster right? Yeah I'm Tess, and this here is Dusty but you probably already knew that. Dusty has a habit of getting around," she said, shooting her friend a wink. "Anyways, I'm making tea if you want any, and Dusty here was just telling me about her incredibly wild summer."

---

---

"I swear," the normally congenial giant of a demigod of war grumbled as he clambered out of his passenger-side door, in a maneuver that looked more like escape artistry than exiting a car. "He deliberately parked like that to fuck with me."

Dusting himself off, he then proceeded to streeeeeeetch his already long frame to it's absolute limits, a necessary display after being cooped up inside ol' reliable for...

What, nineteen hours?

Dammit, Dal totally won this one and that pissed him o—

He heard a pair of doors close behind him.

"Salutations, Highwind. If you help me, I won't comment on the parking job."

He turned, retort of "Bug Dal, I worked with what he gave me" freezing on his lips as his mind caught up with the situation.

That was Bekah's voice. And with Bekah, meant—

"Hai, Jonas."

There stood the willowy oriental beauty in the parking lot, thin arms that he knew secretly packed almost literal dynamite outstretched.

"I would like some affection."

"D A N A!"

In the blink of one eye, an honest ear-to-ear grin split the son of Ares's face, and in the blink of the other, she was encased in muscle and twirled, simultaneously a ragdoll and in the safest possible place at that moment. Even as he sent her down onto her feet once more, the questions were already pouring from his mouth.

"It's been so long, how was the flight? Did you do anything exciting back home, like, I'unno, climb Fujisan? Was the drive okay? You guys need any help moving in? You've been growing your hair out, haven't you, it looks gre--"

"Oniisan." she replied, forcefully cutting the most intimidating sap ever off with her mild Japanese tone. "Please, one at a time. And... Let us move in and get settled."

"To answer your fourth question," Bekah interjected with a wry grin, "Yes, if you could help us get the bigger things in, like my bookshelf, we would greatly appreciate it."

"Say no more, just point me to whatever needs lifting."

Helping people feels good. This is a fact of life most people are readily willing to admit. Not so willingly do they admit this about helping siblings.

Jonas Highwind was a rare breed. As was Harada Danaye.

There were few things more fulfilling than being able to say he helped his one true sister. They were two of an infinitely small kind. Family was already hard to come by in the world, and when you were a demigod, it was even rarer.

Something that precious would be protected till his dying breath.

It helped, too, that they got along very well.

"You... noticed my hair, Oniisan?"

"Yep. That surprising?" he grunted through a smile, as he singlehandedly eased the tall bookshelf out of Rebekah's van and propped it upon his shoulder.

"Hai. Oniisan usually does not notice such things."

"Aw, you're killin' me, sis." he moaned with mock depression, before chuckling. "Am I really so ignorant in your eyes?"

"You do brush it off sometimes." the daughter of Athena chimed in as she hoisted a duffel bag of her own. "But for what it's worth, I agree."

"I—"

For once, this turn of events had left her, usually full of poise, at a loss for words.

"T-Thank you."

D'aaaw.