A/N - Hey there! Abbles here. This is a story I've been working on for a while. I promise you it is actually about Greek Mythology, though it won't seem like it at first. I'm hoping that posting this will give me the drive I need to actually work on it. I hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Fire

"Who's that?"

Connor strode up to the ornate cauldron at the center of the circular room. It was marble white, with the crest of New Olympus carved into it, a trio of three golden shapes: a lightning bolt, a three-pronged trident, and the three-headed dog, Cerberus. Swirling within was a strange, frothy liquid that, when not in use, held the image of a starry night sky. As of that moment however, it showed an image of small town suburbia, focusing on a young girl riding a skateboard. Her frizzy black hair was tied into a messy ponytail.

There was a boy sitting at the desk by the cauldron, young, with golden-blonde hair and bright green eyes. He looked up from his work, glancing at Connor casually. It looked like he hadn't left the spot for a week. Red Bull cans and food wrappers were scattered across the desk and graphs and papers littered the floor.

"Maggie Fisher. Sixteen," Ryan scribbled in his notebook, "She's a Possible."

Connor raised an eyebrow, "Her? She's a Possible?" He watched as the girl in the cauldron skidded and tripped, flying face first into a couple walking toward her. Maggie stood quickly, helping the two lovers to their feet and apologizing profusely. They walked away slowly, the woman limping and leaning on the man's shoulder. The moment they were out of earshot Maggie broke into fits of laughter. She seemed to enjoy bowling them over. Connor raised an eyebrow again and turned to Ryan, "Who is she a Possible for?"

Ryan hesitated, biting his lip and running a hand through his hair, "She's supposed to be a secret though. You shouldn't even be in here when I didn't call you."

"Who cares? You never told me to leave. Plus, I'm in here all the time. You can tell me," Connor looked to Ryan expectantly. When no reply came he changed tactics, giving his best impression of a puppy dog, "We're friends, aren't we?"

Ryan worried his lip more, "Well... I guess it couldn't hurt..." He stood so fast his chair flipped onto its back. Turning, he grabbed a long golden rod from a case at the side of the room. His face was the picture of determination as he, using the rod, stirred the cauldron three times counter-clockwise. He started humming; an eerie, strangely haunting tune. It gave the room a distinctly chilly feeling.

Connor watched as the image in the cauldron misted over, silenced not only by Ryan's sudden change in demeanor, but by the scenes forming within it. There was fire. So much fire. At first, all Connor could see was the red and yellow of raging flames, but then he noticed it, the black frizzy hair of a young girl. She was running through the house, screaming someone's name.

"Jacob!"

The house creaked as it was weakened by the flames and the girl's movements became more frantic. She rushed from door to door, listening intently for a reply that, Connor had the sickening feeling, would never come. She stopped finally at the door to a room so full of fire, Connor couldn't see anything but flames. The girl dropped down to her stomach, pulling her shirt up over her mouth and nose, and started to crawl. It was at the opposite end of the room that she found him. A boy, barely older than her, was cowering in the corner, shaking uncontrollably.

"Jacob!"

She put a hand on his shoulder in what looked like a comforting gesture, but instead of looking relieved, the boy, who must have been Jacob, shrunk farther into the corner. The girl frowned, looking hurt for a moment before forcefully grabbing Jacob by the arm and pulling him up. She dragged him to the half open window and shoved him through it before he had a chance to protest. He hit the ground with a thud. At that moment, the world exploded. When the image cleared, debris littered the lawn and Maggie was face-down in the grass. Jacob stood shakily and walked up to Maggie, cautiously poking her with his foot. When she didn't move he sank down to his knees, carefully flipping her onto her back. Her eyes were open, blank and unseeing.

Connor had seen that look before, and knew without asking that the girl with the black hair was dead. Jacob started to cry, screaming out a name.

"Maggie!"

Connor started and looked to Ryan, "But that's not possible! Maggie Fisher is alive! How can she be dead?"

Ryan glanced up at him, "I know. Keep watching."

When Connor looked back, Jacob was clutching Maggie, sobbing and thanking her. He was begging, pleading for her not to be dead, hugging her so tight you would have thought he was trying to squeeze the life back into her. Just then, a blinding light whited out the image in the cauldron. It was so bright Connor had no choice but to shield his eyes. When the light subsided, Jacob was on his back a few feet away. He groaned, sitting up slowly and froze.

Maggie was moving.

"What happened?" She sat up groggily, holding her head.

Jacob stared at her, unmoving.

"What? What is it? Why are you staring at me?" She stared back at Jacob, confusion clear on her face before looking over his shoulder, "Oh my God!" The house was falling apart. The explosion had shaken foundation and the building was collapsing in on itself.

"You were dead," Jacob whispered.

"What?" Maggie turned her attention back to the boy.

"You were dead. You had no heartbeat," He was shaking, fists clenched at his sides.

Maggie stared, "You must have been imagining things. Maybe you breathed in too much smoke."

"I did not!" Jacob shouted, "You were gone, and I thought I'd lost you forever!" He started sobbing again.

Maggie crawled over to him, giving him a tight hug, "Well what ever happened, I'm okay now. Don't worry. We're not gonna get separated again. Never."

"Promise?" Jacob choked out through his sobs.

"I promise."

The image in the cauldron faded into mist and Connor found himself stunned, sinking into an empty chair.

Ryan regarded him gravely, "Do you understand now? She's most definitely a Goddess," He looked at some charts on his desk, "and a powerful one at that. Nearly as powerful as The Brothers. She performed a fully-fledged miracle at only eight years old. Do you realize why she's so special now?"

Connor seemed to have found his voice, "But who is she? What Goddess?"

Ryan looked startled, "Isn't it obvious? She's Eris."

"Who?" Connor frowned, racking his brain for the name.

Ryan picked up a piece of paper from his desk and passed it to Connor.

Connor stared at it. He was looking at a picture of an eight-year-old Maggie holding a lighter to a pile of papers. The fire reflected in her eyes, making them look even more like gold. Curiosity and awe were plastered all over her face.

"The Goddess of Discord."

*beep beep beep*

*crash*

"Unghh."

"Maggie!"

"Five... more... minutes..."

"Maggie! We're gonna be late!"

Maggie stirred, opening her eyes groggily.

"Where's my clock?"

The alarm clock that usually sat on her bedside table was nowhere to be seen, "Jake? Did you do something with my alarm clock?" She yelled downstairs.

"Why would I?" Jake yelled back, "It would only make us more late!"

Maggie sat up, throwing back her purple comforter and spinning her legs around to stand.

"Ouch!" She hopped up and down, clutching her left foot, and tripped, landing hard on her back, "Owww..." She sat up to see her alarm clock, broken, on the ground next to her bed.

"So that's what I stepped on."

She stood and ran to her closet, still limping slightly, "What to wear... what to wear..."

In the end, Maggie was running into first hour just as the bell was ringing. She made her way to her seat at the back of the class, ignoring the snickers from the other girls as they noticed her horribly disheveled hair. She had been running so late she didn't even get a chance to brush it. Just as she was about to sit down, she noticed something strange. There was a boy sitting in her seat. The other girls were ogling him, not one of them attempting to hide it. Even she had to admit that he was really cute. Skinny, with a kind look about him. His brown hair was almost as messy as hers, but of course it actually looked good on him.

"Um. Excuse me," Maggie started. The boy turned to her, staring at her with sky blue eyes, "Um. That's my seat," the words sounded more like a squeak than speech, but he seemed to get the message.

"Oh. Whoops. Sorry," He stood, smiling, "I'm new here so I didn't know."

Maggie stared for a good second before answering, "Uh... Yeah. I kinda caught that," She saved her dignity only barely. That smile was mesmerizing at the very least.

"Can I at least sit next to you?"

"S-sure."

Maggie's mind was reeling. She sank into her seat as the boy took the one next to her.

"My name's Connor. What's yours?" Connor turned to Maggie as Mrs. Taylor started a droning lecture about ellipses and hyperbolas.

"Oh. I'm Maggie."

"It's nice to meet you, Maggie," Connor smiled again, making Maggie's stomach do somersaults.

Maggie started coughing and grabbed her water from her bag, guzzling it down like her life depended on it.

"Are you okay?" Connor looked concerned and hit Maggie on her back.

"Yea- Ow!" She yelled.

"Miss Fisher. Is there something you'd like to share?" 's eyes bored into Maggie. The other kids snapped out of their pre-calc induced stupor and started whispering to each other. It was the most exciting that happened all hour.

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably, "No, ."

"I didn't think so," Mrs. Taylor returned to her lecture, and the students went back to their side conversations.

"That really hurt," Maggie hissed to Connor, "Why'd you have to hit me so hard?"

"Sorry," He whispered, "I sometimes don't pay attention to how strong I am. I've done the exact same thing before."

Maggie sighed, "It's ok. It doesn't hurt anymore anyway," She rubbed her back.

"Are you sure? I really am sorry," Connor bit his lip, looking worried.

Maggie sighed again, "Yeah. I'm fine."

Connor turned out to be in all of Maggie's A.M. classes. It was strangely coincidental, but Maggie didn't mind. It was nice to have someone to talk to for a change. There was a reason the seat next to her was always open. Most people avoided her. It had been like that since elementary school. People had realized early on that getting close to her was a bad idea. Anyone that did got hurt. Sometimes pretty badly. Maggie's childhood best friend, Bridget Lawrence, ended up in the hospital after a particularly bad mishap at the local playground. Maggie hadn't seen her since. Her father had picked her and Jake up and moved them across the country only a day later, most likely out of embarrassment.

Maggie and Connor had walked to each of their classes together, considering that Connor didn't know his way around and they were going to the same place. The jealousy from the other girls was almost tangible. Here there was this really cute new kid, and he was sticking to Maggie "Bad Luck" Fisher like glue. No one was stupid enough to try and get to him while she was there. Most everyone in school was afraid of her after all.

The odd couple reached the cafeteria after most everyone had already claimed tables. The room was huge; two stories tall, with giant pillars scattered throughout it. They stood awkwardly at the entrance, scanning for empty seats. It was hard through the crowds of students.

"Maggie!"

Maggie turned to the sound and groaned.

Jake was standing next to an empty table in the center of the room, waving his arms furiously and yelling.

"Maggie! Come over here!"

She sighed, grimacing at Connor, "Looks like we don't have a choice."

"Who's that?" Connor questioned as they walked through the throngs of teenagers towards the black-haired boy, "Your boyfriend?"

"What? No!" Maggie shook her head vigorously, "He's my brother."

"Really? You didn't say you had any siblings."

It was true. In all of their conversations that morning, Maggie had been careful not to mention too much about herself, let alone Jake. It wasn't that she didn't trust Connor, she just didn't like sharing personal information. After all, there were some things in her past she didn't really want resurfacing.

"Hey, Maggs. Who's this?" Jake looked confusedly between Connor and Maggie, sending his sister a questioning glance. The reaction wasn't strange, considering that Jake had never seen Maggie within five feet of a boy.

Connor flashed his captivating smile at Jake, "I'm Connor. Nice to meet you...?"

"Uh. Jake."

Jake was staring at Connor, obviously giving him the once-over. Maggie groaned inwardly. Whatever he said next, it wasn't going to be good.

"Too skinny."

"What?" Connor looked taken-aback.

"He's too skinny. I could break him in half," Jake turned to his sister, talking as if Connor wasn't even there, "Other than that-"

"What do you mean skinny?" Connor's demeanor had switched so abruptly it was hard to follow. His amiable smile had turned into an irritated scowl, fists clenched at his sides.

"Umm. Connor?" Maggie watched him cautiously. He looked like he was about to explode, "What's wrong with you?"

"Do you think I'm weak, just because I'm skinny?" He sounded angry, well-and-truly angry, and it was starting to scare Maggie. Jake was white as a sheet, quickly losing his cavalier attitude.

"I. Am. Not. WEAK!" Connor yelled, slamming a fist into the cinder block pillar next to him.

"Oh my God," Maggie stared at the pillar. There was a fist shaped indent in it about three inches deep, "Oh my God," She turned back to Connor, gawking at him, "How did you...?"

Connor seemed to snap out of his anger-induced trance, turning to pillar.

"Shit!" He jumped back. A few people gasped as they saw the broken cinder block.

Connor looked around, scanning the cafeteria suspiciously. He seemed unaffected by the murmur around him. People were gawking, but he stayed alert and focused. Maggie watched him, unable to speak as he scoured the room, intent on finding something. He froze suddenly, eyes narrowing. Maggie followed his gaze until she saw them. There, in the very back of the room, sat two large boys. They were glaring at them, obviously aware that they were watching. Maggie wouldn't have thought much of them if the bigger one hadn't done something so completely out of place.

He smiled.

It was a wicked, bloodthirsty smile.

Connor breathed in sharply, and grabbed Maggie's arm, pulling her toward the cafeteria entrance.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Maggie yelled at Connor, unable to break his grip.

"Be quiet," Connor hissed.

Maggie probably would have retorted, if he hadn't sounded so terrified, his voice shaking. She glanced back and her breath caught. The two boys were standing now, advancing toward them and getting closer by the second. They pushed through the crowd, bowling people over as they went. Maggie quickened her pace, suddenly feeling the need to be as far away from them as possible.

They walked calmly, but stiffly as they made their way to the hallway. Connor broke into a run the moment they were out, dragging Maggie with him. She stumbled to keep up, tempted to yell at him again, when a loud crash sounded from the cafeteria, followed by high-pitched screaming. An image flashed through her mind. Fire. Everywhere. People flying through the air, landing hard on circular tables. Girls running for their lives. And in the center of it all, stood the two boys, laughing.

She lurched forward, suddenly dizzy, and would have fallen on her face if it weren't for Connor catching her, "Dammit!" He yelled, picking her up. If Maggie had been in her right mind, she would have argued until she was hoarse, but in her current condition it was all she could do to hold onto him. The crashing seemed to be following them, getting closer every step they took. Connor raced to the parking lot door faster than seemed safe.

Maggie cleared her throat, and tried to speak, "Um. Connor?" She croaked as they kept barreling towards the door. He ignored her, running faster.

When they were mere feet away from the door, Connor turned on his heel so his back faced it. Then the world exploded in a shower of glass. Maggie could feel blood dripping down her face as shards flew everywhere. Instead of opening the door, Connor had opted to break through it, and even though it was harder on him, he had purposely protected her from the glass, taking the brunt of the blow with his back.

He carried her to a silver Subaru. Before Maggie realized what was happening, Connor had unlocked the door and was placing her in the passenger seat. He ran around to the driver's side and jumped in.

"Buckle up!" He yelled urgently. She complied, closing the door with a slam. A moment later he stepped on the gas, sending them flying out of the parking lot and onto the road.

"Connor?" Maggie choked out the word after a few minutes, breaking the silence. She cleared her throat, still feeling the effects of her bout in the hallway.

"Yeah?" Connor seemed frightened still, constantly checking his rear view mirror. His hands were shaking on the wheel, knuckles white from gripping it so tight.

"What's going on?" Maggie's voice was shaking.

He hesitated, worrying his bottom lip, "There are... things in this world, Maggie," he said eventually, choosing his words carefully, "Bad things. Horrible things," He glanced at her confused expression and sighed. "I'd love to keep you out of this Maggie, but as things are that's not an option. You're in it whether you like it or not."

"But what is this? What is going on, Connor?" She clenched her fists, trying hard to keep her voice even.

He stared ahead, his face falling, "I'm sorry, but if I tell you now you'll think I'm crazy."

Maggie stared at him in disbelief, "You dragged me out of school, put me in your car, and now we're heading God knows where and you don't have the decency to tell me why?" She yelled. Her fear was subsiding quickly, anger taking its place.

Connor looked at her again, a myriad of emotions battling for control of his features.

It seemed he decided on concern, handing her a tissue, "You're bleeding. There's a first-aid kit in the glove box. You should clean yourself up."

Maggie listened reluctantly, flipping down the visor and opening the mirror. She gasped at her reflection. Her face was covered in blood, multiple cuts dripping with the warm liquid. She dabbed at them gently, wincing as she hit a sore one.

About five minutes passed before she was done cleaning up and a thought occurred to her, "Wait. Where are we going?"

Connor had been so focused in his own thoughts, he barely heard Maggie, "What? Oh. I figured we'd go to my place. It should be safe enough. We're basically there."

Maggie looked out the window as they pulled into a parking lot. The apartment building they'd stopped in front of was nice, if a bit small. She got out, stretching her legs.

"Well. Here we are. Home sweet home," Connor regarded the building distastefully.

Maggie watched him, worried, "Is something wrong?"

"What? Oh, no. Let's go. We should get out of the open," He started up the stairs at the front of the building, holding the door open for Maggie. She followed him through it and down a hallway to a door marked 0-12 (possibly 0-7). The keys jingled as Connor opened the door, locking it behind them.

"Safe. For now," Connor sank into the sofa in the center of the room, leaning his head back and sighing.

"Um. Connor? Will you tell me what's going on now?" Maggie stood awkwardly by the door. Connor peered at her and grimaced, sitting up.

"I guess I owe you that much," He looked at her nervously, "You're not gonna believe me though. No one believes me at first."

"You mean this has happened before?" She stared at him.

"Before? It happens all the time," Connor gestured to the spot next to him, "You should sit. This won't be easy to take in."

She sat, tucking her legs underneath herself.

"I'm not sure how you're gonna take this..." He glanced at Maggie, worrying his bottom lip, "What I mean is, even if you do believe me, I don't think you're gonna like this."

Maggie stared at him.

He sighed, bracing himself.

"Connor Mankoff is the name I was given when I was born, but it's not my real name. My real name is Hercules."

Connor watched as Maggie drifted from astounded to accusatory, her eyes narrowing at him, "If this is your idea of a joke, I'm not laughing." Maggie looked murderously angry.

Connor's mind raced, he needed a foolproof way of convincing her he was telling the truth and fast. He stood and walked to the window, watching the sky change from blue to grey. The clouds were thin and wispy, reminding him of smoke.

Smoke. That was it.

Maggie had stood by that point and was halfway to him when she froze.

"When you were eight years old you caused a house fire. One that nearly got you and your brother killed."

Maggie was obviously shocked, astonishment replacing her heated anger, "How did you...?" She struggled to get the words out. Her tongue felt like lead.

"There was an explosion. You were thrown out the window."

Maggie shuddered, the color draining from her face, "I never told anyone... How-?"

"You died that day, do you remember? Jacob told you you were dead. You just didn't believe him."

She stared, visibly shaken.

"You performed a full-fledged miracle that day. That's how we know who you are."

"A... miracle...?"

She sank to her knees, breathing heavily. She hadn't thought about that fire in nine years and all this talk was bringing it back full-force. She doubled over, holding her head. Screams echoed through her mind, drowning out any chance of thought. She could feel her face heating up, smell the smoke in her nostrils. She felt herself tilt and all was black.

So that was chapter one! I hope you guys really enjoyed this. Please leave a review! It would make my day :)