Alarms were sounding and his heart was thumping loudly in his ears. The bundle in his arms let out a cry. He looked down, pulling the cloth down so that he could see his daughter's face. He stopped running and hid behind a column, and stared at her. She was so sweet, so innocent. Her eyes were barely open, and yet she knew who she was with. She even took hold of her father's finger and sputtered baby talk up to him. He hushed her gently before he looked around to see if the coast was clear.

Another one of his bombs went off and he jerked forward; it was either he escaped the arms of Cadmus lackeys or he escaped the fury of the bombs he had set up. He ran for him and his daughter's lives.

"Professor Males?" He turned with a grunt, seeing his assistant James Caldoff standing in confusion. "What are you—"

Males gritted his teeth before he continued to run forward, around corners of unused areas, and eventually out the back door. Slowing down, he turned to look at the ablaze building.

"Goodbye, Eloisa…" He rubbed his tearing eyes, running again as the fire truck sped towards the fire. Everything was gone. Everything.

A cry erupted from his daughter. He looked down, stopping around the corner of a shaded building. He stroked his daughter's cheek with the back of his finger and she once again took hold of his finger, smiling up at him with a laugh. He smiled back wearily.

Not everything was lost. "My precious Agathangelos."

"Dad, don't call me that!" I growled, placing my hands on my hips. My father looked at me from behind the desk, obviously irritated.

"It is the name your mother gave you," He said, looking back down to his book, "So that is what you will be called."

"But—"

"No amount of complaining will change that." He snapped his book closed with a sigh before walking to the back of the shop, "You've been complaining for twelve years straight; I won't stop now."

I spat sarcastically. "It's not like I complained when I was five. Besides, it's thirteen years today, if we're going to count like that."

He replied from the back room, probably working on someone's laptop. We ran a repair shop, and he tended to hide in the repair room when arguments happened. "I don't understand how people drop their whole laptop in the ocean…what, were you swimming with it?"

"Dad!" I growled.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of your name." He replied simply, as if he hadn't gotten off track.

"Why not?" I asked, irritated, "It's a completely ridiculous name. It couldn't be Agatha, at the very least. Oh no, it HAD to be Agathangelos."

"Don't you have school today?" He asked, trying to throw me off. I crossed my arms.

"It's Saturday, dad."

"Of course it is." He said with a sigh. "Of course."

"It's not even a normal Greek name!" I said in frustration, throwing my arms over the counter, "No one names their daughter Agathangelos! No one!"

"Well your mother did, so you're stuck with it. Put your big girl pants on and accept it." He said, matter-of-factly.

I shook my head, stomping up the stairs now. "You know, you could treat your daughter better on special days like this!"

"Your birthday doesn't win you passes, Angie."

I replied by slamming my door. After listening to see if he would press the issue, I lay down on my bed and sat for a long while before I sat up to look out my window. The seaside was noisy today. It was bright and over 90 degrees, which was unusual day in Maine. Not that I minded, of course. I needed it to be like this for my perfect thirteenth birthday party!

I made it my goal every year to outdo my last year's party. This year was going to be amazing. I had studied the sky months in advanced, contacting the locals who had the knack for timely predictions on the weather. Tonight was a full moon, and it was going to be warm and clear. Nothing could mess this up! Even James Bugatti, the hottest guy around town, was going to be there. Just for me.

It was no surprise, of course. I was the cutest girl in our middle school.

I flipped my shoulder length raven hair over my shoulder as I looked in the mirror, shining myself a gorgeous smile. I had that smooth Greek skin, although I was a bit darker than the stereotypical Greek girl due to constantly exploring the beach and the sea. My eyes sparkled, a solid brown that still managed to shine in the sunlight.

Tonight was going to be perfect. I couldn't have been more wrong.

"This party is kickin!"

I grinned, looking over my shoulder to see more than half of my school having the time of their lives…at my party. I took the microphone from the DJ. "Is everyone having a good time?"

They replied with shouts and screams. I made my way back to James, who grinned down at me as we began to dance again. "This really is a great party, Angie!" He said loudly over the music.

"Thanks!" I said, just as loudly, "It doesn't take much to have fun! Just come music, food and a cutie like me!"

He laughed, pulling me closer. "You don't have to tell me twice!"

The night went on, and eventually I moved the party to the water. I wasn't going to have a party at the beach if we weren't going to swim!

"Let's play a game!" I called to everyone near me, which consisted of a majority of boys. "Whoever can reach the moon's reflection first wins a kiss from the birthday girl!"

The men wooed and crowed as I chuckled. I lined the participants up, and then got in line myself. They looked over questioningly. "What? I can race for my own kiss too you know!"

They moaned. I was the captain of the swimming team. "Ready? Go!"

We splashed into the water, many of the participants slowing down quickly. The water's reflection was a lot farther away than they thought. I, on the other hand, did this swim quite often with the team, and was making first place with no one near me. I turned to see how far the participants were, and James waved at me, being the closest.

"No one can win against you, birthday girl!"

I chuckled, waving back, and swam until I was under the full moon's reflection. I looked over my shoulder, grinning. "Chumps."

The reflection was stunning to be surrounded in. It shone brightly, not a cloud in the sky to mark it with imperfections. I looked down at my own reflection, smiling. What a great party. What a great time. What a great me.

I bent down to kiss my reflection in gest with myself when suddenly I felt a pain in my back. I shot up, grabbing my shoulders. "What the—is it a jellyfish sting?"

No, I had been stung before. It wasn't a jellyfish sting. I heard my shoulder blades crack, and felt it even more. I let out a cry, turning to look for help. All of the boys had swum back to the shore; no one was watching me. I cried out again, the pains growing worse. My hair matted to my face, and slowly began to cover all that I could see. I couldn't move, and I slowly began to sink. I continued to call out until my mouth finally reached under the water.

I fell down, holding my breath as the pain increased on my back. There was something wrong. I could feel my bones popping out, reconfiguring. I sank until the water wasn't even warm anymore. The pressure on my ears hurt, and my head began to spin. I felt something on my foot, and I jerked away at the cost of losing the oxygen I had left as I let out a yelp. The water flowed into my mouth and I involuntarily began to cough, only bringing more water into my body. I closed my eyes and covered my mouth. Was I going to die?

Something touched me again, and I did nothing to run away since I had no energy left. I felt strong hands pull me sideways until suddenly I was pulled from the water. I coughed, half throwing up, water before I took in deep breaths. I looked up, tears stinging my eyes more than the salt water, to see my father holding me, his glasses rarely off of his eyes. He moved my hair from my face, revealing panic on his face for the first time in my life.

"Agathangelos…" He said, taking off his shirt quickly and wrapping it around my shoulders. I winced, holding my left shoulder.

"D-daddy…my shoulders hurt!" By this time, everyone had noticed that something was wrong, and came running up. My father picked me up and turned, the crowd stopping.

"Is Angie okay?"

He turned me inwardly so that I couldn't see them, and they couldn't see me.

"She's fine…she just had a terrible cramp while she was swimming is all." He said calmly, "She will have to return home for the night. You all can continue the party, and see Angie tomorrow."

I closed my eyes, trying not to cry. This was my party, for me. I didn't want to leave. I hadn't even gotten to cut the cake. But even I knew that something was wrong with me. My shoulders were burning, and my hair was falling out so much that it reached my lower back. I don't know what I looked like, but apparently I just looked tired to the crowd of middle schoolers.

My father silently carried me to the house, which was above our sea side store. I quietly wiped my tears every so often, knowing that it had been stupid of me to swim so far out alone. I had let my confidence get the best of me.

"Are you alright?" My father asked as he lowered me down on the couch. I shook my head, refusing to make eye contact.

"My shoulders…"

"They're going to hurt for a while, I'm afraid." He said, walking to the kitchen. "Now Agathangelos—"

He paused in silence for a moment, "I mean, Angie…"

I looked up towards the kitchen, suddenly concerned. My father had refused to call me Angie for my whole life. Now he was suddenly correcting himself?

"Your mother died giving birth to you," He said, returning with a strong tea, "It wasn't because she was ill, however."

I looked at him in confusion. "W…what?"

He took my free hand held it. "Your mother wasn't exactly human. She was a…well; I guess you could call her a siren."

I stared at him before choking on tears. He blinked, confused. "Why are you making up these stupid stories at a time like this? I'm hurt, daddy! I want to go to the hospital!"

His grip on my hand tightened. "It's alright, Angie. You're just fine. You're just growing up is all."

"I'm not growing up! This isn't normal!"

"I know!" He held his gaze as he slowly took his shirt from over my shoulders. "That's what I'm trying to tell you."

He moved over to sit beside me, giving me a clear view to my reflection in the window. It was then that I realized that my hair hadn't been falling out—it had been growing, and it was still growing as it curled at my feet.

I screeched, standing up and dropping the glass of tea. "What is happening to me?" I fell to my knees suddenly when the pain in my back grew to a new level. I screamed, grabbing the tea soaked rug in my hands. My father brought my forehead to his chest and I muffled screams into his shirt.

"Your wings are growing, Angie."

Suddenly all of the pressure fell, and I could feel my skin ripping open as bone tore up and out of my back. The pain stayed, but had become bearable. I looked up at my father after a few moments of hard breathing. He stroked my hair, his eyes calm.

"Angie."

I was scared. There was something different about me now. And what was different was fluttering on my back. I turned slowly to the mirror before letting out a shrill; touching my face to make sure it was really my face. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I shook my head. The image that I turned to see would stay with me forever. I would never be Angie, that cute, popular girl, again.

I would be Angie, the freak Medusa.

Bloody wings larger than me were now protruding out of my back, surrounded by moving hair. My eyes, which had once glowed a beautiful brown, now shone an eerie mixture of green and blue.

"Daddy—NO! No no no no no—"

He hugged me around my waist and pulled my head close to his chest. "It's okay, Angie…it's okay." I wept into his arms the rest of the night until I fell asleep.

The next thing I knew, the wings were gone and my hair was cut so short that I could pass for a boy. My father was packing up things in the store, and returning computers left and right.

I came down the stairs, suddenly attacked by some girls from my school. "Oh my gosh, Angie! Are you okay?"

"Yeah! You looked like complete crap—and now you've cut off all of your hair!"

The third girl with them tapped the shoulder of the one in the middle, and they stared into my eyes. "Hey…are you…wearing contacts?"

My head snapped back as my face flushed. I looked at my dad, who stared at me with a concerned frown. I bumped between two of the girls and rushed to the closest mirror behind them. My eyes still held that green/blue mixture.

"Girls, I'm going to need you to leave." My father said. "Now."

They left, mumbling byes to me before loudly gossiping outside of the door. "What was up with her eyes? They were kind of creepy…"

"Yeah…but hey, did you see what she did to her hair? There's no way James will go for a girl like her, now!"

The three of them left soon enough, and I stood just where I had been. My father laid his hand on my shoulder. "Angie…we're going to leave this town."

I nodded in silence and stared at the floor until the tears dropped from my face. I spun around and hugged my father's chest tightly. He hugged me back, as silent as ever. "Let's go somewhere far away…somewhere I'll never have to see any of their faces again!"

And we did. Without so much of a word, we left town on a plane to Metropolis.