So once again, I have returned. For how long? Who knows. Hopefully long enough to finish this story. A few minor changes in this chapter, with luck the next should be out soon.

Jays POV:

I turned to face the ocean horizon and sighed happily. The time was about 5:00pm; fluffy white clouds speckled across the expanse of slowly-darkening sky, along with seagulls and other ocean birds flying gracefully towards land. The breeze was blowing gently but firmly, ruffling my brown. The perfect weather for sailing, as my dad would have said. Sailing came natural to me - what I was born to do. The wind in my hair, the spray of the ocean, and the inexplicable feeling of freedom. Yep, this was the life. Not everything in my life was perfect, though. In fact, there were only few things that were good in my life at the moment. At the back of my mind was a constant nagging, telling me to get out and stop Cronus because it was my duty as the leader to stop him. While I ignored the nagging as best as I could, sometimes I just couldn't help but listen to it, letting it get to me. Whenever that happened, though, she was always there, helping me relax, helping me calm down and act like a normal human being again. Theresa. She was one of the few good things in my life, along with the rest of the team and sailing. In fact, it was her who suggested I go sailing today. My mind drifted off to this morning...

It was about 8:00am, and I was sitting in the lounge room of the Brownstone, with the TV on low volume, eating a bowl of porridge and planning the day's training activities. Archie and Atlanta had already left and Herry, Oddie and Neil were still asleep. I could hear Herry's snoring reverberating through the roof. It was a wonder anyone got any sleep around here. Theresa was in the kitchen, making herself some breakfast. I took a mouthful of porridge and then stared at the spoon, contemplating between having everyone do 1000 sit ups or running 100 laps of the park nonstop. The sound of footsteps interrupted my planning and I looked up. Theresa was standing in the doorway, with her red hair pulled roughly into a pony tail and bags under her eyes, a plate in one hand and the other on her hip. For a second I wondered why she was so tired, until I realised she was giving me the look. Uh-oh, I thought. It was never good when she gave me the look. In fact, it kinda scared me.

'Good morning, Theresa,' I said, nodding politely in her direction and then continuing to stare at my spoon as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

'Morning,' I heard her reply. She didn't sound too happy. There was the sound of footsteps again, and then a soft oof as she sat down next to me on the Sofa. The heat of her glare was almost palpable. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed on her plate was a piece of toast covered in jam.

No one said anything for a few minutes, she staring at me and I still staring intently at my spoon. The tension grew so thick that you could have cut it with a knife. Then, finally, Theresa decided to break the silence.

'Don't tell me you thinking about training again,' she demanded, sounding pissed.

I glanced at her in surprise. She was never this pissed, even when she gave me the look. She saw the guilt on my face and sighed, placing her plate of food on the ground next to her foot and crossing her arms.

'Come on, Jay! When are you ever going to relax?' She demanded, exasperated.

I thought for a moment and replied, 'When Cronus is finally defeated.'

'Don't give me that! You've been training us so hard lately, pushing us and yourself to breaking point! It's not like Cronus attacks every day, and he hasn't done anything in ages! How hard could it be to stop and have a break for one measly day?'

'That's the thing! Cronus will attack when we least expect it, so we must be prepared,' I argued, annoyed now.

She sighed, and there was a sort of tiredness in her face. 'Please, Jay. Let us have one day off. Just today. We can't handle anything more training, and neither can you.'

She sounded so tired, so utterly exhausted, that I decided she was right.

'Alright, but just today. Tomorrow, its back on,' I agreed.

'Thank you, Jay,' she breathed. Theresa closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate on something. When she opened then she looked me in the eyes and smiled.

'What? Do I have something on my face?' I questioned, surprised by the sudden mood change.

'Nope. But I know what you're going to do today...'

Suddenly, the sound of my PMR ringing cut short the memory. Startled, I walked into the little cabin of the sail boat I rented and searched for the little device. After a few moments, I found it under a bunch of old life vests. Glancing at the screen, I noted it was Odie calling and answered it.

'Hey Odie. How's your day off?' I greeted, watching the little image of the dark boy smile and laugh.

'It's great – Well, it was, anyway. How's the weather?' Odie asked, curiosity all over his face.

'It's great! Perfect for sailing, exactly like Theresa said it would be. Her power's starting to get very handy,' I grinned. 'So, what's up?' I added. It wasn't like Odie to call for no reason.

He stopped smiling and he face turned grim. 'Hera's needs you at the God's Hideout.'

'What?' I replied, suddenly worried. 'What's happened?!'

'I'm not sure, but you should probably hurry,' Odie said, looking just as confused as I felt.

'Alright, I'm on my way,' I hung up and sighed. I walked out to the steering wheel and turned the boat around. So much for relaxing, I thought sarcastically.

2 Hours later

I strode through the shimmering blue portal in the janitors closet and appeared in the main hall of the God's hideout. Surprised by the silence, I continued down the hall and into Hera's main room, where I expected to find my friends sitting around waiting impatiently for me to get there. Instead all I found was the goddess herself, Hera, petting one of her many peacocks and Neil Sitting down, staring in his mirror and muttering about how good he looks.

Hera looked up and gave me a small smile. 'Glad you could finally make it,' she said.

I blushed deep red. The reason I was late was because the cheap rental boat's sail had snapped off with a sudden gust of wind, and it took ages to fix because it was so dark. I'd forgotten to bring a torch. 'Sorry Hera,' I replied.

'No matter,' the goddess answered. 'It is too late to change things now, anyway.'

For some reason, I shivered when she said that. 'What do you mean?' I asked.

'I sent them ahead of you,' Hera replied. Seeing the look of astonishment on my face, she added 'I sent them out maybe 20 minutes ago, and it was only a group of harpies. I'm sure they're fine.'

Controlling my annoyance, I asked, 'Where did you send them? So I can go meet with them,' I added.

'The park,' she answered. Glancing at Neil, she added 'Take him with you. He refuses to be quiet.'

'Why is he here, anyway?' I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

'He didn't want to get his hair messy,' she replied, rolling her eyes.

'Okay,' I sighed. 'Come on, Neil.'

The blonde headed boy looked up for a moment, startled at hearing his name, and then continued looking at his reflection. I growled with frustration. Neil could be so stubborn. Right now, my team - my friends – were out, fighting. Sure they were just harpies, but what if they got hurt? I would never forgive myself. I marched over to Neil, grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him all the way to the portal.

'The hair! Think about the hair!' Neil was wailing all the way out. I ignored his whining, concentrating on getting out of the school, and to the park, hoping everyone was okay. But they should be, because it was just harpies. For some reason, I had a horrible feeling something life changing was about to happen.