My Life before finding out Im descended from Greek Gods

by Deadly Princess of Ice

Arabella Hart finds a necklace and blonde boy on a beach in Hawaii. They are made to forget a conversation but when Ara goes home for school, shit starts happening and snowballing until everything is revealed.

My life as a demigod Superhero (plus 18 others)

Arabella Harts' Point of View

I loved the feel of the sun on my face; especially the morning sun that rises over the beach that is spread out in front of my family's vacation home, which is on Hawaii. I get up from my seat on the porch steps where I was tying my shoes, and finish stretching before I take off at a slow run down the sandy path that leads to the beach. This is what I love doing; running in the early morning air with the wind in my hair. This isn't my first time running on a beach but, this is my first time I am running on a beach in Hawaii. When I reach the end of the path I notice that no one is out here and the water is calm. I smile at the perfect scene and jog over to the waters' edge, about 5 feet from the pretty blue water. I take my shoes from my feet and tuck my socks into them, preparing to run three miles through the water, one way that is. Yep you guessed it; we're staying near Papohaku Beach, aka Three Mile Beach, and I intend to run from one end, to the next, and back.

I make sure my shoes are far away from the water as I step into the cold water, getting a feel for it. Once I warm up to it I take off running, loving the feeling of freedom and energy the water gives me. I run and don't pay attention to where I'm going; until I trip over something. A screech leaves my lips as I fall face first into the white sand and get a mouthful of it. I lean up a bit and spit the sand out before fully sitting up and looking for what I tripped on.

Nothing. I tripped on nothing; just air. Then a tiny sparkle caught my eye. I leaned toward my toes and noticed a dip in the sand where a silver chain lay sparkling in the sun. On it is a charm in the shape of a circle; the circle filled with the silhouette of a mermaid. I reached out and grabbed the necklace gently; letting the charm dangle in the air as I held the end of the chain. It didn't seem any different from any other necklace I'd ever seen so, I slipped it on my neck and got up to finish my morning run. I just ran until I reached the end of the beach, then I turned around and ran back half-way, walking the rest. I checked my watch and noticed it was seven-thirty; the time when people usually come down here I think.

I sighed and walked back to the spot where I'd left my shoes, only to find a boy, a gorgeous boy at that, sitting beside them. I cleared my throat and crossed my arms waiting for him to turn to me. Yet he didn't he just spoke.

"I was wondering when the owner of these shoes would arrive; I thought you might have gone for a swim but instead you took a run. Unusual for a visitor, though I can't say I blame you, I too love to run." He said huskily. I nod and sit beside him, taking in his features: short, wild, blonde, hair; bright, calm, dark blue eyes; tan, toned arms that are not covered by a shirt. I just now realize he is only wearing swim shorts and I try not to stare, but inevitably I do.

"So, stranger what's your name?" I ask him brightly. He laughs loudly.

"I am Luka Finnair, originally from Texas." He replies with a grin. I laugh at his grin, it's goofy and it makes my heart flutter nervously. I shake the feeling and give him a grin back.

"And I, am Arabella Hart, originally from Alabama." I say with my somewhat country accent. He laughs and shakes his head.

"You're from the south of Alabama aren't ya miss?" He asks with curiosity and a country accent. I melt inside but stay how I am on the outside and nod with a grin.

"Of course. You're from Houston, aren't you?" I ask inspecting him closely. He looks like my cousins' best friend; my cousin lives in Houston. By his shocked expression, I know I'm right.

"Yeah, how did you know?" He asks slowly. I just smile.

"You look like my cousins' best friend, they both live in Houston" I explain with a sigh. I miss my cousin.

"Wait is your cousin Katerina Lee?" He asks suddenly. I nod and smile. He grins back. "Ah so you are the horse riding, track running, swimming champion cousin she talks about non-stop. Nice to finally meet you Arabella." I blush brightly and duck my head. I don't flaunt my titles because I don't like attention that much.

"It's nothing, I just like swimming, running, horse riding, writing, reading, painting, drawing. Basically, I like to do a lot of stuff." I can't stop the words from coming out when I look over at him. He is paying rapt attention and looking quite interested. Just then I hear a sharp melodious whistle; my mom calling for breakfast. I get up and stretch.

"Where are you going?" Luka asks worriedly. I frown slightly, also not wanting to leave him.

"That was moms' call for breakfast." I tell him sadly. He looks confused.

"What was? I didn't hear anything." He looks around curious and confused. I wonder why until I remember that not everyone is like me.

"Oh right, I can hear extremely well so I can hear everything within a mile." I say, shrugging nonchalantly. Luka just shakes his head.

"You Ms. Hart, are full of surprises. I suppose we best be getting back to our homes." He let his voice slip into his Texan accent and I melted even more inside. I managed to keep my facial expression normal as I nodded.

"I suppose we should Cowboy, maybe we can meet back up later." I tell him with a wave. He tips his imaginary hat.

"Certainly ma'am. See ya later miss." He turns and jogs towards the trees that board the beach while I turn and pick my shoes up before I begin to make my way to my family.

I can hear One Direction blasting from the house once I reach it. I laugh and start singing along as I walk in to the open door and make my way to the kitchen. In the kitchen, I find my mom and dad setting the table, my younger siblings' (twins; boy and girl) fixing drinks, and my older brother cooking; they are also singing along due to us girls obsession with the band. The song ends as I greet everyone and head to the laundry room to change into comfort clothes.

I exchange my sweaty tank top for a black and white bikini top and a loose sky blue crop top, my nasty sandy jogging shorts for the matching black and white swim shorts. I throw my dirty clothes in the laundry basket and head back to the kitchen where Eric, my older brother, is scraping bacon onto everyone's plates, Kyle and Kylie are setting everyone's drinks on the table in a nonspecific order, and mom and dad are setting the other plates of food on the island in the middle of the kitchen. Breakfast goes by fast as always and the parentals decide to bring the twins to the beach; Eric decides to tag along on this adventure since we will only be here three more days. I go along for a swim and hope Luka comes back out too.

The water feels amazing as I float about 3 meters from the shore. I don't go too far after seeing Jaws and Soul Surfer. If I was in a pool though I'd be swimming around like a fish.

"Good day to go swimming, isn't it?" I shrieked and went underwater as I flailed around from being startled. Someone grabbed my hands and pulled me above the surface, where I spit water in their face. I opened my eyes and saw Luka standing there, grinning.

"Luka Finnair, I am going to kill you." I growl with a glare. He stares at me for a few seconds before he starts laughing his butt off like a maniac. He points at me as he tries to talk through his insane laughter. I finally sweep my legs out and knock his from under him. He falls into the water with a yelp and I start laughing this time. When his head finally pops out of the water he is scowling at me and pouting like a two-year-old. I stop laughing and just sit there looking at the shells in the sand beneath my feet.

"Why aren't you farther out in the water? That'd be a better place to swim." Luka suddenly says making me jump a bit.

"There are sharks out there that could bite my arm off; no way will I let that possibly happen." I reply instantly. Luka laughs.

"Like any shark would try to harm you with that necklace on your body." He tells me seriously. I frown confused, what did he mean by that? "I mean that there's a secret book of legends I found and one of the legends had a picture of a necklace exactly like that. The legend said that the necklace chooses the next person to wear it; it chose you." He told me while looking farther out to sea. I looked over too and saw dolphins jumping out of the water. "Catch is: the necklace only chooses a female descendant of Poseidon or Triton, no matter how far back they come into your family." And with that said he dives under the water and shoots forward, going into the deeper water.

---

I have a list of dumb decisions I've made; the one I made just now is at the top of the list.

I dove in after Luka. The water didn't hurt my eyes like usual as I followed Lukas' trail of bubbles. He eventually popped his head above the surface to take a breather so I did the same. I glared at him and he gave me a confused look.

"Why did you just do that?" I seethed and swung my arm behind me, gesturing towards the beach. He grinned and pointed the opposite direction, towards a very small island closer to us.

"It's invisible to the mortal eye; only descendants of the Greek gods can see it. You are a descendant of both Poseidon and his son, and I am a descendant of Apollo. Thankfully they are very distant descendants so monsters can't find us." Luka told me nonchalantly and I decided to store the information away so I could deal with it later. Once I nod in acceptance Luka starts swimming the last few feet to the island and eventually reaches the shallowest part of the water, where he rolls over and lays on his back; head on the sand and body in the water. I copy his actions and we lay there for a few minutes until he decides to break the silence.

"That necklace, it gives you the ability to use the powers given to you by Poseidon and Triton." He pauses and reaches under his shirt, pulling out a chain necklace similar to mine; but with a golden Sun charm hanging from it. "I found this necklace here too; it helped me use the artistic Apollo powers that were hidden deep within me. I have met others that find necklaces like these and we have found that our powers only work when the necklace is around our necks." I hum in acknowledgement. I always figured something was different about the world.

"Are the gods still around today?" I wonder aloud. Luka snorts.

"Not that I know of. If they are though I want to meet Apollo." He says wishfully. Smiling at the sun.

"I want to meet the other Twin Archer and Poseidon." I sigh and look directly at the sun, finding I can look right at it without being blinded. If I look hard enough I think I can see a chariot. Wait. WHAT?! I sit up instantly and stare at the sun closer; there is a freaking chariot being pulled by horses in the sun.

"Luka look right at the sun and tell me what you see." I say slowly, wanting to know I he too saw the chariot. He looked up and seconds later he gasped.

"Dude that's got to be our imagination or Apollo." He shrieked. I was about to reply when golden glitter suddenly surrounded us and the world went black.

When I opened my eyes, I blinked confused. The last thing I remember was being in the ocean with Luka but now I'm in my bed at the vacation home. I look over to my right and see Luka on the other bed in here, curled in the blankets. Suddenly the door opens and my brother walks in with two mugs of hot chocolate, I can tell from the smell of it, which he sets on the bedside tables before he turns to me.

"If you're wondering why you're in here instead of the beach; you and that dude were swimming or about an hour before you came back to the beach and fell asleep on the sand. Mom had me and dad bring you two back here so you could rest comfortably. What I want to know is; how do you know that boy?" I roll my eyes at my overprotective brother and sit up, taking a mug of the heated chocolate.

"I was running on the beach this morning and came across him; turns out he's cousin Kats' best friend." I told my brother through sips of hot chocolate. Thankfully he doesn't pry anymore and leaves the room just as Luka begins to stir. I shake my head in amusement as he stretches like my lazy cat back home: first arms straight above them, then to the right, then to the left, then above their head; second their legs (cats back legs) stretch out as far as possible; third they twist around in the oddest angles before curling into a ball and then spreading out, flat on their stomachs before poking their head up to check their surroundings.

He looked over to me and frowned, cocking his head to the side in confusion. "Where am I?" He asked sleepily. I smiled and swung my legs to the side of the bed so I was facing him.

"At my vacation home. We swam for an hour before coming back to the beach and falling asleep on the sand; my dad and brother brought us here for some reason apparently." I told him as I got up and handed the other mug of hot chocolate to him, sitting beside him on the bed. He accepted the mug, sniffed it, took a sip, and hummed appreciatively. We were silent as we drank our hot chocolate; thankfully it was a comfortable silence. It was interrupted by mom yelling that dinner was ready. I glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table and was shocked to see the red numbers glowing in the shape of 8:40.

"Well, come on, dinners always good and I am hungry." I said cheerfully and hopped off the bed; holding out a hand to Luka. He sighs but takes my hand and I pull him off the bed. I blushed when I noticed that he didn't have a shirt on, I guess Eric took his wet shirt off of him. He ducks his head embarrassed I suppose. "Would you like a shirt? I do have guy shirts because I steal my brothers." He nodded and I rummaged through my temporary shirts drawer, pulling out a plain black tee shirt that looked about Lukas' size. I threw it to him before pulling my favorite navy shirt out of the drawer and pulling it over my bathing suit. Once Luka was in the shirt we grabbed our cups and made our way to the kitchen where we found my family and I'm guessing his family, sitting at the table together, laughing and talking. We look at each other in confusion and eventually silently agree to just accept it.

I walk with Luka over to the island, where the food and plates are, and we make our plates before walking over to the counter beside the sink and sitting on it, waiting for our parents to notice our presence. It takes 10 minutes; by then we are done eating, Luka got us both drinks and we discussed plans for the next day. When they notice us it's mom that realizes it first; she looks up from her dinner to the window above the sink. I catch her eye and wave. She shrieks and puts a hand on her heart causing everyone to turn to see what scared her, aka: me and Luka. Everyone else shrieks and we just grin at them.

"So, it takes you ten minutes to acknowledge the fact that we walked in here, got plates of food, ate, got drinks and have been sitting on this counter listening to y'alls entire conversation? That is sad. Come on Luka, let's go back to my room and watch Netflix." I exclaim dramatically causing everyone to have mixed expressions and emotions. I ignore them and grab Lukas' hand, pulling him back to my room. I wasn't kidding, I wanted to watch Netflix. I slammed my door closed behind us and started laughing the second it was closed. Luka joined in eventually and we laughed so hard we collapsed on the floor beside each other; stomachs and faces hurting from so much laughter.

Soon our laughter died down and we layed on the floor in silence, eventually turning our heads towards each other. As we stared into each other's eyes I saw a sparkle in his ice blue eyes and felt a shiver run through me as he moves a hand to my cheek, leans closer and brushes his lips softly against mine. I close my eyes and melt into the kiss.

---

After the kiss, we move to my bed and I pull out my laptop so we can watch Netflix. It's not uncomfortable as we sit there cuddled together watching stupid comedies. I love the feel of Lukas arm around my shoulders and love that he doesn't try anything other than that. It feels like we've known each other our entire lives as we fall asleep next to each other, laptop still playing.

"Should we wake them up?" A voice whispers. I hold back a growl to see who has interrupted my sleep.

"Why would you ask that? Of course, we need to wake them up, they shouldn't be sleeping beside each other in the same bed!" Another voice hisses.

"Oh shut up you prude, it doesn't look like they did anything but watch Netflix anyway." A familiar voice, Eric, reasoned. The other two grumbled so I decided no was a good time to scare them.

"You interrupted my sleep; give me one reason I shouldn't get out of this bed just so I can beat you up." I growled sleepily. No one answered so I spoke again. "Eric, get them out of here before I force them out with Silver in hand." Silver is my silver bow that I got for one of my birthdays, I named it for its color, and I am a very good shot with it. Eric gulped so loud I heard it from where he was by the doorway (don't ask how I know, just accept it). He ushered the two out the door and when the door closed I snuggled deeper into Lukas' tan, warm, muscled arms.

"Good morning lovebirds." A voice sings from the doorway that just opened once again. Mom.

"Mom I am not getting up." I grumble loud as I can. She chuckles.

"I don't expect you to because you only have two more days left with him here." She told me softly before leaving the room. I sigh sadly and roll over in Lukas arms to face him. His face is calm as he sleeps; there is no sign of his signature mirth filled eyes or cocky smirk. I swipe his bangs from his face with my right hand as he begins to stir. His eyes open as soon as my hand leaves his face, which is now sporting a frown.

"Two days left? What did she mean, Ara?" He asks confused. I sigh and put my hand on his cheek.

"My school starts in 5 days so we are leaving two days from now, Luka. I wish I never had to leave you but I can't miss school because I have work after school and training before and after school. I have to start getting ready for It all." I tell him sadly. He is silent for a long time and I get nervous.

"Why did you wait till now to tell me?" He whispers, deadly calm. I am the silent one now. I don't know why I decided to wait to tell him.

"I don't know Luka, but I do know that I really like you and do not want to go so far away from you." I whispered with tears coming to my eyes. I took his hand and he squeezed mine tightly.

"I really like you too Ara; I also don't want to be far away from you, but I respect the fact that you have training and work. We won't be extremely far from each other when we are both back home, we'll just be 8 hours apart." Tears fall down our faces and we laugh a little at the end because he attempts to say it cheerfully. Suddenly I engulf Luka in a hug and start crying into his shoulder. I may have only known him for a day but I already feel like I've known him forever and it's going to be hard to leave in a few days.

"Ara?" He whispers quietly.

"Yeah?" I reply automatically.

"It's 10:45 at night." I snort and bury my face in his shoulder, trying to hold in my laughter.

"I know, Luka. You want to get a shower and change into more comfortable clothes?" I ask him, not moving my head from his spot on his shoulder.

"I guess so; why do I stink?" He asks me jokingly. I lift my head and put a serious mask on.

"Like fish." I reply in a fake-serious voice. He was stunned and I stayed stoic. His face turned confused and I couldn't contain the giggle that escaped me. "I'm kidding but it would be good for you to get a shower." He shrugged and nodded before getting a look I couldn't decipher. "What's that face for?" I ask.

"I don't have extra clothes." He says glumly. I shake my head.

"That's not a problem. I have boxers that I stole from my best friend, he's gay so he's not competition, I also have some of his shorts for some reason and that shirt is clean." I talk as I get the things I was talking about.

"You have a gay best friend?" Luka asks from his place on my bed as I walk back to him with the shorts and boxers. I nod and smile.

"Yep, he's my childhood best friend and he lives on our ranch because his parents work with mine. I protect him from the people that like to tease him at school, so do our other friends." I smile sadly because I miss my group of crazies.

"You miss your friends, don't you?" Luka asks suddenly and I recognize the expression on his face because it's a mirror of my own; longing.

"There's Layla, a tough S.o.B that will beat a bully to pulp when provoked; then there's Kyle, Layla's' boyfriend, he's laid back but tough like Layla; then you have our perverted princess Diana Mclean who I act gay with sometimes and she gropes peoples upper bodies if they are in our group; then you have Cameron, the gay best friend that likes to make perverted jokes about the group; and finally, there's Katie Grayson, our resident perverted otaku." I explain to him. He smiles unlike others that have just heard the descriptions of my friends.

"They sound like my friends, want me to tell you about them?" He asks and I nod eagerly causing him to laugh. "Well there's Lillianna, my groups resident pervert; Dayla, our sports fanatic; Jace, the only jock that isn't a jerk to everyone, he and Lillianna are dating; then there's Ashton, my gay best friend who likes to hit on every boy he meets; and finally, Felicity Harrison, the only girl I know that will hit on a person I she thinks they're hot and just flat out tell them what she thinks of them." I'm dying at his last friends' description and he grins as I laugh. I then glance over at the clock and stop laughing with a grin.

"As much fun as this is, we still need showers. Go on just don't use all the hot water." He grins and gets up, taking the clothes from my hands as he walks to my private bathroom and minutes later the shower is running. I sigh and decide to get on my laptop while he finishes his shower. I get lost in playing horse games and don't even hear the water turn off in the bathroom; in fact, I don't realize Luka's out until he flops onto the bed beside me. I shriek loudly and roll off the bed, thankfully leaving the laptop on the bed. I make a loud thump as my back hits the ground and my head misses the night stand by inches.

When air returns to my lungs I get off the ground and pounce on top of Luka; it turns into a tickle-wrestling war. We take turns pinning each other to the bed to tickle the living hell out of each other, causing us both to make tons of noise; which in turn causes my siblings to come tell us to shut up and go to sleep. We did lay down a few minutes later and started talking about random things until Luka finally fell asleep. I smiled and turned to put the computer on the nightstand before snuggling up to Luka and falling into a deep sleep.

---

"Hey Luka?" I say aloud in the silence of the morning. Luka has his arm around my waist as we stand knee deep in the ocean.

"Yeah Ara?" He asks while looking at the horizon where the sun was slowly rising.

"How's this going to work? We won't be able to see each other all the time maybe once a month at least." It takes all my strength not to cry. He sighs.

"We will make it, Ara, trust me. I will not stop thinking about you." He tells me and hugs me. My arms wrap around him and I squeeze tightly, before beginning to cry into his shoulder.

An hour later my dad is putting bags in the trunk of the car and I am holding the tears in while hugging Luka. "Arabella, come on, the flight leaves in an hour." Eric calls out from the back passenger's seat. I gulp and gladly accept Lukas' kiss as he pulls away a little to attack my lips with his own. We are lost in the moment until someone wolf-whistles and makes us pull away from each other. We stare into each other's eyes, Luka puts a hand on my cheek and I kiss his wrist gently before backing away, towards the car. Luka holds up a hand and waves; I do the same before getting in the car. I have the third row to myself so I stretch myself over the seats and cry silently. When we get to the airport everything passes by in a blur for me and I can't wait to take medicine that will knock me out. Yeah that's a funny story; you see the first time I was on an airplane awake I freaked out and had to be given knock out medicine so I've learned to take medicine before getting on the plane.

Mom hands me the medicine, a small snack, and a small bottle of Coke. I eat the snack, sip the coke, swallow, take another sip and throw the pill in after it before swallowing it. Thankfully the pill should knock me out by the time the planes is getting loaded up. And it does I start felling sleepy right as the announcement for our plane is called over the speakers. I walk over to Eric and he picks me up automatically, probably recognizing my sleepy expression. My eyes are shut as soon as my head falls on Eric's shoulder.

When I wake up I know I'm home. I can hear the buzz of my computer, whinny of the horses, bark of the dogs, and the purring of my cat who is currently tucked under my arm. I open an eye and am greeted by the sight of a small gray ear and a wall of awards that hide the black wall behind them. I smile and reach behind me, where my phone usually is, and thankfully feel it plugged on the charger. I unhook it and bring it to rest on the bed in front of me where I click the round button. Instantly I see that it is 5 am and that Luka had texted me. Luka texted me! I quickly scan the message and smile at the end of it.

Luka: Hey Mermaid, hope you made it home ok miss you 3 text me when you can.

I quickly sent a message back.

Me: Hey Cowboy, I woke up in my own bed uninjured so I guess we made it home ok ;) miss you too

I set my phone to the side and stretched my entire body before sitting up and adjusting my eyes to the light. My cat, Scooter meows and yawns as I get up and move over to the French doors at the back of my room. I love having them in here because they lead straight to the barn and there is a pasture that runs right in front of the doors; I usually keep my horses in that pasture. Looking out of the clear windows of the doors, I can barely see the fence of the pasture in the pitch black of the early morning. Though I can hear Galaxy and Nova's nickers and whinnying; they are hungry as they always are at 5 in the morning.

Smiling I change into some old black breeches, a thin t-shirt, my favorite black hoodie that has a picture of me standing on Galaxy and Nova roman riding style, and a pair of tall worn out barn boots before grabbing my phone and going back over to the doors and letting myself out into the chilly morning air. I whistle a special tune that my horses know means feed time; welcoming whinnies in return making me smile. Walking up to the fence, I wait for my horses to come over to me. Their footsteps are loud since they are running, so I can tell that they were on opposite ends of the pasture. A few seconds later and I have two muzzles in my face, Nova's soft pink nose and Galaxy's soft black nose. They nose me for treats and keep looking even when they can't find any the first time.

After 10 minutes of them looking for treats I start walking towards the barn with them following alongside me. Upon reaching the barn I open the gate that separates the barn and the pasture for Nova and Galaxy so I didn't have to lead them in. They go straight to their own stalls, which are next to each other, and thankfully the doors are open meaning I only have to shut the doors. Once I do I go to the feed room, fix the buckets with the right amount of feed, and bring them to the horses. While the horses eat, I bring the others in and begin feeding them. We own 25 horses, that's including Nova and Galaxy, and have a few hired hands, that have become like family, to help take care of them. Speaking of which I can hear the rumble of the truck that belongs to our oldest ranch hand, Harry, coming down the driveway. I check my phone and see that it's 5:45 and that Luka has texted me again.

Luka- Glad you're home safe Mermaid, wish you were here to run with me, sunrise is beautiful but it'd be better with you.

He'd also sent a picture along with the message; he wasn't kidding about the sunrise; the picture was simply gorgeous. I decided to in return, send him a picture of the sunrise from the arena once I got out there. I shut my phone off and slipped it in my pocket before heading to Galaxy's' stall to tack him up. Nova pinned his ears back in annoyance and I sighed, knowing I wouldn't leave the barn without him. Harry walked by as I put the bridle on Galaxy's head, the last piece of tack to put on.

"Well, good morning Ms. Bella; didn't expect to see you this early, especially after vacation." Harry said in a very surprised tone when he noticed me. I just smiled widely.

"Got to get back on schedule, Mal would have my head otherwise." I replied. Harry just shook his head. "Oh, and I've fed everyone already so the only thing to be done is stalls, water and turn out!" I call out as he walks away. I hear a laugh and know he heard me. I finish buckling the throat latch and nose band before grabbing the reins under his chin and leading him out of the stall, meeting Lee, another stable hand, in the aisle way where he was holding Nova. I stopped Galaxy, checked the girth, tightened it, and got on before Lee handed me Nova's blue lead rope and my helmet. I put my helmet on before I gave Galaxy and Nova the signal to start walking. I laugh as Nova prances beside Galaxy while we walk out of the barn.

On the way to the jumping arena I can see the rest of the stable hands vehicles coming down the driveway. I waved to Alyssa and Nico as they passed in Alyssa's car, and Cindy and Wen in their separate vehicles. Nova is thankfully good as we make our way to the arena that is halfway across the front yard, running along the driveway. As soon as I get both horses in the arena and have the gate shut I unhook the lead from Nova and let him loose. He takes off and Galaxy tries to follow but I hold him back and begin our warm-up.

10 minutes later and Nova joins us, doing everything Galaxy does. He even jumps alongside us as we take on the course of 2ft and higher jumps. I give them a break and let Galaxy walk around the arena to cool off a bit.

"I come to make you breakfast before you wake up, hoping that you are actually in bed this time and yet here you are once again; training right after vacation." I startle at the sound of Diana's voice. It's loud in the silence of the morning but beautiful all the same. I turn my head and find her leaning against the fence with a Waffle House bag in one hand and a Styrofoam cup in the other.

"Is that what I think it is?" I ask intrigued and curious. Diana nods with a grin.

"Peppermint hot chocolate with extra whip cream, pecan waffles, and I have an entire bag full of your favorite candy in your room." I smile happily.

"You're the best Ana, let me just catch Nova and we can head in before I have to-." She stops me mid-sentence.

"You aren't swimming this morning; you are going to take a decent shower, let me dress you, let me put a tiny amount of make-up on your face, let me take you shopping and then we are hanging out with our friends." I stare at her like she is insane; because she is. There is a swimming competition next week, horse show the week after and another swimming competition the week after. I open my mouth to complain but she stops me again. "No complaining, Cam is on his way and he's not letting you out of this." I sigh in defeat because I know she is right; Cameron will not let me out of this. I hook the lead on to Nova's halter, he had come up beside us a few minutes ago, and lead them both to the gate. Somehow Ana manages to open the gate for me, even with the bag and cup in her hands. I take the cup and she takes Nova, who loves Ana. She giggles loudly as he nuzzles her with his pink nose and she reaches over to pat his dark gray neck. I shake my head at the two of them as we continue walking.

30 minutes later the horses have been untacked, groomed, given hay, watered and let out in the pasture again and me and Ana have gone back to the house, my room specifically. When we walked in the room I noticed she had cleaned; my dark wooden desk is now organized and polished, my black spinny chair is pushed under the desk neatly, the black star-shaped knobs on the desk drawers shined brighter in the light of my room, my bed is now completely covered in my checkered comforter and pillows ranging in design, size, and the colors grey, white, blue, purple and black, my floor is glittering brightly in the light(my floor is made of black and white tiles, yep checker pattern again, that are made with glitter in them), my book shelves that run along my dark blue wall, have been dusted, my shoes are in order in their shelves, everything is just screaming 'I GOT CLEANED BY DIANA MCLEAN'.

"Sorry, went a bit overboard, Bell." She tried to act like she didn't mean to clean this much but I could see it in her eyes that she was awaiting my reaction. I smirked.

"Right. Diana, do you honestly think I believe that?" My honeyed voice works wonders because she shakes her head with a slight frown. In an instant though she is smiling again; she can never stay mad at me.

"No I didn't but now you need to get in the shower; so go, unless you want me to join you." I am tempted to teasingly say she can but knowing her she would take me seriously and hop in with me. I relent and head to my private bathroom to get a quick shower. I wash my hair three times, shave my legs, and wash my body before rinsing and getting out. I'm not surprised to see Cameron sitting on the sink, waiting with a towel. When I step out he instantly throws the towel at me and I hurriedly wrap myself in it.

"Cameron, must you be a perverted stalker?" I ask trying to sound tired of it because I'm joking of course. He snorts and hops off the sink to grab a brush from the counter so he can fix his hair, which he is obsessed with.

"Honey, I am only a perverted stalker to boys; you on the other hand, are my best friend and I refuse to let you mess up your hair so I make sure I'm the first to touch it after a shower if I can." He makes no sense sometimes but I just accept it and shrug. I wait for him to finish brushing his short, wavy, mess of blonde hair streaked with blue that matches his eyes. Once he's done I'm almost completely dry and my hair is starting to curl slightly; before it can curl anymore Cam starts brushing it out and plugs he blow dryer in, causing me to groan. Cam ignores my protest and begins blow drying my wet blue and purple hair that looks black right now because of the amount of water in it. After a few minutes, Ana comes in with her more natural looking make-up things. I grimace at the sight of the box but one glare from each of them and I stay quiet the rest of the time.

30 minutes later and my hair is straightened, flowing to my waist, the cobalt blue and royal purple color of it causing it to shine like the night sky; my make-up is light with only mascara, eye shadow, foundation, and I hint of clear lip gloss that will be off in minutes. Now Ana has thrown clothes at me and barricaded the door so I can't come out until I'm dressed. I pick up a piece of the clothing and find that it's a dress, a white spaghetti strap dress with a layer of black rose patterned lace on top of the white stretchy cotton. I put it on and am happy to see that it comes a few inches above my knees and that it doesn't have a built-in bra, because let's face it, I am flat chested and probably the only flat chested girl to feel relieved and not sad. The next things I find are underwear, white and black checkered leggings, and mismatched socks. I put all of it on before banging on the door with my fist to let them know I'm done. When the door opens, I come face to face with a pair of shoes I have never seen, but I can see myself falling in love with them; they are pitch black, knee-high boots with pure white laces running up the front of the boot from the ankle to the knee, and a two-inch wedge heel.

I put the boots on and begin packing my messenger bag, aka public safety blanket. It includes; tons of markers that I use to draw on my arm and sketch pad, two sketch pads, a pencil case of pencils and pens, a notebook for story ideas, money, and candy. You'd think it'd be heavy but it isn't that bad. When I'm finally ready to go, I have time to check out what Ana and Cam are wearing. Ana is matching me sort of; whatever of mine that is white, hers is blindingly neon green and it looks good with her blood-red hair and mint eyes. Cam is wearing white skinny jeans with ripped knees, a black t-shirt that says 'I'm a Rainbow of Emotions' in a rainbow of colors, a black leather jacket, and some tie-dyed converse.

"Well aren't you three a bunch of colors?" a sarcastic voice says from the door way, Eric. Cam grins at me before turning to Eric, who has always been a bit hesitant of Cam due to his sexuality. Cam walks up to Eric slowly and seductively, placing a hand on my brothers muscled arm (he moves hay bales a lot) and Eric shudders.

"Hey Eric how ya doin'?" Eric shrieks and runs at the sound of Cams creepy voice, leaving the three of us laughing. We eventually remove ourselves from the house and make our way to Ana's car. The drive from the farm to the mall takes thirty minutes at most. We visit every shop and get at least one thing each from each shop (it's fun to shop when you have money that you earned, and I have earned a load of it over the years plus I get allowance). The places we get the most stuff from is Spencer's, Hot Topic, and Journey's; the most things we got are t-shirts, belts, beanies, Converse High-Tops, and me and Ana got a few dresses from Hot Topic. After an hour of shopping we meet up with the rest of the weirdos plus a few. They are sitting at the Cinnabon cart and I have to scan everyone's faces to remember their names: there's, Katie, Layla, Kyle, Lanie, Wes, Chase, Jake, and Melody. Lanie and Melody are easy to recognize with their brightly colored hair; Lanies' is neon green and cut in a bob and Melodys' is shaved off on one side while the other side is shoulder length and bright blue. Jake, Chase, and Wes are harder to tell apart due to them being triplets.

I wait for Diana to sit down before sitting in her lap. She wraps her arms around my waist and rests her chin on my shoulder, I in return, turn to kiss her on the cheek.

"Could you two calm the PDA? We're trying to eat here." That was Wes. I smirked.

"Would you like for us to make out right here and right now?" I asked him, he shook his head rapidly. "Ok, then shut up. I will kiss her if I feel like it." I stated and began eating the cinnamon roll in front of me.

"Ara when will you two ever admit you're dating?" Katie asks. I finish the bite in my mouth before answering.

"I'll admit we're dating when you admit you're mad Cam is gay." I joke. Katie sneers and sticks her tongue out at me. I reach across the table, quick as lightning, and grab her tongue. She jerks her head back and I pull my hand back towards myself, continuing to eat the cinnamon roll.

---

Just as I was about take another bite of my cinnamon roll, my phone began ringing; it was the ringtone I'd set for Luka! I immediately dropped the roll and dug my phone out of my pocket answering it quickly.

"Cowboy!" I squealed excitedly. He chuckled deeply on the other end of the phone.

"Hey Mermaid, what are you doing?" He asks, amusement clear in his voice. I snorted.

"I was drug to the mall in a dress, forced to put make-up on, forced to not do swim or track practice this morning, and I am currently talking to you while my friends stare at me with a bunch of different emotions; it's quite amusing." I tell him with humor in my voice. Luka laughs.

"That's funny Mermaid and you will survive without track or swim practice for one morning. Wait Ashton, no-." I giggle lightly as I hear Luka try to get his phone back from Ashton. Suddenly a different voice is on the other end of the line.

"Ok Mermaid what's your real name, where do you live, how do you know my best friend?" Ah I know this is Ashton.

"Look Ashton, my name is Arabella Hart, I live in Mobile Alabama, and I know Luka because I met him on Hawaii and my cousin talks about him all the time." I told the boy. He's silent for a few seconds before I hear another familiar voice.

"You know I never expected you two to meet without my help." I sigh in amusement at my cousins lie.

"Chick, I know you told him to go to Hawaii the same week I went; you're an ass Kat." I hiss into the phone, receiving a laugh from her.

"Oh, come on Candy Cane, I wouldn't do something like that; it's not like I've been planning it since I met him 5 years ago." I shake my head in disbelief. My cousin is just that crazy sometimes.

"I expect nothing less from you, Kat. You've done crap like this for years. So, how's Dancer?" Kat laughs.

"You are so ADD, and Dancer is fine she's running around now and Shining has her hooves very full right now." We laugh together; Dancer is the new foal of Kat's horse Shining Dancer and Dancer had been born a few days ago.

"Hey Bella, I'm giving your boyfriend his phone back because I'm being glared at, love you cuz." She says with a laugh. I snort and hear Luka snap at her, causing her to laugh.

"Mermaid, I've got to go but I'll talk to you later ok?" I am saddened he can't talk longer but I say ok and he hangs up. When I turn my phone off I set it on the table, face down, and continue eating my cinnamon roll. Then someone clears their throat; I ignore it in favor of finishing my food.

"Arabella Delilah Hart, start talking." Diana growls in my ear. I shudder and begin to explain everything. After I'm done explaining everyone has different reactions, Diana's' is most important though. She is silent as she moves me from her lap, to another chair beside us, before getting up and walking away quietly. Everyone is silent and confused as we watch her get farther away. Finally, Katie gets up and follows her while I glare at my phone.

"Ara why didn't you tell us?" Cam asks me quietly. I shrugged.

"Just hadn't gotten around to it. But I am thinking back on my decision to date him; it feels like we're going too fast." I whisper, still staring at my phone. Everyone is silent until Wes speaks up.

"I can hack into his phone if you want me to; I know he may not be a cheater but he couldn't talk with you immediately after the phone got handed back to him." I stare at him and actually consider it before nodding.

"Do whatever; I don't care." I say sadly nonchalant. He hums and pulls out his laptop, beginning to do whatever he has to, to hack into Luka's phone. 20 minutes later and Wes pulls up Luka's text messages, handing his computer to me. I will never question how he does this stuff. I see my text messages to and from me and him, and the I see his messages between him and Kat. I know it's wrong to snoop but I do anyway and what I find fills me with hurt, betrayal and fury. I close the laptop slowly, gather my bags and turn to Cam with tears in my eyes. "Cam, take me home please?"

When I get home, I run straight to my room and fly onto my bed; crying into my pillows instantly. A few minutes later Cam arrives and lays beside me, wrapping me in a comforting hug. I turn and begin crying into his chest where I fall asleep.

When I wake up again, I smell bacon and Cams cologne. "I have bacon Bella." That's Cam's voice. I crack an eye open and see him sitting on the floor beside my bed holding a plate of bacon in my face. I turn away from it and close my eyes again. "Come on, Bella, you have to eat." I shake my head and suddenly sit up.

"No, I need to swim." I say distractedly and get up to look for a swim suit. I find a pitch-black top that is like a sports bra and navy boy shorts bottoms, bring them with me to my private bathroom, use the bathroom, slip out of my clothes and into the swim suit. I leave the bathroom after grabbing a towel and walking out of the bathroom, past Cam, and the bacon, out the French doors and sprint to the right (opposite of the barn) towards the pool my parents had installed for the whole family, but mainly me.

I drop my towel on the concrete before diving in to the icy water; no I don't care that it's probably 1 am and that it's about fifty degrees out here. I only care about training as hard as possible to ignore any thoughts of my cousin and Luka Finnair, the traitors. I swim laps until my muscles are so sore they are starting to get weak. They get so weak yet I don't stop swimming, I just swim closer and closer to the bottom of the pool while black spots start dotting my vision. I feel arms wrap around my stomach as I black out.

---

I awake to worried whispers.

"What caused her to do this?" Mom. Someone ran their finger gently over my forehead, which caused me to realize I was burning up and freezing cold all at once. I whimpered and tried to kick the blanket off me. Someone took the blanket off for me and a hand grabbed one of mine; Diana.

"Ana." I mumble. Whoever's here breathes a sigh of relief.

"Hi honey, how are you?" She whispers softly. I smile smally.

"Been better, gorgeous." She snorts and my smile stays until I suddenly feel cold and shiver.

"Cold darling?" She asks me. I nod. "Want me to hold you?" I nod again and she is on my bed with me instantly, wrapping her small arms around me. I snuggle up to her warmth and instantly fall back asleep.

The next time I'm awake there is another person cuddled up with us. I crack an eye open and see Cams fluffy hair. Closing my eye again I wrap an arm around him because I'm cold right now and like the body heat. "Hey." Cams sleepy voice says suddenly. I start; I hadn't meant to wake him.

"Sorry," I mumble. "didn't mean to wake you." He turns to face me; he has a soft glint in his eyes.

"It's ok. Now can you explain why you almost drowned out in the pool, yesterday?" He asks gently. I take a shaky breath before beginning.

"I, I wanted to swim to forget everything. I just didn't pay attention to my burning legs or arms or my breathing. I only noticed my burning muscles when black dots started dotting my vision; I blacked out after that." I whisper to Cam. He hums quietly.

"I am glad I grabbed you before you could drown; I was so worried when you began slowing down significantly, I jumped in after you and reached you as you began to sink." He told me sadly. Suddenly a body came in between ours and wrapped an arm around each of our shoulders. We leaned our heads on her shoulders.

"Go back to sleep my children, mom will fix everything." Ana whispers to us and kisses me on the cheek; I hear her do the same to Cam. My eyes close within seconds of cuddling up to Ana. The last thing I hear is, "Go to sleep my love" and it is whispered into my ear.

A gorgeous red head with soft mint colored eyes plagues my dreams. My dreams show me scenes of quiet walks through parks with her, picnics by the lake, riding horses on a beach with the red head, star gazing with her, hugging her. I float happily through my dreams but am taken away from them when a quiet voice calls out, Mermaid! I turn but see no one, then I hear it again; this time it's a soft whisper in my ear. Mermaid. I turn and find Luka standing right behind me with a bloodied knife, red eyes, and my cousin behind him. She's grinning evilly and has blood running down her neck. I am horrified and when I am about to scream Luka slices my throat with the knife, causing me to scream in pain. Bella! Bella baby! Ara!

I bolt awake with a scream and find arms wrapped around me and a hand wiping tears from my face.

"What happened?" Voices ask from the door.

"Why was she screaming?" Another voice asks. I shudder, and try to remember the dream but all I remember is a knife and screaming and a pretty red head.

"We don't know yet, let us calm her down before you come in." Ana barks and pulls me closer to her. I bury my face in her chest and she rubs my back soothingly, effectively calming me down as I hear the door shut. "Cam, go make her some hot chocolate please." She whispers to the boy on her other side. He must've nodded because I hear my room door open then shut back. I lift my head to look Ana in the eyes. She places a hand softly on my cheek. "Can you tell me about your dream sweetie?" She asks me softly. I shake my head.

"All I remember is a dream that turned bad. You and I were doing things together like walking through parks and having a picnic by the lake and other stuff like that until a voice called out for me and I found out it was Luka but not Luka. He had red eyes and a bloodied knife; my cousin appeared behind him with an evil grin and a bleeding throat. Luka suddenly lunged forward and sliced my throat. I died and when I heard your voice; it brought me back." I started crying after I finished and Ana pulled me back towards her.

"Honey, I will never let Luka do that. Whatever it takes he won't touch you. I read his text too, honey. I'm going to fly over there and kill him." She whispers to me sadistically. I giggle a little and snuggle deeper into her hold; I couldn't have asked for a better friend.

---

I got better enough to go to school the next day. Diana and Cam went home to grab clothes and supplies for school, before coming ack and spending the night. During the time they were away I pulled myself together and got rid of the thoughts of Luka. I wrote some, shot my bow at a tree imagining it to be Lukas' face, and drank some Coca- Cola. I brought forth the nonchalant, less emotional side of myself that is more confident and is immune to the charms of boys. My friends noticed the change; I was lasing around on my bed reading Fan-Faction when they entered the French doors. I looked up and smirked at them.

"Sup people?" I asked lazily. Diana grinned and cocked her head to the side.

"Delilah?" She asked excitedly. I shook my head.

"Arabella now. My emotional side is shrunk to nothing now. I am Arabella Delilah the A-class bitch that should have noticed your affections toward me were not fake, but real." I said to Diana softly, placing my hands on her cheeks. She blushed and warmed my hands with her cherry red cheeks. I smiled and leaned up to peck her on the lips lightly. She squeaks cutely and I chuckle at that before letting my hands fall back to the computer and I scroll the page up and continue reading.

"Ara?" Ana says quietly.

"Yes Gorgeous?" I ask slightly amused.

"Was that real?" She whispers. I glance at Cam.

"Cam, you can wait in the hall or watch." I say before grabbing Diana's' face gently and kissing her deeply. She responds instantly and kisses back. It lasts a few seconds before I pull away breathless. Diana is panting hard but she has a light in her eyes that is amazing to see. "Now do you believe me?" I ask with a smirk. Diana nods and moves to lay beside me while I notice that Cam had watched the whole thing and looked uninterested. I raise an eyebrow at him and he shrugs.

"I still prefer boys, now scoot over." He says making his way to the bed where Ana and I slide over so Ana is in the middle again. Once we are comfortably under my comforter Ana kisses my cheek and Cams' forehead before we drift off to sleep.

"WAKE UP FRESHIES!" is what we wake up to. I groan then hear Cam growl an unintelligible word that sounded like he was cussing my brother out. Eric flips the light on brightly and starts making tons of noise by banging two cooking pans together. He laughs as we groan and sit up, cussing him out while our eyes are half-open, closed or one open, one not. Finally, after our eyes adjust to the light we take turns going to the bathroom. After the three of us are done in the bathroom we pull on shoes and jackets and head down to the barn to do morning feed and turn-out. My horses walk beside us again as we walk along their pasture fence. The three of us are layered in a comfortable silence as we complete the two early morning chores I have always done every morning before school at 5; it's been my routine since third grade when I started seriously competing in track meets, horse shows and swimming competitions. When I have put the last horse in their stall I rush back to the house to get changed into my running clothes. I do so quickly before beginning to jog towards the pool, though this time, I turn to the left at the end of the fence and keep running. Track practice is to run one lap around the edge of my horses' pasture because the perimeter of it is a mile altogether. The air is chilly but by the time I have begun running parallel to the house again, my blood is pumping and my muscles are no longer freezing. The rest of the jog takes no time to finish and get back to the house in time to see a fully dressed Cam make his way out of my room, heading towards the kitchen. I open the French doors and walk in as Ana emerges from my bathroom looking very adorable. She has a thin black long sleeved t-shirt on that has a single red rose in the center of her chest and a line of roses going down each arm, a red and black checkered mini skirt on over see-through black fishnet tights and some cute black knee high boots that had a bit of a heel to them. She spotted me and I went to hug her but she put a hand and stopped me, shaking her head no with a smirk.

"No hugs until you shower and change, missy." She teased. I pouted but obediently moved around her to get to the bathroom so I could shower. After a quick shower I dressed in a soft, black, stretchy shirt with spaghetti straps that had sleeves connected at the bottom of the strap so my shoulders were left bare and the sleeves only covered a few inches above my elbow and down to the tip of my pinky (no bra, because I was gifted with a flat chest), a pair of red leggings with black roses on them, a pair of plain black shorts that are pretty short, and a pair of short black lace up boots with a small heel (like horse riding boots but cleaner). I took a towel and dried my hair before brushing it out and putting it into Dutch braided pigtails; when I was finished, I made my way to the kitchen where a plate of bacon and waffles was waiting for me with a cup of Coke and a second cup filled with coffee sitting on either side of the plate. My plate was set between Cam and Ana so I happily sat between them and began eating. It didn't take long for the food to disappear along with the coffee. The coke on the other hand, I nursed on as I walked back to my room to make sure I had everything I needed; four notebooks each a different color (blue, black, silver, and red), a whole bag of markers, two blue pens, two black pens, one red pen, a brand-new sketch book, a journal, a twelve pack of brand new mechanical pencils, and a bag of my favorite candy. I sighed and zipped up my back pack back up, setting it on my bed before sitting beside it to grab my phone. I unlocked it and checked Facebook before quickly getting bored so I check my messages, noticing that he had texted. I clicked his name and read the messages.

Luka- Hey mermaid, how are you? Haven't heard from you since we talked yesterday text or call when you can.

I scoffed and began to type my reply, sending the middle finger emoji at the end. Satisfied with the text I shut my phone off and looked around my room before feeling stuffy in my shirt. I got up, tore my shirt off and went over to my dresser to get my plain black t-shirt; I find it and pull it on, next reaching out to grab a black hoodie from the top of my dresser, and throwing it on over the shirt. I could feel my nerves getting worse as the time to leave for school came closer.

"Chill out Ara, it's going to be ok; the five of us will be there with you." I whipped my head around at the sound of Layla's voice behind me. I find Layla, Katie, Kyle, Cam, and Diana sitting side by side on my bed, smiling at me comfortingly. I smile at them and join them on the bed beside my new girlfriend; wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leaning my head on her shoulder.

"Did everyone's parents send the request for us to have some classes together?" Katie asks suddenly. We nod but know there's a low chance of all of us being in the same classes let alone one class. I sigh and check my phone; 6:45, the time we have to leave. I sigh and reach behind my friends to grab my bag, I put it on my back and stand with a blank face.

"Time to leave, let's get this hell over with." I say and hold a hand out to Diana. She accepts it and I pull her up beside me. "We're the outcasts of the outcasts; we stick together and when apart let everyone know what group you hang with. We survived middle school, and now we must survive high school. Who else is going down with me?" I ask with a mock-happy smile. They laugh and all raise their hands. I laugh and gesture to the French doors, "Shall we go my weirdo's?"

---

Cam, the only 16-year-old of the six of us, drove us in his truck to school. I chewed on the end of a marker the whole way, a nervous habit I have. When we got to school, we found the homerooms listed we found that they were separated by last name. Diana and Cameron are in the same homeroom as each other while the rest of us were in the same homeroom. It sucked that I wasn't going to have homeroom with my best friends but I am glad I have homeroom with some of my friends. The teacher hands out our schedules and I examine mine quickly:

1st block- Potts, Brenna: Creative Writing

2nd block- Millan, Harold: Track

Lunch blocks- 1st lunch wave- Miller, Jason: Study Hall

3rd block- Neese, Jennifer: History

4th block- Solace, Valor: Science

I immediately send a picture of it to Cam and Ana before comparing with the other three; checking my phone a few minutes later, I find Cam and Ana's schedules. I have track with Kyle, History with Layla and Katie, Science with Ana, Creative Writing with no one I know, and Study hall with all five of them. They all have a few classes together and we are a bit spread out during the day except for lunch; we all have first lunch wave together. I am happy with my schedule and turn to see if Katie is too; only to find she has made a new friend that is apparently an otaku too. I turn to my back pack instead and pull a sketch book and pencil out, and draw for the rest of homeroom.

When the bell rings me, Katie and Kyle go our separate ways; I go to the building across from the one I'm in and Kyle and Katie go down the opposite hallway without so much as a goodbye. I sigh exasperatedly and continue my work of getting to the other building. I find my classroom with little trouble and am thankful to see that I am the first one here. I notice the teacher is sitting on a table by her desk; she is dressed similar to me and my friends: weird. She has a black t-shirt with red spots all over it making it look as though there is blood splattered on it, ripped dark grey skinny jeans, a leather jacket, and knee high, black, lace-up, combat-looking boots. Her hair is shoulder blade length and multiple shades of blue and her eyes look like jewels made of sea water. I walk over to her with a small smile.

"You're Ms. Brenna, right?" I ask cautiously. She nods with a grin.

"Correct you are Miss…" She trails off.

"Hart. Arabella Hart." I finish for her. She smiles and nods.

"Ms. Hart. Welcome to creative writing, there are no assigned seats so take your pick." I nod and choose a seat beside her desk at the back of a row of three. I take out one of my sketch books and a few pencils, beginning to draw random patterns. Suddenly there is a scrape of chair legs right in front of me; I ignore it in favor of finishing my design. As I continue drawing I can tell the person in front of me is watching me so I finish the line I'm working on before looking up. I'm met with the sight of a petite girl who is rocking some long blonde hair, sky blue eyes, an arura of innocence, a soft shy smile, a knee-length white dress that is decorated in hearts that are every imaginable shade of purple, and to top it off she is wearing…...white combat boots. WHITE COMBAT BOOTS! I raise an eyebrow at her and she smiles.

"Where in the world did you find white combat boots, little fairy?" I whisper. She giggles and points to the chair beside hers in the row next to ours, where a boy with bright blue hair, black clothes, a pierced ear, and tan skin sat.

"My best friend got them for me." She explained shyly. His head turned to her and he smiled at her with a look of endearment, he looked over at me and cautiously examined me like a psychology major would. He eventually nodded, as if deciding I was worth talking to, before turning to me completely and holding a hand out.

"Zander Potts, best friend of this fairy right here." He says, ruffling her hair. She pouted and swatted his arm away. I smiled because they reminded me of Cam and I, except these two seemed like a couple.

"So, what is the name of this little fairy?" I ask sweetly, smiling at the girl as I talked. She blushed and ducked her head mumbling something. Zander smiled.

"This is Olivia Crane. She and I have been friends since we were two." Zander explained to me happily. I smiled and nodded.

"I know what that's like; I have a guy I've been friends with since he was two and I was one." I told him with a smile. "So, were you two forced into this class or did you choose it?" I ask as I stretch my arms above my head and move my head around to pop my neck; grinning when I feel and hear the satisfying crack of bones.

"We chose it because we both want to be authors." Olivia whispers. I smile at her and motion for them to lean closer so I can whisper to them.

"I may have over twenty wins in three different sports but I write and draw in my free time." I whisper in their ears receiving shocked gasps from both. I lean back and smirk at their shocked expressions. They don't have time to respond because the door of the classroom shuts and the whole class goes quiet. I look up and see Ms. Brenna at the front of the classroom with a smirk spreading across her face.

"Ok everyone, welcome to creative writing. Now this class will be different from any of your other classes: first of all, no one call me Ms. Potts, in this classroom I'm Ms. Brenna; second of all, a maximum of four test all semester!" She got loud cheers from everyone especially me. "So now it's time for introductions then we'll talk about the syllabus. First up we'll have my brother Zander Potts." She exclaimed. Zander had a death glare pointed at the teacher who just looked like a cat with a canary. He got up and went over to the teacher with his arms crossed.

"Why'd you have to be so smart and skip a few grades just so you could teach a class with me in it?" He spits at the teacher.

"So, I could embarrass you after that one Halloween." Ms. Brenna spits back with a deathly glare. Zander grins suddenly at the reminder of a memory.

"That was great; so, what am I supposed to say, sis?" He asks nonchalantly. She shrugs.

"Name and a few facts I suppose should suffice." He nods and sits beside the teacher while grinning at the class.

"Ok then. Everyone, as you know my name is Zander Potts. What you don't know is I have exactly two friends, I am a black belt in karate, and I have never dated anyone. There you happy, Bren?" he asks the teacher once he's done. His sisters' eyes are full of mirth as she nods.

"Now you can choose the next person to come up." She tells her brother. He nods and points to me.

"Arabella Hart, get up here." I glare at him heatedly and he flinches a bit. I get up anyway and love how some people flinch at the sound of my boots clicking on the ground. Someone whistles lowly and I whip around, following the sound to the back of the room where a bunch of boys are sitting. I turn back to the front of the room and continue to walk towards Zander and Ms. Brenna. When I reach them they slide over and I sit beside Zander before facing the class with a sadistic smile that Harley Quinn and The Joker would have been proud of.

"If you didn't hear my name before too bad, I'm not repeating it. Now onto to facts: I compete in horse shows, swim meets, and track meets, my family owns twenty-five horses and I take care of most of them which means I carry 20 pound bags of feed, shovel manure, yell at 1200 pound animals when they won't move or they step on my foot, and I make sure that every one of them is healthy by the end of the day. Next thing; you idiot boys that want to whistle at me, keep doing it if you want to have a few things chopped off your body and a particular one shoved up your butt." I growled and every boy shuddered while some girls had different reactions I didn't pay attention to. "Main point is don't piss me off; I'm talking to you too Zander." I say to the boy beside me.

"Thank you, Ms. Hart, very nice intro. Next should be a volunteer, any takers?" I smile at Ms. Brenna as she smirks at the kids that aren't us. Olivia gets up and moves to sit between me and Zander, quietly.

"Hi, I'm Olivia Crane," I could tell she was nervous and wanted to finish but she couldn't due to her shyness. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders as Zander put one around her waist. She smiled at us as Ms. Brenna kept choosing people to come up and talk. The three of us eventually moved back to our seats where I continued drawing, Zander played on his phone and Olivia watched me draw. The rest of first block went by fast and the bell finally rang for second block; track here I come.

When I finally made it to the track field I was 2 minutes late. Thankfully I didn't see the coach yet so I assumed I was good. I found Kyle, who was already changed into track clothes as were a few others, stretching. I walked up towards him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to me and grinned when he some me.

"Hey Blue Hair, you'd better get changed before coach comes back." He told me as he leaned over his right leg. I groaned.

"Where do we change at?" I asked. He pointed to the gym that was close to us.

"Locker rooms. Better sprint like I know you can." I sighed at his smirk but set my back pack down, grabbed my smaller track clothes back and sprinted off towards the gym. On the way to it there was a fence about as high as my waist and snorted; this jump would be nothing compared to what I have had to jump over at home when I was doing ground work with Galaxy and Nova. I had been jumping hurdles for fun since I was grounded from riding horses one time and had started jumping with the horses from the ground; in the end I could now jump a little over 2 and a half foot. I cleared the fence with ease and reached the gym in record time. I went in and saw a sign hanging up that indicated where track people should change. There were two other girls in there and they told me to find an empty locker to put my stuff in like they had. I change into my running shorts, a t-shirt, and some black Nikes. The girls have left by the time I'm done changing so, I rush and shove my bag in the locker I'd chosen before sprinting out of the room, out of the gym and towards the field. I can see that the two girls are already over at the meeting point and am about to sprint over when a hand lands on my shoulder and a smooth, deep voice speaks from behind me.

"You one of my track students?" The voice asks. I nod.

"Yes sir."

"Make it to the field before me and you aren't late." With that the hand leaves my shoulder and the coach jogs past me. I snort and take a flying step before taking off past the coach, startling him. I glance back when I hear his footsteps become more rapid, and see that he is gaining on me as we head straight for the fence I'd jumped earlier. Neither of our steps flatter as we jump the fence easily and continued running to the meeting point. Coach had caught up with me at the fence and now we were both running at top speed as we reached the paved track. Coach showed no signs of stopping and I didn't feel like stopping so I kept running, feeling happier than earlier. I laughed as I dug my feet into the ground even more.

"GO ARA!" I laughed when I heard Kyle yell; he's nicer when Layla isn't around. Eventually I heard a chant start.

"ARA, ARA, ARA, ARA!" I laughed and continued gaining speed whenever I heard coach getting closer. Finally, after a lap around the track I slowed a bit so I could cool off before stopping; I heard coach slow too and grinned, knowing he was at least 2 meters behind me. I began to slowly jog halfway around, knowing I had to get my breathing back to normal. I allow coach to catch up with me and laugh when I see how out of breath he is. He is walking so I take mercy on him and slow down to a walk.

"What's your name girl?" He asks between breaths. I giggle, surprised he doesn't know me. Maybe it's the hair; I did change the color after my last track meet and horse show.

"Does Arabella Hart, famous runner, swimmer and horse rider, ring a bell?" I ask innocently. He gasps and looks at me shocked.

"You're the winner of that cross-country run last year, and the one that beat Harrison county's' best swimmer, and the youngest winner of the local Equestrian Grand Prix." I snicker because the coach looks seconds away from drooling.

"Yep, I'm almost sixteen and I have a shit-ton of wins under my belt. Did you know I also do Tour-de-Cures every year with my family? It raises money that goes to research on helping find a cure for Diabetes. My mom has it and me, my parents, and sometimes others join us in riding bikes over 22 miles or more sometimes. My riding coach says it's great that I do all this but I will have to choose one sport to continue competing in permanently eventually." I ramble to the coach as we reach the rest of the students who are in awe that I beat their coach. I raise an eyebrow at them.

"Why is everyone so shocked that I beat him?" I ask. Everyone looks at me funny until one boy speaks up.

"He used to be an Olympic runner; won gold in a ton of events." I looked to the coach with a new appreciation.

"Nice to run with you man; hope I beat your record one day." He smirks a me and holds a hand out for me to shake. I take it and we have a grip contest; we tie.

"My nickname is Hermes; call me Coach Hermes, Ms. Arabella Hart." I stare at him for a moment as his name as made my brain pound with confusion and Déjà Vu.

'Descendant… Poseidon…Apollo…Hermes…Necklace…Mermaid' I blackout at the last word.

---

"Arabella Hart, tell me what happened right now." Someone demanded as soon as I opened my eyes. I was met with the sight of my green-eyed coach staring at me. I cleared my throat and looked down in shame.

"Your name, Hermes, reminded me of a conversation I'd had days ago. Except I don't think it ever happened; I think it was just a dream because I remember having the conversation and then everything turned blinding white/gold before I woke up in a bed." Coach Hermes had a look of fury on his face that confused and scared me. I frowned and sat up as the coach got up and walked over to his desk. He was silent for a few minutes as he shuffled through some papers on his desk before digging his phone out of his pocket and calling someone.

"Yeah, it's me, Uncle P. Yes, I found her. Uh-huh, I'm bringing her home now. Yeah I'll tell her on the way. You'd better hope she takes it that way. Bye." I am not as dumb as some think and had connected a few dots while he'd been talking.

"So, I'm going to take a wild guess here: Greek myths are real, you're Hermes, the dude you just called was Poseidon, and I'm somehow involved in your world. And wait there's more, right?" When he nodded, I continued. "That conversation I think was a dream, it was real. What Luka said was true?" I asked, a little part of me wanted it to be true since I loved Greek Myths. I smiled when Coach nodded.

"You're absolutely right Ms. Hart. Now, come on we have to get back to the farm I'll explain everything on the way." I nodded and followed him out of his office, knowing this would be the last time I saw tis office in a while.

As promised Hermes explained everything on the way home.

"Your mom is as the blood of me, Athena, Apollo, Poseidon, Hades and Ares running in her veins; some way down the line. Now she fell in love with your father, Thanatos, and he stayed with her until she was strong enough to protect you, which was until you were one. Recently Apollo had a prophecy that involved you and some friends. In short it said that you and your friends are to accept your heritage and become protectors of this city. You though have a different roll than your friends and I think you'll be happy about it when your father explains it to you." Hermes told me with a sadistic grin that made me shudder in anticipation and fear. He was silent, probably letting me take in all the information he'd just given me. I was thankful for the silence but I'd already figured there was something abnormal about me. After the small drive, we arrived at the farm and found a group of people watching someone ride a black horse that looks just like Galaxy. Wait a second… that is Galaxy. I growl menacingly earning a terrified yelp from Hermes.

"Who the hell thinks they have permission to ride my horse?" I spit angrily. Hermes coughs.

"Maybe the father of all horses." He says between coughs. My eyes widen before turning to glaring slits again.

"I couldn't care if he was the father of humans; I'm the only one allowed to ride Galaxy." With that Hermes stops the car and I climb out, immediately stalking over to the fence a few feet to the left of the group of people. Thankfully the idiot father of horses had turned Galaxy towards us so he could see the glint in my eyes as I let out the whistle Galaxy and Nova knew as the 'act crazy whistle'. It is a piercing, one-note whistle that hurts everyone's ears. I grin as Galaxy starts rearing, bucking, and bolting like rodeo bronc. The rider obviously wasn't expecting this and was having a hard time calming Galaxy down; Galaxy though, had a trick up his saddle. He bolted forward, towards me, and came to a sliding stop at the fence and bucked the rider over my head. I busted out laughing and patted my horse on the neck.

"Good boy Galaxy!" I exclaimed and kissed his muzzle. He nickered happily and lined up parallel with the fence; he wants the saddle off. I grin and unbuckle the girth so I can put the saddle on the fence. He nickers and looks back at me with a pleading glance. I giggle and climb the fence so I can get on him. I hear a distant whinny of distress; Nova! I whistle loudly, calling for him. He will jump fences when he hears this one and I laugh when I see him hurriedly jumping every pasture fence just to get to us in the arena. "Hi Nova." I coo to him as he finally reaches us. He whickers and touches my hand with his muzzle before touching muzzles with Galaxy, who nickers in joy at having his friend by his side. I let a short, low whistle out to get their attention; they turn their heads to the middle where they can both see me and I laugh before nudging Galaxy's sides asking him to go forward. He does and Nova follows us as I direct them to the group of people; I count at least 18 and see my mom, Hermes, and step-father in the front of the crowd. I bet these are the Olympians, seeing as there is blonde haired, blue eyed surfer talking to Hermes in hushed angry voices. I glare at the surfer and as if he can feel it he turns to look at me with a confused expression. I glare and stop Galaxy a few feet from them.

"Arabella," I hold up a hand to stop moms' explanation.

"Hush, Hermes told me most of it and I'm not mad at you. Come stand over here by Nova, please mom, step-dad." I say as calmly as possible. They do as I ask and I nod at them in thanks before turning to glare at the rest. I want more explanations and I want them now so I look for a particular goddess and god. I find the grey-eyed goddess and blonde-haired god.

"Athena, Apollo. I want answers, are you willing to give them." I call out. Athena nods instantly but Apollo is reluctant and I see guilt in his eyes proving my suspicions. Athena drags her brother up to the front after he'd moved to the back of the group. She nods and he does too. "Ok, now I want to know, though I have suspicions, who the hell is messing with my life." A giggle comes from the center of the crowd, said crowd parts at the sight of my glare, revealing a sultrily dressed black haired-goddess and an extremely handsome winged man: Aphrodite and Eros. A snarl ripped through me and I can't remember what happened next, all I know is blurs of color, shouts of surprise and laughs of joy. For the second time that day, my world went black.

"She's strong."

"I wouldn't have expected any less, Thanatos."

"Yes, she is the perfect mix of us all."

"Can everyone stop talking like I'm not here?" I say finally, very annoyed. I crack an eye open and find my mom, step-father, dad, Apollo, Athena, Hermes, Poseidon, and Hades spread about my floor. Hermes grins at me and nods.

"Sure, as soon as you tell us why you attacked Aphrodite and her brat." He says cheekily. I roll my eyes and sit up.

"Ok, that's easy. I knew someone was messing with me because in all the years of my life, I have never once cared about my appearance unless it was absolutely necessary, I never once considered dating anyone, and I only had the mind capacity for horses, swimming and running. Though apparently one trip to Hawaii can change that in an instant!" I shout in frustration causing some of them to jump. "I want a life of travel, adventure and fun; competing has given me that and I don't want a boy or girl to ruin that. Besides, Diana is my best friend, Luka could have been my best friend had that slut and her stupid son not ruined that!" Tears were streaming down my face when suddenly a small, gentle hand landed on my shoulder. I looked up and found a blonde-haired, silver eyed goddess sitting in front of me with a thinking look on her face. I smiled at her.

"Lady Artemis." I spoke softly yet firmly. She nods.

"Arabella Hart." She spoke in the same tone as me.

"Goddess of maidens, the Moon and the hunt." I continued.

"Strongest demigod of the century with: the power of two death gods, the god of war and bloodshed, one sea god, the goddess of wisdom, the god of truth and arts, the god of travel, mischief, and athletes, the goddess of the hearth, all running through your blood." She continued. I shrug.

"I may be powerful but I wouldn't know it." I say nonchalantly. She laughs loudly leaving me confused.

"Arabella, you are powerful; how do you think you do so well in competitions?" Oh. I had never thought about it like that. I shrug and make eye contact with the sliver-eyed goddess. She was staring at me intently. I shifted uncomfortably until she finally spoke. "Ara I have a proposition for you," She began, I nodded and she continued. "I will give you my blessing as long as you ask my permission to date someone and I have to approve of them. My blessing makes you invincible at night and gives you the ability to talk to all of the wild animals and improves your ability to speak with horses." She explains and I am shocked. It sounds perfect and I nod immediately and Artemis smiles so big I wonder if her face is hurting. She then gently places her hand on my forehead, covering my eyes in the process, and I start to feel tingly. It last only a few seconds then I feel a burst of energy run through my veins and she removes her hand. I hear a gasp from behind me and wonder why. I say this aloud and Artemis answers.

"My blessing changed your appearance quite a bit." She said with a grin. I gasp and a mirror appears in front of me; it's blank and I send the goddess a confused look. She chuckles and says, "Tell it what you want to see, it's a magic mirror of sorts." I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Show me my hair." I commanded. The reflection changed and showed my hair, at least I hope it's my hair because it's awesome; from the top to the bottom the colors go like this: silver, light blue, darker blue, turquoise, navy, and black. I can tell it's longer and now reaches my lower back, it's even straight (how I've always wanted it).

"Your eyes are different too; the right is black and the left is silver." Artemis said quietly. I asked the mirror to show me my eyes and it did. It showed me a pitch-black orb and mini-moon orb. I sucked in a breath and smiled at my appearance.

"They're amazing Artemis, and I love my hair; thank you, Milady." She smiles at me and hugs me.

"No need for formalities Arabella. Now I think it's time we gather the rest of our chosen team." She exclaimed and the rest of the gods, who'd been so quiet I forgot they were there, stood and walked over to us along with my mom and step-father. My dad approached me first and smiled down at me.

"Hello Arabella." He said in his smooth, deep voice that could send chills down anyone's spine.

I just nodded and said, "Father." He smirked and shook his head before smiling at me.

"Have you read anything about me? Any myths?" He asked curiously. I shook my head and he chuckled.

"That's ok, I just wanted to give you something I have; call it a gift if you like." He told me before pressing a hand on my back, muttering a few words and my back suddenly felt heavy. Dad just grinned and I noticed something about him too; he had huge black wings now. "Yes, Ara, you now have wings too. They are smaller but will grow with you and to retract them just think about them disappearing." I did as he said and the weight on my back disappeared. I smiled then we heard the doorbell ring, the gods all started running out of the room. Well, except for dad and Artemis; they walked with me. I could hear a bunch of commotion downstairs.

"That noise is 18 teenagers wondering why they are here; they are also the team we have chosen for you. They will help you protect the city." Dad told me as if reading my thoughts. I nod and prepare to face 18 teens.

---

I froze when I saw the teens; there were only 4 I didn't recognize.

"Shit." I mumble to myself. Thankfully dad starts talking, explaining everything; and I thankfully mean everything they need to know that I already know.

"… and now I will explain my daughters job, in this operation." I perk my head up and stare my father intently. He chuckles before continuing. "My daughter, Arabella Delilah Hart, my only heir will become my second in command. I am known as the Grim Reaper, she will be The Angel of Death. Her job is to kill the people that are a danger to the world: murders, rapists, abusive parents, pedophiles. Those kinds of people. Arabella, I have gifts you will need." I am too shocked to say anything as dad snaps his fingers and stuff appears on the coffee table. "This dagger is for reaping the soul from the person," he begins, holding up a foot and a half long pitch black blade that's handle is studded with sapphires, "this sword kills instantly, no normal person can touch it without dying," this time he holds up a silver-black blade with a navy blue hilt, "this is a um… bracelet for holding the worst memories of every person you kill, in a charm," a bracelet made of thin black wire is held up, "and lastly this dagger turns the body of the killed person into the charm that holds the worst memories. If you don't take the memories, the soul will have a chance at rebirth." I studied the blade that is identical to the first dagger except the sapphires have been replaced with emeralds. Am I freaking out? Absolutely. Do I want the job? OF COURSE! I walk over to my father slowly with a blank expression until I can no longer contain my excitement; when my excitement is released I jump on my father and hug him tightly before letting go of him so I can fawn over my new toys… err weapons. Everyone laughs as I cradle the daggers gently, delicately slip the bracelet on and kiss the hilt of the sword.

"Arabella, pay attention, we need to finish this discussion." Artemis says fondly, yet firm. I sigh, set my blades back on the table, turn towards her and rest my chin on my palm, staring at her intently. She snorts and I can't hold the laugh that bubbles in my throat.

"Ok so now we will go down the list explaining what gods you are each related to." Apollo announced. "And um, I have to say it; most of you are closely related to me." Eyes are rolled but I know he can't lie. "So, Olivia Crane, you sweetheart are my daughter and you are descended from Ares and Aphrodite." Olivia smiles and blushes when she starts to glow orange.

"Now she's the guardian of the Hearth and children." A new voice says softly. I turn and see a girl that's at least 8 or 9 with long red hair, warm orange eyes, tan skin, and a modest brown dress; this can only be Hestia. I smile at her and she smiles back before nodding to Apollo. "Continue on, nephew." He smiles and continues.

"Luka Finnair, son of Hermes, grandson of mine. Hermes, really?!" Apollo shouts at his brother who just blushes and ducks his head. "Ashton Tanner, my son, grandson of Eros, related to Aphrodite; I'm scared of what you will achieve my boy." A boy with shoulder length blonde hair, color changing eyes, and tan skin grins evilly. "and my last descendant, Cameron, who is also carrying the blood of Athena, Poseidon, and Ares; boy, how are you here?" Cameron just grins.

"I think we all know how I'm here, want me to show you handsome?" Cam waggles his eyebrows at Apollo suggestively. Everyone laughs, except Apollo looks to be considering it. Hermes steps up next, ignoring the way our family is getting even more fudged up.

"Chase, Jake, and Wes Mitchells: triplets' descended from me, Athena, Dionysus, Hephaestus, and oh wow, Zeus." The three boys faint from shock causing everyone to burst into fits of laughter. Hermes continues once everyone has calmed down considerably. "Lanie Walters, my daughter you are a descendant of Ares and Hades." Lanie grins madly making some of the others shudder. Hermes steps back and Artemis takes his place.

"I have two girls that I will announce; Diana Harmony Mclean, my chosen heiress, you are a descendant of Khinoe, Ares, Hades and me. Katie Grayson, you are special, you are Khinoes' first and only daughter; the first daughter of ice and snow itself will be my champion if she accepts." Katie stands and nods immediately. Artemis smirks and crosses her arms. "Katie, you know this means you can't have a boyfriend, right?" Katie shrugs and continues standing, Artemis nods and tells my friend to close her eyes, which she does right before a silver beam of light is shot at her. The beam glows for a few seconds before it dies down, letting us see the newly transformed Katie: she now has stark white hair, silver and blue eyes, and her clothes changed to a black hoodie with snowflakes covering it, white glittery skinny jeans, and black frost covered Converse high-tops. Once she has seen her new appearance and hugged Artemis, she sits back down as Diana speaks up.

"Artemis, can you, um, maybe change my appearance too?" She says timidly. Artemis smiles and snaps her fingers. Diana's red hair goes black, gets longer, then silver and red streaks begin appearing throughout it; her eyes change to black with a silver ring around the black and red specks glittering in her iris'.

"The perfect mix of her lineage, Artemis." I murmur in awe. Artemis smiles at me in thanks before stepping back and letting Hades come forward. He coughs awkwardly.

"Yeah so, Zander Potts, you are my son and a descendant of Poseidon, Thanatos, and Nike; that's a new one." Hades mummers at the end. He then looks to a girl sitting by Ashton, she has long rainbow colored hair, wild black eyes, and pale skin. "Felicity Norman, why have you been gone so long, Nilla misses you?" the girl, Felicity, looks down guiltily.

"I'm sorry father, Winter told me to go somewhere and start recruiting legacies; I did but forgot about New Athens." She whispered and Hades sighed.

"Of course that brat sent you here." He groaned and glared over at my father, who just shrugged nonchalantly in a 'don't blame me' kind of way. "Layla McQueen, daughter of Ares, descendant of Thanatos, me and Eris; oh bloody hell, you will cause much terror darling." Layla just nodded as she knew this already. Hades then stepped back and Aphrodite took his place.

"Lilliana Dickson, my daughter, granddaughter of Ares, descendant of my son Eros. Dayla Casen, daughter of Ares, granddaughter of Poseidon, descendant of Zeus. Kyle, son of Hermes, grandson of me." Aphrodite finishes with a smile and everyone looks as if they are glad they don't have to hear her cheerleader like voice anymore. She takes a step back before Poseidon comes forward looking sad.

"Melody Cassandra Rivers, I wish I could have been there when you were born, I could have saved your brother but he was too small and died an hour after you were both born. Your mom insisted she would be fine with your step-father but I knew better. I hate what he did to you Mel," He stopped for a moment to collect himself. Melody too, was getting choked up as Poseidon talked. "I saved you though. You didn't know it but all those things that led you to your family were given to you by me indirectly. I felt better knowing you were safe because of my help." Melody never let him go on as she leapt from her seat and into her father's arms. I got up and motioned for everyone else to do the same, once they did I led them outside and walked over to the pasture full of horses.

We are silent until someone speaks up. "Do you guys think this is real?"

I instantly reply in unison with Luka "Yes." Everyone gives us strange looks and we glance at each other cautiously, now remembering everything that we had talked about on Hawaii.

"On my trip to Hawaii, I found a necklace on the beach; I also found Luka hanging around my shoes like a total weirdo. Later that day he told me of a legend that explained the existence of the necklace. He then said something about me being a descendant of Poseidon and him being a descendant of Apollo; after he said that I for some odd reason, looked directly into the sun," cue strangled gasps from everyone, "and saw Apollo driving his chariot. When I pointed it out to Luka and he saw it, someone, cough Apollo cough, knocked us unconscious and wiped our memory of that conversation." I explained to them. I heard a feral growl behind me.

"My brother did WHAT!?" Artemis, uh oh. I turned to her but she was already at her brother, yelling at him. A bowl appeared in everyone's hands and a chair behind us.

"Sit down and enjoy the show everyone!" Hermes called out to us as he happily watched the twin archers fight. I glanced at everyone and they shrugged before sitting in their chairs with their popcorn.

An hour later the twins had calmed down enough to be civilized with anyone other than each other. Hestia and some others gods were in the kitchen making dinner while us kids were napping and watching TV, well everyone but me; I am outside working with Nova and Galaxy. I am riding Nova while Galaxy follows doing exactly as Nova does. I get so lost in riding I don't notice the person at the fence until they make themselves known.

"So, this is the famous Super Nova? Impressive." I turn towards the voice and see Cams' friend Wes standing there. I shrug and smile, slowing Nova to a trot and letting him go over to his fan. He head butts Wes' hand and Wes laughs; Nova makes more friends than I do.

"He wants treats, watch your hands, he might mistake it for candy." Wes snorted and pulled a peppermint from his pocket and offered it to Nova. Nova happily ate it and then licked Wes' face in thanks; I fell off Nova because I was laughing so hard. Suddenly, a hand appeared in front of my face; Wes, offering to pull me off the ground. I sighed inwardly and accepted his hand. He pulled me up quickly and I almost stumbled once I was on my feet again, but I managed to catch myself before I could fall on Wes. We laughed it off and he led Galaxy to the barn while I led Nova, walking in comfortable silence. In the barn, I taught him how to: untack the horse, how to groom a horse and how to not get bitten when giving a treat from your hand. After putting the horses up, we walked back to the house and found dinner almost done. I headed upstairs to shower before dinner and Wes went to find Cam. 10 minutes into my shower and someone knocked on the door. I groaned and yelled, "WHAT DO YOU NEED AND WHO IS IT?!"

"It's Cam! Why's the door locked?!" I grumbled and cussed as I stepped out of the tub to unlock the door. I was back in the shower when he opened the door.

"What do you need Cam?" I called over the water as I rinsed my hair free of conditioner.

"I bring clothes for you; dinners ready by the way." Cam tells me. I sigh and rinse the rest of the soap from my hair before turning the water off. "Towel?" Cam asks.

"Brown one please." I reply. My friend throws the towel over the curtain rod and I wrap myself in it quickly before I step out. I snort because once again, Cam is brushing his hair. I walk over, shut the door, snatch the brush from him and cross my arms over my towel, staring at him in the mirror. "Your hair is going to be too perfect if you keep brushing it, stop." He groans but turns and hands me a stack of clothes anyway.

"Purple hoodie, black t-shirt, grey leggings, underwear that I chose randomly because I really didn't want to see those and a pair of socks if you want to wear them; see you in a few minutes." With that he leaves me alone in the bathroom to dress. I slip into the clothes quickly and put the socks on as comfort. I brush my hair out and wish it would dry faster. I go to run my fingers through my hair when I notice it's dry, no not just my hair, my entire body is dry! I suppress the scream that bubbles in my throat and try to think logically; wait could this be a part of my Poseidon powers? My Athena blood says yes. I shrugged and put my hair in a high pony tail before walking out of the bathroom. I could hear everyone downstairs, talking and laughing. I smiled, happy that my less emotional side was back permanently because otherwise I'd be the giggly girly-girl Aphrodite had made me.

In the kitchen, I find 18 teens spread out in groups with certain gods. I try to find my dad or mom but find both standing by each other talking. I walk over to them and go straight to dads' side, snuggling up under his arm. I look up at him innocently and ask: "Daddy, when do we start our job?" He chuckled deeply, even mom laughed a bit.

"After you finish high school, it will be a full-time thing; right now, you 19 are going straight To the City of the Gods. There you will train and harness your powers and complete high school." Dad explained to me. I grinned eagerly and as if he could read my mind again, he answered my next question. "We leave after breakfast tomorrow." I squealed in delight and hugged him before rushing off to tell the others.

---

Little known to them in New Athens, the strongest Sons and Daughters of the gods awaited the arrival of the next generation of heroes.