Stained Glass Windows.

Nerissa was only a young age of ten when she found the mysterious building. September thirteenth, two thousand seven to be exact. It was early in the morning, with crispy autumn air and clouds of fog bulging in the distance. Birds chirped their morning songs, frog belched and called, though everything else was silent. She clung to her father's wrist with both of her tiny hands, her fingers wrapping around him securely. He smiled down at her to assure her everything was alright. When Nerissa noticed that the smile didn't reach his bright emerald and gray-flecked eyes that the look he was showing her wasn't genuine. It was just a lie. Confused, Nerissa still followed her father down the sidewalk of a tiny one-way street in Brooklyn, New York. She couldn't see anything as far as her father, and something else that caught her eyes, that matched her father's.

Slowly recovering from the cloak of fog, was a building like she had never seen with her own eyes before. As they approached it, it was a stone building. With columns twenty feet tall, connecting the roof to the floor. A series of marble steps, too many to count, led up to the walkway, that eventually took you to the large front doors with handles in the shape of a U. Designs and patterns decorated the whole scene, and some odd symbols and writing that she couldn't decipher just yet. She could vaguely see a blotch of different colors in a rectangular shape, and she soon realized those were windows. They made pictures that her naive mind didn't yet understand, and does not at this day. Though something charmed her about the way they gleamed with no light. How they sparkled without reason. She guessed it was the only thing you could do if you were a window. The fog cleared completely, and she saw that the doors were wide open, like someone was expecting them.

Nerissa shook from the dry, frost-bitten air that snapped at her cheeks and made them tingle. Her fingers were just the same, even though they were hidden safely under her long, violet sweatshirt sleeves. Her father glanced down at her again, but it was with a grim expression. He must have given up on trying to smile. Though her long blond hair billowed out in front of her in the current of the nipping wind, she could see that there were people there to greet them at the two front doors. They shared the same expression as Nerissa's father, bitter and stern. Before she could react, Nerissa was pulled around the corner onto the stone sidewalk that led to the strange building, with the strange people surrounding it. More of them poured out of the mysterious place, until more than fifty were waiting, all eyes and ears directed straight at her.

Her father spoke to her without his eyes leaving their focus on the cluster of people, "Rissa, behave. Don't talk to anyone. Keep as quiet as you can, or we'll face consequences. Do you understand this?"

She looked up at him and watched his face wrinkle as he talked. "Yes, Daddy."

He looked back to her, and stared at her for a moment with a thoughtful look on his stressed face. He blinked a few times and cleared his throat. "This is important. So, no disruptions. Manners. No noise whatsoever."

"But, Dad-"

"Hush, Nerissa. It is time for you to hush," her father pressed a shaking finger vertically against his lips, his eyes widened dramatically.

Nerissa just nodded, and turned her attention back to the people. The people that were waiting. Waiting for them. They were feet apart from the first step that led to tens more. All of them stared directly at the pair of them. There eyes scornful and judgmental. They all took turns scanning Nerissa, to her father, and back again. Nerissa watched them all uncomfortably, still holding her father's arm tightly. So tightly it turned a pale color. She let go, her hands releasing to the pockets of her winter coat. She shivered, trying to forget all of the people that frightened her inside and out. She tried staring at the dewy grass that was slowly dying and turning a lifeless tan color. She was most relieved when someone's voice finally cut through the silence of the otherwise empty street.

"We have been waiting for you, Theon Lysander."

A man stepped out from the crowd, which parted for him eagerly. Something about his arrogant body language told her that he was the leader of all of these people. The man wore a strange sort of robe, a chiton tunic that was strapped at the waist by a rope belt, and a red himation was draped over his neck held by two brass shoulder plates. He wasn't wearing much except the thin fabric, and when her eyes reached his feet, that he wore strapped sandals that were fastened all around his ankles.

He saw her observing him, and Nerissa turned away, digging her face into the bottom of her father's coat. He patted her back and wrapped his right arm around her comfortingly. Only making her tear up in her fear, she tried to keep as quiet as she could. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man slowly saunter down the marble steps, his hands casually folded behind his back.

"I have been busy, Oceanus," her father replied to him, gesturing towards the group of people behind the man. "I see you've been busy also."

Oceanus nodded slowly, his eyes somewhere else. "Indeed, I have."

Theon took a second to reply. "Why have you forced me here? Why bring little Nerissa into this mess?"

Oceanus' eyes darted to her. Her breath caught in her throat in a loud rasp and Oceanus chuckled. "She is the reason of the mess, Theon. It wouldn't be right without her here."

Theon ceased to reply. He didn't know what to say to that one. She, after all, was the true reason. He knew that. But the way that Oceanus said it made him angry. It was like she was the cause of a plague. He wouldn't let him get away with that insult too easily.

"She's done nothing to anger you! Why are you still discussing this matter after ten years?" he asked softly, his voice fading a little by the end. He couldn't deny that Oceanus gave him shudders. But when it came to his daughter, he couldn't hold anything inside.

"Ten years is a short time for us, you know," the man replied, at the end of the steps now.

Theon pushed his daughter behind him as he approached closer, and she didn't protest. She clung to the back of his coat, shivering and whimpering against her father's back. She watched her breath puff into a cloud of mist, then float away, trying not to hear the footsteps getting closer.

"Leave her be," Theon said, pushing his daughter absolutely out of reach. "How is she threatening you? You're Titans, yet you are afraid of an innocent young girl."

Oceanus growled, stepping forward. "She is the first half-Titan. You expect me to let this matter at rest?"

"Yes. yes, I do," he replied to a fuming Oceanus. "Her mother does share your realm. I suggest that you keep quiet."

"You're begging for me to turn into my true form and tear you to pieces!" spat the Titan.

Theon reached backwards and held his daughter's arms just to assure her and himself both. He glanced back to see the terrified baby-like face staring anxiously back at him, her crystal emerald eyes shining with anticipation. He swallowed hard and gave her a look of artificial confidence and hope. She replied back with a frown of disbelief. He wouldn't be able to fool her much longer. He had given up trying to fool himself already. But right now, Nerissa was all that mattered. His life, his love, his little princess, wouldn't be put in harms way of his own naive mistakes. He put on a brave face and reluctantly turned back to Oceanus.

"She is not at fault here," spoke Theon. "Punish me, do whatever you like, just leave her alone. Along with her mother."

Oceanus just chuckled, pacing the sidewalk in front of his awestruck victims. "She is a disgrace. She was ten years ago, and still is. That will never change. She is a threat beyond measure, and we will get our hands on her every chance we get."

Nerissa, who was whimpering now and pressing her shivering body against her father's, whose skin was mutually frozen from the air, stared at Oceanus curiously. She fought back a few blinks every time he moved. Her reflexes told her to run and hide. His power was so great it could blast the moon to a million pieces if he chose. She knew that this was only a minor percentage of the totally amount of power he held, which frightened her only more. She prayed to nothing in particular that her father be kept safe against this peculiar man. The man who wasn't necessarily a man at all.

"She can't always be a threat to us," continued Oceanus with a wisp in his voice. "She can actually surrender and help us, along with you. You will both be safe and unharmed."

Theon was fuming, but he bottled it in and sealed the cap as best as he could. "What are you saying, exactly?"

"I'm saying that your daughter will be the next step in the downfall of Olympus," Oceanus was smirking now, eying Theon skeptically and waiting for a reaction that never came. Theon was breathless and speechless alike.

"Yes, and you're going to ask, 'Oh, my, how could this be?'. So, I will elaborate," Oceanus walked forward and pointed at Nerissa, and her father shielded her from the Titan's view. Just in case. Oceanus looked at Theon and raised his eyebrow, but continued. "This disgrace here is the key to the next Stirring. The downfall. The rising of the Titans. Whatever. The reason this is, is because, of course you know, her mother is Tethys. My neighboring Titan goddess of the seas. But we are also in different split realms. She gets one half, I get the other. In her half, contains the key to the next revaluation in this plan. The legendary Ophiotaurus."

The Titans gasped and started whispering, but the tension between the three never subsided. Oceanus turned to them, looking peeved, and they all hushed themselves before any unexpected incidents occurred.

"Now, as I was saying, the Ophiotaurus as you may know, has the power to determine the fate of Olympus. But, unfortunately, I cannot get to it. It is kept in a chamber, locked away with cursed magic. And Tethys, as stupid as she is, swore never to use it against anyone. It would stir up trouble, she had said. So she hid away the sacred animal. And since Tethys cannot use the animal, nor can any Titans or gods or ecetera, then the only person on this Earth in this millenia of time that can access the Ophiotaurus is your daughter."

Theon felt like he would go any second. "This little girl decides the fate of the world?"

Nerissa sunk into the cushion of her father's winter coat when all of the attention was yet again thrusted onto her. She forced her eyes shut and tried to find comfort in the texture of the coat while she listened intently on the words which even at the young age, knew would someday become reality.

"Yes, she does. Unfortunately," Oceanus turned away, stroking his beard and studying the rising sun hidden by white clouds. He turned back to them on his heels in an instant, grinning widely. "Surrender or you both die."

The half-Titan girl's breath was tangled in a thick knot in her throat. She fought to heave a breath, her heart racing and her body shaking in fear. Her mind fumbled through the possibilities as she realized who she really was. She was a threat to the most powerful beings in existence. She was a threat to all who inhabited the world. She cringed as the sudden weight pressed onto her shoulders like a boulder. That was when the tears came.

Everything came out in a series of words. All the fear and anxiety burst out of the little girl in a matter of shrill shouts that had been fighting to escape her lips all of her life. She released the grip on her father's coat and stepped out of his shadow. She set her eyes directly onto Oceanus, and said as firmly as she possibly could, "STOP! Leave me, my father, and everyone else alone!"

Oceanus was surprised, but only for a second at the most part. He broke into a chuckle, reaching out to pinch her flushed cheeks. Theon smacked his hand away and side-stepped to shield his daughter from the Titan yet again, who stepped backwards and turned to the group of Titans that were whispering anxiously. Some were pointing to Nerissa, who peaked out from behind her father curiously. Some were arguing, waving their hands around, their eyes wide and sure. Nerissa was confused, still, but she knew that this was a serious matter. That she should be careful. She knew these people, or Titans, were extremely powerful and could kill her any second of any day. At this thought, she retreated, shuddering. She turned so her back was even with her father's and she stared at the empty road, willing herself to escape miraculously and make this all just a dream.

Unfortunately, she knew this wouldn't and could never be.

"Ever since two millenia ago, Kronos has yet to form and retrieve his own scattered pieces across this earth. The first plan of destroying Olympus had failed, due to a traitor, son of Hermes, I best not mention. Kronos is gone now, at least for millions of eons yet to pass. We proceeded out next plan after that, taking the Ophiotaurus straight from the palace of the gods itself. Though, Tethys betrayed us and proclaimed the animal be kept in safer waters. Without our agreement, she proceeded to relocate the animal to her own realm. Now, the plan has failed yet again," Oceanus lectured to the Titans, or the frozen in shock father and daughter, Nerissa couldn't tell. Maybe both.

He turned to the awed little girl. "And now the next plan has formed."

"You're taking unnecessary advantage of a child that has obviously done nothing to anger you." Theon stepped forward, edging into Oceanus' face.

"It is most necessary, Theon Lysander. More than you know," Oceanus retorted, shrugging Theon away with a muffled growl.

"You Titans have always been selfish," brought up Theon, still enclosing the sea Titan with thick tension. "It's always every man for himself."

"That's how it has and always will be. I can't help that."

"I beg to differ."

Nerissa was forced backwards as Oceanus lunged at her father. Grabbing him by the collar, the Titan was yelling now.

"You humans never realize!" he sneered into Theon's wincing face. "Such ignorant mistakes of life!"

"Mistakes?" Theon managed to gasp. "Think of how many lives that were lost because of your own conceited causes!"

"As if I should care," he replied, tightening his grip on Theon's shirt. "They all saw it coming and deserved it."

"You beasts of nature!" Theon shrugged out of Oceanus' hold. "I trust that someday karma comes and finishes you off."

Nerissa could already feel the anger filling the air, coming straight off of Oceanus. He was fuming, his nostrils flaring and his fingers caressing the air like he was conjuring some kind of power source. She didn't know what was happening, so she closed her eyes and hid herself with her own arms. A shout of fright escaped her lips when a light exploded in a shower of crackling sparks, heat so powerful that Nerissa's skin tingled and burned. Not to mention the deafening boom erupting with it. Light continued to filter through around the area vibrantly, and the sounds that came from it made Nerissa's skin crawl. Screeching and a sickening sound of shattering glass that trickled from a source a little more close by than the light, which eventually faded like nothing had happened.

It all went by so quickly, Nerissa wondered if it really occurred. To clarify this, she peaked from the shelter of her folded arms that hid her face. First, she saw a cackling Oceanus. He was glowing, sort of, a vibrant yellow tinge ringed the outline of his form. This could've been Nerissa's imagination, but she was sure she didn't imagine the burst of light and the glass shattering. Then it occurred to her. Where is my daddy?

Her arms completely fell to her sides as she searched the area for the familiar shape of her own father. Her heart was slow then fast, pulsing unevenly. Then, it sank like the Titanic. She didn't see him anywhere. He was gone. But where? she thought, Where could he have gone? Then her eyes settled upon the heap of shattered stained glass where she last saw her father standing. Her hands immediately reached forward, her fingers outstretched and longing. Behind her eyes tears began to form as reality caught back up with her. A twisted kind of reality.

She studied the broken pile. Its colorfully tinted shards glinted without charm, like with sorrow. It reminded her of the way her father's eyes seemed to look lately. The picture of the last true smile he portrayed was vague in her mind. It was crooked, but even all the same. The smile stretched from ear to ear, and his eyes were bright and happy. She missed him already, and knew she would for a long time to come. She walked forward, a hot and salty tear streaked down her cheek and dribbled from her quaking chin. Her face wrinkled into a sad grimace of disbelief. Kneeling at the pile of broken shards that used to be her father, she grieved. Not caring about the Titans studying her carefully, some with smirks and mischievous grins full of sarcasm.

"Why?" she asked Oceanus, straightforward.

He turned to her from his spot in front of the group of almighty Titans. "He asked for it."

"No he didn't," Nerissa choked, her hand brushing a bright green shard; the color of her father's eyes. "He finally put you in your place and you couldn't handle it. You're just a coward."

The Titans gasped. Oceanus was appalled, gasping and lunging but then he hesitated. Like he remembered this little girl was his one key to getting what he wanted. "I may have to ask you to not disrespect me."

Nerissa looked up at him angrily, wiping a tear roughly from her cheek.

"So," the Titan held out his hands and glanced at his fellow brothers and sisters that were waiting uncomfortably. "What will it be? Surrender or perish."

Nerissa took one last look at the remains of her father, then to Oceanus, then to the Titans.