Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Before you begin to read this story, I'd like to say two things to clear the air, so please bear with me and my ramblings for a sec: (1) I know what some of you might be thinking, and quite angrily as well: Oh my god! Another story already?! She hasn't even updated her other ones. Guilty. And I do apologize. I will say this again for the umpteenth time, none of my stories will ever become part of all those abandoned stories out there. When I start something, no matter how long it takes, I will finish it! My problem is, when an idea gets in my head, I cannot concentrate on anything else until I have written it down, and this is what happened. However, I have more free time on my hand, so I will be getting around to update my other stories, most probably I'll update 2 chapters for each story in a row, so I hope this appeases you and you don't get frustrated with me. If you doubt my promise to complete any of my stories you have fallen in love with or got addicted to, inbox me as much as you want, and I'll remind you of the same thing. (2) Probably some of your eyes widened at the length of this chapter. It's honestly episode one of Supernatural and I couldn't shorten it, like at all. I didn't want to split it into a couple of chapters as it'll make me lazy and it'll take me ages to update it and I'll end up finishing one episode in two months. I promise this is entertaining and with their comments and the inclusion of my OC, each episode will be longer. So give it a shot! Enjoy! XD
There will be another A/N in the bottom if anyone's interested (preferably AFTER you have finished this chapter).
Chapter 1:
It was a day like any other. Or well, it started out that way.
At the Empire State Building, on the 600th floor, in the ostentatious and grandiose throne room, the Olympians had gathered, regally seated on their sublimely majestic thrones specifically custom-made to suit their owners' preferences and divine authorities. And as per the norm, they were in disarray.
Hestia remained plastered to her hearth, stoking the fire while occasionally aiming a couple of exasperated glances and inaudible sighs of discontent at her beloved – or as some would refer to them as dysfunctional – family. The eldest child of Kronos and Rhea had hoped for a session of peace and merriment, but not even five minutes into the casual summit, Zeus and Poseidon broke into an argument – as they always did, like clockwork – and like the domino effect, snapped the other Olympians out of their peaceful stupor, and prompted them to initiate their usual debates that, in their opinion, never got old.
While the two brothers of the Big Three argued about who Mother Rhea favored the most, Artemis made an offhand, yet loud, comment, about the gathering being a complete and utter waste of her invaluable time and how she would have preferred to be amongst the company of her Hunters scouting out for monsters, provoking Apollo into half-heartedly complaining and bemoaning over the fact that his "little sis" preferred her Hunters over her own brother, which precipitated the never-ending argument where Artemis viciously reminded Apollo that she was the older twin, and not to call her "sis!", before she proceeded to attack his person, comparing Apollo to her Hunters and making a point to mention his lack of maturity.
Seeing that the meeting was in shambles, Ares and Aphrodite took the opportunity to harangue Hephaestus about the latest trap he set aside for them, and angrily grumbled over the fact that he succeeded once again in ensnaring them. The blacksmith merely made himself comfortable on his throne, a smug grin on his deformed face as his wife and brother yelled at him.
Demeter picked up her favorite pastime, which was nagging about her precious Kore while still managing to fashion a few creative insults directed at Hades. Unfortunately, this time, Hera found herself to be the unlucky victim on the receiving end of the bemoaning goddess's incessant whinging; the Queen of Olympus lost her usual dignity as she slumped down her throne, eyes clenched shut, and a hand desperately massaging her temple as she found herself unable to escape her sister's deafening shrieks of complaint. Athena, however, could not pass the prospect to belittle and further rile up Poseidon – it wasn't in her nature when it came to her irritating, sworn rival – therefore, she hastened to join the debate, instantly siding with Zeus in his attack against Poseidon, which prompted their argument to escalate and for them to abandon their thrones in the process to get in each other's faces, Zeus and Poseidon's grip ominously tightening around the Master Bolt and Trident, respectively.
Which left Hermes and Dionysus, both of whom unknowingly endeared themselves to Hestia as they remained silent, seemingly sharing her distaste at the current events. Hermes busied himself with his phone, fingers madly skating on the keyboard as he checked his inbox, silently ordered George and Martha to carry out his commands, while conversing with Iris, sufficiently decreasing his workload with his astounding ability to multitask. Dionysus, on the other hand, sullenly glared at the accursed can of Diet Coke, purple orbs offended at the fizzy drink stored in the plastic cylindrical container. While he was initially thrilled at the opportunity to escape those pesky brats at the camp, he could not withstand the antagonistic environment without a heavenly glass of Chardonnay, or preferably, Cabernet.
The separate arguments coming from all sides of the throne room were beginning to dangerously escalate; now, not only were Zeus, Poseidon and Athena on their feet, brandishing their weapons, but Artemis, Ares, and Aphrodite as well, glares heated and fists raised – or in Ares's case, a crude bone-knife – at Apollo and Hephaestus' direction. And although Apollo cheekily grinned back at his apoplectic sister, and the blacksmith considered the couple with an amalgamation of bored disdain, Hestia knew that it was time to step in.
However, somebody beat the goddess to the punch.
Several confounding occurrences took place simultaneously: the ground trembled, halting all quarrels in their tracks, and even Dionysus adopted a spark of interest as six elaborate thrones materialized, one of which only appeared once a year during the winter solstice. Not only did the thrones appear, but their respective owners, all six of whom were blinking in confusion at the twelve Olympians and Hestia, thirteen of whom were gaping back at them unattractively, completely rendered speechless.
"Hades? What are you doing here?" but Zeus's perplexed demand was drowned out by the deafening wail of "KORE!" followed by Demeter ungraciously flinging her arms around Persephone, who instantly winced at the suffocating embrace of her mother, eyes subtly beseeching her husband and father to come to her aid, and lastly, her close friend Hecate, both of whom had been enjoying a refreshing glass of lemonade in Hades' Palace before their prompt arrival at Olympus.
Poseidon ignored the reunion however, his head cocked to the side and his intense sea-green eyes scrutinizing his wife, Amphitrite, and his son, Triton, both of whom were still blinking in shock at the rapid change in scenery from their palace at Atlantis to Olympus. Dionysus batted off all the confusion and the litany of questions at the tip of his tongue in favor of embracing the apple of his eye, his beloved wife, Ariadne, her appearance brightening up his dull day for he had barely seen her since Zeus exacted his unfair punishment.
Impressively, yet unsurprisingly, Demeter already began ranting and raving, repeating the infamous tale of Persephone's abduction, and miraculously, all occupants in the room groaned in harmony and rolled their eyes in unison, praying for an event to occur that would effectively cut Demeter's tirade short.
Their prayers were answered. But answered in the most unexpected way: a cacophony of yells and grunts echoed against the walls, yells that solely belonged to the massive tangle of limbs by the floor before them, in the middle of the throne room.
"Seaweed Brain, get OFF me!" a girl harshly snapped, but it lacked any true bite.
"You get off! And stop kicking me, Pinecone Face!" the boy retorted.
A voice groaned weakly from the bottom of the mountain of bodies, "Can the two of you shut up?! I'm suffocating down here!"
Simultaneously, and almost comically, 'Pinecone Face' and 'Seaweed Brain' yelled, "Shut up, Death Breath!" not even missing a beat, as though it had been rehearsed beforehand.
A few Olympians sucked in a sharp breath – most notably, Poseidon and Hades, while a few others shifted awkwardly on their respective spots while casting a wary side-glance at a fuming Zeus, for the unkind moniker "Seaweed Brain" or "Seaweed Head" was initially fashioned millennia ago by Athena during her numerous, heated arguments with the sea god himself, and the slur was practically ingrained in their brains. "Death Breath" however, there was no mistaking who that certain moniker could be addressed to: a child of Hades.
Before Zeus could explode, another voice sharply put an end to the squabbling, "All three of you shut up and while you're at it, stop fidgeting! Not only am I squished but you're giving me a headache!"
"Sorry, Wise Girl," 'Seaweed Brain' sheepishly mumbled.
No sooner had the horde of teenagers managed to stand on their feet and straighten themselves out did Zeus's ferocious glare narrow in on one boy in particular, a devastatingly handsome boy with sun-kissed skin, disheveled, jet black hair, and a pair of glittering, expressive sea-green eyes that sparkled with mischief, betraying his true parentage, for only one inherited the eyes of Mother Rhea-
"POSEIDON!" Zeus boomed, the intensity of his rage shaking the foundations.
Poseidon paled.
Zeus's knuckles whitened as he gripped his Master Bolt and whirled around to pinpoint his brother with an unforgiving glare before he accusingly spat out, "You BROKE the oath!"
The son of the sea god furrowed his brows, his eyes rolling aggressively in their sockets, and before Poseidon could defend himself – for he only fathered one child, and Perseus Jackson was currently twelve-years-old and blissfully unaware of his godly parentage – the aforementioned scoffed, "Oh come on, I thought you got over that years ago!"
Poseidon's jaw slackened, confused orbs widening on not only the boy's bravado, but the definite tone of familiarity when addressing the King of Gods and his complete nonchalance, not the least bit intimidated at finding himself standing before the Olympians, or even the Lord of the Dead.
"Excuse me?!" Zeus hissed, his voice deadly and electric-blue eyes practically spitting electricity. "So you do not deny being a son of Poseidon? A child sired against our sacred oath?"
His words set off a chain reaction among the group of teenagers, unintelligible buzzing reverberating around them; however, a vicious snort could be heard loud and clear, and an extremely pretty girl in punk apparel with spiky black hair they recognized to be the one dubbed as 'Pinecone Face', pushed herself to the front and positioned herself next to the son of Poseidon in a stance that screamed solidarity. Electric blue eyes that were oh so familiar, glared at the King of Gods, "Why have you reverted to your hypocrite self, father?!"
"What?!" a few Olympians gasped, shock evident on their faces, but none more than Zeus, who paled drastically, his grip loosening on his precious Master Bolt as he scrutinized the girl, his expression resembling one who had seen a ghost. "Th-Thalia? Is that, is that really you?"
Anger gave way to confusion and Thalia blinked at her father, suspicion coloring her features. "Who else would I be?" she rhetorically quipped.
"Last I checked, you were a pine tree at Half-Blood Hill," Dionysus drawled, and while he had the expression of a person that couldn't care less, nobody could mistake the flare of interest as any other emotion. A gorgeous woman beside him with luscious chocolate curls swatted his shoulder, her tone mildly chastising, "Dionysus, dear. That wasn't sensitive at all."
Dionysus grunted, "I wasn't attempting to be sensitive, Ariadne. I am merely stating the facts."
And the drachma finally dropped.
A girl with tanned skin and a discernibly athletic figure with long, curly blonde hair and stormy gray eyes that held a calculating glint to it, stepped forward, attempting and failing to mask the sense of foreboding from her tone, "If you don't mind me asking… what year is it?"
Unable to leave a question unanswered, Athena provided the answer to the girl she was ninety percent sure was her daughter, "We are approaching the month of November, and the year is 2005."
"Oh that's just perfect! Great!" the son of Poseidon acerbically spat out. Breathing in deeply, he met the neutral gaze of his father's and elaborated, "We're from the year 2010."
"Indeed you are," a hoarse voice croaked from the back of the room.
In unison, all the gods and demigods whipped around to identify the source of the voice, and they blanched at the sight of the Fates. The three wizened women did not bother to close the distance between them, preferring to analyze the variety of emotions flittering on each and every occupant's faces with their uncanny milky-white eyes from a distance, to better survey the room. Clotho abruptly held up a firm hand, soundlessly halting Zeus or any other Olympian from putting forth an inquiry regarding their ominous appearance. Lachesis, in an eerie demeanor, rocked on her feet as she croaked out, "We do not like to meddle. In fact, we loathe it. Unfortunately, the future is too grim to ignore. It is time we step in and take charge."
Atropos pierced Zeus with a fierce gaze, her steady stare reeking with disappointment and censure, "To keep the meddling to a minimum, and to ensure you learn of your mistakes before it is too late, we brought forth eighteen, all of whom bled and sweat and sacrificed everything for Olympus and your continued existence. They shall open your eyes. You may be Olympians, gods, but you are not infallible, Lord Zeus."
"Also," Clotho finally spoke in a whispery note, and this time, every occupant in the throne room was perplexed to see her milky gaze to be focused on none other than a bewildered Ares, "You shall gain enlightenment through another. A demigod none but one have heard of, or are even aware of. One that is pivotal to the universe." She waved a hand, and an enormous, transparent screen appeared before them, "We ask that you set aside your differences. Not kill each other. We ask you to watch events that had yet to occur and shall occur, and once you are done, once you have gained insight, we shall return."
Lachesis turned her attention to the group from the future, "Be wary of how much information you choose to disclose, for if dealt with incorrectly, then the probability of returning to your grim future shall be high. We are giving you the rare chance of saving the innumerable lives that were lost. Do not waste it."
The demigods from the future's expressions brightened like a Christmas tree, ecstatic at the chance, at the miracle, the Fates bestowed them with, and they all nodded in unison, gladly accepting the burden that had been placed on their shoulders. And not giving the gods a chance to get a single word in, the Fates vanished, the large screen the only proof of their visit.
Hestia was the first to snap out of her shock, and she smiled kindly at the newcomers, "I believe introductions are in order."
Percy, Thalia and Annabeth were the first three to come forth, and other than hostile glares from Amphitrite and Triton and loud grumblings from Hera, the others nodded in acknowledgement, Poseidon's grin shamelessly exuberant at the sight of his son, all grown up, and having survived to the age of sixteen against all odds, despite the Great Prophecy. The sons of Hermes, Travis and Connor Stoll, as well as Chris Rodriguez brought a cheerful grin to take precedence on Hermes' handsome face. Will Solace, son of Apollo, and Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter, were met with a similar reaction as Hermes'. When Clarisse La Rue introduced herself, other than Ares sneering slightly at her hands, which were interlaced with Chris's, he offered her a curt nod. Aphrodite however, shrieked giddily at the sight of her gorgeous daughter, Piper McLean, and she already devised plans on changing her entire wardrobe from the denim jeans shorts and plain tank top she currently had on. Hephaestus greeted his hyper son with a gentle smile, one that looked foreign since his features were mostly colored with an expression of apathy.
"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades," the boy, who had been called 'Death Breath' stepped forward, his face too pale to be considered healthy which contrasted heavily with his complete black attire. "And before you accuse my father of breaking the oath, he didn't. I was born before the oath was made and was subsequently placed in the Lotus Hotel, where I lived for around seventy years." Zeus and Poseidon snapped their mouths shut and sheepishly looked away, adamantly avoiding eye contact with the smug Lord of the Dead and the other amused gods and goddesses. Hades, while surprised yet immensely pleased, at the sight of his son well and alive, felt fear grip his heart… Where was Bianca?
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," an undeniably attractive girl, tall and slim with shocking red frizzy hair, a freckled face and alluring green eyes cheekily waved at the gods, her graffitied jeans and overly large shirt reducing Aphrodite to a slight panic attack. She then acknowledged her patron with a respectful bow, "I'm the Oracle of Delphi."
Apollo's smile nearly blinded them and he gave a whoop of joy. "That's wonderful! Finally the curse has been broken and my poor Oracle moved on. It's great to meet you, Rachel," he grinned boyishly at her, genuinely pleased to see her. Hades blinked a few times in shock, and Persephone reached for his hand to give it a comforting squeeze; the King and Queen of the Underworld, as well as Hecate, their closest friend and confidant, instantly comprehended the gist behind Rachel's appearance – his house was finally met with acceptance in the future.
Once the satyr, Grover Underwood, nervously introduced himself, the Olympians and the other gods were in for a nasty shock; a shock that came in the form of three particular demigods: Jason Grace, son of Jupiter; Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto; Frank Zhang, son of Mars.
What were Roman demigods doing with the Greeks?
Hades was baffled over the fact that his daughter was alive, for the Hazel of 2005 was currently in the Fields of Asphodel, having denied her rightful place in Elysium to ensure her mother, Marie, escaped the Fields of Punishment. Ares was downright confused, gaping at his Roman son, speechless. Hera, on the other hand, surprised the gods when she chose to remain silent, all of them wondering why she had yet to blow a fuse and berate Zeus for siring another child with the same woman – little did they know, that Hera was the one to separate Jason from his sister due to his Roman heritage.
"Well, now that the introductions have, uh, been concluded," Apollo hesitantly spoke up, at a loss for words-
The transparent screen left behind by the Fates flickered and gained color, beckoning and capturing everyone's undivided attention, for they were all curious in regards to what the Fates lay in store for them.
The gods remained on their thrones and Hera conjured plushy couches for the sixteen demigods, the Oracle, and the satyr, positioned at an angle were they could easily gauge the screen without the need to crane their necks, just as the words Lawrence, Kansas, 22 years ago appeared at the bottom of the screen.
A beautiful woman in a white nightgown with blonde curls walked into a dark room carrying a small boy who looked to be around the age of four. "Come on, let's say good night to your brother." She then proceeded to turn on the lights, showing the room was in fact a nursery, and in the middle was a crib. Approaching the crib, the child leaned over the side of it and kissed the six-month-old boy on the forehead before he said, "Night, Sam."
Aphrodite squealed, "Aren't they just adorable!"
Hestia and Hera grinned in wholehearted agreement. In fact, every female could be heard cooing at the boys and even Zeus's lips twitched into a diminutive smile. Ares however, rolled his eyes while Dionysus grumbled about it all being a waste of time, at least until Ariadne softly rebuked him.
"Good night, love," the blonde woman fondly brushed Sam's hair back and she too, kissed his forehead.
"Hey, Dean."
The four year old boy, Dean, turned around to see a handsome, well-built man with raven hair and kind light brown eyes crinkled up in a smile, leaning against the doorway wearing a USMC T-shirt. Dean's cherubic face brightened at the man's appearance and he rushed over, barreling into the man's open arms, "Daddy!"
"Hey, buddy," he chuckled, bending down to scoop Dean up in his arms. "So what do you think? You think Sammy's ready to toss a football yet?" Laughing, Dean shook his head, "No, Daddy." prompting a laugh out of his father.
A few demigods had bittersweet smiles on their faces upon witnessing the heartwarming domestic scene; they didn't have that: parents who cared. And if they did, it always ended abruptly due to them being constantly chased and hounded by monsters – such was the life of a demigod.
Some of the gods noticed the expressions on their children's faces, and they looked away, the guilt eating at them, while a few chose to glare at Zeus – it wasn't their fault. The Ancient Laws placed by Zeus prohibited them from getting involved in their children's lives, their hands were tied.
The blonde woman passed her husband and son, "You got him?"
"I got him," the father smiled, hugging Dean closer to him. "Sweet dreams, Sam." He flipped off the lights and carried Dean out of the room. The scene zoomed in on baby Sam's face, who was gurgling as he watched them go, then tried to reach his toes.
Cue more coos from every female in the room, except Clarisse – much to Ares's relief – though a shadow of a smile could be seen on her face.
In the master bedroom, lights could be seen flickering and a baby monitor sitting on a nightstand next to a photo of the blonde woman and her husband. Suddenly, strange noises could be heard coming through the baby monitor, prompting the blonde to stir in bed. She turned on the light on the nightstand and abruptly rearranged herself into a sitting position.
"John?" she called out, reaching out blindly for the space beside her, only to be met with air.
"I suddenly have a bad feeling," Persephone worriedly bit her lower lip.
Ares gleefully rubbed his hands together, anticipating the action that would no doubt be occurring. The Fates always had a reason for everything, and Ares doubted they merely wished for them to observe the dynamics of a happy family.
She walked down the hall and didn't stop until she reached Sam's nursery. Seeing the silhouette of her husband, she softly smiled, "John? Is he hungry?"
He fractionally turned his head, "Shhh."
"Alright," she smiled and left, walking down the hallway.
The lights by the stairs started to flicker, prompting a heavy frown to mar her features. Tapping the lights, they steadied; more flickering lights could be seen from downstairs. Deciding to investigate, the blonde headed for the stairs.
"Di immortales!" Aphrodite gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. Ariadne, Persephone, Annabeth, Hazel, Rachel and Katie weren't faring any better as they saw the screen focus on the living room.
A war movie was playing on TV, and John could be seen clearly, spread out on the couch, fast asleep.
"He has excellent taste in movies," Ares grinned, blind to the heated glares he was on the receiving end of from most of the females in the room.
The blonde's face morphed into one of horror and she ran up the stairs, "Sammy! Sammy!" She burst into the nursery and froze in her tracks.
A bloodcurdling scream echoed in the house.
Back in the living room, John jolted awake, "Mary?"
"Finally a name," Hazel mumbled under her breath. "I was tired of addressing her as the blonde lady in my head." Frank grinned weakly and tightened his arms around her, an action that had Hades' eyes narrowing in disapproval, despite the ominous circumstances on the screen.
John leapt up the stairs and mimicking Mary's previous action, burst into the nursery, eyes shining with confusion.
The nursery was quiet and empty except for Sam, who was awake in his crib, doe brown eyes focused on his father.
"Where did she go?" Poseidon frowned. Athena didn't have the heart to snap at him upon hearing the sincere worriment in his voice.
John wearily glanced around the room as he approached the crib, "Hey, Sammy. You okay?"
Something dark dripped down from above, landing next to Sam and staining the white sheets. Frowning, John touched the substance just as two more drops abruptly landed on the back of his hand. Slowly, John looked up and his eyes widened in pure horror.
Mary was sprawled across the ceiling, the stomach of her nightgown crimson with blood that was pooling out from a wound on her abdomen, and she was staring down at John, alive but barely, struggling to breathe.
John collapsed onto the floor, his eyes had yet to move from the gruesome sight of his wife. "No! Mary!"
"No! No, oh gods! Oh gods!" tears stained Piper's face as she clasped the hand of an ashen-faced Jason in a vice grip. In fact, nobody in the room could conceal their horror at the disturbing sight. Even Ares grimaced at the woman's fate. The God of War shook his head, "This isn't an accident. It's personal."
"Explain," Zeus commanded, desperately trying to maintain an apathetic disposition.
Ares shrugged, and belatedly, they all noticed that while they chattered amongst themselves, the scene paused. "Somebody went through a lot of effort to break into their house while everyone was asleep, and that requires patience. A lot of it. Then they stood over the boy's crib and emulated his father. If the intruder meant to kill the boy or kidnap him, then what was he waiting for? And if they meant to kill the mother, why not do so when she initially walked in? Nah, it's definitely personal," the war god deduced.
At the thought of somebody trying to kill an infant, the demigods sported varying expressions of disgust. Zeus and Hera however, shifted uncomfortably in their respective thrones; it was no secret that Zeus wished to eliminate Hades' children upon hearing the Great Prophecy – but in his defense, they were well over the age of five. Hera, on the other hand, attempted many times to get rid of Zeus' bastard children, sometimes while his lovers were still with child.
"Daddy!" Dean scrambled into the room.
"No," Percy yelled, pity palpable on his handsome features. "The kid shouldn't see his mother like that."
Poseidon smiled at his son's caring nature, no doubt a trait he inherited from Sally. Annabeth leaned forward and pecked his cheek, not noticing her mother's glare burning a hole through the back of her head at the intimate gesture.
The arrival of his son snapped John back to his senses. He cradled Sam in his arms and cautiously deposited him into Dean's tiny arms, "Take your brother as fast as you can and don't look back!" When Dean hesitated to follow his father's frantic instructions, John pushed him toward the door, "Now, Dean, go!"
"Yes, Dean. Go!" Apollo burst out, too invested in what the Fates instructed them to watch. This wasn't simply a movie meant as entertainment, but a real-life documentary. John, Mary, Dean and Sam, they were a real family somewhere out there in America, and this happened 22 years ago in Kansas. Contrary to his eternal bachelorhood, Apollo had a heart of gold and he loved each and every one of his children equally and fervently. Furthermore, Apollo intimately knew the devastating and crippling feeling of having a loved one cruelly snatched away from you, and he wouldn't wish such pain to anyone… well, except maybe his mortal enemies.
The moment Dean disappeared with Sam John rushed into the nursery, "Mary!" The entire room was on fire, and Mary herself was barely visible as she became buried in the sea of violent flames, burning to death. "No!"
Ares found his arms filled with a bawling Aphrodite who had decided to make home in his strong arms. Persephone, Hera, Amphitrite and Ariadne mimicked the Goddess of Love's actions as they took solace in their husband's arms. Demeter cried into her handkerchief and, Hecate and Hestia's vision were blurred with tears. The demigods, Rachel and Grover weren't faring any better.
The camera changed perspective, showing Dean standing outside the house, holding Sam protectively in his arms. "It's okay, Sammy," he reassured him, watery green eyes looking up at Sam's window, which reflected gold.
John ran over to them and scooped up both his sons, hastening to lead them away from the house, "I gotcha." At that moment, an explosion could be heard from the nursery and fire roared wildly from the window.
Lawrence fire department arrived and firefighters could be seen scrambling around to douse out the flames. Neighbors crowded around to watch the spectacle and across the street, the camera zoomed in on the family of three.
John and Dean sat on the hood of an Impala with Sam nestled in John's arms as he looked up in despair at the remnants of the fire.
The screen turned black.
"Burned alive is a horrible way to go," Nico grimaced.
Thalia sneered at the screen in disgust, though her electric blue orbs were suspiciously wet, "From what we've seen, she suffered long before the fire started."
"Is Sam the demigod the Fates were talking about?" Jason inquired, steadily meeting the gods' gazes, all of whom looked flummoxed. "I mean-" he elucidated, "-who else but a monster would do something like that-, oh shit, Leo, I'm sorry I wasn't thinking-"
Leo quickly waved the apology away and made a valiant effort to smile at the seventeen worried expressions he was currently on the receiving end of from his friends. "It's cool, don't worry about it, you guys. It was-, it happened years ago. I'm, just, don't worry about it, okay?" his tearstained face, bloodshot eyes and the fact that he was quivering like a leaf, belied his words and even Hephaestus seemed saddened as he focused his gaze on his son. Mary's fate was eerily similar to Esperanza Valdez's.
Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Nico, Piper, Hazel, and Frank shot each other pointed glances… perhaps Sam was the demigod the Fates mentioned, and perhaps Gaea was behind Mary's death.
Clearing his throat, Hermes brought the attention back to the gods, "Sam's not mine, I know that much." And one by one, the other gods echoed Hermes' answer, eliciting the confusion to skyrocket.
Maybe Sam was a son of a minor god?
Stanford University, Present Day, 31st October, 2005 appeared on the screen.
"That's tomorrow," Apollo piped up as Gasoline by Ginger began playing in the background.
Athena hummed, wondering what exactly the Fates desired them to do with the influx of events they were about to witness.
"Sam!" a pretty girl yelled as she turned around a corner dressed in a sexy-nurse costume while adjusting her hat. The camera focused on a photo of Mary and John that was perched on the dresser. "Get a move on, would you? We were supposed to be there like fifteen minutes ago."
A very tall, young man with a mop of shaggy brown hair and wide doe-like chocolate brown eyes poked his head from around the corner, dressed in jeans and a casual shirt, obviously not having made an effort to dress up like the blonde had, "Do I have to?"
"Yes!"
"My, my, my," Aphrodite exaggeratedly fanned herself, eyes gleaming at the 22-year-old Sam. "He grew up to be a quite a handsome young man." Ares growled lowly in his throat while Hephaestus rolled his eyes, not the least bit surprised at his wife's wandering thoughts. Athena, Artemis and Thalia shot the goddess a look of utter disgust and Piper buried her face into Jason's chest, mortified to death at her mother's lascivious behavior. "What?" the love goddess, pouted. "I was merely stating what you all were thinking, and don't bother shaking your heads at me, girls. I can tell."
Hazel, Rachel, Annabeth, Katie and, to Ares' chagrin, Clarisse, avoided the goddess of love's knowing stare and smug smirk, pink spots making an appearance on their cheeks that gave them away. Frank, Percy, Travis, and Chris stared, absolutely appalled at their respective girlfriends, much to their friends' and fathers' amusement.
"And where is your costume," the pretty blonde with kind brown eyes demanded as she analyzed Sam when he finally came out of the room. Sam laughed nervously and ducked his head, "You know how I feel about Halloween."
Party music blared loudly in the background and the scene changed, showing Sam and the pretty blonde in a bar decorated to the nines with Halloween decorations. Their table was crowded and the blonde raised her shot glass, trying to have herself heard over the music, "So here's to Sam and his awesome LSAT victory."
"All right, all right, it's not that big a deal," Sam downplayed, but nevertheless, he clinked his glass with the blonde and another boy. The blonde fondly rolled her eyes after knocking back her shot, "Yeah, he acts all humble, but he scored a one seventy-four."
"Is that good?" the boy asked.
"Is that good? Is that good?" Annabeth shrieked, appalled at the boy's ignorance. The daughter of Athena looked like she was preparing herself for a huge ranter and Percy immediately dove for damage control. "Wise Girl, it's okay, it's all right. Don't get too hyped up about it."
Athena didn't like how close the sea spawn was in regards to her daughter, and she was adamant to put a stop to their friendship.
"So, Annie-"
"Don't call me Annie!" Annabeth snapped at Connor.
"-is that good?" Travis continued his brother's line of thought.
Hermes chuckled at his sons' antics, but unfortunately, the Stolls' laughter was cut short when Rachel and Katie slapped them on the upside of their heads and demanded they apologize to Annabeth. In unison, Travis and Connor gave Annabeth a mischievous grin, and intoned, "Sorry, Annie!"
This time, they were both met with two fluffy pillows hitting them smack-dab in their faces.
"Scary good," the blonde elaborated. The boy grinned proudly and winked at Sam, "So there you go. You are a first-round draft pick. You can go to any law school you want!"
Sam smiled modestly, "Actually, I got an interview here. Monday. If it goes okay I think I got a shot at a full ride next year."
"Boring!" Ares, Apollo and Hermes drawled, only to be met with Athena's vicious glare. Hermes and Apollo immediately backtracked, "We meant fun." "Very interesting!"
Slightly mollified, and ignoring the muffled laughter of a few gods and demigods, Athena narrowed her gaze on Ares, who looked utterly unaffected and simply elaborated, "I was talking about the events onscreen. I want action!"
Cue rolling of the eyes and a slight smack from Aphrodite who didn't seem at all surprised by her lover's behavior.
"How does it feel to be the golden boy of your family?" the boy grinned as he refilled their glasses with alcohol.
Sam looked away, "Ah, they don't know."
The boy paused, the bottle limp in his hand as he gaped at Sam, "Oh, no, I would be gloating! Why not?" Sam shrugged, his tone indifferent, "Because we're not exactly the Bradys."
Rachael absently hummed the theme song for 'The Brady Bunch' as she doodled on her jeans.
"And I'm not exactly the Huxtables," the boy retorted, shaking his head as he changed the subject, "More shots?"
Hera frowned, not liking what she was hearing, "He should be proud of his achievements and he should tell his father and brother! What could have possibly happened to drive that poor family apart?"
"Sometimes, when tragedy strikes a family, it could either bring them closer, or leave a negative impact and tear them apart. Apparently, the latter happened," Frank shrugged. Leo grinned cheekily at the son of Mars, "That was deep, dude. You sure you're not a son of Minerva?"
Ares's brows hit his hairline. "And what is that supposed to mean, punk?" not sure whether he should be amused by the imp's statement, or offended.
Leo blanched; for a moment, he had forgotten about his friend's father being in the same room, despite the fact that he was currently in his Greek form "Uh, n-no-nothing, Mr. Lord Ares, sir," he squeaked.
"Mr. Lord Ares, sir?" Percy chuckled, Jason, Travis and Connor joining in on the son of Poseidon's laughter. Ares noncommittally hummed, his red orbs scrutinizing the twitchy son of his brother's for a moment longer before redirecting his gaze to the screen.
The blonde beamed brightly at Sam, "No, seriously. I'm proud of you. And you're gonna knock 'em dead on Monday, and you're gonna get that full ride. I know it."
Sam affectionately gazed at her, "What would I do without you?"
"Crash and burn," she cheekily retorted before pulling Sam in for a heated kiss.
Aphrodite squealed and clapped her hands together, "More love. Oh, I hope this doesn't end in a tragedy as well. They look positively adorable together!"
"Men," Artemis acerbically scoffed, scrunching her nose in disdain.
The scene changed, focusing for a moment on Sam and the blonde girl, asleep on the bed with their backs facing each other. Just as the blonde shifted position a screeching sound permeated the air, coming from the other room, and Sam's eyes abruptly snapped open.
"No, no, not again," Rachel groaned, not looking forward to another gruesome murder, especially to another happy couple.
Sam stealthily left the bedroom and vigilantly scrutinized the apartment.
A window was open, the curtain fluttering as the wind impacted against it. Light footsteps could be heard over the whistling of the wind. A silhouette of a man could be seen walking past the string of beads at the far end of the hall. Sam quickly ducked to another part of the apartment and stood ramrod straight, held his breath in, and waited. The back of a man could be seen, and Sam lunged forward, grabbing the intruder's shoulder, but his hand was skillfully knocked back and the man aimed a punch at Sam, who ducked.
"Finally some action," Ares cheered, his sentiments echoed by Clarisse, to which the god of war proudly smiled, much to Frank's horror.
The scuffle between Sam and the intruder escalated with Sam's kick being deftly blocked and his body hauled into another room. Just as Sam caught a glimpse of the intruder, an elbow impacted with his face. Sam aimed a kick for his head, but the man dodged the strike and knocked Sam down before pinning him to the ground, one hand on his neck and the other holding his wrist, holding him in position and blocking any effort of escape.
"Whoa, easy, tiger," a husky voice that belonged to the intruder, said.
"Okay, whoever broke into the house, he has a sexy voice!" Rachel complimented, blatantly ogling the screen. Aphrodite, irritating them once more with her squeals, clapped her hands and raked Rachel's form appraisingly, "I like this Oracle, Apollo. It's too bad remaining a maiden is a strict requirement in the job description."
Apollo grinned at Aphrodite and sent Rachel a sly wink, to which the redhead ducked her head in response, torn between mortification and amusement.
Breathing hard, Sam groaned, "Dean?" He was met with laughter, and Sam indignantly snapped, "You scared the crap out of me!"
"That's 'cause you're out of practice," Dean retorted, a hint of disapproval in his tone.
"Out of practice?" Nico frowned in confusion. "Why should he be skilled in hand-to-hand combat in the first place? Better yet, he's twenty-two, if he's a demigod, shouldn't he have been sent to camp years ago?" It was truly a rare phenomenon to find a demigod over the age of thirteen that had yet to be scouted by a satyr or sent by their godly parent to have them escorted to Camp Half-Blood safely.
Nobody had a proper response to that certain baffling question that had been bothering them all. Apollo however, sharply reminded them of a simple fact they had forgotten, "The Fates mentioned we'd be learning about a demigod that we aren't aware of. I guess he just escaped our attention."
Percy was not thrilled with the prospect of another demigod remaining ignorant of his heritage and ignored by this godly parent. But then, he remembered, they were in the past, and the Olympians had yet to learn the hard way about how destructive their actions and tendency to ignore their children were in the future. That was one of the main reasons why the Fates brought them to the past, to illuminate the Olympians of the consequences the Ancient Laws evoked in the long run.
Quick as a whip, Sam grabbed Dean's head and yanked forward, slamming his heel into Dean's back and pushing him onto the floor.
That retaliation gave them a better view of Dean and his assets, and this time, the girls couldn't deny that Aphrodite made a valid point: Dean was breathtakingly, gorgeously gorgeous!
"Are you, you are-, you're ogling Dean, aren't you?" Percy accused the daughter of Athena, though he didn't seem mad, more amused than anything, with a dash of surprise. Annabeth shielded her face from the gobsmacked looks the boys were sending her. In fact, Athena, Artemis, Hera and Hestia were the only females unaffected by Dean and the sex appeal he was practically oozing. Thalia may be Artemis's lieutenant, but she didn't have a deep-seated hatred towards men, and being a Hunter, sworn off men, didn't automatically make her blind – she could look, and appreciate a man's good looks without touching, right? She wasn't breaking any laws by admiring Dean.
Piper smirked and shrugged a shoulder in a dismissive way, "You can't blame us-, don't look at me like that, Jase. I love you. You know I do. But…" she bit her lower lip, "Dean is the most wonderful specimen of the male race. Like Pandora, I think he was molded from the hands of the gods themselves! I mean, he's, he's-"
"Adonis reincarnated," Katie flushed as the words sprang out of her mouth, ignoring Travis's disgruntled and slightly betrayed stare. Aphrodite and Persephone looked slightly teary-eyed at the mention of their past lover and Ares, if possible, looked like he was about to blow a gasket at the mention of that punk!
Zeus cleared his throat, his expression nauseated, not at all entertained over the fact that the women in this room were blatantly making eyes at some puny mortal. Poseidon on the other hand, chuckled heartily and clapped his hands together once for attention, "Now that you are done… drooling over this 'fine specimen of the male race'-" the teenaged girls blushed profusely and looked away from the sea god, "-let us return to the matter at hand, yes?"
"Or not," Dean chuckled, seemingly pleased with his brother. However, at that moment, a toned arm appeared in Dean and Sam's line of vision, grabbing Sam by the wrist, twisting it, and efficiently throwing him onto the ground, landing him flat on his back with a pained grunt.
"I agree with Dean's initial assessment, you're way out of practice, Sammy-boy," a melodious voice that sounded like molten gold or rich chocolate, sounded from behind. Laughing good-naturedly, Dean offered a hand to Sam and helped him get on his feet.
"Liv?" Sam asked, sounding uncertain as he followed the noise to the kitchen, "What the hell are you doing here?"
The fridge slammed shut. A beer bottle in hand, Liv turned around, her exotic dark mahogany eyes brimming with mischief and a hint of rebelliousness, "Uh, looking for a beer, what else?" Winking at a gobsmacked Sam, in a downward motion, she slammed the metal cap of the beer bottle against the marble counter, expertly opening it and downing a quarter of it down in one fluid motion.
This time, it was the males' turn to shamelessly drool and appreciate the girl's god-gifted beauty. In fact, Aphrodite didn't seem disheartened by the turn of events, "I definitely blessed this girl. She is a work of art! Just look at her!"
And she was; luscious golden-brown curls tumbling down to her waist, a smooth olive complexion and exotic oak-brown eyes, so dark yet they oddly glittered with sparks of gold if the lighting hit her at a specific angle. She was generously endowed in the feminine department, and her body, while slim and shaped in an hourglass formation, she definitely worked out religiously if her toned arms and athletic build had anything to say about it. She had a cute circle-shaped face and her features were uncannily proportionate, with a petite, straight-sloped nose, high aristocratic cheekbones, thick, arched eyebrows and plump, cupid-bow lips. She didn't even have a touch of makeup smeared on her face, not even a light sheen of transparent lip-gloss, and yet, she looked utterly delectable, too perfect to be real… heck, Michelangelo and Picasso would be insanely jealous at her creator.
"Uh, Prissy, you got a little drool, right over there," an amused Clarisse pointed out, a finger directed at the corner of his lips. Amphitrite huffed at her husband, for he too looked dazed at the screen, where it had paused on the girl, Liv. "Poseidon! You truly are his father-" she lost her voice upon seeing Triton, his reaction similar to his father's and half-brother's.
"Zeus!" an appalled Hera screeched, to no avail.
The most shocking discovery, however, was that Ares appeared to be the only male in the room, unaffected by the girl's entrancing beauty. Yes, the war god was similarly shocked into a silent stupor, but nobody could detect a hint of lust on his handsome face; no, his expression was frozen into one of contemplation, as though he were trying, and failing, to remember something in particular, or solve an exceedingly difficult equation.
"Who is this woman?" Persephone lightly inquired, her expression one of curiosity; she, like Aphrodite and Ariadne, were not offended in the least bit about their respective lover and husband's lustful gaze, for they knew that while they looked, ogled and enjoyed the company of women, at the end of the day, their hearts remained faithful and beat for them and them only.
"An angel," Leo dreamily inputted; forget Thalia Grace, forget the goddess Khione, they were nothing when compared to the dark-haired, dark-eyed goddess on screen.
"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Thalia snarled, accusingly, subtly referring to Calypso. Leo's expression didn't change, however, and he continued to shamefully gawk at the girl. "There's nothing wrong with looking," he defended himself.
Rachel giggled at Leo and proceeded to hand over tissues to him and Percy so that they could wipe off their puddle of drool. Athena gritted her teeth, yet obediently offered her opinion, her nose scrunched up in disgust upon analyzing her father, Poseidon, Percy and every other male, except Ares, lovestruck expressions, "She must be some skanky girlfriend of Dean's." to which she actually quailed at the ferocious glares all the men pinned her with.
"Siren maybe," Artemis scoffed.
Sam didn't look impressed. He shot Liv a disappointed glare, "You're underage! You're not supposed to be drinking alcohol-" He whirled around to glare at Dean, "You're letting her drink now?!"
"I'm sixteen, Sam. Jeez! Lighten up, dude!" Liv retorted heatedly.
"SIXTEEN?!" nearly everyone bellowed, grossly taken aback, for Liv looked to be in her early twenties.
Leo absently shrugged, still dazzled by the brunette's enchanting beauty, "It's cool. I dig older chicas." For if she sixteen in the present day, then in their future, that would make her around twenty-one.
The gods however, remained unruffled. They were gods after all, and sixteen was an exceptionally reasonable age when it came to matters of courting. In fact, eons ago, women were arranged betrothal contracts by the ages of thirteen and fourteen. Sixteen was merely a number.
"Yeah, and sixteen still labels you as an underage citizen! Talk to me when you're twenty-one," Sam snapped, moving to grab the beer bottle from her hand, to which she swiftly sidestepped him, opened the fridge and tossed another bottle over to Dean, who grinned unrepentantly at his fuming brother. "Relax, Sam. I've always got both eyes on Liv," he pacified him, to no avail.
Throwing one last glare at Liv as she raised the bottle to her lips, he aggressively repeated, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Okay," Dean snapped his fingers in remembrance, "All right. We gotta talk."
"Uh, the phone?" Sam suggested, eyes following the beer bottle in Dean's hand in disapproval as it was handed it over to Liv, who proceeded to expertly open it before handing it back to him. Liv scoffed, "Oh please. Truth. Would you have actually picked up the phone?"
Sam looked away in shame, unable to find a correct rebuttal. The lights turned on and the pretty blonde appeared in really short shorts and a cropped Smurfs shirt, "Sam?"
Liv snickered, "Nice, dude. Real nice- ouch!" she glared at Sam, or precisely, his elbow, who glared at her before dashing over to the blonde's side like a faithful golden retriever. "Jess. Hey. Dean, Olivia, this is my girlfriend, Jessica," he introduced.
"Olivia. Such a beautiful name," Hestia beamed.
The name stirred something in Ares, like a long-forgotten memory that kept escaping his vice grip, and the more he tried to hold onto it, the faster it slipped away from him. And it was frustrating!
"Hmm, yes, Olivia. I agree with you, sister dearest," Poseidon stated, eyes bright and lips spread into a genuine smile. Amphitrite huffed, "You know, husband, you can at least try and pretend that you are not shamelessly leering at the girl, at least while I'm in the room!"
Poseidon flashed his sullen wife a charming smile that had Piper, Rachel, and even Clarisse and Annabeth, swooning. Percy really did inherit his father's dashingly good looks and ineffable charm. "Amphitrite, my Queen. You know I can never truly love anybody but you. However, there is nothing wrong with appreciating a marvelous work of art every now and then. It wouldn't make me love you any less."
"Smooth, Uncle P. Very smooth," Apollo chuckled at his favorite uncle. Amphitrite maintained her glare, though she utterly failed in hiding the faint flush that rushed to her cheeks, evoked by his flattery
"Wait, your brother, Dean?" Jessica double-checked. Dean looked at her appreciatively, which prompted Liv to smack him atop the head. Jessica turned her gaze to Liv, "And Olivia, your… sister?"
Liv snorted, "He ain't that lucky. Technically, we're cousins." She then downed the rest of her drink and tossed it into the trash without even looking. "Score!" she cheered, accepting the high-five from Dean when it landed.
"Chica's got skills," Leo whistled, full on worshiping her now.
Jessica laughed at Liv and Dean chose to speak up, eyes brazenly raking her shirt, "Oh, I love the Smurfs. You know, I gotta tell you. You are completely out of my brother's league."
"Oh, please. Anybody that knows how to laugh is out of Sam's league," Liv snidely commented, apparently still miffed about his underage comment. Sam threw her a bitch-face, "Haha, very funny, Olivia!"
"I wasn't trying to be. And it's Liv!" Liv retorted acidly. Cutting into the family dispute, Jessica turned to go and hesitantly said, "Just let me put something on."
"Those two remind me of Poseidon and Zeus when they're arguing," Hermes grinned, noticing the parallels between the cousins and brothers.
"Though less destructive and doesn't risk starting a war," Apollo added with a chuckle.
Poseidon and Zeus huffed; 'they weren't that bad, were they,' they thought at the same time.
"I like their dynamic," Aphrodite tittered.
Demeter nodded in wholehearted agreement, it was a nice change to the gloomy beginning, and even Ares couldn't find anything negative to comment on, though it could be due to the fact that he had yet to lose the pensive expression that had made a permanent residence on his face ever since Olivia was introduced.
"No, no, no. I wouldn't dream of it. Seriously," Dean smirked. Nevertheless, Jessica disappeared into the bedroom and Sam glared at Dean with a stony expression. "Anyway," Dean tore his gaze from Jessica and went down to business. "I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business."
Liv nodded and leapt down from the counter she was perched on, "But it was real nice meeting ya."
"No," Sam shook his head, went over to Jessica and put an arm around her. "No. Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."
In eerie unison, Dean and Liv raised a brow at Sam and then looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation, which seemed to irk Sam, before they both nodded in harmony, having come to a mutual agreement.
"Okay. Dad hasn't been home in a few days," Dean revealed.
Demeter gasped in dismay, "I hope nothing bad befell that poor man. Maybe he should eat more cereal-"
"Cereal has nothing to do with a man's safety, Demeter," Hades snapped, unable to handle his sister's blathering on and on and on about her blasted grains and cereals. Demeter glared back, "And you know all about safety, hm?! You, who kidnapped my precious Kore and imprisoned her in that morose place you call a home-"
Persephone sighed, and much to the gods' surprise, a few demigods groaned in exasperation, seemingly sharing their sentiment when it came to Demeter's incessant nagging, most notably from Percy and Nico. "Mother, I am perfectly content with my husband, in our home, in the Underworld. Please, please, please, respect that. It's been over four thousand years already!"
Demeter merely huffed and looked away, her lips pursed into a mulish line.
Sam shrugged, unperturbed, "So he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later."
"Wow, totally feeling the love here, Sammy," Liv sneered, not amused at her cousin's indifference. Jessica shifted uncomfortably at the family spat, and Dean placed an arm around Liv, calming her down before narrowing his gaze on a mildly guilty Sam, "Dad's been on a hunting trip. And he hasn't been home in a few days."
At the word 'hunting', Artemis straightened her posture, her expression shining with palpable interest.
Sam's expression remained stoic for a few beats before he sighed loudly and cast an apologetic glance toward Jessica, "Jess, excuse me. We have to go outside."
"Hunting trip?" Chris asked, not really expecting an answer.
Dionysus however, benevolently offered one, "A bear probably made a snack out of him. Or possibly, a wolf. Depending on the location he chose to hunt." His dismissive comment had him on the receiving glare of many, most especially Aphrodite, who seemed to be invested in the wellbeing and happiness of the family; her heart truly bled for poor John who had lost the love of his life in the most excruciating way.
Ariadne sighed at the teenagers, "You'll have to excuse my husband. He has a… questionable sense of humor."
Percy snorted at that, sea-green eyes shining with amusement. "You don't have to explain anything to us, Lady Ariadne. We're uh, well, all of us are quite versed in Mr. D's… um," he scratched his head as he tried to narrow down the appropriate term.
"Misanthropic," Annabeth piped up. "Misanthropic behavior."
Zeus actually laughed at the two demigods in Dionysus's expense and Ariadne considered Percy and Annabeth with an appraising smile, "You all seem familiar with my husband."
"He is the Director of Camp Half-Blood," Connor pointed out.
Dionysus groaned loudly and conjured a glass or wine, hastily transforming into a can of Diet Coke after Zeus's not so subtle clearing of his throat. "You mean I'm still stuck with you brats? Oh, but of course I am, forced for a century of servitude!" he dramatically sneered.
Grover nervously stuttered, "If-if it m-makes you feel any better, Lord Zeus shortens your, uh, 'rehabilitation sentence' at Camp Half-Blood from a hundred years to-to f-fifty." It was a minuscule disclosure of the future. Baby steps. The eighteen agreed to feed the gods events from the future slowly, sort of like the opposite of ripping off a bandage.
"I do?" "He does?" Zeus and Dionysus spoke over each other in confused disbelief, and excited wonder, respectively.
"Why?" Athena asked, suspicious. The group from the future looked away and stubbornly kept their mouths shut, much to the Olympians and Ariadne's annoyance. It was too soon to rehash the intricacies of the Second Olympian War.
Sam, dressed in jeans and a haphazardly thrown on hoodie stood outside his apartment by the stairwell, his arms stubbornly crossed together. "I mean, come on. You can't just break in, middle of the night, and expect me to hit the road with you two," he argued.
"You know, for somebody who got admitted into Stanford, you're quite stupid," Liv snapped, pushing herself from the wall she had been causally leaning against to get in Sam's face. "Are we speaking Chinese to you?! Uncle John's missing. Your DAD is missing."
Dean quickly stepped in, placing his firm hands on her biceps and moving her away from Sam's line of vision, "Alright, short-stuff, breathe in and out, cool it."
Liv huffed at him and grumbled, "Stop calling me short, Dean! I'm not short."
"Yeah, well, compared to me, you kinda are, shortcake," Dean flippantly retorted, his jade eyes shimmering with joy upon noticing that he succeeded in making her smile.
"Olivia is easily angered," Triton remarked.
Ares paled slightly, a mixture of pensiveness and frustration coloring his handsome features.
"Oh, but Dean and Liv are so close," Aphrodite cooed, eyes sparkling with joy. "Look how quickly he is to tame her anger and make her smile. Adorable. Simply adorable!"
Percy, Jason, Thalia, and Nico smiled at each other. They may fight like dogs and start many arguments with each other, at times using their abilities instead of their words, but at the end of the day, they were family, cousins, and no matter what, they'd always be there for each other. Hades, when Thalia and Nico found out that Percy was missing – cough, kidnaped by Hera, cough – they went ballistic, and Thalia threatened to abandon the Hunters after they refused to offer aid in her search for Percy. Thankfully, the moment Artemis discovered her favorite male was missing, she didn't need any convincing.
Sam warily regarded Dean and Liv, and seeing that she was calm, continued with relish. "You remember the poltergeist in Amherst? Or the Devil's Gates in Clifton? He was missing then, too. He's always missing, and he's always fine," he reasoned.
"Poltergeist?" "Devil's Gates?" Chris and Nico piped up at the same time, the inflection of their voice laced with heavy confusion. Even the gods appeared to be at a loss for words as they mulled over Sam's strange choice of words.
Rachel hesitantly spoke up, "Poltergeist likes Peeves?"
"Harry Potter's a work of fiction, Rach," Annabeth sighed, though she looked frustrated over the fact that she was equally clueless as the rest, and by the looks on Athena's face, so was she.
Simultaneously, the entire room shifted their questioning gaze toward Hades, who had a perplexed frown on his face, one finger stroking his lower lip in deep thought. Belatedly noticing the attention fixated on him, and some on his wife and even Hecate, Hades slowly assembled a sentence, each word weighing heavily on his tongue as he tried to make sense of the oddity, "Perhaps the word poltergeist is a fancy terminology for a ghost that had been summoned, or have yet to move on? As for Devil's Gates, I believe, and this is all guesswork-" he shifted in his seat, head regally held high, "-John may be a clear sighted mortal and chanced a gander at one of the entrances to my domain. However, such a postulation could be contradicted as there are no entrances in New Jersey," he grimaced upon concluding his sentence.
"Yes, but… Dean used the word 'hunting'. John was on a hunting trip when he disappeared," Apollo reminded them, his gaze halting on Artemis. Said goddess shook her head in befuddlement, "Yes, but ghost-, I'm sorry, poltergeist? I do not hunt ghosts. They are not part of the hunt, and I have yet to cross paths with a wandering ghost in all my millennia."
Nico frowned; as a son of Hades, he had the ability to summon, see, and commune with ghosts, but other than Minos, he snarled at the mere thought of that manipulative bastard, the only ghosts he had seen were during his stints in the Underworld or if he explicitly summoned them, like Bianca.
"Not for this long," Dean stated, turning his attention from Liv to Sam. "Now, are you gonna come with us or not?"
Sam shook his head defiantly, "I'm not."
Liv groaned, and while she appeared relatively calmer than before, her eyes still had a certain fire to it as she spat out two words, "Why not?"
"I swore I was done hunting. For good," he reminded his brother and cousin.
"There's that word again. Hunting," Hermes sighed; whatever the Fates tasked them with watching, it was leaning heavily toward a mystery thriller documentary than an informative one, leaving them with more questions than answers.
"Come on. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad," Dean cajoled, following Liv downstairs. Sam, followed them, breathing heavily, face tight with disbelief, "Yeah? When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45!"
Hera gasped loudly, appalled at the certain discovery. "He gave his son a gun?!" she screeched.
The demigods all snorted, but the sound wasn't one of amusement, but resentment. The gods looked at them questionably, and Percy was only too glad to elaborate. "We-" he waved his hand in a circular motion, showcasing himself and all the other demigods, "-can relate. I mean, depending on what age we make it to camp, if we actually manage to survive long enough to get there, that is-" the gods winced, "-instead of being handed a gun, we're given swords, daggers, a bow and arrow – whatever, and are given a grueling schedule for training. I mean, the woods are filled with monsters for training. We're given a weapon at a young age, meant as an extension of ourselves, with the hopes of surviving past sixteen. So again, we can relate."
Hera snapped her mouth shut, all disapproval at John diminishing as she was shocked into silence. The gods weren't faring any better, most particularly the ones that sired demigods, and they all shifted uncomfortably in their thrones. They didn't know their children had it that bad in life, and they were slightly ashamed at their shortsightedness regarding the matter.
Only Ares looked unperturbed. Well, slightly unperturbed – he wasn't heartless, contrary to the majority's beliefs.
Dean scoffed, not bothering to look back at Sam, "Well, what was he supposed to do?"
"I was nine years old!" the volume of Sam's voice increased. "He was supposed to say, 'don't be afraid of the dark'."
"Uh, I was seven when I was first handled a blade," Annabeth put in, the look on her face could not be mistaken as disapproval toward Sam and his whining.
Athena winced.
Liv stopped marching down the stairs and turned around to gape at Sam, her expression incredulous, "Don't be afraid of the dark? Are you shittingme, Sam?! Of course you should be afraid of the dark. Knowing what we know, how we grew up, how can you not be?"
"I am even more confused," Chris muttered to his brothers, both of whom nodded in agreement.
"Maybe they know about monsters," Piper hypothesized, prompting all the attention to turn to her and she burrowed herself deeper in Jason's arms. Kicking off her shoes, she settled her feet on Leo's lap and said, "I mean, maybe the reason Sam never went to camp was because John taught him all he needed to know at a young age to fight against them? Maybe Dean and Liv are clear sighted mortals as well and they were also trained to defend themselves."
Zeus frowned, though not in anger, but in thought, "That's a bit of a stretch, young demigod. It is possible. But somehow, I doubt it." And to everyone's surprise, Hades, out of all the gods, agreed with his youngest brother's assessment, "As do I. A family of clear sighted mortals, while possible, is extremely rare. This boy, Sam, if he truly is a demigod, he should know that his scent would never allow him to escape monsters and lead a normal life."
Hecate pondered the Lords' words, thinking that with an enchanted talisman spelled by a powerful child or legacy of hers, evading monsters was a huge probability.
Piper pouted but nodded, concluding that the two brothers of the Big Three made a decent point.
Sam was silent for a moment, almost contemplating. "Yeah, I know," he sighed. "But still. The way we grew up, after Mom was killed, and Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her. That killed them-"
"Don't!" Liv hissed, interrupting Sam. "Don't talk about it. I don't want to-, I don't want to hear it. Let's just go Dean, I told you Sam was a lost cause." and with one last glare at Sam, Liv made her own way outside and left the brothers alone.
"Killed them?" Grover inquired.
"Liv's parents, maybe," Nico inserted with a shrug. "It makes sense. I mean, think about it. From the looks of it, Liv's an orphan. She's related to that family either through John or Mary, and you can tell from their dynamics that she's extremely familiar with them. Meaning her parents died when she was real young and going by the way Sam worded it and Liv's reaction, her parents were most probably murdered."
Thalia made an impressed face, "Wow, Death Breath, that was very insightful. When did you get so smart?"
Nico stuck his tongue out at her, "I may not look it, but I'm older than all of you."
Will groaned, though the corner of his lips twitched, "We get it already. Stop bringing that up."
"Children," Hera sighed, she truly despised being around demigods for long periods of time. "If you are done, let us continue watching." Only Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Athena, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus and Hermes noticed the looks of deep disdain and a few of hatred on the demigods, the Oracle and the satyr's faces that were directed solely on Hera.
Dean looked pained and Sam shifted guiltily on his feet. "I didn't mean to upset her… I forgot that it's a rough subject to bring up around her."
"Yeah well, you've been gone for a long time, Sam. She's still not ready to open up about it," Dean sighed loudly, rubbing his forehead. Sam lightly punched the wall, "We still haven't found the damn thing, Dean. So we kill everything we can find."
Dean nodded, expression solemn, "We save a lot of people doing it, too."
"They're starting to sound more and more like the Hunters of Artemis," Leo piped up.
Artemis scowled, inwardly agreeing with the twitchy boy, though it made absolutely no sense!
After a brief pause, Sam said, "You think Mom would have wanted this for us?"
The ambience turned solemn upon hearing Mary's name. While every single person in the room were no stranger to death and the cruelty that is life, there was a difference between hearing about a death or a murder, and seeing it happen with their own two eyes: a young, innocent mother of two, a wife, being murdered in such a brutal way, right in front of her six-month-old son, and then watching as her husband mourned her death, trying and failing to save her, or at least preserve her body from disintegrating into ash in the violent flames.
Dean aggressively rolled his eyes and slammed the door open, storming over to his car where it sat in the parking lot, Liv sitting on the hood of the car in a lotus position. Upon seeing Dean's heavy scowl, she smirked, "Lemme guess, Sammy-boy brought up Aunt Mary?"
Ignoring the question, Dean half-heartedly snapped at the brunette, "Liv, my Baby isn't a bed. Get off, c'mon."
Leo whistled appreciatively, and he wasn't the only one, "Now that's a classic car!"
Ares admired the car, deciding the next time he took his chariot out for a spin, he'd have it transformed into the Impala. Aphrodite's eyes gleamed as she stared deeply into her lover's eyes and a lustful grin made an appearance on his handsomely scarred face, reading her thoughts without any effort. Aphrodite will be joining him for a little romp in the Impala for sure.
"The weapon training-" Sam caught up with Dean, having apparently decided to follow him, "-and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors."
"And you should be proud of it, punk," Ares growled, he was officially a fan of John's.
Poseidon sighed and sent a kind smile toward Piper, who looked slightly flustered and taken aback at the kindness the Sea God bestowed her with, "Unfortunately, my dear, my brothers' suspicions are correct. Silver doesn't affect monsters, so it is safe to assume the family is unaware of our existence."
Piper nodded and blushed, returning Poseidon's kind smile before whispering into Percy's ear, "Your Dad's really cool." Percy grinned, pride shining in his eyes and the other demigods pulled a face of mock jealousy. It was true though, Poseidon was unlike all the other Olympians, he didn't look down at demigods and seemed the friendliest and parental one of them all, Hermes and Apollo a tie for second place.
Thalia, Jason and Nico grudgingly concurred; as children of the Big Three, their lives weren't just dangerous because of their potent scent and their powers, but their respective fathers, or more specifically, their relation with one another. Due the rivalry between Zeus and Hades, Nico's life was in danger and his mother was killed due to his blasted lightning bolt, forcing his father into hiding him and Bianca for seventy years at the Lotus Hotel and Casino. In return, when Thalia's existence became common knowledge, the Lord of the Dead sent his most fearsome monsters after her, which had a bittersweet ending when she was turned into a Pine Tree for over seven years. The same could be said for Zeus and Poseidon; Percy wasn't allowed to travel by air for fear of Zeus' retribution… even when using cars as a mode of transportation didn't protect him from Zeus' wrath as the aforementioned car hit Smelly Gabe's car with a lightning bolt when he was first making his way to Camp Half-Blood with his mother and Grover. Or even the bus with Annabeth and Grover right after they were attacked by all three Furies.
But Poseidon? He never took his anger at his brothers out on their children, or held a grudge when Zeus was the first to break his oath (twice) and father Thalia Grace, and he never, to this day, made an attempt on their lives. They were allowed to swim to their heart's content and travel by sea without the fear of being drowned by the Sea God. So yeah, Poseidon was the coolest and most likable from the gods, and they were slightly jealous of Percy.
"So what are you gonna do?" Dean asked, turning to face Sam. "You're just gonna live some normal, apple pie life? Is that it?"
Sam shook his head, his posture slightly defensive, "No. Not normal. Safe."
"And that's why you ran away?" Liv demanded, her tone a smidge softer than before. Dean looked away and Sam elaborated, now speaking directly to Liv, "I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I was gonna go I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doing."
"What a horrible thing to say," Hestia gasped.
"Bull," Liv snapped, not missing a beat. "Uncle John says things he don't mean sometimes and you know that. Just say it as it is. You took that as an opportunity to ditch us without feeling guilty."
"Look Sam," Dean spoke before his brother could get a word in, "Dad's in real trouble right now. If he's not dead already. I can feel it."
Sam opened his mouth to retort, met the fire blazing in Liv's eyes and looked down. After a short pause, he sighed and looked up, "What was he hunting?"
Artemis wasn't the only one to lean forward in anticipation. Finally, they were going to receive some answers to the puzzling enigma.
Liv's expression softened and there was a ghost of a smile on her face as she joined Dean at the trunk of the Impala. Dean opened the trunk, and then proceeded to open the spare-tire compartment with the butt of a shotgun, showcasing the clutter of arsenal.
Ares whistled loudly, tremendously impressed at the wide range of weapons.
"The only weapons missing are swords and a bow and arrow," Triton marveled.
"Who are these people!?" Clarisse whispered in awe, eyes abnormally round as she studied the weapons.
Dean dug through the clutter, "All right, let's see, where the hell did I put that thing?"
"So when Dad left, why didn't you go with him?" Sam asked.
Liv, who was helping Dean riffle through the clutter, absently offered Sam a response, "We had our own gig down in New Orleans. Some voodoo thing."
Sam's eyebrows were dangerously high as his eyes flickered between Dean and Liv, disbelief evident on his face, "Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourselves?"
Dean paused and met Sam's hard gaze, "I'm twenty-six, dude." Sam's eyes bore through Liv, to which she rolled her eyes and after grabbing a folder, snarkily remarked, "Stop harping on about me being too young, Sam. Anyways," she stressed, pulling out some papers from the folder, "Uncle John was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago, this guy-" she handed Sam one of the papers, "they found his car, but he vanished."
"Completely MIA," Dean added.
The camera homed in on the page in Sam's hand; it was a printout of an article from Jericho Herald, headlined "Centennial Highway Disappearance" and dated September 19th 2005. There was a picture of a man, captioned "Andrew Carey MISSING". Sam glanced up at the other two, "So maybe he was kidnapped."
"I don't understand. Just because some guy turned up missing, doesn't automatically assume a monster was involved," Rachel commented, frowning at her friends. "There's plenty of cases in the world regarding missing children, abducted people held for ransom, or just murder victims whose bodies were never found."
Leo chuckled, trying to make light of the situation with his own brand own humor, "Way to be morbid, Rach."
"I'm just saying it like it is," Rachel shrugged, lips twitching. "Most of you are year-rounders at camp, so you don't have much experience with the brutality of the mortal world. But crime is a part of the everyday life. It may sound harsh, but nowadays people barely even flinch when they look through the newspapers or watch the news reporting about a new missing kid or some murder." She shrugged again, "You don't have to be a literal monster to perform acts of cruelty, believe me. There are a lot of mortals that could make monsters look innocent." Most of the demigods and a few gods looked slightly disturbed at the Oracle's colorful explanation.
Percy grimaced, "I have to agree with Rachel. After Smelly Gabe went 'missing' they closed the case after one week. Nobody batted an eyelash."
"Who's this, Smelly Gabe?" Poseidon inquired, steadily meeting his son's gaze. Percy's nose wrinkled in disdain and he had a slightly closed off expression, "My uh, ex-stepfather." Poseidon frowned, inwardly making a promise to discuss the matter further with Percy in private.
"Yeah. Well, here's another one in April," Dean tossed over another Jericho Herald as he mentioned each date, "Another one in December 'oh-four, 'oh-three, ninety-eight, ninety-two, ten of them over the past twenty years." He then took the articles back from Sam after he was done skimming them and returned them back in the folder. "All men, all the same five-mile stretch of road."
"Dodgy? I think yes," Liv mumbled pulling a bag out of the trunk and tossing it over to Dean.
Rachel hummed, "Those are all signs pointing to a serial killer."
Dean rooted through the bag and grabbed a handheld tape recorder, "It started happening more and more, so Dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago. We haven't heard from him since, which is bad enough."
Liv nodded fervently, eyes sparkling with worry, "How many times did he have it ingrained in our heads to always keep in touch at least every night. Max, two? Anyways," she shook her head and jutted her chin toward the tape recorder, "We finally got a voicemail from him yesterday."
The recording sounded heavy with static, the signal clearly breaking up, but John's gravelly voice went through, permeating the air, "Dean…something big is starting to happen…I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may… Be very careful Dean. Take care of Olivia, don't separate! We're all in danger."
Dean pressed the stop button.
"Danger? What danger?" Kate mumbled to herself.
Persephone cocked her head to the side, "His choice of words does seem very… peculiar."
The demigods, Grover and Rachel shot each other wary glances, all of them wondering if it had anything to do with Kronos arising. The date did seem to correlate with the time Kronos began influencing Luke, the date around two months before he stole the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness.
"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam said in an instructor tone of voice.
"What's EVP?" the Stolls chanted, before looking at each, identical smirks on their faces.
The gods and demigods were absolutely oblivious, which mostly irritated the gods as they liked to think they knew everything there was to know about anything, most especially Athena. Much to everyone's surprise, Rachel promptly answered, "Electronic Voice Phenomena – EVP. Basically it's sounds found on electronic recordings that are interpreted as the voices of ghosts. Usually it's unintentionally recorded, 'cause the most popular belief is that mortals cannot see ghosts."
"And uh, I'm almost too afraid to ask, but, how exactly do you know this?" Thalia warily asked, glancing at the redhead with slight trepidation. Nico and Hades looked positively curious, their eyes burning a hole through her skull.
Rachel giggled and smiled cheekily, "Ghostbusters."
Apollo and Hermes burst out into laughter, and Percy, the Stolls, Chris, Frank, Piper and Katie were quick to join in, all of whom actually managed to watch that movie. Hazel, Nico, Jason, and Thalia looked even more confused. Rachel elaborated for their sake, "Uh, it's kind of a comedy movie about four men that hunt ghosts." They nodded, though the look on confusion had yet to abate.
"Not bad, Sammy," Dean smirked, nudging Liv softly. "Kinda like riding a bike, isn't it?" Sam shook his head. "All right. I slowed the message down, I ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got," Dean pressed play once again.
A whispery voice, that sounded definitely feminine and positively miserable said, "I can never go home…"
Dean pressed stop.
"Never go home," Sam repeated. Dean dropped the recorder, put down the shotgun and evenly met Sam's gaze. Liv shut the trunk and leaned against it, arms folded as she stared between the two brothers. "You know, in almost two years we've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing," was all Dean said.
Sam couldn't meet his gaze. Sighing, he nodded, "All right. I'll go. I'll help you find him. But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just wait here." He turned to go back to his apartment when Dean called out, "What's first thing Monday?"
"I have this…I have an interview."
Liv rolled her eyes. Dean gaped, "What, a job interview? Skip it."
"He most certainly will not 'skip it'!" Athena snapped, scandalized. "What is wrong with those two?! They should be proud of Sam's accomplishments."
Percy shrugged, "Yeah… but no offense, Lady Athena. But if my Mom is missing, I'm pretty sure finding her would be my first priority." His friends chuckled at that, recalling Percy's odyssey to the Underworld to bring back his mother from Hades, all the odds against him, all the monsters that stood in his way, and the impending war between his father and uncle be damned.
Athena harrumphed and looked away.
Poseidon offered his son a cheeky wink.
"It's a law school interview, and it's my whole future on a plate," Sam explained in exasperation. "So we got a deal or not?"
Liv sneered and clambered into the backseat, "Whatever."
The scene changed. Sam was in his bedroom packing a duffel bag. He pulled out a large hook-shaped knife and slid it inside just as Jessica walked in. "Wait you're taking off?" she asked, incredulous. "Is this about your dad? Is he all right?"
"Yeah. You know, just a little family drama," Sam said, trying to keep his voice casual. As Sam rummaged through the drawers for a couple of shirts, Jessica sat on the edge of the bed, analyzing him, "Your brother said he was on some kind of hunting trip."
"Oh, yeah, he's just deer hunting up at the cabin, he's probably got Jim, Jack, and José along with him. I'm just going to go bring him back."
Dionysus scoffed, "Such cheap taste. Wine is much better than common whiskey and tequila." His eyes glazed over at the thought of wine, itching to snap his fingers and conjure himself a glass of his finest.
Zeus rolled his eyes at his son but made extra care to avoid the glare of promised death Ariadne sent him.
Jessica looked dubious, "What about the interview?"
"I'll make the interview. This is only for a couple days," Sam reassured her. Jessica followed him around the room, trying to stop him, "Just stop for a second. You're sure you're okay?"
Sam let out a short laugh, "I'm fine." He didn't sound it. Jessica wrapped her arms around him, "It's just…you won't even talk about your family. And now you're taking off in the middle of the night to spend a weekend with them? And with Monday coming up, which is kind of a huge deal."
"Yeesh, woman! She's very clingy," Connor wrinkled his nose. The words barely escaped his lips when he found himself being attacked by painful slaps across the head, courtesy of Katie, Rachel, Annabeth and Piper. "Ow! OW! Girls! Travis! A little help he-ouch, gerrof!"
Travis smirked, "You made your bed, now you have to lie in it."
Hermes chuckled, pitying his son for his huge faux-pas.
"There's nothing wrong with a girl showing concern over her boyfriend's actions," Clarisse snapped, the other girls finally allowing a red-faced Connor a breather. "He's got an important job interview and all of a sudden his family shows up out of the blue and drags him along somewhere. She has a right to be worried."
A few gods fondly smiled at the demigods, while others, cough, cough, Hera, adopted an irritated glare.
"Fine! Next time I'll just keep my thoughts to myself," Connor huffed, faking annoyance.
"Hey. Everything's going to be okay. I will be back in time, I promise," Sam kissed her cheek and left.
The screen turned black for a brief second before the words 'Jericho, California' appeared at the bottom of the screen. Heavy music played in the background as a young boy drove down the highway, talking on his cellphone.
Ares leaned forward, his interest peaked as he realized their curiosity was about to be satiated. Artemis however, spoke the words aloud, "I believe this to be the highway Dean spoke of earlier."
"Amy, I can't come over tonight," the boy said. Listening to the girl on the other end, he reasoned, "Because I've got work in the morning, that's why…" a brief pause, "Yeah, okay, I miss it and my dad's gonna have my ass."
A high-pitched whine could be heard. The boy ducked his head slightly to see through the window, and the camera focused on a woman standing by the side of the road, dressed in a plain white dress. She moved forward, the movement appearing as though she were dancing; her entire frame flickered and she vanished.
"What?" some demigods spat out.
Nico grimaced, "Definitely a ghost then. But what's she doing out of the Underworld?"
"Security must be lacking," Demeter mocked her brother. However, much to the entire room's surprise, the Lord of the Dead didn't rise to his whiny sister's bait, he simply shook his head, flummoxed and heavily perturbed by these turn of events, "I don't have security. It was never required. Once the Judgment Pavilion has delivered the dead's verdict, they are physically and spiritually unable to leave their post, unless summoned."
Hera scowled, "Perhaps you sired another spawn then."
Nico, Percy, Thalia, Jason and Annabeth glared daggers at the Queen of Olympus.
Before Zeus could dramatically summon a thunderstorm and rant about the oath, Hades firmly refuted Hera's censure, "I have not. My last lover was Maria di Angelo. And I only have two children, as Nico already informed you, they are in the Lotus Hotel in Las Vegas and I ensured they had no memories of me whatsoever. I had Alecto take them to River Lethe before depositing them there, so no Zeus, Hera, this is not of my or mine's doing."
Nico flinched at the mention of his mother and sister, but other than that subtle reaction, he remained impassive and wholly indifferent to the stares he received. He was quite used to people instantly pointing blame at his father, despite them not having valid proof.
"What about the girl? The child of your Roman aspect?" Athena demanded, jutting her chin toward Hazel who looked severely uncomfortable with all the attention fixated on her. Nico and Frank moved to sit protectively in front of her, in the case of Zeus losing his temper and sending a lightning bolt at her before listening to reason.
An indecipherable glint passed through Hades' eyes as he met Hazel's demure gaze, "I know not of the reason behind her revival. Last I checked she was in Asphodel."
"And she still is," Nico cut in, his voice firm. "I won't get into it, as it's a long story, but she got out in the future. Hazel's currently not responsible for these events." Zeus, Athena and Hera glared at Nico and Hazel before looking away; Hades however, studied his children a moment longer, confusion the main emotion on his visage, and his fear regarding Bianca's fate surged.
"Then," Hestia softly cut in, not wishing for the quarrel to escalate further, "We must ponder the reason behind this ghost's appearance and not attack one another without concrete proof, yes?"
Slightly spooked, the boy ended the call, "Hey, ah, Amy, let me call you back?"
The music kept flickering, sounding more like static then music, and he tried turning the radio off, to no avail. The woman dressed in white reappeared before him, and he pulled over. Up close, he could see her dress was torn in several places and she was barefoot. He leaned forward, "Car trouble or something?"
There was a long pause filled with heavy silence before the woman finally spoke, "Take me home?"
"Hey! That's the- that's the voice from the voicemail Dean got from his father!" Annabeth excitedly pointed out; nothing got her more excited than the deciphering of an extremely puzzling riddle and receiving answers to her questions.
Athena smiled proudly at her daughter.
Clarisse shook her head, "I don't think that's a good thing, princess."
Annabeth mock-glared at her, "I never said it was. Just connecting the dots."
The boy opened the passenger door from the inside and smiled, "Sure, get in."
The women climbed in and closed the door.
"Wait a sec," Nico spoke so abruptly, a few of his friends jumped in their seats and the scene paused, prompting a scowl out of Hera, who had had more than enough of the demigods and their constant interruptions, and Ares who had been looking forward to some action. "She closed the door. Aren't spirits supposed to be unable tointeract with the physical world? Shouldn't they be, I dunno, intangible?"
"That's-" Zeus frowned, finding merit in the spawn of Hades' deduction, "The boy makes a valid point."
Chris shrugged, voice uncertain, "So maybe she's not a ghost then?"
"So, where do you live?" he asked, starting the car again.
Her answer was short and brisk, "At the end of the Breckenridge Road."
The boy nodded and after a pause gave her a side-glance, "You coming from a Halloween party or something?" The woman offered no reply. He raked her form, noting that her dress was very low-cut and he looked away, laughing nervously. "You know, a girl like you really shouldn't be alone out here."
"Is that the mortal boy's despicable attempt of light-hearted flirtation?" Artemis growled, scandalized at the boy for harassing the woman due to the amount of skin being shown on display. "You see?! You see?! All men are nothing but chauvinistic swines. If I am to assume correctly, the girl on the phone is his girlfriend! Unacceptable behavior-"
Apollo groaned, "Ugh, give it a rest, Artie. We get it. You don't like men. You've been wearing the t-shirt forover four thousand and six hundred years, give or take a decade."
A few gods and demigods couldn't help but laugh, desperately attempting to muffle the sound lest they suffer Artemis's wrath.
"Don't call me Artie!" Artemis hissed in retort.
"ENOUGH!" Zeus shouted, effectively ending their escalating argument.
Artemis however, much to Aphrodite's amusement, grew even more scandalous and outraged as the scene progressed, the woman's actions harrowing her, almost as though she was personally insulting the virgin goddess of the hunt.
She shot him a mournful look and pouted her lips in a seductive manner, fingers slowly, almost tantalizingly, pulling the skirt of her dress over her thigh, displaying a generous amount of creamy skin. "I'm with you," she whispered, licking her lower lip.
The boy abruptly looked away, taken aback by her brashness, but the woman apparently didn't like that, for she grabbed his chin and turned his face toward her. "Do you think I'm pretty?" she asked, coquettishly. He nodded, eyes lingering on her cleavage, "Uh-huh."
Apollo smirked; he, like Aphrodite, was enjoying the look of utter outrage on his sister's face.
Thalia shook her head, unlike her mistress, she didn't seem too bothered by the flirtatious banter, but she did have a bad feeling that something was terribly amiss. Didn't the woman flicker and disappear for a moment? Telling by the looks on Nico, Percy, Jason and Annabeth's faces, they were thinking amongst the same lines as her
"Will you come home with me?" she purred.
"Um. Hell yeah."
"Yes. Cheat on your girlfriend. Typical," Hera sneered, not liking this mortal.
Zeus shifted uncomfortably in his throne and avoided his wife's glare.
The scene shifted, showing an old rusty-looking house at the end of a road that was obviously abandoned. The woman stared sadly at it.
"Come on. You don't live here," the boy frowned, looking from the woman to the house oddly.
"I can never go home," she said, sounding miserable.
Amphitrite adopted a pensive frown, "Why does she keep repeating those words?"
"Like I said before. Peculiar," Persephone hummed noncommittally.
"What are you talking about? Nobody even lives here. Where do you live?" He turned to face her, only to find himself sitting alone in the car. The backseat was also empty. Nervously, he got out of the car. "That's good. Joke's over, okay? You want me to leave?" But there was no sign of life, only the crickets that could be heard chirping nearby.
He walked towards the house, calling out for her.
The camera showed the inside of the house, and it homed in on a picture of the woman and two children, a girl and a boy; the picture was covered in heavy dust.
"I don't like this," Rachel shivered, allowing Katie to pull her in for a comforting hug.
Grover shook his head, "I know it doesn't add up, but she's definitely a ghost."
Freaked out, the boy rushed back to his car and drove off.
Back in the highway where he initially came across the woman, he kept looking behind him, frantic. There was no one there. Turning back around, he yelled upon seeing the reflection of the woman in the rearview mirror. The woman appeared in the backseat. He drove straight through a "Bridge Closed" sign, stopping halfway across the bridge.
Terrified screams could be heard and blood spattered the windows.
The screen turned black.
The throne room was engulfed in a heavy silence.
"He's dead. Isn't he?" Katie hesitantly asked.
"Most probably," Annabeth looked pained at having to say it. "That woman's definitely a ghost."
Nico didn't look so certain, "I don't know, Annabeth. She's corporeal. Maybe she's a monster and the Mist manipulated everything we saw."
"Young man, this is not the working of the Mist," Hecate stated, as Goddess of the Mist, she would know, and that was the only reason why Nico dropped the subject.
"Nico, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's a damn duck!" Thalia snapped.
Nico scowled at her and looked away.
"You guys done?" Hermes asked, amused.
The Impala was parked in front of a pump. Dean could be seen coming out of a convenience mart nearby, carrying a heap of junk food. Sam sat shotgun with the passenger door open, riffling through a box of tapes.
"Hey!"
Sam leaned out to get a better look at Dean.
"You want breakfast?" he offered. Sam shook his head.
At that moment, Liv groaned from the backseat. She was splayed out, with her ankle boots hanging out the window and a navy-blue beanie covering her face.
"She is such a darling," Aphrodite fondly cooed.
"You got me Cheetos?" she asked, tossing the beanie beside her and leaning forward expectantly. Dean grinned and tossed her the orange bag of chips. "Awesome. Thanks!" and she proceeded to open the bag and dig in, ignoring Sam's look of distaste and his comment of, "That's not breakfast, Liv."
Demeter frowned and the moment she made a clucking noise with her tongue, the gods and demigods in the room groaned, preparing themselves for the goddess's harping. "Sam is correct! She should at least have some cereal. Or a nice bran muffin. Not greasy chips. Tis not healthy!"
"So how'd you pay for that stuff? You and Dad still running credit card scams?" Sam's voice was laced with disapproval.
"They live a dishonest life," Ariadne frowned.
Liv rolled her eyes again and got out of the car to stretch her legs, still munching happily on her bag of chips. Dean put the nozzle back on the pump, "Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro ball career. Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards."
"Yeah?" Sam glowered, swinging his legs back inside the car and closing the door. "And what names did you write on the applications this time?"
Liv snorted, eyes dancing with mischief as she got back in the car. Dean shot her a mock glare as he got into the driver seat and put his soda and chips down, "Burt Aframian. His son Hector and his daughter Florence. Scored three cards out of the deal." He closed his door.
"That sounds about right," Sam absently said. "I swear, man, you've got to update your cassette tape collection."
"Cassette tapes? Oh come on dude, this is the 21st century! Get with the times," Connor snapped his fingers.
Thalia scowled, "There's nothing wrong with being retro, Connor."
"The 20s, the 60s, 90s, they were the best eras," Apollo smiled, expression nostalgic. Aphrodite, Hermes, Ares and Poseidon nodded in agreement, their eyes slightly glassy as they recalled a few special memories. Percy had a sinking feeling that they were all remembering past lovers and he shuddered, not wanting an image of his Dad and some chick in his head.
"Why?" Dean asked.
Sam arched a brow, "Well, for one, they're cassette tapes-
"That's what I said," Connor cried out, only to be met with a slap, courtesy of Thalia.
-and two; Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica?" with every name, he held up their tape.
Ares scowled, "What a punk. They are the best rock bands."
"Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy are awesome, Sam. Don't knock 'em," Liv championed as Dean took the box labeled Metallica from Sam and popped a tape in the player.
The war god nodded, mollified, "At least the girl's got good taste." though those that intimately knew Ares sensed that something was really bothering him.
"Hold on. I just realized something," Percy looked as if an epiphany struck him, and he sat up ramrod straight like a lightning bolt hit him from where he sat. "Sam read the bands' names from the cassettes. And before, at the parking lot, he read the newspaper. He's not dyslexic."
"Meaning he's not a demigod," Frank concluded, finishing off the son of Poseidon's line of thoughts.
Poseidon couldn't help but feel impressed with his son, though the gods weren't as glad to be back at square one. Persephone sighed, "Then what demigod were the Fates talking about?"
"Perhaps it's someone that has yet to be introduced but would show up later," Hestia hypothesized. Athena nodded, "But it doesn't explain the events that took place twenty-two years ago. Whoever murdered Mary set their eyes on Sam. Sam was the intended victim for some perplexing reason."
"Well, we won't know until it's revealed to us, so let's just continue watching," Apollo concluded, putting an end to the debate.
Sam scoffed, "It's the greatest hits of mullet rock."
"Well, house rules, Sammy-" Liv chanted the next part with Dean, "-Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts their cakehole." Dean winked at Liv and Sam glared at them before saying, "You know, Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old. It's Sam, okay?"
Dean proceeded to higher the volume, "Sorry, I can't hear you, the music's too loud." and he drove off, Liv's laughter meshing with AC/DC's 'Back in Black'.
"AC/DC's awesome!" Connor cheered, high-fiving Travis. "I take back my previous comment."
The screen showed the Impala drive past a sign that said "JERICHO 7", before it shifted to Sam thanking somebody on the other end of the line before closing his phone and addressing Dean and Liv, "All right. So, there's no one matching Dad at the hospital or the morgue. So that's something, I guess."
Dean glanced over at Liv from the rearview mirror and gave her a soft smile, then looked back at the road. Liv could be seen drumming her fingers nervously against her jean-clad thighs, eyes rotating at a fast pace until they settled on something in front, "Check it out."
Sam leaned forward to get a closer look. At the bridge ahead of them, there were two police cars parked and several officers scattered around.
Dean pulled over and all three of them took a long look before Dean turned off the engine. Leaning forward, Dean opened the glove compartment and began pulling out a box filled to the brim with ID cards, pictures of John, Dean, and Liv emblazoned on them and a few with Sam's.
Rachel sucked in a sharp breath and she leaned closer to the screen, blinking madly as though to double-check she wasn't imagining things. "Wow. That's quite an impressive collection. FBI. DEA. If those are borrowed or stolen they'd be charged with fake ID crime. It's a felony in some states."
"Credit card scams, fake IDs, a trunk loaded with arsenal," Clarisse listed, ticking them off on her fingers, "This family is definitely not normal if they've managed to sail through many crimes and not get caught. I don't know if I should be impressed or scared."
Leo grinned from ear to ear, "I'd go with impressed."
Dean flashed Sam a grin and picked one out for him. Reluctantly, Sam took it and got out of the car, but upon seeing Liv right behind Dean, he stopped in his tracks, "Uh, Liv, maybe you should sit this part out, you know. Wait in the car."
Liv looked affronted, "And why, Sammy, would I do that?"
"Because, Olivia, you're sixteen! They'll easily see through our disguise and bust us," Sam heatedly retorted, totally ignoring a wide-eyed Dean, who was making a cutting motion through the air behind Liv's back in an attempt to get Sam to stop talking. She gazed at Sam with a flinty stare, and without another word, stormed over to the crowd of officers.
Ariadne had a soft frown on her face, "I understand where Sam is coming from. They are already carrying out unlawful acts and Olivia is a teenager. He is protective of her-"
"Don't forget that the brothers won't be mistaken as children," Athena haughtily interjected. Apollo scoffed at the brainiac, "Are you kidding me? When Liv first appeared onscreen, every single person in this room believed she was older than her true age. If Sam didn't keep announcing her age, we'd still be fooled."
Annabeth hesitantly spoke up, "Besides, I can sort of relate to her situation. Sam is determined to treat her as though she's a silly kid and is inferior to him. Dean obviously trusts her otherwise he wouldn't let her get involved and make her wait in the car. And she did say they had some case in New Orleans when John went missing. Now Liv's going to go out of her way to prove to Sam that she's not a kid."
The room was deathly silent once Annabeth stopped talking. A few demigods and Grover gave her encouraging smiles and the gods couldn't help but feel that they were missing something vital. Thankfully, Athena despised being kept in the dark, "You're saying you went through a similar incident?"
"Well, since it's 2005, you already know I made it to camp when I was seven, I mean, you kind of sent Grover to me," Annabeth and Athena smiled at each other. "I was one of the youngest demigods at camp, and well, I was always known as little Annie. My siblings kept codling me and even as I got older, they never took me seriously. That's one of the main reasons why I was desperate to go on a quest, to prove myself-"
Dionysus grunted, "Yes, yes. Annie Bell keeps hounding Chiron for a quest. It's frankly annoying. But then again, all your brats are." Those gods that had children at Camp Half-Blood glared at the wine god in deep umbrage and disapproval, though none more than Athena, who glowered at her brother and snapped, "Annabeth," to which he merely waved his hand and mumbled "whatever."
"Then Percy arrived at camp, got a quest shortly after and allowed me to join him. When we returned, I finally gained the respect I yearned for and nobody treated me like a kid anymore."
To the demigods, the memory of that quest was a sharp reminder of the beginning of the Second Olympian War, and the moment where Percy and Annabeth sort of became their leaders. But to the gods, they found too many things wrong with Annabeth's speech. For Poseidon, it was the fact that his son received a quest not long after he arrived at camp, which worried him. To Athena, she didn't trust the sea spawn with her precious daughter, and it all proved her point that Percy Jackson was a bad influence and would only bring danger into her daughter's life.
"What quest?" Zeus demanded.
Oh, the irony, the future teenagers thought.
Percy grimaced, "Uh, a story for later."
The car belonging to the boy that was attacked by the woman dressed in white could be seen in the middle of the bridge; the blood however, was gone. The deputy stood at the driver's side, peering into the interior of the car, "No sign of struggle, no footprints, no fingerprints. Spotless. It's almost too clean.
Dean and Sam could be seen in the background, walking into the crime scene like they belonged there. Liv was nowhere to be seen.
"So, this kid Troy. He's dating your daughter, isn't he?" an officer asked. The Deputy sighed and nodded. "How's Amy doing?"
"She's putting up missing posters downtown."
Out of nowhere, Liv approached them dressed in a charcoal gray skirt suit, looking like she meant business, "Last month, there was another case just like this one. Suspiciously spotless. Too clean. Hence, foul play. The assailant knows how to cover their tracks."
The Deputy and the Officer turned to Liv, the former with a mixture of surprise and the latter with fascination. The Deputy stepped forward, "And who are you?"
"She's good," Will nodded, while Leo looked even more enthralled than before.
Liv smiled, displaying a perfect set of white teeth, "Federal Marshal. The agency sent me and two others to start our own investigation since this place seems to be a hotspot for many crimes and I don't believe the assailant is a copycat."
"Aren't you a little young for a marshal?" the officer asked. Liv chuckled, "I get that a lot, officer. One of the reasons I made it to the top was because people have a nasty habit of underestimating me." She didn't give the gobsmacked men an opportunity to make a comment as she turned around and beckoned Dean and Sam over.
Apollo had a dazed expression on his face, "She should go into theater. She's really good."
Poseidon erupted into a bout of booming, hearty laughter, "She'd definitely beat Zeus in the theater department."
Zeus glowered at his comedian of a brother, not amused in the slightest.
"You haven't answered my question, Deputy," Liv reminded him.
"Last month, we had another about a mile up the road. There've been others before that," he supplied. Sam nodded, averting his eyes from Liv's form, "So, this victim, you knew him?"
The officer sighed, "Town like this, everybody knows everybody."
Dean circled Troy's car, inspecting it, "Any connection between the victims, besides that they're all men?"
"No. Not so far as we can tell," the officer replied. Liv smiled at him, "What theory have you come up with."
It was obvious that the officer was quite taken with Liv, which disgruntled Sam.
Ares scowled and quickly shook his head. Aphrodite subtly glanced at her lover, confusion heavy on her gorgeous features. She strongly believed Ares developed a crush on the girl and was jealous at the cute officer's reaction to her. But the truth was, Ares was annoyed at the answer that kept eluding him. For some confounding reason, the girl seemed familiar to him; the war god felt as if he should know her, but he kept coming up blank and he was very close to bursting a vessel.
"Honestly, we don't know. Serial murder? Kidnapping ring?" the officer answered.
Dean smiled sarcastically, "Well, that is exactly the kind of crack police work I'd expect out of you guys-" Sam quickly stomped on his foot, effectively silencing him. Sam curtly nodded at the Deputy and the officer, "Thank you for your time, gentlemen."
Liv brushed her hand against the officer's forearm, eyes wide with innocence, "I apologize for my partner, officer, deputy. He has a mouth filter problem."
"Yes well," the deputy puffed up and acknowledged her with a small smile and the officer beamed brightly at her. Liv smiled, "Well, I better be off. The case won't solve itself."
The camera shifted; Sam and Dean were heading over to the Impala, and Dean smacked Sam on the head.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Obviously for stepping on his foot," Nico mumbled
"Why'd you have to step on my foot?" Dean retorted.
Sam scowled, "Why do you have to talk to the police like that?"
Dean moved to stand in front of Sam, forcing him to stop walking. "Come on. They don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're going to find Dad we've got to get to the bottom of this thing ourselves."
"Where is Olivia?" Ariadne asked; she appeared to have taken quite a liking to the girl, prompting a muted groan from Dionysus. Despite Theseus' betrayal, Ariadne never lost her certain fondness in regards to demigods. He didn't like it, but he learned to accept it. But now? Now his beloved wife was starting to grow fond of a silly mortal girl. Di immortales!
"She stayed behind to cover up Dean's faux-pas," Aphrodite simply stated.
Sam cleared his throat, looking over Dean's shoulder. Dean turned to see the Sheriff and two FBI Agents.
Rachel groaned loudly, "Oh, they are so going to get busted!"
"Maybe not," Connor weakly rebutted.
"Can I help you boys?"
Dean smiled confidently at the Sheriff, "No, sir, we were just leaving." He then nodded as the FBI agents passed them and said, "Agent Mulder. Agent Scully."
Percy, the Stolls, Chris, Clarisse, Will, Rachel, Piper, Leo, and Frank collapsed into laughter, confusing their friends. Even Hermes and Apollo understood, and chuckled lightly. Out of breath, the Stolls wheezed, ribs hurt from the intense laughter and Rachel actually fell on Leo as she had lost her balance mid-laughter.
Thalia, Jason and Nico traded disgruntled looks at yet another joke escaped them. First Ghostbusters, now this? They really needed to get up to speed on stuff that didn't include divine and monstrous entities. Hazel cleared her throat, amusement shining in her eyes at her boyfriend's carefree attitude, "Would any of you mind clueing us in?"
Leo's chuckles interspersed with his explanation, "Mulder and Scully. They're FBI special agents in the series 'The X-Files, and-and-"
"Scully. Agent Dana Scully is a girl," it was a wonder how Rachel managed to string along that sentence, her face was an alarming shade of red, almost as red as her shocking hair.
Percy then pointed at the screen, where they could clearly see, the agent that had been called Scully by Dean, glaring at his retreating back in huge offense. Catching his breath, Percy rewound his arm around Annabeth's waist, "Ah, we really need to educate you guys in pop-culture."
Hera glowered at them, "Are you done?"
Thalia sneered, "Yes, your majesty."
Hera harrumphed, not detecting the sarcasm or the amount of loathing that caressed the daughter of Zeus's words, but the other Olympians, Hades, Hecate, Hestia and Persephone did, and what they realized staggered them. For not only was Thalia glaring at the Queen of Olympus with malice, but each and every one of the teenagers from the future. They decided to ponder over the anomaly later, and perhaps inquire about it when they paused for lunch.
"Bravo Dean. Questioning the guy's masculinity, you're just calling for trouble," Liv snarked, joining Dean and Sam. Dean smirked. Sam went to open his mouth but Liv merely glared at him and walked faster, walking in front of the brothers instead of beside them.
Dean sighed and shook his head at Sam.
The focus shifted; a young woman with chestnut hair could be seen ambling down the street, tacking up posters with Troy's face and a caption "MISSING TROY SQUIRE".
The demigods squinted, all sixteen of them huffing in aggravation.
"What does it say?" Chris groaned. Grover beat Athena to the punch, "Missing, Troy Squire."
Percy grinned, "Thanks G-Man."
"I'll bet you that's her," Dean said, eyes focused on the young woman.
They approached her and Liv bluntly inquired, "You Amy?"
"Yeah," Amy confirmed. Dean nodded, "Yeah, Troy told us about you. We're his uncles. I'm Dean, this is Sammy. And Liv here is our cousin." Amy nodded at each one of them as Dean made the introductions, then said, "He never mentioned you to me."
Dean chuckled and shrugged, seemingly not bothered, "Well, that's Troy, I guess. We're not around much, we're up in Modesto."
"So, we're looking for him too, and we're kinda asking around," Sam added.
At that moment, a girl that appeared to be around Amy's age came over and put a hand on Amy's arm in a comforting manner, "Hey, are you okay?" Amy sniffled a "yeah" before Liv cut in, "I know this is hard and all, but we're worried about Troy as well. Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions?"
"Those three are naturally born liars," Hermes smirked, impressed.
Hera however, was not. "That's not an endearing trait, Hermes!" she scowled.
Nico shrugged, "Depends on how you look at it."
"Yeah, sometimes lying is necessary for survival," Clarisse grunted.
Hermes winked at the son of Hades and the daughter of Ares while Hera grew more incensed.
The five of them sat in a booth in a diner. Dean and Sam were sitting opposite Amy and her friend, while Liv sat at the head of the table.
"He didn't say anything strange, or out of the ordinary?" Sam asked. But Amy shook her head, "No. Nothing I can remember."
Liv's eyes were narrowed, and the camera homed in on a pendant coiled around her neck: a pentagram in a circle. "I like your necklace," she commented. Amy's gaze lowered and she laughed, "Troy gave it to me. Mostly to scare my parents with all that devil stuff."
Dean caught Liv's eyes as Sam studied the necklace. "Actually, it means just the opposite. A pentagram is protection against evil. Really powerful. I mean, if you believe that kind of thing," Sam explained.
Liv could be seen absently fingering a thin metal chain around her neck. The pendant couldn't be seen as it was tucked under her shirt.
"Okay. Thank you, Unsolved Mysteries," Dean commented offhandedly. He then leaned forward, expression solemn, "Here's the deal, ladies. The way Troy disappeared, something's not right. So if you've heard anything…"
Amy and her friend traded a meaningful look. It didn't escape Liv's attention, "What is it? You two know something."
Amy's friend hesitantly spoke up, "Well, it's just… I mean, with all these guys going missing, people talk."
"What do they talk about?" Percy and Jason chorused, leaning forward, obviously getting into the story. Annabeth and Piper stared at their respective boyfriends in amusement.
"What do they talk about?" Dean and Sam said together.
Thalia laughed, "Wow, you guys think alike."
Jason frowned, though his lips were twitching, "You say it like it's a bad thing."
"It's kind of this local legend. This one girl? She got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago," Amy's friend elaborated; at the encouraging nods Dean, Sam and Liv gave her, she continued, "Well, supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up? Well, they disappear forever."
Dean, Sam and Liv looked at each other, expressions grim.
"And that sounds like the beginning of a ghost story people usually make a point to talk about whenever they're sitting around a campfire in the woods," Rachel muttered, goosebumps taking residence on her arms.
Triton cocked his head to the side staring at the mortal girl that hosted the spirit of Delphi oddly, "And why would mortals do such a thing?" A few demigods jumped, and instantly looked away with sheepish expressions – they had forgotten that Triton was in the room as he barely spoke.
Rachel smiled, shrugging a shoulder, "It's sort of a… rite of passage."
"Yeah, well. This isn't a ghost story," Nico obstinately commented.
Thalia scoffed, "Oh come on. You saw that woman disappear and reappear. If she's not a ghost then do tell, what is she?"
"I don't know! But she was corporeal, Thalia! I mean, unless Melinoe was involved. She does have control over ghosts. Maybe she summoned her and made her solid, but then why would she intervene on mortals' lives?" he asked rhetorically, sounding slightly snappish at the mention of his half-sister he utterly loathed as much as Hera. Thalia's fists clenched as well at her name and Percy winced, recalling their last standoff.
It was almost instantaneous. Every god shifted their stares from the squabbling demigods, to Hades and Persephone. Hades sighed gloomily, "My daughter has no grudge with mortal men."
Seeing her father's skeptical expression, Persephone cut in before Zeus could put her foot in her mouth and instigate another argument, "Melinoe is not to blame. End of discussion!" She was fiercely protective of her children and her tone brooked no argument.
A quick survey showed a library, before the shot zoomed in on the screen of a computer. The web browser was opened on an archive search for the Jericho Herald. Fingers skated through the keyboard and on the screen, the words "Female Murder Hitchhiking" were typed into the search box. The curser clicked on GO.
Percy groaned and frantically rubbed his eyes, "This is murder on my dyslexic eyes."
"Oh don't be so dramatic-" Athena's scolding abruptly halted when she saw that the other demigods, including her daughter, sported pained expressions, rubbing their eyes and trying to lean forward to better read the words on the screen.
A sympathetic sigh emanated from Rachel's mouth and Grover immediately tackled the issue, translating the words on the screen for his friends' sake. The satyr and the Oracle had long ago gotten used to aiding their demigod friends when it came to their dyslexia and they never needed any prodding or encouragement in the issue.
"Is it that bad?" Hestia gently inquired, her childish features scrunched with pity.
Katie nodded, expression downtrodden, "It's like the words are dancing before our eyes and if I concentrate deeply, I sometimes get a migraine. I mean, it's like that because we're hardwired to Ancient Greek, which is cool. But the language isn't commonly spoken anymore."
"And for some of us who actually like to read, it can be very annoying," a miserable Annabeth grumbled. Percy gave her cheek a chaste kiss before saying, "Also it's detrimental to our grades at school, and our teachers have a habit of judging us as lazy kids or delinquents. So that's another problem for us demigods."
The gods analyzed their children with sad eyes, not having anything to say that could cheer them up.
Receiving zero results, Dean replaced "Hitchhiking" with "Centennial Highway" only to get the same response.
This time, Rachel translated.
"Let me try," Sam impatiently stepped in, only for Dean to smack his hand and snap, "I got it." But Sam shoved Dean's chair out of the way and stubbornly took over. "Dude!" Dean growled, hitting him in the shoulder, "You're such a control freak."
The camera shifted to show Liv sitting on a chair beside the quarrelling brothers with her eyes closed, lazily rocking backwards and forwards on the chair. It looked like she was about to topple over, but at the last minute, she'd expertly move forward and then rock backward again on the hind legs of the chair.
"So angry spirits are born out of violent death, right?" Sam asked, the shot never leaving Liv's face. She scrunched her nose and absently murmured, "Yeah."
"Well, maybe it's not murder," Sam reasoned.
Hades' black eyes glittered with interest.
"Uh, is that true?" Nico hesitantly asked his Dad. Hades' orbs collided with Nico's, "While the dead is my domain, I am afraid to say that this surpasses even my knowledge. Their ideas may be far-fetched, but then again, I do believe the Fates have a reason for having us witness this. Perhaps they wish to open our eyes to matters we never knew existed."
Sam typed on the keyboard, replacing "Murder" with "Suicide" and an article appeared, entitled "Suicide on Centennial". Dean glanced at Sam, who opened the article, dated April 25, 1981.
"Can you guys read it out loud please," Liv asked, eyes still closed.
Dean acquiesced without argument, "A local woman's drowning death was ruled a suicide, the county Sheriff's Department said earlier today. Constance Welch, 24, of 4636 Breckenridge Road-
"That's were the ghost appeared to Troy," Travis put in.
Thalia smacked a hand over Nico's mouth before he could initiate another argument regarding whether or not that woman was a ghost. He grumbled and glared at her, to which Thalia glared back, not intimidated.
-leapt off Sylvania Bridge, at mile 33 of Centennial Highway, and subsequently drowned last night. Deputy J. Pierce told reporters that, hours before her death, Ms. Welch logged a call with 911 emergency services. In a panicked tone, Ms. Welch described how she found her two young children, 5 and 6, in the bathtub, after leaving them alone for several minutes. She reported that their complex, blah blah blah," Dean mumbled, skimming the page before picking up again, "What happened to my children was a terrible accident. And it must have been too much for my wife. Our babies were gone, and Constance just couldn't bear it," said husband Joseph Welch. "Now I ask that you all please respect my privacy during this trying time." At the time of the children's death and Ms. Welch's subsequent suicide, Mr. Welch was at the Frontier auto salvage yard, where he works the graveyard shift as associate manager. "Connie might have been quiet, but she was the sweetest, most caring girl I ever knew," said Deanna Kripke, a neighbor. "She just doted on those children." what else," he murmured to himself.
Liv's eyes were now opened, narrowed at the opposite wall, deep in thought.
"That's terrible," Ariadne sympathized. "While I do not agree with suicide, I cannot imagine how she felt after lose her children due to her neglect."
It wasn't a funny matter. Not even a smidge. But Percy, Annabeth and Grover were fighting off smiles as a sudden memory hit them, eyes dancing with mirth. Piper frowned, "I don't see how this is funny, you guys."
Annabeth quickly shook her head, "No, no. It's not that. It's just-" she bit her lip in the hopes of repressing her laughter, prompting Percy to take over, "Well, you know my first quest included getting into the Underworld. So, well, uh," he sheepishly scratched the nape of his neck, "we needed to give Charon an excuse about how we died so he can let us pass. And uh-"
The demigods were so entranced in Percy, Annabeth and Grover recounting a tale out of the most infamous quest, that they didn't notice every single god in the room were focused on them, capturing each word; when the daughter of Athena previously mentioned Percy receiving his first quest upon his arrival to camp, Poseidon never dreamed of it comprising a visit to the Underworld, and fear gripped his heart.
"Wh-When Charon asked us how we died, well, I-I-" Grover flushed a dark magenta and sent a half-hearted glare at Percy and Annabeth, both of whom had actual tears streaming down their cheeks. "The first thing I could think of was that we uh, drowned."
Jason looked nonplussed, "I don't get what's so funny."
"He didn't say it right," Percy huffed, eyes twinkling with mischief at his red-faced friend, "Grover said we drowned in a bathtub. All three of us. At the same time. Together…"
It took a second to process Percy's words before the other demigods and Rachel broke into laughter at Grover's expense. "I was under pressure. It was the first thing I could think of," he brayed.
"Yeah, 'cause that makes a load of sense. The son of the Sea God died by drowning. Well done, Grover," Clarisse smirked.
Noticing it was too silent in the throne room, the teenagers halted in their laughter and their eyes widened upon seeing the white-faced and wide-eyed gods, most notably-
"WHAT WERE YOU DOING IN THE UNDERWORLD?!" Poseidon boomed, gripping his Trident tightly. At the same time, Athena shrieked at Poseidon, "Your son is a bad influence on my daughter! I knew nothing good could come of that friendship," she sneered. None of the demigods corrected the Goddess of Wisdom – they didn't want to be anywhere in the vicinity when Athena discovered that her daughter wasn't friends with Percy, but his girlfriend.
Hades however, reacted to the news quite differently, and he peered at the two demigods and the satyr in a combination of interest and respect, "You entered my domain and escaped unscathed. How remarkable."
Percy, Thalia and Nico traded an amused smirk – more than once, they thought at the same time.
Once the hyperventilating Sea God and Athena relaxed, they returned their attention to the screen, though not before sending their respective child a pointed look that screamed 'we will be talking about this later.'
Sam scrolled down, showing a picture of Constance.
"HA!" Thalia let out a yell of victory. "That's the woman who intercepted Troy! She died twenty-four years ago. You can't argue against the ghost theory anymore."
Nico sullenly looked away, "She could be a zombie."
Hades and Persephone grimaced; they didn't want to question Melinoe, but as Hades' only living demigod children were unavailable, it left their daughter, the Goddess of Ghosts.
"The bridge look familiar to you?" Dean asked, looking at a picture of Joseph Welch next to the Sylvania Bridge. He then turned to look over his shoulder to better see Liv, "Why're you quiet all of a sudden?"
Liv pursed her lips and stood up, "I just… I think Constance killed her kids. I mean, hello, a five and six year old both die in the same bathtub at the same time? How deep was the water? Come on, something isn't right."
Dean and Sam looked at each other and grimaced.
Hera looked horrified, "What mother would kill her children? Olivia must be wrong!" Everyone, everyone, fixated Hera with a disbelieving, judgmental stare. "What?" she snapped.
"Really? You did not just say that," Ares gaped, her comment succeeding in snapping him out of his long reverie.
"You hurled me off Mount Olympus because I didn't fit into your prefect world and perfect expectations!" Hephaestus sneered, old wounds opening up once again.
Hera pursed her lips and looked away, "Don't be ridiculous, Hephaestus. You wouldn't have died."
"Like you knew that at the time," Dionysus mumbled, though everyone heard.
Hephaestus snorted rudely, silently agreeing with Dionysus.
"If the Goddess of Family didn't think twice about tossing her son away, and I say that lightly," Annabeth said, her voice steady, and her gray eyes piercing, "then any mother has the capability of murdering their own child."
The scenery changed; Dean, Sam and Liv were walking along the Sylvania Bridge, suddenly stopping to lean on the railing and look down at the river.
"So this is where Constance took the swan dive," Dean stated. Sam looked over at Dean, "So you think Dad would have been here?"
"He was chasing this story, and we're chasing him, so I'd go for a yes," Liv said, walking past the brothers, "we have to dig deeper until we find him, no matter how long it takes." She had a determined look on her face which quickly contorted into anger with Sam's next words, "Liv, I told you and Dean, I've gotta get back by Monday."
Liv clenched her first and kept her mouth shut. Dean turned to look at Sam, "Monday. Right. The interview."
"I don't like Sam," Percy shook his head, glaring at the screen.
Annabeth was torn, "He does have an important interview that could shape his entire future, Percy."
"Yeah, but his father's missing!" Percy spoke up, as though that explained everything. "Nothing is more important than family, Annabeth."
"Percy," Thalia cut in, "You have a great relationship with your mother. I mean, Sally's awesome-" Amphitrite glared at Poseidon upon seeing his face brighten, cursing her husband's mortal lover in her head, "-she's a wonderful mother. You'd do anything for her. But… from what we've seen, Sam doesn't have a good relationship with his father. I'm not saying he shouldn't care about his wellbeing," Thalia quickly defended herself, "I'm just saying Annabeth and I can relate. His father basically threatened that if he left for college to never come back. And then he's supposed to drop everything for the guy that may not even be in trouble."
Percy grinded his teeth and looked away.
Athena and Zeus stared at their respective daughter in concern, wondering what Frederick and Beryl did to deserve such indifference.
"Yeah, I forgot." Dean was starting to get riled up, "You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just going to become some lawyer? Marry your girl?"
"Maybe. Why not?" Sam retorted heatedly.
Liv scoffed, joining the argument, "Because you're living a lie, Sam! Does Jessica even know the truth about you? About the world she lives in?! Does she know about the things you've done?!"
Sam stepped closer to get in her face, and Dean shoved him back, green eyes darkening with a warning. Sam ignored Dean and glared at Liv, "No, and she's not ever going to know."
"Well that's healthy," Dean sneered, "You can pretend all you want, Sammy. But sooner or later you're going to have to face up to who you really are."
"They make an excellent argument," Aphrodite hummed, wanting Sam and Jessica to endure – they made such a cute couple.
Dean took Liv's wrist and marched forward. Sam followed angrily, "And who's that?"
"You're one of us," Dean said, his voice firm. Sam didn't like that, and he hurried over to stand in front of his brother and cousin, "No. I'm not like you. Either of you," his chocolate orbs flickered between them, "This is not going to be my life."
"You're in denial," Liv glared.
Dean nodded, "You have a responsibility to-"
"To Dad!" Sam shouted, his anger obviously reaching its boiling point. "And his crusade? If it weren't for the pictures I wouldn't even know how Mom looks like. And what difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed them, they're gone! Mom isn't coming back, and neither is Aunt-"
Fast as a whip, Liv raised her hand and slapped Sam, effectively cutting him off, the sound reverberating loudly in the night. Tears of anger brimmed in her dark eyes and her voice took on a menacing hint, "Don't you dare! Don't you dare bring my mother into this! Just because you've given up, doesn't mean we should! While you're off playing Ivy League, living your perfect apple pie life in bliss denial with your stepford girlfriend and friends, we've been going through hoops trying to avenge Aunt Mary and Mom. And I won't give up, not until I see that bastard dead by my feet. So run off, go live in denial. Continue living a lie, see-"
"Liv!" Dean interjected.
Rachel grimaced. "This doesn't make any sense. The way they're speaking, it sounds like whatever killed Mary, also killed Liv's mom. Right?" she asked around.
"Like I said," Ares said, "It's personal. There's no other explanation."
"What could a mortal family have done to receive a monster's grudge?" Poseidon wondered aloud. Zeus however, was interested in something else, "What chance do mortals have against a monster? Guns and iron or steel blades are useless against them."
Leo frowned, "So basically, they're dead men and woman walking."
Liv stopped upon hearing the urgency in Dean's voice and she sucked in a deep breath, eyes widening. Sam turned around, his expression mirroring Dean's and Liv's. They were no longer alone. Constance stood by the edge of the bridge, watching them and without warning, stepped off the edge.
They ran to the railing and looked down.
"Where'd she go?" Dean asked.
"I don't know," Sam replied.
Loud rumbling could be heard. In unison, they turned around, mouths agape. The Impala's engine had started, and its headlights were on.
"What the-" Dean gasped.
"Who's driving your car?" Liv asked frantically. Dean pulled the keys to the Impala from out of his pocket and jingled them. Sam and Liv glanced at it and the car jerked into motion, heading straight for them.
"Now would be a good time to run!" Liv shrieked.
Nico sighed, posture slumping in defeat, "Okay. Fine. So Constance is a ghost. But it still doesn't make sense."
"I know, it's okay, Zombie Boy," Thalia joked, patting his shoulder lightly.
"Shut up, Pinecone Face!" Nico retorted without heat.
The Impala was faster however and as it got too close to them, they jumped over the railing and the car finally came to a halt.
Gasps permeated the throne room and most of the females covered their mouths in worry.
It could be seen, that both Sam and Liv managed to hold on to the edge of the bridge. Wordlessly, they pulled themselves back up and jumped over the rail before looking down, yelling frantically for Dean.
Down below, a vexed Dean crawled out of the water and the mud, panting and utterly filthy. "What?!" he shouted back, halting the other two mid-yell.
"You idiot!" Liv snapped in relief at the same time Sam called down to him, "Hey! Are you all right?"
Dean held up a hand in an A-OK gesture, "I'm super."
"Fast reflexes," Jason murmured, "That could've been an indicating sign of a demigod if it weren't for the fact that he doesn't have dyslexia."
Only Thalia and Piper heard him, which evoked thoughts of Liv, both of them wondering if maybe Liv was the demigod the Fates spoke of. However, they decided to keep those thoughts to themselves, for now, at least until they had more proof.
Dean closed the hood of his Impala and leaned on it, still looking agitated and filthy with muck.
"Your car all right?" Sam asked. Dean nodded, "Yeah, whatever she did to it, seems all right now. That Constance chick, what a bitch!" he hissed.
Liv shrugged, "Yeah well, we already highly suspect her of murdering her own children. Grand theft auto and attempted murder pales in comparison."
"Way to be blunt about it," Katie wrinkled her nose, palpably disturbed.
Sam grimaced, "Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure. So, where's the job go from here, genius?" He moved to stand next to Dean, eyes flickering from him to Liv. Dean threw his arms up in frustration and flicked mud off his hands.
Liv snickered, "Well, seeing as Dean smells like a toilet, I'd say shower." Sam laughed and Dean glowered at her, though his lips slightly twitched.
The scenery changed to the interior of a motel.
"One room, please," Dean requested. He stood by the check-in desk , still filthy, with Sam and Liv right behind him, the latter scrutinizing her surroundings with an air of indifference. The second the clerk picked up the card of 'Hector Aframian' he cocked his head, "You guys having a reunion or something?"
Liv jolted to the present, eyes narrowed on the clerk, "What do you mean?"
"I had another guy, Burt Aframian. He came and bought out a room for the whole month."
Dean, Sam and Liv looked at each other.
"That's definitely John," Percy smiled, sounding relieved.
Athena nodded curtly, "He reserved the room for an entire month, so it's safe to assume that he knew the others would come looking for him and it's highly probable he is no longer in town."
Nobody could argue with the Goddess of Wisdom.
A motel door swung open. On the other side, Sam stood up and pocketed a pin while Dean and Liv stood on either side of him as lookouts.
"He could have been my son," Hermes grinned; looking up, he found that he was met with over a dozen questioning gazes, "I already told you he isn't mine. I know the identity of every child of mine. Besides, we already agreed Sam isn't a demigod. He doesn't fit the description, remember."
"A pity," Hera sneered. Hermes rolled his eyes while his sons glared at her in contempt.
The three walked into the room. Every vertical surface had papers pinned to it: maps, newspaper clippings, pictures, notes. Books were scattered on the desk and assorted junk littered on the floor and the bed, including something with a hazard symbol.
"The room is a junkyard!" Demeter tutted, her face heavily lined with distaste.
Dean turned on the light by the bed and picked up a half-eaten hamburger. He then sniffed it and recoiled. Liv wrinkled her nose as she stepped over a line of salt on the floor, "Ugh, Dean. Don't smell that. That's just nasty."
"I don't think he's been here for a couple of days," Dean remarked, tossing the burger in the bin. Sam bent down and rubbed the salt on the floor between his fingers before looking up, "Salt, cats-eye shells… he was worried. Trying to keep something from coming in."
"Cats-eye shells?" Connor stated, at the same time Travis muttered, "Salt?"
Clarisse shook her head, "Again. Who are these people?!"
Dean scanned the papers covering one side of the wall. Liv took one look at them and groaned, rubbing her eyes violently before sharply looking away.
Thalia and Piper frowned and shared another meaningful look. That reaction looked familiar, it was an expression most demigods, including themselves, had when words were unintelligible to them. But they needed more proof before pointing it out; though they were leaning toward Olivia being the demigod.
"Centennial Highway victims," Dean murmured. "I don't get it. I mean, different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection, right? What do these guys have in common?" While he spoke, Liv made herself comfortable on the bed, sitting in a lotus position with her head buried in her hands, muttering to herself. Sam on the other hand, was scrutinizing the papers taped to the other walls.
"What's a Woman in White?" Rachel asked, forgetting that only Grover was able to correctly decipher the article that Sam was currently looking at.
"Woman in White," Liv mumbled loudly, breaking Dean and Sam's concentration. They both turned to look at her from over their shoulders just as she lifted her head, "This Constance chick. She's a Woman in White. She has to be!"
"What's a Woman in White?" Percy, Nico and Thalia intoned, echoing Rachel, and then glared at each other for saying the same thing.
Sam nodded slowly, impressed at Liv. "She's right. Dad figured it out," he then pointed at the article pinned up. "He found the same article we did. Constance Welch is a Woman in White."
Dean winked at Liv, pride palpable in his eyes, "You sly dog. Didn't I tell you, Sammy? Liv can handle herself." Sam cleared his throat and looked away. "All right," Dean clapped his hand and sat next to Liv on the bed, "If we're dealing with a Woman in White, Dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it."
"Excuse me?! Did I hear correctly or are my ears deceiving me?" Katie screeched, her face drained of its natural color.
"Are you telling me that they're also into grave desecration?! That's another felony and a sick one, too! What the Styx!" Rachel snapped, positively furious.
Artemis looked scandalized, "They are no Hunters! For that title only belongs to honorable beings."
"I think you're being hasty in your opinions," Apollo was quick to defend; for some reason, he had adopted a soft spot for that family, and it had nothing to do with the fact that Olivia was one of the most gorgeous women he had ever seen in all his millennia. "First we find corporeal ghosts wandering around killing mortal men at random, and then we discover she's called a 'woman in white'. That alone should be proof enough that there's something deeper and more sinister at play. I truly believe they are good people."
Poseidon nodded, "As do I."
"I concur with Apollo and Poseidon," Hecate claimed.
"She might have another weakness," Sam pointed out.
"It appears as though they are debating on the best method to eliminate this 'woman in white'," Hades stated, insinuating that he was in agreement with his brother, nephew and friend.
Liv shifted to a sleeping position and put her arms under her head eyes gazing solemnly at the ceiling, "Well, Uncle John would dig her up to make sure." She then turned her head a fraction to face Sam, "Does it say where she's buried?"
Sam shook his head, "No, not that I can tell. If I were Dad though, I'd go ask her husband." He tapped the picture of Joseph Welch.
"It says he's thirty in the article. Meaning he's sixty-four," Rachel read for them, garnering herself many grateful smiled from her friends and a nod from Clarisse.
Connor snorted, "That'd be a cheerful visit. Don't you think? Hello, Mr. Welch. Sorry to bother you, but did your wife by any chance, murder your children before jumping off a bridge?"
"Talk about sensitivity," Travis scoffed.
"All right. Why don't you, uh, see if you can find an address, I'm gonna get cleaned up," Dean started to walk away, but Sam stopped him. "Hey, Dean?" he stopped and turned back, expression inquiring. "What I said earlier, about Mom and Dad, I'm sorry."
Dean held up a hand, "No chick-flick moments."
Sam laughed and nodded, "All right. Jerk."
"Bitch," Dean chuckled before disappearing into the bathroom.
The room was too silent; turning around, his smile melted away upon seeing Liv standing in front of a large mirror, absently fiddling with a rosary that hung on the mirror. He slowly approached her, and his eyes slightly dimmed when he got a better look at her face – she looked absolutely miserable, and her eyes were brimming with unshed tears, her solemn gaze locked on a picture: John sat on the hood of the Impala, to his right sat a boy in a baseball camp and his left another, with unruly brown hair. On John's lap sat a tiny girl with shiny golden-brown locks, and his hands were securely holding her so that she didn't fall off. They all had bright smiles on their faces.
Liv stroked John's face with a finger, "He's the only parent I have left, Sam."
"They look adorable," Persephone cooed.
"What about her father?" Ariadne scowled. "From what we've heard, her mother is dead, but there hasn't been any mention of her father."
Hermes shrugged, "Maybe he's also dead."
"Or he walked out," Hazel added, a faraway look in her eyes.
Aphrodite narrowed her gaze at the picture, "Well, Olivia looks to be at least three years of age in the picture, meaning she lost her parents as an infant." Many in the room looked sad at the discovery.
"We'll find him," his voice was firm, almost a promise. He then hesitated, "And, I'm sorry about before. The comment I made-"
Liv shook her head and smiled at him, "Like Dean said. No chick-flick moments, dork."
Sam laughed and playfully retorted, "Goof."
The screen went black.
"What's with the nicknames? I mean, jerk, bitch, dork, goof?" Chris asked, smiling.
"Inside joke maybe," Annabeth suggested.
Sam was pacing, phone in hand, listening to a voice message. Jessica's voice was saying, "Hey, it's me, it's about ten-twenty Saturday night –"
A freshly clean Dean came out of the bathroom and grabbed his jacket shrugging it on one shoulder as he crossed the room. "Hey, man, I'm starving, I'm gonna grab a little something to eat in that diner down the street. You want anything?"
"No," Sam said shortly.
Dean then turned to Liv, who jumped out of bed, she too grabbing a leather jacket of her own, "Count me in. You know how antsy I get when I stay in one place with nothing to do."
Dean chuckled and the two left the motel room, leaving Sam behind.
Once again, Thalia and Piper traded a knowing look. If Liv really was a demigod, then that would be her ADHD in action. They really were surprised that no one caught on yet, especially Annabeth and Athena.
They were crossing the parking lot when Liv suddenly halted in her tracks, alarmingly taking in her surroundings. Dean looked over: a police car could be seen and the deputy and officer from earlier were chatting with the motel clerk.
"Shit!" Liv hissed when the clerk pointed right at them. Dean whipped out his phone.
"I'm honestly surprised they went that long without getting caught," Rachel muttered, still miffed about the grave desecration comment.
Connor gaped at her, "Who's side are you on?"
"The side where the dead are respected and allowed to rest in peace," Rachel snapped.
The shot alternated back to Sam, sitting on the bed in the motel room, still listening to Jessica's message: "So come home soon, okay? I love you."
Piper buried her head in Jason's chest, mortified with her mother's squeals of delight.
His phone beeped. Sam looked at it and pressed a button and placed it in his ear.
"If any of them were a demigod, they shouldn't be able to use cellphones," Annabeth couldn't help but point out, but while everyone nodded, Thalia and Piper weren't sure.
"What?" he said.
Outside, the deputies approached Dean and Liv and Dean quickly hissed down the phone, "Dude, five-oh, take off."
Alternating back to the motel room, Sam abruptly stood up, "What about you and Liv?"
"Uh, they already spotted us," Dean said, as the shot shifted back to the parking lot, "Go find Dad." He then hung up the phone and cockily grinned at the approaching deputies. "Problem, officers?"
"Where's your partner?" the one that showed a previous interest in Liv asked.
"I believe this is all a misunderstanding officers," Liv smoothly informed them, her stance was confident and she didn't look intimidated.
Amy's father jerked his thumb toward the motel just as Sam darted away from the window.
Ignoring Liv's statement, he continued, "So. Fake US Marshal. Fake credit cards. You got anything that's real?"
"My boobs," Liv grinned cheekily.
Laughter reverberated against the walls.
"Oh gods, she did not say that!" Katie giggled.
Nico chortled, "She's like a female Percy!"
"Hey! I wouldn't do that," Percy retorted, though he was smiling.
Clarisse scoffed and pinned him a pointed glare, "Seriously? You forgot how we first met? Or what about your first Capture the Flag?"
"Or when you first met Ares," Grover added.
The aforementioned god arched a brow at the group, "Excuse me?"
"Uh, story for another day?" Percy asked, grinning like a lunatic; for some reason, up till now, the Ares of 2005 seemed more tolerable than the Ares of 2006.
Dean glowered at the officer as his eyes zeroed in on her chest.
Ares found himself glowering as well, though only Aphrodite noticed with much confusion. She was more adamant to confront her lover once they took a break for lunch.
But before he could snap at the officer, Amy's father slammed Dean over the hood of the police car, "You have the right to remain silent-"
The screen turned black.
The Sheriff enters his office carrying a box which he set down on the table. Dean remained stoic as the Sheriff faced him. "So, you want to give us a real name?"
"You know what I've just realized? We don't know their last name," Frank stated.
Hazel frowned, "That's odd. Why hasn't it been mentioned yet?"
Nonplussed, everyone from the future shrugged and then looked at the gods in question.
Apollo grinned, "I'm sure it'll come up soon."
"I told you, it's Nugent. Ted Nugent," Dean responded nonchalantly.
Apollo smirked, "No, it's not."
"He's not really good at coming up with aliases, is he?" Hermes laughed.
Nico scowled, "I don't get it."
Will grinned, "He's a musician, Nico." Apollo gave his son a conspiratorial wink.
"I'm not sure you realize just how much trouble you're in here."
Dean rolled his eyes, "We talkin', like, misdemeanor kind of trouble or, uh, squeal like a pig trouble?"
The Stolls roared with laughter, muttering "like a pig" in between breaths.
"It's not that funny," Clarisse grumbled. Chris gave her a look and she smiled, "Fine maybe it's a little bit funny."
"My daughter's whipped by a boy," Ares muttered under his breath, "That's why I prefer having sons-"
"Oh, hush you," Aphrodite rebuked him, her gaze fierce. "I know for a fact that your son Ralph is heavily whipped by Tammi, a daughter of Demeter."
Ares scowled and looked away; he knew better than to argue with the goddess of love about matters of the heart.
"You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall," the Sheriff retorted. Dean looked away. "Along with a whole lot of Satanic mumbo-jumbo. Boy, you are officially a suspect. You and your lady accomplice."
Hazel didn't look pleased, "Why isn't Dean worried about Liv?"
"I think he's confident in her abilities. Didn't he defend her against Sam?" Leo reminded her – he was such a fan boy, the girls thought with amusement.
Dean's voice was laced with sarcasm, "That makes sense. Because when the first one went missing in '82 I was three and she wasn't even born yet."
The Sheriff didn't back down, "I know you've got partners. One of 'em's an older guy. Maybe he started the whole thing. So tell me. Dean." He tossed a brown leather-covered journal on the table. "This his?"
Dean stared at it, an emotion akin to recognition on his face. The Sheriff sat on the edge of the table and proceeded to flip through the journal: it was filled with newspaper clippings, notes, and pictures, just like the walls in the motel room. "I thought that might be your name. See, I leafed through this. What little I could make out, I mean, it's nine kinds of crazy," he said, sounding disgusted. "But I found this, too," he opened to a page just as Dean leaned forward – "DEAN 35-111" was circled with nothing else on the page. "Now. You're stayin' right here till you tell me exactly what the hell that means."
Percy blinked at the screen, "That's not Morse Code, right?"
"No," Annabeth and Leo, the two Morse Code speakers from their group, said in unison.
Hermes, however, cleared his throat, a Cheshire smile visible on his face, "Actually kids, those are coordinates." Percy grinned sheepishly at the God of Travelers and Roads.
Sam's approaching form was reflected in the chain-link covered, grimy glass window. He knocked on the door beside the window, and an old man opened the door shortly after.
"Hi. Are you Joseph Welch?" Sam inquired politely.
Upon receiving confirmation the scene changed; Sam and Joseph were walking down the driveway that was coated with junk, and Joseph had a photo in his hand, the photo Liv had been admiring in the hotel room of herself, Dean, Sam and John.
"Yeah, he was older, but that's him," Joseph affirmed, returning the photo to Sam. "He came by three or four days ago. Said he was a reporter."
"Now they're impersonating reporters, too?" Rachel grumbled; she didn't know why exactly she was taking it all so personally. Maybe it was due to the fact that unlike her demigod and satyr friends, Rachel lived in the mortal world all her life, making her more of a stickler for rules as she couldn't rely on the Mist to hide any misdemeanors.
Nico looked at Rachel in shock, "Yeah, well, how else are they supposed to get the information they need out of him? I mean, if someone came up to you and bluntly asked you to describe a real touchy subject just for the sake of curiosity, would you have?"
Rachel huffed in response and uncapped her pen, deciding to doodle on her jeans instead of answering. Aphrodite looked utterly appalled at the Oracle for disrespecting clothes.
"That's right. We're working on a story."
Joseph scowled, "Well, I don't know what the hell kinda story you're working on. The questions he asked me?" he shook his head at the mere thought of the questions, obviously displeased.
Sam nodded, "About your wife Constance?"
"He asked me where she was buried," Joseph angrily imparted.
"I understand where they're coming from, put in Joseph's point of view, it is very insensitive," Ariadne softly stated.
Sam nodded again, "And where is that again?"
"What, I gotta go through this twice?" he retorted heatedly. Sam quickly tried to appease the old man, "It's fact-checking. If you don't mind."
"I'm inclined to believe that he does mind," Annabeth stated. "Who would want to open up that can of worms? Especially if Liv's theory is correct and Constance did kill her children."
Percy grimaced, "I don't think he even knows that his wife killed his children, Annabeth."
"If she killed her kids," Grover pointedly reminded them.
Joseph revealed the location: a plot behind his old home over on Breckenridge. When Sam inquired over the reason behind why he moved, Joseph's agitated response was, "I'm not gonna live in the house where my children died."
Chris winced, "I don't blame him."
Travis nodded wholeheartedly. "Yeah, I'd move too. Probably burn down the entire house while I'm at it," he murmured the last part for only Connor and Chris to hear; he didn't want to trigger Leo's memories of his mother's death.
Sam stopped walking and looked Joseph squarely in the face, "Mr. Welch, did you ever marry again?"
Hera's eyes narrowed.
"No way. Constance, she was the love of my life. Prettiest woman I ever known."
"So you had a happy marriage?"
Joseph hesitated; then said, "Definitely."
"Liar!" Hermes and Apollo exclaimed.
Connor nodded, looking grave, "If you're going to say a lie, don't hesitate. Totally gives you away, man."
Percy nodded rapidly, his lips twitching into a smile, "Exhibit A. Grover."
"What?!" Grover pouted, affronted, "I'm not that bad."
"Really?" Percy said, skeptically. "Does 'Mrs. Dodds' ring any bells?"
Annabeth giggled, clapping a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. The poor satyr blushed so hard, the color traveled up to his ear tips and down to his Adam's apple.
Dionysus rolled his eyes, unable to believe he was willingly interfering in those brats' conversation, "Most satyrs are abysmal liars. It's an inborn trait of theirs."
"Wait, who's Mrs. Dodds?" Rachel inquired curiously. Even all the gods were looking at Percy inquisitively. Percy waved a hand, "Story for later?"
Groaning, the future demigods and Rachel grudgingly nodded. Hades and Nico however, looked thoughtful, 'why does that name seem familiar?'
Thanking Joseph for his time, Sam walked toward the Impala, but on second thought, he paused and turned to look back at the widower. "Mr. Welch, did you ever hear of a woman in white?"
"A what?"
"A woman in white," Sam repeated, expression determined. "Or sometimes weeping woman?"
Leo gasped loudly, capturing everyone's attention, "La Llorona!"
"La who now?" Frank frowned. Leo batted a hand in a hushing motion, wide brown eyes never detaching from the screen, prompting grumbles out of the son of Mars and even Annabeth looked disgruntled. Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, and Apollo, God of Knowledge, started racking their brainfor an answer and in unison, their expressions lit up in recognition.
Sam took a few steps towards an alarmed Joseph, "It's a ghost story. Well, it's more of a phenomenon, really. They're spirits. They've been sighted for hundreds of years, dozens of places, in Hawaii, Mexico, lately in Arizona-
Clarisse shivered at the mention of her hometown and Chris tightened his arm around her.
-Indiana. All these are different women." Sam stopped in front of the widower, "You understand. But all share the same story."
Joseph scowled; stance defensive and tone aggressive, "Boy, I don't care much for nonsense." He then walked away, but Sam stubbornly followed, his voice louder, "See, when they were alive, their husbands were unfaithful to them-" Joseph halted and slowly turned around, "-and these women, basically suffering from temporary insanity, murdered their children. Then once they realized what they had done, they took their own lives. So now their spirits are cursed, walking back roads, waterways. And if they find an unfaithful man, they kill him. And that man is never seen again."
Many faces were gaping at the screen. Even Zeus, Poseidon and Hades shared dumbstruck expressions and Hera actually flinched as she noticed a few similarities between her reaction to her husband's incessant infidelities and the 'woman in white', though she never murdered her children, and Hephaestus didn't count, no matter what her children said.
"La Llorona," Leo calmly prefaced, suddenly nervous when not only his friends, but every single god, fixated him with their undivided attention, "is a Mexican folklore that can be either translated as 'The Woman in White' or 'The Weeping Woman'. Sam basically covered everything about the folklore. There are many versions, but the one I heard: There was this beautiful woman called Maria. She drowned her children so that she could be with the man she loved, but was subsequently rejected by him. Some say he was the children's father who left her for another rejection drove her insane with grief so she killed herself. And when Maria reached the gates of Heaven, she was asked for the location of her children and when she didn't know she was banned from entering Heaven until she found them. So she now wanders the Earth for all eternity, searching in vain for them. She is forever weeping for her lost children, which is why they call her La Llorona."
The silence was long and uncomfortable; the gods weren't as disturbed, but Leo's friends were all gaping at him in a mixture of horror and bewilderment.
"The boy is correct," Athena stated, Apollo nodding in agreement.
"But, how-how do you know this?" Katie asked, horrified.
Leo grimaced, his fists clenching at the memory. "Raphael," he spat the name out, "my, uh, cousin. He liked bullying me before you know, the thing happened." His friends grimaced, 'thing' being code for 'Gaea'.
"How old were you when…" Annabeth uncomfortably trailed off. Leo smiled at her, though it looked bitter on his elf-like features, "Five. I had nightmares for months. Mom and Aunt Rosa were furious with Raffy." 'Back then when Aunt Rosa considered me a beloved nephew and not the boy who murdered her sister', he thought to himself.
Hephaestus glowered at the wall, extremely displeased at discovering his son's family bullied him, like his own brother Ares constantly did. With a swift side-glance, his fists clenched, noting that Ares looked unperturbed with his hand around Aphrodite. This was why he despised the Ancient Law; if Zeus would only retract that accursed Law, then he would have been able to intervene and probably prevented Esperanza's death, his son's future hardships, and the guilt he was suffered to live with.
"Nothing to be ashamed of man, I'd have nightmares too," Jason assured his best friend with a sincere smile. The other demigods, Rachel and Grover nodded in agreement, even Clarisse, which made Leo feel loads better. After all, a monster could be killed with a celestial bronze blade, but ghosts? Even if they do exist, they had a grim feeling that any kind of blade wouldn't work on them. 'Wouldn't it just go through them?' they thought.
"You think…you think that has something to do with…Constance? You smartass!" Joseph inched closer, looking like he was about to beat Sam with his fists.
"Why is it when somebody gets defensive or they're in denial they become violent?" Demeter wondered aloud. Nobody offered a response, though most of the gods in the room stared pointedly at Ares, who glowered back with a fierce glare.
Sam was undeterred, "You tell me."
Joseph was now trembling, from grief or anger, it was impossible to tell, "I mean, maybe…maybe I made some mistakes. But no matter what I did, Constance, she never would have killed her own children. Now, you get the hell out of here! And you don't come back!"
"Well, that was a bust," Percy mumbled.
The scenery changed; they were back in the police station, in a different office. Liv sat between the wall and the table, a bored expression on her face, though her eyes looked calculating. The door suddenly opened, and the young officer from earlier who had been affected by Liv's appearance, entered, eyes boring into hers and he slowly licked his lips.
Sighing, Liv brushed her shackled hands through her hair, the shot homing in on her hair for a second longer, before her hands returned to their place under the table. "Are these handcuffs necessary, officer?" Liv pouted.
"Well, you have been a very naughty girl," he replied.
"EWW!" Annabeth, Katie, Rachel, Piper and Hazel exclaimed. Thalia and Clarisse however, looked outraged and began to loudly curse the sleazy officer.
Artemis' silver orbs darkened, "A man of the law? I will be turning him into a jackalope!"
"This one will deserve it!" Poseidon growled, not liking the disadvantages Olivia was facing.
Liv's lips curled into a smile, though the watchers easily noted the fire burning in her eyes. "Are you flirting with me, officer?" she purred.
"Disgraceful! She's encouraging him!" Athena spat out.
Zeus shook his head, "No, I believe she is procrastinating."
The officer leaned forward from the other end of the table, palms splayed on the tabletop and eyes shamelessly raking her cleavage. He licked his lips again and lowered his head so that he was directly facing her. "You know. With the right motivation I could probably manage to get you off with a warning," his voice darkened.
Every single female in the room – demigod, oracle, goddess – they were all fuming with apoplectic rage. The males weren't any better, and even Dionysus's purple orbs seem to have adopted a sharp edge. Though must surprisingly of all, was Ares – he looked ready to burst a vessel, and his growl was almost animalistic, a growl that elicited shivers out of Percy, and he never feared the arrogant war god before.
"Come closer," Liv whispered, sultrily.
Their lips were a hairsbreadth away from each other, when all of a sudden, Liv's hands shot up, one of them was free from the shackles, while the other still had the metal coiled around her wrist. With the handcuffed wrist, she slammed the metal against the side of his neck and he fell unconscious almost immediately.
Cheers erupted in the throne room, their voices filled with awe and laughter. The demigods were shamelessly clapping and Clarisse had a menacing grin on her face, impressed and taken aback by the skinny, unimposing girl that kicked the sleazeball's ass.
"She would make an excellent Hunter!" Artemis crowed, her twelve-year-old face shining in anticipation and excitement. Poseidon, Zeus, Hades, Apollo, Hermes and Dionysus however, traded uncertain glances, for they were dubious regarding the girl's maidenhood.
"Sleazy pervert," Liv hissed, kicking the officer's chest as she stood up, "To protect and serve my ass!" She removed the handcuff from her remaining wrist, and after a second's hesitation, tucked it into the inside pocket of her leather jacket. Then, she inserted the black bobby pin into her hair and stealthily snuck out.
"That's how she did it then!" Hermes exclaimed, impressed, eyes shining with mirth and pride as they all recalled the camera narrowing in on her hair when the officer entered the room. "Unfortunately, she isn't one of mine," he sighed, sounding glum. Disregarding her gorgeous looks and the fact that he was affected by her ineffable beauty, he would've been proud to be her father.
Rachel seemed to be warming up to the girl again, "I guess that answered my question of how they managed to evade the law."
The shot alternated, showing Dean, still in the Sheriff's office, the journal on the table. "I don't know how many times I gotta tell you. It's my high school locker combo."
"We gonna do this all night?" the Sheriff growled. Another officer entered the room at that moment, "We just got a 911, shots fired over at Whiteford Road."
The Sheriff nodded at him then addressed Dean, "You have to go to the bathroom?"
"Say yes!" the Stolls exclaimed.
"No."
"Damn!" they groaned.
Thalia hissed at them, "Shush!"
"Good." The Sheriff handcuffed Dean to the table and promptly left.
The camera showed a paper clip poking out of the journal, and Dean pulled it out.
"More thieves in training," Apollo chuckled. "They could all be yours."
Hermes grinned.
The door opened as Dean attempted to get out of the cuffs and his posture tensed. Looking at the door, he sighed in relief, "Liv. Thank god you're okay."
Liv smirked and pulled out her own handcuffs, dangling it in the air, "Like you doubted me, cuz."
"Not even for a second," he admitted, sounding confident. A loud click resonated in the room as the cuffs on his hand opened. Liv rushed to the window and got to work on opening it, "We gotta leave before they notice the officer that was guarding me is knocked out."
Dean looked amused, "I'm not even gonna ask." He then grabbed the journal and the two climbed down the fire escape.
"That was too easy," Frank commented.
Ares scoffed, "Bunch of amateurs."
The scene alternated between Sam, who driving down the highway when his phone rang, and Dean with Liv in a phone booth.
"Fake 911 phone call? Sammy, I don't know, that's pretty illegal," Dean grinned down the phone.
"It is," Rachel grumbled, much to her friends and her patron's amusement.
Sam rolled his eyes, "You're welcome."
"Listen, we gotta talk," Dean said before the shot switched to Sam again, who retorted, "Tell me about it. So the husband was unfaithful. Tell Liv she was right. We are dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house, so that should have been Dad's next stop."
Piper was spooked, "Are they seriously going to dig up Constance's body?"
"I hope not," Hazel looked nauseated at the mere idea of what her corpse looked like after more than two decades.
"Sammy, would you shut up for a second?" Dean snapped. Sam however, didn't listen, "I just can't figure out why Dad hasn't destroyed the corpse yet."
Grover, Rachel, Hazel, Frank, Piper and Katie visibly blanched at Sam's words.
Liv rolled her eyes from beside Dean as he abruptly spoke into the phone, "Well, that's what I'm trying to tell you. He's gone. Dad's gone. I've got his journal."
Sam looked shocked, "He doesn't go anywhere without that thing."
"Yeah, well, he did this time."
"What's it say?"
"Ah, some old ex-Marine crap, when he wants to let us know where he's going," Dean said.
Poseidon and Ares were both impressed at hearing John used to be a Marine.
Sam nodded, "Coordinates. To where?"
"I knew it!" Hermes cheered, looking quite ungodly at the moment.
Artemis rolled her eyes, "We never doubted you."
"I'm not sure yet," Dean grimaced handing the journal over to Liv who started to leaf through it with a thoughtful expression.
"I don't understand," the shot alternated to Sam again. "I mean, what could be so important that Dad would just skip out in the middle of a job? Dean, what the hell is going on?"
Athena had a thoughtful frown on her face, "First they refer to their actions as 'hunting' now they claim it to be a job? I am facing trouble comprehending these mortals."
"How shocking. The Goddess of Wisdom doesn't know something," Poseidon drawled. Amphitrite and Triton groaned as the two began bickering, trading crude insults, until Zeus finally bellowed at them for silence.
Percy and Annabeth were torn between exasperation and amusement.
"We weren't like that, were we?" Percy asked in general, interlacing his fingers with Annabeth's. But before his girlfriend could offer a response, Grover, the Stolls, Thalia and Clarisse exclaimed, "You were!"
At that moment, Sam looked up and slammed the brakes, the phone dropping from his hand. Constance appeared on the road in front of him and the Impala drove right through her just as the car came to an abrupt halt.
After the initial reaction of terror upon seeing Constance's abrupt and quite frankly, spooky appearance, Nico loudly said, "OH, so NOW she's incorporeal? This doesn't make any sense." He was the Ghost King for Hades' sake!
"Hades, Persephone, are you certain this isn't Melinoe's doing?" Zeus asked in a hard tone.
At the accusation, Persephone glared at her father, Hades, however, was far too used to Zeus blaming him for everything and drawled in his oily voice, "Melinoe isn't pleased with the restrictions I placed her under regarding haunting the mortals, but she would never disobey me."
Only Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Poseidon, Ares, Hecate and Ariadne noticed, with trepidation, the looks exchanged between the children, hinting that perhaps Hades had placed too much faith on his moody daughter's allegiance.
"Sam! Sam?!" Dean and Liv's voices could be heard from the phone Sam had dropped.
Inside the Impala, Sam was breathing hard as Constance appeared in the backseat. "Take me home," she said.
"No," he firmly denied her.
"Good boy!" Ariadne sounded terribly distraught, prompting a groan out of Dionysus, though his eyes had a fond glint, which belied his initial reaction to his wife's kindness.
"As long as Sam isn't affected by Constance, he'll be okay," Thalia said, though she didn't sound so sure of herself.
Jason looked at his sister in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's like Sam and Leo said," Thalia prefaced, adopting a scholarly tone, "She targets unfaithful men, right? The previous victim, what was his name-"
"Troy," Apollo put in. Thalia nodded at him in gratitude, "Right, Troy. He was with that Amy chick. But he wasn't opposed to spending the night-" and here, the lieutenant of Artemis sneered in disgust, an action that was mimicked by Artemis herself, "-with Constance, marking him as unfaithful, so she killed him. Sam has a girlfriend, so if he rejects her advances she'll let him live."
Nico was only too quick to add in his input, "Probably, Thals. Something tells me she won't be playing fair."
The gods seemed at awe as the children conversed amongst themselves, noting that despite their parentage, they all got along swimmingly, especially the children of the Big Three, and the children of Poseidon and Athena, all of which were a miracle in itself. Hestia glanced at the children with a wistful smile; perhaps they would be her family's saving grace, perhaps their inclusion and their interactions would change her family for the better… perhaps this was a part of the Fates' plan.
Constance glared at Sam and the doors locked themselves. Sam struggled to open them but the gas pedal pressed down and the car started driving itself. Sam attempted to steer the car, but it refused to acknowledge him. Constance's form flickered in the backseat and the shot changed, showing the Impala as it pulled up in front of the house Troy previously stopped at. The engine shut off as did the lights.
"Don't do this," Sam pleaded. Constance flickered, and when she spoke, her voice was sad, "I can never go home."
"You're scared to go home," Sam affirmed. He looked back but she wasn't there. Glancing around he saw he reappear in the passenger seat and she promptly climbed his lap.
"She's forcing herself on him!" Artemis was outraged, not only at the dead woman's actions, but the fact that she was defending a man.
Jason and Percy grumbled at the same time, "That's cheating."
"The dead don't exactly play fair," Nico commented.
Sam struggled to push her away.
"She's corporeal again," Piper pointed out.
"Hold me. I'm so cold," Constance whined. Sam shook his head, determinedly keeping his hands off her, "You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful. I've never been!"
"Now that's a remarkable man!" Hera glowered at Zeus, who shifted uncomfortably in his throne and avoided his wife's glare.
Poseidon seemed to be avoiding his wife's accusing stare as well.
"You will be," Constance sounded sure of herself. "Just hold me."
Without warning, Constance forced a kiss on Sam as he continued to struggle, reaching out for the car keys. She pulled back and vanished, but not before her face flashed, looking horribly grotesque. Sam scoped his surroundings before he yelped in pain and yanked his hoodie open. There were five burn holes through the fabric that matched the shape of Constance's fingers. She flickered before him again, a hand reaching out for his chest, but at that moment, a gunshot went off, startling the ghost.
Dean and Liv were fast approaching and she glared at them before once again, vanishing from their midst.
"Oh thank gods," Hazel breathed out.
Dean and Liv took it in turn to fire their respective guns in an attempt to scare Constance away and Sam managed to sit up and start the car. "I'm taking you home," he growled, driving forward and smashing through the side of the house.
"Sam! Sam! You okay?" Dean yelled as he and Liv rushed toward the wreckage to join Sam's side, concern evident on their faces.
"I don't understand. Why did he do that?" Persephone inquired.
They helped Sam out of the car as Constance reappeared; she picked up the large picture frame of her and two children. Once Sam managed to get out of the car and Dean slammed the car door Constance refocused her attention to them and she hurled the picture frame aside.
A bureau advanced on them and pinned Dean, Sam and Liv against the car.
"I am so sick of this bitch!" Liv snarled through gritted teeth.
Despite the action taking place, Ares didn't feel so hot and Aphrodite was beginning to feel concern for her lover and his unpredictable mood swings.
The lights began to flicker, and Constance suddenly looked scared. Water started leaking down the staircase and she hesitantly approached. At the top of the stairs, the young boy and girl, the same children from the photograph, stood, holding hands and in unison, chanted, "You've come home to us, Mommy."
There were many sharp intakes of breath reverberating against the walls, and most of the female in the room had a hand over their mouth, eyes widening on the screen.
Constance looked at them, distraught. Suddenly, the children appeared behind her and they tightly embraced her. Her image began to flicker as a keening scream erupted from her mouth. In a surge of energy, still screaming, Constance and the two children melted into a puddle in the floor.
"Even by our standards, that is extremely odd," Hades murmured.
Persephone shook her head, "This doesn't make any sense, Hades." The Lord and Lady of the Underworld weren't the only ones sporting a worried expression at the phenomena. In fact, Poseidon seemed confused at the power displayed over water.
Dean and Sam shoved the bureau that had been pinning them and Liv raced toward the spot the three ghosts had been standing on not a moment ago. "So," she uncomfortably cleared her throat, "This is where she drowned her kids."
"That's why she could never go home. She was too scared to face them," Sam explained, voice tight. Dean clapped him on the chest, "You found her weak spot. Nice work, Sammy."
Sam grinned, brushing away his pain, "Yeah, I wish I could say the same for you two. What were you thinking shooting Casper in the face, you freaks?"
"Hey. Saved your ass," Dean pouted. Liv nodded, adding another smack to Sam's chest, "Your welcome Sammy-boy."
At that moment, the radio turned on and began playing.
The Stolls bumped their heads with the music's rhythm. "Highway to Hell, love that song!" they crowed.
Dean approached the Impala and twisted around to face Sam, "I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car, I'll kill you." Sam simply laughed as Liv murmured, "He's not kidding."
Apollo and Ares nodded in wholehearted agreement; when it came to their respective chariots, they were fiercely protective over it.
The camera showed the Impala tearing down the road, the right headlight not working. Liv sat in the backseat, leaning forward in the middle, a flashlight in hand that was pointed at the map on Sam's lap. Sam had the journal opened to the page that displayed "DEAN 35-111", and was thumbing through the map with a ruler.
"He's trying to solve the coordinates' location," Hermes commented for the benefit of the children, as some of them looked utterly clueless.
"Okay, here's where Dad went," Sam finally spoke up, "It's called Blackwater Ridge, Colorado."
Dean nodded and kept his eyes on the road, "Sounds charming. How far?"
"About six hundred miles," he responded. Liv huffed, "Great. Road trip. I'm down."
That was when Sam reminded them of his interview, prompting sad expressions to take over Dean and Liv's faces. "The interview's in like, ten hours. I gotta be there."
"Well, it was nice while it lasted," Liv sadly mumbled, leaning back in her seat and grabbing the beanie from beside her, clapping it onto her head.
Aphrodite hummed, pondering her fashion sense, "You know, I do believe those beanie hats are making a comeback in the fashion world. I wonder…" she trailed off, her piercing eyes scrutinizing the girls, especially her daughter and the Oracle. The girls fidgeted and made a point to avoid her sharp gaze; they did not want an Aphrodite makeover, thank you very much.
The scenery changed; Sam stood in front of his apartment building and after saying his goodbyes to Dean and Liv, the latter of whom climbed into the passenger seat and stubbornly ignored him, he walked in.
When Sam opened the door to his apartment, the interior was dark and quiet. "Jess?" he called out, closing the door behind him. "You home?"
The shot homed in on the table in the kitchen; there was a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table, with a note that read: "Missed you! Love you!" and next to it was a National Geographic. Sam picked up a cookie-
A loud grumbling echoed in the room; the gods gaped at the children in a combination of shock and amusement. Percy, Thalia, Jason, Nico, the Stolls, Frank and Leo blushed sheepishly while they rubbed their respective stomachs.
Demeter jumped in shock upon noticing the time, "Oh, it's afternoon already?" Their meeting had taken place 11 AM, but with the arrival of the other gods, the Fates, and the children from the future, they lost track of time.
Hestia smiled benignly at them, "How about one more hour, and then we'll convene for lunch, hmm?" The demigods threw her various smiles of gratification before turning their attention back to the large screen.
-and started nibbling on it.
The shot abruptly alternated to show Dean and Liv in the Impala. Suddenly, Liv visibly shivered and hugged herself, a huge frown marring her features, "Dean, I-I have a bad feeling. Something isn't right."
Dean tore his gaze from the road and they could see a wary expression on his face, "Is it that sixth sense feeling again?" Liv nodded, biting her lower lip.
Dean sighed and glanced at his watch. The shot homed in on it: it wasn't ticking.
"What?" a few demigods exclaimed.
"How can a watch just stop working?" Aphrodite glanced at Hephaestus. He was the mechanic amongst them after all.
Bluntly, and without feeling, Hephaestus said, "Not by natural means."
Every occupant in the room suddenly shared Liv's peculiar sentiment. Thalia and Piper however, shared a conspiratorial look: if their suspicions regarding Liv was indeed correct, then it wasn't a sixth sense, but her instincts screaming at her that something bad was about to happen, a sort of, monster detector that usually saved a demigod's life.
The screen alternated to Sam entering his bedroom with a smile. The shower was running. He finished his cookie, sat on his bed and flopped on his back. He closed his eyes, the smile still on his face.
Something dropped onto his forehead, followed by two other drops. He flinched and his eyes snapped open and a loud gasp of horror passing through his lips. Jessica was pinned to the ceiling, staring down at him, eyes contorted in pain and horror and her belly was pooled with crimson.
"No!" he yelled in agony.
"No!" this time, Aphrodite was joined by every single female in the room and the males had ranging expressions of shock and horror on their faces.
Piper was as pale as a sheet, "I don't understand. This is the same M.O. as the one who killed Mary twenty-two years ago! Why would they resurface again? And why Sam, again?!"
Ares grimaced, not feeling the thrill he usually did when there was action and bloodshed, "Like I said before, kid. This is personal. The assailant is targeting this family for some reason."
"This is strong magic," Hecate murmured to herself. Noting the attention was on her, she elucidated in an audible voice, "Whoever the assailant is, they managed to keep Mary and Jessica pinned to the ceiling without even being in the room, and that can only be done using a powerful and advanced brand of telekinesis. This is no easy feat to achieve."
And on that ominous note, their attention flickered back to the screen.
Jessica burst into flames all of a sudden, the fire spreading across the ceiling. Sam stood paralyzed in his spot, unable to do anything but stare at the remains of his girlfriend in palpable anguish yelling Jessica's name on repeat.
"I am a hundred percent certain that the killer isn't mortal," Hephaestus surprised them all as he usually preferred to remain silent and tinker with his gadgets. "This isn't mortal fire. It is supernatural." But then again, fire was his domain, under his divine authority.
At that moment, the door slammed open and Dean and Liv barged in.
"Sam! Sam!" Dean cried, grabbing his brother and dragging him away from the violent flames that were quickly spreading. Sam kept struggling, yelling words of denial and calling for Jessica.
Tears ran down Aphrodite's ethereal face; to witness such heartbreak deeply wounded the goddess of love, and to see the couples so obviously in love, lose their respective other in such a brutal death, it was agonizing to her and even Ares' strong arms wounded around her waist couldn't help.
Left with no choice, he bodily shoved Sam all the way over to the front door.
"Jess! Jess! NO!" Sam yelled.
The shot lingered on Liv's face for a moment; she stood frozen in her spot by the bedroom door, dark mahogany eyes welling with tears, a faraway expression on her face before she suddenly snapped out of whatever reverie she had fallen into and rushed out the front door.
Moments later, the apartment burst into flames.
While everyone felt confusion regarding Liv's reaction, nobody said a word, still reeling over Jessica's death. The gods were used to death and never batted an eyelash when it came to mortals' demise; they killed many in all their millennia of existence. However, there was a difference when you gained insight into their personal lives, and watched their reactions to the hardships faced. But other than grief, their curiosity stirred, wondering what monster held a grudge out for that family, and why? Why the lapse in time. Why return after twenty-two years?
Outside the apartment building, there was a crowd gawking at the scene, the police keeping them back as the firemen attempted to defuse the flames. Dean looked on briefly before he turned and walked toward the Impala. The trunk was open and Sam stood before it, loading a shotgun. Dean looked at the trunk and then at Sam, before he glanced into the interior of the car, where Liv sat shell-shocked in the backseat, her expression neutral.
With a fierce look of determination, Sam shut the trunk and said, "We got work to do."
The scene turned black.
"What's wrong with Liv?" Hazel asked in concern.
Katie shrugged, "Anybody would be affected by that."
Athena frowned, displeased, "It appears that Sam is determined to seek vengeance."
"I don't blame him," Hades murmured, thinking about Maria di Angelo and his act of retribution against Zeus by targeting his daughter.
The large screen brightened with color at that moment, and letters written in bold appeared in the middle of the screen: Blackwater Ridge. Lost Creek, Colorado.
A/N: Olivia Winchester – her celebrity face is: Victoria Justice.
I honestly adore Victoria Justice and can so see her as playing the part of a hardcore, kickass, cut-throat, bad-ass heroine who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, don't you? LOL! And besides, call me crazy (it's your opinion, XD) but I totally see the Winchester resemblance in her.
Anyways… you know what I noticed while writing this chapter? Not once, not once did they mention their last name! I mean, as the episodes progress, the Winchester name becomes a legend and all species don't shut up about it: Earth, Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, heck, I bet even Oz are familiar with the Winchester name. Yet in this episode, nada, not even one mention of their last name. So because of that, the demigod has been left unclaimed, though I'm sure you all know who exactly the demigod is and perhaps the father (I was being kinda obvious about it, wasn't I? LOL).
However, next episode, we'll get insight of Olivia's past and what happened to her mother. I already got started on writing it as I'd prefer to get it out of the way for my fans before I continue updating my other stories.
A little side-note: Call me crazy (I said that already, didn't I? Whoops) but I seriously adore Ares. I mean, they don't do him justice. He's very misunderstood. He's the God of War, of course he'd have bouts of cruelty and bloodlust, just like Athena is an annoying know-it-all who thinks she's far superior because she's the Goddess of Wisdom and has to know everything. I mean, it's not fair that when Ares was first introduced, he was being controlled by Kronos leaving a negative impact on everyone and then Riordan went further and portrayed him as a misogynistic, sort-of abusive father (and because of that, up till now I have yet to find a nice Ares story). Also, Ares is mentioned to be handsome (unlike Hephaestus, Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera, two of the most gorgeous gods) and they mentioned his kids were all ugly… what the hell? (I honestly believe the Clarisse from The Sea of Monsters film to be a dead-on representation of a child of Ares). To further my point, I do not think the Goddess of LOVE and BEAUTY would waste time on Ares if he was ugly and purely cruel, don't you think? I mean she has many children with him and they have been together for many millennia, so in my opinion, Riordan portrayed Ares unjustly and cruelly.
If anyone's curious, my favorite gods that I adore and fangirl over are: Poseidon, first and foremost! Then Apollo and Hermes tie for second place, and lastly Ares. The others I can bear them but Athena for some reason pisses me off. But hey, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. XD
That's the end of my blabbering, I'm sorry if I wasted your time, but I had to say it… maybe I'll inspire you to write decent stories about Ares… hopefully?
R&R.
