Casey was interesting to me, I am not sure why though... she seemed like there was more under the surface.


Stone... ugh, even his name made Natalie want to shove her foot up his ass. He was handsome enough, in his own way, she supposed. Standing at a staggering six foot six at the very least, with muscles on his muscle and sandy blonde hair. Had the sneer been gone, Stone would have been utterly... 'Ravishable… Hehe, Oh Mama, you'd find is hilarious that I stole a word from one of her dumb romance books.'

That happy thought made it damn near impossible to smile despite the irritation Stone brought.

Of course, it helped that Casey was speaking. "... Kudzu Gautier, I didn't get it." She pouted, frowning in annoyance.

"It's a fine, Casey, you find it all over the place. It's pretty pervasive, a lot of gardeners hate them because they are so hard to get rid of." The Pretty girl, and her pet, turned to Natalie in confusion. "My foster mom was a gardener, I helped her a lot. Kudzu is annoying." She didn't hide her smile, even as Stone sneered and sized her up again. "So, his name is Nick? He seems funny."

Casey nodded, even as Stone practically growled. "Dickless Nicholas, he's basically scum. His Mom's a bourbon street hooker with a real nice set."

Natalie waited for Casey to defend Nick or his mother, but all she did was shrug. "I guess so, I've never seen him. Though he said we've gone to school for four years." She flicked her long, beautiful hair back, and a trace of smugness overtook her. "I'm in all advanced classes."

'Ahh, beautiful and smart and a bitch. Damn, Emani… Mama, you were right. I have a type.' Ignoring the fact that she was probably going to start crushing hard on this girl, Natalie focused on the second though smaller urge. Defend a stripper! " You do realize that strippers, and all sex workers, actually contribute a massive amount to infrastructure?" Both turned to her, looking very confused. "Actually, in the West, it was prostitution that turned the towns from work camps into actual towns. The women basically ruled, like sexy Godfather's with tits. More to the point, strippers make bank... usually. I mean the average stripper makes like forty grand in a low income area, and a large part of that is just tips. In a nicer area they can make more then the men or women they serve." The car they were in, Stone's apparently, went dead silent before it became too much as Natalie had to explain. "Sorry. I was a Foster kid, I still have friends that are strippers and they make bank."

Natalie wasn't, by any means, ashamed of her thoughts. Mostly she wasn't ashamed of anything, bar being related to June. So even if she found Casey sexy, which she definitely did, she refused to stop thinking as she did.

Apparently this wasn't as much of a problem as she thought, as Casey smiled brightly (Melting more then Natalie's heart). " I think you and I are going to be wonderful friends."

Stone's possessive snarl told her the direct opposite, and yet she still didn't give a shit what he thought.

'Huh... I wonder why that is?' She looked at him again, and wondered why the hell he was so annoyed with her, and why she was so indifferent to him. It felt strange, to be honest... 'Wait, of course. He's a possessive dick and his girl likes me. It's like a modern Zeus.'

So smug was she, that she barely missed when the car slammed to a stop. Stone had apparently felt it necessary to slam on the breaks. "Were here." He bit out, still not happy in the slightest, though she couldn't figure out why. Though Casey seemed to understand exactly what was up his ass, and just smirked at him, reaching over to kiss him in a way that would not be inappropriate for porn.

It was gross to watch, so Natalie evacuated the car and took in the sight of Casey's mansion.

It was massive, though smaller then the school thankfully. It had a redish tint to it's wood, with typical Gone with the Wind design. Oddly, it didn't stand out when compared to the twenty other mansions they had passed on the way to this point. 'Huh, so Casey isn't richer then most... that's actually pretty nice to see.'

The soft click click of Casey's tiny feet behind her registered the end of the gross kiss. "Beautiful, right? My family has been living her for a few generations." She smiled at it, with a sense of sweeter pride then earlier. " Come one, I'll lead you in." Then, in a very odd move, she reached over and slipped her beautifully soft hands into Natalie's own, squeezing tight and giving her a sexy smirk.

Stone drove off at the speed of sound immediately, and Natalie finally realized what the hell had happened. "He was jealousy of me?"

"Yup, he thought you had a crush on me. He's pretty easy to rile up." She smirked and pulled in close to place a kiss on Natalie's now red cheek. "Of course, you really do have a crush on me, so it made it all the better." With a wink, she sauntered off, waving for Natalie to follow.

'How... what the hell?' She couldn't help but choke out. "Most people assume literally everyone is straight, so why do you both assume I'm not?"

Somehow this was the turning point, and Casey looked confused herself. "You mean you don't know?" The girl bit her lip, turning away. "Listen, there is a lot you don't know. I assume your mom is going to tell you. I can't supersede her, not in this I mean. Now, come on and look at my house."

Casey was confused, how the hell did the child of JUNE CASSIOPA of all people not know about the supernatural world? 'Stone said she reeked of magic, how can she not be aware?' Eager to figure out the mystery, Casey knew what she had to do. 'She is going to fell so awkward when I tell her that Stone could smell her being turned on by me. At least there is one positive to her being unaware.'

"Does it have to do with Darkhunters?" Casey almost jumped at Natalie's open use of the word, the moment they walked through the door. As quick as her well trained body could move, she blurred backward and put her hands on Natalie's mouth.

"Be quiet, that... screw it. You might piss off the wrong person, and your mom might kill everyone to hide it... come on, upstairs." Casey felt sheer fear over take her, knowing she might risk angering June. Of course that fear compounded as a familiarly adorable series of barks filled the house as her tiny puppy shot towards her. " SHEBA, baby." She lifted the pooch in the air, kissing her beautiful face. " Natalie, meet Sheba."

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The Dog actually growled at Natalie the moment she reached towards her, making Casey more determined and nervous to reveal what she knew.

"Damn it... come one." They marched up the stairs, with Natalie determined and Sheba still growling. The moment they reached Casey's room, she locked the door and lit some candles. The protective magic she had bought, mostly to get away with having hardcore sex with Stone, kicked in and masked the room. " Okay, Darkhunters... what do you know?"

Natalie, in all of her adorable vaguely Venus Willams looking self, shrugged. " I know that June has been working with or around them for years. Before I was put up for adoption, she mentioned them from time to time, usually in angry phone calls to a women she called Art."

"Oh, I had hoped... Dark hunters are humans that sell their souls to the goddess Artemis in return for revenge. She grants them power and they serve her forever, or until death." Casey waited for Natalie to respond like most would, mostly in disbelief or annoyance or religious defense.

Natalie did neither, only lean back and nod. "Okay... Not saying I totally believe, but... I don't know, I guess I'm open. Who is June?"

Casey's fear tripled. " June is a modernized version of her Roman name... it comes from Juno... which used to be Hera to the Greeks. Your Mother is Hera, the Greek Goddess of Motherhood, Women and Marriage."

When Neither were smited, Casey let out a breath, shivering.

"Well... my mother seems like the type to think she is a goddess... okay, prove it." Natalie looked cold, but definitely open. "Prove my mother is Hera or Juno, and I will believe it."

Casey sighed. " I can't do that... but maybe" She bit her lip, and let her mind go through the motions of her life before one thing stuck out. " Maybe there is something I can show you." She reached over to her dresser and pulled out her phone, calling Stone. "She doesn't know... yeah I told her, I had to she was talking about Dark Hunters. You know how dangerous that can be. Call me back, I need you to show her your... other side." She hung up, leaving the message, then turned back to Natalie. "He's mad, but he'll come. He likes to prove his possession over me and all that. One of the down falls of dating a Werehunter."

Natalie frowned here. "Were Hunter?"

"Oh there is so much to teach you... but please, before I say more... promise me, promise that you won't tell that I told. I don't want to die."

The fact that Natalie seemed to understand that gave Casey more hope then it probably should have.

Something in Natalie exploded, curiosity melded with a hunger. She finally had something over her mother, a concept so deliciously forgien that she was unable to latch onto it with the stubbornness of an angry pitbull. It didn't matter what it was or how impossible it was, the fear in Casey's eyes told her it was juicy and liable to piss her mother off.

Anything like that was what Natalie needed.

She would get it too...


Chapter End, Tell me what you think.

I like the idea that being nosey, like this, mixed with assumptions is what makes Natalie learn of this. No grand destiny or mythical protectors, but random human chance. I learned a lot about all sorts of things like this. Casey seems pliable, like so many people I befriended myself...

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.