Suddenly felt very inspired to write another chapter so here goes. I hope you guys enjoy it.

x-x-x

She didn't trust her.

Whereas she trusted her whole heartedly.

Amy didn't know who on earth this stranger was.

Maira had spent weeks searching for Amy.

"So are you going to give me the full story? Who are you?"

Maira sighed and put the coffee cup down. She had hoped to get Amy to calm down by getting her away from the warehouse. There was a mild success but now instead of freaking out, Amy was constantly asking questions and not touching her own coffee. Maira had avoided saying anything sooner but now that it was obvious Amy wasn't going to stop, she looked the other girl straight in the eye "Like I said, you and I are demigoddesses"

"You mean, not human?" The fear was beginning to show in Amy's eyes once again.

"Nah" Maira dismissed "By all standards we're human. We just have power that's taken directly from gods. Amy, right? C'mon don't tell me you don't know about demigods. The often magical offspring of a human and a god. Greek mythology is big on them. Well…" Maira paused "…obviously Greek mythology isn't really a myth, just a really twisted version of history. You're gonna have to bare with me here because it can be difficult to explain to someone who wasn't raised knowing about it"

"No" Amy cut in, closing her eyes in disbelief "I know what demigods are but I don't get how that's possible. I have two human fathers, as in two gay fathers, so unless one of them has been a god without me noticing, there's just no way. Plus, my mother was pretty much just a surrogate who cleared out the second she gave birth"

Maira shook her head "Your biological father is Riley Martins, right? He's a free lance artist who met your other father, Joseph, shortly before your birth. But your mother wasn't a surrogate, she was Aphrodite, the goddess of love. I don't know the full details but from what I can gather, she took a fancy to your father Riley. I don't know how she managed to get him to fall in love with her, I wouldn't be surprised if she enchanted him. Most of the gods are petty that way. Obviously in the process, you were conceived but gods and goddesses aren't allowed to stay with their mortal children. I'm guessing when your father found out the truth, he decided to keep you and made up the story of a surrogate to keep you and his partner safe, especially after the Cradle collapsed" At that Maira's face turned grim.

"The Cradle?"

"I don't remember much about it but for a couple of decades the offspring of gods and mortals were brought together to be raised and shown their abilities by supernatural beings. Some parents gladly sent their kids there, freaked out by the idea of having demigods as children, other parents were reluctant and kept their kids with them. It had happened because Zeus and Hera had finally taken pity on demigods who grew up not knowing who they were or how to control their abilities if they ever emerged. They thought that it was better for them to grow up as a collective. It worked for a couple of decades, I know some pretty powerful demigods who grew up in the Cradle. But one day, something happened and it was attacked somehow. I was only two when it happened so I hadn't spent much time there. You would have only been a baby yourself. Ha, imagine that, we probably met when we were little. Anyway, the demigods were scattered everywhere again. My mother took me back home and raised me telling me everything she knew so that I was prepared for when my powers came properly"

"Wait a minute!" Amy snapped to a sudden realisation "I remember something about when I was a baby. My dads told me that not long after I was born, I had something wrong with me and had to be taken to a facility for treatment. Dad 2, that's Joseph, said they weren't allowed to see me often. But apparently I was sent back home only a few months later because I was better"

Maira nodded again, feeling a shred of pity for the confused girl "That'd be it, Riley Martins probably made up that lie too. But after the Cradle collapsed, everyone was raised differently again and there are still kids out there that don't know who they really are. As we grew up, most of the Cradle children reunited. We still live pretty normal lives but sometimes the gods set us tasks, including finding demigods who are coming into their power and are calling for help. Most of the time, they don't even know they're doing it. The messenger god Hermes came to me a couple of weeks ago and said a demigod was sending out some major signals. He told me Aphrodite suspected it might be one of her children but she didn't even know your name, only your father's so I had to find you all on my own" The beauty rolled her eyes "And I'm telling you it wasn't easy, your father managed to hide pretty well, but I did some digging and found some information on you"

It was one of those moments when there was too much information being crammed into a person's head in one go, kind of like studying too much at the last minute before a test. It made Amy's head ache and she pushed some of her dark hair out of her face. Her brain wanted to scream that it was all some kind of mistake, she was just a human surrounded by supernatural beings called Mai. But not only did it make sense but she felt that it was right too. There had been some kind of familiar connection with Maira even back at the warehouse "Then…what was that thing?" She shuddered.

"Oh, Skrooll, he's a descendant of a creature called Ophiotauras. Half bull, half snake, pretty nasty but not too bright when they're young. I'd have killed anything else but it's forbidden to kill an Ophiotaurus, or to even attempt killing one. It's said that their spilled blood holds the secret to overthrowing certain gods. Well, in the books it says it's their entrails but I think that's just to put people off more. Hera makes sure that as soon as someone even tries to kill them, they're punished. I think if I did anymore, I might have faced her royal pain's wrath. Anyway, someone was after your power. It's no surprise, there's always a lot of in fighting between anything that comes from Greek origins. I think the Norse deities are the same too"

"Wait, what?"

"It gets even more complicated; essentially every ancient deity exists in separate worlds. Like the Greeks live in Olympus and the Norse gods have their own world too. So do the Egyptians and Hindu gods. The human world is where they can all enter but not each other's realms. I think it was decided a long time ago to avoid clashes between these powerful deities. It doesn't really matter. The different cultures don't usually clash, they're all too self involved so it doesn't matter" Maira's voice sounded like the headache that Amy was getting. She was afraid to ask anymore questions but her curiosity was also peaked.

"So how about you? You said you're a demigod too"

"Yeah. My mother was a full blooded Greek woman on a small island. My father's Poseidon and my mother told me that she fell in love with him when she was still pretty young. Obviously it didn't work out and I was born. The rest is a really complicated and long story. I'll tell you another time" Her face slowly turned from somewhat grim to being serious "I'm here to make sure that you get a hold of your abilities and to stop you from being an easy target for creatures like Skrooll"

Only that morning Amy had been hoping for some kind of excitement or involvement in helping the Mai, to be able to do something. But now that she had been dragged into something that was endangering her so much, she felt like she had been heavily misunderstood.

"Come on, finish that coffee before it gets completely cold. We need to get you home. I think you had enough excitement for now"

x-x-x

Jasmine looked between Chloe and Alek while Paul stood beside her. She knew that having a human at the Mai meeting wasn't the best thing to do but Paul had helped with so much that Jasmine saw why Chloe trusted him and Amy so much. Unfortunately, the latter wasn't there. Jasmine knew why, she had heard from Chloe about Alek's harsh words to her earlier that day. Chloe still seemed to be feeling guilty and Alek was simmering under the surface.

"Okay guys, it's really weird. Over the past few days, several Mai reported strange behaviour in the animals and unexplained disturbances around town. Today we got another one at a warehouse where apparently an enormous flock of white doves just flew out of nowhere. At the same time, the weather had turned very strange. We haven't managed to come up with any leads yet but we're pretty sure it's not the Order" Jasmine offered a reassuring look to Chloe.

Paul spoke up. He still felt a little odd being there without Amy at times but he was getting used having the Mai listen to what he had to say "I'm telling you, it's like some really bad juju is going on" Immediately the other three rounded their confused eyes on him "Juju, you know…magic-y type stuff"

"Is that possible?" Chloe looked to Jasmine.

"Are you being serious?" Alek looked between his cousin and the Uniter in frustration "You're not going to actually listen to this, right? Now of all times, we have to be taking things seriously!"

"But I'm being serious!" Paul suddenly cut in "You said there's other stuff besides Mai and Jackals out there. Why can't there be magic, you are essentially magical"

Jasmine raised her arms, a deep look of thought on her face "That's true but I can't think of anything that would be making this kind of stuff happen. Most things are normally a lot more subtle. Whatever this is, it's drawing attention to itself" Jasmine lowered her head. Her thoughts had abruptly wondered to the knowledge that had been taken away from them. Valentina would have known what to do "I wish mom was here" She mumbled but it didn't go unheard by everyone in the room. A wash of guilt passed through Alek's eyes and Chloe bit her lip in worry and pity for Jasmine. Paul, however, looked determined.

"That's why you should make her proud and find whatever this is" He placed a hand on the Mai's shoulder "I didn't know her. But I'm sure she'd be proud of you right now, you've already done a lot since you became the leader. She wouldn't have given you the job if she didn't think you had what it takes" It was another moment that he had with Jasmine where he looked at her and felt tempted to tell her that he liked her. But everything in him screamed against it and he simply gave her shoulder a squeeze.

Alek and Chloe had looked away, both noticing the private moment. In that second, they had exchanged looks when they weren't meant to. Alek noted that Chloe seemed extremely tired. Once again, Amy's words rang in his head. But Alek wasn't as unreadable as he thought and Chloe saw the heavy guilt that weighed him down. But before either had a chance to make a comment, their attention was caught by Jasmine.

"Right" She cast Paul a grateful look and then snapped her eyes to the other two "We'll keep looking and whatever it is, we'll find it. Don't rule out any possibilities"

x-x-x

"That's your house?" Maira looked at the cute but confined building lined up along the road.

"Not to your taste?" Amy scoffed "Best I can do unless you can afford a hotel"

"No, no" Maira's head shook from side to side. She had spent a long time moving around but their home had often been the same. Back in Greece when she was still young, they had lived in an open, one floor building on a cliffside. Most of the time, their homes had been away from large areas of civilisation and were often open and large, near the sea. Everyone had felt at home then but a little alone, so this new type of living place looked cosy in comparison "It'll be just fine"

Amy lead her inside to reveal almost what Maira had expected. A colourful home, that had Amy's personality written all over it. Amy wondered what it looked like to Maira. From their small talk, she'd gathered that she was rather different from Maira. The demigoddess seemed quite serious and, while not necessarily mature, disciplined. It was obvious that she kept to an objective when she had one while Amy saw herself as a much more carefree and scatter-brained person. Something about Maira actually reminded her of Alek. Luckily, the two girls did seem to have the same sense of humour.

"Cute" Maira said while examining a straw hat mounted on a wall, with an assortment of beads and feathers stuck into it.

"Ah, yeah. I made that when I was seven. Dad 1 thinks that it's some great art or something. Dad 2 just agreed with him to keep him happy"

"You've got a great relationship with your fathers, huh?" Maira straightened up and noticed the unhappy face that Amy had pulled "What's wrong?"

Amy paused before she answered. She loved her fathers very much and Maira was right, she got along great with both of them. They were the ones that had made her the person that she was today. It was just that…"I don't understand why he never told me"

The older girl placed both of her hands on Amy's shoulders "Because he chose for you to be protected even if ignorant instead of always being in danger of being attacked" Admittedly now, that meant very little since the Martins' precious daughter was being hunted one way or another. Maira was always against parents keeping the secret but she also understood that as humans, they did all they could. In this case, they just wanted their daughter to have a normal life. Humans were indeed beautiful in their capacity to love.

Amy, however, still couldn't settle the anger in her heart. She too believed that she had a right to know "Can I ask him about it?"

"I don't see why not" Maira shrugged "Just as long as its not with your other father, Dad 2 as you call him, because he might not know. And I'd much rather avoid too much exposure. I already pulled some stupid moves to find you" But before she could get into further explanation, the front door opened right behind them and in walked two men. One was tall and lanky, with a mop of wild blond hair. His large eyes were magnified behind rather comical rimmed glasses. The other man was slightly shorter but with broad shoulders and jawline. He had cheerful brown eyes and short brown hair.

"And that's why I said not to stop off at the market" The taller of the two then paused when he spotted the girls "Amy, you're home already? I thought you were going to meet Chloe?"

"Oh, we decided to cancel it" Amy waved her hands.

"So who might this be?" The other man raised his eyebrow at Maira. Maira sent them both a polite smile and she was about to answer when Amy decided to do it for her.

"This is Maira Stratis. She's from Greece" The last word was said with great emphasis "She's come to see me and I'm wondering if she can stay with us for a while. She really helped me out today too, it's as if the gods sent her" This whole time she never took her eyes off the shorter man. Maira safely assumed that this was Riley Martin. His eyes widened with every passing second. Joseph, meanwhile, gave Maira a pleasantly surprised smile.

"Well, I suppose if she is a friend of yours" Joseph shook his jacket off his shoulders and also grabbed Riley's "I guess I'll get started on dinner. Do you eat meat, Maira?"

"Of course! I could help if you want" Maira chirped and as soon as Joseph nodded, she followed after him.

Amy crossed her arms and looked at her father "We need to talk"

x-x-x

Amy stood in her bedroom decorated in even more colours than the rest of the house. There were sheets of music spread all over the floor and her guitar lay on her bed. Normally, she would be occupied with writing music or talking on the phone to Paul. But now her arms were crossed and she was looking at her father for an answer. She had told him everything that had happened and waited for an explanation.

Riley was at a loss for words. He was still in shock that his daughter had been attacked and the fact that the mother of his daughter had sent another demigod to look for her. It was tempting to blame the whole incident on the girl now downstairs helping the love of his life cook dinner. But something told him that there was no way Amy would let him get away with it. He was the one that taught her that people should own up to their own mistakes and actions.

"I'm sorry Amy. No-one ever told me that your powers could ever resurface again. I thought that after they disappeared when you came back from that Cradle place, you would never know about them. So I kept the secret from you and Joseph in the hopes that you could live a normal life. I was going to tell you if they ever did, see, 'cause I thought they would be more obvious. Turns out not even you knew about them until someone came after you"

The tips of her fingernails sunk further into her skin in order to soothe her nerves "Dad, I get about wanting to protect me but you shouldn't have kept it a secret. If Maira hadn't been in time, I wouldn't have been able to defend myself. Even in the first place, my supposed mother is the goddess of love so how much self defence could I have inherited"

Riley chuckled at this point "Oh I don't know. I'm pretty sure your mother has a lot of ways of defending herself"

This shocked Amy "You knew her?"

"Well a little, it's not like she just appeared in my bedroom and we-"

"Too many details there dad"

"What I mean is that, I met her when she was visiting the human world and I thought she was gorgeous so I asked to paint her. Do you remember when I told you that I wasn't in a great place while I was coming to the end of college? I was still trying to figure myself out and how to come to grips with the fact that I wasn't who people thought I was. I knew my friends would never accept me if they knew the truth. I got to know your mother a little while she modelled for me and my friends began to misunderstand. They began to push me to start something with her, thinking they were helping me, and under the pressure I caved in. But after we, you know; I didn't see her again until she arrived with you in her arms and explained everything" Riley glanced at a picture of himself with a baby Amy in his arms. Joseph had taken the picture not long after the two of them met "The last thing she said to me was that I wouldn't always be alone with you. Not too long after that, I met Joseph"

Immediately Amy's face softened "What was she like?"

Riley bit his lip, some kind of pain on his face "Incredible in so many ways. I'll tell you soon but not now, I don't think either of us are ready to talk about her. I know you want to kiddo, but I don't want to cloud your judgement of her before you know her" He responded to Amy's frowning face.

"But Maira said that gods aren't allowed to live with their human children"

"Maybe, but you never know what's going to happen. You're about to start an amazing journey. It's probably going to be dangerous but amazing none the less"

"Do you really think so?" Amy finally unfolded her arms and sat on the bed next to her father.

He leaned to the side and wrapped an arm around her "I don't doubt it, princess" He kissed the top of her head.