Chapter 3: Woman in Black


"What I can't believe is that Jay and Theresa would hide this from us! I mean, I get Neil, but-"

"Well we hid it from each other, didn't we, Archie?"

"I would be willing to bet you a large sum of money that Neil has it too!"

"Yeah, and what about Theresa and her creepy eyes?"

"They're contacts, remember!"

"Well, she could've lied!"

"Actually, I think I saw her have ears like Archie's!"

"So Neil and Theresa have it? That only leaves Jay."

"He was acting all self-conscious at breakfast, I think he has it too!"

Just then, the front door opened and all of their voices that had been talking over each other hushed.

"Hey, guys!" Theresa waved, pulling at her hat awkwardly.

She was greeted by silence. Archie turned to Atlanta and noticed she was bearing a mischievous grin which he had come to know as her diabolical-plan-plotting smile. He was often at the butt-end of these so-called jokes of hers.

"Hey, Theresa, can I see your hat?" Atlanta asked innocently.

"Uh, no, I'm wearing it," Theresa pointed out, her eyebrow raised.

"But you're inside now! You don't need it!" Archie eagerly cut in, spreading his arms wide and looking around the room as if to demonstrate how 'inside' they truly were.

"Uh, well…" Theresa searched for an answer, her mouth opening and closing voicelessly.

"You can, but first I have to show Theresa something!" Jay stepped in front of Theresa and blocked Archie and Atlanta's vulture-like hands that were reaching towards her hat.

He then grabbed Theresa's wrist and tried to rush up the stairs with her, earning him several grateful looks from the flustered red head.

Atlanta stood abruptly and used her speed to cut them off at the staircase.

"Hey, stay bac-" Theresa tried to maneuver around her, only to be pushed against the wall and have her hat snatched off of her head followed by a triumphant, "AHA!"

At the collective gasp of surprise from her roommates, Theresa clapped her hands over her furry ears and yelped in shock, ducking her head and rushing up the stairs in embarrassment.

Jay stared at Atlanta in shock, "Uh-oh."

"Called it," Herry called with disinterest from the couch, trying to balance a chip between his paws and into his mouth.

"Just like the rest of us," Atlanta announced smugly, then yelling up the stairs, "Theresa, come back!"

"What the hell was that?" Jay demanded angrily, gesturing towards the upstairs where Theresa had run off, "How was that any way to tell us anything?"

Jay stomped up the stairs after Theresa.

"What is happening!?" Neil shouted at the ceiling.

Atlanta looked back at her friends hopelessly, before waiting a beat and walking up after him. She took the stairs two at a time and walked up to Theresa's closed door, creaking it open and poking her head in.

Theresa was ruffling through her closet frantically, when Jay suddenly rested a hand on her shoulder causing her to halt her actions very suddenly. He spoke too gently for Atlanta to hear, and as she was about to announce her presence, she watched in surprise as Theresa turned around and rested a hand on Jay's face. She could only see the back of Jay's head, but Theresa's eyes were calm and forgiving before her eyes met Atlanta's at the door. She dropped the hand and smiled.

"Hey," Theresa scratched the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Sorry about that, there was probably a better way to approach the matter," Atlanta spoke genuinely, raising her hands and gesturing to her sharp claws that replaced her fingernails, "Let's go downstairs and discuss the matter better."

Theresa nodded knowingly, following Atlanta down the stairs and saying, "I had a suspicion it was happening to you guys too, you know…"

When they arrived back on the first floor, everyone took a turn presenting their abnormalities starting with Herry's paws and Odie's feathers, then finishing up with Neil's ridiculously pale complexion and hair.

Archie snickered at Neil, "I knew something was wrong with you at first glance…"

Neil whimpered something quietly that sounded like, "I'm hideous," then a small sob.

"You, too," Atlanta nodded at Jay, "What's wrong with you?"

Jay rolled his eyes and flashed his fangs, watching Atlanta wince.

"Oh."

"Anyway," Jay said, bringing Neil out of his own little sob-fest by patting him on the back, "Chiron says to meet back with him tomorrow. He says what is happening to us has something to do with some witch or Goddess of some sort called Circe. Until then, we're going to have to keep it on the down low, so a night-in tonight, everybody."

"Who is Circe?" Archie asked.

"I know a thing or two about Circe," Odie said from his spot on the couch.

"Circe was a Queen Goddess who lived on this island called Aeaea. Her father was Helios, the God of the sun and the owner of the land where my descendant, Odysseus', men arrived and ate the cattle. In myths it was said that Circe transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions. She was renowned for her knowledge of drugs and herbs. Also, she was in love with Odysseus and helped him with his quest, but was enraged when he betrayed her…"

"So Circe's turning us into animals as some sort of revenge?" Theresa demanded.

"Extremely belated if she is," Odie shrugged, "It's possible!"

"Let's not forget about Cronus," Jay said bitterly after a second.

After an hour of discussing a couple of theories over dinner, the heroes were soon bored of the topic and agreed to wait for further information from Chiron and Dionysus the following day.

"So, since we're all stuck with each other for the night, who wants to watch a movie?" Archie said as he put away a plate

"Yeah, too bad we can't go out and actually get one at the movie store…" Odie rolled his eyes, "We're keeping it on the 'down low'."

"Well, I suppose I can go. I just need to wear a toque!" Archie volunteered.

"Yeah, but you kind of look like a robber when you wear it," Atlanta laughed unapologetically, "I didn't want to tell you before…"

"Why doesn't Jay go? He's the most normal!" Herry suggested.

"Okay," Jay shrugged, "What kinds of movies do you guys want?"

"Get a scary one!" Archie and Atlanta called out in unison.

Jay looked at Theresa who looked pretty distant; she noticed his gaze and shrugged, "I'll watch anything, I guess…"

"Action!" Herry called out.

Odie yanked his thumb in Herry's direction, "I'm with him only because I know nobody's going to want to spring for that documentary about life on Mars…"

Neil sighed, "Well… I dunno…"

"He chooses a scary one!" Atlanta shouted, standing from her spot on the couch and pushing Jay towards the door before anybody could object, "Now get it!"

Jay rolled his eyes and complied, grabbing his jacket on the way out.

He stuck his head back around the corner to look at them all, "Do I have to walk?"

"Come on, Jay, you're a big boy now!" Archie smirked.

"It's getting dark!" Jay said in an exasperated tone.

"Sorry, I'd drive you…" Herry sighed and kicked his back paws into the air, "But I don't have any feet still. Sorry, man."

"I guess I could drive you…" Theresa thought, "I'd just need a hat. Oh, and I'm not going in the store."

"Okay, come on!" Jay grinned, "I'll wait at your car."

As the two had left the Brownstone, Herry turned to look at the others, "Jay's totally into her."


Around twenty minutes later, Jay and Theresa both stepped through the door of the dorm again.

"What'd you get?" Neil called out as they walked into the room.

"The Woman in Black," Jay replied, flashing them the cover sporting an angsty-looking Daniel Radcliff before slipping it into the DVD player.

"Hmm, I was hoping more crazy serial ax-killer chasing people through the dark kind of scary movie but I suppose this will do," Atlanta joked.

Herry took up the big recliner, Neil, Odie, Jay, and Theresa had all squished together on the fairly small couch, and Archie and Atlanta claimed the floor as their territory.

"Hold on, this movie is missing something!" Herry cried suddenly, standing up and running to the kitchen.

All that was heard was the sound of popping for the next three minutes before Herry lumbered in with three huge bowls, almost tripping over his paws as he walked. He looked rather proud of himself as he arrived in front of his roommates.

"There we go, much better!" Herry grinned, handing a bowl to Atlanta and Archie, and one to Jay, Theresa, Odie, and Neil, then kept one for himself, "Start the movie!"

Odie grabbed the remote and pressed play, immediately the screen flashed to life and an eerie scene appeared.

Halfway through the movie, all you could hear was the main characters breathing as he paced around the mansion he was trapped in for the night, opening doors and turning corners while the background music screamed suspense.

Theresa was gripping Jay's arm so tight he felt like he was losing circulation.

"Theresa…?" Jay asked hesitantly, ready to ask Theresa to loosen her deathhold.

Then, something flashed on the screen, a face in a window, and Theresa jumped, her face looking pale green as her eyes stayed glued to the screen.

"Theresa?" he asked a bit louder.

Turning her horrified orbs away from the screen, she turned to look at him, only to blush as she realized that their faces were only a few inches apart. If he leaned just a little farther…

"Uh…" Jay said dumbly, forgetting what he had wanted to ask, content on just staring into her slit, but still pretty, eyes.

Finally, the pain in his arm returned and he remembered, "Could you loosen your grip a bit?"

He broke eye contact to look down at her hand which was gripping his arm.

Theresa dropped his arm like lava and muttered an apology under her breath, making her hand sit in her lap as calmly as possible before turning back to the screen. The screen flashed again and she looked like she wanted to grab his arm again, but just contented in clenching her knuckles instead.

Odie looked over at Theresa's clenched hands, "You need to stress ball, Theresa?"

Theresa nodded seriously while still staring at the screen.

Odie raised his eyebrows and shook his head before sinking back into the couch and returning his attention back to the movie.

Five minutes later, Theresa's knuckles were so white from clenching, that Jay decided to sympathize her and give her his hand.

She looked up at him as he wrapped his hand around hers; he simply said, "Don't break the stress ball, please," and turned back to the movie.

Eventually, when the movie had only a few minutes left, almost everybody was asleep except for Theresa who was glaring at the screen in exasperation.

As the movie finally ended she threw her arms up and looked around, ready to rant about the ending, only to look around the dark room and find only limp figures scattered randomly throughout. All she could hear was the sound of breathing and it made her shiver.

A reminder from the movie, she started taking in smaller breaths as if she was terrified the others would take up all of the house's oxygen.

"I hate scary movies…" she whispered finally, trying to lean back in her seat to relax and fall asleep. She honestly would have been content watching Hercules for the umpteenth time; movies with death usually gave her frightening real nightmares. Or maybe they were visions, she couldn't tell which.

After a few minutes of shifting restlessly, she considered leaning against Jay. On second thought though, she couldn't bear the idea of him waking up first and seeing a Theresa with bed head drooling all over his shoulder. She shook her head and decided to just go to her room, but when she went to stand up, she felt a tug on her arm. She squinted into the darkness, suddenly noticing that Jay's hand was still clutched in hers.

"W-wha," came his sleepy voice. His eyes were peeked open and looking up at her.

Even in the darkness, she couldn't deny that he was handsome. His hair had gone wayward in all directions, but the lazy comfortable eyes that gazed up at her just made her want to scream.

Instead she opted to biting her lip and prying her fingers from his as gently as she could, to which his response was to squeeze tighter.

He mumbled something that sounded like he was wondering where she was going.

She tilted her head towards the stairs and her room, to which he shook his head and yanked her down into him, enfolding her into his arms.

"Jay!" she whisper-yelled, secretly pleased. She wiggled in his arms to get away but he did not let, an out of character chuckle erupting from his chest, the teenager in him seeming to show.

She twisted in his arms until she was facing him, pressing her hands against his chest to pull away, but she looked up and met his eyes that were so close to hers. Mistake. She could see every last detail of his face, from his pores to each individual eyelash. She stopped struggling and felt something dormant rumbling in her chest, vibrating almost as she dropped her eyes to his lips.

Her eyes rose to his, but his hooded eyes were preoccupied with her lips. Her breaths felt suddenly shallow in her chest with anticipation as his arms that had been locking her against him rose to her hair, and suddenly his eyes were closing. Then, ever so lightly, she felt the coolness of his lips press to hers for but one millisecond before a huge THUMP! reverberated throughout the room and they jerked apart.

She twisted her head, fingers touching her tingling lips to see the dark form of Herry stumbling through the room, holding his shin in pain and glaring at the table he must have banged it on. He trumped on and a door opened and closed elsewhere in the Brownstone.

Theresa held her breath, heart pounding as she hesitantly turned back to face Jay, his mouth open and eyes wide wordlessly. He didn't look so sleepy anymore.

Wow, what was I thinking? she moved her hands back down to his chest and pushed away, to which his arms gave away easily this time.

"I should go," she mumbled inaudibly, saving him the trouble as she practically sprinted away to her room, a feeling of dread replacing the initial reaction of joy of having finally kissed Jay, even if it wasn't even technically… a kiss.

She scrunched her forehead and rested her face in her hands as she sat on the side of her bed. Jay was her friend, and they had been for over a year now. How could she be ruining this with him? She was supposed to be saving the world, not crushing on her roommate. And how and when had this crush snuck up on her?

She raised her fingers to her mouth again, trying to remember the trace of his lips. They had just barely brushed really but her head was feeling quite dizzy.

Ahh, don't get obsessed, she chastised herself, trading her usual red tank top for a white one and pajama pants. Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she tucked under her warm covers, feeling her heart heavy as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


Atlanta's eyes flickered open lazy as the morning light filtered in through the blinds, yawning as she lifted her head off of Archie's shoulder. She rolled her shoulders back in a stretch, trying to work an uncomfortable kink out of her neck before standing and observing the room.

She spotted a snoring Odie with his arm wrapped around Neil's shoulder in a protective manner and stifled a laugh. Spotting Herry, she noted that he had somehow managed to flip around in his lazyboy recliner and currently had his head resting in a still partly-full popcorn bowl. She simply shook her head at this as it wasn't like she could say this wasn't normal behaviour for her burly friend.

No Jay or Theresa, she noted, maybe they had retreated to their rooms for the night.

Her fond grin lasted until she entered the Brownstone's bathroom, wavering as she spotted herself in the mirror, something sticking out of her lower back.

"You have got to be kidding me," she exclaimed in exasperation and turned to look at her back, "A tail? Seriously?"

Her tail was long and limber, draping down to the floor in a dull golden colour. With little effort, she rose her tail in the air, watching it swish back and forth and noting that the tip was black. She narrowed her eyes as black splotches began to materialize along the yellow fur, travelling up the tip as if the transformation was not over.

She took in a quick breath and a step back in fear and looked at her arms, noticing similar black spots appearing there as well. It was spreading, but why wasn't it stopping?

She pressed closer to the mirror as one of her eyes changed colour too, a light hazel crawling up her iris and her pupils dilating.

"Stop!" she felt another shriek bubble up into her chest, but held it in and turned to rush out of the light and back into the living room with her superspeed.

She shook her purple-haired friend's shoulder sharply.

"Archie, wake up, you big lump!"

When he did not respond immediately, she rolled her eyes and whacked him in the face with her tail, a little proud of her precision as he shouted in surprise.

"Atlanta?" he questioned as if he didn't know if he was still dreaming, pulling a piece of fur from his mouth in utter confusion.

His eyes scanned the room, landing on the Odie and Neil with a snigger.

"Bigger issues at hand, Arch," Atlanta squatted down to eye level with him, twirling her tail between her fingers.

"Why are only one of your eyes hazel… and bigger," he tilted his head quizzically, reaching towards her face slowly. She batted his hand away irritably.

"Go wake up Jay and Theresa," she said, watching him stand and walk into the hallway before picking up a couch pillow and sizing it up in her hands.

She whacked Neil and Odie over the head with it and then casually threw it at Herry's back, bouncing off as the three teenagers comically woke up in alarm.

"Wha-aa," Herry groaned, rubbing his face with popcorn sticking out of his hair.

Neil mumbled something about beauty sleep while Odie turned to go lay back down.

Archie walked back into the room with Theresa following suit.

"What's going on?" Theresa rubbed her eyes, a nearly 3 foot long tail dragging behind her as she paced in.

Atlanta scooped up Theresa's tail earning a gasp of shock and placed hers beside Theresa's, examining the differences in length and colour.

"So it's spreading faster than we thought?" Odie asked from the couch, sitting upright now and fully awake.

"Maybe," Theresa muttered absentmindedly, then her cheeks suddenly flushing for no apparent reason, "Where's Jay?"

Archie opened his mouth to say something, but as if on cue, the front door of the Brownstone opened and Jay strolled in.

"Oh good, everyone's up!"

"Where were you? Herry stood, shaking some popcorn to the ground. He stared at the ground in confusion where the popcorn lay but then raised his eyes back to Jay's.

"I was at the school, and I know what's going on now," he nodded concisely.

"Wait, wait, it's only," Neil looked down at his watch before his eyes opened, "7 AM - why the heck are any of us awake? Did you walk there?"

"Well, I couldn't sleep," Jay said, and the proof was the bags under his eyes. It looked like he hadn't slept at all last night. How weird, Atlanta wondered as she thought she'd seen him drifting off earlier during the movie.

"Anyway, none of the Gods have the materials or knowledge to make the potion to reverse the process. We're going to have to go to Circe and convince her to change us back," Jay was in leader mode now, his down-to-business face on, "Only problem is, Circe's island, Aeaea, it has moved… back in the times of these Greek myths, it was located around Italy, but we don't know where it is, so Odie, we're going to need you to-"

"It's in Mexico." Theresa's voice spoke up with certainty, "Durange, Mexico."

"How do you know that?" Odie asked, standing from his spot and suddenly wobbling a little bit.

"Trust me I saw it in a vis-" Theresa stopped midway through her sentence as Odie toppled over onto the ground, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, I…"

Odie had pulled up his pant leg, revealing his calf had become literally just skin and bones, his feet branching off into 4 razor sharp talons instead of toes. There was no fat or muscle in his lower legs, it was now just yellow and dried skin.

"That is terrifying," Neil commented usefully.

"I'm turning into a bird…" Odie said calmly, then his eyes grew big, "I'm turning… into… a BIRD!? As if the feathers weren't enough, this is a BIRD'S FOOT! How is this supposed to support my weight!?"

"Calm down, buddy, I can just carry y-" Herry looked at his hands hard. Or rather, his paws, "Nope, now I got paws here too. This is not very convenient."

"Ewww, this is so gross," Neil whined, drawing the attention of the room as he held his arm up at eye level. White fur was poking through the pores and thickening all up his arms. He giggled involuntarily, "Ahh, that's ticklish!"

Atlanta exchanged glances with Theresa, "So Theresa and I are turning into some kind of cats."

"Something with fur and paws for me," Herry said.

Neil looked down and himself and frowned, "I swear, if I'm turning into a fat polar bear, this Circe chick is going to regret this so hard."

"Anything new with me?" Archie asked, comically spinning in a circle to check if he had a tail.

"Your eyes," Atlanta pointed out, wondering why she hadn't noticed them earlier. They looked really nice with his hair, "Uh, they changed colour. Navy blue, but that's it as far as I can tell."

"Okay, so everyone go to your rooms and pack a few necessities. We'll go back to the school and get Hermes to draw us up a portal to Mexico," Jay ordered.

"Woo, vacation!" Neil pumped his furry fists in the air and ran up the stairs.

"Weren't you guys listening before? I can't drive with paws!" Herry said grumpily.

"How about Theresa's car?" Jay asked.

"Not enough room…" Theresa sighed, "But I could drive Herry's car!"

Herry's eyes darkened, "Nobody drives my car, but me…"

"Fine then, let's walk!" Atlanta rolled her eyes, throwing her arms into the air dramatically.

"Fine…" Herry grumbled, "But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you, Theresa, never again will this happen!"
Theresa smiled innocently, "Okay, Herry!"

Grumbling some more, Herry handed his keys to Theresa and stumbled up the stairs to pack


The seven heroes all stood in front of the portal that Hermes had created in his office, the doors opened and revealing the view of crashing waves.

"So how do we find Aeaea?" Theresa asked, looking up at her mentor

"Trust me, Theresa, only a person with a talent such as yours can find the way," Persephone squeezed her cheek, "You'll know what to do when the time comes."

"Meaning you have no idea either?" Neil asked rudely, examining himself in his golden mirror before tucking it away in his suitcase.

Persephone ignored him and kept going, "The island will be visible at sunset, far off in the distance. Only those who are looking for it will recognize and see it. You'll only have a short time to cross, so make sure you move quickly!"

Everyone nodded that they understood and began to walk towards the portal.

"Don't forget to have fun!" Hermes waved with a goofy smile, "Plenty of time before the sun sets, so check into a hotel."

"We pulled a few strings and got you all off of school for the next few weeks too. You all truly deserve this break," Hera spoke with a gentle, genuine smile.

"Cool, see ya!" Neil flicked his sunglasses on and strode through the portal.

They all rolled their eyes and stepped through the portal. The air was thick and heavy, hot and smoldering.


AN: Yes, yes, I realize that video stores are pretty much nonexistent now, but when I wrote this and the show was airing, it was the only method of getting movies (the dark ages, man). Anyway, get your last guesses in for what you think each character will be - you'll be finding out next chapter ;D

And again, thanks so much for reviewing, it means a lot even if it's a simple "update soon!" I see all the views I get for the stories and i'm like WATER YOUR OPINIONS cuz they're just views and I have no idea if people just opened the tab and then bailed or wat. WELP, I have rambled. Apologies.

Check back soon :) constructive critisisms welcomed

P.S. This story is heavy J/T and minor A/A (if you haven't noticed haha)... sooo, do with that information as you will :)