All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company.
No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder.
All original characters are the property of Odyssey.

Previously:

"Why didn't they tell me the whole truth then?! Why did they leave out all the stuff that the Cyclops had done?!"

Cyc sighed again. "It… wasn't just the Cyclops either, Cassy."

Cassy stared at him. "Say what?!"

Cyc felt his throat getting tight. "There were… some other Olympians back then, who were… also… not so innocent."

----

Taurus shook his head. "Nothing, Manty, we've been searching for almost three days now and still nothing. I've even asked the gargoyle clan on Mt. Thanatos to keep a look out for the girl."

----

"How's she doing?" he asked finally.

Manty sighed. "To be honest, I don't really know. Whatever that stuff was, that Achilles fed her. It seems to have completely drained her of any or all emotion. She doesn't seem to feel anything."

-Secrets and Lies-

To Adapt is to Survive

The Angels of New Olympus, Part I

One Week Later; Early Morning; Manty's Apartment:

Cassy moaned, as she stirred awake. Once she opened her eyes, she looked down, and found herself shackled to some kind of a dungeon wall, her clothes ripped.

"Sleep well?" a heavy voice sounded.

Cassy looked up and, almost unsurprising, she saw Achilles looking down on her.

"No!" she hissed, mentally shouting. "This is not real! You're not here!"

"Oh, but I am," Achilles said coyly, and trotted closer to her. "I'm always in your thoughts, aren't I?" He brushed his huge hand against her breast, sending shivers through her. He chuckled at her expense, as her body shuddered with disgust.

"No matter what you say or do," he continued. "I'm always with you." He turned his horse-body around, and rubbed up against her, same as a cat does. Cassy could smell the scent of horse, like in a stable, on him, as he moved against her.

"I'm inside you now," he lowered his head to her, and licked the side of her face. "Everywhere you go; I'm in your memories. Part of me is in you, forever." He moved in to kiss her.

"NOOOO!!!!!"

Cassy screamed, as she woke up. She clutched the bed sheets to her chest, moaning miserably.

She stayed like that for about ten minutes, while she regained her breathing.

"It wasn't real! It wasn't real!" she repeated over and over again, her head swimming with awful thoughts of the dream.

Cassy felt like throwing up. She wished she had more of that purple herb that Achilles had given her. When Taurus had brought her back home, she had been in some kind of a trance for the next few days, until finally the herb's affects had worn off.

That was when her life had gone straight to hell. Without the herb's clouding affects on her mind, she had started to feel and think more clearly again. She remembered going to Achilles' hut, getting captured, raped…

Cassy paused in her thoughts for a moment. She often wondered if what had happened to her could be considered rape? She unfortunately remembered every little detail that had happened while she was in Achilles' care. She remembered how he had come onto her, how he had kissed her with that huge tongue of his, the way his heavy body pressed down on her, as he…

Cassy suddenly felt sick. She leapt out of bed, and rushed to the lavatory, vomiting inside it.

She didn't know, which made her feel sicker, the fact that she had been raped, or the fact that part of her had actually enjoyed it.

Cassy sobbed, as she hurled the last of her dinner. She needed more of that herb!

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Later, In The Evening; River Styx Club:

Cyan trotted over to the club's main entrance, ignoring the grinning look of the club's bouncer, a Minotaur, that was there.

"Hey!" the Minotaur said cheerfully. "Welcome to The River Styx! Hope you have a good time."

Cyan gave him a sideways glance. "Thanks. Hey, where's Orin?" She asked after Cyc's cousin, Orin, who was the usual bouncer.

The Minotaur shrugged. "On break. He'll be in the club somewhere."

Cyan nodded, and then went in.

The club was, as usual, in a bustle. Dozens of different species of New Olympians were all around, dancing, drinking, and making all around general fools of themselves.

Cyan smiled a little, as she remembered the time when she, Cyc, Cassy, and Orin had all gotten together, having a night out. She remembered how Orin and Cyc had wrestled each other, making all the girls swoon, and making her and Cassy groan at her ridiculous behaviour.

Cyan paused, as she remembered her human friend. That night out, had also been the night when she had met that Centaur, Nessus, who had taken her to that party of his cousin's, where she had run into Achilles…

Cyan moaned, as the pain and trauma of her friend returned to her, and she sat down on a gigantic cushion that was about 5 times her size.

She had always known that there was more to the stories of her race about how they were supposedly abused and hunted by humans. Her parents had revealed to her the whole truth, about how their own race was not so innocent, how they had attacked villages, carrying off and raping the human women… etc.

But despite all that, Cyan had never been ashamed of her people. After all, it had been many centuries ago, and her people had evolved and grown beyond that. It was all in the past.

Then, something like this happened, and her friend was abused, humiliated, kidnapped and raped, by one who was partly of her own kind.

Cyan felt sick, as she thought of Achilles. Then she realized something. She realized that although her people thought they had learnt how to control the darkness inside them, it didn't mean that it was no longer there. To pretend that it didn't exist anymore, was practically giving it an invitation to come back.

'Maybe if we had been aware of it more,' Cyan thought. 'We would have noticed what was happening with Ixion, and could have done something to stop what he was turning into. By Tartarus, who knows, we may have even found out about what was happening to Achilles at his home, with his family.'

Although Cyan now loathed Achilles with a vengeance, there was still a small part of her that couldn't help, but feel pity towards the hybrid creature. He hadn't asked to be born the way he was. In a way, his parents had, since they hadn't gone to the island's genetists and had the necessary genetic treatments done, before they conceived. So they had decided to make him pay for their mistake.

No one knew who Achilles' family was, and frankly, no one really cared at the moment. Many people were just glad he was behind bars, where he belonged, including her. But Cyan was still curious, and she would love to see the people who had been responsible for making Achilles into the monster he was, pay for their cruelty.

Cyan realized she had been thinking about Achilles now for over 5 minutes, and shook her head furiously, to drive him out of his thoughts. She went back to thinking about Cassy, and wondered how her friend was doing.

'If she is still my friend?' she thought miserably. It had been over a week now since Cassy's ordeal, and she had yet to go see her. She wanted to, but she wasn't sure if she'd be welcome. After all, Achilles was a Centaur (or at least half Centaur) and so was she. Would seeing her bring back nightmares for Cassy?

Cyan wondered if she should go see Manty first, and see what he said, but again she wondered if he would make her welcome, or reject her on sight?

'What am I going to do?' she thought, and then closed her eyes briefly, in a pray to the Gods.

She had never really believed in religion, as most of New Olympus was mainly a people of scientists, but there were still the odd few who still believed. At this moment, she was desperate to try anything.

'Dear Gods on all Mount Olympus,' she prayed. 'What am I to do? Should I go see Manty first, or shouldn't I? Please, give me a sign.'

"Damn! Am I beat!" a loud voice boomed right over her, startling her right out of her reverie.

"What the…?" she began, but didn't finish, as a large shadow fell over her, followed by a heavy weight that came down.

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Medical Centre; Half Hour Later:

Manty sighed, as he dropped his disposable gloves, for his paws, into the waste-bin.

He didn't really want to be here, at the medical clinic, as he was too worried about Cassy to really concentrate on his work. But he had been falling behind on his schedule lately, and he was going to be of no use to Cassy, if he couldn't make any money to keep a roof over their heads.

"Doctor Mantius?" one of the nurse's called to him.

He looked behind him, and doubled back when he saw Cyan being headed towards him on a hover-table.

"Cyan?!" he said shocked, when he saw the bruises that were forming almost all over her body, and a miniature respirator that was attached to her face, to help her to breathe. Her chest and body looked as though it had been practically crushed.

He raced over to his adopted daughter's closest friend. "What happened?" he asked concerned. "Were you attacked?"

When Cyan saw him, she seemed to groan, and Manty could hear her saying something about 'be careful what you wish for'… Whatever that meant?

"Hey, Manty." She said weakly.

"What happened?" he repeated his question. "Did some people attack you?"

Cyan mumbled, and seemed to grow red in the face. "I wish," she said.

"Huh?" he said confused.

"No, I wasn't in a fight," she answered.

"Then what happened to you?"

Cyan mumbled something again, too low this time for even Manty's acute hearing to pick up.

"What?" he asked again.

She repeated, but again was too low for him to hear.

"Cyan!" he said, growing slightly agitated, as he examined her chest and the lower half of her body.

Cyan moaned, and her face seemed to glow red-hot.

"I got sat on." She finally revealed.

Manty stopped what he was doing, and have her a strange look.

"I'm sorry?" he asked, his eyes looking widely at her.

Cyan moaned again, and shut her eyes, looking for a place to hide. "I got sat on by that… stupid, blind, idiotic doofus of a cousin of Cyc's!"

"Orin?" Manty asked.

Cyan nodded. "I was at The River Styx, sitting down on one of the seat cushions they have there. I was just there, minding my own business, thinking, when… I guess I should've paid more attention to where I was sitting. The cushion I was on, was huge, so it was obviously meant for Olympians of the bigger variety. Anyway, I was there, thinking to myself, and then Orin came by, didn't notice me, and then just sat down on me with that big fat ass of his!!!!"

Manty tried unsuccessfully to hold back a smirk, and a giggle that was threatening to form in his throat. "Well… Just be thankful you're still in one piece." He said genuinely, still trying not to laugh. "Cyclops are extremely well build, and exceedingly heavy… particularly when they sit down on something." He did laugh then.

Cyan gave him a dirty look. "Oh, sure, big laugh! Ha ha! You wouldn't be laughing if you had been the one who was stuck on a cushion, with a bulbous chunk of green blubber in your face, and crushing your bones!"

Manty laughed again, and wiped a tear from his eye. "You're right. I'm sorry, Cyan, but at least you're all right now."

"Yeah," she groaned, "right after the dancing was over."

"Dancing?"

Cyan moaned. "He wasn't on top of me for very long, thankfully. But when he got up, my legs got caught in his pants, and… And when he got up, I went with him. In fact, I went with him all over the damn dance floor!" Cyan groaned, as she fidgeted on the carrier.

"He was dancing all over the place," she continued, "shaking that huge ass of his, which I might add is his usual flirting style! Only thing is, whenever he shook, he shook me too, and nearly gave me a migraine because of it, not to mention vertigo!"

Manty burst out laughing again.

Cyan snorted. "I thought that would make you laugh! I can only imagine what Cyc is gonna say when he finds out. Oh, and here's the real funny part that you'll no doubt enjoy, Manty. They've decided to name a new dance after me, one that involves having a girl strapped to a guy's backside, and swung all over the place… They're calling it the 'Cyan Butt Swinger'!"

Manty's laughter became so loud that most of the nurses looked curiously at him.

Cyan mumbled, and breathed deep into her respirator.

"I'm sorry, Cyan." Manty said honestly. "Truly I am. I don't mean to make fun of you and your… situation. I just… I haven't had a good laugh in over a week."

Cyan looked at him, her anger gone, replaced with concern. "Because of Cassy?" she asked.

All the laughter seemed to drain out of Manty's face, at the mention of his daughter's name. "Yes." He said simply.

"How is she?"

Manty sighed. "Not too well, I'm afraid." He looked at her painfully. "Since those herbs that Achilles gave her, wore off. She's been having constant nightmares. I tried to coax her into discussing them with me, but she won't give an inch. She's completely closed herself off to anyone."

Cyan bit her lip, trying to coax herself into asking what she had been thinking about earlier… before getting sat on.

"Actually, Cyan," Manty suddenly asked, making her look up at him. "I was wondering if perhaps you, or Cyc, could come by and visit sometime? I mean, you two are Cassy's closest friends, her only friends if I'm not mistaken? So who better to help than you?"

Cyan looked at him in wonder, blinking her eyes. 'Thank you, Gods!' she added mentally, praising them.

"Yes!" she quickly said. "I'd love to. I can call Cyc, and ask him to come with me tomorrow, if that'll be all right?"

"Err, no," Manty replied. "I think it would be best to wait a few more days. Maybe I can still get to her. Wait 5 more days, and if nothing changes, then I'll call you and we'll arrange a meeting, okay?"

Cyan nodded in agreement. "Okay."

Manty nodded, and turned around, to go get some painkillers.

"Thank you, Gods." She thanked the Gods silently again. "But next time, when I ask for a sign. Do you think you could send me one without me getting used as a seat cushion???"

"Oh, and Cyan?" Manty called back, over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Maybe the next time when you and I are both at The River Styx," he added with a grin, "You can show me how to do that new dance?" He waved his tail at her, twirling his backside.

Cyan tore off her respirator, ignoring the pain in her chest, and threw it at him.

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The Following Morning; Manty's Apartment:

Manty sighed, as he poured the last of Cassy's breakfast into the garbage disposal unit. Once again, she had refused to eat. She was becoming awfully thin and pale, but no matter what Manty tried to do, she still refused to eat.

Manty considered maybe forgetting about waiting the next 5 days, and just ask her friends, Cyc and Cyan, to come speak to her now. Maybe they could succeed where he had failed.

Cyan had seemed withdrawn lately. Most likely because of what had happened with Achilles, Cyan blamed herself for what had happened, since she had in some way gotten Cassy to go to that Centaur party, where she had met Achilles in the first place. And Achilles being part Centaur only made it worse, making her ashamed of her lineage.

Cassy didn't seem to harbour any resentment or bad feelings toward Cyan, but then again, it was hard to tell what was going through Cassy's head at the moment. She kept saying she was fine, and that nothing was wrong. Achilles had been sent to jail, there was nothing for her to worry about, so she just wanted to forget about it all.

Manty knew she couldn't just forget about all that had happened to her, but he knew better than to try and argue with her. He had dealt with rape victims before, and knew that many of them, after their ordeal, just wanted to forget about it, to pretend that it had never happened, so that they could get on with their lives.

Unfortunately, none of them could wipe out the memories for long. Eventually, the tension and pain would boil up inside them, until they had an emotional breakdown, and Manty didn't want to see that happen to Cassy.

"Cassy!" he called to his adopted daughter. "I was thinking, maybe we could go out later? Maybe go down to the beach or something?"

"No, I don't think so," Cassy called back. "I have some things I want to take care of today. Maybe tomorrow?"

"What are you doing today?" he asked curiously.

"I'm gonna try and find a new job," she replied.

Manty blinked in surprise. 'She's going out' he thought amazed. 'Maybe she isn't so bad off, as I originally thought?'

"What brought this on?" he asked.

Cassy came into the kitchen, and for a moment, Manty thought she looked just like her old self.

"No reason," she replied. "I just… I want to do something, other than simply sitting around, having bad dreams. So I've decided to go looking for work. I mean it can't be any worse than staying around here doing nothing, right?"

Manty nodded in understanding. "Do… Do you want to tell me about those bad dreams that you're having?"

Cassy paused for a moment, and then shook her head. "No, they don't matter anymore. Once I started getting busy again, they should go away in no time."

"Cassy, I… " Manty started.

"I have to go!" she said hurriedly. "I better get going, or else all the best jobs will be taken!" With that, she ran out the front door, which hissed shut behind her.

Manty sighed. "Well… that could have gone a lot better." He groaned.

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City Streets; One Hour Later:

'So deep have you sunk now, lying to Manty just to get away from him... God I wish I hadn't done this.'

Cassy felt really bad about what she was doing, but she simply couldn't stand it anymore that Manty was concerned about her. She really didn't feel worthy of his concern. She simply felt dirty, because not only had she allowed Achilles to do what he had done, but because she had openly participated in it, and herb or not, she had actually enjoyed it.

As she made her way through the city, trying to go as unnoticed as possible, she automatically avoided any places where someone she knew could be. And yet, every time someone looked in her direction, she felt like she was being told how filthy she was.

Finally, after two hours walking aimlessly around, she felt her feet hurting and sat down on a bench.

For some time, she simply sat there, doing nothing. Finally, she just wanted to get up, when she heard voices from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a Harpy couple talking with a female Minotaur. The female Harpy had a very rounded belly, a clear sign of pregnancy, and looked very proud of it. Her partner also literally seemed to beam with joy.

"So, when do the doctors say is the due date?" the female Minotaur asked them.

"They say in less then two weeks," the male Harpy told her, while holding his mate's belly with his paw.

Cassy didn't hear anymore of it, because these innocent words had started a new train of thoughts in her head, which at the moment was a rather dark place.

She remembered what she had generally learned from health class. She had no idea if it also applied to humans, although Manty had assured her that she wasn't physically so different from most of the New Olympian females, at least in the inside.

'Mood swings, check... Vomiting, check... No idea when my last period was, check... Gotten laid... Oh God, no!'

She suddenly had a horrible scene in her head. Lying on a medical table, her belly round with pregnancy, and screaming in pain while giving birth. And when the child finally left her... there was blood, so much blood. And in the middle of it, a mini-Achilles grinned at her.

"No...no...no!" Cassy breathed quietly, panic gripping her. What if she really was pregnant with this monster's child?

Getting up, she just wanted to get away from everyone. Far away from everyone, even herself.

It had been so good to be totally carefree with that herb. 'Of course, I totally forgot.'

She knew it was the coward's exit, but at that moment, in her total mental confusion, she couldn't care less. She had to get more of it, but she didn't know where to search?

Of course there was one place were she was sure that there was still a lot of it. But she felt almost sick at the mere idea of returning to Achilles' hut. But in the end, her need for that stuff won over her scruples.

She should have felt ashamed that she was behaving like a drug-addict, but she didn't even think about it, while she made her way to leave the city.

She only hoped that she still remembered the way to the hut.

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Medical Centre; 9 Hours Later:

"Well, it looks really good, all your bones heal nicely. Tomorrow you can leave," Manty told a Minotaur who had had a rather nasty accident on a construction site. Thankfully it had not went past broken bones and flesh wounds.

Making some notes, he told the nurse of the progress, before walking back to his desk. He had been so busy with work that he even had to skip lunch. Now it was early evening. The sun was nearly set outside, as he saw through one of the windows.

His mind wandered to Cassy. Surely she was already back home. He had faith that she was, even in her current state of mind, responsible enough. Opening his office door, he suddenly stopped when seeing what was on his desk.

'Well, the sooner I get THIS stuff from my desk, the sooner I can go home.' Manty realized, when seeing all the paperwork 'All this bureaucratic work will be my bane some day.' So he started to read through the files, marking cases as healed, and estimated the costs for the treatments, when...

"Damn, I will never get used to these small doors. This is discrimination!"

Looking up, Manty saw Cyc squeezing his way through his office door.

This made Manty smile a little. "I seem to be popular these days, but at least you are not one of my patients, unlike a certain Centaur girl yesterday."

"You would be better off not reminding her of that incident," Cyc warned him, "I made that error this morning, resulting in her becoming redder than I ever thought possible. And when I told her how cool the new dance was, it earned me a hoof kick against my shin." Cyc said the last sentence with a wince, indicating his leg.

Manty tried hard not to laugh. "Before I forget, what does Orin say to the whole incident in the club?"

Cyc looked a little embarrassed. "He was sorry that he had hurt her." He then grinned. "But he also asked me to ask her how she had liked to be so near to Heaven." At Manty's confused look, Cyc patted his rear, indicating what he meant. "What you've got a bod as hot as this, what girl in their right mind could resist getting close to one of our best parts?"

Manty rolled his eyes a little.

"I'm just glad now that I didn't ask her," Cyc added, sighing briefly in relief. "If I had, I would have no doubt gotten another kick."

Manty barely held his laughter back. "So he is still full of himself, huh? Well, no matter. How can I help you?"

Cyc hesitated a little, before he told Manty, "Well, eh... I knew you wanted us to wait a few days, but I got so worried. I wanted to see how Cassy was faring. But no one opened up when I was at your door roughly twenty minutes ago."

Manty dropped his pen when he heard this, and stared at the Cyclops, all traces of his earlier amusement gone.

"Err, did I say something wrong?" Cyc wondered.

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The Wilderness:

Stupid...stupid... STUPID! Cassy cursed to herself while trying to make her way through the wilderness of New Olympus.

She had really thought that she would remember the way, but after many hours of wandering, she had to admit that she was wrong, and now totally lost in the wilderness. It was still amazing that the forests and spare grasslands of the island were so big.

Nevertheless, she was lost.

She had never went so deep into the wilderness before, and it showed. She was a city girl, and had no idea were she was. To make it worse, it was dark now, as the sun had set some minutes ago. And the effects of starving herself and walking around all the day now hit her full force.

She was tired, very tired, and her feet hurt like hell. She still managed to drag herself further, but she felt her legs becoming weak. She had just made it under a tree, on a clearing, before she collapsed.

Cassy was really scared, as she had no idea what kind of predators would wait for her in these forests. That, and the guilt was starting to rise inside her.

'Oh God, Manty will be sick with worry, and then he will have to ask Taurus to search for me again. All just because I'm a coward.'

Cassy felt like throwing up, but there was nothing left to bring up. Then she saw a shadow flying across the moon.

'What the...?'

"What are you doing out here?!" came a harsh voice suddenly from the darkness, and a huge, winged shadow landed in front of her.

The sudden scare was so much, and she was so weak, that she fainted on the spot.

The huge, winged shadow stood before her, as if wondering what to do next. Finally, he seemed to have made a decision, picked her carefully up, before jumping on a tree, extending his wings, and taking off.

Carrying Cassy, the shadow vanished into the night.

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New Olympus Security Headquarters:

"And you simply took this at face value...?" Taurus asked Manty astounded. He had just wanted to call it a day, when Manty had literally stormed in and told him what had happened.

Manty really felt like a bad father. His adoptive daughter was missing again, and he was partly at fault because he had simply accepted her obviously feigned interest at finding a job.

"I...I really thought she was better this morning," Manty finally said.

Taurus took a deep breath, before he finally said. "You should have really known better, you've had to deal with rape victims before... This is a really big mess." Taurus felt that this Human girl was slowly becoming a constant issue for security. "Have you checked all the places where she could be?"

"Everywhere. Her friends, and all the places where she hangs out at, or at least where she could feel safe. Nothing! I really should have gotten her professional help," Manty confessed.

"I doubt that you would have found someone willing to do the job," Taurus simply said, then looked at the facts. "So we have a confused, traumatized girl on our hands, who has run away and is now somewhere on this island."

Taurus sighed. "I hope we can find her. I don't want her to get hurt even more than she already has been."

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'I feel like a used doormat.' Cassy thought, when feeling returned to her. She felt so weak, so drained, that she could not manage to move. She couldn't even open her eyes. However, she felt that she was wrapped in some soft and warm blankets, and that the ground was too smooth to be the forest.

'How...? Oh yes, the shadow. I wonder what it was? I have never seen anything like that before.'

Her hearing soon returned too, and she was able to make out some voices very near to her.

"I don't care what she is. Even she deserves help. She looks so...fragile."

Snort "Haven't you read our history books? You know what humans have done to our kind!"

"And I know what those bigots in the city can do! I wouldn't dare to send her back before knowing all that had happened."

"And I say call security to drag her back to their city. She should NOT stay here."

"ENOUGH!" That voice was especially loud, hurting Cassy's ears. "She is clearly in need of help, and I want to know what has happened to her down there. You know how low the city dwellers can sink. We should know better than to draw simple conclusions!"

"Yes, leader," came the hesitant response from the other voices.

"For now, she can stay. I know that it can be a risk, but I doubt that she will go into a blood lust anytime soon. When she is awake, I will question her personally."

The rest of the conversation slipped Cassy's mind, when her tiredness came back, and she slipped into a dreamless sleep.

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The Next Morning:

"Mhhhhh..." It was nice to actually have a night of sleep without nightmares, she must have really zonked out last night. "Mhhh... my bed is really hard, I should really ask Manty for a new mattress... Wait a moment! This is not my bed!"

Now wide-awake, Cassy literally threw away the covers. She had not even slept in a bed. It was a couch, and she had been wrapped in a number of blankets. She had slept in her clothes, which by now were in need of a wash, as they smelt. Looking around, Cassy noticed that the room was not so much different to what she had seen in the city.

The walls were laced with metal, the floor had some kind of carpet, and the furniture literally screamed that it was a living room. Only this living room was a lot bigger than any other she had seen before, maybe with the exception of Cyc's house. The dominating feature was a huge viewscreen, the New Olympian equivalent of television. Cassy just never watched it, as the Olympians only showed two programs, both strictly for information on the current status of the city, and both of them were as boring as Tartarus.

As she looked around, she saw that she was all-alone, as nobody else was there.

Then she felt something on her left wrist. Pulling back her sleeve, she saw a medical bracelet. She had seen them in the clinic, and as far as she understood, it was an IV, only much more compact, and it was locked; as she was unable to remove it.

'Okay... calm down.' She thought. ' Just look around, and get out.' Getting up, Cassy felt actually rather strong on her feet. Also, she didn't feel hungry.

'Must be some kind of liquid food and energizer they, whoever they are, have put into the bracelet.' She then saw a message on the table in front of her. Picking it up, she read it.

If you're reading this, it means that you have woken up before dusk. There are only two doors in this room you can open. The one beside the screen leads to a lavatory; the other one is the exit. We have some questions for you, so don't try to leave.

"Who do they think they are?" Cassy said outraged. "I'm not some kind of prisoner!" Throwing the note aside, Cassy just wanted to leave.

There were four doors, so she tried the last three of them by random. The first two were locked, but the third opened to a hallway with probably more locked doors. But at the end of the hallway, she saw the daylight sky.

Walking to the exit, Cassy stopped abruptly when she reached it. The exit was actually an opening in a mountainside. She had a great overview over the isle, as she saw the city in the distance, and the ocean. Looking down, she saw that the mountain went straight down for at least 80 meters. Now she realized where she was. This complex was in the mountain that she had sometimes seen at the horizon.

"And I didn't even know what this place was called..." Now Cassy regretted having skipped the geography classes about the island. Returning to the living room, Cassy accepted that at the moment she had no choice, but to wait. Falling onto the couch, she still wondered who her mysterious hosts were?

'Could it be Harpies? They are the only species I know that can fly. But then why wait until dusk? This makes no sense... Which species could live so high in the mountains?

Having forgotten her other troubles and fears for now, she tried to remember anything that could help her solve this mystery.

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River Styx Club; One Hour Before Sunset:

Cyan signed, as she sat down on the seat cushions of The River Styx Night Club. This time, she triple sure that the cushion she sat on, was definitely meant for someone of her size, and NOT a Cyclops.

Manty had repaired all the bone fracture, cracked ribs, and such already. Aside from some slight bruises here and there along her skin, there was no indication that she had ever been hurt.

'Thank the Gods for that,' she thought gratefully. If someone noticed her injuries, she would no doubt have to explain them, and she definitely did not feel like explaining them. She didn't think 'getting sat on by a Cyclops' would earn her a few straight faces.

She knew she was grasping at straws, as there had been more than enough people that night that saw the whole facade. She didn't think many, if any, would have seen her actually getting sat on, as they would have immediately told Orin about it, and he wouldn't have taken his sweet time in getting off of her. But she knew that plenty of New Olympians had seen her during 'the dance'.

Cyan growled inwardly. 'Whoever gave that dance that dumb name???' she thought angrily. 'The Cyan Butt Swinger… Humph!'

She could swear that a few Olympians were already eyeing her, recognizing her. As she bent her head down, hoping to go unnoticed, she suddenly heard a loud 'whee' noise from the right of her.

Cyan looked up curiously, and her eyes almost popped out when she saw a few girls she knew from school, dancing around, with their hands/claws on the rears of their dance partners.

"You've… got to be kidding me?!" she said amazed. It had only been one day, and already several students from her school were performing the dance she so despised.

"Orin!" she swore under her breath. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Someone calling for me?!" a large voice boomed above her, and Cyan looked up, startled, to find Orin beaming down on her.

"Hey, good-lookin!" he greeted her joyfully, and thankfully, did not sit down. "What's up?!"

Cyan growled tensely. "Thanks a lot, Orin," she said sarcastically. "Thanks to you, I may never be able to show my face around the island again!"

"What?" Orin asked confused. "What's the big deal?" he then noticed the dance that everyone was doing. "Ohhh… you're talking about that new dance that's named after you?"

Cyan sneered at him. "Gee, ya think?!"

Orin shrugged his massive shoulders. "Aw, come on! It's not all that bad. How many people can say they've had a dance named after them?"

Cyan felt like throttling him. "How many people have had a 300 pound butt crushed on top of them, and then are constantly reminded of it, all by a stupid dance???"

Orin looked a little offended. "I personally think it's more like 200 pounds, thank you very much." He made a show of flexing his muscles, and posing his backside.

Cyan snorted. "Whatever."

"Say!" Orin grinned at her. "Since you're here, and since you and I are the ones who started this dance anyway… You wanna have a go on the floor?" He rocked his hips from side to side. "I'm wearing a new pair of shorts for the occasion."

Cyan snarled, and kicked him with her might, using her right front hoof. The kick practically did nothing, as Cyclops skin was extremely dense, and hard to hurt.

Orin laughed, and walked away, heading towards a couple of his favourite Harpies who were already eyeing him, blowing kisses at him.

"One of these days…" Cyan clenched her fist.

"Hey, Cy!" Cyc's voice distracted her from her would-be arch enemy, and she looked up to see Cyc's jolly face, which was as cocky, obnoxious, and with a faint whiff of charm, just like his cousin, Orin's, though she'd be damned if she would ever admit it.

"Hey yourself," Cyan greeted her friend politely. "Where you been?"

Cyc flopped down on the extra large cushion beside her, rocking the floor a little as he did so, and heaved a sigh of relief. "Had to work late at the Baths," he told her. "But man, oh man, did I ever have a swell time!"

Cyan rolled her eyes, and imagined herself listening to hours of Cyc giving thorough descriptions of how he had spent the day massaging, and bathing, dozens of females. Sure enough, he started off with explaining about the four lady Minotaurs who came in during the morning.

"Cyc!" she hurriedly told him. "Much as I enjoy listening to how you felt up half the women on New Olympus, I'm really not in the mood right now."

Cyc eyed her worriedly. "You alright?"

Cyan shrugged. "I've been better."

Cyc cocked his head at her. "You're not still ticked off about that Butt dance of yours, are ya?"

Cyan angrily snorted. "It's not one of the highlights of my day, no. But that's not the main thing that's bothering me, no."

"Then what?" Cyc asked, and then slowly it dawned on him. "You're still worried about Cassy, huh?"

Cyan nodded.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Cyc said, slightly exasperated. He was sick of his two best friends not speaking to one another.

Cyan snorted again. "And say what?! Sorry that one of my kind kidnapped, drugged and raped you. I hope we can still be friends?!"

Cyc suddenly grabbed Cyan in one of his large beefy hands, and looked her straight in the eyes. "Achilles is not, nor was he ever, one of your kind, Cyan!" he hissed to her seriously. "I doubt he was ever truly of anyone's kind. He lost that honour when he chose to beating us, and raping our friends."

Cyan looked at her friend in his own one eye, and sighed. "Maybe, but… he's still part Centaur, part of my kind. I honestly don't know if I can ever face Cassy again?"

"Why?" Cyc released her. "Just because that guy was half-Centaur, doesn't mean you're to blame for anything."

"But Cassy may not feel like that." Cyan voiced her fear. "What if… What if every time that she looks at me, she'll see a part of him? She may never be able to look at me again, at my horse-part, without thinking of the guy who violated her."

Cyc placed his hand on her back, stroking her reassuringly. "Cassy would never do that," he said honestly. "She knows you better than that."

Cyan shook her head. "What about what happened at the Centaur party? She didn't act all chummy with us, after we saved her. In fact, as I recall, she practically spit at us, and told us to leave her alone."

Cyc shook his own head fiercely. "She wasn't thinking straight, that's all! She had just been through a big trauma, and so she wasn't thinking clearly. Her head might be swimming just at the moment, but… She will get better, Cyan. You'll see."

Somehow, Cyan wasn't so sure. She frowned inwardly, wondering if she and her human would ever be friends again?

"Speaking of which," Cyc suddenly said. "I saw Manty a while ago, today. He seemed a little worried about Cassy for some reason."

"Huh, why?" Cyan looked up.

Cyc shrugged, and lazed out on the cushion he was on. "Beats me. Cassy told him she'd gone out to go look for a job. Seems she was sick of staying indoors, so she was gonna try and get a new job. Anyway, when I went over, no one was there, so I asked Manty about it. Guy was all white in the face when I told him. Guy's a little too jumpy if you ask me."

Cyan felt nervous. "You don't think anything's happened to Cassy again, do you?!"

Cyc shook his head. "Nah. You know how hard it was for Cassy to find a job, the first time. She's probably still looking right now, for all we know."

"Have you called Manty and asked him?!" she asked, feeling annoyed at Cyc's casualness at the situation.

Cyc looked at her. "I've been busy, alright. As well as those Minotaur ladies, I've had one Harpy, two Gorgons, four… "

Cyan growled in frustration, and rushed out the club, heading for the nearest communications device she could find.

0000000000000000000000000000

Cassy screamed, as she lay on the surgery table, pushing. Her huge swollen belly shaking like it was in an earthquake.

"Come on, Cassy!" Manty urged from the end of the table, between her legs.

Cassy bit back tears, as the pain overwhelmed her when the baby's head began to move out of her. Despite the genetic enhancements she had had done to her, the treatment which allowed her to have intimacy with Olympians of the larger variety, and which was the only reason why the baby wasn't tearing her apart, the pain was nevertheless excruciating.

Cassy screamed one final time, and felt the infant squirm out of her, and slide into Manty's waiting paws.

She couldn't see over, as the tears were clouding her vision, but she could hear Manty gasp in horror.

"By the Gods," she heard him swore. "What in the name of Zeus is that?!"

Cassy furiously blinked the tears from her eyes, and forced herself to look up.

There, lying in Manty's hands, was a miniature Achilles, almost identical in every detail, with the exception of its small size. It looked up from Manty's paws, saw its mother, and seemed to call to her, giving out a strange cry that sounded like a cross between a Cow's moo and a Horse's neigh.

Cassy wanted to scream again, but this time in terror, but before she could even take the breath, the young creature started to grow. In less than a few seconds, the creature grew to twice the size of Manty, so fast that Manty had to drop him and back off in fear.

The rest of the medical staff was equally as afraid, and hurried out of surgery, with Manty close behind them.

"No!" Cassy screamed after him. "Don't leave me, please!" But by then, Manty was already gone.

Before long, the beast had reached the same height and stature, as that of its father, Achilles. Cassy whimpered in fear.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Cyc and Taurus walked in, neither of them noticing the younger Achilles.

"Look out!" Cassy tried to warn them, but couldn't get up from the table.

Taurus and Cyc both turned to the large Mino-Centaur, but were too late to notice its attack. It leapt upon them, its large hands grasping the flesh of their faces, pulling it from their bones.

Taurus and Cyc hardly fought back, and just seemed to stand there, waiting until it had finished with them, until all that was left was a skinless skull where each of them once stood.

The young Achilles roared its triumph to the heavens, thumping its chest like a Gorilla.

Just then, the door opened again, and Cyan walked in. The moment the creature saw her, it too leapt upon her, slammed her head against the wall with her backside against him. Cyan screamed, as the creature mounted her, thrusting into her at full force.

Cassy whimpered, as she futilely struggled in her bonds, until a large powerful hand suddenly slapped down on her.

Cassy froze, like a block of ice, as she knew who it was before she could ever see his face.

"Like father, like son," Achilles slurred, and bent his head down to kiss her.

Cassy screamed, as she leapt up out of bed, or what she thought was her bed. She breathed heavily for a few minutes, while she got her bearings back.

"Where… " she began silently, but stopped, as her memories returned. "Oh, that's right. I'm in this… this mountain place."

She looked around, and saw that the sun was beginning to set. "I must have dozed off," she deduced, and sat back down on the couch.

'Well, at least I won't have long to wait until my hosts arrive now,' she thought. She still hadn't figured out who her mysterious hosts were. She had been rattling her brains nearly all day, but aside from the Harpies, she didn't know any other species that could live so high up in this altitude.

After finally giving up, she had been so bored that she turned on the viewscreen. But she had realized quick that it hadn't been a good idea.

As interesting as the news, and complaints, about the traffic jams in the inner city, and statements of security officers, they had only added to her boredom. So she had turned it off, and, with nothing to do, sat twiddling her thumbs.

Watching the progressing dusk through the open door, she prepared to meet whoever lived up there. The only thing she really knew was that her hosts were obviously somewhat paranoid. She had no other explanation for this really strange behaviour, and all the locked doors.

'They obviously don't want to harm me. But why not simply return me to the city?' she again asked herself.

'And why wait until sunset? I mean, from the things I do remember, I can guess that at least some of them, whoever they are, would like to get rid of me.'

And then was still the question of what they actually wanted from her? Why go through all the trouble of bringing her here, giving her a place to sleep, feeding her and improving her health? Cassy really wanted to know what their agenda was.

She tried not to think of Manty, Taurus or her friends. She felt so ashamed of her actions now that she wished she could sink into the ground and vanish. So, not thinking of them was the only way to not let her mood become even worse.

Finally, the sun went down. And suddenly, Cassy jumped up in fear, when from behind the doors she heard cracking and roaring! She had heard many things since her arrival on the island, but nothing like this. It sounded like a pack of lions just waking up.

But as quick as it had begun, it was over.

Waiting, Cassy was nervous. What kind of creature could make such noise? Just then, one of the doors opened, and Cassy couldn't help but stare. The being before her was something she had never seen before.

It was humanoid, roughly 1.85 meters tall, wore a blue tank top and square loincloth, had bright pink skin and huge, bat-like wings on the back. Looking closer, Cassy noticed the pronounced hip, and the very generous sized breasts under the tank top, clearly showing that this was a female.

But unlike any other female she had seen, and that included Gorgons and Minotaurs, this one was totally bald, without even a single hair on her head.

But that didn't mean that she was ugly. On the contrary, she was still a beauty, just in a different way. She had a brow ridge with small horns, pointed ears, a prominent tail, and wolf-like feet with claws on the toes.

Cassy had no idea which species this female was, and she saw several others behind her, some male, some female, with many different skin and hair colours, horns and wing configurations.

Cassy was unable to say anything.

She just saw the pink female inspecting her from head to toe. It made her uncomfortable, as she felt like she was under a microscope. But at least the female didn't look at her with distaste, as some of the others did.

Finally, the female said, "Welcome to Mt. Thanatos. I'm Sphinx, leader of the New Olympian gargoyle clan. And I have some questions for you, Human."

To Be Continued...