Disclaimer: OK, so we KNOW you know this and we know this... but just on the off chance that one of these people happens to read this, we better make it clear to them that we REALLY don't own any of these songs....

The Gospel Truth (Disney's Hercules); Are You Ready (Three Day's Grace); A Flame for Freedom (DragonForce); At the Begining (Disney's Anastasia); Team Up! (Mew Mew Power theme); As the World Falls Down (David Bowie); Defying Gravity (Idena Menzel); The Clock Ticks On (Blackmore's Night); Keep the Light On (The Whitlams); Life's a Show (Sarah Michelle Gellar); Blow Up the Pokies (The Whitlams); Where Do We Go From Here? (Cast, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Head Without a Heart (Paris: The Rock Opera), Blame It (Jamie Foxx)

A/N: ZOMG. We are BAAAAAAAACK peoples! A somewhat embarrassing amount of time has passed since we've updated. This year has been our first year out of school, and thus, our first year in the 'real' world. Well, the 'real' world, before the REAL 'real' world, if that makes sense? Well, guess what y'all, in case you didn't know, it's biiiz-aaay. Thank you so much for the incredible support, leading up to now, and even during the entirety of writing this chap. Knowing you guys were there, and supportive, really encouraged us. Thank you :)

And just because we love you (slash she didn't feel like studying) Mystery-Immortal has pieced the songs together to form "Seth's Song" the link to which can be found on our page ^_^

Enough babbling, from us! Read, enjoy (hopefully!) and please, review :D

24 Hours and Drunk With Power: Part 1

Calliope felt herself being pulled aside by the same mortal who had shouted, spinning just in time to see the sphere of fire threatening to damage their only hope at getting Olympus back to normal… By starting the bad guys' job for them... Belatedly she cried out, "Hestia no!" noting the blank looks on the twelve mortals faces she realised her mistake, "Uh, red-headed crazy mortal... no!"

"Honestly." Melpomene muttered and mentally rolled her eyes.

Whilst Calliope was moseying through her daze, Ruby and Shaira's friends had not been idle. At precisely the same moment Antonio and Alex had dived for Shaira with, presumably, the intention of either pulling her out of the way or coming between her and the flame. Unfortunately for the two males, their synchronised notion of 'saving Shaira' ended up with them in a crumpled heap in front of her with their heads spinning from the knock.

Seeing Alex dive for Shaira had only served to intensify the situation as Ruby started towards Shaira, flames licked her clenched fists. Instinctively Demi bobbed down and thrust her hand against the soil. The nine Muses cringed prematurely, having seen Demeter perform the same action. However, their flinch proved to be un-necessary considering the usually earth shattering performance of Demeter was diminished through the combination of a nervous and untrained Demi creating a series of small cracks in the earth jutting out from her hand.

The original flame that Ruby had sent towards Shaira skirted narrowly past her head to the left. The fiery girl wasted no time, she raised her right arm in a graceful arc as she brought it down pushed forward releasing another flaming arc. This time it was Lana and Seth that attempted to intervene. Calliope and her fellow Muses watched with intrigue as Lana brought her hands into an archer's position.

"But, she has no bow..." Euturpe murmured to the others

"Hush Euturpe, their instincts are incredible." Melpomene returned, her eyes widening as she watched the scene unfold.

As Lana's arms held their position, Seth waved his arm between them, leaving a shining bow and arrow of light. No sooner had it appeared did Lana release her arms current position and she watched the glowing arrow slice through the flame, diminishing it but not completely destroying it. David solved this problem with what Poseidon would call a pitiful attempt at a jet stream, but it did the job. Sadly as her friends were attempting to cool the proverbial flame that Shaira had lit within Ruby, things just became more heated…

"Shouldn't we do something Calliope?" Clio interrupted the dazed state that Apollo's girls were in.

"Oh, no, I think they are doing marvellously. Besides, if they ask why we didn't help we can just say that this is 'Powers 101: shortcuts for mortals who need to save the world'." She threw her subordinates a grin.

It was Raine that had the common-sense to try and stop Ruby herself, rather than that which she was producing. Taking an offensive stance, Raine lashed out a hand towards Ruby, managing to draw her attention away from Shaira. Continuing her plan the wise teen gripped the angered girl's wrist tightly bringing it swiftly behind her and forcing her friend to the ground. Even though Raine had her in a death grip Ruby was frantically trying to free herself which prompted Kittie to step forward.

"Enough Ruby!" she snapped in a voice, not quite her own, "You have done more than enough damage, control your temper."

Meanwhile Shaira had viewed the scene with wide eyes and a small circle of shock on her lips. How on earth were her friends doing these things? More importantly, what had she done to incite such anger from Ruby?

Ruby stopped struggling, enough that Raine was willing to let her up.

"What on earth were you thinking?!" Kittie thundered

"I... wasn't." Ruby whispered, her voice trembling slightly "I just sort of did it?"

"Right, well, don't 'just do it' again. What if we couldn't have stopped it, which I still don't know how we did!" the leader of their gang was exasperated, "Xav, help me out here! You're the oldest!"

The elder boy's head snapped up at the mention of his name. "Uh, yeah, I really think that in this situation we need, um, leadership, intelligence and strength. So, um, Raine, what do we do?" he concluded rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.

"Clio?"

"Yes, Calliope?"

"This is where we interrupt." With that she started towards the now clumped group of teens, her fellow Muses behind her.

"At least they didn't get Zeus's like mind mad… Unexperienced, mad mortal with a thunderbolt... Ooh goody goody!" Thalia uttered, her voice dripping in sarcasm, through which she earned swift knock to the head, courtesy of Melpomene.

The twelve adolescents soon found themselves in a large round room with eleven doors, as they all filed through the archway it closed over and became a twelfth door.

"Well, that was creepy..." Matt muttered to Lana, as they all glanced around the odd space.

A wind picked up throughout the room and the friends huddled together in anticipation of what was coming; when Calliope appeared the only response they could give was relieved laughter.

"What!? What did I do?" she pouted, "I thought that was a classy and dramatic entrance... Not a humorous one!" This sent the poor teens into another wave of giggles, whilst Melpomene just rolled her eyes. Calliope pouted. Note to self: Work on entrance… She mentally noted.

Thalia stepped forward, "You kids have a lot ahead of you... a lot of, erm, uh... a lot?"

Calliope took over, "Yes, a lot of... eh... interesting stuff?"

Again, Melpomene rolled her eyes and stated flatly, "You are the only ones that can stop some megalomaniac and thus stop them negating all existence."

"Right, actually, yeah that about sums it up" Calliope beamed at them, "Now each of you, be good mini Olympians and go through the door with your name."

"But," started Raine, "the doors don't..." she trailed off as she saw her name appear on one of the doors, "have our names." She then concluded.

Catarina paused only momentarily before pushing through her door. On the other side was a luscious garden overflowing with white lilies and strutting around were proud group of magnificent peacocks. That one looks like he's been taking tips from Antonio, she thought, laughing internally.

At the centre of the 'room' was a lady sitting at a fountain. She looked, at first glance, youthful. However as Kittie moved closer she noticed that the lady was elderly. Once she had arrived at the bench she held a matronly appearance. The new Queen rubbed her eyes and continued staring at the graceful lady.

"Well don't just gawk child, come and sit down. We have so little for you to learn and so much time to do it in." Her voice was husky and soothing, but Kittie looked confused. "Wait, reverse that last bit." She added with a chuckle.

Suddenly remembering herself Kittie stuck out her hand, "Catarina Levinstine, Ma'am."

"Now, now. No Ma'aming me. I may be several thousand years your senior, but I don't always look it. You may call me Hecate, and I shall be your tutor and guide in the ways of Hera, our Queen."

So Kittie began her drills in dictating, childbirth, majesty, general leadership and of course battle technique... they were going to be fighting something at some point...

"Don't worry! Your mentors will all show up soon enough!" Calliope assured the remaining teenagers that stood anxiously before her, as she headed over to her fellow Muses. The Palatial Pathways had become a very quiet, and empty space after each of their friends had gradually disappeared through their respective doors.

"These kids are gonna go meshugganah, if we keep them any longer! What's keeping the rest of these 'mentors'? It's not like anything else really matters right now!" Melpomene muttered, as she turned to the rest of her sisters, each of whom nodded vigorously.

"Why can't we just send them into their doors and let them wait until the mentors show up?" Calliope asked.

"Because if they touch something dangerous, or somehow cause a rush of power... As we've already witnessed today, and cause problems, somebody needs to be there with them. We can't be there, because we have to go and mentor Seth!" Melpomene barked.

Recommencing their favourite past-time, the Muses subtly turned to watch the mortals that were still awaiting their turn to walk through their door. Antonio had his arms wrapped around Shaira's slender waist, as she leant back against him in a startled daze, still cocooned in shock from the earlier events. Standing a good distance away from them, was Ruby, whose countenance suggested the presence of a mechanical game of chess in her mind, anything to distract her from reacting again. Seth, Matt and Xavier were both keeping their distance from, Ruby, while trying to maintain a watchful eye on her. They didn't notice Alex, leaning against a pillar, hiding his lovelorn eyes.

"Oh, look at the poor dear… He looks like he hasn't been hugged in a century," Euterpe cried softly, her gaze landing on a lonesome Alex on the far end of the room. The concentration weighed heavily on his face, as he avoided looking at both Ruby, and at Shaira, her figure enveloped by Antonio's strong arms.

Melpomene rolled her eyes. "Hugged? Forget that, he looks like he's been stood on for a century."

"What's keeping Dionysus!? He might be an honorary, off-residence Olympian and all that, but he has no right to keep us waiting when the world is sitting in the hands of 21st century adolescent mortals!" Erato burst unexpectedly.

"Oh please, Erato, don't fake it… We know you're just waiting for him to bring the drinks." Melpomene remarked bitterly.

Erato grinned and crossed her arms, the rest of the Muses giggling behind her. Calliope pulled her sisters into a circular huddle and whispered softly, "Girls, I think we need to pray…"

Melpomene nodded. Closing their eyes, the placed they stood in a circle, arms raised, palm against palm, and began to sing,

"Oh, Aphrodite, seductive and mighty, we bow to the splendour of your love… Goddess Athena, the wisest demeanour, shines like a beacon from above—"

"I'm here, girls, did you miss me?" rang a distinctly smooth voice.

Shaira shook her head, and shifted her gaze to find the owner of the voice that was like velvet and ice. She closed her eyes, half expecting the syncopated beats of a Harlem jazz club to accompany the unique tones of the new presence. No, Harlem was fading quickly… perhaps a Manhattan lounge bar? But where was he?

"Dionysus! You materialise right now! If you know what's good for you!" Melpomene threatened, rapidly spinning a circle with a raised fist.

"Chiiiill, shawty… Don't lose yo'…" suddenly, he appeared before them, whispering directly in Melpomene's ear while he draped an arm around Erato "Cool."

The mortals' consciousness suddenly broke through the canopy of tension that hung above them, as they gazed upon the deity before them. Ruby swallowed the disbelief she'd been so ready to release. Dionysus stood still, somehow managing to maintain his suave presence without basking in it.

Shaking her head, Shaira blinked twice. Surely he wasn't an ancient deity? He was tall, with a shaved head and a body seemingly sculpted out of lacquered dark chocolate, shown off to great effect by the white shirt was wearing, where a thin silver chain fell against his chest and caught hints of light. His silky smooth goatee and black shades completed his strong but subtle swagger.

"Are you kidding me?" Shaira and Ruby muttered in unison, unaware of the other's voice. Antonio, Seth and Xavier exchanged sceptical looks, while Alex dropped his gaze back to the ground.

"Dion, baby, you're late…" Erato crooned sweetly, kissing him on both cheeks.

"Sorry, but y'all know how things get…" he said, grinning as he held up two bottles of swirling liquid.

"Only two?" Erato blinked innocently.

Dionysus laughed. "Finish these first, baby, then holla back… I'll hook you up, no lie."

"AHEM. I'm SORRY. AM I interrupting something IMPORTANT?" Melpomene growled jaggedly, her ivory face completely devoid of colour, her jet black mohawk sticking up like spikes.

"Sorry, Mel baby… I'm here now, so which one of these lucky mortals am I mentoring tonight?" Dionysus grinned, rubbing his palms together as he surveyed the teenagers in front of him.

"That one," Melpomene said, pointing at Ruby "She's Hestia's, so you better get to the kitchen, give her the details, and help her with dinner tonight… Gaia knows, their nourishment is going to be more important than ever before."

Swiftly, Melpomene yanked Dionysus by his chain "I warn you. Keep a tight eye on that one… She's got something of a grip on her powers. I mean it, she's a live wire … So you better do your job!"

Dionysus nodded, without complaint. Melpomene headed over to her sisters, where Calliope informed her that all mentors were on their way, except for Xavier's.

"Aiiiight," Dionysus nodded, as he headed towards Ruby. The adolescents watched as a light crimson aura trailed in his wake, lacing intricate patterns around each footstep.

"Hi… Uh, I'm Ruby… Ruby Matthews… Hestia's like-mind." Ruby said, suddenly feeling foolish for stating the obvious.

"Pleasure to make yo' acquaintance," Dionysus greeted her, somehow making that line sound worthy of a recording contract "call me, Dion… You know, like Celine." he finished with a laugh and a wink.

"Ok… Dion," Ruby agreed, smiling honestly for the first time in long time.

With that, Dionysus and Ruby headed through the golden door with her name upon it. Ruby held her breath. Who knew what was to come?

"Where are we?" Ruby asked, her voice full of wonderment as her gaze did its own travelling through its unfamiliar, and oddly small surroundings. Well, small by Olympian standards.

"These are Hestia's quarters," Dionysus said, putting his arms up to gesture at the small space. There wasn't much in it, a simple bed, dresser and the odd object or scroll floating on invisible shelves. With Dionysus' very full and rich presence, it suddenly seemed even smaller. Ruby tilted her head and forced a smile. It wasn't as though she'd ever been one for grandeur, but it would have been fun… Just this once.

Dionysus missed nothing. "Now, I know what you're thinkin'… You're thinkin' 'Daaaaayum, this a small-ass place for a goddess!' right?"

Ruby couldn't help but grin, "Something like that."

"Blame it on the goose, gotcha feelin' loose, blame it on the 'tron, gotcha feelin suh'n, blame it on the Ah-ah-ah-ah-Ah-ah-lcohol, blame it on the ah—"

"Sorry, lemme just get that," Dionysus quickly said, noting the bewildered expression on Ruby's face. Pulling out what appeared to be a solid golden grape, the music stopped and suddenly a light shot out of it, a face appearing in the mirror-like light.

"Arethusa baby, look… It's really not the time… I'mma holla at you later, yeah? Belie' dat," Dionysus said, as tears streamed downed the nymph's glowing face "I'm sorry baby, but I'll be wit' you soon… Hold it down fo' me, yeah?"

The nymph nodded, her smiling radiating even more light out of the grape in Dionysus hand.

"Alright, but you call me… If you know what's good for you… Dion," Arethusa warned seductively, taking great pleasure in saying his name. With that, the golden grape closed its connection, and Dionysus put it back in his pocket.

Ruby's mouth hung open. "Sorry about that… Just some nymph callin' 'bout… Actually, never mind, it's unimportant," Dionysus explained.

Shaking her head, hoping to lose her dumbfounded mosaic of an expression, Ruby smiled, as if she witnessed that all the time. "Here I was thinking there was only a golden apple!" she said, laughing.

Dionysus joined in her laughter. "Yeah, but that's Aphrodite's, she just got it recently, actually. So, do you have any questions before we get started?"

"Yeah… and you might find them stupid," Ruby answered earnestly.

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Try me,"

Ruby stood up, arranging the words in her mind so the dispensed in a sensible order. "Well, if you are an Ancient Greek God…Wow, I'm gonna sound dumb, but, why are you a) Black and b) modern… No offense or anything, I'm normally very PC, but I had to ask!"

"Is that all?" Dionysus said good-naturedly "Well, we deities transcend time and culture, so we pick whatever we feel suits us, really… I get ma Greek on from time to time, but I've always felt black… So I choose to be, 'Cause I can. As for why I'm modern? Well, being an honorary, off-resident Olympian, I have some perks that the other Olympians don't have. I can hang around mortals, just like this—" he gestured to himself up and down "—without changing form. So, I reside in 21st century New York, most of the time… I love that city. I can do that, because I don't burn people up instantly when they see me… Because I'm not a true Olympian, ya dig? Of course, I don't have as much power as they do, but that's really not that bad…"

"That's why we can all stand around you, and be safe… If you were any of the Olympians, you'd have to change out of divine form—into animal form—for us to see you safely, right?" Ruby questioned, her memory suddenly jogged by some reading Raine had recited in the library once, clearly fascinated with it, while Ruby was just trying to perfect her Key Lime Pie recipe for her following Home Economics exam.

"You got it… You can be 'round this 24/7 and not pass out permanently, don't y'all have it made!" Dionysus joked "Unless you drunk some of ma real vintage stuff… Then you might be out fo' awhile…But seriously, you got it good. I'm lucky too, because I'm also allowed to live here from time to time, unlike the lesser deities."

Ruby's mind was reeling, Wow… That is… Wow…I still don't believe this. This is all some dream. No wait, even in my dreams I don't think I ever shot fire or asked a Grecian God why he's black…This is real? This is a real…dream…No it's—

"Ruby?" interrupted Dionysus, suddenly an air of anxiousness draped over his relaxed demeanour. Ruby glanced up at him, quickly sweeping her mind clean.

"Yeah…" Ruby responded carefully.

"Any other questions?" Dionysus asked, without looking at her. Instead, he seemed to be fiddling with the golden grape.

"Why is Hestia's room so small?" Ruby asked, immediately semi-ashamed of herself. Aloud, it suddenly sounded shallow and disrespectful, two things she could barely tolerate in other people, but never in herself.

"Well, Hestia— Now… Don't go feelin' bad about askin' that, I asked her the same thing when she made the deal with Zeus!— So yeah, well, each Olympian is allotted a certain amount of space on Olympus, just to make things easier for control's sake, at least, that's what Hera says. Hestia decided to divide her living and working space differently to everyone else. Instead of making it even, she made her living space tiny, and her working space huge-ass… I mean, it's massive. Actually, you'd better go… You've gotta make dinner fo' you and your comrades tonight!" Dionysus finished.

Great. Everyone else is gonna get something ridiculously awesome to do and I'm gonna be a damned Snow WHITE! Whistle-while- you-fricken-work, indeed! Her inner voice stampeded without pause.

"So I'm off… Something's come up… Holla if you need me…And here's a present I was keeping for you… Don't let Erato near it!" Dionysus left a bottle next to Ruby's left hand, and suddenly dematerialized.

"Wait. What." Ruby deadpanned, several seconds later. Not that it mattered. It was in vain now. He'd already gone, she hadn't even found that stupidly gigantic kitchen where she was expected to cook (cook what?) for everyone, and given her knowledge of her 'abilities' so far… She was fairly certain that doubt wasn't an unreasonable feeling. Suddenly she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," she groaned.

The knocking continued, and in spire of her responses, it grew louder and more rapid.

"Come IN, already!" she snapped, ten sparks sizzling out of her finger tips. Immediately, she tensed, clutching the cold bottle Dionysus had left her. Remaining frozen, she spun slowly towards the door from which the knocking sound was coming. Much to her surprise, it wasn't the door she'd entered through, but one on the other end of the room. As she walked towards the door, the knocking grew softer with each footstep. The close she became, the warmer her path became, until she finally placed her hand on the scalding door handle. Unexpectedly, her hand accepted the unnatural heat without hesitation. Nervously pushing aside a deep red tendril, Ruby twisted open the door handle, and entered…

If it weren't for David's quick reflexes, he would have ended up far more than 'knee deep in water'. Upon opening his door he had spied nothing but what appeared to be endless ocean. He hesitated then at the door; Calliope had said to go into the room... How?

It was then he heard giggling, coming from the water... "Trust us, son of Poseidon, come into the water."

"What the hell," muttered David, "it isn't like my day could get any weirder." He closed his eyes and leapt into the blue abyss.

The meaning of 'Famous last words' suddenly rang like a distant voice in his mind. Once in the water he found out two things.

One: He could breathe the water as if it was air

Two: He was surrounded by beautiful and VERY naked women

"Erm, ladies, I realise you mustn't see men very often under here, but if you wouldn't mind covering up a bit... I am very happily seeing someone." He managed to get out whilst averting his eyes.

More giggling surrounded him, echoing through the water and David rolled his eyes, wondering if that was all these glorious creatures could do.

"Follow us, we shall teach you the ways of the Aegean Sea, your new domain…"

When Lana entered her room she took one step and froze. Before her was a huge forest, something along the lines of what she imagined the Forbidden Forest in Harry Potter would look like if it were real... Although given the current events she didn't feel as though it was such an unrealistic thought. She took one more tentative step and then promptly sat herself on the ground. It wasn't that Lana was scared of the forest; it was more that she had no map, no compass, no food or water and was definitely not game enough to tempt fate by walking into the thicket of trees.

Lana hadn't been sitting long before the faint sound of hooves could be heard and soon the source of the noise was visible. A magnificent chestnut centaur came into Lana's sightline and as if by instinct she rose and bowed deeply to the creature, to which he responded in like.

"You do us great honour Goddess." He had a rich, deep voice.

"Oh don't be ridiculous, I am no Goddess, please call me Lana." She half scoffed in reply

"If that is your wish, Lana, you may call me Vestrich. It is my privilege to have been asked to guide you in the ways of the Huntress."

"Well great! When do we start?" Lana beamed at the centaur.

He let out a throaty chuckle, "Now if you wish, climb upon my back and know that whenever you have need of my services just call my name, I will hear you."

With that they galloped into the forest, and he began to lecture the fascinated Lana on the different ways a bow can be used.

When Raine entered through her door she found herself in an expansive library, no matter which way she looked there were no walls. Walking forward down the middle aisle she eventually came across an atrium with one single, old oak table, coupled with a regal arm chair. Settling down in the chair Raine was startled when a stand appeared with a golden book upon it. As if this was not shocking enough a midnight owl swooped down and perched atop the stand its feathers rippling to a tawny colour as it settled.

"The book that sits before you belonged to my Mistress, your like-mind Athena. Now it belongs to you" the voice seemed to echo through her mind.

"Who said that?" Raine spoke confidently, despite her nervousness.

"You needn't voice your thoughts, as you can bethink me, I can bethink you... my name is Gallifrey, I was named by my Mistress for time itself." The voice, Gallifrey, replied.

"Oh, great, so I get sent back in time and now I'm conversing with an owl... Sure, I mean, why not?" thought Raine.

"That's the spirit, dear, now get to it... There is a lot of content to get through." Came the reply, ignoring the sarcasm.

"At least I'm doing something I'm good at." She mumbled as she opened the book

Demi thought she had accidently opened the wrong door as she stepped through and saw her surroundings. What lay before her was barren wasteland. Her eyes welled with tears as she thought of all that the land could have been, as they slid down her cheeks and landed on the dry earth an incredible sight could be seen. Where her tears fell, blades of grass began to spring from the ground.

It was at this point that Persephone came forward, "You truly have my mother's gifts, young one. This wasteland brings you grief and you give it the water of life." She gestured to Demi's feet where she was now standing on a lone patch of grass.

"Why have you brought me to this place of death if it brings sadness to Demeter and me!" she cried, as she saw the small amount of life.

"Sadly to teach you your most important gift, the gift of life, we must first start with death. Demi, you will go far… Look at what you have already done without any training."

This time when Demi looked down, she actually took in what she had done and her mouth formed a perfect 'o'.

"Now, spit-spot child, we don't have eternity and I need to step you through the majors and minors of growing, killing and all things earth before I need to nip back to the Underworld. That is, if that Matt boy has mastered his sandals by then..."

"Oh..." replied Demi, who was still in a daze, "Of course."

"Alrightieeee… Let's see, who do we have left…" Calliope surveyed the few teenagers still waiting in the Palatial Pathways "Girl who was nearly hit by fireball, check, leader boy, check, shy boy check…Seeexy boy, ooh, CHE—"

"CALLIOPE." Melpomene's bark was short and detached.

Grinning sheepishly, the Leader of the Muses flicked her wrist nonchalantly. For a few moments the two sisters stood there, Calliope's smile a sign of the eruption of internal giggles, while Melpomene's face became as still as the masks she often brandished.

"What?" Melpomene finally asked, gravely.

"Hee hee, I'm fun." Calliope said a moment later, smiling straight at her sister.

Melpomene stared at her bluntly "You're crazy."

"Ooor…"

"Crazy."

"Ooor… Fun!"

"No. Crazy." Melpomene declared.

Calliope leant towards her "Oooor…"

"Ok," Melpomene groaned "this could go on forever. Do you hear me? FOREVER. Forget the kids going meshugganah; you've been like that from day one!"

"I know, it's what makes me great!" Calliope decreed "Now, how about I escort seeexy bo— I mean, the like-mind of Ares, to his room… Nemesis is here."

Melpomene froze. A black flame flickered in her irises, as her spiked hair stood up like a prodded porcupine's. In the blink of a Cyclops's eye, she clawed her hands around the top of Calliope's arms.

"How. Long. Has. She. Been. Here." The words left her mouth with the sharpest staccato.

"Um, ten minutes?" Calliope offered nervously.

Melpomene grew six feet taller, her dark amethyst robes swirling around her. "You knew this and you didn't tell me! She's been WAITING? You know what her speciality is, right? RETRIBUTION. You foolish, foolish…ARGHH. Well, we'd better not waste anymore time! Send sexy bo— ARGH, the like-mind of Ares, in!"

Sensing correctly, Calliope decided not to speak and instead headed over to Antonio, quickly extracting a deeply disappointed Shaira from his arms and dragging him through a door upon which his name had appeared.

Hovering very quietly towards their dramatic sister, the rest of the Muses surrounded Calliope, a bundle of nerves.

"We've received word, Aphrodite's chosen mentor has arrived, as has Hephaestus'," they chorused, praying for safety in numbers.

"Excellent, send those two in," Melpomene said, releasing a deep sign. Gliding over to Shaira and Alex, the Muses parted into two groups and pushed each one into their respective doors.

"Three to go," Melpomene noted, observing Seth, Matt and Xavier "Breathe, Melpomene. Only three to go… "

When Hades was finally done lecturing Andy one the dangers of the Underworld, she decided to go exploring and maybe put some signs up to warn people of those 'unnoticeable dangers that his home produced'. Rolling her eyes at the memory of the long and dull speech, Andy turned to a nearby ghoul and put on her best 'God of the Underworld' imitation voice.

"Don't give the Cerberus food, he'll become too tame and start letting just anybody in or out. Blah blah blah. Don't scuba dive in the River Styx, it may be a river of sin but that doesn't mean it's a good vacation spot, no one likes drowning in hate. Blah blah blah. Charon does not need to be shown kindness, he owes me a debt. Blah blah blah. Urgh, man that guy can rant on!" She finished up, a fair bit sooner than Hades had.

"Now." She uttered to the air, "Where can I get a few stakes, some cardboard and a sharpie? Or more importantly... Where is my time dilating wormhole transport device? You know, that's an idea for a name... The Palindrome. Well the acronym is a palindrome. Oh Gods, I'm turning into my father, talking to myself." She concluded whilst marching back into the throne room.

"Hades? HADES? HAAAAAAAAAAAAADES?!" she called.

"Oh for the Titans sakes, what now?" he droned, moving out from behind the shadows.

"Hades, where's my Supersuit?" she asked with a smirk.

"What?" he returned confused.

"Where's. My. Supersuit? She repeated, now letting forth peals of laughter

"I am afraid I am lost..."

"Sorry, 21st Centaury joke. Now. I'm looking for the big blue box I came in. I need some construction materials to help me improve the Underworld." She gave an innocent smile

"Oh, of course it is in your quarters, just follow the signs to the Elysian Fields. We've put you up there for the duration of your stay."

"Cheers mate!" with that she flashed him a thumbs up and dashed off again.

A couple of hours later the residents and new comers to the Underworld could easily dodge or perhaps overcome the dangers of the potentially deadly place (mind the pun). Andy had conveniently placed signs in front of certain hazards helpfully proclaiming such things as:

"FEED CERBERUS AND HE WON'T EAT YOU"

"DON'T SWIM IN THE RIVERS, DUH, THEY'RE EVIL"

"THE SHORTCUT TO THE ELYSIAN FIELDS CAN BE FOUND THROUGH THAT CAVE"

"CHARON LOVES A GOOD CHAT, IF YOU'RE NICE HE DOESN'T NEED PAY"

"THE POOL OF ETERNAL YOUTH IS JUST A LITTLE LEFT OF THE POOL OF MEMORIES, IT'S NICER"

Around three hours later she was still listening to Hades yelling at her, but it was worth it.

Hope you enjoyed! Part 2 is up! You know you love us, XOXO ;)