Dick was wired. Normally after a successful night of being a superhero, he would crash, but he had so many questions about the mysterious girl, that sleep was not an option. He sat at his computer in the beach house he had rented for his stay in San Fransisco looking up every strange word they uttered. 'Praetor: each of two ancient Roman magistrates ranking below consul.' Well that didn't help. Listrgonian brought up nothing but error messages. She spoke a different language, but he hadn't been able to remember any definitive words except 'mortalies,' which he knew to mean mortal, but that didn't help him much. He ran the facial recognition software again on the image of her face, which yeilded no results, again. On a whim, he googled woman with hair on fire. That was no help and even had a disturbing video of some woman screaming and running around with her hair on fire. He tried researching who owned the farm house, but got a lot a subcompanies owned by several other companies. So not much progress there. He studied the information he had downloaded from their computer, which made even less sense.

It was midday when Dick succeeded defeat and crashed. He lay down and closed his eyes, but all he could see was that beautiful woman lunging at him and literally transforming before his eyes into something not of this world. The nights events played themselves over and over. Each time feeling more like it was completely surreal. Twice he had been overcome by strange feelings, overcoming all of his senses, and he hated not being in control. And then there was Preator. She was a fierce warrior, of that there was no doubt, but it shook him seeing her so close to death. Then ten hours later she wakes up and acts like nothing had happened, like this was a normal occurrence. She was human, but not quite. He couldn't explain it. And then there was the question as to why she insisted on being dropped off at a warehouse stuffed full of cotton, and how did she get past all of it, when he couldn't even get over it? It was like a wall. Nothing about her or the evening made sense.

Needless to say, he didn't sleep as well as he had hoped. He moaned at the thought that he would have to wait a week to meet Praeto at that shop she told him about, if she showed up at all. He didn't feel like getting blown off after everything that had happened. He decided to scout out the clearing the next night. He perched in the same spot as last time. Everything was completely empty, as if last night had not happened at all. He waited, but no one showed up, and nothing of any interest happened. He went back to the rental, and tried to sleep, but again, the nights events tortured him with unanswered questions that he could not find. He woke up to his computer calling to him. He dragged himself over to it and opened it up to see Bruce trying to contact him. He really didn't want to talk to him, but he knew if he didn't, he would track Dick down. He took a deep breath and answered the call.

Bruce's face appeared on the screen. He scrutinized Dick for a moment and said, " You look awful."

"Thanks. You should see yourself." Dick quipped back. "What do you want?" Dick wanted this call to be over.

"I hadn't heard from you in a while. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. Where are you?" Bruce asked.

Dick wanted to laugh at the question. He wasn't nieve enough to think that Bruce didn't know where he was. "San Fransisco." He replied.

"What are you doing there?" Bruce questioned.

Dick thought about telling him everything. The mysterious girl at the bar, the strange and dangerous evening. But in the end he couldn't bring him to tell him. "A change of scenery. I'm considering going to school here." He hadn't, but it sounded ligit.

"Really? What's wrong with Gotham U?" He sounded disappointed.

"Nothing's wrong. I just need a change of pace." Why was he lying to him? He'd never out right lied to him before.

"Well, if you're sure. I hope it helps. Let me know if you need anything."

"Will do." Dick replied. Bruce ended the call and when Dick closed the call screen, Preator's mysterious face popped back on the screen. "Who are you?" He mused.

The week couldn't go by fast enough. He visited the clearing every night, and every night was a disappointment. At last, Saturday morning arrived. Dick was at the shop the moment they were open. It was an eclectic shop that only served chocolate. As much as Dick craved something stronger, he was stuck with hot chocolate, milk chocolate, and a million other choices to do with chocolate. And in order to stay in the shop, he had to buy chocolate. He found a seat next to the window and waited. And waited. And waited. Doubts began filling his mind. Maybe it really all had just been a dream/nightmare. Maybe she didn't exist. A woman like that certainly couldn't exist in this world. But he stayed. It was late afternoon, when a taxi pulled up and she stepped out. He nearly choked on his chocolate. She was wearing jeans, with a light airy peach blouse, and tennis shoes. She looked so ordinary, that he thought that he had mistaken her. She calmly walked in not showing any signs of having almost died just a week ago. She spotted him immediately and sat down at his table.

"You didn't forget." She said with some surprise.

"Reyna! Good to see you as always." A waitress came up to her.

"Hello, Bev. How's collage?" Preator, uh, Reyna asked as if she had known her her whole life.

"Killing me, but that's how it goes." Bev laughed.

Reyna smiled at the girl and said softly back, "That's how it goes." There was a sadness about her as if she was referring to something else.

"Your usual then?"

"Please." She smiled back.

"Coming right up." Bev smiled and left.

"So does Reyna have a last name? It's only fair since you know mine." Dick grinned at her.

"Reyna will do for now." She smiled mysteriously. That mysterious smile was driving him crazy.

"I believe you said you would answer my questions. Tho, I have to admit, that making me wait a week was just cruel." Dick smirked.

Her smile disappeared and she looked down at her lap. "So I did." She looked back at him with her shoulders squared and a look of determination, as though ready for battle.

"Who are you? "Why did the kids call you Preator?" He blurted out.

"Because I am Preator. I, along with my college, am Preator of the twelfth legion of Rome."

"Rome? It sounds something out of the history books."

"Rome was a huge part of history. Still is." Dick gave her a confusing look. "Ask another question.

"How did you heal so fast?" Dick leaned in eager for information.

Reyna smiled softly, hesitated for a moment then said, "Let's start with the basics, first. And please let me know if you get too overwhelmed."

"I'm welmed." Dick replied back.

Reyna gave him a confused look before deciding to brush it off. "Have you heard of the Greek myths?"

"Who hasn't? Especially with Wonder Woman claiming she is a daughter of Zeus."

Reyna literally cringed. Dick watched her carefully. "Wonder Woman is a daughter of Zeus." She stated simply. "But she's not the only daughter of Zeus."

Dick stared at her trying to grasp what she was talking about. "Are you from Thamiscaria? Are you an Amazon?"

Reyna actually laughed. Bev brought her a large cup of hot steaming cocoa and then left. "No, I'm not an Amazon. The thing you need to realize about Wonder Woman is that she is everything she claims to be, but it's not the full story. That has been taken from her when she chose to reveal herself and work with mortals."

"Mortals?" Dick sounded out the word. "As in me?"

"Yes. How much do you actually know about Greek mythology?" She asked as she blew on her hot chocolate.

"Uh," Dick strained to remember. "Hercules? Fighting monsters?" As soon as he said it out loud it sounded foolish, but it rung a bell at the same time.

"Everyone always remembers Hercules." She murmured. "Yes, Hercules." He felt like she was treating him like a child. "And Hercules was the son of?" She asked encouragingly.

"Uh, Zeus." He stared at her, a strange thought forming in his head. "Are you a son, uh, er, daughter of Zeus?"

Reyna pulled a sour face. "There are other gods other than Zeus." She said dryly.

"Your not saying that your," he started. She looked at him encouragingly with those mysterious eyes. "That your a demigod?"

"Demigod can mean different things in different cultures. We call ourselves, half-bloods." She smiled back.

"We? You and the kids." Dick remembered how the girl sang so beautifully that no one could move let a lone shoot. And how he thought he saw the husky kid glow red as he fought.

"Hmm," Reyna finished her sip. "Yes, it's been an interesting week. They have settled into camp nicely."

"Camp?" Dick questioned.

"It's the only place where we are safe. No monster can cross into camp. The kids will now be trained by the best. They'll learn how to defend themselves, how to fight, how to survive." She said the last part quietly.

"A couple of them looked pretty comfortable with that already. I'm sorry, but just how many are in the collective 'we' that you are talking about?"

Reyna pondered the question. "That's a complicated question. We have at least a thousand in the legion, which doesn't include those who have served and now attend collage or those that have settled down and had kids of their own, like the kid that was wounded."

"I don't understand."

"The kid who could fight so well, had been fighting most his childhood. Turned out he was a son of Mars. No surprise there."

"What?"

"The kid that was wounded, his father was the son of Mercury, making him the grandson of Mercury."

"Wait. You're going to fast. Your saying that they are sons of planets?"

Reyna sighed impatiently. "The Greek gods liked to fool around. There is no secret in that. When Rome conquered Greece, the Greek gods changed as the Romans adapted them. Ares, the god of war, became Mars, the Roman god of war. Hermes, the god of messengers, travelers, and thieves, became Mercury."

So they were, I mean, you all are . . . ? Who are you the daughter of?" He blurted out.

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "I am the daughter of Bellona, the Roman goddess of war."

Dick took a deep breath. He felt like he was trying to catch it. "So your saying that there is a camp in San Fransisco that has about a thousand demigods in it and you're Preator over them?"

"Roman half-bloods." Reyna corrected. "But yes. There is another camp in Long Island for the Greek half-bloods."

Dick felt like he had just been hit in the gut. Reyna just smiled and took a sip of her cocoa. "So that's how you heal so fast?"

Reyna frowned. "Partly. I would heal at the same rate as you, being half mortal, if it weren't for the food of the gods, nectar and ambrosia. Unicorn powder is also very beneficial."

Dick remembered the square yellow bar, he had been told not to touch as he fed it to her. "Mortals can't touch it." Dick guessed.

Reyna raised an eyebrow, "or they would be burned up into ash." She finished for him. "Too much in a half-blood results in the same fate. You're catching on."

"And the woman with her hair on fire?" Dick looked at her carefully.

"An empousa. Very dangerous. Normally, Hecate keeps them under better control, but they now seem to be running rampant. You might better associate them to vampires."

Dick felt his heart race. "She seduced me, to kill me."

"Or use you." Reyna sipped her cocoa.

"Neither sounds appealing."

Reyna smiled grimly. "No death sounds appealing."

"And those creatures who threw fire bombs?"

"Laistrygonian giants." Reyna supplied.

"Giants?" The thought of giants roaming the world shook him.

"Mmm." Reyna confirmed.

"There are Giants?" He said alarmed.

"They normally mind their own business, except for Laistrygonians. They like Olympian blood too much."

"They eat you?" Dick said disgustedly.

"Hazard of being a half-blood." Reyna looked down and smiled sadly. He could tell she was trying to make light of it, but that it bothered her more than she let on.

"Then why didn't they kill you. Why keep you alive?"

"That's what worries me the most. The mortals were running tests, but I can't think of what for."

"I've never seen monsters like that hunt Wonder Woman." Dick pondered out loud.

"And you won't."

"Why not?"

Reyna sighed. "Wonder Woman isn't a half-blood, like us, but she knew of our existence."

"Knew?"

"Her memories of us were taken away from her when she chose to fight with the Justice League. I guess she had no problem with being open about who she was, which I admire, but the gods didn't want her to over share, so they removed her memories and knowledge of the camps and the children of the gods. I recommend you not try to talk to her about it. It could result in some headaches, literally."

"You sound like you have had some experience with this."

"Not personally, thank the gods, but I did see a friend get completely wiped. He only knew his name and that was it. Luckily once he completed the task the gods wanted him to do, he got them back."

"That's . . . disconcerting."

"Trust me, that's not even the half of it. But she has had her memory loss for centuries, doing a great work, and we've been able to save the world just fine without her." Reyna took a sip.

"Save the world?"

Reyna eyed him. "Perhaps I'm oversharing."

"No. It's just . . . a lot to take in."

"I'm sure. Think of us as the line standing between you, the mortal world, and all the enemies of Olympus that would see Olympus fall and the world as we know it return into chaos."

"Why can't we see them? The Giants looked like metal structures."

"The mist."

"The mist?"

"Hmm. It's like a veil that shields you from our world."

"How come I saw her change then? Her hair lit on fire, and she had fangs, and claws. I started to see the giants too."

"That is a good question. I've been pondering the same question. The only thing I could come up with was that it was almost your last moment. Perhaps you see clearer when your about to die?"

Dick looked down at his empty cup. "That's promising." He said ryly. "I've seen a lot of weird stuff, magic even, but that night, this, definitely takes the top five."

"You've seen magic?" Reyna looked surprised. "Do you believe in magic?" She asked carefully.

"At this point, it's hard not to."

"Hmm, perhaps that contributed to you seeing." She took another sip.

"I saw you use magic to get into the charity ball." He smirked as he tried to gage her reaction.

She smiled mysteriously, "Someone's been spying on me."

For some reason Dick actually blushed. "And what were you doing in the bushes?" He snarked back.

"Testing you." She replied seriously.

"And I passed?" He gazed back into her exotic eyes.

"Obviously, or you wouldn't have shown." She took another sip. "Which brings us to business. I don't believe we've seen the last of the kidnappings. As usual the monsters are targeting the young and the untrained."

"Wait, before we get started. What was it that that girl did to me, I mean to the mortals?"

"Oh, her? Yes, she turned out to be a daughter of Venus. Her mortal mother, it turns out, is actually a famous singer. She asked me not to tell anyone who she is though. And I take my secrets seriously."

"That much is clear. So when she sang, . . . ?"

"It was laced with charm speak." Reyna supplied.

"Charm speak?" Dick tried to figure out what that meant.

"It's a gift that Venus or Aphrodite sometimes gives her children."

"Wait, her mother is Venus."

"Mmm-mmm." Reyna hummed in agreeance.

"And her mom is a famous singer?"

"Yes?"

"How is that possible?"

"When it comes to the gods, it's best you don't think about it too much. Business?"

Dick took a steadying breath. "Business." He confirmed.

"The woman who shot me was an empousa. Of that I have no doubt. I had thought that we were dealing with an all mortal threat, thus the reason we sought mortal help." She looked at him.

"I'm not sure why. I saw you take out those guys. You could take on any mortal." Dick questioned.

"Except we're not supposed to. We defend mortals from monsters, not fight mortals. Otherwise we'd be like Wonder Woman."

"Oh." Dick pondered that.

"But now we know that monsters are using mortals to fight us, which obviously puts us into a bind."

"Obviously." Dick let her continue, doing his best to keep up in this new world.

"The resources is what concerns me. The last time we fought someone with this many resources, it took a toll." She looked sad again.

"I've tried looking into who owns it, but they got it under so many sub companies that it's like a shell game." Dick shared his own failure.

Reyna eyed him, "You have been doing your research." She was quiet for a moment as she seemed to be studying him. He got more uncomfortable.

"If I access the Justice Leagues main computer, I can use it to monitor kidnappings and check out the companies in more depth."

She raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

"Uh, yeah. We do it all the time . . . to save the world." He smiled cheekily.

She smiled back. "You should know, that there is a prophecy involved."

Dick's smile dropped. "Prophecy?"

"You will go to the dark city and . . . 'find' a mortal hero.

Together you will face your enemies.

This is not a single battle but a war.

Beware the immortal mortal." Reyna finished.

"That's the prophecy? Kind of vague, isn't it?"

Reyna took another sip, "They usually are, unfortunately. Just enough to set you on the path."

"You've had a prophecy before?" He looked at her questioningly.

"I've had heard more prophecies than one should in their lifetime, but this would be the second one that has been specially toward me."

"What was the first?" He asked then realized that maybe it was too intrusive a question.

Reyna pursed her lips together as if she had just swallowed something sour. "I was tasked with returning the Athena Parthenon, ending the civil war between Greek and Roman half-bloods."

"You had the Athena Parthenon?" Dick struggled to keep up with what she had just said. If only he had paid closer attention in class. Did they even cover the Athenan Parthenon?"

"No?" She said defensively. "The Romans did when they conquered Greece."

"And you gave it back?"

"It was more complicated than that. It's not important now. "

"Okay. So you found me in the dark city. We fought our enemies together, I'd say. It's a war. That doesn't sound good. And what does it mean to beware the immortal mortal? Isn't t that kind of, I don't know, an oxymoron? I mean, either you're a mortal or an immortal. Not both."

"I'm not sure. Often times, things aren't revealed in the prophecy until it happens." Reyna looked worried.

"So . . ." Dick suddenly felt awkward. He hadn't felt this nervous around a girl since he was first adopted. "Do you have a number I can call." Reyna gave him a strange look. "You know to contact you, should I find anything."

"You can call the camp." She pulled out a napkin and wrote down a number. "Generally speaking' half-bloods avoid phones. That's how monsters track us."

"Oh. Really?" He looked at her disbelievingly.

"Don't expect long conversations." She handed him the napkin.

"Oh, uh." He grabbed another napkin and wrote down his cell number. "Here's mine, if you have to contact me." He held it out to her.

She smiled as she took it. "I'll get in contact with Lupa and see if we can have more advanced notice of incoming half-bloods. I look forward to working with you." She stood up and held out a hand. Dick took it and they shook hands.

"Uh, I'll walk you out." He stood as well. She smiled warmly back and they left. He helped her get into her cab. "Uh, see you later."

She smiled and waved in response as the cab pulled out. Dick made his way to his car feeling like his world had slightly tilted. He had some more research to do, on Greek monsters. And maybe he should take some classes on the subject, Latin too.