AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thought I had finally given up? Think again! Cause I did not! I was just late! Late by a week and some more days... For which I apologize. I recently started watching Critical Role and have been distracted because of it a lot. It is really addicting and I am hardly on episode 10 now! But still... A week and some more days is way better than going missing for six months... which I count as an absolute win! So go on ahead and enjoy your latest update!

And don't forget to review!

EDIT 12/08/20: Corrected a few spelling errors I overlooked. Nothing else.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Uncle Rick does. I simply use it as a sandbox for a non-profit fan fiction that few humble souls read on this esteemed website.

Strike One

"Normal Dialogue"

'Mental Conversations/Thinking'

'Magic Speak'

Date: 22nd May 2005

Location: The Sanctuary

Time: 0800 hours

Amongst the many passageways of the Sanctuary, the place that Selene and the Order called home, there lied a seemingly empty room which was often used for holding a meeting. The room, bereft of any dark corners and under the protection of seven different privacy wards, was bathed in the light that Selene had summoned at the ceiling. Within the room was a table, two chairs, an immortal old lady with a bone to pick with just about the entire world, a young lady with a body that was modified to work at superhuman capacity, a pervert with an unhinged mind and a thing for the goddess of the hearth, and a big brown leather-bound book which was the reason behind the tension that the air was reeking of. Just another average day in the life of a Sentinel.

"That is concerning," Misty said, for the third time.

"For the time being," Selene conceded. She wasn't concerned.

"What are we going to do about it," Misty asked. They had read the book cover to cover after Hestia had given it to them yesterday. Misty only needed four hours of sleep and had stayed awake till 2 o'clock in the morning to help Selene go through the accounts.

"What do you know about prophecies," Selene inquired.

When Selene wanted to send Misty on a task with a specific objective, she often began with a question. Or at least that was Misty's observation after these few months. More often than not, the topic was one that had been taught to Misty a few weeks past. Occasionally there were questions from the books which she often borrowed from the library/archives. This one had been the topic of a discussion they had on the night they returned after dealing with Diaz. It was a topic that she hated.

"Prophecies are predictions of the future done through the help of a medium. These snippets from the future come through to our plane when the fabric of Fate is temporarily opened," she recited from memory. The lines in question were from a book written by the past host of the Oracle of Delphi. "Often they are a summarized version of the adventure or quest in the form of a verse. The Fates weave the destinies of the mortal world and some times the destiny they make calls for a prophecy through an Oracle or other media."

"Personally, I think they are a load of hogwash," Misty finished.

"Why would that be?" Selene asked as she often did.

"One word for you," Misty snorted. "Diaz."

Selene nodded in understanding. After the drug hustler had almost died in his car from the curse laid on him, Misty had proposed leaving him there, after knocking out the driver. However, Selene had pointed at the picture at the top of the dossier. The one of him lying in his office with a bullet hole in his head.

"There can only be two kinds of prophecies," Misty began. "The kind that a group of people try to fulfil. They try their best to interpret the meaning of the words and plan accordingly to make sure that their actions lead to the correct solution. The other kind of prophecy is the one where regardless of what people do with regards to it, the world will bend over itself to ensure that the prophecy comes true."

"So every prophecy comes true in the end," she argued. "If you do something about it, you support it and thus lead to its climax. If you do nothing about it, then it turns out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy and things will happen so it is true at the end. If you try to prevent it from coming to fruition, then you will enter a deep pile of shit that will not dissolve till the prophecy has satiated its lust by bending the world over and spanking it till it is red instead of blue," she said. "Like the time I carried a fat guy up 20 floors because he couldn't have died in his car and then sat him in his chair and shot him. A self-fulfilling prediction? Or one that I fulfilled? Nobody knows. And nobody ever will. Because apparently there is only one way it will go."

Misty's words were full of venom despite her attempts at coming to terms with the whole concept of prophecy. Selene knew why her Sentinel had a deep hatred for prophecies. Misty hated the fact that there existed a force in the world that could force her to obey its bidding. Regardless of what she wished. The blue-eyed recruit had a rebellious streak a mile wide. Selene had known that in the first few weeks of training after trying to act like her master had led to an increase in her cheeky displays of what she preferred to call "accidents". She had learned soon after that incident and had taken to treating the Sentinel as a friend whom she mentored for fun rather than a student. The Sentinel reacted much better when the orders came with explanations and requests.

The Olympians would have banished anyone who dared show cheek as Misty did, Selene knew that very well. She also knew of how stupid the Olympians were and had a much greater experience in dealing with teenagers and knew that being harder on her would do nothing more than lose her the only Sentinel she had. She knew she could have pushed in the right places to turn Misty into a subservient soldier given enough time. She was confident in her ability to do so. But she knew not to resort to the cane when the carrot worked just as well.

They had been forced to carry Diaz up 20 floors and then fake a suicide to ensure no complications would arise from the prediction not being fulfilled by them. Selene had told Misty that the three Fates did not take kindly to attempts at subverting their authority and would see Diaz dead in his room with a bullet in his head regardless of what they did. But how badly they screwed the Order of the Waves over in the process was entirely up to them. And so they had carried him up under the guise of an invisibility spell. And killed him such that no one would suspect anything but suicide. The thugs who had turned collateral in the conflict were put in a crate bound for Australia.

The entire episode had left Misty with a foul taste in her mouth. She had read all she could on prophecies and predicting the future in the small time that she could. And she did not like any of it. Her rebellious streak had flared again and Selene was pretty sure that she would not rest till she eventually broke a prophecy or did something that was against a prediction. Selene decided not to stop her since she knew enough to know that events would always lead to the fulfilment of the prophecy. 'And if Misty does succeed,' a small part of her thought, 'it would be all the more fun to rub it in Phoebe's face the next time she meets me.'

"You will be glad to know then that there is a prophecy about to get out now," Selene told Misty. "Perhaps this will be your time to prove it false."

"What is it," Misty asked.

"I know not yet. I have word that the son of Poseidon is making waves in the mortal realm. He will be forced to seek sanctuary in the camp soon."

"Do you believe there will be a prophecy waiting for him at that camp?"

Selene nodded. The only way the war could stop was if the lightning bolt was returned to Zeus and Poseidon's honour was restored. That could be done if a demigod, looking to be the yet undiscovered son of Poseidon, would return it and prove that Poseidon did not steal it.

"Okay...I hope we are not going to sit this one out," Misty asked. She was referring to what they had read in the leather tome.

"No, we are not." Selene did not wish to speak these words so soon but it seemed that perhaps it was time she did speak them.

"Good. What are my orders?"

"Para Bellum."

22nd May 2005

The Sanctuary

1700 hours

It was time to go.

Selene had been dreading this day ever since her youngest Sentinel had returned back from Hestia's realm with the book in her hands. The book had shed light on many things that night. Many of which had to be dealt with immediately. Which was why Misty was preparing herself for the perilous journey that lay ahead of her.

The Sentinel in question strapped a set of celestial bronze daggers to her wrists and tightened the harness once again to ensure they did not slip out while travelling. She looked back at her mentor and gave her a reassuring smile. Selene smiled back for there was little else she could do. She still believed that Misty was woefully under-prepared for the journey that she was about to undertake.

Taking on organized crime in the mortal realm was woefully easy for anyone who trained under her. She would even let them do it to blow off some steam if it did not irk the Fates so much. But Misty was still weak in many ways and still had a very limited repertoire of skills with her, many of them unbalanced. But she had insisted that they deal with this particular threat instead of sitting around and waiting for the lightning bolt to be found so the gods could take action properly.

The threat of war loomed over Olympus and the rest of the western world ever since the lightning bolt was stolen. Many of the gods would have no choice but to choose between Zeus or Poseidon and join the fight. If things had been different, she could have tried calling upon Hades to restore order and calm his brothers... but even he had been duped by the people who stole the bolt and he too believed that Poseidon or Zeus was responsible for it. There would be no help from him.

Seeing the threat of war looming over them and the chaos it had brought about, several of the minor gods had started breaking the rules of engagement with the mortals. That in itself was not a concerning issue. Many succumbed to greed over the years and felt they could get away with getting more powers for themselves by directly interfering with the mortal realm.

The threat this time was that all the gods breaking the Law were affiliated with Ares. And other reports coming in from Hestia all pointed in the same direction. The god of war was preparing to take over Olympus by defeating his Father and Uncle in this war.

Selene had told Misty how the Order did not concern itself with who ruled over the celestial realm. They only concerned themselves with ensuring that the Divide was maintained. Ares winning the war would have obvious complications with their aim yet it was nothing to be so concerned of that they involve themselves such. However, Ares was amassing his strength by ordering his hirelings to go about and wreak havoc in the mortal realm.

Misty believed that was an infringement of the Law and they had to retaliate as was mandated when the Order was first established. She believed that the gods who had once tasted the power of millions of mortals feeling dread, suffering, sorrow, hatred, anger, and all the other destructive emotions, would not be willing to give that power up easily. She believed it was time to take action.

Selene knew very well that Misty still had a lot of sympathies left for the mortal realm. A link to her previous home which had not yet broken. And her actions were as much a result of these feelings as they were of the Law she wanted to follow. She may not have loved the place when she lived there but she still had people she once considered her own. She might be willing to leave them behind to embrace her role as a Sentinel but she was not yet ready to treat the mortal realm with the apathy that she had to.

All fresh Sentinels were made to, over the first four years, slowly detach themselves from the mortal realm; or the celestial realm if they were part divine. Emotions would hinder them in times of duress. All decisions are to be made with a clear mind.

However, Misty was not yet ready to accept that. Together with her accelerated learning program to prepare her for dealing with most minor threats —and after a few years, and enough training, perhaps for dealing with the Titan uprising— the modified training she received had no time for desensitizing her to the mortal realm.

Now those feelings had acted and convinced Misty that they must act now before the godlings got too powerful to stop. Selene knew she was correct if only partly. Ares mainly affiliated himself with other gods with destructive domains. There were few if any gods under his banner who would be subjugating the mortal realm with peace and beauty. Fear, Dread, Terror, Hatred, Bloodlust, Lust, Greed, and many others stood by him, granting him greater strength even as they got stronger. If the war was to be resolved quickly enough for the gods to prepare themselves in time for the Titanomachy, Selene had to ensure that the war would end as quickly as possible; if she could not completely prevent it.

She did not put much faith into the prophesied demigod who was supposed to follow the prophecy of the Oracle to retrieve the bolt and bring about peace. That path left too much to chance. She needed some safeguards in place just in case. The Order always had a backup plan for their backup plans. And so Selene granted Misty permission to go out; if grudgingly.

But Misty was to face gods on this quest of hers. And that was no minor deed. Had she been with Selene for another year, Selene would have had no qualms about her facing gods like she was about to. Her training along with Mystery's spirit would have granted the young sentinel enough skill and power to face them and beat them effortlessly. As it was at the moment, Selene did not know what would happen if Misty had to face them in a straight battle. The victor would be decided by a coin toss. She could only hope her Sentinel came back with all her limbs intact.

Still, as she watched her Sentinel tighten the straps on her armour, Selene thought that perhaps she might just escape unscathed. Mystery was taught to not be seen by anyone so she could be the perfect assassin. If Misty would heed the advice of her friend and companion, perhaps a conflict would not arise at all. And if it did, Misty had clear instructions from Selene to escape as quickly as she could. Her crafty attitude and cunning was her greatest asset at the moment, something many of the gods did not have due to generations of inbreeding and lying dormant in their palaces in Olympus. Few, like Artemis, still moved about the world seeking the danger that kept their minds sharp and ready for battle. The ones she was about to face certainly did not.

Lady Moon took a deep breath and steadied her voice as she spoke to her student.

"Are you prepared for the journey, Sentinel?" she asked.

Sheathing a short sword made from imperial gold at her side, Misty nodded. No more words needed to be said.

She was wearing the traditional armour of the Sentinels. It had been passed down through time to all the members of the Order when they prepared to live for their first great quest. There were more like it lying unused in the vaults under the Sanctuary; waiting for the Order to have more than one Sentinel again.

Prometheus crafted them himself from the hide of a Nemean Lion. It could not be pierced by mortal weapons. Nor by any normal celestial bronze blade. Only the celestial weapons wielded by gods could come close to scratching it. Tissues from the body of a living hydra —they kept the beast imprisoned so the magical properties of the material would not cease to work— were used to line the joints. They would grow back together even after being torn and moved to fit the wearer to optimize movement and comfort even while providing safety. The hood had a charm cast upon it which would hide her identity from anyone who did not already know it. The armour covered all her vital points and also provided protection to her thighs and upper arms. Leather breeches covered her pale legs and knee-length boots, blessed at the temple of Hermes before being dipped in the waters of the Aeolus' sacred pool. They would serve to help Misty move like the wind itself. Gloves and bracers made by Hephaestus to grant a strong grip on anything they held. They would help her not get disarmed by anyone more skilled than her. Selene had followed Misty's instructions and dyed the entire set a dark black. It would stand out during the day but Misty assured her that she would travel in the night. To prevent any problems, Selene had moved to the vaults and brought out one of the cloaks enchanted by a past sentinel. It would help the wearer blend in with the surroundings. It wasn't as perfect as an invisibility spell but since Misty was bad at casting it anyways, Selene had gifted her the Cloak of Disillusion as a precaution.

If all attempts at stealth and escape failed, Misty carried ample weapons to help her turn the tide of the battle by herself. A short sword made from imperial gold and two stilettos of celestial bronze served as her primary weapons. In a satchel hanging at her hip were throwing knives made out of Celestial Bronze, Imperial Gold, and even mortal steel if the need to fight any mortals arose.

Misty had wanted to carry one of the black blades of Stygian Iron whilst she was choosing her weapons but Selene had wisely advised her how only those with a strong connection to the Underworld could wield those weapons. They were mainly reserved for Sentinels who were born of any of the gods who resided in the underworld and since they hadn't had any since a few generations, they had laid there idle. Misty had still wanted to take one but Selene had quickly admonished her and moved her away from there. The Sentinel was drawn to anything black in colour but that was no reason for her to die just to wield the Stygian Iron weapons.

Selene had enchanted her wrist bracer to turn into a shield made of Athenian Silver. A rare metal that only Athena held the key to preparing. Selene had traded enough of it in the past that she could fashion the necessary gear for any Sentinel who needed it. Athenian Silver was extremely dense while being light and could easily glance off any weapon that was aimed at it. The metal could also permanently burn the skin of werewolves and other creatures that reacted badly to silver but since Misty had no need of any more primary weapons for the moment and had a low chance of coming across any werewolves, Selene had not given her a blade made out of it. The shield would work just as well when bashed against them. The other bracer she had enchanted to summon weapons placed inside her satchels and shoot them outwards. That was a gift to Misty when she had reached the first milestone of her training; defeating a Hydra without using an open flame —a spawn of the ancient monster that they kept confined to make use of in the armour. If all that could go wrong went wrong, Misty held an Imperial Gold explosive. Rigged to shower the area with Greek Fire and shards of Imperial Gold. But hopefully, she would be able to escape without it.

There was one more weapon Misty had yet to receive. Misty would receive it on the day she came back from her first quest. That day she would become a proven sentinel and given the right to freely move out of the Sanctuary and into the mortal or celestial realm. It was a tradition close to Selene's heart and she dearly hoped that Misty came back from her quest safely to receive the weapon. But for now...

Selene had done all that could be done to ensure her victory. She could not follow her in this. Without the Ritual Room to grant her spirit energy, she was limited in what she could do once she escaped the Sanctuary. Looping the wards on themselves so she could escape took a lot of power out of her. If she went with her, she would be nothing more than a liability. She did know how to defend herself and fight, being on par with Artemis during her prime. But now she had limited time before she had to return to the Sanctuary. And making these trips so often would not be efficient or beneficial. Misty had to do it alone. It was her duty as a Sentinel.

"State your objectives," Selene said.

"Locate production facilities responsible for the celestial drugs and goods that are being circulated in the mortal realm as we speak. Destroy any backup stock they possess. Destroy the facility, the raw materials stored, and any resisting personnel. Find what alchemical components are being used for the production of each product and bring back a sample for you to prepare an antidote against. Finally, administer an air-borne agent carrying the antidote in it in the respective localities," Misty answered. Her eyes were sharp and held none of the mirth and cheek that they usually did. Her jaw was hard set and her raven hair was tied back into a braid. She looked every bit the Sentinel that she should have had she been here for the complete term. Looking at the young lady standing before her Selene felt that mayhaps she had nothing to worry about. Before her stood a warrior waiting to go forth and strike fear into the hearts of the ones who dared defy the Law.

"What protocol will you follow if you face resistance?" asked Selene.

"Mortals are to be handled as needed. Those who do not know what atrocities they commit will get a mind-wipe and be sent back to their homes. Those who are in charge will get their memories taken and compulsed to move to another country away from here. Those actively taking a part in the distribution of these products despite knowing what they did are going to find themselves in a mental asylum, without a tongue and inside a straight-jacket. Those who try to fight back and threaten-slash-use innocent mortals as collateral I can execute without any hesitation. Kill and disintegrate any mythical beasts guarding the places. Ensure they do not escape to a population centre. Gather any rare alchemical and magically potent ingredients they hold within their bodies before they die."

Selene nodded. "What about the divine?"

"Retreat to a safe house and teleport back to the Sanctuary if they are too powerful. Or move onto the next target. Avoid conflict if possible. Try persuasion and intimidation tactics where necessary. When a battle is inevitable, place an emphasis on a quick escape. Incapacitate where I cannot win. Distract and Disorient."

Selene nodded. "Always remember that there was a time when the Order of the Waves stood on a golden pedestal. We used to strike fear in the hearts of our enemies. Some people still remember the prestige that we held. Gods are immortal and have long memories. Most will think twice before trying to lay hands on a Sentinel. Many know how swift and cold our vengeance is. The Olympians might have banished me from Olympus but they still remember the times when a Sentinel trained by me could infiltrate Zeus' bedroom all alone. Use that fear to your advantage. Strike when necessary but always subdue the enemy when you can. You are smart," Selene remarked. "Smarter than you think you are. Use it to your advantage."

"Yes, my lady," Misty said.

"Once you have shut down a facility, the immortals who overtook it will question what happened to it. It is not every day that anyone dares oppose them. They will want to exact vengeance on the ones who dared oppose them as well. The Sentience is a famous artefact. They will recognize it for what it is. Most will retreat when they see it. But Phobos and Deimos are the children of Ares. They will not abandon their father's cause so quickly."

"Orders concerning them, my lady," Misty questioned.

"Finish your primary objective of shutting down production. I have something special planned for them. It will be ready by the time you are back. Disengage if you face them before. We do not need them to know of our intentions."

"Yes, my lady," Misty said. "As you command."

"And remember the most important thing of all." She enveloped the young Sentinel in a bear hug. "Come back alive."

Misty, smothered in her place between two very soft breasts, nodded as best as she could while awkwardly hugging the goddess back.

22nd May 2005.

The Hunter's Moon

1800 hours

The Hunter's Moon was an all-night bar that served both the mortal and the celestial realm. It was one of the many bars, restaurants, cafes, arcades, eateries, hotels, mask shops, antique shops, and other such establishments which connected the mortal realm with The Sanctuary on the realm of Lady Moon. The portal would only work for someone who had already been signed in to the wards. And many of the immortal patrons who had been around for millennia knew this to be an irrefutable fact. They had seen many attempts to breach the portal that was somewhere within the restroom of the bar. Many young maidens cloaked in silver and grey and black bearing the mark of The Order of The Waves had been seen around the bar when they used it to travel around the world.

None tried to stop or fight them when they did. Nobody was stupid enough to try going against a Sentinel within a five-mile radius of anything that bore Selene's rune schemes. The ones who were stupid enough were already a scorch mark on blackened earth. These establishments were often frequented by mortals who had had a brush with the divine and sought comfort against it by mixing in with some friendly satyrs and dryads. The Hunters of Artemis had free access to all parts of the building except the portal. Being a Moon goddess herself, Artemis and her pack of Hunters would often stay the night in one of the Hunter's Moon hotels or motels when they were too far away from the wilderness to camp out or hot on the trail of a monster. This particular bar was situated in the state of New York. In the town of Queensbury.

Misty walked out of the wooden closet in the upstairs bedroom, her clothes and equipment covered with dust. While she took a moment to dust herself off, a barkeep with goat horns on his head rushed upstairs with a dirty rag hanging over his shoulder. Seeing Misty standing in front of the open closet wearing the traditional Sentinel armour, he bowed and said, "The hospitality of the Hunter is yours, my lady."

"I thank you for your hospitality, good satyr. I need a warm meal and packed rations for five days."

"As you wish, my lady. If you will follow me." Seeing Misty nod at him, the satyr began walking down the narrow stairway outside the room. They came out of a door and into the bar proper. The counters had a couple of wet splotches of drinks from the previous customers and some were still in the process of being cleaned as Misty had interrupted the barkeep whilst he was doing it. No customers were sitting at the bar but there was a young man with golden hair and green eyes who was sitting at the corner table with a young nymph. She had amber eyes with wavy auburn hair with bits of grass and twigs braided in her hair. Her skin had a slight imperceptible bluish hue that would go unnoticed by mortal eyes. The two were happily chatting away and flirting with each other unaware of Misty walking in. Another man sat back on his seat with a couple of glasses lying in front of him; all empty. He seemed troubled by something and had more grey in his rust-red hair and lines on his forehead than a man his age should have had. He looked up and upon seeing the barkeep walk in with Misty, waved him over for more drinks. He either did not notice who Misty was in his haze or did not particularly care about it since he did not react except giving her a passing glance.

The barkeep led Misty to one of the cleaner tables and after taking her order, went over to give the drunk man his refill. While waiting for the barkeep to prepare her rations, Misty nudged Mystery to grab her attention.

'Where are we going first?' Mystery asked while yawning.

'I was thinking we get our rations for the next few days and then leave. Head east to west. Go for the simple ones first and the more guarded ones later when we are about to leave the state.' Misty replied.

'Okay. What about creating safe zones for retreats?'

'I think we start by creating one in the nearby mountains for New York. It will be easy to lose any trails in the woods there or spring an ambush. And they are not too far away from this bar so it would be easy to make a quick escape,' Misty explained.

'Seems functional enough,' Mystery said. 'You got the survival kit and the trap-making kit before leaving?'

'Yes,' Misty said simply.

'Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go and make a temporary base and go and kick some ass!' Mystery cheered.

'We are waiting for our food, dumb-ass!' Misty answered before blocking out her retort to anger her further.

As she sat there and sniggered to herself, she missed the bartender looking at her with concern on his face.

An hour later, with her temporary camp set up, Misty boarded a cab and made her way south. After sitting in the cab for close to two hours, she finally arrived at her destination. In the city of Kingston, Misty made her way towards her first quarry of the night after paying the driver with mortal currency and a swipe of the Mist. She walked along the road, keeping away from the pockets of light that the streetlights had created and sneaked around to a large three-floored building. Three circular brick smokeshafts were jutting out of the top of it. The parking lot in front of it had a large truck and a few cars parked in it but was mostly empty. A tall brick wall surrounded it with a heavy black iron gate guarding the only entrance. The security guards patrolling at the gate and around the building were lax in their duties and Misty was past them and at the storage entrance in the blink of an eye.

Misty checked the straps on her shoes again and jumped off the ground, her ritual enhanced body sending her rising 3 meters in the air where she caught onto a narrow ledge and pulled herself on it. She found herself on the wrong side of a window which appeared closed with a small latch on the inside. Removing a small steel knife from her satchel, she passed it through the small gap between the wall and the window and with a flick of her wrist, unhooked the latch. The window opened into a large storage room where piles of boxes were kept ready to be shipped the next morning across the state. She hopped onto the walkway surrounding the room and closed the window behind her. Her nimble feet made no noise as they walked along the catwalks keeping her eyes peeled for anyone. Getting out of the storage area through a stairwell that took her to a small office overlooking the production area, Misty closed her eyes.

'Slow and steady,' Mystery whispered in her head as she began casting the spell.

'Dis Velum' she whispered aloud and joined her hands in front of her. Holding her breath for a moment, she slowly dragged them apart, almost as if pulling against some force that wanted to keep them together. She opened her eyes a moment later, her hands lining up with the edges of her vision. The area between them parted and several places glowed a soft grey. She turned around and marked off the places which glowed grey as she took in everything. A moment later she walked over to the glass pane that overlooked the production area and found most of the units glowing grey. A large cuboidal container that was on the floor connected to a conveyor belt glowed a bright grey, almost bordering on silver. Finally letting her arms fall back to her sides Misty told her mental roommate that the spell had worked.

'Too bad I can't do it beyond the basic version,' Misty grumbled in her head. 'Would have been a whole lot easier if I could just see which places have traces of divine energy on them currently instead of the whole 12-hour history that I get.'

'Don't worry about it,' Mystery answered back. 'If nothing else, you will get enough practice this month to have an easier time on the next stage. For now, look at the silver lining!'

'What silver lining?' Misty asked.

'I get to sit here in your head and watch as you go through an entire factory looking for something which might not even be here,' Mystery explained.

'One of these days I'm going to really give it to you,' Misty grumbled again with a dark undertone to her mental voice.

'Ooh! What are you going to do? Spank me?' Mystery said smoothly.

Misty decided to follow her age-old plan of giving her the silent treatment because she knew that the way of a verbal spar was paved with debauchery the kind of which she sadly did not have time for. Much to her chagrin.

She began her area sweep with the desk in the office, looking over every place which had glowed grey. Looking through the office, she found documents detailing the production of the deodorants and perfumes. The factory belonged to a local brand that nobody would inspect too heavily for foreign or illegal reagents. The owners would have free reign of the production floor and anyone who came and threatened them to add certain divine alchemical ingredients inside would be successful without any complications. Along with it were the sales report of the previous month which had been soaring upwards for some strange reason(read as divine munchkinery). Attached within were also the resignation letters of several employees. Most probably the ones who would not do what they were told quietly and had to be silenced some other way. Misty could bet her left index finger that the workers who had "resigned" had also gone missing recently.

She moved across the office going through other documents and objects, mostly useless stuff. In the dustbin, she found a couple of notes that gave vague instructions about item drops, which Misty guessed were locations from where they had to pick up the extra components. Also in the dustbin was a lot of shredded paper. Closing her eyes again, Misty cast a repair spell on it —this one, thankfully, came to her easier than the Detect Divine Trace spell did— and the shredded bits of paper rose up in the air and joined back in the order that they were originally in.

On the papers was a report. Turns out the owner had hired his own people to find out what effects the deodorants and perfumes made with the new formula did. The reports described that the "colourless liquid" they mixed with the regular batch showed no results when tested in the labs. The animals that were tested on stopped moving and within a few hours died. They followed a few people who used the perfumes and noticed the effects on them as well. The ones wearing the perfume had no noticeable change in behaviour. They eventually increased their application of it which pointed to some sort of addictive agent but no other change in behaviour. However, the people who were around these subjects did change their behaviour. These people would often try and linger around the subject for longer and would turn sad when they have to leave their vicinity. The ones with a stronger exposure were even reported crying over it and a few actively tried to change their daily schedule to get closer to the subject. All subconscious changes.

They speculated that the scent of the perfume or deodorant did not have any adverse effect on the wearer but did have some on those that were near them. The scent would start acting as a drug towards them and after adequate exposure (estimated to be five days) they would start getting strange "withdrawal symptoms" when they are separated from that scent for extended periods. A layman who would not have inside knowledge of these events would not notice the connection. However, to the ones investigating the chemical, it was clear that the scent of the products was having a selective effect on the people. They also mentioned how any onlooker would find the victim's new behaviour concerning but would have no ground to consider it a drug addiction. Even the ones who are in the extreme stages and develop an obsession with the subject still act as respectable members of the society; albeit ones that try their best to contribute while staying near the subject going as far as falling in love with them just so they could move in with them. She knew that many immoral humans would even use it to get what would basically be sex slaves or concubines that would be literally addicted to them.

Misty read through the report and placed it in a small sack that she carried. She would send them over to the Sanctuary once she was done here.

Misty looked over the production floor again and surmised that the cuboidal container that showed the highest concentration must have been where it would be mixed in with the normal ingredients. She banished those thoughts from her head for the moment and turned back towards the room. The small bookshelf on the far wall showed a strong reading as well. Reaching it, she transferred the books in it, mostly law and finance, onto the sofa nearby. On the bottom shelf, there was a hollow back which she opened to find a small strongbox in.

She carried it over to the office table and set it down. Thankfully, lock-picking was one of the things they taught at the Sanctuary in case a lock was made of magic-resistant materials (Misty was surprised how many gods had fumbled when brought up against such items). Bringing out a lockpick and a small dagger from her belt, she started rummaging inside the lock's mechanism, slowly locating the pins and raising them until she heard a slight locking sound. A moment later the lid sprung open.

The insides of the box were lined with velvet and styrofoam. Packed gingerly between layers of bubble wrap were two bottles. Transparent. Filled with a clear liquid. Inside a note was folded between them.

"'No more than one drop per batch' -a friend"

'Hey, Em? Do you know who this friend could be? Any god who matches the criteria?' Misty asked her menant.

'None that immediately click in.. Try checking the liquid. Maybe the component's origins would give us some clues.' Mystery answered.

Misty uncapped it ever so slightly. A strong stench hit her headfirst.

Her surroundings seemed to slow down and she tightened the cap once more to stop the smell from coming out. Her perception of everything refined until she could feel almost a minute pass before the second hand on the wall clock moved and soon she was feeling like she was swimming in ambrosia. Her body soon started aching from the ambrosia. She felt her heart slow down for some reason and started feeling lightheaded. The pool of ambrosia was feeling like quicksand now.

From somewhere afar, she heard a voice scream at her to flush her system. Recalling Selene's advice, she gathered all her wits and let out an unrestrained burst of spirit energy through her system.

As suddenly as it started, the feeling went away as raw spirit energy burned whatever had entered her system.

"What the fuck was that thing? I haven't read of anything that can slow time down!" Misty said out loud.

'Time did not slow down, Tee,' Mystery answered. 'You did. You were getting really slow. Almost stopped all functions including thinking and circulating your blood.'

"I was?" she said aloud again, this time to herself rather than Mystery. Breathing in again, she put the vials back in the strongbox and locked it again. She cast a Cushion spell on it. Her own variation which was similar to Feather Fall. She would renew it every few hours so the vials would not break inside while she moved around.

'What was it? Do you have any idea?' Misty asked Mystery. She had not yet begun her education in the field of alchemy. And though she had read up on the individual ingredients and their properties, she still had no idea how they tasted or smelled to be able to tell what this was. Even as she asked this question to the spirit in her head, she could feel the smell of the liquid drifting away from her memory. Her nose was simply too sensitive because of the ritual and she picked smells up too quickly and often lost them the same as well when they disappeared. The burst of spirit energy inside her body had purged all of it from her. Even the smell.

'I have a rough estimation, but I am not certain... I think those are basilisk tears. Either that or siren sweat. But that would not normally cause such a reaction.'

'I read about them when I was working on some poisons for one of my targets. The tears of a basilisk are colourless, odourless, and tasteless. However, anyone who smells them before 24 hours have passed will experience a pseudo-petrification of sorts. I think that was what happened to you,' Mystery explained. 'You were probably getting petrified from the inside out. That would explain why you slowed down so much a few seconds after opening it. And basilisk tears are rare components because making a basilisk cry and then collecting the tears while dodging it is no easy task. Some simply extract the tear glands and use those to produce a few after one dies.'

'Alright... If what you think is right, then it is this thing that is causing all the desperation and depression among the people who smell that deodorant. I will send this to Selene so she can start working on a formula to develop an antidote. In the meantime...' Misty said.

'We have a factory to burn down.' Mystery, the ever-eager pyromanic spirit, finished.

Misty went through the office again, gathering any important documents such as the insurance papers and the labour contracts and secured them in her carry sack. The books she replaced with blank scrap replicas that would burn the same way and not raise any suspicions about her presence there. Selene would want to go through them once more to ensure there were no ciphers or key codes within. She found some cash and a bottle of sleeping pills of which she took the former and ignored the latter. She went down to the production floor and looked over all the containers to make sure that no traces of Basilisk Tears (or siren sweat) or some other reactionary alchemical components were left behind. She had to hide under some heavy machinery and hang from the overhead catwalks at several points when the security guards patrolled her way but no events of note took place. After she had done a full sweep of the area, she went into the storage room which was her starting point.

Cutting through the packaging on some of the cardboard boxes revealed two rows of 25 cans of deodorants inside. There were close to 40 boxes inside the room and if each held 50 cans, it put the final count at around 2000 cans to be delivered tomorrow. She had found no other storage space where more could be and decided that these were all that were still in the factory.

She first started taking care of the security guards. A minor illusion spell on them dulled their senses and made it seem as if nothing was wrong. If she slipped a bit while working, it would go right over their heads now as long as she did not fuck up in a loud manner.

Next, she went down into the underground water storage tanks and —after a quick 'Aqua Depulso' was applied to her body and equipment— using a bit of alteration to make a lot of dirt and rust inside the pipes that led above to the sprinklers. After the pipe was sufficiently clogged, she drilled fine holes in the lower section of the tank so the water would ever so slowly start draining out of the tank but not at a noticeable speed. A few drops of a corrosive acid Selene had given her and the large metal water faucet looked terribly rusted. Another quick detour to the overhead tanks and they were quickly drained as well. The alert system that would usually notify the security of a problem in the overhead tank was quickly disabled and made to look like a case of the wire getting disconnected.

She went down into the production area proper and placed propane tanks at strategic locations for them to explode once the place caught fire. From within the chemical locker, she chose some that her magic scans showed to be extremely inflammable. Those she spread all over the place. Some of it she spilt near a corner which had a lot of scorch marks on it and cigarette butts lying around on the floor. The fire would start from there.

Finally, she went across the place and disabled the fire alarms as best as she could. She finally looked over her work and nodded to herself.

'Fire it up, Tee!' Mystery cheered after sensing the nearby chaos. Taking her friend's enthusiastic cries as her cue, Misty went towards the final step. She tripped the fire alarm. Even though it had been silenced, it would still notify the fire department about what was happening here. She snapped her fingers and a spark of fire raced towards the trail of pungent-smelling liquid that was spread all over the floor. With a flash it caught fire. Misty strode out of the burning production room and made her way to the gate guard's cabin.

Sneaking up behind her, she whispered an incantation and smirked as the guard felt her bowels loosening. The guard made to use her radio to signal someone else to cover her post but a deep rumbling sound echoed from her stomach and she ran out of the small cabin towards the outhouse that was placed hugging one of the walls away from the factory. She pressed a button on the console in front of her and the gate locked itself in its place. After throwing away the key to the gate, she walked out of the factory and made her way to a distant tree and climbed it to watch the show as it unfolded in front of her eyes.

As she had predicted, the trail of flammable liquids with small proportions of gasoline she pilfered from the vehicles parked outside caught fire instantly. She had timed it to ensure that there was a huge blind spot in the guards' patrolling schedule to make sure none came upon it till it was too late. The fire would spread out around the factory spreading at a very slow pace. In the time it took her to get rid of the gate guard and make her way to her hiding spot, the entire production floor and the laboratory on the third floor had long tendrils of flame licking it. A tendril had snaked its way under the door of the office to set fire to the curtains and the carpet within. She counted off in her head and as she reached zero, a red fire truck rushed towards the gates and braked hard in front of them. A couple of them walked out of the truck and screamed for the guards to open the gate but no one did.

Hearing the commotion, a few guards patrolling nearby made their way towards the gate. A brief argument regarding the building being on fire and the fire alarm being tripped ensued, during which one of the guards left to find the missing gate guard to get the master key from them and open the gate. As the two men spoke with a gate in between them, the boxes in the storage unit had all caught fire and were in the process of burning.

Misty had a very weak understanding of the more complex spells but she could do the basics over and over again thanks to the Sentience carrying around what was basically a nuclear reactor's worth of spirit energy. Which meant that she could cast the same weak spell a hundred times. Which she had done on the crates inside the storage room to link most of them together using a variation of the ignite spell. Speaking plainly, it made them much more combustible and they would burn better. All of them. Without leaving any crate or bottle intact.

True to her predictions, by the time the guard returned with the master key looking a bit green, a large explosion rocked the building. All the windows shattered and the glass blew outwards. All the propane canisters placed inside were exploding as the fire truck rushed to start calming down the fire. The sprinklers would fail to work since there was no water supply for them. And by the time the firemen had calmed the raging inferno, most of the equipment inside would have turned unsalvageable. The office would face the least destruction and a nice surprise would wait for them within. By the time they found it, Misty would be halfway through her list. The mark of the Sentinels would tell whatever deity that broke the law to not try it again. And she wanted to get through with as many places as she could before the element of surprise was ruined and the enemies were prepared.

But for now, she watched the building go down in flames in the middle of the night with the fire brigade desperately trying to calm it down. All evidence of her presence that she had forgotten would go up in flames. And so would the thousands of cans of corrupted perfume that was responsible for so much agony. Misty knew she had to move south soon to take down another similar but smaller factory but felt some satisfaction as she delivered her first bit of justice as a Sentinel.

'I made quite a mess, Mystery, didn't I?' she asked as she looked at the burning building with satisfaction.

'That's exactly what you said the last time you were on all fours,' Mystery said sending a mental smirk her way.

Misty facepalmed through her blushing face for there was little else she could do. Except perhaps jump down from the tree and start making her way south. She still had 87 more locations to take down. And then she thought to herself with another blush, 'Perhaps some punishment once I am done for the night would not be amiss. Don't you agree, Mystery?'

And with that, she ran off into the moonlit streets with a deer-like grace in her feet. A blush rose on her face as Mystery talked inside her head of all the ways she had to be punished. Repeatedly. Misty sped up.

You don't dally around when a sexy white-haired demigoddess whispers in your ear of all the ways you could have her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

1. I dropped a hint in the Author's Note in the last chapter about something. Nobody who noticed it commented/reviewed on it. Or maybe nobody noticed it.. Should I scale down the foreshadowing or make it much simpler to understand? I have been doing it since chapter one and it appears that it goes over most people's heads... Regardless, I dropped a much bigger hint in this one(Godzilla sized). Hopefully, someone will catch onto it. First person to write what it is gets a prize!

The Phoebe mentioned in the little part about Selene and prophecies is the grandmother of Apollo and Artemis for those who do not know. He's called Phoebus Apollo for a reason.

(It means SHINING Apollo. Cause Phoebe shone and later Apollo was given the same pseudonym except in its masculine form. Similarly Artemis came to be known as Phoebe, which is the feminine form of the word. Hence, she is Shining Artemis. Which I find hilarious)

I will be taking a lot of liberties with Latin and Greek for the name of the few spells that I do write. So any Latin or Greek majors who find mistakes please forgive me. If you know the correct form of the word and PM me with it, I will change it.

4. I do not live in the USA. And as such I am relying a lot on Google Maps and the general internet for most of the locations that will be shown in the next few chapters. If I made any mistakes while judging the travel time or accuracy of a location, do excuse them. I will be willing to change any minor details as long as they do not interfere with the plot/story too much. So PM me or review down below if you find any problems about that.

That's it for today! I will try my best to get the next update here in two week's time! If I don't then... I permit you to stick my picture on a scarecrow and burn it. The story will be mostly on the road for the next few chapters. Our favourite Sentinels(you only know around five so don't you dare tell me that Misty and Mystery aren't your favourite!) will be seen moving around the country doing stuff...

What this "stuff" is I won't be telling you. All I will say is that it will get progressively worse each chapter.

And for those who wished to see Percy. June 1st is approaching and soon our favourite son of the sea god (no disrespect meant to Tyson fans) will enter Camp Half-Blood. I will finally have a proper way of introducing him into the story without throwing the story down the OP!Percy highway.

That's it! Stay safe and R&R!