Hey guys. I have a lot of finals tomorrow, so here's the chapter a little earlier than expected. If you missed the edit I made last chapter, I added a line about Hades waiting for the Winter Solstice and that it will factor into his plan… As for what that plan is, stay tuned! As always, I want to thank JTWAS1994 for his continued support and NiaJax1987 for following the story.

Myth 17: Listen for the Siren!

It was the beginning of the second week of December, and the snow was beginning to pile up outside the little diner on the corner of 5th and Park Ave. The people inside didn't seem to notice, including Jay Parker and Valerie Onasis. That is, until they were exiting the diner.

"Man, we have to walk home in this?" Jay commented as he put a hand out to catch some snowflakes. "So glad I didn't drive. It would be a nightmare in all that snow."

"Yeah," Valerie said. "Except you're wearing a practical coat. Mine may look good, but as for protection from the snow? Not so great."

"I can't offer my entire coat, but I can at least give you my scarf," Jay said as he pulled the long piece of cloth off his neck and wrapped it around Valerie's.

"And they say chivalry is dead," Valerie joked as the two began their walk in the below-freezing city streets. "It does seem a little odd. I've had cold winters in Olympia Hills, but never this cold."

Jay could only shiver in agreement.

After a long, and very cold, walk, they had reached the outer gate of Valerie's house. Valerie buzzed the intercom.

"James? Could you open the gate, please? It's freezing out here!" Valerie said into the intercom.

"Right away, Miss Valerie," James' voice said from the intercom, "and will your male friend be joining us this evening?"

The gate began to open as Jay replied.

"Nah," Jay said, "I've got some homework to do. See you tomorrow at school. If we have school."

"Thanks for another great night," Valerie said as she kissed Jay on the cheek, "and here's your scarf." She handed the scarf to him before running to her front door, which James was holding open for her.

Jay held his hand to his cheek and smiled before walking away into the night.


"A kiss on the cheek? Man, that's nothing," Nate said as he and Jay sat down at the lunch table. Valerie, Mera, Diana and Adrian weren't there yet, but Victor was at his usual seat.

"I mean, I think it's something," Jay said, "Victor, back me up here. If a girl kisses you on the cheek, that means you're advancing from a "person I go on dates with" thing to "serious relationship" thing, right?"

"Don't look at me," Victor replied. "I know nothing about relationships."

"Yeah, well...I think it means something," Jay reinforced.

"Mm hm," Nate said, clearly not convinced.

"I mean, I can't be the first Ranger who's faced this question," Jay said.

"No, but I'm sure you're the first one to think about it out loud," Nate commented. "Weren't you the one warning us back when we faced the Dark Order that we be careful what we say in public? The baddies always turn it against us. I believe your exact words were 'It's practically a formula by now.'"

"Hello Nate, Victor and Jay," Mera said as she sat down, "what would be 'a formula by now'?"

"Nothing to worry about," Jay said as he brushed it off.

"Hey guys," Adrian said as he and Diana sat down.

"Hey," Jay said as he looked over towards where Valerie was getting her food.

Time seemed to slow down for Jay as she walked over towards the table. Suddenly, nothing else really mattered…

"Jay? Jay?" a voice said, "Earth to Jay. Come in, Jay."

"What?" Jay said, turning his head to look at whoever was talking.

"I asked you whether you were up for another sparring match today," Nate said, slightly exasperated at how out of it Jay had been. "I need to beat you this time!"

"Oh yeah?" Jay said, "I guess I could go another round with you."

"And I could use some archery practice," Adrian said as Valerie sat down.

"Agreed," Valerie said. "Those Spartoi seem to be getting stronger somehow. They don't fall down as easily as they used to."

"And Hades' monsters are getting more creative in their approach," Mera said with a nod. "We must be on guard at all times. Midas looked human, and the Sphinx could fly. Enemies could come from someone in a crowd, or the sky."

"So, stay on guard?" Victor asked.

"Not all the time," Jay clarified. "Just when something doesn't seem right. You need to learn to rely on your instincts."

"Right, instincts," Victor repeated. "Got it."

"I'll see you guys later," Jay said as he got up. "The bell's about to ring, and I've got class two wings away."

"See you later," Valerie said as she waved.


"So, the Red and Pink Rangers' relationship is growing," Hades commented as he looked at the image in his blue flame screen. "That could lead to weakness in their group."

"Relationships like that usually bring everyone involved strength, my lord," Persephone disagreed.

"Unless you can find a way to break that bond," Hades said as he grinned darkly, "I need to break all of their bonds. But especially the Red and Pink Rangers'!" He reached into his brazier and hurled a blue fireball at the wall, creating a blue portal. "I summon you, Parthenope!"

Out of the portal stepped a beautiful woman. She had blonde hair that draped over her shoulders, and blue eyes that pierced whatever they looked at, as if searching for a weakness. She had on a white toga that showed off all of her curves. She looked about 30 in human years.

"Shall I sing you a song, my lord?" the woman asked.

"Oh, Parthenope, you know that as a god, your powers don't work on me," Hades said. "Save your voice for the Red Ranger."

"Ooo! Fun!" she said. "I assume you want me to use him somehow?"

"Yes," Hades said. "Use him to destroy the others.

"Do I get to keep him?" she asked pleadingly. "It's been so looong since I've had a mortal in my company."

"Bring me his Olympian Gems and he's yours," Hades said. "I'll have no use for him."

"Oh goodie!" Parthenope said with glee. "I can't wait to capture him in my Siren Song!"

"Do remember he is a teen," Hades reminded. "You may want to alter your appearance to better entice him."

Parthenope nodded as she began to glow before becoming about 15 years younger and altering her outfit to a low-cut white winter coat that acted as a dress.

"Let my concert begin!" she exclaimed as she leapt into the portal.


Nate grunted as he struggled in the arm lock Jay had gotten him into. He tried to move his arm, but only found himself more stuck. It was right after school, and only the two teens and their mentor were in the Temple at the moment.

"Urgh," Nate said as he tried to twist around. "Can't a guy catch a break? Ok, you got me. Now let me go!"

"Stop complaining and get out of it," Jay responded as he struggled to keep Nate in the arm lock.

Nate struggled again for a minute before coming up with a plan.

"You know, Valerie said something about you after you left lunch," Nate said.

"Really? What did she say?" Jay said as he relaxed his grip a bit, distracted by the conversation.

"She said you're a sucker!" Nate said as he pulled his arm out of the arm lock and sweeping kicked Jay's legs out from under him, sending him falling to the ground.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Jay said as he slowly got up. "You distracted me!"

"Maybe if you didn't have Valerie on your brain all the time, it wouldn't be so easy," Nate retorted as he grabbed his water bottle from the side of the mat before drinking some.

"I agree," Hermes said. "If you are distracted, you become vulnerable. Any weakness you show, Hades will be sure to exploit."

"You know what? I don't have to listen to this," Jay said angrily. "I think I'm done training for today."

Jay grabbed his stuff and stormed out past Diana and Valerie as they walked in.

"What's got Jay so wound up?" Diana asked. "Being angry is my job."

"I just told Jay off for being so distracted lately and he didn't take it well," Nate responded.

"What's been distracting him?" Valerie asked as Victor, Mera and Adrian came into the Temple.

"In all honesty?" Nate answered as he pointed at Valerie. "You."

"What?" Valerie asked. "What do you mean, me?"

"He's so obsessed with your opinion of him that even mentioning your name distracts him," Nate explained. "He had me in an arm hold and I easily beat him when I mentioned you."

"Emotional attachments can lead to strength," Hermes said, "but also to weakness. Jay just needs to find a way to only make it a strength."

"Perhaps it is because your relationship is in flux right now?" Mera suggested.

"Where did you get that idea fr...Victor!" Nate said. "You told Mera?"

"She asked," Victor said as he shrugged.

"Dude, you broke the Bro Code!" Nate shouted.

"The 'Bro Code'?" Diana asked. "Seriously? What is that?"

"Things said in private by your Bros are never, ever told to anyone not in the group of Bros," Nate said. "It's totally a thing."

"As a fellow guy," Adrian said as he looked at the rest of the group, "I can definitively say that the 'Bro Code' is not a thing."

"Well, now that you've wasted our time," Diana said. "Jay is long gone. We're not going to see him until tomorrow unless we go to his house."

"I'll go," Valerie said. "This is between the two of us. You guys should train. I'll be back, hopefully with Jay."


"I do not have Valerie on my brain all the time," Jay muttered as he walked through the snow-covered city. The pedestrians around him seemed to pay him no mind as they went through their normal routines.

"Hey!" a voice shouted from one of the alleys. "Leave me alone!"

No one else seemed to notice, and Jay was in the mood to let out some of his anger, so he set off into the alley. He found some Spartoi attacking a young woman, about his age. She was against the wall, shivering in fear.

"Hey, buddy!" Jay shouted at one of the Spartoi. "You heard her! Leave her alone! You want a target, you got one. I'm right here!"

He dropped his backpack and launched into a flying kick that knocked one Spartoi's head into a dumpster. The other Spartoi looked at each other and retreated into the portal that appeared for them.

"That went...easier than expected," Jay said to himself. "They usually put up more of a fight."

"You saved me!" the girl said as she moved away from the wall and towards her savior.

"Not a problem," Jay said as he grabbed his bag and started walking away, "but I've got to get home now. Don't walk in any more dark alleys and you should be fine."

"But I think you deserve a reward for your good deed!" the girl said as she ran in front of him and blocked the way.

"A reward? No, no. Any good citizen would do what I did," Jay said as he brushed it off and tried to shift past.

"I insist," the girl said as she moved to block his way. "My name's Penelope and I'm a singer. I thought I could give you a private performance real quick."

Jay seemed to pause for a second before finally giving in.

"I guess if you insist," he said. "Where did you want to perform?"

"Right here is fine," Penelope said before she began to sing.

Jay was about to protest until he heard the song, and his eyes began to glaze over. Quickly, the light in his eyes disappeared.

Penelope stopped singing and smiled as she looked at the enchanted Red Ranger.

"Now, Red Ranger," Penelope said as she grabbed his hand. "Why don't you take me to your house? You were going there anyway."

"My house?" Jay said, his voice distant.

"Oh, I hate this," Penelope said. "It happens every time I enchant a man. You can't act like a zombie in front of people, I command you to act like how you normally would."

The light returned to Jay's eyes before he looked around.

"What happened?" he asked. "I must've spaced out for a moment, I guess."

"You were going to take me to your house so we could talk more," Penelope said.

"Yeah, of course," Jay said as he offered his hand, smiling when Penelope took it. "It's this way. Let's go."


30 Minutes Later…

Valerie walked up to Jay's front door and knocked. She was ready to knock again when Jay opened the door.

"Can I help….oh," he said as he looked at Valerie coldly. "It's you."

"What?" Valerie said. "What do you mean 'oh, it's you'?"

"Who's at the door?" a female voice asked. Valerie heard footsteps and was shocked to see a girl about their age at the door.

"W-what? Who's this?" Valerie asked demandingly.

"This is Penelope," Jay said as he put his arm around her. "She's my girlfriend."

A look of shock crossed Valerie's face again that quickly turned into one of anger.

"Girlfriend?" she asked, "I thought I was your girlfriend!"

"We went on a few dates, but you said to take it slow. Penelope has no such problems with having a strong relationship quickly," Jay explained.

"So you went with the easy choice over the real relationship that took months to build?" Valerie asked as tears welled up in her eyes. "I thought you were better than that."

She turned around and ran away, crying the whole time.

"Just ignore her," Penelope said to Jay as she closed the door.

"But...something seems wrong…" Jay said as his face wrinkled in concentration.

"Nothing's wrong, you just need another verse of my song," Penelope said as she began to sing again.

Jay's face slowly went back to a neutral expression as he heard the song before he looked at Penelope and smiled as she finished.

"What was I saying again?" Jay asked, slightly dazed from the power of Penelope's song.

"Nothing important," Penelope said. "Now why don't we sit down and talk some more? I want to know all about your friends."


It was the next morning, and Jay was walking to school, earbuds in his ears. Nate came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What's up?" Jay said as he removed one of the earbuds.

"What the hell did you do to Valerie?" Nate asked, clearly angry. "She went home crying and won't even talk to us right now. We had to talk to James to figure out where she even went."

"She couldn't handle the fact I have a real girlfriend now," Jay said. "I'm sorry she went home crying, but she needs to get over it eventually."

"Wow, and you guys say I'm a jerk sometimes," Nate said. "You're not even paying 100% attention to me! What are you listening to?"

"My new girlfriend, Penelope, is a singer. She put one of her songs on my phone for me," Jay explained. "She even suggested I share it with my guy friends. Fancy a listen?"

"This better be the best song ever or I'm still going to be pissed about what you did to Valerie," Nate said as he grabbed an earbud and started listening. Almost immediately, the anger faded from his face and turned into a smile. His eyes glazed over for a second before changing back to normal.

"We've gotta get Victor and Adrian to listen to this," Nate said. "Come on! I'm sure we can find them before first period!"

The two ran down the street, not noticing Penelope in a dark corner.

"That's two down," Penelope said as she grew older, revealing her to be Parthenope. "Now I just need to get my slaves to entrance the other two."

She shifted back to Penelope and walked into a portal that appeared behind her. The portal closed behind her, leaving no trace she had ever been there.


"Man, I love this song," Adrian said as Victor, Nate and Jay nodded.

"I know, right?" Nate said.

"I agree," Victor said simply.

"I can get you guys a private performance," Jay said.

"Really?" the three other boys said together.

It was currently lunch on that Wednesday afternoon, and the guys were on one end of the table, listening to Penelope's music while Mera and Diana sat at the other end, talking about their concern for their other female friend and how the boys were on Jay's side.

"It is extremely odd," Mera said. "We talked to them yesterday, and Nate, Victor and Adrian were appalled at Jay's actions. Now they listen to one song and they are on his side of the conflict."

"I wouldn't call it a conflict, but yeah," Diana said. "Seems very suspicious to me."

She turned to the guys and waved them over.

"Let me hear that!" she demanded as she grabbed the earbuds and took a listen.

"It's just noise," Diana said as she took off the earbuds and offered them to Mera, who then took a listen. "It has rhythm to it, but there's no words or anything. It's just her voice."

"Indeed," Mera said. "I need to do research. I may have an idea on what's going on."

She got up and grabbed her bag.

"I will see you at training," she said. "Meanwhile, do keep an eye on the boys. Something is not right here."

"Aw, don't leave me with the fanboys of crappy music," Diana said. "I'll have no one to talk to but them."

"I promise this should make sense by training time," Mera said as she walked out of the room and down the stairs from the roof.

"So, want to talk about something besides the music?" Diana offered.

"Nope!" the four boys said as they listened to the song again for what seemed like the 500th time.


Valerie was face-down on her bed, crying again.

"Miss Valerie?" James said as he knocked on the door.

"What?" Valerie said, her tears subsiding again, as she turned around, got up and opened the door.

"There is a telephone call for you," he said simply as he offered the pink phone to her. "I thought you should know that it is your friend Miss Merrida."

Valerie grabbed the phone and put it to her ear."

"Hello?" she asked, waiting a second to hear the response. "...Really?...You're sure?...Be right there. Open a Door for me in a minute... Yeah, the front doors will work"

She hung up and handed the phone back to James before wiping the stray tears from her eyes.

"I need to go out for something," she said. "I'll be back when I can. If my parents ask, I'm catching up on what I missed at school today."

"Of course, Miss Valerie," James said as he started down the hallway. "I shall grab you your coat."

After James came back with her coat, Valerie headed down the stairs and towards the double doors that led to the outside. She looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching and watched as the doors glowed blue and opened on their own to reveal the Temple. Valerie stepped through and the Doors slammed shut behind her.

In the Temple, the boys were in one corner, while Diana and Mera were at the mosaic computer, with Mera rapidly typing away on it and Hermes above them, watching their progress.

"So you think you know what's going on?" Valerie asked as she walked over to the other girls.

"I believe it is the work of a Siren," Mera said. "Legends tell of Sirens on an island with such beautiful voices that it led men to hurl themselves from their passing ships into the sea, where they either drowned or were killed by the Sirens themselves. However, the Siren had to keep singing to control the men. This one seems to be able to keep a hold over the guys with repeated exposure to the song."

"I thought I could come up with a counter-song," Mera said as she swiveled around in the chair to face the two girls, "but, unfortunately, music is not my expertise. The best way to free the guys is to destroy the Siren controlling them."

"And I'm willing to bet money on who that Siren is," Diana said as she pounded her fist into her palm.

"Penelope," Valerie finished. "I knew she was trouble!"

"I think the Siren was trying to hide the fact that they're being controlled, but wasn't counting on us figuring it out," Diana said. "So let's find her and clobber her!"

"Stole the words right out of my mouth!" Valerie agreed. "But how do we find her?"

"I don't think that will be a problem," Hermes said as he lowered himself to the ground and pointed at the screen.

On the mosaic screen was Penelope leading a force of Spartoi to attack the city.

The boys got up as one and walked towards the Doors, with the girls right behind them. The Doors opened on their own and the teens stepped out into the city.

The boys hurried over to Penelope's side and the girls faced them, opposing the boys, Spartoi and Penelope herself.

"If it isn't the Olympian Rangers!" Penelope said, "you seem to be missing some members of your team."

"More like you stole them!" Valerie shouted back. "Now give them back to us before we make you!"

"What if I could offer you your precious Red Ranger in exchange for, say, your Olympian Gems?" Penelope offered.

"I would say that you're out of your mind!" Valerie shouted back. "All we have to do is destroy you and we get him back anyway!"

"That's if you can destroy me," Penelope said. "And how can you do that when you'll be so busy fighting the friends you're trying to save? Boys? Destroy them and bring me their Olympian Gems!"

Penelope sang a short verse of her song, and the boys morphed in an instant before drawing their weapons and charging.

"Ready?" Valerie said as she prepped her morphers.

"Ready!" Mera and Diana said.

"Silver Olympian Power!"

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Yellow Olympian Power!"

In a flash of light, the female Rangers morphed and handspringed away from the first wave of attacks. They summoned their weapons in response and prepared to clash.

Diana aimed her bow at the same time her brother did before they both released at the same time.

"Man, our arrows keep being equal in power," she said as their arrows once again clashed and destroyed each other.

"You should just give up while you're behind, sis," Adrian said as they both nocked another energy arrow before firing again with the same result.

"Yeah, you know that I never give up," Diana said. "And my brother would never try to convince me to!"

She changed her bow into the Hunting Daggers and ran forward, slicing the next energy arrow vertically through the middle so it split and hit a car behind her instead. She slid under the next one before flipping over a third. She kicked the bow from Adrian's hands before sending her daggers to the pocket dimension and pinning her brother down.

"I really don't want to fight you," Diana said. "But if that's what I have to do to free you, I will."

"You couldn't beat me on your best day," Adrian said as he forced Diana into a roll that knocked her off. The twin Rangers prepared for round two.

Mera blocked Nate's Ocean Trident jabs with the body of her Battle Spear before Victor came in with a Blacksmith Hammer Slam right on the body of the spear. Mera grimaced under her helmet as she felt the integrity of her weapon begin to fail and a big horizontal crack grew in the middle of her spear. She rolled out of the way of another hammer strike before using her spear's body to swipe out Victor's legs from under him. She stabbed her spear through Nate's trident's teeth and jabbed him in the helmet, knocking him to the ground.

Jay swung his Lightning Sword again, trying to knock Valerie's bow out of her hands, but she blocked with the sturdy metal body of her Love Bow. Valerie tried to kick the sword out of Jay's hand, but he moved his hand at the last minute. She cartwheeled backwards and shot an energy arrow from her bow, striking Jay in the gut, causing him to drop his sword and double over in pain.

"Sorry!" Valerie said as she walked forward to check the damage. It turned out to be a ploy on Jay's part, as he rolled, grabbed his sword and slashed Valerie in the side, causing sparks to fly. Valerie flew into a wall before landing on the ground. She groaned as she rolled onto her stomach and tried to get up.

"Give it up, Valerie," Jay said as he leveled his sword at Valerie's helmet. "You can't beat me in hand-to-hand combat."

"I don't have to," Valerie said as she ignored her bow and walked towards Jay. "I know you could never hurt me."

Jay immediately grabbed his sword again and leveled it over Valerie's head.

"Your compassion will be your downfall!" Jay shouted as he brought his sword down.

Valerie shut her eyes and silently prayed her plan would work. In a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked up. Jay's sword was inches from her head, and his arms were trembling as they seemed to fight themselves.

"No!" Jay shouted as he dropped his sword next to Valerie, "I won't hurt her!"

He demorphed and fell to his knees, clutching his head.

"Get out of my head!" he shouted. Valerie got up and walked over before kneeling down in front of Jay.

"Jay, you have to fight her," she urged.

"Jay, destroy her!" Penelope shouted before singing again.

Jay looked up as Valerie, tears in his eyes.

"She's too strong," he said, "I can't hold her back for long. You need to get out of here before she makes me do something I'll regret."

"I'm not leaving you," Valerie said as she put her hand on Jay's cheek. "You wouldn't leave me."

She slowly went in for a tender kiss, which Jay slowly reciprocated.

"NO!" Penelope shouted as she felt her power over Jay shatter. She looked over at the Spartoi all around her and Nate, Victor and Adrian.

"If I can't control Jay, I'll destroy him along with you female Rangers!" she shouted, clearly angry about the loss of her slave. "attack!"

Jay and Valerie broke off their kiss and smiled at each other before getting up as one and joining up with the morphed Mera and Diana.

"I think it's time we took down this Siren," Jay said as he prepped his morphers. "Ready?"

Valerie nodded.

"Always," she said.

"Pink Olympian Power!"

"Red Olympian Power!"

In a flash of light, the two were morphed and, joined up with Mera and Diana, prepared to face off against their fellow Rangers again.

"I need you girls to keep the guys distracted while I go for Penelope," Jay ordered. "If I destroy her, we won't have to fight our fellow Rangers anymore."

"Right!" the three female Rangers agreed.

"Hunting Daggers!"

"Love Bow!"

"Battle Spear!"

"Lightning Sword!"

The four Rangers summoned their weapons and prepared for battle.

Jay leapt over Nate as Nate tried to stab him with his Trident. Jay slashed Nate in the back with his sword before Nate whirled around, using the momentum of his turn to smack Jay with the trident. Jay went flying over closer to Penelope. He looked up to see all of the Spartoi standing around him, looking down to see if he was weakened.

"Any chance this could be as easy as last time?" Jay asked.

The Spartoi didn't answer. They just got into fighting stances.

"Didn't think so," Jay said as he got up and raised his sword, "Lightning Refraction!"

A bolt of red lightning struck Jay's sword, piercing the bolt and splitting it, causing the smaller lightning bolts to strike the Spartoi and knock them over.

"And now for your boss!" Jay shouted as he took off in a dash towards Penelope. Adrian moved to block his path, but Valerie took him out with a well placed energy arrow. Victor moved in to protect Penelope as well, but Diana flipped in the air and struck him with her daggers, causing him to bowl over.

Nate was about to get up to help his fellow mind-controlled Rangers, but Mera put the bottom of the handle of her spear on his chest, holding him down.

"Jay, do it!" Mera shouted.

"No! Someone, protect me!" Penelope shouted in fear as she looked for anyone to save her.

"Your puppets can't help you now!" Jay shouted. "Red Lightning Strike!"

A bolt of red lightning surged down and struck Jay's sword again right as he was slashing Penelope, causing her to fly back and change back into Parthenope. She struggled to rise as Valerie ran up to join Jay.

"Let's take her down together!" she suggested as she offered out her hand for the Lightning Sword.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Jay said as he handed his sword to her. He turned to Parthenope.

"This is the strength of our bond!" he shouted.

"Lightning Arrow!" the two said together as Valerie took aim. "Fire!"

The sword flew right into Parthenope's stomach, causing her to fall over.

"I just wanted to sing my song!" she shouted as she exploded into a pile of ash with Jay and Valerie posing in front of her.

Jay and Valerie hugged as the other male Rangers came to from their trance and demorphed.

"What happened?" Victor asked.

"Where are we?" Adrian asked.

"How cliche can we sound?" Nate asked sarcastically as Mera let him up, "seriously, we were aware the whole time. We just couldn't control ourselves. Sheesh."

"He's not wrong," Jay said as he and Valerie came over, hand in hand and demorphed. "We knew what we were doing. We just had no choice."

"So, let me guess, your bond is even stronger now?" Nate asked sarcastically.

Jay and Valerie looked at each other and then back at Nate.

"Yeah," they said together.

"Now come on," Jay said, "we've got to get back to base."


"I'm glad to see everyone is in one piece," Hermes said as the teens walked in through the Doors of Janus, "I was afraid one half of the team was going to destroy the other."

"With the bonds we have," Jay said. "I don't think that's possible."

The others nodded or gave verbal agreement.

"It feels like Hades is just hurling monsters at us now," Adrian said, "no real rhyme or reason to his attacks."

"Yeah," Jay said. "If the Siren really wanted our Olympian Gems, she could have made us hand them over to her."

"It's almost like…" Victor started.

"He does not want them," Mera finished. "It was a ploy the whole time. Hades has no need for the Olympian Gems. He has some greater scheme in mind."

"What could be greater than the power of the gods?" Victor asked.

"The question doesn't seem to be what he wants," Valeerie said. "We already know that. He wants to rule the Earth using the power of the Olympians. It's how he plans to achieve it that we don't know."

"Then it's time," Hermes said.

"Time for what?" Jay asked.

"Time for you to know the truth about the Olympians and your powers," Hermes said as he floated over to the computer. "I haven't been your true mentor…"

He pressed a button hidden under the keyboard and the mosaic stones twisted and turned to reveal...

Twelve thrones in a half-circle appeared on the screen. In each throne was a huge being that looked human, but possessed an aura of great power.

"...They have," Hermes finished. "I'd like you to meet the Olympians."

"Rangers," the white haired one in the middle said. "We have much to discuss."

Questions? Comments? You know the deal. Leave a review and stay tuned for next month's installment in the Olympian Rangers' story.