this is a new 'Class of the Titans' fanfiction which I would like to title 'Discovering Atlanta's Worst Fear on the Isle of Crete'. granted, I don't know if the title will fit into the title naming box in my new story set-up, but I'm not gonna know until this fanfiction is submitted onto this fanfiction blogging website. I also hope that people like this fanfiction for everything it is. I welcome all kinds of ratings and reviews on this fanfiction. this first chapter of 'Discovering Atlanta's Worst Fear on the Isle of Crete in the Aegean Sea' is a full fifteen-thousand-two-hundred-sixteen words of storyline, give or take any possible author's comments wearing the title of author's notes. I know it's a technicality, but I leave comments in all of my own fanfictions as author's notes all the time. it's sort of like the fanfiction's perspective according to me.

disclamation: I do not own the 'Class of the Titans' series in any way, shape, or form. if I did, I never would've ended it on a cliffhanger plot before its time. I mean, only two seasons? what were they thinking with that kind of cliffhanger. anyway, the Nelvana, Teletoon, and Studio B Productions television companies from my country's neighbors up to the north, Canada, are the ones for whom the show's ownership rights are all reserved.


The Greek Heroes' descendants were once again vacationing in Greece. This time, though, their choice in a Greek vacation was Crete, Greece's southernmost island off of its coast.

Herry: I can't believe we're already in Crete. The beaches and the resorts are real pretty, but I can't believe it's also as hot as it is.

Odie: Get used to it, Herry. The weather in Crete is similar to being in the Caribbean or…

Neil: I think I'll just be going out on a limb here and guess that the 'or' of your comparison is the islands of Hawaii.

Neil was looking into his three-sided hand mirror when he said this.

Odie: Uh, yeah, that is an accurate assumption, more or less, but Crete isn't this terribly hot during the winter months.

Herry: Whatever. I'm hungry. Let's hit the Cretan food carts, see what this island offers to eat.

Neil: I could definitely go for some pita bread, hummus, and tzatziki.

Odie: Unfortunately, Crete doesn't offer hummus or tzatziki, and the closest thing this island has to pita bread is paximathia. And paximathia is one of the harder breads. There is also triftoudia, but that's only a type of orzo. Or blessed thistle with lamb if you're into meat.

Neil: They got anything related to salad on the island?

Odie: Well, there's dakos and stamnagathi. They qualify as Cretan salads.

Herry: I'm kinda more in the mood for cheeses.

Odie: There is amarino, seliano, or tirozouli. There's also pichtogalo if you're feeling really hungry.

Theresa: I guess I could go for something to eat.

Jay: Any good restaurants or food carts in the area near us, Odie?

Odie: They're all over the island. We're bound to catch sight of one eventually.

Archie: I'm a little hungry for some meat so I guess I'll go for that plant thing with the lamb that you mentioned, Odie.

They all went to get something to eat from the food cart pavilion that was near the beach. Neil and Atlanta went for the salads, Theresa, Jay, and Herry got some cheese dishes, Odie went for tomatoes with snails, while Archie got the blessed thistle with lamb like he said he would.

Herry: Well, that was a great meal.

Odie: I agree. We should definitely come back to Crete for an island getaway again.

Neil: It's not really to my taste, but it'll do when it comes down to the need for island retreats.

The others all looked at Neil questioningly.

Neil: What? I can appreciate the way that Crete manages to sustain island style beaches among all these old Greek temples and stuff.

Jay: Yeah well, I think you could also say that about the island of Santorini, though.

Theresa: Well, I'm ready to head back to the beach. Anyone else?

Herry: I'm up for it.

Jay: I feel like sailing, anyway.

Neil: I guess I could work on my tan.

Odie: I hope I can study the geological formations on the beach.

Archie: Count me out. The beach means the ocean, a body of water.

Atlanta: I'll go to the beach. I hope I can get in some surfing.

Jay: You don't have to come onto the beach to go swimming, Archie.

Theresa: Since you're this against swimming, maybe you could go shellfish hunting.

Archie, initially against the very idea at first, just said…

Archie: I'm not playing some kids' game.

It took some extra encouragement from Atlanta to get the warrior of their team into the idea of shellfish hunting.

Atlanta: That's too bad. Shellfish make a great beach side feast. I'll be looking for some kelp while surfing in the ocean to have for myself at that kind of banquet.

Suddenly, Archie got an idea in his head about what Atlanta had said.

Archie's brain: If Atlanta's collecting kelp while surfing and I were to go shellfish hunting, it would sorta be just like indirectly being on a date.

Archie: I'll be sure to catch lots of shellfish.

Suddenly a few hours later, Archie had returned from his trip out to the beaches of Crete after gathering up a whole mess of shellfish. There were clams, mussels, crabs, lobsters, etc. Atlanta also brought back a lot of kelp for their dinner back at the hotel at which all seven of them were staying over the vacation.

Atlanta: Looks like you and I have both been busy, huh, Archie? I got lots of kelp, and you got a whole mess of shellfish, by the looks of it.

Then, Archie made his move on Atlanta and tried to impress the love of his life by presenting his biggest crab to her for viewing. He told himself he was wanting to show her up, though.

Archie: Take a look, Atlanta. Isn't this crab I found on the beach 'crab-tivating'?

Atlanta did not know what Archie was trying to pull by showing off the crab, but it was an impressive crab none the less.

Atlanta: Yeah, I guess I can see it.

Archie's brain: If only you had anything even resembling a clue as to how alluring you are when you play 'hard-to-get'.

Just then, something crawled forth from behind Archie's largest crab. It was a…

Neil: EEEEEEEEEEK! Centipede!

Beachgoer girls: Let's get outta here!

Archie then looked at the very crab he was showing off and saw the centipede that was indeed crawling out from the back of his biggest crab. He became distressed at having scared away even Neil, along with all of the girls on the beach with the little multiple legged bug.

Luckily for Archie, Atlanta came to his rescue and did something about the centipede for him and everyone else on the beach. She removed the bug from her friend's crab and tossed it aside. The beachgoer girls seemed impressed by Atlanta's courage from it, but Neil was rather put off by her getting the girls' attention.

Neil: Are you crazy, Atlanta?!

Atlanta: What is this, Neil? Why are you jealous of me all of sudden?

Neil: Why would I be jealous of you? I just didn't think that any girl could actually even tolerate bugs, never mind toss them aside. And while I applaud that from you, I also firmly think that you still could've gone just a bit easier on the little guy.

Atlanta: Oh, grow up, Neil. It's not like the centipede's dead just from being tossed out all of our ways. It takes a hey of a lot more than just that to kill a bug of any kind.

Beachgoer Girl #1: That was so brave of that girl to face that centipede head on.

Beachgoer Girl #2: Don't forget how sweet it was of her to let the little thing live and just be free to go back about its own business.

Atlanta: Yeah. As an eco-activist, I fully support every living thing's will to survive.

Beachgoer girls: She's so cool!

Jay, Theresa, Herry, and Odie joined Neil and Archie on the sidelines to watch the whole thing between Atlanta and the beachgoer girls.

Herry: Well, I'll be… apparently, even other girls like Atlanta enough to like her, like her.

Odie chuckled at what Herry said about their friend.

Odie: That's our girl.

Although confused by his surrogate kid sister attracting a whole mess of girls in bikinis, Herry smiled at Odie and the two of them high-fived one another… with Odie shaking his hand in pain afterwards.

Herry: Oops. Sorry, Odie. Sometimes, I just don't know my own strength.

Odie: It's OK. I'm too proud of Atlanta to actually focus on the pain. It still hurts, but Atlanta's surprise luck with girls is a good distraction.

Theresa: I'll say. My girl's got both the speed of a cheetah and the grace of a gazelle. Nothing's too much for her.

Jay: I hear that.

Theresa and Jay might have wholeheartedly agreed with Odie and Herry, but Neil was still too put off by Atlanta garnering so much attention from the girls.

Neil: Meh, I've seen better. Atlanta's not normal.

Odie: Of course, she's not, Neil. None of us are normal. All seven of us are descended from Greek heroes, remember?

Neil apparently took out his three-sided hand mirror while Odie was talking to him.

Neil: What'd you say, Odie? Oh, yeah! I remember that much about all seven of us, but it wasn't what I was talking about, though. I meant that Atlanta looking like she has no weakness whatsoever kinda freaks me out. I thought most girls were scared to death of bugs.

Archie was still holding onto the very same crab with which he had tried to upstage his own crush earlier, too dumbfounded to join in the conversation until Neil mentioned weaknesses, albeit with a shellshocked voice.

Archie: I'm sure Atlanta's gotta be afraid of something.

It was then that the rest of the six out of seven were suddenly into a friendly competition between them all.

Neil: Oh, Archie!

Archie turned to look at the rest of his friends.

Neil (continued): Dig this!

Odie: The rest of us just thought up a new game for the vacation.

Archie: Awesome! I'll go get Atlanta so she can join in.

Herry suddenly grabbed onto Archie to prevent him from involving the goal of their little game.

Archie (continued): What are you doing, Herry? I was just gonna go see if Atlanta wanted to join our game.

Herry: Sorry, buddy. No can do.

Herry finally made it to the other four with Archie struggling to get free.

Archie: What's up with you? What was that for?

Jay: We all hated doing it to you, Archie, but Herry had to stop you from inviting Atlanta into the little game that only the rest of us are gonna play.

Archie could not believe what he was hearing from Jay. The warrior, himself, did not want to exclude Atlanta.

Archie: Why can't Atlanta join? It's not like she'll have an unfair advantage of any kind.

Neil: Oh, she'll be included in this game of ours alright.

Odie: She'll just be the goal of the game instead of one of its players.

Archie: WHAT?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS WITH THAT RULE?!

Jay, Herry, Odie, and Neil just shook their heads 'no' at Archie's statements in the forms of questions. After trying to get the guys to come to their senses failed, the young warrior of their group tried to reason with the other girl among them.

Archie: Theresa, you're a girl and Atlanta's friend. Surely you think it's a terrible idea to not only exclude her, but also turn Atlanta into the goal of our game, don't you?

Theresa: Sorry, Archie. I'm the referee of this game, so I'm just here to apply the rules and hold onto the prize.

Archie: You can't be serious.

They all nodded their heads while the warrior lowered his head in exhaustion and frustration with the rest of his friends.

Archie (continued): Great! Just great! I'm sure Atlanta will hate me for only the rest of my life if I play this game now, even if I had her permission to make her the objective of it.

Herry: Aw, cheer up, dude. Atlanta's not vindictive enough to hold a grudge against any of her friends, not for that long.

Neil: I'm sure someone as fast as her can and will easily recover from being turned into the goal for our little game.

Archie just sighed in defeat to the others. He decided to at least win it for Atlanta if she could not participate in the game, at all.

Archie: So, guys, what's the game, what are the rules, and what's the winner's prize?

Neil: Well, it's about time you considered at least playing the game with the rest of us guys. The name of the game will be the 'Who-Can-Find-Out-Atlanta's-Deepest,-Darkest-Fear' Game.

Herry: Ya still think yer up for it, Archie?

Archie: Are you kidding me with this?! That game sounds awful.

Neil: I guess you're right about it sounding awful, Archie.

Odie: Still, Atlanta would most likely only be willing to share her weakness with her absolute closest male friend.

This got Archie's attention enough for his eyes to start glaring at the others.

Archie: On second thought, count me in!

Jay: The deadline will be sunset on our last day of vacation…

Odie: … the rules will be that whoever finds out what Atlanta fears the most will win the prize…

Theresa: … and the prize for the game's lucky winner will be…

Then, Theresa held out a photobook.

Theresa (continued): … this old photo collection of Atlanta from her old school in her hometown.

Neil: Yeah, and what's the big deal about that?

Theresa: She has long hair in the photos that goes all the way down her back.

With that little description, everyone wanted to play now.

Jay: Now, that's something I'd compete with the guys to see.

Herry: Count me in!

Odie: I'm not going easy on anyone.

Neil: The prize might not be to my taste, but I will enjoy the opportunity to freak Atlanta out and not get yelled at over it.

While the others were just competing to either freak out the huntress of their team or use her as a guinea pig, Archie actually wanted to have those pictures. He told himself that he was doing it to protect Atlanta, but what the warrior really wanted was to keep the photobook for his own eyes. Archie was even desperate to sneak a peek at the photos in the book, but Theresa kept holding him at bay.

Archie: Where are these pictures from anyway?

Theresa: If you must know, I got them from Atlanta, herself, and then got Neil's modeling staff to compress the photographs into a photobook for this competition, alone.

Later, Herry chose his strategy to find out what she had feared most by bringing Atlanta into a cave he was sure would freak her out when he told her why he chose it.

Atlanta: Herry, why are we in a cave?

Herry: I just thought you'd wanna see this place since they say that the only time you can ever even find it is during low tide. Not even the Cretan locals come out here. Evidently, people have died from drowning in this very cave, and their souls still wander around it to take revenge on anyone foolish enough to come inside. This cave is the most haunted spot on the whole island.

Then, a ghost actually emerged from beyond the cave walls. Herry tried to scare Atlanta with a severed hand trick, but she did not buy into his attempt to frighten her.

Atlanta: What's going, Herry? Neil? Are you two trying to freak me out?

Herry had teamed up with Neil for the strategy to frighten Atlanta with their fake ghosts. Herry grew shocked at the failure.

Neil: What in Hades is wrong with you? I thought everyone was scared of ghosts.

Atlanta: I watch a lot of horror movies and we've dealt with much worse monsters on our encounters with Cronus, so let's just assume I know the difference between a fake ghost and a real one sent by our enemy.

With that insight, Atlanta headed right back to the mouth of the cave and left Herry and Neil to take in their failure.

Neil: Well, that's a 'no' on paranormal fear.

Herry: I can't believe we forgot that she's seen actual ghosts before.

Neil: Yep, we're idiots.

Later still, Odie brought Atlanta up to the sand with his own strategy in mind.

Odie: Forget those two. Ready for some real beach side fun?

Of course, Odie's idea of this so-called 'fun' was burying Atlanta up to her neck in the sand.

Atlanta: I don't get it, Odie. How is burying me up to my neck in sand your idea of 'fun'? It looks to me like everyone else is trying to force their own worst fears onto me.

Odie: What would give you that idea?

Atlanta: Because Herry's afraid of ghosts and you have claustrophobia.

As soon as Odie let Atlanta out of the sand, she retaliated with the same course of action. Just when Odie was turned from undertaker to the buried and struggling, Jay came along with Theresa to help their friend out of the sand.

Theresa: I guess 'Operation: Claustrophobia' was a failure, too.

Odie: Yeah. Thanks for helping me escape my own strategy being used against me. Whew, that girl does not being the butt of anyone's jokes.

Jay: I never thought Atlanta would turn the tables like this.

Theresa: Just goes to show you that you shouldn't underestimate the strength of women. They're more powerful than you think.

Herry and Neil came back to the beach after their own failed attempt to find out Atlanta's worst fear.

Neil: Well, I guess now I should try to get Atlanta with my own strategy.

Jay: Not just yet, Neil. You can still help me with mine.

Neil: Whatever. I might as well just lend a hand to the rest of players since I'm choosing to not even play the game, anymore.

Jay, Theresa, Herry, and Odie: WHAT?!

Neil: Yeah, 'cuz this game's turning out to be harder than I thought it'd be, and I'm already bored with it, anyway. Just what kind of Greek heroine is Atlanta? There's gotta be something that girl's scared of.

The others could not believe what they had all heard from Neil.

Herry: I don't believe it! How can you even think about that?

Odie: You were the one who wanted to find out what Atlanta fears in the first place, and now you're backing out of it?

Neil: I'm not backing out. I'm just aiding everyone else's efforts.

Jay: Why would you? What motive could you have to help your competitors?

Neil: Because I'm just that nice and helpful.

Theresa: Yeah, right. You're probably just trying to sabotage your competitors, just so that you can eventually find out for yourself.

Neil: Hey, Herry's paranormal fear strategy would have failed with or without me if indifference was Atlanta's reaction to it all along.

They were about to argue with the descendant of Narcissus, but even Herry, himself, realized that his strategy would have failed whether Neil had actually helped him or tried to sabotage his attempt.

Herry: I don't need to be reminded of her reaction to when I tried it.

Jay: Yeah… anyway, it's already time for my hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia strategy.

Neil: What in Hades kind of fear is that, Jay?

Theresa: It's a fear of the number of the beast. I think it's because of Cronus' role in our lives.

Neil: Terrific, but which exact number is the number of the beast?

Jay: In Greek mythology, the number of the beast has always been the number six-hundred-sixty-six.

Odie: I guess triple six would be our unlucky number in battle against Cronus.

Later, Jay and Neil showed their faces to the others, also having failed to find out Atlanta's worst fear.

Jay: Well, my strategy was a bust. I guess that now you really do have the right to have a go at finding out Atlanta's weakness, Neil. Good luck!

Then, Jay raised his hand to shake Neil's.

Neil: Nice try, Jay. There is still Archie who hasn't even tried once, yet.

Jay: Right, right. I actually hoped you forgot about him, but it looks like you remembered. Where is he, anyway?

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Archie walked up to all of them.

Archie: I think the problems with all of your strategies were really obvious. They were all inside-the-box strategies. You gotta think about a fear other than your own. Odie, I had expected a smarter strategy from you, a much smarter strategy than your own claustrophobia.

They were appalled by Archie's know-it-all attitude, and all of them were annoyed enough to have veins popping out of each and every one of their foreheads.

Neil: So, what strategy did you come up with, huh, smart guy?!

Archie: I'm glad you asked. I have only come up with the perfect solution to our 'Finding-Out-Atlanta's-Worst-Fear' dilemma. Lady and Gentlemen, I present…

Then, he held up a whole bucket full of weird-looking snakes.

Archie (continued): … the solution that is ophidiophobia.

Odie: A fear of snakes? That's the best you could come up with, Archie?

Theresa: Archie, you're using my phobia to scare Atlanta. I'm the one who's scared of snakes.

Archie: Relax, Theresa. Their just some garden snakes I found.

Jay: Get rid of 'em, will ya, Arch?

Herry: Even I could've thought of something better to scare Atlanta with… eventually.

Neil: This phobia barely counts as so much of a weakness even for normal humans.

Jay: Why's that, Neil? 'Cuz their all just simple garden snakes?

Odie: I think Neil meant that it's really just because anyone would think snakes are creepy.

Herry: Hang on a minute. I just saw fangs on one of those snakes.

Neil: That's real weird. I thought garden snakes weren't supposed to even be on the list poisonous snakes.

Theresa: Uh, Archie, just where did you say you got these snakes?

Archie: Sorry, I got them from scrubs along the beach.

Odie: That's the European cat snake's habitat. It's the only venomous snake in Crete.

Archie: Oops.

Then, they all started to scream and run away from the snakes.

Archie (continued): What do I do with these things?!

Theresa: Keep them away from me!

Odie: It's OK. Their fangs face the back ends of their jaws, and they only bite in defense. So, they're not really all that dangerous to humans. It's like bee sting. The snake would bite you at least a thousand times for its venom to be deadly.

Meanwhile, Atlanta, herself, was enjoying the beach even further just in time to had found an abalone shellfish.

Atlanta: Awesome! Another dish for our beachside feast later on.

That was when Atlanta had heard a voice from behind her. It was a guy's voice, that much she knew. It was not a voice she was familiar with in any way, shape, or form, though.

Male voice: Hey, look, dude. There's a babe over there.

Atlanta heard another masculine voice talk to the first voice from behind her.

Second male voice: Yeah, I guess so. Doesn't look like she's in a bikini, though.

Male voice: You idiot, that just means she's most likely available for the asking, and that she'll probably let us get away with anything we wanna do with her just to feel wanted. I even bet that she's even secretly just as cute as she is available underneath that wetsuit of hers and is only dressed like that 'cause she's a tomboy.

Second male voice: Well, you do kinda have a point there, man. Ya can't really judge a girl's hotness based on what she's wearing, I guess. So maybe we should go over there and work our magic on and see if she bites.

Oh, Atlanta could easily bite at more than just the hooks of these two nasty perverts. She turned around to look the two of them in the eyes.

Lecherous male #I: You see. I told you she was probably cute and only wearing that wetsuit because she was a tomboy. And boy, is she ever gorgeous behind that monstrosity of so-called swim wear.

Lecherous male #II: Well, I suppose you were right after all, Damon. I gotta say that a wetsuit that atrociously covering is such a waste of this pretty little chickadee's slim bod and pretty face.

Damon: I'll say, Lysander. I wonder how she'd look if she wore a lot less than right now. Bet ya five drachmas she'd be hot.

Man were these guys disgusting. In fact, this Damon and Lysander were so disgusting, that Atlanta began to wonder if she really should have counted on her teammates to come to her rescue, or if she should have just come out and tried to beat these nasty, stinking perverts up on her own. The two of them then started getting closer and closer to her. They had even begun talking to her once they had finally made it to her.

Damon and Lysander: Hey, baby, what's your name? You feel like hangin' out with us?

Both Damon and Lysander had breath of decay and reeked of booze right down to their feet. That settled it for Atlanta. She simply had to just beat the two of them up on her own now, especially after getting a whiff of their scents. There was just no way she would have wanted to hang out with these guys. She drop-kicked the two perverts fifteen feet backwards onto the sidewalk just beyond the beach's borders.

Atlanta drop-kicking Damon and Lysander that far had only seemed to encourage their delusional infatuation with her, however, despite her having sent the two of them fifteen feet backwards in her attack against her two harassers.

Damon: Man, that was good. This babe's as tough as she is cute.

Lysander: Dude, I know I should be repelled by this kinda behavior from a chick, but the violence is actually making this babe even hotter than any bikini ever would.

Damon: For sure, Lysander Bro. I love violently strong babes.

Atlanta could not believe her ears. Damon and Lysander actually liked what she had done to them?! Oh, she was going to demonstrate her amazing fighting skills, alright. The following time she would drop-kick these two perverts, however, she was so going to end them in the process, intentionally. That was correct. Atlanta had been pushed to the limit and was willing to fight a couple of civilians in a battle of kill or be killed. Sure, she had always been taught to always avoid them in combat, but this was an emergency since Damon and Lysander had started that whole fight between themselves and Atlanta. She had readily unleashed all of Hades on them, but they still liked her for it.

Atlanta: I suppose that you two creeps are just gonna keep bothering me all night then, aren't you?

Damon: Oh, come on, doll face. Don't think of it as us bothering you.

Lysander: Yeah, chickadee. Think of it as us adoring you for all that you're really worth, babe.

Atlanta: Not a chance, losers. You really think I'm not onto you two, that I'm unaware of what you two really have in mind for me? If that's the case, then you two are just as stupid as you are lecherous, which would still count as being even dumber than you look.

Lysander was the first one to comment about the strawberry redhead's surprising obstinance this time, though not without seething his teeth together.

Lysander: You see, that'd make it hard for you to have any kind of happy ending in your life, at all.

Damon: Yeah, babe. We might not even know your name, but we do know that not one guy other than us would even look at ya twice or give you the time of day with the way you dress judging by that monstrosity of a wetsuit you're wearing right now.

Atlanta tried her hardest to hide it, but those words sort of cut her straight through to her core. She was failing to hide those feelings towards the words from these two perverts as her feelings about their words to her were already beginning to seep right up to her surface.

Just as Atlanta had felt just about ready to cry over having been totally insulted by these two nasty perverts, a new voice came into their light and defended her confidence.

New voice: Guess again, ya lecherous pinheads!

Atlanta turned towards the voice that had defended her against these jerks. It had belonged to none other than Archie, and the rest of her friends from their team were all with him.

Archie: Why don't leave her alone? Can't you see that she doesn't wanna go with you?

Damon: You want her, dork-wad?!

Damon and his pal, Lysander, began approaching the cliff top on the beach.

Lysander: Fine then! Go and get her, ya grape-headed loser face!

It was then that the jerks had tossed Atlanta out into the ocean.

Archie: Atlanta! NO!

Archie did not know just what he had gotten into him when he dived straight into the ocean after Atlanta, but whatever it was seemed to drive him to swim like an Olympic gold medalist. He had even carried her out of the water on his way back to the shore where the others were all standing in wait for the both of them. Only thing about their arrival onto the beach was that Archie's legs seemed to be shaking like a couple of leaves as soon as he had brought Atlanta back to shore. Theresa became the first among them to speak about their actions which had led them up to that very point on their joint team's most recent vacation to Greece in the island of Crete.

Theresa: Archie, what were you thinking diving into the ocean, of all bodies of water? I had always thought you were too scared of it to even wade in so much as the shallow end of a pool.

Of course, the purple-haired warrior among their team of Greek heroes' descendants actually had something to say about Theresa's words to him.

Archie: It couldn't be helped. Atlanta needed someone to come to her rescue.

Ever the leader of their ragtag team, Jay quickly became the next one to speak to Archie his excessive decision making after the brunette's own girlfriend had scolded him.

Jay: Theresa's right, Archie. You should've let someone else go into the ocean after Atlanta, or at least waited for the rest of us to make it to both of you. You don't just dive into an emergency halfcocked and recklessly put yourself in danger. I'd hate to say this, Archie, but as brave as it was of you to go after Atlanta after those two punks pushed her off of the cliff, I think that Herry would've been the best person to go after her into the ocean.

Herry, of course, seemed to think that it was a good idea, despite the girl in question being just like a kid sister to him.

Herry: Yeah, I'm the strongest member of our team, Odie's the smartest, and Atlanta's the fastest. You, you're just immune to any and all kinds of diseases.

Archie was appalled that Herry suddenly seemed to think that he was worthless to the team.

Archie: Excuse me, but you guys know better than anyone else that it didn't even matter to me who went after Atlanta into the ocean. If Atlanta was in danger, I would've swum to the end of the world and back just to make it in time to save her.

Odie started to argue about Archie diving into the ocean after Atlanta just as much as the others had been.

Odie: Even if it would've cost you your life? Archie, we all have a destiny to defeat Cronus once and for all and as such, not even one of us can afford to die, even on another team member's watch. You can't even swim that good, anyway. So just what could've possessed you, of all team members, to dive right into the ocean after Atlanta instead of letting Herry do it.

Obviously, Archie had most definitely had an explanation to Odie's response, too.

Archie: I just felt like I had to do it on my own. I couldn't have trusted Herry to try as hard as I had to save Atlanta from the ocean's depths, and I hardly saw anyone else on our so-called team try to save her. You agree with me, don't you, Neil?

Neil, however, just stayed away from the argument and only paid attention to his three-sided little hand mirror.

Neil: Oh no! Leave me alone and well enough outta this argument.

Archie: Fine then. But I couldn't just let Atlanta die in my stead. I would've never been able to live with myself, and I would've never healed from the loss.

Theresa: Well, I guess it's not a total loss since you're both fine and those two losers have been stripped of their clearly fake ID cards.

Jay: I guess that as long as no one had gotten hurt, we don't really have to lecture Archie about diving into the ocean after Atlanta, even when knowing he wasn't exactly the world's strongest swimmer.

Atlanta had finally regained consciousness after all of the arguing was over and done with.

Atlanta: That's enough holding onto me, Archie. I'm fine now.

Atlanta had tried to get out of Archie's grasp, but he just would not let her go.

Archie: Not so fast, young lady! What were you even thinking when you tried to confront those two sickos on your own?

With the team's situation taking such a turn, it had suddenly become very obvious that the argument had gone from being Archie VS. Jay, Odie, Herry, and Theresa to happening solely between Archie and Atlanta.

Atlanta: Did it really even matter whether or not I was alone when I tried to confront those two freaks about their lechery? I had to stand up for myself against them both, even if I was on my own.

Archie: What had even possessed you to think that you stood a chance against two guys?

Atlanta: I don't really give a hoot in Hades' name that they were guys, and I was a girl.

Archie: That's no excuse, idiot! Never forget that you're a girl, no matter what.

Atlanta: Look, I'm sorry that you had to come to my rescue, Archibald, but it wasn't like I could just lie in wait for the rest of the team to show up. You can't even swim that good, anyway. You should've never dove into the ocean after me. You should've trusted one of the others to rescue me.

Archie: Don't give me that, you tomboy!

Atlanta: I don't even know, nor do I understand why you're so mad at me, Archie. I don't think that I actually did anything wrong.

Archie just stopped lecturing Atlanta about her own recklessness against Damon and Lysander.

Archie: You don't think that? Fine, then. I'm not speaking to you, though. Not once until you can admit once and for all that you were wrong.

Later back at the team of Greek heroes' descendants' hotel, the chefs from the place had cooked up a lavish feast for them all.

Chef: Ladies and Gentlemen, your dinner is served. Crabs, lobsters, miscellaneous shellfish, galore for the two brunette gentlemen, the lighter redheaded lady, the purple-haired one, their African brother from another mother, and even for the lavishly handsome blonde gentleman.

Jay, Theresa, Herry, Odie, and Neil all smelt theirs and Archie's dinner and sighed in content.

Sous chef: And for the strawberry-haired vegetarian lady, dried figs and candied yams on a bed of roasted seaweed.

Theresa: Oh my, that certainly is… something that Atlanta could really look forward to.

Jay: Yeah, I mean, she is all about her fruits and vegetables.

The only thing Herry seemed to notice was the outer weather from where he was standing close to the windows in the dining hall.

Herry: It's kinda gloomy outside.

Both the chef and the sous seemed to agree with him.

Sous chef: You're right, young sir.

Chef: It even looks as though we could be in for a thunderstorm or two tonight.

Neil just fiddled with his three-sided hand mirror while giving all three of them his own opinion about the gloom outside the hotel's windows.

Neil: It's awfully gloomy here in the dining hall, too.

Herry felt a bit offended by what Neil was saying about the inside of the hotel, but he asked the blonde narcissist on their team about his opinion anyway.

Herry: What's that supposed to mean, Neil?

Neil: Chill out, Herry. I was talking about Archie.

Herry: What's that supposed to mean?

Neil: Well, just look at the guy. He's practically radiating gloom, just sulking like that.

Of course, Odie had already seen just what his friend, Neil, had meant by what he said about Archie being a center of gloom for the dining hall.

Odie: I know why Archie's as gloomy as Neil suggests he is. I bet all my money that it's all because of that fight he had with Atlanta.

Neil: Well, my luck must be contagious because I don't need any of my luck advantages to see that Odie would've won that bet. Of course, there's still no one in our group that's even half as lucky as me.

Jay: Yeah, thank you, Neil.

Theresa: We get it already.

Herry: Lady Luck loves you so much. Blah, blah, blah.

Although all the others on the team had heard enough of it more often than not, Neil still felt like basking in it.

Neil: That's nothing compared to Lady Luck's real feelings towards me. She loves me so much in fact, that I'm basically like a son to her.

The rest of the team all groaned and growled at Neil's usual narcistic self. Odie hated it so much that he actually wanted to leave the room, and he was the one on the team that Neil had actually praised that was not himself, for once.

Odie: If only to escape both Neil's standard narcissism along with Archie's totally butchered energy, I'm gonna go and get Atlanta from her room.

As soon as Odie had left the rest of the team to their shenanigans with one another, Neil actually put away his hand mirror and gave himself just enough time to talk to Archie about the way the warrior among their team had been acting that evening.

Neil: Come on, Archie. Quit moping like a loser already, will you? It's your own fault you feel like this for picking a fight with Atlanta in the first place.

Jay, Theresa and Herry all agreed with Neil about Archie's fight with Atlanta taking a turn for the worse.

Jay: Neil's right, Arch. It kinda is your own fault for picking a fight with Atlanta, of all our friends and teammates.

Herry: You really shouldn't have been on her case about trying to protect herself against those two guys if you were just gonna feel lousy about it later.

Theresa: You're only hurting yourself by sitting here and sulking like a child, Archie. I'm sorry to have said it, but that doesn't make it any less true.

A little bit later that same evening, Odie had finally arrived back into the dining hall with Atlanta in tow. There was not only that, though. Atlanta had also seemed to be all dressed up in a literal dress for the beachside feast that evening. Atlanta's dress was a very bright shade of pink, too.

Herry: Yow-za!

Neil: Hubba-hubba!

Jay: Atlanta, is that really you?

Theresa: Where'd you get that fabulous looking dress, Atlanta?

Atlanta: I got it from my dad. He sent it to me, and I guess that one of the gods must've repacked my things. I think it might've been Zeus or some other male god. Those guys always try to get me to wear stupidly frilly stuff.

Neil had suddenly held his thumbs out in expression to the way Atlanta looked in her surprisingly vivacious dress.

Neil: That's awesome. Way to go, Atlanta's dad. You look way hotter in that dress than I'd ever even once thought you'd look.

Herry: I'll say. You really should wear more dresses, Atlanta.

Odie: Doesn't she look awesome.

Neil: I just wished that she dressed up like this more often out of her own free will instead of all of us having to see her dressed like this because she was forced to.

Theresa: Alright, alright, guys. Enough of that sexual harassment from you three. Don't we have more important matters to get to? Such as enjoying a nice beachside feast in our hotel that we're only staying in for one more night?

Jay: Theresa's right, you guys. We really should get to eating our nice beachside dinner already, especially when considering the fact that our vacation in Crete really is already over come tomorrow afternoon.

The endeavor of enjoying their dinner from the hotel turned out to be easier said than done for the whole team, however, since Atlanta sat next to Archie at the table. They all just sat there for about an hour in an awkward and highly uncomfortable silence. The clock ticking was the only sound to be heard in the whole dining hall. Sure, Archie was sitting next to the love of his life after all, but the argument the two of them had earlier on the beach made the atmosphere around them so thick, one could just cut it with a knife, an insanely sharp knife that was. Neil, Herry and Odie were the only ones to comment on the situation between the two of them, though.

Neil: Well, this has gotten pretty uncomfortable.

Herry: Yeah, it kinda has.

Odie: Not to mention, awkward.

Jay and Theresa were the only ones to try and break the ice in the other sorta couple's atmosphere.

Jay: Well, I don't really see a reason why the rest of us should just sit here with our stomachs rumbling.

Theresa: I agree, Jay. Let's dig in, why don't we? Hey, Atlanta, remember this. It's the seaweed you pulled in from the ocean while you were out there surfing. It's been made into a bed for these dried figs and candied yams, and it's all just for you.

Jay: Yeah, and I'm sure that Archie remembers the shellfish on the table. You really brought back quite a feast of shellfish, didn't ya, Arch? I'll bet that it's even tastier than it looks.

Of course, Neil was anxious to have some of the seafood, himself.

Neil: I'm all for that bet, Jay, and don't mind if I do.

That was when Atlanta had sliced her fork into her own rabbit food and to Archie's surprise, he could actually hear his crush's food just being as close to her at the table as he was. He yelped in his surprise every time she bit into even just one of them. She started eating her food at an alarmingly fast rate for a girl. She made sure to throw her leftovers onto her grape-haired friend/not-very-secret admirer's plate every time she had finished one of her dinner's figs, yams, or even the bed of roasted seaweed.

Atlanta: This seaweed tastes plant-tastic. The yams aren't bad, either, and the figs tase fig-tacular. Get it? Get 'em both, Archie?

Of course, Archie just stayed stuck on Atlanta seeming to eat her rabbit food at an alarming rate. She had been eating her rabbit food at such an alarming rate in fact, that the leftovers of the figs, the yams, even the seaweed from her dinner had covered his plate like no one's business.

Archie: Don't you think you've had enough? Give it a rest, will ya?

Atlanta, however, only responded to her friend, Archie's, concern towards her with a level of indifference that was even worse than the indifference she had given to Herry and Neil when her surrogated older brother-figure and his occasional friend had tried to freak her out with a ghost story about the island.

Atlanta: Excuse me, Archibald. I could've sworn you said that you weren't speaking to me.

Then, Archie felt a blinding pain in his left hand, the one which was closest to where Atlanta was. He had realized that a fork had been jabbed into his hand and was causing it to bleed a bit.

Archie: You little_ I bet you did that to me on purpose. You're trying to hurt me, aren't you?

But Atlanta had only given Archie an expression which just said 'I don't care. You're still a loser for even picking a fight with me if this is how you react to it.' to her friend.

Needless to say, Archie just looked at Atlanta in alarm as a response to her expression before getting up out of his seat.

Archie (continued): Alright, fine. I guess you're just gonna refuse to admit to having been wrong about going up against those nasty, lecherous creeps you met on the beach. Go on. See if I even care. I'm going back to my room so I can be ready to pack tomorrow afternoon when we leave this island.

Archie did not see or hear it happening but not long after he had left to go back up to his room, however, Atlanta suddenly seemed to gain some humility while in the dining hall. At the very least, she had gained enough humility to ponder having been wrong for what she had put Archie through during their latest time on the beach.

Atlanta: You know, Theresa, maybe Archie was right about it, after all. Maybe I really do need to learn a way to protect myself better from guys like those two without having to rely on the rest of the team.

Theresa: So, I guess that Archie finally got to you, did he? You know, he is right about what he told you in a way.

Atlanta: What? Even you think he was right?

Theresa: I believe that I said that Archie was right in a way. That didn't mean I'm on his side of your argument against him.

Neil: Well, I think that it wouldn't hurt for you take a self-defense class of some kind. Of course, I wouldn't go as far as to force you to take any, though.

Herry: None of us would force you to take any kind of self-defense lessons, Atlanta.

Atlanta: So, no one thinks I can protect myself, then.

Jay: That's not really the issue with what Archie argued with you over in the first place, Atlanta.

Atlanta: What's that supposed to mean, Jay?

Odie: Look, Atlanta, you know that all of us admire your tough exterior getting along with your independent spirit way swimmingly, don't you?

Herry: Yeah, Atlanta. Your crazy tough exterior gets along with your independent spirit the same way peanut butter gets along with jelly, honey, or sometimes even chocolate. Great, now I'm hungry for a dessert.

Neil: Yeah, even I'm a huge fan of those two aspects of your personality getting along like the best of friends, and I usually only focus on me.

Atlanta: Really now? Thank you so much, Odie. You, too, Herry. And thanks to you, too, Neil, I guess.

Theresa: Well, Atlanta, the thing about it is this; You kinda worried Archie almost to death today when you tried so hard to take on those two guys on your own.

Jay: Theresa's right, Atlanta. We were all pretty worried about just how reckless you were today against those two punks. I actually had a tough time separating Herry from them along with Theresa, Odie, even Neil, and all of us almost got a black eye over trying to tie the big guy down from what he almost did to those two.

Atlanta knew that was probably true for Jay, Theresa, and Odie. She did have her doubts, however, about Neil having joined in with the rest of them trying to separate Herry from the two bums that wanted her to hang with them against her will.

Atlanta: Even Neil had trouble breaking up the fight Herry was in with those two thugs?

Atlanta looked in the blonde pretty boy's direction, only to discover Neil acknowledge her looking towards him.

Neil: Come on, Atlanta. Is it really that hard to imagine me wanting to look out for you as much as everyone else? We are friends and on the same team, after all.

Atlanta could see that Neil was not shy in any way, shape, or form, not even when being given the credit he deserved, more or less, for aiding his friends in their heroic endeavors.

Atlanta: It's not that, Neil. I just never expected you to be the self-sacrificing type because you didn't seem too much like the heroic type at all when the rest of us first met you.

Neil: Hey, I know I'm not exactly your classic, average, everyday hero, but I can just as protective of a friend in peril as the rest of this team.


A/N: it's true. while he's not much of what one would probably expect a hero to be like, Neil has had a few moments where he was surprisingly willing to go above and beyond for another member of his team, more or less.


Atlanta: And what in Hades are the rest of you even talking about? It wasn't like I was the root of all that trouble that Archie and the rest of you had to go through.

Neil suddenly took his three-sided hand mirror out once again just before commenting on Atlanta's own hopelessly naïve remark about whether or not she had caused trouble for even just one of her friends.

Neil: Oh, poor, sweet, innocent Atlanta. Notices so many things this world has to offer her, yet still so blind to just what she puts others through whenever they're stuck worrying themselves sick about her.

Theresa: I'd hate to agree with him, Atlanta, but Neil's right. You put me and the guys through the deepest, darkest, vilest depths of Tartarus when you refused to wait for the rest of our team to come and help you protect yourself from those thugs. You put Archie through all that more than the rest of our team, in particular. You'd actually managed to put him through all that Tartarus more so than even me, and you're just like the sister I never had.

Jay: They're both right, Atlanta. Archie actually dived down into the ocean just to come to your rescue, and how did you thank him?

Herry: She got into an argument with the guy about his no-longer-as-crippling anymore fear of the water is how she thanked him for saving her life.

Odie: I think you owe your life to Archie swallowing his aquaphobia just long enough to rush to your rescue, along with a proper apology to the guy for makin' him worry himself close to fatal sickness about you goin' up against those two punks.

With all of those words from every last one of their other friends, Atlanta finally seemed to understand just what she had made them experience when she went up against those thugs with it being two against one, especially when she finally considered that the odds of that fight were in anyone's favor except for hers.

Atlanta: So then, it was because every one of you was worried about me being all alone in a two-on-one fight. Why were any of you even worried about me, at all?

The rest of them at the table all sighed in defeat at just what Atlanta had had so much as the nerve to ask them all about.

Neil's thoughts: It's just like I feared.

Jay, Theresa, Herry, Odie and Neil's collective thoughts: She's hopelessly unaware of another's feelings, and I suppose that she's just particularly unaware of another's feelings so long as they're felt towards Atlanta, herself.

The others might not have been aware of it, but Atlanta actually did see just what they had meant at last. At least, her tears told them that she finally knew what they were telling her.

Atlanta (continued): I'm so sorry, everyone. I'll apologize to Archie, too. I promise I will the very next time I see him.

It was then that Jay, Theresa, Herry, Odie and Neil had all begun to perk up a little from all of them holding their heads down following just what Atlanta had promised them she would do when next she saw Archie.

Jay, Theresa, Herry, Odie, and Neil's collective thoughts: Well, it's about time she knew what the others and I were all getting at.

Everyone else's collective relief towards Atlanta did not last, however, because as soon as the huntress had actually made her promise to the leader, the fighter, the brawns, the brains, and the lucky one, it had turned out that Atlanta had still remained just naïve enough to fight off any potential threat to her safety with her willful spirit alone.

Atlanta (continued): I guess I really should come up with a better and much more efficient way to protect myself in case of any dangers in the future.

It was not long thereafter that all the others at the table had suddenly gone right back to being as downcast about her painful cluelessness as they were before her realization of what she had made them go through.

Jay, Theresa, Herry, Odie, and Neil's collective thoughts: Or maybe she doesn't get what I'm trying to tell her along with everyone else on the team about what she did having worried the rest of us, after all.

Atlanta just smiled her most surprisingly innocent smile at Jay, Theresa, Herry, Odie and Neil, unknowingly arousing the ire towards her of every last one of them. Atlanta suddenly began to feel unwell just as the rest of them were all thinking that way about her. They all noticed her face start to suddenly turn green, the sickliest color of the rainbow.

Theresa: Atlanta, what's the matter?

Odie: She probably ate too much of her meal is why. Even if it were rabbit food, she still should've been more careful and conscious about just how much she shoveled down.

Herry: We should probably get her to the nearest washroom, then.

Jay: I second that, Herry.

Neil: Be strong, Atlanta, and just hold it in until you make it to the washroom!

The team all rushed Atlanta to the nearest washroom to blow her chunks into the sink.

Atlanta's mind: Well, that was such a waste of good meal.

Meanwhile outside of even the bedroom in which their friend, Atlanta, even was, Jay, Theresa, Herry, Odie and Neil pondered about just what to do about their innocent teammate still not knowing that they had been trying to tell her to be even slightly more reliant on the rest of them, even if she was willful and independent to so much as a fault.

Odie: Just who does that girl even think she is, huh? Joan of Arc or some other kick-butt chick from the past?

Herry: I'm with you, Odie. Not to mention that it's also fueled by her hopeless need to be her own hero for reasons unknown right now. I mean, man, could she be any more unwilling to accept any form of help?

Odie: There's also the fact that she actually still thinks that the rest of us were saying that she just needed to find a more efficient way to protect herself. I know she's self-reliant to a fault and as much as I respect her for it, even I think she could stand to more reliant on others in her life. And the fact that she still remains painfully unaware of just what Archie thinks of her? Is she secretly an idiot underneath her smart exterior or something?

Herry: I mean, come on. Could Atlanta even be any more oblivious to just about any feelings that have to do with her and her alone?

Neil: I know. And everyone else on the team thinks Herry and I are its stupidest members. She's even dumber than the two of us combined if she's that unaware of what my man, Archie, thinks of her.

That was when Neil did something he had not done in a while. He had spoken to Jay, Theresa, Herry and Odie as the two of their joint friends in question and started off by speaking as his friend, Archie.

Neil (as Archie): Atlanta, my friend, please accept this mango and kale smoothie I blended just for you as a symbol of my lov_ friendship.

Neil then spoke to Jay, Theresa, Herry and Odie as Atlanta following his monologue to them all as Archie.

Neil (as Atlanta): Oh, Archie, you truly are the best friend a girl could ever ask for. Not to mention that you're just about the sweetest guy in my life, you're so kind to me. You truly are the greatest friend I've ever had.

Then, Neil walked away from Archie's figurative form as Atlanta only to return back to that same spot as Archie. The blonde member of their ragtag team of heroes' descendants had even sighed in a hopeless pit of depression as Archie.

Neil (as Archie): Yep, that's me. The greatest friend you've ever had, Atlanta. Just friends for the rest of our lives together. Have fun at field hockey practice, Atlanta, my darling.

It was then that Jay and his own girlfriend, Theresa, had finally realized that Atlanta might have just had to have learned the hard way just how to rely on the rest of her team of friends. It was clear that they had to teach her the lesson that they had all been trying to instill into her by setting up an example for her to understand.

Jay: I suppose that all three of you are right. I guess that Atlanta probably does need to learn that she might just get kidnapped one of these days if she stays reliant solely on herself.

Theresa: There's just the matter of who'll have to teach our dearest and most innocent friend the subject of relying on others such as your own friends as much as they can rely on you.

Odie and Herry: I volunteer Neil!

Neil: What?! Why should I be the one to do teach her about co-dependence?!

Odie: Well for one thing, you did actually seem to like her in that dress she wore to the dining hall.

Neil was ready to deny it when he had suddenly remembered to such a thing actually having happened to him.

Neil: Curses, that was a good look on her. Who knew she could look that hot in a dress, of all things?

Herry: Besides, the washroom in your bedroom was the nearest one to dining hall that she could run to in order to blow out the chunks she basically inhaled at dinner.

Neil: You do know that you're only making it harder, don't you, Herry?

Herry: Oops. Me and my big mouth.

Neil just sighed in defeat, realizing that luck was not on his side that time.

Neil: I'll strip my shirt off just long enough to pretend to harass Atlanta. But you'll all just be lucky so long as I don't go from being a pretend weirdo pervert to a real one in the process of teaching her about the subject of co-reliance.

Neil then made it into his bedroom; the washroom in which Atlanta was most likely getting her mouth cleaned up her chunk-blowing fest. At least, she was a committed vegetarian, anyway, even when it came to dining beachside. So, it stood to reason that even her bile would have most likely been more like jams and jellies instead of your average, everyday vomit, anyway.

Atlanta had finally come out of Neil's washroom after a bit of emptying out her system of its contents, even if it had been from the wrong end.

Atlanta's mind: I was in such a rush to make to the sink that I just ran into the closest washroom I could find. Where am I?

That when Atlanta had heard a voice from nearby the window of the room. It was definitely masculine.

Male voice: You feeling OK now?

Atlanta had finally noticed the gentleman who was in the room with her.

Atlanta: I apologize, sir. I didn't mean to intrude in your room.

Man: Don't be stupid, Atlanta. It's only your friend and teammate, Neil.

Atlanta: Oh yeah. Neil, I really am sorry about making the rest of the team worry so much about me on that beach today.

Neil: Well, thanks for your second apology to me in a row, but I really do think that you should save even just one of those apologies for Archie. And if you really wanna apologize to someone more than just once this evening, try going to the rest of our friends, especially Herry. Jay, Theresa, Odie and I really did have quite a hard time separating the big guy from those two thugs. That meathead practically almost beat the two of them half to death, it almost ended in a massacre.

That was when Neil had made Atlanta realize just how much worry she had really managed to put all the others on their joint team of Greek heroes' descendants through that day. Her recklessness had not only lured Archie into the very thing which he had feared the most but had also prompted Herry to go against the rules of their destinies as heroes instead of thugs and almost get nabbed by the local police over it.

Neil (continued): Needless to say, Herry actually did manage to get the police involved with his shenanigans and worrisome tactics about teaching those two thugs their lesson. Of course, we were just lucky enough that the police believed us over the punks that tried to get with you, and only got let off with a simple warning. We still had to pay for those two perverts' hospital visits, though.

Atlanta: Well, I guess I'm sorry about that, too, Neil. I promise that I'll pay everyone back over that much.

Neil: Those two punks wound up needing to go as far as getting intensive care in the hospital so payment wise, you're looking at the cost you owe us all for it to be just about a grand total of one-point-eight-million drachmas in cold, hard cash.

Atlanta: Even if it takes me the rest of my life to pay it off, I'll make it up to everyone else on the team in whichever way I possibly can.

Atlanta had still remained fixated on being self-reliant. This lesson that Neil had to teach his most innocent friend of all was clearly going to be easier said than done, especially considering that he was stuck trying to teach it to Atlanta. The vain blonde member of their joint team hated having to stoop to such a level of lechery.

Since Atlanta just continued to remain as naïve yet obstinate as ever, however, Neil was actually willing to sacrifice the poor, sweet huntress's innocence along with whatever he had actually even had of his own integrity to let things go as far as he was ready to take them very soon. The blonde pretty boy among the two of them had then made his way over close to the girl in the room with him as he reached for the room's dimmer switch and turned all of lights from within his bedroom off.

Atlanta (continued): Why'd you turn the lights off, Neil?

The huntress in the room with the lucky one was still as naïve as she had ever been, and this was nothing but the lucky one's last-ditch effort to instill some knowledge of today's world into his friend. Admittingly, Neil most likely could not do as well in that department as someone like Odie would have probably been able to. The vain blonde was so much less than willing to give up on his friend, however, before he could try doing it himself.

Neil: You can probably pay the others back with just money, I bet. If you're really interested in paying me back for those punks' hospital visits, however, you could do just that with your own body.

After offering for her to pay him back with her whole being, Neil had positioned himself behind Atlanta's back and held his arms around her torso. Then, he brought one of his hands to her chin and pulled it upwards to look into his face. It was quite strange, but the two of them had actually managed to look like a couple to those who did not know the true nature of their relationship.

Neil (continued): Atlanta, are you really so naïve as to think that you could have easily made it through your life without needing anyone else in it? Don't tell me that you're actually stupid enough to buy into those kinds of lies. You've sure done it this time, Atlanta. You've actually managed to leave yourself completely defenseless against even the likes of me.

Atlanta had suddenly turned herself around to face Neil and attacked the guy in question as a form of retaliation.

Atlanta: Well, I guess we simply can't all be so smart now, can we?

That was when the full weight of just what Neil had said to Atlanta while she was in what had felt to her like his clutches seemed to come crashing right down onto her psyche. It was more than just that, though. Something in Atlanta's gut had finally told her that it was exactly what everyone else on their team was trying to tell her all along while in the dining hall.

Atlanta's mind: So, this is what they were trying to get me to understand the whole time.

Atlanta (continued): You won't do it, will you, Neil? I know you won't, for more reasons than one. You're not even interested in me at all, and you're just playing the bad guy to get me to understand exactly what I'd put you, Archie and everyone else on the team through today on the beach. I guess that you're right about it, after all.

Neil suddenly seemed to see his lesson on co-reliance finally kick in for Atlanta.

Neil: Really, Atlanta, you are quite the enigma to the rest of our team, and you're pretty easy to admire for it.

Atlanta: I realize something even more profound about you, and that's just what a nice guy even you can be when you want to. You're also just trying to prove what Archie had told me after coming to my rescue from those two thugs and what the rest of our friends were doubtlessly trying to tell earlier. You also happen to have nothing to gain from it, at all.

Neil had then suddenly begun to walk away from Atlanta as she spoke.

Atlanta (continued): I can tell that you only wanted to prove his point about my self-reliance and that what I really need to do is to learn how to rely on the rest of my team a lot more than I make a habit of doing, really.

That when a knock on the door stopped the two of them from making out in the dark like one would have suspected them to if one did not know Neil or Atlanta. It was followed by a voice.

Voice from the other side of the door: Hey yo, Neil. You got any aloe vera?

The voice from the other side of Neil's bedroom door definitely belonged to a guy. The person from the other side of the door opened it up to reveal himself to be none other than perhaps the last person in the world who could handle seeing Atlanta with any other guy on earth, even with one of his own comrades. Yep, it was Archie, alright.

Archie: This sunburn is worse than I_

He had paused in the middle his sentence upon seeing what was on the other side of Neil's bedroom door. Needless to say, the warrior of the three's joint team of Greek heroes' descendants was pretty mad about his crush even being in the same room as their team's vainest member.

Archie (continued): You jerk-wad!

That was when the vain blonde of the team basically shoved his extra bottle of aloe vera in the warrior's face and rubbed it like there was no tomorrow.

Neil: Here you go, ya dork! Use as much as you want, goof man!

That was when Neil had closed the door on Archie and began heading out of his room for a bit.

Neil's thoughts: 'Nothing to gain from it', huh? An interesting idea, Atlanta, in its own naïve way.

Meanwhile back in the bedroom, Archie chose to confront Atlanta about having been alone with Neil, of all guys on their joint team. Atlanta only looked out the window, though as the storm from outside began to rage even further.

Archie: What were you doing alone with him, of all of our friends?

Atlanta turned her head back in Archie's direction and calmly tried to explain what was going on before he had technically barged in.

Atlanta: I wasn't doing anything with him. Really, Archie, we were doing nothing, at all.

Archie had suddenly just up and lost his temper at Atlanta, of all his teammates.

Archie: Do you really expect me to believe that nothing was going on between you and Neil while you were both in here? You were alone with him in his bedroom, and why had the lights even been out? Don't ever lie to me like that!

Atlanta's mind: Well, I guess that I might as well have been trying to explain myself to a spoilt brat with that kind of reaction from him, of all people. Sometimes, it kinda feels like he thinks of me the same way he thinks of his own Hephaestus whip.

That was when Archie finally seemed to remember that he and Atlanta were just friends at the time and that she was not even his girlfriend, not yet she was not. He had to act like an adult if he had wanted her to understand just what she had put him and everyone else on their team through that day. He also knew that Atlanta, herself, had been through a lot that day on the beach, probably even more than the rest of their teammates had been.

Archie (continued): Never mind, 'Lanta. You've been through a lot today, and you're probably pretty tired. I think that you should just forget it and try to get some sleep.

That was when the lightning from outside the window began to flash and the thunder started to rumble following it.

Atlanta: Wait a minute, Archie!

Atlanta had grabbed onto the back of Archie's shirt from behind him. The warrior turned around to look at the huntress with a slight tint of pink dusting his face. Of course, she just positioned her hands to him like she did not mean to grab onto him and refused to be his burden. But then, the lightning and thunder from outside the window just continued to rage about. Atlanta had screamed and then held her face in her hands thereafter. Of course, Archie grew a little worried about his ideal girlfriend, Atlanta, upon hearing her scream the way she had.

Archie: Atlanta, what's the matter?

Much to Archie's surprise, Atlanta's only responding course of action was to leave him in the dark and try finding shelter from the storm, despite already being inside.

Atlanta: It's nothing really, Arch.

That was when she had found her shelter from the storm within the team's shelter from the storm.

Atlanta (continued): I just remembered that there's some business I've gotta take care of. Excuse me.

Atlanta's so-called 'business' had been within the wardrobe in the room. Obviously, Archie had been thoroughly confused by this supposed 'business' that his crush seemed to have had, and yet he bit her head off about it.

Archie: Oh puh-lease! What business could you possibly have in a wardrobe, of all places?!

Atlanta answered his questioning statement from inside the wardrobe into which she had gone for shelter within shelter from the storm.

Atlanta: N-N-Narnia?

That was around when something had suddenly seemed to dawn on Archie about Atlanta's worst fear over a competition between him and all the rest of the team about which the warrior had already forgotten.

Archie: Atlanta, you have astraphobia, don't you? You're scared to death of thunder and lightning? But why? I mean, our school's own janitor, Mr. Suez, is really a thunder god in disguise. He's really Zeus, for Olympus' sake. I don't get why you'd fear thunder and lightning when you're all that close in relation to the king of the Olympian gods, of all deities, for cryin' out loud.

Archie then began to approach the wardrobe into which Atlanta had locked herself.

Archie (continued): You're not afraid of thunder and lightning because of that time with the aegis, are you? And why'd you even lock yourself up in there? I'm pretty sure that it'd most likely be even scarier than it was just now, locked up like you are.

Atlanta once again answered her friend, Archie's, questions from inside the wardrobe.

Atlanta: I'm fine, Archie. I'm used to getting through stuff like this on my own.

That last sentence from Atlanta turned into the final deciding factor of her life that Archie had needed just to make the connection as to why she had refused to wait for the others to have her back; why she had always rejected their help even when the rest of her teammates had always had her back and would always have her back.

Archie: On your own. I think I finally understand how you feel about it, Atlanta. You were always having to rely on no one but yourself all throughout your childhood, weren't you? You've always been at home alone back where you lived, haven't you? You've always only refused to wait for the rest of the team to back you up because you don't even know how to count on others for help. I understand you just a little better now.

After his monologue to Atlanta, Archie simply used his tensile strength to open the door, only to find that his dearest and most favorite friend in fetal position, much to his surprise, as the thunderstorm just continued to rage on outside. From there, Archie seemed more than willing to continue with his monologue to his friend/not-so-secret crush, Atlanta.

Archie (continued): You've always had to brave the world on your own, 'Lanta. You grew up not being able to rely on anyone else. How could you have even known you could count on even your own teammates to be there for you? Not anymore, though. You'll never again have stand on your own.

Atlanta finally pulled even her face up from her fetal position just to look at her friend, Archie.

Archie (continued): You know that you can come out now, don't you, Atlanta?

Atlanta began to rise out of her fetal position when the thunder and lightning that she had feared so just continued to flash and rumble, respectively. It made her want to just jump into Archie's arms for solace, comfort and safety. He had even hugged her back while concealing his blush from her wandering eye.

Archie (continued): You don't have to be afraid, 'Lanta. I'll always keep you safe in my arms. I promise that you'll never have to feel alone again.

Meanwhile back with Jay, Theresa, Herry, Odie and Neil, the team's fearless brunette leader, the redheaded fighter with psychic ability, the brunette muscle-bound team member and the deceptively African looking brains of the team were wondering why the lucky, but vain blonde member of their team had even had so much as the nerve to leave the team's strawberry redheaded huntress alone with the grape-headed warrior of their team.

Jay: Are you sure that it was such a good idea to leave her alone with him, Neil?

Naturally, Theresa was the first one among them to agree with Jay about leaving Archie and Atlanta alone together.

Theresa: I'm with Jay. You know how Archie gets around Atlanta, Neil.

Herry: Believe me, every one of us knows how he can get around her. He's always kinda stupid whenever she's alone with him.

Odie: And that's just coming from the brawns of our little team.

Neil: I see where you're all getting at about this. I am, however, not only gonna have to ignore your scolding, but also make an argument against it. I mean, it's Archie your friend, Atlanta's, with, Theresa. What could he possibly do to her that would ever even count as him being in the wrong?

Jay, Theresa, Herry and Odie: Yeah, I guess that's a fair point, especially when considering that this is Archie we're all talking about.

Jay knocked on the door which was surprisingly to Neil's bedroom even though the vain blonde pretty boy of their team was on the outside of the room with Theresa, Herry, Odie and Jay, himself.

Herry: What up, Archie? Atlanta?

Odie: We're comin' in.

What all five of Archie and Atlanta's other friends found on the other end of the door to Neil's bedroom in the hotel, however, completely shocked and revolted them upon the sight of it.

Archie: With that blindfold covering your eyes, you can't see a thing. The earplugs help, too, since they muffle out any and all manner of sounds.

Atlanta: Wow, Archie. You're right. Thanks so much for helping me through this. I feel a whole lot better.

It might have been Archie helping Atlanta out of the goodness of his heart to the redhead in question but to the rest of their friends and teammates, however, what the purple haired warrior was doing with the innocent huntress looked a lot more like even worse lechery than the two punks from the beach that tried to hit on her and then pushed her into the ocean.

Odie: You sick, nasty little pervert!

That was when Archie had finally made it out from the cloud on which he seemed to be while having helped Atlanta through her worst fear and back down to earth upon having heard Odie's voice from behind him. Archie's blood even grew cold when he became painfully aware of just what Odie had called him.

Herry: What kind of foreplay are you trying to pull right there, huh?

Archie: Hang on, guys. I swear that it's not anything like that. It's not what you think, I promise.

Theresa just came up to Archie and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

Theresa: Save your excuses for the jury, Archibald Khilles! You were trying to force yourself onto my friend, Atlanta, and make a pass at her.

Archie: Hang on, Theresa. I wasn't doing anything like that.

Neil: I can't believe you. I leave you alone with Atlanta for five minutes, and this is what I come back to upon bringing the others here? Suddenly, I think that your crush on Atlanta is more like a single-target sexuality along with being nothing but lust.

Atlanta: Archie, what's goin' on? Who's in here with the both of us?

Herry shielded Atlanta from Archie, thinking the warrior had finally given into his own lust towards the chaste huntress. When Odie had made it over to Atlanta, he took off her blindfold and removed her earplugs.

Atlanta: Odie, what are you doing in here? And why are Jay, Theresa and Herry in here, too? Neil being in here I can understand, since it is his bedroom. The rest of you, though, why are you even in here, at all?

Odie: The answer to all of your questions, Atlanta, is just one answer, I'm afraid.

Atlanta: Huh? What're you all talkin' about?

Herry: Archie seemed to be tryin' to make a pass at you while your eyes were covered, and your ears were plugged.

Archie: I'm telling you that it's nothing like that, at all.

Odie: Yeah right. And I suppose Neil's hair is really as blonde as it seems?

Neil: Yeah, is Neil's hair really that_

That was when Neil suddenly realized just what Odie had said about him in comparison to every last one of Archie's claims about supposedly having to have only been helping Atlanta out.

Neil (continued): HEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYY! My hair is so the same kind of blonde that it looks like.

Herry took Odie's side of that comment to compare Neil's hair to Archie's so-called help towards Atlanta.

Herry: Really now, Neil? I couldn't tell what kind of blonde it was before.

Theresa, of course, had to break their in-fighting up and get the three of them focused back on disciplining Archie for what he could almost have done to Atlanta with her guard down.

Theresa: This isn't about Neil and his hair. This is about what Archie almost got away with doing to Atlanta.

Archie: As I keep telling you all, I wasn't trying to do anything to her! You saw the situation all wrong and out of context. Surely, you believe me about that, don't you, Neil? You must know exactly what it's like to be seen out of context, don't you? Being a male model and everything, the paparazzi must take a lot of photos of you out of context all the time.

Neil thought about it for a moment or two before suddenly remembering there having been a few or more photos from the newspapers and magazines of him which had also been taken out of context, just like how Archie was describing the way the others had seen his situation with Atlanta from before they showed up.

Archie (continued): And I'm pretty sure that you certainly must've been less than pleased with the idea of it all.

Neil: I understand completely what you're getting at, but we in the modeling business do have a saying about there being 'no such thing as bad publicity'. So, in the end, I usually just roll with what my fans think of me. With my friends, however, it's a different story. It's always been a different story, and I suppose that it'll always be a different story with my friends than it is with my fans.

With all of that from Neil, of all his teammates, Jay had instantly become Archie's last hope in trying to get to understand was really going on with him and Atlanta from before the rest of them had all shown up with the lucky, but vain blonde among their group of friends.

Archie: Jay, surely you know that I'm not that kind of a guy and would never take things with even Atlanta that far, right?

Jay pondered Archie's side of the argument for a bit before reaching his decision.

Jay: I'm sorry, Arch, but I'm afraid it'd just be too dangerous for Atlanta to be anywhere even close to you until we head back to New Olympia tomorrow. Sorry, but I'm gonna have to go with the team on this one.

Archie was shocked at even Jay being against him on the case of the team VS. Archie, himself.

Archie: Are you even kidding me right now? No one buys my innocence? Some friends you all are.

Archie still remained hopeful even after having lost Jay's belief in his innocence. He turned to Atlanta for her decision.

Archie (continued): Well then, why not ask Atlanta her opinion about it? Atlanta, who do you believe? Me or them?

Much to Archie's surprise and dismay, however, even his favorite friend, Atlanta, took the team's side over his.

Atlanta: Well, I can see that you're still very hot for me, Archie. I am insanely disappointed in the way you'd chosen to go about wanting to show me your true feelings, though. I can't even believe what you actually tried to do to me.

Archie suddenly became shellshocked from even his best friend/crush, Atlanta, seemed to think of what he was doing by giving her that blindfold and those earplugs.

Theresa: Come on, Atlanta, let's just get you to bed. You've had a long day.

Atlanta: Sure, Theresa. Why not? It'd be a lot safer for me, anyway.

The following morning just as the team was about to leave for the airport in Crete, the guys and Theresa were all ignoring Archie just in time for him to have recovered from his shellshock as soon as dawn came. The purple haired warrior even had an entire plethora of bags under his eyes from his lack of sleep the previous night and yet still found enough energy to be angry at Jay, Theresa, Herry, Odie and Neil for having been as doubtful of his pleas of innocence as they all were the night prior.

They still kept Atlanta in the car and away from the grape-headed warrior, anyway. It seemed as though the rest of the team figured that the strawberry redheaded huntress would have been a lot safer if she were far away from him. Neil bent down to Atlanta's car window if only to talk to her about being more aware of her surroundings.

Neil: Babe, I'd watch my back around Archie, himself, if I were you, it turns out.

Odie: For sure. I'd always believed that Arch was such a nice guy in certain moments but last night, that might've just turned my opinion of the descendant of my ancestor's friend around.

Herry: Obviously. I'd have never thought that Archie could act that lecherous. It was disgusting to even look at, never mind watch.

Theresa: I gotta say that I'm well aware of just what a playboy Achilles was in his lifetime, but I'd always believed that even someone on our team like Archie, the guy's descendant, could've had at least some decency in his body, no matter just how deeply buried it was. I can't believe just how naïve I was for believing that he was capable of it, especially after that.

Jay: You really should've been ashamed of yourself, Archie. After all of that lecturing Atlanta about relying on others like her friends. In the end, though, you were just trying to get the poor girl to let her guard down around a sicko like what you really are.

Archie finally gained the nerve to speak up about what everyone else seemed to think of him regarding actually having tried to help Atlanta the previous night.

Archie: I tried to tell all of you that it wasn't even like that, at all, but you still won't listen to me.

Atlanta just looked at her so-called friend, Archie, with such disdain and skepticism.

Atlanta: I get it now. And I even finally know just what you were really trying to do to me with the blindfold and earplugs. I just can't believe that I was actually stupid enough to almost let you get away with it.

Atlanta just rolled her car window up in Archie's face before he could even try to explain himself to her.

Archie: I wasn't even doing anything as sick as that. I was only trying to help you make it through your astraphobia. You roll that window back down and listen to me, Kestrelson!

Herry: We're leaving.

Odie: Sounds fine by me.

Neil: I'm with you, man.

With what Herry, Odie then Neil had said about pretty much leaving Archie behind, the brawns of the team suddenly sped away from the hotel with everyone else a passenger in the car. Archie had tried to follow them.

Archie: HEY! Don't you leave without me! Wait up for me, everyone!

The car Herry was driving, however, was just far too fast for Archie to catch up to it merely by running after it.


to be continued.