-Apollo-

"I think you need to rethink your definition of friends, Set," Cas surmised as she took a few steps towards him, putting space between herself and the others. "See, you actually have to know them to call them friends, which I don't. But seeing as you haven't had any in so long, I'd imagine you haven't used the term very often."

"Clever little mortal," he laughed as he shook his head. "Obviously, you know him." Set gestured towards Apollo with a knowing look. "Really, it doesn't matter. They can't interfere."

Cas snorted. "Who said I needed them to interfere?" Her grin was almost sinister, the promise ringing in her tone. "Listen, I'm going to outsmart you. Do yourself a favor and just walk away, cut your losses, all that jazz. I know you won't, but really, you should."

"She's lost her damned, mind," Orion muttered. Apollo knew better than to doubt her words, but even he wondered how she would manage it.

"I do love when mortals try to talk their way out of things! You took something from me, and I want it back. Where is the Was Sceptre?"

"The what?" she quipped. "Was that a sneeze?"

The red in the god's eyes flared, a snarl leaving him. Set vanished, reappearing right beside her. He grabbed her by the throat, slamming her hard enough into the lockers that they dented. Apollo wanted to help, but if he made a direct attack, it would start a war. This god was right when it came to that.

"Where is it?" Set screamed at her. She managed to kick him, which only made Set laugh, but then, the two of them vanished.

"What in Tartarus," Artemis began, but she didn't get to finish.

Cas and the god came crashing through the ceiling, the tiles, lights, and other building materials falling with them. She grabbed some wires still attached to a set of lights, ripping them from the fixture before shoving the live wires into the immortal's eye sockets. He screamed in pain, his form flickering from the surge of electricity. It was clever, really. Cas fell back and looked up at Apollo, her expression screaming that she needed that dagger right now. Apollo waved his hand, making it appear in hers. Technically, he was just loaning someone his dagger, not interfering. Those couple of seconds were all it took for the god to get his bearings. He rose and backhanded Cas, sending her and the dagger flying down the hall.

"Artemis, let me go!" Orion snapped. "I have to help her! There's no way she can beat him."

"Neither can you," she countered. She had a firm grip on his arms, which he'd never be able to break. Apollo could feel his sister's stare searing into his skin, burning him with its intensity. He knew what she was thinking. There was no doubt in Cas' declaration that she would win this battle. Artemis would have felt the truth in her words. She would have a chance at believing Cas's words where Orion wouldn't. She wanted to know how much he knew, how involved he was…but his sister's questions didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was Cas…

She rolled out of it, her bloodied lip dripping down her chin. Cas quickly wiped it off before dissapating and reappearing close enough to the dagger to grab it before vanishing again.

"You can run all you want, little mortal, but I will-"

Cas surfaced right beside him, slashing the dagger across his arm before showing up again down the hall. The blade was coated in the god's blood. Unlike the Greek immortals, which was golden in color, Set's was a shiny deep blue, almost like the water of their Nile. Set let out a rage filled yell, at which Cas took off down the hallway, running at full speed.

Set threw everything he could at her: balls of magical energy, classroom and locker doors, along with some ceiling tiles. He would materialize right beside her, for Cas to just evade his grasp. Apollo always had a feeling that she was talented, but the way she moved, the graceful way she used her gift and fought, was impressive. In his whole existence, not many mortals at sixteen could fight that well. Maybe Achilles or Orion, but that was a whole other story.

"You should work on you aim," she teased him.

Set laughed and flicked his wrist. The front of the lockers on his right ripped off, almost like a hot knife had sliced the front clean off, flying at Cas. She disappeared just in time to avoid being cut in half, the heap of twisted metal slamming into the ones behind her. There was a cut on the top of Cas's legs, the jeans ripped and stained with her blood. She ran towards Set, picking up a locker door before appearing beside him and knocking him right across the head.

"Thank you!" Cas called out as she materialized back beside the heap of metal, quickly cutting her palm with the dagger, the god's blue blood mixing with her own. Set roared in fury, barreling towards her. Apollo took off after her, the others behind him. He didn't care if it started a war. He had to do something. Cas reached inside the locker closest to her with her bloodied hand, pulling out a small glass bottle, just about the size of her palm. She threw the bottle, covered with their blood, at Set. It broke when it hit him, seemingly having no effect.

"CASSIA!" Apollo screamed. Cas cringed. For a moment, Apollo's vision went white, anger and worry blinding him.

Set's hand stopped about six inches from her. He tried to reach for her with his other hand, but it was no use. It was like an invisible barrier was set in between them, one Set, even with all his immortal powers, couldn't cross. Cas's fear melted into a smile of triumph.

"I warned you."

"YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Set snarled. He pounded against the barrier one last time before taking a step back.

"I told you to walk away," she reminded him. "Your fault you didn't listen. I don't have your little magic rod."

"Still covering for my sister-in-law?"

"Don't you have more than once of those?" Cas questioned, her tone dubious.

Set laughed. "Oh dear girl, I highly doubt she will protect you now. Do you know how I figured out it was you?" He paced in front of her with critical eyes. "See, she's looking for a new little helper because the one she had was… 'tainted' was the word I believe she used."

"Excuse me?"

"Your cover has been blown." Set stepped as close as he could, his rage quiet but intense. "You've been marked by one of them. Did you know? Made it very easy to trace when Isis let it slip that she had a double agent working for her. I've seen you in her presence before, and by the time I found you, it all made sense."

"Te futueo et caballum tuum," Cas hissed. It'd been awhile since Apollo used Latin but was fascinated that she knew how to say 'screw you and the horse you rode in on' in the Roman's native tongue.

"Word will get out, and all the immortals she used you to do her dirty work on will come find you. I may not be able to touch you, but I assure you, I will find ones who can. What's the saying? You've won the battle, but not the war."

"We'll see about that. Go ahead and try, asshat."

Set disappeared with a smug grin. Cas stared at the ground, her breathing deep and quick. The strength and cunning she used while fighting vanished, leaving a scared and shaken mortal girl. She gripped the dagger in her hand, hard enough that her knuckles turned white. The other was still dripping blood on to the floor. Apollo took another step towards her. Her secret was out now. The others weren't going to walk away without an explanation, especially since she was close to Orion. By association, he could be guilty as well or working with another pantheon. She was a threat, and that was all it took to get an immortal's notice.

"Cassia, let me heal that."

Cas looked up, anger in her eyes. He'd seen her angry before, but this was beyond livid. "You."

She reared back and threw the blade, coming close enough to Apollo that it grazed his cheek. The sting was nothing compared to the hate in her eyes. It buried into the wood behind him, stopping all the others in their tracks. She reappeared in front of him, pushing him into the lockers. He could smite her with a simple thought, ending her for her disrespect. Apollo let her hit him. She had every right to be angry with him. He'd made a mistake, miscalculated on what he'd seen. He interfered when he shouldn't have, let his feelings, of all damned things, cloud his judgement. How many times had he preached over the years that visions are possibilities, not certainties? She'd asked for one thing, his trust, and he threw it away.

"You blessed me! You've fucked me over, again!" she screamed, pushing him once more. She took a step back from him, her eyes wild. She quickly glanced at the others, what little color she had draining from her face. "DAMMIT!"

She vanished.

Apollo stared at the spot, feeling worse than he had when he first found out about her curse. Her suffering was his fault.

"Apollo," Athena ground out. He turned to look at her, seeing that all the damage had been taking care of thanks to his siblings. They all stared at him, wondering what was going on. "What in the fates' names have you gotten yourself into?" He wasn't exactly sure. He shook his head before running a hand through his hair. Apollo had to make things right. "If this is another one of your lover's quarrels gone horribly wrong, I swear on the Styx-"

"I cursed her," Apollo muttered, his words drenched in despair.

"How?"

"Do not tell me that we have another reincarnating mortal running around," Artemis barked at her brother. "She told you how to find me, didn't she? That's why you owed her a favor. Is she Cassandra?"

"W-wait, what!?" Orion objected

"No, she's not Cassandra. She's a descendant," Apollo divulged. Artemis's color drained. Just like Apollo knew her deepest secrets, she knew his. The whole reason the Trojan War was lost was thanks to his curse. Cassandra tried and failed to warn the Trojans that the horse was a ploy, but no one believed her. They stopped her from burning it down because of him, because of his curse. Apollo was so confident in the Trojan victory that he hadn't even bothered checking on what she saw. He regretted being so harsh, and after she was taken as a slave by Agamemnon. He was still too angry, his immortal pride clinging to it, to admit his wrongdoing. What he could do was end her line, so no one would ever bear it again.

"You made sure, though," Artemis whispered. "We both did."

"Your curse extended beyond her?" Athena whispered, enraged. She was on the Greeks' side during the war. When the city fell, Cassandra ran to her temple, knowing that Apollo had forsaken her. She was abused and raped by a Greek, Ajax, inside of the temple before being taken captive. There were certain rules, and that act of treason broke two of them. One, supplicants of the gods were not to be touched, and Cassandra became one as she clung to Athena's statue. Second, after the whole Medusa fiasco, it was agreed that no intercourse would be allowed in the temples of the immortals, by anyone. Not only did it offend Athena, it offended the whole damn pantheon.

Apollo's emotions about her at that point were so twisted, warring between malice and regret, but even he knew that she didn't deserve that. Odysseus had warned the Greeks that Ajax should be punished for his crimes, as all the gods were enraged. He thought they got what they deserved at the hands of Poseidon and Athena, who rarely worked together on anything. Even Apollo's father had a hand in the punishment and thoroughly enjoyed it. Ajax died at Athena's hands, painfully from what he heard, as justice for the disrespect he'd given her. But Cassandra's suffering never eased…

"I was angry, Athena. I wasn't at my best back then," Apollo countered. "I tried to ensure that her line ended. Apparently, someone had a different plan in mind."

"None of us were at our best, then," she agreed, her tone slightly less hostile. "What are we going to do about this?"

"You are going to let me handle it," Apollo huffed.

"I don't think," Athena began, but Apollo silenced her with a look.

"This is my mess to clean up, Athena, and I'm going to figure out who assisted in the making of it," he promised. He turned to his sister and Orion. "We will talk later."

Thanks to his blessing and despite the load of protective spells he was sure Cas had cast, Apollo could still feel her. He knew where to find her, and he wouldn't stop until he made things right. Artemis nodded before Apollo took a deep breath and disappeared.

Of course, Cassia would be in a cave. Oracles and seers seemed to like them.

When he appeared, she was fumbling with various scrolls, bottles and ingredients scattered around her on a few different tables. She worked over a few different bowls, two steaming over a fire. She was muttering to herself, in Latin and ancient Egyptian.

"I thought a knife thrown towards your head would send the message loud and clear," Cas seethed as she threw a handful of powder into one of the bowls, which emitted sparks.

"Most would have killed you for that," Apollo explained.

"That's one way to rid me of this damned curse," she snorted. "Well, go ahead. Either kill me or get out."

"I don't want to kill you, Cassia," he intoned. Cas stopped what she was doing and held up her hand. Her expression was riddled with resignation, of pain and sadness that no human should ever have to suffer through.

"If you came here to apologize, I don't have time for it, Apollo." She grabbed a couple more ingredients, throwing them into the bowl. "I have a price on my head, and it's high. And when they catch me...," she quavered.

"When?"

"Let's just say that my nightmares about what Set would do look like child's play." Tears ran down her cheeks as she stirred one of the pots, pouring the liquid from one bowl into another before she wiped them away. "I'm assuming that was why you blessed me, to not get hurt, right?"

Apollo nodded his head. "Have you seen anything else?"

"No, no other possibilities right now. There's a lot of nasties coming for me, and if I don't do something, if I don't try," she wept, her voice finally catching. "I've made my bed, but my parents shouldn't suffer for it."

"This isn't your fault, Cassia. It's mine."

Cas put her hands on the table. "I get that you were just trying to help. I do. But you should have asked me instead of just assuming I needed it. Your apology means nothing to me, Apollo. It doesn't save me or my parents."

"You're right," he agreed before taking another step forward. She froze at his closeness. Apollo took her hand, removing the bandage and healing all her wounds. "Apologies will not help. But you have more than that. You have me."

A/N: I've had this scene in my head for a long time. I hope you enjoyed it! I won't be able to update next Sunday, so look for the next two weeks from now. Thank you for the reviews. They mean more than you ever know! Don't be shy or scared. I want to hear what you think!