Chapter 12

2 months later

Theresa could feel that she was clutching the steering wheel much too tightly, but right now she didn't really care, even though her knuckles were going white, Theresa just kept clutching the steering wheel, she was on her way to see her Father so she could try on her Mother's wedding dress, since Theresa stupidly still hadn't told her Father that she and Jay were to put the wedding on hold, mainly because she couldn't think of anything to tell her Father why they were post-pone the wedding, since she definitely couldn't tell her Father the truth, but Theresa was afraid that anything that she told her Father he would automatically think that she was pregnant… which of course was impossible since Jay and Theresa hadn't had any alone time since the night that he proposed, now because everyone was living in the school, in the same room, it was impossible for anyone to get any alone time, plus Jay was so busy trying to think of a plan to stop Cronus from escaping, and any free time that Theresa got was her practicing to turn into a wolf, which she could almost do perfectly now.

As Theresa turned down her street, and into her drive way she began wishing that Jay was with her, but he had left early that morning, and no one knew where he went, although she suspected that Atlanta knew something since she was far too giggly this morning, but that could be because her and Archie and their "adopted" (they were in the process of signing the papers to adopt Chloe, but they weren't finished yet, but Archie and Atlanta already considered Chloe their daughter, and she already considered them her parents), daughter Chloe were going for a hike, something that they all desperately needed, Theresa sighed as she pulled into her driveway fighting back tears, how she wished that this was going to be her first dress fitting and, her and Jay were getting ready to get married and finally start a family.

"Hey Theresa." Her Father said walking down the front porch stairs as Theresa got out of her car.

"Hi, Dad." Theresa said forcing a smile as her Father embraced her in a hug, and then put his arm around her as they began walking up the steps and inside the house, and into the living room where Theresa was surprised to see her Mother's wedding dress hanging over the fireplace, and when Theresa saw it she had to fight back tears.

"I know, isn't it beautiful?" Theresa's Father asked, "you're going to make a beautiful bride wearing this dress."

Theresa could feel her heart breaking even worse when she heard her Father's excitement in his voice, she really didn't want to have to break the news to her Father, but if she waited much longer then he would start sending out invitations to people and if that happened then there was nothing that Theresa could do to stop the wedding.

"Dad…" Theresa began before trailing off.

"What's up?" Theresa's Father asked and Theresa wondered what was written on her face since her Father's expression turned from excitement to serious, "is everything OK?"

"No not really…" Theresa said trailing off again.

"Is it Jay?" Her Father asked and again his expression turned serious.

"What?" Theresa asked being taken off guard slightly.

"Did he hurt you?" He demanded, "did he break up with you?"

"No," Theresa said hurriedly, "nothing like that, Jay and I are happier then ever."

"Then what's wrong?" Theresa's Father asked again.

"Dad," Theresa began walking over to the couch sitting down, "we need to talk."

Theresa's Father didn't say anything he just walked over sitting down beside Theresa, and for a long while neither one of them spoke, finally Theresa broke the silence.

Anna was starting to get annoyed, it had 2 months now, and she still had no idea where Odie could be, or if he was still even alive, at that thought Anna let out a small growl, which was all she could do now that she was part mortal, sighing she looked up at the sky, it was probably about noon judging by where the sun was in the sky… Anna knew that she was running out of time, the planets would be aligning in just a few short weeks, and she hadn't been home to check in with Clarissa, so she had no idea what was going on with Cronus, and that was making her even more nervous, since if Anna didn't find Odie soon then there was no way to break him out of Tarturas… but Anna didn't doubt for a second that Cronus didn't have a plan B in case she failed.

"Where are you, Odie?" Anna whispered to herself as she heard a car park from somewhere in the distance, "probably just some hikers," Anna thought to herself as she ran off not wanting to draw attention to herself.

Cronus was bored of being trapped in a dungeon, and he was starting to get agitated at the fact that he still couldn't get a hold of Anna, whenever he tried to contact her by the necklace that he had given her all he got was her annoying friend, Clarissa, telling him that she had no idea where Anna was, and that she had left to go find Odie, now at first Cronus had some hope when Clarissa first gave him that news, she was a good hunter and Cronus was sure that Anna could have found him super quickly, and gotten him back and gotten him strong enough to break him out of Tarturas, but that had been two months ago… and now Cronus was less than impressed, of course he had a plan B in case Anna failed, he would be at his strongest when the planets aligned, so breaking out wouldn't be the biggest problem, the biggest problem would be all the guards that were around his cell, because of what he had done the last time he broke out, but he could probably take care of at least most of them before opening a portal and escaping, and the if Anna failed him he would find her daughter and kill her, after he took care of the heroes of course.

"Dinner time Cronus." Campe said as she slid a tray under the door, Cronus looked at it and rolled his eyes, as he stared at the plain bread and water awaiting him.

"You know it's a good thing that I'm a god, and we can live on little food or else I'd be dead by now." Cronus said sarcastically.

"You're lucky you're even getting any food," Campe said through gritted teeth.

"Oh come now, Campe, don't you like me?" Cronus asked pretending to sound hurt.

"I like you about as much as a hangnail."

"That's a shame," Cronus said standing up walking over to the bars on the door, "because I like you," he said giving her a smile.

Campe rolled her eyes, "good night, Cronus," she said before slamming the little door closing the bars, leaving Cronus all alone, which is how he liked it, laughing Cronus picked up the tray of food and sat back down on the bed, in just a few short weeks, one way or another, he would be out of here for good.

Odie pounded on the glass for what seemed like the hundredth time in vain, he hadn't fed for over a month now and he was growing weaker and weaker by the day, was this what his ex-friends were planning on doing to him, starving him to death? Growling Odie pounded on the glass again.

"Hera!" He screamed, "you can't keep me in here forever!"

"That's true." Hera said as she appeared in front of him.

"So let me out then!" Odie growled.

"I would if I weren't so sure you'd kill everyone." Hera said in a simple yet mocking tone.

"You're an awful god!" Odie screamed pounding on the glass, "when I get out of here you'll be the first one I kill!"

"You're never getting out of there, Odie."

"Is that what you think?" Odie asked laughing, "You forget that I have a friend on the outside who would be more than happy to break me out of here."

Hera didn't say anything she just looked at Odie with a bored expression on her face, "no I didn't forget that, Odie, however did you forget that we have two physics among us?"

"They'll never be able to stop her."

"Maybe not, but they can give us a heads up, and then we'll have both of you locked in here, and then Cronus won't be able to escape from Tarturas, and since you and what's her name?" Hera asked although Odie figured that it was a rhetorical question so he didn't bother answering it, "Anna," Hera said after a moment, "since the two of you refuse to not eat human meat, I'm afraid you're both going to be stuck in here forever."

Odie laughed pounding on the glass, again nothing happened, he knew that he would never escape that way but in that moment he was too angry to care, "you're going to regret everything you said to me just now!" Odie said growling, "When I get out of here, and trust me I will, you will pay!"

"Goodbye, Odie." Hera said simply as she walked into the shadows disappearing, once she was gone Odie looked up at the ceiling, sighing, "where are you, Anna?" he whispered as he closed his eyes hoping that she would get to him sooner rather than later.

When Hera walked back into her office she was greeted by shocked faces from Herry, Giselle, Neil, Krista, Zeus and Persephone.

"Wow, Hera, that was kind of harsh." Herry said the surprise that was written on his face was evident in his voice.

"I did what I had to do." Hera said simply, as she sat down at her desk.

"What did you do exactly?" Persephone asked.

"Odie's getting weaker and weaker, and he's starving down there, and so he's pretty much dying a slow death, I'm trying to speed it up a little."

"What?" Giselle asked being taken off guard.

"Are you sure there's no way to turn him back?" Neil asked.

"No, if he would just give up human meat, and change his lifestyle, we could let him out, but he refuses to, so this is our only option or else we'll all be dead." Hera said and although she tried to hide the sadness she was feeling at having to do this to Odie, she failed since she still thought of all the heroes as her children.

"I wish there was another way." Zeus said sadly.

Hera didn't say anything she just looked at Zeus and nodded, fighting back tears.

Theresa sighed as she left her Father's house, the talk had gone about as well as she had expected, as soon as she told him that they were going to have to postpone the wedding he immediately expected that she was pregnant, and trying to tell him otherwise was like trying to pull teeth, and then he accused her that she and Jay were running off elope without him, and again Theresa had to try and convince him that that wasn't the case either, and then needless to say he was heartbroken since he was super excited to see his only child get married, and he couldn't wait to give Theresa away, God how she wished that Jay had have been with her today, and at that moment Theresa wondered where he had been all day, taking out her PMR she tried to call him but there was no answer.

"Where are you, Jay?" Theresa asked herself as she got in her car driving out of her father's driveway and speeding down the street back towards the school.

Jay was super nervous as he waited outside the school for Theresa to get back; he had planned a romantic evening for the two of them since he knew how hard it was going to be for her to tell her Dad that they had to postpone the wedding, and although Jay probably should have gone with her today he had asked Persephone and she had told him that her wedding dress was going to be out in the open and even though they were postponing the wedding Jay didn't want to see her dress, and so he decided to go get the room that he had rented all set up for the night, since time was running out for when Cronus was supposed to be breaking out of Tarturas, and since Jay was starting to get stressed out and pushing Theresa hard to practice her ability to change into a wolf, so this night was definitely something that they both needed, since God only knew when they would get any alone time if Cronus escaped.

Jay smiled as Theresa finally pulled up to the school, and ran down to her car before she could even turn it off.

"Where have you been all day?" Theresa asked and to Jay's surprise she sounded upset.

"I've been busy…" Jay said not wanting to ruin the surprise.

"Busy doing what?" Theresa demanded.

Jay wasn't sure what to say but the angry and sad look on Theresa's face told Jay that he should definitely say something, but he wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't ruin the surprise, he was now wishing that he had have went with Theresa today.

"Jay, do you know how hard it was for me to have to tell my Dad that we're postponing the wedding?" Theresa asked fighting back tears, "he was so hurt." She said looking down at the steering wheel.

Jay felt unbelievably guilty now, and hopped in Theresa's car taking her hand, squeezing it, "I'm so sorry." Jay said, feeling his heart breaking as Theresa wiped away a tear with her free hand, "I have a surprise for you." Jay finally said, and to Jay's relief Theresa turned her head looking confused.

"What kind of surprise?"

"Come on, I'll show you." Jay said getting out of her car, "we do have to walk a bit."

Theresa stared at Jay skeptically, she was angry at him, but at that moment she was super curious about what kind of surprise he could have in store for her.

"So are you coming?" Jay asked feeling the nerves coming back at the thought of Theresa saying no.

"Yeah." Theresa said getting out of her car, and taking Jay's hand as they walked down the street, and for a while neither one of them spoke, and as they walked farther and farther away Theresa was becoming more and more curious where Jay could be taking her, but she didn't have to wonder for long since finally Jay lead her inside a hotel.

"A hotel?" Theresa asked surprised.

"I thought we could both use a night away from all the craziness." Jay said smiling as he walked up to the receptionist, after he checked in and was handed a key Jay walked back over to Theresa and took her hand leading her to the elevator, and after they got off the elevator Jay stopped Theresa before they could walk too far.

"Hang on; before we walk into the room I want you to put this over your eyes." Jay said taking a bandana out of his pocket.

"Why?" Theresa asked being taken off guard.

"It's part of the surprise." Jay said smiling at Theresa, sighing Theresa turned around allowing Jay to put the bandana over her eyes, after she couldn't see Jay took her hand and led her down the hallway, after what seemed like an eternity, finally Jay stopped walking and Theresa could hear him unlock the door, and then he took her hand again and led her into the room.
"OK, you ready?" Jay asked and Theresa could hear the excitement in his voice, which made Theresa feel a strange mixture of excited and nervous.

"Yeah." Theresa said, and Jay untied the bandana from her eyes, and as soon as Theresa saw the room her heart fluttered and tears filled her eyes, Jay had candles lit all around the room, with rose petals on the bed, "oh, Jay." Theresa said turning to face him, Jay smiled picking Theresa up kissing her before carrying her to the bed.

Anna smiled as she spotted the boy that Odie had attacked a few months ago, Neil she was pretty sure his name was, and his wife and new born baby were with him, out for a walk, "perfect," she whispered to herself as she discovered that she had finally found the heroes, and that meant that she would be able to find Odie now, all she had to do was trick them into bringing her back to the school, but Anna wasn't sure how she was going to do that, looking around she decided to go with the easiest thing, pretending to be hurt, all she would have to do is make it look like she had been out for a run and then pretend that she had twisted her ankle, and then she would attack the heroes before they even knew what hit them.

"Show time." Anna said as she ran a little farther away from where Neil was standing, as soon as she ran far enough that she couldn't see him anymore, Anna began running, making sure her pace would match a human's, and as soon as Anna was in front of Neil, and his wife, she fell and began crying clutching at her ankle, "ouch!"

"Are you OK, miss?" Neil asked running over to Anna, kneeling down beside her.

"No I twisted my ankle." Anna cried.

"Can you stand?" Krista asked, sounding just as concerned as Neil.

"I can try." Anna said.

"Here let me help you." Neil said offering Anna his hand, Anna took it and tried to stand, but she pretended that it hurt far too badly, and fell back down.

"We should bring her to the school, let her rest there for a while." Krista suggested.

"Good idea." Neil said standing up, walking behind Anna, "I'm going to put my hands under your arm pits, and lift you up that way, you won't have to put any weight on your ankle." Neil said.

"Alright." Anna said as Neil put his hands under her arm pits, and lifting her up, he then put his hand on her waist, to make sure that she didn't put any weight on her ankle, and Anna was a little surprised that Neil and his wife were willing to help him.

"Thank-you." Anna said.

"You're welcome." Neil said smiling, "we're not too far away from our school you can at least rest there and get your ankle checked out."

"Awesome." Anna said smiling, and also feeling an immense amount of guilt wash over her at the thought of having to betray Odie's old friends, they all seemed pretty nice, but Anna had no choice she had to save Odie and save her daughter, no matter the consequences.

End Chapter 12.

Please review, the next chapter is when a lot of the action will start.

I don't own COTT