"I am not doing this!" Something between a chuckle and a scoff tumbled out of Amy's mouth as she stared back at her incredulous reflection.

Maira countered her younger charge with a scoff of her own "Well then you'll just get left behind on your own, and you can forget any chance of escaping a tight spot" She stood beside Amy, grasping one of her arms around the wrist and lifting it towards the glass "Now, focus. Rather than thinking of this as a mirror, convince yourself that it's an empty frame. There's no glass and all you have to do is hop through it to get to the other side"

"That's what I'm saying; that's impossible. I know that there's glass there!"

"No there's not"

"There so is"

"Not if you don't want there to be. Just focus and imagine"

As Maira continued to shove her arm forward, Amy gave in and instead pulled her efforts into thinking about her brightly decorated full length mirror as a brightly decorated open window. As soon as images of glass appeared in her head, she forced them out. It was going to work. It had to. And surprisingly enough, after a few seconds she felt a cool sensation engulf her hand rather the feeling of her hands tapping against the glass. Cracking one eye open, Amy witnessed her hand almost swallowed by the mirror as if she had dipped it in water.

"Get out…" She marvelled with a gaping mouth.

Maira just looked smug with herself "See? I told you. Don't limit yourself thinking like a normal person. I mean this is a basic ability for every demigod but it's probably one of the most useful ones, especially because it works on most reflective surfaces"

"Most?"

This question had Maira scratching the back of her neck due to her being unable to answer it properly "Well I've never tried it with anything smaller than a large puddle, and I wouldn't recommend it either. Can you imagine jumping through and then getting stuck…?" She shuddered "Just stick to things that'll fit your body through them"

The morning after Eros left, Maira had been determined to keep teaching Amy about her demigod abilities. As soon as Poseidon's daughter had exclaimed that they would jumping through portals Amy was ready to call her bluff. But here they were, after Maira's lengthy explanation that the portals lead in and out of a place nicknamed the 'Mirror World'. Traveling through it was so instantaneous that everyone only ever remembered seeing fog. A person would have to really focus on the area they would want to exit at, falling out of the closest reflective surface. Maira had added that when demigods first discovered this ability, they had absolutely no control and would up falling through in the most random locations.

"But it looks you're a natural" Maira complimented "Now picture the warehouse where we met" And before giving Amy anymore warning than that, she lightly shoved Amy from behind and followed straight after the girl who disappeared with little more than a yelp.

After a few seconds of seeing fog and feeling a chill wrap around her body, Amy found herself and Maira standing in the very same area where they had several days ago. Amy rounded on Maira, looking scandalised.

"Why did you do that!? What if I hadn't been concentrating and ended up on the other side of the world?"

Maira chuckled "Not giving you much time meant that you wouldn't overthink it. I said that you're a natural, I knew that you'd get it" The compliment caught Amy off guard. On the inside she bristled with pride at the faith that her mentor had in her and she wanted to smile but she was also still prickly from the shock so she simply grumbled about not scaring her again. The other girl could only smirk a little in response.

"So it's really that easy?" Amy questioned, smug about her rapid progress.

"Pretty much, I guess. It's important to focus at first so that you actually don't end up in the ass end of nowhere" Maira sighed "Some people struggle at the beginning and then the focus just becomes second nature. For someone who has never had teaching in it since being a child, you're totally great. Now stop fishing for compliments" She joked, looking at Amy from the corner of her eye. Amy only threw her arms up in defence and made a small noise of denial.

Slowly one leap through space turned into two, then into three until it all bled into an endless cycle hours later, a rapid game of cat and mouse between the mentor and student. They leapt all over the city, drenched from the water of emerging in the bay. Maira appeared in one spot and then disappeared into another, shouting the next location and giggling with Amy equally as giddy and chasing her tail.

—

Beads of water fell into small pools around the two as they sat on the front steps to the Martin household.

"Oh my god, I'm soaked!" Amy brought one of the neon coloured towels from her face and up towards the clumps of her water-logged hair. The chase had finally ended, with Maira using her superior skills in the water to dive down below surface before Amy could catch up and then taking her charge by surprise and dragging her under. It forced Amy to give up the chase and resulted in Maira being the winner, despite Amy protesting that it should be considered cheating.

She made to look at her mentor and noticed that Maira was calmly leaning back and allowing the glowing sun to soak in her skin, a green towel resting across her shoulders and stopping her hair from touching her clothes. The look on her face was peaceful and the ghosts of the joy and laughter from the afternoon's activity caressed her face. Amy was about to just peacefully leave her alone to her rest, out of respect, but then she had a better idea.

Seconds later Maira shrieked as cold water hit her face again "Amy!" She playfully glared at the younger girl who had used her wet hair much like a dog would. While Amy only continued to laugh, Maira sighed and chuckled "Watch yourself genius, your bra is completely showing" It was Amy's turn to shriek as she looked down to see that Maira was indeed right and her light coloured top was completely bogged down by water and completely transparent to her frilly undergarment. She quickly used one of the towels to cover herself.

"Thanks for telling me earlier, teach!" She said between giggles and over the sound of Miara's now rising laughter.

"Amy?"

Both of their laughter ceased immediately and heads whipped around at the sound of the new voice, unfamiliar to Maira but one that Amy knew all too well. A few feet away stood the unmistakable Chloe King.

"Chloe!?" Amy rose up from her sitting position, the towel still covering her chest.

"Amy!" Another figure beside Chloe rushed forward quickly and hurried up the steps to embrace the girl quickly. As he pulled back, he was smiling. But Paul was the only one who was smiling.

On Chloe's other side stood Alek with his arms folded just like Chloe's were, but his face was much more sour as he glared directly at Amy. Chloe, meanwhile, was looking with confusion between Amy and Maira.

"Chloe, what are you doing here?" Amy tumbled out the words in just one breath, unsure of how to feel especially after Paul had just hugged her. She took a step away, closer towards Maira. As everyone had been watching her so carefully, this movement didn't go unnoticed. Paul's smile faltered but he remained standing where he was. Chloe, however, took a step forward. But it was Alek, who only seemed to be getting angrier by the second, that spoke first.

"See, I told you she was just off galavanting with someone!" He pointed an accusing finger at Amy and then at the unknown woman.

"Galavanting?" Amy gasped "What the hell?"

Chloe stared directly at Amy's face "Amy, where have you been? You haven't answered any of our calls or texts. We've been so worried! You've even missed school!"

Amy groaned, allowing the last part to sink in. She hadn't even thought about it; passing her time with Maira had been so enjoyable and her fathers didn't question her about it that it had slipped her mind. But then she began to process what else Chloe had said. They were worried? And a rage began to build inside her "Worried, huh?" She seethed.

"Clearly for no reason" Alek carried on "We've wasted so much time, thanks to you" It was meant to be another punch in the gut, just like the other day at the cafe. It had to be. There was no way that Alek could've actually viewed her as that useless and burdensome.

"Hey!" An equally angry voice spoke out and finally all eyes fully focused on the new girl; brown hair dripping wet, olive skin gleaming but blue eyes simmering with irritation "Would you back off? Don't yell at her"

"Who are you?" It was Chloe that asked. She had shown no sign of stopping Alek which had bemused Amy and served in getting her more frustrated. Why were they treating her like this?

"Chloe, this is Maira Stratis" Amy took in a deep breath, composing herself "She's a new friend of mine"

"This…is Chloe!?" Maira pointed and snorted. Amy couldn't understand why she was being so defensive at that moment, not realising that Maira not only noticed Amy's anger but also couldn't believe that they were treating her this way.

Chloe immediately raised an annoyed eyebrow "I'm sorry? What's that supposed to mean?" She stepped closer once again and raised her voice at Amy "And who's the guy that Alek saw you two with in the park yesterday?"

"You guys saw Eric?"

"Amy we're worried! Why are you hanging with older people? You're skipping school and you're ignoring us!" Amy continued to yell "What if you get hurt!?"

"Oh, so now that I'm the one doing the ignoring, it's a nightmare!?" Amy couldn't hold it in anymore as she screamed back at her best friend "Well I'm sorry for getting on with my own life after you all shut me out! I didn't get the memo that I was supposed to just be a benchwarmer for you, a faithful puppy waiting around with a cup of coffee for the lovely Chloe whenever she needed it!" By this point she was yelling loud enough for all the neighbours to hear but she couldn't stop the words of sliding out one after another. She watched not just Chloe's, but also Alek and Paul's eyes getting wider and wider by the minute as she spoke. Subconsciously, she had also moved closer and closer to Maira while ranting "I'm so sorry that I've had my own problems to deal with while I wasn't good enough for any of you" She finished off.

"Amy…" Paul was the first to speak.

"All you had to do was be a good friend to her!" Alek growled

"And who was going to be a good friend to her!?" Maira growled right back and placed a hand on Amy's shoulder. The younger girl was shaking. She was cold from the water lingering on her body. She was furious from the way that these people were speaking to her. Maira couldn't take it much longer. When Amy had first told her the story of how her friends had ignored her and left her out of the loop, she thought that couldn't have been that bad; teenagers were teenagers. Of course them being Mai did change things. But now that she saw how upset Amy was, her protective instincts were kicking in. Amy was a sweet person and Maira wasn't about to let them talk to her like that "You neglected her, you jerks! Her life isn't yours to control!"

"I don't mean to be rude but I don't think this is your business" Paul attempted to speak.

"It's more her business than yours!" Amy snapped at him this time "You guys have no idea what's happened, and you don't have a right to know actually. Go deal with your own Mai problems and leave me alone!"

All was silent for a second as it sunk in for everyone that Amy just spilled their big secret to a random stranger. Paul's mouth dropped open, it was surprising that it didn't reach the floor. Chloe looked like she'd just been slapped in the face and Alek had been shut up completely and stood there blinking several times in an effort to make sure he had just heard what he thought he heard.

But before anymore angry words left anyone's mouth, before any accusations of betrayal were hurdled out, a low rumble sounded from the end of the street. The spluttering of an engine followed and quickly a car shot into the street from around a corner, shredding a bush right on the end in it's haste. Made in the model of some kind of older sports car, it had definitely seen better days. It was approaching the group so rapidly that breaking the speed limit was an understatement. The faded red car was tearing towards them, shooting off another splutter every once in a while.

"Is it the Order!?" Alek grabbed Chloe's shoulders to pull her back. He pulled her up the stairs closer to Paul.

The car swerved to a halt right in front of the house. It blew up a cloud of dust, leaving everyone coughing and swiping the dust away and Maira chuckled "You Mai really do think you're the centre of the universe, don't you?" Amy's heart was in her throat but she felt relaxed the second she noticed that Maira was.

As the smoke cleared slowly, they spotted a figure stepping out of the car. They heard him before they fully saw him "Hey, Maira, what's up baby?" When they finally saw him; his face was grinning brightly. Compared the thick and tightly curled dark hair on his head, his face only had some light stubble. Freckles dotted his nose and forehead but otherwise his smooth, dark skin was unblemished. But his eyes were his most attractive feature and they were almost golden in how they shone, framed by long eyelashes and also what appeared to be a small trail of eyeliner.

"Maira, who is he?" Amy whispered "Is he one of us?" She had forgotten for a moment about the Mai superior hearing and thought that they were distracted enough not to pay attention.

"Close" The demigoddess smiled but didn't yet elaborate "Hi Taylor!" She skipped forward, dragging Amy along. She flung her arms around the guy, who stood only a few inches taller than her and Amy "Taylor's a good friend of mine who's been keeping an eye on the area for anything suspicious. Just in case more guys like Skrool showed up"

"Right and we need to fly ASAP" Taylor only briefly nodded at Amy in acknowledgment before opening the car door for them "Skrool's brought a friend along"

"Another one?" Amy groaned as she watched Maira climbing into the car.

"Worse" Taylor shook his head "He's brought a Fury" And it was Maira's turn to groan.

"Fury?"

"I'll explain later" Maira beckoned Amy to hurry and get in the car "For now, we gotta go. If Taylor's saying it's bad then I trust him, I never doubt his eyes. He is a Gryphon after all"