Please, I hope that you enjoy this. I probably won't update for another week, though. What with school starting again. Luv you all, and thank you to those who reviewed.

MAX POV

When I stepped into the throne room, everything was different. For one, the huge figures on the equally massive (and equally freaky) thrones were now silent, as opposed to their silly kiddy fight before. Yeah, I had caught on. They had looked more like gigantic, pissed off toddlers than the majestic gods they were supposed to be.

One of the figures (blushes madly as the realization comes- it's the hot one, with the gorgeous blond hair and stunning blue eyes) raises his eyebrow at me, and I hear a voice in my head. 'Oh, fine, toddler I may be, but I'm still the hottest.' I snickered, and he grinned at me. But then…my…uh…daddy motioned me forwards.

Slowly but surely (dude, that reminds me of a turtle- and I most definitely ain't a friggin' turtle!) I moved forward, keeping my eyes locked on my supposed father. Sweet mother or mercy, he was huge. Bigger than any NBA players, that's for sure. If he tried to hug me, he'd kill me. Big an' bad eyed me and sighed.

"I take it that the demigods haven't enlightened you." I stared at him. Enlightened? WTF? Where they all Buddha worshipers? He heaved a sigh. Again. Was I that exasperating? I sure hoped I was. I heard a dry chuckle come from the guy who was dressed in combat jacket, boots…actually, he was dressed in combat everything. When he caught me staring, he smirked at me.

I just rolled my eyes and he grinned at my response. The big guy slammed his hand down on the armrest of his marble throne, successfully getting everyone's attention. His big, gigantic, crush-you-if-it-lands-on-you-throne. Happy thoughts, Max, happy thoughts. Think POSITIVE! Hehe. Yeah. But Max doesn't do positive, 'cause it would so ruin her pessimistic shtick. "Maximum Ride!" He bellowed. "Do you know what you are?" I gaped at him. Was her serious? I mean, for real? This had to be some sort of sick joke. He (Zeus, was it?) glared at me.

"This is not a joke, daughter. Please pay attention." I eyed him cautiously. Ooo-kay… "We are the Greek gods. You see, they never really died or 'left'. The mortals believed in us, and so we continued…" He paused for dramatic effect, then eyed me and sighed. "This will take far to long." Zeus grumbled. "Here." And when he pointed his finger straight at me, a bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and collided—wait for it—with my head. For what felt like the bazillionth time that day, I blacked out.

When my eyes opened, I realized that my super gigantic mommy was chewing out my super powerful daddy. I barely suppressed a snicker when my eyes took in the sight. Zeus was sitting in his throne, with a sheepish expression on his face, while Hera was leaning over him, howling words of rage. Things like,

"You bastard! Why the Hades would you knock her out?!" and "Idiot! That's what you are! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! IF SHE WASN'T PARTIALLY YOURS SHE WOULD HAVE EVAPORATED!" and my personal favourite… "I knew I shouldn't have married you! I knew it! Mother always told me, but I can't believe I didn't listen! This is RIDICULOUS! THE NERVE! The only good gift you gave me was our children!"

When she screamed this, two of the gods—one of them being the guy in military clothes, and the other was a man who looked like he had just come out of a workshop; oily, dirty clothes, greasy hands and a huge tool belt, he didn't exactly fit into the normal description of a god. But he had a kind twinkle in his eye, and a grumpy yet gentle face—grinned widely. Hmmm...they must be the 'children'.

They seemed to enjoy watching their mom blow up. However, when I did a quick check-just to make sure I wasn't missing any important body parts, like my legs, arms or midsection-I realized something. A vast part of my brain was filled with a knowledge I hadn't had before. The stories of Hercules, Jason, Prometheus.

The legends about half bloods, heroes, godlings, but I wasn't one of them. I was the daughter of two gods. Two very, very, powerful gods. So that made me…the realization struck me almost as fast as the lightning had. "Holy crow!" I shrieked. "I'm a goddess!"

Dead silence. Every head was turned to me, including that of my self-proclaimed parents. The golden haired god face-palmed. "Now she figures it out." For some reason, that irritated me.

"And who the hell are you?" I snarled. He raised an eyebrow. "I am Apollo." he said, and my eyes widened. That explained the laid back attitude. But it still didn't give him the right to give me crap. My eyes narrowed. "Good for you." I snapped, and whirled to face my parents. "Sooo...am I a goddess?" My mother-Hera, I had to keep reminding myself-nodded.

"Yes, dear, you are. You were born from me...and your father helped." She added the last part somewhat grudgingly. Zeus shot Hera a glare. Then he huffed and turned his turbulent, sky blue eyes on me. I realized that my eyes came from my Her-mom. But then I cut straight to the chase.

"Why did you let me go through all of that? The cages, the experimenting! If I'm your child, why didn't you keep me? Did you want me to end up like this?" I rolled my shoulders so that my wings slid out, and glared angrily at them. The other gods couldn't seem to stop gawking.

"Darling, we love you. When you were born you were the cutest baby ever!" Hera gushed. Then Zeus cut in. "Maximum, we had no choice. There were evil forces at work, and if we had kept you we might have lost you. We're sorry." A collective gasp from behind me...Apparently daddy dearest didn't apologize often. I was still curious, though.

"But why didn't you take me back? Why did you let me suffer? Why the hell couldn't you just destroy the guys trying to kill me all the time?" Hera looked close to tears. "We're sorry!" She murmured. "We couldn't interfere. Besides, hasn't this made you stronger? Aren't you grateful?" The last part was said by Zeus.

But When I thought about it...yeah, I was grateful. Not so much for the hellish nightmare of white coats and cages, but for the toughening. I was battle ready now, and would be in an instant.

I had proved myself so many times, even I didn't doubt my own abilities anymore. I was proud of what I was, and I knew I could take down anyone or anything standing in my path. So I was grateful. Even though I wished that they had been there, I guess they must have been watching me the whole time.

What with the whole 'Being a powerful god' and all. I grinned. But then my grin faded. "So who was ? Obviously not my real mom..." I muttered. Hera beamed at me. "She was my daughter...my other daughter. I didn't have her the way birth normally goes. I actually created her, using my essence and the DNA of a mortal man whom I found kind. So technically, she is your sister."

My jaw dropped. This was weird. Really, really weird. But also kind of cool, in a way. It was good to know that my real mom had cared.