Stephanie's head was spinning as Phobos flashed her to someplace called the Vanishing Isle. It was a beautiful floating island across from Mount Olympus. She had never imagined such a place existed.

As they walked, gods and goddesses looked up in confusion to see Stef there. But, once Phobos looked their way, they dropped their eyes. Only a few really could care less. Phobos really was a man to be feared. Even in the realm of the gods. And she was starting to learn the reasons why.

Now that they were not in New Orleans at the end of July, his regular black pants and shirt were topped by a long black leather jacket and an extra FU vibe.

She noticed that so many of the gods and goddesses had similar coloring to her's. Most of the people they passed had black hair and pale blue eyes. No wonder, Phobos assumed she was related to them.

Phobos lead her through the pathways and hallways to a door where he knocked. A few moments later, a beautiful blond woman with light blue eyes opened the door. Inside, Stef could see a very heavily muscled man with white blond hair and a deep scar down his face, passed out asleep with a young child sleeping across his chest. The woman looked back and smiled, then stepped out to talk to them.

"I am sorry to bother you Delphine." Phobos started. "I was hoping you could help us with something."

"No problem. Kristof did not sleep well last night. Jericho just got him to sleep. What can I help you with Pho?"

Stef could not keep her mouth shut. "So, men around here don't help with childcare huh?"

Both Delphine and Stef glared at him waiting for an answer.

"Hey now. What is this, gang up on Phobos day? Let's put things into honest perspective here. I am over ten thousand years old. Ancients were never big on gender equality and shit. And my mother is the goddess of unceasing anger. Not exactly the maternal type. That was what the servants were for. I have not been around a real baby in centuries. Now all of a sudden, Oneroi have emotions again, Zarek is married with kids, Cratus is a sleep with a boy on his shoulder and you want to take a few years of extreme changes and hold them against the thousands of years of life that beat other thoughts in my head?"

"Honestly, I couldn't follow any of that." Stef finally confessed. "Except for the part about you being ten thousand years old. Ew, talk about creepy old man factor."

Phobos growled. "Really? That is what you get from that? That I am old?"

"Oh, yeah. Mr. tall, dark and ancient." She looked him up and down.

That shocked Phobos. "Wait, I went from being Mr. tall, dark and intimidating; to being Mr. tall, dark and ancient? What the hell?"

Stef smiled and patted Phobos on the cheek. "Nice to know you can still keep up with that geriatric mind of yours."

Delphine bust out laughing. "Oh wow. I really like having my emotions. This is just too much fun. Sweety, my name is Delphine, and I think that we are going to be great friends." Delphine extended her hand to Stef.

"Stephanie, but everyone calls me Stef." Stef paused. "Except for this clown who still calls me Stephanie for some reason." She shook her head.

Phobos shrugged with a slight pull on the right side of his lips. The gesture almost looked boyish and sweet.

"You know, I should tell you about the time when I asked Phobos how to seduce a man…" Delphine continued.

"Hey now, I am still here!" Phobos pouted.

Delphine stopped and looked at him. "And your point is?"

"Are you seriously going to do this to me Delphine?"

"Yes, I have known you for too long to be scared by your tricks." The goddess stared him down. Then she turned back to Stef with a wink. Stef smiled brightly at her new found friend.

"So, back to why you are here." Delphine relented. "I am assuming it is because of your Oneroi blood?"

"Oneroi blood?" Stef questioned. She heard Phobos say it before, but he never explained.

"The Oneroi are the dream gods of the Greek pantheon. We monitor people's dreams to help keep the peace, among other things."

Stef looked at Phobos. "Was Corwin an Oneroi?"

"Yes and no. He is of the same category, his father is Phobetor. As such, he mostly delves into nightmares. However, like many Oneroi, he went Skoti a long time ago."

Delphine looked at Phobos. "Why was Corwin in her dreams?"

He gave her a droll stare. "Can't you guess?"

Delphine pressed her lips. "Zeth!" She called out.

A few moments later, a tall man with short black hair and blue eyes popped into the hallway.

"Phobos! I have a bone to pick with you. Why in the hell did you stab Corwin?" Zeth demanded.

"Perhaps because Corwin was breaking the rules." Delphine defended.

"What are you talking about?"

Phobos finally got a chance to speak. "Stephanie, meet Zeth, leader of the Skoti who are the dream gods that kind of go off the rails and feed off of people's emotions in their dreams. Thus, Corwin's boss. Zeth, meet Stephanie, apparently the new Oneroi demigod that Corwin was trying to feed off of despite my warnings to move along."

Zeth glared at them both.

"Be glad that I only stabbed him Zeth. He will heal. I was well within my right to kill him and you know it. But, we have lost too many gods in recent years for me to do so lightly."

Zeth finally nodded. "So you are protecting us even in dreams now? This is a new move."

Phobos rolled his eyes. "Just her. Can we go some place private to talk?"

The two men and two women found themselves in the private council chambers of the Oneroi leadership. Since Zeth and Delphine made of two thirds of that leadership, it was as safe a place as any.

"Stephanie is not just an untapped Oneroi demigod. She is seriously under trained and highly vulnerable. She has lived a very difficult human life with lots of fodder for the Phobetor Skoki to pull from. However, during much of that life, she was magically blocked from having any dreams at all. She recently lost that protection and is a feeding beacon to any Skoti in the area. That and her untapped powers, she could be a feast."

Phobos looked at Stef before he continued. "And, just as a point of interest, she had gone six years without that protection at one point. Apparently, Skoti were there every night. So, someone had kept a tight lid on their meal plans. Otherwise, she should have been reported as Oneroi before now."

Zeth grimaced. "I can't speak for the past transgressions. However, I will make sure everyone knows that she is off limits. But, why is this so hush hush?"

"Do you all remember our last misadventure with the Key of Olympus?" Phobos asked.

Zeth snarled. "Don't remind me."

"Yeah, well buckle up buttercup. We just learned that apparently there are at least two Were-hunters in the world that are not bound by the Fates choice in mates. And one has his sights set on Stef as being his unwilling baby making factory to pop out more keys."

Delphine sucked in her breath. "You poor girl."

Zeth was letting out so many curses, even Phobos looked a little taken aback.

Phobos crossed his arms. "Stephanie needs to be trained and protected at all costs. We don't know if there are other demigods that the two wolves are after, but we can't let them get her."

Stef was starting to feel like a science experiment where just the wrong pressure was likely to make the whole thing explode.

"How many people know about this?" Delphine asked.

"So far, just us, Deimos, Jenna, Acheron and Thorn. And a human woman named Essie, but she is part of Ash's circle. She can be trusted. So, basically, the same group that got locked up with us or helped us out last time, just a few additions. We can't risk the information getting out again."

"Agreed." Delphine replied.

"Well honey, it looks like I will be the one training you." Zeth extended his hand to Stef.

Phobos growled. "I was hoping for Delphine's help on this one."

Zeth's face showed an exaggeration of shock and offense. "What you don't trust me with your woman Phobos?"

Stef dropped her eyes as she tried to hide just how much it affected her to be called Phobos's woman. It wasn't what Phobos had called her, but he didn't deny it either. So she was trying not to get too worked up, but she couldn't stop her heart from skipping a beat. What was she? A little girl with a schoolyard crush? Ugh!

"You are an Erotico Skoti Zeth."

"Question here. What is an Erotico Skoti?" Stef asked, as she tried to refocus her mind.

Delphine answered as the men postured. "As Phobos mentioned, sometimes Oneroi lose control and start to feed off of emotions. The reason is that until very recently, Zeus had banned all of the Oneroi from feeling our own emotions. It is a long story about prophecies and cover ups. But, the point is that the dream gods found that they could feel the emotions of the dreamer while in the dream."

Zeth jumped in. "It becomes an addiction. Because shortly after the dream, we would feel ourselves lose those emotions again. So, we would become so fixated on wanting to feel something, anything that it was all we would do. Phobotor Skoti feed off of fear during nightmares. Erotico Skoti feed off of sex dreams. Well, mostly having sex with the dreamer." He grinned wickedly.

Delphine rolled her eyes. "There was a purpose to allowing them to stay. They help the dreamer release some of the excess emotions, help them find peace. However, the danger is that in the addiction, sometimes the Skoti would return to the same humans dreams over and over again and cause that human harm. But, things are slowly changing now that we can feel our own emotions once again."

"OK then, so the sex freak wants to train me in my dreams?" Stef was very unsure of where things were headed.

Zeth's jaw went slack. "Now I am truly offended. I am more than just a sex freak, thank you very much."

Delphine added. "I hate to admit it, but he is one of our best fighters. And, as leader of the Skoti, he could definitely make sure that the others leave her alone."

Stef shook her head. "I am not having sex with anyone in my dreams. Ever. This is all too crazy for words."

"In all seriousness Stef. I am not asking for sex. We have our emotions back and I have a lot more control. But, some people don't seem to want to believe that an addict can ever be trusted."

Stef sighed. "I was addicted to drugs for 5 years. I used them to help me silence the nightmares and the pain of my life. Once I found another way to silence the dreams and found hope of a better life, I stopped using. But it was hard. Really hard. Especially because then I had to deal with the guilt and shame of everything that I had done when I was using. And using made it easier to forget that pain. So, I do understand." She took a breath and extended her hand toward the god. "I will work with you. But just be forewarned that I am currently living with Jenna. So, Phobos is an easy call away if you try anything."

"It's a deal." He shook her hand. "Why didn't you ask Jenna to help train her? That woman has serious strength."

"Oh, that is a great idea. Let's convince everyone to bring in a new dream goddess that was trained by the Egyptian demigod that Zeus is so pissed off at." Phobos arched an eyebrow.

Zeth groaned. "Ok fine. I get that was a stupid idea. Still, later on, we should really talk to Jenna and see if she could give us all a few pointers on some of her tricks. Cause the way she ripped the hearts out of an entire army of demons simultaneously… damn!"

Stef's eyes widened. He was joking right? Jenna couldn't really do that, could she? Who in the hell was she moving in with?

Stef took a breath, focus on what needs to be done now. "I have another question. I know that my mother was human. And if you are all correct, then I guess my father was Oneroi or Skoti. Is there any way to know who he was?"

Delphine frowned. "Unfortunately, the chances are that your father would have been a Skotus since Oneroi had no emotions to even have a sex drive. And it was forbidden for any Oneroi to have children, even Skoti. So, it would not have been something that would have been documented or publically spoken about. Then few years ago, we were at war with an outside foe. Many of the dream gods of every category were killed. So we would have no way to ask around and be sure we got the right answer."

"Tell me about your mother and I can see if I can ask around, it won't hurt to at least try." Zeth offered.

Stef looked at Phobos. He nodded. "Well, let's see. I am 29 years old. I have no idea where I was born or conceived as my mother lied about my father and birth. She had soft brown hair and green eyes. Her name is Lucy."

Zeth's face dropped and he froze in place.

Stef was feeling very uneasy as she waited for him to move or say something. Then slowly his hands moved up to cover his mouth and most of his face.

"No fucking way!" Phobos growled. "How in the hell Zeth?"

Zeth shook his head. "Lucy from Chicago?" His voice was muffled behind his hands.

Stef nodded her head. Her breathing was ragged. This couldn't be happening.

"Please, let me see your memory of her. I,- I have to be sure." Zeth reached out to Stef and she backed up. "Please." This time she stayed and let him touch her.

He let out a long slow breath and tears began to gather in his eyes. "I am. Oh shit. How? What in the…" Zeth could not find the words to say. But, he pulled Stef into a hug so tight.

Tears started to roll down his cheeks as she fought her own. She could not even speak. She did not know what to say.

Phobos walked up. "Stephanie are you OK?"

"I don't know." She was trembling.

"I am so sorry." Zeth breathed. "I didn't know."

That succeeded in flaring up Stef's anger and breaking her out of the shock. "No. You didn't know because you are just like all of the other men in my life. Have sex with a woman and leave them. No respect or concern. Sure as hell no responsibility." Her tears finally started to fall.

She buried herself into Phobos's arms as she cried.

Zeth sat down in a chair, completely deflated by her angry rejection. "I swear, I never meant to leave her. I broke every rule possible to be with Lucy. I was still Oneroi when I met her."

He took a deep breath. "I went into her dreams to apprehend a Phobetor Skotus who had been feeding from her for weeks. She was so appreciative of my help in making the nightmare stop that she threw herself at me. I was weak and I gave in. I was immediately addicted to how she made me feel. So, I returned every night for a week. Finally, I went to her in the mortal world. I knew that it was wrong, but without emotions of my own, I could rationalize the reason not to go. She was worth any punishment."

Delphine placed a comforting hand on Zeth's shoulder. "But, M'Ordant tracked me down and locked me up to be beaten for my disobedience. By the time I was released and healed enough to go to her, I could not find her again. She not only left where she was living, but I could not find her in the dream world either. I thought that she was dead. The pain of losing her was the strongest emotion that I had ever felt in my life. Even after the curse was lifted, I have felt nothing else as strong. My addiction was fueled by a quest to forget my loss of her."

Stef looked up at Phobos who gestured with his chin that she should go to Zeth.

Gathering her strength and drying her tears, she walked back over to the Skotus. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Please tell me you are not like my step-father. You don't want to have sex with your own daughter."

Zeth was so startled he nearly fell out of his chair. Stef gave a half laugh.

"You weren't serious were you?" He asked.

"Yes, but I said it just to shock you out of your grief." She shrugged.

Zeth stood up. "What in the hell happened to you?" He asked as he hugged her again.

Stef took a deep breath. "If you are still willing to train me, then I think we will have plenty of time to get to know one another."

He nodded. "I would be honored."

"Well, it looks like I will be catching Madoc up on all of the news." Delphine said in sarcastic excitement. "It was definitely nice to meet you Stef, and I do hope we get some time to really become good friends."

"I would like that too Delphine. It was very nice to meet you as well."

Then Delphine left with a look of horror on her face. She was not looking forward to breaking this news to the third member of the Oneroi leadership.

Zeth gathered himself together. "I will keep an eye on you as much as I can from the Hall of Mirrors. Not in a creepy way. But, I just want to know you are safe. And I will see you tonight when you go to sleep. OK?"

"Thank you." Stef gave him another hug. She still could not believe that yesterday she thought Kol was her father and now she was meeting her real father. One that did not want to impregnate her and end the world.

Zeth walked up to Phobos, his hands shoved into his pockets. "So, uh, you and Stef?"

This had to be the most awkward moment of Phobos's extremely long life. He did not know what to say to Zeth and Stef together.

You know the daughter that I just introduced you to has rocked my world in a non-sexual way, though I definitely want to rock her world sexually, but am pushing her away because I am a violent assassin and really she deserves better even though what I really want is to be selfish and run away with her, if she just wouldn't be scared of me.

Yeah, that would go over real well with both of them.

Phobos rubbed the back of his neck. "The truth is we just met. My only priority right now is in protecting her."

Zeth grabbed Phobos and hugged him. "Thank you for introducing us and protecting her. I am not sure how to handle all of this yet. But, whatever does happen between you two, just treat her well. You are a good man Phobos."