I walked behind Dean, my heart pounding in my chest. Our flashlights were powerful and bounced off the damp walls, but there is always that dark that the light can't reach. That's the scariest part of it all, not knowing what's beyond that darkness.

We walked for a really long time, almost half an hour, before reaching the end of the tunnel. In front of us was a large marble door, plain with nothing in particular on it. Just a handle. It looked so simple, but those were always the most dangerous types of set ups. The ones that were so simple it didn't seem possible.

We looked at Castiel, who was standing behind me. "I feel nothing threatening yet," he murmured, like he was deep in thought. Or listening.

I looked back to Dean. "Well, it's now or never." I said breathlessly. I was trying so hard to not be a wuss and was tremendously happy that I had gone to the bathroom when we pulled into town. I was trembling and I could see in Dean's eyes that he knew how scared I was.

"Thea, we can still go back," he said gently. "I'll send Cas with you and me and Sam can-"

"No," I replied sharply. "This is my curse and I'm going to deal with it."

I moved in front of him, took a deep breath, and pulled on the handle.

The door swung open and warm air hit me. Instead of fetid stench hitting me, like I had been expecting, the smell of flowers surrounded me instead.

Beyond the door was a large sprawling garden with every kind of flower in it. There was a glass dome allowing the sun to come to the flowers and the sound of birds and running water filled my ears. Marble statues were peppered all over the place, most of them portraying Aphrodite or Eros in some fashion.

"Dean," I heard Sam whisper behind me. "This looks like-"

"Shh!" Dean hissed at him. He came up behind me, tense but shocked. Just like all of us.

We moved onward, taking in all of the sights. It was so beautiful and a mildly lethargic feeling came over me. I just wanted to lay down and stay here forever.

I shook my head, startled. Where'd that thought come from? My mind felt slightly hazy and I tried to push it away. I had to be sharp, focused.

We soon came to a large fountain, three tiered with water flowing from it powerfully. It was circular, the lip of it large enough to lay on.

Which was exactly what the woman in front of us was doing.

I jumped and fumbled with my gun, but Dean and Sam were ready. "Hey!" shouted Dean. "Turn around where we can see you!"

The woman didn't move for a moment. "Don't think I won't shoot you, lady." Dean growled. "I'll give you to the count of three. One, two-"

"Oh, Dean, so aggressive," came a soft melodic voice. "There's no need for violence here."

"Who are you!" he demanded, never once blinking or wavering with his firearm.

"I am known, dear boy, as Cassia Mappes. I believe you all are looking for me."

She turned around and we took a step back, out of defensiveness and shock.

The woman was beautiful. She had long honey blond hair that fell past her shoulder blades, curling prettily around her face. She wore a traditional Greek chiton dress, the light fabric showing off her stunning body. Her lips were thin, but attractively so and they were smiling at us slightly. However, the most captivating thing about this Cassia woman was her eyes.

They were almost white they were so pale and you knew just by looking that she was blind. Framed by thick dark lashes, this woman was beauty incarnate.

I stared for a moment before regaining my voice. "Who are you?"

She laughed. "You already asked that and I gave you my answer."

"Then what are you?" asked Sam.

"Psyche."

We turned to Castiel, who had spoken up. He didn't look at us, just stared at the woman in front of him.

Her smile never left. "Hello, Castiel." Her eyes went to the sky, as if she was listening, but they never focused on anything. "Yes, it's true. It's my old name, but honestly, I prefer the name that I gave myself, if you don't mind. That was my past, and this is my present."

I nodded dumbly. Dean spoke. "Why were we sent here to you?"

"Ah, there is the million dollar question!" she exclaimed.

"Dean," I whispered. "We should go. That's Aphrodite's daughter."

"Excuse me, daughter in-law ." Cassia said pleasantly. "Luckily for you four, I loathe Aphrodite just as much as you do, and even luckier still, there are just as many who feel the same way."

"What are you talking about?" asked Dean. He still, even now, had not dropped his weapon, only lowered it slightly.

"Thea, darling," she said, ignoring Dean. "I'm so very glad to finally meet you, but I am so sorry we had to meet under such pretenses."

I frowned, but before I spoke, she raised her hand. "Please, you must listen to me and we don't have much time to argue."

She looked at the boys then, so sharply that I thought maybe she wasn't blind after all. "You three will do well to just sit and listen for a moment, alright?"

They didn't nod, but they also said nothing. Cassia took that as a go ahead and beckoned me over to the fountain to sit down on the edge with her. I did as shown and looked to the boys. Where would they sit?

They stood standing, not willing to sit on the fountain or on the ground. My heart swelled a little then. Always ready, never off guard. Always ready to defend.

"Thea, as you know, I am the daughter in-law of Aphrodite. My husband Eros, yes that one, and I have been in America for hundreds of years now. I too was cursed by Aphrodite as a mortal and have never forgiven her for it. That is why I'm blind." She gestured to her eyes. "Persephone's sleeping draught was very harmful and I had lost my sight before Eros found me. Not to worry, however. I can still see, but in a bit of a different way."

She waved her hands in the air, like she was clearing her thoughts. "Now, Thea, what I'm about to tell you will be very difficult to understand. You probably won't believe me, but I'll have Castiel confirm to you whether or not I'm lying."

I looked at Castiel, surprised. He stared at us stonily and Cassia laughed. "Oh, come now Castiel, don't be so droll. I'll need your confirmations, all right?"

He said nothing but nodded slightly. She turned back to me.

"Thea, the reason that you were cursed isn't because your father just happened to see your mother and run away with her. And please," she said as I opened my mouth to interrupt, "Hold all questions until I'm finished. Whatever I can't tell you Castiel will fill you in on because he'll be learning the full story as I tell it.

Now, your father was in fact having a love affair with Aphrodite, and yes, he left Aphrodite for your mother, but the reason that she was so angry was because your mother was one of Aphrodite's priestesses.

It is strictly forbidden for priests or priestesses of the gods to sleep with their lovers, but your parents defied it all and got married. That is why she cursed you so harshly. Well, that and she hadn't gotten her bitch kicks in a while."

Tears had come into my eyes and I looked to Castiel, begging him with my eyes to tell me that it wasn't true, that my parents hadn't told me such a big lie. He avoided my eyes, telling me everything I needed to know.

A soft, cool hand went over mine. Cassia was looking at me with sadness. "I'm sorry, Thea," she whispered. "Humans are so often caught in the crosshairs of immortals. It's wrong, but they don't care."

I cleared the lump away in my throat. "Why was I sent here?"

"Ah, yes." She reached into the water of the fountain and brought out of it a large, beautifully made knife.

I jumped up, ready to run and the boys ran to me. "Oh, stop it, all of you." She waved her hand and the boys were forced down onto the ground.

"Hey!" cried Dean, struggling against an invisible force that was holding him on the grass.

"Dean," she said sharply. We all froze. Her voice had boomed around the garden, her power emanating from her in waves. "I have already told you I will not harm any of you. I cannot help that you don't trust me, but don't make Thea suffer for your insecurities!"

If looks could kill, Cassia would be dead by now. But, Dean wisely shut his mouth and looked to his brother, who looked just as pissed off as Dean did.

"Thea, this knife is very important. Forged from the blood of her followers in the fires of Tartarus, this knife is one of the very few things that will kill Aphrodite without killing those who cursed you first to get there." She held the knife out to me, but I didn't take it.

"What if I want to kill the ones that cursed me?" I asked, my voice trembling. "They deserve it just as much as she does."

Cassia looked sad again. "Thea, those who cursed you are bound to Aphrodite. They can't tell her no, especially when it was something as big as that. Pothos and my husband, especially. They want Aphrodite as dead as you do. If your twenty something years have been bad, think about how terrible it's been since this world and it's people have been in existence?" Her hand drifted into the water and she swayed it in the water in a soothing motion. "You're the only one who can pull this trigger, Thea. It was a big day when you were born because you are the one destined to put this knife through the heart of that whore."

The shock washed over me. "Destined?"

She nodded. "Just as you were to meet that man sitting right there."

"But, I…doesn't she know?"

Cassia smiled conspiringly. "She thinks that you died hundreds of years ago."

"What?" Sam spoke for all of us. "Look, lady, we really appreciate this, we do, but we came here to figure out what to do about the curse. It's gotten really bad in the past few days and it almost killed the two of them."

Cassia looked at Sam. "Don't worry, Sam. I'll get to that momentarily." She turned back to me. "Thea, hundreds of years ago, your soul was first born into the world. It's been killed off many times since then, the last time back in the sixteen hundreds by Aphrodite herself. Honestly, I didn't expect to see you here, but I knew the moment your soul came back to the world.

You see, Thea, she didn't detect your soul this time because of her rage and hate towards your parents. Every other time, she's had only you to focus on, but she's easily distracted and as we know not terribly bright so she simply thought she was cursing a mortal."

"This makes no fucking sense," I said loudly. "Do you realize how ridiculous all of this is?"

"Darling girl, I stopped thinking things were ridiculous when ants helped me sort grains for my first trial to get my husband to trust me again."

"Why is the curse so much worse then?" I asked. "If she was cursing a regular mortal, why did we almost die yesterday?"

"Yeah!" chimed in Dean. He was still sitting on the grass, held down by Cassia's power.

The goddess sighed and stood up, walking past the four of us. She was tense and trying to find her words. "Because the curse didn't go exactly as it was supposed to."

I made a 'duh' face at her while Dean and Sam swore repeatedly.

"Be quiet all of you," she snapped. "Thea was supposed to be tied to someone she loathed or at the very least didn't know at all. However, she came to know you and like your company. And, as it turns out, you and charming Dean over there, you're actually soul mates."

The air was quiet. No one knew what to say. I stared in shock at Cassia and didn't take my eyes off of her. I was afraid to look at Dean, but he was looking straight at me. I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my cheek.

"What are you talking about?" I whispered. "How?"

"It just so happened that you sought out your soul mate, Thea, so to an extent you were somewhat lucky-"

"Lucky?" I screeched. "You call being raped by two men that you trusted LUCKY?!"

"I'm afraid, Thea, that your soul was cursed to be hurt that way. Which brings me to my next point." She sat back down on the fountain. "The reason that the curse is getting worse and worse is because you two haven't slept together again."

"Huh?" That time, all three of us were together.

"When Aphrodite placed her curse, she assumed that some scumbag would rape you, keep you because you were desireable and then just keep you to himself for the rest of your days. He would've raped you regularly, lessening the pain of being away from you. Since, however, the man you ended with is a good man. He is respecting you and denying himself the carnal desire that he feels for you. Yes, Dean," she said, turning her attention to him. "I know all about your feelings for her. You crave her constantly and are intensely possessive, but you are doing so well with it. Many men in your shoes wouldn't have made it this far."

"You two must be together again, in every way, and if you aren't, then the next separation will surely kill the both of you."

Tears had come to my eyes. "I don't know…I don't think I can…"

Cassia's hand brushed my hair. "You must darling. I'm telling you this, though. That man is a part of you. He will take care of you more than anyone else in his life." She whispered the last part so neither Dean or Sam could hear. "He will treat you like a goddess. You just need to open yourself up to him."

"But, Psy-Cassia. It'll be like…it all over again…"

"No, my dear," she cooed softly. "Making love with your soul mate is the most amazing experience you will ever have in your life. It's nothing like the violation that you experienced that first time."

The tears were making their way down my cheeks. I couldn't bear the thought.

She ran her hand over the air, like she was touching a wall and I saw the boys start to struggle and yell. Castiel was trying to talk to them, but they weren't listening. "Stop!" I yelled. "What are you doing!"

"I need to speak for your ears only now, Thea. You must listen now, we haven't much time." She grabbed my shoulders. "You will be the one who has to kill Aphrodite. It will get rid of your curse, yes, but you must know that your feelings for Dean will not go. Once she knows that you are coming for her, she will use him against you, so you must be ready for awful things to happen. She plays dirty, you know."

She pulled off a necklace and put it in my hand but didn't let go. "I've been wearing this for hundreds of years to keep myself hidden from her. She will know that you're coming, but she won't know where you are. This is very time sensitive, Thea, so you must be ready to strike when you can!"

I nodded dumbly. "But Cassia, what-"

She smiled gently at me. "There is no more time, my dove. It is time for you to return and to go and live. Remember, if you and Dean don't consummate, you will die the next time you are separated. There's no going back now."

She let go of my hand, leaving the necklace in it. I slipped it over my head quickly and got up from the fountain, holding the knife in my hands. Cassia brought down the barrier and Dean ran to me, grabbing my arms and pulling me to him, holding the gun out in front of him, ready to shoot. "What did you-"

"I've no more time left, my dears." Cassia announced loudly. "I must go, but I'm counting on seeing you all again one day." She smiled at all of us, but her eyes lingered on Castiel.

"Tell them what you must, angel. Tell them what I couldn't."

He nodded slowly and we began to walk away when Cassia called out my name. I looked back and for the first time, I heard her voice whisper through my head.

Stay away from Sam Winchester.

A/N: Don't worry, I know these last two chapters have been pretty lame but they'll get much better. Had to move the story along somehow.

Zeta Rose