I don't own Class of the Titans. Maybe I'll try wishing on a star.

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Not Alone

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Wherever he was, Jay could admit to himself that it was a very pretty place. Well landscaped, grass perfectly groomed, and nearly flat besides a few small hills and valleys spread artfully over the terrain, he could almost imagine it being someone's tasteful, expensive backyard. Perhaps Theresa's, he concluded. Or Persephone's. But beauty aside, it offered absolutely no clue as to what had happened. Jay was very aware of the events prior to the bright, all-encompassing light, and it puzzled him. Chronus had never broken from his predicable tactics quite like this before, and it was strange to think that the encounter with the Neils had, in all likelihood, been a set up to get him here, and everyone else to similar locations, perhaps even elsewhere on this plain.

His first order of business, then, was to try and locate someone who could help him. If the first person he met was one of his fellow heroes, well, so much the better. But Jay couldn't start solving this problem until he knew what exactly the problem was. Was he simply stranded somewhere on Earth, in the middle of nowhere? Or was there perhaps more to this innocent landscape, something more sinister and threatening?

The descendent of Jason studied a sky dotted with stars and as dark as he would expect after spending most of an evening at school and a period unconscious. The constellations, if he could call them that, were nothing that he was familiar with, however, and proved little help in providing barring. But Jay was determined and after fixing a particularly bright star as his guide, he set out at a steady pace. He climbed the low, sloping hills and threaded his way through small depressions that seemed to snake across the field like empty rivers.

Jay was so engrossed in finding someone that at first, he didn't notice that he was no longer alone. A soft lilting melody had joined him in his trek, providing a sort of background to his thoughts of devious plots and ways to triumph over them. His head snapped up as the gentle trill of what sounded suspiciously like a lyre finally swelled to a volume loud enough to be noticed and recognized as something out of the ordinary.

"Is someone there?" Jay shouted, searching the darkness for some sign of another person. "I'm afraid I'm lost and in need of help." He stopped, cursing the terrain that was now much more of a hindrance. The mysterious musician could be tucked neatly behind any one of the small hills or gullies, and Jay would never see him. "Please," he called again. "Where are you?"

In answer, the music redoubled. The hero was certain that it was a lyre, now, and couldn't help but wonder if he had unwittingly been dumped in some small corner of the Elysian Fields to become a somewhat bewildered audience for the dead Orpheus to serenade. He was certainly beginning to feel charmed by the lullaby. His worries seemed to evaporate into the night air and it was nice to just stand and listen to something he might never hear again. In fact, why stand? Jay slowly lowered himself to the thick grass underfoot. A small part of him shouted warning, but he waved it off. He worried too much. It was time to sit back, relax, and look up at the twinkling lights in the sky…

Jay woke with a start to the same star spattered blackness with no recollection of ever falling asleep in the first place. He frowned in confusion as something slid through his hair and out again. When it happened again, he shot up and twisted around to see what he had managed to lie in. Or as the case turned out, who he had been sleeping on.

A woman with long dark hair sat kneeling, her lap where his head had been. She smiled with amused disappointment as Jay got to a crouch and shuffled a few steps away, just to be safe. It was when she shifted position, gracefully, to face him squarely that the hero noticed his surroundings seemed much brighter than before. He waited for her to make the first move.

"I hope you don't mind," she said after a pause. "The ground isn't terribly comfortable when you have to wake up again. I thought you might be more cozy with me stroking your hair." She smoothed out an errant wrinkle in her white dress with a distracted flick of her hand. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Jay shook his head. "You didn't. I was just surprised. I don't usually wake up with my head in a stranger's hands." He tried not to look uncomfortable. Just what might have happened if he hadn't woken up? The hero settled for a change of topic. "Was that you playing the lyre, before?"

"Oh, of course not. Don't be silly." She fluttered her hands in a gesture of dismissal.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Can you tell me where I am?"

She started to nod but paused. "You're terribly different from the others, you know. Are you single?" Surprised, Jay said nothing. "Ah-ha! You are, aren't you?" She leaned forward, forehead wrinkling in thought. "But you have but-face."

He tried to follow the path of her logic but gave up rather quickly. No threads of thought could end well when trying to imagine what the phrase 'but-face' possibly meant. Jay settled for confusion. "I have what?" he asked.

"But-face. There's a but." The woman settled back to think. "You're single but someone else loves you?" she asked. "Or maybe you're single but you love someone who doesn't know about it?" A sudden wave of laughter burst from her mouth and she doubled over, holding her shaking sides. "I'm sorry," she gasped, "but is it you're single but you don't go for women, so you don't want to get my hopes up and maybe you secretly want to be Zeus' cupbearer?"

Jay could only stare as his mind tried to comprehend what had just been said. His Greek background caught up with him and, blushing in furious embarrassment, he shouted a bit too loudly, "No!" He tried to push the thought of catering to Mr. Suez from his mind.

The woman giggled a final time. "I didn't really think so. However," she turned serious, "there is a but hovering over you, and I'm honorable enough now to leave you alone." She glanced at him with bedroom eyes. "Unless, of course, you want me to."

"I don't even know who you are," Jay said helplessly. He was now feeling quite glad that he had woken up when he did.

"Really?" She jumped to her feet and fluffed out her gown. Her long hair framed her face, making it seem paler, almost white. "How about now? Or," she turned in profile, one hand stretched out toward the sky, "now?" At Jay's shake of the head, she frowned. "I suppose it's because I got rid of my tiara." She pointed to her forehead. "Imagine a crescent moon right here."

Where others might immediately reference popular culture and suggest, quite skeptically, that she thought she was an anime character, Jay's mind went in another direction. He immediately thought of Atlanta's mentor, Artemis. "A moon?" he asked, mostly to himself. Who else wore a crescent moon, and perhaps had something to do with sleepers? "Selene?" Jay stared. "You're a Titan?"

"Of course." She dipped into a curtsey. "Moon of the Heavens, pleased to meet you…" Selene looked up through her bangs at him. "Who are you?"

"Jay." He sketched a slight bow, mimicking her formal behavior. "It's an honor to meet you, Selene."

The goddess straightened. "You don't have a Greek name," she said with a small frown. "So how exactly do you know me and why are you here? This isn't some sort of prank, is it?"

"I don't think so." The hero ran a hand distractedly through his hair, wondering how best to explain himself. "You might have heard about a prophecy involving seven heroes," he said carefully. "Well, I'm one of them. We're trying to stop Chronus from taking over the world."

Selene's eyes widened. "Chronus?" she breathed. "Well, that explains a few things." She drew close enough to grab his hand, yanking Jay forward and turning him around in order to look at him from different angles. "But you don't look like the heroes I know. Cute, definitely, but less, I don't know, manly." She sighed. "I miss the days of every man having a sword strapped to his waist. Well, two really." The goddess grinned suggestively at him.

Jay, for his part, totally missed the leer. "I'm a descendent of Jason. And I do have a sword," he said, a touch of pride in his voice, "but I lost it."

"What say I help you find it?" Selene asked and pulled him in close, her lips brushing over his ear. "I'm really good at finding swords, you know."

He pushed her off as gently as he could and realized the mistake he had made. "I thought you said you were going to leave me alone?" he said trying to deter her.

The goddess' expression immediately fell. "Did I say that?" she mused, significantly less cheerful than she had been seconds ago. "I suppose so. Okay then, Jay, distant son of Jason. I will let you be." She turned, her hair fanning out to make a dark cloud, and started to march away.

"Wait, I didn't mean it like that." Jay shook his head. Well, he had, in a way, but he hadn't meant to insult her. Awkward was the word that best described the hero's tendency to handle women and this situation was fast becoming messy. He hurried to cut in front of her, trying to catch the goddess' eye. "Please, Selene, I have to find my friends and get out of here."

"Just because your ancestor was bad with women doesn't mean you're allowed to flirt with no intention of following through." She stopped in front of him and crossed her arms. "I was nice enough to let you wake up and everything, too. Why should I help you?"

"Because if Chronus takes over, no one is going to be safe. Not even you, I bet." Jay offered her a small, noble smile. "I want to stop that from happening, but to do that I need to find out where I am, and where my friends are. I don't think I can do that without your help."

She studied him. "I'll want something in return, you know." Her eyes met his with a sudden intensity. "A goddess doesn't help a mortal for nothing."

He was wary. "I'll do what I can."

"Sleep with me," she said flatly and Jay was pretty sure he caught a glimpse of something animalistic stirring behind her steady gaze. "You know me, my exploits. I would much rather have you willing than not." Selene took a few steps toward him, smiling once more. "Or if it bothers you that much, I suppose you could always dream your way through it. You'd like me better if I had red hair, wouldn't you?"

The descendent of Jason raised his hands in defense and his cheeks, he could feel, were suddenly on fire. "I don't want to do anything like that in any way, no matter what you look like."

She laughed sharply, a sound vastly different than the carefree giggles he had inspired earlier. "I'm a Titan, Jay. You don't say no to me." Her hand darted forward and caught his shoulder. It tightened painfully. "Besides, you aren't listening. I didn't give you the option of no. It's either awake and willing, or asleep and unknowing. I'm not too picky."

"You know," Jay said, glancing at the white fingers clenching his sweater, "I think you're right. I've made a mistake." He forced himself to relax. "I'm honored you would consider me for… that."

"Well, you should be. I don't sleep with just anyone," Selene murmured. Her free hand reached up to stroke the side of his face. "I bet everyone says this to you, but you look a lot like him."

He blinked. "Uh, who?"

"Jason, of course. Your ancestor." The hand stopped petting his face and slowly drifted downward. "I'm sorry for before, too. You do have the air of heroism about you." She stepped closer and rested her head against his shoulder. "And I know," she said softly as her wandering fingers found his crotch, "you're very manly." The fingers squeezed.

With a barely stifled yelp, Jay jerked himself out of Selene's grip and stumbled backward as fast as he was able. "I'm sorry, but that's not the mistake I meant." He ducked his head and turned his back on her. "I'll just have to figure out how to leave on my own." He took off running.

The stars twinkled overhead and Jay wondered what, exactly, he was doing. She's immortal, the rational side of his mind argued. Chances are pretty good that she'll simply wait until you can't run anymore and then step out of a convenient portal. You might have a chance if you had Archie's speed, but you don't. His pace slowed significantly. A trickle of music threaded into his thoughts, and he stopped completely.

He was on his knees before he could properly realize what was happening. "You can't do this," he mumbled through the growing haze of sleep. "You're supposed to help." Jay toppled sideways onto the grass.

Selene appeared seconds later, all bright and radiant as befitted a goddess. "An immortal can do anything, Jay." She kneeled in front of him. "Including you." Her mouth closed over his and he blinked long and slow. When his eyes forced their way open for one last glimpse, Selene's hair seemed to shimmer and take on a reddish tinge.

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For everyone who was wondering, there we are. Jay's predicament has been revealed! Lucky him, he's at the mercy of a goddess.

Brat-always-day-and-night: You'll have to wait and see what will happen with Herry, and everyone else for that matter.

SilverShadow5947: Hm, yes. It seemed like it would go that way, didn't it? Well, you never know what might happen in the future. Something interesting, maybe.

Thanks so much for the reviews. I hope Jay was as enjoyable as the others.

Next chapter: Being a priest isn't as easy as it sounds.