The Warrior of the Friend Zone and the Oblivious Huntress Chapter 7: Atlanta, the Huntress Turned Mind Maiden, a class of the titans fanfic

well, welcome to the seventh chapter of my 'Class of the Titans' fanfiction based upon the actual series told from Archie's point of view which I've recently titled 'The Warrior of the Friend Zone and the Oblivious Huntress'. sorry if it doesn't really cover the whole series, but I thought that since I am telling it from Archie's point of view, I might as well base this whole fanfiction only on episodes of the show with even the smallest bit of Archlanta to them. granted, I am also finding the time to hint at some of the Jayresa moments in the series as well. the Jayresa hints are just gonna be a bit more subtle throughout this whole entire fanfiction. this seventh chapter of the fanfiction is a good sixteen-thousand-eight-hundred-twenty-one words of storyline long, give or take a comment or two from yours truly disguised as an author's note and hidden within the premises of the chapter's storyline, as per usual. anyway, on with the (mandatory) disclaimer. yes, I called the disclaimer mandatory. what of it? I find it mandatory, anyway.

disclamation: I do not own the 'Class of the Titans' series in any way, shape, or form. believe me, if I had owned the show at all, I would never have ended the series on a cliffhanger plotline. the folks of Nelvana, Teletoon, and Studio B Productions of my country's neighbors to the north, Canada, are the ones for whom the show's ownership rights are reserved.

oh well. I'm sure that they'll remake a jewel of a cartoon like 'Class of the Titans' was eventually. they just have to.

It was just another day at our Brownstone dorm. We were all getting ready to watch a movie in the living room when I noticed that one of us was missing. It was Atlanta, to be exact, who was missing from our movie time.

Herry: Ah, man! We can't have our movie without popcorn! Could someone get some from the kitchen?

Everyone else but me called out…

Jay, Theresa, Odie and Neil: NOT IT!

I may have failed to get out of catering to Herry's hunger for popcorn during our de-stress movie, but I had been too busy thinking about Atlanta missing out on it.

Herry: Looks like you're the man, Arch. The man who's gonna get the popcorn for this movie.

Yours Truly: Huh?! What?!

Neil: I believe Herry said that you're the man, Archie. Pay attention, will ya?

Yours Truly: I-I'm the man? Yeah, yeah! I am the man. If only someone could just tell me how exactly I fit into even being the man.

Odie: Neil means that you're the man who's gotta get Herry some popcorn to snack on while watching the movie.

I suddenly realized that the others, specifically Herry, had drafted me to get popcorn to enjoy with the movie.

Yours Truly: Oh yeah, I'm the man alright. The man who's being forced to get the popcorn for this movie.

Even with my sarcasm, the others still made me get the popcorn for the movie by myself. Even after all of the popcorn kernels were already fully popped, I was still not quite that ready to rejoin the others in the living room.

Herry: Is the popcorn ready yet, Archie?

I could hear Herry's voice very clearly from the living room, where everyone else was except for the huntress of our team. The only issue I had against going directly back into the living room to give Herry his popcorn was a simple one, yet a dern good one if I had to say so, myself.

Yours Truly: I'll be back down in a second. I'm just gonna go see what Atlanta's doing right now!

I hiked up the stairs of the brownstone all the way to Atlanta's own bedroom door. I could hear her voice on the other side of it.

Atlanta: Um, yeah, no, um, it's…

Whatever my Atlanta was doing on the other side of her door, I just hoped that it could have waited until after our movie. I knocked on her bedroom door and opened it.

Yours Truly: Uh, hi, Atlanta. What's up?

I was ready to casually take the first bit of popcorn for myself when I heard my Atlanta ask me a random question.

Atlanta: Where are the 'oracle oaks' located?

I, myself, was suddenly confused not only by what the team's strawberry redheaded huntress was asking, but also by what my Atlanta was even talking about, in general.

Yours Truly: Huh? The what?

Atlanta: The 'oracle oaks'; trees that could foresee the future.

I just plopped myself down into a particularly cushiony loveseat in her room, along with mine and the rest of the team's movie popcorn in hand.

Atlanta (continued): Haven't you studied for the exams, at all?

The exams? Those were what that whole freak out of hers was even about? I did not know why she was freaking out about those upcoming exams from the gods, so I just shrugged about it. Meanwhile on her bed, Atlanta just continued flipping through her textbook like a maniac until she made it to an exact page in her book.

Atlanta (continued): Oh, Dodona! Of course! Dodona is the answer!

It was just around then that she went right back to acting like she was just as confused and unprepared as she had been before then.

Atlanta (continued): Oh, wait. What was the question?

That did it. I had to do or say something to get her to stop her fit of stress in any possible way I could. Heck, the rest of us were all downstairs to de-stress ourselves about the exact exams the gods had planned for us with the movie that Herry had wanted so much to watch.

Yours Truly: Atlanta, relax! I don't think they're gonna be those kind of exams.

Atlanta, however, just continued to stress herself out even more as she studied like a maniac.

Atlanta: It doesn't hurt to be prepared for any possibility, does it?

I guess that meant that she was just going to spend the rest of her day studying her brains out.

Yours Truly: So, I take it you don't wanna come watch the movie?

With my comment, however, Atlanta only groaned at me in dread, frustration and irritability. As for me, I just took it as my cue to leave Atlanta alone to her immense stress.

Yours Truly (continued): I'll be going now.

With that, I just got up from Atlanta's loveseat and walked out of her room, finally having acknowledged that I was no longer welcome in there at the time. So much for inviting her to watch the movie with the rest of the team so she could de-stress herself, too.

When I had finally walked back into the living room, I was snacking on the first popped kernel of popcorn just as I had planned to; partly because I actually wanted to make sure I did it right and partly because I also wanted to get a little revenge on the others for drafting me into being the one to who had to get the stupid snack food in the first place. Everyone else was just watching the news and waiting for me to come back into the living room with the…

Herry: Popcorn. Finally.

Yours Truly: Huh?

Herry then began munching on it straight from the bag.

Theresa: Where's Atlanta?

At least, someone else cared about her by then besides me… even if the other one of us who cared was just the other girl on our ragtag team of heroes' descendants.

Yours Truly: Studying.

Of course, our fearless leader, himself, had an argument or two about what I had told the rest of the team.

Jay: I don't think it's that kind of test.

Of course, I had my own response to Jay's argument against my Atlanta's idea of studying her brains out like a maniac, which was easy for him to argue against since he was not the one who went up to her room and had to deal with her stress-induced groaning and growling.

Yours Truly: Try telling her that. She was freakin' out because she didn't know where 'oracle oaks' were.

Theresa suddenly sounded just as confused as even I was about what I had told the rest of the team.

Theresa: The what?

Yours Truly: Trees that could tell the future. They're in, uh, Domino, or someplace.

Odie just sent me a frown on his face that said to me 'what an idiot you are.'

Odie: You mean Dodona.

Oh right, that was the answer to the question she had asked me while I visited her in her room. Upon realizing that Odie seemed to be the only other one of our team who knew the answer to Atlanta's question, Theresa suddenly decided that there might not have been time for a de-stress movie.

Theresa: I think I'm gonna skip the movie and go skim over my notes.

With that, Theresa just ran off to go and study back in her own room. I had to admit that the drama queen really acted like even she had the right idea. I also had to admit that I could not let even Atlanta, Theresa or anyone else besides maybe Odie get ahead of me on the exams, no matter what kind of tests they even were.

Yours Truly: Good idea.

Upon saying it was a good idea, I bolted after Theresa just before Jay could follow us both back up the stairs to our rooms in the Brownstone dorm.

Jay: Wait for me!

With that, Jay quickly followed after me in addition to me following Theresa back up the stairs to study from the books. The way our fearless leader acted towards me about Theresa, however, it was like he had expected me to try to make a play for the drama queen.

Jay: Ep, ep, ep, ep! Not so fast, Khilles! No one, and I do mean no one, can study with Theresa while she's going over her notes for the exams.

Was our leader seriously even thinking about just what he was telling me about his 'girlfriend'? I guess I had a little time to set the guy straight on such thoughts.

Yours Truly: Oh, and do you mean just in general or is studying with her just for no one except you, Jay? Puh-lease! If you wanna study with Theresa so badly, you can have her. In case you've already forgotten, there is only one chick on this team that I'm interested in, and it's not even Theresa, because she's like my sister.

There it was! I guess that should have set the record straight for our fearless leader on just what I thought of his basic 'girlfriend', the drama queen. He just sighed at me upon hearing my basic declaration that I saw Theresa as more of a sister, and less as ideal girlfriend material.

Jay: Ya got me there, Arch. I guess I don't have to worry about you studying with Theresa, after all. I'll let you off the hook about studying with her, but there's no guarantee that Atlanta'll wanna let you study with her.

Yours Truly: Geez, rub it in, why don't ya?

With that, Jay and I went our separate ways to study for the upcoming exams. Jay went to study with Theresa, and even after our leader said it, I still went to see if my Atlanta would let me study with her.

Yours Truly: Hey, Atlanta.

Atlanta: What is it this time, Archie? Unless you have something worth talking about with me, you are such an unwelcome distraction from my studies for these upcoming exams assigned to us all by the gods, themselves.

Yours Truly: Oh um, studying for the exams is actually why I'm here, in your room, yet again.

My Atlanta just sighed at me, in exasperation I might add. It was like she had half-expected me to want to annoy the life out of her.

Atlanta: Just sit down so we can get to studying for 'em then, will ya? I can't afford to fail these exams.

I had to admit that for a moment or two, I did not even know exactly what she was talking about, but whatever it was, I did not think it could be any worse than being as stressed as she was about the tests.

Yours Truly: Atlanta, calm down and relax for a bit, will ya? I know you can pass these tests, but it's not like you need to get a perfect score on 'em.

Atlanta just chuckled sheepishly at me and gave me what I knew to be her most nervous smile ever. Just what was she even hiding from me and everyone else on the team?

Yours Truly (continued): You don't need to get a perfect score on these tests, right?

Atlanta: Alright, you caught me, Archie. I've recently begun failing all of my school exams, and if I don't get at least a 'B' on these make-ups from the gods, I'll have an 'F' for the entire school year, and I'll even be held back a grade.

With her confession to her own grade point average, I suddenly understood why these make up exams had her so riled up in the first place.

Yours Truly: That's what this was all about? You know that you could have come to me, or any of the others, if you needed help in any one of your subjects. Well, maybe not Herry or Neil, but definitely me, Odie, Jay, or Theresa. Jay and Theresa are both of our seniors, and Odie's possibly the greatest mind I know at all academic subjects, but don't ever tell him I said that about him.

Atlanta just pulled her thumb and forefinger across her lips and pretended to throw something aside. Of course, I knew of it as her giving me the classic 'my-lips-are-sealed' gesture. It was another reason as to why I had secretly liked her the way I did. I knew for a fact that no matter what happened between us, I could always trust her with any secret of mine, except maybe my secret about liking her, liking her as more than just a friend. Jay and Theresa were right. I really did need to get my brain off of my own Atlanta-craze and back into even the Greek mythology books. Tutoring. She had to see me as an ideal tutor. Granted that Odie was even better at all the academic subjects than I was, as I had confessed to things being that way before, but I just wanted a way feel useful to her.

Yours Truly (continued): You also know that I can always tutor you in even just one these school subjects any time you want me to, don't you? I mean, not really as well as Odie can, but I can always tutor you, you know.

Atlanta: Maybe, we can just focus on studying for the exams right now, Archie, so we don't fall behind, ourselves. Now, where the maze of the minotaur located?

Later that following day back at the school, we were all preparing for the exam just by hitting the books, and hard. I suppose only I could tell, but my Atlanta looked even more anxious and nervous about the exams than before. I guess that my words of de-stress from earlier back in the dorm had worn off, and she had gone right back to worrying her life away about the tests.

Yours Truly: Uh, Atlanta?

It was just as a whisper, but judging by what my precious little strawberry redheaded huntress had said next, I guessed correctly that my perfect Atlanta had obviously heard me.

Atlanta: Hi.

'Hi'? That was it? That was all my Atlanta had to say to me? Yep, she was definitely back to being stressed all over about the tests.

Yours Truly: Are ya ready for the exam?

After I asked her that, I tried to de-stress my Atlanta about the tests just by giving her a nice, winning smile. She only responded back to me with an even more stressed-out than before answer.

Atlanta: Yes. No. Why? You think I'm gonna fail? Oh, I'm gonna fail.

That was when she grabbed onto my book, too.

Yours Truly: What? No! I was just_

I tried to do something about her seriously stressed out condition at the time, but my Atlanta just interrupted me mid-sentence. She heard me but did not listen to me.

Atlanta: Archie, please. I've gotta study.

That was when Miss Hera, Mr. Ares, and Miss Artemis all walked into the room, and Miss Hera greeted us upon the god's and the goddesses' collective entry.

Hera, queen of the Greek gods: Good morning. I trust you're all ready for your exam?

Meanwhile, my Atlanta just panicked about even feeling unprepared for the tests or something.

Atlanta: Hang on, hang on, hang on.

Miss Artemis came by and picked up Atlanta's and my textbooks from her protégé's hands if only to reassure my Atlanta that she had nothing at all to worry about.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and virginity: Don't worry. You'll do fine.

To that, however, Atlanta just chuckled at her own mentor uncomfortably.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: Athena!

The goddess of wisdom in battle who was currently charged with looking after us all at the Brownstone dorm brought in our first exam, which looked like it was quite a struggle for her. It turned out that Athena was bringing a harpy into the room. We all yelled in fear just at the very sight of said harpy.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Your first challenge is to catch the harpy.

The harpy did not look very happy to be restrained by a dogcatcher's pole-and-collar. It even screeched up a storm while it was bound. Then, Athena released it into the room.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Jay, you will go first.

On his try, Jay used the same device as what Athena had used on the harpy to bring it into the gym to begin with. It just tried to claw at him as a result.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Theresa!

When the drama queen's turn came, however, the harpy just pulled on her hair while Theresa returned the favor in her own distressed retaliation.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Herry!

Herry looked pretty confident at first with just a heavy medicine ball to back him up against the harpy, but the big guy, himself, was quickly knocked down a peg or two when the creature shot the ball right back at him.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Odie!

Odie did the same thing that Jay had done when trying to catch the harpy, himself, but with questionable results when the brains of our ragtag team of heroes' descendants did not seem to have the knowledge to simply let go of the pole connected to the collar when that flying monster had quickly proven too much for him.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Archie!

Great! It was my turn at the time, and I was just as unprepared to take on the harpy as everyone else had been. When that happened, I was so ashamed to admit that I just tried to duck and cover as best I possibly could. I know Ares would have more than likely been disappointed in me for it, but I would have rather been a disappointment to my own mentor than lose even one of my limbs in a mere exam.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Neil!

It was finally the lucky, but vain, blonde pretty boy's turn to try and catch the harpy. For that exact same reason, instead of attacking Neil like it did with the rest of us, the harpy seemed to have been trying to make a move on Neil and kiss him. Neil protested, however, and broke that poor harpy's heart.

Neil: HELP! GET AWAY! SHOO-SHOO!

Neil was a pretty boy, alright. It had finally seemed to turn against him, however, when the harpy tried to kiss him, at which it had surprisingly succeeded… several times over.

Once the harpy was done with Neil, he was mumbling about the several disgusting harpy kisses delivered onto his face. The harpy still had yet to be caught, however, and the only one of us left for Hera to test on that matter was none other than my own crush.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: And last, but not least, Atlanta.

Atlanta: Harpy. Harpy. How do you catch a harpy?

The angry and freshly heartbroken harpy just continued to fly in circles above us all as my Atlanta pondered on her own strategy about even catching the creature flying around in consistent circles above us. I could still hear her pondering even though she just whispered it… or muttered it.

Atlanta (continued): Harpy steals food.

That was when Atlanta looked at her backpack, pulled an apple out of it and took a bite out of said apple. Judging by what happened above us, I would say that the harpy got a good, long whiff of my Atlanta's apple and screeched about it before diving down after it. Atlanta, however, tossed her apple into the wall and just as the harpy flew right after it, the creature smacked right into a banner on the wall and fell to the floor. We all waited for the results of our work.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: Excellent work! You've all passed.

That was it? We had all passed? Atlanta, I understood, but the rest of us passing that exam? Was I dreaming or something? Still, as long as we had all passed, I might as well have refused to look that gift horse in the mouth.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): And extra points to Atlanta for such a creative solution.

Oh, so we all passed the test, but Atlanta got all of the extra credit. I supposed that it was only fair, though, since she was the one who had actually managed to catch the harpy. All I could say about that was that Atlanta certainly seemed very elated about having passed our team's harpy-catching exam… and with flying colors, no less.

Atlanta: All right!

My Atlanta seemed the happiest I had seen her all week since she first began to study her heart out as stressfully as she had been. I had to say that I could not have been happier for her. I could admit that I was not as happy for myself as I was for her, but I knew that I could and would easily make up for admittingly scattering away from the harpy like I had during my turn at facing off against said harpy in even just one of the next up and coming exams which would soon follow right after the harpy test.

That was when everything about Atlanta enjoying herself suddenly went straight down into the deepest, the darkest, and the vilest depths possible of Tartarus. That was not even the worst part of it. The worst part of it was just which one of the gods had done it to her, at least it was the worst part of it for me.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Oh, you never said they could use bait.

That's right! My own mentor, Ares, had actually had the nerve to complain about Atlanta being the only one to get extra points from the exam. Luckily for the strawberry redheaded huntress, her own mentor, Miss Artemis, came to her protégé's defense on that matter while pointing her left thumb in Ares' direction.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and virginity: Ignore him. He's just jealous.

Ares responded to Miss Artemis defending her protégé, my Atlanta, by dragging me into his unnecessary rivalry with the goddess of the hunt and virginity.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Archie would've used bait if he knew he was allowed.

I, for one, just grew a totally embarrassed and incredibly regretful grin on my face. I loathed it whenever Ares tried to compare me to one of the others, but this really took the cake for my feelings about it. Then, I tried to tell Ares that I was actually OK with anything other than first place that time while placing my hands over my head.

Yours Truly: Ares, come on. Atlanta won fair and square.

Ares just would not hear it, though, not even from his own protégé, yours truly, apparently.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Ah, she was lucky.

A/N: ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! Atlanta's gonna be so mad at Ares for that kind of comment. but come on, really, who knew that the god of the savagery in warfare would have been such a male chauvinistic pig? Ares should've just been happy that Archie passed, at all.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: Class dismissed.

Judging by what she had said next to my own mentor, Miss Hera sounded a lot like she would not have had any of it from Ares, either.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods (continued): Ares, I'd like to talk to you.

Between our team's brains, the lucky, but vain blond and yours truly, Neil was the first of the three of us on the floor to get up. Atlanta looked as though she were frustrated with Ares just for having a sexist point of view about her.

Atlanta: Lucky? I'm as good as anyone on this team.

Neil suddenly tried to console my Atlanta by placing a surprisingly 'comforting' hand on her shoulder…

Neil: Don't let it get to you…

… but, Atlanta just swatted the vain blond's hand away as if to say to Neil, 'I don't need your sympathy'.

Neil (continued): Whoa!

After just swatting the lucky, yet vain blond's comforting hand away, Atlanta began just walking away from the rest of the team by then in all of her frustration and newfound resentment towards Ares.

Neil (continued): Well, that reaction of hers was uncalled for. Last time I console her about anything. I know she wasn't all that happy about getting basically ridiculed by Ares, but Atlanta still didn't need to just swat my hand away like a fly.

That was when Theresa talked to Neil about how Atlanta was more than likely feeling about the whole thing.

Theresa: Come on, Neil, go easy on her. I mean, it wasn't like she didn't, at least, appreciate the gesture.

Jay: Theresa's right about her, Neil. You'll see, everyone. Atlanta just needs a little time to herself is all.

My brain: I just hope that she makes it back here in time for the next exam.

Just a little later on during the following day, it was already time for our test in archery. There was still no sign of Atlanta, though. Just where was she? I actually had begun to wonder if something just might have happened to her, something bad, that was.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: And now for your archery exam.

That was around when Theresa, who was just two people to my immediate right, started to wonder the same question I had been wondering ever since the other girl in question had first left the room.

Theresa: Where's Atlanta?

Jay suddenly noticed Atlanta missing in action, too.

Jay: Huh. It's not like her.

That was when Jay turned his head in my direction.

Jay (continued): Archie, do you know where she is?

It had almost instantaneously dawned on me that the way Jay had asked me if I knew where Atlanta even was by then was so not good. If I was being questioned about Atlanta, then Theresa would so have had my head on a platter over it. I had to say something, anything, to keep both Theresa's hostility and her self-assigned obligation to look out for Atlanta away from me.

Yours Truly: H-How should I know? You know, i-it's not like I keep tabs on her all the time. 'Cause th-that would be weird. Weird and obsessive.

I was so embarrassed, one could not even imagine just how totally red my face would have been if not for everyone left of me, along with the gods, themselves, wanting to start the archery exam already. Hera announced our marks.

Hera, the queen of the Greek gods: Ready… aim… fire!

I started to think that Odie might have had a little trouble with actually aiming his arrow. He had even missed the target for it, and yet he still cheered about it anyway, even while missing his own target.

Odie: Yes!

From the sound of what had happened next to our team's brain, Herry seemed just as confused about Odie's surprise jubilation as the rest of us seemed to be.

Herry: Uh, Odie? You missed the target.

I supposed that Herry might have been just trying to point out to Odie what everyone else on our team had noticed. Not one of the rest of us got what the brain of our team was so elated about.

Odie: Yeah, but I got it across the room!

Oh, so that was what Odie was so happy to have 'accomplished'. I guess that he could never even get his arrow across the room in the past before then.

Then, Ares went to inspect the targets following the final shot that was Odie merely getting his own arrow across the room.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Dead center. I dare say Archie's shot is best.

Suddenly, a new arrow came from what had seemed to be out of nowhere and shot straight through my own shot, breaking my arrow in half right through the middle.

Ares, the god of war and savagery (continued): Where did that come from?

That was when said surprise arrow was followed by a whole barrage of arrows shooting through everyone else's shots. One of the arrows from the barrage even shot through Odie's arrow as though it really were a bull's eye target, after all. Neil, however, was the only one to comment on the barrage of arrows.

Neil: Now that's what I call lucky.

A/N: nice reference to all of the 'Now That's What I Call Music' soundtracks, Neil. I have always loved those CD's. on a further note, I don't exactly believe in iPods.

That was when all six of us had suddenly heard a voice from right behind us. It was even a girl's voice, too.

Girl's voice: Luck had nothing to do with it.

Neil: Huh?

We all turned around to face the owner of the girl's voice and found it belonged to none other than the one from our little seven-person ragtag team who had been missing in action since storming off a while ago; my Atlanta.

Of course, she was not really mine, technically, but she could be some day. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

My Atlanta was dangling from a rope attached to the ceiling of the gym. She was also dangling upside down.

Atlanta: Am I late?

Then, my Atlanta just flung herself from the rope before landing gracefully on her feet like a cat would have. Miss Artemis, her own mentor, was the only one who would compliment her protégé on Atlanta's shooting.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and virginity: That's some of the best shooting I've…

That was just before Atlanta took yet another shot at the bull's eye target which my arrow had been shot to. She shot right through my own shot and scored the coveted bull's eye on that one, too. Even Miss Artemis had gasped in surprise from it.

Atlanta: I'd say it's worth a bonus point.

Ares, however, was still stuck on trying to prove me, his own protégé, to be the best on the team.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Uhp! Her shots don't count! She was late for the test!

I just lightly smacked my hand against my face, having had it up that moment with Ares forcibly dragging me into his rivalry with Miss Artemis. Sure, I was Ares' own protégé, but he still could have been a lot more grateful that I had actually even been passing the tests.

A/N: what is this? a carousel ride at an amusement park? that's exactly what I had said, myself, on pages twenty-six and twenty-seven… and that was just over ten pages ago, about the god of the savagery in warfare's earlier comment on Atlanta scoring the best on the harpy-catching exam. on a totally different and slightly unrelated note, this exact chapter is one-hundred-fifteen pages long, by the way, when not including the author's comments.

Yours Truly: Ares!

It was then that Atlanta had suddenly said things that were a little less than modest.

Atlanta: What's a matter, Ares? Can't handle the fact that a girl's a better shot?

At first, Miss Artemis had agreed with her protégé about exactly what Atlanta was even getting at.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and virginity: Yeah, Ares!

Then, Atlanta said something about Ares that not even Miss Artemis seemed like she had really wanted to agree with, no matter who was saying it.

Atlanta: In fact, I bet I'm better than you.

A/N: oh no, she didn't just say what everyone thought she just said. please tell me that she did not just say that sort of thing. this set of circumstances is surely gonna take a turn for the ugly.

That was when both Ares then Mrs. Hera wore a couple of shocked expressions on their faces which had said 'what was that you just said, Atlanta?'. It definitely took Miss Artemis a while to realize it, but then when she started to join in on just what Atlanta had said to Ares…

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and virginity: Ha ha. Yeah, Ar_

… only to immediately afterwards finally realize just what she was even agreeing with from Atlanta about being the best at archery.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and virginity (continued): What did you say?

Ever the leader, Jay became the first one of our team even to comment on Atlanta's sudden surprise arrogance.

Jay: What's gotten into her?

Of course, Atlanta only responded to both Miss Artemis and Jay's own questions right away, and with only one answer, no less.

Atlanta: I said, I bet I'm better than Ares!

Herry: Whoa!

While Herry actually reacted to what Atlanta had said about her own shots with words, even if it was only one word, Neil had reacted to what she had said with a facial expression alone. I actually could not tell whether even the lucky, but vain Neil, himself, was scared to death of Ares' own anger thereafter or for Atlanta's sake in exactly what she had said about being a better shot than the god of the savagery in warfare.

A/N: knowing the pretty boy of their ragtag team of Greek heroes' descendants, Neil was probably terrified of the former of those two.

Ares, himself, might have had only one word to say about my Atlanta's own behavior in response, but boy, was it an insulting one.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Insolence!

A/N: called it! that's kinda something that the rest of the team would normally expect from someone like Neil.

It was then that Miss Artemis placed her hand on my Atlanta's shoulder, and tried talking to her protégé about exactly what the strawberry redheaded huntress of our team had said about Ares.

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt and of virginity: Atlanta, you must apologize.

Atlanta, however, only had one word to say about the way she had treated Ares when Miss Artemis, of all the goddesses, tried to get her protégé to apologize to the god of the savagery in warfare and my own mentor.

Atlanta: Whatever!

I would not have believed it if I did not see it with my own two eyes, and even then I still did not believe. I did not know whether it was my insurmountable belief in her or if I just did not want to see my Atlanta as arrogant in any way, shape, or form, but I just did not believe that she had ever talked that way once about even one of the gods who were mentoring all seven of us on the team.

Later on back at the brownstone in which the whole team lived as a sort of boarding home, the rest of us had all gathered into the living room where we talked about what my Atlanta had said about Ares to his face and pretty much insulted all the gods in general, even her own mentor, Miss Artemis. Theresa was the first of us to speak up about my Atlanta's slightly out-of-nowhere arrogance.

Theresa: Oh, I've never seen her act like that before.

Of course, it fell onto me to defend my Atlanta's innocence, even if I did have my own doubts in it.

Yours Truly: She's just nervous about these tests. They've got us all wired.

Theresa, as my Atlanta's number one girl friend, suddenly became the only one to side with me about her best girl friend.

Theresa: Well, he's got a point.

Granted that I knew of her as a drama queen most of the time since I had first gotten to know her, but at least I could always count on Theresa to take my side when defending my Atlanta. Surely, Jay had to agree with Theresa about even something of that kind of size.

Jay: It's one thing to be tense, it's another thing to insult the god of war.

Just when I had stupidly hoped that no one else would take Ares' side of my Atlanta's argument with my mentor, Neil, of all members of our team, was the very first one to agree with Jay.

Neil: Yeah, she was in his face. And he's all…

That was right when Neil suddenly began talking as though he actually were my own mentor, Ares, the god of the savagery in warfare, himself.

Neil (as Ares, the god of war and savagery): Oh, nobody talks to me like that.

Then, Neil went right back to speaking in his own voice and as his own person.

Neil: And she's like…

It was all right then and there that he had reasoned with the rest of us as none other than my own crush, herself.

Neil (as Atlanta): What're you gonna do about it?

A/N: hahahahahahahaha. I swear, the one thing I like about Neil that doesn't involve his looks is the very fact that he is the king of references on the show. and now I can't believe that he's actually referencing to even his own fellow characters. all hail the king of references, Neil.

Then, the go-lucky from our team who was descended from Narcissus crossed his arms over his torso to finally bring an end to his own agreement with our team's leader. Speaking of our team's leader, Jay finally began speaking up about his point of view in the matter with my Atlanta as soon as Neil was done making his own point.

Jay: Archie, believe me, I hope it is just nerves.

Then if Jay had really hoped that my Atlanta was just nervous about the tests, why did he not believe me or even Theresa about my Atlanta's innocence?

Jay (continued): But, we're gonna have to make sure Atlanta's OK.

As a last ditch effort to pray to every last one of the gods I knew that all of our team's shared concerns about my Atlanta were not going to spiral out of control, I had turned my head towards Theresa's direction, silently hoping that at least she would trust that Atlanta was really alright.

Theresa: Agreed.

So much for hoping that Theresa, of all members on our team, would understand where my Atlanta might have possibly been coming from, even with that surprise, sudden, out-of-nowhere arrogance of hers. Anyway, I could easily see that I was obviously outnumbered in the case of my Atlanta's innocence. So I just gave my hand to the rest of the team in trying to find out exactly what was going on with my Atlanta which could have been making her make even Neil look full to bursting with humility.

A/N: yikes! that is some hardcore kind of arrogance. how could a friend to all living things like her become such an egomaniac?

Yours Truly: So, what do you recommend we do?

I had to admit that I was not that much for the plan to find out just what was happening with my Atlanta. In fact, I was pretty much against it the whole way through, but we did need to find out what could have happened to her for her to even act the way she had been acting by then.

It all began with Jay and I waiting for Atlanta at the park. The both of us held newspapers in front of our faces if only to conceal our identities from any passersby who would have gotten too nosy. I had to say that I did not quite approve much of that plan with which Jay had come up. I also could not even believe what I was doing with the guy.

Yours Truly: I can't believe we're following her.

A/N: really now, Archibald? what's your excuse for whenever you do that sort of thing on your own without any one of your other team members/friends joining you in those kinds of actions, I bet?

That was around when Jay spoke with Theresa using his PMR right before listening in for her response.

Jay: Where is she?

I also heard Theresa's response, from my own PMR, that is. I swear that I am not as much of a snoop or a meddler as that plan of Jay's had no doubt made me look like.

Theresa (over the PMR): She's leaving the brownstone now. Jay, Archie, she's heading straight for you.

As our team's leader and I waited for Atlanta to show up, Jay started directing everyone else through the PMR's.

Jay: Neil, be ready. Odie, Herry, go!

That was when I had heard the brains of our team question just how invasive the plan of Jay's stood to be from his and muscle boy, Herry's, end of our investigation.

Odie (over the PMR): A-Are you sure about this?

My brain: Yeah, thanks a lot for your help in trying to protect my Atlanta's personal life, Odie… too late.

Jay: There's no other choice.

Of course, Jay would have felt that there really was no other choice but to invade my Atlanta's own bedroom while she was out. All I could ever say about it was that those two had better not touch any of my number one girl's lingerie if they knew what was good for them.

Odie (over the PMR): Are we breakin' any rules, or all of 'em, by doin' this?

Well, at least Odie seemed to have some respect about 'apparently invading my Atlanta's room and her personal space'. I had only hoped Herry could have the same amount of respect for all of my crush's belongings in her room.

Herry (over the PMR): Don't be ridiculous.

Well, there went every last bit of my own respect toward Herry if that was the kind of respect the beef-brained muscle of our team had for my Atlanta's privacy, maybe even for any girl on Earth's privacy, in general. I guess he showed the same kind of respect towards my Atlanta's privacy that a kid brother would have shown towards his elder sister, which was ironic considering that Herry was actually the eldest of our whole team while Atlanta was the very youngest member of our team. I bet he was probably hoping to read a diary of hers or something.

That was around when I had suddenly heard something or other actually break from Herry and Odie's own end of our little investigation about my Atlanta.

My brain: What was that?

Even though I did not actually say it, I guess that Herry could at least sense I had thought it.

Herry (continued, over the PMR): Oh. Now we've broken something.

My brain: Way to go on keeping everything in her room completely intact, muscle-bound dipstick… NOT!

Of course, Jay, himself, saw no problem whatsoever with it so long as the both of them could easily find out exactly what was wrong with Atlanta during the exams.

Jay: You'll just have to fix it before Atlanta finds out about it, you two. Right now, you both need to go in to find out anything you possibly can about whatever it is that's going on with her.

Yours Truly: I swear that if either one of you so much as touches even her underwear, I'll kill the both of you.

Jay: Forget that right now, Archie. Herry could've just broken whatever he broke by accident. You know the big guy doesn't know his own strength. Neil, you got a bead on her?

Neil (over the PMR): Oh, yeah!

'Yeah right!' was more like it with Neil. Knowing the likes of him, the member of our team who seemed to be loved by luck more than anything or anyone else was probably too busy looking at swimsuit models or something to focus on what Atlanta was doing by then, my Atlanta.

Then, what I bet for one reason or another was nothing short of being out of nowhere, it had suddenly sounded like Neil finally focused on Atlanta as it sounded like she had run by his end of our super-secret spy mission.

Neil (over the PMR): Uh, uh, she's heading down the trail.

Jay, himself, had only heard the second part of what Neil had said to us since it actually had to do with Atlanta.

Jay: Any second now.

Of course, she never showed up in our direction, though.

Yours Truly: Where'd she go?

Neil was the first of our friends to reply back to my own question about Atlanta.

Neil (over the PMR): You're asking me? I just watched her head over in yours and Jay's direction a few seconds ago.

Yours Truly: Now's not the time for any of your stupid jokes, Neil. Atlanta could be in real trouble, right now.

Ever the leader of our team, Jay had once again made his move in trying his absolute hardest to keep the peace between our team of Greek heroes' descendants.

Jay: Relax, Archie. Atlanta probably just went down a different path than we thought she would. We could always get up and just look for her.

Theresa responded to Jay's input first.

Theresa (over the PMR): Jay's right, Archie. I'll join you guys to search for Atlanta.

Yours Truly: No. We don't need it.

Even as I was quick to decline Theresa's help in even just searching for my Atlanta, the drama queen still told me why she wanted to search for her best girl friend, too.

Theresa (over the PMR): Archie, I know you wanna be her hero because you like her as more than just a friend, but the truth is that Atlanta's just as important to me as she is to you and the guys.

I just sighed in exasperation at the drama queen.

Yours Truly: I suppose I've got no choice but to give in to your request to join us, do I, Theresa?

Theresa: Oh come on, Archie. You do so have a choice. I thought about it for a bit; I could have either searched for Atlanta on my own and been her hero like I had wanted to or let the other members of our team offer me some back-up on searching for the number one girl in my life. That was around when Jay had spoken to me about it.

Jay: Tell you what, Archie. Why don't all of us split up while searching for her so we can cover more ground?

I slapped the palm of Jay's hand with my own hand in agreement with my team leader's strategy.

Yours Truly: Amen to that, Jay!

That was when Neil suddenly began taunting me about being a lot quicker to agree with Jay's new plan by then.

Neil (over the PMR): Archie and Atlanta sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

Then, I could hear Neil making smooching sounds with his lips to taunt me even further about my crush on Atlanta. Theresa and Jay just laughed at Neil's inside joke between the four of us, while I hung my head in miserable embarrassment at my crush on Atlanta basically being ratted out to Theresa, even when the drama queen had known since just after that one incident with the Seeper from a mere few days before the exams. I had even pulled the hood from my hoodie over my head just to avoid the red on my face from showing itself to any passersby in the park.

Theresa: Oh, Archie, you're not embarrassed about who you're in love with, are you?

I had actually tried to deny my crush on Atlanta even to Theresa before finally admitting to it.

Yours Truly: I_ that is to say_ OK fine, Theresa, you caught me. I like Atlanta as more than a friend. And by that, of course, I mean that I like her, like her. Just rub it in like last time when you first found out, why don't you? Especially when considering that I already get more than enough of it from the guys, anyway.

I suppose that saying that she could have made fun of me for it as much as she pleased was a slight overreaction towards Theresa commenting about my crush on her number one girl friend, Atlanta, particularly when considering what the long-haired redhead had said to me about it next.

Theresa: Come on, Neil. I think you've made your point and that Archie's had enough teasing about Atlanta. As for you, Archie, it wasn't like it was all that hard to figure it out when you mentioned having kissed Atlanta during our visit from Hope and our battle with the Seeper.

Underneath my hood, I could only blush an even deeper shade of red at what Theresa had said about me choosing my Atlanta over Ares when she had her little dispute with my mentor and the rest of the gods over being better than any of them at their own games. That was around the same time that Theresa spoke to me about it.

Theresa: It's OK, Archie. I promise you that your secret about crushing on Atlanta is safe with me.

I just sighed in relief at what Theresa, the drama queen, of all members on our team, had told me.

Theresa (continued): I will say this, though, Archie.

Oh, so the drama queen had more to say to me about my own crush on Atlanta.

Theresa (continued): I would tell Atlanta that I liked her the way you do if I were you before graduation, because if you can't do it, I would be more than ready, willing and able to confess to Atlanta for you.

Oh, so that was where the drama queen was going with her end of that continuation of her own words to me about my secret crush on Atlanta.

A few seconds later as soon as we all began looking around for our friend, I became the first one to find Atlanta. Technically speaking, however, Atlanta had actually found me. I had gone looking for her on the northern path within the park, when I had suddenly felt something or someone tap at me on the shoulder right before flinching and yelping at being touched. That was when I had heard a voice from behind me following that tapping on my shoulder.

Voice from behind me by then: What are you doing?

I had then noticed that the voice had belonged to a girl my age. I turned my whole body around to face the owner of said voice, only to find out that my Atlanta had been the one who had tapped me on the shoulder. I could barely believe that it was really her, Atlanta, in the flesh after having been acting really, super weird for as long as she did. She then placed her hands behind her back and applied her legs into kind of a flirty sort of position. It had to have been the most romantically inclined intentions she had ever shown towards me. I had suddenly felt like I was dreaming the whole situation up between the two of us. I rubbed my hand against the back of my hair in a nervously embarrassed manner just before I would have answered her question.

Yours Truly: Uh, just, uh_ goin' for a run.

I then tried to play my own bodily motion off like it was the truth, but Atlanta only walked right past me.

Atlanta: Dressed like that?

Wait a minute. My Atlanta had still been acting the same way she had ever since coming back to the rest of the team during the archery exam when she was arrogant for the first time and insulted Ares and the other gods. What on Earth was even going on with her? She was not acting like the Atlanta I had grown to like, the Atlanta I would always like to remember, even when I would grow gray and old.

A/N: and that, my readers, is my own brilliant homage to James Arthur's own hit song 'Say You Won't Let Go'.

I decided to follow my Atlanta, or at least the one who had called herself Atlanta, further along the northern path. I did not even know who I was actually talking to anymore.

Yours Truly: Huh? Well, you know, when the mood hits, HOO! I'm a running fool.

Then, she had suddenly seemed to have a comeback to my own comment to her about the way I was dressed.

Atlanta: I'd agree with part of that statement.

Needless to say, I was embarrassed by her comeback.

Then right when I thought that things could not get any weirder than they had been about this stranger who only seemed to look like my beloved Atlanta, they actually did when something of unknown origin lifted me from way up in the trees. I had dropped my PMR on my way up from being dragged into the treetops, along with my earbuds.

Upon finally reaching the top of the tree into which I had been pulled off of the ground, I started to feel slightly woozy from the trip upwards until I had realized that Jay and Theresa seemed like the two of them had joined me up in the tree.

Jay: Thank the gods you're finally awake, Archie.

Yours Truly: Huh? Jay? Theresa? Where are we?

Theresa: Well, let's just say that knowing you, you'd probably not like what's going on, much less believe it.

I was thoroughly confused by exactly what Theresa was saying to me about our situation by then.

Yours Truly: What are ya talking about? Why the hey are the three of us all tied up by spider webs?

Jay then spoke to me on his girlfriend's behalf about the situation in which all three of us were by then.

Jay: That's just the part you'd most likely find the least believable of all.

Yours Truly: What about the part you two both seem to think that I probably wouldn't like? What's that about?

Theresa and Jay then both looked like the two of them were ready to tell me when a very large and really, super talkative spider came down from the canopy of the trees and into the understory where I was all tied up in what was most likely said spider's own webbing with both Jay and Theresa. I know what you are probably thinking; how big could the spider have been, and why would I have called it talkative, too? The answer to both questions is because the spider was just about five-hundred times the size of your average, everyday common house spider and the spider began speaking to me as soon as it came into my line of vision.

Gigantic, yet talkative spider: I believe I can answer that part for you, young purple-haired boy.

If it was not bad enough that the gigantic spider looked so dern terrifying, there was also the fact that the creature had even referred to me the same way it would have referred to a small child. I was already fifteen and well on my way to turning sixteen by that exact series of events, thank you very much. I was far too scared of that gigantic spider to be mad at her for referring to me as a child, however, never mind telling her off for it. How did I know that Jay, Theresa's and my own arachnological captor was a female spider, you might ask? The answer to that question is also a very simple one. I knew that the spider was a female because the voice in which it was so talkative sounded pretty feminine for something so terrifying.

Gigantic, yet talkative female spider (continued): I couldn't have even pulled any of my plan off without the help of your little girlfriend, Atlanta, my dear boy.

I refused to believe her about it. I had to be asleep on my pillow and in the middle of the absolute worst nightmare of my whole life… so far, that is.

Yours Truly: That can't be the truth. I don't believe it, I won't believe a word of it.

That was when all of my nightmares suddenly turned into reality when the one who had even helped that gigantic spider get us all up into those trees and bind all three of us up within her web finally showed himself, or should I have rather said herself, to be none other than my own ideal girl from our team of Greek heroes' descendants, Atlanta.

Atlanta: Are you sure about that, Archie?

With those six words, I had finally realized that it was nothing short of the truth. I was so shellshocked that I could not even speak to anyone for the next hour or so because I had totally blacked out from the pure shock.

I did not even wake up until after Neil, then Herry and Odie had all but joined the rest of us in the gigantic spider's web, and we had all been transported into a cave of some kind. Then, the gigantic, yet talkative spider had put Jay on the left end of her own web. I had only hoped that Atlanta was alright and not in that she-arachnid's clutches.

That was when the rest of us had all heard Odie talking from beyond one of the tunnels in that exceedingly black and totally darkened cave which I had suddenly realized was the gigantic, yet talkative spider's layer.

Odie: Come on, Atlanta. Let me go.

The gigantic, yet very talkative female spider suddenly smashed a skull on her floor with one of her eight legs.

Gigantic, yet talkative female spider: What a glorious day! Soon I will be human once more.

That was when I heard the slimy creature whisper something or other to Atlanta. I could make it out from her, but just barely.

Gigantic, yet talkative female spider (continued): You truly are a good friend.

Then, she actually hugged that awful nightmare of a giant spider-like creature. Herry and Neil just exclaimed in disgust about their shared hug. I, for one, thought that they both had good reason to be, too.

Gigantic, yet talkative female spider (continued): I must get Cronus.

Cronus! So, he was what that whole thing was about. I still did not understand what could have driven Atlanta to be as disrespectful to the gods as she was starting to become from our archery exam, though, especially since Cronus, himself, was still a god. That was around when I had heard Jay try talking some sense into our arachnid abductor.

Jay: Arachne, listen to me. Cronus is a liar. Whatever deal he's made with you, he'll find a way to twist it into a punishment…

The gigantic, yet incredulously talkative spider, that 'Arachne', would not hear it, however, and splattered some of her spider webbing over Jay's mouth as he tried to talk.

Arachne: Oh, be quiet.

Yep! That 'Arachne' was definitely not the ancient world's best listener. Why did she even seem to think that Cronus would actually keep his end of the deal between them both that she kept talking about and make her human again? From what Odie had told Jay and the others while we were all in the tree, I guess that 'Arachne' had a human form once before getting turned into a spider by Athena for her boasting about weaving fabrics for the gods.

Then, 'Arachne', the spider in sheep's clothing, or the human in spider's clothing, or whatever she really was, strode up to my Atlanta and gave her a message.

Arachne (continued): Atlanta, dear?

'Atlanta, dear'?! Just who did that 'Arachne' think she even was, calling Atlanta, my Atlanta, her 'dear'? Of course, Atlanta only responded to the beginning of Arachne's request with that sweeter than honey voice of hers, the same kind of voice that she had back when she was still into Pan disguised as 'Phil'. It was the very same kind of voice which my Atlanta used to express affection towards another.

Atlanta: Yes?

It was so disgusting to watch Atlanta, my Atlanta, act just like she pined for such a creature. Surely she saw what all of her other friends/teammates were seeing.

Arachne: Make sure none of your former friends try to escape.

That was when I heard my Atlanta say the most disturbing thing I had ever heard from her lips directed towards that lady spider in sheep's clothing that was only pretending to be my crush's friend, Arachne.

Atlanta: With pleasure.

Then, she launched a rib bone into her hands from on the floor simply by stepping on it, alone. Man, she was the best. I just could not get her out of my head. It was such a shame that she was loyal only to Arachne by then.

Arachne: Such a sweet girl. Perhaps Cronus will let me keep you. As a pet.

Arachne then used her one of her eight legs to massage Atlanta's right temple. Arachne was massaging my Atlanta's right temple with one of her eight ugly, skinny legs. How dare she massage my Atlanta with those creepy legs of hers. That did it for me. I simply had to find a way to break free from Arachne's spider web and rescue Atlanta from that creature's web of lies and total deceit.

As for the part about Cronus, of all gods, sparing my Atlanta and letting Arachne keep her as a pet, I did not think that the gigantic lady spider actually should have been holding her breath out for that sort of thing to happen if it really was Cronus with whom she had made her deal to become human again. Cronus wanted nothing more than to rid himself of every last one of us which, whether Arachne were counting on it or not, included my Atlanta.

That was when Arachne started to crawl away, most likely to go get Cronus as she had hoped to. Theresa then spoke up to Atlanta following Arachne leaving us with her.

Theresa: Atlanta, help us!

That was when Atlanta finally looked towards Theresa's direction with a slightly confused expression decorating her face. I think I got exactly what Theresa was really getting at with just how Atlanta had suddenly looked at her best girl friend on the team. I decided to help Theresa find a way to get through to my Atlanta.

Yours Truly: I know you're in there, Atlanta!

Odie, Herry, then Neil also followed Theresa's lead just after I had.

Odie: You've got to fight it!

Herry: Get us down from here!

Neil: I'll give you my stereo!

Needless to say, I thought Odie's cry out to my Atlanta was possibly the best one besides Theresa's and my own. Herry's sounded more like a demand than anything else. Neil's cry out to my Atlanta made the pretty boy of our team sound more like he was trying to brownnose my crush into helping the rest of her friends down from Arachne's web.

Meanwhile, Jay could only mumble what he had wanted to say to my Atlanta since he was both bound and gagged by Arachne's spider webbing, unlike the rest of us on the team who were only bound by her spider threads.

That was when Atlanta had suddenly started to act a little funny about something or other, except that it was anything but the hilarious kind of funny. Her funny actions by then looked a lot more like the freaky-deaky kind of funny. Then, she actually began speaking to something or even to someone who was either just invisible or not even there.

Atlanta: Shut up! You're not my friend! They are!

OK? What was even going on in her head? Of course, Neil and Odie were the only ones who had anything at all to say about it.

Neil: OK, this is getting creepy.

Unfortunately for the rest of our team, not even Odie, who was supposed to be the brains of our group, actually knew the answer to whatever it was that was happening to my Atlanta by then.

Odie: Who's she talkin' to?

Fortunately for the two of them along with the rest of us guys, Theresa seemed like her supposed 'psychic ability' that Jay and Atlanta had previously told me about before had finally seemed to actually be paying off.

Theresa: She's hypnotized for sure.

Or perhaps it was not paying off after all, since I seriously doubted that Theresa had even needed to be a psychic to see that my Atlanta was being controlled by something or other.

So then, my Atlanta had been made into a mind maiden by Arachne, had she? It was no wonder as to why she had been such an egomaniac upon coming back just in time for the archery exam that Miss Hera had set up for us, even more so than Neil, himself, normally was.

A/N: that part, right there, still throws even me for a loop, and I'm the one writing this fanfiction about the whole series. I know that most of its storyline is basically stolen from the show, itself, but I still can't believe that Neil, of all members of their team, thought Atlanta was being that arrogant about the exams given to them by the gods in the episode on which this chapter in my fanfiction is based.

I was about ready to give up on our fight against even my crush, Atlanta, when I realized that what the drama queen had said might just have been the case. She had to be under someone's control if she had been acting the way she was. I mean, it was only too obvious that she had been hypnotized by something or someone, that of whom I bet was none other than the woman in spider's clothing, herself. You all know about whom I was talking; 'Arachne'.

Yours Truly: Atlanta. Atlanta!

She had turned around, but only to growl at me having gone fully back to being under Arachne's control. I decided to try a different tactic than that of what I had been trying the whole time we had all been in Arachne's clutches.

Yours Truly (continued): Atlanta, I know you can hear me. It's me, Archie. Your friend.

That was when I finally saw my Atlanta start to focus only on me for a second or two before I began speaking to her once again.

Yours Truly (continued): Atlanta, listen to me. We're in danger. Your friends are in danger.

That was when my Atlanta had finally spoken with her own voice and, from the sound of her word, her own mind.

Atlanta: Friend?

I guessed that I was finally starting to get through to her, and I could not have felt prouder of myself for it.

Yours Truly: That's right, Atlanta.

I had to thank Theresa for even giving me the idea of actually trying to get Atlanta to hear my voice to snap out of the trance or whatever it was that she-spider, Arachne, had her under.

Yours Truly (continued): I'm your friend. I love_

I did not know why I had gone and paused myself then and there. Oh wait, yeah I actually did. I was still way too scared to even once tell Atlanta that I loved her because of the probability of getting as good as rejected. I decided to go a slightly different route to snap her out of the hypnotic trance under which Arachne had on my crush's own psyche.

Yours Truly (continued): I really, really care about you.

A/N: really, Archibald? really?! you can't even confess your love towards your Atlanta when she's under some kind of hypno-trance and a love confession might just be the only thing that can snap her out of it?!

I guess that my Atlanta simply took what she could get in place of a love confession as enough of a spell breaker to snap her out of Arachne's hypnosis, especially since it had actually seemed to work on her.

Atlanta: Guys? Where are we? What are you doing up there?

A/N: well, it would have made for one fantastic love confession, but at least it was still just enough to bring the real Atlanta back into her own psyche because of course it was, obviously. congratulations on your 'almost-love-confession', Archie.

It was then that Atlanta finally came around to helping the rest of her team down. Knowing her, however, she was probably going to start with someone like Jay, Odie, or even her favorite friend on our team, Theresa. I held my head down as I waited for her to finally get around to me, but as it turned out, I did not have to wait for her to come around to me for too long, or even at all. That's right. The girl of my dreams got me down first out of the six other members of our ragtag team of Greek heroes' descendants. I was elated and filled with such joy over it, I almost bore a goofy, stupid-looking grin on my face because of it.

I chose to just hold such an expression in, however, and save it for after we had gotten everyone else down from being trapped within Arachne's web and stopped Cronus from carrying out his word to the she-spider in question. That was when I told my Atlanta what had happened to her and the rest of us as soon as she got me down.

Yours Truly: You were hypnotized by Arachne.

I could have easily told everyone else on my team that no one, and I meant no one, would ever brainwash my Atlanta again and get away with it.

That was when we had all heard Jay's muffled up screaming call out to the rest of us. Odie answered next.

Odie: She's tricked you into helping her capture us.

Meanwhile, Jay just continued to scream while he was still gagged by Arachne's spider threads. Theresa was the only one to even acknowledge his muffled screams, though.

Theresa: What? What did we forget?

It was then that Atlanta tore off the spider threads that had been Jay's mouth gags ever since Arachne had last shot her webbing at our fearless leader, and he could finally get out exactly what he had wanted to say the whole time.

Jay: Run!

That was when Atlanta and I had noticed something or even someone coming towards us all. It was actually two someones, to be exact. I could make out their physical shapes from their silhouettes, alone. It was Arachne and Cronus. That gigantic lady spider had returned with the evil god of time and space, himself. Atlanta then made a run for me and the two of us went to search for an exit to Arachne's cave, but not before Atlanta had spoken to the others about us running out on them when they needed our help.

Atlanta: I'll get you out of this. I promise.

It was then that the two of us made a mad dash for a random tunnel, hoping to find a way out of that horrible place in which Arachne actually seemed to live for who even knew why.

A little later in the same tunnel, we heard a voice. It came off as a really poor attempt to be seductive to me.

Voice: Atlanta? Atlanta! Where are you? It's me, Arachne.

Well, that had certainly answered my question as to exactly who it was that was following us in a tunnel like that. If I were a gambler, I would have bet that she probably thought that Atlanta was still under her control. Yeah right, Arachne. Fat chance of that being the truth.

Atlanta: Some 'friend'!

My point, exactly. Enough of your snarky sarcasm and focusing on Arachne, Atlanta. I had just wanted your focus on me even if only for a short while.

That was when I had spotted a couple of skeletons from Arachne's own personal collection of them that had actually resembled that one famous painting, 'American Gothic', right down to the pitchfork onto which the gentleman in said painting was always holding. With that, I supposed that at least Arachne was a woman_ er, a she-spider of taste if she had skeletons like those two in her collection. I, for one, found it to be the one and perhaps the only touch of comedy in that type of horror-themed cave. What did I do then? I got in between the two skeletons which were in the hole and had resembled the 'American Gothic' painting, right before signaling to my Atlanta.

Yours Truly: Hey, look!

Atlanta then looked in my direction. I rose up from my hiding spot in the exact same hole with the two skeletons only for the pitchfork-holding gentleman's skull to just fall clean off of his skeletal body.

Yours Truly: Oops!

I still kept my smile towards her as I had to admit that I was just trying to joke around with her. That was when Atlanta had picked up the pitchfork from within the gentleman skeleton's hands, almost as though she were ready to strike Arachne down.

Speaking of Arachne, that gigantic she-arachnid suddenly seemed to have finally come into our path within only the next few seconds, and boy, did she have a lot to say to both Atlanta and yours truly in only one sentence alone.

Arachne: You can't hide forever!

Arachne seemed to crawl just right past the two of us not long after she had said this to the both of us, though. Atlanta suddenly seemed to be a top priority to the gigantic she-spider and her prime target.

Atlanta: She's right.

I was thoroughly confused by such words even coming out from just past my Atlanta's lips.

Yours Truly: What?!

I even tilted one eyebrow of mine upwards while placing my other eyebrow downwards to further express my confusion towards exactly what my Atlanta had even said about Arachne's words to the two of us, though it was probably meant mostly for my Atlanta, herself.

That was when Atlanta had clarified what she meant when saying that Arachne was right by repeating the she-spider's own words to her.

Atlanta: We can't hide forever.

Then, my Atlanta got up from kneeling down with me only to have most likely come up with a plan to get back at Arachne for brainwashing her and poisoning her will against the rest of the team.

Atlanta (continued): Follow my lead.

I obeyed her without question and followed suit.

Yours Truly: OK.

But then, she pointed the exact pitchfork she had grabbed off of the skeletons towards my face.

Yours Truly (continued): What are ya doin'?

She had then brought me all the way back to her spidery hypnotist who was also my arachnological captor along with the rest of the team's. Yep, I was brought right back into Arachne's clutches by my own crush, no less.

Atlanta: Move!

I guess I was wrong when I thought that I had freed my Atlanta from that she-spider's hypnosis when I had only said that 'I really, really cared about her'. I guess that I really did have to confess to my own lustful crush on her in order to truly free my Atlanta from that awful she-spider's mind control. I had even wanted to do it, of course. I really did, if only to be her hero. It was just that I just could never seem to spit those three stupid words out.

By the time I had finally gathered up just enough of my own courage to even try to confess my love towards my Atlanta, Arachne had already noticed me being held hostage by her own little mind puppet.

Arachne: What happened?

Atlanta then held onto my shoulder blade.

Atlanta: This one tried to escape!

'This one'? 'This one'?! Oh, I saw it by then, all right. I guess that she really was still under the awfully, truly ugly she-spider, Arachne's, mind control, after all.

That was when Atlanta and Arachne had brought me back to our other five friends only to meet Cronus once again.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Wonderful. Put him with the others.

Of course, I was worried about myself and the rest of our team. Somehow, I think that I was still a lot more worried about Atlanta than anything or anyone else by then, though. I tried reasoning with her about it all.

Yours Truly: Atlanta!

Atlanta only pushed me down in response, however, and even yelled at me over it.

Atlanta: Shut up!

Odie suddenly seemed to be the only one to have anything to say about it, at all, though.

Odie: We're hooped.

Then, Cronus started laughing that evil and downright heinous laugh at the rest of our team over Atlanta finally seeming to have turned on us, her own teammates, of all people she had ever known in her entire life.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Now then, time to get to work.

Only a mere second or two later, however, my unshakable faith in my beloved Atlanta started to almost instantly restore on itself when she suddenly began talking less and less like someone who was being controlled.

Atlanta: I wouldn't trust him, Arachne. Get your payment first.

Luckily for Atlanta and I, Arachne seemed to buy into what my number one girl was selling her. I suspected that that gigantic she-spider might not have known just how mind control worked and that Atlanta just might have been that she-spider's first ever time having hypnotized someone.

Arachne: She's right. I want my payment.

Cronus, on the other hand, was a different story altogether. Whether he knew the rules of mind control or just wanted to get over with killing our whole team off, however, was a lot less certain to any of us.

Cronus, the god of time and space: And you shall have it. As soon as I have disposed of them.

Arachne was probably only too desperate to get exactly what Cronus had promised her, but even she chose to believe my Atlanta over her own deal-maker.

Arachne: I've honored my end of the bargain, Cronus.

Cronus only rubbed his hand to his forehead. I supposed that he only chose to give Arachne what he had promised her in exchange for me and the rest of our team of Greek heroes' descendants just so that he could ease her suspicions brought onto her by an Atlanta whom I had suddenly felt a lot more sure had already been freed from that gigantic she-spider's mind control the first time around all along.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Oh, very well.

It seemed like it had only taken a snap from Cronus' own fingers, but Arachne was suddenly transformed from her gigantic she-spider form. It looked like it, and it had even sounded like she was in horridly blinding pain, though.

Atlanta: Now!

Yours Truly: I knew it!

Admitting, I might not have known she was still on the side of her friends, but I did catch onto her still being under Arachne's control as nothing more than a ruse eventually.

When Arachne was finally transformed into whatever it was into exactly which Cronus was changing her, a human female had emerged from her fully transformed spider body. Not to mention that she was even a very beautiful, but anciently attired human female, at that. Who knew that she, of all kinds of appearances, was what a creature as blindingly ugly as Arachne had looked like before having ever been turned into a gigantic spider by Athena, herself?

Of course, Atlanta and I had freed the rest of our friends while Arachne was busy basking in her former human beauty of which Athena had robbed her the day she was turned into that gigantic, blindingly ugly she-spider.

Arachne's human form: Human. I'm human.

Atlanta: Congratulations!

Atlanta then jump kicked Arachne's by that time human form down onto the ground upon having been turned human. Atlanta looked like she was pretty dern satisfied by what she had done to her former psyche snatcher. Of course, that did not mean that we were no longer in danger. The rest of our team still had Cronus to deal with. Speaking of Cronus, the evil god of time and space had actually commented on Atlanta's trickery of his own bargainer, Arachne, by pretending to still be under the former she-spider's control.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Hmm. Clever.

I supposed he was just as impressed with Atlanta as Arachne had been for one reason or another after she had walked out on the make-up exams in retaliation for Ares' sexist comments about her having thought of using bait instead of me. I tried, I failed. That guy really needed to get over it. If he had yet to get over even his sexist views about girls by the time we were all finished with the fight at hand, he was so going to have to deal with an earful… even if I had to be the one to give it to my own mentor.

At the time of our situation during the fight, however, our entire team had far more pressing matters to deal with, such as stopping Cronus before he could get the upper hand or even run out on us in the midst of our battle against him.

Jay: After him, before he escapes.

But Cronus decided upon the latter of the two; running away from all seven of his opponents in the midst of battle.

Cronus, the god of time and space: Hmm. I'll be going now.

Just as all of our team but Atlanta ran after Cronus anyway, the evil creep summoned his two sickles and sliced at the way he, himself, had most likely come into Arachne's cave when she had gone to get him just to show him her work. Not long afterwards, that very same tunnel had collapsed along with what was probably going to more than likely count as our only way out of that she-spider's cave. Way to totally jinx the fight against our number one enemy, Jay.

That was around when Cronus had suddenly began speaking once again, that following time to Arachne, from beyond the collapsed tunnel if only to tell her what he obviously had planned for her once it became clear that she had failed to keep her end of their agreement, after all.

Cronus, the god of time and space (continued): Oh, and, Arachne? Our deal is off!

I did not know exactly what Cronus would have even had in mind for Arachne by then since it had turned out that she had dishonored her own end of the exact deal she had made with him, after all. Whatever Cronus had seemed to have in mind as a punishment for having reneged on her word to him, however, it seemed to deform her face as a start just by crackling at it alone. Needless to say about that poor girl's punishment from Cronus, Arachne seemed as though she had blamed my Atlanta for it just because she broke free from the human-female-turned-gigantic-she-spider-turned-back-into-human-female's mind control.

Arachne's human form: No! This is all your fault!

I know that it might have sounded just slightly boastful, but I was pretty certain that it was more my fault than it was Atlanta's fault that Arachne was finally getting a dose of the real Cronus just because she was only too trusting towards the wrong gods.

That was when Cronus' punishment towards Arachne took its full affect. Arachne had later reappeared from her transformation, and she was a she-spider once again.

That was so not good. She was going after Atlanta by then. I guess that she was ready to strike my favorite person_ on the team_ down, that time. Atlanta had to run. She only stood her ground, though.

Just as Arachne had finally made it to my best friend, Atlanta, however, the gigantic she-spider was not so gigantic anymore. In fact, Arachne had actually been turned into a normal-sized spider by Cronus and was in no such way threatening to Atlanta, the rest of us, or even anyone else on earth, for that matter. I supposed that that was the full effect of the punishment that Cronus had in mind for Arachne after Atlanta had played them both for idiots.

A/N: I always hate being the villainess in any possible situation just like this one, right here, but I can easily say that that sort of punishment did kind of serve Arachne right for getting her own hopes up about returning to her human form in exchange for making a deal with Cronus, of all the Greek gods. I know that Atlanta and Archie had tricked her, but I'm pretty sure that it was really Arachne's fault most of all for trusting Atlanta, who had only sided with her because that she-spider had brainwashed the girl into helping her and poisoned her against her own friends and teammates, over Cronus, who she had actually struck her deal with about being turned back into a human in exchange for the deaths of our heroes and heroines.

Arachne was not even big enough to crush so much as Atlanta's pinky toe, the she-spider was so puny by then.

Arachne: What? No. No!

Atlanta could not sense even one hint of danger from Arachne any longer. In fact, my number one girl had even grabbed an urn from off of the floor of the she-spider's dark cave of a home and placed it atop said she-spider who then began shouting for mercy from my ideal girl.

Arachne (continued): Mercy! Mercy!

Of course, Atlanta only had one word to say about it.

Atlanta: Whatever.

Then, my Atlanta had finally closed the lid to the urn on the newly, and quite drastically, size-reduced Arachne.

That was when all seven of us were suddenly rescued from Arachne's disturbingly dark cave of a lair by none other than Ares, Artemis, and Athena. Jay was naturally first amongst us all to speak about them coming to our rescue.

Jay: Man, are we glad to see you three.

Atlanta, however, was not as happy as Jay or any of the others were to see Ares amongst the gods who had come to our rescue from within Arachne's cave.

Atlanta: Yeah, speak for yourself, Jay. I still think that Ares is a male chauvinist pig for getting on my case about how we all did on the first exam.

The god of the savagery in warfare, however, was not willing to back down in matters of personal pride, himself.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Why you little_ watch your tongue, you!

Artemis and Athena then tried to stop Ares from taking his anger out on Atlanta unnecessarily by holding him back, while I actually held my arm out over her for her protection from my own mentor, of all the Olympian gods. She just walked past my protective arm anyway, however, before she started talking to Ares further about it.

Atlanta: But I can easily admit to when I'm not being all that respectful to others, myself. I know now that I should never have said anything like all of the things I said just to get even with Ares for it.

Ares had suddenly looked as though he were surprised by the very words coming from Atlanta. In fact, he had even looked almost as surprised as Miss Artemis and Athena were. One thing was for sure; and that was that I, myself, was also quite surprised by exactly what Atlanta had been saying to the god of the savagery in warfare AKA my own mentor, himself. Even further to my surprise thereafter, Ares had only let out a slightly defeated sigh in response to what Atlanta had said to him about it. Then, even further to my surprise than that, Ares actually went from being ready to unleash his fury upon my crush to extending his arms out to Atlanta in a welcoming manner, especially for him, of all gods.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Come on, kids. You can talk about it when we get back to the school, Atlanta.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy: And don't forget to bring that with you, Atlanta.

Athena pointed to the urn which had held the newly shrunken Arachne as she said her own words to my Atlanta. It was not very long before we had all used the portal of the gods to get back home to New Olympia High School. Upon making it back to the school, Jay, Herry, Odie, and Neil were all only too happy to head back to the dorm, while Theresa and I both felt slightly hesitant about it. My sister-figure and I were both incredibly worried about my Atlanta and whatever the gods would have had in mind for her as a punishment like what Cronus had done to Arachne when he did more than just turn her back into a she-spider and basically shrunk her down in addition.

Yours Truly: I-I think that the only fair way to decide who stays behind with Atlanta is 'rock-paper-scissors'. What do ya say, Theresa? Are ya game enough for it?

I admit that I was just trying to act like my usual 'tough guy' self, but in truth, I was scared to death for my Atlanta's safety and whatever punishment she was going to get from the gods for the way she insulted Ares, even if she did do it while she was doubtlessly under Arachne's control.

Theresa: Fine then, let's do it, Archie.

Theresa might have said she was game for it, but by the way she said it sounded like she was not even interested. In fact, her response to my challenge had actually sounded a bit bored to me for some reason. I threw down paper as my weapon. Even after Theresa launched her weapon very long after mine, she still threw down with rock as her weapon. I even thought that she had lost to me on purpose, and there I thought she was supposed to be a 'psychic'. So much for that theory. While the drama queen went back to the dorm with the rest of the guys, I went in to check on Atlanta.

Back inside the room in question, Atlanta was talking to Ares, Hera, Miss Artemis, and Athena about exactly what she had said about the god of the savagery in warfare. She had also handed them the urn which had held Arachne's newly shrunken down spider body.

Atlanta: I let my anger cloud my judgment, and I'm sorry.

Ares just shook his head and groaned at my Atlanta's apology, and there I had actually thought that he had changed his mind about a girl being the best at anything, at all. Hera, however, quickly turned her own head towards the god who had been in question by then.

Hera, queen of the Greek gods: Ares!

Ares turned around and crossed his arms over his chest before speaking back to Atlanta. Seriously, exactly what was it with that guy? Did he just have some kind of thing against strong women or something? Granted that I sort of admittingly had my own thing against strong women, myself, but hey, none of you ever once saw me picking on a girl for handling herself better than any guy could. I had no problem with ladies who could handle their own problems. It was kind of exactly what I had liked about my Atlanta.

Ares, the god of war and savagery: Apology accepted.

Atlanta: Huh?

Atlanta then sounded as though she were openly shocked by Ares suddenly accepting her apology. Honestly speaking from my own point of view, I was just as shocked as she was and could not really tell whether Ares had accepted my Atlanta's apology genuinely or if he had only accepted her apology because Hera had made the god of the savagery in warfare accept my crush's apology to him.

Atlanta (continued): What's gonna happen to Arachne?

What? 'What was going to happen to Arachne?'? That newly shrunken she-spider was who she was worried about? That recently shrunken down she-spider, who had tried to brainwash her and poison her against her own friends and teammates, that was about whom my Atlanta was the most concerned by then? Not any of her own teammates, or even herself for that matter? Personally speaking, I felt as though the latter of those two choices about whom to worry was really the only person with whom she should have truly concerned herself and not that walking, talking anthropomorphic arachnid wannabe. Of course, Athena happened to have a thing or two to say which she had felt would probably reassure Atlanta about exactly what was going to happen to Arachne.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy: Don't worry. She'll be punished.

Athena then began patting the urn as she had said what she did about Arachne. Even with those two sentences from her, however, Atlanta had still managed to make an argument against the gods punishing Arachne any further than she already had been.

Atlanta: You can't! Your ancient punishment turned her to Cronus' side. How many others might try to get their revenge on you through us?

That was when I finally saw exactly what Atlanta was even saying with that kind of remark. Ares, Hera and Artemis even began pondering just how many others there really were that might have tried to get their revenge on them through us and any one of our friends and teammates. Athena, however, just continued to hold onto the urn which held Arachne's newly shrunken down spider form inside of it.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy: But she made fun of my weaving!

Hera then gave Athena a dirty look for pretty much whining over her personal pride the same way Ares had when Atlanta had done the best of us all against the harpy in the first exam. I guess that Atlanta and Arachne were both right, after all, about even gods being capable of being jerks. Speaking of Ares, himself, even he and Artemis gave Athena the same look Hera did about swallowing her godly pride.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy (continued): Oh, very well.

It was around that point in their conversation with one another, roughly around the same time at which I had finally made my way up to Mrs. Hera's own desk with my Atlanta and the gods, that Athena had let Arachne's tiny, normal-sized spider form out of the urn and zapped the she-spider back into her human form. I had finally felt safe enough to even look at her and believe me when I say that she was so very pretty. Of course, I imagined that Arachne was also very grateful to Atlanta for it. The former she-spider, however, only seemed unsure of what reason my crush would have had for helping her, even after everything that the woman had put her through as a gigantic she-spider.

Arachne: But… but, why?

Believe me, Arachne, I was just as confused as you were about my Atlanta helping you gain your human form back. That was to say that I was as confused about it as Arachne, herself, was by then, until I remembered exactly why the love of my life had chosen to free me first when my admittingly and shockingly aborted love confession still wound up being just enough to snap my crush out of the hypno-trance under which the gigantic she-spider had her.

I admit that I was not all that happy about what I already knew her reason was for helping only me down by then. I knew that without a shadow of a doubt, Atlanta had only helped me down first and foremost because I was her friend. It was only after we had all escaped Arachne's clutches as a she-spider that I had begun to think that I really should have just spat out to Atlanta that I loved her while she was still under Arachne's mind control.

I would have been glad to help answer the former normal-sized-she-spider-turned-back-into-a-human-female's question, but my Atlanta had chosen to answer Arachne's question on her own, though.

Atlanta: Because friends help each other.

That was around when Atlanta had turned her head in my direction and began smiling at me like the pure and innocent princess she truly was, even after receiving what I had already known to be her first kiss from 'Phil' AKA Pan that one time.

No wait, that was only the way I had always seen her. She was a lot more capable than being just some random princess who was just waiting for her prince, though. I guess that I just could not help but think that way about her, though, since I loved her, and that I always got completely nervous whenever she was near me and had even lost a brain cell or two whenever I thought about her.

A/N: oh, believe me. I know about love clouding your senses. I've never felt it for real, myself, but I've seen it. granted that I've only seen it on television and in movies, but I've still seen it, nonetheless.