'Excess knowledge may be your downfall but too little of it will be your doom'

Since the day with Medusa, Estelle couldn't help the weirder things she witnessed from the corner of her eyes. Like the voices she kept hearing and the dreams that were plagued with people she didn't know. The first time she decided to take action was when said boy she kept seeing in her dreams appeared on the TV. He was something of a terrorist causing the collapse of a bridge and running away from that. The day after, her dreams got worse mixing the truth with fantasy because now he could control water. Truthfully, Estelle avoided thinking of it completely because of the foreboding shivers that crept up her spine. It felt like she was stepping into unfamiliar territory, a place where her beliefs might change.

Even a week later she couldn't help but mull over the weird instances as she finished up the project with her friends. It wasn't a 'I wonder what happened to that medusa killing girl' it was more like 'I can't stop feeling unsettled since I saw those two'. It was more of a subconscious thought constantly at the back of her mind, but never one she summoned willingly. Huffing at the sudden reminder of the past week's scene she added the finishing touches to the project. Her marker scribbled a border down the edges and she skillfully made a few swirls and dotted a few flowers as a design.

Estelle looked up from the Bristol board, "done!"

"Nice" came Lynx's reply as she munched on some chips and flipped through the channels, "we can finally relax from that." She gestured for Estelle to join her on the couch as she turned on a movie.

Estelle took a seat and cringed, "this again? I'm starting to wonder if you have any taste."

Lynx stuck her tongue out as she nudged Darius, "she's insulting the love of your life."

"It was you?" Estelle asked in horror. She gave a slow shake of her head, "I expected better from you."

Darius gave an unimpressed nod, "oh how could I ever recover from this slander."

"You nev-"

"Guys come on, it's almost to the good part and you keep interrupting it," Henry called from the armrest as he swatted at Estelle.

With a sigh Estelle turned her face to the TV as Lynx snickered softly, meanwhile Darius gave Henry a thumbs up as he too became invested in the movie.

The horror ended after one hour and Darius's house had completely run out of snacks by now. Lynx sifted through the bowl of crumbs before shrugging and feasting on said crumbs. Darius and Henry watched with mouths wide open as the story ended, the star-crossed lovers parted with tears.

"This part always gets me," Henry mumbled as he wiped away a tear as Darius nodded, "so tragic"

The screen blanked out and the end credits began rolling. Estelle thumped the button and turned off the TV, "happy you two?"

"You know if this were a story you'd definitely be the witch who keeps trying to thwart the romance," Henry grumbled.

"Come on, you know they aren't going to end up together and that it's only going to make you sad"

"No Estelle, we know that its going to make us feel these mundane human emotions," Darius kept a hand on his heart dramatically.

Lynx snorted, "the horror, Darius finally feeling emotions"

"It's a quite serious condition," he nodded joining in the joke.

While the others joked Estelle looked at the time noting that it was almost night. Unwillingly she got to her feet, "I think I'll have to leave now if I want to get home before night"

"I'll drop you off," Henry said picking up his stuff, "it's the same way as my house anyway"

"Ooh," Lynx gave a teasing remark as she too readied her things. "I should get going too then, those two brats are probably turning the house upside down without me. You sure its fine if we leave the overlord alone."

"Hey," Darius gave an indignant shout at the nickname.

"Come on, it matches. You'll be fine till your dad comes home right?" Estelle asked as she pulled on her shoes.

"Yeah, no worries. Since I am the 'overlord' it shouldn't be too much of a problem managing everything," Darius made speech marks with his fingers as he ushered the trio out. "You guys be careful on the way and probably get home before its dark."

"Yes, sergeant!" Lynx joked as she waved to the rest.

"We'll leave too," Henry said as he pointed to the direction Lynx went, "I'll drop them both off."

"Don't need you to!" Lynx's voice was heard from the distance.

"Bye," Estelle waved with a smile and Darius closed the door and latched it shut.

Estelle and Henry broke into a short run and caught up to Lynx who was waiting idly a short distance away. "You two could use some exercise. You guys are unusually slow"

Estelle reached out to punch her arm lightly, "Says the person who always places in track."

"What can I say, I'm a gem among the rubble."

"Bit too narcissistic," Henry commented slightly startled when he realized what he said as he cast a glance to Estelle. Estelle was busy bickering with Lynx to notice his slip up in the act.

A short walk later they arrived at Lynx's house to suspicious noises coming from inside. Henry seemed to be a little on the edge while Lynx opened the door casually as if it was the norm.

"You two! Are you disturbing grandma?" She asked as she tossed her bag to a corner of the room.

"No," her two brothers chorused, "We're helping gran with dinner," the synchronized voices broke off. "I'm making the filling," came a softer voice which was followed by a slightly more energetic one, "I'm doing the dough!"

"You two leave," Lynx gave a small smile before shutting the door and giggles ensued within the house.

"Awfully cheery aren't they"

Estelle nodded about to agree when her eyes narrowed. That wasn't Henry's voice and it most certainly wasn't the voice of anyone she knew. It was an odd sound. The sound wasn't the most discerning factor though, the horrible stench that erupted became the first signal of danger. The odour was something worse than what you'd find in a garbage dump(Estelle assumed since she'd yet to go to one), it felt like gasping for air only to keep inhaling sand. It physically hurt to breathe. Not to mention the urge to empty her stomachs contents were becoming greater as she turned to face the unusual person.

It was a man of about 30 with a skinny figure. His unruly red hair was tied into a small bun despite that stray strands escaped and framed his muddied face. He looked like a vagrant, the type you'd avoid eye contact with simply because you were worried they'd scuffle with you for your money. His milky eyes held a glint of danger. Uneasily Estelle took a step back.

"Sorry sir, I'm not su-"

"Vrykolakas," Henry whispered beside her. Almost instantly panic overtook him as he grasped her hand and tugged her away from the stranger. The stranger appeared in front of them not even a second later. Except he looked different now. His red hair had turned to an ombre of black and red looking akin to a corpse. The man's stomach had swelled to a balloon and he looked restored to full health. His milky eyes looked hollow like staring into a black hole. There was no time to register the difference in appearance because the creatures hand shot out flashing his nails which were manicured perfectly for killing. Henry pulled Estelle out of the way mumbling about Stygian iron.

"Listen," he pulled them behind a wall, "we need to find fire or that things going to kill us." Estelle opened her mouth to ask a question when Henry interrupted her actions once more, "and don't ask me how or why I'm taking this calmly or why its after us. Can you like trust me for a second?"

Dumbfounded, she gave a nod and he ushered her away with the command 'find a lighter', Good thing was there was a gas station nearby. The thing about gas stations was you'd almost always find the necessary combination for fire, petrol and a spark. Sprinting towards the station Estelle pulled on a gasoline can.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing"

"Sorry!" she yelled at him as she pushed him to the ground using the added weight of the gasoline can. Rushing out of the gas station she didn't forget to find a lighter from said employee she pushed down. Adrenaline pumping through her veins she hurried to the place where Henry and the man stood to find hooves where Henry's legs were supposed to be. What?

"Estelle!" Henry's voice snapped her out of contemplation as she ran towards the creature and hit him on the head with the petrol can. It bore the brunt of the force and its hands reached out to crush the can. It's nails broke through the plastic as the smell of gasoline wafted through the air.

Using the last of her quickly depleting strength she pushed the creature as far away as she could and set fire to the trail of gasoline. The flames rushed to the open air licking at the creature. A guttural sounds left its throat as he ran out of the flames still alight. Estelle helped a wounded Henry off the ground and the two ran avoiding pursuit from both the creature and the man from the petrol station. The creature and the man crossed paths and soon they were occupied with eachother both prevented from pursuit of the two.

"You have hoofs," Estelle said after a minute of two of opening and closing her mouth as she thought of a reply.

"I," Henry paused as if evaluating the situation. "This is bad," he sighed, "nothing was supposed to happen this soon but yes.. I do have hooves."

Estelle didn't respond for a while later as she supported the boy with the injured leg. "What was that before. What was," she gestured behind them,"that."

"Vrykolakas"

"What?"

"Listen, can we get to your home first and then I'll explain"

"O-ok?"

Meanwhile, the Vrykolakas shook off the man that kept trying to help him because he was on fire (obviously he knew). While the mortal intercepted him the demigod and the satyr had run off. He had only managed to get to Granada after a multitude of twists and turns in the labyrinth. He'd only just gotten to experience being alive in a place filled with so many people after a couple centuries. If only that demigod hadn't interrupted he'd at least have the satyr. As his body was consumed by the flames he could only summon one thought, not again