Author's Note: Hey everyone! Happy Early Turkey Day! Hope you're all having a good one! Stay safe out there, world's a bit of a crazy place right now.

Alexa found herself moving through some sort of large building, padding along on a concrete floor and past boxes with faded pink labels and large stainless steel vats big enough to use as bath tubs. The place was quiet, except for a pair of voices, one grumbling, the other shouting insults.

Alexa moved past a few of the cardboard piles and nearly ran into a cyclops. He was an adolescent, judging by his size and the massive pimples that covered his oily face. He wore XXXXXL overalls and a shirt that may have been white when Herbert Hoover was in office. He sat on the ground, a collection of steel wool the size of a pillow in one hand, the other holding one of the vats on its side. He scrubbed at vat still grumbling under his breath.

"Ugh. Now?" He asked, turning the vat slightly upwards. Alexa followed where he was pointing the vat and found her heart seizing up. Above her, dangling from a rope bound to the pair of them and suspended from the ceiling hung Jazz and Rose. Rose was facing the cyclops and his huge metal container, Jazz was facing away, her war helm still on her head and cursed flying from her mouth.

"Screw you, you giant pizza faced freak of nature!" Jazz hissed.

"Gonna eat mean, scary girl first." The cyclops mused.

"I... don't think the cooking pot is ready yet. It still has some...residue on the rim, see?" Rose said, ignoring the two fighting and pointing with her toe at a spot that Alexa couldn't see. Evidently the cyclops couldn't see it either. He grunted in frustration.

"Either it's clean or I eat you both raw, tonight." He growled, his eye flicking to Rose. Rose's face had gone pale.

"Then it's clean enough!" She assured him. "But I'm pretty sure the stores are closed this late... you'll have to wait until morning to get the veggies."

The cyclops let out a small huff of annoyance, and began setting the massive steel container upright on the floor. Rose nudges Jazz and turns to give her a look. A look that Alexa could read even as her vision started to grow fuzzy.

Rose was terrified and desperate and that fear made a heavy weight settle on Alexa's chest.

When Alexa awoke there was still a heavy weight on her, but rather than the emotional weight of worry, this weight was coming from a golden colored blanket laid over her. She grunted and tried to shift the thing, tried to leap out of bed, but... wait, bed?

She looked around. She was in an airy bedroom, the ceilings high and far away, sunlight streaming in through a set of skylights and bathing the room with light. The floor was covered by a thick orange carpet, a wind chime hung from the door frame of the only door she could see, and she was fairly sure there was a dream catcher hanging on the wall above her head. The wall directly across from her was covered with paint.

At first Alexa didn't get what she was looking at, the spatters just seemed random, but the more she looked at it, the more features she began to make out. A pointillist painting slowly came into focus, well over two dozen figures stood on the white wall. A female was set apart from the others at the top, her arms spread wide as if she wanted to scoop the rest up in a massive, impossible bear hug. Below her were six others, three men dressed in gold, blue-green, and black dots, and three women dressed in orange, green and silver. Below them the others, of varying shape and size, some children, others near gigantic in comparison, all dressed in a rainbow of colors and shades. Beneath this, still in the same random pointillist style, were words in ancient greek.

"I had a life, and it is only you."

Alexa stared at the painted wall, frowning slightly. There was something so familiar about the figures, particularly the six separated in the center row. She focused on the blue clad male in particular. There was something clutched in his right fist, something she couldn't quite make out. Maybe if she could just…

"Groooww..." For the second time during this incredibly short quest, a noise caught Alexa's attention and caused her heart to speed up. It was low and rumbling, and very very close. To have such a danger so close and not realize it was unacceptable! Alexa's eyes started this way and that until the answer made itself plain as day. The thick golden blanket shifted, its head came up, and one deep brown eye looked down at her before it yawned again revealing long white fangs. She was laying in a king sized bed using a lion as a blanket!

She stared at the beast, dimly noting the lack of a mane and the fact that it hadn't killed her yet. The lioness again stared down at Alexa imperiously, her brown nose twitching towards her, her hot breath licking over Alexa's face. She couldn't move, couldn't even grasp at her charm bracelet to draw her sword.

"Um… good kitty?" Alexa managed to say. The lioness raised a paw and brought it down, hitting Alexa not with her claws but with the hard pads of her toes. The lioness gave Alexa a hard little thunk on the forehead, before yawning and curling back up again.

Before Alexa could even begin to wonder how she was going to move the beast from her without getting clawed to death, she heard footsteps on the floor outside. The door opened and Alexa caught her breath.

The woman stepping through the door was definitely of an older sort, but she and old age seemed to be getting along fabulously. Her hair was dark and curly, with just a few strands of gray that Alexa could see, and her eyes were a deep, unnatural sort of green that seemed to flash from playful matriarch to feline hunter with the shifting of the light. She wore a long tie dye dress, a belt cinching it at the waist and a gold peace symbol dangled on a necklace, bouncing against her chest with every step.

What took Alexa's breath away, though, was the power that radiated from the mystery woman. Alexa had been in the presence of gods before; she lived with Mr. D for years, and she had met Aphrodite just yesterday. But this woman… her power felt just as strong, but wilder. If Mr. D was a welding torch, this woman was a forest fire stuffed into a tie dye dress.

The woman noticed that Alexa was awake and smiled.

"How's it be, little one? You off your trip?" The way she talked, the accent and inflections, reminded her of two people; Shaggy from Scooby doo and an old neighbor from her apartment building years ago. At least the mystery woman smelled way better than Karma had.

"I… um… I'm doing better. I think…" she said slowly, glancing down at the massive feline who was still laying across her. Without missing a beat, the woman reached down and picked the lioness up around the middle. The lion grumbled and squirmed in her grip.

"Up you get!" She huffs, cradling the massive feline in her arms as if it were a kitten. She takes it to the center of the room before setting it back down again. The lioness gave the woman an affronted look before padding off into a corner to clean itself.

She returned to Alexa's bedside and wordlessly lifted her shirt sleeve, inspecting a puckered red scar right above her armpit. The woman frowned thoughtfully.

"Elder scorpion poison is a bad trip man. You were totally zonked when Buddy and Lady dragged you in." Without warning, she grabbed Alexa and put her on her feet. "Try and walk."

Alexa tried, and found that although her legs wobbled she was able to take a couple of steps. The woman smiled a smile that could've lit up New York in a state wide blackout.

"Righteous! You can come downstairs with me and take the rest of your meds!" The woman half cheered. She glanced over at the lioness. "Bells, Buddy's been, like, moping around since you came up here. Bringin' the vibe way down, down there. Would you mind?"

The lion responded with a yawn, a flick of her tail, and a lazy pad out the door. Alexa and the tie dye lady followed a second later.

The living room was just as psychedelically decorated as it's owner, with bright neon colors, huge bursting potted plants, several bean bag chairs, and white shag carpeting so thick Alexa could've gotten lost in it if she crawled on her belly. There were only two things that separated it from what she'd expect the ideal hippie hang out to be; the six or so lions, 5 females and one male, lounging around the room, and the wall of pictures. Most of the pictures were black and white and almost all were of the same man with angular features, black hair, and tired eyes. The biggest one, however, was a painting, that same man, tall and broad, stood on a yellow green prairie in a blue collared shirt and black pants held up by suspenders, his head bowed slightly, looking down at a book in one hand and carrying an axe in the other.

The woman fearlessly walked through the 60s themed lion's den and plopped herself into a bean bag. She let out a contented sigh and looked at Alexa expectantly. The young girl was a bit more cautious about making her way through the den. She could see one of the lionesses watching her, her head swiveling as Alexa made her way to the bean bag.

The lioness that had been watching her got up and looked over, butting her head against Alexa's knee. Not wanting to be rude, Alexa began to pet the massive feline. The lion, in turn, began to make a low rumbling noise deep in it's chest that Alexa hoped was a purr.

"Lady likes you," the woman observed. "Her, Bella and Buddy were the ones that found ya. They're free spirits, huntin' monsters and deer out in the woods. Guess Mr. Pinchy came out of there and they heard the ruckus."

When Alexa looked, the woman was holding a pair of tea cups she hadn't had before, a square of ambrosia set on the rim of the one she was offering her guest. Alexa took it with a quiet word of thanks. The godly food immediately eased the soreness left over from the scorpion, and the taste of Melody's brownies, fresh from the oven, eased her nerves.

"This is a nice place and all but…" Alexa trailed off as the woman's gentle smile caught her eye.

"I did work hard to get the feng shui just right for peaceful reflection. It just gives off a total homey, family vibe, doesn't it?" She asks.

"Umm yes it does," Alexa agreed, glancing at the lion. She had put a warning paw on her knee when Alexa had stopped petting her, urging her into motion again. Still, Alexa continued. "But what I was going to ask was… who are you?"

"I don't believe in names. Names are, like, a social construct meant to bind us into boxes and make us easier to control," answered her hostess.

"But… don't all your lions have names?" Alexa pointed out.

"Hehe! Clever!" The woman giggled. "Yeah, I guess I'm totally a hypocrite!" She paused to swirl the tea around in her cup and take a sip before answering Alexa's question. "Well, in that case, call me Rhea." Alexa damn near dropped her cup.

"I… Rhea…? Like...titan queen, mother of the gods, Rhea?" She asked softly.

"Well, only six of them." Rhea chuckled. Alexa could only stare. She had trouble comprehending that this woman was, in some ways, the mother of all of western civilization. Because of this, something stupid inevitably fell from her lips.

"That means you're my great grandma…" The moment she said that, Rhea's eyes lit up. She brought her left hand up and snapped her fingers, a plate of cookies appearing in Alexa's lap. Alexa quietly took one, the chocolate chips melting on her first bite.

"... Why's it blue?" She asks, glancing down at the navy colored cookie.

"Spoilers." Rhea responded with a wink. "I get a few sneak peeks, though I try not to look. I happen to know blue will be the groovy thing in a few years."

Alexa ate a few more blue cookies. They were good, perfectly ordinary except for the color.

"Not that I'm ungrateful or anything but… why did you save me?" She asks the titaness.

"Harsh. You thought I'd just let you die when they brought you in?" Rhea asked.

"Well… I mean was there a reason? Besides just helping me?" Alexa asked.

"Oof, the aura. I can feel it from here...you're not trusting, are you?"

"Not when I'm on a quest." Alexa said quietly. Rhea considered this and shrugged.

"I wanted to give you a chance out of it." Rhea said softly.

"Out of what?" Alexa asked.

"It. The path, pain, your 'destiny'," she used air quotes - Alexa got the impression her eyes were rolling behind her glasses. "Your fate is not as set in stone as others… my son couldn't escape his destiny to overthrow the titan lord, Acrisius was always destined to die at the hands of his grandson, young Jimmy was always going to die suddenly with a frog on his arm. But not you. Your fate is flexible, your prophecy has wiggle room. You don't have to fulfill it in the way that you think."

Rhea smiled at Alexa, giving her a knowing and sympathetic look. "The trials are scary, they're hard for anyone to get through, but you can reject the prophecy, and stay here with me and the cats… I can even put in a word or two with Hades. He might be a bit strict but I can at least make it bearable down there. I know it's a bummer to turn your back on it, but the trials aren't meant for someone your age."

"... What Trials? What Prophecy? What path?" Alexa asked. "I'm just trying to keep my best friend from getting her head bashed in."

"... What year is it?" Rhea asked. When Alexa told her Rhea stared for one long second, blinking owlishly. "Can you lift your sleeve for me?"

Alexa did as she was asked, showing off the skin on her right arm, she had just started to pull up the sleeve of her injured arm when Rhea swore loudly.

"I got you too early!" Rhea fumed, the anger and frustration coming off her in waves that nearly bowled the girl over. Then, it stopped as suddenly as it came. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. If you stay with me now, there's nothing to worry about!" Rhea then said, calming back down rapidly as a new plan formed in her head.

"Why?" Alexa couldn't help but ask. "I mean… it's a nice thought but… why?" Alexa didn't want to say it, but she couldn't help but think that gods didn't operate like this. Gods didn't just offer someone a place to stay with no strings attached. True, Rhea was a titan, but that only made it more confusing in Alexa's eyes.

"Spoilers." Rhea said again with a small smile.

Alexa thought it over. What Rhea had said had sparked her imagination, whatever her fate was...it must've been incredibly dangerous if the titan queen had seen fit to step in. What were these trials, and what did it all mean? Could she really stay there with Rhea?

No. That much she knew for certain. She couldn't stay, not without leaving Jazz to die.

"I appreciate the offer. Really… but if I just left Jazz hanging, I don't think I'd be someone worth saving. I think I'd rather be somebody good and die young, than live to an old age knowing I did something terrible like that." Alexa explained. Rhea stared at her for a long time, then her eyes shifted and stared at the pictures on the wall.

"You sound just like my little boy…" she said sadly, a tear trickling out from beneath her glasses. Alexa turned to follow her gaze, fully taking in the wall of pictures for the first time.

There had been a tickle of familiarity when she had glanced at the wall before. But now that she was really looking she started to really see; there he was as an older man, his beard and dark hair meeting behind a set of rather large ears. There he was again, younger with no beard and his hair neatly trimmed, an old suit with a slightly faded bowtie decorating him. It was the picture of him in front of the tent with the stovepipe hat and the two slightly nervous looking men on either side of him that made it click in her head.

"Is… your son was…" Alexa started to say.

"Abraham Lincoln." Rhea smiled sadly. "His mother and I fell in love 1807. We carried on an affair behind Thomas's back for so long…she was an outstanding woman."

Alexa didn't bother questioning how two women managed to have a demigod child. She had know a few demigods from same sex pairings… hell, one of her own cabin mates had three dads.

"I don't buy into the whole having mortal kids thing too often, I always seem to mourn them for decades. Abraham was my last in a very long time. He was my pride and joy. You have no idea how proud I was of him when he sliced the head off his first empousa." Alexa stared and Rhea explained. "They seemed drawn to him. He became one of the most feared empousa hunters on the Mississippi. Killing creatures like that, the ones that stole young boys from their beds and left corpses for their mothers to find… he took a lot of pleasure in killing them. Hecate still hasn't forgiven me for that."

There was a silence for a long couple of seconds. Before Alexa worked up the nerve to ask her question.

"If… by some miracle Abe had lived the centuries to be here right now… what would he say?"

Rhea sighed and nodded her head. "He'd say that you were meant to go, that if your friends' lives hung in the balance you had a duty to meet the challenge with your head up and your axe swinging."

"I prefer a sword," Alexa said as, as one, she and Rhea stood.

"You'll find what you're looking for in Redwood Maine." Rhea said. "After you rescue your friends, I mean… and I have a way to cause a nice little distraction… you'll need to build in the car, and you'll need to learn a song. It's from a show that I'll grow fond of next year. Technically, you'll be the first person to sing it."

"Prophetic songs now?" Alexa asked as Rhea led her through the house into a small garden.

"Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey." Rhea responded dismissively, pulling out her car keys and shepherding Alexa towards an old but well cared for lime green Volkswagen.

"I'll do whatever I need to to help Jazz and Rose! Even if I can't carry a tune in a bucket." Alexa assured her great grandma. Rhea responded with a wide smile and one word.

"Groovy."