~ ☼ ~

When I woke, my eyes were heavy. I wiped the sleep away, but my vision stayed blurry. That was horrible, I thought. What kind of dream was that?

I felt like I'd fallen asleep 10 minutes ago. But as the fuzzy world around me slowly came into focus, I realized it'd been much longer. Riley was now driving, and Alec was sitting in the back seat with his head tilted against the window as he dreamily watched avocets fly across the sky.

It was just the beginning of sunrise outside, all peachy and rose. Sea grass blew in the wind along the road side, sand dunes to the left and endless marshland to the right. Shag music played softly on the radio, and I narrowed my eyes.

"Are we in the Outer Banks already?" I asked Riley.

She nodded. "About to enter Kill Devil Hills."

"Woah."

Just like that, we'd reached our destination, a place straight out of a James Taylor song. For a second, it almost felt like it'd been too easy.

(Then, I remembered everything.)

It was hard to believe that by the end of the day, we would most likely be on our way back to New York. I couldn't wait. As soon as we got this Python business over and done with, we'd never have to worry about getting enough food or sleep ever again.

Only a few days ago, I wanted adventure. But I got so much more than what I bargained for. I'd take picking strawberries all summer over fighting monsters any day.

"Alec and I were thinking of stopping at the next restaurant we see," Riley told me. "Might as well get some more energy in our systems before the big boss battle."

"That's fine with me."

From the backseat, Alec said, "Riles, I see a neon sign just ahead. That could be a diner or something."

My gaze shifted from the cracks in pavement in front of us to what my brother was talking about. Sure enough, there was a teal sign rising up above the cattails that read Cassie's 24-Hour. Behind it was a tiny, truck-stop like diner, with only one car in the parking lot.

(Well, now 2, counting us, as Riley turned in and parked within a matter of seconds.)

It was early enough in the morning that none of us felt the need to say another word as we exited the car and made our way to the door.

Outside, the air was already warming. I took in the smell of brine and salt and Carolina summertime, still sleepy but strangely calm. I hadn't been to a proper beach since I was 10 or so, when I went to Coney Island and fainted at the sight of a rat in the subway. It was nice to feel fresh ocean air again, and to know this whole catastrophe would be over soon.

That all changed when we entered the diner.

Inside, it was just as small as it'd looked from the exterior. The side walls had wood panelling on the bottom, and there were only a few booths and a counter.

What it lacked in size it made up for in coldness. At first, it almost felt like the place was abandoned, despite the lights being on and the obvious air conditioning. Then, a blonde girl came out of the kitchen wearing a Shelly Johnson-esque dress and the same grin I have whenever I see a picture of Andy Hurley. She nearly gave me a panic attack with her perkiness.

"Hey y'all, welcome to Cassie's!" she rounded the corner of the counter and came up startlingly close to us. "My name's Cassie! Booth for 3?"

I blinked, taken back by her very strong accent. She sounded more like a farmer's daughter from rural Alabama than a tar-heel. It was almost... too Southern.

This was only the first sign that things were not what they seemed.

"Uh, thanks," I finally answered.

"A booth for 3 is fine," Riley added.

"All right!"

Cassie grabbed three menus from a stand near the door, and led us to a booth in the far left corner. The seats were blue vinyl and slightly torn and dusty. It looked like nobody had been here in weeks.

I glanced at my siblings to see if they'd noticed this too. Riley seemed all right, but Alec gave me a look that just screamed, This is suspicious.

"First, let me just introduce myself," Cassie said, completely oblivious to my hesitance in sitting down. "I inherited this place from my daddy, who founded it back in 1974 after watching the show Alice and being inspired by Mel's Diner to create his own diner. He named it after his poor grandmama, who I was also named after when I was born in 1982. My daddy passed away this past year, but I continue to run this diner in his honor. Now, can I get y'all some drinks?"

Holy crap, I thought. That was way too much information. And... something seems wrong about what she said.

As Riley ordered a sweet tea, I looked at Alec, who mouthed to me, "That seemed fake."

To Cassie, he said, "I'll have a lemonade, please."

Finally, the waitress turned towards me. There was an unnatural look in her blue-brown eyes, which made me uncomfortable enough. But then there was her grin... as white as a pearl and plastered on like a sticker, I swear it was the smile of a serial killer.

Okay, maybe we still have a few monsters to fight before Python.

"Um, I'll have a glass of orange juice."

Cassie's smile grew. "Sure thing! I'll be right out with those!"

She nodded at me, and then skipped away, back through the kitchen door behind the counter. The three of us watched her go, transfixed, and only looked back at each other after she had been in the kitchen for at least a few moments.

But before anybody could say anything, I realized what was wrong about Cassie's backstory, and nearly screamed.

"Guys, Alice didn't come on until 1976." Both of my siblings raised their eyebrows, and I hurried to explain. "She said her dad opened up the restaurant after watching Alice in 1974. But that show didn't start until 1976."

"How the Hades do you know that?" Alec asked.

"I told you, I watch a lot of TV."

Riley laughed, although I wasn't trying to be funny. Then, she looked up from the menu and said, calmly, "Ok, so? She probably just got the year wrong."

I narrowed my eyes. Maybe Riley was right, but my sister's sureness about the future hadn't been serving us well the past couple days. I may not have been Miss young Sylvia Browne here, but I've watched enough Law and Order to know a conperson when I see them.

I decided I didn't like the waitress. My stomach began tying itself into knots.

To Riley, I said, point-blank, "I don't trust her. She's creepy, and I'm sticking with that."

"She's not creepy!" Riley replied. "I mean, her accent is a little... off, but that's it."

"She is creepy. And I know I'm not psychic or whatever, but I predicted the Muses being weirdos, didn't I?"

Riley looked at me like I was a tin foil hat-wearing conspiracy theorist. The girl who cried "Weird waitress". Rolling my eyes, I turned to Alec, who was obviously trying to stay out of our little tiff.

When we caught eye contact, I leveled my expression, trying to appeal to that uptight, monster-hating black knight inside of him. It must've worked, because after a moment, he sighed.

"Riles, as much as I want to believe you and just have a meal in peace, AJ has a point. We made the mistake of not believing her last time. I don't want to do it again."

Riley slumped, falling back against the booth cushion with a defeated expression on her face. "Fine. Maybe you're right. She does make me kinda uncomfortable. I just don't understand why my powers won't work properly. Or why, out of all of Apollo's powers, I had to be given some cruddy form of prophecy."

"If it makes you feel better," Alec said, putting a hand on Riley's shoulder, "I don't even know what my powers are. I can do basic first aid and I created a ball of light once, that's it."

"And all I can do is play violin. That sometimes, but not always, hypnotizes people."

That was an understatement.

Nothing had changed since I'd played for the muses on the train. My musical talent was one thing, but the powers I had? I didn't understand them in the slightest.

But that was the thing, I guess. As I sat there in the early morning freeze, ignoring my surroundings and focusing on my siblings and the future, my problems didn't seem as bad. If Alec could survive being a photokinetic one-hit wonder, then I could survive being a two-time violin hypnotist.

All 3 of us... we could figure this out.

But that didn't make us safe.

Alec chuckled, and I gave him a smile. Incredulous, Riley looked back-and-forth between us and inquired, "Wait, when did you two suddenly become all confident and secure in your demigodlihood?"

"Confident?" Alec scoffed. "Never. The point is that we can all be insecure together."

"That being said, Apollo is our father. And he seems to have a good amount of enemies," I added, sorry to break the mood.

(Honestly, can I go 5 minutes without complaining about something? Will I ever get peace? Who the Hades knows.)

"But whi-" my sister started.

"I think I might know who she is," interrupted Alec.

We both turned to face him, and he grimaced before explaining: "There was this girl who promised Apollo she'd sleep with him if he gave her prophetic powers. And then, after Apollo gave her the powers, she decided she didn't wanna... you know, do that. So Apollo said all of her prophecies from then on would be true, but thought of as false by everyone."

"Oh my Gods, I know who you're talking about!" Riley exclaimed. "I think her name was..."

Her eyes widened.

And then, at the same time, she and Alec both said, in varying tones: "Cassandra."

———

We got up immediately.

Our drinks and unordered food be damned, we were almost to the end of this quest, and we weren't about to give up our safety just to eat some Sysco biscuits and gravy. Even if I was starting to feel a bit hungry.

It was kinda sad, really. For a couple minutes there, we were almost happy. But I guess, just like student athletes, demigods never get off that grind.

There was only one problem: just as we were reaching the door, Cassie came out of the kitchen and asked, "Where y'all going?"

As we all froze, my skin went cold. I considered, for a second, the consequences of just turning and running. It was a perfectly reasonable instinct, the eternal "flight" side of fight-or-flight. But, to my chagrin, Riley faced the woman and began to make things up.

"We wanted to get something from the truck-" she began, before Alec cut her off, stepping forward and squaring his shoulders.

"We know who you are, Cassandra."

Instantly, Cassie's perfect smile vanished as her lips flattened into a tight frown.

"Do you, now?" she replied. Her lilt was suddenly gone, and her tone was as quiet and deadly as a... I don't know, something quiet and deadly.

She took a step backward, and I could see seriousness in her eyes. But it was accompanied by something else, too. As I stared at her straight-on, trying to figure out her next move, her gaze flickered down to my hip - where Liakada was hanging in its scabbard. What is she planning to do? Take my sword from me?

Turns out my prediction was pretty much the polar opposite of what actually happened, because instead, Cassie began to cry.

"Please don't hurt me," she warbled out as tears began to pour as tears streamed down her face. Almost chaotically, she stepped back again, only to bump into the counter and mutter, "Di immortales!"

To us, she continued, "I - I haven't done anything wrong. Please let me go."

What... the... Hades?

Confused, I glanced at Alec and Riley, who gave me the same look I'm sure I had on my face. Alec was the first to turn back to Cassandra, and with steely eyes, he said, "You can't expect us to believe that you're harmless. We're not fools."

"You..." Cassie's eyes widened. "You think I want to hurt you? Gods, no, unless it's just in self-defense. I can see what's coming on the horizon, and I know you will be important in saving the world from turning upside down."

I had no idea what she was talking about, and I couldn't bring myself to believe her, but still a sinking feeling fell into my stomach like a bomb. Clenching my jaw, I moved forward with a tight grip on Liakada. "How do we know you're being honest?"

The woman shrunk away from me, her blonde hair cascading against the shiny bar behind her. "Look at me," she stated. "I have no weapons and no powers, aside from telling prophecies no one will believe, an ability I have thanks to your father, Daughter of Song."

"That's why we thought you were trying to hurt us," Riley piped up, her voice wavering slightly. "You're not vengeful?"

"No. I was trying to be nice to you, couldn't you tell? I gave myself a whole backstory and everything in hopes that you wouldn't know who I was, that you'd eat and leave and never come back like every other customer."

I wanted to not believe her, wanted to get this over with and make an exit and fight Python and get back to Camp. That was the easiest way, not all this emotional nuance crap.

But somehow, in my heart, I could tell this woman was telling us the truth.

My siblings and I looked at each other again; I frowned, Alec sighed, and Riley's posture went slack.

"We're not going to hurt you, if you promise you're not going to hurt us," said my sister.

Cassie sagged against the counter in relief. I watched as she took a deep breath. "On the river Styx, I swear, I have no bad intentions and will not hurt you - unless in self defense."

Again, I didn't know what she meant by that, and I felt kind of naive. On the river Styx? I repeated to myself. What in the world are river sticks?!

Whatever they were, the covenant seemed to calm Riley and Alec. So, I loosened my grip on Liakada, and asked, "In that case... I'm confused."

"I think you're always confused," Alec murmured. I stuck out my tongue at him. Cassandra closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, as if our foolish shenanigans pained her.

"You're right, of course. I am indeed the mighty Cassandra, doomed to go down as just another irrelevant, irresolute woman in history's so-called 'Greek Mythology'. After everything with Apollo, I was taken as a concubine by the king Agamemnon. We were killed by his wife and her lover, who then became king."

When she blinked open her eyes again, the tears from earlier had returned. However, they were slower and smaller this time, more a result of wistful sadness than terror.

"I was brought back to life by a dangerous and dark being. I don't know who he was, but first I saw him in the void, and then I was back on Earth. There was a boy - he was blonde, and tall, and handsome, aside from a jagged scar that ran down his face. He told me I'd been risen from the Underworld to assist him in taking down the Olympians. I was scared, so I ran, found this building, and opened it up as a diner to create, I don't know, some sort of front. So that the young man wouldn't find me, and I could live regularly again. I'd already been seeing things for years, so I wasn't taken aback by modern culture. But nearly a year has passed, and it's been an... adjustment. When I saw you three come in, I knew you were half-bloods, and I assumed the worst - that you'd take me away to that boy, or, more likely, you'd try to kill me, out of loyalty to Apollo."

I didn't know if Cassandra was done talking yet, but Alec couldn't restrain his frown. "Oh, Gods, no, you're fine. He may be our father, but our loyalty to him... it's slim."

He glanced at me, and I nodded in agreement.

At the same time, I wanted to wince. Was it okay to criticize a God as vocally as we had been doing for the past couple hours? I didn't even stop to think that someone omnipotent might be listening in.

Please don't smite us down, Apollo, I prayed. I know you're a god and all, and you've helped us before, but you're also kind of a prick.

Somehow, my skin became even colder than it already was, but other than that, I felt no change. Apollo didn't fry me on the spot with sunbeams or anything like that.

The world outside the diner kept turning, brighter now as the morning crept on. Buttery light leaked through the clouds and the windows, bouncing off of Cassie's golden hair.

"Then what are you kids doing here? Just going on vacation for fun? Or is there something here you want to find?"

She paused for a couple seconds, scanning us, before realization dawned in her eyes. "You're here for Python, aren't you? I had a vision about a week ago that half bloods would come here to slay him soon. I should've known it'd be you. He lives about a block or two away, under the pier."

With that, Cassandra stood up, eyed us reluctantly, then began walking around the corner of the bar. As she pushed open the door to the kitchen, I raised my eyebrows. "Hey, wait, what? Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back."

While she fumbled around in the kitchen, I spun on my siblings. "What the Hell - I mean, Hades - was that?!"

"I have no clue," Alec scoffed incredulously. "I figured she might pull some stunt, but I wasn't expecting her to start genuinely crying."

Between us, Riley frowned. "Neither was I, but boy, I'm okay with it. I didn't want to kill her or anything. I mean, it's not her fault Apollo's her enemy. She's a freaking victim for Gods' sake - it's our dad that doesn't know basic consent rules."

We both looked back at Alec, the most bitter of the three of us, who scowled. Anger danced in eyes like little burning suns. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something that really was like a little burning sun - my brother's hands were glowing with extraordinary light. I blinked, and the light shifted, glinting off of the scabbard of Liakada. Riley noticed this, and at the same time, we exclaimed, "Oh my gods, Alec, your hands!"

"Wha-?" He jerked his arms up, only to have the light fade within an instant. "No, no, shoot, don't go!"

But it was too late. By the time he even said, "No," his powers were dim again, and they left behind nothing but two slender, tan, painfully bare hands.

"Fu-" Alec begin to mutter, but I interrupted him before he could swear too heavily for me to repeat here.

"What was that?! How do your powers just come out of nowhere, then disappear?!"

"I don't know! I-"

We both stopped the minute we heard the kitchen doors scuff the floor by swinging open again. Cassie was back, and Alec quickly dropped his hands like nothing had happened. Luckily, or perhaps not, our attention was immediately drawn from his photokinesis to what Cassandra had entered the kitchen to retrieve: a giant golden bow.

She came to stand in front of us like she did before - although this time she wasn't cowering - and caressed the bow for a couple seconds. It was long and shimmering, with little citrines encrusted in the ends, but more than that, it had a certain aura to it. I had the feeling it was warm and sturdy and dependable, practically made from sunshine itself, just like Liakada.

Cassandra stared at it, before looking up at us... and shoving the bow in Riley's direction.

"Please take this."

"Wh-what? Why? Where did you get this?"

The woman sighed. "Python's a despicable creature. He's also a firm believer in the saying 'an enemy of my enemy is my friend', I suppose, and although that's not bad on its own, it's awfully annoying. The first time I ever went to the beach here, he found me, inferred who I was, and tried to convince me to team up to him. I told him I'd rather die again before I kill helpless children like he does. But ever since then, he's kept trying to recruit me. He thinks that because I was once a princess, I like gifts, so every time he kills someone... he sends his snake minions to leave me some sort of keepsake."

Oh my Gods, this poor girl... I think, grimacing. She's dealt with way too much harassment in her life.

To Cassandra, I asked, "So this bow belonged to someone he killed?"

"Yes." She nodded gravely, for extra effect. "At least, I assume. It showed up on the walk out front a couple days after I first met Python. I don't know who owned it, or if it's even modern. For all I know, it's from the old days. But it seems powerful, and... shiny. I don't like it. It makes me think of your father. You deserve it."

Again, she pushed it towards Riley. My sister gulped, hesitating. But finally, after an uncomfortable silence, she took it with both hands.

"Uh, thanks?"

"No problem. We're even now. You didn't kill me, and I gave you a bow. You're still not gonna kill me, right?"

This time, all three of us (not just Alec) chuckled.

"No way, girl," Riley said. "We don't like killing things, unless it's out of direct revenge. And even then, it's not the most enjoyable thing."

For the first time since she dropped her fake simper and over-exaggerated accent, Cassandra smiled.

"I'm glad to know at least a few of you half-bloods aren't like your parents." Pausing, she clasped her hands. "Sometimes, I see visions of the future, and it's bloody and brutal, but past that - I believe it'll be half-bloods like you that will save us all. That will rebuild this corrupted world."

Alec made a noise of indignation. "I don't know about that."

As he voiced his disbelief, Cassie's face fell. "Yeah, I figured you wouldn't. But no matter-" she shook her head- "The point is that I believe you three have a snake to fight."

"That we do."

"I wish I could help you, but I don't have any experience with fighting or weaponry. All I have are my powers, and they're no good in a battle - really, sometimes, they're not good at all."

"That's all right," Riley said sweetly. "This is our quest, and our beast to fight. You've helped us enough by turning out to be much different from what we expected."

Cassandra laughed gently to herself. "You'll find most things are much different from what you expect. Yet, if you look hard enough, you'll find the truth eventually. Sometimes it stings, and sometimes it's scary, but it's the truth nonetheless. And you have to learn to deal with it, without running away."

———

I want to be poetic and tell you we left after that, keeping Cassandra's words in our hearts as we set out into Kill Devil Hills to vanquish Python.

But we were at a diner. We didn't have a time limit on our quest. And, suspicions forgotten, we were hungry, dang it!

So Cassie cooked up our orders, and we tore through them as we told her all about our quest so far. She restrained from giving advice, probably because she knew we wouldn't listen, but sympathized with us regardless.

After a half hour or so, we finally said our goodbyes. The princess turned oracle turned creepy waitress turned decent human being wished us luck, and we finally exited that freezing shack and entered back into the harsh light of day.

Weirdly enough, I suddenly felt less comfortable the moment we walked outside.

As we trekked to the truck, I said to my siblings, "Did we just... make a friend?"

Alec chuckled, and Riley said with a smile, "Yeah, sis, I believe we did."

"How about that."

"How about that," Alec echoed, "indeed."

Riley looked down at her new bow and ran a long, dark finger along its frame. "For a little bit in there, I almost felt happy. Peaceful. I kind of just remembered we still have to go fight Python."

My heart skipped a beat. I'd almost forgotten, too. But I wasn't as concerned as I'd once been about the snake, and I wasn't as eager to do Apollo proud.

No, we were going to kill this Gods-darned snake, all right. But it wasn't for  our father, or the Gods. It was for Cassandra, and Kill Devil Hills, and whoever owned that bow - whoever else had been hurt by Python in the past.

After that, we were going home.

"Hm, I guess that's what happens when you don't just immediately flee confrontation and try to escape everything right away," Alec mused in response to Riley, smirking at me.

"Oh, shut up, Sunshine-"

And so, we began squabbling again, like we'd been friends for years. In the sky above us, Apollo drove his chariot onwards, and I didn't stop to wonder if he was paying attention to us or not. In that time, I didn't need to know. I had my siblings beside me, and a prophetic diner owner and a goddess of agriculture behind. Ahead of us, lied danger.

But I didn't care.

Looking back, that apathy was probably not a very smart feeling to have.

~ ☼ ~

Idk if anybody's still reading this, but if you are, thanks!!

Anyway, Cassandra is an icon and I love her.

Please vote and comment to make 6th grade me feel better! I'm in 11th grade now and it seems like I've been writing this fanfic for like a million years lol

Who knows when I'll update next, but stay tuned!