Infect Me.

[Crissatha Pandora]

Isari propped her feet up on the little arm rest that as in between the front two seats, the wind pushing her bangs, styled after her mother’s, out of her face as their obnoxiously vibrant red convertible streaked down the desert road. She hated this car, it was too noticeable. Not like anyone would catch them, not Triple Trouble, they were too good. But still, they were too noticeable. Not that anyone was around either. They were in a lock down zone after all. Which meant they would be in serious shit if they were caught. Well, serious shit for more than just being in the lock down zone. It would be Isari’s fault that they got in trouble.

She pushed up her obnoxiously huge glasses into her dyed blond hair and pulled her screen from her pocket. The mini screen unfolded in her hands to become something they used to call a laptop, with a screen and a keyboard and all. She missed those days.

Piercing blue eyes peered back at Isari from the passenger seat. “Isa, put the damn shades back on your face,” Luna said. Isari could hear the worry behind the words that others would see as testy and slid the glasses back down. She needed to cover it after all….the black spiderweb like pattern that spread across her left cheek. Absently she flapped a hand at Luna until she turned back around to peer at the map and give instructions to Zak who mostly ignored them to do what she wanted anyway. The Trio were on a mission.

“To the Underworld,” Isa muttered as she tapped away at her screen. To see her great uncle and hope that he would undo what had happened. The Trio wanted their parents back. And they wanted them back now. She looked up from the screen that was telling her, well letting her know really, that the coppers hadn’t figured out that they were in the Lock down Zone, to glance at her ‘cousins.’ “Seriously Zak. Next time. No red cars.” She felt like it was the millionth time she was saying this.

She saw Zak roll her warm brown eyes at Isari in the rear view mirror, looking away from the road for that brief moment but the car never wavered in its journey. Zak was a dangerously fast driver, but she was the least likely to cause them to crash, she had a steady hand. Luna blamed all the times Zak ran around with a knife as a kid. Isa didn’t doubt it. “Well fine then, next time you choose the car,” Zak smirked and Isa groaned, knowing what was coming. “Oh wait! You can’t! Infected brat,” her older cousin said cheerfully. Isa flipped her off for it too, again.

“Seriously Zak! The road! Watch it!” Luna said. She was the cautious one out of this trio, being that her parents were the sane ones. All three of them though had seriously bitchy attitudes and a wild carefree out look on life. It was a wonder that they all got along so well. But being that Luna was an Oracle like her mother, Zak was half Fury, half Demi God and Isari was a Demi as well…they were so odd they got along. Isari was the youngest, and the only one of them without siblings. Being that she knew for a fact that she was an accident, just by thinking about her mother.

She frowned slightly and turned her attention to the passing landscape. She missed her mom. She missed her dad too, he could always make her laugh no matter what. And Aunt Raea was always a good comfort, Aunt Ki was always there to help her…she missed them all. Missed her cousins too. That’s why they were on this road trip anyway.

Time to save the family from impending doom. Isa sighed and folded up her screen, tucking it into her pocket. Technology just…spoke to her, so Isa was the one who was in charge of the electronics on this trip. She was the best with it, even though there wasn’t a lot in her house growing up. Her mother had always shaken her head at her and just left the room.

Zak popped another Hershey’s Kiss into her mouth as she leaned back in her seat. They were close to the entrance, she could just feel it. Normally it should be uncomfortable to lean back like she was with a long wicked knife strapped along her spine, but Zak had practically grown up with…at least this knife on her somewhere. She had shown a flair for blades growning up, much to her mother’s dismay. Well, dismay when she had been three and flinging them into walls whenever she managed to get her hand on them. But she had only gotten better as she had gotten older.

She knew that all three of them had their roles to play on this little trip. Luna could warn them before things happened, Isa could keep them up to date with the actual world around them by hacking past firewalls into the governments own communications. Zak was the wicked protector. Zak was also the oldest of all the cousins. This meant she was the protector even still. Not that she was the serious one. No, that was usually Luna’s deal. Or Isa’s even. Zak was a bit wild and crazy and she knew it. “Let’s get this party started!” she shouted with a laugh, turning up the music and revving the engine.

Luna whooped, unable to help the laughter. She may be the most serious. But that didn’t mean she was actually serious. She was just as much of a nut as the other two in the car. Hence the title Triple Trouble. Their parents had dubbed them this as soon as Isa was old enough to run around with the other two. With a grin, Luna tossed the map into the air, laughing at the way it was soon out of sight, far off in the distance. Fuck it. They knew where they were going.

To Hades. To face the lord of the Dead himself. She certainly hoped Nico would listen…

[Crissatha Pandora]

ISA

The loose black tee shirt that had been her mother’s flapped in the wind that streamed around them as Isa leaned against the door. Usually, Isa'd be complaining about having to wear the same outfit yet again, but being that the shirt had been her mother's, it was a comfort so she was content to just curl up in it. She had the entire back seat to herself, seeing as she was the youngest and apparently this meant she wasn’t allowed to call shot gun according to Luna. Not that Isari had wanted it. She had been so tired lately…she figured she would just sleep… Isa was too scared to sleep though. There was always a chance she wouldn't wake up in her body being that she was Infected, even if Grandma had managed to halt the Infection and confine it in her cheek.

Still, she was tired, she wanted to sleep... But she hadn’t. Instead her legs were curled up under her on the black leather seats, her elbow was propped up on the side of the car, and her icy blue eyes, inherited from her mother, stared at the landscape from behind dark sunglasses. She missed seeing the world right…but the Infection had done more then cause the constant pain in her cheek where it was isolated. It had made sunlight sting her eyes more then it had before.

Not that Isa wasn’t already sensitive to sunlight. She blamed her parents for being red Vampyres. Not that she wasn't happy to be the miracle child, considering Red Vamps weren't supposed to be able to have kids. She sighed, a heavy loaded sound. She knew Zak and Luna heard her, but she was grateful that they left her be. Isa was more moody lately. She blamed the infection. Isa had a bad habit of blaming anyone or anything. As long as it wasn’t her. Blamed her mother for always blaming her father when she was around. Damn she missed her mother. Missed her father too. What she wouldn’t give to hear him spaz out and interrogate one of her boyfriends again. It was something that had made her groan in embarrassment only weeks before. Now she’d give anything just to have him do that again. She missed her Pops... He might have been the most embarrassing father ever...but he was her daddy... Dammit she was going soft.

That or it was another side effect. Isari frowned. Isa was like her Ma, in that she had taught herself to shut down her emotions pretty young. So unless she was really just way too upset... It was her immortal heritage that was protecting her, quite literally, right then. Her grandparents to be specific. They had stopped the spread of the virus in Isa, when it had been too late for them to stop it in her parents. There was always the chance that it could still spread and Infect her, considering the nature of the thing, but she was happy it was isolated. But even isolating it wasn’t enough, she still felt the affects. The drowsiness—that meant her soul was trying to shut down and make her consciousness sleep…so that Chaos could take control of her body, make it his vessel—was just one of them. The pain was another…the sensitivity to…everything was another. It was frustrating, but Isa did her best to keep her discomfort from her cousins. They had enough to deal with without having to worry about her.

Hence why she was keeping her achy fever, another sign of the infection, from them. She could handle this. They had enough to deal with without this.

She shook her head and turned her attention back to the front seat. “How much longer, Zak?” she asked her cousin. It was kind of funny. They were in one of the first shut down regions. Fricken Arizona. The place was like…one big desert. Expanse of a big fat nothing if you asked Isa. She hated the heat, it drove her nuts. She liked waaaater thank you. The shore. She was a bit of a surfer chick. That’s what happens when your grandmother is basically Poseidon. Anyway, it was kinda a good thing that they were in Arizona. Zak knew it best either way, being raised near here. Still was one big fricken desert.

Isa missed Cali. But she couldn’t go back there. Her family was back there, well parts of it at least. Last time she had seen them they had tried to kill the Trio. Which was a bad thing, if you’re too dense not to realize that. She just wanted to get to the damn underworld. Zak had a strong feeling that Nico would help. Even though she wasn’t happy at all to be going somewhere towards someone who could control what she did. That’s what she got for having Fury blood or whatever. They needed the immortal help. Isa'd take whatever they could manage to get!

The government had closed down all of Arizona when they had finally registered what had happened. When they finally noticed the black spiderwebs that spread under people’s skin. When they finally noticed how people were killing other people and not acting like themselves. Some of the people got detained before they could entirely go crazy, and the government detained them for the scientists to work their mojo. Zak and Luna had had to break Isa free when she had been caught trying to escape the Lock Down. She hadn’t noticed she had been infected! Now she wore the shades to cover it up. She was glad her cousins had heard her screaming, Luna said she saw Isa being taken and that’s how they knew to come. Zak kicked serious ass either way. Always was amazing to watch her cousin “work.” The humans who had been trying to take Isa away didn't stand a chance.

They had stolen a car soon after, well it wasn't stealing. It was Aunt Ki's which was good cause that meant it was tricked out to shit. And here they were, coming up with a plan as they went. But first thing was first…they needed help. From the gods if they could manage it.

“Chill Isa, we’re almost there,” Zak said, revving up the engine again to propel them at impossible speeds along the road. It felt like they were floating, that’s how fast they were going. Isa didn't think it was possible, but then again, this was Aunt Ki's car. And unlike her own mother, her Aunt knew what she was doing with this stuff.

Luna turned around in her seat then, staring at Isa critically though Isa ignored her gaze. What the hell had Luna seen now? Isa didn’t want to know. Specially if it had her looking at her like that. Isa hated when Luna’s visions were about her. Even though her last vision about Isa had saved Isa’s life, it still wigged her out to think that Luna could see aspects of her life. It was just weird. Weirder then Isa’s ability to tell if a wave coming was a good one. Weirder then Isa’s unnatural flair for music. If you asked her anyway. Reaching around the headrest, Luna plucked Isa’s glasses from her face. “Hey! Gimme those back Loon!” Isa protested, reaching for them but Luna slapped her hand away.

“Lemme see how it looks, Shrimp,” Luna answered, passing her thumb over the web on Isa’s cheek, making Isa flinch back without meaning to. “Hurts, don’t it?”

Stubbornly Isa shook her head. “Fuck you, I’m fine.”

“Language Isa!” Zak teased, calling over her shoulder. “What would mother think?” she continued her tease. Zak was always teasing Isa it felt like. But that was just because they got along so well. Isa could hear the affection in the jests, and that was all that mattered to her. Isa flipped her off once again and scoffed. What would mother think? Mother was the one that had taught the fourteen year old all the curses that she knew! Which was…not normal. But Isa’s home life had been very far from normal considering as a baby she had slept curled up with a giant black panther who often toted the tiny Isari around like she was her cub.

“Why do you care anyway, Loon?” Isa asked warily. What had Luna seen? Luna didn’t answer though, she simple flipped back around to sit right and watch the road, lost in thought once more and no amount of poking could get her to speak! Dammit. Isa pouted.

They were getting closer. So close to the damn underworld. So close to saving their parents…

“No worries, Isa, I’m sure Nico will help out,” Zak said, studying her tiny cousin’s face in the rear view mirror. “Bet’cha he’s stomping around down there like a big kid anyway, pissed that no souls are coming in.” Isa and Zak both snickered over the image. So okay, maybe normal girls hadn’t grown up personally knowing the Greek gods. But these three were so far from normal it wasn’t even funny.

To distract herself, Isa pulled her screen back out of her pocket. The thing was a little marvel if you asked Isa. Something that had just come out and her Aunt Ki and Uncle Colby had just given it to her for her birthday but she was already a wiz at it. It looked like a thin sheet of celophane when it was folded up in her pocket, but when she unfolded it and tapped the side it hardened up. The keyboard was actually a hologram, which was amazing, but it felt as hard as keys. Another tap to the side and it folded right back up. It looked flimsy but the thing was stroooong. And Isa had managed to use the "cute face" to get a second one from her pops. It was coming in handy too.

Isa was a tech-wiz. She had figured out how to use satellite cameras and heat signature to track the Infected because they had a higher body heat. So she could track all Infected using this system, being that her own temperature was higher but not as high as the Infected, she could find herself as well and monitor the area. Never let it be said that Isa's poor grades were because she wasn't smart. So she started up this system, and began tapping away, trying not to think about all the things that could go wrong as the three of them rode into the desert, towards the land of the dead.

[miyuki]

Zak

-Mizaki Pyra Sabre-

Next time, no sports car. Nope, next time Zak was using her fucking monster truck. Why? Because her truck could handle the terrain WAY better than her mother’s speedy sports car (Zak had grabbed her mother’s car instead of her own black one because her mother’s was tricked out with all sorts of fun toys, not to mention it was faster). Besides, IF some loser cop tried to follow them, they’d find a fireball headed straight for their gas tank. Maybe Nico’d reward them for sending one or two souls his way… and maybe he also wouldn’t use his control over furies so Zak’d have all her free will. Nico may not be able to control Luna or Isa in any way, but that didn’t change the fact that, like all the rest of the half-furies, Zak felt compelled to follow his orders.

“MIZAKI!” Zak shook her head, now was not the time to relive how she lost her parents. After all, Arizona had been one of the first places hit.

Her parents had been some of the first few lost.

The 19 year old shook her head, causing her exceptionally long and curling blonde hair to flip about as the wind pulled it straight back from her high ponytail. No, come on Zak, not here, not now. Focus, fucking focus or you’ll fuck this up and screw over all possible chances at succeeding in this. That’s when Zak remembered something her mother had said once, when she had been telling Zak and her many siblings about the fight against Chaos. Something Zak now whispered to herself, buried under her breath and the sound of the air rushing by the car. “Chaos may love his games, but if he thinks there’s a chance he’ll lose, he’ll make sure he won’t…” would seeking help from the immortals count as helping their chances too much for Chaos to take in this game? Especially since the odds were that Nico would help them, given the fact Chaos hadn’t just robbed him of the souls of the dead, but had taken all 3 of his furies from him. Because full furies were more powerful than the half furies. Full furies could fly. Full furies could appear completely human. Full furies could burn with the fires of hell and be perfectly fine. Full furies didn’t have the blood of those repenting for their sins in the underworld running down their face, staining it, when they sobbed. Full furies had that freaking living snake tattoo that could come off their skin and was a part of them.

Zak had wings of her own, but they were shrimpy little things, not big enough to lift her off the ground. Her bones were hallow but reinforced with that black coating making them much harder to snap then the bones of a human or vampyre, sure, she had that. IF her wings had been bigger, she would be able to fly too, and then maybe they could have an aerial advantage in this- WOAH! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?!

Zak quickly steered out of the way of the cactus that had CLEARLY not been there two seconds ago because it was CLEARLY possessed and trying to make them crash and make it seem like it was Zak’s fault, earning shrieks from Luna and Isa as Zak purposely kept circling a few times after avoiding the evil cactus of doom. A thrilled laugh bubbled out from Zak’s throat. She may be the oldest, but serious just wasn’t her gig. When she went back to driving straight, she could feel the ticked off glares from Luna and Isa, which just made Zak laugh more. “Lighten up, Shrimpy and Shrimpette. I swear, you two are starting to get serious on me, it’s gross.” Zak laughed. She’d be damned if she couldn’t keep things from getting too depressing around here. A thought struck Zak and she rechecked all her mirrors before filling in her cousins on the thought. “Luna, keep an eye on the skies too? If Chaos finds out what we’re doing and he doesn’t like it, he may send the furies after us, and we ALL know I can’t beat any of the three of them when it comes down to things. The best I’d be able to do is hold them off while you two get away, and honestly speaking, I’m not in the mood to face off against my mother.” Zak said, her chocolate orbs now glued to the scenery ahead of her as her hands tightened on the wheel, her claws digging into her palms. The very thought of that freak show taking over not only Daddy, but Mama too, that lit Zak up with a whole new brand of rage. She hissed quietly, her fangs showing as she did so. Damnit, Zak. Calm the fuck down. Zak hissed at herself mentally, popping another Hershey kiss into her mouth and chewing on it angrily. Yeah, Zak was a moody lady. Though her mood was usually happy or hyper, that didn’t mean it couldn’t flip to rage in 2 seconds flat.

“Zak, what makes you think we’d let you go on a fucking suicide mission just to cover our asses? Not happening.” Isa stated, cracking one eye open to glare at Zak through the mirror. Isa’s ice blue eyes piercing through the mirror as Zak stared right back with a questioning look. It was Zak’s look she gave when she knew she was right and whoever else was wrong. “Really Isa? Do you REALLY think you would be able to hold off MY mom AND the other two furies? Really? Hate to point it out, but you wouldn’t last 10 seconds against ONE of them, let alone all three.” Zak pointed out with her smug attitude. “Besides, even if I do end up one of them from holding them off, there’s still you two to stop all this without me, so we’d still win this.” Zak had a point and she knew Luna and Isa both knew it. Just couldn’t counteract with that logic.

The rest of the car ride fell silent… Up until Zak stomped on the breaks, jolting them to a stop and flinging the two passengers forward yet again. “Damnit, Zak! If you-“ but Zak wasn’t paying any attention. “Stay here and buckle the hell up, trust me, you WANT to buckle up for this.” Was all she said as she stepped out of the car, her black heels sinking into the sand as she walked up to a small rock just in front of the car. The edges of her long black skirt brushing against the dusty ground. She frowned, looking at the rock. This was it, wasn’t it? Zak had only been to the underworld once or twice with her mother, so she wasn’t ENTIRELY sure, but with the ache in her bones and the pull towards the rock she felt, it had to be it. Twirling on her heel to face the car yet again. She knew EXACTLY what was needed to bust open the secret door used by the furies before they had faded, then used again when they were recreated. “Luna! The glove compartment! Pass me my Mamas knife?” Zak called (Yes, she called her mother Mama. It was a common Japanese thing and Zak was quick to punch anyone who laughed at it.) before blowing her blonde bangs out of her eyes. Damn, she needed to cut them again.

Ah, the lengths she went through to be more like her mother.

Zak heaved a sigh as she waited for Luna to find the knife. It wasn’t suprising to know her mother was so unorganized Luna was having trouble finding the knife. Zak stretched where she stood, her tiny bat wings pulling free of the skin of her shoulderblades and flapping a bit. Zak’s most likely very expensive black attire seeming rather worn, but a change of clothes was somewhat hard to come by at this point in time so, just like the other two girls, she had been wearing her current outfit for quite some time. (as elegant as it seemed, all it really took to turn the outfit into one more wearable in this current weather was the removal of the long Victorian skirt, switching her lace gloves to her leather and cloth ones, removing her legwarmers and the formal black button-up longsleeve.)

“Uhh… which one?” Luna finally called, causing Zak to smile. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

“The one with the clear handle in the moonstone sheath. It’s got the word ‘good intentions’ written on the sheath in script.” Zak called over her shoulder. She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes. No mistakes, she had to get this right. Just one shot or she’d entirely fuck up this whole thing. A breeze blew by, catching Zak’s hair and tugging it this way and that. Huh… so much like last time. She’d allow herself this memory. Just for the sake of not screwing up.

---

It had been a virtually silent drive aside from the bickering six and seven year old, their five year old sister fast asleep and curled up in the corner of the back seat located behind their Mama, driving her red sports car with the funny doors and that had no roof. It was just the four of them in the car. Just Mama and her eldest three. The three year old twins were with Daddy for the day. The bickering two didn’t actually know what their baby brother and sister would be doing today, but they DID know that their Mama had turned off her cellphone for the day and would not turn it back on to talk on it unless someome who wasn’t work beeped her on the funny square of black metal and plastic their Mama had. Black strands twisted and twirled like streamers in the wind above the children’s heads from where their Mama had tied her too long black hair up on top of her head. While the elder two bickered and the younger one slept, their Mama paid no mind to her children, calm silver orbs hidden behind black shades and trained to the scenery ahead. Such a focused Mama, so smart, wouldn’t let herself be distracted by the trivial and pointless argument between two of her little ones, despite how much she cared for them. Mama wore no smile nor frown, her mouth was pulled into a single line, not that any of the back seat trio noticed. The little one oblivious to all around her, lost in her peaceful dream. The elder two children oblivious to all around them aside from each other, too lost in their argument to notice the world. And their Mama, not actually oblivious, simply aware of all around her and keeping priorities in check. The only one truly attuned to the world at the moment. Of course, all three children were launched back into reality and jerked about when their MAma stomped on the breaks, earning startled cries from all three children.

Their Mama laughed and swung open her door, stepping out of the car to reveal her tiny black corset with the elastic spaghetti straps that revealed their Mama’s belly piercing with its dangling ring and her black short shorts, riding at her hips with the clinking silver chain hooked to it. She retied her too-long black locks strategically into a special loop with the black scrunchie she had, to be sure it wouldn’t drag along the ground before shutting her car door and looking towards her children, smiling at them. “Didn’t I tell you three to put on your seatbelts?” their Mama asked fondly, in an amused tone that just made Zak miss her all the more to remember. The young woman took hold of her black shades and pushed them to the top of her head, revealing her smiling silver eyes. The woman laughed again and simply shook her head. “Never mind you three. Seatbelts. Now. Mama’s not moving till she sees her three midgets all buckled up.” The woman said teasingly, the smile and laughter never leaving her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, watching as her children did as they were told. She grinned at her little munchkins when they were all buckled up before reaching in and yanking on all the seatbelts, activating the child safety lock and securing her children to their seats, earning herself abrupt cries from her children expressing their surprise and avid dislike. Their Mama simply laughed again “Oh, get over it, you three. You’ll thank me for that later.” Their Mama informed them before walking around the car to the passenger’s side where the glove compartment was located, giving the seven year old Mizaki full view of what her Mama was doing, though she watched her Mama with a narrow-eyed glare, disliking that she was so bound into the car.

Mizaki watched as her Mama went about her business, peering over through the space between the seat in front of her and the car door. She watched as her Mama yanked open the glove compartment and, first, before all else, pulled three small bags of candy and chocolate, something both their parents always prepared for them for long car rides. Their Mama tossed the three bags to all her little passengers, one bag each. “No stealing each other’s candy, got it?” their Mama asked, smiling when hearing the sighed chorus of “Yes, Mama.” From her three little ones. Their Mama smiled and reached back into the glove compartment, her eldest child still watching with her curious brown eyes.

Little Zakkie’s eyes widened at the sight of the pretty white, shiny, sparkly thing their Mama pulled out before shutting the glove compartment. Noticing the gaze of her eldest, the seemingly young Mama grinned at the little one, sticking her tongue out at the girl earning amused giggles from the tiny child with her platinum blonde hair. All the children were focused on their Mama now.

Their Mama giggled “Hold on tight to your sweets.” She warned, an amused smile stretched across her face. Their Mama pulled on the glass handle, sliding a silver knife out from the shiny white stone held in her other hand. She was standing right beside the car and the little, seven year old Zak got a front row seat to watching her Mama slice her hand with the silver blade. The children went quiet, in shock at what their Mama just did to herself, in front of them no less. Their Mama didn’t notice their shocked looks and instead threw down the blade with the ruby droplets of her blood. The knife stabbing into a dark grey rock not much bigger than their mother’s shoe.

The ground split open right under the car, causing the car, the knife, and their Mama to fall through before the ground quickly sealed up after them.

The children screamed in horror, terrified by whatever their Mama just caused.

Their Mama laughed pleasantly, calmly, as if this were a perfectly normal occurrence. She caught the sparkling knife as it was falling within arms reach of her, resheathing it and sticking it into one of her black leather boots. “Too dark, babies?” their Mama asked, lying alongside the car as they all fell through the bottomless pit to their doom.

The screams never ceased.

Their Mama just laughed.

That is, before she burst into flame, illuminating the dark hole they fell through; bringing light to all the nooks and crannies so they could see all that was trying to hide from them. Still, the children’s screams never ceased. What was going on?! What had just happened to their Mama?! They hadn’t known what their Mama was, they had thought her to be normal. They had thought themselves to be normal.

But then, of course, they didn’t know that normal kids didn’t have small black bat wings sprouting from their shoulders.

Their throats eventually stopped the screams, too sore to scream any longer. The fireball that was their Mama laughed, scaring her children further. “Mama’s fine, kiddos. Calm down.” The children just stared wide-eyed at the flame their Mama had become, too shell-shocked to say anything at all.

After long enough of falling, with a laugh, the flame turned back into their Mama, a pair of large bat wings, each wing twice the size of the car they sat in, attached to her back. With a single flap, their Mama was off, rocketing herself straight out and curving upwards as the car landed on something so soft no part of the car was scratched.

As gently as a soft breeze, their Mama landed on the hood of her car, grinning at her children. “Well, wasn’t that fun?” she giggled, still no response came from her children. Their Mama smiled all the same and pointed at a large black castle in the distance. “That’s where we’re going, sweeties. Mama’s gonna drive right off this big squishy thing and drive along that looooooooooong pathway with all its twists and turns reeeeeeeally, really fast so none of evil boogie-monsters can try to eat her babies, then were gonna get out of the car and go see uncle Nico and aunt Mellie and cousin Perca, okay?” She asked with a grin, exaggerating her words to amuse her children. The children smiled, but the pretty-eyed youngest of them started near bouncing in her seat. Little Rune liked playing with cousin Perca. The other girl was her own age after all. “Alright then.” Their Mama laughed, her wings folding before disappearing into her back as she hopped off the hood of the car and got back into the driver’s seat. “And here we go!” their Mama whooped before driving off and away.

---

Zak was knocked out of her thought at the feel of something being chucked at her head. With great ease, she caught it seconds after it hit her. Bringing the object to eye-level, she examined it, grinning to see it was exactly what she needed. Pulling the silver blade out of the moonstone sheath as her mother had done so many times before her, Zak whipped the sheath directly at Luna, whom she knew threw it at her head in the first place. The sheath bounced when coming into contact with the glass windshield and landed nicely in Luna’s lap. Zak grinned, glad that that throw had worked out as she hoped it would instead of going through the windshield. “Hold that?” she asked with a teasing grin, knowing without looking the silent response from Luna. She missed hanging out with these girls, it just wasn’t fair that Luna and Isa both lived in California while Zak herself grew up in Arizona.

It was even less fair that Taryn was all the way on the east coast. So much further away from the three of them.

Zak looked down at the rock no bigger than her black leather ankle boot with the black wool legwarmers and its brass buttons up the sides covering all of the boots but her heels and where her toes were located within the boots . Arms sheathed within her square collared black long sleeve, so Victorian styled it looked like it belonged centuries in the past. But then again, so did the rest of Zak’s wardrobe that she wore over the shorter outfits she preferred doing more manual labor in that showed so much more skin. Her daddy had always liked that Zak seemed to dress so conservatively, though it was ALWAYS only in black. But then again, having her father so appeased with her meant it was just that much easier to get her way and near everything she asked for from him.

Alright Zak. One shot. That’s all you got.

Zak would be the 3^rd demi-fury to try this. She had been there when the first two tried. The first had been a boy. He messed up.

He was dead.

The second had been a girl, just a tad older than Zak herself. The door took longer to open for the demi-furies. She would also have to remember to pick up the knife when they reached the bottom. Her mother would have a fit if Zak lost her knife when all this was over.

“Alright…” Zak breathed, her back still towards the other two. Do NOT mess this up, do NOT mess this up.

In a single movement, Zak swiped the knife against her palm and whipped it into the rock by her foot before jumping over the door of the driver’s side and buckling herself in. She really hoped the other two had listened. It was for their own good after all.

The ground started to moan and groan from beneath them, soon enough cracking open wide and large enough to swallow an airplane whole. The other two screamed as the car fell through, but Zak just whooped her excitement.

It was just so much fun for her that the whole trip to the castle was like a rollercoaster ride.

[♬Astra♬]

Luna Marie Osiris

Luna didn’t like it when she felt the earth start to shake, and she defiantly didn’t like it when Zak made them all buckle up, bad bad bad!! Her eyes faced forward and all she saw was the car falling who knows how far, then….Her stomach entered her throat. The ground opened up and the car fell straight down. She heard Isa scream in the back and she started screaming too, Zak screaming in laughter. How could she laugh at a time like this?! Luna continued to scream until she realized it was pointless and she just shut her mouth and closed her eyes. It wasn’t that much better than the darkness surrounding them at the moment, but she liked this much better than anything else.

She was thinking of VJ and Nat, and how everything that they did just seemed so unimportant. So what if Natalia stole her iPod every once in a while, she still loved the little brat, and VJ was just the sweetest little brother on the face of the planet, she couldn’t bear to live without them. She hoped they were safe… And her mom...Just thinking about VJ made her think about her mom. They always sat down and read together, she loved VJ and how he was so sweet and innocent. Mom always said in ways VJ reminded her of Daddy. Goddess Luna hoped they were alright.

Luna missed her dad most of all though. She was taken by Zak and Isa before she even knew what was going on. All she saw was that her mother became infected, her father she didn’t know just yet… She was sure he was fine, she hoped he was fine. In this time nobody could be sure, especially with her father’s affinity. Her mother said that when they first met he could only change miniature things about his features, hair and eye color, now? He could be an entirely different person and they’d never know…Which scared her.

She kept her eyes closed tight; she could feel the muscles in her face starting to hurt but she didn’t open them up. She hated this feeling; her hair was standing up and tangling in knots. Her hands clenched the seat and her legs pressed hard on the seat, she didn’t dare let go. Sure she had her seatbelt but she didn’t want to feel like she was going to fall out. Her stomach was still in her throat, something she didn’t like, but she hoped they would land soon. She really hoped they’d land soon. But she just let her thoughts drift back to her family, she wanted to remember the last day they were all happy… Please

*********************

It was February and pretty close to Valentine’s Day, Luna didn’t have anybody celebrate it with besides her family. She kinda cared, being THE Oracle, and having her father rub it in her face was bad enough. Oh he was just happy she could never have sex, she shouldn’t really worry about that at 17 but she did. She was in her room reading her mother’s old mythology books, trying to learn more about the Oracle of Delphi when her sister walked in and stole her iPod. “Nat give that back!” Natalia ran as fast as she could have out of there while Luna jumped up and sprinted after her. Nat ran down to the living room where their mother and VJ were sitting on the couch, reading a book together. Luna tackled Nat to the ground and the younger girl started crying. “Mommyyyyyy Luna hurt me!” Luna grabbed her iPod and stood up. “Mom she stole my iPod!”

Raea looked up from the book and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. VJ put a bookmark in the book and sat up, not leaning on his mother anymore. “Natalia I thought your father and I talked to you about this. You cannot keep stealing your brother and sister’s things.” Nat just started sobbing and Luna rolled her eyes. “Mom she stole my book yesterday.” Their mother groaned and put her hands on her face, mumbling something about their dad and never taking another kid to the set again. She looked at them all and spoke slowly. “Nat, go to your room, your father will be home shortly, we’ll discuss this when he gets home. All of you go to your rooms!” The kids nodded and walked up the stairs, Nat looking the most hurt, but she was the drama queen she always did that.

Later that night after a long discussion and many fake sobs, there was a decision reached. The family would be taking a much needed vacation, but that night? Eh watch a movie from the 1950's and just relax. Luna loved the old classics like her mother, when actors and actresses all had natural talent and could sing, act and dance. Today the only real actors were vampyres, back then there were many humans in the acting biz. Luna cuddled close to her father and he wrapped one arm around her, the other around his wife, VJ at his mom's feet and Nat asleep between their father and mother.

The night ended happy, and Luna loved it.

********************

Then even farther back, when Luna was the only one in the house with her mother and father… Her memory forgot most of it, but all she remembers is her father whispering in her ear about her mother blushing, he must have kissed her on the cheek because it always made her blush, and when she denied it he kept insisting she did, and Luna giggled at them, smiling and helping her father make pizza after a mini flour fight. Luna opened her eyes now to see that there was still blackness in front of her, but Isa’s screams turned into laughter, and she and Zak were both laughing at the "roller coaster". Luna just felt tears sting her eyes and fall down her cheeks as the memories left her immediate thought.

The car landed on a real soft and squishy…whatever it was. Luna looked at Zak and she quickly pressed her foot down on the gas, making the sports car shoot forward and Luna and Isa pushed back in their seats. “Zakkieeee!!!” Luna yelled, she looked back at Isa who was getting used to the speed. “Sorry Loon, gotta drive fast. You have NO idea what beasties are down here.” Luna glared at her cousin and shook her head. Loon made her sound like she was a lunatic…wait a minute never mind. She was. The tires continued to burn rubber as they sped down into the Underworld. Luna had never been there, but she hoped they’d get out soon.

[Crissatha Pandora]

ISARI

Isari paddled out into the waves. It was just…calming right there. To have her board under her, the waves under that…it was perfect. She knew this wave would be a good one. She just knew it. Isa could always just tell when a wave would be good or not, it was like the water just spoke to her. Her grandmother had taught her when she was younger and had first shown interest in the water and it had stuck with Isa ever since. It always made her look good with her Line Up. She never clucked out. And it had helped her get a certain boy's attention…but that wasn't important right then. What was important was the feeling right now of being in the water.

She paddled out, strong arm muscles that often went unnoticed as if they didn't exist working hard to propel her out into the mist. She was amped to show off. She was amped to ride this one, it was going to be killer she just knew it.

She wanted to show off. Her mother was out there watching her. Isa knew this was a dream…her mother was infected, not standing on the beach watching her from under an umbrella. But she didn't care, she was so content and happy right where she was. She was happy to live in this dream for right now. It was so rare that her parents came out to watch her because Isa didn't night surf because it was just a stupid idea. So when they did come to watch her, Isa did her best to show off. Especially if her grandparents or aunts or uncles were there. Isa liked to prove she was good, she was skilled enough to be part of her powerful family. It was this striving need inside her.

But right then, her mother was with her. Isa had cut class and her mother had been called down to come and get her. Or at least, that was what her dream memories were telling her. But she didn't doubt it. Isa often cut class to catch some choice waves. And she'd get caught. But she'd always request that her mother be the one to come and get her. Her ma would stand there and act very disapproving, say she'd punish Isa later and that would never happen again. They'd laugh the entire way out of the school and get chocolate or something. And then Ma would come with her to the beach to watch.

So she would happily take what she could get, knowing this was a dream and all. She stood up as the wave crested, her bare feet against the smooth board below her feet, her zipperless taking in the sunlight but giving nothing back because of the type of black it was, all matte and absorbing. Her hair was whipped out of her ice blue eyes by the wind, and she had a clear view of her target. She wanted to show off.

She dropped in to the wave, and bottom turned to set herself up, simply riding while she waited for her moment as she glided. It may seem like each run was just a moment, given the fact that waves swell and crash so quickly, but for Isa it was a lifetime because she could relax and calculate every little move before she did it. Now…to carve or not to carve…nah if she carved chances were she would miss her favorite part of a wave this epic. I mean really? It had an offshore wind, reef break…it was the perfect wave for her to show off on. Sure, if she wiped out she would wipe out pretty damn bad on a wave like this. But Isa didn't wipe out often, and when she did it wasn't the biggest deal because she was in her calm state. The one where she could usually manage to breathe underwater for a minute or two. Epic.

Then came her favorite part of a wave. The Barrel. It was the Barrel, or the Green Room, that she liked riding best because it was the best place to do tricks if you asked her. The Green Room was a dangerous place to surf though if you got locked in. A lot of surfers lost it when they got locked in there. Because there always was a chance that you could stay there too long and the wave would crash on you. The sea is unforgiving. You toy with it when you ride her, and Isa always tried to be respectful.

Either way, her Pops and her Ma hated when she rode in the Barrel. Which was why she always made a point to ride in there when they were watching.

She shot out of the Barrel, safe and sound, and with her ride done…to see no Ma on the beach. She frowned. But it didn't last…because Isa wasn't on the beach either suddenly.

Suddenly her stick was under her arm rather than under her feet. Her still bare feet because she had remembered to leave her shoes outside of the apartment for once so her parents wouldn't have a spaz attack about the sand.

Isa recognized the scene. Though her body seemed to make no moves to react to the way she was spazzing on the inside. Instead her hand calmly brushed her stringy, salt water filled blonde hair from her face and over one shoulder as she moved into the apartment. She didn't want to see this again! No! She didn't want to, don't make her!

She tossed her bundle of clothes on the couch when she entered, leaving just her zipperless on as she moved into the apartment, her icy blue eyes a bit concerned as she scanned the apartment and did not see her parents. "Pops?" she called as her feet moved her to the kitchen, carefully making sure not to knock anything over with her stick as she moved into there. "Ma?" she called. She bent to kiss Sai's forehead. The little male black panther cub purred as she did. Isa was Mama to Sai, as her mother had been Mama to his mother, Chiisai Kage. Who was now gone much to Isa's sadness. She still had the board with her, she was planning to wax it down in her room later.

"Where the heck did you go? You missed the end of my run!" Isa called, insulted as she continued to make her cub purr under her attentions. She hadn't known at the time that her Ma had left to spare her the infection. That it had been all for her own good. Her parents both had been warned about the Infection and the inevitability that they would be infected. They had made sure to leave Isa at the beach to lower her chances of being infected. Not that Isa knew that. All she had known was that one second her Ma had been there watching her. And the next she was alone at the beach without a ride home. And it had been a long annoying walk back.

She reached over to snag a handful of fruitloops from the bowl on the counter. She had left that there after running out to go to school, or rather to surf, this morning. She suspected her Ma or Pops would have a fit at her later for it. Mostly for wasting Fruitloops from her Pops. He was an odd dad but she loved him, hell half the time she was a Daddy's Girl cause of how often she fought with her mother. Though it was mostly because she knew how to make her father cave. She shook her head and popped a fruitloop into her mouth and she moved into the living room. And that was when she heard a crash from her parents room.

See, normally it was best to ignore noises from the parent's room, but that didn't sound like a good crash….that sounded like a parents fighting crash. That was a someone had been bashed over the head with something in there crash. "Hello?" she called slightly nervously into the room, holding her board defensively. This was why she was pissed her Ma never let her learn how to fight like Zak. If she knew how to fight she wouldn't be cowering behind her board.

Her mother came out of the room, entirely disheveled and shut the door solidly behind her. She had these weird black web like marks going up her arms…blending in with her natural red marks from being a Vampyre like some weird pattern. Isa's eyes went wide. "Ma…?" she asked carefully, unsure of what else to do.

"Hey there Shrimp," her mother said, with a tired type of affection. Her mother always loved her, Isa knew that. But she was stuck frozen where she was as her mother came closer and brushed an absent hand against her left cheek. Isa winced at the slight pain that filled her face when her mother did that and Ma herself looked pained, shocked…and ashamed. Isa had looked at her weird. But her mother had just Infected her, unintentionally of course. She hadn't known it would happen… "Listen to your Ma for once okay? Pack a bag…go find Luna and Zak….and run, okay? I love you Isari," her mother said. It sounded strained, so strained.

Her mother never called her by her name. It was always some weird nickname or the other. Even as a baby, she had always been Shrimp or Iz to her mother, never Isari. It scared Isa enough to back away from her mother and into her room. She had gathered up everything that she could find that she thought she might need. And she slipped on the first pants and shirts she could find over her zipperless, it would take too much time to strip the wetsuit off. So she didn't bother. And the first shirt she could find…it was her mother's. She was so happy she had it now, didn't know it at the time.

Sai, who had wandered into her room, was the next to carefully be put into the bag, he was used to it so he barely even protested.

She had left her room, wide eyed and scared, and forgetting she still had her stick in her hands. She saw something she'd never forget…

But instead, when she left her room, she stepped out into black instead. Blank space it was called, in the Dream World's terms. When there was nothing…just black. Some people got it, Isa usually didn't. But she was so happy to have it right then.

"There ya are Shrimpy! I swear, it has been hell to try and get through you have no idea! I am so glad to see you!" A voice called out behind her and defensively, still on edge from seeing that all again, she whirled around. To see Ria. Ariana Luna was an oddball, granddaughter of Reesa Luna aka Hecate and a very odd child. She was currently grinning pretty damn widely at Isa and leaning forward just slightly so her pale blonde hair with its baby blue and light pink streaks fell in her dark blue eyes. She was also a dream walker.

"Ria…?" she said carefully, unsure if Ria was really here or not. Sometimes she'd be dreaming, and Ria would show up but it wouldn't really be Ria in truth. Ria usually didn't visit her all that often even though they were "family" because they were both Demi's.

"In the fleeeesh! Do you know how hard it is to get through to you? You need to sleep more Shrimp" Ria said with a laugh. Isa loved Ria, but sometimes her constantly kooky state was enough to make Isa want to smack her. Hard.

"What the hell Ria! Where are the rest of the Immortals? We could use some dammed help you know!" Isa yelled. She was pissed. She was pissed that the Immortals couldn't seem to be bothered to help them. At all. They were just watching and Triple Trouble had had to travel down to the damn underworld in order to get any form of help from anyone!

"Peace, Lil Cuz. We'd help if we could. Chaos broke the bridge to Earth, we're kind of stuck up on Olympus. I had to wait until it was your Crossroads to even be able to Dream walk to you! P.S. Don't screw up your crossroads, okay? It took forever for me to convince Gramma to let me come instead of her," Ria said with a roll of her eyes. As if living with the Immortals was so hard. Isa rarely saw Ria because she lived in Olympus and refused to come down from there because she felt more at home up there with her mother and her gramma. Her twin on the other hand…

A male voice from behind her nearly made her jump again. "Don't follow the music. That's the message Ria's supposed to be sending." Xavier Luna said as he walked out of the Blank Space towards them. He was every way Ria's opposite, Zay was dark, dark hair dark eyes, dark attitude. He was sarcastic and silent and everything Ria wasn't. And in the waking world they hated each other. But in the Dream World? You never saw one without the other. Ever. He got closer to Isa and bent down a little bit so that way his face was level with Isa's. He was so close it nearly made Isa blush and stumble back. Hard not to admit that when she was little she had had a crush on her older cousin. But she had gotten over that! And anyway, technically they weren't cousins! Her grandparents weren't related to their grandmother!

"Be careful, Isari. And don't waste our warning. But it's time for you to wake up now." He said softly to her.

Isa had time to hear Ria's joyful shouts of "Bye Shimpy!" before it was over taken by a very different voice.

"Dammit Shrimp you know you're not allowed to sleep this long! Up!"

Isa grumbled as she sat up. "I'm up Zak. Shut it." She shook the sleep from her eyes with her fingers, digging them into her temples a moment later. She pulled her black ski cap, a gift from uncle Seth when she was really tiny and it never fit right until recently, and tugged it over her blonde hair, arranging the bangs so that they stopped spiking into her ice blue eyes. And then she slid on the sunglasses. She hated these damn things, how they distorted the world. But hey, at least it was brighter out there.

A muffled mew had Isa hushing her bag, bending down to unzip it and pet the disgruntled black panther cub who wanted out. Isa couldn't risk it though, she didn't think Zak, Tare or Luna would approve. Instead, she unzipped the small pocket as well to grab a small hunk of meat and pass it to the cub, hoping he wouldn't get too much blood on her other stuff.

Luna turned around to examine her for a moment, the critical gaze of the Oracle and all that crap that Isari never believed in, mostly because she had grown up with Luna and knew she was just…a normal girl who spaced out from time to time in a daydream. A daydream that happened to come true. Yeah, totally normal. Her older “cousin” still bore the slight shadow of fear from what had just happened but she was hiding it well. “How are the twins?” she asked with a slight smile.

Isari wasn’t even going to ask how Luna knew she was going to see the twins. Some days, she just really didn’t want to know. Isa shrugged. “Bearing a cryptic message from their grandmother.”

“Ooooh how cryptic,” Zak said, grinning at her cousin through the rearview mirror. “Damn, we could have used them a while go, might have gotten a better deal. Mel does have a soft spot for Ash’s kids after all.”

“Hey, we made out pretty good I think”

Isa really wanted to lay out on the back seat again and stop bothering to think or anything, she just really wanted to space out. Unfortunately, they had another passanger joining them. One that probably wouldn’t appreciate Isa’s feet on her lap. Taryn and Isa never really managed to see eye to eye, after all. Two different extremes and all that. So how had they managed to pick up another of their cousins?

That was a slightly long story…

Which involved why the dark pink gem, currently hanging from Luna’s throat on a chain and catching the light, was going to save them.

Isa blinked, feeling sleep trying to take her again and draw her back into the world of dreams. The last thing she heard before she passed out was Luna’s worried whisper of: “I think she’s getting worse.”
-----

After Zak had pulled her Fury trick which had landed them in the long and slightly creepy track down to the underworld where they would going to beg their Uncle Nico and Aunt Mel to help them somehow, they had landed…well across the Stix. What else? Isa had peered curiously at it, being the daughter of two beings that were technically dead she was curious, until Zak had tugged the back of her shirt so hard she had landed on the floor of the back seat.

Personally, Isa didn’t mind this place that much, besides ya know the ghosts and souls and right...Cerebus. Nice puppy. But it was nice and dark down here, and no chance of anyone catching the infection on Isa’s cheek so she could take off the sunglasses without her eyes killing her or Isa getting them caught by the cops. They wouldn’t understand that her two immortal grandparents were the reasons she wasn’t Infected fully.

Getting to the castle where the Lord of the Underworld and his love resided was pretty easy considering. Zak was a Demi-Fury so they couldn’t really cause too much of a fuss about her being here.

It was who was, impatiently, waiting in front of the castle that had caught their attention. With her long brown hair, annoyingly blue eyes, and pretty figure, it was easy to spot Taryn Blaze in a crowd. And while Luna and Zak were obviously overjoyed to see her and see that she was okay, Isa was happier to pretend the other girl wasn’t there. Especially considering the last time their East Coast cousin had visited, Isa had used her flair for tech to purposely turn off all the lights around the taller girl. They didn’t hate each other, hell they didn’t even dislike each other. But Isa personally just preferred to hang with Zak and Luna.

Next to her was a giant snowleopard who, before their eyes, turned into a tall, impressive woman with long black hair and sapphire eyes. Aunt Sephora! That was when Isa grinned, wide. She adored Seph, she was glad that the woman was okay and not infected. She pulled on clothes that Taryn handed to her from a bag, and took her epee from the girl as well before standing there with a grin, waiting for the others to get there.

As soon as the car stopped, all three girls were out of it. Immediately. Luna and Zak to glomp Tare and find out what had gone on, why she was there, what had happened on her side of the country. Personally, Isa went right to glomping her aunt, hugging the way taller woman tight before pulling back to mirror her smirk. ”Glad to see you’re okay, kiddo” the woman teased before frowning a little and touching Isa’s infection, which caused the girl to wince and pull back.

“Aunt Cris infected her on accident” Luna filled in Sephora, now turning her attention to her aunt as well and getting a hug from the warrior woman. “I’m glad you’re okay, both of you…we were so worried about…everyone! How’d you know we’d be here?” she asked, curious.

”Well, devoid of our own oracle…we figured this was the only place to go”[/color] Seph teased Luna lightly. ”I was keepin’ an eye on Tare anyway while Red was off with Kal. So, when the world went to shit…figured you guys could use another helping hand. I can’t stay though. Warriors are all on call now that so many of us are infected.”

With that, Zak frowned. That wasn’t right, if Aunt Seph was here…”What about Uncle Seth?”

Their Aunt provided them with a moment of pain before it was replaced with a scoff typical of her. ”Idiot got himself infected” she said with a slight eye roll, even though they knew she was missing him, their mother’s always told them about how Aunt Seph “Boss Lady” was. They had grown to expect it.

Tare had stepped forward a bit. ”Besides, I wasn’t going to let you guys have all the fun without me” the taller girl said.

Isa had rolled her eyes but—[/i]

Isa was jerked from her sleep by the sudden jerking of the car, even Tare was suddenly jolted awake as well. ”Mizaki what the fu—“ Tare’s annoyed outburst at being woken up was cut off as she saw exactly what the fuck had stopped Zak in her tracks.

Uncle Pride. In the middle of the street. With no infection to be seen.

Isa was frozen, but the door jerking open caught her attention right away. Her head snapped to where Luna was bursting from the car and going at a full run to her father. She always was a Daddy’s girl. Isa wanted to tell her to stop, that it might be a trap. But she knew if her father, who she hadn’t gotten to see before she ran, had been standing there looking fine she’d have run too.

She’d known her Uncle her whole life, she’d grown up down the block from Luna, and Aunt Raea and Uncle Pride…she pushed tears from her eyes and left as well. It almost felt as good as seeing her mom or dad, almost. She’d give Luna the tight hug she was currently getting.

But she so wanted one too.