The sun was practically gone by the time Cephalus came riding up to the cabin and he barely made it to the door before the trees started to groan and sway. Marcy stared at the sturdy man who walked through the door with shock and dismay. He was not at all like she had imagined him. Yes he had the tall and strong build but his face was much less ugly and gross looking than she had expected. Cephalus was more like the cool mentor character in books that Marcy always grew attached to. But then again, Cephalus was not a fictional character and therefore was not perfect. He was expressionless as he slowly walked toward Marcy and, feeling there was nothing else big enough to hide her, Marcy quickly hid behind Weland. She was speechless as Cephalus started to chuckle and felt a little embarrassed as Weland did to.

"She really is a timid thing isn't she!" Cephalus laughed.

Suddenly Marcy's contrary spirit flared up and she stepped out in front of Weland folding her arms.

"Am not!..I just don't like grumpy people that's all."

For the first time Adrastea showed a little emotion (Besides skepticism) and tried holding in a laugh by covering it up with a cough. Marcy glared at her for the first time feeling comfortable with it and looked to Aileen who had no qualms about laughing. 

"Oh its not all that funny."  

"You're right. Completely right," Weland told her, obviously giving false agreement.

"If I were a butterfly I'd fly out that crack in the window right now!"

Suddenly the room fell silent and they all stared at Marcy in confusion.

"If you were a...a butterfly? What does that even mean?" Weland asked her.

"Never mind. I should've known you don't have enough of an artistic spirit to grasp the concept of 'a figure of speech'."

There was another long silence as everyone puzzled over her statement and Marcy eventually just threw her hands in the air and slumped down in her rocking chair. 

"Some people..." she mumbled to herself. 

"What was that?" Adrastea suddenly spoke out.

"What was what? I didn't hear anything," Aileen answered.

"Shh. Someone's coming."

Adrastea quickly ran over to the several oil lamps and blew them out before saying in a loud whisper, "Everyone find a corner."

Confused, Marcy just did as she was told and bolted for the nearest cover she could find. It was not long before running hoof beats came up to the cabin and reared to a halt. Then came lighter footfalls as someone came running up the steps. It was dark outside so when the door opened and closed hardly any light came in before the person slammed the door shut. Everyone held their breath as the intruder breathed deep and hard groping around the room. Marcy found it slightly ironic that Cephalus had chosen this cabin so that no one would find them, yet everyone decided to come there. It was pretty much as busy as the local coffee shop on Monday morning. Marcy guessed that the visitor was groping for some light source and her suspicions were confirmed as she heard the scratching sound of a flint and steal before a live flame shot up from the lamp on the table. As the person picked up the lamp Marcy had to quickly duck before the light landed on her. 

Suddenly the visitor let out a sharp scream and Marcy's head shot up to see Adrastea pinning a girl against the wall with as much force as a bulldozer.  The girl was visibly alarmed but Marcy was surprised to see that there was no trace of fear in her eyes.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Adrastea asked her voice as venomous as a snake.

"Why should I tell you?" the girl spat.

"Do you want to die? Cause' it would be my-"

"Hold up Adrastea!" Cephalus called, walking up to the two.

"Let go of her."

Adrastea shot a glare at the girl before letting go and Marcy was surprised to see that she was not that young after all. She looked around the same age as Marcy herself.

"Is your name Angelica?" Cephalus asked quietly.

The girl quickly shot Adrastea a return glare and then turned to Cephalus with a curious expression.

"Yes...?"

"That's what I thought. I was the one who told the Nymphs to give you that lead...Where's Fennel?"

"You what?...Fennel didn't come. She thought it was ridiculous."

Cephalus sighed and ran one hand through his jet black hair.

"Well that was not what I had planned."

"What are you talking about?" Angelica asked throwing her hands in the air.

Finally, Marcy thought. Someone else who has no idea what's going on!

"I can't tell you that until everyone is here."

"Hold up!" Adrastea interrupted.

"You mean there are more coming? What is this, a circus?"

"Sort of," Weland grinned.

"What?"

"Never mind," Cephalus told Adrastea, shooting Weland a heartfelt glare.

Weland just grinned even wider.

"Forget it. I'm leaving!" Angelica announced walking toward the door.

Adrastea quickly intercepted her and slammed one hand against the door. Angelica locked eyes with Adrastea and they glared at each other while Cephalus spoke.

"You can't. Not until I say...Adrastea is here to make sure you don't."

"She doesn't scare me," Angelica hissed in a low voice, never taking her eyes off of Adrastea.

"Well she should scare you. And if she doesn't you should be worried about someone else."

"And who would that be?" Angelica asked, turning her head to fix Cephalus with her icy stare.

"Me," Cephalus answered nonchalantly.

Now with him Angelica did see a reason why she should be afraid of him. He was in fact...huge.

Sighing a bit she moved away from the door and Adrastea smirked, folding her arms and leaning against the framework. After a moment of awkward silence Angelica's gaze landed on Marcy. To Angelica she seemed a bit oddly dressed with her Mary Jane shoes, brown flare dress and black cardigan. Her hair also puzzled Angelica. It was an orangish red color and curled around the back of her head in a massive bun.

"Who are you?" Angelica asked skeptically.

"Oh for the love of...I might as well carry a sign everywhere saying my name, my phone number, my address, and my social security number!"

Once again Marcy's explosion was matched by blank stares and she sighed leaning back in her chair.

"I'm Marcy. Don't ask me why I'm here cause' I don't know myself."

Angelica nodded slowly and did not say anything after that. Obviously this girl Marcy was not in a very good mood and best left alone.

"Who do we have left to wait for?" Adrastea asked quietly.

"I sent Agnar to go find the Marinos twins while Chandra and Adrianna are in the cellar in case of unexpected guests...Although I don't know what I'm to do about Fennel."

"No need to do anything!" a voice spoke as the floorboards lifted revealing the face of young adult elf.

"Fennel!" Angelica gasped.

"What are you doing here?"

Fennel quickly climbed out of the cellar followed by Chandra and Adrianna before answering, "I came to bring you back."

"How did you find me?"

"Chandra saw you grabbing your horse. You weren't dressed in ordinary clothes so she came and told me."

Chandra giggled at Angelica's frustrated expression but Fennel was not amused. She marched straight up to Angelica, grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her towards the door. However, Angelica had no intention of leaving and shook her arm free.

"I'm not leaving! I am staying right here," she said stubbornly.

Fennel folded her arms and glared at Angelica.

"You're coming home if I have to drag you all the way there with my teeth!"

This statement earned another giggle from Chandra and there was an amused expression on Adrianna's face.

"No I'm not. I'm sick of staying home and doing nothing. We can't just wait this out."

Marcy was completely lost at this point and leaned over to Weland asking, "Wait what out?"

"I'll explain later," he answered quietly.

There was an awkward silence that stretched on for several minutes before Cephalus spoke.

"Actually Fennel, I need you to."

Fennel switched her gaze from Angelica to Cephalus and tilted her head to the side, trying to remember a time when she had met this man. Figuring out that she had not ever met him before she stepped away from Angelica and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Cephalus. And before you ask, I've done some research and I need both yours and your sister's help."

Fennel folded her arms once more and paced around the room, reminding Angelica of their father. Of course Angelica was also like her dad which made her like Fennel, but she would never admit that. Not in a million years.

Angelica's hand quickly shot up in the air and she stepped forward.

"I would like to make something very clear. I am over a thousand years old and can do what I please. So my sister's decision is not mine."

Marcy's eyes grew wide.

"A THOUSAND YEARS? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" she exploded.

This earned another smothered chuckle from Weland and the others just could not believe what they had heard for the past hour. What was it with this girl?

"No Miss Clive," Weland told her.

"She's an elf. Elves don't die unless they are killed."

Marcy switched her gaze from Angelica to Weland and then back again several times before spitting out another sentence, barely managing to retain a level voice rather than a high pitched squeal. 

"You didn't tell me there were elves here!" she scolded Weland.

"Look I barely know you. Not to mention I thought you'd figured it out already...But I can see that I gave you much more credit than you deserve!"

Marcy was slightly taken aback but realized he was correct. Honestly she had only known him for about five hours (More or less) but she felt more comfortable saying things to him than anyone else. Mostly because the others were either big and scary, had antlers, or had a tendency to yell...Not that Marcy was quiet, but in a foreign place she was slightly more reserved...slightly.

"Fine," she answered quietly, sitting down with her arms folded.

"I won't ask anymore questions, I won't make anymore outbursts...and I most certainly will not agree to anything until I've heard all the facts."

"...right..." Weland nodded slowly.

Of course he had no intention of telling her all the facts but it was best to agree and make her think she knew all the facts, that way they would have much less trouble getting her to go.

Fennel and Angelica were still debating quietly amongst themselves but gradually the room grew more silent. Outside the wind had picked up and the Marcy wondered whether or not she should go out onto the porch for a breath of fresh air. After several minutes of contemplation she decided to do just that and got up out of her rocking chair and walked across the room to the door, barely opening it a crack before sliding out and closing the old rackety wooden board. 

Adrastea chuckled to herself in the corner as she watched Marcy leave. However no one made an attempt to stop her from leaving. They all knew she would be back inside within a matter of minutes.

Outside the wind was a lot more harsh than Marcy had expected, but she did not mind. The wind made her feel confident and strong...although at times it nearly knocked Marcy off her feet. Suddenly she felt a slow stomping sound. It was not incredibly loud but it certainly was not quiet.  It came closer and closer. The ground started to vibrate under Marcy's feet and she stumbled a few steps before regaining her balance.

"What the?..." she mumbled to herself.

Suddenly a loud rumbling came and a giant log fell in front of the porch. However when it hit the ground it did not fall face down. It just stood there and did not move. Marcy swallowed hard and walked over to the railing to get a better view. Soon she found that to be a very bad idea. The log was attached to another and when Marcy put two and two together she came to the conclusion that it was in fact a tree...and it was bending down trying to grab her.

Marcy screamed and jumped out of the way just as a giant wooden hand reached out for her. The hand groped around on the porch knocking some of the support rails off of the porch and collapsing the roof even more. Marcy blindly ran to the other end, tripping over a fallen rail and skidding across the floor to a halt in front of the door. The hand continued to break the porch rails as it came closer and Marcy watched in horror and shock as the rest of the roof collapsed quickly falling behind the giant hand. Marcy backed herself against the wall and stared in horror and shock at the giant limb sweeping towards her. She tried to back farther away but the there was no more room. Marcy was backed strait up against a wall with nowhere to run.

- HELLO EVERYONE! Sorry I didn't update last week but I was REALLY sick. However I am better now and was able to finish this chapter. What did you think? Do you like Marcy? Do you have an idea to get away? Honestly its pretty simple and you'll probably all see it coming. Anyway, thanks for reading :D - Anna