This will be an interesting chapter for y’all hopefully!  Please review!

Chapter Quote:

“When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching -- they are your family.”

~Jim Butcher

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Chapter 4: The Gods Have Issues

Bryn

Bryn woke up to the Star Wars theme song playing.  Opening her eyes, she saw the end credits of the movie rolling.  Luke was asleep with his head lolling back.  Tucker had fallen to the side so that he was lying against the arm of the couch.  Looking over, she found Derek and Silena asleep on the recliner with Derek wrapping Silena in his arms.  She smiled at the sight of them; Bryn was glad that Derek had finally found a girlfriend after all these years.  He deserved one.

Not able to go back to sleep, Bryn headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water.  She grabbed a glass from one of the kitchen cabinets and filled it up.  When she turned around, Bryn barely managed to stop herself from dropping the glass.

“Father!” Bryn gasped.  Zeus stood there in his frightening glory.  He had on a dark blue, pin-striped suit with his blonde hair combed back.  His black shoes shone in the kitchen light.  His eyes had mini thunderstorms in them.  He had a mixed expression on his face; he looked angry and sad all at the same time.  How that worked Bryn couldn’t work out but she decided not to pursue trying.  It would just lead her to confusion which would lead to an infuriating annoyance.

“Hello, daughter,” he said formally.

“What on earth are you doing- Poseidon!” Bryn exclaimed, trying not to drop her glass for the second time.  The second of the Big Three was in a white tee shirt with a black coat over it and he wore dark blue jeans.  His expression meant he was here for business and business only.  Their presence scared Bryn. 

“Miss Winchester,” he replied, nodding his head.

“Why are you- grandmother?” Bryn decided to set her water glass down before she dropped it and woke up her friends.  She’d have enough trouble explaining to Luke, Silena, and Derek about why the gods were standing in the Jackson’s kitchen.  It’d be impossible to explain to Tucker.

“Hello dear.”

“Anyone else coming?” Bryn demanded.  Zeus nodded.  Lightning flashed across the sky before more gods appeared: Apollo, Hecate, Athena, and Hera.  Why Hera was there, Bryn didn’t know.  What she did know was that the queen of the gods was eyeing her warily.  Hermes appeared a few seconds later followed by Hephaestus and Ares.  The last two stayed far away from each other which Bryn didn’t blame them for.  One was Aphrodite’s husband and the other was her known lover.  Of course it would be rather awkward.  Dionysus came about a minute later with Demeter and Artemis holding him up; Mr. D was completely smashed.  Hades wasn’t far behind the three of them.

“Sorry Zeus.  Found an amazing liquor store and I drank it.  Divine wine.  Divine divine,” Dionysus said, slurring his words.

“He is the god of wine.  How does he get drunk?” Bryn queried, raising any eyebrow.  Zeus rolled his eyes at his fellow god.

“He probably spiked it with nectar.  He’ll snap out of it.  Besides, we’re not here to talk about Dionysus.  We’re here to talk about you.  First off, what are you doing?” Zeus asked.

His daughter looked at him suspiciously, wondering if he was asking her a trick question. “I was getting water before you fourteen barged in.”

“I meant with Luke!” Zeus roared, making her flinch.  Poseidon and Hades shared a look before rolling their eyes at their brother’s temper.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Bryn replied truthfully.  They weren’t doing anything.  If they were, Luke would’ve already been dead by now.

“He is in there shirtless with you sleeping right next to him.  Explain yourself!”

“That is why you came to visit me at four in the morning?  You’re angry that Luke was hot so he decided not to wear a shirt to bed?  That’s ridiculous.  Honestly, that’s really ridiculous.”

“Watch your tongue, young lady,” Hera warned.

“Or what?  You’ll turn me into peacock in front of your husband who happens to be my father?  I don’t think so.  And maybe my tone might be a little different if I knew what the hell all of you are doing here!” Bryn exclaimed exasperatedly.

“Zeus!  Poseidon!  You still haven’t told her?” Aphrodite chastised.

“It’s not exactly an easy topic to bring up especially with her being my daughter!” Zeus retorted.

“Well they deserve to have some time together,” the goddess countered. “There’s only a little time left.  It is not justifiable?”

“What time do we have left?” Bryn interjected.  Naturally the gods ignored her, arguing amongst themselves.

“It’s never a good thing to know too much about your future, Aphrodite,” Athena wrangled, sounding the calmest out of all of them.  Bryn rather liked Athena.  The goddess didn’t take crap from anyone, much like Bryn herself.  Besides, they were pretty much half-sisters except that one was a demigod and one an immortal.

“You and your wisdom quotes, Athena.  You really need a man in your life,” Aphrodite sniffed.

“The only thing I need is for you to stop speaking.”

“All of you need to stop speaking and tell me what the hell is going on!” Bryn growled.  They didn’t listen to her which was really starting to aggravate her.  They just kept going on and on about how much ‘time’ she and Luke had left.

“Poseidon, do you not want your grandson to be happy?” Aphrodite queried.

“Don’t bring that into this.  Of course I want him to be happy but what’s the point when it’s going to end in devastation?  Their relationship could cause the end of the world!”  Poseidon’s eyes were blazing with fury.  Bryn was glad he wasn’t looking at her or else she would probably be a pile of ash right now.

Apollo nudged her, grinning. “Gotta love family arguments,” he whispered.

“I do when I actually know what’s going on,” Bryn hissed.  Her temper rose each passing moment the gods refused to let her in on what was happening.  When her temper rose, bad things would begin to happen.  Sensing the change in atmosphere, Zeus halted all conversation.  Amazingly, the gods listened, falling silent; they still gave death glares to each other.

“Bryn, calm down before you make the house explode,” Zeus ordered gently.  His tone surprised her but didn’t lessen her anger.

“Calm down?  I’ll calm down when you tell me what ‘time’ I have left and how it affects my relationship with Luke and how it could mean the end of the world,” she snapped.

Zeus sighed, obviously reaching a point in the conversation he was reluctant to discuss.

“Zeus, she needs to know.  Her decision could very well be the prevention of our annihilation,” Apollo remarked.  It had been the first thing he said to any of his family members the entire time he’d been there, but since he was the god of prophecies (among other things), the gods listened to him.

“But my daughter…” the King of Olympus trailed off, looking depressed.  Even the other gods looked rather upset; Poseidon and Hades looked almost as upset as Zeus.  Bryn wondered what type of force in the world could make the Big Three all upset.  How something to do with her could do that to them.

“You might want to sit down,” Athena said. “This might take a while.”

Bryn listened, sitting down in one of the bar chairs with her glass of water. 

“Well,” she said, “I’m waiting.”

It was Athena who began speaking.  The other Olympians seemed too miserable to speak.

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The gods left around four-thirty, leaving Bryn alone to her many thoughts.  The explanation hadn’t taken long much to the gods’ surprise.  They thought they’d have a lot more resistance from her, a lot more questions.  Actually, Bryn was just in too much shock to say anything.  Her stomach felt like queasy.  For the first time in almost ten years, Bryn wanted to cry.  She forced herself not to.  She would not cry.  She would not let the Fates show that they had gotten to her.

Bryn finally understood why Poseidon had suddenly changed his mind about her and Luke dating.  She still wanted to date the grandson of Poseidon, but understood why she shouldn’t.  Her father had finally given her permission to date Luke, but Bryn knew it wouldn’t end well if she actually went through with it.  Of course, whether she and Luke dated or not, they’d both still be in pain; they couldn’t win.

“Bryn?  Are you okay?” Luke’s soft voice asked.  Her head whipped up to look at him.  She tried to hide her sadness but it was impossible, at least with Luke.  He saw her expression instantly.

“Nightmare,” she whispered, glancing back down at her glass and drawing a pattern in the condensation which had gathered on the glass.  She heard him shuffling over to her.  His arm went around her waist, making her tense slightly.

“What was it about?” he sat down in the bar chair next to her, his arm never leaving her waist.

“I’d rather not talk about it,” she mumbled; Bryn refused to look at him, afraid he’d see right through her.  He had that ability.  He put his pointer finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

“You know you can tell me anything right?” Luke told her softly.  She nodded but said nothing. “Let’s go back to bed.  I promise I won’t let any nightmares come to you.”

“How do you plan on doing that?” Bryn inquired tiredly as she allowed for him to take her hands and make her stand up.

“Because no one messes with my family and friends and if I ever meet the god that gave you the nightmare, I’ll kill them,” he promised.  At that Bryn laughed before pointing out, “They’re immortal.  You can’t kill them.”

“Don’t dash my desires, Bryn Winchester.  I could accomplish it if I was angry enough which if anyone messes with my family or friends, I would be more than angry if there is such a thing.”

“Infuriated, vexed, wrathful, incensed, enraged, irate-” Luke cut her off.

“Bed.  Now.  You ramble when you’re tired.  Come on,” he urged, leading her back to the living room.  They were going to take their spots on the couch again but found Tucker sprawled out across the entire thing. “Well so much for our spots.  Wait here.  I’m going to get something.”

Luke disappeared down the hallway.  Bryn heard a closet door open and close.  When Luke came back, she was amazed he hadn’t crashed into something since his arms were heaped full of blankets and pillows and he couldn’t see over any of it.  In fact, one of the blankets completely covered Luke’s head.

“A little help,” his muffled voice requested.  Bryn giggled as she took off the topmost blankets and two pillows.  Luke’s blue eyes peered at her over the rest of the heap. “Thank you.”

He threw down the blankets onto the floor, pulling a very fluffy comforter out.  He spread it out on the floor next to the couch on the end next to Tucker’s head.  He then proceeded to put blanket after blanket on top.  Once all of the blankets were piled on top of the comforter he pulled them back so that he could get in.

“Come on,” Luke said, plopping down under the blankets.  Hesitantly she crawled in next to him, pulling the covers over her shoulders.  Luke was lying on his stomach with his hand next to Bryn’s; she was lying on her side, facing him.

“This is surprisingly comfy,” she commented.

“Just call me master of be- no, never mind.  That wouldn’t sound good.  Just forget that entire thought.”

Bryn simply smiled and took a hold of his hand, making him scrunch his eyebrows slightly, but he didn’t pull away. “Good night Luke.”

“Good night Bryn.” She shut her eyes, and fell asleep holding his hand.

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So is anyone interested in what’s going to happen? :P  Please review :D