All three girls turned toward the source of the sound. There was a flock of birds that took flight not far beyond the tree line ahead of them. But as they turned to retreat, a second sound pierced them. It was a scream of bone chilling agony. Persephone thought it must be a man due to the timbre of the voice she heard.

Sharing a look with Pallas, both girls silently agreed to investigate. Tyche quietly made her disapproval known as they ran silently to the tree line. But Persephone barely registered the warnings she whispered.

Persephone maneuvered herself until she was walking on her own pathway of trees high above the ground. Pallas was sneaking from tree to tree below followed by Tyche. It didn't take much to find the source of the commotion. For Persephone soon found herself looking down at a 12 ft tall cyclops towering over a man of muscular build. He was stumbling over his feet, a sword gripped in his hand, his chest dripping scarlet red blood. Persephone had only just registered that she recognized the man as the cyclops raised it's foot to stomp.

Relying on instinct she found herself growing a tree under the Cyclops' grounded foot. The growth sent the Cyclops falling unceremoniously onto its back.

THUD!

Pallas sprung into motion below moving quickly toward the mound of dirty flesh with her sword drawn. In a wild attempt to throw off the attack, the cyclops flung out his arms. Pallas caught the full force of the blow and was thrown backwards slamming into the ground.

Persephone let out a scream seeing Pallas go down. The cyclops was getting to its feet again, but it paused to look up at Persephone in the treetops. It's ugly face bore a look of confusion seeing her on her perch. But the moment of hesitation was its downfall. The man on the ground, seeing his window of opportunity, launched his sword at the cyclops face. It flew through the air with unwarranted speed and force like a javelin. Persephone tried not to look as the creature hit the ground letting out another roar.

Persephone quickly found her way to the earth when she realized the cyclops wasn't moving. She could see Pallas getting to her feet and so she decided to go to the aid of the man. But by the time she reached him, he was out cold. His body was soaked in blood and looked thoroughly battle worn. His breathing came in ragged breaths. The long cut on his chest reached to his lower abdomen.

"I can get him home mistress." Tyche said in a worried voice.

"Then we'd better hurry." Persephone said with anxiety. She didn't know anything about mortal wounds. Would he survive the trip back home? "You'd better get going." She urged Tyche. "Pallas and I will catch up to you."

Without another word the oceanid seemed to melt before her eyes. The pool of water swirled beneath the unconscious form of the man. It whisked him away as if he were floating in a fast paced river. The scarlet blood on his body swirling into the pool tingeing it pink as he moved.

Persephone looked towards Pallas and the cyclops motionless form. "Is it dead?"

"Oh, it's dead." Pallas said, a little shaken. Blood splattered up her warrior's tunic from the final blow.

"Are you okay?" asked Persephone softly.

"I'm fine." she answered in a clipped voice.

"We've got to go Pallas." Persephone urged her friend. "But It's going to be okay."

Again, acting on instinct, Persephone sent a blessing of comfort to Pallas at the sight of her shaking hands. Pallas looked up at Persephone as the blessing found her.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did. But Pallas we really have to go. I'm not sure if my mother will let him onto the property."

She nodded to Persephone in appreciation before they set off. The wind nipped at their faces as they ran to catch up to Tyche. She must have been really moving because Persephone didn't spot the body until they reached the outskirts of her home. She knew instinctively that Tyche wouldn't be able to carry him any further because of the protective boundary.

"Mother!" Persephone bellowed with all the volume she could muster.

She could see a group of oceanids sitting near the fountain in the courtyard look up. Their faces bore looks of shock as the girls ran closer. Pallas was especially a sight with her warriors tunic covered in cyclops blood.

Persephone addressed the group of oceanids. "You need to go help Tyche!" Persephone pointed, panting for breath and still yelling. "There's a man and he needs help!"

The oceanids took off as Demeter ran into the courtyard. Her face fell into a look of horror as she took in Pallas's appearance.

"We'll tell you on the way." Persephone said, motioning frantically to her mother. They began to run to the spot where Tyche was pooled holding the wounded man. "There's a man. And...and he's badly hurt. I need you to help him. But we can't get past the protective barrier." She panted to her mother as they ran.

When they reached the spot where he lay in the pool of water Demeter motioned for the oceanids to move aside. She looked at the gash in his chest with a critical eye. "His wounds may be too deep, Persephone."

"We could call Apollo."

Demeter turned sharply to her daughter. "We are not about to let any man into our home."

"But Zeus has been here!" Persephone argued.

"That's different." Demeter snapped. "Can you bring me the medical supplies from the house?" She asked one of the oceanids.

"That will take too long. He needs tending to, shelter...and rest! We can't do that with him lying here!"

"He's a mortal Persephone! He will eventually die no matter what we do." Demeter yelled.

"Our job is to help those who cannot help themselves." Persephone retorted. "That's what you've always taught me. Were you just saying that? Or did you mean it?"

Demeter looked at her daughter and then down again at the mortal lying in the pool of swirling red water. She took a deep breath obviously uneasy with the situation. But then nodded at the oceanids to take the man to the house.

The once invisible barrier glowed golden in the sunlight as the man passed through it. It was enormous. It looked like a giant golden dome that was set over the entire property. Persephone caught her mother's eyes and smiled weakly. Demeter flung her arm around her daughter as they began to walk swiftly behind the oceanids.

"I think we'll be able to tend to him without him being much the wiser. But we'll have to be careful." Demeter said. "I'll need you to quickly boil some bandages while the oceanids and I clean his wound. There are a few herbs we can use to help him heal. It might be a few weeks or even a few months before he's recovered."

Persephone smiled up at her mother. "Thank you. I'm sorry I yelled before."

"It's quite alright my dear." Demeter said, kissing her on the head.

The oceanids had moved the man to one of the upstairs bedrooms. After Persephone had a tray of boiled bandages she made her way up the stairs to his room. He lay on the bed with most of his garments removed. His lower torso was covered in sheets from the bed. The wound did in fact look well cleaned, but it made Persephone squeamish to look at it. She watched her mother apply a poultice to his wound before bandaging him. This would surely be one of the bigger scars on his muscular body.

It shocked Persephone to realize that she recognized him. In the flurry of events she had hardly any time to process that information. It was the man who Athena had introduced her to that had made her so uncomfortable. It was Pirithous.

Demeter took her daughters shocked face as a sign the gore was getting to her.

"Darling you can wait outside until I'm finished." She said softly.

"No, I'm alright." Persephone cleared her throat. "I want to help."

The rest of the day passed with no sign of waking in Pirithous. Pallas appeared in the room eventually donning a clean white toga fastened to her athletic body. Persephone and Pallas told Demeter everything that happened as they ate dinner that night surrounded by the listening ears of the oceanids. Tyche was among them looking turquoise blue, and perfectly clean once more.

Cyclops weren't that uncommon. Still Persephone knew by instinct that the appearance of one had her mother worried. She was uneasy that she would no longer be able to train with Tyche and Pallas off the property anymore. It was her only reprieve from her daily routine in her home. Not that Persephone was unhappy. It just got a bit old doing the same thing every day, and she had only just started training with Pallas.

With all the comotion Persephone failed to change into her nightdress again as she lay in her bed that night. Sleep took her easily, almost immediately knocking her out as her head hit the pillow.