The mysterious figure Athena had been thinking about moments before was actually in the middle of a rescue mission. His wonderful informant, Iris, had told him about a young demigod, a daughter of Hermes about six or seven years old. Her name was Aliea and her mother had no clue her daughter was the offspring of a god.

Clearly, Sotiras thought with disdain as the mother pulled out a cell phone and handed it to the child to occupy her. He was in a small town named Glenwood Springs, Colorado which meant he would have to outrun monsters for more then 1,500 miles with a girl younger than ten. Average day for him then. Crouched silently in the branches of a tree, he scanned the area around him. He was in a park on the outskirts of the main part of the town. His charge as he deemed her, was surrounded by people, but none of them looked like an immediate threat. Of course, anyone here could very easily be a threat to the young demigod.

Sotiras never kept his eye solely on his charge in a situation like this. Keeping his eyes riveted in one spot was the easiest way to get his charges killed. To his three o'clock there was an older woman talking to a new mother. Not that weird. He started to scan more to his right before something told him to look back at the old woman.

Sotiras cocked his head. Nothing was that out of the ordinary about her, other than the fact that she was wearing some sort of weird snake-skin scarf. Sotiras racked his brain for anything to do with snakes. The obvious ones came to mind: Python, gorgons, Medusa, Chimera. These could all be monsters come to eat Aliea, but he knew that this woman was none of those. Either one of the four would have to use extensive use of the mist, and Sotiras had trained himself to see completely through the mist in order to better protect his charges.

Aliea's mother bent down and motioned for her to stay where she was, and walked off. Aliea nodded and her mother walked away. Sotiras' eyes were now glued to his charge. He couldn't leave his charge unsupervised now.

The woman dismissed herself from her conversation and made her way over to Aliea. The girl was sitting on a bench, swinging her short legs back and forth, completely oblivious to her surroundings. Sotiras covered himself in the Mist and made his way down the tree.

The woman sat down next to Aliea, closer than necessary for an elderly woman looking for a conversation with a young child. Sotiras angled himself so that he was behind Aliea, but could still easily jump in front of her to defend his charge if necessary.

Sotiras made one last glance around, and saw that the park was deserted. It was only him, the woman, and Aliea. The woman stood up, and gestured for Aliea to follow. The girl looked hesitant, blue eyes dashing around the park in a panic.

Sotiras took a sheen of the Mist covering him off, just enough to let Aliea know someone else was there who would protect her, but not enough to let the woman know he was there.

"Well, aren't you a pretty little girl? I used to have beautiful children like you. Then a mean lady took them all away."

Well, shit. How did he not see that?

"Your mommy doesn't seem to want you. She left you all alone, didn't she? Don't worry, I'll take you in." The woman smiled wickedly at Aliea. Sotiras watched as a set of teeth descended in front of her canines.

The lamia lunged toward Aliea the same moment Sotiras jumped in front of his charge and removed the mist.

"Aliea, get out of the way!" Sotiras yelled as the lamia growled and jumped at him. He whipped out a bronze sword, but the lamia was faster and dodged his swipe.

The lamia snarled at him, eyes glowing with fury. "So, it's the mighty savior. One would be honored to fight you, but I'll be honored as the one who ended you," she snarled, leaping towards the cloaked figure and pulling out a spear.

Sotiras brought his sword up in an attempt to disarm the monster, but the lamia was fast as well. She swiped her spear and Sotiras' abdomen and he was not fast enough to clear the weapon's path. The tip grazed his side, and suddenly pain fogged his vision.

The lamia laughed. "You can't outsmart me, savior. Inland Taipan snake venom. One cut from this could kill a hundred men." She strolled up to him and her teeth rescinded into her gums. Her form slowly turned into a younger one, of a beautiful woman. "I was loved by the king of the gods himself! Now I'm reduced to this," she seethed as Sotiras clutched his side. "Using venom to kill a man I would have previously bedded." The lamia slowly crawled onto Sotiras' legs and pushed his chest so he was laying on the ground. "I had the world at my hands, and then that blasted goddess took it all from me."

She was very close to his face now, and he could feel her breath on his cheeks. "The girl seems to mean a lot to you, no? Maybe if I take her you'll know how I feel."

Before she could even begin to crawl of the Sotiras, he had buried a bronze dagger deep in her side. "Don't close your eyes," he whispered, before the lamia dissolved into dust.

Sotiras slowly got up, pain still coursing through his body. He looked around and saw Aliea clutching her herself behind a tree. He walked towards her, putting his dagger in it's sheath on his thigh and the sword forming into a pen and putting it in his pocket. "Hey, hey. It's alright," he soothed, sinking into a squat so he was on the child's level. "My name's Sotiras. You're dad sent me. I'm here to make sure you're safe. What's your name?"

Aliea stared at him for a long moment before brushing her short blonde hair behind her ear and focusing her blue eyes on him. "Aliea. Aliea Luca Viata."

~~~

Hello! So, here's the first chapter. Aliea's name is pronounced Ail-ee-uh. Weird, I know. Sorry not sorry.

Have an awesome summer! Or winter depending on where you're from.

-endev out