Two days before...

"You belong with us, Ja'Marco," Orion's voice emanated inside Ja'Marco's head as the teen finishes his dive during swim practice. "It's not what you've been taught to think, but what you need to believe. It's part of the new wave of manhood. As we've reminded you since you know the truth and your heritage, you're meant to be part of a sacred and sensual brotherhood that will welcome you with open arms."

Ja'Marco bit back a shudder, his skin crawling as he accepted a chamois from a smirking Lachlan with the dark-skinned teenager himself sending him a saucy wink. "Orion," he manage to grunt, his voice deepening slightly.

"Why fight it? Why deny yourself the life of passion and unfiltered bliss that many say is considered taboo?" the demigod asked. "You played on the safe side and never asked what it can be like if you walked on the wild side, yet ended up feeling more and more confused and jaded. You're now in a town that can help you open up to new worlds and wrap you in a lust-filled cocoon that will bind you with me and your fellow Tritons."

"Spirits rise, spirits fall," Ja'Marco heard Ferguson drawl teasingly, swatting the teen's bum cheeks playfully.

"A new and finer age," Isaiah added.

"You can have it all, Jay," Gio remarked. "You've spent your life locked away by your own bias. Now that you're here, you can unlock that gate."

Ja'Marco only nodded, the powers of the Nexus flowing through him.

"All right, boys," Franklin remarked as he, his brothers, Melvin, and Dominic rounded everyone up. "Tomorrow will be the final meet of the season as we're now heading for Regionals. And we need to make sure that we're not only one with each other and Orion but also with my son here with his birthday in less than two days."

"The celebrations will go on as planned," Melvin said as he stepped forward, his athletic, speedo-clad glory in full display. "And by the end of his birthday night, all of us will soon welcome him with a more...powerful bonding relationship."

All the guys laughed as Ja'Marco felt his cheeks heat up in mortification.

"No need to feel ashamed, boy," Orion's voice teased through the mind-link as the demigod in question (now a teenager) was smirking at him. "All of us are men and ready to give you the perfect gift of a lifetime."

Ja'Marco only gulped, deciding to not care if he felt his throbbing member grow stiff behind his triangular swimsuit.

After a few more announcements (and an hour spent in a shower threesome with Melvin and Dominic), Ja'Marco was all but ready to call it a day with his plans consisiting of finishing his homework and then heading for bed early. But not sooner than he was already out the door when he was suddenly pulled away into a dark alley and soon face to face with a black-clad Felicia with Jeremiah standing behind her.

"Felicia," Ja'Marco breathed, taking a moment to calm his racing heart. "What are you-"

"Thank God," Jeremiah cut the teen off. "Felicia and I were still worried that you're about to be too far gone."

"I might as well be, given that I'm starting to get more and more lost in this madness. And with more transformations by the day, who can say that I'm going to act more like a total douchebag?"

"Which is why you have to leave this town," Felicia commented firmly, crossing her arms. "I dunno how long we have, but your uncle, the Thades, Miss Genevieve, and I are working on getting you back to California where you can return back to normal."

Ja'Marco sighed heavily. "You guys know that everyone who's a Triton or an ally are going to have their eyes on me," he said. "And with this Orion demigod being more and more connected to me, I'm scared that I might end up being pushed to accept this. I'm not even sure if there's going to be a chance for me to renounce this inheritance."

"You can and you will," his uncle said fiercely before letting out a deep breath. "Believe me, Jay, when Felicia and I tell you that we're worried for you and about you. And if all else does fail, it's going to lead to something more lethal and drastic for you."

That caught Ja'Marco's attention. "You don't mean," he began.

"Unfortuately, we are," Felicia said. "In the event that you end up about to take the offer, Jeremiah and the others have given me the blessing to put you down in the same way that S.G was put down to save his life."

"This is madness," Ja'Marco exclaimed, giving the duo a look a disbelief. "I mean, I expected something from Ro'Niah before he and the others jumped ship. But you two considering this?! What happens if you get caught or things don't go to plan?"

"That's the chance we'll have to take," Jeremiah intoned, his voice brooking no argument. "We know that you gave up so miuch since your family brought you to this town, even before that. And you had to suffer a lot as well. Felicia and I vow to make sure that you get your old life back. Ask it of us, and it can be done. But you have to keep fighting the Nexus as much as possible and make plans to leave as soon as possible. If you want to reclaim everything that was taken from you and renounce this nightmare, then keep fighting and stay sane enough while playing their games. And if you fear that you're about to be too far gone, just say the word and Jeremiah and I will make sure that your death will be quick and painless. We'll take the heat and ensure that you are given a Christian burial back in California."

Ja'Marco was at a loss for words.

Felicia gave him a sad smile, giving him a big hug. "Think about what I said, okay?" she told him. "Mr. and Mrs. Thade are working on arranging for plane tickets back to Los Angeles while setting you up for school back home. Give us until tomorrow night or the morning of your birthday so Jeremiah and I can finalize the details. By then, you'll be back home either dead or alive."

Ja'Marco only nodded once before he was led back to the dormitory by Jeremiah. "Keep fighting this, son," he said. "And if it can't be helped, let me and the others give you a proper mercy killing. Let us help you leave it all behind."

"Good luck, Uncle Jeremiah," the teenager said quietly, giving his uncle a hug before he stepped inside the lobby area...to be greeted by the now-adult Orion and the Quitman men alongside Melvin and Wayne. "Uh, hi."

"They just don't know when to quit, do they?" Frederich remarked crisply before his face softened at his nephew's morose face. "Oh, Ja'Marco. You see what they're trying to do, right?"

Ja'Marco nodded once. "They want to put me down," he said. "And in a way, maybe it's for-"

"Don't you finish that sentence," Melvin growled, his eyes flashing sea-green in anger. "I'm not letting that bastard of my brother snuff you out. He and the others won't get that satisfaction."

"Back to the matter at hand," Orion said. "You know that you can't just walk away, Ja'Marco. You were meant for the finer things of life, things that many would scorn because they think it's about lavishness and recklessness. They just care about division and rigid morals. They believe in keeping people down, preaching about denials and hatred while encouraging wars or living frugal and systematic xenophobia. But you're about to be on the cusp of true manhood, one that defies the stereotypical and toxic version. And with us around, you can truly set yourself free. Let us work with you, Ja'Marco. Stop trying to conceal the hidden king withing your soul. Once you turn seventeen, you can become what you are meant to be. Let me be the demigod and let me be one with you."

Ja'Marco inhaled deeply, exhaling and letting out a loud moan as he felt the final transformation begin to take place.

"Take it in," Frederich encouraged, smiling faintly. "Fall into the Nexus with the greatest of ease. Tonight, tomorrow, and the day after will be when you gradually let it all fall away and embrace what can be yours."

Ja'Marco let out a jaw-cracking yawn as he began to see bright sea-green lights surround him and the others.

"You suffered under your grandparents' strict care, yet believed that it was for the greater good," Dominic, who remained quiet until now, commented. "They only wanted you to stick to a world of austere beliefs and lost in their domineering control. But we would never keep you at arm's length."

"Please," Ja'Marco said, his voice growing deeper as he felt his body float off the ground.

"That's it," Ferguson encouraged. "Be one. Be free. Thrive."

Ja'Marco felt his body grow more powerful, his clothes vanishing.

"So pretty," Melvin crooned as he let his other cohorts (save for Dominic) leave the dormitory complex. "This is going to be the apex moment of your youth."

"Help me," was all Ja'Marco could say before the lights began to crash over him and he was soon lost in a rapture of wicked wonder.

And from there, gentle reader, would be when the final phase of a wonderfully scandalous metamorphosis take place.

Ah, dip! It's goin' down tonight, y'all! And don't think about going anywhere just yet, folks, because we'll see the mysterious Dark Lady take her swim at the GVA Pool while Jeremiah and the other Rebels wonder where Genevieve is...before a final letter officially begins the end. Don't go anywhere.

Media: "Sacrilege" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Dedicating this out to Bad_at_Listening.

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