"I'm good at metaphors," Jack said. "Let me see." Damien handed him the paper. Jack chewed his lip while he read the line again. "Hmm, if you were Imprinted with someone, I'd say it meant that we should talk to whoever that is, and maybe they'd know something."

"I'm not Imprinted with anyone," Stark said, starting to pace again.

"So that might mean that we need to look at who you are - that there's something about you that's a key to getting onto Sgiach's island," Damien said.

"I don't know anything! That's the problem!"

"Okay - okay, how about we look at the notes we made about Sgiach to see if there's something there that rings a bell with you," Jack said, making consolatory motions at Stark.

"Yeah, chill out," Shaunee said.

"Take a seat and have a sandwich." Erin gestured to the end of their bench with the sandwich she'd begun munching on.

"Eat," Thanatos said, taking a sandwich and sitting beside Jack. "Focus on life."

Stark suppressed a frustrated growl, grabbed a sandwich, and sat.

"Oh, pull out that chart we made," Jack said, peeking over Damien's shoulder as he flipped through the notes he'd made. "Some of this stuff gets confusing, and visual aids always help."

"Good idea - here it is." Damien ripped out a piece of paper from the yellow legal pad he'd almost filled with notes. At the top of it he'd drawn a big, open umbrella. On one side of the umbrella he'd written LIGHT and on the opposite side, DARKNESS.

"The umbrella of Light and Darkness is a good image," Thanatos said. "It shows that the two forces are all-encompassing."

"That was my idea," Jack said, turning a little pink.

Damien smiled at him. "Well done, you." Then he pointed at the column beneath Light. "So under the force of Light I've listed: good, the black bull, Nyx, Zoey, and us." He paused, and everyone nodded.

"And under Darkness I have: evil, the white bull, Neferet/Tsi Sgili, Kalona, and Raven Mockers."

"I see you have Sgiach placed in the middle," Thanatos said.

"Yeah, along with onion rings, Hostess Ding Dongs, and my name ," Aphrodite said. "Just what the hell does that mean?"

"Well, I don't think we've decided if Sgiach is a force for Light or Darkness," Damien said.

"I added the onion rings and Ding Dongs," Jack said. When everyone just stared at him, he shrugged and explained, "Onion rings are deep-fried and fattening, but an onion is a vegetable. So aren't they good for you? Maybe? And, well, Ding Dongs are chocolate, but they have cream in the middle. Isn't that dairy and healthy?"

"I think you're brain-damaged," Aphrodite said.

"We added your name," Erin said.

"Yeah, 'cause we think you're like Rachel on Glee ," Shaunee said. "Super annoying, but she has to be in the show 'cause sometimes she comes up with good stuff and kinda sorta saves the day."

"But we think she's still a hag from hell. Like you," Erin finished, giving Aphrodite a sugary smile."

"Anyway" - Damien quickly erased onion rings, Ding Dongs, and Aphrodite's name, put the chart in the middle of the table, and then went back to the yellow pad - "here's some info we found about Sgiach,"

Damien said, scanning through the notes he'd made. "She is considered a queen of Warriors. Lots of Warriors used to train on her island, so a bunch of Sons of Erebus came and went, but the Warriors who stayed with her, the ones sworn to her service - "

"Hang on, Sgiach had more than one Oath Sworn Warrior?" Stark interrupted.

Damien nodded. "Apparently she had a whole Clan of them. Only they didn't call themselves Sons of Erebus. Their title was . . ." Damien paused, flipping pages. "Here it is. They were called Guardians of the Ace."

"Why Ace?" Stark asked.

"It's a metaphor," Aphrodite said, rolling her eyes. "Another one. It's what they called Sgiach. It symbolizes queen to their Clan."

"I think the Scottish clan stuff is cool," Jack said.

"Of course you do," Aphrodite said. "Guys in skirts is your wet dream."

"Kilt, not skirt," Stark said. "Or plaid. If you're talking about the really old, big one you call it a philamore."

Aphrodite raised a blond brow at him. "And you know this because you like to wear them?"

He shrugged. "Not me, but my grandpa used to."