One
Meeting My Father
"...and so the gods won their war against their father. In the aftermath, they were believed to create the world as it was known then, aiding its growth and overseeing its development like watchful guardians..." The teacher said, excited to talk to his students about his favorite subject.
As the teacher droned on in the background, doing his best to get the class engaged, Theseus could feel himself drawing away. The subject bored him to death, and he had more pressing matters, such as the fact that Chris was glaring at him murderously. Probably due to the fact that He had talked to the kids girlfriend.
The thought brought about a sigh from the teen, who allowed his head to droop. The three of them had been best friends back in middle school, but when high school started, those two almost instantly made their way to the top, leaving him behind.
He held no ill will towards them, but wished that their past would hold more weight than it seemingly did in their heads.
"...arc. Theseus!" The teacher said, his voice raised as he tried to get the boy's attention.
"Oh, sorry Mr. Brunner, I was just thinking about something, please continue the lesson." Theo replied, a hint of guilt in his voice.
As much as the subject bored him, Mr. Brunner was by far his favorite teacher and anytime he zoned out, he felt a small wave of guilt crash down on him.
"I can see that, class ended almost ten minutes ago. Who do you have next? I'll write you a pass." Mr. Brunner said as he pulled out a notepad and pen.
"There's no need sir, I'll just take the detention." Theo said as he made to gather his stuff.
"If you say so my boy. And one word of advice, I'd suggest you pay attention all you can to each and every class. You have no idea when you might need something from them."
Theseus gave his teacher a weary nod, before exiting the class. He had made it maybe 10 feet out the door when two different people grabbed his arms.
Instantly, he started to struggle, doing his best to shake off whoever it was.
"Theo, act normally otherwise what we have planned will just get a whole lot worse." A masculine voice, that he recognized as Chris, said.
"What the hell do you want, Chris? I haven't done anything to you."
"Oh? So you weren't trying to get with Sarah? My bad, let him go guys." Chris said. Theseus felt the two holding him let go, and was just about to thank Chris, but instead, he found himself falling as his legs were swept out from under him.
Stars danced in Theo's vision as an audible crack was heard when his head hit the cold tiled floor.
"Like I would believe you. I never thought you were this stupid." Chris said as he let loose a vicious kick into Theseus' side, making the teen clutch his side in pain.
"Maybe it's because I want us to go back to how we used to be, back when we were friends." The boy said through pained breaths.
"I only talked to you so I could get with Sarah. You wanna hear something funny?" Chris asked as he let loose another vicious kick.
"You remember that time in freshman year, when you confessed to her? You want to know what she did? She came to my house, and we laughed at you. She called you pathetic, and then do you what we did? We had a little fun if you get my meaning. So get it through your thick head, we don't like you. All you are is a waste of space. A pathetic excuse for a person." Chris said as a grin came across his face. The teen delivered one last kick to Theo's side, before he gestured to his friends.
Theo let out a sigh of relief was they left, but that was quickly replaced by a mix of anger and heart break.
He slowly made his way to his feet, holding his side as he did, before walking off to the only place he found solace. The trip to the schools pool was agonizing at best.
Once he was able to lower himself into a sitting position, with his legs dangling in the water, he felt almost as if he was being healed. It was something he had noticed long ago, but had never been able to put his finger on.
Just as Theo was about to jump in the pool, he noticed one of the schools janitors walk out of the door with his cart.
The janitor had also been extremely tall compared to him, but now the guy just looked weird. It was almost like the guy's eyes were screwed up, as they kept merging before separating again.
"Hey, the pool was already cleaned yesterday, plus it's filled with water, sooo..." Theseus said as he tried to ignore the tingling sense in gut.
"Oh I'm not here to clean the pool. I thought I smelled a demigod around. Looks like I'll eat good tonight." The janitor said, as his form changed completely.
His two eyes merged, and he almost grew another few feet. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he pulled a spiked club out.
Theo quickly scrambled to his feet, the pain in his side gone completely. He wasn't fast enough. The monster rushed him, before swinging the spiked club into the boy's stomach, propelling him into the water.
The spikes from the club left a litter of holes across Theseus' stomach that oozed blood into the surrounding water. The boy, though still in pain, could few the water doing the same magic it had done just minutes before, allowing the demigod to get his wits together.
"Fine, let's fight a monster today." Marc thought to himself, realizing that he had no chance of escaping.
Originally, his plan had just been to get out of the water, but as the thought of raising out of the blue liquid, the water seemed to react.
Theo could feel himself being propelled up, before his head broke through the surface, followed by the rest of his body. Eventually, he found himself hovering about five feet above the water, the same water that was keeping him up.
"A son of Poseidon? There's no way! You didn't smell strong enough...." The monster mumbled, taken aback. "No matter, I'll just make sure to cook you, raw fish tastes nasty." It said before hurling his club at the demigod.
Out of instinct, the teen, who had brought his arms up and squeezed his eyes shut, was surprised when nothing hit him. Deciding to take a small peek, he found that the water had risen up in front of him, almost as if it had followed his hand movements. A grin quickly appeared on his face.
"I'm so using this for revenge. But for now, I'll just have to deal with you." The boy said before thrusting both his arms forward.
Just like before, the water followed his hand movements, and shot forward into the monster, who burst into dust as he hit the wall of the school.
"Well, I've met demigods in many different ways, but I've never seen them have such control over their powers. Sure there was Percy, but he's an enigma of an enigma." A voice said, the last part barely audible.
"Mr Brunner?" Theo asked, stunned to see his teacher. Then he realized what he was doing, and tried to stop everything, resulting in him being dropped five feet into the water.
The boy quickly swam to the edge, before hauling himself over the side and onto his feet.
"Hello Theseus, quite an impressive display. I had planned on giving you a weapon, but that was clearly un-needed." Mr. Brunner said, gesturing to the trident he held. Theo remembered something about how the trident was a replica of some Greek water god, but couldn't remember which one.
"You saw all that? Man, I... you won't tell anyone will you?" Theseus questioned, his face going pale at the thought of being cut open and studied like he had heard happened in his comic books.
"Of course not. Well, not to the mortal world." The teacher replied, a light smile gracing his features.
"So you are gonna tell on me? Ah damn, I'm gonna die.... you said the mortal world? As far as I'm aware, there's no other worlds on Earth."
"You would be right, but you have to remember, there is always multiple ways of viewing things, always more than black and white. It would do you well to listen in my classes, you might just learn something useful."
"So what's this other view? Is it like Harry Potter? I don't want to be a wizard!" Theo said exasperatedly. Harry Potter was all his sister talked about, and he had heard enough for years. (Author knows nothing of HP)
"Close, but no. Why don't you come with me back to classroom, I don't have a class this period. We can talk and I'll tell you what's going on." Mr. Brunner said, before glancing the boy over. "On second thought, go get a spare shirt, then meet me in my classroom."
Hearing about a change of clothes, the boy looked down at his own to find them... dry. The worst part was that his shirt was peppered with holes, each surrounded by dried blood. This was his favorite shirt!
In a stroke of unusual luck, the teen managed to sneak into the locker room, before switching his shirt out. It pained Theo to throw away clothing, but the shirt was trashed and beyond saving, so with a big sigh, he tossed it in the garbage before making his way to Mr. Brunner's classroom.
The walk to his teachers room wasn't long, but it gave Theo time to think about what just had happened no less than ten minutes ago. He's been beaten by his friends, healed himself in a pool, attacked by a monster of sorts, killed said monster, and healed his wounds from the monsters attacks.
He really wanted to freak out in a burst of fear and anxiety, but two things stopped him. The first being the fact that he was still at school, and any out bursts would just make his reputation worse than it already was. And second, he could control fucking water! The ability to finally achieve revenge was in his grasps, and maybe, if people learned not to screw with him, he'd finally be able to start living a better life. With that last thought, Theseus knocked on the door to Mr. Brunner's classroom, before stepping inside.
"Ah, I see you found a new shirt. Good thing too, the rest of the students and staff would have drawn too much attention to you." Mr. Brunner said, before gesturing to a chair he'd pulled up next to his desk. "Please sit, we have a lot to discuss."
Theseus quickly sat down, multiple lines of thoughts running through his head. "Sir, what was that thing that attacked me? And how could I control the water? And why did he call me a son of Poseidon?" The boy asked rapidly.
"I'll get to all that, I promise you, but first I have a question of my own; What do you remember about my teachings on the Greek Gods?"
"Well they were a pantheon worshipped by the Greeks in ancient times, but they're just mythological, they don't exist. Why?" Theo questioned, ignoring the burst of random thunder above.
"Well, you're partly right. The Greek pantheon was worshipped in ancient times by many different places, but most notably by the Greeks. Where you're wrong, is in thinking that they are just myths. The god's are very much alive and breathing, taking care of the world and allowing it to flourish and prosper.
"But sadly, along with the god's comes their enemies. Monsters, Titans, Giants, they all exist, and are very much on the hunt for people such as you."
"And what am I exactly? As far as I know, I'm just a teen. Completely human and mortal by the way."
"Not quite. I'm sure you remember Heracles, or Orion? Son's of Zeus and Poseidon respectively. They are referred to as Demigods, well they were before other circumstances arose. You are a demigod just like they were. Half mortal, half God."
Hearing all this, Theseus drew in a deep breath. He didn't know whether to think his teacher was crazy, or that he was crazy. But if what he was saying was true, then it would put some things into perspective, such as his name and his absent father.
"So then what did I fight? And who is my father? I'm assuming he's a water god of sorts?" The boy asked.
"That was a Cyclops, monster's who are known to try and eat Demigods, along with many other monsters. They are normally taller than a human, and only have one eye. Most of them carry clubs such as the one you faced.
"You're father on the other hand, is actually quite a bit unusual. The monster wasn't far off when he called you a spawn of Lord Poseidon. You're father is Triton, Prince of the Seas." Me. Brunner answered, an odd look in his eye.
"So if my fathers a god, why didn't he do anything to help my mother? She's been struggling for so long and he could have helped all this time! She works two jobs, takes night classes, and cares for me." Theseus questioned, anger and disappointment lacing his veins, his fists clenching and unclenching in hopes of calming himself.
His father is apparently a god, and yet he does nothing to help his mother, one of the kindest women on Earth. What a pathetic god.
"God's are bound by ancient laws when it comes to mortals. They have recently started to do more in terms of connecting with their children, but some go about it in different ways. He loves you very much, but he's been trying to protect you.
"Just months ago, an old evil arose, requiring demigods and god's alike to join forces and bring peace back to the mythological world. It was a bloody war, and we lost so many children, so many friends and loved ones. He wanted to protect you from all this, so he ignored you in a sense.
"As soon as the war was over, he came to me and told me about you. How he wanted to protect you and had been doing his best so far, but that now was the time to introduce you to the world of Greek Mythology."
"If there was some big and bloody war, why haven't I or anybody else heard about it on the news?"
"That would be the mist. A thin veil that hides the mythological world away from the eyes of the mortal one. It's how the monster managed to sneak into you're school, and how I garnered a position as your history teacher."
"So are you some mythological person as well?" Theo asked, having a hard time coming to terms with everything. It wasn't everyday that you learned your absent father was trying to help you, even if it was in a stupid way, or that their was recently a war going on that you had no idea about.
"Ah my mistake. My name is Chiron, trainer of Heroes. I run a camp for demigods called Camp Half Blood to help raise and train the next generation of Heroes. You would normally go there after figuring out your heritage, but your father, and his father alike, have requested something different."
"So I'm not going to this camp? A camp where I can meet tons of people like me? Where I'll actually get along with people?"
"No. You're grandfather is building a group of sorts, made up of sea creatures and mermen alike, and you shall be the one to lead them. I just have to inform you're mother, and then I will have one of my campers lead you to you're father."
"My mother knew all this time? She knew who my father was and didn't tell me?" Theo felt like revelation after revelation was piling on top of him, suffocating him. He needed air.
"Of course, but she swore not to tell, and when you swear by the terms she did, the oath becomes unbreakable."
"Well then... I guess it's time I go meet this godly father of mine. Lead the way.... Chiron."
One thing when it comes to the war in this book. I will use the formations used by the Greeks that allowed them to conquer so much. Theo here will be known as Alexander incarnate, just of the ocean. I never understood why these formations weren't used by the demigods. They had the numbers, and Chiron could have easily taught them. Would have saved a many of lives. Battle of the labyrinth? No problem, put enough pikes in an area and anything that moves will die.
This is something that I've had written for a while, but was really debating on posting it or not. People normally don't like stories where Percy isn't the main character... which sucks but oh well I guess.