Hold on. Before you read any further there are some things I should probably warn you about:
First thing is this. You know all those Greek Gods: Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, Hades, Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Hestia, Poseidon, and Zeus? Guess what. They exist and they are here in the U.S.A.
I know shocking right? You think people would notice guys trudging around in Greek battle armor and the like. In fact, the gods look just like you or me when they want to be. No one has seen a true gods form cause well…you would get disintegrated on the spot. Good reason to turn your head huh?
Well it doesn’t get much better from here. Because all the other gods, deities, Cyclopes, and monsters exist to! Right under your nose! You haven’t seen them because of something called The Mist. It is this powerful substance that hides these monsters and gods from mortal eyes. The Mist tricks mortals into seeing other regular people instead of monsters, though people have been able to see through this before.
The scariest part is monsters can only be killed by weapons made of Celestial Bronze. There are other types that will work but bronze is the most common. The good thing is, bronze weapons will not hurt mortals. They pass right through a mortal with no harm done. A monster will turn to dust on the other hand. That doesn’t mean they are gone…though that would be lovely. No in fact they just disappear for awhile before reforming and hunting my kind down again.
I know what you’re thinking. What do you mean, “Your kind”? Well there is another thing you should probably know. The gods have been known to have kids with mortals. These kids end up being half human and half god, a demigod if you will. Demigod’s have powers due to their godly parents. Pretty sweet huh! Unfortunately, our scent also draws monsters straight to us. If that isn’t bad enough, we aren’t lucky like the monsters. We are killed by any weapon, bronze or not. And when we die…there is no reforming later like nothing happened. Also we can get tricked by The Mist too if we get caught off guard. Most kids do not know who their demigod parents are until that god claims them as their own.
The most powerful of the gods are Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Children of these three have extra ordinary powers and draw monsters like crazy. Until recently, these three weren’t allowed to have kids for fear of what would happen. Nowadays they aren’t so strict, though there are rarely more than one or two kids from these gods.
A demigod usually is diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia in the mortal world. Words float off the pages and rearrange themselves and we have a hard time sitting still. This is our battle reflexes talking and our brains are hardwired to read ancient Greek. It’s easier than English anyways.
Now this is all pretty depressing I know but there is a place for Demigods to go and train without being hounded by monsters day and night. Camp Half-Blood. We’ll get into that later. But if you end up being a demigod, it won’t take long before a Satyr comes along and tries to get you back to the camp safely. Mortals and monsters can’t cross the barrier into camp. So there is one positive thing huh.
I wish I had known all this when it happened to me.
My name is Isaac Winter.
And my life was about to go off the deep end.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaac signed and watched New York pass by. His school, The Olympian Boarding School, was visiting the Greek museum down town. His bus drove through the rain and traffic while the kids on board talked, threw paper wads, and caused all kinds of havoc. Isaac didn’t want to join in; he was busy staring at the rain as it soaked the bustling city. It was summer, which meant it wasn’t just raining. It was raining and humid. The entire bus felt like an oven, which only made the kids inside more antsy and wanting to get out. Isaac wore a simple, fitting black t-shirt and jeans. His shaggy brown hair stuck to the glass as he checked his wristwatch. They would be there soon. He wanted it to be over.
It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the museum. The school went every year. It was just that Isaac had never had much luck in schools. Something always went wrong. Like that year when he was playing kickball and that earthquake knocked over the entire enemy team, but left him standing. Or that mysterious rock storm. Yes, not a hail storm, rocks rained from the sky and pelted a couple kids who were bullying him. Every school he went to just seemed to blow up in his face. It also didn’t help he was ADD and Dyslexic. It basically made school life impossible. Still, Isaac had fun at this school. They seemed more relaxed and tolerant of his screw ups. And the school was built to teach kids with his types of symptoms.
The school rounded the corner and pulled to the front of the museum. Two large Greek Soldiers stood on either end of the buildings doorways. In fact, the entire building looked like it was from ancient Greece. The soldiers looked terrifying in the dark rain clouds, as if they had just gotten out of a battle barely alive. The kids were anxious to get inside, and starting to get up and crowd the isle.
“Alright, kids. Settle down, settle down.” Their teacher, Mr. Daniels, bellowed as he stood up in front of the kids. He was dressed in a worn, tweed jacket and matching fedora over his curly hair. Mr. Daniels leaned heavily on his cane, an old wooden stick with carved vines crawling along it. Wait, he was saying something. Stop staring at his cane and focus Isaac. He shook his head and brought himself back to reality.
“Let’s get inside quickly so we can begin, shall we? Quickly, quickly! This rain is murderous.” The kids agreed and rushed out of the bus towards the museum. Isaac stepped off the bus and was immediately soaked, and he loved it. Isaac always loved the outside, even if it was diluted from the smog of the bustling city. He breathed deeply and just let his mind drift as the rain fell. The group was getting away and Isaac had to catch up to meet them. He smiled as the group stood and waited for Mr. Daniels to begin the tour.
It was going to be a good day.
First thing is this. You know all those Greek Gods: Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, Hades, Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Hestia, Poseidon, and Zeus? Guess what. They exist and they are here in the U.S.A.
I know shocking right? You think people would notice guys trudging around in Greek battle armor and the like. In fact, the gods look just like you or me when they want to be. No one has seen a true gods form cause well…you would get disintegrated on the spot. Good reason to turn your head huh?
Well it doesn’t get much better from here. Because all the other gods, deities, Cyclopes, and monsters exist to! Right under your nose! You haven’t seen them because of something called The Mist. It is this powerful substance that hides these monsters and gods from mortal eyes. The Mist tricks mortals into seeing other regular people instead of monsters, though people have been able to see through this before.
The scariest part is monsters can only be killed by weapons made of Celestial Bronze. There are other types that will work but bronze is the most common. The good thing is, bronze weapons will not hurt mortals. They pass right through a mortal with no harm done. A monster will turn to dust on the other hand. That doesn’t mean they are gone…though that would be lovely. No in fact they just disappear for awhile before reforming and hunting my kind down again.
I know what you’re thinking. What do you mean, “Your kind”? Well there is another thing you should probably know. The gods have been known to have kids with mortals. These kids end up being half human and half god, a demigod if you will. Demigod’s have powers due to their godly parents. Pretty sweet huh! Unfortunately, our scent also draws monsters straight to us. If that isn’t bad enough, we aren’t lucky like the monsters. We are killed by any weapon, bronze or not. And when we die…there is no reforming later like nothing happened. Also we can get tricked by The Mist too if we get caught off guard. Most kids do not know who their demigod parents are until that god claims them as their own.
The most powerful of the gods are Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Children of these three have extra ordinary powers and draw monsters like crazy. Until recently, these three weren’t allowed to have kids for fear of what would happen. Nowadays they aren’t so strict, though there are rarely more than one or two kids from these gods.
A demigod usually is diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia in the mortal world. Words float off the pages and rearrange themselves and we have a hard time sitting still. This is our battle reflexes talking and our brains are hardwired to read ancient Greek. It’s easier than English anyways.
Now this is all pretty depressing I know but there is a place for Demigods to go and train without being hounded by monsters day and night. Camp Half-Blood. We’ll get into that later. But if you end up being a demigod, it won’t take long before a Satyr comes along and tries to get you back to the camp safely. Mortals and monsters can’t cross the barrier into camp. So there is one positive thing huh.
I wish I had known all this when it happened to me.
My name is Isaac Winter.
And my life was about to go off the deep end.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaac signed and watched New York pass by. His school, The Olympian Boarding School, was visiting the Greek museum down town. His bus drove through the rain and traffic while the kids on board talked, threw paper wads, and caused all kinds of havoc. Isaac didn’t want to join in; he was busy staring at the rain as it soaked the bustling city. It was summer, which meant it wasn’t just raining. It was raining and humid. The entire bus felt like an oven, which only made the kids inside more antsy and wanting to get out. Isaac wore a simple, fitting black t-shirt and jeans. His shaggy brown hair stuck to the glass as he checked his wristwatch. They would be there soon. He wanted it to be over.
It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy the museum. The school went every year. It was just that Isaac had never had much luck in schools. Something always went wrong. Like that year when he was playing kickball and that earthquake knocked over the entire enemy team, but left him standing. Or that mysterious rock storm. Yes, not a hail storm, rocks rained from the sky and pelted a couple kids who were bullying him. Every school he went to just seemed to blow up in his face. It also didn’t help he was ADD and Dyslexic. It basically made school life impossible. Still, Isaac had fun at this school. They seemed more relaxed and tolerant of his screw ups. And the school was built to teach kids with his types of symptoms.
The school rounded the corner and pulled to the front of the museum. Two large Greek Soldiers stood on either end of the buildings doorways. In fact, the entire building looked like it was from ancient Greece. The soldiers looked terrifying in the dark rain clouds, as if they had just gotten out of a battle barely alive. The kids were anxious to get inside, and starting to get up and crowd the isle.
“Alright, kids. Settle down, settle down.” Their teacher, Mr. Daniels, bellowed as he stood up in front of the kids. He was dressed in a worn, tweed jacket and matching fedora over his curly hair. Mr. Daniels leaned heavily on his cane, an old wooden stick with carved vines crawling along it. Wait, he was saying something. Stop staring at his cane and focus Isaac. He shook his head and brought himself back to reality.
“Let’s get inside quickly so we can begin, shall we? Quickly, quickly! This rain is murderous.” The kids agreed and rushed out of the bus towards the museum. Isaac stepped off the bus and was immediately soaked, and he loved it. Isaac always loved the outside, even if it was diluted from the smog of the bustling city. He breathed deeply and just let his mind drift as the rain fell. The group was getting away and Isaac had to catch up to meet them. He smiled as the group stood and waited for Mr. Daniels to begin the tour.
It was going to be a good day.