Hello, I'm Perseus.
Location. Central Park, New York.
The normally crowded park was currently desolate, a single man stood within the park. Then the most peculiar happened. The man took… lyre and began to play, he played a solemn song, hour upon hour he played. Even than not another soul had approached Central Park, then for whatever reason the mans face lit up in… excitement? For another hour he played, but by the end of that hour he stoped. He was seen grinning like a fool at a mound of rocks. Then…he disappeared, he simply vanished without a trace.
At least that was what you would have saw…thanks to the mist…
The mans name was Giovanni Rethardo, he was a clear sighted mortal. How he learnt of the Gods is unknown… however he was completely invested in learning more and more about the mythology he takes risks that could kill him just for more information… if you didn't know he was mortal you would have thought he was a son of Athena.
What association does this have to his disappearance? Let's first talk about what he was doing there in Central Park… he had always thirsted for more knowledge about the underworld…so he read, read like there was no tomorrow learning all there was to learn about the Greek underworld from Cerberus to the River Phlegethon he drank up all the information like it was a can of soda(yes I know weird analogy).
However this was just not enough for Giovanni… he wanted more… he wanted to go to Hades. Yes he a mortal wanted to go in the Greek Underworld, The Domain of the Dead, The World of Darkness. He was a risk taker… but… we can agree, that insane! Even so, he never had a doubt about what he wanted, never wavered in his decision.
Now can you guess why he was in Central Park? I'll give a hint, the Doors of Orpheus. The tale of Orpheus goes down like this
Orpheus and Eurydice got married, but later that night, Eurydice is bit by a snake and dies. So far, so terrible. Overcome with grief, Orpheus travels to the Underworld by singing so sincerely that the rocks in Central Park parted to allow entrance to Hades to bring her back to life. As he enters the Underworld, Orpheus uses his music to charm the spirits and monsters who live there. Ever get serenaded by a cute guy with a stringed instrument? Hard to resist, right? Even animals love him. Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the entrance, stands motionless and lets Orpheus pass. Everyone else is moved, too: the grotesque Furies weep, Sisyphus stops moving his rock, the vulture stops pecking at Tityus' liver, and the souls of the dead gather to hear him play. So yeah, guess he chose the right song.
He convinces Hades and Persephone to let Eurydice go, but her release comes with a catch: Eurydice must walk behind him as they ascend to the upper world, and Orpheus is forbidden from looking at her. Seems easy enough, right?
Unfortunately, Orpheus was overcome with passion just as they reach the exit. He turns to look at Eurydice and she is immediately sent back to the Underworld – forever. Orpheus is devastated (again) and roams around Greece playing sad songs. Eventually, he is ripped to shreds by a group of drunken mad women. (Not exactly the ideal way to die… at least he's with his love again.)
Are you catching on yet? Giovanni followed in Orpheus path, he sung and sung but he was not there for sadness, he was not completely sincere either but inch by inch the rocks crept apart till he was able to slip through and into the underworld. There was no going back now.
After trudging down the tunnel Giovanni knew that he had exited in the Fields of Asphodel. An involuntary shiver moved up his spine as a soul "bumped" into him. Giovanni stared at the soul in shock, even though he had heard about the soullessness of the souls in Asphodel, he was still creeped beyond belief. Even still his thirst for knowledge prevailed, making him take mental notes about the souls shape, demeanor and more, but Giovanni knew he couldn't stay long he was here to learn everything about the Underworld. He continued his journey a word to where he thought was the Palace of Hades was
Time Skip (the journey would have been boring)
Giovanni thought I'm close, I've got to be! He was close alright… but not to Hades Palace, no, he was heading toward the single most respected being in the underworld (with the exception of Hades and Persephone) no monsters would approach, and for once Giovanni could not here anything more than his own breathing and heartbeat.
Giovanni saw a river! Giovanni face seemed to split apart by his grin, finally! He though in his mind, I was hoping for something to study! His body, filled with a new sort of energy began to run towards the river. As he neared the river he saw a humanoid figure lying within the gushing river.
Giovanni thinking that this was a non lethal river if another being was within it, throwing caution in the wind, he raced toward the humanoid figure that seemed to be getting up. Suddenly Giovanni's shoes skidded to a stop his instincts telling him to run, far, far, away from the being. Giovanni's mind wandered to his least favorite saying "Curiosity killed the Cat!". While he dragged his feet toward the figure his mind thought, well, if curiosity killed the cat, they I sure am glad I ain't a cat, cause then I'd be dead the moment I was born.
The figure head suddenly whipped around to gaze straight into Giovanni's eyes. Giovanni's body shut down from the amount of fear he felt, but as the figures eyes dissected him the pressure seemed to release and get replace with an aura of friendliness.
The figure, now identified as a male just grinned at Giovanni.
"Hello,"
Giovanni's normally sharp tongue couldn't seem to form any coherent words, his mouth opening and closing as if meaning to say something. After a couple long moments he managed to force one word out of his now dysfunctional mouth.
"Hi."
Giovanni was now mentally berating himself over his short, blunt answer: if anyone else heard that I'd never be able to maintain my reputation! Ugh! Now this-this being will think I'm a nimrod!
"I'm Perseus."
A/N= Hey everyone, this is my first story so it might be pretty bad, however I'd love it if you helped by reviewing your thoughts on this so far, remember that Giovanni Rethardo isn't the main character he is simply a lead to the main plot line so don't worry :) sorry for this Chapter being so short I'll try to make them longer in the future. Also who should Percy be Paired up with in this story, tell me your thoughts on it in a review!
PS:Yes I do know I use the "…" to much… but… I… um…like it… (yeah this part was forced…) though for real, I'm sorry if it annoyed you, if it did, tell me in a review and I'll try and use commas more.