Chris Wall had always been fascinated by the Greek Mythology. He found the concept of all the Gods to be fascinating. He had been infatuated with the Percy Jackson series and the Heroes of Olympus series. He actually started to believe in these gods, he felt silly to actually believe in it but something inside him made him believe. He never actually thought he would be greeted by a god, and even better, be given a quest...

Chris had been babysitting for his Aunt and Uncle on the 4th of July, nothing special, five bucks an hours and all that good stuff. They left pizza money and Chris ordered himself, and the kids, pizza from a place called "Greece-E Pizza." The man who delivered was fast, took him like 5 minutes to get there after Chris called.

The guy was wearing Nikes everything, and his hat was ridiculous. It looked like the helmet you saw Hermes, the Messenger God, wearing in pictures. It had two wings on the top, they looked real, but of course they didn't really fly.

Or maybe they do, a voice jested in his mind. I don't see a car out there, maybe he flew here!

"Hey," the Pizza man said. "That'll be $22.50, plus a $5 tax." Thunder rumbled in the clear blue sky and the man closed his eyes and sighed. "Okay, no tax."

Chris paid, even the "tax," and the guy handed him 2 pizza boxes and a small wrapped package. The guy walked down the stairs and Chris tried to call him back, to tell him this package wasn't his, but the guy wasn't anywhere in sight.

Chris sat down and opened the pizza and handed a slice to each of the kids. Then he grabbed the package and rotated it, looking for a card or something. He found it, opened it, and read:

Dear Mr. Wall,

The man who delivered this to you was indeed Hermes, messenger to us, the Gods of Olympus. I apologize for his haggling for an extra $5, he is the God of Thieves after all. Anyway, in this box contains all the world's evil, you may know it as Pandora's box. As you know the box is extremely powerful and if it falls into the wrong hands it would cause the world to be in chaos. Picture Hell of Earth and you will see what I mean. Please, keep this box safe, our last keeper of the Box... well, he had an unfortunate end. I know that you will not take this job lightly, you have been waiting for a chance to prove yourself to us, and I am willing to let you have your chance. Keep this safe box until you hear word from me again.

Sincerely yours,

Zeus

PS, I would be cautious, the ones you watch are not what they appear to be, do not let the Mist trick you...

Chris gaped at the letter, under this paper was the most powerful thing in the world. This Box had the power to kill a god, and Zeus, the Lord of the Gods, trusted him with it. But something about that letter was unnerving. The ones you watch are not what they appear, do not let the Mist trick you.

The Mist, the thing that blocked the reality of the world from Mortals. The ones he watched, that was his cousins. He looked down and saw that they had not touched their pizza, and they were staring at him, eyes evil and monstrous.

"What's wrong," Chris asked the kids, "don't wanna eat?"

They kids stared at him, it was unnerving, Chris had to get out of that room. He stood up and walked toward the stairs.

"Where are you going, Chris?" the oldest, Zack, asked him. They had both got up and followed him.

"Oh," Chris said, not faltering at all. "I'm just going to the bathroom, I had a pretty big burrito for lunch, and trust me, you would rather me go up and use the bathroom than turn it into gas."

He went upstairs, holding the box, and opened the door to the bathroom, he heard a bump from in the youngest kid's, Brady, bedroom. He turned on the light and the fan, hoping the noise would drown out any noise up there. He locked and closed the bathroom door and slowly opened the bedroom door. He saw his real cousins on the floor, bound and gagged. Chris cursed and started toward them, then he head footsteps coming up the steps. He ran silently over to the door and closed it without a sound, then he pressed his ear to the door to listen.

"Chris?" Zack's voice said. "You okay in there."

Chris had to think fast, he couldn't reply because his voice would come from in the bedroom. He swore in his mind.

Ares help me kick the crap out of these monsters, he prayed silently to the God of War. He grabbed a wooden baseball bat from the corner, gave the real Zack and Brady a reassuring wink and smile. Then he kicked the door out and smacked evil Zack in the head. The kid, or goblin thing, fell to the ground. Evil Brady jumped up at Chris and he struck the kid like a fast ball, the kid went out the window with a smash.

"Homerun!" Chris called. He ran into the room and grabbed the kids, then he ran down the stairs and to the car he drove. He got in and peeled out of the driveway. He had the address to the bar his aunt and uncle were at and put it into the GPS, speeding through the traffic. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw Zack speeding toward him on a bike, Brady driving in one of those little pedal cars.

"Zeus Almighty," Chris muttered. "Its the friggin Children of the Corn or something!"

The GPS pinged, but instead of the female robot voice a regular male voice came out, it sounded oddly familiar.

"Turn Right bud," it said. Chris turned.

"What the... Tartarus?" Chris said.

"Alright, up ahead take the first alleyway on your left." Chris did as he was told. "Okay a harpy is gunna try jumping you, slam on your brakes so it hits you, then floor it when it falls to the ground."

Chris found this all very skeptical, but he did as he was told and when a Harpy did jump him, he slammed on his brakes, the ugly bird woman slammed into the bumper and slid to the ground, Chris floored it out of the alley.

"Nice driving kid," The voice said. "You could give ole Apollo a run for his money."

Chris arrived at his destination with the kids pale white in the back.

"You two okay?" Chris asked them. They nodded slowly and Chris looked up to see the door open, everyone was on the floor, heads down. Chris was just getting out of the car when the GPS voice spoke again.

"Wait kid," Chris stopped and looked at the GPS. "Take this, think of it as a, uh, thank you for the tip." The voice died and a ring and laser pointer appeared on the seat. Chris picked them up, and with a questioning glance, pressed the button on the laser pointer, a sword blade shot out of where the light should be, and the device itself became the sword's hilt.

"No friggin way!" Chris chuckled as the blade stopped growing. He picked up the ring and when he twisted it around his finger a shield appeared out of the gemstone. "Ho ho no!"

Chris hit the button on the side of the sword hilt and the sword turned back into a laser pointer, and twisted the ring and the shield retracted into the gemstone. Chris realized who the voice belonged to.

"Thank you Hermes," Chris muttered, admiring the gifts. He put the pointer into his pocket and got out of the car. "Stay here," Chris told the kids, whose color seemed to be returning to their faces.

He looked at the box, he couldn't leave it here, someone might take it. He picked it up, the box shrunk to the size of a die, in fact it looked like a die, it had black dots all over it. Chris pocketed it and got out of the car.

Chris walked into the bar and found a biker holding Chris' aunt as a hostage.

"Hey punk," the biker said when the door closed behind Chris. "Thanks for the prayer, it gave me your location, so I was able to find your aunt and uncle just in time for you to arrive."

"Prayer," Chris thought, then it hit him. "Ares?"

"Oooh, You're a sharp one aren't you?" Ares said with a smirk.

"What do you want?" Chris asked.

"Easy, gimme Pandora's Box and I will let you go with your family."

"And if I don't?" Chris asked, dreading the answer to come.

"Well," Ares looked at Chris' aunt with a hungry look. "I could use a play thing, and I am sure your uncle wouldn't mind watching." He chuckled evilly.

"Why? Why do you want the Box?"

"To give to my master of course," Ares replied.

"Who do you..." Chris knew already. "Kronos?" Thunder rumbled out in the clear blue sky.

"I wouldn't use his name kid," Ares said, a flash of fear in his eyes.

"Why," Chris said, knowing how to save his aunt and uncle. "Is poor little Malfoy afraid of big bad Voldemort?"

"Oh," Ares said, fear gone now. "You're cracking jokes, funny."

"You know," Chris said. "I don't know what Kronos," thunder, "was thinking when he hired you. You're a wuss, you can't even say Kronos," thunder. "What's wrong Ares, afraid of a name? Scared of big... bad... Kronos?" The biggest crack of thunder came after that last word. Ares flinched at the flash of lighting that soared through the window, people screamed and scrambled under the tables. Chris pulled out the laser pointer and clicked the button. He ran forward and slashed Ares' Achilles Heels, both of them. Ares fell to the ground, cursing in what sounded like latin, but Chris knew it was Ancient Greek.

"Oops," Chris said, grabbing his aunt and uncle. "Did I do that? Sorry Ares, I thought you were going to be more of a challenge." He ran out as Ares made a bloodcurdling roar, they got into the car and sped off as a big flash of light burst from the bar. Ares had gone all drama god and flashed out using his true form, frying any unlucky soul who looked upon him.

"Chris," his uncle, Mike, said. "What the hell just happened!"

"Oh, nothing," Chris said casually, as if he had been talking about something on a TV show. "Just, you know, kicking some godly butt and saving my family. No biggie."

They drove toward Chris' hometown of Raymond, NH. Where he would stash his aunt and uncle while he tried to find a place where he could go without endangering anyone...