Hi my name is Arc, Arc Hunter. My full name is Achilles Drakonian Hunter. Now that that's out of the way, let me first start by telling you that if anything you read feels true or familiar shut this book now and go learn some sword fighting or something. You're inevitably screwed so you might as well be prepared! Haha, but seriously, go. Now.

If you think this is a work of fiction you're wrong! Unless this is all a dream… in which case none of this is real and one of us is in a coma… huh. Weird thought.

Well let's see… um what were we talking about? Oh yeah! See I live a slightly different life than most people. I've never met my father or mother. I was left in a police station with a little note that said my father was dead and told them my name. Other than that it didn't mention anything at all. Just… left me there.

I ended up spending my whole life in foster care. Some parents were better than others but for the most part I ended up with pretty nice folks. I guess I got lucky there. Anyways, right then I was with just this one guy… most of the time. Yeah I ran away a lot. It's not a big deal. I came home… eventually! But seriously you probably shouldn't do that. It just happens to work for me.

I wouldn't say I'm a trouble maker. I don't go out of my way to bad things. But at the same time I don't NOT do them either. If the situation arises that doing something bad might be a little fun, then why not? I only have one life to live and it was going to be dull and boring if I just did as my fourteen year old self was told. At least, that's what I thought. Until this past summer…

As always I was relaxing in central park. This was the first time I had ever been in a city as huge as New York, most of the time I was sent to very rural areas with lots of wilderness in the general vicinity. Having come to a big city I was really uncomfortable in the tiny cramped apartments and busy streets, so after a few days I decided to bail.

Yes I know I'm a horrible role model. But that's not the point. See I thought that day would be like any other: I'd sit in a tree, relax, watch the people passing by, then go home and eat whatever my foster parents had left out for me. Unfortunately today I accidentally fell out of that very tree, and of course with my luck there's good old Officer Roger.

Every time I came to a new home, I somehow always managed to find that one police officer who didn't tolerate anything. And somehow they'd always catch me in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hell they'd normally just catch me in general. Especially Officer Roger. Looking at him you'd never be able to figure out why he's allowed to be a cop. He limps everywhere he goes and half the time the man's on crutches, but if he's pursuing a culprit it's a whole different story. The minute he has to chase someone down he drops those crutches and takes off with a speed that puts Olympic runners to shame. It's gotten to the point I don't even try to run away from him now.

"Arc, what are you doing? You aren't up to no good again are you?"

"No sir," I said. "I'm just enjoying a little almost fresh air." I meant it too. New York City may be the city of dreams, but it sure doesn't smell like it. The air here is so think and heavy with toxic smog I thought I was going to die just from breathing when I first got here. I even had to wear a miniature gas mask. But here in central park it wasn't nearly as bad. It was like the trees here purified the air. It wasn't quite the fresh air I was used to, but it was certainly much better than the rest of that colorless metal and cement wasteland.

"You know you've been saying that a lot these past couple of days. When was the last time you were home?"

"Why just this morning officer."

"Yeah yeah I bet you did. Come one let's get you home."

"But Officer Roger I swear I'm telling the truth! Hey come on!" It was pointless, once Roger had made his mind up about something there was nothing I could do. Luckily for me my few seconds of struggling bought me enough time for some random rescuer to help me out… I thought.

"It's true officer, he really was."

"Wha?" There he was, my savior. Rick Hannigan, my current foster father. Oh how I have come to love this man. He doesn't care what I do or why I do it, his only request is I come home every night and eat at least once. The best foster parent I could ask for. He knows I'll be gone soon enough anyways, so why make me adhere to some strict policy full of nonsense? Nope, he just lets me enjoy my life.

Officer Roger didn't like him for that, but at the same time there was nothing he could do about it. Hehe, checkmate Roger. The old man is here to pick me up.

"I'll take him from here officer." Roger gave out a small grumble. He hated being cornered like this but I absolutely loved it.

"Fine, looks like your off the hook Arc… for now." With that he hobbled off to wherever it is that Roger goes.

"Haha, thanks Rick."

"No problem but, Arc, I have to talk to you about something."

"Yeah sure what is it?"

"I'm afraid… it's time for you to go."

I stopped dead in my tracks. It was time for me to leave Rick already? Had two months really gone by that fast? No, this couldn't be happening. Up to that point Rick had been the closest I had ever come to having a friend… to having a family. Now I suddenly had to leave? I didn't want to go… not now. Not yet!

"But rick it's still June! I'm not supposed to leave until July first!"

"Calm down, that's not what I mean. It's time for you to leave this Earth. You should've never been born in the first place. I'm going to eat you now before you can get to that god forsaken camp and become a pain in anybody's ass!"

"… what?"

And just like that I watched my foster fathers skin peel off and fall to the ground as an incredibly strange creature rose out of the bits and pieces of skin. He was a monster that stood about ten feet tall, a whole four feet above my height. He had bat like wings colored a slight gray, they were darker than my white spiky hair but still pretty close. His skin was black except for a big red 'M' on the center of his chest. His arms and legs ended in claws and talons and his teeth were long and razor sharp.

Now I know, I'm not the smartest cookie in the jar. In fact, I'm pretty sure I never made it into the jar to begin with, but even for me my next moment was, well, it was just pathetic. You see I should have hightailed it out of there. I mean, he had just said it was time for me to leave this earth and that I was a problem he was going to take care of. Obviously he was about to kill me. But even knowing that I, out of all the things I could have said, and all the things I could have done, stood there, looked at him and said "Coooooooooooooool. Big monster guy." And then I blacked out.

Sleep was never really my friend. Resting was, being lazy was, but sleep? Not so much. I always saw the weirdest things in my dreams. Sometimes I dreamt of a group of people who hunted monsters. Other times I saw a camp filled with marble pillars and such. It looked more like ancient Rome or Greece than it did a camp. But those shirts were unmistakable.

The worst part was whenever I had dreams of her. Each time I'd wake up with tears in my eyes as I remembered the times we spent together so long ago. The only upside to those dreams was that they almost always meant I was going to have a good day. It felt like I was being blessed by god.

This time though, my dreams had nothing to do with either of those. Instead I was having a dream that I was in Rome. Or maybe Greece? I couldn't tell all of that stuff always looked the same to me. Anyways there were a bunch of soldiers standing in front of this massive stone wall. Three warriors were standing in front of the rest of the soldiers.

The one on the far left wore a combination of bronze and green. He was tall, at least six in a half feet if not taller, with huge muscles and a rugged face. His skin was darker than the other and he wore a huge lions skin starting from his head and going down his back, his head placed fashionably inside what was once the lions mouth. It was tied around his neck so the lions head could be taken on and off like a hood. His left hand held a huge shield, at least two to three times the size of everyone else's and his right hand held an equally as large spear.

The man on the right looked older, was about the size of the rest of the rest of his soldier, perhaps slightly taller, and carried only a single short sword. His head was bald and he stood with his arms crossed. He also wore blue instead of green. Several maps hung around his waist and a satchel that seemed to have a quill sticking out of the top jingled like coins whenever he moved, which wasn't much. He seemed extremely aware of his surroundings. He wasn't paranoid, just watching closely, as though he was analyzing everything.

Finally there was the man in the middle. He was shorter than the other two and wore armor of bronze, white and gold, though the way he looked suggested he didn't really need it. He had a longsword strapped to his hip and a bow on his back, though it didn't look like it was used very often. He also had a bronze full helm on, but again, it looked more like it was for show than anything else.

The man on the left turned his head to the one in the middle. "Are you sure about this Achilles? You know the gods have grown wary of how many of their children you have killed."

Then I understood why the armor was for show. If that was Achilles, then that means he was invincible anyways except for his heel. Which means all of these guys were greeks and if they're standing outside of a big wall…

"The Trojans are powerful enemies" said the guy on the right. "And with such little information I don't think my plan will be very effective."

"I thank you for your concern," said Achilles. "But we must do this whether we want to or not. I'm just glad to have the two of you at my side, Ajax, Odysseus. You are my best friends and greatest comrades."

"Yes, but what about the one behind us? Is he friend… or foe?" said Ajax, and he slowly turned around looking straight at me. Odysseus and Achilles followed his lead. At first I just waited for the dream to progress, but nothing happened. Then Achilles spoke.

"He seems not to know that we're aware of his presence."

I took a step back. Could they see me?

"By the looks of it," said Odysseus, "I'd wager he hasn't even been brought to camp yet. In fact look closer, see his clothes? I'd say this brother of ours is from another time all together. Tell us boy, what's your name?"

I looked at them dumbfounded. They really COULD see me! "A-Arc. Arc Hunter. The Arc is short for Achilles."

Ajax gave out a boisterous laugh. "Ah I see! Achilles! Congratulations my boy, your name has gone down in history!" Ajax gave Achilles a slap to the back. Arc winced, that kind of hit could knock someone out cold. But Achilles just stumbled a bit and stood up, an awkward grin on his face. Then Odysseus spoke again.

"Tell me, Arc, what time are you from?" Arc hesitated. The calendar he knew and the one they knew had to be different. After all, nobody in their time would call it the year before zero. So he explained as best he could.

"Well, I'm not sure what it would be for you, but for me it's two thousand thirteen. But we have a different calendar than you guys. If you want to know how long it's been since you guys died though, I'd say, three thousand years. And Achilles isn't the only famous one. Plenty of people know the stories of the Trojan war. Ajax, Paris, Helen, Odysseus, Achilles, we all have to study about you in our history and literature classes at some point or another."

Hearing that Ajax got excited and started to dance around. Then I again, I guess hearing that you get to be remembered for thousands of years after your death is enough to put anybody in a good mood. Odysseus though just smiled, like he had already accepted that possibility as fact. But not in a smug way, more like cool I was right, now to the task at hand.

"Tell me then, will we win this battle? After today will the war be over?" Now this was a question I could give a straight, albeit sad answer to.

"No. Well, I don't know which battle this is. Depending you might win the battle, but not the war. Not if history goes as it should."

"How do you know?" He asked. If I had really travelled back in time I'd be nervous about telling him. You know, affecting the future and all. But since it was a dream, I didn't really care.

"Because of those two. Achilles and Ajax are still alive. Achilles is supposed to die gloriously in battle by a god assisted arrow, and Ajax committed suicide. I can't remember why though, I think it had to do with not getting Achilles armor or something, but I also think it was deeper than that.

I watched as the smiles disappeared off of Achilles and Ajax's faces. I could understand how being told you're going to die would put you in a bad mood. Odysseus looked worried as well, he even seemed to age several years in a few seconds.

"I'm sorry," I said. Stupid, apologizing to a dream. "I didn't mean to."

Achilles held up his hand. "Child who bears my name, do not fret. We are the ones who asked the question. Do not get us wrong, you have done us a great service. Knowing how one will die makes death much easier. You've done Ajax and I a great service. I thank you."

I didn't really see how that could be a good service, but I accepted his thanks nonetheless.

"And as much as we'd like to talk to you longer," said Ajax. "It seems you're in danger yourself. You need to wake up boy. Quickly."

Then the scene changed and I was standing in dank, stone prison cell. I looked around and saw a beautiful woman sitting in the corner looking at a dagger. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Helen?" I asked.

Her smile grew even larger as tears rolled down her eyes. I don't like seeing girls cry so I walked over to her. I tried to put my hand on her shoulder but went straight through. She closed her eyes and giggled at my clumsiness while my face got all red.

"Thanks for trying." She said. And I nodded my head kind of awkwardly. "Your Arc Hunter right? I saw you through the knife. You're from the future right? Might I ask what happens to me as well?"

I bit my lip. This was the hardest question so far. "Well, I don't know. Lots of different sources say lots of different things. Personally I believe you just disappeared. It's the only reasonable explanation, to me at least."

She put her head down. Yet another disappointed look caused by me. I don't like making people feel bad.

Just then her face perked up a little. She looked up, her lips in a small smile. "Well then, Achilles Hunter. Whatever I do I shall find a way to let you know what happened. Look out in the annals of history for my message. I'm sure you will know it when you see it."

"All right, I will. Thanks, Helen."