This is a story I wrote, based in ancient Greece. The three demigods are Arion, the son of Astrape (goddess of lightning), Helen, the daughter of Circe, and Delia, the daughter of Nemesis. They stole Zeus' bolt because they felt the minor gods didn't get enough attention.
In case you don't or can't read in verse, I will post the story in regular format.
Line breaks will signify the end of a verse.
Our sandaled feet spewed
up tuffs of dirt and grass
as we sprinted
across the Crete countryside.
Behind us were
a whirlwind
of terror:
griffins,
eagles,
bulls,
and lions
alike all pursued us.
The wind was a torrent
against our bare skin,
snatching up leaves
and branches
to assault our skin.
The sky had darkened
considerably
since our escape from Crete.
Fat raindrops threatened
to blind us
as we sprinted
into the wilderness,
pure adrenaline
surging us forward.
Arion winced
as his back
received another
shock from the bolt
strapped onto his tunic.
The thing was four feet long,
surging a bright yellow,
nearly white,
and radiated power.
If you got too close to it,
it would kill.
Luckily, though,
Arion was the
son of Astrape,
a minor goddess
of lightning.
He could withstand
minor shocks.
"Run run run run,"
Helen whispered
to herself next
to me.
"Run run run."
My chest was heaving;
all I wanted to do was
stop.
My mouth,
dry as a cracker,
begged for water.
My side
was contorted
with a cramp
so big
I knew I would
collapse
if I stopped.
But I had to
keep running.
If I didn't,
then Zeus's minions
would
get
me.
Ahead of us all,
Arion suddenly
diverted his path.
"Cliff!" he shouted,
running to the west.
I followed him,
praying to Zephyrus
to guide us
to safety.
Behind me,
I heard Helen cry out.
I watched as
she stumbled
upon a vine
that had latched
onto our ankles.
Before the monsters could
get her, I yanked her
away from them,
dragging my friend
away
from the branches
and the monsters.
"It's Demeter,"
Helen panted
as we continued
running.
"Or Pan.
They must have
teamed up
with Zeus
to track us
down..."
I cursed
under my breath.
Now we had
two deities pursuing
us? One was
bad enough.
Now we would
die, for certain,
a terrible
and painful
death.
"Keep running,"
I advised,
shaking my hair
away
from my face.
Helen nodded,
swallowing.
She glanced back
behind her, and,
filled with fear,
sprinted ahead
of me, terrified of
what was chasing us.
I heard her scream
once
before turning back
around and running.
"Don't look back!"
she warned Arion
and me
in a frantic tone.
"Whatever you do,
don't look back - "
Her voice trailed off
after that as I watched,
in horror, as her head
slowly turned to stone,
sending her
careening to the
ground.
I stared,
terrified,
at my friend's face,
etched into stone
with fear
and terror
as the stone
laced down her
convulsing body.
"Helen!" I yelled,
my eyes
threatening
to cry.
My comrade,
my friend,
dead
just like that.
It couldn't be possible;
demigods were
supposed to die
heroic,
noble deaths,
not at the hands
of Medusa,
the vilest creature
known to Greece.
It wasn't
right.
It wasn't
fair.
For the first time,
I felt anger
towards my mother,
Nemesis.
She was supposed
to prevent things
like this
from happening;
she was the
goddess of justice!
She was my
mother!
Surely she
would bring
Helen
back
to
life.
She had to...
No.
She wouldn't.
Deities didn't do
things like that.
They were
merciless,
unforgiving
creatures who enjoyed
torturing young demigods.
I kept that
in my head
as I kept running,
jumping over
Helen slowly solidifying
and screaming to
Arion,
"Medusa!
Zeus has released
Medusa!"
Scree!
Sharp talons suddenly
snatched at my back,
ripping through my tunic
and skin like
parchment.
I screamed from the sudden,
burning pain
that was coursing
through my body
as a creature
tossed me up
in the air.
"Arion!"
I shouted.
"Arion!"
Arion raised his eyes
skyward, finding me
in a matter of seconds.
I heard my name,
Delia,
once before he
suddenly convulsed
and fell to the ground,
twitching and shaking
like in a seizure.
I saw tendrils of lightning
coursing over Arion's body,
and, even as far away
as I was getting,
smoke rising
from his clothes.
So that was it.
They were both
dead.
A cry from the griffin
brought me back
to the sky.
I watched in
terror
and
awe
as a golden chariot,
too bright to look at,
slowly approached,
carrying a figure
wearing very
Roman attire.
I recognized him
immediately.
Apollo, the sun god.
As he neared me,
he flashed a brilliantly
white smile, and
suddenly
Crete disappeared.
All of a sudden
I was standing
in a gray city,
full of towering buildings
that defied physics,
filled with humans
dressed in
absurd clothing,
home to the
destroyed world
of nature.
A place of metal
and machinery,
socializing and partying.
It was terrible.
As soon as
the vision had
started, it ended.
I gave Apollo
a bewildered look
before he finally spoke.
"That's the world
in a few thousand
years.
Depressing, no?"
I nodded my head
best I could.
"Imagine having to
deal with it all
your life,"
Apollo remarked.
"It would be
torture."
I nodded my head
again.
"Do you know
how hard it is
to deal with
every day?"
Apollo continued,
his bright blue eyes
flashing angrily.
"You would go
insane."
"Yes, sir,"
I whisper.
He fixed me
with a glare
so intent it hurt
my eyes just to stare
at his face.
I whimpered
and cowered
away from him.
And then
the future
hit me.
Hard.
Cities being destroyed.
Greece being taken
by Romans.
Massive destruction
of the world.
Nature destroyed.
Gray cities,
gray world.
Aliens of humans
ruling the world.
Terrible persecution,
shootings,
a grave of thousands of babies.
People being gassed,
red-skinned women
and children being shot.
Demigods against
each other,
a collapsing world.
A lightning bolt stolen,
a labyrinth opened.
Titans restored,
Gaea ruling.
Human misery.
Death
death
death...
It was
too
much.
I felt something
inside my brain snap,
and the world shattered
in a million different colors.
My senses sharpened
and dulled
at the same time.
Apollo grew,
shrunk,
and turned
into my mother,
shaking her head.
She didn't approve.
No one approved.
No
one
ever
did...
I let out
a blood-curdling scream
as the world assaulted
me, and Apollo
smiled.
With a majestic
sweep of his hand,
he motioned
for the griffin to
let
go.
Millions of humans
cramped into ships.
Whips striking
skinny backs.
Ignorance of the
gods,
demigods holding
the sky.
Monsters killing humans,
demigods standing
against Titans.
Demigod slaves,
torture,
prisons,
a steaming,
desert wasteland
of a world...
I felt myself tumbling
down
thousands of
meters of air,
yet I didn't care
anymore.
My life was
destined
to end anyways,
at least it would be
quick.
I felt cool water
wrap around my
skin and sooth
my burning back.
And I
smiled.
A girl tortured to
blindness.
A boy jumping
off a bridge.
Blood stains on
clean carpet,
guns lying in
cold hands.
A man
nailed
to
a
tree,
the world
as dark as night.
Teenagers breaking
rules,
girls being
murdered,
terrible,
terrible
world...
Apollo's arrow
went flying
into my skull.
And I was
gone.