My name is Andreas Samson. And I am the son of Hercules.
OK let's backtrack a bit here. Now as I previously mentioned, my name is Andreas – but people usually call me Andre – Samson. And I have no clue that I am the son of Hercules, not yet anyway. I was once again speeding away from another town, another home. Well not me but my mom, but you get the point. Surfeit to say that this was nothing new to me, after all this will be the seventh town in seven years that we've moved from. However this time was different, more... heavy, if that makes any sense. Usually when we leave a place it's because of my mom's work. She's a free lance fitness instructor or whatever heck that's supposed to mean. Like for real, what does that even mean. I'm starting to think that it's just a cover. Like, maybe she's some kinda corporate spy or something. At least that's a more logical reason.
Anyway I'm going off track so, like I said, we're moving again. Only this time it didn't feel like we were moving, it felt like we were running. And I mean running for our very lives kinda of running. I'd never seen my mom this freaked out before. Her eyes looked about ready to jump out of their sockets as she floored the gas pedal. Muttering about getting to the long island sound the whole time we've been in the car. Which is two days now by the way, we've only stopped for gas, food, bathroom breaks and sleep. And not very long on either of them at that. Was I scared, ya damn right I was scared. My mother looked like she just skydived into wacko country. And, feel free to call me crazy here, but I swear it felt like we were being followed.
There's only so much nerve grinding suspense that a thirteen year old can take, and I was at my limit. "Mom, what's wrong. Why did we have to leave so suddenly?" At the time that was the only thing I wanted to know. Why did we have to leave, why couldn't I even say goodbye to my friends. A look of anger flashed across her face as she spared a sideways glance at me. Wait, was this my fault? Did I do soothing bad... again? "I told you never to show your strength like that ever again Andre. Why didn't you listen to me? Now I have to send you away." She whispered and it felt like something inside me broke when she said those words. So this was my fault, but how, why. I racked my brain trying to remember what I'd done. But my thoughts were as fleeting as the scenery zooming by outside the window.
I heard my mom sigh and looked over to her. She had this saddened – almost pained – expression on her face. "I'm sorry baby; I didn't mean it the way it sounded. It's just that it's, well, complicated." She apologized; suddenly a memory came to mind. "Is this because of the thing I did at the gym?" The look of fright in her eyes was all the answer I needed. She didn't respond for nearly an hour. Then she pulled off the road into the lot of a roadside motel. We didn't get out; mom insisted we had to sleep in the car because she wanted to be able to move as soon as we woke up. She cut the engine and gripped the steering wheel with both hands. Breathing in and out slowly before she turned to face me. "It's precisely because of that Sweetie." She said as she took my hands in hers. "Andre, you are a very special boy, more special than you can ever imagine. It's the reason we've moved so much, why I tell you not to show your strength.
You are your father's son after all."
OK, starting to panic a bit now. What the heck is that supposed to mean. It sounds way too ominous. "Think about it. Haven't you ever wondered why you can do the things you can do." I'll admit she had a point, I mean. Once when I was nine she took me to a museum, I know not that special, what was special was ancient when we took the Greek exhibit. When the curator had given the description of some text on a clay vase I ended up correcting her. The woman looked at me stunned, asking me how I could know that. I didn't get to answer because mom rushed me out saying she had an important appointment that just came up. "There's a reason you can read ancient Greek, a reason you're as strong as you are. Even you're ADHD and Dyslexia are gifts given to you." OK that one was a bit too much for me to swallow.
"Really mom, not being able to read a straight sentence or being able to sit still for five minutes, is a gift. I fine that a little hard to believe." She rolled her eyes. "That's beside the point. Trust me, when the time comes, they will be, especially with where you'll be going." Her voice was nearly hollow when she spoke. "Whoa, wait, mom. There's no need to send me away." I was full on panicking now. "W-we can just move again right. I promise I won't do it again, whatever it was that I did." Why was she talking like this, was what I did really that bad. I mean it was just a stupid dare.
Flashback
"Hey Little Samson, come over here for a sec." One of the guys at the gym waved me over the moment I walked in. It was my routine, after school I always went to the gym my mom worked at. So I got to know the staff and regulars really well. And because of my body build – which far surpassed a regular thirteen year old – they started calling me little Samson. I know, the irony right. "Hey listen, we're gonna pull a little prank on yer mom and we want your help." You ever got the felling you just walked into a trap. Well that's what it felt like when I made my way over to them and saw their greeting smiles. Man, talk about creepy. "So what can I help you guys with?" I asked Ted. Don't let the name fool you, Ted was a burly guy. At 6'2 and 270 pounds he wasn't a guy you wanted to piss off. But with that said he was actually a nice guy, hence the nickname "Teddy". Plus he had a bizarre love of tank tops, like seriously, it's as if he never went anywhere without one on.
"OK so get this, see the dead man left over there. Here's the plan, when your mom comes in, you go and lift it over your head. It'll totally freak her out." The three men snickered together, yeah that wasn't creepy at all. "Wait a minute, doesn't that thing weigh six hundred pounds. How the heck am I supposed to lift that?" They snickered in creepy unison again. "Oh don't worry about it; the weighs are fake so it should be no prob." Teddy explained and I could somewhat picture it. Since I was small – well smaller – I'd been unusually strong. So mom never let me use any of the equipment at her work, which just made me kind of eager to do the prank. So when my mom walked in I dashed over and pick up the dead lift, putting it over my head – which actually felt a little heavy. I shouted for my mom's attention and when she looked over I lost all enthusiasm. Her face just went pale, like dead person pale. And then without warning and faster than I thought possible she grabbed me and dashed out the building and into the car. She gunned the engine and we were out of town by nightfall.
End of Flashback
"Sweetie that wasn't a prank you pulling, they were testing you, and you passed it. Those weighs that they had you lift; they were real weighs honey, not fake. When you lifted them you inadvertently used the power deep inside you, the power of your father. That's why I had to get you out of there. If they had gotten their hands on you, they..." She trailed off into a stream of tears. I went from panicked, to confused and panicked. "Mom I don't get it, what are you talking about? If who got their hands on me, you're making it sound like I'm not even human." She started looking everywhere in the car, except at me. "Well about that, you see sweetie, you're not human, not entirely anyway." OK, I just went from confused and panicked, to just plain confused. She sighed again. "Do you remember the stories I use to read to you when you were little, about the Greek gods and heroes... and monsters." I nodded.
"And do you remember who your favourite was?" she asked sweetly. Of course I remembered, he still was to this day. "Hercules" I said, remembering the insane feats he accomplished but life he had to live. She rubbed the back of my hands gently. "Well, sweetheart, those were more than just stories. I was trying to teach you about your heritage, albeit discretely." My head was swimming now, and in no particular direction at that. "Mom I don't get it, what are you talking about?" She gripped my hands tightly "Listen to me carefully Andre; you are the son of a god, you are a demigod. And those men at the gym were not men, they were monsters. And they despise the children of the gods. If the catch you, they will kill you, do you understand me." All I could do is nod; my brain was on temporary leave.
"Now there is a place, a very special place for children just like you. Your father told me to take you there." Now I was the one gripping her hands, after all, she told me that my father had died. "What, what do you mean he told you to." At that moment there was a deafening roar. Mom's face went ashen as she pulled her hands away and brought the engine to life again. She tore out the parking lot and back onto the road like a bat outta hell. Or more like a desperate mother trying to protect her child. "I just have to get you to the camp and then they won't be able to touch you. By right I should have taken you last year but I stubbornly held onto you. And now I could lose you forever." Oh man she was crying again, but I had bigger concerns. "Mom, who's my father, tell me, please." She wiped her eyes and squared her shoulders, an air of regal pride about her.
"Andre you already know who your father is. After all, he is your favourite." She smiled at me knowingly. Favourite, no way she's serious, that would mean that I'm the son of "Hercules." She nodded proudly at me. "Yes you are. You Andreas Samson are the first born demigod son of the Greek god of strength and heroes, and the grandson of Zeus, king of Greek gods and lord of the sky.
You ever had the feeling that something was so unbelievable that you just wanted to laugh. And I mean laugh loud and hard in hysterical kinda way. But I held it in, mostly because I did believe her. She continued the story with this far off and longing look in her eyes. "Your father was the strongest man I had ever met." Well duh that's what he was known for. "He was tall and olive skinned with striking blue eyes, just like you. He said that it was his first time in the states and I agreed to show him around town. I was living in Miami at the time. Of course I had no clue he was a god back them. Little by little we got to know each other and within a year, I had you. And that's when he had to leave. He told me who he truly was and that when you turned twelve to take you to someplace called camp half-blood."
"Wait a camp, that's this place you're supposed to take me, a freaking camp." My mom reached across and smacks me right in the mouth. "Watch your mouth boy. And yes a camp, a camp built specifically to protect half-blooded children like you." Oh well that just clears up my whole life now doesn't it. A magical camp for ADHD and Dyslexic kids of myth people, why not. "So just how many are there, you know, kids like me." She didn't seem sure on how to answer. "Well alot I guess. I mean their gods so I guess their always having, ROCKS!" As I pondered why the hell the gods were having, rocks, my mom yanked the steering wheel hard to the right. Narrowly swerving out of the way of three massive boulders that came sailing through the air straight at our car. "What the, where did those come from?" I looked behind us only to see three nearly fourteen foot men running after our car. Not to mention I could swear one of them looked like Teddy.
"Um mom, there are three giants chasing us. And I'm pretty sure it's the guys from the gym. OK I'm pretty sure it's them, cause one of them is wearing a tank-top." Mom stole a quick glance in the rear-view mirror then swore under her breath. I gently – and I mean extremely gently smacked her on the cheek, "Language mom." She threw me a faint smile before a boulder smashed into the trunk of our car, sending us spinning until we crashed into a tree. I'm not quite sure of what happened the next few minutes to be honest. All I remember is mom trying to pull me out, she was bleeding from a nasty cut above her left eye. Her arm looked like it was broken and I think her nose was too. She kept muttering she had to get me to safety. Me on the hand, despite 'the out of body experience' and the what I'm hoping is just a sprained ankle. I seemed perfectly fine. That is until one of the giant men – Teddy – grabbed my mom and threw her three meters away.
"Now where in the world are you running off to little Samson?" I glared at him with all the fury I had, which was alot. "Not that I mind much, I actually like it when my food puts up a fight. Makes the meat more delicious." He laughed loudly and the others joined in, one of others behind him started making his way towards my mom. "Hey what about the mother other here, she could do as a nice bedtime snack right." When I heard that my gut twisted in a painful way, but surprisingly I felt an incredible power surge through me. All of I sudden I was hyper aware of everything around me, mapping out battle strategies in my head. Without really thinking about it I lunged after the open car door, ripping it clear off its hinges. Then hurling it with strength I didn't know I had at the giant that was about to grabbed my mother. It hit him clean in the neck, knocked him off his feet and sent him skidding a good two meters.
The other two just stood there, dumbfounded for a moment before they turn to look at me, disbelief and rage brimming over in their eyes. Teddy moved with more speed than I thought a giant possessed and backhanded me into the car. Pain shot through my left side and I knew something was either broken or at the very least cracked. "You know on second thought, I don't like my food fighting back." He snarled and I knew I was a dead man. Scratch that, I mean dead boy, seeing as I'll never make it to adulthood. And if I thought my day couldn't get any more messed up, well I was wrong. For just as Teddy raised a large rock to start the tenderizing process. He was suddenly struck lightening.
Now as I looked up, the sky was just beginning to brighten with the first rays of morning light. Plus I couldn't see a cloud for miles, so where the hell the lightning bolt come from? Then a horse just materialized out of thin air, followed by a jet black horse with wings that landed next to it. Then another one with – wait, is that lightening bouncing off its body. But stranger than that was the fact that these weird-ass creatures appeared to have riders. A dark skinned woman with cinnamon curls and lustrous golden eyes was one the first horse that seemed incapable of staying still. A man with windblown black hair and sea green eyes smiled at me from the back of the black stallion with wings. And a man with short blonde hair and the most piercing blue eyes I've ever seen stared at me form the back of the braying thunder horse.
Said man then dismounted his steed and walk – with an almost kingly authority – over to me. He held his hand out and I took it as he pulled me to my feet. He offered me this cube that looked like a gram cracker of some kind and told me to eat it. When I asked why, he said it would help with the pain. The thing taste like my mom's homemade fudge, which was my favourite food, and surprisingly I felt the pain in my side begin to subside. "Who are you people?" I asked him, feeling an odd connection to this strange man.
"My name is Jason Grace. And I've come to take you home... cousin."
TBC
Author's note: What we have here is a classic example of an idea popping up in your head and refusing to leave. After trolling through – if not hundreds – of Greek god fanfics, more specifically Percy Jackson fanfics. I noticed that there wasn't a single one about a child of Hercules, so TADAH. Please R&R and let me know what you guys, my good fans and follower thing. By the way, this is my first Percy Jackson fanfiction and I plan to make it epic my own right. So stay turned my peeps.