Story Summary for "The Protectors"
God/Goddesses of Emotion: Aphrodite.
Art: Apollo.
Strategy: Artemis.
Nature: Zeus.
Summary: In Tartarus, the deepest, most darkest part of the underworld in Greek culture, a God named Erebus plots to destroy the rest his fellow Olympian Gods, and evolve the world into a land of shadows and despair. In fear, Hermes delivers the message to the rest of the Gods and Goddesses. To protect and save themselves, they pass down their deities to a new generation-one that can keep their gifts in safe keeping, and away from the most feared God of all. These chosen "Protectors" were their last hope for survival. After Erebus succeeded in banishing every God and Goddess from Greece, the four Protectors-Calantha, Alice, Demitri, and Skye must use their new powers to fight off the negative deities Protectors and rescue the spirits lost and trapped in Tartarus.
These four Protectors grew up with normal lives in Central North America. Each one of them were adopted by different parents, and met in the playground of their elementary school. For years they've stuck with each other, after discovering they were all 'special' in that same way. They pull of a human cover in front of their parents, their teachers, and all of society. They believed they were just lucky to be connected to the world this way, not imagining they would be needed for something more. Until they hear Gaia, Goddess of the Earth's spirit calling to them, guiding them back to their homeland in Greece. Now they must save the Gods and Goddesses trapped in the underworld, to bring back life to all of Greece.
Character Summaries: Calantha (Callie)- Protector of Emotion and Feeling. Aphrodite passed down her gifts to her. She is sixteen, and is able to use her abilities to: see and feel from other peoples point of view, become invisible, sooth, but is technically not a healer.
Alice (nickname, Ace)-Protector of Art. Apollo gave her his powers. She, too is sixteen. Her powers are as follows: change appearance at will, learn, and catch on quickly to skills, sports, and music activities in mere seconds. She gives off a very bright, and positive light.
Demitri-Protector of Hunting/Tracking, Strategy, and Strength. Artemis gifted him with these deities. He is very fit and clever. His powers include: physical strength, can find a weak spot while playing a game, making him win almost every time, makes his own luck. Like Ace, he can also catch on quickly to new activities, making him a fierce and very smart Protector.
Skye-Protector of Nature and Animals. Zeus blessed her with his abilities. She is compassionate and caring, and loves wildlife. Her powers are as follows: can restore life back to plants, able to make them grow quicker. The weather can sometimes be depended on her mood that day, and she can control the temperature as well. Animals seemingly love to be in her presence, and she doesn't like to use her powers for harm.
Other Important Information for later chapters:
** Cicero (Homer's reincarnation) is the immortal historian who tells the Protectors their hidden destinies. He is also known as Hiero (holy) when in Greece. ** Homer's poems, of which Cicero tells the Protectors of, are: Lliad, The Odyssey, Theogony, and Work and Days.
** Tartarus is inside of the Underworld. Hades is the Land of the Dead. Please don't get them mixed up!
** There are three 'Ages' in Greek history. They are: The Age/Origin of Gods (how came into existence), The Age when Gods and Humans mingled freely (the time period when Erebus takes over in the story), and The Age of Heroes, when Greeks came to believe the Gods were only myths (but in this case secretly real-but trapped in the Underworld-in the story).
** During the Age/Origin of Gods, there was a time known as Chaos. It was basically a nothingness that was the world; no life, no anything. Out of Chaos, Eurynome (Gaia, Goddess of Earth) appeared, along with Eros, Abyss, and Erebus. Without help from a male, she had a son named Oranos. Together, they had twelve children, known as the Titans. The males were: Coeus, Crius, Cronus, Hyperion, Lapetos and Oceanus. The females were: Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Rhea, Theia, Themis and Tethys.
Cronus and his sister Rhea had a son named Zeus. (This is where my idea took off!!) The story (the real one, haha!) goes that Cronus had a fear that his children would grow to be more powerful than him. To prevent it from happening, he literally ate his own children, swallowing them whole. His wife, Rhea, found out of his crimes and tricked him. After she had Zeus, she hid him from his father and put a rock in his blanket. Cronus ate the rock, thinking it was his son. When Zeus grew up to be a man, he drugged his father, causing him to be violently sick and vomit up each and every one of his children. After this took place, Zeus challenged Cronus to a duel to be King of the Gods. Zeus and the rest of his siblings won. But what provoked Erebus to dominate the Greek world? Cronus' fear is what did the trick. Erebus feared the same thing, and grew a hatred towards the other Gods, seeking power. This is where his idea took off.
** Earlier on I mentioned a place called Tartarus. Here, Cronus trapped the Cyclopses, a one eyed creature, and Hecatonchires, and one hundred armed 'monster'. Other mythical creatures that were banished there were Kampe and Typhon. There are three people who determine who enters Tartarus: Rhadamanthus, Aeacus, and Minos. Like judges, they were to ones to name the sentance. There is only ONE enterance to Tartarus, and that opening is named Aornum.
In "The Protectors", Erebus first plans to capture them first, seeing as they run the place, and decides to make 'guards' of his own to make sure they don't escape. He then traps Rhea, forcing Cronus to come and save her. When he falls for the trick, he takes him hostage. Hermes (messenger God) witnesses his crime. He follows him back to the Underworld and eavesdrops on his plan.
In a panic, he lets Zeus know, and from there Zeus fights back-in one sense at least. He confides a few of his children, Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo and Artemis in on his plan. He told them individually to gather two or three other Gods who had similiar dieties and gift a child with them, to safely guard their powers in safe-keeping. No one who when these children would be born, only time would tell. The children would be separated across the world by Cicero, away from Erebus, and would return to Greece to free them from Erebus' armies.
In my story, Homer was alive at this time. He witnessed the so-called 'myths', when Cyclops and Nymphs and other phenomenal beings flourished, but had no way to record them. He traveled all of Greece, and when he died shortly after the events Odysseus' adventures, it was during the Age of Heroes. He was born during the second Age, and created 'epic poems' to keep the true stories alive. This explains why today it is being discovered that not all elements to Homer's poems were mythical, and that they were geographically correct. His reincarnation Cicero's objective was to find the four kids and bring them back to their rightful place, to fulfill the prophecy, created so many ages ago.
I hope you enjoy reading my story! :D
-Danielle.