For You

Chapter 1

"Oh my gods," cried the young man as he sprinted as fast as he could. He was afraid, very afraid, but you would not be able to tell from the look on his face. NOT! A half man, half bull was chasing after him, not at top speed however. Minotaur's were well known for enjoying tearing people apart for fun, and the young man found it good motivation for his running.

You could tell that the Minotaur could run a lot faster, unlike the human he was pursuing, Matt was at his top speed, and fit as he was, he couldn't keep that pace much longer. Maybe if I give up now, he'll kill me quicker. No, no, that is what a loser thinks. You are not a loser, you are a hero. You shall live, I deem it so! He thought desperately.

The Minotaur was still coming behind him, getting closer, and closer. In that time, fleeting as it was, Matt was thinking about a vague memory in the back of his mind, a memory so pungent that he couldn't help but recall the voice saying, "If you ever need assistance, pray to me son and I will help you." Skepticism muddled his mind. However his instinct to survive beat out his lack of faith, and he guided his hopes and fears to his old man. Well this is better than being a Minotaur's dessert that is assuming that he's already eaten dinner. Okay, um, father, dad, pops, dadio, father? Anyway, right now I could desperately use your, he looked back at the increasingly close creature behind him, help, yeah help, please?

Out of the sky a beautiful sight reached his disbelieving eyes as he thought fleetingly about the Minotaur gaining behind him. Alexandra? "Alex!" Matt yelled with relief. A beautiful girl on a winged horse was coming towards Matt. He didn't slow his pace a single stride as Alex reached down to grab his hand. A stupid smile developed on Matt's face, he was so completely dumb-founded by her presence that he didn't realize that she was yelling at him until at last, her screeching found his ears.

"Matt, grab on! Come on, just take my hand!"

Chapter 2

Several Minutes Earlier

It was a beautiful evening in Los Angeles, California as the stars had began to show up though out the darkening sky. As Matt looked up at the stars, he saw his favorite constellation, Hercules. He smiled to himself; very few people knew his secret. You see Matt Gale was not your average 17 year old. At age 5 he could wield a sword, by 7 he was very skilled with the bow and arrow, and by age 9 he was able to take a grown man down with his bare hands. He was a demi-god; his father was Zeus, King of the Greek gods.

Matt was very handsome, much like his father some would say; he had wavy chestnut hair, a good Greek nose and electric blue eyes that seemed to twinkles with a divine power. As a demi-god, Matt was almost always prepared for attack, but tonight was different. Summer was in the air, and Matt felt perfectly safe.

He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. "Hello. Hello?" Nobody answered him. He hung up his phone and looked around him, just in case it was one of his friends messing with him from the shadows. Just then he saw that in the phone booth across the street the phone was swaying lightly, as if somebody had forgotten to hang up the phone in a hurry. He walked into the booth and hung the phone up in the same manner that a bomb squad approaches explosives in a fire. As he turned around, he found his way blocked by a huge, hooded figure. "How I've waited to destroy you, Matt son of Zeus." And the dark hood fell away to reveal the feared Minotaur.

Chapter 3

On the Pegasus

Matt grabbed Alex's hand, and she pulled him onto the hovering horse. Immediately after wrapping his arms around her waist, the Pegasus accelerated upward; away from danger, away from death, and away from the smelly Minotaur. "Thank you so much. How di-"

Alex interjected "How did I know to save you?"

Matt automatically answered, "Yeah."

Alex was a daughter of Aphrodite; she sure had the looks for one. But no matter how pretty she was, her fellow demi-gods never believed her heritage because she was extremely different from her siblings. She might have been beautiful, but she was selfless and humble, two things most children of Aphrodite were not fond of. Her hair was black and curly and she had shockingly green eyes that changed color to insure that they always matched her outfit. "I had this dream, that you needed me, and then my mother told me to get up and fly to you. Somehow I knew exactly where to find you.," she stared at the Pegasus' neck. It was obvious that she was withholding information from Matt.

"I love your mother, she's so…" he wanted to think before he spoke, after all Alex did have several deadly weapons on her, and she did love her mother (your mom jokes never seem to go over well with most gods or demi-gods, somebody almost always ends up turned into a newt). "Uhhh, thoughtful." He said awkwardly, gods were known for being a little more than sensitive about what was said about them. "Thank her when you get the chance." Matt mumbled

"No problem," Alex said cheerfully, "Have you found any new half-bloods recently?" Alex was referring to demi- god children when she said this.

"No, I don't think so. I may have met one about a week ago while teaching karate, but he could have just been really good at kicking." Karate was his favorite thing; it gave him relief from the confusion and fear of his every day. For the past year Matt had been teaching different martial arts, and volunteering to help with child placement services. Through this he hoped to save other demi-gods from going through the same broken childhood that he had, by finding the demi-god before someone, or something else did.

Alex had always been amazed by Matt's natural selflessness. In Alex's opinion Matt should have been more screwed up than he actually was. Matt (and her rich dad) was the reason she was always volunteering for an orphanage in Hungary, Matt had inspired her. Now when she was in Hungary she could keep her eye out for demi-gods. When they found a demi-god they would teach them how to defend them self, how to blend in, how to survive.

"Well, I haven't found any either." She informed him with a sigh. Moments passed before they spoke.

"What's going on with your dad?" Matt asked nonchalantly. Alex stiffened visibly on the Pegasus. That was not a comfortable subject for Alex. Alex's dad was the C.E.O. of a huge modeling agency in Hollywood and he was not a big fan of Alex's humanitarian pursuits. He also thought that it was improper for his daughter to be so far away, "and not even at a private school like the rest of our friends' daughters." But she would not allow it and it was just easier for him to pay her bills and leave her alone, in peace.

"The same, as always he keeps calling me to tell me about a lovely young lady he met at this and that's party," she said bitterly, emphasizing young lady.

"I'm sorry, if it helps my mom's dead," Matt said with a forced laugh.

Alex was so used to his sad joking, and to her, it was anything but funny. You see, Matt's mother had died when he was twelve, and what bothered Matt more than anything were the circumstances of her death. You see, she had died when the plane they were taking to Greece crashed into the runway after lightning struck their plane. Matt was the sole survivor. Matt knew that his survival was not a coincidence. His father was Zeus, god of the sky, whose chosen weapon was a lightning bolt. Zeus was telling his son that in this world Matt had only himself to rely on.

"Stop it Matt, it doesn't help at all." Alex said angrily. She may be used to his "jokes," but she didn't like them.

"Where are we going?" Matt asked, shivering slightly on the back of the Pegasus.

Alex took a moment to respond. "To see Chiron. He has something to tell you."

"Oh really. And what does he want to tell me, oh clairvoyant one." he murmured sarcastically to Alex.

Alex said with equal or greater sarcasm, "Oh, ha, ha. He didn't tell me." Matt was silent