Achilles was probably the favorite son of Mars. He fought a lot. He set fire to things. He did everything a child of Mars was supposed to do. He had pale skin, grey-blue eyes and long, messy brown hair that
didn't suit Mars' military uniform style, but then again, Mars wasn't the best dad. His mum regretted having him and left him in a ditch at six, along with a suit of heavy armour and a mace. They had been birthday gifts from his dad, for his first and fifth birthday. The armour was pretty cool. It was some sort of black iron covered with short spikes along most of it, and larger, gold spikes on the shoulder, wrists and boots. There was a small circular shield with larger spikes on his left wrist to act as a shield. It was completely black, except for part of the boot, the heel, which was gold. He assumed that was supposed to highlight it, telling him to mind his weaknesses, his Achilles' heel.
His dad must have a bad sense of humor. I mean, who names a kid after a guy with a huge weakness, then highlights where it was? Also, the armour must have been magic, or something, because he started wearing it when he was six, and two years later, it still fit. The other thing he woke up with was his mace, the Fist of Mars. It was iron, as well, with a deep red leather handle that seemed to morph to his grip, and several brutal spikes sticking out. Etched in was a skull pattern in glowing, blood red patterns. Looking at it could really make you want to start screaming. It was fun. Also, when you pressed he skull's right eye, it morphed into a spiked knuckleduster which he could slip onto his armour. Then, he pulled the leather handle to make a mace again. It was a pretty good gift. Of course, it turned out he needed it. After trying to find somewhere to go, he came across a snake girl. She seemed nice, until she tried to kill him and he beheaded her. Then, naturally she turned into a pile of ash. That made corpse disposal a breeze, which was also what it took to get rid of the dust.
He spent a year on the run, but finally came across a pack of coyotes, which was weird, because he was in a New York suburbs. And the pack leader of the coyotes was a giant, black wolf demon. It looked angry. Then the pack chased him into an abandoned apartment building. Then he ran out to the parking lot and tried not to cry. And that was everything that happened up to now. He desperately swung his mace at a coyote, and the black spikes passed through it. That happened to normal things. Then, the smaller spiked steel ball embedded inside the black iron and killed the coyote. He dodged another, but the giant attack dog pounced on him. He struggled under its weight, but he couldn't escape. Then he heard a terrified, confused shout as the demon dog fell off him. Achilles got up and looked around. Arrows embedded the concrete and the coyotes and giant dog. He looked around, and saw a slightly tall, skinny
kid with short blond hair wave at him.
"Hey! Did you see the monster dog? Please tell me you saw the monster dog, and not a puppy or something."
"You kill monsters?" Achilles asked.
The kid smiled.
"Come up here and I'll show you."
Achilles shrugged, and walked up the narrow concrete stairs and arrived at a small room with a bunch of bows and arrows.
"I'm Connor. So, you can see the monsters? Normal people can't see them."
Achilles raised an eyebrow.
"And you're not normal?"
"My dad's the sun god." Connor said, looking embarrassed.
"Your dad's Apollo? So you've fought Mythological Monsters? You know all that stuff's real?"
"Yeah. How come you see them?"
"My dad's Mars. I'm Achilles."
"Are you on the run, too?"
"Yeah. I have my truth mace, though. It was a gift from my dad."
"All my dad got me is a Riddles Book and a bird. The bird keeps me company, though. It does get lonely."
Achilles thought for a minute.
"You could come with me. It'd be nice to have someone watching my back."
Connor broke into a grin.
"Sure. I'll pack my stuff!"
For the next five minutes he ran around, frantically trying to pick up loose arrows and put them in his quiver, and loading his bows into a duffle-bag. Then he grabbed an old yellow riddle book and a bronze
cage with a small chick inside, colored red, orange and gold.
"It's a Phoenix." He explained. "Its name is Charlie."
Achilles smirked.
"Who names a Phoenix Charlie?"
"Who has armour that shows their weak point?"
"The heel is my namesake's weak point! This is symbolic!"
Connor smiled, and looked out the window.
"We should go. I smell monsters."
"Let's move."
Achilles and Connor ducked into an alley and ran into the camp. It was a group of tents and sleeping bags around a small open area and a few fires. Connor pulled of his helmet, which had been torn apart from the Sphinx that had been chasing them.
"What now, Achilles? It's too dark to keep moving."
"We stay here. Borrow some sleeping bags, get some sleep and move out at dawn."
"What about the sphinx?" Connor asked.
"It'll need to find somewhere to rest. It won't keep following us with an arrow in its paw and a broken nose."
Achilles walked over to a fire, where several men and woman were huddled, trying to keep warm. Achilles walked over to a girl about their age, and smiled at her. She was covered in dirt and wore a white hoodie and had her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was small, and was looking at them suspiciously while chewing a stick of bubblegum.
"What are you wearing?" She asked Achilles.
"What does it look like?" He replied, wondering what see saw through the mist.
"Armour. It looks like armour. And you have weapons. What, we're you at a play?"
Connor raised his spear defensively, and Achilles stared at her.
"Are you like me, or them?" She asked, as she slowly reached for her backpack.
Achilles swung his mace to knock the backpack away, but she pulled out a sword and swung it at him. He deflected, and Connor jabbed at her knees, knocking her to the ground.
"Who are you?" Achilles asked. "Don't lie. We're like you. Kind of."
"I'm Anna, Daughter of Athena."
"Really? Another child of the gods. I'm Achilles, Mars' Son. That's Connor, Son of Apollo."
"Nice mace. Where did you get it?"
"Where'd you get the sword?" Achilles asked.
He looked down at the sword. It was a short, powerful golden Calvary sword, with a bright red handle and silver trim.
"You don't really need to know that, do you?" She said. "You can stay here, if you want. I've made sure it's secure for the night."
"Thanks. Where are you heading?"
"No where in particular."
"Do you want to come with us?"
She paused, and looked at the small amount of rags and a sleeping bag that made her beds
"Wouldn't mind someone guarding my flank. I can barely take I the monsters as it is. I'm not a fighter. I steal, sprint and sneak my way around. Fine, I'll come."
She grabbed two old sleeping bags and threw hem next to her. Then she smiled.
"Bye the way, my name's Taylor, Daughter of Hermes."
"I thought you said you were Anna." Connor asked.
"I did. But I lied. That's Hermes for you."
The group stayed together for several years. Connor was the Range, Achilles the Melee and Taylor the Sneaking. They escaped, killed and trapped monsters, making their way from place to place. Then, on Achilles' thirteenth birthday, they came across the Demigod. Connor and Taylor were still twelve, as Achilles was the oldest by three months. They were taking a Taxi ride to New York. Then they noticed the Demigod. He had short black hair, was about fifteen and wore bronze armour. He had an axe, and was forcing two kids that were about fourteen, into the basement of a small house.
"Do you see that?" Taylor asked, nodding towards the Demigod.
"Pull over here. Pay the man, Connor." Achilles said, and the Taxi stopped.
Achilles, Connor and Taylor got out, and Connor gave the Taxi Driver a few crumpled up bills. They walked towards the door to the basement, and drew their weapons. Achilles kicked the door open and they charged in. the basement was a large area, with a rack of bronze swords in a weapons rack. A quiver of bronze arrows hung from a pool table, another guy in bronze armour with greasy brown hair stood behind a small bar area, pouring two glasses of cola. The Demigod turned and slashed, and Taylor dodged, before hitting his hand and breaking his wrist. The Demigod yelled and dropped his sword. Achilles entered and slammed into the demigod and sent he first demigod into the pool table with his shoulder spikes, and then grabbed him and slammed him into the pool table repeatedly. Then Connor entered and fired a bronze, sphere tipped arrow at the demigod at the bar, who fell backwards into an
open fridge.
"Tie them up and put them next to the others." Achilles said.
Taylor and Connor took out lengths of rope and tied the men up and set them on their knees.
"Who are you?" Achilles asked, raising his mace and lightly tapping the one of their heads.
"I'm Castor. This is Sarah. Thanks for help. Can you untie us now?"
"Don't. They're blind to the treachery of Olympus."
"What? Who are you guys?"
"We're Revolutionaries. Kids like you. The Army of Kronos. I mean, how many times have you needed help when the gods didn't help. And yes, the gods are real."
Taylor held the sword to Castor's throat.
"And you are?"
"We're from Camp Half-Blood. If you're who I think you are, we take in kids like you. It's the only safe place in the world for kids like you."
"The gods are traitors! They punished Prometheus for giving man fire! How can you follow them!?"
"Shut up." Achilles said, kicking him in the side of the head.
"So..." Connor started. "There's a rebellion for the gods. Not only are there kids like us, but they're on both sides."
"Who do we help?" Taylor asked.
Achilles paused. When had the gods helped him? Never. Then again, he had been helped in mysterious ways. Once a river had swelled and swept away a giant crab chasing them. Another time, the wind changed direction and a group of monsters lost their scent. Maybe the gods weren't as useful as they could be, but they got the job done and Achilles didn't like change.
"Untie the Loyalists. Leave the rebels."
Taylor raised an eyebrow, but then slashed her sword and cut the ropes off Anna and Castor. He smiled, and picked up the two rebels and dragged them outside.
"Thanks." Anna said. "We were on a scouting mission that went bad. We'll show you the way to Camp."
"What do we do with the prisoners? We can't take them back in a cab."
Anna paused and thought for a minute.
"Leave them here, but take whatever weapons and armour there is."
Castor grabbed a sack from the basement and started collecting weapons. Anna led then outside and called a cab. She paid the driver with a twenty dollar note and Castor stepped in. He told the driver where to go, and Achilles took off some of his armour and lay back. Connor took out a bag of Doritos ad started munching happily, but Taylor kept her sword pressed at the back of Castor's seat, ready to stab him through the back if needs be. After about an hour, Achilles realized that the Loyalists didn't seem tense, or even nervous. Castor was playing the drums on the dashboard with two daggers and Anna was
attempting to feed Charlie the Phoenix some jelly beans. Achilles took off most of his armour and pulled out his iPod, an old battered machine he had stolen from a Cyclops Lair and used the Cyclops' music account, oneeyedmusicfrek , to download some music. He didn't think monsters liked music, but the Cyclops had over a hundred songs on the Cyclops's account, so he guessed they did. The Taxi pulled up at a hill with a large pine tree on it. He stepped out of the cab, and realized he was in the ideal spot for an ambush, and was only wearing half his armour. He pulled on his knuckleduster to make his
mace, but castor just started walking up the hill.
"Come on. It's just over the hill." Achilles followed him, pulling on his armor. He reached the top of the hill and looked down. At first, he only saw some strawberry fields and a big, threes storey house, but
then the mist cleared and he got his first look at Camp Half-Blood.