Book 1: In The Absence of Victory
Chapter 1:-
Demigods. If you asked me who they were a few months ago, I would've probably bored you with tales of Heracles and Theseus and those other Greek legends. See, I've always been fascinated by mythology. The Greeks, the Norse, the Egyptians, I loved the old stories, and my mom shared my interest. For as long as I can remember she's been telling me about the various tales and myths. But for both us, Greek Mythology was our favorite. Ah the Greeks, such a noble, decadent culture. Like so many others of the bygone era, quick to blame the gods for their own failures("We've just lost the battle! Damn that Ares! He made our soldiers weak", I mean c'mon, you honestly believe that?).
Anyway, thinking back, the first sign I got that things were about to change was when I was getting bored in math class. Its not that I'm usually inattentive, its just that I've always had an affinity for math(I think I might be like part-Asian or something, because we were learning pre-calc and things seemed pretty easy) and I had noticed these two hot cheerleaders in my class when I walked in and figured I might as well get some daydreaming done. New school. New girls. Same daydreams.
I missed my old school, but this one wasn't shaping up that badly. The subjects were taught at a higher academic level than the public school I used to attend. So the classes weren't nearly as boring.
Plus, we had this one class, World History. The teacher here was awesome. He seemed to really like Ancient Greek mythology, and he knew a LOT, a lot more than just a normal teacher. For a old dude in a wheelchair, Mr. Brunner was a really cool guy. He always kept the class interested and he actually made learning Greek history fun. Plus he had this awesome collection of armor that he would brought and let us play around with once when we were studying about the battles.
So back to math class. I was letting my eyes travel across the room before I let them rest on the cheerleaders again when I noticed the other new student wasn't paying attention either. I guess that was understandable, she had ADHD and dyslexia, just like the other guy(Glad I didn't have any of those problems). A wispy blonde haired guy named Chris who spent his time sleeping in the back of the class. Never really talked to him much, but I heard he was a god on the guitar and had a real flair for writing his own music. Both of them were in all my classes, so I figured I should really get to know them.
What was strange was that the new girl, Victorie, had her eyes narrowed and was staring at the cheerleaders. I figured she was getting jealous, I mean, its not like she wasn't pretty, she had black hair that tumbled down well past her shoulders and I'll admit I thought she was pretty cute, but the blonde and brunette in their cheerleader outfits looked like angels. I figured most of the girls in class were jealous.
"Victorie Miller and Alex Bolden, Stand Up!"
I was shocked out of my reverie.
"Huh?"
"I've been watching the two of you display a complete lack of interest through this entire class" the math teacher, Mr. Woodruff said "So I want you to finish the problem I've written on the board while standing up."
I was annoyed. I always pay attention. The first time I get distracted I get caught. I glanced towards the back. Yup. Chris was asleep, and the teachers never seemed to care. Oh well, at least it shouldn't be too hard, I knew everything that was being taught.
"In fact, " he continued "lets make this a completion, shall we? The first of you two to answer can sit down, the other one must stand for the remainder of the class."
I was a little sorry for Victorie, having to stand for the rest of the class, I felt it wouldn't be chivalrous to sit down leaving her standing, so I was figured I'd offer to let her sit after I got finished with the problem first. While I was imagining how awesome and manly I would seem, Victorie gave a little twitch.
"26.375"
"Excuse me?" Mr. Woodruff said.
"The answer," she replied "is it 26.375?"
"Hmmmm….yes, yes, you're right, Ms. Miller, you may sit."
My jaw dropped. "But wait….how?" I demanded, "how'd you solve it so fast without a calculator?"
"I dunno" she shrugged, "lucky guess."
Great now I just looked stupid. At least my standing gave me a better view of those cheerleaders(Yup, that's me. Always the optimist). They seemed a little amused by my plight. They turned and the blonde gave me a flash of her pearly whites in a radiant smile. Go me. Then I fell over because, for just a second, her teeth seemed to turn into fangs.
"Perhaps you'd better have a seat, too, Mr. Bolden, you seem to suffer from spontaneous cases of vertigo by standing."
I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I picked myself up.
"Its not that, Mr. Woodruff." I said, my face burning. But i promptly sat(No sense standing when i could sit, right?).
The rest of the class was laughing. Even Chris was smiling in the back seat. Great, now I looked like a clumsy oaf too. I glanced back at the cheerleaders. The brunette winked and the two of them started giggling. Two perfect faces with two sets of perfectly normal white teeth. My mind must've been playing tricks on me.
"Oh, and Mr. Bolden" Mr Woodruff continued "Mr. Brunner said he wanted to speak to you, after school. You too Ms. Miller and Chris" he nodded in their directions.
"Yes, sir, Mr. Woodruff".
Chris just raised his arm slightly in lazy acknowledgment and went back to sleep.