Son of Death, Daughter of Dreams
Chapter 1: Test Flight and Nightmares
Alternative Title: What Happens When Forossas Girlfriend Wishes She Was a Demigod
xxXXxx
David was getting sick of his new friend being better at this then he was.
He and Alissa had been running from snake-people together for almost a week, and when she could turn around and just make them fall asleep for a while, it made him feel useless. Oh sure, he had somehow grabbed ones head and killed it, but he was one survival-mode-auto-pilot when that happened, and hadn't been able to do it again.
Apparently it had looked terrifying though, like the creature was just… melting, from his touch alone. The thing had started to turn to gold powder, and before he knew it, he was standing with his hand holding air and a pile of armour lying in front of him, apparently left behind when he killed it.
Lovely.
Though according to Alissa, waste not want not (Christ, she sounded like his mother), and he was now wearing the shoulder pads under his hoodie. To be fair, they were actually pretty comfortable, barely slowed him down, and were mostly concealed by the fabric of his hoodie. They had also deflected several sword strokes, so… yay.
Alissa though... there was something off about her. She was really nice, but he couldn't help but feel almost duty-bound to protect her. Maybe it was some latent sense of chivalry, or maybe something more, but David hadn't really pondered the topic. He hadn't had the time.
They were currently cresting another hill, David leaning off of his female companions shoulder. He had been shot with an arrow and then stabbed with a spear, so he wasn't exactly the most energetic person at the moment.
"Just hold on! That guy with the sword said it was just over this hill!" Alissa said, shifting David, who grimaced as his wound was chafed by his shirt.
"I know!" He replied, glancing behind them again. Yep, the snake lady army was still hot on their heels, and catching up, too. The closest was only about sixty feet away.
"Are they getting any closer?" Alissa asked, pulling herself up the hill.
"Yeah. They're definitely gonna catch up. Listen, just let me go. I'll try to hold them off for as long as possible, while you run. If that place really is safe, they'll send help." David said, going to push himself off her.
"No. You saved me back in Central Park. You are staying with me." She said, pulling him closer, before they finally crested the hill. Before them was a long stretch of grass, before it reached another hill, this one topped by a massive pine tree, silhouetted in the rising sun. He blinked twice, adjusting to the brightness.
"There! That must be the tree the guy mentioned." David said, weakly gesturing with his other arm before slumping again.
"We won't make it. I'm almost completely out of energy, and you're in bad shape." Alissa said, shaking her head slowly.
'Fly, my son. Spread your wings and fly.' Davids head jolted up at that.
"Did you hear that?" He asked.
"Hear what?" Alissa answered.
"That voice… it said to fly." He said, brow furrowed in confusion.
"Umm… what's with the shadows?" Alissa asked, looking at his back.
"What shadows?"
"The ones forming wings."
"Wings… I have an idea."
"Last time you said that you were stabbed in the stomach."
"No, it'll work this time."
"You said that as… WHOA!" Alissa screamed as they took off.
"We're flying!" David screamed, eyes wide in amazement. He quickly pushed Alissa under him, arms looped around her shoulders.
As the shock wore off, David realized something. They weren't so much flying as gliding, and they were slowly losing altitude. Slowly, but surely, they were descending to the hard ground beneath them.
"Are we going down?" Alissa asked, voice filled with panic.
"Yeah. I… I'm going to drop you. Roll when you hit the ground, and you should be fine." David answered, before letting go of Alissas shoulders.
The girl landed fine, the drop being only ten feet, but David wasn't so lucky. He slammed into the hill, rolling across the ground before slamming into a rock shoulder first. A distinctive crack filled the air, and David screamed, no, roared, in pain as his upper arm snapped in two.
"David!" He heard Alissa scream, but he was too focused on moving uphill. He pulled himself shakily to his feet, grasping his broken arm with his uninjured hand, holding the two pieces of bone in place through sheer will alone.
Alissa sprinted behind him, grabbing his arm and pulling it over her shoulder, heaving him up over the hill crest, as he blacked out from the pain. His last sight was several teenagers a couple years older than them charging up the hill, one wearing all black, with a sword the same colour as his clothes, and a blonde kid with a sword of gold.
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"…Vid? David?"
Davids eyes fluttered open to the sight of Alissa leaning over him, eyes filled with worry.
"What happened?" He asked, slightly surprised that his voice sounded so… normal.
"You landed hard and broke your arm. Then this group of guys came rushing up and killed the snake-women. You should have seen it! The black haired one summoned a bunch of skeletons and the blonde guy called down lightning! It was awesome!" She said. "It was weird though. All the skeletons seemed kind of aggressive to you. Only Nico, the guy who summoned them, could make them listen."
David sat up, noticing he felt fine.
"What is this place?" He asked, gesturing to the room they were in.
"This is Camp Half-Blood." A voice that was most certainly NOT Alissas replied.
"Who said tha…" Davids voice trailed off as he realized he was now talking to a half-man half-horse.
From waist up, he was a normal dude, albeit with a bow and quiver of arrows over his shoulder. But from waist down, he was a white stallion, with a gleaming coat.
"I am Chiron, my boy." Chiron said.
"Like the guy who trained Theseus?" David replied, tilting his head slightly to the right.
"Him, and many others. Anyhow, I'm sure you have many questions, but it is nearly time for dinner." The Centaur replied.
"Sounds great."
xxXXxx
Dinner at Camp Half-Blood was easily one of the best meals David had experienced in his relatively short life so far.
You see, his family wasn't exactly living in the Ritz. His mom was single, with three kids, him included. He got to be the oldest, which meant he got to take care of the two little ones while mom rushed around everywhere. She wasn't a bad parent, per say, she was just a bit too… in a hurry. That and she worked at the morgue from about eight to eight, so they rarely saw her.
Working at the morgue didn't exactly pay much. At all. This lovely little fact meant that David had basically lived off cheap food for most his life. Kraft Dinner and whatnot.
But the camp had everything! Barbeque, fruit, fresh baked bread, magical goblets that filled with any drink you wanted… everything!
So, after eating more food than was probably necessary, he found Alissa, and they headed for the campfire, which was currently a regular looking yellow and red flame.
Everybody sat on the wooden benches, surrounded by other demigods, and the fire slowly grew, eventually becoming a massive purple blaze, casting the whole area in shifting shadows.
David liked the shadows. A lot. He never really knew why, but shadows always felt comfortable to him. Maybe it was because, in shadows, no one could judge you about anything, because they couldn't see you. David preferred not being seen. He was broken from his musings when he realized Chiron was talking.
"… New Half-Bloods, Alissa and…" He was cut off by the gasps of the crowd when the shadows around David formed into a massive symbol over his head.
David looked up silently and realized what the symbol was. It may have been spinning, but David knew that symbol anywhere.
"Thanatos…" He whispered, his voice seemingly swallowed by the night breeze, blowing colder than ever.
"This… this can't be… Thanatos doesn't sire children…" Chiron was muttering, before snapping back to reality. "Hail… David Booker, son of Thanatos, god of death."
Then a flash of blue, green and purple light, and people were looking in the other direction. Alissa was standing there, surrounded by an aura of light, constantly shifting and changing, each time it shifted revealing new patterns and images. Animals, people and locales, all only lasting a few moments before shifting to something new.
"And hail Alissa Jack, daughter of Morpheus, god of dreams." Chiron said without missing a beat. He must've been used to this kind of thing by now, David mused.
Then something nearly hit David over the head. He stepped back as the scythe that had been over his head fell to his feet. He leaned down and picked it up, the weapon weighing quite a bit for a shadow. Then he realized it was no longer shadow, but actual wood, with a blade of black metal practically emitting darkness. He then realized he was slowly sinking into the ground.
"OH MY GODS!" A girl standing next to David screamed, as he melted into the ground, disappearing from view.
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David reformed in the centre of a large clearing, filled with small buildings made entirely of black stone, with dozens of gravestones surrounding them. His eyes darted back and forth, before settling on black-cloaked figure in front of him.
"Who are you?" David asked, grasping his new weapon with two hands.
The man pulled back his cowl, revealing a dark, handsome face, with features that looked like they had been chiseled from obsidian. His eyes were a strange golden hue, gleaming in the darkness of this place.
"I… I am Thanatos. Your father." The man replied, his voice almost trembling, which surprised David. This guy, his dad, was the lord of death. What did he have to fear from David?
"You're my dad? You look nothing like me!" That was the first thing that came to Davids mind.
"I know. You take after your mother more than me, except for your eyes." Thanatos replied. It was true, Davids eyes were a very golden shade. It was fairly noticeable on his otherwise normal face.
"Why did you bring me here?" David asked, gesturing to the room around him.
"This place is a sanctuary for me. We are in the Saint Orleans graveyard."
"You brought me to a graveyard?"
"I visit here often. I thought you may appreciate the gesture. It's not every day I end up meeting my son."
"About that… do I have to expect any siblings?"
"No. You are my only child."
"Just me?"
"Just you."
"Umm… so, what does being your son mean?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Will anything weird happen to me? Like… I don't know, will I grow wings?"
"Why in Hades would you grow wings?"
"Because you have wings, I guess."
"… That's a rather odd assumption. However, you can have wings, at least temporarily. As my son, you can utilize shadows to your advantage."
"How?"
"Simply will the shadows to do as you tell say, or think."
David looked around. The it was a crescent moon tonight, so the ground was basically perpetually cast in shadow. Reaching out a hand, he willed the shadow of a tree to bend. To his surprise, it slowly began to. He poured on the effort, and twisted into the shape of a pair of wings.
"Still with the wings?" Thanatos asked, raising an eyebrow.
"They're on my mind right now. Can I make them physical? As in, can they touch things?" David replied.
"Yes. It takes considerable effort, especially at your level, and I haven't the time to teach you. Already Hades grows impatient with me for spending so long with you."
"What do you mean, Hades is getting impatien… oh." His question was cut off by the sight of his tree shadow twisting into a humanoid shape, which proceeded to glare at his father.
"Go now, David. I will return you to Camp Half-Blood. Be careful, though, and watch over your friend, Alissa. And beware the dead who have returned." Thanatos said, pointing to his sons feet, causing him to sink into the shadows.
"What do you mean watch Alissa? And what dead who have returned?" David asked, up to his knees in shadow.
"I must explain later. Go!"
And with that, Davids world faded to black, and he was staring up into the eyes of the dark haired skeleton kid.
"Chiron, he's back!" The kid shouted standing and gesturing to Davids left.
David rose to his feet, noticing he was surrounded by a ring of campers, all of whom looked at him with a mix of fear and expectation.
"Who dragged you away? I tried tracing you, but I was being blocked." The dark haired kid said again.
"I was summoned to New Orleans by my dad." David responded, looking around at the ring of campers.
"Your father, you say? What did he tell you?" Chiron asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"He told me to 'beware the dead who have returned'." With that, the dark haired kid looked at Chiron.
"His father is Thanatos?"
"Yes." Chiron replied, looking for a moment like a realization had struck him, before his face returned to its usual expression. "Nico, please show David to his cabin."
"But Chiron…"
"Now please, Nico. We will discuss this in the morning."
"Yes Chiron. Follow me please." Nico said, giving David a little 'come along' gesture.
xxXXxx
The Thanatos cabin was really dark and really lonely. Shadows filled the entire cabin, it was completely silent, and there wasn't another person in the whole building. It was built of the same ebony wood that formed most coffins, and smelled of funeral candles. To anyone else, it would have been depressing.
David loved it immediately.
"I get this whole thing to myself?" He said, looking around. He put his bag down behind one of the twelve-odd beds, each one made of acacia wood, with black sheets and blankets and white pillows.
"Pretty much, yeah. Listen, that girl you showed up with…" Nico said.
"Her names Alissa, and what about her?" David asked, tilting his head slightly.
"She was on the verge of a panic attack once you were gone for more than five minutes. How long were you travelling together?" Nico asked.
"We were together for about three weeks."
"She's been on the run for almost a year."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. She sees you like a brother at this point, what with all the times you saved her on your trip."
"I was only with her for three weeks, though."
"Those were the only three weeks she had anyone travelling with her. Other than you, she's had no one give a damn about her for a year. And she's a year younger than you."
"Wow. I didn't know I meant that much to her."
"You should talk to her tomorrow, at breakfast."
"I will. And Nico… thanks. You killed the Empousa, didn't you."
"I did. You're welcome."
And with that he was gone.
David turned to his bed, looking around at his new home.
"Yeah, I could live with this."
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Well, that's it for Chapter One. Please review, they're really important to me. I'm one of those writers who really, really likes to know what people think of my writing and stories and what have you. Anyhow, thanks for reading.