Chapter One:

"And so, Theseus managed to escape the Labyrinth with the help of Minos' daughter. That concludes our lesson today. Any questi- Alex? Alex!" The student being addressed was startled out of his daydreaming, "Yes, ma-am?"

"Were you paying attention as I read this tale?"

"Of course!" 'Not,' he thought. He's read the myth hundreds of times, not to mention all the others.

"Well next time, make sure you look like your paying attention as well." Other students were snickering now. It's not every day that star pupil Alex was chewed out by the teacher. Alex brushed his brown hair out of his eyes. He had a lot on his mind right now.

Lately, his closest friend, Damon, has been ignoring him in favor of a new classmate named Fys. The two had quickly become friends. But ever since, Alex felt like Damon was avoiding him. Alex growled, 'What kind of a name was Fys, anyway?' Didn't sound like any name he'd ever heard before. While Alex was stewing over this recent turn in his social life, the bell rang, signaling next class. The brown haired student got up and left for lunch.

Sitting at his usual table were Damon and Fys, who were having what appeared to be a very serious discussion. As Alex drew close, Damon looked up. Seeing who it was, he motioned to Fys to stop. Alex sat down next to the pair. Every time he saw them, Alex couldn't help but marvel at how odd they looked together. Damon, athletic, tall, and clear skinned, contrasted largely with Fys, who was on the short side, beginning to grow a beard, and needed leg braces to walk correctly. "Hey Alex," Damon greeted him, in a tone that made Alex feel unwelcome. "Hey. What were you two talking about? From what I saw, it looked important."

"Oh, well…you know…I just needed some help with that chemistry homework from last night," Damon replied, now nervous. Alex frowned. That was an obvious lie. Everyone in their grade knew that Damon has always had the highest science score since elementary school. "Come on, man. Tell me the truth. We've been best friends since the 1st grade!"

"Sorry, Alex. You wouldn't understand." Damon stood up, and walked away with Fys. Alex sat there quietly, his food untouched. It wasn't long before it was time for class.

It was the last period of the day, history. Just one more class and Alex could go home. He entered the room and looked for a seat. Both Damon and Fys were here, now silently arguing over something. As he walked past, Damon was shaking his blond head, "I don't care if it's safer, I can't just leave without telling anyone!" This made Alex pause for a second, 'Leave? Why would Fys want Damon to leave, and what did he mean by "safer"?' He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and sat down. As the bell rang, a man in his mid twenties walked in and took a position near the front of the room. He had medium length, light brown hair and a 5 O'clock shadow. He was obviously uncomfortable in his slacks and polo. He gave the class an uncertain smile, "Hello everyone. My name is…" He paused for a moment, as if he had forgotten, "Mr. Kevin Rus! I will be your substitute teacher for today. Today we will be studying Alexander the Great, a powerful Macedonian who turned Greece into a widespread empire."

The mention of Alexander got Alex's attention. He had never truly enjoyed history, but something told him this was going to be interesting. After looking through the textbook, Mr. Rus made a face of disgust, "Whoever wrote this is terribly mistaken." He tossed the book into the class and began his lecture, "Born in 336 BC as Alexandros III Philippou Makedonon, known here as Alexander the Great, he was believed to be a descendant of Heracles. On the day of his birth, a man named Panayiotis set fire to the Temple of Artemis to tell the world of the child's significance. At the age of ten, a horse was sold to his father, Philip II. The horse was called a prodigy, never had there been a finer creature. But it was a wild beast, never allowing anyone near it. Brave Alexander went to the vicious steed. Unbelievably, the young boy managed to do what others were afraid of. He not only calmed the horse, he mounted it. He was the only one able to do so without injury, so the horse was given to him. He named his new companion Bucephalus."

Mr. Rus looked over the class, noticing that his audience of 29 all had looks of boredom written across their faces. He sighed, "Can you at least pretend to be interested?" He then returned to the subject, "At the age of seventeen, Alexander was given command of a portion of his father's army during the Battle of Chaeronea. He led his men against the Sacred Band of Thebes, a hoplite corps that was believed to be invincible. After hours of fighting, Alexander slaughtered his enemy down to the last man." Mr. Rus stopped once more to look at the class. Every student was watching him intently, as if taking their eyes off of him would allow him to disappear, never finishing the story. 'That last bit must have interested them', He thought, 'or they're very good actors.' He continued his discussion.

While Mr. Rus was retelling the history of Alexander the Great, Omega was hopping off the bus that had brought him into Troy, Michigan. He looked around the city, 'Looks like as good a place as any to sit and wait.' His father told him to wait 36 hours before beginning his assaults against the Olympians. As he walked down the street, he was stopped by a policewoman wearing dark sun glasses, "Hello sir, may I ask you a few questions?"

"That depends; do you stop everyone that's just taking a stroll through town?"

"Only the suspicious ones." She returned curtly.

"Oh? What makes me suspicious?"

"Just a feeling"

Omega smiled, "A feeling, huh? Very well, I have some time to kill. Ask away."

"Let's start with your name."

"My name is…Orion."

"That's an uncommon name."

"My parents are uncommon people."

"Why aren't you in school, Orion?"

"…School?"

"Yes, school."

Omega was looking for the best answer when, luckily, the alarms went off in a nearby bank. Coming down the front steps were two men in ski masks. Omega smiled, "You should probably be chasing them, as it is your job." The officer frowned in annoyance, "Yes, I suppose I should. It was nice meeting you, Orion. She walked towards a police cruiser that Omega was positive wasn't there before. She stopped and turned around. "And remember," She took off her sunglasses, revealing piercing gray eyes, "I'm watching you." Then she stepped into her car and drove off. Instead of taking a left like the criminals, however, she turned right. 'Either she wasn't paying attention to those thieves,' Omega thought, 'or she never had any intention of going after them.' Before he could ponder the situation any further, a terrible roar rang out somewhere outside the city. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. 'The Mist must not be strong enough to stop something of that magnitude.' Another roar shortly followed, this one closer than the first. Omega grinned, 'This just gets better and better.'

Alex, Damon, and Fys were walking home from school, none of them talking. Fys looked upset about something. Before Alex could ask what it was though, a horrible roar erupted from up the street, behind them. The three turned around to see what was going on. As Alex looked, his vision suddenly went fuzzy. When it returned a few seconds later, a lion was slowly coming down the street towards them. Damon took a step back, "What is that thing?" He said in fear. Alex looked at him, a look of puzzlement etched into his features, "It's a lion! Are you feeling alright?" Fys turned to Damon, "We have to fight it."

"WHAT!" Both Alex and Damon cried out at once.

"It's the only way."

"Why do we need to fight the lion?" Alex questioned, wondering to himself, 'Is this guy crazy?' Fys glared at him, "Not you. Just Damon and I." Damon regained his composure, "Yeah, okay. Alex, get out of here." 'Ooookay. Both of them are crazy.' "If you're going to fight, then I'm going to help."

"No, Alex. You're going to leave," Damon said forcefully. For a second, he looked like an older kid. Alex could have sworn that he wasn't even the same person. That didn't make him want to listen though. Before he could respond, however, the lion charged. "Crap!" The beast leaped in between the three, separating Damon from the other two. The animal quickly turned to face the lone boy. "Use the weapon I gave you!" Fys shouted. Damon retrieved what looked like a hunting knife made of bronze from his back pocket. Dodging a swipe of his opponent's claw, he shouted back, "This isn't a weapon! It's a toothpick!" Alex had to agree, 'At least the lion's teeth will be clean once he's done here.' Looking around, he picked up a rock and hurled it at the beast, "Hey Simba! Over here!"

While this did give him the desired effect of the creature turning towards him, it created a not so desired effect as well. The lion suddenly started to grow, a lump forming on the ridge of its back. The lump rose up and began to take shape. The tail was changing in appearance as well. What was once an average sized lion was now a pickup truck sized monster that looked like a lion, but know had a goat head rising from its back and a snake for a tail. Alex backed up, 'Great, now it's a freak of nature.' The lion head opened its mouth, releasing a jet of flame which Alex barely managed to leap away from. 'And it breathes fire too. Perfect.' The sudden transformation seemed lost on the other two, who had not reacted whatsoever. Jumping from another burst of flame, Alex looked over at Fys, who was fishing around in his backpack, "So, are three headed fire breathing monsters common where you're from?"

Fys looked up sharply, "You can see the Chimera?" He then threw himself out of the way as the beast pounced. "Chimera? Like in the Greek myth?" Alex dodged another fire blast. Fys rolled up next to him, "This isn't the place for this conversation. Are you still willing to fight?"

"Of course!" Alex retorted. Fys grinned, "Then take this." Impossibly, he pulled a four foot long sword out of his backpack. It was made of the same bronze material as Damon's knife. "Take it!" Fys said, tossing the blade to Alex. He caught it with only one hand. The sword was extremely well balanced. "This could work," Alex said with a grin. He turned back to the Chimera, who was now preoccupied with Damon. "My turn, ugly," Alex snarled. With a battle cry, he charged the hybrid, his new weapon held over his head. Fys sighed, 'Idiotic mortal. I better go save him.'

But before he could assist, a new arrival got his attention, "Now, now. If all three of you are fighting the beast, who is going to spar with me?" Fys turned to face a boy of about fourteen, with dark black hair and blood red eyes. He growled, 'This kid has a powerful aura. He's much more than he appears.' He produced a pair of knives from his backpack, "I have no time for this! Step down if you don't want to get hurt!" The boy laughed, "If you truly believe it will be that easy, you will sorely regret this encounter." The kid stretched out his hand, which was quickly enveloped in a flash of light. When it was over, Fys was amazed to see a sword whose blade was almost as long as its wielder was tall. He tightened his grip on his daggers, "Fine. Let's do this."

The fighters charged, Fys beginning with a lunge and his assailant with an overhead blow. Their battle began, the Chimera completely forgotten.

END

A/N: And there you have it, the first chapter of what I hope will be a great tale. I apologize to anyone who actually reads this story for the update being rather late.

Anyway, leave comments, criticisms, insults, and questions in replies or PM me.