Chapter 36:

Revealing the Truth

I was fine. In fact, I just wanted to get this over and done with so that I could be left in peace. Somehow I knew I wasn't really going to like this story. But it was everyone else in the room that we had to wait for.

Clovis and Katyana were the only ones who opted to return to their cabins now that I was awake; the son of Hypnos making sure that he was notified if anything bad happened while the daughter of Demeter got an iris message that practically ordered her back to her cabin. Will, Karla and Glade were asked to stay for moral and medical support. Nico was forced to stay by Will because he had to shadow-travel some of the Apollo kids back to their cabin if the story ran too late. And Andi and the other Apollo kids merely hunted for chairs.

When we were finally ready (Andi and Glade claiming the end of my bed for me), Lee took a deep breath and started his story.

" Now, as I said before, I am going to give you the long version of this story. That means that I'm going to go back to where it all started and try not to miss too many of the important things. Also, this is a true story." He explained before diving right into the story he was telling.

" A long time ago, in Ancient Greece, lived an aging man and his five children. This man, Herodes, was a farmer and sheep herder. His four sons Thadus, Adras, Cyrus and Lysander all helped him tend to his fields and flock while his only daughter, Melantha, stayed inside and did the housework and made clothes and other stuff like that. However, the grounds around Herodes' farm were riddled with wolves and they saw his sheep as easy prey. Herodes, on the other hand, prized his sheep and when his top ram was taken… well, he got mad and started killing all the wolves.

" You could say that the idiot kind of went a little berserk about what was going on because he thought that if he went off and hunted the wolves – and I mean the pups as well as the adults – then he'd be safe and his lands wolf-free. He set traps and notched arrows to his bow and even trained his sons in hunting. But he didn't stop with just killing the wolves. No, he butchered them, skinned them and forced his daughter into making clothes out of their fur, turned their bones into weapons and cooking utensils, tortured the pups that he captured before killing them, and, more importantly, he fed the wolf meat to his children.

" Now wolves were sacred to Apollo, but Melantha didn't know that. She just knew that they were sacred animals. Because of this, she refused to eat the wolf meat and, every night before she fell asleep, she begged for forgiveness from the gods for what she had done that day. Of course, that's what saved her from the curse, but old Herodes was furious when he discovered that his own daughter was secretly switching the meals she was given for her own meals. But no amount of flogging or other kinds of domestic violence would deter Melantha from what she was about to do. If anything, it made her more determined.

" One night, when she knew her father and brothers were out hunting for wolves, Melantha snuck out of her room and went to the nearest shrine for the gods. That shrine just so happened to belong to the god Pan, who was on his death bed at the time. There, she knelt down and prayed, telling the gods everything that her father and brothers were doing to the wolves surrounding their home and to her. She begged that something be done to stop the unnecessary hunting of the wolves and that justice be brought to her. And, at first, no sign came that the god had heard her. So she made it her mission to alert the gods of what was happening – regardless of the consequences – and begged for justice to be done upon her family.

" Pan, however, had heard Melantha's first prayer that first night. I'm not sure what he was thinking about what was happening, but he wasn't too pleased about it, that was for sure. Unfortunately, there are rules even the gods must follow; Pan had to explain to Apollo what was happening and thus get permission to punish Herodes. Apollo must have been having a lazy day that day or else was too busy to notice because he let Pan do whatever he wanted to Herodes and his sons. And, personally, I'm glad it was Pan who dealt the punishment and not Apollo. Your father, himself, told me that he would have smote everyone if Melantha had gone straight to him.

" Anyway, now that Pan had permission, he returned to his shrine when Melantha was there one night and basically told her that he was going to punish all males who had offended the gods. He also said that all females would become resistant to the curse because of the good deed she had done by alerting the gods to this heinous crime and because of the foul things that had happened to her. What Pan failed to tell Melantha was that all males belonging to the blood of Herodes would be cursed.

" Melantha thanked the dying god and happily totted off back home, unaware that her father and brothers had been cursed to become the very things which they had hunted; wolves. Well, she quickly found out about the curse thanks to the howls and screams of pain that echoed through the house the next morning as Apollo drove the sun across the sky. Yeah, it wasn't a very pleasant sight to see first thing in the morning.

" Unfortunately for her, as soon as Herodes regained control of his human body, he knew something was up. In the few moments before losing his wolf sense of smell, he could smell the god Pan's power fading from his daughter's clothes. And, because he really was a smart man despite everything, Herodes easily made the connection between the two. He demanded to hear the words come out of his daughter's mouth, however, before casting her from the house for the rest of her life.

" Years passed, during which Melantha married and fell pregnant, before Herodes got news that he now had grandchildren out of his daughter. It turned out Melantha had had twins; one boy and one girl. And though Pan had disappeared in that time, his curse still lingered. Melantha found that out when her son changed one night into a pure white wolf pup with a small golden crescent moon barely visible in the middle of his back. At that moment, Melantha's life was destroyed. She now knew the curse would continue down the male line until either it was destroyed or it died out. Because of this, she named her son Lysias. I don't remember what she called her daughter, but I do know it had something to do with wanting peace in her family from then on.

" Lysias grew into a dark child, tormented by the wolf he would become and the fact that it was his family's fault. He loved causing pain to others and my guess to that would be because he wanted others to know of the pain he felt from both his family knowledge and the curse which lived within him. Unfortunately, things only got worse by the time he had turned seven.

" Herodes was a stupid old man and, in the short years before his death, he realised this. It was because of this sudden epiphany that he begged and prayed to the gods that the curse be lifted now that he had learnt his lesson. Too bad things didn't work out like that. Instead, the Fates were cruel and connected Lysias' fate with the fate of one of his descendants'. The connection also came with a label… or rather a prophetic warning stating that, in order for one to die, the other had to as well. It was a very weird and very creepy, not to mention confusing, warning and I really don't feel like repeating it.

" Anyway, Lysias would have to wait a long, long time before he was able to completely end up in Hades' Realm. And that, in turn, meant that Lysias was still walking the earth as an evil spirit a long time after his body had decayed. What was even weirder was that only curse approved weapons could injure the stupid ghost – and that included crutches – but more about that later.

" Right now, when Lysias was a seven year old boy talking with his grandfather, well… when Herodes finished telling his grandson all this creepy information and even spluttering out a really freaky prophecy in the process (apparently that was the gods terms for a curse-free bloodline), the boy freaked. You should know that anyone who gets issued a prophecy may or may not return in the same state of mind that they were in before the prophecy was spat out. Well, let's just say Herodes and Lysias both suffered after that.

" Herodes became mad… well, his wolf form did anyway. The only man told me that, as a wolf, his mind was separated in twos and his normal, human mind became a prisoner to the maddened wolf mind. It was because of this that Herodes actually begged his eldest to kill him, to stop the insanity. Because, seriously, no one wants an insane wolf hanging around.

" Anyway, Thadus took pity on the old man and gave him the coup de grace with his own wolf fang dagger. Only, not all of Herodes blood was drained into the ground like it should have. Thadus took with him a crystal vial sent to him by the Fates. And it was in this container that the eldest son of Herodes dripped some of his father's blood and sealed it with a simple cork. The container was protected with magic to only break when the time was right and Lysias was defeated by his descendant. In other words, the crystal vial was a physical reminder of Herodes curse. And it was only worn around the neck by the chosen descendants of his blood. The first to wear it was Thadus. The last was me.

" Lysias, on the other hand, became a little schist. I mean, he was bad before. But after hearing that prophecy… let's just say that the school bully became a mass murderer. I can't really explain it any other way. Lysias started doing things that he probably wouldn't have done had he been brought up differently. He started plotting murders. And his first victim was to be Herodes. But when he found out that his grandfather was already dead, he grew even madder. Even at such a young age, the boy was trying to figure out how to make the perfect poison.

" It took a year, but Lysias finally killed his first victim. It was his uncle… the same one who wore the blood of Herodes around his neck. Once the deed was done, the eight year old took the vial and slipped it around his own neck. My guess is he was trying to change his fate because he was seen, on numerous occasions after that, trying to destroy the thing. Amazingly, that vial stood strong… even when the kid somehow managed to dump a boulder on it.

" By the time Lysias was fourteen, he had killed every member of his family. His aunts and uncles and cousins, his father, his father's parents, even his mother and sister. He had even given up trying to destroy the vial, instead choosing to perfect his poison. What was even weirder was that no one suspected him as the murderer. Not even the wife he married not two years after his last murder. Yeah, when you're the only one left out of the family you killed, you tend to do weird things and weird times… like marrying a woman that three years older than you. But I'm not going to say anything.

" And that is how the family grew, from the madman Lysias. Lysias remained surprisingly quiet and tame throughout the years. He had a big family of fourteen and managed to keep them all alive. His ten sons grew into wolves by night and Lysias taught them about the pack and how they only did what he said. In fact, he enforced that last rule. But when it came to his daughters, he really couldn't care much about them. But he knew that, even though his daughters would not transform, they could still pass on the curse. And that was when the crazy wolf started thinking about world domination via wolves. He just didn't plan on the lightning bolt striking him dead on that thought and effectively turning him into a ghost.

" Unfortunately, he only left his family alone for four generations. Just enough time to have a whole heap of descendants to torment. Lysias literally sat back and watched his children become parents and grandparents and even great-grandparents. He also spent that time planning and perfecting his poison (that stuff still wasn't finished yet). By the time Lysias' first great-great-great grandchild was born, he'd had enough of waiting and went straight back into the murder and torment business… only this time, the gods were after him.

" Now I won't bore you with everything that happened during the multi-generational time period between then and now, but I will tell you that Lysias was the only pure white wolf. In fact, his golden crescent managed to disappear with age. But every other male – both before and after that monster – were any colour suitable for a wolf's coat except white. If there was a wolf who had a lot of white on him, you could bet your life that there were small patches of colour in that fur or that fur was partnered with a silver colour.

" Also, I'll definitely tell you about three major things. Everything else isn't really important because it's repetitive and boring. All that happened was that people were killed and hunted by Lysias and the gods, and that a group of people – throughout the generations – tried to apologise to the gods. Seriously, that apology was only accepted a few months ago. But, let's get back to the story.

" The first thing that happened was that my wolf shield was created and that Lysias' poison had finally been perfected. One of my ancestors, Bacchylides, he was a weaponsmith. He made weapons and shields for a living and thus was employed by the Grecian Army. He also knew how to use those weapons and even the shield in battle thanks to Lysias haunting the family. Now the first shield Bacchylides ever made turned out to be a bronze shield with a coloured head of a snarling wolf… and it became a family heirloom, even seeing its days in war. In fact, it's around my neck at this very moment. The shield got turned into a pendant as a birthday present from mother Athena. Another little secret about the shield is that it had been created during the time period where Bacchylides was poisoned by Lysias. Good old Bacchylides was the first person to fall to that insane wolf's poison.

" The second thing that happened coincided with the first. In fact I've already mentioned it; Lysias managed to create the perfect type of deadly poison. This poison has no antidote, it could only be injected through a wound and it was near impossible to detect after death. I was the last person to be poisoned with Lysias' specialty and I've been poisoned with it twice. Right now it battles within me, trying to kill me. But your brother, John, was also taken by it. It's only thanks to Karla that I'm not dead yet.

" You see, Lysias always, always gave out a set time for the victim to live. And once that time was up, you basically drop dead. For me, I got stabbed in the shoulder by a giant, man-eating spider. Another specialty of Lysias' was that he could enter your dreams and make them reality… and that's how I was wounded. I don't remember if it was the same night or not, but that was how the poison got into my bloodstream the first time. Karla had no choice but to shoot a poisoned arrow into my heart. Oh, Lysias was a cunning one - get the poison straight to the bloodstream and you're on a one way ticket to Hades. Thanks to the poison, my blood can no longer clot and my wounds (be they new or the massive one in my shoulder) they can't heal properly. I was – and still am – in constant agony, and the bluish-purple tinge is what the poison looks like on the outside as it destroys you from the inside out. I can barely use my arm now because my bones and muscles are being eaten away. The wound and my arm are infected too… and because of how big my wound is, I can't amputate without killing myself.

" Like I said, Lysias was a devil. He knew exactly where, when and how to strike someone down. Especially if that someone annoyed him beyond existence, like me. Unfortunately, he still haunts me even though he's down in the fields of punishment, getting a taste of his own medicine. We're still finding out what the poison can do to me, especially considering the double dose I got waging war in my system. I have no doubt in my mind that there will be more than one near death experience awaiting me in the future – just like the one that got me on the quest.

" Now for the third and final important thing. About ten generations ago, I think, a guy named Talus made this silver wolf signet ring. He made it as a way to break the curse. And even though its purpose is now fulfilled, it is a family heirloom that will continue to be passed down the generations. It has a magic in it, you see, one that usually prevents ghosts from possessing the wearer and otherwise keeping Lysias at bay. Sadly, it wasn't enough to keep the foul spirit from turning my grandfather mad.

" With that, the story leads down to me. I am – as of this moment – the last descendant of Herodes to walk this planet. Because of this, I was cursed to transform into a dark grey wolf with a light grey undercoat, a black stripe down my back and a silver crescent moon on my shoulder. However, I am also the son of Athena, the first of Herodes' blood to have immortal linage within them… the first demigod. When the vial was around my neck, the blood inside was a mix of red and gold with the later addition of ghostly liquid due to the poison.

" John Smith, your brother, was my best friend. In fact, he was more like a brother to me than anything else. We met when he was at boarding school and I was on the run, and I bailed him out. We found Glade in a junkyard, John nearly got strangled by Lamia the evil snake woman (which is why I hate snake women) and we made our way to Camp Half-Blood.

" Not long after we got here, I was given the quest I was destined for; the quest to end this curse of mine. I took Karla, Glade and John with me as stated in the prophecy and we travelled first to my father's cave – where we later buried him – and then to my grandfather's grave – where his headstone fired three important tubes at me. Then we travelled to Yellowstone National Park to confront my insane ancestor.

" That was when your brother risked his life to save mine. One minute Lysias was going for my neck, the next John had jumped in front of me and taken the bite in his shoulder. Lysias poisoned him and he… he… fell asleep the next morning on the fourth of July. I could do nothing. Seeing him on that bed… I wanted to… to take his place… stop him from falling asleep… but I could do nothing. Instead, John took my place… and I will never be able to forgive myself for that. Before he… he fell asleep… he made me promise to find you."

Lee closed his eyes and took a deep sigh, finally taking a break in his story. I noticed his jaw was set and tears stun his eyes, but I couldn't help but be freaked out about the fact that Lee was a wolf. I didn't care if he couldn't transform now or not because I distinctly remember hearing him mutter something about that not long after he finished. Heck, I didn't even care that he couldn't say that John was dead.

I only had one thing on my mind. And that was that Lee had killed my brother.

I probably shouldn't have done what I did next, but I did it anyway. As Lee was apologising about what had happened, I swung myself over the side of the bed furthest away from him and stood up. The magic had been removed from me while I was in my coma, I could feel it, and I was thankful that I was still wearing respectable clothing. Someone called out my name and others tried to force me back onto the bed, but I ignored them all.

I walked out of the infirmary and back to the Apollo cabin with a loud bang of the doors and not a single glace back.