Welcome to A Mortal's Might, a rewrite of A Choice, a Gift, My Path...
I have learned a lot about OC's, unique stories and making a better plot... and so you will enjoy, I hope, this story. I was inspired highly by the Originals, especially seasons Three and Four... they really helped me get perspective, more specifically the path of Davina... I loved seeing her go from Nothing to Something out of sheer power, spite and drive. I admired her growth, her uniqueness and how she was unlike Bonnie and changed sources of power based on need not plot and how she wasn't always a Duex machina.
I am also wildly inspired by Vincent Griffith.
I made Aaron OP as hell before, too well connected it was annoying. There was no struggle, no change, no chances... so I learned and am updating it. I hope you love it.
P.S. I am keeping the beginning part, the Prologue as it was beautifully written...
Choice is a powerful thing, no matter what the Gods say. Oracles only have so much power, their sway only potent on those already tied to Fate and Destiny. Demigods, special mortals, Spirits, and of course the Gods themselves.
For humans, most humans, there is no destiny, no Fate pulling the strings of our lives. We simply are, walking and living for the void of our lives. A mundane existence most live, never knowing the power that is solely ours.
Choice, freedom from the monstrous declarations of Fate.
We may lack the great power of the Divine, but even they are envious of our ability to choose.
Our ability to change...
I never realized, while I was young, just how valuable these powers were. How they shaped and molded my life, giving me the power to make my life whatever I choose for it to be. I doubt any of us really appreciate this gift, especially as so few of us even know we have it.
A gift unlike anything else...
My gift and with that Gift so much is possible...
I wish I knew that when this all started...
I wished I knew then, how much three choices would shift my life forever, and not always for the best.
My name is Aaron Michael Mathews and this is the story of how my ability to choose changed my life in ways no Fate or Oracle could have ever predicted.
It was a scary thing, staring at the apartment building in front of him. His hands shook, his heart trembled with a rare terror as he contemplated running away to live under a bridge somewhere. Anything would be better then the dread in his heart, walking into something so utterly unfamiliar versus the familiar agony that had been his life for the last two years. Childish sure, but that changed little about what he felt.
'I have to be brave. I won't waste months of waiting and working and research to find my father.' Taking one final, shuddering breathe, he crossed the street. The Apartment complex wasn't very nice, actually it was a tad run down and smelled of the all too familiar despair that came from living paycheck to paycheck. The knowledge of knowing that at any time you could lose everything because you failed to rob Peter to pay Paul.
The door came far too soon, but he was too close to really event think about running away. Somehow he gathered enough strength to raise a hand and slowly knock on the door. The sound was like a gun shot, echoing down the hall only to be drowned out as a loud and angry voice bellowed past it.
"Sally! Get the door!"
'This was a mistake...' It was a struggle to mask his fear, but somehow he managed to put a fake smile on as he waited for the door to open. A shuffling trickled through the door, like slippers scrapping against tiles, before said door opened to reveal a beautiful face smiling with a level exhaustion he understood all too well.
The women was a little on the tall side with chocolate brown hair sprinkled with gray and beautiful blue eyes. She wasn't a supermodel, cold and uber thin, but firm and warm and maternal even to him.
"Hello, may I help you?" Her voice was as warm as her smile, easing some of his fear but tripling his guilt.
With a shaky smile, he held out a hand which she grasped automatically even as he whispered those damning words.
"It is nice to meet you ma'am... is Gabriel Ugliano here?"
She gasped, taking a step back though it wasn't out of fear. Her eyes roamed, scanning his body with a rather disconcerting concentration. "Yes, he is... why do you ask?" She was shaking, her already fair skin losing the little color it had. She almost looked grey.
He didn't want to reveal his truth, to tell her what and who he was... but he had to. He had lost too much already, the promise of a better life and no longer having to live under bridge or ally was simply too tempting. Too vital to him.
With all of his strength, he looked at her in her beautiful eyes and confirmed what he knew she had guessed.
"My name is Aaron Mathews, and I am Gabriel's son."
'''
Having met and loved a God, few things if any really scared Sally any more. Other then Gabe's temper and the potential loss of her son that is... but seeing this boy, and realizing the vulnerability that he now faced as Gabe's son was... beyond terrifying. She knew what Gabe could and very well might do to him. He had harmed her family already so much, what would he do to someone he had a tie to, someone that the world might otherwise say he was owed? Given control over by blood...
And it was clear that they shared blood for Aaron looked much like his father. Same dark hair only Aaron had a full head of curly hair, pudgy size despite being clearly homeless, same brown eyes only his lacked malice and greed that so oozed from his father's. Yes, this was clearly Gabe's son... and it broke Sally's heart far more then she wanted to admit.
"Um...ma'am? Is everything alright?"
Shuddering, Sally barely managed to withhold the urge to move away the boy. He even sounded like Gabe, his voice husky like his father's only it lacked the commanding echo Gabe's did.
"Oh, Um, I..."
"WHAT'S THE HOLD UP!" Gabe's thunderous voice, a twisted echo of his son's bombarded Sally's ears as her husband waddled over to her with hate in his heart. She turned and saw malice in his gaze. "We aren't heating the outside, why are you... Aaron?" For the first time since she knew him, her husband looked baffled. "It's been ten years but you... does your mother want child support?"
"No sir." The boy said, his tone soft and submissive. "She doesn't want anything, she kicked me out."
"Hmph... sounds like Shelly." With that, he turned around and walked away. "Well, get in and stop wasting the heat." he barked out at them both.
" Yes, Gabe. " They both said as one. And then the boy walked in, Sally letting him by her with some confusion.
Kneeling down, ignoring the ache in her limbs from a long days work, Sally smiled at the boy. " I am sorry if I seemed rude before, I never knew Gabe had a son and you look so much like him... my name is Sally, I guess this makes me your Stepmother."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sally." The boy smiled back, finally looked relieved and at ease.
It was this relief, this release of so much fear and pain that settled everything for Sally. "Honey, My Son,... your Brother Percy, and I are going to the Beach for a few days. If you'd like, after a shower, you can come with us. I know you might want to get to know your father, but it would be nice for you to bond with Percy and I too and well... it just seems like it would be a good time." She almost cringed at her own words. 'How can I explain to this boy that his father might abuse him if I leave him alone. He doesn't know how to manage Gabe... sigh.. I am so sorry Percy, but I will not let another person be abused so we can have more time together. I know you'd agree if I could talk to you about it.'
The sheer radiances of the boy's smile lifted Sally's spirits tremendously. "That sounds amazing... if Percy's okay with it."
"I am sure he will be... now follow me to the shower, and I'll see about getting you some clothes. Your tall for your age, Some of Gabe's old clothes should fit you well, if they be a bit big on you."
And so she led him into her bathroom, past Gabe and his idiot friends playing Poker, showing him how the faucets worked and such, promising to get him clothes in a moment,..
"Mom. I'm done packing."
Percy's voice startled Sally, making her cringe as she remembered that she had to explain everything to her son. "Honey... I have an unexpected change to our vacation today."
Her son popped his head from his room, looking angry and pained. "Is Gabe not letting us go?" He was practically growling, making her sigh.
"No baby... we just have another person that is coming with us."
:::
Aaron was many things, dumb was never one of them. He could put two and two together quite easily, and it was clear that Gabe was abusive. Sally's terror was clear when he was near, and her suggestion that he go with her on her vacation with her son instead of leaving him with her husband was telling. 'I have to make a new choice, it is clear that I can't stay here. I need a new path, a new goal... I'll stay only as long as I can handle Gabe, however long that is but I will be looking for an out before he gets custody. If I have too, I will go to Fostercare... anything but staying with abusive people. I had enough with Mom.'
Pleased and proud, Aaron quickly took his shower and got dressed in the flannel button up and blue jeans that apparently used to be Gabe's. He looked good, he thought, as he looked in the mirror. With a wash his curly hair wasn't matted and greasy, his skin was clear and happy showing his pretty brown eyes. He felt himself again, and that was a rare thing.
'Sally seems nice, but she can't be that good if she is willing to risk her son with someone like Gabe... but maybe I should withhold my judgement? Yeah, that might be best... sigh... why is everything so complicated?'
Leaving the steaming bathroom, Aaron hurried out only to almost slamming into a a cute kid with black hair and green eyes. "Sorry... Percy, right?"
'Yeah,... your Aaron?"
"Yeah... sorry for crashing in on everything. I guess Sally doesn't want me alone with Gabe, from how he was acting I can see why."
Percy's eyes widened, and clarity crossed them. " So that's why... I thought she just felt bad that you wouldn't get to come." Percy smiled, a mix of proud of happy. "Trust me, you don't want to be left with Gabe, he's a monster."
"So I am figuring out. Her fear is pretty clear. I don't care if he's my dad, blood means pretty much nothing to me if I am being honest. I am just here to not be homeless... you seem cool though. Smart enough to see past Gabe's crap."
Percy snorted. " Same dude, same."
"Don't you look handsome." Sally's voice made both boys jump a little, a little bit of guilt in their shared eyes. "My stuff is all packed, I packed some stuff for you too Aaron. Let's go, shall we?"
And that was what they did, collecting and moving the trunks into the really nice sports car that for some reason Gabe had. As they were moving things into it, Gabe pulled away from his Poker game to whine about losing Sally's cooking... and, naturally, he came to threaten Percy.
"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned Percy as he loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch." He said it as if he expected Percy to drive, an idea as foolish and pointless as humanly possible. It was pathetic cruel and only drove home that Aaron was right. His father was every bit as worthless as his mother had said he was.
Eventually Gabe was done with his bitching and moved back to the door, but as he reached the doorway, something changed. From the corner of his eye, Aaron saw Percy make a strange hand gesture, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over his heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. He felt something when his sort of brother did that, a strange rippling across his skin like when you walked in front of a fan after you got out of a bath. Suddenly the screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the stair-case as if he'd been shot from a cannon.
Aaron could not help but laugh, even as he wondered what the hell just happened.
He would get quite a while to think on it as Percy shot into the car and told Sally to step on it.
'What did I get myself into... and what the hell was that?'
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This story is also wildly inspired by Vincent Griffth from the Originals and how he changed... and how his powers changed.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.
