Disclaimer: I wrote a disclaimer to say that I don't own Charmed at the
beginning of chapter one. This is just to say that the legend told here is
not mine. It belongs to Greek mythology and culture. It's one of my
favourite stories however, and I couldn't resist not telling it my way. No
insult was ever intended, just love for the art of storytelling.
Svata2004 and Deb: It's great to have loyal readers like you. You make me roll up my sleeves and continue writing after a long, hard day at work, and even though when I come home all I think about is collapsing on the bed, after reading your reviews I'm filled with new energy and fresh purpose!
Mickis: I'm pretty glad you discovered my story too! It's really good to have new readers. I hope you enjoy the next chapters just as much!
Barb6: Reading your review made me blush! All those compliments for little ole me? I'll do my best to justify your faith in me and my story. Like I said to Mickis above, it's always great to get new readers and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
All of you, thank you for reviewing!
Once more and this time in layman's terms: You review, I keep writing!
Chapter 13: Of Monsters and Heroes
Talia turned to see her family watching her. Wyatt broke the silence.
"That was incredible Tal," he enthused. "Where did you learn how to fight like that? You have to teach me some of those moves."
Talia smiled warmly at the blond boy, whose blue eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Any time little cousin," she said as she placed a friendly arm around Wyatt's shoulders. She pulled his head down and ruffled his blond hair playfully. The three women around them smiled warmly at the two.
"Give me a few minutes people," called Piper, " and I'll get dinner ready."
"What's for dinner, mum?" asked Wyatt, his interest piqued the moment food was mentioned.
"Lasagna," answered Piper.
Talia laughed at the hungry expression on Wyatt's face.
"Why don't you all come in the kitchen, help me set the table and in the meantime Talia can tell as what the hell that thing was."
Talia scanned the faces that surrounded her, but all she saw was innocent curiosity. She smiled and nodded.
**********
In the kitchen Talia perched herself on the kitchen counter, while everyone else around her, worked to set the table. She begun her storytelling.
"Do you all know the legend of the minautaur?"
"The legend of the what?" asked Paige.
"The minautaur," repeated Talia, "a demon that's half man, half bull. The creature that was in our living room a few moments ago was a minautaur."
Talia's voice softened as she told the story of the minautaur that had been told to her by her father when she had been but a little girl. Her eyes took on a dreamy look as she saw, with her mind's eye, a world lost long ago.
"Thousands of years ago, there existed such a creature in the Greek island of Crete. The evil king of Crete, a man called Minos, imprisoned the beast in a maze, a labyrinth, under his palace. Minos was a very powerful king and he forced many of the surrounding kingdoms to pay tribute and heavy taxes to him. One of these kingdoms was the Kingdom of Athens, but their forced tribute to King Minos was neither gold nor jewels. Their tribute was one of flesh and blood.
"Every year, the Athenians were forced to send seven young men and seven young women to Crete to feed the minautaur. The young Athenians were thrown into the labyrinth where they met their untimely death at the minautaur's jaws.
"It was a heavy and bloody tax to pay, and the king of Athens's only son and heir, Prince Theseus was determined to put an end to it. One year, against his father's wishes, he took the place of one of the youths to be sent to Crete. His father begged him to stay, but he was adamant. He intended to travel to Crete and either kill the beast, or be killed by it.
"He promised his father that, should he succeed, on his return he would change the customary black sails of the ship to white, so that if his father, king Ageas, looked out to sea, he would learn the good news even before he arrived. If Theseus failed, then the ship's sails would remain black and the Athenian king would know of his son's death even before the news reached him by word of mouth. And so the brave Prince Theseus started on his great adventure.
"Theseus knew that even if he managed to kill the minautaur, coming out of the complicated labyrinth was next to impossible, but upon arrival in Crete, Theseus found an unlikely ally. The beautiful daughter of king Minos, Princess Ariadne, fell in love with him and promised to aid him in his quest. She gave him a sword to kill the beast with and a ball of wool to help him find his way out of the labyrinth. She instructed him to tie one end of the wool next to the exit of the maze and unravel the ball as he advanced into the deepest recesses of the labyrinth. After killing the minautaur all he had to do was follow the wool to reach the exit.
"Theseus managed to kill the creature after a great battle and following his love's instructions found his way out of the maze. He then took Ariadne and the other Athenian youths who had traveled with him, and sailed for Athens.
"Unfortunately though, in all the joy and excitement he forgot his promise to his father and forgot to change the sails. When his father saw the black sails he thought his son was dead and in desperation threw himself into the sea and to his death.
"Theseus arrived to Athens and soon heard the bad news of his father's death. He grieved for him and with a heavy heart took the now vacant throne. He ruled for many years and under him Athens blossomed and became a Kingdom of great power."
Talia's storytelling was succeeded by silence. Her voice had traveled them all to the world she described with such passion. Talia seemed embarrassed about being so completely carried away with the story she told.
"You tell a great story, Tal," said Wyatt, even though he had heard the story from his own father long ago, "but what does that have to do with the demon that attacked us just now?"
"Well, the story I told, is the popular version, but the truth is that king Minos was in fact a powerful warlock, and the minautaur had been a gift from the Source. Ariadne was herself a witch, and so was Theseus. Most royal houses of that time were magic families. The Source punished Minos for letting a witch defeat him, and for losing the "present" he gave him, by turning him into the minautaur. And so the evil king has remained for thousands of years. Until today. The demon we just vanquished used to be his majesty king Minos, the old king of Crete."
"Wow!" breathed Wyatt.
"That's an incredible story Talia," commented Piper.
"That thing attacked us out of nowhere. We didn't even have time to check the book of shadows. How did you know?" asked Paige.
"My father told me the story when I was younger," said Talia noticing with regret the shadow that fell on Paige's face at the mention of Cole.
"How about some wine to go with dinner?" proposed Piper offering a wine bottle to Wyatt to be opened.
"Good idea mum," said Wyatt opening the wine bottle and pouring wine for everyone with the exception of Paige who preferred mineral water, in the glasses Phoebe brought him.
"Can I propose a toast everyone?" said Phoebe once they all had their drinks in hand. Everyone raised their glasses. "To our very own demonologist," offered Phoebe smiling pointedly at Talia, her eyes twinkling with pride.
Talia smiled warmly at her mother and the rest of the people that surrounded her. She finally felt part of the family.
A/N: I know that the legal drinking age in the US is twenty-one. Where I'm from, the legal drinking age is eighteen, but my parents allowed us the occasional glass of wine with our meal for as long as I could remember and it never did any harm. For those of you that are perhaps offended by the Haliwell's approval of Talia and Wyatt drinking a little bit of wine, even though they are underage, I'm sorry, but I don't see anything wrong with it.
Svata2004 and Deb: It's great to have loyal readers like you. You make me roll up my sleeves and continue writing after a long, hard day at work, and even though when I come home all I think about is collapsing on the bed, after reading your reviews I'm filled with new energy and fresh purpose!
Mickis: I'm pretty glad you discovered my story too! It's really good to have new readers. I hope you enjoy the next chapters just as much!
Barb6: Reading your review made me blush! All those compliments for little ole me? I'll do my best to justify your faith in me and my story. Like I said to Mickis above, it's always great to get new readers and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
All of you, thank you for reviewing!
Once more and this time in layman's terms: You review, I keep writing!
Chapter 13: Of Monsters and Heroes
Talia turned to see her family watching her. Wyatt broke the silence.
"That was incredible Tal," he enthused. "Where did you learn how to fight like that? You have to teach me some of those moves."
Talia smiled warmly at the blond boy, whose blue eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Any time little cousin," she said as she placed a friendly arm around Wyatt's shoulders. She pulled his head down and ruffled his blond hair playfully. The three women around them smiled warmly at the two.
"Give me a few minutes people," called Piper, " and I'll get dinner ready."
"What's for dinner, mum?" asked Wyatt, his interest piqued the moment food was mentioned.
"Lasagna," answered Piper.
Talia laughed at the hungry expression on Wyatt's face.
"Why don't you all come in the kitchen, help me set the table and in the meantime Talia can tell as what the hell that thing was."
Talia scanned the faces that surrounded her, but all she saw was innocent curiosity. She smiled and nodded.
**********
In the kitchen Talia perched herself on the kitchen counter, while everyone else around her, worked to set the table. She begun her storytelling.
"Do you all know the legend of the minautaur?"
"The legend of the what?" asked Paige.
"The minautaur," repeated Talia, "a demon that's half man, half bull. The creature that was in our living room a few moments ago was a minautaur."
Talia's voice softened as she told the story of the minautaur that had been told to her by her father when she had been but a little girl. Her eyes took on a dreamy look as she saw, with her mind's eye, a world lost long ago.
"Thousands of years ago, there existed such a creature in the Greek island of Crete. The evil king of Crete, a man called Minos, imprisoned the beast in a maze, a labyrinth, under his palace. Minos was a very powerful king and he forced many of the surrounding kingdoms to pay tribute and heavy taxes to him. One of these kingdoms was the Kingdom of Athens, but their forced tribute to King Minos was neither gold nor jewels. Their tribute was one of flesh and blood.
"Every year, the Athenians were forced to send seven young men and seven young women to Crete to feed the minautaur. The young Athenians were thrown into the labyrinth where they met their untimely death at the minautaur's jaws.
"It was a heavy and bloody tax to pay, and the king of Athens's only son and heir, Prince Theseus was determined to put an end to it. One year, against his father's wishes, he took the place of one of the youths to be sent to Crete. His father begged him to stay, but he was adamant. He intended to travel to Crete and either kill the beast, or be killed by it.
"He promised his father that, should he succeed, on his return he would change the customary black sails of the ship to white, so that if his father, king Ageas, looked out to sea, he would learn the good news even before he arrived. If Theseus failed, then the ship's sails would remain black and the Athenian king would know of his son's death even before the news reached him by word of mouth. And so the brave Prince Theseus started on his great adventure.
"Theseus knew that even if he managed to kill the minautaur, coming out of the complicated labyrinth was next to impossible, but upon arrival in Crete, Theseus found an unlikely ally. The beautiful daughter of king Minos, Princess Ariadne, fell in love with him and promised to aid him in his quest. She gave him a sword to kill the beast with and a ball of wool to help him find his way out of the labyrinth. She instructed him to tie one end of the wool next to the exit of the maze and unravel the ball as he advanced into the deepest recesses of the labyrinth. After killing the minautaur all he had to do was follow the wool to reach the exit.
"Theseus managed to kill the creature after a great battle and following his love's instructions found his way out of the maze. He then took Ariadne and the other Athenian youths who had traveled with him, and sailed for Athens.
"Unfortunately though, in all the joy and excitement he forgot his promise to his father and forgot to change the sails. When his father saw the black sails he thought his son was dead and in desperation threw himself into the sea and to his death.
"Theseus arrived to Athens and soon heard the bad news of his father's death. He grieved for him and with a heavy heart took the now vacant throne. He ruled for many years and under him Athens blossomed and became a Kingdom of great power."
Talia's storytelling was succeeded by silence. Her voice had traveled them all to the world she described with such passion. Talia seemed embarrassed about being so completely carried away with the story she told.
"You tell a great story, Tal," said Wyatt, even though he had heard the story from his own father long ago, "but what does that have to do with the demon that attacked us just now?"
"Well, the story I told, is the popular version, but the truth is that king Minos was in fact a powerful warlock, and the minautaur had been a gift from the Source. Ariadne was herself a witch, and so was Theseus. Most royal houses of that time were magic families. The Source punished Minos for letting a witch defeat him, and for losing the "present" he gave him, by turning him into the minautaur. And so the evil king has remained for thousands of years. Until today. The demon we just vanquished used to be his majesty king Minos, the old king of Crete."
"Wow!" breathed Wyatt.
"That's an incredible story Talia," commented Piper.
"That thing attacked us out of nowhere. We didn't even have time to check the book of shadows. How did you know?" asked Paige.
"My father told me the story when I was younger," said Talia noticing with regret the shadow that fell on Paige's face at the mention of Cole.
"How about some wine to go with dinner?" proposed Piper offering a wine bottle to Wyatt to be opened.
"Good idea mum," said Wyatt opening the wine bottle and pouring wine for everyone with the exception of Paige who preferred mineral water, in the glasses Phoebe brought him.
"Can I propose a toast everyone?" said Phoebe once they all had their drinks in hand. Everyone raised their glasses. "To our very own demonologist," offered Phoebe smiling pointedly at Talia, her eyes twinkling with pride.
Talia smiled warmly at her mother and the rest of the people that surrounded her. She finally felt part of the family.
A/N: I know that the legal drinking age in the US is twenty-one. Where I'm from, the legal drinking age is eighteen, but my parents allowed us the occasional glass of wine with our meal for as long as I could remember and it never did any harm. For those of you that are perhaps offended by the Haliwell's approval of Talia and Wyatt drinking a little bit of wine, even though they are underage, I'm sorry, but I don't see anything wrong with it.