Chapter 1~ Uninvited Guests...
~Anthony~
My life was fairly normal.
I spent my days being homeschooled, playing video games watching old movies, cartoons, television shows and anime and listening to any music that wasn't rap, RB, or gospel.
Things were pretty hectic for a couple of years. They say back in 2020 everything went crazy. Then it kinda toned down but didn't exactly improve.
But today would make that about 75 years ago and I'm going to turn 18 at the end of this month.
My life was forever changed when mom came home and said there was someone who wanted to see me.
I was hoping it wasn't our neighbor Mrs. Honda. She was nice and all but she was nosy and kept trying to feed me her pecan pies which I thought tasted gross. But I didn't have the heart to tell her that.
I don't like store bought pecan pie either. I think it's that I don't like pecans. Or maybe it's the weird liquid that makes up the filling.
Either way I could never manage more than one slice and the woman insisted upon gifting us a whole pie.
But when I walked downstairs into the living room I was faced with a very tall man with almost milk white skin. His straight shoulder length hair was a black color that shined from whatever oil was on it. The man wore a black tuxedo and had red sunglasses. He tapped on his knee as if listening to some music.
I faltered and ducked behind the wall leading to a bathroom.
My clothes; all I wore were dark grey sweatpants and a dark maroon hoodie with the words "if you don't think you shouldn't talk" a quote from the March Hare a character from the famous Alice in Wonderland. I looked like a hipster or something with how long, curly, and unkempt my hair was. I was going to embarrass my mom without even saying anything to our guest.
Quickly I ran back upstairs to my room. All I needed was seven minutes. And that was probably all I had.
I needed to quickly get dressed presentably, and pin up my hair.
I brushed my hair and flinched through the pain to speedily do a single braid at the back of my head. The braid was about four inches wide since I had thick hair and stopped at the middle of my back. I would have kept it short but I never bothered to recall to cut it. It was easier to snuggle and bury myself in it when the colder months came around and I couldn't keep my body warm irreguardless of where I was.
I stripped off my current clothes and tossed them into the dirty clothes bin in my room. It was empty since I washed some clothes yesterday.
I hastily put on a black shirt with a printed front that resembled a tuxedo and black pants. I put on my black and yellow Letterman jacket. I figured I could keep my socks since they didn't look or smell to bad. I had one minute left. Actually I had 50 seconds but that not the point. Time to race downstairs.
As my foot hit the last step I looked up and saw that our guest was staring at me. I tried not to feel embarrassed but it was hard. His gaze felt intense and I couldn't tell through his sunglasses. On that note who wears sunglasses inside? Was he still living in the 21st century or something?
Oh well it's not like I can talk. I'm the one with the old fashioned aesthetic. I collect phonographs, cassette tapes, old cameras. I watch anime from the 90s and early 2000s, the latest being before 2019. I watch old TV shows like Knight Rider, Small Wonder, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. I got made fun of for my taste in music. Although it's not my fault people like the noise that grinds on my ears they call rap music.
"Hello Anthony" his deep voice said interrupting my thoughts. I tore my eyes away from the clock on the wall to stare at that man, the one sizing me up as if I was hiding something. I wonder if he could tell if been working out secretly without telling mom.
"I am Hades Lord of the dead and underworld. As well as... Your father" he introduced standing up.
'Congratulations Anthony! You got your birthday present early' I thought internally.
I stared at him.
After he made his grand introduction I said something intelligent like "Run that by me again"
"I'm your father. The Greek Gods and monster are real. Since you're well past the limit of being a normal person--"
"Whoa whoa what do you mean by 'limit'? Are you saying normal isn't a thing now?" I interrupted.
Hades blinked and faltered, probably realizing he'd used the wrong choice of words. "...Not exactly. At least not by a typical human's standards and not for you-- at least not anymore"
Like any magical anime superhero about to be forced to save the world I patiently waited for him to make sense.
"I-- you're a demigod which gives you special powers via your godly parent. Most demigod get powers related to one or two of their parent's domain" he glanced at his wrist which I just now noticed had a watch on it. It looked expensive like the cost might cover enough for me to buy one complete series of blu-ray DVD anime.
"Your powers and abilities are noticeable all throughout your life but if you're lucky it doesn't become apparent until you're 12. You didn't not have luck in your favor and as such had to stay here in this territory designed to keep out monsters." Hades explained.
"Normally gods aren't allowed to interfere much with their children's lives but I have gotten myself a few minutes to explain a few things then summon someone to pick up where I leave off." He continued and stood up.
"I'm a little lost here," I started. I was all for the interesting superhero start off if you could call it that but I didn't see anything wrong with the world. Nothing strange had happened. Why did I suddenly need to go gallivanting off on a quest? Was it to protect my loved ones? Was it to learn to defend myself? I don't get it. "Is there some supernatural event that I'm missing because I've spent so much time in the 'mortal world?' What do you need me for?" I questioned.
"There is nothing wrong with having demigods available for quests and such. Besides it's time you grow up and make friends and take care of yourself" Hades seemed to grumble in disgust. "Oh for the love of fuck I sound like my Wife" he grimaced.
I didn't see what was wrong with that. Then I remembered his wife was Persephone and in Greek mythology, she was responsible for the change of seasons as her punishment for eating underworld food. She stayed here during summer and spring and was there during fall and winter.
"I can't have you master your powers here. You may end up accidentally killing someone close to you. Plus it's better you get adjusted to kids similar to you and your age. In any case the least I can do before leaving you to fend for yourself is teach you to summon a spirit and give you a weapon. There are no corpses here so I can't teach you to summon a undead soldier to fight for you"
"Yeah I don't think my mom will be too please about a skeleton suddenly being in her living room." I deadpanned.
"Anthony dinner is ready- oh I was worried that you two might end up in a fight since Anthony might be mad that you weren't there for us-- er-- him growing up, but I see you are getting along well," I looked up and saw my mom in the door way wiping her hands on her apron. She didn't seem to be aware that my father was the Greek Lord of the dead and riches. This only slightly unnerved me.
"My apologies Lenore, but it's time for Anthony to leave" he said gently turning to my mother and grabbing her shoulders. At first she blinked at him like she didn't understand. Her eyes welled up "I thought he be...! Be here with me longer..!" She started to cry. she brushed her glasses aside to wipe her green grey eyes in a futile effort to hide her tears. her familiar black curls falling on her shoulders and blocking my view of her face.
I flinched but a sudden thought dawned on me; 'what if I never see her again?' I found myself focusing on every detail, every memory of her; her warm smile, her habit of moving her reading glasses to give her eyes a break. how we used to always play in the garden when I was little. the floral dresses she wore to her business suits for work. I was going to miss it all.Her cooking, my falling asleep to her humming as she sewed dresses on the sewing machine. My mom worked as a seamstress so a lot of my clothes were made by her.
Why don't you prepare a send off bag and lunch for him?" Hades suggested effectively getting her to leave. Her eyes lit up she took great joy in sewing and pride knowing I was happy with what she made. She left.
"That buys us thirty minutes at the most" Hades said then snapped his attention to me. "Listen well you may need this information again. Normally you'd need food to summon a spirit but that is only temporary requires too much time.
"You've taught a child how to summon a spirit before?" No I disnt do it before but back then my son was friends with Percy Jackson and that was a less benevolent time for demigods"
My mind wandered. 'Percy Jackson??'
I recalled some elementary school tests where he and some other kids where up to what looked like shady business or terrorist attacks but it turned out to be nothing. Then again if lied about just right the entire Greek mythological world could sound like some weird mafia so I really couldn't be too surprised.
"Think about your end goals. You simply need a suitable guide to show you the ropes until you master it yourself" Hades instructed.
"O spirit I ask that you serve me as a guide until our contract is complete! Aide me Anthony Basil son of Hades!"
"That is not what I told you to say" Hades deadpanned as a faint circle of light glowed a few feet away from us.
"you told me a lot of instructions. bite me if I get a few things wrong because I forgot a couple of things" I muttered.
I closed my eyes in deep focus, a harsh wind blew me backward and a faint scent of the sea. I opened my eyes.
A silhouette of a middle aged man with messy hair and a mildly angry look on his face came into view.
"Ah not the spirit I expected to be summoned but he makes a good guide" Hades remarked with a shrug. I sighed but like my mother told me when I was little; "with great practice comes great perfection" Promptly two shining objects fell on the floor which I ignored.
I was too busy lamenting my situation. "I don't know how to feel about this. even when I'm dead I'm not done with you guys" the spirits voice rang through the room. "nice to see you too Percy"Hades quipped
I had unintentionally summoned Percy Jackson.
I blame my attention span. My thoughts were still on him and it botched the whole first attempt.
