Perseus Story

I have loved my brother all my life. We are practically the same being, created from the same egg, developed in the womb at the same time, and were born the same day. I was a few seconds older, but he didn't mind. When our grandfather instructed that Orion was to be the fate of us all, to woo the fallen star…I was at first angry and jealous. I had wanted to risk my all for my family, to protect our kingdom, to marry a beautiful maiden. I had followed Orion to his lessons, learned everything he had to learn. I had the right to, I mean I was the same person as he was! We had different hair, different eyes, and different abilities…but we were the same person.

Anyway, I had tried to keep my brother protected, he was so fragile…so innocent. And when we were 19, I was willing to jump down to earth to woo the Astra; only Orion was tossed before I could say my piece. I watched each day, as my brother's life progressed, and each day I wanted to call down to him and warn him about Cornelio. Each day I bit my fingers and tossed thunder at the suspense of Cornelio's evil plan. And when it finally unraveled…I called my father as fast as I could. And it wasn't too late; my father pulled Orion up from his physical body, the moment the arrow hit, causing minimal damage to his celestial being.

When I saw my brother on his sick bed, my mother tending to his wounds…. I was devastated. I went to my father, begging him to give me something to help. And just as my father turned to refuse, one of the Whisps arrived with news that one of Jud's messengers was still on earth, and had gone to Athens and wreaked havoc. I begged my father to let me go, and finally, he agreed. He told me that the messenger informed the King and Queen that they had to sacrifice their daughter to appease the gods.

"But why would the 'gods' be angry?" I asked my father.

"The messenger said that the gods were angry that they had to take Artemis back to Olympia." My father informed. I was about to ask why he didn't ask Orion to do the deed, then it struck me that even if he wanted to, Orion was in no condition to leave the palace. He was isolated, inward and quiet. It had been more than twenty times that I saw him sneak into Grandfather Espilion's study to talk to the Astra's soul. As strange as it was, he still thought she could hear him. I was the only one able and ready to do this job. But instead of being excited and powerful, like I would have been, I was scared.

"I'll go father," I said softly, and my father nodded, he gave me a horse named Pegasus to take me down to earth, and gave the horse wings. It was a beautiful warhorse that my father had raised from an infant. "Take care of Perseus," My father said the horse. And handing me the reins…he said to me, "Take care son." And I was on my way.

I jumped on Pegasus and flew down to earth, landing a few miles out of the city. Pegasus withdrew his wings and trotted into the town. When we entered the gates, the city was in turmoil. Fire was licking at a near by inn and a woman and children were crying and screaming. I jumped off of Pegasus and ran into the flames; it was all too late that I remembered I didn't have any of my god like powers. I was burned from the flames, but the sounds of the woman and children in the top room screaming edged me on. When I finally got to the room, I knocked down the door to find in the flames, a woman holding two passed out children. Her veil covered her ivory face as she looked up to me in shock.

"Don't worry I've come to help you!" I called over the crackling of the flames. The woman stood quickly and ran to me, the infant strapped to her chest and the toddler held tightly in her arms. Closer now, I noted that the woman was too young to be the mother of the two children. I was about to ask, when a falling beam fell behind me, blocking the exit. The woman screamed. I looked around quickly, flames licking my feet, and saw the window. "Come with me!" I said quickly and took the woman's hand in mine and dragged her to the window. I took her tightly in my arms, holding the two children close to me and sandwiched between us, and jumped out the window. As we fell from the falling building, I called to my father and begged him to help me land safely from the two floor window. And to my astonishment…I landed on my feet like a cat, the woman in my arms and the children safe.

"He's our Hero!" an elderly woman cried from the crowd that had gathered. Pegasus trotted over to me and looked to the infants. The baby's mother ran from the crowed and took the baby from the woman in my arms.

"Thank you! Thank you!" she cried. I let the woman from the fire down and she in turn put the toddler down. He woke up and instantly ran to his father a few feet away. The woman pulled her burned veil from her face and her white blond hair tumbled from her head, and her black eyes looked angry up at me. I was shocked when she stepped toward me and slapped me.

"Why did you do that!" she cried. I was frankly…rather confused, but was finding it hard to breathe. Her rouged lips spoke, but I heard no words, her ivory skin reflected the flawlessness of her complexion, and her raven eyes flooded me with darkness. I was in love. "Answer me you louse!" she called out to me, waking me from my trance. "Why did you save me!"

"I thought you wanted to be saved…you ran to me when in there…" I pointed to the now dyeing flames. "Was that not what you wanted?"

"No! I wanted to die! I went to give you the children! Why else would someone like me jump into the flames to save children!"

"You were going to commit suicide when two infant's lives were at stake!" I cried. "What kind of girl are you!" I practically shouted into her face.

"You watch what you say young man!" the toddlers father said in anger. "You have no right to say that!"

"Why she risked you son's life!"

"Do you know whom you're talking to?" the woman asked as she placed her dainty hands on her hips. I in turn crossed my arms and smiled smugly.

"No, please tell me"

"You're speaking to Andromeda…princess of Athens!" the infant's mother said as she fell to her knees in front to Andromeda. She kissed the princesses feet and thanked her. Andromeda only knelt to the woman's level and kissed the infant's head.

"It's alright, I've got less time on this earth then you…Live your life well." She said and handed the woman the amulet around her neck. "Trade this for money for food. Your child looks like skin and bones." And with that, I watched in amazement as she stood and took her belt from her waist and broke it to the small ringlets it was originally built as and handed each ringlet to the man and his son. "You too," I watched in shock as she then took off her ring and handed it to the elderly woman. "Live on my people, though I'm not with you, keep Athens alive." And she jumped onto the black horse with golden armor and rode off to the palace on the top of the hill. I shook my head and watched the crowd start to sob as she left. I walked to one of them and asked.

"Why are you so sad?"

"She is to be sacrificed at the end of the week…" the elderly woman said. I was mortified. The princess was to be sacrificed to the beast? I then remembered that was exactly the story my father had told me; the whole fire event caused me to forget the reason I was down on earth. I couldn't listen to the rest of the story; I jumped onto Pegasus and rode quickly after her. I found her riding quickly on her horse down the roads to the shore town of Peireaias. I was tempted to command Pegasus to sprout his wings, but my father told me to restrain from that action. She soon disappeared on the trail. I quickened Pegasus, but we were to slow. Pegasus didn't need me to tell him, he quickly jumped up, sprouted his wings and felt above the earth to find her.

I finally found her on the outskirts of the town on one of the remote beaches. She was standing beside the water, the waves crashing against her legs. She pulled her skirt up and slowly started into the water. I watched as she walked in, and it was then I noticed the weights on her ankles. She was waist deep in water when I reached the beach. By the time I was in the water, she was shoulder deep. I quickly swam in after her and got to her moments after her head sank below the waves. I took her in my arms and pulled her to the surface of the water. I had no idea how and why these Greek women felt the need to drown themselves with weights about their ankles. Just as the Astra did.

Andromeda choked and coughed up water as I swam back to shore, and when finally my foot landed on the damp sand, and gently tossed her to the beach beside me. She lay on her back coughing as I kneeled besides her breathing heavily. She turned on her side and looked up at me, a mix of anger and thanks filled her beautiful eyes.

"Why are you so stupid?" I asked breathless. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and quickly lifted her hand to strike me. But before her hand hit my cheek I caught her wrist in my grasp. I made sure to be gentle with her; she seemed so fragile, as if she could break with little effort. She sat and looked at me amazed for a moment, silence only being interrupted by the crashing waves beside us. She opened her mouth to speak, stutters escaping her lips.

"You… you again!" she said, she ripped her hand from mine and looked me in the eyes. Regretfully she gained her senses again and she angrily started shouting. "You're just a fool; can't you tell when someone doesn't want to be saved?"

"Why are you being sacrificed?" I asked, I couldn't see why, this woman, this beautiful woman, the sole heir to the throne…would have to be sacrificed. What was Jud thinking! Why kill her? This woman…whom I had fallen practically head over heels for in just one glance.

"You are rather blunt,"

"Tell me"

"Goddess Artemis was taken back to Mt. Olympus. And now the Gods are angry." It was the same reason my father gave me. But I couldn't understand how this girl could believe it…and be so calm and willing to die.

"Why aren't you doing anything about this?" I asked her.

"About what?"

"You being sacrificed!"

"What do you expect me to do?" was her response. She slowly stood, her tunic falling strait from the heavy dampness from the sea. She started to take the weights off of her ankles, tossing them into the water. "I'm a woman in a world where men rule everything, even me. How can I do anything to prevent what the gods and my father commands?" she said. She looked down at me with amazement that I didn't know such knowledge. But I'm a deity that follows my mother's rules; my father listens to my mother over his father whenever possible. I've grown up to the idea that women were equal to men on all counts…and this girl was telling me otherwise.

"Just disobey." I said simply as I stood to join her. She only looked at me as if I was mad and scoffed.

"Well you obviously don't know how it feels to be a woman." She stated and started for her horse. I couldn't help but smile, she was amazing. "And now because of you…I don't think I'll ever go swimming again. That was terrifying," I laughed as she jumped onto her horse.

"Then you better watch out for the reflection pools in the temples." I said as I too jumped onto Pegasus. She looked at me as if the furies were flying from her eyes. I laughed, ducking as she tossed one of her sandals at me.

"You louse!" she cried out, only to kick her horse and ride off back to Athens. Pegusus and I just sat there in amused awe, only to realize we once again lost this suicidal princess in our foolishness. Pegasus quickly dawned his wings and we flew in the air and tracked her and her strong war horse back to her palace, and we were glad to know that she did indeed arrive at home safly. That way at least her parents would protect her…but then I remembered, her parents were the ones that were going to sacrifice her next month to begin with. And I had to do something about it….I had to stop it.

I followed my heart and foolishly went to the palace and asked for work. I started in the stables, where each day at noon Andromeda would come out of the palace to ride that large war horse of hers, and each day I would be asked to ride with her. She requested that I remained miles behind, so no one saw her riding with a peasant stable hand. I agreed, using Pegausus to my advantage and would fly high and make sure she wasn't going off to kill herself. She was being good about it, instead of going off to kill herself; she went off to help the peasants that lived in the town below her hilly palace.

The more I rode with her, the more I realized just how beautiful she was, and not her physical beauty. She was kind to others, she thought of every one other then herself, she even helped a laboring peasent give birth; she was always in the right place at the rigt time, and as far as I could see, I didn't know why any one would let her get in dangers way. Slowly she let me ride closer to her, until I would be riding beside her talking with her and enjoying each others company. Soon, we became to close. I went out to the stable to find her waiting for me, only it was late in the night and the moon was high in the sky. She was leaning against the stall wall, a sad expression on her beautiful face. We had become close enough that when I saw her saddened face, I was able to wrap my arms around her, and she folded in my arms.

"Andromeda…beautiful, what's wrong?" I asked as she softly started to cry. She wiped her tears away and looked up at me, the tears soon being replaced by newer ones.

"Perseus…next week…" she choked. I had no idea what she was saying. "Next week I'm to be sacrificed." The words struck me like a knife, in the next week…she would be gone…I couldn't let that happen.

"No, I wont let them," I said, I held her close, kissing the top of her head. I wasn't going to lose her. I was surprised just how quickly my mission to protect this girl had turned into me being completely head over heals for this girl, and now she was going to be taken away from me?

"There's nothing you can do." She sighed against my chest.

"I'll do something any way."

"What can you do, it's not like you're a god," she said softly as she embraced me. I bit my lip, I was a god, I was able to do something. I could contact my father and ask him to convince the king to change his mind. But knowing my father, he would have tried that, and there would have been no other reason to send me down here if he hadn't already tried and failed. My mind was reeling; I had to think of something. And strange how quickly it struck me.

"Run away with me,"