MEET HELEN

I grabbed my bag from my locker and headed over to room 321. History with Mr. Chiron was the last period I had, and I really liked my teacher. He was probably the only history teacher who took his class on a field trip, something that's nonexistent here. I was about to enter the room when I heard Julien's voice.

"One of the Furies attacked him! He must be the one!"

"No, we can't jump to conclusions." It was Mr. Chiron's voice. "Hades has not yet claimed his son. Besides, Yiannis still is blind to the truth. Monsters won't come to him as long as he remains that way. Let him enjoy his ignorance for now. What matters is that we safely escort him to our school." School? What kind of school?

"Yes, but Hades already suspects him as it is! We need to do something!" Julien protested. Chiron waved his hand. "Yes, but you're keeping an eye on him, are you not? You know what you must do, correct?" Julien nodded. "Yes, well... Yiannis actually has a little sister." Chiron raised an eyebrow. "I am aware. What of it?"

"She's crippled, Chiron. If a fury comes after her, I doubt she'll be able to defend herself." He balled his fists. "I... I won't forgive myself if I let Yiannis down like that." Chiron nodded. "I see. Has the girl been attacked?" Julien shook his head, smiling. "No. Yiannis is very protective of her. I called him yesterday, and he said she was sleeping." Chiron nodded. "I suppose we can let Yiannis take care of his sister, then. By the way, you said the Fury had Yiannis cornered. How did Yiannis come out alive with no weapon to defend himself?"

"I have no clue. Dracaena blocked the doors, and by the time I dealt with them, Yiannis had somehow taken care of the Fury. However, he thought the Fury was a terrorist, although he did say he saw a monster."

"So, he's conflicted about it?" Chiron asked. Julien nodded. "Yes."

"Very well. If another monster comes after either Yiannis or his sister, I want you to escort them to DGA immediately. At the moment, you should be concerned about my exam." Julien sighed. "Don't remind me."

History exams were pretty easy, at least for me. I didn't have to study for them, but I usually wing all my tests. What worried me was the conversation Julien and Mr. Chiron had. They discussed DGA, which I'm guessing was some school. Also, now that I know Mr. Chiron acknowledges that the Greek myths are real, I can confidently say he's not your average teacher. Chiron was a centaur who taught heroes back then, and I'm betting my history teacher was that centaur. What truly bothered me was when Julien brought up my sister. I hate to admit it, but I never thought of the scenario of my sister getting pounced on by monsters. Everything would be pointless if she died. I can't protect her at all times since I had planned to overthrow the gods. But maybe Julien could.

"Jeez, Yiannis, can't you buy from Michel's or Ned's for once?"

"No, Julien, I can't. I get that the line for Jay's is long, but his nachos are good. Ned's and Michel's sell the same thing, but Michel is too far away. As for Ned's, there's also a long line there. It's farther than Jay's as well."

"Don't you think you're wasting too much money? You spend five to six dollars every day." I shrugged. "But it's good food. I bought you nachos too, so why are you complaining? More importantly, do you want to drop by my place? Helen would be overjoyed."

"I was just about to ask that. A weird coincidence, huh?" I nodded. "Yep. I'm going to pick up Helen from school. She should be waiting for us by now."

"Then hurry up. Yiannis, you're such a slow eater."

"I like to savor my food, ok? I'll just eat it on the train." I grabbed my bag, and the two of us went on our way.

Helen went to IS 78, not far from our apartment on 11th St. She transferred there last week, which was very convenient. It was on my route home, so I usually got home at the same time after picking her up as I did when I didn't pick her up.

Julien spotted Helen before I did. My little sister's face beamed when she saw us. Unfortunately, those jerks she mentioned needed more lunch money.

A boy pushed her. "Missed us?" He was obese, with three chins and a belly that stuck out of his shirt. "You see, darling, we need more money."

"And maybe your body," another boy laughed. The two grabbed Helen with their ugly friends. Before they could do anything, Julien and I were already on them.

I punched the obese boy in the face. His chins rippled as he fell to the floor with a loud thud, making me wonder if he made a crack on the ground. Meanwhile, Julien had another boy pinned to the ground. I glared at the fat boy. "Let me be clear. That's my sister you've assaulted." I snapped my fingers, and time stopped around everyone near except for the boy and me. I took out my scythe and put the blade on his neck. "If my sister tells me you've been harassing her again, it won't end well for you and your ugly friends. Got that?" The boy tried to call on his friends for help, but they didn't respond. They were frozen in place. The boy's eyes were wide with fear, although he tried to hide it. "Screw you! You're gonna regret this!" He was acting tough. So that's how it's going to be. I cut his right arm off. Now he was squealing like a baby. I pressed my scythe harder on his neck. "If you keep treating my little sister like this, you'll regret it. Leave her alone and give her lunch money back, or I'll give your friends your head as a present." The boy nodded and ran away from me as fast as he could, although he was pretty slow. I repeated the process and let time flow again after all the boys who went after my sister ran away without an arm.

Julien scratched his head. "What - Where'd those boys go?" I shrugged. "Who knows? Guess they ran away after we came. They apparently only group up on defenseless girls." Helen hugged me. "It's over now, little sis. They'll leave you alone from now on." Julien cocked his head. "Am I missing something here? They left just like that?" I nodded. "Yep. Just like that. I don't get why you care so much, since them leaving is a good thing. Anyways, Helen wants to talk to you." My little sister took Julien's hand. "It's been a long time, Julien. I missed you." Julien smiled. "Yeah. It's nice to see you're doing well."

"That's because my big brother takes good care of me!"

"Yeah, I know. Yiannis is very overprotective." My sister noticed the bag I was carrying. "Yiannis, did you go shopping?"

"Yeah. I bought a few wigs at Andrew DiSimone."

"What for?"

"Um, drama club. I'm thinking about joining."

"Yiannis, you don't need a wig to be in drama club," Julien said. "Yeah, but there's a play going on, so if I get in, I'm pretty sure I'll need a wig." I know it's not really the best excuse, but I couldn't think of anything else. Based on the conversation I eavesdropped on, Julien may be a demigod and someone who works for the gods as one of their lackeys. It's likely why he's in cahoots with Chiron, someone the gods entrusted to train their heroes. I already know that he's been told to watch Helen and me like a hawk. The last thing I need is to arouse his suspicions. "Anyway, you two, we should head back home." I held Helen's hand as the three of us walked our way home.

I leaned on the wall as Helen covered herself with a blanket. "Did you enjoy Julien's company?" Helen nodded. "He's such a nice boy."

"Yeah, a little too nice. So, what do you think of Julien?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm asking how you feel about him, Helen."

"I absolutely adore Julien." This came as a shock to me. I knew she really liked him, but...

"Really? You like him that much?" Helen nodded. "But don't worry. I love you more than anything, Yiannis." I blushed. "I appreciate that, Helen. Well, good night."

"Good night, Yiannis."

Julien was waiting for me in the kitchen, sitting at the table. I sat across from him. "So, what'd you want to talk about?" Julien's fingers were intertwined, which made him look like a business magnate who wanted to discuss how to advertise their new product. "I know you're not going to believe me, but hear me out," he sighed.

"I'm listening." Is he suspicious of me?

"Yiannis, you know all those Greek myths?" I nodded. "What about them?"

"Well, the truth is they're not myths. They're real." I feigned shock. "Come on," I laughed. "Medusa, Zeus, Hercules existed at some point? Don't be ridiculous. That's not scientific." Julien shook his head. "But they exist. Remember that old hag?"

"Yes."

"She's one of the Furies, one of Hades's personal minions." I nodded. "They punish anyone who led an immoral life, right?" Julien nodded. "So why did one come after me? I didn't offend the gods, at least I hope so."

"Yiannis, you see, something was stolen."

"Stolen?"

"Yes, stolen. Zeus's lightning bolt is missing." I giggled. "His what?"

"This isn't funny! Zeus's master bolt is the most powerful weapon in existence!"

"Keep it down," I whispered. "Helen's sleeping." Julien apologized. "More importantly, Zeus's bolt is missing, Yiannis."

"How'd it get stolen?"

"I don't know. The gods have no security measures, so it's honestly not surprising that they got robbed."

"Do you have any leads so far?" Julien nodded. "The dracaena in the museum. I could've sworn they dropped something." My heart skipped a beat. Did he see the bookbag? "So, what'd you see?"

"I'm pretty sure they dropped something black, but I can't remember anything else." The suspense was killing me. Whew. Thank God he doesn't know about the bookbag. "Did you look for it later?" Julien nodded. "I looked all over the place, but it was gone ."

"I see. So all the greek myths are real, huh? Julien, can you promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"Please look out for Helen whenever you can. If what you say is true, monsters will come after her as well."

"Yiannis, I-"

"Please, Julien. I need you. I can't protect Helen on my own."

"You really love her, don't you?"

"Of course. Helen means everything to me. She's all I have left."

"Alright, I promise. You know you didn't need to go this far." I smiled. "Yeah, I know. But it's more comforting now that I have your word on it. You should leave. It's getting late."

"Yeah, you're right." Julien put on his coat. "See you at school tomorrow." I waved to him as he walked out the door.

I looked out the window to see where he was going. When I was sure that he was going home, I put on a red wig and the green contacts I got from Julien. It wouldn't do if Ares saw what I really looked like.

I wasn't hungry, so I ordered a slice of pizza and sat at a table near the windows. I have to say, the gods are pretty quick. It only took three minutes for Ares to show up. The war god was pretty buff, with pecs bigger than my head. His red mohawk reminded me of a rooster. Two knives were strapped on his belt, and a sword hung on his back. What gave him away were his eyes. Where his eyeballs should be were red flames. When I looked at them, I saw images of war, of heroes leading their side to victory. I guess that's what gave me away. I'm assuming I was the only one who saw his sword or his eyes because I heard whispers about how the "large man" had really cool sunglasses and a rifle. As Ares sat next to me, a waiter came by and handed me my pizza. "May I get your order?" She asked Ares. Ares gave the waiter what looked to be golden coins. "Um, sir, you can't pay with..." Ares tossed his knife in the air. "Got a problem, sweetheart?" The woman gulped, shook her head, and walked away.

"So, you're Ares."

"And you're the messenger that Titan sent. Sam, right?" I nodded. "That's me. I have the items you requested." I handed him the black bookbag. Ares looked inside it and grinned. "Do you know how bad war between the gods will be, kid?"

"I do. Which I why I have to ask, why exactly are you helping me?"

"I'm the god of war, kid. I live to fight. But ever since the second world war and the EU, nothing of note has happened. The world has become stale and boring. That's going to change."

"Indeed. I'm guessing you know what to do next, Ares."

"Yes, don't worry. Once Hades claims his child, I need to make sure they're dead."

"Do you have the replica on you?" Ares took out a toy lightning bolt from his pocket, as well as a trident. "Yep. I have to say I'm impressed. Those Cyclops made a copy in a mere two days. Oh, and I have Poseidon's trident on me as well." I got up from the table. "Good. Very soon, war will break out, and the world will be interesting again."