Athens

Five months passed. News of a man with the power to shake the ground beneath him and a little boy spread throughout all of Greece. Reaching the ears of even the Persians. Especially the Persians.

Their forces were being wiped out. Steadily, their forces which numbered in the three-hundred thousand was now down to only two-hundred thousand.

" Hey, did you hear?"

" Hear what?"

" The Ghost of Sparta was seen heading this way. Do you think he's here already?"

" I don't know. I haven't felt the ground shaking or anything. So, maybe not."

As Theseus and I walked through the streets of Athens. Our faces hidden underneath the white robes we wore. Over the past five months, Theseus and I have been journeying across Greece. Spending our time training and fighting the Persians. Theseus, who had been a skeleton when I first met him, now had a pretty decent build for a child his age. He catches on fast.

* Grwwwl.

" Hahaha. If you were hungry, you should have said something." I told the boy after hearing his stomach rumbling.

" I didn't want to waste any time. I know we're on a mission." Theseus replied.

I shook my head and patted the boy on his.

" You are still young and growing. You need food if you want to grow up to be big and strong. And I told you to tell me whenever you got hungry." I spoke. I was gentle with the boy, much more so than I was with my own son. He wasn't a Spartan, and I could not force that lifestyle on him. If anything, I want him to grow up happy and be able to experience everything the world has to offer him.

I grabbed his wrist and walked with him over to one of the food stalls in the city.

" Let me get a barrel of apples please." I told the fruit vendor. I reached into my robe and pulled out a bag of Drachmae and placed it on the man's counter.

He grinned widely and immediately got to work on filling up a barrel for me.

Once he was finished, I grabbed it off the counter and took four apples out. Two for me and two for Theseus. There wasn't much to get that was prepared right now, and I didn't have the means to make him a full meal. If we happen upon a wheat or maybe a fish stand, I could make him a more filling meal. But for now, this is the best we got.

" Thank you." Theseus spoke as he munched on his apple.

" What did I tell you about speaking with food in your mouth?" I asked the boy. My eyes staring at him menacingly as threat.

" Waaaaaaah! Sorry!" He exclaimed in terror.

I smiled at the boy softly and patted him on the head again.

" Just remember next time. Come on, I'm sure you're tired of walking. And I'd like a place to rest as well." I spoke. Theseus nodded and we began searching through the city for a place to sit and rest our feet from our far travel.

Theseus and I eventually settled on a bench in the center of the city.

I placed down the barrel of apples and began eating. When a flyer blew past me. Theseus grabbed the piece of parchment and began reading it.

" In honor of the great Apollo, we celebrate Pyanopsia. Oh, it's a festival offering for Apollo!" Theseus exclaimed.

" I didn't know he had a festival." I replied.

Theseus looked at me in shock. " What? You've never celebrated Pyanopsia?" He asked.

I shook my head and he jumped to his feet.

" You make an offering to Apollo, and you're supposed to gain his blessing. It's like a trade of sorts. An offering of respect and he blesses you for a whole year." He explained. His eyes shining brightly as he did.

" Well, that's good for him then." I replied.

Theseus seemed to be a little upset by my response. If I'm guessing correctly, he probably wanted to join the festival. Thinking about it, we haven't done much of anything other than traveling and me fighting. I guess one night couldn't be so bad.

" Do you wanna go to the acropolis?" I asked the boy.

Thesus jumped up, surprising me.

" Can we?! Can we really?!" Theseus asked

I shook my head in disbelief.

" Yes, I think we've earned a day off after such a long journey. And we are in Athens. it would be a shame not to experience the good old Athenian courtesy. We'll rest for now, and later on before night falls, we will go to the acropolis." I told the boy.

" Yes! Let's go!" He shouted. He excitedly sat back down and started munching on his apples again.

I watched him as he grinned, his eager anticipation made me laugh a little. The boy looked up at me and laughed.

His joy reminded me of the time I spent with my own son. So.....

" Thank you." The boy spoke with a mouthful of bits and pieces of his apple.

My smile vanished and my face turned angry. I reached down and grabbed the boy by his scruff.

" What did I tell you about talking with your mouthful?" I asked.

" SORRRRRRYYYYYYYY!"

XxX

On the shores of Greece miles and miles away from Athens and the Acropolis, Polyphemus rose from the water his eye set intently on the Prytaneum, ancient shrine to the goddess Hestia.

" Time to learn a lesson little, Hestia. No one challenges father and gets away with it unscathed. He can't touch you. But I can touch them." Polyphemus spoke, he raised his giant club and started walking towards the shrine.