The Discovery

No high school kid would have ever been able to imagine what was to come in the following day. The twins and their father stepped out of the plane onto the runway of the airport. They gathered their luggage and began to walk toward the area where they could get a cab. The family was chatting away and they were all excited to have a nice relaxing week in Athens, Greece. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot, and there was an amazing breeze that brought with it the salty scent of the sea. The sea birds were flying all around, when Polly noticed it.

"Look at that bird," she said. "It looks like a flying horse."

Her dad quickly looked up and saw the one she was talking about but said, "Maybe you're just jet-lagged because that is definitely just a sea bird."

He walked along, ahead of the twins, but Arty turned to his sister and they shared a look that said he had seen it too.

Image source: A flying horse, Fandom

After they got to their hotel, the twins decided to go exploring around the area. They walked along a winding road that was near a cliff overlooking the lake. This was where things started getting weird. They passed their teacher, Mr. Pose. While it wasn't the weirdest thing in the world to run into their teacher outside of school, even in the distance they could sense something was off. As he walked closer the twins tried to avoid eye contact but he stared at them as they passed by.

"What on earth is he doing here?" wondered Arty. As they kept walking around they both discussed how they couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them.

As they reached the top of the cliff, they were looking into the sunset, and again they noticed another one of the strange bird-like creatures flying around. "I know I'm not imagining this," said Arty. Polly agreed, and as they were about to turn back one landed just a few yards in front of them. It was definitely a horse with wings, but, it was small like a bird.

"Is that a pegasus?" said Polly. More of the horse-like things began to land around them, seemingly to encapsulate them and force them towards the edge of the cliff. Now they were starting to get nervous. This was very weird and there were hundreds of these things. They noticed Mr. Pose standing behind one of the creatures and they started to get really nervous. The creatures along with Mr. Pose were backing them to the edge of the cliff. Their hearts were racing as they tried to contemplate what the next move should be.

Just then, a large owl swooped down from out of no where and grabbed the twins. They screamed. As it flew along, it didn't seem to be a threat though. It appeared even that it was their rescuer from the attack of the horse creatures and Mr. Pose that happened just before. This owl was the largest owl they had ever encountered and it was able to hold each of them in either of its talons.

Image source: A great horned owl, OwlCation.com

They neared a large, hidden cave on the side of the cliff and the owl placed them on their feet just outside. The owl entered the cave, and the twins decided that this was probably the owl's home. They followed the owl into the cave, as their curiosity got the best of them and they were hoping to find some answers to this weird scenario.

When they entered the cave, however, there was no owl to be found. Instead, in front of the twins stood a woman dressed in all white. It appeared as though she was gleaming. They all stood in silence for a few minutes before Polly broke the silence.

"Are you like a god or something? What is going on?" asked Polly.

"Yes," the woman said. "I am your mother, Athena. And we have a problem that I need your help with."

The twins had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

Author's note: So far, Percy Jackson and Harry Potter are the inspiration for my storybook, in addition to the story of Athena and Poseidon in Greek Mythology. I really like the concept of "muggles" and "the mist" from these two books, meaning that there is a world going on outside of the mythical one and only those involved in the mythical world can see both. This is what is going on in my story and it is foreshadowing to the fact that Polly and Arty are demigods and they can see things that are shaded to their father. This is going to eventually lead into the fact that for the twins safety, the father had to have his memory wiped and cannot remember Athena. I think this is a great way to incorporate a mythology story into a modern-day situation. I like the connection and rivalry between Athena and Poseidon in Greek mythology, especially around Athens. I plan to make their teacher, Mr. Pose, actually be Poseidon, who is trying to get revenge on Athena for winning the city of Athens. Polly and Arty will have to work together with their mother to try and stop what Mr. Pose plans to do to Athens.

Bibliography:

Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The Foundation of Athens