37 GETTING STARTED

"so you mean this Hades guy stole that goddess of harvest's daughter?, What's her name again?, The girl who was stolen?", Ethan asked Kirk. School had just ended and Ethan was traveling the corridors with Kirk. Ethan had taken opportunity of the short walk to the school gates to ask kirk just who the greek god, Hades was. "That will be Persephone. And yes,she was abducted by Hades. You have to understand that Hades was all alone in his underworld castle. He shared the place with only the souls of dead people. He punished and tortured these souls for the gods. I like to think that he stole Persephone out of loneliness. Or it could be the other famous reason; he's a mad vengeful god who just wanted to do something to hurt the gods." Kirk concluded. Ethan shook his head. Was this the person who had killed the other 'protectors' as Hermes called them? Ethan wondered. Hermes better teach him something really good else he'll be forced to go back on his promise. Sure,power was good but he still liked living. What was the point of having power if you're going to have a target on your back for the rest of your life? He would rather prefer living his simple life.

The duo had finally made it to the school entrance and it was time for Kirk to leave. Kirk would be leaving in another direction to his house and Ethan would be leaving in the other. "So bro..why are you not doing detention today?, I would have asked you earlier but you seemed pretty interested with Hades.", Kirk decided to ask now that Ethan was silent. "Oh..about that. Mr.Andrews gave me the rest of the month off.", Ethan answered Kirk with little thought. "Really?, Why would he do that?", Kirk asked with slight disbelief. It wasn't that he wasn't happy Ethan was finally free. It was just that he never imagined Mr.Andrews to be the kind to just up and forgive a troublesome student like Ethan without reason. If Mr.Andrews had really forgiven Ethan,then he must have one huge reason for it or maybe even multiple reasons for doing so.

"He never really told. He just said he believed I had learnt my lesson and wouldn't ever repeat my actions again." Ethan shrugged as he said this. "Maybe it was all the scrubbing and mopping he made me do with Mr.Twist. maybe it changed his mind or maybe he was worried I was gonna report him for child labor or something so he let me off early. I don't really know." Ethan concluded. "Huh...he made you scrub and mop?", Kirk asked in surprise. Ethan hadn't told him what Mr.Andrews had made him do the previous week so this was news to him. "Yup", Ethan answered simply. "That is crazy...why didn't you report to someone.", Kirk asked. "It never crossed my mind to. Plus I was worried I was gonna make things worse if I went to the principal. Truth be told, my mind wasn't in the best of conditions during and after each session with Mr.Twist. I'm not really surprised it failed to give me a solution to my bullying trouble." Ethan answered Kirk truthfully.

"Well, I'm just glad you're free now bro. The life of a free man is worth the universe. Gotta go now man. See you tomorrow Ethan." Kirk said and fist bumped Ethan. "Stay safe bro. Don't get bitten by those crazies around town." Ethan told his friend as he turned to head to Hermes's house. "Don't worry bro.. I have protection.", Kirk said with a smile over his shoulder whiles still moving. 'Protection? what the hell does he mean by that?' Ethan asked himself but said nothing as he quickened his steps in the direction of town and Hermes's house.

The house Infront of Ethan was normal in appearance. It was a two storey house with a front balcony at the top that allowed the owner to see everything for a mile or two. At the front of the house was a well made garden that had different kinds of flowers. Ethan could tell that it was carefully maintained by a paid professional,no doubt. What had made Ethan stop though was the size of the house. Even though it wasn't overly big, it wasn't small either. Far from it. The house was still a little on the big side. Ethan could tell from just looking at the house that it must have cost a pretty penny for Hermes to call it his. He hadn't taken the time to properly inspect the house the previous day. Besides it had been night and his head had been filled with a lot of things. He couldn't even remember what Hermes' house looked like from the inside.Was Hermes that rich? Ethan asked himself. Probably, since he had lived for thousands of years. He had gotten enough time to gather his fortune. Ethan concluded. 'no wonder be didn't bat an eye at my measly salary when I mentioned it', Ethan thought as he moved forward. He made his way through the small garden,his nose filled with the sweet scents of the different flowers all the way to the front door. He rung the bell that was beside the door and waited. A few seconds later and the door was opened by Hermes himself.

"Come in...we have a lot to do today. Did you resign from your job as I asked?", Hermes asked the boy who was looking around the house as if his first day there whiles he was being led by Hermes through the house. "Yh..I did. But anytime I have any free time I'll go help around a little. I still have friends there I'll like to see and talk to from time to time." Ethan told the man. Hermes nodded as he heard the boy say this. "Of course. I'm not going to stop you from mingling with your friends. Companionship is almost as important as power. You'll need all the help you can get if you hope to survive what's to come.", Hermes replied. They had gone past the hall, through a door that led to a small personal library complete with three round tables and several chairs. Hermes took out a book from one of the shelves and pressed something behind the shelf. The shelf rumbled a little and slowly turned inwards halfway. A man sized gap that looked to lead into a much smaller room showed where the other half of the shelf had occupied. Ethan watched all this in silent fascination. Hermes looked at the boys face and felt proud of the reaction he had caused in the boy.

Hermes stepped through the gap with Ethan right behind him. The moment they had stepped past the shelf's space and into the small room,the shelf rumbled back to life and shut behind them. Leaving the two In darkness. This did not last though as immediately the shelf closed behind them,light flooded the small space from above and even below?..Ethan observed that there was a staircase that led down under the house and that the light that was coming from the floor was coming from the side of the walls that was sloping down under the house along with the stairs. Ethan figured that these small lights were there to light the way to wherever these stairs led. Ethan followed behind Hermes who led him down the stairs and into a large underground chamber that had been designed like a dojo, complete with all sorts of training equipment. The only different thing with this place was all the different weapons mounted on the side of the walls and in special glass cases. There were also all sorts of accessory items like chains,rings, bracelets among others. These were also in special glass cases. Then there were the armours. These armos were in different types like light,heavy and were quite fancy. A few of these armors were even sparkling as if made from crystals. Ethan was breathtaken at the sight Infront of him. "Welcome to my personal training hall. This is where you'll learn to fight and where you will learn to unlock and use your power. There's no time to lose. Let's start with our training." Hermes said to a stunned Ethan.