“Here it is, my place of Zen. I present to you my kingdom!” Theodore said.

Jason had to admit that for an all immortal, incredibly powerful, god Theodore was the strangest one he had ever heard of. His name even sounded strange. Names tended to show power as far as the Greeks were concerned. Names like Poseidon and Zeus demonstrated that they belonged to powerful beings but Theodore, come on. Theodore was something a nine year old girl would use to describe one of her fluffy teddy bear guests at a toy tea party. Jason could almost imagine that in his head.

“Ms. Sally, you get the biscuits from the kitchen and Theodore, honey, go help her with the plates.” The nine year old would say; moving her toys around through the imaginary kitchen.

If Jason thought the name Theodore was weird though, he knew that the person (or god) himself was a thousand times worse. Theodore was buff and medium heighted. He had long legs and ripped muscles. His eyes were a fresh sort of light brown and he smiled pleasantly at Jason. He would have been the Mr. Perfect as far as girls were concerned if his nose wasn’t bent at a certain angle and his clothes weren’t all strange. For a super buff guy with perfect skin and a nice chiseled face, his clothes and his personality ruined everything.

Then again Jason didn’t look so good himself. He was in some night clothes. His blond hair was smudged in to a corner, not its normal straight self. His brown eyes were tinged with red. He hadn’t slept in a while. He looked down at his stomach and thought that he was getting fatter. However, whatever the case, Jason was pretty sure he didn’t look as bad as the god in front of him.

Theodore wore a faded blue shirt with matching blue pants that had stripes on them. His shirt read “I GOD strength.” Jason had no idea what that meant. Did that mean he possessed godly strength or maybe he “god strength” instead of “got strength”. He tried asking but Theodore just smiled and waved the question aside.

His clothes, though hideous didn’t seem all that bad next to his hair and his glasses. He had short military cut hair. That was fine but it was streaked in different colors; some parts of it red, some blue and so on. His glasses were even stranger. They were supposed to be regular sunglasses but they were shaped in the form of biceps, if that makes any sense, and they were much too large for Theodore’s eyes so it looked like he didn’t have any.

Jason recalled how he had met Theodore. Jason had been walking around the park when he spotted Theodore pinned under a tree with a giant metal warrior towering above him. Normal mortals would have ran and screamed for help but not Jason. Jason was a thrill seeker. He was afraid of the big thing but he wanted to see what was happening so he got close to the metal giant. It had Theodore pinned and would have killed him. Can you kill a god? Anyway, it would have destroyed him if Jason hadn’t randomly yelled “Hey!” at it.

Was that the most idiotic thing that a person could do? Probably, but Jason didn’t care. His entire focus at that moment had been to stop this giant beast before it could harm that poor soul trapped under the tree.

The giant whirred around to see where the voice had come from and in that moment of confusion, Theodore struck it down with lightning. The poor thing stood no chance against the god’s wrath and collapsed. Strangely, it didn’t explode. It simply melted in to the ground. From that point on, things passed like a blur to Jason. Theodore met him and offered him a reward for his bravery and, as he like to call it, stupidity. Jason, although still terribly confused, was pleased with himself though a little annoyed at the whole being called stupid part.

Theodore called for a chariot from the sky and led Jason, blindfolded to some location. The sound of clapping led Jason away from his thoughts. Theodore was trying to direct his attention to the room.

“Lost in your own thoughts eh? No matter. Feast upon the room and you will forget everything. Truly, this is the most amazing place to ever exist on this, umm…….universe.”

Jason wasn’t sure what that pause meant but then again he barely understood what the god talked about half the time since the metal monster disappeared. He looked at the room and thought his brain would explode. The room was beautiful. It was literally impossible to describe because it kept changing. At first, it looked like Jason’s childhood home. Jason could smell the blueberry muffins that his mom had put in to the oven to bake that one Friday. Then, the scene changed. He wanted it to come back but it didn’t. The new place looked like the mountains where he and his family had gone hiking last winter. Then it changed to something else. The room was like a photo reel of the past.

“Is this place real?” Jason asked incredulously.

Theodore grinned. “As real as it gets. This place was designed to be as homey-ish as possible. It recognizes your happiest memories and then turns them in to reality in front of you. Of course, the mechanics work in such a way that everyone sees a different memory.”

“Wait. What does that mean?” Jason queried.

Theodore once again waved aside the question like it was no big deal. He had a habit of doing that a lot. “Oh, I don’t know exactly how it works. I had one of my descendants design it for me. He was a really clever chap; very creative. He had these tons of ideas to improve the place but-”

“Theodore, back to the point, please.” Jason pleaded.

“Oh right, lost track of myself there. By the way, call me Theo. Theodore is a really dull and boring name. I don’t know what got in to my parents’ heads when they were naming me-“

One annoyed glare from Jason and the god became quiet. “So anyway, the place is specifically enchanted to bring different memories to each individual inside of it. For example, I currently see my throne on Olympus where as you see the day you met your girlfriend. Nice pick, by the way. I can see why you liked her.” He replied.

Jason’s ears turned red. “How did you…. Wait, never mind. I forgot I was talking to a god here.” Jason said.

He still couldn’t wrap his mind around the gods existing thing. Jason had been told by Theodo…….Theo that he was facing the son of Zeus but he had trouble believing it. How could this be the son of Zeus? He didn’t look anything like Zeus and he certainly didn’t look like an all powerful being. Jason shook off the thought, though with some difficulty. He asked Theo why he had been brought here. Theo seemed to think about that.

“I had promised you a reward for your service and indeed you shall have it. The question is what to give you.” The god seemed to nod as if he had come to a decision. “Name whatever it is that you desire Jason.”

Jason thought about that. He could have whatever he would ask for? What was it that he wanted?

“I can have anything?” Jason ventured.

“As long as it is in my power to grant it. Oh, but kid, try to keep it on the downside. I’m running a little low on cash recently. Also, pops, I don’t want to alert him to what I’m showing you here.” Theo shuddered. “The last thing you need is the lord of the sky as your father. Believe me, that guy can drive you more than a little coo coo if you know what I’m saying.”

Jason could understand that. Theo was completely mad. Having the lord of the gods as your father would be enough to drive anyone crazy. Gods had big expectations of their children. Jason could see how much pressure there would be on Zeus’s son to impress him and what sorts of challenges he would be tasked to deal with. Finally, Jason decided that he wanted answers. He deserved that much. He deserved to know a little about the gods and their children and how they could battle all these monsters without people taking notice of them.

Theo again seemed to be thinking. “That’s a tough ask, kid but I think I’ll be able to swing it without this backfiring on the gods somehow.”

Theo then flipped backwards in to the air. He landed on a throne that had magically materialized on the ground. Showoff. Jason thought. The god asked Jason what he wanted to know. Jason then began a series of questions to which Theo gave details for. Theo told him how all that stuff the mortals wrote about the gods was mostly true (with emphasis on mostly) and how the gods had been born. He then went on to explain that yes, obviously the Greek gods existed and that Jason shouldn’t have been asking such a stupid question while staring one in the face.

He also explained that he, himself, had been a mortal once until satisfied by Theo’s work, Zeus had offered him immortal life as a god. He had accepted. Biggest. Mistake. Ever. Theo had been doing all the dirty work for Zeus while all his dad did was sit upon Mount Olympus and make stupid decisions on how to stop Doomsday from happening.

“Wait, Doomsday’s happening right now?” Jason asked, startled.

“Doomsday’s always happening.” Theo grumbled.

Jason tried to get that thought out of his head while Theo went on to answer his other questions. Did Theo have kids? No. Jason was secretly grateful for that one. If this was Theo, then Jason couldn’t even imagine what his kids would have turned out like. Did Theo have his own army? Yes. Did Theo take baths because, he smelled really funny. Unsurprisingly, Theo didn’t find that one too amusing. After a while, the questions lessened. Jason felt his brain go all fuzzy. He had asked for too much information and it was taking a toll on his brain.

The god seemed to notice it too. “Time’s up kid. I should really send you back now. It’s been fun.”

“Hold on.” Jason said. “I still have a few more questions.” He paused to see Theo’s reaction. The god sighed and muttered for him to go on. “Right, so the first one. How do regular people not see these huge monsters that you fight? I mean, that sounds absolutely ridiculous!”

Theo started to laugh. “Oh, I knew you’d ask that question sooner or later. You see, human minds, no offence, are very weak. They can only understand what is happening around them as long as it is within reason. Now, gods, monsters and merman? This is something that they think is inconceivable. So, their brains alter what their eyes see to best represent something that they think is possible like a hurricane monster being mistaken for an actual hurricane. Also, in case their brains do register some of the information, the gods then help out. They mould the information to better, actually technically make worse, what the human’s perception of it is. A giant Cyclopes is something so large that even humans must take notice of it so the gods change what they see. In their minds the Cyclopes might now be a bear or an elephant. This is the way it works.”

Jason couldn’t believe that. His brain was feeling even fuzzier now. How could humans think that monsters like a Cyclopes could be an elephant? Even if a god did help to make them think like that, it still made no sense to him. He then felt a nagging sensation at the back of his mind.

“You said that humans can’t see monsters. But I could see it. I mean that thing in the park and it was nowhere near as tall as the Cyclopes’ you described. So, what does that mean?” He asked.

Theo explained to Jason that it could mean many things. It could mean that Jason was a descendant of the gods or that his brain had been unable to change what he saw and the gods had not reacted fast enough to intercept his thoughts. It could also mean that, by some rare chance, Jason was able to see monsters for what they were without having any direct lineage or blood to the gods. Theo thought this one was highly impractical and unlikely. In his eyes, the second option was most likely true. He then muttered some very unkind words about his father and the other gods not doing their jobs properly.

Lightning flashed across the sky as if Zeus had heard what had been said about him but Theo ignored it. “Any other questions?” He asked. “Because dad is getting, well, a little impatient.” As if on cue, more lightning flashed across the sky.

“Two more.” Jason replied, gazing worriedly upwards. “The giant metal warrior that you destroyed in the park, why did it melt in to the ground?”

“That’s an easy one. Monsters don’t die in the same way that humans or gods do. When their life force is finished, they simply sink all the way to the Underworld to await judgment.”

“But this was something made of metal. So, why didn’t it blow up? It wasn’t a monster.” Jason said.

Theo sighed and looked upwards to the heavens as if to say, ‘What am I going to do with this kid?’

He then addressed Jason once more. “The robot wasn’t in control of its actions. It was possessed.” He paused and saw Jason’s puzzled expression. “It was taken over by angry chicken spirits that hate us gods and have sworn to take revenge on us for casting them in to hell.”

Jason made a strangled ‘oh’ sound in his throat while Theo continued. “So, that’s why the machine sunk through the ground. The machine will not receive judgment. It will separate from the spirit and be sent to Hephaestus who will disable it.”

Jason nodded his head and then asked his final question. “The prophecies that people talked about in Greek mythology. Are they true? Is a hero’s entire life resting in the hands of someone who can recite the prophecies, like an oracle?” Jason was particularly interested in this question until Theo laughed it away.

“Oh, you humans! You crack me up! I can still remember father telling me this tale when I was a kid. Oh, how funny it all was. Boy, those prophecies are plain old rubbish. There is no way for anyone to predict the future! It was a story that Hera had spread aeons ago to keep her followers believing that every action the gods made was done in accordance with a prediction with the future! You should have seen the expression on your face when you asked the question! Priceless!” Theo fell off his throne in laughter which Jason thought a little unnecessary.

He was angry that Theo had made such a joke of the issue and how the gods could be so cruel to keep humans believing in them. “So, the gods have no idea what they’re doing half the time? They don’t know whether their actions will have a negative or a positive effect on the world?”

Theo managed to compose himself a little and keep his laughter down to simple giggling. “We don’t know about this entire prophecy business but we do know what is going on in the world. The gods confer with the fates who have some idea of what’s going to happen in the future. Even they don’t have a set prophecy outlining what will happen but they have ideas on what could happen and where monsters could attack. That’s how we keep this world safe.” He said.

That just made Jason want to ask more questions but suddenly Theo said, “Oh wow, look at the time. My, my, I’ve been talking for hours. I’ve kept you too long. Off with you boy. You’ve heard enough. A little goodbye present before I send you back. You’ll remember all these details about the gods and know them to be true but I’m going to wipe out certain things from your brain to hopefully keep it from exploding. Bye-bye, my friend. Have fun!” Theo winked at Jason and suddenly the room disappeared. Jason’s vision went dark.

He awoke after a few minutes to the sound of someone at his door.

“Jason! Jay, wake up. You’ve been sleeping for hours! It’s time for lunch.” His mom called out. Then her footsteps receded down the hallway.

Jason tried to remember what had happened to him. He was in a park and…..suddenly he wasn’t there. Suddenly he was in some room where all his questions about the gods and Greek mythology had been answered. He tried to remember what the god he talked to looked like but his brain hurt whenever he thought about it. He had a sense that all of it was true. Greek gods did exist and monsters and, oh gods, mermen too. Only after thinking about all of this did Jason notice the packet on his bed.

He held it in his hands. It had no address or sender information. Jason opened it up and took out a letter from inside of it. It was quite small. It read, “Dear Jason. I’m happy to know your brain didn’t explode. I hope I answered all your questions about us Greeks. Believe me; you did NOT make it easy for me to answer those questions. You took up, like, an hour of my time. Do you know how many monsters escaped from the Underworld in that time? I have a lot of lost time to cover. Anyway, this isn’t a hate speech. I just wanted to let you know that it was fun with you up there and I wanted to check to see if you were alright.”

The letter also had a tiny note attached to it. “P.S: I noticed how much you were admiring my I GOD strength t-shirt yesterday night so I personally sent one to you. Its blue, the same color as mine was. Oh, by the way, if you want the matching blue pants, I’ll send those to you too! Have fun with the shirt kiddo.”

Jason had a vague memory about the shirt and as he opened the packet further, a blue “GOD strength” shirt fell on to Jason’s lap. He checked to see if it would fit him. Then he noticed something right on the front of the shirt. A sticky note was pushed in to the cloth. It said, “With lots of love, Theo.”

Jason felt his brain hurting more than ever. He felt like he should remember something but he couldn’t. He didn’t know why. All he could think was, who’s Theo?