Recruiting Persus, Part 1.

The stories of Greek gods are a strange mix of truth, lies, exaggerations and misinterpreted

symbolism.

It is strange to think that one of the most powerful and destructive members of the Titan Foundation almost didn't survive birth.

During the Titanomachy, the civil war that erupted between the Titans and the Olympians, Persus would become the greatest threat on the battlefield, and would earn the moniker “The Titan of Destruction”. He was gifted with the strength to move mountains, the speed to race lighting, and so invulnerable was that no mortal weapon could pierce him. Gifts, under Rhea's tutelage, he honed to become the perfect warrior, and one of Cronus's enforcers before and during the war.

Of all of the weapons he used, Persus's favorite was his spear, fashioned by the cyclops, it allowed him to channel his gifts into a bolt of energy which he could use to strike down an enemy from afar.

He would be the reason why the Olympians would invite the murderous thug known as Ares, and his gang, to live with them on Mount Olympus.

But that is a story for another time. For now it enough to know that the most violent threat to mankind's future had very humble beginnings.

Persus was born on the Greek island of Crete two months before he should have been. Given the time, the odds of survival for any infant was considerable, and Persus's entry into the world was now complicated by the fact that he arrived premature. As expected, those first weeks of Persus's life were touch and go, however he survived.

His survival may have been the result of the fact that his father, Crius, a successful bee keeper and honey harvester, had servants that could assist the family in their time of need. It might have been because his father was able to afford some medical care that others might not be able to afford. It might have been because he, and all members of his immediate family were apart of a group people that would become to be known as “The Gifted”.

He didn't know he was gifted, he just thought he was was a normal boy growing up like most children. He hated to do chores, he loved to play outdoors. He lived on the family farm where they tended to bee hives and harvested honey. Of course his favorite thing to do was to go fishing. Whether it was by himself or with his brothers and his father. He would wade up to his knees in the local river and use his harpoon to skewer the local fish.

His father, also an avid fisherman, loved to take the boys fishing, but that was more often to get away from Persus's mother, Eurybia.

The servants of Persus's household would say Eurybia was a woman who has a heart of flint within her. This of course was their polite way of saying that she was a stone cold bitch.

Nothing was ever good enough for Eurybia, that is to say, nothing that Crius did was ever good enough for her. During Persus's time a Bee Keeper and Honey Harvester was an important profession. The honey was important ingredient in Mead production, and honey was the only source of sugar of any type in that region and time. Eurybia made it clear to Crius on many occasions that she had settled lower than her standard when she married Crius, and she often wondered, out loud, why Crius had chosen such a lowly profession.

The house, which was very nice by standards of the time and of the area was far too small for Eurybia. The parcel of land the farm sat on was one of the largest for honey production, but Eurybia constantly reminded Crius that it wasn't the largest.

Despite the fact that her sons would become the scourge of the Olympians, no one could have asked for more polite children. And while she loved her sons, what bothered her when she looked at them was that she didn't see the daughter that she wanted, to which she blamed Crius.

Persus and his brother Pallas, shared a room next his mother's and father's, and he could count the nights on one had that his mother allowed his father a night were she did not badger him. He jokingly referred to it as his mother's lullaby.

Sometimes at night, He and his brother, Pallas, would lay in their beds discussing how they would leave the farm and return some day with large amounts of wealth. Enough riches that would quiet their mothers nagging for awhile and give their father a moments piece. They never had those conversations with their brother Astraeus. Even though it was just talk between the both of them, and that it was unlikely that they would leave, they knew he would never leave the farm and it seemed like a waste of time to discuss it with him.

Persus loved his mother, but he could see the emotional toil it was taking on his father. Every day Cirus's hair became a little thinner. The rings under his eyes became more pronounced. Some foods that he used to love to eat would make him miserable. Persus wished he could find a way to place his father in such a favorable light, that she would have no choice but to apologize for the years of abuse.

Sometimes the seeds of wishes bear rotten fruit because one day in the early spring, around Persus sixteenth birthday, tragedy struck the honey harvesters. The hives, essential for honey production, caught fire and were destroyed. This placed the farm and the survival of the family in dire straights. To make certain financial requirements during the winter, Cirus had to borrow heavily against the season's honey production. Now with no harvest, Cirus's investors were sure to claim all of the farms assets for payment. This of course was inexcusable to Eurybia. A fact that she made Cirus aware of every chance she had.

In order to pay the investors Cirus had no choice but to sell as many farm's assets as he could. The farm was stripped bare and left Cirus few options for his future. There was some remaining honey from an earlier harvest and it was decided that they could take it to market in hopes that he could sell it at a fair enough price that he would have the capital to start again.

So on that spring day Cirus and his sons, loaded the remaining honey they had into a borrowed cart and because the mules had been sold the boys to pulled the cart to market. The traffic at the market was light. Persus, Pallas and Astraeus took turns talking to the customers. Cirus's regulars stopped by, some were buying some weren't.

Sometime around the afternoon, a rather tall, thin man approached the booth. The first thing that Persus noticed about him was the white hair. His hair was white, his mustache was white, the stubble growing on the rest of his face was white. He looked over the honey samples, but Persus could tell he wasn't even remotely interested in honey.

Persus approached the man, “Something I can help you find?” he asked. The man put down the sample, and smiled at Persus. “No, I'm merely looking.” The man picked up another sample. “Tell me lad, do you plan on harvesting honey for the rest of your life?” the tall, white haired man asked. “I mean I think a strapping lad such as yourself sometimes must think of having some adventure.”

To be continue.