Theocleus of Athens

It was a dark and stormy night atop the Acropolis of Athens when Theocleus hobbled to the great temple. The sounds of his heavy footsteps echoed through the silent halls. Theocleus reached the altar and cried out to the heavens, "Help me! My daughter has fallen gravely ill!"

Then, from the dark sky came a loud thunderbolt and the storm around the temple ceased, and in its place, Theocleus felt a presence emerge, making the air around him sizzle and crack with power. Theocleus fell to his knees, his head bowed in respect. "Rise, elder," A strong, feminine voice called out, "You need not kneel when one with talent such as your own is before me." Theocleus rose, his knees aching from resting on the ground, and rose his eyes to the woman, who he saw to be a beautiful woman with a golden helmet, a spear, a shield, and full armor.

"Athena," said Theocleus, "Please, it is dire to me, she is my only care in this life."

Athena studied him with deep, bluish-green eyes that showed wisdom beyond belief. She responded, "Indeed, what you say is true, and as your work on the sciences has caught even my attention, so as a reward I will cure your daughter," Theoclues rose his sun-worn face with joy twinkling in his eye until Athena continued, "but the gods require a task in exchange for this, as bringing mortals from death is not something we do lightly. In exchange for the cure, you must defeat the beast that resides underneath the city, in the middle of the maze."

Shock entered Theocleus, and he wondered how an old man such as himself was supposed to accomplish such a lofty feat as this. He muttered, "But.. but...," he sighed, steeling himself and rose to his full height and proclaimed, "Then I shall enter the maze and conquer this beast you speak of for my daughter."

"Then take these gifts and make haste for the maze." Athena held out her arms and before Theocleus appeared a drachma with an owl on both sides rather than one and a sword made of iron. "The drachma will provide light and glow blue when danger such as a trap is nearby, and the sword is specially forged by Hephaestus to penetrate the toughest of hides and strike true as long as one remains brave and determined."

"Thank you," said Theocleus bowing his head in gratitude, and with that Athena disappeared in a bright white flash, leaving Theocleus on his own, the storm returning, and the sound of rain echoing through the temple.

When Theocleus finally reached the entrance of the feared maze he was gasping for breath and his knees aching after rushing as fast as possible to the maze. Taking everything in as he regained his breath, he saw that there were warnings etched into the side of the walls adjacent to the entrance and noticed that at one point the maze seemed to have been blocked off with boards, yet they had been taken down over the years from adventurers and fools hoping to test their luck and might in the maze. Thinking on it, Theocleus came to the conclusion that those two categories were most likely one and the same. With that in mind, Theocleus, with the sword in his right hand and drachma in his left that was gifted to him by Athena, stepped into the maze.

Dust clouded the air as Theocleus trudged through the maze trying to head his best towards the center as he could, remembering Athena's words. He rounded a corner and suddenly the drachma started glowing a bright blue, and he froze staring into the gloom of the maze, and as soon as he did so a set of arrows flashed in front of him right where he would have been if he had continued on. His breath hitched as he realized how close to death he had just been, but inside his mind was fascinated about the workings of the machine that had managed to fire those arrows, thinking of the possibilities of such a device. He shook himself out of this thought though and when he looked down at the drachma, seeing that it was no longer glowing brightly he continued down his path traveling deeper into the maze. Not long afterward, the drachma flashed yet again, and like last time Theocleus froze, but this time nothing happened, until from one of the tunnels that split off ahead to the left he heard thudding. As the sound grew louder, Theocleus realized that this was no idle sound, it was something, something that was very large, and coming straight for him! He took off on the path to the right making the decision that he liked that direction much better. He continued running hearing the sound still following until, as the drachma only could illuminate so much and since he wasn't focused on anything other than running, the tunnel suddenly dropped off, and unable to stop his momentum, Theocleus plunged down into the darkness.