"Chapter 2: "An Invitation

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Here we were, gathered in the waiting room while kate was in the emergency room. I had had it all planned out. Romulus and I had been in the pantheon for four years now. It seems it was fate, what happened to us. The way things had been set in motion,, I couldn't help but think so. But where will it lead?

         We, my brother and I, were abandoned as babies. We were dropped at an orphanage. I don't even remember the name of the place. We were troublemakers, of that there was no doubt. If there was a rule we could break, we would. We'd sneak out and go to street fights. We met a boy, Jack, who taught us how to fight. We were free and we were wild but we weren't happy. When we were 11 a man stopped by the orphanage. He raised particular interest when we saw him. He wore a black suit with a white tie and shades. I thought he was a FBI agent. But when he smiled, well when he smiled, you couldn't help but smile in return. Mother Mary and the peculiar man stayed in the office for what seemed like hours. We were surprised to discover the man wanted to adopt us. That day we became part of a family.

         It turns out that the peculiar man's name was John. It also turns out that John was in fact a former FBI agent. He took us under his wing and taught us all he knew. He was, in honesty, a father we could love. He taught us various types of Martial Arts and Meditation. He taught us about weapons, firearms and others. He even home schooled us. It was different from the life we had back at the orphanage. It was a life we could relate to.

         But of course nothing good lasts.  It happened in the middle of the night. I woke up to the sound of the burglar alarm ringing. My senses were already alert. I got up and sneaked into Romulus' room. I arrived to see him already waiting along with John. “What's the plan,” he asks me. I had already started thinking. “What do you think,” I asked him. We heard sounds from downstairs. “It isn't any gang,” Romulus replied, “They're way too organized.” “Yeah, I had already deduced that. By this point they've already figured out where we are. We can't leave this room without being ambushed. Most likely they have people outside so we can't escape out the window. Escaping through the vent is too risky to accept as a possibility,” I calmly stated. “So that means we need a way to dwindle their numbers.

         If they attack through the door we might be able to counter one by one but it's too risky,” my brother replied, just as calmly. “Well pardon me but I think I might be able to help,” said John as he smiled. He walked to Romulus' closet. Damn it. The footsteps were getting nearer. John came out holding four small objects in his hands. “All my weapons are in my room and hidden in the house so they're not accesible but I still have these babies,” John said with a smile. Romulus had a smile on his face. “We'll activate two of the bombs in the vent so it gets around the house. We're lucky that it's fall and the A/C's not on. So we'll send two grenades by vent and we'll throw two out in the hall. We'll have to wait five seconds and then attack,” I sated.

         My brother smiled, “I haven't had my blood boiling this much in forever. Let's go!” Romulus opened a drawer and got out a screw driver and hopped onto his bed and begun unscrewing the vent cover. The footsteps were getting closer and I could hear whispers. He took down the vent cover and grabbed two of the smoke bombs from John and set them. Footsteps were approaching. Smoke started appearing. “As soon as I open the door, make a run for it,” I said. They gave me a nod. I unpinned the bombs, opened the door and ran for it. The minute the door was opened I was already counting, and thinking of a strategy. I jabbed the man nearest to me in the neck. I grabbed him and used him as a shield while I was being shot at. I saw my brother going on a frenzy. He somersaulted, tumbled and gave a clean uppercut to his target. A perfect hit. John had unarmed one of the men and was now using him as a shield while shooting. I saw the baniste on the downwards stairs and started sliding down. I bent back using the man I had attacked as a shield. By this point we were fully cloaked in smoke. I could barely breathe. But my memory was perfect. I slid down the banister and attacked the five men I had remembered seeing. They were too dazed to retaliate. I ran towards the back door, knowing that only luck could save me at this point. If it wasn't for my memory or years of swimming I would have passed out by now. Pure will power was driving me towards safety. Before I knew it I was outside with Romulus panting besides me. Luckily, in all the commotion all of the men had headed into the house. I heard a coughing sound so I turned around to see a bloody John. He stumbled out. We were lucky that  the men had focused their attention on the inside of the house instead of staying it outside. John was bleeding so we didn't have much time. I turned to say something to Romulus but he was gone. All of a sudden I heard an engine roar. Romulus came rushing. He picked John and ran to the car he had stolen from our neighbor's garage. We headed to the hospital. We were so rushed that we forgot about the possibility that we might be followed or traced. After  hours of waiting the doctor came and gave the final diagnosis. John had had both lungs punctured, a ruptured spleen and too many wounds for me to remember. In the end he died. He had asked to see us before he passed. I remember his face so well. He had that smile on his face. I held his hand, afraid to let go of the only father I knew. He squeezed my hand, “Become more than the myth.” I couldn't help but let tears roll down. Romulus wouldn't even look at me. We stayed there for what seemed like hours. Finally we decided we would see what was the situation at the house. It was there that we met Him. We went outside, where we faced with men in black suits. One man protruded the aura of a leader. His name was Vladimir Wogulfski. He approached us explaining what had happened. We hadn't been attacked by a gang, but by an Organization known as Tartarus. Tartarus had been assigned to assassinate us. We had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Vladimir offered us to stay with him, and a chance to get revenge . He invited us to The Pantheon.