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Arthur Helling, born and raised in London, had always been fascinated with the art of magic and illusions ever since he was a boy. Such interest came to be after his parents, Antoinette and Roland, brought him to a magic show when he was 9. He became enticed in the wonders of magic and began learning it ways. He practiced long and hard, perfecting simple tricks like making cards disappear. He moved on to the harder, more professional tricks at the age of 18. News of his magical performance reached many people inside as well as outside of London.
By the time he was 25, Arthur Helling had been one of the many well-known performers. He toured the world, bringing joy to kids and adults alike with his magnificent magic, which has kept the crowds awestruck every time. It was on this tour that he met the love of his life who would, in the future, be the cause of his grief as well. Arthur was having one of his renowned shows again and this time, it would be in New York.
Coincidentally, Hecate had been bored and decided to watch the show so she took on the name Rebecca Parker and joined the crowd. After the 2nd act, Arthur chose someone from the crowd to be his volunteer and his choice had been Rebecca. She did as she was requested to do without complaint.
Arthur stared for a while at his new volunteer but quickly turned to the crowd when she locked gazes with him. The trick was simple yet looked complicated. All that really happened was that Arthur had the chair underneath Rebecca “rise” and they (Rebecca and the chair) disappeared after levitating for a minute. Then Rebecca reappeared beside Arthur in a gust of smoke. This caused the crowd to jump to their feet and applaud the great magician and his temporary assistant.
That same night, Arthur met up with Rebecca to thank her properly for cooperating with his trick. He bought her some coffee from the nearest Starbucks as another “thank you” gift, to which she gladly accepted. As their hands momentarily brushed, Arthur suddenly asked her if she wanted to go on a date. Rebecca looked at him amusedly and accepted. Three nights later, the two had gone on their first date and officially became a couple. Rebecca then accompanied Arthur in all his remaining shows in New York but did not bother to tell him her true identity; that she was a Greek goddess.
Rebecca and Arthur saw each other nearly every day after Arthur’s last show in New York. Slowly, the two were falling for each other but only Rebecca saw what was truly happening. She tried not to get too attached; knowing what would soon happen if she continued to see Arthur. But deep inside, the goddess knew that she couldn’t not get attached for magic has always fascinated her. So a month into their relationship, they had a fling one night after getting drunk from a bar, on accident of course.
When Arthur woke up the next morning, safely in his room at the hotel, Rebecca wasn't there with him. It didn't affect him that much, though. But he didn't see Rebecca for the rest of the day, and the next few days as well. Arthur became worried and very devastated. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months but no matter how much he pleaded with the heavens, he never saw nor heard of Rebecca again. He tried to forget about her. He truly did but it seemed as if his entire life had centered around her.
He no longer did magic shows for it was too much to bear not seeing her face in the crowd. Arthur Helling returned to London and never did a show ever again. Many were confused by this but he just said that he had more priorities in life, so the media and all his fans were left to accept that. He lived as any man would. After months, he finally got over Rebecca and forgot about her… so one could only imagine the surprise and anguish he felt when he found two baby girls, twins, on his porch with a note from his first and only love.
The pain of his love for the goddess had left only to return when the twins came into his life. Therefore, Arthur resented Natalie and Ginevra yet loved them at the same time. Natalie and Ginevra Helling, the only two daughters of the great magician, lived complicated lives with Arthur. Though he had never taken much notice of them, he had cared enough to feed them, give them nice clothes and a home. The twins never had much interest in their father's talent and so, never bothered with magic.
Time passed by quickly for the twins.
It seemed as if the years were molded into mere minutes. Both were diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADHD when they were eight and began having trouble in school due to this. But this wasn’t out of the ordinary. The lives of the Helling twins really started to turn when they were 12. Once, when they were on their way home, they saw a young man holding a sword rush into an alleyway being chased by what seemed like a woman with flaming hair and a bronze leg. When they were 14, they were out on a field trip in Kansas when they saw small toddlers but the thing is, these toddlers were made out of wheat.
But the thing that really changed their lives happened when they were 15.
The twins were having lunch at their usual place, the gymnasium, which nobody goes to during lunch. Over the school year, the twins had received quite a number of admirers so, as they were talking, one Natalie's admirers, Josh Michaels entered the gym and headed towards Natalie. Ginevra (aka Ginny), being the overprotective younger sister (by mere minutes), glared at him. Natalie looked behind her and quickly stood, not wanting to be asked yet again if she would go on a date. Ginny kept on glaring at Josh then took Natalie's hand and headed for the door. Unluckily for them, Josh took hold of Natalie's other hand.
"Not so fast, you two. You aren't leaving until I get what I want," he said.
Ginny shot him a look. "Look, buddy, I've told you time and time again that you are never gonna date my sister, so back off already."
Josh looked taken aback before his expression turned sinister and he sneered at Ginny. "Whoever said I wanted to date your sister?"
"What do you me--?"
Before their eyes, Josh seemed to get taller, much more muscular and his expression looked rather famished; like he hadn’t eaten in a week. The Helling twins could do nothing but watch as the monster before them grew. 'Josh' smiled fiendishly at them. "You two have no idea how hungry I am after 2 weeks of being stuck in that tiny form."
Ginny, who was able to process what happened faster, spoke up. "What the heck are you?" Josh's smile widened. "A laistrygonian who's gonna eat you, what else?"
Natalie tensed and whispered hurriedly to Ginny. "I know about this. Laistrygonians are Greek cannibals. They’re giants who ate people on Odysseus’ ships." The laistrygonian began advancing towards them. Instincts led the both of them to run toward the exit but a cart full of basketballs was launched into the air and landed directly in front of the door, blocking the twins’ nearest exit as well as scattering the balls .
Ginny and Nat looked at each other in panic as the giant grinned and moved to grab them. But Jake Parker, the quiet new guy in Ginny’s class, burst in through the other exit with a bow in hand and an arrow notched in it. He let the arrow fly and it hit the monster in the back, making it step on a basketball and drop to the floor rather loudly. The laistrygonian stood back up again in no time, angrier than before.“A friend of yours, I see,” he growled at Jake.
Jake glanced at the twins worriedly before notching another arrow and shooting it at the laistrygonian. The arrow pierced its thigh which was enough for the laistrygonian to fall again.
“Run!” Jake shouted.
The twins didn’t need any further encourage. Ignoring the scattered balls, they sprinted towards the exit, passing by Jake.
“Go outside,” he said when they were close enough. Ginny hesitated a bit before following her twin outside. This was her classmate; she wasn’t just going to leave him in the hands of a strange monster thing!
Jake shot her a look and she quickly headed to the door but stayed for a few more seconds. “Be careful.”
Jake nodded and faced the monster, replacing his bow with the axes slung across his back.
“Go outside. I’ll meet you there.”
Natalie and Ginny only had to wait 10 minutes when Jake emerged from the school building.
People were already starting to stare at the large amount of dust on Jake’s pants but he ignored them. He took their hands and led them out of the school and into the subdivision where the Hellings live. Jake explained what happened in the gym and what Natalie and Ginny really were: demigods. It took a bit of persuasion to get the twins to believe him but by the time they reached the house, Natalie and Ginevra were convinced.
The demigod quickly explained to Arthur what was happening the minute the door opened. Arthur had had enough with the nonsense from teenagers and was about to kick Jake out of the house when he saw the pleading expressions on his daughters’ faces. Jake noticed the expressions on the twins’ faces and excused himself, saying he’d message his friend.
“Just this once, dad, believe in what he’s saying,” Natalie pleaded with Arthur the second Jake was gone.
“Please?” Ginny added.
Arthur looked at them for a full minute. He sighed and relented. Jake appeared in the doorway of the living room where the trio were and told the twins to pack whatever it was they needed. They did so and were ready to leave in 15 minutes. Arthur asked how they were going all the way to America in such short notice.
“I have a friend who’s gonna help,” Jake said.
As if on cue, a boy stepped from the shadows. The Hellings were surprised but Jake reassured them that it was fine and not to worry. He explained briefly that they were going to shadow travel to Long Island through his friend, Cody, who was a son of Hades.
The group of demigods were about to leave when Arthur suddenly stopped them and quickly went to his room. He came back holding to small rectangular boxes and gave them to Natalie and Ginny.
He said he found it in the mail earlier in the morning with a note that said it was for the twins. They both opened it and found silver necklaces inside. The three hugged for what could possibly be the last time before Jake said they had to leave.
Right before they left, Arthur whispered to Natalie and Ginny: “You two have made me proud. Be safe.”
The twins could only grin at him before they were plunged into the shadows. A few seconds later, they were all on the Half-Blood Hill, just in front of the barrier. Jake and Cody stepped into camp without hesitation. Ginny and Natalie shared a smile, clasped the necklaces their father handed to them and entered camp.
On that night, Ginny and Natalie Helling were claimed as daughters of Hecate.
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