Imagine you live in a world where everything and everyone is trying to kill you. Imagine you live in a world where the only thing you knew about your birth father is that he was a deadbeat who took off the moment you were born. Imagine you live in a world where the Coronavirus (covid-19) never happened, and imagine you live in a world where the former president of the United States never became the “god” of our country, and that all this stuff with Black Lives Matter and protests and death and destruction never happened. Whether this pretender of a god ruled our country or not. Destruction and death still would have happened, but not as many people would be dead if we were not told to ignore it. We are to blame just as much as he is because we believed every single lie he told us. He was convincing—I should know, I lie for a living. I just need you to imagine if this cause didn’t lead to this effect. If this effect didn’t lead to another cause and another effect and another and another. We live in a world where we are living dominos. We let our fear dictate what we do—I sure do. Imagine living with the constant fear you’ll turn out like your parents. So listen to my story and the others and then imagine you can be the hero of this story and save us all.

Hi, my name is Venus Enchanted. I’m a powerful demigoddess (a protector who can be immortal or not). I have three brothers, Tommy, Vulcan, and Neptune. My parents are banished—we don’t mention them—and they’re powerful. My dad can use anyone who says his name for his gain. Before we continue, go ahead and make fun. Get it out of your system. Call me all the names, though I wouldn’t advise that, unless you’re keen on keeping a limb. Or an appendage, or a finger. No one needs all five, the last people who called me names ended up with a feeding tube or a peeing tube. Here’s the truth, the first five were accidents, I didn’t know how much power or magic I had in me until I held up my hand to say stop, right. And full-on fire and electricity shot out of it. But then the second five got way too close, and I ended up burning them. Third-degree major burns, they’re fine now. But one of them now walks with a limp, and the other two stutters, and the other two are blind. So, then the third five were on purpose. I got a taste of darkness two times, and it was fun. But it drove me insane, always fearing I’d turn into my mother. Just get involved with a dangerous man and drop their kids off at a camp and run for eternity, and she’s immortal so she can. Then the fourth time, I got scared and I slipped into a long and deep sleep. Unfortunately, they did not kill me. Such a shame, I mean I know I’m a danger to society or my world. Point is, I need help. And it wasn’t until I found a friend I knew I’d be okay. His name is Grover Underwood, he’s a satyr (half-goat, half-human) we have lots of fun, and we go out on missions together. But we had a case when we were little. And uh, she was a great warrior, her father was a big three, so she was powerful. But she was a hero, and we didn’t make it to camp in time and the cyclops followed, she stayed behind to fight. We tried our best to protect her, but my limit was leaning, and I failed. She “died”, Zeus, her father turned her into a tree and preserved her body as a tree to find a way to save her. But because we failed he sentenced us back to the beginning. Took away Grover’s horns, and my crown, and my symbols and put a mark on me to limit my magic and suppress my darkness when I was learning to control it. And they told us, “You have to go to the beginning to learn to be protectors. Maybe another demigod will want you. There you can learn the lesson of a protector. DON’T GET YOUR CHARGES KILLED!” Like we meant to, she died. She died as a hero. And little did we know. He was right.

Poseidon was a big three, same as Hades and like Pluto, he isn’t considered a god. He owns and runs the underworld. And there are only two ways to get out of this life, if you are good enough and your heart is pure (or Egyptians: the heart has to be lighter than a feather) you can go to heaven, a better life awaits you. But if you did bad things, (and your heart is heavier than a feather, then a demon dog eats it) and you got to hell. No one knows if he and Persephone had children. As far as we all know, Zeus’s daughter is “dead” but Poseidon had a son. Two to be exact. But that’s for another time. Poseidon has always defended me and Grover stuck up for us. He got the other gods to reduce the sentence put on by Zeus. If we failed another quest, failed to bring another powerful god, a big three to camp safely, then that would be it and we’d be banished, kicked out of camp or worse, like wearing long pants and black shirt in the summer worse. I used my magic crystal ball to see the future and there weren’t many demigods and demigoddesses because of an incident, you cause one storm and suddenly everyone is on high alert. I mean, come on. This demigod is blue-eyed, brown-haired, white-skinned, and his father is Poseidon. Mother human, Zeus’s bolt was stolen (and since a god can’t steal another gods powers or weapon, they’re forbidden to do so. But their kids aren’t). Zeus blamed Poseidon’s son for stealing the bolt, and if he didn’t get it back by the summer solstice there would be war, people would have to choose sides. The earth would be a battleground. Many would be lost.

So Grover and I got this mission to protect him in the mortal world. And it was not easy while he was in school. The gods sent or Zeus sent many monsters to attack him, and there was a lot. His name is Percy Jackson, he was no thief but very troubled like all demigods, unfortunately. His stepfather smelled like a dumpster on top of a sewer inside of a skunk’s mouth, his smell was so revolting it blocked the scent from any monster or demon the gods would send to kill him. Did it make our job any easier, no. It did not, cause we could barely stand the scent, little did we know that there was a hell bird, a furry it’s called. This bird was in the school and watching Percy, hunting him, stalking him. We tried to mask his smell, but there were so many kids in this school, it was limited. Finally, this bird attacked, and we got him out and to the camp. He ended up getting a quest and we all went to go find the lightning bolt. We encountered many things on the quest but the most difficult one was being in the underworld so close to hell and so close to my father. I could feel his control over me, his presence drawing me closer and closer, his voice in my head telling me “You’re just like me, give in. Like father, like daughter.” I just wanted to say “No!” right, tell him. “You don’t own me, you don’t control me. I am me, I am good and I am light. so back off father and rot in here for eternity.” But that would be stooping to his level, I could never. He’s where he belongs in the underworld’s most secured deep part in hell burning for eternity over and over again. He got what he deserves. I have no fear here, but I can smell the fear on Grover, my charge, Annabeth and Percy’s mother they’re drenched in it. He… he can use it against them but Percy found out who the lightning thief was just like the oracle said, his cousin the third or fourth one, not sure. Luke son of Hermes is an upset boy mad with his father and the gods. I mean what demigod or demigoddess doesn’t have parent issues. He wants this war, Grover stayed back because in the underworld magic is different. I couldn’t bring everyone back, it was Grover or his mother (and since we’re there because of his mother it only made sense). Percy was amazing and became my best friend and later would become more, I foresaw it. Luke disappeared into the ocean where Percy and we all thought he drowned after our fight but didn’t. And we gave Zeus back his bolt, and Percy made a choice and we stayed in New York with his mother in their newest apartment, fancy, complimentary of Camp Half-blood. But Grover ended up getting his horns back and his licenses to go search for Pan (an ancient satyr who disappeared, on a hunt for an ancient monster, but never came back. All who look for him don’t come back, ever) but I believe in Grover, so should you, and guess what I got my crown back, my symbol back, my magic is not limited anymore and neither is my darkness. It will take time to learn it again, but I know I can with help. I will do things differently and be different this time around. I got a second chance, and I’m not going to waste it. I even got a new staff, it was my mother’s. Will I see her and daddy again? Yes, I will. I foresee it but life is good right now, and we go on to do more good. 

So, we mess up, we fight, we make mistakes, but in the end, we do make things right and fix them. I’m a better me, because imagination and creativity are powerful. Love and hate are powerful. Good and evil are powerful. So I have a two-part question for you and think long and hard and thoughtfully about this. Can you be a hero of light or dark without the other?  Do you have to choose to be good when you were born dark? I’ll tell you; I sure didn’t, but Percy and Grover proved me wrong. Now I can honestly say with confidence I can be both without overdoing one, it can all be balanced. I don’t have to choose good or evil because I am both. I was born to both, my mother is light and  my father is evil. My brothers and I are both, and they’re doing great, now I know I can too. So, think about that. Hope to see you guys next time. 

“Once upon a time there was what there was, and if nothing had happened there would be nothing to tell.”
― Charles de Lint, Dreams Underfoot