The Turning Point

In countries such as France, in a year such as 1630, there were the common threats and the usual distasteful fights. The fights between two parties in which only one wins. Bets would be made, scores would be settled... "So, let us finish this, shall we?" A sharp, almost perky, voice chimed into the silence. Before the crowd stood two men. Two very different men in size, shape, and composure. The first man, dressed in the proper attire of black armor and a golden cross, waved a silver sword in the air. The other, closer to the age of a boy, stood with a hoodie falling off one shoulder, messy bed hair, eyes glazed over with a drowsiness one can find after a deep sleep, and a wrinkled shirt with a pair of blue jeans. He also sported a silver sword, hanging limply by his side. "Look... Guy, I... I can't actually, exactly, sword fight." He said, watching as the man smiled, slicing the air with great speed. "Every man, or boy, in this fine city can handle a sword. You being of younger years does not suffice as a reason to back down from a fight. Nor does the illusion of confusion I am no doubt reading on that face of yours. What is your name?" Another swoosh at the air, bending forward so the sword brushed the boy's sleeve. The boy, in turn, jumped back, patting his arm quickly as if to make sure it was still connected to the rest of his body. "Ryder. My name is Ryder. And you... You're nuts." He pointed his own sword loosely to the man before him, who chuckled in response.

"Pathetic name." The man straightened his posture, running the palm of his hand down the side of his jacket. "My title is Athos." He moved forward by two steps, pointing his weapon at Ryder's throat. "And you, my friend, have a bounty upon your head." Looking down cautiously at the sword, Ryder gulped, "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. I just..." Ryder trailed off, staring at the letters appearing on the tip of the sword. "I thought they had no powers here." He whispered gently to himself, distracted until the sword jumped forward, then slashed. Tumbling to the ground on his back, Ryder pressed his fingers against his fresh cut. In the middle of a dried courtyard surrounded by most of the people in the town, there was bound to be water somewhere. Though there wasn't. Not in Ryder's view.

And by looking around, he noticed what he had been too distracted to see before. Tall, wooden box shaped buildings, with the occasional marble structures and balconies. And the richer buildings behind those, the ones made entirely of marble and glass, in which were polished to perfection. But Ryder didn't remember being here, or coming here for that matter. Besides, it was some year far into the past. It should be impossible. And how he got himself into this fine mess was equally as blurry as to how he got into this year. But the name on the sword was surprising. Maybe this was a joke. Maybe his universe was seeping through to this one somehow and that's how the name Hades appeared.

Someone was breathing on Ryder's cheek. He blinked against the sunlight, watching Athos smirk from above. "It is no joke, Ryder. Universes have collided many times before, and continue to time and time again. And your enemy seems to have many people, or dare I say aliens, on his side. As well as a few strings and tricks he has successfully managed to get you here." Athos moved back, dragging his arm backwards, and bringing it straight down. First there was something cold on Ryder's cheek, biting at his skin and releasing the blood underneath. And his head snapped to the side. And the crowd cheered.

Toni stumbled forward, trying to peak through the crowd. There was someone on the ground, and there was someone hovering above the fallen figure. "Damn it," she muttered, though someone's beefy arm was holding her back from trying to help. There was no way around the taller men around her. No way to get to that idiot guy. "Dude! Get up!" Toni cried out, slapping against the man's arm going around her torso. And it wasn't working, she wasn't breaking free at all. "I'm really, really going to bite your thumb off." She mumbled, glancing up at the man, who clearly had no intention of letting go. And how she got here was simple to say. Saw an open door with a different setting inside, decided to wander straight in. It probably had something to do with a universe colliding with another, though she had no idea about it. Just some curiosity gone wild. She struggled some more against the man, and the arm got tighter. Whatever year this was, she already hated it. "Hey! Guy! Listen to me!" She turned her head to the side, raising her eyebrows at another man. "Is he even conscious?" She snapped, narrowing her eyes. The man only shrugged as the crowd laughed and cheered again.

Rolling onto his stomach, Ryder pressed his hand to his cheek. It was painful, and there was a deep cut. The crowd was still blaring with obnoxious cheers and laughter. It was frustrating. Perching himself up on his elbows, Ryder ran a finger over his injury. It was exactly what he first labeled it, deep and painful. And a weight dropped onto his back. His vision blurred as his elbows gave in and his cheek flattened against the ground. He heard screams in the background noise, something sounding almost like concern. Which he wasn't exactly expecting whatsoever. Not with this crowd, and especially not in this time. 1630 seemed like the year where when someone got in a sword fight, and that someone died, it didn't exactly matter what happened next. No one cared. He wasn't looking forward to that at all. "Get up, boy." Athos whispered into Ryder's ear, and the pressure disappeared. It was probably his boot, that would make the most sense. He didn't care at all anymore. His whole body ached and he didn't even understand how this situation happened. How did he manage to get in front of a crazed man with a sword in his hand? Ryder slowly got to his feet, his legs shaking as he spun to face Athos. In turn, Athos sidestepped, then hopped forward. Ryder stumbled backwards, "I can't sword fight! I can't handle a sword!" He cried out and Athos chuckled. "You're a demigod, yes you can." But Athos wasn't looking at Ryder any longer. His eyes were on a girl in the back, stashed between two beefy men. "Bring her forward!"

The men released Toni quickly, shoving her forward into the makeshift arena. "Thanks," she snapped, brushing the sleeves of her sweater as if to get rid of some dust that hadn't been there at all. She immediately planned on heading towards the boy, though her feet dragged her in the opposite direction. She was going towards the man, whom was standing way too proud. "What are you planning on doing here, anyway? Beat some kid senseless or kill him? Either one sounds a bit far fetched." She already hated this man. She hated this man because by looking at the boy, you knew he had trouble standing. Something was wrong and the slash on his cheek was dripping blood everywhere. "You can't kill him, can you? Isn't it illegal? Even in this time?" She gritted her teeth together, taking two more steps forward and closer to the man. That was a big enough challenge as it is.

Athos smirked, watching as the girl approached with something close to desire lighting up his dark eyes. He seemed more like a snake than a man. "I can kill anyone I please. This... Ryder isn't any different. I have orders to kill him. I have orders to take him and slice him to shreds." Now, yes, the orders did exist. Along certain lines. The man in charge hadn't said anything about slicing the boy up, but it sounded rather amusing in his head. Ryder, on impulse, reached forward, grabbing the girl's hand in his own to drag her to his side. He didn't want her to try and defend him just to get them both killed. That be somewhat of a waste. "Now, now, Poseidon's young offspring, you cannot possibly protect you both if you cannot even handle a bloody sword." On the last word, Athos had his sword tearing through the air, but this time, connected with another's. Ryder had brought his up a second after Athos, dragging the two blades together with a loud clank. "Oh? The young boy has gained confidence? How heat warming." Athos jumped forward, prepared to strike again. But this time, Ryder didn't try and fight back. He released the girl's hand, sliding his arm around her waist to drag her down with him as he ducked.

"Hey!" Toni yelped, though allowed Ryder to pull her down. "What are you doing?" She cried in a half-whisper, because honestly, Athos terrified her. This wasn't the fun she planned on having when she walked through that damn doorway. No, this was something different. Her skin tingled where he fingers touched, and when he wrapped an arm around her torso, she almost shivered. Stop it, Toni. You're better than this... Am I? Toni glanced at Ryder before shoving at his shoulder, sending him quickly to the side. "Can we get out of here now, demigod?" She snapped, shoving at him again to try and make him move faster, though she wasn't sure how that would work out.

The shoves hurt, they really did, but Ryder tried to ignore it to the best he could. Instead, he stumbled to his feet, pulling her along with him and into the crowd. The sword was still in his hand, and he wasn't exactly willing to drop it just yet. Of course he wasn't, not when he heard Athos cry out angrily and his heavy footsteps following after them. He wasn't ready for another face to face argument. Not with that guy. Slipping his hand around her, he grabbed her hand again, giving it a tug as he picked up speed. His shoulders connected with other people several times, though he yelled out apologies, he wasn't really focusing on it. He didn't really care about it either. Whether those bystanders were on his side or not didn't seem to matter. He was too focused on the sprinting. If that's what this was. Was it a chase? Making a quick turn, Ryder dragged them both into an alley and up a set of stairs he was surprised to find led to a roof of one of the richer buildings. He was standing on glass and marble, and he trusted neither.

"Are you serious right now?" Toni clutched his hand, trying to get her balance together on the roof before looking down back at Athos, who was proceeding up the stairs they just made a mad dash up. "Ryder, there's no other way down!" She was frustrated, wanting to slap him for it. That wouldn't get all her frustration out, but it would be worth it if they didn't make it off the roof. After a second or two, she noticed he was still holding the sword. "Ryder," she whispered softly, nodding towards his weapon, "Can you try and use that thing to our advantage? We could really, really use it right about now. If you won't, hand it to me. Though I really don't want to do it at all." She mumbled, glancing down at the marble and glass before back at Ryder.

Turning his head slightly to look at her, Ryder gulped. "Ah, right. Sword." By then, Athos had made it to the top, several feet from where they stood. Ryder positioned himself in front of Toni, moving back several steps with her until raising the sword. He dropped Toni's hand, waiting for the first move. He was nervous, practically scared to move. Why wouldn't he be? This was petrifying. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that he should be moving, that he should be doing something. He just couldn't bring himself to do so. Until he took one hard look at the sword Athos held. The name, etched in bright, glowing letters, was still there. It stuck out, wanting to be read. Ryder tensed. "Why is my uncle trying to kill me? What have I done?" Ryder called over, and Athos practically giggled. "Oh, boy, you've got much to learn. Hades wants you dead because you're the only child belonging to the Big Three. Poseidon's only son." Athos jerked forward, his blade going up towards Ryder's neck, but Ryder deflected it with his own sword, causing Athos to fumble and slip backwards.

Toni clutched Ryder's arm after he released her hand, but she knew he had to move closer to Athos to finish the fight off. And she didn't want him to. She didn't want him to move closer, or go on with this. No, it was nuts. He could get hurt... He could fall off the roof... He could... She bit her lip, dropping her grip on his arm as she backed up several steps, pressing her back against the tall glass of another platform. "Ryder!" She yelled over the sudden wind pushing at her sides. Even with the support of the structure behind her, she felt her balance becoming much harder to hold. And she didn't want to think about how it felt for Ryder, who was standing on a thin part of the roof with a crazed Satan worshiper. Toni didn't know why she was trying to yell for him, maybe it was an attempt to warn him of another blow coming his way. Or maybe it was for the wind.

"It's fine! Really... Fine." Ryder called over his shoulder once he heard Toni yell out his name. Truthfully, it wasn't exactly fine. He had no idea what he was doing. There were only so many moves he could think of doing, and hardly any of them seemed fit to do in this situation. Athos was slowly approaching him once again, looking angrier than before. Curling his fingers tighter around the handle of the sword, Ryder stumbled back a few steps, throwing his arms out to his sides to control himself. "Whoa, hey. Hey. Can't we, I don't know, work something out? Talk to Hades about this whole thing? Tell him to go back and leave me alone? I haven't done anything." Ryder's voice was getting quieter and quieter by the second, knowing that what he said now wouldn't change his opponent's stance on the matter. Why would it? Ryder was the son of Poseidon, and this guy was guaranteed a nice role on Hades' side if he was to kill Ryder. So he wasn't expecting his plea to go well.

Athos chuckled, "Shut up, boy. You're wasting my time. Die already." He swung, cutting Ryder's arm sharply as Ryder himself stumbled back into Toni. He felt blood dripping down his arm already. It must have been deep. But he didn't focus on it as he tried to push away from Toni, though struggled to against the wind. The sword nearly slipped from Ryder's hand, but managed to stick to his fingers. "Is there another way down?" Ryder panted, squinting his eyes against the breeze as he kept his eyes on the approaching Athos.

Blinking in surprise, Toni wrapped her hands around both of Ryder's forearms, trying to help him stay balanced. It didn't help all too well, even when she was partly balanced by the taller roof behind her. "No way down, but one way up." She whispered under her breath, but was very sure Ryder could hear her. He was, after all, basically pressed against her and she was whispering into his ear. Pulling one hand off his arm and reaching back to make sure she was capable of getting up there, she took several steps back, then hopped up, dragging him with her. "Step up, hurry. Don't look back, just trust me." She called out over the stronger wind, blowing her short hair onto her cheeks. Toni didn't dare look at Athos. She was too furious for that. Maybe if she did, she'd take the sword right out of Ryder's hands and stab the guy. Maybe she'd just go the preschool route and stick her tongue out.

Obeying almost instantly, Ryder moved with Toni, jumping up onto the other platform. "If I remember properly, and I'm pretty sure I do, then this part of the roof doesn't last very long." Even though she had told him not to, Ryder had to turn around. Once he did, he heard a strange battle cry from Athos as he charged forward. Dropping down, Ryder bent his knees, pulling any connection he had with Toni away to search the ground below. He was practically half on, half off the roof. And though that wasn't fun, it worked in his favor. He immediately spotted a water bucket. It was dirty, most likely not drinking water, but it was water nonetheless. Pushing the sword into his other hand, Ryder stretched out his arm, curling his fingers around the air.

The water sprang from the bucket, lifting up into the sky until it was directly across from the roof they were on. "Come on," he muttered under his breath, pressing the tips of his fingers tightly into his palms. The water moved quicker, the force against it stronger and much more intense. Flinging his arm back, and nearly popping out his shoulder, the water shot into their opponent's face, pushing him onto his back, the sword flying from his hand and off the roof.