Biography: One could say that Gabriel's lived a hard life. On a quiet night in April, a couple was admitted into a hospital in Queens, NY. At 10:20 pm, a beautiful baby boy was brought into the world. His mother blessed him with the first and last name of his father before he was placed in the nursery. Within the short time the parents were left alone, they seemingly vanished from the ER, the mother's name gone from the birth certificate. Fortunately, the hospital staff was able to find a next of kin. After a bit of notifying and paper signing, the fresh faced babe was turned over to the nearest relative: the father's mother.
Gabriel lived his young life filled with resentment towards his parents, learning of his father through his grandmother, but knowing nothing of his mother. His unguided anger became a core part of his attitude and mentality, and it kept him unfocused and careless towards school. His grandmother tried to put him on the right track, but her steady aging only feigned further ignorance from the boy. Despite his delinquencies, his strangely unhinged intelligence kept him from failing out of school. A third of a way into ninth grade, Gabriel's 15th birthday rolled around. Around 12 AM that quiet night, he had a strangely peculiar dream. He found himself wondering through a serene park, the scenario confusing yet immensely calming. A radiant being seemingly materialized beside him and embraced him, her touch felt warm and loving. Gabriel hugged back, and for once, he felt loved. It was one of the rare times where he smiled, and it didn't feel forced. He could barely make out her face, but the fragments he did see resembled someone from a very important part of his life. She spoke to him in a soft, affectionate voice, a said but a few words.
"Soon, you will see the world as I. It is up to you shape your destiny hereafter. You're a part of a much larger family now Gabriel. And a part of a much larger world..."
He awoke from the dream before he could question the occurrence, the sun outside his window barely risen. The words said to him in the dream replayed in his head. He was ready to shape his destiny. He didn't know how, exactly, but he decided that residing with his grandmother would get him nowhere (along with a thought that hung at a corner in his mind, a thought that assumed that his grandmother would be better off if she didn't have to worry about her delinquent grandson getting into trouble at school every other day). With his vigorous volition concreted in his psyche, he packed what he thought was necessary, gave his still sleeping guardian a quiet farewell, and departed from the smelly, dank apartment complex to watch the sun greet him as he began traversing out of Queens.
It was said that later in the day his grandmother was greeted by two stocky, hairy men who looked fairly uncomfortable in the pants they wore. They asked for Gabriel, and his grandmother suggested for the two to try looking for him at his school, where she assumed he'd be.
By the time he realized he was hungry, the sun was a fair's way into the sky, and Gabriel was in Manhattan. As he took note of his surroundings, he immediately began to take notice of things that were very out of the ordinary. Strange beings and entities walked among regular humans, beings that normal looking humans didn't seem to notice. Was this some type of joke? Did Gabriel mistakenly wander onto a movie filming? He was in this area just yesterday; it wasn't like this then. In hopes to clear his mind (and to prevent a scene of freaking out), Gabriel ducked into the park across the street from where he stood; Central Park, it was called. Unaware to him, he was being trailed by a tall, lurching shadow...
Two steps into the park, a subtle buzzing sensation began to ring through Gabriel's head. The buzzing/tingling feeling became much more prominent as he stepped onto the grass, and closed the gap between him and the plentiful trees and brush that inhabited the giant park. The sound rose to a point that it began to play over the sounds of chirping birds and outside pedestrians and cars. He turned his head to and fro, wondering where the noise was originating from. Was he near a beehive? The noises in his ear were more hurtful than helpful, and annoyed him profusely. With a hasty sigh, Gabriel sat down against the nearest tree, one that housed a very wide trunk. Plopping his backpack down beside him, he rested his head in his hands. Too much stuff was happening for him at once, too much stuff that he couldn't completely comprehend.
Before he could put another question to every strange thing happening, a lingering shadow rushed up to him, blending in with the overcasting shade of the leaves that hung from that massive tree. In the split second used to pull his head up past his shoulders, Gabriel was ripped from his train of thought as a graying monstrosity leaped at him from the shadow, fangs and claws bare. Unaware and unprepared, Gabriel received full extent of the attack, a heavy swipe from the beast tossing him away from his sitting position. His shirt was reduced to shreds where the attacked landed, blood leaking from the series of long gashes that appeared at his chest. He staggered to his feet, one hand at his chest, the other tightened into a fist. The massive hound kept a steady glare on his prey, sauntering back and forth, looking for an opening. It pounced again with maw agape, its teeth aimed for Gabriel's jugular veins. The boy expected the attack this time, intercepting the hound's jaws with outstretched arms.
The force of the lunge, accompanied by the hound's sheer size and weight was more than enough to put Gabriel on his back. The hound was now standing over him, trying its best to shake out of Gabriel's grasp. With every vicious jolt from the hound, Gabriel felt his grip begin to slip, the fear within him beginning to strengthen. As the two wrestled, the tree overcasting them began producing long vines from its branches, those of which began slink down towards the hound. Gabriel's strength faltered soon after, the vines becoming his saving grace as they speedily engulfed the large dog before hoisting it back into the thick canopy. He gave it one last look before grabbing his bag and hastily fleeing deeper into the park.
Afternoon rolled around in Central Park. After ensuring he was as far away from that mutated canine as possible, Gabriel took a seat at a nearby bench to catch his breath. He looked down at himself. His chest, stomach, and (what remained of his) shirt was caked with drying blood, dirt, and grass stains. The only thing running through his head was more questions. How did that dog get so big? How did that tree save him? Why was this all happening to him? As his mind continually reeled with queries, there was a being perched high in a tree behind him. She looked on cautiously, yet displayed a look of annoyance.
She dropped down from her hiding spot, and strode towards the confused boy, tapping him on a dirty shoulder. Gabriel jumped in fright, and jumped again as he turned to get a glimpse of the girl's peculiar look. Her ears were unusually long and pointed, her skin was a flushed color of green, her shoulder-length dark green hair was filled with twigs and leaves, and she wore clothing weaved from leaves of various sizes. She began to rant on about there being a hellhound wrapped and strapped to her tree, and wanting the son of Demeter to take it down. The title bestowed him upon stuck out in his mind, the "son of Demeter".
"You...know my parents?" He asked the young lady. She shrugged, replying that only a son of the Goddess of Agriculture and the Harvest could manipulate her tree in such a way. Her words left Gabriel slightly speechless. He summoned the vines? He was the son of a goddess? The girl saw his look of confusion and smiled.
"You're new to this, aren't you?"
"New to what?"
"Being a Demigod. I mean, you have to be one! Only a demi would be able to see Dryads and Hellhounds, and have the abilities that reflect that of their parents." She replied, now joining him on the bench. He was still going over what she said. So he was a Demigod now? He sighed. More questions and more confusion.
"Can you tell me more about Demigods? About...my mom?"
"Yeah...just get the hellhound out of my tree first." The wood nymph replied with a smile before introducing herself with the name Willow. Gabriel didn't really smile back, but her friendliness did cause him to warm up to her.
6 years pass. While attending and eventually graduating High School, Gabriel lived among the Dryads of Central Park. With their help, he grasped a better understanding of his abilities, and became ever more appreciative towards the nature around him. The buzzing in his head turned into fairly audible whispers that traveled on the wind. His time spent among the peaceful wood nymphs came at a price, however. Hellhounds, harpies, furies, and other horrors not only attacked him on his home turf, but at his school as well. He's watched many a dryad fall trying to protect him. He knew that the monsters were only coming for him, and the feeling of guilt ate at him. The night of his 20th birthday, he drove himself out of Central Park, to keep their lives safe from his curse. He found a sound happiness living in that Park, and being away from them caused his emotions to go back to its quiet, hostile, state. From a broken boy, to a broken adult, Gabriel aimlessly roamed the city, unsure and fairly uncaring of where his life went next.
One day, through his travels of vagrancy, Gabriel found himself on the outskirts of Long Island, and smack-dab in the middle of a conflict between two opposing parties. It wasn't a disagreement over him, so to say, Gabriel just seemed to have knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. To the untrained eye, one might mistake the scuffle to be some sort of gang war. To Gabriel, the fight looked more like something you wouldn't see on an everyday basis. A small group of individuals (most of which, looked to be in their teens) were engaged in fierce combat between an even smaller (and steadily shrinking) group of gorgons. Some of the kids used weapons of mythical origin, weapons that shone a brilliant gold-like color, while others used the elements to gain the upper hand. And then there was Gabe, dumbstruck while trying to fully assess the situation, unaware of the monstrous snake-woman that slowly approached behind him.
Before the monster of Grecian legend could inflict any damage upon the boy, it was stuck down by a volley of arrows. As the battle died down, he found himself being approached by the kids, and they began bombarding him with questions while they murmured amongst themselves. Where'd he come from? Could he see the gorgons? Was he a demigod? The last question fully acquired Gabriel's attention, and answering his own questions. It was no doubt that these kids were the half-godspawns he may have been subconsciously searching for. And with that, he decided to answer all their questions.
"My name is Gabe. My mother is one of the gods. Demeter, is her name." He told them, quietly. One of the teens (one which seemed to be the eldest), stepped towards Gabriel, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You should come with us, then. There's no safe haven outside of Camp Half-Blood for demis like us." The boy said, leading Gabriel and his group to the fabled camp. Gabe may not have known where he was being lead, but he figured he might as well go with the kids, and give himself a few nights of easy rest.
