Sons of Sparta - A Story of the Spartans, Book 3
(inspired by the story 'Spartan' parts 1 through 4)
by argouru
Note: All credit for the creation of the Spartans and Amazons, as well as the Spartan mythos belongs to the author 'CF', to whom I owe special thanks for his allowing me to write about these incredible people.
WARNING: Portions of this installment of the series includes a section regarding mental illness.
John entered the kitchen, walked over and picked up the salt shaker as Henry closed the door softly behind himself. "So," the human said, feeling a mixture of hurt, shame and resentment. "Does everyone already know?"
"Rachel doesn't, nor do Sally's moms or my uncles and grandparents. Only my dads, brothers and Sally know the truth... Not counting Lords Apollo and Joshua and His priests, of course... And the hospital staff who tended to you."
"I understand the gods and the hospital staff as well as Sam, but why everyone else?"
"Dad Daniel and Dad Sam were worried for you and me. When they decided to move you in here, Sam sat everyone down except the twins, who no longer live at home, and the Uncles, cousins and granddads for the same reason and told them what had happened. Not even the temple staff know what happened. As for Sally... John, she's my best friend and was worried for me. I've been best friends with her for twenty years now and we always share everything with each other. She was really scared for me and bullied me into telling her what was wrong. Dad Sam wanted everyone to be aware so that they wouldn't accidentally offend you. We're family, John. It's only natural for us to share everything with each other."
John stared at Henry as if the notion of trusting family with such personal things was unthinkable. "Why the fuck do they even need to know at all?!?" he retorted hostilely.
Henry's mouth fell open in shock. "How can you say that?" he asked, dumbfounded. "They're my family! And yours too! They have every right to know."
"You can't trust people just because you're related to them!" John said as if to a child who should know better. "That's crazy! They'll only use it against you next time they want to hurt you! They'll use it like a weapon! It's better to keep things to yourself... That way people can't hurt you as easily..." he finished softly.
"What the fuck did those people do to you?" Henry asked in shock, unable to understand how a person could think that way, as though their worst enemies were their own relatives. "Is that really what you think all families are like? A bunch of backstabbers?" He saw a difficult expression cross John's face and knew he'd found the truth. "John... We're not like that! I don't know of any family that behaves that way!"
"Mine did," John said softly, looking away. "Every one of them is only out for themselves. They only care about what they want and no one else. For all the fact that we share the same blood, we basically acted more like ex-cons all living under the same roof who wouldn't trust each other with our lives."
"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?" Henry asked, looking skeptical.
"Oh come on!" John exploded. "You saw what that fat cow that gave birth to me was like and heard what she said. I wasn't a son... I was a possession! One with no more rights that the ones she would -allow- me to have! I couldn't even change my name without her threatening to protest it in court and I'm twenty five years old! She was always like that... Like I could never say or do anything right. Like every single last thing about me was wrong! It was always like that... Like nothing about me was ever good enough for her and never would be. Then there's my sister who shuns the entire family like we're some dirty little secret she'd rather never even existed to inconvenience her. And as for my father..." his face spasmed with suppressed pain. "He never wanted me at all. I've never seen him, he never calls. I don't even know if he's alive anymore or not. I've never even heard what his voice sounded like, what kind of man he was. All I have are memories of pictures of him."
John snorted humorlessly. "You guys act like a gay sitcom family, more than anything else." He struggled, not knowing what to say or do, then began to move around in place, making partial gestures with his hands. "I... I don't..." He slumped back against the counter and set down the salt shaker. "You really don't get it, do you?" he asked, looking at Henry with deep sadness in his moist eyes. "I... Don't know any of you people and you all act like you and I are already married, or something. There's nothing left of me anymore that I recognize as me. Everything I ever knew or was is gone. I lost my home, my job, my family, even my depression. I don't have anything left but memories, Henry. Even the scars are fading away," he said, showing the Spartan his wrists. Where the thick scars from his failed first suicide attempt had been, there were now only thin pale lines to ever show that they had once been slashed. " I guess they faded when Joshua healed me..."
John sighed. "Everything I ever was or knew is gone except the memories. You all act as though everything was fine, but it's not. I don't know who I am anymore. There's nothing left to keep me grounded. I love you, but I can't just have my entire world turn upside down literally overnight and have the slightest fucking clue as to how to cope with it. There's nothing left of me anymore. I don't know what to do with myself now. I'm healed, but now what? I don't have the slightest clue as to what to do with my life now that I'm well. I honestly didn't want to even be alive."
"Why?" Henry asked, his voice thick with emotion.
"Because no one wanted me or cared about my feelings. It was like I was nothing more than a burden to everyone around me who would speak to me, while everyone else made me feel as though I should just go away and leave them alone. I hated myself because everyone else seemed to hate me too. I didn't want to be the center of attention! I didn't ask everyone to worship me like a god... All I wanted was for people to care about my feelings and stop treating me like some malignant thing that would just go away. My whole life has been turned upside down and there's nothing left of what I knew. I can't just bounce back from that! Now I have all these people who act all friendly to me and I literally can't figure out what to do about it, how to feel or how to behave around everyone."
Henry gazed at John softly, realizing that John was right. He LITERALLY didn't know how to handle the way everyone was treating him and felt lost and confused. He had lost everything that he had known and was now surrounded by complete strangers. How could a man feel comfortable with all of that? He walked over and took John into his arms, who began to cry. "Oh John... I'm sorry. You're right... This isn't very reasonable of us to expect you to be okay with everything being so different from what you're used to. I'm sorry. We Spartans are used to dealing with humans who don't know the first thing about us, but I guess it can be pretty hard on your kind, not to mention unfair to expect you to instantly accept having your whole life turned all around like this. Just give it time, John. Don't feel pressured into anything..."
"It's just that all of this is so crazy! How can I love you so much without really knowing anything about you? I mean I barely know you at all and everyone acts like you and I have our whole lives planned out in advance. I don't know any of you but you treat me better than I ever have been before. I don't know how to act around you all. And now even people I've only just met are acting like I was born into this family. It doesn't make any sense at all."
"Well... There's nothing wrong with taking things slowly..." Henry said thoughtfully. "Why don't we go back and start this bond over from the beginning? Would you like to go on a date with me?"
"A date?" John asked, pulling back to look at him.
"Sure," Henry replied. "We'll go catch a movie and some dinner together. Get to know each other more thoroughly. Our bond started off more intensely than most. Granted, this bond is a stronger one than normal, but that tends to run in my family."
"Okay," John said slowly. "It sounds like a good idea."
"Is tomorrow too soon?"
"No, that's fine," John said, wiping away the last of his tears in annoyance. "Some man I am," he said sourly, mad at himself for crying.
"There's nothing wrong with tears, John. We Spartans don't shun our sensitive sides the way human men tend to do. You're still a big macho guy as far as I'm concerned."
John frowned, doubting that somewhat. "Alright, I forgive you for telling Sally. Are there any other things about your family I should know?"
Henry frowned and shifted from one foot to the other nervously. "A few things, but I can't tell you what they are."
"Why not?" John asked, sounding annoyed. "You know all the worst things about my life, so I think it's only fair I know the same about you and your life."
"I agree with you on that... I want to tell you, but I can't."
"Sure you can," John replied.
"No, I can't, John... I LITERALLY can't."
"Oh come on," John said. "What's stopping you?"
"Oaths I made to Lord Apollo, oaths of secrecy."
"Well I won't tell anyone, if you're worried about that."
Henry shook his head. "You don't get it, John. I'm literally, physically incapable of telling you."
"Prove it," John said, sounding doubtful.
"Alright," Henry said. "My b-" Suddenly, the power of the oath settled around him like a blanket, constricting his throat painlessly and causing his voice to lock up. He began to fight it, gently at first, trying to force out the words, then harder until his face turned purple with strain. He relented, gasping for breath, hands on his knees. He looked up to see an odd expression of realization on the man's face.
"Have your family members taken the same oath?"
"Yes," Henry replied, then understood. "Who was it?"
"Your brothers. I asked them who all in the family was in a relationship and they mentioned Steven, but when they tried to speak about someone else, they reacted the same way you just did. Is that the oath taking effect?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry, John... It's not that I don't trust you. It's that I'm literally prevented from doing so. Only the ones the secret relates to can tell others without Apollo's permission."
"Alright," John replied. "I'll accept that."
"You'll be okay John," Henry said, hugging him again. "We'll take things slowly and get to know each other. I can wait for you if that's what you need."
"Sorry that I can't just accept all of this at face value."
"No, you have every right to want to take things slow. It's okay John, all that matters is that I love you. The rest can take it's time."
"We'd better get back out there before everyone gets worried."
"Ok, it looks like the twins are here. " Henry said, leading the way back outside after John picked up the salt shaker again.
Henry led the way back to the group and approached the twins from behind, everyone else at the table looking shocked. He slowed as he approached, wondering what was wrong. "Hey guys," he said. "About time you both got here. I-" he stopped dead in his tracks when Marcus and Jason turned to face him, both of them partially Emergent. "Oh shit," he finished weakly.
"What the fuck?" John exclaimed softly, staring at the edges of the filaments that were poking out of their navels. "What is that?"
"Our filaments," Jason replied grumpily. "We're Emergent."
"Come sit down boys," Sam said gently, "and try to take it easy on John. He doesn't know the first thing about Spartans." The bearded man turned to John with a patient smile. "What it means, John, is that they've entered their reproductive cycle. Spartans can only become gestant, which you would call pregnant, during certain periods of their lives. It's only during Emergence, when our receptive reproductive organs come out that we can bear children."
John frowned in thought. "But I thought that Spartans could only have kids with their partner." He turned to the twins. "Couldn't your partners make it today?"
Marcus sighed. "John... And Giorgos too..." He took a deep breath. "You'll both learn the truth eventually, so it might as well be now. Jason and I are different from other Spartans. We're partner-bonded to each other."
Giorgos' mouth fell open in shock. "But you are brothers!" he exclaimed in horror. "You cannot do this! It is wrong!"
Jason glared at the human resentfully. "Not for us, it's not! Who the fuck do you think you are telling us how we're allowed to live, huh? And you," he said, rounding on a shocked-looking John. "I suppose you have some nice little hate speech to throw out too?"
John cringed away, expecting to be struck by the man. "No," he replied timidly. "If that's the way you are, then fine..." Jason's fury fell slightly at that, seeing the honesty on John's face and was shocked by it. "It's just..." the human continued. "You guys aren't going to try to have kids, right? They'll come out messed up or something."
Marcus sighed. "No, they'll be fine. A Spartan only becomes Emergent with someone capable of giving them healthy sons. Any children we'll have will be perfectly healthy."
"John, Giorgos," Sam said, "Spartan partner bonds always ensure healthy children regardless of who the parents are. Also, the bond is always involuntary. Marcus and Jason didn't choose to become bonded to each other any more than anyone else does. The twins are as much a valid partner bond as anyone else."
"So that's why you were so moody over the phone," David said knowingly.
"Yeah," Steven said. "But you should've warned us first so we could prepare our partners for the revelation. I know the oath would've prevented us from telling them, but if you'd given us your permission to tell them first, maybe-"
"Well I'm sorry we inconvenienced you all!" Jason exploded furiously, rising to his feet.
John flinched away from the unreasoning fury of the Emergent Spartan, looking shell-shocked as if reliving old and terrible memories. Henry saw his partner's reaction and put a protective arm around him. "Shit, Jason!" he snapped. "Knock it off already! Just because you're Emergent doesn't mean you can go on a psychotic rampage!"
"Well what do you expect?" Jason exploded. "We're sick to death of this shit! People like them," he nearly shouted, jabbing an accusatory finger and the two humans, "Always treat us like this! We didn't ask to be bonded to each other, you know," he snapped at Giorgos, who bristled at that. "We love each other and if you humans can't handle it, then tough shit!"
"HEY!" Daniel shouted. "Jason, you need to calm down! I know your hormones are spiking right now, but you're acting deranged! You can't expect them to react calmly to this after springing it on them out of the blue like that! So sit down, be quiet and get yourself under control right now, Mister!" He glared at his son furiously.
Marcus pulled gently at Jason's sleeve, urging him to return to his seat. Jason sighed explosively and sat down, looking resentful, yet compliant as he did so. Please calm down, he thought gently to Jason. Dad Daniel's right. We just sprung this on them without warning. I don't agree with the way Giorgos is acting, but John seems to be more openminded. He glanced at the human and felt a jolt at the expression on John's face as he looked at them because it was a look of dawning realization as he glanced from Marcus to Jason. "What is it?" he asked the man.
"Are you guys telepathic?" John asked, stunning most of the table. Everyone present except John and Giorgos had known, yet John seemed to have figured it incredibly quickly.
Jason's anger derailed in shock at that, staring at Henry's partner with wide eyes. "Yes, but only with each other. How did you figure it out?"
"Your body language and facial expressions. Even when you talk mentally, your bodies act the same way as when you speak out loud."
"Oh," was all Jason could say. Man, he's sharp! He picked up on that so fast! Some people never figure it out.
I know, Marcus thought. I'm impressed!
Giorgos looked at them nervously, making Jason frown. "Relax, we can only read each other's mind. It doesn't work with anyone else, not even family... Well, genetic family, I mean."
The Grecian relaxed, but still looked at them uncomfortably. "So you two will make a baby?" he asked nervously.
Marcus shook his head. "Not this Emergence, we won't. We want to save up some more first to make sure we can take care of the boy once he's born. However... We've talked it over a lot and have made a decision, but want to pray to Lord Apollo first for guidance. Once we know His answer, we'll tell the rest of you."
"What is it?" Sam asked, looking at them as if he knew what they meant, but wanted confirmation from them first.
Jason shook his head. "We don't want to discuss it further until after we talk about it with Lord Apollo."
The table began to eat, but nearly everyone was silent. Giorgos seemed to be mulling over the revelation about the twins, deciding how he should feel about it. John seemed to act as though the matter was already resolved and focused on eating as much as he could, looking to the twins as though he were afraid they'd run out of food. He acts like he hardly ever eats! Jason thought in shock.
He does look awfully thin, Marcus thought, feeling worried for the man.
Tracy and Alice forced small talk about the comedy movie they'd seen last weekend, but no one seemed very interested. Rachel kept casting nervous glances at John, wondering what the problem was about how he had met Henry.
Finally the meal came to an end and Giorgos cleared his throat. "This behavior of yours," he said to the twins. "Surely there is another you each can be with. Why choose to be with each other?"
"We didn't choose!" Jason snapped, irritated with the human. "It doesn't work that way! What's wrong with you?"
"Hey!" John chimed in. "Give him a break. How are we supposed to know how it works?"
"Sure!" Jason retorted sourly. "Stick together against the freaks! It's not like you know anything about how we've suffered!"
"If you think you have the lock on suffering," John replied savagely, "then think again!" He held up his wrists for them and everyone else to see. "I've suffered too!"
Many of the people at the table paled as they saw the scars across his wrists, especially those who knew nothing about how John had met Henry. "John," Henry began nervously. "Maybe this isn't the best time."
John sighed and looked at him as though very tired. "Henry, they'll find out eventually. I'd rather just get it out in the open right away..." He turned to the others. "Rachel asked how Henry and I met. He answered a call outside the temple about three weeks ago after I tried to commit suicide by stepping out into traffic."
"You're suicidal?" Matthew asked in shock.
Ryan, his older son, leaned forward with concern. "Why?" he asked, unable to understand.
"Because I didn't have anything to live for. My family was a bunch of horrible people who yelled and beat the fuck out of each other all the time, my job sucked, my roommate didn't give a shit about anything except his music, I had no friends, no fuck buddies and severe depression I had been dealing with for the last eleven years. I figured there wasn't any point in living if that was all life had to offer. But I didn't die and Henry ended up bonded to me. But I woke up and had another episode, then Apollo asked me if I was willing to accept help to free me from my mental illness. I said yes and Joshua came here to heal my mind. He ended up healing my body at the same time. But because I was in the hospital I lost my job and my home when my roommate threw me out. Daniel and Sam took me in and I start working at the temple day after tomorrow."
"That doesn't explain your wrists, though," Liam, Ryan's partner, said weakly.
"The car was my third failed attempt. The wrists were the first try." David looked at his fellow human nervously, as if he wanted to ask something. "I tried jumping from a bridge, but the cops stopped me as I climbed over the railing and I hit them to get them to leave me alone, so they arrested me and I was thrown in the psych ward for awhile before they released me."
"Oh," David said weakly.
"So you're suicidal?" Liam asked weakly.
"I was until Joshua cured me," John said softly. "Now I'm just trying to figure out what to do with myself."
"But you're bonded to Henry," William said. "Why not just move in with him?"
"Will," Sam said gently. "It's not that simple. They need time to get to know each other. It doesn't happen that fast, Son, especially for humans."
"Well John's not fast at all," Ash said airily, "otherwise the car wouldn't have hit him."
John glared at Ash with annoyance as Fred smacked the boy hard on the back of the head. "That's not funny! He was messed up in the head!"
"Takes one to know one!" Ash retorted sourly.
Fred went to hit him again, but Daniel interrupted him. "Stop that! What's wrong with everyone? Can't we try to act civilized here? Ash, apologize to John this minute!"
"Sorry," Ash said to the human, looking crestfallen.
"Giorgos," Daniel said, "I'm sorry we didn't tell you about this sooner, but it was the twins' secret to be kept, not ours. They really are bonded to each other, it's not by choice and their children will be perfectly fine despite the fact that they're identical brothers. We all came to terms with this long ago and it's not just them who will be like this... ALL Spartan twins will be a bonded pair. Please just try to understand that."
Giorgos looked as though he was struggling to accept this. "I will try," he said simply.
"Sorry if I made a scene," John said guiltily. "I just figured it would be better if everyone heard the truth from me."
"It's alright John," Sam said gently. "I understand."
Daniel glanced at his partner suspiciously but said nothing. Daniel had suspected that Sam had been suicidal once, but this was the closest Sam had ever come to admitting such a thing. He turned to John and spoke softly. "It's fine, John. It was your choice to tell everyone."
"And as for you guys," John said to the twins. "As long as you're healthy and your kids will be too, then more power to you. I won't object, even if I did have a say."
"Of course you have a say," Marcus said, looking at John as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "John... You're Henry's partner and that makes you family to us too."
Several others agreed. "Sorry," the human said. "All of this is a lot different from what I'm used to."
"Don't worry about it," Henry said quietly, rubbing his back supportively.
"Anyone want dessert?" Sam asked awkwardly, trying to change the subject to a happier one. "We've got a couple of sheet cakes..."