Tommy held the book in his hands, fingers tightly gripping the edges like a lifeline. He breathed in deeply, setting the book down on the pedestal with a tired expression. As soon as the book was dropped, a white metal structure made with bright green and purple jewels came to life. The jewels burned a brighter shade, coating the room in varying shades of green and purple, and made Tommy's eyes look more of a sea blue than his normal arctic sky. The white metal, a circular arch planted in the ground, had a red color reaching inwards from the other ring until a solid block of color stood before Tommy. It was a portal that was the complete opposite of a Nether portal. Instead of transferring a person in space, this one transferred a person to a different point in time.

Tommy groaned bitterly as he reached a hand towards the red lines that shimmered from the top corner of the portal to the opposite bottom corner. His hand went right through, a feeling of scalding hot water pouring over his nerves. Tommy winced in pain as he pushed the rest of his body through, the burning sensation washing over every inch of his body until he felt ready to pass out in pain. When Tommy came out the other side, he was in a temple. The white pillars rose steadily all around him, and he was stepping out of the base of a huge statue of a woman holding a spear and shield. Tommy recognized her only because of Technoblade. That was Athena, goddess of wisdom, crafting, weaving, and military brilliance. She represented the good parts of war, unlike her half brother Ares, who was the brutality of war. Tommy bowed towards the statue, hoping that Athena would notice and give him some good luck.

Tommy wandered out of the temple. He kept his eyes focused around him for proof of where (when) he was. Tommy wondered how long it would take him to find Karl. The letter the man sent him rested in his pocket, weighing Tommy down with responsibility. Instead, a woman with white curls that looked like wool with a golden circlet around her forehead approached him wearing a red chiton with yellow accents. Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Puffy?"

"Theseus! What are you doing here? Who is this Puffy?" The woman asked, who looked exactly like if Captain Puffy cosplayed as a Greek woman. She grabbed Tommy by the shoulders, moving him around before giving his clothes a weird, almost disgusted, look. "Where are your clothes? What are you wearing, Theseus? Do I have to tell you again that you need to look appropriate in public, especially at the temple? You are lucky Athena didn't smite you down for your attire."

This isn't Puffy, Tommy decided immediately. She thought he was Theseus. The actual Theseus from ancient Greece, his namesake. Tommy tried to remember the story. Technoblade told it enough times as a bedtime story for it to be engraved in Tommy's mind, but he needed to remember the beginning of it, Theseus' early life. Puffy was probably his mother... what was her name? A-something or another. Aegis? No, no, that was Athena's shield. Aegeus? No, that was Thesues' mortal father. Aethra? Aethra! That was it! She was the daughter of the King of Troezen. She was given to Aegeus by her father, slept with a drunk Aegeus, was told by Athena to go to the island of Sphairia, was raped by Posidien... Oh, geez, Tommy forgot how messed up Greece was.

"Sorry... Mother? Uh... Anyways... what are you doing here?" Tommy mumbled out. It was weird calling Puffy his mother. She acted that way sometimes, but it wasn't official between either of them.

"It's time for you to know the truth, Theseus. Please, come with me," Puffy- Aethra- said as she took Tommy's hand. He raised an eyebrow but allowed the woman to drag him out of the city and towards nearby fields. There was a huge stone in one of them, and the woman stopped walking as she pushed Tommy towards it. He sputtered for something to say, but her face was solemn and unreadable. Tommy sighed inwardly as he approached the stone. There was something written across the surface. Tommy touched the surface, fingers tracing the pattern. He made a turn with his finger too fast, and the edge cut his skin, blood slowly dripping out. Tommy cursed in English (had he been understanding and talking in Greece the entire time?). His blood filled the symbols, even though he hadn't bled enough for them all to be filled. Tommy stumbled back as the stone started falling, crashing into the tree at the edge of the field. Tommy winced at the sound but Puffy had started approaching him.

"I know that you have many questions, but I'm not the one to answer them. In the ground is a sword and sandals. You will wear them and travel to Athens to meet your birth father and claim your birthright. I'm sorry for doing this to you, Theseus. I am sure that you don't want to be thrown into the whims of fate. I wish we could stay here, living easy and simple lives," Puffy started crying as she cupped Tommy's cheek. Tommy felt his heartbreak at the sight. This may not have been the Puffy he knew, but this was a version of her, and Tommy didn't like to see her cry for his sake.

"You have done no such evils, Mother. I will become the King of Athens, and you will spend your days lavishly by my side. I have never and will never wish to the gods to be spawned by another mother. Not even Leto can compare to you," Tommy whispered, promptly getting hit in the face and cursed by his mother for invoking a goddesses name in comparison to a 'mere mortal'. Tommy laughed, grabbing Puffy's hand, kissing the back of it with a bow. "You will be Queen again, Mother, and no one will take advantage of you anymore."

"My son," Puffy said, pulling Tommy into a hug, standing on her tippie toes to reach his shoulders. Tommy returned the hug, relishing in the warmth a mother could provide. He didn't remember his mother, and Niki- who was like his mother- hated him enough to want him dead. Tommy was far too scared to truly appreciate Puffy as a mother figure, counting down the days until she betrayed him. At this moment, however, he was Theseus, the loved son of Aethra. He always hated Theseus, but now he was a tad bit jealous of the Greek hero.

Tommy pulled away far to soon in his opinion. He dug up the tokens of his father, hand wrapping around the hilt of the blade in its scabbard and the sandals that were left in the ground. The leather smelled weird, and the sandals barely fit his feet. The sword, however, was shining in his hands, the surface a blinding silver that reflected the sun. It was the sword of Aegius, the sword of Theseus, the sword of birthright and ruin and an inexorable future. Tommy swung the blade tentatively, a grin slipping onto his face. It was perfectly weighted, and Tommy was strong enough to swing it around. The sword was a curse, yes, but it worked well at destroying opponents. Tommy strapped the sword to his side, slipping the sandals on. He gave Puffy a kiss on the forehead, and a final goodbye before trotting in the direction of Athens, where he hoped he would find Karl and get out of Ancient Greece before he messed the tale of Theseus up too much.

Prompt by Christa_Story