Davis Green’s dream job was one that any other man would have thought easy to get and would have seen it as undesirable, but it was all Davis would want to do. He wanted to work underground in the sewers of New York City, in order to help the city as a whole. But he walked with a limp, and because of this, they refused to hire him. But Davis was so passionate about New York City, that he wouldn't give up trying to get the government to hire him for something at least slightly related to construction. He tried to see if they would hire him to help fix train tracks when they broke. They refused, but he didn’t give up. He took architecture classes at a college, learned everything he could about trains and engineering, and even spent three years memorizing the entire sewer system, subway tracks (even the abandoned ones), and railroad tracks in New York City. When he told them how much he had memorized, the city realized his dedication to the cause and made him project manager for a new subway line. His knowledge of the city and his new job attracted the attention of Ariadne. She would disguise herself as a female construction worker on his team under the false name Lila Sampson. After two or three dates, he took her back to his apartment and they ended up sleeping together.
The next morning, Davis woke up to find Lila gone. He only became concerned about her when she was not at work the next day. Or the next. Or the next. Until she returned five months later, to the work site, with a baby in her arms. Davis looked at her like she was insane. “Why would you bring a baby here? Where have you been for the past five months?” Ariadne then took Davis to the side and explained that she was a Greek goddess, that the baby was their son and a demigod whom she named Theodore, and that she couldn't stay because it was forbidden. Ariadne gave Davis a round golden pin, with lines engraved that formed a miniature maze within the pin, and told him to give Theodore the pin when he turned thirteen.
Theo was a shy kid, never really feeling like he fit in. Ever since elementary school, he could always be found in corners of the school, and was often found wandering the hallways without permission. At the age of six, he had memorized the entire school’s layout, from hallways and classrooms to janitor’s closets. Theo was a mischievous kid even from a young age, constantly figuring out ways to eavesdrop on teachers’ conversations, and would even play pranks on them. When Theo was eight, he was “line leader” and the teacher had left to use the bathroom, so he convinced the class that he was in charge, and led the whole class out onto the playground. Because his dad worked in construction and wasn't around much, Theo would walk home from school by himself and sometimes lose his keys, so he knew how to pick a lock. He picked the lock on the playground fence and he and his class played on the playground. When the teacher found them, she looked panicked, and when she found out Theo initiated it, she sent him straight to the principal’s office. More and more of these incidents kept happening over the years, and by the time Theo was twelve, he had been sent to the principal, and received more detentions and suspensions than you could count. It wasn't that Theo was a troubled or a bad kid, he just liked to have a good laugh, and this was his kind of humor.
At age thirteen, while out on one of his eavesdropping trips around the halls, he overheard the assistant principal talking to a man in her office, and heard her tell him she loved him. When he walked out and it wasn't her husband, Theo thought it would be funny to announce on the loudspeaker that she was having an affair as a joke. However, when this fact turned out to be true, Theo was expelled from school for eavesdropping on and humiliating the assistant principal. Theo’s dad would have cared, but was too busy working on a new subway track that stretched from uptown to Brooklyn to be worried about his son. His father is much too invested in his work and never saw taking care of Theo as a priority.
The only real conversation Theo had with his father before he left for reform school, when Davis gave Theo the pin passed down to him by Ariadne. Because he was off to boarding school, Davis told his son that his mother was a goddess, and when Theo didn't believe him, he told him to press the pin. He did, and the pin’s engraving lit up and two dual swords appeared in his hands.
Theo wore his pin every day at reform school, now that he knew what was really out there. However, he didn't know that this would make him more prone to monster attacks. In reform school, Theo was a saint compared to some of the other kids (I mean, the school was said to be for “troubled teens”). Most of the kids he met there were druggies, had robbed banks, or had some sort of emotional problem. He realized he didn't belong in a place like this, and asked to call his father to see if he could come home. His dad said no other place would take him, so Theo made the best of his experience, using his street smarts to get him through day to day life at school, and keeping himself busy by playing pranks on the teachers, therapists, social workers, guards (yes, the school had guards), and the other students to keep himself entertained and happy. If he had ADHD or Dyslexia they went undiagnosed, as Theo was too busy pranking people to attend any classes. Most of the kids at the boarding school either loved him or hated him, because of his pranks. The one class Theo attended was the World History and Mythology class, in order to learn as much about who his mother was as he could. He was only able to find a few myths on her, and nothing that really gave him a sense of what she was like. However he did figure out that she named him after the man who was her first love, Theseus of Athens, and didn't even tell his father who she was really naming him after. When he found this out, he realized she didn't truly love his father, which made him quite upset.
When Theo was fourteen, he was walking behind a heavier girl who had tattoos all over her arm, and thought to himself how funny it would be to see her trip. He wasn't really sure what happened, but all the sudden, a string appeared around her legs from thin air, tying her feet together, and she fell on her face with a thud. Theo started cracking up, wondering how it was possible, when he remembered the myth about his mother and the minotaur. He assumed he did it subconsciously, and patted himself on the back. He tried to conjure the string again later in his dorm room, but couldn't do it. He spent the next week trying to figure out how to conjure and manipulate the string, and with practice, got better.
At the end of the week, he experienced his first monster attack. He would later discover that his pin not only could transform into swords, but would have the power to ward monsters away from Theo by making them think they are caught in a labyrinth until Theo would begin to have minor control over his powers, much like a protective charm that wears off when one can fend for themselves. (this effect wears off once Theo uses his powers on the first hellhounds) He was in his dorm room, when two hellhounds appeared. Theo pressed the pin he got from his mom and the two swords appeared in his hands. He swung them at one of the hellhounds, and conjured a string to tie the other one’s legs together long enough for him to finish off the first one. Just as the other hellhound bit through the string, Theo was running over to kill it. He swung blindly at the hellhound, not really sure what he was doing. The hellhound charged, but Theo decapitated it with a swift slice of his sword. He called his dad, and told him what had happened. His dad came to pick him up the next morning, but was never very close with his son, and felt it wasn't his place to tell him to do anything, so he did not make Theo go to Camp Half Blood. Theo decided to stay in New York City.
For the next two years, he was "homeschooled" (even though his father never taught him much), not so much learning how to fight but more of sitting at home while his father worked he used this time to teach himself how to control his demigod powers, but had nobody to teach him told hold a sword. His dad just wanted him close by so he wouldn’t die. Theo became known as the go to guy in town for anything you needed to have a good time. He made his own money through his innate knowledge of the streets of New York City, his street smarts, and his prankster mind, selling everything from fake IDs to supplying people maps of bank vaults to anyone who asked for it. Theo was able to find anything for anyone, and retrieve it successfully every time, whether through stealth, his knowledge of the streets, or by simply summoning a labyrinth wall in between him and his pursuer. Theo himself was not a bad kid though, never drinking, smoking, or doing any other drugs. He was however, quite a successful thief, not that he needed the money or goods, but they were definitely luxuries he couldn’t turn down. He did this while out of boarding school as well, and was good at it. He used his knowledge of the streets and innate knowledge of pathways to rob all kinds of stores and escape from situations where he should have been cornered.
A year after he got back from reform school, a harpy found him in central park, just as inexperienced with combat as a year before, but much more strategic and more in control of his powers. He escaped the harpy by going down a manhole right outside central park. The harpy was unabel to follow do to its large wingspan.Theo then continued on with his life. A year later, he was attacked by two more hellhounds, which he dealt with by using the same strategy he did for his first enounter with hallhounds, tying up the first one while he deal with the other.Then, he stabbed the other hellhound in the back with his dual swords. It was at this point, he and his father decided he should head to Camp Half Blood. Afraid of any more monster aattacks, Theo navigated his way through the sewer system in order to stay hidden from monsters, as the smell of sewage would prevent monsters from tracking his demigod scent. Although it took him two days to get to camp, he went into the sewer originally with food and water, and made it there safely.
