"Yuuri, you know I believe impossible is a social construct."
Yuuri smiled comfortingly, humoring his friend, "Yes. I do. Which is why I think you're the person for the job."
"You do? Good. That - that is good. But Yuuri, making a pretty clock is one thing. But figuring out the mechanics of the first ever human flight? That's...That's venturing into Immortal territory," Phichit said, his usually smooth voice breaking and stumbling.
Yuuri softened. He didn't like to see his brother in all but blood this way. "Phichit, you know I would never willingly put you in danger. If this makes you uncomfortable in any way, if there is even one misgiving in your mind, I will let this go."
Phichit spluttered, "One! Have you not been listening? My mind is full of misgivings, it is nothing but misgivings!"
Yuuri looked back steadily, "Is it? Putting aside your fears of not being able to conquer mortal flight like you've conquered everything else, is there even one misgiving in your mind?"
Phichit paused. Opened his mouth. Closed it. Paused some more.
Yuuri said, mien softer than before, "If there is anyone in the world capable of it, it is you, Phichit. Daedalus. Now, tell me the truth. I will be flying this Halia one way or another, will you be flying with me?"
Phichit looked back, face pale, looking his age of eighteen for once in his life. Yuuri returned his gaze calmly, aware of the strength of the claws of insecurity and invisible fears that the mind could conjure.
And then Phichit smiled, slowly, like the sun peeking out at the blush of dawn, and with it rose Yuuri's hopes.
That night, Yuuri dreamt of silver skies.
Helios was regarded as the inventor of the four-horse chariot, a natural association given the Greek believed the sun-god drove a chariot across the sky.
With a week to Halia and the Tournament Phichit set to work, sequestering himself away in his room and sending Yuuri off on errands.
"My, my, your boy sure keeps a tight leash on you, Yuuri," Minako said one evening after a few days of watching Phichit give Yuuri his marching orders for the day before going off to rest.
Yuuri's mother's head popped up from behind the restaurant counter, suddenly interested in the topic of conversation. Yuuri could feel sweat bead the back of his neck at the heavy weight of the gazes of his mother and mentor. He laughed uneasily, "It's not like that. We're just friends."
Yuuri's mother's shoulders sunk a little in disappointment, but Minako's expression remained sly as she said in a deceptively light voice, "It tends to start out like that. But we all saw you during the Labours. You trust each other."
Yuuri rolled his eyes, "That's not all that is needed to enter a romantic relationship, Minako."
Minako looked back, ageless eyes swimming with unknowable depths. "Isn't it? You'll be surprised at how often trust is missing in relationships. It shouldn't be taken for granted."
They stared at each other, uneasy (on Yuuri's end) and steady (on Minako's). Yuuri wasn't sure what Minako was hinting towards this time.
"Well then, Yuuri. Was there someone else? Someone you met during your Journey, perhaps?" Hiroko's sweet voice cut in, eager and calming.
Yuuri reddened as Minako's face settled back into her usual expression.
"No. Ah… My Journey was - There was no one other than who you all saw." Yuuri mumbled, offhandedly thinking that even heroes were not exempt from humiliation via the mother figures in their lives.
"Not even that Siren? You two seemed friendly." Minako piped up, a familiar note of gossip in her voice.
Yuuri's mother hopped up and down excitedly at the reminder, bubbling out, "Oh! She was so lovely!"
"When she wasn't trying to kill Yuuri, that is." Minako injected humorously.
Yuuri's mother clapped her hands and said fiercely, "Oh, but she apologized for that! You mustn't hold it against it, Minako! She was just doing her job, like you and me."
Minako rolled her eyes, gracefully leaning against the table with her elbows on her knees, "Yes, but unlike you and me, her job is to lure unsuspecting sailors to their death."
"You can't fault someone for their nature, Minako. Some people… are not like you and me. They have other duties and responsibilities they are beholden to," Yuuri's mother said, her voice losing its color over the course of the sentence.
Minako looked at Yuuri's mother wordlessly, exchanging glances that spoke of shared history and pain.
Yuuri bit his lip, wishing that his mother could have stayed happy, even if it was at his expense.
But some memories weren't so easy to hide from.
"Yuuri?"
They all blinked as a bleary-eyed Phichit stumbled in, with sleep-mussed hair and crinkled clothes, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Yuuri got up and walked towards Phichit, directing him towards a table his doting mother was already setting up with food.
"Yuuri?" Phichit's voice sounded plaintive, young.
Yuuri squeezed his shoulder with the hand resting on it, "I'm here, Phi."
Phichit sighed, and with a quiet tone in his voice said, "I have something to tell you."
Yuuri could feel his back straighten at the tone, Minako and his mother's gazes too fixed on his young friend. Yuuri felt a twist in his stomach, heart thudding rapidly.
Phichit looked up, dark eyes wide and shiny, full of something Yuuri couldn't identify.
"It's ready."
Yuuri felt his heart lurch as Minako made a questioning sound, but all Yuuri could see was the brilliantly burning fierceness in Phichit's eyes.
"It's ready. Come Halia, Icarus will fly, with the gods themselves as his witness."
Yuuri closed his eyes, fisted hand falling open by his side, a somber peace settling over his bones as the inn exploded in a cacophony.
Yuuri breathed.
"Hephaestus gave many gifts as a thank-offering to Helios (the Sun), who had taken him up in his chariot when he sank exhausted on the battlefield of Phlegra [in the war of the Gigantes]."
- Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica
"Have you lost all your senses?!" Minako raged, as Yuuri's mother stood, frozen, with tears flowing unbidden from her eyes.
"Mortal flight with a pegasus is dangerous enough! But you want to tempt the Fates by flying unaccompanied?! After we saw you off five years ago, your family had to watch you battle creatures unlike anything they'd ever seen before, and now you want them to watch you die? Like this?! Have you lost your senses, boy?!" Minako spat out, baring her teeth, looking more and more like an incoming shark.
Yuuri stared back and said coolly, "How many Helios devotees have been by this year? By how much has the number decreased this year?"
"That is none of your concern," Minako said, back straight and proud.
Yuuri raised a brow, "Isn't it? You think that just because I was on my Journey, I wouldn't know about the problems Hasetsu is facing? I am no longer the boy who had to hold onto your hand, Minako. This town is mine as well, I am responsible for it."
Yuuri's mother gasped, "Not by putting your life on the line, Yuuri. That is not the way."
Yuuri looked back, and said, voice thick, "Five years ago, I was just a boy. I could do nothing about the problems. But things are different now. I am different. I am a Hero now."
"B-But the Titan Lord saved us, Yuuri! We no longer need to be saved." Yuuri's mother cried out.
"But for how long?!" Yuuri cried out, hand clenching, "He saved us last time, but no one knows why, and there is no guarantee he will save us again! We need to learn to save ourselves, not wait for others to do it for us!"
"Fool! You think yourself better than the gods?" Minako said belligerently.
Yuuri turned to look at her, and said simply, "I think myself more faithful to the lands and people of Hasetsu. I am no Immortal, too busy with the grand affairs of heavens. I am devoted to Hasetsu."
Yuuri's mother gasped, the sound shattering the brittle tension between Yuuri and Minako. "What are you saying, Yuuri! Be silent!"
But Yuuri was filled with fearlessness he knew only in battle, and he turned to her and said passionately, "No, Ma. I will fly this Halia, and then people all over the world will come to Hasetsu again. With the money I win at the Tournament, I will build a Hero school here, that anyone can enter. I can save Hasetsu."
At the declaration, silence swept the room.
"I never took Yuuri Katsuki to be so selfish," Minako said flatly.
Phichit who had been silent until that moment, stood up, chair screeching against the floor as he angrily said, "Yuuri is not selfish! He is risking his life for Hasetsu! How is that selfish?!"
Minako, shoulders slumped, and with a strange tone in her voice said, "Sometimes it's selfish to do the right thing, sometimes it's better to not do anything at all. To let things be."
Yuuri looked at her, his mentor and second mother, and simply said, "That's not what you've both raised me to do. I cannot sit if I can act. That's not what I was taught. I'm sorry."
Yuuri looked back, eyes alight, and said, "This Halia, I will fly. I will save Hasetsu."
Now you'd like me on my knees,
crying out to Hera, "Blah, blah, blah,
bring him home safe and free of warts,"
or blubbering, "Wah, wah, wah, thank you,
thank you, for curing my liver condition."
Good grief, gods do what they like.
They call down hurricanes with a whisper
or send off a tsunami the way you would a love letter.
- Charaxos and Larichos, Sappho
Yuuri stared at the ceiling as he laid in his room. After his declaration in the restaurant, he and Phichit had gone to their rooms to let his mother and Minako simmer down.
Yuuri could feel an uneasy twistiness in his gut. He didn't like fighting with people he held dear, but this was the one thing he could do for Hasetsu and its future. He could save them all, and his school would ensure that they were no longer at the benevolent and unchecked mercies of the gods. He could save them all.
But the knowledge of the rightness of his choice didn't make the memory of Minako's disappointed anger and his mother's tears any easier to bear.
Yuuri pushed his pillow over his face, unable to bear the guilt.
"What are you doing?"
Yuuri jumped as a voice spoke next to him, the approach of its owner disguised by the pillow covering Yuuri's ears. He pulled the pillow off his face, and looked at the intruder with a gasp.
"Minako!"
Minako stared back, unimpressed.
Yuuri felt his ears redden, and he stuttered, accusing "You didn't knock! I could have been-"
Minako rolled her eyes, and calmly said, as if Yuuri didn't want to disintegrate in front of her eyes, "Please. Like I haven't seen it all before."
Yuuri felt like dying, both at the situation and the unasked for knowledge. He whimpered, clutching his head, unable to bear the weight of living anymore. But the hands didn't stop the sound of Minako's next words from reaching him.
"Is your heart still set on this ridiculous venture?" Minako asked point-blank.
Yuuri pulled away from his hands and just looked back at Minako, still flushed, but resolute.
She shook her head, and said with dry, resigned anger, "Stubborn child."
"I thought I was selfish?" Yuuri said wryly, trying to lighten the despondent air surrounding her.
Minako's eyes flashed, "You are both! Now listen to me, stubborn child, I have looked after you and trained you to become a Hero since you could stand. Don't think you're let off the hook from training just because you have become a Hero. Tomorrow, at six in the morning, I expect you by the sea."
Yuuri bowed and, careful not to let a smile of relief show, obediently said, "Yes, Teacher."
Minako humphed, and testily said, "I do not condone your actions, but I will do my best to make sure it's not the last thing you do, even if you are hare-brained enough to carry it through. Don't be late. We have a lot of work to do."
Yuuri looked at Minako's back, straight and proud, and felt like laughing loud and clear to expel the sheer force of emotion gathering in his chest, but resisted. He settled for a smile and slumped back into his bed, pulling the covers over his head and forced himself to sleep so he would be able to meet Minako early the next morning.
After all, they had a lot of work to do.
That night, his dreams were silver, silver, silver .
Mother dear, I soft as she is she has almost
can't finish my
weaving
You may
blame Aphrodite
killed me with
love for that boy
"Okay, so let's see it," Minako said, hands on her hips, clad in form-fitting clothes, backlit by the morning sun above the sea. Yuuri felt a twinge in his chest at the familiar sight; When seeing Minako like this, in his more sentimental moments, Yuuri could swear that he was in the presence of a being far more powerful and knowing than what her flesh would imply.
When Yuuri was younger, Minako's infallibility was one of his universal constants. He took his heart and strength from his mother, but found his head and reason in Minako.
He could still remember the time Minako had caught him practicing with a wooden stick, pretending it was a sword; how she had not laughed at the thought of a mortal attempting to become a Hero, but instead, with an unreadable look in her ancient eyes, trained him on how to hold a sword properly.
He had once plucked up the courage to ask Minako how she knew everything from dance to war-craft, only to get an invasive answer of, "I have had a long time to learn things no one expected me to be able to do."
And yet, that answer to Yuuri, whose own dreams were laughed at by neighborhood kids, was revealing enough that Yuuri never asked again.
As Yuuri went through the familiar movements with his sword, under the watchful warmth of the sun, his mind - peaceful for the first time that day - wandered. It remembered the way Minako had combed back his hair with her fingers the day he had haltingly asked her if becoming a Hero was an impossible dream for someone like him; if someone with no godly blood to speak of could ever aspire to reach the heights of Heroes like Hercules.
He thought back to the pain in his chest as Minako had mercilessly told him, "No, I don't believe you can hope to aspire to reach Hercules's heights."
He felt the bloom in his chest as he recalled how she had then leaned in, and with a voice steady with certainty said, "I believe you can and will one day surpass him."
And it was that support that had lead Yuuri to brave the journey to go through the Labors of Hercules, the deathly trials needed to be known as a Hero in the eyes of the world, both mortal and immortal. It was that confidence that had had Yuuri finishing the Trials in five years, a feat that had taken Hercules himself twelve years to carry out.
Yuuri could see the pride in Minako's eyes as she looked over critically at his posture, unable to find any faults.
It's because of you and Hasetsu, that I became the only mortal to successfully carry out the Labours. And now it's my turn to give back, and save you all.
But if Minako knew the train of thought his mind had started on, she ignored it, calling out instructions and directing him one way and another.
"Good. You've kept up with your training." She said at last, a rare thread of hard-won approval sneaking in.
Yuuri smiled, "Hard not to, when creatures keep coming after you with all they have."
Minako looked at him sarcastically, "Hmm, I wonder why that kept happening, Icarus? Couldn't possibly be because you and that friend of yours kept going where you weren't supposed to. "
Yuuri laughed uneasily at the rebuke, and said, eyes wide with faux-innocence, "To be fair, that only happened like a tenth of the time. The rest of the time, we were just victims of circumstance!"
Minako looked back, unamused, "More like eighty percent of the time!"
Yuuri's lips twitched, "Well, maybe around forty percent..."
Minako's jaw clenched, "Twenty! I'd say more like sixty!"
Yuuri's eyes glimmered with repressed amusement, "Well, let's both settle for the average, and say fifty percent, yes?"
Minako's posture cracked, hints of amusement creeping in, as she, for the first time that day, smiled at Yuuri.
Yuuri relaxed and smiled back, relieved.
Later, they sat on the sand, facing the sea, talking like Yuuri remembered they used to before Yuuri left for his Journey.
"If you keep going this way, Helios himself will not be able to take his eyes off of you," Minako said offhandedly, leaning on her hands.
Yuuri reddened, and he stumbled out, "I don't know about that, Minako. Helios is the best Air Skater there is. For Styx's sakes, he invented the art! I doubt I will be able to impress him ."
Minako quirked her lips, in that obnoxious way she had of making him feel like she knew something he didn't, and hummed.
At that, Yuuri flailed and said, "I'm serious! Helios is Helios! He won't be interested in some random mortal!"
Minako turned to him abruptly, eyes flashing, " Random mortal? Is that what you think of yourself, Icarus ? Not everyone gets a second name from the Oracle at Delphi, you know! And you and that hooligan friend of yours both got one! When will you get it through your thick head?! You are the first person after Hercules himself to pass the Labours! Most people during their Journey don't have the temerity to go after the Labours, instead choosing the simpler route of becoming a Hero, but you chose and succeeded in the Labours themselves! And in less than half the time it took that beef-head Hercules!"
"Minako!" Yuuri said softly, humbled and emotional.
Minako looked at him steadily, "What?! Hercules was an entitled beef-head. You are far above and beyond him. A real Hero. One who would never stray from his duties and promises. That's why it pains me so to see you throw it all away for some mad scheme, Yuuri."
Yuuri licked his suddenly dry lips, and softly said, "I… wouldn't be the person you raised me to be if I ran away from my promises, Minako. That's why I have to do this. Hasetsu is my duty. I have to at least try to save it. I have to. Please try to understand."
Minako closed her eyes and looked out at the sea with a far-away look in her eyes, and said with a softness that came from the sad knowledge of the inevitability of Yuuri's decision, "Stubborn child."
A puff of smoke, a little fog, away goes the hero,
it's happily ever after
- Charaxos and Larichos, Sappho
"Yuuri, you ready?" Phichit said, voice thrumming with excitement.
Yuuri, equally excited but less overt about it, nodded.
Phichit pulled back the sheet over the contraption in the middle of his room, with the showmanship of a court jester mixed with the elegance and taste of Minako, to reveal his invention.
Yuuri gasped, unable to help himself, as he ran his eyes over the wooden, feathered wings. The wings might have looked unassuming, even mundane, but for the tips of the wings which were sharp and deadly, like the blade of a sword. The feathers, collected by Yuuri from the sheddings of birds in the woods, were bizarre and multi-colored, forming a cacophony of vibrancy, framing the weapons of war that were the aerodynamic wing-tips.
"Phichit.. . " Yuuri said, still unable to tear his eyes away from the display.
Phichit looked back, nervous but proud, and hummed questioningly.
"They're the single most beautiful sight I have ever laid my eyes on." Yuuri murmured reverently.
Phichit relaxed and smiled, a soft, tremulous thing just as beautiful as the wings he had created.
They smiled at each other, before Phichit shook himself and in his usual jovial tone boomed, "Ah, but will they fly, you must be wondering!"
Yuuri settled down on the balls of his feet, and popped out nonchalantly, "Not really. I know they will. You made them, after all."
Phichit stumbled, clearly taken aback by Yuuri's confidence, but regrouped, expression pleased, bumbling out, "As you should be! Now the question becomes, want to take them for a try?"
Yuuri's grin was the only answer Phichit needed, as he whooped and lifted up the wings from their stand.
They ran outside with the energy of boisterous young boys going off to play, wings carefully held. The customers in the inn turned in their seats to watch them run down the hallway laughing. They ran to the sea, which was situated next to the inn.
When all they could see was water Phichit stopped, turning back, eyes bright and offered the wings to Yuuri.
Yuuri, fingers trembling, touched the chassis lightly; he could feel the grain of the wood underneath the pads of his fingers. He gripped it tightly, carefully, testing out the weight.
Surprisingly light.
Together, the two of them put the wings on Yuuri, binding his arms to the wings. Yuuri could feel the structure like it was part of his own body. He felt his mind calm as it only did when he had a sword in his hand.
He felt right.
Yuuri could feel the bubbling in his chest spurred on by his giddy thoughts and the adrenaline coursing through his body.
He breathed.
A hand fell on his shoulder. Yuuri opened his eyes to see Phichit looking at him seriously.
"Yuuri, these wings will carry you, I swear it on my life. But I had to make some concessions when building them. You cannot fly too close to the sun, or get too close to the water from the sea, lest the sun melt the wax or the ocean spray clog the feathers. You must not attempt either. Swear it."
Yuuri smiled, and said steadily, "I will do as you say, Phichit. I swear it."
Phichit's grave expression lightened, as he turned to look at the wings like they were an enjoyable plaything again, and with a wicked grin on his face said, "Well then, what are you waiting for? Take to your flight, Icarus!"
Yuuri grinned, and did just so.
As Phichit shouted, Fly, Yuuri, Fly!, Yuuri took to the skies with a run, feeling the wind beneath his artificial wings, until it was all he could hear.
The wind, the sun and him.
Yuuri laughed, louder and clearer than he would have with the ground under his feet, inhibitions erased with the wind in his hair and the clouds beneath him.
He felt invincible.
He felt inevitable.
He felt immortal.
Yuuri practiced his Air Skating moves, gliding, spinning, swooping in the air until the air itself hummed with his name.
In the distance he could see the Rhodes Aureole, with Helios looking down from his chariot. He felt a spurt of temerity rise in his chest.
He looked out at the setting sun, the sky colourful like the feathers in his wings, and promised himself.
No matter the cost, he was going to win.
There was no other alternative.
Yuuri breathed.
And flew.