(Sorry I haven't updated in a while. School has started for me recently and I have been trying my best to stay on top of things, so I haven't had much free time for anything as of late. Sorry again, and thank you for waiting.)
-O-
His business concluded at the Hephaestus cabin, Oliver stepped back out into the sunlit camp, and he instinctively reached into his jacket for a cigarette. It was more of a muscle reflex than a conscious decision at this point, and he pondered briefly if he should leave it in his pocket. Marvin spoke up in the back of his mind.
On your right.
Oliver turned. Approaching from his right, the direction of the cabins, was a posse of teenagers with perfect hair and designer clothes. There were about half a dozen of them, four girls and two guys, but just one of them looked more than capable of annoying Oliver to the point that he wants to put a bullet in his mouth.
He lit the cigarette.
The first girl was pretty, Asian, and at least five years younger than Oliver, but was fluttering her eyelashes at him like she had a something stuck in them. The five other kids fanned out slightly behind the first girl, who Oliver assumed to be the leader, and Marvin snorted.
Venus spawn. Think they're the best things since indoor plumbing.
You mean Aphrodite?
Aphrodite, Venus, Freya, whatever. The only real difference between any of them is geography and name.
Well, they're all love goddesses.
Marvin sighed. You've got a lot to learn, kid.
Before he could make a response to the voice in his head, the Asian girl cleared her throat in front of him and said, "So, you're the mortal, huh?"
The way she said it made it sound like he had some kind of disease, and he had to resist the not inconsiderable urge to blow smoke in her face. Oliver just nodded once, keeping his face as neutral as he could manage. With a stony expression and some luck, maybe they'll leave him alone. That hope went out of the metaphorical window the instant the Asian let out a fake laugh and placed her hand on his arm, "Well, I'm Drew, and I'm sure you have all kinds of awesome stories. C'mon, walk and talk."
But Oliver could think of at least seven better ways he could spend the rest of his day and planted his feet into the ground. He had no idea why this wanna-be seductress wanted to walk with him, but he sure as shit didn't want to walk with her. He shook his head, brushing off her hand and saying, "I'm alright, thanks."
But something odd happened. Drew put her hand right back onto his arm, got a weird look in her eye and spoke again, but spoke... differently, "Oh, hon, please? It'll be fun, promise."
For a second, it did sound like a good idea. Her voice sounded inexplicably softer than it had before, and he suddenly couldn't think of anything better to do than hang out with this Asian chick and her posse of half-siblings. And then, just as fast as the thoughts appeared in his head, Marvin barked.
Oh, hell no.
As Marvin said that, fiery pain blossomed in the back of Oliver's skull, rapidly spreading through the rest of his brain like some kind of inverse brain freeze. He flinched at the suddenness of the pain's arrival, he smacked Drew's hand off and his mind was ripped free of the girl's influence. Marvin's voice sounded smug.
No love magic for you.
What did you do?
Marvin snorted as the Aphrodite kids backed up a step, and Drew's eyes widened a little bit.
The best answer I can give you is real complicated so I'll be simple: my whole original purpose was to be a fire, a gift to mankind.
You seem more like a curse to me.
Shut up, I'm giving exposition.
What?
Nevermind. While I was a literal, physical fire, Prometheus also imbued me with some of his Titan magic.
So that's why you have a personality?
Exactly. And, while he was at it, he also made me burn in the... metaphysical sense, I guess the best description would be.
...Okay.
Marvin groaned.
Look, what else does a fire do, besides burn?
Give off light?
Marvin actually sounded a little impressed. A little.
There's hope for you after all. Yeah, after I was given to humanity I wasn't just used to cook fish; I burned so brightly that mortals could see through the Mist, and charmspeak is just manipulating the Mist through words.
What happened? If you're still burning, why can't all mortals see through the Mist?
For the first time since Oliver could remember, Marvin sounded... old. Melancholic.
Well, word got around. The Fire of Mankind, which burned so bright it gave every man sight. The first theft attempt happened about six months after I first came to Mi- Earth. I burned the bastard alive, but he got a tiny piece. The next attempt was a year later, three men came, three men burned, and three men got a tiny piece of magic fire. Continue this for three thousand years.
Now, Marvin sounded angry, and the pendant around Oliver's neck started to grow uncomfortably warm on his chest.
I was a bonfire once. A great, roaring flame at the top of a hill in Athens, looking over the entire city, giving light to every man, woman and child on the face of the planet. Now, I'm barely a candle.
Oliver was trying to imagine what it had to feel like, to be something so great, so powerful, only to be ruined by the very people you helped and empowered. It made his stomach turn and twist into knots.
What about the Keepers? Why didn't they do anything?
Marvin took a few moments to calm down.
Because, after Zeus discovered what Prometheus had done, he chained him to a rock and set a vulture on him. He only established the Keepers when he got free in the First Titan War. But even with their help, even when only one thief made it through every ten years, twenty years, fifty, a hundred, it was enough. By the time we moved to America, The Keepers were so few and I was so weak and small that everyone just... forgot about us.
A long silence followed the end of the conversation, and it was only then that Oliver realized he's been standing still in front of the Aphrodite kids for about a minute and a half, and decided to just walk away, turning his back to them with barely a glance.
So... you can give me super powers?
Marvin laughed, and the uncomfortable warmth around his neck turned to something more akin to a campfire.
I wouldn't call it that, but I can pull a few tricks out of my hat.
Why didn't you mention any of this before?
You were running from the Hunters of Artemis, I think you had larger concerns.
...Well, what can you do?
I'm not sure. I haven't had a proper host in a few decades, I'm a little hazy on the details.
As Oliver walked aimlessly through the camp, he noticed he was approaching a large, stadium-like building at the edge of the grounds which seemed to be empty at the moment. And leaning against the wall of that building, right next to the door, was a blonde girl that was staring right at him, arms crossed. She looked like a teacher waiting for a late student to come into class for a sound scolding. All she was missing was the yardstick and a pair of glasses. When she saw him looking at her, she just nodded once and jerked her thumb into the arena behind her and walked in, not even sparing him a look.
Are you sure you don't remember anything?
You're just a hit with the opposite gender, aren't you?
Oliver looked up at the arena where Professor Scary-Blonde entered, sighed, resigned to his fate, and walked in after her.
