A minuscule fire crackled upon pile of awkwardly placed sticks. Vangelis, Ikaros, and Hades, sat around it whilst attempting to warm themselves in the cool summer night.

"I still struggle with the fact that you have kept this relationship from me."

There was no humor upon Ikaros' face, only fatigue and weariness. They had walked for a long while, stopping only to rest or to take a drink at a spring when they became dehydrated. Needless to say, all three felt exhaustion down to their very bones. They had not talked much about the present issue and the conversation as they walked was merely small bits and pieces in an effort to conserve energy. Vangelis looked considerably guilty and wiped cooled sweat off his brow.

"Please forgive me my friend." he said quietly. "I did not know of a way to alert you."

Hades kept himself quiet while drinking a small cup of wine from Andonis's home. He figured he could leave this to the two friends. After all, it was not his fault.

"Did he make you keep it a secret," Ikaros pointed accusedly at Hades as his eyes narrowed.

"I did not," Hades told him, sounding remarkably bored. "Whether he told his friends or not was of his own volition not my own."

Ikaros stepped threateningly closer to him, baring his teeth.

"And exactly how long have your little meetings been going on?" he asked them as his anger mounted.

"Ikaros please-" Vangelis begged him.

"How long have you seen him?" He hissed.

"Since he was a young boy." Hades could not contain the smirk which grew on his face. "He was mine before he was ever yours."

"You damn monster-!"

He swung a fist at the god only to be held back by Vangelis, who desperately tried to pry the two apart. The only one who seemed remotely amused by this was Hades who chuckled under his breath.

"You humans are violent creatures-"

"I'm going to kill you for touching him!"

"Oh my," Hades's smirk grew. "are you really? Oh, how I fear for my life."

"Listen here you-"

"Stop it both of you!"

Vangelis shoved Ikaros to the ground and glared at them both.

"Hades never touched me when I was young. I-we did not make love until some time ago," Vangelis flushed at the memory.

It had been a pleasant night, many months ago, and he remembered how Hades's hands felt on his body, sending him to completion, how their bodies meshed well together, and how tender the god was afterwards. He had never before felt so loved. They had done it plenty times since then, each time better than the last. Much to his own embarrassment, he found himself addicted to the deed and could not control himself when around the god. If Ikaros had not come along with them, he would not have kept his hands to himself. Hades looked far too tempting in his human form.

"Vangelis...?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and turned back towards Ikaros. He bent down and offered his hand.

"I'm sorry Ikaros. I did not know how to tell you."

Vangelis helped him up and he dusted himself off.

"Who else knows besides me?"

"Fath-Solon does." he replied with a wince.

Ikaros placed a pitying hand on his shoulder.

"Do not force yourself. He has been your father since you were an infant. It is only natural that you think of him as such."

"That is the thing Ikaros," Vangelis began,"what if I meet my real father and he-"

"Your father is dead, Vangelis," Hades interrupted, his face grim.

The two young men looked at him. Vangelis couldn't believe his ears.

"Dead? He...he can't be! If my mother is the Helen, then should my father not be Menelaus?"

Hades shook his head. Vangelis instantaneously hated the gesture.

"Then," he began his voice trembling," am I a bastard?"

"Worse. You are a son of Troy. A damnation as far as some gods are concerned."

Ikaros glared at Hades who held up his hands in a faux modest movement.

"I am not one of those gods I assure you. It was not I who placed lots on the war, I merely received the consequences of said lots in human souls."

Vangelis shook off Ikaros' comforting hand that had once again been placed on his shoulder. His voice was pleading, something which hurt Hades to hear. To see his beloved in pain was too much to bear.

"Who was he? A warrior?"

There was hope in his tone, hope that burned. Hades shook his head once more. This infuriated Ikaros who was not overtly fond of the God of the Underworld.

"Then who is he? Quit your games!"

"It is Deiphobus brother of Paris!"

Vangelis slid down to the floor his body a lot more heavy suddenly. Deiphobus...brother of Paris was his father. He was the successor to the Trojan throne.

"I need time alone." he found himself saying to himself.

"Vangelis-!" Hades and Ikaros began.

"Alone!"

This silenced the two of them and he left the camping site into a another section of the forest that metamorphosed into a rocky, treeless, hillside whose greenery was a bright lime in the bright sun in the mornings and a brilliant emerald in the afternoon and nights. He settled himself onto a limestone and stared into nothing, thinking nothing.

The stories that the elders of his village spoke of Paris as the one who slighted the other goddesses and awarded the golden apple to Aphrodite. The elders spoke of Deiphobus as the one cut to pieces. Vangelis's head rested on his knees. He wished he could feel pride for his father, Deiphobus was known to the Greeks as anything but a coward, but all he could muster was indignation. It was his fault he was given his fate.

His fate to not know his mother, to be an outcast. Where could he go from here? His goal had been to find his mother...now he was not so sure. Maybe, just maybe, he was meant for greater things. 'Maybe it is my destiny to rebuild Troy.'

He could see himself with the crown, lording after his risen people. In his vision, the walls are rebuilt to higher stratospheres, reaching close to the heavens. Glory would be his and, with Hades by his side, he would seek retribution against the Greeks and the face of horror on Simonides face would be the sweeter than the sweetest wine.

'Then the true bastard would be him, crushed under my feet.' He shook his head, a lazy grin on his face. Such ideals could wait another time. He opted not to alert his friend Ikaros. He would be vehemently against the idea. 'Even though it is my birthright. I vow to bring Troy back to its former glory.'

He stood, brushing invisible dirt particles from his chiton. He headed back to the campsite, his mind and soul satisfied with his conclusions. A rustling sound came from his side and he paused in his steps, slowly turning. A voice, foreign to his ears, gruff came from within the emerald trees.

"Vangelis..."

Solon had once told Vangelis when he had been a young lad of Sirens who lured sailors with their seductive voices then sucked them down into the depths below. He had never heard of such a thing on land.

"Who are you?" he called out with more bravery than he felt.

"Do you not recognize the voice of your own father? Tis I, Deiphobus who speaks to you."

"You lie! Prove this to me!" Vangelis's voice cracked, much to his shame.

"Do you doubt your father?"

Could it be? Did he dare believe? Nay, the man had perished. Hades had said as much.

"You are no father of mine."

A hideous creature erupted from the trees onto Vangelis's unsuspecting form and nailed the blond to the ground. It roared a mighty roar seemingly to the heavens.

It was a collage of the fiercest animals Vangelis had ever seen, its size was that of a large horse, with the body of a stag, the neck of a lion, hooves and a mouth filled with rows of razor teeth. He wrestled with the beast and, as if overcome by the strength of Herakles, pushed off the beast and withdrew his sword, standing in an awkward defensive Leucrocotae licked its chops, salivating from the sides of its mouth.

"She was right about you," it began, it's real voice as rough as sand,"you are a delectable thing to behold for the eyes.'

Vangelis struggled to swallow, his palms covered in sweat, as he gripped his sword tighter. If only I had paid more attention when father had taught me the way of the sword! The beast attacked once more and he swung his sword, in vain hope. It parried his blow easily and he watched helplessly as his sword flew into the overgrowth ahead.

"So beautiful, so weak."

That voice was unmistakable. He could hear Simonides laughing at him, even kilometers away. The heat of his anger overthrew his paralyzing fear and he recklessly threw himself towards the monster and hammered relentlessly at its flank. The beast roared in protest and its claws hooked themselves into Vangelis's arm. Blood dripped onto the rocks below.

"Vangelis!."

Hades and Ikaros came from the trees and gazed upon the scene with unbelieving eyes. Hades rushed at the beast himself and threw it against the trees eliciting a howl of pain. Ikaros ran to vangelis who held at his profusely bleeding arm.

"Are you alright Vangelis? Do you any other injuries?"

Vangelis wordlessly shook his head. The pain from his wound was slowly creeping upon him as his anger dissipated. Ikaros ripped his chiton and wrapped the cloth around Vangelis's injured arm.

"Where is your sword? Why did you not use it?" Ikaros scolded.

"I tried to use it honestly, but my steel did not even leave a mark on the beast."

"That is because swords do not work on these beasts."

Hades walked back to them, his eyes darting back and forth towards them and the fallen beast that seemed to be unconscious, laying on an exposed root.

"They are a race known as the Leucrocotae and are immune to the swords of average men."

"I have never seen such a beast." Ikaros said, leaning Vangelis against his form.

"That is because it is not of this land. It is of the land of Kush and has probably waited for us for sometime. ."

"Hera," Vangelis whispered, dejection seeping into his voice.

"Yes Hera, this was all her doing. She led us here for the single purpose of your death, and maybe even Ikaros if he managed to get in her way."

Vangelis's eyes moistened. His fault, all because of his foolish pride, his friend, his lover were all in danger. Discreetly, the beast behind them awakened and stood on its hind legs, its eyes darkened with the lust for blood, whether god or human. Before the monster could land its devastating blow, a figure, small and lithe, but strong, appeared in front of it's craws and shot an arrow of the most glorious gold into the Leucrocotae's bowels out of its back.

The beast whimpered pathetically then stilled forever, its entrails spilling upon the ground before it dissipated into a cloud of black smoke, as if conjured by an illusionist. Vangelis recognized the figure immediately.

"Hermes!"

The figure turned and Hermes smiled at him in his normal mischievous way.

"Vangelis, it has been sometime. How long has it been? Ten years? A century?" he said with a grin.

"Blast it, how many gods do you know Vangelis?" Ikaros exclaimed in a joking manner.

Vangelis exhaled a small bout of laughter before his sight dimmed.

"Come we must get him back to our campsite!"

It was the last he heard before sliding into darkness.

A/N: And so we see Vangelis's gradual slid into his downfall. Some of this was hinted at in the previous chapters but I really wanted to take the time to visit it here. If you are not aware, the land of Kush is actually the ancient name of Ethiopia. I discovered the monster in my previous researching and thought it would be cool to use it here.

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