When Icarus entered their shared room, his father was already fast asleep. He lay on his less bruised side, but couldn't help the winces of pain that distorted his face now and then, even as he slept. His slight moans and groans filled the otherwise quiet room, testimonies of the torture he had endured from Pasiphae's soldiers. Icarus bent over his father's bed and kissed Daedalus' sweaty forehead – like his father did when he was but a wee child suffering from a fever. The memory brought a tired smile on his face. To think he had almost lost this man.

But a deep feeling of dread and guilt followed the thought instantly. At what price had he been about to buy his father's survival? Pythagoras' face appeared in his mind, lightened by the smile he loved so much. It could have been Pythagoras lying on this bed, deeply in pain. Or even worse. And Icarus would have been responsible. He shivered.

He remembered his first meeting with the young mathematician.

Icarus had been visiting Daedalus during the summer, after his teacher had deemed he needed a break in his studies. Even at 20, he felt happiness at seeing his father, his only family, after many months of separation. When he resided in Atlantis, he barely left Daedalus' house, working with him on his latest project or simply observing the old man playing with his models. He never stayed long – a week at most – and it always broke his heart to part with Daedalus, even knowing they would see each other again a few months later.

He had to leave the next day and had felt gloomy all afternoon, when he heard rapping at the door. Without a look – or a word, for that matter – Daedalus ordered him to open the door, which Icarus did with an amused sigh. How he would miss this, the intense focus of his father when he worked, the flame of his genius burning amidst the dark of his eyes, the way he forgot the world around him – including his own son. Even after all these years, he could never resent his father. He understood divine inspiration.

The door opened on a young man barely older than Icarus, with a thin and angular face and bright blue eyes. Under the hot summer sun, his hair blazed like fire. For a fleeting instant, Icarus thought Apollo had come down from the sky to see him, as absurd as it sounded. His first word was nothing more than a whisper. The man had quite literally taken his breath away. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes?"

The man stared at him with a gaping mouth for a moment before his milky skin flushed bright red. Icarus found this demeanor adorable. If his heart skipped a beat, who could blame him?

"I'm – I want – Is –" the man stuttered. He looked down at the dusty street. "May I see Daedalus?"

"Who's asking for my father?"

The word seemed to hurt the man in a mysterious way. It cast a shadow in the blue of his eyes, deepening their color to that of the sky in a storm, heavy with grey clouds and electricity. It lasted less than a second, but it changed his lovely face in such a way that worry settled in Icarus' heart.

A shy smile soon replaced the dreary expression. The man held out his hand. "I'm sorry. My name is Pythagoras. Nice to meet you." He shook Icarus' offered hand. "You are?"

"I'm Icarus." Pythagoras' palm was warm in his hand, and the long and slender fingers showed no sign of hard work. It pleased him. "Come with me, my father is downstairs."

He had reached the bottom of the stairs when he heard Daedalus throw something at the wall – probably a failed experiment – and growl his disapproval. Icarus stopped dead and turned around, since his father wouldn't welcome anyone who bothered him right this moment.

Pythagoras lunged forward, carried by momentum, and bumped into Icarus.

Chest against chest, looking up to two pale blue gems, Icarus fell in love.

Sitting on the windowsill, staring at the sleeping city, Icarus smiled at the memory. So many years had passed – too many, his heart screamed. He had never hoped his love would ever be requited. Of course, he suspected Pythagoras' attraction for him, but thought he would never act on it. The mathematician was a man of the brain, not of the body. And yet, it was Pythagoras who initiated their first kiss – and their second, actually. Maybe Pythagoras had changed after he met Jason.

Icarus looked at the city at his feet, dark and ominous. They had embarked on a dangerous journey, but he would do anything to protect the man he loved.

When his father grunted once more, Icarus went to him. He had all the time in the world to think about Pythagoras. Right now, his father needed him.

.

The ship was filled with crates of fruits, wheels of cheese and barrels of wine. That should sustain them until they reached Colchis. Words of the end of the loading arrived at the palace, and they all headed to the harbor.

They weren't half way there when a commotion came from beyond the city's walls. A soldier ran to them, bowed quickly in front of the King, and announced that the Gegenees were attacking the town. "Dispatch all the soldiers. Protect the walls," King Cyzicus ordered. He then turned towards them. "You should leave now, in case they break our defense. I won't go with you to the quay; I must go back to the palace and oversee my army."

"What are the Gegenees?" Jason asked. The name rang a bell, but he couldn't put an image on it. It made him think of the stories his father loved to tell him before bed. Everything he knew about mythology came from those tales he remembered fondly. With a father as busy as Aeson was, those quiet bedtime moments often remained the only ones they shared.

"The Gegenees are six-armed giants who live in the mountains, North of here. Sometimes, they raid the city," Cyzicus replied.

Jason unsheathed his sword, his instinct always kicking in before he could even reflect on the best way to act. Though he never knew whether the outcome of his impulses would be good or bad, he could never suppress them. They were the reason for everything good that ever happened to him – and the worst too, but one had to stay positive. "We're gonna help you."

"Are you mad?" Hercules protested. "They've got six arms! That's four more than needed to kill us."

"I'd have said five, but I've always been a pessimist," Pythagoras added. Despite his words, he took out his sword and nodded to Jason. He was ready.

Jason was tired of Hercules' cowardice. He loved the man dearly, but he was such a bother sometimes. "If you don't want to fight with us, go back to the ship and protect it." He glanced around at the others. "Are you coming with me?"

Ariadne walked to a nearby soldier and asked for his bow and arrows. "I'm coming," she told Jason as she was adjusting the quiver on her back.

She made Jason proud, and looking at his beautiful and deadly wife, he felt so much love that he feared he could never express the extent of it in words.

Besides her, Daedalus looked broken. Jason gently touched the man's shoulder. "You can go with Hercules and avoid danger in the boat."

Despite the bad bruise still adorning his left cheek – turning yellow, but it must still hurt badly – and his obvious limp, the old man frowned at Jason. "I'm not dead yet. I'll fight with you."

"Father, are you sure?" Icarus stepped in front of his father, to keep him from joining them.

"Don't worry, my boy. I'll take care of myself, and I'll keep away from dangers." He tapped his temple. "I have the most perfect weapon right here."

Icarus' expression wavered between anger and sadness, but there was little he could do. Jason knew first-hand Daedalus' spirited mind and how difficult it was to make him change it.

"We're going on the city's wall, and from there, we'll see what we can do," Jason ordered, and they all followed him up the stairs and towards the commotion.

Close to the North gate, they came upon the battle. Monsters twice as tall as the soldiers were hitting them with boulders, ripping them apart with their six giant hands or crushing them under feet large enough to cover half a man. Hideous, hairy and deformed, just their sight had men running away from the battlefield. The only good news was that the soldiers outnumbered the Gegenees one to twenty at least.

Jason wasn't much of a thinker, but he knew he could rely on his strategic skills. "Ariadne, stay on the wall and shoot at them. Aim at their head, especially their eyes if you can."

She nodded at him and took an arrow out of her quiver. Her first shot was a miss, but the second hit the face of one of the giants, and as the monster tried to remove the arrow, fifteen soldiers came on it with spears and swords. In a couple of minute, they defeated the Gegene. But Ariadne didn't witness the small victory; she was already shooting arrows at the other giants.

.

Daedalus rubbed a bad cut on his arm that had started to itch. He felt far from okay, but he could never leave his new friends to an unknown fate without helping. Even Jason.

When asked if he would follow Jason's orders, he nodded.

"Come with me," Jason told them. He jumped from the wall and disappeared from their sight.

"Jason!" Pythagoras shouted as he bent over the wall. Below them, a cart was stationned that was filled with bags of grains. As he looked down, they saw Jason get off the cart and brush his clothes, unharmed, before he made a sign to follow him. "Whatever," Pythagoras shrugged before jumping.

Icarus refused to look down. "I can't do it again."

That was the first hint of wit his son had shown in a while, and yet it was the wrong time to be witty. "It's much lower than Poseidon's temple," Daedalus argued.

Icarus furrowed his brow and growled at him. "I don't have wings this time."

"Go!"

Rolling his eyes, Icarus breathed in deeply and jumped, screaming until he hit the bags of grains.

Daedalus turned to Cassandra. "Young girl, you're gonna help me. See the construction site there? Find a knife, or anything that cuts, and come with me."

He had an idea.

.

Down the wall, Jason, Pythagoras and Icarus ran towards the giants. Jason leaped on one of them and plunged his sword in its face to the hilt. Pythagoras bent down to avoid the arms of another, rolled between its legs and, still crouched on the ground, he slashed through both its Achilles tendons in one swift move. When the Gegene collapsed, howling, Icarus cut its throat with his sword.

There were still many giants, but with the help of Ariadne, the army had made a breakthrough and some monsters were already running away, defeated.

Jason was killing another Gegene when a loud rumble drew his attention back to the wall. Dozens of stones were rolling down a slope made of planks and onto the giants closest to the wall, crushing them under their weight. From the top of the wall, Daedalus gave a thumb up at Jason, a smiling Cassandra by his side.

They kept fighting until the last Gegene decided that his mountain was a better place to die and escaped the battlefield. Victorious, Jason and his friends went back to the palace to tell the news to King Cyzicus. The man welcomed them warmly, and offered the fighters, covered in giant's blood, to take a bath.

When they were back in the hall, clean and fresh, Cyzicus asked them if they wanted to stay one more night to rest after such a battle, but Jason shook his head. "We must go. We have things to do." He knelt respectfully at the King's feet. "But we thank you for your hospitality."

"And I thank you for fighting by my side against my enemies. You can ask me anything."

With a lopsided smile, Jason refused. Everything he'd ever done, it was never for a reward or honor. He just couldn't let the world go awry and do nothing.

"I wish you success in your quest," King Cyzicus told them as they were exiting the hall.

On the quay, they found Hercules sitting on a dead Gegene, drinking wine. "This one came to say hi, but I didn't like its face."

"You'll always surprise me, Hercules," Jason said while shaking his head.

Hercules shrugged and gulped down half of his cup.

"Is everybody okay?" Jason asked his friends. Then it hit him. "Where's Argus?" They all looked at each other, but there was no mistaken Argus wasn't among them. They hadn't seen the guy for a while. Jason wasn't even sure he was there when they decided to help Cyzicus against the giants.

"I'm here." Argus' muffled voice came from below the deck of the Argo.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Come out, we're leaving." Hopefully without Cyzicus' jewellery.

Half an hour later, they were gone.