Unknown: Age of Perseus

Crossing the Line

"They want to make a statement to the Gods, well, this is the way to do it." Lycus said as he walked beneath the giant statue of Zeus. He had been ordered to go with the legion to the statue and bring it down to make their declaration of war against the Olympains.

"Just shut up and do what you're told Lycus." One of Lycus' comrads, Arsenios, said throwing a rope at him to climb up the statue and tie it so they could pull it down.

"This is a very bad idea." He knew it and felt it. His instinct was saying run far away as this could get ugly very quick and he knew he would be caught in the crossfire. He began to climb up the leg of the statue as the other soldiers began to chip away at the ankles. It didnt take him long to climb as he was very adept to it in the first place, however he had barely made it down when he noticed the tiny fishing boat off the coast watching what they were doing.

"Lycus get down and pull!" He did as he was told anf grabbed a rope knowing that if he really wanted to he could pull the statue down by himself. The advantages of being a demigod were great, but also he didn't want to be worshiped or feared. He would be more useful as he is now. He pulled in line with the others until there was a thunderous cracking sound that came from the stone in front of them.

"Look Out!" Lycus didn't have to do much looking to know that the giant statue of his other grandfather was about to topple over like a tree in the forest. "Its coming down!" Everyone moved out of the way to avoid being crushed or forced off the cliff by the massive thing.

The statue fell slowly over the cliffside and into the water, barely missing the fishing boat below. Lycus had a funny feeling rise up from the pit of his stomach as the soldiers around him praised King Cepheus and then the feeling that Lycus had became stronger as he saw dark clouds form over them.

"Oh no." The demigod barely had any time to do anything when everything became quiet around them. The funny feeling he had was stronger now and it told him to stay as still as possible, so he listened to it as black winged creatures flew out of the water by the fishing boat. It was then he knew thst they were all in trouble. "Not good."

Lycus stayed absolutely still on instinct knowing that if he moved the creatures would see him and come for him. These were creature of the Underworld and were his grandfather's servants, they wouldn't recognize him, but they would smell him. He stayed standing where he was as one by one the soldiers around him were picked up and killed. It served them all right as they had done something to displease Hades, who never left the Underworld.

One by one, soldiers flew off the cliffs until there was no one left but the people on the fishing boat and Lycus himself. One by one, the creatures came together into a mass of ash, smoke, and embers. The mass spun until it stopped revealing the one God everyone truly feared. Hades.

Lycus couldn't understand why this would anger his grandfather, but then again, family history told him that it would be a complicated mess. He just stopped thinking about the why and how to just watch what happened next. The small fishing boat held a family on board, but when Hades had seen the young man aboard he didn't change his expression, but Lycus could see something akin to anger in his eyes. Within moments Hades became a ball of ash, smoke, and fire heading for the boat. Lycus chose this moment to run to the cliff to see what happened to the family.

"No!" He almost wanted to dive off the cliff side but he knew he would be badly hurt. He didn't like pain so he avoided it when he could. "Damnit!" When he saw the boat had disappeared beneath the surface he knew the family aboard wouldn't make it out alive. He held his breath hoping that they would surface, but when they didn't he let out it out. Lycus went away from the edge of the cliff and sat at the base of what was left of the statue and put his head in his hands.

He had no idea how long he sat there, but when he felt a hand on his shoulder he looked up to see another soldier. It was captain Doreios from the fleet who had been in the area when they had taken down the statue. Lycus looked at the captain and stood up noticing the four other soldiers behind the captain.

"What happened here?" Doreios asked him, but Lycus wasn't sure how to answer. "Where are the others?"

"The Gods attacked. They left me as witness." He had spun the tale so that his connection would be kept secret still. He said it all with a convincing scowl on his face.

"Come on, lets get back to Argos." Doreios nodded at the answer and remaind silent as he guided Lycus down the cliff to his ship with the other soldiers following. "Which Gods?"

"I don't know. It happened so fast. There were creatures thst came from the sea and carried them off one by one." Lycus hated acting like a weak and feeble man, but it was the best thing he could do. Inside he was a violent mess of confusion.

"You hid like a coward?" Not really, even if he fought off the creatures he would've been spared. He did not agree to declaring war against the Gods, it was foolish and would cost many lives. He was there because he didn't have a choice but to follow orders. "I don't care if you are one, you better pull your weight on my ship."

"Yes sir." Lycus did as he was told like any good soldier, but inside he was getting tired of following orders. Especially orders that got others killed and made no sense.

"What is that floating on the water?" Someone had pointed out to a piece of wreckage that had come from the other side of the point. It was from the fishing boat and resting on that wreckage was the young man.

"Pull him in!" It took several minutes to get to the wreckage and Lycus watched from where he stood against the mast as they brought the man on board. He couldnt have been much older than his sister for sure and the fact that he survived was a feat in itself.

Lycus bent down to look at the man and tried to figure out why Hades had tried to kill him. He was nothing special but he couldn't know until he had the pleasure of speaking with the man himself. Until they got to Argos, he would let the young man sleep his worries away.

Ares watched another family squabble as he stood there quietly. He was very good at just watching and he could care less about what men did this time, he didn't need their prayers, just their wars. Since when did they have to depend on mortals to live? He had never needed them. However, he found life in their wars and thrills in taking sides, but that was him. Most of his siblings and his parents thrived on prayer. He wasn't interested in this latest problem, it was theirs and if war came out of it then he would use it to his advantage.

"No!" Zeus hammered his fist down on the rest of his throne and it caught Ares attention as he stood there deep in thought. The King of the Gods stood from his throne and walked down the steps before him. "I created them and this is how they reward my love with this defiance?" He said looking around at the other gods. "No, there will be no truce." Out of the corner of his eye Ares saw the dark figure of Hades come in from the hall.

"Finally, some rage from you." The Lord of the Underworld and the father of Eurydite had finally come back to Olympus after eons and Ares knew it was because Hades had enough of Zeus.

Ares watched silently as the two Gods spoke and Apollo was still bitter towards Hades, rightfully so, but it was time to let things go. It was Zeus who allowed all of this to happen in the first place and it was Zeus who had done a lot of things to cause a rift between his family. To Ares and Hades both, Zeus was a secret enemy that needed to be dealt with tactfully. This was Hades way and so Ares was willing to side with his wife's father to protect her and thier children.

Sunlight streamed into Perseus' eyes as he opened them. He knew from the steady rocking that he was on a ship and from the emblem on the sail above him, the ship wasn't one he knew of. All around him he could hear footsteps and the clanking of metal or the sounds of riging tapping against the mast of the ship. He sat up and pinched the bridge of his nose to calm the burning sensation in his sinuses.

"Well, you're finally up." Perseus looked to his right where he heard the voice. Leaning up against the railing of the ship was a man with dark curly hair that reached to his shoulders and dark hazel eyes. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he held a smirk on his face. "I was beginning to think that I would have to carry you off this ship."

"I doubt you could." Perseus said to the man as he sat there trying to get his bearings together. "Where are we going?"

"To Argos." The man said and the fisherman nodded as he began to stand up. "I'm sorry about your family." The man said sincerely with a small glint of regret in his eyes.

"Thanks." Was all Perseus could say when he stood and looked out across the water to see the harbor gates of Argos.

"Lycus." The man, Lycus, said holding out his hand to Perseus who took it.

"Perseus." Lycus nodded as Perseus shook his hand before putting both hands on the railing of the ship and leaning on it. "You were there when that God killed my family."

"Yes, I saw and I regret not doing anything, but I'm not strong enough to stop that particular God." Lycus told the younger man who gave him a questioning look as to how he knew what he knew.

"Who was he?" The question was asked as if Perseus wanted to seek vengence and he probably did, but going up against a God was foolish as much as it was idiotic. "You know who he is, so tell me." Lycus gave him a sorrowful look and bit his lip debating if he should say anything or not.

"He is Hades." Lycus said and saw Perseus clench the wood of the ship with his bare hand. He could hear the wood crack under the pressure of Perseus' strength and thats when he began to suspect that the younger man was not all appearances.

"Hades never leaves the Underworld, so why would he come up now?" Lycus had a very good and clear answer for that, but he chose to omitt some of it for his own sake.

"Men do not respect the Gods anymore, Perseus." The older man explained to Perseus the best way he knew how. "If they did, they wouldn't be burning temples and bringing down statues." Lycus spoke as the ship went into the harbor. He could see no other ships in the harbor beside the merchant boats which meant that they were the only ones to return.

"You respect them then?" Lycus chuckled at the question and turned to face Perseus with a smirk.

"I respect only three." He said and Perseus waited for him to say which ones but he never got a real answer. "My mother sent me to live with my Aunt in Libya as a babe, when I was five the Egyptians took me away from her to be a slave for fighting. I grew up fighting for the Pharoah, their King, and doing horrible things. All of it happened because of the Gods." Lycus said to the younger man as he stood up straight when the ship docked. "My mother's very existence offended the Gods, Perseus. You can not forgive for that." He walked away from Perseus leaving him to think about Lycus' words. The older man's story intrigued him and suddenly he wanted to know more, but he would have to wait as the other men began to push him towards the ramp.

Antiope stood near the base of the steps where the royal family sat on their thrones drinking wine. She wore her creme colored gown with the gold embroidered red paplos draped over her right shoulder. Her hair had been put up in an elegant style that let some of her curls fall around her face. Honestly, she really didn't care about anything going on around her. All the gold and glitter in the world couldn't take her bitterness from her.

"Keeping guard over the Princess?" She heard Draco say as he came to stand beside her. She took another sip of wine and turned to him with a slight smile on her lips.

"Keeping guard over Andromeda is not my job, its yours. Besides, I enjoy guarding my wine more." Draco hated it when these parties would come around because he always ended up having to drag a drunk Antiope away from a fight or back to her home. Sometimes even handing her off to her brother as she insulted him. Not long after Eurydite left with Nisse, Antiope had become wild and wreckless with herself and he was sure she would hurt herself deeply one day. "You should have some." She offered him her cup of wine with a smile and he gently pushed her hand away.

"No thank you." He refused to drink anything these days because he had to take care of himself now. "Try not to get drunk this time, Antiope." Draco said as he walked up the steps to stand behind Andromeda.

The demigoddess rolled her eyes and took another sip as the doors to the throne room opened and what was left of the legion came walking through with a plainly dressed young man amongst them. Of course, Lycus was there as well, but they didn't speak much anymore. Well, if they did speak it was usually when she was spouting off at him while he dragged her back home drunk. She never remembered any of it though.

"To King Cepheus! To Queen Cassiopeia!" Someone had the gall to raise a toast to the royal family and she looked to Andromeda who shook her head slightly as hee father rose from his golden throne in his golden clothes.

"No to you, our brave legion." At this point the King started his lomg and rousing speech about how the temples were burning. It was always the same and Antiope had heard it so much she tuned it out as Andromeda came down the steps. "Its time for a new era! The era of man!" Yes, good speech, but the wine was better.

"That frown doesn't suit you Andromeda, have something to drink. It will liven you up." Cassiopeia absolutely hated it when Andromeda sneered at all the parties, but Andromeda being the good daughter that she was, went to grab the cup of win from her mother's hand. Antiope found this a good moment to follow her friend where ever she went and of course their shadow followed them as well.

"Andromeda, wait." Antiope said as she followed her best friend closely as she walked the length of the pool in the center of the room up to the steps where the young man stood. "He is handsome. In his own way." Antiope said to the princess as Draco followed them. Andromeda went up to the young man with concern as Antiope drank her own wine.

"What's your name?" Andromeda asked him as Antiope saw her brother move towards her and come down the steps.

"Perseus." Antiope's eyes snapped over to the young man as she had heard that name before somewhere. She couldn't remember where, but it was familiar. She watched as Andromeda lifter her cup of wine up to him.

"Here, drink." He was about to take the cup of wine from her when Draco appeared from nowhere and hit Perseus across the face, forcing the cup of wine to spill on the floor. The siblings looked to each other as they had both seen the look on the young man's face. They could both hear the laughter from the King and Queen as others in the room laughed as well. "Enough!" The princess yelled.

"Our daughter the missionary." Antiope had enough of the Queen and her condescending attitude and mochary. She followed Andromeda as she began to make her way back to her parents.

"Do you not see what is happening out there?" The princess seemed to have had enough herself and inside Antiope was cheering about it. "Have you even bothered to look?"

"We serve as an inspiration." Antiope had never felt any respect for the Queen and this was the reason why.

"Hundreds of our men have lost their live and yet we celebrate." Andromeda kept walking slowly to where her parents stood, not even halfway there. "Yet youbare provoking the Gods as if their will be no consequence." The princess stopped with Antiope right behind her with Lycus and Draco behind them.

"What do you want? Should we be trembling soiling ourselves in fear? The Gods need us, they need our worship and prayer. What do we need from them?" The words were delivered in high esteem from the golden Queen and Antiope knew now that the invisible line that men shouldn't cross would be crossed now. "Look at my daughter!"

"Don't." The princess said and Antiope went closer and grabbed her hand.

"What could be more divine than her face? More beautiful than all the women of Greece, more beautiful than even Aphrodite herself." Antiope squeezed her friends hand as her mother went on. "The Olympians should envy her." The Queen smiled before continuing. "We are the Gods now!" As soon as she said it, Antiope closed her eyes and let her head drop before looking to her brother in concern. All of this had made her drunkeness go away and she knew the line that shouldn't be crossed had been leaped over.

Yay! We made it!

Fact: Cassiopeia was placed upside down in the stars because of her vanity and ego. Athena wished for everyone to realize thst vanity is not without consequence.