The Third Life: Jake's Odyssey: Pt. 4
Obviously, this story won our over Sea Devil, and here's the lowdown: I am going to attempt to finish this through the end of the Third Life, meaning the rest of Odyssey, the rest of Black Flag, and all the way through AC:III. A rather tall order, honestly.
Now, certain Reviewers had questions that I couldn't answer due to them being Guests, so here goes:
Quick question, I just started playing Odyssey myself and I'm wondering what this version of Kassandra is like and what armor she wears, what weapons etc. then I'd like to ask where in the odyssey timeline is Kassandra in the story? Is she still searching for her mother? I don't know where you r in the game so I don't know what questions are safe to ask for example has anyone that was friends with Kassandra died yet? I'm just trying to figure out where in the odyssey timeline you are. Another question, will Kassandra go with jake back to the future? - X5T0RMXless. (I figure if I leave a name I might get a response, some authors are annoying and don't respond to guest comments)
We just finished the symposium and Kassandra is now set to go on all the sides quests in search for her mother. No, Kassandra stays in the past.
I know jake is doing the Pythagoras quest line, but I have a few quick questions, can have fight the Minotaur, Medusa, and the cyclops? Those are the three monsters in ac odyssey. Another question, is jake going to meet Darius, if you don't know who Darius is let me explain, he is an assassin who hunts down Persian Kings, one weird thing though is that his hidden blade isn't under his wrist it's on top of his forearm, on his left hand. He is part of the two dlc missions Legacy of the first blade and The blind king. He is mentioned in the blind king mission but otherwise is not included-fajitaspoon
Jake will be the one fighting the monsters and doing the quests leading up to those fights. No, he will not be meeting Darius.
Btw after jakes odyssey is Percy going to know about the Egyptian side of mythology or did he already suspect? Because he figured out about Roman demigods after his time as the rebellious fanatic who decided to kill all Templar's, I need to reread your fic I forgot a name, another question did the magician go with jake during his travel through time? I've noticed that he isn't mentioned but he could just be with the crew like how Barnabas stays with the crew. Here's another one I'm just double checking here but the last scene was after the party that the nation leader of Athens held a party right? I'm just trying to set the scene in my head because I read this chapter before I played the scene in the game, and I'm glad that this fic gave me a different picture, it doesn't spoil the game! :) -fajitaspoon
Mr. Biggs, Jake's first mate aboard the Running Frenchman, is an Egyptian Magician, the kind featured in the Kane Chronicles. Yes, Mr. Biggs is with Jake in the past. Yes, we're after the party.
Have you ever played For honor? Do you know about the theory that Ubisoft has created a universe in which all of their games are connected? Just wondering if some of the other soul pieces of Percy will take part in a little of these other games' timelines. For example aiden pierce is a hacker in modern day times working for the Assassin's, he seeks revenge for the murder of his niece. This story line can be found in the game Watchdogs. -X5T0RMXless
No. Yes. I have played Watchdogs. Fun game, and I did notice the little tie-in from Black Flag in the game.
Also, Kassandra does get pregnant, and how exactly that plays out with the First Blade and Fate of Atlantis won't be revealed until much later down the line. Much, much later down the line.
Anyway, that's enough with Reviews, hope you guys got your questions answered, and let's move on.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AC
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Inspire by historical events and an overactive imagination, this work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a single-culutrual team of one religious faith and belief, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
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Jake and Kassandra parted ways after their time together, the pirate and the mercenary extensively satisfied with the other's performance. Kassandra had been Jake's first time after all, but he had not been hers, and so she had brought experience to the table, whereas Jake brought stamina.
Lots of stamina.
They spent the night with each other, and come morning, Jake awoke to find Kassandra already gone, leaving a note behind wishing him the best and hoping to see him again someday. That wasn't the exact message, but that was the gist of it.
Jake pocketed the letter, and left for his ship. However, despite the woman he thought he loved leaving him for her own quest, he was still in a fantastic mood, not feeling heartbroken or cheated in the slightest. That was why he had no problems climbing the Acropolis to admire the view.
He looked up at the humongous metal statue of Athena and asked, "How in the hell did they build you? How did you even get up here?"
Seriously, this big, bronze bitch was taller than the Running Frenchman.
"How would they even do maintenance on you?"
The statue didn't give any answers, opting to simply continue staring out over the city.
Jake shrugged, not really expecting the statue to talk to him despite being in an age where that was entirely possible given the strength of belief during this time. The pirate went to the temple, where he found something.
There, standing inside, was a much smaller statue of the wisdom goddess, but this one was far more magnificent. This Athena was carved from solid ivory, wearing a dress and armed with a shield all made out of solid gold, and extended in the palm of her right hand was a golden statue of the goddess of victory, Nike.
Worshippers bowed and burnt offerings to the statue, and it left Jake wondering.
Crossing his arms, he stared at the statue, trying to figure out if Athena was watching, or not. After several minutes of this, Jake concluded that the goddess was not in the house at the moment, and so he left. His way through the city back to the coast in which he had parked his boat was not an uneventful one, as in the shadows of the allies, he felt the eyes tracking him.
When he looked, even using Eagle Vision, he caught only the barest traces of what he could only describe as large, human-shaped snakes, before they dove back into the sewers below.
Without a doubt, they were a Greek monster, but Jake did not know which one it could be. There were lots of monsters in Greek mythology, and off the top of his head, he could think of none that involved snakes that lived in Athens.
However, he had faith that Mr. Biggs would know.
The Egyptian magician was an expositional encyclopedia, after all.
Jake also bought a map of Greece for reference during his time during this time.
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His return to the Running Frenchman was accompanied by cheers from his crew, and he grinned in spite of himself.
"Yes, yes, I am back. I hope you all had a wonderful time in my absence, because now it is time for business. Weigh anchor and cast off, get the sails in the air and let's get out of here!"
The crew scrambled to do as ordered, and Jake took the helm, accompanied by Mr. Biggs.
"So? How was it?"
"Smelly," the young pirate answered, "and if you didn't know any better, you could be fooled into believing you had never left the 18th century. Also, I've got some leads on places we can go to try to get back to our own time."
"Informative, but not what I was asking about."
Jake raised a brow.
"How was it? Your first time."
"How can you tell?"
"There's a glow to you, Jake," Mr. Biggs said. "The whole crew can see it, and I can tell some of the ladies are rather jealous."
Jake looked at his crew as they entered the open waves, and he could see the looks he was getting from the women on board, and he became in tune with the atmosphere.
"Well, if they wanted some, they should've asked."
Mr. Biggs laughed. "Kassandra, I take it?"
"Yes, and…I'll probably never see her again."
"Ah, it's meant to be, lad. You're from the age of piracy and kings, she a time of city states and perpetual war. A good night together is the best you could've hoped for."
Jake looked at his older, wiser first mate, a certain look in his dark eyes that the magician picked up on instantly. The atmosphere between the two changed.
"Oh, no…Jake…you did…inside…?"
"I love her," the captain said. "I don't know how or why it happened so fast, but I love her. I can feel it in my bones, and—and now I've gone and-"
The words just died in his throat.
Mr. Biggs put a hand on Jake's shoulder, offering what comfort he could.
In a small voice the captain said, "My child will die two thousand years before my birth."
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Jake chose to sail North for the island of Lesbos, as it was the closest place on the list of investigation areas. His plan was to sail to Lesbos, do the thing, and if that didn't work, sail South all the way down to Messara to do the thing there, and if that didn't work, then sail all the way around the country, all the way past Kephallonia to this random island off the coast of Boeotia.
The goal was to find Pieces of Eden that could do the same thing the Apple from Chrysaor's ship did, and get them back to their home time.
Of course, the big things to consider were A) how to use whatever Pieces they may or may not find, B) how to get them to do what they wanted, and C) what to do if they ended up not in their own time.
Jake and Mr. Biggs debated and theorized and tried to work out plans and solutions all the way up to Lesbos, a journey that thankfully didn't involve any Spartans, Athenians, or would-be pirates of the age trying to do anything to the Running Frenchman.
While cannonballs could probably be figured out by the blacksmiths, gunpowder had yet to be discovered, and therefore ammunition for the ship's weapons was limited, and Jake and the crew really didn't feel like learning how to wield bows and arrows.
The Running Frenchman came close enough to what Jake figured was the island of Lesbos, and he swam the rest of the way to the shore, not comfortable with docking his ship in a civilized place, as he thought that would be inviting all kinds of trouble.
Once ashore, the pirate looked around, trying to figure out where to go from here, and noticed that up on the distant hill was a mob and a cowering woman in the perfect position to be thrown off the edge to her splattering death.
Activating Eagle Vision, he saw how said woman glowed a brilliant gold. Shutting his sixth sense off, he broke into a run before something happened.
Once on the hill, the mob and the armed Athenians didn't notice him as he slipped by and went straight for the woman. She immediately noticed him.
"A misthios! Please, you have to help me!"
Jake blinked at being called a misthios. Granted, he was wearing an adorned silver (why it was called silver Jake didn't know) heavy Athenian breastplate and ornamented gold Athenian shoes (why they weren't just called white Jake also didn't know) along with his feathered tricorn hat, pistol swords, other guns, and bracers on his forearms that contained a little surprise.
"My Ligeia was taken by the Writhing Dread!"
Jake almost couldn't believe his luck. "Perfect. Let's go get her back."
"Hold!" a hairy, lanky man said, the head of the mob. "This woman will bring the Writhing Dread upon us! If she goes back to the Petrified Temple, she will release the curse upon us all!"
"Wrong!" Jake said loudly, dropping his voice and projecting it with his diaphragm. "The gods have sent me to end the curse of the Writhing Dread, and they have deemed this woman to be my guide, so that she may right her wrongs. Do you wish to challenge or question the will of the gods?"
The mob shifted, their leader at a loss.
"Good, may Zeus and Athena bless all of you for your understanding and faith. Come with me."
The crowd parted uneasily as Jake led the woman away, and he had to stop himself from laughing his ass off at these gullible idiots. Truly, the time of the pagan gods was a wonderful one. Jake led the woman out of the town's Northern door, and promptly turned to her.
"Right, what's your name, where's the Petrified Temple, who's…Leah, or whatever-"
"Ligeia."
"With your accent, that sounds like something you're trying to cough up."
The woman glowered at him, and he ignored it in favor of waving his hand in a prompt for her to get to talking.
"My name Bryce, the Petrified Temple is north of here, down this road, hidden in the Petrified Forest, and Ligeia is my lover."
Jake stared at Bryce. "And Leah is a…?"
"A Daughter of Artemis."
He had ben asking about Leah's gender, not her affiliation, but that answer worked. Unless Artemis, the pro-female goddess, was accepting men into the fold nowadays. Granted, according to myth, she had let Orion and Hippolytus join her hunt, and they were males, but whatever.
Jake would give thought the lesbian before him later. Right now, he had a monster to slay, and he was pretty sure it was Medusa.
Wait a second…
"I thought Artemis was a virgin goddess?"
"She is," Bryce answered, "the Daughters are such in title and spirit only, but are fierce and skilled enough to truly be the goddess' children."
"Wonderful news. Well, I'm going to hop on that horse over there, follow this road, find the temple, find whatever the Writhing Dread is, find Leah-"
"Ligeia!"
"Yeah, her—kill the monster and save your girl."
"Wait, there are more things you need to know."
"Such as…?"
"Follow me, and I'll tell you."
And that was how Jake got stuck following Bryce on horseback to the ruins that she and Leah called home, and then on foot into the creepy fog with all the statues and barren trees, along with some very familiar cuts of stone.
"This place reminds me of the Observatory," Jake muttered.
Bryce was telling him something, but he was more focused on the statues, examining them, conforming his theory that it was Medusa he was going to face.
Then there was this feminine, anguished scream from somewhere in the distance.
"That was Ligeia!" Bryce went running for the sound. "Ligeia!"
Jake stared after her. "How can you tell that's Leah from that sound?" he muttered to himself. "That sounded like the kind of sound you'd make after someone brands you."
Jake ran to follow Bryce and found her at the presumed entrance of the presumed Petrified Temple.
"I take it this is the door?"
"Yes, Ligeia's inside."
"Perfect." Jake eyed the First Civilization walls, and he was really trying to ignore the implications of that, looking for enough handholds to climb. "Hey, how well can you climb things?"
"Depends on what we're trying to climb."
"Cool. Follow me."
Not even a full minute into casing the temple, Jake found a perfect spot: a big opening in the wall, with some sturdy tree branches growing up and inside. Jake climbed them, Bryce following, and just like that, they were inside.
"Thank God for the ability to climb trees," the pirate said.
"Yeah, if we weren't able to climb trees, you would've had to go all the way to Chios island, find the Daughters of Artemis' secret village, explore the place to find the key to open the Temple, and get back here all in one piece without getting killed."
"Yes, rather over convoluted process just to open a door when there are trees."
"Praise Demeter for the trees," Bryce said sagely.
Jake nodded sagely as well.
Then there was another guttural cry from in the temple.
"Ligeia!" Bryce once again went running away, and Jake honestly didn't know if he should care or not that the woman was most likely going to end up being turned to stone by Medusa's gaze.
He was really more worried about how he was going to kill the beast himself. Mr. Biggs had said that only certain metals could slay Greek monsters, which was why Jake had brought along a cutlass plundered from Chrysaor's ship, one made of Celestial bronze, as the magician called it.
Oh, well. Jake wasn't much of a planner. He really just made things up as he went along.
The pirate entered the temple and followed the open corridors, ignoring the piles of snakes here and there, and eventually rounded a corner just in time come face to face with the dreaded Medusa, Bryce about ten feet away, pleading with Leah.
Jake immediately noticed that something was very, very wrong here.
Medusa herself was bigger than any human could ever be, her skin chalky white, clad in a dress of grey snakeskin. She wore bronze sandals with a bronze serpent coiling its way up her legs to her knees, and around her arms were actual live snakes, and of course, her hair was also a nest of snakes. However, there was one snake that was glowing pure gold, the exact same way an Apple would glow, and in the monster's hand was a sword.
He couldn't see much of the hilt, but it appeared to be gold, a design of a pair of snake heads at the pommel, and the design of a coiled snake where the rain-guard would be, its tail flicking out to serve as a guard for the finger, its head pointed up. The blade itself was nothing special until you got to its tip, where it was slightly curved into the shape of a hook.
Jake was hardly an expert on Greek monsters, but this thing before him was not of mythology.
Whatever the Writhing Dread was, this Medusa, or Medusa-copycat, it was of the First Civilization.
"Ligeia, please-" Bryce tried.
The monster's blank eye sockets glowed gold like the snake in its hair, and twin continuous beams of golden light shot out and struck Bryce. Jake watched as it took about two seconds for the lesbian to turn into solid rock, and Jake felt like he and Mr. Biggs were in for one hell of a conversation later.
Medusa reared her head back in an extremely exaggerated motion, and Jake went sprinting for the side, dodging the beam. Continuing his run, he planted and turned, going right at the monster with pistols in his hands.
He slammed right into a faintly glowing orb of a shield, Medusa hovering inside, and felt that this just wasn't fair. The gorgon raised her sword and several beams were discharged, striking a trio of statues that Jake only just now saw, and those statues came to life.
Medusa did her head thing, and Jake went behind one of the conveniently placed pillars, and it brought about all sorts of confusion for him. The beam wasn't turning the pillar to stone—or at least, the same kind of stone Bryce had been turned into—so it stood to reason that non-organic substances were immune to the gorgon's spell.
However, those statues it animated were all wielding weapons and shields and were wearing armor, and Bryce's clothes were also turned to stone, so…whatever was immediately connected to you was transformed?
Jake felt like there was a lot of inconsistency to this situation.
The statues came at Jake and he drew his pistol swords, not entirely sure how steel was going to match up against solid, moving rock, but he swung anyway, and the first statue shattered to pieces. Deciding to question it later, he ducked under another statue's swing and jabbed, breaking the statue. The third one to attack faired no better than the others.
Jake heard Medusa drop to the ground, and he went running around the pillar, once again right at the monster. Once he got close enough, its hand came down on his shoulder and put him into the ground, the sword going through his gut right after.
Just like Jake had been hoping for.
He pointed his swords and squeezed the triggers, firing the two shots right into the monster's eyes, and it reared back with screech, bringing its hands up to cover the new holes in its face. With that sword still in his stomach, Jake got up and slashed his swords from either side in an "X" across Medusa's midsection, cutting her in half.
The screech died in her throat and she fell apart.
Where all the other snakes stopped moving, that glowing one didn't, and Jake grabbed it. It pulled free from the head and he could feel an intense, numbing tingle in his arms as the snake glowed brighter. Behind him, a ghostly image of the monster rose from the corpse, outstretching its hand towards him.
In his hands, the snake had turned from a snake into an Apple.
Jake had what had put him in this time in the first place, but he felt no sense of accomplishment or closure, no sense for a soon, brighter future. Instead, he felt like a tremendous weight had been dumped onto his shoulders, and he now had an enormous mystery to solve, and it was quite a simple, yet complex one:
Just who the fuck was the First Civilization?
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Sorry if you wanted more Sea Devil. When I started writing this chapter, the votes were higher for this story, but never fear. If you've been with me long enough, you should know that I get bored or fatigued with projects and put them down to pick up others. Sea Devil has not been abandoned, nor will it.
Quite the problem I have before me, no? Tying in the myths of Greece with the Isu. By Assassin's Creed canon, the gods and monsters were actually just Isu taking on names, and these ones became revered as the gods. The same with Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.
So just how do I tie all of this together?
I already have an idea, but you probably won't like it.
Anyway, let's celebrate this story's return after seven months, with Favs, Follows, and Reviews!