They reach the galley, and the sun still hasn't made its way over the horizon.
"Funny how much time seems to pass when you're on a mission," remarks Ace as the chimera circles over the ships, "but really, it's hardly any time at all."
"True," agrees Seraphim, looking down at the ship's deck, where it seems a lot of slaves have gathered after breaking free. His target is one of them.
"Grab onto me," he instructs Ace, "and hold tight, or you'll fall."
So she wraps her arms around his neck and hooks her legs around his waist as he draws his sword and leaps off the chimera's back. As they plummet towards the deck, Seraphim cuts through the mast to slow their fall, although it doesn't make much of a difference and he still lands hard, almost jolting Ace off. The two halves of the mast crash in opposite directions and he steps between them, Ace swinging down off his back to land beside him. She uncoils her whip and cracks it expertly, while a medium-skinned man on the other side smirks at her and cracks his own whip.
Seraphim advances towards his target - Heron.
"We meet again," he says. Heron gives a war cry and rushes at Seraphim, and Seraphim readies himself to counter, but suddenly the ship is hit with a bolt of lightning. Ace, who had been watching Heron and Seraphim, suddenly finds herself floundering in the ocean, and the flashback starts. She is young, very young, and she is playing at the beach. She has gone out too far, and finds herself swept up in the currents. They toss her about like a ragdoll, and she can't breathe. She barely registers her parents calling out to her as they race to save her. Her mother reaches her first and scoops her into a tight embrace.
"Achalia!" she cries. "Achalie, can you hear me? Wake up, baby!"
"Mommy," Ace mutters. Her father has reached her now.
"Wake up, Achalia, please!" he begs.
"Daddy," Ace mumbles.
"Ace? Ace, are you ok?"
Hang on, that's not her father.
"Ace, wake up!"
Her father never called her Ace. Neither did her mother. She had started calling herself Ace after she left Kadonia.
"Ace!" the voice is more insistent. Seraphim.
Ace opens her eyes and smiles weakly up at him. "Hi," she manages to say before she is violently sick over the side of the chimera and into the water. She coughs and coughs until she's sure she must've had half the ocean in her lungs.
"I almost died just then, didn't I?" she asks shakily, following with a few final coughs.
"Don't ever do that to me again," says Seraphim, stroking her hair gently. "That was the first time in a long time that I've been afraid. Are you ok now?"
"Slightly waterlogged and traumatised," Ace replies, "not to mention freezing. But yes, I'm ok."
Seraphim nods. "Good."
He spurs the chimera towards Heron again, but another blast of lightning roils the sea into a giant wave to deter him, and then again.
Finally he gives up and they head for shore. As the dusty grey fingers of dawn grasp the horizon, Seraphim spots a turquoise-eyed raven on a nearby branch. Hera. With a yell, he throws his bident at the bird. Transforming, she catches it with her power, then hurls a huge gust of wind that drives both Seraphim and Ace into the rocks.
"How dare you strike a god!" Hera roars, levitating and immobilising Seraphim. She spots Ace lying half-conscious in the rubble and freezes, an expression of shock and fear flitting over her face before she regains her composure. Seraphim is too enraged himself to notice.
"How dare you send me to kill a man protected by one!" he spits back. "Find someone else to do your dirty work. I've had enough."
Hera frowns. She tells him that if he does help her kill Zeus, then she will give him everything she promised him, including where his uncle is. Seraphim relents, and agrees to find the cauldron of darkness for her.
Hera floats down to Ace and brings her round, healing her with divine power.
"I am so sorry you had to get caught up in that," she says nervously. "I swear, I didn't intend to punish you. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Um, it's ok," replies Ace in confusion. "If anything, I'll take that as karma punishing me for how I recently treated someone. So it's fine."
Hera sighs in relief. "Well, I'll be off then. Good luck cracking that hard nut." She jerks her head towards Seraphim, winking.
"What?" says Ace, one eyebrow raised.
"Oh, I know love when I see it," says Hera. "I'm not the goddess of marriage for nothing, you know. You two were meant for each other, but it'll be hard getting past those walls of his."
Ace laughs. "I think I already have!"
"Ah," Hera grins. "Well done then. Every wild beast needs someone to tame them."
And she turns back into a raven and flies away. Ace, still chuckling, spins around and comes face to face with a suspicious Seraphim. Arms folded, he glares at her.
"What was that about?" he asks. "You and Hera are besties now?"
Ace shrugs. "I have no idea. Come on, let's get back to camp. I could use some time to get over that little drowning episode."
Seraphim sighs. He holds out his hand to Ace and pulls her into his arms, kissing the top of her head.
"Please don't remind me," he breathes. "I'm so scared of losing you. And Hera's right - you have broken down my walls."
"I have, haven't I?" Ace says with a smile, snuggling into his chest. A second later she yelps as he sweeps her off her feet and carries her to his steed.
"Oh, I do love you," she laughs, holding on tight.
"I… I love you too," replies Seraphim. He gives a surprised chuckle. "I didn't think I'd ever say that to anyone."
He mounts the chimera with one arm still around Ace. This time he seats her in front of him and she leans back against his chest as they take off.
"Marry me?" Ace asks, and Seraphim freezes behind her.
"Well, we've only been officially together for a day…" he says apprehensively, but then relaxes. "But hey, why not?"
They both laugh, flying off into the golden sunrise.
Arriving back at camp in a little under an hour, they are laughing again as they dismount.
"You know, I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't told me," Seraphim chortles as he stares at the gold jewelery adorning Ace's ears. "I can't believe it started from an accident though!"
Ace snorts. "Yeah, and led to fourteen piercings in total," she says, thinking back on the story she's just told Seraphim. Back when she was travelling to Delphi, she came across a weird old woman going the opposite way, who asked if Ace wanted to be prettier, and then just shoved an earring through one of Ace's earlobes. It hurt like drakon spit, but when it had healed completely, she'd already grown to like it and wanted the other ear to match. One thing led to another, and Ace ended up with seven earrings in each ear, all but the first having been done herself.
"You have a very high pain tolerance, I assume?" says Seraphim as they enter his tent and sit down, relaxing.
"Definitely," Ace replies. She leans against him and he puts his arm around her. "It's weird how much has changed since I left home, though. I mean, I'm not even sure I can call it home anymore."
Seraphim holds her closer. "So where do you call home now?" he asks.
"Anywhere," says Ace. "Nowhere." She turns over in his arms so she's facing him, lying on his chest. "My home is where you are, I guess."
With a smile, Seraphim kisses her gently.
"A lot has changed for me too," he says when he pulls away. "I've changed. I feel so different now, and it's all because of you."
This time, Ace initiates the kiss, and it's anything but gentle. They pull back, breathing hard.
"I love you so much, Seraphim," Ace whispers, cupping his cheek. "I've loved you ever since I first saw you."
"I love you too, Ace," Seraphim replies. "It took me a little while, but I got there, didn't I? I've definitely fallen for you." Then a quizzical look comes over his face. "I don't know much about your past, though. Why don't you tell me more about yourself? We've got all day."
So Ace begins to tell him her story.
"I'm from a place called Kadonia," she says. "It's kind-of close to Sparta, but it's so tiny you'd never find it on any map. I lived there with my parents, Georgios and Thea. Back then, no one called me Ace. My name was Achalia.
"I was ambitious, even as a young child. I wanted to make something of myself, and even then, I knew Kadonia wasn't big enough for my vision, my potential. I wanted to be known, while everyone else in the village was content to live a simple life. My drive made me a misfit. Mom and Dad wanted me to settle down, someday marry someone from the community, but I felt like there was more to my destiny. I didn't want to be just another nobody.
"I decided to travel to Delphi and ask the oracle what life had in store for me, and she gave me the prophecy about the 'creature dark'. Just one day later, I heard about you from a fellow traveller. I knew it couldn't be a coincidence, and that it must be you I had to search for. And the rest, you already know," she concludes.
Seraphim is silent for a while, thinking.
"Ambition," he says with a grin. "I definitely like that about you. You were born to be great. But there's one thing that's been bothering me. Are you sure you don't know why Hera is so nice to you?"
"Positive," Ace replies. "But why worry about that? We have the whole day to ourselves, don't we?"
"Yes, we do," agrees Seraphim and kisses her again. After a little while, he pulls back and gazes into her eyes. "You wanna know what I'm thinking right now?"
"Well, I already know what you're feeling," laughs Ace. "But sure. Tell me what you're thinking."
"Why wait?" he says. "Let's get married, right here, right now."
Ace's heart leaps and she smiles so wide it hurts. "Great minds think alike," she breathes.
"You know, Hera is the goddess of marriage," Seraphim points out, as if it wasn't obvious. "You could use your weird 'connection' with her to get her to marry us."
Eyes lighting up, Ace understands what he's saying in less than a second. She opens her mouth and calls the goddess's name. Nothing happens, so she calls again. This time, a wind rushes and the raven flies into the tent, transforming into Hera before their eyes.
"What is it?" she snaps before seeing who has called her and becoming more polite. "I mean, what can I do for you, Ace?"
"We were wondering if you could marry us," says Ace in a rush, feeling extremely nervous.
"Oh, of course!" Hera says.
So she does. The ceremony is short, but meaningful. When Seraphim says, "I do," Ace can feel just how much he really means it, and how much he loves her. It shocks her how fast everything has happened, but of course, she isn't disputing any of it.
"I do," she says with conviction.
"You may kiss," Hera announces, and they do. Both seem to forget that the goddess is even there, and with a wry smile, she slips away to give the happy couple some space.
"We're married," Ace giggles when they pull apart. "I can't believe we're actually married!"
"Well, you know what that means, don't you?" Seraphim replies. Ace picks up on his emotion and knows exactly what he's saying.
"Yes," she answers, and their lips collide yet again.