Chapter 9 Part 1: Stories of Leonidas: Part 5: An Angel In The Morning Sky
(Author's Note)
Hey everyone! SOOO sorry for the long delay getting this chapter out. Many things happened but I'll try to keep it short. Among with me starting up two old games I used to play, Conan Exiles and Ark: Survival Evolved, I downloaded a 3d modeling software in order to help me come up with looks for Leonidas as well as the mysterious woman that we'll be seeing in this chapter. But also, this chapter was just the most difficult to write yet, I had such bad writers block that I would just sit staring at the screen not knowing what to write then just click off the page and do something else. I'll try to keep on my updates from here on out. But keep on me about it.
Follow me on Twitter if you have one, I put out Polls, updates and random nerdy stuff. Thanks to all of you who recently followed me. Same name as on here.
We got a surprisingly low number of views and Reviews last chapter, did I do something wrong? Was it bad? Did you guys just not see it? Let me know. Let's try to beat 10 Reviews this chapter, I believe in you guys.
A heads up for this chapter, try to keep an open mind about relationships between mortals and immortals going forward. I know a lot of people ship Percy or other demigods with gods, but some people may just find it weird. Sorry if you do, but it's important to the story. You'll understand when you read it and further on, trust me.
Anyway, that's long enough, have a great day and I'll see you below.
Chapter 9 Part 1: Stories of Leonidas: Part 5: An Angel In The Morning Sky
(2007 - Leonidas 16 years old)
It had been four years since his mother had ceased to exist. Since his house had been destroyed. Since he had been driven away in fear.
It had been a year since his family, the Johnsons, had ceased to exist. Since he had destroyed his home in his rage. Since he had ran away in shame.
That was why he had decided on his current path.
His mother- not mom, for moms loved their children and Mrs. Johnson, Cheryl, loved him like a son. Unlike his own mother who never told him she even liked him- had told him before she died to travel East to meet his father where he would grant him with a gift. So he did so. He traveled East and his father bestowed on him four enchanted weapons, his warhammer, dory, xiphos, and longbow. Along with a pair of enchanted gauntlets that multiplied his already immense strength by ten but posed a great risk to the health and condition of his body in return. A true double-edged weapon.
But his father never appeared in person. He didn't come down from the sky to hold his child and comfort him after his mother had died. He didn't ignore his godly duties to offer to train his son. He didn't even utter a single word to his son. He only granted his son with enchanted weapons. One could say that he had given Leonidas the weapons in order for his son to be able to protect himself due to his demigod scent matching those of the children of the Big Three, so that Leonidas wouldn't die in the night alone like his mother did. But Leonidas believed that it was out of guilt that his father had granted him the weapons, because his father felt sorry that his mother had died despite not lifting a finger to save her.
But Leonidas didn't need his guilt. Or his pity. Nor his apology. Only his power to achieve his goals.
Before she died, his mother told him his destiny. His Fate. She told him that he would achieve a feat above any man or god before him. That he would reunite with his father one day, climb Mount Olympus to claim his dreams and rise into the sky and live among the stars forever. He had meditated and debated on the meaning of the words his mother told him for years after she died as he traveled the country hunting Monsters and mastering his strength and skills. And after four years of constant reflection he had finally come to the conclusion. He had figured out what he was destined to do:
He would travel back East- further than he had ever gone before- past the sea and into the old world and meet his father for the first time. And kill him.
But not out of hatred or a need for revenge, his bitterness for that man had died many years ago, but in order to lay the foundation for what he must do. Besides, his father was still a god, he would just simply reform after a few decades and return to the earth. So no harm would actually be done, it wasn't a real murder in his mind. He knew that he had to do this in order to not only prove his might to his father and to himself, but to the pantheon as well. The gods of old shall bow to him one day, that is what his mother told him. They had ruled for far too long and had caused far too much strife, bloodshed and pain throughout the world to be let to run around unchecked any more. Ares, the god of War, his name being 'bane' or 'ruin', lived up to the name. He filled the hearts of mortals with violence, bloodlust, hatred and an undesirable need for murder.
And no scene better portrayed that than the one before Leonidas now. He stood in a windy, dark and damp alleyway in the Chicago warehouse district. The smoky and over-polluted air was thick with the sickening stench of blood, the air so thick with it that Leonidas could taste the iron off of the breeze. He stepped out of the alley and over the body of a hole-ridden corpse.
A violent gang war over a drug empire gone wrong, that's what the news called it. But Leonidas knew the truth, he had sensed the incredible, insatiable amount of bloodlust and rage from the outskirts of the city and went off to investigate.
He found one hundred and seventy two men, women and children dead in a twelve block area. The local government, seemingly influenced by the War god, declared the situation a tragedy but otherwise looked the other way and quickly forgot that one hundred and seventy two people had just died in their city. In order for the War god to not be blamed or for the authorities to look into the mass murder, no doubt.
But Leonidas knew better. He examined every single body he could find, looking for any indication that Ares was behind this. It took looking through eighty four bodies, but he finally found it, a charred, radiating brand of a boar, Ares' symbol and sacred animal on the back of the neck of the gang's leader no less.
Ares had provoked the gang. He had fueled the flames of war once again. He was responsible for another horrid amount of deaths. He was too dangerous to let live any longer.
So Leonidas was going to kill him and cause him to Fade into the Void, the empty nothingness that all things once came, beyond the reaches of even Chaos herself. Where Ares, and any other god Leonidas threw into it, couldn't ever come back. That was his destiny. That was his Fate. That is why the Fates constantly showed and surrounded him with death and destruction. That is why they forced him to watch as the only four people he had ever loved be murdered before his eyes. They were training him. Preparing him for what had to be done. That is what he believed, and that is what he was going to do.
He was going to kill the god of War, cause him to Fade forever and remove all senses of war, bloodlust, hatred and violence from the world once and for all. The delicate balance of the world, the natural order of things, would teeter for a while after one of the Olympians died, yes, but it would soon right itself like it had uncountable times before when Primordials, Titans and other gods had Faded into the Void. The world, like it always had, would soon rebalance itself and humanity would not have to live under the control of War and Ares anymore. The world would be better off without War.
Likewise as with Ares, Aphrodite was far too dangerous to let live. She was- in Leonidas' opinion- far greater of a threat than Ares. The god of War could ensue panic, fear, strife and bloodlust upon the earth, but the vile seductress goddess could mold, infiltrate and control the minds of men to an unfathomable degree above any other god in history. She and her Domain, were responsible for the death of his mother, along with the current pain in his heart after seeing Mary and his family gunned down in front of him.
Aphrodite was the goddess of love, and love was useless. Therefore she had no reason to exist. So he would kill her, cause her to Fade and usher in a new, never ending era of peace in the world.
Leonidas had seen the effects of so called 'love' numerous times on his journeys. In Toas, New Mexico, he had stumbled upon a human trafficking ring that was abducting young girls and selling them as prostitutes and pleasure slaves across the border. One night while he was camping in the desert a young girl, barely over the age of fourteen, had stumbled into his camp, half naked, starved and beaten, having just escaped her hell and been wandering the scorching sands for the past three days. She was afraid of him at first, having just ran from men, but he promptly fed and clothed her, telling her that he would protect her from the men chasing her. After letting her rest, he talked to the younger girl and she told him of the horrors that she and the other girls had to face, while he told her of his own experiences in Las Vegas with the Empousa without revealing anything about the Greek world. She seemed to not fear him anymore when she learned that he had similar experiences to her. He had been submitted to the evils of the world as well. He was a victim like her, but he had to strength to do something about it.
He infiltrated the compound the next night, tore the walls of the warehouse down, liberated the young girls, and killed all of the men in a bloody, blind rage. Except for the leader of the group, that man, he chained to a cement slab in the desert, and like Prometheus before him, left the man to be eaten alive by the ravens for days, supplying him with food and water to keep his half eaten body from dying before finally letting him succumb to his wounds and dying a week later. He got far better than what Hades had in store for him, in Leonidas' opinion.
Aphrodite was not only the goddess of Love. Leonidas learned that long ago, but also Lust, Passion and Sexual Longing. She was responsible for the barbaric treatment of the young girls in the human trafficking ring. She filled the hearts of the men with lust and lecherous intent. She was the reason why all of those girls- and himself- had been used as toys of pleasure by those who had power over them. Aphrodite's 'love', was the cause of far more destruction and pain in the world than Ares and War. So Leonidas set to kill them both. He had been shown and forced to experience everything in his life to help him reach this conclusion, he was sure of it. The Fates had crafted his destiny in such a way that he would be the man to finally remove all needless Love and War from the world.
For the first time in history, be it mortal or immortal, the world would finally enter a never ending time of peace. The world would finally be saved and humanity would be better off. All he had to do was kill Love and War.
But a goal like that was not easily achieved, Leonidas knew that. So he had trained every day for the past four years, learning everything there was to know about the gods, war and strategy. But killing the god of War in combat was easier said than done, so he left the minefield of bodies and traveled back into the woods, content to wait until he was ready to face a god. He had decided a long time ago that he would have to work his way up facing stronger and stronger opponents in order to challenge Olympus and kill Ares and Aphrodite. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that the other gods would not sit idly by and let him, a mere mortal, kill one of their own. So he would need to somehow be able to stand against all of them, but how he was going to go about that, he did not know. He was still waiting for a revelation from the Fates.
oooOooo
(AN: We only got 1 Review last time,
How many Reviews can we get this time?
I believe in you guys, you can do it!)
oooOooo
(May 7, 2007 - Somewhere in the forests of Maine)
It seemed that the Fate Sisters had once again heard his silent plea and presented him with a means to achieve his goals, the goals and Fate they had set out for him. It was not even a few months after inwardly declaring that he was going to kill Love and War that the Fates bestowed on him the means to do so in the form of an angel in the morning sky.
. . .
In every direction the horizon was clouded with eerie darkness; the falling sun's rufescent blaze illuminated a grotesque, twisted horde. The cool evening breeze brought with it the sickening stench of rot and blood across the field.
Cyclops, Empusa, Dracaena, Hellhounds alongside grinning giants, their lips dripping foul liquid.
It was an army of Monsters. An army of the dark.
Another small town had just been destroyed in his attempts to cure the world of them. A young man of only sixteen, confronted with this army of Tartarus, rubbed his stiff shoulder. His Nemean Lion Skin cloak he carried was light as a feather to him, so it must be his weakening body. The high price of his gods-given strength.
The army of darkness had spread itself out across a small hill on the outskirts of the once thriving town. They stood, by the countless dozens, waiting for him as they had almost everyday since he had fled his mother's house four years ago. Ever on the hunt for the mortal teen that slaughtered them by the hundreds, greedy and hungry for revenge.
Whether he had any hope of winning was not the question.
Victory was his only option.
He had been given a great destiny from the Fates, a goal to achieve and presented with a world to save. Failure was not an option for him. If he was destined to one day save the world then this small army of Monsters was nothing but a small inconvenience. He wouldn't die tonight, he wouldn't allow it. The entirety of humanity was counting on him to save them from War and Love.
So he charged at the grotesque army, warhammer swinging over his head wildly. With every arrow his cloak deflected, every club or sword he blocked and beast he tackled or struck, his rage for the Monsters grew. And soon, he once again lost himself to his father's curse.
He tore through his enemy's ranks, cleaving limb from body, smashing bone and shield with his hammer and fists, and ripped heads from their bodies. This army had just destroyed another small town, killing a hundred innocent people, so he was going to kill them for it.
He dashed to meet his next opponent, bringing his mighty warhammer down on the Cyclops' shattering skull. He intercepted a punch from the Minotaur, catching the wild swing and promptly snapping the beast's arm behind it's back before throwing it to the ground and crushing it with his hammer.
He fought like that for the next few hours into the night. But he was foolish back then, when he was young. He did not pay enough attention to the position or cycle of the moon to realize that the heavenly body was full. And full moons brought with it Lycaon and his sons.
"HrrrROOOO!"
Leonidas didn't hear the cries of the wolves until they had already surrounded him in the pitch darkness. And without warning he found the wolves attacking his legs, trying to drive him to the ground. "Ahhh!" He let out a cry of pain when a jaw of a massive wolf gripped onto his bare arm, thrashing it's head and trying to tear into his bone and muscle, but finding Leonidas' skin too tough to bite into easily.
He grabbed the wolf with his other hand and dug his fingers into the eye sockets of the beast and lifted the creature off of his arm and threw it into one of his brothers. The monstrous wolves, along with the endless stream of creatures of the night, were taking their toll on the sixteen year old. He dropped to one knee when a massive Hellhound the size of a lion jumped on his back and attempted to rip into the back of his neck, but found its teeth shattered from the Nemean Lion Skin.
It wasn't until the earliest hours of the morning that he finally sliced through the last remaining Empousa, reveling in killing the devilish enchantress before dropping to his back on the dirt and finally succumbing to his immense exhaustion and injuries and falling into the realm of Hypnos, unaware that he was being watched by a set of ever-changing colored eyes in the clouds with insatiable interest.
oooOooo
When he woke he was in tremendous pain, though it was dulled, but that was not what startled him or caused him to jump to his feet and bring his fists ready to fight, it was the sight of a wooden roof above him when he knew for sure that he fallen asleep in the woods.
"Gaah!" He jumped to his feet to only find his legs weak and promptly fell to a knee, clutching his chest in pain. Blinking through the pain, he scanned the room around him, taking in every piece of information at once that he could. He was in a small log cottage, simply furnished with only the bare necessities, but still warm and cozy. He had be laid on a large, soft bed that took up half of the small room. Against a large windowsill- that was crafted out of shaped, natural branches, like the structure was constructed out of living materials and not a single piece of it looked like it had been cut from a tree- were several large, fluffy throw pillows set up so one could sit on the windowsill and look off onto the large, shimmering, crystal clear ocean behind the rustic cottage. He did not see any sign of modern technology in the room, however, there were no electrical outlets, phones, tv, or even light fixtures. The room instead being illuminated by some unseen, warm light that Leonidas couldn't find but was otherwise not bothered to think about with his mind in it's clouded state.
He didn't know where he was or how he got here, and that worried him. He could have been killed in his sleep for all he knew. He chided himself, he should have found a safe place to sleep before succumbing to his injuries. His eyes scanned the room again and stopped when they fell upon a small, shaped wooden table with a delicate, china plate with a fresh, steaming potato, a folded piece of pita bread next to a small bowl of some kind of white purée or yogurt beside a steaming cup of tea. He was about to summon his xiphos and escape when the door to the small room opened behind him, the scent of sweet saffron coming with it.
"Oh my, you're awake." He turned to find a tall and slender, enchantingly beautiful svelte girl of about seventeen or eighteen years, though her age was hard to determine due to her youthful face that greatly contradicted her tall, lithe, willowy frame and rather generous proportions in the rear and bust. She was rather impressively just two or so inches shorter than him at the time, about six three(191cm), with an elegant, soft face with rosy, almost constantly blushing cheeks. She had full, lush pinkish-blonde hair braided into an elaborate crown above her forehead with wild flowers weaved into the strands that tucked her long hair back to let it fall freely down her back to her voluptuous hips. With a small tiara adorning her forehead with a small, star-like gem at the center. She had long, shapely legs that seemed to go on for miles that finally ended at the floor connected to petite bare feet and bright pink painted toes. She was dressed in a light pink, long sleeved blouse with large ruffles that went past her hands and showed off one delicate shoulder and swayed down to her mid thigh, showing off her long, curvy legs. She gave off a soothing aura that stunned Leonidas for a few seconds before he managed to come to his senses, shaking his head and eyeing her suspiciously.
"Where am I?" He demanded without so much as a greeting. "Who are you?"
The young, strawberry-blonde haired woman seemingly wasn't bothered by his aggressive tone or demeanor because she simply stepped into the room carrying a china plate, somehow keeping the dish from moving the slightest millimeter as she crossed the small room- almost like she was hovering above the floor despite her bare feet softly padding against the fluffy carpet- and stopped in front of the table containing the assortment of food. "You are in my home." She told him simply, her voice like a delicious melody that made Leonidas want to listen to it forever. She faced the table, arranging the food delicately with well manicured fingers. "I found you unconscious in my woods a little before dawn…" She sent him a quick look over her shoulder before turning back to the table. "...Three days ago. So I brought you here to let you heal. You have been asleep since."
He eyed her cautiously, daring glances at the open door a few feet beside her. "What forest am I in?" He asked, looking out the large, natural looking wooden window and out into the ocean beyond. "I was not this close to the ocean when I fell unconscious."
She took nearly half a minute to answer, instead focusing on several large, highly detailed photos of sunrises adorning her walls with longing eyes. Finally, she spoke. "Quoddy Head State Park, near the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse." Her voice was soft like a lullaby, making Leonidas want nothing more than to listen to it all day, her love for the park clearly visible. "The single most beautiful place in this country. My home." She sighed contently and paused for a few seconds to gaze longingly out the large window and out to the shimmering water. "You will be safe here, but you are still weak. You must rest." She turned from the table, holding the steaming cup of tea out to him. "Drink, it will help soothe your mind."
He didn't move to accept the drink. "Who are you?" He asked warily. He wasn't sure if she was a mortal or not, he didn't sense anything other-worldly about her, but his mind was so muddled that he was having a hard time forming a simple thought. But he didn't move to accept the drink, it could be poisoned for all he knew.
The young woman smiled at his question, putting down the drink after realizing that he wasn't going to take it. "Oh, I'm no one special," She answered simply, turning back to face him. "The better question is… who are you? A young man wandering the park at night, you're lucky that I found you when I did. We have many dangerous animals around here, Canadian Lynx, bobcats, timber wolves, cougars, including the occasional black bear." She paused again, this time studying him up close, causing him to feel uncomfortable under her intense, striking eyes. A strange mix of brown and blue, causing them to almost look purple or magenta under the soft, warm light in the room. Her eyes freely roamed his handsome face and muscular body, not bothering to hide her staring or evaluation. She smiled when his eyes met hers. "My, you are a handsome one, aren't you? Such a fine young man, strong too." She purred, stepping closer and reaching her hand out only for him to step back and raise his fists defensively.
"Don't come any closer!" He snarled dangerously, trying to hide how weak his body was and how hard it was to stand at the moment. But he was sure that no matter how weak he was, that he'd be able to fend off a unassuming young woman like her.
She made a show of frowning, puffing out her full bottom lip like a child that was trying to get her way. "Oh my, you would threaten a little 'ol woman like me?" She took a tiny step forward, looking at him with her deep, almost magenta eyes with complete confidence that she would be safe. "But I understand, you are merely scared. Waking up in an unknown place with an unknown person." She smiled warmly, her voice so soft a soothing that Leonidas' eyes grew heavy and started to drop. "You have nothing to fear from me, Leonidas. I will keep you safe."
Then without warning he fell back to the floor, unconscious.
oooOooo
He woke the next morning in the large bed again, but this time he was not alone in the room. The mysterious young woman was sitting next to him, her legs hanging off the side as she sat. It took him a second to realize that she was slowly tracing the old, faded scars on his bare chest and arms with her delicate nails softly. She smiled warmly when she noticed he was awake. "Good morning, handsome." She purred, her voice low and sensual. "How are you feeling today?"
Leonidas blinked before instantly stiffening, he had hoped that his memories of her were just a dream, but it seemed that he was not so lucky. She withdrew her fingers after a few seconds, turning to the side to take a small china bowl from the bedside table and holding a spoon in front of his lips.
"Eat," She ordered kindly. "You have not eaten in several days. You must regain your strength."
He eyed the white purée or yogurt looking food warily. "What is it?" He asked, finding his voice rough and his throat dry from lack of use. She had a steaming cup of tea to his lips the next second, her warm, bright and calming smile ever on her face.
"Here, drink. It's taramasalata." She answered simply, lightly tilting his chin back to pour the soothing liquid into his mouth. After letting him drink she removed the cup, put it down and held the bowl back up to him. "Would you like some?"
He didn't want to accept anymore food, drink or any help from her, but he found himself nodding before he could say no. She promptly fed him a small spoonful, Leonidas only now realizing how hungry he was and soon he had finished off the small bowl. When he tried to apologize for eating all of the food she only smiled and waved off his fears, turning back to the small bedside table and offering him a fresh, steaming potato and a folded piece of pita bread.
After eating every piece of food she offered him, Leonidas grew tired from his full stomach but forced himself to stay awake. The woman had just left the room to put the dishes away, leaving him once alone in the small room. He took the opportunity to study his surroundings again, this time with a slightly more focused and less hazy mind. The interior of the room was… odd. The large windows that looked out to the ocean were misshapen, crafted out of natural branches and tree limbs. Not a single detail in the room was a straight line, every surface having some sort of natural, living shape to it. It made Leonidas feel like he was inside of a living tree. The ceiling was circular and slanted, again made out of natural pieces of wood that looked like it had just been cobbled together from whatever had been lying around the forest. The walls were stark white stone and when they were combined with the aesthetic of the room, the natural look and large assortment of flowers, it gave off the look of a cottage from a fairy tale.
He started to rise from the bed when she came back in, a slightly chiding expression on her face when she walked up to him and lightly pushed him to lay back down. "Now now," her tone was soft and light, light a mother speaking to her infant. "You are in no shape to go anywhere, mister." He relented and let himself be covered by a very comfortable wool blanket, not finding the strength, nor desire to resist her words.
"Who are you?" He asked out of the blue, realizing that she hadn't told him yesterday. "Why do you live out here in the woods?"
She used her delicate fingers to brush the loose strands of hair out of his face and tuck them neatly behind his ear, smiling down to him. "You, Leonidas, may call me Emily."
His eyes widened slightly, though lazily. "How did you-?"
"You told me when you woke earlier." She interrupted him kindly before slightly tilting her head. "Do you not remember?"
He started to shake his head but found that the action made him dizzy and promptly stopped, holding his forehead with his large hand. "Ugh, my head…" He muttered under his breath.
She looked down to him with concerned eyes, leaning close to him causing her large chest- now clad in a tie-dyed hoodie of oranges, pinks, yellows and soft reds and purples of several shades- to get uncomfortably close to his face as she checked his forehead for his temperature. Her hand was surprisingly cool when it met his skin, but it felt nice to the touch. "Are you alright, sweetie? Oh my, you are burning up." She stood up suddenly, somehow the movement didn't cause the bed to move despite her departure. "Stay there and rest, I will get you some ice."
And with that she left the room again, only to return not a minute later with a large soft ice pack and promptly put it to his forehead. He sighed as soon as the material touched his skin. "Thank you." He mumbled, still trying to fight off his heavy eyelids. "For everything."
"You're welcome, Leonidas." She smiled warmly, sitting in her previous spot on the bed next to him. "But you do not need to thank me, it is the least I can do for you. Hospitality for travelers and all that." She waved the thought off with her free hand. "I don't tend to get many visitors nowadays, so I always cherish the opportunity to get to know new people."
"Don't you see new visitors to the park?" He asked, closing his eyes in peace, unable to force them to stay open any longer. "Isn't this a State Park or something?"
He missed the sad smile on her face as she once again lightly traced the faded scars on his body with her finger. "You are so damaged for someone so young, a shame to waste such beauty." She muttered softly to herself under her breath, Leonidas not seeming to notice this so she spoke again to answer his question, this time louder. "Yes, but my… duties to the park take up most of my time." She paused her tracing to put her free hand back up to his forehead again, a thin sheet of frost forming on her hand to bring his temperature down and refreeze the thawing ice pack. "Rest now, love." She purred softly, causing him to settle back into the large pillows. "I shall be here when you wake. Always."
oooOooo
The days in the fairytale cottage passed quickly, but Leonidas, for the life of him, couldn't remember how long he had been with Emily, all the while the constant pain and discomfort he had been in had dulled somewhat, but still persisted. But he knew that it couldn't have been a short amount of time, or a rather long amount of time either. He had been told to stay in the same room for those days to rest, only being let to leave the bed when he had to use the restroom in the adjoining room. He asked Emily why he was not getting better despite resting all day for such a long time, she only brushed off his question and said that he needed to rest as she lightly pushed him to lay back down.
After some time Leonidas had started to grow… suspicious of the young woman called Emily. She was always kind and gentle, but he felt like a prisoner in her home, not being allowed to leave or never told exactly how long he had been there when he asked nor told when he could leave.
So he decided to sneak out.
He had started to study her schedule after a few days and he had learned that she was nothing if not a creature of habit. The small room he was in had no clock, but the large windows that faced East gave him the ability to more or less track the time in the early morning when the sun rose over the horizon. Every morning before dawn, he would hear her rise from the couch in the main room that he often spotted whenever she opened the door and head outside. Where he would hear, if he were not mistaken, a pair of horses and soon, she would ride off into the distance and would return later once the sun started to peak over the horizon. Not including her short morning and afternoon walks, she never left the cottage to his knowledge. Not even for food or work, but as she told him that she lived and worked in the park he assumed that that made some sort of sense, at least, pertaining to the work. He still had no idea how of where she was getting so much food from. And that worried him.
So if he was going to leave then it would have to be in the morning before dawn when she was gone for the longest period of time. He had just heard her leave a few minutes ago so the time was now. He slowly and quietly rose from the bed, finding the action curiously tiring and draining of his energy. Ignoring the feeling of exhaustion, he stumbled to the large natural windowsill and gazed out over the ocean. While he was happy to leave and get on with his journey, he was a little saddened when he realized that he would no longer get to see the absolutely stunning, gorgeous and otherworldly sunrises that greeted him everyday. Emily was an… odd person, but she sure knew how to pick what had to have been the best spot in the country to watch the sunrise. And if the numerous large and detailed paintings and pictures of sunrises hanging on her walls were anything to go by, she sure loved to watch the sunrise. Which, is what Leonidas assumed she did every morning when she left before dawn.
Blinking away his thoughts, he dodged the abnormally numerous amounts of grasshoppers, crickets and the occasional cicada on the carpeted floor as he made his way to the arched wooden door. By now he had grown accustomed to the large amount of birds, animals and insects around the cottage, some smaller creatures, like squirrels, field mice and insects were a common sight in the small cottage, but grasshoppers, crickets and cicadas were a more often sight. When Leonidas casually asked Emily why there were so many bugs in her house one day she only smiled and waved off his question, saying that she lived in the forest, so bugs were to be expected. Not paying the strangely numerous amounts of bugs a second thought, he made his way through the dark cottage and out into the early morning breeze, the slightest hint of sweet saffron in the air, the same smell Emily usually had. He wasn't sure if she smelled like saffron, or if the cottage just naturally smelled of it. Maybe she just used a lot of incense, he didn't know. Shaking those thoughts, he ran off into the woods and as far away from the small cottage as possible. So quickly in fact, that he did not bother to look back to see the small, unassuming white-washed stone, wood and grass roofed cottage shimmer away, leaving behind only a collection of trees, bushes and beautiful wildflowers.
oooOooo
It didn't even take fifteen minutes for him to be surrounded and attacked by a horde of Monsters that seemed to have been searching the woods for him since he slaughtered the last small army, somehow not seemingly able to find him in Emily's house.
"GAAAHHH!" Leonidas cried when he found himself thrown through a thick tree by a Hyperborean Giant.
The son of Sparta stumbled to his feet weakly. He had assumed that he was in fit enough strength to head back out into the wilderness and continue hunting Monsters and training, but his extreme exhaustion and pain from the last few weeks still lingered and he could hardly find the strength to raise his fists in defense.
The horde of beasts, aiming to destroy him once and for all while the sky was still dark, came at him in droves, practically throwing themselves at the demigod teenager. He weakly fought them off, only managing to tossed them aside, not having the strength to summon his enchanted weapons.
The deafening tremors of footsteps from the giant grew ever closer as the beast stalked towards the sixteen year old as he used a tree trunk to help himself stand. The brobdingnagian rose his club over his blue skinned head and was just about to bring down the tree when all of a sudden a blinding light tore apart the heavens and shown down on the small clearing Leonidas and the horde of Monsters were in.
For a second Leonidas thought that his father had once again come to his aid, but when the entire Eastern sky burst into a sudden, shimmering dawn that looked as if the very sky was on fire, he realized that it was not his father.
His father was powerful, but even he couldn't do this.
The horde of Monsters shielded their eyes from the glorious display of orange, soft red, pink, yellow and purple in the sky as they danced like an elaborate show around a figure quickly descending from the clouds in a radiating storm of light, the wind howling so much the very air vibrated as the heavens rumbled and the few remaining stars above shimmered and brightened like beacons.
He looked up to the brightening sky weakly and his heart nearly stopped. It was a winged figure. A woman like an angel descending from the clouds.
The sheer amount of warm, kaleidoscope-colored light bursting from the figure like waves rolling in a storm caused Leonidas' breath to hitch. He didn't know who this being was, but it must have been enormously powerful because all of the Monsters around him quickly fled into the trees as she grew closer. Leonidas now being able to make out the figure of a willowy woman clad in a shimmering rainbow of colors that hung around her beautiful form like a dress made out of the very dawn, with accents of shimmering stars twirling around her like the cosmos. With a beat of her stunning, red and golden hued feathery wings, the light in the clearing faded, but the sudden warmth that she brought with her stayed and grew more intense as she neared his lying form.
He couldn't say anything as the angelic woman glided over to him, the flowers and plants around her were washed in a thin layer of morning dew and stood straighter, even coming back from wilting as she passed them. All around her, roses of every kind, color and size sprouted from the earth and soon the patches of dirt were coated in a blanket of beautiful thriving flowers. From far off, birds began to sing an enchanting melody. The occasional chirping of crickets turned almost into a chorus and soon joined the symphony as they greeted the woman as she slowly and elegantly flew through the trees.
Wordlessly, the woman let the torch she was carrying over her head disappear in a cloud of purple, pink and orange hues before promptly landing next to him and dropping to her knees as she reached for him. He was in the process of swatting her hand away and summoning his sword when his sharp nose caught the strong, similar smell of saffron a second before the light around her died down enough for him to see her face as she spoke to him, her voice soft, melodic and calming.
"Do not fear, Leonidas." She easily moved his weakened arms out of the way and brought her slightly glowing, rosy hands over his chest and emitting a warm light. "It is I."
"Emily?" His eyes grew wide, threatening to burst from his head. She paused slightly to look right at him, her face morphing into the one he had been seeing for the past few weeks.
She continued her work, leaning down so that her face was only a few inches above his. "Yes, sweetie, it's me-." She was suddenly cut off when he pulled away and fell to his knees when he tried to stand. She was at his side in a second.
"What are you?!" He barked as he tried to force himself to his feet but found it impossible. She reached a delicate rosy hand towards him but he avoided it like the plague. "Get way from me!" He tried to crawl away from her but found his arms unable to support his immense weight and fell to the dirt.
"Calm yourself, Leonidas," She purred as she once again rushed over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, easily turning him over so that he was laid on his face and not face first in the dirt. "I mean you no harm." He dared to let his eyes track to hers and instantly regretted it, her eyes were so pleading and worried for him that he let in and let her tend to him. With a nod she continued her work, a soft, warm light emitting from her rosy hands as they hovered over his chest. They constant, shooting pain was subdued to a dulled throbbing, just slightly bearable.
"W-what is… going on?" He heard himself mutter, though his head was so fuzzy with pain that he didn't remember speaking. He could feel his strength leaving him, and it finally hit him; he was dying…
He honestly saw this coming, he had been told by a priestess that he was going to die in a few short years. And since then he sought out every divine and non-divine healer, priestess and oracle he could find. All of them told him the same thing; it was inevitable, he was going to die.
But dying now? Here, in this place without achieving his goals and saying humanity from War and Love? The destiny that the Fates set out for him? This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Without warning his mouth filled with liquid and a second later he was dumping the crimson substance on the grass.
"Shh, shh." She cooed, softly rubbing his back as he dumped the contents of his stomach into the patch of newly sprouted roses. He saw her lean her face close to his, his bleary mind not being able to tell if her eyes were changing color of if he was just simply losing his sanity. "I had wished that I would be able to cure you… but you are dying… Soon." Her beautiful face dropped, Leonidas not knowing for sure how or why she seemed to care for him so much.
"No I'm not." He forced out weakly in between coughing up obscene amounts of blood. He eyed the sky above them. "I can't die yet. There's still *cough* work to do." He tried to stand but found his legs unresponsive to his commands.
"Take it easy, Leo. You-."
"Don't call me that." He ordered, weakly glaring at her with narrowed, pain-filled eyes. "The only person who *cough* could call me that is…" He hesitated slightly, his voice growing weak. "...Is dead."
Her ever changing colored eyes widened, her delicate jaw dropping slightly. "You… had a lover…" She said this as if she were upset that she didn't know, like she didn't like the thought that his heart once belonged to someone.
"It's *cough* private," He mumbled under his breath, closing his eyes from the aching pain in his chest. "And none of your business."
She continued her healing, but looked off into the dulled morning sky like she could see something he couldn't. She spoke up, her voice soft and hollow."...I have lost loved ones as well." She looked back to him, he didn't reply so she continued. "My loving brother, my sweet sister, my wonderful mother." She bit her full bottom lip as a wave of pain washed over her face. "...My love. Everyone I have loved in my life, is now gone."
He grit his teeth when an especially painful stabbing sensation erupted in his side. "Then we… have that *cough* in common." He said emotionlessly. "The Fates must have decided to make my life a living Hades."
"All I have is my father now… but I would rather see him dead for all he has done to me and to this world."
A hint of a smile formed at the corner of his mouth. "Even more in common than I thought." He muttered softly before opening his eyes as fully as possible and taking in her appearance up close. "So, tell me, who are you?"
"I am known by many names all throughout the world," She answered, continuing to heal him with one hand as the other summoned a miniature sun rising over the horizon in the palm of her hand. "'Rosy Fingered one', 'Mother of the Wind and Stars', my most common name, my Roman name, 'Aurora'. But I am the daughter of the East. Sister of Helios, Titan of the Sun and Selene, Titaness of the Moon." She paused to smile at Leonidas' awe filled expression. "My name, Leonidas, is Eos, Titaness goddess of the Dawn, Dew and Frost. Mother of the Wind and Stars, she who has divine authority and control over the Light, Dawn, Dew, Frost and Sky ever since the Protogenoi Ouranos Faded millennia ago." She paused to once again brush his medium length brown hair out of his face. "But to you, Leonidas, I am just Emily."
"Why would a *cough* Titaness care about someone like me?" He asked weakly. "I thought that you *cough* had Faded along with your brother and sister. How are you still alive?"
Her smile dropped as she bit her lip, nodding to herself. "Like you, Leonidas, I am not ready to die. Even if the world has stopped believing in me millennia ago, there are still things I must do, wrongs I must right. But I am still dying. Everyday I find myself growing weaker as my lifeforce slowly dwindles to nothing…" She eyed the sky again. "That light show earlier? It cost me a decade or two at least."
Leonidas' eyes widened. "Then why would you-?"
"To save you." She answered simply, looking downwards and slightly… was it ashamed? "I have not been honest with you, Leonidas… I…" She raised her eyes to meet his. "I have been watching you for some time. Following you as you traveled across the East coast and as you made your way ever closer to me."
"But why?" He asked, confused. "Why would you be following me?"
"Because I fell for your beauty. You look like a literal godling." She wore a sheepish smile that turned into a disappointed frown. "I know that it may seem a little… foolish, but I cannot help it." She lightly shook her head to herself, looking back up to the sky. "I have been cursed to endlessly fall for handsome young men… only for them to leave me or die. To forever be alone for all of eternity. I cannot help my attraction to you." She but her lower lip. "I'm sorry, I know that that sounds-."
"You are like the Titaness Calypso." He cut her off kindly, looking at her like he was seeing her for the first time. "Like me… destined to forever be heartbroken…"
She nodded silently before bringing her hand to his forehead and using it to cool his temperature down again. "Yes, my cousin has also been cursed, but she has it off easy in my opinion."
"What to do you-?"
He was cut off suddenly when her head snapped to the side and she covered his mouth briefly. "We are not alone. The horde is returning." She held out her hand to him and helped him to his feet. "Come, we must return home, we will be safe from the Monsters there."
"Why can't you just destroy them?" he asked as she slung his heavy arm over her shoulder and started to help him walk. "And would it not be easier for us to fly there?"
She shook her head slightly, her long, flowing pinkish-blonde hair swaying from the movement. "Even if I wasn't a pacifist Titaness, which I am, I do not have the energy right now even if I wanted to. I used up most of it to scare them away before."
Leonidas was just about to mumble something about 'weakling Titanesses' when a Hellhound burst through the brush and jumped at them. Leonidas only barely managing to react fast enough to grab the beasts' snout and drive it into a nearby tree before stumbling to one knee.
"Get behind me!" He ordered as he used the remainders of his strength to summon his xiphos and brandished it at the approaching army.
"But Leonidas, you are too weak-."
"Then do something about it!" He yelled as he swung his sword at and through the stomach of a Cyclops. All was going more or less fine until the same Hyperborean giant broke through the wall of trees and charged at the pair. "Do something!"
"The only thing I can do might kill you-."
"We'll die anyway!" He barked, charging at the giant, lifting his sword as high as possible. "DO IT!"
The giant was only a few strides away from him when Leonidas was suddenly surrounded by an ethereal glow and without warning he felt supercharged, like he got a second wind ran at the giant all out faster than ever before and jumped at the beast and driving his sword into its head. "Gaaah!" Leonidas yelled as he jumped from Monster to Monster, slaying every being in sight, his body feeling more rejuvenated and full of life than he could ever remember.
He danced around the club of a Cyclops before severing each of its limbs with a quick flurry of attacks before dashing to meet the next opponent, and soon, he had finished off the majority of the Monsters while the rest had fled back into the woods. He was about to chase after them when he suddenly fell to the ground, currently in the most pain he had ever been in. It felt like red hot metal rods were being stabbed into every joint, muscle and bone in his body at once.
"Ahhh!" He let out a stream of cries as he rolled around in the dirt, clutching his chest so hard that his nails were drawing blood from his skin. He didn't know when she appeared, but Eos had dropped to his side.
"I'm so sorry, Leonidas." He heard her apologize. "I did not know that my power would fade so quickly or cause you so much pain when it left." He felt her take his hand in hers.
"Can't you heal me?" He forced out through gritted teeth, his body convulsing in pain. "Like you did before?"
"Only a little." She told him, shaking her head. "I am not a Titaness of medicine, I only have limited ability to heal. Unless-." She stopped herself suddenly,shaking her head again. "No, I couldn't."
"What?" He asked.
"Forget it. It's practically impossible-."
He gripped her her hand with his free one, looking right into her eyes. "Please," He begged. "I can't die here, the world is counting on me."
After inwardly debating with herself for a minute, Eos nodded to herself, letting out a long breath. "Okay, you saved my life, so I'll return the favor." She let her fingers lightly trace his defined cheekbones before moving down to hover over his chest. "But I have to tell you, it may kill you."
"I'm dying anyway. Just do it." He chuckled darkly. "Whatever you're doing."
"I'm going to grant you my Blessing." She told him, her eyes filled with worry and anxiousness. "Something that has never been granted to a mortal. I do not even know if your weakened body could handle the strain or pain-."
"I can handle any pain." He cut her off softly. "I will endure anything in order to obtain my goals." He increased his hold on her hand. "Don't worry," He reassured her. "I will be fine."
"Alright then," She mumbled, nodding. "But I have to say, that I will be tying our life forces to one another, if one of us should die… the other would soon die as well. In exchange, my natural self healing abilities will transfer to you and it should help stall your death and dull the pain, but I can't just heal you. I'm sorry."
"Don't be." He told her. "If it's my destiny, then there's no fighting it. Anything else?"
She nodded her head one. "Yes, in exchange for my Blessing, I have three requests."
He was silent for a few seconds before nodding weakly. "Tell me."
She let out a breath. "First, you will be named my Champion, so I request that you fight for me. You must do anything in order to protect me, and I will do the same. In exchange, you will be granted with some additional powers."
He instantly nodded. "I accept."
"Second," She continued. "I request that you become mine and mine alone." Her eyes turned lustful and needy as they roamed his body. It only lasted for a few seconds however when she managed to get control of herself. "I am cursed to desire beautiful men, so in return for you doing what I ask, I will make you my consort."
He paused for a few seconds, blinking. "You mean that… you and I…"
"Yes," She nodded, her voice turning to more of a purr again as her eyes glanced down to her breathtakingly beautiful body. "Is it really so bad of an offer?"
He found himself gulping subconsciously. Honestly, he had no desire to be with Eos in that sense, or any person, really. Not after Mary died, despite them never being anywhere close to intimate. But Emily, or Emily as she wanted him to call her, was a literal Titaness and was breathtakingly beautiful. And despite how much he never wished it, he would endure being with her physically if it meant that he was able to get closer to his goals of killing Love and War.
"...Alright." He finally mumbled, not missing how her face lit up and an aura of desire seemed to flow from her body. "But on one condition of my own," He looked to her and she nodded. "I will never love you and you need to understand that."
She weighed his words before nodding. "I accept, I have also given up on any real sense of love long ago, I honestly just want you for your body." She paused to give him a flirty look that made him feel uncomfortable. What had he just gotten himself into? After removing the look from her face, she continued. "Lastly, I have more need of you than just a protector, I am a pacifist Titaness like I said, but I need to kill an Olympian." Her eyes turned serious and stopped changing color, settling on magenta. "Will you help me?"
(Author's Note)
Thanks for reading, guys. How was it? I was so worried for this chapter the entire time as I wrote it. Was it bad? Good? Decent? A worthless pile of crap? Was it what you expected? Did it answer your questions about Leonidas and the Eos/Emily? Let me know.
I'll try to get the second part out asap. It'll be a little different and will be the LAST Story of Leonidas chapter of the story. And I'm kinda sad about that. I like exploring his character.
I'm gonna beg for Reviews again, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know what you thought of it. I can't improve without feedback. Thanks again and have a great day!
Fun Fact: Leonidas' name was originally Anthony 'Tony' and he was just supposed to be a minorly important son of Ares that tried to usurp power from Percy at camp and get the campers to turn their backs on him and help Zeus exact his revenge and make Percy flee camp. An extremely cliche idea, I know. I'm SO glad it's turned out to be what it is today.
Question of the day: 'If you had to select a song or songs to be Leonidas' theme, what would it be?' When I started writing this story I put together a playlist of epic, motivational, badass songs that I thought fit him, but now it's just turned into whatever sounds cool, I really need to edit it and remove everything that doesn't fit. If you have any songs that you think fit him, let me know. I've been curious for a while.
