'thoughts or flashback'
"normal speech"
Disclaimer: I own nothing of PJO or HoO
Chapter Five: The Message
Thermopylae Pass
Dawn had arrived and with it new hope for the Spartan, Arcadian and Athenian soldiers. After they witnessed the power of the storm the gods unleashed the night before they were certain few if any Persians had survived and could easily be driven out of Greece.
When Daxos and Stelios were sent to investigate the damage and returned later than expected, many were understandably worried. Stelios looked slightly eager for some reason even if he looked fairly resigned as well.
Daxos looked worried, far more worried than a man with good news was supposed to look like.
"Why do you smile Stelios?" Perseus asked, hoping for some good news.
Daxos looked at the Spartan, clear frustration on his face as he already knew what was on his mind.
"Perseus, misplaced son of Sparta," Stelios grinned as he continued to refuse to address him as an Athenian, "I've fought countless times, yet I've never met an adversary who could offer me what we Spartans call a beautiful death. I can only hope that with all the worlds warriors gathered against us, there can be one amongst the Persians who's up to the task."
Perseus narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean when you say all the worlds warriors? Surely there can't be that many left after last night's storm."
"Oh but there are." Stelios answered, maniacal grin firmly in place, "Their camp remains as vast and full of men as the gulf was of ships yesterday."
Everyone within hearing distance eyes widened at the bold proclamation.
Leonidas, face grim, addressed the leaders of their military force. "What we saw yesterday was but a small fraction of the Persian army. Zeus and mighty Poseidon were kind enough to rid us of what they could, but it wasn't their entire force. Our battles shouldn't be fought for us anyways."
Astinos looked to his father for confirmation of the words spoken and brought to them by his superiors. Captain Artemis knew that neither Daxos nor Stelios would lie or exaggerate about their enemy. If they said that there still existed a vast army for them to fight, then it was more than likely true.
"Spartans!" Leonidas roared getting the attention of all his men. "Prepare yourselves; we have much to do before we introduce the Persian invaders to Thanatos."
All the gathered Spartan soldiers roared in approval while the Athenian and Arcadian soldiers calmed themselves.
Leonidas was truly a great leader amongst men. With but a few words he'd turned near desperation at facing such an impossibly large army to hope and resolve to fight and demonstrate the power of Greece.
The King of Sparta exuded strength, confidence and unwavering faith in their success. It was awe inspiring for anyone to see. He was a shining light, a bastion of courage and determination.
For the rest of the day, the men toiled, hard at work at their given task by Leonidas. His idea had been brilliant in its simplicity.
He'd ordered the men to build a short wall at the middle gate to constrict the flow of the enemy. It would force any incoming forces to be funneled straight into the first line of defense by the Greek soldiers.
Less movement for the enemy meant less room to attack and the Spartans and Athenians could meet them head on in a more equal setting, being vastly outnumbered. Fighting on their terms, the Greek resistance could dictate the pace of battle and largely ignore their own lower numbers of men.
If used correctly the famed Spartan phalanx would cause devastating damage to any incoming enemies.
"Move!" The sound of a whip accompanied the order. "Move! Forward I say!" Once more the whip cut through the air and all the soldiers looked around to find its source.
Many of the men were busy at the top of the cliff building the low wall to funnel the Persian army. They wanted it finished quickly before the first wave of Persian invaders.
Astinos tapped Perseus on the shoulder and gestured to the rocky path the wound itself up the cliff. Heading their way was a contingent of wary Persian soldiers and a man on top of a caravan, hoisted off the ground, as he whipped his servants to pull him along faster.
All the gathered Spartans watched as the man and his fancy chair pulled up in front of them. He had the air of a pompous fool, one who thinks himself untouchable and near perfect as can be.
"Stop here! Who commands here?" He asked, looking amongst the men building the wall.
His guards, such as they were carrying weapons and shields, looked fearfully at where they were. It seemed that only they had noticed the amount of bodies stacked alongside the path they walked. The bodies of their comrades in arms now staked and strung up like scarecrows.
A grim warning of what faced them if they so continued their path.
"I am the emissary," the dark skinned and mustached man began, "to the ruler of all the world. God of gods," Perseus scowled at the arrogance of that statement, "King of kings," Stelios and Captain Artemis shared an amused look before they glanced at Leonidas, "and by that authority I demand that someone show me your commander."
It was inevitable that some of the men still lugging huge stones to build the wall would snicker. Others outright laughed at the audaciousness of the fat man's claims.
With nary a word they all turned back to their task of reinforcing the weak points of their wall.
The fat man scowled and spoke in a low and what he considered threatening tone, "Listen. Do you think the paltry dozen of your sleuths scares us? These hills swarm with our scouts."
Quietly Stelios set the small boulder he was holding down and walked over to pick up his sword.
"Do you think your pathetic wall will do anything except fall like a heap of dry leaves in the face-" The tirade of the arrogant emissary was cut off as he finally took notice of what his guards had been staring at fearfully the entire time.
Bodies.
Dead bodies everywhere, some skewered on poles, some stacked atop rocks, and some thrown haphazardly atop the very wall the Spartans were working on.
His lower lip trembled in fright and with wide eyes the emissary swept his gaze around everywhere, desperately hoping that it was all an illusion. That all the men sent out that very morning for reconnaissance on the Greek soldiers weren't already dead.
"Our ancestors built this wall," Stelios said as he walked towards the emissary sword in hand, "using ancient stone from the bosom of Greece herself. And with a little Spartan help, your Persians provided the mortar."
"Athenian help, not just Spartan." Perseus interjected helpfully even as the rest of the Spartans around him laughed.
Astinos stepped forward, "You'll have to forgive him. He seems to have hit his head and thinks he is from Athens when clearly he was born a son of Sparta all along."
Daxos watched all the men laugh at this but not in a cruel way. It seemed that Perseus had managed to fit right in with the soldiers of Sparta.
Swallowing nervously all the guards that accompanied the emissary raised their shields and weapons. The emissary himself sputtered in rage, "You will pay for your barbarism!" he shouted out.
Perseus had discretely moved his hand to the hunting dagger holstered on the belt on his back the entire time the emissary was talking. While it wasn't ideal for what he had planned, it would do the job just fine.
Meanwhile the Persian fat man grabbed the whip he was using earlier and reared his arm back, fully intent on cracking the whip on the Spartan soldiers.
Stelios was already on the move, sword unsheathed as he leapt into the air to cut the man of Persia.
Slowly, like watching things unfold with the speed of molasses, the whip swung back to gather energy and crack forward.
Barefoot and with no shirt on due to working in the hot sun, Stelios was already in mid air with the sword high above his head.
Almost no one saw how fast Perseus reached behind him and grabbed the dagger on his back. Daxos and Astinos who were closest were the only ones to catch sight of Perseus cock his arm back, aim and throw the dagger with deadly precision.
It flew through the air, spinning madly as it sliced the winds heading directly for the Persian emissary. It caught the arm of the Persian right as he had it ready to swing forward and slammed right through his flesh and stuck him to the back of the lavish seat he was sitting on while approaching the Greeks.
"My arm!" He shouted in pain.
Stelios while surprised wasted no time in finishing the job. Quickly he leapt forward and sliced the head off the Persian emissary.
All the guards grew angry as the head of their diplomat went sailing through the air.
The son of Poseidon quickly stepped forward and unsheathed the celestial bronze sword that Zoë had gifted him the night before. "Look upon my blade, pay heed to my words Persians. Your emissary was a fool for coming here and making demands. If your god-king," Perseus spat our distastefully, "has a request of us then send him here himself. I am Perseus, son of Poseidon the true god of the seas. I bleed red as any other man here, in my body flows blood not ichor like a true immortal. If Xerxes claims himself the god of gods, then have him come forth and prove it to me, me a demigod who would know and recognize an immortal over a fake delusional cowardly man."
Angry at the perceived insult to their king the soldiers nevertheless gathered the body of their emissary and trekked back down the cliff side.
Stelios walked up to Perseus and clapped his shoulder, "Well said misplaced son of Sparta, well said."
More laughter rang out from the gathered men.
"Now let's finish this wall you lazy bastards, for I have a feeling that tonight will be exciting." Stelios claimed as he went right back to work.
Perseus looked out over the gulf and then in the direction of the Persian camp. 'I have a feeling that anaklusmos will come in handy very soon Zoë. Thank you for lending me such a fine weapon. I can feel the presence of monsters just over those hills. The question is… are the monsters I feel the ones we're familiar with or are they men twisted so far and evil that they are their own brand of monster unto themselves?'
The images of what happened at the village of Pellana and to Phoebe were still fresh in Perseus' mind as he tightened the grip on his sword.
Mt. Olympus
"And so you see mother. He's perfect!" Hebe exclaimed as she twirled in joy after trying to convince her mother Hera how great of a hero Perseus was.
Hera watched her daughter twirl to and fro with a fond look on her face. She loved her daughters, more so than her sons at least. If there was any way to make them happy she would happily go out of her way to do so.
Hebe was perhaps her favorite daughter, even if she wouldn't admit it out loud. Hebe was just so full of energy, cheerful and had a mischievous streak a mile long.
In short, she brought joy to the queen of the heavens many times over.
"Well what do you propose I do child? You know that your father has forbidden direct interference in the mortal war going on right now. He might have thrown up a storm to help but that was more to pay off a debt of gratitude than anything and it wasn't directly aimed at the Persians as it could have easily wiped out the Greeks as well." Hera patiently explained to the pouting face of her daughter.
"You know that father actually likes him though. He wouldn't have helped any other hero no matter how much he owed him if he didn't like him. I just need one day mother, just one day to go down and talk to Perseus. Please!" Hebe begged eyes wide and earnest expression on her face.
Hera quickly looked away and tried to ignore the pulling on the sleeves of her dress. "I'll… talk to your father." She quickly snapped her head back in Hebe's direction after hearing a cheer, "but I make no promises! You know how worried he was after that incident. And I was too." Her eyes softened as she looked at the young goddess' face and stroked her cheek tenderly.
Hebe quickly got up and hugged her mother in glee. "Thank you mother. Thank you so much. I'll be careful though mother. After all, my hero will be there in case anything happens." She chirped gleefully as she ran out of the throne room, missing the shadowy figure hiding behind a pillar by the entrance.
Athena stepped out of the shadows once she was sure her half-sister was gone and Hera had left. Slowly she walked away and to her temple; hand on her chin in thought.
'If Hebe visits Perseus then perhaps I can sneak him a message from Theseus to pull out. I promised Theseus that his brother wouldn't get hurt, but then I also thought that Sparta would commit fully to the fight. There's little I can do to assure the young demigods safety if we aren't allowed to directly interfere.'
Plans already whirring in her head over what to do next, she didn't realize she was lowly voicing some of her thoughts out loud. Athena also didn't realize and fully recognize where she was headed as she almost walked into Ares.
Only due to Ares quick step to the side did they avoid a collision. The male god of war glared at his half-sister and then promptly ignored her until he heard her faint whispers. "Perseus… Gates… fall back… Leonidas."
Curious despite himself, Ares allowed his sister to walk away without another violent confrontation as had been happening of late. 'I don't like what I heard but I don't know exactly what's going on either. Whatever it is it involves that young demigod Perseus. Perhaps I should pay closer attention to my soldiers down at Thermopylae. Whatever Athena has planned I'll be sure to counter it and guarantee it never comes to fruition. If it involves Perseus, Apollo would probably like to know as well.'
Quickly Ares moved away and to his half-brother's temple to inform him of this newest development.
The gods had been forbidden to interfere in the wars of men. Zeus in all his wisdom had decreed that man should fight their own battles and that they couldn't rely on the aid of the gods for everything.
In order to enforce that ruling he'd forbidden Iris and Hermes from sending messages amongst the mortals and even amongst the gods themselves. This was done in the hopes that the Olympian gods would lose interest in the war if they couldn't find out as much information as they wished from it.
Little did he know that lack of communication would only spurn the Olympians to pay closer attention and resolve to involve themselves even further because of it. Zeus was king, but not even a king can foresee all the outcomes of every decision he makes.
Even the ones that seem inconsequential at the time.
A lesson that Leonidas, Theseus and the self proclaimed god-king Xerxes would learn all too soon.
A/N As I said, I know roughly what history says of the battle of Thermopylae. I sincerely stress that you read the domain name of the site before anyone tries to correct how wrong I have anything in this story.