Hey everyone,

I'd like to announce that although some myths contradict with others, I may need to change the order in which historical myths took place to be able to fit the characters I want into the story.

Although the setting is ancient Greece, I will make the characters talk in English and informally, as if they were regular boys/men or girls/women in the modern world. It makes writing this a little bit easier, and the characters more relaxed than if they talked formally all the time.

I would like all of you avid readers to vote for the poll. That's right, there is a poll up on my profile page regarding this story. It is regarding pairings. I have figured out a couple of ways that Percy might be able to pair up with someone fairly soon through this story, even if getting to know them is a little short. It will be a quick process in terms of the chapters as I jump from the end of the Argonautica right into the Trojan War if you as the readers choose a girl that is available in the ancient times. If the modern girls are chosen, then it will be a different story. Either way, vote vote vote! Vote, vote, vote!

Just a note about copying and pasting author's notes...in the past, I have had readers who did not read the author's notes until later chapters. I just want to keep reminding. If you have already seen the author's notes, you can just skip them and go straight to reading the story. Thank you.

I may be putting all my stories on hiatus for the time being. I have kind of lost inspiration to write these stories...partially because not many view it, but mostly because I just don't feel like writing these anymore, my writing ideas turning to something that is not related to Percy Jackson at all. I may still update, though. Hiatus or not, you will see soon.

With best regards,
SharkAttack719

Chapter 12

The Absolution

Sure they had cried "To Greece!" but in truth, the Argonauts were still weary and tired. They deserved a peaceful rest of some sort.

The buildings of the island slowly became visible, the white marble sparkling in the golden sunlight. It looked magnificent, seemingly a whole city placed on the side of a mountain, a small on, but a mountain nonetheless.

It looked, in a way, like Athens. Athens had the Acropolis on top of the mesa, the flat land that was man-made, and had the magnificent wonder at the heart of the city. It was very much the same thing with this island. At the top of the mountain stood the largest building of all, a marble palace.

Percy looked at Jason. "Who do you think the king of this island is? Or queen?"

Medea suddenly stepped forward. "No, this is not a regular island," she said. "This is Circe's island, the great sorceress daughter of Helios. It is named Aeaea. She is my aunt, the sister to my father, Aeëtes."

Percy's and Jason's eyes widened.

"But then... why is she all the way here?" Percy asked. "This is the Sardinian Sea, far in the west. This is even further than Thrinacia, than Ausonia."

"You are smart for a young boy like yourself," Medea complimented, "but yes. Aeaea is farther west than Ausonia. She was sent here by Helios when she killed her husband, a prince of Colchis. Well, he wasn't actually royalty, but just married into the family. He was from Thrace, but I do not remember his name. My father never told me more than what I told you."

"She murdered her own husband?" Percy asked becoming suddenly wary of what was to come.

"Apparently so."

He looked to the bright side and smiled. "Well, maybe he was just a really bad husband."

Medea shrugged, unknowing. "It is a possibility, but no one can ever be sure."

"Can we trust Circe?" Jason asked.

"She may be able to recognize me," she said after nodding. "Maybe she will be able to cleanse the stain of my brother's blood on the Argonauts, though mostly on me. It was my idea to do that."

The coast they were approaching was beautiful, a sandy-white beach dotted with beautiful apple trees. Percy could see the tiny little red dots on the green bush, people coming up to them and picking the ripe fruit off the trees.

"What will happen when we reach there?" Jason asked. "Are all of the Argonauts going? Or will it be just you and I?"

Medea bit her lip. "I am not certain, my love. Circe dislikes men to a certain extent and has turned them into pigs ever since they have landed at her island. They have not been that many, but the few who have arrived are pigs. The last time I was here, a few years ago, there were ten, maybe twenty. It would be a risk to bring that many men, but if you and I go alone with cloaks..."

Percy pursed his own lips. "Well, Medea. I think you and Jason should go alone. Like you said yourself, killing your brother was your own idea. Let Jason, the killer, and yourself, the planner, be purified. It would be safer that way. What do you say, Jason?"

The said man looked out at the island. Percy followed his line of sight. That was when he noticed the water fountains and bath pools scattered around the city, as if it were some sort of paradise. Percy wondered if it was supposed to be a place where women go to learn the ways of sorcery, to escape the world of men.

He then remembered a conversation that he had with Atalanta long ago.

Wait, you said hunters are both male and female, right? If Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, does she have a group of hunters that like serve with her? Percy had asked.

Atalanta snorted. If there were Hunters of Artemis, they would have to swear eternal oaths to the goddess, swearing off love to boys and swearing their virginity to the goddess. No female in the entire world would want to do that. Other than the fact I have sworn virginity to the goddess, I have not sworn anything else to Artemis.

Percy wondered if in the future, the Hunters of Artemis could become a real group, a bunch of young woman who had been betrayed or hurt by men. The weird thing about it was that he didn't find it awkward that he was a man who wanted to start the initiative. But Atalanta was right. Percy heard more than he should have at that age, which just meant he knew more. Every single woman he'd ever met or heard followed Aphrodite's way, the way of love and sex. It was just how the world worked.

"If it is best," Jason said at last. "We should consult Atalanta, Theseus and maybe a few others. We should see what the crew wants."

Percy sighed. "You guys go and do that. I need a little time to wrap my head around the whole conversation with Poseidon less than half a day ago, plus more questions about other stuff popping into my head."

They shared a look before nodding sympathetically at the thirteen-year-old boy. They left him alone to ponder on his question.

Percy stepped down from the helm and walked to the bow of the ship, looking over at Aeaea. He couldn't find anything he hadn't seen before but he was still awed at the sheer magnificence and beauty of the island. Of course, learning about what Circe did to male visitors kind of counter-affected the whole paradise mood it had, but as long as they didn't get caught by the sorceress they wouldn't be harmed.

The crew was still deeply affected by the events that occurred previously, only having this minor encouragement via the speech that Percy gave. It may have not been the best speech ever, but Percy was proud of it. Either way, Percy thought it best if the crew stayed on board without learning of what Circe did to male visitors. That way they wouldn't feel scared again.

No matter what he said in his speech, the Argonauts needed a rest. Percy had a feeling more challenges were to come ahead. "With a strong will..." Percy trailed off. "I've used that line way too often."

Percy turned around and walked over to the helm where Ancaeus was studying the map. The king of Samos frowned as he pointed to a spot at the north ends of Ausonia.

"Ancaeus!" Percy called.

The said man's head snapped up to see the approaching son of Poseidon. Ancaeus smiled at him. "Hello, Percy. How are you doing?"

"Better than before," he shrugged. "Hades, everyone is doing better than before. So... what's the frowning about?"

Ancaeus sighed. "We just have a long journey home. We exited through this mouth I believe and are headed south, toward—"

"Aeaea," he finished, pointing at the island the Argo was approaching.

"We are there already?" Disbelief was evident in his voice. "But we just exited the mouth this morning. We only started paddling halfway to noon."

"We were pushed along by the water and the immense strength of the Argonauts," Percy said, praising the rowers. "That is how we got here so quickly. A quick break here is what we need before we continue further down. Do you know if we have any dangers upcoming? Any challenges as we pass through the southern parts of Ausonia and past Thrinacia?"

"Maps do not show dangers, Percy." Ancaeus coughed and shuffled his map around. He turned it in a full circle before circling the area Percy had just pointed out to. There was a hole in the map, a part that had not been finished just above the foot. "Here, nothing is shown. This part may be an island with a monster so treacherous that no navigator would be able to pass."

Percy frowned and scratched his neck. "I am not sure. Chiron had told Jason to recruit Orpheus for this trip. I am not certain why, but I believe it is going to be for a reason soon. Maybe there are barbarians there, much like what we found up north. They could have been great warriors and destroyed all of the ships that passed by."

"Not every man can be a hero, can they?" Ancaeus smirked. "We may be able to defeat them."

"Possibly, if there are any there." Percy snatched the map out of Ancaeus' hands. "What I question is why are there two bleached spots on the map?" He pointed to the empty dot around Thrinacia and the toe of Ausonia's heeled-boot. "Another challenge?"

Ancaeus closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "What if all of this goes awry, my young boy? You are confident about glory in death, but if the gods will us to never make it back. You saw how easily they pushed us north when in the Sea of Kronos. What if they send us south this time, to Libya?"

"We have Hera and Athena, plus Poseidon at our backs," Percy said, attempting to encourage the Argo's navigator. "So what if Zeus has cursed us? Circe will try to get us purified from the murder. If anything, it is more on Medea and Jason than the rest. She admitted that herself."

"Hera, Athena and Poseidon," the older man mused. "The Queen of the Gods, the patron of Athens, and one of the so called 'Big Three.' Will that be enough?"

"I am certain of it," Percy said with confidence. Ancaeus opened his mouth, still doubtful, but Percy held up a hand to stop him. "Sometimes you have to trust, Ancaeus. I am but a young boy, yet the crew trusts me. Why? I have no idea, but I know that they trust that I know what I am talking about, even if the truth is that I don't even know what I am talking about."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. Why else would they listen to me ramble on about a conversation I had with my father regarding dying?"

"You knew what you were talking about, Percy."

He sighed. "Yeah, I know. But you get my point, even if I did exaggerate a little bit."

The king of Samos nodded. "You would make a great king one day, Percy. May I ask...do you know of your mortal family, like where it comes from?"

Percy averted his eyes from Ancaeus and stared at the ground. "Athens. My mortal line descends from Athens. That is all I know about my ancestry. They were probably all farm-folk because my mother and I lived on a farm before she passed on. I haven't gone back and checked whether the farm is now inhabited by someone else."

Ancaeus smiled at him and patted him on the back. "I am sure you will find your ancestry one day. Maybe once this is all over, this quest for the Golden Fleece, you can track back your family history. You can start with what you know about your mother's parents."

"Chiron said he'd gone back to check when I was seven," Percy said, recollecting his thoughts. "I think he said they died when a tornado tore through Athens' countryside. I can't remember exactly though. My mother was apparently five, just like how old I was when she died." He tried remaining stoic.

"That is...saddening. I am sorry."

He waved Ancaeus off. "You have nothing to apologize for. If the Fates declare it, it is fate and cannot be changed. I guess what they want you to do is deal with the adversity, deal with the pain. The Fates are cruel, but that is how life for mortals is."

"Unfortunately, it is."

"Good observation, though, Ancaeus," Percy complimented while pointing to the map. "I guess we must have to be careful when we pass down the coast of Ausonia."

The king of Samos smiled. "Thank you."

"Now, I need to check on Medea and Jason. See you in a bit."

Percy bowed (just his head) to Ancaeus before jogging and heading down the steps to head under deck. He looked around for Medea and Jason, calling their names and running around the bottom deck. After searching the dining room and kitchen, and then the storage room, he went to the second deck to search the bedrooms.

He pushed all of the doors open roughly as he entered each room, searching around for the couple. They probably should have been finished discussing with the "few other" people.

Percy heard murmuring voices coming from a few rooms down. He approached them quickly, with lack of care for noise. He burst into the room finding Jason and Medea kissing passionately and standing in the middle of the room pretty much naked.

There was a little more to it, but Percy didn't feel like explaining it. He slapped his hand over his eyes and slowly backed out of the room, stepping into the wall behind him. "Sorry for the intrusion. Thought you two would be done 'talking.' Seems like there's been a little more than that."

He stumbled as he found the door, the board of wood swinging open behind him. Then he heard a thump and an outcry of brief pain. Suddenly, something hard hit the back of Percy's head and he stumbled back forward. He turned around and uncovered his eyes to find Atalanta staring in shock at the couple behind him. She quickly averted her eyes and grabbed me. Atalanta turned back to Jason and Medea, who were desperately trying to get their clothes back on, and said, "Sorry for bothering you. Keep doing whatever you were doing."

Then she shut the door and turned to Percy.

"You just had to hit me in the head with the door," she growled, her eyes shifting to slight anger.

Percy noticed the bruise he had just caused. His eyes widened and he gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you in the head. I was trying to—"

"Get away from the couple inside of there," Atalanta finished. "Yeah, I get it. I'll be fine. I just need to not hit it again."

Percy nodded. He brushed his hands on his tunic and cleared his throat. "So, did they talk to you about going onto Circe's island, Aeaea?"

She nodded. "Yeah. They should go alone. That way, it doesn't make the Argonauts feel wary about being turned into pigs. I just hope they don't get sidetracked...like they're getting now."

"Good that you agreed with what I told them. Hopefully Circe is nice enough to absolve all of the Argonauts rather than just Medea and Jason since they are the only ones who are going to go."

"May Tyche be with us," Atalanta sighed. She blinked and rubbed her forehead where the bruise he gave her was. It looked as though it was getting worse.

"Are you sure that you are okay?" Percy asked, looking at the purple-colored mark. "It doesn't look like it will be getting better than quickly. How hard did I hit you?"

"Hard enough," she grumbled. "Now, stop staring at my forehead and let's go upstairs. Theseus and Periclymenus told me to meet them up above deck to discuss something. I am not sure what it is, but I figure that it is important. Either that, or it is just to talk about something while we wait for Medea and Jason to purify themselves after they finish pleasuring themselves."

Theseus and Periclymenus were staring out at Aeaea when Percy and Atalanta found them.

"Theseus," Atalanta said, nodding at the son of Aegeus. "Periclymenus."

"Hey, Atalanta," Theseus greeted, waving. "Hey, Percy."

"Hi."

Atalanta and Percy joined the other two as the beach of Aeaea came closer and closer. They were within a couple of boat lengths to the white sand. Women from all around the area stopped what they were doing to watch as the Argo sailed in, the warship probably looking either marvelous or threatening.

"This is Circe's island, huh?" Theseus said. "I don't know much about her other than the fact that she is Medea's aunt."

Percy shrugged. "She's a sorceress. I know nothing more than what Medea told me. We better hope that Circe is willing to purify us."

"What will 'purifying' us do?" Periclymenus asked. "Get rid of our blood guilt?"

"Precisely," a voice said from behind them. It was Medea, who was now fully dressed unlike in the bunk rooms. A hooded figured stood close behind her, a shadow covering his face so that none could tell who he was without directly looking at him for a long period of time. The brown eyes stood out, though, staring like daggers out from under the shadow. "The absolution process will help us get rid of our blood guilt of killing my brother. Like I told you, it is mostly on me."

"Good to you're wearing clothes now, Medea," Percy said with a sickening feeling in his stomach. He attempted to smile, though, a barely managed to keep it. "Not doing anything inappropriate."

She glared at him as if he should have gotten used to it by now. It was true. They slept like that almost every single night. Percy thought it a miracle that Medea wasn't pregnant yet. Almost a quarter of a year passed when they headed up north. Surely, she would have a baby bump by now.

"You two ready to go?" Atalanta asked.

Both of them nodded and proceeded to the sides of the Argo, just as it beached. They leaped over the gunwales and landed on the soft, sandy beach. Medea turned around a gave a quick nod before walking into the mess and collection of white marble buildings.

"Take a rest, men!" Ancaeus shouted as the rowers beached the ship. "You have well earned the break. Do not forget that we need to pace ourselves. There will be dangers to come, I know it." The king of Samos winked at Percy.

In return, he received a sly smile from the young son of Poseidon.

"Dangers up ahead, huh?" Theseus scoffed. "Sounds like the best trip home ever."

"What dangers would we be facing, though?" asked the grandson of Poseidon. "I mean, this is Ausonia for crying out loud. There has been little documented about Ausonia. I barely know anything about it!"

"And that is what makes it dangerous," Theseus answered for Percy. "Power is easy to fight, lack of wisdom..."

"Okay, seriously. How are you that smart and wise?" Periclymenus asked.

"Smart, sure. Wise, not a chance." Theseus looked up longingly into the sky. "No one can be wise like Athena. She's very careful with her words and constructs them with such care, you cannot help but agree that she is right."

Everyone stared at him... well, the other three that were there stared at him. Periclymenus had an eyebrow raised, a grin slowly appearing on his face. Atalanta was wide-eyed, as if she had a horrible thought. Percy, on the other hand, realized exactly what he was referring to and laughed out loud.

"You... praising is one thing but—You know, I..." Periclymenus was speechless, even though the grin on his face was growing wider by the second. He couldn't even form a simple sentence. This elicited a confused expression from the son of Aegeus.

"What?" he demanded. "Why do you look like some sort of pedophile, Periclymenus? Why do you look like the gods cursed you to be scared of anything you see, Atalanta? And why are you laughing, Percy?!"

Percy tried halting the laughter from erupting from his lips, but they wouldn't stop. It took a little while, but the son of Poseidon eventually calmed down enough to be able to talk coherently with his quarter-brother. "Of all people Athena. You have to like her?"

Theseus' eyes went the size of dinner plates. Then he flushed. "No, no, no! I was just saying that—I don't... Percy don't twist my words!"

"You love a goddess," the son of Poseidon repeated. "You are totally heads over heels."

He glared at the young boy. "Okay, maybe I admit having a slight attraction, but 'heads over heels' is going way too far."

"Why, though? Why her?" Atalanta asked, shock still written across her face.

Theseus shrugged nonchalantly. "Why do you love Meleager? I mean, you cherish your necklace like it's a gift from the gods. It's a similar case with Athena. I know it's probably never going to happen, but attraction is what makes everything what it is now. Think, what if the gods were faithful to their wives? The world would not be the way it is now."

Atalanta looked down, and so did Periclymenus and Percy. Theseus was right. Attraction was what ran the world. Had Poseidon not fallen for Percy's mother and stayed loyal to Amphitrite, he wouldn't have been born. Then again...Percy's mother probably would not have died had she not had a demigod child. Chiron had told him that monsters could only smell demigod blood, not mortal blood. In that way, Percy was envious of many mortals for without the directions of an immortal monsters would not attack them. He also came to realize why his adventures were usually monster-filled whilst Jason's were more calming.

Then Percy looked at Atalanta and remembered about the necklace. "Atalanta. How did you get your necklace back? You told me a while back that you'd lost it."

The girl turned to him before turning back to Theseus and narrowing her eyes. The son of Aegeus had a proud-looking smile on his face. "Theseus stole it from me when he came to clean the rooms before I started teaching you archery. I had just set the necklace down on the cupboard in our room before I turned around to deal with my stuff. Theseus here took it and distracted me so that I would forget about the necklace. Why did you have to give me the idea of teaching Percy archery right then?"

"I might a son of Hermes, too!" Theseus chuckled.

"Trickery...isn't that Dolos?" Periclymenus asked.

"It could be," Theseus responded mysteriously.

The grandson of Poseidon stared at him. "Okay, stop with that. You're just being very, very weird right now."

"Am I?" he said in that same creepy voice.

"Yes, yes you are," Percy replied.

"Well, sorry for wanting to have some fun after what we've been through," Theseus sighed. He looked back out at Aeaea where the women were getting back to business, finally deciding that the Argo wasn't there to harm them. "It's been almost two years. It has been a rough journey."

"That you are right on, my friend," Periclymenus agreed, patting him on the back.

They were engulfed by silence until Percy turned and walked to the stern of the boat. He looked out at the ocean out behind the Argo as the other three slowly approached the sullen demigod. Percy heard their footsteps behind him. "There's nothing wrong. I'm just...thinking. The danger isn't over."

"Of course it isn't," Theseus grumbled. "Danger finds us like crazy."

"Did I tell you guys about the map?" Percy asked.

Atalanta shook her head and looked at him curiously. "What map? What are you talking about?"

He turned around and looked each of them in the eye. "I was talking with Ancaeus earlier and we were studying the map of Ausonia. The western coast...there are two holes in the map where nothing is mapped. It is just cut off."

"Cut off...?"

"It isn't mapped," Percy replied. "I have a feeling that there will be at least two more dangers that we will definitely have to face before we can enter the Mediterranean and sail across to Greece. One of them will probably need Orpheus, as Chiron had told Jason. It may have something to do with music. The other, I am not so sure about."

Grim expressions appeared on all of their faces. "That doesn't sound good," Periclymenus discerned.

"You don't say," was the sarcastic reply from Theseus.

"I was just repeating what was on all of our minds!" the grandson of Poseidon exclaimed.

"Yeah, but we already knew that since we were thinking about it," Theseus countered.

Suddenly, Peleus ran up from the lower decks and ran to the group of four at the stern. He looked wild-eyed and panicky. Fear shone greatly in his eyes, though he looked as though he was trying to hide it. "I have bad news."

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"Thetis came to me," he gulped. "She said that we have to cross through Charybdis and Scylla."

"You mean..."

"Yes, the giant whirlpool and the monster with a thousand necks."

Hey everyone,

I may be putting all my stories on hiatus for the time being. I have kind of lost inspiration to write these stories...partially because not many view it, but mostly because I just don't feel like writing these anymore, my writing ideas turning to something that is not related to Percy Jackson at all. I may still update, though. Hiatus or not, you will see soon.

Hope you enjoy this chapter.

I apologize for any grammatical errors in the chapter above and if any historical facts are actually wrong. I have spent my time looking through different websites, and even a couple of books, but the story that will continue may have incorrect historical info. Still, I believe it just adds to the effect.

With best regards,
SharkAttack719