The One Who is Free (Percy Jackson - Maki Zenin & SI-not-MC Chapter 9)
"..." Clotho was silent.
"...That wasn't suppose to happen." Lachesis said upon looking at that new weavings for the demigods.
"..." Atropos held the threads, then after a moment sighed. She held up three threads in particular shining silver. Threads for immortals. One old and two brand new.
Atropos brought up her scissors.
"What do we do now? We can't have 72 immortal demigods." Clotho cried out.
"It's fine." Lachesis said disgruntled as she took one of the golden threaded fabrics, those of immortal beings, of divine beings. She began to adjust and weave a few more threads to the design.
Clotho nodded. The three didn't need to add anything more on the subject. Atropos was already acting. Lachesis figured out the rest and worked to complete the design her sister needed to cut.
We arrived at a burning island.
When dad took me to the next and final destination, I didn't expect us to go to an island that was on fire.
The place looked abandoned. The fires weren't raging out, choking us with smoke thankfully, but it was persistent along many swats of the island. With dad's presence the heat and smoke lessened and seemed to move away from us.
"Dad," I gulped. This place was suffocating and I don't mean the smoke of the hell imagery. There was just something about this place that made if feel heavy. It felt like... like a haunted place. In my old world I'd called it a cursed ground. "What is this place?"
"Circe's island." Dad said plainly.
We walked for a while, heading to the center of the island.
We reached the edge of a deep crater in the ground. The flames were sparse here. And in the center of that crater was a flower. The moly flower.
Dad went to some open flame on some throne still burning, and held out his hand.
"Demeter," he dropped three Golden Apples into the flames. A sacrifice to the gods, I realized. "Persephone," three more apples. "Dionysus." Another three Golden Apples. Dad paused in thought, then after a moment added. "Artemis," he dropped three more Golden Apples.
He turned and walked back to me.
"What was that about?"
"Insurance." Dad replied. "When Hera loses her shit, I don't want the campers to end up suffering for it."
I nodded, realizing that was a good point.
"Sooo, this place?" I asked, while "subtly" making a show to looking around.
Dad's lips twitch into a smile, before a more somber mood seemed to overtake him.
"August 20, 1945. The war was basically over. Hitler's been dead since April. The Allies were rounding things up. Trials and treaties were being planned. None of that mattered to us. 33rd were making our way home. That was it. It was me, my men and my Claude. My best friend," Dad said with a painful smile as he look ahead into nothing. "My last friend that managed to make it with me all the way to the end. Heh.
"I was immortal and he was old. I was thinking about trying to find the fountain of youth for him once we're back in the States. Give him back some of his years so he can live them as he wanted. Wanted to get him one of the Golden Apples but he didn't want to. Said we dealt with enough pissed off gods as it is." He chuckled.
"Fountain of Youth is real?" I asked.
"Probably. Never searched for it."
...That was telling.
For a while dad said nothing. He looked down toward the moly lost in thought.
"...Three months." He said.
"Hmm?"
"After Hitler died, the only thing left was fortifying the cities our bases were in. Ensure the formal surrender of the Germans, and let the politicians do there thing. We had to keep things stable until we were given the order to return home." Dad explained. "Throughout that whole time I kept worrying something bad might happen.
"That after all the fighting, all the battles, all the monsters and gods, something was gonna come up and sour our victory. That just..." For the first time I could remember, dad seemed to struggle to continue one of his stories. "That some tragedy would befall us." He took a deep breath. "But no. No last minute quest, no prophecy where it mentions someone will die, not even monster attacks." He chuckled, then lost his smile, as he met my eyes. "I stayed awake for three months."
"...No way." I whispered, my eyes wide.
Dad nodded. "All through out the end of that deployment and the trip back. No even a wink." He look ahead again. "We were three quarters across the Atlantic, about to reach American waters. We were a few more days to reach land. Find Camp Half-Blood to rest for a day or just a few hours, then make our way to Olympus for... a hero's celebration." He said with disgust.
For a long while dad said nothing.
In my heart I knew what happened. That something bad happened. Yet maybe if I said nothing, and he didn't continue, we could pretend that his story had a happy ending.
I looked at the burning island around us.
"What happened next?"
Dad pursed his lips and let out a sigh. I could hear him lightly grinding his teeth together.
"Regardless of being a demigod or an immortal, regardless of all my powers. Just like any being, eventually I reached my limit. I fell asleep." Dad's voice hitched for a second. "Last thing I remember was Claude catching me. That he'll take care of things while I get some 'beauty sleep'." He involuntarily chuckled. "Stupid fucking..."
I thought we'd stand in silence for a little while longer. Dad's eyes almost looked like they began to water as the reflected the fires around us.
"I woke up and the ship was quiet. Got up, checked the rooms, went to the deck and there was no one on it. Then I looked out... and saw the island. This island." Dad said with clear bitterness, his eyes narrowed at the memory. "I sneaked around, discovered what this place was. Island of Circe, turns men into pigs, yadda, yadda, yadda." He said dismissively. "Found out the barn house the pigs were in.
"Teleported them all out, separated the real pigs from cursed ones. I know a potion to reverse body transformation spell from Billy. Took a while to get the ingredients and make that, and feed it to everyone transformed." Dad took a deep breath... and let everything spill. "None of them were my men. It was Blackbeard's crew. Yeah the pirate. He's a son of Ares. Learned from him that no new pigs were taken to the barn house that day. Sneaked around again. Tried to listen to conversations of the nymphs and find out where the hell my crew was.
"Eventually I just found a nymph alone, took her away and used Charmspeak to try and find out what the fuck is going on. Guess she didn't expect it from a guy or a son of Hades. And..." Dad covered his face with his hand and let out a breath. "Circe saw the ship coming. Had the nymphs and whatever demigoddesses with her do their usual welcoming shit. The men were drawn in by the nymphs singing and dancing and disembarked.
"Claude tried to stop them. Told them that they needed to continue with their journey, that they had enough supplies and didn't need to stop or to explore the island. That they should ignore the fucking dancing and singing women. Out right order and threatened them with dishonor discharge, something so out of character for him, that it should have clued them in that something was wrong. Of course the nymphs were using Charmspeak, so for the mortals in the crew that was not helping."
"Oh no..." I unconsciously covered my mouth, already seeing the disaster coming.
"Other than me and Claude there were only three other demigods and one clear-sighted mortal. His name was Arty, Arthur Quinn. He saw what happened and raised his weapon, tried to warn the nymph off, telling them to let them go. Claude tried to deescalate the situation, but one of the demigoddesses working for Circe attacked, hitting Arty. Arty's gun went off and one of the nymphs was shot. Shoulder wound. Not fatal if I recall. But at that point all hell broke loose. The Circe demigoddesses attacked, as well as the nymphs that knew magic. The soldiers still were half-charmed, so they were either useless, or we're mind-controlled to attack their friends. Claude... he never liked using Charmspeak.
"He was good with it. Taught me how to use it. Give speeches, raise morale, all of that. Him," dad smiled. "He just had a natural charm that he didn't need magic or divine powers to talk to people. Yet that time he used it to forcibly stop the fighting." Dad sighed. My heart was in my through. "And then Circe arrived." My throat felt tight. Like just hearing the story was making suffocate. I just took deep breaths and pushed forward, wanting to hear this till they end for the sake of dad and myself. "Circe... is better at magic.
"Naturally. So she took control of everyone. Claude... tried to tell her that they weren't there to invade. That they are soldiers returning home, that they didn't mean any harm or start any fight. The bitch naturally didn't listen." Hearing dad drop the word "bitch" so casually is weird. "She didn't care or listen. She played her witch seductress card, aaaand... Claude resisted. Out right slapped her from what the nymph told me." Dad crossed his arms and chuckled. Then he let out a sigh "She didn't like that.
"She was pissed. And I was too late." Dad swallowed his saliva. "She turned all the men to pigs..." He choked before continuing his next words. "And then had her hunting dogs chase them. Four hundred and thirty men, ripped to shreds by dogs or whatever monsters Circe summoned for fun. And I was asleep for three days." I didn't noticed when I started moving. I just walked up and hugged dad. He held me in his arm, and caressed my head. "I was asleep and my men died."
It must have been a magic spell, or a divine will. I wanted to tell him. That, that was the only explanation for why he stayed asleep, why he stayed safe on the ship. A god must have helped him. Yet, the words wouldn't leave my mouth. It felt like a sorry consolation. And he must have figured that out anyways.
"What did you do?" I pulled away and looked up at him.
Guilt overcame dad's face as he looked at me. He looked away and kept petting my head.
"I told the nymph to run. To get who ever she cares about and leave the island." Dad continued. "I took my time, I gathered my strength." He took a deep breath. "And then made a volcano erupt on this island."
I blinked at his words.
I looked around and couldn't find any volcano or mountain.
"I don't see any..."
"And then as the volcano erupted and exploded, raining down magma, I had a golem the size of Talos form out of magma and together, we, well, you can see what the island is like now." Dad let out a breath, as if he was drained of all energy. But also as if a giant weight left his shoulders.
"You fought Circe?"
"I didn't fight her. I didn't need to. I just burned everything here. I made sure none of the witch or her people lived. Circe tortured many people across the ages with her sick and twisted magic. It was time for her story to end, and I ended it."
Dionysus always had an interesting relationship with fate. As the God of Madness he would dance with fate, upturn it, avoid it but also follow it through.
Yet looking at his sons writhing and screaming on the ground, reminded of how cruel the Fates were. How when they truly wanted to, even Madness had to bow down to them.
He wanted to do nothing but save them, but he couldn't.
Because then he would be directly opposing his dear old step-mom.
Upon learning what happened, of the massive thief of her apples, Hera cursed all the Golden Apples so that those who ate them would attain immortality.
And would feel the Ladon's poison in their veins for all eternity.
The curse, by their godly rules, would be considered a property of Hera. For Dionysus to remove it himself, it would be considered as destroying Hera's artifact. A direct challenge to her that they would need to appease. And given how spiteful his step-mother was, there would be no way for whatever punishment she would come up with to be something he would ignore or not care for.
There were two dozen half-bloods screaming from the pain. Those that took the apple before Hera changed the effects retroactively. The goddess's spite really was cruel.
Dionysus could see no solution but... to end his children's suffering.
The other option was for someone, anyone to make a sacrifice to Dionysus proportion in value to Hera's curse.
And I can't even tell anyone that, because explaining the Ancient Laws to non-immortals is forbidden! Dionysus thought with restrained rage.
He looked at his children again. Seeing their pleading faces. Will he really have to do it? By his own hands?
Just then a sacrifice was made in Dionysus' name.
"To Dionysus. Please save and protect the Demigods of Camp Half-Blood should Hera's wrath falls upon it."
Dionysus felt it. A sacrifice of equal value. Three Golden Apples.
Instantly he acted, removing pain from his Castor and Pullox right away.
"Fucking damn, Vincent. Always coming in at the clutch." Dionysus couldn't help but smile as he held his sons.
Yet, there was still the matter of the other demigods, and he couldn't remove the curse from all of them. He was still obligated to help them. He was going to choose at random one more demigod to remove the curse from.
"Quiet the ruckus this whole thing is being."
Dionysus blinked upon seeing the goddess that arrived.
"Demeter. Didn't think this would be something you'd show up for." He commented.
"I was prayed to." Demeter chuckled.
Dionysus blinked at that and chuckled.
"That crazy little shit really is reliable." He said.
"True, my step-son always remembers to look after his family, and keep them in mind." A new voice said. Persephone.
"Kore!" Demeter cried out with a happy smile as she went and hugged her daughter.
"Mom, please. I said to stop calling me that." Persephone sighed but returned the hug all the same.
"You all were call to here?" A voice Dionysus didn't expect arrived.
"Didn't think you of all people would show up here." He said.
"I was prayed to. Three Golden Apples sacrificed." Artemis said with a neutral tone.
"Doesn't mean you would accept. You could just give him a bow worth those later on or something." Dionysus said with a raised eyebrow.
"...I am the Protector of Children." She looked away.
"Of course you are." Dionysus rolled his eyes. Since when was that job title something she took seriously.
"It seems we were all gathered for the same reason. Together we can deal with this." Persephone spoke as she walked up to Dionysus and Artemis, her mother by her side.
The campers looked shocked and in awe at seeing so many gods together outside of Olympus.
"Hera isn't gonna like this." Demeter cautioned.
"Screw her. I say remove the curse from all the apples now and forever." Dionysus chimed. With three gods connected to the Domain of Agriculture, it would be possible.
"Lady Hera would find other means of showing her displeasure. Especially since the sacrifice given to us, and I suspect its the same for each of you, is not enough for us to act so oppositional to her." Artemis advised.
"If Aunt Hera wished to punish all who consumed the apples, making it so that what they wished to originally gain be not what they desire, then let's simply do that." Persephone proposed. "Let's change the nature of the golden apples. Make the apples not grant immortality, but power."
"...I feel that is ill advised. Giving inexperienced demigods more power when they have yet to master their own, doesn't seem like a good idea—" Artemis tried to say diplomatically.
"No, no, I like that one." Dionysus had a wild grin.
"If that's the direction Kore wants to go, I'm all for it." Demeter added with a smile.
"...Very well." Artemis sighed. "I swear I'm gonna shot you when I find you, Vincent." She said under her breath.
With the four gods' powers over plants and vegetation, the effect of their Divine Authority spread out and echoed across the Greek world.
The Golden Apples no longer granted immortality, but their empowerment via exaltation were magnified.
Anyone that eats them would have their life force and vitality empowered several folds over and over, healing anything and pushing any ailment away no matter its severity, strength or origin. And for a demigod, it would be the same as their parents granting them access to all their Domains with full approval.
Dionysus grumbled at his son's immortality being taken away, but now, their strength could give even that brat of Zeus a run for her money.
Dionysus grinned.I know it's gonna be a headache eventually, but god damn it is fun to have you back, Vincent.
