Have you ever wondered what the gods fear most? After all, not even Typhon, who fought the gods and made them run away, truly made the gods feel fear. No, there was something that the gods feared far more.
Fate.
And whoever controls fate, controls everything. And that is why the Three Fates, known as the Moirai, were entities you didn't want to cross. Piss them off? Well suddenly there's a prophecy where you die! Or you turn into a monster. Or… something that makes you realise that there are fates far worse than death. There was a reason why even Tarturus was wary around the Three Sisters.
And here one was, possessing my brother so she could have a 'chat' with me. By the gods, I was so screwed.
Halcyon's possessed body floated above the floor, his glowing eyes stared right through me. When Clotho, the Fate that was possessing Hal, spoke to me, I noticed that my surroundings had changed. I was still in Halcyon's room, with the leucrota still behind the metal bars, but everything… was grey. Like a camera filter had been put over the room. And everything was eerily still and quiet. The leucrota wasn't breathing, or even blinking. I couldn't hear Luke and Thalia cleaning themselves up in the bathroom. It was all so… unnatural.
"What do you want from me?" I ask her, my breath shaky. If I remember correctly, Clotho was the Sister of Fate who created new threads, she was essentially the embodiment of life.
"You have no threads attached to your soul. You are an unknown" She whispers. It sounded like a disjointed choir as her voice came out of Hal's mouth, "By all rights, we should eviscerate you where you stand." I gulped, but I didn't run. I could sense there was 'but' coming. "And yet… we are compelled not to hurt you. It is annoying."
"I… am sorry?" I respond, slightly confused.
"Just because we do not desire to harm you, does not mean we won't" Clotho says, a threatening aura around her, "There are many, many fates worse than deaths. After all, my Sisters created them." I took a quick look at Halcyon's eyes, and saw… the fates she was talking about. Arachne, Medusa, and even Hal. They all had met such a fate. I really didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of those.
"O-of course, Lady Clotho" I immediately confirm. I hated how pathetic I was acting, but I didn't want any further attention on me. I took a deep breath, and asked, "My Lady, I still seek an answer to my question." This time I was more composed, and addressed her far more politely. I did not want to get her bad side.
"Patience, Fateless One" She responded, with Hal's eyes still looking into my soul, "You have been causing many threads to change and weave by themselves, and we are willing to let you do so… but we, the Sisters of Fate, demand two things in return."
This… was very strange. Has the system influenced the Fates in some way? There was quite literally no precedent for this. Even in the myths. Rarely had even one Sister of Fate had spoken this much.
"Our first demand is simple." Clotho says, "When the time comes, you must slay the Titan Lord with your own hands." Oh is that all? Would she like me to make Artemis like men while I'm at it? I mean, killing Kronos is possible but Luke would do it anyway… Fuck. That probably won't happen since I'm trying to make sure Luke is a good guy. Percy maybe? I mean, has he ever actually killed a person before. One that wasn't a monster? Could he kill Kronos? Percy might not actually slay Kronos because of his protagonist personality.
And that would leave me. Sure, there may be some other dude who could kill Kronos, but that was a low chance. I'd have to do it, or let this world fall into chaos. "A-and what is your other demand, Lady Clotho?"
There was a long pause between us, as we looked at one another, before Clotho spoke once more. "A favour for another time" The light left Halcyon's eyes as the elderly man fell to the ground. This time I did manage to catch him.
A favour to the fates. I wonder what that will hold for me? Danger? Adventure? It could quite literally be anything. I also noticed that the room around me had lost the grey filter and the leucrota was breathing once more.
Luke and Thalia walked into the room, thoroughly refreshed after having heard the story of Oedipus, and a look of concern crawled upon their faces. "What happened?" Luke asked, as he rushes to Hal, presumably to check up on him,
"No idea." I honestly say, frankly I was still processing that one of the Fates had actually talked to me, "He looked into my future and fainted" Luke began feeling his pulse, and reached into a backpack. Possibly for ambrosia.
"What did he see?" Thalia asked, far less concerned for Halcyon. I guess she still disliked him.
"Nothing… important" I was about to tell her the truth, but lied. I'm not sure why. Maybe I simply didn't want to worry her or Luke.
I hear a groan to my left and see Halcyon rising up, rubbing his head. "I feel like I got hit by tru-" In a single second, the entire room paused, everyone looked at Halcyon with shock and confusion. It took Hal a good couple of seconds to realise what just happened.
"I- I just talked." The elderly man stated, as tears began to form beneath his eyes, "I JUST TALKED!" He began shouting with joy, not that I didn't understand. It was literally his first time talking in decades. But… This was strange. Very strange. This never happened in the books. But neither did one of the Fates possessing his body. It might be possible that Clotho broke his curse when she possessed Hal. Perhaps it was so that she could talk through him
Regardless, this was insane beyond belief.
"By the gods! How is this possible?" He questioned, before looking at me, "It happened right after I looked into your future. You must've cured my curse! Thank you little brother!" He immediately rushed to me and put me in a tight bear hug. I could feel the wetness of his tears of joy against my cheek. I wasn't particularly sure what to do so I gave him a pat on the back. I could tell him that he got possessed, but I don't think he'll believe me in the first place.
"Well, I don't know what exactly you think I did" I told him, getting out of the hug, "But we should really plan our escape. We only have a few hours." I stood up, taking a deep breath of air, clearing my mind of meeting one of the Fates. "Luke, can you use Hal's computer? You probably won't find anything on Leucrotae, but if you could try and see if there's anything on Greek Fire."
"What makes you think I'll find anything? I haven't used a computer in years" Luke questioned, slightly confused. Despite that, he still headed towards the computer.
"Well, Hermes created the internet. I figure that you might work some magic" I shrug, before turning to Halcyon, "Hey Hal, is there any chance that you have some food hidden around?" I'm not going to lie, I was practically starving. I probably should've eaten breakfast, but I idiotically didn't due to my disgust towards corn.
Halcyon put his hands to his chin, resembling a thinking position, "Hmm.. I think there are a couple of microwavable meals in the fridge." At the sound of that, I almost jumped at the kitchen, rushing to the fridge. I swear, I was moving faster than I did against the Hydra.
I tear off the door to the fridge, figuratively speaking, and reach my hand inside, grabbing the first box my fingers could find. I rip it out of the fridge, and a grin comes to my lips. Halcyon was telling the truth about the microwavable meals, as a box containing spaghetti rested in my hands. I was already salivating at the sound of the microwave.
"He… He's very strange isn't he" I hear Hal whispering. He sounded almost nervous.
"Tell me about it" Yeah, that was Thalia. I could practically hear her rolling her eyes.
Bastards. They weren't the ones who had nothing but corn and beans to eat! Frankly, I've been getting zero protein or nutrients that a growing boy like me needs! Fucking hell, my stomach hadn't been growling, it was roaring!
Every second felt like a year as the timer on the microwave decreased, and soon enough, the machine beeped. I tore off the door, and grabbed a meal, ignoring that it was hot as hell. With a fork in hand, I took a bite of the spaghetti, and bloody hell, it was amazing. Maybe it was simply because my current body has had nothing but corn and beans to eat, but the food tasted divine.
But there was also nostalgia. In my previous life, I couldn't afford home-cooked meals, nor did I have any talent in actually cooking. Thus, most of the time I had cheap, microwavable meals packed with salt and preservatives. The spaghetti I had was seasoned with sad nostalgia and regrettable memories.
But they were of the past, and the past is better left off forgotten.
By the time I had devoured the meal, I remembered that I forgot to sacrifice to the gods. Ah, I'll just sacrifice extra next time. Regardless, I went back to the living room, and plopped ass down onto the sofa. I looked at Thalia and Halcyon, who stared at me with morbid curiosity.
"Th- That wasn't even a minute" Halcyon muttered in disbelief, "He barely even chewed"
"Are… Are we sure he's not secretly a monster" Thalia looked as if she was praying to her father, in an attempt to get me smited. Well, at least she and Halcyon are bonding.
Luke was still typing away at the computer, his fingers seemingly knew where to go before he did. I expected this to not even take 5 minutes, but I remembered that the internet was very underdeveloped at the current time. No Wikipedia unfortunately.
Wait. Didn't I have a Mystery Box in my inventory? Crap, I can't believe I nearly forgot! And there's also the fact that I had about 60 whole stat points.
Hmm… The stat points are more important right now. How should I go about dealing with them? I could just dump all of them into Luck and hope that the Mystery Box gives me something OP. No. That's way too reckless, even for me.
My Agility was easily my highest stat, resting at 42. Endurance, Charisma, and Willpower were outrageously low. Charisma could be ignored for now. So I'll put 20 into Endurance, and another 20 into Willpower. I had 20 left, so I gave 10 of it into Intelligence, and another 10 into Luck. Here's hoping for something OP.
I take a deep breath, and open the Mystery Box.
Do you wish to open the Mystery Box?
Yes.
You have received: 10 Stat Points, Gate of the Clock Key, Ichiraku Ramen (Miso Ramen)
I read each sentence on the interface several times, trying to confirm what I was seeing was correct. A chuckle escaped my lips, and then a mad laugh.
KRONOS MAY BE A GOD, BUT I HAVE THE POWER OF RNG AND ANIME ON MY SIDE!
"Di Immortales" Halcyon says, not even bothering to whisper, "He's gone insane."
"I knew he was weird, but not batshit crazy!" Fucking hell Thalia! Cool it would you? I know how it looks, but I'm not deranged! I swear!
But regardless, this was good. Very good.
Name: Gate of Clock Key
Type: Celestial Key
Rank: B
Usage Cost: 500 MP to Summon, and 10 MP for each minute Horologium is out
Item Description: A Celestial Spirit Gate Key used by Celestial Spirit Mages to summon the Clock, Horologium. Due to the summon's special nature, it can only be out for 30 minutes max before returning.
With this item, my plan will absolutely work, and furthermore, will make sure that I survive. Plus it's an item from an anime called Fairy Tail, which is also pretty cool in its own regard. This key would be instrumental to my survival.
I also had 10 new stat points, which I decided to dump into Intelligence, which was the stat that affected spells the most. Since I guess using Celestial Keys was technically spell casting, Intelligence would be helpful in regards to it.
Excited, I got up from the sofa, as Thalia and Halcyon were probably wondering as to what sort of machinations I would get up to next. Instead I simply went to the toilet, making sure to lock the door behind me. I could hear one of them pondering as to whether I'd blow up the toilet.
I took out the key from my inventory. As much as I wanted to conserve my MP, I needed to create a contract with Horologium so I could summon him in the future. I try to remember how Lucy Heartfelia had made a contract with Canis Minor. I pointed the key forwards, trying to remember what words she said, but instead they seemed to flow out of my mouth instinctively.
"I am connected with the path to the celestial spirit world!" I recite, despite not actually knowing the words. Perhaps the System was filling in for me? "Heed my call! Pass through the gate!" Smoke billowed around me as I noticed that beneath me was an azure blue magic circle glowing at my feet.
I throw the key into the air, causing it to spin rapidly, and I grab it again and use it to slash the air diagonally and vertically. "Open, Gate of the Clock! Horologium!" In front of me, another magic circle appeared and from it, tons of metal gears popped out, and gathered together, almost magnetically. From nothing, a large, wooden grandfather clock came down from the ceiling creating a loud crashing sound. Two black cartoon-like arms popped out of the clock, and another smaller clock popped out from the top. It looked as if it had a face. He spun his hands, striking a pose.
"...You're Horologium, right?" I ask, despite knowing the answer. It was very disorientating to see something that was animated be converted into a realistic entity. He didn't look like a cartoon, but rather an actual grandfather clock.
"Indeed I am, Master" The clock answered, with a clear English accent. Watching his mouth move was beyond strange, considering that it didn't even look organic. I wonder how he could see, considering his eyes were seemingly closed.
"No need to call me Master. Gilgamesh or Gill will do just fine" I correct him, before continuing. "Anyway, this is my first contract, so I apologise if I do anything wrong." I remember that in the anime, Lucy had brought out her spirit's full potential just by being nice to them. So I suppose there's nothing wrong with being extra polite.
"Ah, no need to worry Sir Gilgamesh." Horologium said, bowing. Urgh, he's going to stick to calling me 'Sir Gilgamesh' from now on, isn't he? "We understand what it is like for someone's first time."
"Well, I suppose I should ask you on what days you're available?" I wonder why that is even a thing. After all, one day in the human world is like 5 minutes in the Celestial Spirit world. Ah, well I suppose there's no need to question it.
"Fortunately, I am available on all days, Sir Gilgamesh." Horologium said, his face ticking.
"Oh great. Well, I'm going to need your help in a couple hours," I responded, glad that I could use him today. "So here's my idea…"
And so I hatched the plan with a living clock.
2 Hours Later…
"Finally!" Luke shouted, his hands raised in the air as if he had broken off some shackles. In response, Thalia jolted up, spear in hand, alert and ready for combat. Of course, when she realised nothing was wrong, she put the spear away.
"Did you manage to find the recipe?" I ask the teen, getting up from the sofa I had been resting upon. I took a quick look at a clock in a remote part of the room. We had only one hour until leucrotae would come into Halcyon's room to eat us.
"Yeah, here it is," Luke leaned to one side so I could see the instructions to make Greek Fire. They were all things we could get, and I could easily use my Fireball skill to replace Thalia's lightning.
It seemed a key ingredient was Celestial Bronze Dust. How would we get that though? I mean, I know Luke and Thalia managed to make it in canon, but how. It's also kind of weird that Luke found the recipe on the internet. In the books, he had to resort to some of Hal's books to find the recipe. Perhaps it's because he had sacrificed to Hermes earlier, or he just got lucky.
"Hey, Hal?" I called to the old man, who seemed half asleep, "Do you have any Celestial Bronze dust lying around?"
My elderly half-brother pondered to himself for a moment, before answering, "No, I do not. However, we could use the broken swords by my closet, and try to grind the blades down." That… was a really good idea. That must be how they got the dust in canon.
With the recipe in hand, we began to make the Greek Fire. Luke prepared the other ingredients, which was pretty easy, whilst Thalia and I began to grind down the swords. I could use my fireballs to heat up swords, to make them softer, whilst Thalia could use her strength to destroy the blades.
After putting all the ingredients into the jar, I used my Fireball as a catalyst. The only requirement for the catalyst was that it had to have some relation to fire, and that it had to be magical in nature. All of which my Fireball meets.
We had about half an hour left, with a completed jar of Greek Fire in my hands. My foot was tapping the ground, probably because of nerves. I kept looking at the clock, making sure that we were on track.
Halcyon came up to me, his hands shaking. "Gilgamesh." He said, his voice showing his hesitation, "Give me the Greek Fire". Ah. So he was prepared to sacrifice himself. Even despite the changes I had made to the timeline, my brother was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Unfortunately for him, I had different ideas.
"I don't think I will, Hal" I responded to him, a shit-eating grin on my face, "Finders Keepers."
A look of annoyance came onto Hal's face. "Gill, we need someone to distract the leucrota. I'm the obvious bait. I am willing to make the sacrifice" Beneath that cover of annoyance, was concern. He truly saw me as a brother, and was more than ready to give up his life so I could survive. And that gave me more of a reason to save him.
"I'm easily a better bait." I retorted, "What do you think the monsters would rather eat? You, a withered, skinny man far past his prime-"
"Hey!"
"Or me, an outstanding child of Apollo with a bright future ahead of him." I ignored the offence he took as he interrupted me, "And anyway, I'm far more likely to survive."
"How?" Halcyon asked with a raised eyebrow. My, my. I'll soon show them to never doubt the G-Meister.
Gill… Please never call yourself G-Meister ever again.
Geez. Okay, System, chill. Won't happen again.
For making a wise decision: +1 Intelligence!
Wait, you can do that? Actually, never mind. I don't need this headache.
"Why don't I be the bait?" Luke asked, only to be shut down by Hal and I.
"Really dumb. You don't even have any fire resistance Luke. You're far better off running along with Thalia" From the corner of my eye, I could see Thalia about to make an argument for her to be the bait, "And don't you start, Thals. You're not being bait either." Because if I did let her be bait, Zeus would smite my ass.
"Regardless Hal, you've got to help those two" I continued, nodding my head towards Luke and Thalia, "You'd do far more good by making sure they get to Camp Halfblood." Hopefully, Hal could use his experience to make sure they get to the camp quicker, and to avoid that trap with Cyclopes.
"You make a good point," I could sense a 'but' coming, "however" Oh screw you, Hal! "I will not allow a child to sacrifice himself for me."
"It's not a sacrifice if I survive" I countered.
"And how will you do that?!"
"Family secret" I put my index finger to my lips, a grin on my face. I could see that Hal was near his breaking point, but I was saved by the clock, "Uh Oh. It's feeding time." Hal turned around and paled at seeing that there was only a few minutes left before the monsters come. "Go hide in the closet you three". Despite some resistance, the three followed my order and hid inside the closet. If I had more time, I probably would have made some sort of witty 'coming out' joke, but I could hear the sounds of growling in front of the door.
10.
9.
"Hey Luke… Do me a favour." I say, as the seconds begin to tick past, "Give Hermes a chance."
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
"I… Fine Gill" Luke answers from inside the closet. His answer put a smile on my face. He had a chance at a better future. And hopefully he would take it.
3.
2.
1.
With hunger clear on their faces, the pack of leucrotae barged into the room, their crimson eyes glowing. I could see confusion on their faces as they saw no one but me.
"Hey assholes!" I shout getting their attention, "Want some yummy demigod flesh" I swear, one of them fucking nodded, "WELL COME AND GET IT!" And almost immediately I ran for it, as all… 7? No, probably 9, leucrotae rush for me.
I jump over the kitchen counter, and the loopback round to the toilet, making the beasts more annoyed at the chase. I entered the toilet as the monsters came in as well. I could hear the sounds of feet running. That must mean the three were escaping. I'll give them a few more seconds.
One of the leucrota attempted to leap onto me, but in response I blocked its attack with the Guardian Shield, and then I smashed another's head in with the shield. 3 came in from my right, to which I threw a Wind Blast at them, stopping them in their tracks. I can't wait to level this skill up so I could cause mini-hurricanes with it.
In my soul, I could feel that Luke, Thalia, and Hal had made it out. Maybe one of the gods had decided to help me. They probably thought I would die today.
I looked at the leucrotae, who regarded me with drooling lips. "I really hope this works." I say, as I smash the Greek Fire onto the floor.
Outside the Mansion…
Thalia's POV
The explosion was loud as hell, and nearly caused all to hit the dirt. Hal's old legs looked like they were about to fucking shatter. That explosion was really big.
Really… big…
Fuck. I should've stayed with Gill. What the hell was I thinking? Leaving a kid with a goddamn bomb. Why did I listen to him!
Whenever he talks… talked, he never seemed to be like a 9-year-old. He was a better leader than I was. My shitty dad was supposed to be the god of leaders or something! Then why did I listen to that damn kid. Now look where it got me. His blood on my fucking hands.
"Thals… you're crying" Luke says to me. I put my hands to my face, and I could feel the wetness of tears. Shit. I was.
"I… We left him to die, Luke" I responded, trying to stop the tears from coming.
"Hey, maybe he survived" Luke was always like this. Trying to make sure I didn't implode like a damn idiot.
Maybe I had a curse. I lost my little brother, and now I lost a friend. My mother's a damn lunatic as well. Maybe everyone I know is fucked because I know them. And Hal also said that Luke's future would be defined by sacrifice.
"What… What is that?" Hal muttered. I looked towards his line of sight, and saw what seemed to be a big grandfather clock flying out of the top floor of the mansion. It seemed pretty much undamaged. I think I saw one once in a museum. "I don't remember there being a clock like that in the mansion"
"It has to be centuries since you last saw the rest of your house" I retorted. Seriously, Gill just fucking died and all Hal cares about is a shitty clock.
"I'm not that old" Whatever. Old was old, "But perhaps you're right. Anyway, we have to go. The cops are coming soon"
I didn't want to go. It felt like I was just turning my back on Gill. But Halcyon was right. I was probably registered as a missing child, and the cops would be hell to deal with.
As we begin to move out, I took one look back at the mansion, and wiped away the tears.
I'll make your sacrifice worth a damn, Gill.
Elsewhere…
Many minutes later...
Gill's POV
"COME ON HOROLOGIUM! FASTER! He shouts with worry." Horologium says in my place, as I sit inside the Celestial Spirit. For those unaware, Horologium was a summon that had the ability of being near indestructible. He could survive being drowned in lava with very little damage. And since he had the form of a grandfather clock, I was able to stay safe inside of his hollow body.
Unfortunately, since the inside of him is soundproof, he had to speak for me. Which was beyond fucking annoying.
It didn't help that we were being chased by two leucrotae who had managed to escape the blast of the Greek Fire, though not unscathed. I had only 280 MP left, since Horologium takes so much MP out of me. We've been running for about 15 minutes, so I had enough for Horologium's full duration that he could be out in the human world, however when Horologium returned to the Celestial Spirit world, I would not have anywhere near enough MP to beat the monsters.
Meaning I'd have to hope that my melee fighting was good enough to beat the leucrotae.
We keep running, and whilst the leucrotae get a couple of hits in, they don't do any damage to Horologium. I seriously lucked out by getting his key as an item.
"Sir Gilgamesh!" Horologium says to me, "Unfortunately I will have to return back to my world in a couple of seconds."
SHIT! "Okay, thanks for the help, Horologium. Hopefully I'll be able to summon you in the future" I say to him, before smoke covers my vision, and I fall to the ground.
I had no time to sit down though, as I got up quickly, and ran like hell. My Agility stat was pretty high, and probably as good as an athlete, albeit not an Olympian one, or a very quick one, considering the stat was far higher than Halcyon's or Matthew's. Hell, it was closing on Luke's!
But the Leucroatae were just as fast. I throw a Fireball at one of the Leucroata, but it narrowly dodges it. Shit. We were currently in a forest somewhere, and the trees gave the monsters a lot of cover and points to jump from. And the fact that it was night, didn't help.
At least the full moon was out.
Suddenly, one of the leucroata jumped onto my back, it's claws piercing into my body. Fuck, it hurt like hell. I could see my health dwindling down.
The other monster jumped in front of me, as we made eye contact. Fuck. I can't die like this. Can I?
In a meagre act of rebellion, I spat at the hideous monster, as it screeched in anger. It lifts one of its claws, as it prepares to attack.
But the attack never came.
Instead, there was an arrow through its head. And then a second arrow passed by my head, and struck the leucroata on my back. A perfect fucking shot. I fell to the ground, in shock of the near death experiences that had happened. My eyes moved to the arrows.
They were as white as the moon.
Author's Notes: HEY MOTHERFUCKERS! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know that a lot of people were hyped for Gill meeting Clotho, but there isn't a lot I could do without utterly fucking the plot lmao.
ALSO WE'RE OVER 300 FOLLOWERS LET'S GO! Our next goal is 10,000! (jk) We're also near 250 Favourites which is also awesome! Thanks a lot for the great feedback
Some of you guys may know who we'll meet in the next chapter, and I too am excited. Plus I'd love to hear your thoughts on the first POV from another person!
I'd also like to clear some misconceptions quickly!
Gill did not get the Fireball skill and Windblast skill because he was the son of Apollo or a demigod. He got them because the System decided those were good early game rewards for him.
Also, the Fates cannot see Gill's future. No one can. The fates can sort of indirectly see Gill's future by looking at the future of one of his friends, but due to Gill's nature, it is constantly changing!
Anyway, here are Gill's stats:
Name: Gilgamesh Ashford
Age: 8
Level: 12
Title: Wolfslayer
HP: 330/950
MP: 190/1300
Stats
Strength: 19
Agility: 42
Endurance: 28
Charisma: 8
Intelligence: 31
Willpower: 25
Luck: 35
Stat Points: 0