Demetrios looked at Daphnae as if expecting her to tremble in fear. The woman however only scoffed in response. She then sent a chilling glare towards Demetrios that somehow made him shiver slightly, though he tried his best not to show it.
"You are no god," She said matter-of-factly. "No god would attack ships for his own personal gain."
Demetrios lifted Perseus off of the ground and motioned for his goons to step forward. As Perseus struggled and failed to escape the large man's grasp, Demetrios walked forwards and ripped the chains that kept Daphnae in place apart with his free hand. Both mother and son paled when they saw the rusted metal being broken so easily by the giant man and the young boy stopped struggling when he realized the same could happen to him at any moment.
"Bring her above deck, but keep her chained. I will prove to both of you that I am a god." Demetrios' laughed as he made his way through the door, with his two underlings hauling the bound Daphnae following him. As they returned to the brightly lit deck of the ship, Perseus blinked furiously to adjust to the sunlight while Daphnae sighed softly while mumbling underneath her breath. Even with Perseus' good sense of hearing, all he could make out were the words "thank you". However, the ship suddenly lurched and Perseus heard bewildered screams and shouts of confusion ring out from all over the ship. The fragile wood the ship was made of groaned in protest as a giant wave slammed onto the deck of the ship.
Perseus desperately closed his eyes and held his breath but was surprised when the cold feeling of sea water revitalized him. The other people on the deck were not as lucky as they all sputtered and gasped for air with the exception of Demetrios, whose eyes glimmered with amusement.
"Do you see now? Poseidon has chosen me to be his successor as the god of the seas. I am able to call upon storms at any time, and every single drop of water," Demetrios flicked his finger and sent a small blot of water rocketing towards Daphnae and hitting her right in the forehead as if to make a point. "Heeds my every beck and call."
Ignoring the stinging pain on her forehead, Daphnae continued to glare at Demetrios. "You are no god."
The large man sighed dramatically. "I have shown you all that you would have needed to see to believe, and yet you choose to close your eyes and pretend that the obvious truth is a lie," He lumbered over to the side of the ship as the ship tilted again and somehow remained tilted. He then raised Perseus into the air as he proclaimed loudly.
"Say goodbye to your son, you impious believer."
Hand still firmly grasping Perseus' neck, Demetrios plunged Perseus' head into the sea and held it there, a sense of sick pleasure washing over him and he felt the young boy struggling in his hands. "Perseus! No!" Daphnae struggled against her constraints with renewed vigor and decided to swing both of her at the nearest man. The rusty metal handcuffs produced a dull thump when they hit the man square in the face. The second man keeping guard over Daphnae drew his sword and tried to cut her down when Daphnae turned around blocked the attack with the chains. She then took advantage of the man's brief surprise and kneed him in the family jewels as hard as she could. Wasting not even a single nanosecond, she drop-kicked him away as hard as she could while grabbing the sword with her hands. She winced slightly as the blade drew blood against her fingers but she ignored the pain while the man she kicked hit his head on the edge of the ship with a dull cracking sound. Daphnae quickly flipped the blade around and with her fingers awkwardly grabbing the hilt of the blade, she swung the blade down onto the chains that limited the movement of her feet with as much strength as she could muster. With a satisfying clanging sound, the chains broke and Daphnae dropped into a battle stance.
The other men on the deck quickly composed themselves and surrounded the lone woman.
I need to free my hands.
Daphnae drafted a rough plan in her mind before letting out a roar as she charged towards the nearest sailor. Demetrios frowned and glanced behind him to see his prisoner free and two of his men lying on the ground. He groaned as he tightened his grip around Perseus while also confused at how the boy managed to last so long.
With her nimble footwork, Daphnae pranced around the man and after narrowly dodging a horizontal slash to her head, she spartan-kicked him away. The other men started to converge on her but she placed her sword on the edge of the ship with the sharp edge facing her, placed her constraints on the edge of the blade and slammed her right foot onto the hilt as hard as she could without a single ounce of hesitation. Her plan worked as her hands were now free and she turned around just as her fingers closed around the hilt of the blade as it spun in midair and managed to parry an incoming attack just in time before it split her skull in two. Her hands trembled from the impact but she forced herself to drop back into her battle stance.
I can't lose Perseus.
The large group of men in front of her was in the way. Demetrios was still crouching by the other end of the ship with her son in hand.
"Get out of my way!" Daphnae shouted and was about to charge forwards when her instincts screamed at her and she ducked just in time to see an arrow sail across her head. She narrowed her eyes and noticed a man standing on top of the mast with a bow in hand. A plan formed in her head and she immediately scrambled on top of the wooden ornament at the end of the boat. The other men looked unsure of what to do until one of them threw his sword at her and the rest quickly followed suit.
"Malakes," Daphnae cursed as she leapt off the ornament and grabbed the rope that was connected to the mast. In a show of almost god-like grace and dexterity, Daphnae pulled herself up and scrambled up the rope.
"What a troublesome child," Demetrios finally felt Perseus' struggles growing weaker and when the boy finally stopped struggling, he released his grip and looked at the woman nimbly climbing up the mast.
"Your son is dead!" The large man shouted. "You can come down now! I'm sure you are worth more than the three men you and your son killed, so I'll spare your life!" He slowly made his way to the bottom of the mast as Daphnae finally made it to the archer after dodging most of his arrows. The archer panicked as he swung his bow at Daphnae, but the woman grabbed the bow firmly and flipped it around so that his head was in between the riser and the string. She then mercilessly pulled the man's head and yanked the bow sideways as roughly as she could when his throat rested against the string. Removing the bow from the man's neck, she stared down at Demetrios at spit on him. "Go to Hades!"
Noticing the absence of her son on the ship deck, Daphnae saw red. She reached into the quiver and nocked three arrows at once before. All three arrows sailed fast and true, embedding themselves into the head of three men who all promptly collapsed onto the ground. She reached into the quiver again and fired off a few more arrows, killing several more of Demetrios' men until the quiver was empty.
"Ran out of arrows, woman? Come down now. This is your last chance." Demetrios called out, irritation clear in his voice. The woman sighed and closed her eyes, the face of her 11-year-old son surfacing in her mind.
I will kill Demetrios even if it's the last thing I'll ever do.
The ship shook violently and Daphnae felt something slam into her. Clear sea water washed over her as she realized a giant wave had struck the boat and the mast snapped as a result. The woman cursed under her breath and she leapt out of the crow's nest, bow in hand.
"And here you are," Demetrios brandished the knife he took from Perseus and readied himself to slash at the falling woman when she was within reach when another wave smashed into her, sending her flying back onto the other side of the deck.
"What?" Demetrios growled. He glanced at the ground to find a large shadow looming over him, so he whipped around only to find a humpback whale breaching and just about to crash into the ship. Both Demetrios and Daphnae scampered over to opposite ends of the ship as the whale cleaved the ship in half. Someone jumped off the back of the whale when it landed on the half of the ship Daphnae was on, and Daphnae's heart lifted when she saw who it was.
"Perseus!" Daphnae rushed over to her son who she thought was dead and wrapped him up in a tight embrace. "Mother! The whale heard my cries for help and it helped me!" While Daphnae was concerned about the implications of the boy's statement, she released Perseus and cupped his face with her hands.
"We need to defeat Demetrios first," She whispered. "He will pay for what he has done to so many innocent people."
Daphnae stood up straight and glared at Demetrios on the other half of the ship which was slowly drifting away. Perseus also gathered himself and stared at the large man. Demetrios shook off his shock and screamed. The seas turned violent as gigantic waves started to rise up from the sea, threatening to sink the half of the ship the mother and son duo were on.
"Try stopping him, Perseus," Daphnae said softly. Perseus' expressed morphed into a confused one but Daphnae kept looking at him expectantly. The boy then bit his lower lip and closed his eyes.
Stop!
His gut twisted painfully and he groaned softly as the waves stopped in their tracks. Daphnae immediately dashed towards Demetrios, using broken pieces of the ship as stepping stones to reach the man before she swung her bow sideways at the man. Demetrios blocked the attack with his arms and engaged in combat with Daphnae all while continuing to try to overpower Perseus.
Daphnae was smaller, nimbler and was much more skilled in combat. This was apparent as Demetrios was forced to defend himself against her ruthless onslaught on him. The woman aimed for all of his vital parts, so Demetrios couldn't spare any time to counterattack. His only saving grace was his strength and larger body size; Blocking Daphnae's attacks with his hands didn't even faze him. Daphnae, noticing that she was fighting a losing battle of endurance and stamina decided to go for a risky move. She deliberately made an opening, which Demetrios immediately took advantage of and swung at with the dagger. Pain exploded in her left arm as the dagger cut open her bare flesh, but Daphnae wasted no time in retaliating by first faking an attack at Demetrios' head, forcing the man to raise his other hand to block before twisting her body and redirecting her attack at his genitalia.
Stabbing the bow into his family jewels proved a to be very effective as Demetrios stumbled back in pain. His focus let up and Perseus felt the waves dissipate. The boy, sweating from overexertion, crumbled to the ground, panting heavily. Daphnae pushed her offensive, spinning around and using the spinning force to land a heavy bow on Demetrios' head with the bow. The wood finally gave up as the bow broke. Demetrios went unconscious from the attack and he fell onto the ground in a giant heap.
The adrenaline finally fading away, Daphnae shivered as she realized how cold she was, dripping wet from the sea water all while being naked. The large cut on her left arm hurt like Hades, but she endured it as she made her way back to her son.
"Perseus! You did well. I'm proud of you." Daphnae knelt down next to Perseus who was still lying down on the deck and ruffled his hair. She then grabbed his hand and held it tightly, thanking the gods that they both made it out alive.
"Mater, we need to save the other girls," Perseus breathed. "They're in the room you were held in below deck, over there." The boy pointed at the stairs behind her and Daphnae nodded in response. She then planted a soft kiss on Perseus' forehead and stood up. "Stay here and rest, my huios. I'll be back shortly, and then we can find our way back to land."
After making her way below deck, Daphnae quickly found the room she was looking for and gritted her teeth as memories of her experience here rushed back to her. A strong sense of repulsion washed over her but she focused on the task at hand. The candles were all extinguished, but Daphnae found the cage with little difficulty. "I need a blade," Daphnae muttered as she saw the thick ropes keeping the door of the cages shut. Noticing a man dead on the floor with a sword in hand, she pried the sword from the man's grip and started to cut the ropes.
The women and the girl in the cage looked elated, but their happy expressions quickly turned to ones of horror. Daphnae noticed the change too late and felt something go through her chest. The cold steel pressed against her flesh and she looked down to see a sword jutting out from between her breasts. The pain was unbearable, but the woman took a deep breath and shouted as loudly as she could.
"Perseus!'
A.N.: Forgot to put this in the first chapter, but as I already have a rough idea how how the entire story will go and there will be a lot of historical elements that I'm not too bothered to get 100% correct (I'll still do some research but don't get on my ass if I get stuff wrong), please just roll with whatever I write