THEOS

Chapter 61: An Angel’s End

Status | Quests | Inventory

An Angel’s End:When a foe is too strong, you must borrow the strength of others. Heracles, Son of Zeus, has been stranded on the Island of Sylcra for weeks. Separated by Arke from his allies, and surrounded by an army of Gegenees, he grows weary. Recover his Storage Ring, and deliver it to him so that he may call upon his fleet, and in doing so break the blockade imposed on the Dolion Archipelago.

…

Time Limit: 9 days, 8 hours, and 15 minutes.

Luke almost tripped over his feet as he read the Seed issued Quest. It was different from every other mission the Seed had given him due to two simple facts. It came with a deadline and a map.

Marked on which were two locations. One represented by an icon of a ring, and the other by a humanoid stick figure. Making what he had to do rather simple.

I get the ring, I give it to Heracles, and I’m well and truly free.

Heracles who is probably Hercules. Hercules as in the greatest of Greek Heroes. Right up there with Achilles, Perseus, and Theseus. A man who, if I’m remembering this right, became a god at the end of his myth. That doesn’t matter though. What matters is what he can do for me. If he can break the blockade, then that means there are people coming and going from the archipelago.

If there are people coming and going off the island, then Arke won’t even know if her thief is still here. At that point, it doesn’t matter if I stay on the island or not. That tiny seed of doubt, that I may have snuck off somehow, would ruin her search. People are already reluctant when it comes to helping her, and this would be the icing on the cake.

As a Son of Zeus, Haracles must have enough clout that he can ignore Arke without any real consequences, and I can’t imagine her risking Zeus’s anger. Not when even Cyzicus is confident in the fact that she won’t hurt him, and I doubt he has anywhere near the backing the child of a literal god does.

Which ties everything up neatly. I get him his ring, go back to the capital, and compete in the Olympics. Once they're done, I can stick around. Or, if I hear any whispers about the situation in Carim, I just sneak off and use the mask again. Well that and find some way to disguise my sword. If I go by another name on top of that then there quite literally won’t be anything anyone can do to find me.

Hopefully.

How should I play this though?

Let’s see. The ring isn’t exactly far from Heracles. Minutes if I had a griffin, but maybe a day if I have to run on foot.

Luke ran his hands through his hair, and numb to the activity around him, he stepped on to the altar.

Getting there is going to be awkward. Maybe. There’s no way I can get there by myself, like at all. If there’s a town nearby, I could ask Cyzicus to teleport me. I’ll have to come up with some reason to tell him why though, in case he asks for an explanation.

If he says no, or if he’s just too busy, then I’ll just track Nel down. Her griffin is fast enough that we’d be there in a day. I’d still need to find some way to convince her though. Maybe even ask Rex about it. Whatever I do though, I can’t afford to waste time. I don’t know what that countdown is, but I really don’t want to find out what happens when it goes to zero.

The rest depends on the exact circumstances.

Best case scenario would be that the ring is just lying around on some random patch of grass. Worst case, someone or something has it. Either way, there's nothing I can do about it until I get there.

The world around him flickered, as the teleportation altar lit up underneath his feet. Clite ushered them off of it the second they arrived back in the Capital, and led them through a door and back towards their quarters in the castle, and scurried back from the way they’d come after bidding them a hasty well done.

She’s in a hurry.

“Hey Rex.” Luke called out.

He poked his head out of his room. “Yeah?”

“Can I come in?”

“Why?” Rex crossed his arms under his chest.

Luke sighed, his eyes darting between him and the other trainees, as he considered what to say.

“I need a favor.”

“Is it stupid?”

“Not to me, and it’s important.”

He looked at Luke searchingly, and nodded. “Fine.”

Waving dismissively to the others, he followed after the Emperor’s Grandson.

“What do you want?” Rex asked impatiently.

Luke scratched the back of his head, as he looked around Rex’s room, for the moment ignoring the questions. Like his, it was rather spartan, but elegant. Abstract paintings hung on the walls, and a giant four-poster bed was laid out in the middle. The only difference was a rack full of weapons along one of the walls, and a bookshelf on the other.

“Let’s say I needed a way from here to the western end of the island. On the other side of the river. How would I go about doing that?”

Rex frowned. “What do you want to go there for? Now isn’t really the time for casual sight seeing.”

“I’ll get to that in a minute. Is there a way?”

“How fast do you need to be there?”

Luke blinked in surprise.

“In about a week or so. The sooner the better. Do you think I can ask Cyzicus to teleport me to some city near where I want to go? Somewhere he was already planning on sending help.”

“If you really need to be there in a week, then waiting for a specific place to be attacked by giants won’t work. They attack randomly, and if I’m not mistaken nobody lives where you want to go anyway. That entire area is a desert.” He strode towards his shelf, and laid out a scroll on his bed. “See. The entire north half of the island is basically a disaster area. Sophia owns that half.” He ran his hand over the east side of the island. “So that entire area is a no go. The north is basically a swamp, and it's dangerous. And the west end is just a desert. The middle part was given to Clan Skyscar. Actually that section is mostly fine, but they get attacked a lot from the creatures of the Swamp.”

“How would you suggest I get there then?”

“I know a way.”

“What is it?’

“...Why do you want to go there?” Rex asked.

“I need to do something.”

“What?”

Luke stayed silent.

“If you’re not going to say, then I’m not going to help.”

“What’s your idea? If it's just asking Nel, then I could do that myself.”

“Nel’s not in the Capital anymore. She went back to the Rising Sun, and she’ll probably stay there for the rest of the week.”

“Oh.”

Think. Think. Think.

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose.

This is a bad idea.

“If I tell you, this stays between us.” The last thing I need is you spreading my BS around.

“Sure.”

“I’m serious. This doesn’t leave this room.” “

“Fine. It won’t. You have my word.”

“Good. What do you know about Zeus?”

Rex’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wha–” He sputtered. “Do you know who he is?”

Luke nodded slowly.

He opened and closed his mouth, and nervously began pacing around the room.

“Why– How…” He grabbed his hair. “How are you involved with the King of Olympus?” He collapsed onto his bed, before sitting up and staring at Luke with his eyes wide open and whispered. “Is he here?”

“Not as far as I know.”

Fuck. I didn’t even think that was possible. But weren’t most Greek Myths him just disguising himself and having kids that went on to do some cool shit. Obviously he’s doing that here too.

“Who the fuck are you? Are you one of his kids?”

Am I? “Um–”

“Don’t answer that, I don’t want to know… Are you though?”

“I don’t know who my parents are.”

“You told Lukeus your father raised you.”

“I lied. Cyzicus knows where I’m from. Let’s move past this. You said you had a way?”

“Zeus?”

That was definitely a bad idea, but ugh. Fuck it.

“Let’s just say I’m doing someone a favor, and I’m not allowed to talk about it. Okay?” Luke stressed.

“Fine… This is… It’s bigger than I thought. Alright. I’ll have to talk to Clite and make something up, and– Alright. Meet me in the gardens tomorrow at sunrise. I’ll have something figured out by then.”

“A week. That’s how fast I have to be there. Are you sure you can get me there?”

“Not a problem. Now go. I have to figure some stuff out.”

“Wait. Cyzicus won’t care would he?”

“It'll be fine. Gramps is busy, I’d be surprised if he even notices, and at the end of the day, you're not that important to him. If it weren’t for the Olympics, nobody would care about you anyways.”

Luke shrugged. “I know.”

Nobody’s made it a secret that the only reason I’m here is to compete on Cyzicus’s behalf.

“There you are. Come.” Rex said, the second Luke stepped into the garden.

“Are you okay man?” Luke asked, raking his eyes over Rex, who looked like he’d just fought off an entire army by himself.

“Hmm. Yeah I’m fine. Nothing to worry about. I managed to figure out our transportation problem.”

Our? That better not mean what I think it does. Luke sighed, and followed after him. He looks way too excited.

“So, it isn't quite as fast as Nel’s griffin.” He grinned, ushering Luke into a clearing at the very end of the path. “But, a chariot is a lot more comfortable.”

“Woah.”

Parked on the grass, was the fanciest chariot Luke had ever seen. Big enough to carry a dozen people with intricate engravings all along its dark wood, and thickly padded leather seats.

“Is that a–”

Luke said, his eyes immediately darted to the front of the chariot. Where twin ropes snaked out, and connected securely to a harness. Attached to what was a giant, chestnut pegasus. Its wings folded neatly to its side, its mane billowing even without any wind, and shiny metal shoes glittering softly from where they touched the ground.

“Mhm.” Rex nodded smugly. “Meet Nutbutter.”

“Is that her name?”

“His name, and yes” Rex went up, and rubbed the creature's side. Only to hop back scared, when it neighed loudly and stamped its feet onto the ground.

“Didn’t I tell you not to do that?” Lukeus said. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, as he clambered out from the depths of the chariot, and lovingly ran his hands over Nutbutters side, before grasping his face with both hands. “Who’s a good boy? You are!” He kissed its nose. “That’s right. Apple.”

“Right.” Rex rushed to the side of the cart, and eagerly fished out an apple. “Here.”

“Hi.” Luke nodded to Lukeus.

“We meet again.” He responded dryly. “I’m surprised you survived the Cyclops.”

“Oh. You don’t know–”

Rex tossed a stone at him.

“Know what?”

“Nothing. So I can borrow Nutbutter then?”

“Borrow?” His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What ever gave you that idea?”

Luke looked at Rex.

“Oh. We’re all going together.”

“We are?”josei

“We are.” Lukeus nodded. “Nutbutter only lets me fly him. Anyways, what’s this I hear about you doing a favor for Zeus?”

“Dude. I told you not to tell anyone!”

“Sorry.” Rex lifted his hands in the air. “He is the only one who can fly Nutbutter, and he beat it out of me.”

“So. Zeus? What’s that about? We don’t leave until I know why and where.”

“Okay.” Luke nodded reluctantly. “I’ll explain.”