Mortal, But At Least I'm Free

Chapter 3

With nothing but some clothes, food from his mother, and gold from the gods, Harry walked himself out of the house of the gods. He was sure he'd be back. All the same, he stood back to look at his home. It was magnificent with its turrets, towers, and gold. He thought he'd probably miss it.

With a heavy sigh, he started down the mountain. Greek countryside was laid out before him for miles. It looked beautiful. All blues and greens as far as the eye could see. It was a disconcerting sense of peace that found a home in his chest then.

Fortunately, a man started screaming so Harry didn't have to reflect on his feelings any further. The screaming stopped but Harry could see the man breathing heavily, each gasp for air splashing dark blood onto the rocks beside him. Birds cawed, causing Harry to jump. The man turned just his head to look at Harry, his eyes fluttering lethargic. Each breath labored.

"Here, let me help you," Harry scrambled across the stones, he slipped in the still-wet blood and froze. He was staring at this man, gutted and bleeding.

"No, no stop." 

Harry pulled his eyes away from the organs birds had started to rip from this man's body.

"What do you mean? You need help!" 

The man started coughing, the red sticky mucus coming from his mouth and gut.

"No," it took all of his breath and Harry stood still, trying desperately to understand why this man wanted to be left here, tied to the rocks of Mount Olympus to be eaten alive.

"Honestly? Which god did you piss off!?" The man chuckled until it turned into gurgling through the blood caught in his throat.

"All of them, son," he spit red as he attempted to catch his breath again. And that's when it clicked.

"Prometheus."

"At your service, sir," he attempted to salute but fell short when his weakened arms gave out.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" Harry feebly offered.

"Only if it's water. Ambrosia tastes like betrayal." There was a sparkle of humor in his eyes at his own joke.

"I'm afraid I don't have any. I'm so sorry. Maybe on my way back?"

"I would be much obliged. Off on your quest then?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I"m going to find my sister. I'm bringing her back."

"What makes you think she'll want to come to Olympus? She a demi too?"

"No, but I can't imagine being mortal is very nice. I"m positive she'll come back with me." Prometheus laughed softly again.

"Do you know why I took fire to the mortals?"

"You thought it would take power away from Zeus"

"Propaganda," Prometheus coughed. "I spent time with mortals. They deserved to have light and warmth."

"I don't understand. The sun rose, the world kept turning. Atlas still hold sup the sky WHat more did they need?" Harry stood up to leave.

"Let me know if you run into Atlas. He's a good friend of mine," Prometheus did his best to watch the birds circling overhead as he hacked up blood again. "Just remember, the gods are terribly jealous of mortals."

"What could they have to be jealous of? The gods have immortality, the greatest food, all the entertainment they could ever imagine-"

"Then why are you leaving son? What is it you're seeking?"

"Well, it's not that I'm lacking anything. I'm certainly not searching for anything. That's absurd. I'm just looking for my sister, I-"

"Got lonely? Needed some company?" Harry didn't know what to say.

"Yeah. I guess I got tired of being surrounded by only gods. But, it's not a bad life. It's not."

"Son, it seems like you're looking for something. And not just your sister."

"No! I'm-"

"I'm not saying you're unhappy. Just, try not to judge every mortal through the lens of the gods. You are one of them, after all." A few more heavy breaths and Prometheus' eyes closed. The birds started to fly lower and Harry couldn't do anything except continue on his journey.