Chapter 4 - Man of grace
"Power reigned from the sky,
Odds set to twenty, twenty,
wisdom and seas unions collide,
Madiens vritue course to set,
eyes of stone set a path,
north to west phantoms the guides,
felines roar meets the master of all."
Everyone's eyes landed on Apollo, one of the many gods. Artemis his twin sister looked at him with a look of disbelief.
Zeus listened to the prophecy and turned to his most trusted daughter, Athena.
"What does it mean Athena?" All eyes turned to the goddess of wisdom, who was just as stunned by the prophecy as everyone else.
"I believe the first line refers to you father," Athena quickly responded after noticing all the odd looks from the other gods. Zeus nodded, rubbing his chin as he looked at the ceiling thoughtfully.
"Ah yes, the sky is my domain after all. it makes sense," Athena nodded and got a thoughtful look on her face as she scrunched the rest of th prophecy in her mind. Unwilling to leave without giving a decent explanation about the prophecy.
After minutes, she smiled and looked at her father once more.
"The second line is indicating when the prophecy will take place. I will need to analyze it more to come to a conclusive date, as for the third line," Athena got a sour look on her face as she looked towards her enemy, Poseidon.
"it has something to do with me and Poseidon, in what that is I am not sure. And the rest of the prophecy is unclear at the moment," Everone glanced around the room, waiting for someone else to speak. Zeus noticed the tension and cleared his throat, as he held his lightning bolt tightly in his hands.
"I believe we should give you more time to analyze this Athena," Ares looked at Athena before giving her a smoldering glare and a large hmph sound.
Zeus glanced at Hera before turning to look at his daughter, and then some of the other gods.
"My son Perseus had come asking of a request..." The rest went by uneventfully as the gods agreed.
"I hope it means war," Ares muttered before leaving the throne room, along with the other gods who'd quickly vanished once Zeus had concluded that the meeting was over.
Athena was left to ponder the rest of the prophecy, but one line sent chills down her spine as she replayed it in her mind over and over again.
'Who is this master of all?' She glanced around, before turning to one of her books.
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Percy stood outside of the temple, closing his eyes as he listened to Medusa petrify yet another idiot who thought he could fight the famous monster to live.
As he took in a breath of cold winter air a piercing scream that sent chills down his spine was heard. The sound of something hitting the floor caused him to take action and rushed into the temple, where he saw Medusa's body laid on the floor. Her head nowhere in sight, he turned ready to race after the guy only to see something emerge from the spilled blood of the Gorgan.
A pure white pegasus appeared fully grown, and ready to trample on the unsuspecting deity. Only to freeze and stare him down.
'Who are you?' A calm but angry voice demanded, earning an amused expression from the deity.
"I'am," Percy responded out loud, the horse neighed loudly before stretching out two large beautiful wings that reached the wingspan of ten feet.
'Mother cared for you, and so must I, please name me' Percy glanced towards the exit of the temple, and then back at the horse. He quickly glanced at Medusas body only to see black dust remaining there.
"Pegasus," Percy then glanced at the young man standing behind Pegasus.
"And you, Chrysaor." The young man smiled and nodded, before Percy lead them both into a different area of the temple, away from the spot their mother perished.
'They must be a product of Poseidons and Medusas union' The thought lingered in his head before moving onto his next thought.
"Are you hungry?" Percy asked, looking at both wondering what they'd like to eat. Medusa was a fan of meat. He wasn't sure about Pegasus.
After several minutes Percy prepared vegetable soup, along with some rabbit stew. After both had eaten Percy then lead them out of the temple and into the wilderness where they continued on a journey to find Medusa's murderer.
Days later, Percy and the two children of Medusa were near the capital where they heard rumors of a young hero named Perseus. He had used Medusa's petrifying gaze to turn the legendary Kraken into stone, saving the princess Andromeda.
Percy sighed as he leaned against a wall, glancing around while wondering his next move. Unaware that Chrysaor has slipped away and set off on his own. Pegasus however stood by, staring at this entity with a look of determination.
"We should leave it for now, we can avenge mother sometime in the future," Pegasus stated before turning to look at Percy.
However, Percy had his gaze fixed onto something more intriguing than the talking horse with wings.
Far to down the pathway walked a young girl clad with silver. Her eyes sparkled like the moonlight, and Percy immediately identified her as Artemis. His heart raced as she began to turn and walk away. He curled his lips into a smile before turning around and walking the other way.
"Who was that girl, master?" Percy glanced at the horse and cringed at the title, before looking up at the sky.
"Someone who will mean dearly to me in the future," The answer was vague but enough to satisfy.
"Sir," Percy turned around to see a young boy around the age of five. Thin and malnourished the boy lifted his boney arms, with his hand stretched out.
"May I have some food, any scraps should do," The boy mumbled softly as Percy glanced over the boy before something else caught his attention. Hidding behind a cart full of hay were two other children in a similar state as the young boy before him.
All three must have been family since they shared a resemblance, Percy glanced at the boy again before reaching into his bag and pulled out a few loaves of bread. Being immortal, Percy did not need the food as much as the mortal children did.
"What is your name boy?" Percy asked, kneeling to the ground as she placed the loaves into the young boy's hand. Gasping in surprise the young boy stuttered as he looked at the man before him with adoration. Having expected to be shoved and shunned away for asking for scraps.
"I'm Alex," Patting the young boy's head, Percy stood up and turned to look at the other two children.
"And where are your parents?" Percy asked as he stood upwards to face the other children.
"Our parents? We don't know, we've been alone for a long time," Alex mumbled as he patted the cloth wrapped around his waist. It was clear to Percy that these kids were mere slaves, and so he cast his gaze back towards Alex.
"Come with me, all of you," Alex's gaze lit up as he looked at the man before him. Alex studied the man's face carefully wondering to himself if the risk was worth taking, before turning around and waved his siblings over. Percy smiled and patted Pegasus.
"Please let the children ride you, dear friend," Percy said, gently stroking Pegasus muzzle. Alex slowly approached the large white horse before jumping up, only to end up falling on his bum.
"Ouch," Alex mumbles before looking at the large beast.
"He's too tall," Percy let out a hearty laugh before patting Pegasus on his flank.
Understanding the gesture, Pegasus lowered to the ground, making it easier for the children to climb on; once all three were seated and holding onto each other. Pegasus extended his large beautiful wings causing a large panic from the onlookers nearby.
Percy smirked and turned to look at Pegasus who only nodded before bouncing off from the ground and into the sky.
A voice yelled from the crowd catching Percy's attention, causing him to turn to see who it was. To his surprise, a man clattered in fine cloth appeared with his arms reaching out towards the sky, looking at the retreating pegasus.
"Hey, my slaves!!" Percy glared at the man, before going into a slow stride towards the haughty man.
"Give me back my slave, thief!" The man's words only caused a slight sigh to pass through Percy's lips before he sneered at the man before him.
"This should be more than enough to cover for the children's debt... mortal," The man gasped after hearing the used words, as he nervously glanced up and caught sight of bright green eyes like the ocean staring back into his soul, they glowed like a cat's eyes in the night. The man, no- god was powerful. Whimpering his apologies the haughty man accepted hesitantly before scurrying away, not even looking at the amount handed to him.
"Thank you, M'Lord," Percy heard from the distance, causing him to wrinkled his face at the title before turning and walking away, disappearing into the crowd.