As its paws angrily struck dirt while beady eyes stared me down, I started to regret many of my life choices. Most prominently the ones that led me to facing off with a wild boar while Perses called encouragement from his perch in a tree.
I cursed and dove out of the way as the boar charged at me. Perses whooped in excitement as it tore past me and slammed into a tree. That gave me an idea. I once disoriented the Minotaur by having him run into a tree. I could do the same here, only the boar wouldn't ruin my plan by trying to grab me.
While the boar recovered from mauling a tree, I ran to position myself by the biggest tree in the clearing, absently patting my pocket to confirm Riptide was there. With an angered squeal it wheeled around to glare at me, pure fury blazing in its eyes.
"Uh Perseus, you're not planning to have that thing ram into my tree, right?" I cursed again. How had I forgotten that Perses was in the biggest tree? I quickly glanced up and through the foliage wide blue eyes stared at me with fear.
The boar squealed its rage once more before charging. No time to change trees. "Hold on!" I shouted, grabbing Riptide and dodging the sharp tusks aimed at me in the same breath. As soon as I cleared the boar I turned toward it whilst uncapping Riptide.
The world seemed to slow and my senses opened up. The boar slammed into the tree and I could see Perses loose his grip from the force of the impact. Riptide flashed out, deadly and accurate. I stabbed down behind its left shoulder, right into its heart; then quickly stepped to the left, just in time to catch Perses. The sudden weight in my arms made me stagger but I managed to regain my footing and stay upright.
"Hello!" I sad brightly once I was sure I wasn't about to drop him. He stared at me with wide eyes lit up in wonder. "You're amazing!" He exclaimed, bouncing in my arms as he made wild gestures to show reenact parts of the fight.
I laughed and placed him on his feet. He immediately ran over to the boar. "Whoa! Where'd the sword come from? Where'd you get it? Can I touch it?" He reached for Riptide but I quickly stopped him. It would've been bad if he accidentally hurt himself.
"Careful, Perses it's sharp." I pulled Riptide free, wiped the blood off on the lush grass and knelt down to show him. He seemed to vibrate with excitement as he admired the blade. "It's bronze." He said in awe. His eyebrows scrunched up slightly. "I've only seen heroes with blades like these." I snorted, "Where'd you get it?" He asked again
I softly bopped his nose, "It's a secret." He gave me the most affronted look I'd ever seen on a child. I laughed at his expression and ruffled his hair, making him glare and grumble more. "Come on, we should get this thing back to the farmers." I said nodding toward the boar.
I stabbed Riptide into the dirt and eyed the boar for a moment. Perses stood next to me. "You want to carry that?" He asked, eying me skeptically. I rolled my eyes and moved forward without deigning to answer. I knelt down and, with some difficulty, managed to get the boar on my shoulders the way Thalia had shown me to do with deer. I took a deep breath before I stood with a grunt.
Perses scrunched up his nose again. "You're getting blood all over your new clothes." He informed me oh so helpfully. I gave him an unconcerned smile. "Nothing I can do about it, is there?" He huffed, "You could have the farmers come get it themselves." I hummed thoughtfully while adjusting the boar to sit more comfortably. "I don't think they'd appreciate being left with moving this heavy lump." It was Perses' turn to roll his eyes at me.
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As we walked, Perses babbled about anything that caught his attention. Occasionally he'd ask me about something he spotted. Like a pretty flower or an oddly shaped tree or... you get the idea.
Somehow I was able to answer all his nature questions. It was as though I instinctively knew the plants surrounding us. The image of Pan, surrounded by long extinct flora and fauna, rose unbidden I my mind. Was this part of Pan's last blessing? Was it stronger because Pan was still alive in these times? It was the first time since then that I'd roamed in a truly wild place, unaffected by humanity trying to tear itself apart.
My heart twisted oddly at the thought. As much as I missed my home, I could not deny that being in unharmed nature and swimming in unpolluted waters made me feel more alive. It felt like a long dormant strength slowly but surely waking within me. It made the godly half of me practically sing with power as it pumped through my blood.
If this is how all the ancient heroes felt I could understand how they were powerful enough to be head and shoulders above any mortal man; how they managed to beat monster after monster. I shook the thought from my mind.
I was safe in Atlantis where the guards took care of monsters quickly and the king never neglected his prayers of safety for the people to Poseidon.
"Excuse me!" I called to a farmer in the field. The man looked up. His eyes widened in shock as he took in the sight of us. "We caught it!" Perses tacked on helpfully, just in case the man had missed the boar on my shoulders.
The farmer jogged closer and nodded. "I can see that young man... I'm just not sure I can believe it. How?" His voice tapered off like he wasn't sure what exactly he should be asking. "He stabbed it with a sword!" Perses exclaimed before whipping to face me. "We forgot your sword!"
I laughed and shook my head. "I already have it, Perses." He circled around me, skeptically searching for it. "Where is it then?" He asked challengingly. I opened my mouth to reply but I was stopped by a cry from further up the road.
"Pardon me! Sir! With the boar!" A young man hurried down the path to us. He stopped beside and bent forward as he heaved a few deep breaths. "Is... the boar... for sale?" He managed to wheeze between each deep breath.
If I could, I would've shrugged. As it were I just hummed. "You really ought to ask him. He's the one who asked me to catch it." I nodded to the stunned farmer. The man nodded, dragged in a few more breaths and straightened up. Perses eyed him with amusement from his spot beneath my elbow.
"I am Olethros. I work in the palace and there's to be a feast soon, but unfortunately we can't find any meat fit for the king in the market. That boar however would be perfect! The palace will gladly buy it from you." The newly dubbed Olethros smiled eagerly at the farmer. I realized I didn't ever ask for his name.
The farmer, whose name I did not know, glanced to me then back at Olethros. "He did it as a favor to us. It wouldn't be right to buy it from me." He scratched the back of his head. "You should ask Perseus if he wants to sell it." With that he turned and walked back into the field to continue his work.
I pouted internally. The farmer had never asked my name either but of course he already knew it. Olethros turned to me expectantly. I must have looked uncertain because he suddenly spoke, "We'll give you 10 drachma for it." I glanced at Perses. He looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "Sure that works for us."
Olethros lit up. He quickly reached into the pouch at his side, counted out 5 golden coins and frowned. "I only have Didrachm on me, is that okay?" I nodded. "You can hand them to Perses, my hands are a little full." I joked, he chuckled as he handed the money to Perses.
After the money was safely stored away he stared at the large boar hesitantly. "Could you possibly accompany me to the palace kitchens? I have little faith that I would be able to carry that thing." He gestured vaguely toward the boar. "Lead the way." I said with a smile.
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Perses and Olethros happily chatted together as they walked ahead of me. Every so often one of them would turn back and check up on me. "Just making sure you haven't been squashed yet!" Perses informed me gleefully when I'd finally given in and asked why they kept doing it. The deadpan expression I leveled at Perses brought him even more joy as he laughed so hard he stumbled and nearly face planted into the dirt road.
When we reached the palace I felt reminded of camp during preparations for the fireworks. Chaotic, yet somehow making perfect sense. A pang of homesickness hit me.
The servants all seemed to know exactly where they were needed as the bustled around one another with practiced ease. Occasionally someone would shout an order and another would break from the chaos to fulfill it.
It felt so much like the Hephaestus cabin that I felt nostalgic for something that used to feel like such a mundane part of the year. Sure the fireworks were amazing but they happened every year so they became expected, the norm. My heart ached again as I realized it would likely be a long time before I saw fireworks again.
"This way." Olethros dragged me back to the present (past?) as he wove through the crowd and waved for us to follow. People ducked out of the way as soon as they saw me coming. I felt a little awkward displacing so many people as we made our way through the halls. Though what was worse was the way many of them would stop to stare. I guess the sight of a guy covered in blood, carrying a large boar with a hyperactive child at his heels was a jarring one.
Olethros was leading us to a large table where a few servants were already busy preparing different meals. I was so focused on trying not to loose Perses or Olethros in the crowd that I didn't notice the man headed straight for me.
He bumped into the boar's snout, putting me off balance. I grunted in surprise and hurried to regain my balance so I wouldn't accidentally crush someone. I huffed a little as a few of them actually dove out of the way.
Once I was steady again I turned to the person who bumped into me, fully prepared to lecture them on special awareness like a hypocrite, only to lock eyes with a man dressed in expensive cloth with golden crown that shone in stark contrast to the man's dark hair.
"Are you alright, your majesty?" Olethros asked as he rushed forward from the crowd. Of course I managed to bump into the most important person I the palace.
The king.
I'm back! Hope you enjoyed and as usual constructive criticism is welcome. Fun fact: Olethros, Perses and Perseus all mean destroy. In different ways but still :)