Ayanokouji POV
Being a demigod has never done anything for me. It's all just rotten luck really. A peaceful life is something demigods know nothing about. And then there's the depressing fact that usually we die very young, another pain.
Sure a demigod might get some cool powers from their parents, but at the cost of learning disabilities, potential personality disorders, and incredible prejudice.
And even if we're just kids, younger than a middle schooler, quests are just thrown on us if we're part of some prophecy or order from the gods. To those deities above, we're all just tools for their goals, no matter how meniscal their demands truly are. It's a good thing my mother loves me too much to ask for anything.
Aside from her, though, it doesn't make sense. The way these gods treat their children, if they didn't want to make kids, then pull out. For beings on a higher plane than humans, they aren't perfect either. Human anatomy must be the most powerful kink to ever exist-
Luke: Hey, Kiyo. What's wrong?
Oh, I forgot all about Luke, the sword veteran despite only being 17. Wearing an orange, short sleeve shirt, a hearty satchel, and a bronze sword and sheath across his waste, he was the full package. If I had been of the opposite gender, I'd have worshiped him like cult fans do a celebrity. But all I see him as just this annoying guy who forced me to go on this quest with him.
Me: Ah it's nothing. I'm just daydreaming. The journey there is boring, if I'm going to be honest.
Luke: Now that's hurtful. I didn't know I was such a snoozefest. You should've told me earlier.
Me: There was no need to and you're not that bad, almost bearable. Walking there being the only form of transportation sucks.
Luke: We can't use cars or buses because we'd just endanger others. And you know how sleek and 'top-secret' this quest is. We're talking about picking an apple from the Garden of Hesperides.
Me: But I still don't know why you have to bring a 10-year-old kid? I just got to Camp Half Blood yesterday.
I pretended to be annoyed, slightly pouting. But Luke saw threw me, smiling.
Luke: I told you, didn't I? You're special.
I sighed.
Me: Special? I'm still wondering if it all is a big joke.
Luke chuckled slightly.
Luke: For someone so young, you act just like an adult. All mature with a snarky attitude. Camp Half-Blood is gonna love you.
Me: That's if I make it back alive.
Immediately after cutting through a small bush, Luke stopped and gently put his hand on my shoulder. He wanted me to keep quiet.
Luke got a bit serious. This is what got me curious about Camp Half-Blood's ace prodigy. He could be as cool as a cucumber, then turn rigid and serious the next moment later.
Luke: We're here. Stay next to me. A garden like this isn't going to be low on security.
I nodded.
The Garden of Hesperides, the land of an eternal sunset. With a golden light cast on the numerous amounts of ripe fruits across this land of vegetation, it was the perfect place for a particular fruit, the one they've been tasked to look for.
A golden apple...
Our plan was very simple, arrive there close to night and stay close into the bushes, meandering around to snatch a golden apple from the sacred tree that's protected by Ladon, the dragon. Then we bring it back to the god of messengers, and Luke's father, Hermes. Just from talking to Luke for a day, I could tell this mission meant everything to him.
It was the first time his father had asked something of him. It would also be one of the only times he could meet him in the flesh if we were successful.
Luke and I continued crouching around, sneaking from bush to bush, making sure not to get spotted by any of the nymphs and especially the dragon that resided in the garden. It was all for the sake of golden apples. I would be lying if I said I didn't want to have a bite of one myself. What would it taste like? Would it be deliciously sweet, or unbearably bitter? I don't know. I'm too curious...
Hesperide: What are a pair of demigods doing in our gardens?!
*SWING*
A quick swing from a hand featuring long, serrated claws, almost hit Luke and I.
I saw the attack a bit quicker than Luke, since he was still strategizing on the correct path to take towards the tree above. Tugging on Luke, he immediately became alert and moved us away from the strike.
From right behind us, a Hesperide, a nymph of evening, confronted us while holding what we so graciously been after, a golden apple.
Another name they were famously called was 'Hesperides of the West.' Three in total resided in this Garden. Being daughters of Atlas and Hesperis, they tended to the Garden, making sure everything was well-kept. Occasionally, they would pluck some golden apples off the sacred tree to satiate themselves. It looks like this one was no different.
Luke's eyes widened. We've been caught...
Immediately, both of us stood up, Luke instigating the conversation.
Luke: Hehe, we recently heard so much about this beautiful garden alongside beautiful Nymphs such as yourselves, Hesperide. And I haven't even mentioned the golden apple you're holding in your hand. Ah, I have a proposal, you can grow countless golden apples in this garden. Why not hand over one so you can get something even more incredible? Here, has a look at our gesture of good faith~
He smiled, completely hiding his anxiety. Another aspect of Luke's nature I lacked was his flattering words. Even in this scenario, it made the nymph slightly blush, all the while almost loosening her grasp on the golden apple in her hand.
Unbeknownst to the Hesperide, however, Luke was a master at the sleight of hand, carefully meandering over, opening his backpack, handing a valuable and beautiful fruit of vegetation the Nymph had not seen in its long lifespan, to me. I showed it right to the nymph, pretending to be all innocent and adorable so she didn't suspect a thing.
It worked, her eyes were off the apple she grasped in her hand and the specific piece of fruit in mine. Despite the fruit, with a blue and red color to it, looking incredibly attractive to the naked eye, it was simply a normal apple, coated in pigments of color that reflected light, making them appear to be shining in glamor.
Luke and I made sure to have a plan B if we couldn't reach the tree in time. This way, getting the golden apple from a nymph is safer than a mythical dragon.
After his claim of a potentially lucrative trade, the Hesperide took addition time to contemplate on the matter, playfully caressing her hair and entranced in her own thoughts. Coupled with her glee at the fruit in my hand, this gave Luke enough time and the element of surprise, to instantly reach into his bag, take out a fake golden apple, and placed it back into the Hesperide's hand. She was still having her attention on the fruit so the small nudge it must have felt from the whole exchange did nothing to alert her.
He's really good. Aside from me holding a fake fruit, I guess I wasn't really needed. On one hand that's good for him but at the same time, I just wasted a day of hiking and walking through vegetation.
After finally deciding on her next course of action, the Hesperide retorted angrily.
Hesperide: I refuse. Because you're such a smooth talker, I'll let you two off with a warning. Go back to that camp of Half-bloods and leave the garden. Consider yourselves incredibly lucky.
Luke brought my head down alongside him, bowing in thanks to the Hesperide. We got really lucky.
Well, if I'm going to be honest, it's thanks to Luke being such a social guy. I could learn a thing or two. Maybe I can soak some of his charisma and use it to sound less boring in front of Piper. She's been nagging about it for some time. And how can I blame her? I've never had friends before so I'm, ashamedly, socially awkward.
Both Luke and I turned around and started to leave the Garden.
Luke: Thanks for the save, Kiyo. That went really smoothly.
Me: I just wanted to protect myself, so alerting you guaranteed my safety.
He couldn't hold his chuckle and ruffled my hair, as he had been doing since meeting me.
Luke: We secured the bag. Let's go back. I'm gonna treat you to awesome, home cooked meals for the month. Couldn't have done it without you.
Me: That would be nice.
Luke really is the best. I can see why everyone likes him.
*ROAR*
Luke: What?
Me: ...
Two other Hesperides, seeing the display before them, charged at us.
Hesperide #2: They stole a golden apple! You got tricked sister! I saw one of them half-bloods tootling around with their fingers all over the real one!
The original Hesperide we interacted joined the other two in attacking us.
Luke pushed me forward.
Luke: Go, Kiyo! I'll deal with these nymphs. Just make sure to get out of here with that golden apple!
No need to tell me. Thanks for the distraction.
I ran away as Luke stayed back, pulling out his bronze sword to fight the three nymphs of night wielding wooden weapons.
The little I saw of Luke's battling prowess, was extraordinary. His technique was similar to to a honed swordsman with decades of experience.
He didn't have the most power nor the most agility. But what he put his stock on the most was his intuition and analytical abilities for combat.
Two Hesperides tried stabbing him from behind, but Luke performed a backflip and weaved through a third strike, pushing forward to stab one of the three Hesperides through the chest, killing it.
Enraged, the other Hesperides pressed on even further, but one of them decided to pull off and go after me, once it realized I was in possession of the golden apple.
Just great. Time to put my conditioning to use, even though I'm only 10 years old.
I clenched the golden apple with both hands and cut through bush after bush, jumping over a vine and sliding through a small hole in the midst of the vegetation.
The Hesperide zoomed across the terrain like it was nothing, its claws making cuts across my back and shoulder.
Hesperide #3: Get back here, brat!
Me: If you keep chasing me, I might accidently take a bite.
Hesperide: Why you!
Me: Oh...
*TRIP*
A loose clump of dirt hit my right foot hard on the thumb, spinning me around and making me eat a whole lot of grass. If I could see myself from the outside, it'd be incredibly embarrassing.
Hesperide: NOW DIE, BRAT-
Before it could get his claws on me, Luke had leapt through, in between, and hit the nymph on the back of its head with the hilt, knocking it out.
Luke: Are you ok?
Me: I'm fine thanks to you.
I looked over at where he was fighting earlier, and I saw that the two Hesperides were long dead. He left the fight with little scratches, if that.
Luke: Alright, I'll hold onto the apple now. Let's go before more show up.
Taking the apple from my pocket, he put it in his backpack, zipping it up.
We immediately left in a sprint, rapidly racing against time in order to leave through the entrance of the Garden of Hesperides.
*SPIT*
Luke and Me: ...
*SPLASH*
...
3rd Person POV
...
Unbeknownst to the poor child Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and the sword ace of Camp Half Blood, Luke, their fleeting moment of victory was defeated in an instant, at the breath of the Garden's guardian.
Luke scurried around, and dodged the massive breath of acid that left a corrosive crater of vegetation before him. However, in doing so, he noticed that Ayanokouji was long gone.
Luke: KIYO!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?! FUCK!
There nothing left of him, only the small crater of green acid amidst the vegetation. And then there was something else that made him wince in anger.
Looking over at his shoulder, he noticed that the strap holding his backpack was severed from the acid and it was nowhere to be found.
Luke: (I don't even have the apple... it was all a waste.)
The lifeform that turned the whole situation on its head, was the dragon Ladon. Encircling a large tree littered with golden apples, it wrapped itself around the air encompassing Luke, with numerous heads already to release lethal acid just like his previous attack. It was tasked by Hera, long before these demigods were born, to protect the Garden of Hesperides from thieves looking to steal their acclaimed golden apples.
To add to its infamy, it was considered as the brother of the Neiman lion, the beast slain by Hercules himself. Unlike his brethren, he survived the epic clash with the ancient hero. Though unconfirmed, multiple circles of historians and Greeks referred to this massive monstrosity of a dragon as the son of Typhon itself.
A delicate garden like the garden of Hesperides protected by a dragon of destruction such as Ladon, a funny irony it truly was.
And right in front of him was salvation. The tree, of which Ladon had caressed and coiled it's body and many heads around, was the one Luke and Kiyotaka had been looking for. Golden apples as plump as any other were littered on its roots.
Luke: (When my dad offered me this quest, I knew it was too good to be true. Hercules had already done a quest like this successfully. If I fail this, then it would be the same as saying I will never amount to such a hero. Just a failure... but if I kill that dragon, Ladon, and retrieve a golden apple from that tree, I'll do something Hercules could only dream of doing: killing the great Ladon. I'll avenge Kiyo's death, make it all worth it, and regain my honor.)
Bound by the quest put onto him by his father, and afflicted over his own hubris, Luke charged at the dragon, with the sole thought of finding an opening to exploit.
Physically gifted, even compared to the majority of half-bloods, Luke pushed his body to the limit, cleaving through a set of heads and sliding through a gap in between the dragon's coiling heads.
Ladon's tail swung ferociously around while also sprouting out numerous shots of acid from it's many heads. Luke evaded each and every shot, trying to piece together a divisive plan to slay this ancient beast. However, the tail that swung before, nailed Luke on the side of his body. He did place his sword to block the strike right on time, but the amount of power emitted from the swinging of a tail weighing more than a ton, shattered a rib or two from Luke's side.
Breaking through multiple trees, bushes, and bundles of vines, Luke coughed up blood, as he noticed his injuries now left a trail.
Luke: (It's no use. He just won't let go of that tree.)
Despite this, he stood up and stretched, looking at his bronze sword, still vibrant and crimson in color from the blood it spilled today.
Ladon didn't stop its pursuit and charged forward, releasing more blasts of acid breath all the while extending its claws and dozens of heads in an attempt to overwhelm Luke. However, this did give Luke the opening he needed. The tree was now completely defenseless.
Luke: (The apples... they're so close. I just need to grab one. Then I can finish the quest, and Kiyo's death was for something...)
Unwavering in his own ideology, Luke charged forward desperately again. With his sword held up high, he evaded another lethal blow to the chest from the dragon's claws, and brought his sword down, cleanly slicing it off.
Blood gushed out as Luke tried to use this as an opening through, but Ladon's other claw hit quicker, slicing the surface of his right cheek and across his face.
It would leave a very nasty scar...
Luke: (Even if there's an opening, I'm still too slow to exploit it. I don't have any option left other than to run-)
???: Oh, so this is what the apple feels like. It has such a soft sensation on my skin. And it smells delicious. I'm tempted to take a bite.
Luke: Huh?
With his hands littered with dirt, Luke used his arm to wipe his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka emerged from a nearby bush, with his shirt corroded in half, alongside blood trickling down the side of his arm. Luke's bag was nowhere to be seen. But the apple he so desperately needed was in the possession of this ten-year-old.
Seeing the golden apple in Ayanokouji's hands, Ladon latched itself off a tree and charged, with all its many heads, tail, and claws, right after Ayanokouji who remained standing in front of the beast.
Luke: TOSS THE APPLE AWAY AND RUN!
Labon's many heads opened, serrated teeth already to gnaw and sever Ayanokouji's body from this material world.
Ayanokouji sighed.
Ayanokouji: Now it makes sense. If demigods had to deal with this on a daily basis, how could they do anything but die incredibly young?
...
...
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Chapter 1: A Mother's Love coming soon...