Chapter 76: PENDANT
Another month later.
"A little bit closer...come on!", Herakles mumbled as he stared through the golden floors and into the infinite depths below. His fists gripped his fishing rod as he slowly lowered the bait deeper, toward a gigantic variant of a Kerasi Sea serpent.
Athos' eyes resembled giant saucers as more of the monster was revealed. Its seemingly unending body disappeared into the dark depths and its scales gleamed a bright, cherry-red which gave it its name. Its yellow, serpentine eyes greedily eyed the Great white shark Herakles had set up as bait while it edged ever so closer to it. The monster was far bigger than the green one he had caught last month.
"Has the mighty Herakles' luck finally changed for the better?", he chuckled.
"Shush! Don't jinx it!", Herakles whimpered while mouthing what seemed to be a silent prayer. A god praying. Athos never thought he'd see the day.
The serpent widened its ginormous mouth, revealing a set of long yellow fangs and the bottomless hole that was its gullet.
"Yes!", Herakles' eyes lit up in joy. Kerasi serpents were one of the best to catch. Their cherry-red scales and vaguely draconic head made them quite unique among the sea serpent race. Moreover, he could lord his catch over his son who never forgot to mention the green-scaled Krokrofidi he'd caught.
Its jaws descended upon the shark but just before it could sink its canines into it, it froze - fear filling its unblinking eyes, before shooting back into the depths, its speed too fast for the mortal eye to comprehend.
"WHAT!", Herakles bellowed and Athos rolled on the golden floor laughing as though his father being incapable of fishing was one of the most hilarious things he'd ever come across.
"I was so close!", his father growled before snapping the golden fishing rod that he conjured up.
Athos laughed so hard that he began to tear up.
"It was a Kerasi too! Do you how rare it is?! It got scared off by som-wait what's that?", Herakles abruptly stopped his bemoaning and pointed up. His bones popped when he stood up, strength oozing out of him. His eyes briefly flashed brighter as he narrowed his brows. "That's a god."
"What?!", Athos ceased his laughter and got to his feet, Perastos morphing back into its armoured variant. Ever since Ladon's blood mutated it, it always preferred more battle-related forms.
He squinted when he looked at the ceiling. They weren't all that far away from the surface. In fact, with their eyesight, anything up there might as well be in front of them. He spotted a brown dot in the distance which became clearer by the second. A heavily muscled caramel-coloured horse stared back at him, impatiently pawing the surface while whinnying in indignation.
"Arion?", he exclaimed recognizing the horse. The last time he'd seen him, he'd almost broken his left arm when he'd been dropped off at Camp. Why did he show up now? Was Demeter calling him now? Was the table meeting happening now or had it already taken place? If that was the case then why didn't Bob the spider pop up the entire three months he'd been in the bubble?
"Arion?! How did he find us?", Herakles frowned before looking at Athos in shock. "He chose YOU?! You tamed Arion?! I thought you merely rode him to Demeter's abode?"
"Eh? Tamed? That horse?", Athos pointed at Arion in disbelief. Since when did tamed animals assault their owners?
"There's no other way he could find us. Once Arion claims you as his rider, he'll be able to vaguely pinpoint where you are", Herakles explained while looking at Athos as though he were an alien. "There once was a prophecy that claimed only a valiant woman would be able to tame him. You truly are the Fatebreaker...it's either that or yo-
"Dad! Enough with the jokes. He wants to take me somewhere...", Athos frowned as he observed Arion, who was whinnying to the high heavens - probably spouting obscenities in horse. Leviathan materialized in his hands and its presence seemed to make the air heavier. "I doubt he'll let you ride him, so I'll have to go on my own. Do you have any of the coins you gave me before? They were helpful."
"The coins?", Herakles raised an eyebrow. "They won't work on you anymore."
"What?! Why?", Athos questioned, disappointment colouring his face. While they could be interfered with, they were quite convenient.
"For one thing, the coins were linked to my abode which is clearly blown to bits. Secondly, teleporting is one of the harder things to do with Divinity. Teleporting a mortal across the world is quite easy but teleporting any Immortal or Divine being is something else - me included. Teleporting oneself is easier but still unsustainable. Short distances are manageable but you can forget longer distances. It drains a stupid amount of Divinity and I can't sustain it. Flying is far better. Perhaps only a Major God can sustain such a tremendous drain", Herakles sighed.
"So you teleporting behind me when I was younger actually took a big chunk out of your reserves?", Athos asked incredulously.
"Yes", Herakles said, not a hint of shame appearing on his face.
"All for dramatic effect?"
"Yes"
"Wow...can't blame you honestly", Athos chuckled but stopped when Arion neighed for the umpteenth time.
"He seems to be in a hurry", Herakles muttered before closing his eyes and focusing. His hands began to glow a bright gold which coalesced into a revolving ball. Drops of sweat wet his forehead as he seemed to pour more and more Divinity into the ball. Said ball began to morph and twist, forming a pendant with a carved Nemean Lion likeness.
"Take this", He said, handing Athos the pendant and wiping his forehead. "It'll manage to throw off most prying eyes and let both of us pinpoint each other's locations."
"Oh! That's neat", Athos said, wearing the pendant and tracing the carved likeness. It looked incredibly realistic.
"You'd better get going. Arion's temper's well-known. He'll throw you off if he isn't happy", Herakles warned.
"Bah! He'll try to throw me off if he's happy too", he grumbled and his feet left the ground as he began flying. "But you're right. I'd better get going."
"Farewell, and Godspeed", Herakles grinned, lifting an open palm. The ceiling of the golden bubble opened up and formed a golden tube that led to the surface.
"Hilarious. You're getting better with the puns", Athos sighed before blasting upward with his father's guffaws in the background.
***
"No Arion! I'm honoured you chose me, but that's not food", Athos groaned as the excited horse eyed the golden pendant around his neck. After being headbutted and nuzzled, the godly horse turned its attention to the only other thing it liked more than swearing.
Gold.
Arion neighed in indignation. It didn't seem to care that Athos' aspect had greatly changed. It seemed that he could recognize its rider no matter how they looked.
"I'm not giving it to you. Now, why are you here? Do you want to take me somewhere?", Athos asked, using a hand to hold back Arion from biting into the pendant. The Divinity used to make it probably made it quite appetizing.
After another offended neigh, the divine horse nodded.
"Is it Demeter?"
Arion shook his head.
"Alright then", Athos sighed and hopped on Arion. The sea breeze made his long hair and cape sway. He had to admit, it was quite refreshing after spending a whopping three months under the sea. His eyes flickered with uncertainty as he inspected the horizon. He had the pendant and was at peak strength, yet he couldn't shake off the cold feeling behind his neck.
His instincts were telling him that something was about to happen.
Something bad.
'Nothing I can do about it...", He thought and closed his eyes. Leviathan returned to its ring form and the armoured black helmet covered his head.
"Let's go."
BOOM!
***
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