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(Fate) Chapter 188: Honor to fight alongside you.
🕑 Added 2024-11-05 15:59:25 +0000 UTCWhen the banquet was over, the heroes gradually woke up from their drunkenness and prepared to leave, but they found that many people were suddenly missing from their side.
Promise, Atalanta, Heracles, the giant stag Actaeon and even Jason, were nowhere to be found.
The young king informed the remaining heroes that the others had left during the night, saying they had something to take care of and that there was no need for concern.
Early in the morning, just after dawn, as the sun god Helios urged the goddess of night, Nyx, to retreat, Promise was caught red-handed by the heroes along the shoreline of Cyzicus.
Standing there, looking slightly embarrassed and unsure of what to say, he glanced at the heroes closing in around him.
The Pegasus, having just landed, looked at his somewhat embarrassed appearance and the heroes chasing after him, and laughed at him without hesitation.
"See, that's what I said last night.
Dressed in her green attire, Atalanta brushed a strand of hair off her shoulder and gazed coolly at Promise with her emerald eyes and said. "As expected, he was planning to sneak off."
"I suspected it yesterday when I heard about the man-eating giants," Helen, who was standing beside Atalanta, added. "Brother Promise wouldn’t leave it alone."
"Because we were warmly welcomed here," Medea, in her purple mage’s robe, laughed as well. "So I felt at the time that with Promise' character, he would definitely want to return the favor."
"I have to say, Promise, you were out of line."
Jason, who was still looking somewhat tipsy from the previous night’s feast, stepped forward and threw an arm around Promise’s shoulder. "Sneaking off without even informing your captain!"
Theseus also spoke, "Heading out to fight without me? Who’d protect delicate you, Promise, if I’m not there?"
Meleager and the giant stag Actaeon nodded in agreement, in their hearts, and at the same time quietly moved away from Theseus who was ignorant of the danger.
They were not big fools, and they did not want to be recorded in the little notebook of grudges because of their outspokenness.
"Promise, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this moment—since the very start of the Argo’s journey?"
Heracles’s eyes shone with excitement as he laughed. "I’ve been looking forward to a day where we could stand side by side in battle. Ever since we boarded this ship, I’ve dreamed of this!"
When Heracles said this, many others nodded in agreement.
The one who felt it most deeply was Atalanta.
This beautiful huntress was the person, who had accompanied Promise for the longest stretch of his journey so far and had been the very first to be depicted in his artwork.
Thus, she understood better than anyone the feeling that could only be felt when watching and observing from behind.
She also held the wish to travel alongside him and the desire to stand by his side in battle.
Promise was silent for a while, looking at the friends who had caught up to him.
Then he smiled, and gave Pegasus a gentle pat, sending it back up into the sky.
"I'm sorry. I owe you all an apology—this was indeed my mistake."
He then offered a sincere apology to everyone and continued, "Although most of you ended up here because of that little book of mine, recruited to work for me, together we are the true heroes of the Argo."
"So let the gods bear witness to this! Let’s face those man-eating giants together, win that glory together, and let the earth echo with our names, our legend!"
As soon as Promise finished speaking, the sea before them parted, revealing a deep-sea path that led directly to the nearby island of the giants.
The heroes looked at each other and realized that it was Poseidon, the god of the sea, who heard their voices and performed a miracle for them.
Seeing such an awe-inspiring sight, even Jason, who was still a little drunk, sobered up instantly.
He pinched his cheek on impulse, wincing at the sting, then tilted his head to glance at Promise beside him.
After hesitating for a while, he leaned closer, and whispered with a bit of curiosity, "Hey, Promise, just how many powerful gods are watching us right now?"
Hearing this, Promise tilted his head to look at him, thought for a moment, rolled his eyes at Jason, and did not answer his idiotic question.
Instead, he turned around and jumped towards the deep sea road below.
As he jumped, the surrounding seawater flowed out to cushion his descent gently, carefully setting him down as if he were as delicate as a mythical flower.
Seeing this, the other heroes followed his lead, jumping one by one.
Finally, Meleager came over, patted Jason on the shoulder, and said with emotion: "You're asking the wrong question, Jason. You should be asking which god is not watching us... No, they should be watching Promise."
With that said, Meleager also leapt down.
In Chiron’s class, Promise ranked dead last, with Jason just ahead of him.
Thus, Jason wisely chose to climb down instead, knowing well that Poseidon wouldn’t treat him with quite the same care as Promise.
By the time he reached the bottom, the other heroes had already gone far ahead.
As a result, he managed to catch up only halfway when the rest had already reached the shore. The parted seawater closed back up and unceremoniously tossed the still-wet Jason onto the shore.
Seeing Jason’s soaked and bedraggled state, everyone burst into laughter.
Then they took out their weapons one by one,
Even Promise summoned a golden bow and arrow from Apollo’s light, readying themselves as they set off toward the island of man-eating giants.
Meanwhile...
On the other side...
At the young king’s palace, the remaining heroes of the Argo didn’t have to wait too long for Promise and his group.
Before the sun set, Promise and the others returned.
When they came back, their bodies were covered in blood, and Theseus and Meleager bore several wounds,
While Promise, Helen, Medea, and a few others were all unscathed.
Promise in particular looked pristine, without a single speck of dust on him.
This was largely due to Medea risking her life, but relentlessly using of magic and potions to shield him, while Heracles and the others protecting him with unwavering dedication.
Seeing the group’s wounds and weariness, the remaining heroes quickly deduced that they had been in a fierce battle.
Once they learned that Promise and his group, under the watchful eyes of the gods, had defeated the man-eating giants, the other heroes’ eyes reddened with envy.
The young king, still in shock from excitement, barely managed to gather himself before expressing his gratitude alongside his citizens.
As word spread that this entire quest was instigated by Promise himself, and that the bastard Promise was planning to run away again, not to mention other heroes, even Orpheus, who was playing the lyre, expressed strong condemnation.
Helen's sister and brother, the twins, children of Zeus, were so angry that they chased Promise everywhere, scaring the boy so much that he could only call Pegasus in self-defense.
When they couldn't reach him, they turned their frustrations and bullied their sister Helen instead.
In a bid to calm everyone’s anger, Promise, with no other option, raised his hands in surrender and brought out his golden lyre.
Life on the road was tough, and now Promise could only appease them with a performance.
Under the glow of the setting sun, amidst the joyous laughter, the kingdom echoed with his music.
The gentle, enchanting sound of the lyre quickly captivated everyone, immersing them in its melody.
And what no one expected was that, with the sound of the piano, the young king's wife, who had been lying in bed due to illness and unable to get up, actually recovered miraculously.
She described how, within the music, she seemed to see an incredibly handsome god emerge from the sunset, approaching her.
He raised his hand and cast down light, saving her.
Hearing this, before anyone could react, Orpheus burst into laughter.
He revealed the god's identity, naturally his father, Apollo, the god of light, and informed everyone that the golden seven-stringed lyre held by Promise was a gift from Apollo himself.
This revelation also connected to a legend that had persisted for a year.
The matter of Hades and Persephone was long settled, and it was well-known that Persephone was queen of the underworld.
Even Theseus once went to the underworld on this account, so certain secrets no longer needed to be kept.
Orpheus, took the hand of his beloved wife, the nymph Eurydice, and the two looked at each other affectionately and told each other what had happened.
He told of how Promise rewrote their fate, brought goddess Persephone to the underworld, and rescued Eurydice.
Moved, Orpheus accompanied his story with music, performing on the spot.
Although people had heard of the tale before, now that they knew the whole story, everyone naturally couldn't help but look at Promise, who was feeling uncomfortable, with shock and admiration.
Faced with everyone's flattery, the boy awkwardly kept looking at Pegasus, wanting it to take him away quickly.
Who knew that the stinky horse brother would actually listen with such interest, ignoring Promise's gaze asking for help, and happily eating grass on the side... Oh, wait, there is no grass in this palace. Forget it, just drink water.
'Anyway, I'm not familiar with the young master now!'
In light of the story, Theseus finally understood why Persephone had joyfully declared herself Promise’s sister that day, and he now looked at Promise with a trace of guilt.
Among the crowd, there were only two people, or two women, who did not say anything about it.
One was naturally Atalanta, and the other was Medea.
They knew more than the others.
After all, they had seen Promise' painting with their own eyes, the painting of Hades and the goddess of agriculture, Demeter
and accompanied by powerful deities themselves, they knew the full extent of Promise’s achievement.
Though now part of history, possibly only recorded as a brief note, that "note" marked a monumental event in which Promise had saved countless lives, even overwhelming the three Fates to near exhaustion.
Later that night, Promise and his companions departed.
No matter how the young king and queen tried to persuade them to stay, everyone still returned to the Argo and set sail.
Inspired by Promise's deeds and by the day's giant-slaying hunt witnessed by the gods, everyone was fired up for new adventures.
Especially Jason, who, unaware of the danger, vividly recounted the day's events and how he fought alongside Promise.
Jealous to the point of nearly deforming with envy, the others looked at each other, then picked up their sacks and tied Jason up that very night, dragging him into the darkness for a sound beating.
They even discussed whether to toss him into the sea, after all, the god of the sea, Poseidon would just throw him back in disgust!
Seeing this, even the big guy Theseus chose to follow his heart and became completely honest.
Night fell, the moonlight shining down on the Argo, where Greece’s heroes gathered.
The Argo, which carried the heroes on their voyages, was undoubtedly the most profound part of ancient Greek mythology, and even represented the most glorious moment of the heroes of this era.
Promise stood beside the boat, facing the night wind, talking to the people around him, but he didn't know when the people around him left one by one, and the originally noisy atmosphere became peaceful..
Then...
"That young child who came down from the mountain, the child who wanted to be a hero but even his teacher was worried about him and followed him in secret, is now famous all over the land, and even the heroes consider it an honor to fight alongside him..."
A gentle voice spoke.
Familiar and melodious, it conveyed both joy and a touch of wistfulness.
A flawless goddess, dressed in a white gown free of a single blemish—reflecting her pure identity—stepped out of the moonlight to stand beside the young man.
Golden eyes met Promise’s clear green ones, and just that eye contact made the goddess smile involuntarily.
The smile that left the boy momentarily dazed.
She took a strand of silver hair,
walked forward to remove another goddess's hair from his, and, as she looked at the boy, who was blinking at her innocently, after tying up his hair, she reached out and pinched his face with amusement and anger.
“So, how do you feel about all this? Are you happy?”
“Well, it’d be a lie to say I’m not happy. As for my thoughts...”
Promise hesitated, looking at the flawless goddess before him. “Thank you, wise, beautiful, and surely gentle goddess of wisdom, Athena, for all the help you've given me up until now.”
“Also, respected and lovely Athena, I trust you won’t mind those... small disagreements we had on Olympus!”
