Author Notes: Well, I guess this story is back. Sort of. I will have to write it from the ground up since all my drafts for all my stories are gone, along with a lot of my other files, while moving from Zorin OS to Cachy OS, so don't expect it to update daily. Anyways, on with the story.----------------------------------------------------
Seriphos.
In a rather normal home located in a neighborhood full of fishermen and their families, a young man sat uncertainly as his mother wept at the predicament forced upon them.
The woman, Danae, who was once a princess of Argos, but was now an ordinary woman who was unfortunately being targeted by the King of Seriphos, Polydectes, due to her beauty, could do nothing but weep at this moment, as her son had taken on such an impossible task, all because of that damned king who wanted to drive him away.
Her son, Perseus, on the other hand, clenched his fists in anger and dismay as the king's sneering and ridiculing words continued to ring out in his ears.
'You, a mere fisherman, dare to arrive at my wedding without a gift? Ignoring my decree? Do you think you and your mother can get away with such disrespect?'
Perseus glared at the king, angered beyond reason with the public humiliation of his mother.
'Speak, King of Seriphos. Whatever you decide you want, I will bring it for you.'
The king's eyes gleamed with malice and glee as he stared at the young man.
'Then, bring me the head of the Gorgon.'
Clenching his eyes shut, Perseus relived that memory again and again, remembering that bastard's lustful eyes as he stared at his mother after that decree, making Perseus realize that he had fallen into the trap set for him by the king.
But now, since the word was given, there was nothing he could do but carry out the task, lest his mother bear the punishment of defying the king.
He could flee the land with her, but where would he go? When this place, this life, is all he ever knew? Not to mention that the seas have been rather turbulent lately, and he knew nothing of how to navigate the vast waters beyond his home, and more importantly, he had no wealth to support his mother and himself in foreign lands.
It was when this pair of mother and son was so distraught that a familiar presence made its way into their home.
A tall man, built like a warrior, wearing shabby bronze armor and old clothes, walked into the house.
His wild, black mane reached to the middle of his back while his black eyes shone with a familiar warmth.
Perseus instantly perked up with relief as he spotted the familiar figure of his teacher.
"Teacher!-"
"Calm, Perseus. I have heard everything that has transpired."
Danae fell to her knees in front of the man that she knew to be a powerful warrior.
"My Lord! Please, help my son plead for mercy from the King. This quest is a suicide, one from which my son will never return."
She pleaded tearfully with the being that she knew better than anyone else.
"I am willing to do whatever you or the king says. I only ask that he spare my son-"
"Mother! No! I will not allow that swine to get away with all of this!"
"Then what do you plan to do!? Go on that suicide task? Die at the sea or at the hands of that monster?"
Broly watched the back and forth between the two before finally coughing loudly, catching their attention.
"Fret not, Lady Danae. While Perseus was indeed reckless with his actions this time, I think he is quite capable of handling this task. After all, with all the training I gave him, he should be able to succeed. And even if he does not, he should be able to survive. However-"
Broly turned to stare at Perseus seriously.
"Before I approve or do anything, I want to know, Perseus. What led you to this situation? What made you proclaim such reckless words in the court of the king?"
Suddenly, Perseus felt a strange pressure under his teacher's gaze.
"Was it pride? Was it because the King dared to question your honor and insulted your ego that you used such words?"
"Was it because you were reckless? Because you did not know what you were doing and, in a fit of rage, proclaimed such arrogant words?"
"Was it because you were overconfident? That you could overcome anything after having been taught by someone like me?"
"Or was it because you simply never thought things through?"
Perseus fell silent at his teacher's question before speaking up softly.
"None of those. I did what I did because he insulted my mother. I can tolerate anything, but the way he mocked my mother? That is something that I will never tolerate."
Perseus looked up at his teacher with determination, knowing that his words were quite arrogant for a mere fisherman. However, instead of disdain, disappointment, or any other such emotion he would have expected from any other man in his teacher's place, what he saw was pride.
Broly grinned and patted the young man on the head while Danae continued to sob at her son's words, her heart filling with gratitude, love, pride, and a myriad of emotions.
"Good. Looks like I didn't make a mistake all those years ago when I decided to train you."
Broly sat down on a nearby chair and motioned for Perseus to do the same before speaking seriously.
"Since you have already taken up the quest and are prepared for what is to come, as your teacher, I can't abandon you in such a critical state. So, I will tell you what you need to do if you are to succeed."
Perseus nodded.
"I am ready, teacher. Please, tell me what I need to do."
Broly raised three fingers and started to speak about what the young man must do.
"First, you need to know where the Gorgon is. To that end, you need to find the Graeae. The Grey Sisters."
"To that end, I have already marked out their location on the map. However, the journey there is treacherous, and the seas are currently relentless."
"Second, you need to find a weapon capable of slaying the Gorgon and a way to hide from her stare that turns men to stone."
Broly smiled at the apprehensive look on his student's face.
"The materials, I can provide, but the weapons must be forged by you, and you alone."
"Third, you need a way to contain the severed head of the monster, for even after death, her stare still retains its power."
Danae fell to her knees once again and tried to plead on behalf of her son.
"My Lord. Please have mercy, my son cannot possibly do all of that! Is there no other way?"
Broly nodded with a glint in his eyes as his eyes never left Perseus.
"There is. He can pray to the King of the Seas for safe passage to the monster. He can beg for the Goddess of Wisdom's help to devise a plan to defeat the Gorgon. He can plead for the Winged One's help in procuring weapons and equipment to defeat and then contain the monster. Given that you have been faithful to the gods for so long, Danae, I am sure the gods of Olympus will not ignore Perseus's plea."
"However, Perseus, I must ask you, which path do you wish to tread on? Do you wish to do this quest with your own strength and skills that I taught you? Or do you wish to rely on the power of the gods and gain glory for yourself and your mother? The choice is yours."
Perseus fell silent at the question.
He wanted it. He really wanted to choose the second path. Not just because of the glory that comes with having the very gods witness and guide his quest, which would mean his name would never be forgotten, but also because it was the safest path available to him. With this path, he would be guaranteed success and would return safe and sound, and would be crowned a hero.
Yet, for some reason, the thought of victory achieved through such means left a taste of ash in his mouth.
The former path is a treacherous one. To cross the turbulent seas, there is no telling if the Lord of the Seas would suddenly decide to drown him on a whim, or some monster or spirit would decide to eat him for a snack. To forge weapons out of the materials provided by his teacher would take time, and he cannot guarantee that they will kill the monster. To devise a plan to hide and then defeat the monster on his own would mean that, should he fail, there would be no way for him to guarantee survival.
And yet, should he succeed in this path, he knew that his teacher would be proud of him, and his mother would be proud of him. He would also be proud of himself.
And that is all he ever sought in his life, to make his mother proud.
'So, is there even a need to think so much about which path I would choose?'
"Teacher. I choose to do this as a man. I will take the first path."
Persues stared with determination at his teacher.
"As you once said, power borrowed from others will always betray me when I need it the most. Only the skills that I gain with my own effort will remain with me till death and beyond. So, I will do this without relying on the gods for it."
"...HeheheHAHAHAHA! Good! Very Good!"
Broly laughed happily at the answer, making Perseus awkwardly avoid his teacher's proud gaze.
For the next few hours, Broly prepared his student for what was to come and then sent him off on his journey, his first stop being a nearby kingdom where he would first forge his weapons in one of Broly's nephews' hidden workshops.
However, it was only after Perseus left that Danae finally spoke with dismay.
"My Lord, is this truly necessary? Has my son not proven himself worthy already? Was that not why you decided to train him all those years ago?"
Broly smiled warmly at the woman as his illusion fell away.
Gone was the shabby bronze armor and old clothes. In their place, an intricately forged golden armor manifested over regal blue, white, and gold clothes that stuck to his form like a second skin.
His hidden presence now radiated with divine light while his wild mane of hair and warm look in his eyes remained.
Gone was Broly, the powerful and mysterious warrior who had been a resident of this house for the past decade. And in his place stood Brolios Asterion, the God of Destruction, Nature, the Lost, Freedom, and Martial Arts. The strongest Olympian.
"Danae. Back then, in that tower where your father imprisoned you, Zeus and Hera made a deal with you. You would bear a son with their essence in exchange for us gods looking over you and your son for the rest of your life. However, the condition was that the halfling would prove himself to be worthy of such protection."
Brolios's eyes saddened as he looked at the distraught mother, yet there was an unmistakable gleam of pride as well.
"Do you remember that time when your father locked you and your son up in that chest and thrust you into the seas?"
"....I do, My Lord."
"Back then, we offered to take you straight to a paradise where you and your son would live with abundance and happiness. Yet, you rejected that offer. Do you remember the reason you gave me back then?"
Danae nodded.
She remembered that time all too well. She knew that, if she had accepted the god's offer back then, she and her son would live happily without a care in the world to old age. Even in death, she would be assured that they would have a place in the fields of Elysium.
Yet, she rejected it. Because such a life is not one for a human like her or her son, who is partially human.
In her view, she cannot truly call herself a living, breathing person with freedom if she lived in such a place. After all, in her view, to be a human is to struggle against the forces of life and death and carve out a life for oneself with one's own two hands. A life that they truly earned with their efforts, not one gifted to them for free.
Suddenly, she realized why her son chose the path he did in this quest as she chuckled ruefully.
'I see. It would seem he inherited more from me than I ever realized.'
Brolios smiled as he saw the realization on the woman's face before he spoke again.
"This quest, where he must slay that monster I created specifically as a test for him, is his final trial, Danae. Make no mistake, as his teacher, I will be watching over him every step of the way, but I will not intervene unless it is a matter of life and death, for that is the path that he has chosen, just like you back then. Of course, the boy will not know any of this. To him, this truly will be a journey full of perils."
Brolios winced, however, when he remembered how the priestess of Athena had fumed when he had used her and her sisters' likenesses and their DNA to create the Gorgons, making him compensate said priestesses greatly for this slight.
'That being said, I need to ask Athena why her priestesses were giving me such strange looks when I compensated them for using their likenesses for my monsters and where all their supposed anger disappeared to once I did that.'
Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, he turned back to Danae and continued speaking.
"Should he succeed in this quest, however, I will make sure that his fame and deeds shall never be forgotten by this world. That is my promise."
Brolios's eyes gleamed with anticipation as he continued to speak.
"Should he succeed in this test, he will be the template upon which many of your kin will be born from now on. He will be called the progenitor of his race. He will be revered, and he will be enshrined in the hearts of many a hero to come."
"However, should he fail, it would only mean that this experiment was also a failure."
Danae tensed at those words, fearing the worst, yet relaxed when Brolios shook his head.
"Do not worry, even if he fails, nothing will happen to him or you. I will make sure of it. You two will still live out your lives in bliss and will be granted a place in the fields of Elysium should you remain the good people that you are now."
With that, the god disappeared from the house, but not before visiting a certain king, who nearly soiled himself at the mere sight of the Strongest Olympian, who ordered the king to stay put and keep away from the mother of the demigod.
An order that the king dared not disobey lest he be destroyed.
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