Chapter 14: Branded
With a groan, Odysseus woke, his face burning as he sat up, clutching the portion of his eye that wasn’t responding to his touch.
Then, he realized he couldn’t see from his left eye, his face one of shock as he grabbed at the bindings that obscured his vision.
“Hm?” Cire let out, waking up from sitting in a nearby chair and rushing over, grabbing Odysseus’s hands. “Whoa! Stop! Stop pulling the bandages of! Chiron! Chiron he’s awake!”
“Odysseus! Calm yourself boy!” Chiron barked, entering the tent and grabbing the panicking teenager's hands.
“Chiron? Cire?” Odysseus said, ration returning to his eye as he stared at the old centaur and red-headed girl. “You're both okay…”
A dream? No… it was real… Odysseus frowned, images of the marble figure smiling as a lightning bolt blinded him.
The two shared a look, both silent before Chiron began to carefully removed the white bindings on the teenager’s face, revealing a scar that made Cire wince.
“What… what is that?”
“What? What's wrong with my face?” Odysseus said, touching the bottom of his left eye that pulsed, causing him pain.
Chiron pursed his lips before reaching down and handing Odysseus a handheld mirror.
“Zeus…” Odysseus grimaced, viewing the thunderbolt on his skin.
“Zeus?” Cire said, “I'm sorry did you say Zeus?” As in the king of gods Zeus?”
“Cire, leave us,” Chiron ordered, his tone commanding in a way that Cire wasn’t used to.
She gnced between the centaur and Odysseus, the two looking at the huntress who sighed then shrugged before leaving.
“What happened?” Chiron asked as Odysseus opened his menu.
Support System Menu
SPONSOR: &(1 ERROR! CoRRupted Data!&^
Title: A Strategic Goddess’s Beloved
Name: Odysseus
HP: 90/100
CLASS: Challenger LvL 1
MP: 0/0
Free Points
4
AFFINITIES
Divine 150
Chaos 10
Fire 2
STRENGTH
8(7)
VITALITY
10(9)
SENSE
12(11)
DEXTERITY
13(12)
ARCANA
1(0)
EGO
20
[SEALED]
[BUFFS]: Protection of %^!@()[ERROR! Data does not exist!]
[DEBUFFS]: Slightly Malnourished (-1 All stats), Brand of Zeus (All Those Who Follow Zeus will know where you are.)
[RESISTANCES]: Divinity 175%, Chaos 10%, Fire 2%
SKILLS: Shard of Aegis (25MP), Telumkinesis, (10MP)
Odysseus frowned, telling Chiron of all that had transpired, the tter furrowing his brow as he listened intently to every word that left the youth’s mouth.
“I see,” Chiron said, the old centaur’s shoulders sagging, the man turning his head and seeming to visibly age.
“What does this mean Chiron?” Odysseus asked with Chiron unable to look at the trusting eyes seeking answers.
“Lately, I find myself saying this more often than I am comfortable with, but I do not know young hunter. Only you and the gods know what transgressions you have committed.”
“But I don’t know! I don’t know what I did, or even why I’m here, I didn’t even have a name before I came here!” Odysseus retorted, blinking his eye only to wince.
“I see…” At Odysseus’s response, a thoughtful look fell on Chiron’s face. “Expin that more to me.”
“About? Not having a name?”
“Everything, tell me everything you remember about coming here,” Chiron said, leaning forward to hear the boy’s tale.
“Interesting… a boy with amnesia. No patron. Yet blessed with the love of an Olympian and visions that tell you of the possibilities…” Chiron stroked his chin, “Hermes seems acquainted with you. Or… a version of you.”
“So?” Odysseus asked, eager to shed some light on his situation.
“There is powerful magic at work here. Power that shackles even the Prideful Sky Shaker. I believe… the threads of the Moirai have been unweaved, your fate has been rewritten. Which could expin your visions.”
“Moirai?”
“Depending on the Pantheon, they are known through many cultures as the Weavers, the Parcea, Uror, Norns, the sisters who write and rule fate, destiny, and the future. They hold power to enforce the natural order of the universe, to determine the lives of all beings, celestial and otherwise,” Chiron expined, “Even Zeus cannot command them so easily.”
“You mean… everything is fated to happen?” Odysseus asked, his face incredulous as his fists balled, the images of the sapphire-eyed man sughtering people coming to the forefront of his mind, “Then what was all that about me choosing to not become a monster?!”
“Fate is merely a prediction,” Chiron replied, “A possibility that can be rewritten. I believe… that your unique position is one of such a tale. And such audacity has earned the ire of the King of Gods. Whomever your benefactor is, they knew the risks of such an action, yet…”
“Yet?”
“Yet they sacrificed an astronomical amount of power, enough to defy the will of fates, and alter not just your life, but the lives of trillions of others, including Celestials. To reverse time… If my hypothesis is correct, such a thing is possible, but the cost…”
Chiron fell silent, Odysseus’s hands seeming to grow cmmy as an image of a lithe bird-like silhouette appeared in his mind.
“What would such a thing cost?” Odysseus pressed.
“At a scale to affect immortals? Nothing short but the sacrifice of a god would suffice. Not just a god, but their entire story, history, the tapestry of their lives snuffed out to fuel such a spell.”
“Are you telling me a god killed themselves to rewrite my fate?”
“This is just conjecture. But, your title speaks for itself young Hero.”
Odysseus looked at his system, the Strategic Goddess’s Beloved stinging his heart.
“But,” Chiron began, “A god is not so easily felled. Even at such an expenditure of power, there will be remnants of your benefactor. In other ways than one.”
“You mean I can bring them back?!”
“To this… I do not know. Again, this is merely conjecture. However, there is one who may be able to shed light on your unique position.”
“Who?”
“A ghost by the name of Tiresias.”
“Ghost? How am I supposed to ask a dead person questions?”
Chiron seemed almost amused by the reply.
“By ascending the tower,” Chiron answered, slowly rising from beside Odysseus’s bed. “Ascend the tower, and the answers you seek may one day reveal themselves to you. I believe he resides on floor ten. But that is all I am allowed to say.”
Odysseus watched his mentor go, the side of his vision showing he had less than three days left with the old Centaur.
“Chiron,” The boy called out, stopping the man just short of the hovel’s doorframe.
“Yes young hero?”
“Thank you. For everything.”
A soft smile appeared on Chiron’s face, yet, despite the smile, it wasn’t happy but rather an expression that oozed a feeling of deep sadness.
“Be ready in five minutes, we have more training to do. Cire will be leaving soon,” Chiron said before leaving Odysseus alone to stew in his thoughts.
