As I stepped ashore after a year at sea, I began to reflect on everything I had been through.
After embarking on my journey aboard the merchant ship, I traveled from place to place without stopping. I amassed a considerable fortune, so much that I didn't know what to do with it, since I didn't use the drachmas.
Same old story, but in the context of being far from civilization, the ship's general funds were used by everyone except me, despite being the captain. This was because I took care of my clothes, didn't need to drink, and fished or hunted for food.
I also hunted the creatures or monsters that Poseidon sent me occasionally; I must mention my archenemy, Charybdis.
No matter how many times I killed her, she always returned because Poseidon revived her. I'm bored with the idea of reviving creatures; I know she's the daughter of great-uncle Poseidon, but I don't know what he has against me.
And she's a sentient being, since one of the few times we faced each other, she spoke to me; she has vocal cords and everything. And she can transform into a human or a nymph in a certain way.
She had transformed into a nymph in the middle of the sea, asking me for help; I fell for the trap, brought her aboard the ship, and when I let my guard down, she burned the ship. Only when she jumped into the sea and transformed did I learn who she was.
I don't know if she's malicious or just bored, but I can say that she is indeed a daughter of Poseidon.
"How was your time traveling in my domain?" Uncle Poseidon asked me, sitting on the dock dressed as a pirate.
I won't dwell on how she knew I'd come here; it'll be a drag.
"Honestly, without the monsters and creatures you sent me, I would have been incredibly bored," I told her.
"I noticed, I saw, that you and Charybdis became best friends," she said cheerfully.
I just rolled my eyes. What a toxic friendship.
...
Invoking magic, I aimed my bow at a bird flying peacefully. Using the blessing of water, a water arrow began to form, and upon releasing the string, the arrow flew, striking the pelican.
There was an explosion of water; the arrow didn't pierce the bird, but it did hit it, causing it to fall into the sea, to become food for some marine creature.
"Well?" Poseidon asked excitedly.
"This," I said, considering my words. "This is crap. This will only work if you bring me a fireball and if there's a water source nearby, not to mention that—" I stopped myself when I saw how discouraged and depressed Poseidon looked. "It's an arrow; if you use more water and more power, it can hit very hard; I expected no less from the substance of which the sea is made."
"Exactly, water is better than fire or lightning," he said excitedly, as if he were trying to scam me with a shell company or one of those pyramid schemes. "You don't even need a water source to use it; you can summon water yourself with magic."
"Can I?" I asked him.
"Now, with my blessing, you can," he confirmed.
I stared at the god and then looked elsewhere, mostly at the city entrance.
"Which city is this? I thought I'd come to Ilios," I said to myself.
"That was its old name, but the current king changed it; now it's called Troy," the god explained. "If I'm not mistaken, the current king's name is Tros. How arrogant, isn't it?"
I stared at Poseidon as if he'd grown another head; I don't know how he can talk like that, how he can spit into the air and it doesn't come back to haunt him.
"Well, whatever, I want to eat real meat. I'm going to the city." I told the god.
"I'll follow you. I haven't been to this city either," I said to myself, feeling quite excited.
"Don't you have anything else to do as a god?" I asked him.
"Someone else can do it for me, like your father," he replied, quickening his pace beside me as if it were a race to see who would get in first.
I didn't know my father could do a god's job, but if it's something like papermaking, then he could; poor guy.
I wished my father luck and followed great-uncle Poseidon into the city.
...
After spending a few weeks in this place, I realized I didn't have much to do. I had a good life here, sure, but it wasn't what I wanted.
While going through a period of crisis, I remembered what I'd experienced at sea, especially what I'd acquired: a water elemental arrow. I started to ponder: what if I could make other kinds of arrows?
Thinking back, I realized I was missing the elements of earth, fire, wind, and lightning. The only one I wouldn't choose to obtain was Earth, since I feel that if I asked Gaia for something, it would be to free the giants or destroy Olympus, so I'd have to use a substitute for that.
(Note: This refers to the Greek Gaia, not the counterforce Gaia).
So, the first step I had to take was to return home.
I took a boat to Crisa. Since I needed to go to Anakosmos, where all or most of the gods reside, and to acquire this elemental ability, I needed to speak with at least three gods: Zeus, Hephaestus, and Aeolus.
...
"I see you're back," my mother, Kiss-shot, remarked, sitting on the throne where my father usually sat.
She looked younger than before; she appeared to be about 17 or 18 years old.
"I'm glad you're well; you look younger," I said happily.
"After creating Helena, I had to take on this appearance, and I still can't return to my adult form, not that I don't like looking younger," she said as she walked over to me and hugged me.
I hugged her back, since it had been years since I'd seen her.
"What's happened during this time?" I asked.
"Not much. Currently, your father's with Ares and Helena playing war games or something; he doesn't pay attention to those things. Hestia's busy with herbal drinks now, and she's excellent. Aphrodite's resting since she'll soon give birth, and surprisingly, it's not Dante's. She'd said she wanted to try something new, and she didn't like it, but that experiment came as a surprise. And finally, Artemis is still the same; not much has changed."
That Aphrodite motherfucker. I knew the relationship with my father was forced, and I knew I couldn't escape it for fear of what that goddess might do, but I imagine the new interactions between the two will be even more forced and awkward.
"Maybe I should visit her," I commented upon hearing about Artemis.
"She misses you quite a bit, but I imagine you wouldn't come here just to say hello. What brings you here?" she asked.
I felt a little embarrassed for coming here for a reason and not just for a visit. It makes me feel like a bad daughter.
"Well, I came to seek the blessing of the god of lightning, fire, and wind," I said honestly; there was no reason to lie or anything like that.
"Of those three, the easiest would be the god of wind, but it was a bad idea to come here," she warned me.
"And why is that?" I asked.
"Because he doesn't live here. He's on his island as king; I think it's called Aeolia," she explained.
My mind went blank.
...
You have no idea how confused I was, thinking there were three Aeoluses. Luckily, only one lived in Aeolia.
A good guy; thankfully, he didn't ask me to do anything too difficult, just eliminate some beasts near his island.
With his blessing, I can now coat arrows with wind, which reduces friction and sharpens them more than normal, making them better than wind arrows.
Now, with the second elemental blessing, I only needed the third, which I thought would be the most difficult. Like Aeolus, Hephaestus didn't live in Anakosmos, but in a volcano, and sometimes on Olympus.
After a long journey, I arrived at Mount Etna in Sicily.
The entrance to Hephaestus's forges was partially hidden, yet very visible at the same time; once you saw it, it was a metallic entrance, filled with metal and heat.
Once I entered, I realized he wasn't there. Even though this was his home, he wasn't here.
That's when I realized this place wasn't his forge, no matter how much it resembled one.
I had to go find the people who lived here to learn where his forge was.
So I had to make another trip, this time to the island of Lemnos.
Once I arrived, I felt like living there; ignoring the heat, it was quite nice.
(Note: The place hasn't been cursed by Aphrodite yet.)
Ignoring all that, I went straight to Hephaestus's forge. The place also had a metal entrance and unbearable heat; there were some Cyclopes there.
I walked right past them, ignoring everyone, and whenever they asked, I just said I had a meeting with Hephaestus and was rushing.
That way, I avoided the guys who didn't have much interaction with women, and honestly, I didn't want to antagonize a god who wasn't very kind to me.
When I started hearing the loud sounds of hammers striking metal, I knew I was close.
In a room filled with objects, tools, and metal stood Hephaestus in his humanoid, or human, form.
A giant dwarf, if you can call him that, with his hair tied back, a long beard, and a large, tanned body.
"What's up?" I said simply, making the god stop.
He stared at me for a moment; only after a few seconds did he speak.
"Get out of here, descendant of that creature," he said, continuing with his work.
"But why? I haven't done anything to you," I complained, moving closer to him.
"Not you, but your father did. He took my trust and destroyed it," he said, annoyed.
My father was right that the gods punished the children who harmed them instead of going after the true culprits.
"But that's not his fault; it's Aphrodite's; she's the one who kidnapped my father. What was he supposed to do?" He looked at me, unconvinced. "Besides, my father told me that crazy women are the ones who are attracted to him like that. In other words, you dodged a bullet, and without my father's intervention, she might have cheated on you with every man on Olympus and more, so you saved your dignity."
I hope that's enough to convince this dwarf god to work.
He remained silent, staring at the piece of metal he was hammering, and let out a long sigh.
"So, what do you want?" he asked me, to which I replied with a smile.
...
After preaching to harm those who harmed you, not their descendants, I managed to strike a deal with the god of the forge, which brought me here.
Below was the entrance to a cave filled with rare plants and minerals. Hephaestus told me that in this place there is a mineral capable of regenerating and slowly expanding called chlorophyll, but it is guarded by a plant creature called Plantera.
(Note: Play Terraria; I'm just mentioning that I'm borrowing from the game.)
This is the first time I've been far from the borders of Greek territory; I just hope some being from another pantheon comes to bother me, knowing how the gods are. So the plan is to get in quickly, take all the chlorophyll, and leave as fast as possible.
In fact, I heard that a long, serpentine dragon with whiskers sleeps nearby, so I have to be quiet. I don't know if I'm capable of defeating a dragon, especially since I know nothing about it.
With great self-confidence, I ventured into the cave.
The place was overgrown with weeds; there were also more underground caves and abandoned structures covered in plants that had enveloped them, becoming part of the ecosystem.
The problem is that I don't know where I am or where to go, so this will be a long journey.
...
After wandering in circles for a month, I think—I'm not sure—and eliminating and then eating poisonous wasps and bees, which at first gave me stomachaches and headaches, but now I don't feel them anymore, I found the mineral.
It was bright green and luminous; I don't know what this is for. I'm not an alchemist like my father or a blacksmith like Hephaestus, but perhaps if I keep a little bit of it, it wouldn't hurt.
As soon as I touched the chlorophyll, I felt the whole place where I was standing begin to tremble.
"This gives me a bad feeling," I said to myself; using Observation Haki, I saw something coming in my direction.
I cautiously took a step back to see a piece of plant burst through the area where I was standing.
I had to take another step and another, as more and more plants kept appearing, trying to crush me.
Summoning my bow and using an arrow imbued with fire magic, I fired it. But despite using fire, the attack wasn't very effective.
"Now, having the Fire Blessing would have been useful," I complained.
The difference between using an element with magic and having the Blessing is that with the latter, the magic is much more potent, and the manipulation of the element is more effective and precise, making it more powerful and lethal.
For example, instead of covering my arrow in fire, I could have created a fire arrow that could explode and spread throughout the entire plant instead of just burning the piece the arrow touched, not to mention other forms of attack I could have used.
Sometimes it's more effective to use an arrow and envelop it in fire or create a fire arrow; it depends on who your enemy is.
Currently, I'm fighting a plant; the most effective thing would be to burn it to ashes.
Taking another step back, the ground shattered, sending me tumbling down into a vast, open space.
The place was filled with chlorophyll and incredibly bright. Unfortunately, there were several giant plants with teeth and numerous bulbous plants with teeth, very similar to the larger ones, ready to attack me.
"Damn it," I said, using the elemental power of fire to propel myself onto a platform of air. The smaller bulbs were too small for me at my distance, so the giant plants began launching massive seeds, each about half my size.
I dodged them by leaping from one place to another as the seeds exploded on contact. Thank you so much, Father, for bequeathing me Observation Haki.
I had to run and dodge many of these things, which made it difficult to concentrate.
While still moving, I drew my bow and used magic to enhance the arrow and bow; combined with the sharpening power of the air element, I fired an arrow that destroyed one of the giant plants.
"Good," I said, but my victory was short-lived, as the plant quickly regenerated and reverted to its original form, much to my horror.
At that moment, more plants emerged from the ceiling to attack me; I was trapped, barely able to move, and these things were immortal.
Only after dodging several attacks and tanking another with Armament Haki did I remember a detail.
Hephaestus said there was only one monster, but here was one; that meant these giant plants were the same creature, and this wasn't the core.
Using all the concentration I could muster, I searched the area for something I could recognize as the creature's core or heart.
In about 30 seconds, I found a bulb hidden amidst all this, buried under a large amount of earth and iron; given how well protected it was, it had to be the core.
Using the power of the wind, I leaped swiftly, landing beneath the core. And as if sacrificing myself, I let myself fall.
Using all my concentration, I completely enveloped myself in Armament Haki; I created an arrow containing the power of the bow and enhanced it with magic.
As I fell, smaller bulbs on the ground flew straight toward me, biting into my body.
Ignoring the pain, I focused on the core, and mid-fall, I released the arrow.
It fell and destroyed everything in its path, including the chlorophyll itself. In less than a blink, it pierced the core, destroying it without a trace.
When I touched the ground, the bulbs had stopped biting me, but they were still embedded in me.
I watched as the larger plants began to wither and die.
I just sighed; the tiny creatures hadn't bitten me very deeply, but they had damaged me, making me bleed and leaving me completely covered in blood.
"Now how am I going to transport all this chlorophyll?" I asked myself, looking around.
...
Finally, it took me 10 months to do all of that: finding the cave, being inside it, and bringing back as much chlorophyll as I could to Hephaestus's forge.
"I see you succeeded," he said, somewhat astonished, watching me leave a huge amount of chlorophyll outside the entrance to the form.
"I succeeded because I'm a barbarian," I declared, flexing my muscles. Something the Cyclopses mimicked.
"Well, as we agreed, I bless you so that you can use fire in its purest and most natural form," the god said. At that moment, I felt a surge of power coursing through my body, but there were two, not one.
"Lord Hephaestus?" I asked, to which the god simply placed his hand in front of my face, stopping what I was about to say.
"You only had to bring a little, not much; as a token of my appreciation, I also gave you the ability to manipulate the metal of the arrows you can make. That way, you don't have to bring Gaia, preventing a disaster." He explained.
"Thank you very much," I said politely.
"Don't get me wrong, I still hate your father with all my soul, but as you said, you have nothing to do with him, so you can see I'm not evil or a grouch," and with that, he went back to his forge.
As he left and the Cyclopes busied themselves with the chlorophyll I had brought, I pondered his words. I hope this doesn't affect my father. Even if it does, he's strong; he'll handle it.
And with that, I went to my last stop, Olympus.
...
After a long journey and nearly a year of travel, I arrived at my final destination: the Temple of Zeus.
There were nymphs who guided me to where the god was, only to find him reclining in a chair, eating grapes and gazing at the earth's surface.
"You know, from up here I can see everything that's happening down there," he told me.
"Can you see everything?" I asked him.
"Yes and no. I can see one specific place, but not two places at once. My power isn't as omnipotent as I'd like it to be. And tell me, what brought you here?"
"I'd like your blessing so I can use lightning," I said honestly.
He looked at me for a moment before snapping his fingers.
"Very well, I give you my blessing," he said, which caught me off guard. I expected him to give me an impossible mission or something. "But on one condition: you can only use lightning with your arrows, nothing else."
"No problem," I replied, feeling a surge of power fill my body, but also a restriction. I couldn't use the power of lightning the way I could with water, fire, or wind.
"I have a question?" I asked him. I asked.
"Tell me," he replied.
"Why did you just give it to me like that?" I asked.
"I owe your father a small favor, and I'd rather he collect it through you than ask me for it later; that way I won't owe him anything," I said with a smile.
"That is perfect," I said honestly.
"If that's all you want, you can go," the god ordered, and I left before anything bad happened, since you couldn't trust Zeus, or at least that's what the other gods have told me.
Now that this is over, I think I'll stop by and see my mother, Artemis, and the others; I miss the girls a little.