Godwyn put Annabeth down and leaned against the tree. Luke and Thalia sat beside him, breathing heavily. After Thalia killed the cyclops, they ran a lot, especially smelling the sulfur in the air, showing that hellhounds were nearby.
"I hate you guys." Annabeth spoke with a dissatisfied tone. Although she knew it was for her own good, she still found it incredibly rude to be picked up by the collar of her shirt and dragged along for dozens of miles.
"It was fun, brat." Thalia said with a smile as she ruffled Annabeth's curly blonde hair.
'Fun for you!' Annabeth mentally exclaimed, but sat beside them with a smile on her face.
Godwyn looked up and noticed that Zeus's gaze had disappeared. He knew that Athena had advised her father to stop being an arrogant jerk. At least there was some intelligence in the Greek pantheon.
Mimir had also felt it and sighed with relief. Unlike Godwyn, who was calm, he was very nervous. This was a God King, the apex of the gods in the cosmos. They were beings so powerful that only those who carried the destiny of the world could fight against them.
"Children, you have to leave this place quickly and not stay in one place for too long." Mimir couldn't help but warn the children, who were still finding the whole situation amusing.
He knew very well that this was just the beginning. There were two descendants of two god kings and two descendants of powerful gods; the scent of these four demigods could spread for tens or hundreds of miles, attracting all kinds of monsters.
The other demigods' expressions lost their previous amusement upon hearing his words; they all stood up without any delay. They looked at the forest before them with a solemn expression.
Recalling the previous events, Godwyn focused his gaze on the princess of Olympus and said in a calm tone, "Thalia, I know you are proud and prefer to do things personally, but you are on a team."
"I've seen more than once people like you only change when a teammate dies." Without caring about Luke and Annabeth's expressions, he continued speaking. "So, if you don't want to end up killing Luke and Annabeth at some point, you have to stop acting like a child with a hero complex and be the leader they expect you to be."
"Of course, I'm just talking, you decide if you want to continue like this." Godwyn advised Thalia, but he wouldn't force her to do anything; each person has to bear the consequences of their own actions. Unfortunately, as a demigod, these actions often result in the deaths of companions.
Luke frowned after hearing Godwyn's words; he didn't think things were that serious. Thalia just advanced before anyone else; it wasn't really a big deal in his eyes.
If Godwyn knew Luke's thoughts, he would just roll his eyes and say that love is blind. Any flaw of the person in love is completely ignored by a mind full of dopamine and love.
Thalia looked at Godwyn, seeing his sincere expression; the girl knew he was speaking for her own good. At the same time, she could imagine that something like this had happened to Godwyn's companions.
Looking at little Annabeth and Luke, who looked at her with confidence, Thalia reflected a little. If her impulsive actions could kill her friends, she would truly regret it for the rest of her life.
However, habits and a person's nature can hardly be changed by a few words.
Seeing that Thalia didn't respond, Godwyn also said nothing more. Although he hated fate, he knew more than anyone how difficult it is to break free from the chains of destiny. If fate willed it, you really had to obey.
"Godwyn, you just joined the group; saying something like that could push these kids away from you." Mimir spoke in a low, calm tone, his single eye looking at the three demigods in silence with a slightly worried gaze.
"I know, but Thalia has to mature." Godwyn was indifferent to Mimir's words. His words could indeed break the friendship that had just formed, but he didn't care.
A friendship that could end because of sincere advice was not a friendship he wanted.
Besides, he wasn't wrong; Thalia was incredibly irresponsible. Such people only changed when they lost someone important. It wasn't the first time he had met this type of demigod, and it wouldn't be the last.
The idea that everyone was a hero destined to do great deeds could make the teenage mind incredibly confident, as if nothing could defeat them, but on the first mission, fate would show how cruel a demigod's life is.
"She is a demigod, and we don't have the privilege of a sweet, gentle, and innocent childhood. If she doesn't mature, she will die just like thousands of demigods every year." Godwyn completed with a calm expression.
If Thalia really wanted to distance herself from him because of advice, he would just fulfill his debt to Luke and take the three demigods to Camp Half-Blood and go his own way.
Mimir sighed but said nothing more. Godwyn was right. Being a child of a god could be glorious in the eyes of mortals, but only a demigod knows how risky a demigod's life is. Dying young was not a percentage, but a certainty that would happen one day.
"Let's go." Thalia said, taking a step forward and entering the forest without looking back; Luke and Annabeth followed the girl without any hesitation. The seven-year-old girl looked at Godwyn and used her hand to ask him to follow quickly.
Godwyn smiled gently at the adorable child and followed behind the group. He could see that the child had more logical reasoning than two teenagers in the rebellious phase of life, which was ironic, given that she was only seven years old.
-
One day later, the four were in a house on the outskirts of Lakeside, Virginia. The house had its furniture covered with sheets, showing that no one had been living in it for a long time.
Godwyn was sitting while taking a silver horn from his pocket. The horn could shrink and grow as he wished; it was a gift from the Dwarves for helping them deal with a fire dragon. The horn was an artifact that had an expanded space inside, capable of storing items, which he could take out at any time.
From the silver horn appeared a jar containing a thick, dense golden liquid, which smelled of a sweet and tempting aroma.
"Mead." Mimir commented in a dry tone, as if he had walked through the desert for many days and finally found water.
Godwyn smiled seeing this and served a glass with a straw for Mimir, who accepted without any hesitation. He began to drink through the straw with an expression of genuine happiness.
"A thousand years and one night without drinking this wonder of a drink." Mimir commented with a tone full of pleasure, finally being able to drink the favorite beverage of the Norse gods. He drank all the liquid in less than a minute and looked at Godwyn asking for more.
Godwyn rolled his eyes and served another glass for the God of Wisdom and served one for himself. Unlike Greek Ambrosia, Mead had only one magical property: being extremely delicious.
The taste was so good that there were divine wars over the drink, mainly between the Aesir and Vanir, who fought against the Jotuns to steal the recipe for the mythical drink.
Feeling the best taste of his life, Godwyn felt his body completely relax; even the exhaustion of months seemed to disappear at that moment.
Suddenly, Godwyn noticed three pairs of eyes looking at him with greedy expressions. Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth looked at the jar with surprised and greedy gazes.
The first to awaken from this feeling was surprisingly Annabeth; she looked at the liquid with suspicion and moved slightly away from Godwyn. "What is that?" She asked, shocked. The overwhelming desire for the drink was still fresh in her mind.
"Mead, the favorite drink of the Norse gods." Godwyn replied, taking another sip while looking at Annabeth with a touch of admiration.
Like Ambrosia, which could kill a demigod if too much was consumed, Mead had a similar effect, but much crueler.
The taste of the drink was so good that it would make demigods addicted to it and consequently become slaves to the drink. These demigods would do anything to drink another sip of Mead.
Annabeth showed an expression of fear upon hearing the consequences of getting addicted to the drink; she looked at Godwyn with concern.
"Don't worry, little owl, this only affects demigods with weak wills and those who want to escape reality." Godwyn commented with an amused tone while Luke and Thalia finally escaped Mead's influence.
After hearing Godwyn's explanation, they looked at the drink with a touch of fear, the same fear Annabeth showed.
"Although the drink is dangerous, it's a great way to increase demigods' mental resistance." Godwyn said with a smile, looking at the three demigods. He didn't lie; Mead could indeed increase demigods' mental resistance.
It was used in Valhalla to train demigods to resist the influence of certain monsters that could control and influence the minds of other beings. As for the demigods who didn't resist temptation and became addicted to Mead, Odin had only one phrase for it.
The weak do not deserve compassion.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Godwyn wanted Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth to get addicted; when he saw that they were about to fall into temptation, he would remove the Mead. This would not cause them any harm.
Exactly like now. Now that they knew the effects and dangers of Mead, Mead's influence would be greatly weakened. As long as they remembered this feeling, they could notice that something was wrong much more easily.
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Note: The effects of Mead were written by me based on the inspiration from Ambrosia in the Percy Jackson World. I hope it turned out well.
Read the advanced chapters on my Patreon!
/GOTSW
Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (400,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.