The Forest Nymph Pt. 02

When Helios did not answer, Felix wordlessly turned away and retrieved the shield he had taken from one of the dead soldiers.

"Is she not worth it?" Helios called out before Felix could leave the clearing.

The human stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to the titan.

"Is your love for my daughter not great enough for you to put aside your anger and swallow your pride? Surely these three years have rehabilitated you enough to show some compassion, if not forgiveness. Listen to me Felix; you and the gods share the same goal and the same enemy. I'm not asking you to work with them for their sake. I'm only asking you to hear them out for Serenity's."

The sky was filled with golden clouds, moving faster across the blue abyss than hungry wolves after a rabbit. Felix was flying through the sky with Helios on his golden chariot, several miles above the safety of solid ground. He was tapping his fingers impatiently against the side of the chariot and he repeatedly shifted his grip on the hilt of the Mycenaean sword he had stolen. Even while flying above the clouds, his mind was focused solely on rescuing Serenity.

"You mask your emotions well," Felix finally said, breaking the silence.

"I cannot afford to be angry and irrational at this time. I must keep my mind clear for the sake of my daughter," Helios responded with his voice trembling.

"Then you truly did love her and her mother?"

Helios tried to crack a smile, but it became little more than an awkward shift of unsure facial expressions. "You could say that."

He then looked ahead and gained a real smile. "Welcome Felix, to Mt. Olympus!"

Felix looked ahead and his jaw sank so low that it was almost ripped from his skull. With the sun shining on the sea of clouds and giving them a golden shade, a colossal temple of diamond and marble was built into the summit of the tallest mountain in the known world, Mt. Olympus. The temple was decorated with statues of the gods and goddesses and surrounded by courtyards containing entire geographical areas. Fields, forests, and even lakes were all being held in creases of the colossal mountain, held up so high that no one on the ground could ever see them

The courtyards were filled with the mystical creatures of legend, all living peacefully in their gardens. Winged horses flew between gargantuan pillars, the Ceryneian Hind grazed in a sunlit field, the Laelaps was lying in the shade of a tree while chewing on a bone, several hundred phoenixes were all perched in a small forest, with each tree charred from the death and rebirth of the birds, and the Teumessian Fox could see seen wandering among the cliffs.

Helios and Felix passed through a towering gate of solid glass and the golden chariot came to a halt on the marble floor. "Come with me. Zeus and the others need to speak with you."

In utter astonishment at what he had seen, it took Felix a moment to shake himself awake and follow the titan. Helios led him down a labyrinth of marble pillars to a large set of doors, both made of sterling silver. Helios opened the doors without touching them and brought Felix through. They both entered a circular room with every surface made of a precious mineral, jewel, or metal. The walls were lined with thrones, and sitting in each was a god or goddess, not to mention the remaining titans. Without having ever seen them before, Felix could instantly identify deities like Athena, Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, and all others. He tried to maintain his composure and keep his temper in check in the presence of the gods. He would have normally spat on the ground in insult, but his mind was too fixated on Serenity.

"Felix, last of the Trojans, welcome to Mt. Olympus," Zeus said with a booming voice.

He had white hair, a long beard, and a wreath around his head. He was so large that even the tallest warrior would have to stand on the back of a horse to match his height, and he was built with enough muscles to overpower an entire herd of oxen.

"Don't mock me, Olympian. I fear you no more than I fear the hundreds of men I have slain. Helios said that you could help me rescue Serenity and he said you need my help, now give me what I need or else I leave you on your own," Felix barked with unspeakable defiance.

The gods and titans stirred at the insulting tone, but continued on.

"We have brought you here because we all share a common enemy and a common purpose. We need your help, Felix," Poseidon said as he spun his trident in his hand. Like Zeus, he had a long white beard and was heavily built, but his clothes were instead made of woven seaweed and on his head was a crown of coral.

"What do you need my help with?"

"You know of Agamemnon, correct?" Zeus asked.

Felix's heart was filled with rage and his effort to stay calm immediately become useless. "Yes, the king of Mycenae. He controlled the war with Troy after Helen left the king of Sparta and fell in love with Paris, all because of your pathetic argument at the wedding of Thetis and Peleus. Like you, it is because of him that my family is dead."

"The war was never over his brother losing his wife or for political reasons. He was after an artifact within Troy, and the war was just a ruse to get it. He was so desperate to achieve his goals, he even murdered his own daughter and sacrificed her so that the winds would blow in his favor on the way," Zeus explained.

"What artifact?"

"The Palladium, the wooden statue of Pallas Athena that should have won Troy the war. It was enchanted to protect a city from enemies and ensure victory. It was why Troy lasted as long as it did."

At the sound of her name, Felix turned and glared at the goddess Athena, trying to unleash all of his anger through his eyes. She looked to be a woman in her late twenties, wearing a pearl-white dress with a bow across her lap that was made of a single unbroken piece of bone. Regardless of Felix's anger, she was quite beautiful, but she did not give off the tender radiance of Serenity.

"Why was he after it? Did he want it to strengthen his own city? After all, it's not like the model of the statue was on our side," Felix asked without turning away from Athena.

"No," Athena muttered, returning the glare. "He wanted what was inside of the statue. You and your fellow Trojans originally believed that it was I that created the statue and sent it down from the heavens, but that is not truly what happened."

"Only recently did we find out what the Palladium truly was and who created it," Poseidon interrupted. "It was a vessel to hold and protect a dangerous artifact. The powers imbued in the statue protect whatever city is its home, in order for the city to protect the statue and what it held, so that the artifact within could not be taken and used. The one who created the statue was Pandora, and the artifact is her cursed box. It is the darkest and most powerful object in the world and Agamemnon somehow found out about it, even when we did not know the secret of the statue."

"But what does that have to do with Serenity?"

"Pandora's Box is pure malevolent evil and I curse the day that I made it," said Zeus. "Over the years, the vessel has aged and become more tempered. The darkness within it has grown more powerful than I would have imagined. Even without being opened, it has the power to affect the world around it with its deathly influence. However, at the cost of this increase in strength, you could say it is being crushed under the weight of its own power. The box could originally be opened by a mere human with the innocence of curiosity, light being used to set free darkness. Now that the box has become more powerful, it requires a sacrifice to be opened, something more pure than a curious human."

"So it needs a nymph..."

Helios turned to him. "Not just any nymph, but the most powerful nymph alive. Of all the nymphs in the world, Serenity is the most pure and mystical. Even after being intimate with you, she is still far more pure than even a virgin human. You have seen the healing abilities that she possesses and the way that all life reacts to her. It took me almost an hour to heal your injuries, when it would have taken her less than a minute. I loved her mother with all of my heart, and she was born from that love and my power. For three years, Agamemnon has been hunting down nymphs and sacrificing them to the box, trying to get it to open. Only by rumor of the fruits in Serenity's orchard from a traveler that passed by the edges of your forest did he ever learn of her exceptional powers. He wants to open the box in the hope that he can wield its power and rule over all in existence."

"If that box is opened again, the world as you know it will end. Not even we can stop it if its evil is set loose," Zeus said with his voice full of dread.

"Even if you can't stop the box, can't you at least stop it from being opened? Can't you go down to the human world and stop Agamemnon yourselves?"

"No, for Pandora's Box isn't the only artifact he got as a spoil of war. He also stole the Apple of Discord, the apple that started the argument that led to the war itself. With the dark energy radiating from the box, Agamemnon was able to change the nature of the apple. Originally, it only affected goddesses and made them argue, now it is so powerful that it repels all gods and can even drain them of their powers. If we were to enter Mycenae, we would be weaker than regular humans. We need you to stop him."

"Had it been a regular apple, that argument would probably have never even happened," Aphrodite defended. "But because it was one of Eris' golden Apples of Discord, it affected us like a drug."

"Why me?" Felix couldn't help but ask.

"Because in the Trojan War, you were one of the finest warriors alive. You were in league with Hector, Paris, and even Achilles. It is in sieges like the Trojan War that legends are made, and you are the last legend still alive. You are one of the greatest fighters in the world, and what separates you from all others is the fact that now, you truly have something to fight for. You can fight with vengeance in your mind and my daughter in your heart," Helios said, frustrated that he could not save her himself.

"So let me make sure I understand this: you want me, the last member of a society that you allowed and even helped to destroy, to clean up your mess because you are too weak to do it yourselves?"

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF HIS ARROGANCE!" a snarling voice boomed, shaking the hall with its volume.

Felix looked back as one of the gods leapt from his throne with a crimson double-edged sword. The god was as tall and muscular as Zeus, but wore nothing more than a loincloth and a golden helm. He was Ares, the god of war. He landed on his feet, shaking the floor so violently that Felix almost fell off his.

"IF HE IS GOING TO DISRESPECT US SO, THEN I WILL KILL HIM AND HANDLE THIS MYSELF!" he thundered, charging towards Felix with his sword raised.

Without a glimmer of fear in his eyes, Felix raised the Mycenaean sword he had taken and used it to block the god's attack. The man-made sword which would have snapped under normal circumstances, held strong against all odds. Ares gazed in astonishment as he looked down at the confident Trojan, trying to overpower him.

Cracking a smile, Zeus began to chuckle. "That is why we need you: your will is stronger than anyone else's, even strong enough for you to physically defy a god. Felix, we are only explaining to you why our enemy is the same so that we can help each other. We do not wish to insult you."

"Before this barbarian attacked me, I didn't say I wouldn't accept the challenge. I will do it without hesitation. But there are still answers I seek; how is it that Serenity was not able to see the soldiers of Mycenae, how is it that you didn't know of Agamemnon's plans until now, and why is Serenity the most powerful nymph?"

"First, because Agamemnon is a wretched thief," a course voice swore.

Felix looked to the back of the room and saw a man step out of a shadow as dark as night. His skin was deathly pale and he was wearing dark clothes that looked like rotting animal skins.

"Hades..." Felix muttered in fear.

"On his way home from Troy, he managed to sneak into my realm while I was busy dealing with all of the dead from the end of the war. While I was distracted, he stole my helmet of invisibility. Using the box that my brother so foolishly created and forgot about, he changed its nature as well. Now the helmet's power can affect those that aren't even wearing it, and not even we can see them from our realms. At the cost of this change, gods and regular humans when face-to-face can see those that are under its affects.

Agamemnon knew we would be watching him after the war so he had the nerve to steal from me!"

"You will be facing the entire city of Mycenae on your own, but you will not be unarmed," Zeus beamed.

On cue, Poseidon slammed his trident down on the floor. Ten feet away from where Felix was standing, the marble tiles opened and three pedestals rose up, each topped with an artifact. On the first was a golden leaf-bladed long sword with a wide guard formed by two sterling silver carvings of horse heads, the symbol of Troy. On the second was a round shield with a surface of goatskin and edges lined with golden tassels. On the third was a cape of lion skin.

"It is only fitting that you should use that sword. It is the Sword of Troy, and we have retrieved it and enchanted for your sole use. It carries with it the will of every Trojan who has ever lived and channels their strength into only the most worthy Trojan, only you. It is the legacy of your people, carried on in your desire to fight and save this world. It grants you unstoppable strength and the weapon itself never breaks and never dulls. With it in your hand, you will have enough strength to crush diamonds into powder as if they are clods of soil.

The shield is the Aegis; it is layered with the hide of a goat from my foster-mother and I used it in my battle against the titans. Like the sword, it will never break or sustain damage, so it will be your ultimate defense against the powers of Pandora's Box.

The cape is the Nemean Lion Hide, and it will increase your durability to the point where getting slammed in the chest with a war hammer wouldn't even crack a rib and a sword slash across the back would barely draw a bead of blood. With these three artifacts, you will be able to fend off the armies of Mycenae when you storm the city and you will be able to fight on even ground against Agamemnon with Pandora's Box."

"What should I do with the artifacts in Agamemnon's possession after I defeat him?"

"Use this," Hades said as he threw an object from a pocket of his cloak.

Felix caught it and examined it closely. It was a scroll-sized metal spike, covered in incantations and topped with a small skull.

"Plant this in the ground or a wall and it will open up a portal to my realm. The Apple of Discord, Pandora's Box, and my Helm of Invisibility will be pulled in, along with that damned thief. The helm will be back in my possession, the artifacts will be dropped in the river Styx and lost forever, and Agamemnon will burn for eternity in the darkest and fieriest depths of Tartarus. Just make sure you use it when the box isn't open and he isn't holding it, or he might able to stop it."

"So Felix, are you ready to slay Agamemnon?" Zeus asked.

In reply, Felix ripped off his blood-soaked shirt and put on the lion skin cape.

"If it meant rescuing Serenity, I would fight Agamemnon and his armies with nothing but my fists." Just as he was about to grab the Sword of Troy, his hand stopped and he looked up at Zeus. "You still didn't answer my question. Why is Serenity the most powerful nymph?" He looked around the room at the guilty expressions on the faces of the gods and titans. "What aren't you telling me?" He turned to Helios and grabbed the titan by the collar, an act of the greatest blasphemy. "Tell me the truth!"

No words were spoken upon the order and Felix was about to resort to drastic measures to get his answer.

"Serenity is not my true daughter," Helios finally admitted.

Felix's eyes widened and his fist that was clutching the collar of Helios' tunic fell slack. "What are you talking about? She is the daughter of you and your human lover; she said it herself. You and the woman you bedded fell into a deeper love than any you had experienced with another woman, and you loved Serenity more than all of your other children."

"I lied to her, I lied to keep her safe, hoping that the suppression of her secret would ensure her safety. She is not my daughter and my sister and I did not even give her the power of Outsight, but we are of the same blood and I truly loved her as if she were my own."

The Trojan stepped back and looked around at the gods and titans seated throughout the council chamber. "Then who among you is her mother or father? A nymph cannot be born without divine blood, but no pair among you are her parents, for I know that there is human blood within her as well."

"Her parents are no longer living," Zeus explained, "as her father was killed soon after her birth and her human mother died of old age while raising her and keeping her company. Her father was a titan, but he is one that is not heard of in any legend or mythology. His name was Anuioupyoc, the unknown child of Gaia and Eros."

Felix was nearly brought to his knees by the sheer gravity of the spoken names. This went beyond gods and titans. They were now speaking of the birth of the universe itself from the Chaos: Gaia, the primordial deity of the earth, and Eros, the primordial deity of love. These two were of the exclusive class of entities, neither god nor titan, but the origin of the two generations. With Tartarus as the third and deity of the Underworld, Erebus as the fourth and deity of empty darkness, and Nyx as the fifth and deity of night. They were entities that gave birth to the world and brought forth the titans. Having studied the legends and myths of the gods, Felix was well versed in the stories of the five but had never heard of Gaia and Eros having a child.

"Are you really telling me that Serenity is the lost granddaughter of Gaia and Eros? Can her secret really stretch all the way back to creation itself?"

"Anuioupyoc was killed by Uranus as vengeance against Gaia for his castration," Helios said with sadness and regret in his heart, "but he lived just long enough to ask me to take care of his daughter, who is the most beautiful nymph to ever be born. From then on, I helped his human bride raise Serenity in your orchard. Anuioupyoc was the combination of the vitality and fertility of Gaia and the love and passion of Eros, and he passed that power onto his nymph daughter, a true life-giving deity of the sacred feminine. The power of Outsight was never my gift to her; it was an ability she inherited from Gaia. She said that it is the ability so see everything under the sun and moon, because she thought Selene and I shared our powers with her, but in reality, she has the ability to see everything on the planet, as her power originates from the earth deity Gaia herself.

She is the light of this world, the very carnation of life and love. Even as a nymph with human weaknesses, she is just as divine as any of us, but we kept this secret from her."

Serenity dangled naked in the Mycenaean throne room, hanging from a chandelier by her wrists. Sitting on the floor below her was a goblet, half-full of her tears. She was wrapped in a glowing aura that was protecting her from the toxicity of the world outside her forest, but that wasn't all it was protecting her from. Agamemnon was sitting in his throne with his hand over the skull-sized jet-black vessel of Pandora. The box emitted a dark fog and the sound of deep chanting. Under normal circumstances, prolonged exposure to the box would result in death, but Agamemnon had kept the vessel around him for so long that his body had almost adapted to its evil. However, anyone that looked at him would know he was experiencing heavy negative affects.