RECRUIT

Sonic booms followed Arion as he galloped over the dark blue waves of the Atlantic Ocean. The rider's black cape fluttered in the wind, making him look far more valiant and heroic. A fine mist hung over the water while warm sunlight beat down on Athos who was thoroughly enjoying the ride. Unlike last time, the surroundings no longer blurred and stretched, instead, it was clear as day.

Arion was heading west - toward the United States of America but he doubted that was his destination. His father and he were heading there anyway, and if a God or Titan wished to meet him, they could've waited a few weeks at most. Compared to their Immortal lives, a few dozen days were but a blink of an eye.

He racked his brain, thinking of any possible locations that the Divine Horse wanted to take him to. There was no way the Divine Horse did this by himself. After all, Arion by himself was a relatively simple god, or Divine beast. All he cared about was swearing, being free, swearing and gold.

It had to be another being who wanted to gain an audience with him. In the books, the only other being Arion listened to was Hecate, the Titaness of the Mist and Crossroads, Necromancy and Ghosts, the Night and most importantly, Magic.

Hecate had summoned Hazel in the book "The House of Hades" via Arion and Athos had a sneaking suspicion that she was behind this too.

"Hey, Arion! Did Hecate send you? Does she want to meet me?", he asked, patting Arion's head, who gave the horse equivalent of a "Hmph!"

Athos' eyebrow twitched, "Are you still mad at me about the pendant?"

Arion snorted in agreement. He sounded so wronged that one would think Athos had done something terrible to him.

"Alright, I'll treat you to a mound of gold after this trip. Deal?"

Arion neighed happily and shot forward at a speed much faster than before.

"Seriously? Were you intentionally going slower? Haaaah...Nevermind. Is it really Hecate though?", Athos questioned, a tad bit exasperated at Arion's childish behaviour.

Arion nodded in agreement, his abyssal black mane dancing about.

"Hecate....huh", Athos muttered, scratching his helmet.

Hecate was quite the important Titaness in the books. While she sided with the Gods during the first Titanomanchy, she sided with the Titans when they returned in the first series. It was understandable really. She fought for the Gods the first time because she believed Zeus to be a better ruler than Kronos but after the discrimination and neglect she faced for being a 'Minor God', she switched sides when Kronos rose again.

Honestly, Athos doubted her title of a 'Minor God' meant anything. Her being the Titaness of Magic had to have made her a bit more unique compared to other Gods and her power was said to far exceed what many believed. After all, 'Minor God' was merely a title and was not as concrete as many may believe. Hypnos was also lazily termed a 'Minor God' when in reality he could put Zeus himself to sleep.

But why did she want to meet him? Sure, he stood against Olympus but he didn't side with the Alliance between the Gigantes and Titans either. The leaders of both sides had reasons to kill him.

"....The flames of rebellion you must ignite...."

Athos frowned. He did suspect there was another faction that was clawing its way into the light. Hephaestus and Demeter seemed in cahoots and he had dreamed of a meeting occurring around the mahogany table. He recognized Aphrodite's, Demeter's and Hephaestus' symbols but the fourth throne escaped him.

Perhaps this faction emerged due to his meddling and Hecate was a part of it. Both Demeter and Hephaestus didn't seem to like Zeus all that much. The fourth throne's God was an enigma, and as for Aphrodite, she was probably just there for the story. Whatever the case, he should be wary when meeting the Titaness.

But where was her abode? It was never mentioned in the books and she sometimes popped out of seemingly nothing. Athos' eyes narrowed.

High levels of Mist, and near the USA...

"The Bermuda Triangle?!", Athos blurted and looked at Arion in surprise. "Is it the Bermuda Triangle? The Sea of Monsters?"

Arion nodded once more and Athos took a deep breath.

It was the only part of the sea that could rival the waters of the Mediterranean in terms of danger, or perhaps even exceed it. The reason why so many planes and ships went missing or were wrecked in the Bermuda Triangle was due to the unusually high concentration of Mist there. Its high concentration greatly confused mortals and made them see things that weren't there but that wasn't the only reason. One of the only two entrances to the Sea of monsters was straight of Scylla and Charybdis.

They were two of the most powerful monsters ever seen in Greek Mythology. Ships that wished to cross into the Sea of the Monsters had to wiggle between the gigantic whirlpool that was Charybdis and the cliff of Scylla from which she would pick off sailors.

Athos' eyes flickered with a complicated light when he was reminded of the stories of the infamous monsters. They were tragic, as was almost every Greek tale. Charybdis was betrayed and cursed due to jealousy and Scylla was cursed due to the machinations of love.

Both were powerful women before their downfall. Charybdis in particular was frighteningly powerful, but Zeus' black heart induced her fall while Poseidon, her father, didn't care to help. Scylla, the daughter of Keto and Phorcys, could command legions of monsters at will, but in the end, was cursed to become one herself.

Life can be odd at times.

"But should that be their fate?", Athos mumbled.

He had to fight Zeus eventually, and fighting Zeus meant going against Olympus itself. The Alliance that was at his throat was possibly even stronger with two Divine races behind it. No matter how much he wanted to deny it, Dionysus was partly right. As he was now, there was no way he could go against both Olympus and the Alliance.

He could indeed put his faith in the third Faction with Demeter, Hephaestus and Aphrodite which he suspected was something akin to a rebellion against Zeus, but in the end, he didn't know for certain whether what he suspected was true. Currently, the only person he could fully trust was Herakles, his father, and the fight against Apollo and Dionysus had shown that they were nowhere near ready.

Perhaps he should start working on a rebellion of his own while growing stronger, starting with recruiting Charybdis and Scylla. Even if they refused, releasing them from their curses would be a giant middle finger to Olympus which he would take every chance to give. Moreover, there were a few opportunities he could snatch while freeing them.

He bent down and patted Arion's neck.

"Why don't we take a detour to Circe's abode on the Island of Aeaea? It's on the way and hard to miss."

Arion neighed in annoyance.

"I'll give you more gold."

BOOM!

"Haaah...High maintenance....."

***

It didn't take all that long for Arion to near his destination. After all, he ran like the wind and it merely took him four hours to run from Alaska to the USA in the books. He was truly fast.

They had entered the Sea of Monsters via the second entrance, which was the clashing rocks. They roll past each other so fast that the window of time which allowed for passage was incredibly small. Jason and the Argonauts needed help from Hera to accomplish the task, but to Arion, it was nothing. He zoomed past the clashing rocks as though it were a joke.

Arion had slowed to a trot which was still equivalent to an ordinary horse running at its full speed. The blue slits on Athos' helmet glinted as he looked around him. Now that he had entered the Sea of Monsters, the water glittered a brilliant green almost akin to acid. The wind smelled fresh and salty, but it carried a metallic scent, as though a thunderstorm was right around the corner. Who knew what ancient monsters slumbered beneath the surface?

A few seconds later, a seagull swooped down and past him, looking at the duo with curiosity.

'Land is nearby!', he thought and sure enough, he wasn't mistaken.

A faint brown dot appeared on the horizon and as he got closer, it became a lot clearer. It was a small island with an equally small mountain at its centre. Stunning beaches with palm trees, exquisite white buildings on the mountainside and a large harbour. At first glance, it seemed like any other tropical paradise but when the ships docked at the harbour came into view, it all changed.

There were a bunch of pleasure yachts which wasn't unusual but next to it were U.S submarines, several dugout canoes and an old-fashioned three-masted sailing ship. They were once the vessels of Circe's victims throughout the ages.

A lady with a clipboard stood at the edge of the dock. She was dressed like a flight attendant. Perfect makeup, hair pulled back into a ponytail and a business suit. She wasn't Circe, probably one of her apprentices, but she didn't seem the least bit surprised when Athos neared as though a man covered with black armour riding a horse that can walk on water was normal, but when she looked at his draconic claws, she seemed a bit unsettled.

Athos stepped onto the dock and Arion shot toward a large green pasture next to one of the beaches. He preferred gold, but he could do with grass too.

"W-welcome!", the lady said, putting on a large smile while looking up at Athos who towered over her.

He gave her a silent nod.

"Is this your first time with us?", she continued, this time looking a bit more relaxed. The giant scary armoured man seemed open to conversation at the very least.

He nodded once more.

"First-time-at-spa...", the lady said as she wrote on her clipboard. "Let's see..."

She then looked up at Athos, making her crane her neck, before hesitating, "Ummm....I'll need your name and need to see your fa-'

CLINK!

The black helmet retracted revealing a beautiful face that made the lady's stomach do somersaults.

"Athos Apsifoun"

***

Support me on p atreon.com/Marine0IQ if you'd like. ( Psssst.....it's got extra chapters!!!)

Don't forget to remove the extra space!

( Pls gimme more powerstones too!!! I love em! They taste like candy! )