Chapter 369: The Road to Heaven
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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.
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20 April 1995, Mount Olympus, Greece
The man relaxed when he saw Johnson recognizing them, only to freeze, his expression turning into awe when he saw the golden light following them, "Is that Ariadne's Thread?" Yeah, things just got a lot more complicated.
The wizard in front of Harry was strong. In fact, in terms of raw power, he probably surpassed anyone his age that Harry had ever met. Hell, even compared to Harry, he would come out a bit ahead. It was natural, in a way, since the boy was older, and thus his magic circuits were wider and more mature. There wasn't any doubt in his mind that Harry would surpass him in a few months, but that was in the future, and the boy was obviously confrontational now.
He could feel it, the tempest ready to be released, the barely restrained sea, the tide that was seconds away from destroying everything around him. And he was prepared to do just that. He could hear it with his Arcane Hearing. He had recognized the golden light they were following and wanted to use it to get the apple.
Harry raised an eyebrow at the older wizard's demand, "What it is, is none of your concern."
Harry could hear with his Arcane Hearing the aggression spike in the boy's magic, like a storm growing with every moment. The wizard tried to grasp the golden thread, only for it to fade into nothing. Harry had discreetly summoned it back into his pocket while putting in an illusion of it to trick the other boy, "See, it was just an illusion I put up."
"I don't believe you," he answered clearly.
"Well, that's your prerogative."
"Give me the Thread," he spoke up clearly.
Harry snorted, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I saw it. Now, give it to me, and I'll show you to the Labyrinth's exit. You'll take your teammates and leave this place unharmed."
"And if I don't?"
A sinister smile appeared on the boy's face, "Then I'll take it from you, and you'll also leave the Labyrinth. Whether you'll be unharmed or not will depend on how much you fight back."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen."
And just like that, he felt the boy release whatever restraint he had on his magic and be ready to attack them and right as he was about to unleash it, Harry activated the Labyrinth, sending him and Johnson away somewhere else.
Chuckling, he wiped some invisible dirt from his shoulders. The moment Harry used his Arcane Hearing to understand what the older boy wanted to do; he kept him talking while working on activating the Labyrinth's shifting.
As much as a fight between them would have been interesting, Harry had nothing to really gain by doing that. It was better to just send them away, and avoid fighting altogether, especially in such a cramped space with Daphne around.
Also, while Harry was relatively confident about outsmarting the guy, he did not need to risk fighting some Greek guy who wanted to bring victory and glory to his name, dreaming of immortality without understanding the price involved in it. Harry saw how the Greek students idolized the heroes in their legends; he could easily expect them to do some pretty horrible things to achieve their glory, like for example, targeting Daphne or even betraying Angelina. Harry didn't know the boy personally, and it was perfectly possible for him to be a stand-up guy. However, that risk was too high to gamble Astoria's life on.
Plus, the chances of finding Angelina and someone with the calibre of the water elemental with her were slim to none. The Labyrinth had proven itself to be intelligent. Had it wanted to use them as obstacles, as a way to keep them in further, seeing that they had found a way to get past them?
The blonde though wasn't as amused, "Why did you do that?"
"He was itching for a fight and wanted to take Ariadne's Thread. This was a good way to avoid that."
"But you left Angelina with him as well."
Well, Johnson's appearance was definitely a surprise. He had never expected to see her again, having expected her to die, alone, in some random realm, thankfully outside the Labyrinth. If he had to guess, then she was found by the boy and he saved her, probably with some sort of healing magic. Water magic did technically have healing properties, but no, the boy's magic was nowhere near that stable. He was like a storm, the turbulent sea, ready to strike. He was a destroyer. That was an apt way to describe his magic, he was a fighter, a destroyer, compared to how Harry's passion lay in researching magic. The Greek boy probably saved Johnson with a potion or an artefact.
Still, the fact that they were sticking together after at least days since Angelina had to have been saved, then they were friendly enough, "Assuming that he saved her, they had to have been together for days. They should be able to hold on for just one more after we get the Golden Apple and leave."
Harry knelt down, ready to activate Ariadne's Thread, only for the Labyrinth to suddenly shift once more. It was definitely too soon, and Harry's Arcane Hearing hadn't even picked up the activation.
The thought made him stiffen. The Labyrinth was learning even from this. It was learning to hide from him. Angrily, Harry tried to stop the Labyrinth from shifting and it worked for a bit, he was trying to stall more than anything.
However, that was when he felt it again, the storm, the tempest, ready to swallow everything around it. From one of the walls, a veritable river of water appeared and shaped itself into a sea snake, which lunged towards Daphne.
Harry hurriedly tried to redirect the attack, but Daphne beat him to it and raised a wall of wood that stopped the impact. However, his distraction allowed the Labyrinth to shift once more, and the small opening became large enough to fit another person, and the Greek boy, followed by Johnson entered through it, being carried by some kind of water platform.
The Greek boy conjured a small tsunami, ready to swallow them both, and Harry, seeing no point in resisting the Labyrinth, let go of his control, and focused on the wave, casting a jet of darkness that stopped the Greek wizard's control over it.
The Greek wizard's eyes widened as the water splashed down without his control, only to be sent flying with a ball of warped space. Harry tried to activate the Labyrinth again, but it was fully locked in. It would take him some time to force it to do his bidding, and this was time that he did not have.
Frustrated that his original plan was not taking place, Harry had barely enough time to conjure a magic circle to shield himself from that large jet of light coming at him. He altered the circle slightly to negate the momentum of the following attack and stored it. The water quickly turned into ice; its very heat being consumed by the circle. He manipulated the ice into spikes, sending them back at the Greek wizard.
He immediately melted the ice spears, but he did not expect the magic circle to erupt, turning into a beam of plasma that came towards him. He reacted by manipulating all of the water into an ice shield, which partially protected him from the worst of the heat, but was vaporized enough to send him flying back, with small burns all over him.
That gave Harry enough time to finally analyse his position. His opponent was strong, fast, and definitely had some kind of martial training. He relied on brute force and his prodigal elemental manipulation of water. Partial Ice manipulation, enough to melt but not control. So, he can manipulate the states of water, but not fundamentally its elements. So, could he turn the mist back into water? Yes, that was likely. What about sensing? He knew where to attack them from just the hole, so he had to be able to sense their position. Probably though water vapour or moisture. Maybe even blood? Now that was a very unsettling thought.
That was relatively troubling, given that most of the corridor was filled with mist. Harry would need to get rid of that threat first. Engaging in close combat was very ill-advised, not against someone like him. Harry also visibly noticed that the attacks so far weren't aimed to main or kill, perhaps injure, but not seriously so. His opponent was probably not trying to kill them, and Harry had no reason to escalate things. But trickery? Yeah, that sounded like something he could do.
As he expected, Harry felt the vapour turn back into water behind him, probably trying to take him by surprise. He dodged the 'surprise' attack, and manipulated space around him to expel any vapour, before casting his ice age spell around him.
The coming attacks froze as they tried to come near him, and Harry quickly alchemically transformed the ice into metal using the water's own heat as energy. The living metal acted like a third limb and turned into chains that attacked the Greek wizard.
The boy dodged them, conjuring a giant trident of water, which somehow turned into some weird metal, that cut through the chains as if they were made of paper, before being propelled in the air by more water, and fell towards him, his weapon raised, with a miniature river behind him.
Harry smirked as his conjured an illusion, in which his alchemical metal acting like some sort of physical shell, was filled with water. Harry then, activated his invisibility cloak in its phase mode. That alone would have made his presence completely impossible to detect. The metal he controlled was sent back, the illusion still holding, and the Greek boy had its fake neck between two prongs of his trident.
He spoke up with a very confident tone, "You fought valiantly, but I will not let you steal my only chance at healing my mother."
Oh, well that changed things a bit. Harry thought that the boy just wanted to become immortal, which would necessitate eating the entire apple. Still, there was no need to risk that. Deciding that enough was enough, he activated the trap, which held the runes he had carved sneakily, which bound him in glowing chains, and stopped any water elemental magic from happening in the array.
Immediately, the trident dissolved into water, and the veritable wave behind him splashed, drenching the entire corridor as if there had been a flood. The older wizard's eyes widened as he realized what had happened, which turned into a glare towards Harry.
Yeah, that was definitely a guy who didn't like Harry's underhanded tactics. To be fair, as much as the position was stupid, the guy probably never needed to rely on them, overwhelming them with his magic. The fight was much easier than Harry expected because of that, despite the fact that their raw power was relatively equal. Well, that should at least teach him the importance of control.
Still, he couldn't help but be slightly disappointed. In some measure, it was rare to see someone so young with so much raw power, and in a way, he expected the boy to be an equal, or at least close in some measure, and yet for all his masterful control over water, there was really nothing else to it. The boy had focused his entire magic on just mastering one element, and even then, had been very reckless. Sure, he was probably used to physically overwhelm his opponents, but that last charge was stupid, and he had been caught in a pretty basic plan, really.
He just expected more...
Harry was about to knock the boy out and leave him somewhere, maybe one of the empty realms he was in. He'd go back and get him later.
Unfortunately, Johnson ran and stepped in front of him, "Please don't, Potter!"
"He was the one who attacked me first, Johnson, and relax I'm just knocking him out."
She relaxed slightly, but still stood resolute "No! I owe him. Perseus saved my life, Potter. The least I can do is to help him save his mother."
Harry's eyes widened slightly at that, especially when he recognized a life debt between the two of them. It was a rare thing, but it meant that this Perseus – a very fitting name considering the nature of his magic – had to have saved her without expecting anything.
Still, as kind as that was, it was Johnson's problem to pay her debt not his own. However, as he was about to deny her, Daphne spoke up, "We could share the apple. A single bite would be enough for his mother, and for my sister. We don't need to fight."
That was… odd. The Daphne he knew would have burned the world down to save her sister. She had taken lessons from Lily Evans to do so, essentially made a deal with the devil, learning one of the most dangerous fields of magic, all for Astoria. And yet, she was risking it all now for some stranger.
No, there was something wrong. Harry decided to use his Arcane Hearing to figure out what was wrong. He did so, expecting some kind of mental manipulation, only to see her feeling pure sympathy and pity at the boy, mixed with a bit of guilt for some reason. Did the boy remind her of herself and her endless quest to save her own sister?
She was right, of course; they could just share the apple since none of them needed more than a bite or two. However, there was always a risk to it. Harry was prepared to argue with Daphne slightly at her recklessness, but her resolute eyes froze him before he could say his first word. He knew that she wouldn't change her mind.
He gave her a sympathetic look, "Are you sure about this?"
She nodded and he asked once more, "There's no going back."
"I know but it's my decision. I'll deal with the consequences."
Harry turned towards the bound water elemental, "And do you agree to share the apple should get it?"
The boy nodded resolutely, and Harry took a deep sigh, "So be it!"
A pulse of magic erupted when he spoke up, and the carved runes faded away, letting the bound wizard go. The water elemental spoke up while kneeling, "I will never forget this."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Yeah, whatever. Just don't make me regret this."
He didn't really know why Daphne made that decision, only that it wasn't influenced by any magic. And it was her decision to seek that Golden Apple, her lead, really. It was her sister's life on the line, and it was her call, even if he didn't agree with it.
He would keep her safe and protect her from the aftermath. They were already so close.
With a sigh, Harry took out Ariadne's Thread and activated it, the golden light guiding them through the Labyrinth. It was oddly silent. There were no monsters that came to attack them, something that alone was very odd. But coupled with the fact that it didn't even shift once, it rubbed Harry the wrong way.
The boy he had just fought decided to make some conversation, "It's too quiet, right?"
"Yes," Harry replied, "I would have thought we'd have been swarmed by monsters by now. The Labyrinth really wants to keep us inside, this is really odd."
"I will be vigilant. You're Harry Potter, right?"
"Yes," he answered, Harry had no need to deny it, with Johnson loudly calling him Potter in front of the boy and whatnot.
"You fight well, but I was holding back. I'm Perseus Marinakis, by the way."
"Nice to meet you," Harry replied, doing his best not to roll his eyes. The guy didn't even land a single hit and ended up bound and chained. Whatever interest he had in continuing the conversation disappeared when he noticed the golden light pulse and flicker away, the string returning to Harry's pocket.
Whatever confusion he felt was overwhelmed by the door of light that appeared in front of them. Daphne spoke up with a disbelieving tone, "Is that it?"
She had a point. So far, they had fought a Hydra, a fucking fire demon thing, a Kraken, some weird water monster, a fucking mad demigod of all things, and yet, entering the door, they weren't met with some kind of insane challenge.
He couldn't sense anything different with his Arcane Hearing, and for some reason, he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Hesitating slightly, he entered through the door and closed his eyes as the light threatened to blind him.
As the blinding light faded, Harry opened his eyes and felt his heart skip a beat. They were standing on a rocky cliff jutting out from a sea of swirling clouds, the ground beneath them solid yet strangely soft. Off in the distance, rising majestically above the endless expanse of white was a mountain.
It soared into the sky, with a peak this time, which held a palace that shimmered like a beacon. The place looked like an incredible mix of gold and ivory, with towering spires and huge domes reflecting the sunlight brilliantly. Even from afar, Harry could see the amazing details—statues of gods and mythical creatures decorating the rooftops, massive columns holding up ornate archways, and waterfalls of what seemed like liquid gold flowing down the mountainside.
Behind him, Perseus gasped with awe in his eyes, "Olympus, the realm of the gods themselves. I never dreamed of ever being here."
Harry had to agree but for a different reason. He had asked Ariadne's Thread to take him to the Golden Apple. He expected it to take them to the Gardens of Hera, as he had seen in Heracles' carvings. But why were they here? Why were they in the true Mount Olympus?
Oh, shit, there was a chance that the Greek gods were still alive, isn't it? Yeah, that definitely wasn't a comforting thought to have. And to make things worse the exit from the Labyrinth was up the mountain. He could feel the familiar disturbance in space-time.
With a deep sigh, he walked forward. Hopefully, things were going to work out. Oh, who was he kidding? With his past experiences, something was probably going to go wrong eventually.
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AN: I know I said that about the past two chapters, but I'm not sure about this one either. I rewrote the fight scene twice, but it didn't feel quite right, and I ended up rushing the second part of the chapter. I know that some of you won't like how close Perseus and Harry are in terms of raw power, but there is a reason for it, that will be explored in the future. You also need to know that Perseus is still older than Harry and that raw power doesn't translate to raw ability since Perseus' control is beyond horrible (also for a reason). As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.